I Wanted To Get To Know Him More...

This weekend I was saddened to learn of the sudden death of Jim Leek, morning show host and music director at JOY1250 in Oakville.

I had only met him twice and had heard about him before that in only the most glowing of terms.  I had heard he loved God with a passion, loved Christian music, had a long tradition of supporting Christian radio.  I heard he had never married, had tragically lost a brother who was a fire fighter and that, Jim was steadfast in his faith.  A true example of a godly man.  I am sad that he died at such a young age, 58.

I so much wanted to get to know him a bit more.

That got me thinking...

There have been a few people in my radio life like that, that I have wanted to meet and dig deeper into their knowledge.

Back when I was starting out in, North Bay, I knew of a guy named, Dean Belanger.  He was the solo morning show guy at CKAT and I heard he was a dedicated Christian guy.  I thought, how can a Christian play country music?  How can he keep his spiritual life together in that atmosphere?  He did it though, and had the respect of his peers.  Then I heard he wrote a short movie script and actually filmed it!   Wow!  Then, someone told me he was a trekkie!  I thought, if I ever meet this guy, I will pick his brain like crazy!

Me and Dean Belanger in North Bay.  We are using our "happy" faces.

Dean, gearing up for a Sharathon!

Dean is now the station manager at KFM, the Christian station in North Bay and has helped it grow so much that they are about to open a new location that is three times the size of the former studio!  I have had the honor of working with, Dean and learning from his many years in the biz.  We still keep in contact and the education continues.

Another guy I wondered if I would ever meet is Scott Jackson, station manager of LIFE 100.3. 
I heard of him while working in Sudbury.  I started reading his blog and was impressed with his straight forward, no-nonsense writing style.  He was not afraid to be open and honest about his struggles in life.  Through the blog I also found out that he was a radio guy because he loved it.  He had been in the field since very young, and had become a Christian and had been turned on to Christian music.  He shared the story of starting LIFE in, Barrie and I could tell that he carried they same drive from his career in secular radio, over into Christian radio.

LIFE is never dull with Scott and Janice!

I started tuning in to LIFE online.  Everything sounded so...good!  Wow!  This guy knows his stuff!  Would I ever get to meet this dude?  Would there ever be a chance to actually let any of the excellence rub off?

I did eventually get to meet, Scott and his wife, Janice.  We got to tour the studio.  We got to have pizza together!  Fun!

Now I "work" at LIFE.  Now, there is a whole team to learn from!  Maybe they can learn something from me and my experience to.

Back to, Jim.

Jim was one of those guys I was looking forward to sharing radio experience with.

We met briefly at, Scott's place on two occasions and we were Facebook friends.  I had planned to visit JOY in the future and get him to show me around.

Top left corner, me chatting with Jim Leek and Steve Jones. PD at LIFE.

Now he is gone from this world and into the next.

Here is the lesson I guess;  for whatever reasons, people die before what we think is their time.

They are here one minute and it seems, gone the next.
 
Rarely are we prepared for it.

Learn what you can from the people who are in your life. 

See every relationship as a situation you can grow from and help contribute to someone else's growth.

Realize that we never really know when life will change.

Amen.

Another shot of, Steve Jones and I talking with , Jim Leek at Scott Jackson's place. (We are in the center, around the fireplace.)

Jim loved ALL kinds of Christian music!  Including AFT!

Chilling.

I am on my first week of holidays since starting at LIFE 100.3. 

I am sort of torn about taking time off because, just being at LIFE, for me, is energizing and I don't feel burnt out or anything.

It's not like I just can't to get away from the place!

Anyway, I also understand that time off is very important both physically and spiritually.

Creative energy can run a little dry when you don't take a step back and evaluate where you are and where you want to go.

So here is what I have been up to.

Daily workouts, saunas, swimming, reading, spa tub, cooking and most important, spending time with my wife!

I finished one book and I am digesting the subject matter. 

I have also been watching episodes of the Six Million Dollar Man on DVD. (I hear there is a reboot in the works with one of the Whalberg boys, called The Six BILLION Dollar Man!  I guess they adjusted for inflation.)

I have also been listening to LIFE and it's strange to not be in the action for a week! 

I have also listened in to other morning shows and I am getting ideas!

Overall I would say it's been pretty relaxing so far!  It's sort of a "staycation" because I have not retreated to a beach in the Carribean.

