"As long as God is in your heart Sunday becomes a state of mind and not just an entry on a calendar." My friend Roger Mater 3 days ago Join me and 6,942 followers on twitter.
Many years ago, in a galaxy far far away, there was a television commercial promoting beer. The commercial featured several young people precariously perched on a catamaran sailing through the water. As spray hit the lens of the camera, a dramatic voice announced, “You only go around once! Reach for all the gusto you can get.” Then the ad encouraged the viewer to drink their beer.
The ad was brilliant and deceptive.
As I watch television today, I am amazed at the major news networks near total neglect of The Person that Christmas is really all about. When did the FCC decide that the name of Jesus can’t be uttered over the airwaves?
www.newsbusters.org recently ran a blog that reminded us that at least for NBC ABC and CBS there is still no room at the inn. They pointed to a study by the Media Research Center’s Culture and Media Institute that shows that in their evening news coverage of “Christmas” in the two years from Oct. 1, 2008, to Sep 30, 2010 the networks almost completely neglected stories about family, religion, and the blessings that Americans enjoy.
Just seven stories out of 527 (1.3 percent) mentioned the deity in two years of network evening news coverage. Evidently God and Jesus are forbidden words for the networks.
The study showed that in stories about Christmas, more words were spoken about Ping Pong than God and the Underwear Bomber got more coverage than Jesus.
After watching the news over the past several days, I turned to my wife Diane last night and said, “The world is watching the church in action.” Thousands of believers who were themselves suffering personal loss are serving the poor in Haiti. Many have been there for years making a difference even before the earthquake struck. The efforts of these who are God’s feet on the ground can’t be hidden. You couldn’t miss the faces of hundreds of college students and high school groups from churches across America who were in Haiti before the disaster with a mission to help the beautiful people of this impoverished country. Hundreds if not thousands of them are among those who perished.
Does creative art have any power to reveal truth about God? God himself, the most creative artist of all, reveals the answer in Romans 1:20
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
His eternal power??? His divine nature???
The supreme artist proclaimed that an enormous body of essential truth could be known from observing his art. This doesn’t excuse us from the responsibility of proclaiming propositional truth in spoken word, but we have no choice but to conclude that creative art has both inspirational and rational power to reveal truth about God.
If God had not trusted the power of his artistic creation to reveal truth, he would have engraved John 3:16 on the petal of each rose.
If he had, I doubt we would take a picture of it. According to Romans 1:20 the message is already there……it’s in the art.
Every year we hold a limited attendance conference called The Summit. This very personalized conference is designed to give speakers, comedians, and other gifted artists information that will help them develop a career using their gifts or enable them to take an existing career to a new level. Two frequently asked questions are what should I charge and what am I worth? Those are two different questions. Let me answer them one at a time.
What should I charge? It often comes as a shock to discover that the value of a presentation or talent is not determined by the performer and it is not determined by a booking agency. It is not even determined by how talented the performer is or how good their show is.
The buying market determines the value. It is the market that dictates what you can charge. If the buying audience knows about you and wants to see the show, the value they place on that show will be reflected in a higher honorarium or ticket price. If the market doesn’t know you exist or has no desire to see what you have to offer, no matter how good the show is, they will place little or no value on the ticket. The Summit helps talented young people learn how to build a program that appeals to the market, and build a market that wants what they have to offer.
BUT HERE’S THE PROBLEM.
Many artists confuse the market value of their talent with their personal value. It is true that a sometimes brutal and picky market determines what a particular talent package is worth, but the artists personal worth is determined by a different source altogether. The creator of the universe determined your personal value a long time ago when he sent His son to die on a crudely assembled cross. So whether no one is interested in seeing your performance or the tickets to your show are being scalped on the streets the most important truth remains unchanged.
A 30 minute presentation by a talented young speaker with a growing market might be worth $700
A 2 hour show by a well known television comedian could bring $20,000 or more.
A successful show business career is often worth millions.
A sinner saved by God’s Amazing Grace is PRICELESS.
Ken Davis is one of the country's most sought after motivational and inspirational speakers. His mixture of side-splitting humor and inspiration delights and enriches audiences of all ages.
