June Newsletter 2017
BIG NEWS INSIDE!!!
Save The Date
June 14: Flag Day
June 18: Father's Day
June 20: First Day of Summer
Prayer Corner
Please pray for the Cornerstone's TV presence on the various internet streaming platforms and that our TV channel reaches people far and wide for Jesus Christ. Also, please pray for fathers this Father's Day, for honor and thanks to be given for their commitment, living out their unique role in the family, and their modeling of Christ to their children. Summer vacations are starting. Your prayers are appreciated for safety and rest for vacationers both during travel and at their destinations. Thank you
BIG NEWS
by Bill Powell
The last couple months we have teased you in our newsletter about “Big News Coming”. Well here is the news, drum roll please……… Crash, BOOM (Cymbals and Drum)!
Cornerstone Broadcasting now has internet TV. We are on ROKU, Amazon Fire, and Droid TV. With that news, I guess as Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy used to say, “I got some ‘splanen to do”.
This is an idea that actually started when I first came to work here. Bill Leisner and I talked about it in 1998. Back then, we talked about TV but never conceived of internet TV. “Why TV?” you might ask. Actually, the radio is still our primary method of reaching people with the gospel, but technology has taken a huge bite out of peoples’ listening habits. Radio is still viable, but let’s face it. In the evening people turn on the TV. This also reaches the world and not just our community.
We have been thinking about this for a long time and discovered it could be done inexpensively. Actually, our annual budget will not be affected by this for the first year.
I am sure you all know how we fell short of our Sharathon goal, and this may be a lean year. Isn’t this just like the Lord? Our goal for the TV is the same as the radio- to provide quality programming that reaches the lost and disciples the saved.
For right now, we have a limited program schedule but trust the Lord to expand it over time. Some of you are aware of internet TV while others not so much. If you go to our web site www.wjlu.org , we have some links that will tell you all about each method. The programming is on-demand, free, and of high quality. All you need is to purchase a device that is both easy to install and inexpensive and to have internet. Many are getting tired of the cable companies’ high prices. ROKU, Amazon Fire, and Droid TV offer you a much cheaper option. Feel free to stop by, and we can do a “Show-and-Tell”. Please pray for this. It was turned on just a few weeks ago, and we already have had over 1,000 views. Some of the views were from Scotland, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Austria, and Canada.
All for the glory of God.
Endings & Beginnings
by Chris Johnson
Summer has arrived! What a joyful time of year as the school year has officially ended, the next grade is soon upon us and graduates look forward to the next phase of life. As a youth pastor, this time is bittersweet because many of my students who have graduated high school this year I have known for many years and have developed wonderful relationships and countless memories. I rejoice in their accomplishments and yet I know that my time of weekly interaction and leadership has probably passed. As a father it means my little boys are growing up and another year of school has come and gone! With one nearing five and the other heading toward middle school, the commission to raise my sons in the fear and admonition of the Lord rings louder with each passing day. God’s gifts are overwhelming, and His call for stewardship of those gifts is sobering. It’s no wonder He instructs us to trust in Him and depend upon Him all of our days and in all our ways. My life lived out before my children and the students God has entrusted to me will either yield good fruit, or bad fruit and that reality brings into focus the importance of integrity and intentional living.
Daily I’m reminded of how far short I fall in seeking the Lord, yet the Scriptures remind me that the Lord is near His people, gives grace to the humble and is working out His good will and pleasure in my life. These promises assure me that God is faithful and encourage me to walk humbly before Him, leaning wholly on the Holy Spirit to guide me in days ahead. Endings are important because they usually are the preparation of new beginnings. As we enter the summer months together, I don’t know what endings you might be facing or beginnings that lie ahead. But I do know the Author and Finisher of our faith and our life. He has promised to guide us like a faithful shepherd through the path of life and when our end on earth has come, the greatest beginning of all is yet ahead. My prayers and blessings are with you all as we journey together.
Reaching The Lost, Discipling The Saved
by Christina Hutchinson
Here at The Cornerstone, we don’t do new things without good reason. We have been dedicated to bringing Music With a Message, Family Programs, and Bible teaching all with the intent of Reaching The Lost and Discipling The Saved. Our faithful listeners have supported us and new listeners tune in for a breath of fresh air. You can listen in your car, or at work on your computer through our online streaming. You can even download our app and take us with you on the go. However, there are places The Cornerstone has not yet reached, until now.
Introducing... Cornerstone Broadcasting TV! You have to admit, it has a ring to it. Right now on our channel, Cornerstone Broadcasting, which you can find on ROKU tv, Amazon Fire tv, and Android tv, we feature the same solid Christian teaching as our radio programs.We’re so excited about this new step towards The Cornerstone’s future and we know that you will be too!
I feel extremely blessed to know that I was able to use the talents that God has given me to help create the graphics for Cornerstone Broadcasting TV. When Bill approached me and asked if I could create a logo, I felt a little intimidated. I kept coming back to the drawing board and each time I felt defeated. I walked away from it and gave it a few days and all of the sudden it just clicked! Now, we have a beautiful, classy logo which I incorporated into this newsletter so you could get a sneak peek at what the channel will look like. You can get an even better view when you head to wjlu.org/cbtv. Be sure to watch our short clip on the welcome page. God Bless!
Lead Footed, A Confession
by Denisha Stearns
It happens almost daily as I make the drive towards home after work. I pass by the fire station. I see the police patrol cars parked out front. I check my speed. I gasp. Ten miles over! I restrain myself from slamming down the brake as I ease to a speed closer to the posted limit. How many times during my drives to and from my destinations do I exceed the speed limit? Or, phrased more appropriately, How many times do I actually obey this limit? How pathetically regular and unfailing I am at forgetting my lead-footedness. In fact, I only remember when I come into the presence of those symbols of authority that, thank God not today, usually flash red and blue. The patrol cars remind me and bring to light just how far away I am from the authorities’ standard of driving.
Is this how the prophet Isaiah felt? When Isaiah (see Isaiah Chapter 6) had a vision of being in the Lord’s presence, he cried, “I am ruined!” Exposed in the light of the Lord’s shining glory, maybe Isaiah felt like a black shadow, so different and opposite from who the Lord is with His heavenly realm and ways. Isaiah was uncomfortably aware of his own shortcoming and distance from the Lord’s perfect standard of behavior as he confessed, “I am a man of unclean lips”, and that he was living with a community people just as distant. Interestingly, Isaiah didn’t try (unlike me at times) to make his shortcoming, sin, or even his place in his community an excuse to disqualify himself from God’s calling and service. God had a remedy for Isaiah- atonement- and He has one for all of us- atonement through Jesus!
When I am in the presence of the Lord during a worship service or during my personal devotion time, I can admit my shortcomings, repent, and receive forgiveness because Jesus “paid my ticket”. This brings me great relief. Even though I may feel out of place in Lord’s presence or distant from His perfect standards, the Lord can bring me near and make me useful to do His work. I never want to forget how deserving He is of all reverence for what He does and for who He is.
As we all worship in our respective churches and homes, may His glory shine before us, and may we ever be in awe and wonder in His presence. Thank you, Lord, for all the “tickets” we don’t receive by Your mercy and for the earthly reminders of Your heavenly realm and heavenly ways. “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory!”- Isaiah 6:3 (NIV)
