Participants:
Series Code: ASIC
Program Code: ASIC190004S
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00:20 Conservative churches have many good things to say
00:23 to our world. 00:25 You and I, for instance, are honored 00:28 to be a member of a conservative church 00:30 with a very special message 00:32 for the world and for our culture 00:35 just before Jesus comes back. 00:38 However, if we were to diagram churches 00:42 in the shape of a triangle, 00:45 with the most progressive 00:47 or the most liberal along the bottom, 00:49 and at the very top of the triangle, 00:51 we put conservative churches. 00:54 That very tip of the triangle 00:57 would be the Anabaptist churches, 01:00 the Anabaptist peoples. 01:03 And in the very tippy top of that little area 01:08 at the top would be 01:09 the Swartzentruber Amish community. 01:13 You've heard of them recently. 01:16 These are very wonderful people in many aspects. 01:19 Now they are a very tight knit, 01:22 a very hardworking 01:24 and very conservative group. 01:27 I am slightly biased, I will confess, 01:30 my grandfather, Henry Miller was old order Amish 01:34 and I was raised Old German Baptist Brethren, 01:36 I was the eighth generation. 01:40 Now, one doesn't walk in 01:42 or out of that kind of culture very easily. 01:44 I'm here to tell you. 01:46 I did 30 years ago. 01:49 And 17 years ago, 01:50 I began praying for the Adventist Church, 01:53 in general, in Ohio. 01:56 We had various challenges there, 01:58 and I was asking God to help us 02:01 and at the same time, 02:03 I was praying also for my Anabaptist people. 02:08 Why? 02:09 That they would hear the mighty Adventist message 02:11 and accept it, 02:14 seemed like nothing was happening though. 02:18 So I kept praying. 02:20 That's what we should do, right? 02:23 I kept praying, now how many of you 02:25 have read the Desire of Ages? 02:29 Wonderful book, wonderful book. 02:32 And just over five years ago, 02:34 a Desire of Ages found its way 02:37 into the Swartzentruber Amish community 02:40 in northern Ohio. 02:43 The story that you're about to hear 02:45 after the special music 02:48 will delve into 02:51 what that Desire of Ages book meant. 02:56 I could put it this way, it was, 02:58 it was the wonderful Advent message seed 03:01 dropped into the soil of an honest heart. 03:06 Two things to consider 03:08 as you listen to the heartwarming story 03:11 of the Andy Weaver family. 03:14 Number one, 03:16 the Adventist mantle, 03:19 whatever it means to each one of you, 03:21 it has to be picked up 03:22 for it to have any real substance in your life. 03:25 You see, it only becomes yours 03:27 when you pick it up and make it yours. 03:30 Now a parent or a culture can sometimes drape it 03:33 around your shoulders, 03:34 but it's not yours yet, is it? 03:36 Until it comes into the heart. 03:39 We must make it ours, no matter if we are a convert, 03:42 or if we are born into the church. 03:45 Number two, don't give up praying for people. 03:48 This is a lesson I've had to learn over and over 03:50 and I know you have too. 03:53 Keep praying and keep waiting on the Lord. 03:56 And pray for Brother Andy Weaver, 03:58 his wife Naomi 04:00 and their children, dear friends. 04:02 You see it's a long ways 04:03 from the hay fields of Homerville, Ohio, 04:06 to a large inner city. 04:11 The West Salem Mission is evidence 04:14 of a statement Ellen White made 04:16 that no sooner does one come to Christ 04:19 and there is born in sight of them 04:21 or into their heart, 04:23 a desire to tell others 04:25 what a friend they have found in Jesus. 04:28 And so the West Salem Mission 04:30 is a mission up there in the heart of Amish country 04:32 in North Central Ohio. 04:35 They have a burden to share the Adventist message 04:37 with this dear community. 04:40 So without further ado, 04:43 Andy and Naomi, 04:45 may the Lord bless your family 04:47 and may He bless each one of you, 04:49 as He has been so merciful to bless the Weaver family. 04:53 You'll hear this amazing testimony 04:55 after special music. 04:57 God bless. 07:46 Good morning ASI family. 07:50 ASI is a... 07:52 The convention is a exciting time 07:56 in our lives. 07:59 This is where ministries and business people meet, 08:03 and we share our mutual woes and excitement. 08:08 And, of course, this is where 08:10 ministries encourage business people 08:12 to set their priorities straight. 08:16 So we're glad to be here this morning, this weekend. 08:20 Thank you for inviting us. 08:23 There are two exciting events in our lives. 08:28 When I say our lives, in Naomi and my life 08:30 and our family each year. 08:32 And the first one is our camp meeting 08:34 back home at West Salem. 08:36 We've had our fourth camp meeting last week 08:39 when it was scorching hot. 08:41 And so we always, 08:43 we reach a high in our lives during that time. 08:48 And then, like most people when camp meeting is over, 08:51 they go down through the valleys. 08:53 Well, what keeps us up is the thought 08:56 that we're going to ASI next week. 08:58 So we take a little dip, but we try to stay up. 09:02 But then we go home from ASI. 09:05 And then the ship starts sinking 09:07 and life goes back to normal. 09:09 And we think, well, it's going to be forever 09:11 until we're going back to ASI next year. 09:14 But like I said, time does fly. 09:16 And so it's amazing. 09:19 Especially the older you get, 09:21 how fast time actually goes. 09:22 And I'm sure that those of you that are older to me say, 09:24 well, Andy, you don't know what, 09:26 what it means that time flies. 09:28 I remember when I was young, I was in school. 09:30 It took me forever 09:32 to get from grade one through grade eight. 09:34 And then when I graduated from grade eight, 09:37 I wanted to be 17 years old, 09:39 that way I could hang out with the youth. 