re: Televangelists and the people who defend them

Robert Tilton in Dallas was the greatest - they found tons of mailed in prayer requests in the trash.

He would say "this is a $50 prayer request" - basically pricing what you could get by prayer based upon the contribution.

Exactly.


And to the posters who think that local pastors are rich, they are not. They don't mock the gospel by offering answered prayer & wealth in
Exchange for money.
So the donations don't come in as much. And aging congregations being replaced by young people who don't donate as much.
Only television preachers are rich.

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He's got a point here. Whether or not you are religious, there ARE some churches that would be great charitable contributions, if you're so inclined to make one. WAY better than the Red Cross.

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And not to belabor the point, but the average American church is far more likely to be involved in heavy community charitable efforts than they are to be padding the pockets of church leaders.

Churches being involved in charity is the rule, not the exception, in my experience.

Now, that doesn't mean I agree with their vision of charity, but that's an entirely different discussion.

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Osteen has some defenders because he makes his money from his book sales and doesn't take a salary from Lakewood.

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This is like saying planned parenthood doesnt use the billion+ in gov money on abortions, so it's ok.

If he wasnt a hack he wouldnt live in the house he does. Not saying he shouldnt make a reasonable living to live comfortable, but if he was truly all a man of God all he generated would go to goods of the Church.

Not surprising the SC pastor who's wife got a lambo suv, came from osteens flock of ministers. Proves the mindset of his church.

I'm a very devoted Christian and I can't stand televangelists

I've gotten into arguments with people at my church who actually think Benny Hinn is legit

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The real question is....How could anyone give any church money in any form?

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I have a hard time tithing these days, but I still do it.

It's like, why should I give money to this church. They talk about how we need to invest in the poor and disadvantaged, yet have a sound and lighting systems that cost 6 figures and have multiple filming the service with $25,000 cameras. And then "planting a new church" when this building isn't even close to capacity yet.

Then talk about how they have all these overseas missionaries that they are supporting and I am like, you could reach a lot more people here within a 25 mile radius for a fraction of the cost. I feel like overseas missions are vanity projects these days. We have homeless veterans right outside, how about investing in them before investing in some vanity project reaching some Hindi group in India.

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Is there a single one who isn't a complete fraud?

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Not sure, there are guys on TV that aren't what I call televangelist, not pulling down filthy amounts of money. Billy Graham was an actual evangelist who happened to capture TV audiences, I do not really see any more Billy Grahams in this world today.

[img]Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn?[/img]


The guy you have pictured, Joel Osteen, derives the bulk of his income from sales of books and takes no salary from his church. I'm pretty sure he does charge for appearances if invited to speak, though that is typical of all types of speakers, not just christian speakers. I am not a big fan of his message primarily because it seems more like a positive thinking message than the actual gospel of salvation through Christ. I don't begrudge him any money, he writes those books and people buy them. I have heard his wife can be hard to deal with, for whatever that is worth. He gets none of my money now days though I think my wife or I may have gotten one of his books very early on but that may have even been a gift.

Benny Hinn is a charlatan and a fraud on so many levels and some do call him out. One of his own nephews has done so as he has pursued a path toward Christ. https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/benny-hinns-nephew-discusses-excesses-errors-uncles-ministry/

Personally, I believe in supporting your local church and local charities and ministries first then branching out after that toward charities you can verify as worthy of getting your money.

People are searching, Pecker. Life can be hard and disappointing. Most of the guys you speak of are good at taking advantage of those people by making them feel better about their situation. Once you're invested in something like that, you can find yourself defending them even though you know something isn't right.

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Robert Tilton

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Three pages and no video? OT is slacking today.

The Farting Pastor starring Robert Tilton

Why is Goldberg from The Mighty Ducks interviewing Joel O'Steen?