I remember watching Bruce Van Natta's testimony early in my salvation (maybe 2009 or 2010). I was on youtube all the time trying to figure out my faith as a former atheist who had an open vision where Jesus spoke to me. That's a longer story, but nevertheless, I was looking for testimony and evidence and being led by the Holy Spirit. Todd White and other street evangelists were my go-to, but I also spent a good bit of time on testimony videos from CBN and others like that. Videos like Natta's were my 'mana' for the time, but I only recently discovered the book(s) Natta wrote. His testimony is amazing and so I devoured this book by him (A Miraculous Life)!
Most people know him as the guy who was crushed from the waist down by a semi-truck engine with only about an inch between the engine and the floor! But this valuable book is full of testimonies, five really life-changing ones that directed the course of his life but also lots of miracles that Natta experienced as a traveling evangelist. This is one powerhouse of encouragement for the person seeking more supernatural encounters. He gives loads of practical advice for such a person but the faith anointing on this book is off the charts! You'll be looking for people to pray for and believing for personal encounters with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit from the introduction on.
I'm recommending this book with my whole heart as it is a great tool for building up your faith in God's supernatural ability to encounter His kids (daughters and sons like you and I). Natta shares experience-driven theology that he brilliantly backs up with scripture. The thing about encounter lifestyles is that we submit to Jesus as our teacher more than others. Not to say that God won't use pastors, of course God does, but even Jesus went about relationally dependant on God to discover his own purposes for the day. He would only say and do what He heard God saying and saw God doing. This book very effectively helps to build that important foundation in us that Jesus had cause it's so much about being a child of God dependant on the reality and presence of the Heavenly Father.
This powerful encounter was pivotal for Natta:
“I decided I had nothing to lose, so I prayed a very simple prayer. I said, “Jesus, if You are real, I want You to come and give me a hug right now.” Immediately Someone sat me up on the bed and wrapped their arms around me. A light came into the dark room that seemed to be only where I was. I could physically feel arms holding me and a chest I leaned on, but I couldn’t see anyone. Instantly the most incredible sensation of love unimaginable engulfed me. Mere words can’t accurately describe what happened that night. It was as if my body had been dipped in liquid love from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I was covered by this warm presence of love. This sensation was very physical, yet somehow this “liquid love” had also gone right to the very center of my being.”
Excerpt from: “A Miraculous Life: True Stories of Supernatural Encounters with God” by Bruce Van Natta
Armed with this supernatural encounter, Natta finds faith for all kinds of situations throughout the book. He gives one example where he was praying for someone who couldn't believe, he believed for her sympathetically and she was healed. That's why we need encounters. The economy of encounter is a currency that we can give to others. This book gives a lot to its reader. You'll grow in heavenly wealth but also in capacity to hold that wealth.
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