Prophet or profit?/ Faith healer brings money-making ministry to

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 13, 2003 | by KAMON SIMPSON

Wherever Benny Hinn goes, the masses follow. They are the believers and seekers, the faithful and the hopeful, and most of all, the desperate. They travel for hours and fill arenas across the country to hear the televangelist preach. They come to be healed.

Hinn, swathed in white from his shoes to his Nehru collared jacket to his sculptured helmet of hair, is coming to Colorado Springs.

He'll hold three crusades Thursday and Friday at World Arena, and they are expected to draw standing-room-only crowds.

Although Colorado Springs is a national hub for evangelical Christianity, Hinn's arrival isn't unconditionally embraced by the local religious community.

Hinn long has been a divisive figure among Christians, many of whom have questions about his finances and theology.

Hinn rarely grants interviews, and his ministry did not respond to a half-dozen requests for this story.

"Benny Hinn is not somebody that many evangelical leaders think about or talk about with any regularity because he is considered marginal and controversial and not credible," said Tim Morgan, a senior editor for Christianity Today magazine. "Christian critics have problems with everything from his worship service to his financial accountability to his theological views.

"At the same time, he's very much a hero in the charismatic Pentecostal movement. It's easy to say that he's a polarizing figure. People react positively or negatively, but they can't ignore the fact that Benny Hinn is coming to town."

Hinn's 30-minute "This Is Your Day" TV program is seen daily in more than 100 countries, including twice daily on Adelphia cable Channel 61 (KWHS) in Colorado Springs. Each month, he takes his ministry on the road with miracle crusades, going to St. Petersburg, Russia in July, then New York and Berlin in August.

No televangelist is bigger than Hinn, whose ministry takes in an estimated $100 million a year.

Although he never attended a theological seminary, he is the most popular and prominent figure in the Word Faith movement, whose followers believe faith can be activated by certain words while speaking in tongues.

In the Pentecostal movement, the fastest-growing segment of the Christian faith, charismatic worshippers experience physical encounters in which they often fall after being "slain" by the Holy Spirit.

"I'm going, and I'm encouraging our people to go," said Pastor Glen Pummel of The Grace Place, a Colorado Springs Foursquare Pentecostal church.

"I'd like our young people to have a point of reference for a miracle. We live in a time in the church where it's been real easy for us to disregard miracles.

"I've seen people go to (Hinn), needy people. I saw them respond to a call he made for salvation. I literally saw people come back changed."

At every stop, those seeking a cure for illness, many in wheelchairs and on crutches, greet Hinn. Some are on stretchers and hooked to respirators.

Hinn, 50, is a slender man born in Israel to a Greek father and Armenian mother. As a showman, he rarely disappoints. He inspired Steve Martin's character in the 1992 movie "Leap of Faith."

"He uses his showmanship skills to work the crowd," said Stephen Winzenburg, a professor at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, who researches evangelists.

"He's very much like a circus ringmaster when he's there in the arena. He's controlling the environment. People may be coming for healing, but it's very much controlled hysteria."

Hinn's crusades have been described as a professional sound and light extravaganza, with warm-up singers taking turns on stage against the backdrop of an angelic choir, leading up to a chorus of "How Great Thou Art," Hinn's cue.

Eyes closed, arms spread, he takes the spotlight to cheers, hallelujah praises and swoons.

He preaches.

He prays.

He sings.

And the people wait.

Cash or credit collections?

Before the healing can begin, Hinn asks for money, sometimes suggesting donations of no less than $100. Credit card forms are passed around with buckets to collect the cash.

It's part of the "prosperity gospel," the message of giving to the Lord as an investment, of financial miracles leading to physical ones. It has been a time-tested fund-raising tool for evangelists such as Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Falwell, and is a staple of the crop of Word Faith preachers such as Kenneth Hagin, Frederick Price and Joyce Meyer.

Followers say God anointed Hinn, who says he zaps people with power he absorbed from the graves of dead faith healers.

He begins his healing session with a list of miracles he says are happening in the arena. He barks out the diseases like an auctioneer - heart condition to his left, arthritis to his right, cancer in the upper deck. He tells those healed to leave their seats and come toward the stage.

He tells the disabled waiting on the floor beneath the stage to get ready to say goodbye to their wheelchairs.

Security men scramble to keep order as people rush the stage, saying they are healed.

Ushers walk the aisles - looking for the best miracles to escort on stage to be interviewed by Hinn - screening people's necks and backs in search of the truly miraculous.