We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary this week at Joni and Friends Radio! Has our radio program blessed you over the years? Tell us how at joniradio.org.
Hey, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and it’s a really, really big celebration week!
Okay, the first week in May, this week, marks the 40th anniversary of this radio program. Woo hoo! All the way back to 1982, even before I got married, I started doing this radio program, and my very first program aired the first week of May. Never, ever, ever did I dream that after 40 years, God would still have me parking my wheelchair in front of this microphone to open up my heart to you, as well as to open up the word of God. And so, in celebration of the faithfulness of God all these many decades, this week I want to air a few snippets from, oh, I don’t know, Joni and Friends radio programs from years past. And this first one is from the really early days! And you’re going to tell because I sound like, oh, I don’t know, like a kid, like, back then I was only in my 30s. In fact, at the time I originally recorded this, I had only been in my wheelchair for 15 years. Compare that to 55 years now. So, let’s go back to 1982, when I first began to share with you God’s heart for people with disabilities like mine. Listen in…
I want to tell you about a friend of mine today. His name is Philip. Each week he goes to Sunday School and Worship Service, and Philip and I always make time to greet one another afterwards. His smile really brightens my day, and his encouragements, well, they’re always deeply appreciated. But Philip is not like most of the other young men that go to our church. You see, he has cerebral palsy, and his bright and his very beautiful mind is encased in a body that just doesn’t work right. He’s confined to a wheelchair. Philip can’t move. And he also can’t talk – he has to communicate with a word board, but he adds so much to the life of our church. And like other physically handicapped young people in our congregation, Phil has a special place in its community 1ife -- and so do I. Since I was injured in a diving accident, I've been paralyzed from the shoulders down and the believers at Grace Community Church have been very supportive. That support shows a rea1 good attitude toward people with disabilities, but it always hasn’t been that way in our country and around the world.
Did you know that the Greeks and the Romans had the authority to destroy their physically imperfect children immediately after birth? Good grief, if Philip had lived during that era, he would have never made it to his first birthday.
But if Philip had been around during Jesus’ day, it would have been a different story. Because, you see, with the coming of Christ came the dawn of a whole new attitude toward people with handicaps. Jesus healed those who were blind and deaf and physically impaired. And there were probably many who were suffering from Philip's very condition, cerebral palsy, who would have felt the healing touch of Christ.
Whoa, who was that kid speaking?! Yep, it was me 40 years ago at the age of 32. And you can tell this was recorded a long time ago because I talk about our attitudes toward people with handicaps. I guess over the years, even my terminology on things has changed. But one thing from this early radio message has not changed: with the coming of Christ came the dawn of a whole new attitude toward people who suffer afflictions. And I hope that, over the years, you’ve sensed the love of Christ in your own afflictions. And if my radio program has helped you trust the Lord Jesus in your hardships? I would love to hear about it. So celebrate this special anniversary with me! Send me a message at Joniradio.org or on my Facebook page – just search Joni Eareckson Tada. Tell me your story, or offer my radio team words of congratulations. It’s our anniversary here, and we sure would love to hear from you today at Joniradio.org or on my Facebook page.
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