♪
[Richard Ames] Warm greetings to all our friends
around the world.
We invite you to join us every week on Tomorrow's World.
Your Bible gives us keys to face the challenges
in our lifetime.
My friends, now is the time to seek God.
My friends, we need to face reality.
One of the greatest mysteries of life is the question:
What are human beings doing here on Earth?
God has an awesome plan for all human beings.
His desire is that all men be saved.
Pray for thy Kingdom to come.
Your Bible plainly reveals a successful and abundant
way of life.
What is the purpose and meaning of your life?
Do you know what you'll be doing for all eternity?
Do you know what lies ahead in your ultimate future?
The answers will surprise you, maybe even astound you.
Stay tuned.
[Gerald Weston] Many of you viewers know of Mr. Richard
Ames, from his 25 years as a television presenter and
writer for Tomorrow's World, where he courageously
proclaimed the plain truth straight from the pages
of the Bible.
He taught the inspiring teachings of Jesus Christ,
the encouraging good news of the coming Kingdom of
God and the glorious world to come.
And he gave clarity to exciting end-time prophecies
and their meaning.
But we're saddened to inform you that Mr. Ames
died July the 4th of this year at the age of 88.
Today I'm joined by fellow evangelists and Tomorrow's
World television presenters, Wallace Smith and Rod McNair,
where we'll reminisce about our dear friend and brother
in Christ.
Richard Ames was a longtime teacher and a friend to
many of you, who appreciated his many telecasts and
magazine articles and the booklets that he wrote.
Some of you met him personally at one of our
Tomorrow's World Live presentations and members
of the Living Church of God, the sponsor of
Tomorrow's World, likely met him at one of our
weekly Sabbath services, or while observing one
of the annual biblical Holy Days and festivals.
So please join us now as Wallace Smith, Rod McNair,
and I discuss the dynamic life of Richard Franklin Ames,
the man who was familiar to so many of you.
♪
A warm welcome to all of you from all of us
here at Tomorrow's World.
I was driving to Texas when I learned of the death of
our friend and longtime associate, Richard Ames.
My wife, Carol and I were able to fly back to Charlotte
for the funeral, but due to a herniated disc, I was
unable to officiate at the funeral as planned.
And Mr. Rod McNair stepped in at the last minute.
You may not be aware of this, but Mr. Ames was Rod McNair's
uncle by marriage, so it was fitting that he was the one
who filled in for me.
Now Rod, you had a special relationship with Mr. Ames
because you're a relative, and I'm sure there were many
occasions that you had the opportunity to share,
especially the last couple weeks of his life.
You and your brother spent a lot of time at the hospital
helping out, encouraging, listening to what he had to
say and things he wanted to pass along, and helping
his wife out as well.
So perhaps you can tell us a little bit more about
this man that we're honoring today.
[Rod McNair] Thank you, Mr. Weston, and it was a real
honor to do the funeral for Mr. Ames.
He has been such a pillar in the work for so many years.
Maybe it would be helpful for our viewers to hear
a little bit about the background of this man
that they have--many of them-- have gotten so familiar with
through the telecast.
Mr. Ames was born in and raised in Meriden, Connecticut.
He was the co-captain on his football team, as well as
being a local radio station announcer, even as a teenager.
He had a civil engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute in 1959, as well as a graduate program at Yale in
traffic and transportation engineering in 1961.
Of course, he was in Norfolk, Virginia after graduation,
and he worked with the Southeast Virginia Regional
Planning Commission there for a short time.
Around that time, he was watching or listening to
the World Tomorrow program by Mr. Herbert Armstrong,
and received the Plain Truth magazine.
And for Mr. Ames, it was like nothing he'd ever heard.
This was straight from the Bible. It was explaining
prophecy. It was explaining in a time of--at the height of
the Cold War, giving hope for the future in a time when
things were a bit dicey.
So it was very, very encouraging to him,
and he began learning about the truth from the Bible,
from Mr. Armstrong.
He then enrolled in Ambassador College in 1961, and that
was in Pasadena, California.
And that's where he met his wife, Kathryn, and they were
married for many years.
