What Bait To Use.
Sep1
Often times I listen to other Christian stations, not to critique them or to discover better ways to do what we’re doing, but genuinely to listen to them. You see, much like television or the Internet, I like to surf the airwaves looking for something to listen to. Sometimes I like to listen to Bible studies other times I listen to conservative talk radio and then there are times I want to hear good Christian music, music that we don’t play on WZXV. I know, right now you’re saying, “I can’t believe he listens to other stations.” But I do.
Now before I go any further, I want you to know that my reason for posting this is purely out of observation, experience and to get your opinion. Let me assure you that I am not here to criticize. Let me start by asking you a question. When you tune into a Christian radio station what is it that you hope to hear? You want to hear all things Christian, right? You want to hear about the love of Jesus, the hope of Heaven and that no matter what you have done or will do, there is forgiveness at the Cross, right? I know I do. Then why is it that many, (not all) but many Christian stations resort to using secular music to lure the unsaved or the “un-churched?” Did you notice a few years back that there were Christian artist being played on some of the local secular rock stations? You would hear music by DC Talk, Toby Mac and even Mercy Me’s, I Can Only Imagine. Something about hearing Mercy Me playing on a station that would then play a song by Brittany Spears called “If U Seek Amy,” and I can tell you that seeking Amy is not what that song is about. Do you see my point? The messages are not only contradictory but they are mutually exclusive, there is no point on which they can agree. To me it is a message of confusion and God is not the author of that, is He?
Should we be playing secular songs on Christian radio? Some of you may be saying, “yes, use it as bait to get them to listen to the rest of the message, besides there is a Christian song coming up next or a great Bible study and they might get saved.” My question to you would be. Did Jesus use the the Mosaic system to bait new believers or did Jesus say beware the leaven? I am not trying to be legalistic here but let’s at least be realistic. Jesus did not tell individuals that they could continue in their dead works and follow after Him. When Jesus ate with the publicans and the sinners, do you think He talked with them about their need to get to Temple, or did He tell them about their need for Him? Why do you think they liked being with Jesus? I believe that it was because He was different, His message was different and He made them feel right at home in the presence of a pure, holy, loving savior without using the trappings of the world. Sure, Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men,” (Mark 1:17) but the bait is Jesus. When will men be drawn to Jesus? When we lift His name up. (John 12:32)
I have spoken to other representatives of Christian stations and quite honestly I understand their point of view, but I don’t agree with it and even if I did, it wouldn’t it make it right? Say you go to a local hamburger joint and you order a hot dog, but they bring you a hamburger. What would you say? This isn’t what I ordered, I know you would because I would. What if they said, “well we would like you to try our hamburger first and then you can by our hot dog, we just thought you would really like our hamburger too.” What would you do then? You might take the hot dog but you certainly are not going to pay for both of them are you? Now think in terms of Christian radio. Why is Christian radio here? Is it evangelistic? In many ways, yes, it is, but I would suggest to you that the greater ministry of Christian Radio is to encourage believers to stay close to Jesus. There are so many voices out there calling us to forsake our Lord and many of them seem to be innocuous, but I am sure Eve thought the fruit was innocuous too. What about those Christians that want nothing to do with the old life, it’s thoughts, it’s music? Are we as concerned about stumbling them as we are about baiting someone with a secular song? When I was a teenager I did everything in my power to prove to my parents that a particular artist was Christian so that I could buy their album. Do you want your young child to listen to the rest of, for example, the Brittany Spears album just because one song on the album may be innocuous? One gentleman at a local Christian station told me that the message of a song was more important than the lifestyle of the Artist. I’m sorry, what would you think about Jesus if His lifestyle did not line up with His message? At the least you would not respect Him and at the worst you would not follow Him. If you say you would then you’re deceiving yourself.
I think we need to be very careful with what we allow to go on in our lives, myself included. When attaching the title of Christ to our lives, to a political figure, an artist and a radio station should we expect Christ and Christ alone to be exhibited? I know that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world but we’re serving a perfect Lord and He wants us to present Him to the world. What are your thoughts? I would like to know.
The winner is.
Aug0
Tyndale National Giveaway Winner.
We had an absolute glorious time participating in the promotion of Coach Tony Dungy’s new book, “Uncommon.” It was great to see your excitement and enthusiasm to contact us in trying to obtain a copy for either yourself or a loved one.
We are doubly blessed to know that the winner is one of our family members. Out of all the participating radio stations the winner is devoted listener, Kathryn. Please join us in congratulating our sister in Christ. This week Kathryn stopped by the studios and we were able to snap a shot off of her and Patrick. What a thrill to join Kathryn in celebrating her win.
