A Los Angeles preacher filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the popular news program “20/20,” citing that they falsely illustrated his life in one of their programs.
The Rev. Frederick K.C. Price, pastor and founder of Crenshaw Christian Center, was part of a segment on televangelists titled “Enough!” about how ministries spend their congregants’ offerings. The ABC program painted the religious leader as an overly wealthy individual who has too much.
Price said he has been “humiliated” over the incident, and explained that the news group gave completely false information about his life.
"[This is] one of the most outrageous instances of 'out of context' editing in the history of television," explained a part of the suit.
On Mar. 23, “20/20” ran their segment about wealthy televangelists which featured a sermon clip from Price 10 years ago. But the clip that the program chose to use was not even in reference to the pastor.
"I live in a 25-room mansion,” said Price in the clip. “I have my own $6 million yacht, I have my own private jet and I have my own helicopter and I have seven luxury automobiles."
In reality, the Pentecostal preacher, who gives his sermons at the 10,000-seat FaithDome in South L.A., has none of these. While Price does own a Palos Verdes mansion, he said it has no where near 25 rooms. And one of his two Bentley cars was a gift from two of his congregants. He says his sermon was illustrating the wrong way to become successful.
Price claims that the reporting was extremely poor, and that they did not even approach him once before running the clip.
"He was wrongly and falsely portrayed," explained Anthony Glassman, Price’s lawyer, to the Los Angeles Times.
The clip was originally run on Disney's Lifetime network as part of the "Ever Increasing Faith" television show that he speaks on.
Named in the defamation suit are the Walt Disney, Co., which owns ABC, and “20/20” co-anchor John Stossel.
ABC ran retractions for the program on two of their television shows – “Good Morning America” and “20/20” – as well as their website to correct the problem.
"We did make a full retraction and apology on the air,” told Jeffrey Schneider, spokesman for ABC, to the Los Angeles Times, “and certainly regretted the error and made that very clear to Rev. Price."
The preacher and his lawyer say that is not enough. The church congregation was equally displeased with the news program.
"[The program was] dishonest, defamatory and simply filled with blatant lies," said Angela Evans, Price’s daughter, during the church’s Sunday service. "[He] feels like he's been raped."
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laforte2007 - I do not understand why you have reposted the same message over and over.
What this post expresses appears to be a cry for help from a heart that lacks forgiveness and love and gratefulness and even belief.
In my experiences I have found when people have bitterness it is because they have not received a full revelation of God's love for them and all people.
God so loves you and I sincerely pray in Jesus' Name, the Lord will open your heart and fill it with His truth and forgiveness and love for others (even when they do not meet with your desires) gratefulness for everything God has given you and wants to give to you and loving understanding even in times He decides to withhold from you. Amen.
how many people remember the word of faith network,and all the slim shadys that bent scriptures to imply name it and claim it gospel,-or the thing that passes for the evidence of the holy spirit namely babbling (claiming it Gods holy language)penticost was speaking in a language that wasnt there birth tongue,---or more precisely several known tongues that wasnt theres naturaly-kind of like reverse engenering the effects of what happened at the tower of babble,so that everyone present could hear the gospel receving the holy spirit doesnt imply baby talk.what happened to the gosple acording to jimmy swagart,or jimmy baker or or hicky or roberts,or ptl,i went to the 700 club headqorters several years bach seeking help for 1st a used bible 2nd some food to tide me over and 3rd some gas for my ulgly car,I explained this to a recepionist at there main bld she call security and they escorted me to the awaiting police man they called,i was stunned,why i couldny figure out why,but the police helped me after they ran a check on me,gave me from there pockets some money and gas to help me out so i dont like these con jobs calling themselfs preachers,
Amen, ProfessorX
I say again, have we not yet learned to walk in love and be peaceable and not jump in to judge another until we do a thorough (and prayerful) investigation before the claws come out? I agree that all ministers of the gospel should be accountable to steward the funds in the highest standards brought into the ministry in reverent obedience to the Lord straight down the line. Why automatically assume that a preacher is syphoning ministry funds when hearing that he/she may have a nice home or whathaveyou? Is it not between them and God what they do with income they receive outside of the ministry? I'd rather assume they are obtaining and using it in the will of God and as God has directed and given them approval to do so...and who are we to say they can or can't have a nice home, etc. except God Himself? Why err one moment with the sin of judgement and jealousy, it only hurts the one abiding in it and hinders the blessings God may have in store for them. Pray about everything and do the homework first and pray for the person whether they are using funds as directed by God or not.
