Kenneth E. Hagin ministered for almost 70years after God miraculously healed him of adeformed heart and an incurable blood diseaseat the age of 17. Even though Rev. Hagin wenthome to be with the Lord in 2003, the minis-try he founded continues to bless multitudesaround the globe.

Kenneth Hagin Ministries' radio program,Rhema for Today, is heard on more than 150stations nationwide and on the Internet world-wide. Other outreaches include The Word ofFaith, a free monthly magazine; crusadesconducted throughout the nation; RHEMACorrespondence Bible School; RHEMA BibleTraining Center; RHEMA Alumni Association;RHEMA Ministerial Association International;RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; andthe RHEMA Prison Ministry .

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Chapter 1THE CHURCH MEMBER WHO

WENT TO HELL

I was born and raised Southern Bap_tist. I thought the Lord Jesus Christ andall of His disciples were Southern Baptist.It came as a real shock to me when I foundout that they weren't.

I got to reading the Bible one day anddecided that Paul couldn't have been Bap-tist, because he said, "1 thank my God 1

speak with tongues .... " (l Cor. 14:18). Ihad never heard any Baptist say that!

Being born and raised Southern Bap-tist, I felt sorry for everybody who wasn'tBaptist. But, you know, friends, you can bea church member and not be a Cfiristian.

Even t};;~r;";memb~ of;;~~;~hand believe in going to church, just goingto church won't save you or make you aChristian any more than going to the barnwill make you a cow!Being a member of achurch won't make you a Christian anymore than being a member of a countryclub will make you a Christian. You have-!*,~.s:~lE;,. We've got too many people who thinkthey're a Christian just because they're amember of a church.

I joined the church when I was 9 yearsold. The reason I joined was because mySunday School teacher said to all of usboys one Sunday morning, "How many ofyou want to go to heaven?" Well, every one

of us wanted to go to heaven. So the Sun-day School teacher said, "When the pastor,Dr. So-and-so, gives the invitation thismorning, you just go down to the front."

Since we all wanted to go to heaven,when the invitation was given, several ofus marched right down to the front andshook hands with the preacher. We joinedthe church and were baptized in water.And I really, actually, thought I~as a'CIlrlstian. - ..~when I got into an evangelistic-type service - even one sponsored by myown church - and the Spirit of God beganto deal with me about being saved, I'd sayto myself, I'm already saved. I beron~to{~(:lLlfrc~·7v~ ...b;;n 6api&ed7ii";;;qTer~7'~·''~l~~"ddya CJi'rzsii'a~~~-·"·w.",.... -,,""'" .....-_.,<'-

I was born prematurely with a deformedheart. I weighed less than two pounds atbirth. In my day, more than 75 years ago,they didn't have incubators to putpremature babies in, so the possibility of

my living was practically nil. Neverthe-less, I did survive, but I never ran andplayed liike other little children. I neverhad a normal childhood.

When I was 15 years old, I becametotally bedfast. Five doctors said I had todie; I couldn't live. But it was there, on thebed of sickness, that I was born again onthe 22nd day of April 1933 in the southbedroom of 405 N. College Street in thecity of McKinney, Texas. It was 20 min-utes tillB o'clock on a Saturday night.

This south bedroom had a fireplace.Grandpa had a clock on the mantelpiece.My mother, grandmother, and youngestbrother, Pat, were sitting there in theroom with me, for I had taken a turn forthe worse. The doctor had been called.(RemembE~r,in 1933, doctors made housecalls,)

Just as Grandpa's clock stI"llc~>?:~O,my heart stoppe<r·b~-;ting·"witliin· my'.·'tosom:..'.'<, ••• ""'., •• ~_ ••• '"".,,=<'."'T'. "'T"."'~'="'"'''' .

And I could feel, faster than you couldsnap your fingers, the bloodcease to circu-late 'way down at the end of my toes. Mytoes seemed to go numb. This numbnessspread to my feet, my ankles, my knees,my hips, my stomach, my heart - and Ileaped out of my body. _.~-,

.- I did not lose consciousness; I leapedout of my body like a diver would leap offofa diving board into a swimming pool. I!cnew I was outside of ml.£.~X.J co~l<L~~emy family in the room, but I couldn'~con··tacrtfi~,m __ _-_. '_ ~_.."._ .,.._~..,.~."'-'

•·..·•..·Thad it in my mind to say goodbye toMomma, Granny, and my little brother,but I leaped out of my body before I couldget the words out fully .

