It’s always important to have an attitude of thankfulness, but this special season of Thanksgiving reminds us to look back and think about what God has done. As Jamie and I look back over this year, we are especially thankful for you. You have joined with us and sacrificially given to help take God’s good news to people around the world. On behalf of the thousands you have helped, we say THANK YOU. We are praising God because of you and pray that His blessings will overtake you.
The benefits of praise and thankfulness are too numerous to mention, but I think it’s very appropriate to be thinking about them as we celebrate what I believe to be the most sacred holiday in America. It was set aside just to give thanks and has not been diluted with things like little rabbits and reindeer.
When we thank God for all His blessings, it refocuses our attention from the negative to the positive things in our lives. Sure, all of us have problems. We live in a fallen world, but God is good, and God’s goodness to us is greater than all of the Enemy’s attacks.
Every one of us has much to be thankful for and more than enough reason to be praising Him. We just need to put everything into perspective. Paul praised God after being beaten, stoned, whipped, and thrown in jail. Then he said these were but light afflictions that last for a moment, nothing to be compared to eternal things (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
Paul understood that praise coming from a thankful heart has great power. It will build you up spiritually, it is a source of strength, it is a powerful weapon against the devil, and it ministers to the Lord, just to mention a few of its benefits. My series The Effects of Praise will help you understand more about its effects.
Not only are Jamie and I thankful to you for what your gifts have helped make possible this year, but we are also thankful to God for the doors He has opened. As most of you know, we are now airing the Gospel Truth on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The program is broadcast nationally, once a week, on Mondays at 11:30 a.m., Mountain Time. The results of this broadcast have far exceeded our expectations.
In the past I have often talked about what we thought would happen when we began broadcasting on TBN. We knew the results would be huge because it has three to five times the viewers of the second largest network. We began airing June 2, and now that we have over five months of history, it is no longer just an estimate; the facts speak for themselves.
In this short period of time, broadcasting only one day a week, the response from the TBN viewers is rivaling that of what has, until now, been our most successful network. We’ve been broadcasting our daily program on that network for over six years.
This speaks volumes about the huge audience TBN reaches and the hunger that people have for the message of God’s unconditional love and grace. There are some Mondays when we have received over 1,000 contacts from a single TBN broadcast. By any standard in Christian television, that is a great response.
The goal that the Lord placed in my heart was to cover the United States with the Gospel Truth broadcast by the year 2012 and to saturate it by the year 2020. I have always believed that someday TBN would bring us on their network, but since they had repeatedly shown no interest, I was planning to reach my goal through Christian and secular television without them.
However, this breakthrough with TBN changes everything. We can now say that we have complete coverage of the United States. In other words, nearly every home in the U.S. can receive our broadcast. That does not mean they tune in or even know we are on the air. It’s still a very long way from what is considered saturation.
In practical terms, saturation means that if you were watching television and surfing the channels for several hours, you would come across our program. Until we have a daily program multiple times each day on all the networks, including TBN, many people will never even hear about the Gospel Truth.
I am believing to have a daily program on TBN very soon and then multiple timeslots after that. As you can imagine, the price tag for all of this is no small thing. Our media buyers anticipate that it will take $2.5 million per month to reach the goal of saturating the U.S. with the Gospel Truth. Combining that with the additional personnel and equipment it will take to serve those people, and you can easily see that the costs will be huge.
The reason I am so excited about this is because of all the lives that are being touched. Many people come up to me at our meetings and say, “Why haven’t I ever heard this before?” or “Is there anyone in our area who believes and teaches this?” The Lord is building His kingdom, not mine. I believe Jamie and I have been called to bring a fresh revelation of the true Gospel to the body of Christ, and it’s thrilling to see God doing it through us.
However, we aren’t doing this by ourselves. We know that none of what has been accomplished could have happened without you—our partners and friends in the ministry. Your role in this ministry is tremendously important. You are like the engine that pulls the train. Without the engine, we aren’t going anywhere. And what takes place in the future depends on the continuing power of your support and others who believe God has called them to help take this message to the world.
It is going to take thousands of partners to reach this nation with the good news. If you are not yet a partner, please prayerfully consider becoming a Grace Partner. Grace Partners are those who give $30 or more each month to help us deliver this message.
If you would like to help with the TBN broadcast with a one-time gift, please go to www.awmi.net/tbn_broadcast/donation.
So a special thank-you to all of you who have helped make this possible. We not only believe you will be blessed in this life but in the life to come. People who were changed through the message you helped us share will line up to welcome you into heaven (Luke 16:9). You’re a blessing.
