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Crazy hot dogs

Here are some of the crazy hot dog recipes we shared from the May 23rd show:

The Ham Dog- originates from Decatur, GA: Use a hoagie roll for the bun.  The hot dog is wrapped in a half-pound beef patty, then deep-fried and topped with chili, bacon and a fried egg.

The Skunk Dog- originates from Winchendon, MA: Use a regular bun, and grill the hot dog as usual, then spread marshmallow creme on the bun, top with peanut butter syrup and hot fudge.

The Chihuahua Dog- from NY City: Regular bun, then wrap the grilled hot dog in bacon, then top with sour cream and avocado.

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A prayer for the media

NOTE: This is a prayer I offered when I was asked to pray for the media at Mount Vernon’s National Day of Prayer celebration on May 3rd:

“Our heavenly father, we come to you tonight thankful for the opportunity to unite in prayer.  Thank you for the many blessings you have provided which we so many times take for granted.

 My prayer tonight is for the giant that is the mass media…but not only for those who are involved in informing, persuading and entertaining us, but also for us as consumers of that product. Lord, you know the reach and the power of the mass media, whether it be in electronic or print form.  The influence it has in our daily lives.  It sometimes seems overwhelming.  The digital age has taken this to a new level.  But we also know that nothing is beyond your domain.  Praise the Lord for that!

Lord, we recognize that you know the motivation of every soul who is involved in providing content.  

Father, I ask that journalistic cornerstones like truth telling, justice, respect, accuracy, accountability and love become prominent once again.  That those ideals begin to balance out the motivation of the dollar bill, of gossip, or of shock value.

 For people of faith working in the mainstream media, I pray they can truly be a light in the darkness.  Lord, encourage them…strengthen them.  Put your people in their path to keep them strong. We want them to know that you’ll walk beside them as they navigate through a culture dominated by selfishness, instant gratification and greed.

 For those of us using media to spread your word, I ask that we truly embody the fruit of the spirit in all that we say and do. I am personally thankful for Mount Vernon Nazarene University and WNZR.  Thank you for those pioneers who had a dream of a Christian radio station for Knox County.  I’m so thankful to be a part of it.  Thank you for the opportunity and privilege to proclaim your name and your glory over what’s called the public spectrum.  I pray that our message would be grounded in your word, and meaningful in the hearts and minds of believers and non-believers.  That we would truly be what we say we are.  Authentic.  Consistent.  That we would be completely committed followers.

 Let Ephesians 4:29 motivate us as Paul reminds us: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

 Now, Lord for us as consumers…help us remember to stay disciplined in being gatekeepers of what we consume…and what we allow into our hearts and into our households.  I pray that “lead us not into temptation” would be our heartfelt cry.  Lord, please help us develop the ability to filter and guard from the temptations of the media, whether it be radio, television, film, video games, social media and the internet, or print media.

 Help us as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, teachers, caregivers and mentors to set the example and train our children, grandchildren and students well in being media literate. Lord we have an awesome responsibility to train up this next generation that is bombarded with media options.  To help them develop filters. To bring clarity to the messages that can confuse our worldview. Help us to be up to the challenge…to be strong, to stay grounded in you. 

 Finally Lord, I want to confess…sometimes we’re bad at this.  We get frustrated, so we withdraw and give up…or we stand on the sidelines and throw rocks at the problem instead of looking for solutions. Convict us when we do this.

 Help us to be your people- to encourage men and women in the media, or students in mass media studies to rise up and change it from within.  Let us encourage them to be lights in whatever field they choose.

 It’s in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit I pray. Amen.”

-Joe

 

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The Christian Hero

Having read the book “Not a Fan” by Kyle Idleman, there’s a lot of things that have been brought to my attention. It’s a challenging book and one of the things I’ve noticed since reading it is that I care a lot less about “Christian Heroes”.

There’s no doubt who I’m talking about: those people that we, as Christians, have a tendency to glorify and (dare I say?) worship. These are public figures, usually singers, athletes, or other popular people in the media who proclaim to be Christians. The tendency seems to be that we, the everyday, not-so-famous ones, latch onto these figures. We hope that this figure, whoever it is, can live the exemplary Christian life. I’m not sure if we’re hoping that others will see the example and say “Wow, what do they have that I don’t?” or because we want to know ourselves.

Off the bat, it sounds really biblical. We’re supposed to be salt and light, right? Absolutely! We’re supposed to be in the world but not of it, Christa. I agree 100%! So what’s the problem? The problem is not the person themselves. It’s how we treat them.

