by David E. Lister

Pat Robertson of The 700 Club fame has once again prophesied wrongly! This time in an interview on CNN, Mr. Robertson reversed himself on a prophecy given in January of 2004. In that prophecy Mr. Robertson declared the Mr. Bush would win re-election "in a walk" and added, " I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord its going to be a blowout." But yesterday he admitted that this prophecy was not the Lord speaking but his own thoughts. Mr. Robertson stated in the interview, "I thought it was gong to be a blowout, but I think its razor thin."

With every poll showing a close election and President Bush in the fight for his very political life Robertson's "thoughts" are pretty well drawn from every newspaper and TV news program during this Presidential race election season. If we all remember back in January of this year, Mr. Bush's approval ratings were higher after the December 14, 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein and the polls for the Democrats were pretty divided between ultra-liberal front-runner Howard Dean and the rest of the democratic hoard.

As previously reported by Moriel, Mr. Robertson has prophesied falsely before. In July of 1977, Mr. Robertson claims that God gave him a mission, not to be a religious leader but to be an educator who would influence the center of our culture -"from God's perspective" He has also claimed that God chose him "to usher in the coming of My Son." In 1982 and again in 1984, Mr. Robertson predicted the Tribulation would take place in those years.

Mr. Robertson has indeed been an educator who has influenced our culture, but in the worse of fashion and to the determent of the true church and to the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. From placing his signature on the "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium " (ETC) in March of 1994 to his association and co-operation with the Catholic Church by marching at the head of an ecumenical procession to attend a Catholic mass to honor Pope John Paul II in October of 1995, he has consistently eroded the boundaries of correct Biblical doctrine. Discussing his meeting with the Pope, he called John Paul II, "very warm" and "a humble and caring servant of the Lord" Also, in a hand-delivered letter Mr. Robertson said, "I believe the time has come where he must lay aside minor differences and focus on the common ground of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." Later Mr. Robertson was quoted in the New York Times in November of 1995, saying, "We all admire the Holy Father tremendously. We all want to build bridges with the Catholic Church." Also, in Robertson's book "The Turning Tide"(page 279) he states "Pope John Paul II stands like a rock against all opposition in his clear enunciation of the foundational principles of the Christian faith."

His cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church is but one facet where Mr. Robertson has warred against the faith once and for all given to the saints. Mr. Robertson has consistently placed "Word-Faith" teachers on his 700 Club television show. These include Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Chuck Colson, Marilyn Hickey, Rodney Howard Browne to name a few. Of Rodney Howard Browne, Mr. Robertson said of "holy laughter revivals," This "says to me is revival is taking place in the world in a mass wave... and we look to the coming of the Lord. I think this is a very encouraging sign in the middle of all this trouble and all these wars and all this confusion. God is saying 'I'm on the throne and I'm going to touch multiplied millions.' It's wonderful. I applaud it." (Oct. 27, 1994 700 Club). Mr. Robertson has long been involved with many of the other ecumenical movements and organizations that are sweeping the church into apostasy. From Promise Keepers, to Celebration 2000, Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship, and James Dobson's Focus on the Family, Robert Shuller; Robertson continues to co-operate with those in the ecumenical movement to the determent of America and the Church.

Mr. Robertson brought further disgrace to the Church and himself when "The Virginia Dispatch" newspaper in Virginia Beach , home of The 700 Club, ran a front-page headline article stating that the Governor of Virginia would quash any indictment of Robertson by the Attorney General of that state. The governor felt that an indictment of Robertson would not profit the state of Virginia . But, the Attorney General felt that Mr. Robertson had violated the laws of the state by using monies donated for the relief efforts of Operations Blessing were used improperly to move Mr. Robertson's diamond mining equipment out of harms way due to the regional troubles in Rwanda . The Attorney General believed he had enough evidence to bring an indictment thus prompting the governor's preemptive action. But this is not the first time the world has noticed that Mr. Robertson has used monies contributed by CBN (Christin Broadcasting Network) or the 700 Club, which is ultimately from the saints. He has yet to explain how millions of dollars found their way into his and his son's control after the 1992 sale of the International Family Entertainment, parent company of the Family Channel to media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Offering an explanation on ABC's 20/20 news program, Mr. Robertson stated that he just wanted to insure the long-term survivability of the 700 Club.

It is sad to see the state the church is in today, but with men like Mr. Robertson being called one of the leaders of the church, it is no wonder why we are in the mess we are in; where the church does not seem able to withstand evil, that church growth is not people being born-again but moving from Church A to Church B and each building larger churches, born-again is a household joke and the church is seen by the world on TV as a money-grubbing organization. When good pastors don't point out the errors of Mr. Robertson and don't hold him accountable for his false prophecies and his lack of reverence of God's Word the church will continue to decline. Maybe this is due to the influence of Mr. Robertson has on the pastors concerning the inerrancy and inspiring of God's Word. On the 700 Club (6/1/78) Mr. Robertson stated, "Anything coming through man is contaminated to some extent. Therefore, since the Bible came through man, there must be errors in it. So, we must never equate the Bible with the perfect Jesus."

By God's definition of a false prophet in Deuteronomy 13 and 18, Mr. Robertson fits the mold. It is no wonder when God's Word states in 2 John that when one even greets false teachers they risk losing what they accomplished, we see the state the church is in today. We see some of those in the world recognizing this biblical fact that Mr. Robertson is losing popularity and influence when Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush, Karl Rowe distances himself from him both politically and theologically. But this action has brought even worse ecumenicalists like Ted Haggard to the forefront. The church is losing the battle, thus friends, family and neighbors to eternity, but Jesus will win the war. Mr. Robertson has much to answer for in his assault on the faith and his deception of the saints. I pray it isn't too late for other saints, elders and pastors to repent of participating in Mr. Robertson's writings, work, leadership, and deception and thus lose what they have accomplished.