Good News - Winter 2007 by High Country 365

2007 Christmas Edition: Celebrating the “Reason for the Season” in Ashe County.

828-263-0095 MainStreetMarketingAshe.com

Scared Religion Isn’t Worth a Plugged Nickel

hen I was 14 my Daddy taught me the meaning of work. He needed me to help him, but he gave me a gift, whether he knew it or not. It was a valuable gift for a blind man to find out I didn’t have to sit in the corner. I was 14 when I started learning hard work. We were cutting wood with a crosscut saw when a block came off and bumped my shin, and I said a bad word I won’t repeat here. “Son, hold your temper!” he said. “A man without one ain’t worth a plugged nickel, and man that’s got one and don’t control it is worth less.” He was pretty wise in that way. He had them temper fits himself every now and then, but I didn’t dare say what I was thinking. It got quiet for a minute. I think he read my mind. Temper fits and outright meanness are two different things: meanness lasts all the time, because the devil’s got you in his control. I’ve known people that I’ve liked, but they let their temper rule them. Now Jesus had righteous indignation when he run that bunch out of the temple with a whip. The Bible says, “In your anger sin not” (Ephesians 4:26). Willful sin is when you don’t turn loose of your anger, you keep pushing it and turn it

into something bad. It was about that time I went through the motions of the church, went to the altar, and was baptized, so I considered myself a Christian. I knew God was the Creator of all things, but I thought of God as a tyrant who could kill you if you batted your eye wrong. Part of the time I would try to live the Christian life. I would do something wrong and it would bother me, but it didn’t convict me to get on my knees and find what I needed to really change. In 1966 my son Merle drove me to help the Flatt & Scruggs team to do an album. While I was there I woke up in the middle of the night with pain I thought was food poisoning. The next day I went to see Earl Scruggs’s doctor and found I had a ruptured appendix. After the operation the surgeon said, “We won’t know for sure whether this was successful or not, but you’ll know in three days.” I went into the isolation ward and from what I could tell was going on, I knew I was going to die. Then all at once I found myself, not in the ward, but in the presence of God Almighty and his Son. I was suspended between the world and eternity. I could almost reach out and touch them. It didn’t scare me, like He did when I was a boy. (Cont. on Pg. 3)

Doc Watson in concert in Todd, NC

December 2007

He was the Judge of the human race, but with a love that can’t be measured. I said, “Lord, I thought I’ve been a Christian all these years, but you know I’ve not been. Please forgive me of my sins. I know I’m going to die. I don’t want to be lost.” I was afraid to make a vow that I couldn’t keep. The strange part of it is my sins were lifted right then. And He gave me an extension on life - why, I’ll never know - but He knew the time would come when I would accept His mercy. About four and a half years ago I was listening to a Randy Travis album with a song called “Dr. Jesus.” Some of the words said, “Lord I need you to mend my heart, and save my soul. There’s so many out there who need you, do you think you could work me in?” I listened to that song about five or six times and the last time I realized I needed that Doctor just like Randy did. And something happened to me that had never happened before. Till then I didn’t quite understand what “coming to Christ” meant, but this simple song told me where it was at. I called on Jesus, and a door was opened. I was able to find the love of Jesus Christ and have His love enter my heart by the Holy Spirit. I’ve been in my heart a different man since then. God used some of my work even before I was walking with Him. I remember sitting on a bench in front of little old time church in Ashe county having my picture made for the Gospel album On Praying Ground. I prayed, “Lord, if this album will help save one soul, I don’t care if it doesn’t make me one dime, it will be worth millions of times the effort.” When I was on the road, people would come up and shake hands with me and say, “Your Gospel album changed my life.” It brought tears of gladness and my own prayer, “I need to be closer, Lord.” Another time God used me - I don’t know what made me to do it - I said to Merle one day, “Son, I’m not a good candidate to ask you this question, but how is it with you if death was to slip up on you?” He said, “Dad, I’m not afraid to die. I’ve been on my knees and I’ve made my peace with God.” That was three weeks before the accident that took him [in 1985 when his tractor overturned]. After he’d gone, it helped

