Actscelerate.com

doyle

Carolyn, how was the Senior Adult Smoky Mt Retreat?

doyle · Acts-celerate Owner Posts: 6957 **4/29/17 5:04 pm**

In another post, you mentioned about going to the event. Not necessarily looking for a grade or evaluation, but readers may enjoy hearing about some of the highlights.

Doyle
_________________
The largest room in the world is the room for improvement.

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **4/30/17 11:24 pm**

Thanks for asking, Doyle! It was really nice.

We got there late on Tuesday and missed the evening event with The Talleys but I'm sure that was great! We also missed the night service on Wednesday because we were so tired from the trip and getting there early on Wednesday for competition. Willis Canada sang that night and I wasn't familiar with the night speaker, Mitchell Tolle.

There was a lot of good competition, and they kept things moving along well. They had at least one lady in her 80s that competed. I did not win for my category (Female Vocal Solo)...there were 9 of us total, one of the most highly competed areas. I wasn't totally happy with how I did, but I gave it my best shot. There's a video on my Facebook page if anyone is interested in listening to it. There was a wide variety of types of music, including a gentleman who played the bagpipes and wore a kilt. Not usually seen in any COG venue. LOL

They gave out lots of monetary door prizes, and that was a popular thing. Smile

The final door prize was for $500!

One of my favorite moments was when they honored all the veterans. They had a special song and invited all the veterans to come to the front, and we gave them a standing ovation.

The Gatlinburg Convention Center was a great venue in my opinion. Very clean and easy to get to the events. And if you are healthy enough to do a lot of walking, there is a lot of shopping and fun things to do there. One drawback was that you had to pay for parking anywhere downtown. We drove round and round the first night looking for parking, & my husband finally dropped me off in front of Five Guys so I could grab food for us to eat in the room. I might have opted for a closer motel had I realized the parking situation.

It is a pretty expensive event, with the $69 registration/each to walk in the door (but includes all the evening services and competitions.) Adding renting a car, getting a hotel room, and food, it adds up quickly. I am pretty sure this is why there are not many people outside southeastern USA that come and compete, which is unfortunate. But it was a pretty fun event, and it seems to be something a lot of people look forward to.

There were lots of state ABs and directors/youth directors there, and I thought it was great that they supported it so well. The event was extremely well planned, organized and thought out, and I'm sure a lot of hard work went into its planning. Kudos to James Cossey, his assistant Judy Pyeatt, and their staff who made this happen. Y'all done good!

I did have someone back stage make kind of a rude comment to me about being on the ACTS board. Someone whose name I've never seen here...that was disappointing, but oh well. Such is life.

Another favorite moment involved honoring the couple who had been married the longest. There were actually two couples who had been married 66 years, 10 months, with only one week's difference between the two couples. They wound up honoring both couples and giving them door prizes. But the reason this was special was personal. When they asked the man what his name was, he said, "Roy Burroughs" from SC. I almost fell off my chair.

In 1961, Bro Burroughs preached at the Snowd Branch Campmeeting in Washington NC (a small local campmeeting but the longest continuing Pentecostal campmeeting in the US.) My parents attended this campmeeting, and I would have been only a few years old. My daddy recorded a message on his reel to reel tape recorder that Bro Burroughs preached called "Holiness: External, Internal, and Eternal." At the end of the service, a message was given out in tongues and an interpretation in which the Holy Spirit made it plain that this message was from God and on point. My parents talked about this message for years, and I listened to it as a child and as an adult. My sister later copied to a cassette tape, and when I listened to it as an adult, I expected to hear a lot of legalism and clothesline preaching. But this was not the case. It was a very well thought out sermon about what true holiness is, and it remains the best message I've ever heard on the subject. I was amazed to find out Bro Burroughs was still alive, and of course, after the event ended, I had to speak to him. I introduced myself and told him and his family what I've just told you. They were pretty amazed, too. He seemed very humble and he sadly said no one ever asked him to preach anymore. He is 88 years old now. It really blessed me to meet him and tell him this story about how much his sermon had impacted and blessed my family for years. Never underestimate how much your ministry can bless someone else!

