Chancellor Roberts

[ORUTerry]

Very nice story that shows the private side of Oral Roberts. It would be interesting to see a full copy of the sermon video.

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman's 79 yr old mother told me a story recently that I had never heard before....back in about 1974-5, Oral and Evelyn came to Philadelphia for some type of fundraising banquet....my mom and dad (now deceased) attended the event at a large church in Philly attended by the Cardone family who were big ORU alums and contributors....OR and Evelyn had a receiving before the dinner and my mom said that they waited an hour to shake their hands...when they got to Evelyn, she asked my mom her name which mom gave and said that her son, Tom (theeagleman) currently attended ORU....Oral immediately grabbed my mother's hand and my dad's and said..."I know your son, he writes for the school paper"....he's a fine young man....we are blessed to have him at ORU"...that was all he said but it made my mom so proud and she said that she and dad felt 10 feet tall at that moment....Oral had a way of making people feel that way and mom said that Evelyn was so gracious....she was a great lady.....funny thing is, my parents went to a similar event about a year later at the same place and Richard and Patti Roberts were the hosts....mom said that Richard was clearly not in a good mood and was very curt and not friendly.....it was clear he didn't want to be there..... ....Patti on the other hand was as gracious as Evelyn had been.....

[ORUTex]

I'm organizing an "Unofficial Official Wear ORU Gear" Day via Facebook for all alumni, students, as well as anyone affected or affiliated with the university/Oral's life work this Friday. If you'd like, please remember to wear an ORU hat or shirt this Friday wherever you may be in remembrance of his impact on all our lives and so many others.

Great idea, if a little under-publicized. I'm participating!

[vcboy2000]

Me too. Got my ORU gear on today

[Cletus]

Wearing my ORU alumni t-shirt today in Pennsylvania!

[ORUTerry]

My father-in-law (James Watt) sent this to me and I thought I would share it with the message board. I am trying to get the Tulsa World to print it.

A Man Who Knows His Position

While serving in the Cabinet I attended a White House Luncheon attended by a large number of America?s religious leaders. There were Roman Catholic priests, Bishops and

Cardinals, Greek Orthodox Priests, Rabbis, Methodist leaders, Presbyterian leaders plus all the other known leaders of religion in the nation. Of course, the easily

recognized ones were there, like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Bill Bright and the head of the Southern Baptist convention.

Those of us ?in the know?, always smiled at how easy it was to get attention and a crowd at the White House. All you had to do was have the White House telephone operator call and say to the recipient, “The President would like you to ___________.” With that one sentence the captains of industry, the leaders of the labor unions, and the governors of the states would drop what they were doing, change their schedules and come to Washington or where ever the president asked. They all said something to the effect, “When the President calls you have a duty to _______.”

As I sat in that luncheon, I looked over the crowd and thought even religious leaders are driven by the desire to be known and to be seen in places of power. Power seems to be

an alluring force that few can resist. It has been my achilles heel. I, too, was thrilled to be there.

I “worked the crowd” before and after the luncheon. I liked meeting the religious leaders of the nation. I already knew many of the political leaders. As I took inventory of who I had seen and with whom I had visited, I realized that the one big name I had not seen was Oral Roberts. When I returned to my office I placed a call to our friend and the President of the university where our kids were attending. When Oral came to the phone I explained that I had just come from the luncheon with all the religious leaders and had missed him. I told him that I could secure for him an invitation to the next such event and that I would like to see him included in such activities. (In my opinion, if there ever was a person deserving recognition as a religious leader it was Oral Roberts.)

Oral responded, “Jim, I received the invitation. God has not called me to that type of ministry.” And, he changed the subject. He started talking about something else.

I was stunned. Here was a man who did not seek the acclaim of the powerful or the mighty. He did not need to be seen or acknowledged by political or other religious leaders. He was content to be used of God, in what ever capacity God called him. He knew his position in Christ. He was a humble man and thus powerful.

I admire and honor Oral Roberts.

[theeagleman5]

Good story...TheEagleman always found OR to be a pretty humble guy....he may have been stubborn and ornery and wanted to be in control of everything at ORU but I never got the impression that he was full of himself....he was just as comfortable sitting and talking with students as he was talking with powerful politicians....OR was a real charmer...he could warm up any room he walked into....

[Cletus]

Anyone go to OR's Memorial Service.

if so let us know what it was like

[titansforever]

Just a brief note--Bill Self, Barry Hinson, and Eddie Sutton were there!

[titansforever]

And now for a longer report, though I'm sure ORUTerry will have other details.

