Photo by David Hinshaw
Inspiration Network CEO David Cerullo is building one of the most expensive homes in South Carolina on Lake Keowee.
SALEM, SC — SALEM -- The president of the televangelism empire that rose from the ruins of the former PTL network is building a $2 million lakefront home in Oconee County even as critics say the ministry exhibits outward signs of financial trouble.
David Cerullo, president and CEO of the Inspiration Network, and his wife, Barbara, are building an approximately 12,000-square-foot home, including 2,000 square feet of enclosed porch, at 138 Blue Water Trail in Keowee Falls South, near Salem.
The building permit was issued Dec. 1, 2008, for the home on the one-acre lot. Records indicate the Cerullos bought the land for $950,000 in 2006.
The revelation of the Lake Keowee home comes as critics of Inspiration Network point to job cuts, wage freezes and a halt to matching employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts as evidence of rocky finances. These cutbacks began in late 2008, according to former employees.
The critics have been most vocal in pointing out that the Cerullos have shown no sign of cutting back on their own lifestyle at the same time the network has generated hardship for others.
The Cerullos currently live in a reported 12,000-square-foot, $1.7 million home in Charlotte. David Cerullo draws a reported $1.5 million salary as president and CEO of the Inspiration Network and both his wife and children are also reported to be on the network’s payroll.
The network is also drawing increased scrutiny for its ministry and its messages regarding money.
The 24-hour-a-day network preaches what is described as prosperity gospel to an estimated 54 million U.S. households via cable and satellite. According to one report, the ministry promises that if viewers choose to obey the Holy Spirit, and donate to the network, they’ll soon drive a Mercedes, be debt free or even find gold on their land. In 2007, the networks reported revenue was about $70 million.
One critic, Warren Smith of Wall Watchers, a Christian ministry watchdog group based in Matthews, N.C., calls the network another example of televangelist gunslingers.
”I think there are some donors who are very vulnerable to that message,” Smith said recently. “Especially in tough economic times, you’ll find that there are a couple of growth industries. One is the lottery and the other is prosperity preachers.”
The message of the Inspiration Network, Smith said, treats Jesus or God as a ‘cosmic bellhop.’
The Inspiration Network came into being in 1990 when Morris Cerullo, father of David Cerullo, purchased the assets of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakkers’ PTL televangelism empire headquartered in Fort Mill, S.C., just south of Charlotte.
Most recently, the network lost a battle with the South Carolina Department of Revenue to be exempted from property taxes on a 93-acre ministry and network headquarters, the City of Light, built near Indian Land, in Lancaster County.
The headquarters was built there after state officials offered incentives reported at about $26 million to lure the ministry from its Charlotte headquarters. The package included nearly $1.2 million for road, water and sewer infrastructure for the site.
In June, however, state officials denied the network tax-exempt status after discovering the network was brining in annual profits of about $40 million.
As a result, Lancaster County stands to gain nearly $800,000 in property taxes.
Messages left for David Cerullo with his staff Monday requesting comments did not bring any responses to the Independent Mail.
To date, Cerullo has issued no response to critics’ comments regarding the Inspiration Network or his construction of his new home on Lake Keowee.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments » 33
Bubba writes:
If this minister of the gospel has bilked people out of their money, then he deserves the same fate as Madoff received in court today. From what the article said, Cerullo is living a life that is far removed from what the Bible says he should live and his sins, if any, will surely be exposed.
newlooks#207210 writes:
yea i could probaly see a point in building a home if it was far less costly and he sold his other to pay for that one. so i guess you could go figure on that one.he probaly wouldnt' sell the other hum?
sophievoter writes:
Bubba, If this minister bilked people out of their money, it is because they allowed him to. No one forced them to send him money. Maybe they thought they could buy a ticket to heaven.
Bubba, you usually spew such hatred especially for the previous Anderson County administration, I was just wondering what the Bible says about that!!!
When will those sins of yours be exposed??????
cleveland writes:
God is gracious. Cerullo is a living example of what there is to be gained by practicing what he preaches. At least that is what he'll say if he ever speaks on the subject.
