"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth — to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people — " Revelation 14:6.1 Could any Scripture be more Adventist than this? This verse is the beginning of the passage giving the very reason God has called the Seventh-day Adventist Church into existence. We have been called to preach the gospel to the whole world. That is a gigantic task.
And the entire context is described as angels flying in the midst of heaven. It doesn't stretch my imagination much to wonder if John, from his lonely Patmos location, was seeing in vision a representation of radio waves, television signals and internet messages streaking around the world with lightening speed.
It is difficult to envision the church ever being totally successful in its mission without Holy Spirit-empowered media ministry being a significant part of the plan. How else could we possibly even begin reaching every nation, tribe, tongue and people for Jesus? Certainly God has blessed significantly in our efforts to effectively use media to reach people with the Good News of the everlasting gospel.
It is ironic that media is also one of the key strategies of Satan to distract us from our mission, undermine our values and soothe us as we sink further into our Laodicean condition. So we have a dual, sometimes apparently contradictory relationship with the media.
On one hand we need to warn each other and the world of the danger of allowing entertainment to dominate our time and attention. By beholding we become changed — and I don't want to be like the shallow Hollywood stars that dominate the world's attention. I don't want to mimic the immoral lyrics of so much popular music. I want to live the pure life so alien to many of the people portrayed on television.
On the other hand, I do want to claim at least a significant part of the media's influence on behalf of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to be sure that at least some radio stations, some television channels and some Web sites are family friendly. I want the message of the everlasting gospel to be readily available and easy to find when someone does a Google search. I want at least one station to be talking about Jesus when my friends and neighbors are channel surfing through the 250 options available on their cable connection. When people are facing seemingly impossible situations in their lives, I hope they will find some encouraging music on the radio.
Thank you for your prayers and faithful support of media ministry in the North Pacific Union. God has blessed us with more than average access to the public. Pray every one of those radio waves and electronic impulses will reach their intended destinations and people will respond and be changed as they learn the truth of the everlasting gospel.
1 The New King James Bible. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1984.
