In Part 1 I started a ‘taster’ of our day with Mark Marx, founder of Healing On The Streets (HOTS),  when he taught on praying for healing in public. Over a hundred delegates then went to Trafalgar Square to pray and were bathed in warm sunshine.  Part 1 asked, what does Mark teach and is it different to prayers in church?

I’ll attempt an answer below with some subsequent insights all of which, I submit, will be of interest and application not only to readers in the UK but also to those overseas.

First, however, have you heard about the Alpha Course? This friendly and very social course is a means of introducing non-believers to the history and beliefs of Christianity.  The course started in Holy Trinity church in Brompton, London, and most branches of the worldwide church now conduct an Alpha course – for more see website.

It is now reported that Healing On The Streets is growing even more quickly than Alpha!

So what does its founder Mark Marx teach?  This very brief overview is my own, not official, but HOTS’ scriptural found-ations and most of the principles are similar to those taught in Christian ministries. HOTS’ especial emphasis is upon expressing God’s compassion and love in the market place, whatever the weather and, thereby, enables the church to connect directly every week with the community it serves.

The secret of HOTS’ success

Mark describes HOTS as ‘a stepping-stone’ in God’s action plan to get the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, outside the church walls.  Therefore, as such it is a model only for it will probably become modified as believers learn to move increasingly in the  fullness of their authority in Jesus Christ; for He promised,

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.(John 14.12)

Thus, we should seek God for a personal revelation of who we are in Him and of what He has given us.  Even so there’s something more and, in view of my previous posts on the Bay of The Holy Spirit Revival and the teaching of John Kilpatrick and evangelist Nathan Morris (here and here respectively), this particularly grabbed our attention.:

HOTS’ ‘secret’ is not truly such, for it is Christianity’s special feature that distinguishes it from every other religion; it is the presence of and our reliance upon God’s Holy Spirit. This is something even those who are not Christians can sense, and which they can therefore physically experience and react to; e.g. “This is weird but I’m feeling…”.

For example, in making a brief mention of HOTS’ work across London at last month’s Revival Alliance Gathering in Birmingham, Gerald Coates referred to that special effect upon a completely uninterested passer-by. This man turned upon the team to accuse them of having pushed him – but they were busy praying for someone!  They told him it was the strength of God’s presence he’d felt. So, even if someone doesn’t receive any prayer it’s likely they’ll be affected. Anyone who misses this could be completely closed off to God; maybe that’s why they’re known as ‘the lost’?

The Muslim passer-by returned with his family and they all knelt and gave their lives to Jesus Christ!  Praise you Lord, keep blessing them and their friends.

In quoting a scriptural principle to back up his statements about the presence of God, Mark used one I’ve never heard any preacher mention in this connection. BUT it is one I became personally aware of in a most dramatic way – AND with being in the very same connection as Marks’ explanation!  So that served to validate his teaching.

[Mark was speaking briefly about the possibility of demonic manifestation during prayer time and referred to the account of the Israelites’ Ark of the Covenant that had been captured by Philistines and placed in their pagan temple. Now the Ark was where the Living Lord would manifest within the holy temple and the Philistines returned twice to their temple only to find its idolatrous statue broken by God’s power!  Read about this in prophet Samuel’s first book at 1Sam 5:1-5.  The Lord had given me those verses to read aloud during ministry time when a lady was prowling around like a panther. She stopped immediately and stared wide-eyed at an open vision of the satanic temple used by her ancestors for child sacrifices – she watched it being well and truly trashed!  “Just like watching a video”, said she, now freed from oppression and praising the Lord.]

One of the other distinguishing marks of HOTS is to convey the ‘compelling love of Christ’ to everyone so they may sense his peace, even in the busiest environment.

Healing in Trafalgar Square

Team members  take this atmosphere they carry wherever they go. It has been found kneeling brings more of this. So they kneel at a place until God’s presence becomes tangible. Thus, as we arrived mid-afternoon by the steps leading up to the National Gallery the group knelt down, as here>(courtesy Facebook/ Supranatural Life -see posts dated 3 -26 September.)

Consequently, everyone who came by would be attracted, affected – or even repelled! – by the spiritual nature of what we were doing.  As the Apostle Paul explains,

But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,

 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:

 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. (2 Cor 2:14-16 Amplified Bible)

The truth of that scripture cannot be denied but it brings sadness to each believer for the lost and their future. Whenever Mark cited cases of medically inexplicable healings arising from HOTS ministry I often recalled the obduracy of atheists I’d encountered on several blogs this year. Their mindsets seem to be encased in ‘concrete’ that prevents them from rational examination of evidence. For example, the lady who complained to the ASA about HOTS in Bath and, in Trafalgar Square, a young man strode past me to get away from the large gathering and remarked to his girlfriend, “It’s a scam!”.  Mark had told us to watch people’s body language and make good eye contact before trying to hand out a leaflet and invite them to receive prayer – so this couple were avoided.

Our group was sandwiched between two other public offerings – ‘free hugs’ and a few men performing dance and acrobatics to pop songs.  Nina reminds me how appropriate it was to hear them singing, “I believe in miracles”!!

With about a dozen chairs, or ‘hot-sits’, quite a number of people received prayer and after an hour or so we returned to base and were pleased to learn of how successful our endeavour had been. (Some may be found on Facebook/Supranatural Life.)

It was a most memorable occasion and I’ve since received a few insights into God’s action plan, which I’d like to share in another post – click here.