a representative from one of the most influential,
one of the finest evangelical Christian magazines,
wrote to me and submitted 42 questions that they
wanted answered, more or less as an interview.
And after reading the 42 questions, I thought,
I'm going to do something. I'm going to answer
these questions publicly with the radio. If they
are interesting questions to those who read this
very marvelous evangelical magazine, then I'm
sure they would be interesting to those who do
not subscribe to the magazine. You know, it's
just like that. As I've often told you, I just
love it when I'm invited to be a guest on a talk
show and something like Phil Donahue, you know,
when he asks questions and the questions are
open to a live audience because... These are
many questions that perhaps I never think of
answering. And so, we have answered the first
three questions. If you missed them, I'm sorry.
Because today we're going to begin with the fourth
question. And this is the question that was asked.
And remember, I... am reading the question just
as it has been submitted to me. Here it comes.
The fourth question. You're the greatest woman
preacher since Amy Semple McPherson. Was she
any kind of model or inspiration to you? Sometimes
I think that folk forget how long Mrs. McPherson,
has been gone. And she was not any model to me
because I never met Amy Semple McPherson. Sometimes
I think just because she was a woman preacher
and because I too preach the gospel. that perhaps
there was some connection. But I do want to relate
an incident to you. Years ago, an Amy Semper
McPherson had been dead several years, driving
through forest, lawn cemetery. And we saw this
beautiful monument erected to her memory. And
we walked up the little incline. Two people were
there before us. A woman, a young man, perhaps
no older than 17 years of age. I took for granted
the woman was his mother, and she was standing
there weeping. I came near enough to her that
I could hear what she was saying to the young
man. I found Christ through her life. Oh, it
was so wonderful. It was so wonderful. When she
preached, she made Jesus so real. And I'm a Christian
today because I found Jesus when she preached.
I found that tears were in my eyes. And I turned
away after standing there in silence several
minutes as I walked back to the car. This is
what I said inwardly. If after I will have lived,
if after I will have preached my last sermon,
if after I have done my last day's work, my old
heart has taken its last beat. If just one person
can stand by my graveside and say, I found Christ
because she preached the gospel, then, my friend,
I will not have lived in vain. The fifth question.
How do you conceive your calling? How and when
did you get it? Oh, I could preach for hours
and hours. I could talk to you for hours and
hours on that. It was so simple. First of all,
we go back to my wonderful conversion, that little
Methodist church in Concordia, Missouri. I went
back to that little Methodist church when I was
in Kansas City. I took members of my staff along
with me, and we drove to Concordia, Missouri.
And I said, oh, you must see where I first accepted
Jesus as my Savior. You must go with me. And
so we drove to Concordia, and I tell you the
truth, I was so shocked when I found out how
small that little Methodist church had gotten
through the years. There was a time when it looked
so big to me. It looked almost like a cathedral
to me, you know. And then I realized that perhaps
it doesn't seat any more than 75 or 100 people.
I walked into the little vestibule, and there
was the same rope. that rang the bell, the first
bell, the second bell, you know, announcing the
time of the services. Or when somebody died in
Concordia, Missouri, they always tolled the bell
of the Methodist church. One meant a child died.
Two meant a middle -aged person. Three meant
an elderly person. Then everyone would rush to
the telephone and say to the operator, who died?
That's Concordia, Missouri. I walked in, the
same pews were still there. The same railing
was still, the same pulpit was still there. Nothing
had really changed about the little church. But
oh, how I had changed. That Sunday morning, standing
there, holding the Methodist hymnal in my hand,
I was standing next to Mama because Mama and
everybody in Mama's family were Methodists. Grandpa
Walkenhurst always attended that church, sat
in the same pew until the last day when he died.
having lived and died, believing sincerely that
only Methodists would make it to heaven. Since
that time, I've often thought what a shock Grandpa
Walkenhorst got if he made it and found out that
there were Baptists and Presbyterians and Lutherans
and Catholics in heaven. I was not quite sure
whether he could adjust to all of that or not.
Anyway... That Sunday morning, my first connection
with the Holy Spirit, my first introduction to
the Holy Spirit, and yet I knew nothing about
the third person, the Trinity, but he came with
great conviction upon me. And standing, holding
that Methodist hymnal in my hand, I began to
shake with great conviction. I did the only thing
that I knew what to do. I was only 14 years of
age. I slipped off from where I was standing
and went to the front pew, sat down in the corner,
and wept, not out of sorrow, but because of a
great feeling that came upon me. Something happened
to me. These spiritual experiences one cannot
describe because they are spiritual, and there
are no words in the human vocabulary to describe
them. But it was in that moment when I was born
again. And I have never doubted my new birth
experience from that moment until this very hour.
