A Preview of Things to Come

I have to admit. The last several days have been difficult. I miss being on the air. There is something natural and energizing about sitting behind the Big Boy Mic and discussing the issues, opinions, and thoughts with an all of you. Silence is challenging.

However, I am putting the time to good use. I have my advisers and trusted friends. In fact, the main content of the next program has been thoroughly fleshed out in the discussions with this select group. All that really remains is the name so I can purchase the domain and design the site. I think that many of you will be pleased especially all of you that listened to Foundations but not A Madman in CrazyTown.

AMICT was produced and aimed at a primarily secular audience. My hope was to use the program as an outreach to try to heal the divide between Christian conservatives and their non-Christian counterparts including libertarians. Over time, that proved to be folly. The realm of straight politics is not ready for such a voice. To tell the truth, I'm not even sure the politically active Christians are ready to hear much of what I have to say. I believe I had the right idea but the timing was off. It was too early for such an effort.

I am going back to my broadcast roots and will be aiming for a Christian audience. I will be building the program on a Biblical foundation. More than just the first stage of the Lens of Truth, The Word will be used more freely. I am dropping any pretense of being merely just another political commentator who just happens to be a Christian. My faith in Christ and how it influences my decisions, opinions and how they are conveyed is going to be central to the next program.

As you may have surmised, I am not engaging in partisan politics. I will not be discussing specific political parties, candidates, or activist groups. There are other talkers who are very successful in that field who, quite frankly, have a lot more time to put into the various candidates and their campaigns. Beyond that, if the truth be told, I think there are more important topics to discuss than "this party good, this party bad." Many of our founders believed that party politics could destroy the nation.  I tried to do politics different and began to fail miserably. That is the smallest part of the change.

Two things are true for a show. One, content is king. The show must be both entertaining and informative. Thought provoking is a really good idea too. If content is king, then the second truism follows. The title must reflect the character and nature of the show while being short and direct enough to catch the attention of the audience. The title has been the trick because the content has been set.

Listening to what I have to say with the new show, a couple of titles have been suggested that make great taglines and subtitles. They both essentially say the same things. One is "The Elephants in the Room" and the other is "All the Things The Church Should Be Talking About But Isn't." Both are quite accurate to the content and character of the program.

As I said earlier, I am departing from partisan politics because there are greater truths to be told and an audience that needs to hear them. There is far more to life than our current political situation. There are issues that are of great importance that the Body of Christ must be addressing. Yes, I still believe in small and limited government but there is a reason I believe in it beyond just common sense. And that is not the only thing we face. Many critics of people of faith getting involved in politics have said that we are trying to bring about the Kingdom of God through the ballot box. Perhaps some of this criticism is accurate. I think there is a certain segment of the conservative/evangelical movement that believes it is possible. We cannot bring the Kingdom of God here on Earth through politics. However, we do need to work to bring the Kingdom to the people who need it.

How do we do that? First, the Gospel must be central to our message. Every thought must be directed to spreading the Good News of Christ Jesus. In this changing world, followers of Christ must be ready to engage in ways we have failed to do so in so many ways. We do have a number of elephants in the room that we must face. Yes, our liberty as Americans is one of those we must face but not from a political foundation but a Biblical one. We must also answer for all of the areas we have failed in our mission while still rejoicing in the successes that are still out there.

Can we change the world? Maybe. Can we change lives through the Gospel? Without question. I am not ashamed of the Gospel anymore than Paul was when he wrote those words two thousand years ago. I do believe that the correct course for our nation is to return to the Biblical foundations of our liberty. Our Constitution was intended for a moral and religious people which we are no longer. You want to return to the Constitutional Republic we were intended to be? Then we have to be the people for whom it was designed.

I guess that means I'm going to lose the libertarian audience but I'm okay with that for now. In the early days, the new show is intended for Christians who want to see change. I even hope to wake up more than a few. We must address the real issues faced by the Church of Jesus Christ that our critics rightly attack us for. We also need to overcome the rise in liberal theology that neglects much of the Gospel yet is claiming to advocate for the poor. The poor no longer feel comfortable in the overwhelming majority of mainstream churches. The political types have taken our authority away in the arena of marriage. No, let me rephrase that. We have surrendered our authority to them and allowed the state to define marriage as a secular institution. I could keep going but I think I've made my point.

It's not going to be all criticism. When we're doing it right, I want to proclaim it from the rooftops. We need to see the examples of how God moves when His people obey His Word. Too often, we focus solely upon the negatives. If it bleeds, it leads. I see little difference between the church today and the news media when it comes to looking only at the bad. If someone is reaching a previously unreachable group, they should be praised especially if they are using methods that might be rejected by the mainstream church without compromising the message. Want to change the world? Then listen to the people who are changing their little corner of it and see how they did it.

