[see also the Brazilian Portugese version]
Yes; a supernatural healing is what I’m claiming, and I can substantiate it with both my history of stomach problems and the systematic way in which I’ve experimented over a two-week period by trying out the various, numerous foods I haven’t been able to eat — most for many years — , since the suspected miracle. I went about it pretty much as the Church does when it investigates purported miraculous occurrences of various sorts, with an examination entailing empirical evidence and reason. That’s not skepticism; rather, it’s the blending of belief in the miraculous, with objective ways of determining when a specific purported miracle has actually occurred or not, so that it can more effectively be shared to the world as a testimony of God’s power and mercy and love.
I’ve never been skeptical of miracles since I dedicated my life to God in the spring of 1977. I have defended them in my writings and have always believed — both as a Protestant evangelical and as a Catholic — that all the charismatic gifts are operative in the Church today, and that even the most dramatic, extraordinary miracles still occur: such as the raising of the dead. In fact, I have been saying since 1978 that I was healed of serious, clinical depression, that I experienced for about six months in 1977. I’ve never had serious depression since that time.
Let me describe my background in this respect. Once it’s understood, the striking nature of the miraculous healing is all the more manifest. I used to eat absolutely anything I wanted (and — those were the days! — wouldn’t gain any weight, either) up till about roughly the time I got married (October 1984) at age 26. But in 1983 I started eating a lot less sugar, as I had hypoglycemia.
At that time, many doctors were very skeptical that the condition even existed (it was usually collapsed into a variant of diabetes if it was acknowledged at all): much as many doctors today are skeptical regarding fibromyalgia and Lyme Disease. But I read a few books, figured out that it was likely what I had (since I felt lousy at the ripe old age of 25 and otherwise healthy). So I started the new diet and in due course (after a withdrawal period) I felt great.
My wife Judy and I have tried to eat as healthy as finances allowed throughout our entire marriage, and we strongly believe in holistic health, alternative medicine, and herbalism (while not in the least discounting the many great treatments of conventional medicine: “both/and”), and have experienced the relief or disappearance of many symptoms and maladies through the years, that I have written about, so others could benefit from the same knowledge.
One of the first things I remember with regard to difficulties when eating certain foods would have been in the second half of the 80s, with extracts. This problem may have also been with alcohol, because they all have them. I discovered that after we made various puddings and cookies that included extracts. The next thing I recall having a big problem with is salad dressing, where the culprit is vinegar. Acidic foods are very numerous and go far beyond citric acid (as in orange juice) and acetic acid (vinegar).
Increasingly through the years it became clear that I had the classic ulcer symptoms, and had problems with acidy foods, herbs and spices, pepper, concentrated or dried foods, extracts, alcohol, and carbonated drinks. Scientists now know that ulcers do not derive from simply worrying too much and/or stress in general (‘m not a “worrier” type anyway). The most common cause is a bacteria, Helicobacter pylori. A second cause is the over-use or extended use of NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines): pain and fever medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen (none of which I take; I use acetaminophen [Tylenol]). I’ve taken various digestive aids for many years (particularly one called Super-Digestaway, which has become very expensive).
In addition to an ulcer, I seem to have developed IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or something like it. This caused me to have trouble digesting food just about every day. The problems (usually bloating) generally started in the mid-afternoon and extended into the evenings and sometimes overnight, too. Not infrequently I’d wake up in pain in the middle of the night, and pop Rolaids. I also increasingly had difficulties when I didn’t eat often enough. It’s thought that the onset of IBS may be triggered by a great amount of stress, and I did indeed experience extreme stress and even severe trauma in the year 2024.
So that’s where I was at on March 10th (eleven days ago as I write): chomping Rolaids like candy, using a heating pad almost every night to relieve the bloating, heartburn, sour stomach, cramping, and plain old stomach aches. At the worst times I would take a hot bath or drink chamomile tea. Blessedly, all four of these remedies worked pretty well. But they were strictly temporary, and I wanted more than a “Band-Aid”. I resolved to try to get rid of the root causes, because it gets old having to do these things every day. I was starting to not even enjoy eating, which had never happened before.
I tried the standard conventional “triple therapy” treatment for ulcers (having no objection to it: “if it works, it works” [pragmatism]). According to one study in the journal, Digestion, it brought about a cure rate of 84%. But for some reason I was in the 16%. Then I tried various and sundry natural (usually herbal) remedies, including one herb known in Brazil, recommended by a doctor there who knew me on Facebook. That didn’t work, either. So I restricted my diet more and more, eventually trying to eat less at a time, too (which is said to help), but nothing worked. I’ve also sought to avoid excessive seed oils (I earned that oils are high-acid, too), after doing some research on that, and bioengineered foods and harmful additives to food, in the last six months, and to eat as many non-GMO / organic foods as I can find — and afford, as they can be quite pricey.
Apart from my family, people who have been following my work, especially on Facebook, are familiar with my stomach problems, because I have written about them several times and put up low-acid / low-spice recipes. They know what I’ve gone through, and that it has been a long-term and relatively serious problem. Of course “in-person” friends are also aware of this, since it comes up every time I am at some gathering and food is provided, or at restaurants. This also verifies the miraculous nature of what has happened to me.
