BREAKING NEWS

As promised before, we have breaking news to be given tonight. As with other news media, we are not on time. Tonight, at the New Columbia God's Missionary Church, we took a new step. A step I believe is a positive step in the right direction. We brought Rev. Randy Tolley on staff as Assistant Pastor. After we announced this step to the congregation this evening, Rev. Tolley preached an excellent message entitled, "When the Sacredness is Gone" out of 2 Samuel 6:1-7. His points were as follows: We have lost the sacredness for life; for marriage; for God's Word, for God's House; for God's man; for God's Day. It was an excellent truth. We are excited about working closely with our good friends Randy and Gwen. Welcome aboard Tolley's!

Press Conference

Attention all Newkie News blog watchers. A special press conference will be held tomorrow evening around 10:30. Very exciting news will be announced at this time. Hope to see you then.

New Camera

I just purchased a new camera off of ebay. I am so excited to get it. I sold my other camera. I loved the camera, but it was just to bulky to carry around. As you can see, this camera is much smaller and compact. You can carry this in your shirt pocket without much hassel. I will post pics from it as soon as I can. I have convinced myself that if I had a smaller more portable camera I would take more pics. We will see.

AAAAARRRRRRGGHH!!

This is the wonderful feeling that I have within me as I am finishing one of my least exciting things to do....hang wallpaper. Last evening I spent the good part of 4 hours hanging wallpaper in my study. This evening I plan on hanging the wall boarder. I hate doing the hanging but I am excited to get it finished. My study is almost complete. The only thing that I have left to do is purchase a couch for people to sit on. My paper and border have a rustic look to them that matches the oak bookshelves that Paul Miller recently built. I'll will try to post some pics soon.

The Chatterbox Cafe

The past couple of years, Jeremy Fuller has asked if I would open the Chatterbox Cafe after the Conference Wide Rally. So, this past Friday night that is what we did. Last year we made a small profit, this year we did even better. I think peopel really like the idea of being able to eat at the snack shop since it has moved upstairs. If you remember having the snack shop downstairs you will likely remember a dark, dungy basement that stank like crazy. On top of that you had ping pong balls flying all around you and kids running and screaming. Yes it was quite an improvement taking it upstairs. It has been proven over and over that it was the right move. Now the only problem is, is that when you leave you smell like you have just left the grease pit because of all the smoke. Oh, but what a small problem it is compared to the many past problems.

Watsontown Yard Sales

This past Saturday was the Watsontown Community Yard sales. Seemingly the entire town turns into one gigantic line of yard sales. It is always an exciting day. It is also a time where our youth group goes throughout the town handing out free sodas with information about our church. Last year we handed out over 600 sodas. This year was a bum year for the sodas though. It was rainy and cold. People usually never turn down free things, but Saturday you just couldn't give the soda away. Oh, well. Better luck next year.

My Dream

Tuesday afternoon My wife and I took Daniel and Katie Brinkmann to Williamsport. Daniel is wanting to start playing the bass guitar, so we took him to Robert M. Sides to look at guitars and amps. I was just his day because he found a package deal on a Yamaha guitar with an amp and all of the trimmings for an awsome price. But, while we were there I wanted to check on an instrument that I desperately want to purchase....an Upright Bass. I have looked at them before but I haven't found one in my price range. And guess what? I didn't find one here either. A new on is out of the question. They run anywhere from $2,000.00 on up. But, I can buy a used one from $1,000.00 - $1,300.00. They took my name and number because there seems to be a waiting list. I told them not to call me for a couple years until I could do a couple of Krispy Kreme fund raisers. I would love to have one to playt in church, but most of all with guys like Aaron Mc Carty, Tim Calhoun, Nathaniel Tucker, and others. We want to get a little group together and an upright bass would be awsome. Who knows, maybe one day...people say that dreams do sometimes come true.

First Timers!

