The year was 1957,  I was a farm kid growing up in the little town of Kinston,  North Carolina.  Instead of the hundreds of television stations, we only had three:  ABC, CBS and NBC.  Each Sunday morning we watched a man whose address was simply Tulsa 2, Oklahoma, that man was Evangelist Oral Roberts.   

He captured us with his message that God still heals today.    This was quite a stretch for many of us coming from a Freewill Baptist background.  Yet, when he placed his big hand towards the camera, my entire family would place our hands on the dusty TV screen.  My hopes and dreams, at that time, did not reach past the Lenoir County line.  Yet little did I know the impact this man would eventually have on my life when he said “expect a miracle.”

Decades later, I would find myself sitting in a seminary classroom at Oral Roberts University.  Out of the corner of my eye, this giant of the faith strode confidently into our class to begin a lecture on faith.  Even as I write this, I weep at his recent passing.  His teachings on faith helped me to leave my little sleepy town, travel to over 21 foreign countries, complete seminary and eventually preach across this country and foreign lands.  I believe all this happened because I dared to believe that ‘something good was going to happen to me.’

My tribute to Oral Roberts will be to love God with all my heart and to spread the word of “The fourth man.”   I believe that if I do that, God will be well pleased.