1418 lines
79 KiB
Plaintext
1418 lines
79 KiB
Plaintext
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GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD
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T h e G R E E N Y w o r l d D o m i n a t i o n T a s k F o r c e
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Presents:
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"Bob Larson Part 5 & 6"
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GwD, Incorporated is dedicated to the exposing of false prophets. We have found
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one such "prophet" in Bob Larson of Bob Larson: Live and formerly of Talk-Back
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with Bob Larson. A supposed Christian radio evangelist, Bob Larson is actually
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only motivated by financial gain. These 14 articles by Kenneth L. Smith prove
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this. From this point on, GwD is anti-Bob Larson.
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PART 5
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Date: Friday, 12 November 1993 2:37pm ET
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To: Scott.Mikusko
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From: Scott.Mikusko
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Subject: Bob Larson: Sex and the Sinful Minister
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Bob Larson: Sex and the Sinful Minister
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Sooner or later, you knew it was bound to happen: When a ministry is out of
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control, tales of sexual indiscretion invariably arise. And as it was with Jim
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Bakker, so it is with Bob Larson.
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The Bob Larson story has moved forward at a remarkably rapid pace in recent
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weeks, and developments have not been kind to him. Jay Grelen has subtly
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raised the issue of Larson's purportedly intimate relation ship with a former
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lieutenant, Margo Hamilton. We determined where he was ordained, and lodged a
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challenge as to his fitness to remain as a minister. His flagship affiliate,
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Denver's KLTT, was sold to an organization which has inside knowledge concerning
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his improprieties. His marriage to Laura, his new trophy wife, is said to be
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failing. All in all, October of 1993 was not a good month to be Bob.
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But on November 1st, he had a vision.
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Bobby Does Damage Control
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As a rule, the Christian community takes a remarkably blase attitude toward
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financial scandals -- but the moment that sex is mentioned, all bets are off.
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In its' September 13, 1993 edition, Christianity Today reported on Bob Canella's
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claim that IBN director Pam Koczman sexually harassed him. CT reporter Timothy
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Morgan seized that opportunity to make additional allusions concerning Bonnie
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Bell's untimely departure, and Larson's reputation for abusing his employees.1
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Whether for good or ill, when CT speaks, the evangelical community listens;
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Larson was compelled to respond. But as evidenced from these excerpts from the
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Ministry's press release, Larson was clearly playing a larger game:
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"POSITION STATEMENT ON SEPTEMBER 13 CHRISTIANITY TODAY ARTICLE:
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Bob Larson and the Board of Bob Larson Ministries (BLM) ada-
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mantly deny the allegations set forth in the September 13th
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edition of Christianity Today. The article is the latest in a
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series of character assassination attempts against Mr. Larson
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and the staff of BLM. It primarily centers around a complaint
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by a disgruntled, discharged former employee.
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5. Because of numerous threats (on file with authorities) on
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Mr. Larson's life and property, access to the office of BLM
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is highly restricted for the protection of both Mr. Larson
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and members of the BLM staff."2
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Larson would like his avid, check-writing fans to draw the inference that
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witches, Satanists, neo-Fascists, and other assorted dregs of the galaxy are
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constantly harassing him. Yet, in those rare3 instances where he even bothers
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to report an incident to the police, Larson prefers instead to finger "past
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disgruntled employees."
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For instance, Talk-Back listeners might recall that, on his January 29
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broadcast, Larson related one particularly "vicious" threat to his life and
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property:
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"The threats, Bonnie, as you and the other people that work
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with me know, have gotten so vicious. They recently sent me
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a large color photograph of several people who are a part of
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this group. Standing on the front steps of my private property
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on which they trespassed -- the front steps of my home -- hold-
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ing a flaming Molotov cocktail, threatening to burn down the
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house with obscene language printed on the photograph."4
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So who did Larson identify as the prime suspects in this nefarious deed? The
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Coven? The Horses of Illinois? Glen Benton? Evidently, that thought never
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crossed his mind. Also noticeable by their absence is the Denver-Area Witches
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Network, and the various sundry Satanic covens which Larson insists are active
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in the Denver area. His mortal enemies would never harass him, but his former
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employees -- fine, upstanding Christian citizens, all -- would?
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[ No less than three former Ministry employees were mentioned
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as possible suspects in the police report5: Muriel Olsen, Lori
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Boespflug, and Connie Beavers. Larson even went so far as
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to insinuate that the husband of his former office manager was
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one of the people hiding under the robes.6
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Of course, Larson tried to paint me as the mastermind of this
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absurd plot to destroy him and his ministry -- but, then again,
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Bob apparently blames me for virtually everything that has
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gone wrong in his life ... including cancellation of "The Wonder
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Years." ]
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Bob Larson has good reason to fear ex-employees, not so much because they are
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closet Satanists but rather, because they have sat behind the veil of that den
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of iniquity. They've watched him in action, and have been shocked by the sheer
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mendacity of the man. If Bob Larson is what constitutes "God's anointed,"
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they'd just as soon reserve their condos on the River Styx.
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Bound by their Christian consciences, they have taken this news to anyone who
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would listen. However, fearing for their jobs -- and in my estimation,
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justifiably so -- they remained anonymous. Unfortunately, they made the
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colossal mistake of pleading their cases to station owners and managers who, for
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the largest part, lent an unsympathetic ear. Good Calvinists that they were,
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they worshipped frequently at the altar of the Bank of America -- and Larson
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paid so handsomely that they were inclined to overlook his indiscretions.6a
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And Bobby Does Margo?
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Ever since Bob and Kathy Larson started having marital difficulties, rumors
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concerning his alleged infidelity have run rampant. This comment is from "the
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Salem letters," anonymous correspondence from a BLM staff member to Salem
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Broadcasting president Ed Atsinger:
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"Mr. Larson has had other traveling and bed companions such as
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Mrs Boespflug, who most likely supposes as the others that she
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is unique and something special. And she is for the moment.
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Why not ask Ms Behrens who was his best friend' for four or
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five years and traveling companion to many 5 star hotels in
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such places as San Francisco, San Diego, San Francisco, Tucson
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and Hawaii. You might want to ask her about her last sexual
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encounter with Mr. Larson where she was overwhelmed with a
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demonic presence [all sentences in context]."7
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While these anonymous allegations -- especially the part of the 'demonic
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presence' -- seem a bit questionable, it is clear that Larson has had a habit of
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volutarily placing himself in the positions which lend themselves to a measure
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of suspicion. A mere business trip to Orlando with his personal secretary would
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not necessarily be seen as improper, but his November, 1990 visit to Disney
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World -- with her and her three young girls, while his wife waited at home --
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certainly would.8
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[ According to Boespflug, Larson showered her with gifts
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during late 1990 and early 1991, including a diamond frog
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broach valued at $2,800, a dog she later named "Soks," and
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$1,250 in cash to pay for furnace repairs. And if, as Larson
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insists, she had nothing of consequence to do with "his"
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writing of Dead Air, it only stands to reason that he was in fact
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actively courting her affections. But let us not forget that he
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was quite married at the time.]
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For the most part, I have refrained from commenting on Larson's purported
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sexual misadventures, on the grounds that charges of infidelity are virtually
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impossible to prove. However, Jay Grelen's recent World article, "Bob Larson
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Quits NRB," has brought it to the fore:
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"Margo Hamilton, another long-time employee who often trav-
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eled with Larson and spoke at BLM's seminars about satanism,
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resigned in September 1992.
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In a telephone conversation with World last week, she said
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she could not discuss her time at BLM because she signed confi-
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dentiality agreements with Larson. And her husband, in a con-
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versation with World earlier this year, said he too had signed
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an agreement. He has never worked for the ministry."9
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Of course, the obvious question is why Margo's husband would need to sign such
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an agreement. After all, since they didn't marry until several months after she
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"resigned," and he had never worked for the ministry, he wasn't in a position to
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reveal proprietary information. And if he did reveal what Margo told him, that
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would have been a violation of her confidentiality agreement.
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[It is instructive to note that Lori Boespflug's new husband
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was not asked to sign an agreement, despite the fact that they
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were engaged to be married at the time of her dismissal. Lori
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knew as much about Ministry operations as anyone; if Larson had
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any legitimate concern as to whether BLM's trade secrets would
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be a probable subject of pillow talk', there is no evidence to
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that effect.]
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In summation, Margo's husband had to know something that Bob Larson didn't
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want to be known ... and, had nothing to do with the Ministry's internal
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operations.
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That doesn't leave many options.
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While it is admittedly circumstantial (and fairly scant), other pertinent
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evidence supports the hypothesis that Bob and Margo did in fact get physical'.
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Avid Talk-Back followers may recall the "Breezy incident," where Bob was kicked
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in the head by a horse; what is not generally known is that it was Margo's
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horse, Lena, that kicked him.10 The larger question, of course, is how a mother
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of three could afford such a bourgeois indulgence on her proletarian
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$35,000/year11 salary. And one obvious answer is Bob Larson.
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It was further reported that in March of 1992, Larson ran an invoice for
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personal toiletries through his expense account ... including hair spray,
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Trojans, and Semicid, a female contraceptive.12 Now of course, the hair spray
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makes some sense, but it is quite difficult to envision Bob Larson handing out
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condoms on the street corner to sexually-active teens (a la Jocelyn Elders).
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Thus the question naturally arises as to what an unmarried minister would be
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doing with contraceptives....
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Standing alone, any one of these pieces of evidence can be explained
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innocently. But taken together, they comprise a fairly strong circumstantial
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ground for charges of sexual improprieties. The hypothetical reasonable wife',
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when confronted by comparable evidence, would naturally start asking a few
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questions. And she would demand answers.
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To this self-confessed unbeliever, the issue of Larson's sex life is as
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irrelevant as it is uninteresting; I don't see marriage as a sacrament, but
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rather, as a partnership. Life is just too short for anyone to be trapped in a
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miserable marriage. Yet, to my many Christian colleagues, who must by
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definition let the Scriptures be their guide, the matter is one of grave
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concern.
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In his first letter to Timothy, the seminal text on Church administration,
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Paul posed this incisive rhetorical question: "If anyone does not know how to
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manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?"13 In so writing,
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Paul established stringent standards of conduct for men aspiring to leadership
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positions within the Church.14 And with good reason: The one common denominator
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of the Bakker, Swaggart, Hargis, and now, Larson scandals is that, if a man is
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fundamentally unfit to honor his 'calling' as a minister of the Gospel, that
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fact seems invariably to manifest itself in his private life.
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But Can He Do it With Impunity?
