Many Christians are deceived by charlatans whose entire lives seem to revolve around begging for money on public television. There seems to be an endless parade of willing preachers whose whole lives are spent speaking falsehoods into the ears of anyone willing to listen. The fund raising never ends. Often times, the money-begging is accompanied by singing, music, and celebrity preachers quoting specific scriptures, while never mentioning many other scriptures dealing with money-matters. Not only do some forever beg for money, but others are forever telling the public about some supposed “Biblical prophecy” that they think is being fulfilled or about to be fulfilled.
Some proclaim war, even though Jesus Christ said to “love your enemies”, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, “love your neighbor as you love yourself”, and so forth. Anyone who really follows Jesus Christ has learned to beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and have learned to stop engaging in physical violence and war. Some love to spread out big colorful and graphic charts for all to see how prophecy is “being fulfilled” by modern day events. Some warned the Christian audience about “Y2K”, and stuck their foot in their mouths, because they were all in serious error. But never mind, because the false prophets just keep on foretelling the future. Others proclaim the “prosperity gospel”.
Virtually ALL TELEVISION PREACHERS are on the air because they want something from you, while they tell you they are taking the Gospel to the world, and they love the neon lights, the praise of men, and lots of free money. Television is not free, so they all want you to “partner” with them. They are in the business of making money in the name of Jesus Christ. Many are very, very wealthy from free money they never earned through their own work ethic and enterprise.
It is astonishing how naive and gullible many good-hearted folks are, but for many spiritually blind Christians their capacity to discern wolves in sheep’s clothing borders on zero. While none of us can judge for Jesus Christ, we are warned by Christ Himself that “many will come in my name, saying I am Christ and DECEIVE many”. Any Christian who believes what preachers say without proving for themselves whether what is said is in line with Jesus Christ, is a sitting duck for false preachers. It doesn’t matter how bombastic the preacher is, that in itself does not determine truth. Being famous and being paid a million dollars a year as a “senior pastor” may impress the “senior pastor”, but it certainly does not impress Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name have cast out devils, and in your name done many wonderful works? AND THEN WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME, YOU THAT WORK INIQUITY.”
DISGRACED SELF DECLARED CHRISTIAN EVANGELISTS SINCE 1920.
1.Aimee Semple McPherson, 1920s–40s
One of the most famous evangelist scandals involved Canadian-born Aimee Semple McPherson in the 1920s, who allegedly had an extramarital relationship and faked her own death as a cover. She later claimed that she had been kidnapped, but a grand jury could neither prove that a kidnapping occurred, nor that she had faked it.Roberta Semple Salter, her daughter from her first marriage, became estranged from Semple McPherson and successfully sued her mother’s attorney for slander during the 1930s. As a result of this she was cut out of her mother’s will. Aimee Semple McPherson died in 1944 from an accidental overdose of barbiturates.
2.Lonnie Frisbee, 1970s–1980s
Lonnie Frisbee was an American closeted gay Pentecostal evangelist and self-described “seeing prophet” in the late 1960s and 1970s who despite his “hippie” appearance had notable success as a minister and evangelist. Frisbee was a key figure in the Jesus Movement and was involved in the rise of two worldwide denominations (Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard Movement). Both churches later disowned him because of his active homosexuality, removing him first from leadership positions, then ultimately firing him. He eventually died from AIDS in 1993.
3. Billy James Hargis, Early 1970s
Hargis was a prolific author and radio evangelist. Hargis formed American Christian College in 1971 in order to teach fundamentalist Christian principles. However, a sex scandal erupted at the College, involving claims that Hargis had had sex with male and female students. Hargis was forced out of American Christian College’s presidency as a result. Further scandals erupted when members of Hargis’ youth choir, the “All American Kids”, accused Hargis of sexual misconduct as well. The college eventually closed down in the mid-1970s. Hargis denied the allegations publicly.
4. Marjoe Gortner, Early 1970s
Gortner rose to fame in the late 1940s as a child preacher, but he had simply been trained to do this by his parents and he had no personal faith. He was able to perform “miracles” and received large amounts of money in donations. After suffering a crisis of conscience, he invited a film crew to accompany him on a final preaching tour. The resulting film, Marjoe, mixes footage of revival meetings with Gortner’s explanations of how evangelists manipulate their audiences. It won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but was never screened in the Southern United States due to fears that it would cause outrage in the Bible Belt.[1]
5. Jim & Tammy Bakker.
Televangelist Jim Bakker, known best for losing his multi-million dollar empire amid a sex and embezzlement scandal, is building his new brand around the end of the world.
The disgraced pastor is now selling pricey cordless generators and survivalist food packs on his website in an effort to help earn money to pay off his debts to the IRS.
The most unusual item on the docket are the collection of enema kits for sale, perhaps in a nod to his late wife Tammy Faye who died after a long battle with colon cancer in 2007.
Bakker made headlines in the 1980s when he and his wife Tammy Faye took the airwaves by storm with their Christian evangelical broadcast and development of the Praise The Lord Television Network.
After amassing millions of viewers and becoming household names, their fortunes turned when Jim was accused of raping then-21-year-old secretary Jessica Hahn. He denied the charges, saying that their sex was consensual, and they settled out of court.
However, an indictment for fraud and conspiracy was what landed him in jail for six years.
Those charges accused him of keeping millions from the donation money his company accrued, and later sought after by the IRS for $6million in tax liens dating back to the 1980s.
Tammy Faye divorced Bakker while he was in jail, and a few years after his 1994 release, he married his new wife Lori.