09:41 That was another half eternity. 09:43 And then after I started hanging out with the youth, 09:46 I met Naomi and fell in love with her 09:49 and I dated her for about three and a half years. 09:51 And that was a long three and a half years 09:54 because it was not up to us, when we get married. 09:57 We had to be old enough. 09:58 We had to have an average of 21 years old. 10:02 And I'm glad my parents had that rule because that, 10:07 that way we didn't get married, 10:09 you know, too young. 10:10 But then after we got married, 10:14 we don't care if the time can stop now, 10:16 we don't care. 10:17 And then time fly. 10:19 That's how it works. 10:21 So today I want to share a little bit of our story 10:24 between Naomi and I, our life story. 10:28 And before I get into that, I'm a little nervous. 10:30 So I'd like to pray. 10:32 And if you would just bow your heads with me, 10:33 we'll have a word of prayer. 10:35 Father in heaven, we're grateful 10:38 that You have not left us in this world alone. 10:41 You care for us. 10:43 And, Father, we pray we claim the promise now, 10:45 when Jesus was here, He said, 10:47 "If you pray for the Holy Spirit, 10:48 I will send you the Holy Spirit." 10:50 So, Father, we claim that promise now, 10:51 teach us and draw close to us 10:54 and, Father, help us to hear Your voice. 10:56 Help us to encourage one another in a time 10:58 where there is a lot of discouragement. 11:00 In a time when people seem to feed on bad news, 11:05 Father, help us to see the good news, 11:07 the excitement, and the climax of the plan of redemption 11:10 where Jesus is coming back soon to take us home. 11:13 Be with us, now we pray in Jesus' name. 11:15 Amen. 11:18 Naomi and I grew up in an... 11:20 Were born and raised in an Amish family. 11:22 We grew up on a dairy farm. 11:24 We were actually neighbors growing up, 11:26 we went to school together. 11:28 Naomi was a part of a family of 11 11:31 and I was part of a family of 8. 11:35 My mother was part of a family of 17. 11:38 Her mother had 17 children in little less than 18 years. 11:43 I would tell you to still pray for her 11:45 but she's sleeping in her grave, 11:46 so it won't do any good. 11:47 She was a very loving grandmother. 11:50 When my grandparents died in their 80s, 11:53 all of their 17 children were still there 11:57 with their original spouses. 11:59 They were all married and had families. 12:02 So I have on my mother's side, 12:04 I have about 180 first cousins. 12:08 On my father's side, 12:10 my dad was part of a family of 14. 12:13 When my dad's father passed away, 12:17 well, let me back up a little bit. 12:19 So my, 12:23 when my dad was 9 years old, his father died. 12:26 And when my dad was 15, 12:29 his mother got married to another widower 12:32 who also had 14 children. 12:34 So together, they had 28 children. 12:38 Now I don't think that, that is where the idea 12:41 where Walmart started, but I'm, 12:44 I'm told that their basement looked 12:47 a little bit like a supermarket at the end of the year, 12:51 at the, in the fall. 12:53 So we are part of a very large family. 12:58 My great grandma just passed away 13:00 here a couple years ago, 13:01 a couple months ago. 13:05 She was a 100 years old, 13:06 which is very uncommon for the Amish. 13:08 Usually they don't get as old 13:09 because of dietary issues and they, 13:12 they work themselves to death. 13:14 She was 100 years old. 13:16 Twelve of her children were still alive. 13:18 And couple of ideas, 13:22 a couple of presentations before 13:23 and I said she had 950 great grandchildren, 13:27 but I was wrong. 13:28 She had only 830 great grandchildren. 13:31 So talk about raising a little village. 13:35 She could have been a mayor of that little village, 13:37 everybody would have voted for her, I'm sure of that. 13:40 She was my great grandmother. 13:44 Naomi and I grew up in the country. 13:49 We raised the corn 13:50 that made up our corn mush for breakfast. 13:53 We raised the wheat that made up our pancakes. 13:56 We milked our own cows. We churned our own butter. 14:02 We knew all about country living. 14:04 We even knew what it is like to work in the garden 14:06 was your mother's one acre garden, 14:08 with your mother and your mean siblings, 14:11 day after day after day, 14:13 and I just couldn't wait until I grow up. 14:15 And no more gardens, we're going to buy our food. 14:18 But my children 14:21 are experiencing what I experienced. 14:23 Now I told my children last week, 14:25 I said, if you think I'm hard on you, 14:28 I said, "When you grow up and you have a family, 14:31 you'll be just like me," 14:33 because you will appreciate that you had a country life. 14:36 Even though we had all these great things, 14:39 there was something missing. 14:40 We knew all about country living, 14:43 grace reformed, and all of that, 14:46 but we didn't know how to get to heaven. 14:49 And sometimes there's something missing in your life 14:52 and you don't even know it until you find it. 14:55 It's like, "Well, I've been seeking for this." 14:59 Naomi and I went to school together. 15:02 And it was a one, one room school, 15:05 grade one through eight. 15:08 And this is where we were taught 15:10 how to speak English. 15:12 This is the schoolhouse, how to speak English 15:15 and to speak German. 15:17 Because we needed to learn English 15:18 in order to associate with people around us like you, 15:21 and German for, to read our Bibles 15:25 because our church services were in German. 15:29 So this little schoolhouse, 15:31 can we go back to the schoolhouse 15:32 for a little bit? 15:33 This little schoolhouse, I tell people that 15:36 this is the Swartzentruber Amish Ohio State University. 15:40 Now, it may, it may be a humble building, 15:42 but I will assure you, 15:43 lot of great memories are made in there. 