Live Prayer
Encyclopedia
Live Prayer is a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 evangelical
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 Internet and television ministry located in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

 and run by Bill Keller
Bill Keller (televangelist)
William Herbert Keller is a television evangelist and the host of Live Prayer.-Early life:Keller was born in Dayton, Ohio, raised in the United Methodist Church, and has identified himself as an evangelical Christian since the age of 12...

.

Currently the ministry is being operated out of a USED CAR LOT. The ministry began in 1999 as a website featuring a daily devotional
Daily devotional
Daily devotionals are publications which provide a specific spiritual reading for each calendar day. They tend to be associated with a daily time of prayer and meditation...

 written by Keller and offers to accept and pray over emails, later expanding into a daily TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 show on March 3, 2003.

Live Prayer was broadcast nationally in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from July 3, 2006 through November 2006 on ION Television. At the end of that period, the ministry was financially unable to continue purchasing time.

After moving across numerous several local networks (such as WTOG
WTOG
WTOG, channel 44, is a television station in St. Petersburg, Florida. Owned by the CBS Corporation, WTOG serves as the Tampa Bay Area station for the co-owned The CW Television Network. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.-Early years:...

, WTTA
WTTA
WTTA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tampa Bay Area of Florida that is licensed to St. Petersburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Riverview. Owned by Bay Television, the station is operated by the Sinclair Broadcast...

, WXPX
WXPX
WXPX-TV is a television station licensed to Bradenton, Florida. Operating on channel 66 , it is an Ion Television affiliate, owned and operated by ION Media Networks , which has owned the station since its founding in 1994.Current programming on WXPX is virtually the same as other ION affiliates --...

) and time slots while being simulcast on LivePrayer.com, the live call-in television show moved to being streamed live exclusively over the Internet at LivePrayer.com. On August 31, 2007 — after more than four years of daily showings — the final episode was aired for Internet viewers only. The ministry continues with Keller's daily devotional, acceptance of emails for prayer, and the "Live Prayer church" an Internet broadcast shown on Sundays consisting of a sermon by Keller and associated music.

Live Prayer receives an average of over forty thousand prayer requests by e-mail each day. A group of more than 700 retired pastors read messages, pray over the requests, and write personalized replies. To date Live Prayer has responded to over 60,000,000 prayer requests. Live Prayer also maintains an archive of over three million praise reports from viewers.

Live Prayer currently operates a service "Gold for Souls" through which people may donate their unwanted gold jewellery to the ministry in exchange for a tax receipt.

Late night show

The Live Prayer television program began as a late-night show on WTOG
WTOG
WTOG, channel 44, is a television station in St. Petersburg, Florida. Owned by the CBS Corporation, WTOG serves as the Tampa Bay Area station for the co-owned The CW Television Network. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.-Early years:...

 where Bill Keller discussed current events from a biblical perspective and took phone calls. The show began on March 3d, 2003 and was seen nationwide on ION Television in 2006. On August 31, 2007, after 1,175 episodes and nearly 5 years, Live Prayer was pulled from WTOG due to complaints from the Council on American-Islamic Relations
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights...

 however, a new show "Live Prayer AM" began on September 3, 2007 on WTTA.

Live Prayer AM

Live Prayer AM aired each weekday morning from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time) on WTTA
WTTA
WTTA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tampa Bay Area of Florida that is licensed to St. Petersburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Riverview. Owned by Bay Television, the station is operated by the Sinclair Broadcast...

, Tampa Bay's local MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...

 affiliate. In early November 2007, because WTTA suddenly changed its policy regarding live call-in shows, the show moved to local ION station WXPX
WXPX
WXPX-TV is a television station licensed to Bradenton, Florida. Operating on channel 66 , it is an Ion Television affiliate, owned and operated by ION Media Networks , which has owned the station since its founding in 1994.Current programming on WXPX is virtually the same as other ION affiliates --...

; while still seen at 7:30 a.m. the show was trimmed to a half-hour.

The new format of Live Prayer AM was different from the original late-night show and featured more guests as well as on-site interviews with staff from attractions in Florida.

However, like the old late-night show, Live Prayer AM still started with Keller's monologue about current events and their relation to the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, continued with viewer call-ins, and ended with Bill asking his viewers to accept Jesus Christ.

On November 19, 2007, Keller announced that he was suspending his television program after the telecast on Friday, November 23, after officials from ION told Keller that it will no longer carry live programming. Keller has plans to revive the show on his website as an Internet-only live call-in broadcast in January 2008.

