The ruins that exist in Thessaloniki today are not dated to Paul’s
day, but interesting nonetheless.

The Arch of Galerius, built to commemorate his victory over
the Persians in A.D. 303.

The Acropolis was closed due to extreme heat (somewhere
around 115 degrees Fahrenheit!) but we were still able to see a lot during our
18 hours in Athens.

The Parthenon.

The ruins of the Roman Agora where Paul first began
reasoning with the Athenians (with the Temple of Hephaestus
in the background). He was then taken to the Areapogus (Mars’ Hill – Acts 17:22),
from which this picture was taken.

Whew!  There. I'm still pinching myself to make sure that I really saw all these places so rich with sacred history.  This trip was a bit grueling at times - it was exceptionally hot in Turkey and Greece. What was it like for the apostles to travel these roads?  I have new found respect for the dedication and sacrifice of Paul and John especially.  I find myself recommitted to doing what I can, through sacrifice as well, to further the cause they so honorably advanced in hostile, forbidding environments. 

This past weekend the board of directors of LifeStyleTV met in Sweden.  It was a blessing to see how God has continued to sustain and expand the ministry there.  Thousands are being reached by the good news of the gospel 24/7 through the Canal Digital network, which along with the free-to-air Thor II satellite has more than 5 million viewers in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

Friday was spent in meetings.  On Sabbath morning I gave the sermon at the Malmo, Sweden church.

For the Sabbath afternoon program Danny Shelton spoke, sharing thrilling testimonies of how God is using television to reach the lost with the Three Angels' Messages.  Back at LifestyleTV we had an open house int he evening, with a ribbon cutting and dedication service for their new studio.  At 9 PM we hosted the very first live broadcast from the studio.

The live broadcast hadn't been promoted except around some of the Adventist subscribers to LifestyleTV's online newsletter.  Within minutes of our program, however, a group of young people from a youth house in Oslo, Norway, emailed a message saying that they were Christians and were watching and enjoying the programs on LifestyleTV!  It was exciting to see how from such a small beginning God is working to reach people who otherwise could probably not be reached.

Here's the team who pulled off the "Direkt" ("Live" in Swedish") program Saturday night.

Early the next morning I was back on the road, heading for my flight to Paris, then on to Atlanta and Little Rock.  Tomorrow I'll be heading to India with the Seniors!  Thank you for your prayers!!

I read the following just this morning from the current online news update from Adventist Today, the paper published by liberal Adventists who don't believe anything that Adventism teaches.  I found it to be very encouraging.  From the interview with Adventist Today Executive Editor Ervin Taylor:

"What are you more known for in the Adventist church—being a
maverick anthropologist or being the executive editor and board member
of Adventist Today?

"That’s hard to answer. My fantasy is that I am known among a few
Adventists mostly for my feeble efforts to encourage active opposition
of the drift of my church back into the morass of American Protestant
fundamentalism. Up until the early 1970s, our church, at least in North
America, had been slowly evolving in a relatively moderate direction.
However, during the last two decades, theologically reactionary
movements such as that mounted by the Adventist Theological Society and
Adventists Affirm have been able to undertake a strong counterattack
which has been successful in reversing some of the progress that had
been made."

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

I've arrived here in Sweden after a night flight from Atlanta to Copenhagen, Denmark.  It's amazing what a few trips to India can do to a person: this flight seemed short!  Hardly had time to get much sleep.

Anyway, I wanted to share some photos with you of a visitor I had at my house Tuesday night.  I heard some noise on my back porch.  When I opened my door I found a friendly skunk eating my cat food!

My cat, Moms, was sitting calmly on the handrail above, watching her food being devoured.  I thought it would be good to get a picture of the two of them, but Moms didn't seem to want to cooperate.  Just as I took the picture she made a leap for the door.  In the heat of the moment I wasn't sure who was coming in the door - Moms or the skunk!

The little critter didn't seem to mind me at all.  It completely ignored my attempts at conversation, and seemed quite comfortable with the camera flashes.  It was actually hard to get it to look my direction.

It reminded me of when my cats first adopted me, back when they were wild and lived under my porch and ran away as soon as I opened the door.  Hmmmm.... Should I try taming this guy too?

create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Several of you have written very compassionate emails regarding my virus situation, and have included the advice to buy a Mac next time.

