James Robison slams Inside Edition’s ‘attack’ on Kenneth Copeland, says wife wept over it
Televangelist James Robison, who is the founder and president of LIFE Outreach International, slammed a recent “Inside Edition” interview with Texas-based prosperity preacher Kenneth Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries as an “attack” that left his wife in tears and broke his heart.
“My wife Betty saw Inside Edition’s attack on Kenneth Copeland before I did, and wept so freely she could not watch till the end,” Robison wrote in an op-ed for The Stream on Thursday.
“When I saw it my heart was broken, because I know Ken and Gloria, and so many of their precious staff and faithful supporters. Ken is one of the most generous, unselfish, giving individuals I know. He has never been comfortable talking to the media, and was caught off guard,” he said.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The interview, conducted by reporter Lisa Guerrero, questioned Copeland’s lavish lifestyle including his love of luxury jets. Copeland, whose estimated net worth is upward of $300 million, said he was a very wealthy man but his wealth did not come from just his ministry but natural gas on his property.
He also admitted to using his ministry's three jets to fly to his vacation homes and challenged a running narrative that he believes people who travel on commercial flights are "demons."
“No, I do not, and don’t you ever say I did,” he said intensely while wagging his finger at Guerrero.
“We wrestle not with flesh and blood but principalities and powers. It’s a biblical thing. It’s a spiritual thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with people. I love people. Jesus loves people. But people get pushed in alcohol. Do you think that’s a good place for a preacher to be and prepare to go preach to a lot of people when somebody in there is dragging some woman down an aisle by her hair?” he asked. “I can’t be doing that while I’m getting ready to preach.”
And Robison agrees with Copeland’s explanation.
“Now he’s being hammered and mocked for saying he flies a private plane because he doesn’t want to fly in a ‘long tube full of demons.’ But he was exactly right when he referenced the problem is not people. He rightly quoted the Apostle Paul, ‘We do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but with principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,’” Robison said. “That is demonic activity that attacks everyone on this planet, with their fiercest assault on the Body of Christ — His Church.”
Robison further compared Guerrero’s interview to attacks made on President Donald Trump.
“Please hear this, my freedom loving friends: This is the kind of attack our President faces 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And if you love freedom and its foundation, and you love God and your neighbor, desiring the best for all of them, get ready to be ambushed yourself, because you are a target of the Deceiver,” he wrote. “Now is the time for all who know Christ in a personal relationship to stand together in supernatural unity filled with courage and compassion, faithfully lifting high the standard of God’s Truth.”
Robison’s comments on Copeland have since sparked a controversy online with some condemning his support.
“The truth is that Copeland appeared to be demon possessed. And James Robison knows it. Kenneth Copeland knows it. If all the innocents drawn to the KC ministry come to think KC is a charlatan that would be devastating. So many sincere Christians will be praying for him,” said Connie Boho in a response on Twitter.
Others, like Forrest Hamilton, noted in the comments section of the op-ed that people should refrain from passing judgement.
“Kenneth and Gloria Copeland are flawed and in need of a savior just like me and you. They are very generous, hard-working ministers who have lead thousands and thousands to faith in Jesus Christ all over the world. Who am I to judge another man's servant? If you don't like K.C. don't listen to him, but refrain from judging him,” Hamilton wrote.
