Trip Draws Nearer

We'll it's almost countdown time for our Russian trip. Just three more days before we fly the friendly skies. We just returned from a short jaunt to WoodRiver, IL where my son works. It just so happens that it was our most beautiful granddaughter, Willow's, third birthday. This means it was absolutely necessary that we go and play the doting grandparents and reap the smiles, hugs, kisses, and laughter that only a three year old girl on her birthday can be so full to overflowing with.

 She was soo appreciative of the decorations that her mother put up and so excited for the other kids to see her DORA THE EXPLORER table cloth and birthay banner. She was also so polite as I heard her telling people "oh thank you" (without any parental prompting no less). Maybe her grandma Lorna IS right. Maybe she IS a genius! lol What a pleasant three day visit before we left the country,  with Forrest, Terri, and Willow.

But, that brings me back to the real point of this blog. The time for this trip draws near.
 Requested items to be delivered in Moscow have been gathered. Funding is still trickling in, but if you're reading this and thinking about sending some money, please know that you have our thanks, but funds are sufficient. We have enough and extra to share with our brethren. We're in the process of figuring out how to get it all in carry-on baggage so no bags will have to be checked. Ha, I'll let you know how that turn out!

The shot above will be my final addition to this post. It is the estate home of the famous Leo Tolstoy, author of  WAR AND PEACE, ANNA KARENNIA, and approximately 5,000 other works. He was/is the most famous and prolific of Russian authors and pioneered educational methods that are still used in many Russian school systems. Two things that many do not know might be 1) his estate is located just outside Tula, where we're going to be trying to meet and work with Christians that have been having a difficult go of things, and 2) he was a pen pal of Alexander Campbell, of interest to those who follow restoration history in churches of Christ. It should come as no surprise to find out that after being pen pals with the famous ex-Presbyterian biblical restorer of New Testament Christianity, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church for his radical ideas that one did not need a clergy system or the trappings of human religion to please God, but simply to follow the New Testament scriptures given by the apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ. My what power can be found by uniting an open heart with the truth.

With that we will leave you. Come back to follow our journey to Moscow and Tula, August 10-28 and feel free to leave a comment.

Almost Time to Get Down to Business

Ok it's almost time. We have been planning this teaching trip for half a year now. Brothers, sisters, and churches have been generous so that all necessary funds have been raised for our coming trip to the Russian Federation. Lorna and I will be heading out August 10 thru the 28th and plans are to use this blog as our contact point while we are traveling.

Visas and Passports have arrived safely, tickets have been purchased, most of our hotel reservations have been made, contact with the church in Moscow has been established and we're looking forward to a gospel meeting effort for the first week, meeting and studying each evening. We're still making contact with the Christians in Tula, hoping and praying that we might be of service and encouragement to them. They lost their meeting place and have had difficulty meeting regularly. We would dearly love to go and hold up their hands in this effort of worship and fellowship.

Lorna and I will be traveling with Vernon and Susan White, and with Shannon and Dana Shaffer. If you'd like another perspective on the trip, you might try Shannon's blog at http shafferlifeline.blog.com.  You may be reading this blog because you fellowshipped with us financially and received a little card informing you how to find us. You may be reading this because you love the Lord, are friends with someone here, or even just stumbled across it. Whatever the reason let me tell you that I'm glad you've stopped by for a cup and I'd like to solicit your prayers. Please pray for the saints in Russia who live in a country that is quickly heading back to a 1980's mentality toward religion, politics, and persecution. Please pray for doors to be opened and hearts to be tender so that the word of God might complete the work that God has begun in that place. Oh yeah, and don't forget to mention my traveling companions in your prayers. After all, they're going to need a lot of patience and love to spend over two weeks traveling with me.

And as one little boy was heard to say while being taken out of worship on Sunday morning to receive some corrective discipline to his hinder parts, "Pray for me, pray for me."

CATCHING UP, TO GET STARTED

Good Day Caffinaters,
Well it has been a loooooong time since I've posted and I'm embarrassed to tears about it. It is time to fire up again though. Your editor and his wife are planning to visit Russia again with two other couples and I'd like to use this blog to stay in contact. However, before I start that, I thought I should catch up on a few major interest points that I had intended to write about and just never got done. In order of importance then, let me mention...