They just were short of 60 years when he died,
about two months short.
He served as an instructor at the college for many years,
and that's where I first began to be closely associated with
him, when I went to college.
He was ordained as a minister of Jesus Christ in 1965,
and thus began his calling in the ministry.
In the Living Church of God, he served as a media director
and telecast presenter.
But I also just want to point out to our viewers
that when Mr. Armstrong died in 1986, Mr. Ames
was one of those who was selected to be a presenter
on the World Tomorrow program.
So really, all the way up until April of 2024, just a
couple of months before he died, he was recording telecasts--
almost 40 years.
And so a whole generation of viewers are familiar
with Mr. Ames, and he really just set a remarkable example
of a servant of God laboring in the field, so to speak,
for a long, long time.
As I recall, I first met Mr. Ames on the basketball
court at Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas.
I doubt that he remembers me very much, but I certainly
remembered him.
I was a ministerial trainee in southeastern Texas
and parts of Louisiana.
But I know that, Wally, you've had a lot of experience with
him--your first recollections of him, as well as more, you
were working in editorial under Mr. Ames, where he
was the department head of editorial as well as media.
And so I know you had some unique relationships there,
going over cover selections for the magazine as well as
what was coming up for the articles in the future.
So maybe you could share some of the things that
you learned about Mr. Ames from your experiences.
[Wallace Smith] I would be glad to.
The first time I remember interacting with him in any
sort of professional sense, he was visiting a congregation
I attended before I was in the ministry in Texas,
and I happened to be speaking that day.
It was a small message, and he was in the audience.
And then towards the end of the day, as he was about to
go home, he let me know that if I felt brave enough,
I could ask him for a critique, you know, later.
And for those who don't know him, Mister... Rod just
talked about how he was an instructor for many students
at Ambassador College.
He was sort of famous for his very thorough but loving,
loving critiques, and then had no idea that I would
be working so closely with him later when I was added
to the telecast in 2006.
He had such a passion for doing things precisely
for getting things exactly right.
I remember one of the first comments he made to me on
the telecast was, he let me know, "You know, Wally,
this isn't Texas anymore.
It's Zechariah, not Z-a-chariah."
You know, wanted to make sure it was dialed in just right.
And then working for him-- as was just mentioned,
he was the director of all of our media operations,
and editorial is under that.
And as the executive editor, working with him to fine-tune
the articles to try to understand exactly what is
it we want to highlight in this situation, or that.
He was so particular, in particular, wanting to get
the Scriptures right.
He wanted to make sure that what we said was exactly
what was supposed to be said, exactly what God wanted out
of that particular message.
He said, "If there's confusion about how to say something,
maybe we should look at the Bible and see how God says it."
And he would often just sharpen our focus by pointing us to
the actual words of Scripture.
And the Scriptures were so important to him, and often
he didn't have to look it up to tell us what it said
precisely, because he knew it.
King David writes in the Psalms about hiding Your
word in my heart.
And Mr. Ames was frequently highlighting how this verse
is worth memorizing, and this verse is worth memorizing.
And you started to get the impression over time that
he thought the entire Bible was worth memorizing,
and it seemed as though he had that in him.
So, really working under his guidance in the
editorial department and here in the media
department more broadly, really was a privilege.
Your reference to his correction on Zechariah reminds
me of one that he gave me. And I always appreciated it
because it was done in love, and I knew that it was.
He mentioned that I should not say 'because' and I always
use that--that's the way I grew up, 'be-cuz.'
And he said it's 'be-cause.'
And it was a bit difficult for me at first because
I had to remember it.
And oftentimes I would say 'be-cuz,' and then I would
correct myself with 'because.' So it drove my wife nuts,
because I would say it both ways.
So it was quite a transition.
It took several months for me to change that, and still
I go back to 'be-cuz' occasionally, but I do
try to say 'because.'
One of the things that he talked to me about--
this is just a few weeks before he died. Of course--
as you mentioned--he was in the hospital and then in the
physical therapy facility.
And one of my visits, I was there, and we were talking,
and he said, "Well, Rod, you just said, 'yeah.'"
I had a proclivity to say the word 'yeah'
instead of 'yes.'
