Jan 25, 2007
Gospel Bill Deputy Handbook
When I was a wee little tike in the 80's, I used to watch a show called Gospel Bill. It was a Christian show for kids that took place in the old west. I really don't remember it much, but my parents tell me I really liked the show and they also kept this artifact for me. If you prayed the prayer of salvation with Gospel be and wrote in telling him so, he'd send you an official Deputy's Handbook and a metal badge. It was pretty cool, but I seriously don't remember any of this (I think I was only like four years old). Here are the complete contents of the handbook and a picture of the badge.
HA! Good ol' Gospel Bill, a fixture of my churchy childhood. The crew from the show was located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (my old neck of the nation) and they used to make personal appearances in the Oklahoma and Kansas area...one time coming to New Life Fellowship (a church taken under because the greedy preacher was busted on undercover video accepting a deal to smuggle drugs from South America! We shoulda known he was a crook though...The church got a radio station...ON THE SAME DAY, the preacher pulls out a new goal poster to save toward a tv station...)...Anyway, we saw Ken Blount and the other Gospel Billers at that church and they seemed just the opposite of the crooked church they were appearing in...Genuine nice people with a true love for Jesus and teaching kids about the word of God. Another crooked thing about New Life...they printed Gospel Bill Bucks and kids could EARN them to spend at the church store...BY PROVING THEIR WORSHIP SKILLS DURING PRAISE AND WORSHIP TIME! Crooks will be crooks, the true will be true...and I will always enjoy running across rarities like what you've posted here...Great post...
ReplyDeleteWow. I went to a Vacation Bible School in Delaware at one of those goofy handwaving churches called Victoryville when I was roughtly the same age. I have incredibly hazy momories of Gospel Bill and the Gospel Bucks. I remember going to a class and being taught how to speak in tongues. My cousin apparently could babble a lot better than I could. She got a whole ton of Gospel Bucks. I just said "Buh, buh, buh" Over and over again so I only got one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dislodging all of those repressed memories. I'll be sure to tell my shrink about you.
How do I get one
ReplyDeleteEliasrobert34@gmail.com