Weekend Woundup and Weview #26, June 26, 2017

One day last week Kelly Jo and Odie drove to Hillsboro to see Kelly Jo's parents. We missed posting the few pictures they took so we are including them in the Woundup and Weview post.

Danny is at his happiest with a bowl of ice cream!

Of course, having his girls around helps too!

The Weekend

Once the plumber left Thursday there was not much to do on the house front, so we pulled the bus out of the barn and hit the road. We have been scheduled to be in Bristol, Virginia Sunday June 25th for quite a while but I wanted to surprise Odie and take her to the Isaacs event on Friday.

I was not sure I could get it done until things fell together on Thursday. When everything tumbled into place we cranked the BoggsMobile and rolled the wheels. We left in time for bad traffic in Cincinnati and then ran smack into heavy rain.

Even though we drove in rain and traffic most of the way, it was good to be in the driver's seat again. We had never been to Franklin, North Carolina before. There is no good road to take a car to Franklin, much less a bus. However, the drive is beautiful and the town is beautiful once you arrive.

We did not behold the beauty going in since it was dark and raining cats and dogs, but Friday was a gorgeous day!

The Smoky Mountain Center For The Performing Arts is an awesome venue with great seats and great sound.

The BoggsMobile was nice and clean when we left the barn but after a few hundred miles in the rain, not so much.

Odie told you about the workshops in her Saturday post but I will highlight the sound workshop. It was fantastic and I picked up some great information from Ben Isaacs and Mark Capps.

All the rest was very good too. We really enjoyed the whole day as well as the concert Friday night.

I slept pretty good Friday night too. That was worth the drive right there!

Saturday we stayed for the morning devotional service and it turned into a prayer line and emotional healing service. Aunt Lily testified about fear and the way it can control your life. She told quite a bit about her parents experience surviving the Holocaust and the nearly unavoidable ripple effects of that.

Faith is the only answer to fear and she made that point well in her personal testimony.

She asked me to finish it up and bring the people in for prayer. God moved deeply in some lives and I am thankful for that.

We needed to leave pretty quickly after that, but it was hard to drag Odie away from Sonya's new baby girl. Look at that smile.

We pulled out about noon and made our way back over the mountains to I-40. Instead of turning west, we followed I-40 east to Asheville. We have been over this road many, many times but then we joined an interstate section that I can never remember driving.

We have been on I-26. In fact we were on a section of it last November. However, I do not remember ever driving from Asheville north to I-81 in Tennessee. It has some very steep uphill AND downhill grades but it was beautiful!

We arrived in Bristol, Virginia in time to visit with Bro. Mike and Sis. Tonya Switzer and watch some of the young folks play wiffle ball at the park.

It is so good to be with our friends again. The Horton's and the Switzer's have been so good to us through the years and we enjoy their friendship so very much. It is always a joy to be here and Sunday was no exception.

The Sunday School lesson was awesome. Bro. Switzer did not get to finish it so I may have to drive back down next week for part two.😀

The whole congregation responded great to our singing and the preaching. It was wonderful again to watch folks respond to the preaching and then watch God respond to them! We had great altar service both Sunday morning and Sunday evening.

After church Sunday night we cranked the BoggsMobile and headed toward the Ranch. The drive was pleasant and without out incident except for a construction slow down east of Knoxville. We lost 25-30 minutes in a 4-7 mile stretch!

Later we stopped briefly at a rest area in northern Kentucky and to fill up with fuel at Flying J about 10 miles from the barn. We pulled in about 5:10 AM after 408 miles and closed out  a long but very blessed weekend!

Hopefully the plumber will be here in a few hours so I am going to get a little rest until then.

Thank you for stopping in today.

Davy

View Out The Front Window 6/25/2017

Check out our posts from last week at the links below.

Odie's Saturday Post

A Few Grins

Are We Trying To Win Souls To Christ?

Eastern Indiana Pentecostal Camp Meeting

A House Inspection

Weekend Wound Up and Weview #25

You Taught Me

This was our view out the front window when we pulled in Thursday night to Franklin, North Carolina.

As you can see, it was raining pretty hard when we arrived and had rained on us for most of the 440 miles Thursday.

