Questions and answers on the Bible can be made both interesting and highly profitable over the radio. And free time can be secured by this method of answering Bible questions, whereas lecture-program time generally comes high. The full time of the period is devoted to answering questions; no prayer is offered, and no music is used.
On the local station here, I have been allotted thirty minutes for each program. The first night I spoke for ten minutes on the Bible's being a book that can answer all questions.
Then I suggested that any listeners send in questions, and that inasmuch as some would like to have questions answered that are in the minds of many these days, I would mention several, saying they could send in these if they did not have others. I suggested the following inquiries: "How did we come into existence?" "Where do we go after this life?" "Is the future to be real, and will we have bodies then?" "Will there be government, citizenship, and family life in the new earth, and what occupations will be followed there?" "Will there be another world?" "Who will be the ruler in the new world, and who will make its laws?"
As soon as arrangements for the broadcast were completed, I sent postcards to Seventh-day Adventists in different parts of the State, inviting them to listen in and send questions, and to have their neighbors do the same. So much mail was received, and from such a diversified area, that a favorable impression was made, enabling me to stay on this program for sixteen months.*
After a time when a real interest was manifest, I sometimes invited Roman Catholics, Methodists, and others to send in questions touching upon some point of belief, signing the card or letter, "I am a Roman Catholic for other faith], and desire an answer to this question." Encouraging guidance and suggestive questions made it possible to present the Sabbath, the law, baptism, the nature of man, etc., with great power.
I also sent out questions to the brethren and had them mail them to the station. I arranged the questions with sequence, and gave an entire half hour and sometimes several half hours to a subject. Thus I was able to present virtually the full message.
Every question was given careful and prayerful consideration before it was answered. A spirit of kindness and courtesy was manifest in each program. Never should antagonism be felt or allowed to appear in the presentation of our message over the radio.
When special requests came for prayer for the sick or troubled, I would offer a prayer as a part of the program. When questions on divorce or other personal problems were sent in, and I preferred not to answer them on the air, I would announce that in a day or two, a letter would be mailed that would bring the answer direct to the one who sent in the question. Thus I avoided dealing with personal matters while speaking to the whole radio audience.
A woman came from Canada to Spokane to be baptized, who had learned the message (every point except the Spirit of prophecy) from the question-and-answer program. She was a one-hundred-per-cent radio convert, as she had not contacted another Adventist or heard any other of our preachers speak. I baptized her, and she is now a member of the conference church in the region in which she lives.
Several times while carrying on this broadcast, I conducted meetings. I announced the lecture over the air and the place of meeting, and spoke to large crowds throughout the series. I find this to be profitable advertising. The people desire to see the man they have listened to over the radio.
The radio is an effective means of winning souls. Untold possibilities lie before us in its use.
* Since the foregoing article was written, the following item appeared in the North Pacific Union Gleaner:
Elder A. D. Bohn has been invited to resume his Bible questions-and-answers program over radio station KGA. Spokane. The time is 11 :45 to 12 noon each Sunday. Inasmuch as Elder Bohn speaks as a station feature, the time is free, and the response by mail will determine the continuation of the program. If you can get the program, write in and express your interest. Have your neighbors listen and send questions on the Bible or history connected with the Bible, and also personal problems on which help is desired. Send a question as soon as you read this article. to "Questions and Answers," KGA, Spokane, Washington.