Well, that is probably more information than you wanted, but thought I would share with you... Smile

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them.
_________________
"More of Him...less of me."
http://twitter.com/camiracle77
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

THE LOVE OF GOD

Friendly Face Posts: 383 **5/1/17 1:09 am**

I am sure he appreciated your kind words of appreciation of his message. I love talking to older people like that. They have such great knowledge that many younger ministers really are falling short of. You made his day Sister. Thank you. I don't know him but I would like to have heard him.

I counted the cost and just didn't feel like we could attend as camp meeting is coming up. There are several states that I would like to go to camp meeting but probably won't be able to. Some I prefer even over our own. Glad you got to go. Is this a yearly or bi-annually event?

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **5/1/17 5:46 am**

It is a yearly event.
_________________
"More of Him...less of me."
http://twitter.com/camiracle77
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

Aaron Scott

Carolyn...would love to hear that sermon....

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6032 **5/1/17 6:27 am**

Have you considered posting it (audio) to Facebook or YouTube? I'm sure it would be a blessing.

Da Sheik

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1860 **5/1/17 10:07 am**

The wife and I considered going but we had one of those weeks where everything went chaotic.

I find it interesting that someone made a snarky remark about Actscelerate but obviously had no shame admitting they read postings here. Glad you had a good time !

Quiet Wyatt

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12792 **5/1/17 12:19 pm**

I would be very interested in hearing Bro Burroughs' sermon, Carolyn.

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **5/1/17 8:23 pm**

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **5/1/17 8:25 pm**

Quiet Wyatt

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12792 **5/1/17 8:53 pm**

diakoneo

Golf Cart Mafia Consigliere Posts: 3382 **5/1/17 9:14 pm**

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **5/1/17 11:20 pm**

HighFive

Acts-celerater Posts: 552 **5/2/17 10:14 pm**

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **5/3/17 6:15 am**

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **5/7/17 7:17 pm**

I wanted to let you all know that I discovered a FB message from last week from the person that made the comment to me, and he apologized. He didn't intend for it to be negative, so perhaps I took it the wrong way. Sometimes that shy, insecure teenager peeks out in my life, and I have to remind her who she is. Y'all kind of made more of the comment than I intended, as my experience there was much more than that. At any rate, the apology was much appreciated and gladly accepted.

Thought I would also let you know I got the comments from the adjudicators (judges) and the comments about the song were mostly positive. The funny thing was that the things I thought were weak were praised, and the things I thought were OK were suggested as possible improvements. Overall the comments were full of praise and positive, but I'm glad for the critiques, too, as they are what help you improve.

I asked my sister about the Roy Burroughs tape, and she said she doesn't know where it is. Hopefully she will run across it and we can all enjoy it. Say a prayer! Someone else messaged me about Bro Burroughs & said he is in the beginning stages of dementia, so please say a prayer for him & his wife, Althea. He is 88 & she is 83, and she competed in piano solo. Smile

Their daughter was with them and seems to be helping them out.

One more thing...before I went to the competition, I asked a friend who has a recording studio if he could offer me some vocal coaching, any suggestions, and he did (for free!) He suggested different phrasing for the beginning lines (which wasn't on my radar at all), and the other thing he said hit me like a ton of bricks. He made comments on a few words that should be enunciated better, and as soon as he said it, I knew what to do. I've had some vocal training at ECBC but it's been a long time ago. I've been singing the song I sang for many years, and the truth is, I'd gotten lazy with it. It had grown familiar, and I had gotten lazy with doing what I knew to do. So what I heard God saying through this was - stop being lazy, and do what you know to do. Sometimes we become too familiar with things we do all the time, and the truth is, we just don't give it our best because no one is calling us on it. I felt like this was a word from God for me in my life as well as my music. Don't be lazy, do what you know to do, and give it your best. (C'mon, fellas, that'll preach!)
_________________
"More of Him...less of me."
http://twitter.com/camiracle77
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name