by Wm. David Waterman

Created on: May 19, 2008

Although I was once taken in by the televangelists broadcasting their own peculiar messages, I soon found that their claims did not stand the test of reality. It is not the ridiculous claims that offend me the most however, but it is the audacity that they exhibit in even standing up before millions and broadcasting such things.

I am a Christian. At one time I would have claimed to be a member of a certain or specific church or denomination, but now I have come to realize at this stage in my life that I am to strive to be a follower of Jesus Christ and not a particular denomination or church. So now I am a Christian who happens to be attending a church near where I live. That is very liberating! I now can compare all teachings that are broadcast or preached at me to the Word of God and am no longer bound by the 'we believe' line that so many denominations use.

I find the televangelists messages very offensive in one point where I often see the consequences first hand. Being in ministry myself for over twenty five years, I find that the wounds caused by false hopes planted by the televangelists is especially damaging to the listeners. Many of the people who listen to the shows staged by these characters are really
desperately needing a miracle. They may be suffering from a serious illness or completely without options for their situation, and these false teachers will step into their life through the television program and teach things that give them cause to believe that getting God's attention is merely to follow a formula, and He will immediately open the windows of heaven to dump the money out on them.

The Word of God never presents a formula as a solution to our problems. The Word always presents a relationship much like a very deep personal friendship, where God can lead us and guide us through life as the solution to our problems. Sending money to some guy on television who will spend it on his own aspirations and desires rather than tithing to the local church is a new formula. And some people will do anything at the point of desperation in order to escape their situation. So the money flows toward these charlatans. They find plenty of victims in the US because we do have more income here than anywhere else in the world. I find it interesting that these televangelists do not spend a lot of time on the air in poor countries to hawk their particular brand of hype. We only find them in the wealthiest nations in the world.

The question is often asked "why doesn't

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