Benny Hinn’s Bangalore congregation kicks up a fuss

Bangalore, Jan 16: The proposed ‘Pray for India’ programme later this week by American evangelist, Mr Benny Hinn has sparked a controversy with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh parivar organisations up in arms against it, dubbing it as one that’s intended to promote religious conversion.

The Florida-based pastor, who claims to have the power to heal the sick and dying, is slated to attend the three-day prayer meeting from January 21 at Jakkur Airfield here which has been touted by the organisers as a big show, saying lakhs of people from across the country are expected to attend it.

The event has drawn strong opposition from the BJP, the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Jagarana Vedike who see it as a conspiracy to convert the poor and vulnerable sections to Christianity.

The Bajrang Dal has already announced that 10,000 people would stage a demonstration at the venue. Vedike activists yesterday burnt publicity material of the proposed congregation. In fact, hoardings, banners and posters are now dotting various parts of the city.

Speaking to reporters here today, the Opposition BJP Leader in the legislative assembly, Mr B S Yediyurappa sought to take the state government to task for granting permission to hold the event at Jakkur Airfield, which is “sensitive” from the defence and security viewpoint.

Mr Yediyurappa termed as “unpardonable crime” and “insult to Hindus”, the circulation of pamphlets by organisers of the event criticising idol worship.

Accusing the organisers of promoting “wrong propaganda” that Mr Hinn is a “godman”, Mr Yediyurappa asked the government to reconsider its permission to the prayer meeting at Jakkur.

The Chief Minister, Mr N Dharam Singh has already stated that the government would not take any step to stop the programme, saying the administration cannot interfere with religious events.

Defending the convention, the organisers have said it is being conducted with “noble intention”. During his previous visit to Mumbai last year he did not speak anything about conversion or anything that affects the people’s religious sentiments, they said.

There are reports that Chief Ministers of some Congress-ruled states are likely to attend the meet. Mr Yediyurappa said while the government did not allow conduct of certain rituals at the Hindu-Muslim shrine at Bababudangiri Hills in Chikmagalur district late last year and amassed police force to enforce its decision, it’s now “organising and arranging” Mr Hinn’s programme.

Renowned Kannada litterateur and Jnanapeeth award winner, U R Ananthamurthy has cautioned Mr Dharam Singh against associating himself with the prayer meeting.

“The Chief Minister should not identify himself with this mass hysteria. We should not encourage this (mass hysteria),” Ananthamurthy said.

The police have said they have made elaborate security arrangements for the event.

Dear missyme,

Peaceful debate, don't be offended. I know you're sincere enough but I'm talking about Benny Hinn, not you.

Sorry but if anyone makes money selling spiritual things, it is WRONG, and that's the meaning of Jesus' cleansing the temple. He DOES NOT want such people inside his Church. Of course, those who prefer the sellers of turtle doves (After all, doesn't Benny Hinn promise you the Holy Spirit, i.e. dove?) are welcome to join them in the streets outside the Temple of God.

And secondly, the Gospel that he preaches is a clear contradiction of the Gospel of Christ. St Paul says that if anyone comes preaching a different Gospel, EVEN IF HE IS AN ANGEL we shouldn't receive him. But Benny Hinn is not an angel by any stretch of the imagination.

Thirdly, Have you ever read in the Bible about Jesus asking for donations?????? Think about this for a few moments.

Only St Paul asked, and that was for humanitarian work and not for evangelisation etc.

I have more to tell you but will patiently await your reply first.

God bless you and please realise that I am serious, I'm not just trying to bash Hinn.

Adrian

So should I judge my Pastor or Priest if he is driving a 2005 Mercedes? or if he is driving a 1965 Rambler?

That is up to you. I would wonder just how committed to core Christian values a pastor is who drives a 2005 Mercedes. He doesn't have to drive a heap - but, last I checked, Christ called upon his servants to eschew such trappings.

And I don't care if it is Benny Hinn or a stockbroker - if they don't provide an accounting of what happens to money entrusted to them, you shouldn't give them money. It's that simple.

Hinn's message is a distortion and perversion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and hence no gospel at all.

He has claimed that Jesus will appear on his stage.(unscriptural)

I have a close personal friend who spent much money traveling to one of his meetings to have her sick mother healed.

She actually witnessed what she considered as fraud.

