Issues and Answers (D2D)

Publishing: Dead or Alive?

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Karen Thomas (Host), Java Mattison

Home

Series Code: IAADD

Program Code: IAADD000003A


00:01 ♪ ♪
00:28 Welcome to Issues and Answers. Today we're going to be talking
00:31 about the publishing work, dead or alive. Our guest today is
00:35 Java Madison. He's a publishing director for South Central
00:38 Conference. He's a graduate of Oakwood University and Andrews
00:41 University with a Masters of Divinity. Welcome to the program
00:45 today Java. Thank you so much Karen.
00:48 So the publishing work, dead or alive?
00:50 Wow. The publishing work is very much alive. This ministry is
00:55 surrounding the nature of the word of God. When you think
00:59 about how the word of God is communicated, how it is
01:03 translated. It is the very nature of this work and the word
01:07 of God, the Bible says, is quick the Bible says that it is
01:10 powerful, it is sharper than any two-edged sword. This ministry
01:14 is very much alive because it is linked with the very life of
01:18 Christ itself. So I understand that there has
01:21 been some restructuring in the publishing ministry within the
01:24 Seventh-day Adventist Church. Is it still a viable vocation? Can
01:27 people still become literature evangelists?
01:29 Yes, I'm glad that you asked that question because we would
01:33 like to invite people to become literature evangelists like
01:38 never before. Really? This is an urgent call. We're trying to
01:43 position ourselves to be used by God in the best possible way.
01:48 By restructuring we are becoming more nimble. We're becoming more
01:53 capable to meet the demands of our communities, to give a
01:58 relevant word for the issues that they face. When you think
02:03 about the very nature of this ministry, the Bible says that
02:08 Moses was called into a mountain to speak to God. When he was
02:13 called into the mountain, you know, he had face-to-face
02:16 communion with God like no one had ever had until that time.
02:21 And God did a few things; he spoke, the Bible says, and after
02:26 having spoken and having this authentic intimacy with Moses,
02:30 to recap the experience, God said, all right I'm going to
02:35 write down what I just explained to you and God in his own way
02:40 with his own finger wrote down the very 10 commandments. Then
02:46 this is what God did. He gave them to Moses to give to the
02:52 people. Bam, Publishing.
02:54 Publishing. That's how we got it.
02:56 Wow! So in these time you know so many things are going on
03:01 right now, what's the best way to get the word out?
03:03 Wow, you know there's so many different ways to communicate
03:05 now. I mean the internet is just one of those prime examples and
03:10 technology, media. So many outlets to actually reach people
03:15 to communicate to them that God actually loves them, that he's
03:19 desirous to be intimate with them. But undergirding all
03:24 levels of communication is the one form of media that we cannot
03:30 dispense with and that is the written word of God. This is our
03:35 main safeguard from temptation, our main safeguard from the
03:40 attacks of the enemy.
03:41 Mmm, wow. So now looking back in history, things of importance
03:46 have been written down.
03:47 Have always been written down. I mean, one of the reasons why we
03:52 do publishing is because I can audibly speak my sermon to a
03:57 congregation and then after the service people will say that was
04:01 a good sermon. Then you ask them exactly what it was that I
04:05 actually spoke about and very few people, I have found, can
04:09 actually tell me my points. Which would mean either one that
04:13 memory is bad or I'm just a horrible communicator.
04:18 So writing down the revelation, the word of God, is important so
04:22 people can go back and they can read it. So the point would be
04:27 this: The written word of God endures and lasts throughout
04:31 time. So that's why we need the written word of God.
04:35 So therefore we need everybody to share in the publishing
04:39 ministry, not just to sell books but also to share books and this
04:47 is why the call to the publishing ministry is so urgent
04:51 because we need more people sharing the word of God,
04:56 distributing literature, leaflets, tracts, small
05:00 pamphlets. Then we need a few people selling the word of God.
05:06 So therefore everybody can get involved. Everybody can be a
05:12 literature evangelist.
05:13 I was going to ask you that. So everyone no matter whether or
05:15 not they're directly coming under a particular group, a
05:19 conference or a ministry, selling the books or actually
05:23 going online and buying books or actually picking up books
05:28 from a store, you're saying we all are literature evangelists.
05:32 We all are literature evangelists. Think about it in
05:35 this way. Literature evangelists a lot of people use the word LE.
