The only teevee preachers to whom I’ve ever sent money are Zola Levitt and John Ankerberg. These guys are relatively low-profile, and they don’t do much arm-waving, shouting, rabble-rousing, or fund-raising. I do not agree with all the teachings of Levitt and Ankerberg, but they are, in my view, genuine ministers of the Gospel, and that, on television, is an oddity. The worshipers of Mammon seem to have taken over the airwaves.
Schuller is widely criticized for his opulent lifestyle and excessive fundraising, as evidenced by the lavishness of his own Crystal Cathedral. In fact, when revenue goes down, his approach is to step up the fundraising instead of selling off some of his viewer-paid assets.
Moderator speaketh: Cafe Society is for arts, entertainment, leisure and related topics. While televangelists might be considered “entertainment” in some sense, I suppose, this topic isn’t about their entertainment value but about their morals. As such, I’m moving it off to Great Debates.
yeah, but Schuller is also very open about his lifestyle, fundraising & viewer-paid assets.
“Honest” is a very relative term- technically, Dr. Gene Scott was probably the most honest TV preacher ever because he made no secret that he was a rascal.
I miss him.
In the sense of meaning what they say and using money for what they claim-
I think many, indeed most, may be more honest than dishonest- they may be
deluded or fooling themselves, but AFA scheming to defraud people, I think those con artists are few & far between.
That said- here’s some I’d think are honest
(this does not mean I necessarily agree with what all they teach)-
Billy Graham
Robert Schuller
D. James Kennedy
John Ankerberg
Charles Stanley
Mother Angelica or whoever now runs EWTN
Using the above criteria- probably Falwell & Robertson
Ones I’m very leery of-
Paul & Jan Crouch
Benny Hinn
most of the Word of Faith preachers but that’s more because of doctrinal disagreements (Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Carleton Pearson- tho I do admire
his stance for Universal Salvation)
Robert Tilton & Peter Popoff are the few in that special category of-
if you donate to them now, you deserve to lose that money!
JThunder- is a site run by a self-appointed prophetess who gives herself the middle name of Elijah the best site you could find against Schuller???
It was the first one that I found, as I wasn’t about to spent excessive amounts of time scouring the web for this. The manner in which this woman names herself is irrelevant to the matter at hand.
Moreover, anyone who has ever seen the opulence of the Crystal Cathedral must wonder about how Schuller’s organization spends their viewer-donated funds. You’re right in that this doesn’t make him technically dishonest, if he makes no claims about how the donations are being spent. However, I think most people (apart from the fleeced flock) would view this as an implicity betrayal of public trust.
Hmmm. I don’t know that I agree with this.
My own church is pretty well known for building and maintaining rather ornate and beautiful worship sites, especially for major centers of worship like basilicas, shrines, and cathedrals. Done properly, it can not only provide a large space for many worshippers, but also inspire those worshippers by providing images of the glory of God.
Let’s not forget that the Sistine Chapel is a church, a working one, in fact.
just in the interest of full disclosure, let me note that at home, I am member of a (for this town) large but pragmatic & non-ornate Assembly of God, but when I visit my brother in L.A. every Spring, my church there is the Crystal Cathedral
So I’ve seen the ornateness up front- and it’s no secret to anyone who watches the TV program, so whatever fleecing is done, is done to knowing & willing sheep
Baa Baa Baaaa 
Acts 8:18-21, And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. (20) But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” (21) “You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. (22) “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”
Well, I think that throws every televangelist into the pile, (even Mr. Graham). Peddling the word of God for profit was even commented on by Paul in Acts 20:33-35 he states, “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel, “Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, (he was a tentmaker) that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is better to give than to receive.”
You’re guy at the shelter probably loves the people more than the spotlight.
Being pro-Israel does not automatically equal pro-Semitism. There are those Christians who believe that Israel is necessary for the Second Coming (at least, as I understand it, because I am not Christian), but who don’t care about the Jews one way or another, or who might even be anti-Semitic because of the Jews’ refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah.
