The Journey - Winter 2023 by High Country 365

Journey The

Winter 2023 FREE

Inspirational Stories by People You Know

Danny’s family. Left to right: Danny, daughter London, wife Nina, and son Levi

DANNY EDMISTEN: “GOD DIDN’T GIVE UP ON ME” Love and Light Triumphs Over Tragedy & Trauma

Also in this Issue: Jennifer Buchanan, Pat & John Pope, Paul Pierce, Chip Watts

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CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LIFE Autumn 2021 —

215 Boone Heights Dr., Boone • 960 Main Street, Blowing Rock CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LIFE Spring 2022 — 29 bbandminteriors@gmail.com • www.thebeeandtheboxwood.com • 828.386.6212

Owner & Publisher Ben Cox Co-Owner & Distribution Manager Connie Cox Graphic Designer Terry Henry Editor & Blog Manager Maggie Watts Accounts Manager Heather Cotten Contributing Writers

Online flip-through version, distribution locations, and other inspirational content available at: JOURNEYNC.COM 828.263.0095 | info@journeync.com 1651 Highway 194 N. • Boone, NC 28607 This magazine is intended to present people’s stories about their personal relationships with God from their point of view. We endeavor to have a diversity of perspectives in the testimonies we share from people who identify themselves as followers of Christ. Furthermore,

we carefully and prayerfully consider the content of the stories we tell, as well as the character of those who tell them. People who share their testimonies with us have experienced God’s love in real ways, and our encouragement for you, is that you also can experience His love wherever your journey takes you.

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From Left to Right: Melanie Hamm, General Manager; Terese Fogleman, CFA Operator and Scott Fogleman, Finance Director.

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CONTENTS 06

06 12 16 22 28 32

BEN COX:

LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD TELL THEIR STORY A Teaching and Introduction to The Winter Journey 2023 Written by Ben Cox

JENNIFER BUCHANAN:

IN YOU THE FATHERLESS FIND COMPASSION

God’s Guidance in Social Services & Adoption Written by Maggie Watts with Jennifer Buchanan & Ben Cox

PAT & JOHN POPE: A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE

A Brief History of The Cornerstone Bookstore Written by Pat & John Pope

DANNY EDMISTEN: GOD DIDN’T GIVE UP ON ME

Love and Light Triumphs Over Tragedy & Trauma Written by Maggie Watts with Danny Edmisten & Ben Cox

PAUL PIERCE: FOLLOWING JESUS AS LORD By Paul Pierce

CHIP WATTS: PERSEVERING PRAYER

By Chip Watts

28 THE JOURNEY |Winter 2023

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Tell Their Story A Teaching and Introduction to The Winter Journey 2023 by Ben Cox Psalm 107:2-3 says: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story, those He redeemed from the land of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.” The Journey Magazine and journeync.com that you hold in your hands or are reading online, is all about “letting the redeemed of the Lord tell their stories!!” Since Psalm 107:2-3 is an Old Testament passage of Scripture, this is talking about the many ways that the Lord redeemed people in Old Testament times. Thus, we see something that is very important for believers in the redemption that comes through the Messiah Jesus, to understand. That is, from the very beginning of our Lord God Almighty’s creation He has been the God who redeems humanity though we don’t deserve it!! I bring this out as part of the introduction to our Winter 2023 edition of The Journey Magazine, because I am aware of a movement among evangelicals who are disavowing the validity of OT passages because they erroneously say that God’s wrath against the evil paganism of ancient times is a misrepresentation of who He really is. They say that God is only a God of love who would never approve of judging the evil that exists in the world through holy wars or unjust wars. They say that God is a God of love who would never reveal His wrath or judgments on the Earth through natural disasters like droughts, or floods, or fires, or earthquakes, or hurricanes or tornadoes. The fact of the matter is that much of the evil and chaos in the world can be attributed to man’s depravity that greedily serves our own selfish desires, while giving no thought whatsoever to God’s Higher Ways and what He would require of us. For example, some 06

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of the causes of climate change could be and probably are linked to human greed that takes from the planet without thinking about the effects of the pollution we cause or how to replenish or mitigate that which we have done. However, that doesn’t negate the fact that God’s wrath has been and will be poured out on the Earth because we humans blatantly disregard and disobey the very things our consciences try to warn us of until we become hopelessly hard-hearted and depraved, going so far as to completely deny the existence of a self-existent Creator God who loves all humans and has always made ways for us to find our way back to Him. That also doesn’t negate the fact that Satan is real and that there are indeed powerful supernatural forces of evil that exist in the world. These evil forces have great power to deceive humans whose foolish pride refuses to even consider that a battle between Satanic forces of darkness and the God of the universe is a reality that we should be aware of. Jesus addressed the reality of Satan and demons often in His teachings and His miracles. In fact, a major part of His ministry had to do with taking authority over demonic forces that were destroying people’s lives. Truth be told, Jesus still does that today in people’s lives through the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His Word. At this point, it would be good to consider Jesus’ own words about this in one of His teachings and in one of His end time prophecies about the ultimate plan He, His Father and the Holy Spirit will bring to pass when He brings His final judgments on the Earth. He will do this as a prelude to creating a new heaven and new Earth where Satan, his minions and his followers will not be allowed access!! Praise the Lord! I’m looking forward to that day!

