In his new book ‘invitation to heal’, Michael Harvey considers the scientific links between the act of invitation and healing, drawing from Luke 9 where Jesus sends the disciples out to preach the Good News and to heal.
From exploring scientific and physiological research Michael argues that when we positively challenge people to invite their friends, colleagues and family to church, a church event or exploration of faith, for many a freeze, flight or fight reaction linked to fear kicks in. Often this response is related to an adverse, perhaps buried, past experience and they experience stress as a result.
That stress is experienced negatively, but we do know that stress can be a positive thing leading us to overcome barriers. Therefore Michael encourages leaders to support people through this process where past trauma may be exposed and stress experienced, to enable them to discover the healing Christ first offers us which may be found as we engage in mission with Him – in our weakness we are made strong.
"When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples he told them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the sick. Yet in our generation we seem to have concentrated mission mostly (or only) on the proclamation part. Michael Harvey has conducted a 15 year survey of churches and individual Christians in the area of mission and to his surprise has found that healing is at the heart of successful mission.
"He challenges the way we think about mission and sets out a vision for how every individual church can bring together the proclamation of the kingdom of God and the healing of the sick. Bringing together biblical analysis with the latest science from the fields of neuroimmunology and the psychology of trauma, Harvey has created a book that will nourish and embolden all Christians seeking to find a way to bring together their own need for healing and their willingness to respond to the call of God.
"The Guild of Health and St Raphael is publishing this short book as part of its Healthy Healing Hub project, which seeks to resources and support every church to be a hub for healing for the whole community."
Words from 'The Guild of Health and St Raphael'
The short book; 'An invitation to heal', can be ordered here.