This is the
testimony of my family: Earline, my wife; Marie, my
daughter; and Byron, my son. We were married in 1955
by Dr. Lee Roberson, who had a practice of not
marrying anyone who was not a Christian. Little did we
realize then what a difference it makes for both
spouses to be Christians and for God to control your
family. We give God the credit for our successful
marriage of 25 years.
We were average
Christians who never had really done anything very bad
or very good. Although I had held most of the
positions in the church, there was not much love in my
heart for others. Nor did we see much love in the many
churches we attended as I moved around the United
States following the engineering profession. Worship
services were more of a formality.
Earline had a number
of miscarriages. Thyroid and parathyroid were
completely removed as a teenager. The doctors said
that we could not have any children. Earline began
praying, and in 1960 God rewarded us with a beautiful
baby boy we named Byron. Two years later, God gave us
a beautiful baby girl we named Marie. They were all
the children we could have because of Earline's
health.
We went to
traditional churches. They did not teach us about the
miracle- working God. We did not see the miracles of
God for twenty years. After several medical checkups
culminating in a $500 one in 1973, it was conclusively
proven that Earline had no thyroid or parathyroid.
According to the doctors, she could not be alive, but
was doing fine at 40 years of age. We later recognized
that our children were medical miracles.
We had a near
perfect family for 12? years, then tragedy struck.
Byron climbed a tree and touched a 4000-volt power
line and fell 50 feet. We really began to see God at
work in our lives. I would like for Earline to tell
what happened. We still don't understand why it had to
happen or what all God has done for us.
On May 22, 1973 my
world came to a crushing halt! As the children played,
two neighbors came over to join me for tea. The
children came in for cookies and went out again. Byron
stood by my chair, his arm on my shoulder, gave me a
little hug and said some day he would climb a tree to
the very top. Turned, on the run, and said, "You're a
nice mom", went out the door and climbed a tall
cottonwood.
Soon, one of the
children said that Byron had fallen out of the tree.
One look at Byron and I knew only God could help him.
Marie and I began to pray as never before. Nothing in
my life had prepared me for this moment. No faith in
God rose to meet this crisis.
On the way to the
hospital, we became sure that God didn't love us or He
would never have let this happen. Having nothing else
to cling to, we clung to God anyway (Ps. 50:15).
At the hospital, I
accused God of not living, not caring, not being. He
so lovingly said, "I love you, Gene and Marie more
than you love each other, more than you love
yourselves. I love Byron more than you do". I couldn't
believe Him. I told God, if He didn't do something to
prove He loved us and that Byron was in Heaven, I
would kill them and myself. I told Him if Byron was
not in Heaven I didn't want any part of it either.
With all this
fussing at God, I could only feel love coming to me.
He said "All things are His including the tree, the
power line and all the earth" (Ps. 50:10-12).
I heard myself
telling Satan to remove death from Byron in the name
of Jesus. Byron lived on as a miracle. I didn't know
this was possible (rebuking Satan in Jesus' name).
After Gene arrived,
I told all God had said. We could not believe that God
really was talking. We didn't know He talked today.
As we prayed
together, God assured us of His love and His
everlasting knowledge. He knew Byron's future and
asked if we did or would be responsible for it. A real
belief and reliance in God's words sprang up in us and
we were able to give Byron into the hands of this
loving God. At that moment, he died.
One glance at the
doctor's face and we knew before he spoke "death". I
had been in the hospital with an extremely rapid heart
beat. Now I could hardly see and my heart had gone mad
- beating wildly. As I stood, God acted. Something
very wonderful began at the top of my head, eyes were
suddenly clear, heart suddenly regular. I was so calm
I was startled. Peace had come over me so that I could
hardly bear it. I didn't understand "peace that passes
understanding" (Phil. 4:7). Now I knew this peace and
understood Jesus more.
People came to
console us. All we could do was tell them about this
Jesus we had just experienced and all He had done for
us. We had no need for the pills that were offered. We
had just met the God of power and were sure we could
rely on Him for all things. God had become greater
than our loss and fears. He is real, He is alive, He
has power, He loves us.
We saw visions, had
dreams and interpretations of dreams, and had words of
knowledge and words of wisdom. We didn't know where
these things came from. In John 16:13 we found the
answer. Later on we met people who could explain the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit. We received this Baptism,
a prayer language, a new joy in reading the Bible and
understanding. Isaiah 16:14 is a promise which God has
richly kept.
