Well, it certainly looks like The Local Church threw tons of money to the wind (and no, I'm not talking about donations they might have made to Hanegraaff's CRI.) “On December 1, 2006, the Texas Supreme Court denied review of the Local Church and Living Stream Ministry’s $136 million libel lawsuit against Harvest House Publishers and authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon. At issue in the case was the book Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions (ECNR), which The Local Church claimed was defamatory of them.”*

This is a victory for Harvest House, John Ankerberg, and John Weldon—and a victory for Christians who believe that courts should not define the word cult. It has cost a great deal financially and personally: Dr. Norman Geisler submitted an Amicus Brief in support of Harvest House; Hank Hanegraaff and Gretchen Passantino submitted one in support of The Local Church. Between Preterism and The Local Church, it seems as if Hanegraaff took aim and blew off both his feet. You can read more about this here: http://www.apologeticsindex.org/404-norman-geisler

I sincerely hope this is the end of it.

*Harvest House Corporate Statement http://www.harvesthousepubl.com/about_cstatement5.cfm