Daily devotional

In August 1999, Keller began writing the Live Prayer Daily Devotional which he has continued to write everyday since. The devotional is now emailed to over 2,400,000 people around the world. The Live Prayer Daily Devotional is also available on the website, in both written and audio form, as well as for cellphone users via WAP
Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...

 and in audio form over the phone.

Internet simulcast & show archive

The Live Prayer television program is also broadcast live on the website. When the television program is not live, a feed from a webcam showing the Live Prayer office is shown instead. The website also has an archive of the past 5 Live Prayer episodes.

Live Prayer interactive CD-ROM

In 2007, Keller released a Live Prayer interactive CD-ROM, proudly touting it as "the greatest spiritual resource other than the Bible." The CD-ROM, sold for US$10 on the Live Prayer website, contained an archive of Keller's past daily devotionals as well as videos inviting viewers to "accept Jesus."

History

In August 1999 Bill Keller started writing the Live Prayer daily devotional and started the Live Prayer television program in March 2003. Live Prayer has been growing quickly since and first appeared on national TV in July 2006.

Howard Stern appearance

Keller has been on The Howard Stern Show three times. He first appeared on March 1, 2007, for a short appearance where he discussed his history and beliefs. He appeared twice more for two one-hour Live Prayer specials on Howard 101 on March 26, 2007, and April 1, 2007. While on the show he counseled wack packers (including "Jeff the drunk" for whom Bill Keller offered to find work as a carpenter's apprentice), and took live phone calls. On his last appearance he challenged Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...

 to defend her anti-Christian views, specifically her statement that "fundamentalist Christianity is no different from radical Islam". Howard Stern offered to host a debate between the two; however O'Donnell has not replied to his challenge.

Criticism of Mitt Romney

On May 11, 2007, Keller wrote that "a vote for Romney is a vote for Satan" in his daily devotional because Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...

 is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an organization that he considers to be a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

. Keller repeated this statement on the Live Prayer television program, which was later included in the documentary film Article VI: Faith. Politics. America
Article VI (film)
Article VI: Faith. Politics. America is a documentary film at the intersection of faith, politics, and bigotry. Religious leaders, political pundits, and average citizens are asked who has the right to be elected? Has the Founding Fathers of the United States vision of religious freedom been upheld...

. Barry Lynn
Barry W. Lynn
Barry W. Lynn, Esq. has been the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State since 1992. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and a prominent leader of the American religious left...

 of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...

 later wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

 asking them to revoke Live Prayer's tax exempt status due to Bill Keller's allegedly political statements. Bill Keller later clarified his statements saying he was speaking on a spiritual topic, not a political one.

Later, on June 21, 2007, Keller appeared on the show in a Mormon temple garment
Temple garment
A Temple garment is a type of underwear worn by members of some denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, after they have taken part in the Endowment ceremony. Garments are worn both day and night and are required for any previously endowed adult to enter a church temple...

, which he characterized as "magical underwear". He challenged Romney to make public his own Mormon temple garment.

Finally, on June 28, 2007, Keller invited evangelist Ed Decker
Ed Decker
Ed Decker , also known as John Edward Decker, is an American counterculture apologist and evangelist known for his studies, books, and public presentations of the perceived negative aspects of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Freemasonry...

 — an opponent of the LDS church and a former Mormon priest — to discuss Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...

, Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, and an alleged relationship between the two groups.

Message to Osama bin Laden

On September 17, 2007, Keller released a 10-minute video message, in which he asked Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...

 to repent and "accept Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

"; he also urged other Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s to do the same. The video was released not only on Keller's own website, but also various other websites as well.

Criticism of Oprah Winfrey

Keller frequently criticizes talk-show host and media personality Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...

 for promoting new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...

 spiritual products such as The Secret
The Secret
A secret is information kept hidden. Secret or The Secret may also refer to:-Music:* Secret , a South Korean girl group* Il segreto di Susanna; or Suzanna's Secret, one-act opera by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari...

 and A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum that aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation. The book describes a non-dualistic philosophy of forgiveness and includes what are meant to be practical lessons and applications for the practice of forgiveness in one's daily life...

.

Criticism of Barack Obama

Bill Keller has engaged in various criticisms of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 both prior to his election and then with greater fervour after he became President. Among other things, Keller alleges that Obama is "not a Christian and...an enemy of God", is providing "false hope", and that Obama may have been born in Kenya
Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories about the citizenship of Barack Obama claim that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore not eligible to be President of the United States under Article Two of the U.S. Constitution. Some theories allege that Obama was born in Kenya, not...

. Keller has even compared Obama's surge in popularity — particularly among youth — to that of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

.
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