Benny Hinn recently sent a letter to his “supporters” asking them to help him finish purchasing a new jet for his ministry, which he has lovingly dubbed “Dove1.” Here are some excerpts from his epistle (the highlights are mine):
At recent partners conferences I have talked about the cost to secure this state-of-the-art jet aircraft, the tool we must have for declaring the Gospel to the nations in this last hour, and the miracle the Lord has provided Dove One, an aircraft that became available just as the door of opportunity began to close on aircrafts the ministry had previously been utilizing. And at these partners conferences, I was able to raise the first portion of the down payment, which was another miracle the Lord has provided us. As a result, we have recently taken delivery on our Gulfstream G4SP plane, which we call Dove One.
Now we must pay the remainder of the down payment, and I am asking the Lord Jesus to speak to 6,000 of my precious partners to sow a seed of $1,000 in the next ninety days. And I am praying, even as I write this letter, that you will be one of them!
I know that as you obey the Lord, He will open heaven wide and cause a mighty harvest of blessings to descend upon your life and all that you do!
This next step is absolutely vital to everything we are called to do, and it is the only way I can continue to do all God is directing me to do during these prophetic days. There is simply no other possible way for me to keep up with my schedule.
Purchasing this incredible ministry tool is monumental and historic. We have never bought any plane with this much range or capability that will crisscross the globe repeatedly so I can present the Gospel in person to unprecedented millions of precious souls who will accept and come to know our wonderful Jesus as their eternal Savior.
Now is the time to move forward with Dove One. What we do for the sake of the Gospel, we must do now!
Open your heart to what God would have you do. For your gift of $1,000 or more, you will receive these thank-you gifts to show my appreciation:
* You will receive a beautiful art-quality model of Dove One for your desk or mantle as a constant reminder that you are a vital part of this last-days harvest for souls.
* Your name will be placed prominently in a special area of Dove One where I study and pray during my travels, where I will also pray for you and your family as I go around the world preaching the Gospel. Everywhere I fly, your name will travel with me, millions of miles and for years to come, reminding me that you have made it possible for me to go and preach as God has called me to do.
Since I feel that what is good for Brother Benny is good for me (meant sarcastically), I am now announcing that you, gentle reader, can support me in my ministries as pastor of my church and as father to my lovely daughter. “How can I do this,” you ask? Well, it’s really very simple.
You see, last year I was given the unique opportunity to purchase a brand new Ford Focus. This inexpensive little car was much needed since my 1994 Saturn SC had been declared DOA by my good neighborhood mechanic. Since a United Methodist Pastor/Circuit Rider cannot function without a trusty steed, I had to go out on a limb and buy a new car. Stepping out on faith I made a sizeable down payment (for me it was sizeable) and committed myself to monthly payments of approximately $250 a month for the next five years.
Now we all know that God doesn’t want his servants to be in debt, and so I asking for your support. If only 50 of you will commit to taking one car payment each, my vehicle will be paid for in no time flat and I will have all that much more money to spend doing the Lord’s work, while also being able to visit, transport, and buy gifts for my daughter (a high calling in and of itself, I would add).
As a sign of appreciation for your support, each and every donor will have their names added to the “Ministry Partner” list I will install on the passenger-side visor, and I will also send you a postcard of my “ministry vehicle.”
I know that many of you probably have a great deal of your income earmarked for Christmas presents and celebrations, but what better way of “Keeping Christ in Christmas” is there than supporting one of his own servants?
So show me your love and support and your money, my friends. I am sure that God will bless you just as much if you support me as He would if you support Brother Benny. And besides, I am a lot cheaper to support. Of course, unlike Brother Hinn, I am not being serious. : )
UPDATE:
If you would like to see an excellent investigative report on Benny Hinn, I recommend the video below.
Technorati tags: Benny Hinn, Ford Focus, ministry, donations, satire
My check’s in the mail. I just thank the Lord that I don’t have to deliver it.
