Benny Hinn's Gospel of Personal Prosperity
Benny Hinn was in Toronto this past weekend for three shows at the ACC, preaching his gospel of greed. Admission to his shows are always free, but money buckets are circulated through the audience at every show without exception, to collect the expected "donations". Those donations add to a yearly income for Hinn that is estimated to reach a total of $250 million. As a licensed minister Hinn is not required by United States law to divulge his salary or accept being held to any accountability for his finances.
Pastor Benny, great proponent of the Prosperity Gospel that he is, takes this exemption from accounting for himself very seriously. Other big-name evangelists like Pat Robertson and Billy Graham have enough respect for the people to whom they minister to become members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and adhere to the seven standards of accountability set forth by it. There are in fact over 1,100 members, but Toufik Benedictus Hinn is not among that number.
According to this greedy little televangelist, if a member of the faithful expresses that faith by giving money to him, God will reward the believer with the health and/or wealth they desire. Remember those donation buckets? Hinn's passing around of those buckets is timed with all the expertise of a sideshow charlatan. Sent out just before the "healing" part of the sideshow is staged, they are preceded by Hinn's admonition to keep in mind that those who sow bountifully will reap bountifully. "Sowing monetary seed into the ministry" is Hinn's euphemism for "gimme, gimme gimme". Hinn relies on the gullible, the easily duped and the desperate to continue "donating" to his gimme ministry in the numbers necessary for him to maintain the lifestyle he currently enjoys.
Reporter Bob McKeown of TV's Fifth Estate obtained confidential financial records from inside the Gospel of Prosperity's ministry and went over them with Roddy Allen, a forensic accountant from the firm of Kroll Linquist Avey. Allen's declaration after poring over the records was that, "it would be hard to persuade me that you had to incur that kind of expense in order to accomplish a business objective."
What kind of inexcusable expense could Allen possibly be talking about, especially in light of the pastor's assurances that he keeps not a penny for himself and spends only what he needs to in order to do God's work? You don't think it could perhaps be anything like that one night stay at London's prestigious Lanesborough Hotel in 2003, do you? It's true that if you go to the hotel's website, you will find that it has a five-star rating and is described as "London's most luxurious hotel ... flawlessly maintained with 1820's (handcrafted period) furnishings concealing 21st century technology." but Hinn insists such stopover locations are necessary for the security they offer. The question of why Hinn doesn't simply trust to the Almighty to watch over him occurs to me.
A copy of the bill for that one particular stay can be viewed online as a PDF. If you look at it, you'll see that the hotel cash register rang up a bill of £3,347.67, (approximately $6,695 US) for God's avaricious apostle that night. Hinn surely did a powerful lot of proselytizing for that amount, don't you think? The spirit must have moved through him to a boogie beat for that many pretty pennies.
This supposed man of God, with his avowals of keeping not one penny for himself, turning every cent instead back into the ministry, nonetheless drives a luxury vehicle valued at $80,000.00 and relaxes at home by playing on his own golf course at his mansion home. It might seem an incongruous lifestyle for someone who claims to follow in the footsteps of the humble Jesus, but a man who channels the healing of God to those sufficiently moved to give the right amount of cash must indeed have an incredible need for something to help him cope with the load.
Hinn's ministry has been investigated for fraud, but no evidence has been found so far, and that's only as it should be. After all, how could anyone charge such an honest man as Hinn with malfeasance? If you need proof of his innocence, you need only look to the transcript of one airing of Larry King Live, when Hinn was describing his own suffering from a head cold. He told King that just at the moment when he couldn't get a single breath of air past the snot clogging his nose, he happened to see an airing of his own TV show coming right at him over the healing airwaves. The televised Hinn intoned his usual routine about reaching out to the TV. The head cold Hinn had only a moment to think how stupid it would be for him to touch himself on the TV before the Almighty himself whispered in his ear that the man on the screen was indeed one of his chosen ones. Lo! Hinn reached out and was healed. Now, if you're still standing; if you haven't been overcome with emotional response to this story; let me hit you with the coup de grace. Hinn didn't even send himself a bill. That's right. He did not solicit from himself even one penny in the form of a seed sown into the ministry.
Jesus lived a life of self-denial. There were no opulent living quarters for him; no luxury vehicles to take him to those to whom he ministered. Jesus lived a simple lifestyle and those who claim to serve him step out over a theological abyss when they indulge in opulence while pretending virtuosity. U2 says it well in one of their songs when they declare, "The god I believe in ain't short of cash, mister." They could have been speaking directly to Hinn himself.
If Toufik Benedictus wants to put to rest all criticism of himself as a self-aggrandizing charlatan, he could do no better than to sell his mansion and his car tonight. Shutting down his BHM and going on the road instead to minister to the needy where he finds them and sharing their lifestyle would prove to everyone his sincerity when he says he wants to channel the presence of god to those who seek it. He should donate his wardrobe to the Salvation Army immediately and begin wearing homespun. Gandhi, the Great Soul, clad himself in the humble dhoti while he preached his words of peace. Pictures of him thus attired have become synonymous with caring for all of humankind, not only those who give large enough donations.
