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"GIVE ME THE BIBLE" #4
***THANKSGIVING DAY***

THE PRICELESS BOOK

I feel a little bit today like Dodger baseball announcer Vin Scully, who broadcast a game a few years ago that went into the wee hours of the morning. I don't know how many extra innings were involved, but it was very, very late by the time the home team finally pushed over a run and the exhausted few fans who were left began staggering toward the exit.

And Vin Scully, still up in his KABC booth, said into the microphone something like, "I don't know if I'm still talking to ANYBODY out there, but if you're still here with us, the Dodgers just won the game."

And today, on Thanksgiving Day, 2001, I'm a bit tempted to say the same thing. I'm sure many of our regular listeners who try to tune in each day are clear across the country visiting with relatives and friends. People who turn on their radios at work and listen during their lunch hour . . . well, you're off today as well. So today it might be just me and Ken and David and Armando and Mabel Richards and Del Delker and not very many others.

But friend, obviously YOU are still with us. And wherever you are on this Thanksgiving Day, we want you to know how very much we appreciate YOU. We thank God for YOU and that He led you to this station and this program at this very moment. God is so good, isn't He? And Ken and I certainly want to wish you the very best of God's blessings today. If you're traveling to visit your family, just know that we're saying a prayer this very day for His protecting influence upon you.

It's been kind of special this week to have Thanksgiving and the National Bible Week all happening at once. For the past 54 years National Bible Week and Thanksgiving have always gone together, and it's a beautiful idea, isn't it? Because especially here in 1995, we can all be thankful for the greatest, most precious Book that exists on this planet. And that's the Word of God.

Ken, it was 65 years ago that your dad began to share God's Word on the radio, wasn't it?

***KEN*** That's right, Lonnie. And the Bible had such meaning and such power in Dad's life. It was everything to him.

***LONNIE*** Many of you listening even today know that Pastor Richards was such a diligent student of the Bible that he had memorized probably as much of it as just about any person alive. He read it through several times each year and had committed huge portions to memory.

***KEN*** Yes, when we were boys, I guess that's one of our most indelible memories. Every day . . . watching Dad read so intently the pages of Scripture.

***LONNIE*** And I guess there'd be no way to measure your family's gratitude. Or to put a price tag on what the Bible and its truths have meant to the Richards family. After all, your dad and your mom and, really, your whole family — all of you have given your entire careers to the proclaiming of the Bible here on the radio. I guess you could really say that you owe everything to the Word of God.

***KEN*** Well, you're absolutely right, Lonnie. We're all very thankful for what it means in our lives.

***LONNIE*** Friend, wherever you are today listening, why not pause for just a few moments and think about how precious the Word of God has been in your experience. Think of the verses that have given you comfort. Remember the Bible passages that contained an answer to a difficult life situation. How about the memory verses that give you hope that Jesus is coming again or that you're going to someday be reunited with those loved ones you buried a few years ago? How could we possibly put a price tag on those promises?

Maybe you're a person who didn't grow up as a believer, but the Word of God was a factor in bringing you to the Lord. Ken and I join you in rejoicing over that; and again, how could we possibly measure in dollars-and-cents terms how much the Bible is worth to YOU?

I read a delightful story the other day that came to us from the American Bible Society. Let me share it with you:

"A Bible Society worker in Zimbabwe was distributing Bibles. As he handed one to a passerby, the man responded that, `If you give me that I will use the pages to roll cigarettes.' The Bible worker gave him the New Testament, saying that if he was going to use the pages in such a way to please read the page first.
"A few years later the Bible Society worker attended a convention of church workers. The evangelist who was speaking pointed to him and said, `This man does not remember me, but he gave me a New Testament, even though I told him I would use the pages to roll cigarettes. I smoked Matthew and I smoked Mark and I smoked Luke. But when I got to John 3:16, I couldn't smoke anymore. My life was changed at that moment.'"

Well, friend, your experience might not be that dramatic. But still, I'm sure that you can think of many ways where the Bible has been meaningful to you.

Have you ever thought about the fact that God didn't HAVE to give us this incredible gift? He could have left us in the dark; He could have started this planet spinning and then gone off to attend to other business.

Some of our staff members are former missionaries and have lived amid cultures where men and women are locked in fear. They're terrified of their gods and they have no communication that might allay those fears. They never hear from these deities; they don't get any calming word or promise of a Redeemer or any statement that these gods love them or care about them. They live their entire lives in superstition and terror, CONSTANTLY having to bribe or pay off these angry, faceless, anonymous spirits.

What a contrast with OUR God! We have the Bible! We have God's assurance that He loves us, that He has a plan for us, that He's coming soon on a great rescue mission. We have an active, reaching-out, hands-on God . . . a loving Father and a redeeming Savior. And it's the Bible that conveys the Good News!

We don't often have music on our daily Voice of Prophecy program because our time is already so short. But with today being Thanksgiving Day, and with our emphasis on the Bible all this week, Ken and I thought we simply had to share this wonderful message in song. Give Me the Bible, which has been our series title and theme. Here are the King's Heralds.

SONG: Give Me the Bible, 77E33, (1:58)