[Rick4404]

http://him.morningstarministries.org/fullmap.htm#

This is a link to an interactive map which MorningStar Ministries has put up on the Web. It points out all of the facilities which MorningStar controls on the property.

[toddbarwick]

Pardon me, but I founded the Yahoo! group to which you refer and I can assure you that RAW FICTION has no place there. The purpose of the group is to discuss the redevelopment taking place on portions of the property with the new ministries that have located at the former Heritage USA.

In addition to this, we also reminisce from time to time about PTL, Heritage USA, Jim & Tammy and all things related to PTL. I do my very best to confirm all information before it is approved for posting to ensure that it is factual. I can assure you that for every message you see posted at the group, there are others that are NOT approved for posting simply because we cannot confirm the assertions made within.

At times we point members to various newspaper articles, internet reports, etc., but we do not make any claim regarding such articles. Our goal is to strike a fair balance in our posts without censoring members. We only deny postings if they are blatantly false - or contain language that is not acceptable in such a forum.

As for membership in the group, all who apply are approved for membership with the exception of those who have "Adult Profiles." We have received MANY applications for membership where the profile includes a picture with full and graphic nudity. This is simply unacceptable. We also deny and/or revoke membership if a group member insists on posting negative, mean-spirited or blatantly false comments on a repetitive basis. (We warn the member first, then if it persists they are removed).

Lastly I would like to state that I have no affiliation with any of the parties involved in the redevelopment of the former Heritage USA properties, nor do I have any affiliation with any of the past ministers or ministries located at Heritage USA. I simply had the pleasure of visiting Heritage USA on several occasions and loved the complex.

While I strive to present an impartial view, it is a difficult and fine line as I do NOT want to censor the comments of our group members. I'm not perfect, and occasionally things do slip through that in hindsight probably should not have been approved, but I do the best I can do.

I don't speak for my co-moderator Rick, but I'm certain that he would agree with me on most if not all of these points.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the assertion that this group is "RAW FICTION."

Blessings,

Todd Barwick
Yahoo! Heritage USA Group Founder
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeritageUSA
HeritageUSA@yahoogroups.com

Originally Posted by Lady Star

Yes by all means Heritage Lt, AKA/ "Former PTL'ER " after all that is where you find all the fiction articles as you well know already! so when you get to hankering for lots of RAW FICTION just hurry right over to Heritageusa yahoo group, I can in all sincerity verify you will be sure to find a good portion of raw fiction waiting there for you.
TRY IT YOU MIGHT LIKE IT.....I THINK YOU MOST CERTAINLY DO!!!

[Rick4404]

Todd, I agree and concur with everything you've said.

No, it's never our intention to censor anyone; but as you said, I would agree that our goal with the group is to strike a fair balance with our posts, yet not censor our members in any way.

I would also state that I have no affiliation whatsoever with any of the parties that are presently involved with the redevelopment of the properties that were once known as Heritage USA. I also have no affiliation whatsoever with any of the present or past ministers or ministries that are presently located, or have previously been located, on the former Heritage USA property. This includes but is not limited to Pastor Rick Joyner and MorningStar Ministries and Pastor Sabrina Coulston and Flames of Fire Ministries.

I did support Jim and Tammy Bakker as a "PTL Partner" for a number of years while Heritage USA was in operation, but I never got the opportunity to come down there for a visit. I would have loved to, but just never got the opportunity for one reason or another to do so.

God's blessings to all.

Rick Olson
Yahoo! Groups
Heritage USA Group Co-Moderator

Please visit us at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeritageUSA
HeritageUSA@yahoogroups.com

[HeritageLt]

Busy, busy week. Just read the headlines that John Edwards wife's cancer has returned. This is not good. Also remembering our dear Tammy Faye. I have no first hand news on her condition and the people I know that do have been asked to not comment by family so I guess that says it all. In your busy schedule please remember to say a prayer for these two ladies. Getting this news would be bad enought but having to live it out publicly would be really tough.

[lisalisa]

HI, i am a first time chatter. I just wanted to say, I have wonderful memories of the PTL. I'm only 24 so i got experience the latter part of it. Every summer a group of inner city youuth had the priviledge of seeing life and God outside of the ghetto. The place was more beautiful tha anything i had ever seen, even mow i cant compare anything to it. From the balconies, shops and who could forget the water park. it was a place that you knoew God lived. I was no more than 12 or 13 and it has been logged in my memory for life. I;ve been trying to find pictures of it, none of the links seem to work. i live in Winston Salem and am thinking about taking a trip over to just see what it looks like now. Id like feed back from Rick4404 your info seems to be accurate and all others that it meant something to.

