The Holy Bible
The Greatest “How To” Book
Without a doubt, the Bible is the greatest “How to” book ever. It doesn’t just tell a person how to get to Heaven but tells many things about God and about life that are very helpful. I believe that the King James Bible is God’s preserved Word for our generation. I don’t quarrel with others that believe differently. I know that God is trying to reach everybody. Not everybody will accept the truth of God’s preserving his Word in the King James Bible. God must deal with them about that. I get a lot out of reading and studying the Bible. As far as I am concerned it has the answers to all of man’s questions and problems. It can “renew the mind” to think godly thoughts and find the solution to all the personal problems a man may have. All of mankind’s problems have simple solutions. There is not a national or international problem that cannot be solved if the participants will accept and practice the truths revealed in the Bible! There are still many things God wishes to reveal to mankind through that Book if we will only pay attention and believe it!
The purpose of my writing is not to give a lot of detailed instructions on repairing and restoring things. The purpose of writing is to give the attitude and actions to take in order to properly evaluate a problem and fix it. My goal as a maintenance tech has always been to “work myself out of a job.” This has never happened, and it will never happen. Still, I keep that as a goal. There will always be problems that need fixing. When I was young, I remember my dad telling us to seek a career in air conditioning and refrigeration repair. He told us to get out of the food service business. His reasoning was that when hard times come (he grew up during the Great Depression) the restaurants would all go out of business. He said people will always need refrigeration. Although that hasn’t happened yet. One of my brothers has been very successful as a manager of fast-food restaurants, and for a while, managed a Walmart. I, however, have had a wonderful time, as I look back on it, fixing things.
When I was in the Marine Corps, working on fighter jets, I went to a small school for troubleshooting. It opened my eyes to a way to figure out what was wrong with something by applying principles and steps to properly assess the problem and find the solution. For example, if there is a long wire run and there is a short on the wires, there is a logical way to find out where the problem is. A short is where two of the wires are touching each other. Usually, it is where they are ‘pinched’. The way to troubleshoot it is to take it loose at both ends, put a meter on both ends one at a time and see if there is a short on them. Then go to the middle of the wire. Cut it and test it both ways. One way will have a short and the other way will be open. You then follow the short by going halfway between it and the short. Do the same thing again. Eventually, you will narrow the wire short down and will be able to fix it.
What I would like you to do with these instructions is to apply these principles and ways of looking at things so that you will be able to solve any problem you have. These principles will work with physical, maintenance problems as well as spiritual, personal problems.
For the maintenance tech, the Bible is loaded with practical advice, some very specific, that allows making good decisions when fixing things. For example:
Ecclesiastes 10:10 “If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.”Notice how loaded with wisdom this verse is. It gives the maintenance tech the advice to use sharp tools. I was told once that more people are injured by a dull knife than a sharp one. I think the reason for this is that when using a dull knife, more pressure must be applied and then the knife slips and disaster happens. I was using a knife one time and was pulling it toward me cutting insulation off a cable. The knife slipped and went straight for my heart! Fortunately, it was wintertime and I had layered my clothing with a t-shirt, a thick shirt, and a thick coat! The clothes all had holes in them, but I only had a small wound on my chest!
My profession has always caused me to use a knife, screwdrivers, drill bits, planes, and chisels. I have never been good at sharpening, so I used to buy new tools to get the sharp edge. After I learned Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” I determined that I would learn how to sharpen things. I got where I could sharpen my knife and screwdrivers. Then I learned how to sharpen straight edges and set up a system to sharpen planes and chisels. I learned this practical skill by using the greatest “How to Book,” the Bible!
I also learned something from this verse that has helped me. That is that as a young man you have extra strength, and you can make things work by force. As a person ages, sadly, one of the things that begins to fail is physical strength. As a person ages, he should have learned wisdom. One of the things that the electrician, Don Nelson, taught me is to use tools with cushions on the handles. He said as you get older your hands will wear out, so you must take care of them and not abuse them. By using cushioned screwdrivers, it will not be as rough on your hands.
Simple, practical things like that are not taught much these days. You must pay attention and think about things to get the lessons out of them. One of the things that Dr. Peter Ruckman said was that “You can’t teach someone common sense” and “You can’t make people spiritual”. I hope he was wrong on both statements because the purpose of the rest of my life is to pass on some common sense and to try to make the readers more spiritual by opening their minds to God’s purpose for their lives. My prayer is that the readers will find the perfect will of God for themselves and will be happy serving our Lord Jesus Christ! My second purpose is to give examples of ways to fix problems, physical or spiritual, that will lead the reader to a successful life of “fixing things.” I like learning new things. I learn things in different ways. Sometimes it is good to have someone that knows about things to teach you. When I was newly saved, I had the distinct privilege to sit under one of the best Bible teachers today: Dr. Peter Ruckman. Dr. Ruckman taught me a lot of things. Today, I don’t believe everything that he taught. In fact, I don’t agree completely with anybody because I have learned that God is in the habit of making and training individual men. I don’t have the same calling as Dr. Ruckman. I don’t live in the same time as he did. I don’t have the same background. I am a maintenance tech and a Christian. Dr. Ruckman was not good at fixing things. He told us once, “If it’s broke, bang on it with a hammer. If it breaks, you needed a new one anyway!” I consider that a maintenance myth that I call, “Get a Bigger Hammer!”.
