Byron R. Spears, a widely known and sought-after evangelist, is still spreading the Good News in his later years. He celebrated his 91st birthday at Southern California’s Valley Crossroads Church while in town for a week of preaching appointments. CrossTalk Productions, a production ministry affiliated with the church, taped the nonagenarian’s sermons for the church’s One Foundation video series to make Spears’ sermons and interviews available to a wide audience.
Born in Topeka, Kan., Spears was stricken with polio and meningitis at the age of 24. As a result, he walks with two canes and races around on a scooter. “I may get around a little slower these days,” said Spears, “but I praise the Lord that, at the age of 91, I have no aches or pains.” Spears accepts speaking invitations on the condition that he can sit while preaching. “There’s nothing wrong with my lungs,” he says. “I can sit down and preach.”
The evangelist is most recognized for his extraordinary photographic memory which he uses to memorize Scripture. He attributes his gift to John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (KJV).
“I claim God’s promise that He will bring all things studied back to my memory,” said Spears. “Only in the Word of God is my memory this keen; if I have to go to the grocery store I’d better have a list.”
Spears has held scores of evangelistic meetings throughout North America and Canada and helped plant numerous churches in Northern California. He became an evangelist for the Voice of Prophecy in 1970, working with H.M.S. Richards, Sr.
The One Foundation video series currently includes sermons and interviews with other notable African-American evangelists, including Dr. E. E. Cleveland and Dr. Charles D. Brooks. Additional videos are planned for production in the near future. For more information about One Foundation videos, visit www.valleycrossroads.org or call 1-866-57VIDEO.
