It's Supernatural

Sid: Talk about being red hot for the Messiah I have hear a headline from a Nigerian newspaper, The Post Express. It says “Bonnke raises man from death in Onitsha,” now this is in Nigeria. We are going to be talking about this this week because this is without a doubt one of the finest most documented, longest time that someone has been dead and came back to life of any that I’ve ever heard of before. The most authentic, the most medically verified. But Reinhard I would have to believe that is not the most exciting thing, the most exciting thing you said to me before we started, and I’m speaking to Reinhard Bonnke at his home in Orlando, Florida right now. You told me that 9.12 million people in a recent 5 month period have made written decisions for Jesus. In your wildest imagination did you ever think that would be possible?

Reinhard: Yeah, well Sid I rejoice it is actually mind boggling to see this ocean of humanity in front of me. You know a million people we have a peak attendance of 1,600,000 in a single service.

Sid: How can they hear you? How could a speaker system be large enough? That’s bigger than most cities.

Reinhard: I tell you we have a speaker system you can a pin drop hear miles away it is absolutely fantastic. It’s a Maya system it’s the best PA system, amplifying system in the world and that’s what we have believed and we make use of it. The people can’t see me I can’t see the people but they hear me very very well and respond tremendously.

Sid: I have a picture here in front of me of one of these large campaigns. I mean it’s such a sea of humanity. But many years ago you had a vision as a young man from God. Did you see this in the vision about Africa?

Reinhard: Yes well I cannot say that I saw this in a vision in such dimension as we see it in reality today. You know the Lord said that I would… when I was young I heard Him say that I would stand before presidents, and kings, and prime ministers and preach to nations. But you know one doesn’t know is it just real or is up to interpretation, but this is literal it is absolutely literal. I praise God. When I was a young man I went from prophecy to prophecy, today I go from fulfillment to fulfillment.

Sid: You told me something else that was terribly exciting and that was in 2001 you had a campaign in the Sudan with Muslims. What occurred?

Reinhard: Well I had the first campaign in Sudan in Khartoum in April 2000. The first meeting had a crowd of 30,000 people for us this is very small but…

Sid: I tell you what I’ll take 30,000 anytime (laughing).

Reinhard: (Laughing) …and when I started to pray for the sick from the platform a deaf-mute was healed. A young man of 20 years of age his name was Omar Mohammed who had suffered a lightning strike and his father died in that instance and he was deaf and mute as result of it. Within a split second this young man received perfect hearing and perfect speech. When he came to the platform I could hardly believe it because he spoke so perfect I wouldn’t believe he was deaf and mute but the people knew him and they shouted “That’s the beggar from the university.” The next day the crowd jumped already to 80,000 and it kept jumping, and to 210,000 people. I would say 95% – 98% of them were all Muslims. We saw Muslims healed, the blind healed by the dozens. I saw God pouring out His mercy on these people in such power. I would say almost more than I see Him pour out on Christians. As a matter of fact, some Christians were there and they saw the Muslims getting healed whole, saved and they said “Does Jesus love the Muslims more than His own children?” I said “No! According to your faith be it unto you.” This is what happened there.

Sid: Is that Christians have had so much that we’ve almost gotten religious rather than being hungry? Is that one of the reasons?

Reinhard: Well I don’t know I think we have complicated issues. To receive a miracle from God doesn’t mean that we need to have an M.A. in theology. If you see the records in the New Testament the greatest miracle, you know the Syrophenician woman she was not an Israelite woman she knew nothing about the word of God, and there a great miracle was given to her. So this is the proof that we don’t need to know the Bible by heart before we can expect a miracle. Its just that people in all simplicity stretch out their hand by faith and take it by faith and receive it. This is how it works, fear not only believe.

Sid: You know a name that is almost unfortunately become a household word in the United States, Osama Bin Laden. You actually got a message from him, what did it say?

Reinhard: I got an email from him that was April last year. With copies sent to CNN and the BBC, and a whole list of other organizations I did not recognize. It was done in Arabic, I had never seen Arabic on the internet at all. Then the translation into English right at the bottom saying “Bonnke if you come back to Khartoum we are going to shoot you.” So the sender it said there as clear as the day was Osama Bin Laden.

Sid: Hmm. Now when you were there in 2000 did many Muslims come to the Lord?

Reinhard: Yes!  In great abundance! In great abundance! The first 2 days the VIP section was almost totally empty. The last 2 days they were packed with government ministers and their large families, there was no room enough. They were responding to the gospel. We had hundreds of thousands of decisions for the Jesus Christ in that very Easter celebration we called it, Easter Celebration.

Sid: Did you have any idea how many of those were Muslim?

Reinhard: Well since there are so few Christians…

Sid: (Laughing)

Reinhard: …I dare you just have a guess, but I was told that Khartoum was flooded with home cell groups and get-togethers. It really had a mighty, mighty impact.

Sid: Reinhard would there have been anyway that number of Muslims would have come the Lord without miracles?

Reinhard: I don’t think we would have gotten their attention. I think… I’m not saying that miracles are there just to draw the attention to the gospel in form of ad registrant I don’t believe that. I believe that the healing power of Jesus is inherent in the gospels. When the gospel and it is believe that healings just flow out of it, flow from it. I have come to see that the tree of life as we see it right in Genesis and we also find it back then in the book of Revelation. This tree of life which has so many leaves and these leaves are for the medicine for the nation. I’ve come to see the word of God as the tree of life and every leaf in the word of God is healing. When we preach the word of God from these leafs of the Bible the tree of life healing will flow so… this is all pulled together. The medicine is in the gospel, in the tree of life and at the same time it stirs whole cities and whole nations that brings the people, but the purpose is not and foremost for advertisement it is for compassion, the compassionate heart of God of the Lord. This compassion flows through us to those who need help and healing.

Sid: Reinhard when you got such a serious death threat from this Osama Bin Laden, why were you willing to go? Why didn’t you just cancel?

Reinhard: Well we prayed, we prayed you know, we go by the direction of God almighty and by the Holy Spirit. We are not just bluffed… I am being bluffed so often… I don’t chicken out. So we prayed and the Lord spoke to us…

Sid: Reinhard we’re out of time right now.