Step into the new year with an open heart and a renewed spirit as we explore the profound depths of the Christian Healing Ministry alongside our passionate hosts, Wes & Lisa. Our latest episode is a beacon for anyone eager to deepen their understanding of Jesus' healing power in the modern world. We're setting the stage for an enlightening discussion that promises to comfort, challenge, and inspire robust theological reflections.
Join us as we warmly welcome newcomers to the Acorn Christian Healing Academy and announce our plans to visit emerging hubs nationwide. Wes shares his wisdom on what it means to seriously pursue the path of Christian healing, emphasizing that God values our quest for growth and clarity. This heart-to-heart is an invitation to experience the encouragement and zeal intrinsic to a journey that intertwines the pursuit of healing with the love of God. Don't miss this episode, where the passion of the heavens is brought down to our earnest conversations.
Step into the new year with an open heart and a renewed spirit as we explore the profound depths of the Christian Healing Ministry alongside our passionate hosts, Wes & Lisa. Our latest episode is a beacon for anyone eager to deepen their understanding of Jesus' healing power in the modern world. We're setting the stage for an enlightening discussion that promises to comfort, challenge, and inspire robust theological reflections.
Join us as we warmly welcome newcomers to the Acorn Christian Healing Academy and announce our plans to visit emerging hubs nationwide. Wes shares his wisdom on what it means to seriously pursue the path of Christian healing, emphasizing that God values our quest for growth and clarity. This heart-to-heart is an invitation to experience the encouragement and zeal intrinsic to a journey that intertwines the pursuit of healing with the love of God. Don't miss this episode, where the passion of the heavens is brought down to our earnest conversations.
Good morning, Wes Nice to be with you for a new year. Happy new year.
Rev Wes Sutton:And you too, absolutely, we're getting ready to go. Nice new logo and behind yeah.
Lisa Way:Oh yeah, for the listeners who can't see our logo, you have to wait till you watch Acorn Christian Live or you join us at the Academy. It's nice and clean, nice and fresh, which is what we're hoping for the new year. But, wes, we've got more questions. We've got more things to think about around the Christian Healing Ministry. I'm sure you're very excited.
Rev Wes Sutton:Oh yeah, because it's funny, it's like a new term. You get a new pencil case and bagging stuff and I always like that. So even though I was a teacher, I really like that as well.
Lisa Way:Oh, that's sweet. So it is the start of a new year. We've got a new intake of people joining us at the Acorn Christian Healing Academy. We can't wait to meet you by those of you who are new, We've got new hubs forming this year where we're going to go make some visits to different places across the country. But I just wanted to take a moment with you to focus on this new year at the Academy and the things that we're going to be looking at together and training in. So for those who are starting out on this journey where we're looking at Jesus healing today, the Healing Ministry of Jesus, what can they expect, both from God, but also from us here at Acorn?
Rev Wes Sutton:Oh gosh. Well, I think they could, probably should, expect more from God than they would from us, but you know it's a bit of a thing. I think the first thing I would say to people is that one of the things you can expect from God is he's going to take you seriously. You know, we've all found in this Healing Ministry that there comes sort of a it's a journey, and it comes a moment when you are really tempted to think I must be out my mind.
Rev Wes Sutton:You know, I'm really cracked and crazy. If I've had people say it to me, you know you're an idiot.
Rev Wes Sutton:I would say yeah, I know but that doesn't seem to worry me, god, that much. I think the thing that I found is that God takes me seriously in this and that my desire to follow him, not just as a disciple of Jesus, but my desire to follow him, however imperfectly I might do, that he takes that seriously, and you know, just as you would with your kids and everything else you know you just get the idea that Because he sees that I'm reaching out for something and it matters to me, it matters to him as well. I think the other thing that you can expect, god, to do is.
Rev Wes Sutton:You can expect him to both give you comfort, which is wonderful, but you can also expect him to give you challenge as well. One of the things I love about the academy and, in fact, to be honest, any of the training things that we do is and you've been with me just we did one recently and there was some really strong debate about issues that were going on, and part of it is not. I say to people don't agree with me just because I've said it. If you think there's more to unpick in this, then do that. Come on, say yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about? But I think also, funnily enough, you can expect God to give you answers.
