Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. (Acts 8:5-8)

Here is an example of ordinary evangelism. Any Christian can do it. The Bible portrays the ministry of preaching accompanied by miracles as the standard. This is to be the norm whether we are preaching to sinners or whether we are preaching to believers.

Paul was speaking to believers when a man in his audience fell from a third floor window and was found dead. Paul put his arms around him and said, “Don’t be alarmed. His life is in him.” And the man was alive again. Paul wrote to believers stating that they were to expect supernatural manifestations in every gathering.

Any Christian can partner with God in the supernatural when he is speaking to sinners in the context of evangelism, and also when he is speaking to believers in order to teach and to edify them, or when he is worshiping God along with them. To follow Christ is to follow him into the realm of God, into a dimension of supernatural abilities and experiences.

This is such an integral part of following Jesus Christ that to forget it would be like forgetting what he was called, and to reject it would be rejecting what he taught and represented. And indeed the historic church has forgotten him and rejected him. The Faithless have made their own way. It is the way of unbelief, a culture of religion without power and reality.

Until Christians restore the supernatural to the mainstream, so that it becomes more central and pervasive than almost everything else in their lives, they condemn themselves when they discuss how to change the world with education and politics. They expose themselves as those who have rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have made a whole new religion out of rejecting him, and they are proud of it.

Counterfeit Christians complain that many people have strayed from “biblical evangelism,” but they are the ones who have rejected the biblical approach. They complain about alter calls, the sinner’s prayer, making decisions for Christ, and various practices and expressions used in evangelism by those who are vastly more effective. Yet they themselves stand as mortal enemies against the method of Jesus and his disciples.

Their criticisms come from unbelief and jealousy. Although the people they persecute often need to refine their theology and method, these critics are not in a position to speak, because their own theology and method make them look like unbelievers. They tout their lack of faith and lack of success as orthodoxy, when it is because there is no God in their lives — they have kicked him out. God has left them to die in their unbelief and godless religion. The Faithless cannot have a genuine ministry of the gospel, and so they make a ministry out of persecuting those who have a genuine ministry. They discredit other people’s success, because it is all they can do.

Jesus had miracles and gained a huge following. The Faithless at that time called him a deceiver and blasphemer. When the followers of Jesus work miracles and gather large crowds today, the modern Faithless exhibit the same behavior as their spiritual ancestors. They criticize and persecute, and they set themselves up as champions of orthodoxy –- exactly like the people who attacked and murdered Jesus.

Satan has infiltrated the Christian world with an army of faithless imposters. These people present themselves as the best of Christians, the most loyal and knowledgeable followers of Jesus. They are able to deceive gullible believers and those who are weak in faith and holiness, whose hearts lean toward wickedness. They are attracted to a system of religion that profess Jesus Christ but reject his power and method of living and of ministry. They tend to take the Faithless seriously and accept their indoctrination of unbelief and counterfeit orthodoxy.

Satan can have no such success among the people of faith. Scripture is clear about the doctrine and method of Jesus and his followers. This is a system of faith that affirms miracles for all kinds of ministries and all kinds of occasions. It is impossible to keep contradicting Jesus, but insist that it is a mere difference of opinion among his followers, or even insist that the way of Jesus has become outdated and incorrect. This is the dividing line between true and false believers, true and false ministries, true and false preaching, and true and false evangelism.