Benny Hinn Forever! 16

So - how do we answer the question - how does an investor in Benny Hinn ministries know if his money is going to spread the Word or going to support Benny Hinn and his private jet and luxury homes?

     It should be obvious now from reading this thread that it is easy for an interested reader to discover what many people think about Benny Hinn ministries, including fellow Christians and Evangalists.  Many groups are none too happy with him.  They take exception to his living the high life and they believe that Hinn is not fulfilling his vows as a pastor or preacher by his lifestyle.  Whether Hinn spends 1% of the donations on himself or 100% of the donations on himself, he is presenting the wrong image by his lifestyle and ostentatious display.

     So - anyone who is interested in how Benny Hinn is spending his money at least has a foundation (especially in today's information-soaked world) to be able to determine if their "investment" in Benny Hinn is a good one, at least from the viewpoint of someone who wants to spread the New Testament message around the world.

     Remember - fraud is stealing money from people through deceipt.  I am certainly not defending Hinn here by any stretch of the imagination, but it is clear that Hinn does not hide his lifestyle from anyone.  In fact, he even appears proud of it.  "Investors" in Hinn's ministries know full well that he enjoys his first-class life and he apparently makes no apologies for it. 

   In this sense, therefore, Hinn is not committing fraud.

More tommorrow.

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

Benny Hinn Forever! 15

So, we are somewhat at a crossroads: I have already stated that I will not state one way or another if Benny Hinn is defrauding his contributors.  However, I have also said that it is quite clear that Hinn is doing very well for himself.  Further, Hinn has not adopted the standards of accountability and transparency that would eliminate many of the questions that reasonable people would have about his ministry.

     What we can discuss, however, to end this conversation, is the following: what exactly is a contributor to Hinn's ministry looking for?  Remember, this is not a financial investment - a contributor to Hinn is not putting away money for retirement or in an investment fund.  Therefore, an investor is not really "losing" his money the way investors in Bernie Madoff's scheme lost money. 

    It is therefore a blanket statement to say, but probably true, that a contributor to Hinn's ministry is looking to "invest" in a person (Hinn) who will spread the New Testament, particularly Hinn's version of the New Testament, to others.  This is what an investor is looking for.  However, it is also true to state that a reasonable investor in Hinn's ministries would want to know just how much of his money is going to Hinn or actually going to spread the Word. 

     So - can a reasonable person learn just how much of his money is going directly to Hinn versus going to the stated goal of Hinn's ministry?

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

Benny Hinn Forever! 14

OK - back to reality.  There is only one serious question here - is Benny Hinn defrauding his investors?  Is his priamary purpose to spread the Word or is he suckering his investors so that he can live the high life?

     I need to warn my readers up front that there is no easy answer here and I cannot provide one.  As this conversation begins to wind down, I am stating right now that this will not end with me stating one way or another that "yes, he is committing fraud" or "no, he is not."

     Life is seldom that simple and this is no exception.

     There is no doubt that Hinn lives the good life.  He has the homes, cars, first class flights (and his own jet), good food, and all the good clothes he could want (although I don't share his taste in clothes.  Off-white is definitely not my color).  But, at the same time, all you have to do is watch one of the Christian religious channels that permeate the airwaves and you will see that Hinn is working.  He is out there preaching the Word (at least, his own interpretation of it) and he does hold revival meetings.  He is not just living off the "interest" in his "investments."

    And here we reach one of the thorny issues when discussing fraud: Hinn's "product" is, by and large, undefinable.  He is not offering a return on his investment like Bernie Madoff (unless you consider saving souls an investment) nor is he promising some long-term retirement scheme (ditto).  How can we "prove" that Hinn is committing fraud?  Should we be able to?

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

Benny Hinn Forever! 13

OK - before we address the question posed in the last post, I have to post this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprQGmZ3Imw

Genesis - one of my favorite rock bands addressing the televangalist scandals of the 80's.

We'll get back to the discussion tommorrow.

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

Benny Hinn Forever! 12

So - let's get to the gist of this whole thing - is Benny Hinn defrauding his contributors and supporters? After all - this is a blog about fraud and it would be a tremendous waste of time (not to mention being off-topic) if this whole thread did not lead to some kind of statement about Benny Hinn defrauding his contributors and taking the money to live a good life.

     One of my most vivid memories is 1987, when various televangilists, most especially Jim and Tammeye Faye Baker, who were accused of massive fraud and deceipt with some of the televangalists going to jail.  Ted Koppell of "Nightline"virtually restarted his career on the antics of these clowns.  I suppose this is where my interest in fraud and fraud related events was ignited.

    It's easy to group Benny Hinn with this group. After all, many of the elements are the same.  You have a way-too slick televangalist who lives the high life.  He preaches a gospel of "money theology- " stating that God and Jesus want you to be millionaires.  He has his own private jet, luxury homes, stays at five-star hotels, shops in Beverly Hills - you get the idea.

     It's easy to therefore group Benny Hinn with the 1987 televangalists who were convicted of fraud. 

    But - is this correct?

Benny Hinn Forever! 11

OK - so we have seen from the previous post that Ministry Watch, sort of an unofficial "watchdog" of ministries is suggesting that people withhold donations from Benny Hinn Ministries. 

     Ministry Watch is suggesting this course of action not because they have a problem with Hinn's accountability, or lack of it.  Ministry Watch asks important questions, such as why Hinn is travelling around the world in a private jet (like travelling first class is not good enough).  MW also asks why Hinn goes on expensive shopping trips, why he lives such an extravagent lifestyle and why he has such expensive homes. All of these are legitimate questions, especially for an organization that lives off the donations of others.

     MWalso wants to know just how much of the money from Benny Hinn Ministries is actually going to support Hinn's supposed primary purpose, namely evangilism.  After all (once again), people who donate to Hinn's ministries have a right to know just what they are getting for their money.  Once again, the issue here is not Hinn's ability to earn a living, he certainly has the right to eat.  But, what percentage of the Benny Hinn ministries is going to its primary purpose?

     MW is only asking the questions that are basic to understanding Benny Hinn ministries.

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

Benny Hinn Forever! 10

Before we discuss Benny Hinn further, let's take a look at a posting by a popular ministry website which advises people not to donate to Hinn's ministries.

http://www.ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/pdf/MWDA_053105_BennyHinn.pdf

We will discuss this tommorrow.

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk