Participants: Hyde Park, NY
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001010
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00:29 Welcome.
00:30 We're so happy that 3ABN is today in Hyde Park, New York. 00:37 And-- All right. 00:39 And it's a great convocation here 00:42 where the Northeastern Conference Camp Meeting. 00:45 And we're excited about being here. 00:48 I want you to meet Pastor Lawrence Brown. 00:51 How are you, sir? 00:52 Good morning, good morning, good morning. 00:54 You are in possibly the happiest, 00:57 holiest place in the country right now. 00:59 All right. Okay. 01:02 Well, listen, we are happy to be here. 01:04 Tell us a little bit about you and about the ministry here. 01:08 We here at Northeastern Conference, 01:10 the last Sabbath in June, first Sabbath in July, 01:13 market down, we here for Camp Meeting. 01:15 It's been my privilege for the last four years 01:17 to serve as the Sabbath School director 01:19 for this fine Conference. 01:21 I have a new assignment now, 01:22 but Sabbath School remains one of the best things 01:26 that could ever have happened to the church. 01:29 And, sir, I remind the saints everywhere 01:32 that if they sleep in Sabbath morning in this Sabbath School, 01:36 they are robbing themselves blind. 01:38 Amen, amen. 01:40 Well, I'm in totally agreement with that. 01:42 The study of God's word should be paramount in our lives. 01:46 Isn't that right? Amen, amen. 01:47 There's no better place to do that than in Sabbath School. 01:51 And we are beginning a new program at 3ABN 01:55 where we will be studying the lesson with you each day. 01:59 It'll be a 15 minute program. Amen. 02:01 And studying the daily program with you. 02:04 It'll be coming a little later on this year. 02:06 Amen. 02:07 Well, if we were giving out money, 02:11 the folk would be here to church on time. 02:13 But we have given out something better than money. 02:15 So come get yours. 02:17 We've got a good group here already. 02:19 There are some seats in the very back, but these have-- 02:23 They've got the best seats right here. 02:25 Amen. That's right. 02:27 Well, listen, how long does this Camp Meeting take place. 02:31 We'll be here this weekend 02:33 and then we will reconvene again next weekend. 02:36 It's been a years since we've had a full 10-day Camp Meeting, 02:39 but for the time being we'll do the two weekends. 02:41 And I noticed a lot of tents out on the ground. 02:44 What's that all about? 02:45 We have a number of-- 02:48 We have a youth tent, a young adult tent, a teen tent. 02:51 And this way a lot of different age groups 02:54 have a chance to come out 02:55 and fellowship together and worship. 02:56 And we have a number of special event tents as well. 02:59 So if they're joining us by television. 03:01 This week they can join us again next week live right here. 03:05 Exactly. And you'll have a program. 03:08 Now somebody said the pathfinders are here as well. 03:11 The first Sabbath. 03:12 Generally, the pathfinders are in charge. 03:14 So if you go down to the youth tent, 03:15 that's where the pathfinders will be. 03:17 They'd conducting the whole service. 03:18 After service is over, they have something special 03:21 they'll do on the grounds, they'll walk around-- 03:22 And then tomorrow, they have their field day 03:25 and work around some honors. 03:26 So it's a really nice event. Wow. 03:28 Well, I know that if you haven't been here, 03:31 you will want to come. 03:32 This is a beautiful camp ground, a beautiful location 03:37 and a magnificent part of the country. 03:40 And not too far from the home 03:44 of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, too. 03:47 Well, if you'd like to say his home is near Victory Lake. 03:49 Okay. All right. 03:51 Oh, that's good. 03:53 Well, we've got a big day planned. 03:55 And so tell us a little bit about the day if you could. 03:58 Well, we have 3ABN doing Sabbath School for us 04:02 and then we'll have a wonderful church service. 04:05 Folk will get a chance to eat lunch under the trees, 04:08 we'll come back together this afternoon 04:09 for an outstanding concert, tie off the day with vespers, 04:14 the folk can go to bed tonight happy and holy and healthy 04:18 and just no one they be the right at the right time. 04:20 Amen. 04:22 So we're gonna look forward to a real day of blessing here. 04:27 And this afternoon we have a music program. 04:29 What time is that do you remember? 