TONY ALAMO’S TESTIMONY
Dry Bones
The Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, was sent a vision from GOD. He saw a valley of dry bones, representing the spiritual deadness of Israel and the world. The vision foretold the first coming of CHRIST, HIS preaching of the Gospel, and the result, the first resurrection from death unto life eternal for all those who believe “The WORD of the LORD.”1
GOD said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Can those spiritually dead ones live?) Ezekiel said, “LORD, THOU who hast made them dost know.” 2
GOD spoke again to the prophet, saying, “Prophesy concerning these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the WORD of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD GOD to these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.”3
Israel knew it was completely gone as a nation. 4 To this day they are hopelessly divided. But GOD told Ezekiel that HE would raise up another nation greater than the first Israel which would not stop sinning. The second Israel would be a people from every nation in the world,5 a remnant of elect Jews and a multitude of Gentiles grafted into the True Vine (CHRIST).6 It would be a great, holy nation of those raised from the dead life of sin unto life eternal.7 They would never be divided against GOD. This was the first resurrection through the resurrection power of CHRIST.8
In 1964, before my first resurrection through CHRIST, I, Bernie Hoffman, also known as Tony Alamo, was well-known for sinning and ungodliness and was totally void of any knowledge of GOD. I had no idea that GOD existed. The words of GOD were to me fables and myths, and I couldn’t understand how people could believe in GOD or HIS SON. I couldn’t believe the ones who said they believed in GOD because they were hypocrites. They sinned as much as, or more than, me. I know because I used to run around with them. We were all a bunch of dead, dry bones. I would become angry if anyone tried to convert me to Christianity, because to me the Bible was a waste of time. The life I lived gave me no time for games or fairy tales.
In the marketing industry, I was considered #1. I was responsible for the successful careers of many world-famous singers and actors, as well as the successful promotions of several well-known household products. My worst nightmare then was one that had me converted and distributing Gospel leaflets about JESUS on street corners, living at some skid row mission, preaching the Gospel, and organizing food lines to feed hungry people.
In the mid-60s, the world wasn’t looking so good to me. I didn’t like drugs or dirty people with the morals of swine. And I hated what the hippie movement was doing to Hollywood, the Sunset Strip, and the world. As for myself, I was no saint. I didn’t really care what people did as far as sinning, as long as they didn’t flaunt it in front of families with children. To me the world was finished, dead, dry, obnoxious, and bleak. 9 Nothing really had any value anymore. I believe the other people of the world knew it as well as I did, and took drugs to try to escape the reality of it. The churches were hypocritical; everyone seemed to know that as well. The whole world was dead in its sins and trespasses.10 The world was an enormous valley of dry bones, just like the ones Ezekiel saw.11
I met JESUS in a Beverly Hills office in a very supernatural way. No one can possibly imagine how terrified and yet how happy I was when GOD proved to me that HE and HIS SON really did exist. I was thrilled to experience HIS awesome HOLY SPIRIT and hear HIS powerful voice sweep through every part of my body as though I were a filter that the words went through, both forward and backward. HIS presence was glorious and warming. HIS SPIRIT pressed heavily upon me like the mighty grip of the hand of GOD. And HIS words told me to “Stand up on your feet and tell the people in this room about the LORD JESUS CHRIST and that HE’S coming back to earth again, or thou shalt surely die.” When HIS SPIRIT came into the office and pressed down upon me, I was given the awareness of HIS unspeakable, incredible intelligence.12 HE was every atom and molecule. HE was the air. HE knew everything from the past and everything that would happen in the future.13 I was embarrassed because I knew HE knew everything I had ever done. Then HE showed me that Heaven and Hell definitely exist. I knew which one I would be going to if I didn’t do what HE said...and it wasn’t Heaven.
Although it was terrifying to me,14 it was also wonderful to know that GOD was real and alive and everything the prophets and apostles said HE was. HE hasn’t changed at all from the days that HE created the heavens, the earth, and all that is in them. 15 I knew immediately that I would always fear, admire, respect, love, and serve HIM. I knew I would be more than willing to live, be persecuted, and die for HIM, and do it cheerfully, with all joy. 16
After GOD released me from that office, I started asking HIM, “What do YOU want me to do? I’ll do anything YOU say.” I got no answer, so I figured HE wanted me to go to church. I figured the biggest was the best; so I went there, and I didn’t find HIM. Then I went to other churches, but HE wasn’t there either. Then I read books with pictures on the covers of guys that looked wise and Godly, with long beards and religious clothing, but I knew the books were wrong because they said that GOD was not to be feared,17 that GOD doesn’t threaten people, and that you could sin without going to Hell.18 I wasn’t worried about a god like that; I worried about finding the GOD that threatened me,19 the GOD that showed me Heaven and Hell, making me do something no one else could make me do, something I never wanted to do.
