Justin, Camdyn & Carlie Visit

We were blessed to have Justin, Camdyn & Charlie with us Sunday evening through Thursday morning.

Busy Week

It was a very busy week.  I was involved in three Doctor of Ministry defenses.  John Taylor defended his Prospectus for his doctoral project.  He is pictured here with his wife Faye.  They were charter member of New Covenant.  On Thursday we inducted Dr. Douglas Slocumb into the Seminary's Hall of Prophets.  He is pictured with his wife, Joyce.  James and Virginia Beaty were there as were former students Leah, Kelley, Carrie and Michelle (Carrie and Leah are members of New Covenant).  Our dear friend Stanley Lane was up for a weekend visit.

Calhoun, Georgia

Last evening I drove down and Mike and Shirley drove up to Calhoun, Georgia where we met an had a meal at the Longhorn Steakhouse.  It is always great to be with them. 

P.S. Mike my apologies about the picture.  The sun was irritating.

Guest

It was good to have Larry McQueen visiting Thursday evening through this morning.  He is well into his doctoral program.

Trip to South Carolina

Yesterday I went to South Carolina to see Cheryl's mom.  I had lunch with Josh and Bethany.  For more on that visit see my other blog.  Because Highway 64 is closed due to  major rock slide I had to take a suthern route: Chattsworth, Elijay, Dawsonville, Gainseville, I-85.  It is a lovely drive through the southern foothills of Appalachia exept there was a heavy fog going and thunderstorms coming.  I have driven by this church near Dawsonville several times but never noticed it is a Church of God.  The sign out front just says "New Life."  On the return trip I noticed the Church of God logo above the door and the American flag beside it.  I turned around to take some pictures.  I am always troubled to see a national flag flown at a church. In Christ we have only one banner and it is the banner of His Kingdom.  Flying the national flag at a church blurs the distinction between the sovereignty of Christ and the sovereignty of the nation. Ultimately this blinds us to the sinful patterns of our society. I think everyone should be patriotic, just not at church.  The interesting aspect of this picture is that the Church of God logo with the cross at the center is higher than the flag.

Beautiful Sights

I love taking pictures, but I seldom have the camera handy when I need it.  I wish you could have seen three things at my house this week. First, the three calves were chasing each other around our pasture for five to ten minutes.  I should have gotten the movie camera, but I have grown weary of trying to catch such scenes;  they always stop to look at me as soon as I open the door.

Second, last evening when I drove on to our driveway and stopped to get the mail there were two young Mallard ducks on our pond.  Third, as I walked back from the mailbox I looked up and saw two young deer in our pasture.  They ran around a minute pausing at the electric fence before jumping it.  They came around the barn just a few yards from me, jumped the fence and ran into the pasture in front of our house before disappearing into the woods.

Leaving Minneapolis

It has been a good SPS.  We are headed to the airport in a few minutes where we will board planes for different destinations.  We have completed five weeks of Chery's sabbitical leave.  So many more to go.

SPS 2010

Cheryl met me at my gate when I arrived in Minneapolis yesterday.  That doesn't happen often in today's world. My flight was delayed four hours so that I arrived ten minutes after her.  Sweet reunion.  We had a powerful opening session: phenominal worship, great paper.

Alice's Calf

Here are a couple of pictures of the calves.  Alice's new calf, born yesterday morning, is the brown one.  It was getting dark when I took the pictures.

Charlie

Alethea made my day this evening.  She told me how Charlie likes to talk back to the TV, especially when a question is asked.

A couple of days ago Dora the Explorer asked, "What is your favorite thing to do today."

Charlie answered, "Go to my Papa's church and sit up front and talk into the microphone."

I love my grandchildren.

A Phone Message

Camdyn tried to call me on my cell phone last night but missed me.  She left two messages.  The first was silence.  The second, recorded a minute later, went like this, "Papa, we tried to call Nanny but she didn't pick up.  So we decided to call you."

I guess I know my place.  She did close with "I love you." That makes the sky blue.

Up to date

There isn't a lot to report on the Johns family. Cheryl is flying from New York to Pittsburg, she is on a committee for the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) that is meeting to give out a lot of money to young seminary professors to do research and writing. She will fly back to New York tomorrow night.


I am at home working on the accreditation report to ATS. God was good to us in church this morning. That is he helped me not to reveal too much of my ignorance and we had a good season of prayer in the altars. We had a love feast (meal) afterwards to raise money for missions. Last month we gave over $1000.00 for our missionaries.

Meantime, I am sleepy and stressed. God is faithful.

Work

As you all know Cheryl is in New York.  It will be three weeks this Monday.  I have been extremely busy working on an accreditation report.  Right now its Saturday and I am in my office at school working on it.  It has to be mailed next Thursday.  I will rejoice exceedingly, except that will be the time when it sinks in that Cheryl is actually gone.

Snow Again -- Views From My House

Alice in the Snow

Alice (named by Camdyn) was born on our place two years ago.  She was one of our first.  She will have a calf in a few weeks.

