Beauty In The Fall
Oct2
Every time Fall comes around I am reminded of the beauty and the tragedy of the Cross. It is a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us and wants to do in us as we take up our cross and follow after Him. (Romans 6:6-11) Have you ever thought about that?
As you look at the colors of the leaves, be mindful of the beauty of your life in Christ. People are watching you, they want to see this Jesus you speak of and Christ desires to reveal Himself to them, through you. As you daily die a beautiful array of colors will explode from your life. They won’t be tangible colors, but they’ll be there spiritually, and the beauty of Christ in you will be on display for the world to see. For those that are searching for Jesus, it will truly be a sight to behold. So, this fall, don’t think of Summer being over and don’t be sad about the trees losing their leaves but rather think about the way you can demonstrate the colors of Christ in you.
Look at the reds this fall as symbolic of His blood, the forgiveness for you and for others and the price He paid to secure eternity for you. Think of the golds and the yellows as a picture of His Deity and the glory that He wants to reveal to and through you. May the purples remind you of His royalty as King, a royalty that He not only wants to reveal but to share as well. (1 John 3:2) Remember that He is a faithful King and will provide all of your needs according to His riches. How many riches does He have? The browns remind us of His humanity and His bruising, symbolic of His desire to identify Himself with us and familiarize Himself with our sufferings. Remember that is pleased the Father to bruise Him. Are we willing to identify with Christ and suffer persecution and be bruised for Him? Also, amidst the various colors of the dying leaves remember that the trees are not dying but rather preparing themselves for the long cold Winter and it’s storms. Are we preparing our selves for the storms ahead? And all the while the deciduous foliage is falling there are the ever present Evergreens, symbolic of our lives, we who were once dead in trespasses and sins, has He now quickened. (Ephesians 2:1-6) Last thought. Just think about Fall and then think about the Fall of man. The two are closely related, one is a result of the other. Is it a coincidence that the most colorful season has to do with death or do you think the Lord wanted to remind us of the beauty of His life, death and resurrection? Just a thought, what do you think?
Happy Halloween. Treat, Or Trick?
Oct0
Well it’s about that time again. Time for all good little ghouls and boys to dress up like “harmless” little creatures, superheroes and yes, even Bible characters. What are we to do about this pagan holiday or is it Christian? Should we be celebrating it? What do you tell your children when they ask you if they can partake of the festivities? Is it really just harmless fun?
Let’s deal with the latter question first, because if we can determine whether or not Halloween is harmless then the other questions are pretty much moot. If it really is harmless then we should celebrate it, no? If it is not, well we’ll discuss that later. I am hoping that you will have a few things to add to this post and we can dialogue.
It did not take me long, thanks to the Internet, to determine that the roots of this festive holiday were deep, long and anything but harmless. My first stop was History.com. One of the beliefs of this celebration is that the ghosts of the dead return to Earth and wreak havoc on the living. Hmmmm sounds like fun. Not. I’m sorry but since when did it become fun to have the dead come back, not to life as Jesus would do, but still dead? That doesn’t sound like a celebration to me. Now, the business of the costumes are all part of placating the evil spirits by making oneself look like them. After all, what could make the dead even angrier then to see a bunch of healthy living human beings walking around enjoying themselves? The Druids, or Celtic priests were the ones to really kick this thing off. They would have the children dress up in costumes and perform what was known as “souling.” That is the poor people would go door to door begging for “soul cake,” or food in exchange for prayers to the dead on All Souls Day. Once Rome conquered the World, to include much of the Celtic territory, it was only a matter of time till the some of the festivals naturally blended together. Eventually, All Souls Day came to be known as All Saints Day. On the surface it sounds good, after all it is the celebration of the departing of the faithful saints. The purpose for this post is not to give a history lesson because, frankly, I don’t have the knowledge to do that. What I do have, and you do too, is the Word of God. And so I would like to hear what you think about Halloween. Are you going to take little Johnny out dressed as Moses or little Susie adorned as Ruth? Will your neighbors recognize your children dressed as Bible Characters or as little Al- Qaeda operatives? What does the Bible say? Do we know what God’s Word tells us? Better yet, do we believe it and are we willing to obey? I’ll be honest, as a father, the pressure is great from my children and sometimes I don’t have the answer as to why we don’t or why we do certain things. So let’s talk, honestly, kindly and lets see what the Lord would have us do as we look into the Word. If you tune in to WZXV for the month of October you are sure to hear some teachings on this subject. There is also a great resource available at the Chapel Store called The Facts On Halloween by John Ankerberg and John Weldon. I would encourage you to get a copy for your library. I look forward to growing with you as we “rightly divide, faithfully abide.”
Here Is Where We Stand.
Oct1
The Gates of Hell Cannot Prevail.
We first obtained our original construction permit in March of 2005 if that gives you any indication of how long things take in the broadcast industry. Certainly we have made some Minor Modifications to the original application but most of the delay has been caused, by what we believe to be enemy opposition to the Gospel, through either spiritual or physical entities. We have been met with roadblocks when dealing with a local television station in regards to tower space. We have been met with bureaucratic red tape in regards to zoning not to mention other various attacks on the sidelines to get us to either back down or cower in fear. If God be for us, who can be against? It has been a long venture but one we know God will honor in the long run because of His great name sake. You may or may not know by now, but come the end of October, Lord willing and should nothing happen, we will be on the air in Buffalo on 93.3FM.
Here are some things to think about.
The Lord has provided an opportunity for us that we just can not pass on. Our desire here at WZXV is to reach out to the lost and encourage believers to keep on keeping on. In order for us to do that we need to make sure we are being wise with our resources; frequencies and finances. That being said, let me tell you of our opportunity. We have been approached by another brother in the Lord that happens to own a tower near Ithaca and an AM Station. He has asked us to pray about trading him our Penn Yan translator for rent free space for life on his tower. He wants to broadcast his AM station over our FM translator in Penn Yan. This would mean that we could then apply those rent resources, that we are paying now for Penn Yan and Ithaca, to our Buffalo translator. Now while we understand that there will be many listeners in Penn Yan that will greatly miss the Word here on WZXV, we would like you to be mindful of the potential listeners in the downtown area of Buffalo. According to the Census data of 2000, the population of Penn Yan is 5,219 while the 2006 Census data for the city of Buffalo is 276,059, so you can see the potential, and that does not include those commuting into the city for work reasons. We see this as the hand of the Lord.
Here are some things to pray about.
We have a translator in Bowmansville and due to FCC regulations, we are currently re-broadcasting the signal of another great Christian Broadcaster. What we need is the Lord’s wisdom on what to do with and His provision for this frequency. Would you please intercede on our behalf and ask the Lord to provide a buyer or maybe another situation like we have in Ithaca? Also, please keep praying for the move in Syracuse, pray that it will happen and soon. I can tell you we have been in contact with WTVH and it would seem that it is still moving forward, but you never know. Let me explain what it will mean for Syracuse. The move will not make our signal stronger but it will get our signal higher and possibly further and without much interference as we go higher up in the air. Imagine if you will an open umbrella, if you were to hold it close to your head only you could fit under it, but as you hold it higher more people could stand under it with you. That, basically, is what it will do with our signal hopefully getting us further into the city and onto the thruway East and West.
Here are some things we’re thankful for.
We want to thank you for all of your support. You will never know, in this life, what your prayers, financial gifts and your kind words mean to us. I can tell you that it helps to keep us going and our prayer is that we keep you going also. May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause His face to shine upon you as you look into His Word, on WZXV.