Pray for Kent Hovind

HovindFor those who do not know him, Kent Hovind has preached the Gospel for several decades, specializing in Creation Science, that the world was indeed made in six, literal days, and that the Bible is verifiably accurate.  But, in 2006, this man was was convicted in federal court, and sentenced to ten years.

The short answer is that Kent was put in jail for “tax evasion”, but that, at it turns out, is rather misleading.  We will get to that in a moment.  But, the issue at hand is his pending release.

Kent’s sentence is due to be over in late summer of 2015 (August or so).  He is entitled to home incarceration for the 6 months at the end of the sentence, which would put him home, but still a prisoner, around February 2015.  Only a few months to go!  We would think.  But, he is also eligible for 12 months in a 1/2 way house before that, so he could have been in a facility close to his family, instead of being transported around the country.

But, the complications only continue.  For those interested, Kent’s legal journey is documented on his website, here:  2peter.com

Because Kent maintains his innocence (we’ll get there in a moment, he has continued to file motions with the court, including a tort case for personal damages.  In response, the Flordia County Court has issued another case against him, this time for contempt of court, and is looking to add more jail time to this man’s sentence–for continuing to file motions to prosecute his case.

This man is an evangelist.  In the 3 months while in prison awaiting his trial, he won 15 souls to Christ.  He was the best known creation-science evangelist, converting many in his large, public, and free seminars.  He has been a minister and it has been his whole life.  He needs to be on the front lines, winning souls, and not spending another day in Federal or Country prison.  It’s been “long enough”, and the government should move on, especially after he has served his time and is eligible to be in a 1/2 way house at this time.  And, according to his own accounts, the only reason he is not is because the Board of Prisons, the warden in his NH facility, wanted to “maintain population”.  That is, full beds mean more dollars for the prison, and to keep the budget up, they kept him locked up.

I had thought this was enough to pray for.  He had repeatedly come to mind for prayer, and I am asking as many as are led to pray for his immediate release.  Any other remaining time does not serve the public good, nor does it do anything other than to keep a Christian minister off the streets.

But, the story doesn’t end there.

I had watched Kent’s Creation Science Evangelism classes, and I had seen that he had advocated some different perspectives concerning the IRS.  “Tax evasion” seemed well enough, and I had never though much more of it.  Even thinking about his trial, I thought he had “paid his time” and should be released.  Perhaps he was being over-ambitious with his suits, but this is America.  Why not let the man file his claims?  What good does it do to do this?

But, then, I finally got to the 2peter.com legal section (see above), and was blown away.  Completely.

Start with the “banker’s letter”.  Kent is in jail for ten years for withdrawing his own money out of his own bank account, and is accused of 45 counts of “structuring”, a law designed to catch drug dealers who deal in amounts greater than $10,000.  But, more than that, the claims are completely false, and the conviction is clearly political.

What is structuring?  Making multiple transactions in the same day exceeding $10,000 for the purpose of concealing transactions (and avoiding the mandatory document to the IRS when the $10,000 limit is exceeded).  Did Kent do this?  Absolutely not.  He made payroll withdrawls 12, 21, and longer apart, with single transactions on each day he was accused of.  Furthermore, none of the individual transactions even exceeded $10,000 in a single day.

The law is specific.  And, more to the point, when the judge gave the jury instructions for their deliberation, she deliberately changed the wording.  She was supposed to say that if the amount was $10,000, they must convict.  Instead, she said if it was “less than” that.

This is only in summary, but what it amounts to is that Kent Hovind is, indeed, the world’s most hated creationist.  So hated, that the government is willing to falsify the legal system to bring him down.

So, did Kent actually do anything wrong?  We are not a court of law, nor do we have any evidence other than Kent’s side, but from all that it appears, for the crimes he went to jail for, he was absolutely innocent, and it is so blatantly, clearly obvious, it should be brought forward.

In terms of Tax Codes, Kent did indeed speak against the IRS in many of his teachings, but as far as his compliance to the law, he used the system the way it was designed, using the tax exempt status of ministries to do what he did WITHIN the confines of the law, by all appearances.

While one might object to his overall view of the IRS and income tax, for his case, it appears Kent Hovind did everything he could to abide by His understanding of God’s law in the context of the United States Government.

The documents speak better for themselves than this format.  I encourage you to pray for him, petition heaven for full “repayment” of offenses, and to possibly even write your congressman for his case.  Even Wesley Snipes got off with a lighter sentence than Mr. Hovind!  Why?  Because Kent is a political prisoner.  And, because he is high-profile, they don’t want to let him go.  In Kent’s words, the state has a vetted interest in not overturning a conviction.

Regardless of what you may or may not think regarding this case, I encourage all to pray, and to spread the word that he would…

  1. Be immediately released to a 1/2 way house.
  2. Be acquitted of all the erroneous charges.
  3. Have his property returned.
  4. Have full restoration.

There are many other sides to this.  We here are not setting ourselves up as an authority on this subject, but merely, as God’s people pray, even as Peter was released from prison, so can this man.

For the furtherance of the Gospel; to God be the glory!

One thought on “Pray for Kent Hovind

  1. Please pray for a homeless family. Deliverance from depression, unforgiveness, and get Godly support.

Comments are closed.