WEBVTT
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♪
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[Richard Ames] Warm greetings
to all our friends
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around the world.
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We invite you to join us every week on Tomorrow's World.
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Your Bible gives us keys
to face the challenges
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in our lifetime.
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My friends, now is
the time to seek God.
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My friends, we need
to face reality.
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One of the greatest mysteries
of life is the question:
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What are human beings
doing here on Earth?
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God has an awesome plan
for all human beings.
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His desire is that
all men be saved.
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Pray for thy Kingdom to come.
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Your Bible plainly reveals
a successful and abundant
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way of life.
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What is the purpose and
meaning of your life?
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Do you know what you'll
be doing for all eternity?
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Do you know what lies ahead
in your ultimate future?
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The answers will surprise
you, maybe even astound you.
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Stay tuned.
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[Gerald Weston] Many of you viewers know of Mr. Richard
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Ames, from his 25 years as a
television presenter and
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writer for Tomorrow's World, where he courageously
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proclaimed the plain truth straight from the pages
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of the Bible.
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He taught the inspiring
teachings of Jesus Christ,
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the encouraging good news
of the coming Kingdom of
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God and the glorious
world to come.
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And he gave clarity to
exciting end-time prophecies
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and their meaning.
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But we're saddened to
inform you that Mr. Ames
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died July the 4th of this
year at the age of 88.
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Today I'm joined by fellow
evangelists and Tomorrow's
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World television presenters, Wallace Smith and Rod McNair,
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where we'll reminisce about
our dear friend and brother
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in Christ.
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Richard Ames was a longtime teacher and a friend to
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many of you, who appreciated
his many telecasts and
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magazine articles and the booklets that he wrote.
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Some of you met him
personally at one of our
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Tomorrow's World Live
presentations and members
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of the Living Church
of God, the sponsor of
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Tomorrow's World, likely
met him at one of our
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weekly Sabbath services,
or while observing one
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of the annual biblical
Holy Days and festivals.
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So please join us now as
Wallace Smith, Rod McNair,
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and I discuss the dynamic life of Richard Franklin Ames,
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the man who was familiar
to so many of you.
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♪
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A warm welcome to
all of you from all of us
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here at Tomorrow's World.
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I was driving to Texas when
I learned of the death of
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our friend and longtime associate, Richard Ames.
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My wife, Carol and I were
able to fly back to Charlotte
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for the funeral, but due
to a herniated disc, I was
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unable to officiate at
the funeral as planned.
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And Mr. Rod McNair stepped
in at the last minute.
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You may not be aware of this, but Mr. Ames was Rod McNair's
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uncle by marriage, so it was fitting that he was the one
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who filled in for me.
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Now Rod, you had a special
relationship with Mr. Ames
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because you're a relative,
and I'm sure there were many
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occasions that you had
the opportunity to share,
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especially the last couple
weeks of his life.
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You and your brother spent a
lot of time at the hospital
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helping out, encouraging, listening to what he had to
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say and things he wanted
to pass along, and helping
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his wife out as well.
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So perhaps you can tell us
a little bit more about
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this man that we're
honoring today.
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[Rod McNair] Thank you, Mr. Weston, and it was a real
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honor to do the
funeral for Mr. Ames.
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He has been such a pillar in
the work for so many years.
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Maybe it would be helpful
for our viewers to hear
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a little bit about the
background of this man
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that they have--many of them-- have gotten so familiar with
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through the telecast.
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Mr. Ames was born in and raised in Meriden, Connecticut.
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He was the co-captain on his football team, as well as
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being a local radio station announcer, even as a teenager.
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He had a civil engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic
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Institute in 1959, as well as
a graduate program at Yale in
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traffic and transportation engineering in 1961.
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Of course, he was in Norfolk, Virginia after graduation,
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and he worked with the
Southeast Virginia Regional
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Planning Commission there
for a short time.
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Around that time, he was
watching or listening to
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the World Tomorrow program
by Mr. Herbert Armstrong,
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and received the
Plain Truth magazine.
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And for Mr. Ames, it was like nothing he'd ever heard.
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This was straight from the
Bible. It was explaining
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prophecy. It was explaining in
a time of--at the height of
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the Cold War, giving hope for the future in a time when
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things were a bit dicey.
