We are living in a historically significant time for Christian media in the United States. America’s ministries and churches are reaching more people with the gospel through the use of technology and media than at any time in history.

But, the future of the most influential evangelistic platform the world has ever known is not guaranteed.

This is truly a unique moment.

On the one hand, these are days of unprecedented opportunity for the Church.Tremendous new communication technologies are rapidly moving the entire world toward wireless, “always on” connectivity.

God has given His people the media tools to reach every man, woman and child on earth for Jesus Christ, even in countries closed to conventional means of preaching the gospel.

On the other hand, there is fierce opposition.

“I believe that a time is fast approaching – I think it will be in my lifetime – when the preaching of the Gospel is referred to as hate speech,” Graham wrote in a commentary posted on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association web site.

Christian warriors

How should Christian media warriors handle this opposition to proclaiming the hope of Christ?

The evangelistic work of the first Christian soldiers was constantly threatened.

“They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and put them in jail.” (Acts 4:2-3)

How did those early Christians respond?

“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” (Acts 4:23-24)

They prayed!

The lessons and courage of the first followers of Christ has been an example for believers facing perilous times ever since.

Pastor E.M. Bounds was just beginning his calling as a pastor when the Civil War broke out. He said…

Prayer must diffuse all effort, impregnate all ventures, decide all issues. The Christian soldier must be as intense in his praying as in his fighting, for his victories will depend much more on his praying than on his fighting.
E.M. Bounds

Pessimists or optimists

Someone has said that the difference between a pessimist & an optimist is that a pessimist sees a problem in every opportunity. But an optimist sees an opportunity in every problem. Whenever the children of God have faced great adversity in advancing the gospel, they’ve also had great opportunity. None greater than the opportunity to pray.

We are living in another of those crucial spiritual moments.

Sustaining churches and ministries using media for God’s work will take great commitment, great resources and great sacrifice.  It will take innovative ideas, bold strategies and new business models.

It will take leaders following in the footsteps of the “men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

It will take Christians getting out of the pews and into the battle.

It will take Christians everywhere willing to pray with one heart and one mind, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” (Acts 4:29)

As it was in the 1st century, so it can be again in the 21st century, when “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

Let this sacred occasion, the 60th Annual National Day of Prayer, be a reminder that the greatest opportunity for doing God’s work is to call on Him together in prayer.

The future of Christian media depends on it.

Christian radio HCJB in Pifo, Ecuador, one of the largest radio stations in the world, has signed off…for the last time. For nearly 60 years, this broadcasting giant has beamed the gospel from high in the Andes mountains into every country in the world.

HCJB was a technological marvel. On September 30, the station yielded to global change and new communication technologies.

Kenneth MacHarg, a missionary journalist, described HCJB’s great engineering accomplishments and even greater spiritual triumphs in his feature article on the ministry. “There are entire communities and nations and people groups that proudly bear the name Christian because listeners heard the message emanating from Pifo,” said MacHarg.

HCJB has always held personal significance for me. My introduction to Christian radio began through one its leaders and a serendipitous meeting in 1981.

I had been in secular broadcasting for 12 years and was working in Brownsville, TX. A mentor had suggested that I look into Christian radio. I knew nothing about the industry, its leaders or personalities.

One day, while waiting to get my children at the church school they attended, I picked up a Sunday bulletin to kill time.

I noticed a man named Abe Van Der Puy, then President of HCJB Radio, was scheduled to speak during an upcoming evening service. He was coming to raise awareness for a new network of FM stations being formed to make the gospel available all along the U.S.-Mexican border. (Van Der Puy ultimately became President of The World Radio Network and its 23 FM stations.)

An event about Christian radio seemed like a logical place to start my investigation.

After the service ended and everyone had departed, I introduced myself to Mr. Van Der Puy. I told him my purpose and asked if he could spare a few minutes. I was surprised at how readily he agreed. We sat down to talk, following an introduction to his wife (Marj Saint, the widow of Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot Nate Saint who was martyred along with four companions by Ecuador’s Waorani Indians).

Pew talk

Perched side-by-side on a front row pew, I fired off my questions to Van Der Puy. He answered every one of them. It struck me that he must have been tired but wasn’t in a hurry to leave.

Though not recognized at the time, one of his answers would have a defining impact on my future.  I asked Van Der Puy how he would define Christian broadcasting for someone who didn’t know what it was. I still have my notes.

He talked about the different management philosophies and programming strategies. Then he said, “Christian broadcasting {as contrasted with ‘Religious’ broadcasting} is where programming is selected on how well it adheres to the heart and center of the gospel. If a station, or program, does not stick to a clear presentation of the message then the listeners will get a confused picture.”

It wasn’t until much later that I understood the significance of his statement. For Abe Van Der Puy and HCJB, radio was a tool to help the Church fulfill its mission in reaching the world for Christ. God used this distinction of purpose to help me see His plan. My destiny as a Christian was getting ready to converge with my career as a communications professional.

The door to Christian broadcasting opened three years later.

Changing of the guard

Now, HCJB has ceased broadcasting. It’s the end of an era. New communicators are moving into place. God is bringing forth powerful technologies and leading churches, ministries and others to use them for His purposes.

If Abe Van Der Puy was speaking at a nearby church today, I would jump at the chance to spend a few minutes sitting on a pew with him again.  I’d ask a similar question to the one posed during our first meeting.

How would you define the role of Christian communication today?

In 1976, Van Der Puy, then President of the National Religious Broadcasters, wrote an open letter to fellow broadcasters titled “Light in a Very Dark World.” It was published in the September issue of NRB’s Religious Broadcasting.

I could imagine his answer to my question sounding a lot like the following portion of his letter. There may even be a hint of destiny calling for some hearing his words.

Broadcasters can be shining lights in a very dark world. Abe Van Der Puy

“We are living in a dangerous, corrupt world. Great forces are dragging people down everywhere. More than ever men and women need to hear the call of God–a call to righteousness. Christian broadcasters and telecasters currently have a great opportunity and responsibility. We can be shining lights in a very dark world. This demands of us excellence in content, quality in technique and humble dependence on the Spirit of the Lord.” — Abe Van Der Puy

Postscript: In 2005, I received an unexpected invitation from HCJB to join a group of broadcasters visiting the station’s global facilities in Ecuador. This was an opportunity to experience the ministry and region firsthand. Yielding to a busy schedule, I didn’t go. I regret that.

Question: Could using technology and media to proclaim the gospel possibly be part of your destiny?

(Tall antennas and towers at Radio Station HCJB’s international transmitter site in Ecuador. Photo Source: HCJB Global)