In 1980, I was on radio in USA cities.
My pastor at that time, Robert Tilton, said to me: "Joan ... you need to sign with Michael Ellison Advertising Agency. They can really do you a lot of good."
All the big-time ministers that I knew at that time had advertising agents promoting them. Kenneth Copeland, Jimmy Swaggart, Marilyn Hickey, Robert Tilton, Billy Graham
I contacted Michael Ellison Advertising Agency.
They were not interested in having me as a client.
But I had a coordinator who was a vice-president at Braniff International Airlines and she was a soft spoken but very persuasive person ... and she convinced Ellison to sign me as one of their clients.
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The agency representative told me:
"Joan ... we can fill Soldiers & Sailors Auditorium in Pittsburgh for your meetings. Just one thing ... Don't say anything on your radio broadcasts to offend anyone..."
"Joan ... we can fill Soldiers & Sailors Auditorium in Pittsburgh for your meetings. Just one thing ... Don't say anything on your radio broadcasts to offend anyone..."
I am a prophet. It would be impossible to operate in the office of a prophet and never offend anyone in the church.
Just consider the way John the Baptist greeted the people who came out to be baptized of him.
Luke 3:7-8 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
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For about 4 months, they tried to represent me.
The agent who was assigned to me came to Dallas to meet with me.
He was taking me to dinner and came to my apartment for me in a chauffeured driven limousine.
Hollywood!
I didn't even know how to properly get into the car.
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My coordinator joined me at the meeting we had in Dallas with the agency representative which was held at my "modest" ($180 a month) apartment.
At one point in time, the radio station manager in the NYC area radio station came to Dallas for a conference. He asked to see me. He came to my apartment and when he saw my apartment, he said: "You are the only minister I've ever met who didn't spell prophet 'profit'."
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The ad agent and my coordinator sat down at my dining room/kitchen table which was also my living room.
The agent was very subtle and suave.
He said, "Joan ... there is just one thing we'd like you to do.
We want you to put on your envelopes 'SEND ME YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS' ..."
We want you to put on your envelopes 'SEND ME YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS' ..."
I quickly replied, "I don't want to do that!"
I shocked both the agent and my own coordinator.
I explained: People should go to God through Jesus. Directly in prayer. They should have faith to pray and should be taught to pray to God.
There was dead silence in the room for a minute.
Then the agent said:
"Well ... you're missing a good bet. For when they ask you to pray for them, they usually put some money in the envelope."
"Well ... you're missing a good bet. For when they ask you to pray for them, they usually put some money in the envelope."
It was a fund raising gimmick.
I never did this.
I never take prayer requests from people. If they tell me what is going on in their lives and God touches me to pray, I pray.
Usually when they ask you to pray, they tell you what to pray. It is nonsense.
James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
A prayer must be from the heart, not from obligation. A prayer must be "red hot", fervent. And the prayer must be from "a righteous man".
We can't sell out to an advertising agency for gain or to the congregation for approval of man and be righteous.
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The advertising agency probably saw very quickly they would have trouble controlling me as a client.
Later, the agency told me they did not want me to send anything out in writing to anyone without first sending the writing to the agency for their approval.
Of course I wouldn't do that.
Very shortly after that, I received a "slick" phone call from the agency and the agent assigned to me said they were going to have to eliminate some of their clients and "unfortunately" I was one of the clients they were going to need to eliminate.
I thought I had failed!
But God called the following scripture to my attention.
Matthew 4:8-10 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
I had not failed.
I had passed a temptation for fame and glory and money in the ministry world.
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At one point, Marilyn Hickey said to me: "Joan ... pray that Michael Ellison approves my going on television."
It was not pray that God's will be done, nor was it pray that God approves my going on television, but rather she said pray that Michael Ellison approves my going on television.
This is the power and the hold the advertising agencies can have over the big-time ministers.
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Billy Graham's agent came to Dallas to see about signing me with their agency.
He said, "Joan ... you don't realize that you are a 'gold mine'. You have an earned doctorate. We can package you to corporations to do seminars for women."
But God had told me I was not to be exclusive to women but was for the whole church.
I am called by God and anointed by Jesus as a gift to the church in the offices of apostle and prophet.
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I continued to try to present on radio what I believed to be messages from God.
Often the message offended the churches because the churches had changed doctrine from the Bible and had explained away portions of scripture such as:
Matthew 5:32 Jesus says: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
(The divorced woman will commit adultery when she remarries and the man who marries this divorced woman will commit adultery by marrying the divorced woman.)
I Corinthians 7:10-11 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
and many other scriptures are set aside in the churches today ...
Some churches today approve homosexuals and lesbians, ignoring Romans 1 ...
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Some churches have gone along with the world and now call drunkenness a "disease" rather than a sin of the flesh, ignoring the following:
I Corinthians 6:9-10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
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This is the end-time apostasy in the church where churches fall away from scripture allowing antichrist to rule in the church.
II Thessalonians 2 (NASB)
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
(That which "restrains" antichrist ... holds antichrist back from the church ... are the scriptures ... as soon as a portion of scripture has been removed from the church, the restraint against antichrist is removed, and antichrist moves into the church and the apostasy begins in that church group.)
(Antichrist is not one man but a spirit in many men, just as the devil is not one man but a spirit in many men.)
II Thessalonians 2 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only HE (the WORD) who now restrains will do so until HE (the WORD) is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
But as in the days of Elijah, God has some reserved to HIMSELF who will not bow their knee to "Baal", to the beast of Revelation, to today's thinking of this world ... and will continue to hold fast to scripture from the Bible unto the end and the return of Jesus. In Elijah's day, there were 7000 reserved by God, who had not bowed their knees to the false prophet Baal.
I Kings 19:18 (God says) Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
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Paul says Jesus could not return until the apostasy happened first in the churches. II Thessalonians 2
It helps us to know why churches today are falling away from scripture and setting up other doctrines.
It is the apostasy in the church.
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HYMN: ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND
(Chorus)
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
(To hear this hymn played on piano and to follow along with the words, click on the following link and then when it appears on screen, tap on the play arrow, >)
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