Mabee Center wasn't full, but there was a pretty large crowd--larger than I would have expected at this time of year. The service started with praise and worship--very well done. Pat Robertson gave the opening prayer. He said that God "broke the mold" with Oral. Dr. Rutland spoke for several minutes and did a fabulous job. He talked about how OR shook up the church and knocked off the dust that characterized so much of what was being preached. He got to the heart of who OR was. Then they showed a video of OR's life called "Oral Roberts: A Man Who Obeyed God." It was excellent. There were lots of clips from the Contact specials--Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Durante, Roy Clark, Minnie Pearl, Johnny Cash, etc. And a clip of OR on the Phil Donahue show. It also had plenty on ORU and on the City of Faith (so glad they didn't leave anything out!). Roberta spoke about being OR's daughter and how ORU was 1) focused, 2) obeyed God, and 3) understood that the earth had many worlds (legal, medical, etc.) and that "you need an education to reach those worlds." She and RR sang a song together, "Don't Turn Him Away." Then RR spoke--he read some messages from Joel Osteen, Dr. Cho, Benny Hinn, Robert Shuller, Paul Crouch, Billy Graham. Then he spoke about being OR's son and what he learned from him. He and Roberta both talked about OR's last day in the hospital, and how he was singing at the top of his lungs. And at one point he sang, "Something good is going to happen to ME!" Kelly Wright sang 2 songs. Marilyn Hickey talked about "OR's 5 altars." Have to admit--the message was a little fuzzy. Mostly she meant that he sacrificed a lot to accomplish what he did. She had everyone pray the prayer for salvation (as only Marilyn could!) and she prayed for everyone to be healed of whatever was hurting them. Creflo Dollar did the closing prayer. Maybe I didn't hear him right, but I'm pretty sure he said "Danville Oral Roberts" instead of "Granville Oral Roberts in his prayer." I'm sure God knew who he meant! It was a nice service--very well done--but I missed having the students there. No one stood up to do the big "O," which I hope they'll do when we have our own service in January. (Oh, and Ken Trickey was there too, and Scott Sutton, of course. I'm sure other players and coaches were scattered throughout. Lots of preachers, too. Imagine that! And Mart and Diana, David and Barbara, and loads of alumni. Carlton Pearson, Michael and Jacquie Cardone, etc., etc.)

[Cletus]

Thanks for the report!

Nice to hear about all the sports people who were in attendance.

[ORUTex]

Nice recap titansforever - thanks. I was surprised to see that the front page of CNN.com had a link to the live service. I caught the last part of it, and noticed the "Danville" slip also. Oops.

[tmh8286]

And now for a longer report, though I'm sure ORUTerry will have other details.

Mabee Center wasn't full, but there was a pretty large crowd--larger than I would have expected at this time of year. The service started with praise and worship--very well done. Pat Robertson gave the opening prayer. He said that God "broke the mold" with Oral. Dr. Rutland spoke for several minutes and did a fabulous job. He talked about how OR shook up the church and knocked off the dust that characterized so much of what was being preached. He got to the heart of who OR was. Then they showed a video of OR's life called "Oral Roberts: A Man Who Obeyed God." It was excellent. There were lots of clips from the Contact specials--Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Durante, Roy Clark, Minnie Pearl, Johnny Cash, etc. And a clip of OR on the Phil Donahue show. It also had plenty on ORU and on the City of Faith (so glad they didn't leave anything out!). Roberta spoke about being OR's daughter and how ORU was 1) focused, 2) obeyed God, and 3) understood that the earth had many worlds (legal, medical, etc.) and that "you need an education to reach those worlds." She and RR sang a song together, "Don't Turn Him Away." Then RR spoke--he read some messages from Joel Osteen, Dr. Cho, Benny Hinn, Robert Shuller, Paul Crouch, Billy Graham. Then he spoke about being OR's son and what he learned from him. He and Roberta both talked about OR's last day in the hospital, and how he was singing at the top of his lungs. And at one point he sang, "Something good is going to happen to ME!" Kelly Wright sang 2 songs. Marilyn Hickey talked about "OR's 5 altars." Have to admit--the message was a little fuzzy. Mostly she meant that he sacrificed a lot to accomplish what he did. She had everyone pray the prayer for salvation (as only Marilyn could!) and she prayed for everyone to be healed of whatever was hurting them. Creflo Dollar did the closing prayer. Maybe I didn't hear him right, but I'm pretty sure he said "Danville Oral Roberts" instead of "Granville Oral Roberts in his prayer." I'm sure God knew who he meant! It was a nice service--very well done--but I missed having the students there. No one stood up to do the big "O," which I hope they'll do when we have our own service in January. (Oh, and Ken Trickey was there too, and Scott Sutton, of course. I'm sure other players and coaches were scattered throughout. Lots of preachers, too. Imagine that! And Mart and Diana, David and Barbara, and loads of alumni. Carlton Pearson, Michael and Jacquie Cardone, etc., etc.)