Here are the words of Jesus that I want to share with you from John 10:7-11 & Matt. 23:3-14. John 10:7-11 “Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” Matthew 24:3-14 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Now that we have laid that foundation, let’s go back to Psalm 107 to consider how Old Testament redemption foreshadows the New Testament redemption that God makes available to “whosoever will believe in Jesus.” Such a person, Jew and Gentile sinner alike, who does put their faith in Jesus like our Holy Scriptures prescribe “will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:16-17.

What does God save us from? He saves us from having to bear the penalty of all the sins we have ever committed. He also saves us from the power our sins once had over us so that we can live in victory over our sinful natures. And because of that the Lord also saves us from experiencing the wrath of God that comes on the Earth and the Great Wrath which is to come. In Psalm 107 the psalmist recounts the many ways that the Lord redeemed His people Israel and other believers as well. As God’s people who know for a fact that God has redeemed our lives from the land of our foes, we know that this Scripture very much applies to us who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb….. Jesus Christ our Lord!! I will joyfully highlight from this passage the ways God has redeemed many of us. For over 2000 years now we have seen this play out in Christendom since the time of our Savior’s crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. We know all of the Messianic prophecies that Jesus took the time to highlight in both His teachings and miracles that proclaim the coming Messiah to do all of the above! And in Joel 2:28-38, which Peter quoted when he was explaining to the crowd what had happened to the 120 of them in the upper room when when God’s Spirit was poured out on them, we discover the power that’s behind the type of deliverances that the Psalmist outlines in Psalm 107. Joel 2:28-32 (NIV) says: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” With all this in mind, some of us: “Wandered in desert wastelands” (Psalm 107:4)

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“Sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against the Most High.” (Psalm 107:10)

Sadly, Psalm 107:39 applies to groups of lost people “whose numbers decreased and were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrows.

“became fools through our rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of our iniquities.” (Psalm 107: 17)

Psalm 107:40 also tells of how “He (God) who pours contempt on nobles, made them wander in trackless waste.

“went out on sea in ships…(Psalm 107:23) There are ways that this could be applied to our lives as metaphorical in nature, but it could also be literally true for commercial fishermen or Navy recruits and anyone who makes their living on boats. Metaphorically it could be applied to any military recruit of law enforcement officer, EMT, etc. I say this because the effects of their careers and the lifestyles that accompany them can sometimes make them “reel and stagger like drunkards at our wits’ end” (Psalm 107:27). The world has always been subjected to sudden natural disasters and also random acts of violence by crazy people or senseless wars where man’s inhumanity to man has been made manifest in genocides fueled by our human propensities to exalt our ways above the Lord’s or anyone who gets in our way. When this happens due to our own wrong choices, “He (God) turns rivers into deserts, flowing springs into thirsty ground and fruitful land into a salt waste because of the wickedness of those who lived there (Psalm 107:33-34).

But then Psalm 107 ends with good news for God’s chosen ones back then. Verse 41 says, “But He (God) lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.” God was a covenant-keeping, compassionate, forgiving God when the Old Covenant was in effect, but since our Messiah came, we know that He came to redeem anyone who would acknowledge their need for His redemption! Therefore the Good News is that whenever any human in any one of the dilemmas that is described in Psalm 107 truly humbles themselves and cries out to God, Jesus will act as our redeemer, responding to our cries with mercy, compassion and forgiveness. That’s why we devote ourselves to sharing the story of the redeemed in this magazine you’re reading right now. Therefore the purpose and vision for this magazine that we have faithfully produced for over 16 years now is to “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their stories.”

Ben Cox, owner of High Country 365 & publisher of The Journey with Pat & John Pope 08

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In You the Fatherless Find Compassion

God’s Guidance in Social Services and Adoption by Maggie Watts with Jennifer Buchanan & Ben Cox

“THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF THIS THING TO ME… IT’S HUMANS WHO KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD HELPING OTHER HUMANS COME TO KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD.” Jennifer Buchanan, the kinship navigation specialist at High Country Caregivers, lives her life with an open heart, completely surrendered to the unexpected ways God may ask her to serve Him. Buchanan grew up in a split home, with her parents divorcing when she was 6. Although she was raised attending catholic church services, God was not commonly discussed in her home until after the divorce. “I think they realized that they were missing something and sort of started to find God for themselves. We started going to church here in Burnsville and started going to the youth classes that they had. And so that was kind of my introduction of really starting to understand, you know, what all that meant,” she said.

Jennifer holding baby Davien, her second foster child, when she was single and 23-years-old. 12

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However, Buchanan still felt she was only “going through the motions.” She responded to an altar call and was baptized at age 10, but she did not really understand what any of it meant. Even so, two years later, a teaching at Wednesday night youth group got her attention.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you what that lesson was that night. I just know the feeling that I had… understanding that desire to have Jesus as my Savior,” she said. After the youth meeting that night, she asked the teacher to pray with her. Buchanan gave her life to the Lord and asked Jesus into her heart that day. When God led her to the University of South Alabama years later, Buchanan says she found a wonderful Christian community. Buchanan said going to South Alabama wasn’t just about the degree. She chose to attend the university because her dad lived near the area.

