Sid Roth - God Spoke 9 Words to Me and I Was Instantly Healed with Rick Amato
He had Crohn's disease and peritonitis, which resulted in a colostomy. After hearing a voice, he was instantly healed. Next on this edition of "It's Supernatural"!
Sid Roth: Hello. Sid Roth your investigative reporter. It seems like too many people are getting physically sick these days. There's just too much of this going on. Have you noticed? It just seems wherever you turn around, someone has cancer or heart trouble, or addictions wherever you look. But I have a guest that really had it bad. I mean, you could have felt sorry for yourself. What was going on with you physically, Rick Amato?
Rick Amato: I had a tube down my throat, a tube in my jugular vein, two tubes out my side, a catheter, and a gaping hole where the doctors removed 14 inches of my colon, sliced open my side, rerouted my intestines out my side, attached a bag known as a colostomy for my normal bodily functions. On top of that, I was evicted from my home, my car was repossessed, I was on welfare, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and I think I did feel sorry for myself.
Sid Roth: I would think if you didn't feel sorry for yourself, who could?
Rick Amato: I did.
Sid Roth: So did you just kind of - I guess we humans have the ability to cope, and you were coping though with drugs. Did you do the drugs and the alcohol because life was too hard, or had you always had that problem?
Rick Amato: Sid, as far as I can remember somebody in our family had alcohol or drugs in their life. You know, the Bible says "The sins of the fathers are… visited… unto the children to the third and fourth generation".
Sid Roth: So it's amazing these patterns go from generation to generation.
Rick Amato: They really did. As another - just an aside, they did a study at Harvard - 45 years - they took 200 orphans that were adopted and they followed them for 45 years, Sid. And they found out that all the kids whose parents were alcoholics or addicts, even if they didn't have trauma in their lives, became addicts and alcoholics. And all the kids whose parents weren't addicts or alcoholics back several generations, even if they were traumatized, they didn't become alcoholics or addicts. So the Bible is true. "The sins of the fathers are visited …" or they follow three and four generations. So you know, it just seemed like it was what I was supposed to do. My parents tried. They were both wonderful people and they tried, but somehow I got caught up in that, and I ended up on my deathbed, face-to-face with the end of a very sad life.
Sid Roth: Now why do you say "your deathbed"?
Rick Amato: Well because the doctors called my parents in. They called my relatives in from everywhere; you know, they don't do that. In fact, it was so serious, Sid. When I finally left the hospital - by a miracle of God - I'm so anxious to tell you about it, but when I finally left the hospital, all the doctors - there were over 16 of them that had worked on me - came to see me, and five of them came to my bed and said, "We want you to know," they said, "You're the first person that's ever been in this ward since we’ve worked here that went out through the elevator on this side. All the others went on the elevator on that side". I said, "What do you mean"? He said, "That side goes to the basement". I said, "What do you mean"? He said, "Well you've heard of CCU"? I said, "Cardiac care," I said, "yeah". He said, "You've heard of ICU, intensive care"? I said, "Yeah". He said, "Well this is ECU". I said, "What's that"? He said, "This is the eternal care unit". He said, "The people - who are where you are - die". And so I had a 20 percent chance of survival, and an 80 percent chance of death. That's what peritonitis is. Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, which is a thin membrane-like sack that holds all your organs in. Well mine was inflamed with several bacterias including E. coli, and we all know what E. coli could do.
Sid Roth: That's a mess. That is a mess. You think you have problems. How would you like to have swapped shoes with Rick Amato? What happened to you, Rick?
Rick Amato: Well I'll tell you, Sid, I look back now. I often tell people the seed to your greatest power is hidden in the heart of your worst problem. If Jesus hadn't died on the cross, we wouldn't have a savior. The fact is when I got to the place, Sid, where God was all I had left, that's when I realized God is all there is. I came to the place where all I had left in life - I didn't have a home, I didn't - my family was out, I didn't have my health, I didn't have - I had no hope for tomorrow. All I had left was a constant, conscious contact with God; a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and his cross. By the way, you've never lived until you've almost died. And I came to that place in my life where God was the only thing I had left, so God was all there was to me.
Sid Roth: What did He do?
