The Bible and Life

Friday, October 2, 2026

Howard Carter

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Howard Carter was a true British aristocrat, in every sense of the word—refined, well-educated, and wealthy. Beyond that, he was a vibrant man of God, sold out to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead of using his wealth and position for leisure, though, he dedicated it all to the work of the Kingdom of God. His inheritance was willingly invested in the Hampstead Bible College, with much of the money providing free tuition for ministry students in need.

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During World War I, Howard had been arrested and imprisoned for a time as a conscientious objector. As other powerhouse believers of the past, Howard had used his time in prison to meditate deeply on God’s Word. He’d yearned to grasp the contemporary purpose and place of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

After studying at great length, he wrote an important book, Questions and Answers on Spiritual Gifts, about the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. This work became a foundation for the early twentieth-century Pentecostal movement and is still the basis of much of our understanding of the gifts of the Spirit today.

Gods Generals

by Roberts Liardon

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Apostolic Church History Podcast

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Your Switch Of Faith

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

KEEP YOUR SWITCH OF FAITH TURNED ON!

We read in Acts 19:12 that the Apostle Paul was anointed with the heavenly power or anointing and that “. . . from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them."

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We already know that Paul was anointed in a similar manner as Jesus was anointed. And there’s no doubt about it — as soon as the diseases departed from those who came in contact with the handkerchiefs of Paul, the bodies of those who were sick started getting well.

Many times people fail to realize that it takes time for bodies to respond after disease has departed from them. Even after the diseases have departed, especially in cancer cases, the symptoms will often persist because damage has already been done to the bodies.

Sometimes a person’s body is healed instantly, but sometimes it just heals up gradually by itself. On many occasions, I’ve ministered to sick people, and I’ve known that their diseases had departed. Yet the people still had their symptoms for a little while. Sometimes it was ten minutes, an hour, or maybe three days before a person was all right. But I knew all the while that the disease had departed.

People need to be taught properly so they can keep the switch of faith turned on, because if they begin to doubt, the disease will come back.

As I said, when I minister the healing anointing to a person, and he receives the anointing in faith, the healing may be manifested right away or it may not be manifested right away. That’s the reason I’ve said to people, “Keep the switch of faith turned on.”

I didn’t think up that phrase “Keep the switch of faith turned on” on my own. It just sprung up in my spirit during a meeting my wife and I held several years ago. The meeting was held in a certain denominational church in which several hundred members of the congregation had received the baptism in the Holy Ghost and turned Charismatic!

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We laid hands on the sick each night during the meeting, and one particular night, there was a blind woman in the healing line. I laid hands on her, and she fell on the floor under the power of God. When she got up, you didn’t have to ask her if she received. Her face was lit up like a neon sign in the dark, and she was shouting, “I can see! I can see!”

We learned later that she’d been blind for three years. She’d been able to detect an object if it was in front of her, but she couldn’t tell if it was a man, woman, boy, girl, horse, cow, or automobile. That was pretty blind, wasn’t it? But after I laid hands on her, she could see clearly! She was instantly healed!.

That same night, a young couple brought their only child to be prayed for. Both of his little feet were clubbed — deformed. I held those little feet in my hands and ministered God’s healing power to them. When I opened my eyes, I saw that those feet looked just as crippled as they were to begin with.

I said to the parents, “If it will help you any, I’ll tell you this: I have a stronger anointing on me right now than I had when I laid hands on that woman who was blind. I’m just going to hold these little feet in my hands for a few moments.” After I did that, those feet looked just as crippled and deformed as they ever were.

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Well, what are you going to tell people in a situation like that? I said to them, “All I know is what Jesus told me when He appeared to me in the vision and gave me a special anointing to minister to the sick. He told me, ‘When you feel that power go out of your hands into them, you know they’re healed.’”

I continued: “I felt that power go out of my hands into the child’s feet. So keep the switch of faith turned on. Every time you think of it, say, ‘The healing power of God has been ministered to those feet, and the power is working in them right now.’”

That was on a Thursday night, and we closed the meeting on the following Sunday and went on our way. Several months later, the son of the pastor of that church was in one of our meetings. He said, “That couple came back to church the following Sunday, came up to the platform, and asked for the privilege to show the child to the congregation. They held the child up so everyone could see, and both of his feet were perfect!”

Well, that couple kept the switch of faith turned on!

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This is their testimony:

“We did just what Brother Hagin said to do.” (Actually, it wasn’t me who said it; it was the Holy Ghost. I didn’t even know I was going to say it. It just came up out of my spirit: “Keep the switch of faith turned on.”)

This young couple said, “Every time we looked at our son’s feet, we’d say, ‘Thank God, the healing power of God was ministered to those feet Thursday night, and that power is working in those feet now to effect a healing and a cure.’

“We kept saying that morning and night — every time we thought about it. After three days, his feet started changing. It wasn’t instant, but little by little over the next three or four days, they continued to change until they were just as perfect as feet can be!”

Well, Mark 16:18 said, “. . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL RECOVER.” Now that blind woman in my meeting was healed instantly, but the young couple kept the switch of faith turned on, and their son recovered!

