50 years ago: The death of J.I. Rodale

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1

I'm going to live to be 100, unless I'm run down by some sugar-crazed taxi driver. J.I. Rodale

Missed it by that much! Maxwell Smart

Jerome Irving Rodale, born Jerome Irving Cohen on August 16, 1898, co-founded the electrical equipment firm Rodale Manufacturing with his brother Joseph in 1923, and founded Rodale Press in 1930. J.I. Rodale was concerned with his health and became a health and food faddist, establishing an organic food farm, and publishing magazines such as Organic Farming and Gardening and Prevention. He was also a playwright, operating a couple of theatres to stage his works.

On June 8, 1971, Mr. Rodale was a guest on The Dick Cavett Show; the show was taped early in the evening for broadcast several hours later. During his interview, Mr. Rodale said, "I'm in such good health that I fell down a long flight of stairs yesterday and I laughed all the way;" "I've decided to live to be a hundred;" and "I never felt better in my life!" After the interview, Mr. Cavett was interviewing journalist Pete Hamill, and Mr. Rodale, who was sitting further down the couch, slumped over dead; efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. The program was never broadcast.

60 years ago: Sorcery on prime-time television

Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Revelation 9:21

The word rendered "sorceries" in the end-time prophecy cited above is the Greek word "pharmakeia," which according to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words:

...primarily signified the use of medicine, drugs, spells...In sorcery, the use of drugs, whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers, with provision of various charms, amulets, etc., purportedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer.

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond was an anthology series televised by the American Broadcasting Company from 1959-1961, directed and hosted by John Newland, presenting stories related to the supernatural. The episode broadcast on January 24, 1961, The Sacred Mushroom, instead of being a dramatic story, was instead a documentary on the use of a particular mushroom found in Mexico and whether or not users were able to achieve powers of extrasensory perception.

The consultant for the episode, who was also featured in the program, was Dr. Andrija Puharich (1918-1995), a medical and parapsychological researcher who supported the claims of alleged psychics Peter Hurkos and Uri Geller. Dave Hunt, in his book Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust (1983), devoted some space to the work of Dr. Puharich. Nowhere in the program was it suggested or suspected that the use of a psychedelic drug such as the sacred mushroom was opening the users to contact with and deception by demons.

Israeli communications minister promises investigation after GOD TV subsidiary begins broadcasting in Israel

As reported by Malkah Fleisher of Jewish News Syndicate, May 5, 2020:

A new evangelical Christian channel whose mission is to “take the message of Yeshua our Messiah to all of Israel 24/7, 365 days a year” began broadcasting in Israel in Hebrew last week, after signing a seven-year contract with Israeli cable provider HOT.

The Shelanu (Hebrew for “Ours”) TV channel is a branch of GOD TV, which broadcasts missionary programming in 200 countries around the world. The new deal will give the channel access to over 700,000 Israeli households.

GOD TV CEO Ward Simpson said in a video announcing the launch that his network had received permission from the Israeli government to “broadcast the gospel of Jesus Christ—Yeshua the Messiah—in Israel on cable TV in the Hebrew language. Never before, as far as we know in the history of the world, has this ever been done.”

Permission for the new station was granted by Israel’s Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, whose chairman, Asher Biton, told Israel’s Haaretz daily that his organization did not know the station would engage in missionary activity, which he said is prohibited under the terms of the license.

“According to our regulations, it is fine to broadcast religious programming,” he said, “but it is forbidden to broadcast content that has the potential to influence viewers in an undue fashion, and most certainly young and impressionable viewers.”

Under Israeli law, it is forbidden to entice converts by means of material benefits, and also to attempt to convince minors to change their religion.

If Shelanu is permitted to continue broadcasting in Israel, it will not be the first channel to carry Christian content. Daystar and Middle East Television also provide Christian programming. However, Shelanu would be the first to do so in Hebrew, and to openly push a missionary agenda.

Kehila.org, an organization working to promote Christianity as “Messianic Judaism” in Israel, quoted Simpson praising the new network as a “historic and unprecedented media opportunity” enabling missionaries to “take the message of Yeshua our Messiah to all of Israel 24/7, 365 days a year.”

Quoted by GOD TV in an article posted to its website in January, Asher Intrater of Revive Israel Ministries—an organization which runs Christian activities geared toward Hebrew speakers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—said, “As Messianic believers in the Land, we want to see all Israel saved. The media is one of the most powerful methods to achieve this. We’ve tried for years to make this happen. Now that a major media platform has opened to us, this is a special opportunity to reach our people.”

“When they realise Yeshua is one of us, that He is a native Israeli, all of a sudden the opposition goes away,” Intrater added. “Shelanu is not an import coming from outside. It’s us speaking from the inside, sharing to our people, heart to heart.”

On April 29, GOD TV posted an additional article to its website, quoting an unnamed station manager as saying, “We received the platform of HOT as a gift from GOD TV but now it is our obligation as believers to produce relevant and dynamic content that will grab the attention of the Israeli people and open their eyes to the truth of their Messiah, Yeshua.”

However, anti-missionary groups and government officials tracking the story have expressed outrage that the Israeli government allowed Shelanu to broadcast in the Jewish state, and have vowed to work to shut it down.

“It is the very nature of Christian missionaries to be deceptive in their tactics. I would assume this to be the case in their obtaining a license for such a channel,” said Shannon Nuszen, a former evangelical missionary who subsequently left the movement and converted to Judaism and pro-Israel work. “How this received government approval is beyond me, and hopefully [it was] a mistake that will be rectified immediately.”

Israeli Communications Minister David Amsalem issued a response and tweet in which he assured the public that “we will not allow any missionary channel to operate in Israel, at no time, and not under any circumstances.”

Though the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council is under his ministry’s authority, he said that “from the moment that I learned about this case, I turned immediately to the director of the commission, requesting a thorough investigation of the issue, and asked to make sure that no channel will break the parameters of its license, and that if indeed this channel does missionary work, it be removed immediately.”

Amsalem vowed not to allow “unfair influence” on Israeli viewers.

“On the face of it, this is a bungle, and as communications minister of the State of Israel, I will not allow an unfair influence of religious broadcasting on viewers in Israel,” he said.

Attempts to visit the Shelanu website Tuesday afternoon appeared to indicate that the site had been taken down or hidden. Videos of Simpson discussing Shelanu which had been uploaded to YouTube had been set to private.

I'm not a fan of "Christian" television; it's dominated by charismaniacs, dominionists, heretics, and charlatans. I've never watched GOD TV, but it comes as no surprise to this blogger that a quick glance at their website shows me that I haven't missed anything worthwhile. The network's programming includes the usual suspects, such as ear-splitting noise masquerading as "worship"; promotion of New Apostolic Reformation "prophets"; Sid Roth; Hillsong Church; and "anointed" Bishop John Francis of Ruach City Church in England conducting a fawning interview with false teacher Bishop T.D. Jakes. As someone who wants true Christian doctrine to be proclaimed in Israel, I won't protest if Shelanu ends up being banned in that country.

May 31, 2020 update: Jewish leaders in Israel and leaders of "Christian" ministries have responded to the beginning of GOD TV's broadcasting in Israel; as reported by Rivkah Lambert Adler of Breaking Israel News, May 10, 2020 (bold, links in original):

In the midst of the controversy over God TV’s plan to broadcast evangelical messages in Hebrew on Israeli cable television, Breaking Israel News asked a number of Christian and Jewish leaders to weigh in.

Their comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Christian Leaders

Pastor Mark Biltz, El Shaddai Ministries

I am a firm believer in the Bible and in the God of Israel as revealed in the Scriptures. It was to the Jewish people that Hashem gave all the covenants.

Christianity is full of replacement theology – replacing the Biblical feasts and Sabbaths with pagan holidays, replacing the Levitical priesthood, replacing the seat of the throne of the Lord from Jerusalem to Rome, replacing the Biblical Hebrew names with English names, [thus] losing their meanings. It can’t get much more replacement than that.

Christianity has much to learn from the Jewish people about the God of Israel and the Biblical narrative. The agreement between God TV and whoever it was in Israel that made the contract, was that there would be no programming that would wield “undo influence” over the viewers. The sole purpose of the programming is to have a very strong influence over the viewers, to alter their belief system.

I can see how strong Jews who are strongly Zionist as well would be very upset by a TV station supported by Christion Zionists in order to proselytize the Jewish people who are less knowledgeable, or less religious, and how they would feel betrayed.

In every alliance, there are always boundaries or redlines that have to be drawn, and the depth of the relationship is based on the value placed on not crossing those boundaries. For Christianity to build a bridge requires great humility and a deep spirit of repentance and acknowledgement of the harm done. How much trust and value you place on those who are on the other side of the bridge will determine if the bridge is two-lane or a six-lane highway. Christianity, historically, has blown up every bridge built over the last 2,000 years and I hope that any bridge that is built between Christians and Jews will be built on baseless love.

Nathalie Blackham, Broadcaster, Israel First TV

The theology I was taught was that the Jews were wrong. See how God dealt harshly with them? We have Jesus now. We are the good guys. These are deep-seated views of many Christians, more or less.

Today I see things very differently.

Missionizing Jews is like replacing their Jewish belief with a Christian belief. It is saying that the covenant that God has with the Jewish people is not good enough. It is erasing their belief and saying that ours is better. It is degrading the Jews and taking away who they are.

So many Christians are totally ignorant. On my first trip to Israel, I realized that I thought I knew the Bible, but I knew nothing. We have the Bible in our hands because the Jews shared it with us. That’s why it’s so important for Christians to visit Israel.

The God TV move is detrimental for Jewish- Christian relationships. This is like the Crusaders, but with a smile!