Together, the new Mrs and Mr Bakker have begun their own television program and ensuing product line.
Among his books is Prosperity And The Coming Apocalypse, in which he touts his belief in the undetermined return of Jesus, and urges his followers to be prepared.
In that vein, he and his wife are selling a number of apocalypse-themed products aimed at helping their fans prepare, while undoubtedly helping earn back some of the money he still owes the government.
Emergency room and board kits- that cost $500 or $1,000 a pop- are for sale, along with foldable fuel-less generators for $1,700 and packages of long-lasting food supplies.
The Jerry Jones Special is an unusual $2,000 grouping of 37 buckets of corn, green beans, tomato flakes and raspberries that are said to provide enough ingredients for 480 meals.
He even has an entire section dedicated to health products, including a variety of vitamins, protein shakes and exercise equipment.
The strangest by far is the so-called ‘Silver Solution’ enema kits, selling for $100.
‘He appears to have no shame. He’s milking his worshippers for “end of the world” products and enemas too, which is bizarre,’ a source told The National Enquirer.
6- Jimmy Swaggart, 1986 And 1991
Swaggart’s confession where he declared to his congregation on television, “I have sinned against you, my Lord”, became an iconic image of the 1980s[2]
In 1986, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart began on-screen attacks against fellow televangelists Marvin Gorman and Jim Bakker. He uncovered Gorman’s affair with a member of Gorman’s congregation, and also helped expose Bakker’s infidelity (which was arranged by a colleague while on an out-of-state trip).[3] These exposures received widespread media coverage. Gorman retaliated in kind by hiring a private investigator to uncover Swaggart’s own adulterous indiscretions with a prostitute.[4] Swaggart was subsequently forced to step down from his pulpit for a year and made a tearful televised apology in February 1988 to his congregation, saying “I have sinned against you, my Lord, and I would ask that your precious blood would wash and cleanse every stain until it is in the seas of God’s forgiveness.”[5][6]
Swaggart was caught again by California police three years later in 1991 with another prostitute, Rosemary Garcia, who was riding with him in his car when he was stopped for driving on the wrong side of the road. When asked why she was with Swaggart, she replied, “He asked me for sex. I mean, that’s why he stopped me. That’s what I do. I’m a prostitute.”[7]
http://planetinvestigations.com/2014/11/14/anti-christ-and-fake-prophet-john-hagee-received-50-million-from-israel-per-year-to-spread-propaganda-against-jesus-christ/
http://jahtruth.net/rabbis.htm
Matthew 23:8 But be NOT ye called rabbi; priest; imam (etc.): for ONE is your Teacher, [even] Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Are you listening rabbis; pope; priests and imams?
The DEADLY VIRUS of CELEBRITY CHRISTIANITY
by J. Lee Grady
Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the
apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them.
Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough
abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I've learned that
some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We've
moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the
1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large
segments of the church.
"What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know
is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality."
One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent
preacher could speak at her conference. The minister's assistant
faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to
book a speaking engagement. The demands included:
a.. a five-figure honorarium
b.. a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane
c.. a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker
d.. a suite in a five-star hotel
e.. a luxury car from the airport to the hotel (2004 model or
newer)
f.. room-temperature Perrier
This really makes me wonder how the apostle Paul, Timothy or
Priscilla managed ministering to so many people in Ephesus,
Corinth and Thessalonica. How did they survive without a
manicurist if they broke a nail while laying hands on the sick?
I was relieved to know that this celebrity preacher's requirements
in 2007 did not include a set of armed bodyguards - because I just
might want to jump uninvited into her Rolls-Royce and say a few
words.
It gets worse, if you can believe it. At a charismatic conference in
an East Coast city recently, a pastor stood on a stage in front of
a large crowd and smugly announced that the guest speaker was
"more than an apostle." Then the host asked everyone to bow
down to the person, claiming that this posture was necessary to
release God's power.
"This is the only way you can receive this kind of anointing!" the
host declared, bowing in front of the speaker. Immediately, about
80 percent of the audience fell prostrate on the floor. The few who
were uncomfortable with the weird spiritual control in the room
either walked out or stood in silent protest.
So today, I guess it's not enough to feed a celebrity preacher's ego
by treating them like a rock star. We also are required to worship
him.
And apparently in some places you even have to pay big bucks to
speak with him. In a city in the South, a well-known preacher is
known to ask for money in order to secure a five- or 10-minute
counseling session. The minister uses Proverbs 18:16, "A man's
gift makes room for him and brings him before great men" (NASB),
to support this bizarre practice. Some people are known to give
more than $1,000 for a short meeting.
People on fixed incomes need not apply. (That would include
lepers, blind beggars, Samaritan women or any other social
outcasts who were welcomed and healed by Jesus without payment.)
What has become of the American church? What is this sickness
spreading in the body of Christ? I don't know whom to blame more
for it: The narcissistic minister who craves the attention, or the
spiritually naive crowds who place these arrogant people on their
shaky pedestals. All I know is that God is grieved by all of this
shameful carnality.
How far we have fallen from authentic New Testament faith. Paul,
who carried the anointing of an apostle but often described himself
as a bond slave, told the Thessalonians, "Having so fond an
affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only
the gospel of God but also our own lives" (1 Thess. 2:8).
New Testament Christianity is humble, selfless and authentic. And
those who carry the truth don't preach for selfish gain or to meet
an emotional need for attention. May God help us root out the false
apostles and false teachers who are making the American church
sick with their man-centered, money-focused heresies.
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