How many times have we put someone on a pedestal? I can think of plenty of examples in my lifetime: Mandy Moore, Ben Roethlisberger, Tim Tebow (the most recent), and countless others. I think that the mentality of the “Christian Hero” goes even farther than that.

I know growing up, I loved The Beatles. I still do. And I remember putting John Lennon on the same pedestal as all the other Christian Heroes I had. He believed in love as much, if not more, than them, right?

Thankfully, I grew out of that kind of thinking but there’s something to be said about that. How often do we look at a list of characteristics and say “That person must be (or is) a great Christian person”? I think kids and teenagers are particularly influenced by this kind of thinking because there’s already so much pressure on them to idolize pop culture figures. It gets even more confusing when adults do it too.

How often do we elevate people then cross our arms and shake our heads as we watch them fall to the ground? And every time we’re surprised. We judge and wonder what could have happened to make them faulter from their upright position.

One of the things that this book has made me realize is that we’ve got to change that mindset. Not because it’s not healthy for those people to be put under that kind of pressure or because it’s not good for kids. We need to change that mindset because we actually have the perfect example.

It might sound kind of trite but Jesus is our “Christian Hero”. He fits all of the characteristics that we need to have in a leader: He’s got the perfect exemplary lifestyle, He’s all-loving, He’s just, and He’s given the abosulte best advice for His followers.

Jesus has a lot of fans that tend to have other heroes on their radar. But followers know that Jesus is the one and only hero that there ever was or will be. They know that while people are imperfect, Jesus will always be there to do the right thing. He’ll be the only one that they can run to for everything. And the nice thing about it is that He’s not going to fall off His pedestal because it’s where He belongs.

After all, who else has ever risen from the dead on their own accord? After being terribly tortured and disfigured? And because they loved you and me more than life itself? I don’t know but I think that’s pretty super heroic.

So is it wrong to join with fellow believers in their walk? No. Are we going to be a fan if we look up to those who have great faith? No. When we understand that Jesus is the ultimate hero though, we’ll start to see those of the faith less and less like superstars and more like those the bible talks about: those who take up their crosses and follow the real Hero daily.

-Christa

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October Baby

One of the advantages to working at MVNU and WNZR these past six years is that I’ve been able to experience a very exciting movement of quality Christian-themed films.  Seeing the work of these creative people helps underline what you mean when you’re teaching mass media and trying to encourage students to strive to do excellent work for God’s glory.

Thursday night (2/2), Marcy, Rachel and I had the chance to see an advance screening of the new film, October Baby.  The movie is the work of the Erwin brothers, Jon and Andrew, two extremely creative guys who have been involved in producing music videos for artists like Casting Crowns, Switchfoot and Skillet.  They have worked crew for major college and pro sporting events through ESPN and FOX.  Jon also assisted on the recent Sherwood Pictures film, Courageous.

The movie is about a college girl, Hannah (played by Rachel Hendrix), who has a health setback and in the process, discovers that she is adopted, and her parents adopted her after she survived a failed abortion.  Hannah then sets out on a journey to discover the full truth about her past.

The story is original because it presents a side to the “sanctity of life” issue that has only been told before through documentaries…the story of the survivor…a real person struggling to understand, “why me?”  This story resonates because you can relate as an adult, parent, teen, friend or relative.  I don’t want to give away too much of the movie, but I truly believe this film will impact people and make them consider the value of our power to forgive, and its important place in the life discussion.  It didn’t come across “heavy-handed” to me, just very real.

The quality of acting is solid, helped by the presence of seasoned pros like John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville) and Jasmine Guy (A Different World).  Hendrix is outstanding, portraying a real innocence as the sheltered daughter of loving but over-protective parents.  Also look for recording artist Chris Sligh in a goofy supporting role.

I highly recommend that you support this movie when it releases on March 23 nationwide.  Check out more about the film at www.octoberbabymovie.net

-Joe

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Tim Tebow gets it.

I’ve been watching closely as NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has led the Denver Broncos to six straight wins and the lead in the AFC West.  Right now, he’s the hottest thing since sliced bread…the flavor of the month.  Everyone who covers the NFL wants a piece of him…every Christian organization seems to want a piece of him.

Tebow has been on my radar since he broke Buckeye fans’ hearts in the 2007 BCS Championship and I followed him closely while he ransacked defenses playing for Florida.  I got interested in his story as the son of evangelical missionaries. And I can honestly say, part of it was that I wanted to figure out if this guy was for real…and I think he is.

