April 10, 1912 - March 13, 2007

My grandfather Albert Dittes passed away today. Interestingly enough he shared the same birthday as my fiancee Joelle on April 10. We were hoping he would make it to his 95th birthday next month. He lived a good long life. He was a general practice physician who practiced in my hometown of Portland, TN for 52 years. There was a time when he had delivered nearly every person in the town. He was well-known and respected in the small town of 5,000 people. He graduated from Loma Linda in 1940. I graduated in 2004. It puts the length of my life in perspective. He was a wonderful grandfather and he will be missed by everyone in our family. It's been a little less than four years since my dad passed away. All I can say is that we as Adventists need to become more serious about our message. Once we live our lives with the realization and expectation that God raised up the Advent movement to prepare people for translation and not for death, then we will see what we have so long been waiting for as a people since 1844 and the sadness of death will no longer afflict us.

On a happier note, Restoration with Ivor Myers was very powerful this year. He presented the power of God's love in connection with obedience in a way I had never seen before. It was very powerful and just what God's people needed to hear. All of his sermons should be up soon at www.audioverse.org or www.restorationministry.net