Ephesians
William
Lobdell, a Times staff, wrote about target-rich
environment: the unregulated industry of televangelism is estimated to generate
at least $1 billion through its roughly 2,000 electronic preachers, including
80 nationally syndicated television pastors. He told of the founder of the
Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, Ole E. Anthony, whose operatives struck
dumpster pay dirt five years ago in south
Hinn
and other pastors ask viewers to send in donations for both specific projects
and for general expansion of the television ministry. Donors aren't told of the
opulent lifestyles led by some of the televangelists, but that fact isn't too
much of a secret either--perhaps because it fits nicely with the message of the
Prosperity Gospel they are spreading. A quick computer search of homes owned by
Trinity Broadcasting Network, for example, reveals 17 residences in
There's a darker side to Hinn and his
organization. In 1998 two members of his inner circle died of heroin overdoses.
In 1999, after one of his many vows of reform, he fired several board members and
hired an ex-cop named Mario C. Licciardello to do an
internal investigation of his ministry. Licciardello
was the brother-in-law of Carman, the popular Christian singer, so many think
Hinn considered him "safe." But Licciardello
did such a good job – taking hundreds of depositions and getting to the bottom
of the heroin use – that Hinn then sued him. While Licciardello
was still his head of security, the ministry filed a lawsuit demanding that all
his files be turned over and sealed, because their public release could result
in the end of the ministry. One day before Hinn was
supposed to give his deposition in this case, Licciardello had a mysterious heart attack and died. The
Hinn organization made an out-of-court settlement with Licciardello's
widow, which included sealing the court papers.
Hinn runs the largest evangelistic
organization in the world that is NOT a member of the Evangelical Council for
Financial Responsibility. That means his finances are private, his salary is
secret, and his income is anybody's guess. Royalties from his books alone are
estimated at $500,000 per year, but he essentially has carte blanche to take
anything out of the till he wants. "He lives the lifestyle of a
billionaire," says Ole Anthony, "all on the backs of false promises
and selling false hope."
As Hinn put it himself, in a moment of rare
revelatory candor, "I don't need gold in heaven, I gotta
have it now."
During 1993, his one year of
"reform," he talked about being stung by being portrayed as a
millionaire and how he wanted to be "more Christ-like." His solution:
"The Lord said sell the Benz and the watch."
He got rid of his Rolex and his Mercedes.
Notice he didn't give them away. He sold them – and then replaced the Mercedes
with a $65,000 BMW. This is what God told him to do. And who better to know
what God wants, because Hinn, after all, is only the third person in the
history of the universe to have actually seen God and lived to tell about it.
God, he says, is 6-2 or 6-3, with long hair of a light brown color, and eyes
that can look right through you. (Jan/Feb 2004 issue of The Door Magazine)
The
Hinn is coming at the invitation of the Rev. Randy
White, senior pastor of Without
According to a June article in The
Also about April 2000, Hinn's
ministry began building a 58,000square-foot office building in
Like some colleagues, he embraces his worldwide
followers who say he has cured them, like heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, who has
credited Hinn with correcting his heart problem.
For the most part, he brushes off scrutiny, though
not always gracefully. He once wished aloud for a "Holy Ghost machine
gun" to blow off the heads of his critics, who object to everything from
his unverifiable healing claims to his perfectly coifed hair.
While Swaggart's and Bakker's high-flying ministries were leveled by sex
scandals, and Tilton eventually was brought down by reports of false promises
and a legal battle with his first wife, Hinn has tripped over no such
obstacles.
Hinn has not joined the Evangelical Council for
Financial Accountability, a sort of Christian Better Business Bureau to which
evangelists such as Billy Graham belong [Billy Graham
started this bogus ECFA, which relies on an internal honor system, to keep the
dogs off of his deceitful scent. And none of the Grahams have reported their
personal income]. The council assesses the financial integrity of
Christian organizations that join it. [This is not
completely true. As stated before, these clowns are on the honor system.]