Here is the scripture that comes to mind about holidays, just to put it in a biblical context...

Mark 6:31 - And He said into them, Come ye apart into a desert place and rest a while, for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

Busy guys.  They were doing ministry and stuff and before long it was gonna be something they hated instead of loved.

Good advice from, Jesus there! 

Back to my restl...see ya in a bit!

Small Miracles and The Lost Keys!

I bought a truck in 2013.

It's a 1996 Ford F-150 with about 225,000 kilometers on it.

It's been a great vehicle, it was well taken care of and not driven much given its age.

The cost to me has been very little.

I paid cash for it and it's helped me make money.  So I am happy with it.

I have had to replace the starter and a couple other little things, but for the most part it's not cost me a lot to drive.

Since moving to Barrie, I have not needed it to do much except get me to LIFE and back every day.

If anything major ever broke down on it, I think I would have to let it go because, it would not make sense to sink money into something that old.

My mini-miracle story begins here.

About two months ago, the truck started to make a very alarming "clunk" sound under the drivers seat area when I would turn a corner.

I immediately see dollar signs in my head whenever a vehicle makes any noise out of the ordinary.

I looked under the truck fully expecting to see something loose or broken.  Nothing.

The clunk continued for a month because I did not want to bring it into the garage to get "bad news".

I guess you could compare it to someone not wanting to go to the doctor because they are afraid of what they might find.  (Ironic Side Note:  I was going to the medical lab to get some blood work done when the "clunk" started!)

The truck runs well and never really exhibited any other glitches other than this noise, so I prayed to God.

The prayer was something like "God, I cannot afford to fix this truck right now, and I need it to get to work and back.  Please help me to find this problem and get it fixed.  Amen"

Fast forward to about two weeks ago.  I had some things to do before heading home from work, so I stopped at a department store.

When I was done, I went home, pulled into my driveway only to discover that my house keys had fallen off my key ring and I was locked out.

Rats!

Where did I drop them?  At work?  At the store?  Now what?

My search began in the seat of the truck, maybe they worked their way into the cushion.

Nope.

OK, now I look on the floor.  Nothing.  Now I am getting anxious.

I flip on the flashlight app on my phone and look under the seat.

Nothing there but this...

It's a full can of undercoat that I never used this fall.

No keys.

I put the can on the passenger seat and headed back to the store. 

That's when I notice that while I am driving, the "clunk" is noticeably absent.

I wonder...what's going on?  God, are you working here?

I pull into the store parking lot and as I approach the space where I parked...I see them!

My keys!

They were laying on the snow, plain as day, and nobody had touched them!

I said a big "Thank you, Jesus!", then grabbed them and drove home!

All the way home, no "clunk"...none.

Was the truck fixed by some miracle?

Yes and no.

That big can of undercoat was rolling around under my seat the whole time, causing the "clunking" noise!

It took me losing my keys to even look under the seat!

I felt relieved, joyful and a bit silly all at the same time!

I had prayed about this whole thing earlier, so I believe God was involved in helping me discover the true "problem".

But, it's HOW he did it that was so wonderful.  It was something that I can only say, HE did!

How many of the things that cause us stress, are really just cans of asphalt rolling around under our butts, causing a bunch of noise?

Take some time and bring those things to God.

Trust Him to work it out, then share your story!

Gotta run!

Here's a Thought...

You know those times when we say "Pray for me..."?

It could be we are asking because we are sick , or afraid or needing patience.

What if, when we asked for prayer, we could also tell others exactly what we would like prayed?

Usually we just leave it up to them to figure it out.

That seems to me like it's pretty vague.

When we pull up to the drive-thru, we are pretty specific about what we want, why not with prayer?

I know that prayer is not ordering God around, but still there is something to be said for being specific.

We have a book called "Prayers That Avail Much".  It is filled with very specific prayers.

I find it very helpful to open it up and read them.  They are packed with scripture based stuff.

It feels weird to read a prepared prayer, but hey, remember, Jesus said "Pray in this manner...".

We could all use some help!

Here is an example...

Deliverance from Habits

Father, in the name of Jesus and according to Your Word, I believe in my heart and say with my mouth that Jesus is Lord of my life. Since all truth is in Jesus, I strip myself of my former nature [put off and discard my old, unrenewed self]. I desire to be free from the habit(s) of ___________, in the name of Jesus. Father, this/these habit(s) is/are not helpful (good for me, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). I no longer desire to be the slave of wrong habits and behaviors or be brought under their power.

