by Dan Jones
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve had a “thing” for words.
Almost from the very moment I first learned to read, I would insist that mom leave the cereal box on the table so I could read the back while I ate my breakfast. (I grew up in a simpler time when Cap’n Crunch was considered “part of a well-balanced breakfast” rather than “child abuse.”)
While various surveys have shown that a majority of the American Public fears public speaking more than death itself, (A True Fact) I fearlessly gave a speech on the workings of the Internal Combustion Engine in the McKinley Elementary School Talent Contest. I even had an easel with various internal schematics of said engine and a pointer stick.
All the best public speakers had pointer sticks.
For reasons beyond my comprehension, the judges vastly preferred a bunch of munchkins gyrating to “The Hokey-Pokey” over my detailed explanation of the fascinating sequence of intake, compression, power, and exhaust.
I knew very well those little munchkins didn’t Hokey-Pokey themselves to school every day –they rode in their daddy’s woodgrain-paneled station wagon powered by 289 cubic inches of internal combustion engine.
“That’s what it’s all about” indeed.
As I grew and matured, I continued to read and occasionally speak.
When I enrolled in college in 1985, my original intent was to major in Electronics with a concentration in Robotics because that’s where the money was. I was right about the money, but I was wrong about God’s intent for my life.
I ended up majoring in English with a concentration in Writing, even though I had been told by a published author that if I wanted to be a writer I should be prepared to (and I quote) “live under flat rocks and eat bugs.”
He was right. I’m pretty sure there is a statistically greater chance of becoming a multi-millionaire NFL football player than there is of becoming a multi-millionaire writer. (Although it is some comfort that there are far more fabulously wealthy writers than there are fabulously wealthy dancers of “The Hokey Pokey.”)
So, while I did not grow rich beyond my imagination as a writer, because God is sovereign and amazing, I was eventually drawn to grow closer to Jesus. As I studied the Bible more and more, I found the Word of God to contain the most amazing, fulfilling, astounding words I have ever encountered.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
That’s Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) and it is absolutely true. No other book ever written can claim that it is alive, but the Bible does and it is.
And it is sharper than any sword. It changes lives because it is true. One cannot lie to God. One cannot honestly take in those words describing the heart as deceitful above all things and remain unchanged. We have all sinned and we all do fall short of the glory of God.
I know I do.
These things cut to my heart and I realize that I could never be what I was intended to be without Him.
There is indeed a peace that passes all understanding in knowing that Jesus did what I could never do for myself. To know that He died for me, to fulfill justice, to wipe the slate clean, to pay the ransom for my soul, to make me right with God the Father that I could not just come before His throne, but to come before that eternal, magnificent throne boldly is just astounding.
In my case, I cannot picture that “coming before the throne boldly” without the words “on my face” added behind them.
Which is why it amazed me that I was eventually asked to preach in my local church, which lead to somebody commenting after one of those sermons that I ought to be on the radio, which caused me to mention that thought one time in an email to Kinship Christian Radio Executive Director Matt Dorfner, and (BOOM!) I’m now in training to actually be on the very radio station I so greatly admire.
Now, to be clear, this a weekend fill-in position. I will most definitely not be displacing any current well-known and loved Kinship Christian Radio announcers.
Two weeks ago, I spent a morning with Doug Johnson learning how the various buttons and dials worked, and last Saturday morning Allen Jones actually allowed me to speak over the airwaves and play some songs. I need a lot more practice with backtiming and the shiny red “Button of Humility.” (It is my intent to write more about these things in next week’s blog.)
It’s a great honor and a privilege to share God’s love and the Lordship of Jesus Christ to an audience of potentially over a million people. I am astounded and humbled that God would want the geeky kid with an easel and a pointed stick to speak His words and bring His message over the airwaves.
It is my prayer that all I do and say would lift you up, support you, encourage you, and equip you with the love of Jesus Christ. I ask for your prayers that souls would be saved and all I say and do would be to the praise of His glory alone.
As I shared on the air, my prayer for you is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:
Today’s Praise
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)