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Posted: 08/09/2005 at 2:11pm
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A Review of Bob Brasset’s All Things are Possible
by Steve Eastman
 For some people the healing ministry is a thing of pain-unfilled promises as they strain to believe hard enough. They've heard the tapes, made their confessions and continue in a driven state. Not so with Bob Brasset. Before 1998, few would have considered him any more a candidate for a healing ministry than any other charismatic pastor, but God had different plans. Reading Bob’s book, All Things are Possible, creates an atmosphere of joy and peace, not strife, just as it shows on the book cover.
The book begins with a dramatic announcement on an airliner, “Is there a doctor present on the flight? We have a medical emergency.” A doctor eventually diagnoses a passenger’s problem as a stroke and the man’s wife says her husband’s Alzheimer’s suddenly became worse. It turns out the sick man had been a pastor for 40 years, but his wife did not believe in healing. Nevertheless she allowed a fellow passenger, Bob Brasset, to pray. As he said, “Amen,” the stewardess reported the man had just returned to normal without a doctor’s explanation. Later Bob got to pray with the stewardess.
Bob also includes the story of parents he had heard about who “believed” for the healing of their diabetic child, even refusing insulin. The little girl died. Bob says this illustrates the difference between mental "believism" and anointed believing. “Jesus commanded us to seek the Kingdom first. … Healings, miracles, signs and wonders will follow. They are absolutely necessary Kingdom manifestations and are to be earnestly sought after but only in the context of an outflowing of the Kingdom.”
Any book on healing, to be complete, must examine the issue of God’s sovereignty. Bob handles this masterfully. He points out that we don’t worry about whether it’s God will for us to get better when we undergo emergency appendectomies. If that is proper, so is prayer for healing. Bob also points out helpful scripture passages, where man’s initiative and God’s sovereignty are found alongside each other.
Another interesting feature of All Things are Possible is the idea that there are three classes of blessings-present, future and maybe. Bob says he learned about this from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. All Christians experience forgiveness of sins, justification and friendship with God. Those are present blessings. Future blessing would include our resurrection body and being taken into God’s presence forever. Maybe blessings go only to those hungry enough to pursue them and include deliverance from all sin patterns, victory over self and empowering of the Holy Spirit.
So what qualities anoint faith? In Bob’s view, they are childlike simplicity, honesty and an open heart. He contrasts these with the themes found in many Christian best-sellers: self-worth, self-esteem, self-help, self-motivation and self-promotion. The common thread becomes obvious.
Many people grow tired of just reading theory. They would love Bob’s book because it is peppered with real-life examples. Many of these testimonies come from other people’s ministries, not just Bob’s. Theory and practice come together in All Things are Possible. It’s written by a man who’s just as comfortable praying for healing in a doctor’s office as in a church. He puts unbelievers at rest, they see God’s miracles and want his Jesus.
Bob Brasset heads up Extreme Healing Ministries and is a resident of Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. For more information, visit his webpage: www.extremehealing.ca.
Edited by Moderator on 08/09/2005 at 2:14pm
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Topic: A Review of Bob Brasset’s All Things are Possible
