10/20/2011 8:10 AM
I was saddened to read the article below. I saw his show live in Toronto about 30 years back. I was trying to think back to all the various concerts I went to back then but I would say his show was right up there with Earnest Ansley. A very inventive light show. It's all a bit of a haze after all these years but it was either Earnest or Jim had this great male singing group of about 5 guys in suits turned sideways to the fans. They all looked pretty much like Quagmire from family guy. Whittington must have provided one heck of a dental plan cause these guy all had million dollar smiles The music started off with the sound of an old steam engine ramping up and their arms in unison started mimicking the wheel drive rods on the locomotive. It built up to a frenzied pace with them moving across the stage "chugga chugga chugging for the Lord" We were all mesmerized. The audience went wild as they slowed entering the station of heaven.
That being said, Earnest by far had the best audience interaction with crippled people being wheel on stage and with one stiff blow to the head, Earnst had them dancing around the stage and tossing their wheel chairs aside. Some of the people just went to the ground, but Earnst had people assigned to lay blankets over the ladies exposed legs so that nobody was tempted to sneak a peak.
It was a wild time in my youth and I don't think my friends or I ever knowing missed a concert
Preacher ordered to repay $848,532
Greenville -- A federal judge ordered a former Greenville preacher convicted of stealing from a Florida widow to start monthly payments after years of dodging repayment, according to federal prosecutors.
The Rev. Jim Whittington, 64, now based in the Atlanta area and affiliated with World Deliverance Crusade, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard to start paying $5,500 a month towards the $848,532 that he owed. Whittington and four others were convicted in 1992 of stealing from a wheelchair-bound Florida widow.
Whittington was the face of Fountain of Life ministry and raised money through a television show as well as direct-mail fund-raising before his conviction. A flamboyant preacher, he surrounded himself with luxury items such as high-speed boats and a Rolls-Royce.
Howard signed the order Oct. 13 after federal prosecutors accused Whittington of continuing to live a lavish lifestyle after his 1995 release from prison.
In the 10 years since his release, Whittington has repaid less than 2 percent of the $866,032 he was ordered to pay to the estate of Valeria Lust, the Florida widow who has since died.
Whittington said he was a target then and now of federal prosecutors. He does not take a salary from World Deliverance Crusade but instead dedicates his time to preaching in the Caribbean, he said.
He also denied the original theft and said he was convicted at a time when many televangelists were under public scrutiny.
"I still didn't take that woman's money," Whittington said in a telephone interview. "She gave it to the ministry."
Federal prosecutors, however, accuse Whittington of using World Deliverance Crusade to funnel money that he used for his living expenses while avoiding repayment of the stolen money.
"It is extremely disappointing that he has chosen not to pay this restitution when he's spent so much money on himself," said Norman Acker with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Several cars, furniture, jewelry and a country club membership were paid for by World Deliverance Crusade, according to information presented by prosecutors.