Growing up—and in Faith—with Moody Radio

One of Paul Schwartz’s earliest memories is marching around the kitchen table at the behest of Moody Radio WCRF announcer Bob Devine.

For decades, Uncle Bob—as he was also known—was a beloved morning show host and children’s program producer at Moody Radio’s Cleveland station. His “breakfast march” encouraged families to start their day with energy and joy.

“It felt like he was part of the family,” Paul says. “His children’s show Nature Corner was also a favorite. We didn’t have a television, so we would listen to those shows all the time. There were five of us kids, and we just grew up on it.”

When Paul was a child, his parents were regular churchgoers, but they had never really heard the gospel story or responded to it. But, as Paul puts it, “When they got saved, they got saved! They wanted discipleship, and they found a new church. They really got into the Evangelism Explosion training, and we kids were their guinea pigs. They’d ask us all those questions like, ‘If you were to die tonight, why would God let you into Heaven?’”

Someone told Paul’s parents about Moody Radio, and soon “It was on literally 12 hours a day!” Paul says. “We knew what time of day it was by what program was playing. I remember we would get off the bus, and we would beeline it to the house to be able to hear Nature Corner and then The Sugar Creek Gang.”

Struggling with his salvation

As Paul grew up, he loved the Bible-based teaching on Moody Radio, but another area of his life was giving him some mixed messages. Some of his church’s teachings seemed to say that salvation was a “merit” system, a list of do’s and don’ts that you had to maintain to really be saved. Instead of sensing the peace of Christ, Paul felt a lot of fear.

Through his teen years and into his 20s, Paul says, “I would say a salvation prayer, then I’d think, Oh, did I really mean it? I struggled because I had zero confidence. I felt like I was on a scale. One day I was doing good, and the next day I was doing bad.”

Dr. Erwin Lutzer, senior pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago for four decades and now a featured speaker on Moody Radio’s Running to Win and Songs in the Night programs, says, “Many Christians do struggle with assurance of salvation and for the reason that Paul Schwartz indicated. If you are taught that you have to keep your salvation updated by your obedience or good works, you will never have assurance of salvation and the belief that He paid it all.

“Assurance comes not by looking within ourselves but looking outside of ourselves to the promises of Christ and the promise that having trusted Him, we are His sheep. As the book of John says in chapter 10, no one can pluck us out of His hands.”

‘Jesus is not a crutch; He’s a stretcher!’

Paul remembers crying himself to sleep at night, fearing that he could not earn or deserve God’s salvation. One day in his early 20s, that changed while he was tuned in to one of Dr. Lutzer’s programs on Moody Radio.

“He was doing a series on Martin Luther and the book of Galatians,” Paul says. “I resonated with Martin Luther, how he would say he would try to ‘scrub his heart clean,’ and how he would go to God all the time, constantly asking for forgiveness. As Dr. Lutzer was preaching through that series, he said, ‘Jesus is not a crutch; He’s a stretcher! He’s going to carry you all the way to heaven, and He’s the only one who’s qualified!’”

“All of a sudden, the Holy Spirit of God opened my eyes. That imagery of casting it all on Christ to carry me all the way there, that was amazing! I had been basically slapping Jesus in the face, saying that His payment was not enough. I repented of my pride, of thinking that I must do or earn or keep trying. I totally threw that away, and I placed my trust in Christ alone.”

Dr. Lutzer says placing our faith in only Christ and His sacrifice on the cross to save us from our sins is the key. “One of the indications that we are trusting Christ alone is when we realize that there can be no other way to be accepted by God except through Christ,” he says. “He alone has the qualifications to be our Savior, being both God and man, doing miracles to prove it, and being raised from the dead.”

Paul says after hearing Dr. Lutzer’s message that evening, he no longer worried whether he was saved. “I know one day if God asks, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ that I'm going to say, ‘Because of what Jesus did!’ That night, I had peace because I had confidence and no longer rested on myself anymore. It was totally on Christ!”

Continuing to lean on Moody Radio

Now married with four children and two grandchildren, Moody Radio is still Paul’s go-to choice for Christian music and teaching. “I love Karl and Crew in the mornings,” Paul says. “I was listening one day when Karl was giving his testimony, and wow! I love his excitement and enthusiasm.”

Quoting one of Moody Radio’s Share fundraising themes, Paul says, “You know, the gospel changes everything. You can hear Karl’s passion and what God has saved him from. You can’t deny it. His passion just pulls people in. It’s so exciting, just lifting up and magnifying the Lord Jesus!”

Planting seeds one radio program at a time

A long-time construction business owner, Paul often plays Moody Radio on the job site. In fact, he refers to it as “one of the tools in my toolbox.” Paul explains, “I remember one remodeling job we were doing for a couple. We were listening to Moody Radio, and they would come over and ask questions like, ‘Do you really believe that stuff?’

“Some of their questions were kind of snarky, but they softened over time and weren’t quite as sarcastic. We finished the job, and they called us a couple of months later and said, ‘Hey, we’re having a picnic. We want to show you the house. It's all done.’”

Paul works with his twin brother, and the two men went to the couple’s house for the picnic. When the brothers arrived, “They said to us, ‘We’ve got some really important news to share with you guys. We came to know Christ because of what we heard on your radio.’”

Paul thanked God for using his willingness to listen to Moody Radio on the worksite as a tool to lead two of his customers to faith in Jesus.

“Whatever their attitude was, the Holy Spirit of God used the Word of God through the preaching and the teaching on Moody, and it convicted them,” Paul says. “They both placed their trust in Christ. That was pretty exciting!”

Dr. Lutzer believes the couple’s story is not uncommon. “Christian radio has a greater impact than we realize,” he says. “For every story of blessing or conversion, there are probably at least 100 that we never hear about. [Radio] goes where we cannot go and speaks to thousands of people we will never meet, except of course in glory.”

‘Moody Radio is very dear to me’

Paul’s heart goes out to the younger generation who, like his remodeling clients, are asking their own version of the question, “Do you really believe that stuff?”

“You see the lives of a lot of young people that are being indoctrinated, buying into lies. I’ve got young men who work for me, and they want to know what truth is. They don't want to be deceived. They want to have hope.”

Paul loves to share both the hope and the truth he’s found through the music and the message of Moody Radio. “When I listen, I am receiving something so profound. I would say Moody Bible Institute and people like John MacArthur, Erwin Lutzer, JD Greer—men like that—have been discipling me along the way. Moody Radio is very dear to me.”