He served as mayor of his hometown, the U.S. city of Knoxville, from 2003 to 2011. Knoxville—probably best-known as home to the University of Tennessee and the 1982 World’s Fair, and a gateway city to the Great Smoky Mountains– is part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. After his time as mayor, Bill Haslam became governor of the state, serving from 2011 to 2019.
Since leaving office, Governor Haslam has written a book titled Faithful Presence: The Promise and Peril of Faith in the Public Square. In the book, he writes of how his Christian faith influenced his decisions as Tennessee’s chief executive. He sat down with Paul Ladd for a conversation. And you can hear it on five consecutive Tuesdays, July 6, 13, 20, and 27.
The Pacific Rim and Southwest Asia
The Pacific Rim, the Indian subcontinent and southwest Asia provide the reasons Your New Life Station broadcasts the International English Hour. The Pacific Rim is that part of the Eastern Hemisphere that encompasses English-prevalent countries the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand. Additionally—English is widely spoken in Indonesia. And English is the official language of government and commerce in the southwest Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In Japan and in countries of the Middle East, many speak English as a second language.
Your New Life Station’s broadcast schedule makes use of Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), a 24-hour system also known as Greenwich Mean Time. Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behind UTC; Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind. When some parts of the world switch to daylight saving time for the warm weather months, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is four hours behind UTC, and Central Daylight Time (CDT) is five hours behind. Outside the U.S.—most locations are on standard time all year rather than daylight time. Karachi is five hours ahead of UTC. Mumbai and New Delhi are five-and-a-half hours ahead. Manila, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur are eight hours ahead. And Tokyo is nine hours ahead of UTC.
You can use our listener website www.knls.org to hear the English Hour if you have internet access. You can also access the broadcast through the KNLS app on your mobile device or through Google or Safari. If you listen via shortwave radio, you can access knls.org to get our broadcast frequencies or you can write us and request a schedule.
The English Hour is the Asian continent’s source for the music of our time and the message of all time. We work to provide a geographical balance in the topics we feature as we take you from “Alaska to Asia to Africa to America.” Our Eye on the World stories often show the interdependence of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Since our target audience is mostly non-Christians, our content is different from a typical Christian format station in America. While we provide our share of positive, uplifting content, some of our programming also provides an honest look at the dark side of life on Earth. Indeed, some program segments and music selections may raise questions that a thoughtful truth seeker will ask. And other segments, such as the Bible or Christian lifestyle lessons, serve to answer those questions.
Music to Love
Music is a universal language. Probably 80 per cent of the world’s pop tunes are sung in English, and are enjoyed by people everywhere, many who are themselves not proficient in English. The English hour features your favorite songs from today’s best music. International pop charts show that your favorite music is also the favorite of people who are culturally diverse—whether in Nairobi, Sydney, Singapore, or Jakarta.
The songs are pop, rock, r & b, and occasional hip-hop and country music that crosses over to the pop charts. The English Hour generally features music by artists from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. But music artists from all over the world, including European deejays, have found their names on or near the top of international pop charts.
In July, you’ll hear new music from Ariana Grande, Ben Platt, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons, Parmalee & Blanco Brown, Calvin Harris, Tom Grennan, and Pink–along with Galantis, David Guetta, & Little Mix–and Martin Garrix, Bono & the Edge.
News to Know
The English hour features reporting about topics of current interest. Marcy Bryan reports about entertainment, business, and news about religion and social issues. Kelly Ann Monahan has the latest developments in medicine, science, and computer technology. Paul Ladd provides special reports about diverse topics, religious and secular. Larry Souder interviews interesting people, sometimes in front of a live audience, on Souder & Friends. Doug Poling provides commentary on the news from a Christian perspective on Today’s News & the Good News. And Adam Holtz, Jonathan McKee and Kristin Smith of Focus on the Family provide Plugged-in reviews of the latest movies, music, and computer games. In July, they’ll continue to rate, for family friendliness, the numerous movies featured in theatres and on streaming services—as well as TV show and current charted music.
Upcoming Reports for July 2021:
- Researchers are developing antibiotics to kill disease bacteria that have become resistant to conventional antibiotics. Kelly Ann Monahan provides a report.
- Kelly Ann also supplies reports about the link between Covid and blood clots, the possibility of life on a moon of Jupiter, the real source of the Northern Lights, and about the Southern Ocean (Antarctic waters now recognized as a separate ocean by National Geographic.)
- This scientist didn’t believe in God. Then he read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Patrick Mead sits down for a conversation with Larry Souder on Souder & Friends. The interview runs on consecutive Thursdays—July 1, 8, 15, and 22.
- Religious attitudes in the U.S. have changed rapidly in a short period of time. And the attitudes represent a generational divide. Marcy Bryan reports.
- Eurovision is back after the year of the pandemic. Marcy reports about that, too.
- And Marcy reports about the numerous companies that have been bought by Amazon. Its purchase of MGM may leave you shaken, if not stirred.
A Message to Live
This is what we’re about and why we’re on the air and on the internet. Our mission is to present the lessons of the Bible, including and emphasizing the Good News in an interesting, non-threatening way.
Ongoing Series:
- All God’s Giants with Larry Souder
- Andy Baker’s Prayer Lesson
- Author’s Journal with Wesley Paine
- Believer’s Hall of Faith with Bill Young
- Creation Moments with Paul Taylor
- Certain Hope with Paul Ladd & Gary Holloway
- Eye on Religion—Bible archaeology emphasis with Marcy Bryan
- Family Minute with Brit & Kate Ryan
- First Person with Paul Ladd
- God’s Money with Don White
- Groundwire with Sean Dunn
- Hope in Conflict with Larry Souder
- Jim Daly commentary
- Joy of Peacemaking with Larry Souder
- Journeys in Faith with Larry Souder
- Life Stories with Joe Norris
- Profiles of the New Testament with Bob Borquez
- Profiles of the Old Testament with Royce Kessler
- Questions that Deserve Answers with Larry Souder
- Refiner’s Fire with Paul Ladd
- The Big Picture with Steve Diggs
- The God Who Makes Himself Known with Bill Young
- The Good Book with Greg Taylor
- The Journey with Greg Taylor
- Today’s News & the Good News with Doug Poling
- True Stories of the Bible with Bill Steensland
- Unforgettable Conversations with Larry Souder
