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Televangelist Benny Hinn Admits Going Too Far With Prosperity Gospel in Wake of Billy Graham's Death
Christian Post ^ | 02/22/2018 | Leonardo Blair

Posted on 02/22/2018 10:13:35 AM PST by SeekAndFind

In the wake of the death of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, controversial faith-healing televangelist Benny Hinn, who has often been criticized for his endorsement of the prosperity gospel, said in a stunning confession Wednesday that sometimes he has taken the erroneous gospel too far.

"We get attacked for preaching prosperity, well it's in the Bible, but I think some have gone to the extreme with it sadly, and it's not God's word what is taught and I think I'm as guilty as others. Sometimes you go a little farther than you really need to go and then God brings you back to normality and reality," Hinn, 65, said as he reflected on Graham's death with a ministry colleague in a Facebook Live broadcast.

He admitted that as he has grown older and come to understand the Bible more, he now realizes that some of the things he learned from preachers when he was growing up aren't biblical and the popular interpretation of the prosperity gospel — the teaching that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the "sowing of seeds" through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings — is one of those things.

"The more you know the Bible the more you become biblically based and more balanced in your opinions and your thoughts because we are influenced. When I was younger I was influenced by the preachers who taught whatever they taught. But as I've lived longer I'm thinking wait a minute, you know this doesn't fit totally with the Bible and it doesn't fit with the reality. So what is prosperity? No lack. I've said this before," Hinn said.

He then elaborated on how he believes "no lack" should be interpreted.

"Did Elijah the prophet have a car? No. Did not even have a bicycle. He had no lack ... Did Jesus drive a car or live in a mansion? No. He had no lack. How about the apostles? None lacked among them," Hinn said. "Today, the idea is abundance and palatial homes and cars and bank accounts. The focus is wrong ... It's so wrong."

He said even though he has been accused of living lavishly and flying private jets in the past ,that is not how he currently lives.

"I mean forgive me. People have accused me of things that aren't even real. One guy wrote a comment 'Oh he's worth 40 million.' Oh how I wish. I would give it all to the Kingdom before God Almighty," he said.

"'Well he flies private jets,'" he continued mimicking criticism. "No, I don't. I have not flown private in dear God years. I fly commercial just like anyone else....

"We all sadly make the mistake of thinking that this is what God wants and God says 'No, that's not what I want.' It's time to live biblically. You know it all comes down to one thing. Do we love Jesus, yes or no? If we love Jesus then it's all about Jesus. If we don't love Jesus then it's about other things," he said.

Hinn was one of six televangelists who were part of a 2007 Senate inquiry that raised questions about the personal use of church-owned airplanes, luxury homes and credit cards by pastors and their families, and expressed concern about the lack of oversight of finances by boards often packed with the televangelists' relatives and friends. No definitive findings of wrongdoing were made. Hinn's World Healing Center Church and Joyce Meyer Ministries were the only two ministries that fully cooperated with the investigation and even implemented financial reforms.

Hinn, who was born into a Christian family in Israel, has repeatedly been accused of being a fraud and criticized for living extravagantly while leading a ministry that rakes in more than $100 million annually.

In a 2009 interview on ABC's "Nightline," Hinn denied being a fraud.

"I think if I was fooling the people, over 35 years of it now, I would have been caught already fooling them," he told the network.

Last April, after criminal investigators from the IRS and inspectors from the U.S. Postal Service executed a closely guarded raid on the offices of Hinn's ministry in Grapevine, Texas, he revealed that they were looking into "certain operations of the church."

While he did not go into much detail about which aspects of his ministry federal officials had reviewed, he said in a statement on Facebook that he was confident the investigation will end favorably.

"As has been widely reported, Benny Hinn Ministries is cooperating fully with the governmental entities that are reviewing certain operations of the Church. The ministry has undergone intense scrutiny over the years, and we remain confident that there will again be a positive and speedy outcome in the days ahead," his ministry said.

During the broadcast Wednesday, one of his colleagues, who has known him for 30 years, said Hinn would give every material thing that he has for the presence of the Lord.

As a pastor, Hinn also said he wants his life to end right with God.

"We all want to finish right," he said of pastors. "We all start right. Sometimes we, you know, stumble here and stumble there, but when you come right down to it, we all want to finish right. I'm 65 years old, I surely don't want to blow it at this point in my life and I thank you for praying for me. I really mean that."

Hinn, who began the conversation by reminding his audience of a prophesy he made in 1989 that the deaths of his mentor, Oral Roberts, and Billy Graham would bring about a great revival, said since both men are now dead, the revival has now been set in motion. Roberts died in 2009.

"What we are gonna see is a revival. Three things are going to happen, there's no doubt in my heart and mind because it's in the Bible. If you look at the Old and New Testament you'll see three things happening always at the same time. Number one, evangelism. What was the first thing that happened in the book of Acts? People saved," he responded. "The second thing, miracles, people healed. But the third thing was what? Prosperity. ... Here we are in this season. We're gonna see amazing things happen in those areas of our lives and get ready for your children to be saved in a big way, your families to be saved in a big way, loved ones respond to the Lord in a big way."

He also pointed out that Christians across the world are being persecuted and that American Christians have been spared "up to now" but he wasn't sure if "we will be spared for a whole lot longer."

"I am really praying. I want persecution to come for my sake 'cause I want to get purer before the Lord ... I think persecution ... like fire purifies," he said.

"The early church was persecuted. There is no respecter of persons and persecution is a part of our life. All who live godly will suffer persecution and we've been spared in America but things already are turning against us. No, you know what? For us, that's really a better way to say it. They're against us in the natural but who cares the natural? Think what God will do with it for our lives. What glory it will bring, the power it will bring," Hinn said.

