SoT Christianity: God told Roberts to...


Methinks Roberts needs to explore the world of pharmaceuticals...

http://anonym.to/?http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_us/oral_roberts_scandal;_ylt=Ak7DL3oQ1IPfQDPDTx6E_pus0NUE

Roberts says God forced his resignation

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, Associated Press Writer 38 minutes ago

TULSA, Okla. - Richard Roberts told students at Oral Roberts University
Wednesday that he did not want to resign as president of the
scandal-plagued evangelical school, but that he did so because God
insisted.

God told him on Thanksgiving that he should resign the next day, Roberts
told students in the university's chapel.

"Every ounce of my flesh said 'no'" to the idea, Roberts said, but he
prayed over the decision with his wife and his father, Oral Roberts, and
decided to step down.

Roberts said he wanted to "strike out" against the people who were
persecuting him, and considered countersuing, but "the Lord said, 'don't
do that,'" he said.

After submitting his resignation, he said, for "first time in 60 days
peace came into my heart."

Roberts spoke for only a few minutes and was applauded and cheered by
students. He wiped away tears with a white handkerchief and his hands.

"This has nearly destroyed my family, and it's nearly destroyed ORU,"
Roberts said.

A lawsuit accuses Roberts of lavish spending at a time when the university
faced more than $50 million in debt, including taking shopping sprees,
buying a stable of horses and paying for a daughter to travel to the
Bahamas aboard the university jet.

Roberts has previously said that God told him to deny the allegations. The
week the lawsuit was filed, Richard Roberts said that 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."

On Wednesday, Roberts said God told him he would "do something
supernatural for the university" if he stepped down from the job he held
at the 5,700-student school since 1993.

On Tuesday, the founder of a Christian office and education supply store
chain pledged $70 million to help the university, provided it passed a
90-day review of the school's finances. Oklahoma City businessman Mart
Green, founder of the Mardel chain, offered to donate $8 million
immediately.

Roberts said he would return to the full-time evangelistic healing
ministry, "which is where my heart has always been," and told students and
faculty that he will be praying for them every day of his life.

"I believe with all my heart the best is yet to come for ORU," he said.

Roberts walked out of the chapel through a side door to more cheers.
Regents Chairman George Pearsons followed, telling students the ORU
administration is "endeavoring to do the right thing" during a very
difficult time.

"This is a good university," Pearsons said. "ORU is a place where love is
king."

Gary Richardson, the attorney who filed the lawsuit accusing Roberts of
lavish living, said Wednesday there was a possibility for settlement with
the university, but held out little hope for settling with Richard Roberts
after what he said was his failure to admit in chapel he did anything
wrong.

"You can't imagine the people who say to us, 'Don't let it be swept under
the carpet,'" Richardson said.

Richardson also said his firm filed a request with Roberts' attorneys for
a copy of a report detailing an outside audit of the university's
finances. Tuesday, Pearsons refused to provide details of the audit,
citing the pending litigation.

"We'll get it, as long as there's a lawsuit involved," Richardson said.

Roberts remains the CEO of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and
remains a "spiritual regent" who cannot vote on university matters.

On Tuesday, Pearsons announced a plan to separate the finances and
leadership of the university from the Oral Roberts Evangelistic
Association, a move welcomed by many students and faculty members.

The university has been under the ministry since its inception in 1963, an
arrangement that critics say led to co-mingling of funds and a blurring of
leadership roles.

-- Regards, Curly
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