Advent:What Jesus Can Do With a Simple Man!

I’ll never forget the first time I stepped foot on the campus of Oral Roberts University. The gleaming gold on the rooftops of some of the buildings, the quiet awe that flooded the prayer room, the sense of destiny that permeated the hallways – I was there for the graduation of my sister-in-law, I was captivated by the spirit of God that resonated on this campus – I received something life altering even by being there. I also have never forgotten the message at her graduation – delivered by Pastor Jack Hayford, (Pastor of the Church on the Way), “Waiting for Your Next Suddenly” – I confess I have used it many times – it was a word that still lives strong in me. My greatest desire was for my children, too, to attend this great university where the educational curriculum was centered around the Word of God!

One of my daughters was not on that trip – she had measles – but on her eighteenth birthday – she had only one request – it was one that she had long prayed for – that she would be able to attend Oral Roberts University! And I can’t tell her story like she can, but as God would have it – on her birthday, she received a call from the university that she was accepted and to come… I didn’t have the faith she had held onto – I asked her how was she going to go – there was no money – the story is too long to tell here, but armed with $500 given to her by the church for her graduation, Shanna set out to fulfill her dream – to attend Oral Roberts University! And by God’s grace, every year the way was made – and hundreds of testimonies that impacted our entire family came from her experience there – interestingly enough one of them impacted my career at the Chicago Public Schools – (another day’s story) – and what a great day it was when she graduated! But graduation for ORU students is not their pinnacle – it is only their starting point – and the work that God has done and is doing in her life attests to the excellent preparation she received.

I’ve had other family members attend ORU – I have walked the campus for other graduations – and just two years ago, my youngest daughter, Rachel, graduated from ORU – she too received a mandate that I am marveling at watching it unfold.

Oral Roberts was a simple man, who received a call from God – and spent his life fulfilling that call – my family has been greatly affected by his work – I personally received strength Sunday after Sunday for years from his weekly telecast – but so have so many millions of other people – around the world who have either been personally affected by the man, or the many, who received the best in preparation for Christian service because of the place he built which had as its’ mission:

Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased.”

We honor the life and legacy of a simple, humble man who had a giant faith in a God who keeps His promises: Oral Roberts!