KLOVE RADIO FEATURES – JANUARY 2024

“NO ONE WILL EXPECT IT” –

Over the holidays, I played a pick-up tag football game with some of my teenage grandsons and their friends. I hadn’t done much to help or hurt our team, but I was having fun. In the huddle, before one play, our 16-year-old quarterback whispered, “I’ll throw the ball to you because no one will expect it.” It was a defining moment. At nearly 75, I was now the last kid on the bench, an NPC, a non-playable person. I was so offended I punched him in the face. (Just kidding). It was actually a very funny moment. He did throw the ball to me, and I did, as expected, drop it. But, ironically, I was glad I could once again acknowledge the season I am in with acceptance and laughter. 

ESCAPE ROOMS –

A contemporary phenomenon that’s trending is called escape rooms. Players are locked in a room and given clues to solve puzzles and accomplish tasks in a limited amount of time. The goal is to escape the room. Jonah wanted to escape the responsibility God had given him to go to Nineveh and challenge the city to repent. He escaped into a ship and finally into a whale before he solved the riddle, repented and did what God asked him to do. Today, we have next generations, Millennials, Gen-Z, and now Alphas who find themselves locked in media Escape Rooms, unable to solve the riddle of life and often resisting what God is asking them to do. How about you? Are you running to God, or from Him? May this be the year you escape from resisting God and finally surrender to Him.  

“YOU’RE EVERYTHING I WANTED TO BE” –

In the late 70’s, my wife and I lived in and pastored a community of 75 people for 4 ½ years. Some arrived after being in prison for years; others had severe addictions and bondages. Years later, one of them contacted me and said he was a hitman, killing people for money. After spending hours with him trying to get him to turn himself into the Sheriff who was attending our church, he aggressively got in my face and threatened, “Maybe I’ll just do you?” When I refused to be intimidated by him, he stormed out of the church, only to return a few minutes later to say these words and then leave: “You’re everything I wanted to be.” It branded me with this chilling thought. We all know who we want to be, but how few will surrender to become just that?    

THE UNTRAINED SOUL

Much like Jonah, this is the age of escape artists and untrained souls. Even though God chose Jonah, he resisted and tried to escape the call on his life. So, God sent tests to train him to become the man he was called to be. Jonah started out hiding, first on a ship, then in a whale, then under a tree. Every time he resisted God and responded poorly, God persisted and tested him further. Today, many are escape artists with untrained souls, trying to avoid the call of God on their lives. Yet, God persists in His efforts to awaken us to our true identity and destiny. If you hear God’s inner voice today, train your soul to obey His Spirit. Our attempts to escape His will always leave us empty and wishing for a do-over.

WE’LL KEEP ELVIS

Years ago, I visited a young couple in their home and shared extensively about Jesus. The unusual thing about them was their fascination with Elvis Presley. Everywhere you looked in their home was Elvis memorabilia: posters, blankets, cups, lamps, rugs, and pictures—hundreds of images of Elvis on every imaginable object. After talking with them about what Jesus had done for them, they said they believed what I was saying was true. It then came down to me asking them if they wanted to surrender their lives to Jesus or keep Elvis as the most important person in their lives. After a long pause, they looked at each other and, with a smile, said, “We’ll keep Elvis.” I don’t think I’ve seen a clearer picture of outright deception in my entire life.

DYING GRACEFULLY

A hundred years ago, a passenger ship sank while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. As it went down, the occupants realized there were not enough lifeboats or life jackets for everyone on board. Word spread quickly, soon coming to the attention of 109 Salvation Army officers. Consulting together, they made a courageous decision. They would each give their life jackets to others on board. After the ship sank and the bodies of all 109 Salvation Army officers were found—not one of them had on a life jacket. They had each drowned, willingly giving their lives for total strangers. Over and over again, survivors reported how the Salvation Army officers took off their life jackets for others. Many of them, even women, persuaded full-grown men to wear the jackets, pleading, “Take the jacket! I can die better than you can.”