We should build relationships between Christians and Jews based on the principles of mutual respect, learning from each other, leaving space for each other to grow and develop and sharing from the Torah.

John Enarson, Christian Relations Director Cry for Zion

Jewish-Christian relations should, above all, be based on mutual respect and openness.

My fellow Bible-believing Christian friends should know I am not speaking as a proponent of dual-covenant theology when I say: God TV’s new initiative is disrespectful, unwise, and I have strong disagreements with their theology and actions here. While folks at God TV might mean well, they are both harming the Jewish people as well as damaging Jewish-Christian relations. I honestly cringed when I first saw some adverts for the new channel, before it even made the news. God TV should reconsider their actions forthwith.

Lars Enarson, Author, Founder and President of The Watchman International

I came to Israel 23 years ago with a similar attitude. Thank God I have learned a few things since then.

I remember the very first week when I came here and I had taken my family for a vacation in Eilat to rest. A homeless person approached me on the beach. He was drunk and asked me very angrily, “What are you doing here?” I was surprised and answered him that I am a Christian who loves Israel and I have come here to pray for the country.

He said, “Do you think we Jews don’t know how to pray? We don’t need you here. Do you know the names of the first five books in the Bible in Hebrew?” I said, “No I don’t.” “You don’t even know this? We don’t want you here. Please go back where you came from!” No doubt this drunkard scored a point.

Since then I have learned so much from the Jewish people here in Israel that I am so extremely thankful for and I now try to educate Christians around the world about what I have learned. Today I read the Bible in a very different way.

My view is that people who do not speak with respect for Judaism have no business being on Israeli television.

Bob O’Dell, Co-founder of Root Source

I wonder how many donors consider that when they fund some of these Christian efforts towards Israel, they are unwittingly funding a combative posturing that disrespects millions of God-fearing Jews at the same time? This posturing, turning “the roots of our faith,” into “the enemies of our faith” is acceptable to some Christians, but not to me.

I thank God that there are many emerging efforts by Christians to turn the hearts of more Christians to Israel and the Jewish people with just respect, love and honor, and to experience the life and joy of sharing the passages Hebrew Bible together, only for the sake of learning, love and joy.

Never before have so many Christians interacted directly with Orthodox Jews in Israel to study the Bible, and never before have this many Christians, inside and outside of Israel, begun to speak out that they find the evangelistic posturing of some of their Christian brethren towards Israel distasteful.

Tommy Waller, Founder and President HaYovel

Missionizing or converting others to Christianity, whose majority identifies with a supersessionist [replacement theology] belief, has been historically devastating to one people – the Jews. The problem with replacement theology is that it empowered the Christian to “save the Jew from hell,” but then after Jewish rejection placed themselves as God and created a hell on earth. This disturbing history, unfortunately, is not taught in our churches today. As a Christian myself, the revelation of this treatment of Jews has brought great shame.

For the Jews, the Torah has marked and kept their identity for well over 3,000 years. It sets them apart from the other peoples and nations of the world. The idea of bringing the “Gospel to the Jews” in their own language is actually an all-out assault against the Jew’s God-given identity.

It will be difficult for most Christian organizations, especially in Israel, to stand against those who seek to steal Jewish identity, in this case, God TV. The fact that a Christian television network would actually try to prove Jewish persecution of Christians is deplorable. One visit to Yad Vashem should greatly offend any right-minded person.

Christianity needs to support the miracle God is doing with the people He chose in the land He chose. As a Christian, I believe strongly that the Apostles and Prophets and Jesus himself would be horrified at the actions done by those who claim to follow him. Honestly, I believe there should be a cable Christian channel in Israel with 24/7 programming where one Christian after another repents for all that has been done to the Jews over the last 2,000 years at the hands of Christians.

Steve Wearp, Founder Blessed Buy Israel

I’m really sorry that there’s a group out there that is trying to preach to the Jewish people with an agenda that was just exposed – the God TV channel. I’m just ashamed to have my name affiliated with that, or have any affiliation with it.

I wanted to say I’m really sorry there are people that are still out there that do not understand that coming to the Jewish people with hidden agendas and to try to tear them away from what God has set before them to accomplish. I want you to know that not all of us are like that.

I pray one day there will be a great distinction or a great awakening in the Christian community as to Israel’s place, and this anti-Semitic replacement theology will be destroyed once and for all. It’s a scourge and I will not stand for it. And I’m not going to let anything like this destroy what what Hashem is building between our two communities

I’m really proud of walking with you guys. And the offense, it just hurts us. It’s why we’re doing what we’re doing, why we’re trying to rebuild trust, honesty, integrity, and remove this scourge of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic teachings, doctrines, philosophies in the church and expose it for what it is.

Jewish Leaders

Rabbi Ari Abramowitz Host The Land of Israel Network

Many Jews would understandably seek to dodge this issue altogether in order not to put our Christian friends in an uncomfortable position of needing to take a public stand on this, but this is when we find out who our friends really are.

This impulse to missionize, which may or may not be well-intentioned, is arrogance and an act of hostility. Watching that video, I felt a mixture of anger and compassion. Anger that this haughty man who is preying on Jewish souls believes that he knows more than generations of the sages of Israel who have dedicated their lives to immersing themselves in the words of the Bible in its original Hebrew, and compassion that he is depriving himself of the uniquely uplifting experience of growth and revelation because he is so focused on removing the scales over everyone else’s eyes, that he will be stuck with the veils over his own.

Countless Jews have been burned at the stake rather than accept missionizing for generations. And now he comes into our homes in our own land with the same sinister plot?

There is so much beauty and friendship being nurtured between the Jewish and Christian worlds. Why tear it all down by reverting to this toxic replacement theology?

Sondra Baras, Founder and Director Christian Friends of Israeli Communities

From the very beginning, when I first started Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, my relationships with Christians were based on mutual respect and on a clear understanding that we, as Jews, would not try to convert Christians to Judaism and our Christian friends would not evangelize Jews. My Christian colleagues in leadership at CFOIC Heartland are committed to this understanding as well. It is fundamental to our ability to work together.

One of the things we’ve been doing is trying to get Christians to understand how offensive evangelizing is to us, because many of them have been taught since childhood that Jews have just been waiting to be saved. They have no idea that we are very comfortable with who we are.

Unfortunately, there are still some people who don’t understand this or don’t want to understand this. I will have nothing to do with people or organizations who insist on evangelizing Jews. That is our red line.

Yishai Fleisher, International Spokesperson for The Jewish Community of Hebron

Yishai Fleisher 🕎 ישי פליישר
✔
@YishaiFleisher
The folks at @GODTV keep putting their foot in their mouth because they are simply say the truth - they want to convert Jews! (But the real question is why the Israeli regulator missed this effort to have a missionary channel, and why other ones already exist, on Israeli cable?) https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/1259455913770889217 …

Haaretz.com
✔
@haaretzcom
God TV responds to critics: ‘We’re not trying to convert Jews; we just want them to accept Jesus as the messiah’ https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-god-tv-to-critics-not-trying-to-convert-jews-just-want-them-to-accept-jesus-1.8834815?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter …

31
7:31 AM - May 10, 2020
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I believe in the Christian-Jewish alliance. I am grateful for friends who share a love of the Bible and allies who stand up for Israel from Balfour to Mike Pence. But alliances need clear boundaries. Missionizing Jews is wrong. God TV in Israel is wrong and will be stopped.

David Ha’Ivri, Religious Zionist leader, writer, and speaker

I don’t approve of proselytizing Jews. Christians who want to turn Jews into Christians are not, I repeat, are not friends of Israel.
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Convincing #Jews to accept Jesus as the messiah is the very core goal of missionary proselytizing. We strongly object to this type of activity, and that is how and why Jews have survived as a nation and preserved our ancient faith. https://twitter.com/FleurHassanN/status/1259456317997154305 …

פלר חסן נחום Fleur Hassan-Nahoum
@FleurHassanN
God TV responds to critics: We’re not trying to convert Jews; we just want them to accept Jesus as the messiah: reminds me of when people say we don’t hate Jews we just don’t believe they should have the right to self determination like everyone else https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-god-tv-to-critics-not-trying-to-convert-jews-just-want-them-to-accept-jesus-1.8834815 …

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9:14 AM - May 10, 2020

Yisrael Medad, Author, Blogger and Activist

The point is that Jews, especially due to our history, view attempts at conversion as a total attempt to erase us, our history, our values, our teachings and our ethics as if they are worth literally nothing.

This station assumes, as its base, a Jews-for-Jesus type approach and we suspect it fooled the Cable Broadcast Council in its application for a license. Over-the-air programming allows them to circumvent the prohibition [against] proselytizing minors.

In relations between Jews and Christians, I would prefer it be based on simple mutual respect. ‘I like and appreciate you for who you are and you do the same.’

Rabbi Yehuda Glick, President Shalom Jerusalem Foundation

What God TV did is actually declaring war against the Jewish people – nothing less! We are different, we hold diverse perspectives and we have to respect this. Pulling the carpet from under our feet is something we cannot and will not accept and totally refuse to even consider.

At the same time we believe that working together is part of our faith as well as the faith of anyone faithful to the Bible.

As reported by Breaking Israel News, May 12, 2020 (links inserted by blogger):

TENNESSEE (5/11/2020) – Laurie Cardoza-Moore has called on the Israeli government to ban GOD TV from broadcasting programs focused on converting Jews to Christianity. Cardoza-Moore is the founder of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations and host of the award-winning Evangelical Christian television program Focus On Israel which formerly aired globally on GOD TV and is currently syndicated on tens of other Christian channels reaching a weekly audience of billions. The statement comes after GOD TV announced that they have received special permission from the Israeli government to proselytize Jews in Hebrew on Israeli cable TV.

