Don Reid - Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible: Downhome Reflections of Historys Most Colorful Men and Women

Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible

Downhome Reflections of Historys Most Colorful Men and Women

Don Reid

Copyright Information

First printing: June 2002

Copyright 2002 by New Leaf Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information write: New Leaf Press, Inc., P.O. Box 726, Green Forest, AR 72638.

Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

ISBN: 0-89221-526-7

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002105544

Printed in the United States of America.

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To Jack,who taught me how

Acknowledgments

It takes a lot of people to write a book. If you think I did this all by myself, thanks for the confidence, but heres a few of the good folks who helped.

At New Leaf Press: Roger Howerton, my first contact and first friendly voice in the publishing business; Brent Spurlock, the art director who coordinated the cover of the book (something I hope the text lives up to); Jim Fletcher, the editor who gave me a wide and tree-swinging swath; Laura Welch, a sweet and gentle publicist (and up to now I thought that was an oxymoron); and Tim Dudley, the president, who brought it all together with a quiet and gentlemanly air.

On my end: Russ Farrar, my friend and agent and attorney who went those extra steps to make it all work; Jimmy Dean, my pal with a heart the size of his home state; Joe Brandon, my minister who helped me pronounce the biblical names for the audio book (try King Ahasuerus on for size sometime); Debo and Langdon, my sons and sounding boards who proofed and encouraged and helped me record; and Debbie, my sweet wife who endured long nights and days of me at the computer and always told me how good it was even if it wasnt.

Bless you all.

Contents

Foreword

Don Reid has been a friend of mine for a long, long time and I am indeed proud to call him friend. He is not only a friend of mine, but I am a fan of his. I love his singing; he is a fine composer and has one of the greatest comedic minds I have ever run into.

But just when I think that I know about all there is to know about Don Reid, he will do something that will surprise and amaze me, as it is with this book, Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible.

I have known all along that Don is a very religious and spiritual person, but until I read this book I was unaware that he was such a well-versed biblical student. And that great knowledge is certainly evident in Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible.

I must say that knowing Don personally has certainly enabled me to enjoy this writing more. Though Don is a serious person, I have learned that underneath all that ability and talent lies his wonderful, wry sense of humor. So many times during the reading of this book I could see, hear, and feel that marvelous sense of humor creeping in. And on more than one occasion something would simply crack me up because I could see Don with that wry grin spread across his face. As you read this book, you will be able to ascertain in many places what I am talking about. I am sure that you will note some of the phraseology is not totally biblical.

I can truthfully say that having read this book I am better informed about several things. I know a little more about the Bible; a little more about the amazing Don Reid; a little bit more about the world we live in; and a little bit more about myself.

Jimmy Dean

Preface

I have always been a big movie fan. I went to the movies every Saturday morning without fail when I was a kid growing up in Staunton, Virginia, in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Some kids went fishing and camping on the weekends, but not me. It was the old Strand Theater without fail. This was in the fifties, and my favorites were the cowboys, Roy and Gene, of course, Martin and Lewis, the Bowery Boys, and just about anything that moved and you could eat popcorn to.

It was 1955 and I was ten years old, and my friend Bobby and I went around the corner one Saturday morning to the Dixie Theater, which had the reputation of showing more adult movies. In those days "adult movies" meant just that. Something kids would probably not be interested in. A Man Called Peter was playing and for some reason or another we went in.

Now, A Man Called Peter was the story of a Scotsman, Peter Marshall, who became a Presbyterian preacher and eventually the chaplain for the United States Senate. It was a wonderful movie and it stuck with both of us for years. A short way into the movie there is a scene where a young Peter Marshall trips and nearly falls into a hole or off a cliff or some such similar fate. This is the moment of his conversion. The instant of the reality that Christ was taking hold of his life. Fate at its most dramatic second. And I loved it and relived it in my mind many, many times. The only problem was I never had one of those moments myself. I always wanted one. I was always looking for one and hoping that it was just around the corner, but it never came. Never that defining moment of being hit over the head with the realization that this is what God wants me to remember as that special moment.

My earliest recollections are of going to church. My mother took us as babes in arms. There was no nursery then, so I was there right in the middle of the morning worship service every Sunday. I went to Sunday school from the time I could walk and got perfect attendance pins. I got those little papers that had a color picture on one side and a Bible story on the other. I got a Bible for my eighth birthday from Aunt Ethel and I carried it and read it until the cover began to fall off and the pages fall out. I still have it. Its laying on my desk, not three feet away, at this very moment. Its full of memories and so am I.

I have always known Jesus, thanks to my mother. She took us all my brother and my sister and myself to church and we absorbed and learned without even knowing it. And I think the most important thing she gave us and instilled in us was the "habit." The habit of being at church on Sunday morning. None of us has lost that "habit."

My lifes work has required me to travel and tour the world and be gone sometimes two weekends out of the month. But on those weekends I was at home, I never failed to attend church. Im a long-standing elder in the same Presbyterian church I grew up in. Ive been a member since I was 12 years old and I dont expect to ever go anywhere else. Oh, I often go on the road and visit other denominations and its been a blessing. But Im usually looking at my watch and imagining what is going on at my home church back in Virginia.

I have passed on the same "habit" to my two sons, Debo and Langdon. They, too, are elders in the same church and one of them shares Sunday school teaching duties with me on the Sundays when Im traveling. My wife, Deborah, is also a Sunday school teacher at the neighboring Baptist church. We might differ a little on "sprinkling" and "dunking" and the merits of Disneyland, but we serve the same God.

So I have never had that emotional conversion story to tell. But my way has been just as sweet. Whether I was sitting in the pew beside my mother (she and I still sit in that same pew today and shes 90 years old and never misses a Sunday) or whether I was serving communion with my sons or teaching Sunday school, I have always felt a sincere closeness to God. I believe in the salvation of Jesus Christ and I pray daily for those who dont know Him.