Nor has Hinn publicly acknowledged his salary,
though he told CNN in 1997 that his yearly income including book royalties was
somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million. A spokesman has said Hinn generates
about $60 million a year in donations. Hinn’s revenue
is below that of Billy Graham’s organization of $100 milion.
With
an estimated total viewership of ten million, the
money that TV preachers rake in by any reckoning, are immense. In his heyday
Jimmy Swaggart was making close to US$140 million a
year. The Bakkers were close behind with an estimated
yearly income of US$130 million. Jerry Falwell
netted, by his own reckoning, about US$60 million a year.
The
money, which was meant for their ministry, went to maintain their extravagant
lifestyles. Swaggart bought himself a US$1.5 million
mansion. In his show of fatherly affection, he bought another mansion, worth
US$700,000 for his son, Donnie, with money loaned by his ministry. The Bakkers had
bought mansions and luxury cars, even the doghouse was air-conditioned.
WILLIAM
LOBDELL, Times Staff Writer in an article titled “For Critics of Extravagant
Faith Healer Benny Hinn, the Good Book Isn't Enough.
They Want His Ministry to Be an Open Book.” Los Angeles Times Magazine, July
27, 2003 wrote:
In an attempt to clear up
his image, Hinn suggests meeting a Times reporter at the Four Seasons hotel in
Because the
"I'll tell you
this," Hinn says, a likable guy who is bewildered that he could generate
so much hostility. "I'm an open book. I think it's time for me to just
say, 'Let me give you the blunt truth.' "
That's easier said than
done. First, Hinn declines to divulge his salary. (He told
CNN in 1997 that he earns between $500,000 and $1 million annually, including
book royalties.) "Look, any amount I make, somebody's going to be
mad," he says.
He offers to make available
his ministry's general financial picture, along with access to his
accountant—both unprecedented. "When it comes to the income of the
ministry, I have no problem talking about it or what happens to the
money," Hinn says. "We believe our partners are entitled to know what
happens to their money." But two weeks later, he backtracks, saying his
board won't allow it.
The pastor also promises to
expand the ministry's three-member board—the guardians
of the nonprofit—and to reveal their names. If they don't like the exposure,
Hinn says, they can resign. Several months later, a Hinn spokesman says the
board was expanded to five members, but the names will remain secret "for
the board members' security."
But just before this story
went to press, Hinn and his board changed their minds and had their public
relations consultant provide the names. The board veterans are Hinn; Bill Swad, described as an Ohio businessman who authors books
such as "Don't Let Satan Steal Your Harvest"; and Steve Brock, a
pastor and featured soloist for the Miracle Crusades. New members, according to
the ministry, are Bob Inello, a businessman from
Hinn does reveal that the
$89 million taken in by his church in 2002 is a record for his Grapevine,
Texas-based ministry, which has experienced double-digit growth during the past
three years through direct-mail requests, viewer donations and offerings taken
at the Miracle Crusades. By comparison, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn. had
revenues of $96.6 million in 2001, the last year available.
The hands of faith healer
Benny Hinn—tools of a televangelist recognized around the world—are slim,
almost feminine. The fingers are delicate, nails manicured and polished. A gold
wedding band, so wide it covers the bottom of his left ring finger from knuckle
to knuckle like a piece of copper pipe, bears the insignia of his church. The
dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, sparkles with a cluster of diamonds.
These small, soft hands
could be one of two things: anointed by God to heal the sick, or props in a
televangelist money-making scheme that preys on the vulnerable. Shades of gray
aren't a part of the Benny Hinn story.
Financially, at least, he's
the world's most successful faith healer, having received $89 million in
donations last year, according to officials with his ministry,
From his broadcast center
in
Hinn's disclosure in an interview that his ministry generated $160
million in revenue the past two years is a gold nugget of data that Christian
watchdogs have been trying to get at for years. The Trinity Foundation, a
nonprofit Christian watchdog group in
"He promised me 10
years ago that his personal and ministry finances would be an open book,"
says Ole Anthony, president of the Trinity Foundation, dismissing Hinn's latest vow for more candor. "Hinn's incredible wealth and lifestyle does more harm to
Christianity than all of his preaching."
