Daily Devotional for Friday June 11, 2004

Daring to Make a Difference

(Joshua 6:20)

As I have shared with you in the past, my heart's desire for Liveprayer was not to simply create another ministry, but to create a vehicle that Almighty God could use in these last days to take the truth of His Word and the hope and love of His Son to this lost and hurting world. That would be accomplished by reaching out to the masses boldly and aggressively using the very same vehicles the world uses 24/7, the Internet, secular television, secular radio, secular publications, and secular advertising. Today, I want to share with you the reality of the secular television world as we seek Divine favor to use this powerful tool to bring the Truth of the Word and the hope of Jesus Christ to the lost and hurting in this world each day through this medium.

The vision God gave me for the Liveprayer television program was a simple one. Create a television program that would air only on secular networks, a program that people would want to watch, a program that would be supported by sponsors and advertisers as opposed to asking the viewers to give, a program that would minister to the lives of the viewers, a program that would become just as mainstream as Oprah, Friends, MTV, The Sopranos, American Idol, Survivor, or any other popular program on secular television, a program that people who never go to church, don't read the Bible, are not Christians could easily find on their normal secular station that would be there to minister to them in their time of need.

On March 3rd of 2003, that vision became a reality as the Liveprayer television program was launched on the UPN network in Tampa, Florida, which is the 15 television market in the nation. It has been on for over 66 straight weeks now every Monday thru Friday from 1-2 a.m. In that time, it has become the top rated program in its time slot beating out nationally syndicated, multi-million dollar budgeted network programs with famous hosts. In addition, the program won the prestigious Telly Award, an industry award presented to top programs on secular television. Even more exciting is that 95% of the audience is non-Christian and through the first 66 weeks we have seen over 3,000 people we know of accept Christ as their Savior and have over 10,000 praise reports from viewers.

Now I want to share with you the walls of Jericho we are facing. God has given me the wisdom and inspiration to create a program to fulfill the vision for secular television I just shared with you. It is no longer a vision, it is a reality! Now the goal is to take the program to the rest of the nation. There are many different ways to do that. One would be to find a national syndicator that buys the rights to the program and places it on stations all over the country. That is how Oprah, the various judge programs, and your old sitcoms do it.

The incentive for a syndicator is to find a program people will watch so they can sell commercial time in the program to advertisers. I have met with all of the major national syndicators, there are only a handful, and while they all love the program each one stated that they would not be interested in it since the "content" is something no national advertiser would want to be associated with. The "content" of course is the truth of God's Word.

While having a syndicator is the traditional way to place a program nationally, there are other options. One option is to find a national cable channel like WGN, The Family Channel, MTV, Discovery, or any of those that would actually sell me the time to put the program on. Of course, I would have to find my own sponsors to cover the costs of the program. However, I sat down last week with the man who is responsible for buying more time on national cable channels than anyone else in the nation, who also happens to be a committed Christian.

This man was very blunt. He told me there is NO national cable channels that would EVER carry Liveprayer unless I was willing to do the program on tape and censor the issues I deal with. One of the dynamics that makes this program so unique is the "live" aspect. The bulk of the program is taking live calls from viewers, giving them Biblical counsel for their problems, and praying for them. Being "live" is a critical element of the program. I was told that even before the Super Bowl, and especially afterwards, none of these national cable channels would ever consider a "live" program. On top of that, there are certain subjects I could not talk about.

Now we are going to get into the real spiritual battle that exists, a battle I might add that satan is currently winning, but not for long. The issues I was told I could not address or talk about of course were homosexuality, abortion, and cults like Mormonism. This gentleman I met with buys 90% of the time for national ministries that air their traditional church or teaching programs on national cable channels. A few national cable channels like BET and Court TV have set aside small blocks of time in the early morning hours or on Sunday mornings to sell to national ministries. However, they will NOT sell them any time outside of those "religious blocks" in the middle of their regular programming. These programs MUST be on tape and are reviewed for content. Sadly, that is why you will never hear any national ministry that is on secular television addressing many of the important spiritual issues of our day.

Of course, that is a big reason Christian television ministries go to the Christian networks and stations. There they can preach and teach the complete truth of God's Word without having to censor what they say. So even the few national ministries that are on secular television, are relegated to special times when viewership is the lowest and are censored regarding the subjects they can address. Of course, the other incentive for going to the Christian networks and stations is money since over 95% of the audience is already Christian, they find an audience that will support their work, buy their books and tapes, and come to their live events.

