Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. - Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."

Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."

At a chapel service this week on the 5,300-student campus known for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, Roberts said God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, a member of the ORU board of regents, said the university's executive board "is conducting a full and thorough investigation."

Colleagues fear for the reputation of the university and the future of the Roberts' ministry, which grew from Southern tent revivals to one of the most successful evangelical empires in the country, hauling in tens of millions of dollars in contributions a year. The university reported nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according to the IRS.

Oral Roberts is 89 and lives in California. He holds the title of chancellor, but the university describes him as semi-retired, and his son presides over day-to-day operations on the campus, which had a modern, space-age design when it was built in the early 1960s but now looks dated, like Disney's Tomorrowland.

Cornell Cross II, a senior from Burlington, Vt., said he is looking to transfer to another school because the scandal has "severely devalued and hurt the reputation of my degree."

"We have asked and asked and asked to see the finances of our school and what they're doing with our money, and we've been told no," said, Cross who is majoring in government. "Now we know why. As a student, I'm not going to stand for it any longer."

The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by three former professors. They sued ORU and Roberts, alleging they were wrongfully dismissed after reporting the school's involvement in a local political race.

Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa mayor. Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign.

The professors also said their dismissals came after they turned over to the board of regents a copy of a report documenting moral and ethical lapses on the part of Roberts and his family. The internal document was prepared by Stephanie Cantese, Richard Roberts' sister-in-law, according to the lawsuit.

An ORU student repairing Cantese's laptop discovered the document and later provided a copy to one of the professors.

It details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct. Among them:

• A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.

• Mrs. Roberts — who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site — frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense."

• The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."

• Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.

• Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors.

• University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework.

• The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts' children.

• The Roberts' home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years.

Tim Brooker, one of the professors who sued, said he fears for the university's survival if certain changes aren't made.

"All over that campus, there are signs up that say, `And God said, build me a university, build it on my authority, and build it on the Holy Spirit,'" Brooker said. "Unfortunately, ownership has shifted."

The simple and plain fact these "preachers" live like kings in castles and have such lavish lifestyles, is convincing proof they are con-men. Jesus never drove around in a Lexus or wore Armani suits.

The simple and plain fact these "preachers" live like kings in castles and have such lavish lifestyles, is convincing proof they are con-men. Jesus never drove around in a Lexus or wore Armani suits.
So, so true. Whatever happened to "humble yourself and you will be exalted?" :mad:

So, so true. Whatever happened to "humble yourself and you will be exalted?" :mad:
They forgot to read that part. They decided the best way to get into Heaven is to lavish yourself with riches and other people's money. :crazy:

They forgot to read that part. They decided the best way to get into Heaven is to lavish yourself with riches and other people's money. :crazy:
Even Good Times' Florida made sense with this quote: "Saints walk WITH people, they don't float above them." Or, in this case, spend lavishly while you could be using that money to help the poor.

So is God going to take ol' Oral home twenty years after his declaration? This
financial debacle with his siblings seems to have gone on for ages.

I wish I was that clever and lacked that self-respect. ;)
:dollar: :dollar: :dollar:

Ill bet the quality of the degree is worth a lot less than any member of the Robert's family's net worth!

"I spent 4 long years at Oral Roberts U, and all I got was this lousy degree!" :lol:

Even Good Times' Florida made sense with this quote: "Saints walk WITH people, they don't float above them." Or, in this case, spend lavishly while you could be using that money to help the poor.
I hear that. :thumbsup:

I mean, how can any preacher justify living the way he/she does when so many around him/her live in poverty? I am sure the Roberts' have given $$$ to charities, only to make themselves look good on camera, but I seriously want to know how can these people sleep at night knowing they live well beyond the means of normalcy?

I guess the Roberts family goes by the motto of music mogul, Russell Simmons, who was asked abt his former wife's (Kimora Lee Simmons) spending habits, her lavish lifestyle, etc. "Hey, she works hard for that money, she could do with it what she wants." :rolleyes: Yeah, I guess sitting on a 24 karat toilet seat will do so much for you. :crazy:

^ These televangelist types sure could learn a lot from Mother Teresa. She accomplished so much with so little...with God's help.

^ These televangelist types sure could learn a lot from Mother Teresa. She accomplished so much with so little...with God's help.
AMEN TO THAT SISTER!!!!!!!!


What a saint that woman was. Mother Teresa did what Jesus did, walked and lived among the poor. I would love to see those phony rich preachers do that for a month! :rolleyes:

^ So would I!!

