Articles
From The Liberty Journal:
The Lee Roberson Foundation has established a scholarship fund at Liberty University to aid Christian men and women in college, graduate school or seminary.
The foundation honors Dr. Lee Roberson, founder of Tennessee Temple University and longtime pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn. Roberson died April 29, 2007, at the age of 97.
The late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who received his honorary Doctor of Divinity from Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary, was a close friend with Roberson. The two shared a similar vision for their schools to train preachers, missionaries and others for Christian service.
John Roberson, Roberson’s son and a member of the Board of Trustees at TTU, said the tie between his father and Falwell “was very strong, and that’s one reason we started the scholarship fund at Liberty.”
He said the two were often able to advise each other on future plans.
“Dr. Falwell talked to him [Roberson] before he started Liberty and a lot of the beginning days at Liberty were maybe modeled after what happened at Temple,” he said.
Dr. Lee Roberson led Highland Park Baptist Church in the organization of Tennessee Temple Schools in 1946. It was to be a two-year college and Bible school, but soon expanded to incorporate a four-year college, Bible school and seminary. It became a university in 1979 and received full accreditation by the American Association of Bible Colleges in 1984.
The Lee Roberson Foundation, formed less than a year before his death, has also established funds at TTU and Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. Each was started with a $5,000 gift.
Money from the LU fund will be made available to qualifying Liberty students once the fund reaches $50,000.
For more about scholarship guidelines and disbursement of funds through Liberty University, call Harold Knowles with Estate Planning at 434-592-6019.
For more about the Lee Roberson Foundation and contributing to the fund to help LU students, go to http://leeroberson.org.
From The Chattanoogan On Dr. Roberson's Passing:
Renowned Minister Dr. Lee Roberson Dies At 97
Longtime Pastor Of Highland Park Baptist, Tennessee Temple Founder
posted April 29, 2007
 Dr. Lee Roberson |
Dr. Lee Roberson, longtime pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church and founder and president of Tennessee Temple Schools, died Sunday morning at the age of 97.
Dr. Roberson was world-renowned in religious circles.
His longtime associate, Dr. J.R. Faulkner, wrote this account of his life:
He was born in a two-room log cabin on Nov. 24, 1909, and spent his first two years on a farm near English, Ind., a small town in the southern part of the state. In 1911, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Roberson, took him to a farm near Louisville, Ky., where his father farmed, worked on streetcars, and built homes to make a living. At the age of 14, he was led to the Lord by his faithful Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Daisy Hawes, and joined the Cedar Creek Baptist Church outside of Louisville.
After spending two years at the Louisville Male High School, where he received a diploma in public accounting when he was 14 years old, Dr. Roberson then attended the Fern Creek High School and was graduated after four years. While a student, he played football with the high school team.
Brother Roberson entered Old Bethel College in Russellville, Ky., in 1926, and finished the first year. There he worked at various jobs from washing dishes to scrubbing floors to pay his way. From Old Bethel College, he went to the University of Louisville to complete his college work with a major in history. He also completed his work for a degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. At the age of 19, he was called to a church in Jeffersontown, Ky., which he did not accept.
In his early years, Dr. Roberson was well known as a singer. Having studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and with the well-known teacher, John Samples, of Chicago, his services as a vocalist were in great demand. He served as a soloist on the staff of radio station WHAS of Louisville, Ky., and WSM out of Nashville. Doors were opening in the field of secular music. Dr. Roberson could have signed a contract with a certain man in the city of Nashville that, no doubt, would have led him to the top in music. However, he felt that this was not the thing the Lord wanted for him; so he refused to sign the contract.
The first church that Brother Roberson served as pastor was in Germantown, Tn., while he was going to college. In 1932, he was called to be pastor of the Temple Baptist Church in Green Brier, Tn. It was there that he discovered the truth of the second coming of Christ. After three years with the Green Brier Church, where the Lord wonderfully blessed, Dr. Roberson entered full-time evangelistic work in 1935. He served as evangelist of the Birmingham Baptist Association; and within two years, he conducted some fifty revivals in the Birmingham area.
