They give money; he sends them trinkets. [15], In 1985, Popoff began soliciting donations for a program to provide Bibles to citizens of the Soviet Union by attaching them to helium-filled balloons and floating them into the country. On the days when the Holy Spirit didn't show up freely, you had to help it along; after all, you still needed to pass the hat. It's also extra-strength shady, according to allegations made by Jan and Paul's granddaughter Brittany Koper. Donald Trump's presidency will be, with any luck, the most polarizing point in American history that we'll live to experience. [37], Popoff was designated by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) as one of its recipients of the 2011 Pigasus Award for fraudulent practices, along with Mehmet Oz (from The Dr. Oz Show) and CVS Pharmacy. In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary An Honest Liar, we find out how magician-turned-debunker of psychics James "The Amazing" Randi worked with an undercover surveillance expert to expose how popular televangelist and "faith healer" Peter Popoff was deceiving his audience into believing he was conversing with I took a bathroom break in Popoff's private lavatory, right off his office. [50], The radio transmitter incident was parodied in the 1989 movie "Fletch Lives". I'll tell you where that pain went. Based on him birthplace, He is German. Credit.com wrote a blog post concerning Popoff's claims. Program Overview", "White Preachers Born Again on Black Network; TV Evangelists Seek to Resurrect Ministries", "Miracle Water: Ripoff or For Real Part II", "Prophet or profit? I find it difficult to believe all of Duplantis followers are under a spell, though. Shabalalalalalalala!, Yeah, we do him, the man said. Pete Popoff We found 30 records for Pete Popoff in CA, FL and 6 other states. Regular meth-fueled hookups with a male prostitute named Mike Jones. [18], At the height of his popularity in the 1980s, Popoff would accurately announce home addresses and specific illnesses of audience members during his "healing sermons", a feat that he implied was due to divine revelation and "God-given ability". In December, Popoff's daughter, Amy Cardiff, called me. What followed was a House of Cards-worthy circle of blackmail that saw Gorman reinstated and Swaggart taken off the air for a spell. Right alongside our Puritan work ethic and entrepreneurial drive runs our instinctive love for the lottery. "His scams are endless. [44], Popoff's longtime assistants Reeford and Pamela Sherrell also began a televised Texas-based ministry, with Reeford using the name Pastor Lee Sherrell. Peter George Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. On December 21, Peter Popoff welcomed me into his office, where we were joined by Amy and Nick, the two children who work in the ministry (another son, Alexander, is in the military). This is his first article for GQ. [10] Beginning in 1960, Popoff also began making appearances as a preacher. The accusations are numerous and diverse. Lamb's story is a familiar one. He works hard for his money. And ever since then, I know, I personally know, that he is by the book and careful. Popoff was homeschooled after the eighth grade, so he could travel and preach with his father. He switched lady friends with Gary Busey. I had expected to be rebuffed. He spent two or three minutes with each hopeful worshipper, leaning in to whisper, and thenwhat they'd come for, what they neededtouching them. Popoff is of the same generation as Bruce Springsteen, and he clearly shares the Boss's compulsion to never let an audience down. The $1.3 million in church funds that an IRS investigation found redirected to the Bakkers' personal accounts couldn't take Jim down, but CNN reports the alleged hush money payment of $279,000 to cover up the rape of his secretary certainly pushed the "pause" button on his success story. [1][13][21][22][23], Randi also planted accomplices in Popoff's audiences, including a man dressed as a woman whom Popoff "cured" of uterine cancer at a meeting in Detroit in 1984. What I didn't yet know was the full extent of what the old preacher had gotten himself up to. He is popular for being a Religious Leader. And since Hell (probably) doesn't exist, the only winner here is Popoff. Next to the sink: But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, You are my God! My future is in your hands.Psalm 31:1415. Below that, on a sticky note: Whatever you touch will prosper and succeed. Eventually Popoff admitted the existence of the radio device, but claimed that Elizabeth only "occasionally" gave him "the name of a person who needs special prayers". And if a fellow is clever enough, he can remake his kingdom and amass quite a fortune. Susan and Tony are broadcasting their gospel and living in a 14,000-square-foot mansion in Arkansas on a compound staffed by their followers, who are paid $5 a week and get food when they're good. scare me more than the harbingers of hell in Free Speech Alley. I'm looking for an Ada Mae, and I know that she has kidney problems! A month later, they've outgrown the darned things, and you have to ask your parishioners for $54 million to buy new ones. [41] Respondents were promised miraculous protection from disease and disability, along with financial prosperity (which might include "divine money transfers directly into your account"), if they slept with the water for one night before drinking it, then prayed over the empty bottle and sent it back to Popoffwith a donation. I sensed the same ambivalence when I met Larry Skelton. Amen in Jesus's name! I'm watching you." According to him, three women who had previously worked for him had threatened to go public with the information if they weren't paid $7.5 million. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. There was no church sign outsideand certainly no sign of a church inside. There I saw an old white man preaching to an audience of elderly black people. His wife eyed me warily. But in 2006, it reorganized and aligned itself with a small ministry called Word for the World, which operated out of a tiny storefront church in Farmers Branch, Texas. To fans of Mike Warnke, it's Sunday morning. Billy James Hargis was the grandpappy of many televangelist trends, like mail fraud and swearing that the broadcast would go off the air if people didn't send money ASAP. Popoff returned to his old ways, acquiring almost $4 million every year in the last part of the 1980s, as indicated by Randi. He didn't recognize me from the time he healed my finger in Washington (not that I expected he would). He's the founder of the Daystar Television Network, the second-largest Christian TV network on Earth. [11], Popoff married his wife Elizabeth in August 1971[12] and the couple settled in Upland, California. And by "lost everything," we mean he's now back on TV and has his own network again. Early frequenters of YouTube know him as The Farting Preacher. As I sat with the gregarious, affable Popoff, I understood: He believes he is helping people. The distinction between the two becomes difficult to make, however, when Duplantis has been caught using the church-funded jet for multiple vacations, including a 17-day trip to Hawaii that racked up a calculated $40,000 in fuel and storage fees. We go through Poland Spring.. The book makes the claim that Peter was smuggling thousands of Bibles into China, and that in Eastern Europe, people would walk 150 miles to hear him preach. While religion can be a wonderful thing, providing community, solace and moral grounding, it is susceptible to human abuses. Five adoring children. When I inquired about the college scholarships and Ukrainian orphanages that, according to their mailings, the ministry funded, he said he'd get back to me with the addresses of the orphanages (he never did) and the details about how much the scholarships were worth (ditto). The prevailing sentiment in the room was Thanks be to Godbut also Thanks be to Peter Popoff. Paul and Jan Crouch got into the televangelism game during its early days, buying up television stations across the country and forming the Trinity Broadcasting Network, best known as the only television station that the TV in your Motel 6 room seems capable of playing. One became president, the other just became rich. I held up my broken finger. God hated Communists, he said, presumably explaining why Jesus accepted Venmo for all of those loaves and fishes. The resulting backlash was split. His wife stuck with him, even after he was sued for allegedly going all "bad touch" on employees during mandated "quiet time.". [21] With a scanner radio, Jason was able to demonstrate that Popoff's wife, Elizabeth, was using a radio transmitter to broadcast information that she and her aides had culled from prayer request cards filled out by audience members. [1], In 1998, The Washington Post reported that Popoff was making a comeback, seeking to jump-start his ministry by repackaging himself for an African American audience, buying time on the Black Entertainment Television network. This lady came in, and everyone said she was nuts, Sanchez told me. It's not something I snapped my fingers and it magically appeared. [13] His miraculous "curing" of chronic and incurable medical conditions became a central attraction of his sermons. Popoff branded his critics "tools of the devil". [28], Octogenarian Larry Skelton, a former organist of Popoff from 1965 to 1990, and for Peter's father before that said, "When you're praying for the sick, it's through the Holy Spirit, and there's some times that it works freely, and then there are other times when the Spirit's just not there." He wants it that way, so there is no question about where the money goes. Back in the '70s and '80s, Swaggart was one of the most influential evangelical preachers in America. She'd sold all her belongings. Late last November, my nationwide dragnet for tickets to see Popoff snagged something. But one by one, they fell to disgrace: Jim Bakker paid off a woman who'd accused him of rape; Jimmy Swaggart was caught with a prostitute at a roadside motel. In the late 1980s he was