I hope these bastards go down HARD!!!!!!! :lol:

I would love to see those phony rich preachers do that for a month! :rolleyes:
Oh they would, of course, theyd have to bring their own meals and armed guards with them, before theyd do it :rolleyes:

Oh they would, of course, theyd have to bring their own meals and armed guards with them, before theyd do it :rolleyes:
Those wimps wouldn't last FIVE SECONDS!! :rolleyes:

Richard Roberts and family are gonna need a lot of sun tan oil where they're going!

:lol: ^^^

Richard Roberts and family are gonna need a lot of sun tan oil where they're going!
:rofl:

Yeah, like SBF2500000 ;)

:rolleyes:

Haven't ANY of these money hungry, control your 'church folks' preachers and the folks who follow them learned ANYTHING from Jim Jones?!

Did Richard Roberts say anything about seeing a 900 foot Jesus like his father did? ;)

Did Richard Roberts say anything about seeing a 900 foot Jesus like his father did? ;)
:rofl: Only if he was high as the sky. ;)

In some ways I hold the Roberts' and other "high-priced" preachers mostly at fault, but what responsibililty do their followers take for being fools and giving money, sometimes their life savings to those bastards? I know the senior citizens are not at fault, but what abt the others who should know better? :rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

Haven't ANY of these money hungry, control your 'church folks' preachers and the folks who follow them learned ANYTHING from Jim Jones?!
Or Jim Bakker?? ohno:

Or Jim Bakker?? ohno:

:lol:

Him too. It's a shame after Jim Jones/Jonestown and the Bakker scandal, these people don't learn s**t.:rolleyes:

I think it's kind of stretch to compare ORU with Jim Jones, since Jones was a guy who broke away from his original Christian denomination and formed his own cult. I read a book by one author who said that he also gained a lot of unchecked power in the city administration of San Francisco where practically he was unchallenged by anyone, so he and his followers fled to Guyana to start their commune which was preoccupied with the end of the world and was fearful of outsiders.

You know, when I think of what Oral Roberts and his ilk had done twenty years ago, it's not really such a stretch to compare him to Jim Jones at all! :eek: :lol: It's pretty amazing Oral's denomination lets him get away with this kind of stuff!

I think it's kind of stretch to compare ORU with Jim Jones, since Jones was a guy who broke away from his original Christian denomination and formed his own cult. I read a book by one author who said that he also gained a lot of unchecked power in the city administration of San Francisco where practically he was unchallenged by anyone, so he and his followers fled to Guyana to start their commune which was preoccupied with the end of the world and was fearful of outsiders.

You know, when I think of what Oral Roberts and his ilk had done twenty years ago, it's not really such a stretch to compare him to Jim Jones at all! :eek: :lol: It's pretty amazing Oral's denomination lets him get away with this kind of stuff!
I agree. I remember the whole Jim Jones "massacre" and how it was preceded with members simply wanting their own church.

Roberts' may not be a Jim Jones, but to take money from those who are gullible, naive and plain being blind-sided, makes him just as wicked and pathetic.

I think it's kind of stretch to compare ORU with Jim Jones, since Jones was a guy who broke away from his original Christian denomination and formed his own cult. I read a book by one author who said that he also gained a lot of unchecked power in the city administration of San Francisco where practically he was unchallenged by anyone, so he and his followers fled to Guyana to start their commune which was preoccupied with the end of the world and was fearful of outsiders.

You know, when I think of what Oral Roberts and his ilk had done twenty years ago, it's not really such a stretch to compare him to Jim Jones at all! :eek: :lol: It's pretty amazing Oral's denomination lets him get away with this kind of stuff!


It's not really much of a stretch considering like Jones, Roberts is simply taking money away from the blind and gullable, also known as his followers.

Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. - Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts asked for and was granted a leave of absence Wednesday amid accusations of lavish spending at donors' expense and illegal involvement in a political campaign.

The 58-year-old son of the evangelist who founded the school said he would continue in his role as chairman and chief executive of Oral Roberts Ministries, and decried what he said were untrue allegations.

"I don't know how long this leave of absence will last, but I fully trust the members of the Board of Regents," Roberts said in a news release issued by the university. "I pray and believe that in God's timing, and when the Board feels that it is appropriate, I will be back at my post as president."

The board said Billy Joe Daugherty, the senior pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, will temporarily assume the president's duties with help from Oral Roberts, 89, who is chancellor of the 5,700-student university but has left day-to-day operations to his son.

