Pastors Todd and Karen Smith believe the cessationist view of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit is false.
“I think that believers have just thought either, That’s not my responsibility or I’m not expected to do those things, like heal the sick and see them recover, cast out demons, pray for people, minister to people,” Karen says. “There is still, I believe, in the body of Christ that strand of cessationism: ‘Things have ceased. There’s not the power of the Holy Spirit available to me like it was in the early church.’ And we know that’s erroneous thinking.”
Todd says what may have led to this cessationist view is the reality that some believers didn’t see miracles when they expected them to happen, he says on the Kingdom Ready podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network. His wife says the issue in America is that we’re too used to immediacy.
“We’re so guilty of this in the West; we have an immediate attitude, everything has to be immediate,” Karen says. “If it doesn’t happen, we want an answer. And so because of our impotence, or our failure to see a miracle happen or a healing happen, whatever the case may be, we have to instantly have an answer. … [But regardless,] we’re supposed to do the exact same things that Jesus did.”
To listen to the entire episode titled Kingdom Advancement: The Significance of Prayer, click here.
