Kerney Thomas
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Kerney Thomas Jr. (born January 19, 1956) is an American televangelist who has been in the Christian ministry since 1975. According to his ministry's website, Thomas was born while his mother was on birth control, and therefore God had a "greater purpose." He has founded four churches, two of which are located in Lafayette, Louisiana and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With Pastor Ronnie Trice, he has been on mission trips to the West Indies and Haiti. As of May 23, 2005, he headed his ministry out of Baytown, Texas.
Kerney claims to be a member of the Church of God in Christ and serves as the first administrative assistant under the leadership of Bobby R. Henderson. The COGIC as it is called is the largest African American pentecostal group in America. He has been married to Debra L. Thomas, who often appears on air with him, for 27 years and has two children, Kerney Thomas III and Krystle. His children have various positions in the ministry and his wife is also an independent senior sales director with Mary Kay. He also has had a fellow pastor by the name of Travis "Action" Jackson (who now has his own ministry on TVOne) help with the show.
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[edit] Controversy
Kerney Thomas is most famous for his early morning appearances on Black Entertainment Television (BET). He makes regular appearances on the Word Network with other televangelists such as Peter Popoff and Robert Tilton. Thomas also hosts a radio show that airs weekdays on Houston's KWWJ 1360AM. He leads a very controversial broadcast in Christian circles, as most of his teachings are considered false. For example, Thomas advocates the use of a "prayer handkerchief" and "olive oil soap" as a guaranteed way to make a miracle manifest in someone's life. In fact, he claims that bathing in the "olive oil soap" can cure people of AIDS, cancer, and common aches and pains. Other "miracles" he claims have occurred through his ministry are the delivery of unexpected payments that appear for no reason and the resolve of marital troubles. [1]. For example, one woman at a Thomas' crusade claimed that she desperately needed a job and a separation from her abusive husband. After calling Thomas, she claimed that 25 minutes later she received a job offer from a security company that she had not even applied at. Some time later, she received news that her husband had been unexpectedly "shipped back to Egypt," and he could not return to the United States for 10 years. A video of a miracle crusade can be seen here [2].
He also causes controversy by proclaiming himself to be a prophet of God and encouraging viewers of his broadcasts to send him money in exchange for miracles from God. He claims that the more money is sent to his ministry, the greater than person will be blessed. In fact, he encourages viewers to come to him first before their church pastor because "In the Old Testament they (Israelites) didn't go to the pastor; they came to the prophet." He often quotes the Bible scripture Acts 19:11-12, which talks of the special miracles God allowed Paul to perform through the use of aprons and handkerchiefs. This scripture is used as the basis of his distribution of "Bible Red Blood of Jesus" prayer handkerchiefs. Thomas also uses airtime to ask for donations to his ministry for crusades to Africa and many other places within the United States. Thomas also airs taped footage of himself claiming to heal people at crusades. He has been accused frequently of trying to take advantage of those who live in poverty and giving people false hopes.
He makes use of an extensive home mailing system in which he sends generic form letters to those who have called in to his automated phone system. Callers leave their name and mailing address and are sent a red prayer handkerchief. After 24 hours, callers are told to send the handkerchief back to Kerney Thomas with their name and phone number written on it, so it becomes a "point of contact."
Like many other Pentecostals, Thomas is a regular practitioner of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues. He often does this on his television program and screams and shouts in a high-pitched voice when answering calls ("...and I command that foul spirit to die; NOOOOOOOOW!"; "I know you've been suffering, but GOOOOOOOOOD!...is gonna heal ya!") from his "Miracle Prayer Line", where he invites people who are having medical, financial and family problems to call in. The whole course of events on the show is similar to an exorcism as he appears to heal people over the phone. Although Thomas has his skeptics, there are many callers who claim they have been healed through his work.
[edit] Prayer Handkerchief
Kerney Thomas can be seen holding and talking about the "Bible Red Blood of Jesus" prayer handkerchief on his television show. The following images are of both the handkerchief and the letters that accompanied it.
Letters Received
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 Insert included with mailing |
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 Page Two of the first letter |
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 Page Four of the first letter |
 Page One of the second letter |
 Page Two of the second letter |
 Page One of the third letter |
 Page Two of the third letter |
 Page Three of the third letter |
 Page Four of the third letter |
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