I was a teacher at Forest High School, Mississippi in 1968. During our first faculty meeting, I had to be rushed to the Baptist Hospital, 50 miles away. I had emergency appendectomy. While there, a lymph node was removed from the groin area. Diagnosis: Lymphoma. That was like a death sentence at that time. I had 12 radiation treatments. They did not kill the cancer.
I began to get serious about God. I started praying and studying my Bible. One of my students, Larry Hines, was Pentecostal; I was a Baptist, albeit not a faithful one. Many things in my life began to converge upon me. I lost an uncle, who was more like a brother. Our marriage was in danger. I was nearly killed instantly when a house trailer I had been underneath fell flat on the ground. During all these things, I was going to die in four or five years. For the first time in my life, I envisioned my own obituary in the paper.
I prayed more desperately. I knew the Lord heard me. He began to lead me in prayer and Bible reading. The hardest part was my accepting the fact that I was lost. My student, Larry Hines, kept inviting me to his church. I was running out of excuses. Finally, just to get him to leave me alone, I accepted his invitation. I went into the First United Pentecostal Church. Brother Richard Forsythe was the pastor; Albert Reid was the evangelist.
I could hardly wait to leave after church. I had been preached to, and I was upset. I continued to pray and read the Bible. I could not deny the things that were preached. After a week, I could not stand it any longer. God had led me to that church. I went back with a totally changed attitude. I looked at the people singing and praising God. I knew in my heart they had something I did not have. They seemed to know Who and what they were singing about. It was very different from the gospel music I had grown up loving. The difference,I know now, was the Spirit of the pople.
Two nights later, I went to the altar. When I knelt there, it was like a gusher well spewing from my soul. I wept for and repented of all the sinfulness of my past twenty years. This was the best feeling I had ever had. I felt innocent, forgiven, encouraged. I am glad I was taught there was more. Pastor Forsythe baptized me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins. I did not realize until then anything could feel better than repenting. When I came up out of the water, I felt like a newborn baby.
There was still more to come. I prayed and sought the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My faith must have been weak; it took me about a month to finally experience this promised gift. That experience topped everything. During this time, my wife Shirley, was resisting, and was trying to hinder me. The next night, April 14, 1969 at the UPC campground at Philadelphia, Mississippi, Shirley gloriously received the same experience. Riding back to Forest in the back seat of Pastor Forsythe's Buick was a night I will never forget. It felt almost like being in heaven. We went straight to the baptistery, and my wife was baptized in that lovely name of Jesus.
Obviously, things were different around our house after that. God began to bless in more ways than I can count. It was if God had poured out liquid love on our family. At work, the children on the playground were so happy and free. Somehow, I had never seen them this way before. It really is hard to explain. The children from the church at school seemed like angels. For the next three years, however, I continued to deteriorate physically. I still had the cancer.
In November 1972, I was asleep by my wife in Lansing, Michigan, where we had moved. I began to dream. I saw a well-favored, handsome man. He looked like a movie star. That picture faded away; then the dream turned into something more real. I do not know whether to call it a vision or what. It was Jesus, with a rugged, working-man face. He looked like a man who had been on a logging camp for weeks. The Spirit spoke to me silently: "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. Then He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "I came to separate between the light and the darkness."
In a split second, He was gone. I felt a sensation in the area they had removed the cancerous lymph node. I knew I had been healed. The next morning the Lord told me to testify about what happened. The next night at church, I stood behind the pulpit, and testified. My body was still skin and bones from four-plus years of cancer. I may have weighed one-hundred-ten pounds. My normal weight had been a stocky, one-hundred-sixty pounds.
When I gave my testimony in that little Apostolic church, there was not a dry eye in the house. God spoke through tongues and interpretation. He said, "Surely I have visited you, my son. I have healed you. Tell what I have done everywhere you go. It shall be a testimony for my Name's sake." That was more than thirty-five years ago.
