The Virtual Pew Daily: Serving On The Radio, Well Sort Of!

Matthew 20: (25) Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. (26) Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, (27) and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— (28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Mark 10: (44) and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (45) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Luke 22: (25) Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. (26) But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. (27) For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

I start the day with these verses for a specific reason; does anyone catch the theme of these verses so often lost on many, including the religious in our society? The theme is the theme of serving others as was promoted by Jesus himself. A theme I want to make clear from the outset of this article which will talk about some new and upcoming areas of ministry for The Virtual Pew and me.

I bring this up because there are a couple of things I want to illustrate briefly before getting to my request for your help. One, Jesus had a clear mission and a clear purpose, he didn’t compromise that, yet, he still found ways within that calling and purpose to serve others. In the willingness to serve others, as is exemplified when he washed the feet of Peter, individuals have to be willing to receive it with a grateful heart. Peter was like, “No way, you aren’t going to wash my feet.” Then Jesus responded along the lines, “If you don’t let me wash your feet you won’t be able to go to Heaven.” Peter then has one of the great responses in the entire Bible, he says, “Well don’t just wash my feet, wash my entire body.” I can imagine Jesus laughing at that, even though he knew what awaited him just a few short hours away.

The last thing I would want to do is compare what we do at The Virtual Pew with the person of Jesus, but I have to look at this in some regard. The Virtual Pew has a specific ministry to those who have been hurt by the church, are largely unchurched, and even those who need to see Christ in a different, more loving light. A part of that is me also doing some of the things I love because so many pastors do all of the teaching but never live the message they are teaching. I love for example wrestling; my son is involved in it. I also love telling others about the Jesus I know, and the love and grace he has for them. Before I can share what I know with the conviction that I know it works, I have to also live what I preach. Kind of like my good friend Glen Kaiser told me once, I have to walk the talk. Therefore I have friends in the world who aren’t followers of Jesus. I love them care for them, and enjoy their company. But I have to be willing to serve and care for them; I have to also be willing to make sure we don’t compromise our or my purpose, but in that process, find ways to serve others.

Now to the jest of today’s post, announcement of sorts, and a great plea for help to help me better understand how I, and this ministry can better serve you and others like you, or in need of a ministry like The Virtual Pew.

As many of you know, and I have known for some time, this ministry is ministering to people who just don’t have the money to give. The church as a whole is an organization we want to build, teach and support, but we also need that from the church. Unfortunately the church has seldom, and will likely as a large part, will have issue in supporting a ministry they feel threatened by. That is sad, but an unfortunate truth. The true church often understands and goes out of its way to support what we do one way or another. On the other hand The Virtual Pew could do a better job at educating the church as to what we do and raising additional funds. The issue becomes how do we do that without taking away from the ministry we provide others?

There is another unfortunate but realistic truth. The Virtual Pew ministers to thousands on a weekly basis in one way or another. I am convinced of that and you can’t change my mind. On the other hand it is largely me. There are others like Pastor Dave, Mary, Curt, Marcus and others who have gone out of their way to help, but we need help in ways that makes it difficult for individuals to volunteer. That said, I have to be innovative, and think out of the box as to possible ways to insure that this ministry, which is needed, survives. Not only are there the financial needs we have in order to survive, but we have to find a way to serve others, to the point where they get excited to serve, and in the same process contribute to this ministry. I have been talking of recent to Curt in Iraq about this, and know that he is one of several that are on board. But there has to be more, because there is such a need.

Recently, as some of you know I was a guest on a Radio Blog Talk program with Reverend Kerene and 3StarJimmy. After exploring that I begin to see some of the dreams I have for this ministry come together with a reality of possibility for what I want to see happen with The Virtual Pew. Please understand on this point, person to person, face to face, and soul to soul interaction is, and always will be the goal. There will come a point though, and we are not far from it, that it will be virtually impossible for me to give every single person the time they need. It therefore becomes important that others are on board, thankfully Pastor Dave for example is one of those, then there will need to be others though, but in the process I want to, need to, and I believe by God am required to make sure that those individuals or organizations fall within the concepts of what this ministry is supposed to be about.

Now for some ground breaking news regarding Mike Furches and The Virtual Pew; for the last several weeks I have been praying about ministry with Blogtalkradio.com. Here is where I am currently at. Presently I am exploring, and have begin the process to have The Virtual Pew and myself look at the development of 2 radio programs at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ Those programs will be The Virtual Pew, and another that looks at the arts, specifically, and likely associated with Hollywood Jesus. In keeping with the need for me to also be involved in personal ministry among the things I love I will also eventually look at hosting a wrestling program. There is a lot of details to go and I value the input from each of you and others you may know on the material that follows.

First, the Wrestling Group; I am trying to decide several things with this program, should it be local with some national input or national from the get go. My thoughts here are to start off with a local focus, even a statewide focus looking at the sport on all levels, from kids to High School, and then some focus eventually on a national level. There is even some thought about following a High School around, doing matches, reports, and weekly updates and so forth. For those in the wrestling community I would appreciate your thoughts? There will be some concepts appropriate for input from all 3 programs, but more on that later. The High School one kind of depends on the form we take as to when the program will air. For example, if we broadcast a local program tournament, then we will need to broadcast on days of their duals and matches, not a big deal there.

Here are my thoughts, and requests for the other two groups:

The Virtual Pew:

I am looking for ideas as to what type of program you would like here. Remember, this is a radio program but has the potential to have callers and all, one of the features I like. So the questions:

What kind of program?
Length of time for the program? 15 minutes? 30 minutes? 1 hour? 1 ½ hours?
What day(s) for the program?
Once a day? Once a week? Other options?
What time for the program? What time of day would be best for most of you?
Also production thoughts would be appreciated, do you like the idea of a single host, myself, or having a co host?
What type of outline would you like to see? More of a talk show format, or kind of like an on air church concept, with prayer, worship, teaching, discussion and so forth? Using current events as a method of discussion? Or just various topics and thoughts that are on my mind and going from there? Other?

The Hollywood Jesus Group or something similar:

Am also looking at a group similar to what Hollywood Jesus does, the same questions above apply with some exceptions, obviously the intent would be different with a totally different focus.

Now something to consider regarding both groups; I have been speaking some, emailing a lot with Marcus Pittman regarding co hosting a program together. Two people are kind of an easier way to do it, but we have actually spoken about the Hannity and Combs types of approach. For those familiar with Hollywood Jesus ore participates in some of the groups at MySpace you know Marcus and know how we are different. I think there is a great respect for each other, but certainly a different approach. We are trying to figure out more so of how we can work together and what that would be like. I think there is also an understanding that we may not be able to do this but your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Truth is I want each of these broadcasts to be of service to those who listen. Of course I will maintain my vision and purpose here that I believe God has called me to, but your voice, your opinions, and even your willingness to possibly serve in one way or another is of value. I am looking for information and thoughts in all of that. Individuals can certainly respond here, or they can email me at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com for more private responses. If at MySpace you can also contact me via pm there.

Well that is a start on this long but important notice. The hope is that within the next 3 weeks to month that at least one, if not both shows can be up and on the air. I am still doing a lot of research and checking things out. I really appreciate your response and thoughts. One of the things not mentioned is that advertising is also available and an option for the programs, in other ways, it is one of the ways we can possibly bring in some funds. That would be a great thing and an answer to prayer. Now, time for the feedback!

Here is a great video on serving somebody by the great philosopher Bobbie Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan. If you see the video double click, otherwise just click on the link provided.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ2gGFYD7uE