I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
(Ps.118:17)
Years ago while I was ministering at a youth camp in the Sierra Mountains near Sonora, California, I received an emergency telephone call. The voice on the other end said, “Brother Hagin, do you remember Gary?” I did. The man was talking about his oldest boy who was nine.
“Well,” he said, “he had a sore throat and we prayed about it. But it got worse. We carried him to the doctor, and the doctor said that the infection went to his kidneys. Now his kidneys have stopped functioning. The doctor said that he will be dead in a matter of minutes. He is in intensive care, and we want you to agree with us. We believe that Gary will live and not die.”
I said, “I believe with you that he will live and not die.”
I was at this youth camp for several weeks. Before I left, I received a little reel-to-reel tape recording in the mail. On it, the man said to me, “Brother Hagin, they would only let me in the intensive care unit for five minutes a day. I would say to Gary, ‘You lie there and say, “Himself took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses.” I’ll live and not die.’
“That little fellow said that over and over again for two days and two nights. Suddenly, he was all right. We just brought Gary home, and he wants to say something to you.”
Then I heard Gary say, “Brother Hagin, I want to thank you for bringing the truth to me. Dad has already told you, but I must have said those words over ten thousand times each night.”
The doctors couldn’t understand how that little boy had lived, but he did. God’s Word works!
Confession:
I repeat the following to myself daily: “Jesus took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses. I shall live and not die, and declare the works of the Lord.”
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.