Pastor accused of scamming man out of $300,000, would "heal son's brain tumor"

[Bluebear]

LITTLETON - A local woman says a pastor now preaching in Tulsa, Oklahoma bilked her father of hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to Sandy Chrisman, Reverend Johnny Chambers encouraged her dad to give him and his worship center in Arizona his entire life savings, more than $300,000.

Chrisman's dad died in 1997 and she has been looking for the money and for answers ever since. "It's really master manipulation," said Chrisman, "give and it shall be given to you."

She said her father, Robert Stickel, met Chambers at a revival in Arizona in 1997. In six months, he gave the Chambers and the Chambers' Worship Center all the money he had. "I mean come on, $314,000 gone, the guy goes around the country and does this," she said.

Chrisman says her dad gave the money, hoping Chambers could heal her brother of brain cancer. "They would say. 'If you will give all your money Bob, I know I've never met you before, I know God will heal your son,'" said Chrisman. "It was really an act of love. My dad would do anything for his son. I believe that's exactly what happened."




http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=2ccd9327-0abe-421a-0017-792727eee0fc&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

[valerief]

1. You've got to be dumb as a stump to fall for that con. I don't care

how desperate you are. Nutty magic thinkers!

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Brain illness runs in the family apparently.

[TahitiNut]

3. Holy intervention sure is expensive.

:eyes:

[spag68]

4. These fakes have remarkably similar mo's

How do you think the build multi-million$ "churches"? Why these story's surprise anyone, shows the state of the population of the US, and to boot, they don't pay taxes. It just scalds my butt every time I hear of a new one.

[TlalocW]

5. I'm in Tulsa; I'm not surprised

Oral Roberts started his religious empire doing revivals in the 40s and 50s where he would "heal" people. Film footage showed him healing the same woman in different cities over and over again.

People like Chambers are scum. They take someone's honest faith and use it to make money is the worst possible way. If the brother had gotten better, Chambers would have claimed it was God (and his entreaties that saved him), glory hallelulah, praise be and send more money so I can continue my work. If his cancer had been arrested, it would have been, "God has stopped the cancer - we need more prayer (and money) to continue the fight." But now that the brother has died, it will undoubtebly be, "They didn't have enough faith."

It's a weird mindset. People die because a "faith healer" will tell them God has cured them of diabetes (for example), and they'll stop taking their insulin, and even when they start feeling the ill effects from going off their medication, they won't go back on because that would be unfaithful to God, and eventually, they die. There are hundreds of case studies like this.

It's sad.

TlalocW

[TlalocW]

6. Crap, the guy preached just up the road from where I live

http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=061111_Ne_A1_Pasto70527

He got served during a sermon too.

TlalocW

[cool user name]

7. I'm sorry ...

... but I don't feel sorry for the father.

I hate to speak ill of the deceased but if you are dumb enough to give away money to someone scamming you like that, then you kind of deserve it. This doesn't let the preacher off of the hook but shit, use a little bit of your noodle.

[Bluebear]

8. 'I don't feel sorry for the father.' . . .may you never be blindsided ...

with someone you love getting brain cancer or something horrible. The way the mind and soul work whilst under unbearable grief and your world turning upside down often precludes the use of one's 'noodle'.

Also. He may have thought "it's a man of God", may have been raised to think the church is beyond reproach.

[cool user name]

9. I've been blindsided by many things ...

Anyway, look maybe I don't have as much compassion as you but sometime we all need a little tough love. If the guy can get fooled that easy, then I can't feel sorry for him.

Maybe I'm not feeling particularly generous right now.

[Bluebear]

10. Well, it's more a matter of "how sad" . . .

rather than "here, I feel so sorry for you I will give you some of your money back." If that makes sense.

I can't personally see why people give up their hard-earned money for disreputable preachers either, but I guess some people grasp at straws.

[cool user name]

11. I hate to say this ...

but someone that gullible, probably would voted for Bush.

I know I don't have proof but something tells me that giving over $300,000 of your money over to a preacher sounds like something a Bush supporter would do out of some stupid loyalty to religion. I'm not feeling particularly compassionate for people like these right now.

I don't mean to sound like a dickhead but I can't wrap my head around people like these right now and I'm not sure I ever want to. Consider me very, very sore right now.

Edit: (edited the vote for Bush to future tense since the guy has passed on)