04:31 I don't remember what time it starts, but if you stay-- 04:33 If you're nearby, you'll hear those bless strains 04:36 and you'll know to work this way. 04:38 That's right, Danny Shelton will be M.C. for that. 04:41 We'll have a number of singers from 3ABN. 04:45 And I know that those 04:47 that are watching by television will be blessed as well. 04:51 So we are looking forward to that afternoon program. 04:55 And then the church service this morning, 04:58 our speaker will be 04:59 the president of the North-American Division. 05:02 We're looking forward to that. 05:03 And that's Pastor Dan Jackson and he will be bringing us 05:08 a message of hope, of encouragement 05:11 and also a challenge at 11 O'clock hour this morning. 05:17 So it's gonna be a bless time. 05:18 It really is. Yes, it is. 05:19 And we are all looking forward to it quite a bit. 05:22 Well, Pastor Brown, thank you so much 05:24 for telling us about some of these things 05:27 and helping us to feel welcome here at Northeastern 05:32 because you certainly have made us feel very, very welcome. 05:35 I also want to greet a friend of mine. 05:40 He's sitting right over here. 05:42 I don't know if they can get a camera 05:44 on Pastor Arthur Morgan Arnold. 05:47 That's Mr. Sabbath School. That's right. 05:49 When he and I first met-- 05:52 Arthur, could you come up here a minute? 05:54 I want the folks to be able to see you. 05:56 Amen. 06:02 This is Mr. Sabbath School, is that right? 06:03 That's Mr. Sabbath School. All right. 06:05 When I became Sabbath School director, 06:07 he gave me a lot of good advice. 06:08 Okay. And welcome. 06:13 It's good to see you again. How many years ago-- 06:16 Well, we better not talk about that, right? 06:19 I was a very young evangelist. 06:22 My second evangelistic meeting I'd held one before that. 06:27 My second one was in Springfield, Massachusetts 06:33 and I called the pastor there 06:36 and I said, "Who was Art Morgan?" 06:39 And I said, "I need a very good singer." 06:43 And he said, "There is a man here by the name of Art Morgan." 06:48 And at that time, you were not a minister, you were a layman. 06:51 And so you came and sang 06:55 in that evangelistic meeting for me 06:57 and we became good friends. 07:00 Well, just more than good friends. 07:02 He was my boss. 07:04 And we anticipated about five baptisms 07:07 in the two weeks, we had 35. 07:10 Praise the Lord. 07:11 I'll tell you, you remember things 07:14 evangelistically and I like that. 07:17 The Lord did blessed. He blessed so well. 07:20 And we had a tremendous fellowship together. 07:24 And over the years and I had lost the handbill, 07:27 that originally handbill. 07:28 We had a far number of years ago. 07:30 We lost a lot of stuff. 07:31 And you still have three or four of them. 07:33 I kept three. You kept three. 07:34 And he's gonna send me one. Amen. 07:36 So it's good. Thank you, Brother Morgan. 07:38 I appreciate it. Good to see you. 07:41 Well, this is gonna be a great day 07:42 of re-greeting friends that we've known in the past. 07:47 I know that many of you here was-- 07:50 See, people, you maybe haven't seen for a long time, 07:52 give them a hug and welcome them 07:55 and let them know how much that you care. 07:58 We're gonna invite Pastor Richard Calhoun, 08:01 who is the pastor of the Flatbush Adventist Church 08:06 to lead us in prayer at this time. 08:11 Good morning. 08:13 And I invite us to stand together 08:15 as we present ourselves to the Lord. 08:25 Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for this encampment. 08:31 We thank You, Lord, 08:32 for the miles that we have traveled. 08:34 We thank You for the safety 08:36 for each one who has arrived 08:38 and for those who are yet on their way. 08:41 We thank You most of all 08:42 for the fellowship that comes with believers 08:45 as they joined together in Christian love. 08:49 We thank You for this Sabbath School hour, Lord. 08:52 And as we have come together 08:54 to study Your word to review Your word, 08:58 we are so glad in our hearts this morning, 09:01 and we were glad when You said unto us, 09:03 "Come into the house of the Lord." 09:07 So, Lord, and humble obedience, 09:10 we have assembled in jubilant faith we await 09:17 and we pray that You will speak to our hearts, 09:21 to our minds, to our very core. 09:25 And so after we have completed this, 09:27 we will be closer to You 09:29 and ready for divine worship time, 09:32 we ask all of these blessings 09:35 in the marvelous name of Jesus, 09:37 let all God's children say, amen, amen. 09:43 Thank you. God bless you. 09:44 Thank you. Thank you. 09:46 Good to see you. 09:50 It would not be a 3ABN Event. 