Biography and early years
In Success-N-Life, Tilton regularly taught that all of life's trials, especially poverty, were a result of sin.

Success-N-Life
Even before the ABC News investigation into his ministry, Tilton had controversy in his background. In a deposition video for a lawsuit that was taped August 18, 1992, Tilton admitted to having robbed a fruit stand as a teen and abused marijuana, LSD, and various barbiturates as a young man prior to his conversion to Christianity in 1969.
The decline of Success-N-Life also led to the end of Tilton's 25-year marriage to wife Marte, who had served as the administrative head of the Word of Faith Family Church and World Outreach Center, in 1993.

Scandal
Tilton returned to television in 1994 with a new show called Pastor Tilton, a show with an emphasis on the demon-blasting practices--shouting as loud as possible at demons possessing people suffering from pain and illness--of charismatic pastors Sam and Jane Whaley, whom Tilton credited for "casting out [his] own demons" in 1993.

Transitional ministry
After moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1996, Tilton returned to the airwaves in 1997 with a new version of Success-N-Life, buying airtime on independent television stations primarily serving inner city areas. Gone were the "demon blasting" sessions; back again were the Word-Faith messages and calls for "vows". In 1998, the program began airing on cable channel BET as part of the two hour late-night umbrella rotation block of religious programming entitled BET Inspiration. As of 2007, Success-N-Life is still a part of BET Inspiration, usually occupying the first hour of the programming block, as well as running on cable religious programming channel The Word Network. The church building was purchased by the city of Farmers Branch in 1999 for use as a future civic center; however, the economy suffered a downturn and the plans were scrapped, and the building was finally demolished in 2003 to make room for a new youth hockey center.
In March 2005, Tilton started a new church in Hallandale, Florida, not far from his home in Miami Beach. The church, originally named Christ The Good Shepherd Worldwide Church, has approximately 200 members as of 2007. On Sunday May 13, 2007, the church moved into a new location at 16601 NW 8th Avenue in Miami, and was officially re-named 'Word of Faith Church' much like his original church in Dallas. The new, larger location was purchased from another church. Tilton also started a church in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2005, also originally named Christ The Good Shepherd Worldwide Church. It has been officially re-named 'Word of Faith Church' also and its resident pastor is Danny Rodriguez. The Las Vegas church holds it services at the Henderson Convention Center.
Tilton has also begun travelling the country again, in what he calls 'The Renewed Robert Tilton Success In Life Miracle Rallies.' According to his assistant pastor in Florida, he plans to broadcast his church services and miracle rallies on TV soon and has approached the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) about this.

Reviving Success 'N' Life
When Tilton returned to television in 1997, he established his ministry's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his lawyer J.C. Joyce's offices were located, and set up a Post Office box as its mailing address. A woman employed by Mail Services, Inc., a Tulsa-area clearinghouse handling mail sent to Tilton's ministry, said that when she worked for Mail Services, Inc. in 2001, prayer requests were still routinely thrown away after donations, pledges, etc. were removed.

Continuing scandal
In 1985, two American men began distributing a video they compiled lampooning Tilton and his ostensible conversations with God. The video exploits Tilton's facial expressions and preaching style. Entitled Pastor Gas, the video featured a medley of footage from Success-N-Life, overdubbed with well-timed sound effects of flatulence. Unofficial VHS copies of the video circulated in the United States through the late 1980s, under such titles as Heaven Only Knows, The Joyful Noise, and The Farting Preacher. After the hosts of The Mark and Brian Show, a radio program in Los Angeles, mentioned the video on the air, the video's authors saw the market potential and began selling official copies of their creation. Similar videos have since been made in more recent times using more recent footage of Tilton and are distributed throughout the internet, all under the Farting Preacher name. The video distribution (including digital bootlegs distributed online) expanded public awareness of Robert Tilton and his controversial "television ministry".
The stand-up comedy material of Ron White also includes mention of Robert Tilton. In the opening to White's act in the first Blue Collar Comedy Tour movie, Ron claims that "while sitting in a beanbag chair naked eating Cheetos," he finds Tilton on TV and believes Tilton is talking specifically to him: "Are you lonely?" "Yeah." "Have you spent half your life in bars pursuing sins of the flesh?" "Man, this guy's good..." "Are you sitting in a beanbag chair naked eating Cheetos?" Ron gapes in horror before squeaking, "...Yes sir!" "Are you going to get up and send me a thousand dollars?" (#pause for effect#) "Close! Thought he was talking about me for a second. Apparently, I ain't the only cat on the block (who) digs Cheetos!"
In the early 2000s, the Trinity Foundation put together a number of news broadcasts, including the initial Primetime Live piece, from the years surrounding the investigations into Tilton's ministry on a DVD entitled The Prophet of Prosperity: Robert Tilton and the Gospel of Greed. The DVD also includes segments from The Daily Show's "God Stuff" (hosted by Trinity Foundation member John Bloom, a.k.a. Joe Bob Briggs), excerpts from the Pastor Gas videos, and a number of mocking music videos, as well as moments from Success-N-Life showing Tilton's more outrageous claims of "visions from God".

Satire

Christian evangelist scandals Bibliography