Every Christmas for the last several years I’ve thrown a few coins into the Salvation Army bucket down the street at Hillcrest Food Market. But not this year. Nope. They’ve changed their bell ringer. The guy standing outside the store ringing the bell is different this season, and I’m upset!

Ludicrous, isn’t it? Obviously, no one would stop donating to the Salvation Army because Fred replaced Ted at the bucket. That’s because…

This week’s Frost Advisory is a departure from my regular thoughts on how to make your radio station really snazzy and neato. Instead I’d like to take this moment during Thanksgiving week to encourage you in the important work you’re doing at your station.

I’m told that the word ‘encouragement’ means literally to pour courage into. This word appears over 100 times in the New Testament. In fact, Acts 9:31 describes the Holy Spirit as an Encourager.

I’m blessed to work with many of the brightest folks in our format. Some are Ph.D. level, and some are just sticking their head out of the egg. But they have one thing in common. They are all THINKERS.

Always thinking. Always imaging things better. Never accepting “we’ve always done it that way” as the best we can do.

My talented friend Lisa Barry shared with me a lesson she learned from a lady who does sign language in church.

“In order to ‘sign’ a song about Passover, she has to start with Jerusalem, so she signs that first even though it’s not in the song yet. THEN, she signs Jesus, which is her index finger sweeping across in front of her. So the song makes sense with Jesus walking into Jerusalem. Even though in the song Jerusalem comes second.

With sign language you have to start with the ‘what’ because otherwise, there’s no context to what you’re about to say. You start with the ‘what’ and then you can give them the ‘who’ and ‘what’s happening’.”

This morning in church I heard a very compelling message about that church’s commitment to missions in Africa.

Afterward I turned to my daughter and said, “That’s one of the best messages I’ve ever heard him preach.” She replied, “That’s because missions are his passion.”

Mic drop.

Maybe you’ve figured me out. Perhaps you’ve noticed that many of my 739 Frost Advisories have centered on what is relevant in the headlines. Christmas, New Years, Mothers Day, the Super Bowl and the World Series have all been reference points for many of these missives over the last 14.2 years.

There is no larger common ground than RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. (Also the reason why ANYTIME/ANYWHERE radio falls short).

So, if the election season is the current reference point I figured I better write about it before November 5th election day.

I’m often in discussions with PDs about freshening the sound, changing things up or being less predictable. These can be productive conversations, but if you don’t know the guardrails you can end up in a programming ditch subjectively running FROM things rather than running TO things.

Conversations about “changing things up” often end up replacing something familiar and popular with something that is neither familiar nor popular. Not good.

In the last couple of weeks Hurricanes Helene and Milton have upended lives and property in the southeast USA. Having lived in the Sunshine State for over three decades I know how Floridians can transform into amateur meteorologists binge watching The Weather Channel. It’s never a good thing when you see Jim Cantore standing in your front yard.

We can learn a lot from The Weather Channel…

Believe it or not we’re just a few weeks from radio stations flipping their programming upside down by playing some amount of Christmas music. The logical thinkers dip their proverbial toe into Christmas music like thoughtful grown-ups. Others jump in whole-heartedly like adolescents into a frigid lake.

Christmas music programming. Is it good or bad? Right or wrong? Harmony in the hallways?

The West Wing. It’s my favorite TV show ever. (Unless you consider Seinfeld, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, or The Beverly Hillbillies return to Hooterville).

They’ve just celebrated the 25th anniversary of The West Wing at the West Wing. The 25 best episodes, rated from Great to Perfect.