The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest
Vol: 52 Issue: 10 - Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Special Insider's Report: The Rest of the Story
I continue to get emails from folks asking where Hal Lindsey's International Intelligence Briefing TV show has gone. Although the story has been fairly well covered by the Christian community, it has not yet been picked up by the mainstream.
Hopefully all that will begin to change tonight when Hal makes an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes' TV program, which airs at 9PM Eastern Standard Time.
Interestingly, the invitation came through Alan Colmes, rather than Sean Hannity. Hal was a guest on Alan Colmes' radio program earlier this week.
When I say, 'hopefully' the story will be picked up by the mainstream, I am hopeful for selfish reasons. I'm tired of seeing my best friend being bashed.
I actually KNOW the details. Hal was forced, at age 76, to choose between his principles and his job. I also know that Hal needed that job.
Contrary to popular belief, Hal is not a wealthy man, despite being one of the best-selling Christian authors in history.
His most famous book, "The Late, Great Planet Earth" was also his first, published in 1969. First-time authors are often forced into really bad deals in order to get published. That book earned millions -- for the publisher.
And, although I hate to speak ill of my best friend, Hal's greatest flaw is that he is too trusting. Over the years, he made millions -- for his business agents.
Hal's only retirement plan is to work until he dies. I know that to be a fact. I know how high his mortgage is on his house, that he drives an imported compact car, and that he works at a pace that I, at 25 years his junior, doubt I could keep up with.
I am going to share what I can of what I know as an 'insider' with you. First, Hal NEEDED that job at TBN. It was the flagship of his ministry that drove both his books and tapes and his website ministries. Leaving TBN was a giant leap of faith.
Hal and I wrote the IIB together. I've worked on every single broadcast since the very first. I helped develop the format of the program. So, I KNOW the pressure TBN has been putting on the IIB and the program's complete history with TBN.
When someone responds to TBN's request to send in money to keep Hal's program on the air, that money doesn't go to Hal. One hundred percent is kept by TBN.
TBN pays none of the expenses associated with the program. Hal pays for the research, writing, the news footage B-roll, and all the other production costs. Hal is permitted 90 seconds to promote his books and tapes, website and tours in each broadcast, which provides the lion's share of his ministry's support.
I am told that Hal Lindsey's IIB was TBN's single largest income-generating program, but I cannot confirm it as fact. What I do know is that it has been among TBN's top-rated program in the Neilsons since its first broadcast.
TBN's PTL program broadcasts every day for several hours. The IIB aired for a half-hour once a week. Most weeks, the IIB ratings were higher than PTL's.
Moreover, we insisted on a disclaimer at the beginning of each broadcast that made it clear that the opinions expressed on the IIB were not those of TBN. It protected TBN from what we said (and distanced us from what else was said on TBN)
So it was a mystery when we started getting pressure from the network to modify our scripts, particularly those dealing with stories about Israel or Islam. Sometimes, the program would be mysteriously 'pre-empted' without warning.
To this moment, I can make no logical sense of it. In December, we were informed the program would be suspended for the whole month of December. There was no mention of preemption to 'air Christmas content'.
When Hal's show was preempted this time, Hal was told it was because the scripts were 'too pro-Israel and too anti-Muslim'. When asked by WorldNetDaily, Hal said as much.
When WND asked TBN's chief counsel John Casoria to confirm the story, Casoria said Hal's statement was, quote, "absolutely, 100 percent false." In other words, Hal was lying.
The next day, Casoria admitted a 'secondary' reason for preempting the show was that it "placed Arabs in a negative light." But, Casoria told WND, "the overwhelming reason, he still insists, is TBN requires all its programming during December to have a Christmas theme.
"When a programmer chooses not to do so, they are pre-empted so that TBN can focus its attention on the holidays," Casoria said. "Hal is very well aware of this."
Baloney. As noted, I've been involved in every single script and broadcast of the IIB since its inception a decade ago. I can say with authority that TBN's statement that the IIB was preempted every December for Christmas content was an outright lie.
Every year for the past decade we've not only aired throughout December, but produced a Christmas edition of the IIB that aired Christmas Week.
Since then, TBN has changed its story again. They now admit the suspension was because they say they felt the program was offending Arabs.
The WND report went on to note that, "Lindsey said in a message to supporters on his website that TBN's decision is "confusing to me because my message is the same as it has been for the entire 12 years of presenting the IIB program. It has not changed one iota."
Asked to respond, Casoria said, speaking personally, "Hal Lindsey's program has clearly changed over the last 12 years, as has Hal Lindsey."
"If you look at his earlier writings and you look at what he writes today, there is definitely a hard edge," he said. "That's my personal feeling."
Since Hal and I write it together, always have, and there has never been anybody else except me and Hal, whatever 'hard edge' the program might have developed regarding Islam was honed by 9/11, not by some spiritual or philosophical shift in Hal Lindsey himself.
TBN notes one of the reasons for suspending the IIB is that TBN broadcasts to a number of Arab countries where they say they are trying to reach Muslims with the Gospel. It is worth noting that the IIB never aired once in any of them.
Hal is far more generous with TBN than I am, and I must respect that. But TBN lied about the reason it suspended its number one program on the network for a reason. It didn't want to admit to censoring its content to appease Islam. And it certainly didn't want to admit to censoring pro-Israeli information.
So instead, TBN's executives told a clumsy, easily-disproved lie about 'routine' preemption for Christmas programming, until it could come up with a better lie about Hal making it hard to reach Muslims with the Gospel.
If you are a TBN donor, you might want to reconsider redirecting that support to Hal instead. (Hal Lindsey Website Ministries, P.O. Box 1131 Murrieta, CA 92564)
Bottom line? TBN demanded that Hal Lindsey compromise his message of support for Israel. They demanded that he adopt a politically-correct attitude regarding Islam so as not to 'offend' them by reporting what the Koran really teaches.
Given the choice between compromise and maintaining a comfortable position in his old age, Hal cast his future on the Lord's shoulders, packed his bags, and stepped out into the unknown -- at age 76!
What now for the IIB? Hal told me last night that we have a time slot on the Day Star network. We have rented a studio to produce our own program called 'The Hal Lindsey Report' and will shoot our first program at the end of January. I will give you firm times and dates when I have them.
So, that is the insider's view of what is really going on between TBN and Hal Lindsey. Tonight, Hal will be, as I said, making an appearance on 'Hannity and Colmes' on the Fox News Channel at 9 PM EST.
Since this is an 'insider's report' to my friends, please allow me to impose and ask a favor OF my friends.
Please pray for Hal when he is on tonight's broadcast. Email the program with your comments -- the more emails, the better. Let Fox know that you appreciated seeing Hal Lindsey on their network and that you'd like to see more of him.
This is a rare opportunity for us to get the message that Jesus is coming soon out where it is most desperately needed -- to the mainstream. Demand more interviews with Hal Lindsey on Fox News.
Who knows? Maybe 2006 is the year the truth might find its way into the mainstream. While there is still time.
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