exposed as a fraud on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. (Turned out, an Their lawyers and friends can tell them to shut up, but that makes them look guilty, and they don't feel guilty. Well, Jesse Duplantis feels your pain. Head of the Trinity Foundation Ole Anthony has cited the prosperity gospel and preachers like Duplantis as the cause of the overwhelming number of homeless and poverty-stricken people who visit his soup kitchen. We are a prosperity ministry that preaches prosperity, Nick added. Popoff was born in Occupied Berlin[4][a] on July 2, 1946,[5] the son of George and Gerda Popoff. When times were good, they would ramp up. But when I asked about the earpiece, Popoff was happy to talk. (You remember Jesus. Shabalalalalalalala! he cried. He found the church at a young age and started preaching as a teenager. [1], Because of Popoff's history of fraud and financial irregularities, his "People United For Christ" organization earned a "Did Not Disclose" rating with the Better Business Bureau, indicating its refusal to provide information that would enable BBB to determine whether the group adheres to its Standards for Charity Accountability. Animals and humans drinking from the spring were purportedly spared radiation sickness. [26] Although donations had exceeded over half a million dollars monthly,[27] his ministry's viewer ratings and donations declined significantly after the Carson airing, and in September 1987 he declared bankruptcy, listing more than 790 unpaid creditors and a ministry debt of over $1 million, and personal debts of almost half that. I knew there had been scams. And then came something I didn't expect: love from the crowd, people rubbing me on my back after I sat down, touching me, giving me high fives, saying, Praise the Lord! It felt so good that even if my pinkie had been causing excruciating pain, or even if I'd had a far worse condition, something that in my heart I'd known was incurable, I'm sure that, for the moment, I would not have noticed. He dared you to doubt him, which helped insulate him from charges that he was a fraud. They are simply points of contactthey help people focus their prayer. and somehow his 60+ acre estate of improved lakefront property with a private runway and fully functional airport is only valued at $125k, so the taxes are minimal on the land and zilch on the mansion. It appeared to me that Popoff was exploiting more than just American forgetfulness. He had an answer for everything, or almost everything. His old jet (not to be confused with his other two old jets) was wearing a little thin at the seams, and he just knew his followers would help him, a humble servant of Jesus. I'm the one who pours the blessed water into the drums, said the man with the lip rings. But I'd noticed his hesitation, and he could tell that I'd noticed, so he explained. I was surprised when the address for the church I had found online took me to a storefront in an industrial park. Skelton wanted to make it clear, before we talked about his friend Popoff, that faith healing was real. [38] "Debt cancellation is part of God's plan", according to Popoff, who taught that God would respond to prayer and seed-faith by providing financial blessing. A sixty-eight-year old German American minister, Popoffs He came to me when I least expected. Actions like that should be red flags for congregation members, but like the big questions in life, even minute dealings with religion are complicated. Then He Made the Most Liberating Music of His Career. The home has a stunning view of the city, and is surrounded by lush gardens and a private pool. Later, Popoff's people would tell me that the church had recently moved and it was going by a new name now, too. But it was him. Both seem to be running cons, but both have followers who either don't notice or don't care. In this crowd, I was very white, very young, and very male. In 1986, a team of freelance debunkers, including the magician James Randi, took a radio scanner to a Popoff revival, where they overheard Popoff 's wife, Liz, feeding him names and illnesses. He was made of stuff too stern for something as trifling as a complete lack of moral fiber to knock him out of the box. Want to share an anonymous news tip? Truly, we are all human, and even the best among us must strive to be better. And yet, they did. On December 21, Peter Popoff welcomed me into his office, where we were joined by Amy and Nick, the two children who work in the ministry (another son, Alexander, is in the military). He didn't recognize me from the time he healed my finger in Washington (not that I expected he would). She had come to talk to Peter. Popoff didn't come out to meet her; nor did any of his employees. The walls were covered with little inspirational notes. Critics later documented that the recipients of these dramatic "cures" were fully ambulatory people who had been seated in wheelchairs by Popoff's assistants prior to broadcasts. If I wasn't going to see a service, I still wanted to visit Popoff's office. The personification of