December 2007

a lot, me and his mother both, knowing that. When Merle was born, they brought him to lay on my lap and his little feet were going like he was riding a bicycle—I’ll never forget that while I live. When he was two, I carried him many a time on my shoulders and he’d put his fingers on my earlobes. I walked down the road I knew by heart and I could hear where the bank was (back when my hearing was that good). If there was a mud puddle, he’d tug on my ear and say, “Go this way, Daddy,” or “Go that way, Daddy.” Bless his little heart, he was a sharp fellow. Thank God, I have those memories. I’ll go and see my boy one of these days. Even though it wasn’t until I heard Randy’s preaching in that song and it unlocked the door to my own salvation, the Lord was guiding me all along and helping me make right decisions. We’ll never know until we get to Heaven the full understanding of all the things that happen in our lives. But I know the bad things won’t be on the other side in Heaven. We’re here for a reason, and God gives us the chance to choose the good road and step off the worldly one we’re walking on before we’re saved. He knows when we’ll have that chance and whether we’ll ignore it and turn away from it. I don’t deserve what He did for me. Even though I’ve hurt Him, He pulled me out of death’s jaws. And He’s done that for millions. He is such a wonderful Savior and a wonderful Friend. He understands when I find myself dealing with even a little sin - like those little temper fits that last hardly half a minute, but it hurts my darling wife when I let go like with one of them - I can say, “Lord, why did I act a fool like that? Forgive me.” I’m thankful to the Lord I’ve got Him there to guide me. Every sermon, in my opinion, should end with an altar call fully explaining the tender, sweet love of Jesus Christ that leads us to salvation. You can’t scare people into the Kingdom: that’s fanaticism. My Daddy told me, “Scared religion isn’t worth a plugged nickel.”

Doc Watson, Deep Gap

A Life of Service

I’m what they refer to as a cradle Catholic. For the early part of my life that was all I really knew. In a way this was a good thing. We were all on the same page. There is something comforting about being raised in an environment of spiritual solidarity. Though I came to know that there were other options out there, as I grew older I never really felt the need to look elsewhere. My faith has always been satisfying to me; it has always been enough. Since my teen years I felt a call to charitable work. There is something so fulfilling about social work. For my life this was not something out of the ordinary, this was simply an integral part of my faith and my life. As a high school student I made goods for the missionaries to take on their mission and participated in fundraisers and other service projects. Later in life I felt called to serve the foster children of Ashe County. When I heard that there was such a huge need for foster parents, I was sad because I was not in a position to open up my home as a parent. At first I felt like there was nothing I could do to be of service which was disheartening because the need is so great. But I felt in my heart that I was being asked to serve these young ones in our community and finally I decided that even though I could not be a parent I could serve in some way. I went to my priest and asked him if we could take up a “brown bag” collection just to see if our church could help this community service get its start. My priest agreed and in faith we asked our parish to lend its support. Long story short, by the grace of God and through the generous support

December 2007

of individuals from inside and outside our church, New Beginnings has just celebrated ten years of service to Ashe. We provide clothing, furnishing stipends, and any other resource we can manage to local foster children. Given that there are so many children in need, it is nice that we have had the opportunity to create a local resource that can quickly respond to the unique needs of our community. Even though we are not affiliated with the Catholic Church, or any other church, my church is highly supportive of this outreach to the community. About four years ago I received the Knights of Columbus’ Mother Teresa Award which included a grant to New Beginning that has furthered our service to the community. This additional funding for our agency has been both a personal honor and an honor for the community that continues to support this ongoing effort to tend to the least among us. I know that a lot of people out there have these grand moments where they arrived at their faith; I do not have one of those. I can not recollect a time when I did not have a relationship with the God who created me. This relationship has had an impact on everything I do. My relationship with God and His Son, Jesus, has made me a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. For me though, my faith has changed my life the most by leading me to a life of service. I know that I have been so blessed and for me there is such joy and satisfaction in being able to pass on a small part of the blessings that I have received by being a blessing to others.

Bernadette Zimmerman, Beaver Creek

December 2007

Truth! What is Truth?

am convinced that the search for truth, any truth, diligently pursued will lead to Jesus Christ. I did not begin my life looking for Christ. My parents were good people. My mother was brought up in a Baptist family. My Father, whose mother was a devout Christian Scientist, was a good man. From Ashe County, he took my mother to California, and, we went with him to the Church of Religious Science. I first became aware of politics during the Great Depression/WWII era. I saw my father become disillusioned after he became trapped in Roosevelt’s work programs, supposedly designed to get the country back on its feet again and facilitate “critical” war related jobs which prevented him from advancing to better paying jobs, even though there were many people waiting to replace him. This frustration propelled his search for a political solution to the ills of our country. As a young woman, his search became mine; his religion became mine. I uncritically accepted his religion’s spiritualistic, metaphysical, mind-over-matter, intellect-ual superiority associated with the modern belief that we are “as gods.” Certainly, no square-wheeled, Bible-thumping, bead counting, Stone Age Christian was going to tell me any different. My mind was steeped in this Pseudo Christian system for two husbands and two kids. I was in my late twenties when Truth began to feel like a grain of sand in a pearl. Roosevelt died, Eisenhower was elected and I was on cloud nine - until I realized that, “9[It is] better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” Psalms 118:9. One by one, my political idols began to crumble. I was devastated. My life otherwise was also in a mess. My first husband had deserted me six months after the birth of our son. My second husband was an alcoholic; and I eventually divorced him. McCarthy and his anti-communist investigations were underway. The aunt of a friend of mine was involved in spying on the communists for our government. Through her, we had access to information available to only a few. I began to intensely studying our Constitution and the politics of power. Early in my second marriage, I

