Launched on Dec. 31, 1997, by husband and wife team Marcus and Joni Lamb, it provided Christian television ministers with a platform to reach the masses without having to buy airtime on secular networks.
From fairly modest beginnings, the corporation has grown into a reported $1 billion enterprise. While the company does not make public its business/ministry records, one of the three board members is recorded referring to Daystar as a one billion dollar enterprise.
The ministry does produce its own content and, in addition, sells airtime to other ministries wishing to expand their market reach. Not unlike many other 'Christian' ministries in North America, Daystar has become big business, providing Christian-friendly news and entertainment. Like most Christian megaministries, the source of their funding and its distribution is a closely guarded secret.
The LORD is the only one capable of judging the value of these so-called ministries. Whether any of them meet the Biblical standard of what is called true religion and undefiled before God is to care for the widow and the orphan; He alone will judge.
RECENT SCANDALS COMING OUT OF DAYSTAR
To help understand the operation of this company and who it is responsible to, we need to know who the 'players' are.
Originally founded by Marcus and Joni Lamb, there was/is a very limited 'board' they are responsible to. In fact, to the outsider, it would appear the Lambs have complete control over the direction of Daystar.
The Lambs had three children who are in the family business in one capacity or another. The son, Jonathan Lamb, occupied the position of VP behind his father as Pres. Two sisters, Rebecca and Rachel, were engaged as well; whether they were also officers or not is beyond the scope of this report. Each of the children's spouses I believe were also in the employ of Daystar. Basically, the Lamb family was in total control of Daystar.
THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG STARTS TO SHOW
What I offer here is information I have gathered from a variety of sources being broadcast primarily on social media.
On Nov. 30, 2021, Marcus Lamb died in the hospital after being stricken with Covid-19. At this time, Joni took over the helm with son Jonathan being VP. It is reported it was the will of Marcus that Joni lead Daystar, and when she vacated the position, it would be assumed by son Jonathan.
It appears the family got along running the family business in a harmonious fashion until Joni remarried in June 2023 to a divorced marriage counselor, Doug Weiss.
This union between Joni and Doug seemed totally at odds with claimed Christian values. Doug divorced his wife of 30 years, claiming she had 'abandoned' him in spite of on-air confessions of their marriage being a model to others. Since the biblical reason to divorce is limited to one of the partners engaging in fornication, the idea that their union was blessed by God was a cause of tension in the family dynamic. While not agreeing with the marriage, both Jonathan and his wife, Suzy, decided to get along to get along.
DARK SECRETS FROM THE PAST—CHILD MOLESTATION
The young daughter of Jonathan and Suzy reported in detail to her mother that she had been touched in a sexual fashion by an unidentified person, who was bigger than Daddy.
Since the daughter was either only at home, at the Daystar studio, or at a daycare/school, the school seemed the only place this could have happened. Seeking advice from mother-in-law Joni, Suzy called to report the incident and said she was going to file a police report. According to Suzy, Joni advised against a police report and said a better course would be to attend the child's school the next day.
According to Jonathan, when he contacted Joni the next day, he was told to bring the child to Joni's first, and then they would go to the school. At this time, according to Jonathan Joni asked to speak with the child alone. After this conversation, Jonathan claims his daughter completely shut down and was unable to talk about the offense. The evening before, Suzy reports her daughter was very vocal and graphic about the alleged events.
The parents did involve the police at this time, but since the child was no longer speaking of the matter, there was nothing the police could do to further the investigation.
Looking for answers
Jonathan and Suzy tried to determine who the perpetrator could have been but could come to no solid conclusions. The school the child attended did not have any men in their employ, so that place was ruled out.
Obviously their own home could not be the place of the offense, which left Daystar as the only other place it could have occurred.
With their daughter no longer willing to talk of the matter, it was difficult to come to any kind of closure, leaving only speculation and suspicion as to who the offender was.
An Explosive Family Getaway
As was their custom, the Lamb family would rent a seaside house for a family getaway. The adults and children all had their own rooms in the three-level house.
There came a time that Suzy's daughter wanted to go for a swim, and her mom told her to go to her room upstairs to put on her bathing suit.
According to Suzy's account, a male family member who was holding his own infant took a sudden interest in following her daughter to her room. Suzy's alarm went off, and she ran to tell Jonathan of her concern. He sprinted up the stairs and came into his daughter's room to find her naked in the process of changing while the family member was on the other side of the room. Jonathan went ballistic (my words, not his) and demanded to know what this man was doing in his naked daughter's bedroom. According to Jonathan, he was met with many "I am sorry' from the man.
Long story short, they all went down to the bottom floor where Marcus and Joni were. After hearing what the family member had to say, Marcus basically pronounced the family member innocent of any wrongdoing. While this did not sit well with either Jonathan or Suzy, there seemed to be nothing else to be done.
Continuing Conflict
The event did cause considerable tension in the family in the days and weeks to follow. Eventually a trusted family counselor was brought in to try and restore harmony. During this time there was an effort to find out what, if anything untoward, had transpired between Jonathan's daughter and this family member.
Another long story short. A forensic counselor was engaged with skills to assess if suspicions could finally be laid to rest. At the end of a two-hour session, the counselor was unable to declare the suspected person as being innocent, saying it would take several more sessions to determine that. There never were any other sessions as the suspected person would not consent.
It is noteworthy that the suspected person appealed to the family counselor on several occasions to declare his innocence, which she was not authorized to do, and referred him back to the forensic counselor for that clearance. According to Jonathan, during this time Marcus told him that the suspected member had been cleared and declared innocent. This was later found to simply not be true.
The Final Straw
While agreeing to get along to get along, both Jonathan and Suzy did not approve of Joni's marriage to a divorced man, and the matter of their daughter's abuse remained on simmer for a time.
Finally a conflict arose when Suzy was asked to read an on-air comment from a viewer praising Joni's marriage. She was unable to do something that would have the appearance that she approved of the marriage.
Long story made short once again. Suzy was fired from her position at Daystar, and Jonathan was told if he would not consider that Joni was 'God at Daystar,' he would have to forfeit his position and employment at Daystar.
Jonathan and Suzy no longer work at
Daystar, and the final chapter of this scandal is yet to be written.
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