Rev Wes Sutton:Okay, absolutely, in my experience, you can expect God to give you really good questions. You have to go away and sit down with the back of your head and think about for a while, because you know, one of the things I love about the academy, lisa, is that it's a really theological place. We're doing theology all the time. Good or bad, we are doing it. So every time I say Jesus heals, I'm doing theology. But every time somebody says to me God doesn't heal today, they're doing theology.
Lisa Way:Yeah.
Rev Wes Sutton:You know. So actually, I think, in that sort of general mix of things, what can we expect from God? You can expect encouragement, you can expect him to take you seriously, and you can expect to experience the passion of heaven because, this really matters to God and actually my experience is it's going to matter to people much, much more.
Rev Wes Sutton:Because I love the NHS, I'm grateful for the NHS, I feel privileged to live in a country where we have the NHS and please long may it rain, okay. But also I'm realistic in saying, you know, the NHS is overstretched and there are some things that you know people can't get to, and so you know, when we pray we're not trying to replace the NHS, we're trying to say Jesus is present here, what can you expect from us? Well, you can expect honesty.
Lisa Way:Yeah.
Rev Wes Sutton:You know you can ask any question you like. So long as one of the answers is I haven't got the foggiest idea.
Lisa Way:Yeah.
Rev Wes Sutton:But that's a great question and we're going to think about it. You can expect from us in a cool, you can expect some passion.
Rev Wes Sutton:you know, you know, I it's different in the church. Somebody's passionate about something. You look at them and think, oh yes, but actually you know, just go through all the people in the Bible you know, and actually they were passionate about what they're doing. So you can expect some passion and actually you can expect us to encourage you and to journey with you to put it into practice we're going to. This is a doing thing, not just a thinking thing.
Lisa Way:Yeah, I love it. It's such an exciting place to be, isn't it? At the Academy, but I do find it sometimes a bit of a contradiction. Well, I think that's not the right word. We get passionate and I get excited about being a part of this, but then also my heart breaks that we have to. Is this the right thing to say, that we can be a part of it? It's so sad that there's such broken things happening. I don't want to put a downer, but I just. It's just a little awareness thing for me there.
Rev Wes Sutton:Yeah, and I mean there are two things that are down, as one is is the thing that happens to people's bodies, minds and spirits. And I agree with you. You know you look at some things and you think, oh God, you know, and for most of us, compassion is one of the things that sturs us to. You know, you look at something. You think, lord, you know, surely?
Lisa Way:But one of the other things that I find sad.
Rev Wes Sutton:I mean, I love the church. I've been working in the churches for 43-odd years. But you know, somebody asked me what they call was about and I said well, to be honest, I want to change the church in this country. I want to change the way that they think and perceive the healing ministry of Jesus. I want them to stop thinking this is a magical thing that happens only every now and again if you're in the right place, with the right people at the right time. I want the church to begin to think that actually it's Jesus that heals and actually, wherever I am, he is also there. So if I pray, he's going to do something Okay. And I want the church to get over the idea that, well, if it doesn't work 100% of the time, we should never try, and I just I want the church to accept its responsibility.
Lisa Way:Yeah.
Rev Wes Sutton:That it is one of the expressions of the kingdom of God on earth. And if we're not going to do it, who is? That's my thing, yeah.
Lisa Way:Yeah, gosh, that stares you up, doesn't it? Okay, so you have mentioned, then, that you and people know this as well that you've been in ministry for 43-odd years Not odd years, but 40 years.
Rev Wes Sutton:But some of them were odd.
Lisa Way:So you had to start out somewhere. You had to begin this journey that has got you to where you are now. Was there anything in particular that helped or maybe even hindered you on your journey as you started out?
Rev Wes Sutton:That's a great question. I think the things that helped me with the people I hung around with yeah you know and people have heard me quote the Einstein thing of that he stays away from negative people because they've always got a problem for every solution. And so I chose to stay away from negative people. Not the people who were trying to find answers, Okay, but the people who, whatever you said, they had a reason why it wasn't going to happen and why Jesus wasn't like that.
Lisa Way:Okay.
Rev Wes Sutton:So I intentionally sought out people who were doing it and working on it and yet try to navigate their way through it. Absolutely, I found that reading the Bible really helped, which sounds obvious really, but you know, sometimes we read the Bible and think I don't understand that. So it can't be, you know true for today.