I always wonder why he has so many body guards if he is able to blow the whole audience down?

And just so you know I am one who believes on the gifts of the spirit, including healing and workings of miracles.

Benny Hinn is not just driving a Mercedes. Here in Bangalore, hundreds of people who don't have enough money to pay for three meals a day have struggled for months to save up a few hundred rupees (or a few dollars, depending on your location) to donate to Hinn. They have sent it to the addresses mentioned on the God Channel. Hinn of course pockets the money and stays in the most expensive hotel in Bangalore - the Leela Palace - and his three days there - for his room alone - probably cost three years' salary for the average Indian, to say nothing of a really poor one. Not to mention his retinue and security, who will be indulging themselves in a similar fashion.

Well, part of the point is that Benny Hinn - whatever his pretensions - is Christlike in precisely two ways - he draws huge crowds, and some people criticise him. But even in the criticism there's a difference. Christ was criticised for being right about everything.

Adrian

I don't give Benny Hinn any money I do give other organizations money who ask for it.

I am curious to know something People for the most part who are not believers of Jesus Christ which would include:

(Meaning they don't believe he is The Son of GOD the Saviour of MAnkind)

Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Atheists,Buddhits, how would you introduce them to Jesus his word, his ministry his salvation? ANd they do not beleive the Holy Sciptures so how can you make a un-believer a believer?

Just because I personally think Hinn has gone into perverting the Word of God does not mean I think whether a person has money or not decides whether they are right or wrong with God.

I agree with you that God looks at the intent of the heart.

It might be wrong in Gods eyes to reject the prosperty that His word promises us.

My opinion on the riches America has been blessed with is that it was given, to be used to preach the gospel to all the nations. Not so that Christians could have a TV in every room, and drive fancy cars.

Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Atheists,Buddhits, how would you introduce them to Jesus his word, his ministry his salvation?

I've known people who were shot at for preaching Christianity in Pakistan. Plenty of missionaries are in the far corners of the globe. They don't do the circus act the way Hinn does. They just toil quietly and do good works while they spread their beliefs.

Adrian
God Bless the Indian People in there sincerity to find Christ.

Benny Hinn might be a fraud a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing I am not saying he is or he isn't all I am saying is that the 400,000 or maybe you know how many are attending this crusade who are sincerely seeking Our Lord will find him even if it is by a in-sincere man.

Look at it this way, say a Muslim who is thinking about becoming a suicide bomber walks into this Hinn Crusade and hear's of the love and healings Jesus can and will do if you seek him out wether or not Hinn is sincere that Muslim has just heard and opened his heart to Jesus Christ. Jesus says who ever opens the door (Of your heart) I will enter.

But if that Muslim leaves that Crusade giving up the violence he thought would be doing GOD's work to live out Jesus's Gospel of living in Peace, granting forgiveness what a wonderful thing that would be.

Who's to say Jesus does not prevail even when wickdnesses was the motive to begin with.

To me this is not about Benny Hinn it is about the thousands seeking the lord that would never step into a Christian Church or read the Bible. Although when they leave the crusade they might give a church and a Bible a chance

Hello again missyme

Thanks for making me think about more important things than Benny Hinn for a change!

I suppose that 80% of the world's Christian communities were formed before the days of Benny Hinn and his ilk. Unfortunately, Christianity was mostly spread by means of the sword of colonialism and by sincere missionaries who unconsciously made use of the ignorance of aboriginal peoples who were not in a position to argue with them.

Three ways in which the Gospel was spread back then remain eternally relevant. The first is "preaching in the synagogues" - not literally, but what that means is go out to those people who have already been partly prepared by God to receive the word of God. The second is when we are thrown out of the synagogues, we go out to the Gentiles. That means, we reach out to anyone who might be tolerant to us, whether they have a basic foundational knowledge or not. Of course not exploiting their ignorance. The third is to be the leaven that transforms the whole lump, by the witness of our Christian lives, even until martyrdom, which is how Christianity spread in its early centuries.

I can add to these biblical methods another one: Interreligious dialogue. We have the precedent for this in Paul's Areopagus address (Acts 17) in which his respect for the Greeks and their religion is the stepping stone to his proclamation of the Gospel.

I hope I have answered your question. Since I am not into direct evangelisation myself, I know little of the practicalities of it.

I think you're right about quite a few finding Jesus through Benny Hinn's ministry.

