Participants: Wintley Phipps (Host), Adly Campos, Georges J Fleurimond, J.D. Quinn
Series Code: PFM
Program Code: PFM000013A
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00:27 Hi, I'm Wintley Phipps, and welcome to our program,
00:30 Perfecting Me, Becoming More Like Jesus. 00:35 I'm so glad you joined us. 00:37 My guests today on our program are JD Quinn, 00:40 3ABN Pastoral Ministries Manager, 00:42 Georges Fleurimond, 00:44 Pastor of the West Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:47 and Mrs. Adly Campos, Speaker and President 00:49 of Family Well-Being International. 00:52 You'll hear from them a little later. 00:55 In the State of New York, there is an old cemetery 00:58 that holds the graves of Northern soldiers 01:01 who fought and died during the Civil War. 01:04 Over one grave, in particular, hangs the simple 01:07 but touching epitaph "He died for me". 01:12 The sign was placed there by a man who had been 01:14 drafted to fight in that war, 01:16 the bloodiest in American history. 01:19 He had a wife and children, and he despaired at the thought 01:22 of leaving them alone unprotected 01:25 in the event of his death. 01:27 As he prepared for his departure, 01:29 someone knocked on the door. 01:32 The man opened the door to find a stranger who said, 01:35 "I have neither a wife nor a child." 01:39 The young man said, "You have a family, 01:41 so I have arranged to go in your place." 01:45 Throughout the many months of that terrible war, 01:48 this father watched the newspaper 01:50 for a list of the wounded and dead. 01:53 One day, he saw the young man's name 01:57 and realized that he had died on a nearby battlefield. 02:01 The man rushed to retrieve the body, 02:04 having identified the young man among the fallen, 02:07 he brought his body home. 02:09 And there, with great tenderness and respect, 02:13 he buried the young man in his family cemetery. 02:17 He attached the sign that said, "He died for me." 02:23 What would cause someone to give his life for another 02:26 as the young man in this story? 02:29 The only answer, love. 02:34 The highest and most noble expression 02:37 of the character of God, love. 02:41 It is the only explanation for such a pure 02:45 and selfless sacrifice on behalf of a stranger. 02:49 Today, we will take our first look 02:52 at this most beautiful, majestic dimension 02:54 of God's character, love. 03:01 I was a student in college, and I was madly in love 03:05 with a pretty girl by the name of Linda. 03:08 Everything took on and enhanced meaning, 03:11 every song seemed to be about us. 03:14 The campus was more beautiful, the classes were more exciting. 03:19 And no matter what I was doing, 03:22 a part of me was always thinking about Linda. 03:27 That's what love does to you. 03:29 And it makes you do some crazy things too. 03:32 For example, I'm not a plumber, 03:35 but I'm observant and determined, 03:37 so when one of the faucets at Linda's mother's house 03:40 stopped working, I saw the opportunity 03:44 to gain some manly points. 03:47 And I'm still not sure how I did it, 03:50 let's just call it a mix of desperation 03:52 and perseverance, but I fixed the faucet, 03:55 I became a plumber. 03:57 Linda still calls me today her knight in shining armor. 04:03 And ever since that day, I've been determined 04:06 to keep that image alive. 04:10 Linda and I were married, 04:12 and we've been married for 41 years. 04:14 We still enjoy telling people, 04:17 "We met on a trip around the world," 04:18 because that feeling of being in love, 04:21 we still have it to this day. 04:24 But I meet so many husbands and wives who have become 04:27 a little more than roommates. 04:30 That Eros, love has dwindled from flames to burning coals 04:35 and then to ashes. 04:38 Their marriages are cold. 04:40 I heard about a couple that was driving home 04:42 from a restaurant where they had celebrated 04:44 their 25th wedding anniversary. 04:47 Sitting over against the door, the wife began to reminisce, 04:51 "Oh, honey, remember when we were so close 04:55 when we first got married? 04:56 We sat so close you could hardly shift the gears, 05:00 and now look at us." 05:02 Her husband quickly responded, "I do remember, 05:05 but I'm not the one who moved." 05:09 Maintaining a marriage requires the hard work of learning 05:13 to love each other in more ways and in better ways. 05:16 It requires learning to make the decision 05:20 that your love is more important 05:23 than hurt feelings. 05:25 It requires making all of the other aspects 05:29 of your life subservient 05:31 to the preservation of that relationship. 05:35 It requires opening your heart over and over and over again. 05:41 It reminds me of another couple 05:42 that had been married for 50 years. 05:44 One day, the wife said to her husband, 05:46 "Things have changed. 