I never thought the truth could be found in the Bible because there were so many of them around. I felt that anything the general public went for couldn’t be smart, since I believed people were all stupid. I finally started reading the Bible and found the plan of salvation in it and the instructions for eternal life which told how to grow up in CHRIST and spiritually become a major soul-winner for HIM. 20
When I first started reading the Bible, I felt that same power of GOD pressing down upon me that I felt in that Beverly Hills office. Then GOD showed me other visions of Heaven and Hell.21 I cried out to GOD, “LORD, don’t send me to Hell!” Then I saw Heaven and felt the peace of Heaven.22 Although I was spiritually blind, naked, and small, I told GOD I would be willing to remain blind, naked, and insignificant if I could just feel this heavenly peace forever. I saw Hell once more and cried out again to GOD for mercy and pardon. Then the power of the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT entered my mortal body.23 By my faith in JESUS and the blood HE gave for me, and by my faith in the words of GOD which I heard and obeyed,24 I felt every sin I’d ever committed lift off of my soul.25 I felt clean and pure.26 Something very wonderful had happened to me, and it was done to and for me by CHRIST JESUS, “the HOLY ONE of ISRAEL.”27 I was so happy to be free from sin and to possess this new power which kept me from sinning that I wanted to tell the whole world so they could also know HIM and have eternal life.
Even after being in the ministry for CHRIST since 1964, I feel the spiritual marrow being poured down from Heaven into these once very dry bones every time I read the Bible. GOD’S WORD has put spiritual sinew around these once dry bones, covering them with the flesh and skin of spiritual armour. Each WORD of GOD has grafted CHRIST more into my heart. I can still feel each WORD of GOD breathing HOLY SPIRIT breath into my soul, giving me the power to stand and quench all the fiery darts Satan has fired at me through the years. I know more fully each day that “we are more than conquerors” in CHRIST JESUS,28 and we “are complete in HIM.”29 And I also know how very important it is to follow every WORD of JESUS, who said, moments before HIS ascension into Heaven in a cloud, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.”30 (Preach to every dry bone, those who are spiritually dead so they may “hear the WORD of the LORD.”31)
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”32
If you’re like me and would rather not be damned, but instead be saved, then say this prayer to GOD:
Prayer
My LORD and my GOD, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. 1 I believe that JESUS CHRIST is the SON of the living GOD. 2 I believe that HE died on the cross and shed HIS precious blood for the forgiveness of all my former sins. 3 I believe that GOD raised JESUS from the dead by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT 4 and that HE sits on the right hand of GOD at this moment, hearing my confession of sin and this prayer. 5 I open up the door of my heart, and I invite YOU into my heart, LORD JESUS. 6 Wash all of my filthy sins away in the precious blood that YOU shed in my place on the cross at Calvary. 7 YOU will not turn me away, LORD JESUS; YOU will forgive my sins and save my soul. I know because YOUR WORD, the Bible, says so. 8 YOUR WORD says that YOU will turn no one away, and that includes me. 9 Therefore, I know that YOU have heard me, and I know that YOU have answered me, and I know that I am saved. 10 And I thank YOU, LORD JESUS, for saving my soul, and I will show my thankfulness by doing as YOU command and sin no more.11
After salvation, JESUS said to be baptized, fully submerged in water, in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY SPIRIT.12 Diligently study the King James Version Bible, and do what it says until the day you die13
The LORD wants you to tell others of your salvation (Mark 16:15). You can become a distributor of Pastor Tony Alamo’s Gospel literature. We’ll send you literature free of charge. Call or email us for more information. Share this message with someone else.
If you want the world saved, as JESUS commands, then don’t rob GOD of HIS tithes and offerings. GOD said, “Will a man rob GOD? Yet ye have robbed ME. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed THEE? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed ME, even this whole nation [and this whole world]. Bring ye all the tithes [a ‘tithe’ is 10% of your gross income] into the storehouse, that there may be meat [Spiritual food] in MINE house [souls saved], and prove ME now herewith, saith the LORD of HOSTS, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of HOSTS. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of HOSTS” (Malachi 3:8-12).
