By Mark Ellis
In a remote Southeast Asian village, a leader’s death and apparent resurrection from the dead fueled revival among a previously unreached group.
Pastor David Platt shared the story with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee Sept. 19 in Nashville, according to Baptist Press. Platt currently serves as president of the Southern Baptist’s mission board. The report came to Platt from an IMB missionary.
A Southeast Asian believer trained by Southern Baptist missionaries took some friends with him and began sharing the Gospel in a village “that was totally unreached with the Gospel until they got there.”
The villagers responded attentively, began to study the Bible like the noble Bereans, and many in the village believed.
As they came to Christ, a number brought idols, necklaces and amulets connected with pagan worship to the center of the village to be burned, Platt recounted.
But in a strange reversal one day, some began taking back their occult-linked objects.
It seems the village leader had died and a few superstitiously believed his death was caused by evil spirits upset about the destruction of the sacred objects.
Discouraged by the sudden turnaround, the Christians went to express their condolences at a house where the village leader’s body lay in repose.
Standing over the fallen leader, they began praying “that God would show His mercy to the people in the village, that God would show His glory and His love to that people who were so close,” Platt told Baptist Press.
Then something astonishing happened. As they were praying over the man, all of a sudden the man coughed!
Everybody in the house got really still. Then the man coughed again. People rushed to the man’s side as he started breathing once more.
People started helping him up. Everyone looked at the Christians in amazement, wondering, ‘What in the world happened?‘
“They decided this was as good a time as any to share the Gospel,” Platt said. “So they shared the Gospel, and in the days to come, people started coming to faith in Christ and that village starting burning their idols.”
Platt acknowledged he doesn’t have medical evidence from the remote location to verify the resurrection, but said: “I do know at villages like this, they know how to recognize death.”
Jokingly, Platt said if he wasn’t dead, God chose an opportune moment for the man to cough.
“Here’s what I do know: We have the Good News of a God who has conquered death, who has power to say to the dead, ‘Come to life.’”
He called upon thousands upon thousands of believers to proclaim the Good News to the ends of the earth.
The episode illustrates, Platt said, the spiritual fruit that results when missionaries share the Gospel with “biblical clarity, precision and consistency.”
Similar to Pastor Daniel Ekecheku of Nigeria who came back to life after his determined wife took his corpse dead 3 days already to where Reinhard Bonke prayed upstairs at a new cathedral in Onitsu or Owerri Nigeria on Dec.2,2001 again after Pastor Daniel Ekecheku had died on Nov.30, 2001 after his mercedes hit a stone embankment on the way to visit his dad. The doctor had already issued Daniel Ekechekwu death certificate on Nov.30,2001.
ALL things are possible with GOD!
I am beside myself with joy that the baptists are raising the dead!. I grew up Southern Baptist and was told over and over that miracles such as this were no longer available to us and was just for the first Christians. It didn’t sound right to me since in Mark 16:17 Jesus states “theses signs shall follow him that believe…” which Baptists I’ve known do not believe. Jesus died and resurrected not just for our salvation but also to empower us to walk like He walked to bring others to Him. Jesus healed all who came to Him, he raised Lazarus from the dead and cast out demons. It can be only fear that we don’t do as He does, when He says this is available. Even those who say we believe the entire bible including this verse have a hard time that it is for every believer especially ourselves. We all have the same Holy Spirit and the grace to walk out the truth given to us. I don’t think we know who we really are in Christ. The more time we spend with Him the more we understand how loved we are and how He gave everything for us to be like Him now not just in Heaven. Personally I want to be just like Him in every way to able to show His love to the world just like these missionaries did. They were not expecting a miracle of this magnitude given the Southern Baptist doctrines that don’ support miracles. God so loved these people who needed to know the power of a loving God that He showed everyone that He is still in the business of healing even with no one was expecting such a miracle. It just tells me that these missionaries are believing believers who were compelled by the love of God to walk out in faith and pray for the situation that had become very dark for the people of the village. My hope is that this article circulates throughout the Baptist community and believers would realize their calling to the world sharing the Gospel, healing the sick, raising the dead and casting out demons. Through His grace we can do this!
My FB friend Baptist Pastor Richard Hensgen can can give you a story of a dead man raised on Sunday morning in his little Baptist church last year.
It happens at churches that preach it. Pentecostal churches have things like this happen all the time simply because they believe it is possible. Hallelujah that there are Baptists who believe it is possible, too!!!!!
