‘Show Me the Toes’: Two Lessons Learned from John Lindell and Bill Johnson’s Stunning Miracle Claim

The leaders of James River Church near Springfield, Missouri—an Assemblies of God church—claim that hundreds of miraculous healings occurred during the recent “Week of Power” conference hosted by the church on March 12-March 16. But the most stunning miracle claim of all was made by a woman named Kristina Dines who had three toes amputated some years ago.

Dines claimed that after the “apostle” Bill Johnson asked if anyone needed a “creative miracle”—and after some other conference attendees prayed for her toes—she watched in shock as three missing toes grew back on her foot in a span of 30 minutes. Following her stunning miracle claim, it was repeated publicly by the lead pastor of James River Church, John Lindell, as well as Johnson. It was also reported by national media—including USA Today, Daily Mail, and Newsweek—after a local Christian, who desired to see proof of the regrown toes, created a website named ShowMetheToes.com, urging people with evidence to send emails. To date, no photographic or video evidence has been offered.

Here are two lessons to be learned from James River Church’s unsubstantiated miracle claim.

It is appropriate to request evidence for a miracle claim.

An article published in the Christian Post implies that those asking for proof of the alleged toe regrowth are inappropriately “skeptical.” But even John Lindell and Bill Johnson should want evidence, and their apparent willingness to simply accept the testimony without evidence is incriminating. Christians need to distinguish between credulity—a gullible or naïve acceptance of any claim—and belief. Reasonable belief must be grounded in evidence.

Evidence is a faith builder. And we can and should desire solid evidence in order to grow our faith. In the Gospels, it is routinely reported that people glorified God when they saw for themselves the miracles that Jesus performed. It is actually shameful to rob people of this means of increasing faith that miracles have occurred. But Lindell and Johnson, when they announced that they knew Dines’ miracle claim was true, refused to offer evidence and gave no indication that they had evidence themselves. If it could be proven that Dines’ toes came back, Lindell and Johnson should be eager to get that evidence out there. And if they don’t want to produce evidence, then they shouldn’t expect people to believe it.  

Lindell and Johnson have said that the husband of one of the women who prayed for Dines is a medical doctor and that he confirmed that she now has three toes. But this is an unverified report and no real evidence has been offered that Dines was indeed missing three of her toes prior to the alleged miracle. (Doesn't it strike you as silly that you need a doctor to confirm that she now has three toes? We think a dentist could probably make that judgment.) Lindell claims the reason he has not presented proof of the miracle is because he desires to “protect” Dines, who has experienced trauma in her past. But this seems like a flimsy excuse and many people are not buying it.

This miracle claim shows how the mythology that miracles are occurring all the time in New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) churches is constructed.

There is a perception that miracles are occurring frequently and routinely at NAR churches. This perception has been produced by the NAR apostles themselves—including Johnson and Randy Clark, the second speaker featured alongside Johnson during the Week of Power. They claim that thousands of healings have occurred through their ministries and in their meetings.

Because of the narrative NAR leaders have created, they can't question any miracle reports they receive. So they dogmatically advertise them and say they "know" they're real. They will get away with it because some people can't question their trumped up authority as so-called apostles. But it's an embarrassment to the church at large. (We note the mocking posts by atheists on social media.) And it leads to believers falling away from the faith when they realize they have been deceived.

To learn more about NAR miracle claims—and some ways to judge when alleged miracles are genuine, not cheap knock offs—see our book Counterfeit Kingdom, chapter 9, titled “Is It Always God’s Will to Heal?”

Image credit: Б.Раданова under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.