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Until recently, Bob Larson reportedly believed that he could weather the media
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firestorm.15 But two recent events have changed the landscape: his departure
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from the NRB, and the sale of his Denver affiliate to Crawford Communications.
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While the events themselves were somewhat innocuous, the collateral damage has
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been staggering.
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Our informants have advised us that Larson's publisher, Thomas Nelson, had to
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find out from the press that he had withdrawn BLM's application to the ECFA.
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Evidently, Nelson president Sam Moore wasn't particularly ecstatic with that
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development; Nelson has endured criticism from other quarters in recent
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months16, and Moore would like to avoid having another Mike Warnke scandal
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explode in his face. Thus it would seem that his 'marriage' to Nelson is on
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even shakier grounds than the to his young bride, Laura.
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Along similar lines, the loss of Denver's KLTT has caused surprising damage to
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the Ministry. Larson loses a number of affiliates to format and/or ownership
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changes every year, and in most cases, he simply goes to the station down the
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street. But in Denver, his failing reputation has preceded him; four of the
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seven local Christian stations are owned by those who have 'inside knowledge'
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with respect to the Larson situation
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Salem president Ed Atsinger dropped Larson upon learning of his divorcing
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former wife Kathy, and Don Crawford, Jr. had hired a certain talk-show host by
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the name of John Stewart. Moreover, the other three have been "on notice" for
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more than a year. Even Frank Trueblood, the station manager for KQXI (Larson's
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new Denver affiliate), claimed in a telephone conversation that he was indeed
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"fully aware" of the charges against Larson.17 But KQXI is one of Denver's less
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prominent stations, and is said to be struggling; Larson pays quite well ... and
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he pays on time.
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The move to KQXI affected Larson's Denver market in two ways: tape-delayed
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shows attract fewer listeners, and weaker stations reduce the size of his
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audience. Whereas KLTT could be heard from Ft. Collins to Castle Rock, KQXI's
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signal can at times be difficult to hear in Aurora or Boulder. And as his
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faithful, check-writing listeners slowly abandon his ship, Denver is poised to
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become irrelevant.
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Under normal conditions, Bob Larson should be more than able to tolerate the
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loss of any given market, with the obvious exception of Dallas. But all is not
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well at BLM. The clearest evidence yet that Larson has fallen into a state of
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sheer desperation comes from his November 1 show. Like Oral Roberts before him,
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Bob told his radio audience that God gave him a vision:
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"About two and one-half hours ago, I told my secretary just
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to pull the blinds in my office; I want to close my eyes and
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sit back and relax for a little bit, and just lay all of this
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before the LORD.' And I did. And the LORD spoke to my heart
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-- and I want to tell you, my staff -- until I walked in here
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fifteen minutes before this show -- had no idea what I was
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going to ask you to do today. None. [Long pause.]
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And the LORD spoke to my heart very clearly, and gave me a
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vision for reviving Christian radio in America. A vision.
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The LORD told me what it was going to cost -- and I had my
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chief financial officer run some numbers to double-check it --
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$1.89 million...."18
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It ought to go without saying that, when God gives you a vision, you don't
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have to check His math....
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God has this remarkable habit of talking to sinister ministers, and He always
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seems to say precisely what they want to hear. Oral Roberts needed $8 million
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to help out his medical school -- and God just happened to tell him how much to
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ask for. At least, Bob Larson had the good sense not to lock himself in his
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studio....
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Larson's immediate aim is to buy a local radio station. I can't say which one
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without jeopardizing my sources, nor can I offer an authoritative pronouncement
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as to why he wants it. Still, I can make an educated guess.
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The obvious reason is that Bob's ego and pocketbook both demand that he stay
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on the air in Denver. In the best of times, his broadcasts on the former KLTT
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added roughly $6,000/mo. to the gross margin (although the figure has declined
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in recent months). Of course, that guess must presuppose that he expects
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Talk-Back to remain viable. My informants, however, insist otherwise. They say
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you can hear it in his voice, and see it in his countenance: Bob knows the end
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of Talk-Back is nigh.
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If the Ministry is, in the vernacular, heading south for the winter, Bob's
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purpose in owning a radio station becomes even more obvious. In actual terms,
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the net worth of the Ministry is a bit less than $3 million.19 it makes for a
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pretty nice stash, and a radio station might be the perfect getaway car. Bob
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wouldn't have to answer to anyone (aside from the FCC), and could lay colorable
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claim to remaining in the ministry. But more to the point, he would have
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access to the resources BLM has amassed in corporate solution, and continue to
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pay himself a handsome salary until he decides to retire early in the next
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century. And if BLM's handpicked Board of Directors remains true to form, they
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should be little more than a minor inconvenience.
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An Aside: Field of Dreams
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At present, the Ministry can write a check large enough to cover the down
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payment on just about any radio station in the Denver market. As such, the
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return of Talk-Back to the Denver airwaves should be considered to be a foregone
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conclusion. Still, the more intriguing question is whether Larson's proposed
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radio network has any real chance of succeeding.
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In many ways, Larson's plan is so obvious that one is forced to wonder why he
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had to have a divine revelation to come up with it. He has slowly been moving
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toward that goal for some time now (as evidenced by the hiring of former Denver
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DJ Pat O'Shea), and he has the raw technical capacity to start programming
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tomorrow. All he needs is some satellite time and a few dozen outlets, and he
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could easily be on his way to becoming the Christian Casey Kasem....
|
||
|
|
Yet, if anything, Larson may have missed the boat by waiting so long to launch
|
||
|
|
this venture. In the days when he was reputable, as opposed to having a
|
||
|
|
reputation, he could have established himself as a 'Christian DJ'. What's more,
|
||
|
|
two years ago he had the luxury of farming out some of his Talk-Back duties to
|
||
|
|
Bonnie Bell; it had enough of a profit margin that even Bonnie's worst efforts
|
||
|
|
could have been tolerated. By stark contrast, in recent months Larson has been
|
||
|
|
forced to work for a living: this Monday will mark the eighth continuous week of
|
||
|
|
live Talk-Back broadcasts.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
But if Bob builds his field of dreams, will the audience come? Considering
|
||
|
|
how little air play secular death-metal and techno-rock gets, it is hard to
|
||
|
|
conceive of how "The Christian Metal Hour" could attract a viable audience.
|
||
|
|
Still, in an environment where Christian radio has reached a saturation point
|
||
|
|
(e.g., more than 15% of Denver stations air Christian' formats), and economies
|
||
|
|
of scale are fast making the independent station an anachronism, there should be
|
||
|
|
a few station managers willing to join. Nonetheless, a few simply won't be
|
||
|
|
enough. Economies of scale also drive the other end of the equation. Satellite
|
||
|
|
time isn't cheap, and unless the cost can be spread over a sufficient number of
|
||
|
|
affiliates, this potentially-profitable venture could become an albatross around
|
||
|
|
Larson's neck. Ergo, he would stand a much better chance of making said venture
|
||
|
|
work if he can deliver a proven product. And that's where Denver comes in....
|
||
|
|
If Larson stays true to form -- an assumption I'd be willing to take to the
|
||
|
|
bank -- he will retain a profits interest in this highly speculative venture,
|
||
|
|
while investing no more than a token amount of his own money. Hence, if it
|
||
|
|
fails, the Ministry will feel the pain, but if it succeeds, Bob will be able to
|
||
|
|
laugh his way into a resplendent retirement.
|
||
|
|
Even if Larson eventually decides that his new network isn't viable, he has
|
||
|
|
laid the foundation for his return to markets like Los Angeles, San Diego, and
|
||
|
|
Chicago. If the price is right, Christian station owners can be bought ... and
|
||
|
|
if Larson can offer a sufficiently-lucrative profit-sharing arrangement,
|
||
|
|
Talk-Back will be back in Baltimore.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Maybe He Can....
|
||
|
|
For all practical intents and purposes, Bob Larson has become a law unto
|
||
|
|
himself. He has carefully constructed his empire in such a manner as to ensure
|
||
|
|
that he is not accountable to anyone: board members, radio station owners, or
|
||
|
|
denominational bodies. The press is kept at arms-length ... and his publisher,
|
||
|
|
in the dark. He is the captain of his ship, the master of his fate....
|
||
|
|
And when accountability is absent, the conscience is certain to follow.
|
||
|
|
Nestled in the Appalachian hills, some 30 miles northeast of Chattanooga, lies
|
||
|
|
the spiritual equivalent of the No-Tell Motel: Dave Ford's Evangelistic
|
||
|
|
Messengers Association. Fill out your application, send in your fifty dollars,
|
||
|
|
and you can be ordained -- almost by nightfall. Just fill out the three-page
|
||
|
|
application and get two ministers to sign it, and you're on your way! No
|
||
|
|
education? No problem! You don't even need a high-school diploma to attend
|
||
|
|
their More Than Conquerors School of Theology.20 In only 420 hours' class time,
|
||
|
|
you can earn your bachelor's degree in theology -- by mail.21 And they are
|
||
|
|
fully accredited by the American Accrediting Association of Theological
|
||
|
|
Institutions,22 whoever they are. When I called the organization which
|
||
|
|
accredits our local Denver (Conservative Baptist) Seminary, The Association of
|
||
|
|
Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, the lady answering my
|
||
|
|
inquiry laughed and said, "Who are they?"23
|
||
|
|
But twenty-some years ago, when the young Bob Larson approached them with a
|
||
|
|
fire in his belly and a full head of hair, the application process was even more
|
||
|
|
arduous: The road to the ministry was purely one of apprenticeship. After a
|
||
|
|
scant one-year apprenticeship, you were ready to 'fly solo' ... if you were
|
||
|
|
still confused by the difference between hermeneutics and Herman Munster, it
|
||
|
|
really didn't matter. And if some time later, you fell into a life of grievous
|
||
|
|
sin, it didn't matter ... EMA made no attempt to monitor their more than 1,000
|
||
|
|
active ministers, and had no formal procedure for disciplining wayward ones. EMA
|
||
|
|
president J. David Ford, who knew Bob Larson since 1971, was not even aware that
|
||
|
|
he had divorced former wife Kathy, more than two years after the fact.24
|
||
|
|
I would love to tell you more about EMA, but Dr. Ford has refused to talk to
|
||
|
|
me. He cited the following letter as the basis for his decision:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
CERTIFIED MAIL
|
||
|
|
October 7, 1993
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
But truth does matter.
|
||
|
|
- Bob Larson
|
||
|
|
Dr. J. David Ford, President
|
||
|
|
Evangelistic Messengers Assn.