Sometimes you must learn things on your own because a teacher is not available. I like the internet because of the knowledge that is available. However, I am cautious of what I find there because there are many things that are just not true. I used to get a lot of knowledge by just reading books. Many of the books are technical, with drawings that must be deciphered. I used to like having the designers’ thoughts and suggestions available. It is much harder now with my bad eyesight, but I still refer to the instructions and installation paperwork that comes with a new device. I love “How-to” books.
It just makes sense to me to write, preach, and teach “How To” messages. For me, I want to know the solution! When I find the solution, I don’t want to be the only one that knows it! I want to pass it on to others.
God has the same idea. The reason He gave us the greatest “How To” book is to pass on the eternal knowledge and wisdom of God. We are mortal and temporal. We are also sinners. What God has done is put the eternal knowledge and wisdom in a fascinating book that will keep a person’s attention and desire during our short lifetime.
The Bible is written in such a way that it has knowledge and wisdom for any endeavor, job, or calling that a person finds themselves in. Are you an engineer? The Bible has great advice and tips to allow you to use your creativity and mathematics skills to design things properly. Are you a soldier, sailor, or airman? The Bible gives great advice on how to wage war correctly. Are you a teacher? Again, the Bible has the way to teach things to pass on the knowledge to the next generation. Is leadership your calling? Are you a manager? The Bible is tops in this category, too! How about a farmer or gardener? Look to the Bible for the knowledge needed to be successful.
Be careful though. As you approach the Bible, if you are skeptical or are looking for mistakes and errors. God has written the Bible in such a way as to answer your heart motive! If you want mistakes and errors, God will allow you to find some. What I have found is that the Bible is written so that if a person doesn’t believe every word is the word God wants them to have, they will find excuses to disbelieve it! Over time I have found that the “supposed” mistakes are just “advanced revelations”! God uses them to reveal some deeper truth that is hidden from the skeptic!
Bible Ignorance
Bible ignorance is at epidemic proportions! It is strange and staggering to know that the Bible has the answers to all of the problems of individuals and of society as a whole. What makes it strange and staggering is that these simple solutions are available but are missed as people look for solutions to their problems. In this day and age the Bible is ridiculed, rejected, and basically ignored! The Bible even comments on this lack of knowledge:
Amos 8:11 & 12 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.”
The famine is not that the word of the LORD is not available. What has happened is that people don’t listen to it! It can’t be found because it has been rejected as valuable!
Look at this next passage:
Hosea 4:1-3 “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.”
Bible ignorance tself is not sin. It is no shame not to know something. The sin comes in when God shows things to people and then they are rejected. It is the cause of Bible ignorance that makes it a sin. There is a reason the thief cannot find a policeman! He is not looking for one! Also, he is trying to hide from him. It is the same reason I cannot find my car keys. I am not looking for them, where they are!
Notice how these verses in Hosea point out how the moral condition of the people effects the condition of the land!
The tragedy of the current education system in America is that not only are the wrong things emphasized, but the most important things are neglected. Good history and Science are not taught that teach that God is real; that He created this wonderful earth and has taken an interest in it! Science education is incomplete when the Creator and His purpose are left out. It is the same with history. God has taken an active part in history and when His purposes are removed, history doesn’t make any sense. Those that don’t learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them. It is very important to learn from your personal mistakes and historical mistakes. Leave God out and you come to false conclusions which lead to false solutions, which lead to disaster!
Meditate on this verse for a while to see the absence of God and its disasters end:
Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”
Remove God from education and the results are disastrous! Notice the rest of the Romans 1:
“ Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
It is amazing the up-to-date accuracy of this passage of Scripture!
It is the same with solutions to problems. The Bible has the solutions. People have rejected the Bible as the answer and so the solutions are hidden. Notice again God’s comment on this in the two verses above from Hosea and Amos. Notice that there is not a famine of finding the word of the Lord. The famine is in hearing it! The first admonition is to hear the word of the LORD! The reason there is no truth, mercy, or knowledge of God is because they are not listening. There is a big difference between hear and heed. There is also a big difference between reading and heeding!
I have found the King James Bible to be God’s preserved word for this generation. God uses it to reveal solutions. He speaks directly to me out of it! Notice again, God comments on this also:
Psalm 12:6-8 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.”
Notice how the words are pure, purified, and preserved. They also are protected, perfect, and powerful! I might add, they are possessed by those that believe, and practice them. The rejection of His words and the elevation of men’s words produces wickedness. Meditate on verse 8 for a while and you will see the results of not possessing, believing, listening, learning, and practicing the words of the LORD!
The admonition is to not remain ignorant. Do you want solutions to your problems? Don’t reject the “…words of the LORD…” but receive them, respond to them, respect them, and re-try them. I recommend them. Restore them to your daily Bible reading. Read with purpose, believing that God is speaking to you. It is amazing what God wants to reveal to those that want to find the truth!
