The Wise Professing To Be Fools - A Practical View

"Professing to be wise, they became fools..."  Although this is a Scripture passage from Romans, this is not an article about hermeneutics or theology, but rather about academic snobbery.  I had an experience recently that sort of got me off on this, and I wanted to share it because I am sure others reading this can identify.

Recently, I wrote an article for a small theological journal a good friend of mine, Fr. Jack Ashcraft, initiated entitled The Watchman Theological Journal.  Although I had an article on Transhumanism published in the first issue, and the journal had potential, unfortunately Fr. Jack had to discontinue it because not enough people were contributing.  I was slated to have an article published in the next issue regarding Appalachian Theology, and as a person of Appalachian heritage with theological training I felt like I had the base qualifications to do it, and so did Fr. Jack.  Therefore, with the Watchman Journal now defunct, I had to look for other venues to publish the article, and of course one that came to mind was the Appalachian Studies Association.  Boy, was I disappointed!  Let me elaborate.

The person exercising a godlike rejection of my article is a Sociology professor at the University of Kentucky by the name of Shauna Scott, and although a simple "we're not interested" should have sufficed, this woman proceeded to arrogantly and summarily dismiss me as being "not scholarly enough" and too "personal," in essence.  Before we go further, let us examine Dr. Scott's credentials and see how qualified she is to speak for Appalachian people.

Shauna Scott is, first off, a Californian - she got her Ph.D. in 1988 from the University of California, and when looking at what she's done, it isn't exactly stuff the average Appalachian townsperson would share in conviction with - she is involved in feminism, and her research seems to be more attuned with environmentalist agendas than it is with the daily lives of Appalachian people.  Unfortunately, this discipline called "Appalachian Studies" is infested with degreed professional "outlanders," many of whom have never stepped on the slope of a mountain in their lives.  If a White professor tried to do that with the Black Studies department of a major university, he would be decried as a "racist" or worse, yet it is interesting that these same people can take liberties at proclaiming themselves "experts" on everything just because they read a book or two on it.  However, the real insult is how they summarily dismiss people who actually do come from the region and have written on it, as I have.  Granted, this is not a blanket condemnation of all Appalachian scholarship, as Dr. Ralph Hood, also a native Californian, has written extensively (and fairly) on serpent-handlers from a sociological perspective - the difference though is that Hood has lived among them, participated in their church services, and even gained the close friendship of many of them.  I don't see this Shauna Scott person doing that - the amusing picture I had of her, as a matter of fact, is her trying to figure out how to use an outhouse!   So, yes, outside of the theological spectrum, many people do profess to be wise but make fools of themselves (Romans 1:22 if you want a chapter-and-verse reference) - the good Dr. Scott is one of those.  I understand why oftentimes higher education is eschewed now by some religious groups - you read a bunch of books, write a verbose thesis, and walk an aisle to talk about practically nothing.  Hence, the term "professor" - it is one thing to "profess" something, but quite another to live it. Some stellar academics I know get that, and they are the true greats because they put their money where their mouths are - people like the late Dr. J.W. Lee, who taught many of my Old Testament courses years ago, as well as Dr. Regis Martin at Franciscan University, and Dr. Loyal Jones at Berean College in Kentucky.  These men understand true scholarship, and others like this Scott person could learn a thing or two from them.   Unfortunately, in this day and age, many are not willing to learn because further learning is beneath their arrogant egos - they fail to realize that we are still mortal, fallible, human beings, and last I heard only God was omniscient (of course, many of these fools are atheistic anyway - they can't confine God, so they dismiss him as a "primitive stimulus" or something).

Maybe it is time that many of us who do have something to say form a society of our own - Fr. Jack, to his credit, attempted to do that, and I only wish he could have kept it up.  The unfortunate thing about much current "mainstream" scholarship is that in many cases it has a bunch of uppity academics with "ivory-tower syndrome" who don't like their academic paradigms rocked.  It is really unfortunate, because oftentimes those individuals stifle the creativity and voice of others, and if someone is unfortunate enough to sit in a classroom with these people, the passion a poor student has for a subject may quickly be destroyed by these uppity, snooty academics who set themselves up as judge, jury, and executioner of their students' futures.

That being said, I have vented some serious frustrations I have had for some time, but I want to say something in closing especially to religious academics - some of you are hypocrites in that you seem to have no issue with messing with theological orthodoxy, yet God forbid that your other paradigms are rocked.  Many of you are so concerned with sterile, soulless writing that it is more for you to handle when a student expresses his or her passion in their scholarly writing.  And, that is the reason why I plan on doing a personal campaign for true scholarship, scholarship that embodies academic excellence while also allowing the writer to express their enthusiasm for what they are writing about without some snob with a Ph.D. title after their name condemning them for it.  It is time for change to be where change is due, and that is in the area of academic writing.  And, for you stuck-up bluebloods who have your condescending tones and personal agendas behind the lecterns of many universities, let me say this if you try to hinder - like Clint Eastwood's oft-quoted classic movie line, "make my day!"

Miss Mae, The Preacher's Widow

In life you often meet some fascinating people, and especially when you are in church circles.  One of those we met recently is a 91-year-old preacher's widow known affectionately as "Miss Mae."   Back in November, we had a wedding at our parish church, and the bride, a sweet Korean lady named Kim, had as her "maid of honor" this little 91-year-old lady (Kim is in the picture on the left above, with the beautiful traditional Korean wedding gown she made herself) that happened to be her neighbor.  Being we also took part in the wedding preparations (Barb decorated the church for the couple), I got an opportunity to chat with Miss Mae, and she was very interesting to talk to.

Miss Mae's late husband, Rev. Carl Beatty, was at one time a minister in the Free Methodist Church.  Anyone who knows me personally knows that this was one point of connection with me as well, being my family had for years attended the Free Methodist Church in my hometown of Hendricks, WV.  Unfortunately, in October 1973, Rev. Beatty's life was cut short when he was involved in a car accident with a drunk driver, and Miss Mae has been widowed since.  I was reading up a little on the Beattys and their legacy, and it turns out they were quite the pioneers in the early Free Methodist work here in the Southeast, as practically every Free Methodist congregation on the I-4 corridor here can trace its roots back to them.  They were largely instrumental back in the day for the growth of the Southeast Regional Conference of the Free Methodist Church.  Although there is some good information about his ministry at http://www.lightandlifepark.org/History/History.html, I unfortunately don't have access to a lot of photos of the early ministry and such.  Maybe later in a revision I can include some more stuff after another conversation with Miss Mae later.