15:46 So Naomi and I went to school there, thank you. 15:49 After we graduated from school, 15:52 we worked in our parents' dairy farms 15:55 because in the Amish, you work for your family 15:58 until you're 21 years old. 15:59 So all the income that I made 16:01 went toward supporting my family. 16:04 The same was true for Naomi. 16:06 And then after we turned 21 year old years old, 16:09 we were on our own. 16:11 So I'm still talking to my children about that, 16:12 I say, "Well, I did that for my parents. 16:14 If you did that for me, 16:15 I could have a great retirement." 16:17 But we'll see. 16:18 They're being introduced 16:20 to some different ideas these days. 16:21 So for those of you that disagree with me 16:24 that children should work until they're 21. 16:27 Please don't talk to our children about that. 16:29 So, in fact, if you see them, tell them it's a great idea. 16:32 You will always be glad you support your parents. 16:40 Since Paul told Timothy, 16:42 that he must continue to think 16:45 or he should continue the things 16:46 how he was taught. 16:48 We were taught that this was the basis of religion. 16:52 If you were born Amish, you stay Amish, 16:55 if you were born Muslim, you stay Muslim and so on. 16:59 That is how we interpreted that. 17:01 That is why the Amish are traditionalist, 17:03 so you just try to never change. 17:07 Never change your dress. 17:08 And you know if the cars, cars come and go 17:11 and you know, we looked at cars as a worldly thing. 17:14 I remember my brother got hurt 17:17 when I was young. 17:19 I was probably about 10 years old, 17:22 maybe 12 years old. 17:23 And he got hurt on the farm, 17:25 went to a hospital for two weeks. 17:29 And our neighbor offered us to take us to the hospital 17:33 to see our brother in his car. 17:36 And I was excited about that, 17:37 because I didn't know 17:39 what it was like to ride in a car. 17:41 So he came and picked us up, I got in the car. 17:44 And we started going down the road faster and fast. 17:48 And we were flying. 17:49 When we went around this curve, we were flying. 17:51 I thought this is great. 17:52 I looked over and we were going 35 miles an hour. 17:55 Yeah. 18:00 The problem was our lifestyle was great. 18:03 But the lifestyle we can have, 18:05 we can live in a country we can have all, 18:07 wear all the right stuff and everything, 18:09 we get everything right, but if we don't have Jesus, 18:11 we're still there's only one of the destiny 18:15 that we're going to reach, we're going to either be lost 18:17 or we're going to be saved. 18:18 So we had all that, we had the lifestyle 18:21 but the problem was 18:22 the lifestyle over the past 125 years, 18:27 the lifestyle started becoming a religion. 18:31 And today, if you just forsake the Amish lifestyle, 18:34 you end up being shunned, 18:36 because you have actually forsaken the religion. 18:41 And so Amish are, they're Christian people. 18:44 They read their Bibles, but corporate Bible studies 18:46 or even personal Bible studies are not encouraged. 18:49 They read the Bible a lot 18:50 and they get acquainted with the Bible. 18:52 But it's amazing, like my dad was a bishop. 18:55 He memorized enough scripture to preach, 18:57 he could have preached five hours without the Bible, 19:00 just quoting scripture, 19:02 but the man did not understand the plan of salvation. 19:05 He did not get it. 19:06 It was another book to him. 19:08 To him it was a sacred book, 19:09 but he did not understand the value of, 19:14 no, the content of the Bible. 19:15 That is transform, it's the word of God. 19:17 It's the living word of God. 19:18 My dad did not understand that. 19:21 We were taught that praying from the heart 19:22 was carnal minded. 19:23 So we, we pray from books. 19:27 We have prayer books that were written by 19:28 our early Anabaptist forefathers, 19:30 the prayers are fantastic. 19:32 I could not improve on the prayers. 19:34 They were really good prayers. 19:36 However, they became very formal, 19:38 because you read the same prayer every morning 19:40 and another prayer every night. 19:42 And so we had to make our, you know, 19:45 when we did something against the church, 19:47 we had to come to church and make a confession 19:49 to the leaders of the church 19:50 and then go to the church and everything. 19:52 And there was a constant flow of people confessing 19:54 that they pray without thinking about God, 19:57 because they were praying from a book. 20:00 This was a routine, after doing that prayer 20:01 for a couple months, you know in your mind, 20:04 and you just get on your knees 20:05 and do your thing and you're done. 20:07 And so, but with that being said, 20:11 even though the Amish community there's, 20:13 they have their struggles when it comes to spirituality, 20:16 they have a very high retention rate. 20:19 The retention rate is still in the 90s, I believe, 20:21 especially those that are more strict, 20:23 their retention rate is higher, 20:25 because the young people 20:26 are not introduced to the world so much. 20:29 And so their retention rate was still high, 20:32 and to resist the authority of the church was unacceptable. 20:39 If you resist the authority of the church, 20:41 you will end up being shunned. 20:44 To live a different lifestyle to me was unimaginable. 20:48 To leave the community was unthinkable. 20:52 The pain that the parents experienced 20:53 when somebody left, 20:55 their child left the church was unbelievable. 20:59 The parents, some of them end up becoming sick 21:01 and literally dying. 21:02 The heartache was so, so bad 21:04 because they believe their child 21:06 has fallen away from God. 21:07 And he's going to be tortured in hell for all eternity. 21:09 That's what they believe, 21:11 and they staunchly believe that, 21:12 and it's true that this will drive a person to insanity. 21:16 I have seen it. 21:19 Our parents were loving parents. 