Our grandaughter Willow (about to turn three) along with her parents Forrest and Terri moved into a new house in WoodRiver, IL last month. WoodRiver is next door to E. Alton where Forrest works with the church there. Lorna and I went down there and worked for a year (Lorn said it was just a week, but in work stress it had to have been a year) constructing, painting, cleaning, and tiling. The house is an oldie, but a goodie I think, and is twice as nice with the new bath, new paint, and new carpet. If you'd like to check out some pics of their place you can check out Terri's blog at http://mcmurraysojourn.blogspot.com.

You can check out Willow's new back yard and some of her escape moves below.

Second on this priority list is a sweet little item that your Spiritbuilding editor has wanted for decades. Last October it rolled in and this past winter was so mild that I didn't even winterize it. Rookie that I am, I found at least one day almost every week all winter long to go out and prepare for my skills test. Spring finally sprung, the test was a breeze and this hot, hot summer with high gas prices has been the perfect time to put some miles on this mid-life crisis. Let me show you a sweet ride, a Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 Classic LT. Yeah baby, that's 2054 cc's of hop on and hang on, all day interstate cruising, just see if you can keep it under 80, biggest V-Twin production motor in the world power. Let me repeat, yeaaahh baby. Check it out below.

Lastly, in this trifecta of catch up news is my other winter project that got mostly finished, just in time. This project was started late last summer when Forrest was still living on the property here and could help me get this thing settled and mounted on the trailer. Then with a commitment to about 5 months of saturdays, learning to use a welder that I've never had a hand on in my life, and learning to love my grinder we turned out a wood fired smoker, big as a truck that barely fits in the garage where it's stored. As I said above though it was finished just in time for the annual McMurray hog roast/barbecue that we host every last Saturday in June. My daughter Sarah, came in from CO. Willow brought my son and his wife in from IL, Lorna worked like a dog, and everyone chipped in to make it a great time. There was boat rides on the pontoon and the paddle boat, corn hole games, a hay ride for the little ones, volley ball, and a zip line as well as our regular trophy handouts for best homemade ice cream, home made pie, home made barbeque sauce and longest men's and women's hog-head throw. Oh yeah, and there was a huge pile of juicy pulled pork smoked for 16 hours over Alabama sweet wild cherry wood. It was YuuummmmO.  Check out my last winter's project below.

Don't even think that I don't know that God has blessed us abundantly with friends, brethren, wonderful children, the most beautiful granddaughter in the world, oh yeah, and with plenty of smokey, juicy pork barbeque. lol. 

That's about it for catching up with main events around the ranch here. I'll be using this blog space for keeping in touch during our upcoming trip to Russia, Aug. 10-28. Lorna and I will be accompanied by Vernon & Susan White and Shannon & Dana Shaffer. We'll be trying to give regular reports, work some pictures in, and dump it all out of a cup of Red Russian Roast, caffinated of course.

Drop back by for a cup, and I'd be glad to hear from you.

Mac

I'm a fan

I admit it. I’m a fan of the alternative media. I get tired of the one sided viewpoints that one hears echoing across all the “major” news outlets like a list of talking points. The faces change, but the list of “Headline News” seems to be the same across the channels. You know the ones I mean, don’t you? The ones that echo and re-echo the progressive, liberal voices in Washington, ignore our hero’s on the world’s battlefields, pick and choose which news stories they will carry as if they have some kind of liberal agenda (?), and feel at liberty at any time to cast Christians, morality, and conservative values in a bad light. I like to hear the other side. I like hearing the news stories that CBS, NBC, ABC, their cable outlets, and their morning shows won’t report. So I do listen to talk radio, I admit. I do watch Fox News and I check the Drudge Report online.

I will also admit that as a result I hear things that remove doubts and questions from my mind. For example, did you hear in the mainstream news (and I’m doubting it…) about the FOURTH case of an Occupy supporter being arrested for indecent exposure.  It appears that public urination, defecating on police cars, dumping barrels of human waste inside banks, and repeated rapes, thefts, and various criminal activities at Occupy encampments is not enough. Now some are feeling that the proper thing to do to get your message across is to expose yourself to crowds, including children.

