The Sad Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Oral and Richard Roberts Empire
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 03:09PM 
There was a time when Oral Roberts was world famous, and he and his son Richard regularly hobnobbed with the likes of Elvis Presley. What has happened to the Roberts empire since the glory days of the 1980s?
Oral Roberts died in 2009, while son Richard still presides over what is left of the massive empire built by his father (Oral Roberts Ministries). Long since forcibly removed from control of the university his father founded in Tulsa (ORU), an older, paunchy Richard Roberts is still on television, but now languishes in televangelist obscurity on small, late-night cable channels.
Here's the whole sad story of the decline of the Roberts family empire--an object lesson about the long-term consequences of the prosperity gospel, and family-run "ministries," which are actually tributes to their founder, and an unbearable burden to their less-capable children.
The Sad Decline of Oral and Richard Roberts. The essay is a good read, and reminds us of the fading glory of those monuments built to ourselves out of pure self-interest.
Reader Comments (1)
It makes me understand the "kingdoms" of Rick Warren, Jack Hayford, Robert Morris, Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble, Steve Furtick; Ed Young Jr., Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Paula White, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyers, Rick Joiner, Mike Bickle and of course Benny Hinnon.
All these, and more, have massive wealth-making machines, in the name of Christ.
After reading the OR story, it's no surprise the system (no matter who runs it) HAS to travel and conclude in the same direction and destiny as Oral Robers, Robert Schuller and Mars Hill.