Hortuscustodis writes:
This story is an example of how "big name Christians" always live, by feeding off of others. They feed off those that are gullible, the old, and those least able to "give" money away. These types use guilt, lies, distortion, and any other method to get money from those that are gullible or desperate. The likes of Cerullo and Baker are no different from Sanford, they claim one thing, hide behind the bible, their god, and their religion all the while doing exactly what they are condemning others for! Anyone that does not support them, vote for them, or send money are bound for the h-place (complements of the censor Nazis!)and they will tell you that you are!!! Well where ever their god send me has got to be better than where they are going! Assuming that their god exists!
colt writes:
A fool and his money are soon parted .Wise up people ,don't give these beggers another cent .
man_o_man writes:
God definitely exist! You can see him in all the miracles around us every day, but another spirit is also out there. It’s the spirit of evil, and no man is immune from this evil. Just because some profess Christianity doesn’t mean they have a true relationship with God. Christ came to save the world from evil, but unfortunately evil knows no boundaries. Please don’t look at the human failure and associate them with God’s love, grace, and mercy.
clemson_girl writes:
Just remember what happened to Jim and Tammy Baker. Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10,
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
bigruss126 writes:
"This here's the Rev. Billy Ray Collins from the Sword of Joshua Independent Full Gospel Pentecostal Assembly remindin' y'uns...its time to turn, so you don't burn!"
StupidShouldHurtMore writes:
"And I can't tell the difference between ABC news, Hill Street Blues and a preacher on the old time gospel hour stealing money from the sick and the old. Well the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister."
- Bono (U2)
Bullet The Blue Sky
from the Rattle & Hum Album
- SSHM
Hortuscustodis writes:
Please spare me the mythology!
I have heard my share and am tired of the lies and deceit!
I gave up believing that some fairy tale was going to come and save every human but forget the other species. As a wise man once said to me. What kind of god, gets mad at a man and a woman for eating an apple and condemns to the H-place(compliments of the sensor Nazis) every living creature for the actions of two individuals? Not one that I wish to worship or can justify worshiping. If your almighty god is so powerful does it allow such things to occur??
It is illogical and there is nothing to prove that such an entity exists.
If you are referring to the biodiversity of this biosphere as miracles you are wasting your time! I am an evolutionist and reject the notions of a Geocentric Earth, Flat Earth, and ID/creationism. They have all been proven invalid and rendered fairytales from the past!
As I stated earlier, those that perpetrate such hoaxes are nothing but liars, fear mongers, and cheats.
walwan writes:
In lieu of tithing this Sunday and contributing to all of the different funds set up at church, consider the American Red Cross, Soup Kitchen, Haven of Rest,Salvation Army, Anderson Free Clinic etc. You can see your hard earned money doing some good for those who really need help. Ministers are always talking about bringing tithes and offerings for the Lord. God does not need our money. Ministers want our money. The only offering that should be taken up at church, is the one to take care of utilities and other expenses as needed. No, a minister, pastor or whatever you want to call him should get paid. If God has given the word to him freely to minister to the people, he should give the word freely and not expect pay in return.
man_o_man writes:
That’s what’s so great about God; he gives His creation the choice. You choose not to believe, but for as for me and my house we choose to serve the Lord. God bless you.
man_o_man writes:
All I have and all that I will ever acquire comes from God’s grace in my life. I in turn give, with a grateful heart, to my local congregation who in turn support many if not all of the worthy organization you’ve listed. All of the problems in life come from the evil spirit in a fallen world. God gets the blame, but He is the answer not the problem. Humans in their own capacity will fail, but God is perfect and through him all things are possible.
walwan writes:
I commend your congregation, because usually the largest portion that is collected at church is usually spent on salaries, family life centers, parsonages, retirement packages,conventions, etc. Very little is normally given back.
huzzah writes:
The whole tithing thing has always bothered me. There is an awful lot of money taken up each week that goes to..... well, what does it go to, we never really know. Ok, man_o_man, as you say, SOME of it does go to SOME of the organizations which walwan listed, but by no means all of it.
Let's look at an example, in this case the Anderson Free Clinic. For the sake of argument (and to make the math a little easier) let's say I make $1000/week. If I properly tithe from that amount, I would give $100 to the church. The church takes that money, blesses it, pays part of the building fund, pays the utility bills, pays the pastor and staff, pays to have bulletins printed up for next Sunday, and various assorted other things. If we are optimistic (and I think this is EXTREMELY optimistic) there might now be $50 left of my original tithe.
Now the church decides to donate this money to United Way because they are a good umbrella charity who supplies many other organizations with funds. Unfortunately, the United Way also has overhead costs, they have to pay for buildings, staff, and marketing, we'll call it 40%, or another $20 from my original $100 tithe. Of the $30 that is left over they spread that among several different organizations, let's say ten worthy charities receive funds from my contribution, so $3 each.
