Category: Personal
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40 Years on KSON!
It was on March 7, 1976 that my radio show, The Bluegrass Special, went on the air for the first time. I can’t remember a time in my life when I have been more nervous. When the clock hit 6 PM (the original air time for my show) I played my intro music from a…
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What Can I Say? I’m a Lucky Guy.
50 years ago, the most beautiful woman in the world said “I do” when asked if she would take this man (me!) to be her lawfully wedded husband. I continue to be amazed by my incredible good fortune. I am sometimes asked about “the secret” to a long and happy marriage. Quite honestly, I know…
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Remembering Bill Keith
Bill Keith, newest member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, died on October 23, less than a month after being inducted into the IBMA’s prestigious Hall of Fame. Bill accepted the honor in person at ceremonies held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Confined to a wheelchair, he uttered a brief but heartfelt acceptance speech, thanking…
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So Long Eucalyptus Hills, Hello Alpine!
Last week Marci and I moved out of our home in Lakeside after 37 years. Located in Eucalyptus Hills, it was a wonderful house that we purchased in 1978 after a couple years in another house just up the street. We leave behind a ton of memories in that old house which was built in…
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Lost and Found Keys in Mexico
I just returned from another incredible week of ministry in Mexico. For the past six years, I’ve led a family (intergenerational) mission trip designed to give families and individuals an immersion experience in serving the poor and living in community with each other for a few days. We built a house for young Mexican family,…
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MexiGO! 2015
One of the things that I continue to do at College Avenue Baptist Church is to organize and lead a family mission trip to Mexico. Here is a video that describes the trip. Thanks to my buddy Ed Watts for putting it together. MEXIGOFINAL1a1 from College Avenue on Vimeo.
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Not Just a Desk
I sold my desk this week for $75. I put it on Craigslist, first for $300, then for $200, then for $100. Somebody offered me $50 and we settled on $75. I even delivered the desk across town in my truck for that. And then I came home and cried. Emotions run deep when you…
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On Not Using “R” Word
“So how do you like being retired?” Having resigned my staff position at College Avenue Baptist Church last month, that’s the question I keep hearing from well-meaning folks who assume I’ve stopped working and have all kinds of free time on my hands. “I’m not really retired,” I insist. “I’m busy. I don’t have time…
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Where is Your Keilah?
A few months ago I attended a conference for aging baby-boomers called “Recalculate.” I had a chance to reconnect with some good friends from my YFC and Forest Home days, Bob and Carol Kraning, their son Kent and his wife Robin. The Kranings (both the elder and younger Kranings) were the featured conference speakers and…
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Gettin’ Ready for Raleigh!
For the past twenty-five years or so I’ve made my annual pilgrimage to the International Bluegrass Music Association’s “World of Bluegrass” trade show which started out in 1988 in Owensboro, Kentucky, then moved to Louisville, then to Nashville, and then last year moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where the whole city became the venue. Attendance…