THE MORE NEWS I READ

started 1/4/25

THE MORE NEWS I READ………the more I think I got a lot better news coverage for a dime a day when I was a kid.

I got a big 8 page 8 column giant headlined front section (the news) with pictures and statistics. Then, another 8 page section all about the people who lived within a 30 mile radius of Indianapolis, part of which usually had a section of celebrity news. A third 8 page section was sports-in-season with photos and stats. Last, but certainly not least, a 4th 8 page section of classified ads, legal information right down to who’s getting a divorce. Then, the best part of the whole thing: the funnies, also known as the Comics,,,,and boy! were they great!

All that for 10 cents…..I don’t even want to know what the cost of all that is today, the way it all comes to me in emails, individual subscriptions and business magazines- – Electronically.

Indianapolis News (or Star), where are you!

Indianapolis had 3 newspapers in the ‘50s, the News, the Star, and the Times. Times was the weakest and it and the News were both afternoon delivery. The Star was a morning delivery — but usually too late for my Dad to read before leaving for work, so we chose the Ne between the other two. The News- – all the news that was the news, all you needed to read, some you didn’t want to read, and some you didn’t understand!

Every day, from my Dad down to me (and that was a long line) the Headlines, the Editorial page, the Sports or the Comics produced conversations and opinions which would get started in the living room and carry on through supper, some even lasting into the bedrooms…… What an education tool! We all grew up knowing how to differ and not hate, how to laugh at each other’s mis-pronunciations, even how to bemoan “our team” defeats, and gloat quietly when our team one and a brother’s was defeated, and stay a strong family unit.

All that for a dime a day— the whole family.

My Dad had only a 3rd grade education yet, if he could get to it before one of us boys did it, he worked the crossword puzzle every day. After we were all gone from home (1960) he worked every day’s puzzle till he passed away in 1987. Still ringing in my memory is him asking any one of us, “What’s a 6 letter word for am star?” And most times we would reply, “Got any letters yet?” He says, “R is the last and T is the 3rd.” Then, usually more than one voice from all over the house would say, “Arthur!” – for instance. (Oh, if you don’t know who that is, it merely proves you didn’t yet live in the 50s.)

We learned as much at home from each other, the comics, the news and the editorial pages as we did in school, I think. Well, probably not in the basic 3Rs capacity, but how to get along in the world, how to argue without a fight, how to absorb all sorts of slings and arrows, wins and defeats, happiness and sadness, ad infinitum.

About the 3rd grade education; Daddy told us when we were little they had to burn the school house down to get him out of the 3rd grade! The truth was after his 3rd year in a one room school in a tiny town in Kentucky the school caught fire and burned, probably by a lightening strike. There was no school board to petition for tax money to build a new one, so only the well-to-do families took their children elsewhere. My grandfather “reckoned,” he said, “that a 13 year old boy could just go to work!” (No, he wasn’t a 13 year old boy, but he knew his numbers and how to read, what more did he need from a school house?) Smartest 3rd grade graduate in the world!

After I told my parents about getting saved at home alone one night, Daddy encouraged me to read the bible, of course, and told me he learned to read better by the bible. When my mother gave me Daddy’s grandmother’s bible, published in 1885, she said Daddy told her his grandmother read him the bible by fireplace light every evening after supper (he lived with her for about 4 years between 8-12, I think) and that’s when he really learned to read. It’s interesting to note the font size in that bible is so small I have a hard time reading it with the best of lighting and wearing corrective glasses. By the fire light. Wow.

About the 3Rs—I heard from an early age that someone like Abe Lincoln, or Mark Twain or even maybe Will Rogers said that the 3Rs were “readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.” Today’s Google search gives nothing of the sort (although, strangely, several references were made that people referred to them as Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic), and that it started in the 1950s by an Agriculture professor.

When I was about 25, a college student friend working part-time for me said that his professor told the class the original 3Rs were Reading, Recollection and Rhetoric. That always made sense to me, but that Google search never did turn up such a thing. What about you, where did you hear that came from? — the 3Rs

One last learnable thought from all that: my great-grandmother read to my father, yet he learned how to read because of it. How many of you had a teacher who read to you? I had two really good (teachers) readers, and I read to my kids who, of course passed me up at a really young age—Phap!