What is Hinn's picture synonymous with, other than the dollar bill?
Pastor Benny, great proponent of the Prosperity Gospel that he is, takes this exemption from accounting for himself very seriously. Other big-name evangelists like Pat Robertson and Billy Graham have enough respect for the people to whom they minister to become members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and adhere to the seven standards of accountability set forth by it. There are in fact over 1,100 members, but Toufik Benedictus Hinn is not among that number.
According to this greedy little televangelist, if a member of the faithful expresses that faith by giving money to him, God will reward the believer with the health and/or wealth they desire. Remember those donation buckets? Hinn's passing around of those buckets is timed with all the expertise of a sideshow charlatan. Sent out just before the "healing" part of the sideshow is staged, they are preceded by Hinn's admonition to keep in mind that those who sow bountifully will reap bountifully. "Sowing monetary seed into the ministry" is Hinn's euphemism for "gimme, gimme gimme". Hinn relies on the gullible, the easily duped and the desperate to continue "donating" to his gimme ministry in the numbers necessary for him to maintain the lifestyle he currently enjoys.
Reporter Bob McKeown of TV's Fifth Estate obtained confidential financial records from inside the Gospel of Prosperity's ministry and went over them with Roddy Allen, a forensic accountant from the firm of Kroll Linquist Avey. Allen's declaration after poring over the records was that, "it would be hard to persuade me that you had to incur that kind of expense in order to accomplish a business objective."
What kind of inexcusable expense could Allen possibly be talking about, especially in light of the pastor's assurances that he keeps not a penny for himself and spends only what he needs to in order to do God's work? You don't think it could perhaps be anything like that one night stay at London's prestigious Lanesborough Hotel in 2003, do you? It's true that if you go to the hotel's website, you will find that it has a five-star rating and is described as "London's most luxurious hotel ... flawlessly maintained with 1820's (handcrafted period) furnishings concealing 21st century technology." but Hinn insists such stopover locations are necessary for the security they offer. The question of why Hinn doesn't simply trust to the Almighty to watch over him occurs to me.
A copy of the bill for that one particular stay can be viewed online as a PDF. If you look at it, you'll see that the hotel cash register rang up a bill of £3,347.67, (approximately $6,695 US) for God's avaricious apostle that night. Hinn surely did a powerful lot of proselytizing for that amount, don't you think? The spirit must have moved through him to a boogie beat for that many pretty pennies.
This supposed man of God, with his avowals of keeping not one penny for himself, turning every cent instead back into the ministry, nonetheless drives a luxury vehicle valued at $80,000.00 and relaxes at home by playing on his own golf course at his mansion home. It might seem an incongruous lifestyle for someone who claims to follow in the footsteps of the humble Jesus, but a man who channels the healing of God to those sufficiently moved to give the right amount of cash must indeed have an incredible need for something to help him cope with the load.
Hinn's ministry has been investigated for fraud, but no evidence has been found so far, and that's only as it should be. After all, how could anyone charge such an honest man as Hinn with malfeasance? If you need proof of his innocence, you need only look to the transcript of one airing of Larry King Live, when Hinn was describing his own suffering from a head cold. He told King that just at the moment when he couldn't get a single breath of air past the snot clogging his nose, he happened to see an airing of his own TV show coming right at him over the healing airwaves. The televised Hinn intoned his usual routine about reaching out to the TV. The head cold Hinn had only a moment to think how stupid it would be for him to touch himself on the TV before the Almighty himself whispered in his ear that the man on the screen was indeed one of his chosen ones. Lo! Hinn reached out and was healed. Now, if you're still standing; if you haven't been overcome with emotional response to this story; let me hit you with the coup de grace. Hinn didn't even send himself a bill. That's right. He did not solicit from himself even one penny in the form of a seed sown into the ministry.
Jesus lived a life of self-denial. There were no opulent living quarters for him; no luxury vehicles to take him to those to whom he ministered. Jesus lived a simple lifestyle and those who claim to serve him step out over a theological abyss when they indulge in opulence while pretending virtuosity. U2 says it well in one of their songs when they declare, "The god I believe in ain't short of cash, mister." They could have been speaking directly to Hinn himself.
If Toufik Benedictus wants to put to rest all criticism of himself as a self-aggrandizing charlatan, he could do no better than to sell his mansion and his car tonight. Shutting down his BHM and going on the road instead to minister to the needy where he finds them and sharing their lifestyle would prove to everyone his sincerity when he says he wants to channel the presence of god to those who seek it. He should donate his wardrobe to the Salvation Army immediately and begin wearing homespun. Gandhi, the Great Soul, clad himself in the humble dhoti while he preached his words of peace. Pictures of him thus attired have become synonymous with caring for all of humankind, not only those who give large enough donations.
What is Hinn's picture synonymous with, other than the dollar bill?
1 Comments:
AKA?
Can I have your permission to repost this on my blog???
It's brilliant.
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