Rick Amato: Well Sid, I came to an understanding with the Lord that even if I wore the bag the rest of my life, if I was allowed to live or if I died, if I lived I was the Lord’s; if I died I was the Lord's. So whether I lived or died, I was the Lord's. And I told the Lord - I promised Him that I would live however many days I had left like that; like all that really mattered was knowing Him and making Him known; however that was at the time with all those tubes coming out of my body. So one day turned into a few weeks. I eventually rose, took up my bag, and walked. Then a few weeks turned into a few months. So I started walking, and living, and I began gradually to come back to my actual health, but I still had this bag on me. And so nine months later I went back to the doctor who did the surgery. I said, "Okay, the bag off. You know, I don't want to wear this bag any more". He said, "Well we got to do some tests before we did that, do that, called biopsies", where they take a small piece of tissue. They examine the tissue to see if there's disease in the bowels before they reconnect you, because obviously something caused my intestines to burst. So they did the biopsies, and it came back from two different specialists; both the chairmen of gastroenterology, which is the study of your intestines, your insides, at each hospital, William Beaumont and Oakwood in Detroit, Michigan, right outside Detroit. And both men confirmed that the biopsies said I had Crohn's disease. Now anybody watching by television can tell you Crohn's disease is a terrible disease. It's an inflammatory disease. It can sometimes cause death. People can die from Crohn's disease. Well they said that I had to wear the bag for the rest of my life. They said, "You can't get it healed". They said, "As a matter of fact, in a few years we're going to have to take out all of your intestines, put a bag on the center of your body called an ileostomy, which is even worse". And so I was shocked. I was wounded. I was beyond belief. I said, "No, this can't be". And so I said, "I’ve got to get away". So I caught a plane, and I flew up to Bailey Island, Maine. My uncle, George Johnson, is a lobsterman up there. I went out on a cliff. My aunt, Norma Jean, was there - she's in Heaven now - and I looked up to Heaven, and I said, "Lord, I've been preaching 'by your stripes we are healed' for ten years". I said, "Lord, it's time I lived it". I said, "I'm only going to ask you this once. Please heal me. Take this bag off of me". And so help me, Sid, not audibly, but inside my body it resonated with a vibration that filled my whole body. I heard a gentle whisper say, "Don't worry about the specialists. I AM the specialist".
Sid Roth: Did you hear that? A voice within him said there's something - there is someone greater than any natural doctor on the face of this earth. "I AM", which is a covenant name for God. "I AM the specialist". Be right back after this.
Sid Roth: Hello. I'm Sid Roth your investigative reporter here with Rick Amato. And here this man is as messed up as you can get messed up. I mean, he's into drugs. He's a drug addict. He's an alcoholic. He's got peritonitis. He's got a sack coming out of him because of a colostomy. Anything else wrong with you? You've given the laundry list.
Rick Amato: Well the truth is, Sid, was, I was at the bottom. And every drug addict, every alcoholic, watching us right now by television, they have to hit the bottom. So many people wonder what's it take to make an addict or alcoholic get well? One lady told me, she said, "My son is 40 years old and he still lives in my home, and he spends every penny he gets on alcohol and drugs". And I said, "Well what does he eat"? She said, "I feed him". I said, "What does he drive"? She said, "I make his car payment". I said, "Well where does he live"? She said, "He lives under my roof". I said, "He doesn't have anything else to do with my money". She said, "Well I love my son. I want to help him". I said, "If you want to love your son, quit removing from him the consequences of his addiction. Teach him what all addicts must learn, what I learned at the bottom of my life. You have the power to choose, but you cannot choose the consequences of your choices". And so when I came to the place where the consequences of my choices and the pain from those consequences outweighed the pleasure -
Sid Roth: But wait a second. It's just a crutch. If it's just a crutch - he heard a voice; maybe it wasn't audible, but it was clear. And this voice was the voice of God. And what did God say?
Rick Amato: He said, "Don't worry about the specialists. I AM". And when he said "I AM", when I heard, in fact, I've told people before, because I've been under intense scrutiny by people all over in 40 different countries, almost all 50 states, you know, "What is this you're hearing? Are you schizophrenic? You're hearing voices". It was as though I saw in front of me the only thing I'm really certain of, because you know, after a while, after so much scrutiny, people can, you know, the one thing I'm sure of is that I heard the words, and saw in front of me the words, "I AM", and God said, "I AM the specialist", Because two specialists had said I could not get well.
Sid Roth: Wait a second. You heard this voice, but you're saying, was it like on a TV screen?
Rick Amato: It was just like two black letters you would read on a piece of white paper appeared in front of the ocean in front of me that said "I AM". You know, I've not disclosed that, but I've got nothing to prove, nothing to lose, and nothing to hide.
Sid Roth: More important, what did I AM do for you?
Rick Amato: Well I got one of those walkie-talkie phones. I walked back out on the cliff. I called my wife. She answered, Nancy in Detroit. She said, "What's that sound"? I said, "What"? She said, "It sounds like birds". I said, "Oh, it's seagulls". She said, "Where are you"? I said, "I'm on a cliff". And she said, "What are you calling me from a cliff for"? I said, "I've been healed". She said, "You've been what"? I said, "I've been healed". She said, "By whom"? I said, "By the Messiah, by Christ! Jesus"! She said, "What do you want me to do about it right now"? I said, "Call the University of Michigan. Dr. Keith Henley is the number one gastroenterologist in North America".
