Thursday, April 2, 2015

4/2/15 BREAKING NEWS,ROBERT SCHULLER,RIP:""Hour of Power" televangelist dies" - CNN.com

4/2/15 BREAKING NEWS,ROBERT SCHULLER,RIP:
""Hour of Power" televangelist dies":
Robert Schuller (Sr),the Crystal Cathedral,& the Hour of Power had a tremendous impact on my life whether I wanted it or not,due to the fact that my dad (& us kids & mother) moved from Michigan to California in 1984 to work for the Crystal Cathedral ministries. My dad took the position of director & pastor of pastoral care,occupying the 10th-floor office of the tower of hope.I was a senior in high school at the time. Later in life on my own I found my own sense of identification with Robert Schuller's ministry style,but initially it was simply "inherited" so to speak,whether I liked it or not.And there were times I didn't want it or like it. There were pros & cons being associated with the CC and all its "glamour" in the 80's. There were those who called Schuller & televangelism a great thing,then there were others who mocked & ridiculed & criticized it,& even today you hear pastors who use the word "televangelism" as a synonym for materialism & the so-called "prosperity gospel" etc even while they themselves are also on tv & now online as well,& doing quite well,if not better,for themselves. In many ways it is a cheapshot & used to deflect scrutiny of themselves. Nonetheless,when I later returned to southern California & began my own ministry while studying in seminary I also came even closer in affiliation with the CC ministries,albeit never came on board formally,& never took any compensation from them,other than inspiration. I also identified partly with the senior Schuller's midwest roots (I myself was born in Iowa & grew up in Michigan,altho not on a farm). Its hard not to admire what the senior Schuller accomplished in terms of building a ministry in such a spectacular manner & inspiring so many people. Towards the end of the ministry (at the crystal cathedral) & the subsequent bankruptcy,the family matters convoluted everything,& "nepotism" turned out to be the "fatal flaw" of the operation,but the groundwork he laid lives on both as the operation of a new ministry at the site (ie the Roman Catholic diocese of orange) and also at the new location where the Hour of Power lives on. Hence,he planted a mustard seed & it bloomed,& a kernel of wheat must die for a new plant or plants to blossom. I will have more to say later.
RIP,ROBERT H. SCHULLER ,see more at