Listening to Bristow Holiness Camp Meeting

We have enjoyed going to Bristow Holiness Camp Meeting in Bristow, Oklahoma since the 1980s. God has spoken to us through the preaching, ministered to us through the worship and has encouraged us through the fellowship more times than I can mention here. We have been so blessed at Bristow.

Here are a few pictures at Bristow from 2019, 2016, 2011, 2007.

This week is Bristow Camp Meeting. It always begins the first Monday night in June. We seriously considered trying to go, but ultimately decided against it. One of the first things I thought about this morning, was wishing I was there to enjoy the services all week long.

Wishing will not get the job done when I did not make the drive so I prayed for my friends that will be there and prayed for the preachers and tried not to frown.😊

Monday evening about 8:45 our time, I started searching on Mixlr for the services. The very first church I typed was broadcasting from Bristow. My smile was about nine inches wide!

I was glad to hear the worship and to hear Pastor Jonathon Roberts from Richlands, Virginia preach the Monday night service. Monday night is always youth service and it sure sounded like they had a wonderful service. Listening on Mixlr is certainly not the same as being there, but I sure am happy I was able to listen. Mixlr is better than nothing.

Hopefully, they will have the other night's services on Mixlr too. I listened on Prague Lighthouse Holiness on Mixlr. Tune in and enjoy the camp meeting.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy

March 19, 2020 Was A Whopper of A Day!

One year ago today, because of the coronavirus, the vacation portion of our vacation/evangelistic trip to Australia and New Zealand ended two days early and we left the ship in Sydney. Not only was the vacation portion ended early, but the evangelistic portion was scuttled altogether.

The Australian government had given us two options upon leaving the ship. We could go directly to the airport and leave the country or we could go directly to a hotel and quarantine 14 days at our own expense. That would leave us 5 days in the country after quarantine and that was useless.

Since we were originally staying another three weeks, we did not have a flight scheduled for the early departure until right before we left the ship. I had spent hours on the phone the last two sailing days talking to the airlines, the cruise lines and the travel company. 

All three companies told me it was one of the other company's responsibility to rebook the flights. I kept calling and kept talking until someone did something and the reservations came through.

With flight reservations in hand, we left the ship one year ago today at 8:20 AM

We walked a few hundred feet and boarded a nearly empty train car. We rode that directly to the airport and stayed as far away from folks as we could at the airport. Although we were worried the last minute airline reservation might prove to be good to be true, it went through without a glitch or a hitch.

We left Sydney at 1:00 PM one year ago today and we landed in Dallas, Texas about 1:30 PM one year ago today. I will let you figure the timing out.

We went through customs, caught our plane to Knoxville, picked up the Green Machine and drove 20-30 miles to the bus in Vonore. We entered the bus about 6:30 PM one year ago today.

Wow! March 19, 2020, was some kind of day.

It was great to be in the USA, but we were sad about missing out on visiting new churches and meeting brothers and sisters and exploring a bit of Australia. We had walked away from some great opportunities and adventures that we had saved for and planned on for years.

There was no time to cry over spilled milk, we had a job to do. Several days before, when it looked like our trip would be cut short, I told Kelly Jo that I felt like we should keep right on preaching revival in the only way we could, online.

The plan was for businesses and churches in the USA to be shut down for two weeks (We know how that worked out, right?😁). We figured we would preach a week online, get things ready to roll again and hit the road.

In reality, we would have 61 consecutive nights of online revival!

Friday, March 20, 2020, we researched all day in Tennessee trying to learn enough about Mixlr and YouTube so that we could Livestream the services. This is a one minute test video that I put up that day. It is a timelapse of tent revival in Richton, Mississippi in 2019.

Saturday we drove home. Saturday evening, all day Sunday and most of Monday, we were still trying to understand the technology and Monday night we began revival.

We knew nothing about video. The angle was wrong, the distance was wrong, the sound was wrong, but we had church in the garage like there were a thousand people in attendance. It was the beginning of one of the highlights of our ministry.

Here is the very first night of 61 consecutive nights of online revival. 

You will hear Odie's voice, but you will not see Odie's face. KJo and I were under request from Australia to quarantine 14 days, so Odie stayed in the house, used her in-ear-monitor and cordless microphone and we had revival in the garage. 