“I have written to the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Communications Minister David Amsalem and the Director of the Government Press Office Nitzan Chen calling on them to ban GOD TV from airing missionary content focused at converting Jews to Christianity. At a time when global antisemitism is engulfing the world, GOD TV should be using its platform to teach Christians about their biblical responsibility to stand with our Jewish brethren and the State of Israel. Instead, they have chosen to stand on the wrong side of history, empowering the anti-Semites,” said Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations.

Cardoza-Moore continued: “Unfortunately, because of biblical illiteracy, we are seeing a rise of antisemitism again in Christianity. Christians have adopted false doctrines and traditions known as “Replacement Theology” and “Supersessionism” that has mobilized the Amaleks of history. These false doctrines are what fuel the desire to force unbiblical principles on our Jewish brethren. God TV should be encouraging Christians to repent of the history of Christian arrogance and ignorance that has incited some of the worst antisemitic incidents in history, including the pogroms, the Inquisition, and more recently, the Holocaust. Instead, they should ask their Jewish brethren to teach them the Torah as was stated by the prophets.”

Putting things into a historical perspective Cardoza-Moore said: “Unfortunately, Christian history is replete with examples of Christians forcing their doctrinal views on Jews; either through torture, or, with a disingenuous smile. As a descendant of Sephardic Jewish ancestry, I have studied the implications of where this type of ideology can lead. My ancestors were forced to convert to Catholicism during the period of the Spanish Inquisition. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella blamed corruption in the Catholic Church on the Jews. In order to survive that dark period in history, they were forced to convert. For 500 years since they hid their identity from generation to generation only to disclose the hidden truth upon the matriarch’s or the patriarch’s passing. They were known as Conversos. Conversos were blamed for plagues, accused of poisoning wells and kidnapping Christian boys for their blood. Many of the Conversos were tortured or burned at the stake to test the authenticity of their conversion.”

Cardoza-Moore concluded: “In recent decades, millions of Christians have felt the call to stand with the State of Israel and the Jewish people with no hidden agenda. Our only mandate to the Jewish people is to love and support them because they are God’s chosen people. Any attempts to convert Jews or downgrade their religion will only sow undue hatred at a time when we should unite in the face of darkness.”

The common thread running through these objections to GOD TV isn't so much that GOD TV is evangelizing with false teachings as that GOD TV seeks to evangelize Jews at all. I recommend that the reader click the links to the ministries mentioned above, especially those that claim to be Christian. They all advocate for the state of Israel--and I generally support their pro-Israel positions--but they don't advocate the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're opposed to evangelizing Jews, but they seem to be in favour of Judaizing Gentile Christians.

It's heresy for "Christians" to talk about our "Jewish brethren" when they're talking about Jews who don't have saving faith in Jesus Christ. The only basis on which Gentiles and Jews can be brothers is that of faith in the work of Jesus on the cross to break down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles:

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Ephesians 2:18-22

I take great offense at the idea that Gentiles who have a relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (see, e.g., Galatians 3:26) have to learn about God from Jews who don't know Jesus. Such a view contradicts the teaching of the apostle Paul, who had impeccable Jewish credentials at the time he was persecuting the early Christians:

I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. Acts 22:3

And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:14

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Philippians 3:6

Here's what Paul, as an apostle, had to say to Gentile Christians about the religious attitude of his fellow Jews:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Romans 10:1-2

They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. Galatians 4:17

Some of the leaders of these ministries have redefined "replacement theology," which is properly understood as the unbiblical teaching that the church has replaced the nation of Israel. Some of the ministry leaders quoted above now define "replacement theology" as the replacement of Judaism by Christianity. In fact, the New Testament has replaced the Old Testament, and is better (see, e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Lars Enarson says that "people who do not speak with respect for Judaism have no business being on Israeli television." I don't know if the Lord Jesus Christ would want to appear on Israel television, but Mr. Enarson would bar him from Israeli television, because He had nothing good to say to or about the Jewish leaders and the Judaism that was practiced in His day. Among other negative comments, He quoted Isaiah 29:13 to them:

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

Not only do I warn against GOD TV and its false teachers and doctrines, but I warn against "Christian" ministries that advocate for the state of Israel but don't proclaim Christ. If you support them, you're supporting organizations that are denying the divinely-inspired words of the apostle Paul:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

June 29, 2020 update: As reported by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz of Breaking Israel News, June 30, 2020:

ShelanuTV is the branch of the global evangelical Christian media network GodTV focused on proselytizing to Jewish Israelis. It began broadcasting on the HOT cable network at the end of April after it received a license from the Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting earlier this year. This move was decried by many Israelis.

Proselytizing, seeking to convert people to another religion, is not illegal in Israel, although the law prevents proselytizing to minors without their parents’ presence or consent, and promising any monetary or material compensation for converting to another religion.

The Israeli broadcasting council informed HOT last week that the license had been suspended because GodTV’s programming targeted Jews and not Christians in Israel, as the license request had specified.

“A channel which seeks to address the Jewish people which dwell in Israel [and present it with] the gospels of Jesus will never be broadcast on Hot and this was known to the senior officials of the channel, as was stated in the hearing,” Council chairman Asher Biton wrote to HOT.

Proselytizing, seeking to convert people to another religion, is not illegal in Israel, although the law prevents proselytizing to minors without their parents’ presence or consent, and promising any monetary or material compensation for converting to another religion.

The Israeli broadcasting council informed HOT last week that the license had been suspended because GodTV’s programming targeted Jews and not Christians in Israel, as the license request had specified.

“A channel which seeks to address the Jewish people which dwell in Israel [and present it with] the gospels of Jesus will never be broadcast on Hot and this was known to the senior officials of the channel, as was stated in the hearing,” Council chairman Asher Biton wrote to HOT.

“The directors of the channel hope that the Council will approve the new request to broadcast the channel, and thereby avoid a severe diplomatic incident with hundreds of millions of Evangelical Christians who love and support Israel around the world,” Cantor said.

Mr. Berkowitz then offers his comments on the situation; it's interesting to note his shocked reaction to the opposition of professing Christians to evangelizing Jews:

I am very hesitant to comment on the GodTV issue. On one hand, I always advocate free speech. On the other hand, Christian proselytizing is one of the final, if not the final obstacle that stands between true brotherhood between Jews and Christians.

In the wake of GodTV beginning its broadcasts in Israel, I wrote an opinion article speaking out against Christian proselytizing Jews. The response shocked me. So many of my dear Christian friends came out against what GodTV is doing. I did not expect that at all. It represents the first time in the 2,000 year history of Jewish-Christian relations that Christians did not support efforts to convert Jews.

I did not ask how my friends were coping with the clear theological issues. My understanding is that Jesus told his followers to spread the word. When a Christian preaches to a Jew, it is an act of love (albeit an entirely unwanted and even harmful act of love). For Jews, preaching to non-Jews is essentially forbidden. Nonetheless, in the wake of GodTv’s efforts to target Israeli Jews, so many Christians rejected and even outrightly opposed this effort. I was stunned. Almost exclusively, my Christian friends have never proselytized to me even without my asking. When I was curious about a certain aspect of Christian theology, I have had to pressure them into providing information. The few who do proselytize, I have asked, though never demanded, to stop proselytizing to Jews. I compared it to offering candy to a diabetic: it is an unwanted act of love. Even if they persisted, I treasured their friendship.

I can only hope and pray that this is the beginning of a trend. It must come from inside Christianity and not as a demand by the Jews. It will require a paradigm shift and I hope that Jews can respond with a corresponding paradigm shift that will bring us to be a Light Unto the Nations and the caretakers of the House of Prayer for All Nations.

The true "final obstacle that stands between true brotherhood between Jews and Christians" is the refusal of most Jews, since the 1st century, to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; I Corinthians 1:23

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the only one who can break down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, and He has:

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Ephesians 2:11-18

I pray that Mr. Berkowitz will put his trust in the One who has fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies.

Display of politically-incorrect New Testament passage leads Belgian politician to call for a ban on religious programming on publicly-funded television networks

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:22-33

As reported by James Crisp of the London Daily Telegraph, September 4, 2018:

Brussels - An onscreen Bible reading which demanded women be submissive to their husbands has sparked calls to end religious broadcasting on public television in Belgium.

The New Testament reading, from Ephesians 5.22 - 33, was broadcast on radio and Flemish TV station VRT from a Catholic mass in the town of Grimbergen.

A lay reader said, “Women, be submissive to your husband as the husband to the Lord. For the man is the head of the woman as Christ is the head of the church.”

Sven Gatz, the media minister for the Dutch-speaking Belgian region of Flanders who represents the Flemish liberal party, tweeted: “No outdated, woman-unfriendly statements … please. What if, for example, an imam would have said this?”

He told newspaper Het Nieuwsblad: “The fact that they come from an old book is not an argument for letting them go to our people. This is not of this time, and that it is broadcast on the VRT for the whole of Flanders is already completely crazy.”

Mr Gatz has been unsuccessfully calling for the end of Songs of Praise-style programmes at the taxpayer’s expense since last year, but he now hopes the controversy will reignite the debate and insists different solutions could be found for religious people who are unable to attend mass.

“I want to examine all the technical possibilities to give these people their weekly celebration. But this cannot be an argument to keep these broadcasts, at the expense of the taxpayer," he said.

VRT said it had “no problem” with its broadcasts leading to debate and discussion, while the Dutch Bible Society, which has Flemish members, said that the reading had been taken out of context.

“The contested statement is preceded by a very different sentence: ‘Accept each other’s authority out of respect for Christ’. This indicates that this is a very different matter than legitimisation of the oppression of women by men,” a spokesman for the society said.