Sid Roth: But wait. How did you know at that moment you had been healed?
Rick Amato: Because for the last nine months I had wanted that bag off, and when I got those biopsies and they examined me, I began to chafe against those specialists. In fact, I had went back to the surgeon and I had said - who's a great surgeon, Dr. Herbert Hubel - I went back to him - beautiful hands, just a great guy - I said, "Doctor," I said, "you've got to put me back together. These two specialists say that you can't, you know, that I've got to wear this bag". He said, "Uh-uh, I can't put you back together. If you put you back together you'll leak, you'll get sick, you'll get peritonitis again. This time you'll probably die. You will die". So I was chafing against these doctors, and I was researching everything I could, and I found this guy, Keith Henley, by a miraculous coincidence, although you and I know there's no such thing as a coincidence. God is sovereign; and by a sovereign coincidence, I found some people who had had bowel disease who told me that the number one man in North American is Keith Henley. So I told my wife, "Call him at the University of Michigan. I'm going to go see him". She said, "Oh Rich, don't do this. You've been to two specialists already. You're in for another big letdown. You're spending all of our money. You're going from doctor to doctor. Just accept it". I said, "I would accept it and I could accept it, but I know ‘by his stripes I've been healed.’ It's God’s will for me to be well".
Sid Roth: Okay. You, that's fine and good. I'm a bottom line type of person. It's fine that you knew you were healed. I want to know what happened.
Rick Amato: I went to Dr. Henley. She picked me up from the airport a few weeks later from Pittsburgh. I went to see the doctor. They put me to sleep. They took a fiber optic tube and they inserted it into my intestines, and they looked at every inch of my intestines. They came back. I came back to consciousness. They called me in the room, and Dr. Henley said, "Mr. Amato, sit down please". I said, "No, I don't need to sit down. I've been laying down. I want to stand up". He said, "I said, sit down". I said "Okay". I sat down. He said, "Who told you that you have Crohn's disease"? I told him the names of the chairmen of gastroenterology at Beaumont, the chairmen of gastroenterology at Oakwood. He said, "Did these men do biopsies"? I said, "Yes, sir, one did a biopsy. The other one examined the biopsy. The first one did". He said, "First of all, may I say I have the utmost of respect for my colleagues". He said, "Secondly, may I say they've made a huge mistake. You don't have Crohn's disease".
Sid Roth: Okay. If you don't have Crohn's disease, so why are you wearing the bag?
Rick Amato: Well that's what I said, Sid. I said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute," because I had researched enough to know that Crohn's disease can go into remission; it’s possible. So I asked the doctor, I said, "Wait a minute," to show you it was the faith of Christ, too. You know, it's not our faith that produces miracles; it’s the faith of Jesus working in our faith. It's his resurrection life in us together with our faith, pleases the Father. Well get this. I said, "Maybe it's in remission. Crohn's disease goes into remission, you know". He said, "No, you don't understand, son". He said, "If it was in remission, you would have scar tissue in your bowels". He said, "Your bowels look just like a little baby's bowels. They're perfect". And do you know that only a few weeks later in October -
Sid Roth: Wait a second. Where is that bag? Show me the bag.
Rick Amato: It's gone, Sid. It's gone.
Sid Roth: Where did it go?
Rick Amato: It's gone. It's gone.
Sid Roth: We'll be right back. We'll be back right after this. And I'm going to tell you something. The same God that caused that bag to be gone has a destiny for you. Don't go away. We'll be right back.
Sid Roth: Hello. Sid Roth your investigative reporter here with Rick Amato. I mean, you think life dealt you a blow. Peritonitis, Crohn's disease, colostomy, a bag hanging from his side. If that's bad enough, he also is addicted to drugs, addicted to alcohol. He says he heard a voice and saw the words in front of him, "I AM", which is a name for God, and was set free. The doctors say he was set free. But I want to find out what happened to his drug and alcohol addiction. Before we got back to Rick Amato, I want you to come in to a little production session. I want to get with my producer Janie Duvall and we'll go into the control room and find out who's up next week. Janie, who's our guest?
Janie DuVall: Sid, you'll be interviewing Dr. Kingsley Fletcher. He's from West Africa and he has seen seven people raised from the dead. He has prayed for seven people to be raised from the dead, one who was dead for three days.
Sid Roth: You know, the thing that interests me is how credible this man is. Dr. Fletcher has two earned doctorate degrees, very brilliant man and I understand he's from royalty in Africa.