It was not an accident that Jesus said "you cannot serve two masters" You cannot serve God and money (mammon). Only God himself knows KC Prices heart about money. So why are we judging him? How is it that some of us find ourselves in better company with the stingy and atheists by aligning with their destructive philosophy of life and their attitudes about the body of Christ. If you find yourself at odds with what Jesus himself, you may have to question your approach to the subject about money. I had to. All the scriptural whitewashing and wordplay will ever be enough to alter God's will on the subject of money.
Mt 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Lu 16:9 - And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
Lu 16:11 - Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Lu 16:13 - No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
We must not allow how another believer is blessed financially to make us bitter, jealous, envious, and hateful. Also we must not allow satan to harden our hearts to giving. God so loved the world that he gave. Marriages fail because they adopted the world's philosophy of giving their 50% and keeping back 50% of their life in the relationship. I am glad that the God of the Bible is - 100% God. We could only truly love Him because He first Loved us. As His royal subjects we give Him all that he asks for, after all He owns everything and as Our king, we demonstrate in worship that we really trust Him to meet our day to day needs.
There is a balance, however. Pastors must not take advantage of their members because they will have to answer to God for what they say, do, and how they present God's nature and character before others. Also those how are not pastors will be held accountable in just the same way. How we individually judge another a person is how God will judge us individually. Just consider from the Old Testament how the Lord God dealt with King David when Nathan the prophet confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba.
- It is real easy for a person to criticize a church that believes in giving tithes and offerings when a person is looking at it from the outside because that person places money itself personally as their Highest Authority (or lord) over the word of God.
- It is also easy for a person to criticize a body of believers when you hardly ever see that person building healthy relationships with other saints in a congregation as God's word commands.
- It is real easy to see how a person would criticize a pastor who is blessed financially when they have attached themselves to Para-church "Christian ministries" that make their living on dividing the body of Christ and creating strongholds of rebellion in their hearts. Such Para-church "ministries" could be better called parasitic ministries. They have not been a success until splintered enough church members off from Bible-believing and teaching churches that they don't agree with to become their own financial partners.
Before we judge we need to look at our own hearts and consider the source that we get our information. Do you ever see those Para-church ministries giving to the poor, helping the needy, and clothing the naked? When they preach the gospel, does it appear to be a mere intellectual discourse? Is their salvation message approach born from the will of man, as John 1:13 says is NOT the way to receive the Lord? Do they minimize or scoff at the work of the Holy Spirit and teach others to blaspheme the work of the Holy Spirit within people’s lives. If you said no, yes, yes, and yes respectively to ANY of these questions you should question your allegiance to those ministries.
If plastic celery was something that a person had to work hard to make and it was precious before the world's eyes because it takes much of your greatest effort and time to produce, that plastic celery would represent a by-product of your life. These same anti-giving preachers would encourage the saints not to give it even if God requested it.
Abraham gave tithes of EVERYTHING he had including money before it was even mentioned in the Law of Moses. Abraham gave whatever was considered the increase from his own life. Why does money all of a sudden have to be reassigned to another category? Maybe some of us feel that the increase of our life should be stored away and kept out of the reach of God's Lordship? This is an opportunity for us to examine ourselves.
I am a Christian and a Follower of the Lord Jesus Christ
and like Him I am no Millionare
the TV preacher should be ashamed to have so much when so many have so little
my family we get less than two thousand a month and we support missions but the lifestiles of the rich and famious TV preacher is a farse and everyone should boycott them
SweetBeloved statedI believe we as Christians should avoid jumping to conclusions about how any man's wealth was attained and not be eager to cast stones at anyone in the ministry whom the Lord has prospered.yet i would also add its not throwing stones to ask the ministers to be acountable for there wealth,
how many people remember the word of faith network,and all the slim shadys that bent scriptures to imply name it and claim it gospel,-or the thing that passes for the evidence of the holy spirit namely babbling (claiming it Gods holy language)penticost was speaking in a language that wasnt there birth tongue,---or more precisely several known tongues that wasnt theres naturaly-kind of like reverse engenering the effects of what happened at the tower of babble,so that everyone present could hear the gospel receving the holy spirit doesnt imply baby talk.what happened to the gosple acording to jimmy swagart,or jimmy baker or or hicky or roberts,or ptl,i went to the 700 club headqorters several years bach seeking help for 1st a used bible 2nd some food to tide me over and 3rd some gas for my ulgly car,I explained this to a recepionist at there main bld she call security and they escorted me to the awaiting police man they called,i was stunned,why i couldny figure out why,but the police helped me after they ran a check on me,gave me from there pockets some money and gas to help me out so i dont like these con jobs calling themselfs preachers,
Throughout the Scriptures we see that the Lord so greatly prospered the kingdoms of those who were obedient and reverently feared and worshipped God alone. He also took away their wealth and even their lives when they started following other gods.
