James Robison (televangelist)
American televangelist (born 1943) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Robison (born October 9, 1943) is an American televangelist and the founder and President of the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International.[1]
James Robison | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Robison in 2014 | |
| Born | October 9, 1943 |
| Education | B.A. Middle Tenn. State University |
| Occupation(s) | Pastor, televangelist, theologian, author |
| Spouse | Betty Freeman (m. 1963–present) |
| Children | 3 |
| Church | Southern Baptist (1965–1980s) Charismatic (1980s–present) |
Congregations served |
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| Website | http://www.jamesrobison.net |
Biography
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Early life and ministry
Robison was born and raised in Pasadena, Texas. Robison's mother, Myra Wattinger, was a nurse. Robison has revealed that he was the product of rape and that his mother placed an ad in a newspaper for a couple to take care of him.[2] He spent the first five years of his life with H.D. Hale, a local area pastor, and his wife who answered the ad and took Robison in.[2][3]
When he was five years old, his mother took him back, and eventually married the man who had raped her. Robison had a strained relationship with his biological father, who was an alcoholic, and whom he would wind up confronting in a violent manner at the age of 15.[2][3] His father was arrested and Robison went back to the couple who adopted him, with whom his interest in Christianity and preaching was fostered.[3]
Robison eventually met his wife, Betty Freeman, while a student at Pasadena High School, and they wed on February 23, 1963, when both were 19.[4] The couple, who now host the daily television program LIFE Today, started their ministry together in late 1965 and then went into full-time television ministry, through the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, in 1968. James and Betty have three children and 11 grandchildren, and reside in Fort Worth, where their program LIFE Today and their ministry LIFE Outreach are based.[4][5] They lost their daughter Robin to throat cancer in late 2012.[6]
Dominionism
In 1979, Robison lost his regular slot on WFAA-TV in Dallas for repeatedly attacking homosexuality, which he said was "almost too repulsive to imagine... one of the vilest sins known to man."[7] In August 1980, he spoke at the National Affairs Briefing (NAB), held in Dallas’s Reunion Arena where he famously said, "I'm sick and tired of hearing about all the radicals and the perverts and the liberals and the leftists and the communists coming out of the closet. It's time for God's people to come out of the closet, out of the churches, and change America!".[7][8][9] According to Mike Huckabee, who was Robison's communications director at the time, that rally was the genesis of the organization Moral Majority.[10]
Robison eventually rose to become one of the more prominent and popular conservative religious leaders in politics during the early 1980s.[citation needed] However, in the mid-1980s, Robison abruptly withdrew from his political activities. He instead began focusing on his own church community, on church unity, and on seeking forgiveness. By his own admission, his demanding schedule had consumed him, and the popularity he had so quickly achieved, together with an increasing desire for more such admiration, had changed him into someone he no longer recognized and did not like. This opinion was held doubly by his wife, Betty.[11] Around this time he changed his religious views from evangelicalism to the charismatic movement, leaving the Southern Baptist Convention in the process.
He with his wife, Betty, are members of Gateway Church,[12] the DFW megachurch formerly pastored by Robert Morris, who resigned after allegations he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s. It was reported that Robison accompanied Morris in 1987 to meet the family of the 12-year-old girl Morris had abused over a period of years. Robison released a video on X refuting the claim, and added that he has a statement from the victim's attorney saying he was not present at the meeting. Robison went on further to condemn Morris' actions.[13]
In 2010, he convened a meeting in Dallas with several prominent conservative religious leaders, including Richard Land and Tony Perkins, in order to make plans to replace Barack Obama with a more socially conservative president in 2012.[14]
LIFE Today TV program
The Robisons' TV program, the daily television program LIFE Today, airs around the world on various television networks, both secular and Christian, such as Trinity Broadcasting Network, and Daystar. It can also be seen on internet podcasts, as well as the Life Outreach International official website. LIFE Today often features guest interviews, musical guests and real stories from various guest viewers along with segments presenting the ministry's third-world mission outreach programs.[citation needed]
Christian retreat
In 1974, the James Robison Evangelistic Association purchased a hunting and fishing lodge near Hawkins, Texas, which the association developed into Brookhaven Retreat, a not-for-profit Christian camp and retreat center, still in operation today under different management.[citation needed]
Literary works
He has authored more than a dozen books, including True Prosperity, Thank God I'm Free and My Father's Face. His book The Absolutes: Freedom's Only Hope (Tyndale House), Living In Love (Waterbrook Multnomah), Indivisible (Hachette), and "God of All Creation" (Waterbrook Multnomah).[15]
The Stream
In 2015, Robison launched The Stream, based in Fort Worth, Texas,[16] a "national daily where those concerned about our nation's perilous course can gather for news, wisdom and inspiration."[17][18]
Selected bibliography
- The Absolutes: Freedom's Only Hope
- True Prosperity
- The Soul of a Nation
References
External links
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