Hard Questions For "Prosperity Gospel"

(CBS)  Last November, Sen. Charles Grassley launched a public investigation into the ministries of six top televangelists who attract thousands of followers and collect hundreds of millions of dollars around the world. Grassley is demanding financial records to determine whether these churches deserve their tax exempt status. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian takes a hard look at one target: Kenneth Copeland, the so-called "godfather" of "prosperity gospel."

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"To live in the garden of Eden … hallelujah!" Copeland says. "Somebody shout 'amen!'"

In one TV sermon after another, Kenneth Copeland and wife, Gloria, implore viewers to sow the seeds of their faith by following God's word - and donating dollars, promising a 100-fold return in happiness and wealth, Keteyian reports.

Even the check envelope says "I am sowing $_____ and believing for a hundredfold return."

"It's a business, it's a bottom-line business," said a former ministry employee - who feared being identified. The employee answered hundreds of prayer requests a day, most sent in with donations, before quitting, feeling "betrayed" by Copeland's gospel of prosperity.

"So when he's preachin' health and wealth..." Keteyian asks.

"He's filling that bottom line on his business," the source said.

That's why Senate investigators are digging into whether ministry resources are being diverted into an array of for-profit companies tied to the Copelands: cattle, horses, aviation, real-estate development and gas and oil wells to name a few.

Michael Hoover, who worked for Kenneth Copeland Ministries for five years, quit in 2005 over disagreements with the church. He says he witnessed other employees doing work on behalf of for-profit businesses tied to the Copeland family.

"In my viewpoint, I believe that they were using a lot of the ministry's assets for personal businesses," he said.

"The nonprofit activity and the for-profit activity are so intertwined that you can't, you can't separate them," said Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation.

A two-month CBS News investigation, including interviews with nearly a dozen former Copeland employees, raises serious questions about the Copeland's religious empire.

Beginning with a lavish lakefront home, all 18,000 square feet of it, and a fleet of private planes - all paid for by the ministry.

At a celebration, Copeland said: "The Lord spoke to me and said 'you're gonna believe for a Citation 10, right now.'"

Copeland got what he wanted - that's the $20 million jet right there parked at the ministry-owned airport. It's one of four private planes owned by the church.

"It will never ever be used as for anything other than what is becoming of you Lord Jesus," he said.

But that's not what happened.

CBS News has learned he used one ministry jet and another to fly to and from Colorado three times in 2007 - the site of frequent Copeland family vacations. The ministry now claims they reimburse the ministry for personal use of the jets.

Copeland has said: "You are not created for poverty."

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Learn more about Copeland and televangelist funding over at Primary Source.
Read "The Road To Prosperity" by Armen Keteyian

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Churches are not required to file tax forms - or make their finances public. The ministry, which says it does everything by the book, has refused to answer key questions about its finances raised by Senate investigators.

"We answered them - we gave them a several-page lesson on …" Copeland said.

Kenneth Copeland refused repeated interview requests by CBS News.

When Keteyian went to ministry headquarters near Ft. Worth, Texas, we were turned away.

"There's no way I can see him right now?" Keteyian asked a security guard before being turned away.

If Grassley doesn't get the answers he wants, he may well resort to some words of his own - in the form of a Senate subpoena.

[heis4real]

These blind followers of these Prosperity Teachers are bible illiterates who must have never read Luke 9:23 where Jesus said "If anyone wants to be his disciple must DENY themselves (of this worlds stuff), Take up their Cross and Follow Him!
The Cross in Jesus day was not a lovely little piece of jewelry but an excruciating and humiliating instrument of death and sacrifice.
You people so blind you refuse to see you are being taken for a ride should get out your bibles and read the book of Acts (of the Apostle's and early church).
Also this verse in Hebrews 11:37 the early disciples of Christ were sawn into by the sword, were destitute and wondered around in sheepskins and goatskins!
Followers of Prosperity Teachers have just fulfilled end time prophecy that people with itching ears would run to have their ears tickled with false doctrine and that there would be false Prophets teaching false doctrine in the latter days. Congrat's to idiots everywhere!

