Tim Tebow Cancels Talk With Rod Parsley, Ohio Prosperity Pastor

-- Tim Tebow has canceled an appearance at a revival organized by a controversial Ohio preacher, a spokesman for the star athlete said Wednesday.

The Denver Broncos quarterback and dedicated Christian had been scheduled to speak at a three-day Columbus event in March led by televangelist Rod Parsley.

Tebow's brother Robbie said in a phone interview that he was canceling the talk. Robbie Tebow said his brother's speakers' bureau hadn't researched the event before saying yes to the invitation.

"I know for a fact that Tim is not going to be a part of it," Robbie Tebow said. "That's being resolved."

Parsley teaches that God wants the faithful to be rich. Last year, he asked followers to donate more than $1 million to ward off satanic attacks. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican Sen. John McCain disowned an endorsement from Parsley after learning the pastor called Islam an "anti-Christ" religion.

Parsley's gathering is called "Contending for the Faith Weekend." Texas televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who also preaches the prosperity gospel, is another featured speaker, according to the event website.

Mark Youngkin, a spokesman for Parsley, said the quarterback has a contract with the event organizers, who have asked Tebow to reconsider. Youngkin said national advertising for the event had just been approved Tuesday.

"The ball's in their court at this point," Youngkin said.

Comments

[Summer77]

03:22 PM on 02/05/2012

These Preachers and so call Christians need to know the $$$$ does not = Heaven or a special place in there off!

[alterego55]

11:41 AM on 02/05/2012

Tebow just got $250K for his post season play. He doesn't need the prosperity pastor any longer. He will become a prosperity pastor when his football career ends.

[DevonTexas]

06:51 PM on 02/04/2012

" Last year, he asked followers to donate more than $1 million to ward off satanic attacks."

Hell Yeah! LOL Send your money my way, too! I will fight Satan hand-to-hand! LOL

[Retrofuturistic]

04:50 PM on 02/04/2012

If you want to learn more about Parsley, check out a book by Chris Hedges called =American Fa_s_ c_ists: The Christian Right and the War on America=.

[Retrofuturistic]

04:50 PM on 02/04/2012

Rod Parsley has made a lot of money in Ohio, financially exploiting the poor, the uneducated, and the emotionally needy. He seems like someone who would be a soulmate of Tebow. They could "Tebow" together (and then pass the collection plate).

[DevonTexas]

06:53 PM on 02/04/2012

I'm encouraged that Tebow has enough self-respect to back out of this one. Good for him... for now anyway.

[dbrett480]

01:17 PM on 02/04/2012

I thought the main benefit of the Broncos loosing would be that Tebow would be out of the news.

[Ruth1966]

04:45 PM on 02/04/2012

No, the press knows the haters will always click on a Tebow article
which makes advertisers very happy.
get used to your chain being jerked

[mad lib]

05:44 PM on 02/04/2012

And by haters, you mean those of us who are entertained by the thought that with all the mayhem, death and despair in this world, this jock thinks his God helps him get touchdowns.

[HeevenSteven]

12:13 PM on 02/04/2012

Send me a million dollars and I promise to fight satan..

[mad lib]

05:44 PM on 02/04/2012

Tim's check is in the mail!

[gwilkes2]

06:44 PM on 02/04/2012

LOL........

[ChgoSatrap]

07:32 PM on 02/03/2012

How can a rich guy be against the prosperity gospel?

[IndieAnnaJones]

11:56 PM on 02/03/2012

Riches do not = prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel explicitly teaches God wants you to be rich because it is a disgrace to Him to be otherwise. The real Biblical message of putting the flesh to death, being made a new creature in the LORD, and being set free to live a life of spiritual Holiness is all reduced to a notion of earthly riches and fleshly comfort. Nothing else. According to the Scripture (ie. the life of Abraham and Isaac), a person can be both Holy and wealthy, but the prosperity doctrine has dropped the 'Holy" part in favor of the hedonistic aspects of wealth.

Apparently Tebow, though he makes good money, doesn't buy into that because it is a terrible distortion of what the Bible actually teaches. That reveals some good discernment on his part. Good choice Tim.

[Ruth1966]

04:40 PM on 02/04/2012

F/F good post. You summed it up nicely!

[DevonTexas]

06:57 PM on 02/04/2012

New Testament.... "it is more difficult for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle than to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." That alone should halt these prosperity jocks. If God provides, He provides enough not a lot... just enough.

[Dennis Kendrick]

05:38 PM on 02/03/2012

I'm so glad that Tebow will not be attending that event.God bless you Tim.

