Monthly Archives: December 2013

The four most important words you’ll hear this Christmas

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Hark the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.

One ubiquitous Christmas holiday phrase is “Peace on Earth.” As the hymn above shows, that is entirely appropriate; however, we tend to assign an earthly context to it by mistake. It’s not about peace between men at all; rather, it means peace between men and God. Those four most important words I alluded to in the title are the last four in the verse above: “God and sinners reconciled.” That is the source of peace on earth.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13-14)

That peace and good will didn’t transmit from man to man; it came from God to all men. Since the fall of Adam, that peace between God and men did not exist. By giving the gift of His son, however, God was offering that peace and good will to men once again:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

There’s your peace…

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:18)

Repeatedly in the Old and New Testaments, the Bible reminds us that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:23 points out that “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We need as Savior, one whose birth we celebrate each Christmas. As the angel told Joseph:

“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20)

This was the Savior foretold by the prophets. For example:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

God’s desire is to restore that fellowship and peace, reconciling (see those four important words once again) us to Him through his Son:

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled…”

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I believe what Jesus says in the Bible: “you must be born again.” He means that in order to be forgiven and assured a place in heaven, you must put your faith and trust in Him. We can not do anything to assuage the sin that we carry in our lives; only He can.

By placing your belief and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, acknowledging that He made the only sufficient sacrifice for them on the cross, you can be saved. Only then will you be able to truly partake in that “peace on earth” that the angel of the Lord spoke of when declaring good news to those shepherds.

I love the spirit of Christmas as much as, if not more than, the next guy… but the joy, the spirit, the family time, the celebrations, the lights, the gifts… those are all simply a by-product and a shadow of the joy that God extends to each and every person through His son, the one through whom we enjoy unspeakable joy and peace each Christmas and throughout the year.

With all due respect, I think you’re a little late

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alcohol_billboard_60d_0081I have seen this billboard, or one similar to it, a couple of times. I finally had to stop and take a quick photo because I think it reveals a problematic mindset.  Your opinion may vary from mine, but I think that age 13 is far too late to be teaching our children about alcohol.

I’ve never been into drinking.  When I was younger, I didn’t see my parents do it – other than perhaps a single Fuzzy Navel or something at a wedding.  My dad had more alcohol in the house than I bet 99% of American households, but he didn’t drink it; he collected unique bottles, cans, and miniatures.  What I had witnessed in other people consuming alcohol was the change in their behavior, and it didn’t seem like something worthy of pursuit.  Thankfully my parents backed those observations up with admonishments about what alcohol can do to people’s behavior and consequences to its use.

Later, as I became an adult and my childhood love of motorcycles really took off, I definitely wanted nothing to do with alcohol.  I used to say that alcohol was “against my religion”: motorcycling.  This was, of course, before becoming a Christian.  I simply knew that alcohol would severely impact my ability to ride, and that was unacceptable.

Meanwhile, having accompanied friends to Shades or other bars or nightclubs, I couldn’t see a point to alcohol consumption or hanging out in places dedicated to it.  I’m thankful for that too.

The Bible warns about alcohol, in that “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1)  Based on my experiences above, and my convictions now as a Christian, I’m quite fine doing without alcohol or its effects.  And I’ve never needed it to have a good time.

Wow, I’ve really digressed, but I felt it important to give some background.  Now back to my original point: if you have convictions one way or another about alcohol, 13 is far too late to talk to your children about it.  By then your behavior has probably influenced them way more than your words will be able to.  If they grow up around people consuming alcohol, they’ve already formed their own perceptions.  If they see it as perfectly acceptable behavior, good luck lecturing that out of them.

Our children were told about alcohol, how my wife and I feel about it, and what the Bible says about it when they were around the age of four.  They watch a kids’ gospel western show that has an episode devoted to it, and it sparked curiosity in them.  Their questions prompted us to tell them our stance on alcohol consumption from a personal, practical, and biblical perspective.  We train them on so many other things, alcohol is just one more part of the picture.

At some point they’re going to be old enough to face those choices for themselves, and I’m not going to try to shelter them from that.  In the mean time, I’m making sure not to squander the opportunity to teach them while they’re young, explain why we believe what we do, and help them apply that long with everything else we teach them.

Frankly, by age 13 I’m sure many kids have already had exposure to alcohol.  If they run into that at such a fragile age with no preparation by their parents they’re going to be at a far greater risk to make poor decisions.  Peer pressure is all but unbearable at that age, so unless a child has a firm foundation it’ll be very hard to resist.

I appreciate the well-meaning message of this billboard.  I simply think its message needs to be applied much earlier.  Parents leading by example will help reinforce the admonishment they give their children.  With all our children face at the age of 13, they had better be well trained already.  Otherwise they’re getting too little too late.

Introducing the 2013 capitol Christmas tree – it’s real, and it’s spectacular

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capitol_tree_28771

Straight from Wisconsin, this beautiful specimen was lit tonight at a ceremony featuring local musicians, some Bible readings, and even some audience participation as we sung a couple of songs as well.  It’ll be up through December 31st and is adorned with ornaments made by ordinary folks and submitted through the North Dakota Council on the Arts.

