What happens when the miracles Christians read about in the book of Acts suddenly stop sounding like ancient history?
For evangelist Mel Tari, stories of supernatural provision, healing, protection and even people reportedly being raised from the dead are not merely tales from another era. They are testimonies, he says, that he witnessed during a remarkable move of God in Indonesia.
Yet after decades of ministry, Tari has an unexpected message for Christians fascinated by the supernatural: Stop chasing miracles. Chase Jesus.
Speaking with evangelist Daniel Kolenda on The Daniel Kolenda Show, Tari reflected on the Indonesian revival that became the subject of his well-known book, “Like a Mighty Wind.” Tari said the supernatural events that accompanied the revival were never meant to become the centerpiece.
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“God doesn’t perform miracles to entertain us saints,” Tari said. “Miracles happen in order to convert the sinners so that they’ll come to know and embrace the Messiah.”
And the stories he shared are extraordinary.
Tari recalled young Christians gathering at a church for prayer when they experienced what he compared to Acts 2. He described hearing a mighty wind, seeing what seemed like flames of fire, and witnessing people filled with the Holy Spirit.
Soon, evangelistic teams began spreading from village to village.
Tari said that while approximately 80,000 people had joined churches over roughly 60 years of earlier missionary activity, about 80,000 people were born again during the first six months after the evangelistic teams began going out.
Then came the miracles.
Tari described one evangelistic team encountering a dangerously swollen river while traveling to preach. The current was so violent that it carried trees downstream. Yet Tari said the Holy Spirit instructed the team to cross.
One member stepped forward and discovered the water did not rise much beyond his knees.
The entire team crossed.
Later, Tari said that a local pastor attempted to enter the river and found it dramatically deeper. Whether God lowered the water or somehow raised the riverbed, Tari couldn’t explain.
But to him, that wasn’t the important part.
The team made it across, and Tari said they eventually ministered in a region where more than 20,000 people accepted Christ. He also recounted the team’s claim that a man who had been dead for two days was raised back to life, before proclaiming that there was life beyond the grave.
Tari shared another staggering account of evangelists being served poisoned food.
According to Tari, the poison had reportedly killed a dog, yet the Christians ate the food and remained unharmed. He said the person responsible for the poisoning ultimately recognized that a greater power had protected them and embraced Christ.
There were stories of food multiplying and water reportedly turning into wine.
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Tari told Kolenda that during the early years of the revival, water became wine dozens of times when it was needed for Communion. Yet even while recounting these incredible claims, Tari repeatedly pulled the conversation back to Christ.
“The wine is wine is wine is wine. It’s temporal,” Tari said. “But the One, the Creator of the universe, who changed water into wine, will be with you and will be with me forever.”
Perhaps that perspective was forged through Tari’s own encounter with God.
As a young man, Tari said he suffered from malaria for several years. He had attended church throughout his life, but during his struggle, he came to a startling realization: Church attendance wasn’t the same thing as knowing Jesus.
Tari said he confessed his sins, received Christ and began telling others about the need to be born again. He became so consumed with sharing Jesus that he forgot about his original prayer for healing.
Then he realized something.
The malaria was gone.
A year passed without its return. More than six decades later, Tari said he had still never suffered from it again.
“I forgot to ask for healing,” Tari said. “But though I forget to ask for healing, I embrace the Healer.”
That revelation became foundational to his ministry.
“Instead of asking for healing, embrace the Healer,” he continued. “Instead of asking for salvation, embrace the Savior. Instead of asking for deliverance, embrace the Deliverer.”
But Tari’s testimony also raises a challenging question for American Christians.
He noted that people living without modern conveniences often have little choice but to depend radically upon God. Americans, by contrast, can turn toward hospitals, insurance, government assistance and countless other resources.
Tari acknowledged that nothing is inherently wrong with those things. Yet abundance can subtly shift what we depend on.
“When you have to rely on Jesus for everything that you need,” Tari said, “sometimes that open up your heart to the possibility of who he is and the miracles that he can perform.”
Perhaps that is the uncomfortable question facing the American church: Have we become so comfortable that we no longer expect God to do the impossible?
Tari’s answer is not to manufacture revival, obsess over signs or run after the next supernatural experience.
It is much simpler and much more costly.
“Don’t pursue miracles,” Tari said. “Pursue Jesus with passion. Pursue the lost.”
Then he offered a profound conclusion: “When we pursue Jesus and the lost, miracles will pursue us.”
After more than six decades of ministry, that may be Tari’s most important testimony of all. The miracle is not the river, the wine or even the healing.
The miracle is that Jesus Christ still saves, and His church has been commissioned to make sure the world knows it.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