An Oct. 2 lawsuit filed by three former ORU professors says they were wrongfully dismissed and accuses Roberts of misspending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodels and a senior trip to the Bahamas for one daughter on the ministry's dime.

It also accuses Roberts of illegal involvement in a local political campaign, which would jeopardize the university's nonprofit status.

The professors say they were forced out after turning over this information to the ORU Board of Regents.

George Pearsons, the board's chairman, said he will meet Friday with the outside firm charged with investigating the allegations.

"Nothing is being swept under the rug, nothing is being hidden," he said late Wednesday.

The professors' suit was amended last week to include new allegations that documents were shredded and destroyed days after the initial lawsuit was filed, and hours after ORU and Richard Roberts fired the school's comptroller.

The amended complaint also included an internal ministry report, titled "Scandal Vulnerability Assessment," documenting allegations of misconduct by the university and the Roberts family. Only a partial report was included in the Oct. 2 lawsuit.

The more detailed account alleges Richard Roberts' wife, Lindsay, spent the night in the ORU guest house with an underage male "on nine separate occasions," and was photographed 29 times with an underage male in her sports car, among other allegations.

The internal report was prepared by Stephanie Cantees, Richard Roberts' sister-in-law. An ORU spokesman said Cantees would not comment on the report.

An ORU student repairing Cantees' laptop discovered the document and later provided a copy to one of the dismissed professors.

In a statement issued Saturday, Lindsay Roberts said, "I live my life in a morally upright manner and throughout my marriage have never, ever engaged in any sexual behavior with any man outside of my marriage as the accusations imply."

"The last three weeks have taken a serious toll on me and my family," Richard Roberts said in the news release Wednesday. "The untrue allegations have struck a terrible blow in my heart. The untrue allegations of sexual misconduct by my wife have hurt the most."

Gary Richardson, attorney for the dismissed professors, said his clients "stand ready and prepared at the appropriate time to prove the truth of those allegations, and also prove the truth of the fact they were fired after providing the information off Stephanie Cantees' computer to the Board of Regents.

"I want to know why they fired these guys," Richardson said.

Oral Roberts, who lives in California, said last week that the allegations against his family had blindsided him, "but we have been through some tough experiences in building Oral Roberts University in the 1960s, and we have surprised them all and have built a university that we believe is for the glory of God."

The Roberts family ministry grew from Southern tent revivals to one of the most successful evangelical empires in the country, hauling in tens of millions of dollars in contributions a year. The university reported nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according to the IRS.

The elder Roberts founded the school, known for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, in 1963. He famously told viewers in 1987 that God told him to raise $8 million for the university or he would be "called home."

The week the lawsuit was filed, Richard Roberts said at a chapel service that God told him to deny the allegations. He said God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. - The president of Oral Roberts University, facing accusations he misspent school funds to support a lavish lifestyle, resigned on Friday, officials said.

Richard Roberts' resignation is effective immediately, according to a statement e-mailed from George Pearsons, chairman of the school's Board of Regents.

Roberts and the evangelical university have come under fire since three former professors sued last month, alleging wrongful termination.

The lawsuit includes allegations of a $39,000 shopping tab at one store for Richard Roberts' wife, Lindsay, a $29,411 Bahamas senior trip on the university jet for one of Roberts' daughters, and a stable of horses for the Roberts children.

Roberts, son of school founder and televangelist Oral Roberts, had been on temporary leave from the university, fighting the accusations against him. The Board of Regents had ordered an outside probe of the school's finances.

In a recent interview, Roberts and his wife denied wrongdoing. He has said the lawsuit amounted to "intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

On Friday, he said in the statement that he loved the university, of which he became president in 1993.

"I love ORU with all my heart," he said. "I love the students, faculty, staff and administration and I want to see God's best for all of them."

The school will not provide additional comment until next week, spokesman Jeremy Burton said. A message left for Roberts' personal attorney wasn't immediately returned.

Gary Richardson, the attorney for the three professors, said, "Those who have seen what we have seen won't have any surprise about the fact that Richard has stepped down." He later said, "There was no option, period."

One of the plaintiffs, John Swails, said Roberts "could have spared the university and the students by going ahead and stepping down and admitting his wrongdoing."

The professors also alleged in their lawsuit that Richard Roberts required students in a government class to work on 2006 mayoral candidate Randi Miller's campaign.

Roberts publicly endorsed Miller, but said then that he was doing so as a private citizen and not as an ORU representative. He has denied the lawsuit's claims that he ordered students to work on Miller's campaign.

