A new year reminds us that regardless of how often we fail or miss the mark, and we all do, God freely offers the opportunity to begin anew. He is a God of love, mercy, forgiveness, and inner peace. He gives confidence concerning the future if we trust and obey Him. My mission as an evangelist must be accomplished as a servant proclaiming the good news of the gospel. The first 20 years, many referred to me as a “spokesman,” “prophet,” “Christian crusader” and made many predictions concerning my future. God, however, made it perfectly clear that in order to be effective in any gift, it must be used with a servant’s heart.
Almost 25 years ago, I discovered indescribable joy serving Christ, His body, and others as a SERVANT. I have always been a treasure hunter—“treasure” referring to what is best, beautiful, precious, meaningful, truly exhilarating, and exciting. I always found myself most attracted to the most gifted, effective communicators of God’s love and truth. Just as I would point others to a beautiful landscape, sunset, scenery, flowers, wildlife, or even great food, I always sought to point them to Jesus and the great things of God. When I found a treasure, I wanted to share it.
Suddenly, I was sharing the greatest, most gifted and anointed members of Christ’s body with all the people we could gather. The teachers, pastors, evangelists, prophets, and those with apostolic insight were invited to come and share. I began bringing Christians and other leaders together in great annual Bible conferences, which most said became the largest in the nation at that time. People came because they were blessed by others I saw as far more gifted than myself. I watched millions of lives touched and changed when people heard those we invited.
With a servant’s heart, God led me to launch the LIFE Today television program with my wife, Betty, as co-host. We began sharing every day the most gifted and inspiring church leaders and believers with all who would join us in the “family room” to better know, in a personal way, our heavenly Father. We also brought in believers who were not highly visible but had awesome testimonies of God’s power and grace. Our viewers saw an extraordinary God in very ordinary people. They saw that God can use anyone who is available to Him and His will.
Through LIFE Today, we began to develop worldwide mission outreaches, and everyone began seeing a clear expression of God’s love. By joining together with other believers, we are putting God’s arms around a suffering world. Believers express the Father’s heart by joining together to extend His caring hands. Our viewers and partners love it and have become the most giving, generous people anyone could ever hope for. Love never fails, and it keeps on giving—especially for those who give so faithfully and unselfishly.
What a joy to watch our Lord Jesus flow through yielded vessels. Now as we begin the new year in obedience to God, and after more than four years of diligent, fervent prayer with highly respected, truly anointed church leaders, we are launching an outreach that has the potential of sharing God’s love, truth, and wisdom 24 hours a day. It is called The Stream (stream.org), an online daily news and commentary web site that will be available to everyone in mid-January.
Faith-filled Catholics, evangelicals, Orthodox Christians and Jews concerned about the direction of our country tend to work in silos, isolated one from another. The Stream will be a common ground where they come together to be enriched and energized in the shared work of renewing our culture. The Stream will champion a Judeo-Christian worldview of freedom, enterprise, limited government and human dignity while cultivating the high common ground shared by theologically conservative believers.
Defenders of freedom and a virtuous society will always be welcome at The Stream. Here though, I want to place specific emphasis on the unity you will find at The Stream among Christians of widely diverse backgrounds. You will be inspired and informed by the most gifted church and wise, compassionate business leaders. We will present gifted communicators from all parts of Christ’s body, which has been so tragically divided into various sectarian groups and tribes, hindering the revelation of the glory of God.
I am drawn and attracted to Him (Jesus) in others. I desire to see Him so high and lifted up that “He will draw all men to Himself.” I long to see believers recognize and appreciate Jesus when we see Him in others outside our own group. The Lord is as easy to see as light in the darkness when it is turned on or uncovered. He is altogether magnetically attractive and so awesome in power and love. He longs for His children to have understanding of the times and not perish for lack of the knowledge of Christ and necessary truth and wisdom.
The church and all members of His body must become radiant expressions of light with the effect of salt, protecting and preserving that which is precious. But believers will not be effective in their assigned roles as witnesses, ambassadors, priests, and wise overseers if they are not joined together in supernatural unity as members of His healthy body.
I am filled with hope. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,” and both heaven and earth should declare His glory and will if His people release it together in “unity of the Spirit and a bond of peace.” God has spoken very clearly through His Word and through the sincere prayers of leaders you respect and revealed what we must do to help inspire and encourage the necessary Great Awakening.
Through The Stream, we will release a river fed by the gifted, called-out tributaries of wisdom, love, and truth with Godly oversight into those channels that gladly receive God’s transforming truth. The result will be fruitfulness and positive productivity.
When people are born again, discover personal freedom and come to understand that true national freedom must be established, protected and preserved by people who elect qualified, committed representatives and establish strong laws, everyone benefits. It is the only way people can be lifted out of poverty and have the opportunity to grow, advance, see their own dreams fulfilled, and have the ability to share the blessings with others.
The body of Christ must faithfully warn everyone of the danger of greed, idolatry, and self-consumed living. If they fail to hold high the standard, the cycle of defeat, deception, debt, despair, and destruction will be repeated. When God’s principles are followed, the blessings that believing makes possible become both a test and a potential path to defeat. It is the relationship with Father God through faith in Jesus that gives us the ability to overcome, live in freedom, and maintain freedom’s blessings.
We are trusting God to witness what Psalm 46:4 declares, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High” (NASB). Those streams will flow from the gifted, called-out, sold-out-to-God leaders—both men and women—who will receive and release all God imparts for His glory and kingdom purpose. We will witness the healing of the land as God’s people joyfully, in repentance, return to Him with their whole heart. We will also be initiating a prayer stream for The Stream and for the purpose of God to be fulfilled in our day. I am asking you to commit this day to begin praying for The Stream. We are convinced the birth of The Stream is a result of fervent prayer, and the Lord’s blessings through The Stream will depend on it. May He receive all the honor and glory as Christ is exalted as “the Name above every name.”
Look for fresh information at The Stream (stream.org) starting January 12, including the announcement of the specific launch date to take place later in the month. We are offering the Lord Jesus our two fish and five loaves. Through social media, you can help get the word out to all of your friends and those who care and believe in the power of prayer and truth.