...,I be~~12_~~~f.~l!5L::~~,~~:::'!2,t.~E,!~.,,~.~.!11 like you'd go down into a well, cav-'ern, or cave. I did not know that my physi-cal voice picked that up. As I was trying tosay goodbye, I knew I was going down intothat place. All three ofmy family members

who were present testified later, "Whenyou said goodbye, your voice sounded likeyou were way down in a cave or cavern orsomething."

And I continued to descend. I wentjP.~ fee~.fu:,sJ- down, down, d~owi1.I could look up and see the lights of theearth. They finally faded away. Darknessencompassed me 'round about - darknessthat is blacker than any night man hasever seen. It seemed that if you had aknife, you could cut a chunk of it out. Youcouldn't see your hand if it was one inch infront ofyour nose.

The farther down I went, the darker it"--_"'"""'_·_="-"""_"'C~4" __£""'~"~""_"""~"""''''"~'t>>t!•.-",;"",.,.•o;·::'r'~,,>

became - and the hotter it became -unnr"f'lnanY:"'way"aowrtoene'ath"me', Icould see fingers of light playing on thewall of darkness. And I came to the bottomof the pit.

This happened to me more than 60years ago, yet it's just as real to me as if ithad happened week before last. Spiritual

things never grow old.When I came to the bottom of the pit, I

saw what caused the fingers of light toplay on the wall of darkness. Out in frontQf.,.,.I!:~,....,2.~l2!}g..~h~,.,.~~!~~~.2.!:.~t~'il"ri~e·into hell!.! sa~D1...~at ora.!}[:.0ameswith a white crest.

I was pulled toward hell just like amagnet pulls metal unto itself. I knew thatonce I entered through those g~couidnot come back. I endeavored to slow dow;"my descent, because when I came to thebottom of the pit, there still was a slantdownward.

I was conscious of the fact that some.~J.r:d~L~~aturerne~~.!.Jl1~()ttW"·Qfthat pit. I didn't look at it. My gaze wasrrvef~don the gates, yet I knew that acreature was there by my right side.

I didn't know until a good many yearslater, when I discovered it in the Book ofIsaiah, that the Bible says, "Hell frombeneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy

coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee.... " Usa. 14.9).

That creature, when I endeavored toslow down my descent, took me by the armto escort me in. When he did, away abovethe blackness and the darkness a voiCespoKe. It sou;-d~d'like"'a'~are''V;;Ice:'bu't'Idon't know what he said. I don't knowwhether it was God, Jesus, an angel, orwho. He did not speak in the English lan-guage; it was a foreign language.

That place just shook at the few wordshe spoke! And the creature took his handoff of my arm. There was a power like asuction to my back parts that pulled meback. I floated away from the entrance tohell until I stood in the shadows. T.,~~~".like a suction from above, L.t1.uai.~-'fJ:!.,headfirst, through the darkness.-"BeforeI goi-'to'theTop":'Tro~uldsee thelight. I've been down in a well; it was likeyou were 'way down in a well and could seethe light up above.

I came up on the porch of my Grandpa'shouse. We lived in one of those old-fashioned houses they used to build downin Texas with a porch nearly all the wayaround the house. I came up on the southside of the house. I could see Grandpa'sporch swing there. I could see the giantcedar trees in the yard. I stood there on theporch just for a second.

Then I went right through the wall -notwough the door, and nof through thewindow - through the wall, and seemed,!£J~~E,",~~~~~!,.~~"R2~:r:,like a-man w;uldslip his foot inside his boot in the morningtime.

Before I leaped inside my body, I couldsee my grandmother sitting on the edge ofthe bed holdi.ng me in her arms. WheI}I.s,ot,in~i?e sLm.Y .body,.1 co.u14c0I!1m¥Bicl:l.~ewIth'·he·;.········ - _ " " .."'..... . .•... . ~."' ,

T~~idtoher - and I don't know how Iknew it - "Granny, I'm going again, and Iwon't be back."

She said, "Son, I thought you w.eren'tcomin back that1'imer-"-'~"""'''''''"'~'''''''''''''-"~rS~id:=HGraIiiiy:'"where's Momma? Iwant to tell her goodbye."

I looked around the room; she wasn'tthere.

She said, "Son, I told your mother youwere e, and she rushed out the door,prayin ."

