On Solid Ground

Bible history goes live on the airwaves when Whit's Kids Radio lesson on foundations is interrupted by OT Action News, reporting direct from the twenty-first century B.C. Anchor Brink Chetley's correspondents catch Abram and Lot's shepherds brawling over pastureland, and Abram settles it by giving his nephew first pick - so Lot grabs the lush Jordan valley near Sodom, while Abram keeps the leftovers and a promise from God. When raiders carry Lot off, Abram storms the enemy camp by night with just 318 men and brings everyone home. Years later, ninety-year-old Sarah laughs at the news she'll finally have a son, and Abraham bargains with the Lord to spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous souls... but ten can't be found. Angels drag Lot's protesting family out of the doomed city, fire falls, and Lot's wife turns back for one last look - and becomes a pillar of salt. Whit wraps it all up with the tale of the wise and foolish builders, and the credits reveal one final twist: that anchorman was Edwin Blackgaard all along.

Found on A Place of Wonder Album 15 · 13 episodes

The run See every episode

0204 Wonderworld A reluctant Jimmy Barclay, convinced he's outgrown make-believe, gets strong-armed into babysitting Lawrence Hodges - a kid whose imagination refuses to take an afternoon off.

0205 Flash Flood Eugene's over-prepared debut on a camping trip tests the patience of his fellow campers just as a mountain storm threatens more than anyone bargained for.

0206 Pen Pal A girl's excitement about finally meeting her beloved pen pal face-to-face turns to confusion when the visit reveals a secret the letters never mentioned.

0207 The Case of the Candid Camera When a boy's camera vanishes at Whit's End, bumbling private eye Harlow Doyle takes the case - but the theft may be tangled up with the town's upcoming Bible Bowl.

0208 Pipe Dreams When a nervous kid passed over for his dream Government Day assignment gets stuck in the county's least glamorous office, a storm gives him more excitement than he bargained for.

0209 Columbus: The Grand Voyage A time-traveling boy lands in fifteenth-century Spain, where his dream of sailing with Christopher Columbus tangles him in royal intrigue on the eve of history's most famous voyage.

0210 On Solid Ground When Kids Radio's call-in show about foundations is interrupted by a "breaking news" broadcast from the 21st century B.C., OT Action News reporters cover the unfolding saga of Abram and his nephew Lot live from the ancient Middle East.

1 of 2 0211 The Mortal Coil When Whit programs an Imagination Station adventure meant to show that death holds no fear for a Christian, his creation proves far more powerful than anyone at Whit's End is prepared for.

2 of 2 0212 The Mortal Coil When a heart attack leaves Whit hanging between life and death, the people who love him must reckon with what he built, what he believed, and who else may have paid the price for it.

0213 Best Intentions When doctor-ordered rest turns into house arrest, Whit's overzealous caretakers face a determined old friend, a bumbling private eye, and a patient with escape on his mind.

0214 The Living Nativity When Odyssey's beloved Nativity scene is destroyed, Whit and the kids decide to become the Christmas story themselves - until an unexpected complaint threatens to shut them down.

0215 Caroling, Caroling On a snowy Christmas Eve in Odyssey, Whit takes Connie and the kids on an old-fashioned sleigh ride of caroling that turns each stop into a celebration of the first Christmas.

0216 Like Father, Like Son When the soccer team's fundraiser cash box vanishes, a boy whose father is in prison must fight to prove his innocence to a town - and a mother - all too ready to believe the worst.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 8 more roles

8 supporting roles

Charles Thompson Mark Shillinger Brink Chetley Earl Boen Abram Hal Smith Iman Brian Cummings Lot Brian Cummings Milcah Katie Leigh Nabor Will Ryan Sarah Diane Michelle

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Paul McCusker Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Whit is on the air at Kids Radio, hosting a program called Adventures in the Bible, and today's topic is foundations - what they are and why they matter. The call-in portion gets off to a rocky start. One caller guesses that foundations are those big farms down south, then tries to order a pepperoni pizza. Eugene phones in a dictionary definition about endowments, and when a caller finally lands the right answer - a house needs a good foundation, and so does a life - Whit recognizes the voice as Connie's. Before he can take a call from somebody who does not work at Whit's End, a special report breaks in: OT Action News, with anchor Brink Chetley, reporting live from the twenty-first century B.C.

Correspondent Charles Edward Thompson is in the middle of a shouting match between two bands of herdsmen. Nabor, chief shepherd to the house of Abram, and Iman, chief shepherd to the house of Lot, are trading insults over grazing land that cannot support both families. Inside the tent, correspondent Lucy Schultz reports as Abram settles the quarrel by offering his nephew the choice: if Lot goes left, Abram will go right. Lot picks the best land in sight, the green Jordan valley near Sodom, and moves his household east. Asked why he would give away the choicest pasture and keep the leftovers, Abram tells Lucy that the Lord has promised him all the land he can see, for himself and his descendants forever - and then admits he has no descendants at all.

The story keeps developing. Word reaches Abram's camp that invading kings have carried off Lot and his family, and Abram marches in pursuit with his 318 fighting men, splits them into two groups, surrounds the enemy camp at night, and takes it completely by surprise. Lot is rescued, everything is recovered, and the experts back in the studio - Eugene on the Middle East, Connie on the Bible - explain what the audience is hearing: family loyalty, and a man who trusts God's promises.

Years pass between reports. God has changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah, and near a place called Mamre three mysterious visitors arrive with a promise: by this time next year, Sarah will have a son. Sarah laughs out loud - Abraham is a hundred and she is ninety - and gets caught doing it. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? As the visitors head for Sodom, where the outcry against the city has grown very great, Abraham walks along and bargains for it. Would the Lord destroy the city if fifty righteous people lived there? Forty? Twenty? The Lord agrees at last that for the sake of ten righteous souls he will spare the whole place.

Charles is in Sodom at the house of Lot when the count comes up short. Two angelic strangers are eating at Lot's table when the neighbors come pounding at the door, demanding the visitors be brought out. The angels strike the mob blind with a flash of light and tell Lot to take his family and run, because the city is about to be destroyed. Lot argues - he has a house here, social position, money - but the angels drag the family out and order them not to look back. Fire falls, and Charles reports from the road as Sodom and Gomorrah are wiped out behind him. Lot's wife Milcah turns for one last look at home and becomes a pillar of salt. A tragic end, Brink says, and one that could have been avoided if the people involved had just obeyed.

Back on Kids Radio, Whit caps the broadcast with the one story he thinks tops it: the parable of the wise and foolish builders from Matthew 7, where Jesus calls his own words the foundation to build the house of a life on. Then Whit reads the program's credits, and they hold one last surprise - the featured cast includes Odyssey's own Edwin Blackgaard, the voice behind the anchor desk all along.