05:47 You used to sit very close to me." 05:50 "Well, I can remedy that," the husband answered. 05:52 He got up and moved over, sat next to her on the sofa, 05:56 then she said, "You always used to hold me tight, 05:58 do you remember?" 06:00 "Oh, yes, I do," answered the husband. 06:03 He placed his arms around her and gave her a big hug. 06:06 Then he asked, "How is that?" 06:08 With a little smile on her face, 06:09 the wife continued, 06:11 "You used to nuzzle my neck and nibble on my ear. 06:15 Do you remember that?" 06:17 All of a sudden, the husband jumped to his feet 06:19 and left the room. 06:21 "Where are you going," his wife called after him. 06:23 "I'll be right back," he answered, 06:25 "I got to get my teeth." 06:29 Romantic love is a wonderful thing 06:31 if you do it right. 06:33 You would not leave a beautiful diamond ring lying around 06:35 where it could be lost or stolen. 06:37 You take good care of it 06:39 and good care of things you treasure. 06:42 Take care of the love that God has given 06:45 to both of you. 06:47 Take care of the love that is in your heart. 06:51 I want you to see this video brought to us by our friends 06:55 at the 700 Club. 07:01 I wanted to serve my country after what I saw in 9/11. 07:06 And I was watching in the news the invasion of the marines 07:09 in Fallujah. 07:10 And I said, "I should be doing that." 07:13 So I joined the Marine Corps. 07:16 May 4, 2010, I was deployed to Iraq three different times, 07:20 those were three combat deployments 07:22 with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. 07:24 In the 2010, now I'm married. I have a family. 07:27 Nairobi was four years old, and my youngest one 07:30 was a couple months. 07:32 May 16, 2010, I was getting ready 07:35 to go on a foot patrol, group of 19 marines. 07:38 We ended the mission, we were ready to go. 07:40 And when I was walking, I stepped on an IED. 07:44 It was before the Father's Day and before our anniversary. 07:48 I was on my way to the postal office 07:50 to send my care package, and then somebody called me, 07:53 and they just asked me, "Are you Mrs. Evans?" 07:56 And at that moment, I knew something wrong happened 07:59 to Carlos, but I thought he was already dead. 08:02 I heard a big explosion, 08:04 that's how I knew I stepped on it. 08:06 Both my legs got blown up. 08:09 My left arm got blown up too. 08:13 I started losing so much blood, 08:14 I had nine tourniquets in my body. 08:18 I had four here, four here, and one here. 08:21 At that time, I wanted to die 08:24 because I was going through so much pain. 08:26 The marine that was with me, he kept asking me, you know, 08:29 "What's your wife's name?" 08:30 And I told him, "Rose." 08:32 He's like, "What are your daughters' names?" 08:33 I'm like, "Nairobi" I said. 08:35 He's like, "You're going to go home to them. 08:36 You're not going to die here today." 08:38 And that's the last thing I remember. 08:41 I think six days passed by, and I woke up 08:43 in Bethesda Washington, D.C., Hospital. 08:46 I opened my eyes, and I saw my wife right next to me. 08:51 But it didn't sink in what actually happened to me 08:55 after I left the hospital. 08:57 That's when I really had to adjust to life. 09:03 I was struggling with a body that I didn't want. 09:07 There were days that I wanted to die. 09:09 I woke up every day, and I'm like, you know, 09:11 "How can I die?" 09:13 And I was having a lot of mood swings 09:15 because I was taking a lot of medication. 09:17 Some days, I was in my room all day crying. 09:20 I was thanking God because I was alive, 09:23 but at the same time, I was mad 09:25 because I didn't understand why, 09:28 and I'm a Christian, this could happen to me, 09:31 you know, why am I going through so much pain, 09:34 you know, where are you God, you know. 09:38 My prayer at the time was, "God, give me the wisdom 09:41 to make the right decisions, or say the right words to him, 09:47 or encourage him, and encourage my family, 09:50 keep them together 'cause I don't want to lose them. 09:53 I don't want to lose my family through this situation." 09:56 I think three months after my injury, 09:59 I go to the living room, and I see my wife, 10:03 and I'm getting ready to tell her, I'm like, 10:04 "You know what, 10:08 you should just continue with your life, 10:09 and I'll continue with mine. 10:11 I will just stay here 'cause you don't deserve this." 10:16 And she just looks at me, right, straight in the eyes, 10:21 and she just tells me, "I prayed to God 10:25 to bring you back home alive, and you are here alive. 10:30 You are my husband. And I love you for who you are. 10:34 I am not a widow, 10:37 and your daughters are not orphans. 10:40 You are their father." 