Authored by: tim on Sunday, March 29 2009 @ 05:28 PM CST

Many have asked why I post my complaints to the CRTC about TMC on this site. Well it's because I would like everyone to be aware of who the Miracle Channel really is and just how little regard they have for their viewers and the rules/regulations they are governed by. People are putting their blind trust into the leadership of TMC and it's important they have their eyes opened to a not-so-subtle taste of reality.  Here's just one example of what I am talking about.

In my most recent complaint, I stated the following:

Wednesday, January 28
8:57 – Lengthy discourse about people who are addicted to overeating. Guest tells people, especially ladies, to sow (donate) to break the spirit of overeating. The amount to sow for this is deliverance or freedom of overeating is $669 one time or $56 per month (8:59).

Mr. Klassen response was as follows:

You state in your complaint that a guest tells people to donate $669 in order to be delivered from overeating. We could not find this statement in the broadcast transcripts. There was a teaching and a prayer given for those struggling with eating disorders however we could not find this tied to a plea for funds. Should you have a specific quote to submit in this regard we would be happy to review it and respond in kind.

Maybe someone can tell me if I'm wrong here, perhaps if even someone like Peter from the Regulatory Review Committee is able to provide clarification, but for some strange reason, I thought I heard the hosts connect the statements about overeating with a plea for funds and more specifically, $669 or $56 per month. See if you can hear it or at least tell me if I'm off my rocker because I'm pretty sure I'm not. Here's the clip: http://www.themiraclechannel.ca/clips/Overeating_Sow.wmv

Maybe Klassen just didn't know what the "8:59" meant when I included it in parentheses. It's a sad day when you're so bloody lazy and indifferent that you don't take the time to appropriately research and respond to a complaint that could put your broadcasting license in jeopardy.

Because of a multitude of examples like the one above, I have no problem in standing behind my words concerning the Regulatory Review Committee and I would also challenge Mr. Klassen's ability to fulfill his new title of "Chief Operations Officer".

For what it's worth, yes, I'm PISSED OFF!!! It's about time the CRTC dealt with these yahoos appropriately. Just imagine, had it not been for my complaints and calling TMC to account, where the Miracle Channel would be today and how many would have been hurt. Klassen thinks my complaints and this web site have been a complete waste of time and resources. I challenge him to prove that!!!

TMC can also be assured, there will not be one questionable statement that will go unchallenged in the upcoming fundraiser. As always, I'll be watching with pen in hand. Go ahead and accuse me of being anti-Christian by my statements and complaints, but unlike some I've been dealing with, at least I'm not a law-breaking, lazy-assed liar.

Can I get an "Amen"? If not, trust me, I won't take it personally!

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Authored by: Howie51 on Sunday, March 29 2009 @ 06:36 PM CST

Dismissive and misleading remarks are cause for the CRTC to act aggressively. Ad homenium arguments are getting a little tiresome, and rather than attack Tim on the basis of personal belief, lets present some real substance in response to the complaints which were submitted! The wake up call has been sounded, and Christians are paying attention.

Question is - are you? Can you see from the evidence presented here that something is wrong?  Use your head folks.

You have an amen from me Tim!

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Authored by: brdewi on Saturday, April 04 2009 @ 01:36 AM CST

A  loud chorus of AMEN'S coming your way.  I have watched enough of the endless pleas for money to realize that not all is sweetness and light in the MC.  I do not know how many "fundraising" appeals a station can have but I think that the MC is overdoing it.

 

Before my marriage disintegrated in front of my eyes, the television in the Living Room was tuned to the Miracle Channel constantly.  Then when the fund raisers came on I was left wondering how much money would be left to pay bills.  There should be a regulation for this.  I cannot see "ministries" that are broadcast over the MC not paying for their airtime and I bet they pay a pretty penny.

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Authored by: Robert H Lawblaw on Monday, March 30 2009 @ 02:05 PM CST

The guests and hosts on these partner broadcasts are always misusing scripture to advance their own ignorant theologies.  By ignorant I mean lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject .  They are as Jesus says in Matthew 23:16 "blind guides"  who have no REAL understanding of the truth.  They abuse scripture for their own advantage.  I personally don't believe that they even understand what the Bible says.  That is why it is so very important that WE know not only what the scriptures say, but also what they mean. 

