One of the most important evangelist of the Voice of Healing movement. He was known as the miracle man. He was incredibly gifted, dramatic and controversial. Allen was born in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas, March 27th 1911. His childhood was one growing up in poverty and just plain hard work. His father was known to be a heavy drinker and his mother lived with several different men.

 

In 1934 Allen was converted in a spirit filled Methodist church. Then about 1936 he was ordained as an Assemblies of God minister and launched out in his preaching

                          ministry.

Revivalism during the times of the depression was tuff on evangelist. Extreme fortitude and God's grace empowered Brother Allen to continue on. But in 1947 he settled into pastoring a small church in Corpus Christi Texas and left the field.

Two years later Allen attended an Oral Robert's tent meeting in Dallas. Allen was amazed by the impact of Robert's Revival meeting and was convinced that a great revival was underway. That meeting exposed Allen to miracle after miracle and he was convinced that the Spirit of God was moving across the land with great power displays.
Allen left that meeting with such a passion to reach the lost with God's miracle working power that he asked his church board to allow him to start a radio program and they refused. This seemed to discourage Allen immensely. But Allen had inside of him a great fortitude that pushed him beyond the barriers imposed by man and he resigned from pastoring to hit the gospel road again. It was at this point that Brother Allen started his Healing Revival Campaigns.

The Turning Point
Allen was keen at summing up what people were hungering after. He saw the great crowds being drawn to the gigantic tent of Oral Robert's. In 1955 Allen made a bold move of faith and purchased a tent for 8,700 dollars that was way beyond his natural abilities to pay for. But with God's blessing he entered the golden era of tent evangelism with a healing theme. This was a turning point for this determined man of God.

Allen was know as a man that the ?poor' responded to. He reminds me of David who drew those in debt, in distress and discontented. There was just something about his ability to relate to their needs and give them gospel hope. And they responded to him by the thousands.

During his crusades he was known as a revivalist who never ran from the hard cases. If there was someone blind, no problem, Allen would pray. Many of the traveling evangelist had their own special niche and Allen was no different.
Allen had an incredible ability to set the stage of a service through music like no other of his day. Allen was a first, along with Oral Robert's, to open his revival meetings up to an interracial crowd. This created a different kind of persecution, but Allen would use it as a platform to stand on and preach.

Allen was a powerful preacher and was not fearful of prophetic declarations that had spiritual punch to them. While in London he preached a dynamic message entitled, "God is a Killer." On one occasion he delivered a prophecy declaring a vision that he had of the "Destruction of America."

Allen was apostolic in the sense that he thrived when under pressure. He felt that he was one of the most persecuted men in the ministry because he believed God for miracles. Allen, like many of his fellow revivalist had religious enemies. Attacks of all sorts were railed at him.

One of the most severe of those attacks started after a 1955 arrest for drunk driving in Knoxville Tennessee. Allen never stood trial and forfeited his bail. The whole incident, even today, is still unclear exactly what happened. Although well known evangelist R.W. Schambach said that he knew that Allen was not drunk because he was with him that night in the car. In Allen's ministry publication, Miracle Magazine, he printed his response to the accusations for his ministry supporters.

"Allen declares that all this is but a trick of the devil to try to kill his ministry and his influence among his friends at a time when God has granted him greater miracles in his ministry than ever before."

With talk and newspaper reporters never seeming to stop, Allen found himself on the road without much denominational support. Even his fellowship, the Assembly's of God, asked him to withdraw from public ministry until this matter was resolved. Allen was very hurt feeling that he had been abandoned in a great time of personal need even though he had been with them for eighteen years. Allen felt that to withdraw from public ministry would ruin his ministry and give the appearance of guilt. He surrendered his ordination papers and was on his own.

By the mid-1950's Allen began to urge the Pentecostal ministers to establish independent churches that would be freed of denominational controls. He felt that the denominations were limiting what the Spirit of God was trying to do. Allen felt that programs had replaced the old wooded altars.

"With few exceptions the churches today are leaning more and more toward dependence upon organizational strength, and natural ability, and denominational methods. They no longer expect to get their increase through the old fashioned revival altar bench, or through the miracle working power of God, but rather through the local church"