I knew that something had happened to me. I knew
that my sins had been forgiven. my sins were
covered with the blood. And in that moment, Jesus
Christ became very real to my heart. My call
to the ministry was as definite as my conversion.
That's the reason, you know, you can say anything
that you want to about the fact that as a woman,
I have no right to stand in the pulpit and preach
the gospel. If everybody in the world would tell
me that, it would have no effect on me whatsoever
because my call to the ministry was as definite
as my conversion. And it's just like that. I
preached my very first sermon in Idaho. Oh, the
state of Idaho. has a very precious place in
my heart. I preached to those farmers. Name any
little town in Idaho. I evangelized it. Every
little country church that was closed because
they couldn't afford a preacher. I would go to
the members if they had a board. I remember going
to... the head of the board of the Baptist Church,
and I said, well, your church is closed anyway.
You haven't anything to lose. And maybe a little
to gain. Oh, sure. Twin Falls, Idaho. Emmett,
Idaho. Filer, Idaho. Pet. Boise. Those were the
days when I got my Early spiritual training.
All that I knew how to preach was just salvation,
the new birth experience. For no one can give
to anyone else any more than that one had experienced
himself. And all that I knew was what I had experienced
in that little Methodist church. And the very
first sermon I ever preached was Zacchaeus up
a tree. And God knows if anybody was up a tree,
I certainly was. when I preached that sermon.
And I remember well that after the sixth sermon,
I honestly felt I had exhausted the Bible. I'm
telling you the truth. I felt there was nothing
more to preach about. Six sermons. I had preached
on Zacchaeus. I preached on heaven. I preached
on hell. I preached on the love of God. You know,
it's just like that. And what more was there
to preach about? But years have come and years
have gone. And I have found out you cannot exhaust
the deep truths in God's word. Now the sixth
question. In what church and denomination were
you ordained? I am a Baptist. I still belong
to Baptist Church. And I was ordained with the
Evangelical Church Alliance in Joliet, Illinois
years and years ago when I went to Joliet for
a meeting in Joliet, Illinois. They were the
first to ordain me, and I continued to hold papers
with them all of these years. I also had the
honor of having had the Oral Roberts University
confer the degree of Humane letters. They gave
me the honorary degree at the same time that
they gave House Speaker Carl Alberts a degree.
I'm very grateful to them for having thus honored
me. But no matter what, degrees man has conferred
upon me. Regardless of my ordination and where
I hold papers, the greatest thing that has ever
happened to me was the fact that I had been called
of God to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I know so well what the Apostle Paul
meant when he declared that he was called of
God to preach. Why he called me, I do not know.
I haven't the slightest idea why I was chosen
to preach the gospel. There are millions. Who
could do a better job, I'm sure. Millions better
equipped than I. The only reason I can give you
is the fact that I knew I had nothing, and I
never forget from whence I've come. And so, when
you have nothing, and you admit you have nothing,
Then it's so easy to look up and say, Wonderful
Jesus, if you can take nothing and use it. Take
my hands. Take my voice. Take my mind. Take my
body. Take my love. It's all that I have. If
you can use it, I give it to you. And he has
taken nothing. and is using it. It isn't golden
vessels that he asks for. It isn't silver vessels.
It's yielded vessels. And the secret is yieldedness
unto the Lord. The seventh question. Are your
books audited and your financial statements available?
My friend, they better be. Why, of course. Bless
you. We have perhaps the greatest, the finest
auditors in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Snodgrass and company. And it's just like that.
And perhaps you'll not find a better... kept
financial reports than you'll find in the Katherine
Kuhlman Foundation. Question number eight. What
is the purpose of your foundation? I read directly
from our charter. Its purposes generally shall
be to foster... promote and sponsor radio television
programs, and broadcasts of a religious nature
which will tend to further the Christian religion,
foster Christian fellowship among people, and
help interpret Christianity to the world, and
to engage in such other religious, charitable,
or educational activities as the Board of Trustees
shall determine. And by the grace of God, we're
trying to do a good job. And one day, when I
will have preached my last sermon, I will have
prayed my last prayer, and I stand in his glorious
presence. Oh, I thought of this many, many times,
for I've often wondered what would be my first
words to him. For you see, this ministry has
not been one of just a year or five years or
ten. We have celebrated our 25th anniversary
here in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
alone. And when I stand in his glorious presence,
the first words I shall say when I look into
his wonderful face Dear Jesus, I tried. I didn't
do a perfect job because I was human. I made
mistakes. There were failures. I'm sorry. But
I tried.