So if you get an instant healing, just thank God for it. But if you don’t, don’t turn off the switch of faith! Keep saying, “The power of God is working in me,” and keep the switch of faith turned on.

- Kenneth E Hagin ( The Healing Anointing)

Friday, September 25, 2026

Confidence In God's Word

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

I remember a denominational minister in my home county — just a country preacher — who never had an opportunity to pastor a very large church. Most of his churches were small community churches. His limited high school education prevented any promotion by his denomination that he might otherwise have had.

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However, this preacher was in constant demand for revival meetings because of his success in soul winning. He would go to a church where no one was being saved, where no one had been saved for years, and would have a landslide meeting and many people would be brought into the Kingdom of God. You can understand why he was in demand.

I talked to him when he was in his early sixties, and he was still having phenomenal success in revival meetings winning the lost. In his own churches he had altar services as we used to have in Pentecostal circles. He would get the people in his church on their knees, praying.

He said, “People are always asking me my secret. It is a very simple thing. I just apply faith in the area of soul winning like I apply faith in the areas of healing or whatever I am believing God for. It never entered my mind to doubt that people will come to be saved. If the doubt does try to come, I resist it in the Name of Jesus. It is just that simple.”

He said, “I don’t do a great deal of praying, any more than others do, but I do pray. I do seek God. However, I attribute my success to that one point — I just have confidence that people will come to be saved. By the eye of faith, I see the people coming to my services; I see the altar filling up with those who want to be saved."

“If the meetings aren’t going like I think they should and people aren’t coming forward like at other times, I don’t necessarily increase my praying or seeking God about it; I just exercise more faith. When I begin to give the invitation, I can just see the people coming, and they come.”

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What this minister said and did was an expression of his confidence and his faith in God. He had prayed, all right, but not excessively. Many times in our praying, we keep looking at the wrong things. We keep looking at the circumstances, and we keep looking at what is not happening.

Someone might say, “Well, hardly anyone came to the meeting last night, and people probably won’t come tonight either.”

Or in the area of finances, someone might say, “Well, the finances haven’t manifested yet. When I get the money, then I’ll believe I have it.”

Or if it is in the area of praying for the lost, someone might say, “Well, when I see my family and friends saved, or when I see a change in them, then I’ll believe God has heard my prayer and is dealing with them.”

You see, that kind of attitude doesn’t demonstrate any confidence in God’s Word. That kind of attitude isn’t letting the Word of God dwell in you at all. That attitude or way of thinking is nothing more than having faith in what you see.

Oftentimes people undo all of their prayers by doing that very thing — by walking by sight when they should be walking by faith in God’s Word. But instead of looking at the circumstances when they pray and looking at what is not happening, they should be seeing with the eye of faith what God’s doing on their behalf in answer to their prayers.

- Kenneth E Hagin ( Bible Prayer Study Course )

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Apostolic Church History Podcast

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Elwood Engle Testimony

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

My wife and I have just recently moved to central Wisconsin from Texas. We settled in a very cute small town.

My wife started to get a little bored in this small town and wanted to get a little job to soak up some of her time. So she was hired to deliver meals to the elderly inches area.

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On her route she met Elwood Engle and his wife of 67 years! A beautiful elderly couple who had a wonderful testimony about one of their sons.

About 47 years ago, their son was a talented high school athlete. But one day his left leg started to hurt. The pain would not go away. So, they took him to the hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to be examined.

After many tests were completed, the doctor came out and spoke in a low, but serious voice. He said, "your son has terminal stage four bone cancer, you need to plan his funeral!"

They were all just devastated! But when all seems lost, that's the best time to go to the Lord! They prayed Isaiah 53:1-5 twice a day. Then they got some fellow church members to pray with them. In short order they had Christians in eight states praying for their son.

When they next went to the hospital for more tests, the report was that all of the cancer was miraculously gone! All of the tests were clear of the disease!

All of the doctors and hospital staff were amazed when it was revealed that hundreds of people in eight states had prayed for this young man, and the Lord healed him.

To build up his strength they had him ride a stationary bike. Then a real bike, with some of the hospital staff following with him. In this whole time of healing and physical therapy, many were convicted and gave their hearts to Jesus.

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Friday, September 18, 2026

When Tomorrow Starts Without Me

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a wonderful poem that I found and wanted to share with everyone. I do not know who has written it, if I find out I will put the credits here.

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WHEN TOMORROW STARTS WITHOUT ME

When tomorrow starts without me,

please try to understand,

That an angel came and called my name,

and took me by the hand;

The angel said that my place was ready,

In Heaven far above,

And that I'd have to leave behind,

all those I dearly loved.

But when I walked through Heavens Gates,

I felt so much at home,

for God looked down, smiled at me,

and told me "Welcome Home."

So when tomorrow starts without me,

Don't think that were far apart,

for every time you think of me,

I'm right there in your heart.

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Do you have a poem that is in your heart? Can you share it with me in the comments section?

If you enjoyed this poem you can click on the link to follow this blog.

