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These Are the Good ‘Ole Days
There was a radio host here in St. Louis that used to broadcast overnights on one of the larger AM stations, KMOX. His name was Jim White, The Big Bumper, that which goes bump in the night. When I began listening to him in the late 80s and early 90s, he was at the twilight of his career, nearing retirement. On many occasions, he would have callers that would comment, “Remember the good ‘ole days, Jim?” I can not begin to count the number of times that he would interrupt the caller, perhaps even hang up on them, and say, “No, these are the good ‘ole days!” Was he lashing out at the caller because he didn’t appreciate the past? No. Was he bitter because he had not succeeded in his life to the point he wanted to be? No. Was Jim unaware of what others thought to be better times? No.
All Jim was saying was, “I have been through those times, I appreciate that era, but don’t take away from me the destination that I have arrived at from that journey.” He would often comment how he has enjoyed the time with his wife, the marriage of his children and birth of his grandchildren. And also the guilty pleasure of sitting alone on a boat in the middle of nowhere made possible by his accomplishments in radio. Also, he was saying, “Don’t take me back to when I struggled in this industry. Don’t take me back to when I had struggle again to support my family. Don’t take me back to where I didn’t know the love and appreciation for what I had in a wife and children.”
I wonder how many times we have looked back and said those were better times. How often have we heard that our best times are behind us (not referencing an organization there)? Many might interpret this to mean a lack of appreciation or a lack of reverence to what God has done in the past, but believe me when I say that is just the opposite. I want to remember what God has blessed our movement with. I want to cherish the truth that has been passed from generation to generation. But I respectfully decline to believe that those days were our finest hour. Don’t take me back to the struggle of not knowing Him as well as I do today. Don’t take me back to where I was lost and wandering for His will. Please don’t take me back to where I failed Him on so many occasions. He still is the God of yesterday, today and forever more. Don’t take away my destination in Him that I have traveled thus far.
This is not an endorsement for change in doctrine or to place a lesser value on truths that we have held dear for so long. If you can take it as such, please take it as an affirmation that God is still on the throne. He is still in control and he has not forsaken us or this movement. These days can still be and will become our best days in Him.
Even when we see the devastation and ever declining morality of this world, this is His finest hour! Even when many have left the doctrine and forsaken Him, this is His finest hour! Even when the idea that the past has been forgotten and the truths of yesterday lay in the wasteland of our future, this is His finest hour. I will continue to be thankful for our past, its rightful place in annuals of our history, but please don’t take issue with me as I press onward…striving forward in Him…for these are the good ‘ole days!
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Only the mediocre are at their best all the time.
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