Northern Virginia is not headed in the way of redemption.
In the early years (1963 when I moved there), people were moving to the DC area. People from the South moved to Fairfax County. Some moved to Louden, which is farther out.
People from the North moved to Montgomery, or to the less expensive Prince Georges Co.
There was a thriving Spiritual atmosphere in Fairfax Co. at the time.
I told this before: When I joined Boulevard BC in Falls Church, they had two morning services. In the area, a person could choose between Columbia BC (the big one and mother of most of the rest, still there), Boulevard BC, National Gardens, FBC Annandale and Calvary Hill BC. (There were and still are others around, those in close proximity.) Since I left in 2001, National Gardens has disbanded, Boulevard and FBC Annandale have joined to become United BC. National Gardens is considering joining them.
Meanwhile (the story joins in the end, Clancy style):
Years ago, our church accepted a challenge at a missionary conference to pray for and attempt to a specific unreached people group. Our church chose the Pashtun people of central Asia. But those people are hard to reach; though there are missionaries in the area.
Recently, we learned of a woman in Texas who speaks Pashtun and has a missionary calling. We have also learned that one of the largest settlements of Pashtun people happens to be in the Northern Virginia area. We are sponsoring her and she is there now, doing what the local Baptist Churches aren’t doing. From what I can tell-
They are trying to survive.
A sad but true report, Chas. I prefer to think of Northern Virginia as it was in the ’30s, eithe the 1930s or the 1830s.
John Thomason was a Texan, a Marine Corp officer, and a good writer. In the forward to his biography of Jeb Stuart, he confessed that as he toured Virginia doing research he began to feel very guilty about his growing attachment to Virginia. Every native Texan knows that our commitment to Texas must be like unto our commitment to The Lord and our wives. Finally, he decided to end his struggles by concluding that if he could not be a Texan, he would want to be a Virginian.
You must have some compassion for those of us from California. We feel the same about our “Bear Flag” state. What has happened to it? Where is it going? What does the future hold?
I did get to spend 6 months in your state in 1966-67; Fort Bliss, El Paso and Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio. Fort Sam was the first place I ever saw it snow! Those snow flakes sure were tiny.
Bob, I would have loved to have spent some time in California 60 years ago. You had Ronald Reagan and John Wayne! Missionaries tell me Chile is like California used to be.
I had a client once who had taught schools for 40 years in the San Fernando Valley. She told sad stories of the changes in the students during her career.
Right now Texas is generally attracting conservative immigrants from other states, but things are already deteriorating in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. I figure if things go really badly, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene and San Angelo can be our cities of refuge. West Texas has always been the most “Texan” part of the state.
When I lived in Ft. Worth in the early sixties, it was “Texas”.
After I posted that we sponsored the lady who ministers to Pashtun in N. Virginia, I began to doubt that we really “sponsor” her. So I checked with an associate pastor this morning. We and another church are putting her in our budget.
Chas, Fort Worth still is the most Texan of all our big cities, but Yankees keep moving down and Dallas is spilling over. If you go 50 miles northwest or southwest of Fort Worth, you are back in the real Texas.
Wandering Views 
Yes! Yes! Yes! Northern Virginia may yet be redeemed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washingtons-population-growth-slows/2014/04/11/796d6fce-c1a7-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html
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Northern Virginia is not headed in the way of redemption.
In the early years (1963 when I moved there), people were moving to the DC area. People from the South moved to Fairfax County. Some moved to Louden, which is farther out.
People from the North moved to Montgomery, or to the less expensive Prince Georges Co.
There was a thriving Spiritual atmosphere in Fairfax Co. at the time.
I told this before: When I joined Boulevard BC in Falls Church, they had two morning services. In the area, a person could choose between Columbia BC (the big one and mother of most of the rest, still there), Boulevard BC, National Gardens, FBC Annandale and Calvary Hill BC. (There were and still are others around, those in close proximity.) Since I left in 2001, National Gardens has disbanded, Boulevard and FBC Annandale have joined to become United BC. National Gardens is considering joining them.
Meanwhile (the story joins in the end, Clancy style):
Years ago, our church accepted a challenge at a missionary conference to pray for and attempt to a specific unreached people group. Our church chose the Pashtun people of central Asia. But those people are hard to reach; though there are missionaries in the area.
Recently, we learned of a woman in Texas who speaks Pashtun and has a missionary calling. We have also learned that one of the largest settlements of Pashtun people happens to be in the Northern Virginia area. We are sponsoring her and she is there now, doing what the local Baptist Churches aren’t doing. From what I can tell-
They are trying to survive.
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A sad but true report, Chas. I prefer to think of Northern Virginia as it was in the ’30s, eithe the 1930s or the 1830s.
John Thomason was a Texan, a Marine Corp officer, and a good writer. In the forward to his biography of Jeb Stuart, he confessed that as he toured Virginia doing research he began to feel very guilty about his growing attachment to Virginia. Every native Texan knows that our commitment to Texas must be like unto our commitment to The Lord and our wives. Finally, he decided to end his struggles by concluding that if he could not be a Texan, he would want to be a Virginian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thomason
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rickyweaver,
You must have some compassion for those of us from California. We feel the same about our “Bear Flag” state. What has happened to it? Where is it going? What does the future hold?
I did get to spend 6 months in your state in 1966-67; Fort Bliss, El Paso and Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio. Fort Sam was the first place I ever saw it snow! Those snow flakes sure were tiny.
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Bob, I would have loved to have spent some time in California 60 years ago. You had Ronald Reagan and John Wayne! Missionaries tell me Chile is like California used to be.
I had a client once who had taught schools for 40 years in the San Fernando Valley. She told sad stories of the changes in the students during her career.
Right now Texas is generally attracting conservative immigrants from other states, but things are already deteriorating in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. I figure if things go really badly, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene and San Angelo can be our cities of refuge. West Texas has always been the most “Texan” part of the state.
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When I lived in Ft. Worth in the early sixties, it was “Texas”.
After I posted that we sponsored the lady who ministers to Pashtun in N. Virginia, I began to doubt that we really “sponsor” her. So I checked with an associate pastor this morning. We and another church are putting her in our budget.
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Chas, Fort Worth still is the most Texan of all our big cities, but Yankees keep moving down and Dallas is spilling over. If you go 50 miles northwest or southwest of Fort Worth, you are back in the real Texas.
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Here’s an interesting article on Putin. I trust the Washington Times more than most sources.
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/13/russias-vladimir-putin-keeps-westerners-guessing-o/
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