We will miss his quirky style, his constant comments about those evil “heretic hunters” (possibly referring to us), and his colorful dress shirts–well, maybe not the dress shirts. Paul Crouch died this past weekend at the age of 79 after a long battle with congestive heart disease. Religion News Service reporter Adelle Banks provided quite a lot of information about Crouch and the television network, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), he founded and grew.
Ms. Banks quoted our own Ole Anthony as saying, “Paul Crouch at TBN is the greatest proponent of the oldest heresy in the church — that gain is godliness,” said Ole Anthony, a founder of the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which has investigated Crouch’s ministries and others for more than 30 years. “All of the heresy connected with that position is what they’re based on and the problem is they’ve spread that all over the world.”
Mega-Pastor Steven Furtick Faces Examination
Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick has attracted some unwanted attention. WCNC reporter Stuart Watson recently uncovered Furtick’s large $1.7M house tucked in the woods away from public scrutiny and doubly hidden in a specially created trust. The expose asks a lot of questions about how mega-pastors with a ready-made audience can profit from book royalties. It also raises questions about the suitability of compensation committees comprised of fellow pastors with a vested interest as contrasted with a long-held church tradition of elders and deacons having decision-making authority. Take a look at this 3-part story by WCNC News of Charlotte, NC. (part 1 above, parts 2 and 3 below).
Other news outlets have picked up the story as well and interviewed our Trinity Foundation president, Ole Anthony: “What happens is these pastors are on television or on radio and they write a book, and it’s based on their sermons,” Anthony told The Christian Post. “But then what happens is the church is paying for the time and the place to write the book, and then the church is paying for the airtime to advertise the book. And it’s just unseemly.”
And Anthony wasn’t done there.
“The idea of being a servant is lost. It’s just a job and they try to make more and more money, and the congregations are losing out,” he said. “It just infuriates me. It’s the opposite of the pastor being the servant and feeding the sheep, the pastor’s eating the sheep.”
‘Grounded’ in compassion
Marc Barclay asks supporters for $78,000 paint job on jet
Latest in a rash of “Aviation Department” requests from rich evangelists is this letter to supporters from Mark T. Barclay of Midland, Mich. “Corrosion is a dangerous enemy for an airplane,” Barclay patiently explains, because his expensive Citation III jet needs to withstand “all forms of weather at very high speeds.” But a new paint job will stop corrosion in its tracks and allow Barclay to continue to reach “hurting, suffering and dying humanity.” If 80 people, ministries or companies sow $1,000, he says, “it will be taken care of.” With $1,000 to spare, we might add. See his letter here.
How about believing for a helicopter…?
Recently, Pastor I.V. Hilliard of New Light Church World outreach Worship Center, Inc. (whew) sent out a letter offering God’s blessings to be bestowed on you in abundance. “Do you need better transportation? Does your car need repair or total replacement? Do you have a dream vehicle or luxury auto you long to purchase?…”
Well, Pastor Hilliard needs some better transportation too! We’re not too sure if Pastor Hilliard has upgraded the “ministry” jet (was N829NL) but its hard to get around town in a Gulf Stream jet anyway and a helicopter will bypass evening rush hour just fine. The church’s Aviation Manager stated that if they “upgrade their blades” (a new chopper, perhaps?) with well over $50,000, it will save the church “thousands in the days to come”.
Houston radio KTRH reports “Houston Pastor Asks Congregation to Fund a Chopper!”. If you fill out an online petition form verbalizing your dream transportation (don’t forget to include your $52 “transporation-favor-seed” –say what?), God will answer your petition in either 52 days or 52 weeks. Hmmmm, we want the 52 day answer here at the Trinity Foundation… will 52 cents work?
Just click the “Favor Seed” button on Pastor Hilliard’s letter–you can’t miss it.
Holy Water Stampede in Ghana Kills 4
According to BBC Africa and several anonymous informants who have contacted the Trinity Foundation, Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua was giving away free “holy water” at his church, Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), when a human stampede occurred in a rush to get the water. Four were killed and many others injured in the urgent haste forward to get the water with alleged healing powers, which, according to a “joshua watch” website, evangelist Joshua admits has no special powers (he admits his “anointed” water is pointless). Read the BBC Africa story here —
According to a Forbes Magazine blog story from 2011, Pastor Joshua ranked fourth out of the five wealthiest pastors in Nigeria, with an estimated wealth between 10 and 15 million in terms of US dollars.
Charlotte Eyewitness News Exposes Todd Coontz Tricks
Todd Coontz regularly asks for “miracle-seed” donations–often in the amount of $273. According to Coontz, “Several years ago, God gave me the single greatest miracle of my lifetime in one day… and the numbers 273 were involved…” Jim Bradley of Eyewitenss News discovered that is the unit number of his 7th floor $1.38 million dollar high-rise condominium! This expose describes Coontz’ opulent lifestyle.
Hillsong Australia Church Exposé
Wow. It’s amazingly disturbing… one of our most questionable American exports–televangelism and its excesses–has finally reached a crescendo in Australia. Millions of tax-free dollars flow through this mega-corporation (one could hardly call it a church at this point) and precious little appears to actually filter down to those in desperate need. Notice how these Aussie reporters don’t pull any punches.