10:41 She tells me, "I love you for who you are." 10:45 And I was like, 10:46 "Oh, you can't love me for who I am. 10:47 Look at all my wounds in my body." 10:50 And she told me, "It's the difference 10:52 between you and me. 10:54 I don't see your wounds, I only see your scars. 10:58 And the scars are the evidence of who healed your wounds, 11:02 and that is Jesus. 11:05 And He is the center of my life. 11:07 And we're going to make it through." 11:10 That same week, my wife told me, 11:13 "We need to go to church this week." 11:16 I haven't been to my church like six or seven months. 11:21 I had this moment by myself in the church, I was like, 11:26 "You know what, Lord, I... 11:29 I just don't know how to do this. 11:31 You know, I don't... 11:33 I don't know how to live this way." 11:36 In my heart, in my mind comes a scripture, you know, 11:39 "You can do all things through Christ that strengthens you." 11:42 And I'm like, "Lord, I have so much pain in my body. 11:45 I have all these wounds." 11:48 And right there, I look at the cross 11:49 and I see Jesus, and I see His wounds, 11:53 that He was wounded so I could be healed. 11:55 And that was a big breakthrough in my life. 11:58 He was more positive. 12:00 He was like more focused and more determined to change. 12:06 I started not focusing on what I don't have and focusing 12:10 on the things that I have. 12:13 And I started enjoying my life, waking up with a smile, 12:18 and finding God's purpose behind all this, 12:23 that God could use our scars to heal others. 12:28 We speak to a lot of wounded veterans 12:32 like myself. 12:34 There's a lot of people out there 12:35 that are going through a lot and they want to give up, 12:37 and they need to see an example, 12:40 we share our lives with them. 12:42 Not everybody have a husband that lost both legs, 12:46 but everybody have hard times. 12:48 On my part, what I could say is ask God for wisdom. 12:51 The only right decisions come from Him. 12:54 When God looks at you, He doesn't look at you 12:58 as a victim, as a cripple, sick, 13:03 God looks at you as a son and as a conqueror. 13:09 And when you look at yourself through that mirror, 13:11 whatever looks impossible, it becomes possible. 13:15 So I looked at this experience, I'm like, 13:18 "Wow, this is a blessing in disguise," 13:21 because we have grown so much from it. 13:24 I'm a better father, I'm a better husband, 13:25 I'm a better person. 13:27 And we're touching a lot of people 13:29 through God's grace. 13:32 So I don't regret it. 13:35 If I have to go through it all over again, 13:37 will do it the same way. 13:45 Joining us again are my guests JD Quinn, and Adly Campos, 13:49 and Pastor George Fleurimond. 13:51 You know, love is the zenith of God's character. 13:55 It is the highest, most noble expression 13:59 of the character of God. 14:00 As a matter of fact, there are many dimensions 14:02 of character in the Word of God associated with God 14:06 but only one so closely associated as love, 14:11 so much so that the Bible says, "God is love." 14:16 JD, what expressions of love... 14:21 Or what to you is a great manifestation 14:24 and what is your definition of what love is? 14:30 Well, you know, I've been very fortunate in my life 14:33 because I was raised in a family with love. 14:35 Yes. 14:36 And love was taken for granted, and then I met my wife. 14:39 Yes. 14:40 And then that's when I began to have 14:42 a better understanding of love. 14:44 Right now, I'd say longevity. 14:46 Why longevity? Why longevity? 14:48 Because I've learned what exchange is, 14:53 I've learned what trust is, I've learned, you know, 14:56 what acceptance is, I've learned that 14:59 in spite of weaknesses, I'm unconditionally loved. 15:03 And so if you can see that with your wife, 15:06 you know where that came from and that it's a gift from God. 15:09 Yes. 15:10 And then I've learned that taking it a step further 15:13 is with my brothers and sisters in Christ. 15:15 Yes. Yes. 15:16 And then I became a father, 15:18 and that is by sharing with others. 15:20 I have the opportunity talking to people daily. 15:23 Yes. 15:24 And just taking a little bit of that love 15:27 that the Lord has put in my heart 15:28 and sharing words of encouragement with others. 15:31 Absolutely. Adly, how about you, Adly? 15:34 What is your definition of love? 15:38 Love encompasses 15:40 every other virtue that there is. 15:43 Wow. That's true. 15:44 Because love is patient, because love forgives, 15:48 because love forgets, because love... 15:52 it's so great that we forget about self 15:56 in order to make someone else happy, 15:59 in order to fulfill their needs, 16:02 in order to be able to spend 16:06 50, 52 years together 16:09 and be able to still enjoy that relationship out of love 16:14 because you have forgiven each other for so many years, 16:18 because you have learned 16:19 to accept each other just the way you are, 16:22 and because we understand that in order to be able 16:27 to love others, we have to love ourselves. 