A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

Paul I know.Jesus I know. But who are you?

By Melvin Jones Full Story

I have a question for you:

What’s the difference between the pimps and pimpettes who claim “a great anointing from God” and the rest of us?

Not much, apparently.These guys and gals claim great anointing (which of course they never define in terms other than they’re more spiritual than you unwashed sheeple), and claim to be living in the power of God, and claim to pretty much be plugged right into the holy power source. Then it happens.

Earl Paulk is nailed for lying to the cops and being the father of his nephew…or the uncle of his son…or…well, let’s not try to untangle that particular family tree. And he sexually abused some of the women in his congregation.

Jimmy Swaggart gets caught with a sort of ugly prostitute…twice.

Ted Haggard gets connected to a male prostitute (and drugs).

Paula White and her husband divorce.

Jamal Harrison Bryant and Zachary Timms have what we will call spousal “difficulties” and barely avoid the marital train wreck.

While fussing at Bishop Weeks, Juanita Bynum gets just a little too close to her husband and he tries to show her how he loves her.

And now Benny “There’s Nine of Them” Hinn and his wife are divorcing.(Mrs Hinn’s ‘new ministry’.Click here)

Why do I bring this stuff out about these people? Don’t we all have difficulties of one kind or another? I’ve said before that no matter how together a person’s life might seem to be, that person has some kind of issues or difficulties somewhere in their life. They have a relationship or two that just aren’t what they could be. They have blind spots that they may never EVER see.

I bring this stuff out on these people because they claim to be really different. They claim to be taking advantage of the “power” of God to live victorious (and prosperous) lives.

But let’s look at their lives:

For decades, the Paulk brothers lived lies. At a minimum, Earl Paulk was a sexual predator. And for years he lied about his son…er…nephew. But at the same time he was going on about the special power he has as a prophet, as an anointed man of God. Rather than showing any power of God in their lives, these men demonstrated the power of the fallen nature of man and promoted lies about the true nature of Christianity and spirituality. Instead of encouraging men and women to trust in God, they promised access to a cosmic bellhop.

Jimmy Swaggart went on about the power of the Holy Ghost, proceeded to build quite an empire along the way, and got caught with a really rough looking prostitute. When his denomination called him on it, he kind of stepped down for a bit but refused to submit to the leaders in the denomination. A few months later, he got caught with another rough looking prostitute. But all the time he is touting the usual Charismatic/Pentecostal bilge about an experience giving you great power and great anointing.

Poor Ted didn’t even have the pleasure of gathering enormous amounts of wealth before getting nailed. But as a part of the health and wealth crowd, he preached the same thing and it came to the same results. He, it turned out, was actively involved in some pretty shady stuff on a consistent basis. His doctrine said that wasn’t supposed to happen.

And of course Paula White and her husband preached about God’s power to overcome problems. They told us that if we read this book (which we could get for a seed offering), or if we showed our trust in God by sending in a sacrificial offering, then we would be able to live in victory. They divorced due to, get this, irreconcilable differences.

Though I haven’t made a big deal of it, both Mr. Timms and Mr. Bryant have gotten in a bit of trouble for wandering where they shouldn’t have. Yet they preach that they are men of anointing (and integrity). I guess I’m not real clear on what their anointing is supposed to do.

Junie B (Juanita Bynum) and her husband spent close to a million dollars getting married and sold DVDs of the marriage. They made hundreds of thousands or more going across the country presenting the “Teach Me How to Love You” seminars. Despite their claims to great anointing, it became very obvious that neither of them knew anything about love, true love (I keep hearing the bishop in “Princess Bride” whenever I say that). Again, they sold themselves and people who are “God’s anointed,” as possessing some special God given powers.

And finally, the man who claims to be so anointed he can knock down crowds with the power of his coat, and the woman who says she’s excited about God so she doesn’t need a Holy Ghost enema, have decided to call it quits. Why? Because of irreconcilable differences.

I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it seems to me these people are a bunch of fakes; fakes who have no idea of Ephesians 5 or most other portions of scripture that speak of putting yourself second and others (especially your spouse) first. And what do they say? I can’t stay with him because of “irreconcilable differences.”

Each of us has an anointing. But it’s there to guide us and strengthen us in hard times, in times that try our patience and our determination to follow God. The men and women who are living large (usually at your expense) will tell you to sacrifice for God (i.e. give them money and do without). But how many of them are willing to sacrifice their lives, on a daily basis for their spouse? Take a look around you and see if you can figure out the answer. I don’t think it’s very many.