Pictured below you will see Patrick and Kathryn standing in front of our display at The Chapel Store. Kathryn walked away not only with her Tyndale winnings but she also proudly walked away with a new “the WORD” WZXV t-shirt. You’ll notice we have new Polo shirts and some really cool coffee mugs with saucers, you have to see them up close to appreciate them. If you would like to support the Gospel and spread it at the same time, stop by the Chapel Store and purchase one of each, if you can. I can tell you that 100% of the proceeds will go to furthering the Kingdom of God. It would bless us to know that you are wearing, sharing and showing people where they can turn to get the ultimate answers to life.
The Uncommon winner is, Kathryn.
Answered Prayer
Aug0
What an amazing God we serve. Just when you think that He has forgotten us or that He doesn’t hear us, He answers our prayer and on top of that He answers it concisely, clearly and immediately. You know that we have been asking you to pray for Syracuse, right? For those of you new to WZXV, we have been in negotiations with a WTVH in Syracuse to move to their tower in hopes to clear up our signal. We knew the Lord was the author of the whole thing. The Engineer for the station had spoken with us right about the time that our lease with our current Landlord was up. He was very helpful and offered to take us up higher in the air for a cost that was just too good to pass up. So, we prayed, we talked and then we began the build. Back in December of 2008 Patrick, Jeff and Grey set out for the day. The goal was to build the non penetrating roof frame on which our receive antenna would be mounted and to set up the equipment in the building. Once that was done we would contact the tower crew to climb, disassemble our current location and relocate us on the new tower that was only some 200 feet away. Seemed like it was going to be an easy transition, that was our first mistake. This is a battle being waged and you and I are smack dab in the middle and we are in the middle because we are the soldiers not the pawns as the world would have us believe. You see when you are talking about taking territory from the prince of the air for the Lord Jesus you are going to have to fight for it and the way we fight is on our knees. Maybe that is why prayer, often times, is neglected. I speak for myself when I say that it seems like much more gets accomplished when I am doing something not realizing that the Lord wants to do it (whatever “it” happens to be) for me. Does “not of works lest any man should boast,” ring a bell? Well as this process continued ownership of WTVH changed hands, out with all the old staff in with the new, to include the Engineer that started this whole process for us. Save for the large rack and countless cinder blocks we had left on the roof of their building no one had heard about this wonderful venture. Time for more prayer, searching the mind of Christ and learning to wait patiently on the Lord. Ever been there? I know you have and you may be there right now. Is that such a bad place to be? What did we do before the Lord? We charged, without direction and without orders and without certain victory. Our Lord tells us that “in patience we are to possess our souls.” So many times in the past we have been driven by emotions, feelings or by others. Much of our world system is driven by the “act now” mentality. Now that the Holy Spirit is in our life we are led by reason, rationale, and a mindset that is completely opposed to that of the world, the mind of Christ. His ways are not as ours and His thoughts are not as ours but He wants them to be and so we pray, we enter into fellowship with Him and if that means waiting patiently upon the Lord, then we wait. Prayer strengthens us, it gives us resolve, it purifies our thoughts as we realize that we are approaching the true and living God. I say all of this to say this, the Lord has answered all of our prayers. The new General Manager of WTVH has contacted us and he has told us that he is going to “move this move” forward. My point? Don’t doubt the Lord’s ability or His desire to hear and to answer your prayer.
Home Sweet Home.
Jul0
This past weekend I had the wonderful privilege of going to Stony Brook, one of many charming and adventurous gorges in the New York State Parks. We had a gorge-ous day, pardon the pun. One of the most exciting elements of the day was the ability to tune in to WZXV on 97.5 fm. It was like a home away from home. Have you ever been lost until there is some familiarity then you don’t feel so lost anymore? That’s what it was like. The day was beautiful, the children were a delight and the fellowship was outstanding. I can’t wait to see what Heaven will be like. Think of all the adventures we have here on Earth and you would never be able to do them all, now think of what may be waiting for us in the Kingdom to come. We are going to have so much fun in eternity. We may be in an unfamiliar land right now, but we have the Holy Spirit to give us the assurance that we are where the Lord wants us, for now.