I am now 68, pastoring, and telling my story to anyone who will listen. There is another miracle in my life, even more powerful than this one if that is possible. I will be sharing that with you in coming posts. God bless you.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Miracle Healing of Cancer
I was a teacher at Forest High School, Mississippi in 1968. During our first faculty meeting, I had to be rushed to the Baptist Hospital 50 miles away. I had emergency appendectomy. While there, a lymph node was removed from the groin area. Diagnosis: Lymphoma. That was like a death sentence at that time. I had 12 radiation treatments. They did not kill the cancer.
I began to get serious about God. I started praying and studying my Bible. One of my students, Larry Hines was Pentecostal; I was a Baptist, albeit not a faithful one. Many things in my life began to converge upon me. I lost an uncle, who was more like a brother. Our marriage was in danger. I was nearly killed instantly when a house trailer I had been underneath fell flat on the ground. During all these things, I was going to die in four or five years. For the first time in my life, I envisioned my own obituary in the paper.
I prayed more desparately. I knew the Lord heard me, and He began to lead me in praying and Bible reading. The hardest part was my accepting the fact that I was lost. My student, Larry Hines, kept inviting me to his church. I was running out of excuses. Finally, just to get him to leave me alone, I accepted his invitation. I went into the First United Pentecostal Church. Brother Richard Forsythe was the pastor. Albert Reid was the evangelist.
I could hardly wait to leave after church. I had been preached to, and I was upset. I still continued to pray and read the Bible. I could not deny the things that were preached. After a week, I could not stand it any longer. God had led me to that church. I went back with a totally changed attitude. I looked at the people singing and praising God. I knew in my heart they had something I did not have. They seemed to know Who and what they were singing about. It was very different from the gospel music I had grown up loving. The difference was in the people.
Two nights later I went to the altar. When I knelt there, it was like a gusher well spewing from my soul. I wept for and repented of all the sinfulness of my past twenty years. This was the best feeling I had ever had. I felt innocent, forgiven, encouraged. I am glad I was taught there was more. Pastor Forsythe baptized me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins. I did not realize until then anything could feel better than repenting. When I came up out of the water, I felt like a newborn baby.
There was still more to come. I prayed and sought the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My faith must have been lacking; it took me about a month to finally experience this promised gift. That experience topped everything. During this time my wife Shirley was resisting, and was trying to hinder me. The next night, April 14, 1969 at the UPC campground at Philadelphia, Mississippi, Shirley gloriously received the same experience. Riding back to Forest in the back seat of Pastor Forsythe's Buick was a night I will never forget. We went straight to the baptistry, and my wife was baptized in that lovely name of Jesus.
Obviously, things were different around our house after that. God began to bless in more ways than I can count. It was if God had poured out liquid love on our family. At work, the children on the playground were so happy and free. Somehow, I had never seen them this way before. It really is hard to explain. The children from the church at school seemed like angels. For the next three years I continued to deteriate physically. I still had the cancer.
In November, 1972 I was asleep by my wife in Lansing, Michigan, where we had moved. I began to dream. I saw a well-favored, handsome man. He looked like a movie star. That picture faded away; then the dream turned into something more real. I do not know whether to call it a vision or what. It was Jesus, with a rugged, working man face. He looked like a man who had been on a logging camp for weeks. The Spirit spoke to me silently: "Man looks on the outward appearence, but God looks on the heart. Then He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "I came to separate between the light and the darkness."
In a split second He was gone. I felt a sensation in the area they had removed the cancerous lymph node. I knew I had been healed. The next morning the Lord told me to testify about what happened. The next night at church I stood behind the pulpit and testified. My body was still skin and bones from four-plus years of cancer. I may have weighed one-hundred-ten pounds. My normal weight had been a stocky, one-hundred-sixty pounds.
When I gave my testimony in that little Apostolic church, there was not a dry eye in the house. God spoke through tongues and interpretation. He said, "Surely I have visited you, my son. I have healed you. Tell what I have done everwhere you go. It shall be a testimony for my Name's sake. That was more than thirty-five years ago.