21:20 They were good people. 21:24 And they were, they did not enforce, 21:26 they did not make up a religion 21:27 and imposed it upon their children. 21:29 They just simply handed down to us 21:31 what was handed down to them. 21:34 Lot of the Amish people, they would take 21:36 their shirt off of their back to help people, 21:39 they're very honest people, but they're traditionalists 21:42 and they see the wicked world around them. 21:46 They have no interest in being converted to the world. 21:49 And so they become very close to receiving literature 21:54 or are even studying the Bible with people 22:00 that desire to study the Bible with them. 22:05 After we got married, 22:07 after we were baptized, when we were 18 years old. 22:11 We got married a few years later, 22:13 and we were excited to raise our own family. 22:17 My mother had 17. My grandmother had 17. 22:21 My other grandmother had 15, one of them died. 22:25 And so we were excited like, 22:28 we're going to be this Amish couple. 22:29 And we're going to have, 22:32 I don't know, 12, 15 maybe 18 children, 22:34 my aunt had 19. 22:36 Well, the day that our first child was born, 22:39 we wondered why anybody ever had children, 22:43 and our perspective changed. 22:47 For being Amish, we kept on having children. 22:50 And today we have 8 children and we're grateful for that. 22:52 We love our children, and we wouldn't have any less. 22:56 Not long after we got married, 22:59 Naomi told me that she was dealing 23:00 with some health struggles. 23:03 She had a hiatal hernia, she had lost her dad 23:05 when she was on her 18th birthday or 19th birthday. 23:09 And she had a hard time dealing with that, 23:11 you know, 23:14 if you have a relationship with Jesus, 23:16 if you lose a loved one, 23:18 you can deal with heartache like that. 23:20 But if you don't have that, 23:22 it doesn't matter how sincere you are, 23:24 there is something you know, you need God to work, 23:27 work through those issues. 23:28 And she didn't have that, 23:29 she didn't have 23:31 a personal relationship with God. 23:32 We perceived God, we thought God was like our bishop. 23:35 No, he rarely smiled. He was a very stern guy. 23:39 He was, you know, he was a good guy, 23:41 but don't tread on his toes, 23:43 because he will get you back. 23:44 That's the way we view God. 23:45 We didn't look at Him as a friendly, loving God. 23:49 And so Naomi was, 23:53 she was having a constant headache 23:57 and she felt sluggish and I knew she had some, 24:01 some depression issues. 24:03 And during this time 24:05 there was a lot of illness going around in sickness, 24:08 diseases in the Amish community, 24:09 like heart disease and cancer. 24:12 And this terrified me, I thought if I lose Naomi 24:14 because, you know, if you're like me, 24:16 when you hear bad news, you assume the worst, 24:19 you know, you start assuming the worst 24:21 and you start coming back down. 24:23 And I thought, this is terrible, 24:25 I might be losing my wife, so I was terrified. 24:27 So we started reading, we just started reading, 24:32 like, anything on health that we could find on. 24:35 And some of those books that we were reading, 24:37 were actually, 24:39 you know, there were an element of spirituality in it. 24:42 And this opened our mind our desperation 24:45 for help for with our health, 24:47 this open our mind to truth. 24:52 One day, 24:56 my brother, I met my brother 24:58 and he said "Andy, I bought this book." 25:00 And he said, "Everybody needs this book." 25:02 He said, "It'll transform your life." 25:04 It was called the Martyrs Mirror. 25:06 And this book is a compilation of the Anabaptist people, 25:09 like the minutes that, you know, 25:11 when they had debates 25:12 between them and their persecutors 25:14 and letters that they wrote to their family, etc. 25:19 And I read this book and I was introduced 25:23 to the idea of righteousness by faith. 25:26 I thought only people that were indifferent, 25:30 only people that were not conscious of... 25:34 Not self-conscious or did not care about God, 25:36 I thought only the liberals believed 25:37 in righteousness by faith. 25:39 Only the people that were indifferent about religion, 25:42 and I was astonished and they gave scripture for it, 25:45 that our salvation is in Christ. 25:47 And so I've started becoming very interested in this. 25:51 Not long after this, 25:53 a Seventh-day Adventist couple moved into our community, 25:55 and they shared with me and my brother, 25:58 the eight laws of health. 25:59 I was very intrigued by that. 26:02 I thought it makes so much sense. 26:03 Nutrition, you actually feed your body, 26:05 we didn't know that. 26:06 Exercise, but we had no problem with exercise, 26:08 because we were committed 26:09 to the sacred sacrament of work. 26:12 Water, I could have improved on water, 26:13 and maybe drop down with coffee a little bit. 26:17 Sunshine, I was getting plenty of that. 26:18 Temperance. Well, I had no temperance. 26:21 Fresh air, I was getting plenty of that. 26:22 Rest, not enough rest. 26:24 And I was so intrigued, I could take you back 26:27 and show the spot where I was standing 26:28 when he told me that, that makes so much sense. 26:32 The eight laws of health, and I thought to myself 26:34 and it's free, it doesn't cost anything. 26:38 So a little while later 26:40 my nephew ended up in the hospital, 26:42 so we had our Adventist friend take us to the hospital, 26:44 my brother and I, to visit our nephew. 26:46 And during this time, I had real questions on, 26:51 if God is all loving God, 26:54 why does He allow so much suffering? 26:56 If He's all powerful, 26:58 why didn't He just zap the devil, 26:59 and this is all over, just kill the devil. 27:01 I mean, if I had the opportunity, 27:02 I would kill him. 27:03 And why wouldn't God kill him? 27:05 I had all these questions. 