Hello There, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" Acts 4:12 
It got through spell check and proofreading last week. Sorry for confusing 
"their" for "there."

Some decades ago, gospel singing (singin') revolved around the metropolitan 
areas of Madisonville, Kentucky and Opp, Alabama. You need a good map to 
find either.

When Howard Goodman of Kentucky married Vestal Freeman of Alabama, southern 
gospel music was transformed as two of the finest families in gospel music 
combined. Thanks to Bill Gaither, Howard and Vestal are known and loved 
today.

Music of that era was often traditional in birth and usage. Find the song 
today in a book and you may find it by different titles and authors. To be 
safe-I'll just call it:
GOSPEL SHIP
I HAVE GOOD NEWS TO BRING AND THAT IS WHY I SING
OF HEAV'NLY JOYS WITH YOU TO SHARE.
I'M GOING TO TAKE A TRIP IN THE GOOD OLD GOSPEL SHIP
WHEN I GO SAILING THROUGH THE AIR.
Refrain 
I'M GOING TO TAKE A TRIP
IN THE GOOD OLD GOSPEL SHIP.
I AM GOING FAR BEYOND THE SKY;
I'M GOING TO SHOUT AND SING
UNTIL THE HEAVENS RING,
WHEN I'M BIDDING THIS WORLD GOODBYE.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT, I MUST NOT HESITATE
TO SPEND MY TIME IN PRAYER;
FOR WHEN MY SHIP COMES IN I'LL LEAVE THIS WORLD OF SIN.
THEN I'LL GO SAILING THROUGH THE AIR.

BEYOND THE SUN AND MOON I SHALL BE TRAVELING SOON.
FOR WITH CHRIST I AM AN HEIR,
WITH BURDENS LEFT BEHIND, NEW GLORIES I SHALL FIND,
WHEN I GO INTO MY HOME SO FAIR,

I can almost hear Vestal's voice filling the farthest corner of the 
auditorium now. Sure, the piano was just chords and a lot of bass runs. 
Sure, the vocals contained a lot of throat and chest sounds. Sure, each 
quartet had a bass who could rumble the windows and a tenor who could hurt 
your dog's ears. But----just but. With all of the discussion of music 
styles in the church today, I hope that you are not offended if I feel as if 
there must be space allotted here.

WHAT'S IN A NAME-Two Ls? It is Elliana and not Eliana Grace. I reported the 
miracle of her birth last week. That kid will spell her name for people all 
of her life! What a wonderful way to begin a discussion of the faithfulness 
of God.

YOU PROBABLY DO-A card from friends contained a couple of little 2003 
calendars. I looked to see what day of the week my birthday occurs. 
Fiftieth anniversary for Jeanene and me is on a Friday. Do you look in the 
new phone book to see your name in print? We do, indeed, build our lives 
around self. "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to 
wisdom." Psalm 90:12. 

READING MADE ME FEEL LIFE-I read through the latest issue of Message magazine 
from ABWE. There were some articles of news as this missions agency 
celebrated 75 years of blessing. For each line of reminiscence there seem to 
be ten lines of vision and purpose. Honesty to all prophetic indicators 
makes another 75 years highly unlikely. Whatever length of time is given us, 
ABWE is going to fill it with meaningful activity.

NOT MUCH OFA BELIEVER-I never much believed in Santa Claus. I was so bad 
some years that he surely would have taken things away from my house.

MAYBE NEXT YEAR-A regular reader bought himself a fine gift this year-a brand 
new Jaguar automobile. I thought they would, at least, send me a picture.

SATURDAY MORNING PHONE CALLS-Are particularly rewarding. When persons find 
you after a quarter century to inquire as to a source for a Christmas program 
that you had written, it is good for the ego. In the mid-1960's I 
co-authored a tableau style presentation with Delores Winegar. We sold it 
outright to Lillenas Publishers if you wish to pursue. Incidentally, it was 
performed long ago in the home church of the Happy Goodman Family in 
Madisonville, Kentucky.

USE LITTLE WORDS, PLEASE-A standing retort line of mine when somebody wants 
me to read something is, "Okay, if you will help me with the big words." The 
fact is, is that I truly appreciate the speaker/writer who expresses 
themselves in single syllables. 

I wrote an unpublished book entitled, "So Simply So." The premise is taking 
the major doctrines as stated in the Bible in single syllables. "All have 
sinned," God so loved" "By His stripes we are healed,,," , , , etc.

We use big words too often in the "Christianese" spoken in the church. I do 
not wish to insult the intelligence of some nor the ability of others, but a 
decoder might be in order
to meet the need and span the gap between God and the audience.

Words such as "Incarnation" and "Resurrection" deserve to be used and 
capitalized; they mark the miraculous acts of God as they relate to the era 
of Christ on the Earth. This era offers a glimpse into the heart and love of 
God.

However; do you realize that as heaven announced them to men, it was done in 
one syllable words. "Ye shall find the babe" (Luke 2:12), and "He is not 
here" (Luke 24:6).

Maybe I am missing something; but I want to err on the side of simplicity 
here.

CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS-Last week, I challenged you to appreciate the customs of 
other nations. This season, we have a visitor from New Zealand. It is 
Summer there, so Christmas at the beach is proper. When the dateline and how 
to compute when to call family there was discussed, I thought "This was not a 
good suggestion." 

NOT A JOYFUL SOUND-Not all of the news is ever bright. A particularly 
gruesome murder took place in one of the "ritzy" gated communities of Austin.

After ten days, the dark facts are creeping into print and newscasts. The 
fear of elements of our sinful society prevent reporting because of what is 
considered proper or appropriate behavior.

Drugs, homosexuality and social status all combine to prevent the plain message, 
"For the wages of sin is death...". The balance of Romans 6:23 is 
"But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
Hallelujah!!! And that is "politically correct."

I TRY TO BE MINDFUL-That your mailbox overfloweth at Christmas. This weekly 
effort must be shorter.

He that is truly rich is-not the man who has the most; but he who needs the 
least.

His,
Ron Krantz