Oh my gosh I love that! We had a man die on Easter Sunday years back, we prayed, he came back. Of course someone called 911 while we prayed. My husband, a physician, was there. Funny thing was they kept him in the hospital for a week running tests. His heart condition was gone as was his chronic pancreatitis. Easter miracle! God is in a really good mood & loves when His children believe.
great to hear the good news man.
thanks
God is showing many miracles in these end days and Christ Himself is being revealed to many Muslims and other non-Christians in dreams and visions that lead to Christian conversion. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and that God can and will raise anyone from the dead in order to bring glory to Himself and increase His Kingdom. Praise be to the Lord for this awesome miracle!!
I’d love to learn more about this event. What is the name of the country where it happened? Which village? What is the name of the man who died? Who were the missionaries who prayed over the man’s body? Where did they come from? Where are they now? Did they interview the man who came back to life? If so, will it be on You Tube soon? Any information would be appreciated. This story needs to be spread far and wide.
I agree! More info, please!
Sometimes in these way-out villages no iphones are available to record for youtube. I can say many, many people have been raised from the dead when believers pray. It just doesn’t hit the evening news. In remote villages there is no medical team to substantiate with medical “proof” but people know a dead person when they see one.
One month later and still no real evidence has appeared. I’m not surprised.
Miracles happen like this in the USA but groups like Baptists will frown on them because of cessationism and Phariseeism and groups like Pentecostals/Charismatics will frown on them since they often are not hyper prosperity and emotionally hyperactive related, hence revivals are quenched. Because of this prophets and apostles, the two types that miracles tend to follow, want to leave the USA and West under the guise of Missionaries. Western Pastors, teachers, and evangelists need to catch a clue and quit persecuting the foundation.
JP, I had trouble following your comments. If you are saying that Pentecostals will frown on Baptists having a raised-from-the dead-experience ….I believe you are mistaken. I am a UPC Pentecostal and we are aware that there are born-again believers in every denomination despite what their denomination preaches.
I don’t believe he was saying Pentecostals would frown on this. If I understood this statement correctly, he was saying Baptists frown on it because some believe miracles stopped when the apostles died ( cessationism??). The Holy Spirit is stifled by our unbelief. Asking for faith and belief from God to truly believe God’s power and desire to bless His children.✝???
Miracles like this are more frequent than most realize. Check out Randy Clark, a Baptist minister. He has written extensively about the Cessation Theology. He has also seen thousands of miracles & is now medically documenting the data. Dr Clark is one of the most humble, amazing people I have ever met.
M’t:10:7-8:” And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, RAISE THE DEAD, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”
Imagine the impact the following is going to have on Planet Earth: 1Th:4:16-17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
This is going to happen all at once right across the world… and we are in the last hour.
Why are we so slow to believe the good news. This is the question that has always been asked since Jesus first commanded the disciples to ” Go and heal the sick cleanse the leper and raise the dead”. Matt 10 v 8
I am so glad that the Father is graciously taking the initiative and doing Himself the ‘mighty works’ which He promised we would do in His Son’s name. He is still waiting so patiently for us to step into our inheritance as sons and daughters of God and do what He asked us to do. Surely if it was impossible for us to raise the dead then why did He command us to do it?
We are in exciting times as a Church. I believe there is an acceleration of revelation and understanding today in the lives of ordinary believers whom the bible calls ‘the saints’ and an explosion of power and the accompanying confidence in Him. This is bringing the Church to that position which even nature longs to see. …the time when the “sons of God will be revealed on the earth and for which the whole of creation has been eagerly awaiting” Rom 8 v 19
Truly the Bride is making herself ready.
I’m just one of many missionary and conference speakers from the UK who are privileged to minister around the world and in my 14 years of service have been blessed to see four dead people come back to life again.
Hallelujah!
Praise God! Give thanks! Amen
Bless you Howard Barnes. & Hooray for Jesus! I have only seen one but that changed my life forever. “Why are we so slow to believe the good news?” Perhaps it is because here in the western world we worship out intellect and demand God to be logical to our wee brains.
Today I rejoice that in my lifetime I can read such an article from a Baptist Pastor of the SOUTHERN BAPTIST extract!!! Wow God I praise you. I had faced persecutions and a panel of discipline because I was raised by a southern baptist school and I taught in the same
School but my sin was that I spoke in tongues and I believed in miracle. They said miracles and the signs that shall follow those that believe as listed n the 16th chapter of the Book of Mark is gone and meant for early believers of the early church era. Today I feel the missionaries that taught in the southern Baptist convention controlled secondary school cheated us by not properly introducing us to the whole teaching and practice of the Holy Spirit doctrine, my life and those of most of our ex graduates of the school would have been better lived in the victory of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit rather than living through personal self efforts. I insisted and til today they see me as a rebel. I count it all joy and kept telling as many Baptists I meet that Holy Spirit Baptism and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit Gifts are real and for them today as well. Thank you Lord for using this act of yours to liberate many Baptist members who are bound by the doctrine of the southern Baptist convention on the issue of Holy Spirit baptism and His gifts.This led me to start four Baptist churches though only two are presently functioning well and and I founded a mission body to reach to Baptists and others who need the gospel . Shalom.