“gentle reader” bahhahah!
I think this is a hoax. If you try to go to the site, you’re warned that it’s not a legitimate security certificate. “This may be a website pretending to be bennyhinn.org .”
Can anyone verify this?
While I cannot verify this site. There are many sites whose certificates do not match up as they should.
Greetings . Have you ever asked Benny Shark Fin for a donation , because I ‘m sure he would like to support your idea with advice like ” Hey your stealing my act and my would be money ” .. Good will , John , Bunbury , Western Australia .
Greetings again . The Living God and Living Immanuel Messiah of Nazareth and the Living Holy Spirit are CLEAN HOLY TRUTH AND WISDOM .Yet Benny Hinn is really Benny Sin . Good will , John , Bunbury , W A.
Greetings yet again . Have you seen the song about Benny Hinn released on youtube ?. It’s called ” Let the bodies hit the floor ” , so it’s no wonder after viewing the video clip that Benny can so easily dupe the people into giving away their hard earned money because the people have already given their souls to Bastard Benny .
Greetings yet also again . To those of you who are offended by the the word Bastard . I tell you that it means that Benny is ” Spiritually Illegitimate ” . Benny is illegitimate . Benny has not been sent by Immanuel Messiah , so that is why people can not be cured of their cancers , blindness and deafness , and those people in wheelchairs will never be healed UNTIL the people in Churches put the unclean televangelist back into their holes from where they came out !!. Only righteous repentive men shall receive POWER FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT so as to heal the cripples and the diseaed .. May God help us all .. Good will , John , Bunbury , Western Australia .
Thanks John for all your commentsand for stopping by here. I totally agree that Hinn is, in fact, spiritually illegitimate. And my prayer is the same as yours: “May God help us all.”
“The CIRCUIT RIDER vs. The TELEVANGELIST”
by Michael Edds
In my continued research on the “old wells of revival” I have
discovered some incredibly contrasting bits of information. One of the
top televangelists in the nation was recently invited to preach in
Baltimore, Maryland. His terms for coming were:
#1. A limousine at the airport must pick him up.
#2. That he must have $1,000 spending money.
#3. That he must be guaranteed at least $10,000 in offerings.
This same televangelist/ pastor lives in a multi million-dollar
mansion, eats in the finest restaurants and wears the most expensive
tailor-made suits. His writings and speaking engagements have garnered
millions of dollars. He brags that he is a role model of the
prosperity message of our day. He pastors a mega church, appears on
national and international television, has authored many books and
draws tens of thousands to hear him. To his credit, he is a powerful,
commanding speaker. However, please contrast this to the following
life and ministry of the great circuit rider, Francis Asbury in the
late 1700s and early 1800s.
While still in his 20′s, Bishop Francis Asbury left his home and family
forever in England to come to a wilderness called America. He came to
be a traveling preacher/evangelist in a nation with little
infrastructure such as roads, decent housing, few hotels and
restaurants, poor sanitation and dangerous drinking water, few medical
professionals and limited law enforcement. The nation had recently
plunged into a violent war of independence against Asbury’s native land
of England. The American frontier was also ablaze with war between the
colonist and Native Americans tribes.
Asbury was not greeted upon his arrival by a limo. He had to purchase
a horse on which he traveled 8,000 a year for over 40 years. His
financial reward was $60 a year, much of which he gave away or sent
back to England to help his parents. He wore hand-me-downs not tailor
made suits. He had no retirement, no insurance, no dental plan, and no
401 k. He set no fee for his ministry.