And then Iheard her. She was over onthe north 'side of"th'eh- se. She came backar?und the porch<'p-.:ayin~..!-t;hetop ~fherVOIce.

-people told me l~r that t~~hear her crying and pra~ blocks--_•.- ~ ," .. , _"......,.",..............;:~around.

When I said, "1 want to tell Mommagoodbye," my grandmofuer called to her:.:"Lillie!" i}.~tsJijLc.(luldn:t...make.h!lE.h~.l:l.F~2~l!se M2!!!!!1a..1."l..~~So~l?u~.

If you're not_~dy to go, you want~!.llLQ.~, "~!~,!-!~@l I saia,"Granny, don't leave me! Don't leave me!

I'm afraid I'll go while you're gone! Iwantsomebody with me! Don't leave me!" Andso she gathered me in her arms again.

And I said, "Tell Momma I said good-bye. Tell Momma I love her. Tell Momma Iappreciate her staying with us." (Mydaddy forsook us when I was 6 years ofage,and Momma was left with four children toendeavor to make a living for. With all thetrouble she had had, and being just a babyChristian and not knowing how to cast herburden upon the Lord, she had had a com-plete nervous, mental, and phYSIcalbre_~-.a:a.w.;J:-·"~·~··----~-··~".....And I said, "Tell Momma I appreciateeverything she has ever done for me andfor all of us. And you tell Momma that Isaid if I've ever put a wrinkle in her face ora gray hair in her head, I'm sorry. And Iask her to forgive me."

I felt myself slipping. I said, "Granny,I'm going again. You've been a secondmother to me when Momma's health

failed."We four children went to live with dif-

ferent kinfolk when our mother becameill. I went to live with my grandmother onmy mother's side of the family. My grand-mother used to always call me "my boy,"and she'd always say, "Kiss me right there- kiss me right there."

So I kissed her on the cheek and saidgoodbye.

.MY.heart ,!t.QI?I!.~.~,!2r.~~se~QJ.lg.time••It's almost as real to me today, over half acentury later, as it was that day.

I could feel the blood cease to circulate.The tips of my toes went numb - then myfeet, ankles, knees, hips, stomach, andheart. I leaped out of my body and. b~n19...de.scen<LdQ~Ih.E,2~I"l!~dQ.~. Oh,I know it was just a few seconds, but itseemed like an eternity.

Down, until the darkness encompassedme 'round about. The lights above fadedaway. The farther down I went, the hotter

and darker it became, until I came again tothe bottom of the pit and saw the entranceto hell, or the gates, as I call it. I wasconscious that that creature met me.

I endeavored to slow down my descent- it seemed like I was floating down - yetit seemed like there was a pull that pulledme downward. And that creature took me1?1 the arm. W.henhe did]4at voice-~k~~.!n - a man's voice. It was a foreign

..tongu~. I don't know what he said, hUi-when heso'Ke:-lliiir"whoIe"-laceust~"" ..•.."""."""""." , , "."."..,l?"""".,.,,., , , '" " , I>. . '.Jshook. That creature tooK 'llis'Eand'(jtr'of~y,:arm:;:"··"'·"''''''···''''·'''''''''''''''····'''·'·''· """""'"..,,,.••.=.,,~_..,,,..=,,..,,~~-,,.

It was like a suction to my back. I neverturned around; I just came floating backinto the shadows of darkness. And then Iwas pulled up, headfirst. I could see thelights of the earth above me before I cameup out of the pit. The only difference this

_titp~~§.j;hl!t.!.£aI!l~. up at.!h.e fQ.~tofJ§-:bed~ ,---The first time 1 had come up on the

porch. This time I came up at the foot of thebed. For just a second I stood there. I couldsee my body lying there on the bed. I couldsee Grandma as she sat there holding mein her arms. I seemed to leap from the foot

Jf ~2IiI~.;~e~li!t~~k~::rd~~~fi5~could communicate with Granny. I said,"_.---'=-'~"~"Granny, I'm going agam7'a-i'iarwon't beback this time."

She said again, "Son, I thoughLyouweren't coming back that time."

I said, "Granny, where is Grandpa? Iwant to tell Grandpa goodbye."

She said, "Son, you know your Grand-dad went down to the east part of town tocollect rent off of some of his rent houses."

"Oh," I said, "1 remember that now. Ijust forgot momentarily."