Social Services placed the 1-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl with their grandma (Buchanan’s aunt). Their grandmother was sick with rheumatoid arthritis, so caring for two young children was no easy task. This is why Buchanan decided to start keeping the children every weekend. By the end of April, she realized their grandmother could not do this alone. “I think it was in June, that I reached out and started the classes to become a foster parent to get licensed,” Buchanan said. So I have had them ever since, two kids, a one-year-old and a four-year-old at the time.”

Goofy with Jenny as a 6-year-old with her mom and siblings. Mom: Susie, Brother: Justin, Sister: Jessica

“It was where I needed to go to find the people that I met there,” she said.

She was a single, 24-year-old when she took the children into her care full-time in October of 2020.

When she graduated in 2017 with a degree in health administration, she moved to Asheville and began a job at a hospital. Buchanan never envisioned herself later going into social services, but social services is the plan God had for her life.

“I was like, ‘I do not know if I can take on two kids.’ I was still single and didn’t know how to do all that and figure it out. But I just turned it over to God and spent a lot of time in prayer. And I just said, ‘Okay, I’ll take the step,’” she said.

In 2020, while Buchanan was working in Asheville, her cousin was walking through drug addiction, which meant social services had to get involved to ensure her two young children received proper care.

Taking on two children changed the dynamic of Buchanan’s life. Now, the children were first priority. This included learning to set boundaries and moving out of her roommate’s home.

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Left to right: Daniel, Eliana, Davien, Dahlia holding baby Phoenix, and Jenny In the following years, Buchanan officially adopted the children. “I was able to adopt and finalize a little over a year ago,” she said. “When I was starting the adoption process, I met my husband.” Buchanan and her now-husband, Daniel, were set up by a relative of Jennifer’s. She describes the relationship as “love at first sight.” “It sounds so bizarre to say it out loud. But really, genuinely, it was,” she said. “We had our first date, and I don’t know how to explain it, but it was kind of like moving forward, we knew we were gonna get married.” One month after the pair started dating, a family friend of Jennifer’s gave birth to a baby. The friend did not feel equipped to be a mother, and she decided to relinquish her parental rights. However, there was no plan or adoptive family in place. 14

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“I texted my now-husband and was like, ‘I know we’ve been together for like a month… but what would you think about adopting a baby together?” she said. The two stepped out in faith and decided to adopt the baby. She was born on December 18, and after spending around 10 days in the NICU, Daniel and Jennifer took the baby home. He moved in with Jennifer to help take care of the kids, and they began planning their wedding. “We basically started planning our wedding because we were like, ‘well, we’re moving towards getting married and we’re gonna raise these kids. So we got married in May of last year. We’ve been married a little over a year,” she said. “And then we found out a while after we got our third kiddo, that I was pregnant.” When Buchanan adopted her first two children as a single 24-year-old, she could not see the future. She

“FOR IN YOU THE FATHERLESS FIND COMPASSION.” HOSEA 14:3 did not know she would one day be married to Daniel, raising a family together. She simply trusted God to take care of her. High Country Caregivers recruited Buchanan shortly after her youngest child was born. “I never thought I would end up in social work. If you had asked me when I was starting college, I would have been like, “no way, that is not for me. I don’t see myself in social work.’ But now, genuinely, I think that this job is my career. This is my forever job because I am just so passionate,” she said. “I’m getting to help these families that have these kids that are in kinship placement.” Through working in social services, God has shown Buchanan that He truly is a Father to the fatherless.

Left to right: Board President Paul Delmonico, Jennifer Buchanan, and High Country Caregivers Director Jacob Willis

Publisher’s Note: Kent and Shelley Tarbutton, former owners of Chetola Resort, supported the Ministry of High Country Caregivers in many ways. Therefore when HCC held their major yearly fundraising event for the ministry it was held at Chetola Resort. The date of the event was September 14, 2023, which was twelve days after Kent passed away from prostate cancer that he valiantly fought until he was welcomed into heaven on September 2, 2023. On that night of September 14, Kent’s memory was honored and a foundation to care for caregivers was established in his name! Because he and his family saw firsthand the importance of caregivers as they helped him through his last months, this foundation was established in his name. Each year money from this foundation is given for caregivers to go on vacation to be restored themselves in ways that they might not do without this provision. Jenny and Daniel with their adopted kids and friends on their wedding day. The photographer said this was the most kid-friendly wedding she’d ever done.