December 2007

met Carl Toro, who became a friend and was one of the first members of the newly formed John Birch Society. He recommended many important, mind-changing books, one of which was Secret Societies and Subversive Movements by Nesta Webster. But my politically driven reading cut me to the quick religiously. My “enlightened, 20th century religion,” I discovered, was ancient Gnosticism and that for centuries, occult societies and movements had made war against God, Christ, and all that was sacred, stabbing directly into the heart of God. I reasoned that if “they” defiled the Eucharist, disavowed the Trinity, and mocked the Divinity of Jesus Christ; His death and on the Cross - and His resurrection -, then it all just might be true after all! He really must be who He said He was, and I had better search for the Truth about God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit first formed my beliefs. I then sought a church that taught orthodox Christianity. In 1963, my sons and I were baptized into the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. I later married my third husband, now deceased, and moved to Ashe County in 2003. And, certainly, the accidental death of my youngest son, Daniel, in 1991 launched a quantum leap in my spiritual growth and has brought forth manifold blessings! The last step in my search for a spiritual home was embracing the Catholic Faith here in Ashe County in 2005. I still belong to the John Birch Society and teach about how the Christian faith of our Founding Fathers formed the basis of the US Constitution. I revel in praising and thanking God for using all my experiences over these many years to bring me to a saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is my desire to know Him better, love Him more deeply and serve Him more completely.

Carol Phillips, West Jefferson

December 2007

God has no Grandchildren

grew up in a Christian home. At the age of nine I realized that I was a sinner in need of saving grace. This thought did not just come upon me unprompted. There was a visiting evangelist who came into my home to speak with me at the request of my parents. My parents were both Christians and they talked about a personal relationship with Jesus, but I didn’t even know what that meant and knew that I did not have a relationship with Him. During that pivotal conversation, the preacher told me that faith was a choice I had to make for myself. Once I was convinced that I could not be saved because my father believed, or because my mother believed, right then and there I decided to believe in Him for myself. After the age of nine, there was never a point where I fell away, but I just kind of plodded forward in my Christian walk from the time of my conversion through my first year of college. I taught Sunday school, and was involved in the kinds of things you would expect from a church-going boy. I did what most active young people of faith do, but in my heart, I knew there was something missing in my walk. When I went into the Air Force, my faith relationship really began to blossom. After attending a revival in New Mexico, I felt a strong calling change my priorities. It wasn’t so much that I was not doing the things of God. As a Chaplain’s assistant, I was never very far from the things of God even before the revival that night. But I knew that God was not always first in my heart and first in my life either. After the revival, I became truly committed to making God the first priority in all my daily affairs. I began to spend more time in the word, and in prayer. I resumed regular church attendance. As my relationship with Christ was expanding, I was sent over to Thailand. The revival that had begun in my heart while in New Mexico expanded and became my life’s passion. Through study and prayer while serving abroad, I felt the call to full time ministry. Upon my return, I set about pursuing the education necessary to fulfill God’s call upon my life. Over the years, I have served as a missionary to Norway, served as a pastor for a couple of churches, and been a chaplain for various agencies to include hospice. I am currently Director of the Ashe Pregnancy Care Center and consider it a sacred ministry to protect the unborn children of Ashe County and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to mothers in crisis, because only through Jesus Christ can our lives be made straight and our yokes made easy.

Roger Newton, Fleetwood

A Mother’s Prayers Honored

or as long as I can remember, there was never a question about going to church on Sunday. Every Sunday my family would get up and go to church and that was that. I enjoyed going to church, but I did not really take the whole thing seriously until I was about twelve years old. When I was twelve I heard a hellfire and brimstone sermon than caused me to pay attention. God did not speak to me during that sermon. No, out of sheer fear of the fires of hell I responded to that altar call, and I was baptized a week or so later. I had done what I thought I was supposed to do, but there was no peace in any of it. In my heart I knew that I was still not prepared to die. When I found the courage to talk to preachers about my lack of peace they dismissed my concerns. Preachers would tell me, “That is just the devil talking and never take my concerns seriously”. Time moved forward as it often does, and I got married and had a child. When my baby was born, I knew that neither me, nor my husband, had what it took to raise that child with a firm and proper understanding of the Gospel. Inside I felt strongly that there was a God, but that was all I knew for sure. I prayed. Even without understanding exactly why, I prayed for God to take care of my son to make up for the faith that I could not pass on to

December 2007

him because I did not have a faith to call my own. For the next 20 years I prayed, read the bible, and struggled to find faith. During those years I suffered through three broken marriages. Far more troubling than my broken earthly relationships, I still felt no satisfaction to my spiritual hunger. While married to my third husband, for the first time, I finally found the answers I had been looking for. It is tough to explain because I did not hear anything new, I just came to a place where the teachings I had been hearing all my life finally became personal. I finally had an experience of Jesus Christ and his love for me, and this brought the peace I had been looking for all along. Looking back on that hard-fought journey to find my testimony, I can not help but see how God has been faithful. You see, despite the fact that my son was a grown man by the time I found a faith of my own, God honored my prayers as a mother. My son has grown up to have a strong and vibrant relationship with the Christ. For me it is a constant blessing to know that my son has that personal relationship because I know the hardships of a life lived without the peace that only God can provide.

