Anointed from the Womb by Roberts Liardon
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It is remarkable how many of America’s most powerful leaders, political and spiritual alike, were born to humble beginnings, and that was the case with Granville Oral Roberts. He was born on January 24, 1918, in a rustic, log farmhouse in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the fourth and last child of Ellis and Claudius Roberts. His parents were Spirit filled Christians who preached the Word of God to anyone who would listen. Ellis Roberts was a dedicated Pentecostal Holiness preacher who knew the Word and was steadfast in his pursuit of God.
Claudius Roberts, or Mama Roberts, as I was privileged to call her, was a little firebrand of faith. She was an old-time Pentecostal woman, full of the Holy Spirit and the anointing of God—with faith to believe God for the impossible. She was descended from a proud, Native American tribe; her mother had been a full-blooded Cherokee, and she touched everyone she met with her determination to believe God for answered prayer. It was from Mama Roberts that Oral inherited his dramatic personality, his perseverance in the face of hardship, and his ability to capture and hold a congregation’s attention. Mama Roberts instilled in her family the firm belief in the healing power of God.
The Roberts family was painfully poor. Perhaps Oral’s drive to succeed in every endeavor of his life and ministry came from the sting of having been destitute as a child. Oral’s clothes were hand-me-downs from the poor church deacons’ children. Meals were simple and, at times, forgone for “fasting.” Often, Oral and his brother, Vaden, would play outside until late in the afternoon and then come home to find that neighbors had left food behind the door for the family’s dinner. Despite his humble beginning, Oral was popular with his classmates. He vividly recalls when he was elected the “King of the School” before his elementary graduation. As “King,” he was expected to wear new clothes for the school assembly. His parents, however, could not afford anything new, least of all a new “King” wardrobe. Undaunted, a determined Oral earned the money himself to buy a new pair of denim overalls.
The Cry of God’s Heart by Roberts Liardon
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To Lester’s great joy, not long after he returned to South Bend, the Lord called to him as before, saying, “Lester, will you go to Manila for Me?” Remembering his long-ago vision of the lost on the roadway to hell, Lester responded enthusiastically with a yes.
Calvary Temple was a thriving congregation. With Lester’s success, another pastor might have felt a certain sense of pride in remaining there. But Lester Sumrall knew that the call of God was ever fresh in his life. It was time to move back into the mission field. He confidently parted with his Indiana congregation, trusting that God would equip and appoint a new leader for the church. Calvary Temple belonged to the Lord and not to Lester Sumrall.
Roberts Liardon tells us that twenty-two days after sailing from San Francisco, Lester and Louise arrived in Manila with Frank, a toddler, and Stephen, a baby. Starting at an early age, the Sumrall boys would always be a part of Lester’s ministry, learning about and witnessing with their own eyes the power of God to save and heal. God had promised Lester and Louise great miracles on the Philippine Islands, and Lester couldn’t wait to experience them firsthand!
The Land of Perpetual Summer by Roberts Liardon
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Roberts Liardon tells us that Lester and Howard were eager to bring the good news of Jesus to the scores of human beings lost in spiritual darkness at their next destination:
Java, Indonesia, the most densely populated island in the world. Lester was overwhelmed by the beauty of this hot, humid tropical paradise, where luscious flowers were in bloom all around him. But he was not so overcome that he didn’t immediately sense the spiritual barrenness of this garden paradise. Java was an island where numerous false religionsand superstitions had kept the people in spiritual bondage for generations.
For weeks, Lester and Howard preached about the power of God to save and heal. Lester preached the salvation message to the lost, and Howard taught the established believers on the island, leading them to develop deeper walks with Christ. He prayed for many to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and God’s power.
One lasting spiritual lesson came on a pleasure trip to Dieng, a volcanic mountain on the island. Lester and Howard had accepted a friend’s invitation to visit a live volcanic crater. As they reached the summit of the mountain, they looked south to the Indian Ocean and then north to the Java Sea. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
As they descended into the crater pit, the beauty was replaced by large sulfur springs “vomiting a nauseous cloud of smoke, and about a dozen small springs bubbling up a muddy substance.”120 The ground beneath their feet was hot to the touch because the volcanic activity was simmering just below the surface. Wanting to show them more of this powerful, dangerous mountain, their friend asked if the men would like to visit Death Valley, which was a short distance away. They rounded a curve on the mountain path and discovered a sign engraved with sinister skull and crossbones above large, black letters that read, “DEATH VALLEY.” Beside it was the tombstone of a German scientist who had scoffed at the warning and descended into the valley by rope to prove it was just a native superstition. He was pulled back up from his descent a dead man.
