GOTTA GETCHER STORY STRAIGHT

As published in the Newport (TN) Plain Talk
Release Date – Mar 1, 2012
Column Number - 1209


Unless you have been living under a rock somewhere on the backside of Frogpong’s frogpond; you probably have heard about the recent shooting at the Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio.

Big news – bigtime!

It even interrupted the latest rounds of gazillions of “newsspeak” words about the latest rounds of gazillions of green ‘Murican dollars my “Gumment” was spending on useless stuff and things. I guess when you have 24/7/365.25 of time to fill; and there are just so many ways the same data can be written and rewritten and rerewritten to tell the same story in a new and different way; you grab what you can and send it out. That used to be called “rip (teletype) and read” in radio; and is now called “view (teleprompter) and speak” in television.

First, it was five students were hurt; then four students were injured; then several scholars were killed; then four were hurt and one was killed; then later, one of the four died; then (while I was researching this info) reports came down that another of the injured students died.

First, it was one shooter; then two shooters; then back to one shooter; then one was apprehended running away; then one was captured by the SWAT team; then one shooter turned himself in; then he was a student; then he was not a student, then he was a student – at another school.

Then he was a student who was bullied by other students; then he was a student at another school who was not bullied; then he was a loner who had several friends, and then, and then, and then.

Whatever! Change the channel and watch the endless reruns of old races while Daytona is rained out! You can come back to Ohio later and hear a completely different story told in a completely different way.

We have all been there: confused and confounded; bothered and bewildered; perplexed and puzzled; dumbfounded and discomfited; flurried and flustered; distracted and disordered; muddled and misplaced; embarrassed and embroiled; disarranged and my all-time favorite – discombobulated!

Yes, we have all been there!

One of the two things I learned in Red Cross Lifesaving Class was that a drowning person can get so disoriented, he/she can actually be upside down, swimming downward while all the while thinking he/she is upside up, swimming upward! That was one thing I learned; I forgot the other thing!

People are confused with so many conflicting reports coming from this news desk and that news desk written by news people who have to get new news first – whether they get it right or not.

Can you say Florida Election in 2000? Can you say hanging, swinging, and/or partial chads?

I say again, people are confused with so many conflicting reports bombarding them from so many different directions.

Take church for instance. Who’s on first and who’s on second; and regardless of who’s on third, where is third anyway? Is there a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2; did the ax head “swim”; when was the flood, and how extensive was it; which “Bethlehem” was the birth place of Jesus; what about all the symbols and figures of Revelation, and by-the-way, how many “revelations” are there; do good works count, is Grace sufficient, is baptism essential, what is “The Lord’s Day”, is Jesus coming again, and by-the-way when (“pre”, “post”, or “pan”)? On and on and on it goes. No wonder so many people are wandering around on the outside wondering: “Is there any hope”, and “Does anybody have the answer”?

I do not claim to have all the answers to all the questions; but I do claim to know The One who does have all the answers to all the questions – and I do believe I can introduce you to Him. His name is Jesus The Christ – the Only Begotten Son of the Only Almighty God!

And He wants to meet you – to be your Friend, to be your Lord and Savior!

Interested?


These columns are written by Tom Mooty, Pastor of Newport’s West End Baptist Church; and all comments can be sent to tommooty05@comcast.net or P.O. Box 851, Newport.

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