Robin
Are there any Christians who believe that? Maybe, maybe not. It certainly isn’t a teaching that has any Scriptural foundation, so I doubt that Billy Graham endorses such a view.
If you want to be absolutely strict about that, it is possible for a supporter of Israel to be acting with ignoble intentions. By the same token though, anyone who spends his time helping the poor could be doing so for some ulterior motive, such as self-aggrandizement or the desire to impress a woman. In the absence of any evidence that Billy Graham is acting with some nefarious agenda in mind, it’s only reasonable to presume that he is genuinely supportive of the Israeli people.
Obviously, we’ll never know exactly what goes on in his mind, or anyone else’s. However, nobody here has offered any substantive evidence that Rev. Graham “hates” the Jewish people. Indeed, the evidence offered so far suggests that he is genuinely supportive of Israel and its people.
Do you have any evidence that Billy Graham is doing this for profit? There’s a huge difference between stuffing one’s pockets and raising necessary financial support.
I’m not a huge Graham fan; in fact, I take issue with some of his theology. However, I have yet to see any evidence of financial wrongdoing on his part.
But if you send money to Peter Popoff, he’ll send you his patented Miracle Spring Water[sup]TM[/sup], which will pour God’s financial blessings upon you!
well, yeah, he does have that going for him! 
I have no evidence of any misconduct and I have no proof that he held any type of work with his hands after he began preaching in the 50’s. (if that is true, maybe he has been a burden on the Church ever since) I also did not imply that he was involved in any wrongdoing, rather, he does not escape the meaning of that either passage of scripture.
Who’s that TV preacher with the giant shoes ( for his size) and the bowl style haircut. He seems pretty straightforward.
If you weren’t trying to imply that Billy Graham has been “peddling the Word of God for profit,” then what the heck were you trying to say? I’m afraid that you’ve lost me.
Is it me, or does Peter Popoff look like a game show host?
JThunder, as I said, I am not Christian, and so am not qualified to make theological distinctions, nor do I know what is scriptural and what is not. I do know that there are sects of Christians who feel that the existence of Israel is necessary to bring the End Times, perhaps because Israel is essential to fulfill their interpretations of biblical prophecy. Their feelings on the Jews range from indifference to flat-out hatred. For this, I have approximately 5 data points; they were all co-workers or friends of friends who “witnessed” to me upon finding out that I’m Jewish. I realize that “anecdote” is not the singular of “data”, and I know that all of these people probably belonged to fringe groups.
My point (and I have one) was that one’s feelings about Israel are not necessarily tied to one’s feelings about Judaism.
Robin
No offense, but I’d really like to see a rigorous cite for that. All the Christian groups that I know who believe in end-time prophecy assert that these prophecies will come through no matter what. In other words, they’re not contingent on any goodwill toward Israel. (And yes, I do consider myself to be fairly well-informed on such matters.)
Is it possible that such Christians exist? Perhaps, but I see no evidence that Billy Graham espouses such a view. In fact, since that particular viewpoint appears to be quite rare, I find it unlikely that Graham is secretly a Jew-hater, and that he only supports Israel so as to bring about Christ’s return.
No cite, but quite a few fundamentalists believe that. More generically, many of them are of the opinion that God’s promise in the OT “I will bless he that blesses [Israel] and curse he that curses you” are still in effect.
I think there’s an important distinction to be made here between “evangelist/preachers” who get their services broadcast, and those who exist primarily as a TV show.
IOW, Billy Graham was doing crusades before there was TV, and the services are still planned and organized primarily as live events; the TV is ancillary. Same with Robert Schuller: he’s the pastor of a church who televises his services. OTOH, people like Bakker, Robert Tilton, Paul Crouch and Pat Robertson are more or less purely TV creations: those I think are the ones for whom “televangelist” most accurately fits, and ISTM that on the whole, they are markedly more often ethically suspect.