Coach Paul Mills, who recently graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary, stated at a press conference after the game that it was “a blessing to coach those guys in that locker room.”, “It’s a blessing to win,” said Mills. Granville Oral Roberts was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. “The fact is, any and all anti-LGBTQ+ language in any school’s [policies] should ban them from NCAA competition,” she argued.

A USA Today writer condemned the NCAA for allowing Oral Roberts University's team to play in the NCAA Basketball tournament because of the school's biblical views on marriage. 15 seeded Oral Roberts University out of Oklahoma. THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF ORAL ROBERTS. How will my gay marriage hurt you?’ Now it’s: ‘We want your college accreditation, your athletic participation and more.’, “Considering how much those who expressed concern a decade ago were mocked for advancing slippery slope arguments, the rhetoric deployed against ORU . Oral Roberts University is the Cinderella team of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, but a columnist for USA Today says the school should never have been allowed in the tournament due to its biblical position on sexuality. Oral Roberts University is one of the largest and most influential Christian universities in the world. Your personal information is important to us. He founded the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University. For today, let’s focus on two interrelated imperatives our Lord displayed on this day twenty centuries ago. "The Oral Roberts University Board of Regents is committed to operating the institution in accordance with all ethical, legal and moral standards." ... Chris Harrison Has Officially Lawyered Up As ‘The Bachelor’ Takes On Racism Controversy. 2 seed Ohio State University Buckeyes in overtime by a final score of 75-72. Join over 250,000 others to get the top stories curated daily, plus special offers! Hemal Jhaveri, editor and columnist at For The Win, which is part of USA Today, penned a column published Tuesday claiming that “the university’s deeply bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ polices [sic] can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.”. suggests these concerns were underemphasized.”, Here’s the irony: as Christianity Today reports, ORU’s “involvement in basketball is part of a much longer story of Christian engagement with the game.” The article notes that James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a Christian college: the YMCA International Training School. Oral Roberts EXPOSED!. Jesus had already told his disciples that in coming to Jerusalem he was coming to die (cf. In fact, the article notes that ORU is just one of six Christian schools which advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in this year’s tournament. Education. In other words, ORU embraces biblical morality because such morality promotes “the basic values of human decency.”, To their credit, USA Today later ran a response by Dr. Ed Stetzer, professor and dean at Wheaton College. He added that the school considers such morality to be best for all its students, faculty, and alumni. Then on Sunday, ORU secured another upset victory against the No. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Oral Roberts should be banned from ... - The Christian Post Oral Roberts University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds. Oral Roberts’s latest al­leged revelation from God has caused a great deal of controversy both in and out of the Christian church. That Oral Roberts wants to keep its students tied to toxic notions of fundamentalism that fetishize chastity, abstinence and absurd hemlines is a larger cultural issue that can be debated. What’s more, his courage was an act of compassion. And yet, I really wanted Max Abmas‘ last-second three-point shot to go in Saturday night, as that would have given ORU the win over Arkansas in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and sent them to the Elite Eight tonight. Over the weekend, I saw an interview with the university’s president in which he was asked about such criticism. Oh, the bigotry. We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) knowing that love requires speaking the truth and that speaking the truth is an act of love. Dallas, TX 75252-5618. The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles celebrate after defeating the Florida Gators in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on March 21, 2021, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Oral Roberts hoops coach Paul Mills recounted a tale this week about a confrontation he once had with the popular actor in a Vegas barbershop. The former leader of Higher Dimensions Family Church in Tulsa was so popular that his annual Azusa Street conference drew 50,000 people to the Oral Roberts University … Donald Trump supporters attempt to get the presidential candidate's signature after his rally at the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa on Jan. 20, 2016. An editor employed by USA Today has suggested that Oral Roberts University, a Christian institution that has made a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, should be banned from NCAA competition over its policies on sexuality. The story is familiar yet stunning: “Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. “Now, as Oral Roberts gains national attention, the focus shouldn’t just be on their very good men’s basketball team, but on their prejudiced teachings and moral regressiveness,” wrote Jhaveri. The following report is from the Digging in the Walls section of O Timothy magazine, Volume 7, Issue 3, 1990. and is a review of the book "Oral Roberts: An American Life", by David Edwin Harrell, Jr., Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press 47405.The review appeared in Christian News December 9, … A Christian university that bases its code of conduct on the Bible holds to biblical values. The first step in every Twelve Step program is for the addict to admit their addiction. My sentiments had nothing to do with athletes on either team but with ORU’s commitment to biblical sexual morality and the enormous criticism the school is facing as a result.