What he did receive, he often gave away. He traveled on “roads” on
which his horse sank many times knee-deep in mud. If a road did not
exist, he would lead his horse over the steep, rocky inclines of the
Appalachians to reach a pioneer community. Many times, his feet and
legs were bloodied and bruised by the horrific journey. When he came
to a river where there was no bridge or ferry, he would swim his horse
across. Numerous times, he was nearly drowned by an angry, swollen
stream. His “hotel” on many occasions was on a dirt floor in an
overcrowded, rat-infested frontier cabin. Often times he slept in the
woods, on a mountain ledge or in damp cave. Many days he would travel
over 60 miles with nothing to eat. The paths and roads he traveled
were full of dangers from murderers, thieves, wolves, bears, poisonous
snakes and roaming bands of Native Americans with whom the frontiersmen
were at war. If he met someone who needed a cloak, food or money, he
would take what he had and give it to the person in need. Asbury
sought out the forgotten, hidden places of early America. He traveled
from New England, to the Midwest, and to the Deep South spreading the
Gospel of Christ. When he would meet a person who was ill, he would
minister to their physical needs with the last medication he had. He
demanded nothing of others in order to come into a community. The
demands he made were of himself. Frequently, his body would be racked
with pain, illness, fever, hunger and weakness. His physical being
would cry out for rest and nourishment. However, his spirit ruled his
body. When truly unable to travel, he would mount his horse and ride
for 8 hours or more through blinding snowstorms, torrential rain or in
oppressive heat.
He too had been invited to Baltimore. In 1816 he was traveling by
buggy through Virginia headed to the annual conference in Baltimore.
However, he was dying. His last sermon was preached in Richmond. He
had to be carried into the meeting room. He commented, “I am too weak
to walk but not to preach.” They sat him on a small table and he
ministered the Word for the last time. He made it as far as
Spotsylvania twenty miles north of Richmond. He body was rapidly
failing. He stopped at a friend’s house on Saturday. Shortly before
he left this world he was asked, “Do you feel Jesus precious?”
Summoning his last remaining strength, the great circuit rider raised
both hands in victory. Minutes later he laid his head on a friend’s
hand and gently slipped away to be with the Lord. He owned no mansion,
no land, and no bank account. His net worth was what he wore on his
body. He was buried in a borrowed grave plot.
When Asbury came to America, there were few Methodist believers and
fewer preachers. At the end of his ministry, there were over 200,000
Methodist believers and almost 8,000 ministers. He affected lives of
thousands upon thousands. He changed the very course of American
history. Among his converts were poor farmers, merchants, Governors of
several states, frontiersmen, slaves, Native Americans, State Supreme
Court Justices, attorneys, physicians, housewives, children, youth and
people from all walks of life. He gave all he had. He sought nothing
for himself. His passion was to bring salvation and the Light of the
Gospel to those in darkness of sin. He loved a nation and made it his
own even though he was not her native son.
Quite a CONTRAST between the CIRCUIT RIDER and the TELEVANGELIST!
One was selfless, the other selfish. One was people-centered, the
other ego-centered. One was a Kingdom builder, the other an empire
builder. One drew souls into the Kingdom of God; the other drew the
masses into an arena. One demanded of him, the other demanded of
others. One gave freely, the other commanded a price. One was a
servant, the other a celebrity.
Hebrews 11:32-38 speaks about the real heroes of the faith: They
were…”tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a
better resurrection. Still others had trial of mocking and beatings,
and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were
sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,
tormented… they wandered in deserts, and mountains, in dens and caves
of the earth…. of whom the world was not worthy.”
How long are we going to tolerate the “superstar syndrome” in the
church? How long are we going to feed the ego and pocketbooks of these
self-seeking charlatans, regardless of how articulate they are? How
long will we continue to pack their arenas and buy their CDs, DVDs and
books? How long will we pick them up in limos, and line their wallets
with thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on self? How long
will we tolerate apostasy?
My God, how far we have fallen! God is calling on us as His people to
repent and turn from our wicked ways. He is calling us to seek HIS
face. I am praying that God will overthrow this perverted religious system, cause us to return to the faith of our
fathers and will fulfill Jeremiah 3:15 and give us shepherds after His
own heart… just like the beloved Francis Asbury, humble servant of
God.