16:32 Right. 16:33 That is something that, very seldom, we think of. 16:36 Yes. 16:37 I must love myself in order to love someone else. 16:40 Yes. 16:41 When I love myself in the correct way, 16:44 I am able and willing to love other people. 16:47 Right. 16:49 And that is why Jesus says, 16:50 "Love your neighbor as yourself." 16:52 Many times in the way we grow, the way we were brought up, 16:57 we don't love ourselves because we were mistreated, 17:00 we were abused, and whatnot. 17:01 Yeah. Yeah. 17:03 But always, we can come to the fountain of love, 17:06 which is God, and He will teach us 17:08 how to love ourselves. 17:10 Yes. And love others. 17:11 Absolutely. 17:12 And I really believe God 17:14 wants us to have love in our character 17:17 because we are going to a place of love. 17:22 Heaven is a place of love. 17:25 As a matter of fact, the servant of God says 17:27 that the law of heaven is self-renouncing love. 17:33 And that is the kind of love we need to have in our lives, 17:37 in our character if we want to live in a place of love. 17:41 Pastor Fleurimond, 17:43 what is your definition of love? 17:46 When I think of love, I think of selflessness. 17:49 You know, in the Word of God, it talks about, you know, 17:53 there's no greater love than one who lays down his life 17:57 for his brethren. 17:58 Yeah. 17:59 So when I think of love, I just think about the fact 18:01 that God has called us to be selfless, 18:03 you know, to sacrifice, 18:07 to be able to be like Christ 18:11 in such a way that when we love others, 18:13 they can see the Christ in us. 18:15 Yes. 18:16 As a matter of fact, God says that when we love, 18:20 people will know that we are His disciples. 18:23 Yes. That's right. 18:24 And so I think that the self-sacrificing type 18:27 of love is what I would describe love to me is. 18:31 You know, being married for less than five years now, 18:35 I've learned that you must be selfless 18:39 in loving your bride. 18:41 Yes. Yes. 18:43 And, my brother, it is going to be a beautiful lifelong 18:47 learning lesson of being selfless. 18:50 And that kind of love will prepare you for heaven, 18:55 no doubt about it. 18:56 My definition of love is love is when you can choose to be 19:03 at your best when the other person 19:07 is not at their best. 19:09 It takes love to do that, and it's a choice. 19:13 You have to choose to be at your best 19:16 when the other person is not at their best. 19:18 And another definition, 19:20 which is even more difficult really, 19:22 love is when what you want is never important 19:28 and what the other person needs is paramount, 19:32 what the other person needs is always, 19:35 and get what I said now, always more important. 19:40 And the reason that's my definition 19:43 is because that's the way God loves us, 19:47 when what we needed was more important to Him 19:53 than what He wanted. 19:56 You know, He knew we needed salvation. 19:59 And what we needed was more important, 20:01 was paramount, and that's how He loves us. 20:04 And He put what He needed... 20:08 what we needed I should say, ahead of Himself. 20:13 That's real, real love. 20:15 Now I want to ask you before... 20:17 Yes, I... Go ahead, Adly, yes. 20:18 Go ahead, Adly. 20:20 I like to always say that when God places the roles 20:26 of the husband and wives and children, 20:29 He speaks to the husband, the one and only command 20:32 that He gives to the husband is love your wife. 20:36 Yes. Yes. Love your wife. 20:38 Yes. 20:40 And He repeats it four times, "Love your wife. 20:43 Love your wife." 20:45 And then He says, "Love her to the point of sacrifice." 20:50 In the same way that Jesus loved us so much 20:52 that He was willing to sacrifice Himself 20:55 in order to show His love for us, the husbands, 20:59 and also wives, and brothers, and sisters, and children 21:03 ought to love others to the point of sacrifice, 21:07 give up what you like, what you want in order 21:11 to please the other person and be a person 21:15 that even though might not be the person 21:21 you want to love... 21:22 Yes. 21:24 You can love because God is telling you to love them. 21:27 That's right. 21:28 Because it's easy to love those that love us, 21:31 but very hard and almost impossible 21:34 to love someone that is not loveable. 21:36 "Nevertheless," He said, "there's nothing important 21:40 in loving those who love you." 21:42 It's, "Love those that do not love you." 21:46 Yes. Love your enemies. 21:47 Yes. The hard part. 21:49 Yeah, that's what He said. 21:50 "If you really want to be like Me, love your enemies." 21:53 Yeah. 21:55 Do you think we can make it to the kingdom of God 21:59 without learning to love? 22:03 Can people who do not love expect to make it 22:07 into God's kingdom? 