Another Calf

Blessing had her calf this morning, another heifer.

Calf Pictures for Camdyn and Charlie

These are not the best pictures. I took them as it was getting dark this evening.  Star had brought her new calf up near the house and I went out and snapped the pictures through the fence (thus the shadows).

Another Calf

Star had her calf early this morning, a heifer.  I had to separate the various animals for the good of the calf.  I hope to get a picture tomorrow.

Coffee

It is much easier to get up in the morning when you smell the coffee.  I miss my coffee maker. 

Love you Dear.

Alone

Cheryl flew to New York today for a five-month research leave. In thirty five years of marriage the longest we have been apart is a couple of weeks. At least we can video chat on a regular basis and we will see each other several times during the period. 

If I had time I would keep a public journal on the psycho-social adjustments.  Now that would be entertaining reading.  But then again I'm not that big of a fool.

My Favorite Birds

Thieves, Snow and Birds

Three thieves broke into our storage shed at the church last night. One of the men of our church discovered the break-in this morning. We got some video on our surveillance cameras. I lost several hours today meeting with the police and making a copy of the video for them. If you see an older Jeep Cherokee, black over gray (or silver) in the area of the church take down the tag number and get it to me. One was a teen with short dark hair. One was in his twenties with a beard. The other was possibly in his forties.


We have snow and sleet. Cheryl and I both had difficulty getting home tonight. There were a lot of cars in the ditch along the way.  But the birds are feasting at the feeder.

Video of Charlie

You have to see this video of my grandson, Charlie. Read Alethea's commentary first.

A Link to a tribute to Elysée Joseph

Dr. James Beaty, professor emeritus at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, has penned a biographical tribute to the phenominal life and ministry of Elysée Joseph, overseer of the Church of God in Haiti who was killed in last week’s tragic earthquake. I had the privilege of having Brother Joseph as a student and I was honored to speak at a graduation event in Haiti a few years ago. Please take the time to read the tribute and continue to pray for Pastor Joseph's family and all who are suffering in Haiti. Follow this link to the tribute.

Vandals & Work Day at New Covenant

Please pray for the vandal(s) who have broken the windows and front door of our church. He/she/they need the Lord and to learn accountability. Some men of the church worked hard to board up the windows last Saturday.  The vandals busted out the boards Sunday night and did more damage Tuesday.  Today we installed a security camera system and some of the young men of the church tackeled several other projects as well. Thanks Matthew Sawyer, Richard Rutherford, Brian Dalton, Israel Waldrop, Matt Rodante and Kendal Kennedy.

New Bird Feeder

Cheryl felt we needed a bigger bird feeder.  (See a previous post for pictures of the old one.)  I had bought the previous one on ebay.  We received a cash gift for Christmas which combined with a small pay check for teaching a directed study gave her almost enough money to buy this one.  Her motto: "almost is just enough if you really want it."  What can I say?  She's a Democrat.  Let her know on FB if it was worth it. [OK, I made up the motto just for a cheap political jab and I really like the bird feeder.]

New Covenant & Teresa Kimbrell

It was great to have Teresa Kimbrell at New Covenant yesterday.  She is a member of our church who serves as a Church of God missionary to Zambia, Africa.  She is pictured here with Vernice Blackaby and Jennifer Dickhut with Kaley.

I took a few pictures at the reception after our evening service.  Audra, Heather, Trista, and Rebecca (L to R, Front) are three of my favorite people.  Lamar Stillwell and Pat Wells have been friends for 25 years.

Leland Merritt

Cheryl's cousin, once removed, Leland Merritt (her cousin Carey's son) is spending the night with us on his way back to college in Campbellsville, Kentucky.  He lives in Jacksonville, Florida.  He is a pleasant guest, one of those young people who gives you hope for the future of the world.  He plans to enter seminary next year and become a pastor.

Birds we See

One of the things we enjoy is watching birds at the feeders in our back yard.  We can see this feeder from our kitchen table.

Guests

We were blessed to have three families over for lunch after church today.  Bishop Mark Williams, Assistant General Overseer for the Church of God, ministered at New Covenant this morning; he's a phenominal preacher.  His wife Sandra Kay and sons, Austin and Ryan were with him.  Dr. Sang Ehil Han, his wife Min and their daughters, Priscilla, Becky, and Phoebe came as well.  We were also happy to have Justin, Donna, and Jude Knowles, missionaries to Cambodia and members of New Covenant come for lunch and speak at church this evening.  (They had to leave before the group shot.) Great lasagna & great conversation.

It is cold

I just want my family, especially those suffering in the frigid south (no comments from Karisa and Johnmark up in sunny Illinois are needed), to know it is really cold in Cleveland, Tennessee. We are iced in. I just came in from breaking the ice so my chickens can have some water. I have had to do this every day for a week. One morning it was over five inches thick. In a few minutes I will go out and break the ice on the pond so the cows and horses can drink. That will be a first. Until now they have been able to break the ice and drink, but after so many days of below freezing weather they are not able to do it. Stay warm everybody.

New Years Day