Clem Swensen

How I praise God for this glorious old-time religion and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank God that He ever led me to a place where I heard the story of redeeming grace that could save, keep and deliver from sin, and break habits and appetites.

I had no idea that Jesus cared for such a sinner and blasphemer.

I was a born slave of the devil. I had nothing in me that could do the thing that was right. It seemed to me too hard; I tried, but the harder I tried the worse I got. But I thank God for the night that I heard the call of Christ through the testimonies and the Word of God that was preached. For the first time in my life, as I sat in the meeting hall I seemed to realize that Jesus cared for me. I had gone so far that I thought no one cared; I had no idea that Jesus cared for such a sinner and blasphemer.

When I would get angry I couldn’t control myself, but I thank God He revealed His love to me. He did not reprimand me for my sins, but He offered me mercy. And as He offered me mercy, tears flowed down my cheeks and my heart was melted. I wondered how He could look in mercy on me, but He led me to repentance and gave me a godly sorrow for my sins. I prayed and called on Him for mercy and He came into my life and transformed my life, saved me and broke the habits and sin that bound my life. He gave me peace, and real joy—something I had never known in all of my life. There was pleasure that I never knew that a human could know and have come into one’s heart and life.

One day a little white winged messenger came to my mailbox, an Apostolic Faith paper. As I took it out of the mailbox and read the heading on it—I had never heard anything about it before—there was something about it that gripped my heart. I began to read the testimonies that were in that paper. They told how God saved them and set them free, and they were happy. They told of how God was healing the people, and the signs were following these people. I read those testimonies, and when I got to the house I said, “At last, we have found the people we have been looking for.” True, I was saved for years before this time, and I had been living for God and walking in all the light I had, but I was looking for more light. I went from one church to another. I never found what I was looking for. This paper brought the good news to my home just when I needed help.

Thank God for His healing power.

We had a little boy three years old who had fallen down and broken one of his limbs close to his body. We had the doctor come and set that limb. He shook his head when he examined him and said, “I don’t know whether I can make that stick or not. I have so little to tie to.” He did his best, all right, but I want to thank God that boy was healed of that broken limb. We never had a bit of trouble with him. He would lay and play with his toys. When the doctor came in six weeks to take the splint off, he asked whether we had trouble or not. We told him, “Not at all.” He shook his head and said, “It is all to be done over.” I said, “Doctor, that boy has been sound and well. We believe God healed him. We wrote to the people in Los Angeles from where that paper came, and asked them to pray. We feel God has healed him.” When he examined the break, he said it was the most perfect healing he had ever seen in all his practice. Thank God for His healing power.

He healed my sick body; He has raised me up many times. One time I had a broken neck. We sent a call to Mother Crawford. She prayed and the saints in the church congregation prayed, and in thirty minutes after they prayed I could move my head and everything was plain to me. Before that time I was passed out most of the time, knew nothing, and could not move my head. But God healed me and raised me up.
I have seen God heal my children and my wife when there was no hope for her. These people prayed and God healed her. She is well today praising God for the old-time religion that is just the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I praise Him tonight for salvation and the power of God to save, to keep from sin and give the victory.