By Mark A. KellnerPosted October 03, 2018
Representing the ministry of Amazing Facts, Pastor Doug Batchelor joined other President’s Council members of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), an association of Christian media ministries and broadcast outlets, for a recent briefing in Washington, D.C., on religious liberty and media regulation issues. He was also joined by his wife, Karen.
Pastor Doug noted that as a longtime NRB member, he has attended these events under various administrations. The goal is not to advance a political agenda, he said, but rather, “We want to be on the front lines where you can talk to leaders about preserving the freedom to broadcast the truths of God’s Word.”
That freedom, he said, is being expanded currently thanks to deregulation of TV and radio station ownership rules by the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Michael O’Rielly, one of four FCC commissioners, told the NRB about “long overdue changes they’re making to simplify and streamline regulations for Christians that operate TV and radio stations,” Pastor Doug said. “This deregulation has been good for us,” he explained, as the ministry broadcasts on a wide range of radio and television outlets around the nation.
According to an NRB news release, “During the September 24–26 event, the council members participated in a briefing at The White House that included Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President; Mercedes Schlapp, White House Director of Strategic Communications; Jennifer Korn, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for the Office of Public Liaison; and Katy French Talento, White House Special Assistant to the President on the Domestic Policy Council.”
The group also reported that “over the three days, they also heard from House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.); Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Neomi Rao; FCC Commissioner O’Rielly; FOX News’ Shannon Bream; Alliance Defending Freedom’s Jeremy Tedesco; Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who received NRB’s 2018 Faith & Freedom Award.”
Pastor Doug noted that Rep. Meadows was very receptive to an offer of prayer from the NRB delegation, kneeling when prayer was given. Bream, an attorney, legal analyst, and now an evening news anchor, shared her Christian testimony when the group visited the FOX News studios near Capitol Hill.
Along with gaining an insider's perspective on government actions, Pastor Doug said such events allow him to associate with leaders of other broadcast ministries, including networks that carry Amazing Facts programs, such as Canada’s Vision TV/Zoomer Media TV Division, the Trinity Broadcasting Network, NRBTV, and Salem Broadcasting. “I also am able to provide some witness about Sabbathkeeping Christians,” he explained. “We talked to several of these leaders, and they realize we are, indeed, Bible Christians.”
Pastor Doug said he was encouraged to see firsthand that there are still many sincere believers in the nation’s capital. “It's good to know that even though there’s plenty of bureaucratic corruption in government, God still has His representatives in the middle of it all,” he said.
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