Posted on 11/18/2012 12:31:13 PM PST by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
I’m conflicted about Trinity Broadcast Network, which wrapped up its Fall Praise-A-Thon today.
There is no denying that “America’s most-watched faith and family friendly network,” as TBN advertises itself, provides a service to the Christian faithful.
I, for one, appreciate the platform it provides for such pastors as Ken Copeland, Charles Stanley, John Hagee, Ed Young Sr., David Jeremiah and Joel Osteen.
I also enjoy the praise and worship music it presents from such Christian artists as Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, Michael W. Smith, Israel Houghton, Martha Munizzi and Cindy Cruse Ratcliff.
Yet, my soul is troubled by news reports of what goes on behind the scenes of the network founded 39 years ago by Paul and Jan Crouch:
A bitter division within the Crouch family that belies the happy front 78-year-old Paul and 74-year-old Jan, and son Matthew and wife Laurie, put on while hosting TBN’s Praise-A-Thon this past week.
Lavish spending by “Papa” and “Mama,” as Paul and Jan are called on air, which might be acceptable for a billionaire couple like Bill and Melinda Gates, but not for a putative Christian couple that has spent the past week encouraging its viewers to “plant of seed” with TBN of $100 or $1000 or more if they desire God’s favor.
This past Spring, Brittany Crouch Koper, the 26-year-old granddaughter of Paul and Jan Crouch, went public with allegations of scandalous, decidedly unGodly behavior within the Crouch family.
That includes, she said, the family’s cover-up of a “bloody sexual assault,” as well as infidelities by both Mama and Papa Crouch, and repeated incidents in which Uncle Matt Crouch exposed his genitals to TBN cleaning staff.
Equally damning were allegations by Brittany, who served as TBN’s finance director, of unscrupulous financial practices by the non-profit Christian enterprise.
Indeed, Mama and Papa Crouch have his-and-her $5.6 million mansions one street apart in Newport Beach, California. Mama spends little time at her SoCal estate because she’s usually at a huge TBN-owned home in Orlando – where she oversees the company’s Holy Land Experience theme park – which is adjacent to a similarly lavish home there Papa uses on his rare visits to the Sunshine State.
The Crouches travel back and forth across the country, and around the world, in TBN jets valued at $8 million and $49 million apiece. The Christian TV network also owns a Bentley, which Papa Crouch sometimes uses to get from place to place.
“People have been conned by my grandparents,” said Britany, who is estranged from the Crouch family along her dad, Paul Jr., who used to host both “Praise the Lord” and “Behind the Scenes” TBN’s flagship programs, before parting ways with his parents last year.
Now, there’s little dispute that Paul and Jan Crouch have done a great work in growing TBN over the past four decades, from renting a couple hours a day on a small SoCal television station back in 1973 to overseeing the vast broadcasting empire network TBN is today.
But “Papa” and “Mama” must well know, from reading the Bible, that their works, however great that may be, are as “filthy rags” in the eyes of God.
It would be awesome if a conservative could build a network like this whack-a-doo’s did
And Paul’s “sex with men” problem.
They are shysters of the worst sort.
One of their stations is based in my town, it looks like a miniature White House.... geez
Go to scripture.
Read every New Testament passage on giving. What did Christ and the early church and apostles say about giving?
Generously, cheerfully, to those in need, to the poor.
What would Jesus do?
Occasionally, they show some good Christian movies on there, but I can’t stand all of the ‘prosperity gospel’ stuff.
Ask for money, money, money with their homes and also a ranch which several horses are kept. A good racket going for so called Christians and their followers are being suckered in.
bump!!
Those who take a vow of poverty are to remain poor.
So why is this wonderful grandchild so estranged?
People can give what they want to.
My mom (who passed) used to go into the OC and help with thre prayer lines in the 90s. She felt they were real and genuine people.
This is a private ministry. The ones that take off have wealth and those that don’t do not.
If you feel to give, do so.
If you do not, don’t.
If they have these big mansions and cars, I guess they don’t need that much then, right?
this is what you get when you have network that is based on the age old errors of sola scriptura, and sola fide....
i stick with EWTN, we have His catholic worldview based on His word, His authoritative teaching church, and His Sacred tradition...
all devoted to the word of God....
nothing vaguely close to what happens on TBN.....
From my perspective, Billy Graham always set a fine standard for ministers, in terms of personal and financial conduct. His “salary” was extremely modest, and he has lived, for decades, in a comfortable home in the North Carolina mountains that is hardly a mansion.
Compare that to the opulent lifestyles of Crouch clan. I get the impression that the granddaughter wouldn’t be so upset if she hadn’t been kicked off the gravy train. Quite frankly, I’m surprised their empire hasn’t imploded already; it’s also a little disturbing to see ministers I admire (John Hagee, Charles Stanley and even Franklin Graham) paying homage to Paul and Jan, (apparently) to maintain access to their satellite channel.
This should be charged as a criminal conspiracy, racketeering, and the Crouch’s thrown into jail. Same goes for Joel Osteen and his ilk.
I miss him, too.
It’s Friday night, but Sunday’s coming!
