It's turkey time!
Holiday Season
With Thanksgiving and Black Friday in full swing, the holidays are definitely here! By the time you read this post you may be kicking back watching football, going shopping on Black Friday, or hopefully getting some time in the garage working on your project. This holiday is most assuredly my favorite. One of the verses from the Bible with which I identify is Psalm 68:19 which states, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah."
I consider myself a man that is blessed of God. A little over a week ago while preaching to young people I challenged each one of them to go home, take out a sheet of paper, and write down all of the things for which you are thankful to the Lord. I know that many of them took me up on the "homework" since I had parents later on in the week talking about their children completing the exercise. Are you thankful? We have much to be thankful for!
The second part of that scripture records, "...even the God of our salvation. Selah." The word "Selah" is the Old Testament way of saying "amen" to a declaration made by the writer. I have the name "Hot Rod Reverend" for two reasons. The first part "Hot Rod" is because of my affinity for performance and the modifications I continue to make on my old Ford. I like going fast and I like old cars. The last part "Reverend" is because I am indeed an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have given my life to preach the good news that Jesus saves from sin, and He will give us a relationship with God if we turn to Him by faith. You can read more about the experience of being spiritually born again by visiting this page here on the site. I do pray that God will bless you over this holiday season!
How to Brine A Turkey
This time of year seems to draw me to the kitchen. It has been a family tradition to cook, bake, smoke, roast, fry, and all the rest during the holidays. I decided to take a break from the normal YouTube videos in the garage to produce a video about making a turkey brine. There is nothing quite like a brine that will keep your turkey moist no matter how you prepare if for the family. This brine includes some wonderful aromatics like thyme, rosemary, cloves, and one special ingredient that most never use but the secret wil be out now!
Thanksgiving Dinner at Church
Our annual church Thanksgiving Dinner was very well attended.
A highlight of the week was the annual Thanksgiving Dinner at our church here in Lancaster, California. Well over 1,700 people were present on our property for the evening that included a very nice program and dinner for children in our new Kid City Building. Having the oversight of the dinner and many details of this event, I am very blessed to have had many volunteers help setup, serve, and clean up afterwards! We served everyone in roughly 25 minutes. That is no small feat considering the large crowd and tight confines of the space. We were blessed to have a couple hundred guests attend the dinner and program, and several of them responded to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. As the Executive Pastor of Operations here at Lancaster Baptist Church, this is just one of the many events and ministries I lead on behalf of our senior pastor and church. Our Christmas musical will take place in less than two weeks, and if you live within driving distance I do hope you can join us. The information is on the home page of our website.
Driving the Ford to the Office
The old 1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan is definitely a driver, and earlier this week I had the opportunity to record a brief video of the ride to the church office on the day before Thanksgiving. The car is real head-turner, and it always receives quite a few looks each time I drive it in public. Stopping at local parking lots will most definitely draw visitors, start conversations, and cause people to whip out their phones taking pictures and videos. Meeting these people and sharing the story is a treat for me since I most often have the opportunity to discuss why I am called the "Hot Rod Reverend" and give them an invite to church on Sunday.
Running the Ford back and forth to the church office is real treat!
In the Works...
Over the next several weeks as we close out 2024, I hope to bring a rebuttal to a YouTube video that has gone viral over the past month. It seems that some mis-informed, digital content creator has produced a video about the Y Block labeling it as Ford's biggest failure. I have not seen all of the video yet. But, since it has posted there have been quite a few enthusiasts from across the country that have contacted me about the video. From what I understand, the video is nothing but a voice-over with 100% borrowed clips and photos taken from other social media sites. In other words, "a real piece of work." The channel owner is just trolling for views, and he certainly received quite a few. Of course, with each view the ads continue to roll and the channel owner continues to make bank through Google. I hear even John Mummert, who rarely gets on social media to comment on anything, even left a small rebuttal in the comment section. Fun times; the saga of mis-information on the Y Block Ford continues despite all truth that is available today.
My schedule is always tight around here in church ministry, but I do hope to get up to the Y Bock Guy's shop (when he is in town) to pay Tim McMaster a visit and get down to business on my 312 Ford rotating assembly. I will dedicate a blog post to just that visit and an update on my 312 build. Trust me, that has been a long time coming!
A subscriber to the blog lives here in Lancaster, California. I do not yet have permission to share his name, but if things work out I would like to show some of the work he has asked me to do on his Holley 4000 in a 1956 Ford Thunderbird. My plans are to schedule a day in December when I can visit his garage again and make the repair to his carburetor. I will keep us all posted as things develop.
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Hot Rod Reverend