Self-driving Uber car runs down and kills pedestrian in Arizona

As Paul Harvey used to say, "If you don't have enough to worry about..." As reported by Gabrielle Olivera and Ryan Randazzo of the Arizona Republic, March 19, 2018 (links in original):

In what is believed to be the nation's first pedestrian death involving an autonomous vehicle, a 49-year-old woman was hit and killed by a self-driving Volvo operated by Uber while crossing a street in Tempe on Sunday night.

The woman was crossing Mill Avenue outside the crosswalk near the Marque Theatre at about 10 p.m. when she was hit, police said.

Sgt. Ronald Elcock, a Tempe police spokesman, said the car was on autonomous mode with a driver behind the wheel when it hit the pedestrian.

The woman, identified as Elaine Herzberg of Mesa, died at a hospital.

Uber said that its operations of self-driving cars have been "paused." The company did not dispute the police report of the vehicle operating in autonomous mode.

Uber has been carrying customers in the self-driving cars in limited parts of Tempe and Scottsdale.

"Our hearts go out to the victim’s family," Uber said. "We’re fully cooperating with local authorities as they investigate this incident."

The Phoenix area is among several sites where Uber, Waymo and other companies are testing autonomous vehicles. Nearly every accident involving autonomous cars so far has been the fault of other drivers. Sunday's fatality was the first.

In 2016, a man driving a Tesla car with partial automation was killed in Florida when he hit a truck. However, that vehicle was not intended to operate without an attentive driver, in contrast with the Uber and Waymo vehicles.

Uber and Waymo have drivers in their test cars in the Phoenix area to take control only when the cars encounter a traffic situation they can't negotiate, or if they are driving outside of areas the companies have mapped sufficiently enough to allow the cars to run on their own. Waymo has even taken operators out of the driver seat for some tests.

As of Monday afternoon, police were investigating what caused the collision and said that Uber was assisting.

Hollywood predicted this decades ago:





HT: Vox Popoli

World's first Klingon tourist centre opens in Stockholm

Submitted for your approval, more evidence that you can't be a satirist anymore, as reported by Lee Roden of The Local (Sweden), January 16, 2018 (links in original):

The world's first "Klingon tourist centre" is set to open in Sweden, in a collaboration between a Stockholm theatre and an organization which calls itself the Klingon Institute of Cultural Exchange.
The doors of "Visit Qo'noS" will open at Turteatern in southern Stockholm on February third, allowing humans to learn about the culture and customs of the fictional warrior race from Star Trek until late March.

No stone has been left unturned at what Turteatern's Theresa Jonasson told The Local is the "first Klingon centre in Alpha Quadrant" (which apparently is the part of the Milky Way where Earth lies, in Star Trek lore).

"The visitors check in at the reception desk, where they will get some tourist information, such as a visitor map of the Klingon capital First City. They will then be invited into the ceremonial presentation hall. The non-hologram live-act presentation is performed by the four Klingon ambassadors Ban'Shee, Mara, Morath and Klag, all from the House of Duras," she explained.

"The visitors/audience will be introduced to the Klingon culture and customs and acquire lifesaving tips to apply when interacting with Klingons. There will also be a singalong, dancing, Klingon opera, and scenes from the famous Klingon play Romyo je joloywI' (better known on Earth as Romeo and Juliet), by Shex'pir. The visitors will also get a taste of Klingon martial arts in an authentic battle re-enactment, as well as be invited to try Klingon cuisine such as Gagh and blood wine."

Even by science fiction standards, Star Trek fans are known for being a particularly passionate bunch, and the Stockholm theatre has been careful to try to meet their high expectations when it comes to costumes and staging. It has also called upon the help of Klingonska Akademien (The Klingon Academy), an Uppsala-based society with expertise in the Klingon language, who has even written a Klingon-English dictionary.

The tourist centre project is the brainchild of Turteatern's artistic director Nils Poletti, who Jonasson claims was put in contact with the mysterious Klingon Institute of Cultural Exchange by (dead) jazz composer and self-proclaimed Saturn native Sun Ra.

Jonasson was reluctant to give too much more away, but did make a point of reassuring diehards that the Klingons will be of the more traditional kind:

"The most common question is if the Klingons look like the Klingons in the new Star Trek TV series Discovery, which of course they do not. That series is offensive for Klingons, and should not be mentioned during the presentation."

The galaxy's only conveniently reachable Klingon tourist centre has already caused some excitement, selling out its first date and being featured by a number of international science fiction sites.

For any readers fluent in alien languages, a message from the Klingon Institute of Cultural Exchange in Klingon can even be found here.

For more on Star Trek, see my post Star Trek: Discovery prohibits any mention of God (August 5, 2017).

Star Trek: Discovery prohibits any mention of God

As reported by James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly, July 27, 2017:

The imposing Captain Gabriel Lorca strides across the Starship Discovery bridge, squinting at the raging battle on the viewscreen, rattling off orders to his crew with rapid precision. There’s a Federation ship under attack by Klingons, and the Discovery is rushing to join their fight. “Lock on the Bird of Prey!” Lorca barks. “Basic pattern Beta 9. Hard to port! Fire at something, for God’s sakes!”

Too late.

The Klingons blast the Discovery. Lorca and his shipmates lurch hard to one side. The high-tech set’s thousands of lights flicker anxiously, conveying the ship’s wounds.

The director halts the action and Lorca, played by British actor Jason Isaacs of Harry Potter fame, steps off the stage. The episode’s writer, Kirsten Beyer, approaches to give a correction on his “for God’s sakes” ad lib.

“Wait, I can’t say ‘God’?” Isaacs asks, amused. “I thought I could say ‘God’ or ‘damn’ but not ‘goddamn.’ ”

Beyer explains that Star Trek is creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a science-driven 23rd-century future where religion basically no longer exists.

“How about ‘for f—’s sake’?” he shoots back. “Can I say that?”

“You can say that before you can say ‘God,’ ” she dryly replies.

Vox Day, on his Vox Popoli blog, sums it up nicely in his post Anything But God (August 3, 2017):

Star Trek is a show for atheists and pedophiles. Now they're openly pandering to the former; it won't be too terribly long before they start pandering to the latter.

For further reading, see:

Pedophilia and Star Trek

The Dark Herald: Star Trek and Communism

Star Trek - Gene Roddenberry was a Misogynistic Hack

HT: Vox Popoli

Interview on Dr. Phil leads to increased charges against teacher who had sex with student

...and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23b

Confession may be good for the soul, but not for the reputation--or the criminal record. As reported by Chris Jancelewicz of Global News, October 28, 2016:

Dr. Phil McGraw has been on a roll lately.

Not only did he secure the first interviews with JonBenét Ramsey’s brother and Steven Avery’s fiancée, but one of his recent sit-downs has resulted in increased charges for a teacher who admitted to having sex with her 17-year-old student.

Mary Beth Haglin, 24, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was initially charged last July with sexually assaulting a minor after turning herself in. The crime is viewed as an aggravated misdemeanour in the U.S., and carries a maximum prison sentence of two years. She pleaded not guilty.

But Haglin admitted further details on Dr. Phil, including that she had sex with the unidentified student “almost daily” while working as a supply teacher — she later specified “hundreds of times” over the course of six months — and claimed that she was the victim in the relationship, not the perpetrator. Haglin says that his love letters and text messages seduced her, even though she frequently sent him sexually suggestive selfies.

“He did so with such intelligence and such an elevated vocabulary that I was completely duped by the whole facade,” she said to Dr. Phil. “He caught me in my weakest moments, and he used that to his advantage. We had sex — almost daily — in his car, my car, his mom’s house, and his dad’s house. When things got way out of control, and I wanted out, he began saying ‘I will light a match and burn your life down.'”

“Many people see him as the victim and me as the perpetrator,” she continued. “From a psychological standpoint and from every other standpoint, I feel like I am the victim.”

Dr. Phil retorted bluntly, “You have got to be dumber than a box of rocks to share naked pictures with a 17-year-old boy.”

Haglin claimed that she was too afraid to end the relationship for fear of being exposed, but it stopped abruptly when another student caught them together.

Iowa prosecutors happened to catch the Dr. Phil episode, and are now upping the charge against Haglin, who now faces up to five years in jail.

“The defendant has participated in a series of public interviews in which she admitted engaging in a pattern or practice of sexual conduct with a student while employed as a teacher at Washington High School, which supports the more serious felony offence,” a motion filed by the Linn County Attorney’s Office said.

After being fired from teaching, Haglin went on to become a stripper under the name “Bambi.”

She will be arraigned on the new charges on Nov. 4.

HT: Will Morrow

40 years ago: The death of Kathryn Kuhlman

And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: Luke 4:23a

On February 20, 1976, Miss Kuhlman, was one of the most famous "faith healers" of the 20th century, died at the age of 68. As is so often the case, Miss Kuhlman, who conducted crusades in a career that ran from the 1930s until her death, led an immoral life. She met a married revivalist named Burroughs Waltrip, who divorced his wife and married Miss Kuhlman in 1938. The marriage was reportedly a disaster from the start, and the two divorced in 1948 after several years of separation. Miss Kuhlman travelled through the United States before settling in Los Angeles in 1970, where she continued her healing crusades and was often regarded as a successor to Aimee Semple McPherson. Miss Kuhlman's television program I Believe in Miracles was widely syndicated throughut North America.

Miss Kuhlman was accused of financial impropriety in 1975 in a case that was settled out of court, and the healings claimed from her crusades were disputed by physicians such as William Nolen, and other critics. Miss Kuhlman suffered a minor heart problem in the summer of 1975, suffered a relapse in November, and died after open-heart surgery, apparently unable to heal herself.

