Here’s your handcrafted playlist for the September 16th/18th show:

Hour 1

1. Saved My Soul – Audio Adrenaline
2. Choices – Graceful Closure
3. Push – Thousand Foot Krutch
4. Facemelt – KJ-52
5. Float – Switchfoot
6. Never Enough – Hawk Nelson
7. Mirror – Kutless
8. Take Me Over – RED
9. Birds Will Never Fly – Come Wind
10. Gotta Be Something – Me In Motion
11. Way You Love Me – XXI
12. Nothing Left to Lose -PIONEER
13. Don’t Bring That Trouble – NEEDTOBREATHE
14. Don’t Wait For Daylight – NEEDTOBREATHE
15. The Change (Feat. Beacon Light) – Bread of Stone
16. In between – Lybecker

Hour 2

1. Anchor Me – Decyfer Down
2. Into My Arms – Embers In Ashes
3. Still Breathing – Veridia
4. Staring At the Sun – Roelant
5. Bummin’ – Relient K
6. Closer – Philmont
7. Run Devil Run – Crowder
8. What About Tonight – 7eventh Time Down
9. Carnival – The Insyderz
10. Haters – Beacon Light
11. Hunger Strike – Seventh Day Slumber
12. My Allegiance – ILIA
13. Madness – Citizens & Saints
14. Kids – Citizens & Saints
15. Feel Invincible – Skillet

Five Fun Free Family Things To Do This Weekend
September 16-18, 2016

5 Septemberfest and Community Day tomorrow (Saturday, September 17) from 3-7pm at Spring Creek Church of the Brethren in Hershey. Penn State Life Lion EMS, therapy dogs, Derry Township Police Canine Unit, face painting, balloon animals, music and more! More Info at SpringCreekCOB Facebook page

4 Ephrata Community Church Family Fest Sunday, Sunday (September 18) 3-7pm at Ephrata Community Church Grounds on Clay School Road in Ephrata. Free food, archery, candy drop, inflatables, fire trucks, crafts, games, and more.  Rain or shine. More Info:  EphrataCommunityChurch.com.

3 Paradise Energy Solutions’ Solar Grand Opening tomorrow  (Saturday, September 17) from 9am-1pm at 3105 Lincoln Highway East  in Paradise. Kids activities, solar demonstrations tours, food and more.  More Info: VisitPES.com

2 Central Penn Parent’s FREE Family Fun Day tomorrow (Saturday, September 17) from 10am-4pm at Cousler Park in York. Live music, stage performances,petting zoo, pony rides, bounce houses, and more kid-friendly activities.Children are also invited to dress up and walk in the costume parade or bring their favorite stuffed animal for a health check-up. More Info: CentralPennParent.com

1 Oregon Dairy’s 2nd Annual Corn Pickin’ 5K, tomorrow (Saturday, September 17) at the Corn Maze at Oregon Dairy. The Race starts begins at 8am.  Kids Dash starts at 9:30am. KCB live 9-noon with games, free goodies, door prizes, and more! Proceeds benefit the Benevolent Care Fund at Landis Home’s Retirement Community. More Info: OregonDairy.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Q and A Segment explores the question, “What is the priestly blessing?”

In Numbers 6:24, The LORD instructed Moses how to direct Aaron and his sons to bless the Israelites:

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you: The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

This is a benediction sometimes given at the end of church services today. This blessing reflects God’s heart for us to know His peace and grace, which satisfies our soul and makes our joy complete.

This blessing is ultimately realized through a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the way for us to experience God’s favor. Grace and peace prevail in the hearts of those who turn away from sin and turn to Christ for forgiveness and direction in the Year of Exploration.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Exploration, today’s Reason to Believe is God’s perfect timing.

Second Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise. His promises may be fulfilled at a slower pace than we would prefer, but that does not mean that God is running behind schedule. It might mean that we are trying to run ahead of Him. Going at God’s timing sometimes requires waiting on the Lord.

An example of God’s perfect timing can be found in John chapter 4, when a royal official asked Jesus to heal his son before he died. Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was a long way off, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When the royal official inquired as to the time when his son got better, they told him that the fever left him at the seventh hour. Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus said to him, “your son will live.” So, he and all his household believed.

According to Romans 5:6, it was at just the right time when Christ died for the ungodly.

God’s perfect timing to fulfill His perfect will is a reason to believe in God’s good news.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Q and A Segment explores the question, “Who was Asaph and what was his struggle?”

Asaph was a gifted musician in the time of David, and he used music as a tool to glorify God.

But Asaph lost focus at one point in his life, and he wrote about it in Psalm 73. In his testimony, he recalled, “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” He started to perceive their lives on the other side of the fence as having no struggles, free from burdens, and with healthy bodies. He said, “This is what the wicked are like-always carefree, they increase in wealth.” This perspective led him to false thinking, and it is the kind of path that might tempt us if we perceive the same things. He said, “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure.”

