American Idol Advice
Greetings!

THE THREE JUDGES-
Lionel Richie , Katy Perry and Luke Bryan
plus host, Ryan Seacrest ,
all appear to want the very best
for the contestants.

They are constantly giving advice and encouragement
to the young people, parents and friends in preparation for their performances on AMERICAN IDOL...
Some Examples:
“There are a lot of good voices out there. It’s not just about a singing voice. It’s an ‘it’ factor. It’s a combination of things.”

"Mean it"

"Embrace it"

"Transfer pain to hope"

"Make it your own"

"Be connected to the audience"

"We need to know, who are you"

The program AMERICAN IDOL interests us for many reasons...with 7.72 million viewers each week, American Idol has a strong following.




It's the only program that Tudi and I watch faithfully other than the news, sports and movies....with the exception of two different Pastors on Sunday morning before we go to church

Ryan Seacrest (far left), the long time host, is always encouraging performers and families

Here are some of the reasons we watch it...

-We enjoy lots of talented singers...I can't sing (Tudi can but she's not ready for Idol)...and we enjoy people who can

-The judges are gifted singers in different areas...Lionel-singer/song-writer...Katy-pop..and Luke-country

-Much to our amazement the contestants come from "every" walk of life- and I mean "every"

-One of the dominant backgrounds of the contestants is a dysfunctional family life and I personally identify with many of them

-Also many of them do not come from a background of "means" but very humble and often family oriented (I identify also with being poor)

-A few contestants are very proud of their Christian faith and boldly sing gospel songs (praise God)

I believe AMERICAN IDOL represents our COMPLEX society perfectly...
So what does IDOL have to do with
WITNESS BREAKTHROUGH and me personally?

On a deeper level than RYAN, LIONEL, KATY and LUKE...
WB wants to encourage believers to be better equipped to share their precious faith in Christ with others.

One of the ways is learning to give a meaningful testimony using some of the same words of encouragement that are given to the idol contestants... however with an obvious different eternal focus


AGAIN, THE IDOL JUDGES HAVE SAID...
 “There are a lot of good voices out there. It’s not just about a singing voice. It’s an ‘it’ factor. It’s a combination of things.”

"Mean it"

"Own it"

"Embrace it"
The AMERICAN IDOL advice is very good ...however whenever I watch it, I would give anything to share with each them my "best" advice... which is

PLEASE CONSIDER JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOR from all your sins and make Him LORD OF YOUR LIFE


Those same words of encouragement fit perfectly when we give our testimonies. We're guided by the following basics:


"Mean it"... I am forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ...I'm saved by grace and I want to live my life as a follower and disciple of my Savior


"Own it"... I want to grow in grace and tell others my testimony so they too can know how to be forgiven


"Embrace it"... Jesus said "I am the way, truth and the life...no one comes to the Father except through
ME"...the ultimate gift of God


Ted Sprague
John 3:16
John 14:6
P.S.
In lieu of speaking to the idol contestants and hosts... our calling is to proclaim the Good News as led to those we come in contact with in our daily walk...

Reporting Back... Acts 4:23

Yesterday while going to 2 department stores I had the privilege of sharing my faith with three men in the service areas of the stores ...it was unusual because none of the men appeared to be very interested ...
Some of my friends who have taken WB training have often wondered why so few people I talk to don't negatively respond to the Gospel ...

These 3 examples will make them satisfied...even though most of the time I do get a positive response to my sharing, whether they agree or disagree that Jesus is the way, truth and the life

For me this response is not a problem because I am to be faithful in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and leave the results to the Holy Spirit...it is said so often in WB training...."YOU ARE NOT THE WHOLE ENCHILADA!"

A GREAT LESSON FOR ALL BELIEVERS...years ago...
While on a 9 city speaking trip to MIssouri and Kansas one of the assignments was at the ROTARY CLUB of Kansas City...a few months later I was teaching my weekly morning Bible study at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale Az to approximately 90 men...we always had a few visitors...after the morning session a man who was a visitor came up to me and said..."I heard you speak in Kansas City to the Rotary Club... (I smiled and thought to myself he really enjoyed it)... instead he said
"I thought you were out to lunch" I found out after the Rotary meeting the man got with someone else who shared their faith in Christ and this man accepted Jesus as His Savior...definitely thank God ..that was a lesson described in the Word of God showing me that I wasn't THE WHOLE ENCHILADA!

 Ezekiel 2:7 says it best ,
"You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen , for they are rebellious"