Jim Bakker Show

We recently celebrated my 50 year Anniversary in Ministry and what a celebration it was!  There were many people from years gone by that surprised and delighted me on the show!  It seems nearly impossible that it’s been that long, yet I can remember some things as if they were yesterday.  As a young Evangelist, I would hold revivals from Tuesday through Sunday night and then travel on Monday to the next location.

Quite often, after preaching and being in the anointing at church, I would turn on late-night TV to unwind.  There was very little to watch at that hour except Johnny Carson.  I remember listening to everything they would talk about; most of it gossip, politics or entertainment news of some variety.  It didn’t take long for me to be completely annoyed by all of the frivolous things that passed for late-night talk show content.  I remember thinking “why doesn’t someone talk about Jesus?”

It was this small, yet profound inspiration that led me to break new ground in a revolutionary Christian talk show – so that Christians could have an alternative to the world’s ‘babble’ and more people could participate in talking about Jesus!  I began on “The 700 Club” and eventually moved into pioneering “The PTL Television Network.”  PTL inspired the birth of countless other Christian talk shows. 

Before long, there was an abundance of Christian programming and those who knew Jesus could now rejoice because they had an alternative  to the world’s ‘babble’.  Now that’s what I had been inspired to do  as a young Evangelist!  To see and hear so many people talking about Jesus on television was the height of my life’s dream – not only for the Christians, but for those who were to become Christians by hearing the Gospel!

Today, the dream lives on.  The times we are living in have brought many people to Christian television seeking answers for this prophetic age just before Jesus returns again.  Even the unbelievers are looking for hope.  While a large part of the world still fiddles away their time in the mindless, meaningless pursuit of trivial things, there is a beacon of light being broadcast through the darkness.  The Gospel is still being preached, the lost are still finding their way to Jesus, and the dreams of a once-young Evangelist are still coming true.

Famine is spoken of in the Bible as an increasing and accelerating sign that Jesus is coming soon.  We can certainly see it in our news headlines, particularly recent headlines, with the food crisis in North African countries that produced a very poignant plea from the President of Somalia for immediate help.  But, there is another famine that is even more deadly coming soon.  It’s the famine of the Word of God, which feeds the soul. 

The third horseman is riding. “When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius . . . and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (6:5–6 NKJV) The rider of the black horse carries with him famine and economic collapse, signified by the weighing scales and the exorbitant prices for food.”

Imagine, if you can, how famine might affect our own nation. Your worst nightmare could soon be a reality.  Intensifying the effects of famine brought on by the galloping of the black horse will also be economic chaos and inflationary prices, which is what is indicated by the phrase “a quart of wheat for a denarius” (Rev. 6:6 NASB). In biblical times, a denarius was equal to a day’s wages. The implication is that we could spend a day’s wages for a loaf of bread.

But there is another kind of famine spoken of in the Bible that will be prevalent in the Last Days that is even more destructive.  How can it be more destructive than the famine that kills the body, you may ask.  Because the famine I am speaking of can kill not only the body which is temporal but can also kill the soul, which is eternal.  The other famine I’m speaking of  is a famine of the Word of God.

In the Times we are living in, there is an acceleration of events in the world which are quickly taking away our right to our very expressions of our faith as Christians.  These campaigns and events are quickly bringing about an atmosphere of antagonistic persecution of our very right to practice our Christianity.  We are being told not to mention the name of Jesus in any speech or prayer or other public setting.  Our lawmakers are quickly bowing to the powerful antichrist spirits that are busy influencing the masses to call evil good and good, evil. 

“‘Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God , “That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8:11)

God’s work of proclaiming His Words through His ministers, as well as through the mass media, may one day be prohibited, perhaps through persecution, governmental regulations or a combination of these and other factors.

There’s a reason why the scriptures exhort us to “hide the Word in your heart” and to “eat the Word”.  One day there will be a famine of those Words that we take for granted now, and we may have only what we have hidden deep down inside to sustain us through tough times. 

Let’s be sure we have the Word of God deep down inside us, where we can carry it with us always and where it can feed our souls in times of  famine.

Most of us want our lives to count for something.  When you are a Child of God, your life on this earth takes on a greater cause than just accomplishing something in the natural.  A Child of God is not satisfied with accomplishments – a Child of God wants to store up treasures in Heaven where moths and rust cannot corrupt them.