But what about the thousands who lose him?

What about the kidney patients who go off dialysis and suffer the consequences?

What about AIDS patients who believe they're healed, and go home to sleep with their partners?

What about children who believe that Benny Hinn actually raised a dead man? I am teaching religion at a school for the visually impaired and around ten of them set out joyfully for the Benny Hinn crusade, obviously dreaming that Hinn would heal them. What am I going to tell them about Christ when they all come back unhealed?

Amen...

GOD works in very Mysterious ways Ways that we human beings could really never comprehend. When the Passion of The Christ was shown in Muslim countries, Muslims went to see it because of the hateful message they thought would be there (The Jews killed Jesus wanted another reason to hate the Jews) OKay so that brought them to the theatre, but what did they see instead?

Jesus through the horrible beatings he took never condemned one man, forgiveness was the theme through-out the entire movie, as well as the END.

Jesus is not dead he is alive and seated at the right hand of the father, ready for every human being who seeks him out to give them a life not a temporary one we all have here on earth but a permanent one ETERNALLY. He loves all of us no matter who we are, and he is doing everything he can by everyone he can to show us the way to eternal life before it is to late...

Wether it's a Movie or a Crusade Jesus prevails in everything...

The message is Benny Hinn does not heal anyone Jesus Christ is the ONLY Spiritual Healer, people that go to these crusades have to look into there own hearts to see if they are seeking Jesus out of sincerity.

Jesus is not a pawn or someone you barter with He is the TRuth The Life if you are seeking him other than that your miracles of healings will fail.

Jesus knows what we need more than we know.

The 1 Epistle of John already identifies those who are antichrist (Scripture never teaches that there was or is to come a single man known as the antichrist).

Scripture and its accuracy are well attested. No doctrine or truth has been lost in the translation from Hebrew or Greek into any other language. Nor is any teaching of Jesus changed significantly by speculation that he spoke Aramaic. Indeed - Jesus may just as easily have spoken Greek. Nonetheless, as B.B. Warfield said we know we are handling the Word of God either in the text or the footnotes. Between primary and variant readings we know we possess God's Word.

Christians have a sure Word from God in Scripture. There is no need for the radical subjectivism you advocate. You ascribe differing interpretations to corruptions of the written texts. Would dueling dreams or feelings offer any additional certainty?

What if your meditation and my prayer find us with two contradictory beliefs. For instance - you defend Hinn as a proponent of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I find Hinn to be the enemy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our final rule of faith and practice is Scripture - not our subjective feelings and fancies.

Articles on the Bible
http://crta.org/bible/

Site Related to the Inspiration and Reliability of the Biblical Texts
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/Topics/Bible/Bible_Reliability.html

Why We Can Trust the Biblical Text
http://www.atlantaapologist.org/q2.html

The Best for Last: A Plethora of Articles Answering Your Confusion on the Nature of the Scriptures; their accurate transmission, translation and preservation and their Reliability
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/bible.html

The only thing Benny Hinn has been able to do for me is to point out a very meaningful Biblical scipture he recommended that I was able to receive my miracle from Jesus doing a 3 day Spiritual Fast.

Jesus was my Miracle worker. Hinn just pointed me in the direction that was out of the Holy Bible.

I gave Hinn no money....

I didn't say that...
Okay, I'm sorry if my words were misunderstood, so I'll just clarify my position.

Of course, the Healing Ministry is one of the functions of the Church, signifying the coming of the Kingdom.

But the Healing Crusade??? Where is it mentioned in the Bible? The first ever healing crusade was in the twentieth century and no earlier.

The Bible says that most people were healed in their houses or in small groups, with hardly any witnesses. And in fact, many were healed even without having personal faith in Jesus Christ, for instance the beggar outside the temple in Acts 3, to say nothing of the blind man in John 9 and the daughter of Jairus whom Jesus raised from the dead. The faith presumably came after the healing.

The absence of healings in a particular ministry should not unduly worry us. It is not essential in that sense but it is nevertheless one of the functions of the Church.

According to my faith, you're absolutely right when you say that Jesus prevails in everything.

One question remains, though - what am I called to do?

I believe that when confronted with a fraud like Benny Hinn, I am called to oppose him. May be you are called to do something else. I don't know, that may also be a part of God's plan for you and for me. May be God planned this debate as well, for our mutual benefit.

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