Spellbinder Read Free Page A

don’t mind admitting to you—that I was shaking in my soul the first time I preached a sermon in front of a TV camera. Because I was awed by it. I’m still awed by it.” As he speaks, Holloway turns to face the camera, eye to eye. Confessing: “Because I knew—I was convinced—that the camera’s eye is all-seeing. It never blinks—and it never lies, either. I knew that the TV, God’s own miracle, would test me sorely. And I prayed to God Almighty that I could pass that test, and that people would believe me. I prayed that the Lord would allow me to bring His words to millions throughout the world, face to face, as Christ first brought the words from heaven down to earth.”
    Now Holloway pauses. His eyes fall to the prayer book. Beyond the footlights, the audience is still. When Holloway raises his eyes again to the camera, he speaks softly, humbly:
    “Yes,” he says, “I prayed for help, and for guidance. And God answered my prayers. Because within five years—five short years—we were able to build this Temple. We built this magnificent Temple the way my Daddy erected his poor, patched old canvas tent. We built it with your help, friends. With your help, and your dollars, And with God’s own guidance.
    “But the erection of the Temple wasn’t the end of our struggle. It wasn’t the end of our mission. It wasn’t the end of God’s plan for us. No, friends, that was only the beginning—only the first circle in that ring of ripples everlasting on the great pool of life. This Temple is only made of wood and glass and concrete and steel. It’s a temporal thing—a thing of the world, and not of the spirit. And God knows that, friends. Because His wishes are clear. I can still feel His hand on my shoulder. I can still hear His voice. I can still hear His command. It’s just as clear as it was many years ago, when I was nineteen years old, and taking up my Daddy’s work. That command is just as clear and as strong as the TV picture that comes from this Temple to your home, God’s own miracle.
    “And that command was—” A long, solemn pause. Holloway stares straight into the camera. Then: “That command was, ‘Reach out to others. Widen the ripples of Christ’s teachings. Use God’s electronic miracle to help bring the message of eternal salvation to every person in every home in every village on earth.’ And if those homes don’t have TV sets, if they don’t have radio sets—and many of them didn’t, and still don’t, friends—then our command was equally clear. We were to supply those radio sets, and those TV sets.
    “And so, with God’s guidance, we made our plans. We planned our campaign as carefully as any general ever planned for any battle, or any war. We drew up our battle plans, and then we carried them out. We would start humbly, we decided, just as Christ started. We would go into a remote village, and we would find the largest public building, and we would supply it with radios, and TV sets. We would start humbly, but we would finish triumphantly, God willing. Using the miracle of electronics—God’s own ultimate miracle—we would take Christ’s message to all the world.
    “And that, friends, is just what we did. We did it with your help, just as we built this Temple with your help. We went first to Chile, in 1961. We took radios and television sets into the towns and the hamlets of that poor, primitive country, and we gave them to the people. Some of those trips were made on horseback, friends, with radios strapped to the backs of burros. Some of our people rode through dangerous jungles, risking life and limb for God. But they achieved their goals. They accomplished their missions. They delivered their holy cargo.
    “And then, after we’d done that, we went to Santiago, and we rented their soccer stadium there. We brought the choir, and we brought Pastor Bob and Sister Teresa, and all the other people you’ve come to know and love and depend on for your own weekly