And These Signs Will Follow

By Rich Coyle

The sheer number of miraculous interventions recounted in this book may tempt readers to assume that Mr. Rich Coyle made up these stories to bring glory to himself as a paragon of virtue and faith. Having known Mr. Coyle for more than twenty years, I can personally vouch for his honesty, integrity and genuine humility. I have no problem at all believing the miracles recounted in this volume for I know the faith of the man who experienced them and I know the power of Jesus Christ whom he serves. I do not believe it is possible to read this book without being inspired to grow in faith and believe God to manifest His supernatural power in our lives. Mr. Coyle has received from the mighty hand of God so many times because he simply believes Gods word is true. His faith is perhaps best summed up in this single verse of scripture: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Dr. Thomas J. Kindell, ThD, PhD, founder and president of Reasons for Faith Ministries, Inc.

This is put together so well, its like someone else did it! Sue Coyle, wife of the author

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490822341

Rich Coyle

Rich Coyle became a Christian on June 24, 1974, sitting in a car outside a restaurant. He knew the person with whom he shared lunch had some magic words that would line him up with infinite intelligent energy. The “magic” words were nothing more than a prayer Rich carefully repeated word for word. But they were magic! He discovered the real magic words are in the Bible, which he literally consumed daily to learn about a whole new life.

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Copyright © 2014 Rich Coyle.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2233-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2235-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2234-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014900291

WestBow Press rev. date: 1/30/2014

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1   Healings

Chapter 2   Infinite Intelligent Energy

Chapter 3   Beam me up, Scotty

Chapter 4   More Healing Some Physical, Some Spiritual

Chapter 5   Angels and Dreams

Chapter 6   Signs Wonders Miracles

Chapter 7   Unexpected

July 25, 1997

Preface

Monday came with no job to go to. I decided to write about some technical stuff. The article was sent to a magazine to see if they would print it. The editor called to inform me it was going to be published. I wrote another and called the editor. Sounds good. Better send it. A thought came to me. This is not permanent. When Jesus returns all this technical information will be of no value. I will write about something that will last. The book you are holding came into being. It contains many stories of God’s intervention in human experiences; like when Deana our first daughter fell down on the driveway (Chapter One). Her thigh was scraped and bloody. I laid hands on her and prayed for a healing. I watched the fascinating occurrence during the next sixty seconds while the blood dried up and the many small wounds healed over, not even leaving scars to show for the experience. It was like time lapse photography. Do not get the idea I think this book will last. Jesus said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word will not pass away. Isn’t that egotistical of Him? This is addressed in Chapter Seven. The religious novel mentioned in Chapter Two given by Marine, was the final touch by God to bring me to my knees. Perhaps this book will be instrumental in bringing someone to Jesus Christ, or strengthening someone in their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. The souls saved will last. This is not a novel. Each individual mentioned is a real person, with real experiences.

Generally the names of the people referred to are changed. One person, I don’t remember meeting stood up in a Wednesday night service at Willamette Christian Center in Eugene, Oregon and said, I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ and Rich Coyle for saving me. He came into the business where I work and talked about Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. The church was big. He got out before I could talk with him again.

There were many times, while putting this information together, tears welled up in my eyes. God is so Magnificent! Yet the word Magnificent is almost an insult when used to describe The One Who humbles Himself to look on the earth. Magnificent is not in the adjective league of words to adequately describe God. Those words are rare indeed. Sovereign and Infinite are limited in company.

When Warren tried to make me understand space and time are infinite, I wanted to ask how created things can be infinite. One of the men who talked with me while I was working for Mr. Roberts’ Table Company, told me, "I am into something bigger than God. I am into the cosmos! The Lord gave me a question to ask which appeared to shake his confidence, even unnerve him. Did you know the God I serve, the God of the Bible, created this entire cosmos? It is a small toy in one corner of His huge toy box. I could not agree with this man for the sake of being agreeable. The Scripture teaches, If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Following Jesus’ example of speaking the Truth, caused this man’s foundation to be shaken. Hopefully it was cracked as in Warren’s (Chapter Seven) and my cases.

