BEING GOOD WILL NOT GET YOU TO HEAVEN
(The Paul Umbaugh Story)

 
By: Paul M. Umbaugh III

God is still in the miracle healing business.  Here is proof.

I was born and raised as a Catholic. I was told that I was "baptized" into the gates of heaven as a baby. I had always been told that if you were a good person and did the best that you could, that when you died, you would go to heaven.

After attending a Baptist church on a number of occasions, I began to hear the truth of our Lord's word in a new light. I was encouraged to read the Bible and see if what I had been told as a Child agreed with Holy Scripture, and participate in Bible study discussions also, which I did.  In so doing, in time I began to truly understand life's purpose and our Lord's will.

I personally invited the Lord Jesus into my heart on Dec 1,2002.  That is something we each must do to truly be pleasing to God.  Immediately afterwards I felt the desire to share our Lord with others.  Acting as a mere "messenger" for our Lord, I was able to share our Lord (as personal Lord and Savior) with family members, co-workers, neighbors, friends and others.  At least 200 lost souls came to personally know the Lord at this time.  Through the Lord, I started a couple of nursing home ministries where at least another 100 lost souls came to know our Lord (several were to die shortly thereafter and heaven was their home).  Several friends were having me talk to other family members of theirs - what a blessing. I continued very strong in the faith. I helped to start a home church in 2004, which is ever so strong in the Lords will.

Then on June 3, 2005, my whole life was about to change and the miracles our Lord still performs today were about to be proven to many.  Most of all I am about to tell you came from family members, ex-family members, friends and hospital records and notes, as I can not remember any of it.

I was in need of a total knee replacement (TKR), which I was suppose to have done on my left (L) knee on June 15, 2005. Because of overusing my right (R) knee to protect my (L) knee, I had been having a hard time walking around. I ended up with a cyst in the back portion of my (R) knee which began to hurt pretty bad. I went to the local E.R. and was admitted in the very early hours of June 3, 2005. I do not remember any of this.  One of the doctors I worked with saw me in the A.M., then came back and aspirated my knee @ 1600 hrs. The doctor planned on taking me to surgery the next A.M. (June 4) to do an incision and drainage (I & D) of my knee. It was thought that the cyst had burst, or I had a flare up of gout. The doctor who did the surgery cut my leg and knee area worse than a lot of TKR's I had ever seen. Again, I don't remember any of this at the time. I was told by family members and friends and by reading the hospital notes, that I did great with the surgery.

On June 5, 2005, the doctor who did the surgery saw me in the early A.M. and said that I was doing great, but noted that my B/P was rising. The doctor wanted me to stay for an extra day in the hospital as he knew that I would be right back to work, as I have had at least 12 other surgeries where I would go right back to work from the recovery room. A couple of hours after the doctor left, everything went downhill. From what I have been told, I started having a seizure and then stopped breathing. A "code blue" was called at 1140 hrs. A doctor and nurses performed CPR at that time and brought me back to life. I was transferred to the E.R. to have a STAT CT scan performed. The CT scan revealed that I had brain edema, subarachnoid hemorrhage @ basilar cistern, transtentorial herniation, mucosal thickening at the (L) ethmoid sinus. I coded again at 1325 hours and was put on life-support.

All my family was contacted and advised that I was on life support and they should start saying their goodbyes. They were advised that I was brain dead, and the only thing keeping me alive was the life support machines. My family knew that I did not want to be kept alive by machines and the hospital staff was getting them to sign the paperwork  to take me off of life support.  The good Lord said - hold on - its not time yet - and I began to breathe on my own.

At this time it was decided that I should be transferred to another hospital.  The doctor who did my surgery talked to my then wife and ex-wife and advised that if they did not transfer me or do anything, that I would surely die, that I would possibly die anyway, but I at least had a chance if they transferred me.

I was flown via bayflight to Morton Plant Hospital on June 5, 2005. A CT scan performed at MPH showed subdural blood along (R) tentorium with subarachnoid blood along the high (L) temporal lobe and blood in the ventricular system bilaterally without hydrocephalus. Low attenuation (R) cerebellum, focal infarct suspected. An angiogram confirmed the CT scan. The neurosurgeon advised that the only thing to do would be to take out the (R) PICA, that it would be a 14 hour surgery, and I probably would not survive it. The doctor had not only never did a surgery like this one before, he had never seen one that bad and where it was located.

