Can You Trust a Name like Peter Popoff? Televangelist Profile

So there is a this promise from this self proclaimed prophet, that if you just embrace his ministry with just a small donation, you will be amongst those that have already received divine intervention via his hands as they lay over you. Or his tongue, that "prays" for your salvation and deliverance from the burdens of life. Through his spiritual water and packet of instructions to follow-including that nominal fee-one is guaranteed to be delivered from the screw ball life has thrown at them. In a nutshell, one would call or write to inquire on the process. An introductory packet may be sent to you by mail or a representative may just fill you in over the phone. Once your donation has been received, along with the return of the empty container spiritual water that you would receive and drink, along with other instructions including gathering together all of your bills and praying over them.

For very spiritual people, these type of activities are not at all far fetched. Hey! What would it hurt to the believer to pray over their bills? The question, instead, lies in the authenticity of the person delivering the promise. For many years now, world renowned Peter Popoff has been in the home of many families around the world via the television set. His message is that of salvation, deliverance from and the end to suffering and pain for the common folk. Suffering that range from physical illness to monetary depression. Peter Popoff promises that your trust in him and allowing him into your heart, and of course your wallet, will ensure great things for you in return. Mr. Popoff even goes as far as to give specific dates with specific amounts of money that one will receive to deliver them from their strong holding debt. You can find testimonies of many of his followers during his hour long special that "pop's-up" some time after the "Late, late, late show." Flipping through the seemingly endless range of infomercials during that time can almost ensure that you will bump into him. I happened to catch his televised sermon on the BET network one late evening.

Through basic observation I noticed that Mr. Popoff catered to hearts and souls of the less fortunate and the down & out. The hour long session contained many clips of the minister at various churches, all of which seemed to be predominately filled with minorities. Now in my basic study of sociology and psychology, I have learned that people are more susceptible to things when they are in a troubled state versus a state of assurance and confidence. Now if one were to run a scam on masses of people, a pretty good place to start would definitely be with the less fortunate. Those whom are willing to try just about anything to relieve their current situation.

In doing some research on Mr. Popoff, I have learned some interested things. Since Mr. Popoff has been performing these healing sessions and running his ministry for many years now, he has been able to raise an enormous amount of money. According to a report from abcnews.go.com in 2007, Popoff had grossed over $9 million for his ministry back in 2003 and nearly tripling that number by 2005. Here's a question. how can a "do-gooder" manage to generate that much money from the less fortunate. I mean if these people are already in a financial crisis, how are still able and more importantly willing to donate perhaps the last bit of their life savings.

Further research on Mr. Popoff jogged my memory of a vague era in my life as a young lad. I remembered staying up late with my dad and watching him go to sleep. Infomercials filled the media waves at that time and I could remember short skits of a man with an assertive and almost scary voice that was very animated in his speech and would speak on things like illness and troubled times. Another scene was filled with people congregated in church with randoms persons being filled with the holy spirit upon the preacher's anointed healing prayer. It was Peter Popoff, and if any of you readers remember the mid to late 80's and stayed up late, then perhaps you've caught it too. During that time Mr. Popoff was being investigated for authenticity as to what he professed. A private investigator by the name of James Randi had exposed the trickery of the so called prophet back in the 80's when he sat in on one of his conferences with radio that captured the wife of Popoff feeding him information via an ear piece. Intercepting this radio channel revealed Mrs. Popoff giving Mr. Popoff information on particular attendants to call on for divine healing. All attendants had previously filled out general demographic information about themselves and their problems prior to sitting in, while miraculously, it seemed as if Mr. Popoff knew of these people's troubles simply upon seeking them out amidst the depth of the crowd and delivering powerful and healing words from a divine being. This exposure soon led to Mr. Popoff's file for bankruptcy back in 1987. This minor setback hasn't deterred the phenom however, as he has reemerged in the years of 2000 and seems to have reinforced his means of trickery. Or is it in fact just that? Trickery? One could always find out by catching his late night televised sermon, or simply check out his website. Go through the steps, follow the instructions carefully-as they are intricate-and be sure to send in your donation. Then sit back and wait for a miracle healing. Your testimony shall be awaited.

Jim Avila, Glenn Ruppel & Donna Hunter Selling Salvation abcnews.go.com