This story was reported in partnership with FāVS News, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work here.
The moment the prophet on stage singled him out, a man in a jean jacket with graying, slicked-back hair wept. He stood in the pews of Zeal Church with his wife, his legs shaking, lips trembling. He knelt. Tears streamed down the man’s face and his partner’s. A string of clear mucus connected his nose with the pew in front of him. They’d never been to Zeal before, they said, but it was clear to them that God had called them to the sanctuary for a reason.
“The Lord says, ‘You will not just be a guy that hangs out, that watches,” said Jeremiah Johnson, a celebrity prophet who founded a nonprofit ministry that establishes “apostolic” churches around the world and brings in about $1 million annually, according to tax filings. “You’re gonna be hardworking. You’re going to be confident. The Lord says, ‘I’m breaking cycles in your life today. You are graduated today into manhood. … You are going to be a success.’”…