Miss Mae herself was a native of Georgia, as she originally was from up around the area of Athens or Gainesville.  She attended Toccoa Falls College up there, although she tells me her education was cut short in 1941 by a little thing called Pearl Harbor.  She doesn't seem to regret that interruption, and at present she lives in a retirement park over in Winter Haven near where our own parish church is.  She has been a frequent visitor to our parish since Paul and Kim, the couple who recently got married and are her neighbors, began to be regular parishioners last year.  Miss Mae normally attends a local Baptist church (she is none too pleased with some of the modernity that the Free Methodists have embraced, and chooses not to go to a Free Methodist congregation - she is very old-school!) but we are seeing more of her recently, but that is a blessing to us.  Plus, she loves the potlucks too - that little lady does love fried chicken!

Paul and Kim, our parishioners who are Miss Mae's neighbors, love her like she was their own mother, and she reciprocates, always wanting to do things for them.   That charitable notion on her part though has led to some amusing stories.  For instance, Kim is a talented cook, seamstress, and all sorts of other things, and to aid in her culinary projects, Kim plants and grows a lot of her own produce.  One day, while doing some work around the house, Kim hears some activity outside near her vegetable patch, and she notices - to her horror! - that Miss Mae is whacking away at her napa cabbage plants.  In great panic, Kim rushes out the door and frantically asks Miss Mae, "What are you doing??" to which Miss Mae responds that Kim had some "weeds" that needed taken care of, and she thought she'd do the job.  However, the "weeds" were actually Kim's vegetables!  She is also noted for amusingly micro-managing the landscapers in the community where they all live, and for some reason she takes a pair of HUGE pruning sheers and "corrects" the landscaper's work because they didn't do it right according to her. Although probably a source of consternation to the landscapers, Miss Mae's intentions are good, and she just wants to be helpful - plus it is kind of cute to see a 91-year-old lady out there giving the landscapers grief!  Paul also noted that Miss Mae tends to have some hoarding tendencies, as she never throws anything out and her house has been described as being a combination of a museum and a warehouse.   One day, when Paul was visiting her to check on her to make sure she was OK, he had to somehow maneuver between a wall of boxes in her place to get to where he was going, and upon expressing the logistical difficulties of the passage to Miss Mae, her reply was "Don't worry about it - fatter men than you have gotten through there."  My mother, who has an interest in Free Methodist heritage herself, is interested in finding out if Miss Mae has any of the old Light and Life magazines (the official denominational organ) from years back, and my guess would be that might be highly possible - I probably will ask Miss Mae about that when I see her again to be sure though.

Being Miss Mae was also a secretary-historian for the regional Free Methodist organization, she is also a wealth of knowledge for anyone interested in the early history of this denomination in the South.  I have actually enjoyed talking with her about all that stuff, and she is quite overjoyed that someone actually knows what a Free Methodist is (many of our own parishioners, God bless them, thought Miss Mae was United Methodist, which she instantly corrected - Free Methodists and United Methodists are actually very different!) and we talk a lot about that when she visits the parish.  One day, I need to really sit down with her and get some information from her too, as much of this should be recorded in some shape or form, and she is a wealth of information.  In this day and age, with so many people squawking the mantra of "change" even in church circles, many younger people have a serious disconnect from the older generations.  It is sad too, because much of what is wrong with society today is due to the fact some younger people don't appreciate or listen to the wisdom of the old.  This is so unfortunate on so many levels because with these older folks (Miss Mae being 91 now, for instance) having only a short time to be on the earth yet, it is important to preserve the legacy they carry, because once they die that legacy is buried with them if they don't.  The purpose of me telling you stories of people like Miss Mae here is the same - it is to preserve a legacy.  Many of the other people's stories I have shared with you here in recent months have already passed on to their eternal reward, but fortunately I have a wealth of knowledge of my own I had inherited from them to aid in preserving their legacies, and that is something I hope to continue doing for a long time.  Fortunately, Miss Mae is still alive and doing very well at this point, but remember she is 91, so there is so much more of her legacy that needs to be preserved in the time she has left.

Although I have only gotten to know Miss Mae in the past year or so, she is someone you can't help but love - she is a precious lady, and I personally pray that this eccentric little Southern preacher's widow will be with us a few more years, and hopefully I can share more about her legacy later.  God bless until next time.

The Compassionate Small-Town Scholar/Pastor

Rev'd Dr. Woodrow I. Brown (1918-2006)

 

Over the years there have been a number of clergy that I can say have impacted me just by being able to know them.  Back when I was a kid in Kirby, WV, my mother wanted to have a local pastor to identify with despite the fact she herself was backslid.  Although she was presupposed to Pentecostal churches, the local Assemblies of God pastor in Kirby was really not that impressive (the man cancelled Sunday services at one point for the Superbowl, which gives you an idea of his spiritual leadership!).  So, staying true to our roots, Mom got in touch with a local Brethren pastor who actually was quite a distance away (Kirby was about 20 miles from this particular church), and that pastor was Rev. Woodrow Brown.  I want to share a little of his legacy here because he was a true spiritual mentor to many, and he had a heart for the people he ministered to.  I want to start by first giving a background of the church he pastored, as that was a fascinating story in itself, and then I want to tell a little of Rev. Brown's story.

Rev. Brown pastored the Tearcoat Church of the Brethren, which was located about 6 miles east of Augusta, WV, just off US 50, and pastored there for Lord only knows how many years.   The Brethren Church was of course where my own family's roots were too, and many of the local congregations of Brethren in our part of West Virginia were old congregations, some over 200 years.  Tearcoat Church was originally built in 1875 by what was then a congregation of 45 members whose ancestors arrived in the region back in the late 1700's, and many of them became farmers (many of the notable peach and apple orchards of the area are still operated by those families, notably the Shanholtz clan).  When it was built, it was considered to be one of the largest Dunkard congregations in the area, according to West Virginia Brethren historian Emmert Bittinger in his classic volume, Allegheny Passages (Camden, ME: Penobscot Press, 1990) on pages 375-376.   Today, the church is still huge by comparison of many area churches of any denomination, but it also has the membership still to maintain such a large structure.  I am not exactly sure when Rev. Brown came to the Tearcoat church, but it had to have been sometime in the 1970's - no source on him has the exact dates of his tenure.  That now leads to Rev. Brown's story.

