Greetings everybody,
Mr. and Mrs. Roderick Meredith's trip to Florida was very successful. They are back home now, safe and sound and as busy as ever. Mr. Paul Shumway, the Area Pastor there, sent in these comments: We thoroughly enjoyed the Merediths' visit to Tampa. We had over 130 for services with some members from Ft. Lauderdale and Live Oak and everyone from Ocala joining Tampa. We also had visitors from other fellowships and a handful of brand new individuals from the telecast (I've spoken with them on the phone). The message and spirit were upbeat. It was a very nice Sabbath.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Update on Mr. Evo Walker
Mr. Evo Walker, our Elder serving in Amory (Mississippi), suffered a slight heart attack last week. He was taken to the hospital in Jackson and had a triple bypass surgery last Monday. Mr. Dan Hall reports that Mr. Walker came out of the surgery very well and was moved out of ICU to a personal room today. We request your prayers on Mr. Walker's behalf for a successful recovery.
Living Youth Camp
It's hard to believe, but it is already time to start making plans to attend the Living Youth Camp in Michigan, or the pre-teen camps in Missouri and Texas. This year we have made registering even easier: starting Sunday February 13, 2005, you will be able to register online for any of the three camps.
The Web address is www.youth-web.org. Once you are on the main Web site, select from the menu "Living Youth Camp" or "Pre-Teen Camp." Further instructions for registering will be under each of these links. If you do not have Web access, don't worry; you can still register by obtaining forms from the addresses listed on the back of the Jan-Feb 2005 Living Church News.
MAIL PROCESSING DEPARTMENT
In our continuing efforts to improve our service in getting mail to recipients, we need to determine the time required for delivery of mail. If you would like to assist MPD in an ongoing test of determining the time it takes to get mail delivered by the United States Postal Service, please send your e-mail address and zip code to [email protected]. A number of volunteers will be selected to participate based on their location by regions. Your participation will help us determine areas where mail is being delayed for whatever reason. We can then go to the postal authorities and ask them to remedy the problem. This test will be for the United States only.—Gaylyn Bonjour
MEDIA
This weekend we aired program #233, "America's Coming Catastrophe," offering the booklet Fourteen Sings Announcing Christ's Return! (FS). From Thursday through Sunday, we received 1,953 phone calls, and we are expecting the final count to surpass 2,300 by the end of the week.
The FS booklet ranks among our top five booklets. FS has been offered 24 times on television, averaging 1,765 responses per offer. The response has ranged from a low of 1,202 back in May 2001, when we were on fewer TV stations, to a high of 3,538 this past January.—Wayne Pyle
COMMENTS
It seems that Satan the Devil always gets more menacing and active around the Passover season. He and his demons don't like any of God's Feasts, so they always try to foul things up in whatever way they can. Jude 1:12-13, "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."
So what should we, as Christians, do about this? Just hunker down and wait for the coming onslaught like sitting ducks on a placid pond? The old adage about "the best defense is a strong offense" certainly applies here. Why not seize the initiative and put our adversary on the run before he has the chance to get any traction in the Church or in our personal lives? That's what we are told to do in James 4:6-8, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
Satan cannot stand the spiritual heat and light that comes from the great God. When we are close to our Saviour, we generate that same heat and light which gets too intense for Satan, so he cuts and runs—flees! If we will sharpen our focus and redouble our efforts to prepare and keep these upcoming Festivals more powerfully than ever, before our God, that will ensure that this Passover season will be one of the worst for Satan and one of the best for God's people through Christ's strength.
The weather here is glorious right now. The birds are starting to sing long and loud, and if you look closely, you can see buds on some trees getting ready to burgeon and burst out into full bloom! Spring is coming. Bring it on as "they" say, and the sooner the better!
We send our love and all the best for a delightful Sabbath day,
Charles E. Bryce