Morris Cerullo has been in the spiritual sheep-shearing "ministry" for over fifty years. He has built himself quite an empire off the wool of the flock of God with an estimated worth of 100 million dollars. He is reported to live in the most expensive gated community in all of San Diego in a 12,000 square foot mansion valued at over twelve million dollars. He also owns several multi-million dollar jets and has two pilots on staff.
Most of his crusades are done in third world countries where his sullied reputation does not precede him. He has been thoroughly exposed and debunked in America and preys upon the most needy people giving false promises to those who give to him sacrificially. He takes along with him the most swarthy of all the prosperity gospel shysters such as John Avanzini and Mike Murdock to work their black magic on the poor of world.
He claims to be a prophet and an apostle and his credentials for such a superior position in the church in his estimation is his claim that he was taken to heaven as an 8-year-old child by two angelic beings and was commissioned by God face-to-face.
His message hasn't changed much in fifty years. He says he is building up God's army of overcomers and the manchild company of spiritual end times warriors, what is known theologically as Joel's Army or the Manifest Sons heresy. He stands up in front of huge crowds and tells them that he heard an audible voice that is giving them a direct message from God that usually included talk of a great last days outpouring of God's Spirit, upcoming miracles and signs and wonders or the biggest outpouring of God since Pentecost. And he delivers absolutely nothing.
I watched him in action in 1991 and reported on his miracle crusade for The Christian Sentinel magazine. In part, I wrote:
"As the crowds filed into the Philadelphia Civic Center, you could see the excitement on
their faces. They came expecting a miracle, for the ads said there was to be a
"miracle Explosion" and they believed it...Halfway through the service things started heating up. 'You don't serve
theology,' Cerullo screamed. "You don't serve doctrine...you serve God who does
not change.' The momentum increased. 'COME ON, GIVE IT TO EM RIGHT NOW!' he
wailed as he began dancing a jig. 'IT'S LIKE LIQUID FIRE. Miracles are happening all
over the auditorium. I have no control over what's happening! God is sending a new
wave.'
"'Someone's being healed of emphysema,' the preacher proclaimed. Immediately
the usher brought up a gray wrinkled old man along with his scuba-diver sized oxygen tank
with a breathing apparatus in a leather carrying case. They handed it over to the faith
healer who asked the man what he was healed from. 'Bronchitis' came the answer. 'I also used to have lung cancer.'
"Cerullo raised the tank over his head, parading it up and down the platform and then
handed it over to the song leader. The old man was then 'slain in the spirit' as
the healer touched him. He lay flat out on the floor until the preacher turned his
attention elsewhere.
"After the rally ended I walked up to the platform and asked
the song leader, John Price, what was to become of the oxygen tank. 'How would I
know?' he snapped back. Just then an elderly gray-haired woman walked up on the platform and retrieved the
tank. I ran over to her and said, 'What are you going to do with the tank?' 'Oh, does he need it again tomorrow night?' she responded, mistaking me for a
crusade representative. 'Who?' I asked. 'Dr. Cerullo,' she said, 'because I have a $200 deposit on it.' 'Why would you need it if your husband is healed,' I inquired. 'Maybe he
might want to uses it again as a demonstration of how God heals,' she said.
"After further inquiry the lady admitted that the tank was used merely as a
demonstration of a healing her husband received several years ago. The old man probably
saw nothing wrong in reenacting something he believed to be real, thinking it would
inspire faith in others. The culprit though is Morris Cerullo who cashes in on the naivete
of others by using them in this manner."
One observer, Bob Liichow, noted that Cerullo often uses the language of the occult and new agers when describing spiritual experiences and practices. "Then Mr. Morris gets spooky, Liichow wrote in his article, The Last Great Anointing. 'God is going to take these folks into the
spirit
world!' This is occult language, it is not biblical language. The Bible does not speak of God ever taking His children into the 'spirit
world.'"
In a clip played on this blogcast, Cerullo can be heard telling his audience to get into their sixth sense, another occult term, not found in Scripture. Go to the link below to listen to Cerullo's own voice saying this, if you can tolerate listening to his twangy voice with the organ playing behind it and a ram's horn blowing with every mindless proclamation he dramatically screams to demonstrate his so-called anointing.
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