TBN UK

[AllThingsWorkForGood]

I'd like to start a discussion about TBN UK, partly to highlight it's existence to UK people, but also to find out what those who know about it really think.

If you are in the UK you may or may not know that we now have a 24 hour, free of charge, Christian TV channel called TBN UK. Its available on freeview and also Sky.

It's only been going since 2015 and I think it's amazing. But I am constantly bewildered by the amount of Churches and Christians that seem totally oblivious to its existence.

It's an absolute lifeline for some people who can't get to church. But also some of the programmes are absolutely brilliant for helping you in your Christian walk. They show, generally, really authentic and fascinating preachers and teachers like Ravi Zechariah, Michael Youssef, Joyce Meyer, David Jeremiah and more.

These people to me are a delight to listen to and I have had far more edification and spiritual help from listening to these preachers on this channel than I have going to any of the churches I've ever been to in the UK, which is a sad indictment of UK churches in general.

However, the speakers I like and respect the most for their solid teaching and authenticity are all Americans (or American residents). I notice that the programmes the channel makes from the UK churches like HTB church and Freedom church are all really twee and I just don't get the same sense of authenticity and true Christian calling from these UK programmes. I actually get nothing from them at all if I'm honest.

I find the UK programmes that TBN UK shows to be somewhat dreary and not representative of how I understand Christ. To me, the UK programmes reflect the middle-class, liberal domination of UK churches that serves to stifle authentic Christianity.

Thoughts?

 

[Jamsie]

I'd like to start a discussion about TBN UK, partly to highlight it's existence to UK people, but also to find out what those who know about it really think.

If you are in the UK you may or may not know that we now have a 24 hour, free of charge, Christian TV channel called TBN UK. Its available on freeview and also Sky.

It's only been going since 2015 and I think it's amazing. But I am constantly bewildered by the amount of Churches and Christians that seem totally oblivious to its existence.

It's an absolute lifeline for some people who can't get to church. But also some of the programmes are absolutely brilliant for helping you in your Christian walk. They show, generally, really authentic and fascinating preachers and teachers like Ravi Zechariah, Michael Youssef, Joyce Meyer, David Jeremiah and more.

These people to me are a delight to listen to and I have had far more edification and spiritual help from listening to these preachers on this channel than I have going to any of the churches I've ever been to in the UK, which is a sad indictment of UK churches in general.

However, the speakers I like and respect the most for their solid teaching and authenticity are all Americans (or American residents). I notice that the programmes the channel makes from the UK churches like HTB church and Freedom church are all really twee and I just don't get the same sense of authenticity and true Christian calling from these UK programmes. I actually get nothing from them at all if I'm honest.

I find the UK programmes that TBN UK shows to be somewhat dreary and not representative of how I understand Christ. To me, the UK programmes reflect the middle-class, liberal domination of UK churches that serves to stifle authentic Christianity.

Thoughts?

I'm in the US and though I have TBN I seldom watch...too many programs/speakers that are antithetical to my Christian worldview. I do watch programs on NRB - Socrates in the City, Craig, Zacharias, etc. not at all interested in the "teaching" of many on TBN.

 

[AllThingsWorkForGood]

Hi Jamsie

Are you referring to prosperity teachers? If so, from what I know, the people heading up TBN UK are not into full-blown prosperity, which is also completely against my view. I've been watching it for about 2 years and there is very little, if any, blatant prosperity teaching. They've tried to do a new thing with TBN UK but I think the past links with the prosperity movement have put many off tuning in.

When it first started a few years ago, there were some programmes that I couldn't watch, like Kenneth Copeland, which made my skin crawl. But thankfully they've gradually phased those out. Although I think they still show Jesse Duplantis which also creeps me out. But all in all there is very little false doctrine and I respect them for that.

 

[Jamsie]

Hi Jamsie

Are you referring to prosperity teachers? If so, from what I know, the people heading up TBN UK are not into full-blown prosperity, which is also completely against my view. I've been watching it for about 2 years and there is very little, if any, blatant prosperity teaching. They've tried to do a new thing with TBN UK but I think the past links with the prosperity movement have put many off tuning in.

When it first started a few years ago, there were some programmes that I couldn't watch, like Kenneth Copeland, which made my skin crawl. But thankfully they've gradually phased those out. Although I think they still show Jesse Duplantis which also creeps me out. But all in all there is very little false doctrine and I respect them for that.

Yes, it must be different in the UK...still in the US there is dollar, hinn, prince, meyer, Copeland, etc. and the lukewarm osteen so I gave up wading through...and NRB had more programs I could relate to. Typically I prefer reading but I have recorded several series and continue to do so. Perhaps they are making changes...it was quite frustrating years back when neighbors would watch some of the "give me your money" televangelists just as if it were a comedy show. Fortunately our conversations led to them seeing Christianity in a different light...

 

[AllThingsWorkForGood]

It is different in the UK because we have never had a free-of-charge Christian TV channel that's technically available to anyone with a TV before. It's also very high quality and they make a lot of their own programmes. It's actually a complete miracle we have this channel and it's an amazing evangelistic resource. Shame more of our churches do not support it, but then I guess most people don't understand what they are doing for the Kingdom and just think it's another money making machine.

And I definitely would not call Joyce Meyer, and even Joseph Prince, prosperity teachers. I actually did use to believe that Meyer was a fake, but since I have watched her programmes and read her books I've realised she is nothing of the sort and I believed that out of total ignorance and cultural indoctrination. But now I see she is absolutely authentic and real and I love her preaching. I was brainwashed by all the liberal diatribe of this country. I couldn't have been more wrong. Her testimony is one of the most powerful in Christendom and she has established many fantastic ministries to help impoverished young girls get educated and a whole lot more, both she and her husband.

Joseph Prince I would say has an amazing gift of being able to basically say the same thing over and over again but just in a different form. A bit like Osteen. But again I wouldn't say they are blatant money grabbers. Certainly not like the Copelands and Hinns who are just awful and must be actually dead inside. I think Osteen and Prince are authentic Grace preachers, with probably a bit too much emphasis on 'Grace'. But is their teaching biblically based? I would say yes. Although Prince verges a bit too close to the wrong side of the 'is Grace a licence to sin' argument. But he is fantastic at teaching from the Old Testament and about OT language and customs which is fascinating. Osteen is just really funny and encouraging and I absolutely love him.

I know what people say about them but I don't think they're wrong or evil in any way, unlike the blatant money grabbers who are a different breed and who would gladly exchange the Holy Spirit for money anyday, which is despicable.

Anyway, my original point was that we just don't have ANY preacher in the entire UK who can compare to the amazing folks in America. Our country is a spiritual wreck, being slowly suffocated and corrupted by political correctness. We literally have nobody with the stature of a Meyer, Hagee or Jeremiah. Not even close.

So in that context TBN UK really is a miracle (and no - I don't work for them).

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Yeah it's pretty good; I mainly watch it in the morning with a drink.
It's pretty impressive really as the content is rich and current.

I agree that the UK episodes aren't as positive and bubbly as the American ones.