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James Robison | |
|---|---|
 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 |
James Robison (born October 9, 1943) is an American televangelist and the founder and President of the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International. [1]
Robison was born and raised in Pasadena, Texas; a city outside of Houston. Robison's mother, Myra Wattinger, was 40 years old at the time she gave birth to him. Robison has revealed that he was the product of rape and that his mother placed an ad in the Houston newspaper for a Christian couple to take care of him. H.D. Hale, a local area pastor, and his wife answered the ad and took Robison in, after which he became a born again Christian at one of Hale's church services at the age of 14. He has talked often about his childhood, about the 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.[ citation needed ]
Robison eventually met his wife, Betty Freeman, while a student at Pasadena High School, [2] [3] and they wed on February 23, 1963, when both were 19. 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] They lost their daughter Robin to throat cancer in late 2012. [5]
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." [6] 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 ] Some suggested he could, in time, inherit the vaunted mantle held by Reverend Graham.[ 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]
Recently, however, Robison has become active in social conservative circles once again. 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]
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 such as Christian recording artists Sandi Patti, Steven Curtis Chapman, Larnelle Harris, as well as mission outreaches. Past guests have included actor Robert Duvall, singer Randy Travis, US President George W. Bush, baseball pitcher Andy Pettitte and other Christian celebrities.
It also features real stories from various guest viewers; people who are ministry partners, their life stories, how they converted to Christ, and how their faith impacts their lives. The third-world mission outreaches include distributing emergency food, drilling water wells, establishing orphanages, rescuing girls from sex trafficking, providing medical care, and abortion alternatives. James Robison also advocates for the anti-abortion movement and stated on his TV show that he "is the product of his mother's rape and a good life and future is still possible through God regardless of such inconvenient circumstances."
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.
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]
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]
The Moral Majority was an American political organization and movement associated with the Christian right and the Republican Party in the United States. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. It played a key role in the mobilization of conservative Christians as a political force and particularly in Republican presidential victories throughout the 1980s.
Televangelism and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of religious messages, particularly Christianity.
Cru is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright. Since then, Cru has expanded its focus to include a broad range of audiences. In 2020, the organization had 19,000 staff members in 190 countries.
John Stephen Piper is an American theologian and pastor in the Reformed Baptist tradition. He is also chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Piper taught biblical studies at Bethel University for six years (1974–1980), before serving as pastor for preaching and vision of Bethlehem Baptist Church (Converge) in Minneapolis for 33 years (1980–2013).
Charles Rozell Swindoll is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher. He founded Insight for Living, headquartered in Frisco, Texas, which airs a radio program of the same name on more than 2,000 stations around the world in 15 languages. He is currently the Founding Pastor at Stonebriar Community Church, in Frisco, Texas, and also sits on their elder board.
Kenneth Max Copeland is an American televangelist associated with the charismatic movement. He is the founder of Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC), which is based in Tarrant County, Texas. Copeland has also written several books and other resources, and is known for his broadcast Believers Voice of Victory.
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David Barton is an American evangelical author and political activist for Christian nationalist causes. He is the founder of WallBuilders, LLC, a Texas-based organization that promotes pseudohistory about the religious basis of the United States.
Max Lucado is an American author and minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas.
The Trinity Foundation is an American watchdog ministry founded by Ole Anthony in 1972. Its main mission is to expose abuse of public trust by televangelism and religious organisations. It has provided information to news outlets as well as state and federal agencies. As of 2020, the president of the organisation is Peter Evans.
Multnomah University (MU) was a private Christian university in Portland, Oregon providing undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in both in-person and online settings. In 2023, the school announced it would be closing as Multnomah University on May 1, 2024, becoming the Multnomah campus of Jessup University.
Dennis James Kennedy was an American Presbyterian pastor, evangelist, Christian broadcaster, and author. He was the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from 1960 until his death in 2007. Kennedy also founded Evangelism Explosion International, Coral Ridge Ministries, the Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, the Knox Theological Seminary, radio station WAFG-FM, and the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, a socially conservative political group.
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Harold Lawrence Lea is an American pastor and televangelist in Rockwall, Texas.
Ronald Duane Mehl was the senior pastor of the Beaverton Foursquare Church in Beaverton, Oregon, United States, from 1973 until his death in 2003.
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Larry Stevens Furtick Jr., known professionally as Steven Furtick, is an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and composer of Elevation Worship. He is the founder and general overseer of Elevation Church, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Robert Morris is a former American televangelist pastor who founded Gateway Church, a megachurch based in Southlake, Texas, in 2000. He served as senior pastor at the church until 2024, when he resigned after allegations that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.
Gateway Church is a non-denominational, evangelical Christian multi-site megachurch based in Southlake, Texas, near Fort Worth. As of 2023, it was ranked as the 9th largest in the United States, with attendance of 25,805. In 2024, its founding pastor, Robert Morris, resigned after allegations of past sexual abuse of a minor. Max Lucado, of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, became the interim teaching pastor, and Joakim Lundqvist of Sweden also has interim pastoral duties.
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