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So it was very, very
encouraging to him,
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and he began learning about
the truth from the Bible,
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from Mr. Armstrong.
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He then enrolled in Ambassador College in 1961, and that
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was in Pasadena, California.
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And that's where he met his wife, Kathryn, and they were
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married for many years.
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They just were short of
60 years when he died,
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about two months short.
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He served as an instructor at the college for many years,
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and that's where I first began to be closely associated with
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him, when I went to college.
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He was ordained as a minister
of Jesus Christ in 1965,
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and thus began his calling
in the ministry.
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In the Living Church of God,
he served as a media director
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and telecast presenter.
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But I also just want to
point out to our viewers
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that when Mr. Armstrong
died in 1986, Mr. Ames
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was one of those who was
selected to be a presenter
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on the World Tomorrow program.
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So really, all the way up
until April of 2024, just a
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couple of months before he died, he was recording telecasts--
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almost 40 years.
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And so a whole generation
of viewers are familiar
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with Mr. Ames, and he really just set a remarkable example
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of a servant of God laboring
in the field, so to speak,
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for a long, long time.
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As I recall, I first met Mr. Ames on the basketball
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court at Ambassador College
in Big Sandy, Texas.
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I doubt that he remembers me very much, but I certainly
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remembered him.
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I was a ministerial trainee
in southeastern Texas
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and parts of Louisiana.
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But I know that, Wally, you've had a lot of experience with
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him--your first recollections
of him, as well as more, you
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were working in editorial
under Mr. Ames, where he
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was the department head of
editorial as well as media.
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And so I know you had some unique relationships there,
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going over cover selections
for the magazine as well as
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what was coming up for the articles in the future.
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So maybe you could share
some of the things that
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you learned about Mr. Ames
from your experiences.
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[Wallace Smith] I would be
glad to.
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The first time I remember
interacting with him in any
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sort of professional sense,
he was visiting a congregation
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I attended before I was
in the ministry in Texas,
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and I happened to be
speaking that day.
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It was a small message,
and he was in the audience.
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And then towards the end of
the day, as he was about to
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go home, he let me know that
if I felt brave enough,
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I could ask him for a
critique, you know, later.
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And for those who don't
know him, Mister... Rod just
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talked about how he was an instructor for many students
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at Ambassador College.
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He was sort of famous for
his very thorough but loving,
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loving critiques, and then
had no idea that I would
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be working so closely with
him later when I was added
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to the telecast in 2006.
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He had such a passion for
doing things precisely
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for getting things
exactly right.
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I remember one of the first comments he made to me on
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the telecast was, he let
me know, "You know, Wally,
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this isn't Texas anymore.
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It's Zechariah,
not Z-a-chariah."
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You know, wanted to make sure it was dialed in just right.
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And then working for him--
as was just mentioned,
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he was the director of all
of our media operations,
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and editorial is under that.
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And as the executive editor, working with him to fine-tune
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the articles to try to understand exactly what is
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it we want to highlight in
this situation, or that.
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He was so particular, in particular, wanting to get
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the Scriptures right.
08:46.826 --> 08:49.996
He wanted to make sure that
what we said was exactly
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what was supposed to be said,
exactly what God wanted out
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of that particular message.
08:56.202 --> 08:59.405
He said, "If there's confusion about how to say something,
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maybe we should look at the Bible and see how God says it."
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And he would often just sharpen our focus by pointing us to
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the actual words of Scripture.
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And the Scriptures were so important to him, and often
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he didn't have to look it
up to tell us what it said
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precisely, because he knew it.
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King David writes in the
Psalms about hiding Your
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word in my heart.
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And Mr. Ames was frequently highlighting how this verse
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is worth memorizing, and this verse is worth memorizing.
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And you started to get the
impression over time that
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he thought the entire Bible
was worth memorizing,
09:31.537 --> 09:33.406
and it seemed as though
he had that in him.
09:33.472 --> 09:35.574
So, really working under
his guidance in the
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editorial department
and here in the media
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department more broadly,
really was a privilege.
09:40.146 --> 09:45.284
Your reference to his correction on Zechariah reminds
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me of one that he gave me.
