September 8, 2010

Don't Miss Out

 AFTER I came HOME FROM ATLANTA, MANY PEOPLE ASKED ME, “HOW did you enjoy the General Conference session?” Unfortunately, I always gave a nuanced response such as, “The GC session was an extremely enjoyable event, but I had precious little time to enjoy it.”
 
Like scores of church employees who provided technical support, my time in Atlanta was consumed by working with the Adventist Review team to bring you the news from the session floor in a timely manner.
 
In the evenings, when division leaders presented their reports and devotional speakers gave their sermons, our team was busy writing stories, taking pictures, updating Web pages, digitizing audio and video feeds, and preparing copy. All this was necessary to deliver a completed magazine (both in print and online) each day to delegates and guests.
 
While I came away from the session filled with a sense of fulfillment, I couldn’t help feeling like I missed something.
 
With an attendance of about 70,000, the General Conference session was a great gathering of Adventists from all over the world, an event that always heightens my appreciation for the worldwide family of God. But there will be an even greater gathering in the future, when all God’s sons and daughters will meet Jesus face to face. And I don’t want anything—not even good works—to keep me from enjoying it.
 
Jesus warned us, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you’” (Matt. 7:21-23). 
 
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Carlos Medley is online editor of the Adventist Review. This article was published September 9, 2010.

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