Update after 3 years!

I thought I would post an update. I graduated with my Bachelor of Theology degree from Andersonville Theological Seminary, graduating summa cum laude. Last year I was called as the pastor of First Baptist Church of Milligan, Florida, a small "town" just outside Crestview, Florida on the Florida panhandle. I am going to try and update this blog more often.

Bible Post #4 KJV Ryrie Study Bible Genuine Leather

Well, when my sister was moving a few years ago, she found my genuine leather Ryrie Study Bible. I know I've already done a review on the bonded leather one, but I thought I'd share some pictures of this one and note the differences.

The first Ryrie Study Bible I bought was in 1997. It was a burgundy bonded leather edition It was a good bible, but I used it alot and eventually as bonded leather is prone to do, it started falling apart. It was then that I bought this bible off of Walmart.com in 2005. When I opened it I was amazed at how nice the leather was. This was easily the best leather I had ever seen on a mass produced bible.

Well there isn't much more to say about this than I did on an earlier post except the leather is par excellence. I don't know if Moody has changed the leather they use since 2005. If you want to be safe, buy an older edition off of eBay. Below I'll post some more photos.

Andersonville Seminary

In June, I finally received my Associate of Biblical Studies degree from Andersonville Theological Seminary. I had done undergraduate work at Hyles-Anderson College and Revival Fires Baptist College, as well as a certificate 'Dimensions of The Faith' program through Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. I choose Andersonville for a couple of reasons. The school had a good reputation, was affordable and even though non accredited, undergrad degrees are regularly accepted for provisional acceptance at schools such as Liberty University and Luther Rice University and Seminary. Right now, I am trying to decide between continuing my education at Andersonville, or transferring to Luther Rice for a Bachelors. Having said that, if you are looking for an affordable degree program, that isn't a "degree mill"; I'd recommend Andersonville.

Presidential Places Part IV

In May (I think it was in June lol) I visited Cleveland, Ohio via Greyhound to go on a date (The less said about that the better!) and to knock President James Garfield off my list of Presidents.

When I got to Cleveland, I took the bus known as the "Healthline" to the Cleveland Clinic for my date. The bus system there was confusing compared to the Erie one, but once you got the hang of it, it was rather easy.

After my date, I took the bus to Lake View Cemetery where President Garfield is interred. I ended up walking what seemed to be forever,through the cemetery looking for President Garfield's tomb. Well eventually I found it.

Now James A. Garfield was president about 4 months before he was shot and being shot is what he is most famous for. It goes to show you that if you die in office, you usually get some grand tomb, especially if you died in the 19th century!

The tomb has reliefs on each side covering different aspects of President Garfield's career. Below is one of his deathbed scene.

When you enter the monument, there is an anteroom that includes a gift shop. I bought a white "Lake View Cemetery" hat there, but I think it was too late since I got some sun burn from my long walk. Then you enter the rotunda with some fancy mosaics and a statue of Garfield.

To get to the burial chamber you walk down these stairs.

The Burial Chamber 

 

President Garfield's tomb is unusual in that the coffin's of him and his wife aren't in a sarcophagus, but are placed on marble pedestals. 

The urns contain the ashes of Garfield's daughter and her husband.

I couldn't resist the urge to take a selfie of myself with President Garfield's coffin. I did consider trying to slip the docent a $20 to open the gate and let me get my picture taken right next to the coffin, but he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would go for it.

This is the first tomb I've ever been in that had a rest room. Actually two but I didn't try to sneak into the Ladies room. I think President Garfield would be disappointed that his tomb didn't have a nicer bathroom.

This is the view from the observation deck. I felt some of the tiles moving while I was up there, so I decided not to spend too much time there. Nice view of the city of Cleveland.

I had read that John D. Rockefeller, who by some estimates is the richest man who ever lived, was buried close by. I asked the man at the Garfield Tomb where Rockefeller was and he gave me a map. It was only a short walk from the Garfield Memorial.

John D.Rockefeller was known for giving out dimes to people he met in his final years. Some people left pennies on his headstone. I, not wanting to me cheap, went a step further and left a quarter there! Am I the only one who finds it odd that the man who was president for less then a year gets an over the top tomb, but the man who was a billionaire has a relatively humble grave in comparison, even though he could of easily afforded one like Garfield's? 

Well, I don't know the next time I will post a Presidential Places post. There's not many in Northwest Florida. Maybe if I get to Plains, GA and go to Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class. 

I haven't updated this blog in almost a year; So, I thought it was high time to let The World in on what The Smither has been up to.

In November I moved from Wesleyville,.PA to DeFuniak Springs, Fl. My sister and her family had moved down here in 2012 when he became pastor of Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church here. Since I was in a dead end job, and I was sick of the winters in Northwestern Pennsylvania, I decided to take the plunge. I got a job less then a week after moving down here, working for a well known discount retailer. (Not what I want to do the rest of my life, but it pays the bills for now.) I've been working there going on 5 months, and recently became a member at a Southern Baptist church.

I hope to update this more often. Until then, carry on!

Presidential Places Part III

In July 2005, My mom and I were driving back to Pennsylvania from a sojourn in Virginia. Somehow I talked her into getting off the interstate to look for Hollywood Cemetery. Hollywood is one of two places (The others being a church in Quincy, Ma and Arlington National Cemetery.) where two presidents are buried. We drove around for a bit and finally reached the c

emetery. It was a hot July day when I started walking, searching for the two presidents final resting place.

Unfortunely I started on the opposite end of the cemetery from where James Monroe and John Tyler's tombs were. I did pass by the grave of James Thomas Flexner, author of a multi volume biography of George Washington. I had read that Jefferson Davis and J.E.B. Stuart were also buried here but saw no signs of their graves. The Sun and dehydration started to effect me. I thought about giving up, but said to myself  "No, You will find them, they got to be here somewhere."  I had walked what seemed like a mile when I saw the profile of the 10th President on a big monument. I found it! 

Me at John Tyler's grave. The black birdcage like tomb is James Monroe's.
I took a picture of myself at Monroe's tomb but it won't upload. I was too tired to look for Jefferson Davis, so I walked back to the car and left.

Travels to Presidential Places Part II

The next Presidential site I'm going to talk about is Spigel Grove, the home of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States. Hayes is probably most famous for two things. His election in 1880 was disputed. Samuel Tilden, his Democratic opponent, got more popular votes than Hayes and Hayes won after a special commission awarded him the deciding electoral votes. This came up alot in 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote, but George W. Bush became president because he won the electoral votes of Florida by 537 ballots cast.  The second thing you might know is Hayes' wife Lucy, got the nickname 'Lemonade Lucy' for not allowing intoxicating beverages to be consumed in The White House.

I've visited here on two occasions, both having to do with picking my sister up from college in Indiana. The first visit I didn't have enough money for the admission to the house or museum, so I just walked around the grounds. I had read about the hobby of visiting presidential graves, and I was determened to have my picture taken at Hayes' grave. Luckily for me, the fence that usually surrounded it was being repaired, so I got to stand alot closer to it than you normally get to. I look horrible in this picture so please forgive me.

I visited the museum on another trip. It was nice and even had the carriage Hayes had used.  For some reason though the exhibit I found most impressive was the one of Presidential letters, even though a few of them were obvious autopens.

I almost forgot to mention that near Hayes' tomb is the grave of his horse Old Whitey. I found that kind of cool.