09:54 Without the individual who was right there 09:57 at the beginning with her father, 09:59 when Danny Shelton had the dream, 10:03 was a 12-year-old girl 10:05 that was traveling around the country with him. 10:09 First time I saw Melody was in Keene, Texas with her dad 10:13 and there she sang for us. 10:16 And today she is gonna be singing for us. 10:19 She's gonna sing a song entitled, 10:21 "We Have This Hope." 10:41 The saying that what doesn't kill us makes us strong 10:48 And I've heard it's always darkest before the dawn 10:55 But all I know is that God's promises are true 11:03 And he only wants what's best for you 11:09 We have this hope that all hurting will be gone 11:16 We have this hope that all tears will be left behind 11:25 I know down here life is hard and the world is so unkind 11:32 But hold on because we have this hope 11:42 Everyone of us has heartaches and trials 11:50 Just remember we're only here for a short while 11:57 Sometimes I feel I've had more than my share 12:05 But he won't give us more than we can bear 12:11 We have this hope that all hurting will be gone 12:18 We have this hope that all tears will be left behind 12:26 I know down here life is hard and the world is so unkind 12:34 But hold on, because we have this hope 12:41 And this hope for us is Jesus 12:55 So hold on because we have this hope 13:16 Amen! Thank you so much, Melody. 13:22 I've been asked to talk a little about 3ABN. 13:26 Let me tell you that's a dangerous thing 13:29 to ask me to talk about 3ABN 13:31 because I believe in this ministry 13:35 more than I could ever convey it to you. 13:38 You know, I've been active as a pastor, as an evangelist, 13:42 before that I was a businessman 13:45 involved with a church as a lay person 13:48 and I have worked at different levels of the church 13:50 all the way to the division level. 13:53 But I want to tell you this, 13:55 all of those levels are important, 13:57 the conferences important, 13:59 the unions, the division, extremely important, 14:03 but I have found nothing 14:06 that is more affective than the work of 3ABN. 14:11 I want you to think about it just for a moment. 14:15 When 3ABN started in 1984, Danny-- 14:19 Danny had the dream that God gave to him. 14:23 You've got to remember 14:24 that the church was only about 10% the size that it is today. 14:32 It has gained-- I mean, 14:35 it has doubled and doubled and doubled again. 14:39 About 2 million members back in those days, 14:41 we have closed to 20 millions members today. 14:46 Praise the Lord. 14:49 Amazing thing about this is that, 14:51 at that time we had two television programs. 14:58 We had "Faithful Today" that was on 30 minutes a week. 15:02 It got free time public service time, 15:06 so they were not able to talk about doctrine, 15:09 they could get you to right in 15:11 for a free health course or something of that nature 15:14 and then they would offer you the Bible course 15:16 and they were doing the best they could. 15:19 But 30 minutes a week, folks, on Sunday morning 15:24 when the sinners were sleeping in and sleeping it off 15:30 and the religious people were at church. 15:35 So who could you reach on Sunday morning with 30 minutes? 15:39 The same was true with it is written now. 15:41 It is written was allowed to preach the message and they did. 15:45 George Vandeman preached the gospel. 15:47 But George Vandeman dreamed of a network 15:53 that we did not as a church have. 15:57 They were number of us that were dreaming about that. 15:59 I was fairly young preacher, 16:01 but I remember going to Washington, 16:06 trying to get an appointment 16:07 with the General Conference President 16:10 and I said to someone, "I want to see him." 16:13 They said, "He's booked up. 16:14 There's no way you can see him." 16:16 I said, "I'm gonna catch him at the cafeteria." 16:20 They said, "He knows that old trick. 16:23 He doesn't go to the cafeteria." 16:26 I said, "Well, how could I catch him?" 16:28 And somebody told me, they said, 16:30 "His secretary goes to the cafeteria. 16:34 That means no one is guarding the door." 16:41 They said, "He brings his lunch in a paper sack. 16:45 And don't worry, if the lights turned off 16:48 because he sits there in the dark and eats it." 16:53 And I thought, Lord, I'm glad for that information. 16:57 And so I went to that office, 17:00 I did knock a little bit at the door 17:02 and at his office and he said, "Come in." 17:06 There was a small light on, but it was basically dark. 17:12 And he was one of the most gracious individuals 17:15 that I have ever known. 17:17 And he was so nice to me. 17:20 And he said, "Jim, come on in, sit down." 17:22 And I did. 17:25 And I laid out the burden that I had for television to him 17:32 and he shook his head. 17:34 The burdens on our leaders, folks, 17:37 we have no comprehension all the times 17:40 because we only have, 17:42 you know, the burdens that you have, you multiply them 17:45 and there are the burdens that some of our leaders have. 17:48 And he just shook his head 17:49 and he said, "Oh, Brother Gilley, 17:52 you don't know how expensive, 17:55 how much money you're talking about." 17:58 He said, "We can't afford it." 18:00 I said, "I believe that our people will support it. 18:04 I believe that our people will give the money. 18:08 I believe it can be done more economically 18:11 than some people think." 18:14 And he just shook his head. 18:17 And so I went to the Media Center 18:21 and I talked to the brethren out there. 18:23 And this was a long time ago 18:24 before they moved to their current location. 18:27 And they said to me, "It just can't be done. 18:31 You're talking about 24 hours a day, 18:35 7 days a week." 18:36 I said, "That's exactly what I'm talking about." 18:39 They said, "We do good to produce three hours per week." 18:46 And so I had no sympathy there, no encouragement there. 18:53 And so I began to pray. 18:57 And then I heard that a young man 19:02 out in Illinois was going to build a network. 19:07 Now see, the Pentecostals already had trinity. 19:10 It was growing and it was going, it was young, 19:13 but it was still moving along. 19:16 And I just felt like that our people 19:18 would support something like this. 19:21 And God had assured Danny Shelton that they would. 19:27 And so he went by faith. 19:33 Started with absolutely nothing. 19:35 He didn't even have $100. 19:37 Folks, you got to realize nothing from nothing. 19:39 He had nothing. He had no credit. 19:44 He had no money, he had no contacts, 19:48 but he started and it's a miraculous story. 19:52 If you have not heard that story 19:54 and you would like to have a DVD telling you that story. 19:59 You tell C.A. Murray, 20:00 he'll make sure you get one, all right? 20:03 But you write to us or call us at 3ABN 20:07 and we will send you. 20:09 That is not a short story. 20:11 It is slightly longer than "Gone with the Wind." 20:15 And if you remember, that had an animation. 20:21 So you want to get that story 20:23 because it tells everything about the history of 3ABN 20:28 and you want to see how God has led. 20:32 How God has helped us to know over 20:35 and over and over again that is not us, 20:39 that is He is doing it and we see Him doing it. 20:43 And of all people-- Let me tell you something. 20:46 Danny knows that above all others that it's God. 20:51 He reminds us over and over again 20:55 that God is in charge of that ministry, and He is. 21:01 He is. He continues to be. 21:04 It has grown like you would not believe. 21:07 And if you notice the church has grown the same way. 21:11 Because now the message is out there 24 hours a day 21:15 and 20 years went by 21:18 when 3ABN was really the only Seventh-day Adventist Network. 21:24 Now there were programs, 21:26 but not networks, not running 24/7. 21:28 Nine satellites around the world. 21:31 Two billion people can turn on their television 21:35 without adding anything, without adding anything. 21:41 And receive the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 21:47 I'll tell you something, that's an exciting thing. 21:50 We're all over 1,200 cable outlets in North America. 21:55 We're on Dish Network 9393 on dish, 21:58 if you get Dish Network. 22:01 We're on to the Verizon Fios. 22:03 Now you may have Verizon Fios, you may not be getting this. 22:07 All you got to do is call them, tell them, I want 3ABN. 22:10 They will plug it in, won't cost you a dime more. 22:13 And we're on so many of these outlets. 22:18 Then Latino comes along and how that is growing. 22:22 It is on hundreds of stations throughout the United States 22:26 and throughout 22:29 the rest of the southern part of the hemisphere. 22:34 And so you will definitely be excited. 22:37 If you listen in the Spanish language to "3ABN Latino." 22:42 Then we started "3ABN Russia." 22:45 And it's on. It's on the Internet 24/7. 