Off To The Smoky Mountains

Cynthia and I will be leaving tomorrow--actually later today--for the conference in Pigeon Forge, TN. We have been working overtime to get ready to leave. Today I had to get radio done for two weeks for the Chicago station. The school network--15 stations for The Riches of Grace and 3 for Daily Bible Time--is already done through the first week in April. Cynthia got the Tape of the Month tapes in the mail this week--a daunting job of making hundreds of DVDs, Cd's, VHS and cassette tapes, packaging them and getting them to the Post Office. Right now she is finishing up letters I wrote today--she also functions as secretary. If she got paid she would deserve a raise!!

A close friend's dad died last weekend, so we attended the visitation Monday evening. Sad time. The funeral the next day was even worse. Her family is Roman Catholic. A "Deacon" came to the visitation to do his thing. No Bible; no hope; just empty words with no meaning. The funeral mass was very traditional, probably because it was an Italian family. Even less hope there. It was amazing, as a grace believer who is used to funerals being a time of rejoicing and celebration, to witness again first hand the emptiness of external religion.

This was my second Roman Catholic funeral in the last month. The former was for the sister of a good friend who died far too young of cancer. Her fourth grade son's school class made up the choir for the service. The most interesting thing that day was watching the fourth grade boys lining up get their drink of the communion wine! It was humorous to watch several try to get in line more than once. The idea struck me that it would be illegal to give alcohol to minors. But then, this was a Roman Catholic church and Rome has never recognized the authority of the government over its activities. They consider their churches to be equal to foreign embassies, since the Pope claims both spiritual and political authority. At the second, more traditional mass only the priest and deacon got the wine. But they did make sure it was all consumed!

To witness people talking about the things of the Bible and yet being so blind to the truth of the gospel is astounding. It demonstrates the truth of II Cor. 4:3,4. The few folks I was able to engage in conversation were totally uninterested in pursuing the crunch questions: Do you know for sure where you will spend eternity? If you could know, would you like to know? Would you like to see what the Bible says about having all your sins forgiven, eternal life as a present possession and heaven as your home? I personally asked four different people those questions at the second funeral. Not one person was interested or thought it was something they wanted to pursue! Romans 10:3 was in evidence; Roman 10:4 was greatly needed!

I hope to blog a bit from Pigeon Forge. I'm still trying to strike a balance and get in the habit of posting regularly. Most of my time there will be spent either in the meetings or putting the finishing touches on the workbook for our upcoming Marriage Matters workshop scheduled for March 31. I have a new gaget to keep me in touch with the office via the internet. Just what I need--now I can't get away from work no matter where I go. Pray for the meetings. I'll be preaching each evening, Saturday through Thursday, then driving home Friday.

Maranatha!
Arjay