Posted on 01/24/2005 10:20:39 PM PST by Gengis Khan
BANGALORE: For three days now, the city has groaned under the weight of the Benny Hinn show. Many of the apparently healed have justified the need for the mega event despite the multitude of problems. But the jury is still out on whether Hinn is a fraud or someone with connections to the Lord.
Questions on people's minds regarding Hinn's healing methods and utterances indicate that all may not have been above board. Sample these: Why were only those cured allowed on stage? Colonel Samuel (retd) suffers from immobility of the right side of his body. Hoping for a miracle, he, with wife in tow, managed to shuffle up to the stage. Only to be jostled away by an organiser, who said: "Only if you are healed can you go on stage. If you're not healed by Jesus, your time has not come." Are they really cured forever? Why are there no doctors from city hospitals, but mostly from Hinn's ministry? What actually is the miracle? What is his modus operandi?
Neither Hinn nor his stooges have any answer except a tepid one, faith. One question that will probably never be answered is how many of the healed will wake up one of these mornings, after Hinn has left for greener pastures, feeling unhealed? Like all faith healers, Benny Hinn Inc. is unwilling to put the healing claims to scientific scrutiny.
Pre- and post-healing medical records can tell the truth, but nobody is volunteering this information; neither are they keeping a count of those healed. Responding to TOI's query on some people rushing to the stage for a cure, Hinn said: "This is psychosomatic healing wherein the mind is capable of enabling the body to think itself healed. Even before I come on stage, there have been cases where people have been healed; the music, prayers and atmosphere add to it."
Hinn's organisers had a different take. They said prayers were responsible for the healing and miracles.
Even before Hinn's visit, rationalists had voiced apprehensions about mass hysteria that can overtake a person and claim a cure. Explains magician KS Ramesh: "I have made Ganesha drink 10 litres of milk. I have performed the healing operations that psychic surgeons perform, but I tell people it's magic and there is no religion involved. Faith is a multi-million industry."
Hinn's ministry is an opulent one, making $100 million a year globally; of this, Rs 15-20 crore is raised by the Indian chapter alone. When Hinn said, "I have met the Pope twice," someone wondered aloud, "Why can't he cure the ailing Pope then?"
Nevertheless, Hinn will continue to reap the harvest of his Bangalore show till another prayer meet in Hyderabad in February 2006.
As many as 15,000 people who were allowed to get up close and personal with Benny Hinn's healing touch over the past three days were given sick passes, at a local church, well in advance of the event. This could be why only a chosen few were allowed to experience the healing powers at the three-day Festival of Blessings event of the US evangelist. The 15,000 sick passes were distributed at the Full Gospel Assembly of God Church, witnesses told The Times of India.
People were told three months ago that a certain pastor and healer by the name Benny Hinn would come. "We were told that whoever was sick in body and spirit could enroll himself for the healing," P Gangamma, a volunteer at the FGAG church stated.
Gangamma herself could not get a pass despite reportedly suffering from a uterus complaint. "I have a uterus problem and I don't know why they aren't taking me in for the healing," she said. Like Gangamma, there were Joseph Raja, Jennifer Nelson, Asha Pamreche and Satish Bambalgi, who were similarly not given access to Hinn's miraculous healing session.
A man, who was accompanying his cerebral palsy-affected son, said: "I will do anything to get my two-year-old son cured. I only want Hinn to touch him because I believe he will be cured. I have been coming to the programme for three days now, but could not meet Hinn."
The choice of people to be healed by Hinn was highly selective, which has cast a shadow of doubt on whether the healing was for real or a mere show. N Bharath, a paralysed man from Madhya Pradesh who was among the chosen lot, told TOI that he was asked by Hinn's American volunteers about how long it had been since he stood on his feet. When Bharath replied that it had been 13 years, the volunteers refused to allow him access to the healing.
He was among the thousands of people who came with hopes of getting cured but were turned away by Hinn's healing redtape. On Sunday, hundreds of people had to make way for a plethora of VVIP platinum pass-holders .
Actually, reading the article back, 15000 were given passes/tickets. Don't know what the cure rate was (if any), just know the hosting nation wasn't Christian and wrote about it like Democrats reporting on Bush.
425K is cheap, I have a friend who's lawyer divorce bill alone was $250K, not counting court costs.
So, imagine a having to defend a bunch of rabid ACLU lawyers, all the made up other witnesses that would be brought to such a trial to claim they hate Paul for this and that and all the negative publicity.
If you look into many churches, the hard core members often act like spoiled children and get miffed if they lose control or have to share their little kingdoms.
I'm positive that if the ACLU wanted to go to court to help validate any charges against any church, there would be ADDITIONAL people coming out of the wood work that were unhappy and would be so happy to spout off.
Keep in mind that many in Church have big problems in their life and in some cases their mind.
You take an international ministry like this and the potential for BS is grand and the potential for damage from false testimony is huge.
Yes but the story got out anyway. Crouch admitted the crime when he settled for the money. It sounds like a payoff to keep the guy quiet. He paid the guy a pile of money to keep quiet. That's basically an admission of guilt.
Now the story is out and TBN is out of $425k. What good was this whole process?
The story got out because the criminal wasn't satisfied and came back to try and extort millions.
He broke the contract and wrote a book.
I think this will now be seen as more of the attack it is and may be pursued for the extortion it is.
The fellow making these accusations has already served time for statutory rape and drugs use.
Which is why I don't understand why Crouch settled with the guy.
So .. if the people of that day (most of whom didn't have $50) fed Jesus .. and fed His diciples .. and provided Him with housing .. that wouldn't be construed by you as PAYMENT FOR HEALING ..??? My my my .. looks like we have a little double standard here.
