Bible Text: Joshua 24:24 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living |
And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.” Joshua 24:24
Fifty-two years ago this week the first Guidelines radio commentary was broadcast. Now some 13,000-plus radio commentaries later, we’re essentially doing the same thing, yet we’re doing a great deal more. Today on Guidelines my wife Darlene joins me, along with our daughter, Bonnie Sala Craddick, who’s serving as chief executive officer. So we’re just going to look back and reminisce for a few minutes, and also try to share with you some of the things that God is doing right now.
Bonnie Craddick: Thanks, Dad. It’s great to be here today! You know the Guidelines ministry is even more global today than it ever has been because of our ability to use technology. And, Mom, you minister to women now all over the world. God has really been blessing Guidelines ministry opportunities for women and I wanted to ask you, “What do you see as a woman’s greatest need today?”
Darlene Sala: Bonnie, I think the greatest need is for women to have an intimate relationship with the Lord. This is the time when relationships are falling apart—homes, marriages and so forth—and women’s hearts are hungry and needy.
BC: That’s very true, Mom. How does that differ though for a woman as opposed to a man? We do all need a relationship with God. What does that specially mean in the life of a woman?
DS: Well, for women they get their sense of self-esteem—we all get our sense of self-esteem—mostly from our relationships.
HS: You know, most people who listen to Guidelines simply assume that we just do a five-minute commentary. But that’s kind of the tip of the iceberg. And now, Bonnie, your development of outreach, of Christian radio in areas of the world we have none! Take a minute and tell our friends a little bit about our Legacy Project.
BC: Well, we’re very excited about our Legacy Project because this is in essence the heart of Guidelines’ mission. Our Legacy Project exists to plant community-based radio stations in areas of the world where no Christian voice exist at all. In many places around the world, we just assume that everyone has access to all types of media and the Internet, but, of course, that’s not true. And in many areas of the world, there’s actually no Christian voice at all. So we have a broadcast partner in one particular area of the world we’re working in. We identify a community partner who’s an evangelical group working in the community to provide health or educational services. And we put together a consortium of pastors who are able to provide programming that is written by the people in the community for the people in the community. It’s the Word of God in its most highly contextualized form. So we’re very excited about the privilege to get to help plant these tiny radio stations in areas where they’re very needed. And you know, Dad, I wanted to ask you, “Speaking of the world, we feel a ground swell happening. Many Christians feel that things are really changing around us and it’s unnerving that we can’t embrace cultural norms in our own community. You’ve broadcast truth from the Word of God for over a half century. What hope do you hold out for Guidelines’ listeners?”
HS: Bonnie, in the last 30 seconds I’ll try to make it very plain. Today we are confronted with a choice. Do we interpret our culture in light of God’s unchanging Word, the Bible? Or, rather, do we interpret God’s Word in light of a changing culture? How you come down on that issue is tremendously important. His Word is forever settled in heaven. It never, ever changes! I also believe the closer we are to the Lord’s return, the greater will be the disparity between those who live godly in Christ Jesus and the rest of our culture.
Resource reading: Joshua 24:14-28