Trula Worley , Crumpler

December 2007

Blessings Upon Blessings

et me say this boldly; I think the greatest decision any young person can make is to accept the teachings and to follow Jesus Christ. Oh, my parents were Christian and even though they died when I was quite young, I was still raised in a Christian home. I knew all the facts but I wanted to “fit in” in high school, and it was not cool to speak about religion too loudly. Most of my friends were not Christian. After high school, I went to Appalachian State University to become a teacher. I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I had a major in Biology and a minor in Social Studies. I made it almost through college before it dawned on me that I had never made a conscious decision or public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ - the most important decision in my life! I had been blessed up to that point. Even though I had not spoken about my faith to my friends, neither had I been led too far astray with alcohol or other temptations that plague the young. I knew I did not want to disappoint my teachers or my family and neither did I want to disappoint God. But did I believe in Him enough to profess my faith publicly and maybe risk ridicule? Yes I did! At the ripe old age of 22, I made my public declaration of faith and it has been a comfort and a help to me over the tough spots of my life. God has richly blessed me since then. Going to school every day was like having a fun day. I loved the classroom and seeing kids learn and grow. I also loved to try new things. I can remember one year taking five non-reading fifth graders and bring them up to grade level in one year! Now there is a blessing! While I have been principal of four different schools in Ashe County, I always like to be in the classroom as much as possible. Sometimes I would invent excuses to give teachers a rest, just so I could teach a class. I was always aware that our tomorrows rest with the marvelous minds of the young. After 33 years of teaching, I was diagnosed with cancer. I did not have the energy to continue in education so I retired and spent a year recovering from lung surgery and chemotherapy. God was with Mary, my wife, David, my son, and me during that time. My odds of dying were 83% - a sobering number. I thank God every day for the blessings of life. Since my recovery, I have been driven to continue with community involvement - and those endeavors have been blessed. I have helped found a GED program in New River. I still oversee the Teacher Placement program at Appalachian, I was on the school board and am now serving as Chairman of the County Commissioners. I still teach Men’s Sunday school at Fletcher Memorial Baptist Church - a position I have held for over 25 years. My life has been full; with a loving wife, a wonderful son, work and service I have loved. For all the blessings I have been given, and for the life I have led, I praise God for to Him belongs all honor and thanksgiving.

Richard Blackburn, Jefferson

December 2007

He Will Heal Us

’m a preacher’s son so I grew up hearing the Gospel. Like many children who grow up with parents in full-time ministry, I came to a faith of my own early in life. When I was nine years old I heard my great-uncle, Paul Phipps, preach at a revival. The simple message that I was a sinner in need of a savior made sense to me. That night when my uncle came home I told him of my conviction and we prayed together, and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. At the age of nine there are not that many responsibilities that come with being a Christian. However, as I grew up, I looked for opportunities to become involved. When I was older I put my musical talent to good use by playing the piano and singing in the church choir. Many people have a dramatic story to tell about how they experienced a falling away as they came into adult life. That was not my experience. I know it is not the dramatic story that people love to hear about a wandering heart that returns, but the truth is, that since that quiet conversion at the age of nine my walk with Jesus has been a slow and steady process of relationship building. There have been good days and bad days, but our relationship has been a constant and primary focus of my life ever since I prayed the sinner’s prayer with my uncle. In recent years I have become all the more grateful for those years of quiet time spent feeling close to my God. You see, in 2003, my wife and I lost an unborn baby. We know in our hearts that we are a family of two no matter what God has for us. But the years of faith-building that came before this heartache have been what sustained us through this trial. Some days are better than others are, as we move on and heal. I cherish the quiet times and the simple faith of my youth, and I look forward to the new and unexpected ways that God will heal our hearts and lead in our lives, as we stay open to Him and His leadership.

Daniel Pugh, Clifton

December 2007

...And He Will Lift You Up

grew up in a housing development in Charlotte North Carolina. My stepfather and mother were churchgoing folks and it was just something we did. The Gospel was not a major point of focus in our home life. When the Presbyterians built a church right near the housing projects I starting attending Vacation Bible School with them during the summers. After three years of VBS I went off to junior camp, and it was there that I found my faith. At camp I was with people my own age. It was the first time that I had ever been surrounded by people my own age who were all looking for the answers to life’s most important questions. While there, it occurred to me that faith was not just something for older people, or other people, it was for people my own age, people like me. At camp I realized that we were lost; I was lost. For the first time I understood that I need a personal relationship with a personal Savior, and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. Since my conversion, there have been ups and downs but there has never been a dramatic turning away for me, once my decision for Christ was made I never looked back. However there have been trials in my Christian walk. For many years my husband was unconcerned

