Ad Choices. 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. The water, he claimed, was drawn from a spring near Chernobyl, Ukraine (site of the 1986 nuclear reactor disaster). Popoff had been the best at what he didthe boldest and baddest, the most don't-give-a-damn cheesy. Let's take a look and find out. This was vintage stuffa sort of resurrection, if you will. Victims were interviewed, including a married couple who charged that Popoff had taken "thousands of dollars" from them. How old is Peter Popoff? Instead, they seek what we all seek: hope that our lives will improve, that someone cares and that theres more than whats readily seen by the eye. When times were good, they would ramp up. Speaking to the New York Times after being fired from the company, Koper stated that her "job as finance director was to find ways to label extravagant personal spending as ministry expenses.". Skelton didn't return my calls, so one Sunday, I staked out his house in Mesquite, a hard-luck Dallas exurb. He'd been operating his businesses as tax-free nonprofits, which the IRS called bull on pretty hard. This septuagenarian clocks the hours of a junior lawyer trying to make partner. He was also the guy who got really upset about the purple Teletubby back in the '90s. Actions like that should be red flags for congregation members, but like the big questions in life, even minute dealings with religion are complicated. After the bankruptcy, Popoff, like some of his fellow Pentecostal preachers, receded somewhat from view. She never took very many steps, but she vibrated with energy. People reached out to touch him, their hands seeming to plead, Help me. He picked people out and asked what was wrong. If you're one of the people on this list, you're almost definitely going to say the devil made you do it. Falwell certainly had the resume to back up the job. I find it difficult to believe all of Duplantis followers are under a spell, though. [25] Popoff initially denied Randi's accusations and accused NBC of "[hiring] an actress to impersonate Mrs. Popoff on a doctored videotape". I was surprised when the address for the church I had found online took me to a storefront in an industrial park. Ted Haggard was the Chiclet-toothed face of evangelism for three years as the president of the National Association of Evangelicals. As it happens, I'd broken my left pinkie a month earlier, so my hand was in a splint. If youre unfamiliar with Duplantis, heres a quick rundown: Hes charismatic, an excellent orator and spouts Bible quotes like nobodys business. This didn't look like a house of worship; it looked like a mailing address. He gets rich, you get hope. Birth Name: Peter Popoff Occupation: Religious Leader Born In: Germany Birthdate: July 2, 1946 Age: 76 years old (as of 2022) Ethnicity: Unknown Nationality: American Sexuality: N/A Peter Popoff was born on the 2nd of July, 1946. Because it is categorized as a parsonage. The apparent oddity of the merger was raised with Popoff in a 2011 deposition when he was asked why an international TV ministry based in California might merge with a minuscule church outside of Dallas. 1,366 views Feb 20, 2022 Peter Popoff was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who g more. [19] In 1986, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry charged that Popoff was using electronic transmissions to receive his information; Popoff denied it, insisting that the messages were divinely revealed. 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. Peter Popoff was back. They're like Jack Nicholson's Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Menthey want to say it. Responders to the ad received a small wooden cross bearing the inscription "Jerusalem" and a solicitation for donations, followed by numerous additional solicitation letters. But she soon began to worry that she wasn't really working for a church. Auditors come in every year. The Bible tells us, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Jesse Duplantis tells us in his DVD, I respect the Pope, but what are you mad at me for? You could see, there was no fakery to it. 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, Skelton said. Peter Popoff was a seller of "miracle water" regular water that was purported to have mystical, miraculous properties. But he was also an enormous fraud who was ruined in scandal. You know how it is. Got a question? So that every little package of water contains a few molecules of holiness. He was tapping into something far more powerful: our desire to get something for nothing. 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 was homeschooled after the eighth grade, so he could travel and preach with his father. What troubles you? he asked. Well, there are no guarantees. [50], The radio transmitter incident was parodied in the 1989 movie "Fletch Lives". He dared you to doubt him, which helped insulate him from charges that he was a fraud. According to publicly available IRS forms, by 2003, Popoff 's new organization was netting over $9 million a year and Popoff was paying himself and his wife a combined salary of more than half a million dollars a year; their son, daughter, and son-in-law were each netting over a hundred grand. I didn't know it then, but I would soon get to ask Popoff in person. How is Peter Popoff not in jail or arrested? Akil Sharif Bey. As a parsonage, it is tax-free. Popoff talked about everything, without a trace of defensiveness. 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. He was hugging people, punching the air with them. It's the tradition of Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and all the other TV preachers who rose up to take the place of the vanquished buffoons from the 1980s. Back in the '70s and '80s, Swaggart was one of the most influential evangelical preachers in America. Its new address was just down the road, I discovered, in a strip mall. Want to share an anonymous news tip? Peter George Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members during Popoff-led religious services. Popoff's employees are on guard for more than just the media. He had a lot of feelings. Five adoring children. With a promise to heal the sick, Popoff convened huge crowds, where he relied on a shtick that involved calling out the name and ailment of someone in the audience he had never met, as if God had just vouchsafed him the information. And since Hell (probably) doesn't exist, the only winner here is Popoff. The personification of this phenomenon might well be Peter Popoff. Popoff falsely claimed God revealed this information to him so that Popoff could pretend to cure them through faith healing.