Daily Devotional for Thursday July 24, 2014
Excerpts from Two Emails in Addition to the 40,000 We Receive Daily for Prayer
(John 14:6)
***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, what do you think about this? Brown University was founded in 1764 by a group of Baptist ministers. It has held its commencement services in First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island (the first Baptist church in America) since 1776. Now it has become the 37th American college to include "sex reassignment surgeries" in its student health care plans.
ANSWER: It is a stench in the nostrils of God, much like ANY church or "pastor" that condones in any way sins like homosexuality and abortion. God didn't make any mistakes when he made a man a man or a woman a woman. Yes, through modern medical procedures, you can physically change your sex, but it doesn't change who God made you. To do such a thing is to literally tell God He was wrong!!!
"....more and more of your devotional copy is spent on begging to raise more $.......I realize that a valid ministry does take money.You have been at this crossroads now for 2 or more years..it's beginning to read like those 4 day going out of business furniture sales that go on week after week after week."
"...you are nothing but a typical money-grubber...why don't you go out and get a real job?"
These are excerpts from two emails we got yesterday, in addition to the 40,000 we receive daily for prayer and counsel. To be fair, we have received emails like these for the 15 yrs we have been online, and the 10 yrs on TV, as people who have never taken the time to get to know me or our work here at Liveprayer immediately lump me with the prosperity pimps on Christian TV running their money hustle games for their private jets, Bentleys, mansions, buildings, and opulent lifestyle.
They actually amuse me to some degree since most people telling me to get a "real job" wouldn't last 2 days just following me, let alone have all that is required theologically, operationally, and ministerially to remotely do what I do. As my wife often reminds me, I would actually make more working for minimum wage at McDonalds and get a paycheck every week!
I wonder if these people think all that is required to reach millions worldwide 24/7/365 happens by magic? I wonder if they are upset when politicians "beg" people to give them $50,000 for a chicken dinner to pursue their political ideology, or those commercials with one-eyes animals and the creepy music designed to induce you to give to some animal rescue group, or any number of non-profit organizations that depend upon donations to fund their work and without shame ask the public to give to their cause.
Since the first month of Liveprayer, I have simply got on my knees that first day of the month and simply asked God to provide what we needed to cover our operations for that month. Not a penny more. Until the past 5 yrs when the economy took such a hit and so many people have struggled, I would share our financial needs 3-4x a month.
Even though it still comprises less than 3% of our content each day, without sharing our needs, letting people know where we are at and challenging them to help, we wouldn't be able to continue. Very few people have greater faith than I do, and those aren't words, I live it every day. The same God who has sustained His work here for the past 15 yrs will sustain it until He calls me home or the Lord returns!
The fact is, if I was a "typical moneygrubber," I would have done what Hinn, Dollar, Jakes, and the rest of the Christian ministries do and simply preach to the choir, use Scripture our of context to lie to you why giving me money will make you rich, or other deceptive tactics they use in order to guilt you into giving them your money.
If that was my goal, I would just be another "ear tickling" motivational preacher like Osteen and never mention sin, hell, or anything else that would offend people in order to amass a great following (and money!). I guess I was an idiot all these years for not asking people to give money for private planes, buildings, mansions, cars, and million dollar salaries like the rest of these guys have done, and still do today!
A few years ago the ultra-liberal blog that has hammered me for years, the Huffington Post founded by Arianna Huffington who was already rich after marrying and divorcing Michael Huffington, was bought by AOL for $315 million. What a world we live in when a left-wing anti-Christian blog is bought by a major entity like AOL, whose stock price has already lost over half a billion dollars in value since the purchase!
I remember over the years many offers by different groups and ministries to buy Liveprayer.com. One offer 5 years ago was for just under $6 million. I guess a true "money grubber" would have sold the ministry, or used the website like most to sell books, tapes, resources, and fill the site with advertising that would make it look like a NASCAR while pocketing millions, instead of providing all of the incredible unique content we produce each day for millions of people worldwide for FREE!
Since 2008, we have seen a 65% drop in donations like most churches, ministries, and non-profits have. In difficult financial times, I had a wonderful group of 30 people I could call on to help with a gift of $5,000, $10,000, even $20,000. The last 2 people out of a group of 30 from just 6 years ago that I could always count on for financial help in a time of need, contributed 20% of the Liveprayer.com operations last year.
I have cut our operations to the bare bones so we could simply operate. Doing a TV program 5 days a week on secular TV, sending the Devotional daily to over 2.5 million people worldwide, sending personal responses to over 40,000 emails a day for prayer...all for FREE...has costs associated with it! Sadly, both of the businesses of these final two friends of God's work here have had a downturn in the last 18 months, and even they are no longer able to give as they did in past years, or most important, be a lifeline I can call on in an emergency when we need a quick infusion of $5,000-$20,000.
The fact is, our budget to do all we do reaching the incredible numbers of people around the world we do each day and 5 nights a week on the TV program, is the same budget of a local church with apx. 1,000 members that meets once a week and maybe for a pot luck dinner once a month! It is a "fishes and loaves" miracle how God exponentially multiplies what we require each month to operate and uses it to reach the incredible number of lives in such a personal way!
I have always led by example and over these past 5 years I have not taken a dime of salary, only what I needed to survive like electric, water, and food, despite putting in 14 hour days, 7 days a week as I have since day one 15 years ago. I promise, I have backed off a bit, a few hours to keep my doctor happy. Even when I did take a paycheck, my compensation was never more than $40,000 a year.
For those who encourage me to get a "real job," at age 20 and for the 10 years I ran from God before going into the ministry, I was richly blessed making 6 and some years 7 figures, never knowing what financial pressures were. Since starting Liveprayer nearly 15 yrs ago, I have mortgaged my modest home 8 times to help fund the minsitry, and like many people, it is currently $40,000 under water. The reality is, I would be much better financially having a "real job," instead of serving the Lord, but I no longer yearn for the temporal things of this world but the eternal things of God!!!
