Good Morning World!

Yes folks! That's me...50 years ago!

I'm reminded of a story I heard of a preacher in a remote part of the foot-hills of Appalachia who went down to the local 1,000 watt radio station and purchased himself a daily 15 minute radio broadcast. The radio station's 1,000 watts could cover the whole county...well...almost the whole county - except for a couple of valleys hidden by the mountains. His total audience was possibly 30,000 people. Each morning as he sat before the microphone, his radio greeting was - "Good Morning World!!!"


I'm feeling the excitement that the preacher felt with his new venture. I've been off the computer too long - and now to be able to get back here and actually post a blog - feels like I'm in touch with the world again! I'm aware that there are only a half dozen or so who will read this but -- "Good Morning World!"


Now that I'm back I'll have to learn to operate this new laptop. It won't let me manipulate my pictures here in the same way that I was able to manipulate them with the old computer. Before i could right click on a picture and then cut - then paste it at the location desired. Now I cannot "cut" them. Oh well. Look on the positive side. At least I'm back!

I have had 5 tons of rock delivered to the cabin to cover up the muddy place developing where we get out of the vehicles. I need to do some work to the landscaping there. Plus, I need to open the doors and windows and let it air out. I have hardly been there this winter - partly because the gas heater has to be replaced. I also need to pull that old couch out and burn it. Did you ever try to sleep on a couch that was so structured that it poked you in the rib cage all night? ☻ Last time a visitor slept there, I found him on the floor next morning! Ah well...I'll turn that couch into fuel for the camp fire!

Keep listenin' to th' radio. We'll be back.

Cards, Candy and Cash

Oh WoW! I am so blessed to have the love of the ideal woman as my valentine. She has faithfully followed me thousands of miles, worked to help make enough money for us to survive, taught our children to love their Daddy and taught them about God's love, filled in as surrogate Daddy while I was traveling, and in every way has been faithful. This morning she came in with a Valentine Card for me, containing cash, a dish-ful of Hershey's Kisses with almonds, and CASH - that item that mankind loves so much because it can be turned into whatever the heart desires! ☺ And then a kiss (or two...or maybe three) and a back massage. ☺ What a wonderful way to start another day with the woman who has been my lover and friend for almost 54 years. Ahhhhh! ☻

On the front the card reads, "This is all that I know of love... That it begins and ends with you!" Inside it reads, "For every way you are my partner, for every day you fill with love...Happy Valentine's Day." I think I'm in love!!!

Missions Memories and Missions Resources

Most of my readers already know that I spent 20 years working in Africa as a missionary for the church organization known as Church of God, Cleveland, TN. My personal friend, Dr. Grant McClung, who has taught in our Church's Seminary, in Schools and Colleges around the world, who was a personal guest in Africa and who was Field Director of Europe and the Middle East has released his book (GlobalBeliever.Com) which you may read on-line at no charge to you. I'll copy and paste his note here for your benefit. Grant and his wife Janice are quality people who walk the talk. I hope you enjoy the free E-books.

But First - some of my missions memories.




Water baptism was a practice that we urged all new converts to participate in as a public testimony of their personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. First we had to find water deep enough. Then we needed safety. Most of our ministers would pray over the water first, rebuking the power of any snakes, crocodiles, and/or harmful bacteria which may be found in the water. Baptism in Africa is a powerful statement of the new convert's faith.


One of the joys of our work was the joy on the faces of our constituents. Here, one of our ladies is cooking a meal on a stove made of clay for one of our orphanages. Do you see the black area that charcoal fire has left on the home-made brick wall? Don't you love that smile?


I had many opportunities to speak to the people in the 32 countries which I was assigned to. Here I am in Uganda, introducing a guest (Roland S.) from North Carolina to a group of young people graduating from our local Bible School. He was moved to tears often as he observed the conditions our people live in.


I took this picture of our "National Overseer" (Makanudo R. B.) opening the first worship service of an Easter Convention in Gaberonne, Botswana. The entire meeting was under an old canvas tent. Cooking was done on open charcoal fires outside. Wonderful food! Wonderful fellowship!


Press Release:

Missions Resources Now in “Ebook” English/Spanish Formats

Dr. Grant McClung, President of Missions Resource Group, has produced his world missions training text, Globalbeliever.com: Connecting To God’s Work in Your World, as a free online resource, both in English and Spanish language versions. In the original print format, the books have been used widely by pastors, local church missions classes and prayer groups, and as a basic Biblical introduction to world missions in seminaries, universities, and Bible colleges. The Spanish-language version, “Creyenteglobal.com,” is widely distributed throughout Latin America.

