Dignify and Deploy 37: Clear, Merciful Sight

‘Humanity is going through a remarkably fluid period of history…a time of collapsing values and ideologies in which he who wishes to go forward has one choice left—to walk on water.’ St. John Paul II

John Wimber brought the Kingdom of Life to a people living under the shadow of death. He fought hard to manifest heaven to people robbed by infirmity. And he knew when to release them to heaven.

The man who summoned our faith to do the ‘greater works’ greeted Cathy for the last time. A favorite co-worker of John’s, she was among the army who labored cheerfully with John for years. The last five she battled cancer, and the more it spread, the more John and company prayed for her. Times of refreshment ebbed and flowed. She was tired. Sitting upright in bed, looking radiant with her hair up, fresh make-up on a face framed by a pretty bed jacket, John knew at once. It was time. This was the day for her to see Jesus. ‘I’m ready, John.’ No more words. He just sat with her, expectant. She passed into glory later that day.

John loved people. The Kingdom he taught us to bring dignified them. A couple of years before he passed a wave of renewal blew through the Vineyard—empowering and at times excessive. He saw a picture of a large reservoir of water, ‘living water’--God’s mercy, poised to be released to a parched people. In the pool partying, we didn’t see beyond our Spirited hijinks. ‘This water is for them,’ he exhorted us, ‘not about your fun. Release this water to the thirsty. Let it pour through you to quench their thirst.’

Divine Mercy. St. John Paul II loved a fellow Pole—St. Faustina Kowalska who as a young uneducated nun in the 1930’s received a vision of Blood and Water like a river flowing from risen Jesus’ heart. He told her of His longing to saturate the earth with His mercy, especially the most sinful: ‘The greater the sinner, the more he has a right to My mercy,’ and such. She was fierce, frail, on fire with Divine Mercy, and died young. St. John Paul II canonized her on April 30th, 2000, making her the first saint of the new millennium, a fitting symbol for his vision of the whole world being immersed by Merciful Jesus.

Combine Divine Mercy with Theology of the Body (TOB)—John Paul’s vision of true sexual dignity—voila, Kingdom authority for a host of fake ‘humanities,’ including the LGBTQ+ set.

Remove TOB, and scandal results. In truth, St. John Paul II would be horrified by the ‘fake mercy’ exemplified by Pope Francis. We must shudder (and be provoked to declare the true Gospel!) at the alliance he has forged with ‘gay’ priest Fr. James Martin who artfully extends a dirty mantle over LGBTQ+ Catholics.

Francis’ mutation of Divine Mercy for the same-sex attracted has nothing to do with Real Blood and real repentance—it is accompaniment to nowhere, a soft optic ‘aren’t we nice for being nice to LGBTQ+ people?’ without the clear call to authentic conversion. Jesus’ Blood—Divine Mercy--takes us down to the core of what it means to be His own, made in His image as male and female, man for woman, woman for man. St. Faustina and St. John Paul II—pray for us!

John Wimber, pray for us; help us to ‘see’ real human dignity AND real Kingdom mercy! He does. In November ’97, John died days after a quadruple bypass. He had asked Annette and I to help tend to his son Chris, dying of brain cancer; we assumed Chris would go before John. Wrong. I was conferencing in Australia and had to do a fast turnaround to get back to Yorba Linda. John gone--Chris waiting!

Running across the airport I felt naked and small, like a kid hoping no-one finds out his age. I lost a father; I was alone trying to make it through. Racing up a stair well I glimpsed a youthful John a few steps ahead of me, merry and fit. He waved me onward and said, ‘Come on!’ I did. Thanks John.

“Thank You for men and women of bright merciful vision. We need them! Steady, strengthen, and clarify our view. Fuse our understanding of human dignity with Divine Mercy. Anchor our take on Mercy with Your Cross, the tree and fruit of suffering. Help us to fight for freedom and to let go as Your Spirit leads. Immerse us in ‘living water,’ Your Divine Mercy. Come Holy Spirit, liberate what is true and beautiful from what debases us. May we not settle but aspire to the dignity of our sexual humanity. May we grow into ‘mature expressions of the gift’ by helping others do the same. Deployed to dignify, we ‘harness the John force.’”