The Captain’s purpose in the printing of Bernard Taper’s “Annals of Crime” is not to indict a particular church, but an entire religion built upon exploiting people by inciting their emotions.

 

The Patten’s, the Kenneth Logie’s, A.A. Allen, W.V. Grant Jr., Cecil J. Lowry, Rose Lowry of Trinity Church—time and space does not permit the endless chain of those the Bible terms, “lords over God’s heritage.” 1 Pet. 5:3.

 

The present crisis in the world today over the terrorists stems from one source—dictatorship. None of us would live under a dictator in our nation, but in a church we surrender our autonomy to a man. Take me to your leader! Even a truck driver stands to a man in defense of their own autonomy at the local level in their union activities. Only in the church do men surrender their common God-given sense to an autocrat. Unbelievable! This has to be the last days!

 

Doesn’t the Pentecostal religion, by its very condoning, recognize they are conditioning people to accept one-man-rule over their soul—the coming Antichrist? Both Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker had their own three-name, non-profit religious incorporations while preaching for the Assemblies of God. Benny Hinn had owned his own church long before joining the Assemblies of God. The Assemblies of God see absolutely nothing wrong with a preacher owning the church.

 

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus is also indicting this one religion because they did their “signs and wonders” under anarchy (iniquity). “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (lawless, without government, anarchy).”

 

All the headlines that disgrace the Pentecostal believer’s faith can be marked to dictatorship; being “lords over God’s heritage.” 1 Pet. 5:3. Because of greed and the passion of absolute power over the people, they eventually succumb to being “little gods” over their followers.

 

TBN is owned and controlled by three people, Paul and Jan Crouch and their son, Matthew. No one else has a say! It is like the house of cards that Jim and Tammy Bakker built. The Patten story is just a repeat of the story of “greed” and “power.” How can one legislate greed?

 

I once had the desire to write a book on the subject, until I found out Sinclair Lewis had already written the book. It is called Elmer Gantry. Elmer Gantry became a popular movie with Burt Lancaster playing the double of Carl Thomas Patten, who was found guilty in a criminal trial and sentenced to 5-50 years in San Quentin prison for grand theft.

 

This was the very first time the state had ever indicted a preacher for grand theft. There was no precedent to even predict such a trial’s outcome. Can you imagine the number of preachers, like Robert Tilton of Dallas, that swindle the people of their hard-earned money, who imagine they will receive in return, ten times the amount given to the prophet? They call this the “prosperity message.” It is more like playing the state lottery. Only the house gets rich.​