I have many more memories and information to share from that week, but I will save it for another time. This Mile Marker has gone on long enough.

Thank you for joining us.

Davy

A Summary of Our First Big Circle of 2021

Even though we have been in Ohio six weeks today, I have neglected to write a summary of our first big circle away from home and back in 2021. It was pretty big mileage wise, but only about one month long.

We had intended this circle to last until July with a possible brief stop in Ohio about the second week of March. I obviously miscalculated on that one for sure!😎

We left Ohio on January 2 planning to preach for our good friends at Beechfork Holiness Church in Wartburg and get some bus work done at East Tennessee Luxury Coach in Vonore. We arrived in Vonore Saturday afternoon. Later that evening I received a call from Pastor Herman Woods letting me know they had to cancel due to possible exposure to COVID.

He hated it, but we understood completely. That is the new reality in our current world and we all have learned we have to roll with the punches, right?

After bus work, we made our way to our first revival in Denham Springs, Louisiana, then to revival in Sweeny, Texas. After Sweeny, we were scheduled to be in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, but they needed to postpone because of COVID.

We had online revival that week in the bus after stopping at Beech Creek Assembly for Sunday morning. As we were having online revival, we made our way to Bernice, Louisiana We set everything up just in time for me and Odie to wake up Sunday morning with COVID.

We loaded everything in the BoggsMobile and beat it home 900+ miles home over the next three days. That ended our first circle of 2021 It lasted 32 days and 2692 miles. 

Keep in mind, this was our first circle for the Jeep too. KJo drove it from home to Vonore, Tennessee and then we pulled it over 2300 miles. It performed perfectly. Here are a few pictures and videos.

Of course, we have postponed several weeks of our next circle and we are needing to make a decision on several more weeks. Our next meetings are in Arizona and then California, so canceling them would likely mean canceling the whole swing through California.

I need to make that decision soon, so I need direction from the Lord.

Thank you for visiting Mile Markers today.

Davy

Do We Have An Early Verdict?

There is no A Word For Wednesday post today. Preaching this week and day to day responsibilities have kept me hopping and I have not had time to record for Wednesday. IF I get a chance to record today, I will throw it up, but I can not see it happening.

You probably know that this three night revival next door at Dodds Church has been a test. Am I able to sing and preach three nights in a row? I have preached one night at a time in our Beach Cottage studio, but can I preach night after night? That is the test.

What Is the verdict?

After two nights, I think the verdict is mostly in. Even though I have felt great spiritually and decent physically while preaching, I have not felt great afterward. I wanted to feel great. I have tried to will myself to feel great, but the truth is the truth.

I do not wish to go into details, but it is obvious to me, I am not ready to do even three nights in a row. To hit the road like we always have, I need to be able to do 5-7 nights in a row, week after week. 

I am not even close to that and that is not even considering bus work, traveling, handling sound equipment and all the other physical aspects. We are still in the process of figuring out what that means for our schedule in the next few months and when we know, you will know shortly after.

We do have one more night of revival so maybe we will have a drastic change tonight. God is able! I am persuaded He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day!

Thank you for praying for us and I would appreciate you continuing to pray. We know that God hears and listens!

Davy

The Weekend Write Up 3/8/21

We had a good weekend. Dad, Kelly Jo and I finished most of a barn project Thursday. When we purchased the barn in December 2014, there were two platforms for storage in the front of the barn, one in each corner. We made an extended room out of one and loaded the second with stuff we had in storage in Wichita.

I would love to remove the sliding doors from the front of the barn and put up an overhead door. In order to do that, the second platform had to be adapted, rebraced and shortened. That is what Dad, KJo and I did Thursday. 

I use the space under the platform for miscellaneous tools and various materials and such. I call it the tool crib. It had to be nearly emptied and rearranged. I think it worked out good. Kelly Jo and I tied up the loose ends of the project Saturday.

The two treated 4x6 posts on the right are new. The platform previously extended to the big 6x8 post that is marked in red.

We were still working in the picture below, but you can kind of see the platform was shortened about 20 inches or so.

We had to move the light switch and added a receptacle.

We had an online revival service Friday night. 

Kelly's parents brought lunch and visited a few hours Saturday. Mom and Dad brought food another day or two and spent a while too.