It was while he was in Birmingham that he met Miss Caroline Allen, who, on Oct. 9, 1937, became Mrs. Lee Roberson.
On the first Sunday in November 1937, Dr. Roberson became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Fairfield, Ala.
In 1939, Brother Roberson was asked to be the state evangelist for Alabama. He felt this was not the Lord's will for him at the time, so the offer was not accepted.
On May 2, 1941, Lee Anne, the Roberson's oldest child, was born.
After five years with the Fairfield church, Dr. Roberson was called to the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, in November of 1942. Brother Roberson, our pastor, is a man of God at home as well as at church. He has set an example of faithfulness and devotion to his family and to his convictions before his church and to the entire world. At home, he has sought to teach his children in the fear and admonition of the Lord around a daily family altar, which has reflected itself in the lives of the children.
Dr. Roberson's devotion to duty and to his convictions has laid upon him a demanding schedule that has caused him, throughout his life, to get up early and to burn the midnight oil in prayer and study of the Word of God and the writings of others that he might maintain his burden to reach as many souls for Christ as he can, by every possible means. New sermons are constantly pouring from his soul and new books from his pen.
Whether he be speaking from the pulpit of the Highland Park Baptist Church, the chapel platform of Tennessee Temple Schools, to his Men's Bible Class, or at one of many other special services, his messages are always fresh, fervent, and filled with the power of God. In speaking of him, someone has said, "He is truly the Spurgeon of our times."
Dr. Roberson's daily schedule began with Bible study and prayer at 6:30 in the morning, followed by breakfast and devotions with his family, a broadcast beginning at 8:30 a.m., and a chapel service at Tennessee Temple Schools at 10:00. His morning hours were also filled with private conferences with church people and students of Tennessee Temple Schools. His daily visitation program took him into the numerous hospitals of the city as well as homes of the church members.
Pastor Roberson's favorite Scripture...
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28
Life-Changing Printed Sermons by Pastor Lee Roberson
Have Faith in God
Faith for a New Year
Tears Gone Forever
Stir Up the Gift of God
Keep On Rejoicing
Faith and Five Smooth Stones
Contending for the Faith
Adventuring Faith
A Mother's Faith
Little Faith and Hasty Answers
The Dynamite of Faith
The Shield of Faith
The Victory of Faith
Does Jesus Live At Your House?
One Way Home
The Detours of Life
The Need of This Hour
What Held Jesus to the Cross?
Life-Changing Audio Sermons by Pastor Lee Roberson
Get Right With God
Compassion
Boudoir or Battlefield
Be Ye Therefore Steadfast
Knowing God's Will
Magic Words
The Driving Force - Part 1
The Driving Force - Part 2
Pastor's School 2001 - March 21st
Pastor's School 2001 - March 22nd
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Highland Park Baptist Church.
The body will lie in state from 12-1 p.m. Thursday at the church.
Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 2-4 and 6-9 p.m. Wednesday at the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 404 South Moore Road.
"What's It Like?"
by Rob Nichols (Dr. Roberson's Grandson)
“What’s it like?” I was often asked.
“What’s it like to be the grandson of Dr. Lee Roberson?”
“Aw, I dunno, just normal, I guess.”
“Naw, come on,” the inquisitor would insist, “tell me. Tell me what it’s really like. What’s it like being there at his house? What’s it like eating with him?”
“Aw, man, I dunno, it’s usually fish.”
“No, really, seriously. What kind of stuff do you sit around talking about? Do you talk about specific verses or just whole books of the Bible? Who is his favorite biblical patriarch?”
“Favorite what?” I would reply, now completely baffled.
“Come on! You guys must sit around and have the most fascinating theological discussions! Who are some of the greats from the past that you talk about? Spurgeon? Moody?”
“Well, he likes the Indiana Hoosiers, and he loves his Louisville Cardinals.”
“What?”
“Really, basketball in general. We watch basketball a lot, oh and football, pretty much sports, he loves sports.”
Ultimately, my inquisitor would leave, defeated. It turned out that I was not the wellspring of information that he was seeking. Perhaps he was asking the wrong person, or perhaps he was asking the wrong questions.
