Without A Vision, The People Perish

By Pastor John Hagee

It’s my honor to preach the Word of God each and every Sunday from the pulpit of Cornerstone Church and throughout the world by television, radio and the Internet. I have been blessed with this opportunity for over five decades and I plan to continue for as long as the Lord will allow. As the years move forward the method for which I have been able to share “All the Gospel to All the World” has drastically changed. When I started John Hagee Ministries we broadcast our program over the air with viewers using rabbit ears (antennae) and cable. Now in addition to those methods you can also watch our program worldwide via IP TV, satellite, on demand as well as live every Sunday on your computer.

Through the years I’ve seen technology expand at a rapid pace. Just look at audio. We have gone from vinyl records and eight tracks to cassettes and then compact discs. Now our world is filled with the digital downloads of music, sermons and books.

Video is no different. There has been an explosion of knowledge and product that has allowed our ability to watch movies and programs from a simple VHS tape to DVD to the more spectacular HD (high-definition) and 3D (three dimensional) formats.

I may be seventy-one years old, and I am probably not considered the target market of those the world looks at to pitch these new technologies, but as a Pastor I can see the enormous benefits of moving towards these new innovations.

I also see the number of children, teens, adults, and the older generation who are lost, without Christ and without hope. For many of these people the digital age is life. To reach this population of those without the knowledge of Christ we have to push content to the places they visit.

Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find a person that doesn’t have a cell phone. They use their phone to post on Facebook, tweet their feelings on Twitter and video themselves singing all so they can post it on YouTube to impress their friends and schoolmates. Now the “it” status symbol is the latest smart phone, highest rated cell phone application or coveted media gadget. We need to reach everyone with the Gospel and for this group of rapidly growing people, it needs to be through digital media.

I read the letters and emails our partners and supporters send in. As the father of five and the grandfather of twelve, my heart is never happier than when a person comes to know the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I have prayed with endless fathers, mothers and grandparents that their loved ones be set free from their past and embrace the understanding that Jesus loves them and died for them. It is for this reason that I feel it is important that John Hagee Ministries move fully into the digital age.

Over the years, we’ve used thousands of tapes to record and edit our TV and radio programs. For decades, tape was the industry standard for recording and archiving most audio and video content.

Technology has changed that and it is changing the way we access the audio and video we enjoy. For some of you the terms “video on demand” “YouTube” and “digital download” sounds like terms from a foreign language. For others, it describes the way you “view things” on a daily basis. More and more people want to access their favorite television and radio show and music at a time and place that is convenient for them. It’s called the ‘anytime, any device, any content’ model and it is completely reshaping viewing and listening habits. Did you know, for example, that most prime-time TV programming is now available online and if you have an Internet-connected screen – in other words a personal computer, a web pad, even a mobile phone – you can view that program?

What does that mean for us? It means that we have a new challenge:

We need to take all of the years of preaching and teaching tapes and put them into a digital format so that anyone, at anytime and anyplace in the world with an Internet-connection, can access the preaching of the Gospel. Our goal is to digitize every sermon that we have in the library. This will expand our ability to reach the lost. This will give us the ability to reach the young kids who now use the various digital devices, with ease and speed. This will give a whole new meaning to the latter part of our mission statement “...and to ALL generations.”

According to Christian researcher, George Barna, fully one-third of all Americans do not attend church on a regular basis and the number of lost and unsaved is growing by nearly one million every year.

John Hagee Ministries wants to continue to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mission to bring “All the Gospel to All the World AND to ALL Generations” has not changed. With the expansion of our equipment and our library going digital we can take advantage of many new and exciting opportunities to reach the lost. Having all of our content in digital format will give “instant access” to our partners and friends to view and share content with their family, neighbors, co-workers and loved ones. Imagine a grandmother sending a link of a sermon she heard to her grandson. With one click of a button her grandson could view it on his computer or even his phone. The opportunities for the expansion of the Gospel are endless. The digital format gives you immediate access to content through video on demand and subscription services.

The Word of God says, “Without a vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). The Word of God is a gift from the Lord. It guides you, delivers you, sustains you, enlightens you, convicts you, and sets you free. The Word of God from the opening chapters of Genesis through the closing verses of the Book of Revelation contains the plan for your life. In addition to being a map for you, the Bible is our source for knowing the details of the birth, the life, the ministry and the death of Jesus Christ, our Savior in minute detail. There is nothing quite like the Bible.

From the moment the Lord laid on my heart to start a television ministry, to this very moment that I write this to you, the vision has not changed. I will continue to preach the pure, unadulterated Word of God so that fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and all members of your family will hear who Christ is and what He has done for us.

Please prayerfully consider helping JHM in our efforts to digitize our library and give new vitality and a new audience a chance to hear the pure Word of God.

I look forward to receiving your letters and emails. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for daily reports. Also, I am personally recording a morning video blog that shares with our friends and partners the latest news from the ministry and around the world. It may not be every day but will be the latest news worth hearing.

Go to www.jhm.org and click on the video blog at the top right, which will connect you to my latest post, as well as previous commentary for your viewing. This is my only way of sharing up-to-date information about world events and Biblical prophecy. I want to tell you what Christ says, before The New York Times does.