I said, "Granny, tell Grandpa goodbye.I've never known what it means to have adaddy. He's been the nearest to a daddyI've known. He gave me a home when I had

none. Tell him I appreciate him. Tell him Ilove him. Tell Grandpa that I said good-bye."

Then I left a word for my only sister,the oldest child, and my oldest brother,and then I said, "Where's Pat?" Pat wasmy little brother, 9 yelirsold.

Granny said, "Well, he ran next doorand called the doctor again."

1left a word for each one of them, andIlU' heart ~!2E.~~_for the thir~:lti~e.

I could feel the circulation as it cut off.Suddenly my toes went numb. Faster thanyou can snap your fingers, my toes, feet,ankles, knees, hips, stomach, and heartwent dead - and I leaped out of my bodyand began to descend. --

'Until this time~ I thought, This is nothappening to me. This is just a hallucina-tion. It can't be real!

But then I thought, This is the thirdtime. I won't come back this time! Darknessencompassed me 'round about, darker

than any night man has ever seen. TheBible talks about men and women beingcast into "outer darkness," where there isrrweeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt.8:12).

And inih!: dadf.!less! !E:iedout, ,:'~! I~~long to the church! I've been baptized inw~!" (You see, I was telling HitI!L_:J

-;houldn.J.1i~,g.Qingtbi§ girectlon;1'm i~iIl:gthe wrong direction!") .. ., ,,..-.meo"1Of"a;';;;swer, but there wasno answe~!1ie-ecl:o of m;L~wn VOlcethrough the darKness. And the secondtime I cried a little louder, "God! I belongto the church! I've been baptized in water!"

I waited for an answer, but there wasno answer; only the echo pf my own voic~as it echoed through the darkness.

I would scare a congregation. out oft~~.i~s ~ I-evetImrfate(rili~=,-~-I

\"~screaIA.ed the third time, although if I~ coui(C~ca're thei;;" ouTof hell and into

heaven, I'd do it. I'd flat do it!

17,,,,,;;,,,:,~,.,,,o,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,c",~~",,,,.,,,~~

(i.liter~lllSC~_~ "GOD! GOD! IBELONG TO THE CHURCH! I'VE BEENBAPTIZED IN WATER!" But you see,although being baptized in water is right,although belonging to the church is right,it takes more than belonging to the churchand more than being baptized in water tomiss hell and go to heaven!

And alII heard was the echo of my ownvoice as it echoed through the darkness.

I came again to the bottom of that pit.Again I could feel the heat as it beat me inthe face. Again I approached the entrance,the gates into hell itself. That creaturetook me bY the arm. I intended to put up-~fight, if I could, to keep from going in. IO}iiY-managed to slo,,!. ~owl1 mot descentjusta little, and he took me by the arm.-~Thank'''God that voice spoke. I don'tknow who it was - I didn't see anybody -I just heard the voice. I don't know what hesaid, but whatever he said, that placeshook; it just trembled. And that creature

took his hand off my arm.It was just like there was a suction to

my back parts. It pulled me back, awayfrom the entrance to hell, until I stood inthe shadows. Then it pulled me up head-first.

As I was goin up through the dark-~~ss, I began to pray. My spirit, the manwho lives inside t is physical body, is aneternal being; a spirit man. I began topray, "0 God! I come to You in th~f

)':1. the Lord Jesus_~-t!?2Jo .f~e"tP me of m~_§iJ1SJ~ng.to cleanse me fro~ ~1l

~,",;.;""""",,,,,,.;,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,., ..".,."" ".", .. ,.,....,,, , ..""'.." .. ..."..,"","' •.•..,.,._""_ ..~ ...,'''',....''''''., .•'''''''~.~.'''',«";.'''''...""....-,'''''''_ -r ."'"

SlQ,,_.~~~... I came up beside the bed. The differ-ence between the three experiences wasthat I came up on the porch the first time; Icame up at the foot or the bed the secondtime; and I came up right beside the bedthe third time and leaped right ins~~ -. ~h~n.!,,[~Ej!1§i9.~.InX..~~.1.!.,~2:J~~.§i;cal voicepicked up my prayer right in the••••••• ,"""""""'_""~ .•.•,"""'''''.''''''''''''''''''''',.,''''.,;'~'_..".,.,..,.,.",''''.•'''"'''';'''';'~.''''',''''''~i,..~''''''"'~"''''''''_'''"'''''"''

~d~leofthe sentence.lwas already pray-ing-out ormy-sprrrt;'''my physical voicepicked up my prayer and continued topray.

