Is “Restore Stephen Baldwin” a real ministry?

I feel like we as Christians have to develop a healthy way to dialog about things. I hate that you either approve 100% of all things Christian or you’re labeled a judgmental jerk. Somewhere in our faith we need room for criticism and sharpening and growth. Which brings me to today.

Restore Stephen Baldwin is a ministry that aims to financially restore bankrupt Christian actor Stephen Baldwin in the same way Job was restored. But I’m not sure if it’s real. In fact, I have 5 reasons it might be fake:

1. The Q&As on the site.

Here’s one of the Q&As taken directly from the site.

Q- Why does Stephen need personal wealth?
A- Stephen’s influence is in Hollywood. Hollywood worships money and without it you are seen as a loser and cannot be an effective influence to this group. There is no way, that a ministry would tell us, “Hollywood is vain, we need to help Stephen get some ‘vain currency.’”

2. South Park

Last night, the television show South Park gave the link to the site. That feels shady to me.

3. Stephen Baldwin

I don’t know Stephen Baldwin but he’s never struck me as the type of guy that would approve of this. It seems like he’s got a loud, wild faith. He’s not officially involved with this ministry, they just claim Stephen’s people gave them permission. But I feel like Stephen would have shied away from this.

4. Millions of dollars.

Here’s another question from the site:

Q- How much money does he need?
A- From what I read in public court documents Stephen needs several million dollars to pay all of his creditors but he deserves hundreds of millions for his Job like faithfulness in the face of relentless loss and persecution. Again, there is no way, that in the shadow of the Haiti earthquake and child sex slavery and all the very real, raw needs right now, a ministry is honestly asking us to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Stephen Baldwin.

5. Jack Donaghy

I can’t imagine that Jack Donaghy, Alec Baldwin’s character on the show 30 Rock, would allow his brother to go down like this. Come on! He’s the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming. The guy has pull. This ministry sounds like something Tracy Jordan, Tracy Morgan’s character, would dream up. It feels very similar to the time Tracy Jordan opened up the “Tracy Jordan institute for Black Karate.” No way this ministry is real.

I think it’s fake. Regardless though, whether it’s real or fake, I hope we can talk about it today without being jerks. Stephen Baldwin didn’t start this ministry so let’s not slam him. Let’s not slam the creators of this ministry either. Even if this makes your stomach churn, let’s not devolve into a Christian hate site. Let’s show people we can talk about stuff in an honest open way.

So, real or fake?

Here’s the video from the site: