Lately, I have been spending time almost daily with reporters and TV news crews. Small issues or events on the Heritage property still generate an amazing amount of interest and almost any mention of it will make it on the national or international news services. Why?
Heritage USA was once considered the third biggest attraction in the United States, drawing an estimated six million people a year. Jim Bakker told me that he believed this number was inflated because it included many who came more than once. Even if it were inflated many times over, it is still an impressive number. Heritage was once called “the second most famous address in the world,” but this was as a worldwide symbol of the failures of modern Christianity. However, its restoration will likewise be a worldwide symbol of God’s power of redemption, which is the basic message of the gospel.
Someone once said that having the media want to do a story on you is kind of like being invited to dinner by a lion—you may have a nice dinner or you may be the dinner! Certainly, we have wondered if the news media would be interested in good news or if they would bend every story to somehow generate controversy, which many think is necessary to generate interest. There are some international stories now being written about us, and we really do not know how they will turn out. However, to date, the local and national media have been fair and accurate with us.
Just as Nehemiah experienced, when you try to restore that which is being used to humiliate God’s people, you can expect serious opposition. We took the task of restoring Heritage, knowing that we would have to endure opposition and that there would be continued attempts to discourage us from finishing it. However, our leadership team and churches, which are composed of many warriors who run to the sound of battle, not away from it, resolved to go for it, and to hold the course until the job was completed regardless of the opposition. To date, there does not seem to have been any budging from this resolve.
We have also been encouraged by the number of churches, ministries, and individual Christians who have joined with us in this work. Nearly one-third of the rooms have now been sponsored through our Nehemiah Project. Through this project, a group or individual can sponsor the restoration of a hotel room for just $5,000, and the room is named in their honor. We do this because those who joined the work of restoring the temple in the Book of Ezra are all named in canon Scripture, and we feel that it is important to name those who have joined in this historic work as well. Their names will remain on these rooms on plaques that we place by the door of each room.
We are also building a “Nehemiah’s Wall” in which everyone who contributes $1,000 or more to this work will be listed. To see the diversity of churches, ministries, and people on the plaques, or listed on our wall, is very encouraging, and we think it will be a perpetual encouragement for all who come to Heritage. This is not just about the money, but as the Lord taught, where a person’s treasure is, so will their heart be also (see Matthew 6:21). We know that those who contribute to this work are doing it from their hearts and their hearts will continue with the work.
Philippians 1:6 states, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” The Lord does not begin a work that He does not finish. Heritage may still be remembered around the world for its failures, but it will become a symbol of redemption and restoration. We know that one person is more important than any building, but these buildings do have prophetic significance, and we are taking our stewardship with the utmost concern and seriousness. We also value the testimony of the founders like Jim Bakker, who wrote the book, I Was Wrong. There were mistakes made. One twenty-minute moral failure basically brought down a ministry that had taken many years, and a huge amount of resources and effort to build. It is never worth it.
As Jim Bakker also recently related to me, they did not consider it spiritual to be too concerned or involved with the financial affairs, so the void was filled with mismanagement, or worse. As the Lord taught in the Parable of the Talents, the one who was told, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” managed what he was entrusted with well. The one who was called “You wicked, lazy servant,” did not manage well what was entrusted to him (see Matthew 25:14-30 NIV). It has been estimated that as much as one-third of the Bible’s teachings deal with stewardship and good management. We tend to think of righteousness in strictly moral terms, which is without question important, but a huge part of the Lord’s instructions on righteousness have to do with managing rightly what we are entrusted with, which is basic integrity.
We are also warned in I Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall,” and in Proverbs 11:2, “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.” We do not consider ourselves any better than anyone else, and if we can stand the test, it is because of God’s grace which He gives to the humble. We know very well that the devil would love to use this same place as another testimony of the failure of Christianity. Therefore, we earnestly ask you to pray for us to be able to stand and to see the traps that are laid for us—there are many.
Even so, just as the restored temple was promised to have a greater glory than the former, something restored can have a greater glory than something just built. We knew when we went into this restoration it would be a battle, but we also knew that the victory would be worth it. Many great saints have even moved here to join with us in this work. Some moved just to volunteer, and even refused to take a salary for their work. Many others have joined by sending their support. I know their reward with the Lord will be great, but more than just being a testimony of redemption, what will this property be used for when it has been restored?
The Heritage of Heritage
Heritage USA, or PTL, as many knew it, was actually a birthplace of one of the most important purposes of God in our time, which will be one of the greatest contributions to the victory of the gospel in our time—the fellowship and interchange between Christians of different denominations, streams, and movements.