Now, this happened in 1933. We didn'thave all the automobiles in 1933 that wehave today; it was the Depression! ButtheY~~a~mg..s.Q.lmuU.mftic ,)Va.§!>locli~dup"!£rt~.Q_Q1Q~-eithez:,side,.QLQ.\Khouse.

I want you to know that it w~sIust likea two-ton weight lifted off of my chest.Peace came on the inside. I looked atGrandpa's old clock on the mantelpiece,and it said 20 minutes till 8 o'clock. All ofthat happened in 10 minutes!- '"'~-

, ,So I was bo~n ?g,a~.!;!q_~.!1~.ti1LS dr'o clo:8.2E~! 2~.L'!J_~?in the south bed-room, andl've been saved ever since.

I still was bedfast, and the doctor saidthat I had to die. In fact, five doctors saidthat I had to die. One ofthem had practicedat the great Mayo Clinic. He said, "You

don't even have one chance in a million,"so I thought I had to die.

But I'll tell you what I did: I praisedmyself to sleep every night. All the lightswould be out in the house; everybodywould be in bed. I'd be left alone,just a boy

,~~"""r".,.~_with my own thoughts.

The doctor had squared with me. Hesaid, "You know, the condition your heartis in, you could die at any moment. Some-body could be in the room with you, lookout the window for a second, then lookback at you and you'd be gone without asound. Or they may find you dead in bedsome morning."

I said, "They may find me dead in bedin the morning, but, oh, I'm so glad that Ididn't go to heW"

At night, I'd start saying quietly to my-self, "Thank You, Jesus. Glory to God.Praise the Lord. I'm going to put a smile onmy face. If they find me dead with a smileon my face, they'll know that I died happy!"

Chapter 2DEATH AND THE GLORY CLOUD

I was bedfast 16 months before I washeaTeil Four months atter I ~'";n~(~ the 16th daY~~~3-:j:Wfour days before my 16th birthday - itwas on a Wednesday -l~~..dx:in.g; Now, Iknew all that day I was dying. I'd had toomuch experience with dying not to know.

They had moved me to the north bed-room. My little brother, 9 years old, wasthere by me, because somebody had to bewith me all the time. I was very low.

The t~mperature got to be 10..6,thatday. We didn't have any air-conditioningin 1933. If people had anything, they justhad a fan to blow a little air around, but wedidn't even have a fan. -~

The doors and windows were all open,yet my body was so cold. By 1o'clock thetemperature was already over 100 - itreached its highest peak of 106 about 3

o'clock - yet my body was so cold theywrapped me in blankets. They got out allthe hot water bottles, heated bricks,wrapped them, and put them around me,trying to warm me up.

At 1:30 in the afternoon on August 16,1933, death came and fast~n~Ai~lf uP~oEme. I s;;id to my little b;other, "Run andg;t Momma - quick! I want to tell hergoodbye."

He rushed out of the room. And whenhe did. the whole room lit up with the gloryof God. (The Bible says in the 7th chapterof Acts that when Stephen was stoned todeath, he saw the glory of God, and Jesusstanding at the right hand of the Father.If one goes back through the Old Testa-ment and studies about the glory of God,you'll find it appeared many times as acloud - white, bright, and glistening.)

The whole room filled up with that--- ~~bright light, brighter than the sun shmmgon snow,"and you know how'daZzlmg tfiat,..--..

vr',/

is. And I went u into that glory. I left mybody and, ascen e . I got up about where

e top 0 the house should be, lookedbackdown into the room, and saw my bodylying there on the bed, my eyes set and mymouth open in death.

I .savv ITJ,yITlother stoop over me andtake my hand in hers. And I heard a voicespeak in the English language - I didn'tsee anything. I always thought it wasJesus, because it was a man's voice. Hesaid, "Go back! Go back! Go back to theearth! Your work is not doner'- I desc~d and cameback down intothe room. As I slippedbaCkT~~Td~~ybody,I said to Momma, as she held ~andTnhers, "Momma! I'm not going to die now!"

She thought I meant that I wasn'tgoing to die at that moment. I meant that Iwasn't going to die at all then - I wasgoing to live my life out and do the work ofGod. ~~ laterthat I was~.~~~d.as I acted upon God'SWord in faith.)

