Paul Harvey

By Kevin Rayner
     Story telling.  No, I'm not talking about telling lies. Looking at life and its lessons as a story to change a life. Henry Adams said, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."
     Jesus was the great teacher. He taught by telling stories. Preachers are people who repeat the story of Jesus. Others have made a living telling history and events as story.
     Paul Harvey was born in 1918, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and his father died when he was just three years old. Since he showed an interest in radio, Paul's high school English teacher pushed him to take a job at KVOO, a local radio station. Occasionally, Paul would be allowed to do some announcing. Sometimes he read the news from the wire, and he even filled in a few times by playing his guitar. Paul gradually moved up the ranks, from station "go-fer" to spot announcer, newscaster, and manager. "I hung around the studio every minute I wasn't in school," he remembers. In 1944, Paul began two fifteen-minute news commentaries from a Chicago-based radio station. He added a segment in 1946 called "The Rest of the Story" in which he told an anecdote that had a surprise ending. In 1976, the ABC network decided to spin off that segment into its own series.
     Unlike the stereotype of many broadcasters as liberals, Paul Harvey champions the old-fashioned values of God, country, family, a strong work ethic, and rugged individualism. He speaks with a homespun style that, to many, has made him the spokesperson for middle America. No one sees him as a big city journalist, he's just a guy telling a story. Paul's efforts have earned him numerous honorary degrees and won him some of the most prestigious awards in the communications industry. With his distinctive style and instantly recognizable delivery, Paul Harvey draws listeners into his stories, tells it like it is, and then bids them to have a "Good Day!"
      Jesus came and finished His story so we might have a good day and eternal live. Tell someone else about Him. Be straightforward in your speech. Be clear in your explanations. Say "yes" or "no" more often than you say "maybe."
      Now you know the rest of the story.

- Kevin Rayner preaches for the Highland Church of Christ, Tecumseh, OK.  He may be contacted through the congregation’s website: http://hcoct.org/