Introducing The Best Copywriter You Never Heard Of
Only known photo of Ewing
In today’s world there are a whole bunch of different writers for people who don’t have the time or the ability to write books about themselves or subjects in which they are interested in. How can a president write books, even when he is in office? He has either a ghost writer or a team of ghost writers. People who write the book(s) for him, and he has his name put on it as the author. James Eugene Ewing is a “ghost writer” for many of the activities of the televangelists.Ewing was born in Texas in 1933, the son of south Texas sharecroppers. He served four years in the Air Force, claiming through his magazine that “many soldiers gave their lives to Christ with Bro. Ewing kneeling by their side in airplanes, in barracks or anyplace.” After his stint in the military, he chartered Camp Meetings Revivals in the Dallas area.Ewing’s tent-revival crusades were focused on healing and liberation. A full-page ad in the 1963 Tulsa World announced a “Deliverance revival: Gene Ewing coming under one of the world’s largest tents.”Despite having little formal education, Ewing managed to build a massive direct-mail empire from his mansion in Los Angeles. All his ministry mail is directed to a Tulsa post office box. Ewing’s computerized mailing operation, Saint Matthew’s Churches, mails more than 1 million letters per month, many to low-income, uneducated people, while Ewing lives in a $2.2 million, 6,400-square-foot home above Beverly Hills and drives a small fleet of luxury cars.Seed Faith
If you watch much Christian television programming, you may have heard a preacher talking about the “seed faith” principle. This modern movement can be traced back to a meeting that Ewing had with Oral Roberts. This practice has led to things such as Mike Murdock’s $58 miracle seed plan, $365 dollar miracle seed plan, and $1000 dollar seed plan. This friend and fundraiser for Benny Hinn, sometimes boasts of his three jet planes, his mansion, his private zoo, ministry Corvettes, collection of Rolex watches, gold and diamond jewelry and the pet lion he owned.In 1968, donations to Roberts’ ministry had plummeted after Roberts alienated many of his supporters by joining the United Methodist Church. To raise money, Roberts decided to sell the ministry’s corporate airplane.Ewing came to see Oral about buying the plane. When he arrived at the ministry headquarters, he had something to sell to Roberts. The first thing out his mouth was, “Oral, you are in trouble, and I can help you.” And did he ever.According to Wayne Robinson, then the vice president of public affairs for the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, “Gene laid out one of the most sophisticated fund-raising campaigns I had ever seen. He said, ‘Oral, I want you to write your supporters and tell them you are going in the prayer tower, and you are going to read their prayer requests and pray over them.’ He stayed there three days. I forget how many hundred thousands of letters we had, but it was huge.”The core of Ewing’s advice to Roberts was the seed-faith philosophy. “You give to the ministry, and God will reward you with a financial blessing.”By the following year, income to Roberts’ ministry had doubled, going from $6 million to $12 million. Roberts was so happy with Ewing’s guidance that he gave him the plane.God’s Ghostwriter
Just by helping with Oral Roberts’ ministry, Ewing could be regarded as the father of the modern-day ‘seed-faith’ concept. Many preachers joined the health-and-wealth gospel bandwagon by emulating old Oral.Ewing did not stop with Roberts. Once word got out about his magic touch, several other ministers sought his services. Ewing’s flair for effective, dramatic direct-mail appeals won him jobs writing for evangelists including Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff, Robert Tilton, Rex Humbard, Mike Murdock and “Rev. Ike.” In many cases, the letters were identical but contained different signatures.James Eugene Ewing built a direct-mail empire from his mansion in Los Angeles that brings millions of dollars flowing into a Tulsa post office box. This approach reaped Ewing and his organization more than $100 million since 1993, including $26 million in 1999, the last year Saint Matthew’s Church made its tax records public. Saint Matthew’s Church is in name only, it doesn’t exist.
Move Over Wall Street Journal – This is the Most Successful Direct Mail Letter Ever
This exact letter was written for many different preachers. It has brought it more than 5 billion dollars
This is the letter I’m analyzing. I think it’s a classic Ewing Letter
Here’s An Example of A Ewing Letter For Another Pastor
James Ewing Voice Recordings
In 2006 Saint Mathews Church had two phone numbers to call. One number was the regular number and the other number was the “emergency number.”Call placed to either numbers were never returned – however – the friendly voice and the way they addressed callers as “Child of God” left an impression on me. I recorded and transcribed these calls and share them with you.St Matthew Voice MailSt Matthew Emergency Voice Mail
