The Bible and Life

Apostolic Church History

Friday, July 31, 2026

R. A. Torrey

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

R.A. Torrey (1856-1928) was one of the foremost evangelists of his day. He was a great man of prayer who went around the world proclaiming the message of the gospel and helping men receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Even the great Evangelist D.L. Moody after hearing Torrey preach said, “you make my mouth water for Him.”

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The topic that R.A. Torrey struggled with for years was that of Divine Healing. This was due to the ministry of John Alexander Dowie. Dowie was a great pioneer of the healing message, yet was brash, aggressive, and would openly thrash and humiliate anyone who disagreed with his doctrine. After seeing the open feuds between Dowie and Moody, Torrey decided to stay away from the topic of divine healing all together. Yet, something continued to draw him to it over the years. He began to see people healed in his own meetings and at the time Aimee Semple McPherson brought another great wave of healing to the nation.

Towards the end of his life, he felt the need to respond to what he was seeing and published a little book called “Divine Healing.” Within the writings he said, “Does God heal in answer to prayer today? Does He really heal people who are beyond the skill of the physician and beyond all human help? Does he work miracles today?

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To all these questions I reply, He does. Not only does the Bible teach it, but experience demonstrates it." Would Torrey have seen things in a different light if he had not encountered Dowie? Only God knows the answer to that question. Torrey died on October 26, 1928. His remarkable evangelistic campaigns remain, like those of his friend Moody, a hallmark of effective and memorable Christian movements.

Regardless of the actions of other ministers that were hurtful, Torrey decided to go with what God’s word had to say on the matter, and he left a legacy of faith proclaiming that God saves, God fills with the Holy Ghost, and God heals! Let’s all do the same!

KINGDOM GENERALS

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Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Faith Cures Her

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

On Wednesday, March 28, 1928, the Chicago Daily News featured a front- page headline that read, “Deaf Six Years, Faith Cures Her.” Beneath the headline was a large photo of Fred Bosworth teaching a smiling teenage girl how to use a telephone.

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The girl was Ruth Peiper, age sixteen. Her mother had died when Ruth was only eight, and her father had refused to provide a home for her. So, Ruth had been sent to a home for dependent girls. When she was eleven years old, she contracted diphtheria and scarlet fever. Due to those illnesses, she lost hearing in both her ears. She also had to wear a body cast and walked with a noticeable limp due to a severe curvature of the spine. Her doctors had not been able to help her, and her stay in the home became far longer than that of most other girls her age.

Ruth had become a favorite at the home, and one of the volunteers had taken a special interest in her. This volunteer had urged Martha Dixon, the matron, to take Ruth to a Bosworth healing meeting at the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle. Ready to do anything that might help Ruth, Mrs. Dixon took her to the meeting. That night, March 2, 1928, Ruth Peiper was completely healed!

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Ruth came running into the front parlor of the home to tell the Chicago Daily News reporter more of her story. “‘Yes, it’s all true,’ she said as she walked across the room without a limp. ‘Something just suddenly happened to me as I stood on the platform being anointed by the Reverend Bosworth. It was like lightning and thunder in my head. Then there was a ringing in my ears.’”

Riding home on the bus that night with Mrs. Dixon, Ruth couldn’t believe how loud everything was. Every time someone paid the bus fare and the bell rang, she jumped. The sounds were loud, but they were also wonderful! “‘It’s all in the Bible,’ Ruth concluded to the reporter. ‘It is just believing what is there that has made me well.’”

The power of God to heal was still moving through the Bosworths’ ministry at the end of the 1920s.

God’s Generals' ( Healing Evangelists )

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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

A. B. Simpson

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

ACT LIKE THE WORD IS TRUE!

And I always say to those people, “Have you ever acted like those verses of Scripture were true?” That sometimes startles them.

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But let me share with you the testimony of A. B. Simpson who just acted like the Word is true, and he received his healing. I read his testimony years ago in a Christian magazine. At the age of forty-six, Dr. A. B. Simpson, who was a Presbyterian minister at the time and later founded the Christian Missionary Alliance, was told he was dying of a heart condition and was given only about six months to live.

Dr. Simpson said he had heard many testimonies of healing even in his own church. He took a short leave of absence and went up to his farm where he could spend a lot of time studying the Word of God.

