Hank Hanegraaff ?

Yes, if he inherited the money or got it from another source like a side job.

But he is skimming off big money wile paying others in the ministry squat. All the while begging the uninformed listener for their hard earned money.

I once saw a picture of his house in California. An arial shot. If you had seen it you never would have posted your "nice home" piece I can assure you.

More on his salary and house issue:

http://cultlink.com/ar/cristat.htm

 

My husband says Im a defense attorney at heart, so forgive me for keeping it up so long....

I just hate to think badly of anyone like that.

You understand, even if I had money, I would probably not be sending money to any ministry I wasn't a part of, anyway.

 

JohnV, thank you for telling the truth about this man. I was a fan of Walter Martin's and I know for many years what happened to CRI. This man should not even be on the air. You and I may not agree on much, but we sure agree 100% on this one. And my thanks to you is sincere.

cmg

 

WELL ,It looks the man has been in the wrong in the past but ,as for me I'll leave the judging up to God.

 

True, my husband and I have said the same thing.

 

I think H.H. is a sad story in the church today.

On the one hand, I truly believe that God has called him to this ministry and that he has a lot of good things that the church needs to hear.

On the other hand, I believe that he has squandered his credibility with his shady financial dealings, his constant medicine show-like hawking, and his beligerant personality.

If he has become as big a laughingstock as the WoF heretics he goes after, he has no one but himself to blame.

Reminds me of the old saying, "What you do speaks so loudly that I can't hear what you say".

I think I've shared this before, but a long time ago, I was very close friends with a guy named Phil Cetnar, who now helps to run Personal Freedom Outreach.

Phil's parents, Bill and Joan Cetnar, co-founded a ministry with Walter Martin that eventually morphed into CRI.

When I first became aware of the Bible Answer Man program, through Phil, it was very different. There were frequent guests and debates, best of Fridays, often featuring Martin or Francis Schaeffer, and other features that made it a compelling and entertaining, as well as very educational and thought provoking, show.

Now, every show is, as someone else pointed out, geared toward stumping for his latest book.

One of the ironic things about the show is that he spends so much time admonishing WoF teachers for hiding behind a misinterpretation of "touching God's annointed", but then refuses accountability and condemns anyone who dares to criticize him.

I tend to put him in the same category as Mike Warnke: a great calling and a great ministry ruined by bad behavior.

 

Bapmom quiped:

"Well Jack,

how do you know that any of the donations to the ministry went into his own private pocket instead?"

I am going by the web sites that claim that Hank is pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars directly from CRI coffers while his co-workers in the ministry get squat. This is a direct acusation from many of his (usually former) co-workers.

My only point in bringing this up is so that our fellow Christians here get a heads up about any possible support checks that might be going his way. They are really hawking for funds now since they made their expensive move from California.

Make your ministry donations count folks where ever you send them.

 

ive seen alot of accusations against HH, and while I am a big fan of his, I find it unbelievable that I NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THIS STUFF BEFORE.

I do not want to be ignorant here, as this man was the one who opened my eyes to the pratices of Benny Hinn and other cultists like him. IF these accuastions are true, then my respect for this man is gone.

Can you post some more proof of these accusations? Honestly, it would take more than a couple of former employees to make a case. Is there any place where I can find some hard evidence? It will be much appreciated. That way, I will stop reccomending his books if this stuff is true.

I agree with one poster here, as I do not give to ministries I am not involved with. Not unless God speaks to me, and so far, He has not.

 

Here's one good source, that documents much:
http://www.waltermartin.com/cri.html

Robert Bowman did a good documentation of the plagiarism:
http://www.atlantaapologist.org/COPYCAT.html

Interviews about what happened when HH first took over CRI:
http://www.xmark.com/focus/Pages/hank.html

ApologeticsIndex has a pretty good history of most of the controversies:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c174.html

Much of the financial issues are documented by MinistryWatch, an independent accountability group:
http://www.ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/pdf/News_CRI_Refused.pdf

To me, this one is the most telling of everyday situations:
http://people.biola.edu/faculty/clinta/Covering/Response.htm

I know this is a lot, so please don't get me wrong. I welcome the fact that there is a drive-time apologetics program in major markets that often features scholars and noted authors. I'm just presenting this in answer to the question for documentation. Truth is never afraid of exposure, and these are merely common things on the internet.

I urge everyone to not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

It is so sad that a ministry goes sideways because of someones greed.I don't know how anybody else feels but I think there should be some kind of limiting factors on salary and perks when doing the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.I don't read anywhere in the Bible that Jesus or any of the Disciples lived in opulance.I don't read anywhere in the Bible where the man of God is to live in opulance.

