And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
(Luke 9:6)
As a young pastor, just before my twenty-fourth birthday, I remember hearing Rev. Raymond T. Richey (a man who was used mightily by God in the area of healing) say, “Divine healing is the dinner bell.” I knew exactly what he meant when he said that.
At that time people living out in the country had a big bell on their back porch, and when dinner was ready, someone would ring the bell to let everyone in the fields know it was time to eat.
When I heard Rev. Richey say that, I wasn’t having healing services at my church on a regular basis. But I said to myself, “I’m going back home, and I’m going to start ringing the dinner bell.”
We had Wednesday night, Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night services. I told the congregation, “Every Saturday night is divine healing night. I’m not going to preach on anything but divine healing.” So I started ringing the dinner bell.
Initially, the crowd on Saturday night became smaller, and, as far as I could ascertain, no one was getting healed. I would anoint them with oil and lay hands on them. I would have a healing line every Saturday night.
Still, no one was getting healed. But I kept on ringing the dinner bell! Finally, after six months, things started happening. People started getting healed.
I didn’t understand it then, but I know now that when I first began teaching on healing, I was planting seed. I had to keep watering that seed, and that takes time. I could have become discouraged and stopped holding healing services. Or I could have resigned the church and left. But when the harvest came, I wouldn’t have been there to enjoy it.
Confession
I plant the seed of God’s Word in my heart. And I continue to water that seed. Eventually, I will see a harvest of health and healing.
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.