As it turns out I really have no idea what it’s like to be the grandson of Dr. Lee Roberson, but if you ask, I’ll gladly tell you about my granddaddy.
I could tell you about family vacations in Gatlinburg. He loved to take us to play miniature golf. He loved that it was something that we could all do together. I guess there are not many here who could say that they cruised around Gatlinburg with Dr. Roberson on those little mopeds with the triangular, plastic orange flags that stick up off of the back. But we got to do that with granddaddy.
I could tell you about any given Sunday night after church at his house. (By the way, technically it was known in the family as “Grannie’s house.”) Sitting around the table, eating and talking. At some point in the evening, at the end of a long Sunday, he would get up and head back to his bedroom only to return to our revelry, dressed in his pajamas, robe, and brown leather slippers and proclaim, “Y’all can stay as long as you want; I’m going to bed!” “Goodnight, daddy. Goodnight, granddaddy,” came the raucous replies.
And that was what it was like.
I could tell you of so many Thanksgivings and Christmases, some of the few times during the year when we were all together. Opening presents on Christmas day he and my grandmother would sit on the sofa together as the designated “Santa” would pile so many presents around them; most of them probably filled with some version of Hershey’s chocolate. As he would open each one with his pocketknife, which he was never without, he would pass it over to my grandmother declaiming, “Momma, what’s this? Who’s that from? I can’t read the card, tell me what it says.”
She would read the card in her inimitable Birmingham accent, “Oh, that’s from Pastor So-and-so down in Shreveport.”
“Well I don’t know what that is!” he would say. “ What am I supposed to do with that?”
Truly, he was a hard one to shop for. I mean, what do you get for a man who has, well, eternity? We tried a bow-and-arrow set. That fascinated him for about 10 minutes. I think someone named a star after him one year. He got a nice Mont Blanc pen one year. I think I still have that pen.
And that was what it was like.
He liked Tabasco sauce on his scrambled eggs. He loved fried chicken livers. He had coffee with every meal. No water, no soda, coffee.
He loved his father, whom we all called “Pop.” Pop once described his son’s work ethic as “work to get-done.” Pop said that his son, my granddad, loved to work, but he loved to get done so he could return to his books.
But he lived his life very publicly. He willingly gave himself to these ministries and to the thousands of people associated with them. However, we did not have that choice to make. It was made for us.
So, in the past couple of days especially, my family and I have appreciated the many of you who have personally thanked us for the sacrifices that you knew we made in order that granddaddy may avail himself to the church and school. We didn’t have a Wilford Brimley, rocking chair, Country Time lemonade on the front porch grandfather because you had a pastor who visited you in the hospital, a minister who prayed with you at the bedside of your dying loved one, a chancellor who knew your home church and the name of your pastor when you came to Chattanooga as a frightened freshman, far from home.
And that was what it was like.
Yes, he gave everything to this church and school. There are millions out there who have been directly or indirectly touched by the sacrifices of my granddad.
So, as I wondered a couple of days ago, how to even begin to eulogize my grandfather when so many thousands of others would have so much to say. I wondered why I, simply by virtue of being born to his first daughter, had the right to say anything at all. And then I wondered what others might have said. To find out, I did what any self-respecting member of my generation would do: I Googled him. “Let’s see… Google.com…Lee Roberson…wow, 951,000 hits, in only .04 seconds!” Of course, I found many versions of the obituary that had been picked up by the Associated Press and carried around the world. But what I found to be especially interesting were the many blogs. Short for “web logs” these are personal, online journals. In these, some had written and eulogized my grandfather in their own way. Many of them were written by former students or fellow pastors talking about their personal experiences with him: the years they spent at Temple or how many people got saved at their church when he came to speak. But there was a recurring theme: with churches around the country embroiled in the muck and mire of scandal brought on by the unscrupulous and corrupt abuses of power, congregations torn apart by the invidious and seedy indiscretions of their purported “spiritual leaders,” never was there ever a hint of impropriety with Lee Roberson. “A perfect gentleman,” many of the bloggers wrote.