Now the Free Clinic has a lot of volunteers that work there, but they do still have to have paid staff and there are still facility and utility costs, as well as insurance, maintenance, licenses, network access, and a myriad of other costs associated with just keeping the doors open. Because it is in the healthcare field, these costs can be quite staggering, they can easily account for 80% of every dollar contributed, so from the $3 the United Way gave them, they now have 60 cents remaining. With the original $100 I tithed, I have just bought 1 person a single tylenol, that is one heck of an expensive tylenol.
If, on the other hand, I had donated that same $100 directly to the Free Clinic, they would still have the 80% or so overhead cost, but would be left with $20, much more can be done with that than with 60 cents. It is my belief that the purpose of tithing is to take care of those who are less able to take care of themselves, not to accumulate wealth like the church has done. If everything were truly done according to God's word, the church would be in danger of being closed each and every month because so much of the money that comes into it is given to charity that they cannot pay their own bills.
But that's just my opinion.
man_o_man writes:
I thank God everyday that we live in a country where you can have your opinion and express it the way you have here. Even though we disagree on the subject of tithing we both can express our opinion in a civilized manner.
1catlover writes:
I'm sorry, but being the Pragmatic person I am I feel strongly that religion NEEDS to be taxed at the levels of our wealthiest taxpayers!
A prime example locally: Newspring Church. Where exactly did all those millions of dollars come from? Tithing. And where did all those millions go? Into some Hollywood-style laser-lighted theatre. Instead of pouring those millions into the local economy and helping the 10's of thousands of destitute and unemployed, as God dictates, they built some Taj Mahal ( despite the Bible saying false worship and all that stuff).
We've attempted to reach out to those in power at NS and because we aren't on the rosters, we were turned down flat! So much for Christian belief and moral attitudes.
Religion: food for the unenlightened.
Hortuscustodis writes:
Excellent points!!!
Too bad you will now get flamed and maybe even censored for telling the truth!!!
There have been many around town question the motives of the "Springers", as Perry refers to them. It is no secret that some ASD 5 district administrators attend as do some of the staff (former and current) of the AIM.
mgarre1 writes:
This says it all! WELL DONE. But somewhere the lemmings and the elderly will continue to be taken in by these types.
Bubba writes:
I know the local atheists are rejoicing at some of the comments posted. Didn't know Anderson had such a large community of that group. Perhaps we need more Christian churches in our area and get back to the street corner preaching again.
Hortuscustodis writes:
Go right ahead!
The more hate and fear mongering is shouted the more people will turn away from it and look to logic and reality!
Just because one is a nonbeliever does not mean that they are atheistic. The number of skeptics and nontraditional Christians in this area is growing because of your attitude and those like you that think that shoving your religion in their face will convince them to "change".
Do not try to tell me I am shoving my lack of beliefs upon you either! I am far less vocal than this paper is. Daily they are shoving Christianity onto the readers with their "Life style section"!
And forbid challenging the author in the comments section! If one posts contrary opinion to one of those articles the sensor Nazis move in and delete the posts.
Im4theSon writes:
Faith can not be proven with any tangible evidence, thats why its called faith (to believe in something without knowing the outcome). And Lord knows there are tons of "faiths" in this world (ie; you don't know if tomorrow is coming but you have faith that it will, no religion involved). Christianity's faith is a truly beautiful thing in that its about history and the future and believing that one man died for the sins of the world. And that man being Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. That's it, no more, no less. You believe, you're saved. There is nothing in this world that can change that. No preacher, no laws, no works, nothin, zilch, nada, zippo, zero! The problem lies in misunderstanding Scripture and nobody taking the time to really read and figure it out. The Bible wasn't written just for the Church, it was written for everyone, for all are invited, but not all will RSVP. It's an historical, present, and future account of a portion of this worlds existence. I find that most non-believers don't believe becasue of the way the Gospel was presented to them or rather how they get treated when joining a local "church" or it's the infamous "hypocritical" Christian that turns people away. The problem, once again, is that most people don't take the time to read Scripture (on their own) and do the research and studying it takes to understand it all. For instance, main stream Christians still think the Sabbath is a day, well, it's not, not at least to the Church, our Sabbath is to be found in Jesus himself and not a day. The Church is something very personal with Jesus and understanding His Grace is something not a lot of Christians fully understand. Is one supposedly crooked "Christian" guy building a $2 million house any different than a sincere "Christian" guy watching a little bit of a "sinful" TV show, in the privacy of his own home? Not in the eyes of God, there's no difference. The difference is in repentance and acknowledging the "sin" in us and "repenting" (which means to change your mind. It doesn't mean that we won't stop sinning becasue the flesh is incapable of not sinning). Change your mind to faithfully, hopefully, and lovingly stop sinning. So relax, wait, watch, and pray a little!