|
||
|
|
P.O. Box 4018
|
||
|
|
Cleveland, TN 37320
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Re Bob Larson
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Dear Dr. Ford:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I realize the greatest sermon I will ever minister will not
|
||
|
|
be behind the pulpit, but in everyday circumstances. I will
|
||
|
|
conduct my personal relationships and financial affairs in
|
||
|
|
such a way as to not bring reproach upon the ministry or
|
||
|
|
most of all, my Lord and Saviour whom I love...."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
In the E.M.A.F. Pledge, you have set standards of honor and
|
||
|
|
integrity which are clear and uncompromising. Your vaunted
|
||
|
|
words convey an unequivocal message: a calling from God is not
|
||
|
|
a license to steal.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
It is our understanding that -- quite possibly in direct
|
||
|
|
response to our activity -- Bob Larson has scheduled a public
|
||
|
|
appearance in Cleveland at the end of the month. It would not
|
||
|
|
be extravagant to presume that he has scheduled a meeting with
|
||
|
|
you to discuss the numerous allegations made against him. And
|
||
|
|
if such a meeting is to occur, it seems appropriate that his
|
||
|
|
accusers ought to be present.
|
||
|
|
To that end, we'd like to make you aware of our willingness
|
||
|
|
to make ourselves available for such a conference, and provide
|
||
|
|
you with appropriate assistance to enable you to properly pre-
|
||
|
|
pare for it. One of my associates will even travel to Cleve-
|
||
|
|
land to present the 'case' against Larson if you so desire.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
For his part, Bob Larson has acted like someone who has an
|
||
|
|
awful lot to hide. Several months after his divorce was final,
|
||
|
|
he had the court seal his files. Last year, he refused inter
|
||
|
|
view requests by Christian reporters Joe Maxwell and Jay Gre
|
||
|
|
len. He has gone to court to enforce "confidentiality agree-
|
||
|
|
ments" which have no legitimate business purpose -- serving
|
||
|
|
only to dissuade former employees from revealing the embarrass-
|
||
|
|
ing truth. Both publicly and privately, he has accused me of
|
||
|
|
contriving false financial statements -- despite the fact that
|
||
|
|
the Ministry's general counsel admitted that the documents we
|
||
|
|
worked from were accurate. When I confronted him on a Ft. Lau-
|
||
|
|
derdale, FL talk show, he hung up. And when the Evangelical
|
||
|
|
Council on Financial Accountability raised questions of their
|
||
|
|
own, Bob withdrew the Ministry's membership in the National
|
||
|
|
Religious Broadcasters. For a minister of the Gospel, who is
|
||
|
|
to 'walk in the light as He is in the light,' Bob Larson has an
|
||
|
|
unusual aversion to scrutiny.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Although Bob Larson may have difficulty believing it, we do
|
||
|
|
not seek the destruction of his ministry. Quite the contrary;
|
||
|
|
we have received invaluable assistance from those who work
|
||
|
|
inside the walls of BLM and would prefer to see it become a
|
||
|
|
legitimate outreach to troubled teens. Even though the ultimate
|
||
|
|
mission of Bob Larson Ministries is to minister to the extrava-
|
||
|
|
gant financial needs of Bob Larson, the concept is a sound one.
|
||
|
|
We'd like it to be all that it can be ... WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE.
|
||
|
|
Unfortunately, that end may no longer be attainable. Bob
|
||
|
|
Larson has placed the demands of his hyperactive ego before the
|
||
|
|
needs of those he would serve. He has 'laid up his treasures'
|
||
|
|
where rust and moths doth corrupt, and visited great shame upon
|
||
|
|
the ministry.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
All we are asking of Bob Larson is that he recant, repent,
|
||
|
|
and reimburse those he has injured in his self-righteous ram
|
||
|
|
pages. By recant, we mean that he must candidly and publicly
|
||
|
|
confess his sins, and admit the attempts he made to cover them
|
||
|
|
up, thereby 'compounding' them. By repent, we intend that he
|
||
|
|
is to consciously and deliberately walk away from those sins;
|
||
|
|
if the Ministry is to survive this scandal, adequate safeguards
|
||
|
|
(e.g., a hostile board of directors) must be put into place to
|
||
|
|
ensure that the conditions that facilitated his transgressions
|
||
|
|
are not allowed to recur. By reimburse, we insist that he must
|
||
|
|
offer fair and equitable compensation to those people he has
|
||
|
|
injured in his quest to emulate the likes of Robert Tilton and
|
||
|
|
J.D. Rockefeller.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
We thank you for your assistance in this matter, and look for
|
||
|
|
ward to hearing from you.25
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
On the very day Larson visited Cleveland, TN, I called Ford with the intent of
|
||
|
|
gathering background information for this article. He quite angrily told me
|
||
|
|
that the aforementioned letter was proof that I "had a vendetta" against Larson.26 Res
|
||
|
|
ipsa loquitur.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
It is often said that all that evil needs to thrive is for good men to do
|
||
|
|
nothing, and that has pretty much been the tale of the tape' in the Larson
|
||
|
|
affair. Scores of loyal Christian soldiers, fearing their masters' wrath, have
|
||
|
|
stayed inside their comfortable bunkers and studiously ignored the battle, but
|
||
|
|
former KLTT station manager Brian Taylor deserves the grand prize for servility.
|
||
|
|
Despite the fact that he has been aware of the Larson affair for more than a
|
||
|
|
year, he continued performing his oral ministrations until the very last minute
|
||
|
|
[on Talk-Back, 29 October 1993]:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Taylor: "Ah, sure I am the station manager at KLTT in Denver."
|
||
|
|
Larson: "And that is the station that we have been on"
|
||
|
|
Taylor: "Yes, the station you have been on for a number of
|
||
|
|
years as a matter of fact."
|
||
|
|
Larson: "Long time. Why did, why did you call Brian?"
|
||
|
|
Taylor: "Well, I just called to encourage you, brother. I know
|
||
|
|
that uh, today is our last day for a live broadcast for 'Talk-
|
||
|
|
Back' in Denver. And we have had tremendous response--people
|
||
|
|
looking to know where you are going to go and we are not able
|
||
|
|
to get you cleared live in the city anymore, but I'm believing
|
||
|
|
for it and I just wanted to call and encourage you. Y'know a
|
||
|
|
lot of people, and Jim in particular who just called, I feel
|
||
|
|
bad for people like that because they-they look at it and they
|
||
|
|
just look at totally the, the money or things like that and
|
||
|
|
y'know, I have the luxury of working here and knowing a little
|
||
|
|
bit more about your ministry, and seeing the fruits and knowing
|
||
|
|
that there are some things there that people don't recognize
|
||
|
|
and don't know that you do. Having worked in youth ministry in
|
||
|
|
the city and some of the other folks here at the station too,
|
||
|
|
we know we can call you with a referral anytime and you will
|
||
|
|
tell us exactly where we can get help, how we can take care of
|
||
|
|
the kids that have great need. And that kind of research takes
|
||
|
|
a lot of money. And I'm sure that could happen in any city. So
|
||
|
|
we give you a lot of praise and, uh well, give God the praise
|
||
|
|
but we give a lot of appreciation for the work and the effort
|
||
|
|
you put into your ministry...."27
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Taylor's doctorate evidently appears to be in hypocrisy. In a letter to me,
|
||
|
|
dated Feb. 3, 1993, he apologized for acceding to Bob Larson's demand that I be
|
||
|
|
prevented from calling in on a local broadcast to challenge a litany of
|
||
|
|
slanderous remarks Larson made concerning me:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"I also want to offer my apology for not allowing you an
|
||
|
|
opportunity to call in and speak with Bob during the program.
|
||
|
|
However, as I stated, that was the condition I understood from
|
||
|
|
Bob when I invited him to be a guest on the station. In hind
|
||
|
|
sight, it would have been better to allow you the same opportu-
|
||
|
|
nity to call in as other listeners were provided, so as not to
|
||
|
|
give you (or anyone else) the impression that we were trying to
|
||
|
|
conceal anything. As I consider that decision in retrospect, I
|
||
|
|
can appreciate your displeasure."28
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
His pious closing -- "Walk In Truth"29 -- spoke volumes. If you are incapable
|
||
|
|
of walking the walk, you have no business talking the talk.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
And Then Again, Maybe He Can't:
|
||
|
|
As long as the Evangelical community remains infested with slavering
|
||
|
|
sycophants like Ford and Taylor, it has little hope of obtaining even a
|
||
|
|
semblance of credibility among the unchurched and unsaved. If there is one
|
||
|
|
salient lesson to be learned from the Larson affair, it is that nothing of
|
||
|
|
substance has been learned from the Bakker scandal. Yet, the wheels of justice
|
||
|
|
continue to turn, albeit slowly. And the wheels at Bob Larson Ministries are
|
||
|
|
beginning to fall off.
|
||
|
|
______________________________________________________________________
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ENDNOTES
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1 Timothy Morgan, "Personnel Woes Persist at Larson Ministries,"
|
||
|
|
Christianity Today, 13 Sept. 1993, p. 62.
|
||
|
|
2 Bob Larson Ministries, "Position Statement on September 13 Chris-
|
||
|
|
tianity Today Article" (unsigned press release), undated, p. 1 (origin-
|
||
|
|
inal sent to Doug Trauten of the Evangelical Press; cover letter not
|
||
|
|
available).
|
||
|
|
3 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992 (Boespflug stated that "Lar
|
||
|
|
son never took these death threats seriously"; Lakewood P.D. sources
|
||
|
|
unofficially noted that "only a few" incident reports were on file.)
|
||
|
|
4 Bob Larson, "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 29 Jan. 1993.
|
||
|
|
5 Offense Report (misdemeanor harassment), Lakewood (CO) Police Dept.
|
||
|
|
(Officer Ponczek reporting), Case Report #92-105773, 3 Nov. 1992, pp.
|
||
|
|
2-6 (other named "suspects" included California-based Christian talk-
|
||
|
|
show host John Stewart).
