The Price Is Right… Again!

Guest Editorial: DJ Comisford

 

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

In November of last year, my wife and I took our Hollywood Bible Talk to the CBS game show, The Price is Right, praying that somehow we could raise money for the City of Angels Church Thanksgiving Contribution. Many disciples even within our fellowship jokingly mocked our efforts, but I was reminded of 2 Thessalonians 3:2, “Not everyone has faith.” We were persuaded that God had control of all the money in the world, and if He so desired, He could give it to us! Much to our amazement, our sister, Janelle Rushen got to “come on down” and ended up winning over $24,000 worth of cash and prizes including the Showcase Showdown! All of her prizes that could be sold were sold and the money was given to God for the Thanksgiving Contribution. Surely with just a mustard seed of faith, with God “nothing will be impossible for you!” (Matthew 17:21)

When this year’s Missions Contribution date of June 29 was announced, Kacie and I prayed that “once again” God would provide the money to support this good work. Since some of the money will go toward the New York planting, we decided that it was time to take some of our New York Mission Team to The Price is Right. On a chilly May morning, Michaela Foley, Wes Hardin, Chris Van Staden, Rachel Bond, Kacie and I prayed “once again” in front of the CBS Studios in Hollywood that God would allow us to win money for Him. We each wore our “I LOVE NY” t-shirts and spent the time in line sharing our faith with the others there waiting for their chance to “come on down”. We finally entered the studio at 1pm and excitement was building as the show was about to start. The show began and to our double amazement, the first words to come out of the announcer’s mouth were, “Kacie Comisford…come on down! You’re the next contestant on The Price Is Right!” I was so happy first off that God was answering our prayers, but secondly because it had always been Kacie’s dream since she was a kid to “come on down”. Last year, she and a close friend had even slept out all night in the street to see one of Bob Barker’s last shows before he retired.

When present host Drew Carey came on the stage, the first item up for bid was a Kawasaki ATV. We all were freaking out when Kacie’s bid was the closest without going over and she won the brand new ATV! She ran onstage, gave fellow Ohioan Drew Carey a big hug, but unfortunately lost the next bidding game. The ATV will be sold and the money will be given to support the planting of the Empire City International Christian Church in New York City. Surely, “God is able to do more than all we can ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)

I am so encouraged about the unbelievable blessings that God has poured out on the City of Angels Church and our young movement. Surely, the over 100 baptisms and the scores of others being restored and placing membership here in LA in our first year is a clear sign that God is with us. Nothing is more exciting and rewarding than to see so many “open their eyes and turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith.” (Acts 26:18)

We, however, not only have the dream to see LA evangelized, but the whole world evangelized in our generation. It is because of this dream that we are sending out an unprecedented number of mission teams early on in our baby movement. There is an extremely urgent need to build churches of sold-out disciples in the largest metropolitan areas of the world and from these churches to spread out churches across the rest of the world and even to small villages like Hanover, Ohio (my home town). However, such lofty and seemingly impossible dreams will require a historically unequaled amount of sacrifice. This is why Jesus required anyone that was to be His disciple to “deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me,” and “hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life” or they could not be a disciple; in fact, “anyone who does not give up all he has cannot be [Jesus’] disciple.” (Luke 9:23; 14:26, 33) Jesus not only called people to sacrifice, He lived a lifestyle of sacrifice “that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) At the end of His ministry, He paid the ultimate price for our salvation – He sacrificed Himself on the cross. Therefore, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

At the end of June motivated by this priceless grace, we have a chance to show God, the world and ourselves how much we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of Christ’s mission when we collect our Missions Contribution. The goal is $120,000, which is 15X’s our average weekly contribution. This money will support the New York Mission Team and Matt and Helen Sullivan’s work in the courageous Santiago International Christian Church in Chile. Encouragingly, I have heard of several in the congregation that are selling cars, furniture and wedding dresses, as well as collectitng bottles, squeegeeing windows, working overtime and much more. Others are plundering those in the world that are “favorably disposed” to us, much like the Israelites plundered the Egyptians during the Exodus. (Exodus 12) In early June, Kacie and I will again take a group of disciples to The Price is Right. Excitingly, we also have an incredible opportunity on Saturday, June 14th to raise more money as each region participates in our first “Trash-a-Thon”. We will be getting financial pledges from friends, family, fellow workers and neighbors for each half-hour we pick up trash in our communities.

Brothers and sisters, let us pray that God will continue to bless our work for Him here in LA and across the world. Let us set our hearts to excel not only “in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in [our] love… [but] also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Corinthians 8:7) We can see LA evangelized, we can see New York City evangelized, we can see Honolulu and the Pacific Rim evangelized, we can see Santiago and all South America evangelized – and yes, like the first century disciples, we can see “the world evangelized in our day” if… The Price Is Right… again!

DJ Comisford