Daily Devotional for Wednesday November 9, 2005

Picking your Battles in Life

(2 Corinthians 10:4; 2 Chronicles 32:8)

A few months ago on the Liveprayer television program, I received a call from a man named Leon. It was one of those moments only God could orchestrate. Leon is a typical young man who grew up in a non-Christian home, not even really believing God exists. He had been watching my TV program off and on for many months, a typical viewer of our audience that is 90% non-Christian. Leon called that night from a hospital bed as he prepared for major colon surgery the next morning. The amazing thing was, he was in a hospital that is just out of the viewing area of the UPN affiliate in Tampa that our program is seen on each night, but had written down the phone number and had been trying for three nights to get through without success.

That night he did get through, got on the air, and after spending some time answering many of his questions, I shared with him the fact that not only is God real, but He loves him and explained how Jesus had died for his sins. By the end of the phone call, Leon had asked Christ into his heart by faith and was born again! AMEN!!! That my friend is REALITY TELEVISION! The following morning, I contacted a dear friend who pastors a great Assembly of God church in the town where the hospital is, and that pastor personally went to visit Leon to let him know that he was not alone, and that there are people who love him and care about him.

ISN'T GOD AMAZING?

My friend, after doing the Liveprayer television program, "live" every Monday-Friday for over 32 months now, I have literally tens of thousands of real-life testimonies like this. We have seen thousands of people accept Christ as their Savior, many of them "live" as they called into the program, like Leon. I commented to the viewers after ending the call with Leon, that the nearly $1.7 million it has cost to do the program these past 32 months, all of the time and effort and sacrifices that so many have made, were all worth it if it was only Leon who came to know Christ as His personal Savior. What price can you put on a human soul?

In our life, we all fight battles along the way. Some battles we fight are harder than others. There are those sentinel moments in life when we have to decide to dig in, draw the line in the sand, and make our stand. Over 15 years ago in a Federal Prison cell, I rededicated my life to Christ and fully surrendered whatever time I had left in this life to serving Him. In these past 13 years of full-time service to the Lord, there have been many battles, and God has allowed me to see many victories as I have fought for His Kingdom. The birth of Liveprayer.com over 74-months ago was an incredible battle. The birth of the Liveprayer television program on a major secular TV network nearly 3 years ago was a major battle.

Today, I am in the midst of another major battle, one of the fiercest I have ever fought. The ultimate goal is to have the Liveprayer television program on major secular network affiliates all over the country like we are in Tampa and across Florida We are going head-to-head with satan each night right on his turf. Putting together this group of 300 people who will each make a special one-time commitment of $10,000 is an all out war. These funds will cover all of the air time, production, satellite and other related costs of doing the TV program for one year as last July 1st we added to Tampa major secular network affiliates in Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Ft. Myers and Naples. This covers over 90% of the population in the state of Florida.

The Liveprayer television program has become the highest-rated program in the overnight hours (midnight to 6 a.m.) in Tampa, the 14 TV market in the nation because it is REAL. It is unlike any program on secular or Christian television. It is done each night "live," it is reaching an audience that is 90% non-Christian and the whole format is to take unscreened calls from viewers, answering their questions and sharing with them the Truth of God's Word and the hope we have in Christ. What makes this program unique is the same thing that makes our Internet ministry unique.

WE DON'T ISOLATE OURSELVES FROM PEOPLE; WE GO TO WHERE THEY ARE AT LIKE JESUS DID! WE DON'T RUN FROM PEOPLE IN THEIR TIME OF NEED, WE RUN TO THEM!

There is no other ministry on the Internet on the scale of Liveprayer that actually responds to people's emails with a personal reply in addition to praying for them. That is also the key to the television program. It is on "live" and people can call in and talk directly to me about whatever they want. This is a good lesson for pastors and those who are in the ministry. If you are serious about reaching the lost and hurting, you have to make yourself accessible to them. You must have a way for people to interact with you, a way for people to have their individual needs attended to in a personal way, if you want to really reach into their lives. People don't need entertainers; they can get that from Hollywood. They need SERVANTS who care about their problems and eternal souls!!!

My friend, there are people who are lost and hurting who will never go to church, never turn on Christian programming, or read Christian books. They do not hate Jesus; in most cases they simply have never heard of His love for them and how He can change their life for the better. For those who have come to know my heart, you know my only goal is to put the Truth of God's Word visibly and boldly in the marketplace to combat the lies of people like Dan Brown (DaVinci Code), Sylvia Brown (psychic empowered by "mother god"), the Mormon cult, and all of the rest who are preaching and teaching in rebellion to God's Word and leading people's souls into eternal damnation.

THIS BATTLE IS SO FIERCE BECAUSE WE ARE LITERALLY IN THE TRENCHES FIGHTING WITH SATAN FOR THE ETERNAL SOULS OF PEOPLE!!!

This expansion will add approximately 200,000 new subscribers to the Daily Devotional over the first year, which will translate into people coming to know Christ as their Savior, people rededicating their lives to the Lord, bringing hope into people's lives when they need it the most, not to mention sharing the Truth of God on the same airwaves where the lies of satan are broadcast all day long. In addition, it will give the Liveprayer television program the exposure and ratings necessary to attract national sponsors so that we can syndicate the program all around the country which is our ultimate goal. That would ultimately bring tens of millions of new subscribers to the Daily Devotional, tens of thousands of people to Christ, and become a major instrument God can use to bring His Truth to the lost masses. It puts the Truth of God's Word and the message of hope in Christ head to head with the lies of satan that are being fed to the masses daily!