1) If God were always willing to heal then I suppose there wouldn't be any sick folk. I would imagine, no I know for a fact that there are plenty of people that are running around and that have run around this Earth that have asked for healing and haven't received it. I will grant you that this is largely emotional/experiential, but you asked for my why and I'm being honest. Now I'm willing to give you that Jesus healed everyone that asked for it and more than a few that didn't explicitly. But the question was why I believed that God is not always willing to heal. There's a fair amount of history both before and after Jesus where God didn't heal the overwhelming majority.

2) Faith is important, but it's not the only requirement. Pink gave some examples where faith wasn't evident on the part of the recipient. We don't know what the state of Peter's mother in law was or whether or not she asked for healing. We're just told that Jesus did it. The beggar in Acts 3 didn't ask to be made to walk and we get no indication that he had any faith. So faith is important, but more important is the will of God. Without that no one could heal so much as a scrape outside of the natural process. More on that in a bit.

3) I don't necessarily believe that the canon's completion supplanted the miracles, but the word of God and what it reveals to us about God and everything that God wants us to know is more important than any continued ability to heal the sick or raise the dead.

Now that I've answered that I'd like to talk about other miracles and gifts.

1 Corinthians 12 says:

4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Gifts of healing, "miraculous powers" (what are those?), prophecy, speaking in and interpreting tongues are given to us by the spirit. Not every Christian has every gift and I would even say that if you're a Christian you may never express/receive any of these spiritual gifts. Though I do find it interesting that the way this reads only some will receive faith.

27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Do you think this is a hierarchy? I mean so far all we've talked about is healing. What about tongues, prophecy, these other "miracles"? Then there are those "greater gifts". Then he goes on to talk about love (the greatest thing of all). Then he proceeds to talk about prophecies and tongues (the kind of tongues that make me nervous when talked about in modern churches) and how prophecies are the best. And do a lot of "Charismatics" miss this "in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue"?

Here's what I think. We worship a God that can enable us to do the miraculous. I think that it would be awesome if more Christians believed that. I think though that in our pursuit of either a personal righteousness that comes from holding ourselves better than others or of some sort of spiritual gift (and there are those who pursue them and believe that you aren't a Christian if you haven't manifested one) we forget that there are more "earthly" pursuits. In addition to all of the really cool, flashy Hollywood miracles Jesus and his boys did they also taught. They fed people. They loved and touched the unlovable and the untouchable. They spoke to those that the men who went before them never spoke to. Now I don't think that Steve is advocating putting the teaching of miracles first. In fact I know he's not. I think though that perhaps what we're forgetting about in the modern church is love and faith. Perhaps if we spent more time loving the homosexuals, the migrant workers, and the militant atheists and taught more about the basics of Christianity to those in our churches, heck spent more time just living the basics of Christianity in our neighborhoods, just maybe the "miraculous" stuff would flow. Hey maybe that's what Steve-o is saying. I'm almost certain that's what Jesus is saying.

And in a way that’s what I was talking about when I said that discussions like these can be a waste of energy. Now I don’t think that this has been a case of that. We’ve kept it civil. I know that everyone in our little circle here is probably pretty good at living out their faiths in that manner. I think that what I’m trying to say is that the miracle we should pray for is the healing of our churches. We’re a broken sorry lot. Well I’m saying that and I’m saying that I want to understand what these other miracles are all about, because frankly it would be cool to prophesy and speak in tongues, whatever that is.