27:06 Sometimes it made me angry at God. 27:07 But as we drove to the hospital that day, 27:09 this Adventist guy started sharing 27:12 what we know as the great controversy. 27:15 Why these things occur, 27:16 why doesn't God kill Satan now? 27:20 Why do bad things happen to good people? 27:23 All those things that I really wondered about. 27:25 And I was like, this is fabulous stuff. 27:28 And when we came back, he gave me a book called 27:30 The Great Controversy. 27:32 And I looked through this book, but since I, 27:35 you know, started reading in the front, 27:37 but since I had read so much history, 27:39 through the Martyrs Mirror, 27:42 I kind of got bogged down with it. 27:43 And so he came back to my house one time and I look back, 27:46 and he was enjoying every bit of it, 27:47 because he knew that he found an honest seeker. 27:50 And, you know, we all like to find those. 27:52 And so when he came back, 27:53 he said, "So how are you doing on the book?" 27:55 And I said,"Well, I'm not really reading it." 27:57 And so he said, "Well, here's another book." 27:58 So he gave me The Desire of Ages. 28:01 And this is where the rubber met the road. 28:04 This is where I wanted to. 28:08 This is what I was looking for. 28:10 An understanding, a balanced understanding 28:12 of righteousness by faith. 28:14 But this time I was following, 28:15 you know, like other denominations, 28:17 their teachings on righteousness by faith 28:19 and I was confused, it seems like 28:20 part of the Bible was being left out. 28:22 Great teaching on justification by faith, 28:24 but how about sanctification, 28:25 doesn't God want to change our lives? 28:27 And reading the Desire of Ages, 28:31 I was greatly intrigued. 28:33 One night I was sitting in my house, 28:34 the family went to bed 28:36 and I was sitting beside my stove 28:37 and I thought, I need to check this book out. 28:38 And this is what I read. 28:40 We'll see if they can pop it up. 28:44 I started with Desire of Ages Chapter 1, 28:49 and it says "His name shall be called Immanuel, 28:51 God with us. 28:52 The light of the knowledge of the glory of God 28:54 is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 28:57 From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ 28:59 was one with the Father. 29:01 He was the image of God, 29:02 the image of His greatness and majesty, 29:04 the outshining of his glory. 29:05 It was to manifest this glory that He came to this world, 29:09 to this sin-darkened earth He came to reveal 29:11 the light of God's love, to be God with us. 29:14 Therefore it was prophesied of Him, 29:16 His name shall be called Immanuel." 29:19 Immanuel, and I thought, 29:21 so, maybe this explains, I always wonder 29:24 why the Bible doesn't make up its mind, 29:25 was Jesus the Son of God? 29:27 Or was He the Son of Man? 29:28 It just didn't make any sense to me. 29:31 Next one, so I would read this and I thought, 29:35 that's really deep, and I laid the book down 29:37 and walked around my house, and went back, 29:41 got the book and read another one." 29:44 The angels of glory find their joy in giving, 29:47 giving love and tireless watchcare 29:49 to souls that are fallen and unholy. 29:51 Heavenly beings woo the hearts of men, 29:53 they bring to this world light from the courts above, 29:55 the gentle and patient ministry, 29:57 by gentle and patient ministry, 29:59 they move upon the human spirit, 30:02 to bring the lost into a fellowship with Christ, 30:04 which is even closer than they themselves can know." 30:08 And I thought, that make sense. 30:11 They were never lost, like we were. 30:13 So we were lost. 30:15 And now we have found Christ, we have been redeemed. 30:18 So it makes sense 30:19 that we can actually experience a closer with God 30:22 that not even the angels can experience. 30:24 And it also became so real to me that angels are real. 30:28 They wooed a human spirit. 30:30 I could, I thought I could think about this and say, 30:33 "That's true. I know I can recognize it." 30:35 Somebody was wooing me, 30:37 like God was wooing me in a certain direction. 30:40 Next one. 30:41 This gets better. 30:43 This chapter blew my mind away. 30:45 "Since Jesus came to dwell with us, 30:47 we know that God 30:49 is acquainted with our trials 30:51 and sympathizes with our griefs. 30:53 Every son and daughter of Adam may understand 30:55 that our Creator is the friend of sinners. 30:57 For in every doctrine of grace, every promise of joy, 31:00 in every deed of live, 31:01 every divine attraction 31:03 presented in the Savior's life on Earth, 31:04 we see God with us." 31:06 And I would lay the book down and walk around my house 31:08 and say, this is fantastic stuff. 31:11 This is relevant even to an Amish man. 31:14 Next one, 31:16 this one blew my mind. 31:18 This is gigantic, "By His humanity, 31:21 Christ touched humanity, and by His divinity, 31:24 He lays hold upon the throne of God." 31:26 That is fabulous. 31:28 So you have got, you had to take a flatter, 31:30 that God has one hand with humanity 31:33 and another hand on the throne of God. 31:36 I want to be in that group. 31:39 I was just blown away. 31:42 This next one, 31:43 "Christ was treated as we deserve, 31:45 that we may be treated as He deserves. 31:47 He was condemned for our sins in which He had no share, 31:51 so that we might be justified by His righteousness 31:53 in which we had no share. 31:55 He suffered the death which was ours, 31:57 that we might receive the life which was His. 31:59 With His stripes," 32:00 we are healing, is that what it says? 32:02 No, "we're healed." 32:03 I thought that's fabulous. 32:05 Maybe I can have assurance of salvation even today. 32:09 That's great. 32:10 Next one, this one was the topper. 32:13 This is the icing on the cake. 32:15 This is still my favorite text 32:16 integrate into the Spirit of Prophecy." 