Happy Birthday Camdyn

Today is Camdyn's fifth birthday. Cheryl left for Memphis a little while ago. I was going to drive over after my class tomorrow, but my truck is in the shop and won't get out in time for the trip.

Good People

Today was a good day at the Seminary. We inducted Dr. Hollis Gause into the Hall of the Prophets and named the administration building after him. Dr. Gause began teaching Bible and theology at Lee University in 1947. He was a guiding force in Lee's original accreditation and later the transition to a four year liberal arts college serving as Academic Dean. In 1975 he was the founding Dean and Director of the Church of God Graduate School of Christian Ministry (now Church of God Theological Seminary). He continues to serve as an active faculty member at the Seminary. As his pastors, Cheryl and I were asked to participate in the honors. What an honor for us.
















We had an overnight visitor last evening, Juanita Brownlow. I first met Juanita and her late husband, Lamar, in Guatemala City, Guatemala about twenty years ago. They were missionaries in Central America at the time. I was teaching an intensive course at a Church of God Bible college. (Alethea made the trip with me.) Juanita, ever an intense, enthusiastic, visionary student, with Lamar came to the Seminary and completed degrees; Juanita focused on Discipleship and Christian Formation under Cheryl and myself. They then spent some time ministering in Russia and as Overseer for the Church of God in Italy. In recent times Juanita has been widowed and battled cancer. Next week she is moving to Africa to serve as a missionary.

Doctor of Ministry Class

Last week Cheryl and I taught a Doctor of Ministry class, Leading Worship and Discipleship. The classes met 8 to 5. It was a great group of students, eight in total. We of course had to rotate in and out some in order to teach our regular classes. Also, Cheryl was out one day with a virus.

D.Min. students are on campus for two weeks, most spend a few extra days for research. During that time we have a lot of extra work with them during lunch and evenings. I am advising several students through their programs including their projects and dissertations. Last week I participated in two juries for students to defend their project designs. Needless to say it was a very long but rewarding week.

Today, we had glorious worship services. The heaviness of God's presence was with us. Thanks be to God.

Apple Festival Fall Visits

We had wonderful visits from Karisa, Alethea, Camdyn and Charlie over the weekend. We went to the local Apple Festival on Saturday and to church on Sunday. Our dear friend Stanley Lane (bottom photo) also came to town for the weekend. He lives in Dothan Alabama and took time on Saturday to run a 10K on signal mountain.

Time Flies

I would like to delude myself into thinking people might be interested in the routine of my life. Humor me.

Last Friday I taught my class in the morning, worked in the office all afternoon, left work a little early and drove to Hixon Tennessee to attend a Perry Stone revival service with my brother, his wife, and her father. On Saturday I drove down to Cartersville, Georgia to spend the afternoon with the young adults from our church who were on a retreat. Before leaving town I had stopped by the flooring store to pick up samples for the church and on the return I stopped by a hospital in Chattanooga for a pastoral visit. Sunday was church with a church conference before the evening service. Monday was spent in faculty meetings all day (8:15 to 4:30), including lunch. Cheryl left for Atlanta last evening. I put out a roll of hay for the horses and cows. Today, I taught Cheryl's class, tried to catch up at work with a hospital visit and allergy shots thrown in. This evening I moved the cows and horses to the wooded area to keep them from over grazing the pasture and I walked the fence looking for where it might be grounded (it turns out the problem is a bad fuse). Tomorrow, I'm driving down to Atlanta to hear Cheryl's second lecture. Thursday I'll teach Cheryl's class and Cheryl comes home. Friday I will teach my class and Karisa, Alethea, Camdyn, and Charlie arrive.

I do exercise first thing every morning for thirty to forty minutes. I typically have cheerios for breakfast except on Saturdays when I usually fix pancakes. I occasionally write for my blog, read for work, grade papers, work on accreditation reports, have staff meetings, have deacons meetings, have elders meetings, do pastoral counseling, attend community meetings, etc. My current favorite project is developing some Bible studies for families. The first is an expansion of a catechism I first wrote before Alethea was baptized and the second will before families with younger children. My goal is to develop these for online use, but they will first appear on a blog.

Family Visit

This weekend we were blessed to have a visit from my brother, Jimmy, his wife, Iris, and her father, Raymond Newman.

Guests

Cheryl came home Monday evening. We have had a couple of guests this week, Katherine Knoke was with us Monday evening and Larry McQueen was here all week. Katherine and her husband, Derek, were youth pastor's at New Covenant and she now commutes to Cleveland to teach a course at the Seminary. She and Larry are working on their Ph.D.'s. Larry, who was a very active member at New Covenant, comes a couple of times a year from his home in Texas for research and writing.