The two things came together for this book’s existence were time and conviction; the conviction that technical stuff is temporal. We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Whenever Scripture was copied, I was tempted to leave off all references; to encourage the readers to consult their concordances. Romans, for example, has dozens of Old Testament quotes. Many have no indication they were quoted from the Old Testament. The nearest thing to references are things like as it is written, What does the Scripture say?, He says also in Hosea and Isaiah cries out. Could it be the Scripture was so much a part of Apostle Paul’s life, he didn’t know when his conversation left off and God’s Word was being used. What an anchorage! What a goal!

Chapter 1

Healings

In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk.’

Do you ever get any broken windows in your church? I asked that unusual question as part of a conversation about healings. A brother in the Lord had informed me that miracles are simply over with. Miracles, healings, signs and wonders … they all ceased with the death of the apostles.¹ As the final authority in the matter, he cited his pastor’s teaching that the church was finished before the last apostle died.

At times I’m not above being what is perceived of as a wise guy. I’m not a smart aleck, of course, but maybe there are areas in my life that have not died out to Christ. (Who am I trying to kid with maybe?) The apostle Paul says, Follow me, I follow Christ. If we follow his career, we find that he was not always as sweet as your average new pastor.

Do you have any windows in your church? I asked slyly.

Yes, you know we have, he responded, with a small amount of annoyance in his voice. What are you trying to get at? The church he attended had at least a dozen beautiful stained glass windows. The craftsman used perhaps as many as one hundred separate panels to make up each artistic depiction.

Continuing, I asked, Do any of them ever get broken?

Of course. There are normal and rowdy kids in this neighborhood, and sometimes a ball or something breaks one, he answered.

Well, you don’t repair them, do you? You tell the building maintenance, ‘Everything is fine here. I mean, the church is already finished.’

His countenance changed slightly. In fact, his attitude changed from a defensive posture to one of inquiry. Why don’t we experience miracles in our church, then? he asked.

"If you don’t mind, consider this. Your senior pastor and I were generally discussing God and His Word recently. During our conversation, he suggested we should use our God-given ability to use logic when understanding the narratives of the Scripture. He brought up the crucifixion of Jesus Christ specifically as an example. The conversation went something like this:

‘We can know for a certainty that Jesus was nailed to the cross through the wrist.’

‘How do we know that, pastor?’ I asked.

‘Well, it’s quite simple, Rich. You use your logic. His hands clearly couldn’t support Him.’

‘I see. Are there other places that I can apply this type of logic in the Bible?’

‘Oh, throughout the Scripture you will find this type of situation.’

‘Based on that, pastor, if I use my logic, then Jesus walked on the bottom of the Sea of Galilee, didn’t He?’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Well, because the surface tension couldn’t support Him,’ I answered.

‘Now you’re being a smart aleck,’ he accused.

‘No,’ I defended, ‘I’m using my God-given faith. If I use my faith to believe the part of God’s Word that instructs us about Jesus walking on top of the water, shouldn’t I use my God-given faith to believe He was nailed to the cross through His hands? After all, the holes in His hands were a sign to Thomas.’

‘You’re impossible,’ he accused, finishing our conversation.

The pastor didn’t know Dan’s story. He was working in construction as a carpenter. While he was installing a 2 x 6 at some job, he was more interested in speed than safety. He didn’t get either. He did not take time to make a small platform on which to stand. He jumped up with the correct length board and proceeded to nail it in place with his nail gun. There was one additional part installed not called for by the blueprint: his thumb. Dan was dangling from one thumb. His hollering attracted quite a bit of attention. Talk about being the center of attention!

His coworkers ran over to check it out. One lifted him with a bear hug, while another put a few boards down for Dan to stand on. Once they had the pressure off, the nail could be cut off to free him.

Another friend told me about nailing a cadaver to the wall through the hands when he was in college. He said they left it there for a couple days before taking it down. The hands held and didn’t tear through. So much for logic which is not based on God’s Word.

Accepting God at His Word saves people. My neighbor was a Jehovah’s Witness who loved to read her Bible. She used a New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Her Bible told her Jesus was nailed to the cross through the hands. The Watch Tower and Awake spoke about a Jesus with holes in his wrists. She finally accepted the Jesus with holes in His hands over the Jesus with holes in his wrist and left that organization.

You see, brother, when we accept God’s Word by faith, we won’t have trouble with the details of God’s fun stories. Look at Colossians 2:8. It admonishes us, See to it that no one takes you captive though philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ. Now go on to Jesus’ words in Mark 16:16–18. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. AND these signs WILL follow those who have