Jim Bakker boldly included guests on his daily TV show from across the spectrum of the body of Christ. Because of this, Presbyterians started to listen to Baptists, who started to listen to Pentecostals, who started having fellowship with Charismatics, who started to listen to Methodists, and so on. Soon Catholics were tuning in and coming to Heritage. This encouraged Christians from almost all doctrinal backgrounds to also come to Heritage USA. There they got to know each other, relationships were formed and built that continue to this day, and some of these relationships have had a major impact on the body of Christ in our time.
Almost every time I talk about Heritage to Jim Bakker, he conveys to me that its main purpose is for Christians to have a place to meet with other Christians. It was born to be a place for fellowship. The very word “fellowship” came from the phrase “two fellows in a ship,” with the meaning being that if they wanted to get somewhere they would have to learn to work together. Fellowship is the most basic purpose of Heritage. We changed the name from Heritage USA to Heritage International Ministries (H.I.M.) to include all nations, because this will be a place, and already is, where Christians from around the world will gather and meet one another, and begin relationships that will have a great impact on our time. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians in 4:15-16:
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
The body is fitted and held together by joints. A joint is not a part, but where two parts come together. This will be a place where many such joints are formed, with the ultimate result being the growth of the body in love.
This is why we did not want to name this property after our own ministry, MorningStar. We are just one little part of the body. We are the present stewards of this property, and know that its purpose is far more than just building MorningStar, but for building up the body of Christ. We are thankful to be a part, but we are just the stewards. MorningStar, and all of our ministries which are based here, actually pay rent to H.I.M. This helps fund the restoration and operation of the facilities, and we feel that this will be our permanent home base, but it will also be the base of many other ministries, some of which are already here.
The Ultimate Purpose
It is our goal to restore the Heritage facilities to a condition even better than they were originally. Even so, they will be different in some ways. We want them to be comfortable and conducive to fellowship, drawing people to them, and therefore together. More than having a feeling of entertainment, we believe H.I.M. should convey a sense of serious business. Times have changed, and they will be increasingly serious. We do not want to convey fantasy, but reality. Some of the most serious business on the planet will be conducted at H.I.M.
We do want these to be some of the finest facilities available for gatherings of Christians for conferences, youth gatherings, gatherings for elders, church retreats, or personal retreats. We have been praying for years now that all who come for these things will leave bonded together on an unprecedented level. However, we are also praying that the manifest presence of the Lord will be so great here that they will encounter Him, and be bonded together with Him on an even greater level. This is coming to pass.
There is an extraordinary presence of the Lord at H.I.M. We know well, and agree, that the Lord no longer inhabits buildings made with hands, but people. But there is some way that His presence is manifested here now that at times becomes electric. Workers and delivery people who do not even know the Lord have remarked about the feeling of peace they sense at H.I.M. This is a radical change. Two and a half years ago everyone was talking about the depression they felt when they came on the property. The Lord is going to use the meetings that take place at H.I.M. to start lifting the depression and fear off of His people.
We are praying that every ministry who comes here to host a conference, or gathering of any type, will not only experience the greatest anointing on their worship, their preaching, prayer and ministry times, and their fellowship with each other, but that they will have personal encounters with the Lord so that they do not leave talking about any of these things as much as they leave captivated by the Lord Himself.
Join With H.I.M.
You can be a part of this historic and prophetic purpose of restoration in our time. You can come visit. Plan a personal or family retreat here, or with your church or ministry. Whether you are coming alone, or with thousands, Heritage can now host you. To take a virtual tour on our website, go to www.MorningStarMinistries.org and click Heritage.
You can also be a part by joining MST, the MorningStar Strategic Team, our ministry partners’ fellowship of regular, monthly supporters. Any amount is welcome. We do not care how much you give as much as we care about your faithfulness. For your convenience, you can donate by credit or debit card (and get those frequent flyer miles which we hope you will use to come see us). You can do this as easily as making a phone call to our toll free number 1-800-542-0278, or logging on to our website at www.MorningStarMinistries.org or simply faxing or mailing the form in this Bulletin.
You may also want to sponsor the restoration of a room. You can do this as an individual, a family, with your prayer group, church, or ministry. Some are doing it as a memorial to a mentor or loved one who has passed away so that their name does not. It only costs $5,000 to sponsor a room, $8,500 for a suite, or $20,000 for an apartment. Shops on Main Street, the Grand Ballroom, or other breakout or meeting rooms are also available for sponsorship. This is all done through our Nehemiah Project, to which you can also make a donation of any size. Donations of $1,000 will be engraved on our Nehemiah’s Wall, and all donations of any size will be listed in our Nehemiah Project permanent register. View all of these online at www.heritageinternational.org. A form and further contact information for the The Nehemiah Project is included in this Bulletin, or you can call our toll free number at 1-800-542- 0278 to donate by credit or debit card.
Please consider joining us through either MST or The Nehemiah Project. Again, the amount is not as important as your faithfulness. We know that where your treasure, is there will your heart be also. If you invest in the kingdom by investing with us in these projects, your heart will also be with us. Thank you!