STORY OF MY FATHER TIMELY/UNTIMELY DEATH - CHRISTIES OLD ORGAN WHAT ARE YOUR LISTENERS AND READERS SAYING ABOUT THESE STORIES? Several testimonies come to mind. The first is a school teacher who said that the story, Teddy's Button, led two of her 4th grade students to Christ. We have had so many families contact us with the same story. Teddy's Button and Christies Old Organ are our best stories for leading children to Christ. One dad recently wrote that any story that can keep his 5 year old daughter snuggled up to her daddy on the couch for the entire afternoon listening to a story, is a great story! Another mom wrote that her 12 yr old son has dramatically shifted from Harry Potter and Teen Vampires to the total-attraction and influence of Ishmael and Sir Knight of the Splendid Way. A woman from India sent us an SOS pleading that we come to India with our stories…she said after hearing A Peep Behind the Scenes she was able to let go of a 25 years of bitterness toward her family who had abandoned her when she become a Christian. ANOTHER MOM WRITES HOW HER 7 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS FOUND BY THE GOOD SHEPHERD AFTER LISTENING TO A Peep Behind the Scenes. We receive letters daily from readers and listeners telling us that their lives are forever changed from one of these stories. Personally, I am who I am today because of these books and particularly because of the powerful Scriptural insights that are revealed through these unforgettable stories. The world has been influencing children with entertainment rather than substance, and Christians have bought into it. The classic tales of Snow White and Cinderella didn't include Scripture, but they have been loved through the ages because of their redemptive merit. We are drawn to redemptive stories in which God is our hero--for with God, nothing is impossible! That is why Lamplighter books are so loved. But whenever a culture removes the knowledge of God from its foundations it MUST be replaced with a substitute god, for within each of us is a God-shaped void that must be filled. So today more than ever before, our culture is inundated with the supernatural. From Harry Potter to Teen Vampire romances, to paranormal tv programs, movies, and now paranormal cartoons, our children and adult world are being seduced and sedated by images that temporarily satisfy their empty souls. What has thus far been your most significant achievement as a publisher and producer with Lamplighter? As a non profit ministry, I am thankful for the opportunity to share Lamplighter books with over two million readers! But since only 5% of the entire North American continent reads non fiction or anything of spiritual value, I realized that we needed to offer these great spiritual truths through another medium. I am excited to say that Lamplighter stories are now being adapted for dramatic audio through our recent creation, Lamplighter Theatre. This has by far been our greatest achievement; in just four months God has opened the doors for Lamplighter Theatre to air on over 1000 radio stations in twelve countries! The truths found in Lamplighter stories are now being heard around the world! What is significant about the creation of Lamplighter Theatre is that audio has a positive effect upon the mind whereas media the project images such as tv, film, and video games, have a damaging effect upon the brain. Scientifically proven, electronic images that change on the screen every 2 to 4 seconds can actually alter the brain waves of children causing them to think in illogical disconnected thought patterns. The ADD and ADHD phenomenon is easy to explain and parents need to be warned that the electronic media is having permanent effects upon the minds of their children's hearts and minds...we are a culture that is amusing ourselves to death! I.e....hospitals with video in cribs. What stories have influenced your life the most? The answer to this question could take the whole interview but the brief version is number one the story, Ishmael. Written in the 1830's Ishmael is based on a true story of a young man who educated himself, passed the bar exam and changed American history on behalf of women who were being abused by their husbands. This story had such a powerful influence on my life that the following day after reading it I started a second ministry. The other stories are The Hedge of Thorns which saved me from a devastating financial decision...it's a story of two children who are told not to go near the hedge of thorns...but....Another as mentioned before Teddy's Button which teaches that you can't defeat the enemy by hate but only by love and your greatest enemy is yourself. And then there is the Basket of Flowers...a story of a father who teaches his daughter that it is better to die for the truth than to live for a lie, for the worse pillow to sleep on, is the pillow of a guilty conscience. The list is quite endless, but there is also the book that President Ronald Reagan found to be the most powerful influence in his life and was what inspired him to become president...the book, That Printer of Udell's. For preschool children there is Trusty: Tried and True...when I was a child I loved the Dr. Seuss books...Trusty is similar but filled with Christian principles for young children. And then there is The Hidden Hand, The Giant Killer, Titus, which quickly sold an extra 200 thousand copies after the first six weeks of printing. A Peep Behind the Scenes which sold 2 ½ million copies after its first printing in 1878 and our beloved The Lamplighter which outsold the Scarlet Letter 10 to 1~! AS A NON PROFIT HOW ARE YOU FUNDING SUCH LOFTY GOALS LEADING TO THESE UNUSUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THIS ECONOMY? I decided from the very beginning that any book that we publish or audio drama that we produced, would be of the highest standard of excellence and spiritual value. If we were unable to meet that expectation then we simply would wait until we had the revenue to do so. As a non-profit ministry, we still need to generate a net profit, but I am convinced that when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all things that are necessary for life are added to us. 2nd Corinthians 9:8-11 gives us a promise that "God is able to make all grace abound to us, so that having all sufficiency in all things, at all times, we may be able to abound in every good work." What we are doing is a total faith venture but a venture that has been prompted and commissioned by God. I have watch our culture and world unravel spiritual for three decades and have been praying for God to bring revival. In Ezekiel God looked down from heaven and asked if there was anyone who would stand in the gap but he found none. It is our commitment here at Lamplighter to avoid the negativism of protest and boycotts and to dive into the culture and offer something attractive and better than what is offered...to put on stage the great redemptive story that will draw all men to the only true source of the abundant life. We see ourselves as a David against Goliath and we need all of the support and encouragement from those whose lives will be touched and changed through the great truths we offer. For the past 16 years we have lived one day at a time and so far we haven't seen the oil run dry but if there was ever a time for those whom God has entrusted with his resources to come along side of us, now would be the time. As we bring this interview to a close is there anything that you would like to leave with our readers that you feel is imperative to mention? Yes, your readers will want to know about the Lamplighter Guild. In fact, this is the most exciting endeavor I have ever had the opportunity to be involved in….and God is using it in miraculous ways...
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