At the end of two weeks, Dr. Simpson took a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote, “After searching the Word of God for two weeks, I am convinced the Bible teaches that divine healing is for us today. And I, this day, accept Jesus Christ as my Healer and declare that I am now healed from heart trouble and that I am well. And I promise God to use this new-found strength and life and energy entirely for His purpose and to further the gospel.

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I promise God I will share this truth of healing with others and will help them.” After that time, Simpson went to a luncheon where he was to be the speaker. All that came to him to speak about was the one word out of Matthew 8:17, “Himself.”

So Dr. Simpson opened his Bible and read the entire verse and told the audience he wanted to focus his attention on that word “Himself.” Then he gave them his testimony about how he had been searching the Bible and had come to the conclusion that Jesus was still the Healer today.

After the luncheon, he was invited to go mountain climbing by the men to whom he had spoken. The thought immediately came to him that he wouldn’t be able to because of his heart condition. But then he remembered he had declared his healing, so he accepted the invitation and went. Up to this point, he had not really seen or felt his healing, but had just accepted it and had declared it by faith.

All the way up the mountain, every time he got his mind off the Word of God, he would begin to feel the symptoms of his heart condition. But he overcame these feelings because as he claimed the Word again for his healing, all the symptoms would go away. He fought this battle all the way up the mountain. But when he got up the mountain, he walked about victorious without any

symptoms!

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Dr. Simpson was seventy years old when I read his testimony in this magazine article, and he said he’d never had any more symptoms whatsoever after that mountain-climbing experience.

P . C. Nelson said that more people lose their healing over a counterattack than anything else.

For an example, an assistant chaplain boy during the Korean War said the United States took one mountain over there in battle fourteen different times and each time lost it. Actually, they lost it thirteen times and the fourteenth time, they kept it.

It’s the same way with faith. Real faith holds on to the blessings of God. Real faith is the child of the knowledge of the Word. Dr. Simpson acted on the Word and got real faith from it. Instead of trying to believe, he just acted upon the Word. He acted like the Word is true.

~ Kenneth E. Hagin || Bible Faith Study Guide

_ Spiritual Notes

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Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Elias Letwaba

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

One day I sat talking to Father Seymour (William J. Seymour) in Los Angeles. I told him about the following incident in the life of Elias Letwaba, one of our native preachers in South Africa:

I went to his house one day in the country, and his wife said, "He is not home. A little baby is hurt, and he is praying for it."

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So I went over to the native hut, got down on my knees, and crawled inside. I saw Letwaba kneeling in a corner by the child. I said, "Letwaba, it is me. What is the matter with the child?"

He told me the mother had been carrying it on her back in a blanket as natives carry their children, and it fell out. He said, "I think it hurt its neck."

I examined the baby and saw that its neck was broken. It would turn from side to side like the neck of a doll. "Why, Letwaba, the baby's neck is broken!" I did not have faith for a broken neck, but poor old Letwaba did not know the difference. I saw that he did not understand. He discerned the spirit of doubt in my soul, and I said to myself, I am not going to interfere with his faith. He will just feel the doubt generated by all the old traditional things I have learned, so I will go outside.

I went to another hut and kept on praying. I lay own at 1 a.m. At 3 o'clock Letwaba came in.

I said, "Well, Letwaba, how about the baby?" He looked at me, so lovingly and sweetly, and said, "Why, brother, the baby is all well. Jesus do heal the baby."

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I said, "The baby is well! Letwaba, take me to the baby at once." So we went to the baby. I took the little black thing on my arm and came out of the hut praying: "Lord, take every cursed thing out of my soul that keeps me from believing the Lord Jesus Christ." As I related the incident to Mr. Seymour, he shouted, "Praise God, brother! That is not healing, it is life!"

_ Letwaba was John G Lakes Associate.

- John G Lake ( Adventures in God )

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Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Sister Etter Healing

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

By Marie Woodworth-Etter, from her book Signs and Wonders.

By the time Sister Etter reached age forty she was a national phenomena. Various denominations recognized her ability to stir dead churches, bring in the unconverted, and cheer on a deeper spiritual walk with God. Doctors, lawyers, drunkards, and adulterers-people from all walks of life-were gloriously saved and filled with the Holy Spirit in her meetings. Because of one of her meetings in 1885, the police said they had never seen such a change in their city. The city had been so deaned up that they had nothing to do!