And I always appreciated it
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because it was done in love,
and I knew that it was.
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He mentioned that I should
not say 'because' and I always
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use that--that's the way
I grew up, 'be-cuz.'
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And he said it's 'be-cause.'
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And it was a bit difficult
for me at first because
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I had to remember it.
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And oftentimes I would say
'be-cuz,' and then I would
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correct myself with 'because.' So it drove my wife nuts,
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because I would say
it both ways.
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So it was quite a transition.
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It took several months for
me to change that, and still
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I go back to 'be-cuz' occasionally, but I do
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try to say 'because.'
10:27.126 --> 10:28.928
One of the things that
he talked to me about--
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this is just a few weeks
before he died. Of course--
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as you mentioned--he was in
the hospital and then in the
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physical therapy facility.
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And one of my visits, I was there, and we were talking,
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and he said, "Well, Rod,
you just said, 'yeah.'"
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I had a proclivity to
say the word 'yeah'
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instead of 'yes.'
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And he said "About seven
years ago, [and I remember
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this, seven years ago,]
I talked to you about not
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using the word 'yeah.'"
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And he said, "After seven
years, I thought it was about
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time to bring it up again."
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So I have to say, every
time something like that's
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come up, he's been right,
and it's been helpful.
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And it was a loving way.
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He wasn't about holding it over you and he wasn't trying
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to put you down because he always wanted to start with
11:18.177 --> 11:20.946
something positive, something encouraging, before he would
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drop the hammer a bit.
11:22.348 --> 11:25.351
And sometimes I feel he did
have to reach a bit to find
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something positive he wanted
to say before he brought up
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his critique, but he was
very consistent about that.
11:30.923 --> 11:34.260
I always felt his influence
over really all of us sort of
11:34.326 --> 11:37.396
shepherding us was very grandfatherly, it was very
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affectionate in that way.
11:38.664 --> 11:41.700
You know, the other
thing about that is he also
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took correction, criticism.
11:45.171 --> 11:47.406
There's a very
famous one about Passover
11:47.473 --> 11:52.044
time and examining oneself,
and he would ask Mrs. Ames
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one thing that he could
change; every year it seemed
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like he did that.
11:56.248 --> 11:59.051
And of course, he then added
that it was just one thing,
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not two, three, and four.
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So he recognized he had a
number of faults, and I think
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he had a little book, as I recall that, a little notebook
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that he would carry and he
would write down lessons
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that he learned in life.
12:12.164 --> 12:15.434
He was very precise, very, very deliberate about those things.
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He was sort of a student of life, wasn't he?
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Like you say, I recall that
made an impression on me
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years and years ago that he would actually carry around
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a little book and write down things that you learn in the
12:29.281 --> 12:32.184
situation, and that they--
he would have them numbered.
12:32.251 --> 12:34.487
And a student of life.
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You know, one of the things I always appreciated
12:36.822 --> 12:39.592
was his little pithy
statements like,
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"Don't overlook the obvious."
12:41.660 --> 12:44.463
And I can't remember how
many times I heard that
12:44.530 --> 12:47.833
in meetings where we were discussing some situation.
12:47.900 --> 12:52.805
Or perhaps a newer minister preparing a sermon. It
12:52.872 --> 12:55.441
might be on the subject of
which day is the Christian
12:55.508 --> 12:58.777
Sabbath, and we know a lot of things about that, and we can
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all speak on that subject.
13:00.112 --> 13:02.848
But he would say,
"Don't overlook the obvious."
13:02.915 --> 13:05.384
In other words, go back,
read the booklet because
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maybe there's something
you missed before.
13:07.820 --> 13:10.656
And he wanted us to look
to those things that we
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had written before.
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It's not that we can't change, not that we can't grow.
13:14.727 --> 13:17.463
But "Don't overlook
the obvious."
13:17.530 --> 13:19.865
The things that we've
already said on a subject.
13:19.932 --> 13:22.201
And that was one of his guiding lights in Editorial
13:22.268 --> 13:25.004
when it came to magazine
covers or titles.
13:25.070 --> 13:27.406
You know, often we're
doing our best to create
13:27.473 --> 13:28.807
something interesting.
