The message of "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé"

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL THURSDAY MARCH 4, 2004
(Proverbs 2:14)

...Who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil...

The message of My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé. One of the hottest programs on television recently was a FOX program called, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé, with over 20 million viewers each week. It was a simple concept. Take a gorgeous, well educated, middle class young woman and promise her $500,000 if she can convince her family that she has met, fallen in love with, and is going to marry in 3 days a man she met on a reality television program and have her family participate in the wedding. The man she is supposed to be marrying who she thinks is working with her in this con on her family, is actually a professional actor who is fat, obnoxious, and the complete opposite from who this woman would ever marry. The great finale is to see if she will continue this con game on her family despite the man's efforts to make her life, and the life of her family as miserable as possible. Now THAT my friend is great entertainment.

FOX has also recently brought us wonderful programs where the viewers called in to vote for one man and one woman who literally got married. The concept of the program was to see if the marriage worked, since 50% of marriages end in divorce anyway. Other popular programs included groups of men fighting to win the heart of a single gorgeous woman, groups of women fighting to win the heart of a single handsome man, people who eat bugs and animal parts to win a prize, and the list of this incredible entertainment goes on. We are literally only one small step away from people actually dying for the entertainment of television viewers.

What is the point of bringing this up today? The fact that THIS is what our culture finds entertaining. This is what the people outside the church (and sadly many inside the church) love to watch. This is the message that television is sending to the masses, marriage is a joke, people have no worth, and the only TRUTH is what feels good at this moment. There are NO MORE BARRIERS. Whatever reins on morality and common decency there used to be, have been taken off. It is simply now a matter of seeing how spectacular you can display every conceivable ungodly act that your imagination can dream up. Our culture is bombarded daily from every direction with the sickest, most demented messages that man has ever known. THERE ARE NO MORE LIMITS!!!

This begs the question, where is the church? Where are God's people? The amazing fact is there are more churches, more ministries, more Christian television, more Christian radio, more Christian books, more Christian magazines, more Bibles, more Christian resources of all kinds than ever before in the history of our world. This creates an interesting picture doesn't it? How can there be this unbridled sin flaunted so boldly, while at the same time having these incredible Christian vehicles and resources that proclaim the Good News and the TRUTH of the Bible? The cold reality is that even with all of the above, we are simply NOT making an impact on our culture at large.

A big reason is because the Christian world has to a large extent shut itself off from the rest of the world. It operates in what I call the "circular Christian trough". The church has for generations now been mostly operating in a maintenance mode. The problem with that is as the older saints leave this life and are on to their rewards in Heaven, there is nobody new to take their place. Christian ministries reach out to those already in the church world. As exciting as some of the great crusades and conferences we hear about are, the fact is, 95% of those people who attend are already part of the local church community in that area that an "advance team" spent months cultivating. 97% of those who watch Christian television, listen to Christian radio, subscribe to Christian magazines are already Christians. "Evangelists" preach in churches where the vast majority are already saved.

THE REASON THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE NOT MAKING AN IMPACT IN OUR PRESENT DAY CULTURE IS BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO TAKE OUR MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY IN THE FAMILY OF GOD INSTEAD OF TO THE LOST AND HURTING OUTSIDE THE 4 WALLS OF THE CHURCH!!!

I love you and care about you so much. We are living in a day and time of GREAT OPPORTUNITIES. I have no doubt that there will be more terrorist attacks here in the United States in the future. Many people have lost lots of money in the stock market decline of the last few years. With the downturn in our economy, many are out of work or underemployed. Now more than ever, people are hurting and looking for answers. We have the only true answer for them, and that is faith in Jesus Christ!

I will also share with you something God showed me several years ago. THIS is why I have had such a passion for the work here at Liveprayer, and why I have pressed hard every day since we started 54 months ago. God showed me that satan is loose in our culture like never before. We know that the goal of satan is to kill, steal, and destroy. He has done a great job of tearing down the family unit, promoting sex in every deviant form as acceptable, blasting every conceivable ungodly thing possible thru TV, music, movies. The end result? DESTROYED LIVES! PEOPLE DYING AND GOING TO HELL EVERY DAY.

***God told me "Now, like never before, people will be hurting, lost, and looking for hope. Those who have bought into the lie of satan are hungry like never before for the real TRUTH, that is only found in God's Word. NOW, is a time of great harvest. NOW, like never before in human history, people are tired of the lie, and looking for the TRUTH. NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!!!"

I will be praying for you today. The application to your life is simple. For those who don't know Christ as your savior, you have been chewed up and spit out by this world, TODAY IS YOUR DAY. You don't have to hurt any longer, you can find the peace that passes all human understanding in your life once and for all. Pray, ask God to open your heart, and read the words at this link: www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html.

For those who are saved, who know Christ as your Savior, this is a wake up call today. The people of God have kept to ourselves for too long. God called us to be the "salt of the earth," the "light of the world." Instead, we have kept the salt in the shaker and hid our light under a bushel. It is getting late, we only have so much time, and night will soon be upon us. God is calling HIS PEOPLE to come out of your churches and start spreading your salt, and shining your light in this world we live in. There are lost, and hurting people simply waiting for someone to tell them about Jesus, NOT "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé."

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com.

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