I Believe in Healing , livre ebook

© 2013 by Cecil Murphey and Twila Belk
Cecil Murphey and Twila Belk are represented by The Knight Agency Inc., 570 East Avenue, Madison, GA 30650.
Published by Chosen Books 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 chosenbooks.com
Chosen Books is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Chosen edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6848-8
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation , copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Other versions used are KJV — King James Version . Authorized King James Version.
NIV —Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Contents
How to Read This Book
Introduction: I Believe in Healing
Part 1
S TORIES AND T ESTIMONIES OF H EALING
A Shattered Dream
“He Will Not Die”
A Singer’s Throat Disease (Dave Clark)
Call It a Mystery? (Cheryl Colwell)
Healings in the Ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892)
The Faith of a Few Good Friends (Marsha Robinson)
“This Is Real!”
Healings in the Ministry of George Fox (1624–1691)
New Skin
Crippled from Birth
“I Want to See!”
A Malformed Ear
Healings in the Ministry of St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
Testicular Cancer (Michael E. Wray with JoAnn Reno Wray)
Waiting for Healing (Wanda Rosenberry)
A Healed Heart (Martha Heneisen)
Healings in the Ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman (1907–1976)
Gallstones Be Gone
Healed of a Blood Disorder
The Family Reunion (Mary Cantell)
Healings in the Life of Henrietta Mears (1890–1963)
Healing Stories from the International Order of St. Luke the Physician
The Miracle Walker (Debbie Oliver)
Healings in the Ministry of David Nunn (1921–2003)
Arteries Unblocked
Taste and See (Marolyn Ford)
The Deaf Are Healed
My Battle with Lyme Disease (Lisa Buffaloe)
Healings in the Ministry of John Wimber (1934–1997)
More Than I Asked (T. L. C. Nielsen)
A Couple’s Faith for a Baby (Elaine Wright Colvin)
An Inoperable Tumor (Janette Button)
Healed of Tumors (Dr. Charles Cullis)
Healings in the Ministry of Dorothea Trudel (1813–1862)
Raising My Hands (Marlena Dammé)
The Faith of a Child (Elaine Wright Colvin)
The Healing Season (Veronica Leigh)
Healings in the Ministry of Agnes Sanford (1897–1982)
Healed Eyes (Cecil Murphey)
We Were Desperate (Peggy Gamba)
God’s Surgery (Virginia Rush)
Healings in the Ministry of John Alexander Dowie (1847–1907)
It Might Go Away (Barbara Wells)
Healings by the Happy Hunters
Healing from Rheumatoid Arthritis
Unborn Baby Healed
“I Can See Clearly”
Bone Displacement
A Healing During the Great Awakening
Healings in the Ministry of Jack Coe (1918–1956)
Prayer from Camps Farthest Out (Kristie Headington)
Marriage, a Miracle and Ministry (Dr. James B. Keiller)
Healings in the Ministry of John G. Lake (1870–1935)
A Little Discomfort (Carolyn Poindexter)
Miracle Twins
A Cup of Cold Water (Barbara Snyder)
Healing Across the Airwaves
“God Just Healed Me” (Vern Bogardus with Carolyn Bolz)
Azusa Street Healings (1906)
Healings in the Ministry of Hilarion (c. 291–371)
Multiple Tumors (Tim Engstrom with Florence Bennett Robb)
Dare to Believe (Franklin Blodgett)
A Hindu Has Faith for Healing (Elaine Wright Colvin)
“She Won’t Survive” (Michelle Avery Kubiak with Susan D. Avery)
A Yearlong Journey (Jan Vipperman)
Healings in the Ministry of Lester Sumrall (1913–1996)
The Doctor Is on Vacation (Linda K. Rodante)
A Serious Back Injury (Cindy Adams)
“He’ll Never Walk Again” (Max Elliot Anderson)
Healings in the Ministry of Charles S. Price (1887–1947)
A Message of Hope (Don Piper)
“Deafness Be Gone” (Patti Richter)
Only an Ankle (Tawanda Mills)
The Pillow Fight (Helena Smrcek)
Healings in the Ministry of F. F. Bosworth (1877–1958)
Anointing with Cooking Oil (Cecil Murphey)
Miracle Man (Diane Braun)
A Skeptic Prays (Marcia Zimmermann)
Healings in the Ministry of William Branham (1909–1965)
“I’m About to Be Healed” (Colleen Capes Jackson)
No Amputation
Just Ask (Kelly J. Stigliano)
Dylan’s Story (Nicole Gant)
Ruth Carter Stapleton’s First Healing
A Song Born of Obedience (Jeanne Gowen Dennis)
“Do You Believe I Can Heal You?” (Sara Schaffer)
The Voice of Healing
It Really Works (Charles Earl Harrel)
The Power of Faith (MaryAnn Diorio, Ph.D.)
