Mathematics is an accurate way of finding unknown answers through provable procedures using factors already known. Those are my words, and express my understanding of the complex world of mathematics. When solving for X (the unknown) we focus our attention on what we know to be true. For example: A car is traveling 60 miles an hour, how far will it go in 2 hours. X= 60 x 2 X= 120 miles. That is a simple math problem but it is also undisputed truth.
Through this equation we found an unknown answer by using the information we already had. I am not going to try to teach math to you, but I would like to apply the simplicity of this algebraic formula to another problem. Mathematical principles are applied in thousands of ways to determine many unknown answers. I believe it can even help us prove the very existence of God.
The “Knowns” for this equation are many. I’ll focus on two of them. Let’s start with any easy one; Life. Man cannot create life. We can't even create a pumpkin seed let alone a man. The complexities of a single cell boggle the mind. We can isolate a cell and manipulate it, play with its genetics, even clone it, but with all our greatest minds working together we cannot create it from nothing. Science has been trying for years but with absolutely no success.
The Earth is a perfectly arranged habitat for life. Plants provide food and life giving oxygen for man, while man gives plants the life giving carbon dioxide they need. The earth feeds the plants and animals and the earth's water gives life to all creation. The sun is the perfect distance away to provide heat by day and reflected light off the moon at night and gravity holds every thing in place. There is so much to know about the earth and the balance of nature that explanations fill hundreds of books. Everything has a purpose and interacts with everything else. Can man create a planet or a balanced ecological system? To say no almost seems like a waste of paper. NO !
The “Knowns” about the earth and life are so many that they alone should lead any clear thinking person to the logical and mathematically provable conclusion that there is a God who was and is alive. Nothing but a Supreme Being could create life, construct the heavens and earth, and set nature in motion. The exhaustive equation that would prove the existence of God mathematically would be complex, but this basic one is a good place to start.
It is no wonder that even people far away from civilization are found seeking God. They know there must be one because of the overwhelming evidence of His existence. They worship the sun and the moon and even the trees in their attempt to be near God. What a joy it must be for missionaries to finally be able to confirm to them that the God they have longed for is real and that He created all the things they have been worshiping. To be able to lead them to God through His only begotten son Jesus Christ is the ultimate reward. I can only imagine what it must be like for these seekers of God to read a Bible written in their language where they can read the truth and know God and His Son in a personal way.
Add it all up. There is only one answer.
I submit to you that there are surprisingly few Believers who measure up to the model the Lord would prefer us to attain when it comes to our faith. Christians have varying levels of belief and unbelief. But, because of our belief we still manage to stand convincingly for the Lord until adversity strikes. The damage the adversity brings is in proportion to the varied level of faith it slams in to; more faith, less damage; less faith, more damage. Becoming complete in our faith can be a life long process.
There is another set of believers that I call “Wanna Believers.” This type of believer has faith that wavers like tumbleweed on the prairie, rolling whichever way the wind blows, never able to take root. They go from doctrine to doctrine looking for some kind of proof that God, Jesus and the Bible are all that they say they are. Many of them have professed salvation and been baptized but their lives show little fruit. I have no idea what percentage of the church “Wanna Believers” represent but I would guess it to be more than we would “wanna believe.”
The children of Israel included quite a few of this type believer, and yet God continued coming to them desiring to bless them if they would only turn from their wickedness and follow him. They would follow for a while but would eventually turn from God in rebellion, sometimes seeking harbor in neighboring lands like a child who goes from one parent to the other because they didn't like the answer of the first.
Some of the children of Israel were taking counsel from the Egyptians. They not only rebelled but also decided that if they had to follow God it would be on their terms. They forced the prophets to prophesy what they wanted to hear and told the seers to cover their eyes (Isaiah 30:10) because they only wanted to be told things that would make them happy. God promised to break them like a piece of pottery if they did not return to him.
Each time the Lord came to the Israelites he promised them wonderful things in exchange for their loyalty. By returning, they would receive rest and salvation, quietness and confidence. (Isaiah 30:15-29) He promised rain for their seed, bread from the earth, large pastures for their cattle, a plentiful harvest and gladness of heart.
God told the rebellious children who had gone to Egypt to throw away the idols and separate themselves from the images of gold and silver. If they would only listen and follow his voice, he would guide their every step and instruct them when to turn to the left or to the right. God’s promises to the Israelites were overwhelming and yet they would not listen.
The difference in a Believer and a Wanna Believer is faith. The Old Testament followers of God have a lot in common with the contemporary church when it comes to faith or the lack of it. Sometimes we simply need to believe what we can’t see because we have faith in the source of information. Many of us have more faith in the news media than we do in the Bible. The words of Peter Jennings are trusted more than the words of Jesus. I did not see the Bombing in Colorado but I believe it happened. I was not at Columbine High School but I cried when I read about the tragedy that occurred there.
When you read your Bible read it as though it was the evening paper if that helps your faith. God’s Word is up-to-date, reliable, relevant, dependable, accurate and trust worthy. The reward for following it is “without a doubt” incredible, eternal and joyous.
