As A Televangelist And Business
After graduating from the
seminary in 1959, Robertson sold virtually all of their possessions and
contributed the money to help with orphanage work in Korea while his wife went
to see her family. He was still
uncertain about his life. He spent
several months among a charismatic commune in a Brooklyn slum.
He experienced the poverty of ministry there.
In 1959, Robertson left New York with his wife and children.
He arrived in Portsmouth with only seventy dollars. Then, he heard that there was a defunct UHF TV station for
sale there. Robertson felt calling
from God to purchase the TV station. In
1960 Robertson walked into the station, and boldly announced to the owner:
“God has sent me here to buy your TV station.”13
Incredibly, he arranged the finance to purchase it for $37,000.
Although Robertson had no money at the time of when he bought the
facility, he could survive for several months by preaching at some churches in
Virginia.
Robertson founded Regent
University, a school for training Christian leaders, in Virginia Beach in 1977.
In the same year, Robertson added satellite capacity switching to a
twenty-four hours cable network, and he started the Christian Broadcasting
Network ‘CBN’ to make a wide variety of conservative TV programs including
the Family Channel, which later became International Family Entertament.
The Family Channel also provided a huge profit to CBN and Robertson.
The family Channel reused healthy old traditional TV programs such as
‘Leave It to Beaver’, ‘Lassie’, and ‘The Waltons.’ 16 The
programs became very popular especially among those parents who worried about
the content of contemporary TV programs. By
1992, the Family Channel made roughly about $150 million a year.
Robertson has built one of the most sophisticated TV networks, and it has
grown to the third largest cable TV network in the US.
CBN Front The 700 Club Regent University: Robertson Hall
The faithful viewers sustained
this rapid growth of the station by following one of Robertson’s ‘Kingdom
Principles’ if you give more money to God, God will give more back to you.
Robertson says:
“If you want to release the superabundance of the kingdom of heaven, we first give . . . . I am as certain of this as of anything in my life. If you are in financial trouble, the smartest thing you can do is to start giving money away . . . . Your return, poured into your lap, will be great, pressed down and running over.”17
Robertson frequently proclaimed
this principle in his books, TV programs, and audio cassettes promising that God
would perform a financial miracles for whoever supported God’s work by sending
money to CBN. Many givers attended
Robertson’s TV show as guests and shared stories how they offered money to CBN
and God’s reward afterward.