A story is told of an American Indian brave who found a nest of eagle eggs and placed one in a nest of prairie chicken eggs and the young eaglet grew up scratching in the dirt for food. On one occasion, a shadow on the ground caused him to look up where a mature eagle was soaring. But prairie chickens fly only a few feet off the ground so the young eagle was told, “He’s the king of the air and you can’t fly like him! So the young eagle died as he lived, unaware of his potential to soar like an eagle (from Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done).
A harsh truth is that most who profess Christ scratch in the dirt of life like those unsaved. Polls comparing churched and unchurched reveal little difference in divorce, addiction, depression, or premature death from disease. And most believers fail to recognize their inheritance “in Christ.” As far as soaring on spiritual wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31), the opposite is more usually the case.
The subject of this book is the rarely mentioned “kingdom of heaven” by a medical doctor who has witnessed God’s miraculous power both in and through his life. A graduate of Northwestern Medical School, Ralph spent half of his career as director of radiation oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland and piloted research on several cancers including Hodgkin’s disease for which he was awarded by the U.S. government. The remainder of his medical career was in private practice in St Petersburg, Florida.
While in practice, Ralph received baptism in the Holy Spirit and cure of even terminal diseases took place after prayer without any medical intervention. Many under demonic influence were set free and a man who died from total liver and kidney failure due to alcohol abuse was restored to healthy life. The healing power of God has touched Ralph himself, having survived 24 years with metastatic prostate cancer and now off treatment without symptoms. It is 16 years since diagnosis of severe autoimmune disease combining rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis (also in remission), and 7 years since experiencing congestive heart failure which now requires no treatment.
Ralph experienced a sharp decrease in referrals as the news spread of the healings by prayer. Physicians strongly objected to not having all patients being given orthodox treatment. So after a series of medical missions and caring for indigent patients in a local Free Clinic, Ralph left practice in l997 and served for 12 years as a volunteer chaplain in correctional institutions. In that time, six books were self-published for use in these institutions, in local churches, and training of pastors in overseas bible schools. A Doctor of Divinity degree was conferred in 2007 by Emmanuel Bible College and Loving Hands Theological Seminary in Hyderabad, India for contributions to their programs.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done was birthed in a dream in 2005 when Ralph was told to write a book about intimacy with Jesus. Six phrases were written down before returning to sleep, and now are the chapter headings in the order received. The book includes an autopsy on dying churches where the miraculous power of Holy Spirit is rarely seen. The major focus are steps to restore God’s manifested presence in lives of believers known as the “kingdom of heaven.” Jesus brought to the earth a kingdom for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil and He preached as did the disciples a “gospel of the kingdom” which embraces God’s supernatural power (Matthew 4:23).
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
Godly men in the OT were used for the miraculous, including healing of the sick and even the raising of the dead. But there was absence of power over the demonic until Jesus brought the “kingdom of heaven.”
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come to you. Matthew 12:28
The kingdom of God is linked not only to healing and “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). It includes power over the demonic and expelling unclean spirits was recognized as never seen before: “What new doctrine is this? With authority He commands even unclean spirits, and they obey Him” (Mark 1:27). It is an authority which exists today for those in the kingdom of heaven.
Following teaching at our county jail, an inmate with injury that left him with loss of strength and pain in a withered right arm asked for prayer. But the Holy Spirit said “Don’t pray for healing! Cast out the demon!” So I commanded a spirit of infirmity to leave in the name of Jesus and all were astonished at the immediate relief of pain. Weeks later this man visited our church and I told my wife, “This is the man who had a spirit causing a painful withered arm!” We shook hands and his grip was like a steel vise. There had been total restoration of muscles to the glory of God (from ‘Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done’).
Today’s focus is all but exclusively on “salvation.” Ignored is the “kingdom of God” (John 3:5), the conditions for entering which are different than for being born again although such is not recognized by most. The signs and wonders to follow preaching of God’s Word are all but nonexistent as well (John 14:12; Acts 4:29,30). Jesus tells of churches reputed to be alive but calls them “dead” (Revelation 3:1) and exhorts us, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This book is a must read for all desiring to become soldiers in the kingdom of God on earth.
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