And he said "About seven years ago, [and I remember
this, seven years ago,] I talked to you about not
using the word 'yeah.'"
And he said, "After seven years, I thought it was about
time to bring it up again."
So I have to say, every time something like that's
come up, he's been right, and it's been helpful.
And it was a loving way.
He wasn't about holding it over you and he wasn't trying
to put you down because he always wanted to start with
something positive, something encouraging, before he would
drop the hammer a bit.
And sometimes I feel he did have to reach a bit to find
something positive he wanted to say before he brought up
his critique, but he was very consistent about that.
I always felt his influence over really all of us sort of
shepherding us was very grandfatherly, it was very
affectionate in that way.
You know, the other thing about that is he also
took correction, criticism.
There's a very famous one about Passover
time and examining oneself, and he would ask Mrs. Ames
one thing that he could change; every year it seemed
like he did that.
And of course, he then added that it was just one thing,
not two, three, and four.
So he recognized he had a number of faults, and I think
he had a little book, as I recall that, a little notebook
that he would carry and he would write down lessons
that he learned in life.
He was very precise, very, very deliberate about those things.
He was sort of a student of life, wasn't he?
Like you say, I recall that made an impression on me
years and years ago that he would actually carry around
a little book and write down things that you learn in the
situation, and that they-- he would have them numbered.
And a student of life.
You know, one of the things I always appreciated
was his little pithy statements like,
"Don't overlook the obvious."
And I can't remember how many times I heard that
in meetings where we were discussing some situation.
Or perhaps a newer minister preparing a sermon. It
might be on the subject of which day is the Christian
Sabbath, and we know a lot of things about that, and we can
all speak on that subject.
But he would say, "Don't overlook the obvious."
In other words, go back, read the booklet because
maybe there's something you missed before.
And he wanted us to look to those things that we
had written before.
It's not that we can't change, not that we can't grow.
But "Don't overlook the obvious."
The things that we've already said on a subject.
And that was one of his guiding lights in Editorial
when it came to magazine covers or titles.
You know, often we're doing our best to create
something interesting.
We want it to grab people's attention and sometimes where
we can be too artful by half, you know, just a bit.
Or at least we think we're being too artful.
And he'd have to remind us, "Don't overlook the obvious."
Will this person actually know what in the world
they're about to read?
You know, based on this title?
And he was very, very plain spoken in that way.
One of his statements that I enjoyed, I think I've
actually stated it a number of times on the telecast
because it's impacted me, and I think he said he got it from
Mr. Herbert Armstrong first, I'm not sure.
But he liked to remind all of us that "God reigns supreme."
He saw his life as one in which God is reigning.
You know, your comment about him taking little notes in
a book, and he was probably one of the first individuals
I had ever met in my life who was so committed to
constantly growing, constantly moving forward in life.
And I saw that as a reflection of that statement
that "God reigns supreme," that in every area of his
life and in everything going on in the world, he'd be
comforted by that.
And it was comforting to hear him say that
"God reigns supreme."
And there's times with the way the world is going and
so many different challenges here and there and so much
turmoil, that I'm very grateful that he would
emphasize that so often.
I reflect on that fact that even if we don't know all of
the details, even if something might seem personally
challenging, or challenging in the world, there's great comfort
in simply those three words: "God reigns supreme."
And I just thought it was a wonderful expression of
his faith because his life seemed to reflect a real
belief in that statement.
But he would say it's the greatest reality
of the universe.
In three words: "God reigns supreme."
You know another saying that he would say a lot is
"Claim God's promises."
And, a number of messages that he put together,
he would simply go through and look at so many promises
in the Bible, and of course, the Bible is full of
promises from God.
But he had a way of putting them together,
and pulling them out.
And it meant something to him.
And it was very meaningful that God, God promises
things and we need to claim His promises.
I remember he talked about wanting to go to
Jerusalem, and Scripture that talk about our heart's desires.
He gives us all things that are in our heart's
desires that are positive and good.
And he claimed that promise to be able to go to
Jerusalem, or Israel, and it took many, many years.
But God opened that door for him, and he was able to do so.