The aneurysm was centered on the brain stem, effecting both sides. The doctor advised that this was a mycotic aneurysm (caused by the knee surgery infection) and they would have to try and let it calm down before attempting any surgery. The doctor again advised that I probably would not make it, but if I did, I would most likely never be able to walk again, or be blind, or severely disabled.

The doctors I worked for at the time (I was employed to work under them) did not like the odds and began searching the internet for the best neurosurgeon they could find. On June 6, 2005, I went into respiratory failure at 0420 hrs. and was brought back by our Lord one more time. I also had an MI and went into renal failure at 1400 hrs, but, again, I'm still here. The doctors I worked for found Dr. Harry Van Loveren, who was described as the best neurosurgeon in the world. He was at Tampa General Hospital. Dr. Van Loveren had performed surgeries like mine before and agreed to see me.

I was flown via bayflight again to TGH on June 7, 2005. I was admitted into the ICU. Dr. Van Loveren was on his was to Washington D.C., to conduct a seminar on brain stem research with President Bush and congress. The doctor wanted to wait for surgery for the infection to calm down.

On June 16, 2005, I had a (R) suboccipital craniotomy, Cllaminectomy, clipping of PICA aneurysm, occipital to PICA artery bypass graft, microsurgical dissection technique and the skull was replaced with titanium instrumentation. The bypass did not work, but by the grace of God, the surrounding veins picked up the slack and I am here today able to share this testimony with you. During the course of my hospital stay I developed a UTI, clots in both arms, high blood pressure upon standing as well as everything else mentioned. I made a promise to our Lord that if he let me out of the hospital, I would share this testimony with as many people as I possibly could and show of the miracles that our Lord still performs today, and that He and He alone is still in charge on the throne.

Several have compared me to the apostle Paul, Lazarus and Job, but I have to say that I am just an ordinary person, trusting in our Lord Jesus, and hoping to be a servant by following His example and sharing His love for the world and telling others how they too can share in His love. Our Lord's love is available to everyone by accepting His free gift of eternal life through salvation.

 I was Discharged from the hospital on July 21, 2005. I still can't remember going to any of the hospitals. I only remember a very little bit about waking up at TGH a couple of weeks after the brain surgery. I don't remember seeing family, friends or others at the hospitals even though I have seen pictures.

I have problems remembering people later on after I meet them, and remembering things I do during the day, later on in the day, even though I can remember things from long ago. It seems to be a short-term memory loss problem. I do not know what the last thing I remember from before the knee surgery is. I remember seeing the nasty scar on my (R) leg and knee, and the nasty scars on my head after I got out of the hospital. It is such a strange thing not knowing how they got there.  I still have a lot of problems with my balance.  I stumble a lot and feel dizzy a lot, especially if I have to look to the sides or behind me. Both of my feet from the ankles to my toes are numb as well as my right pinky and ring finger and the whole right side of my head.

But, as I have said before, by the grace of our Lord, I am here and able to share His Word with all who will listen to it. Since being released from the hospital, I have been able to share the gospel with at least 200 lost souls thus far. I have shared this testimony at several churches and have seen several come to know our Lord. I started two additional nursing home ministries through the Lord and witnessed 13 at one and 11 at the other come to know our Lord personally. I kept these going until my wife at the time left me three months after I got out of the hospital, as I was not able to go back to work. Satan was trying, but will never take my faith away.

The doctors I worked for before all this happened did not want me to come back to work for safety reasons and advised for me to file for disability. I am still waiting for disability at this time. I have not, nor will not, stop serving the Lord or sharing his word. Since my wife left, I have passed out in excess of 5,000 tracts, shared the gospel with at least 200 others, who have come to know our Lord and I will continue to share His word. I attempted to go to work in PA, doing the same type of work I was doing before all this happened. I did it for 3-weeks, but kept stumbling into walls, had a very difficult time walking because of my knees, and had a problem remembering people. But I was able to do it for that time and I found out the reason why. I shared the gospel with at least 40 people in Philly and passed out 25 tracts at the Philly airport, and another 50 tracts around Philly. So the Lord made it possible for me to get paid while I was there. My daughter and her boyfriend came and brought me back to Florida.

I want to continue to share our Lords Word any way that I can and would like to write out this salvation prayer to share with anyone and everyone who is not 100% sure that when they die they will go to heaven, so that you can be 100% sure as the Lords Word says you can be.