Here is the view the next morning.

This was the view out the front door.

Here is our view now out the front window at Grace Pentecostal Holiness Tabernacle. It is beautiful here as you can see.



I hope you have you have a great Sunday.

Davy

Musication Nation 2017

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from the road. We are looking forward to seeing all of our friends in Bristol, Virginia tomorrow. It will be good to be with Pastor David Horton, Bro. Mike Switzer, their families and the congregation at Grace. We are anticipating great services. 

The BoggsMobile cranked up Thursday afternoon and left Ohio for the weekend. We traveled about 440 miles through rain and curvy, mountainous terrain and by bed time we had reached Franklin, North Carolina. I was thrilled to be in Franklin for one day of the 2nd Annual Musication Nation hosted by the Isaacs. It is a two day event with workshops during the day and concerts at night.

Friday was  packed full of exciting happenings!

It started with morning devotions full of great testimonies and great songs. It was really good and I enjoyed it very much.

After a short break it was time for a Sound Workshop hosted by Ben Isaacs and Mark Capps. It was an informative hour about recording and doing live sound. Ben and Mark have been an amazing help to us over the years, helping us with our recordings and sound. They are two of the most talented people I know and I am privileged to call them my friends. 

After a lunch break it was time for a cooking class with Teays Valley. Teays Valley is a sponsor of the Isaacs. Check them out here. The Isaacs wrote a jingle for the company you can see here.

 Mark Lowry joined in the fun. 

Baby Evya made an appearance. 

Ben got a surprise pie in the face. 

Then Ben shared some of it with me!

Then they had a little picking in the cooking class. 

The next session  was "Stories Behind the Songs" with Sonya and Becky. They shared insight about songwriting and some stories behind their works of art. It truly is amazing how they write incredible songs. 

Mark Lowry again joined in.  He penned the lyrics to Mary Did You Know and told much of the story behind it. 

The Isaacs friend Daniel added some harmony to a few songs.

The evening concert featured the Isaacs with special guest Mark Lowry. The singing was absolutely awesome! I laughed until I cried. I am so thankful we got to be there. It was so good from beginning to end. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Isaacs!

Mark Lowry

After intermission The Isaacs and Mark joined forces. 

I loved getting to see fellow Isaacs enthusiasts. I met these sweet people last fall at a concert in South Carolina. It was great to visit with them again. 

Although we only spent one day here and a few hours this morning, I have loved every minute of it. I appreciate my parents for making it happen. They have put many long, hard hours into building the house and the first partial free day that came along, they loaded me up and took me to a special place! Thank you Mom and Dad!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into Musication Nation 2017. Have a fantastic weekend. 

Odie 

A Few Grins

We are busy today so I thought I would pass on a few funny things I have posted before. Some things are worth repeating. 

The first is something I saw on a Hiking t-shirt a while back. I know that most people would not think of asking me for Hiking Advice, but this really is a very helpful piece of information for hiking in remote locations...

"Bring a compass... It is always awkward when you get lost and have to eat your friends"

Of course, if you are hiking with me and we get lost enough to resort to cannibalism, the person with me is probably going to live long enough to be rescued!

That reminds me of something my dear friend Bro. John Gabbard told me right before Kelly Jo, Odie and I went to Nigeria, West Africa the first time in 2007.

Bro. Gabbard said, "Davy, if you fall into the hands of cannibals over there, you will be a blessing to hundreds of people at the end of your life!"

Hilarious!

I am thankful for lots of friends. I could not stand enemies that treat me worse than friends.😀

Since I am picking on us fat people, here is a great picture.

Y'all be careful out there...Ya here?

Davy

Are We Trying to Win Souls to Christ?

The Lord has been stirring me to win more souls! I have been reading about soul winners and stumbled onto several things I have written and preached in the past. I have read myself into condemnation, but I am determined not to say there!

I often come under conviction while reading of men and women that have given all to follow the call of Christ and to spread the Gospel of Christ. It is so easy for me to get caught up in my little world and my little struggles until I lose sight of the price others have paid and are paying for their faith.