Tearcoat Church of the Brethren, just east of Augusta, WV, as it appears today

 

Woodrow I. Brown was born in the town of Peebles, OH, on October 2, 1918.  Although he later pastored Brethren churches, he was initially ordained as a Baptist, and throughout his life and ministry he was noted for being fairly conservative in his doctrine as a result.   That ordination, according to the biographical information provided on the back cover of his book, Father's Faith (Ememclaw, WA: WinePress Publishing, 2006), happened in 1948.   He also attended Wilmington College, but he received his degrees from Practical Bible Seminary in Hagerstown, MD, as well as a degree from Davis College later.  It wasn't until he was in his 60's that he received a Doctorate in Christian Education in 1982.   After pastoring in several states, he finally settled at Tearcoat and eventually retired as Pastor Emiritus from there in the late 1990's.  Now, it is his final resting-place - no doubt he loved that congregation, and they still hold him in high regard too.

We first met Rev. Brown in 1980, when Mom called him for pastoral care during one of her "spirit-filled" (she drank a lot, in other words!) episodes.   However, Rev. Brown was always one to be there when called, as unfortunately my grandmother and step-grandfather discovered later when they reasoned that "pastor" must mean unofficial free taxi, and they milked that to the fullest (I would choke them today for taking advantage of this dear man of God, but they are deceased already) and didn't even give him the privelege of attending one service at the church.   Many people get skewered notions that a minister is to be a personal slave, and it is truly shameful that a minister is often called upon to do this or do that for people who don't even attend his church - that has become a serious pet-peeve of mine over the years.  My family was no exception - many of them would not darken the door of a church unless someone died, yet they expect ministers to be at their beck and call.  Those lazy jackasses need to attend a church once in a while rather than just sucking the life out of preachers, and it would do them good to make that sacrifice!  However, Rev. Brown ran errands and did other menial tasks like that gracefully, and I am sure Christ has given him a crown of something for such extraordinary endurance dished out by some of the most obnoxious examples of God's creation.  I admired that about him, but wanted to kick my mom and grandparents in the butt for doing what they did.  Many ministers today go the other extreme, thinking they are too high and mighty to do anything except preach, and those irk me as well.  The examples of true men of God like Rev. Brown shame some of these modern-day spoiled, fat-bellied self-proclaimed "ministers" who are often more interested in making names for themselves rather than serving the God they claim to speak for.   It is tragic, but I digress and will refrain now from soapboxing!

I mentioned that Rev. Brown authored some books, and I hold in my hand now one his son Ralph published posthumously of many of his dad's most inspiring messages.   Rev. Brown was a true scholar, and often appealed to literature, science, and even philosophy to communicate an affirmed truth in Scripture.  Reading many of his sermons, as well as hearing them, you begin to see that he was a well-read man and didn't just over-spiritualize everything.  Much of his preaching was eschatological, and he believed that the history recorded in the Bible set the stage for all the redemptive acts of Christ, from the Incarnation to the Second Coming.  Although many "theologians" would summarily dismiss his book as a "popular devotional work," Rev. Brown's sermons did pack a punch!  At the same time, Rev. Brown had almost a childlike sense of awe regarding God's creation - in one quote, he said this: "Needless to say, I have seen everything on earth in my travels many times and I still marvel at the power of the Word of that man who started and kept moving all the trillions of tons of molecules from the roof of the boat (meaning the Ark) that day."  This was part of a devotional message he entitled "The Biographical Travelogue of Miss Molly Cule," in which he personifies a single molecule (hence, "Molly Cule"!) by telling the wonders of creation from that perspective.  This is something that slaps in the face the theology of many Pentecostals and Evangelicals, who often have a Gnostic-like hatred for the physical world in favor of the "life to come" that is somehow superior and better.  What Rev. Brown, as well as Catholic theologians such as Henri de Lubac, realized was that what God created was good, although a Methodist minister, Dr. Kip Laxson, takes it a step further by saying in one of his recent sermons that when God said at the Creation "it is good," he also meant that he saw (as God has foreknowledge of course) how the beauty of creation would become, and as Dr. Laxson succinctly put it, that is what God saw as "good."   It is a similar statement that my Theology professor at Franciscan University, Dr. Regis Martin, echoes when he talks about justification - God sees the dung as good, enters into it, and from it comes a bountiful harvest.  Rev. Brown follows a similar line of thought in his writings too.  Reading this made me think too - why don't we act as better stewards of the earth God has given us??   That doesn't mean that we should all become members of Greenpeace (as they have an anti-human, anti-Christian agenda of ZPG), but rather that we should see the creative hand of God in that hibiscus flower outside our front window, and in the flock of white ibis that forage the bugs out of our yards here in Florida for example.  It's a good lesson to learn, and I hope to utilize it on my Sacramental Present Truths page in the future.  Sufficive to say, I am talking more theology and memoirs now, so let's wrap up.

In summary, Rev. Brown had the mind of a scholar, and the heart of a pastor, and he was a gift of God to a small West Virginia town that needed a ministry like his.  He has gone onto his eternal reward, but his legacy is a heritage that will bless those who knew him for many years to come, provided the Lord chooses to tarry.  God bless until next time.

 

The Old Country Parson

Rev. William Cecil "W.C." Dunson (1901-1994)

 

 

In small communities where I grew up in West Virginia, the local minister often becomes an iconic symbol of leadership.  This stems back to the old days when for the most part church meetings were the pivotal activity of the week in many isolated communities, and in many cases, the local pastor was often also the most educated person who was looked up to in order to fill a number of roles besides just preaching, marrying, baptizing, and burying.  In many cases too, churches didn't have the luxury a lot of times of having a full-time minister, so in many cases the local preacher served a "circuit" of churches in the area that he visited on certain days of the month.  This was true of many denominations in the hills, in particular the Methodists, but also even Catholic priests had to serve their parishioners that way a lot of times.  The person I am about to talk about was a living testimony to those times, as he exemplified the classic mountain circuit-riding parson in his day.  

