The Power of Pre-conditioning

Matthew 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

I’m posting a video of Benny Hinn to show you what mass hypnosis and the pre-conditioning of false doctrine can achieve. 

When people attend Hinn crusades there are two different things they expect:

1. To come under the influence of whatever power Hinn claims to have whenever he touches, blows, or waves his hand at them, and
2. To be knocked down.

What we call that is pre-conditioning.  It’s present even before the people walk through the door.  The power of suggestion can be so strong, that it can even cause an entire section of the audience to fall on command.  For devoted followers who believe Hinn possesses the power of God, Hinn only needs to utilize a pre-established trigger to encourage them to act.

A good example of this is at the beginning of the video.  Hinn is praying for the pastor’s son to receive a “double portion.”  As Hinn is commanding that the boy receive this double portion, he is waving his left arm up and down saying, “A double portion!  A double portion!”  Now, notice this.  When it is the young man’s time to ACT upon what Hinn is triggering him to do, Hinn leans back, switches the microphone to his left hand, and with his right arm, he leans back and slings it TOWARDS the boy while yelling louder and with more emphasis than at other times….”A DOUBLE PORTION!”  Guess what?  The young man falls down on cue. 

People have watched Hinn slay his followers for years using this method.  They’ve seen him wave his coat enough times that they know when he does, it’s time to hit the floor.  There only needs to be a signal from Hinn, and once given, he can rely upon his loyal followers to act upon it.  

Here’s another case in point – in the video below, Hinn prepares the audience by asking, “Are you ready?  I said, ‘Are you ready?’  I said, ‘Are you ready?’”  By saying this, Hinn is preparing them to act.  He even begins to count, “One!  Two!  Three!”  And then when he says, “Three!”  A whole section of the audience falls down.  One might think this takes talent, but there’s not really much talent involved.  What you’re seeing is the ability of a false teacher to blind his followers to the point that he can get them to fall down at will.  See the horrible power of deception?

Hinn later walks to the audience and signals them by saying, ”Let the power of Almighty God rest on these people!”  As he begins to touch them, they begin to fall one by one.  Then Hinn touches one man who has the type of reaction faith healers love – he begins to flop like a fish and then hit the floor.  Here’s an old trick of charismatic charlatans, the bigger the reaction, the bigger the show.  Notice what Hinn does… he tells his handlers to pick him up.  This is the type of follower Hinn can get a show out of.  He tells his handlers to pick up the man, and he commands his music leaders to pick up the key (the music).  He’s preparing for what he’s about to do next… ratcheting up the suspense and impregnating the atmosphere.  He says he doesn’t know who this man is (don’t forget that point), and then is told he is one of the church’s minister.  Then, he lashes his arm towards the gentleman and yells, “Glory of God brought [couldn't completely understand this word] on this man!”  When he lashes his arm towards him, in characteristic fashion, the man jumps backward, hits the floor, and even does a back flip.  Now, he didn’t do this because Hinn has the power of the Holy Spirit, but because Hinn has the deceptive power of suggestion.

He then moves on to the pastor’s son, who I mentioned above at the beginning of this post.  This is how it all began with him…while still in the audience Hinn lashes his arm at him and the boy falls down.  He does it again, and the boy falls down again.  One thing that struck me about this young man, however, is the look on his face.  He doesn’t look like he is being blessed, he looks like he is in agonizing pain.  Then Hinn has him brought up on stage where the young man falls … on cue.  He then goes after the pastor’s younger son, who is too immature to do anything other than what he has be taught to do by his parents and by Hinn.  He touches him, and he falls.  Then, sadly, he takes him up on the platform to make a spectical out of him as well. 

Watch the rest of the video and see if you can spot the triggers and reactions.  After a while you’ll become a pro at it.