In our Summer 2024 edition of The Journey Magazine we are going to do a special tribute to Kent and all the lives he touched! THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

A Precious Cornerstone A Brief History of The Cornerstone Bookstore Written by John and Pat Pope John and Pat Pope opened The Cornerstone Christian Bookstore 43 years ago with a vision of creating an atmosphere of love for people to come, browse, and talk openly about their faith. The bookstore, located in the heart of Boone on Blowing Rock Road, is a place where people feel welcomed and loved. What follows is John and Pat Pope’s story in their own words.

o give you an idea of how The Cornerstone came to be, we—John & Pat Pope, founders & former stewards of this beautiful Christian Bookstore—would like to briefly share a bit of our story. Forty-five years ago, the Father drew us to Himself and made us His own. After several years of teaching us His Word, He put a clear desire in our hearts to come to the NC Mountains to build a wonderful Christian Store—to create a place that would make His Word and the knowledge of His Goodness readily available in the Marketplace. So, in 1979, in simple obedience, we packed up & moved to Boone, obtained an SBA loan offered to new business startups, and began the incredible journey of building The Cornerstone Christian Bookstore.

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Every dollar brought in was plowed back into the Bookstore for many years, with our keeping outside jobs for over 10 years to create personal income without drawing from store revenues. After 22 years in business, our Brother felt God had impressed him to build a stunning new building in a stellar location for The Cornerstone—with the sincere motivation to see the Kingdom increase and for God to be Glorified in the work. Wow! What an opportunity! Amazingly the beautiful hand-hewn wooden rafters for the new building were actually being hoisted into place at the very “moment” of the world-changing events of September 11, 2001! It burned in our hearts— was God raising up The Cornerstone for “such a time as this?” The Lord has blessed it and the Store has increased in every way.

The Cornerstone: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION The following Scripture inspired the “name” of The Cornerstone for A STONE, A PRECIOUS us; it proclaims that HE HAS DONE IT! HE has established it! And that CORNERSTONE; this Great Salvation is “for anyone ANYONE WHO PUTS HIS who will put their trust in Him!” TRUST IN HIM, WILL “Behold, I lay in Zion a Stone, a precious Cornerstone; Anyone who NOT BE ASHAMED.” 1 PETER 2:6

puts his trust in Him, will not be ashamed.” 1 Peter 2:6.

Our goal was always to please Him, realizing we were not doing everything “perfectly,” but our heart was always to honor Him, to create and maintain a wonderful environment for customers, to bring together an excellent and wide variety of Books, Bibles & Gifts that would encourage Faith and inspire the hearts of people to “Go toward God,” and to enjoy allowing Him to bring Glory to Himself through their lives. To be “salt and light” in the Marketplace! We are convinced that the greatest miracle is the New Birth. Having experienced the wonder of the transformed life ourselves, we committed our lives to advancing the Kingdom of God. We believe that God birthed The Cornerstone in our hearts for the purpose of being a blessing to our beautiful mountain communities and to proclaim His great Love Plan of Salvation here and throughout the World. We see The Cornerstone as a huge “seed bin” full of precious Seed being made available to whoever will come!

Over the 43 years of being at the helm of The Cornerstone, one of the most gratifying memories we have is the hundreds—probably thousands—of people who have given testimony of how just being in the store has encouraged them in their Faith and given them Hope of God’s reality and presence in their lives. Everyone, without exception, needs to know the Love of God and that He has the answer for their every need. We have notebooks filled with their comments and testimonies of how beautifully they have been impacted by The Cornerstone. How that encourages our hearts to be able to look back and read those heartfelt words! What an honor to represent Jesus Christ in the Mar ke tpl a c e — keeping the Testimony alive and well in the public square! Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to Me.” We are so grateful for all the wonderful people who have come into the Store throughout the years and have shared in the Blessing with us. Their relationships will continue in our hearts forever.

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

We are so thankful for the priceless team of staff He has brought to work alongside us in this part of His vineyard. They are the ones that have so enhanced the blessing The Cornerstone has become to so many. They will always be dear to us. Our earnest prayer for over 10 years, has been that He would provide someone to take The Cornerstone; someone who would have the resources and vision to enable it to continue to flourish; and that they would sense God’s heart as they cause it to grow in its Kingdom impact. We are thankful He has answered our prayers in this and we will continue to pray for the Blessing of the Lord to be upon The Cornerstone & those entrusted to its stewardship. We pass the baton with hearts full of gratitude, being amazed that 43 years have passed since we first heard His calling to come to the Mountains & build a wonderful Store where He would be pleased to dwell. How amazing are His Ways! The Cornerstone Christian Bookstore—one of the most beautiful Christian Stores in our Country! Where God is honored and Jesus is Lord! Where people have experienced the goodness of God and found hope and

Pat & John Pope at the entrance to the Cornerstone Bookstore

Cornerstone Named Nation’s Christian Bookstore Of The Year - 2007

encouragement in their Faith for nearly a half a century! God is Good. “Every day we thank Him for drawing us to Himself & letting us know Him & walk with Him and enjoy building The Cornerstone with Him. What a Blessed Journey it has been!”

Publisher’s Note: Now that “the baton has been passed” to new owners, we can’t wait to introduce them in our Summer 2024 edition of The Journey Magazine and website journeync.com. Many of you already know that George and Megan Shinn are the new owners, but soon you’ll learn about their faith journey in regards to their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. But you’ll also learn how the Holy Spirit led them to buy the store and their vision and purpose for the future. Printed in the Watauga Democrat - 2007

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS & BEYOND Cornerstone Books of Boone, celebrates over 40 years of serving Boone and beyond with a wide variety of products for all ages and for all occasions to encourage your walk with God.