Once it seemed that
Byron visited me - whether in a dream or vision I'm
not sure. I asked about his death; he said it was
terribly cold but now everything was fine. I asked if
he had seen Jesus; he said Jesus was nearly always
with the children but was not there - and then Byron
left.
God came to Marie in
a terrible dream that showed Byron coming out the
casket, sitting in a wheel chair and talking out of
the side of his mouth. God gave me the interpretation.
If we had not let God's perfect will be done, Byron
would have been a living vegetable. We would have
regretted praying for him to live.
God did many
kindnesses for us to show that He was alive and loved
us. Before we knew about raising our hands and
praising God, He held our hands and walked with us.
God spoke audibly to Earline several times. Byron had
only been dead a short time when God told us that we
must share what He had done for us with others. God
told us when Byron accepted Christ and that Proverbs
20:11 changed him from death to life.
Jesus Christ was
Savior but not Lord and Master for 20 years. We
dedicated ourselves totally to God in 1973 and things
began to happen. We had never tithed. We started
tithing 10% after deductions and God cut my salary to
10 times the tithe. After we searched the Bible and
found out that we owe God a tenth of gross income,
then God found me another job. He had cut my salary
$2,000 a year but he gave back $5,000 a year after my
heart was right.
God has given our
family divine health for the past seven years. The
first major miracle was to heal Earline's back. She
had been losing calcium for five years and was
becoming a cripple. In addition to healing her back,
God lengthened her leg ?". Then God healed Earline of
her allergies. She went to a world renowned doctor,
Dr. Browning, who found that she had 175 allergies and
he said that she could never be cured. One night when
she was about to take her shot, God spoke and said she
didn't need her shots. She has not taken a shot since
and is completely healed. When ? saw God heal Earline,
I decided by faith to stop taking my shots; God
faithfully healed me from my allergies. Marie has been
healed of many minor ailments by prayer such as a
broken tail bone and ear ache. We could spend many
days telling about people that we have seen God heal.
One Sunday
afternoon, Marie decided to get her horse, King Fox,
and go riding. When we got back to the stables, Marie
had fallen off King Fox and broken her arm. This
shocked Earline and I but we had the presence of the
Holy Spirit so we prayed for Marie.
We didn't know
whether to take her to the hospital or to the doctor
or to depend upon God for healing. As we rode back
home, the Lord quickened Psalm 37:23 to my mind, "The
steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord". I asked
God to order our steps.
Marie sat in the
car, she could feel the dislocated broken bones. We
called our family doctor, Dr. Lee. He was out and his
backup was out too.
I went to my study
to get the anointing oil. As I came out, Earline said,
"Go get your oil and pray for Marie". God had given us
a "Word of Wisdom" (I Corinthians 12:8). We were
familiar with James 5:14 and 15 about anointing with
oil and praying the prayer of faith. I then anointed
Marie's forehead, held her hand of the broken arm, and
we prayed again. Her arm tingled and she could feel
the bones moving within the arm.
We then took her to
Doctor's Memorial Hospital where she was x-rayed and
attended by Dr. Kilroy, a bone specialist who showed
us the x-ray. We could see a complete break through
the shoulder socket; the bone was perfectly set. He
said that it was unusual to see that type of break and
not have to set the bone.
Earline and Marie
prayed that she would be completely healed in three
weeks. Dr. Kilroy took an x-ray to prove she was not
healed. PRAISE THE LORD, she was healed, the cast was
taken off, and she rode King Fox three weeks after the
arm was broken! Any doctor will tell you that it takes
six to eight weeks to heal an ordinary break and
longer for complicated breaks.
Jeremiah 32:27 says,
"Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there
anything too hard for me." God is only limited by our
faith. Since then, I have learned of three other cases
where God set the bones. To God be the glory, honor
and praise for everything that was done.
We were baptised in
the Holy Spirit at the Full Gospel Business Men's
Fellowship International meeting in Baton Rouge. We
have received the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness and temperance. Spiritually God has filled
our cups to overflowing with His love and grace.
Materially God has met all of our needs out of His
riches in Glory through Christ Jesus.
The first year after
the Baptism we went to as many meetings as we could
attend to learn and be blessed. Then God began to deal
with us about helping others. Now, we minister to
whoever God puts in our path. We pray for the sick and
those needing deliverance. We have seen the sick
healed and God grow out arms and legs as much as 2".
We have seen demons cast out and the dead raised
(Matthew 10:78).