Have you ever met a contrarian: someone whose first instinct is to oppose you, to find fault with whatever you do, to say no? Unfortunately these are not rare. There are some questions for which the answer is no and some for which it is yes. Which do you favor? Some people think of me this way, but they are wrong. Consider the way I am represented in the story of the prodigal son. The father says yes to some shocking and inappropriate requests and the short term results are exactly what you would expect.

My name is Jean Freeborn and I want to share how God used Mark and Charity's book Unleashing Healing Power through Spirit-Born Emotions to bring healing in my life following the death of my husband.

How high do you set the bar for those you would minister to? Consider my own example. Did I ever ask anyone to recite the Ten Commandments before I would heal them? What did I ask? I typically only asked if they wanted to be healed. Even I wasn’t going to force blessings on them against their will. Other than that I required no payment or knowledge or commitment. In other words I set the bar really low. I have commissioned you to go forth and do the same things that I did, and given you the power to do these things in my name. in doing this you should follow my example.

Do you think more offense is given or taken? This question can only be answered if there is an objective standard for what is offensive. An offense requires two parties, just like a transaction requires a buyer and a seller, and in this case neither side can claim to be loving and gracious. You are warned against giving offense in that it is better to be cast into the sea tied to a millstone than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. But if you would be truly gracious, then you can learn to overlook personal slights and offenses and not be offended by them.