“The best way to both versions – English and Spanish,” McClung noted, “is to visit the www.MissionsResourceGroup.org site, go to ‘Globalbeliever.com’ button and click on ‘Read the Book’ in English or Spanish.” McClung also noted that a weblink is available for those who begin their search as Spanish readers. “At the site (with the same name as the book title) www.creyenteglobal.com,” he said, “there are links to “Lea el libro” (“Read the book” in Spanish). Information at both sites also leads to ordering information for McClung’s classic review of Pentecostal missions, Azusa Street and Beyond: One Hundred Years of Commentary on the Global Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement (Bridge-Logos Publishing 2006). (You do not have to order them in order to be allowed to read GlobalBeliever.Com.)

“Through our training programs on five continents in 2010,” McClung noted, “we mobilized pastors, missionaries, missions leaders, and marketplace laity through printed books and curriculum materials. But we saw, especially in poorer contexts, how traditional print resources are not affordable for many. Now, the entire text is available as a free online world missions reader for anyone at www.MissionsResourceGroup.org, www.Globalbeliever.com, or www.creyenteglobal.com.” In addition, at the “Resources” link there are a number of lectures, sermons, articles, and background documents presented by McClung in a variety of global leadership training venues.

The availability of McClung’s “ebook” converges with an international, denomination-wide “Great Commission/Church Planting Mandate” throughout the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee USA). Dr. Raymond F. Culpepper, Church of God General Overseer, has urged the Pentecostal denomination to remain focused and active in “the missional mandate” and the planting of new congregations worldwide. “This is why I welcome Grant McClung’s significant book,” he stated, “and commend it to you as an insightful and practical ministry resource. It arrives at a time when the international events and global developments of our time need the perspectives and prescriptions of a rich and deep Biblical view of global engagement. This book adds value to pastors and local church leaders as they seek to motivate, train, and deploy their congregations in evangelism, church planting, and world missions. It is full of practical helps for preaching and teaching, including outlines, stories and illustrations, statistics, maps, charts, and global missions trends.”

McClung is one of the chapter contributors to a church-wide missional resource, The Great Commission Connection, Raymond F. Culpepper, Executive Editor (Pathway Press 2011) and is an editorial committee and research contributor to Until All Have Heard: The Centennial History of Church of God World Missions, Bill George (Church of God World Missions 2010)

McClung, a former member of the denomination’s International Executive Council, serves as Missiological Advisor to the World Missions Commission of the Pentecostal World Fellowship and is a member of the U.S.A Lausanne Committee. “Making ‘Globalbeliever.com’ available online – in both language versions,” he said, “will now broaden our vision for a more rapid and effective mobilization of the global Great Commission community for missional resourcing in these challenging times. We hope it will also speak to a younger generation who are increasingly active in global awareness and social activism through online connections.”

Email contact for further information:

grant.mcclung@gmail.com

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Enjoy

Cars With Bonnets and Boots

Tonight my friend Jack Darnell posted a blog showing a picture of an old Morris Oxford, a car with a bonnet and a boot.

Now I'm sure that if you are reading this and you are from Great Britain or one of her Colonies - or former colonies - you are going to have quite a different "read" of this post than most of my American friends will have. You see, for us here in the USA, when we say "bonnet" we think of an elderly grandmother with her old-fashioned head-gear which was worn regularly by our pioneer women to protect their hair from the weather. When we say "boot" we are thinking of something we put on our feet.

The year was 1966. We were on our first overseas assignment for the Church of God as missionaries to British Guiana. Shortly (within our first six months) they gained their Independence and became known as Guyana, South America. Still the British influences saturated everything. There was "Fogarty's" a big chain store where you could buy food and clothes and books and maybe even some furniture for your home. Booker's, Ltd, was the place to buy cars. Our missions board provided the funds (I can't be sure but it seems I remember $3000 being the price) for us to purchase a new one. The traffic all rode on the opposite side of the street we were used to driving on back in Tennessee. It was nerve-wracking but I actually did manage to get under the wheel and negotiate traffic in that town of 500,000 people driving "on the wrong side of the road"! I had spent the previous 5 years in Tellico Plains, TN, a town of less than 1,000 people at that time. What a challenge.

The car was a wonderful car. It was Automatic shift and we were getting 30 mpg on fuel use. After about six months or so of driving in this strange new environment, on the opposite side of the road, learning that I had to have the "bottom washed" before the mechanic would change the oil and lubricate it, I remember driving into the dirt road leading to our home. I pointed the bonnet towards our gate (which everyone knows you had to keep shut and locked) jumped out, switched off the engine and unloaded groceries. When I got back into the car to put it into the garage and lock it up, the engine would not turn over. My neighbor, Pragdat, who ran buses up and down the coast was quite the mechanic. He saw me with bonnet and boot both standing open and the worried look on my face. Walking over, he asked, "Would you like me to help?" Of course I said, "Yes!"

