TV Evangelists

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I am very interested in what you guys think of TV evangelists. Are they servants of God? Or Mammon?

Do they truly do the Lord’s work? Heal the sick? Bring hope to the hopeless? Do they perform miracles? Do they pick up snakes and drink posion? Or are they shallow fraudsters?

We don’t get much of this sort of thing in the UK and whenever I see it on tv, it frankly bewilders me!

Are these people Christians? Do you believe the hype? Do they believe the hype? Or are they the worst form of parasite, feeding on the poorest and most vulnerable members of society?
 
I think they vary all over the place. Some seem sincere, and others look more like charlatans. Some are virulently anti-Catholic; I won’t watch those at all. Personally, I’d rather watch EWTN.

I won’t condemn them, though, as a one-week steady diet of watching their shows on TV (I told this story in another thread), and hearing so much about Jesus, was the final factor which moved me to return to the Catholic Church. 🙂

So yes, I believe that God can work through them.
 
Most are frauds and have been proven to be frauds. Billy Graham is an exception, but then he doesn’t make any outlandish claims for his ministry. He gets paid a fixed salary by his association.

EWTN has many “TV evangelists” too, but they make no claims to miracles nor do they ask viewers to send in their last social security check to keep them in expense houses and so they can wear expense clothes.
 
EWTN is a Catholic organisation right?

(please forgive my ignorance)
 
Yes. EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) is a Catholic television network started by Mother Angelica. As far as calling televangelists frauds, I find that a bit harsh. If you understand the theology of many of them (the idea that God prospers those who do his will and punishes those who don’t in this life with poverty, illness, etc. - a common misunderstanding that Jesus corrected in his cure of the blind man in John’s Gospel) you can better understand where they are coming from. They are basically preaching out of their own incomplete theology.
 
**Most all of them are wealthy and, while I would stop short of calling all of them frauds, enough of them have been caught and convicted to cause a lot of people to think twice and sending in that SS check. **
 
I’ll tell you folks an anecdote from my days in an Assemblies of God Bible college: One of our teachers was from England, a sweet, whited-haired old gentleman. We got into a discussion about TV evangelists and about their claims of healing, etc. He wasn’t impressed. He told us, “I don’t care if they come floating into the room between the ceiling and the floor…DON’T GIVE THEM A CENT!” And I have taken his advice ever since.

Of course, he was talking about people like Peter Popoff and Jimmy Swaggert. EWTN didn’t yet exist. If it had, I think our elderly teacher would have made an exception for them because they are simply bringing Christ to the world without any flim-flam or phoniness.
 
I am not willing to call them frauds, however the track record is not very forgiving now is it?

I also find even the good ones, like Dr. Billy Graham, have many “soft” snit-Catholic attacks.

For example, several years ago I watched a Billy Graham Crusade on TV where he told those watching the story of a priest who rode this bus and a black woman who also rode the bus. The black woman got up the courage one day to tap him on the shoulder and ask him if he was “saved.” At which point the priest was startled and went home, pulled the bible off of the top shelf in his clothes closet and opened it and read it truly for the first time. At which point he was “born again” and immediately left the priesthood, got married, became a protestant apologist and a teacher at a protestant seminary.

Now this is replete with “soft” anti-Catholicism. So, even with the good ones the ‘buyer be ware’.
 
It speaks well of UK culture that the TV clowns don’t find a ready market of customers there. In America, however, there’s a seemingly unending supply of people with more money than brains; and they attend these miracle circuses, delight in the clowns, and lay down their money by the truckloads.

But, as we often say here, “it’s a free country.” The clowns can cavort and babble all they wish and the donors can throw away their money if they wish. And we can expose them and warn others all we wish.

But it probably won’t do much good. Is this a great country, or what?
 
First of all, I want to be clear that I am not talking about Billy Graham; I don’t think he is in the same category. For one thing, he is often vilified by them because he will not try to get people to leave their own Christian churches–Protestant, Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox.He also is better educated, & does not engage in charlatanry. He wants people to be better Methodists, bettter Catholics, etc.
Beyond that, I am very suspicious of the TV evangelists. They all seem to be putting on a show. (Benny Hinn is, IMHO, the absolute bottom of the barrel!).
Some are fairly orthodox Protestants in doctrine, but most of them are way, way out there. I personally wouldn’t buy any of them a cup of coffee, much less contribute anything to their supposed ministries. I have heard of people who claim to have been helped or taught by these guys. If true, I’m glad to hear it. But I give leave to doubt it…
Most of them are not only anti- Catholic, they are anti -churches in general. There are a few that seem sincere, but I still don’t trust them.
And the ones who are knocking people over & calling it the Holy Spirit are the WORST.(I meant to shout here).
OK, you can call me a cynic now.
 
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Zooey:
And the ones who are knocking people over & calling it the Holy Spirit are the WORST.(I meant to shout here).
OK, you can call me a cynic now.
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Ah, being Slain in the Spirit…an interesting sight.
 