05:40 But Paul said it in this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse
05:45 He said ye are living epistles and then he said you
05:52 are read by all men. In other words, Paul took this idea of
05:58 literature evangelism to a whole other level where he says you
06:03 are the very book, your life is the very book that people are
06:07 reading. Before they even read a piece of literature that I could
06:12 share with them, they've already read about who Jesus is in the
06:16 life that I've lived. So in that way everybody is involved.
06:21 Nobody can be an innocent bystander or a spectator. Your
06:25 life is a book. People may never read the Bible, but they've read
06:30 your acts of kindness, they've read you acts of love, they've
06:34 read the kind words that you've spoken. So this concept of
06:38 literature evangelism is far deeper than we actually have
06:42 made it and God is calling for everybody to take an active role
06:45 You may not be able to preach, you may not be able to pray, but
06:49 you can share a piece of literature. But make sure that
06:52 your lifestyle is lining up with it.
06:54 So, you know, some people look and say I need a reason to know
06:58 that this really is a calling of God. Is there anything that
07:02 we've had that's been written or can let us know that this really
07:07 is an important work?
07:08 I'm glad that you asked that because in the Colporteur
07:13 Ministry, which is a kind of a book that's been written about
07:16 why we should do this ministry umm...
07:18 How long ago was that written?
07:20 Well this book was written about 100 years ago, you know.
07:24 It still is viable today because some of the principles that are
07:29 instilled there still apply. But it's Ellen White. She wrote the
07:35 book. She suggests that when the church realizes her call to
07:40 share the word of God through our publications, she says that
07:47 our church will rise and will to forth and shine as bright as
07:52 the sun. She says our power as a church has a lot to do with
07:57 our publishing ministry and therefore everybody has to take
08:02 an active part, whether you are in your grocery stores, whether
08:07 you're at the gas station, whether you're at you day cares
08:10 where you drop your children off or your schools. Wherever you
08:15 find yourself at, there you can leave a leaflet, a pamphlet
08:20 encouraging somebody along the way.
08:22 Let me ask you, because you know, cities or out in the
08:27 country or wherever people are living, how are people receiving
08:31 you? The people today are they willing to take a pamphlet or a
08:35 booklet from a perfect stranger?
08:37 You know what, I've found it to be amazing. There are so many
08:42 beautiful people in the world today and people are lonely.
08:47 People are hurting. People have been cut off from society in so
08:53 many ways and that's what I've found technology has done. While
08:58 it has brought the world closer together. It also in so many
09:03 ways has separated. For example, in my home, my daughters and my
09:08 son along with my wife and myself we all have either an
09:13 I- pad or and I-phone and we're all at several times of the day
09:18 on these devices. We can all be in the same room but we are
09:24 so far apart. So technology too has a way of separating us.
09:29 And so there is an ability to have high touch meeting. You can
09:35 reach a lot of people. How so? Through technology. But this
09:40 high tech reality has also separated people from the
09:46 opportunity to actually have a personal contact; just to hear
09:50 somebody say you know what, God is with you. You know God
09:53 loves you. And that's what a literature evangelist can do.
09:57 So when I go to a home and I knock on a door, it's almost
10:02 in Revelation 3 when the Bible says Jesus knocks on the door
10:07 he says behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man, any
10:12 woman, hears my voice and opens up I'll come in and sup. That
10:17 to say I'll come and have dinner with you. Eating with people is
10:21 one of the most intimate expressions that we have in
10:26 humanity. It sure is. To eat with someone, to treat them to
10:30 a meal is intimate. So what God is really wanting to do through
10:34 literature evangelism is to bring people into intimacy with
10:37 people who have actually met Jesus.
10:39 So Java, tell me, what kinds of things are being planned to get
10:43 the word out? Well I'm glad you asked. In the
10:46 concept mass distribution, total church involvement. One of the
10:51 things that we're looking for is in the area that we live in what
10:55 big events are happening? Whether there are sporting
11:00 events in a city that has some kind of sports team where large
11:04 crowds gather. You know this is an opportunity to go as a church
11:08 community to share the word of God. So in mass distributing you
11:12 want to reach as many people as possible. Here's the principle.
11:16 In the book Colporteur Ministry she says that the literature can
11:20 go places where the living preacher cannot go and the
11:24 reality is there are some people who would never come into our
11:28 churches and I think we kind of need to recognize that and
11:33 accept that fact. So we have to go where they are whether it's
11:37 at grocery stores. Individuals can share the word of God, the
11:41 literature. One of the things that we are doing here in the
11:45 Southern Union, we are catering books to sporting events.
