Pepperdine Recap

It's good to be in my own bed again! It's good to be back in Searcy again also.
The saying is old but true.............there really is no place like home.

Reflecting back on last week, I will try and give you some of the highlights. It was great to see old HU friends again......Jim, David, JA, Greg, Steve, Byron, Jerry, Bryan, Mike, Keith B, Steve & Kathy, Marla, my wonderful brother-in-law Jimmy and his beautiful wife Annie, and many more that I am sure I am leaving out. It was also fun being with Searcy folks in a different setting and atmosphere........Mike, Paul Pollard, Andrew, Keith, Monte come to mind. I thought the key-note talks were a little down this year, with the exception of Don, Rich and Shon Smith. That is NOT to say that they weren't good or inspiring...........I'm just saying that they weren't as powerful as they have been in years past. But, the classes were as strong if not stronger than they have EVER been! They were OUT OF THIS WORLD! So, go to www.Gayloronline and order as many as you can. You will NOT be dissapointed. You can choose the creative genius of Jeff Walling, the enthusiasm for evangelism of Don Mclaughlin, the passion of Rick Atchley with Bob Russell, the scholarship of Rubel Shelly, the humor and deep theology of Randy Harris, the always Christ-focused message of Mike Cope, and so MANY MANY more rich classes that I can't name them all. I can promise you that whatever you spend will be well worth the investment. Some always ask me "what was the best thing you heard?" I can't answer that. There were too many things that would have qualified as "the best thing". But I will share with you one good thing I heard. The theme this year centered around "Fellowship". Tim Spivey asked the first night something to this effect......."why don't we fellowship to the degree that God does?" WOW! That caught my attention from the get-go. So, why don't we? Maybe we can talk about that on some later post.

Our Harding reception went GREAT! We had over a hundred alums and friends of Harding there. As I stated before we went, we had two board members there.....Jimmy Cone and Jerry Morgan. It was an honor to have them at this event with us. It was wonderful to have our VP for Advancement, Mike Williams, with us this year also. We were also VERY HONORED that Mike Cope came to our reception this year. He has had some conflicts with the scheduling of this event the past two years, but this year it worked out where he could make it. He was swarmed with loving alums the whole time he was there! He is dearly loved and appreciated by the folks that were there that night.

So, it was a great week! I think Keith had a great time and plans to go back. It was a spiritual feast that is enhanced by being able to partake in the feast with so many people I love and appreciate from all over the country. Johnny and Shirley Vaughan were there from Bartlesville, Oklahoma for the first time. Charles and Nanette Roberts were there from Colorado again. Mike Bucchi and his new bride were up from San Diego. I could go on and on.

I still am worn out, but I am getting there! Like I said in the beginning, there is no place like home.