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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for February 13, 2009
“The Feeling That You Should Not Be Doing What You Are Doing”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“Hey Doug, how did you end up in Christian radio?”
I love this story.
In college I had a Friday morning radio show, all rock-n-roll.
Then in the summer of ‘84 I gave my life to Christ. I went back to the college station and asked to do a Christian music show, which they buried on Sunday afternoons.
I didn’t take an actual radio class until my last semester of college. In that class one day the manager of a local AM-FM combo came and talked about a job opportunity.
So I went and checked it out and took the job. At first I just did some computer work and production, some news and sports. But rather quickly they gave me my own show – and there I was, playing all the hits from the 80’s. After all, it was the 80’s.
But something inside me stirred. I was uncomfortable and restless. I just did not like playing that music, by which I mean secular music.
I’ll never forget being in the grocery store when a girl from our church stopped me and went on and on about hearing my show on the radio. And all I could think was, “You’re a good Christian girl. Why are you listening to that music?”
Now listen. There was no one preaching at me about this. No one was condemning me about being a secular music DJ. This all came from within. There was just something stirring inside me, a conviction that I should not be doing what I was doing.
Have you ever felt that? A conviction that you should not be doing what you are doing?
I’m reminded of this phrase from Hebrews 10:14, “…those who are being made holy.”
That’s what was stirring inside me. God’s Spirit was working in me. I was being made holy (a process that continues to this day, by the way.)
Do you want to be one of those who are being made holy? Then you have to go along with that stirring of the Spirit, that conviction that you should not be doing what you are doing.
At that point in my life I was saved. According to Hebrews 10:10 I had been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. Hebrews 13:12 says that Jesus suffered to make me holy “through His own blood.” Colossians 1:22 says it was so that I could be presented as holy in God’s sight, “without blemish and free from accusation.”
That was me, made holy by Jesus Christ.
But now look at Second Timothy 1:9. It says that, yes, God saved us, and “…called us to a holy life…”
First Corinthians 1:2 says that, yes, we are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and we are “…called to be holy…”
One requires no effort. We believe the Gospel, trust Christ to save us, and there we are, holy in His sight. That is our salvation.
But now look at First Peter 2:2. It talks about growing up in our salvation.
See, we don’t just stay where we started, like newborn babies. We are to “grow up” in our salvation.
And that does require effort on our part. In fact, Hebrews 12:14 tells us to “make every effort…to be holy…”
Yes, God cleanses us. But look at Second Timothy 2:21. It talks about the need to cleanse ourselves, and it says why.
We cleanse ourselves so that we will be “made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” We do it so that we will be “an instrument for noble purposes…”
So there I was, a born again Christian, playing secular music, and feeling a conviction that I should not be doing what I was doing.
Now I had a choice. To heed that conviction, or suppress it.
Well why wouldn’t I just immediately heed the conviction?
Because it meant change. Because it meant stopping something I enjoyed.
Over the years I have met a lot of Christians in secular radio who suppressed that conviction. Why did they do it? For the money. For the pleasure. For the popularity.
There are a lot of ways you can talk yourself into suppressing that conviction, but don’t do it.
First Thessalonians 4:7 says, “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”
We are to be an instrument for noble purposes, but Second Timothy 2 says we must first cleanse ourselves of the ignoble.
And that’s what I finally decided to do. I heeded that growing conviction that I should not be doing what I was doing. I decided to trade in ignoble purposes for noble purposes. I decided to get out of secular radio once and for all and go to work in Christian radio where I could serve the Lord as my full time job.
And that’s how I got into Christian radio.
Now what about you? Do you feel a conviction that you should not be doing what you are doing? I’m not just talking about your job here. I’m talking about anything in your life.
Well maybe it’s time to grow up in your salvation. It’s time to cleanse yourself of the ignoble.
It’s time to make every effort to be holy.
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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