Radio Free JoJo

I use Google Reader (I know that there’s probably better ones) for reading syndicated content, and it has this nice feature where it aggregates posts about topics using Google Blog Search. I’ve got it tuned to “Christian radio” so I can keep up with what was a big part of my life for 14 years.

Interestingly in the past week there have been several posts commenting on a piece in World Net Daily by Janet Folger entitled “Letter from a future prisoner.” In it she predicts a future world three years from now where Christian radio would be outlawed, Christians will be persecuted for their beliefs, and uttering the words “mom” or “dad” would be hate speech. All of this would occur if Hillary is elected.

Ok, maybe Ms. Folger sounds a little hysterical, but she’s obviously trying to make her point through exaggeration, a literary tool historically used in much of political literature. What is alarming to me is the equally hysterical reaction of the left-wing blogosphere. First off, most discard her as “typical nut-job.” But if that’s the case, why make such a fuss and sound so defensive? Their references are drawing more attention (like mine) to her column than she would typically have. Take a look at some of these (careful, possible bad language).

Second, you get the sense that the lefties “doth protest too much.” I’ve heard Speaker Pelosi talk about how important reestablishing the Fairness Doctrine is to her party. It is well understood that the Fairness Doctrine is anything but fair, and would absolutely squelch free speech in broadcasting, kill conservative (and liberal) talk radio, as well as Christian radio.  The Democrat Party doesn’t like talk radio because their multiple attempts to match Rush Limbaugh have been abysmal failures, both in ratings and revenues. Do I think that a Democrat Congress backed by a Democrat President could bring back the Fairness Doctrine? Probably.

What about this criminalization of Christianity? I have written in the past that the only sociological demographic that can be ridiculed and demonized with impunity are white, male, conservative evangelicals. It’s a stretch to go from marginalization to criminalization…right?

Imagine a fellow with the lavish riches of Donald Trump, the intelligence of Bill Gates, the power of any American President, and the attraction of a Hollywood A-list superstar. Everyone is drawn to him and tries to impress or placate him. He has access to anything and anyone. With all of that, he writes in his blog: “Everything is meaningless…completely meaningless!”

The fellow is King Solomon and his blog is the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. This weekend McLane Church in Edinboro is starting a series of talks called “Trivial Pursuits.”  I’m looking forward to a discussion of how we as people will go after meaning in our lives through any number of means: money, fame, sex, power. Those pursuits, which are classified as “life under the sun,” in the end will not bring fulfillment. We see that evidenced in the media all the time. We probably see that evidenced in our lives.

All of us want to live our lives with meaning, purpose. If you’re feeling a little lost on how to attain that meaning, check out the church, or hit the website this week and listen to the podcast for some insight.

I lived in Nashville for a few years in the late 1980’s working for a secular broadcast marketing company. I was fully immersed in the radio industry, where I called on the management of some of the biggest radio stations in the world. I also had Christian recording artist friends in that hub of the Christian music industry. At that time, however, something we talked about a lot was that there really wasn’t a good contemporary Christian music station in Nashville. I believe that at that time God instilled in me a desire to design a Christian music station that would be relevant and professional.

Within several months I received a call from a family acquaintance back home in Erie. It was Ron Fuhrman, who continued to be the President of WCTL’s board. He called to say that the station manager had resigned and would I be interested in pursuing the job. As they say, the rest is history. I must tell you that it was quite the culture shock to move from a fast-moving cosmopolitan existence in Nashville to living and working on a dirt road, across from corn fields!

I started an exactly fourteen-year adventure as General Manager of WCTL in September 1990. Back then we played CCM, rock, southern gospel, and praise and worship songs, all in the same hour. We would play music for 15 minutes then stop for a 15 minute preaching program, then back to songs. We had one of the worst “time spent listening” in Christian radio. Something had to give. Soon the development of the station to realize my dream began.

There is enough material to write a book, but highlights include in 1992 the struggle then success in building a tower and moving our antenna 14 miles closer to Erie, finally making WCTL a metro Erie station. That year we hired key staff like Ron Raymond, and Bob Smith who are still serving the ministry today, with Ron doing a terrific job now as General Manager. In 1994, we moved the studios to north of Waterford providing better access for listeners by operating in the center of Erie County. Over time there was the weeding out of music and programming outside our mission and just playing great songs. It got to the point that in 1996 we became a national reporting station, which meant great promotions and connections with recording artists.

