As we seek a
light unto our daily path, where is… God on The Way?
Mark
Larson: Everything sounds fine (and miraculous)
It’s
a typical weekday in San Diego, temperature in the 70s, clear blue skies with
maybe just a touch of cloud fluff in the distance — and somewhere an AM
radio can be heard tuned to the teasing, joking, gently sarcastic voice of Mark
Larson. After nearly 30 years on the local airwaves, this skinny, fresh-faced
kid from Rockford, Illinois has become a local fixture, as reliable as the
weather but a whole lot funnier.
In
the 80s, before many AM radio stations shifted to the “all-talk”
format (and still played a thing called music), Larson anchored the immensely
popular lineup of 760 KFMB. His afternoon “drive-time” show was a
rich blend of jokes, news, skits, songs, witty exchanges with everyone from the
news department to baseball players, and an uncanny imitation of President
Ronald Reagan that brought him national attention.
Last
August, Larson left the Christian radio stations KPRZ and KCBQ, and joined
“The Big One,” NewsRadio 600 KOGO. His noon to 3 p.m. show has
moved ahead with the times, but it remains the same solid entertainment that
has allowed Mark to accomplish something almost unheard of in radio —
stability.
“And
that’s not me,” said Larson recently. “That’s totally
God saying this is where I want you to be, in terms of the market, the
influence, the equity that’s been built up. It’s also evidenced by
things that have come up, things out of town, things I thought were going to go
— there was a thing in Los Angeles in the mid-90s, I’ve had three
opportunities to go to WGN [in Chicago]. The last one in the 90s was so close
we were like, okay, we’re going to go, and all of a sudden they said
we’re going to promote somebody from within. It’s just totally
like, God what are you doing here?”
God,
what are you doing here?
It
is a question Larson has asked more than once along his San Diego journey,
especially when things began to change at KFMB. The answer may have seemed a
little slow, but he agrees that a look back has shown God clearly at work
— if unseen at times.
“The
whole thing of going to KPRZ ...that was totally miraculous,” he recalls.
“In the last year at KFMB, there were a lot of changes and things were
getting crazy. I was going through the motions a lot, you know, you go out on
stage and do your thing [but it] was a real tough time and my prayer life got
sharpened. I have to go back to that time to remind myself how miraculous it
was, because every time you get into a new thing and you get on a roll
it’s very easy to go ‘Yeah! Here we go.’
“I
was much better at keeping a journal then, because I was just so miserable
— that ’93 through early ’94 — and it was interesting
because that was when my prayer life went from I would like this, this, this
and this — to if it’s your will — to whatever!”
God
had Christian radio in mind, and Larson found himself in the company of
executives from Salem Communications wherever he went. By the time it was clear
who to talk with, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to him when that very
person was seated next to him at a conference in Washington, D.C.
It
was clear that Salem wanted Larson and Mark was ready to give a new role
— management this time — a try. The problem was his contract status
with KFMB. By the time his contract would expire, the new position might not be
available.
“But
in March of ’94, the people at KFMB said, well, we’re not going to
renew your contract with us, so I’m thinking it’s the timing
— it’s like God, what are you doing here?
“So
I call up the headhunter at Salem and I said I don’t know what this does
to our talks, but I’m available earlier, and they said how quickly can
you start?
“And
it became so clear that all of the preparation was — there was humbling,
putting into different gears, all different things happening in the six months
prior — that made me ready, willing and able to see that it wasn’t
me, but it was a total God reminder of, Okay, don’t worry, I’ve
got the career in charge here and this is where it needs to go.”
There
are few things more unsettled than the entertainment industry, however, where
business decisions can change the face of an empire in the time it takes to say
“IPO.” With its public offering, and plans to become a
mega-communications concern, Salem Communications generated ripples in New York
that became storm surf by the time they reached San Diego. God had more plans
for Mark Larson. This time they would give him something all entertainers work
toward — more control.
With
a modified contract that allowed him to develop Mark Larson Incorporated,
Larson began building his own business of consulting, speaking and even managing
an extensive national speaker’s bureau.
“It was very evident that it wasn’t just me, it
wasn’t coincidence, it was God kind of planning it all out for me,”
he says. “I thought — okay, to be sane I’ve got to really
grow what I’ve already started growing. It’s like God was saying
nice idea, but you need to speed that up. So you need to start working on
that.”
God,
what are you doing here?
When the change to 600 KOGO came in August, Larson found
he’d been almost rediscovered by an adoring audience.
“I
found out the minute I moved to KOGO,” he says with a chuckle, “I
had Christians coming out of the woodwork. I had people who were like
‘Gee, it’s good to have you back on the radio since KFMB.’
And the same thing for when they announced I was going over to KOGO, I got more
e-mails from people inside Clear Channel, who happen to be Christians, saying
‘welcome, good to have another one here.’
“The
ironic thing is, I think that I’ve got a much better platform now to be a
Christian than I had in Christian radio. It’s a very interactive audience
and yet what I like more — I’m reaching the core, I’m
preaching to choir — but in the meantime a lot of people say I
don’t agree with you on anything, but I sure love listening to your show;
but I sure like you. Which tells me I’ve got a better chance to persuade
them to our side on issues, and I have a lot of people who say ‘I love
the way you work your faith into it.’ I don’t’ do that
overtly, but I do what I did at KFMB, which is if you talk about living your
life and you talk about your family you talk about ...”
And somewhere that distinctive voice is still talking, and
everything sounds fine because Mark Larson has learned — and continues to
learn — we all find out what God is doing here!?
when the time is right.
Mark Larson can be contacted at his web site,
www.marklarson.com, or via the KOGO web site at www.kogo.com. “God on The
Way” is an ongoing series that looks at how the Lord influences the daily
lives of busy leaders in our community. Is there someone you would like to hear
from? Let us hear from you. Submit your ideas via the Good
News Etc. web site at www.goodnewsetc.com, or contact Stu Smith at
tamariskmedia@cox.net. We’ll do what we can to include your suggestions
in the future.