About
Sound of Truth Radio is a non-profit, low-power FM station located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Found on 92.1 FM and with the call sign WXPS (Cross-Preaching for Spartanburg), we endeavor, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Spartanburg and beyond. We are affiliated with and led by the non-denominational, Full Gospel Pentecostal church Truth Chapel World Evangelism Fellowship Church, located at 250 N. Church St. in Spartanburg, SC. Truth Chapel is also affiliated with Jimmy Swaggart Ministries through the World Evangelism Fellowship, and we proudly simulcast programs from JSM's Sonlife Broadcast Network while also airing our own original material.
Sound of Truth Radio was founded in 2015 and is 100% listener-supported. We do not sell air time, do not receive sponsorships, and are not financially backed by any major denomination or large ministry. We rely on the help of the Holy Spirit and the help of the listener to keep this work going. In addition to our FM station, we also broadcast over the Internet 24/7 and broadcast on our Roku channel, Vision of Truth.
Below is a brief summary of the history of Sound of Truth Radio. For a more complete history, you can purchase the book On the Air!: The Miracles that Started Sound of Truth Radio, WXPS FM 92.1 in Spartanburg, written by our late founder Scott Corbin and co-written by this station's co-founder and current administrator, Nikkie Corbin.
History
Scott Corbin, the founder of Sound of Truth Radio, got his start in radio at stations in Spartanburg, South Carolina, working part-time at WKDY 1400 AM and WSPA 950 AM as a young man in the early 1980s. By the 1990s, Scott had received the call from the Lord to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Chrirst. He began airing his own programs on local radio stations to minister the Gospel. His programs varied in length and style over the years. Some were half-hour programs, while others were as long as two hours. Some were pre-recorded, while other programs were live.
In Spring 2013, Scott had to cancel a program of his that was airing on a local station. As he finished this conversation, he began praying that God would raise up a Christian radio station in the area, a station fully and not just partially committed to preaching the Gospel. As he was praying, he felt God speak to his heart and tell him that in order for it to be a station airing the Message of the Cross 24/7, Scott himself would have to do it. This was something that sounded like an impossibility, but Scott felt strongly that it was God that had spoken this to him. He thus presented this idea to his wife, Nikkie, and the members of the church that he was now the pastor of, Truth Chapel. They began praying together for God's Will to be done. This seemed like an impossibility, but prayer changes things...
In Summer 2013, while doing an internet search about starting a radio station, Scott learned that the FCC would be opening up a filing window for low power FM stations. This meant that the FCC would be allowing some new, low power radio stations to be started. This was the first time that the FCC had opened this window in 13 years, yet the timing was perfect for what God has just spoken to Scott's heart a few months earlier. The filing window officially opened in October 2013, and Truth Chapel quickly applied for the 92.1 frequency in Spartanburg, South Carolina, praying for God's favor in this.
Soon, the listings were relased that showing the names of people and organizations who had applied for frequencies. Though there were many applicants from Spartanburg for low power FM stations, only two entities had applied for 92.1. One was Truth Chapel, and the other was a gentleman in a neighboring town. There was some uncertaintly for a while about whether this would be a conflict, and there was a petition against Truth Chapel to deny them the construction permit. However, by the summer of 2014, the construction permit was granted to Truth Chapel, and, in God's perfect timing, this was able to be announced in the midst of Truth Chapel's Holy Spirit-filled Crossword Kids' Camp.
Scott Corbin now began planning for Truth Chapel's radio station - Sound of Truth Radio - to go on the air. He and Nikkie began searching for ways to make the station as inexpensive yet professional as possible. Through it all, they saw God's Hand and Favor upon the work that they were doing. In one example of this, the Corbins were hiring a company to install Sound of Truth Radio's antenna on the tower that it was renting. The company gave an estimate of $1500 for the work to be done, but instead of charging that amount, they told the Corbins that they would do the work for free as a donation to Truth Chapel. Amazingly, the first company that Scott had spoken to gave an estimate of $4000. God turned a need of $4000 into a need of $0! He can do the same for you! Meanwhile, supporters of Truth Chapel and believers in the Message of the Cross from around the world began giving money to help the radio station get on the air. Donations came from as far away from Spartanburg as the United Kingdom, and there were donations as large as $8000 given!
In January 2015, the antenna and other remaining equipment was ordered and delivered. The only thing remaining for Sound of Truth Radio to go on the air was for the antenna to be installed. The company that had generously offered to do the work for free was still willing to do the work, but they had a very full schedule and were also delayed by winter weather. At some points, it seemed that the station would go on the air at certain dates in January, then in February, and then in March. One delay after another kept this from ever happening. In early March, the company had to delay specifically because of osprey nests that needed to be removed. At this point, Scott and Nikkie felt that these delays were not of God but from the Devil, even remembering how fowls are sometimes used as types of demon spirits in Scripture. They began encouraging their congregants to pray against these delays and to pray that the station would be on the air very soon!