When you get over in eternity, there'sno such thing as time. For many years Inever told about these experiences. To me~too sacred to talk aBout. Butafter I had been in the ministry about 15years - I started out as a Baptist boypreacher -- the L()r~!?~.ganto say to me,tt'rdlJhftmr'SOIbeg~n to do ~a.tF.t'e'Safc1to do.

. My mother had heard me tell aboutg2.i!i.j;~Uk!r;§G1i.E~£Lli~~.gliie.1~~c;!:g,>,~",lQi~"2!!;~'!.~~P.~E~t::~~~.~f.~.<:>..~~g.~Pin~he<og:lg;Q"Shortly before she went to bew'itltthe Lord at 80 years of age, she waslistening to me teach one day on the radio.I was teaching on "Wh8:~.JLM.~~.~~,.ToBeli~Ye With the:§.(38:rt." talking aboutth~T~~;~~r;,;r;';~d the '~utward man, andsaying ~t to believe with the_~means to believe with your~.R.irii - thatman on i1leinslae:1'o"illUStratethis teach-ing, I related this experience with theglory.

The next time I visited my mother, shesaid, "Son, I never heard that before until Iheard you give it on the radio. But," sheadded, "there's more to that than youknow. Let me tell ..you my side andGr;anny~idE!':' ·~·_~_~ ..~,_~''''~,."'.. ,.oc."'

"She"~(;iit1n~ued,"The way you tell it,'you were up there in that glory maybe afew seconds. But it was more than 10minutes that you were gone."

She said, "Pat came running back tothe kitchen and said, 'Momma! Momma!Granny! Granny! Ken's dying! Ken'sdying!' I was the closest to your room, and Irushed out of the kitchen, up the hall, intothe dining room, and started into the beq- I

room, but I couldn't get in! -If"-"The door was opeii,b-;;t I couldn't getin. T.be room_ seemed to .be full of§9J1lf,;ltbing. I sensed the presence 01 GOd-_ His glor~ - so I backed up by the din-ing room table and bowed my head toC:~:~r:)(Momma couldn't see inside

because she had been blind since I was asmall boy.)

GrannY,prake's account (she was 70years of age then) was that she came run-ning behind Momma. She tried to runthrou~~~~~?EL~~!lg,yll£edofL aU!ffi{e-you'dbounce off of .arubber balI. Then~,~_."".~.".,",."...,."_.~""...~.~,.~.",,....m=...=~. d'

-'she backed up halfway across the mingroom and made another run at it, andbounced off ~gain. She backed all the ;;Yacross the dining room, backed up againstthe w~ ..ran acrQSsthe room, and coulQn'tg;t through theopenCfOOr.--~-~- "Then she was al~~ercome, so shehung onto the door frame and said, 'Why,Lillie, I can't see! The room is filled witpso~i~~Jl~~~.~JillL~~.!':Ei~,C"s!?~~!.Ican't see the bed. I can't see Kenneth. Ican't see into the room, and I can't get inthere!"

Momma continued, "I told her, 'We'dbetter just wait.' I stood there with myhead bowed, praying, for 10 minutes by

that open door, yet your Granny stillcouldn't see into the room. Finally she said,'Lillie, it's lifting - the cloud's lifting.'

"It was like a fog going away. Shecould see a little bit into the room, andthen a little bit more. But we didn't darego in until the last wisp was gone."

Granny could see it with her physicaleyes. She was standing at the door. Andwhen she said, "It's all gone," Mommarushed into the room.

She said, "I stooped over you and tookyour hand in mine, and you were gone.Ab{)~ ..attim~!2l!§~I~.L.:Mg~~~!.Tm notgorng to di~IIO\V.'" ..' ...._.•••".='"•• ,",••~.

r~""FrOi~"Thar~(Iayto this, I've never felts0E-lJ: f2r Christians who die,~E:g:fherthey're yO~g:-iiiiddt;=aged~·or"'oTd.'Yes Ikno;;heaJ'i"ng"SeTo'ngs'ro""US~"bur~e're~llgoing home sometime. I've never felt sorryfor them, because I know where they went.

But, oh, it's another story for those whodoii'tknow the Lord! '-_._,._-'

Chapter 3DYING WITHOUT GOD

After I had been preaching for manyyears, my wife and I were in Shermanvisiting her parents. Mr. Rooker said."Kenneth, you remember L.?"