But before he went further down this path of envy, something gave him perspective. He entered the sanctuary of God. Then he understood their final destiny. The result was a celebration of being in relationship with God. He said to the LORD, “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”

Asaph’s journey shows how an eternal perspective brings clarity when we come to God in a place of worship in the Year of Exploration.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

I recently visited the new Butterfly Atrium at the Hershey Gardens with my family.  It’s a wonderful place, perfectly setup as a walk-through experience inside a butterfly’s world.  There were colorful flowers and plants, a little stream, and big chunks of fruit set out, where butterflies lounged and filled up on nectar.  There were all kinds of butterflies: from teeny tiny ones to ginormous.  We walked through on the path, watching each step since the butterflies roam free, flitting to and from wherever they please.  While may were in flight from here to there at any given time, we found some hanging from flowers, others clung to the windows, and a few liked to plop down right in the middle of the path.  Everyone carefully approached to get a close look at their wings and take some pictures of these amazing creatures.  I was thinking how special the experience was…and how different it would be if it were any other bug.  I mean, nobody wants to visit all sorts and sizes of spiders in their natural habitat!  There’s something about butterflies that makes us feel comfortable and even a little mystified.  Then…out of no where, a butterfly landed right on my nose!  And do you know what happened?  Nobody shooed it off.  No one rolled up a news paper to swat it.  And I had zero urges to flick it away.  Instead, everyone responded with incredible delight, treating me as specially chosen by this butterfly.  Phones and cameras emerged and we all giggled until it finally detached its sticky little feet from my face and flew away.  It would have been so different if it were any other bug.

In the days after that experience, I’ve wondered how people would respond to me if I were a bug.  Are there qualities about me that sting like a bee?  or smell like a stink bug?  or cause concern like a mosquito?  Do I have a problem with boundaries like ants at a picnic or drone on loudly like a locust? I hope not!  I really want to be like a butterfly.  I want people to feel at ease–and even special if I come close.  And the good news is: God wants us to be like that, too!  The fruit of His Spirit certainly makes us beautifully attractive: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  None of those are scary or intimidating–and we are marked by those qualities because of Jesus living in our hearts.  If you don’t feel like those things describe you very well, I’ve got more good news: Jesus Christ makes us into a new creation.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  The old stuff is gone–and we are transformed.  That’s something butterflies can relate to! 🙂

Playlist for September 9th/11th, 2016

Hour 1

1. Okay  – LoveLike Violence
2. Roses – I Anthem
3. Birds Will Never Fly – Come Wind
4. You and Me Both – The Classic Crime
5. Beyond The Stars – Spoken
6. Incomplete – Thousand Foot Krutch
7. Oh Lord – NF
8. Falling All Over – I Am Spartacus
9. Madness – Citizens & Saints
10. Unshaken – Attaboy
11. Run Devil Run – Crowder
12. Reach for the Sky – Red Letter Hymnal
13. Bummin’ – Relient K
14. Sadie Hawkins Dance – Relient K
15. Don’t Bring That Trouble – NEEDTOBREATHE

Hour 2

1. Black Honey – Thrice
2. Live While I’m Alive – Flagship Armada
3. Saved My Soul – Audio Adrenaline
4. Anthem Song – Aaron Gillespie
5. Way You Love Me – XXI
6. Angels & Demons – Disciple
7. Hunger Strike – Seventh Day Slumber
8. Strive – Found in the Fury
9. Someday – Plankeye
10. These Hands – Hearts Like Lions
11. Feel Invincible – Skillet
12. Sweep the Leg – Family Force 5
13. Loving Led – ILIA
14. Speak  – Foreverlin
15. Til the Day I Die – TobyMac (FEAT. NF)

Five Fun Free Family Things To Do This Weekend
September 9-11, 2016

5 East Petersburg Day 2016 tonight and tomorrow (Friday & Saturday, Sept 16 & 17) at East Petersburg Community Park. Musicians, face painting, balloon bending, dance presentations, hoola hoop contest, a TV giveaway, whoopie pie eating contests, a chili cook-off and more. For times and More Info: EastPetersburgDay.com

4 Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn Annual Whoopie Pie Festival tomorrow (Saturday, Sept 10) 10am-4pm in Strasburg. Over 100 different Whoopie Pie flavors, Whoopie Pie themed games and events, Crafters and artisians and more. More Info:  www.whoopiepiefestival.com

3 PRAISE JAM 2016 tonight (Friday, Sept. 9) from 7-10pm at Grace Point Church of the Nazarene. An evening of Praise & Worship featuring local worship teams from the area. Also, ‘Piercing Word’ drama group.  Cafe’ will be open and all proceeds will go to ‘Susquehanna Valley Pregnancy Center’. More Info: ephratanazarene.org

2 Hempfield’s 18th Annual Community Days tomorrow and Sunday (Sat. Sept. 10 & Sun. Sept. 11) at Hempfield Park. Car show, fireworks, music, crafts, kid zone activities, a variety of foods, and more. More Info: HempfieldTwp.com

1 Landis Homes Fellowship Days tomorrow (Saturday, Sept 10) 9am-3pm at Landis Homes, East Oregon Rd, Lititz. Train Rides, Face Painting, animals, bouncy castle, Lisa and Grandma Landis  and Kids Cookie Break broadcasting live in the morning. More Info landishomes.org

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Q and A Segment explores the question, “What is the role of spiritual leadership in the church?”

Ephesians 4:11 tells us that it was Jesus who gave gifts for “some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service.”

The purpose of teachers and preachers is to proclaim God’s word in a way that accurately represents God’s character and mobilizes God’s people to live out the Christian faith in acts of service.

As God’s word is faithfully proclaimed, the church body will grow in a number of ways:

According to Ephesians 4:12, the body of Christ will be built up. This implies that the faith of the church will grow stronger.

According to verse 13, the church will be unified in the faith.

And according to the same verse, the church will become mature in the faith so that we can reflect Jesus in our witness.

Leadership sets the tone for the church to grow together in faith and to express our faith through love in the Year of Exploration.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com