As many of you know, the popular radio program “Issues Etc” was removed from the programming of KFUO yesterday without warning.
And for whatever reason they were taken off the air, you can take it back to Jesus. Jesus for you. Jesus for me. For no program more put the focus on what Christ did for you on the Cross more than Issues Etc. tried do and did.
We don’t know the reasons why the program has been canceled. Some say it was money, politics, or personalities. Or maybe it was some combination of all of “them.” No one truly knows who is at fault. We may never know. But make no mistake the reason for the shutting down of this radio program is Jesus.
That’s what we do with Christ in Holy Week. We shut Him up. He rides in on Palm Sunday, the Pharisees want to shut him up. He cleanses the temple, teaches, preaches, and they scheme to silence Him. And finally, when He tells the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the Pharisees decide that He has to die. We have to shut Him up.
Lots of folks wanna pick up their guns and start firing. Good. Do it. I shot some emails off myself. Issues Etc. was a partner in the Gospel with Higher Things. They interviewed our writers and teachers and gave us permission to post the audio files on our website. Our kids have their podcasts on their iPods!
But don’t pick up your pen for your own sake. How often do we take up causes for someone else when what we are really doing is taking up a cause so people see us taking up a cause! How evil is that? “Finally, I have something to fight for..” No. No. No.
You see, it’s not just “them,” that shut Jesus down. It’s us too. We shut up Jesus on Good Friday. We shut Jeff and Todd up too. And the dirty secret is that we would do it again…..
So, don’t pick up your keyboard or your pen for your own glory. Please, eyes off you. Before anything else, eyes on Jesus. For Jesus only. For Him alone. For the spreading of His Gospel into the ears of every creature. For me, that’s youth too! For the sake of good preaching everywhere!
The Cross is where Pastor Wilken always directed us. Eyes on the Cross – on Jesus crucified for you and me.