this phenomenon might well be Peter Popoff. I signed up for his mailing list. [13], Popoff's methods were definitively exposed in 1986 by the magician and skeptic James Randi and his associate Steve Shaw, an illusionist known professionally as Banachek, with technical assistance from the crime scene analyst and electronics expert Alexander Jason. In fact, maybe he realized that today, more than ever, we are primed for what he has to sell. The earpiece, I realized, was always an unnecessary gimmick. And then he said something mysterious, maybe even beautiful. Like Popoff, they used the offer of a religious trinket (a free prayer cloth) to compile an address list. His organization, People United for Christ, keeps its headquarters in a suite of white buildings in an industrial section of Upland, California, an hour's drive inland from Los Angeles. Prosperity preacher buys jet, mansion with church dollars, LSU Manship student dies in hospital after being struck by vehicle, Greek Life alumni discuss friendships after graduation: 'You have a group of friends who you can count on', Spring back into the semester: Fun events and activities for LSU students, LSU to make 121 Native American skeletal remains available for return to tribes by end of 2023, Report: Former five-star quarterback Walker Howard enters transfer portal, Opinion: Goal-setting is important for young adults, This Week In Baton Rouge: LSU Gymnastics, Involvement Fest, Yappy Hour, How much do LSU football players eat? You've been to Europe? He claimed to be able to diagnose (and cure) any of his churchgoers' hidden diseases just by asking the I had found Sanchez after reading The Real Truth Behind People United for Christ, the e-book detailing her time there that she self-published in 2013. If youre unfamiliar with Duplantis, heres a quick rundown: Hes charismatic, an excellent orator and spouts Bible quotes like nobodys business. So that every little package of water contains a few molecules of holiness. Peter Popoff was born in West Berlin, Germany in July 1946. Location Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States Work Helicopter Pilot @ Us Army Senior Recruiter @ Us Army Finance Manager @ Us Army Education Liberty University It went back to the pits of hell!. At this point, I had a sense of dj vu, a flashback to other scandal-plagued gurus I'd interviewed, like the New Age teacher and ex-rabbi Marc Gafni, who had been accused of plagiarism, serial dishonesty, and sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old (his excuse was that she'd been 14), or the Zen master Eido Shimano, who'd been seducing and emotionally abusing his female students for decades. The family business is theirs to inherit, and both told me that they have the gift and could take over someday. [48] Financial data is not available for Popoff's ministry since 2005 because Peter Popoff Ministries changed from a for-profit business to a religious organization in 2006, making it tax-exempt. Cathy Roe, a woman impoverished by Popoff, told Inside Edition she felt she was brainwashed by watching him on television. God decides what prayers to answer. When he exposed fellow TV preacher Marvin Gorman for having extramarital affairs, that guy wound up out of a job. You know where that pain went? Popoff cried after one healing. The kicker was his conviction on 10 counts of transporting girls as young as 8 across state lines for the obvious, evil reason. I put it in his bed, I put it on his pillow, and my son joined the church and he got saved and he's still in churchand then I got $3,800 and new furniture., Such blessings! Skelton invited me in, with an air of resignation. The conference room was packed with a thousand people, maybe two thousand. Peter Popoff says hes a healer and a prophet of God. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, more than 40 years later, their media empire has an estimated value of $750 million. According to her, the network serves as a personal bank account for the Crouch family, who aren't above zany shenanigans like having their chauffeurs ordained to avoid having to pay taxes on their salaries. Did he fear God just enough to gesture toward authenticity, so that if he was ever questioned at the pearly gates about the millions of dollars of other people's gold and silver and Social Security money, he could say that in every New Jersey-packed packet of holy water there was a minuscule amount of blessing? His latest puckish misadventure: getting sued by the state of Missouri for selling a fake coronavirus cure. One former resident of Washington D.C. who recently relocated to Palm Beach, Florida, and is quite happy to be pictured with private jets, surely will be pleased to know that When partners wouldn't donate so much money, they would cut back on staff, Sanchez said. Sometimes, the best we can do is point out inconsistencies. Beginning in the mid-2000s, Popoff bought TV time to promote "Miracle Spring Water" on late-night infomercials, and referred to himself as a prophet. 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