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One newspaper reporter wrote of Sister Etter: "She goes at it like a foot pad tackles his prey. By some supernatural power she just knocks em silly when they are not looking for it, and while they are down she applies the hydraulic pressure and pumps the grace of God into them by the bucketful."

Eventually the Lord led Maria to begin praying for the sick. At first, she was reluctant, feeling it would take away from her evangelistic call. But God continued to make His will clear, and she agreed. She studied the Word and began preaching His divine will in healing It didn't take long to see that evangelism and healing went hand in hand as thousands were won to Christ as a result of seeing others healed.

Maria preached that the strong manifestations of the Spirit were "nothing new; they were just something the Church had lost."And she refused to get caught up in the pet doctrines of the day, desiring only for the Holy Spirit to do His works.

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Once in a meeting, a crowd rushed to the platform and cried out, "What shall we do?"

Maria finishes the story: "They went down by the mighty wind power of the Holy Ghost. He sat upon the children of God till their faces shone like Stephen's when his enemies said he looked like an angel. Many received gifts; some for ministry, some as evangelists, some of healing, and hundreds of sinners received the gift of eternal life."

In another meeting, over twenty-five thousand people crowded in to hear Sister Etter. And remember, in those days, there were no public address systems! Maria wrote that before she even finished preaching, the power of God fell on the multitude and took control of about five hundred as they fell to the ground.

📕GOD'S GENERALS

By Marie Woodworth-Etter, from her book Signs and Wonders.

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ARRESTED 100 TIMES WITHIN A YEAR

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

John Alexander Dowie

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE opened several large rooming houses called "Healing Homes." Here, the sick who had come for healing could find shelter and rest between the services held at Zion Tabernacle. Once there, they were able to receive constant ministry from the Word until their faith mounted to the place of complete manifestation. But the newspapers, mainly the Chicago Dispatch, were merciless, calling the homes "Lunatic Asylums" and continued to print every lie imaginable.

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Because of these healing homes, Dowie's enemies thought they had found a vulnerable spot. So early in 1895, they arrested him on the charge of "practicing medicine without a license." Obviously untrue, Dowie would have been the last person to allow medicine into his homes He hired a brilliant attorney, but he only kept Dowie advised of the legal matters.

So Dowie chose to represent himself in court because no one else could articulate his call as accurately as himself. Dowie's superior intellect was not enough to overrule the evil jurisdiction of the court. Despite his profound arguments, the court fined him. But they never dreamed he would take the case to a higher court, costing much more money than the fines they had issued!

When he did, the higher court denounced the evil of the lower court, and reversed the decision.

The city hoped Dowie would get discouraged if they continued to arrest and fine him. So before the year was over, he had been arrested one hundred times. Although severely persecuted, he was never discouraged.

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Persecution brought out great resiliency in his character. He actually thrived on his persecutors' affliction and interrogation. Evil will always try to persecute the power of God. But Dowie was super-naturally secure and anchored in bis godly authority. The supernatural never bows to the natural.

- GOD’S GENERALS ( “The Healing Apostle" )

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Friday, February 13, 2026

Can You Believe In God?

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

WE HAVE A WONDERFUL GOD, A GOD WHOSE WAYS ARE PAST FINDING OUT, AND WHOSE GRACE AND POWER ARE LIMITLESS.

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I was in Belfast one day and saw one of the brethren of the assembly. He said to me, "Wigglesworth, I am troubled. I have had a good deal of sorrow during the past five months. I had a woman in my assembly who could always pray the blessing of heaven down on our meetings. She is an old woman, but her presence is always an inspiration. But five months ago she fell and broke her thigh. The doctors put her into a plaster cast, and after five months they broke the cast. But the bones were not properly set and so she fell and broke the thigh again."

He took me to her house, and there was a woman lying in a bed on the right hand side of the room. I said to her, "Well, what about it now?" She said, "They have sent me home

incurable. The doctors say that I am so old that my bones won't knit. There is no nutriment in my bones and they could never do anything for me and they say I shall have to lie in bed for the rest of my life."