|
||
|
|
6 Ibid., p. 3.
|
||
|
|
6a There have been a few stray exceptions to this rule. A few brave
|
||
|
|
souls evidently have challenged Larson -- without any measure of suc-
|
||
|
|
cess. For example, this intriguing letter allegedly was faxed to the
|
||
|
|
Ministry by former WVEL station manager Brian Cooper:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Your station is supporting a liar. Bob Larson is not saving
|
||
|
|
our kids from satanism, he's promoting it. He's not traveling
|
||
|
|
every weekend to help the hurting but to promote himself so:
|
||
|
|
(1) by 'pressing flesh' your listeners will think he's so
|
||
|
|
important that when they find he's divorcing his wife they will
|
||
|
|
not condemn him and continue to send in money (2) to build his
|
||
|
|
mailing list for (a) direct solicitation (b) selling his latest
|
||
|
|
novel (3) promotion of his new novel which will launch his new
|
||
|
|
career, his panacea into the secular world where he won't have
|
||
|
|
to answer to Christian moral standards.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Mr. Larson carefully planned and forced his wife, Kathy, who
|
||
|
|
was an integral part of the ministry, out against her will. He
|
||
|
|
had everything that made reference to her taken off all promo-
|
||
|
|
tional materials and stopped all reference to her. The purpose
|
||
|
|
was, in time people would forget about Kathy and he could mani-
|
||
|
|
pulate his way out of the marriage without it affecting his
|
||
|
|
status. It's been a slow but persistent process.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
For many years now Bob & Kathy Larson have not traveled toge-
|
||
|
|
ther except at Christmas and one fundraising trip to Dallas and
|
||
|
|
that was to placate the Thomases who helped get him started and
|
||
|
|
own the Dallas station, his biggest money maker. Bob Larson has
|
||
|
|
taken many trips over this time leaving his wife home alone,
|
||
|
|
who under normal circumstances should have been with him, under
|
||
|
|
the guise of getting away to rest or write a book. But he was
|
||
|
|
not alone, he was sharing his first class resort, sunshine,
|
||
|
|
golf courses, etc. with one of his lady friends....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Mr. Larson is an adulterer. He has had several liaisons. He
|
||
|
|
lies to you and your listening constituency daily. He is past
|
||
|
|
feeling. He is insensible, callas and has an appetite for sex,
|
||
|
|
money, success, pleasure and status." [sentences in context]
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
As is obvious from the text, Cooper did not write the letter, but he
|
||
|
|
did take the critical steps of believing the author, and making inqui
|
||
|
|
ries of his own. The following memo is a post-mortem of one conversa
|
||
|
|
tion between Cooper and IBN secretary Chris Rohling:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"TO: PAM, BOB, BONNIE, LORI, MARGO, AND LISA
|
||
|
|
FROM: CHRIS
|
||
|
|
DATE: AUGUST 14, 1991
|
||
|
|
RE: BRIAN COOPER - WVEL
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
As Pam already knows, I had a long discussion last night with
|
||
|
|
Brian Cooper at WVEL, Peoria, IL.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
He started the conversation off by saying that he wanted to be
|
||
|
|
taken off of Compassion Connection's referrals. He received an
|
||
|
|
anonymous letter a few months back saying that Bob was divor
|
||
|
|
cing and also having an affair with a staff member. He said he
|
||
|
|
then received Bob's letter in reference to the first letter. He
|
||
|
|
doesn't want to be a part of something that he's sure will turn
|
||
|
|
into another Swaggart/Baker scandal.
|
||
|
|
He wanted to know if it was Margo that Bob was having the
|
||
|
|
affair with. I said that it was true Bob was divorcing but he
|
||
|
|
was not having an affair. He wanted to know why Bob was divor
|
||
|
|
cing for no reason (his words). I let him know that Bob and
|
||
|
|
Kathy have tried for a few years now to salvage their marriage
|
||
|
|
and it wasn't possible. He said he had a conversation with Bob
|
||
|
|
in which Bob denied even being separated. I told him I had no
|
||
|
|
knowledge of the conversation and I couldn't give him an
|
||
|
|
answer.
|
||
|
|
He said he has had people from our ministry (currently) who
|
||
|
|
have contacted him telling him of Bob's affair. He also said
|
||
|
|
he talked with someone from our ministry yesterday, he wouldn't
|
||
|
|
tell me who or which line he called them on, but he said this
|
||
|
|
person said they were 100% sure Bob was having an affair but
|
||
|
|
they were afraid to confront Bob about it for fear of losing
|
||
|
|
their job. In both situations he didn't ask for names nor were
|
||
|
|
they given....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
He wanted to know Bob's reasons for getting divorced. I said
|
||
|
|
I didn't know, and that it wasn't mine or the staff's business.
|
||
|
|
He said it was and we should be holding Bob accountable for his
|
||
|
|
actions. I told him one day we will all be held accountable and
|
||
|
|
it wasn't my place to stand and accuse someone else of some
|
||
|
|
thing that I had no proof of. He wanted to know if Kathy had
|
||
|
|
an affair and that was the cause of the divorce. Again, I said
|
||
|
|
I didn't know.
|
||
|
|
He said he wasn't going to be the one to let the people know
|
||
|
|
what's going on at our ministry but he said people will find
|
||
|
|
out sooner or later. He doesn't want to go down with the min
|
||
|
|
istry because Bob had his hands in the cookie jar."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
According to Lori Boespflug [who furnished both memos, and has proven
|
||
|
|
to be an highly credible source in other matters], that call ended up
|
||
|
|
costing Brian Cooper his job; I contacted WVEL in an effort to locate
|
||
|
|
Cooper, but management would not give a forwarding number.
|
||
|
|
7 Anonymous, Letter (to Edward Atsinger, President of Salem Communica
|
||
|
|
tions), 1991. (The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by former
|
||
|
|
Salem employee John Stewart; Boespflug denied having sexual relations
|
||
|
|
with Larson, but related the story of how he "tried to insinuate him
|
||
|
|
self into her life" in the June 16 interview. [Some of Larson's more
|
||
|
|
entertaining attempts to 'court Ms. Boespflug were chronicled in my
|
||
|
|
open letter to David Neff
|
||
|
|
of Christianity Today ("CT on the Block," published in the __/__/93 issue of
|
||
|
|
the CPR)].) 8 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992 (According to Boespflug,
|
||
|
|
the trip was to "make it up to the girls" for the time she spent writing
|
||
|
|
Dead Air; ergo, either she was writing "his" book, or Bob was having
|
||
|
|
an affair with her).
|
||
|
|
9 Jay Grelen, "Bob Larson Quits NRB," World, Vol. 20, No. 8 (9 Oct.
|
||
|
|
1993), p. 24.
|
||
|
|
10 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992.
|
||
|
|
11 Compassion Connection, 1990 Form 990, Schedule D (copy courtesy of
|
||
|
|
the Internal Revenue Services).
|
||
|
|
12 Lori Boespflug, Interview, 17 Jun. 1992 (confirmed by other sources
|
||
|
|
-- when I confronted Larson on this, he conceded knowledge of it.)
|
||
|
|
13 I Tim. 3:6.
|
||
|
|
14 See generally, I Tim. 3.
|
||
|
|
15 The bulk of this information comes from confidential BLM sources --
|
||
|
|
who have proven to be extremely reliable in the past.
|
||
|
|
16 E.g., William Watkins, "Market-Driven Theology," Cornerstone,
|
||
|
|
17 Frank Trueblood, Telephone interview, 26 Oct. 1993.
|
||
|
|
18 Bob Larson, "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," 1 Nov. 1993 (broadcast in
|
||
|
|
Denver on one-day tape delay).
|
||
|
|
19 BLM's 1992 audited financial statements show an accumulated surplus
|
||
|
|
of slightly more than $2 million. Nonetheless, the Ministry's office
|
||
|
|
building is seriously undervalued on the books, and the balance sheet
|
||
|
|
doesn't account for assets held by International Broadcasting Network
|
||
|
|
or BLM's Canadian affiliate.
|
||
|
|
20 1993-94 Student Manual, More Than Conquerors Bible Institute, p.
|
||
|
|
10.
|
||
|
|
21 Ibid., p. 5 ("Each course of study will consist of ten hours of
|
||
|
|
classroom instruction, on either videos or audio cassettes..."). Each
|
||
|
|
three-hour class presumably constitutes a
|
||
|
|
course of study'; a bache lor's degree is granted when 126 semester hours --
|
||
|
|
42 classes, or 420 class hours -- are completed. This roughly one quarter of
|
||
|
|
the time a student spends attending class in a secular university.
|
||
|
|
22 The AAATI was not listed in Gale's Directory of Associations as of
|
||
|
|
1991.
|
||
|
|
23 Call placed 29 Oct. 1993.
|
||
|
|
24 J. David Ford, Telephone interview, September 1993.
|
||
|
|
25 Ken Smith, Letter (to J. David Ford), 7 Oct. 1993, pp. 1-2.
|
||
|
|
26 J. David Ford, Telephone interview, 29 Oct. 1993.
|
||
|
|
27 Brian Taylor, "Talk-Back with Bob Larson," 1 Nov. 1993.
|
||
|
|
28 Brian Taylor, Letter (to Ken Smith), 3 Feb. 1993.
|
||
|
|
29 Ibid., ibid.
|
||
|
|
______________________________________________________________________
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
PART 6
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Bob Larson: The Cowering Inferno
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Just when Bob Larson was sure it couldn't get any worse ... it did.
|
||
|
|
While October of 1993 witnessed a flurry of telling blows to Larson's
|
||
|
|
fading prestige, most of the subsequent damage was self-inflicted.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The Bob Larson School of Public Relations...
|
||
|
|
January 7, 1994: Hardly a day which will live in infamy. Bob Lar-
|
||
|
|
son is on live remote, closing out his vacation in "Toledo," when he
|
||
|
|
is confronted on the air by a startling call:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Caller: "Hey, Bob, listen to this. I just got a plane ticket
|
||
|
|
to come looking for your butt. You know your little dog? I'm
|
||
|
|
going to kill it!"
|
||
|
|
BL: "You what?"
|
||
|
|
Caller: "Yeah, you heard me. And if the dog don't stop the
|
||
|
|
show, then I'm comin' looking for you! And if you don't stop,
|
||
|
|
the demons of hell will come and get you. But I will find you.
|
||
|
|
As for my [unintelligible], he ordered me to kill myself. And
|
||
|
|
you can mark it down in your little black book, Bob. You're
|
||
|
|
gonna die!"
|
||
|
|
BL: "Sir--"
|
||
|
|
Caller: "Yeah, I couldn't find you New Year's. I got your
|
||
|
|
number right here, and I got what you look like right here.
|
||
|
|
You got red hair, you got freckles, you're short [dead air].
|
||
|
|
Area code three-oh [caller cut off]...."1
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Ho-hum. Another day, another death threat. Larson has seen it all
|
||
|
|
in the last eleven years -- and has learned to take it all in stride.
|
||
|
|
In fact, he even wanted to let the man back on the air! Larson shows
|
||
|
|
no fear.
|
||
|
|
And then, along came Dan from Atlanta....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
BL: "Dan, what's on your mind?"
|
||
|
|
Dan: "Yeah, hey, Bob, how're you doing today? I was just won-
|
||
|
|
dering -- I read something recently that I wanted to ask about.
|
||
|
|
Uh, I read that your ministry is no longer with the Evangelical
|
||
|
|
Council for Fin-- [dead air]...."2
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Psychopathic killers don't even faze Larson, but the minute anyone
|
||
|
|
asks about the Ministry's financial affairs, all hell breaks loose.
|
||
|
|
And Larson's explanation [interspersed with my observations] for the
|
||
|
|
rude treatment Dan received is particularly intriguing:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
BL: "Well, the gentleman has asked a question that I am more
|
||
|
|
than happy to answer. But the problem is that there are some
|
||
|
|
people out there -- and Dan, you may be very sincere in asking
|
||
|
|
your question. If you are, then I want somebody to get his
|
||
|
|
phone number, and you'll get a personal call from someone on
|
||
|
|
our staff responding to that question."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
[Of course, we are left to wonder why Larson couldn't answer Dan's
|
||
|
|
question on the air. After all, if he could offer him an answer that
|
||
|
|
was not either blatantly libelous, patently ludicrous, or a little of
|
||
|
|
both, that ought to be the end of the matter. It's hard to embarrass
|
||
|
|
someone who has nothing to be embarrassed about....]