22:10 What do you think, Pastor Fleurimond? 22:14 I don't believe that's possible, 22:16 you know, we're taking... 22:17 If we're going to take our characters 22:19 with us to heaven... 22:20 Yeah. 22:21 And we want to be more like Christ, 22:23 it is impossible to not be loving 22:26 and not to love and to be in a kingdom 22:29 that is built of love, you know. 22:31 All right. And so I would say no. 22:33 You know, especially a kingdom, the laws are built on love, 22:38 love God and love your fellow men. 22:40 I would say no. Yes. Yes. 22:41 How about you, JD? What do you think? 22:45 Well, I think that the contentment 22:47 plays a large part in love. 22:48 Okay. 22:50 If you're truly in love, then I don't know 22:52 if you'd be content in heaven if you weren't loving 22:57 because those who are about to 22:59 probably would be unhappy that you're there. 23:02 Yeah. 23:04 Or maybe not unhappy but not content 23:08 when you're there. 23:09 Yes. 23:11 And I think love is one of the most important dimensions 23:16 that prepare us for resembling, reflecting, 23:22 and revealing the character of God. 23:24 Amen. Amen. 23:25 And that's what going to heaven is all about. 23:28 Yes. It is... 23:29 You know, when God looks at us to decide... 23:34 And because that's really important, 23:35 a lot of people don't realize. 23:37 Jesus is not only our Savior, 23:41 but He also is our judge. 23:45 And we don't like to think about it that way, 23:47 but He is not only our Savior, He is also our judge, 23:51 which means He is going to be looking at us to see 23:55 how much we look like Him before we are blessed 24:00 with entrance into His kingdom. 24:04 So we need to pray that God will give us greater love 24:08 in our own hearts and greater love for others 24:12 who are not like us. 24:14 Don't you think that's one of the great needs 24:16 of our church today and our world today 24:20 to love those who don't look like you? 24:22 Sister Adly, what do you think about that? 24:23 Yeah. Yes. Yes. 24:25 I believe that it's so important 24:29 that many times, we as a church, 24:33 are doing our best, investing a lot of money 24:37 in order to bring new people to the church. 24:40 Yes. 24:41 And yet when the meetings are over, 24:44 evangelistic meetings, 24:46 and they are left behind in the church that is cold, 24:51 that doesn't know how to embrace them, 24:54 that doesn't know how to show love to them 24:57 and make them feel accepted in that new environment, 25:02 many of them choose to abandon and go back to 25:05 where they were before because maybe in their church, 25:08 they had more warmth and more love 25:10 than what they find in our churches. 25:12 Yeah. Very true. Very true. 25:13 So we need to really make it a purpose in our life 25:18 to show our love to those especially 25:21 that are new comers to our church 25:24 that they will feel welcome, that they will feel loved, 25:26 that they will feel accepted, and then they will choose 25:29 to remain in our midst. 25:31 You know, the Lord says, "By this shall men know 25:33 that ye are My disciples 25:36 if you just show love one for another." 25:39 Thank you so much. 25:41 It's always great talking to you all, 25:43 and thank you for being here with us today. 25:49 The Bible tells us that we are continually 25:52 to behold Him, 25:54 to meditate on the grace of His character, 25:57 to contemplate His love, and by beholding, 26:02 we shall become changed. 26:05 Jesus revealed to the world in His character 26:08 that God is love. 26:11 The beloved apostle explains, 26:13 "Behold, what manner of love 26:15 the Father hath bestowed upon us 26:18 that we should be called the sons of God. 26:21 Therefore, the world knoweth us not because it knew Him not. 26:26 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, 26:30 and it doth not yet appear what we shall be 26:34 but we know that when He shall appear, 26:38 we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is." 26:45 God has placed His seal of love upon us. 26:49 And because He manifests in us His own character of love, 26:54 we will see our Savior face to face. 26:58 Christ is going to uplift all who want to be lifted 27:02 into companionship with Him that we may be one with Him 27:08 as He is one with the Father. 27:10 He permits us, yes, to come in contact 27:13 with suffering and calamity 27:16 in order to call us out of our selfishness. 27:20 He wants to develop in us 27:22 the attributes of His character. 27:25 Those attributes are compassion. 27:29 He wants us to develop tenderness. 27:33 He wants us to develop love. 27:37 And those who follow after Christ will learn 27:41 to love like Christ loved. 27:45 I'm Wintley Phipps, and remember, 27:48 to be a Christian means to be Christ-like. |
Revised 2018-08-16