Rev Wes Sutton:But actually the thing I learned was just keep reading it, because eventually something's going to drop with you. So today, one of the things I read I was reading just the Genesis story about and it says that God made the vegetation, the plants and the stuff and the trees on the earth. He made them grow, and you think, yeah right, bring it on, Okay. And then the next verse. A couple of verses later it says and he put man in there to sort of till the earth and steward it, you know and I thought, yeah, but that's right, isn't it?
Rev Wes Sutton:You know, the God does something, he starts something, but he gets us involved. And so the other thing I found is I decided that I wasn't going to let my fears or my failures stop me from praying next time.
Rev Wes Sutton:Very good yeah because there are going to be fears and there are going to be failures. Sometimes you're going to sit with somebody who prays for them and you're going to say, god, I haven't got any faith or any idea of what's going on here, you know, but I'm here, and I think the thing is to not panic in those moments, just to say, okay, lord, this is about you, it's not about me, so what do you want to do now? You know, and I've prayed for people, and I've started praying because it's the right thing to do, and then found out that God's there and he's doing this, and so I said, okay, that's the thing.
Lisa Way:I think that's a very intentional place to be, because, you know, I bet at times and I mean I can speak from experience it feels like everything in you is worried or just or it's just not there, like you mentioned, just not feeling anything, and the initial response would be to stop, and I think what you're explaining is like you're intentionally saying I'm not going to let that into me.
Rev Wes Sutton:Yes, because in the end, Lisa, that's a choice.
Lisa Way:Yeah.
Rev Wes Sutton:That's not a feeling, it's a choice. See, paul talks about the fact that he had foes on the outside and fears on the inside, but actually that's in the middle of his ministry. He's not saying hey, and because of that I'm going to stop.
Rev Wes Sutton:And you know the healing ministry has had its opponents absolutely, and some things haven't been good absolutely, but actually the answer to that is to press onto the thing that's right and loving and beneficial and has integrity. I mean, that's one of the things you're going to get from Acorn. You're going to get integrity. If we don't know, we'll say it. If we haven't found out, you know, we're going to say it.
Rev Wes Sutton:But the other thing is, I guess, in the end, as well as being with the right people, reading the Bible, not letting your fears and your failures get in the way, one of the things that was really helpful to me somebody helped me to see it is that I don't need to know how it works out at the end to start at the beginning.
Lisa Way:That's helpful.
Rev Wes Sutton:So for most of us think unless I know how this is going to work out, I'm not going to try. So I just got used to saying well, I'm going to start you know, and, somewhere along line, god's going to come and finish it, so yeah, absolutely.
Lisa Way:That's really helpful. And can you suggest any other helpful habits for people who are in this ministry?
Rev Wes Sutton:Yeah, just find all the books that have got some stories of healing ministry in them. You know, I mean you're going to hear me talk about people like John G Lagan, katherine Cullman, all those sort of people. But there are some great healing stories out there, you know, and even on the news you come across some stuff when you read them. I always read those stories and say you know, because the temptation is you read those stories and you think yeah that's so amazing.
Rev Wes Sutton:It's like Disneyland sort of stuff. But actually I read those stories and say, well, you did it once, God, why do you do it now?
Rev Wes Sutton:Do it again yeah, do it with me, you know so I read the stories and think, yeah, I don't know how on earth, how did John G Lagan do what he did? Not only to start the healing rooms, but you know, he saw some incredible miracles, saw somebody raised from the dead in the back of an ambulance during a tent crusade meeting. They told him the woman had collapsed and he went out there. He sits in the ambulance and she's dead and he prays for her in the name of Jesus and the woman sits up. You know, and you can imagine being the ambulance. Guys, okay, so we won't take you to the hospital there, but you read that and you go yeah, yeah, yeah. Or you read it and say yeah, yeah, yeah, and that's what I do.
Lisa Way:That's very good. Yeah, so there's a lot of expectancy, I think, coming through of God, obviously, and this I mean for those of you listening and you've not been a part of the Healing Academy yet. This is very similar to the sorts of things that we discuss and we look at together. So hopefully you just got a little taster, actually, of what is to come in the new year, Whereas I think we'll leave it there because we don't want to give everything away before we start. But we really look forward to meeting you who are joining us. If you haven't yet found all the details, just head over to our website. It's all on there and you can register yourself or a group of people on, and we look forward to meeting you. So until next time, Wes nice to see you and, for those of you who are listening, we'll see you very soon. Bye-bye, Bye-bye.