[ddaryl]

GOD IS A SOCIALISTS AND BELIEVES WE SHOULD ALL BE EQUAL AND WORK TOGETHER TO FORM A SOCIETY OF EQUALS.. to live peacefully and take care of each other.

GOD is not a capitalist and could give a rats -ss about profits or wallstreet...

but the so called true believers are the biggest offenders

[heis4real]

Say some of the are the biggest offenders. I'm one of those few who actually read my bible word for word and am not in the least impressed with Prosperity Pimps,trying to pimping off the Gospel of greed!

[taybray710]

Yes God wants up to prosper but not from the misuse of money that people donate to what they think is being used for the church. We are also told in the bible to follow the law of the land and when you break the law there is punishment. When you are a NON PROFIT organiztion guess what that means no profit it doesnt mean that you buy 6 jets and 60 million dollar home. That seems like a very good profit to me. When someone dies and leaves there property to the church they expect it to be used by the church, not for the pastor to start a ranch on it and make a profit but not give it back to the church but line your pockets with it. Kenneth Copeland is suppose to be a good steward of the churches money and by blowing it on material things he is not. Think of what 60 million he spent on his house could do for those without christ or food or housing... Follow the example of jesus, Luke 18:18-30 where Jesus counsels the rich young ruler, Telling him to sell all that he has and distribute it to the poor and the ruler becomes very sorrowful because he was very rich. How hard is it for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of GOD! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of GOD, because when you have all that stuff it starts becoming your GOD and he says thou shalt not have no other GODS before me he didnt just mean in the literal since he meant anything that comes between you and GOD. Maybe Kenneth Copeland should handle his ministery like Billy Graham does he has lived in a modest home for more than 30 years and has an open book policy on all his finances and his salary... and I am sure he doesnt own 6 private jets and he doesnt mind showing the government his finances because he has nothing to hide. If Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have nothing to hide and have abided by the non profit exemption why does he get so defensive about it? That is GODs money not Kenneth Copelands...

[bennyblack1]

And I wonder, how much is the good Senator hiding from the IRS? How much dipping has he done into taxpayers'' money to fund his own estate or pet projects? How much money has he extorted from businesses and people? I''ll bet if there was an audit done on him, that he''s evading the IRS by not reporting income. Don''t think that just because he''s starting the investigation that he isn''t doing those things. Politicians are good at pointing in any direction but themselves.

Has anyone thought about investigating HIM?

[bennyblack1]

Lostoneagain;
Your name shows your lack of knowledge. First of all, people give because they want to. Generally, it is not to get something in return, which inevitably happens. When you give to God, God gives back, "some 30, some 60, and some 100 fold." What people miss in that give back is that it depends on many factors; 1)faith, 2)lifestyle, 3)spiritual warfare, 4)circumstances, 5)your personal spending habits, and 6)if God the Father has you going through a bunch of stuff so that he can teach you things that you need to know so that you can be more effective as a Christian and a minister. So, if you''re an irresponsible fool that won''t take care of your money, refuses to pay bills, lives off of everyone else, takes drugs, and spend whatever money you have on illicit *** and drunken parties, don''t expect a whole lot from God. In fact, don''t expect ANYTHING from God.

[heis4real]

True people give because they want to but it still does not excuse the misuse of the bible to trick them into it!

[bennyblack1]

Ok, all you crooked folks out there who don''t even know your own nose.

The Lord God WANTS Christians to prosper. Plain and simple. Ministers are under the employ of Jesus Christ, therefore, their salaries are determined by God alone, not some nutcase in Washington DC, or ANY OF YOU, who don''t have the first CLUE about Christianity. You don''t have the first CLUE about the Bible, and probably don''t even know what one looks like. You have no earthly idea how many millions of dollars passes through Kenneth Copeland''s hands to fund several missions abroad, schools, charities, and to pay laborers to accomplish the mission of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

What I have actually seen is people going to an outreach, taking free food provided by the ministry when they didn''t need to. Then, they might pick up a whole wardrobe of clothing...then go sell it for themselves. This is not only stealing, but lying, and profiting on what God charged us to do ... take care of the poor.

If I started an investigation on many of you out there in the secular world, how would YOU fare? How much income are YOU hiding?

