Posted on 01/17/2005 8:48:26 AM PST by missyme
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.
“Is the event not a conspiracy to convert people?,” he asked.
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.
He said Hindus would voluntarily protest the event.
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.
That's right. Ministries and churches need money in order to accomplish the things they need to do. Most ministries are honest ones and do much for the Kingdom of God. You will always find some that aren't but it seems here that most FReepers think they're all charlatans. That's not true.
I agree..All power is from GOD..and only Jesus knows Benny' Hinn's Heart and if he is sincere at his crusdaes...
If he can bring people to seek Jesus Christ out that is a wonderful thing...
We have to be very careful about critizing other Christians and their way of doing things. It may not be OUR way but who says OUR way is always right? God ALWAYS uses mankind to perform His works here. He works through US, that's why we need to be willing vessels, to lay hands on the sick, to cast out demons, to feed the poor and the widow, etc., to do what we see the Father doing. He doesn't throw it down from heaven, He blesses us by giving us that opportunity. Hinn may look strange to some, but only God knows His heart.
Judge not lest YE be judged, Dataman. We tread on dangerous spiritual ground when we condemn other Christians and their works. No man is perfect but God. They all make mistakes or assume things that may not be the entire truth. If he's a charlatan, he will answer to God. If he's the real thing, then WE will answer to God for our condemnation of him.
I agree, free life.
You are clearly mistaken in your understanding about supernatural healing. What you have said above is not the way that the New Testament describes healing. And this statement: If he actually had the "gift of healing" all he would need to do to prove it is to go to the nearest hospital and send everyone home well. really shows your ignorance on the subject.
As I said to the PresbyRev, I'll say to you:
Jesus went to a place with lots of sick people -- the pool at Bethsaida -- and only one man got healed.
There were many in Jesus' hometown which were not healed, either.
I totally agree with your post. I wanted to say some of the same things that you did but you said it much better.
Hinn has never said otherwise. He always gives praise to Jesus for healings and salvations.
I took some time to read some of the articles on that site. The author may have valid points about Hinn, but he seems to thrive on attacking for the sake of attacking.
He attacks Alpha and Billy Graham for supporting it. He attacks John Piper! He sets up straw men in his discussion of music in the church. And so on.
He has some great points, and his theology seems SOLID. But his preoccupation with criticism can lead people to see Christianity as the nitpicky religion rather than a healthy relationship with the Creator.
Woman Healed of Cerebral Palsy Through Vision
Emerson then took Marlene to his church. She had to be strapped in because her body was jerking so wildly.
"She was all scrunched up," says church member Lucille Bernard. "I thought to myself, `My, I didn't realize that it was going to be somebody this bad. Lord, this is going to have to be You.'"
Emerson had never had a miracle take place in his church.
"They gathered around me to pray," Marlene remembers, "and the pastor said, 'I don't know how to pray.' But he asked God to heal me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. And then they asked if I wanted to stand up on faith."
"Immediately upon lifting her out of the chair, we began to feel strength coming into her legs," says Emerson.
"She took a hold of the back of the pew, and she just leapt," Lucille Bernard recalls.
"My feet hit the floor, and I felt the floor for the first time in my life," Marlene says with a smile.
"Her knees and her toes pointed together, and everything was pointed in," remembers Emerson. "But with each step that she took, they started to straighten out. And as her toes and her knees straightened out, she got stronger and stronger. She took a few steps on her own, and then was literally running around the church."
"Then she started into going on a little bit of a dogtrot around the church," says Lucille. "Finally, she began praising the Lord and going around. And I tell you, you talk about the glory of the Lord -- we just shouted. The presence of the Lord was so real."
It was real enough for another miracle that night for the small congregation of seven.
"My eyes got really warm, and God told me to take off the glasses," Marlene recalls. "And when I did, my vision was perfect."
Lucille was astounded. "All of a sudden, she put her glasses aside. 'I don't need these anymore,' she said, and you could understand her. I was there -- nobody could tell me that was anything but the Lord."
After church, Marlene wanted to do something she'd never been able to do -- hold and eat an ice cream cone. At the ice cream parlor, they saw her therapist.
"I was surprised," Dr. White declares, "because one of those people I saw was Marlene, and she wasn't using a wheelchair. She was walking, and I just couldn't believe it."
Marlene's return to the hospital caused quite a reaction.
"The time from when she had left to when she came back was probably a two-hour period at max," remembers Nurse White. "It was quite a dramatic difference to see her return walking."
The Mayo doctors needed only to discharge Marlene to her home in Missouri.
The hospital records read: 'You returned to the rehabilitation unit that evening walking, something you'd never done since your admission to the unit. And when I saw you back at the clinic some weeks later, you'd improved even more. All signs of previous abnormality were gone. You were able to walk perfectly normal, and your eyesight had improved so much that you did not need to wear spectacles. We were all very thrilled and happy with the outcome of your condition.'"
But I'm betting the loot doesn't get deposited into Jesus Christ's bank account.
Why, thank you. I usually don't get complimented for my views on such subjects. I appreciate that.
Why, thank you. I usually don't get complimented for my views on such subjects. I appreciate that.
It was through Hinn's teachings on the Holy Spirit that I came to understand the Holy Spirit as a person of the trinity. My faith, understanding and relationship with Christ has been forever changed and deepened because of that teaching.
1) Got a link?
2) Was Benny Hinn involved in this incident in any manner?
I've seen enough instances of genuine faith healing to believe that it can happen. But just because it happens, it does not therefore prove that Hinn is anything less than a charletan who refuses to open his books to show where the money donated to his ministry goes.
Pat Robertson opens his books for public scrutiny. Hinn doesn't.
Those who profess to do the Lord's work and receive considerable donations to do His work should have glass windows for their accounting offices.
The Money goes to all these Crusades he holds around the world? Where the heck is he suppose to get the money to hold these crusades in countries where millions attend? Who is suppose to pay for it?
I despise those sites. I do not believe that the information contained within them are there for the "love of the body" and the preservation of such. I believe that the attacks are driven by religious spirits such as was in the Pharisees and Saducees. There is only condemnation on those pages.
He will not open his books. Pat Robertson does.
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