William James Roop

The Bible and Life

Apostolic Church History Podcast

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

How The Anointing Led Me

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

HOW THE ANOINTING LED ME.

The text we just studied from First John says, "the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth IN you... [and] teacheth you of all things." What is that anointing for? It's to teach you all things!

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I remember the night I was born again: I was born again the 22nd day of April 1933. I know that an unction or anointing came into me that very night. I am just as conscious of it on the

inside of me as I am of my two ears on the outside of me.

The Holy Spirit began to try to teach me a lot of things, but my head wouldn't go along with it. I didn't know to listen to Him. So often we have been religiously brainwashed. Our heads are all cluttered up with religious things, and we have not been trained to listen to and follow our spirits. But it was there on that bed of sickness as a 15- and 16-year- old invalid that I got into the Word. The spirit of God taught me about divine healing.

Five doctors had told me,

"You're going to die—that's all there is to it. You can't live. There's not one chance in a million for you to live."

But something inside me—that anointing that teaches you all things—that inward "something"—said,

"You don't have to die. Not now. Not at this age. Not as a teenager. You can live. You can be healed!"

I said,

"Can I?"

Something inside me said,

"It's all in the Book. Get in the Book. The Bible—that's where it is!"

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And thank God I got in there, and He taught me. I didn't have an earthly teacher. It was difficult, however. It's easier to learn spiritual things if you have a human teacher, because you can see the teacher, listen to him or her, and the witness of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you will let you know whether or not they're teaching what is right. Thank God, He taught me. I listened to Him, and He led me right into the Word, right into faith—and right into healing.

What if I never had listened? I never would have been taught; I would have died and gone on to glory and missed doing what God called me to do; and we wouldn't have any RHEMA

Bible Training Center. I'm so glad I learned to listen!

I saw after my healing that if I had listened to what that "something" on the inside of me had been trying to tell me, I would have been out of that bed a lot sooner. I was an invalid 16 long months before I was healed.

I'll challenge anybody anywhere that if they've got the Holy Spirit living inside them—the One who is the Author of the Bible—He'll lead them right into divine healing. If it's the same Holy Spirit who authored this Book, He's going to teach you what's in there.

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When He opened the Word to me, I acted upon the Word. I didn't know anybody who believed in divine healing, so I didn't have anybody to pray for me. I learned to listen, thank God, to

my spirit.

On the inside of me was this voice teaching me. It said, "You believe all right as far as you know, but that last clause of Mark 11:24—"and ye shall have them"—goes with the preceding clause, "believe that ye receive them."

MARK 11:24

"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

Like a flash, I saw it. What I'd been trying to do was get healed first—have it first—and then I was going to believe it. He said, "Believe it first, and then you'll have it."

So I began to say, right out loud in my room, "I believe. believe. I believe that I receive healing for the deformed heart. I believe I receive healing for the paralysis. I believe I receive healing for the incurable blood disease."

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And while I was saying that and praising God for it, that anointing in me—IN me—said,

"Arise. People who are well ought to be up at 10:30 in the morning."

I thought for a moment, How am I going to get up? I'm paralyzed.

But when I made the effort and acted upon the Word, the power of God came down on me and went through me like a bolt of electricity!

I stood upright on my feet and was healed—and I have been healed ever since. I say this to the glory of God: I've had half a century of divine health. The last headache I had was in August 1933, but don't misunderstand me: I'm not opposed to doctors. Thank God for them. Medical science will help people as much as it can. If I'd have needed to go to a doctor in the past half century, I would have gone—but I haven't needed to. I've sent other people to the doctor, however, paid their bills, and bought their medicine.

(Doctors often can keep people alive until we can get enough word in them to get them healed.)

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My healing came about by my listening to that inward anointing that teaches you all things. I listened, obeyed, and off the bed I came. I would challenge anybody who is born again (because you're born of the Holy Spirit): The Spirit will lead you into the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was that same Spirit—that same anointing that teaches—who led me into the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

After my healing, I began to seek out the fellowship of those who believed like I did. Some Full Gospel people had come to our town. Even though there were a lot of things about them that I didn't understand and didn't agree with, I didn't criticize them. I welcomed them with open arms. I was glad to find somebody who believed in faith and healing that I could fellowship with. We need fellowship.

Now, you don't have to go to Full Gospel services too long until people start preaching and testifying about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. When they did, I closed my ears, because I didn't know whether it was right or wrong. I thought, I'd just put up with a little fanaticism to have a little fellowship around faith and healing. I was about to enroll in a Baptist seminary.

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Yes, you can be thoroughly saved, get people saved, and healed every Sunday, see miracles performed, and still close your ears to other things of the Word. God will bless you all He can, because He's out to bless you. He's not out to "get" you, praise the Lord. He'll confirm His Word. If you preach about salvation, people will get saved. If you preach about healing, people will get healed.

I preached water baptism, and people got baptized in water. I preached prayer, and people prayed. I preached living right, and people lived right. But none of them got baptized with the Holy Spirit, because I never said anything about it!

KENNETH E. HAGIN ( Understanding the Anointing)

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