The Lord Said, “No, one Program.”

Back in the days when I first represented my (then) local church as a messenger of the gospel in the community, little did I know that it was also God’s intention to use those experiences as a training ground for a forthcoming radio broadcasting ministry.  I had been on the streets for nearly eighteen months when one evening I was asked to attend a public meeting, being held for the purposes of setting up a community radio station. 

FM licences were about to be granted by the Government across the country at the time and it was believed by the leading aspirants at the meeting, that they would be successful in their application if an on-going commitment could be demonstrated.

The meeting finished on a positive note, with the wheels being put in motion that they would move forward and position themselves in readiness to becoming worthy recipients, come the day those licences were released.  After that meeting, it was decided by our people that we too, would position ourselves as a church in readiness to present a weekly one hour gospel program once the station was set up ready to broadcast.  Some discussion took place from time to time as to what and how we could prepare ourselves for a program presentation, but no discussion as to who would be the on-air presenter.

On regular occasions during our Sunday evening services I would give the church a verbal report of what God was doing among the people I was ministering to out in the community.  After one of those reports, the pastor and the sound man came to me and said they had found the gospel presenter for the forth-coming radio station – me!  Apparently, my voice on tape sounded good for radio.  Back before I became a Christian, I had worked in the music business and had been around commercial radio stations as part of my job, but I had never given much thought to the possibility of myself as a broadcaster.

Not only did God use those streets as my training ground, but He was later to include the aspirant station itself for the same thing.  That is, because the whole organization was reliant upon voluntary community members for it’s day to day operations and future success, I involved myself after hours in a practical sense whenever I could.  This included the need to be thoroughly trained with all aspects of on-air presentation, but also with the aims, objectives and procedures needed, i.e. codes of practice, station & program policy, obligations and responsibilities.  Then God used me to train others in these areas.

In our early beginnings before the station had a permanent licence, temporary licences were issued allowing us to do a series of test broadcasts.  This was to prepare us for the real thing.  We undertook to broadcasting from 6 AM to 12 midnight for one week, three or four times a year – availing us the opportunity to practice and perfect our skills, then study what worked and what didn’t etc, when it was all over.  I decided to format our first program to include a series of short gospel readings & teaching, followed by a song or hymn, then a pre-recorded 5-minute testimony from a church member, another song etc.

In the first few hours of becoming involved in the radio ministry, I felt the practical reality, revelations and power of the Lord Jesus Christ in mighty ways, in exactly the same manner as I did out on those streets ministering to people and they have never left me.  It was relatively easy to find material for three or four one-hour radio programs a year during those test broadcasts, but well do I remember the day we went to air full time.  I sat down in great turmoil at home and said, “Oh Lord. Fifty-two programs!”  The Lord said, “No, one program.”

In other words, God would not allow me to think in terms of having to come up with a year of programs in advance, but simply trust Him to provide this week’s program.  He made His promise in Matthew 6:34 come alive for me that day.  He has tested me and allowed lots of trials since, but He has never failed to deliver the goods.  Later, when I made the decision to leave that church (see my post: Dramatic changes. Part 2) the program developed a new format which has not changed in the eighteen years I have been doing it.  On the streets I took lots of notes on what the people said and did, plus all the questions they asked me.

For example: they asked, How do you know Jesus Christ is God?  What is the Trinity of God?  What is sin?  Who is the Holy Spirit?  How do you know you have eternal life and are going to heaven?  Many church-goers look down on “heathens” because they don’t consider that such people have those sorts of questions in mind.  It is to their great loss.  If only they knew the blessings that this “redeemed heathen” receives when working with these people.  Apart from my first church experience, rarely have I witnessed a miracle taking place in a church gathering, but working with “heathens,” I witnessed one every day! 

Each program begins with the question, then approximately twenty-five minutes of spoken word are given over to a systematic, biblical answer, interspersed with two and three minute songs, which make up another twenty-five minutes or so.  It takes an hour to present the program, but it took about twenty hours to produce each one.  By the grace of God, three and a half years were committed to the project, giving me about 130 programs.  Today, they still get presented as they did back at the start, knowing that the audience is ever changing, but their questions never do. 

Yes, the programs are repeats, but they do not get treated that way.  Each one is bathed in prayer and the script is rehearsed every day. So by the time 8 AM Sunday comes, the Holy Spirit’s presence is well and truly upon it, the music and me, making the presentation as fresh as it was the first time.  Again, by His grace, the things of God are never taken for granted.  The day I decided to serve the Lord for the rest of my life, was also the day I knew that money was never going to come my way in abundance as it does for most people living in first-world countries. 

My wife and I agreed that sacrifices would be made.  In fact, if it were not for her sacrifice, there would have been no street or radio ministry.  Personally, I have doubts that there is such a thing as a one-man ministry in God’s eyes.  Another brother in the Lord told me he wanted to pay for all the music that I chose, which ran into hundreds of dollars.  Others supported by prayer and one day, I went out to check the mail box to find $100, given anonymously.  God also used a non-believer from the radio station to help.  The man had recently updated some of his personal broadcasting equipment and he offered me the older at a low price, enabling me to set up a studio at home.

God provided all the books and resources that I needed at affordable prices, all of which to this day continue to help clarify answers and explanations that people are seeking.  Just as I experience the presence of the Lord with me now as I write this post, no less so was it when I was making each program.  Often-times in writing the script, I knew which song to play that would suit that segment, but not always.  It was then that I would say, “Lord, what are we going play here?  The song needed here can’t go any longer than three minutes.”  Then, I would grab a record or cd, test the first chosen song and, it would be the perfect one needed, both in lyric content and length of time. 

Even today, a listener will ring to say they are, “amazed at how that song fitted perfectly with what you just said.”  Only God can come up with such perfection.  I could not manufacture that no matter how hard I tried and, it is always a great pleasure to tell the person this truth in my response.  In the natural, I have always had a deep love for music and radio, but in the supernatural, I marvel how God has taken that love and sanctified it for His purposes.  “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” 1 Timothy 4:16.