Thanks for reading, the Elder

The Holidays, Again 11/28/24

Aaaah, the “holidays” are upon us again. Perhaps the purest and most serious of all holidays is THANKSGIVING. You know, the reason for all of us being here (and I do mean all) is about survival of the forefathers. Wherefore they gave thanks collectively. Therefore it’s about soberly remembering who and what we are; how and why we’re here; then, on to deciding the discernment of and the importance of things in this life because we must live it! Some things I write here may not come across to you as having a clear understanding or awareness of our heritage compared to our present situation, but perhaps the Spirit of the Lord will help us see things we need to see on this holiday in order to better serve Him.

Of course, not everyone will think about serving the Lord while serving ourselves to turkey & dressing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, then a pecan, custard and pumpkin, maybe blueberry pies, and —-does it seem to you the desserts are a longer list than the real food? Uh, I was just trying to get across my preferences, I guess. But the thankfulness seems to begin with the food (as we learned in the loose history depictions of both school and churches of our past…the pilgrims and the native Americans ate together? Well, so they say.)

But, to the more serious thoughts: Phi.4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord alway…” Have you thought recently about the difficulty in being able to do this? ,,”alway?” “alway?” Without the s on the end of this word, it has a more continual implication—like saying “through whatever, no matter how long or how bad things are.”—Rejoice!. That can be a tall order. So, we must remember all the words of the verse, most importantly the “in the Lord” part. The Lord knows the kind of world we live in, He is not asking us to look at what goes on around us or the sicknesses we go through and just be giddy and delirious all the time. But, when we think about Christ, our Redeemer, Christ our Savior, Christ who will come for us at His appointed time! Thinking on Him should make us rejoice, no matter what else is going on in our lives, or even to those we love.

Paul wrote in Gal.6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Glorying in the cross is easy to be entreated down deep in our hearts because we believe what He did, what He does, and in what He will do. Amen? What about unto those who do not believe (or trust) in what Christ did, do not know what He does, and therefore are not waiting in anticipation for what He is going to do? In what do they glory? In what do they rejoice? I suspect practically all who read this has close family members somewhere on the chart of belief/unbelief; some who totally do not believe, and some who can’t get it all taken in or settle it “down deep,” as the Lord said. Now, back to our rejoicing where those loved ones are what do we seem like? Know-it-alls? Do we seem self-righteous to them? Does it seem to you they cringe a little when you talk to them?

In the midst of our rejoicing in Christ, we must take note of what we sound like, yea, even what we look like to them. Why you might ask? Because our job is to be an ambassador for Christ. Take a moment to re-read 2 Cor.5:14-21KJB before reading any further.

For several years our family, while sitting around the Thanksgiving table have spoken candidly of the things we’ve been blessed with in the year thus far. Each of us can say whatever “blessing” we’re remembering has been special, or most endearing, or most important. Sometimes it’s new, sometimes it’s an old wound cured, or a new friend, a new place to live, even a new possession or new job. Whatever comes across as a blessing we heretofore didn’t have. We’ve had some years where this took only a few minutes, we’ve had years where one thing or another lead to long table conversations. But, (and I say this hopefully) always it is to our betterment that we all hear each other. It builds the family camaraderie. Even that is a blessing from the Lord—He invented families.

What this discussion here on these short pages is about is this: remember it is a Thanksgiving Day, not an evangelical call, nor a guilt trip on anyone’s thankfulness about anything. Think of yourself (in the Ambassadorship position) as a guest who would never insult or cause to belittle any person present but see them all as the host or hostess and yourself as a guest—even if you are in your own home! Sound radical? It isn’t at all. It’s just practicing the call to be what the Lord wants us to use for our rejoicing!

Lessons, Letters & THE BOOK

Pensacola, FL 11/1 to 11/3— That’s where I was from Friday afternoon about 1pm to 1PM Sunday. Each year for the last 10, or so, Pastor Byron Wiggins and his “Bible Believer’s” assembly from Pace, FL, hold a Bible conference weekend here. It was a real privilege for me to attend and speak. Pastor Byron never tells us ahead of getting there when or if we are a speaker; it’s just a “be prepared” sort of schedule. This year my speaking time was last on Saturday evening. The congregation at this particular event comes from parts of South Alabama and the Florida panhandle plus a few from far away places—Illinois, Nevada, Louisiana, and this year some folks from Wyoming! What a diverse group! Most stayed through Sunday which is always better for fellowship, though some things “back home” take precedent and cause some to leave early.