That is quite a testimony! I too was raised in a denomination that preached against tongues and the infilling of the HOLY GHOST (Missouri Synod Lutheran) and in fact they insisted that people who spoke in tongues were possessed by the devil. That doesn’t make sense because the people who speak in tongues usually are the ones who are on fire and spread the Gospel! I think the laity (regular church-goers) who love truth are finding out that we have been hoodwinked about tithes and church attendance and a whole lot of other “important” traditions of man but not of the LORD. Pastors beware because the LORD says that anyone who causes a little child to stumble in his faith will be in danger of hell fire and it would be better for him to have a mill stone tied to him and then to be thrown into the sea.
Bless you Howard Barnes. & Hooray for Jesus! I have only seen one but that changed my life forever. “Why are we so slow to believe the good news?” Perhaps it is because here in the western world we worship out intellect and demand God to be logical to our wee brains.
We need more details before we can say if this story is true or not. It should not be presented as fact without further verification. It may be true, but too many believers are too quick to pass along miracle stories when it fact no miracle occurred. As a doctor, I have witnessed this repeatedly. God is not glorified by falsehood of any kind, even sincere and well-intentioned stories crediting Him with a miracle. Just because David Platt or a missionary told it doesn’t make it true.
My husband is a Dr, we had a man die on Easter Sunday, we prayed, he came back. I also have a medical background. He was dead, grey, room temp. He breathed, pinked up & was alive. 911 came, week in hospital , heart healed as was his pancreas (chronic pancreatitis) I respectfully disagree that what we need are more details of facts overtime we hear of God working miracles through His people. The Bible says what we need is more faith, childlike attitude and wonder. The church is as quick to believe negative reports as the world but often slower to believe the good reports. Being a skeptic is never applauded in the Bible. Faith is.
Why propagate this story if there is no verifiable medical proof that the man was dead? If miraculous healings are happening all the time as some people claim, the hospitals would be a great place for ministry. Why not start there? The skeptics in the medical profession would have a first-hand witness. The big name evangelists who are making the claim of supernatural miracles are making themselves rich. If the supernatural were common it would no longer be miraculous. The fact is that miracles in the Bible were rare events given the length of time the Old Testament covers, and were limited even in the New Testament. ” A sinful and adulterous generation seeketh a sign” (Matthew 16:4).
Well said, Tom. For almost a decade I have been living and working in SE Asia, where miracles are supposedly common according to some in the west, and I have yet to see or hear of a verifiable account of a true medical miracle, although I’d very much like to see one (or a lot of them!) and have prayed for them myself. What I do experience on a daily basis is people with chronic medical conditions and physical suffering, even as they approach death, just like people in the USA. I’ve also known people here who lose hope in God when a miracle does not occur. Building up unrealistic hopes for a miracle are a real danger of propagating untrue “miracle” stories. I wish those who spread these stories spent more time and money to help with the practical needs of the millions of physically suffering people in this world.
I am grateful for doctors like yourself who have a genuine love for suffering people and work to meet their physcial and spiritual needs as they best as they can in a fallen world. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ continue to sustain you, encourage you, and comfort you.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of hte Holy Spirit.
Context is king when studying God’s Word. What do you believe concerning John 14:12?
Tom said, “… the hospitals would be a great place for ministry. Why not start there? Because Jesus didn’t. He primarily healed those who came to Him in faith for healing. The one time he healed without being asked was at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus was apparently sent by God to heal this one man, apparently passing by many other sick people (the pool was surrounded by people waiting for the pool to be stirred. The sick man said that when it happened someone else always got to it before him, so there must have been other people around) and apparently not healing any of them. Another example of someone Jesus must have passed by and not healed was the lame begger at the beautiful gate that Peter commanded to rise up and walk. It said he had been lame from birth and was carried to the gate every day to beg, so it is very likely Jesus passed him more than once. Sometimes God heals as a special sign, like what happened in David Platt’s story. Often God heals because we ask Him to in faith. But to just go into a hospital and start speaking healing without a clear leading from the Lord to do so (like Jesus being led by God to go to the 1 man at the pool of Bethesda) wouldn’t work.
The point is, John, hospitals (and homes and churches) are full of Christians who sincerely call out to God in faith to be healed of chronic, debilitating, and sometimes terminal diseases and deformities, but are rarely if ever supernaturally healed. Many are anointed by the elders with oil as instructed in James 5, but among people I know I’ve never heard of a clear miracle occurring.