This past Thursday when we went to Harrisburg we wanted to take Justin and Kayla to a place where they could play and eat. We remembered a good friend, namely Jon Plank, talk about a restaraunt called Chuckie Cheese that was great for kids. So, we looked it up and went. It was our first time there and the kids loved it. Of course, Justin took two bites of pizza and then decided he wasn't hungry anymore. There was just too much for him to do. I have a sneaking suspision that we will have more experiences at Chuckie Cheese.

Takin' A Breather

This past Sunday, we closed out our fall revival. Rev. Duane Quesenberry from Salem, OH, did a fantastic job ministering from God's Word. His theme throughout the revival was "Seeing Specific Spiritual Growth". Our closing to revival was a little different this year. We closed with an afternoon service, which was also our 10th Anniversary service. After the afternoon service, my sister and I went to West Virginia for my dad's surgery. We spent most of the day at Charleston Memorial Hospital. Dad was scheduled for surgery at 8:30 am Monday morning. We were told at 2:30 pm that his surgery was postponed until Tuesday at 7:00 am due the the air conditioning going out in the Operating Room. So back we came to CMH Tuesday morning. Dad's surgery went well and he is doing fine. He is expected to come home Friday or Saturday. We got back to Penns Creek about 9:00 pm Tuesday. I had much catching up to do today in the office. Either Thursday or Friday, Vonnie, the kids and I are taking' a breather and going to Harrisburg for the day. I am looking forward to spending time with my family. Who knows I may buy a new gadget while we are there.

Just a Swingin'

Today, Justin and Kayla got a swing set. A man who attends our church has an older lady as a neighbor. A year and a half ago, she had bought a swing set for her grandchildren to play on while they were at her house. Then they moved away, so she was wanting to get rid of it. She told Eric, the man at our church, if he would move it, he could have it. So now it sits in our yard. It has rained all day, so Justin and Kayla just stand at the door looking out at the swing set. I am sure it will get used plenty before winter comes.

We're Off

Our fall church revival is up and going. Rev. Duane Quesenberry is our special speaker. Rev. Quesenberry pastor's a Bible Methodist church in Salem, OH. Last night he did a phenomenal job speaking on the parable of the soil. His objective was to help us realize that if we leave this revival with nothing, it will be our fault not God's because we are the ones who tend the soil. We either come with Solid (hard) soil, Shallow Soil, Strangled Soil, or Soft Soil. We are lookingforward to Rev. Quesenberry's ministry throughout this week. If you are interested, you are invited to attend. Services start each evening at 7:30.

My Debt Is Paid

This past Monday and Tuesday I finished paying off my debts. Over a year ago, I asked Aaron McCarty to ride with me out to Illinois to pick up a van I bought off of autotrader.com. He went. Just recently Aaron called and asked if I would like to ride with him to NC so that he could work on his upcoming recording. I said yes and what a hoot it was. (I really didn't consider the trip a hassle at all. We just refered to the trip as "the debt".) I had the privilege of meeting Jeff Tolbert of the Primitive Quartet. Mr. Tolbert is one fantastic guitar, mandolin, and banjo player. He is also producing Aaron's project. I also met Tim Surrett, a former member of the Kingsmen Quartet and the Isaac's. He ripped up the upright bass and dobro. The drummer's name was Rick. He was quite the nutcase. I encouraged Aaron to use this man more, but not everyone carries the same opinion on drums that I do. Rick was just awsome. Anyways to make a long story short, it was a great privilege to meet these men and watch them work. I encourage everyone to buy one of Aaron's CD's when it comes out. It looks like it is going to be a great project. It has a sound similar to the Isaac's. Aaron wrote 3 of the songs recorded on the project. Bottomline: Check it out when you can. It's some cool stuff.

Going Under

Today I had the privilege to go under ground and see a real coal mine in operation. Eric Susan, a friend of mine, along with Luke Martin, Jeff Strait and Dustin Mowery, work in the coal mines. One day I mentioned to Eric how cool it would be to one day be able to see a mine first hand. So, Eric set up an appointment. This (left) is a picture of Eric running the miner, which digs and grinds the coal. It really is a fasinating operation. They say they bring out 800 to 1,000 tons of coal a day. The first picture is of Dustin in their lunch room. They are nearly 2 1/2 mile back in the ground so they don't see daylight until closing time. Thanks Eric for setting things up!