Kathryn Kuhlman has left a dubious legacy, being a significant influence on later generations of faith healers, such as the notorious liar and false teacher Benny Hill Hinn. Those who are interested in further reading on Miss Kuhlman are invited to search various blogs and sites listed on this blog, such as Way of Life Literature.

Turkish Muslim televangelist criticizes space probe Philae's comet mission as "maniacal."

No, it's not the same televangelist mentioned in the post below (Turkey seems to have its share). As reported in the Istanbul newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, November 14, 2014:

ISTANBUL

A popular televangelist in Turkey has condemned the European Space Agency’s (ESA) successful landing of the Philae probe on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, describing the mission as “maniacal.”

Most Earthlings are watching the comet-conquering landing craft with awe, but Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, popularly known as “Cübbeli” (Robed) among his followers in Turkey, declared his skepticism of the mission in his latest televised sermon.

“It isn’t worth the expense. Is there water in Mars? Is there meat? ... These are maniacal issues,” Cübbeli said, expressing disdain for all forms of space exploration. He also voiced his belief that “the world will end” before a human steps on the Red Planet.

“They waste their money. Give me $100,000 and I will tell you about everything,” Cübbeli added.

Turkish Muslim televangelist says that male masturbation will result in pregnant hands in the afterlife

It's comforting (?) to find that weird doctrine from televangelists isn't restricted to English-speaking North America or "Christianity." I've been under the impression that the Islamic idea of the afterlife is a carnal paradise, but not if you're a man who masturbates, according to one Turkish Muslim televangelist (and if he's right, I want to cancel my afterlife). As reported by the Istanbul newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, May 25, 2015:

ISTANBUL

After claiming that a man would meet his masturbating hand “pregnant in the afterlife” and “asking for its rights,” a Muslim televangelist has set Turkish social media aflame.

Self-styled televangelist Mücahid Cihad Han dived into some delicate matters on May 24 when he answered his viewers’ questions on private television station 2000 TV, Turkish media has reported. Han initially looked puzzled when a viewer said he “kept masturbating, although he was married, and even during the Umrah,” a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims which can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the Hajj.

After repeating the question a few times, Han claimed that Islam strictly prohibits masturbation as a “haram” (forbidden) act. “Moreover, one hadith states that those who have sexual intercourse with their hands will find their hands pregnant in the afterlife, complaining against them to God over its rights,” he said, referring to what he claimed to be a saying of Prophet Muhammad.

“If our viewer was single, I could recommend he marry, but what can I say now?” the televangelist added, advising the viewer to “resist Satan’s temptations.”

Is masturbation forbidden in Islam?

“Istimna,” the Arabic term for masturbation that Han also referred to, is a controversial issue in Islam, as there have been varying opinions on its permissibility throughout history. The Quran has no clear reference to masturbation and the authenticity of many hadiths is questionable.

Despite Han’s assertive religious stance, only a limited number of Islamic interpretations categorize masturbation as “haram,” while most of others call it a “makruh” (disliked) act. Many of the mainstream Islamic interpretations even allow it in certain conditions, like if the act could be used to avoid the temptation of an extramarital affair.

Han, who has more than 12,000 followers on Twitter, was mocked on Turkish social media on May 25, after newspapers published his latest television “fatwa.”

“Are there any hand-gynaecologists in the afterlife? Is abortion allowed there?” one Twitter user asked, while mentioning Han’s Twitter user name.

“So you think that being pregnant is a God-given punishment?” another user asked.

TV Guide salutes Billy Graham as an "American Icon"

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. Luke 6:26

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: John 15:19a

Currently available at newsstands is a special edition of TV Guide magazine--in the category of "American Icons"--titled Billy Graham: The Reverend at 95 years. The cover photo may be seen here.

On TV Guide's website, they have a page for Mr. Graham, where he's listed as a "celebrity." The reader may draw his own conclusions.

25 years ago: Jimmy Swaggart admits to sin and resigns from his ministry

Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. Romans 2:22-24

Now the overseer must be above reproach...temperate, self-controlled, respectable...
...He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. I Timothy 3:1,7 (NIV)

...but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4b

It's hard to believe that 25 years have passed since the "televangelist wars." On February 21, 1988, Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, addressing an audience of 6,000 at his Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, resigned from his ministry, admitted an unspecified sin, and asked for forgiveness. The following day, leaders of the Family Worship Center barred Rev. Swaggart from the pulpit for three months and imposed a two-year period of rehabilitation after seeing photographic evidence that the Assemblies of God pastor had been less than faithful in living up to his marriage vows.



Mr. Swaggart had loudly (and correctly) denounced the sin of televangelist Jim Bakker when his ministry had been brought down in a sex scandal the previous year. Mr. Swaggart had also accused fellow Assemblies of God pastor Marvin Gorman of adultery. Mr. Gorman had responded by hiring a private detective, who obtained photographs of Mr. Swaggart at a motel in New Orleans frequently used by prostitutes. Mr. Gorman handed the evidence over to Assemblies of God leaders.

Mr. Swaggart's lachrymose performance was so impressive it even fooled this blogger into believing that he was sincere in his repentance--until he refused to accept the discipline meted out by his church, arguing that it would cripple his ministry and his Bible college. On April 8, 1988, the Assemblies of God defrocked Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, and he resigned from the church. Obviously, Mr. Swaggart didn’t think that the standards laid down in the Bible applied to him, so he took his balls and went home.

Mr. Swaggart decided to continue in the ministry, becoming a non-denominational Pentecostal pastor and turning Family Worship Center into a non-denominational church. He was caught with another prostitute in 1991, and stepped down from his leadership position temporarily. In 2013, Family Worship Center is still in business, with Jimmy Swaggart's name prominently displayed at the top of the home page.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen takes a step toward sainthood

The Pope can create as many phony saints as he wants; God makes the real saints. I wonder if Archbishop Sheen would be considered a candidate for sainthood if his television ratings hadn't been so high. As reported by Sharon Otterman of The New York Times, June 29, 2012:

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who died in 1979, does not fit the stereotype of a Roman Catholic saint. Famous for his evangelizing television program in the post-World War II era, he was dramatic and humorous, not humble and retiring. He even won an Emmy.

But this very human man, who lived and worked in New York for much of his life, is on his way to becoming the first male American-born saint. The Vatican on Thursday officially recognized Archbishop Sheen for having “heroic virtues” and granted him the title “venerable.” A church committee will now determine whether it believes that, since his death, Archbishop Sheen has interceded on behalf of someone alive to bring about a miracle, a requirement for the next step on the path to canonization.

For Archbishop’s Sheen’s admirers, the announcement came as an official stamp of approval that meant Archbishop Sheen’s life was worthy of emulation.

“He is the patron saint of media and evangelization,” said the Rev. Robert Barron, whose Illinois-based ministry, Word on Fire, seeks to spread the Gospel through television and the Internet. And the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who often appears on television, said: “Sainthood has come to the media age. In another couple of years we will have the first Twitter or Facebook saint.”

Archbishop Sheen brought Catholicism into the living rooms of Catholics, Protestants and people of other faiths at a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was still common in the United States. Wearing his full clerical garb, with scarlet cap and robe, he preached and offered simple lessons, like the importance of laughing at oneself. Signing off at the end of his show, “Life Is Worth Living,” he often raised his hands above his head with a performer’s pizazz.

The show ran from 1951 to 1957, drawing as many as 30 million people on a weekly basis. “He is, for American Catholics, the leading symbol of what they think of as their golden age,” said John L. Allen Jr., senior correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter. “Catholics were coming out of the ghettos that had been imposed upon them; vocations to the priesthood were booming; schools were thriving. He is the symbol of that self-confidence.”

But the case for his sainthood includes more than his television ministry. Away from the camera, he ran the American branch of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which supports Catholic missions globally. Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill., where Archbishop Sheen was ordained as a priest, recounted how Archbishop Sheen spent time reaching out to men in trouble, making frequent visits to prisons and death rows. “He practiced what he preached,” Bishop Jenky said.

Archbishop Sheen eventually got into a public spat over money with Cardinal Francis Spellman, then the leader of New York’s archdiocese, and was assigned in 1966 to the Diocese of Rochester, which he considered an exile. He retired three years later, and turned to scholarly work and book writing. “It is a reminder,” said Mr. Allen of such disagreements, “that saints don’t have to be perfect at everything.”

Since 2002, a committee has been compiling testimony about Archbishop Sheen’s holiness to present to the Vatican. The Rev. Andrew Apostoli, a Franciscan priest who lives at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, said he had collected many such stories, including one told by the parents of a child on Staten Island. The girl was in the hospital with a 104-degree fever for two weeks when Archbishop Sheen visited. He blessed the child and told the parents that the fever would break that night; it did.

But the main possible miracle being reviewed by the Vatican involved Bonnie Engstrom, 30, who said she gave birth to a stillborn baby in Goodfield, Ill., two years ago. There had been a knot in the umbilical cord, and when the paramedics arrived and placed him in an ambulance, he showed no signs of life. “I was in shock; I started to shut down,” Ms. Engstrom recalled. She started praying, repeating the name of Fulton Sheen in her head: during her pregnancy, she had watched videos of his preaching on YouTube.

The baby’s heart started after 61 minutes, and today the boy, James Fulton, is a healthy toddler, Ms. Engstrom said. “I believe that Jesus Christ healed my son,” she said, “but that his prayers were an integral part of that happening.”

20 years ago: Dan Quayle criticizes Murphy Brown

On May 19, 1992, U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle addressed the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on the subject of the Rodney King riots (the riots by blacks in the South-Central area of Los Angeles that followed the acquittal of four white police officers of the the beating of black criminal Rodney King)and developments that had led to a "culture of poverty" in the United States. Here are some excerpts:

When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the riots and the killing in LA., my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame. Yes, I can understand how people were shocked and outraged by the verdict in the Rodney King trial. But there is simply no excuse for the mayhem that followed. To apologize or in any way to excuse what happened is wrong. It is a betrayal of all those people equally outraged and equally disadvantaged who did not loot and did not riot-and who were in many cases victims of the rioters. No matter how much you may disagree with the verdict, the riots were wrong. And if we as a society don't condemn what is wrong, how can we teach our children what is right?