That’s the backdrop behind my daughter Angelina telling me about a healing service; part of a Catholic organization that she has been involved with, called Encounter Ministries, co-founded by Fr. Mathias Thelen, author of the book, Biblical Foundations for the Role of Healing in Evangelization (Wipf and Stock, 2017), and Patrick Reis, and advised by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, author of many books, and advisor to Pope Francis.
I attended this event at St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish in Brighton, Michigan, on Monday evening, March 10th, 2025. After a time of worship and a few testimonies of past healings, several teams of prayer-warriors (usually consisting of four people) were formed in order to pray for specific healing requests. When my turn came, I explained to one of the teams what my problems were (basically a very brief capsule summary of the above). They started praying, together at first and then one-by-one. While the fourth person was praying, I experienced a “flushed” feeling, or warmth in my head which then went down with a sort of tingling to my stomach: what I described to them as “like goose-bumps.”
Apparently, in healings, there is often some sort of feeling like this. They then prayed a second time, individually, but the experience didn’t happen again. I thanked them all and wondered if I had been healed or not. I didn’t rule it out, especially since my daughter had told me that according to what she had learned in her studies attending Encounter, that sometimes it took a day or two before people experienced healings after prayer. Time would tell.
On either Monday or Tuesday night (this is the only detail I don’t remember for certain), as I was laying in bed about to go to sleep, I experienced an intense sort of little “explosion” in the pit of my stomach and very intense pain for maybe 10-20 seconds. I thought that this might possibly be another manifestation or sign of a healing, because of its unique nature. I had the usual problems and symptoms on Tuesday, the day after the prayers for healing. But starting on Wednesday (March 12th), the symptoms of ulcer and IBS disappeared, and have not returned since (thirteen days ago as I write).
Being systematic and methodical as I am, I decided after four days of this, to start testing out foods, to verify whether a miraculous healing had occurred. On Sunday (March 16th) on the way to church I announced to my wife and daughter that I may have been healed, because of the lack of all adverse symptoms for four days, and after church the first thing I ate was a large order of crinkle fries at Arby’s, with a significant amount of ketchup (i.e., vinegar).I could still eat fries prior to the healing, but it had to be without ketchup (boring!). Even so I noticed that when I ate them at home, I would react to the (acidy) olive oil on the potatoes (even from an organic brand that we bought). I couldn’t win for losing! But this time, I had no adverse reaction at all.
On Tuesday, March 18th, I had a granola cereal for breakfast that gave me trouble the time before (from oil, cinnamon, and cardamom). Then for lunch I had a tuna sandwich with mayo and pickles. For dinner I had homemade pizza on whole wheat pita bread (we’ve done that for 40 years) with (acidy) pineapples, and at night, Triscuit crackers. The oil in those had caused me problems a week or so earlier. But after all of that “forbidden” food in one day, my stomach and intestines were perfectly fine.
On Wednesday, March 19th, “Day Nine” after the healing, I had another tuna sandwich and hot rice cereal with raisins (the latter had been a digestive problem, as a dried food). Again, success!
On Thursday, March 20th, Day Ten, I had more fries and ketchup for a snack in the evening, with no problems again.
On Friday, March 21st, Day 11, I had more Triscuits and cheese for lunch. For dinner we had what used to be one of my favorite foods: tuna salad, with whole wheat elbow noodles, sweet relish, and mayo. The mayonnaise (from the brand Simple Truth, sold at Kroger’s and with a taste very similar to Miracle Whip) itself contained vinegar, soybean oil, egg yolk, mustard, and lemon juice: all of which I couldn’t previously eat for some time.
It was fabulous! I remarked over dinner how I was really starting to enjoy food again, as it should be. I had almost lost that pleasure, even with my favorite foods: perhaps largely because of the boredom and repetition of a severely restricted diet. I guess the anxiety about adverse reactions might psychologically work against the pleasure of taste buds, too. At night, I snacked on toast with butter, honey and cinnamon. But now everything was again fine. God is so good and loving!
On Saturday, March 22nd, Day 12, at dinnertime I “dared” to attempt the “nuclear option”: pizza (Jet’s, Detroit deep dish style) with pepperoni and green peppers. For years, I have continued to eat pizza made with pineapple chunks, which were removed before I ate (one still tastes the juice). At least I could still eat that. My drink at dinner was A&W root beer. All of this was successful too.
On Sunday, March 23rd, Day 13, I continued testing by having a ham sandwich with mayo, mustard, ketchup, and “hot” pickles. For dinner, the “new” foods were sweet and sour sauce (Kraft brand) on breaded chicken (I used to also love that combination as a kid). No problems!
On Monday, March 24th, Day 14, I had root beer for my drink at lunch. No symptoms at all. If anyone has a “natural” explanation for this, feel free! I’d love to see it.