Father, these self-destructive habits are symptoms of a flaw in my soul, my character, and I confess them as sin. I don’t want to habitually make the same mistakes over and over. Father, Your Word exposes the wrong thought patterns that are driving me to continue acting out in ways that are contrary to Your Word. I desire to be continually filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Thank You, Father, for translating me into the Kingdom of Your dear Son. Now I am Your garden under cultivation. In the name of Jesus, I throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, I purpose to let You, my gardener, landscape me with the Word, making a salvation-garden of my life.

I arm myself with the full armor of God, that armor of a heavily armed soldier which God has supplied for me—the helmet of salvation, loins girded with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With God’s armor on, I am able to stand up against all the strategies and deceits and fiery darts of Satan, in the name of Jesus.

Clothed in Your armor, I discipline my body and subdue it. With every temptation, I choose the way of escape that You provide. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

Thank You, Lord. I praise You that I am growing spiritually, and Your engrafted Word is saving my soul. I strip away the old nature with its habits, and I put on the new man created in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! Amen.

    Romans 10:9,10    James 1:21 Message
    Ephesians 4:21,22    1 Corinthians 10:13
    1 Corinthians 6:12 AMP    1 John 4:4
    1 Corinthians 3:9 AMP


Pretty specific, right?

I think the whole issue was covered in that!

After reading it a few times, you sure do get some confidence that the prayer is effective!

Click the book to go to the web site for more.

Lord, teach us to pray!

2014 Year In Review and a Look Ahead

What a ride!

This year began with me doing the weekend news shifts at KICX 91.7 in Sudbury, attending news conferences,covering city council meetings and going to watch Sudbury Wolves games.  I was also doing side work as a satellite system installer in the Sturgeon Falls area.

I was a pretty happy camper!

The ONLY thing that would attract me away from the status-quo would be a call from LIFE 100.3 in Barrie saying there was an opening on their staff for a new personality.  I had done a job interview there previosly and had visited a few times and I was so impressed with them!  The sound of the station was right in my groove!  The organization of the ministry, the Street Team, the staff dynamic...all top shelf!  And of course the station manager, Scott Jackson and his wife, Janice were pretty cool folks to!

The call finally came from PD, Steve Jones on St. Patrick's Day!  I was so thrilled!  I had been offered a position on the MORNING SHOW!  This was a big deal!  Wow!  How would all this work out?  I have a kid in college, I have a house!

Without going into all the details, everything lined up perfectly so we could pack up and make the big move!  We rented our house to a wonderful pastor and his family, some wonderful friends in Barrie rented us a house about 5 minutes from LIFE and my daughter got set up to continue college!

We moved to Barrie in April and I hit the airwaves at LIFE 100.3, April 27th!

The emotions of that day were very mixed.  I was so pumped to be part of the team and at the same time I didn't want to mess it up!  I tried a little TOO hard at first and thankfully, we are regularly air checked and I settled down with some direction from, Steve Jones. 

The chemistry between me and Tim Maassarany was great right off the hop.  We seemed to complement each other and it was a really pleasurable start to the morning show.

Once the renovations were done at LIFE, Tim and I moved into a brand new Morning Show office!  It's a lot of fun to work there!  We arranged our desks so we face each other and also face any visitors that wander by!

One of my favorite parts of the morning show is the talk back shows.  We set up a topic for discussion and then open up the phone lines for listeners to call in and give us their thoughts.  It's a really great way to connect with everyone and the calls are always fun!

I have interviewed a host of interesting people.  I have been on location at some outstanding events, spoken at some wonderful churches, been to the Dove Awards, done stand up comedy and generally just had a blast!

It's been a year of so much personal and spiritual growth!

I am excited for 2015!  Anything can happen!

How about you?

You Have Just Received 365 More Days!

Here we go with a New Year!

I love the fact that we can choose to steer our lives in a positive direction.

We have the freedom to plan our year the way we want to.

Do you want to travel, go ahead! Do you want to lose a few pound, feel free!

Freedom is a wonderful thing.

Let us never take our freedoms for granted.

There are places in the world where people cannot go ahead and plan their lives.

They are in situations that are beyond difficult.

Pray for those in places where freedom is severely restricted!

May God bless this new year and may His hand guide all YOUR affairs!