I came across a video by Kenneth Hagan called, Praise God which the devil hates and he shall flee and give you the victory. I have watched many of Kenneth Haganss videos and read most of his books but this video really disturbed me. For some time I kept asking myself what it was about this video that had impacted me. Then I saw it, here was this man who was now in his late eighties and had done so many great things for God kneeling down with his wife as if he had just started out in his ministry.
This all but killed me because I rarely kneel down to pray. Kneeling has somehow been lost to the modern church. Week after week I have watched pastors and congregation both on TV and in real life go through the motions of prayer but never kneeling. I like to think that I pray a lot, but if I get on my knees it is only for a moment and then I lie down or sit in a chair. Sure you can pray sitting or standing or even laying down, but how much better to demonstrate to a Holy God your total submission and reverence for what he has done for you and who He is, then by getting down on your knees.
I have always been a great admirer of this late bible teacher and New Testament prophet who went to the Lord in 2003. I didn't really care what he was teaching on or his doctrine which was pretty good anyway, but what I did care for was his way of life. As they say "he walked the walk and talked the talk." During his life time he refused to be dragged into the petty squabbles which are part of the church life in America. He also refused to give out interviews which he knew would be misquoted and bring great harm to his ministry.
This great man of God arose from a sick bed at the age of sixteen after doctors told him he would die within a year from a deformed heart and a blood disease. While reading the bible he was convinced that God could heal him, and that healing was indeed for today just as it had been in the days of the early church and the apostles. After having several visions of heaven and hell when his heart stopped pumping, he was sure God had healed him and called him to preach the gospel.
From the age of seventeen until his death at the age of eighty six that is exactly what he did, teach and preach that Jesus could and would, save, heal, and prosper those who put their faith in him. After studying Kenneth Hagan for thirty years I have had my ups and downs with his ministry. Sometimes it has worked for me and other times it has not. But it was his life style that I watched more than anything else. The man walked in love and refused to say unkind things about the people who spoke about him the most. Sometimes I agreed with him and sometimes I didn't. I felt like he should have been more outspoken about his critics, but to him it was about not breaking fellowship with the Lord even when he was right.
His critics are many and sometimes they were right. But his critics were always watching the doctrine and not the man. The doctrines don't mean much to me because I have seen pastors and lay people with the most perfect doctrine, but they were the nastiest people on the planet. Very few of these critics can have their personal life investigated but this man was never seen or caught in some of the scandals that plague the modern church.
He walked in love and I have rarely heard him say bad things about anyone. In his later life he tried to correct many who had taken the word of God for their own personal gain which is something he never did, but he couldn't because they had become too greedy for correction. Now he is gone but he left a mountain of material for those who want to live by faith.
About Author / Additional Info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go0rr6IsZPY&t=3511s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQF6IHWca2s