Please repeat this prayer after me and share it with as many family members, friends, co- workers and neighbors as you can:

Dear Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father . . . I admit that l am a sinner and wish to repent of my sins and ask for Your forgiveness. Thank you for dying upon the cross and shedding your blood and rising again the third day in fulfillment of the scriptures to take away the sins of the world to all those who believe in You. I trust in You and ask You to come into my heart, and I count on You and You alone to take me to heaven. In your precious name I pray -- AMEN.

Update from Paul: 7-19-2008:  

It has now been just over three years since I had my brain aneurysm and subsequent surgery to repair it as well as my pulmonary embolism in my right lung.  I just wanted to update this, as you never really hear from people after their first story or testimony as in my case, and you never know if they are still around.  I'm still here only as a direct result from our Lord above.
He saw it fit to have not only one miracle occur in my life, but four (4) now.  In case you were wondering with the brain aneurysm, I was "declared dead" three times and was brought back by our Lord as He has something for me to do for Him here on Earth before He calls me home.

I was also "dead" one other time the next year after going to the hospital for the pulmonary embolism that was in my right lung.

I have continued to share our Lord with as many people that I can since what happened to me.  Of course I was doing it before what happened also, but not on the magnitude that I have been able too since.

Since my last update, I have (all again through our Lord above; not me)  been able to share our Lord with at least another 1,000 or so individuals.  I have had the honor and privilege of being able to share our Lord with these people and assure them that they will have their final resting place in Heaven when the time comes as they trust in Him for eternal salvation.

I have been able to talk people out of suicide, off of drugs, keep marriages together, and keep their faith in our Lord above.  This all comes from my faith in our Lord; from nothing else.

I have learned from a top neurologist at Georgetown that where my aneurysm was located at, that 75% of the people die right away, the other 25% die within the first year.  Well, it has now been just over three years, so those odds need to be changed.  With our Lord on your side, no-one can tell you when you will be gone, as only our Lord has complete control over that.

I just wanted to update this to let people know that I am still here and still fulfilling the promise that I made to our Lord when He let me get out of the hospital.  That I would do my best to share our Lord with as many people that I possibly can and let them know of the miracles that our Lord still performs today.  With the Lord on your side, you can't go wrong.  Don't get me wrong now, you will be tried and have tribulations to go through, but always keep your faith in our Lord and you will make it through.

I have just completed a book also titled: Inspirational Reading.  It is a book of poems and inspirational writings that I wrote every time that I felt inspired by our Lord to do so.  I know that it can help thousands upon thousands come to a saving knowledge of our Lord also.  For those who would like to know more about it, they can click on the following link:  

http://www.authorhouse.com/bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=50234

I thank you for this opportunity and may God Bless you.  If you would like to email me, you certainly may:  p.umbaugh@yahoo.com
                                               Update to testimony  4-12-15

It has been 7 years since I last updated my testimony and I wasn't even predicted to make it 5 years.  So, it has been a total of 10 years now since my brain aneurysm in which I was declared "dead" three times and one more time with a pulmonary embolism in my right lung.  I have continued sharing our Lord with as many as I possibly can via my speaking to people, my books and my personal testimony.  Pastor Eric Okello in Uganda has shared my testimony with hundreds upon hundreds of people throughout Uganda and East Africa and has literally had hundreds upon hundreds of people come to our Lord as a result. Our Lord's kingdom continues to grow through my testimony and those willing to share it with the lost. I could not be any happier with the results and Thank our Lord each and every single day.

I continue to have severe headaches along with a vast array of other medical issues, but I am still here honoring our Lord and trying to share His word with all whom I possibly can. The devil is trying, but he will NEVER take my FAITH away. If I haven't been through enough, I have recently been diagnosed with kidney cancer.  I could not be any happier that it is me who has been challenged by the devil to try and destroy my Faith, as that will NEVER happen.

My Faith in our Lord is ever so strong and that will never change.

Like I mentioned, it has now been 10 years and no-one thought that I would make it 5 years. There is only one who knows when our time is up, and that is our Lord above and as long as I am here on this Earth, I will continue to share Him with ALL that I possibly can, anyway that I can.

My books are titled: Inspirational Reading and Not Meant to Be (one man's true life story).
May our Lord Bless each and every single one of you reading this along with all of your family and friends.

Paul M Umbaugh III