08/23/2026
Gladly Stand Up!
Posted on August 19
In 1977, the radio station WLWI was bought by the Colonial Broadcasting Company and went on the air. I was invited to offer a devotional as the first words to come from the new WLWI. It came at 6:00 am, which is considered the beginning of the day in radio land. I have continued a devotional on WLWI every weekday morning since 1977!
I would record a week’s messages each Thursday morning at the radio station, which also housed several other stations. After recording the messages, I had an opportunity to do a short on the air visit every Thursday with the program hosts (known as DJs in my day) of stations including Sports Talk, WLWI, the Easy Listening 103 station, and the Classic Rock station. I enjoyed doing those.
WLWI sponsored a lot of high visibility events in Montgomery. They always had some of the leading radio personalities in the state. Don Dan, Dr. Sam, and others gave me a lot of special opportunities.
They sponsored a concert by Lee Greenwood. He had just released his popular song, “God Bless the USA.” They had a sell-out crowd in the Civic Center. Dr. Sam told me that Lee Greenwood contacted him and wanted to get some exercise before the concert and that he was a good racket ball player. He wanted Dr. Sam to set him up with somebody to play racket ball.
Dr. Sam responded to him and said that he had somebody available who was a Methodist preacher and was on the station each morning. He said that Greenwood responded that he expected to have some better competition because he wanted to have a good workout and didn’t want to just waste time. Dr. Sam told him that he thought he would get a pretty good workout and if he wanted, would be glad to put some money on the match. Greenwood didn’t take him up on that, but said we would play.
I enjoyed playing with him at the Montgomery Athletic Club. He wasn’t as good a racket ball player as he was a singer and songwriter, but we had a good time. He came back a couple of years later and requested a rematch. The result was about the same. He did send me a lot of nice records, tapes, and songs that he had. I really enjoyed meeting him. He was super nice!
Today, I think his song is needed as much as ever before. Our nation has drifted away from where we started 250 years ago. We are “letting the world squeeze us into its mold instead of transforming the world into God’s mold.” (Romans 12:2) We need to stand up for the Godly principles on which our nation was founded.
Let me remind you of Lee Greenwood’s message: We don’t need to just sing it but live it. He sings,
“I thank my lucky stars to be living here today, ‘cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.
I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.
I will gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today, cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA.”
God has blessed the USA—now we need to bless God by having the courage to stand up for what our early forefathers stood up for. They were willing to give their lives. Freedom isn’t free.
I will gladly stand up next to you—will you join me?