13:28.874 --> 13:32.111
We want it to grab people's attention and sometimes where
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we can be too artful by half, you know, just a bit.
13:35.414 --> 13:37.116
Or at least we think
we're being too artful.
13:37.183 --> 13:40.319
And he'd have to remind us, "Don't overlook the obvious."
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Will this person actually
know what in the world
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they're about to read?
13:43.522 --> 13:44.590
You know, based on this title?
13:44.657 --> 13:47.126
And he was very, very
plain spoken in that way.
13:47.193 --> 13:49.662
One of his statements that
I enjoyed, I think I've
13:49.728 --> 13:51.530
actually stated it a number
of times on the telecast
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because it's impacted me, and
I think he said he got it from
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Mr. Herbert Armstrong first,
I'm not sure.
13:58.337 --> 14:04.843
But he liked to remind all of
us that "God reigns supreme."
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He saw his life as one
in which God is reigning.
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You know, your comment about
him taking little notes in
14:10.716 --> 14:13.319
a book, and he was probably
one of the first individuals
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I had ever met in my life
who was so committed to
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constantly growing, constantly moving forward in life.
14:20.960 --> 14:24.196
And I saw that as a
reflection of that statement
14:24.263 --> 14:27.032
that "God reigns supreme,"
that in every area of his
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life and in everything going
on in the world, he'd be
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comforted by that.
14:31.470 --> 14:32.738
And it was comforting
to hear him say that
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"God reigns supreme."
14:34.607 --> 14:37.543
And there's times with the
way the world is going and
14:37.610 --> 14:40.112
so many different challenges here and there and so much
14:40.179 --> 14:42.648
turmoil, that I'm very
grateful that he would
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emphasize that so often.
14:44.183 --> 14:47.219
I reflect on that fact that
even if we don't know all of
14:47.286 --> 14:49.755
the details, even if something might seem personally
14:49.822 --> 14:54.526
challenging, or challenging in the world, there's great comfort
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in simply those three words:
"God reigns supreme."
14:57.763 --> 14:59.431
And I just thought it was
a wonderful expression of
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his faith because his life
seemed to reflect a real
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belief in that statement.
15:04.470 --> 15:06.872
But he would say
it's the greatest reality
15:06.939 --> 15:08.674
of the universe.
15:08.741 --> 15:11.577
In three words:
"God reigns supreme."
15:11.644 --> 15:15.547
You know another saying
that he would say a lot is
15:15.614 --> 15:17.750
"Claim God's promises."
15:17.816 --> 15:21.220
And, a number of messages
that he put together,
15:21.287 --> 15:25.157
he would simply go through
and look at so many promises
15:25.224 --> 15:28.761
in the Bible, and of course,
the Bible is full of
15:28.827 --> 15:29.795
promises from God.
15:29.862 --> 15:31.764
But he had a way of
putting them together,
15:31.830 --> 15:33.866
and pulling them out.
15:33.932 --> 15:36.168
And it meant something to him.
15:36.235 --> 15:39.571
And it was very meaningful
that God, God promises
15:39.638 --> 15:42.908
things and we need to claim His promises.
15:42.975 --> 15:45.778
I remember he talked
about wanting to go to
15:45.844 --> 15:50.282
Jerusalem, and Scripture that talk about our heart's desires.
15:50.349 --> 15:52.551
He gives us all things
that are in our heart's
15:52.618 --> 15:54.620
desires that are
positive and good.
15:54.687 --> 15:57.156
And he claimed that promise
to be able to go to
15:57.222 --> 16:00.693
Jerusalem, or Israel, and
it took many, many years.
16:00.759 --> 16:04.196
But God opened that door for him, and he was able to do so.
16:04.263 --> 16:07.599
And he did live that when
he claimed God's promises.
16:07.666 --> 16:11.036
That wasn't just a saying,
it was a saying, but it
16:11.103 --> 16:13.439
was something that he
lived and he believed.
16:13.505 --> 16:17.476
You know, he was a wonderful student of the Bible, that
16:17.543 --> 16:18.844
should go without saying.
16:18.911 --> 16:21.413
But he had a lot of
favorite Scriptures.