22:49 And you also can get 22:51 the Sunbeam Channel on the Internet 24/7. 22:56 That is a children's 24/7 program. 23:01 And now we come along with proclaim, 23:04 which proclaim is simply preaching, 23:08 preaching and teaching 24/7. 23:12 And, you know, 3ABN, we have a balanced program. 23:15 We have cooking. We have exercise. 23:17 We have everything else. Proclaim is totally unbalanced. 23:21 It's only preaching. 23:24 And but when you want to hear preaching, 23:25 you can turn it on. 23:27 And then little over a year ago, 23:30 we kicked off with one of New York's on. 23:35 We kicked on a beautiful new channel called "Dare to Dream." 23:43 All right. 23:44 Dr. Evan's gonna be here in little later on 23:47 and you'll be able to hear sing 23:49 and to talk about "Dare to Dream" 23:51 and how that's growing and how it's reaching people. 23:56 And how many people we have that call us and let us know 24:00 how blessed they are by "Dare to Dream." 24:05 Well, listen, these things excite me 24:08 and I know that excite you. 24:10 And I can go on and on telling you experiences about 3ABN. 24:15 People that have watched and could only get one. 24:18 I think of one. I just talked to them recently. 24:21 Pastor Gene Heinrich out in Oregon. 24:24 Pastor Heinrich grew up Adventist, 24:26 he went to Oklahoma State University 24:30 and he got his degree. 24:32 He left the church. 24:34 He married a girl of another faith. 24:36 They didn't go to any church. 24:38 And then he had one goal to get rich. 24:42 And the operation that he was with, 24:45 ask him if he go to Little Rock and he said, yes. 24:48 He went to Little Rock, Arkansas. 24:51 And he told his wife, "You know, we don't have time for cable, 24:54 we don't have time for Dish Network 24:56 or any of those." 24:57 He said, "Let's just hook up some rabbit ears 25:00 and we'll get the local ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX Stations. 25:04 We can get local television for all the time, 25:07 little time we have, that'll be plenty. 25:09 And so they hooked up their TV, 25:10 put on their rabbit ears and guess what? 25:14 3ABN. 25:16 That's the only station they got. 25:22 They must have been right under our tower or something 25:25 because it was the only station they got. 25:29 And Gene began to watch. 25:32 And it began to rekindle those truths in his heart. 25:36 One day he said to his wife, 25:38 "We've got to start going to church." 25:39 She said, "Well, what church should we go to?" 25:41 He said, "There's only one for me." 25:44 And he went to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 25:46 He began active as a layman. 25:48 And one day the pastor asked him to preach 25:50 and another time pastor asked him to preach 25:53 and pretty soon anytime the pastor was gone, 25:55 he asked Gene to cover the pulpit. 25:58 And one Sabbath Gene prayed that morning, 26:00 "Lord, if You want me to be in the ministry, 26:04 let's somebody tell me at the door. 26:08 Gene, you missed your calling. 26:12 You should have been a minister." 26:15 And he preached the sermon, went to the door 26:17 and people all went out 26:19 and not one person said anything like that to him. 26:25 There was a lady there that day. 26:27 She got in her car and she was driving home 26:31 and she had the strongest impression, 26:33 turn around and go back 26:37 and she turned around and went back 26:42 and she said, "Gene, you missed your calling. 26:49 You should have been a minister." 26:53 And he said, "Thank you, Lord." 26:54 He sold everything they had, 26:57 went to the seminary, finished out. 26:59 He already had a degree, finished his seminary work 27:03 and then he went back actually after working 27:08 and he is a pastor in the Portland, Oregon area today. 27:13 Praise the Lord. 27:15 I tell you God is still reaching, using 3ABN. 27:18 We have so many of these stories. 27:19 There's no way we can take-- 27:21 Have enough time to tell you about all of them, 27:24 but they are thrilling to us. 27:26 And every time we hear them, we thrill as well. 27:32 Now I'm gonna ask Melody to come back. 27:36 Melody Firestone is singing for us. 27:38 "My Redeemer is Faithful and True." 27:43 And when she is finished, 27:44 the next voice you will hear is one of our favorites at 3ABN 27:51 and definitely one of your favorites here, 27:55 Pastor C.A. Murray. 