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James Robison (b. October 9, 1943, Houston, Texas) is an American televangelist and the founder and President of the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International.
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Biography
James Robison was born on October 9, 1943, in the charity ward of a Houston hospital.[1] The product of rape, his 41-year-old mother originally sought an abortion, but the doctor would not comply. After putting an ad in the newspaper, his mother gave him up to Rev. and Mrs. H.D. Hale, pastors in the Houston suburb of Pasadena. He would remain with them for a few years, until his mother reclaimed him as a young boy and took him to her home in Austin.
After a rough childhood in Austin, during which he nearly shot his alcoholic, ill-tempered father, Robison returned to Pasadena to visit his foster parents. It was during that short visit he became a Christian during a revival service conducted by his foster father, and he later entered the ministry.
Robison married his wife, Betty Freeman on February 23, 1963. The two host the daily television program "LIFE Today," which airs around the world. "LIFE Today" features guest interviews and mission outreaches. Past guests have included actor Robert Duvall, singer Randy Travis, President George W. Bush, baseball pitcher Andy Pettite and other celebrities. The third-world mission outreaches include distributing emergency food, drilling water wells, establishing orphanages and providing medical care.
Robison receives an annual salary from Life Outreach International of $159,000 and Betty Robison receives $128,000, figures based on wage and compensation surveys of similar organizations in their geographic region. They also receive a housing allowance, health insurance and retirement benefits based on surveys of businesses in their area. Recently a local developer built them a new house in exchange for property.
At age 23, future Arkansas governor (and 2008 presidential candidate) Mike Huckabee was a public relations staffer for Robison.
In the 1980s Robison came under fire for saying he was "sick and tired of hearing about all of the radicals and the perverts and the liberals and the leftists and the Communists coming out of the closet," that it was "time for God's people to come out of the closet, out of the churches and change America."[2]
Selected bibliography
- The Absolutes
- True Prosperity
- The Soul of a Nation
References
- ^ http://www.jamesrobison.net/biography.html
- ^ Salon.com - Huckabee's radical religious friends
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