Rev. W.C. Dunson is a name that many people in eastern Preston County from a couple of generations back will know well - his name brings back a lot of fond memories to many of the older folks who did know him, and to this day he is still an integral part of the history of the area.  Rev. Dunson belonged to what was then called the Evangelical United Brethren denomination, and before I talk about him I feel a little history lesson is in order, as many reading this may not know much about this denominational tradition.  In around the year 1767, a revival meeting took place in a barn owned by one Isaac Long near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, under the spiritual direction of a Mennonite clergyman by the name of Martin Boehm (1725-1812) - it was at the time of the First Great Awakening when a revivalistic fervor was touching much of the nation then, including the Pennsylvania Germans.  Attending this meeting was a German Reformed pastor from Maryland, Rev. Phillip Otterbein (1726-1813) who had recently taken over the pastorate of the German Reformed Church in Lancaster.  Otterbein somehow received a dramatic spiritual awakening at the Isaac Long barn meetings, and at one of those services, according to an account recorded by Henry Spayth, Otterbein arose and embraced Boehm, uttering the classic proclamation, "Wir Sind Bruder!" which resulted in an outbreak of emotional joy in the meeting - this is historically credited with being the birth of the United Brethren movement, although it was not officially established until the early 1800's (Paul R. Fetters, Trials and Triumphs - History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ {Huntington, IN: UB Dept of Church Services, 1984} p. 45).   The United Brethren movement later developed close ties, via its Great Awakening involvement, with the emerging Methodist movement, even adopting Wesleyan doctrine and spirituality from their Methodist peers.  The movement was also part of a larger German Christian movement in the US at the time called the "River Brethren," although a split happened early on which formed the Brethren In Christ, a Mennonite/Wesleyan denomination which in time identified closely with the Holiness movement.  Another group of Wesleyan-doctrine Mennonites in the 1800's called the Albright Brethren also were birthed out of the Great Awakening, and from them emerged a denomination in 1811 called the Evangelical Church.  As the United Brethren continued to grow, some issues began to arise, and one of the big issues led to a split in the movement in 1889 over the issue of membership in secret societies - the party that supported the inclusion of Freemasons into membership were called "New Constitutionalists," while the party that opposed participation in secret societies were called "Old Constitutionalists."  In time, the "Old Constitutionalist" party retained the name United Brethren in Christ, and are today still a separate denomination.  The "New Constitutionalists" though would undergo more evolution and in 1946 would merge with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church (Behny and Ehler, A History of the Evangelical United Brethren Church {Nashville: Abingdon, 1979} p. 357).   Due to much common ground with the Methodists, in 1968 the EUB and the Methodist Church effected a merger that created what is today known as the United Methodist Church.  

That brief history lesson has significance for West Virginia for two reasons.  First, the Holiness/Wesleyan revivals found fertile ground in the West Virginia mountains.  Second, in the area of northeastern West Virginia, a large population of Germans settled, and many of them were members of the United Brethren Church almost from the beginning, as well as bringing in later a large number of non-German converts in the region.  In many cases, the United Brethren had a very ecumenical attitude toward other churches, in particular the Methodists (with whom they shared many doctrinal convictions), the Dunkards, and the Mennonites, as well as German Evangelicals of the Albright tradition.  My great-grandfather, Rev. Charles Judson Strahin, for instance was credentialed by both the Dunkards and the United Brethren back in the earlier part of the 20th century.  Many of the United Brethren in West Virginia chose to be part of the majority "New Constitution" faction after the 1889 schism, and later on many of them became EUB churches (and subsequentially United Methodist congregations).  My great-grandfather, as well as Rev. Dunson, were both part of that group.  It is at this point we pick up with Rev. Dunson's story.

William Cecil Dunson was born on March 27, 1901, near the community of Queens, in Upshur County, WV.  He met and married his wife Elva in 1920 in Oakland, MD.  Being as many preachers in those days were bi-vocational, the young Rev. Dunson and his schoolteacher bride supported themselves by his working at first a lumber store and later at the state hospital in Weston, WV, as an orderly.  After working a couple of other small jobs in the region, the young W.C. was called to the ministry and in the late 1920's he was licensed with the state United Brethren conference to minister a circuit of churches in Gilmore County.  It was in 1937 that the young minister accepted a call to the Terra Alta area, and he accepted the Terra Alta Circuit of churches which he pastored for many years while also supplementing his family income as a clerk for the Post Office until he retired in 1965.  He also served many of the local Dunkard churches as minister on several occasions during those years, and he was noted as being a caring, honest parson who got to know many of his flock personally.  (information taken from an old undated news clipping I had in my files from the local paper, The Preston County News, that commemorated the 48th anniversary of his ministry)

The old Pine Grove Church on Salt Lick near Terra Alta, WV, one of the EUB (later Methodist) congregations in Rev. Dunson's Terra Alta circuit.

 

My own personal experience with Rev. Dunson came much later, in the late 1980's.   By that time, Rev. Dunson had long retired full-time ministry, although at the request of many of his older flock he still conducted funerals and guest-preached on occasion.  He and his wife then were content with being members of Trinity United Methodist Church in Terra Alta, which at one time was a EUB congregation on Rev. Dunson's former circuit years previous.   I didn't get the chance to talk to Rev. Dunson a lot then, although a nonagenarian lady my mother took care of, Myrtle Masters, was one of his former parishioners and still really close with him, so he would come to the house to visit her on occasion.  What I did know of him though was that he was a very humble man, soft-spoken, but at the same time he had a reverence about him that drew people - to put it in religious terms, the Spirit of God was with this man in a way that you couldn't describe but just knew.     He was spoken highly of by many residents of Terra Alta, Rowlesburg, and the surrounding communities, and his reputation today is still a fascinating piece of the local history.  The church he chose to be part of upon his retirement, Trinity in Terra Alta, was founded in 1904 as a EUB church, and Rev. Dunson actually pastored it for several years starting in 1945 (History of the Trinity United Methodist Church, Terra Alta, p. 4).  Overall, Rev. Dunson's life is a rich legacy as well as an inspiring testimony of how God used a country parson to touch so many people, and his influence continues today.

Rev. Dunson passed away at the age of 92 in January 1994, roughly six years after his wife Elva predeceased him in 1988.  Although I never got the chance to know him as well as I would have liked, he still impacted me with his own testimony in a good way, and I only hope that the spiritual legacy I leave will be even a fraction of his.  Rest Eternal, Parson.

Reverend Mister Pansler

Rev. Clarence Snyder Pansler (1915-2000)

(photo courtesy of his granddaughter, Karen Pansler Lam)

 

I want to now just give a little glimpse of my early college years and first couple of years of marriage as I remember perhaps one of the most interesting individuals we had ever met.   I want to first of all give a little historical background as to our situation at the time, as God sent this dear man to us at a time we had a very real need, and that is why I wanted to dedicate a little something here to his memory in the best way I know how to do so.