28:16 As I look back on the road that I traveled 28:23 I see so many times He carried me through 28:31 And if there's one thing that I've learned in my life 28:37 My Redeemer is faithful and true 28:44 My Redeemer is faithful and true 28:52 My Redeemer is faithful and true 29:00 Everything He has said He will do 29:08 Every morning His mercies are new 29:16 My Redeemer is faithful and true 29:29 My heart rejoices when I read the promise 29:36 There is a place I am preparing for you 29:44 And I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face 29:50 'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true 29:58 My Redeemer is faithful and true 30:06 My Redeemer is faithful and true 30:14 Everything He has said He will do 30:22 Every morning His mercies are new 30:30 My Redeemer is faithful and true 30:38 And in every situation 30:42 He has proved His love for me 30:46 When I lack the understanding 30:51 He gives more grace to me 30:55 My Redeemer is faithful and true 31:03 Everything He has said He will do 31:11 Every morning His mercies are new 31:19 My Redeemer is faithful and true 31:27 My Redeemer is faithful and true 31:57 Good morning and happy Sabbath. 31:59 Good morning! 32:02 It is indeed a beautiful Sabbath. 32:05 And you are a beautiful church. 32:10 I don't get back to Northeastern that often, 32:13 so I thought this time when I came 32:15 I would bring a few friends with me. 32:19 And 3ABN is so very, very pleased to be here. 32:25 Someone asked the question sometime ago, it seems like-- 32:29 It seems like you folk at a 3ABN really like each other. 32:38 I told him, that's a magic of television. 32:40 You can fake anything on television, 32:44 but the truth is we really do. 32:46 When I went out to 3ABN, I didn't know what to expect, 32:51 but I found a group of people who love each other, 32:57 who love the Lord, who are singularly focused 33:02 on putting out a Christ filled product for a darkened world. 33:10 It's nice to work at a place 33:11 where nobody is out to take your job. 33:21 Nice to work at a place 33:22 where nobody is scratching behind your back 33:28 where there is trust and love. 33:30 Are we perfect? No. 33:33 There is no perfection in this side of heaven. 33:37 But at 3ABN, they do a pretty good job, Pastor Dave Willis, 33:41 and it's a great place to work and a great place to be. 33:46 If you never been to 3ABN, I'll give you directions. 33:50 You simply go to nowhere 33:53 and make a left, you'll find 3ABN. 33:57 In the middle of cornfield in Southern Illinois, 34:01 but God knows where we are. 34:04 And we like to say 34:06 three quarters of the earth surface 34:09 is covered by water and 3ABN covers the rest. 34:20 My boss likes it when I say that. 34:24 Well, we got a Sabbath School lesson to look at. 34:27 This has been a fantastic quarter. 34:30 It's been a bit of a whipping for some of us. 34:37 Mm-hmm. 34:39 For those who have not done 34:40 and are not doing what they should do, 34:43 it's been a tough quarter. 34:45 But for those who are on the battlefield, 34:48 witnessing for the Lord, 34:49 it's been a quarter of encouragement. 34:52 Can you say amen? Amen. 34:54 So I wanna tell you a couple of things you know 34:55 and perhaps a couple of things you don't know 34:58 as we look at our Sabbath School lesson. 35:00 The last lesson for this quarter, 35:02 "A Perpetual Ministry." Shall we pray? 35:04 Father God, we praise You and thank You 35:07 for this opportunity to study together Your word. 35:12 For truly Your word is the lamb unto our feet, 35:15 a light into our path 35:17 and it gives us encouragement, inspiration, information 35:23 and shows us what You want us to do 35:27 so that we may truly be 35:29 sons and daughters of the Most High God. 35:31 Be now our honored guest and the teacher, 35:34 so that we may learn and do 35:37 and we thank You in Jesus name, amen. 35:39 When we think about the word "perpetual," 35:43 we think about something that is ongoing, 35:45 that is continual, that is lasting, 35:50 that is in a sense self-generating. 35:53 Sort of like, we have in the states 35:55 that I'm saying this for a worldwide audience 35:57 the energizer buddy, it just keeps going 35:59 and going and going and going. 36:03 I want to go to the first page 36:04 because I want to do a little reading 36:06 before I go off into something else. 36:07 But right here, the memory text says, 36:10 "What is the Kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it? 36:15 It is like a mustard seed 36:18 which a man took and put in his garden 36:21 and it grew and became a large tree 36:23 and the birds of the air nested in its branches. 