Ministry Solicits To Pay For Jet (Benny Hinn's Ministry, That Is....

Houston Chronicle ^ | Dec. 15, 2006 | Mark Babinek

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

This version of Benny and the jet has nothing to do with the hit Elton John song.

"Benny" is Benny Hinn, the Dallas-area televangelist. The jet is Dove One, a Gulfstream G4SP that his ministry recently acquired, according to his Web site.

Hinn's ministry did not return a call from the Houston Chronicle, but it has very publicly sought help paying for the plane. Hinn wants 6,000 of his "partners" to donate $1,000 each toward the down payment. Extensive information about Dove One on the Web doesn't include the total cost, but similiar Gulfstream jets appear to sell for at least $30 million.

Donors of $1,000 or more get a scale model of Dove One and their names inscribed inside the plane, Hinn said.

But a frequent critic of televangelists, Ole Anthony, suggests another way if Hinn wants to reach unchurched people around the globe.

"For the amonunt of money it takes to fly one of these things, he could take his whole staff first-class on a commercial flight," said Anthony, head of the Trinity Foundation in Dallas.

Anthony's group has scrutinized Hinn's ministry for years, focusing particulary on such expenditures as a California parsonage overlooking the Pacific Ocean, reportedly worth about $10 million.

Hinn, on his Web site, says he is merely answering God's call in Isaiah 6:8: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

HInn's response: "Long ago I said, 'I will go, Lord. Send me! But I cannot do it without you, nor can I do all our wonderful Lord has called me to do without Dove One!"

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Wow, they get a miniature jet with their name inscribed inside it.

Hinn gets the real deal in return.

Yes, Benny needs this plane. Will you help him? He really needs your help so that he may fly in such comfort as this jet will afford.

Strangely, I Don't remember Isaiah 6:8 saying anything about getting a jet like this for heeding the call, but who am I to question Hinn.

Yes, all who heed the Lord's call get a jet like this, right?

[pgkdan]

Guys like Benny Hinn make Jim and Tammy Faye Baker look like saints.

[Fighting Irish]

Hinn, on his Web site, says he is merely answering God's call in Isaiah 6:8: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

The problem, Benny .... is the fact that you want to arrive like some friggin' king or something ... you stupid haired phoney.

[domenad]

B..b...b...b...Benny needs a jet!

[AppyPappy]

Living proof that you can get rich selling cheap Grace.

[Old_Mil]

But there also arose false prophets among the people, as among you also there will be false teachers, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you [KJV- make merchandise of you] with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn't linger, and their destruction will not slumber. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

[VaBthang4]

Just another journalist looking for something that'll stick.

The Man has a private plane for the same reasons all people who have them do...

Chiefly, because you can come and go anywhere as you please.

Egads...God forbid!!

[SmoothTalker]

I have never seen the allure of mega churches and TV ministry. So many of those guys seem like nothing but sleazy charlatans. I'm much happier attending a small church were everyone knows everyone else than a big impersonal warehouse style church with a minister raking in the big bucks from TV, etc.

[daviddennis]

He is looking a bit silly soliciting donations to pay for it after he bought it, though.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a high-income person, even a televangelist, buying a jet he can afford.

But there is something distinctly strange about someone buying a jet he's not sure if he can afford.

Has he considered maintenance costs? If he doesn't know, they're sky high, literally. Just in fuel and FAA-required maintenance I think you're talking about $3,000-odd an hour, and then I believe you need both pilot and copilot to fly it.

If you're not using it every day, it might be better to charter it - it would cost about $10,000 per flight hour which is a lot cheaper than millions of dollars + $3,000 a flight hour unless you have a lot of flight hours in mind. Or fractional ownership could work.

D

[dmz]

The Man has a private plane for the same reasons all people who have them do...
____________

Oh please. Most of the others have to pay for the plane themselves. Hinn is selling modern day indulgences to pay for his.

[pgkdan]

The Man has a private plane for the same reasons all people who have them do...

Most people that have them don't prey on the simple minded, infirm and financially insecure elderly to pay for their private planes.

[mtbopfuyn]

On the other hand, up in the air would make for an easier shot if God wanted to zot him.

[reagan_fanatic]

What a big time phony-baloney charlatan. This guy is about as sincere in his belief of Christ and his ministry as Karl Marx was. Hinn's in it for the money - period.

Hucksters like Benny do far more damage to legitimate ministries and outreaches than most people realize because they turn off people who are seeking real change in their life, but shun turning to God when they see such an obvious display of greed and avarice in someone who 'claims' to speak for the Lord.

Hinn can go on conning people in the name of God, but one day he himself will have to stand before the Almighty and give an account of his actions, and I doubt God will give him a passing grade.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Private jets are all the rage among televangelists these days:

http://www.elitecxteam.org/

[SENTINEL]

Did you know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a completely unpaid clergy ? They consider it an absolute sin to accept any form of "filthy lucre" in exchange for service.

Christ led by example in this and all things.

[upchuck]

You've suggested two excellent alternatives:

- Charter
- Fractional ownership

Either of these would work fine for most of us.

But not for Binny. As an uber-megalomaniac, he needs to "own" the plane to be satisfied.

I don't know much about him, but I suspect he's a sociopath.

[diogenes ghost]

I publish a weekly report of business aircraft transactions in the U.S., and I see a religious entity acquiring one at least once a month. From twin pistons up to Gulfstreams, but mostly in the Citation range. Off the top of my head, the largest single group of non-manufacturing owners would be builders/developers, followed by auto dealers.

[agrace]

We've come along way from "the Son of man has no place to lay his head," haven't we?

Benny's a crook, plain and simple. His fake miracles, false prophecies, lies about his personal history, fleecing of the faithful and nefarious financial ways are well documented.

[Wolfie]

Fools and their money...