CBN News/The 700 Club announced today that its founder, Pat Robertson, passed into eternity:
With great sadness, we announce that Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson has gone home to be with his Lord and Savior today, June 8, 2023. Thank you for your prayers for the Robertson family and the ministry of CBN at this time.
God used an ordinary man in extraordinary ways. A media mogul, a religious broadcaster, a Baptist minister associated with the Charismatic movement, Robertson left behind an extraordinary legacy:
Founder of The 700 Club (so named when he asked 700 people to give his startup ministry $10 a month);
Founder of Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN);
Founder of Regent University (with more than 10,000 students currently attending);
Founder of Operation Blessing (an international relief organization);
Founder of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ, focused on defending constitutional freedoms);
Presidential candidate in 1988;
Founder of the Christian Coalition (with nearly two million members at its zenith);
Past president and governing member of the Council for National Policy;
Founder and chairman of International Family Entertainment (IFE), parent of The Family Channel on cable TV; and
Author of numerous books, the latest one published just before his death, The Shepherd King: The Life of David.
Robertson attended Yale Law School, intending to become a business entrepreneur. But God had other plans. At age 26 he had lunch with Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who brought him to Christ and gave Robertson his lifetime calling: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
He began with nothing, but God used him mightily and gave him everything he wanted: to be His servant in any way he could.
His legacy was summed up by CBN News:
He expanded his political influence by bringing thousands of evangelicals into the electoral process through the founding of the Christian Coalition. He also created the American Center for Law and Justice with a mandate to protect religious freedoms.
Robertson summed up his own legacy in his book I Have Walked With the Living God:
I didn’t think of myself as much of a pioneer. I just knew that whatever the prejudices of the day, we were not going to submit to any of them.…
I believe the Bible had instructed that whether rich or poor, male or female, African American or white, we all were one in Christ Jesus.
