GRANVILLE ORAL ROBERTS 1918-2009
Evangelist Oral Roberts, founder of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University, died at 91, tuesday from complications of pneumonia in Newport Beach, California.
Roberts' son, Richard, and daughter Roberta were at his side, spokeswoman Melany Ethridge said in a statement.
Roberts was hospitalized Monday following a fall on Saturday, in which he suffered broken bones, Ethridge said earlier, adding he was being treated for pneumonia.
CNN reported the following:
"Oral Roberts was a man of God, and a great friend in ministry," the Rev. Billy Graham said in a statement Tuesday. "I loved him as a brother. (Cain and Abel were brothers) We had many quiet conversations over the years." (Thats because the FBI might have been listening.)
Granville Oral Roberts was born into poverty in Bebee, Oklahoma, on January 24, 1918, according to a brief biography released by Ethridge. His Christian ministry began with what he described as his own miracle healing of tuberculosis at age 17. Roberts pastored churches in Oklahoma and Georgia and preached at revivals around the country while studying at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University in Oklahoma, according to the biography.
In 1947, he founded the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association in Tulsa, "and began conducting crusades across America and around the world, attracting crowds of thousands -- many who were sick and dying and in search of healing," the biography said. "Through the years, he conducted more than 300 crusades on six continents" and "laid hands" on an estimated 2 million people, according to association officials. According to others, a few wallets, too.
In 1954, he brought television cameras into services, providing what he liked to call a "front-row seat to miracles" to viewers, the biography said. He later began a television program, initially called "Oral Roberts Presents." The ministry's daily program, now called "The Place for Miracles," can be seen on more than 100 television stations, multiple cable and satellite networks and the Internet, Ethridge said.
Roberts, Okie with a bit of Cherokee blood. His brand of evangelicalism, known as pentecostalism, featured "glossolalia" (speaking in tongues), ecstatic worship and divine healing. Yes, Roberts eventually toned down some of his tent-revival antics for television, but pentecostalism was undeniably a tougher sell than Billy Graham's smooth, corporate-style evangelicalism. But it worked on the weak minded. Basically his seed faith was the birth of a new form of religion..."Crookism".
Roberts migrated to television in 1955, just as pentecostalism itself was about to burst onto public consciousness. Roberts himself had been influenced by Kathryn Kuhlman, a healing evangelist; Roberts in turn influenced such "Seed Faith" preachers as Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin, who promised riches to the faithful if they sent money to whichever televangelist was making the appeal.
THE OTHER SIDE (SLIGHTLY DARKER)
In addition to claiming that God spoke directly to him every day, a feat shared by co friends and fellow scammers Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson and Mike Murdock, this multimillionaire also performed the faith healing for thousands of folks who handed over their meager life savings.
In 1987 he told a worldwide television audience that unless they sent him $8 Million with an "M" immediately, God would "call him home." The money arrived shortly. Unfortunately and too late thousands finally found out what to do with that Monopoly money they were storing for years. thats what they should of sent.
RATS AND LIARS BREED RATS AND LIARS
Plus an extra $1.1M. Later that same year his son (and eventual successor) claimed that he'd seen his father raise a child from the dead. More millions arrived shortly. In 1998 a whistleblower was forced off Oral Roberts University's board of regents after he revealed that its founder led a lavish Beverly Hills lifestyle, including owning a $17M mansion there.
THE PRODIGAL SON
ULSA WORLD - President Richard Roberts and his wife Vice President Lindsay Roberts took over. ORU's President Richard Roberts had been caught up in some financial and political issues while Vice President Lindsay Roberts his wife was believed to be having late night misadventures with young teenage males. With these events, the Oral Roberts Scandal had emerged. PART ONE.
Smaller problems arose as they peeled back the layers of coverage. The accusations involving ORU President Richard Roberts have something to do with some local political campaigns as well as lavish spending of donor expenses and on various remodeling projects. In another case, the accusation towards him is the usage of the university jet for a personal trip to Bahamas by his daughter as well as the usage of the Lexus SUV and red Mercedes convertible by Lindsay Roberts, his wife. Thats probably where the 8 Million dollars went. PART TWO.
Meanwhile, the accusations involving ORU Vice President Lindsay Roberts have something to do as well with laving spending of thousands of dollars on expensive clothes and other personal things.
She was also accused of granting non-academic scholarships towards friends and children of her friends. Another accusation towards her is the sending of scores through text messages on issued cell phones by the ORU to some young teenage males. PART THREE
The lawsuit against the Richard and Lindsay Roberts was filed by three professors of the ORU who have been dismissed after finding out some copies of incriminating documents from a laptop computer owned by Stephanie Cantese, a sister-in-law of Richard Roberts. These documents were recovered by an ORU student who had repaired a laptop prior to the incriminating document submission to the ORU board. PART THREE COVERUP.
SOLD THE FARM - THE ROBERT'S ARE OUT -
Oral Roberts University on Wednesday sold the 9-acre presidential compound that holds the palatial homes where Oral Roberts and Richard Roberts once lived. Investors Roger and Brian Broach bought the compound and its six houses adjacent to the campus for $1.55 million. Brian Broach said Thursday that he and his brother plan to lease the homes until the Tulsa housing market turns around. “This is not a good time to sell,” he said. The sale came on the anniversary of Mark Rutland’s first year as ORU president.
“The sale of this property is yet another milestone in the new ORU,” Rutland said. “I am excited about the future of the university and believe the best is yet to come.” Rutland is the first ORU president outside of the Roberts family. Oral Roberts founded and university in 1963 and served as its president until his son Richard Roberts took the position in 1993. Richard Roberts resigned in late 2007. Guess why.....