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
BL: "There are some people out there who are doing their best
|
||
|
|
to try and hurt this ministry, and the viciousness of it, and
|
||
|
|
the conspiratorial nature of it, is -- it is so ugly. IT IS SO
|
||
|
|
UGLY you can't even begin to comprehend it. And I'm just not
|
||
|
|
going to deal with it."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
[It's hard to conceive of anything that could top Dead Air in terms
|
||
|
|
of sheer ugliness. Scenes from that book include a child performing
|
||
|
|
fellatio on members of the 'Order of the Dark Raven' and a minister's
|
||
|
|
heart being sacramentally eaten by cult members. And Larson's narra-
|
||
|
|
tive was, if nothing else, graphic:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"There's nothing so evil they won't do it. I saw cult mem-
|
||
|
|
bers tied down and their genitals mutilated. Men were cas-
|
||
|
|
trated. One young girl was forced to perform oral sex on ani-
|
||
|
|
mals to bring out the penises so cult members could cut them
|
||
|
|
off and feed them to their victims. Do you understand what I'm
|
||
|
|
saying?"3
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Actually, we do, Bob -- it's downright repulsive. And that's what
|
||
|
|
managed to make it past Thomas Nelson's censors....]
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
BL: "I'm not going to turn this program into someone else's
|
||
|
|
format who wants to tear down the work of God. So understand
|
||
|
|
that. And we have been consistently set up by fake, phony call-
|
||
|
|
ers. Dan may or may not be one of those people. And if he has
|
||
|
|
a sincere question, it will be sincerely answered. But we have
|
||
|
|
had to adopt a policy -- there are so many people who have lied
|
||
|
|
to us and tried to set us up and put us in very difficult situ-
|
||
|
|
ations, simply to try to tear down the work of God, that I'm
|
||
|
|
just not going to stand for it."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
[As numerous Internet readers have reported, when people call Talk-
|
||
|
|
Back and honestly raise questions, most are harangued by Bob's call-
|
||
|
|
screeners. And the few who get through, whether by hook or by crook,
|
||
|
|
are greeted with dead air. One reader related the following tale:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Recently I called in to the radio show and, when Bob finally
|
||
|
|
came on, I asked him if he had really put a private eye on Ken
|
||
|
|
Smith. Usually when Bob gets a crank caller on the air, he'll
|
||
|
|
make a few wise cracks before he hangs up on them. This time,
|
||
|
|
he hung up on me immediately. It was like he knew something."4
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Bob continued his sickly-sweet soliloquy with an ad misericordiam
|
||
|
|
appeal, and then, tried to wrap himself in the Cross:]
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
BL: "This audience who listens to this program has sat there
|
||
|
|
for nearly two hours. They have heard my life threatened by a
|
||
|
|
man who has called this program before and has threatened to
|
||
|
|
kill me -- and he's used different names, and that's why we had
|
||
|
|
him on the air today; we had no idea who it was and what he was
|
||
|
|
going to say. [Evidently, the man called several weeks ago and
|
||
|
|
used the same name: Clint from Dallas.] We have had his call
|
||
|
|
verified by somebody else who claims he's wanted for murder and
|
||
|
|
is a psychopath. And on top of all of that, I have spent a
|
||
|
|
great deal of time doing the work of this ministry and God to
|
||
|
|
reach out and nationwide share the plan of salvation...."5
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Bob meandered on, vilifying his opponents with almost McCarthyesque
|
||
|
|
aplomb. But the damage had been done: Hanging up on what was, in all
|
||
|
|
probability, a sincere caller and likely Internet reader, is bad form
|
||
|
|
at best. Yet, it is just another in a venerable line of public rela-
|
||
|
|
tions blunders committed by the kind and generous folks at Bob Larson
|
||
|
|
Ministries.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
---------------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
One of our people called BLM to get their official explanation for
|
||
|
|
all the negative press Bob has received in recent months. According
|
||
|
|
to BLM Director of Communications Patrick O'Shea (Pat seems infatu-
|
||
|
|
ated with that title, don't you think?), yours truly supposedly
|
||
|
|
'doctored' Bob's divorce transcripts, to make it appear as if Larson was
|
||
|
|
raping and looting his ministry.6
|
||
|
|
As is the case with most of Larson's lies, this one is capable of
|
||
|
|
quick and simple refutation. First off, before I obtained a copy of
|
||
|
|
the transcripts, I was made aware that copies were in the possession
|
||
|
|
of at least three other parties (including Westword and Christianity
|
||
|
|
Today). If I had tried to pull a stunt like that, I would have been
|
||
|
|
nailed to the wall.
|
||
|
|
Second, as Westword's Michael Roberts noted, Larson has tried that
|
||
|
|
excuse before -- and the Ministry's general counsel called him on it:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"'Anybody who has been through divorce proceedings knows that
|
||
|
|
there are a lot of things that are entered into a divorce
|
||
|
|
transcript that are just there -- they're just fluff,' Larson
|
||
|
|
continues.
|
||
|
|
I'm saying the figures are not totally accurate
|
||
|
|
and I'm saying that many figures in there do not relate to what
|
||
|
|
this ministry pays me.'
|
||
|
|
Those figures came from a legal document that includes Lar
|
||
|
|
son's signature beneath a declaration that, under penalty of
|
||
|
|
perjury, the affidavit and statements contained therein were
|
||
|
|
true to the best of his knowledge. Chris Johnson, the minis
|
||
|
|
try's general counsel, subsequently clarified Larson's comment
|
||
|
|
about the document's accuracy.
|
||
|
|
'None [of the figures] to our knowledge are off more than a very
|
||
|
|
tiny percentage of the full amount,' Johnson says.
|
||
|
|
'Some of the numbers were a few dollars off, but I think that's
|
||
|
|
totally immaterial'."7
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Finally, Larson's abrupt withdrawal of the Ministry's application
|
||
|
|
to the ECFA constitutes a tacit admission that our allegations have
|
||
|
|
merit. After all, if we had created these figures from whole cloth,
|
||
|
|
that could have been demonstrated in a matter of minutes -- and he
|
||
|
|
wouldn't have had to withdraw the application.
|
||
|
|
Only a man with the rigorously-trained intellect of a University of
|
||
|
|
Nebraska drop-out would rest his defense on such a lame charge. Bob
|
||
|
|
fizzled as a rock star, flopped in college, failed in his marriage --
|
||
|
|
and he's not even a competent liar. That's really too bad, for it is
|
||
|
|
the one thing he does best.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Hank Hanegraaff/CRI
|
||
|
|
It has almost come to the point where Bob Larson is playing Russian
|
||
|
|
roulette with his callers. Every call is a potential land-mine, and
|
||
|
|
every time he reaches for his "panic button," it raises questions in
|
||
|
|
the minds of his audience. Even when Bob is convinced he is on solid
|
||
|
|
ground, it is liable to give way at any time. Consider the following
|
||
|
|
exchange between Bob and a caller from Seattle:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Travis: "I want to wish you ill, Bob. I don't think you have
|
||
|
|
any right calling anybody a coward, and I can prove that you're
|
||
|
|
a coward in the five seconds we have left here. I challenge you
|
||
|
|
to get somebody from the Christian Research Institute on your
|
||
|
|
program, because I've heard them say things about you that I
|
||
|
|
think your listening audience needs to hear."
|
||
|
|
BL: "Like what?"
|
||
|
|
Travis: "Like, your theology is all screwed up."
|
||
|
|
BL: "Like what?"
|
||
|
|
Travis: "I didn't talk to them personally, so I don't want to
|
||
|
|
try to quote any of them, but I think you know what I mean [BL
|
||
|
|
tries to interrupt here], and I think you're too much of a cow-
|
||
|
|
ard to talk to them on the air."
|
||
|
|
BL: "Sir, I suggest that you be real careful. Because, let
|
||
|
|
me tell you something: While there may be people in the Chris
|
||
|
|
tian Research Institute, some of whom do not agree with every
|
||
|
|
thing this ministry does, Mr. Hank Hanegraaff is the president
|
||
|
|
of that organization, and he has been a dear friend of me and
|
||
|
|
this ministry. The late Dr. Walter Martin has been a dear
|
||
|
|
friend of me and this ministry. And I know of no time, ever --
|
||
|
|
under any circumstances -- Mr. Hanegraaff or Dr. Martin ever
|
||
|
|
has said one word about the theological inaccurateness [sic] of
|
||
|
|
this ministry."
|
||
|
|
Travis: "Wrong. It's your program and it's your word against
|
||
|
|
mine, but I have heard it."
|
||
|
|
BL: "Well, Sir, I don't care what you've heard, and I suggest
|
||
|
|
you write Hank Hanegraaff personally."
|
||
|
|
Travis: "I suggest you get them on the air and let them tell
|
||
|
|
their side of the story [BL interrupts, and talks over him] to
|
||
|
|
the people of America."
|
||
|
|
BL: "Sir.... Patrick, just dump this guy. Mr. Hanegraaff has
|
||
|
|
been personally in our offices, personally in our studios, and
|
||
|
|
personally on the air with me, live from our studios. And they
|
||
|
|
have a fine ministry, and whether they agree with everything I
|
||
|
|
do or not, as far as the doctrinal accuracy and historic ortho-
|
||
|
|
doxy of this ministry is concerned, that is without question."8
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
It wouldn't be all that extravagant to say that Travis has made his
|
||
|
|
final appearance on Talk-Back. Yet, while the chances of Larson com
|
||
|
|
plying with Travis' request are virtually nonexistent, I can tell you
|
||
|
|
what Hank Hanegraaff would have said. In fact, I asked him that very
|
||
|
|
afternoon.
