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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for January 6, 2010
“Make Straight the Way of the Lord”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
I worked in radio back in the days when a DJ really was a “disc jockey.”
You had two turntables, and while one record was playing you’d cue up the other.
You would take the record out of the sleeve, and it could be an album or a 45. You’d put it on the turntable, put the needle on it close to the start of the song, then play it until the song began; not on the air but “in cue.”
Then you would turn it backwards by hand until it was one half rotation back from the start of the song. Now the record was cued up and ready to play.
Ah, but we forgot to check one thing.
Now this is Christian radio, and hopefully that last song was a real blessing to someone. There they sat, listening and being blessed. God was just all over them. And you, the DJ, picked the perfect follow-up song, and now you are going to create the perfect segue. You are going to take the listener from one blessing right into another. Lives are going to be changed by this segue.
The song ends and you push the button to start the next record. And oh my goodness, it sounds like the chipmunks! Quick, scramble, click the speed down to 33 1/3. EEEEEooouuuu . . . down the record slows to its rightful speed.
Now is that listener still being blessed? Are they still thinking about the Lord, with their mind fixed on things above?
Nope. They were sent crashing back to earth. A divine moment has become an earthly moment. They are thinking about the station and the DJ and the silly sound of the chipmunks.
That is exactly what I harped on for years. I begged the DJs to eliminate all mistakes, and here’s why. Mistakes take the listeners’ attention away from the message, away from the Lord and His Word.
A scripture I applied to it was John 1:23, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Listen to these beautiful words in Luke chapter three. “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Get this picture in your mind. Picture a king on a throne, thousands of years ago. He wants to make an official trip, but there is no Air Force One or a limo or even a carriage. Instead, servants are going to carry his throne between two poles.
Now a lot of preparation must go into this trip because you can’t be dumping the king off his throne as you descend into a gorge or go up a steep hill. So the advance team goes and fills in the valleys and cuts down the hills. They create a smooth, straight path for the king.
That’s the idea of making straight the way of the Lord. We eliminate the obstacles, remove the stumbling blocks, anything that might get in the way of the Lord and hinder His moving in our lives.
I think for us individually that primarily applies to sin. If we want God to show up in all areas of our life, we need to make the path straight by repenting of our sins. We clear out the things that might hinder the Lord’s work in our life.
But then I take it to another level, and that means clearing out the things that might hinder the Lord’s work in someone else’s life. In other words, there are things I do and say that might get in the way. You might call them stumbling blocks.
For example, if I claim to be a Christian, then go out and get drunk on the weekends, someone is going to conclude that Christ is not for them because, after all, I – the supposed Christian – am no different from them. In that case I become a stumbling block.
First John 2:10 indicates that when we love others, we make sure there is nothing in our life that makes them stumble.
And now take it to another level. I like to apply this to ministry, just as I did to those DJs. In ministry we need to make straight the way of the Lord. We need to eliminate things that get in the way, that draw attention away from God.
In Christian radio I think that means eliminating mistakes. It means eliminating unprofessionalism. It even means eliminating technical difficulties. All those things draw attention to themselves and remove the attention from the Lord and His Word.
I think this applies to church services and Christian publishing and websites and music. If you are involved in ministry, stop and think about things that might get in the way.
For example, if someone goes to church and there is a lot of disorder. Or if the sound is bad. Or if the leaders are drawing attention to themselves by how they dress or their hairstyle. Or even if it’s too cold or too hot.
I know people should just come and be hungry for God, but the truth is that people are easily distracted – so let’s eliminate the distractions. If you are in ministry, ask God to show you any potential distractions or stumbling blocks.
First Corinthians 10 says, “Do not cause anyone to stumble.” About that very thing Paul said, “For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
We want to eliminate all stumbling blocks. We want to raise the valleys and bring down the hills. We want to clear the path. We don’t want anything to get in the way of the Lord and His work in people’s lives.
And we can sum it all up in this powerful statement.
Make straight the way of the Lord.
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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