Now the thing is, I don’t wonder anymore about what kind of people make up the Occupy crowd. I used to wonder, when in repeated interviews, they couldn't explain what exactly they were protesting. The fog began to clear for me however, as they protested one big business after another and claimed to be speaking for the “common man” while at the same time putting the “common man” out of his small business on the streets they haunted by bad behavior and running off customers. While they cursed people on the way to work every day they begged for free food and money to support their cause from other people who worked for their money. Early on, one of their “demands” was that the multiplied thousands in school loans they ran up rather than work their way through their own education, without the parties, should just be forgiven. More of the same, “We don’t want to work, just give us what we want.”  So, I don’t wonder anymore what kind of people these are. They are self-centered, bereft of values, confused by the illogic of the education they think they have, and possess the class and manners of possums.

What I do wonder about are those who associate themselves with the Occupy crowd and their animal-like behavior. Our President and Mrs Pelosi are two of high influence that encouraged this small group of unhappy people and commended them to the rest of us uninformed ones. Other Democrat leaders jumped on the same wagon and to my knowledge NOT ONE has backed away from those statements holding these possums up for admiration. Shall we stand behind the logic of these kind of leaders?

I wonder about those who support a party whose head voted for infanticide and whose most vocal speaker said with a straight face that the Senate needed to vote ObamaCare into law SO THAT THEY COULD FIND OUT WHAT WAS IN IT! You people out in California voted this character into office! What are you thinking? Every party can and does have individuals that act up this from time to time. One bad apple doesn’t mean the tree is bad. But I wonder about people who are believers in Jesus, who cast their lot in with A PARTY WHOSE PLATFORM is pro- homosexual and pro-abortion. These are not individual opinions, but party platforms that are supported by every vote and every dollar. You CAN know a tree by it’s fruit.

I admit I am a fan of the alternative media. 

If i've upset you and you'd like to yell at me. Help yourself by leaving a comment.

I Like Christmas                               

My tastes have changed over the years. I used to gag over English peas, lima beans, and brussel sprouts. I kind of like the peas now, and I’m getting to be ok with the sprouts. Some things never change though, do they? Yellow squash still tastes like vomit to me, and I still like Christmas.

I used to like Christmas for the presents. Growing up with five kids in our family there was always a pile of presents under our tree on Christmas morning. Excitement, in red and silver ribbons! I confess to still liking to see my name on a box or two under the tree, but it’s not the excitement it used to be. A sweater, or shirt, or pocket knife is greatly appreciated now, but that’s not where the excitement comes from anymore. Nowadays, it comes from seeing my children come home and gather at the table. It comes from seeing Lorna get out her recipe books and do her amazing things with flour, sugar, frostings, and rib roasts. This past week while a fire burned in the fireplace each evening and my grand-daughter ran from person to person, I got to watch my son play with his cutie of a wife in such loving ways. I got to watch my beautiful daughter talk with her mother, work on Christmas presents, and photograph everything that was going on. I was forced to ask myself more than once, how did it happen, that this group of people is able to be together like this, emotionally, spiritually, with humor and tears? I confess to being so moved the first time we sat down to eat together that I had to ask Forrest to lead the prayer. I couldn’t speak. God surely is good and powerful and able to have such an effect on our lives. According to Romans 14:5-6, this day surely is a special day in the year for me, and for my family.

But I like this day for other reasons. I get tired of going all year and hearing the impatient, angry, careless, outbursts of the world on every side. The casual profanity, the sexualization of young girls, the empty promises of politicians, the constant appeal of materialism and marketing... doesn’t it all wear on you too? I kind of like a season where folks slow down (except in the grocery stores on Friday night, :-)), smile a little more, and wish each other kind greetings. I’ve been around long enough to know that Jesus wasn’t born on Christmas day and the wise men in the nativity scenes are not representatives of the Bible story which says they visited the babe in a house. Ha, I even know that the Bible neither says there were three magi, nor that the angels sang at Jesus’ birth. Knowing these things, however, doesn’t mean that I have to be angry about them. I’m kinda glad to hear my Savior’s name on the lips of people, talked about on talk radio, sung about on the country music channels, and even used as the subject of surveys and polls on the morning news shows. I certainly don’t agree with every sentiment that is expressed at this season, but it’s rather like prayer in public schools. I didn’t agree with every sentiment expressed by every flavor of teacher that ever led a prayer in public school, but I sure miss those prayers now that they’re gone, don’t you?

