The Christian Sentinel Report

April 19, 2000

Schambach Consigns Critics to Hell

Report By Jackie Alnor

ã 2000 Christian Sentinel

TBN regular, R. W. Schambach, blasted those in the church who would dare to question his wild stories during his appearance on April, 2000’s TBN Praise-A-Thon. Schambach is best known for being faith healer A. A. Allen’s side-kick until Allen's untimely alcoholism-related death. Like Allen, Schambach is notorious for exaggerating stories of healing that never seem to be caught on tape despite the fact that a camera crew follows him wherever he ministers.

Schambach told just such an amazing story during the Praise-A-Thon. He spoke of a lady who had had four fingers on one hand totally cut off after an accident. "I saw God put four fingers right back on her hand," Schambach boasted. "I don’t know how God does this. It’s a creative miracle! God’s got a miracle for you," he continued as he connected the 100-fold return promise to those who would call in a faith pledge.

It must have occurred to him that his story was not one to be believed without documentation because directly after telling about the four fingers miraculously appearing on the woman’s hand, Schambach added a rebuke to those who would question him.

"Joshua and Caleb came back with a good report and they wanted to kill them. It’s the same way today. You get somebody telling you that God’s gonna do something for you, they want to kill em, shut em up. Especially you heresy people. You supposed to be in the church. You ain’t in no church. You’re an instrument of the devil. You’re a tool in his hands, trying to keep God’s people from it. You ain’t going in yourself and you’re trying to stop someone else from going in (crowd cheers). And I tell you hell’s gonna be hot for every one of you! Come on and shout Amen with me, somebody! (Screams and shouts from audience.)"

The most disturbing thing about this scene is that as Schambach spoke, the on-screen telephone monitor that shows how many phones are busy and how many are available reflected the TV audience’s reaction. The phones were jammed with people calling in to pledge money so that they could receive their miracle and 100-fold return promised by Schambach.