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Jack Van Impe (born 1930) is a televangelist who appears on his weekly television show Jack Van Impe Presents. Van Impe is known as the "Walking Bible" because of his extensive memorization of Bible verses.

Biography

Originally from Troy, Michigan, Van Impe was an accordion player as a child, performing duets with his missionary father across Michigan and other states. In 1948, Van Impe graduated from high school and entered Detroit Bible College, earning his diploma in 1952 and beginning his career as a preacher and evangelist.

Jack Van Impe Ministries

Jack Van Impe Presents is filmed at the Jack Van Impe Ministries World Outreach Center, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. His wife, Rexella Van Impe (born 1931) co-hosts the telecast with him. On a typical show, Rexella begins by reading a recent news headline. Van Impe then applies his memorization of Bible verses to interpret the news story from his apocalyptic point-of-view to indicate that the Rapture, Armageddon, and the Second Coming will soon occur.

Van Impe also interprets Bible prophecies, usually from the Book of Revelation, quoting Bible verses throughout his commentary. At the close of every program, Van Impe extends an invitation for viewers to become born again, which is promptly followed by Rexella announcing the featured fundraising item of the week (usually one of Van Impe's books or videos) and announcer Chuck Ohman asking viewers to purchase one of Van Impe's books, video tapes, or other media products. Van Impe doesn't claim to know the exact date of the Second Coming of Christ, but quotes verses which imply that humankind should know when the second coming is near. Prior to January 1, 2000, Van Impe frequently predicted widespread catastrophe resulting from the Y2K problem, which he believed was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. His predictions, however, proved inaccurate.

In November 2005, Van Impe told viewers of his show that when reviewing television ratings and viewership of Jack Van Impe Presents, he had discovered that in markets where the show airs from midnight to 0600 local time, ratings for his own show were significantly higher than in markets where the show aired at any other time of the day; subsequently, he asked viewers for donations to buy post-midnight airtime in the 210 television markets around the U.S. In episodes aired the last week of December 2005, Van Impe thanked viewers for their donations and announced that the last contracts had been signed that week to officially make Jack Van Impe Presents available in all 210 U.S. television markets, with over half of them showing after midnight. In episodes airing the week of June 12, 2006, Van Impe announced that the new contracts had enabled the show to double its previous viewership levels, levels that had remained relatively steady over the show's 20-year history.

Theology

For much of his life, Van Impe was a fierce proponent of the fundamentalist doctrine of Biblical separation, which advocates the isolation of those thought to be in doctrinal error. However, beginning in late 1970s Van Impe made a marked shift towards the inclusiveness of Ecumenism and Evangelism. His outright break with the fundamental church came in 1984 with the publication of Heart Disease in Christ’s Body. In it, he bemoans "an appalling lack of love and unity among so many of the brothers and sisters in Christ." Van Impe's remedy for this was the relaxing of the fundamentalist definition of a Christian. Specifically, he called for the acceptance as a "true Christian" of anyone who believed

  • the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture,
  • the Deity of Christ,
  • the Virgin Birth,
  • the Substitutionary atonement,
  • and the physical resurrection of Christ and His personal, bodily return to earth.

Furthermore, Van Impe sought to redefine the very concept of Biblical separation. In his new formulation, anyone who disagreed that the conditions above fully defined a "true Christian" was himself in doctrinal error and thus subject to isolation.

Personal Views

Dr. Jack Van Impe is a self-described fundamentalist Christian, although he supports the non-fundamentalist Roman Catholic Church. On August 30, 2005, Van Impe said of Pat Robertson, "We do not need an Osama bin Laden" leading us and called for Robertson to recant his positions calling for assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and the death of a Supreme Court Justice.*

Unlike many U.S.-based televangelists, Van Impe's show does not feature a "Word of Faith" or prosperity gospel, but rather an end-times philosophy heavily based on the Book of Revelation. Van Impe is often critical on his television show of his fellow television pastors who spend too much time on fundraising and not enough time on "preaching the gospel of Jesus".

Health problems

In early 2006, Rexella reported on their TV show that Van Impe had gone into remission after being diagnosed with cancer in 2005. The specific type of cancer that he had been diagnosed with was not disclosed. On the same episode, Van Impe added that the radiation treatments that he had been undergoing as part of his fight against cancer were what had led to the bout of sepsis that he had previously disclosed in mid-2005, an illness so severe that it nearly took his life.

In an episode of Jack Van Impe Presents aired the week of June 19, 2006, Van Impe disclosed that he had undergone two total knee replacements in early 2006. He gave thanks to God for his recovery and for leading him to the "wonderful surgeon" who did the operation.

External links

1930 births | People from Michigan | Television evangelists | Living people | Christian ministers

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Jack Van Impe".

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