I have been a pastor for 26 years and have seen many devout & godly Christian die from cancer and heart disease. They certainly didn’t lack faith in God’s mighty power to heal. I have grieved with them in the painful process as life slowly, but surely slipped away from them. All of them received excellent medical care and alternative treatments. Not one of them was miraculously, instantaneously, and completely healed like Jesus healed people. The good news is that all of them saw their faith in God strengthened and died praising God, knowing that they would be with the Lord and free of sickness, sin and death.
I’ve seen them, The people healed don’t seem nearly so concerned with getting things verified as they do telling of Jesus’ kindness to them & praying for others. My husband is a physician, seen man raised from the dead. They are not a daily occurrence for me, but they are for some. Perhaps because they pray for more people?? Miracles were very common in the NT & Jesus commanded us “as you go…” It was not to the humble that He spoke Matt 16:4 to, it was to the skeptic. I have experienced a miraculous healing myself (written up in med journal) & I have prayed for people who have died. I refuse to bring my theology down to my experience, been there-donethat-never again. You can check out Randy Clark who has a team verifying & documenting the hearings Dr Clark is one of the most humble Baptist ministers I’ve ever been exposed to.
In this post you are doing the very thing you said you wouldn’t do, i.e. using your experience to support your theology. The crux of the issue is what is the correct interpretation of your experience?
Having your case written up in a medical journal in no way proves a miracle, of course, but if the journal did support your claim of a miracle that would be great. What is the reference for the journal issue?
Invoking the name of Randy Clark, or the co-author of some of his books Bill Johnson, does not lend credibility to your claims. I hope they are not among those Jesus was referring to in Mt. 7:21-3.
This is not an abstract theological discussion, but one of immense practical ministry implications. What does your theology say to the multitudes of disabled, physically suffering, and dying people? Do you blame them for a lack of faith and lack of prayer when they are not healed? If not, how do you explain their situation?
My hope is not in this fallen world or this mortal life, but in the sure foundation of eternal life made possible through Jesus.
I have been a member of a Southern Baptist church my entire 77 years. I have read about, studied, & listened to sermons about the miracles in the Bible. Yet, I have never witnessed what I would consider a verifiable miracle on the order of a raising from the dead or 100% turn-around of a serious malady, Maybe a “minor miracle,” I have been aware of people recovering from illnesses that they & others had been told were terminal. For about the past 4 years, I have experienced a number of very serious illnesses, have prayed for healing and have been prayed for by many. I have not experienced healing or a miracle. (Just to help understand what I am talking about, my issues are diabetes, neuropathy of the legs & feet, kidney problems, strokes, congestive heart failure, fluid on the lungs, breathing problems, urinary incontinence, swallowing problems, etc., to name a few.) Yes, I would like to be healed so that I might be able to serve the Lord openly, effectively and without the hindrances I have. I often wonder why these miracles happen in very remote places and not in the USA. Our country & people need the Lord just the same as those in faraway places, maybe even more. I agree with those commentors who would like to see & hear more documentation, but for now I believe the missionaries & the Baptist leadership that has reported the story. We need the whole Gospel preached, taught & practiced just as it was when Jesus walked this Earth. We would have a much more civilized society, more harmony & less bickering — according to the scripture, we will always non-believers and troublemakers, but not to the extent the world now experiences. I hope we will get undeniable verification of the event David Platt told about. I pray God will be glorified & lifted up in these events. Amen
Tracy I can understand your struggling with this– we all have health issues we’d like to see healed. God does still heal. God is also Sovereign. He alone is God! We can ask and seek him in His Word. I ask, but do I the faith I need, do I live obeying him, confess my sin, and pray in one accord with His will. I think we sometimes choose to believe God won’t do miracles because we don’t want to face our own shortcomings. That does not mean God can’t do what He says He can do. It is a struggle in this life. To have faith Lord please help us and sustain us. To know and glorify God. Christ suffered as well yet did many miracles for others by faith and prayer. Help our unbelief to become belief. But to trust you even in illness and suffering. For one day we will all be healed and live with God.???
Bless you Tracy for having faith in God…no matter what. It is our heart condition that is more important than a physical condition. Blessings on your body as well though. It is His temple & He cares deeply about our maladies.
Cool story, bro.
Sim, com a palavra de Deus sendo pregada com fidelidade e o mais importante: quem o pregava, vivendo com honestidade. Dando testemunhos do verdadeiro amor de Cristo!
I am praying for the resurrection of my baby whose been buried for three months… I need this kind of faith
Comments are closed.