VERY well done recap, tf. You must have taken notes!! Glad you did if you did, because I couldn't have come close to recapping the service that well. You were right about Dollar calling him"Danville Oral Roberts". Like you said, I'm sure God knew who he was talking about. It was moving to hear the kind things other ministers and evangelists had to say about OR -he was deeply loved and appreciated by them. I thought Pat Robertson's opening prayer was particularly touching.

I was going to tell of all the basketball coaches that were there, but I think you got them all - they were mostly sitting together in a row like, basketball royalty (I'm meaning that in a positive way), with Eddie Sutton sitting between Mike Carter and Scott Sutton, then the rest of our coaching staff (no Coach Crutch - don't know if he was there or not), then Barry Hinson and Bill Self at the end of the row, all of them dressed in suits and looking very sharp. Ken Trickey was seated separately but nearby. I also saw Coach Finkbeiner and Coach Eli sitting on the south side of the arena, near where we were. I THINK I saw Misty Cousin come in with them, but I didn't see her later. I think she was there, though.

As I said, we sat on the south side of Mabee, and Jay Henderson was seated nearby. Late in the service he spoke briefly to those next to him, then exited the row. I figured he was leaving - quite a few had already, and by then the service was over two hours long. Not long after, though, I saw him coming down the far side isle to greet Coaches Hinson and Self, who both shook hands and hugged him very warmly. After speaking briefly they all turned to go back up the isle (the coaches were sitting the second row up from the floor), again, I thought, to leave. When they got to the top walkway they walked a little way around, with Jay in the lead, and soon met up with someone that they again greeted with handshakes and hugs, followed by a lady, who received the same treatment. I assume this was another ex-player and wife, but because they were pretty much in the dark and the glare of the lights made it even harder to see, I don't know who. After that, though, they all hung around till the end of the service, which I thought was very nice. So there were at least a couple of players in attendance.

The message board was pretty well represented - Bogus and the Mrs, tbone, ORUTerry, orumom, Mike Minyard, and myself, that I can think of right off. There probably were others - titansforever, obviously - but those were the ones I know and saw.

I was glad I was able to attend. It's kind of the passing of an era. There were three or four ORU students setting in front of us, one of whom we knew, so we talked to them while we waited for the service to start. I asked one of them, who was a sophomore, if he'd ever seen much of Oral Roberts other than the the brief time or two he was out here in the past couple years, and he said he hadn't. It's a shame that the students of today will never have a chance to know the charm and charisma of the one our University is named after. In reality, even the Bill Self and Barry Hinson eras came after OR was president of the university. I'm sure that Oral felt he could die in peace knowing that he obeyed God in building a university, and was now leaving his life's work in capable hands.

[ORUTerry]

I really don't have much to add to titansforever's recap of the service.... nicely done. I thought Dr. Rutland did a very nice job of honoring Oral. I also thought the video was well done.... there was a clip of Eddie Sutton telling the story of how OR brought clothes to his family after their house burned down. Both Roberta and Richard did fine remembering their Dad. Roberta's talk was bitter-sweet as she recounted how much her dad was away from the family as she grew up. I thought Marilyn Hickey's sermon was too long and did not focus on OR enough. I guess these preachers can never remember/understand that it is not about them.

[theeagleman5]

Sounds like it was a great service....but TheEagleman thinks we could of done without Creflo Dollar....the name alone tells where his priorities are.....and I wonder if it was weird for RR to be back speaking on campus?....and if he was wearing a bullet proof vest?....

[tmh8286]

Sounds like it was a great service....but TheEagleman thinks we could of done without Creflo Dollar....the name alone tells where his priorities are.....and I wonder if it was weird for RR to be back speaking on campus?....and if he was wearing a bullet proof vest?....

RR seemed comfortable being back and speaking at ORU today. As tf said, Roberta and Richard sang "Don't Turn Him Away", at the end of which they were given a standing O. After the song Richard stayed on stage to give his memories of his dad, and when he was done, he got another standing O. So the crowd was receptive of RR.

[theeagleman5]

Glad that RR didn't get booed at his father's funeral....not the time or place....

[vcboy2000]

I thought Roberta did an amazing job. I had never heard her speak before, and was very impressed with her vulnerability and candor. She maintained great poise throughout her memories as well. The video was done by ORU graduate, Dan Rubottom. It was supposedly 2 years in the making. Dan has done a few music videos for country music stars Rascal Flatts, as well as a lot of work for Lakewood Church in Houston. I think he did the opening for their telecast as well. It was great seeing so many alums come back to honor Oral's life with their presence and skills. I hope that they will make an even greater effort to reconnect with the university under it's new leadership and direction.