December 2007

with the things of God. He was a good provider but faith was not high on his list of priorities until 1989 when he started to have serious health problems. Though he was a Christian, he placed money before family and church. The health scare was humbling for him and that made him reevaluate his priorities. Since that time we both dedicated our lives to service to God. As the years passed we really had it good. We found ways to give to God and our community together, as a couple. Towards the end of his life we were really pulling together in the same direction to dedicate our lives to God and that was an amazing time of growth for both of us. My life has had peaks and valleys, but I have been profoundly blessed. My humble beginnings in the projects were made so rich through the service of those who taught me at VBS and junior Camp. I have had a strong testimony of God’s love for me, and the grace that Christ extends to me each day. My prayer is that I will continue to have the strength to continue to serve others. After all I was once lost and in need and my life has forever been changed because of those who came before me and took the time to serve.

Mary Moser, Warrensville

December 2007

Making Up For Lost Time

had been weeping for four days. I looked a mess but I didn’t care about the stares coming my way as I sat on the plane and thought about what had just happened to me. I had been kicked out of my house, came close to committing suicide and had been saved, all in the last three days. I still had my Jewish mother waiting for me in California and had to tell her that I had become a traitor - I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was a 47-year-old man who was an 8-hour old baby Christian who had made a total mess out of my life. My mind kept going back over my life to see if I could make sense out of how I had gotten into this mess. On Christmas Eve, three days earlier, my wife, Polly, had had enough of me and thrown me out of our house. I ended up at the Eldreth Inn, sitting on the bed with a gun in my hand trying to get up the courage to pull the trigger. On top of the TV was an open Bible that just kept staring me in the face - taunting me. I thought, “I am a Jew - what does that Christian Bible matter to me?” Even though Polly was a Christian (the first disappointment to my Mother), I had never listened to her or her friends when they wanted to tell me about Jesus. I had been rude to her pastor, Lawrence Goodman, of Bald Mountain Baptist Church. There had been other Christians who tried to show me “The Way” by “walking the walk”. In my heart of hearts, I knew they cared for my soul but it only made me angry that they had peace and I had none - they were good and I was not. I didn’t need them anyway. I envied them but didn’t want to be one of them! I picked up that Bible that wouldn’t leave me alone and threw it on the floor. It landed open near my feet. I tried to kick it under the bed only to be taunted again by it rebounding against a wooden box build under the bed and sliding back at me. Opened! I picked it up preparing to throw it in the corner of the room when I caught the words, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Without even thinking, the words tore out of my soul, “Oh God, I want that!” It was as if God took my troubles and wrapped them in clear gauze. I could still see them - I knew they were there waiting for me, but they didn’t swamp me as they had done a moment before. It was around 11 PM but I called Pastor Goodman anyway. Godly man that he was, he took my call and talked with me for a long time. The next day was Christmas but he still invited me over and we talked many more hours. By Sunday, I barely had enough of a grip on myself to go to church. Polly, the woman that I had hurt for years, sat next to me. What is it that possesses these Christians that allow such love in the face of such mean and contemptible self-centeredness? I was wracked with guilt and selfloathing to even face her. Whatever it was she had - I wanted it. During the altar call I knelt with Pastor Goodman and the congregation prayed over me. I finally asked Jesus into my unmanageable, rebellious and world-weary heart. Miracle of Miracles, He came to me, the lowest of sinner, and washed me clean. The Holy Spirit spoke relief and hope into

December 2007

my heart. I was relieved because I did not have to carry the awful weight of my sins alone any longer. I was forgiven! As I arose, Polly must have seen some change in me because she took my hand and whispered, “Don’t come home until I tell you to come home.” Hope! There was a glimmer of hope that we might eventually be restored. I would take anything she had to offer and spend a lifetime learning how to love her the way my new LORD said a man should love his wife. I didn’t know it at the time, but God is the God of restoration and healing. He gives us rules for living that, if followed, produce loving and happy relationships in all areas of life, but especially for husbands and wives. I wept again - for joy - for repentance - for hope - and for the peace that upheld me as I separated from Polly once again. I already had my plane tickets to California and had planned to stay with my mother. Here I was, left once again thinking about how to tell her I had become a Christian. This would be the third disappointment. I smiled faintly at the thought of her second disappointment - I hadn’t become a doctor either! Oy! God is amazing. A man sat next to me on the plane and he seemed to have all the answers I needed. We talked non-stop from Charlotte to San Francisco and when I got off the plane, I had enough courage to tell my mother the Truth! She was glad that I had found peace in Jesus, but would not -and never did accept Christ. She passed away a few weeks later… unsaved. Her father had been so harsh in shoving religion down her throat that she never recovered. She confessed to me that she had never believed in God. I had not known any of that about my mother and did not yet know enough about Christ to reach her in time. It is what drives me today to share the Gospel - and to share it in such a way as to show people that God loves us and wants the best for us if only we let Him! I have been a Christian now for almost 11 years. For the first two years, I peppered Pastor Goodman with enough questions that he finally sent me to Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute to learn more about Jesus. During this time, Polly, my daughters and I began to rebuild our relationships. She agreed with Pastor Goodman and gave me her blessing to go to Bible College. She worked three jobs for those two years to support me while I was studying. God does heal and restore. I ask every day that God help me make up for lost time and I thank Him for my restored family. We work at healing every day, but I grieve over my mother. It was too late for her. I thank God it wasn’t too late for me. I try to think of new ways to share my urgency in spreading the Gospel. Don’t wait! Don’t put off being saved. Don’t wait another day to give and receive forgiveness! Don’t wait because you will never get the days, hours and moments of your life back. Learn from Jesus how to love your spouse, your family and your Creator! He forgave, lifted up and uses a no-good sinner like me! He will be faithful and just to forgive you. Do it now!