Where your treasure is……
Jul0
In my readings this morning I came across Proverbs 22:4. “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.” We hear much about economical collapse lately and the need for the government to move in and take over our private lives. Many conservative talk show hosts touching on the doom of America as we have known it. Have any of us really known the “America” that our founding fathers intended? The Word of God tells us that righteousness exalts a nation. What our nation needs most, right now, is to get back to the principles that our forefathers adhered to, principles found in the Word of God. Our leaders lack both humility and a healthy fear of the Lord. Is it any wonder that the riches, honor and life that America once enjoyed is rapidly eluding us? After all “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Prov 23:5) Blessings flee even faster when a nation rejects God. Have we become too comfortable? I ask myself that question as well. Honestly and sadly I believe I have. I find myself hoping that abortion will be abolished, prayer allowed in school, more tax money to give to the poor and to my family, and the name of Jesus proclaimed in Hollywood. Dream on. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy. These are not things that our world can even offer. Remember everything has fallen short of the glory that God intended. Sin has ravaged creation and everything about it. The hope of the believer is the coming Kingdom, the Kingdom who’s builder and maker is God. Our desire here at WZXV is to keep you looking for that kingdom where riches, honor and life are far greater than those of this world and are never fleeting. The Apostle Paul speaks on the tragedy of having hope in this life only, no, our hope is much higher and far surer than any hope this world system has to offer. Don’t look to man to solve your problems, try as they might they will always fall short. I don’t believe we have seen the worst. Jesus warned us of the severity of the last days, so that we would not be caught off guard or that we should fear. Set your sights on Heaven. Remember, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any nation. Let’s keep ourselves from idols, keep ourselves in the love of God and spotless and let’s lay up treasures in heaven where rust, moths, nor thieves have any effect. In doing so we will ensure one of our greatest treasures will be there waiting when we arrive……our hearts. May the Lord bless you.
What is going on here?
Jun1
Dear Family,
Please be in prayer. We seem to be under serious attack and we have to trust that Buffalo is going to bring great glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. For the last few weeks now and even months there have been several situations here at the station that warrant a close look at. Up until last week we have had a computer malfunction in the production arena that has caused total frustration and has been a hindrance in getting the next days logs done. Maybe you remember back in mid May the terrible sound of the same Salem Radio News playing over and over again? And no it was not a sinister plot to point out Speaker Pelosi’s back stroke on water boarding. We were on retreat that week, go figure the enemy would attack then. We were so grieved by all the errors as we know you were too and we apologize for that. Lately we have had another issue creep up. Our on air machine has of late decided that it would like to reboot at a moments notice, unfortunately, it does not tell us when it will do it. Sometimes it happens in the middle of Pastor Chuck or Pastor Skip or even in the middle of praise. No matter when it happens, one thing is true, it is annoying to us and to you. Please, bathe WZXV in prayer and know that we are doing our all to ensure the Word of God continues to go out. Thank you so much for your patience.
Your viewing, er listening pleasure.
Jun1
We thought you would like to see where WZXV reaches. Now you can know where to tune if you happen to lose signal in your travels across the state and you can tell your friends where to tune, to get the good news of salvation. You know in 1993 we would have never imagined this for WZXV. Some of you may not know this, but we used to be a commercial station, hence, the frequency 99.7 within the commercial radio band. After being on the air for about a year and witnessing the reach of Jesus Christ across the airwaves, and the impact He had on the lives of countless listeners, we had no other choice but to answer the Lord’s call to go non-commercial/not-for-profit so that we could secure translators across the state to reach more people for the cause of Christ. The Lord is good. Here we are some 16 years later, still growing, still reaching, still looking and still praying about where the Lord might have us go next. We have had listeners ask if we are praying about Jamestown, Watertown, Albany and even as far south as Virginia. Can you believe that? We want to thank you for all of your prayers and support, be it financially or in moral and spiritual support. We are excited to see what is ahead of us and we hope you are too. We live in dark times, don’t we? One need only turn on the evening news or read the latest headlines to get confirmation. But, here we are with this wonderful truth to hold forth as a light to call men and women, that are lost, into a glorious liberating life with Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 12:32, ”And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”
What is going on in Buffaloooooo???
Jun0
Well we are certainly thankful to all of you for your prayers and financial support. What a blessing to have you standing in the ranks with us in battle. Things in Buffalo? They are moving full steam ahead, Praise Jesus. The team has taken all the necessary measurements and now we wait for the Engineers to submit their findings to the Telecommunications Zoning Board so that they can submit a Construction Permit to us. Once we have that green light, we can set up a date to go and set up the equipment. This has been a long arduous battle but we trust that the Lord has great things in store for the body of believers as well as the unsaved. Did you know, that Buffalo is the second most Churched city in the nation? It is! Anyway, the battle wages on so please continue to pray. As I am sure you know, from your own experience, when the blessings of the Lord begin the battle seems tougher, things have certainly been tough around here. Jesus never promised that life would be easy but He did encourage us to be of good cheer because of His great victory. Thank you for listening to WZXV and stay tuned to “The WORD.”