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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for May 12, 2009
“Knowledge Must Be Constantly Recommunicated”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
I don’t know what kind of parent I would have been without Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family.
It’s impossible to say, because all those radio shows and books and magazines were a constant presence in my life as a young husband and father.
Here is what Dr. Dobson did. He collected and crystallized knowledge about the family, then communicated it clearly.
But one day Dr. Dobson won’t be around. I wonder who will be teaching about the family when my kids have kids of their own?
Someone needs to do for them what Dr. Dobson did for me – collect and crystallize knowledge about the family, then communicate it clearly.
“Well Doug, can’t your kids just read Dr. Dobson’s books like you did?”
Yes, they can. But times change. Communication changes.
No, core knowledge doesn’t change. Truth doesn’t change. God’s ways don’t change.
But culture changes. Language changes. The media changes.
Illustrations that Dr. Dobson used will grow foggy over time. What was once crystal clear will eventually leave people scratching their heads.
Have you ever read Shakespeare and thought, “What on earth? That doesn’t even make sense.”
I’ll bet it made sense back then.
Sometimes I go back and read old books and they just lose me. It’s just not the way we communicate today.
So this is what each generation needs – people who will collect and crystallize knowledge, then communicate it clearly.
I like this little phrase in Malachi 2:7. It says “… preserve knowledge…”
See, knowledge can be lost over time, if we don’t preserve it.
It’s like the old saying, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
But it’s not just a matter of preserving knowledge, like some old moldy book in the stacks.
Go back to Malachi 2:7. It says “…the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge…”
See, knowledge must be communicated.
And it has to be communicated to each new generation in a way that they “get it.”
Yesterday I asked a girl if she had ever heard of 8-tracks. “No,” she said.
So I could give her an awesome illustration that included 8-tracks, but she wouldn’t get it.
If Jesus walked the earth today, his parables would probably be a lot different. They might include cell phones and satellites and SUVs.
Now think about this. We are all born knowing nothing. We all have to be taught.
There are new babies being born every minute, and they all need to be taught.
Who is going to teach them? And will they teach true knowledge, or will it be bent and twisted?
Well it’s our job to preserve true knowledge for the next generation. And it’s our job to communicate it to them in a way they understand.
Knowledge must be constantly recommunicated. There are new reference points. New ways of communicating. New illustrations. New trends. There are even new words.
Hosea 4:6 says, “…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…”
Is it because knowledge dropped off the face of the earth?
No. It’s because it wasn’t preserved. It wasn’t passed on. It wasn’t recommunicated properly to the next generation.
We can’t just sit back and wait for someone else to do it.
So pray about it. Think about it. See if there is some part you can play in this critical task of preserving knowledge and communicating it clearly to the next generation.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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