Daily Devotional for Friday August 10, 2012
The World has Higher Standards than the Christian TV Networks Have
(Mark 16:15)
***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, Is it wrong to be in or join a union? Why are Republicans so anti-union? Is it because they are rich & don't believe the average worker deserves a fair wage or insurance? I just wondered because you have never addressed this subject.
ANSWER: There is NOTHING wrong with being part of a union. Many jobs require it. I have never really gotten into such an issue since it really an employment/political issue as opposed to spiritual. At the end of the day, what political party a person identifies with should NEVER override Biblical Truth. God's Word should ALWAYS guide how we live our lives and our beliefs.
The world has higher standards than the Christian TV networks have! Here is the rule of thumb for Christian TV. As long as your check is good, you can air your program. It doesn't matter how you conduct your personal life, what scandals you are involved in, as long as you can pay the TV network for your time slot, and don't forget to come help them raise money during their telethons, you are fine in their book.
"Bishop" Eddie Long is just the latest in the long line of Christian TV "stars" whose secret life was recently exposed. Long has been able to generate $50-$60 million year after year because he followed the tried and true business model of going on Christian TV, preaching how you can have all the material things in the world, as long as you send him your money.
You don't even need sound doctrine. One of the biggest Christian TV "stars" is TD Jakes. Jakes doesn't even believe in the trinity! That makes him no different from other cults who deny the deity of Christ like the JWs and Mormons to name a few.
You can't argue with the results. Those ministries on Christian TV all take in tens of millions annually, have their private jets, multiple mansions, drive the most expensive luxury cars in the world, operate out of beautiful glass buildings and state-of-the-art campuses with large staffs, all by quoting Scripture out of context to make people believe that God wants them to have all of the opulence the world can offer. All you have to do is have faith, oh, and send the TV preacher all the money you have and pledge whatever you don't have!
The saddest part of this story is that in most secular professions and industries, people who misbehave, compromise their morals and ethics, are usually terminated. However, I have yet to see a major Christian TV network take any of their "stars" off the air, no matter how much sin they have been involved in, for any reason other than they couldn't pay for their air time.
It is no wonder why the lost in the world wants little to do with the church, or the Christian media, and MOCK, not listen to those men and women of God who may actually have a legitimate message for them. Sadly, Christian TV is about one thing...MONEY. As long as the money keeps rolling in, the "stars" can do whatever they want in their personal life.
But hey, why hold the ministers that air on Christian TV to any kind of standard, when the founder of the largest Christian TV network in the world recently paid a man hundreds of thousands of dollars to silence his accusations they had gay sex together. I heard the tortured explanation that it was cheaper to just give him apx. $300,000 to make it all go away. I am sorry, but for this man who takes in hundreds of millions annually in donations from people, if the accusations were false, he should have spent every dime he had to clear his name!
I love you and care about you so much. No, the viewers on secular TV aren't going to buy you a new Bentley, as a matter of fact, they aren't going to send you a dime. Why should they? The twisting of Bible verses used on Christian TV isn't going to get a secular audience excited enough to write you a check for $1,000 so their debts will be wiped out, or whatever the fantasy story of the day to sucker people into sending in their money.
So rather than reach out to the truly lost and hurting, the "stars" of Christian TV stay in the comfort and profitability of their incestuous little sub-culture of Christendom, with the freedom to live any way they want....as long as they keep paying their TV bills. And we wonder why despite having more churches, more Christian media, more Christian everything than at any time in history, we have virtually ZERO impact on our culture that is in spiritual freefall, with hundreds of thousands of people dying daily and needlessly ending up in the flames of hell for all eternity because nobody reached them with the simple truth of the Gospel.
I realized many years ago I could move all we do out of the marketplace and into the "Christian trough." I would find love and adulation, my only financial worries would be how to spend all of the "love gifts" that would pour in. Why go out into the world and fight the cults, false religions, new age gurus, atheists, tools of satan like Oprah, PBS' Dwyer, Beck, CAIR, Planned Parenthood, the homosexual groups, and countless others helping to lead souls to hell.
I will fight satan and his minions with my last breath for souls. I can't save anyone, but I can certainly make sure they have heard the Truth, and not just the lies of those who serve satan. I have struggled every month since we started Liveprayer over 11 years ago, but if that is what I have to do to stay in the marketplace, to keep God's Truth heard amongst the din and lies of satan, so be it.
I won't stop doing what God has called me to do, and I won't be ashamed to ask you to help me bring the only hope and Truth there is to the lost and hurting masses. I will never ask you to give what you don't have, or lie to you that by sending a gift to Liveprayer all of your financial problems will disappear. I respect you enough to simply share our needs and let our body of work over a decade speak for itself!
Also, most churches and ministries spend up to and often over 50 cents of every dollar on overhead and administration. Who do you think buys the land, builds the buildings, pays for the huge staffs, etc. At Liveprayer, we have always had over 93 cents of every dollar going to the work we do. What that means is the money you give is actually going to the work of God, and not to man!
Everyone else has no problem asking you to give them money for their buildings, staff, private jets, luxurious lifestyle, I will not hesitate to ask you to help me to SAVE SOULS !!!
***AUGSUT FINANCIAL UPDATE: Thank You to everyone who prayed and those who were able to make the sacrifce to help Liveprayer during July and so far this month. We are still $15,000 short of covering our basic operations budget from July. I am seeking the Lord today that everyone in the Liveprayer family who is able, will send the most generous gift they can today so that by this weekend we can cover our shortfall and begin working on the $40,000 we need for our August operations as we celebrate 13 yrs of Liveprayer. Our shortfall is several weeks past due, and I am asking for 3 people who can make a special one-time gift of $5,000 to help me today. Each month for 155 months now, God has used the faithfulness of those in the Liveprayer family to help us cover what we need to operate for one more month. Each sacrificing what they are led and able to give to help us meet our needs. Please take a moment today and pray about what God is asking you to do to help me clear up our July shortfall. Thank you for your love, prayers, and sacrifice as we take HIS Truth into the marketplace and the hope and love of Jesus to the lost and hurting!!!
TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card on our secure server at: www.liveprayer.com under the "Donation" link, you can give using your PayPal account using my email address: bkeller@liveprayer.com,or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St.Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible.
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller