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LIQUIDTHINKING IS: Stephen Zedler Jimmy Doyle Andy Mullins Current Sountrack
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Sunday, March 06, 2005
The Body of Christ Should Stop Tolerating Benny Hinn!  If there was any doubt left in anyone's mind, the "Dateline" expose should erase it. The man is a fraud. We should stop apologizing, making excuses, and spiritualizing his injustice.I understand that miracles don't always happen (of course, that doesn't keep him from promising that they will), so my outrage doesn't come from the FACT that there are multitudes of unhealed people. Benny Hinn is a fraud not because he doesn't heal every single person that comes up on his stage, but because he repeatedly and intentionally tells millions of people, who are part of his live and televised audiences, things that are not true. These things have been verified by not only evangelical watchdog groups (so this isn't a smear by the secular, liberal media), but also by people within the organization, past and present. But, you know, I don't really have to explain all this, do I? Deep down, we all know this is wrong. We all know that Hinn is extorting money from the sick and the old, and funding a lavish lifestyle on their backs. We all know that Benny keeps the sickest of the sick, those really desperate for miracles, in the back of his conferences so that he never has to face them. And for all the times that we've had to justify our silence by saying, "Yeah, but the cross of Christ is still being preached" or "I may not agree with his style, but it's not for me to judge", there are thousands of people who are left out in the cold after being promised the love and the power of Christ only to be taken for what little money they have. And I can hear it now. "Zedler, he's such an easy target. Why are you wasting your time addressing this? It's been beaten to death." Well, obviously not enough! Still, every day, millions of people who need their money for medicine and living expenses keep sending more and more to this Versace-draped con man with the promise that they'll get back more. Blaming desperate people for engaging in desperate actions and believing a man who they think is a servant of God is blaming the victim. He has abused his position. So why does it take a secular news organization? Why do they seem more interested in justice than the body of Christ? Why do we continue to allow his books to be sold in our Christian bookstores? Why do we continue to allow this charlatan on our airwaves? Please don't let it just come down to the money. Millstones are far too heavy, and the ocean is awfully deep. And don't let it just be because we don't want to rock the boat, or be accused of being divisive. The lives of all those who have been lied to and now feel no part of the body of Christ demand that we be light in this world, even when that means we turn that light on ourselves. When Bill Clinton lied to the American people, thousands and thousands of preachers from the pulpit denounced his actions, called for resignation, and expressed outrage to their congregations. Where is the similar outrage here? Why are we not denouncing a man who harms the cause of the kingdom more than a president's lying? It's time to stop selling his books. It's time to stop airing his show. It's time to stop apologizing for the man. And stop with the "Well, Zedler, when you're perfect, you can judge other people." I don't claim to be perfect. And there is a difference between "judging someone" and telling the truth. Those who make this argument seem content to allow a man to continue to hurt and use people for profit, all the while claiming to be doing "the Lord's work." Here is a great link to the website of a group of evangelicals who take uncovering the abuses of big name ministers seriously. They say a lot that I haven't here. Enough is enough. There is too much pain in the world for the body of Christ to continue to fund this prince's lifestyle and turn a blind eye to it.
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Jimmy Doyle is a dad, husband,
teacher, friend, and other things. Currently he's just trying to figure out what it means to follow Christ and be in community with others. He enjoys having conversations with fellow pilgrims on the journey.
Stephen Zedler has a wife and three kids who he loves very much. He has been called by God to study and teach history, particularly U.S.
history. He also believes that God has called him to reform the way children are educated in America.