The Nation - News from April 18, 1988

A PTL pastor in Ft. Mill, S.C., called the bankrupt ministry “a scam” and said it suffered financial collapse because idolatry reigned as the faithful worshiped hotels, water slides and trains instead of Jesus Christ. The Rev. Sam Johnson, a former Assemblies of God missionary who pastors PTL’s Heritage Village Church, said the ministry used contributions to create a religious Disneyland, showing followers a good time rather than salvation. “This is idolatry,” Johnson said. “The Internal Revenue Service is right--a great deal of what we have done here was not ministry--it was a scam. The sooner we admit it was a scam, the sooner we can get on with the real business of propagating the gospel.” Johnson’s criticism of PTL came two days after a bankruptcy judge ordered the ministry to liquidate its holdings to pay off creditors owed an estimated $125 million. PTL donations, once more than $10 million a month, collapsed last year after founder Jim Bakker resigned in a sex scandal.