This is a great song all year long — and certainly fitting at Christmas. The song speaks of the best thing we can do to help ourselves, our families, our friends and neighbors, our country and our world. Give “Tell The Good News” a sing-along listen, then come back and we’ll talk.

I’ve got some bad news

Bad news sells. They say in the [bad] news business, “If it bleeds, it leads”. To sell newspapers, they’ll put the worst disaster on the front page.

Back in the garden the headline might have been “GOD IS STILL ETERNAL — BUT MAN CAN NO LONGER GO THE DISTANCE”. That is the greatest disaster story in all history.

Man was built to live forever just like God. Forever is part of God’s loving design for man. God knows it will take forever for a man to experience His boundless love, goodness and wisdom.

Man’s fall introduced death. Death is a problem no science of man’s invention could ever solve.

It is interesting to note news articles are floating around that some of the wealthiest people in the world are investing their billions into figuring out how to stop aging and live forever. Ideas include copying consciousness into something like a computer hard drive and then building a robot with replaceable parts. Just change the oil every three months, keep a fresh battery in there, and they can go on and on living in a machine forever.

Any of you want to sign up for that program? I wonder if hearing God’s plan for everlasting life would influence their approach to this effort.

Can you explain what’s going on here?

Imagine for a moment being in this world and trying to figure out how it works, using ONLY your own senses to gather information. You get NO revelation from God. You have no instruction about God. You are limited to what you can observe. You CAN swap ideas with others and read what people in the past learned, but NO one in this learning circle has any revelation from God.

As I understand it, the greatest minds — maybe the greatest minds EVER — set about to play this out in ancient Greece. Among the superstars of human thought, analysis and teaching were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Part of their greatness was they realized man is simply not able to see and explain what caused everything they COULD see. There had to be something — or someone — higher than what they could know only by their senses.

The Greeks made up stories — “myths” — about “gods” to entertain, but also to illustrate things they observed in life and in the world. These gods were not built primarily to be worshiped like the “dumb idols” we read about in the Bible. The philosophers and most others understood these were just artful inventions to express their concepts of human nature and how the world works. Actually — the art and literature used to express these myths is some of the most skilled work human artists have ever done, and much is still learned from it by students of those arts today.

One of the stars of Greek mythology is Prometheus, god of fire. Prometheus defied the other gods by stealing fire from them. He gave the fire to humans packaged as civilization and the knowledge and technology to support it. In modern Western society, art and culture, Prometheus represents human striving — especially in the quest for solving human problems through science and technology — AND represents the risk of misguided efforts and unintended consequences. (The novel about Frankenstein is a great example of the idea of Prometheus in western literature. Science plus unintended consequences.)

What the Greeks observed and described about human nature, we can still see playing out in modern times. We’ve made the most amazing communication tools and devices anyone has every imagined. People use them to solve problems. People also use them in ways that create bigger problems.

People needed help in ancient Greece, and people still need the same help today.

Well, there is good news.

TELL THE GOOD NEWS!

Imagine getting to sit with the Greek philosophers and reading Ephesians to them, letting God explain where we came from, where we are and where we are going. Imagine seeing them read John 3:16 and believing it — and seeing the looks on their faces when the light comes on.

Imagine bringing someone to understand they are awesomely and wonderfully made, and are of great worth to God. Imagine helping someone turn from modern culture — being entertained by what God calls evil — lying, stealing, witchcraft and sorcery — you name it (God named it…) and turn instead to His wholeness and goodness. Imagine turning someone from death to everlasting life. Imagine that!

We do NOT live without revelation from God. We DO have the ability to know Him and His Son Jesus Christ. We CAN know how to defeat death.

How did we find out? Someone told us.

How will others find out? Someone needs to tell them.

Look at this line of thinking from Romans 10: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Counterculture — defined as a culture with values and mores that run counter to those of established society.

Let’s be part of the counterculture!

What can we do? Tell the good news!

God bless you lots,
Dale R.

---

Get high-resolution version of this songsheet from The Music Box

LYRICS: Tell The Good News
Text & tune: J. T. Reese (1893)

1. Tell the good news of the Savior’s birth.
Tell the good news, tell the good news.
Shout the glad tidings o’er all the earth.
Tell the good news today.
Tell the sweet story afar and near.
Tell of a Savior, so loving and dear.
Sing the glad message where others may hear.
Tell the good news today.

Chorus:
Good news, good news,
Let’s shout the glad tidings o’er all the earth.
Good news, good news,
Good news of the Savior’s birth.

2. Sing of the Savior, Oh sing His praise.
Tell the good news, tell the good news.
Songs of rejoicing triumphantly raise.
Tell the good news today.
Sing of His mercy and grace outpoured
Singing with joy in one accord.
Pray the whole earth make Jesus their Lord.
Tell the good news today.

3. Tell the good news of the Savior and King.
Tell the good news, tell the good news.
Peace and goodwill to all men we sing.
Tell the good news today.
Tell how he suffered on Calvary.
Tell of the pardon He offers so free.
Tell of His great love for you and for me.
Tell the good news today.

A modern convenience: SUBSCRIBE

I send a cheerful note out each time I post a new “Bible lesson and song for kids of all ages” here. About once a week. It’s a little extra work, but it helps people. You’d do the same for me, right? In the note I briefly describe the new song and lesson and include a link directly to the new page. When you subscribe you ALSO receive instructions to access “The Music Box”. That’s where I put all the music downloads — all free — that go along with this song collection. Explore The Music Box at your convenience. Click the “Song of the Week” button below and tell me where to send your note.

Song of the Week

I hope you’ll leave a comment, a greeting … SOMETHING

See the spot below for comments? Please be aware that your first comment might take a day or two to appear. After the first one, they should show up immediately. Ah, the marvels of jet-age electronics. God bless you lots! – Dale R.