The good news is that God has always had a "ram in the bush." He has used hundreds of key people over these past 15 years who at critical times were in a position to step up and play a critical role in His work. It has been interesting to watch one month one of the Liveprayer family who could send a gift of anywhere between $5,000 and $50,000 at a critical time, be replaced by someone else the next month who would step up and "save the day." I am praying today for a few "day savers" to help me as we face our current financial challenges in funding Liveprayer.com and the Liveprayer TV program.
I know in my heart, like the Old Testament prophets knew in their hearts when God called them be faithful and serve Him no matter the personal costs. God has called me and this ministry to not only to save souls, but use this platform to lead our nation back to God and His Truth. The fact is, Liveprayer is not just at the crossroads, but a day of reckoning. We are on the verge of seeing 15 yrs of ministry used to turn the nation back to God and His Truth.
As a man of flesh and blood, I can empathize with other men of flesh and blood like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, and so many others we read about in the pages of the Bible. You see, they all had a deep and abiding relationship with God. They knew when God was speaking to them. They all took great steps of faith to accomplish what God had called them to do.
15 yrs ago, God told me to start an internet site when few people even had the internet, to bring hope to the hurting, salvation to the lost, and God's Truth to this dark world we live in. I didn't even own a computer, the ministry had no money, yet BY FAITH, just like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul, men of flesh and blood, I BELIEVED GOD AND TOOK MY WOK OF FAITH!
Here we are, in the last week of July 2014. Tens of millions of lives worldwide have been impacted by Liveprayer over the past 15 years. Over 2.5 million souls worldwide are fed daily through the Daily Devotional. Every 24 hours we receive 40,000 emails for prayer and counsel. Most important, over 800,000 souls we know of will be in Heaven due to our efforts and faith, and your love, prayers, and sacrifce to help me!!
During these past 15 yrs, I have had many opportunities to slip into the "Christian trough" that consists of the Christian media, the churches, and the vast majority of ministries. It would have been easy to live in the applause, comfort, and profitability of that subculture. However, I did not give my life to Christ for applause, for comfort, to make money. I gave my life to Christ to give hope to the hopeless, salvation through faith in Jesus to the lost, and to help lead a nation in spiritual freefall back to God and His Truth.
With just one week life in the month, we require $36,000 for the balance of our July internet operations and $44,000 to get our TV airtime current. I am standing in faith that over this next week, God will deliver the $80,000 we require for our critical daily ministry operations so we can head into the month of August current! If everyone will pray and "gives according to their ability to give," it will insure by the end of the month the $80,000 we require for our basic ministry operations are current!!!
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.
I love you and care about you so much. Over the years, it has been millions of friends like you praying, thousands of friends like you making sacrifices, sometimes great sacrifices, to help Liveprayer accomplish all it has. Back in November of 2007, I told you in a Devotional that the world as we know it was going to change greatly in the coming year. God was no longer going to sit back and watch a nation slaughter 4,000 innocent babies every day, make a mockery of His holy institution of marriage, see every type of perverted sexual act promoted and glorified, have His plan for the family altered...while men worshipped and bowed down to every false god and idol they had created in their evil minds!
I could never ask you for a dime for myself, however if every kind of organization under the sun believes in what they are doing to ask people to support them, I certainly have no shame to ask for your help to pray for people, save souls, and help save this nation! The fact is, we do more with less than any non-profit, church or Christian minsitry I know of. That is because I don't use your money for buildings, huge staffs, private jets, multi-million dollar salaries for me and family members, to buy 10 million dollar beachfront mansions, or new Bentleys. Listen, if you want to give for those things that is up to you.
NINETY THREE CENTS OF EVERY DOLLAR WE RAISE GOES TO WHAT WE DO! THAT IS SAVING SOULS, BRINGING HOPE TO THE HURTING, AND TO CHANGE THE SPRITUAL COURSE OF THIS NATION BEFORE WE SEE THE WRATH AND PUNISHMENT OF ALMIGHTY GOD UNLEASHED ON OUR LAND!!!
I need everyone today to pray! Pray for God to move on hearts who are able to help me at this critical time. I also need you to forward this Devotional to everyone you know who loves the Lord and wants to see God put back on the throne of this nation and His Truth proclaimed across the land. Lastly, even if you have to dig our a quarter from the couch, I need everyone reading this make a sacrifce to help me.
The Bible teaches to give according to our ability to give. For some, it may be just a quarter you find in the couch. For others, it may be $1, or $5. Still others, especially those who are working can give $20, $50, $100. Still others who God has blessed can send a gift of $200, $500, $1,000, even $10,000, $20,000, $100,000, or $1 million. People give $1 million every day to causes they care about. Is the soul of a nation, the eternal souls of millions of people worth $1 million if you have the ability to send such a gift?????
I have been on the front lines taking the fire for 22 years now. I refuse to retreat to the safety and profitability of the "Christian trough" while this nation is destroyed by satan and his minions and souls needlessly end up in hell. I have but one life, and when it was over, I want to be able to stand before God and know that I gave everything I had for the Kingdom. I want to take my last breath knowing my life's work is complete and I held nothing back in my service for the Lord.
I have only been able to fight this fight these past 2 decades because of dear friends like you. Now more than ever I need you to stand with me. Pray, give as you are able in accordance with what the Bible teaches, and take your stand with me. The time is short, the spiritual state of this nation hangs in the balance, the souls of hundreds of millions of people are at stake. It is time to act and lead this nation back to God and His Truth while leading the lost to faith in Jesus Christ!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller