Daily Devotional for Monday October 9, 2006

If you Won't Proclaim the Name of Jesus, the Rocks Will

(Luke 19:40; Romans 10:14)

"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." - (Luke 19:40)

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" - (Romans 10:14)

I love the interaction in Luke 19 with Jesus and the Pharisees as they were complaining to Jesus about His disciples who were declaring for all to hear His miracles and without shame praising His name! We are His disciples and that is what we should be doing. Telling others how Jesus has changed our lives and praising Him before this lost world we live in. Jesus told the Pharisees that even if all His disciples were silent, the very rocks would cry out!!! My word for you today is simply this. Tell others what Jesus has done for you and boldly declare to this lost world that Jesus Christ is our only hope and our only answer.

Some may ask why we have been commanded to tell others about our faith in Jesus. The answer to that question is found in the book or Romans, in Chapter 10 verse 14 where God's Word says, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" How can we expect someone to get saved if they have never been told how? How are they suppose to be told how to get saved unless some person tells them? God's Word is clear that all of those who know Jesus as their Savior have been called to tell others about His love. This is not just the job of the pastor or evangelist, but ALL who call Christ Lord!

Sadly, this message needs to be read by some very high profile servants of the Lord who have no problem declaring Jesus to their church, but are silent when speaking to the lost world. The sad thing is, those in the church have heard how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, many of the lost souls outside the 4 walls of the church have not. Nowhere does the Bible say we are to only preach to those who are already Christians. It actually COMMANDS us to take the message of Christ to those who are NOT Christians!

I have documented in the past the numerous opportunities Joel Osteen, who pastors the largest church in he United States, has had in major secular media venues to tell people that Jesus is their only hope, their only answer. His desire to sell books is greater than his desire to save souls since time and time again he refuses to declare that Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven. He even brags that he won't talk about sin. How can you not talk about sin, since it is our sin that separates us from God?

During the Hurricane Katrina memorial service in Washington's National Cathedral, Bishop T.D. Jakes gave the message. Here is a man who is famous for being a fiery orator, a powerful messenger of the Gospel, yet on this occasion with the world watching, he refused to tell millions of lost souls that Jesus was the only hope for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Jesus was the only hope for this world, and that Jesus was the only hope for each one of them. Instead, he delivered a tame, politically correct message that any Muslim, follower of any of the world's false religions, or even an atheist would be comfortable with.

Just this past week, Paula White, who is one of the current "stars" of Christian television, was on the nationally syndicated Tyra Banks program. It was almost miraculous that she was on for nearly one full hour and never ONCE mentioned the name of Jesus, prayer, God, the fact she was a Christian (she even failed to mention her salvation in sharing her life story), on Christian TV, or a pastor. She called herself a "life coach," stated she had some sort of psychology degree that qualified her to counsel several women on the program who had problems, and mimicked the infamous Dr. Phil in giving out pop-psycho babble answers to these women's problems.

My friend, listen to me carefully. The only message we have is JESUS. Let me say that again. The ONLY message we have is Jesus. Joel Osteen is just another world-pleasing motivational speaker unless he tells people about Jesus. T.D. Jakes is just another guy who can talk unless he tells people about Jesus. Paula White is just another pretty face on TV unless she tells people about Jesus. The pastor of your local church is no better than the drunk at the local bar unless he tells people about Jesus. Bill Keller has NOTHING to tell over 2.3 million world wide every day via email unless he tells people about Jesus. YOU have nothing but empty words for people unless you tell them about Jesus. We have no message other than the message of Jesus!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I want to challenge you and encourage you today to become BOLD in declaring Christ to those God has put into your life. Your family, friends, neighbors, those you work with or go to school with, people you recreate with, in addition to the people you simply meet in the course of your daily life ARE THE VERY PEOPLE GOD HAS ALLOWED TO CROSS YOUR PATH, NOT BY ACCIDENT, BUT TO TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS!

Telling others is not an option, it is a commandment for all of those who know the Lord as their Savior. How can we expect someone to get saved unless they are told how. You are the one God has put in their life to tell them how. I pray today that you will hear these words, take this challenge, and begin to make it a priority in your life each day to tell others about Jesus. We have no message other than Jesus, and if we won't declare His goodness and grace, if we won't praise His name, the very rocks will cry out!!!

Last Thursday I shared a special message about some recent challenges we are facing as we go back nationwide on the "i" Network, formerly Pax TV, Monday, November 6 where we will be seen "live" every Monday to Friday from Midnight to 1 a.m. EST. For the station where you live, go to: http://www.liveprayer.com/coverage.cfm. If you missed that important message, please, take a few minutes now to read it. The greatest resource of Liveprayer is the Liveprayer family. Everyone reading this knows someone, and I need you to carefully read the message below and pray about who you know who might be God's answer for our need.

I am well aware of Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, and Rich DeVos who started Amway, and other high-profile Christians who have built successful businesses that could easily step in and sponsor Liveprayer. As you can imagine, men like this are inundated with requests and getting to them directly is very difficult. That is why it is critical to have someone who knows one of these types of individuals on a personal basis who can make the proper introduction so we can share the unique work Liveprayer is doing in the marketplace and the fact this is not some "good idea," but a work of God with a long and successful track record that is simply tying to go to the next level of reaching the lost for Christ. Also, there are many private foundations who give large sums of money to organizations like Liveprayer. Once again, without an inside person to hear and become passionate about what we are doing, it is not realistic to ever receive funding through a charitable foundation. Everyone knows someone, so pray about who YOU know who can help. God has the right person out there!

As I share with you often, satan is not going to just sit back and let someone walk on his turf and steal souls bound for hell. Let me share with you what has happened just in the past few days. I received a call over the weekend that Larry Jones who runs Feed the Children was given a huge amount of money by the Mormon cult. If you remember, we had a major deal in place with Feed the Children that was going to be one of the key relationships to provide the ongoing finances for the TV program when we go back on nationwide November 6.

Sadly, the report was true. On all of Feed the Children's infomercials now, you have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's music. In addition, when you give a gift to Feed the Christian, you get a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD. The Mormon cult bought Larry Jones and Feed the Children to try and gain credibility that they are just another Christian church, when in reality they are a cult leading millions of souls to eternal damnation. Despite the projection that our agreement with Feed the Children would provide approximately $2.5 million a year, I did not hesitate to dissolve our relationship with Larry and his organization.

Just 24 hours later, I found out that eHarmony, another organization we were entering into a significant relationship with, was now controlled by secular interests. As you know I am no fan of internet dating, but with over 60 million people who are signed up for these types of services, I was open to eHarmony due to their Biblical stance on relationships.

Well, that is not the case any longer. The principles have basically sold out to secular financiers who are taking eHarmony in a secular direction. They now promote unequally-yoked relationships and I am told they have in the planning stages a new section for same-sex couples. Again, this was projected to bring in about $2.5 million annually to Liveprayer, but there is absolutely no way I will be involved with these types of destructive relationships for any amount of money.

Sadly, we have also had to cut off negotiations with Dave Ramsey's financial organization. Dave is a first-class guy and probably the best there is on handling your finances from a Biblical standpoint. We simply could not come into agreement on the financial splits that would work for both organizations.

Faced with the gutting of these relationships we worked so hard to put into place to finance the TV program long term, it would be very easy to get down. The easy route of course is to simply do what everyone else does and take so much time every program to beg people to give. However, that defeats the whole purpose of what we are trying to accomplish. If I was going to do that, I would simply go on the Christian networks and become part of the "preach to the choir" culture, build a big glass building, buy a Malibu mansion, and fly around in a private jet. However, that is not what Liveprayer or Bill Keller is about.

The good news is we still have over 4 weeks to work on finding a new sponsor or sponsors. Liveprayer is incredibly commercially viable. The Internet side has over 2.3 million subscribers who get the Daily Devotional each morning. The TV program averaged right at 2.5 million viewers a night when we were on in July, one of the lowest viewing months of the year, and will have 60 minutes a week of commercial time in the program. The bottom line is that Liveprayer has very tangible and valuable assets.

In 2007, Liveprayer will be adding a 24-hour prayer station on either Sirius or XM satellite radio, we will have the Daily Devotional book coming out, plus we are working on getting the Daily Devotional distributed every morning to many major commercial franchises around the country like McDonald's. We are also planning for a monthly live event in cities around the nation that will not be your typical crusade where the local churches bus in the people, but these will be pure outreaches to the masses in those cities who DON'T go to church. Again, each one of these components will be a very valuable commercial commodity.

I am looking right now for one company, one organization, to become the title sponsor for all of Liveprayer ministries. The price tag is $1 million a month. For that million dollars each month, the company will get 240 minutes on the nationwide TV program to use as they please. That alone makes it an attractive deal since that breaks down to just over $4,000/min which is very inexpensive for nationwide advertising.

The title sponsor will also get prominence on the Liveprayer.com website, including the new Daily Devotional archive page that we anticipate will receive hundreds of thousands of hits daily. They will also be able to have links in the Daily Devotional where people can access their information. As we add the radio, publishing, and live events, the title sponsor will have the ability to be part of these additional ministry components as well.

Bottom line. This is a unique and incredible opportunity for one company to partner with Liveprayer to get the Truth of God's Word out to the masses and share with the lost that Jesus is their only hope and answer. It would be ideal for a proven networking company since the nationwide access would allow them to build an incredible downline very quickly. It would be ideal for any company that has a product or service to promote. It would also be great for a company that simply wants to use some of the resources God has blessed them with to promote the Gospel.

So, please be praying about who you know who might be able to take advantage of this awesome opportunity. Pray about the company you work for, whether they would be open to this type of relationship. For those of you who own your own business, this is a big commitment, but one that God will honor and bless you richly for undertaking. I will guarantee you that even if you never tried to sell or market anything, God will bless your business many times over for your sacrifice to take His Truth to the world. Just like God blesses those who give $10 and $20, God also blesses those who give millions!

GOD IS SPEAKING TO HEARTS OUT THERE AND LOOKING TO BLESS ABUNDANTLY THE ONE WHO ANSWERS THIS CALL!!!

So we press on here. If you think I am going to get discouraged or down because those we were counting on sold out, you are wrong. It only strengthens my resolve. We are all ready to go on November 6th, God is moving on people's hearts in a big way and we have $350,000 committed of the $900,000 we need on November 1st to cover our second month. God used 81 people to make up "The 300" that layed the foundation which enabled us to get to where we are today. He is now calling on several people to help build on that foundation as we go to the next level in reaching this nation for Christ "live" for an hour 5 nights a week on a major secular television network, something nobody else is doing.

(Btw, for those who are interested, I have a PDF version of our last 2 year's Financial Statements that I would be happy to email you. You will quickly see that the money we raise goes directly to reaching people for Christ. No buildings, no planes, no huge staff. I have kept things tight on purpose so what we raise can go to saving souls!)

My friend, God has called me and He has called you to make an impact for His Kingdom with our lives. We are here to serve and glorify our Lord with our lives. When we die, the only thing that will matter is those we have touched for Jesus. God has raised up this unique and powerful ministry called Liveprayer in this day, just like He has raised up other unique and powerful ministries over the generations to help fulfill His plan and purpose.

I want to thank you for praying for me, and I want to thank those of you are led and able to give, for your financial support. Please be praying for God to raise up the sponsor we need. We have the opportunity to make a huge impact in our world and in millions of lives for Christ. God has given us the tools, given us the favor we need, now we simply need to have the resources to keep things moving forward. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, all the gold and silver belongs to Him. If God has blessed you financially, if God has blessed your business, please be praying how you can allow God to use you like He used the family in Alabama to stand with me as we bring this lost and hurting world the only answer there is JESUS!!!