|
||
|
|
Hanegraaff did appear on Larson's program -- but according to Hank,
|
||
|
|
there was more to the story than Bob was willing to tell. Hanegraaff
|
||
|
|
visited BLM's offices ... but only to examine Larson's call-screening
|
||
|
|
technology. And technically, he was Larson's "guest" ... but he only
|
||
|
|
made a cameo appearance. It was not, as Larson seems to be implying,
|
||
|
|
an endorsement of his ministry.9
|
||
|
|
Lori Boespflug, World's star whistle-blower, told me the same story
|
||
|
|
some months ago -- with a couple of twists. First off, BLM employees
|
||
|
|
were under strict orders not to talk to Hanegraaff about the workings
|
||
|
|
of the Ministry. Second, Larson made sure that Hanegraaff didn't see
|
||
|
|
everything they had.10 Quite a friendship....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
It is equally true that Hanegraaff has not made a public pronounce
|
||
|
|
ment as to whether Larson's ministry falls within the ambit of ortho-
|
||
|
|
doxy. And to hear Hank tell it, there is yet again more to the story
|
||
|
|
than meets the eye:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"I've never really listened to Bob Larson. I used to listen
|
||
|
|
to him in Atlanta, but I could never listen for more than five
|
||
|
|
minutes because he was so abrasive and sensationalistic."11
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The gap in his knowledge has since been filled: In mid-December, I
|
||
|
|
sent Hanegraaff a compilation of Larson's radio appearances, includ-
|
||
|
|
ing salient portions of the infamous WFTL interview (wherein Bob hung
|
||
|
|
up in the middle of a two-hour interview, rather than face me on the
|
||
|
|
airwaves).12 His response was instructive:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"I was shocked to hear what he [Larson] said.... I've played
|
||
|
|
enough quotes of enough faith-teachers' to know; regardless of
|
||
|
|
what anyone else said, or any other circumstances, what he said
|
||
|
|
himself was indicting."13
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Hanegraaff has been absent from the airwaves for several weeks, and
|
||
|
|
as such, he has not made any public pronouncements concerning Larson.
|
||
|
|
Nonetheless, he was not overjoyed with the fact that Larson was using
|
||
|
|
him as a professional character reference.14 I rather doubt that CRI
|
||
|
|
will be giving Bob Larson any kind of endorsement within the foresee
|
||
|
|
able future....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Lt. Col. Oliver North
|
||
|
|
On December 1, Larson managed to score a coup -- or, so he thought
|
||
|
|
-- in having Oliver North appear on Talk-Back. By his own admission,
|
||
|
|
Bob spent nearly $4,000 to rent Denver's spacious Calvary Temple for
|
||
|
|
the occasion.15 But that cavernous cathedral, which seats nearly two
|
||
|
|
thousand souls on an average Sunday, was packed by a throng of fifty
|
||
|
|
people -- one of our associates was able to do an actual head count.
|
||
|
|
By comparison, North drew nearly three hundred for a book-signing at
|
||
|
|
a local Hatch's Book Store.16 Colonel North was visibly annoyed by
|
||
|
|
the poor turnout, and understandably so.
|
||
|
|
Our BLM informants told us that their next staff meeting definitely
|
||
|
|
was worth the price of admission. Suffice it to say that Bob was not
|
||
|
|
thrilled; BLM Director of Communications Pat O'Shea was called on the
|
||
|
|
carpet as only Bob can do it. O'Shea was so concerned by the threat
|
||
|
|
that, given enough time, I might find a way to embarrass Bob in front
|
||
|
|
of Col. North, that he didn't begin advertising the appearance until
|
||
|
|
two days before it happened. What O'Shea didn't know -- and probably
|
||
|
|
should have surmised -- is that our associates are on his local mail-
|
||
|
|
ing list. Even Bob was swift enough to figure that one out.
|
||
|
|
Larson's unbridled paranoia has always been one of our most impor-
|
||
|
|
tant resources, and it has continued to yield handsome dividends. An
|
||
|
|
organization bears the imprint of its leadership; if you work under a
|
||
|
|
climate of distrust and fear, you develop paranoid tendencies easily.
|
||
|
|
O'Shea appears to have acclimated himself to BLM's corporate culture,
|
||
|
|
and as a result, made a painfully obvious mistake. And Bob's violent
|
||
|
|
reaction only further fanned the flames....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Thomas Nelson
|
||
|
|
The Christian 'ministry-industrial complex' appears to operate on a
|
||
|
|
kind of herd instinct: They are eager to circle their wagons around a
|
||
|
|
wounded colleague ... but the moment they sense that those wounds are
|
||
|
|
fatal, they abandon him. And ever since his trumpeted departure from
|
||
|
|
the National Religious Broadcasters, Larson has been losing allies at
|
||
|
|
a prodigious pace.
|
||
|
|
Larson's assaults upon Christian media moguls like Salem Broadcast-
|
||
|
|
ing's Ed Atsinger have not gone unnoticed, and his antics have caused
|
||
|
|
many long-time friends to scurry for cover. However, the most stag-
|
||
|
|
gering 'defection' to date would appear to be Thomas Nelson. It came
|
||
|
|
to our attention several months ago from unofficial sources that Lar
|
||
|
|
son had been dropped by Nelson (or would be, when Abaddon lost its'
|
||
|
|
commercial viability). But we recently have learned from an unlikely
|
||
|
|
source that Larson has been shopping for a new publisher, and has in
|
||
|
|
fact contacted Huntington House editor Mark Anthony.17 As a practical
|
||
|
|
matter, leaving the largest religious publisher in the known universe
|
||
|
|
for a tiny outfit like Huntington House isn't exactly the smartest of
|
||
|
|
'career moves' for the typical author. Suffice it to say that Larson
|
||
|
|
wasn't acting on his own volition....
|
||
|
|
Thomas Nelson's only gospel is the bottom line -- they didn't share
|
||
|
|
Hanegraaff's concern that Larson had fallen into apostasy. But scan-
|
||
|
|
dals are matters to be avoided, and while it wouldn't be necessary to
|
||
|
|
break their existing contracts with Larson, they have a vested inter
|
||
|
|
est in terminating their relationship. Quietly.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Even if we presume that the Nelson-Larson divorce is not yet final,
|
||
|
|
at a minimum, it can be said that all is not well in their relation
|
||
|
|
ship. Back in early November, I took the liberty of sending Nelson a
|
||
|
|
query for my book on Larson, Grand Lar$ony. On information that Book
|
||
|
|
Division vice-president Bruce Barbour had been canned in the wake of
|
||
|
|
the Benny Hinn scandal, I sent the proposal to his attention, just to
|
||
|
|
see how they would react. While I wasn't surprised to find that the
|
||
|
|
query was rejected (Given Nelson's complicity in this affair, should
|
||
|
|
we really have been surprised?), I was intrigued by the fact that it
|
||
|
|
took them three business days to reject it. As anyone who has tried
|
||
|
|
to get a publishing contract knows, that is almost unheard of in the
|
||
|
|
industry; you're lucky if they get back to you in three months!
|
||
|
|
I sent copies of my four Larson articles, along with documentation,
|
||
|
|
to show that there was enough information for a book. Barbour's suc-
|
||
|
|
cessor returned my originals -- once again, an unusual practice -- in
|
||
|
|
remarkably poor condition. They had been copied repeatedly, and read
|
||
|
|
extensively. Nelson's executives displayed more than a casual inter
|
||
|
|
est....
|
||
|
|
The Evangelical leadership moves with all the swiftness and certi-
|
||
|
|
tude of a federal agency, but move it does. And more often than not,
|
||
|
|
the target of allegations 'prods it along' with his antics. Like so
|
||
|
|
many others before him, Bob Larson has become his own worst enemy.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
And the Robert Tilton School of Finance:
|
||
|
|
While Bob Larson's recent spate of public relations gaffes could be
|
||
|
|
attributed to ineptitude, his fund-raising methods have migrated from
|
||
|
|
the deceptive to the bizarre.
|
||
|
|
It is no longer enough for Larson to ask his listening audience for
|
||
|
|
the money to cover the Ministry's day-to-day operational costs. Now,
|
||
|
|
there has to be a crisis -- and there's a new one every week. First,
|
||
|
|
he started off by saying that God gave him a vision to 'revive Christian
|
||
|
|
radio'. And while Bob said that he needed $1.89 million to make
|
||
|
|
this vision a reality, he only asked for $189,000 as a 'faith venture
|
||
|
|
tithe'. But even though God 'assured' him that the money would come,
|
||
|
|
his audience didn't heed God's call. After three weeks, Bob gave up,
|
||
|
|
and suddenly discovered' another disaster: Compassion Connection was
|
||
|
|
almost $100,000 in the hole. But his attempts to fill that hole fell
|
||
|
|
on even deafer ears ... until God purportedly 'bailed him out' in the
|
||
|
|
most amazing way:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"I made a phone call to a very special gentleman who wishes
|
||
|
|
to remain anonymous -- in fact, it doesn't make much differ-
|
||
|
|
ence; he can't hear the show, anyway....
|
||
|
|
This man shared with me a story. It is truly remarkable. He
|
||
|
|
said 'Bob, I don't even hear your show.... And even though I
|
||
|
|
can't hear you, this week God spoke to my heart, and He said,
|
||
|
|
'Put a check in the mail to Bob Larson for $20,000'.' He said,
|
||
|
|
'I'll be frank with you, Bob -- the company that I operate, at
|
||
|
|
that point in time, was so far in the red, when I told the sec-
|
||
|
|
retary to draw the check, she said, 'Don't you know that
|
||
|
|
account is $31,000 in arrears? There is no money in it'.' And
|
||
|
|
he said to her, 'Write the check to Bob Larson Ministries for
|
||
|
|
$20,000 and mail it -- God told me to.'
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
'Bob,' he said, with tears in his eyes and a choked voice,
|
||
|
|
'the day after I mailed that check [dramatic pause], my busi-
|
||
|
|
ness received an order for $250,000'."18
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Only a man with Bob Larson's morals can find a moral to that story:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"If one man can step forward by faith and do what he did, you
|
||
|
|
can. And I'm asking you to take a step of faith, and I'm ask
|
||
|
|
ing you to dig deep, and I'm asking you to do what you should
|
||
|
|
have done and now need to do.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Well -- you say, 'Bob, I don't have it.' Write the check!