But after condemning the riots, we do need to try to understand the underlying situation.

In a nutshell: I believe the lawless social anarchy which we saw is directly related to the breakdown of family structure. personal responsibility and social order in too many areas of our society. For the poor the situation' is compounded by a welfare ethos that impedes individual efforts to move ahead in society, and hampers their ability to take advantage of the opportunities America offers.

If we don't succeed in addressing these fundamental problems, and in restoring basic values, any attempt to fix what's broken will fail. But one reason I believe we won't fail is that we have come so fur in the last 25 years.

There is no question that this country has had a terrible problem with race and racism. The evil of slavery has left a long legacy. But we have faced .racism squarely, and we have made progress in the past quarter century. The landmark civil rights bills of the 1960s removed legal barriers to allow full participation by blacks in the economic, social and political life of the nation. By any measure the America of 1992 is more egalitarian, more integrated, and offers more opportunities to black Americans - and all other minority group members - than the America of 1964. There is more to be done. But I think that all of us can be proud of our progress.

And let's be specific about one aspect of this progress: This country now has a black middle class that barely existed a quarter century ago. Since 1967 the median income of black two-parent families risen by 60 percent in real terms. The number of black college graduates has skyrocketed. Black men and women have achieved real political power - black mayors head 48 of our largest cities including Los Angeles. These are achievements.

But as we all know, there is another side to that bright landscape. During this period of progress, we have also developed a culture of poverty - some call it an underclass - that is far more violent and harder to escape than it was a generation ago.

The poor you always have with you, Scripture tells us. And in America we have always had poor people. But in this dynamic, prosperous nation, poverty has traditionally been a stage through which people pass on their way to joining the great middle class. And if one generation didn't get very far up the ladder - their ambitious, better-educated children would.

But the underclass seems to be a new phenomenon. It is a group whose members are dependent on welfare for very long stretches, and whose men are often drawn into lives of crime. There is far too little upward mobility, because the underclass is disconnected from the rules of American society. And these problems have, unfortunately, been particularly acute for Black Americans.

Let me share with you a few statistics on the difference between black poverty in particular in the 1960s and now.

In 1967 68% of black families were headed by married couples. In 1991, only 48% of black families were headed by both a husband and wife.
In 1965 the illegitimacy rate among black families was 28%. In 1989, 65% - two thirds - of all black children were born to never married mothers.
In 1951 9.2% of black youth between 16-19 were unemployed. In 1965, it was 23%. In 1980 it was 35%. By 1989, the number had declined slightly, but was still 32%.
The leading cause of death of young black males today is homicide.

It would be overly simplistic to blame this social breakdown on the programs of the Great Society alone. It would be absolutely wrong to blame it on the growth and success most Americans enjoyed during the 1980s. Rather, we are in large measure, reaping the whirlwind of decades of changes in social mores.

I was born in 1947, so I'm considered one of those "Baby Boomers" we keep reading about. But let's look at one unfortunate legacy of the "Boomer" generation. When we were young, it was fashionable to declare war against traditional values. Indulgence and self-gratification seemed to have no consequences. Many of our generation glamorized casual sex and drug use, evaded responsibility and trashed authority.

Today the "Boomers" are middle-aged and middle c1ass. The responsibility of having families has helped many recover traditional values. And, of course, the great majority of those in the middle class survived the turbulent legacy of the 60s and 70s. But many of the poor, with less to fall back on, did not.

The intergenerational poverty that troubles us so much today is predominantly a poverty of values. Our inner cities are filled with children having children; with people who have not been able to take advantage of educational opportunities; with people who are dependent on drugs or the narcotic of welfare. To be sure, many people in the ghettos - struggle very hard against these tides - and sometimes win. But too many feel they have no hope and nothing to lose. This poverty is, again, fundamentally a poverty of values.

Unless we change the basic rules of society in our inner cities, we cannot expect anything else to change. We will simply get more of what we saw three weeks ago. New thinking, new ideas, new strategies are needed...

...And for those concerned about children growing up in poverty, we should know this: marriage is probably the best anti-poverty program of all. Among families headed by married couples today, there is a poverty rate of 5.7 percent. But 33.4 percent of families headed by a single mother are in poverty today.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Where there are no mature, responsible men around to teach boys how to be good men, gangs serve in their place. In fact; gangs have become a surrogate family for much of a generation of inner-city boys. I recently visited with some former gang members in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In a private meeting, they told me why they had joined gangs. These teenage boys said that gangs gave them a sense of security. They made them feel wanted, and useful. They got support from their friends. And, they said, "It was like having a family." "Like family" - unfortunately, that says it all.

The system perpetuates itself as these young men father children' whom they have no intention of caring for, by women whose welfare checks support them. Teenage girls, mired in the same hopelessness, lack sufficient motive to say no to this trap...

...Ultimately however, marriage is a moral issue that requires cultural consensus, and the use of social sanctions. Bearing babies irresponsibly is, simply, wrong. Failing to support children one has fathered is wrong. We must be unequivocal about this.

It doesn't help matters when prime time TV has Murphy Brown - a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly paid, professional woman - mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another "lifestyle choice."

I know it is not fashionable to talk about moral values, but we need to do it. Even though our cultural leaders in Hollywood; network TV, the national newspapers routinely jeer at them, I think that most of us in , this room know that some things are good, and other things are wrong. Now it's time to make the discussion public.

It's time to talk again about family, hard work, integrity and personal responsibility. We cannot be embarrassed out of our belief that two parents, married to each other, are better in most cases for children than one. That honest work is better than hand-outs - or crime. That we are our brothers' keepers. That it's worth making an effort, even when 'the rewards aren't immediate.' So I think the time has come to renew our public commitment to our Judeo-Christian values--in our churches and synagogues, our civic organizations and our schools. We are, as our children recite each morning, "one nation under God." That's a useful framework for acknowledging a duty and an authority higher than our own pleasures and personal ambitions.

If we lived more thoroughly by these values, we would live in a better society. For the poor, renewing these values will give people the strength to help themselves by acquiring the tools to achieve self-sufficiency a good education, job training, and property. Then they will move from permanent dependence to dignified independence.

The reader will note that the reference to Murphy Brown was just a minor point near the end of the speech, but of course, that's what the ignoramuses (ignorami?) in the media picked up on, and Mr. Quayle was widely ridiculed for criticizing a fictional television character. The bias against Mr. Quayle that was already present in the media was so strong that few people bothered to examine or debate the entire content of his speech. An exception was The Atlantic Monthly, whose April 1993 issue carried the lengthy cover story by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead titled Dan Quayle Was Right. Unfortunately for Mr. Quayle, the article was published too late to prevent his re-election as Vice-President, as he and President George Bush were defeated in the November 1992 election. The one part of Mr. Quayle's speech with which I disagree is near the beginning, where he takes issue with the Japanese view that America's ethnic diversity is a weakness, as opposed to Japan's homogeneity, and says, "our diversity is our strength." 20 years later, that comment seems more questionable than ever, and not just in the United States. The increasing "diversity" of Trudeaupia (still officially known as Canada) has considerably weakened the unity of the society.

I have a long memory, and when media people in 1992 began ridiculing Dan Quayle for criticizing Murphy Brown, I remembered that 20 years earlier, in 1972, there had been serious discussion by liberals in the media about whether it was proper for the television comedy series All in the Family to feature the bigoted character named Archie Bunker. For example, see some the references in Nina Shevzov-Zebrun's May 27, 2011 essay Archie Bunker. Another example was the cover story of the June 1972 issue of Ebony magazine, Is Archie Bunker the Real White America? by Charles L. Sanders. Those unable to remember 1972 may find it hard to believe that Archie Bunker was such a popular character that Mad magazine had a mini-poster on the back cover of one issue reading "Nixon and Bunker in '72," and that Archie Bunker was entered into nomination as a candidate for Vice-President of the United States at the Democratic National Convention that summer.

When Presidents' worldviews collide: Barack Obama vs. Richard Nixon on homosexuality

White House occupant Barack Obama on same-sex marriage, as stated in an interview with ABC News, May 9, 2012:

I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that 'don't ask, don't tell' is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.

...

It's interesting, some of this is also generational. You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same-sex equality or, you know, sexual orientation, that they believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we're talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn't dawn on them that somehow their friends' parents would be treated differently. It doesn't make sense to them and, frankly, that's the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.

...

This is something that, you know, we've talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, you know, I, you know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it's also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that's what we try to impart to our kids and that's what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I'll be as a as a dad and a husband and, hopefully, the better I'll be as president.

U.S. President Richard Nixon's opinion of homosexuality, as stated in a White House conversation with aides John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman, May 13, 1971:

NIXON: ... CBS ... glorifying homosexuality.

EHRLICHMAN: A panel show?

H. R. HALDEMAN: No, it's a regular show. It's on every week. It's usually just done in the guy's home. It's usually just that guy, who's a hard hat.

NIXON: That's right; he's a hard hat.

EHRLICHMAN: He always looks like a slob.

NIXON: Looks like Jackie Gleason.

HALDEMAN: He has this hippie son-in-law, and usually the general trend is to downgrade him and upgrade the son-in-law--make the square hard hat out to be bad. But a few weeks ago, they had one in which the guy, the son-in-law, wrote a letter to you, President Nixon, to raise hell about something. And the guy said, "You will not write that letter from my home!" Then said, "I'm going to write President Nixon," took off all those sloppy clothes, shaved, and went to his desk and got ready to write his letter to President Nixon. And apparently it was a good episode.