32:19 God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son, 32:25 and has carried the same to the highest heaven." 32:29 That is mind boggling. 32:31 God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son 32:34 and has carried the same to the highest heaven. 32:37 "It is the Son of man 32:38 who shares the throne of the universe. 32:40 It is the Son of man whose name shall be called Wonderful, 32:43 Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 32:46 The Prince of Peace." 32:47 Who says that Jesus wasn't God. 32:49 This is so clear from the Bible. 32:50 And I was blown away. 32:54 Blown away. 32:57 This is another good one. 32:59 "The work of redemption will be complete in the place 33:01 where sin abounded, God's grace, 33:03 much more abounds." 33:04 I thought that makes sense. 33:05 I always wonder why Jesus said, 33:07 "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." 33:09 I don't want to inherit this earth. 33:11 I'm not interested, I want to go to heaven. 33:13 But this explains that, 33:15 "The work of redemption will be complete 33:16 in the place where sin abounded, 33:18 God's grace much more abounds. 33:20 The earth itself, 33:22 the very field that Satan claims as his own 33:24 is to be not only ransomed but exalted. 33:27 Our little world under the curse of sin 33:29 the one dark blot in His glorious creation, 33:31 will be honored above all other worlds 33:33 in the universe of God. 33:34 Here, where the Son of God tabernacled with humanity, 33:37 where the King of glory lived, and suffered and died, 33:40 here when He shall make all things new, 33:42 the tabernacle of God shall be with men, 33:44 and He will dwell with them, 33:46 and they shall be His people, 33:48 and God Himself shall be with them, 33:50 and be their God. 33:51 And through endless ages as the redeemed walk 33:55 in the light of the Lord, 33:56 they will praise Him for His unspeakable gift, 33:58 Immanuel, 'God with us.'" 34:03 I tell you what, 34:04 false prophets don't write things like that. 34:07 Who can read the Spirit of Prophecy, 34:09 and say, I don't want that. 34:12 You know, these writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit. 34:15 If we're being led by the Holy Spirit, 34:17 there has to be a connection. 34:20 My friend came back and he says, 34:21 "So, have you been reading the Desire of Ages?" 34:23 Says, "Yeah, you better believe it. 34:24 I've been reading The Desire of Ages." 34:26 I said, "It's fabulous." 34:27 I said, "Where does this man live? 34:29 I want to meet him." 34:32 I have read a lot of books. 34:34 I've never read anything like this. 34:37 This inspired me to read my Bible. 34:39 Paul inspired me to read my Bible. 34:41 And he knew, you know, knowing that I was an Amish guy 34:43 and Amish people don't like when the ladies teach them. 34:47 He said well, 34:49 it was actually a lady and she's dead a 100 years, 34:52 and I thought, "What? 34:53 A lady writes like that?" 34:56 I don't know about that. 34:58 Might have to reconsider this. 35:01 But I couldn't, yeah, 35:02 I already had all the evidence in my mind, I couldn't go back. 35:05 So what do you do? 35:06 Maybe I have to be open-minded. 35:08 Maybe God inspires whomever He wants to inspire. 35:11 And so I was intrigued. 35:13 Then I went to, 35:15 I think it's Chapter 3 of Desire of Ages. 35:19 And I found my people in there. 35:20 This is talking about 35:24 during the time when Jesus came to this world 35:27 the first time 35:28 and the condition of the world during this time. 35:31 And if you want to know 35:32 the condition of the Amish people these days, 35:34 Amish communities, and this is true for all communities. 35:37 This is it. 35:39 "At this time, the systems of heathenism 35:42 were losing their hold upon the people. 35:44 Men were weary of pageant and fable. 35:47 They longed for a religion that could satisfy the heart. 35:51 While the light of truth seemed to have departed 35:53 from among men, 35:54 there were souls who were looking for light, 35:57 and who were filled with perplexity and sorrow. 35:59 They were thirsting 36:01 for a knowledge of the living God, 36:04 for some assurance of life beyond the grave." 36:08 That is true for my people. 36:10 These people are good, fundamentally people. 36:13 These people are probably some of the best people 36:17 in our country, 36:18 honest people, hardworking people. 36:21 But sometimes, we get so busy building the devil's kingdom 36:25 that we don't, 36:26 we don't work our own salvation. 36:28 We don't even find Jesus. 36:30 And I believe this is true for the Amish people. 36:35 The leadership, they come together 36:36 and they discuss church issues 36:40 and, you know, rules that need to be made and, 36:43 you know, people are wandering and everything. 36:45 Those people are willing, they're willing to be led, 36:48 they want to be led by God, 36:49 but they are so busy, they're so sidetracked, 36:53 so distracted with their man made rules, 36:56 with the externals that they never have time, 36:59 they never reached the heart, 37:01 even though they are honest people, 37:02 they are sincere people. 37:04 And, you know, we see it everywhere, 37:06 we can be so distracted, 37:08 you know, like, I would like for you all 37:10 to start dressing like Amish people. 37:11 I like that. 37:12 But you know, we could get distracted by that, 37:14 you know, 37:15 God looks at the heart. 37:17 And I don't believe that the way I dress 37:19 is any better than the way you dress. 37:20 So, you know, it's just, it's a preference 37:23 because we were born and raised that way. 37:25 But we can get hung up with that, 37:27 instead of getting hung up 37:29 with Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 37:32 And that's what happened with my people. 