Category Archives: Church

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

2. Strengthening Oneself (Physically).

In high school, I played football and suffered a knee injury which required surgery. Four years later, in college, I injured the other knee playing intramural football. It, too, required surgery.

Now, when I was young, middle age and arthritis seemed like a million years away. Won’t I stay young forever? I foolishly thought.

I paid no attention to work conditions. I just gritted my teeth and plowed through whatever pain I was suffering, knowing that four Ibuprofen tablets would relieve most of the pain so I could do it all over again the next day.

Then, at the age of 55, I could no longer jump an inch off the ground. Walking downstairs or upstairs was a painful experience. The years of climbing ladders as a painting contractor or walking on concrete for twelve hour shifts as a car salesman had destroyed what was left of the cartilage in both knees.

And arthritis? It was in my shoulders, elbows, knees and hips. Just standing up after sitting on a chair was a major undertaking filled with pain. And also, even though I was an easy going guy who hardly ever got upset, I was grumpy all the time. Constant nagging pain does that to a person.

Then what happened?

At the age of fifty-eight, Honey and I bought a home which had to be completely gutted and remodeled. I worked six months, tearing out walls, kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, carpet and whatever; and then redid everything. I even laid a thousand square feet of hardwood floors.

How could I endure all this work with bad knees and arthritis?

I felt that the Lord had whispered these words to my heart at the beginning of the project, “I will raise you up out of the remodeling.”

Did I suffer pain during the remodeling? Yes. But at the same time, there was an amazing grace that allowed me to endure it. It seems funny, right? Pain and grace being mentioned in the same context, but this is what happened to me.

It was three more years of agony and pain before a friend finally prayed for me. “Lord, you know what Larry needs, just do it for him now,” she prayed.

As you can see, it was not a pin-point, specific prayer, but rather a general one. But let me tell you, it was an effective prayer. All of my arthritis disappeared at once. It was gone!

Today, I am arthritis free, but I still have bad knees that cause me problems. So much so, that I quit exercising late last year, hoping rest would help the knees.

In January of this year, at sixty-four years of age,  I realized that I needed to quickly do something. My physical strength was rapidly dwindling. It was an all-out effort to lift a bag of groceries or walk upstairs.

Thus, I began power-walking, lifting weights, exercising and eating properly. After three months of this regimen, my strength is up 50-60% and my weight is down.

Do I still believe the Lord is going to heal me? Absolutely, yes! There is not a doubt in my mind, but sometimes, you have to go out to meet the Lord.

And there’s another reason why I am putting myself through this work-out and dieting discipline:

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9: 26-27)

I have waited almost twenty-five years to be a part of a move of God and I don’t want to sit on the sidelines, watching others do the work.

(Continued in Part 10.)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

…But the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits [for God]. (Daniel 11:32 AMP Version)

2. Strengthening Oneself (Spiritually).

Studying the word. Prayer. Fasting. These three exercises have to be a part of every believer’s life in order to build up his or her spiritual muscles, especially for a healing ministry.

But there is another characteristic which we must have to be spiritually strong:

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. ( 2 Corinthians 12: 9)

The weakness mentioned in the above verses comes only through humility. And whether we like it or not, humility is not a characteristic quickly learned from How To- books or teaching seminars.

Humility is a Christ-like characteristic forged into a person while he (or she) goes through trials filled with countless insults, distresses, persecutions, difficulties and mistakes. And from these trials, he learns that if the Lord doesn’t show up to help him in any given  circumstance, he will be an utter failure.

But also, humility allows a believer to be content and at peace with this truth. After all, he (or she) knows that he can do nothing without the Lord; and thus is weak.

Now, William Branham was a humble man at the beginning of the Healing Revival. He was a quiet man who never really cared about money and was quite satisfied with an old pickup truck, a cabin and a fishing pole.

But Branham was the man for nine years. His ministry was the biggest, most well-known and had the greatest successes. Thousands of people had been saved and healed through his ministry.

So, when the Healing Revival fires died down (as all revivals do) in 1955, Branham struggled with  the dwindling crowds and the smaller numbers of miracles. He resisted change and continued onward with his large ministry, the huge financial overhead and even added a teaching element to his ministry.

Roberts Liardon wrote in his excellent book, God’s Generals:

“Instead of seeking the Lord for his place of ministry in the next move of God, Branham turned to radical doctrine and sensationalism…Everything he had stood for in the former days of ministry seemed to have escaped him. (God’s Generals, Albury Publishing, pp. 335)

For whatever reasons, William Branham ignored the changes the Lord wanted in his ministry, and he walked away from his greatest asset: humility. He somehow forgot that his ministry served at the will and pleasure of the Lord. Jesus is Boss!