With so much going on in growing organizations, sometimes taking care of the basics gets lost in the shuffle. In late 1997, we hit a stone wall and crisis came to the ministry in 1998. I still remember that year as the absolute toughest of my adult life. But “mercy came running” that November as we held what would be called “The Miracle Sharathon.” The station was on the brink of bankruptcy, but God had another plan, and with the amazing support of people from throughout the community, our fall fundraiser raised $112,000 in three days. Not only would be survive to operate into the future, but we would be able to fund initiatives that we could only dream about!

The pages really turned after that. In 1999, we went live on the internet and had the most active stream of any Erie station at the time. In 2000, we began an amazing festival at Liberty Park called “Kingdom Bound By the Bay.” For six Labor Day weekends in a row, thousands of people came together under sunny skies to listen to great Christian music and just enjoy each other’s company. It was like the biggest family reunion you ever saw.  In 2002, TV and movie start Kirk Cameron came and spoke at the event. The momentum continued in 2003, as WCTL was noted as the #8 rated Christian music station in the country, and #1 in the Northeast in terms of audience share.

As sometimes happens, my season of life changed and I was called out of WCTL in September 2004. I continue to have strong ties to the station and its staff; these are my friends and I love them dearly. I want to do whatever I can to help further the ministry’s success and growth. I guess I hope that WCTL will continue to have a significant impact on my life throughout my days.

Happy Birthday!

Today, Oct. 3rd, is the 40th anniversary of WCTL Radio. According to their website, wctl.org:

In 1967, 21 Christian businessmen and pastors committed themselves to bringing Christian radio to the Erie, PA area under the vision of George Smith, a local radio engineer. After looking at available new frequencies to apply to the FCC for, they found four-month old WBVB, a 250-watt FM station in Union City. The Inspiration Time board reached agreement to buy WBVB from owners William Baker and Virgil Brown for $17,500 payable over the next few years. With a down payment of $1,000, Inspiration Time became a 49% owner of WBVB. On October 3, 1967, George Smith took over the daily operation and management of WBVB. This date marks the beginning of what is known now as the WCTL radio ministry.

This radio station has played a significant part of my life for probably over 30 of the last 40 years. My earliest memories go back to the mid-1970’s when my brother-in-law, now Pastor Mike Watson (of Grace Baptist Church) had a 15-minute Christian rock radio show on WCTL called Street Level. That’s back in the day when the station was all block programming, and they stuck it in the afternoon right after “Tips for Teens.” Rev. Richard Frank was the General Manager back then, and Mike would record the show in his spare bedroom on reel-to-reel tape, and drive it down to Union City to the station’s trailer on Lincolnville Road. Eventually, the Street Level Radio Show went national, and was aired on over 50 secular Album Rock stations across the country. I used to play the weekly half hour right after my Counterpoint Radio show on Gannon’s WERG Sunday evenings while I was in school in the early 1980’s.

Even though I went to school for Communication Arts, I really didn’t have a desire to get into Christian broadcasting, which at the time professionally, left a lot to be desired. So I went on to be a Top 40 DJ, but still very much loving the contemporary Christian music I was raised on and played on my college station. In the middle 1980’s, dozens of Christian businessmen would have lunch together Fridays at the Mannechor Club downtown in a meeting called TGIF. One of the initiatives that came out of those discussions was the lack of a Christian music station in our area. Now WCTL had been plugging away for almost 20 years at that time, but the signal was week and the programming must not have met the felt need of those men. I’ll never forget when then manager Bill Baker and board chair Ron Fuhrman came to the lunch to talk about the station, basically saying “don’t abandon us, but join us.” It wouldn’t be too long for those businessmen to wait.

**Part Two-tomorrow

Note: this is the final day of the WCTL 40th Birthday Sharathon. I would encourage you that if you appreciate that the station is available for people to be encouraged in their lives, that you support it with a donation. You can do it online now.

This week’s Time magazine cover was a major story on a new book containing decades of letters from Mother Teresa of Calcutta to her spiritual mentors entitled Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light. It turns out that she confesses through the missives that while she was doing incredible work for the poor, she was herself “poor in spirit,” admitting that she felt no presence of God.