The
The Whites, who came to Tampa 13 years ago, say
they sometimes worried they wouldn't have rent money after they started their
church in 1991.
Last year, they claimed a combined income of
$600,000. Of that, $179,000 is Randy White's annual salary from Without Walls,
a church that claims 15,000 members and brings in $10 million yearly in
revenues. Co-pastor Paula White, who is gaining international acclaim as a
televangelist and speaker, is paid $120,000. They also receive an $80,000
housing allowance from the church.
The
Whites did not reveal whether they had borrowed funds from their ministry to
purchase their home as many TV evangelists have done including Oral Roberts and
Jimmy Swaggart.
Roberts' two California homes, partly for security reasons, have
not been discussed much by the ministry. His house in
Wall Watchers tax expert Rod Pitzer
says federal law requires that any compensation — salary and perks, including
housing for ministers — must be reasonable. "Reasonable" means that the
benefits to Evangelist Joyce Meyer and her family roughly equal what other
ministers in the
Jeffrey
K. Hadden and Charles E. Swann in their book Prime
Time Preachers stated: Billy Graham was embarrassed in 1977 when the
Charlotte Observer discovered an undisclosed $23-million fund in
Christian News Today reported that Franklin Graham wears
jeans, boots, denim shirt, and leather jacket. He was a teen rebel who drank, smoked,
fought, and led police on high-speed chases. He was kicked out of
Billy
Graham has been accused of the following unethical deeds
taking 100 % salary at 83 years of age and working less than
25 percent
being a friend of Nixon and a bigot against the Jews
writing a letter to Nixon to bomb the dykes of
stating that he is unsure that heaven is a right place for
him
unconditional support of
using a Ghost writer to write his books
forming ECFA to protect his interests and cook the books
supporting a son, Ned, who was a drunk, adulterer, immoral
and had no integrity
giving his ministry to Franklin who is as deceitful as his
father and a bum and a thief
Although
Billy Graham encourages religious leaders to be open about their salaries and
publish their finances none of the Grahams reveal their total compensation nor
release their personal income tax as President Bush does and former President
Clinton has done. It's the law of the land that all non-profit chairmen of
corporations must reveal their total salary and that Billy, Ned and Franklin do
not speak volumes of their hypocrisy.
The Associated Baptist Press - www.abpnews.com on
Presidents Albert Mohler
of Southern Seminary in
The
fact remains that multi-million dollars Family run Evangelistic Ministries in
America be it the Hinn's of Orlando, the Straders of Lakeland, the Howard-Browne's of Tampa, the Falwells of Lynchburg, the Brights
of Orlando, the Robertson's of Norkfolk, the Roberts
of Tulsa, the Copelands of Forth Worth, and the
Graham's of Minneapolis are notorious for hiding their total salaries and those
of their family members and special friends in their indirect personally owned
non- profit religious corporation while they live in palatial palaces like
kings and royalty.
Unlike
Jesus Christ who owned nothing, Televangelists Jan and Paul Crouch who lost
their tax exemption for their Trinity Broadcasting Network are definitely not
lacking in any material possession. Their home is described as "a palatial
estate with ocean and city views and was purchased for around five million
dollars. It has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a billiard room, a climate-controlled
wine cellar, a sweeping staircase and a crystal chandelier. The three-story,
nearly 9,500-square-foot house, has an elevator, also has a six-car garage, a
tennis court and a pool with a fountain.
Trinity
Broadcasting, established in 1973, has more than 768 TV stations on the air
worldwide. The Crouches oversee a $100-million-plus-a-year enterprise. One of
the Crouch estates is TBN's ranch in
Mind
you President Clinton did release his total salary and his personal income tax
to the public while Evangelist Billy and Franklin Graham, Jimmy Swaggart, and Benny Hinn do not. But adulterous and lying
Bill Clinton seems to have more integrity and accountability than Southern
Baptist Evangelists do in this area?
On