That is not to diminish my very real problems in spreading the Gospel but my difficulties are so "First world." Most of the obstacles I face involve logistics, transportation and provisions along with more personal items related to health and family.

I have never had to consider there might be cannibals in the place God has sent me or that the people in the next state over that have killed every missionary that has ever tried to reach them. I have not buried my wife and my children because they were cut down by strange diseases in pursuit of souls for the kingdom of God.

I have never sailed on a ship for months to a foreign field, hacked my way through the jungle, been threatened by the people I was trying to reach or labored for years without ever going home.

I am thankful I face a different set of problems. I do not feel guilty for never having to flee to avoid being boiled and eaten for lunch. 

Yet I do not want to forget what others have done, what others have faced and what others are enduring even today. I must not grow complacent and over confident and reach the place that I feel that God some how owes me more than it seems He has given others.

I try to stay up to date on some of what Christians are going through today by reading Voice of the Martyrs. I was reading a few years ago and came upon an article concerning missionary James Chalmers. I was cut to the heart.

As a young man he answered the call and gave himself to win souls. God blessed him. God rewarded him for his labor. God gave him converts. Yet something stirred in James Chalmers to win even more. When others would perhaps have settled and enjoyed the fruit of their labor, he pressed on in pursuit.

My prayer since reading the short synopsis of his life has been,

O, God, give us a hunger for souls. Do not allow us to become comfortable in our victories but give us courage to look beyond our current borders that we might win others to Christ.

Now, God may not send you to Africa, friend. God may not send you to the foreign mission field at all. God may not send you to evangelize or lead a church. Young person, God may not call you to a pulpit ministry. But rest assured God has called you to win souls. God has called you to look beyond your own borders.

Doing that may be as close as reaching across your back yard fence with a hand of love and fellowship to your neighbor or helping that couple load their groceries at Walmart or praying with the waitress that is crying in the corner. You could visit the family that is grieving, slip a piece of money to the family that is struggling or pray with the young person that is drowning in despair.

The point is, there is something for each one of us to do. Let's go do it. Let's win some one to Christ this month. Let's spread our faith. Let's break out of our comfort zone. Let's take a chance for Christ. 

You need some inspiration for the task? Read the story of James Chalmers below. He never lost his thirst for souls. It may seem as if it ended badly for him but he has been in Heaven for over 100 years and I would say he feels like his life ended just fine.

Thanks for reading.

Davy

He Has Joined a Great Assembly

James Chalmers was a carefree, high-spirited Scottish boy. “I dearly loved adventure,” he later said, “and a dangerous position was exhilarating.” Perhaps that’s why he listened carefully one Sunday when his minister read a letter from missionaries in Fiji. The preacher, tears in his eyes, added, “I wonder if there is a boy here who will, by and by, bring the gospel to the cannibals.” Young James said quietly, “I will!”—and he wasn’t even yet converted.

In 1866, having been converted and trained, he sailed for the South Pacific as a Presbyterian missionary. Chalmers had a way with people. “It was in his presence, his carriage, his eye, his voice,” a friend wrote. “There was something almost hypnotic about him. His perfect composure, his judgement and tact and fearlessness brought him through a hundred difficulties.” Robert Louis Stevenson, who didn’t like missionaries until he met Chalmers, said, “He is a rowdy, but he is a hero. You can’t weary me of that fellow. He took me fairly by storm.”

In 1877 Chalmers sailed on to New Guinea. His ministry was successful there. Packed churches replaced feasts of human flesh. But as the years passed he grew lonely. He was delighted when young Oliver Tomkins came to join him in 1901. The two men decided to explore a new part of the islands, and on Easter Sunday they sailed alongside a new village. The next morning, April 8, 1901, Chalmers and Tomkins went ashore. They were never seen again. A rescue party soon learned that the men had been clubbed to death, chopped to pieces, cooked and eaten.

News flashed around the world. “I cannot believe it!” exclaimed Dr. Joseph Parker from the pulpit of London’s famous City Temple. “I do not want to believe it! Such a mystery of Providence makes it hard for our strained faith to recover. Yet Jesus was murdered. When I think of that side of the case, I cannot but feel that our honored and noble-minded friend has joined a great assembly.”