Pastor Elliott Osowitt, West Jefferson

December 2007

All Things Became New

was 26 years old before I met Jesus Christ. Though I grew up in a good home, as I grew older I drifted into the world of drugs, alcohol and the disco nightlife scene. Dad was an attorney and a man of integrity; my brothers and sister and I all looked up to him. My Mom was a dedicated homemaker who took care of us all. Our family attended a large Baptist church. My two grandmothers were strong Christian women and best friends, and I loved hearing the old hymns in their homes when I was young. As I later went astray, they faithfully continued to pray for me. In 1980 I started dating John Wheeler. He was a cocaine dealer who traveled from L.A. to Atlanta and had drug connections with the Colombians down in Florida. At that time smoking free-base cocaine, visiting his Biker friends, and making deals with the Colombians all seemed very exciting. But after several months I began to see that this was serious. At this point I broke it off with John because I knew I needed a major change. So I took a job that required extensive travel. That first day, as I drove towards Texas, I prayed something like this: Lord Jesus, I know you are there and I am ready for my life to change. Please take away the desire for the drugs and alcohol. Remove the scales from my eyes. Miraculously, John came to Christ the very next week while he was in Miami, and his life was radically changed. He began to

December 2007

witness to me by phone and tell me things he was reading in the Bible. He even mailed a Bible to my work location in Texas. I was amazed at the instant transformation in John, and I wanted that, too. It was a couple of months before true repentance and complete brokenness came. In a little town in Oklahoma, in a motel room one lonely night, I fell to my face, literally on the floor. I was weeping, crying out to God to forgive me for my sins. I asked him to save me. The next morning was a new day. Old things passed away and all things became new from that day forward. I took my new Christian Faith seriously. I began to devour the Word of God. I could not get enough. I wanted everything God had for me – and I still do today. John and I were reunited with Jesus Christ as our new mutual friend. We were both baptized in that same Baptist church where I had grown up and were married in the little stained glass chapel. We were blessed to inherit 100 acres of mountain land and moved to Ashe County 9 years ago with our 8 children. Through the 25 years we have been married, through good times and bad, Jesus has been Faithful and True. I give all Glory and Honor to Jesus Christ our Lord, who is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.

Cheryl Wheeler, Lansing

December 2007

That Still Small Voice

or me, God was not in the thunder, not the lightning bolt or in the sound of a mighty wind, but in the still small voice that gave me joy and peace when I answered, “Yes.” I grew up in Traphill in Wilkes County where everybody believed in God – or at least everybody believed that you should believe in God. I felt that I had always been seeking God. I had heard of dramatic testimonies and lightning bolts and I expected that one day that would happen to me. It didn’t. I waited, all through high school and it didn’t. At the age of 19, I was a freshman at Appalachian State University taking a religion class. I was startled by the class. It seemed to me that the emphasis of the class was to question God and disprove Christianity. I had never heard of such a thing and it made me think. At the same time, I was dating my wife, Brenda, and she was a strong Christian. I knew that if I were to take our relationship to a more serious level, I had to know for myself that God was real. I did not want to spend a life time being unequally yoked, but I was still waiting for that lightning bolt. During that year I attended a revival at my home church, Stony Ridge Baptist Church. Back then, if you were attending a revival and somebody noticed that you might need a little help, they came over to you and led you to the altar. This lady, Aline Baugess, came and talked to me and led me to the altar, but still no lightning bolt. Then the visiting speaker, Thelman Cheek, came over to me and asked me, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins?” I answered. “Yes.” Then he asked me: “Are you sorry for your sins?” “Yes!”