16:21.480 --> 16:25.317
And what I really liked about his favorite Scriptures, some
16:25.384 --> 16:26.719
of them were rather obvious.
16:26.785 --> 16:28.554
Some of them are
memorization Scriptures.
16:28.620 --> 16:31.824
But I want to read one
here that I learned from
16:31.890 --> 16:34.993
because I never really
thought of it this way.
16:35.060 --> 16:37.696
He had a way of taking
something that might be
16:37.763 --> 16:41.200
obscure--something that you could just read over and think,
16:41.266 --> 16:42.334
it's just certain words.
16:42.401 --> 16:45.404
But he had a way of bringing
out the meaning of it.
16:45.471 --> 16:48.807
And that's over here in Ephesians the third chapter
16:48.874 --> 16:50.876
and verse 20, where it says,
16:50.943 --> 16:54.246
"Now to Him who is able to
do exceedingly abundantly
16:54.313 --> 16:58.417
above all that we ask or
think, according to the
16:58.484 --> 17:00.452
power that works in us."
17:00.519 --> 17:04.823
Now the point that he made on that is that God is able to do
17:04.890 --> 17:09.628
exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think.
17:09.695 --> 17:12.097
In other words, we may
ask for certain things.
17:12.164 --> 17:15.100
We may not even think
about certain things,
17:15.167 --> 17:18.370
but God is able to go way
above and beyond in His
17:18.437 --> 17:19.638
blessings toward us.
17:19.705 --> 17:22.708
And that kind of goes along
with claiming God's promises.
17:22.775 --> 17:26.245
But He shows here that He
even goes above those things
17:26.311 --> 17:27.513
that we claim.
17:27.579 --> 17:30.549
And that was very meaningful
to me, because I could read
17:30.616 --> 17:33.285
right over that and not
catch the meaning of it.
17:33.352 --> 17:35.921
But he was able to draw
that out, and he had many
17:35.988 --> 17:38.690
other famous Scriptures
that he looked to.
17:38.757 --> 17:40.025
You know, he did.
17:40.092 --> 17:43.695
And some were more obscure,
some were obvious in some ways,
17:43.762 --> 17:44.963
you might think.
17:45.030 --> 17:48.200
At the same time, he turned
even the obvious ones into a
17:48.267 --> 17:51.870
means by which how he actually acted on a day-to-day basis.
17:51.937 --> 17:54.907
So that sometimes if something's more familiar, we can take it
17:54.973 --> 17:58.310
for granted and actually
sort of lose the focus it
17:58.377 --> 17:59.545
should give us.
17:59.611 --> 18:03.182
And one of those that I do
think of is in Matthew 6:33,
18:03.248 --> 18:05.818
where Jesus Christ said
that we were to:
18:05.884 --> 18:08.220
"seek first the kingdom of God."
18:08.287 --> 18:10.222
And then if we did that, all these other things we worry
18:10.289 --> 18:11.590
about would be added to us.
18:11.657 --> 18:14.793
And so think about that verse, "Seek first the kingdom of God,
18:14.860 --> 18:15.961
seek first the kingdom of God."
18:16.028 --> 18:19.665
But for Mr. Ames, it really
was a guiding principle.
18:19.731 --> 18:23.168
It became something where you make even small decisions based
18:23.235 --> 18:24.736
upon what this verse says.
18:24.803 --> 18:27.239
I know when it comes to the telecast, he would often
18:27.306 --> 18:29.641
remind me--because we talk
about so much, we talk about
18:29.708 --> 18:31.577
different things going on
in the world, we talk about
18:31.643 --> 18:36.114
different problems--but he
would remind me that the point
18:36.181 --> 18:39.384
of it all is to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
18:39.451 --> 18:42.254
And no matter what you say,
if it's in an article,
18:42.321 --> 18:45.224
if it's in a television
program, because that's
18:45.290 --> 18:47.593
what we want our readers
and viewers thinking about
18:47.659 --> 18:48.660
is the Kingdom of God.
18:48.727 --> 18:51.263
We need them putting that
first in their life,
18:51.330 --> 18:53.198
in everything they do.
18:53.265 --> 18:56.301
And so for him, these memory Scriptures, they really
18:56.368 --> 18:58.670
weren't just simply
an academic exercise.