Tim Tebow could be parading himself around right now as the ultimate example of Christian values and how they can equal success in the workplace, especially in team situations.  But he’s not.  Because he gets it.  He’s turning down interviews and not allowing this success to monopolize his time.  Tim Tebow understands that exalting himself is in complete contradiction to everything he believes in.  He knows the temptations of getting too full of himself.  He also knows that the same writers praising him right now will be the same ones ripping him when the Broncos lose a game.  He knows the journey is over a lifetime, not over six weeks.

He gets James 4:10- “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

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An ‘Unbroken’ reflection

I did something this past weekend that I haven’t done in a while- read a  400 page book in just over two days.  And for this to happen, the book has to be a gripping read.  This one is.

The book is Unbroken, written by Kenyon alum Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit.  I heard about this book several months ago, but never got around to purchasing it.  I made my way into Paragraphs downtown Saturday looking for something else and ended up walking out with Unbroken.  The book tells, in vivid detail, the story of former Olympic runner and WWII POW Louis Zamperini…and what a story it is.

It covers his quest to win an Olympic medal in the 1936 Berlin games, his disappointment at having the 1940 games cancelled, his enlistment in the US Army, his WWII experience in training, running bomber and rescue missions in the South Pacific, the crash of his plane, his 37 days lost at sea, and his two brutal years in Japanese POW camps.  The book is filled with incredible historical detail and fascinating anecdotes as we walk alongside Louie and his journey.  We then find him post-WWII, trying to recover his life that was, finding love and loss, the battle with his war demons, and finally, redemption.

Reading this book I have found a renewed appreciation for the men and women who serve our country, and for those who never made it back.  The conditions of being lost at sea and of war are described in such detail that you literally feel like you are there.  I understand more about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and how it can consume lives.  I feel the frustration of being thirsty and seeing nothing around you but water, knowing that drinking it will kill you (and Hillenbrand explains why in clear physiological detail).

Perhaps most importantly, I have a renewed knowledge that the love of Jesus Christ knows no limitations…and Louie’s redemptive transformation near the end of Unbroken underlies that once more.  I won’t go into more detail because I don’t want to spoil the story, but make no mistake- God shows up in a big way.

Universal Pictures has owned the rights to Louie’s story since the late 1950’s…yet no film has been made.  Universal and Walden Media, on the heels of Hillenbrand’s book, are looking to produce Unbroken, but no details have emerged.  I almost hope they don’t make the movie, or if they do, they do it in a mini-series.  There’s no way you can pack that much into two hours.  It wouldn’t do the story justice.

By the way, Louie is still alive and kicking at 94 years of age.  Find out more about him at www.louiezamperini.com

-Joe

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How I Walked Away from FaceBook (And Lived to Talk About It)

There are a lot of people who don’t believe me when I say it or who give me a funny look. “What, you mean you don’t have a facebook?!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had that conversation in the last eight months. Yes, I’ve been facebook free for eight months and I couldn’t be happier.

Now, let me start by saying that I’m not against social networking sites. I think that they can and often prove to be effective tools in communication. I don’t shun people who do use facebook or look down on them. I’m not one of those people who is a techno-phobe or someone who will go out of my way to make sure people think facebook is evil. I don’t do that because I don’t think it is.

So why did I walk away from facebook, you ask? There are a lot of reasons, really. For starters, it’s too easy to be impersonal. One thing that I’ve been learning recently is that God intended us to be with people. FaceBook makes it almost too easy to do that and I started to question the kind of relationship I was creating with my 256 “friends”. How many of them did I really care to let know whatever was going on in my life? How many of them cared? I started tailoring what I was writing to appease others, putting up a face on facebook that wasn’t my own.

Reason number 2: facebook is a major time-waster for me. I was spending about two to three hours a DAY checking, writing on, and looking through facebook pages. That’s two to three hours I could have been doing my homework or spending time making lasting relationships with the people I care about.

And the third and biggest reason I walked away from the popular social networking site? It came before God.

God tells us in Exodus “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). I was living in direct violation of this command. I ran to facebook before I ran to God. When I had something I was dealing with: status update and then later, if I remembered, I’d pray about it. When I was looking for answers to questions, I’d ask my facebook friends before I even considered asking God or reading His word. Toward the end of December 2010, I was getting tired. I felt like I kept asking the big questions and I was getting nothing in response. I was expecting facebook to fill me, I was being left empty and I was blaming God.