And that’s when it hit me. That was a choice that granddaddy made every day of his life; a choice that he made for his family, a choice to be faithful to his wife, a choice to be honest in his financial affairs, the choice of a private man to live openly and honestly before his people.
What you saw was what you got.
So, to that college kid who, in his youthful fanaticism, accosted me with all of those annoying questions so many years ago (wherever you are now): “That was just a taste of what it was like.”
On The Passing Of Dr. Lee Roberson
By Jeff Kisiah
Dear Fellow Grads of Tennessee Temple, Crusader Friends & Family Members,
By now, most of you are “in the loop” on the passing of Dr. Lee Roberson on Sunday morning at 4:45 A. M.
For those who can’t make it to Chattanooga for the Memorial Service, you can hear the event on the internet via WDYN/89.7 allFM’s website (wdyn.com). It will be broadcast live at 1:00 PM on Thursday. For any who may be traveling to Choo-Choo town, let us know as we prayerfully consider this opportunity. Jerry Barber (Senior Pastor at HCC) and I are attempting to arrange our schedules in order to make the trip to attend the service ourselves.
As we all reflect on the homegoing of this famous HPBC/TTU leader at the age of 97, here are some personal thoughts using the first stanza of our alma mater as a reference point:
“Through the halls of Temple College…”
Dr. Roberson’s passing takes many of us back to our formative days at Tennessee Temple (can you hear his famous accent when pronouncing the name of the school that he founded?). I happen to be a third generation Crusader, with my great-uncle (Jack Hudson) and father (Don Kisiah) having preceded me on campus in the 1950’s and 1960’s respectively. After his three years in Chattanooga, Uncle Jack came back to his hometown of Charlotte, NC to start Northside Baptist in 1954. His ministry was modeled after HPBC, as with many other Temple grads. He became one of the more high-profile “branches” of the Lee Roberson ministry “tree.”
In the early years of NBC, my own father came under the power of the gospel and accepted Christ as a 26-year old on the 1st Saturday night in August of 1956. After 7 years of experiencing growth as a layman at Northside, he was invited by Uncle Jack to become the song leader at a branch church, Belmont Park Baptist. This congregation was led by Gene Cole, who had just completed his training at Temple Baptist Seminary, and was being sent out by NBC. On August 31, 1964, I accepted Christ as my personal Savior during a BPBC Sunday morning service. Lee Roberson’s “gospel dynamite” influence was already being sensed in our immediate family.
During my dad’s time of service at this NBC church plant, he sensed a calling into vocational ministry. Our family moved to Chattanooga in the summer of 1965. I was enrolled at Highland Park Elementary, where I would spend my 3rd-5th grade years. Tennessee Temple Academy wasn’t an option back in those days. As an elementary child, I began to be heavily influenced by the ministry of HPBC/TTU. As a youngster, I was able to meet Dr. Charles Weigle and hear him sing in person. M. R. DeHaan, J. Vernon McGee, Hyman Appleman & R. G. Lee spoke at Highland Park, though I was not fully aware of their nationally-known ministries.
HPBC had a large chapel ministry (branch churches), in which “preacher boys” from Temple would be sent for on-the-job training. My dad pastored Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Cloudland, GA for 18 months. I still have vivid memories of God reaching out to some underprivileged “mountain folk” and perform a work of His saving grace. My mother served as the President of the Temple Wives’ Association during that era. We lived at 1808 Vance Avenue, where the TTA gym is presently located. For family entertainment, we would attend Temple basketball games and watch Bobby Murr, “Ronnie” Bishop, Dan Sherman, Dan Manley, Dwayne Glasscock (before he became more familiarly known as “Lefty”) and other Crusaders play Lee College (the Viking men wore capri-type pants in those days instead of regular basketball shorts!) and others under the basketball tutelage of Bruce Foster.
At one of my father’s ministry posts, I was greatly influenced by a youth pastor (Larry Wiedenbenner) who was also a Temple Seminary grad. His discipleship efforts were appreciated during my Jr. High & High school days in Statesville, North Carolina.