I may not agree with every false doctrine and sentimental idea put forth in the name of my Lord connected with this season. But, I like to hear His name and I like that He gets some praise in this time of year that is so sorely lacking the rest of the year. I like the way that He has a calming effect on people at this time of year. And yes, I’m thinking that when Christmas is completely secularized and we all join our President at the health club or on the golf course on Christmas morning, instead of gathering with our families, I’m going to miss it. Referring to the above mentioned scripture I will probably try to make this a special day for me and my family for a long time to come. And I will thank God for the opportunity.

It may not be the usual gospel preacher’s viewpoint, but yeah, I like Christmas. I like that it gives us an excuse to remember that the first great institution God ever created was the home. It gives us a time to think about and participate in “giving” to others, just to see their joy. It brings Jesus to the forefront of people’s minds and lips who are too busy and too distracted the rest of the year. And the cookies aren’t too bad either.

If you're another oddball that knows Christmas is not the the birthday of Jesus, but loves it just the same, leave a comment and say so. And thanks for sharing a cup.

Sadly Busy

The title just about sums up things around the McMurray ranch since I last checked in.

Most of my friends know that my son Forrest has been working in an intern relationship with me over the past 20 months or so. Let me tell you it's been a pleasure having the company of him, his wife Terri, and daughter Willow here on the property with us while he prepared himself to preach the gospel. They have been around for hog roasts, pizza saturdays, movie nights, as well as Bible studies and sharing the workload. Last month that ended as He and Terri packed up to move and work with the Church of Christ in East Alton, IL.

Here's the view of my favorite granddaughter from my desktop. If it looks like she's waving good-bye, well that's just the way it feels from over here.

Now before I get emails from all the hardcases out there telling me to stop crying in my keyboard, let me say that when we started working together we knew that this day was coming. It's all just another stage in life, I know. Doesn't make it any easier though. The church here in Anderson misses the young McMurrays. The church in East Alton, IL is getting a hard worker in Forrest, a cheerful young mom in Terri, and the smartest little Willow they've ever seen. ( Her Grandmom says she's a genius!)

The move is over now. He started down there the first of August and all that remains is for plans to be formulated. What plans you ask? Why plans to see that granddaughter again as soon as possible. In the meantime we're going to try to get back to normal around here.

Ok, ok, one last pic. Here's grandpa starting off Willow right by introducing her to the hog's head throwing competition. She didn't do too bad for a two year old.

FATHER'S DAY THOUGHTS

I was walking with my cousin amid the woods and hills of eastern Kentucky a few years ago searching for an old cemetery where it was rumored that some family members were buried. We never found the cemetery, but we did manage to get turned around and come out of the woods a ways from our car. Coming upon an old house at the end of the road we decided we would ask for directions and proceeded to knock on the door and make our request. The elderly woman was very helpful, but as we were about to leave she startled us by asking, “You both are McMurrays, aren’t you?”

Upon asking how she knew us, since we had certainly never met her before, she invited us in and showed us a picture on the wall of one of our early ancestors. She claimed old man McMurray there on the wall, who my cousin recognized,  was one of her grandfathers also and said she recognized the “look.” Big men, with a particular nose, same wave of hair, they way our eyes were set... She laughed and said she would have known us as McMurrays anywhere.

Just because I like ancestor pics, here's one from 1930 of my Grandfather holding my own father in his arms.

What’s my point? Only this, that McMurrays are not the only family that has characteristics that stand out if you’re looking for them.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  1 Peter 1:14-16

Christians are born into God’s family and by choice, our Heavenly Father desires us to take up His characteristics. Those characteristics have nothing to do with the wave in our hair or the size of our nose. They have all to do with our conduct  and are summed up by Peter in the above verse, by the word “Holy.”  Our Father desires for us to be holy and says it is because that is characteristic that makes us like Him. That is the characteristic of God’s family.

On this Fathers’ day, may we all wish to give honor to our Heavenly Father by striving to be like Him, being holy, like He is holy.  The greatest compliment may come to us someday from a complete stranger who is looking for the very characteristics that make you special. Someone who is looking for God may look at your behavior in life and say, “You’re a Christian, aren’t you?”  When pressed for an explanation they may simply reply, “I’d know that life style anywhere.” And God will be glorified in the life of his child.