Professor Tim Brooker, one of the lawsuit plaintiffs, accused the school of forcing him to quit after he warned Roberts that requiring students to work on Miller's campaign jeopardized ORU's tax-exempt status.

In the weeks since that lawsuit was filed, others have cropped up, including one from a former senior accountant who alleged that the Robertses ordered him to help them hide improper and illegal financial wrongdoing from the authorities and the public.

"This is good news for the university," said Donald Vance, a professor of biblical languages and literature. "It's time for the Board of Regents to step forward with a strong choice, and I hope they will involve the tenured faculty in the process."

Two weeks ago, Vance joined the majority of tenured faculty in a vote of "no confidence" in Richard Roberts as president, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.

Cornell Cross II, a senior government major, said the resignation is "an excellent step to fix the university," but believes the school's most trying days lie ahead.

"This is not over, there a lot of things that need to continue," Cross said. "The culture of fear that has been allowed to fester at ORU has to be looked into.

"We still haven't heard any admission of wrongdoing or any kind of humility or contrition," he said.

The school's regents will meet Monday and Tuesday to determine action in the search process for a new president, Pearsons said in the statement.

Executive Regent Billy Joe Daugherty will assume the president's administrative responsibilities, working with Oral Roberts until the regents' meeting, the college said.

Former ORU Regent Harry McNevin, who quit the board in 1987 because of the misspending he alleged he witnessed, called the resignation "inevitable."

"You can't take the sacrifices of God's people and use them any old way," he said. "It's been 20 years that they've been doing the same things that I became aware of."

"A stable of horses for the children."???????

WTF??? IS THAT WHAT SPREADING THE WORD OF THE LORD GETS THOSE SPOILED ROTTEN BRATS!!??:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: !%&@^%$#@#%:mad: :mad:

"A stable of horses for the children."???????

WTF??? IS THAT WHAT SPREADING THE WORD OF THE LORD GETS THOSE SPOILED ROTTEN BRATS!!??:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: !%&@^%$#@#%:mad: :mad:
Not to mention the private jet and the $26,000 SHOPPING SPREE!?? How much could that money feed poor people - or send someone on a mission trip?? Boggles the mind.

Not to mention the private jet and the $26,000 SHOPPING SPREE!?? How much could that money feed poor people - or send someone on a mission trip?? Boggles the mind.
That is the thing that pisses me off abt these so-called preachers. They are supposed to be spreading the Lord's words and by setting an example...practice what they preach. I don't think Jesus flew in a learjet or had a stable of horses. Hell, I bet he never ever went to the Bahamas!:rolleyes: :mad:

This famous essay, written in 1928, says it all for me:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher. He never had a family or owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never wrote a book or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends deserted Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had- His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of a man upon this earth as powerfully as this "One Solitary Life."

^^^^^^:thumbsup: SO VERY TRUE!!!!!!:notworthy :thanks:

Yes, it is true. Too bad more people don't take it to heart - especially those in the ministry.

Speaking of ministers who just don't seem to have their priorities straight, I thought I'd post this video. Juanita Bynum has been one of the biggest phonies, she's a real trip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0CFmQxWnYM As if a pen is that serious.

It's so amazing that twenty years after the big TV preacher scandal broke and made headlines, some of these wheeling and dealing spendy goobs still have not learned their lesson. The amazing thing about Jesus that He proved that power and riches weren't the ultimate things to change the world. He was born poor under "suspicious circumstances" regarding his birth in order for Him to identify completely with the marginalized of society in those similar conditions.

Holy Smoke

by Iron Maiden

Believe in me - send no money
Died on the cross and that ain't funny
But my so called friends are making me a joke
They missed out what I said like I never spoke
They choose what they wanna hear - they don't tell a lie
They just leave out the truth as they're watching you die
Saving your souls by taking your money
Flies round s:censored:, bees around honey.

[Chorus]
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke, plenty bad preachers for
The Devil to stoke
Feed 'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke

Jimmy Reptile and all his friends
Say they gonna be with you at the end
Burning record burning books
Holy soldiers Nazi looks
Crocodile smiles just wait a while
Till the TV Queen gets her make up clean
I've lived in filth, I've lived in sin
And I still smell cleaner than the s:censored: you're in

[Chorus]

They ain't religious but they ain't no fools
When Noah built his Cadillac it was cool
Two by two they're still going down
And the satellite circus just left town
I think they're strange and when they're dead
They can have a Lincoln for their bed
Friend of the President - trick of the tail
Now they ain't got a prayer - 100 years in jail

[Chorus]