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CURRENTLY IN BOOKS
Recovering the ministry of healing

Paul Boge

God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus Bruce G. Epperly. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. 236 pp.

God’s Touch is an encouragement to the church to pursue a ministry of wholeness that seeks to bring physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual healing to those in need.

Bruce Epperly investigates 11 healing miracles in the Gospels to demonstrate various truths about Jesus’ healing ministry. For example, Epperly uses the story of the healing of the 10 lepers to draw a distinction between being cured of a physical ailment and being made whole. He points out that the healing of the lepers not only relieved their physical suffering, but it also ended their social isolation and made it possible for them to experience relational healing. Epperly makes a strong case for the interconnection of spirit, soul and body, and sees Jesus as the healer who wants to bring wholeness to people today.

God’s Touch is compassionate and provides insights into some of the difficult questions plaguing many who are sick: Why am I not getting better? Am I sick because of my lack of faith? Why did this happen to me? Epperly sees healing as a joint responsibility between God and the individual and is careful not to trivialize the often difficult journey of healing. He also investigates alternative medicine and how a Christian can respond to the ways in which other religions view healing. He does, however, place an overemphasis on visualization as a tool in the healing process.

This book is best suited for those interested in broadening their understanding of healing. Another book worth noting, especially for those who are new to the topic of healing, is F. F. Bosworth’s Christ The Healer. Both books make excellent arguments for reviving healing ministries in our churches today.

Paul Boge is a freelance writer and attends North Kildonan MB Church in Winnipeg.

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Last modified August 13, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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