And .. I still don't see any evidence that Hinn is CHARGING "$50 a pop" to receive healing. Just because somebody you know gave a $50 offering .. that doesn't qualify.
Well .. people are entitled to their opinion about everybody. But .. it's more valuable to do your own research.
For a person who is not a born-again believer, these things seem like foolishness (and that's almost a direct quote from Jesus - in the Bible).
Since a Rabbi is Jewish and they reject Jesus as the Messiah - how can I take his assessment of Hinn as of value ..?? That's just not logical.
Healing via the Holy Spirit is not foolishness. Getting rich off selling the service is foolishness. Hinn has made a mountain of money selling "his" healing powers.
The article also quotes a Christian theologian. There's inter-faith agreement on the matter of Hinn's perfidy.
Again, in what millennium do you expect atheist scientists will validate religion at all?You can explain the same accuracy of you decided to let a rabid DU member do your bio on your self page.
We're not talking about religion—we're talking about Hinn's religiously cloaked quackery-for-money scam.
Like I said .. people are entitled to their opinion. The problem comes when we determine a person's OPINION to be fact. Of course, it's your choice to believe some supposed "Christian theologian" with whom you have no relationship.
Also .. any true Christian would "never speak evil" of another Christian.
Like I said .. people are entitled to their opinion. The problem comes when we determine a person's OPINION to be fact.
Did you read the article...the entire article?
You're correct - healing via the Holy Spirit is not foolishness .. and having expierenced several miraculous healings in my walk with GOD - I can attest they are real. But castigating some preacher whom you perceive as doing something wrong just because his healing method doesn't fit what you think it should be .. it's just not necessary.
The fact he's made money does not mean he's doing anything illegal or evil. And .. you still have provided no evidence to support your charge that Hinn's "selling his service".
If you just check out Abraham - you will find that GOD blessed him in such abundance that he had to give stuff away. GOD blesses people when they obey Him. And .. as we have seen (by the destruction of other ministries) .. when they don't obey Him, they are taken out of service.
I'm more than willing to allow GOD to make that judgment in Benny Hinn's case. I don't follow Mr. Hinn's ministry - but that's because GOD never told me I should. I have other ministries which I lean toward - mainly teaching ministries.
If GOD doesn't call you to follow a certain ministry - then just let it be; especially if it seems to be doing things you don't understand. Ask GOD to explain it to you - I'm confident HE will.
Hinn's Bread and Butter is healing. He has gotten very wealthy doing it. That's his marketing angle. People come to him for healing and he receives a lot of money in return.
Connect the dots. It may not be illegal but it is immoral. It is immoral to take something that God is doing and using it to get rich. A preacher should not be involved in immoral practices.
No! I have no desire to read an article from some supposed "Christian theologian" whom I don't know.
I know GOD personally .. and I know what I believe about HIM, as evidenced by what I have read in the Bible.
Most of the time .. these types of articles are just sour grapes because these people perceive GOD to be a certain way and they cannot abide anybody believing other than what they believe. Or .. the real sour grapes is that Hinn's making MONEY AND THEY AREN'T - so there has to be something evil about it. Good grief!
Sorry .. I know what I believe (and it's based on my personal experiences) - but I have never, ever forced anybody to believe the way I do.
Well .. you're entitled to your opinion.
But .. have you ever laid hands on someone and watched the power of GOD flow through them (from you to them) - have you watched as their pale gray appearance suddenly turned to a peach color ..?? Would you consider that an "immoral practice" - whether or not money was received for that act ..?? And .. if no money was received - would the act then become moral while if money was received it would be immoral ..?? That's illogical.
If I was getting rich doing it, I would question from whence the power flows.
equip.org
The prophet: JOHN HINKLE.
The platform: The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
The prophecy: “The most cataclysmic experience that the world has ever known since the Resurrection…is going to happen.”
Hinkle had everyone’s ear, He claimed that God, “in the most awesome voice,” told him that “on Thursday, June the ninth (1994), I will rip the evil out of this world,”2
In his August 1993 newsletter, TBN president Paul Crouch elaborated on Hinkle’s pronouncement. The voice, said Crouch, was “so loud and clear that it sounded like a great bell being rung by his ear” (emphasis in original). 3
Four days before this apocalyptic event was to take place. Hinkle, pastor of Christ Church Los Angeles (formerly Christ Church Unity), assured parishioners that “the glory of the Lord is coming upon everyone in this world in such a way they will see it outside but 10,000 times more they will feel it inside.”4 As thousands waited anxiously for “D-Day” to arrive. Crouch assured his vast television audience, “John has promised to be our special guest on June 9th, 1994— that is, if we have not already been lifted to meet the Lord in the air!”5
Hinkle was a no-show on June 9th. And so was the “cataclysmic experience.”
Neither Crouch nor the pastor he made famous apologized for the false prophecy. Instead, they employed a tactic that worked for the Watchtower Society some 80 years earlier, Like the Jehovah’s Witnesses who predicted Christ would return in 1914, they proclaimed that their prophecy had come to pass — only invisibly.
Crouch hedged his bets early. On June 2nd he declared, “Something may happen invisibly.”6 Hinkle, however, waited for June 9th to come and go. Then he sent his congregation the following communique: “At first myself and others were very disappointed it did not take place in the way we expected. It did begin, and is continuing to take place, but it happened in the spiritual realm first.”7
In this final decade of the second millennium, prophetic pronouncements such as Hinkle’s seem almost to have become the rule rather than the exception. A growing cacophony of voices now claim to have discovered the date of Christ’s return.
Don't forget-
2 Thesalonians 2:9. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10. and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12. that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (NKJV)
And
Matthew 7: 21. "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22. "Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (NKJV)
Well .. it's always good to question where the power is flowing from .. but I just don't understand why people get so upset because God chooses to bless those who are willing to do HIS will.
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