10 Things I Learned from My Dad
By Ken Horn | June 12, 2009
This is an expanded version of my Vantage Point column in the June 21, 2009 Father’s Day edition of TPE.
I was blessed with a great father. I had a great relationship with him. Here are 10 things I learned from him, not just by what he said, but how he lived. All I had to do was watch him.
Here we are, ready to hit the Pit River for rainbow trout. I was seven.
1. Appreciation for God’s creation. My dad taught me to appreciate everything from wildlife to majestic mountains to flowers … as creations of God.
As a child I had wonderful times of discovery when my dad would point out a deer, river otter, tree frog or any other kind of wildlife. I appreciated the creatures of nature from the start. But it took me a while to gain an appreciation for beautiful scenery.
I recall long vacation drives with my parents oohing and ahhing over the scenery. To me it was ho-hum. I was bored and wanted to get to our destination. But that changed as I got older. The magnificence of God’s large-scale creation became amazing to me. Today I love everything God created … thanks to my dad.
2. Put others first. One instruction our family heard from him often was, “Think of the neighbors.” He wanted my two sisters and me to always consider other people and never do anything to would disturb them. Even when leaving early for fishing, he made sure I closed the car door quietly so people still in bed would not hear it. Other people always came first.
3. Embrace people who are different from you. Everyone was a potential friend to Dad. He learned a lot about the outdoors from friends he had made among the Northern California Indians. Some of those friends showed him great fishing holes and helped him become a fisherman who seemed to always catch trout when no one else was catching any. Of course, he worked hard for his fish. He didn’t just fish the easy spots.
4. Take pride in your family and encourage them. He did this continually.
This is one of the things I have missed most since my dad passed on. He was interested in everything his family did, and he always seemed to be the most interested. He made me feel 10 feet tall … often.
5. Patience is a virtue. He demonstrated this his whole life. This was a difficult one for me to learn … and I’m still learning. I am not nearly as patient as Dad was, but I’m trying to get there.
6. Nobody’s perfect. I never heard my dad use a swear word. But I did see him get upset a time or two … momentarily.
When he was devoting all his energies to caring for my mother, he often reminded me of how much she had put up with earlier in their marriage. That was before I was around. When God entered his life, he became a different person.
7. The baptism in the Holy Spirit can help you do things you can’t do on your own. Dad tried many times to give up smoking … unsuccessfully. After he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he never smoked again.
8. Appreciate the experience no matter what. “We know we’re going to be successful because it’s called ‘fishing,’ not ‘catching,’ ” he would say. A day in the outdoors was great … “If we catch fish, that’s bonus.”
He could find enjoyment in just about anything.
9. Love your spouse, unconditionally. When Alzheimer’s hit my mother, Dad kept her home as long as possible, doing everything for her even though he suffered with rheumatoid arthritis. Then he stayed at her side in the nursing home. He had always dreamed of traveling when he retired. He never got to do it because of his devotion to my mother.
10. Keep it in the middle of the fairway. Once a scratch golfer, he could still beat younger golfers when he was elderly … because his drives, though short, were always where they should be. “Don’t try to impress the crowd, just be faithful.” A great lesson for life.
My dad has been gone for 17 years … and I still miss him. I am thankful for all he taught me. And I’m still trying to be like him.
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Cyril McLellan with the Lord
By Ken Horn | May 26, 2009
[Click on image for full view of program.]
I went to the funeral today. Here is what AG News had to say.
Cyril McLellan with the Lord
An era has come to a close in the Assemblies of God. Cyril McLellan - a name synonymous with the former AG Revivaltime Choir - passed away Tuesday evening after an extended battle with cancer. McLellan was 81.
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, McLellan’s musical pedigree was impressive. He held a performance degree from the London Royal School of Music, a bachelor’s degree in both sacred music and music education and a masters degree in violin pedagogy. In 1958, he became an ordained AG minister. He was also a member of the Springfield Symphony, being an accomplished violinist.
