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.
Pastor Benny appreciates the love, prayers, and support of our beloved partners as we continue to minister the saving and healing Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
Most of the many comments on the page seem supportive of Hinn.
“Reviewing certain operations of the Church” seems to be a pretty positive spin on a raid that went from 9 AM yesterday morning until sometime after 10:30 PM last night. It is hard to see how a truck load of documents in the hands of the IRS will yield a speedy outcome. As I told the Daily Caller’s Eric Owen last night, Hinn is innocent until proven guilty, but I hope the attention to this situation will lead to improved transparency and accountability for religious businesses such as Hinn’s.
Police block entrance to Hinn’s HQ
The day after the IRS raided evangelist Benny Hinn’s Grapevine, TX headquarters, Hinn remains silent. No one from the Hinn camp has spoken and Hinn may not want to be located. From reading a Daily Caller piece about the raid, I learned that a video of Hinn speaking in France yesterday has been removed from Twitter. I posted a link to the tweet in my report on the raid yesterday, but now that link doesn’t work because the tweet has been removed.
So where in the world is Benny Hinn?
Probably, Hinn is traveling to Ukraine. His website says he will rock Kyiv tomorrow with a healing service. I wonder if he address the raid before he returns to the U.S. From Benny Hinn’s website
UPDATE: For photos, video and more detail, scroll to the bottom.
As I write this, IRS and US Postal Service agents are at the Grapevine, TX office complex of mega-evangelist Benny Hinn according to Alice Barr, reporter for NBC in Dallas.
Perhaps, the agents are there to get healed.
Or perhaps, they want to examine Hinn’s books.
Media relations at IRS cited federal law barring disclosure and declined to confirm or deny the presence of agents at Hinn’s office. However, the agents are on the scene.
Apparently, Hinn is in France (the tweet I linked to has now been removed. For more, click here and here) UPDATE: 4:30 PM.
A source at the scene informs me that the media crews have been at Hinn’s headquarters since 9 AM this morning. The entrance to Hinn’s headquarters is blocked off by a local police car and officer (photo below). Boxes have been coming out of the building. There are eight identical vehicles in the parking lot which the sources speculate could be from the IRS. Entrance to Benny Hinn’s office blocked by police Police are not letting anyone out or in at Benny Hinn’s office in Grapevine, TX
Media crew wait for something to happen.
Hinn was investigated by a Congressional committee led by Chuck Grassley in 2010. No charges were filed and no public wrongdoing was disclosed. Hinn has long been a flamboyant showman with a penchant for dramatic services and rich living. The Babylon Bee lampooned Hinn with a recent column which featured Hinn’s miracle of removing a large lump from a woman’s purse.
UPDATE: The major networks covered the story at 4PM CT. Watch ABC’s coverage:
The follow up report has more detail:
UPDATE: According to commenter GWInsida, the IRS was at Hinn’s headquarters at least until 10:30PM (4/26/17) and expected to be there for awhile longer. Hinn may be under scrutiny for funds collected to build a “healing center” which were never used to build anything.
I hope this investigation will lead to policy changes. I think Christian ministries which take in over $1 million dollars should be required to file 990 forms just as other non-profits do. They also should be required to provide audited financial statements to all donors. If the church will not (and it has shown it can’t) police itself, then there are governmental mechanisms already in place which would help provide accountability and transparency.
Additional reading:
Prior posts mentioning Benny Hinn (link)
I kid you not. Corey Stewart a GOP candidate for Virginia governor compared the removal of the white supremacist Liberty Place Monument in New Orleans to the destruction of antiquities carried out by ISIS.
Politicians who are for destroying the statues, monuments and other artifacts of history are exactly like ISIS. pic.twitter.com/XW8wbvw93k
United States troops took over the state government and reinstated the usurpers but the national election November 1876 recognized white supremacy in the South and gave us our state.
Stewart, apparently unaware he is self-destructing, issued a statement:
Woodbridge, VA – Republican gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart released a statement on the removal of confederate monuments deemed “racist” in New Orleans.