When I originally started college fresh out of high school in 1989, I originally began studies at a little Baptist college in the panhandle of Florida.  However, an interesting thing happened on June 21, 1989 - I received the Pentecostal experience, tongues and all, at a little Pentecostal Holiness church in Brunswick, GA, during a revival that particular week.  Up until that point in my life, although I was raised fairly familiar with Pentecostal religious tradition in my family, I was a bit turned off by it due to my mother's gross misrepresentation of what a Pentecostal was.  By the grace of God though, I did receive Christ as my Savior on a chilly January night in 1986, and in subsequent years I threw myself into the Baptist Church full force - I preached, taught Sunday School, served on church council, etc. all before I was 18 years old!  But, curiosity got the best of me that summer before college when, while staying with my dad and working to earn some money, I began to get curious and warm up to the idea that maybe these Pentecostals had something good to offer, which led me to the Pentecostal Holiness church where I got myself filled with the Holy Spirit.  That experience rocked my world at a really pivotal time - I was about to start college at this Southern Baptist Bible school, and here I was beginning to do things like pray in tongues!  That, of course, eventually led me out of the Baptist Church for good and I began a long tenure as part of the Foursquare Gospel denomination.   

1991 dawned later, and that proved to be a somewhat chaotic year, as by New Years Day 1992 I was on a bus headed for California to attend LIFE Bible College, which was the official Foursquare school.  Things didn't quite work out, and as 1992 dawned life was a mess - I found myself back in Dothan, AL, without a dime to my name and being lodged with one of the church members in a small apartment just south of downtown.  Barbara and I were not married yet, I had an insurmountable amount of debt, and had to do something fast, so I went to culinary school for a few months, which also paid me a small stipend.  Barb and I eventually got married on May 22 of that year, and at around the same time I was accepted into Southeastern College in Lakeland, FL, and we made the move, leaving everything we could not load in our car behind as we bunked at my mother-in-law's house that summer (a word of advice to you newly-married young people - do not under any circumstances live with your in-laws after you are first married, as it can be testy!).  Any rate, I started at Southeastern that August, but my mother-in-law lived almost two hours north in Ocala and we had to commute - that just was not going to work!  So, we had to do something fast!

 

Fortunately, we found a place in south Lakeland that was owned by a rather stuck-up retired minister named Carrier, but again, we ran into trouble - we could only stay there a week, and then were asked to move based on mud on our car.  However, it was not necessarily bad news in that one of the first things I did when I started school in Lakeland was to look up the local Foursquare Church, and come to find out one had just started there on Lemon Street.   The church, Family Praise and Worship Church, was started by a former Assembly of God minister by the name of Gene Pansler, and upon explaining our situation to him, Gene put us in touch with his grandfather who just happened to own a nice little mobile home park within walking distance of Southeastern's campus.  His grandfather, of course, was Rev. Clarence Pansler, himself a retired Pentecostal evangelist.  Now, I want to tell a little about him.

Clarence Snyder Pansler was born in Ohio in 1915, and as he related his testimony to us upon first meeting him, he apparently led a pretty wild life in the late 1920's and early 1930's as he came of age - he was involved in bootlegging liquor and some other questionable enterprises, although he told us his folks were United Brethren church members.  He had a dramatic conversion - I believe he said he actually attended one of Aimee Semple MacPherson's tent meetings back then - and responded to a call to preach.  In makeshift trailers, he crisscrossed the country with his wife and young family, finally ending up settling in Florida.  His first wife, Blanche, later passed away in 1985 and he later remarried a sweet little lady by the name of Myrtle, who remained with him until dementia finally compelled her family to place her in assisted living.  Clarence and Blanche ended up having two children, Eugene Sr. (1933-2009) and Lois (still living), and it was Eugene who provided him with a host of grandkids and later great-grandkids.   Eugene Sr. later became the Vice President of Southeastern College, a post he held for many years, and many of his own seven children ended up serving the Lord in their own way as well - Gene, as mentioned, was at one time our pastor, and another son, Karl, is a prominent local attorney, while a sister, Karen, is an attorney in her own right and also has a strong apologetics writing ministry.  In short, Clarence has given his family a very rich and spiritually vibrant heritage.

 

Dr. C. Eugene Pansler (1933-2009), Rev. Pansler's oldest son

 

 

 

 I grew to love and respect Rev. Pansler, as he was a good landlord, a great spiritual leader, and a mentor to so many.  Unfortunately, at the time we first met him, he was already in his late 70's and began to have issues with the upkeep of the mobile home park he maintained for many years - he often called his park a ministry to the students, and at one time he even had a small tabernacle there where he held services and provided some of the Ministry majors from Southeastern a place to hone their preaching skills.  When we moved there though, the tabernacle was a storage shed, and the small guest quarters in back of it was rented to us as an apartment, which at $200 monthly was a good deal for 1992!  However, in early 1993, he sold the park to a Canadian retiree named Bill Oxford, and spent the remainder of his days at a small luxury apartment near the Wal-Mart on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland.  Nonetheless, we still saw much of him in the six years we lived in the place, and his daughter Lois was our ever-present neighbor across the street.  

Rev. Pansler had his own brand of wisdom that only an old-time Pentecostal preacher could get away with dispensing.  When we first moved into the park in August 1992, for instance, we got the chance to visit a lot with Rev. Pansler and his wife Myrtle, and he dispensed a little free marriage counseling to us that to this day I still can recall well - being we were only married for a couple of months at that time, he advised us thus - "If you ever have the temptation to cheat, just remember that all donuts have the same hole!"  A little crass to some more religious ears to be sure, but true nonetheless!  I also still have in my library a copy of Smith Wigglesworth's Ever Increasing Faith, which is considered a Pentecostal spiritual classic, that Rev. Pansler gave to all young ministers as his way of saying that an unwavering faith in God is necessary to carry out one's calling.  Recently, when meeting with his grandson Karl on business, we swapped some stories about Rev. Pansler, and one of the ones Karl shared with me came from his grandfather's twilight years.  Where Rev. Pansler lived at the Imperial Apartments off of South Florida Avenue is a large shopping center that included a Wal-Mart as well as several restaurants, including interesting enough a Hooter's.   For many reading this, no explanation of what Hooter's is noted for (besides its wings, of course!) is necessary, but for some reason Rev. Pansler would go up there during an occasion and have lunch.  Karl, a little shocked that his devout Pentecostal minister granddad would even step foot in a Hooter's, asked him, "Granddad, why are you going up to Hooter's?"   His grandfather replied, "Well, the wings are good, plus Jesus loves Hooter's girls too."  The "Hooter's Girls" got to know him pretty well, and it is said that he may have possibly even got a couple of them going to church again.  There are probably a myriad of these stories about this guy which could be told along these lines, but one thing is consistent - he was a man who knew his Lord, and served Him with sincerity and consistency for many years.  And, that was the man's spiritual legacy to his family.  