But if you have any doubts that Branham and his gifts were the real deal, his last miracle might help to convince you:

In 1965, Branham and his wife were driving through Texas when their car was struck by a drunk driver. Branham’s son, who was in another car, quickly arrived at the scene and checked out his parents. Branham’s wife had no pulse and was dead. Branham had a faint pulse, broken bones and was unconscious.

Branham stirred for a moment. “Is Mom okay?” he asked.

“Dad, she’s dead,” his son replied.

“Just lay my hand on her,” Branham said.

The son laid his bloody hand on the woman. She instantly revived and lived. Branham went into a coma and died six days later.

So, how else should we strengthen ourselves?

(Continued in Part 9)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

(1) Knowing God.

Before Jesus and His ministry arrived on the scene, how were Jewish believers healed?

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever than first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] (John 5: 2-4)

Approximately 450 years separated the prophet, Malachi, and the ministry of Jesus.  These are known as the silent years when no inspired prophet arose among the Jews. And without the Old Testament prophets, there were no healing ministries.

Yet, Jehovah Rapha kept his healing candle flickering in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda. There, an angel of the Lord would periodically stir up the water, and whoever stepped into the pool first was supernaturally healed.

The odds of an individual sick person being healed at the pool were slim because hundreds of people were laying on the five porticoes, waiting for a chance to be healed.

So, think about this:  For every supernaturally healed person who shouted for joy at the Pool of Bethesda, there were tears, anguish, disappointment and cries from the many hundreds who were not healed.

Jesus walked into one of these porticoes during a feast.  Now, wouldn’t you think that this would have been a perfect time to hold a healing meeting? After all, the porticoes were filled with hundreds of desperate, hurting people.

But Jesus walked past and stepped over countless numbers of people to find one man. And just that one man, out of the hundreds laying there, received his healing from Jesus.

How could Jesus focus on one person and not be overwhelmed by all the suffering people at the Pool of Bethesda?

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. (John 5: 19)

Jesus intimately knew the Father, and the Father showed Jesus that just one person was to be healed by Him. And  Jesus was at peace with the Father’s decision.

This is an important revelation for everyone who has or will have a healing ministry.

We need to intimately know God, walk with him and only do what He wants us to do. Otherwise, we will end up like William Branham, overworked,  exhausted and sitting on the sidelines. Our hearts will be weighed down and tugged on by all the suffering people in the world.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11: 29 -30)

When William Branham returned to ministry in 1950, he prayed for sick people in a different manner than he did in 1946 and 1947. No longer did he push himself past his physical limits. Yet, he was just as successful.

If you have a calling to a healing ministry, spend time with the Lord and get to know Him now. So, you can run the race and finish the course the Lord has set before you.

(Continued in Part 8)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Almost all of the preachers in the Healing Revival (late 1940’s – 50’s) depended on their gifts of healing, gifts of faith, gifts of effecting of miracles,  plus their laying on of hands to produce healings for sick people. This was true for Kathryn Kuhlman, Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, A. A. Allen and Jack Coe.

But this was not true for William Branham. He was a man of signs and wonders.

From his birth through his childhood until his salvation at twenty-one years of age, Branham had wild experiences. A whirling light at his birth. A voice speaking out of a rushing wind when he was a youth. A miraculous healing on his deathbed. A cross lit up on a shed’s wall at his salvation.

But none of those experiences matched the experience he had with an angel in 1946. The angel told Branham that he would have two gifts as signs for his healing ministry.

First, Branham would be able to detect diseases by a vibration in his left hand. The angel then instructed Branham that when he felt the vibrations, he was to pray for the person until the vibration went away. If the vibrations stopped, the person was healed. If not, he was to bless the person and walk away.

The second gift was a prophetic one. The angel said, “You will know the very secrets of their hearts. This they will hear.”

In the half hour visit, the angel told Branham about his healing ministry and that he would soon stand before thousands of people.

Without any money, preparation or proper clothing, Branham received a telegram the following Sunday evening from a pastor in St. Louis asking him to come and pray for the pastor’s daughter. Branham’s congregation gave an offering to him and a brother loaned a suit. He left later that same night on a train to St. Louis.

In St. Louis,  he saw the little girl at the pastor’s home, lying on a bed, her hands clawing her face and her voice hoarse from screaming. She had been tormented like this for three months.

Branham retired to a room to pray and seek the Lord. There he received his answer in a vision.

He returned to the girl’s room and waited for the conditions to match what he saw in the vision. When he prayed for the child according to the vision, the evil spirit left the child and she was healed. The young girl went on to have a normal childhood.

This was the beginning of the Healing Revival.

A few weeks later, Branham returned to St. Louis and held a twelve-day meeting. The tent was packed each night with thousands of people. A dead woman was raised up. A blind minister was healed; then the healings multiplied and grew beyond count.

For nine years, William Branham walked in a signs and wonder ministry. People were saved and healed by the thousands at his meetings.