Ephesians 4 tells us: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

I believe that the following verses define very succinctly the leadership of TMC.  Again from Ephesians 4: 18, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

How Val Bennet et all, can use Isaiah 66:9 as they do and then compound their error by trying to elicit a donation of $669 is beyond the scope of reasonable hermeneutics.  It's insanity run amok.  Why not $6.69, or $66.90, or $6,690?

Hudson Taylor once said, "Gods will, done Gods way, will never lack Gods supply".  These people just don't get it.  If TMC had the faith that they say they have and urge us to have they would just "let go and let God". 

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Authored by: BlastFurnace on Monday, March 30 2009 @ 07:51 PM CST

It's been said before, but I am going to make the suggestion myself:   Why don't those on the endless telethons take up the challenge they make regarding the hundred fold blessing?   Why not sell off the Miracle Channel or the ministries that buy time on it do so, and expect a hundred times back themselves?

My comment here is not so much directed at the telethons but also those that throw in appeals to people's "conscience" regarding developing and even poor areas in developed countries.  Donate to the poor, expect a hundred fold blessing -- a bit of a twist on those who have general contempt for what they call the "poverty gospel."   It's a bit perverted in my opinion.  I can name any of a number of ministries on TMC, as well as CTS and even broadcast on commercial stations who pull this game and compare them to faith based ministries that give to the poor but don't make prosletyzing the be all and end al -- such as the Salvation Army or even World Vision.

Guess where my donation money's going to?   I still wonder why TMC is part of the "family" pack and not the "comedy" pack because sometimes I can't tell the difference between CJIL and Comedy Central.   Yes, CC is packed with atheists, but a sales job is still a sales job.

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Authored by: BlastFurnace on Friday, April 03 2009 @ 07:16 AM CST

Just a follow-up on my last comment, in particular about using a particular Bible verse to "recommend" (i.e. demand) a certain donation.

The original Bible in Hebrew and Greek didn't have verse and chapter numbers -- there were page and line breaks but not much more about where a reading should begin and end.   It wasn't until Cardinal Stephen Langton in the 1220s that the Bible was divided into chapters, and it wasn't until much later 1551 that Robert Estienne provided a system of verse division based on his knowledge of Hebrew and Greek grammar.

It's obvious that the divisions were made in this way for the convenience both for scholars and for readers -- by making reference to a specific section of scripture, one could just turn to it.  It's the same reason we have chapters in books and on DVDs.

In any case, I was under the presumption that the Bible forbade fortune telling or trying to divine something (a future, or money) by numerology.   Put it this way:   In Genesis 22:17  the LORD tells Abraham that because he did not hold back his son Isaac from sacrifice when commanded to (of course, Isaac was spared at the last second by God), Abraham shall have as many descendants as the stars in the sky and the sand on the shore.   Hmm ... translation:  Abraham sowed faith, he got his reward.   Donate $2217 to [insert any ministry] to receive your reward from God.

Or donate $669 (Isaiah 66:9, which someone referred to above) or $410 (Matthew 4:10, where Jesus dispatches Satan from him) or even $119,176 (Psalm 119:176, the last verse of the longest chapter in the Bible).   But don't donate $12 because there are twelve stars on Euro coins and of course the European Union will produce the Antichrist in the last days!   (And so on, and so on.)

Of course it's all balderdash.   But unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are not so discerning.   And sadly, the Word-Faith movement is spreading beyond Protestant circles.   Some TV and radio show run by the evangelical wing of the Roman Catholic Church are now playing these kinds of games -- and throwing in the Virgin Mary to boot, elevating her status to a cult far beyond anything even the Vatican approves of.

Just to be clear, it's not the people at the station I am against.   It's the message that a) God can be bought of for a price, just "name it and claim it," and b) if you get sick, are blind, deaf etc. it's because you don't have faith; or if you're healed but then go into remission it's because you've lost your faith. A friend of mine's nephew, just one year old, is going blind in one eye.   What did his parents do to deserve this?    And they're doing the responsible thing:   They aren't donating to a "faith" ministry.   They are getting medical help from the best specialists to see what can be done.

Jesus said 'They that are sick need a physician." (Mark 2:17).   And I don't recall him asking those who asked for healing for money first -- he just healed them.  If a station needs telethons to stay on the air, fine.   But please, stick to the Bible's true message.

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