I am now 68, pastoring, and telling my story to anyone who will listen. There is another miracle in my life, even more powerful than this one if that be possible. I will be sharing that with you in coming posts. God bless you.
I began to get serious about God. I started praying and studying my Bible. One of my students, Larry Hines was Pentecostal; I was a Baptist, albeit not a faithful one. Many things in my life began to converge upon me. I lost an uncle, who was more like a brother. Our marriage was in danger. I was nearly killed instantly when a house trailer I had been underneath fell flat on the ground. During all these things, I was going to die in four or five years. For the first time in my life, I envisioned my own obituary in the paper.
I prayed more desparately. I knew the Lord heard me, and He began to lead me in praying and Bible reading. The hardest part was my accepting the fact that I was lost. My student, Larry Hines, kept inviting me to his church. I was running out of excuses. Finally, just to get him to leave me alone, I accepted his invitation. I went into the First United Pentecostal Church. Brother Richard Forsythe was the pastor. Albert Reid was the evangelist.
I could hardly wait to leave after church. I had been preached to, and I was upset. I still continued to pray and read the Bible. I could not deny the things that were preached. After a week, I could not stand it any longer. God had led me to that church. I went back with a totally changed attitude. I looked at the people singing and praising God. I knew in my heart they had something I did not have. They seemed to know Who and what they were singing about. It was very different from the gospel music I had grown up loving. The difference was in the people.
Two nights later I went to the altar. When I knelt there, it was like a gusher well spewing from my soul. I wept for and repented of all the sinfulness of my past twenty years. This was the best feeling I had ever had. I felt innocent, forgiven, encouraged. I am glad I was taught there was more. Pastor Forsythe baptized me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins. I did not realize until then anything could feel better than repenting. When I came up out of the water, I felt like a newborn baby.
There was still more to come. I prayed and sought the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My faith must have been lacking; it took me about a month to finally experience this promised gift. That experience topped everything. During this time my wife Shirley was resisting, and was trying to hinder me. The next night, April 14, 1969 at the UPC campground at Philadelphia, Mississippi, Shirley gloriously received the same experience. Riding back to Forest in the back seat of Pastor Forsythe's Buick was a night I will never forget. We went straight to the baptistry, and my wife was baptized in that lovely name of Jesus.
Obviously, things were different around our house after that. God began to bless in more ways than I can count. It was if God had poured out liquid love on our family. At work, the children on the playground were so happy and free. Somehow, I had never seen them this way before. It really is hard to explain. The children from the church at school seemed like angels. For the next three years I continued to deteriate physically. I still had the cancer.
In November, 1972 I was asleep by my wife in Lansing, Michigan, where we had moved. I began to dream. I saw a well-favored, handsome man. He looked like a movie star. That picture faded away; then the dream turned into something more real. I do not know whether to call it a vision or what. It was Jesus, with a rugged, working man face. He looked like a man who had been on a logging camp for weeks. The Spirit spoke to me silently: "Man looks on the outward appearence, but God looks on the heart. Then He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "I came to separate between the light and the darkness."
In a split second He was gone. I felt a sensation in the area they had removed the cancerous lymph node. I knew I had been healed. The next morning the Lord told me to testify about what happened. The next night at church I stood behind the pulpit and testified. My body was still skin and bones from four-plus years of cancer. I may have weighed one-hundred-ten pounds. My normal weight had been a stocky, one-hundred-sixty pounds.
When I gave my testimony in that little Apostolic church, there was not a dry eye in the house. God spoke through tongues and interpretation. He said, "Surely I have visited you, my son. I have healed you. Tell what I have done everwhere you go. It shall be a testimony for my Name's sake. That was more than thirty-five years ago.
I am now 68, pastoring, and telling my story to anyone who will listen. There is another miracle in my life, even more powerful than this one if that be possible. I will be sharing that with you in coming posts. God bless you.
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