Sunday was a momentous occasion. We gathered physically with other saints for the first time in six weeks. We attended our home church, Dryden Rd. Pentecostal and listened to our Pastor, Bro. Bennie Sutherland teach Sunday School. It was a short visit, but we were super glad to be there.

We were in church in Livingston, Texas six weeks ago, we had a revival in the bus that next week and Odie and I tested positive for COVID five weeks ago Sunday morning less than two hours before we were supposed to begin revival in Louisiana. It has been a strange road, these last several weeks, but God has been near us.

We listened to several preachers the rest of the day Sunday and I have also been trying to prepare to preach tonight next door at Dodds Pentecostal Church tonight along with Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

That wraps up our weekend. Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

Keeping The Plan Moving and Flexible

Thank you for the positive feedback on yesterday's post. I appreciate your kindness. When I am typing away at the keyboard, I have no idea who will be reading or how my words will be accepted. It is always nice to find that a post has been well received. Thank you again.

We had planned to try to record a service Thursday or stream a live service. I am to blame for not getting it done. My Dad, KJo and I worked on a barn project a couple hours Wednesday and about five hours Thursday. By the time we were finished, I was not ready to try to have service.

I am resting today, mostly, and we will try to have a revival service tonight, Friday. We are thinking of streaming live, but either way, we plan to have service at 8:00 PM Eastern. I hope you will try to join us and "bring" a few hundred of your closest friends.

Kelly Jo suggested something to me Thursday that may be true. In order to take the proper time to recover completely, we may need to go somewhere else besides here at home. When I was too sick to get out of the bus, I was fine. 

I am not well enough to hit the road and preach every night, but I am well enough to get out of the bus and be a little more active. The problem with that is there are a million things that need to be done here and they are things I want to do and have been waiting for time to do.

Now I have the time, but I am not really able to do all the things that need to be done. Getting better over the next four or five weeks is my main priority, but letting all these projects go, may be an impossibility for me.

KJo said I may be better off driving someplace else, getting more rest and having church online when possible, even if I could only drive a short distance each day.

She might be correct. She usually is.

In the mean time, we are pressing on. We are going to try to sing and preach three nights in a row next week. Pastor Kelly Rogers next door at Dodds Church has asked us to preach Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

He understands that we may not be able to do it and that he may have to take up the slack. He is not putting pressure on us at all and the folks at Dodds will understand completely if I need to cut the preaching short.

I had hoped to have three nights of revival in a row next week as the next step in our plan, so moving it next door to the church is not a stretch. I will try to find a position for my phone to stream our part of the services IF possible. That will be March 8-10, Monday-Wednesday.

Thank you for stopping by Mile Markers today. I sure appreciate it.

Davy

Revival Service Tonight By God's Grace

I wrote about having a plan a few days ago. I laid out plan A and then mentioned plan B in passing at the end of the post. Interestingly, absolutely everyone that contacted me about that post encouraged us and pushed us toward plan B. Definitely something to think about!😍

We are going to try to record a revival service for our YouTube Channel sometime today. If we can get it done, we will plan to make it live at 8:00 PM eastern.

We are recording the service rather than doing it live, because I really do not know if I can get enough air to sing and preach a whole service. The whole thing is a test and are praying that we can do it. If we can do one, then maybe we may try to do two or three over the weekend.

IF that works, then a week or so later, we may try a few more in a row and slowly build up from there.

Thank you for praying for us as we move forward. I appreciate you dropping in today.

Davy

It Is Time For A Plan, Plan A or Plan B?

I am a plan type of person. I like to know when. I like to know where. And I like to know why. COVID has messed with my plans in a big way. For the second late winter/early spring in a row, the small little coronavirus has thrown a wrench into the works and the gears have ground to a halt.

Both times we have been surprisingly calm about it and that pleases me well. Praise God for His grace and His assurance that He is really in control. He has stayed so near us and kept us.

Like last year, I still need to figure out how to jump back in the game. Do you remember trying to jump into the jump rope when two of your friends were swinging it round and round?

Yep, that is me, the one on the ground.😍 Oh, that hurts, Davy!

I know that I am not able to preach and sing every night yet. I know that I am not able to crank up the bus, hookup the car and drive a thousand miles yet. I have no idea when I will be able to do all of that and do it effectively. But I need to get started in some way.