On Sunday night, March 8, 2015, the first day of Daylight Savings Time, one of Truth Chapel's associate ministers preached a rousing sermon declaring that it was now "Spartanburg Saving Time." A Holy Spirit-inspired feeling that there were souls to be saved and that now was the time to save them swept through the congregation. The people of Truth Chapel prayed fervently that the work of the Lord would not be hindered any further. The next day, Scott received word from the company that the job regarding the ospreys had been cancelled, and they now had time to put Sound of Truth Radio's antenna on the tower! Rain was projected for the week, but by the Grace of God, on March 11, 2015, the rain held off, and the antenna was installed. Four days later - March 15, 2015 - Sound of Turth Radio was on the air.
Our first day on the air was memorable. Truth Chapel attendees were encouraged to go in public places wearing their Sound of Truth Radio T-shirts while Scott Corbin did a live broadcast from inside of the Beacon Drive-in, a local restaurant that has been a great support to Sound of Truth Radio. There were still some technical issues that needed to be worked through, but the Message of the Cross was officially on the air for Spartanburg and beyond!
Sound of Truth Radio went through some changes over the next several years as the station grew. There had been periodic changes and updates to programming, but under Scott Corbin's leadership, the radio station's message stayed the same. We believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to pay for everything that we have need of, and we believe that He is the only way to receive from God! Scott himself hosted various programs over his tenure as Sound of Truth Radio's administrator, including Sonrise, Your Lunch Hour, and Just About Home Time. With his wife, Nikkie, he hosted the Bible study program Through the Bible. Nikkie also hosted her own programs such as Ladies of Faith and Homeschool Minute. Scott was also the primary editor of all other programs on the station, which featured preachers of the Message of the Cross from around the entire world! As the station grew, more and more testimonies would come in of how Jesus Christ had touched someone's life through the radio station. We give God the glory for what he has done!
In March 2021 -- six years after Sound of Truth Radio's founding -- Scott Corbin had an unexpected turn in his health. He was diagnosed with heart failure and entered into Jesus's presence in Heaven on March 23, 2021. He was faithful to and passionate about the radio ministry until the very end, still doing all that his health would allow to keep fresh, anointed programming on the station. His passing left huge shoes to fill as regards the administration of Sound of Truth Radio. His wife, Nikkie, who had stood by and beside Scott ever since God first laid this ministry on his heart in 2021, immediately stepped up to take over the administration of the station, editing and even hosting some of the programs that had once been edited and/or hosted by Scott.
In September 2021, just a few months after Scott's passing, a storm blew through Spartanburg. Lightning struck either the equipment in the radio tower or nearby, causing a power surge that fried and ruined equipment that was essential to the radio station. Immediately, the station was off the air. Nikkie was tasked with getting it back on the air, and it turned out to be a long and tedious process. The station had experienced technical difficulties that knocked it off the air before, but never for more than a day. This technical error would be much greater than anything the station had encountered before. Merely diagnosing the problem took several weeks. A radio engineer was hired, and it took several long months of hard work before the station could be put back on the air. During these months of work, Nikkie asked hers and Scott's oldest sons, Matthew and Jeremiah Corbin, who both had an interest in audio editing, to join the station's staff and help with editing programs. They agreed to and have been involved in the management of the radio station or in editing radio programs since then. Finally, on January 7, 2022, Sound of Truth Radio went back on the air! Nevertheless, the trial of faith was not over yet. Over the next several months, Sound of Truth Radio would have to work to rebuild an audience that it had lost during the four months off the air and would also struggle to regain the support of donors to meet the station's financial needs, which were even larger now from the expenses needed to fix the damage caused by the lightning.
The road to restoration for Sound of Truth Radio has been long, but by the Grace of God, we have made it through. Losing the man of faith who started the station, tackling unforeseen and complicated technical issues, and trying to rebuild our audience have been very hard trials to go through. Through it all, God is faithful! In late 2022, Sound of Truth Radio finally began once again raising the funds needed to keep it on the air, helping to keep us from going into deeper debt. In October 2022, Sound of Truth Radio actually had a record-setting day as its online listenership reached a peak that had not been seen for several months, perhaps even years, prior. As of today, we are still preaching, teaching, singing, believing, and living the Message of the Cross. Technical difficulties still arise occasionally, but God has brought the station a long way. Please keep Nikkie, Matthew, and every minister on Sound of Truth Radio in your prayers, and if God leads you to do so, please consider donating to help us have the finances needed to keep Sound of Truth Radio on the air!
"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
- I Corinthians 15:57