Good Christian writing is not the writer talking about himself. Good Christian writing is talking about subjects that will encourage the reader to look to Christ. So please forgive me because I am going to talk about myself for just a moment. Ron and Allie recently asked me to come on board as a volunteer consultant to see if there are any opportunities for process improvement within the CEM office. Poking around CEM and asking questions about the operations has been interesting and fun. It’s nice to see the inner workings of a ministry devoted to promoting Jesus Christ.

At this time, I would like to say thank you for those of you who allow us to serve you. And thank you to those who support CEM. May I tell you a fictional story? It has to do with time travel.

Let’s pretend that we could travel back in time (which we can’t) to about 1600 AD. And let’s pretend we could bring someone back to our current day—someone who is knowledgeable about the world of his time over 400 years ago. And let’s take this person on a tour of our present world.

We would start by taking him to Europe and showing him that Europe today is composed of many nations trying to achieve some degree of unity, but can’t because of different languages and religions. Upon seeing this, our time traveling visitor would say, “That’s how it was in my day 400 years ago.” Then we would take him to China and show him that China is a huge authoritarian empire that is hindered by government bureaucracy. He would say, “That’s how it was in my day.”

We would show how the Middle East is a cauldron of Islamic infighting. We would show him how sub-Saharan Africa is suffering from disease and starvation. And show how Japan is homogeneous and mistrustful of outsiders. We would show him how Latin America has many rich oligarchs, but is hindered by the majority of its citizens living in poverty. To all this, our visitor would say, “That’s how it was in my day.” In most of the world, there has not been much change in the last 400 years.

But then we take him to North America and show him a nation with a vibrant economy and a population that is successful when it comes to great inventions, a representative system of government, a splendid highway system, innovative research and development programs, a considerably wealthy population, and really good health care. His jaw would drop. He’d say, “Wow! In 1600 this continent was sparsely populated and had absolutely no knowledge of the Bible!” In the last 400 years, the North American continent is where there has been immense and incredible change. This is the world we live in.

Although CEM serves people all over the world, its primary support comes from the U.S. Again, we thank you for your support no matter where you live.

But I have been asking myself this question a lot recently: “What are the people of this great land doing to promote the Gospel message?” I have come to the conclusion that the answer is, “Not enough! Not nearly enough!” Considering the assets that this country possesses, we are not even coming close to doing what we can to promote Jesus’ saving grace. Rather than putting their efforts into promoting the Bible to all nations, our people are more preoccupied with polarizing politics, sports, and reality TV. This is wrong! At CEM, we do not attempt to judge any individual in matters such as good works. These things are between each person and God. Only He can judge.

But we do feel the necessity to issue a warning: We don’t know exactly why God has blessed this nation so greatly. We can only ponder the thought that, if we don’t do God’s Work, is it possible God will remove these wonderful blessings from our country? This is not a prophecy or a prediction. It is only a question.

Many of God’s people are diligently supporting the Work of God through various ministries. CEM does not claim to be the only ministry doing God’s Work. We have brothers and sisters in other organizations who are doing God’s Work. We applaud them and pray for them.

The point of this article is to encourage you to support God’s Work and to encourage others to support God’s Work. And not just with financial assistance. As Christians, we should be using our time, talents, and treasures to promote God’s Work.

Now the skeptic is going to say, “Wes is making an attempt at financial gain.” No. I am not on any salary. I am retired and feel a responsibility to assist whatever brethren and ministries I can within my time limits.

May I get really frank at this point? Some skeptic might now be wondering that this is all perhaps a cynical ploy to increase money on behalf of Ron and Allie. Let me tell you what I have recently discovered. Ron (who has been an effective servant of God and his people for decades) makes a lower salary than I did before I retired as a contract analyst in a rural hospital system. Allie makes no salary from CEM at all. Their primary source of income is from real estate that Allie has been working on for years. CEM is a labor of love for the Darts and they are not getting rich from it.

Have I been too blunt? Please permit me to be even more blunt. It is the desire of Ron and Allie to only continue spreading Bible knowledge at this time. It is also their desire for the CEM ministry to continue after they go to “sleep with their fathers.” I believe in the mission of CEM, so I too desire to see CEM continue for decades. You know that Ron’s teachings are timeless and will be of value 50 or 100 years from now, just as they are today. Are you in agreement with this?

Again, we thank you for allowing CEM to serve you. We thank you for your support. And not just financially. Please continue to pray for this ministry daily. Yes, daily. Please don’t let a day go by without praying for CEM. We need God’s blessing which comes from your prayers. Please stay connected with us via social media. For example, you can friend us on Facebook. Then, when CEM puts out a post on Facebook, you can share it with others whom you are friends with. You can encourage people you know to tune into our weekly Sabbath services. You can encourage others to request our literature.

Please share your thoughts with us. We look forward to hearing from you.