…After it [the gospel] was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (Hebrews 2: 3-4)

William Branham’s strength was that he walked in the spirit realm unlike any person since the Apostle Paul. So what was his weakness?

(Continued in Part 5)

Click on following link for: Part 1 and Part 2.

By modern preaching standards, William Branham (1909 – 1965) would be considered a backwoods hick. His poor command of the English language and cheap, ill-fitting suits would not endear him to today’s glamor-seeking YouTube audiences.

But yet, this humble son of poverty stricken parents  recorded 35,000 miracles for his ministry in 1947.

And if you are wondering whether Branham’s miracles were real or not, read Gordan Lindsay‘s book, A Man Sent From God. This same Gordan Lindsay eventually went on to found one of the finest Bible schools in America, Christ for the Nations.

Another man who was profoundly changed by Branham’s ministry was T.L Osborn. He and his wife, Daisy, had returned from a missionary trip to India in 1947. They were defeated and ready to quit when the two attended a Branham meeting in Portland, OR.

As Osborn sat in the audience, he saw William Branham turn a severely cross-eyed girl around to face the audience. Next, Branham prayed for the little girl. Her eyes were miraculously straightened out as everyone watched on.

Then, Osborn heard heavenly voices say to him, “You can do that! You can do that!”

T. L. Osborn and his wife returned to the mission fields renewed and refreshed, and then preached to millions of unreached people in over 90 countries. They preached daily to crowds of 20,000 to 300,000 people and had astounding miracles, even more than Branham ever had.

Before continuing, there are those who look at William Branham’s ministry and only see his latter years when his doctrines slipped into deep  error. They label him a false prophet and a heretic and ignore the nine years when his ministry was at the forefront of the Healing Revival.

I do not endorse Branham’s teachings on Oneness (“Jesus Only”), Seed of the Serpent, No Eternal Hell and countless other off-the-wall doctrines. But I think what Frank Viola wrote in his book, From Eternity to Here,  is apropos to Branham’s healing ministry:

I would like to ask you to pause and think of the most horrible day you ever lived. The day when you did something you deeply regret. You can take great comfort in this one fact: Your heavenly Father saw that day when He chose you in His Son before time….And it did not keep Him from choosing us in Christ to be His own. (From Eternity to Here, Frank Viola, pp. 71)

We Christians can all throw rocks at Branham’s teaching errors, but there is one thing no one has been able to do since him. And that is, match his miraculous works of healing. He was the real deal!

Even today, William Branham is still considered the father of the Healing Revival.

So, what was it about William Branham and his ministry that made it so unique as compared to Smith Wigglesworth, John Lake or Kathryn Kuhlman?

(Continued in Part 4)

A Updated Rerun Series

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

5. Humility

“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who doesn’t care who gets the credit.” (Dwight L. Moody)

If I had to pick just one character trait which Jesus is longing to see in us prophetic people, it would be humility. And yet, this seems to be the hardest one for us to attain.

Let’s say, you are on a platform with a microphone in your hand. You look into the audience and see a woman.  There’s nothing remarkable about her, but you instantly know something.

You point at her. “Your prayers are about to be answered,” you say, “that man you have been praying about for years and years is coming back into your life. Buy a wedding dress.”

The woman breaks down and cries. She raises her hands and shouts, “Thank you Jesus!”

Afterward, you find out the woman has been praying for her ex-husband. She believes they will be remarried, but everyone, including her pastor,  has told her she’s nuts. They say that her ex-husband will never, ever change his ways.

Six months later, you are invited to the wedding of the woman and her ex-husband. The man had an experience with the Lord and was instantly changed.

This actually happened to me, and countless other ones like it.

Pretty heady stuff, right?

Today, as I look back at the guy who held that microphone and spoke those words, I cringe and shudder. I hate him. I hate his pride, his arrogance, his thinking that he was the man who prayed, fasted and heard God for other people. I don’t even like to remember the time period because I am so ashamed of that man.

But let’s be honest, okay? I still give prophetic words. So, what’s changed in me?

“I remember the day and the place where I died.” (Katherine Kuhlman)

Maybe, Kuhlman was fortunate enough to completely die to all of her pride on just one day, but I wasn’t.  I can take you to street corners where parts of me died. Or to dumpsters where I crawled into searching for cans so I could collect the nickel deposits on them. Or to jobs I failed at. Or to countless other experiences where my heart was crushed.

Am I a perfect example of humility now? No! No! No! No!

But I am no longer the same guy who held the microphone and spoke the words to that lady…and I pray that I never will be like him again.

Humility takes time, lots of it. It is an ongoing work in my life, one which I continually struggle with; and yet, I embrace it.

(This series will be continued in the future.)

*I have used the word prophesy in a general sense to denote prophecy, words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).