Healings in the Ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944)
John’s Heart (Jennifer Maxwell)
Deliverance (Delilah Moore Leach)
Healings in the Ministry of A. A. Allen (1911–1970)
Healing for Four Generations (Reverend Annalee Davis)
A Burned Face (Louise Lankford-Dunlap)
The Auntie in Fiji (Janice Rice)
Pregnant with Appendicitis (Edna M. Ellison)
Blind Eye Healed
Grossly Abnormal (Helen Heavirland)
Afflictions and Fevers
A Lost Voice
Freaky Face (Peggy Cunningham)
A Crippled Deacon (Dr. James B. Keiller)
“There’s No Doubt” (Geni J. White, RN, MS)
A Lump and Lighthouse Temple (Thelma Paslay with Juanita Paslay)
Wheelchair Singer
Sent Home to Die
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Dickson Slater)
A Stroke of Grace (Kristi Butler)
“You Don’t Need My Services” (Bill C. Crow with Ruth E. Crow)
A Cancer on Her Face
“I Can See!”
A Daughter Healed
“My Name Is Richard” (Robert Puleo with Sally Puleo)
Part 2
QUESTIONS ABOUT HEALING
Does Healing Happen Today?
What Are the Arguments Against Healing Today?
Does Sickness Happen Because of Sin?
What Is the Gift of Healing?
Are There Certain Conditions for Healing to Occur?
Is Demon Possession an Illness?
How Does God’s Will Play a Part in Times of Healing?
Why Did the Apostles Heal the Sick?
Did Healing Continue After the Biblical Accounts?
What Healings Have Occurred Since the Time of the Early Church Fathers?
Who Were the Healers of the Twentieth Century?
Endnotes
Acknowledgments
H OW TO R EAD T HIS B OOK
In Part 1 of this book, after a personal introduction by Cecil Murphey to explain his belief in divine healing, we present documented and witnessed examples of healings that have occurred during the nearly 2,000 years since the last pages of the Bible were written. Many of these stories are contemporary and written by those who actually experienced healing.
If you’re unsure about whether healing is still available and valid for Christians today, or if you would like biblical proof and theological rationale for healing, start with Part 2 . In this section of the book, we provide answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about healing. In providing this material, our purpose is to prove healing in the past was part of the work of God’s Spirit; show that the widespread belief in healing today is part of the ongoing work of God’s Spirit; and prove that modern healings occur by medical documentation and the words of credible eyewitnesses.
I Believe IN HEALING
R EAL S TORIES FROM THE B IBLE , H ISTORY AND T ODAY
INTRODUCTION
I Believe in Healing
C ECIL M URPHEY
It’s easy to say, “I believe in healing.” The statement by itself doesn’t mean much. But when I write, “I believe in healing because …” I’m not only stating what I believe, but also giving a reason for it.
I have two reasons for my belief in healing.
First, I believe in physical healing because we’ve experienced it in our family. Many Christians would make that the second reason; however, I had to see it happen before I was able to grasp that God was still the divine Physician.
I grew up outside the Church and hadn’t thought seriously about divine healing. My wife, Shirley, grew up in Zion, Illinois, a city founded by John Alexander Dowie and based on a belief in healing as part of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Here’s the story of the experience that led me to become a firm believer in physical healing.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor said and stared at the floor, “but we don’t expect her to live through the night.”
I had already been talking to him for a couple of minutes when he made that statement.
“Sir, we’re Christians and we’re not afraid of death,” I had said. “I ask you to be honest with me.”
That’s when he told me they didn’t expect my wife to live. I was shocked, and yet I was able to accept the doctor’s pronouncement.
He led me into a small room, where Shirley lay on a gurney, and told me I could stay there. Although he didn’t say it, the tone of his voice added, “until she expires.” Our two daughters were sleeping in another small room just down the hallway. Wanda was two, and Cecile was seven months old. A nurse said I’d be able to hear them if they awakened.
I sat on a chair across from the gurney, laid my head against the metal bars, and prayed. As I prayed, I mentally replayed the accident in my mind.
It was the night before Thanksgiving. We were on our way from our home in Zion, Illinois, to spend the holiday with my parents in Davenport, Iowa. The night was cold and overcast. We were about halfway there, and I was behind a large semi. He must have had quite a heavy load, because every time we went up an incline, his speed went down to less than 30 miles an hour.
I pulled out and it looked clear ahead, so