I'm writing this note from our room at Word of Life Florida, a conference center about an hour north of Tampa. Marlene and I arrived about 4 PM, and I spoke tonight to a large and receptive audience at the Harry Bollback Performing Arts Center. This is my 13th or 14th time to speak here and many old friends came up to say hello. Some live in the RV park on the property while others come to the conference center for several weeks at a time. Lots of "snow birds" from the Midwest, Northeast and Canada come to Word of Life Florida for the winter. They have about ten weeks of conference ministry from January through mid-March. Last week Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago spoke here. This week I'm sharing the speaking duties with Dr. Woodrow Kroll of Back to the Bible. I'm speaking six times this week. I decided to do my series on Samson that I first preached at Calvary in 1990. The series had quite an impact and people talked about it for years afterward. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've preached it again since then. So I'm reworking the material, adding insights, updating illustrations, and so on. It's a gripping story, and I think we got off to a good start tonight.
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