Today, we're diving into a story that is equal parts fascinating, unsettling, and a little mysterious.

It's not every day that faith, fame, and explosive devices collide, but that's exactly what happened in this case.

Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a true crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa. Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy. How are you? Oh, I am doing well. How are you? I'm good. We just recorded a chat episode where we said things like, it's not going that great, but yes, here we are to lie to you.

Sometimes then, and then sometimes when people email us and just they're like, sometimes the intro is a little dry and I'm like, well, because we usually just talk to each other.

Yeah, I'm like, and sometimes if we tell the truth, then you're going to say, like, wow, these women are depressed and need to be locked away. It was dark before

we even got to the story. Exactly. So enjoy the lies, okay? No, everything is good. I am excited. We have

an episode coming out Thursday that I'm really excited about, and I'm looking forward to getting into this episode. This is the story I did not really know. Yeah, and I've learned a lot.

All right. So let's just go ahead and get straight into it then. So when I say the word televangelism, you probably instantly picture a high energy preacher on a massive stage. It's kind of giving lights camera action, but for church. So typically,

the preacher will enthusiastically speak messages of hope and salvation while asking for money,

which of course they need to continue the great work that they're doing, spreading the word

about Christianity. And the best part about all of this is you can do it all from the comfort of

your living room,

including the part where you donate your money.

So our story today centers around two figures. There's Pat Robertson, who's the force behind the Christian Broadcasting Network,

and the infamous John Osteen, who was the founder of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

Both of these televangelists were pioneers in the field,

and they reached millions with their messages. But in the late 1980s and early 90s, their lives were

changed when a chilling series of events led to the detonation of pipe bombs. But who sent them,

and why? And that's what we're here to find out today. So the practice of

televangelism dates back further than you might actually think. It began long before the days of

high-deaf TV and social media, back in the early days of mass communication when the radio was

really all you had for those such things. It's hard to imagine a life before all the technology

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