11:50 So this book, Let's Win, it pictures Jesus as your life
11:55 coach. Everybody wants their team to win in whatever sport
12:00 you're playing. But bigger than sports is what some people
12:05 have termed the game of life and that's a game that you don't
12:11 want to lose in. So this book, Let's Win, helps you to hear
12:16 from the master coach, Jesus, as he coaches you through every
12:19 stage of your life. This is a book that has been put together
12:24 in large quantities. Over 250,000 of these have been put
12:28 in print just within the last few months. This is a book that
12:33 people can share to anybody who may have an interest in sports
12:37 and so you can choose an event like that. This is one example
12:41 where you can distribute this piece of literature to mass
12:45 quantities of people. Anywhere in the Southern Union you can
12:49 find this book. I also have here with me what we call GLOW tracts
12:55 Now these GLOW tracts have different topics. This topic
13:00 says why do I go to church on Saturday? You may not ever be
13:04 able to explain to someone why you attend church on Saturday
13:09 but this little leaflet is something that can actually
13:14 convince people, share with people why you go to church on
13:20 Saturday. Also... Simple to read Simple to read. Also here is
13:25 another topic. A lot of people want to know is the world coming
13:31 to an end. Yes. Evolution is another topic. You know the
13:35 story of evolution goes directly against the story that we have a
13:41 loving creator. Right. People need to know that there's a God
13:46 that loves them. These are different methods and ways of
13:50 people can actually share their faith.
13:53 Making Sense of Natural Disasters
13:55 Natural disasters; this is something that affects people
14:00 in so many ways. This is a way that you can share. I have a few
14:04 more, Breaking Addictions. So many people... well may be it's
14:08 a smoking addiction, eating addiction, maybe it's the
14:12 addiction of hate. That's true. Where's God When I'm Hurting?
14:17 So many people are hurting. They find it hard to believe that
14:21 there is a God because of the pain they feel in their own life
14:25 Right. Yeah, I like the way that you just pull this out of your
14:29 lapel pocket. So you go some place, what do you do? You just
14:33 put the tract down?
14:35 Well you know it's exciting to actually see it unfold.
14:38 For example,
14:40 one time I was in Orlando and I was at a Wal-Mart and I was
14:45 going up and down the aisle and I was looking for a piece for my
14:49 computer. In there, I don't know it just grabbed me. I wasn't
14:54 looking for but it was book called Ministry of Healing.
14:58 It just said, Java, and all of a sudden I looked and there the
15:03 book was. I picked it up and I knew that that was a literature
15:07 evangelist who
15:09 just left it there. You know, this is one thing that really
15:12 excites me about this ministry. It is a ministry where there are
15:18 unseen agencies always at work. The reason why I know that book
15:23 grabbed my attention because Ellen White talks about how God
15:29 positions angels at every piece of literature that is placed for
15:35 someone to actually read. God is jealous for this ministry.
15:40 For example, the Bible says my word shall not return unto me
15:45 void but it shall accomplish the thing in which I sent it. So God
15:49 will, when you place literature, whether it's at a bowling alley,
15:54 whether it's at a gas station, whether it's at a gas pump.
15:59 I've placed them at gas pumps right by the place where you put
16:03 your credit card. I position a tract right there. You can leave
16:08 it anywhere and you can rest assured that God will send
16:12 someone there where it will arrest their attention.
16:16 Wow. So I can leave it with my hair stylist, getting my nails
16:20 done. Wow, at the health club. Just wherever I'm going. You're
16:25 saying that as I'm leaving this I am leaving a request to God
16:29 to send an angel to accompany this literature?
16:32 Yes, yes. Because the word of God is quick, it is powerful,
16:37 it's sharper than any two-edge sword. The word will arrest the
16:41 attention of the people and that's one of the reasons why
16:45 we're instructed for this ministry to be placed in print
16:49 because it arrests the attention of people. I was thinking about
16:56 another example when I was just today at a Pilot gas station and
17:03 in the restroom, I saw a piece of literature there that was
17:07 randomly placed there on the counter and it grabbed my
17:11 attention. I didn't touch it because I knew God had placed
17:15 it there for someone else. But that's a perfect example of how
17:19 we can be a light for God. Can I just share a scripture with you?