The Ministerial Conference by Roberts Liardon
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Jeffreys’ efforts to make major reforms in the Elim church government were met with the stiffest resistance, first from Phillips and the Executive Council and later from the Ministerial Conference. For most of the ministers, the use of laity as elders to help govern the local assembly meant a loss of control over their churches. The ministers were appointed and paid by the Elim headquarters, which meant their allegiance lay with the denomination and not necessarily with the needs or the spiritual inclinations of their congregations. Jeffreys felt that this policy left out many people who might hear from the Lord but not have a voice in the congregation. Other Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God, granted local churches a much greater degree of autonomy.
Roberts Liardon tells us that the majority of the Elim Executive Council was committed to keeping a centralized church government. As a result, Elim Trust Company owned over two hundred buildings in the denomination and carried an enormous amount of financial muscle. It was all controlled by a small group of men, of which Phillips was the head.
Jeffreys’ desire to see the development of local church government for the Elim churches was further solidified in 1939, when he was invited by Lewi Pethrus to speak at the European Pentecostal Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. With more than five thousand members, Pethrus’ Filadelphia Church was the largest Pentecostal church in the world at that time. In addition, the church supported a network of smaller churches, and Pethrus had granted each individual assembly the freedom to govern itself at the local level so that the individual gifts of the saints could be used. He believed that the autonomy of the local church was established by the pattern in the New Testament. “It was affirmed by Brother Pethrus that the Scriptures reveal no organization beyond the local assembly.”
Healed to Preach His Word by Roberts Liardon
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Roberts Liardon tells us that the baptism in the Holy Spirit filled George with a passionate desire to preach the gospel. But there was a serious impediment barring his way: his weakness and facial paralysis were becoming more pronounced and would make preaching nearly impossible.
One Sunday morning in 1910, before the church service began, George was healed by the power of God. He would recount his experience to his congregation later: We were kneeling in prayer one Sunday morning and were interceding on the subject of the services of that day. It was exactly nine o’clock when the power of God came upon me, and I received such an inflow of Divine life that I can only liken the experience to being charged with electricity. It seemed as if my head were connected to a most powerful electric battery. My whole body from head to foot was quickened by the Spirit of God, and I was healed. From that day I have never had the least symptoms of the old trouble. Many times since then I have relied upon the Spirit’s quickening power for my body.
The opportunity to preach would come soon for George, but for Stephen, it was now. Even though he worked by day in the coal mines, Stephen began to preach at night. He was an enthusiastic minister who walked up and down the aisles, calling the people to repentance. And they answered that call because of the anointing of the Word of God. Stephen wanted George to minister with him, but George wanted to attend Bible school first in order to become better prepared for what he thought would be a calling to the foreign mission field. Kezia Jeffreys had remarried by that time, and she agreed to send George to Bible school.
Christ the Healer by Roberts Liardon
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John called his friends and his mother on the telephone to tell them the amazing news, but none could believe it was he. When the news reached the local newspaper reporters, they insisted on meeting with him, as did Mayor Babcock. Fred walked into the mayor’s office with his head held high, and he smiled and spoke normally. The next day’s newspaper hit the stands for the whole city to see the headline, “John Sproul Can Talk!”
The Sproul family rejoiced when John’s three-year-old daughter, Mary Jane, who had never heard him speak, clapped her little hands and exclaimed, “Daddy can talk! Daddy can talk! Jesus made Daddy talk!”
Roberts Liardon tells us that the Veterans Bureau ordered John to report for tests, after which they declared him well, indeed. He had to forsake his disability payments, but he had been healed by God and could work now. For years after his healing, he corresponded with F. F. Bosworth, letting him know how much he enjoyed perfect health in his body and his soul!
From his intimacy with Scriptures on divine healing, Fred wrote Christ the Healer in 1924. The book remains a classic work on Christ’s healing power, and it is just as relevant to the body of Christ today as it was upon publication nearly one hundred years ago.
The primary question Bosworth wanted to answer in his book was, “Did Christ redeem us from our diseases when He atoned for our sins?” To him, the Bible answered with a resounding “Yes!” He believed that the healing nature of God was revealed in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Changed Forever! By Roberts Liardon
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Many of young Fred’s sales trips took him to Omaha. On one trip, he stopped to visit Miss Maude Greene, who was several years older than he. She’d invited him to join her at an old-time revival at the First Methodist Church that week. The first two nights, he listened politely to the gospel singing and the preaching, then escorted Miss Maude home and returned to his hotel. On the third night, however, the Holy Spirit began to tug on his heart.
