An Anointed Flash From the Past

I had an unusual experience this morning. I was watching Richard and Lindsay Roberts on their broadcast of A Place For Miracles”. They were showcasing what they called A Legacy of Miracles. They were discussing and showing pictures from the years of the ministry of Oral Roberts. I began remembering things that I hadn’t thought of in decades and some things that I have never thought of before. At that point, it was as if I went into a time machine tunnel.

 I found myself in my grandmother’s front yard playing with my cousins. She lived in far southeast Washington, D.C. My family lived in far northeast but that was only a few blocks away. I was very young, somewhere between four and eight. At the sound of our grandmother’s call, we ran into the house. She had announced that Oral Roberts’ television program was on. In my family it was custom that whenever Oral Roberts or Billy Graham came on television we watched it. I was always amazed at the healing miracles that I saw on the Oral Roberts programs. It never dawned on me that miracles did not happen. I will never forget the goose bumps that I would feel even as a young child. I knew that God was real, that He loved me, and that He did not want people sick. But sadly, I did not know much more than that. Children were not taught much more than Bible stories. But then again neither were most of the adults around me.

After that memory, I found myself time travelling again a little ways into the city at the place where R F Kennedy stadium was built. When I was a little girl it was just a big lot. It was an exciting place for children because it was where the circus would come. If you ever watched the animated version of Disney’s Dumbo” there is a scene with the “Roustabouts”. These were the men that set up the circus. When the circus train came in to the city, we would all get in the car to see the animals and watch them set up. Sometimes it was in the middle of the night. It was amazing seeing the Big Top tent set up.

On this same plot of land another tent would be set up at least once a year. It was the tent that Oral Roberts would use for his healing tent meetings. The same meetings that we would watch on the television would come to our city. I remember the feeling of walking on the straw on the ground of the tent. I remember the singing of songs like Something Good is Going to Happen to You or There Is No Secret What God Can Do. They were great for charging the atmosphere. I remember the anticipation in the air. I remember the atmosphere for miracles.

This time journey caused me to understand why I have always longed for more. My first encounters with Christ were more and I could not settle for less. My expectation for the Church has always been greater than what I saw accomplished. I always felt that we falling short of the mandate given us. When I first started in ministry, I knew that my expectations were placed in my heart by the One who expected me to carry it out. I set our unbridled. But I was also unseasoned. I got side tracked. Some not so important things within the church got my focus. I along with others in my path was tricked by the enemy. Now that I remember what I was blessed to encounter as a child, I will not hold back for I am not ashamed of the Gospel in its fullness. What is in me did not come from man. What I have been allowed to be taught did not either. At some point my vision became blurred. But now I can see clearly and my youth is renewed like the eagle.

Oral Roberts was criticized and even scorned on occasions. There were times that I felt badly for him. But he never walked away from what he believed and he touched many lives all over the world. Even when what he said or did seemed crazy or foolish, he held on to what he believed the Lord said to him. As a result he has left a legacy that continues and is growing. His son, Richard, and Richard’s wife, Lindsay, have received the mantle from Oral and Evelyn and greater revelation has come. Richard and Lindsay are passing it on to their children and it will continue to flow. In spite of all of the naysayers, people are still being healed through the power of the finished work of Jesus as wrought through the Roberts’ family. The Lord healed a seventeen year old boy dying of tuberculosis and miracles began to happen through him. The Lord touched the heart of a little girl watching this man minister that gave her vision of who God is.

Part of me is sad that is has taken me so long to see the big picture. But I’m still here and I desire to please Him with my faith in the finished work of Jesus. I join my desire with the desire of my God that all men be saved and come into a knowledge of the truth. I will not be silent.

Minister Pam Palmer Cooper

1/21/2014