17:23 Sure, please. The Bible says in Isaiah arise
17:27 and shine for thy light has come Gross darkness shall cover the
17:32 people but my light shall shine on you. The reason why this
17:38 tract is called GLOW is because Jesus wants us to let our light
17:43 shine. Let it shine everywhere. No matter where you go allow
17:48 the light of God's glory to shine. Allow the truth of God's
17:52 word to be shared. Wherever you are that light should shine.
17:56 It should burst forth where people around can know that God
18:02 loves them, God cares and he so desperately wants to be with us
18:06 again face to face. I don't know about you but as I look at the
18:10 times that we are living in, so much pain, so much suffering
18:16 Yeah, a lot of things going on. Controversy, community unrest,
18:21 differences. How can the publishing ministry help people
18:26 through these times?
18:27 Well it is a direct word of the Lord for them to that issue,
18:33 which is why there are so many varieties of topics that the
18:38 word of God has been written to meet the specific needs of
18:43 people. Wow. So I kind of want to go
18:46 back to something. Is it possible that this beautiful
18:50 publishing ministry can be of benefit to individual families,
18:55 to people who are out of work perhaps or trying to come up
18:59 with ways to pay for their schooling, their education?
19:03 You know what there are so many young people across the world
19:08 right now who actually take this to another level. In that level
19:13 they have decided to share the word of God and when they leave
19:17 this literature with individuals they actually leave a donation
19:20 and this donation has helped young people to stay in school.
19:25 This donation has paid for tuition. There's so much that
19:29 can be done through this ministry. God will provide for
19:33 your needs in this ministry. I've seen it done for me in my
19:37 personal life. As a matter of fact, when I left Oakwood
19:41 University they wrote me a check for $6000 because I was a
19:46 literature evangelist. Wow! So yes there are ways that people
19:50 who want to do this as a ministry that it can subsidize
19:55 their ministry desire.
19:57 Now how about for the person who just loves the internet?
20:00 We talked about tablets, we talked about this mass
20:02 distribution. What are some ideas for an individual to be
20:06 able to use maybe their Facebook or Instagram or some of these
20:09 other ways to get the word out?
20:11 You know, a lot of times in your personal devotion as you read
20:16 the word of God, the word of God has an impact on you and what
20:21 I do a lot of times is I take an excerpt and I'll post that
20:25 excerpt from what I read in my devotional from what I read on
20:29 my Facebook, on my Instagram. That's one way that so many
20:32 people are sharing the word of God today. We have a website
20:36 youthexcel. info. People can go there. They can receive the
20:40 literature and they can purchase it to give out, to share it with
20:44 their family members, to give as gifts. I mean anything you can
20:48 think of or any reason you can think of to give someone the
20:51 word of God we should do it because ultimately we know it's
20:54 the word of God that saves our soul.
20:56 So how accessible is it you know for a person maybe that's not
21:00 living in the south or they're living in another part of the
21:04 world, to get these nice little pamphlets to be able to pass out
21:08 to their neighbors, friends or other people? Is there a website
21:12 I mean what's the best way for a person to get started. Just a
21:16 person, I mean not necessarily a minister or maybe young or old?
21:20 What's the best way for them to get started?
21:22 Well I tell you. If you are a member of the Seventh-day
21:24 Adventist church I would suggest that you first start with your
21:29 local publishing ministries director. The GLOW ministry the
21:33 Lord has blessed to become global and worldwide. Many
21:37 publishing ministries are now carrying the GLOW literature
21:42 that was birthed by a God in Central California by Nelson
21:46 Erts. They have placed this literature in so many places.
21:50 I'm talking about multimillion of copies have gone across the
21:55 world. I would suggest you start there. If your ministries leader
21:59 doesn't have these literatures available, you're more than
22:03 welcome to visit our website and again that website is
22:07 youthexcel.info. There there's a link where you can go to GLOW
22:12 literature and you can purchase this literature for a very
22:16 minimal fee of just five dollars for a pack of 100. So a small
22:21 investment of just five dollars you can reach 100 people to let
22:26 them know Where is God When You're Hurting.
22:28 So let's say I'm at my church and I'm listening to Java
22:31 Madison and I'm all gung ho and I'm all excited you know,
22:35 forward ever, backward never. I've heard that at literature
22:38 evangelists. Forward ever, backward never. I'm like yeah,
22:41 yeah I want to go. How do I get started?
