Charles Teves
Kenneth Copeland, a well-known televangelist who runs Kenneth Copeland Ministries, has made headlines once again as a video on social media shows him giving a sermon in an empty church then blowing through the viewers’ TV screens as if to say he did it to cure people of the coronavirus.
In a broadcast on April 3, Copeland is seen orating, with four other members of the ministry repeating after him.
“Wind, almighty, strong, south wind, heat: Burn this thing, in the name of Jesus. Satan, you bow your knees. You fall on your face,” Copeland said with power and conviction.
Copeland paused a moment before shouting “COVID-19!” and all the sudden blew hard into the camera.
“I blow the wind of God on you. You are destroyed forever. And you will never be back,” he said.
Copeland already tried to heal people through the television last month. A video posted by Right Wing Watch on Twitter shows the pastor giving a prayer to heal those infected by the deadly virus.
Standing in front of the camera with his right hand covered with holy water, Copeland said, “Put your hand on that television set,” with a screen in the background that read: “Standing against coronavirus.” He then started his prayer that would “heal” coronavirus viewers through the television at home.
“I praise you that I’m well and whole. According to the word of God I am healed, and I consider not my own body. I consider not symptoms in my body, but only that which God has promised,”
“By his stripes, I was healed, and by his stripes, I am healed now. I’m not the sick trying to get healed, I’m the healed and the Devil’s trying to give me the flu!” he exclaimed. “Or, whatever else kind of thing he’s trying,” he added.
Copeland then laughed a little before concluding his prayer saying, “Healed and well in the sweet name of Jesus. Amen. Hallelujah!”
Kenneth Copeland healed viewers of the coronavirus through their televisions last night. pic.twitter.com/8lwHufTIy4
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) March 12, 2020
On the website of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries, there is an article answering the question “Is homosexuality wrong?”
The answer has given the people the perception that Copeland is a homophobe. Although the answer says that an “individual who practices homosexual behavior or who struggles with homosexual tendencies is no less loved by God or by Kenneth Copeland Ministries than any other person”, it also says that having sexual relations with the same gender is “an unnatural affection that goes against God’s natural order in creation.”
Relationships should strictly be limited to a man and a woman, according to the answer.
“God created mankind male and female. His natural order was that each had an innate desire for the opposite sex. Sexual union between a man and a woman within the boundaries of the God-ordained marriage relationship is right and holy by God’s standards.”
But there is no need to worry, as gay people can change their sexuality and be forgiven if they choose to become religious.
“The good news is freedom from homosexuality, and every other manifestation of the fallen human nature, was paid for by the blood of Jesus! The path to freedom for the homosexual is the same path of freedom that is offered to everyone on earth, which is to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10) and thereby receive a brand-new nature on the inside.
“Once a person is born again he or she can freely receive God’s grace (supernatural empowerment) to overcome the sinful desires of the flesh and live in total victory (Hebrews 4:15-16). We can’t biblically define homosexuality as right behavior, but we can define love, mercy, and compassion as right responses to those involved.”
Copeland is one of the richest televangelists in the world, with a net worth of approximately $850 million.
Along with other televangelists, Copeland has been criticized for living a life of luxury, as reports initially suggested that he had 5 private airplanes, but that has been confirmed to only be three, which many found to be interesting.
Copeland bought his third jet back in January of 2018 from actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry for an undisclosed amount, and in an interview with Inside Edition‘s Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero in 2019, he defended his use of private jets.
Guerrero asked him why he said that flying commercial was “like getting into a long tube with a bunch of demons.”
Copeland said that it is not about the people, but “would have to stop 65% of what (he’s) doing” if he did fly commercial.
“It takes a lot of money to do what we do. We have brought over 122 million people to the Lord Jesus Christ,”
“It’s a biblical thing. It’s a spiritual thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with people. I love people. Jesus loves people. But people get pushed in alcohol. Do you think that’s a good place for a preacher to be and prepare to go preach to a lot of people when somebody in there is dragging some woman down an aisle by her hair? It made me so mad to see that on television. I wanted to punch the guy out myself. I can’t be doing that while I’m getting ready to preach,” he added.
Guerrero then asked again why he referred to people as ‘demons’, and Copeland angrily responded saying, “No, I do not, and don’t you ever say I did. We wrestle not with flesh and blood but principalities and powers,” before smiling.
Copeland was then asked how much he paid for the plane, to which he replied, “Well, for example, that’s really none of your business,”
He then said that “I’m a very wealthy man.”
Copeland and his wife, Gloria, live in a $6 million lakefront mansion owned by the church, and he owns at least five boats according to reports.