Rev. Clarence Pansler passed on to his eternal reward on April 22, 2000, just past his 85th birthday.  The park he once operated as a ministry has since passed into the hands of others, and nine years after his repose his son, Dr. Eugene Pansler Sr., joined him in eternity.  Both of them represented a rare breed of minister and Christian witness that sadly lacks this day and age, and hopefully some who had the privelege of knowing Rev. Pansler personally will be faithful to carry on his legacy.  I am also still fairly close with many of his grandkids, as many of them do live in the area still, and I know they too are blessed with the great legacy their grandfather gave them too.  In a way, I also inherited a small part of that legacy, as he was a man I looked up to as well, and there are thousands of people who could probably testify to the same.  Rest Eternal, Rev. Pansler, until we see you again when the time comes.

Little Churches

Well, here it is, 2014 already!  Boy, how time flies as you get older, and I feel like I am in a Star Trek-like warp drive now that I have reached the ripe old age of 44.  Some of those who are older than me may scoff at that, and I can hear those comments - "Aww, you're still a baby!" or "I wish I was 44 again!"  To be fair to my older friends, I will probably be making those same statements in a couple of years.   Any rate, I wanted to start this year off right with a couple of good thoughts.

Let's see...ever since I was a kid, I have loved church architecture.   There is something about a building that is designed to worship the sovereign God, and also the functionality of the church design is of interest to me personally.  However, I also love miniature things (except when it comes to saxophones, where bigger is better!) and inevitably the two penchants were bound to cross paths at some point.  Surprisingly, they did so practically on the back doorstep of where I grew up, as I remember as a kid this little tiny church that someone had built on US 219 South just outside of Parsons headed toward Elkins, adjacent to this large house that if I recall used to be an assisted living facility of some sort.  The little church did not have a name, and obviously no one carried on regular services in the little structure (who could fit into it, for one thing!)  but it served as a sort of holy place for local people who wanted to stop and pray, or just be close to God in their own way.  That mentality entails what we Appalachian-Americans would call "sense of place," which I recently dealt with in a theology article I submitted for an academic journal, and it also is the reason I write a lot of this stuff - "place" is more than just a geographic location, because for whatever reason it has sentimental value to the person who appreciates it, and it serves as a visible and tangible point of contact which connects to the deepest convictions of the person who appreciates it.  That little church outside Parsons back those many years ago did just that too.  As a kid, riding in Mom's car or with other relatives around town, I had passed that little church many times and in most cases never gave it too much thought other than something deep in my imagination stirring which for some reason made me appreciate it for my own unique reasons.  Let me share what the little church looked like back all those many years ago:

After several years of being away from my hometown, as I grew up several miles away in my early teens, I began to get a curiosity in my early adult years about whatever happened to that little church, as my grandfather now owns a house less than a mile south of where the little structure used to be.  I noticed on one occasion that it was no longer at the spot where it once was, and so I asked my grandfather about it.  He informed me that the little church was moved to Elkins, where it serves as a sort of meditation chapel in a garden of a local nursing home, but it is still very much around.  I was actually very happy the little chapel was preserved, because it was really too unique of a little landmark to just destroy.  Today, with some refurbishing, here is what she looks like:

Perhaps next visit home I may go see it for myself, as it would be nice to actually see the inside now too.

A few miles up the road is another tiny church, somewhat bigger than this one but still tiny, in the town of Silver Lake, WV, on US 219 North.  This one does have a name, as well as a story behind it, and it is called Our Lady of the Pines Chapel, the "Smallest Church in 48 States."  A popular local tourist attraction, the little chapel was built by a Lithuanian Catholic immigrant family many years ago as a sort of symbol of gratitude for the way God blessed them, and it has been kept up immaculately by the modern descendants of this family to this very day.  To access this little chapel, you go north on 219 past Thomas, and just shortly before the Maryland state line you will come into the small hamlet of Silver Lake.  If you watch for the signs, you will note them directing you to a small street that forks backward off 219, and if you take that narrow street back a little, you will come to the little church.  The doors to the little chapel are always open, and I understand that Masses are even held there, as well as weddings and other services (many people like having weddings in places like this, as it makes the experience extra memorable).  I have visited the chapel several times, and it is always a neat experience to do so.

Our Lady of the Pines Chapel, Silver Lake, WV

 

Altar area

 

The directional sign of the little church

 

As far as little churches go, it is not the smallest (despite the well-intentioned claim!) as there are many other tiny chapels that would make this one look like Notre Dame, but it is still definitely a tiny chapel that is worth your while to visit if you are in the immediate area.  However, I have visited one smaller in my youth, and now to tell you a little about that one.

 

Back when I was but 2 or 3 years old, as you may know, my parents divorced.  I of course spent most of my life in West Virginia with my mother, but I did get to visit Dad on occasion too, who lived in Brunswick, GA.  While in Brunswick, I had gotten to see a number of neat things  - the historic landmarks on St. Simons Island, the beautiful Atlantic beaches on Jekyll Island, and the pristine Okeefenokee Swamp a short distance away.   However, if one travels up US 17 heading north towards the town of Darien, there is a sign along the road which heralds "The Smallest Church in the US," and to get to it you have to turn right off US 17 and go out a short narrow palmetto and Spanish moss-draped sand road to it's location.  The little church is called Christ Chapel, and at only 10' x 15' it actually makes Our Lady of the Pines look huge!  Although built like an Anglican chapel, it is considered a nondenominational shrine for curious tourists as well as devout Christian motorists just needing a place to pray as they proceed on their travels.  And, like Our Lady of the Pines, I have visited this one many times over several years, and it is still fascinating to visit it even today, although at present it has been over 20 years since I had last been in that part of the country.  

Christ Chapel, off US 17 near Darien, GA

 

The interior and altar of Christ Chapel, Darien, GA

 

 

One of these days I will have to research into the full story behind this little chapel, as I have it somewhere in my memoirs but need to dig it up.  

 

There are other unique little churches I would like to visit but may not be able to for some time.  One of them is a tiny little church that a group of young teens put together in rural Virginia, and represents their love of the serpent-handling tradition.  The kids call the little church "Poor Valley Pentecostal Holiness Church," and from the outside it looks like a dilapidated outhouse although the kids have admittedly done a fantastic job making it look like a church.  It is even replete with its own "parishioner," a doll in Holiness dress they call "Sister" something.  The kids actually look like they are pretty devout, and even have a website for their little church at   https://sites.google.com/site/pvphc777/home that is worth a look.  

This is one photo of the little building called the Poor Valley Church

 

A side view of the little structure

 

This young fellow, Brandon Campbell, is listed as the "pastor" of the little church

 

A map actually has them listed near Rose Hill, VA, in a very remote area at the extreme western tail of the state near the Kentucky border.   I am not certain if these kids actually believe they have a real church (perhaps they do!) or if this is just a group of country pre-teens playing church - if it is the latter, there are worse things they could be doing, so to me they are pretty decent kids if they want to emulate churchfolk, so no harm done regardless.  It would be something neat to visit though and just talk with the kids about, because somehow they had good upbringing to undertake an endeavor like this, whatever their reasoning for it.  And, it looks like they believe in some ministry of some sort, as their website takes prayer requests too.  Any rate, they have gotten me curious about them, and I am interested in learning more about these remarkable young people.

I hope this lighthearted tour of small chapels I have either visited or have learned of over the years has been something you have enjoyed reading, and soon I will be back with some more reading material for you.  However, I may not be able to visit as often, as my graduate studies with Franciscan University, as well as church business and other things, have been keeping me pretty occupied the past few weeks.  However, although I may not be home here a lot, you are always welcome to visit my virtual "front porch," and feel free to do so.  God bless until next time. 

 

 

 

 

 

Year-End Musings and Ponderings

It is hard to imagine that 2013 is on the verge of wrapping up, and what a year it has been too!  In many respects, I am glad it is over, and am anticipating a good year in 2014. 

There are a lot of things that have happened this year which have formulated my perspectives as I share them here, and as I share them, I cannot help but think of how each of our lives is a microcosm of what happens in the society as a whole, especially with some crazy stuff our government is doing this past year.  We'll touch on that briefly later, but for now I want to review life in 2013 in our house, as in many aspects it was good, challenging, and at times a little uncertain, but by God's grace we made it through.

1.  Society and My Response

This has been one of those challenging years on many counts, and it has impacted me just like it has many.  Most of it has to do with what is going on in society on a larger scale, because what happens on a large scale affects us as individuals on a small scale, whether we accept it or not.  The Occupant in the White House (I don't see Obama as a legitimate President, sorry!) and his friends at the lower echelons of authority have been doing some crazy stuff, some of which doesn't make any sense whatsoever.   For instance, kids are now being punished in school for some pretty stupid things - eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc.  I even heard recently of one 6-year-old in Colorado being labeled as a "sexual harasser" because he gave a little girl classmate an innocent kiss on the hand.  Another kid I heard about was suspended for opening the door for a girl classmate too.  Yet another, a young Black teenager, was expelled for giving his teacher an innocent hug!    Yet, I don't see anything being done with the Muslim terrorist who tried to molest a horse - the gay-rights nuts would say on that one that "love is love," yet they are idiots anyway so who cares what they define as "love."  And, this whole "gay marriage" issue - I am about to get myself into some big trouble with what I am about to say, but it has to be said.  Just this past week, a Christian business owner who has a bakery was penalized by an activist Federal judge because he refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.  To begin with, this guy is an independent private business owner, and as such he has a right to refuse service to anyone because it is his business.  Secondly, it is obvious that some of these nasty gays want to just stir up trouble, because the simplest solution would have been for them to go elsewhere.  On that, I have a disagreement with some of my well-meaning libertarian friends in that they say the "gay rights" crowd will supposedly respect businesses and churches that don't agree with their positions and leave them alone, but what this situation with the bakery demonstrates is that there is a method to their madness - they are not about just "marriage equality" or "equal rights," but rather they are trying to ramrod an agenda down the throats of every American.  No one - not even devout Christians - is saying gays cannot be gay; as reprehensible as the lifestyle is, it is not up to us to force them to live differently, and no Christian would say that.  The problem is that the gay community often doesn't want to reciprocate the courtesy - they are trying to force their lifestyle preferences on us, while at the same time saying that those who don't agree with it are "bigots" and other such perjorative names they call us.  Which leads to a third observation - as far as I can tell, gays are not a race or ethnic group, but rather a group which engages in a behavioral lifestyle.   Therefore, they are not a minority, and in many cases, they live lives just like everyone else, so what is the problem?  Gays have the same freedom of speech, they can work good jobs and get good salaries, and last I heard there are not frenzied mobs breaking into their bedrooms either.  They can also vote, shop at the same stores, eat in the same restaurants, use the same services, etc., that everyone else can, so I find it perplexing as to why they think they have "discrimination."   It might also be enlightening to some people that Christians are as against bullying gays and others as any decent human being would be - bullying of any sort is wrong, period.  And, it is always wrong to go "whipping up" on anyone just because you don't like how they look or what they do.  The "gay lifestyle" is something I believe to be wrong, and it is contrary to both human nature and Biblical principles.  And, I also don't think gays (or anyone else for that matter) are entitled to "special treatment," nor do I think they have a "right" to marry each other either - marriage is a sacramental union, not an entitlement.  However, just like with any sinners, gays need Jesus Christ in their lives, and our witness to them as Christians is to treat them with dignity as fellow human beings, but at the same time pray for their salvation and deliverance.  If that makes me a "bigot," then so be it - however, it seems to me that those who are on the "gay rights" bandwagon are oftentimes more bigoted and intolerant of their opponents than their opponents are of them, and that is where the change needs to take place. 

Now, let us turn attention to the economy.   I had issues this year with employment, and in large part it is due to Obama - he has literally wrecked the economy, and many of us who simply want to support our families and maintain a good quality of life have suffered for it.  Over-regulation and other bureaucratic craziness has stifled even the self-sustaining efforts of some - you have government bullies (aided by nosy, meddling HOA's in some communities) going in and tearing up people's vegetable gardens and other such stuff, and they are now even going after kids for selling lemonade!  It is getting ridiculous.  The garden issue happened in Miami recently when some nosy neighbors ragged on a family for growing a small vegetable plot in their front yard, and the government dealt harsh and nasty with that family - really, tomatoes are now a threat to people??   Other forms of self-sufficiency have been attacked as well, and it is getting harder to pursue the fabled "American Dream" because the US government and its lackeys are creating nightmares!  There are good organizations out there, such as the Institute for Justice, which are fighting against this bullying, but much needs to be done yet.  Then, you have the MacDonald's crowd - employees there are now trying to demand that they get paid $15/hour to flip burgers!  I have a BA degree, and I have only made that much in my whole working career one time; for the most part, I am happy if I can get $10 or $12 hourly!  Yet, these burger-flippers - a job taking minimal effort and skill, I might add - think they should get more than a degreed professional??   Many of our combat-weary troops overseas don't even make that kind of cash, and they could use it more because what they are doing is much more important.  There are some thoughts on this I will share now.  First, if you are working fast-food joints as a life career, you are a sad individual - while on one hand it is commendable that you are at least earning a paycheck, maybe you need to re-evaluate your career choices; go to community college or something and learn a real trade.  Reason is that burger joints and the jobs they entail are for transitioning purposes - they are for either teenagers earning a little spending money, retirees wanting to do something useful, or for those a little down on their luck to get back on their feet so that they can find a permanent and more appropriate job later.  Burger joints, unless one is a stockholder, are not meant to be career choices.   Secondly,  if MacDonald's or any other fast-food chain actually takes this seriously, it would be economic suicide - income would have to be generated to pay those outrageous salaries, and that would mean a price increase in their product.  First off, I hate burgers personally, but for those that like them, I don't think that potentially paying $10 for a Big Mac would be worth the cost - you can get a much better meal at the Golden Corral for much cheaper.  Fast food is just not that great, and it's meant to be cheap because its quality is not the best - people are not going to pay outrageous amounts for a substandard product, simple as that.  Therefore, if burger-flippers end up being paid more than an entry-level secretary makes, the secretary who makes less may eat elsewhere, simple as that.  Plus, there are much better options - the small Mom-and-Pop places oftentimes have better food than these large chains, and the upside is that they would benefit from a dumb move like that.  Anyway, that is just me.

