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Newsletter Articles

"Stepping Out of the Boat"

Volume 1 Issue 4    December, 2004

When discussing the famous story of Peter walking on the water (Matt 14:22-32), we usually focus on the fact that the big-talking apostle lacked faith because he focused on the storm instead of Jesus and started sinking. This is not necessarily wrong, as Jesus himself called Peter’s faith into question. However, as my ministry partner Brandon Ridley reminded me recently, at least Peter got out of the boat! It seems like we should be a bit careful in speaking ill about a guy who at least mustered up the courage to leave a perfectly good ship and follow Jesus’ bidding into the water.

Except for the sinking part, I have tried to take Peter’s example to heart in making plans for the ministry. I have been anticipating a point in which I would have to leave behind some of the safety and familiarity of my present situation and step out in faith in order to give DJEM the time it needs. Now that time has come

On January 8 I will begin hosting The Don Johnson Radio Show on KTIE 590 AM in Southern California The show will a be a live, call-in talk format and air every Saturday from 5:00 - 6:00 PM.

KTIE is a “general market” news / talk station. That means that although its owner, Salem Communications, is a Christian directed company, it is not a “Christian” station. The target audience is not explicitly church-goers and there is no “Bible Answer Man” program, for example. I wanted to be on this station because I am not primarily interested in preaching to the choir. I want to reach as wide a non-Christian audience as possible. This station will enable me to do that.

My strategy is to try to get people to realize and consider the claims of Christianity in the context of discussing how those claims relate to current events. As such, I will cover many of the same topics as I do on the Runaway Planet blog. I will also try to book some interesting guests, both as interviewees and co-hosts.

As I have shared before, talk radio and internet blogging have become the cornerstones of a powerful new media movement. If you paid any attention to the recent election campaign, you know that this “open source journalism”, as radio show host and blogger Hugh Hewitt calls it, played a major part in the campaign. It is a growing juggernaut that so far has been used most effectively in the service of political ends. However, I am hoping to employ it to advance a less temporal kingdom.

In trying to distinguish the Don Johnson Show from other talk radio programs, I will emphasize that fact that we go beyond politics, beyond trash talk, beyond pop psychology and beyond utilitarian ethics (the four main hallmarks of current general market radio programming) to get to the real heart of today’s issues. That heart is religion.

Although the mainstream media won’t frame it in these terms, our current culture war boils down to a debate over two questions: “Is there a God?” and “What is God like? At their foundation, our major moral debates are battles over worldview (some variety of theism vs. some variety of atheism) and theology (one idea of God’s nature vs. another). I will explain this on the radio program, showing how each issue fits into this battle framework, and then arguing for the truth of the orthodox Christian position.

To debate over homosexuality (be it gay marriage or gay clergy) presents a good example of this. This conflict is usually centered around two hot button questions: “Is homosexuality a choice ?“ and “What does the Bible (or Jesus) say about it?” The first question is one of worldview, the second is theological. Unfortunately, the debate never gets to that level. For example, President Bush faced the first question in the pre-election debates and answered “I don’t know.” As a politician, I don’t suppose he could say much more.

Thankfully, my show will not be under such constraints. My reply would be something like: “being gay is not a physical characteristic like skin color—it is a sexual desire sometimes followed by an action. So, unless we live in a godless universe where all thoughts and actions are uncontrollable products of chemical reactions in our brains and therefore we have absolutely no control over our desires and actions then I would have to say it is a choice—at least inasmuch as lusting after someone who is not your spouse or committing adultery is a choice. Put another way, if matter is all there is then homosexuality is not a choice and cannot be condemned. However, if there is a God and he created humans with free will, then the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality depends on what He thinks of it.

To those accepting that God and free will exist, the debate then shifts to whether or not God approves of homosexual desires and actions. This is where the theological debate starts. In the wake of an election in which eleven states voted down gay marriage, there was much talk about how homosexuality was actually Biblical because “Jesus never mentioned it.” This is an incredibly weak theological assertion (The gospels don’t record Jesus mentioning any injunctions against torturing babies or having sex with animals either, but no one doubts that he was opposed to those practices) but no one in the media seemed able to see that. That is where I come in.

I want to start a frank and open public discussion about worldview and theology. North America needs to hear traditional public voice of religion and prophetic voice of Christianity. We need people proclaiming the Biblical faith of our fathers in the public square. I hope to play a small part in that process through The Don Johnson Show.

Starting the radio show will be a step of faith in at least 2 major ways.

The first has to do with funding the program. Although we have raised enough money to purchase an initial block of shows, we are broadcasting in one of the biggest markets in the country and radio airtime is very expensive. We are counting on God to provide a significant amount of money every month to keep on the air.

The second area of faith involves my job situation. Producing a quality show each week will require a lot of effort. Along with all that goes into getting the broadcast on the air, I plan to try to increase the impact of the program by writing more on runawayplanet.com and pursuing more speaking opportunities. To create the time to do all that, I will be cutting my work hours at the cemetery back significantly and trusting that God will find a way to make up the slack.

God has asked me to take several similar steps of faith in my life and each time He has proven faithful and trustworthy. I have no reason to believe that this time will be different. Where God guides, God provides and I am looking forward in eager anticipation to see how he will not only meet the needs of the ministry, but do above and beyond all that we can hope or imagine.