Oral Roberts Essay Research Paper Oral Roberts

Oral Roberts Essay, Research Paper

Oral Roberts was 17 years old when his life was changed by a dramatic religious experience. It was late July 1935 when his older brother Elmer took him to be healed. The 6 foot tall young man who only weighed 120 pounds was stricken with Tuberculosis. In the car on the way to the revival Oral sensed that cosmic forces were focused on him. He was prepared to be healed when Geo. W. Moncey, an evangelist and divine healer prayed upon Oral. Automatically Oral was healed. Previous to the healing Oral had been too weak to stand up on his own, all of a sudden he jumped up on the stage and ran back and forth shouting he was healed..

Oral’s dad, Ellis Roberts, was a preacher and evangelist for a Pentecostal Holiness church. He was against such things as infidelity, evolutionism, sexual recreation, drinking alcohol and dancing. Tobacco, jewelry, tea, coffee, transparent female garments, polygamy and theological liberalism were also amongst the vices of his father. Oral believes that his upbringing prepared him for the moment of his healing.

There were several events surrounding the birth of Oral that became part of his ministry’s hagiography. Oral’s mother, Claudius, went to a sick child while she was pregnant with Oral to try and heal the child. She promised God that she would give her child to him if he would heal the sick child. The child was healed and she knew God had promised her a “little preacher”.

As a child Oral was mischievous and lively. But also shy, self-conscious, extrovert and poor. His self-consciousness came from his stutter and the fact that the kids made fun of him. To try and make him feel better his mom would tell him that she gave him to God. He was God’s property and one day he would preach the gospel. His father always said that Oral would have the greatest revivals of his time. Oral tried to put those thoughts out of his mind, but they always remained. His playmates nicknamed him preacher. Something told Oral that he was a child of destiny.

As a teenager he joined the Methodist church. He did so out of peer pressure and not from religious faith. By the time he reached high school he was tall and a good athlete. He played baseball for a local team which included future major league pitcher Harry Brecheen. The girls were crazy about Oral. His reputation was that he was too fast to date the daughters of the mare careful parents. At the end of his sophomore year he had dreams of athletic fame, university study, a law degree and a political career.

Oral left home and moved about 50 miles away to play basketball. His parents threatened to send the police after him. Oral said that if they did he would just keep leaving until they let him go. They all prayed together and Oral left. Oral realized years later that he had left because he was sick and tired of being poor. He began to believe that his parents’ religion was a roadblock to his ambitions. He resented the fact that his parents’ made him attend church and Sunday school. To him Christianity seemed repressive and confining, he ran away to get away from the lord.

When Oral moved to the new school there was new success. He was elected class president, he was a honor student, editor of the school newspaper, cheerleader for the football team and a member of the basketball squad. In addition to his school activities he also held three part time jobs and completely supported himself. He lived in the home of a local judge. There he built fires and did chores in return for room and board. He also worked in a store and became a reporter for his hometown newspaper. While Oral was living with the judge he started to hang out with the wrong crowd. He taught Sunday school but basically he taught the kids how to play ball. He also started drinking and becoming an immoral person.

During the final game of the Southern Oklahoma basketball tournament, Oral collapsed. This was the end of his teenage rebellion. He was taken back to his parents. They told him that he must be saved. While lying in bed with his mother, father and nurse around him praying, Oral opened his eyes and saw Jesus’ likeness in his father’s face. He started crying for Jesus to save him. A few weeks after that night was the memorable night that he was healed.

The morning after he was healed Oral was back in bed weak. His mother kept telling him to not lose faith, it was normal for him to be weak while trying to regain his strength. Later Oral went to see the Dr. to be fluoroscoped and his lungs were found to be absolutely perfect. Oral said years later that he now had scars on his lungs and when he is examined by his physician they talk about those scars. That is his proof that he had tuberculosis and they are his proof that he is healed.

When Oral was better plans were made for Oral and his father to begin a father and son revivalist team. Oral ended up spending the summer preaching with some other Pentecostal Holiness youngsters. Oral received his call to preach the night he was healed. When fall came Oral joined his father in holding meetings. By December they had more calls for revivals than they could accept. This led to Oral becoming the leader of the Pentecostal Young People’s Society and later elected secretary.

Oral was first licensed as a minister in 1936 at the East Oklahoma Conference Camp. He began a full-time faith healing m