So, ya know what? Unless you can show yourselves to be any better than Kenneth Copeland, KEEP YER TRAP SHUT! If you don''t, you may find God himself judging you for all your sins out of season. and YOU DON"T WANT THAT!

[donnafargo]

I have been a partner with Kenneth Copeland Ministries
since the early 1980''s and he nor Gloria have ever
implored people to give.
They do not charge people to go to their conventions.
And yes, the Bible does talk about the 100 fold return.
If people would just read their Bible, they would see
it.
I have met Gloria Copeland, and I can say she is the sweetest, humblest person I have ever met.
Before anybody criticizes the Copelands,
you preach to millions of people, pray for millions
of people and leads millions of people to the Lord Jesus.
People bring up that Kenneth Copeland doesn''t see the
prayer request and read and pray over them himself.
What about Billy Graham? Does he see all prayer requests that come into him and pray over them.
NO.
The ministers have prayer departments that do that.
The ministers prepare sermons and preach.

One man can''t do it all, that''s why he has helpers.
don''t be so close minded when criicizing him.

Do you want someone snooping in on your spending?
do you want someone spying on what you do in your personal time? Lay off the Copelands.
in fact, back off from all the preachers.

[ddaryl]

you're a complete sucker and a fool...

it's BS but you choose to believe it because it makes you feel better about the shallow life you do lead, and you're too caught up in the need to justify yourself you don't even seek the truths.

but you will have to answer someday, and boy are you going to be surprised by the real truth, too bad you have ot waste yur human existence giving credence to false prophets

[heis4real]

Allow me to tell you what really happened to followers of Christ in the early Church and not what Kenneth Copeland twists. Look this up and see what the Hall of Fame saint endured
Hebrews 11:37 "They were stoned, they were sawn into they were killed by the sword. They went around in raggedy clothes. They wandered around in deserts, hills and hide in caves.
Gee, it's too bad your Kenneth Copeland and the rest like, Mike Murdock, Todd Contz, Fred Price and Creflo Dollar wasn't around to tell them to name and claim their prosperity so they could have avoided all of this along with the martyr Apostle Paul who was according to church history was beheaded for spreading the Gospel!!!!

[dragonflygirl1961]

I would bet Jesus would be sick. If he really was a man of God, which he is not, then he would not be living like a Sultan.
Instead, that money would be going to help those in need, as Jesus preached.
Copeland is a thief.

[jmg0]

Very, very disappointed in this one-sided and misleading "news report". I agree it seems that 3 or 4 former disgruntled employees out of the hundreds who work and have worked there are supposed to be considered reliable sources. Again, an insult to the intelligence of your viewers. And I agree that CBS should have to answer the question-- I wonder why you couldn''t seem to find a single one of the millions of people who''ve been helped by the Copeland ministry. Or why you failed to report on their many outreaches, such as aid to Hurricane Katrina victims or outreaches to local police offers'' families and prisons. Who cares that this ministry has an airplane -- Did you look into what the Citation aircraft is actually used for?
Again, this poorly written story with an agenda that could not have been more obvious was completely missing the facts, which shows why this news station''s ratings are steadily dropping and will continue to drop. One less viewer right here.

[ddaryl]

any church with a pastor or priest living in luxury is a farce...

you just need a way to help justify your own existence. How about opening your heart and soul and doing some real research into humanity... but you won't

[heis4real]

I challenge anyone duped by thees prosperity teachers to blow the dust off their bibles and actually read Hebrews chapter 11 and Luke 9:23 where Jesus said if you want to follow him then you must deny yourselves, take up your Cross and follow him. The cross represented death, sacrifice and suffering not gold, silver chariots or an experience piece of silver to wear around your neck!

[jmg0]

It is unfortunate Charles Grassley has nothing better to do with his time and the taxpayer''s money, and he deserves to be reprimanded his consituents. He is making a fool of himself and I am embarressed that Iowa is my home state when I hear his name in the news.
A hundred fold return is in the bible, and the fact that CBS does not even point that out shows their ignorance and bias against Christianity. If CBS is going to try to accuse someone and deem them guilty until proven innocent based on supposed theological grounds, then at least do some basic research on the points you make against them.