37:33 They're good people, 37:35 but they have become distracted 37:37 with things that are irrelevant in life. 37:41 And so we struggled with this for a couple of years, 37:46 and eventually I burned all my books, 37:49 my Great Controversy book, my Desire of Ages, 37:51 Steps to Christ, I just burned it and I thought, 37:53 you know, if I, if we step out, 37:55 what will happen is we will be shunned 37:57 by our own mother and father 38:01 and siblings and our 500 first cousins 38:04 and everything like this that the stakes are too high. 38:08 We burned everything, trying to get away from it, 38:11 and we went to church 38:13 and tried to forget the things we know. 38:15 But you sit in church, 38:16 and you hear a preacher preaching something, 38:18 he's sincere, but you're thinking to yourself, 38:21 that is not true. 38:24 That is the wrong interpretation 38:25 of that scripture. 38:27 And sometimes it makes God look very cruel. 38:30 And so you sit there, 38:32 you know, Sunday after Sunday, 38:34 and you're listening to these sermons 38:35 and events, it's like, I can't take it anymore. 38:38 I love the people, 38:39 but there's something to be said for separation, 38:42 God says, "Come out of her, My people." 38:45 And so God showed me for a few years, 38:48 the alternative to accepting truth 38:51 and following truth 38:52 and giving our lives wholly to truth. 38:54 The alternative is, 38:56 stay where you are, be depressed. 38:58 Wish you could die and hate, hate the church that you go to. 39:02 That's the alternative. 39:03 And there was times that I became suicidal. 39:06 I mean, I would pray and I say, Lord, 39:07 if I go down the road this morning in my buggy, 39:09 just let an 18 wheeler run me over. 39:10 I don't want to live. 39:12 I don't want to run my, you know, 39:14 to have my parents go through all the grief and heartache 39:18 of me leaving the church. 39:20 So if you just, if you just let me die, 39:22 then everything will be good. 39:23 I think I'm safe. 39:25 I'm not sure, but I just know that I don't want to live. 39:27 And so we struggled with this for a while. 39:30 One day, I was standing in my workshop. 39:33 And I built furniture, and I was standing there 39:36 and I'm like, I can't work. 39:37 I'm so distressed and depressed, I can't work. 39:40 And I thought, 39:42 I just wish I could do something to change life. 39:45 And then I remembered that I had a Great Controversy book 39:48 in my barn that I was going to give to my friend 39:51 and I missed that one 39:52 when I threw through the rest of them out. 39:54 And so I went, I got the book 39:56 and I went back to my workshop and stood beside the stove, 39:59 and I opened it up, 40:00 and I started reading the chapter where it says 40:02 that when the last message goes out, 40:04 children will be disowned by their parents. 40:07 And parents will be turned in by their children, 40:10 and all these things. 40:11 And I kept reading and I went back 40:13 to Martin Luther's chapter, 40:16 where Martin Luther said, 40:17 "You know, I will go from this city to that city, 40:20 even if the fire is as high as the skies, I will go. 40:23 If God calls me, I will go." 40:25 And at that day, I told God, 40:26 I said, "I'm coming. 40:28 You open up the way You lead me, 40:29 I don't know how this is going to work out. 40:31 I just know that it's not pretty, 40:33 but I know that the end result is great. 40:35 I want to serve the Lord." 40:36 And so I spoke with my wife, and my wife said, 40:40 " You know what we have to do, 40:41 we have to follow our convictions." 40:43 And so, we spoke with our... 40:47 The leaders of our church, 40:48 and if you come down to our booth 40:50 at the exhibit hall, 40:52 I wrote a book, a life story. 40:53 I'm just going through real fast. 40:55 We have a book that is available 40:57 with more of our full testimony. 40:58 Also the, that book I was talking about 41:01 the Martyrs Mirror, we have it on display. 41:02 So if you want to come and take a look at it. 41:04 But we told them, we said, 41:06 "Look, we don't believe that we should shun people 41:08 just because they go to church somewhere else." 41:09 I don't read that from the Bible. 41:11 And they said, 41:12 "Well, if you don't want to shun those people, 41:14 we'll have to shun you." 41:16 And I said, "Well, you do what you want to do. 41:17 I got to have a clear conscience." 41:19 And so this led to our excommunication. 41:22 And a few years later, 41:24 about a year later, 41:26 we were actually baptized and became members 41:27 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 41:29 And we have, we were excited when we came, 41:33 went down to the water, into the water. 41:35 We were excited when we came back. 41:36 We were excited ever since. 41:38 We tasted ministry, 41:39 and we were excited about truth, 41:41 because we know what it is like to be confused, 41:44 and to finding freedom in Christ 41:48 makes life worth living. 41:49 To finding your calling in life makes life worth living. 41:53 And so we are very excited to be part of this movement. 41:57 And we are, we love each one of you 41:59 as our own brethren, 42:00 and we are grateful 42:02 that God has called us to this marvelous movement. 42:06 Soon after we got married, 42:07 some of our friends came by and they said, 42:09 "So, Andy, what do you want to do with your life? 42:10 I hear you have a burden on your heart?" 42:12 And I said, "I do." 42:13 I said, "I found this fabulous truth." 42:16 Now we started reading material before, 42:19 you know, when we were studying, 42:21 from White Horse Media and Amazing Facts, 42:23 and like, we were learning this fabulous truth. 42:26 And I said, "I want my people to know about this truth. 42:29 It's relevant for everybody." 42:30 But how do you reach Amish people? 