36:28 The thought is-- And I like this thought. 36:29 Evangelism and witnessing are the means 36:33 by which the mustard seed that is a Church of God 36:36 becomes a huge tree that fills the whole world. 36:39 We are called to evangelize. We are called to minister. 36:44 We are not called to warmth youths. 36:46 Amen. Amen. 36:49 Pick at the pastor or at each other. 36:57 We need to train our guns on the enemy 36:58 and that is Satan and work at tearing down his kingdom. 37:01 Now the lesson says, you may have heard it said 37:04 and you may have said to yourself. 37:06 I've done my bit, 37:08 I will now leave it to the younger people 37:11 or I've been an evangelism for years, 37:15 let's some of the new ones take over. 37:17 Now I like this part. 37:20 In one sense, these kinds of statements are understandable. 37:23 People get old, health fails, 37:26 other lives are contentious for them 37:28 maintaining their leadership in church ministry. 37:30 Sometimes, but-- It's letting us-- 37:35 You know, you have to take a break sometimes. 37:38 But you never retire from serving the Lord. 37:44 You never retire from being a Christian. 37:48 And you don't get vacation 37:50 and you don't get days off, amen. 37:54 And you don't take time, Pastor Morgan, 37:58 when you lay your Christianity down to get some said. 38:08 Once you sign up with Jesus, 38:11 you're on a battlefield till the day you die. 38:17 So there are no vacations. 38:20 There is-- There is however 38:22 a great difference between 38:24 changing ministry emphasis and seizing to minister. 38:28 You never seize to minister. 38:29 As long we have breath, we should, 38:33 in one capacity or another continue to minister. 38:38 True evangelism, we're gonna talk about in a moment, 38:41 is not an event, it is a process. 38:43 I want to take you to the Country of Panama. 38:45 I was in Panama a couple of years ago 38:47 and there was a lady there somewhat older than myself. 38:51 She was going to cut 38:52 what they called in Spanish "Yucca or yucca. 38:55 It's cassava. 38:56 It is a root that grows along and just under the ground. 38:59 And so since she was older than me, 39:00 I decided I was gonna help the little old lady out. 39:05 So I got the machete and she got the basket 39:09 and we went out into the field to cut yucca. 39:14 And this little old lady pulled her skirt up 39:18 and went down to this position. 39:21 She took the machete 39:22 and she cut yucca for about 20 minutes. 39:26 Then, she picked up the yucca and up she came. 39:32 Now this lady was my mother-in-law, 39:35 who at that time was 87 years old. 39:39 Mm-hmm. 39:41 20 minutes and up she came. 39:46 Later on that year, I was told that she stopped 39:49 taking some of the offices at her church. 39:53 You see, she had been youth director since the age of 80. 40:02 And she figured at age 87, 40:05 somebody else ought to be the youth director. 40:10 She was also community services director and head deaconess. 40:16 She said, "I will take those." 40:18 But I think you need to get somebody 40:19 little younger to be the youth director, amen. 40:23 80 to 87. 40:25 So if an 87-year-old lady 40:27 or an 80-year-old lady can be the director of youth 40:30 and not a little tiny church 40:31 where she had to be a good size church 40:33 where they had a lot of people younger than her. 40:36 That says to me, you never get a break from serving the Lord 40:40 as long as life last and limb last and health last, 40:46 there is no retirement from serving Jesus. 40:50 Can you say amen? Amen. 40:52 The problem is we have left it to the professionals. 41:01 Mm-hmm. 41:03 To do the work of the Lord. 41:04 We figured once you go to Oakwood or Andrews 41:07 and get a little degree, you're a professional. 41:10 But your qualifications for ministry come from God. 41:18 You know, we've got-- 41:19 We've got a whole group of young heart, young preachers 41:23 who didn't go to seminary route, 41:25 who didn't go the school route. 41:26 David Asscherick. Anybody know that name? 41:28 Yes! Yeah. 41:30 He didn't go to Andrew. He didn't go to seminary. 41:33 Doug Batchelor. Didn't go to the seminary. 41:37 There are a lot of young guys who are qualified by God 41:41 and who preached for God under the unction of God. 41:46 Now seminary is good. I don't-- I cannot complain. 41:49 I went to the seminary, I sat, I learned, I got my degree, 41:53 but that's not a prequalification for ministry. 