I think I can safely say that the healing of my ulcer and IBS is by now more than abundantly confirmed. Praise God! All glory and honor to Him! It gives me great pleasure to be able to proclaim this testimony and report (with evidence from my own experience) that God is still in the healing business today, just as He always has been. I’ve experienced it now twice. As you can see, this miracle has been thoroughly and exhaustively documented. Others in my family have had healings, too. My son Paul had a serious knee problem that was healed on the same night. And he had been healed before some years ago of a muscular and bone issue.
The two mistakes people all too frequently make with regard to healing miracles involve going to one of two extremes: believing either that God never heals in this day and age or that He always does, by our command, as it were (a serious and dangerous error that I refuted at length in a treatise way back in 1982, as a Protestant charismatic: one of my first major apologetics efforts). Don’t let the devil mislead you with either of these lies. What we do know — from the Bible and from scientific and eyewitness verification — is that God still heals today: in His own time and place and for His own purposes: usually unknown or not fully known by us mere mortals. It usually is connected with a strong faith in the person who is healed, but not always, per the Bible and the experience of observation. That said, no one has anything to lose and has a lot to possibly gain by asking and praying for healing. It’s very real. I urge all to believe it, and pray for it. Don’t ignore this part of the Bible. Unfortunately, however, most Catholic parishes do ignore or disbelieve it, and that’s a great shame.
To top it off, I looked up what feast day fell on March 10th: the day I was healed. It’s St. John Ogilvie (1579-1615), a Scotsman who was raised in a noble family as a Calvinist, converted, and became a Jesuit priest and martyr. He’s the only post-“Reformation” Scottish saint. Being part Scottish myself (Armstrong being a border clan), and a convert, I think it’s very appropriate. I love how God is involved in every detail. He’s wonderful in that way
ADDENDUM 1 (3-26-25): Garlic and Onion Factors
I did experience on 3-25-25 my first adverse digestive issue in two weeks (semi-diarrhea). So what I did is do what I’ve always done: trace what I ate and determine what food correlates with the problem. And what I had eaten was, in the space of a few days, two 8 oz, bags of Lays’ Barbecue Chips, mostly accompanied by French Onion dip. I had a lot of that last might at about 11 PM by itself, so there was a clear correlation. Now, what do they both have in common? It’s dried onion and garlic. I did a little quick research on that (and the related onion and garlic powder) and discovered, apart from the obvious matter of greater concentration, that dried onion and garlic often have unlisted preservatives added to them, too. I think it’s this distinction, plus the great quantities I have eaten in testing the miracle, and my usual not-enough-water, that are the culprits. The dip is sour cream-based, too (see Addendum 2 below).
What this reveals to me is that I’m still sensitive (if not allergic) to at least the dried / dehydrated type of onion and garlic. I have, in fact, been eating some amount of “straight” garlic and onion for years with no problem, in our old standby, Little Caesar’s pizza. And I have had it in spaghetti sauce (Prego or Ragu) that we use for homemade pizza, our entire marriage; and we would put onion slices on top of homemade baked beans in the crock pot, etc. This shows me that it’s the dried, concentrated element and/or “hidden” preservatives added to it that is likely the specific problem, and that it’s probably still possible to eat both in much smaller quantities.
With the above qualifications in mind, I have removed the foods that I reported as having eaten with no problem that had onion and/or garlic in them, so I’m not misrepresenting anything. It’s true that for two weeks I had no symptoms of digestive problems at all (I didn’t exaggerate or misreport anything), so there is some mystery to this, and God wants us to use our minds to analyze things, and to be sensible and balanced and prudent. The many and various foods that remain listed above in all my days of testing, have been eaten without any adverse reactions.
ADDENDUM 2 (4-9-25): Regarding Food Allergies or Sensitivities
I originally claimed that I was healed of my ulcer, irritable bowel syndrome (IBC) and “food allergies.” At the time, after massive testing of various foods, that seemed to be the case, by all indications. But now, thirty days after my healing took place, it appears fairly certain that I was not healed of all of my “food difficulties” or allergies or “oversensitivity” to certain foods. I have sought to be scientific and reasoned about this all along and to be as candid and honest as I can be. It’s still evident — I want to emphasize this — that I have been healed of my ulcer and IBS, because the symptoms of those are very clear: particularly the negative response to acids and spices and other classic symptoms (ulcer) and the distinctive daily bloating, usually in the evening (IBS). Those are gone, and there hasn’t been any variability in (the absence of) my reactions.
It’s simply a matter of accurately identifying exactly what was healed and what is not healed as I go through my daily eating routine. Digestive difficulties are complex and multi-faceted. It seems that I still have, for example, my lactose intolerance. And yesterday I had mushroom soup for the first time in many 30 (?) years, and had an adverse reaction that could only have been that. I’m still not totally sure about peanut butter and eggs (two foods that many people have trouble digesting), and have to test those some more. So some of these non-ulcer / non-IBS problems were not healed. I can still say that I have a “sensitive stomach.” As with the garlic and onion, I will remove references to these foods, and modify my title too, so as not to leave an erroneous impression.
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Photo credit: Healing of the Blind Man, by Carl Bloch (1834-1890) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]
Summary: I explain in great detail and specificity, the miraculous healing of my serious digestive problems on 3-10-25, including a rundown of numerous “tests” I did to verify the change.
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