It’s a challenging story to read; about a woman who has universal respect and love. We who are believers would understand that good works such as Teresa’s spring out of a desire to love God with all of our “heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30) as an act of worship. No doubt that was her motivation. But her writings perhaps indicate an additional dimension.

Throughout history, some of the greatest people of God cried out in pain at their inability to sense His presence. In Psalm 88, the writer questions “Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?” (v. 14). Job complained about his losses and isolation. Jesus himself at the critical moment of our redemption shouted “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46).

Thank God for those times where we see and feel God all around us; in the laughter of a child, in His creative beauty in nature, or in the blessing of a friend. But often our faith grows even stronger in the dry times; when it’s hard to see Him. It is His grace that keeps us going. Could it be that Mother Teresa associated her passion for saving the helpless and hopeless with The Passion of the Christ? That her work had to be sourced from the divine, that because of her despair she had nothing in and of herself to give.

It’s difficult to get your arms around, but it certainly elevates further my opinion of this amazing woman of faith.

Today is Tuesday, and this afternoon a nice lady named Gail and her sharp-as-a-tack teenage daughter will make their way from their suburban south Erie County home to one of the poorest neighborhoods in inner-city Erie. Gail, her daughter and other volunteers maintain the clothes closet ministry at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, in the heart of Erie’s Little Italy. Most of the clothes the ladies unpack, sort and arrange come from donations from the congregation at McLane Church where they hold a massive clothing drive twice per year. The folks at McLane have been blessed to be a small part of the Holy Trinity story.

You see this clothes closet is just one piece of the amazing effort put out by the parishioners of Holy Trinity to the west-side community where the church resides. Some years ago, facing a changing neighborhood, the folks at Holy Trinity decided to engage their neighbors showing Jesus’ love.  So on a typical Tuesday, not only do less-fortunate people get to choose from some nice clothes from the suburbs, but they can get a hot dinner, a bag full of groceries from the Holy Trinity food pantry, and the kids have after-school programming and homework help. There are other nights for more hot meals and care for the children. On Sundays the church worships, with a vibrancy that reflects the reality that their efforts and their hearts touch the heart of God.

There is something to be learned from the ministry of Holy Trinity Lutheran and the countless other faith-based efforts serving the poor.  Often when we donate clothes, drop dollars in a kettle, or put soup cans out for the letter carrier we feel good about doing a good thing, as we should. But the power comes when we figure out that God’s heart is with the poor, hopeless and hurting. As we “do unto others, as we do unto Him,” we encounter the true “downward-mobility” of the kingdom of God. We will discover that we, with much materially, are the needy ones, and we receive so much as we serve them.

This past weekend has been one of memories and emotions. In a series of circumstances, parts of the last 30 years of my life came flooding back, bringing both laughter and joy, and also regret, sadness, and some guilt.

It began when my brother posted on our family’s website a picture from my Confirmation a picture of my dad and me. I chucked as I saw how much I’ve turned into my father 30 years later. We lost him nine years ago now, and I still miss him so much.

Last Thursday I reunited with old friends with whom I sang in a worship band at my old church. It’s been three years or longer since I ministered with these ones who shared life with me for so long, during many wonderful times and tough times. It was just a couple hours of pure joy.

Finally, my sibs are finally cleaning out the attic of my mother’s house, home to boxes and boxes of stuff from the childhoods of eight children. My mom admitted that we all received the pack rat gene from her and Dad. I found lots of junk with a few gems. My notes from college: trash. My Michelin maps of Europe from the 70’s: golden! I found tons of letters and cards from old friends, many with just chit-chat, and some with profound meaningful messages. My memory is so bad that I couldn’t come up with a couple of the names!

What is it about friendships that ebb and flow? Why is it that there are people that you loved so much that you’d give up your life for them are hardly ever communicated with? I feel a lot of shame that I haven’t been a better friend; haven’t kept up with old friends as my life has transitioned through different seasons.  I know that we all have limits of time and resources, but just as technology has shrunk the world, so can it facilitate keeping friends communicating.

To all of those people who in the past four decades befriended me and allowed me to share a part of their world, thank you.