I believe we as Christians should avoid jumping to conclusions about how any man's wealth was attained and not be eager to cast stones at anyone in the ministry whom the Lord has prospered. I know many preachers, whose ministries are pure, who own beautiful homes that can be considered mansions and own more than one nice car. Not only did God bless them spiritually and physically, but He prospered them beyond their highest dreams financially in their ministries and the businesses they manage to have apart from their ministries...some are into real estate, some entreprenuers, some investments and financial consulting, some the medical field, etc...they have plenty for themselves to live well and with overflow to give greatly to others apart from all they give through their minstries. I believe this would be witness to God's Word in that He shall open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there would not be room enough to contain it as in Malachi 3:10... Praise God!
how many people remember the word of faith network,and all the slim shadys that bent scriptures to imply name it and claim it gospel,-or the thing that passes for the evidence of the holy spirit namely babbling (claiming it Gods holy language)penticost was speaking in a language that wasnt there birth tongue,---or more precisely several known tongues that wasnt theres naturaly-kind of like reverse engenering the effects of what happened at the tower of babble,so that everyone present could hear the gospel receving the holy spirit doesnt imply baby talk.what happened to the gosple acording to jimmy swagart,or jimmy baker or or hicky or roberts,or ptl,i went to the 700 club headqorters several years bach seeking help for 1st a used bible 2nd some food to tide me over and 3rd some gas for my ulgly car,I explained this to a recepionist at there main bld she call security and they escorted me to the awaiting police man they called,i was stunned,why i couldny figure out why,but the police helped me after they ran a check on me,gave me from there pockets some money and gas to help me out so i dont like these con jobs calling themselfs preachers,
A mansion and 2 Bentleys. I wonder what works could have been done with those funds. I'm sorry but it is the appearance of excess exhibited by those that make a living delivering the Word that keeps many from coming into the Lord's house. Whether true or not, it always lends an air of avarice when the preacher is being paid an exhorbitant sum out of the offerings of the faithful. My 2p...nothing more
also know your enemys --these orgs,and companys have shown in the past to have a strong bias against christians of most stripes,they tend to pander to a low brow community,I wouldnt have done an interview without a lawer present in the room,knowing the way media treats those who call themselfs christians,
most people remember the original report and run with it,they also dismiss the retraction as an aberation,non belevers want the first to be true weather it is or not,however the flashy lifestyle doesnt lend itself to portray scriptural pattern of christianity,seems to mirror in many ways the wordly attitudes about lifestyles,flashy jewels and big cars lavish homes and trips abroad way to often, imply me me me,whether or not its true,simplisity and modisty would better serve as an example to others. the good works can be done with less flash & horn tooting.blessings are good however we should avoid the perception of wrong doing if at all posible,
This type of reporting has been done for decades. However when it has been done against Christian ministers it has been more problematic because it usually poses a question about their character in some way. Whether a person agrees with what a person says in any context the media is suuposed to be accurate in what is said and the context. They obviously pulled comments made to make it look like he had more than he did. Whether he has a mansion or not. The fact is that the article implied or came out and said that he had way more than he did. They probably did not say that I think in 2004 the man gave away almost $790,000. I watched him online at a conference where he mentioned this. He was doing a teaching against the fallacy of using the verses to promise people a 100-fold return for giving to the Lord.
In 1978 or 1979 60 Minutes did a story on Oral Roberts. They interviewed one of his brothers that I know supported his healing ministry. They did editing to make it look like he thought that Oral was a fake. Oral always said that he did not heal anyone but that God healed people. They took the first part 'Oral does not heal anyone' and chopped the rest of the statement out. The editing was so bad that you could see where the film had been chopped.
I also remember when one of the morning programs took Pat Robertson's comments about Jim Bakker going to jail way out of context. They edited the answer for one question and put it with a question about Jim Bakker's sentence. It was aired to make it sound like he was glad that Jim got 45 years in prison. He was comsidering a lawsuit. I do not remember the end of that one.
