A Christmas Survey

1. Hot chocolate or apple cider? Hot chocolate

2. Turkey or Ham? Turkey

3. Do you get a "Fake" or "Real cut it yourself" Christmas tree? Fake

4. Decorations on the outside of your house? Yup!

5. Snowball fights or sledding? Sledding (it's not fair to be in a snowball fight against a 8 & 10 year old)

6. Do you like hanging around the fireplace because it's warm? Yes (and to watch the flames...)

7. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping? Only if I had money to spend!

8. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

9. How do you feel about Christmas movies? I love 'em

10. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music? The day after Christmas...

11. Stockings before or after presents? Before

12. Carolers? Oh yeah!

13. Go to someone else's house or they come to you? Don't care! Either way is fine!

14. Do you read the Christmas Story the night before Christmas? Yes, the true Christmas story! (Luke 1 & 2)

15. What do you do after presents and dinner? Nap....

16. What is your favorite holiday smell? Pumpkin Pie!

17. Ice skating or walking around the mall? Both!

18. Favorite Christmas tradition? Too many to name just one! Live Nativity, Christmas Lights, etc.

19. Favorite Part about winter? Snow.....!

20. Who do you want to kiss under the mistletoe? Lydia!!!!!!!

Baked Low-carb Green Chili & Cream Cheese Poppers

This is my favorite snack and appetizer!

Ingredients:

6 low-carb tortillas 

1 cream cheese block

2 cans chopped green chilies 

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350°. Melt cream cheese in bowl. Mix in green chilies. Cut tortillas into 1/4s, and stuff in 24 cupcake pan. Spoon mixure into each tortilla cup. Place in oven until tortillas are crispy brown.

Let cool and serve!

App Review: Office Lens

Sometimes I come across awesome smartphone apps that make my life easier. This is one of them!

For a few years, I’ve been scanning my kids’ artwork and homework to the computer for digital backup. It was a pain. And it took forever. I knew there had to be an easier way, but didn't know what it might be.

One day, a friend showed me an free app by Microsoft called Office Lens. It allows you to take pictures and automatically re-sizes the image. Even when you capture a document at an angle, it’ll adjust it by cropping it correctly.. It also enhances and makes pictures of whiteboards and documents readable. Office Lens can convert images to editable Word and PowerPoint files too.

It’s one of the handiest tools on my phone. I use it at work to scan documents to my camera roll, and save those important whiteboard meeting notes before they are wiped away.

I highly recommend it!

~Matt

Christmas Music On-Air

First off... Well, here I am again. I know it seems that I have ignored this blog, when in actuality, I just haven’t posted my thoughts that I’ve written. There are many things that I have started but not completed. Hopefully, I can get them completed and posted soon.

Of course, this the last month of the year has started, and we’re in the holidays. Thanksgiving has just passed and I’m in the Christmas mood. We’ve recently been playing all Christmas music on both stations, and I’m really enjoying it. I’m not ashamed to admit it, and close friends and family know it… I’m a big Christmas nut!

If you tune in to KWFC radio during my show in the afternoons, hopefully you can hear the joy in my voice as I share this musical treat for the season. I believe we have a fantastic variety by our Southern Gospel artists. You’ll hear favorite tunes, both secular and traditions. But the best part is that we have some songs unique to our genre that you won’t hear anywhere else. Those are the real treats!!

Yes, we’ve received a few complaints that it’s ALL Christmas. And I guess I can understand. Thankfully, there are many, many more that appreciate the seasonal music on-air. I believe we have the best reason to celebrate… it’s the Gospel from the beginning: Jesus’ birth!

~Matt

PS   Besides listening through the free app, you can tune in online at http://kwfc.org

Why Southern Gospel Won't Die...

For over 15 years, I’ve been hearing that once the “older generation” passes on, there will be no more support for Southern Gospel Music. However, we have seen that as people get older, they gravitate to our genre. Why does this music continually gain listeners 45+ old? It’s a puzzling question that critics of the genre wrestle with every year. There are many published articles, blog posts, and even books that make statements that Southern Gospel’s end is near.

It’s something that I don’t understand either. If the posts I read when I was in college were true, my favorite music wouldn't be airing right now. But working at the largest SG Radio station in the midwest, I have found that we actually grow as people get older. Even as the genre’s style expands, the listeners do as well.

Recently, I stumbled across this this quote by a Southern Gospel fan:

Well, most of the reason I gravitate toward gospel is that I am a proud follower of Jesus Christ...and as such, believe in spreading His Word in the best way possible....and music is a wonderful way to spread any message.

But more than that, I'm getting older...and more and more, I cherish the values that hold families and societies together...and I'm tired of mainstream media defying that, scoffing at it, or worst, shoving values I want no part of as a freedom loving person in my face, as though I HAD to accept them, or else I was...(gasp)...INTOLERANT!(the worst thing anyone can be in this age)

There you have it! Our “older generation” is very bold and a bit rebellious to the extent that they’re not going to be forced on what to think by others. They long for those truths that they can hold to.

Now, I’m not going to say that this IS THE EXACT REASON why Southern Gospel Music won’t be dying anytime soon. But it seems to be a very plausible answer that does define what’s happening in our genre.

~Matt

Fun Chocolate Facts!

Yesterday was National Chocolate Day. So in celebration, I did some research and found some fun facts. I even posted a few on social media. Enjoy:

• In preparation for making chocolate, cacao tree seeds must be fermented to develop the flavor we know and love since they have a very intense, bitter taste.

• Research has found that chocolate, when eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure.

• Nutella was invented during WWII. An Italian pastry maker mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his cocoa supply.

• Eating dark chocolate every day reduces the risk of heart disease by one-third.

• Chocolate has an anti-bacterial effect on the mouth and protects against tooth decay.

•American's love chocolate so much that Lay's sells potato chips dipped in milk chocolate...

• The smell of chocolate increases theta brain waves, which trigger relaxation.


And as a bonus:

• Someone has invented scented pills designed to make your gaseous emissions smell like chocolate... http://www.pilulepet.com/en/15-pilule-qui-parfume-les-flatulences.html

Living In Harmony

One of my new favorite Southern Gospel songs that we’re currently playing on KWFC radio is “Living In Harmony” by the Triumphant Quartet. It has a great message, and very enjoyable to sing along with as well. It has gotten me to thinking too.

As Christians, we’re to live in harmony with one another. There is a common melody, but we’re not to live totally in unison. We all have a part, in one accord. Our goal is to live in the will of God, being a reflection of His grace and mercy. We’re to share the Gospel… the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. He came to die that we might live. What greater news is that?

Christians may disagree on things, but that doesn’t mean we should fight over those little things. Each of us have a different view, but our common goal should be live for Christ on how we believe He would have us to. Don’t fret over others.

If we all lived our lives in God’s harmony, what greater good we’d do for Him!

~Matt