Over Christmas break I had a lot of time to think about it and I felt like God was calling me to just let facebook go for a week or two. I did and spent that time seeking hard after Him and reading His word. At the end of the two weeks I got back on my facebook and discovered that I wasn’t quite as enthralled with it as I had been. It seemed tedious to sit there and scroll through update after update about people who were desperately searching for something that they couldn’t find there. I suddenly felt sad for them. If that was what it was about, I didn’t want any part of it.

I prayed about it hard for a few more days, telling God that if I did what He asked of me, people would think I was weird. People would think that I didn’t fit in, like I was behind the times, and like I was just… odd. And the answer I got was quite simple: isn’t that what we’re called to do?

John 15:19 says “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” If we’re really called to be different from the world, I think it’s time we start being different. And that comes with a promise: people will hate you for it.

When was the last time someone disliked what you were doing because you were doing it for Christ? When was the last time you did something different from what the world was doing because it made your walk with Christ closer? 

There are definitely people who are not happy with me because I don’t have a facebook. I hear it all the time from most of my friends. They say it makes me weird. They say that it makes it harder to be friends with me: they have to make more of an effort and that’s uncomfortable for some of them. A lot of people said that to me at first. They were given a choice: put forth the effort and still be my friend, or slouch back into comfort and not be. There are people I know and care about on both sides of that line.

The point is this: God calls us to do the right thing and the hard thing. He calls us apart from the world. We’re supposed to look different. People are supposed to see us and say “There’s something about him/her that is right… I want that.”

So I suppose the question is this: do you look any different from the world or do you blend in? If you don’t look any different, you might want to look into that.

Christa

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One crazy summer

Yea, I realize I stole the name of an 80’s movie for this post, but it works…

We just finished up our long week at the Knox County Fair, and even though there were some extremely hot days, it sure was great to get to see and talk to so many of you.  There were some new things this year, like the amazing community support of the Smith family on sale day, the very entertaining EuroBungy ride right behind our tent, and our first-ever broadcast from the Jr. Fair Sale of Champions.  Then there’s the stuff that you just expect- Porkette sandwiches, sitting in traffic after the Rough Truck contest, battling to keep ants out of the tent, Figure 8 school bus smash-ups, etc.

I also love seeing so many hard-working kids in our 4-H programs that restore my faith in the leaders of tomorrow.  Getting to talk to some of them Thursday during the sale made me realize that great families are alive and well in Knox County, and we at WNZR need to stay the course-  providing a radio station that encourages and supports them in their marriages, parent-child relationships, and most importantly, their relationship to God.

I can’t say thanks enough to the many folks who make the Knox County Fair special.  The Sr. and Jr. Fair Board do a great job.  Special thanks this year to Jim Shipley, Linda Lahmon, Rochelle Adam, Larry Hall and Byron Rock for their direct impact on our broadcasts this year.  John Curtis and Rod Atherton were amazing in getting our sputtering golf cart up and running. 

To Kim Bradley and her helpers  from Mount Vernon First Naz- the snacks were awesome!  Thanks for being salt and light to our community.  And our staff- great job!  I have a great team in DJ, Jayme, Derek, Sam, Christa, Nikki, Marcy and Rachel.

Now we move into August, and the schedule just keeps on moving…tomorrow we’ll join the MVNU Alumni Association for Faith Day at the Reds-Giants game (with Mercy Me concert to follow), Monday it’s David Crowder Band at the Ohio State Fair, and then before you know it, First Friday, the Dan Emmett Music and Arts Festival and Veggie Tales.

I hope to see you before the summer ends on our GREAT ADVENTURE!

– Joe

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Support Upward Basketball this summer!

When I think about Upward Basketball, I think about cold Saturday mornings cheering Rachel and her team on…but in just a few weeks, Upward Basketball will be all about sunshine, green, and golf.

You can make a difference in the lives of Knox County young people by taking part in the first ever Upward Basketball Golf Scramble on Saturday, June 16 at Irish Hills Golf Course in Mount Vernon.  Dan Stevens and Mike Dapprich from First Church of the Nazarene are working to put this event together and we visited with them this week on the show.  First Church and Faith Baptist host the games each winter and the many volunteers involved do an outstanding job.

The whole point of the event is to raise scholarship money for kids who may not be able to afford the costs of Upward.  It starts at 1:30…the cost is $20 to walk, or $30 with a cart, and Irish Hills members get a discount, too.  Our local Mortellaro McDonald’s restaurants are also sponsoring some special events during the tournament.  WNZR will be there to broadcast during the event.

The registration deadline is Saturday, July 9, so don’t delay.  You can contact Dan at 740-501-1539 to get more information.

-Joe

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