Join us every day for 20% discounts for Pastors, Teachers, First Responders, Samaritan’s Purse. 10% for App State alumni and ALL college students.

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You are loved and valued. Thank you, John and Pat Pope, for founding Cornerstone and for your faithfulness. Join us as we carry on the Cornerstone Books of Boone legacy and grow it. Gratefully, George & Megan Shinn, Lora & Michael Butts, and Cornerstone Books of Boone team

George & Megan Shinn

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

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God Didn’t Give Up On Me Love and Light Triumphs Over Tragedy and Trauma

by Maggie Watts with Danny Edmisten & Ben Cox

anny Edmisten and his older brother, Corey, grew up going to Parkway School, riding dirt bikes, playing soccer and video games, and exploring the woods together. The brothers also worked together for their family’s heating and air company during their summer breaks. “We used to walk around downtown Boone a lot, and people would think we were twins with our curly blonde hair,” he said.

The Edmisten family made it a priority to bring the boys to church regularly. “I have a lot of fond memories from my early church life. My family made it a point to put God first. Sundays were spent in Sunday school classrooms or in the pews with my parents in the main service. I always loved singing and putting money into the tithing baskets as they came around. As I grew older, I went to youth group events, went to youth Summer Church

Danny’s family. Left to right: Danny, daughter London, wife Nina, and son Levi 22

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

Camps, and was baptized as a teenager,” he said. As they grew up, Danny and Corey navigated their parent’s divorce together. The brothers had disagreements but were always able to overcome them.

the track that day. Corey was riding on the track before the race doing warm-up laps. He was approaching a section of smaller bumps on the track called whoops, and Corey dropped the bike and fell off. He quickly hopped back on the bike “We loved each other, and continued riding but like brothers, we often the track, he came to a fought and argued. I felt turn and accidentally like when we were young missed the turn, maybe kids things were wonderbecause he was disoriful and we got along reented from dropping ally well, but as we aged the bike. UnfortunateI became the younger ly, he was in the wrong pesky brother. We still place at the wrong time. got along most of the One of his friends was time, but our relationship jumping a section of was different. Sometimes large jumps, and Cowe disagreed on things, rey was mistakenly in and with our parents dibetween the ramps for vorced, sometimes we the jumps. At that very would spend time at the moment, one of his opposite parent’s house,” high school friends was Edmisten said. “I rememlaunching to do the exber one of the last times I act jump Corey was in saw Corey was at my 12th Danny and Corey between. They collided, birthday party. He stopped by to give me a card and tell the other boy’s motorcycle crashed into Corey’s helmet, me that he loved me.” and the force was so great that it severely bruised both sides of Corey’s brain. He was instantly unconscious Danny’s world changed when Corey was in a tragic and remained in a coma until he later passed away. My motorcycle accident on Daniel’s Ridge. dad witnessed this accident. It’s an event that’s forever “Corey was a novice rider and was just starting to changed my family’s life and many others.” get comfortable on dirt bikes and motocross and woods In the aftermath of the accident, the Edmisten famracing,” Edmisten said. “Corey was really excited about ily felt like they had been crushed and defeated. They riding at Daniel’s Ridge that day. He and a couple of local Boone boys from Watauga High School were at questioned why God would let this happen. “I definitely didn’t react with grace. I turned to substance abuse to numb the reality. I felt like happiness was no longer obtainable,” Edmisten said. “It was like a lump in my throat I couldn’t swallow.” www.appauoglass.com

Shortly thereafter, Danny’s mother decided to move to Florida. She wanted to be closer to her Florida family for a support group. Danny decided to go with his mother. It was in Florida that Danny met Nina, his future wife.

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

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“My struggle with drugs started in my teenage years. I realized it was a struggle when my own life began to crumble. I was angry with God,” Edmisten said. “I felt like He had personally taken Corey from us, and I was on a path to self-destruction to mask the pain and grief.” “When I first met my Wife Nina it was a glimmer of hope. I had learned to love again. Her family was deeply rooted in church and her parents became like second parents to me. They held me accountable. They wouldn’t let me even date their daughter if I wasn’t living healthily and equally yoked. They reignited my love for the Lord that I had stubbornly forgotten.” “I had hit rock bottom on several occasions. I had thrown away my relationship with my parents, and I almost lost my life to my addiction. I had compromised my relationship with my future wife. Thankfully, all the people whom I continued to wrong didn’t give up on me,” Edmisten said. “When I had thrown my life away and was so intertwined with sin and darkness, that unfailing love I had seen displayed through Nina and her parents helped me to refocus my priorities and overcome the darkness of my substance abuse.”

