http://john.absolutelygospel.com/ en johnscheideman@sogospelnews.com Copyright 2011 2011-01-10T23:19:26+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12496/ Yes, I'll be getting back to gospel music topics at this little corner of the web soon...but if you'll pardon the indulgences of a proud new father, I'd like to share something very cute my new youngest daughter, six year old Jessica said yesterday when asked what first grade felt like after a year of half school days in kindergarten. "It's all right, but sometimes it feels like two whole days of kindergarten with no night in between." Old Art Linkletter was right, wasn't he, when he said, "Kids say the darndest things."? Misc 2011-01-10T23:19:26+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12488/ With apologies to original Courier Neil Enloe, who's song "The Joy Of Knowing Jesus" was among the most beloved of all Couriers' songs, I wanted to share a recent anecdote involving that group and my new older daughter Amanda, who no doubt is now a lifelong Couriers fan. It happened this past November 7th, when my wife and I went to see the original Couriers(Dave, Duane, and Neil)in Puyallup, WA. Since the following day marked Amanda's eighth birthday, we chose to take her there for her birthday present. As I noted in my last entry here, Amanda is a budding musician, learning the piano and the violin, and already has written four songs of her own...so I felt she would love to meet some of the best Christian men and musicians around. When we entered the church and told Dave Kyllonen it would be Amanda's eighth birthday, Dave pulled out a $20 bill and gave it to Amanda as a birthday present. Amanda has never had a $20 bill before, and certainly not an American $20...to say she was thrilled would be an understatement. She was glued to Dave the rest of the evening,… Misc 2011-01-04T21:30:25+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12480/ As I was saying... It's been over three months since I've had access to my own little corner of the web, due in part to my poor planning....and some unexpected misfortune that has turned into great joy for me. This is my first blog entry from my new home in Canada...I am at last with my beautiful new wife of two months and our three wonderful adopted special needs children. It took this long because I sadly underestimated how easily I could come across the international border and set up shop. At first, the Canadian authorities were less than impressed with my reasons and qualifications to move up here...so I was denied initial access to Canada. I had to wait across the Washington border in the sleepy town of Sumas for two months while I got legal help from some Vancouver immigration lawyers and a lot of moral and spiritual help and support from fine Christian friends on both sides of the border. And along the way, on October 21st in the beautiful community of Lynden, WA, I married the girl of… Personal 2011-01-03T04:12:20+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12210/ One of the many books I read early on in my life was a classic historical piece by a man named Edward Gibbon called "The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" Gibbon studied that great civilization for somw 20 years in hopes of determining how such a powerful and influential civilization could fall apart from within and collapse in such a relatively short time. I was always a history buff, and I read books of that nature rather than things like fiction, which was more popular with many of my friends. In any case, eventually Gibbon in his book isolated five main reasons for that famous culture to have disappeared. I'll list them below...as you read them, check to see if any of these look or sound familiar to you. Five reasons for the fall of the great dynasty. * First: Rapid increase of divorce, with the undermining of the sanctity of the home, which is the basis of society. * Second: Higher and higher taxes; the spending of money for bread and celebrations. * Third: The mad craze… Misc 2010-09-20T16:19:03+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12174/ "There's a real sense of adventure in a life of submissive abandon to the will of a providing God." Frequent readers to this little corner of the web will no doubt recognize the quote and its' source. Now, this is no contest. I have no prize to give whoever can name the author of this quote or where it came from. I offer it here only as the perfect summation of my life at present and for however it may inspire any of you. Personal 2010-09-06T15:41:50+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12163/ After this latest lengthy absence from this little corner of the web, a bit of explanation is probably in order. No, iy's not due to an extended road trip with a gospel music group(what fun that might be, though!). And it's not because of any health issues(thanks be to God!)...I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in! I have alluded in the past to personal issues that keep me from posting here as often as I'd like...and it might just be the time to share the most consuming(and joyous)of those with all of you, right here...right now. After just over a half century of living and working in this all-too-fallen world, I am finally going to do something that most people my age have been doing for quite some time by this point. I am finally getting married/ What's taken me so long? Well, call me picky, but given my inclination, I've never felt I could make a lifetime commitment to a woman until I was convinced that she shared my love for and dedication to Jesus… Personal 2010-08-31T05:49:00+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12101/ Every once in a while I just ask myself questions, and ponder over the answers to them...I imagine most of you do exactly the same thing. Without going into all the reasons I bring this up, I'll simply share this one question with all of you, and not elaborate to much on it for now(although I could). Is anyone else besides me old enough to remember when the adherents to Islam were called Moslems, and not "Muslims", a corruption of the name Moslems popularized by a Islamic cult which developed in the first half of the 20th Century here in the United States? Islam is not understood well in this part of the world, not even by many of those who follow it here. I'm just askin'. Misc 2010-08-12T05:59:53+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12074/ For the better part of my life, regardless of whatever has happened there, the presence of gospel music has always been a balm and a comfort...a soothing ocean of stability, direction, and inspiration in an otherwise stormy sea of life(boy, I sound like a gospel song, don't I?). It got me through my college years, and those rough first post college years, when I actually had to start supporting myself financially. And it got me through my first years in my chosen career field, even played a big role in that! And it got me through the tense times around September 11, 2001, when no doubt all of us had a LITTLE uncertainty about our futures. Now, though, the challenges are greater than ever. The current economy is depressing, people are angry and contentious, the future seems so uncertain, and I am now entering the most topsy turvy, challenging, and potentially the most thrilling, exciting, and rewarding time of my life. And, as always(because if it ain't broke, why try and fix it?), I'll have the sounds of gospel music as my… Misc 2010-08-09T02:06:27+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/12047/ Well, here I go again. It's another of those ultra-quiet periods of my life where I don't post here much. Now why do I even bother to tell you all THAT much? After all, Deon and Susan and Chris post even more sporadically than I do, but they apparently don't feel they need to explain that to the degree I do. Why do I feel so, then? In my case, I feel as though I'm expected to stop by this little corner of the web fairly often(if certainly not daily)and share some of my thoughts about SOMETHING anyway(such are the expectations for those who are semi-regular or regular bloggers), and when I don't, I kinda feel I owe you all at least a bit of explanation as to why. And now, this time, I'm dealing with a number of important challenges in my life. Big changes are underway, and suddenly I'm in the midst of preparations for the biggest change in my life(it's a really GOOD thing, so don't anyone be unduly alarmed for me)...and I want it all to come off well. But sadly,… Personal 2010-07-26T14:57:11+00:00 http://john.sogospelnews.com/index/john/comments/11986/ Today I want to salute someone I've saluted many times here, but since he's a friend of mine to me more than anything else, I want to celebrate him right here in my very own little corner of the web! Daniel Mount burst into all of our lives a few short years ago, when the message board fad was still predominant in online southern gospel music discussion. When that fad began to fade, and the blog trend took it's place, Daniel moved right in and started his very own gospel music news, information, and commentary site, and before too long, it became the most-read such site on the web! As it deserves to be...Daniel gets all the main news, encourages positive interactive discussion on gospel music topics, and works very hard to make his site as versatile and accommodating as a website can be. And best of all, Daniel does all this with a love and appreciation of gospel music unsurpassed by any other writer. He also is a young man who loves God very much, and this shows in his writing and his taste in music.… Southern Gospel Music 2010-07-14T15:37:48+00:00