It was a relief to see that there’s still a real tree in the Memorial Hall of the capitol this year; due to the potential fire hazard of an actual tree there’s mounting concern that may put an end to this tradition in favor of an artificial, non-flammable tree.  That’ll be a sad day when it happens, but I understand that North Dakota doesn’t want to be known for burning down two capitol buildings.

It’s okay, Bismarck; the sand is safe

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safe_sand_28754I just got done running a bunch of errands for my wife and myself, from Menards to south Walmart and points in between.  I’m glad to count myself not among one of the unlucky drivers rammed by an out-of-state “new arrival” winter driving noob, or who kissed a curb because a seemingly innocent looking turning lane was actually a rocket chute to disaster, or who realized that being able to brake or turn safely is a privilege not always available to everyone.  No, I was one of the lucky drivers who was able to drift around town in four wheel drive with my Spidey sense tingling but made it home intact.

I had to run to the south Walmart in my travels, so I thought I’d inspect the Public Works building on South 26th Street to see what kind of preparations were underway.  After all, tomorrow morning brings the start of a busy work week, and seemingly every intersection in town has been glazed to Zamboni-esque perfection.  As you can see above, those responsible for making things safe for local drivers must be tucked snugly away with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads or something.

It was maddening to see absolutely ZERO sand or gravel applied to major intersections. For example, the top of 9th Street – where one turns onto State Street to continue north – had a particular mirror-like sheen that made the right turn extremely treacherous, and doing so without either ramming a curb or drifting into the adjacent lane a feat of skill.  Then to see that apparently nobody’s gearing up to do it later is infuriating.  Crashing is dangerous and expensive.

This reminds me of when I left Bismarck to attend NDSU.  I looked outside in astonishment that the City of Fargo was actually plowing the streets while it was still snowing!  I’d never seen anything like that.  No matter how bad and impassible Bismarck roads seem to get, it becomes apparent that someone must make the decision to keep all snow removal assets in the garage until the snow stops.  After all, we’d hate to have to clear a street twice, wouldn’t we?

Watch out in the morning.  You’ve been warned.

KFYR + KNDX = LMA?

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kfyr_sale_2013

Broadcasting is a strange business these days, and I’m glad I was able to get out of working in it full-time just as it was starting to get spooky.  Consolidation, especially in smaller markets, seems to have been the trend for at least the past ten to fifteen years.  It may be causing another twist here in DMA #145.

Recently the sale of the Hoak Media stations in North Dakota (formerly ND Television, formerly Sunrise, formerly Meyer Broadcasting, and a few in-betweens) to Gray Television Inc. was announced.  This includes not only KFYR (Bismarck), KMOT (Minot), KQCD (Dickinson), and KUMV (Williston), but also KVLY (Fargo) and the KSFY group (Sioux Falls).  That in itself is noteworthy, but there was something further down the press release that was even more interesting:

Separate from the Hoak and Parker transactions, Excalibur has reached a definitive agreement with Prime Cities to acquire the following television stations:

STATION AFFILIATION MARKET DMA
       
KNDX FOX Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson, ND 145
KXND* FOX Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson, ND 145
* satellite station    

Gray and Excalibur have agreed to enter into industry-standard shared services agreements through which Gray will provide back-office services and limited programming to Excalibur’s stations in the Lincoln, Fargo, Bismarck, and Monroe markets.  The shared services arrangements will commence upon Excalibur’s purchase of those stations.

The bold emphasis is mine.  This looks to me like KNDX isn’t going to have local technical staff for long.  It’s called an LMA, or Local Marketing Agreement.  This is not a new phenomenon in North Dakota; KVLY in Fargo operates KXJB in this manner for Parker Broadcasting out of Texas (thus the “Valley News Live” moniker).  This is a different arrangement than the Reitens’ KX network has with KBMY (Bismarck) and KMCY (Minot) on behalf of the Forum group; they handle sales locally while master control of the Beemer’s programming originates from Fargo.

While FCC rules prohibit one entity from owning multiple stations in the market, it does not prohibit them from operating multiple stations.  It’s a convoluted deal that could only be concocted by corporate bean-counters, but one that possibly ends up saving some small market television stations that would otherwise be unviable.  Whether or not it benefits the viewing public is a matter of contention.

Western North Dakota FOX has never been a powerhouse in a market that even the Forum group couldn’t crack; Meyer Broadcasting and Reiten Broadcasting established themselves in the 1950s and have never faced serious competition aside from each other.  (As an aside, Forum tried it with KBMY/KMCY.  They folded up their news operations here right before I joined the station’s technical staff.)  Now that KNDX/KXND have been sold to a company that’s going to try to cut costs and recoup their investment, and are named in a press release from a company who will “provide back office services” to their new owners, the future looks pretty apparent.  Better touch up that resume’ just in case.

As a former board op for the ABC and NBC groups, I’m concerned about what happens to the technical staff.  It typically means more jury-rigging in the control room and more demand put on the button pushers.  Hopefully, if my interpretation of this press release is correct and the FOX stations start running out of an NBC control room, it’ll be done in a way that causes as few Maalox Moments for the guys in master control.