Corey and Danny with their mother “I was stubborn like the Israelites. Over and over again I rebelled, but God has shown me His unfailing love time and time again through His Word,” he said. “I was baptized as a child, actually on more than one occasion. But I feel like it was not until recently that I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Before I was living a life that was full of sin and occasionally disrupted by Wednes-

Jesus pulled Danny up out of the waters of drug abuse. He pursued Danny even when Danny did not want to pursue Him. “God has moved mountains in my life. He has parted flooding waters, he has crumbled the high-standing walls, and he has opened the doors and closed others for me to prosper,” Edmisten said. “I feel like I have always sought the Lord, or rather, He always pursued me with his Holy Spirit. Even when I turned from Him, He didn’t give up on me.” 24

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

Corey with horses

“We love the church, and it’s a place where we are continually spiritually fed and challenged,” Edmisten said. “My Walk with the Lord has been constantly blooming. With my marriage, my two beautiful children, my work, and my art, God has blessed me abundantly. He has been with me through the darkness, through the fire, and through the storm.” In the aftermath of the tragedy, God used Corey as an organ donor to bless another boy. Corey’s heart was donated to a boy in need, and Danny described it as “miraculous.” The Edminsten’s developed a relationship with the boy who received Corey’s heart, and he became a close family friend.

A current photo of Danny

“OVER AND OVER AGAIN I REBELLED, BUT GOD HAS SHOWN ME HIS UNFAILING LOVE TIME AND TIME AGAIN THROUGH HIS WORD” day or Sunday church. But now I feel like I am living a life for God that is occasionally interrupted by my sin.” After living in Florida for 10 years, Danny and his wife, Nina, moved back to the High Country last year. They now have two children and are involved at Wilkes Celebration Church.

Corey’s heart recipient, Justin

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

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Following Jesus As Lord It Has Taken Me Places That I Could Never Have Imagined Testimony of Paul Pierce “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8 As remarkable as it may sound for someone growing up in the South, in the so-called “Bible belt”, and attending a university that at its founding had been a Methodist men’s college, I had never really heard the Gospel until I was 18 years old. That all changed on a late afternoon in mid-September of 1978.

That stranger was Robert Murray Cunningham, Jr. Murray was a placekicker for Tennessee Tech and had relocated to my hometown with an evangelical college ministry. In 1974, Murray kicked a 53-yard field goal, a record that stood for 42 years. He is inducted into the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame. Today, Murray lives in Tennessee and does missionary work in Kenya. After Murray shared the Gospel with me, I did not immediately respond. I did not fall on my knees in repentance. But, and this is a key point, Murray and others at the ministry were praying for me and others. I believe it is that prayer which (along with the inherent power of the Gospel) enabled me to ultimately get born again.

One afternoon while I was at the laundromat in the apartment complex where I lived with my mother, my twin brother, and my younger sister, a stranger who lived in the complex and was also using the laundromat had the audacity to breach my world and begin to share with me the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was born again when I attended an evening church service with Murray and an evangelist named Bob Weiner Marcia & Paul Pierce in the Navy

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

noteworthy career filled with awards and acclaim. That is not at all what happened. After I got born again, I continued my classes at the university for about five years. I did not graduate in those five years. In fact, pursuit of my four-year degree spanned three decades. While in school, I was completely self-supporting. The other phrase for that is, “poor”. I worked evenings and nights at a Krystal restaurant (are they still in business?) and later drove a forklift 64-hours a week at a manufacturing plant in a neighboring town. My life was meandering along until one day I let a Christian brother borrow my car to teach someone else how to drive a stick shift. That was on a Fourth of July weekend. Later in the day after the picnic, I caught a ride back home so I could go to work (I worked seven daysper-week). When I arrived home, I saw a car in the parking lot that looked like mine, same color, but smaller. It was my car, rolled over, and totaled. My friend had wrecked my car and I only had two car payments left.

Marcia & Paul Pierce on thier wedding day preached Jesus as Lord. In short, what got me born again was that Bob Weiner preached, in essence, that it wasn’t principally a matter of me accepting Jesus. The greater question, the affronting question, was whether or not Jesus would accept me. Of course, we know that he will, but I had never heard anything like the Lordship of Jesus. So, under conviction by the Holy Spirit, at the altar call I stood up, came forward, and gave my life to Jesus Christ. Then, I was water baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke in tongues (Acts 2). I hope what I share next heartens people and encourages them to continue in the things of the Lord. I’d like to report that I had a glorious college experience, graduated with honors, and went on to a stellar,

So, in desperation, I decided to join the Navy, not because of patriotism, but because the Navy had food, shelter, and offered a meager college fund if I joined for six years. The thought of a six year enlistment was horrible, but I did it anyway and ultimately stayed 22-years. Along the way, I saw much of the world (it’s 70% water), visited 24 countries, lived in Italy for a while, and ultimately retired from the Navy. I then became a management consultant for ten years with three different management consulting firms and (kind of) retired a second time. Then, I did a 5-year stint as a program analyst with the federal civil service supporting the Navy SEALs at a Special Warfare Group and retired (re-“tired”) a third and final time (or so I thought).