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
'Bob, I don't know if I can afford it.' Write the check!!!
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Because what God did for that man, God will do for you."19
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Of course, the obvious question is why Larson would exhort his fol-
|
||
|
|
lowers to bounce checks just to meet the Ministry's ongoing financial
|
||
|
|
needs. Yet, the more important question is, "Where did all the money
|
||
|
|
go?" As anyone who has suffered through an introductory accounting
|
||
|
|
class can plainly see, as of the beginning of 1993, Bob Larson Minis
|
||
|
|
tries was virtually swimming in cash:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
BOB LARSON MINISTRIES
|
||
|
|
SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
|
||
|
|
DECEMBER 31, 1992
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ASSETS
|
||
|
|
Current assets:
|
||
|
|
Cash and marketable securities $ 1,698,027
|
||
|
|
Other current assets 326,621
|
||
|
|
---------
|
||
|
|
Total current assets 2,024,648
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Fixed assets (net of depreciation) 882,561
|
||
|
|
Other assets 49,439
|
||
|
|
---------
|
||
|
|
Total assets $ 2,956,648
|
||
|
|
=========
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
LIABILITIES AND FUND BALANCE
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Current liabilities $ 366,595
|
||
|
|
Long-term debt 490,323
|
||
|
|
---------
|
||
|
|
Total liabilities 856,918
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Fund balance 2,099,730
|
||
|
|
---------
|
||
|
|
Total liabilities and fund balance $ 2,956,64820
|
||
|
|
=========
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Despite the fact that Larson was sitting on a multi-million dollar
|
||
|
|
war chest at the beginning of 1993, he came to his audience on Decem-
|
||
|
|
ber 22 of that year with a plea for funds to get back on the air in
|
||
|
|
Cincinnati:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"We've got to raise $60,000 this week. That includes our
|
||
|
|
immediate budget plus the responsibilities of committing our
|
||
|
|
selves to this contract. Because keep in mind, when we go back
|
||
|
|
to Cincinnati, we haven't been there in two and one-half years;
|
||
|
|
we're starting all over again. Brand new audience. From
|
||
|
|
scratch. We've got to get that audience back, and to get their
|
||
|
|
support. And before we do that, we've got to have the advance
|
||
|
|
start-up costs. Now, folks, we do not have that money...."21
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Either Bob Larson Ministries is suffering a financial hemorrhage of
|
||
|
|
truly Biblical proportion, or Bob's doing his now-famous Bill Clinton
|
||
|
|
imitation.... Still, Larson's 'Cincinnati caper' pales in comparison
|
||
|
|
to his post-Christmas fund-raising campaign to get Talk-Back back on
|
||
|
|
the air live in Denver:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"We're days away from one of the most important opportunities
|
||
|
|
that has ever faced the ministry. Next Monday, we can be live
|
||
|
|
here in Denver -- if I've got the assurance from you our budget
|
||
|
|
this week is met, and we've raised a seed of the start-up costs
|
||
|
|
to get going in Denver.
|
||
|
|
Now look, folks: I've got to have the first couple of months
|
||
|
|
covered, or we can't commit ourselves. That's all there is to
|
||
|
|
it. The money isn't there."22
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Of course, those minor details didn't deter Bob from announcing his
|
||
|
|
triumphant return to the Denver airwaves -- on December 21st, fully a
|
||
|
|
week before he aired that poignant plea:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Hi. This is Bob Larson. I have some exciting news for our
|
||
|
|
Denver listeners. God has opened the door in '94 Talk-Back
|
||
|
|
will be live again from 2 P.M. to 4 P.M. daily, right here on
|
||
|
|
[Denver radio station] KQXI 1550 AM."23
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
And as it turned out, the money wasn't there -- or at least, that's
|
||
|
|
what he told his listening audience on January 3, 1994:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"I've got $95,000 staring me in the face over the next week
|
||
|
|
or so, and here's the reason why....
|
||
|
|
We fell $30,000 short of what we needed to raise that week
|
||
|
|
[to get on the air in Cincinnati: $60,000]. I thank God we
|
||
|
|
raised what we would have raised [sic], or we wouldn't be on
|
||
|
|
the air live in Cincinnati, so you gave us enough to get going
|
||
|
|
but not enough to stay there....
|
||
|
|
And for those who are listening to us live in Denver.... We
|
||
|
|
had an incredible goal last week [$47,000]. We almost reached
|
||
|
|
it; we fell $10,000 short. And while I'm at it, two crucial
|
||
|
|
stations [Salt Lake City and Washington D.C.] ... are in seri-
|
||
|
|
ous jeopardy...."24
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
By Bob's own admission, the money wasn't there. They didn't even
|
||
|
|
meet budget [$40,000 per week, or $80,000], raising only $67,000 for
|
||
|
|
the two weeks in question. Cincinnati should be silent. And Denver
|
||
|
|
should be dead. But Bob Larson is more than a mere mortal; he is a
|
||
|
|
best-selling author and commentator. Evidently, the Ninth Command
|
||
|
|
ment doesn't apply to such deities....
|
||
|
|
And the hits just keep on coming. Here's a sample of Bob's latest
|
||
|
|
release (January 11, 1994):
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"The first week of this year has been the most abysmal start
|
||
|
|
to any year I have ever seen in the history of this ministry.
|
||
|
|
And I don't know what you're doing, but you're not standing by
|
||
|
|
this ministry to support it.
|
||
|
|
And I'm gonna tell you: Within 24 hours, I'm going to have to
|
||
|
|
announce the most drastic measures I've ever had to announce in
|
||
|
|
the history of this organization if you don't do something real
|
||
|
|
fast. Do you know that last week we had a $46,000 shortfall
|
||
|
|
that I have been faced with having to raise this week and yes-
|
||
|
|
terday, only $4,000 in pledges received to do anything about
|
||
|
|
that?"25
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Never mind that the shortfall was larger than Larson's weekly bud
|
||
|
|
get. Never mind that, in all probability, he had a pretty good week
|
||
|
|
($95,000 asked for less $46,000 in shortfall equals $49,000 in income
|
||
|
|
for the week). Things are bad. Things are desperate. You've got to
|
||
|
|
open your checkbook right now....
|
||
|
|
Let's go back to the good old days. 1990 certainly was the best of
|
||
|
|
times for Bob Larson Ministries: In that year, the Ministry made more
|
||
|
|
than $500,000 in profits.26 We don't have tapes going back that far,
|
||
|
|
but we do have appeal letters. And even while Bob was rockin' along,
|
||
|
|
he loved to sing the blues:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Bob Larson's Greatest Hit$ - 1990:
|
||
|
|
July 11: "the last two months were a financial disaster."27
|
||
|
|
Sept. 6: "The possibility of losing TALK-BACK in your area is
|
||
|
|
very real. August has been an agonizing month of continuous
|
||
|
|
financial shortfalls."28
|
||
|
|
Oct. 9: "Recent weeks have been the most devastating in the
|
||
|
|
history of this ministry. Every week was worse than the week
|
||
|
|
before. Things have gotten so bad, I'm left with only two
|
||
|
|
choices.
|
||
|
|
I will have to cancel the second hour of TALK-BACK, or close
|
||
|
|
down the Compassion Connection and the HOPE line."29
|
||
|
|
Dec. 7: "By December 31, I must erase a $185,000 deficit in
|
||
|
|
paying for our air time. If I can't, we could lose so many
|
||
|
|
stations it would be difficult to continue TALK-BACK."30
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Amidst Bob's incessant cries of poverty, an unconfirmed report sur-
|
||
|
|
faced which indicates that Christmas came early for Bob Larson Minis
|
||
|
|
tries. It seems that a Southern California-based toolmaker sent Lar
|
||
|
|
son a contribution of about $100,000 -- in small, unmarked bills. It
|
||
|
|
almost goes without saying that most folks aren't in a habit of keep
|
||
|
|
ing that kind of petty cash lying around the house, but we can assume
|
||
|
|
that the gift was legitimate, and the donor, almost as gullible as he
|
||
|
|
is eccentric.
|
||
|
|
Of course, this windfall never got applied to Bob's goals of saving
|
||
|
|
Compassion Connection, paying for his confrontation with death-metal
|
||
|
|
musicians in New York, or getting seed money for his campaigns to get
|
||
|
|
on the air in Denver and Cincinnati. In fact, in all the time I have
|
||
|
|
listened to Talk-Back, I cannot recall when Larson has ever announced
|
||
|
|
on the air that he has reached any financial goal ... until some time
|
||
|
|
after the fact. While the truth can set you free, it tends to have a
|
||
|
|
deleterious effect upon donations....
|
||
|
|
But what, the uninitiated might ask, does this have to do with Rob-
|
||
|
|
ert Tilton? To Trinity Foundation president Ole Anthony, who played
|
||
|
|
a pivotal role in engineering PrimeTime Live's exposE of Tilton, Lar-
|
||
|
|
son's modus operandi should be hauntingly familiar:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"I was -- and still am -- quite familiar with Robert Tilton
|
||
|
|
and his ministry. I knew, for example, that the ministry was
|
||
|
|
quite secretive about its operations and that the ministry had
|
||
|
|
declined numerous requests by the National Religious Broadcas-
|
||
|
|
ters' Association, the Better Business Bureau and the Evangeli-
|
||
|
|
cal Council for Financial Accountability to participate in
|
||
|
|
voluntary release of financial data and other business informa-
|
||
|
|
tion.
|
||
|
|
On a more personal note, I became involved in the investiga-
|
||
|
|
tion with PrimeTime Live because our Foundation routinely takes
|
||
|
|
in the homeless, the hurting, the drug offenders, the proba-
|
||
|
|
tioners ... not to some shelter or faceless program, but into
|
||
|
|
our homes and lives. Not as a client or number or name on a
|
||
|
|
computer printout, but as a member of a loving community who
|
||
|
|
just happens to be in need. Several of these people had given
|
||
|
|
their last dollar to Robert Tilton and other T.V. evangelists
|
||
|
|
out of desperation betting on the spiritual roll of the dice.
