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Benny HinnBenedictus "Benny" Hinn (born 1953) is a Christian pastor of Armenian descent and an exponent of the "word of faith" movement. He was born in Jerusalem, and every year charters El Al Boeing 747s for group pilgrimages to his native city from the United States, where he is now a church director. Hinn started his ministry in Toronto. He became famous in the United States during the 1990s as host of the show This Is Your Day, transmitted by the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network. On the show, Hinn practiced faith healing, teaching the doctrine of divine healing, or, a Charismatic Christian doctrine that God provided total healing in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He currently travels the United States and the world, giving evangelistic healing crusades. In Kenya, for instance, an estimated number of over 2 million people attended the crusade. Hinn, who is willing to meet people in person and even sign autographs for them, has himself become a point of controversy within the Christian community. While many Christians have expressed belief that Hinn is truly an instrument of God, others believe that he is not, saying that a person can be cured only if God wants it. Apart from the issue of whether God uses ministers to heal the sick today, many critics, such as Hank Hanegraaff, have taken issue with Hinn's word of faith doctrines, claiming that he teaches heresy. On December 31, 1989, Hinn at his church, the Orlando Christian Center (now known as World Outreach Center), made many prophesies, none of which came to pass. These prophecies included: 1) Fidel Castro would be removed from power in Cuba and die in the 1990s, 2) God would eliminate the homosexual community in the United States by 1995, and 3) a female president would soon destroy the United States. Hinn has written several books, including an autobiography, and has recorded Christian CDs and tapes. In 2000, the CBC's Witness ran a two-part series about faith healers Benny Hinn and Reinhard Bonnke. On November 3, 2004, the CBC's the fifth estate ran an expos on Benny Hinn, revealing what appears to be fraudulent activity on his part. Benny Hinn Ministries has not commented on the accusations as of November 12, 2004. Dateline NBC also ran an expos on Hinn in 2003 and aired a follow-up investigation on March 6 2005 which alleged that Hinn lives a lavish lifestyle, that his ministry uses only a small percentage of its revenues for charitable purposes and that claims of successful faith healing are unsubstantiated and, in some cases, false. The accusations ranges from staying at presidential suites, having "layovers" in exotic places and extremely expensive meals. The evidence presented by the documentary consisted of ministry bills and testimonies from former and current employees. The ministry denied the allegations, stating that they receive discounts from hotels. However, the hotels in question denied offering discounts to anyone. His visit to the city of Bangalore in India generated controversy after Benny Hinn's website proclaimed that he was coming to Bangalore for the biggest 'harvest of souls' ever, and after the derogatory publicity material about other religions was distributed. Hinn has also run into trouble in the past, including during the time he spent in Trinidad and Tobago during which time he got in trouble for giving anti-Hindu sermons. One of Hinn's most famous statements is "to Jesus belongs all the glory". External links Hinn, Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn, Benny
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