Ashland Christian Center

Searching for members of Ashland Christian Center from the years Peggy and I pastored there. If you were part of our congregation, or even visited while we were there, please send a comment and I'll add you to the Ashland Christian Center Alumni Roll on the right side of the page. Let's see if we can get the old crew reconnected. If you want to send pictures, news, etc., I will be happy to post them on this blog. Photos can be sent to my email, khorn@ag.org. If you want me to list your email address on the roll, let me know. I won't list it unless you give permission.

My Favorite All-Time Bass

George Younce of the Cathedrals was the best ever. This is my kind of music. I still sing bass in a quartet, HQ4, though we are on a temporary hiatus. At the end of this song look for a glimpse of James Blackwood, who I had the great privilege of knowing the latter years of his life.

Favored by the Chief's Son

In one of the villages we were in on the Yukon River, I made a breakthrough with one of the sons of the traditional chief of the village. He opened up to me and later, he honored me, though I didn't realize it at the time. They had been catching lots of salmon on the chief's fishwheel, cleaning, drying, and smoking it for the winter. This is how they live when the harsh winter comes. In one batch they caught a large sheefish. I sat nearby as he cleaned the fish, the last of several he had cleaned. "Here, try this, it's good," he said to me. He was holding a raw egg-sac from the sheefish. "Sheefish caviar," he said. I later learned they treasure this as quite a delicacy. So I ate it. "Yum," I said. The taste stayed with me for three days. But still, it was quite an honor.

Bear Attacks

A bear entered the camp of the MCNP students near the beginning of the Yukon River trip and ripped open a new Cabela's tent. When the bear became aggressive and refused to be run off, Ron Pratt, director of MCNP, fearing for the students, had to shoot him. Later, in Fort Yukon, we ate black bear backstrap and ribs. Ron gave most of the bear meat to a native village, for which they were very grateful.

At an Athabaskan fish camp we stopped at, there was a "bear dog," a dog kept just to keep bears from stealing the fish.

Later, in a store in Anchorage, I saw a bear spray on sale, along with this (redundant) promo: "Stops harmful attacks." Are there any bear attacks that are NOT harmful?

Back From Alaska

I am back in the office after an amazing trip to Alaska covering ministry by Master's Commission North Pole to Alaska natives in remote villages. Will update soon.

From Gretchen Batis

Looks like it runs in the (Batis) family.

When Gretchen sent me this photo, she emailed this question: "Aren't you glad he is not still in the congregation?"

My answer: No way! If I was still pastoring I would welcome every Batis I could get to come through the doors. The Batises are one of my all-time favorite families.

North to Alaska

The Blog will take a rest as I travel on assignment to Alaska. I will be boating down the Yukon River and stopping with Master's Commission kids for ministry at various Native American villages. The first Sunday, I'll be preaching in North Pole. In the meantime, feel free to post comments to any of our entries. I return Mon., 7/23.

Daily Devotionals

Need a good daily devotional? Check out TPE's Daily Boost! You'll enjoy it.

Unleashed Pit Bull

Just returned from my evening walk and had an unwelcome encounter. Passed a lady going the other way who was trailed by an unleashed pit bull. He was massive; he looked like the hound of the Baskervilles. I once wrote a column for TPE about inconsiderate people who don't leash their dogs. (I'll try to find it to post.) But those were good-natured golden retrievers that just got me muddy when they jumped on me. This pit bull could've done serious damage. I'm sure she thinks he's a puppy dog, but it's just wrong for people to be so callous. And it's breaking the law.

Gretchen Batis Connects

One of the DCA faithful, Gretchen Batis, has her own blog ... with some excellent initial posts. Click on the "Boundaries" link in the Blogroll.

Davis Christian Assembly

Searching for members of Davis Christian Assembly from the years Peggy and I pastored there. If you were part of our congregation, or even visited while we were there, please send a comment and I'll add you to the Davis Christian Assembly Blog Roll on the right side of the page. Let's see if we can get the old crew reconnected. If you want to send pictures, news, etc., I will be happy to post them on this blog. Photos can be sent to my email, khorn@ag.org. If you want me to list your email address on the roll, let me know. I won't list it unless you give permission.

Who is this?

A World War II veteran with a great story. Go to my second blog, Great People, at kenhorn2.blogspot.com for his story. I will be using this blog to highlight special people I know with compelling stories. I also needed to get a new photo at the top of my blog. No one had left a comment since I put Choochoonut at the top. I was afraid he was keeping people away.

The winner ... Choochoonut

Mystery solved ... fast.

Choochoonut solved the mystery very quickly. See his post under the pic below. He correctly identified it as a thistle, though he was not quite correct in calling it a common thistle (also known as bull thistle). It is a bigger version called the musk thistle, or nodding thistle because it grows so tall and nods. But since Chooch is a west coaster, he probably hasn't seen this more prevalent Midwest variety. So I'm counting this as a correct answer!

The answer to the other question: It's a weed, a pernicious introduction from Europe that farmers and ranchers try to exterminate. Still, even though it's a weed, I think it is beautiful ... another indicator of the beauty of God's creation.

Do you know what this is?

Is this a noxious weed or a beautiful flower? I took this last week at my most-frequented evening walking trail. Can you identify it? Who will be the first person who can tell me what this is? (Click on the photo for a larger version.)

Fireworks

We live just outside the city limits. This is significant because fireworks are illegal in the city, but not outside it. Long before and after the Fourth of July we hear fireworks at all hours. Every year they get more and bigger. People who are sane the rest of the year can become very inconsiderate, and often unsafe, this time of year. I want to tell them: Please, when shooting off fireworks, be safe, and be considerate. Also pick up your debris. Celebrating our nation's independence should not be an excuse for bad behavior.

Walleye surprise

Caught this nice wally on a crappie jig last October at my favorite Missouri lake (not saying). He straightened the hook out as he came into the net, wielded by boat-owner Ron Waggoner.

Perkitty

The owner of the home we stay in.

Welcome, friends

This blog is a place where I share mostly the "off-duty" portions of my life, which are not enough. I have been blogging under a pseudonym for a while (to learn the ropes), and, of course, I have a ton of ministry material on the 'Net. But here I will blog as my off-duty self. I know, it's hard to believe that a writer would choose to do more writing in his off-duty time, but there are just lots of things that interest me. I have privately journaled, but not kept it up, so this will cause me to do so, with regard to some of the more mundane, though I hope interesting, portions of my life.

This is primarily for friends and relatives and I will only be sharing its existence privately, to a few at a time. But if, after this has been up for a while, you like what you see, feel free to tell any of your friends about it.

This Saturday is not really an off-duty day. It is being spent as many such days are, working on an outside book project. I have completed my edit at this stage and Peggy is doing hers. We have worked together on a number of books. This one is about India, a country I will visit on assignment in a couple of months.

Please post a response or email me. I am hoping this will be a way to keep better touch with important people in our lives ... and also a way to make new friends.

Blessings!