The problem is obvious. While there is a great need and always will be for ministry to the Body of Christ through Christian television, the fact is, the great percentage of people in the world will never turn to a Christian station. They are not going to sit down and watch a traditional church service or teaching program. So because of the way the secular networks and national cable channels are structured, the vast majority of people are never exposed to the Truth of God's Word in the course of the daily line-up of program that are available to them.

This is where the warfare gets real intense. In case you are not aware of it, very soon there will be a new national cable channel called LOGO. You guessed it, 100 % programming geared towards people who have chosen to live a homosexual lifestyle. Of course there are already many programs on major networks and national cable channels that promote this deviant choice of sexual relations, but now there will be a cable channel dedicated completely to the homosexual community.

Here is the main point. THERE WILL BE NATIONAL ADVERTISERS THAT WILL BE ADVERTISING ON THIS NEW HOMOSEXUAL NETWORK JUST LIKE THEY CURRENTLY ADVERTISE ON ALL OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS THAT MAKE A MOCKERY OF GOD AND HIS WORD! THOSE WHO LIVE IN REBELLION TO GOD AND THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD ARE NOT AFRAID OF US NOR ARE THE NATIONAL ADVERTISERS WHO PAY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE UNGODLY PROGRAMS.

Let me be blunt. We have some great national ministries that deal with pro family issues and thousands of other ministries that deal with all of the various issues people are facing. We have tens of thousands of churches across this land. Without these works of God this world would be a horrible place to live. But the reality is, despite all of these great works the spiritual decline in our nation continues each day. Those people in the world who live their lives in rebellion to God boldly and successfully promote their Godless values to the masses financed by national advertisers because nobody is afraid of the Christian community!

Listen, I am only one man and Liveprayer is a very small work of God. But I refuse to sit back and let satan win this battle. Do you realize that there is really only one Christian preacher that is widely know and respected by non-Christians? That of course is Billy Graham. Billy Graham became known throughout our nation in the 40's and 50's when this was still a Christian nation. There was no Christian media when he began so he took the Gospel to the masses through the very same vehicles the world used. Many great men and women of God have risen up over these past 50 years with incredible ministries that have done great works for God and are known by Christians worldwide. But the fact is, they are not widely known or given any respect by the unbelieving world we live in.

This is a different day. This is no longer a Christian nation and the Christian leaders of today have become content to not fight this battle and have quietly stayed in the Christian media, a place where the people who need the message of Christ's love and hope the most will probably never hear it. Well, I refuse to be silenced or forced to only preach to the choir. God has called me to take His Truth and the hope and love of Christ to the lost and hurting in this world and I am going to do it using the very same tools the world uses.

I love you and care about you so much. Let me tell you how the Liveprayer television program WILL be on all over this nation one day. For 2 million dollars a month, I can buy my way on to a network affiliate station in each of the top 100 television markets in the nation, making the program available to over 70% of the people in the United States. Since I have a 66+ week track record on the UPN affiliate in Tampa, it is a matter of my media people sitting down and finding a secular station in each of the top 100 markets in the nation that will sell us the time every Monday through Friday from 1-a.m. EDT. Since I am buying the time, I can do the program "live," I will not have to censor what I say, can bring in whatever advertisers I want to sponsor the program, and can freely minister to people just like I do each night in Tampa.

I need you to pray with me to find a few corporations, a few businesses where the founders have a vision to reach the lost and hurting and are not going to be afraid of a few vocal homosexuals or pro-death people writing them nasty letters. It is only a matter of finding those with resources, vision, and the spiritual guts to stand with me. Please take some time today and pray that God will send those people to help me take the Liveprayer television program to this entire nation.

I have sacrificed my life for the Gospel. My only goal is to see the lost come to Christ.The perfect vehicle to take that TRUTH to the masses is secular television. Now more than ever this nation needs a bold, loud voice that is telling the TRUTH in the midst of the lies that people are being told. Now more than ever the lost and hurting need the hope and love that only comes from Jesus Christ. May the walls of Jericho come tumbling down as God leads us to victory.