In 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 Paul informs the Corinthians of his decision to remain for a time at Ephesus, “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he found approximately twelve disciples.
In preparing our recent issue of our newsletter, Side-by-Side, I had the opportunity to review literally hundreds of photos of IBL’s twenty-five years of ministry to thousands of leaders across the U.S. and around the world (one of my favorites is shown at the left). Since my own personal involvement with IBL dates from 1994— when Russ came to the church I attended in upstate New York to facilitate us in a long-range planning process—many of these photos brought back wonderful personal memories of God’s work in my churches and in the lives of my friends.
On August 4 I sent to the Asia Biblical Theological Seminary (ABTS) headquarters a package of my assignments for my last extension course, but after six weeks there has been no affirmation of ABTS receiving it. Moreover, on September 12 I was summoned to the Police Headquarters here in Ho Chi Minh City to "provide them more information related to that package."