“this is what you get when you have network that is based on the age old errors of sola scriptura, and sola fide....”
Oh please,, the vatican and the Bishops ain’t exactly living in poverty. They live the lives that equal any monarch as far as wealth. The RCC is one of the wealthiest organizations on earth. And sexual perversion on little boys was hidden and covered up. (ahem,,disciplined “internally”)
And their obvious shortcoming are failings of individuals, not of their theology. And this is also the case at Trinity. Try again papist fanboy
The
AGREED, there is wealth in rome, and their are individual sinners, but we are talking the network. tbn is based on shows that follow the errors of sola this and that...man made, thus man made shows and man made biz practices to run the network....
ewtn doesnt have that issue, it is God centered with one set of historic biblical doctrine from show to show....no health and wealth.....etc.....and it is run thusly....and is an exemplary model of christian biz practices..
“HIS Catholic worldview”
???
I don’t recall anything “catholic” in the Bible. I’ve read a lot of Catholic religious posts on FR and most of them never mention Jesus. They sure like naming their churches and devoting prayers to non-deities though.
I don’t tune into TBN but really appreciate the satellite offshoot “The Church Channel” . . .with preachers such as Graham from Texas, Merritt, Rogers, Stanley, Roth. This Satellite brings credibility to that part of the “empire”.
of course you dont recall His catholic world view, you have been brought up to believe man made sola this and sola that...thus like any other preacher, you can READ INTO the word, whatever you want, as opposed TO WHAT HIS AUTHORITATIVE CHURCH THAT HE LEFT TO TEACH IN HIS NAME, ACTUALLY TEACHES....
remember, the church is the pillar and foundation of all truth, (1 Timothy 3:15) not the bible.
They have done a lot for the kingdom. I applaud them for that. They haven t been perfect according to the accusations. But they have been leaders for God imo.
Church was also defined as two or more people coming together to worship HIM. Never mentioned anything about a Pope. And calling anyone “infallable” is blasphemous
Don’t know why you put that in quotes to respond to me. I never said that.
And i am not in the Catholic hater zone. Every catholic know speaks of Jesus constantly and they are my Christia bretheren. They are in error as to their belief that THEY alone have some sort of divine right to represent Jesus church.
This leads them to insufferable arrogance, and lead to God leading men to create the reformation.
I was only critiquing this predictable Catholic cheerleaders response to a story that in no way was caused by the protesant theology. That idiotic statement makes as much sense as saying little boys getting buggered by a homo priest and having it covered up by his leader was a result of Catholic theology.
Those at Trinity, and the evil priests, are nothing but people harming their respective theologies.
NOthing in my Baptist faith tells me that Catholics are not my bretheren. And i will indeed scrap with a brother sometimes, but that don’t mean they aren’t in my family.
your ignorance of history is showing here.....the pope isnt infallible unless speaking ‘ex cathedra’ on faith and moral issues being defined for the whole church.
secondly, the scripture is: For where two or more gather in my name, there I am with them.
nowhere does it mention that as a church.
and g....just to be a bit more specific..he nvr said two or more...in actuality if you check multiple versions of the Bible, and you’ll see these specific words from Christ:
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (NIV)
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (KJV)
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (ESV)
“And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”(The Message)
I just want to know why that woman’s hair is pink.
I'm not. A lot of bad theology from folks that can make Jim Bakker look good. Reverend Ike has more personal integrity.
The serpentine TBN bastards have been heretics for at least 30 years now ... documented a looooong time ago by Dave Hunt in “The Seduction of Christianity”.
So as it was in the days of Jim & Tammy Fay Bakker and their “PTL Club”.
PTL: “Pass the Loot”.
it is not incorrect to state that sole this and sola that which allows individual men to read into scripture such things as ‘health and wealth’ which is a big part of tBn programming, etc....
but, it is incorrect to state that His catholic biblical doctrine has had any catholic priest READ INTO THE WORD the permission of homosexuality/pedophilia, that is simply sin, not a repudiation of His authoritative teaching church.
I quit watching them decades ago. They did not teach the Bible. I am not into all of this “feel good” junk and that includes many others on tv.
I do find it fascinating though. In one breath, i can be criticized for looking solely to the scripture and prayer (direct to God prayer),,,,
Then without a hint of irony, the same critic will try to use the scripture to try to prove HIS point of the moment, usually the papacy, what constitutes the church, etc.
I always smirk when im wrong for following the Bible, and a catholic can prove it to me by referring to,,,,wait for it.
The BIBLE.
As i see it, the main difference is who gets to tell me what it means. DO you need a centralized authority figure in a castle, or can an individual read it, and prayerfully approach God? And i think this is why the RCC has had such historic success in places plagued by Monarches and strong central governments (excepting communist).
Protestant doctrine seems to appeal more to people as they embrace the individual and freedom of thought.
I feel fine when i remember that everyone stands alone to be judged before God. So if i am judged that way, it makes sense that God is comfortable being prayed to by me and won’t worry that i didn’t follow some temporal, error prone, chain of command.