And he did live that when he claimed God's promises.
That wasn't just a saying, it was a saying, but it
was something that he lived and he believed.
You know, he was a wonderful student of the Bible, that
should go without saying.
But he had a lot of favorite Scriptures.
And what I really liked about his favorite Scriptures, some
of them were rather obvious.
Some of them are memorization Scriptures.
But I want to read one here that I learned from
because I never really thought of it this way.
He had a way of taking something that might be
obscure--something that you could just read over and think,
it's just certain words.
But he had a way of bringing out the meaning of it.
And that's over here in Ephesians the third chapter
and verse 20, where it says,
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that works in us."
Now the point that he made on that is that God is able to do
exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think.
In other words, we may ask for certain things.
We may not even think about certain things,
but God is able to go way above and beyond in His
blessings toward us.
And that kind of goes along with claiming God's promises.
But He shows here that He even goes above those things
that we claim.
And that was very meaningful to me, because I could read
right over that and not catch the meaning of it.
But he was able to draw that out, and he had many
other famous Scriptures that he looked to.
You know, he did.
And some were more obscure, some were obvious in some ways,
you might think.
At the same time, he turned even the obvious ones into a
means by which how he actually acted on a day-to-day basis.
So that sometimes if something's more familiar, we can take it
for granted and actually sort of lose the focus it
should give us.
And one of those that I do think of is in Matthew 6:33,
where Jesus Christ said that we were to:
"seek first the kingdom of God."
And then if we did that, all these other things we worry
about would be added to us.
And so think about that verse, "Seek first the kingdom of God,
seek first the kingdom of God."
But for Mr. Ames, it really was a guiding principle.
It became something where you make even small decisions based
upon what this verse says.
I know when it comes to the telecast, he would often
remind me--because we talk about so much, we talk about
different things going on in the world, we talk about
different problems--but he would remind me that the point
of it all is to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
And no matter what you say, if it's in an article,
if it's in a television program, because that's
what we want our readers and viewers thinking about
is the Kingdom of God.
We need them putting that first in their life,
in everything they do.
And so for him, these memory Scriptures, they really
weren't just simply an academic exercise.
They really were these guideposts that he did
weave into his own life and his own choices and
his advice to others.
Didn't he also use Matthew 6:33 for students
[Wallace Smith] He did. [Rod Mcnair] ...in his classes?
[Wallace Smith] He did.
So, and I've heard this from multiple students,
even some that hadn't seen him for years.
When they find out that I work with him, they'd say,
"Oh, does he still talk about this?"
He would talk about setting your alarm clock for
particular times to remind you of various verses.
So if you would want to get up--some might think early,
some may not--but you want to get up at 6:30 in the
morning, he would say, "Well, you know,
if you give yourself just three more minutes of sleep,
you can set your alarm for 6:33 and then you'll wake up
thinking, 'Seek first the kingdom of God.'"
So he even encouraged the students to try to dial
in their alarm clocks, to remind them of some of
these important Scriptures.
I remember him talking about that and explaining
that in some of his classes, and then having a student
raise their hand, his or her hand and say,
"Well, Mr. Ames, my favorite Scripture is Romans 8:28.
So I want to set my alarm clock for 8:28."
But that was another Scripture that really
jumps out at you from him.
Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who
are the called according to His purpose."
And I think over the years, different trials that he's
been through that he was very candid about... his--he had back
problems years ago, but when he would speak and talk
about some of these issues, he would remind all the
rest of us that he learned things from that.
And all things work together if we love God and are called
according to His purpose. It doesn't mean that everything
in the world works out well.
But if we love God and we're called and we're
responding to that calling, it's going to work out.
I remember one time when I was at the summer camp up
in Michigan, and your brother Jonathan and I were sitting in
the back of the chapel there, and we had about 200 students
and staff that were sitting in front of us, and he was
going through the Seven Laws of Success.
And when he got to the fourth one, the fourth law of success
was "Drive."
And of course, he drove himself.
That was very clear.
He was a Type A personality.
And so when he came to the fourth one with all the
students in Ambassador College, and he said,
"The fourth law of success is?"
he expected them to raise their fist and say, "Drive!"