18:58.737 --> 19:01.940
They really were these
guideposts that he did
19:02.007 --> 19:05.043
weave into his own life
and his own choices and
19:05.110 --> 19:06.245
his advice to others.
19:06.311 --> 19:11.283
Didn't he also use
Matthew 6:33 for students
19:11.350 --> 19:12.818
[Wallace Smith] He did.
[Rod Mcnair] ...in his classes?
19:12.885 --> 19:13.952
[Wallace Smith] He did.
19:14.019 --> 19:15.621
So, and I've heard this
from multiple students,
19:15.687 --> 19:17.356
even some that hadn't
seen him for years.
19:17.422 --> 19:19.157
When they find out that I
work with him, they'd say,
19:19.224 --> 19:20.492
"Oh, does he still
talk about this?"
19:20.559 --> 19:23.362
He would talk about setting
your alarm clock for
19:23.428 --> 19:26.164
particular times to remind
you of various verses.
19:26.231 --> 19:29.501
So if you would want to get
up--some might think early,
19:29.568 --> 19:31.570
some may not--but you want
to get up at 6:30 in the
19:31.637 --> 19:33.939
morning, he would say,
"Well, you know,
19:34.006 --> 19:37.576
if you give yourself just
three more minutes of sleep,
19:37.643 --> 19:42.481
you can set your alarm for
6:33 and then you'll wake up
19:42.548 --> 19:44.850
thinking, 'Seek first
the kingdom of God.'"
19:44.917 --> 19:47.519
So he even encouraged the
students to try to dial
19:47.586 --> 19:51.123
in their alarm clocks,
to remind them of some of
19:51.189 --> 19:52.257
these important Scriptures.
19:52.324 --> 19:55.561
I remember him talking about that and explaining
19:55.627 --> 19:58.897
that in some of his classes,
and then having a student
19:58.964 --> 20:03.068
raise their hand, his
or her hand and say,
20:03.135 --> 20:06.538
"Well, Mr. Ames, my favorite Scripture is Romans 8:28.
20:06.605 --> 20:09.441
So I want to set my
alarm clock for 8:28."
20:09.508 --> 20:12.778
But that was another
Scripture that really
20:12.844 --> 20:15.013
jumps out at you from him.
20:15.080 --> 20:18.650
Romans 8:28, "And we
know that all things work
20:18.717 --> 20:22.454
together for good to those
who love God, to those who
20:22.521 --> 20:24.890
are the called according
to His purpose."
20:24.957 --> 20:28.860
And I think over the years,
different trials that he's
20:28.927 --> 20:33.031
been through that he was very candid about... his--he had back
20:33.098 --> 20:36.435
problems years ago, but when
he would speak and talk
20:36.501 --> 20:40.539
about some of these issues,
he would remind all the
20:40.606 --> 20:44.242
rest of us that he learned things from that.
20:44.309 --> 20:48.280
And all things work together
if we love God and are called
20:48.347 --> 20:51.450
according to His purpose. It doesn't mean that everything
20:51.516 --> 20:53.518
in the world works out well.
20:53.585 --> 20:56.855
But if we love God and
we're called and we're
20:56.922 --> 20:59.858
responding to that calling,
it's going to work out.
20:59.925 --> 21:02.728
I remember one time when
I was at the summer camp up
21:02.794 --> 21:07.165
in Michigan, and your brother Jonathan and I were sitting in
21:07.232 --> 21:11.470
the back of the chapel there, and we had about 200 students
21:11.536 --> 21:13.805
and staff that were sitting
in front of us, and he was
21:13.872 --> 21:15.674
going through the Seven
Laws of Success.
21:15.741 --> 21:19.911
And when he got to the fourth one, the fourth law of success
21:19.978 --> 21:20.812
was "Drive."
21:20.879 --> 21:22.614
And of course, he drove himself.
21:22.681 --> 21:23.849
That was very clear.
21:23.915 --> 21:25.851
He was a Type A personality.
21:25.917 --> 21:29.921
And so when he came to the fourth one with all the
21:29.988 --> 21:32.057
students in Ambassador
College, and he said,
21:32.124 --> 21:33.792
"The fourth law of success is?"