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Tony Alamo Christian Ministries Worldwide
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Tony Alamo Christian Ministries Worldwide provides a place to live with all the things necessary for life
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Tony Alamo's Testimony Dry Bones footnotes:
2. Ezek. 37:3, orig. Heb. return
3. Ezek. 37:4-5, orig. Aramaic return
5. Gen. 17:4-16, 22:18, 26:4, 46:3, 48:19, 49:10, Ex. 19:6, 32:10, Ps. 22:27, Is. 2:2, John 11:51-52, Acts 10:34-35, Eph. 1:10, Heb. 8:8-12, 1 Pet. 2:9-10, Rev. 5:9, 14:6 and many more return
6. John 15:1, Rom. 11:17, 19, 23, 24, Rev. 7:4 return
8. Rom. 15:12, 1 Cor. 15:15, 16, Col. 2:12, 3:1, 1 Thes. 4:16, Rev. 20:5-6 return
9. Matt. 13:39, chap. 24, 1 Cor. 15:24, Heb. 9:26, 1 Pet. 4:7 return
10. Eph. 2:1, 5, Col. 2:13 return
12. Num. 24:16, 1 Sam. 2:3, Job 21:22, Ps. 32:8, Prov. 2:6, 3:20, 9:10, Luke 1:77, Rom. 11:33, 1 Cor. 1:25, 2:16, 3:19, 2 Cor. 4:6 return
13. Ps. 44:21, 94:11, Isa. 46:9-10, 1 Cor. 3:20, 1 John 3:20, Rev. 21:6, 22:13 return
14. Gen. 35:5, Lev. 26:16, Job 31:23, Jer. 32:21, Ezek. 32:32, 2 Cor. 5:11 return
15. Gen 1:1, Mal. 3:6, Acts 4:24, 2 Cor. 5:11, Heb. 13:8 return
16. Ps. 5:11, 35:19, Isa. 51:11, 61:10, John 16:33, Acts 2:28, 20:24, Rom. 12:8, 15:13, 2 Cor. 8:12 return
17. Gen. 22:12, Ps. 112:1, Prov. 13:13, 14:16, 28:14, 31:30, Eccl. 7:18 return
18. Prov. 8:36, Ezek. 18:2, 4, Rev. 19:20, 20:10, 14, 15, 21:8 return
19. Gen. 2:17, 6:7, 9, 13, Ex. 20:5, 32:33, 34:7, Ezek. 3:18, 18:20, Matt. 8:12, 22:13, Mark 16:16, Rev. 2:5, 16, 22-23, 3:3, 20:15 return
20. John 4:35-36, 15:5, 8, 15-16, Rev. 14:18 return
21. Isa. 5:14, 14:9, Luke 16:22-31, Acts 7:55-56, Rev. 4:1-11, 14:10-11, 15:1-4, 20:10, 21:2-5, 10-27, 22:1-5 return
22. Rom. 5:1, Eph. 2:14, Philip. 4:7, Col. 3:15, 1 Thes. 5:23, 2 Thes. 3:16 return
23. Lev. 26:11-12, John 14:16, 2 Cor. 6:16, 1 Pet. 2:5, 1 John 3:24 return
24. Hab. 2:4, Matt. 17:20, Luke 7:50, Acts 20:21, 26:18, Rom. 1:17, 3:28, 5:2, 10:17, 11:20, Gal. 2:16, 3:11, Eph. 2:8, 3:17, Heb. 10:38 return
25. Mark 14:24, John 6:53, Acts 20:28, Rom. 3:25, 5:9, Eph. 1:7, 2:13, Col. 1:14, 20, Heb. 9:12, 14, 22, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, Rev. 1:5, 5:9 return
26. Heb. 10:19-22, 1 John 1:7, Rev. 1:5, 7:14 return
27. Psalm 89:18, Acts 3:13-14 return
28. Rom. 8:37, 1 John 4:3-4 return
30. Mark 16:15, Luke 14:23 return
31. 2 Kings 20:16, Isa. 1:10, Jer. 2:4, Ezek. 37:4 return
32. Mark 16:16, 2 Thes. 2:12 return
Prayer footnotes:
1. Psa. 51:5, Rom. 3:10-12, 23 return
2. Matt. 26:63-64, 27:54, Luke 1:30-33, John 9:35-37, Rom. 1:3-4 return
3. Acts 4:12, 20:28, Rom. 3:25, I John 1:7, Rev. 5:9 return
4. Psa. 16:9-10, Matt. 28:5-7, Mark 16:9, 12, 14, John 2:19, 21, 10:17-18, 11:25, Acts 2:24, 3:15, Rom. 8:11, I Cor. 15:3-7 return
5. Luke 22:69, Acts 2:25-36, Heb. 10:12-13 return
6. I Cor. 3:16, Rev. 3:20 return
7. Eph. 2:13-22, Heb. 9:22, 13:12, 20-21, I John 1:7, Rev. 1:5, 7:14 return
8. Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:21, 4:12, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14 return
9. Matt. 21:22, John 6:35, 37-40, Rom. 10:13 return
10. Heb. 11:6 return
11. John 5:14, 8:11, Rom. 6:4, I Cor. 15:10, Rev. 7:14, 22:14 return
12. Matt. 28:18-20, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, 19:3-5 return
13. Deut. 4:29, 13:4, 26:16, Josh. 1:8, 22:5, 2 Tim. 2:15, 3:14-17, James 1:22-25, Rev. 3:18 return