Recently during a program change a listener asked, “How do you know who’s listening?” We had announced that “Southern Breeze” was about to be replaced with a Christian oldies program called “Back Tracks” and they wanted to know why. “Listenership,” I replied.
We have several sources for listener identity; Arbitron is the most reliable. It is a national unbiased agency reporting radio listenership. It not only tells us who is listening to us, but who is listening to every other station. Each quarter Arbitron distributes “Listener Diaries” to randomly selected listeners who qualify. Qualification questions eliminate members of the media and music industry employees etc. Each qualified listener records the radio listening habits of themselves and members of their household plus other demographic information such as income, education, and ages of each member of the family. The “sampling” taken from each listening area gives us a picture of who’s listening. We can determine within any quarter hour of the week the age, sex, socioeconomic position and time of day they tune in.
It is important that we have an idea of who is listening so that we can better meet the ministry needs of our listeners.
Radio, unlike television is a very focused media. Television typically airs programs targeted toward the entire audience spectrum realizing that people will only watch during specific time periods. By contrast, radio programs to a more narrow audience who will hopefully listen more often during multiple time periods. That is why Country stations don’t play Rock and Rock stations don’t play Classical. They want their audience to know that whenever they tune in, 24 hours a day, they will get to hear the same music.
Atlanta radio stations out number Atlanta television stations probably 10 to 1. That ratio mandates that a radio station find its audience niche and a format that appeals to them and stick to it. Playing several music styles disrupts consistency and divides listenership. Cable is more closely related to radio because of its ability to focus on specific viewers with targeted network programming, i.e.: news, sports, movies, children, history, comedy, games, religion etc.
The WWEV audience majority has consistently been loyal to Contemporary Christian music. So we are going to focus, with God’s help and direction, on being the best contemporary station possible.
Consistent with the Contemporary format the new program “Back Tracks,” which replaces “Southern Breeze” on Saturday at 6 PM, will give you a three hour weekly tour through the archives of Contemporary Christian music from the 70’s and 80’s. Music from Petra, Larry Norman, Russ Taff and Mylon Lefevre will take you back to where and when Contemporary Christian music got its start.
Keep listening, God is blessing hearts and changing lives through this ministry. It is exciting to be a part of it. Our goal is to serve the Lord by serving our listeners with excellence.
I have never been successful at fishing and hunting. Actually, I should limit my comments primarily to fishing since the closest I came to hunting was buying a gun and shooting at a few targets. However, I still think I would like to try Bird hunting sometime. I would enjoy the time spent with a good friend watching the dogs work even if I didn’t actually “get my limit.”
Fishing, on the other hand, I have had a little more experience with. Meaning, I once had a little fishing boat, and a rod, reel, tacklebox, and hundreds of plastic worms, hooks, jigs and plugs. All that doesn’t mean I ever really caught anything, but if I did, I was ready. I fished at night with a light and at dawn with a jig. I fished docks and piers and under the trees. I followed the almanac and a friend's advice. I even fished once with two SHO-NUF fishermen. I used the same bait and the same tackle and fished the same hole they did. But they caught fish and I just watched and listened to them talk about making hush puppies, cole slaw and french fries and how these fish were going to smell frying in the pan.
That’s when I realized what my problem was; they LOVED the fish and I loved TO fish. At the end of the day they couldn’t wait to get their catch cleaned and on the fire. They worked hard at what I thought was just leisure. They studied water temperatures, mating habits, water depth, topography, species identification, feeding preferences, and ecology. They bought expensive Bass Boats with electronic measuring devices, attended clinics and lectures, and bought books and videos. These guys were serious and the results were evident; fish on the plate and fish on the walls. No wonder I couldn’t catch any fish, I hadn’t done my homework and I certainly hadn’t spent enough money.
Now, I’m not making fun of dedicated anglers. As a matter of fact, I told this little story because I believe we can all learn something from them. When Jesus said He wanted us to be fishers of men I think many of us took it too lightly the way I did about fishing. Some of us like TO witness, but the successful witness LOVES the person being witnessed to.
When you witness, I believe it is important to know more than Romans 10 and the four spiritual laws. The people we tell about Jesus need to be cared for the way Jesus would. We need to be ready to answer their questions about the Bible and help them deal with the issues in their lives. They need to be discipled; trained and ministered to beyond the day they accept Christ. We need to get them in Church which means knowing something about more churches than just our own.
Help them find a church home. If their family attends a good church or if they were raised in a different denomination than yours be willing to let them go where they will be comfortable. We need to have a good knowledge about some of the other beliefs expressed by other religions too, so that we can be prepared to refute mis-information with solid Biblical truth and a reference we can point them to in the Word.
Be prepared to give an answer or know where to find it. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel you are ready yet. Study, pray and ask God to help you. When you lead someone to the Lord, your joy will wipe away any memory of the hard work you have done preparing.
Never leave a new Christian unattended, without direction, and full of unanswered questions. Attend to a Baby Christian the way you would care for a child; with love and support and a guiding hand. And one more thing; teach them to fish.