Prosperity Minister from Local Megachurch Never Uses Jesus' Name

Just before our local CBS TV affiliate hands the morning news over to the CBS Morning news, there's a daily, one-minute commercial that runs. It's a inspirational little homily from a local pastor who heads one of the larger megachurches in the Twin Cities area. His name is Mac Hammond. He runs Living Word Ministries here, and is a tried and true Prosperity Gospel preacher with a growing following. His church's website URL is featured prominently throughout the ad. The series of ads is called "The Winner's Minute."

Speaking with a clearly subdued Southern accent of one sort or another (Missouri, I think), he delivers his instructive words on family life, job issues, building a productive work ethic, charity, anger management and other topics, and produces a new commercial for each day. It's a costly and time-consuming minute for him to produce five days a week throughout the year. His homespun advice is sprinkled with pithy illustrative quotes from current and historical figures, straight out of a quotation website.

Since my wife and I watch the local news and CBS morning news while waking up with our morning mugs of coffee, we hear Mac Hammond's wisdom on a regular basis. Most of his advice is OK, although a hint of misogynism creeps in when the subject is marriage and relationships.

There's one interesting thing about his clockwork-like TV blivets. He never utters the word "Jesus." Never. Not once in all the time I've watched, and that's at least a couple of years. Not at Christmas time. Not at Easter. Just plain never. Occasionally, he'll drop a pithy Bible verse in there, but never mentions the namesake of his religion.

It's puzzling. I'm bemused. Maybe I'll email him and ask about that.