You can see the messages preached there on FaceBook — Grace Believers Bible Study Church page. All the messages will contain two extremely important aspects: 1.) how does a person go from being lost with no hope of salvation into eternal life; and 2.) how does a saved person become more in line with God’s will for their life.

In support of Paul writing the simple words concerning whether one might get confused (“..as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”) our avowed purpose in preaching/teaching is to be clear in our “clarion” call and then read references in the way it is easy for all to gain Scripture support when we relate what we’ve learned.

Answer to number 1.) hear the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation— it’s this: “…how that Christ died for your sins,… he was buried,…and God raised Him from the dead…”—believe it —Trust that work of Christ to be good enough with the Father to save you; or, as Silas and Paul told the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Since Christ died for our sins, Paul related in Acts 13:38,39 that THE forgiveness of sins was preached and then, when he wrote 2 Corinthians 5, he stated that God had “reconciled the world unto himself, not imputing their transgressions unto them,”—thereby God is no longer angry at anyone. We preach Christ’s cross and His resurrection for people to understand trusting His work will be enough in God’s eyes for Him to grant us His righteousness as a gift for our belief.

Answer to number 2.) “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That’s study…not work, not do, or don’t do, not strive to be busy, and certainly not get religion-ized, none of those things. But, to study by rightly dividing the word of truth.

I know you can do that for two reasons: the bible is written in about 7th grade grammar and it is in orderly and non-confusing divisions so that all God’s people can find themselves and His will for them by study. Study.

It will bless you beyond your wildest expectations to look at Scripture in the obvious manner it is put together.

To wit, Genesis to Malachi (OT) is all about God’s chosen people before the coming of Christ—all past events. Christ came and said point blank: I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel-Mt.15:24. Then it is best to see and believe it, even if we might desire it had said something different. Subsequently, all of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as the emphasis in the first 12 chapters of the book of Acts — all that is also to, for, and about God confirming His covenantal commitment to them, not to the world in general. (see Rom.15:8)

So then, looking to the end of all things, we see the last 9 books of the bible being to, for, and about the fulfillment of God’s promises to the Fathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who begat the 12 tribes of Israel. Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1,2, & 3 John, Jude and Revelation, all 9 of these show the manner in which God fulfills all the rest of His promises He made in the named Scriptures to the peoples of Israel.

Sound very one-sided to you? It should, because it is! He is God, His way is not our way, His plan is His and His alone and He knows it comes out just right. He cannot be usurped by man’s (His creation) thoughts or plans. Besides, you probably noticed I left out those 13 books (85-100 pages in your Bible, depending on the size type with which your book is printed) found in the middle of what we call the New Testament (NT).

That would be Romans through Philemon—our Apostle Paul being the writer of the inspired revelation which the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven gave him. Look up (in the King James Bible) the word mystery and see how many times Paul used the word in these 13 books. You find “mystery” or “mysteries” used 20 times by Paul. (Christ used it 3 times, John, in Revelation, 4 times)

Paul wrote about a mystery kept secret since the world began. Then, if it was kept secret since the world began, when he spoke and wrote of it no one knew it ahead of him, did they? He also explained a mystery which had been “hid in God from the beginning of the world.”

If you look up these two phrases which I highlighted you will find reasons to read what all 20 passages wherein Paul used the word mystery or mysteries is telling you and me about how God our Father, Christ the Son our Savior, and The Holy Spirit our teacher has given us our hope, our redemption, our inheritance with Christ —-We’re His Body! Believing the words written TO US, as opposed to trying to figure out how the words the Lord spoke to others in His grand plan can “fit” that for which we’re chosen will prove very settling and completely fulfilling. Oh, all the Bible is written FOR US, just not all written TO US. (Like letters in our mailbox—some for one person, different ones for others, though we’re all family and may know all the mail, But, someone sends us a specific bit.)

Oh, by the way, I’m glad you’re reading! Thanks! The Elder