"Yes," I said."Well, her husband saw me and said, 'If

Kenneth and Oretha come, we want themto come and visit us. Her mother is on herdeath bed, the doctors say.' "

So my wife and I went to their home. Awoman came to the door, and I recognizedshe was the daughter, although I hadn'tseen her for about 12 years.

I said, "I'm Kenneth Hagin."She said, "Oh, you're Lillie's boy!

You're the one who made the preacher?""Yes," I said. "That's right."She grabbed my hand and began to cry.

She said, "Kenneth, you rememberMomma. You remember how she was. Youcouldn't talk to her about God."

I said, "I remember."She said, "Would you talk to her? She's

I remember when I was there on thebed of sickness, my grandmother had adistant cousin who would come to visit her.Their forebears had all come from Tennes-see to settle up Texas years before. Afternearly 40 years, they discovered that herewere two cousins living within 30 miles ofone another. This cousin lived in Sher-man, Texas, so she'd come down and visitus maybe once every three months.

But you didn't dare talk to her aboutGod. Her daughter would have to get herout of my room. She'd get to raving, "Thevery idea! I'll tell you - these preachers,trying to scare people, tellj~m there'sa hell and a heaven! Why, when a person~~adjust like a dog! Everychurch ought to be closed down andbombed! Every preacher ought to bekilled! They're just in it for the money."

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in the bedroom there on a hospital bed.The doctor left just a few minutes ago. Hesaid she's dying. Will you talk to her?"

1said, "1will, L., if! can."She took me by the hand and led me to

a back bedroom. She opened the door, andwe stepped up to a hospital bed. And herewas this woman some 72 years old. Thehospital bed was cranked up, and she waslying in a half-seated position.

Her mouth was open. Her eyes wereopen. They looked like marbles. There wasa death rattle in her throat.--to took her mother by the hand andsaid, "MOMMA!" Her eyes never moved.They were set, glassy, like marbles. Hermouth never moved. It was open. Therewas a rattle in her throat. She breathedonce in a while.

"MOMMA!" No answer."MOMMA!" No answer.The daughter leaned down to her ear

and called a little louder. "MOMMA!" I

was standing right beside her, stoopedover.

Those lips, those eyes never moved,and they never shut. They were wide open.Then the lips began to move just a little,and from somewhere down inside, a voicesaid, "Yeah? Yeah?"

"MOMMA! Do you know who this is?""Yeah. It's my baby." (It was her baby,

although I guess the daughter was 50years old.)

She said, "MOMMA! There's somebodyhere to see you." There was a faint gurglein response.

She said "MOMMA! You rememberAunt Sally down in McKinney? Youremember her daughter Lillie? Youremember her son that was on the bed -Kenneth - the one that made apreacher?"

When she said the word "preacher,"her mother jumped like somebody hadshot her - yet her eyes never moved. She

reached up and said, "Kenneth, Kenneth!Where are you? Where are you?"

I took her hand, and she said, "Oh,Kenneth, Kenneth! You're a preacher -tell me there is no hell! Ohl teJLm~J I saidthere wasn't any hell. I said there wasn'tany. I said every preacher ought to bekilled. I'm afraid! Oh, I'm afraid! I'mafraid! ----~"" ..- . -~

It's so dark. It's so dark. IT'S SODARK! IT'S SO DARK! It's ... " And shefell back on the pillow. We couldn't getthrough to her.

And she died and went to hell, crying,"It's' so dark! It's so dark!" -- Men and women, boys' and girls, youngmen and young women: There is a heavento gain and there is a hell to shun. Thismay seem old-fashioned to some, but theold-fashioned Gospel is still true today.

A Sinner's PrayerTo Receive Jesus as .savior

Dear Heavenly Father ...1 come to You in the Name of Jesus.Your Word says, "... him that cometh to me I willin no wise cast out"(John 6:37), so I know Youwon't cast me out, but You take me in and I thankyou for it.You said in Your Word, "Whosoeuer shall call uponthe name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13).I am calling on Your name, so I know Youhavesaved me now.You also said "if thou shalt confess with thy mouththe Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heartthat God hath raised him from the dead, thoushalt be saved. For with the heart man believethunto righteousness; and with the mouth confessionis made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:9,10). I believein my heart Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Ibelieve that He was raised from the dead for myjustification, and I confess Him now as my Lord.Because Your Word says, " with the heart manbelieveth unto righteousness " and I do believewith my heart, I have now become the righteous-ness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21) ... And I amsaved!

Thank You Lord!

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