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

An early picture of Marcia & Paul Pierce - 1985 After earning my doctorate in Human Capital Management, I gained new work as a management consultant helping the U.S. Marine Corps helping modernize their information technology (IT) workforce at all their installations worldwide. Along the way, I met and married my wife of 38-years, Marcia. Marcia is very talented. She was an electronics technician in the Navy where she calibrated electronic test equipment and repaired “micro miniature” circuit cards. After retiring from the service, she became a yacht salesperson and bought, sold, and rehabilitated sailboats. Now, she runs her successful craft business, The Pretty Paws Cause. Our son John works for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Portland, WA. Our grand-

daughter Olyvia lives in Portland, too, and our grandson Logan lives in Scottsdale, AZ. We have an extended family of five great-grandchildren. After living in Virginia Beach, VA for over 25 years, we permanently relocated to greater metropolitan Foscoe in the winter of 2019. In some respects, the transition has not been easy. However, it is our wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ that we’ve met and bonded with here in the High Country who make our new lives here wonderful and truly worthwhile.

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does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fade-less under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fade out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulﬁlled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].

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Persevering Prayer

A Testimony of God’s Unfailing Love by Chip Watts “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them they should always pray and not give up.” - Luke 18:1 How do you learn? I learn by doing the same thing over and over until I finally get it right.

When Dad left the ICU room a little later, I was stunned by what he had told me. I prayed my second prayer: “God, I almost died. The rest of my life is Yours.” Nothing really changed in my life immediately afterward except that I began to distance myself from some friends who I knew were bad influences. I suppose that was an important step of obedience, but it took me into a painful, nearly friendless year or so.

I learn by stumbling along, falling on my face, but getting back up to keep trying. I was horrible at playing guitar for the first year that I owned one. It was a gift from my parents after they broke the news that we were moving to Sanford, a town where Dad would be pastoring a new church. After a year of standing in front of a mirror, pretending to play, I finally started guitar lessons and began to learn. I had to play each chord, then each song, over and over until I’d finally get it right. Eventually, I became a competent guitarist. Perseverance…

Chip playing guitar at App State

I learn by doing the same thing over and over until I finally get it right. Far more important than becoming a competent guitarist, I’ve set my sights on becoming a man of prayer.

But something significant happened toward the end of that lonely junior high school year. One of my few friends called out to me across a classroom when we were choosing the classes we would take in our first year of high school. He said, “Hey, Chip, let’s sign up for drama class!”

I put a check in the drama class box, thinking, “Why not? I might find friends there.”Sure enough, I did. I made many good friends in drama class and drama club, in school plays and musicals and in a community theater group I became part of.

Several months later, one of these new friends inI was horrible at praying when 13-year-old me of- vited me and another friend to come with him to a fered up my brief (but sinChristian “Coffee House” cere) first prayer: “God, if “FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN BECOMING called The Mustard Seed. You’ll let me be famous, I’ll This was my first experience A COMPETENT GUITARIST, I’VE SET MY of a Christian gathering help people.” That embarrassing-to-mention first SIGHTS ON BECOMING A MAN OF PRAYER.” outside of the Presbyterian prayer left a lot to be desired. churches I had grown up in. A year later, I woke up in a hospital ICU with lit- I heard a Christian rock band that night called The Sectle recall of the scary past couple of days I had been ond Coming Band. through. My dad came in and gently told me that I had come very, very close to dying due to an ailment called Reye’s Syndrome. I’d been on the verge of death for hours and lots of folks in our town had been praying, some praying side-by-side with my parents in hospital hallways. 32

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

Back then in 1979, it was still pretty unusual to hear Christian music performed by a live band with thundering bass, pounding drums and electric guitar. That got my attention. But they also talked and sang about Jesus Christ as someone you could know, not just know about. I knew about God, but that night I was invited

Praying was a little awkward at first and pretty selfish. I would run out of things to say within five minutes and I knew I was mostly just praying for me. So I asked the Holy Spirit to help me. I had read Jesus’ words in which He said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things.” (John 14:26) I wanted to learn to pray more deeply. I wanted to know God better, to love Him with my heart and to please Him in all my ways. So I asked the Holy Spirit to fill me with Himself. Consequently, I learned to expand my prayers beyond my own interests and began praying for others—my family, my friends and those all around me who had not yet come to know Jesus. It was shortly after this that I started dating Melody, the girl who would become my wife. She was 17 and I was 18. Two weeks into our relationship, I knew I wanted to marry her. I wasn’t really interested in going to college. Playing guitar and being a part of my local Christian rock band was much more interesting. But Melody was planning to attend Appalachian State University, and I soon decided to go as well. Chip and Melody in high school into a relationship with a Person I could know and talk to, turn to and walk with. Something big happened inside of me as I listened to the band that night. I responded to their message, raising my hand high when the guitar player asked who wanted to give their lives to Jesus. A door opened in my heart. It was like my heart started beating for the first time and my eyes saw color for the first time. It was like taking that first big breath after you’ve been underwater too long. It was new blood coursing through my veins. My spirit came alive. Within a week, some of my friends and I traveled out of town to see The 2nd Chapter of Acts, another musically excellent, but more widely known, Christian band. It happened again— that great born-all-overagain feeling. At the close of that concert, I was standing with both of my hands lifted high above my head, giving all of myself to Jesus. That’s when I prayed another memorable prayer: “God, I’m giving You my hands. I want to play music for You.” After this, learning to play music for Him and learning to pray began to accelerate in my life.

