Congressman Upshaw: Difference between revisions

''Remember, I'm sending this folder to every congressman, and senator, the president, and his wife, and now sending this week to the King of England for whom he prayed, and Winston Churchill. And I'm going to send one to Joseph Stalin. God have mercy on his soul!

:Sermon: Testimony: Los Angeles, California, May 9, 1951

<div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; font-size:125%; padding:1px; margin:1px; text-align:center;">'''Life Story'''</div>

At the age of 18, William Upshaw lost the use of his legs as the result of a farming accident, and spent the next seven years in bed. Shortly before his accident, he had given his heart to the Lord Jesus. From his bed, William began to write a column of poems and inspirational letters for a local newspaper called Sunny South, using the pen name `Earnest Willie.' His calm manner and gifted style of writing soon endeared him to the hearts of his readers. He was encouraged to publish his writings in a book, which he did, titling it "Earnest Willie, or, Echoes From A Recluse."  

:''"I do believe in being deeply in earnest. It is the very passion of my soul. Earnestness is the secret of nearly every man's success, and it is the lever that persistently pushes to completion nearly every movement for reform, whether it be great or small. Let a minister of Christ or any other speaker convince me first - aye, all the people who hear him - that he is in earnest - that his very heart and soul are in his work, and then he may break the rules of grammar if he wants to, just so he breaks and blesses human hearts."''

Using the funds from his writing, William Upshaw entered Mercer University in 1895.  In 1918, he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. He was re-elected in 1920, 1922, and 1924.  William Upshaw ran for President of the United States for the Prohibition party in 1932, but returned to lecturing after his defeat.

<div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; font-size:125%; padding:1px; margin:1px; text-align:center;">'''The Healing'''</div>

While attending a Southern Baptist Convention, which William Upshaw had been the vice-president of twice, he learning about William Branham's ministry from Rev. Roy Davis, the man who had ordained him.  On February 8, 1951 at the Calvary Temple in Los Angeles, while praying for the sick, William Branham turned to the audience and said:

:''I see a young man falling from a hay stack and breaking his back. A doctor with a white mustache and glasses that sit low on his nose, working on the young man, but to no avail. The youngster grows to become a famous person who writes books. People are applauding him.''

William Upshaw told an usher he wanted to talk to William Branham, so a microphone was passed to him.  He asked: ''"My son, how did you know that I fell and hurt myself when I was a boy?"''

[[Image:upshawcongregation.jpg|right|thumb|450px|Congressman Upshaw is seen on the left, sitting in the front, with his arms folded]]

''"I can't tell you, sir, I can only say what I see."'' William Branham responded.

But still William Upshaw was not healed.  The prayer line continued while William Upshaw sat on the front row, finally a general prayer was called where people laid hands on each other. 

Exhausted from preaching and praying for the sick, William Branham was carried from the platform. Before he could leave the building, he saw one final vision of William Upshaw walking without crutches.  Upon hearing this vision, LeRoy Kopp, the Pastor at the Calvary Temple, rushed back to the pulpit and announced, "Brother Branham says, `The congressman is healed'."

Instantly, a man that had not walked for sixty-six years stood to his feet and started walking. William Upshaw retained the full use of his legs for the remainder of his life, and traveled across the country testifying of his healing. He died November 21, 1952.

In a message entitled "Who Hath Believed Our Report?", preached on July 19, 1951, William Branham referred to Congressman Upshaw's healing, and said:

:''"I feel that he was the one that the Angel of the Lord was referring to when He met me and said, `You'll pray for great men, statesmen, kings of the earth.'"''

'''Adapted and condensed from the Magazine "Only Believe", published by [http://www.onlybelieve.com Believer's International], March 1983, Vol. 6, No. 1.'''