22:43 What's the best way to organize at my church, maybe just a
22:48 committee of one or how would you suggest it?
22:51 Well definitely, I'm glad you asked. If you go to our website
22:55 youthexcel.info there again there is a process. The GLOW
22:59 ministry has a process in which you can start in your own local
23:05 Okay, now let me ask you something just for clarification
23:08 about the GLOW ministry. Is this something that all the
23:11 publishing directors and all that are involved in all the
23:14 conferences, they're all kind of working together on this?
23:16 Yes. The GLOW ministry is a new initiative that breaks down the
23:21 barrier that we have placed up almost unknowingly to keep
23:26 people from this ministry. What do you mean? Well the idea of
23:31 selling the literature has made so many people in our church
23:35 feel like that ministry isn't for me.
23:39 Okay. So unless they signed up and became a formal literature
23:43 evangelist then people just kind of stayed away from it. That is
23:47 for the LE's but not for me.
23:48 Yes because of the fear or the desire to not want to sell the
23:53 literature. But when everybody can share the literature, it
23:58 makes it possible for everybody to get involved. So what does it
24:01 take for you to get involved? Find a friend. Gather
24:05 individuals in your church who want to reach people with the
24:09 word of God. That's the only criteria that you need to be a
24:13 literature evangelist. Then you equip yourself with the
24:18 literature. That means God is calling for sacrifice. That is
24:23 to say you set aside funds that you are going to use to
24:28 sacrifice to purchase inexpensive literature
24:31 in bulk quantities.
24:35 Okay, okay, so like large numbers, bulk quantities.
24:39 Maybe I'm going to say we're going to target... Is this based
24:42 upon a goal maybe that our group would have. Say we get out 5000
24:46 pieces of literature.
24:47 Yes. Set your goal high because one of the mandates is to spread
24:52 the gospel through the written word of God like the leaves of
24:56 autumn. And if you've ever seen a beautiful autumn setting it's
25:00 so many leaves that if you had to pick them all up it would
25:04 just drive you insane. But not only like the leaves of autumn
25:08 but also like never before. Whatever you have prior
25:12 experience in terms of the success of the publishing
25:15 ministry, God is saying in the last days, which we're in, this
25:19 word will go forth like never before. She said like clear
25:24 streams of light beaming around the world. Like never before.
25:29 So set your goals high. I was in a community of 40,000; then I
25:33 would be saying I need 40,000 pieces of literature. What would
25:36 it take for me to order 40,000 pieces of literature. I would
25:40 organize myself; I would get sponsors, I would get donors, I
25:44 would make the sacrifice first if I were doing it. Maybe for
25:48 you it would be $1,000. For some $10,000. I've had individuals
25:52 write large sum checks and they distributed in some cities by
25:56 themselves, a single individual, over 200,000 pieces of
26:00 literature. They distributed it in different churches. They set
26:05 up stations and one individual had impacted a whole city. I
26:08 want to be that kind of impact player for Jesus. I don't know
26:12 about you but I'm just excited about the thought that I can
26:16 let my light shine. It's time if I were in a locker room to go
26:20 hard or go home. We're either going to be disciples of Jesus
26:24 or we're not. And because I know everyone wants to be a disciple
26:28 of Jesus, then I'm saying let's go hard for Jesus.
26:30 Would you mind offering prayer for those of us who are asking
26:34 to become a part of this ministry?
26:38 Yes, thank you so much. Dear heavenly Father we are again
26:42 indeed grateful that you love us. We're glad that this love
26:47 has sprung up in our hearts to fountains of living water that
26:52 never run dry. We've asking as we set our minds to join hands
26:57 to share the word of God with as many people as possible like the
27:02 leaves of autumn, like never before, that you bless our
27:06 efforts. Move upon the hearts of people right now who may be
27:10 looking at this show today and bless their efforts. Impress
27:15 upon their hearts to make a sacrifice to tell somebody that
27:20 Jesus is soon to come. Not only bless our efforts but we're
27:24 praying now a blessing upon the books. Send your angels, send
27:27 your Holy Spirit that as people come in contact with this
27:31 literature, that they meet Jesus This is our hope, this is our
27:35 desire. And we know they need him. To know him is eternal life
27:39 We love, we bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
27:44 Amen. Thank you so much for coming and thank you for joining
27:47 us today in Issues and Answers. We hope that you've learned now
27:50 that we all are literature evangelists.


Home

Revised 2016-03-30