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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for December 10, 2009
“Lose All Your Guilty Stains”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Cynthia Tucker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Yesterday she wrote about Tiger Woods, and here’s what she said, “…his behavior affects only him, his wife and his sponsors…”
Well that’s a mighty small circle of influence. If Tiger Woods’ behavior only affected that little group, then he wouldn’t have sponsors to begin with.
When Nike paid Tiger a hundred million dollars, it was precisely because he affected tons of people. Tiger wears Nike in hopes that we all will follow suit.
I remember when Tiger first started wearing that plain Nike cap with just that little Nike swoosh on the front. I thought it was quite boring and shameless advertising. And yet all of a sudden I saw guys all over place wearing that exact cap.
Why did they do it? It didn’t affect their golf game. It was no different than a thousand other caps.
Well they did it because Tiger did it.
See, Tiger Woods has sponsors precisely because he is so extremely influential.
Now I’m not saying Tiger’s infidelities will cause others to do the same. In fact, those very infidelities are costing him influence.
But millions are still watching him, just waiting for the next bit of news about Tiger. It’s sad, and it’s turned into a train wreck, but people are very, very interested in Tiger Woods and what he’s going to do.
And what he does has the potential to be very influential. Some people will see how he handles his problems and decide that that is how they are going to handle their own problems.
So here is what I hope and pray happens.
I hope Tiger calls a big press conference, choosing the time and location for maximum impact.
And then I hope, with many tears, that he confesses his sins. Not in gory detail, but in glorious repentance.
I hope he announces that he has confessed his sins to God, and that through Jesus Christ, he has received forgiveness.
And I hope he begins beaming with joy, even as the tears roll.
I hope he declares an awesome Christian testimony, of being saved and born again – that “the old has gone, the new has come!”
Then I hope he announces that he is taking a year off from the tour, that he is submitting himself to a pastor, to be discipled and to get things straightened out in his life. And so he can focus on his wife and children and fixing some things that, right now, are very broken.
I have no idea how Tiger will end up dealing with all this, but I know that the right thing for him is the right thing for all of us. Our problem is sin, and the solution is Jesus.
Isaiah 1:18 says come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He paid the penalty so we could be set free.
Ephesians 1:17 says we have redemption, and our sins are forgiven, through the blood of Jesus.
The old hymn says, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”
I have experienced this personally. I can testify that it works. Jesus redeemed me and forgave me and saved me. My sins were as scarlet, but He made them white as snow. He removed all the guilty stains.
What a joy! What a burden lifted! What a cleansing that takes place when we bring it all to Jesus!
This is the joy that I want Tiger Woods to experience. And I know that if he experiences it, he will influence many others to experience it as well. Many will learn from him that this is the way you handle sin. Like it says in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Oh that Tiger would be free from this terrible burden! And oh that, through his influence, millions of others would find freedom as well!
This is the Gospel, the good news!
Through Jesus, we can be delivered from the burden of sin.
Through Jesus, our sins, though as scarlet, will be made white as snow.
Through Jesus, we can gloriously lose all of our guilty stains.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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