The Targeted Audience
People I have asked to review things I have written have asked “Who is your targeted audience?”
I am here answering the question:
Thank you for your interest in the things I am writing about. I have never thought much about targeting what I write about, but I do now.
Early on, when I first started teaching and preaching, I got some good advice from a pretty young lady in the audience. She said that I said a lot of interesting things, but she had no idea of what I was talking about! She basically told me to “Keep it simple, Stupid”. I learned a lot from that. In fact, I liked the advice so much; she became my “targeted audience”. I married her!
Other things I heard preachers say have influenced the way I preach, teach, and write. One said, “Some preachers go down so deep and come up so dry that you do not know what dispensation you are in.” The idea he was trying to say is that I didn’t need to try to tell everything I knew, but to try to make what I wanted to say interesting and effectual. I heard another preacher say, “You can’t just feed the giraffes!” What he was trying to say was that you can’t just target your message for one group but need to feed all of them, even the ones who are low to the ground. I heard one preacher say, “I wouldn’t listen to a preacher that didn’t have the sense that a washing machine had. It knows when to turn off!” The idea is not to just keep it simple but keep it short. Unless you are interesting people get bored and lose interest! The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:12 “Seeing then we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech...” So, my goal is to be as plain as possible. He also wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:6 “But though I be rude in speech yet not in knowledge …” So, my goal is to know what I write about and use words that will convince. He had a reputation for “weighty and powerful” letters in 2 Corinthians 10:10. I also had one preacher tell me, “Put it over the plate waist high.” That way you let the batter hit a home run!
I have noticed that there are basically two types of teachers. One is the caretaker of knowledge. He knows his subject well. He may even be an expert in his field. As he teaches you get the feeling, he is a very smart man. You know it and he knows it. Most of his teaching is about what “he” knows. You go away from his lecture saying what a great teacher he is. You must come to him for the knowledge.
The other type of teacher, and the one I desire to be, is the disperser of knowledge. He knows his subject also. His approach is to get the knowledge to the student. He will use whatever method will work to see that the student learns the lesson. What is important to him is that the student gets the material he needs. You go away from him thinking you learned something. In this type of teaching, what is important is not the teacher, but what is taught.
One of the guiding groups of Bible verses in my life has been Psalm 119:97-104
“ O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
How sweet are thy words unto my taste: yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Thorough thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”
Because of verse 99, I tell people that they can be a lot smarter than me! I only know very little in a very narrow field. If a person has the Bible for his meditation, and will learn from it, he will be able to discern things from many teachers. I know electronics, troubleshooting, quite a bit of Bible, and have a good understanding in economics and finance. I know a little about plumbing, carpentry, and painting, but would never try to teach them. If you have a gun question, ask my friend, Gary Z. As far as the Bible is concerned, I know doctrine, and practical things, but prophecy many times stumps me. It might be because to me it is not very interesting, and the people that I have listened to on it, many times are wrong. The way I handle the future and the 2nd coming of Christ is to live for Jesus today and prepare to live out my life for Him. If he shows up today, I am ready! If I live to be an old man, I am ready!
Because of my childhood and temperament, I have always been trying to “figure things out.” I have always been a “troubleshooter”. Most of my life is spent trying to figure out what is wrong and then fixing it. One of the things that has made me successful in my job is my ability to find the problem and fix it. That is the way my mind works. My teenage years could be described as “angry, confused and searching for answers.” I tried many things and was extremely disappointed every time. When the gospel of the grace of God was presented to me and salvation as a free gift from God according to the Bible, I trusted Christ as my savior. I was then taught that the Bible had the answers. I have, since then, looked to the Bible as the answer to all my problems. I have found out that it has the answers to all of man’s problems.
I wrote the above to say that most of my teaching and preaching, and now my writing, is to look at problems and find the answers in the Bible. I endeavor to take the complicated and make it simple. Most of my teaching and preaching has been sort of “How To”. God has written the Bible in such a way that it must be searched. It must be read daily, and God must open it up to you. No amount of education or brains will help you understand it if God doesn’t show it to you. I try to write about what God has shown me. I to write about what is important to me. I try to write about what I have learned and what I don’t see a lot of clear information on or what I think might be an improvement. I write with a desire to help others find the truth and answers. I am not gifted in being able to write. It takes a lot of time and energy. I do think it is important to pass on the things that I have learned. I always write with the unshakable conviction the King James Bible is perfect and without error. (I will not argue this point with you but will refer you to others that have written extensively on this subject).
My targeted audience is the same audience that the gospel is intended for in John 3:16 “...whosoever will...” . I want what I write to help people: children, families, couples starting out, those looking for answers, those that might be interested, those that have tried everything else and still haven’t found the answers, men, women, boys and girls. I would like to reach those that haven’t heard and don’t know. I am interested in reaching preachers. My thinking is that what is wrong with our country is the result of what is wrong with the family. What is wrong with the family is what is wrong with the Church. What is wrong with the Church is the pastor. I am especially interested in you. You have shown interest; you are a friend.