If you were to put 10 people in a room and they said nothing, could you tell who are Christians and who are not. I don't think so. Christianity is all about the inside of a person, not the outside.
And this ain't preachin'...the Truth don't require preachin' if it's told......truthfully!
Bubba writes:
Wouldn't it be terrible to live in this day and age without FAITH?
Hortuscustodis writes:
No, quite the opposite!
It is a far more peaceful and quit life when the rhetoric and hate is not heard multiple times a week at the local mythology meeting.
Bubba writes:
If that is how you feel Hortus then why do you go to the meetings? Are you being forced to attend church?
BubbaSC@charter.net
Hortuscustodis writes:
I will reiterate what I posted before, this time in simpler terms.
Since I STOPPED going to the meetings life is quieter and far more peaceful. I no longer hear the hate for science, humans, and humanity spewed!!!
yankee writes:
I know tomorrow will come, no faith involved.
That is the truth.
Hortuscustodis writes:
Yankee, one must understand that many of those living around here operate on mythology and rely upon the likes of Sanford, Rush, their preacher, and the spirit world. They do not know what facts, science, reason and logic are! If it is not in their "handbook"(AKA the bible) then it does not exist, did not happen, and/or is impossible!!
At times I wonder how they manage to use a computer!!
Im4theSon writes:
awww, Hortuscustodis...just when I thought you had some sense, you go and say stuff that you've most likely learned from bad experiences, trusting "man", and just flat out believing what you want to believe, and there ain't nothing wrong with that, we all do it. But your stance and/or beliefs does beg a couple of questions, like, how much time, (on your own) have you put into researching and studying the Bible to deny it's claim? And how can you explain of the 3000 +/- prophecies found in the Bible, 2500 +/- of them already having been fulfilled, historically, documented, and researched by both believers and non-believers (it is a fact that non-believers find evidence of Bible stuff and still won't believe). These are just a couple but I'd be interested in seeing your answers. In end though, you believe what you will and I'll believe what I will. Just like a good debater.
And as for Yankee, if you could guarantee that tomorrow will come for everyone in this world (without dying or by the day), you should be making the big bucks! Taking something for granted is not the same as real truth, even you would have to agree with that. I would hope anyways. And if you're married, you will understand what that means.
And here's one for y'all, if you decide to take the challenge. With the nation of Israel being just a tiny spot on the world map, and throughout the worlds history, there has always been somebody wanting to and capable of wiping them off the map and even more so evident in todays times. And we're talking huge and large nations with multiple armies and weapons, etc.. Why is it that no one has ever been able to literally wipe them off the map? Other civilizations have come and gone, and yet not the nation of Israel. Hmmmmm, I wonder why? If you really are sincere in doing the research, I think you'll be amazed.
And as a favor, please don't put all "Christians" in the same bread basket, not all of us subscribe to the "worldly" view of Christianity.
And yes that was a spirit world comment!
Im4theSon writes:
oh yeah, the use of computers is easy....they were created by God! hahahahaha!
Hortuscustodis writes:
I will make this short. One, I spent years reading the bible and I have done enough research to know that their is not enough proof to make it the "only religion, religious book, etc..
The last comment you made, makes it clear that any attempt at debate with you if not only futile but unworthy the time.
yankee writes:
"And as for Yankee, if you could guarantee that tomorrow will come for everyone in this world (without dying or by the day), you should be making the big bucks! Taking something for granted is not the same as real truth, even you would have to agree with that. I would hope anyways. And if you're married, you will understand what that means."
Uh, OK, so knowing that tomorrow will come, maybe not for you, maybe not for me, but as surely as the earth turns and the sun shines, tomorrow will arrive, is the same as taking it for granted? It's been happening for millions upon millions of years.
Why would my death, or yours for that matter, stop that?
Truth and Faith are two different things and, more times than not, diametrically opposed.
As for Israel, well, as a Soveriegn Nation, it has been wiped off the map. Do you read any history books?
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