Thanks to Scott Bryant for making a difference in me.

It is my favorite time of the year again. FALL! I love watching the leaves turn their color. I even love watching the leaves from from her branches, the cool breeze, witnessing animals preparing for winter, there is just nothing about this time of the year I don't find great appreciation from. Fall is also a special time of the year for me in writing this newspaper column too. It is my annual 'thanksgiving' time where I publicly reflect on people who have made a difference in my life. People whom I have not forgotten from my past, and even new folks that I've met on my journey through life. Positive minded people who can honestly reflect on life, including difficult moments are the folks I enjoy being around the most. People who from their own experiences share so that others can learn, grow, and become better equipped for the trials ahead while seizing the best possible from life. These are my favorite kind of people! The year was 2008 in the month of March. I was sitting in church, minding my own business, not being very sociable just there to worship God as I was on my own journey seeking God and His will for my life. My personal relationship with Jesus Christ remains one that I know it is our duty as followers to seek Him especially when we are in discovery mode, looking for answers to trying times and difficult situations. My seeking goal was to confirm His will in my life, whatever it ended up being and to accept His plan and move forward. In pursuit of God that is when I heard Scott Bryant share his testimony of God's working in his life. I didn't know him personally, I had seen him around church, he was gifted musically but it was the words he used in his testimony about God loving him, and of how God's was using him that was my encouragement and has served as a continuing guide even to this very column. To know that God loves you and has a plan is the beginning of a relationship with God. To know that His plan continues is a part of discipleship and following His will is the answer for our future as Christians wanting to be used by Him until the end. My first 'thanksgiving' of 2015 is for Scott Bryant and all those who are not ashamed of God's work in their lives. Romans 8:28 simply requires us to seek Him for all our answers. Until then

The 68th Annual Daniel Boone Festival

Heritage to mountain people can easily be defined. It is where we come from, stories about those that came before us and our heritage also directs our future. The Daniel Boone Festival is for the Commonwealth of Kentucky a festival of heritage. This area we call home has a rich history that was forged through determination and dreams. The DBF is the only festival of its kind that honors the pioneering efforts of Daniel Boone in the historic location of the Wilderness Trail. This history is the foundation of our individual communities and without the determination of those early settlers who crossed the Cumberland Gap and "pressed their way forward through the thickets" our history might very well have found us in 2015 still a part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Daniel Boone Festival is a real educational opportunity about this region for children and adults. While much of the conversation among friends during the 68th Annual Event will be about which concession food booth of home cooking has the best chicken'n dumplings, the importance of the festival should highlighted each year, passing along this heritage and history. Thinking about our modern times it is easy to become frustrated and overwhelmed with the complexity of life's issues and the fast past at which information flows and things change. History serves as a great teacher about the struggles our pioneers faced and their courage to address the issues they faced. With no cellular phones, walking to where you needed to go and then conversing to share what you had learned or heard was the communication connection in their time. A lesson from history would serve each of us well. The early pioneers had to work together. Early pioneers learned to agree and disagree yet they volunteered to help and to be of aid when their neighbors had a need. Our future can be filled with dreams too, but it will take a re-dedication of our determination to work for the common good. Our heritage came at great expense which included the loss of life for those who traveled cutting, cleared and expanding the Warriors Path. In honor of our those who came before us, let us pause to take time to honor God as they did, for all things. Let us also pause and thank God for the opportunity we have to be pioneers of peace in a world were the experience has been lost along the journey. Until then

What's up with church services?

Have you ever thought about the what and why's as to the order of your church worship services? This topic thinking I expect will cause us to also consider the value if any of some things and rightfully so. The Bible says that everything we do in public worship should be done to glorify God and to build up the body of Christ. A time of testimony where individuals share what God has done in their lives certainly glorifies God and at the same time encourage those attending and witnessing the testimony. A time of reflection with respect to God's blessings in our lives also serves multiple functions too. Singing and responsive readings are a great way to collectively involve a congregation in unity of purpose. Listening to a prayed out and holy spirit directed message is equally important in this cooperative experience we call church worship. The value of a public church worship experience first begins with a call to 'Make Known" the love and plan of God through the gift of His son Jesus Christ. The second value of a church worship encounter is to provide for the opportunity of assembly. There is treasured value in the gathering together the diversified body of Christ. I write diversified because we each come to Christ from our varied roads of travel. Each journey filled with countless individual experiences where you and the creator have been privileged to confront each other on your travel to truth and peace. Truth and Peace are found when confess our sins and failures. This honesty allows us to 'fellowship', shake hands, pass the peace or greet one another. Confession allows for confidence and celebration of forgiveness. Celebration occurs from testimonies, hymns, responsive readings, solo's and from the reading of God's Word, the Bible. Giving back is important. Tithes and offerings are individual expressions of our gratitude for His goodness. Responding to what we have experienced, been exposed to, and have learned from and about God can be both public and private in nature. If God has been so good to you that you must share, by all means share. If the touch of God has changed you then as you go, let your action be a public testimony of change that has happened within. The most important item of worship is that occurs, individually. Until then

Worry - Anxiety; Concern - Excitement;

