In Wildwood

It's only been one week, but somehow it feels so much longer. I don't know, life is getting awfully busy round her, I mean, around here.

I am sitting in my room in Wildwood, GA. I'm here for a constituency and board meeting. Last year, things didn't go so well here. I was elected to the Nominating Committee and the decisions we made riled some people royally. This year, I've come early to try and get a better handle on the issues we face. Issues there are. Some people I am speaking to are quite vocal about things. Others seem to indicate that things are better than they were last year. This afternoon, I am having a meeting with several key players. I am praying. On the one hand, Wildwood accomplishes great things--especially in the outreach dept. But, on the other hand, there is a lot of inertia and apparent lack of decisiveness in the leaders. There is deadwood also. The cost of doing business here is extravagant and our dear leaders (so glad not to be among them) are wondering how to tackle the near future. I'm hoping this board will take the bull by the horns and give these sincere leaders some real direction. They need to act determinatively.

At EVI, we have more than a full session by three patients. We are so thankful for the Lord doing that for us. It isn't like we are way ahead of the curve compared to other struggling institutions. We also only barely have our noses above water, but I can say that I am truly encouraged. The Lord is blessing. We will succeed.

My Lover has been packing her container to go to Africa all week. I believe she hasn't got much room left. The thing will be ready to go as soon as the shipper and Customs and whoever else puts their approval on the thing come through. In three weeks she, Deniece, Caleb and Christina leave for Africa. I leave for Europe. I'll go home this Monday, and by next Tuesday I leave for a month. It's always the same story: I get asked to go. I'm excited. Then when the time arrives, I wish I hadn't said yes. There is so much to do at home. Oh well!!

I preach tonight at Wildwood. "The Gospel and the First Angel's Message."

Did you know that the First Angel's Message is not the Investigative Judgment? The Investigative Judgment is one of the reasons given for the proclamation of the message. The message of the first angel is the everlasting gospel defined as "fear God, give glory to Him and worship Him" Why? Because the hour of His judgment is come. The end of time has come. The judgment is begun, get your act together--fear God instead of anything else.

When I first began reading the Bible, I reasoned this way: The universe is in conflict. There is God, there are demons and there are wicked people. The Beast says, worship me or I'll kill you. God says, "No, worship Me, or I"ll kill you." Humanity, it seemed to me had little hope, except that I managed to figure out who was the strongest--God. It seemed the better part of wisdom to serve Him than to be against Him. Since then, I've learned to serve Him out of love and not out of fear and the love of God casts out fear.

The investigative judgment is important to understand, but not near so important as the gospel that saves and empowers. So, give Him the glory and worship HIm. He alone can save.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.