Dear Friend,
From time to time, when people ask how Truth For Life began, I tell them that it was in response to the initiative of others and the prayers of the Parkside elders.
Our early days on Moody Radio happened because Bob Butts, now our chief operating officer, pestered Joe Stowell, then president of Moody Bible Institute, and convinced him that broadcasting our teaching was a good idea!
Large reel-to-reel audio tapes were sent from Parkside to Bob in Chicago for editing and then distributed to Moody, who aired the program on three stations on the weekends.
It is fair to say that the vision was Bob’s, and the voice is mine.
We began a daily broadcast in response to the initiative of Ed Atsinger at Salem Radio Network. He apparently asked John MacArthur to suggest a name to add to Salem’s speakers list, and surprisingly, mine was given. It was a happy providence that Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie became chaplain of the US Senate in 1995 and, in doing so, gave up his daily broadcast at 8:05 a.m. on KKLA in California. His slot was given to us, and suddenly, we were airing the program across the country.
Without the prayerful support of Parkside, along with that of Roland Hinz, Rich Riddle, and others, we would never have flourished. They were among a group of well-meaning people who offered advice about the structure and content of the program to help us become distinctive. Our response was to seek to teach the Bible clearly and to trust God to do His work through His Word. No one had any inkling of where we find ourselves today. Digital technology and social media have created a global reach which is as humbling as it is encouraging.
2025 is for me a hugely significant year. Susan and I will celebrate our fiftieth anniversary, which coincides with fifty years in pastoral ministry since the late Derek J. Prime took me under his wing. It will also mark the end of my role at Parkside Church after serving here for forty-two years.
Relinquishing my Sunday-by-Sunday pulpit ministry will allow me to serve alongside the team at Truth For Life in a larger capacity. We are very excited as we prayerfully anticipate what this will mean. Our core purpose remains, and I desire to play a bigger part in teaching the Bible with clarity and relevance so that unbelievers will be converted, believers will be established, and local churches will be strengthened.
There is so much more to this story and so many people who continue to fulfill vital roles as we look to the future. Together, along with you, we plant and water and watch as God makes things grow. As Paul encouraged the Galatians: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
With my love in the Lord Jesus,
Alistair