[SM1961]

The old is gone ... the new has come
The former Heritage USA property again is thriving with more in the
works
By Rebecca Sulock · The Herald - Updated 03/18/07 - 11:19 PM


Morningstar Fellowship Church has renovated the former Main Street
area at Heritage USA in Fort Mill. It now has a bookstore and a
school, and an art gallery is planned.Two years ago, they came with
the keys and opened the door to the old Heritage Grand hotel.
It smelled rotten. Ceiling tiles had fallen. Debris littered the
floor.

In just a few months, 333 volunteers had cleaned and renovated the
hotel, said Trevor Tiessen, conference administrator for MorningStar
Fellowship. MorningStar Ministries bought 52 acres of the former
Heritage USA property from developer Earl Coulston, and has been
working since then to renovate and restore the salvageable buildings.

The group's hope is to bring new life to the land that once was home
to evangelist Jim Bakker's religious empire. The property built up by
Bakker between 1977 and 1987 included a theme park, television
studio, hotel and residences. Twenty years ago this month, Bakker
resigned amid sex and money scandals that eventually brought down the
ministry and park.

Now the hotel plays host to Christian conferences and gatherings. The
old Main Street USA is lined with a bookstore, an art gallery and
schools for students from kindergarten to college.

"The most exciting thing for me about the restoration has been to see
the joy so many people have had in this," said MorningStar founder
and director Rick Joyner. "Especially a large number of local
citizens who moved here to be a part of the former ministry and
suffered so much disappointment at what happened then, but now seem
so encouraged to see it coming alive again."

At an open house last month, Joyner played host to neighbors in the
Regent Park area to present plans and answer questions about building
projects, such as the proposal to turn the unfinished 21-story Towers
building into a retirement and hospice center.

Many former PTL partners came to that meeting and tour, sharing
memories of music in the conference center and meals in the cafeteria.

Joyner has said he's not looking to revive PTL, but also acknowledges
that PTL supporters convinced him to look into finishing the Towers
building, which had been slated for demolition.

"You wouldn't believe the scrutiny we're under just because we're on
that property," he told the York County Council.

MorningStar began as a Christian publishing company some 20 years
ago, and has grown into an international ministry. It holds Sunday
services in the lobby of the former Grand hotel. A sign outside
reads, "MorningStar Fellowship Church at Heritage International
Ministries."

MorningStar joins a handful of other ministries already operating on
the former Heritage property. Developer Coulston's wife operates the
Flames of Fire Ministry, Zadok House of Prayer is at the site and
anti-abortion groups such as The Cause are headquartered there.

MorningStar members talk of turning the former Heritage property's
stigma into a positive, of restoring the property to the body of
Christ. They'll do it without Bakker, who served five years in prison
and is now a minister in Branson, Mo.

Still, some neighbors have been publicly opposed to MorningStar's
plans, in particular the restoration of the Towers building, which
many consider an eyesore. MorningStar is currently working on
detailed plans for the structure, which the York County Council will
have to approve.

The specter of PTL is still very much present on the property.

"Shortly after Jim's prison sentence in the late '80s, many Christian
leaders began to prophesy that the property would not only 'die,' but
it would also be resurrected and used for ministry purposes once
again," says MorningStar's Web site. "Many hundreds of Christians,
including former PTL members, were praying for all those years for
the very same thing."

"This is the basic message of the Gospel, that regardless of how
badly we have messed up we can have another chance," Joyner said.

[Rick4404]

Here's a copy of an opinion article that I submitted to The Charlotte Observer for possible publication. Thought you would be interested in reading what I had to say.

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Olson
To: opinion@charlotteobserver.com
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 10:53 AM
Subject: PTL 20 years later

To the Editor:

The saga of Jim Bakker, the PTL ministries and Heritage USA. As I'm sure many of you know, this is one story that just won't go away.

What happened to Jim Bakker and his former wife Tammy Faye and the Christian empire that was known as PTL and Heritage USA continues to be discussed in many circles. Even today, twenty years after the scandal broke which brought the PTL ministry crashing down.

Jim Bakker has long since paid his debt to society. He and his new wife and their adopted children are doing well in Branson, Mo. They're working on a new Heritage USA-like facility down there in the Ozarks. The real difference between the old Jim and the new Jim is that he's become a very humble man. Gone are the thousand dollar Armani suits for example. He dresses in very plain clothing and he appears on the air as such.