And so we were sitting there at the back of the chapel,
and here are all these young campers, and they had no idea of
the way that Mr. Ames did that.
And so your brother and I were sitting in the back,
and we planned that, when he got to number four,
we would stand up and yell "Drive!" which we did.
And it just, everybody kind of wondered "What's going on here?"
And I think we shocked him as well.
He was surprised that anybody would do that,
but he was the one that taught all the students
to drive themselves.
There are so many memories when you think
about the life of Mr. Ames.
Some of the things that I think about are how
he would be involved in the local congregation.
If there was a picnic, if there was an activity,
he would always be there.
He also would always talk to everyone, and in particular
to young people.
I just have a lot of mental images and memories of him
talking to teenagers, preteens, always wanting to find out
something about their life.
And he would remember it. Later on, when he would talk
to them, he'd be asking them, "Well, how's that project
in school going?" Or
you know, "How's that sport that you're playing?
How's that going?"
So he was never too busy to care about other people.
You know, that does remind me, the last conversation
I had with him, in the hospital, when he was there under
hospice care at the time, I felt like he was serving me
more than I was serving him.
And that's one of the things he did was he asked me,
"Well, tell me, what's the biggest thing going on in
each of your son's lives?"
You know, and he remembered their names.
He never lost that it was really about people, it's
not just about some academic exercise, it's about getting
that truth to people.
He cared about people.
And one of my favorite stories was at one of our Feast
of Tabernacles observances in the Living Church of God.
It was in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and it was a
large group of people.
And there's so many who wanted to meet Mr. Ames.
So many people had made appointments with him.
His dance card, if you will, was always full because
Mr. Ames was in great demand. And my mother-in-law had
approached him some time, asking if maybe he could stop by
for dinner, at our condo or something, to spend some time.
And he was just too busy.
He wished he could, but the time that we'd had
available then, he wasn't going to be available.
But he didn't forget her.
Just this one woman in this whole crowd of people.
And as they were arranging their plans to get to their
flight--because they were serving at multiple locations
over that time--as busy as he was with all of his luggage in
the car, he went and grabbed my mother-in-law and said
"I could make some time. I'd love to have breakfast
with you and your family if we could."
And so they ended up stopping by for breakfast.
We had breakfast tacos; it wasn't anything elaborate,
and it wasn't expected.
But the idea that, as busy as they were, for someone
that what you might not consider important in
some way, just a regular person, regular family--
two crying kids--they still made time. Taking
care of God's people and investing in them and getting
to know them was so important to Mr. Ames and Mrs. Ames.
None of us were too small.
He was just one of us, and he loved us, and we loved
him for it.
Wally, thank you for sharing these things that
you've learned from Mr. Ames, and Rod as well--I think we've
brought some insight to our audience that they may not know.
But I see that we're out of time, and we need
to wrap this up.
So, I have to ask the question:
How does one sum up a life of 88 years in a half hour?
We've only given you a few highlights, some memorable
moments regarding our colleague and friend.
He touched the lives of many thousands and each
one could add his own memory of the man.
One Scripture we did not mention earlier is Daniel 12:3,
where it says,
"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the
firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like
the stars forever and ever."
And yes, his mission in life was to turn many to righteousness.
And he understood from the pages of the Bible the
meaning of life.
And that's why we want to share that magnificent hope
with all of you viewers.
Today's free offer asks the most important question of all,
What is the Meaning of Life?
And it's not likely what you've been taught.
Seriously, friends, what can be more important than
understanding why God gave you life?
So write down the number shown on the screen and call to order
your absolutely free copy of What is the Meaning of Life?
Just tell the operator that you want today's offer,
that's all you need.
Or you can order What is the Meaning of Life?
from our website at TWTV.org/Life.
Richard Ames understood God's plan for mankind
and that's why he sought first the Kingdom of God.
And that is why his life's mission was to turn many
to righteousness, that they, too, might share
in that wonderful plan.
Until next time, Wallace Smith, Rod McNair, and I
will continue to bring you the good news of the
coming Kingdom of God and the plain truth straight
from the pages of the Bible.
See you next time.
♪
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