YBPDL-something-something-PING
Cable Company Goes TBN 24/7 for Delinquent Customers
Writers' Strike Hits TBN Hard
EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Trinity Broadcasting Network Run by Atheists
To me they have never presented the Word of God in a holy and just manner. As a friend of mine says == “It’s all showy so they can get more money.”
I think she is right.
Prosperity gospel will send you to hell. It is not a gospel. It is not the gospel of grace that Paul tells us to follow. Any other gospel will certainly get your toes burned. Stay away from it. Only the gospel of death, burial and resurrection gets you to heaven.
**God’s ministers are not expected to take a vow of poverty**
That statement is in conflict with the Bible. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew and the other apostles left everything BEHIND to follow Jesus.
Read your Bible!
False Teachers always live in lavishness. It is the lavishness that is the problem of the prosperity gospel. God will make you prosperous if you give to this ministry or tha ministry - where is that in the Bible.
A man centered theology will make lots of promises that it is unable to deliver. what happens to the people whom given so much and received so little in return - they generally walk away from the so called church of these charltans.
God works in a different way - a workman is worth his wages. God will provide for a workman, but does God desire his servant his live in such lavishness that it cause for problems whereby others look at the ministry as corrupt.
Years ago another prosperity teacher had a problem with wealth and health gospel, but also he was caught in a homosexual relationship - this false teacher Roberts Liardon left California for Europe.
really is God blessing these false teachers or is it the false teachers blessing themselves
Oral Roberts - Seed faith - what a joke
Jimmy Swaggart - sex with a prostitute
James Bakker
do you want me to go on with the false teachers.
What is the fruit that these ministers bearing - Good fruit or just a works righteous basis that has spiritual weaklings that fall away when the difficulties arise.
What Catholic teachings do you view as more authoritative than the Bible itself, and where do they come from? Does the Catholic church hierarchy have some sort of direct line to God...a red phone on the Pope’s nightstand? I don’t see how any of the charges you make toward protestants can’t be leveled at the Catholic church as well. Again, where does Catholic doctrine come from, if not from the Bible?
During the few times in recent months in which I have tried to watch it to see if anything had changed for the better I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Laughing usually won out, especially when the "lady" with the circus clown makeup and fake white hairdo approximately the size of a bushel basket, presumably Jan Crouch, seemed to be in charge of the program. If I wanted to watch a freak show I would patronize a traveling carnival, not a "Christian" satellite TV station.
The flaw in your logic is that sole this and sola that, is not the cause of their grifter lifestyle. It’s the ruse they use to separate people from their cash.
Billy Graham holds the same theology, as do many others who are on the right path, and doing Gods work.
If a thief pretends to be a representative of the gas company to trick you into letting them in, that doesn’t say ANYTHING about the gas company. The thief was a false representative.
Father Corapi was a very recent example of this. But i never saw a post nutty enough to say that his behavior proves that the sermons he preached were incorrect. He used the right words and some good word of God. His sermons were fine by me. But he saw that he could use his fame to achieve his own ends. Same as Trinity.
Another example might be a fake donation jar, set out in the middle legitimate effort, for a kid who needs a transplant. A crook claiming to be part of the cause, does not mean the others were are not fully legitimate.
Trinity claiming to be of a certain theology doesn’t make it so.
It speaks to the crook, not the theology they use to achieve a greedy end. Surely you can see that.
S. M. Lockridge (1913-2000) was a prominent African-American preacher known for his dynamic, passionate, and fervent sermons. His most famous sermon was “He’s my King.” Several years ago author and speaker Tony Campolo was so impressed by Lockridge’s lesson on “It’s Friday But Sunday’s Coming” that he began to deliver the lesson himself and even wrote a book with that title.
I don’t know about their lifestyles but the line up on this and other Christian stations is pathetic. Mostly a bunch of con men and/or prosperity ministers, many of which SUPPORT obama which is reprehensible.
I’m sick of it. I NEED good Christian broadcasting and I just don’t get it at all.
“Laughing usually won out, especially when the “lady” with the circus clown makeup and fake white hairdo approximately the size of a bushel basket, presumably Jan Crouch, seemed to be in charge of the program. If I wanted to watch a freak show I would patronize a traveling carnival, not a “Christian” satellite TV station.”
Reminds me of my old math teacher long ago. She was teaching us to check our work. She said first, just look at it to see if it even makes sense. If you divide 24 by 3, and got 80, she said you don’t even need to know the right answer to know that 80 is incorrect.
Thats how i feel when i see those two on TV. I may not have all the theological answers,,but im sure they ain’t it.
Satellite - The Hooters
Hush little baby don’t cry like that
God’s gonna buy you a cadillac
he’s chosen you to do his will
you can spread the world in your coupe de ville
so jump in the river and learn to swim
God’s gonna wash away all your sins
and if you still can’t see the light
God’s gonna buy you a satellite
look to the heavens and see it shine
heals the sick and leads the blind
tune it in and hear it say
it’s counting down to judgement day
so jump in the river ...
hey satellite man your time has come
your words received by everyone
and should you fall, well that’s ok
you love the ones that you betray
so jump in the river and learn to swim
God’s gonna take away all your sins
and when at last you see the light
God’s gonna buy you a satellite
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