I just do not trust most media because they (1) are sloppy and report mistakes way too often and (2) are hostile towards Christians and will use any means to slander and cut down those of us that believe in Christ.
I think Christians are finally standing up to these people. Because of their influence for Christians to keep quiet is a mistake. The media needs to answer for their nonsense. They are not God. If need be we must force the issue. I'm glad their lies are being exposed. I hope that Fred wins the lawsuit.
"And we know that all things work together for good to then that Love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 KJV
I hope Rev Frederick wins this lawsuit & spends the money to glorify God.
This was very unfair & careless move from such a prestigeous company...
I think one underlying issue here is that the figure/God represented by religeous leaders get defamed at the same time when something like this happens.
However, we need not look at people to judge God...
Sure, the leaders get a lot of blessing or some of them fall into sin...
But if our faith is based on the image of our leaders, how can we call that faith in God when that kind of faith is so clearly based on men?
We need a relationship with God & we need to read his Word to judge whether He is truly God & worthy of all the glory.
This I need to constantly remind myself every time I see a leader do somthing I disagree on...
I think certainly God blesses His children - with grace, love, patience, etc., as well as money. While ideally, if we were perfect, we would give out everything that we have (freely giving out what was freely given to us); the reality is we are not and do keep more than we really need. But this is not a horrible thing, in my opinion. And I don't believe that God looks at it as a bad thing. Having more than one TV for example is not a sin or anything, or even more than that. But there is a point when you can go overboard. Whether or not Price went overboard, I won't say yet because I'm still weighing the debate in my head. But I think it's similar to America's obesity problem. Most Americans are overweight. But, there's an overweight that is not too problematic, and there is an overweight that is undoubtedly unhealthy. So I guess the question that I'll be running in my mind for the next couple of days is whether Price's lifestyle is a healthy one. (sorry if I jumped around too much, lots of thoughts jumbled in my head right now)
God knows Rev. Price's heart - we don't. Who are we to judge? He is fighting for a fair, accurate representation of himself, that's all. We can support him in that, surely?
"The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts." 1Sam. 2:7
Some people are given great prosperity, and God trusts that they will be good stewards. Perhaps it is because God can trust the Reverend not to serve mammon that He has blessed him so? And, maybe, God is humbling him through this experience for some reason. It's between him and God. If, at the end of his life, God finds he didn't do enough, then that's God's judgment. Who are we to throw stones? We are not all called to poverty.
"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty." Prov. 11:24
I live in a comfortable home with heating and plumbing, two cars, bikes for all the kids, washer/dryer, plenty of clothes in good condition, shoes for everyone and all the food we need. Oh, and a phone, TV and computer... Should I give all that up to help others more? Should we all go into poverty, be homeless and never plan for the future? Let's get the planks out of our own eyes before we try to remove the speck from Rev. Price's! :) After all, the man has already given his life to serve God - it's his life's work to bring people to the Kingdom. Isn't that the greatest command of all - to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30?
"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Prov. 14:23
Let's review belenbelen . . . and Jesus said
Matt 6:1 "“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven..... 6:4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."
Matt 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
And let's not forget.......
Matt 19:23 “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, 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.”
Need Jesus say more? And Jesus lived where? And he ate among.... sinners? Jesus dressed how????
Be humble. My pastor doesn't even take a salary anymore. He's not rich, doesn't drive 2 Bentley's and gives all Glory to the Lord! May the Lord 'richly' BLESS you with His love and His grace not the money of man.
This is a response to Deacon Greg's comment.
It astounds me that so many people feel that ministers should live in virtual squalor while working for the Lord. That mindset is beyond comprehension and very much antuquated. How in the world would believers reach those unbelievers who live extremely well if all of us were living in a destitute state? It is safe to say that most of those rich unbelievers wouldn't want to hear anything about Jesus.
The mere fact that Fred Price exists is truly a God-send. His life and message is an inspiration to millions and he has help to raise the level of expectation among Christians. He earns an income which is established by a board of directors, he and his wife tithe consistently and give generously to legitimate ministries and causes. So I don't see what your gripe is about him living in a mansion. If he's doing all of the right things and he isn't hoarding money, what business is it of yours or anyone if he chooses to live in a mansion or a shack. I mean really, at the end of the day, he earns an income and he has every right to spend his money as he chooses - just like you or I or Bill Gates or the Rothschilds.
Keep that in mind before writing such uninformed drivel.
Lives in a Mansion.........enough said