“I want to be clear that I am not talking about Billy Graham; I don’t think he is in the same category”

He isn’t in the same category for several reasons, one the several crusades I have watched on TV don’t tend to play on emotionalism to gain the “donation” dollar. Secondly, his anti-Catholicism is soft in nature and not outright like some others. There are other instances of his “soft” anti-Catholicism from his own crusades on TV… I only mentioned the one because it involved a Catholic priest… striking right at the core of the Church… without the priest you have no Eucharist… without a Eucharist you have no Church…
 
“Ah, being Slain in the Spirit…an interesting sight”

LOL! Actually is that a real term used by them? If so I retract my LOL and place instead a LI (laughing inside)
 
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dcmac:
LOL! Actually is that a real term used by them? If so I retract my LOL and place instead a LI (laughing inside)
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Yes, they really use the term. I read Benny Hinn’s book “Good Morning, Holy Spirit” quite a while ago (with great scepticism) and have some dear friends who are Pentecostals. From their perspective, Benny Hinn isn’t pushing them down but rather the power of the Holy Spirit is knocking them down when Benny Hinn touches them as proof of both the Holy Spirit’s presence and the annointing of Benny Hinn. There are other “in the Spirit” experiences, too, including Laughing in the Spirit (uncontrollable laughter) and Crying in the Spirit (uncontrollable weeping). I know Hinn has recounted stories of Kathryn Kuhlman – who he calls his mentor – weeping inconsolably while she was giving lectures and her begging the audience to not grieve the Holy Spirit because it hurt her, too. I was raised United Methodist, so these things were pretty shocking to me.
 
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dcmac:
Secondly, his anti-Catholicism is soft in nature and not outright like some others. There are other instances of his “soft” anti-Catholicism from his own crusades on TV… I only mentioned the one because it involved a Catholic priest… striking right at the core of the Church… without the priest you have no Eucharist… without a Eucharist you have no Church…
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I wanted to say something about this, too, from a born again perspective (I was born again in college and affilliated with Campus Crusades for Christ). One of the things born agains are concerned about is reaching not only those who’ve never had the opportunity to hear the gospel (in CCC language, the Four Spiritual Laws) but also those who sit in the pews every Sunday but have never responded to the gospel and this extends even to those standing in the pulpit. I’ve heard many stories of pastors, preachers, etc., who were suddenly awakened by the gospel and realized that they were not really walking with God. It was not unheard of for such pastors to jump to another denomination, though it wasn’t common, either. I’m certain Dr. Graham understands that “without the priest you have no Eucharist…without a Eucharist you have no Church” but from the perspective of his audience Catholicism is just another denomination.
 
And the ones who are knocking people over & calling it the Holy Spirit are the WORST.
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Oh yes! Does anyone remember Ernest Angley? He started each show in a prayerful position with a goofy smile on his face while organ music played. Later in the show, he would have a whole line of people waiting for a “healing” and his trusy “catchers” by his side. He would shout, “Ah will HEAL you!”, say a short prayer, bop them on the head, and his trusty catchers would catch the person as they fell backwards and lay them on the ground. We always got a big laugh out of that show.

Aunt Martha
 
There are a few on Christian TV channels who I still quite like, even after converting to catholicism. On the whole, they’re the one’s I liked beforehand. I don’t agree with everything they say but I believe them to be true servants of God. Other TV evangelists to be honest make me feel physically ill.

John Bevere I like - especially when he preaches on how we have to do the will of the father to enter the Kingdom because Jesus says so. That really seems to annoy some of the people he’s preaching to!

Paul Scanlon, from the Abundant Life Church in Bradford, UK, I like. He’s not vastly paid, works extremely hard and his church does a lot of very good work. And he used to be pastor of a baptist church near where we used to live, led the church into major renewal and it’s still going strong.

There must be a few others but mind is a complete blank.
 
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jazzbaby1:
Yes, they really use the term. I read Benny Hinn’s book “Good Morning, Holy Spirit” quite a while ago (with great scepticism) and have some dear friends who are Pentecostals. From their perspective, Benny Hinn isn’t pushing them down but rather the power of the Holy Spirit is knocking them down when Benny Hinn touches them as proof of both the Holy Spirit’s presence and the annointing of Benny Hinn. There are other “in the Spirit” experiences, too, including Laughing in the Spirit (uncontrollable laughter) and Crying in the Spirit (uncontrollable weeping). I know Hinn has recounted stories of Kathryn Kuhlman – who he calls his mentor – weeping inconsolably while she was giving lectures and her begging the audience to not grieve the Holy Spirit because it hurt her, too. I was raised United Methodist, so these things were pretty shocking to me.
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I’m sorry if this seems like nit-picking, Jazzbaby, but:
I attended a Benny Hinn crusade once, back in 1995. At one point, he said, quite definitely, that he rejected the practice of “Laughing in the Spirit”, calling it a counterfeit of the Gifts of the Spirit. He does believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but also warns aginst counterfeit gifts and false claims.
 
A friend of mine really likes Joyce Meyer. What do you think of her?
 
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Reepicheep:
I’m sorry if this seems like nit-picking, Jazzbaby, but:
I attended a Benny Hinn crusade once, back in 1995. At one point, he said, quite definitely, that he rejected the practice of “Laughing in the Spirit”, calling it a counterfeit of the Gifts of the Spirit. He does believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but also warns aginst counterfeit gifts and false claims.
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I apologize for not being more clear; I did not mean to imply that these practices were recognized by Hinn himself but rather experiences in some Pentecostal circles.
 
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