“The removal of these historical monuments is nothing less than the blatant destruction of U.S. history,” Stewart said. “This is what happens when weak-chinned Republicans refuse to stand up to the tyrannical political correctness on the left.”
“Democrats in New Orleans are destroying history today, just like they’re trying to in Charlottesville. This will not stop with Robert E. Lee or P. G. T. Beauregard. Next, they will tear down statues of Washington and Jefferson.”
Well, call me a weak-chinned Republican. Stewart supported Trump in the last election and reflects him well. New Orleans is doing the right thing and I hope more monuments to racism come down.
Once upon a time, Family Research Council promoted a video which featured a tour of the U.S. Capitol led by self-styled historian David Barton (see the original here). This Capitol tour video was filled with historical errors. Four years ago, 33 Christian historians and social scientists detailed those errors to FRC in a letter:
April 23, 2013
Dear Tony Perkins, Kenyn Cureton, & J.P. Duffy:
Knowing of your desire to offer truthful and accurate information to the public, we the undersigned Christian historians and social scientists request that you remove the video titled “U.S. Capitol Tour with David Barton” at this URL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlfEdJNn15E) from YouTube.
There are many factual errors on this video which we detail in the attached summary. Given that the video has been viewed over 4 million times, it seems that the errors have been compounded among Christians who trust FRC for accurate information. Furthermore, it is apparent that pastors who go on the tour are learning false and misleading information.
We can provide complete documentation for everything we present here. Given that these claims are highlighted in the video but easily disproved, we believe these errors are enough to warrant the removal of the video with appropriate explanation.
We would be happy to discuss this matter further and hope that we can count on you to represent historical facts accurately.
Since the video was actually posted to the account of FRC VP Kenyn Cureton, he replied by saying Barton had agreed to correct the errors with new content. While this was not ideal, we waited to see what would happen.
In May 2013, after a follow up request from the historians to remove the video, Rev. Cureton made the video private thus removing it from public view. He told our spokesman Michael Coulter that FRC decided to make the video private so that no one could see “the erroneous material.” However, FRC declined to inform the public or provide an explanation for the removal. Eventually, Barton posted an altered version on his YouTube account without comment. I say altered and not corrected because the video was only a partial correction, the video still contains factual errors. The alteration was done in such a way as to make it seem like the video was never changed.
In summary, FRC acknowledged that David Barton was aware of his historical fiction and tried to alter the video without public acknowledgement of the errors and effort at correction. FRC leaders were aware of the many errors and did not alert their constituents to the false information.
Family Research Council Has Invited David Barton to Do It Again
Despite this history, FRC will again feature Barton as a Capitol tour leader and speaker at their Watchmen on the Wall event in May. From FRC website
If anything, the situation has worsened since 2013. Since then, David Barton has falsely claimed to have an earned PhD, only to go silent about the claim when it was revealed that the degree in question came from diploma mill Life Christian University. Barton never attended the school and was simply given the degree in the way an honorary degree is given. In academia, falsely claiming an earned doctorate is considered fraud. When I asked FRC’s Cureton if he was aware of this fraudulent claim, he referred me to media relations. I have heard nothing back from that department.
In the Capitol tour video, pastors who attended the event commented on what they had heard. I will never forget a pastor who looked into the camera and said he was angry because: “We’ve been lied to.” Watch:
Sadly, that pastor was right. He had been lied to. What he didn’t know is that the falsehoods were coming from his hosts and their featured speaker. That pastor might still think Congress printed the first English Bible in America for the use of schools. He might still think 29 out of 56 signers of the Declaration had Bible school degrees or that Thomas Jefferson ordered the marine band to play for worship services in the Capitol. If ever he learns the truth, I wonder if he will be even more angry at those who misled him. FRC should think about this before they host more historical fiction for a new group of pastors.
after 10:30 PM last night. It is hard to see how a truck load of documents in the hands of the IRS will yield a speedy outcome. As I told the Daily Caller’s Eric Owen last night, Hinn is innocent until proven guilty, but I hope the attention to this situation will lead to improved transparency and accountability for religious businesses such as Hinn’s.