Those college years are when I began to learn about persevering in prayer. From when we began to date, it would be four and a half years before we were finally married. In those four and a half years, I poured out prayer that the Lord would overcome our obstacles, hasten the day of our marriage and allow us to spend our lives together serving Him. Those prayers were supplemented by long prayer journal entries and dozens of prayer songs I wrote. Praying to be married began to grow me up in my prayer life. I began to be able to pray for longer periods of time and, consequently, I found it easier to pray over other situations that the Holy Spirit brought to my attention. Finally, in late 1985, my answered prayer walked down the aisle, beautiful in white, and we were married. My Dad performed our marriage ceremony. We left Boone and began our married life in the town where we first met. A couple of years into our marriage, when Melody and I were ready to have children, we were blind-sided and steam-rolled by eight words from a fertility specialist at Duke University Medical Center: “It is impossible for you to have children.” That was so painful.

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

Every morning, her students prayed, “God, please help Mrs. Watts to have children.” We were ready and willing to adopt, but never quite felt led to that holy calling. Against-all-odds prayer for children was a big part of our lives for years. Melody was really good at fasting-prayer; some of her friends prayed and fasted with her. Again, as I poured out prayer, I bolstered my faith by writing lots of songs and poems and by filling volume after volume of prayer journals. On our 15th wedding anniversary, we learned that Chip and Melody with their daughter, Maggie, as a baby Months after surviving a roller coaster of emotions and many tears, Melody and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work—the hard work of praying for the impossible “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) We learned that praying for the impossible required a deepening of faith and soul-blistering perseverance in the face of nay-sayers and all evidence to the contrary. It required a greater depth of prayerfulness than we had ever known. The Lord led us back to Boone, to a wonderful church and faith-filled believers who joined us in praying for the impossible—that we would be able to have children. Melody taught at a Christian School then.

Chip and Melody living in Boone Melody was pregnant with our daughter, Maggie. Interestingly, I learned later that at the very beginning of our struggle with infertility and the long years of praying for children, God had put an idea into the mind of a doctor in Saint Louis. He shared that idea with colleagues in the Netherlands. After several years, that idea led to the answer to our prayers and the prayers of many others who were longing to be parents.

Maggie with her baby brother Luke 34

THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

Hence, I learned a vital truth about prayer: when nothing seems to be happening, things are happening. Melody and I had no idea through our years of praying that substantial progress toward our answered prayer was actually happening, but it was.

When we first walked into that Saint Louis doctor’s office to receive his good help, we saw a framed prayer on his wall that began, “God above, before I begin my holy work of healing Your creation, I lay my plea before You, that You will grant me the strength of spirit and the vast energy to do my work with faith…” (Author unknown)

the town where Melody and I met. Settling into life in central North Carolina with our two children, we soon were hoping and beginning to pray that God would make a way for us to return to our very favorite place: Boone. We had moved back down-mountain when we had children, in part to be closer to the grandparents. But our hearts were always in Boone and we

I was amazed that Chip, Melody, Luke, and Maggie at Grand Teton National Park even this world-revisited frequently. nowned physician acknowledged the importance of prayer. So we began to pour out prayer for return. There were Remember…When nothing seems to be happen- hundreds more miles of prayer walks, more prayer songs were written, and more prayer journals filled. ing, things are happening. Keep praying. After our daughter, Maggie, was born, we entered into another 5 years of prayer leading to the birth of our son, Luke. Prayer walks became a big part of my life in those years and I kept track of the miles I prayer-walked specifically for our son’s birth: 740 miles! I tracked those locally walked miles on a United States map from where we lived at the time as if I was actually walking all the way to Saint Louis. We were finally financially able to return there just over 4 years after Maggie’s birth. Again, those years were filled with loads of prayer journal entries and more songs in which I presented those “definite requests” spoken of in Philippians 4:

I was the hesitant one, always fearful that there wouldn’t be jobs for us in Boone. But 20 years after leaving, we have returned. Melody has her “dream job.” She always hoped she might work at Parkway Elementary School, and she is a 5th-grade teacher there now. I have successfully transitioned to a job as a home health speech therapist—enjoying driving through these mountains that I have loved for so many years. Nowadays, I’m prayer-hiking and happily loving every moment. God is expanding my prayer focus from my own personal hopes and dreams to the needs of the nations—praying for the persecuted church; praying that the Church in my own country might, undistracted, focus on the glory of Christ; that God’s will would be accomplished throughout the earth.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and definite requests, continue to present your needs Chip hiking with his dog, Cocoa, in Boone Of course, much of my praying to God. And the peace of God which transcends understanding and surpasses comprehension is still for God’s will to be accomplished in and through shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (para- my little flock—my dearly-loved wife and our children. I’m eager to see what God will continue to do as we all phrase based on the Amplified Bible) continue in this grace of prayer. After Luke was born, we moved back to Sanford, THE JOURNEY | Winter 2023

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Dr. Derrick W Denman D.C., PA I Alternative Practitioner

AppHealthCare Caring for our Community

We offer a variety of services to meet your needs and are committed to improving the health of the communities we serve. We offer high-quality, compassionate nutrition, medical, dental and behavioral healthcare. For more information, visit www.AppHealthCare.com or call us at (828) 795-1970.