Jame 5:14 and Wesley's commentary marks another important and very relevant point on the need to be part of local/formal church whenever possible/practical:



Verse 14
[14] Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

Having anointed him with oil — This single conspicuous gift, which Christ committed to his apostles, Mark 6:13, remained in the church long after the other miraculous gifts were withdrawn. Indeed, it seems to have been designed to remain always; and St. James directs the elders, who were the most, if not the only, gifted men, to administer at. This was the whole process of physic in the Christian church, till it was lost through unbelief. That novel invention among the Romanists, extreme unction, practised not for cure, but where life is despaired of, bears no manner of resemblance to this.

P. S: I expect this should include mental disorders too

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Kervin

I hope I was not haste thereto but I have now gone on to initiate (having a technical background therein) the desired online Church platform. It is indeed aimed solely at those who feel they have no access to an evangelical/worthy brick and mortar Church.

I am currently building or sandboxing it at https://likechrist.c1.is (free domain) but expect to have it running officially under https://www.likeChristFellowship.Church once I have the $10 necessary to register the domain.

This is expected to operate as a sub-intiative of the 'likeChrist Ministries', which is a registered Not-for-Profit Company (NPC). It not yet worked out how timezone differences shall best be addressed but there are ideas. So if you know someone who could use this hub type (evangelical Online Church), kindly recommend the initiative to them (my email: [email protected]).

Should I ever be convicted to discontinue this initiative (I have non thus far) I shall be sure to add a comment here to advise accordingly.

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Kervin

A Christian someone (based in UK and detained from physical Church largely by illness) who appreciated the initiative donated twice+ the needed sum for the domain. I am now accordingly migrating the site from the free to the newly purchased one. I should comment back here once done - since only then can considering brethren be able to best create member accounts.

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Kervin

Thank you for the updates dear brother. As one who is in the midst of a ruling false religion, with few to no Christian gatherings, I will continue to follow your updates.

Dear brother, I indeed also cannot wait to see what God might make out of this work for which nothing else is purposed save his glory (thus through biblical fellowship). While I should continue to tweak here and there, the site is now fairly functional under https://likechristfellowship.church/ as hoped. So may those who feel they could use this hub-type proceed to create joining accounts. Or if you know someone who could use the same, kindly recommend it thereto accordingly.

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Kervin

My bug bear at the moment there is no real praying apps as I am from a computer science background and can code and and so would like a proper praying app and I so miss a good local Christian bookshop

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Dominic Shiells

One thing that is apparent, brother, is that, it is often unlikely that the world can build that perfect something that Christians may go around longing for. So yes we will need to get hands as often as we have these potentially high impact dreams.

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Kervin

It proves I was right in my understanding that many of our long standing needs coud easily have been ministered to had we had been part of a thorough Church.

Despite being yet the only member (of the new likeChrist Fellowship) ouside my family, the said saint not only have donated the said $20+ for the domain but went on to offer an additional $239 after I got a chance to detail out our needy state. The size of that gift left me agitated for the rest of the day and needed to calm down.

I would have a problem when my wife's Christless mother would barely try to help us as I wished but understood that our true relatives were those in the Church (which we did not have).

As limited as some may rightly argue, the LCF online Church has thus left us with good hope over our situation (which sadly left my wife drifting swiftly from the faith). May as may as feel like they are without a local Church be encouraged to join LCF because what is there proves to be more than superstition.

Theae also includes those that are newly converted (on the street perhaps by modern day Wesleys) and do not have home Church to grow further in yet. As these increases beyond available care, then we may need to invite volunteering mentors/disciplers from this hopeful SI community.

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Kervin

Some updates (edited):

The dear sister from the UK eventually wished to leave the LCF ( https://likechristfellowship.church/ ) around the middle of this month. We have had extensive talks, mainly via email, on various topics almost on a daily basis. We for some reason seemed to disagree on several of the topics, sadly. One of the two examples I wish to share are: She for one believed the thief had the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the cross as she implicitly maintained that those that enter heaven must have had the baptism (or Entire Sanctification as she prefers to put it). My position has been that the thief could not have had the HS baptism as it was not openly given until the day of Pentecost and therefore cannot have been a prerequisite for entering heaven for those dying without it.

Our second major disagreement was on James 5:14 where she believed the 'sick' that Jame envites there are not the literally (bodily sick) but the unsanctified as she puts it (those that have a sort of spiritual impurity). This was very sad to me as not only did I disagree with her but I still desire divine healing for my GAD, wife's PTSD and son's ASD (if God will grant) - but this was by her seemingly excluded there - only the unsanctified if I felt like one. Leaving this here for brethren to judge for themselves. While we are still only 3 on LCF to date, I do not feel convinced to let it go. When we can, we try to pray at the same hour everyday at 7AM GMT+2 for now.

Myself and wife have recently gone on to register a non-profit organisation https://ckwa.org.za/ that seeks to support autistic kids in South African disadvantaged families (including our son) through worthy fundraisings and donations. While this has been sweet tasting with all the possibilities of things such as needed salaries and being thus involved in a mercy ministry, my strongly welcoming divine healing especially first to my family's 3 cases of sickness brought me to question if we should desire (from God) to support these ASD kids through ordinary means (which will of cause be limited and protracted) or to desire for them too the complete and perfect divine healing (through work that is like that of Smith Wigglesworth?).

Yes, this still depends on whether God does grant the gift thereof - and until he does, he shall have not granted and so we shall have to continue to offer support through ordinary means thus. Yes, this question will only be valid if God should first heal the 3 of us (wife, son and I) through our prayer attempts. Yes my wife has last retraced her steps back to Christ and for this I so bless and praise God!

I read healing accounts (which I found very evangelical) in the 'The Wonders of Prayer' located here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11553/11553-h/11553-h.htm Particularly of two old ladies (one from Tuberculosis or Consumption) on their 70s and 80s (story section titled "The Prayer Of Faith.") and feel more stirred towards the validity of divine healing (yes I believe there are the counterfeit ones - you shall know them by their fruits?).

This has been so burdening in my heart that my third Sunday written sermon attempt turned to be more of an expression or study on the topic: https://likechristfellowship.church/2024/01/21/musing-on-divine-healing-for-the-bodily-sick-folks/

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Kervin

Updates post was edited (typos and additions for clarity)

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Kervin