Off to a Good Start

I think this is my 14th year to speak at Word of Life Florida. The nice thing about coming back is that you see so many friends year after year. This morning we saw Elizabeth Nelson, daughter of Harry and Millie Bollback who were called out of town suddenly because of a family illness. Paul Ward came up to say hello. We met Paul and Kathy the very first time I spoke here. Of course Tom and Fay Phillips are special friends. Tom introduced me this morning by saying that we had double dated during our college years at Tennessee Temple College in Chattanooga. We've kept in touch with Tom and Fay over all the years, and they are in that special category of friends who when you see them, you pick up the conversation exactly where you left off the last time, even if you haven't seen each other for a year. A great many friends from the RV park on the property came by to say hello. Many of them said they had been praying for us, and especially for Marlene and wanted to know how she was doing. We were happy to give them a good report on all counts.

This morning I preached on "Asymmetric Spiritual Warfare" and tonight on "Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness." We moved from the Harry Bollback Performing Arts Center this morning to the George Theis Assembly Center tonight. Both time we had a large attendance, but tonight's crowd was animated and very attentive. It was like preaching at the Word of Life Campground. After the service Bill and Mary Jo Price from Columbus, Ohio came up to say hello.

The crowd laughed when I told them about our misadventures on the way down, including the duct tape on the trunk. I also told them that was a perfect example of asymmetric spiritual warfare. It's generally not the big stuff that trips us up. It's the little stuff that we don't expect.

I noticed lots of people standing around chatting after the evening service tonight. I think we're off to a good start.

You can reach the author at  ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.