Light in the Darkness

It has been my extreme pleasure to take part in the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International national conference this week. Meeting for the "first time in a long time" (if ever) on the West Coast, the weather and seismics cooperated wonderfully to give East Coasters a taste of ministry in the West, California, and San Francisco. It was my joy to re-connect to friends I hadn't seen in years, and especially to learn that several of them live a lot closer than I ever imagined.

By far, the blessing of the conference was the preaching. I am still digesting Chuck Phelps' exposition from Acts 7 on "Bringing Joy to the City" and it will impact my ministry for a long time to come. An additional 'pick-me-up' was to hear so many preacher's voices singing enthusiastically. The rafters of our host church were almost in danger of parting company with the rest of the building! Perhaps my favorite quote of the conference came after a soul-stirring singing of "How Great Thou Art" when the host pastor stepped to the microphone and exclaimed "The wonder of it all is that we serve One Who is deserving of exactly this kind of praise!"

But for the story of the incredible behind the scenes San Francisco experience, you will have to ask Tim Sneeden! His reward for being a faithful reader of this blog (and how hard can that be, considering how often I post? Really, folks, Tim is setting the bar here!) is that he gets to tell his story in his way and in his time. It's a great story - full of ups and downs, but not necessarily in that order.