I'm just a nobody from a small Midwestern city. I have been blessed to have been able to serve my God in a variety of capacities including as a pastor. I am still active in ministry and likely will return to pastoral service. I love Jesus and His church. I want to see His Bride be all that He wants her to be. In his book, Courageous Leadership, Bill Hybels said, "The local church is the hope of the world." I agree with him. That's what gives me the courage to speak and to say the hard things that people with more to lose do not have the ability to say.

I will offend some of you. I will step on toes and slay some sacred cows. I promise, I will always tell you the truth. I hope that when I relaunch, you'll be here with me.

Oh, by the way, I'm still hunting for a name and am up for suggestions.

A Great Deal of Thinking

This past week has been an unplanned sabbatical from the Madman podcast. It has given me a lot of time to think and analyze the program and the listenership stats.

Truth be told, I am not convinced that the program is having the impact I intended. While I work hard and enjoy the program, I'm not sure that it's different enough from all the rest of the talkers out there to draw a sufficient audience. My opinions are not that uncommon. In fact, although I do not listen to Rush, Glenn, or Sean, The feedback I get indicates that we come to the same conclusions often using the same or similar language. I'm not really surprised at that since these three are among my influences in radio. In fact, it's a little flattering to find out how close my conclusions and even some of my style is to these great broadcasters. Okay, it's more than a little flattering.

I like what I do. I enjoy the research, the stories, and the humor. I am very confident in what I do and am comfortable with my skill as a broadcaster. The listeners I have enjoy the program. The problem is there just aren't enough of them. I had far more listeners for my previous program, Foundations, which was aimed specifically at Christians. The content was Biblical and social commentary. I spoke about matters of faith, culture, and the role of the follower of Christ in this world. Political comments were limited to cultural matters and not on specific campaigns, political parties, or individual politicians. Madman in CrazyTown has not generated anywhere near the audience that program did. This leads me to draw some conclusions.

The first is that my current program is not different enough from the other talkers out there. The key distinction of not being willing to mock those in authority and strive to disagree with honor and integrity is not enough to draw a significant audience. It is likely that a civil approach is so different from even the thinking of other conservatives that it is rejected out of hand. Anger seems to be at the root of our discourse on both sides of the political aisle. A voice of reason following the Biblical mandate to give honor where honor is due no matter the character of the leader is not accepted by the majority of the politically engaged people. A calm voice cannot be heard above the shouting din.

The humor is not distinct enough either. People do enjoy the jokes. However, similar jokes are being told by other broadcasters on the same topics. After all, how many jokes can you really come up with about the Occupy protesters? Stinky hippie comments only go so far. Whether I'm funny or not is not the question. The question is whether or not people can get the same type of humor elsewhere.

The other conclusion is very simple. Foundations was what the audience was really looking for. In times of great uncertainty, people seek out something, anything, they can count on as being a sure foundation. Hope, optimism, and faith are the anchors people need in dark times. The audience for this type of program was four times larger than the audience for MiCT after the same period of time. Most of my audience from Foundations did not follow me to my current show. They were hungry for something more spiritual, more firm, and more sure.

I also have to consider who I really am. I am, in my heart of hearts, a minister of the Gospel. After years of preaching in the inner city of Peoria, serving in a number of ministry capacities including as a pastor, I cannot separate myself from who I really am. Over the last couple of months, the last few weeks especially, I have begun to miss my former format. I even considered doing two programs simultaneously but dismissed that option as being too time consuming. Both programs would be mediocre at best and my audience deserves better.

As you may have gathered, I am concluding broadcast of A Madman in CrazyTown effective immediately. My heart is not in it. Frankly, talking about the same basic thing every day is getting old. I'm not adding anything new or fresh to the debate. If I were, the audience would be much larger. I am grateful for all of the listeners I did have. My wife and I have spent a lot of time in prayer this past week about the future of this program and doing a broadcast in general. We came to the same conclusion. MiCT is done. Its season is over.

I will be returning to the air soon with a new program name. It will not be called Foundations, Foundational Truth, or anything else I have used. The focus will be similar with an additional emphasis on some new areas of discussion. I will be off the air for at least two to three weeks while I retool and come up with a new name. I will likely continue to use Liberated Syndication for my main hosting service but may also use my existing account with Sermon Player as a back up until I purchase web design software capable of supporting HTML5. I will keep all of you posted.

Thank you for all of your support the last several months. I have really enjoyed doing the program but I need to be true to myself and my God. He made me a certain way and I cannot break from who that is.

I'll be back.