I said to her, "Can you believe God?" She replied, "Yes, ever since I heard that you had

come to Belfast my faith has been quickened. If you will pray, I will believe. I know there is no power on earth that can make the bones of my thigh knit, but I know there is nothing impossible with God." I said, "Do you believe He will meet you now?" She answered, "I do."

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It is grand to see people believe God. God knew all about this leg and that it was broken in two places. I said to the woman, "When I pray, something will happen." Her husband was sitting there; he had been in his chair for four years and could not walk a step. He called out, "I don't believe. I won't believe. You will never get me to believe."

I said, "All right," and laid my hands on his wife in the name of the Lord Jesus. The moment hands were laid upon her the power of God went right through her and she cried out, "I'm healed." I said, "I'm not going to assist you to rise. God will do it all." She rose and walked up and down the room, praising God!

The old man was amazed at what had happened to his wife, and he cried out, "Make me walk, make me walk." I said to him, "You old sinner, repent." He cried out, "Lord, You know I never meant what I said. You know I believe." I don't think he meant what he said; anyhow the Lord was full of compassion. If He marked our sins, where would any of us be? If we will meet the conditions, God will always meet us.

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If we believe, all things are possible. I laid my hands on him and the power went right through the old man's body; and those legs, for the first time in four years, received power to carry his body, and he walked up and down and in and out. He said, "O what great things God has done for us tonight!"

What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Desire toward God, and you will have desires from God; and He will meet you on the line of those desires when you reach out in simple faith.

- Smith Wigglesworth ( Ever Increasing Faith )

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Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Regimenter

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

REGIMENTER.

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Dr. Price was a "regimenter." For example, when you came to his tent to receive healing, you had to hear at least three sermons, indicating the three sermons you had heard on the prayer card. He would not permit anyone to be prayed for until they had heard him preach at least three times.

At first I did not understand why he did this, but later I realized he was building faith inside of them for healing. He preached at least two hours every service. He handed out cards and each person who wanted to be healed was given a number. Before he got up to speak, he had created a healing line. He would say, for example, tonight we will take numbers 216 to 275. That may not sound like many out of a crowd of ten thousand. However, in addition to the healings of the people with prayer cards, many people in his audiences received healing without hands being laid on them.

He did not just lay hands on people, he got them healed. He would stay with them until the healing came through. It might take an hour for him to pray for just a few people because he prayed in depth for deliverance. People were set free by the mighty power of God.

- Dr. Lester Sumrall ( The Pioneers Of Faith)

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Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Minister Where Your Anointing Is

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

MINISTER WERE YOUR ANOINTING IS.

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Our RHEMA Bible Training Center students all have read F. F. Bosworth's classic book, Christ the Healer. I knew Bosworth. I've talked to him personally. He was 77 years old the last time I talked to him, but you'd have thought he was 55 just to look at him.

I heard him minister in another man's meeting. Bosworth would teach in the daytime and this other man would minister in the night services. Bosworth would say, "Anybody who's deaf or has any ear trouble, even if you've had an operation and had your eardrum removed, come up here and I'll lay hands on you and you'll be healed." Every single one of the people Bosworth prayed for— without fail—got healed!

Bosworth said, "I can't tell you why—I don't know why— but God uses me along that line. I usually never fail to get a deaf person healed, or one whose hearing is impaired healed, or God will put a new eardrum in there if they've had an operation." Bosworth was endowed by the Spirit to minister in that area.

When Bosworth said he didn't understand it, that started me thinking. If there's something I don't know, I'll stay up day and night and burn the midnight oil until I find the answers. That's just my nature.

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We ministers used to compare notes at Voice of Healing conventions that were held during the great Healing Revival. One preacher had great success in getting "deaf and dumb" (mute) people healed. Another said, "I don't remember of one deaf or dumb person being healed in my ministry, but nearly every blind person I lay hands on gets healed." The first man, who got deaf and dumb persons healed, couldn't remember of a blind person ever being healed under his ministry.

In comparing notes, I discovered that I got more people healed of cancer (usually in tumor form) than all the rest of them put together. I'd seldom fail along that line with a tumor or growth in those days; that's where my gift lay.

Minister where your anointing is—find out where it is.

- Kenneth E Hagin ( Understanding the Anointing )

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