For the first time, Fred really heard the message of salvation and understood the sacrifice Jesus had made for him on the cross nineteen hundred years earlier. His heart was stirred within him. Sensing that something was happening, Maude encouraged Fred to take a trip down to the altar when the preacher called.
Reluctantly at first, but then with a firmer step, Fred Bosworth approached that little Methodist altar. While he knelt there, he knew that he must decide that very night if he was going to make a decision for Christ or walk away from Him.
Roberts Liardon tells us that with the presence of God flowing through him, Fred decided to say yes to God. Immediately, his heart was filled with joy to overflowing, and he erupted in holy laughter. “Such a happiness filled his heart he laughed for joy, till he actually felt embarrassed because he could scarcely stop.”5 Now, Fred had another decision to make. Much of his sales success had been based on dishonest methods and half-truths. He needed to quit his salesman’s life and go home. But what would he do with his life in Christ now?
For the next two years, Bosworth held so many different jobs, it was hard to keep count. He worked in a windmill factory, then as a clerk in a grocery store. Following that, he was a department store clerk, a meat market butcher, a railroad maintenance worker, and a house painter. He learned more about his relationship with the Lord during this time, but he also struggled with an anxious soul.
Loved Ones in Heaven by Roberts Liardon
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Roberts Liardon tells us that as Rebecca became comfortable with Heaven, she found wonderful surprises waiting everywhere. She frequently would come upon old friends—many of whom had departed earth years before, and she was also overjoyed to meet many whom she had never expected to meet in Heaven. Several of these were people whom her words and acts had helped steer from a life of sin into eternal life.
Further Reunions
One her way to the river of life, Rebecca saw a young girl run toward her with her arms outstretched. It was her niece, Mae, who radiated joy and beauty. Mae explained that it was not only the divine life in Heaven that had transformed her; it was the frequent nearness to the Savior. Mae expressed her gratitude to Jesus and her great love for Him. She had come to love Him above all things and counted being near to Him as more important than anything else.
Roberts Liardon tells us that upon Rebecca’s asking her to accompany her to the river, Mae inquired if she had ever been to the lake or the sea. Rebecca joined her on the path to the lake. As they walked along, Mae asked when her Uncle Will, Rebecca’s husband, would be joining them. Although she was not discontent, she longed to see the rest of her family and assured Rebecca that in Heaven, the wait for loved ones never seemed long.
Interpreting Your Tongues Helps Your Mind by Roberts Liardon
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Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 14:14 more closely:
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
1 Cor 14:14-15 (NKJ)
Notice that Paul says, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful….” In other words, Paul is saying that when you pray in tongues, your mind does not understand what you’re saying. That’s why it is important to pray every day in your native language as well as in tongues. You should sing everyday in your native language and in tongues too. It helps your mind stay in touch with what is happening in your spirit.
Roberts Liardon tells us that interpreting your own prayer language also helps your mind. Interpreting what the Holy Spirit has been praying through you can help you determine the true spiritual condition of your life. Your mind doesn’t know what your spirit knows and one way for your mind to find out is by listening to the interpretation of your private tongues.
Your private interpretation does not usually come like a public interpretation. Tongues and interpretation in a public assembly comes real bold and real obvious. In your private prayer life, an interpretation may come up real quietly inside of you. It will boil up out of your spirit, and then enter into your mind. When you speak it out, there may or may not be an authoritative tone to it.
Roberts Liardon tells us that interpreting your prayer language will help keep your mind normal. When people don’t renew their mind, they get a little off center. They sometimes get spooky and begin to lose touch with reality. If they would renew their mind with the Word of God, pray and sing a lot in their native language and allow the Holy Spirit to interpret their prayer language back to them, their mind would not be as unfruitful.
Tongues Makes You Spiritually Sensitive by Roberts Liardon
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Roberts Liardon tells us that praying in tongues helps you become aware of spiritual events and occurrences. It helps you increase your sensitivity to the workings of the Holy Spirit. People that don’t pray in tongues much are not as sharp as they could be in their discerning of the moves of the Holy Spirit and the overall happenings of God.
Tongues Will Build Your Faith
In Jude, verse 20 we find that tongues stirs up our faith. Jude writes:
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit…
Jude 1:20 (NKJ)
Roberts Liardon tells us that tongues makes your faith come alive! When you get through praying in tongues, you’re ready to believe God for anything! It stimulates your ability to trust Him.