[Ruth1966]

04:43 PM on 02/04/2012

agreed; F/F

[Cat-Lover]

04:25 PM on 02/03/2012

I'm not a Christian, but it's obvious neither is Parsley nor Youngkin with their looney interpretation of the Bible.

[mrkurtzhedead]

04:28 PM on 02/03/2012

Search "No true Scotsman fallacy"

They worship Jesus and believe he is the son of God. Ergo, they are Christians.

[Cat-Lover]

08:42 PM on 02/03/2012

Worshiping Jesus for personal is a Cardinal Sin.

[Michael Alan Guilford]

04:46 PM on 02/10/2012

It isn't a "No true Scotsman fallacy" by any means, though I can see how someone who is either ignorant of the issue or who isn't a Christian may draw that conclusion. You say these people worship Jesus and believe He is the Son of God: how do you know they really believe? Because they say so? Did you know that the Bible teaches that not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21-23)? You see, just saying you believe doesn't make you a believer: you REALLY have to believe.

Okay, so maybe you just know in your heart you're really a Christian. Jeremiah 17:9 teaches that the heart is deceitful and desperately sick, who can understand it? Do you really want to trust a heart that is deceitful? We also see Scripture like Proverbs 30:12 and Proverbs 16:25 to consider also. If these things are considered, then just because someone says they believe, how do they know they really believe? If the heart is deceitful and people can seem pure in their own eyes but really are not washed from their filth, the how can they know they really do believe; that they are really Christians?

[Shelli Warren]

04:17 PM on 02/03/2012

Ah the prosperity gospel - religious capitalism.at its most honest.

[lletaa]

01:09 PM on 02/03/2012

Kenneth Copeland is a fraud. So is Parsley. Tim, good going, now please stop with the one way his way schtick, it gets old being told only followers of Jesus are allowed into heaven.

[Run33]

02:32 PM on 02/03/2012

But there IS only ONE way! Jesus Himself said so - 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

Copeland and Parsley are frauds for sure - and you can claim it gets 'old' all you want about the exclusivity of Christ - but Jesus was VERY clear about the consequences of rejecting the truth. You can't have it both ways - either He was a liar or lunatic, or in fact God the Son who died for your sins and rose again. History AND the Bible PROVE the latter. Jesus Christ is our only hope!!!

[lletaa]

04:01 PM on 02/03/2012

Could he have been a peace loving hippy with common sense? Why do you capitalize VERY? Gods on my side not yours is what you're saying to everyone but if it makes you feel good I salute you.

[sansainte]

04:20 PM on 02/03/2012

If and only if you are a follower of Jesus Christ. What is the problem with you folks? You are free to believe that you have found the way to heaven, but please stop and think. God created all of us..not just you. Why then would all of us not have a chance? Remember too. Christ was a Jew, not a Christian. Maybe all of you holier than thou arrogant folks are in for a big surprise. Maybe Christ was saying follow the Hebrew faith. Wouldn't that just rot your socks? I am a Christian, but I do not believe that God discriminates. I firmly believe that God loves all of HIS children no matter how they pay respect to HIM and even if they have no religious beliefs at all.

[priceofliberty]

08:34 AM on 02/03/2012

Tebow went up a noch for me.

[mrkurtzhedead]

04:30 PM on 02/03/2012

Meh, he is still in bed with this guy: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/individuals/james-dobson

[TotalTranquility]

02:03 AM on 02/03/2012

Good for Tim!

Rod Parsley not a Christian, he is a detestable animal at best.

[mrkurtzhedead]

04:30 PM on 02/03/2012

No, he worships Jesus Christ. He is therefore a Christian.

[TotalTranquility]

06:12 PM on 02/03/2012

He has not been a follower of Jesus Christ for a long time, he may never have been one. Therefore he is not a true Christian, he just uses the word to get away with his detestable views and actions.

[Thumbody]

10:26 PM on 02/03/2012

Nope money is his God, you only have one where you place your priority or faith.

[123dee]

01:27 AM on 02/03/2012

One the best decisions he will ever make, Tim should
not let one of these hateful con artist get between him
and his God.

[mrkurtzhedead]

04:31 PM on 02/03/2012

But this hateful con artist is ok. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/individuals/james-dobson

[Len Hummel]

03:42 AM on 02/04/2012

Judgementally CONDEMN NOT, ... and you will not be condemned.

[Len Hummel]

04:44 AM on 02/04/2012

Fine. that makes us even: I don't recognize "the authority" of skeptical egotists either. end of "conversation".