29 May 2008

A Message in a Coffin

What a hoot! A coffin with the Issues, Etc. logo draped over it. The image sure sums up what the LCMS suits and bureaucrats at the purple palace wanted to happen when they canceled Issues, Etc. and canned Wilken and Schwarz on 18 March 2008. No doubt the "radio silence" effected on Holy Tuesday fulfilled the dream of some who may be, well, uncomfortable with the light of Truth given by the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.

But now it appears that the coffin of their own making may be their worst nightmare!

With a little help from some computer graphics program (sorry, I'm not up on which one it might be; I consider it a victory just to copy and paste an image from a website to my hard drive and then onto my blog! ;-), the coffin at www.piratechristianradio.com, appears to be opening up with a bright light shining forth. The visual message (very fascinating, coming from a personality in the *radio* medium, btw :-) is quite clear: the phoenix of Issues, Etc. is rising from the ashes of synodical tomfoolery.

It just goes to show that you can't keep a good message - *the* Good Message - down, no matter how "on fire" the LCMS may be or become with Pentecostal ... er, I mean ... "Ablaze!" doctrine and practice.

Now the synodical suits and bureaucrats just might be directly called on the carpet for the various non-Lutheran things they are saying and doing. You see, prior to 18 March, they weren't, on Issues, Etc. anyway. It was only "guilt by association" with the likes of popular American evangelicals such as Rick Warren and Joel Osteen. Now the light of truth will no doubt shine directly on the very "powers that be" that wanted the Christ-centered talk show to just go away.

And we all know what happens when we open the living room drapes or blinds on a nice, sunny day. The light itself exposes all of the unseemly, unwanted dust on the furniture.

So, I hope and pray that the light shining from the Issues, Etc. coffin does not refer to the "brilliant" personalities of Wilken and Schwarz. :-) (Knowing these two men, I'm sure that's not the intended message. Remember, folks, this is not about these two men, but rather it's about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.) Instead, I trust that the new light beaming forth from the synodically imposed coffin refers to the light of God's Truth, the Light of the world Himself, Jesus Christ. He is the truly resurrected one and His light gives the life we need.

"At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:8-14).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So true.
I sure don't want two more rock stars! The world doesn't need more rock stars! I just want that great program back!
And don't you just love that little pall placed on the coffin? I imagine they had fun putting that page together. All the fun that Christian freedom allows, which is plenty. Without becoming a personality or a rock star.
We sure do love them--love their voices and their humor and their chemistry. But we never listened just for that, but for what they imparted through the means of voice, humor, and chemistry. Sort of a perfect radio storm that I sure hope they'll replicate. It certainly needed no improvement. Just needed to be.
Susan R

Randy Asburry said...

Amen, Susan.

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful news. Pastor, do you have any more background info on these organizations "Pirate Christian Radio", and "Lutheran Public Radio"? Is it all entirely new? Do they have other quality programming as well as Issues? Will the new format of show be different from the old? What about the guests?

It will be wonderful to hear the programming, and after all this turmoil, I would expect the listenership to be several times larger than before!

I also agree with all of Susan's comments above as well.

Kevin in Indiana

Randy Asburry said...

Kevin,

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that "Pirate Christian Radio" and "Lutheran Public Radio" are brand new entities thanks to Wilken and Schwarz. As for the other questions you ask, we're all in the same boat: we'll have to wait and see what they put out in the coming weeks. And just my opinion (i.e. I have no inside information from Wilken/Schwarz or "PCR" or "LPR"), but now that the first bit of info. has come out, I'm anticipating more information through the coming weeks.