Try the engine once more. Nothing but "click" each time I tried. Then he looked at me and said so seriously that I just knew for sure he was joking - "Why don't you crank it?" Me: "Uh. Yeah. Well... I thought we just tried that?" "NO!" He said, "Crank it with your crank!" "But this is an automatic", I protested. "But you should have a crank in the boot or under the bonnet."

Sure enough, to my chagrin, He located the crank (like we used to use for old Model A Fords) and gave just one small twist before the engine started! I could not believe how easy it started. What a quality car. Pragdat then proceeded to take my starter off the Morris and clean it of the road dirt that had caked up on it, took it apart, greased it, and put it back. The starter never failed again.

Wish I had a picture of that car. The license plate was PT602! There, the initial number given on a car's license plate always stayed on it until the car was no longer usable. It could be that even now PT602 is still being used to drive around the little country of Guyana.

Hardy Pansies - And Signs of Spring

Last Fall we planted some Petunias and Pansies.

I remember saying something like, "Why, oh why are we planting flowers now when winter is upon us?" My thinking was that the freezing temperatures and the sleet and snow would kill any signs of life - but I was wrong. Not often will I admit that, so make the most of this confession today! ☻ Coming in today from lunch we could see the flower bed for the first time in a week and this is the sight that greeted us.


Are these beautiful, or what?


Three days ago these flowers were under 8 inches of snow!



Our front porch is bright with these small but lovely blooms!


O.K., I know it's soon to be SPRING because I saw the evidence today. Jonquils are popped out of the ground about two inches!


Take a look friends, while you can. I hear we may be getting more snow tonight...but...according to the weatherman it will only be rain and snow mixed and we will get only a light dusting. Even if the snow does cover them up, guess what?

Genesis 8:22
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

My Incredible Mother

Oh, I know it is not Mother's Day yet, but I have to post about today's visit with her before I forget. I suggested to Frances this morning that we should go to Cap'n D's for lunch and have some fried fish as Jack of Ship'sLog fame had posted a picture of himself sitting in his new boat on a Florida lake, and wrote about catching some Crappie or Perch for his and wife Sherry's lunch. Frances immediately suggested that I should call my Mom and see if she would like to join us. We did call and she did want to go with us. After all, we are ALL getting that somewhat "cooped up" feeling because the recent snow and ice has just now melted. After lunch of "fish and fries" we went to Mom's Apartment just about two miles from here for a short visit. She had recently bought some new furniture she wanted us to see. She has a new bed, new desk, new couch, new storage cabinet and ... ? (something I'm forgetting?).


Here's my pretty woman sitting on Mom's new couch!


Mom in her favorite chair.


Me and my sweetheart at Mom's, watching her work out on her new trampoline! Can you believe it?


The woman will be 90 in March! I think she is something very special.

Making Snow Cream - 2011

By reaching out the office window I was able to measure the snowfall which Cleveland, Tennessee got last night. I could not find the rule, so stuck this letter opener into the snow!


Finally found a measuring tape so laid it out the window beside the letter opener. It looked like 7 inches today!

We have had a wonderful snowfall in Cleveland, TN last night (January 9th) and this morning (January 10th)! It's been years since we have seen snow like this in East Tennessee. It brought back fond memories of childhood days when Mama would make "snow cream". So this morning, while chatting with one of my own daughters, I decided that this would be a good thing to do here. We need not get out on the roads due to the dangers of trying to drive while the roads are covered with ice and snow. It could become boring if one had to stay inside for long like this. As I reflect on the whole scene I think that Mama probably used this idea of snow cream to stave off the insanity of having three rambunctious boys and a baby girl at home from school, closed in because of the snow, with nothing to do. There was no internet, no ipod, no cell phone, no TV and much of my youth we survived without a "two-party" phone! The cowboy shows only came on the radio for a short time in the mornings - and that was usually on Saturday. But Mom would entertain us with mind games, riddles and such, and with games like "I spy with my little eye" plus regular Checkers and Chinese Checkers (played with marbles on a board). Oh yeah, and there was "jacks" (or do you spell that jax?) Another game was "Who can quote the most Bible Verses?" One child would quote a verse, then the next and the next until someone could no longer think of a verse to quote. Of course there was also music. The guitar and mandolin and fiddle would come out and we would play and sing at times for two or three hours. No - this didn't happen every day - but on those days like today when we were "cooped" up inside because of foul weather. Today, I was able to convince Frances to do the video while I made the snow cream! I've tried to load it onto here - but blogger won't take it today. Oh well...still more for me to learn, I guess.


Because I was taking video I did not think to take pictures of the entire process - but did take this one when I first brought the bowl of snow into the kitchen! It was DELICIOSO!