Â, A USA Today writer went so far as to condemn the NCAA for even allowing the team to play in the tournament, complaining about ORU’s “deeply bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ policies” that “can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.” In her view, the school’s policies are “wildly out of line with modern society and the basic values of human decency.”. The attorney who convinces her guilty client to accept his guilt is serving her client. My purpose in writing on the ORU controversy is not to vilify those who condemn biblical morality today. 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By Catharine Skipp On 10/18/07 at 8:00 PM EDT. He is also the co-founder and Chief Vision Officer of the Denison Forum, a Dallas-based nonprofit that comments on current issues through a biblical lens. But it was not to be. Last week, the ORU Golden Eagles delivered a major upset when they defeated the No. Check the updated Commenting FAQ for more information. Matthew 17:22–23). The temple would soon be destroyed and its moneychangers dispersed, but we are still discussing Jesus’ courage twenty centuries later. Novelist Edith Wharton noted that “there are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”. Responding to the Oral Roberts University controversy: Two interrelated imperatives all Christians should embrace today Watch The Daily Article Listen to The Daily Article Today is March 29, 2021 | Read time: 6 minutes | Read online Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas, left, drives around Arkansas guard Davonte Davis, right, during the first half of a […] My wife’s parents lived in Arkansas for many years; we think it is a beautiful state. 17304 Preston Rd, Suite 1060 Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts University is one of the largest, most influential Christian liberal arts universities in the world. A Christian university founded by Oral Roberts holds to Christian values. He is considered the godfather of the charismatic movement and was one of the most recognized preachers in the US at the height of his fame. The Ohio State University ... the No. Liberty lost in the first round of this year’s tournament and was spared of another brutal media assault.”. ORU’s president was right: biblical morality is best for all people, LGBTQ individuals included. Rather, it is to elevate Jesus’ response to his critics on this day in Holy Week as our model. Israel, Chaos, Scripture — and Where We're Headed Next, Three Dangers Currently Confronting Evangelicals. Oral Roberts should be banned from NCAA competition: USA Today editor. 7 seed Florida Gators, staging a comeback from a first-half deficit to win the game 81-78. Have you connected the spiritual disciplines to how you do business? That Oral Roberts wants to keep its students tied to toxic notions of fundamentalism that fetishize chastity, abstinence and absurd hemlines is a larger cultural issue that can be debated. “The experience that these guys will have, I don’t mean to come across as if we are content, but I am so happy for those players in that locker room.”. He described the task of a YMCA physical director: “to win men for the Master through the gym.”. In a USA Today opinion piece titled “Oral Roberts University isn’t the feel-good March Madness story we need,” columnist Hemal Jhaveri called for basketball fans and the NCAA to “cancel” Oral Robert University (ORU) for its Biblical beliefs on LGBTQ+ issues—a move that Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford argues “goes against the very fiber of our nation’s values.” TULSA, Okla. (ABP) — Just days after Richard Roberts resigned from his position as president of Oral Roberts University, regents there are scrambling to find someone else to fill the post. Please click here to learn how. 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A private Christian school based in Oklahoma founded by Charismatic televangelist Oral Roberts, ORU has an honor code that prohibits students from engaging in homosexuality or same-sex marriage. He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.”‘ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:12–14). From then to now, many Christian colleges and universities have developed outstanding basketball programs. There can no longer be any disagreement, only compliance.”, He adds: “This is a stunning 180 from the arguments we heard in 2009 when LGBTQ+ advocates maintained, ‘All we want is the right to marry. Not satisfied that we respect opposing views on human sexuality, all must affirm homosexuality as acceptable within our own theology. Maxson argues that “[a]ttacking the values of Christian universities is now an annual rite and ritual of March Madness media coverage.”, “During March Madness two years ago, Deadspin spewed the same kind of anti-Christian bigotry against Liberty University, the school they called the ‘most hateable’ in the Big Dance. The calls to remove Oral Roberts from NCAA competition comes against the backdrop of Senate debates over the Equality Act. In the meantime, you can post new comments now. A columnist of USA Today called for the ban of Oral Roberts University (ORU) from NCAA competition, citing the Christian school's anti-LGBTQ+ policy. Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts faces lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf the 44-year-old Bible Belt college founded by his father in scandal. ORU’s mission is to develop whole leaders for the whole world through its unique Whole Person approach to education. “USA Today is obviously out of touch with the First Amendment and the right of religious liberty,” wrote Maxson. “The NCAA has always been more about paying lip service to ideals of equality and inclusion than action, but Oral Roberts inclusion in the men’s tournament proves how little they actually care about those words, which are emblazoned on their basketball courts.”, Jhaveri went on to argue that ORU’s stance on LGBT issues was “nothing short of discriminatory and should expressly be condemned by the NCAA.”. . We are in the process of transferring all past comments into our new comment platform with OpenWeb, which will take up to a week. “However accomplished its young student athletes are, the school is a hotbed of institutional transphobia, homophobia with regressive, sexist policies.”, Jay Maxson of Newsbusters, a branch of the conservative watchdog group the Media Research Center, labeled Jhaveri a “would-be moralistic referee” who engaged in “anti-Christian hatred.”. We develop whole leaders for the whole world through a unique Whole Person education. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Will you be his mirror today? I explained the background of this event in last year’s Holy Monday Daily Article and have noted that “at no point did [Jesus] endanger or harm humans” by his actions. I have visited the campus of Oral Roberts University (ORU) in Tulsa only one time; we drove around and then left. That Oral Roberts wants to keep its students tied to toxic notions of fundamentalism that fetishize chastity, abstinence and absurd hemlines is a larger cultural issue that can be debated. Oral Roberts University, a private evangelical university with just 4,000 students, was founded by its namesake in 1963. I spoke to the students of Oral Roberts University in 2019, in the times when we used to gather together in big groups. What is not up for debate however is their anti-LGBTQ+ stance, which is nothing short of discriminatory and should expressly be condemned by the NCAA. He knew that rebuking the sin of the moneychangers was best for the moneychangers. View our, Why do so many Americans condemn Israel? Oral Roberts Shaken by Scandal. What difference would or could he make? All rights reserved. Subscribe for news that's discerned differently. Roberts was a prominent — and controversial — televangelist known for generating wild, fantastical stories to … God’s conduit through whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed”, Tonight’s NBA Play-In Tournament: How a shift in perspective can help our culture, Supreme Court to consider case that could undermine Roe v. Wade: The power of ideas and steps to biblical thinking, “This is something that is new, this is horrific, this is unbearable”: The latest on the conflict in Israel and four biblical responses. That is what tolerance used to mean. Jesus is the candle. What is not up for debate however is their anti-LGBTQ+ stance, which is nothing short of discriminatory and should expressly be condemned by the NCAA. Spirit-empowered leaders come to ORU, not to “stay” in their faith, but to GROW in faith. Responding to the Oral Roberts University controversy: Two interrelated imperatives all Christians should embrace today By Dr. Jim Denison Dr. Jim Denison is a cultural apologist who helps people respond biblically and redemptively to the vital issues of our day. He made the point that ORU simply believes in biblical morality and always has. President of Oral Roberts University resigns amid misspending allegations. Responding to the Oral Roberts University Controversy by Jim Denison - Christian breaking news commentary. With the win over the Gators, ORU has entered the Sweet 16 of the tournament for the first time since 1974. He knew his actions at the temple would provoke the very authorities who would later arrange his torture and execution. Privacy Policy | Disclosure | Permissions | Media inquiries | Donor Portal | FAQ© Denison Ministries 2009-2021. ONLINE DEGREES ON-CAMPUS DEGREES LIFE AT ORU. On his program “Expect a Miracle” of January 4, Roberts claimed that unless he received $4.5 mil­lion for scholarships at Oral Roberts University Medical School, God would take him ­home by March. As one of the most well-known and controversial American religious leaders of the 20th century, hi… . Dr. Jim Denison is a cultural apologist who helps people respond biblically and redemptively to the vital issues of our day. Thank you for your patience. ... just maybe, we could let the religious college kids play basketball without it becoming a national controversy. But God assures us that his word “shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). He describes the “new moral dogma” of our day which “teaches that tolerance must mean agreement, then brands all who disagree as intolerant and harmful. The doctor who tells the patient he has cancer is delivering difficult but essential news. 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