On July 31, 2013, in order to attend the International Summer Bible Conference 2013 at the Indiana State University in Indiana, Pennsylvania, I and my wife Rebekah packed up early in the evening. Charles came to our house at 8:00 p..m. and gave us a ride to LAX. It was a red-eye flight.
We arrived at the Washington Dulles Airport at 6:00 a.m. of August 1. At the Hertz Car Rental I rejected the GPS option for to find the way we relied on the Google Map on my phone. On the way though we got lost.
But somehow the Google Map on my IPhone 5 managed us to get to the Pennsylvania Welcome Station.
There we secured a Penn State road map. We realized that we were not far from the conference site. Overall it took us 6.5 hours to arrive at the conference site.
At the registration desk they provided us with a box "dinner". I was hungry so I took Rebekah to the grass area next to the conference site. The late afternoon sun was still strong, so I looked for a shady area; I could not find any except for a thin strip of shadow of a tall tree, so we sat in the shade that was cast on the grass, drawing a little comfort.
But in a few seconds the shade/shadow shifted, so I had to cover my head with the summer jacket I was wearing. Then I was reminded of what James said on life: "a mist". "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a while and than vanishes." James 4:14 I also saw many UBF members who were coming to attend the conference grew a lot older. Most of their heads became like the San Bernandino Mountain covered with snow during winter seasons. Yet, the shifting shadow led me to thinking about what James said of man's life which is transitory just like the shifting shadow of a tree long cast in the evening sun of Indiana, PA. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17 We change, but God doesn't so we who in Him are eternal though passing for now.
We arrived at the Washington Dulles Airport at 6:00 a.m. of August 1. At the Hertz Car Rental I rejected the GPS option for to find the way we relied on the Google Map on my phone. On the way though we got lost.
But somehow the Google Map on my IPhone 5 managed us to get to the Pennsylvania Welcome Station.
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| Pennsylvania Welcome Center (Crossing from Virginia) (Rebekah stands in the middle) |
At the registration desk they provided us with a box "dinner". I was hungry so I took Rebekah to the grass area next to the conference site. The late afternoon sun was still strong, so I looked for a shady area; I could not find any except for a thin strip of shadow of a tall tree, so we sat in the shade that was cast on the grass, drawing a little comfort.
But in a few seconds the shade/shadow shifted, so I had to cover my head with the summer jacket I was wearing. Then I was reminded of what James said on life: "a mist". "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a while and than vanishes." James 4:14 I also saw many UBF members who were coming to attend the conference grew a lot older. Most of their heads became like the San Bernandino Mountain covered with snow during winter seasons. Yet, the shifting shadow led me to thinking about what James said of man's life which is transitory just like the shifting shadow of a tree long cast in the evening sun of Indiana, PA. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17 We change, but God doesn't so we who in Him are eternal though passing for now.
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| Shadow 1 - me with jacket pulled over head; 2 - Rebekah; 3 - tree |
As I and Rebekah walked to the conference hall, Hyerin Yoon, younger sister of Daniel Yoon from Zimbabwe, greeted me. I was overjoyed, for I missed her very much.
Then at 7;00 p.m. the program started. And from the outset of the conference I drew lots of comfort from the conference theme title, "So loved, so love", for the Love of our Lord Jesus represents the anti-thesis of the ever transient nature of man's life, as transient as the ever shifting shadow of the tree cast in the afternoon sun.
The opening worship in song entitled "Victory in Jesus" was truly powerful.
Then at 7;00 p.m. the program started. And from the outset of the conference I drew lots of comfort from the conference theme title, "So loved, so love", for the Love of our Lord Jesus represents the anti-thesis of the ever transient nature of man's life, as transient as the ever shifting shadow of the tree cast in the afternoon sun.
The opening worship in song entitled "Victory in Jesus" was truly powerful.
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