Janie DuVall: Yes, that's true. And but the miracles that he has seen in Africa has led to the, these great miracles of raising people from the dead. The other person who was raised from the dead that he'll be talking about was his wife.
Sid Roth: So Crohn's disease, peritonitis, a bag, a sack, he's healed of it all. But I want to find out about the drug and the alcohol problem. How bad was your addiction?
Rick Amato: It was serious; life-threatening. Heroin, cocaine, a multitude of drugs and alcohol. It's what they call cross-addicted. I'm so ashamed of it. The best testimony a kid could have watching by television today is say, "I never did it"; but I can't say that. And so instantly, not only did I have the awareness that the illness was gone, but nine months before, on my death bed, when I was dying and I came face to face with death, I promised the Lord in that instant that I would live for Him, and He took the drugs, the street drugs, and the alcohol away from me.
Sid Roth: But seven years later, here Rick is doing - fulfilling his promise. He said, "God, you heal me. You take these things away. You get rid of these addictions, and I'll spend my life telling people about Your goodness". Seven years later, he finds himself addicted to prescription medicine. How could this happen?
Rick Amato: I think it was really God allowed it to happen. It wasn't His perfect will, but He allowed it to happen, because there are so many people who have not come to the place where their faith has multiplied - or manifested itself - to the place where just by faith they can be healed, and so their mind has to be renewed. And I didn’t; I wasn't aware. It's like there's an amazing research now available from the National Institute of Health, Sid, and their research shows that when similarly traumatized people talk to each other, and confess the things that happen to them that are wrong or they do that are wrong, the brain releases, interestingly enough, a wave that scientists call "raphe waves" that actually heal the brain. Well the Hebrew word for "raphe", you know what that is.
Sid Roth: It means "healing".
Rick Amato: Healing, right. So it's the Hebrew word that the brain heals itself. Well somebody says, "Well, that's an amazing discovery. Not really. Two thousand years ago, James wrote in the Bible, "Confess your faults one to another, and… you shall be healed".
Sid Roth: So scientists have found out - physiologically - when you do that, the body throws off something that heals you.
Rick Amato: Exactly, because the brain of an addict is different than a normal person's brain.
Sid Roth: What do you mean by that?
Rick Amato: Well when a person uses drugs or alcohol, their brain cells that are born - every day, billions of brain cells are born. There is a "mutagenesis"; that's just a big word that means as the brain cells are born, when an addict is using drugs and alcohol, they change; they mutate so that an addict's brain is shaped different than a normal person's brain. So until the manifestation of your faith brings that healing, that we know Jesus and His cross can provide for a person, we must renew our minds through the Word of God, through studying the Bible, the Word of God. There are many great principles and steps you can take.
Sid Roth: But how did you - but wait a second.
Rick Amato: And also confession. Confession is important.
Sid Roth: Wait a second. You are now addicted again to prescription medicine. How did you break it?
Rick Amato: Well I had to go into a hospital. I had to be detoxed. People should know also that if they're using prescription drugs, they should never, ever - if they're addicted, physically, these are physically addicting things - you should never ever try to detox yourself, because you can have seizures and die; many people do. So I had to go into a hospital, be detoxed. And I had to learn spiritual principles of maintaining and renewing the mind through the Word of God - through the 12 steps, through confession, through prayer - all the different tools people use to cope and deal with an addiction. If you had cancer, you wouldn't tell somebody "Just believe in Jesus", and you know, don't get help. People need to get help. If they're addicted, they need to get help, and there is help available. We know Jesus can heal people, but until that moment manifests itself, people can get help. And I'm thankful to say that I have, and have had no relapses.
Sid Roth: Okay. Well this is important. Here a supernatural word from God said, "I AM the Great Physician". Instantly set free of drugs, instantly set free of alcohol, instantly healed of Crohn's disease, instantly healed of peritonitis, instantly healed of the colostomy, and the bag removed. But then he had the relapse. And when he had the relapse, he found out something he should have done in the first place. He should have renewed his mind to the Bible. He should have said what the Bible says about him. And as he did this, he was set free. So there's two things that must be done. One, you must believe that "...by the stripes of the Messiah, "I AM that I AM", you were healed". And many of you are being healed right now. There's someone whose neck has just been healed, and there's someone whose back - you just bend over. You see, it's an instant healing. But whether it's occurred or not, you renew your mind to the Word of God. Stop letting other people do your thinking. Find out what the Bible has to say. The Great Physician is in your house right now, and I AM that I AM says "… by his stripes", by his blood, "… you were healed", you are healed. Just reach out, only believe His Word. Believe that He really loves you. And you say, "How come I'm not healed if He loves me so much"? I tell you, there's two ways to be healed. One is the instant, and the other is renewing your mind and walking in the love of God.