Morris Cerullo was an American Pentecostal evangelist who lived from October 2, 1931, until July 10, 2020. He spent a lot of time around the world for his ministry. He published over 80 books and hosted the daily television show Victory Today.
In 1990, Cerrullo acquired The Inspiration Network cable television network along with other assets of Jim Bakker’s PTL ministry. Some of his fundraising activities and statements he made on television shows, especially in the UK, about his healing ministry drew criticism.
Early Life
Cerullo was born to a Russian Jewish mother and an Italian father in Passaic, New Jersey. His father passed away from a stroke at age 62, and his mother killed herself when he was quite young. The last orphanage he was reared in was an Orthodox Jewish one in the adjacent town of Clifton, New Jersey. With the help of a nurse at the Clifton orphanage, he became a Christian at the age of 14.
He soon fled the orphanage as Jewish orphanage authorities forbade him from following some of the tenets of his new faith. After claiming to have experienced a vision from God in which he saw people going through hell and suffering, he started preaching the gospel at the age of sixteen.
David (b. 1952), Susan (b. 1954), and Mark (b. 1957) are the Cerullos’ three children; at the time of his death, he had seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He attended and graduated from divinity school in New York State in 1953, and he started ministering with the assistance of his then-fiance, Theresa. He was ordained in the Assemblies of God in the early 1950s.
Ministry
In Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Korea, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and many other countries, Morris Cerullo held recurring “Schools of Ministry” for many years. On one of the days of the conferences, he would preach in an outdoor crusade or a large theater/arena, lead people in a commitment to Jesus Christ, and then pray for healings to occur in the crowd. He then had the school of ministry students test the veracity of the testimonies from the people.
He would assign the “SOM,” or School of Ministry, pupils to spread the same message to their fellow citizens following the massive mass gatherings, motivated by the public rally’s outcomes. Cerullo frequently claimed that Jesus Christ, not himself, was the healer. As he would put it, he would promote confidence in “the written and the living word of God.”
The Inspiration Network (INSP)
Cerullo’s $7 million offer to buy PTL’s cable television network, The Inspiration Network, which was renamed INSP-The Inspiration Network and moved into a new, independent company called The Inspiration Networks, was also accepted by the bankruptcy court as part of his deal to buy Heritage USA. David, Cerullo’s son, has been on the board of directors from the company’s founding and has also held the positions of president and CEO. He was chosen to be its chairman in 2005.
“CrossRidge” is a new multi-million dollar broadcast headquarters complex being built in Lancaster County, South Carolina, by the Charlotte, North Carolina-based business. March 1, 2009, marked the opening of this. A 2009 Charlotte Observer piece included Cerullo and his son David.
During the 2014 World Conference, Cerullo said that God had taught him, “Prophets never retire!” He continued to travel as a missionary. At the age of 83, Cerullo made a nine-day tour to Africa in 2015, preaching, conducting training sessions, and meeting with political officials in six African nations.
Published Books
Some of his published books are:
- God Preserves, Protects, and Prospers His Chosen People
- God’s Plan for Your Prosperity in the Endtime 666 Economy
- God’s Victorious Army Series VII (The Holy Spirit School of Ministry)
- How to Prosper in The Current Financial Crisis
- How to Take The Limits Off God
- Making Possible Your Impossibilities
- One Demon Spirit
- Revelation Healing Power
- Supernatural Eyesight (Seeing Through The Eyes of The Holy Spirit)
- Taking God’s Power
- The Four Horsemen
- The Last Great Anointing
- The Last Great Wealth Transfer
- The Miracle Book
- The Proof Producers (What Must We Do That We Might Work The Works of God)
- The Unholy Unity
- Upon Wings As An Eagle
- Why Do The Righteous Suffer
- You Can Know How To Defeat Satan
Death
On July 11, 2020, Cerullo passed away at the age of 88 from pneumonia.