In 2015, Hinn was hospitalized with atrial fibrillation, an issue he said he has been dealing with for more than 20 years.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, atrial fibrillation is the most common type of arrhythmia, which refers to a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. This can result in the heart beating too fast, too slow or just irregularly altogether. If the problem goes unnoticed, it unfortunately can lead to increased risk of stroke, chest pain or heart failure.


TOPICS: Charismatic Christian; Evangelical Christian; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: abomination; aheretic; antigod; bennyhinn; billygraham; fraud; grifter; hellbound; prosperitygospel; ybpdln
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To: Salvavida

Galatians 1:8


21 posted on 02/22/2018 10:36:02 AM PST by pgkdan (The Silent Majority STILL Stands With TRUMP!)
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To: Salvavida

You do understand that you are establishing the criteria by which you will be judged, don’t you? Reading the Bible really does help.


22 posted on 02/22/2018 10:37:53 AM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR)
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To: dfwgator

Never.


23 posted on 02/22/2018 10:40:39 AM PST by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Snickering Hound

Exactly.

Prosperity gospel is the least if his crimes.

Phony drake healing us a lot worse.


24 posted on 02/22/2018 10:41:08 AM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: SeekAndFind

Matthew 7:21-23

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!’

Hinn’s in big trouble. He’s been willfully, purposely blaspheming the Holy Spirit for decades.


25 posted on 02/22/2018 10:46:59 AM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: SubMareener

I am justified by Christ alone. Read Galatians on what Paul thought of false gospels.


26 posted on 02/22/2018 10:47:05 AM PST by Salvavida (The Missouri citizen's militia sends its regards.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Benny Hill?


27 posted on 02/22/2018 10:53:10 AM PST by bmwcyle (People who do not study history are destine to believe really ignorant statements.)
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To: ifinnegan

[Phony drake healing us a lot worse.]

Despite his faults, the LORD gave Benny the gifts of healing, Words of Knowledge, and miracles. GOD doesn’t take away the Gifts.

I have a friend, whose son was hit by a car when he was in Elementary School. He suffered a brain injury and a detached eye. His little brother always believed his brother would be healed in a Benny Hinn healing service.

Years later the family went a Hinn Crusade in Dubuque, IA. They got there early and sat towards the front. During the sermon, Benny Hinns, stopped and said, “The LORD is healing someone with a brain injury.” A few minutes later he said, “Someone with an eye injury is being healed.”

The boys eye was healed instantly and found later that his thought processes had cleared also. The family was one who gave their testimony at the end of the service. It appeared the whole family was touched by the HOLY SPIRIT. The little brother was healed of a stuttering problem and a heart murmur. My friend was healed of a disc problem.

I ask her how everyone is doing whenever I see her. She smiles and says, “Fine.”


28 posted on 02/22/2018 11:01:47 AM PST by stars & stripes forever (Blessed is the nation whose GOD is the LORD. Psalm 33:12)
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To: bmwcyle

29 posted on 02/22/2018 11:03:47 AM PST by seawolf101 (Member LES DEPLORABLES)
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To: bmwcyle

RE: Benny Hill?

See Posts #10, #15 and #17 above


30 posted on 02/22/2018 11:04:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: Snickering Hound

31 posted on 02/22/2018 11:08:07 AM PST by Carpe Cerevisi
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To: stars & stripes forever
p07

"I'm gonna want that seersucker jacket back! It's a holy relic you know!"

32 posted on 02/22/2018 11:11:46 AM PST by Snickering Hound
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To: Snickering Hound

As I said, despite all this, the LORD restored my friend and her family because of their faith.


33 posted on 02/22/2018 11:14:38 AM PST by stars & stripes forever (Blessed is the nation whose GOD is the LORD. Psalm 33:12)
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To: stars & stripes forever
p07

Sometimes he does 300 at a time. It's volume, volume, volume.

34 posted on 02/22/2018 11:18:24 AM PST by Snickering Hound
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To: stars & stripes forever

“Despite his faults, the LORD gave Benny the gifts of healing”

No.

Benny Hinn is a fake healer.

Don’t be fooled by these and read Matthew 7:21-23


35 posted on 02/22/2018 11:21:26 AM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: ifinnegan

Using the Matthew 7:21-13 criteria, is the current Pope in the same category?


36 posted on 02/22/2018 11:30:20 AM PST by stars & stripes forever (Blessed is the nation whose GOD is the LORD. Psalm 33:12)
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To: ifinnegan
p07

Sometimes they collapse on others and they need healing too. That's called the 'Jet Fuel Doesn't Pay for Itself' combo.

37 posted on 02/22/2018 11:40:56 AM PST by Snickering Hound
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To: Salvavida

Read the whole Bible, just as Benny Hinn has. You are supposed to keep His Commandments. You are expected to produce fruit.


38 posted on 02/22/2018 11:44:09 AM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR)
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To: NormsRevenge

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AdH2DGSXjss
As Brother Copeland tells us flying commercial is like getting into a long tube full of demons.


39 posted on 02/22/2018 11:47:56 AM PST by freefdny
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To: Salvavida

” So, in conclusion, I am going into counseling and recovery and it is very, very expensive. I expect there will be a lot of tears shed as I repent of my sins, and, if you would like a genuine tear-stained hanky from my many anticipated repentings, please send your LOVE gift to Benny Hinn Ministries, 1010 Findem & Fleecem Causeway, Davos, Switzerland.”


40 posted on 02/22/2018 11:58:19 AM PST by jimbug
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