Justin's 1st Golf Outing

My parents came up from West Virginia. With them they brought a gift for Justin. It was a set of golf clubs just his size. His was delighted. They come with a little bag with a shoulder strap and small towel. The next day, Tuesday, dad and I were going to play golf, but Justin got up before we left. When he saw what we were doing, he just had to go. I called the golf course and they said he could ride in the cart with us. So he quickly got his new putter and was in the car ready to go. He had a hoot but after about hole 14, he was ready for home. He slept nearly all the way home. Actually for his age, he can hit the ball fairly well. It looks like someday, dad and Justin will have some great times together on the golf course just like my dad and I have.

Crabb Family

For those whose listen to Southern Gospel you have probablly heard the sad news, the Crabb Family has announced that they will be disbanding August 2007. The Crabb family has had many wonderful songs such as, "Through the Fire, Please Forgive Me, He Came Looking For Me, The Reason That I Am Standing" A farewell tour is scheduled for this next summer.

IT"S HERE!!

As a member of the God's Missionary Church in the Susquehanna Valley, I am proud to announce that we now have our first billboard in place. As of August 10, 2006, a billboard was put in place along the strip in Selinsgrove, PA. It is located near the old holiness campground. It is a very attractive board and gives somewhat of an aggresive challenge to many associated with the "shallow Christian" world. If you would like to view it, it can be seen at www.godsmissionarychurch.com .

Chatterbox Cafe'

We are finally back home. This summer has been a whirlwind. Our final big ordeal for the summer was Penns Creek Camp. It was an exciting time. I love campmeeting time. All of the people, the great sevices and food all make for a wonderful thing. Even though it is exciting, it is also tiring, especially for Vonnie and I along with Dwight and Lois Rine, Laura Ellison, Matt Maloyed, Solomon Shaffer, Nathaniel Mowery, and Joel Sickler, and Marie Plank. We are the Chatterbox Cafe' staff. Last year we started something different. We brought the snack shop up from the basement and gave it a facelift. It went over well, but this year it soared past our expectations. By serving soft serve ice cream, chicken fingers with homemade honey mustard, grilled chicken salads, steak salads, pizza, philly cheese steaks and a variety of other things, we brought in over $3,500.00. Our biggest night brought in over $500.00. It was great. We look forward to it every year. It is tiring but very rewarding. Thanks crew for your help!

Gone Fishing

Justin and I were able to take our first fishing trip. While we were in New York, we went to Grampa Hallenbeck's pond and cast our lines in. Justin caught 3 or 4 fish on his own, one being about a 13 inch large mouth bass. He was definetly thrilled. He wanted to "pet" them all before we threw them back. It was fun and now he is after me to go again or at least let him go to the creek out back and fish.

Howard & Charolette Hallenbeck

Congratulations are in order for Howard & Charolette Hallenbeck, my wife's grandparents. This past week they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. We were able to make a quick trip to New York (YUK) and help celebrate this special time in their lives. It was a short trip, but it was good to see everybody from up there again.

Mt. of Blessings Camp

Mt. of Blessings Camp is a District Camp of God's Missionary Church, Inc. that our church is heavily involved in. There are many in our congregation that got their spiritual start on the mountaintop. Some got sanctified there. Others have found spiritual renewal in those ten days. This year was no different. Peopel found the Lord as their personal Savior. Other were reclaimed and renewed. Things are on the upswing at Mt. of Blessings. I am told that in "days of old" this campground was a lively place. The tabernacle used to filled and overflowing. Well, that isn't exactly how it is now, but with God's help, we are again moving in that direction. This year we averaged around 55 kids in our morning VBS time in the Children's Tabernacle. Around 40 young people were regular attenders throughout camp. To me, that is very encouraging. The future looks bright and considering that God is still on the throne, no telling what will happen on the mountaintop in the future. This year, I was elected as Camp President so I desperately need prayer. But I am convinced that God still has something special in store for those who seek Him.