Upon graduation from Myers Park High School a decade later, I was then privileged to be a member of the largest freshman class (1400+) in the history of Tennessee Temple upon enrolling in the fall of 1975. Guys from around the country who had a heart for God provided a compelling example, especially my roommate (James Sanders from Mesquite, Texas). He and other fellow Crusaders assisted in my own spiritual development while at TTU, observing God at work in their lives. I will always value their friendship and mentoring. They, also, were drawn to Chattanooga (from local churches around the country) as a part of the Lee Roberson legacy.
“…hear the Savior’s Call…”
Whether it was during a regular HPBC service (”Three to Thrive”), a TTU Chapel, Bible Conference (Warren Wiersbe/Lehmann Strauss/Fred Brown/Don Jennings), Missionary Conference (Wendell Kempton/etc.), Mid-Winter Revival (various speakers) or in the classes of our professors (Wymal Porter/Paul Martin/Ted Martin/etc.), many of us received promptings into vocational ministry through such Chattanooga venues. We arrived on campus in the early stages of our spiritual development process. Throughout the subsequent semesters, we began to yield more and more of our lives to God. On-campus ministry outlets (like Jr. Boys Club for me) provided great apprenticeships for future ministry (Abb Thomas’ discipleship efforts with HPBC youth were some of the most “unsung” on campus during the late 1970’s!). While the equipping phase of our spiritual journeys has led many of us to drink from other ministry “wells” since under-graduate days, we can credit Temple with the early sense of the call of God upon our lives.
“send the gospel to all people”
Evangelism was at the forefront of what we experienced during our TTU days. Do you remember the HPBC slogan, “The Church of the Green Light?” How about the traffic light on the side of the HPBC building facing Bailey Avenue? For those who attended Thursday night visitation, do you remember what was placed at the top of each visitor’s card? (”A Soul For Whom Christ Died.”)
Do you fellow TTU grads remember the final tenet of our 7 declarations made every week in Chapel… “We believe in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost.” Many of us have transitioned into a more comprehensive focus of biblical disciple-making since our days in Chattanooga. There was often too little emphasis on the discipleship component of the Great Commission during our college days. However, it is refreshing to reminesce about the “Sawdust Trail” from time to time to take us back to our roots (I would recommend Richard Mouw’s book, “The Smell of Sawdust” for your reading). I especially enjoyed a personal conversation with Dallas Willard (dwillard.org) about this very aspect during his TTU seminary lectures on campus in February of last year. He remarked about the significant impact of chapel speakers during his days at Temple (many people are unaware that he is a TTU grad). He marveled at their fervency for God, and how that influence has remained with him over these decades as a professor of Philosophy at Southern California. His comments provided a unique perspective as a leading influence of the discipleship movement.
“show them Christ is all”
In recent years, I have been inspired by Joe Stowell’s writings on the “Supremacy of Christ.” As with any Christian leader, our worship should be for God and God Alone. He is the only one “fit to take the universe’s throne.”
We pause this Thursday to bestow honor to one of His choice servants. It was my extreme privilege to be in attendance at the Bill Bright Memorial Service in June of 2003 in Orlando, Florida. On that day, a fitting tribute was given to the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. A “Who’s Who of Evangelicalism” took turns offering commendation for “A Life Lived Well.”
I would submit that the above phrase of the TTU alma mater has been most epitomized by Dr. Roberson’s long-time Associate/Co-Pastor, Dr. J. R. Faulkner. What a wise choice to invite J. R. to join the pastoral staff at HPBC during the early days of ministry. Together, they made one of the most effective ministry teams of the 20th century. We were all privileged to observe them during the zenith of their ministry at Highland Park.
May we all strive to emulate the qualities of their lives that best represent the Kingdom. Most of all, may we remember to be ultimately molded and shaped into image of His son.
I trust the enclosed picture will allow Temple grads in this mailout to take a similar, reflective “walk down memory lane.”
A fellow Crusader,
Jeff Kisiah
Wikipedia Entry on Dr. Lee Roberson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Roberson
For more information about how to make a tax deductible donation to The Lee Roberson Foundation,
call 1-800-778-7887, or send an email to info@leeroberson.org