From Frank Lockwood @ http://www.biblebeltblogger.com/biblebelt/2007/01/faith_healing.html
This weekend, as I surfed channels, I stumbled upon a faith-healing service led by the Rev. Richard Roberts. The son of evangelist Oral Roberts was in an incredibly crowded African church, commanding low blood sugar to rise and demanding that high blood pressure fall.
He rebuked sickness and sore bones. He proclaimed deliverance from bad eyesight and ordered bent backs to supernaturally straighten. As he rebuked all manner of illnesses, a translater conveyed the message to the crowd, which cried out in prayer.
The church apparently had no air-conditioning. Simple fans, attached to the building's support columns, did their best to provide relief.
The healing service brought back memories for me. About a dozen years ago, I attended a similar event with Oral Roberts at a megachurch in Portland, Oregon. The church (the first I had ever seen with a coffee bar in the lobby) was packed. As I remember it, Roberts took the stage and began announcing a litany of illnesses and cures.
"Someone out there, your back has been hurting you for years, and God is going to heal it," Roberts said. And sure enough, someone in the crowd did have back problems and was delighted to hear they'd been cured. People were estathic.
Another had arthritis. Another had annoying aches and pains. Roberts proclaimed victory over each infirmity. The audience was delighted.
Not all of the sick cooperated.
One man grumbled that his body was still in pain -- despite Roberts' claims that he'd been healed. Roberts brushed it off, insisting that the miracle was on the way.
All too soon, the offering was collected, the miracle service was over and the pews began to empty. Roberts, who had claimed to have raised the dead in the past, hadn't produced any Lazaruses. No amputees had sprouted limbs. But all in all, worshippers seemed satisfied as they rushed out, convinced that "Something Good is Going to Happen."
Not everyone could rush out, however. People in wheelchairs with withered arms and misformed legs. They stayed behind hoping that Roberts would perform one more miracle.
But there weren't any more miracles available that day. Roberts had already left to tape an appearance on the megapastor's TV program, someone explained. The angel that stirs the waters wouldn't be returning to Portland that day.
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