| James Robison | |
| Birth Place: | Pasadena, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Pastor,televangelist, theologian, author |
| Education: | B.A. Middle Tenn. State University |
| Spouse: | Betty Freeman (m. 1963–present) |
| Children: | 3 |
| Congregations: |
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| Church: | Southern Baptist (1965–1980s) Charismatic (1980s–present) |
| 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.
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 preaching a sermon calling homosexuality a sin. He had already made a name for himself when he called "for God's people to come out of the closet" and take back the nation. In response, Robison organized a "Freedom Rally" at the Dallas Convention Center that attracted 10,000 people. According to Mike Huckabee, who was Robison's communications director at the time, that rally was the genesis of the organization Moral Majority.[6]
Robison eventually rose to become one of the more prominent and popular conservative religious leaders in politics during the early 1980s. Some suggested he could, in time, inherit the vaunted mantle held by Reverend Graham. 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.[7] 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,[8] 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.[9]
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.[10]
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).[11]
In 2015, Robison launched The Stream, based in Fort Worth, Texas,[12] a "national daily where those concerned about our nation's perilous course can gather for news, wisdom and inspiration."[13] [14]