Welcome to the very first edition of Traditores Higher Frequency…but before we chat a bit about the the program and me…
I’ve been listening to the Scorpions’ new album, “Return to Forever,” on my recent bicycle rides…and one of my favorite tunes off it is “We Built This House.” The chorus goes like this:
When the rain fell and the flood came
And the wind blew hard like a hammer on these walls
We didn’t crack or break or fall
We built this house on a rock, on a rock
This house on a rock, on a rock1
Now…it sounds a lot better when they perform it…and it’s not meant in a religious sense even though it is an allusion to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:24-27…but it helped convince me that this first episode of Traditores Higher Frequency should, after a brief introduction of myself and the program, build the right foundation…a firm foundation…for what will follow.
[ These are quick broadcast notes…not cleaned-up…and missing the “extras” that come out in the audio (which is available here). All quotes are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted. ]
Who Am I?
But first with introductions. Who am I?
I am Alan Fahrner, a Church of Christ pastor who has been inactive since employment had us leave our home church (more of a family) in Antrim, New Hampshire. I do still preach every-once-in-a-while, but the Lord hasn’t provided a new ministerial calling for me here in Colorado. I live with my wonderful wife, Michelle, and my great eight year-old, Augie…along with two cats and two dogs…in Strausburg, Colorado. I have three tremendous grown children who are back in New England…and every family member, two legs or four, is a huge blessing from the Lord. 🙂 I have a Bachelor of Science in Religion from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia…but the Church of Christ does not ordain ministers, they are called by God through the local church.
Oh, and I am infamous for using secular songs as sermon jump-off points. 🙂
What Is Traditores Higher Frequency?
Next, what is Traditores Higher Frequency?
The genesis for this program was restarting a hobby from my youth, shortwave listening, with that aforementioned eight year-old. A station that I tuned in, WRMI, had an incredibly great price for shortwave broadcasting…and that, combined with my desire to talk about Jesus, led to this 15 minute weekly program. The way I described it for WRMI was:
Facilitated by Church of Christ pastor Alan Fahrner, Traditores Higher Frequency is weekly program that wants all people to find truth, comfort, and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ without telling anyone what to believe. Instead, we point to Jesus by way of Scripture, trusting each individual’s own ability, aided by the Holy Spirit, to discover what the Bible teaches.
Short version is this a broadcast about Jesus Christ…and I don’t want you to believe what I say because I say it. I want you to believe what you believe because Scripture combined with your God-given intelligence and the Holy Spirit’s guidance has led you to believe it.
Before we jump into our foundation…I’d like to do two shout-outs. First to my good friend and talented country artist Jack Kapanka, who thought up the name for this program. Second to Jeff White at WRMI Radio Miami International for all the help he has given me getting this broadcast off the ground.
Thanks tons Jack and Jeff!
Sola Christus and Sola Scriptura
Now that we have introductions behind us…let’s talk about foundations. A fifteen minute program isn’t long enough do dive deeply into this…especially since it’s really only fourteen minutes and thirty seconds…and it has bumper music on each end…but Traditores Higher Frequency will have two things as its foundation…and both have already been mentioned today.
Our foundation’s cornerstone can be found by looking together at Ephesians 2:19-21.
Oh, before we turn there, I want to say I highly encourage you to look up every verse yourself. Don’t trust me. Open your Bible…make sure it says what I say it says…not only in words, but in context. I consider myself a pretty trustworthy kind of guy, but I am human, beset with all the failings that come with that.
With that said, Ephesians 2:19-21 says:
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Our cornerstone and our foundation will be the same one that the true church has. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone and the apostles and prophets are the foundation.
Now, this is not the only place Scripture makes it clear that Jesus is the cornerstone…take a look at Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:6-7. The right foundation…a firm foundation…requires that Jesus be the cornerstone.
How about the “foundation of the apostles and prophets.” They are all long dead…how can they be our foundation?
The same way Jesus, our cornerstone, did with the prophets that came before His incarnation. The foundation of the apostles and prophets can be found in our bibles. Jesus…
- Quoted from every part of the Old Testament
- Treated Scripture’s history as fact
- Showed that specific words in the Bible are important
- Believed Scripture’s prophecies
- Was “saturated” with the Old Testament
- Taught with Scripture
- Used Scripture for reproof
- Used Scripture to correct
- Used Scripture to train in righteousness
- Died with Scripture on His lips
These were all things I elaborated on during my very first sermon in a Church of Christ…and I’ll link to it when I post the notes for this episode of Traditores High Frequency so you can believe it not because I’ve said it, but you’ve seen it for yourself.
Ultimately the foundation for Traditores High Frequency can be summed up with two of what are known of the Five Solas: Sola Christus and Sola Scriptura.
Christ alone and Scripture alone.
The other three Solas are also important, so I encourage you to look them up…but the specific foundation we need for Traditores High Frequency is Sola Christus and Sola Scriptura.
Christ alone.
Christ is our cornerstone.
Scripture alone.
Scripture is the remainder of our foundation. We learn truth, including about Jesus Christ, in God’s inspired Word using the brains He has given us and led by the Spirit He has sent us.
Finally, before we wrap up…may it be said of this program what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2-5:
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Christ alone. Scripture alone.
Wrapping Up
You can hear our closing music…and that means it is time to wrap up this very first episode of Traditores High Frequency. Thank you for listening…and can I ask you a favor?
Visit our site, thf.fyi…as in Traditores-Higher-Frequency-dot-For-Your-Information…thf.fyi and let me know what you think.
What did you like? What would you change? What kinds of subjects should we touch upon?
Wondering what you must do to be saved?
You can use the “Contact Us” menu option on the site…or…if you want…you can e-mail me directly at alan@thf.fyi.
Also, thf.fyi is the best place to find the latest broadcast times and listening options since they can and will change. As a whole, however, you should be safe planning on hearing it in the same place and at the same time you have heard this program.
Thank for listening…may the Lord bless you and yours…and…remember…
Sola Christus — Christ alone.
Sola Scriptura — Scripture alone.
Love and grace be with you as we try to tune into Jesus’ higher frequency.
Footnotes
1https://youtu.be/ZgbmDMNu42s
[youtube=https://youtu.be/ZgbmDMNu42s&rel=0&w=512]