[1]. It was a touching moment of humility from atop a pillar normally reserved for moral superiority. He had everything. Peter Popoff is not the only Televangelist out there scamming people. If you accept, as Pentecostal Christians do, that God performs miracles, on the body, soul, and bank account, then his ministry offers a series of fair exchanges between him and his audience. She had first responded to my pestering a few months earlier, but I never expected that the Popoffs would consent to an interview. God decides what prayers to answer. Bed Bath and Beyond Coupon 20% entire purchase, Target Circle: up to 50% off with Target promo code, Join Michael Kors KORSVIP and receive 10% off your first purchase using Michael Kors Coupon Code, 2023 Cond Nast. He may have once been branded a charlatan, but Popoff could probably see that we never stopped making space in our hearts for a guy like hima guy who knows what we want to believe. Before I knew it, he was upon me. The Popoff water is Poland Spring? I asked. It's also extra-strength shady, according to allegations made by Jan and Paul's granddaughter Brittany Koper. It's not something I snapped my fingers and it magically appeared. Almost immediately the letters began to come. [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. I still can't decide. No, for real, why doesn't God want televangelists flying business class? Sometimes, Sanchez said, those taken in by Popoff's message would breach security. Among other things, she's a hard and fast believer in the prosperity gospel, and also claims that all world leaders are put in power by divine grace and that to disagree with them is to disagree with the will of God, shining a whole new light on the place of pharaohs in society. Join Facebook to connect with Peter Popoff and others you may know. Why, I wondered, were so many people willing to trust a prophet of God who needed an earpiece, and why would they trust his advice on prosperity even after his own financial house had collapsed? With a whole cult. Well, Jesse Duplantis feels your pain. Arthritis, they said. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members during Popoff-led religious services. "Flim flam is his profession," Randi explained to reporter Matt Meaghan. Now classified as a church, Popoff's corporation no longer had to report annual income or salary to the IRS. His wife stuck with him, even after he was sued for allegedly going all "bad touch" on employees during mandated "quiet time.". To fans of Mike Warnke, it's Sunday morning. You've been to Europe? He was poised for a comeback in 2009 when HBO produced a documentary on his return to the righteous path, but wouldn't you know it, more allegationsof the abusive variety popped up. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. To most people, it's exhausting. In a roundabout way, it was true. This lady came in, and everyone said she was nuts, Sanchez told me. Three years later, revenues for Popoff's ministry were just over $35 million. Peter Popoffs net worth is estimated to be in excess of $12 million as of 2023. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members during Popoff-led religious services. 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. Prayer Request Form Peter Popoff Ministries Prayer Request Form I want to Pray with you! He is popular for being a Religious Leader. 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 Popoff would tell attendees suffering from a variety of illnesses to "break free of the devil" by throwing their prescription pills onto the stage. [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. I knew about televangelists, Sanchez said. 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. Two rings through his lower lip framed his broad smile. They make him rich, pray with the trinkets, and maybe get rich, too. Yeah, they deliver it right here, he said. His church, the Church of the Christian Crusade, spread a staunchly conservative interpretation of Christianity. James Randi on Peter Popoff and Skepticism, "Scam Everlasting: After 25 Years, Debunked Faith Healer Still Preaching Debt Relief Scam", "1950 U.S. Census, Entry for Georg and Gerda Popoff Family", "The Annual Report of Private Giving for the Year Ending June 30, 2011", "Tent-show healers lay on technology, not hands", "God's Frequency is 39.17 MHz: The Investigation of Peter Popoff", "TV Evangelist Denies Use of Radio in Healing Service", Evangelist Popoff Off Air, Files Bankruptcy Petitions, "Secrets of the Psychics. They wouldn't tell me what they earn, but Nick enjoyed telling me about the Clydesdale horses he keeps. You will lend and not borrow. (That one's from Joel Osteen.) Unfortunately for the reverend, that last part broughteverything tumbling down. I only grew more curious. 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. Jones figured out who Ted was during his non-meth-and-solicitation hours and blabbed to the press. Cathy Roe, a woman impoverished by Popoff, told Inside Edition she felt she was brainwashed by watching him on television. [2][43], Popoff's operation had functioned as a for-profit company until 2006, when it merged with a small church in Farmers Branch, Texas called Word for the World, which operated out of a storefront. Location Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States Work Helicopter Pilot @ Us Army Senior Recruiter @ Us Army Finance Manager @ Us Army Education Liberty University [14], Researcher and bioethics expert Fred M. Frohock cited Popoff as "one of many egregious instances of fake healing. This is his first article for GQ. Televangelist Jesse Duplantis and his ministry based in Destrehan, La. [29], A February 2007 Inside Edition segment reported that Popoff's new infomercials depict him "healing the sick" in a manner identical to his methods prior to James Randi's expos. When a reporter from GQ attempted to visit this church on a Sunday morning in late 2016, he found a deserted parking lot in an industrial park with no church sign visible on the outside.
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