EHRLICHMAN: What's it called?

NIXON: "Archie's Guys." Archie is sitting here with his hippie son-in-law, married to the screwball daughter. The son-in-law apparently goes both ways. This guy. He's obviously queer--wears an ascot--but not offensively so. Very clever. Uses nice language. Shows pictures of his parents. And so Arch goes down to the bar. Sees his best friend, who used to play professional football. Virile, strong, this and that. Then the fairy comes into the bar.

I don't mind the homosexuality. I understand it. Nevertheless, goddamn, I don't think you glorify it on public television, homosexuality, even more than you glorify whores. We all know we have weaknesses. But, goddammit, what do you think that does to kids? You know what happened to the Greeks! Homosexuality destroyed them. Sure, Aristotle was a homo. We all know that. So was Socrates.

EHRLICHMAN: But he never had the influence television had.

NIXON: You know what happened to the Romans? The last six Roman emperors were fags. Neither in a public way. You know what happened to the popes? They were layin' the nuns; that's been goin' on for years, centuries. But the Catholic Church went to hell three or four centuries ago. It was homosexual, and it had to be cleaned out. That's what's happened to Britain. It happened earlier to France.

Let's look at the strong societies. The Russians. Goddamn, they root 'em out. They don't let 'em around at all. I don't know what they do with them. Look at this country. You think the Russians allow dope? Homosexuality, dope, immorality, are the enemies of strong societies. That's why the Communists and left-wingers are clinging to one another. They're trying to destroy us. I know Moynihan will disagree with this, [Attorney General John] Mitchell will, and Garment will. But, goddamn, we have to stand up to this.

EHRLICHMAN: It's fatal liberality.

NIXON: Huh?

EHRLICHMAN: It's fatal liberality. And with its use on television, it has such leverage.

NIXON: You know what's happened [in northern California]?

EHRLICHMAN: San Francisco has just gone clear over.

NIXON: But it's not just the ratty part of town. The upper class in San Francisco is that way. The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time--it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine, with that San Francisco crowd. I can't shake hands with anybody from San Francisco.

Decorators. They got to do something. But we don't have to glorify it. You know one of the reasons fashions have made women look so terrible is because the goddamned designers hate women. Designers taking it out on the women. Now they're trying to get some more sexy things coming on again.

EHRLICHMAN: Hot pants.

Nixon: Jesus Christ.

Needless to say, it's regrettable that a president believed by many to be a Christian would use our Lord's name as a profanity. The television program, of course, was not called "Archie's Guys," but All in the Family, which had been running on CBS only since January 12, 1971. The first episode cited by Mr. Haldeman is Writing the President, which aired on January 19, 1971. The episode cited by Mr. Nixon is Judging Books by Covers, aired on February 9, 1971. In that episode, it was not Mike (Archie Bunker's son-in-law), but a friend of his (derisively labelled "Sweety Pie Roger" by Archie Bunker) who was the one suspected by Archie of homosexuality.

On the subject of hot pants--the big fashion fad of 1971--I was in grade 6 in the spring of 1972 when the girl in my class whom I had a crush on wore hot pants to school one day just for my benefit. Unfortunately, I was sick at home that day, and missed what would have been a memorable sight. At the time, I regarded this as one of life's little regrets, but she moved away the following year, and I never did see her in hot pants. It's amazing how the passage of 40 years can turn one of life's little regrets into one of life's big regrets.

Canadian viewers may help to determine the fate of the Hour of Power

Have you noticed that the "Possibility Thinking" promoted by Robert Schuller didn't seem to work anymore for the Crystal Cathedral when the U.S. economy collapsed in 2008? As reported by Dave Halliday in the Edmonton Journal, February 25, 2012:

Canadian viewers of the Hour of Power television show from Crystal Cathedral will play a role in deter-mining the future of the program.

Sheila Schuller Coleman, Crystal Cathedral's senior pastor, said in a telephone interview that Canadian donations declined when the church encountered financial problems and her father and church founder, Dr. Robert Schuller, was less involved in the Hour of Power.

"We've seen a serious drop in revenue in Canada," Coleman said.

The donations pay for the airtime on Global and Vision TV to broadcast the Hour of Power. If the donations don't rebound, the church will have to look at other options.

"One of the things we can do in Canada is go to a half-hour," said Coleman, adding that the program could also be reduced to a half-hour in some areas of the United States. But she makes it clear that the pro-gram will continue.

"I want to assure you the Hour of Power will remain on television as an avenue for bringing hope to the world," she said.

Crystal Cathedral, located in the Los Angeles area community of Garden Grove, a few kilometres from Disneyland, encountered financial difficulty that forced it into bankruptcy.

A bankruptcy court judge approved sale of the 12.5-hectare church property to the Catholic Diocese of Orange County last fall for $57.5 million US.

The sale process was completed in early February when ownership formally changed hands.

"I'm pleased to know that our creditors get 100 per cent of what we owe them," Coleman said.

The Catholic Diocese won a bidding war for the cathedral property with Chapman University largely because Schuller made it clear he wanted the iconic structure to re-main a church. In addition to the cathedral, the property houses several other buildings including a welcoming centre.

Terms of the deal give the Crystal Cathedral congregation three years to find a new home.

Coleman said she expects that the search for a new location within a 16-kilometre radius will take 18 months to two years. Among the possibilities the church is considering are vacant warehouses.

A vacant warehouse would be a blank canvas that would give the church the opportunity "to create whatever we want," Coleman said. Moving the Hour of Power doesn't present large problems.

"The Hour of Power is one of the easiest to move to a new location," said Coleman, pointing out that the program could be produced in a television studio...

...Schuller, ordained as a minister in the Reformed Church of America, arrived in Garden Grove with $500 to set up a church in 1955. The only location he could find was a drive-in theatre - he preached to parishioners in their cars from a pulpit on the roof of the snack bar.

Eventually, the church moved to the current site where the glass-walled Cathedral was ready for services in September 1980. The Cathedral's distinctive spire was constructed later.

While the local congregation grew, the Hour of Power television program gained strength with an estimated audience of 1.3 million in more than 150 countries at one point.

Coleman said that the program will aim to attract a younger audience and will make use of the Internet and other technology to improve accessibility to the program.

"For example, the Hour of Power released its own app in December and already a member of our staff saw someone watching the show on his smartphone while waiting in line at the airport."

When the Crystal Cathedral congregation moves to a new home, the Catholic Diocese will take possession of a building completely unlike most Catholic cathedrals. But the famous building will not undergo major alterations.

"While renovations are called for, not much deconstruction would be required and the iconic personality of the original architecture and design would, for the most part, be retained," the diocese said.

The diocese notes that the cathedral organ is one of the finest in the country, the quality of light and its allegory in the building is consistent with the enlightenment of Christ and there is ample space for worship and celebration.

However, some changes are required such as installing a central altar, adding the bishop's chair, a baptistery, baptismal font and a tabernacle to house the Blessed Sacrament. Once the changes are made and a dedication ceremony is conducted by the bishop, the cathedral will become a Catholic place of worship.

Before winning the bidding war for Crystal Cathedral, the diocese considered building a cathedral at a cost of $200 million US. The diocese has announced that the Crystal Cathedral will be renamed.

March 12, 2012 update: Three members of Robert H. Schuller's family have been fired the ministry's board, as reported by Roxana Kopetman in the The Orange County Register, March 6, 2012 (updated March 7, 2012):

GARDEN GROVE – Three family members of Crystal Cathedral Founder Robert H. Schuller were fired from their leadership positions in the ministry, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Schuller’s daughter, Gretchen Penner, was terminated from her job as one of the producers of the Hour of Power television show, according to a cathedral spokesman. Her husband, Jim Penner, was fired from his post as executive producer of the Hour of Power. And Jim Coleman, the husband of Senior Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman, was also fired from his job as director of creative services.

Robert H. Schuller and his wife Arvella abstained from voting with the board on the terminations, according to the spokesman. “So this isn’t a family dispute,” he said.

But Schuller and his wife abstained without knowing who was being terminated, their daughter Carol Schuller Milner said Tuesday. And when they asked during the meeting held by teleconference who would be affected, board members said, 'they'd rather not say,''' she said.

"They would have appreciated some dialogue on the matter," Schuller Milner said. She said her parents felt "grieved" by the board's decision.

On Sunday, Sheila Schuller Coleman is expected to give the sermon.

Meanwhile, the Hour of Power program, which once reached millions of viewers across the world, will replay previous episodes for the next few weeks while leaders “determine a new direction for the show.”

“Organizational changes affecting ministry leaders are never easy to make, especially when it involves individuals who have devoted their lives to this ministry and have served with great distinction,” John Charles, president of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries, said in a statement. “This was a very difficult decision the Crystal Cathedral Ministries board of directors prayerfully deemed was necessary in order to make a change in direction for the ‘Hour of Power’ and reverse recent declining donations and viewership.”

Five other individuals were expected to lose their jobs in the reorganization.
“Because of privacy concerns, we won’t identify them,” the spokesman wrote in an e-mail.
This is the latest shake-up for the troubled ministry. Last month, Schuller Coleman was removed as the chief executive officer and president of the Ministries and replaced by Charles, who had previously held different positions with the Cathedral.

At the time, Cathedral leaders removed both Schuller Coleman and Penner from the board of directors, but Penner continued in his role overseeing the television program.

The board voted Thursday to fire the Penners and Jim Coleman, the spokesman said. The Penners were told on Monday and Coleman was told Tuesday, according to the spokesman...