December 2007

I answered. The preacher then asked me to stand up and as I did, I felt a sweet peace and joy come over me such that I knew that the Holy Spirit was real and that my prayers had been answered. This was enough to last me a life time. My wife and I, along with our kids, Stephanie and Lori, have lived in various places over the years, both in and out of Ashe County. I have been in real estate and done different things, but I have always been led back here. I started Basic Finance in 2006 and I feel about Ashe County like the Texan who said, “I wasn’t born here, but I got here as soon as I could.” Ever since that revival night as a young 19-yearold, I have felt God as a constant presence. If I mess up - and I have messed up – He has been faithful and just to wash away my sins when I truly ask for His forgiveness. It hasn’t always been easy; there have been tests of faith. The last few weeks of my father’s life, he was on life support. It was a gut-wrenching experience to decide to remove the support. I questioned God’s timing and His purpose in having my dad and my family go through this. I have come to the conclusion that God’s ways are not our ways and His timing is not mine. He is sovereign. He uses the tough times – the times when we are disappointed or when we ourselves are a disappointment - to make us grow and turn our face toward Him. He teaches us about Himself and in the quiet searching times the Holy Spirit testifies to my spirit that Jesus Christ is Lord and that I am His.

Mott Pruitt, Jefferson

December 2007

A New Face for Main Street Marketing in Ashe County

s the new owner of Main Street Marketing, I would like to use this edition of the Good News to introduce myself to the citizens of Ashe County. At the beginning of 2007 I purchased the Watauga – Avery division of Main Street Marketing

Ben Cox and his wife Connie from David Desautels who founded this company in 1989. Recently, on September 19, 2007, I purchased the Ashe County division of Main Street Marketing. I joined MSM in 2001 when I began to establish my relationship with the business communities of Ashe, Avery and Watauga Counties. Today, as the new owner, I am eager to build on the reputation of the quality products and services MSM has come to be known for. In addition to this. I want to always look for opportunities to improve and change where improvement and change is needed. Prior to getting into the advertising business, I served as an onstaff pastor at the same church in Bonne, NC for 19 years. As far as I was concerned, I planned to be in the ministry, as a profession, for the rest of my life. The reason I put it like that is because I’m still in the ministry, but I have chosen to no longer make my primary living from that. I still preach at different churches on a regular basis, but the thing I enjoy most about being in the business world, is that I often find unplanned, impromptu ministry opportunities in the context of my daily business activities. Besides this, I enjoy bringing a servant’s attitude into my business relationships in a professional, friendly and unpressurized way. Though I never would have thought I’d be a business owner in the High Country, I feel like I’m following God’s will in taking on this challenge. Rather than launching a new advertising company of my own, I wanted to purchase the company from David as a way of thanking

him for what he taught me about the advertising business. As David pursues other business ventures without the restraints of running a company this size, I wish him well. Since I have worked with MSM in Ashe County for the last 6 years I have grown to appreciate this community very much. I have enjoyed the relationships I have already established and look forward to continuing to contribute to the sense of community I’ve found here. At this time of year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it is my hope that the stories you will read in this 2007 edition of the Good News will communicate why Christmas is such a big deal for those of us who have chosen to be followers of Christ. Whether you are a Christian or not, I believe you’ll be inspired by the love of God that has been experienced in tangible ways in the lives of your friends and neighbors from right here in Ashe County.

Merry Christmas from the Cox family to yours!

December 2007

A Light Unto My Path

did not get saved until I was 38 years old. My wife had been praying for me for almost ten years. Though I knew there was a God, I kept thinking that I was going to have my own fun and live my own life and I could work things out with God later. There had been some close calls at work where I would be working under a car and the car would start to come down, but I would get out before I got injured, or worse. When these moments would come I would think about God, and what came after this life, but I would push those thoughts aside. Then one night I got in a car wreck. It was bad, and I probably should have been killed. I knew then that I needed to get right with the Lord. I talked that night with my Father-in-law. Later on, my wife led me to the Lord. I owned my own automotive service business during the year of my conversion happened. Even after giving my life to Christ, I had one problem after another. I had employee and business problems. There was even an issue that was going to have to go to court. Rent was continually an issue with the business and one night I came home and read Chapter 11 in Luke. The Bible told me about how God takes care of the flowers and birds, and he even cares for us. Through that Chapter God really spoke to me with a mega phone and he really brought my family and me through that business experience. Only a year after my conversion I still had twenty-two thousand dollars in debt on my tools, but I felt a call into full time ministry. When the opportunity presented itself to sell all of my tools to get out of debt I did it. I went back to school to go to Bible College, worked a second shift job and only saw my family on the weekends. This was a tough time for all of us. It was particularly hard on my wife. She was running the house during the week and we really had to pull together to make things work. Even though things were stressful for all of us, God was preparing our path. During my last semester, the position of youth pastor opened up Friendship Baptist Church - my church! One of the members of the search committee asked me to apply. I took a chance and left my job near the college to pursue being the youth minister. In my gut I knew that this opportunity was made for me. I was indeed hired on, first as interim and then as the full-time youth minister at my church. The satisfaction of knowing that I am living the life that I am called to is what gets me out of bed in the morning and it is the thought that comforts me as I fall asleep at night. As I look back, I am grateful for the near death experience that humbled me so that I could see that my life has a bigger purpose - bringing the youth to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Darryl Giles, Jefferson

December 2007

I Will Follow Him...

elieving in God has always been a part of my life. As far as actually coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that happened at fifteen. Several people talked to me about their personal relationships with Jesus Christ. I really noticed the peace that believers had in their lives and I wanted that for myself. I also heard a lot about Christ through Christian music. Then one night in the quiet of the room I responded to my convictions of the Holy Spirit, and asked Christ into my heart and to forgive my sins. From that moment I have had peace in my life. I did go through a point where I did a back sliding thing. I knew that I was called to be a preacher. But I didn’t want to preach. I wanted to be a drummer. So I spent a few years putting my own wants before my relationship with God. Then much like that moment of my conversion, in the solitude of my car, I felt the strength of the Spirit convicting me and not long after that I rededicated my life to God and surrendered to the call to preach. During that process of rededication I really struggled with the expectations that my friends and family had of me. Actually, I had to struggle against the expectations I had for myself. All my life, music has been everything to me, and when I knew that ministry was for me, I was worried what others would think. I didn’t even know what to think. What would it mean if I gave up my musical dreams and then failed as a preacher? Then I found clarity. All I need to do is follow the call of Jesus and the rest of my life will fall into place. Even though I had resisted the call to preach for a number of years, God made a way for me. Things just fell into place for me to go to Bible College. I went to Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute and they were two of the best years of my life. Once I started pursuing a life as a preacher, I felt like I had found my place in life. Things made sense to me; I had a sense of purpose and deeper meaning. I have been preaching for just over ten years now, and I currently pastor at Gap Creek Baptist Church in Deep Gap. We are a small congregation but I truly enjoy seeing people grow and change through hearing the Word. As a preacher, my life is blessed by my calling. I only hope that I, in turn, bless others by helping them understand the teachings of Jesus. I would never have chosen to be a preacher. However, now I have chosen to say yes to a life of God’s design, I could not be happier. All I can say is; follow God no matter where He may lead and there you will find a life of abundance.

John Crawford, Jefferson

December 2007

Mighty Prayer Warrior

can not remember exactly when I became a Christian. When I was twelve I prayed with my Dad but life got hard for me and I lost my way. Sometimes, when I think about the times that I went off drinking, swearing and saying dirty things, it makes my stomach hurt. I did not want to be a bad man. I just wanted to fit in with the other people. It worked! I fit in better with some people, but I felt bad in my heart. It was a tough time for me. I spent a lot of time talking to my Dad, Pastor Elliott and Pastor James. I struggled and it was hard on me and my whole family. One day my parents read to me out of the Bible. When I listened to them, I decided that I wanted to change. Not long after that, I prayed with Pastor James to ask Jesus into my heart. I do not want to fit in with people who like to do bad things. I want to do good things and minister to others. That is why I decided to accept Jesus into my heart. With Jesus in my heart, I have become a prayer warrier. I believe in the Lord and because of him I can pray and help others. Now I help and care for my family and others. I pray for all of my friends and family. I may not always fit in as much as I want to but that is OK. Even when life gets tough, Jesus takes good care of me.

Marty Kerr, West Jefferson

December 2007

You can Run, but You Cannot Hide

ne of my granddads was a pastor, and I grew up in a strong Christian home. I could not tell you the first time I heard the name Jesus. The basic facts of Christianity have been known to me my whole life. Since one of my family members was in ministry, faith matters were all around me. Though I knew all about Jesus growing up, I did not really decide to have a personal relationship with him until I was fifteen. One day I quietly decided that I needed a faith of my own and I asked Jesus into my heart. At seventeen I felt a call to a life of service as a preacher, but I did not answer it. I tried to bargain with God. I got involved in other ways, but I would not preach. I came home from college and was a deacon, and I served in the choir, I served as a lay preacher and I kept thinking that if I served in a different way that God would let me off the hook and I could get back to the kind of life that I wanted. I did not deny God in my life; I simply refused to answer his call. But I could not run forever. Finally at the age of 39 with a wife and four children, I could not stand it any more. I closed the family furniture business and I went off to seminary. During my time at seminary, my wife worried a lot about how the family would be provided for. Though things were tight and I was away from the family during the week and preaching on Sundays, God was faithful. Through those trials, my wife and children and I have all become closer to one another. We often teach our children little prayers like “God is Good God is Great”, and though those prayers might seem simple, through the years, I have come to learn that they are so true. He is good! He is great! God has been so good and so great to my family, that whatever service I give it is nothing in comparison to the grace I have received. Answering the call has had a tremendous impact on all of our lives. For example I have a son and he is now answering the call that I spent so many years running from. He is in his second year of seminary. My wife and I have a new life as servants for the Kingdom since I stopped running and started serving. It has not always been easy but now we are doing what we are called to do. My wife and I work together as a team. There is a joy that comes through living the life that God has for us. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to serve God through serving his people. For us, there is no higher calling.

Gordon Rawls, Jefferson

December 2007