 

Some of you make me glad I'm not a Christian in the public eye!

 

I agree with ya, webdog.

Plain Old Bill, I agree with you, too, that it is sad when greed causes a ministry to come under such criticism.

I don't think though that we ought to start making rules about "salary caps." Perhaps the Bible does not state that any of the disciples lived in opulence, but neither does it say that they did NOT.
I still believe that a pastor's salary is between himself, the congregation, and God. If the congregation feels that their pastor warrants a larger salary, than so be it. Instead of trying to regulate things like this, let's go out there and educate people on how to be discerning and cautious when supporting a man's ministry.

 

I'm about 20 minutes northwest of Laguna Beach. I'm in LB at least once a month. I was recently there for their famous "Pageant of the Masters", which I attend every year.

 

He doesn't have a nice home, he has a lavish home, and a lavish lifestyle. It is a fact that he has engaged in questionable business practices, something scripture referrs to as an abomination. He even went so far as to have CRI pay for his 60 thousand dollar car and his country club while at the same time laying off a significant percentage of the CRI workforce. What up with that? And then he has the guts to announce that doing business in California is too expensive???

I don't have a problem with a pastor, preacher, etc, having a nice house or nice things if he has earned those things legitimately. Heck, I'll even stick up for doctrinally questionable Robert Schuller, whose ministry has undergone much scrutiny (and even an undercover reporter at one time), and has never been found to conduct any qyestionable business practices whatsoever.

I don't have a problem with Hanegraaf's lifestyle, if it's from his own legitimately earned money. It is not.

 

Those of you who support Hank do not remember Walter Martin and what CRI was intended to be and what it was under Walter Martin. Also, if you had known Walter Martin or if you listened to him and studied his works, you would see that Hank can't hold a candle to Walter Martin. Walter was much more educated than Hank for one thing.

The real lesson here is that para-church organizations are weak and dubious. Walter's good intentions did not survive him because Walter was stronger than he realized. There was just no one to fill his shoes and the people who grabbed the wheel of the car at Walter's funeral also managed very quickly to wreck the car in a ditch. What is extra sad is that Hank would not allow Walter's work to be saved but destroyed it inside the Institute as he destroyed the Institute itself.

The good news is that Walter published a lot and made a lot of recordings so that his books and tapes survive even if CRI is wrecked.

Now we just have to deal with the pre-trib folks, the anti-charismatic folks, and the no- divorce folks who all oppose Walter Martin among the Baptists. Walter Martin did kick down the door to the kingdom of the cults and the whole rotten structure has fallen in if the Christians care to evangelize the lost and if the Christians care to put the cookies on the bottom shelf so that the average Christian is taught doctrine and is taught the reasons for the doctrine that Christianity teaches.

Or maybe we just want to go back to sleep in the comfortable pews.

 

Since CRI is not under the auspices of a local church, Matthew 18 does not apply. And unless Hank and those offended by Hank are members of the same church, they have no recourse through church discipline. (I'm referring to the appeals made on their websites by those offended by Hank.)

Now, if Hank broke the law, they may have recourse through courts. If he didn't then they should take their lumps and move on and consider themselves wiser for the experience.

I do not like Hank Hanegraaff at all. Since I've first heard him he has struck me as an arrogant, pompous windbag. I listen every now and then, though, because I like to formulate my own answers to callers' questions. But even the few times I've tuned in lately, I've heard nothing but advertising for his books.

 

Well, somebody has finally put my feelings into clinical terms.

I confess that I do not understand the measure of support that HH does have. Perhaps it's just a matter of style: some people like the sort of person who coos to his admirers and demeans his detractors.

I'm in no position to say whether he does more good than harm, but I'd favor his replacement.

 

Could it be that the Carolina's are becoming a safe haven for the tele-ripoffs? Robert Tilton moved from Dallas, TX several years ago when several hundred thousand dollars came up missing from his church safe one morning after a special day offering. He moved to the Carolina's and changed his name and is now back on T.V. promising God's blessings for only one thousand dollars of "seed" money to be sent to his ministry. I see him on cable from time to time. I always wonder how he escaped Dallas w/o an investigation. The only other person with the safe combo was cleared.

 

HankyBoy is a self proclaimed Bible Answer Man.
Hanky Boy is a self Proclaimed Apologist.
Hanky Boy Sells books criticizing Christians and profits form this.
Hanky Boy has chinks in his armour.
Hanky boy only has a background of broadcasting but masquarades as a Theologian.

 

Thanks, JSHurley for the tip about Tilton's whereabouts. I had been wondering whatever happened to him. You say that he even has changed his name--

I think that Hank should give whatever is left of CRI's files to the Interfaith Witness Department of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.