“Trivia are not knowledge. Lists of facts don't comprise knowledge. Analyzing, hypothesizing, concluding from data, sharing insights, those comprise knowledge. You can't google for knowledge.” ― Elaine Chaika, College Professor

On this day in history, September 24, 1935, the Bascom brothers, Earl and Weldon, held the first outdoor rodeo at night under electric lighting in Columbia, Mississippi. I thought I would share that with you in case someone asked, you would be locked and ready. Useless trivia? The Bascom family might disagree with that assessment. Be that as it may, welcome once again to that place where words come to die, typically a long and painful death. Thanks for showing up on this not yet completed day in history, Tuesday, September 24, 2013. You might say I am a merchant of useless trivia. I actually did not know this one. Shortly before his dastardly act in killing President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth's brother, Edwin, saved the life of the President's son, Robert, in a near fatal slip on a railroad platform. Yesterday was Bruce Springfield's birthday. He was 64. His album, "Born in the USA", was the very first CD ever produced in our country. Here's my point. Don't ever say you don't learn something when you tune in to my program. As for what it's worth, well, we would have to take that one up on another day, but thanks for tuning in, anyway.

No. I am not attempting to revive the board game Trivial Pursuit to its heyday. Here in our country they sold 20 million of those games in 1984. I may have played that game a couple of times. I do remember the Bible version and how some of our Church folks pitted me against our Pastor at a Church fellowship. Of course the good news about that is how the Bible is not trivial and its pursuit is absolutely necessary if we are to find God and live according to His rules. How did I do? The atmosphere was tense. We sat at a table looking at each other. We were surrounded by onlookers. It was loud and raucous. The questions were drawn. "According to Jesus as recorded in Matthew 10:29, how much were two sparrows sold for?" Everyone waited. Who would get the right answer? The answer is a farthing, of course. Who won? I really don't remember. I think I did okay but it was a long time ago.

When it comes to the Bible, knowing the truth is very important. It's even more important to do something with the truths we know. When Jesus was here during his earthly ministry He dealt with some people who could easily answer correctly almost any and all questions about the Old Testament. However, when it came time to answer a simple question about identifying a good neighbor, they had trouble because they knew their knowledge had never led to helping others in their own personal lives. (Luke, Chapter 10) Getting the facts right from the Bible is so different than letting them inform and direct our daily living. People can be informed by how much you know but they are ministered to by how much you care. I must have needed to hear that today. Maybe you did too. No doubt we all could do better in putting our knowledge and our faith into practical demonstrations that reflect the love of God. And, I can assure you, there's nothing trivial about that! Amen.   ...More later.