The man in the picture is David Cerullo. He may not be among the best-known of the TV preachers, but he is one of the richest.Cerullo is one of the preachers pushing the "prosperity gospel". This very modern version of the gospel says if the viewer will just send the preacher a certain amount of money, God will reward them by making them economically successful. In Cerullo's case, the price tag on God's economic reward is $200.
I don't know if those who sent Cerullo their $200 checks have been enriched, but he certainly has. He now has a television cable network that beams broadcasts into 100 countries on five continents. This allows him to live in a 12,000 square foot lakefront home with an 1100 square foot garage and an elevator.
His $1.5 million personal compensation makes him the highest paid of any of the TV preachers (most let their church pay for their homes, cars and other bills to save on income taxes).
This kind of salary and lifestyle seems kind of incongruous for a religion based on the teachings of Jesus. Didn't Jesus say it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, and didn't he exhort his followers to sell their belongings and give it to the poor?
It makes me wonder if Cerullo even cares what Jesus taught as long as the money keeps pouring in for his exorbitant salary and lifestyle.
David Cerullo is the son of Morris Cerullo, another "health and wealth" preacher.
ReplyDeleteI happened to catch the senior Cerullo on the TV back when I lived in California in the late 80's/early 90's. At that time, he was trying to buy the Heritage USA theme park that Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker had built before the wheels fell off their "ministry." Morris Cerullo was actually soliciting donations for the theme park on his TV show.
I was so appalled that I called the donation line and gave the poor phone bank lady a piece of my mind (I say "poor" because it really wasn't her fault, plus she probably really was poor - I doubt if Cerullo paid her a living wage.) She just sighed and thanked me for my call.
If you google "Morris Cerullo" you can read about how the whole theme park thing worked out - or didn't. I have neither the time nor the inclination to study this fiasco in depth, but apparently there were some legal skirmishes involved in the whole thing.
It seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!