I really don't know why people want to continue to sling mud over something that happened twenty years ago. I hate to say it, but I do think that we Christians can tend to be our own worst enemies. Oh, people say things that they truly believe in their hearts "need to be said," quote unquote, while in reality the things said are downright stupid, hurtful and mean. God never intended for us to act like a bunch of spoiled brats. But it happens all the time.

God has long since forgiven Jim and so must we. I also believe God has also forgiven everyone that was associated with Heritage USA/PTL.

Money, fame and power are bound to corrupt anyone and let's face it. Jim and Tammy are human beings. They just got caught up in the glamor of it all. They truly lost sight of reality and when to just say stop. We as Christians must let God be God! What's done is done. What is long since past, water under the bridge; really needs to be kept in the past. People who insist upon bringing up the past, the negative, really need to get on their faces before God and ask for forgiveness and truly repent.

Of course today, Tammy Faye is quite likely near death. All of the reports we have seen (although greatly filtered by her family) indicate she is in very dire straits.

We cannot do anything but to continue to pray for her. Until the day comes in which Tammy Faye draws her last breath and she goes home to be with Jesus in Heaven, there's still a chance for her complete healing and recovery from her battle with cancer. Perhaps the only way she will be completely healed won't happen until she arrives safely in God's loving arms.

God has given the mantle of leadership to Rick Joyner and MorningStar Ministries. Exciting things are happening. Many ministries are occupying areas of the property out there in Fort Mill, S.C. and many areas of what was Heritage USA are truly coming back to life.

Sincerely,

Rick Olson
Fargo, North Dakota

[Lady Star]

Re: The above post, Yes Rick if you see or call a sum total of 3 or 4 different Ministries on the FORMER HERITAGE USA/PTL property as being " MANY MINISTRIES " then one could TRUTHFULY say that there are " MANY MINISTRIES " otherwise I do believe that you surely must have MINISTRIES confused with over 1,000 new homes and dewelling places with the same continuing to be built at the moment.
Perhaps if you would get on the good side of one of the " MANY MINISTRIES " here they might just help you to come down to the place for a SEE FOR YOURSELF visit, that way you might know more about the true facts, it's here for anyone to come see for themselves, COME ONE, COME ALL!!

[Rick4404]

Not that I'm splitting hairs on this single point or anything; but I have always believed that the term "many" means more than two. I suppose I could have used the word "several." At our most recent recollection, there are ministries that are individually involved with the Heritage Grand Hotel (Morning Star), the Barn Auditorium (Flames of Fire), the Upper Room (Pastor Ron Lambright) the Kings' Amphitheater (I'm not sure which ministry is involved there) plus the former television studios and the former Total Learning Center (again not sure which ministries are involved with those).

I count six of the former Heritage USA attractions are being worked with by six different ministries. That certainly qualifies for a "many ministries" description in my books.

[Lady Star]

How about using the term of 3 or 4 different MINISTRIES that are NOW located on the property with hopes that others will be comning soon???

Would the HONEST TRUTH just hurt too much???

[Rick4404]

No, the honest truth would not just hurt too much. OK, for the sake of being absolutely and honestly truthful, I will edit my remarks to include what you said.

There are three or four different ministries currently located on the property. It is hoped that other ministries will be coming soon.

Otherwise, did my commentary pass the Lady Star litmus test in all other respects? Just curious.

I'm sorry that I don't measure up to Lady Star's rules.

[Lady Star]

Sorry young man, but one of the 10 Commandments is not to lie, that is not " Lady Star's rule, it so happens to be God's commandment!!!!!

[Rick4404]

For the umpteenth time...I don't appreciate being called a liar. I did not knowingly now or in the past relative to this subject, write anything in these forums that I knew not to be true - thus constituting a "lie."

I now realize that your remarks come from the perspective of someone who is actively involved in the media herself. I can just imagine you're in your boss' face almost every day when a story that your media outlet is running does not measure up to your "truthfulness check." Please take that as a compliment as I surely meant it to be one.

What we need are more journalists like you who strive to report the truth and not put a spin into stories that's intended to sensationalize the story you're working on and in return, sell more adveritising for the media outlet you're working for.

[HeritageLt]

Oh Lady Star, I think you need to go to Jay Bakker's church for a while. Grace my dear. Show a little grace. God hates it when we sow discord. Or, is there some inside joke that I'm missing here?

[Rick4404]

HeritageLt, ever wonder why is it whenever anyone says something nice about Lady Star, she goes back into hiding? Have a great day in Jesus!