McLellan has been awarded prestigious honors over the years as well, including: Central Bible College Alumnus of the Year, an award for artistic ability and leadership in music from Word Records, a SESAC award for outstanding achievement in music and ministry, a commendation for music and ministry at the 45th General Council in Minneapolis and in 2001, he was inducted into the Assemblies of God Music Hall of Honor.
“I believe Cyril was the consummate artist,” says long-time friend and former Revivaltime speaker Dan Betzer. “He could take a different group of 30 to 40 college kids every year, and could still come out with the same sound year after year - it was an amazing ability that he had.”
Lee Shultz, the producer and narrator of Revivaltime for 25 years, agrees with Betzer.
“He always produced the kind of music that was needed for a broadcast,” Shultz says. “No matter where we were, even if we were using a choir from here or a local choir in a church someplace, he could always get the sound of the Revivaltime Choir. He was also always conscious of the fact they weren’t entertaining, but that they were sending a message.”
Betzer, who is now an AG Executive Presbyter and pastor of First Assembly of God in Fort Myers, Florida, says that although McLellan was incredibly sincere about his work, he was also a lot of fun and was deeply loved by choir members.
“In recent years, we’ve done Revivaltime relived just for fun at General Council,” Betzer says. “Choir members would come from all over the world, literally, for the re-creation [of Revivaltime] just because they loved Cyril so much.”
In addition to his 43 years as director of the Revivaltime choir, McLellan held such positions as assistant director of the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, orchestra director at Broadway Tabernacle in Vancouver, choir director at British Columbia Bible Institute, District Music Minister for the AG Southern Missouri District and college faculty at Central Bible College and Evangel University.
Cyril took over the Revivaltime Choir from his brother Vernon in 1952 after he moved to Missouri from Canada to teach at Central Bible Institute (now Central Bible College). He directed the Revivaltime Choir for 43 years, has been on over 100 choir tours and participated in approximately 1,700 radio broadcasts. He produced 35 Revivaltime Choir albums and led more than 800 Revivaltime members in his 41 years. He has done more than 170 choir arrangements, including 75 octavos and 24 books as well as personal recording projects, including a duet project with his wife, Beth.
“Working with Cyril McLellan as a student at Central Bible College and pianist for the Revivaltime broadcast, provided me with the firm foundation I would need for the full-time ministry of music,” states Mark Thallander, world-famous concert organist. “Cyril particularly emphasized that the message of each song must be heard, which taught me to look at the texts first! Then the wedding of text and music - the marriage of the technical and the spiritual - would bring the desired result of communicating the good news of Christ, with a professional presentation glorifying the Savior . . . . Cyril’s musical ministry always brought adoration and praise to God, and blessing and inspiration to God’s people.”
Lill (Sundberg) Anderson, the first Revivaltime Broadcast soloist, also has fond memories of McLellan.
“Cyril had such an amazing ability to bring out the very best in every choir member,” she recalls. “His God-given talent has blessed multitudes of people with his music and also on the violin. He will be missed greatly.”
McLellan is preceded in death by his parents Alan L. and Florence (Falconer) McLellan and a brother, Vernon K. McLellan. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Beth (Mary Elizabeth Warner); two adult sons, Steve and Bruce; his brother, Arnold L. McLellan; and five grandchildren.
[Click on image for full view of program.]
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National Day of Prayer
By Ken Horn | May 7, 2009
I attended the National Day of Prayer Breakfast this morning in Springfield, Missouri, along with many hundreds of others from the area. If you couldn’t attend one of these in your area, you can still pray for your nation. We need it.
Pictures taken from my iPhone.
Speaker was Major General Cecil Richardson, Chief of Chaplains for the United States Air Force, and an Assemblies of God chaplain.
Members of the Greene County Sheriff’s Dept. stand during prayer for the county.
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Verse for the Day from a Friend & Co-worker
By Ken Horn | May 7, 2009
Our senior associate editor, Scott Harrup, sent us this yesterday when we were at Peggy’s longest chemo session: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you” (2 Kings 20:5).
It’s a great verse for our positive verse collection.
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Positive Verse for the Day
By Ken Horn | May 6, 2009
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
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Greatest Rhetorical Question in Scripture
By Ken Horn | May 4, 2009
Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Answer (implied but not stated): No one.