Recently I wrote about the difference between a reaction and a response. Along that same thought process consider the difference between worry and anxiety and how they are different from concern and excitement. Normally it doesn't take very long when conversing to hear someone express a matter in which creates worry and anxiety. Worry almost seems like the activity of the month that continues to repeat itself. Anxiety is witnessed in our actions and mannerisms. Observing others normally produces an immediate alarm as to an individuals anxiety level. Worry and anxiety we hear in the selection of words used to describe situations and we see the impact of events and their toll on our lives as we approach their arrival. Philippians 4:6 tells us to be anxious in nothing. This particular scripture instructs Christians to approach life with the constant practice of eliminating anxiety through the practice of thanksgiving. Verse 6 also instructs us in handling difficulties and situations as Christians by sharing our burden with God and to do so directly through a conversation. An often witnessed approach to issues that have the potential to max out our stress levels which produce worry and fret is the position that we can fix the situation even when we know to do so is beyond our skill or talent set. This approach also includes the attitude that we are accomplishing our goal by demonstrating worry and anxiety. The practice of such leads to no such successful resolutions, ever! It will lead to wrong decisions as we rush into actions without the consideration of consequences and we react without thoughts of a response. Concern is an attitude that allows for the weighing of options and even when we face difficult moments, conditions or issues we can be excited about outcomes and answers through faith. The invitation of God is for all of us to approach Him with a confidence amidst our concerns. For Christians this should be our first step in all matters and for those who are looking for solutions an option to try in a first step in building a relationship with Jesus Christ. Until then

Family Memories - My most important memory growing is?

Growing up as a little boy I have some great memories. My memory bank includes lots of different moments with a lot of different people. I remember the time my Aunt Jean Mills bought me a big teddy bear and today as an adult she reminds me that for some reason when I was little I always stepped on her toes. My memories include eating green apples from my great-grandmother Ellen Bingham's porch. That memory includes eating too many of them too. It is funny what you can remember and my memories of my great-grandfather's include me making them mad. "Pap", my mother's grandfather, George Martin Carnes, Sr., I would upset when I would let the well bucket drop down into the well or I let it hit the sides causing dirt to fall in the water. My dad's grandfather, Nasby Mills, I would upset anytime I'd let the screen door slam. Watching "Pap" roll his cigarettes from a Prince Albert can I always found amazing for some reason. My grandfather Alonzo's sister, my Aunt Dorothy, provided me with hundreds of memories when I was growing up. Being able to write and I.O.U. (this means: I owe you) and picking out a piece of candy and getting a soda pop on her is not my most precious memory but it was one gesture for sure that meant she loved you. Riding horses and ponies is a childhood memories from both the Carnes and Bingham side of my families. My great-uncle Jeff and aunt Evelyn Warren were in the logging business and owned a saw mill. Besides eating my aunt's cooking, pulling on the airhorn in his log trucks until the air tanks were empty were always fun! I don't believe my cousins enjoyed having to scotch the wheels and build back up the air pressure was any fun for them, but it was a blast for me. I could write a column each week for a year on memories from my childhood and just begin to touch the surface of my memory bank. The memory most cherished for me is remembering when and where it was that I became a Christian. I remember the questions I was asking and I remember the answers I was given. It is amazing how any single moment sticks with you and how important single activities and events really are. Sharing with my family my personal memories is very important to me. The most important historical fact is that I personally know Jesus Christ as my Heavenly Father and in Him I place all my trust and confidence. Until then

Politically Correct - Political Correctness really?

Political correctness has been a long evolving process. The term actually became a regular part of frequent conversation in the 1990's. Sparing usage of the phrase 'politically correct' can be discovered from speeches and some published articles from the 1960's but the meaning has varied with individuals and organizations. For example the term during the 60's referenced a consumer or a lifestyle choice. The White Panther Party used the term to work toward a cultural revolution. They were a counterculture era group that started at the suggestion of Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party. The White Panther Party was not a white supremacist group. To the contrary their efforts worked with ethnic minority groups. How is that for politically correctness? If you are confused I might suggest you are not alone. Names can be misleading and it is only through conversation about vision, purpose, mission statements that explain direction and learning about goals can one make an informed evaluation of intent regarding the term 'politically correct'. To be a person that is kind or listens to others as they speak some would describe as 'politically correct'. These actions I personally would describe as characteristics of a descent human being. To hear someone make a false statement and to not share correct information is the actions of someone attempting to be 'politically correct'. To agree with someone's opinion or thoughts when you disagree is the work of being 'politically correct'. The ability to agree to disagree is the work of maturity. To hold a different opinion and respect the thoughts of others is a mark of integrity. 'Politically correct' is overrated even though it appears society applauds it's every turn at the moment. Jesus Christ certainly was not 'Politically correct' oriented. He loved sinners, hung out with prostitutes, and Jesus even demonstrated love to a thief that was being put to death at Calvary on a cross for crimes. Jesus was so not 'politically correct' that He even showed love to the Roman Soldiers that nailed Him to His cross on Golgotha's hill. In the political correctness of our current day the accepted practice is to treat everyone equally and to never show a difference in people. The practice being pushed today includes that you and I forget we have an opinion or the ability to think for ourselves, much-less demonstrate the skill to think outside the box. The very fact that Jesus Christ loved us before we loved Him and even if we never love Him, clearly marks Him as a person not in the slightest way 'politically correct'. If you are a Christian then I believe our lives will be marked as followers of Christ as not in the least 'politically correct'. Our lives will demonstrated a fairness as exemplified by the actions of Jesus Christ where He offers a plan that is exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that we could ever ask or think. Until then