I would have to agree with you, SA. Sid Roth's program, which has aired for over 15 years now, probably makes for good entertainment and a little inspiration, but I wouldn't go much further than that.
For those of you who have never heard of this show, it features all kinds of people who claim to have experienced miraculous healings and other personal encounters with God.
For instance, a recent show featured Cherie Calbom, known as "The Juice Lady," who is a clinical nutritionist at St. Luke Medical Center in Bellevue, Washington. On her website Calcom claims she discovered the miracles of juicing and cleansing programs at the age of 30 during her first health crisis. Diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, she was determined to find a cure for herself and went on a five-day juice fast of mostly vegetable juices. On the fifth day, she claims her body expelled a tumor the size of a golf ball that was "complete with veins." Unfortunately, she flushed it down the toilet so no one will ever know what exactly she passed on that day.
Calbom now sells books on the subject of juicing and (to her credit) has an extensive list of scientific studies posted on her website to back up her claims.
Another recent guest was John Benefiel, pastor of the Heartleand Apostolic Reformation Network. Best known for his 2011 prayer rally with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, he has made some incredible claims such as how homosexuality is an Illuminati plot to depopulate the earth and that watching pornography is a form of "Baal worship". Benefiel also claims that the Statue of Liberty is a "demonic idol" and that Washington DC is under the control of demonic powers.
But these guests are in keeping with Roth's personality and background, which is just as interesting.
On his website, Roth, who served as a former account executive for Merrill Lynch, says he was raised Jewish but didn't really practice his faith. At one point in his life, he actually left his wife and daughter and went "searching for happiness", ending up in Eastern meditation and under the control of a New Age "spirit guide".
One day, a Christian businessman showed him that the Jewish bible condemned his occult practices and identified Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. He checked Scripture for himself and realized it was true.
"No sooner had that thought formed in my mind than the New Age spirit guide that I had surrendered to began to curse me from inside that same mind," he writes. "Previously, I thought I controlled this New Age spirit guide, but I now knew that was not true. I had a power, a strong power, and it was evil."
That night he went to sleep full of fear and wanting to die. In desperation, he prayed, "Jesus, help!" even though he still wasn't convinced that Jesus was real.
He claims to have woken up the next morning feeling like the evil that was inside him was gone and even his fear went away. "I knew it was that prayer I had prayed the night before! In place of fear and desperation, I had a tangible peace and feeling of love that I had never experienced before. And I knew that Jesus was real," Roth writes.
Roth eventually put his life back together, reunited with his wife and daughter, and has devoted the last four decades of his life to telling the Jewish people about Jesus, with his television show being just one of the ways he goes about doing this.
I'm sure Roth is well-intentioned and he provides people with inspirational (and sometimes zany) stories meant to build up their faith in Jesus Christ. They might not be verifiable, but that doesn't always matter to souls who are hungry for Christ and who are edified by the witness of people who believe they have experienced a miracle.
Send your New Age questions to newage@womenofgrace.com