Whatever you are going through, God is bigger … and He is on your side.
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Positive Verse
By Ken Horn | May 3, 2009
Focusing on positive verses from Scripture during my wife’s long process of chemo and radiation. Philippians 4:13 is one of the best: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV)
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Society for Pentecostal Studies Honors Dr. Stanley Horton
By Ken Horn | April 15, 2009
Presenters are pictured with Dr. Horton. From left: Dr. Lois Olena, Dr. George Wood, Dr. Stan Burgess, Dr. Stanley Horton, Dr. Ken Horn, Bishop Lemuel Thuston, Dr. Marty Mittelstadt. (March 26, 2009)
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First Morning in El Salvador
By Ken Horn | April 14, 2009
Look for a cover feature on El Salvador in our very first Compassion Edition of TPE, in churches the first week of June.
With an ambitious agenda, we were delayed more than an hour in the nation’s capital, San Salvador, during the morning commute.
And here was the reason for the delay.
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Neal Enloe of Couriers Inducted into SGMA Hall of Fame
By Ken Horn | April 13, 2009
And rightfully so. Also included was the late Bill Lyles. I have written stories on the Couriers and Blackwood Brothers for TPE.
Here I am with Neil Enloe at the piano.
Here’s how I began the Blackwoods article: “June 14, 1954. Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, one of the most popular shows in those early days of television. The winners that night were a group of young men who were the first gospel group ever to appear on nationwide television. When the Blackwood Brothers Quartet won that night, they were catapulted into national prominence.
“Just two weeks later on June 30 their rising star would come plummeting to the ground in a literal ball of flame.
“As the group prepared to do a concert in an airplane hangar with the Statesmen Quartet in Clanton, Ala., baritone R.W. Blackwood, who piloted the group’s plane, decided to do a test takeoff on the short runway before dark. Bass singer Bill Lyles joined him. In view of horrified onlookers, after pulling up from an aborted landing attempt, the plane stalled, came crashing to earth and was engulfed in flames. Both men were killed. Jake Hess of the Statesmen restrained lead singer James Blackwood from rushing into the fire.”
Read the whole story here. Unfortunately the article I did on the Couriers is not online.
From the press release:
The Southern Gospel Music Association announced March 17 at Dollywood its Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees for 2009.
“We are honored to add these great musical servants to a very elite group of people who have made Southern Gospel music known around the world,” said Dr. Jim Goff, SGMA Induction Committee chairman. “Without their contributions it is safe to say our music would have reached fewer ears and affected fewer hearts and lives. Without them our industry would have been much smaller in its reach.”
The 2009 SGMA class of inductees includes: Neil Enloe, Ed Hill, Harold Lane, Don Light, Bill Lyles, Elizabeth “Lady” Mull, Billy Todd, and Charlie Waller.
The official induction ceremony will occur as part of the festivities of SGMA Day, Oct. 7, 2009.
Tidbits about this year’s honorees (Courtesy SGMA Hall of Fame):
Neil Enloe
Southern Gospel performer and songwriter Neil Enloe was destined to become one of the most influential through his more than 40 years with the Couriers based in Harrisburg, Penn. The group pioneered Southern gospel in the urban centers of the east and Canada The groups was one of the first regular groups on the “Gospel Singing Jubilee.” Over the course of his career, from one of the quartet’s founding members in 1957 to his retirement in 2000, Enloe sang lead, played piano, and arranged the majority of the group’s music. Along the way, the Couriers became one of the best-known and most respected groups in Southern Gospel. Several of his songs have become standards, most notably “Statue of Liberty,” the Dove Award winning song from 1976.
James William “Bill” Lyles 1920-1954
Bass vocalist Bill Lyles is considered one of the industry’s greatest voices. He performed with the Hamilton County Quartet near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the famous Swanee River Boys. He rose to national prominence as the bass singer for the Blackwood Brothers Quartet reaching new heights of popularity starring on national television, charting in Billboard magazine, and recording exclusively on the RCA label. Lyles was killed when a plane piloted by fellow quartet member R.W. Blackwood crashed in Clanton, Ala. on June 30, 1954.
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