21:33.859 --> 21:37.562
he expected them to raise their fist and say, "Drive!"
21:37.629 --> 21:42.300
And so we were sitting there
at the back of the chapel,
21:42.367 --> 21:46.838
and here are all these young campers, and they had no idea of
21:46.905 --> 21:48.907
the way that Mr. Ames did that.
21:48.974 --> 21:51.276
And so your brother and I
were sitting in the back,
21:51.343 --> 21:53.812
and we planned that, when
he got to number four,
21:53.879 --> 21:57.482
we would stand up and yell
"Drive!" which we did.
21:57.549 --> 22:00.152
And it just, everybody kind of wondered "What's going on here?"
22:00.218 --> 22:02.087
And I think we
shocked him as well.
22:02.154 --> 22:04.489
He was surprised that
anybody would do that,
22:04.556 --> 22:07.025
but he was the one that
taught all the students
22:07.092 --> 22:09.127
to drive themselves.
22:09.194 --> 22:12.330
There are so many
memories when you think
22:12.397 --> 22:14.599
about the life of Mr. Ames.
22:14.666 --> 22:17.769
Some of the things that
I think about are how
22:17.836 --> 22:20.472
he would be involved in
the local congregation.
22:20.539 --> 22:23.041
If there was a picnic,
if there was an activity,
22:23.108 --> 22:25.310
he would always be there.
22:25.377 --> 22:31.349
He also would always talk to everyone, and in particular
22:31.416 --> 22:32.651
to young people.
22:32.718 --> 22:36.621
I just have a lot of mental images and memories of him
22:36.688 --> 22:41.593
talking to teenagers, preteens, always wanting to find out
22:41.660 --> 22:43.228
something about their life.
22:43.295 --> 22:46.631
And he would remember it.
Later on, when he would talk
22:46.698 --> 22:48.633
to them, he'd be asking them, "Well, how's that project
22:48.700 --> 22:50.068
in school going?" Or
22:50.135 --> 22:52.404
you know, "How's that
sport that you're playing?
22:52.471 --> 22:53.672
How's that going?"
22:53.739 --> 22:57.442
So he was never too busy to
care about other people.
22:57.509 --> 23:00.846
You know, that does remind me, the last conversation
23:00.912 --> 23:04.516
I had with him, in the hospital, when he was there under
23:04.583 --> 23:07.652
hospice care at the time,
I felt like he was serving me
23:07.719 --> 23:08.854
more than I was serving him.
23:08.920 --> 23:11.156
And that's one of the things
he did was he asked me,
23:11.223 --> 23:13.458
"Well, tell me, what's the biggest thing going on in
23:13.525 --> 23:14.826
each of your son's lives?"
23:14.893 --> 23:16.428
You know, and he
remembered their names.
23:16.495 --> 23:19.731
He never lost that it was
really about people, it's
23:19.798 --> 23:22.267
not just about some academic exercise, it's about getting
23:22.334 --> 23:23.535
that truth to people.
23:23.602 --> 23:24.770
He cared about people.
23:24.836 --> 23:26.905
And one of my favorite stories was at one of our Feast
23:26.972 --> 23:29.775
of Tabernacles observances
in the Living Church of God.
23:29.841 --> 23:33.445
It was in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and it was a
23:33.512 --> 23:34.913
large group of people.
23:34.980 --> 23:36.782
And there's so many who
wanted to meet Mr. Ames.
23:36.848 --> 23:39.518
So many people had made
appointments with him.
23:39.584 --> 23:42.187
His dance card, if you will,
was always full because
23:42.254 --> 23:45.791
Mr. Ames was in great demand. And my mother-in-law had
23:45.857 --> 23:48.293
approached him some time, asking if maybe he could stop by
23:48.360 --> 23:51.563
for dinner, at our condo or something, to spend some time.
23:51.630 --> 23:53.331
And he was just too busy.
23:53.398 --> 23:55.233
He wished he could, but
the time that we'd had
23:55.300 --> 23:57.335
available then, he wasn't
going to be available.
23:57.402 --> 23:58.637
But he didn't forget her.
23:58.703 --> 24:02.207
Just this one woman in this whole crowd of people.
