Hello From Tampa!

[Nahum]

I am sorry I have not been able to post much since I've been in Tampa. I did do my best to feed election results to Daniel as soon as I could though. Hope that helped you folks out.

After talking to several District Secretary's and polling a group of men from across geographical lines of the fellowship I feel I can say the following with a measure of confidence. BTW, this information is my opinion only, and does not constitute any inside info from any particular source.

1. Very few men believe the resolution will pass in it's current form. In fact, absolutely no one I have spoken with believes it will pass.

2. There is talk that the Ohio District will attempt to amend the resolution the minute it is announced tomorrow. This move would serve the purpose of luring undecided voters across the aisle by defining what the word "advertising" means.

Two possibilities are being mentioned currently. First is defining advertising by the length of the ads. Second is the idea of one central dept. being the sole entity allowed to advertise within the org. No one I have spoken with believes the resolution will pass even if it is amended as I have mentioned.

3. The wheel of change turns slowly. A wise elder mentioned a comparable issue from a few years back that took a lot of time to push through. The issue was term limits. He stated that it took four or five years to reach a compromise everyone could live with.

4. Brother Haney handled today's business session with grace and dignity. There was a brief moment of excellence during a lapse in activity today. I did not write down the exact quote, but the gist of his remarks was this.

(paraphrasing) "This gospel needs to circle the globe. We do not need to be afraid to take what we have to the world. We need to cling tight to what we have as we reach out to other denominations."

"Don't be afraid of what I just said, we are not inviting them in here, we are taking this to them. Everyone needs to hear this message."

"We should be thankful for what we have, but not ARROGANT."