In 2017, everything is overdone and overblown. News coverage and headlines for politics, sports, and even the weather is streaming 24/7. While we sleep, our smartphones collect the latest happenings around the world and place it on our screens for us to view as soon as we awake (remember when we woke up and the first thing we did was read the Bible, just saying).
However, I think we have lost something amidst all of our instantaneous news gratification. Whatever happened to waiting in anticipation or for that matter, waiting on God? I can remember the hype and excitement that would bubble up within me as I once awaited the date for special television events to arrive. News didn’t happen overnight. These “once-in-a-while” and “bigger-than-life” events were not broadcast every day on TV like they are now. No, I had to wait sometimes months for the special events to come, and when they finally did, I taped them. The special events often came with an announcer or commentator that made the program worth the watch!
A lot of the up and coming announcers on TV today have all the knowledge in the world. They know what they are talking about, speak well, and are politically correct. But all I hear is Blah. They are too plain or vanilla. Where’s the charisma, the originality, the following? Where’s the passion, the flavor, the energy? The old-school announcers made the special events we watched fun. There’s no flavor anymore. Like many in our world, the announcers of today have been cloned and mass produced in a cookie-cutter approach. There are no standouts. There is nothing particularly unique about them. This is because spokespeople for the media today are doing nothing more than what their bosses tell them to do so that their station’s biased worldview will be presented and so that certain groups won’t be offended. In other words, they’re not allowed to be themselves anymore. They are just a puppet on a string.
It’s also sad commentary that “we the people” have to visit to other countries websites, etc. to get the true news about our own. Everyone seems to have their own opinion on what is happening in the world and likes to share it on their social media accounts. Amidst all the subjectivity, we have lost the objective truth found in God’s Word. When everyone plays the game of life (and it’s not a game) by their own rules, someone is bound to get hurt.
Isn’t it great that we have the best news in the world called the gospel and it comes to us in the unfiltered and unadulterated form of the Bible. The Bible is true news and news that stands the test of time. Bible characters are real people depicted not through rose-colored glasses as perfect people, but rather as people who have glaring weaknesses. They, like us, have been body-slammed by life’s circumstances and need a Savior to lift them off the mat.
Over a year ago, I did some strategic planning for NGM in my context. I live in the deep South, and in the deep South, there are some old-school wrestling fans. The church facility I worship in is a metal building and has the same appearance as a nearby building where local wrestlers meet on the weekends to compete against each other. I received an idea from the Lord to plan an evangelistic event whereby my church would bring in an ex-wrestler to speak to the lost in a facility where they would feel right at home.
Thirty years ago, wrestling stars like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, the Macho Man, the Ultimate Warrior, Sting, and Lex Luger would wrestle their big matches on pay-per-view. Back then, pay-per-view events weren’t every week and thousands would order. Because of the high price, I would turn to my scrambled cable channel and do my best to hear any mumbled words I could and see any glitched pictures that might appear.
In three months (yes, you will have to wait), The Heights Church is bringing in former five-time WCW Champion Nikita Koloff, “The Russian Nightmare” to share his story about how the Champion of Life, Jesus Christ came to his rescue. If you happen to be anywhere in the local vicinity, feel free to come by and join us for this main event on Sunday, May 7 @ 11 AM. I promise you there will be no dropkicks or elbow drops from the top rope.