24:02.274 --> 24:06.611
And as they were arranging
their plans to get to their
24:06.678 --> 24:08.780
flight--because they were serving at multiple locations
24:08.847 --> 24:13.385
over that time--as busy as he was with all of his luggage in
24:13.451 --> 24:17.289
the car, he went and grabbed
my mother-in-law and said
24:17.355 --> 24:19.457
"I could make some time.
I'd love to have breakfast
24:19.524 --> 24:21.293
with you and your family
if we could."
24:21.359 --> 24:23.461
And so they ended up stopping
by for breakfast.
24:23.528 --> 24:26.231
We had breakfast tacos; it
wasn't anything elaborate,
24:26.298 --> 24:27.399
and it wasn't expected.
24:27.465 --> 24:30.502
But the idea that, as busy
as they were, for someone
24:30.569 --> 24:32.470
that what you might not
consider important in
24:32.537 --> 24:35.273
some way, just a regular
person, regular family--
24:35.340 --> 24:40.111
two crying kids--they
still made time. Taking
24:40.178 --> 24:42.514
care of God's people and
investing in them and getting
24:42.581 --> 24:45.483
to know them was so important
to Mr. Ames and Mrs. Ames.
24:45.550 --> 24:46.952
None of us were too small.
24:47.018 --> 24:50.755
He was just one of us, and
he loved us, and we loved
24:50.822 --> 24:52.090
him for it.
24:52.157 --> 24:55.994
Wally, thank you for
sharing these things that
24:56.061 --> 24:59.831
you've learned from Mr. Ames, and Rod as well--I think we've
24:59.898 --> 25:03.201
brought some insight to our audience that they may not know.
25:03.268 --> 25:06.438
But I see that we're out
of time, and we need
25:06.504 --> 25:07.505
to wrap this up.
25:07.572 --> 25:09.941
So, I have to ask the question:
25:10.008 --> 25:14.679
How does one sum up a life of
88 years in a half hour?
25:14.746 --> 25:17.048
We've only given you a few
highlights, some memorable
25:17.115 --> 25:20.018
moments regarding our
colleague and friend.
25:20.085 --> 25:23.088
He touched the lives of
many thousands and each
25:23.154 --> 25:25.590
one could add his own
memory of the man.
25:25.657 --> 25:30.695
One Scripture we did not
mention earlier is Daniel 12:3,
25:30.762 --> 25:31.997
where it says,
25:32.063 --> 25:35.200
"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the
25:35.267 --> 25:39.004
firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like
25:39.070 --> 25:41.273
the stars forever and ever."
25:41.339 --> 25:46.578
And yes, his mission in life was to turn many to righteousness.
25:46.645 --> 25:49.748
And he understood from the
pages of the Bible the
25:49.814 --> 25:51.149
meaning of life.
25:51.216 --> 25:54.386
And that's why we want to
share that magnificent hope
25:54.452 --> 25:56.054
with all of you viewers.
25:56.121 --> 25:59.724
Today's free offer asks the
most important question of all,
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What is the Meaning of Life?
26:03.094 --> 26:05.597
And it's not likely
what you've been taught.
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Seriously, friends, what
can be more important than
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Or you can order What
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Richard Ames understood
God's plan for mankind
26:37.162 --> 26:40.632
and that's why he sought
first the Kingdom of God.
26:40.699 --> 26:43.935
And that is why his life's
mission was to turn many
26:44.002 --> 26:46.938
to righteousness, that
they, too, might share
26:47.005 --> 26:48.907
in that wonderful plan.
26:48.974 --> 26:53.244
Until next time, Wallace
Smith, Rod McNair, and I
26:53.311 --> 26:56.281
will continue to bring
you the good news of the
26:56.348 --> 26:59.651
coming Kingdom of God and
the plain truth straight
26:59.718 --> 27:01.953
from the pages of the Bible.
27:02.020 --> 27:03.688
See you next time.
27:03.755 --> 27:04.689
♪
27:04.756 --> 27:12.564
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27:12.630 --> 27:17.469
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27:22.640 --> 27:25.877
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The preceding program
is produced by the
28:25.370 --> 28:26.671
Living Church of God.