“Miracles aren’t a validation of how powerful we are.”
The man with the signature blonde dreadlocks in front of us had a simple agenda over the last three days: To show the world that Jesus loves each one of us deeply and walks among us today in the form of every believer who carries His Spirit within.
“These signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues,” Todd White repeatedly declared to the 600 over participants of the School of Power and Love 2018, which opened on the night of December 5.
“It says ‘those who believe’ – and that’s every single one of us. Not just the evangelists. Not just a few people. These signs – miracles, healing, words of knowledge – are for every person who believes!”
I’m not sure what comes to your mind when you think of Todd White – preacher, street evangelist and founder of Lifestyle Christianity – but we know he’s not losing sleep over it. With a head-full of dreads you don’t commonly see in our country, neon-green toe shoes and a palpable, overflowing love for God and man, Todd White was born (again) to stand out.
Together with fellow evangelists Tom Ruotolo and Robby Dawkins, White is currently here for the Singapore leg of their training school, which has been held more than 100 times in the States, and has been condensed into a 3.5 day curriculum of teaching and street evangelism to help believers ground their identity in Jesus Christ and strengthen their confidence in the Holy Spirit.
I heard an audible voice that said, ‘I took those bullets for you, are you now ready to live for me?’
White, known for his boldness in evangelism and healing, was himself a drug addict and atheist for 22 years before his radical salvation, which happened after a drug dealer shot at him multiple times after a botched deal.
“I heard an audible voice that said, ‘I took those bullets for you, are you now ready to live for me?'” White shared at his sessions. That was when his life took a complete turn and he gave his life to Jesus. And that meant a lifetime of putting his faith where his mouth was, no matter what it took to tell others about His beloved Saviour.
“People sometimes ask me if there’s something wrong with me,” White said in between his incredible stories of sharing the Gospel with others and seeing miracles happen everywhere he goes. “I think there’s something right about me! I’m right with God!”
It’s this right-standing with God, the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) upon us, that is foundational keys for living life as a new creation in Christ, as a son or daughter of God.
“Mercy woke you up today and gave you one more chance to manifest His presence,” White said, explaining why he tells people about Jesus everywhere he goes. Restaurants, mall, gyms, elevators. To him, Jesus paid a price for all, so everyone is a target for the love of God. And once he goes home to be with Him, he won’t get to do this anymore.
His power and love has to be manifest today, right this moment, while we are still breathing and alive on earth.
“He loves me. He loves me. He loves me. He loves me,” White said with characteristic excitement, adding a twist to the game He loves me… He loves me not. “I’m never going to run out of petals! God loves me!”
When we know exactly who we are and walk in that identity of sonship, we realise how much love has been poured into us to give away. No more fear of what other people might think of us. No more fear of looking foolish to the world when we stop to pray for the one.
Your past – and all the shame, guilt and condemnation Satan ties to it – is the only thing that can separate you from the love of God.
“But Satan’s always trying to get us to prove who we are,” White later said to us in a private interview.
Satan tried to get Jesus to prove his identity as God’s son (Matthew 4:1-11). He tried to get Eve to doubt what God said (Genesis 3:1). And today, he is still trying to get us to waste our lives proving our identity and living in doubt over what Jesus’s death on the cross means for us.
And the strategy from the Garden of Eden hasn’t changed because it works. White named the weapons that we’re all familiar with: Shame, guilt, and condemnation. All these things come between us and our Father.
“I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” he read from Romans 8:38.
“But you know what’s not on that list? Your past. Because your past – and all the shame, guilt and condemnation Satan ties to it – is the only thing that can separate you from the love of God.
And the heart of the School of Power and Love is all about restoring each believer to the heart of our Father so that who we are and what we do flows from our secure identity in Him.
“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” (Luke 9:1-2)
What Jesus said to the twelve disciples is still true for us Christ-followers in Singapore today. Do we believe and dare to take Jesus at His word?
At Power and Love, we saw how God can use anyone who believes to heal, do miracles and the prophetic to bring an encounter of Jesus Christ to people everywhere.
But most of all, the biggest message is that what Christ did for us is more powerful than regret. He loves us too much to let our past separate us from Him.
In Todd White’s words, we cannot change what we may have done in the past that we regret, but we can come to Christ today and ask for His forgiveness – that we may step into a life of true freedom, power, and love with the Father.
The evening session of the final day of the School of Power and Love is happening tonight, December 8, 2018, at Grace Assembly of God (Tanglin), 7pm. It is free and open to the public. More information here.