42:33 You can't throw up, you know, 42:34 a tent and have an evangelistic meeting, 42:36 or a prophecy meeting, they won't show up. 42:39 And so, what we are learning 42:41 is God is reaching those people 42:44 through seeds being planted 42:45 through colporteurs and other means, 42:47 but God is reaching those people. 42:49 Those people are, God is inspiring them. 42:51 And so our friends, 42:53 they went and they invested in a property, 42:55 that has, it was 10 acres 42:57 that was close by and it's amazing, 42:59 this is real close by where my parents live, 43:02 just behind the woods. 43:03 I used to work on that place, there is 10 acres. 43:06 There was Phantom Fireworks at one time. 43:08 And so we purchased this property. 43:10 And this is the building 43:12 where we're meeting in currently. 43:15 Now well, this is where our little congregation will meet. 43:17 It'll take a long time before anybody responds to us. 43:21 Because we know, when we first found the truth, 43:23 we started sharing with everybody like 43:25 everybody's going to love this, 43:26 it's going to transform the Amish community, 43:28 but we were surprised, 43:29 not everybody's excited about the truth. 43:31 And for anybody that is in ministry, 43:33 you know that everybody's excited about the truth, 43:35 but sometimes people are not ready yet, 43:37 but they will be ready. 43:39 So we need to always treat people as if, 43:40 well, they're not ready yet, 43:42 but the seed is planted here. 43:43 Let the Holy Spirit do its work. 43:44 And so we started, 43:46 we started meeting in here on Sabbath back in 2015. 43:51 Today this building is crowded, we're very full. 43:55 Numerous Amish families have followed us 43:58 and are meeting there each Sabbath. 44:04 The next picture, 44:06 is the picture of the fireworks store, 44:08 was Phantom Fireworks. 44:10 We started looking at the building and we said, 44:13 well, I said, maybe on this end of that building, 44:15 we can put a bathroom in. 44:17 And the other end of that building, 44:19 we can put a kitchen in, 44:21 and we'll have church service in there, 44:22 we'll have more room. 44:24 We got together, we started pushing pencil. 44:25 Well, we have to go a little bigger 44:26 and have a little addition. 44:28 And this way kept going on until we had a big addition 44:32 and we're about to move into. 44:34 Let's do the next picture. 44:36 So we renovated that building. 44:38 And this is what it looks like. 44:40 This is our new building. 44:42 Another month or so, we'll be in it. 44:44 We have about 35 young people are 14 year old years old 44:48 and down in our community, 44:50 in our church community there. 44:51 And so this is where we want to bring Mark Finley 44:54 and all the good evangelists we have 44:56 to train our young people to be missionaries 44:59 and to be excited about the Lord. 45:00 And so, if you come down, meet us at our booth, 45:03 we have more information on there on that. 45:05 But, so thank you for each one of you 45:07 that have supported us with your prayers and finances, 45:10 we really appreciate that, 45:11 because we could never have pulled this off on our own. 45:14 And so today we are a little thriving group, 45:17 you know, in West Salem, Ohio, 45:19 we are a little mission with a big mission. 45:21 We're excited about being part of God's end-time movement, 45:26 God's last day message to the world. 45:29 You know, when we get to heaven, we're all excited. 45:32 We want to meet David, and Isaiah, 45:35 and those people that wrote, 45:36 you know, all the great stories in the Bible, 45:38 but I believe when we get there, 45:40 they're going to be looking 45:41 for the people at the end of time. 45:43 They would, they wanted to live in our time. 45:46 We are privileged. 45:47 It's true that we have all these distractions, 45:49 and there's so many things in this world 45:51 that want to bring us down. 45:53 But if we can find our calling, 45:55 and God will lead us and He will provide for us. 45:58 That's what's happening for us. 46:00 I never saw this happening. 46:01 But God is working. 46:03 And God is working among the Plain People. 46:05 And I believe Jesus is coming back soon. 46:07 I know He is because it's true 46:09 that the three angels' messages is going to all the world, 46:12 including the Amish people. 46:14 I hope when we get to heaven, 46:15 there's going to be a little corner reserve, 46:17 where we as Amish people gather and sing our German songs. 46:20 I wonder if we're going to sing those songs. 46:22 So I'm excited about that. 46:24 And so thank you for supporting us. 46:26 And I want to appeal to each one of you, 46:27 don't give up, 46:29 we need the endurance of the saints. 46:31 When we get to heaven, it'll be cheap enough. 46:35 Being in ministry here on earth is great. 46:37 It makes life, you know, 46:38 we can breathe the atmosphere of heaven. 46:41 If we know that we're in the will of God, 46:43 that is good enough. 46:45 And we can experience the excitement 46:47 of working along with Jesus. 46:49 And so thank you for taking time to come out 46:52 and for your support to us and come see us at our booth. 46:55 We appreciate that. 46:57 So let us bow our heads 46:58 and have a brief word of prayer, 46:59 we'll let you go. 47:01 Father in heaven, we're grateful. 47:03 You have called us from darkness 47:05 to Your marvelous light, 47:07 even those that are fourth generation Adventists, 47:09 this is a relevant message. 47:11 It is still a message that has to be chosen by, 47:14 you know, accepted by each individual, 47:16 accepted or rejected. 47:17 Father, help us to be excited about Your truth. 47:20 Father, help us to eat Your word 47:23 so that we get the nutrition 47:25 that makes us thrive and excited, 47:27 and then makes us grow like trees and bear fruit, 47:31 not to secure our salvation, 47:33 but to be a blessing to this world. 47:34 Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. 47:37 Amen. |
Revised 2020-01-08