The Lord blessed the second night of the tent meeting in Vilas, NC. The crowd was a bit smaller than it was on Monday, but that can be attributed to showers that were moving through the area. By the time we started the service, the sun was shining. We had a great service and the Lord moved in power, speaking to hearts and doing His eternal work in lives. I praise Him for His faithfulness to His Word and to His people! I suppose we will head that way again later today for night number three. Please pray for the meeting, if you will. Also, pray for my throat. Preaching in the great outdoors is taking a toll on my ability to speak. I would appreciate your prayers.

A bluegrass group sang in the service last night. They did a good job, but the first song they sang bothered me a bit. It was a song about an old preacher. The chorus went something like this: “He didn’t have any education, but he had what it takes.” The emphasis being that education was a bad thing. I am sure the folks singing the song did not mean it in a negative way. But, I felt like I needed to address the issue. In our part of the world there are some people who think that a preacher who goes to school is a liberal. I personally believe that the call to preach is the call to prepare oneself for the ministry. There are some schools and some professors who think it is there responsibility to undermine every student’s faith in the things of God. Those schools and those professors need to be avoided like the plague. Not all schools and not all teachers are like that. I have been privileged to get a little education. My path through Bible school was a little nontraditional, to say the least, but I am thankful for the twelve years or so spent in the classroom after I graduated from high school. For the past ten years I have been an instructor in a Bible Institute. So, I do have some experience in the matter. I can say that a good, biblical education helps far more than it hinders. If you have bought into the lie that a preacher does not need school, I would advise you to look at that matter again. If memory serves me correctly, Paul spent three years in the wilderness after his call, shut away with the Word of God, preparing himself for the ministry that lay ahead of him. You may not be able to go to a traditional college and seminary, but there are many opportunities to get a good Bible education. I can recommend West Lenoir Baptist School of Ministry without reservation. Every instructor, save yours truly, is a genuine, Spirit-filled, man of God. Every instructor is a Bible-believing Pastor. Every instructor, save your truly, is a great preacher of the Word. Here is the web site: www.wlbsm.net, and the first day of class this year will be August 24 at 8:30 AM. Come join us, if you are a God called man. If you do, you will get an education that will help you develop the gifts and calling the Lord has placed in and on your life.