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:19-21

We recently dedicated our Prayer Center here at Morningside to Evelyn Campbell, aka “God’s Girl” who passed from this life into the arms of Jesus in 2010.  Evelyn was and is an inspiration to me and an example that all of us can follow.  Evelyn’s legacy was that she loved Jesus and believed in people – and lavishly poured out encouragement on everyone with whom she came in contact.  She was a pastor’s wife and she was my friend.

Evelyn was one of the first people to buy a condo here at Morningside.  I remember how excited she was to pick out the exact location of her new home so that she could watch all the goings on here on Grace Street from her balcony over the Cinema.  She wanted to be a vibrant part of the community.  When Evelyn died, she left her entire estate to this ministry – at a time when we desperately needed it!  She believed in us and she put the sum of her life’s work into keeping us alive.

As we embark on the vision of Lori’s House here at Morningside, we have a ‘knowing’ that we are on the threshold of something very sacred and near to the heart of God.  There is a sense of purpose and unity in the grace it takes to give and sustain innocent life.  This grace is uniting more and more of us in the business of keeping people alive in these last days.  It’s bigger than buildings or ministries or television broadcasts.  It’s about souls – the only eternally significant treasure we can invest our lives in and know that we are doing the Lord’s work.

In the dark night of my soul, when I was in prison, the enemy came after the last shred of my will to live when he said “it’s all gone – everything you’ve worked for – everything you’ve built – your life has counted for nothing – you’re no good.”

Then I began to get pictures of people, some teen-agers, some children, some adults.  With the pictures came the encouragement that these were lives that were saved through the various ministries at Heritage USA – most importantly, the home for unwed mothers where babies were born and cared for and their mothers supported and trained in a vocation that could support them.  It was a vibrant community that loved and supported each other and protected and loved innocent children.  The devil is a liar!

We can see from the signs of the times that Jesus will come soon.  He is coming for a Church that has his heart and is lead and motivated by love.  They will be about their Father’s business – and no business is more perfect than caring for the orphans (James 1:27).

Cindy Jacobs recently prophesied these words from the Lord:  “Where is my justice league?  Where are my super heroes that will administer my justice?  Morningside is meant to be a model.  This is far greater than just Lori’s House.  This is a prototype and a movement.”

Now do you see why we need more Evelyns in these last days?  We need people who are willing to give all they are and all they have for the work of the Lord.  These are the ones who go beyond their own search for significance and understand that the real treasure is in the life to come – eternal life with Jesus.  These are the ones who resonate with the call of justice for the innocent.  These are the ones who store up treasures that moth and rust cannot corrupt.

Will you be a part of this justice league?  The call is going out – the gauntlet is being thrown down.  It’s time to redeem the time.  It’s time to be a part of something bigger than yourself.  It’s time to get behind something that has eternal significance.  We need you and God needs you.

When you think of the greatest inspirations in music, or in a sermon, or in a book, or in a testimony, you rarely think of those inspirations coming from the mountaintop of life, though the mountaintop provides some encouragement. But greatness comes from the valley of a life lived in triumph through the face of trouble and adversity. Greatness comes from the dark night of the soul experiences in the valleys of life. The only thing that can speak to the sorrows of others is the fellowship of their suffering.

BeBe Winans was with me this week on the occasion of celebrating my 50th year in ministry. BeBe is a friend who loves at all times, and a brother born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17) He is a man that is priceless in his loyalty and his integrity. Though he has spent a great deal of his life on the mountaintop, BeBe knows what it means to struggle in the valley. Through BeBe’s songs, you find his testimony.

On the show BeBe told of a time when he was with the renowned poet, Maya Angelou and she offered this advice: “BeBe, promise me that you will learn to enjoy the struggle.”

Simplistic? Yes, but be very sure that there is more wisdom in those few words than many long, flowing dissertations and even countless books written by those who have not been in the valley and know not its struggles and its triumphs. It’s in the valley that the Word of God becomes your rhema. It’s in the valley that you are given the understanding that in your weakness, He is strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

During the show, BeBe sang a song by Donnie McClurkin, “Stand” which he and CeCe have performed many times. A key line in the chorus of this song says “after you’ve done all you can… Stand!” You can’t sing this song with the fervor and believability BeBe sings it with – without having been to the valley. If you didn’t catch this show on our ‘live-streaming’ internet, be sure you watch next week when it airs on regular television programming.

BeBe told me “You have been an example and a blessing to me and my entire family.” It doesn’t get any better than that, except to hear: “Well done, Good and Faithful Servant.”