More could be said - much more actually, as I haven't even gotten to Obamacare; oy! - but we'll leave it at that.

2.  Record-Collecting and Hobbies

Due to limited resources, I have not actually been at liberty to purchase as many CD's this year as I have in years past, but we did manage to get some good stuff this year anyway.   Some of the primary material we have gotten has been Western Swing and polka recordings, and the combination of those at the end of our 2012-2013 anniversary year on October 1st was 1176 CD's, 89 DVD's, and 898 vinyl LP recordings.  This is the first year in several actually that I have had no vinyl purchases, but that is fine because I have practically all I am looking for at the current time.  Large purchases this year have been minimal as well, consisting of some good vintage polka collections of the orchestras of Romy Gosz and Al Grebnick, as well as a 5-CD collection of Western Swing pioneer Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies.   I have tried to focus this past year on tying up some loose ends in the collection, as there were several things from individual artists directly I wanted to obtain and did - among those are polka bands such as Orv Konop and Duffy Belorad, modern Western Swing groups such as the Quebe Sisters and Hot Club of Cowtown, and a few vintage big band recordings including Glen Law's orchestra from Illinois.  The real find this year though was of one of my favorite big dance bands which finally is available on disc - Johnny Green's vintage recordings of the 1930's.  Thanks to my friends the Dodds in Australia and their company Crystal Stream, we were able to obtain that one.  I also have now gotten my own CD recorder, and am in the process of creating my own CD's of some LP collections which have no chance of ever being reissued due to their rarity.  Additionally, I have been able to access entire albums of material online - Peter Duchin's vintage recordings from his early 1960's Deccas, for one - and have made CD's of those.  I see this as a trend later on too, because I have figured this would be a great way to get some albums on CD that either will never have the privelege of a professional reissue, or perhaps the copies of LP's I have may have defects and scratches, therefore not allowing for quality self-made recordings.

In the coming year, there will be less purchases of CD's because there simply isn't that much left to get - I am at a point in my collection where I have the library I have always wanted, and there is relatively little out there I need to purchase.  However, I must always keep my eyes open for new releases, as they will happen, and we are at a place now to where we can add them almost as soon as they become available. 

3.  Organization

This has been a year of finishing a lot of projects as well - I finished a theological book I have been working on for about 10 years, and now have a desk and computer of my own in my home office to organize things the way I have needed to.  This includes getting a system refined for all my paperwork, and an ongoing organizational effort to make things more easily accessible.

4.  Other Projects

The addition of a CD recorder has also facilitated organization and conversion of my other music and material onto discs, and it is good to finally be able to listen to some great music, both sacred and secular, that I only had on cassette and haven't been able to listen to in years.  The demise of the cassette tape is honestly one of the biggest blessings I can say was ever conceived, because although cassettes were cheap, they were totally inadequate for preserving material that you wanted to keep.  The compact disc is a much better invention for doing that, and I am so thankful to be able to get a lot of my old material onto disc.  And, what material it was too - old cassette recordings of Assyrian and Armenian ethnic music, some Israeli folk music from years back I had on LP, and a lot of my Christian music that is largely unavailable on CD professionally but I had on cassette and LP.   Many of those cassettes I had were part of memories too - you know how some music, etc., reflects different periods of one's life, and they become a part of your legacy personally.  So it is with so many things I have here too.  Which leads into the second ongoing project I have had for some years now.

As funds made it more possible, since around 2004 I have been on a journey of sorts to rediscover my past as I put together my life story.   Our years in Largo had really contributed much to that rediscovery, as I had gotten a lot of books and other things during that time which were part of what I call my legacy.  That has continued into the past year as well, and 2013 has its benefits in that regard.  The good thing about much of this is that it didn't cost a dime, because much of it involved photos and other things I could access via the internet.  The continuing project is to take these things, organize them accordingly, and make them accessible, which is now the system I have in place.  I am sure more of that will come in the following year as well too.


5.  What's Ahead for 2014

Due to some limitations beyond my control, a lot of 2014 is still pretty much up in the air at the present time.  I did transfer schools from Southeastern University to Franciscan University of Steubenville, which means my graduate studies will continue with the exception of a 4-month interruption between this past September and now (December).  With continued graduate studies, I will not have the liberty to write quite as much, but still will continue all my articles.  As for this page, I think it is time to continue something I have started, and that is writing about people who I have known over the years and who have impacted me the most.  Also, some other material, as I venture into the virtual archives of my own memories - my brief tenure selling Grit papers, for instance, when I was a kid, as well as some similar and more specific childhood memories.  As much as politics and social issues get my attention, I want to try to keep Creative Side somewhat light in tone, because all of us know what is wrong with society and we cannot constantly dwell on those things but rather must keep alive the legacies God gave us.  A similar emphasis will be undertaken in my Sacramental Present Truths articles too, which will be focused in the coming year more upon things such as the "Six-Fold Ecclesiology" that will be the skeleton of my future MTS thesis work, as well as developing and formulating a sort of Appalachian Christian Theology too.  Recipes and restaurant reviews on David's Kitchen will be added as they happen, as there is no agenda for those.

I really hope that the articles I publish here will be material that inspires, on occasion entertains, and most importantly informs you, as it is my way of having a virtual "front porch" to talk, reminisce, and even share an occasional serving of BS when needed.  And, I hope that each and every one reading this will have a blessed holiday season, and let us not forget the One for whom we celebrate it either.  God bless, and will see you in 2014!