So, I have thought long and hard about a plan. I have prayed about it. I have talked to Kelly Jo about it. AND I have talked to good men about it. I have asked them to punch holes in the plan or guide me in some other direction. This is the resulting plan.

As of yesterday, I have cleared our schedule for the month of March. We were beginning the month 1000 miles from home and ending the month almost 1400 miles further away from home than that. As bad as I hate to admit it, I am not able to keep those commitments.

Pastors were very understanding, as I knew they would be, but I hate to cancel anything! I hate it so bad!

Plan A is to stay close to Ohio for most of March. We will try to have some online services to see if I am able to sing and preach one night first and then hopefully multiple nights. We will also be open to singing and preaching one service on Sunday in local churches for the month of March. 

That will give us a chance to see if I am able to do that, without driving a thousand miles. IF we are able to do multiple online services AND sing and preach once each Sunday, then we can make a decision about where to go in April.

At that point, we will decide if we need to keep the rest of our scheduled meetings on the west coast or whether we will need to keep things closer to home for a while.

OR, we might consider plan B. Load up in the bus and drive south or west about a hundred miles a day toward someplace warm or pretty and build up strength there. That is not a bad plan now that I think about it.

Thank you for checking on us today. Thank you for praying for us too.

Davy

The Weekend Write-up 1/25/2021

Note 

You will understand more as this post goes on, but we want you to know that we are going to TRY to have some online revival services this week, beginning tonight, Monday at 8:00 PM Eastern. This is based almost exclusively on the availability of internet or phone signal so we will see how it goes.

Weekend

It is time for the description of our weekend and there two broad statements that wrap it up concisely. This weekend Did Not go as planned, but the whole weekend was near about perfect!

Friday night was the final night of revival at Full Gospel Lighthouse in Sweeny, Texas and a wonderful night of revival it was! When service was over, we took down the sound system and the folks helped us load it in the BoggsMobile.

We visited a while afterward and we hated to say goodbye to Pastor Lamb and all of the saints. We know that time is coming every week, it is our least favorite part of revival.

Odie snapped a few pictures.

Saturday morning we were rolling by 7:45 on our way to revival in Louisiana, but we had a stop to make on the east side of Houston. We were meeting Rudy Legget and his wife Carolyn for lunch at Monument Inn at San Jacinto Battlefield.

Long time and attentive readers may remember Rudy is based on the east side of Houston and helped us more than a few times with knowledge and hands-on work on the Aqua Hot system that our bus used to have.

He stopped by to see us in Sweeny last year to shake and howdy.

This year he noticed we were coming through and planned ahead. He invited us to join them for a special meal and we enjoyed the food and the fellowship very much. The Blackened Tilapia was tremendous! Wow!

We sure appreciate Rudy thinking of us and treating us to a wonderful lunch! There were smiles all around. See?

Saturday afternoon we received word that our revival in Louisiana, scheduled to begin the next day was going to have to be postponed due to a Covid case. That always seems to disorient me a bit when that happens, but it is part of doing our job at this point, so it is completely understandable.

What to do now? We were not far from a church where we have preached many revivals and we determined to slip in there unannounced. They had just closed revival so we figured we would get to hear some preaching, visit great friends and then mosey toward our next revival. 

First, we had to find a place to get off the road and park a couple of hours. Saturday was the day for the annual board meeting for Boggs Family Ministries. I need good phone signal and some peace and quiet for that.

That was done by about 5:00 and we decided to stay right there in the truck stop. Some of you noticed our view picture was from a truck stop in Texas rather than a church in Louisiana and now you know why.

Sunday morning we slipped into Beech Creek Assembly in Livingston, Texas to hear Pastor Don Goodwin preach. He did preach after we sang for about 20-30 minutes.😍 It worked out pretty good and we enjoyed the presence of the Lord, a great meal and wonderful fellowship!

We had a great day in Livingston and as far as backup plans go, it was not bad at all! I did pretty good at choosing an alternate plan this time. Thank you to Pastor Don Goodwin and our friends at Beech Creek for opening their arms to us!

Please pray for the people that have COVID, especially the ones in Pine Prairie. Thank you for stopping by.

Davy