I do appreciate the nearly virus-free world in which Macs operate.  But I have to admit that with all it's flaws, Windows is still my OS of choice.  I know it's not for everyone, but I personally take great pleasure in using an OS which is so ultimately user configurable.  I enjoy editing registry files.  I enjoy seeing the intricate mechanics of how the OS is operating and being able to tweak it.  Of course I am well aware that these very options expose Windows to attackers. 

My computer is now virus free.

I had a nice long post written earlier but lost it.  Grrr.... Then my computer got a virus from a memory stick I copied pictures from.  Grrrr....  It's a pretty devastating virus too.  Don't know if I can do anything more with it before I head home.  What good is antivirus software that just tells you that you have a virus after the files are copied and registry edited?  Wow.  This one actually disables the registry editor, and immediately shuts down the computer if it sees a window open it doesn't like (such as one that might be able to deal with the infection). 

At least I had uploaded some pictures.  I'll post here if I can get this chincy keyboard to work in the hotel business center.

BTW.  Happy New Year!! It's been longer since I updated than I realized.

After a wonderful Christmas at Jon, Jills, and Andy's I headed to Baltimore for the 2006 General Youth Conference.  It was a wonderful feast of biblical preaching, deep study, worshipful music, and Christian fellowship.  If you missed out you should do yourself a favor and navigate over to www.generalyouthconference.org where you'll find resources free for the downloading.

Since then I've been mostly at home, working on building a new staff home, other construction projects, and various occupations dealing with ASI business.  One of the exciting projects currently underway is a joint operation between ASI and the GC to help fulfill the Tell the World initiative's ambition to see five million lay people each win at least one person in this quinquinium.  ASI is preparing its members to train lay people in every Union to use the New Beginnings in homes.  I spent a few sleepless nights and even some days pulling together an 80+ page manual for this project. 

While in Florida during our pilot training program Pastor Mark Finley and I were discussing the upcoming Senior trip to India.  It will be a different project than any previous Ouachita Hills mission trip.  In response to the request of Elder Mike Ryan, GC Vice President for Global Mission, this year we're undertaking to develop a church member nurturing program in areas of the world field where the church is growing extremely rapidly.

Pastor Finley suggested that I should join him this week in Chennai to assist in the training course he's holding.  Pastors and church administrators from all over India are here, which enables me to lay plans without having to travel all over myself.  Reasonable tickets were found, I received a visa, and within a little more than a week I found myself here in Chennai.

OK, I know.  You want the pictures.

Pastors attending the morning training seminar held by Mark and Ernestine Finley. I also taught on Friday morning.

Pathfinders marching into the Adventist School grounds to begin the Republic Day celebrations.  India gained its independence 58 years ago.

Pastor Finley teaching the pastors.

Statue of the founder of the campus where the evening meetings are being held.  He's supposedly the great philosopher of Asia.

His great accomplishments in philosophy.  Funny thing is, 4000 people are passing by this monument each day.  Into our meetings.

Pastor Finley preaching.

The audience.  An additional 500 or so are watching by CCTV downstairs.

I don't have many pictures of me, for obvious reasons, but Mrs. Finley took this one before the meeting and I got it from her.

Pray for me, and the rest of this trip.  And for my computer (and my sanity without it).

Miss you!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!
I'm having a wonderful visit at Jon and Jill's house (with my parents and Amy) and enjoying playing with my seven-month-old nephew Andy!  I'll post a few pictures.

In just a few days we'll be heading north to the General Youth Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. If you're not able to make it there at least do yourself a favor and watch the evening and Sabbath morning services live on 3ABN.  (Watch online at www.3abn.org.)

Happy Holidays!

Hi Everyone!

I'm here in the Philippines with Mrs. Wanda Sarr and 20 students from Ouachita Hills Academy and College.  I don't have time right now to say much, but I'm going to post some pictures for your enjoyment.

In summary, we have four rural meeting sites with two students preaching at each site.  Each site has a complete child evangelism program as well.  Attendance is good, with many making decisions.  Pray for us especially this week as we visit homes and seek to gain decisions from those who are hesitating.  We expect more than 100 baptisms this Sabbath by God's grace.

Thanks for your prayers!