|
||
|
|
Then when they had lost everything and went to them for help,
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they were told to go to a social service agency. This kind of
|
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callousness was beyond my comprehension."31
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|
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|
||
|
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I won't pretend to know enough about the Robert Tilton situation to
|
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|
|
make authoritative remarks, but I submit that the easiest way to tell
|
||
|
|
the difference between a good ministry and a bad ministry is in their
|
||
|
|
respective attitudes toward finances. A good ministry will never try
|
||
|
|
to raise more money than it needs (see, e.g., "Focus on the Family's
|
||
|
|
Guidelines for Fund-Raising," #932), while a bad ministry will accum-
|
||
|
|
ulate relatively large cash reserves. A good ministry doesn't object
|
||
|
|
to outside scrutiny of its financial affairs, while a bad ministry is
|
||
|
|
averse to inquiries (e.g., both Tilton and Larson have elected not to
|
||
|
|
join the ECFA). A good ministry understands that service is its' own
|
||
|
|
reward, while a bad ministry invariably appeals to your sense of ava-
|
||
|
|
rice ("You say, 'Bob, I don't have it.' Write the check! ... Because
|
||
|
|
what God did for that man, God will do for you!"33).
|
||
|
|
If anything has astounded me during this odyssey, it is the Chris
|
||
|
|
tian community's almost limitless tolerance for the legions of snake-
|
||
|
|
oil salesmen like Bob Larson -- spiritual profiteers who extract vast
|
||
|
|
fortunes from your brethren in the name of the LORD. While it can be
|
||
|
|
-- and often is -- argued that this is not my concern, clearly, it is
|
||
|
|
part of yours. After all, as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:
|
||
|
|
"But now I am writing you that you must not associate with
|
||
|
|
anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or
|
||
|
|
greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler.
|
||
|
|
With such a man do not even eat.
|
||
|
|
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the
|
||
|
|
church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge
|
||
|
|
those outside.
|
||
|
|
'Expel the wicked man from your number'."34
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
And Baby Makes Three:
|
||
|
|
On a more personal note, there is both good news and bad news ema-
|
||
|
|
nating from the Larson household. First, a little one is forecast to
|
||
|
|
be running around the family mansion. That's right: Word around the
|
||
|
|
office is that Laura is pregnant! Evidently, Bob made the announce
|
||
|
|
ment on the rabbit's death bed ... Laura reportedly is due in August.
|
||
|
|
Let's wish mother and baby-to-be all the best, even if Daddy ends up
|
||
|
|
spending the bulk of his or her wonder years in 'Club Fed'.
|
||
|
|
The bad news is that, after Bob asked his devout followers to "give
|
||
|
|
like they've never given before," he made the ultimate sacrifice, and
|
||
|
|
vacationed in Maui for two weeks this year, instead of his usual one.
|
||
|
|
And while he was out boogie-boarding, Satan assaulted him with a ten-
|
||
|
|
foot wave -- at least, that's what he told staffers. By the time the
|
||
|
|
story makes it into an appeal letter, it ought to be twenty-five feet
|
||
|
|
at least....
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ENDNOTES:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 7 Jan. 1994, tape on
|
||
|
|
file.
|
||
|
|
2Ibid., ibid.
|
||
|
|
3Bob Larson(???), Dead Air (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), p. 230.
|
||
|
|
4J.M. Appleby, Letter (to Ken Smith), undated (Nov. 1993), p. 1.
|
||
|
|
5"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 7 Jan. 1994, tape on
|
||
|
|
file (interspersed with editorial comments).
|
||
|
|
6Patrick O'Shea, Telephone interview (with an anonymous associate),
|
||
|
|
23 Dec. 1993.
|
||
|
|
7Michael Roberts, "The Evil that Men Do," Westword, May 27-Jun 2,
|
||
|
|
1992, p. 12.
|
||
|
|
8"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 3 Jan. 1994, tape on
|
||
|
|
file.
|
||
|
|
9Hank Hanegraaff, Telephone interview, 3 Jan. 1994.
|
||
|
|
10Lori Boespflug, Interview, June, 1992. Lori and I had a number of
|
||
|
|
detailed discussions regarding the internal workings of the Ministry
|
||
|
|
during the week after her firing; I can't recall the precise date on
|
||
|
|
which this specific incident was discussed.
|
||
|
|
11Hank Hanegraaff, Telephone interview, 3 Jan. 1994.
|
||
|
|
12"Hot Talk with Al Rantell," Radio broadcast, 15 Jul. 1993 (see, Ken
|
||
|
|
Smith, "Bob Larson (Sort-of) Talks-Back," first published by the
|
||
|
|
Christian Press Report in August, 1993, for a transcript of key por-
|
||
|
|
tions of the exchange), tape on file.
|
||
|
|
13Hank Hanegraaff, Telephone interview, 3 Jan. 1994.
|
||
|
|
14Ibid., ibid.
|
||
|
|
15Reported by a key contributor to the Larson investigation, one of
|
||
|
|
the few individuals in attendance. Larson admitted on his broadcast
|
||
|
|
("Talk-Back With Bob Larson," 1 Dec. 1993, aired in Denver on 2 Dec.
|
||
|
|
1993) that "a small audience" attended.
|
||
|
|
16Estimate of a clerk at Hatch's Book Store in the University Hills
|
||
|
|
section of Denver, obtained on 3 Dec. 1993.
|
||
|
|
17James R. Spencer, Telephone interview (with an associate), 29 Dec.
|
||
|
|
1993 (confirming testimony given by confidential sources).
|
||
|
|
18"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 6 Dec. 1993 (aired in
|
||
|
|
Denver on 7 Dec. 1993), tape on file.
|
||
|
|
19Ibid., ibid.
|
||
|
|
20Bob Larson Ministries, 1992 Consolidated Balance Sheet (abridged
|
||
|
|
for brevity), p. 2 (obtained from Bob Larson Ministries on or about
|
||
|
|
27 Aug. 1993; a complete copy of the statements, including a cover
|
||
|
|
letter on BLM letterhead signed by BLM (now-Senior) Vice President
|
||
|
|
Angelo Diasparra, is enclosed with the accompanying documentation).
|
||
|
|
It should further be noted that the fair market value of cash and
|
||
|
|
marketable securities held by BLM at year-end was in excess of $1.75
|
||
|
|
million (see Note 2 on p. 7 of the Statements).
|
||
|
|
21"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 22 Dec. 1993 (aired
|
||
|
|
in Denver on 23 Dec. 1993), tape on file.
|
||
|
|
22Ibid., 30 Dec. 1993 (courtesy of a correspondent; (due to record-
|
||
|
|
keeping problems, the date the program was aired has not been ascer-
|
||
|
|
tained; it doesn't matter much anyway, insofar as all of Bob's shows
|
||
|
|
that week were pre-recorded).
|
||
|
|
23Bob Larson, KQXI commercial, aired 21 Dec. 1993, tape on file.
|
||
|
|
24"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 3 Jan. 1994, tape on
|
||
|
|
file.
|
||
|
|
25"Talk-Back With Bob Larson," Radio broadcast, 11 Jan. 1994, tape on
|
||
|
|
file (as fully expected, the "drastic measures" were not announced).
|
||
|
|
26Bob Larson Ministries, 1990 Stewardship Report, inside of flier;
|
||
|
|
1990 revenues were $5,613,445, while expenses were $5,103,648; leav
|
||
|
|
ing the Ministry with a profit -- technically, called a surplus' --
|
||
|
|
of $509,797.
|
||
|
|
27Bob Larson, "Emergency" (appeal letter), 11 Jul. 1990, p. 1.
|
||
|
|
28Bob Larson, Appeal letter, 6 Sept. 1990, p. 1.
|
||
|
|
29Bob Larson, "Keep the Vision Alive" (appeal letter), 9 Oct. 1990,
|
||
|
|
pp. 1-2.
|
||
|
|
30Bob Larson, Appeal letter, 7 Dec. 1990, p. 1.
|
||
|
|
31Affidavit of Ole Anthony at 3-3, Tilton v. Capital Cities/ABC, No.
|
||
|
|
92-C-1032B (N.D.Okla. 1992; status of case unknown), courtesy Ole
|
||
|
|
Anthony (I don't care as much about the Tilton case per se as I do
|
||
|
|
the fact that Anthony made that statement under oath).
|
||
|
|
32 Focus on the Family, Guidelines for Fund-Raising (a copy is on my
|
||
|
|
door; I don't have an actual cite).
|
||
|
|
33 See note 19, supra.
|
||
|
|
34I Cor. 5:11-13 (NIV).
|
||
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Part 5 Copyright 1993/Part 6 Copyright 1994 Kenneth L. Smith. All
|
||
|
|
rights reserved; reproduction permitted for non-commercial uses only.
|
||
|
|
Please direct your questions to the author at P.O. Box 280305,
|
||
|
|
Lakewood, CO 80228.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Copies of all unpublished documents cited or quoted in this article
|
||
|
|
have been provided to the Christian Press Report (and others who have
|
||
|
|
reproduced it in other media), except where the dissemination of such
|
||
|
|
information would create the risk of exposing confidential sources to
|
||
|
|
recrimination. These individuals have been instructed not to provide
|
||
|
|
copies to others without my express approval.
|
||
|
|
Since so much of this article is based upon transcribed show tapes,
|
||
|
|
I have made a compilation tape available to authorized republishers,
|
||
|
|
indicating the context in which Larson's statements were made. How
|
||
|
|
ever, as much as I may want to make this tape available to anyone who
|
||
|
|
asks, wholesale publication would in all likelihood be a violation of
|
||
|
|
federal copyright law. (Of course, if Bob Larson publicly accuses me
|
||
|
|
of making these quotes up, he will effectively forfeit the Ministry's
|
||
|
|
copyrights, and the kid gloves can come off.)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
-----------------------------<GwD Command Centers>------------------------------
|
||
|
|
Chaos (806)###-#### | PCI (806)794-1438
|
||
|
|
GridPoint Durant (405)920-1347 | The Sprawl (806)797-0820
|
||
|
|
Federation Slayers' (806)885-2954 | Tacoland (215)750-0392
|
||
|
|
The Snake's Den (806)793-3779 | The Lagoon (203)638-3712
|
||
|
|
The Siege Perilous (806)762-0948 | Altered Reality (203)925-8349
|
||
|
|
Brazen's Hell (301)776-8259 | Cell Block 4 (806)612-8694
|
||
|
|
Pirate's Cove (806)795-4926 | Static Line (806)747-0802
|
||
|
|
PCI (806)794-1438 |
|
||
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
ftp =-= etext.archive.umich.edu /pub/Zines/Greeny
|
||
|
|
ftp.fc.net /pub/deadkat/misc/GWD
|
||
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
/---------------\
|
||
|
|
Published by GwD, Inc. in September 1995 :FIGHT THE POWER:
|
||
|
|
GREENY world Domination Task Force copyright (c) 1993 by Lobo : GwD :
|
||
|
|
\---------------/
|
||
|
|
GwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwDGwD44
|