...Robert A. Schuller, the senior pastor for nearly three years until his forced
resignation in 2008, sees the changes in leadership as a smart move.

“It’s normal business practice to change leadership when the leadership leads an institution into bankruptcy,” Schuller said Tuesday. “My hope is it will breathe some life into the ministry.”

Schuller said he was unaware of the terminations. He is not in touch with his two sisters — Schuller Coleman or Gretchen Penner -- or their husbands, he said. But he saw his parents over the weekend and they didn’t say a word about the board’s vote, he said.

“I had no idea,” he said.

As for the Hour of Power television show, Schuller said re-runs might just be the thing to pump some additional interest and donations to the Protestant ministry.

“I think it can be a very positive situation for the church because my understanding is the reason people stopped supporting the ministry is that they don’t care for the music and the preaching. So if you give them some music and preaching they want, they’ll come back,” he said...

...The elder Schuller, now 85, founded the ministry some 50 years ago and became a well-known television figure with his weekly sermons. Today, however, he and his wife "really don't know what their plans are" regarding the Hour of Power, daughter Schuller Milner said.

"They've kept the Schullers in the dark," she said of the board.

Michael Nason, a former aide to Robert H. Schuller, said the latest developments — including the sale of the church and the dismantling of the Hour of Power leadership -- signify “the end of an era” and leaves no clear direction for the once-popular television show.

“If I were to look ahead, say a year from now, what do I see? I think they, the remaining board, would like to see the program continue on television. But they have lost its face. And the face is Crystal Cathedral,” Nason said Tuesday.

“People tuned in from all over the world to see this extraordinary building and they loved (Robert H. Schuller’s) message. The Crystal Cathedral was the face. Schuller was the voice,” Nason said.

In the wake of the bankruptcy and the sale of the iconic building, the ministry will have a difficult time continuing the evangelical television show using the same format, Nason said.

“The face and voice of the Hour of Power have passed,” he said. “If they want to continue the Hour of Power, who will be the voice and where will it be?”

On March 10, 2012, Robert H. Schuller and his wife Arvella announced their resignations from the Crystal Cathedral board of directors. As reported by Roxana Kopetman in the The Orange County Register, March 10, 2012 (updated March 11, 2012):

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, announced "with great sadness" their resignations Saturday from the Crystal Cathedral board of directors.

"We cannot continue to serve on the Board in what has become an adversarial and negative atmosphere, especially since it now seems that it will not be ending anytime soon," Arvella Schuller was quoted as saying in a news release...

..."(Robert and Arvella Schuller are) removing themselves from the governance of the ministry," Carol Schuller Milner, their daughter, said in an interview Saturday. "They're not cutting all ties. They're still planning on worshipping in the congregation..."

...Cathedral representatives could not be reached for comment Saturday.
The elder Schullers have been embroiled in a legal battle with the board of directors regarding intellectual property and copyright infringement claims as well as back payment for services rendered, Schuller Milner said.

The exact figure for how much is claimed was not available Saturday. Attorneys for the Schullers have made almost weekly offers to the Cathedral's board to settle the claim, which includes a $120,000 annual housing allowance, a $198,000 annual payment in license fees and additional medical benefits, according to Schuller Milner.

Last Tuesday, "the board said we're ending all negotiations. We don't want to negotiate any further and want to go to court," according to Schuller Milner.
"Particularly in these difficult times for the ministry, the ministry's decision to spend its money on attorneys and court proceedings is bewildering to us," Arvella Schuller wrote in the statement. "We cannot continue to serve on the board in what has become an adversarial and negative atmosphere especially since it now seems that it will not be ending anytime soon."

The pending claims by the Schullers have been cited as the reason creditors in the bankruptcy case have not been paid by the church. Schuller Milner disputed that complaint, saying her family "made an offer that would have allowed (the creditors) to be paid in full" but the board rejected the Schullers' offer.

"Our proposals have always been structured in a way that would allow full payment to creditors to go forward without delay while leaving the ministry with more operating capital than originally contemplated in the court approved bankruptcy plan," Schuller family attorney Carl Grumer said in the news release. "We were optimistic that a solution was close at hand which would be mutually beneficial to the Schullers and the ministry. What motivated the board's decision to make a sudden shift after it had seemed that we were so close to a positive conclusion, we do not know."

The news release concludes with a message the founder of Crystal Cathedral posted on his Facebook page: "No matter what, God is still God. No matter what, God is still a good God. God loves you and so do I."

For congregants, the latest development is another painful reminder that the church is on its way out of the cathedral Schuller built. Congregants can lease back the building from the Catholic Diocese for up to three years.

"We truly have lost our church and we know that. Most of us are in mourning," said Anne Waltz, a member since 1956 who still attends a Sunday morning bible study class with other seniors. "A lot of my friends still can't believe it's happening."

Ken Waltz, Anne's husband, said the Schullers' resignation was unavoidable.
"It was inevitable because they lost control," Ken Waltz said Saturday. "The whole thing was controlled by Robert and Arvella. For some reason, they allowed the kids to get in there and reorganize it poorly. The thing was managed so badly financially and spiritually that it fell apart."

And on March 11, 2012, Sheila Schuller Coleman announced that she was leaving the Crystal Cathedral and moving her congregation to a new location. As reported by Roxana Kopetman in the The Orange County Register, March 11, 2012 (updated March 12, 2012):

GARDEN GROVE – Sheila Schuller Coleman delivered her last sermon at the Crystal Cathedral on Sunday, announcing she is breaking away and taking the congregation to a new location under the name Hope Center of Christ.

But moments after her surprise announcement, a Crystal Cathedral pastor told congregants that regular Sunday services will continue in the striking building, leaving congregants to make a choice on where they will be next Sunday morning.

"We are very sad, very sorry about this," said Pastor Emeritus Juan Carlos Ortiz, who began the Hispanic ministry for the Crystal Cathedral. "I hope they both have success – those who stay and those who leave."

Her departure came one day after her parents, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his wife, Arvella, resigned from the Crystal Cathedral board of directors – leaving behind a church Schuller founded in 1955, preaching Sundays atop the snack shop of an Orange drive-in theater.

In a news release Sunday afternoon, the elder Schullers said they support their daughter but they "will not be moving with her to the new location" or worshipping at the Crystal Cathedral.

"How we will express ourselves in worship remains up in the air," Robert H. and Arvella Schuller stated in the release.

Instead, the elder Schullers said they plan to focus on "securing and stewarding our legacy that has been our message for almost 60 years."

The Schullers and the Cathedral's board of directors have been fighting over intellectual property and copyright infringement claims and other payments.

No Schuller family members are left with the Crystal Cathedral, some ousted recently by the board majority in the wake of a bankruptcy, sale of the grounds to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange and bitter controversy over money.

Schuller Coleman's announcement surprised congregants who sat through both Sunday morning services.

In both services, the senior pastor read from a book she's writing, with the working title "Fall From Grace, Fall Into Grace." She mentioned her father frequently in both readings, talking about his influence on her life and work.

In the 9:30 a.m. service, attended by some 300 people, Schuller Coleman focused on passages she'd written that deal with the October 2010 bankruptcy and her reaction to what was happening at the Cathedral. While at first she was crushed by the bankruptcy filing, Schuller Coleman said she later came to see it as "an opportunity" and not a failure. She acknowledged her family had "made our fair share of mistakes." And she blamed the recession as "the final blow" that led to the bankruptcy and the sale of the cathedral campus.

Schuller Coleman also said in the first service that the church would be renamed Hope Center of Christ.

But it wasn't until the second service, at 11 a.m., that Schuller Coleman told the congregation that this would be her last sermon at Crystal Cathedral and the congregation would be moving to a new location.

Moments before her announcement, she proclaimed: "I am not resigning. I will not quit." The audience applauded. "I will not quit," she repeated louder, and many of the 400 in attendance – a sparse crowd in a sanctuary that holds thousands – stood up and applauded louder.

Schuller Coleman and her brother-in-law Jim Penner, fired as executive producer from the Cathedral's once-popular "Hour of Power" television program, said after the services that they expect to find a new location in the next few days. They said they have the support of the Cathedral's Consistory, the ruling body of the congregation.

She indicated she had received a $50,000 donation from a supporter to help with the move – "a heck of a lot more than what mom and dad" had when they started, she said.
On their new website, hopecenteroc.org, Penner said they will soon be "praising the name of Jesus ... around the world by television and the Internet."

Schuller Coleman said she is leaving a "hostile work environment" to start anew with Jim and Gretchen Penner, as well as Scott Smith, who headed the church's music program.

On Sunday, morning services featured the Cathedral's organist and an a cappella performing group from Biola University, but none of the usual choir or other performers under Smith's direction.

Jenny Oh, a member of the choir, said she received an email saying the choir would not be performing Sunday because the church was heading in a new direction and leadership.

Like many congregants, Oh will have to pick between staying or following Schuller Coleman.

"I like this campus. I will continue to come here. I like Sheila (Schuller Coleman) and Jim Penner. I will pray for them," said Oh, a member of three years.

Some other congregants said they were surprised and happy to hear of their senior pastor's departure and the apparent return of more traditional music to the Cathedral.

"We're going to have our church back, with good music and good sermons" said Bob Canfield, of Yorba Linda. "They're gone. The Penners are gone. Sheila is gone. (Jim) Coleman is gone. Praise God. We're rid of them. They're the ones who took the Crystal Cathedral down."

It is unclear who will lead services at Crystal Cathedral next Sunday. Ortiz, the pastor emeritus, filled in once before after the younger Schuller, Robert A., was forced to resign. Ortiz said he was asked again this week to fill in as interim pastor, but he declined, he said Sunday night.

"They asked me and I said no," Ortiz said. "It's an embarrassment with what is happening in the church."