41:57 Once you come to the Lord and God fills your heart, 42:01 that's your qualification for ministry. 42:05 And that's what you got to do. 42:07 You got to ministry until Lord tells you to stop ministry. 42:11 Now I got some good news and I got some bad news. 42:20 I'll give you the good news first. 42:23 It has been stated by a number 42:24 of nationally recognized news organizations 42:30 that the Seventh-day Adventist Church 42:33 is now the fastest growing protestant 42:38 denomination in the Western world. 42:41 Can you say amen? Amen. 42:48 Now the bad news. 42:50 When you look at those figures, 42:53 you will find that we're only growing in certain areas 42:59 among certain demographics. 43:02 Hello? 43:05 We're baptizing in the most part, 43:10 immigrants to North America 43:13 who have been in the country less than 10 years. 43:18 Did you know that? 43:19 Now we're baptizing others, too. 43:22 But for the most part, that is the demographic 43:25 that we're reaching a baptizing in fairly large numbers 43:28 and a large amount of those are Latino. 43:32 So if you pull the Latinos out 43:36 and the immigrants from the Caribbean out, 43:39 we slip from first 43:41 to the somewhere near the back of the pack. 43:44 So that means, as a church 43:46 we have a lot of work to do, amen. 43:51 Because we found that once we'll get here 43:53 be the Latino, be the African American, 43:56 be the West Indian American, get here and get settled 43:59 and get American eyes, we're not reaching them either. 44:03 So let's not pad up our self on the back too much 44:06 because we've got a lot of work to do, amen. 44:11 Television has been a great part of that work. 44:17 If you look at the explosive growth in the Adventist Church, 44:22 it parallels our moment aggressively into television. 44:28 Right about the mid '80s up until the present time, 44:32 our numbers have soared 44:35 and television has a lot to do with that. 44:38 Give you a little test to prove this. 44:40 How many know who Rosa Parks is? 44:43 Raise your hand. Who know Rosa Park is? 44:45 What's she famous for? Civil Rights. 44:50 She refused to go to the back of a bus, amen. 44:57 When did that happen? 45:02 Give me the decade. '50s. 45:05 55. Okay. 45:08 Everybody knows about Rosa Park. 45:10 How many know the name Irene Morgan Kirkaldy? 45:14 Not many. 45:17 Did you know that Irene Morgan Kirkaldy 45:20 was a Seventh-day Adventist? 45:23 Did you know that Irene Morgan Kirkaldy 45:26 was a member of the Northeast Conference? 45:28 Did you know that Irene Morgan Kirkaldy 45:30 was the member of the Albany, the Seventh-day Adventist Church 45:33 in Freeport, New York? 45:35 Did you know that Irene Morgan Kirkaldy 45:38 refused to go to the back of the bus 45:41 10 years before Rosa Parks? 45:46 Rosa Parks' case was dealt with. 45:50 Irene Morgan Kirkaldy's case went all the way 45:54 to the Supreme Court of the United States. 45:56 Have you ever heard the name Thurgood Marshall? 46:00 He was her attorney. 46:02 Went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. 46:08 And in 1997, Bill Clinton then president called 46:14 Irene Morgan Kirkaldy to the White House 46:17 to give her a long overdue humanitarian award. 46:22 Seventh-day Adventist. Now here's my question. 46:25 How come everybody knows about Rosa Parks 46:30 and hardly anybody knows about Irene Morgan Kirkaldy? 46:34 They did the same thing. They both went to jail. 46:38 They both went to court. 46:39 Rosa Parks is famous and I don't regret her that, 46:42 nobody knows Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, why? 46:46 Television. Television. 46:50 Irene Morgan Kirkaldy refuses to go 46:54 to the back of the bus in 1945, Pre TV. 46:59 Rosa Parks 10 years later 47:01 refused to go to the back of the bus 47:03 and all of the cameras were there. 47:05 Only difference, the cases are exactly the same. 47:10 That says to me the power of television 47:15 is far greater than we ever believe. 47:17 It is no accident that the civil rights moment 47:20 which had been smoldering for years 47:23 took off in the '50s and '60s. 47:25 What was the difference? Television. 47:28 People began to sit in their living rooms 47:31 and watch every night on the nightly news 47:33 the beatings and the lynching's in the south 47:35 and they said we're not gonna have it. 47:37 Only difference, television, ladies and gentlemen, 47:40 is the most powerful tool for evangelizing 47:46 that has ever been created. 47:47 Why does the devil works so hard to get a hold of it? 47:51 Why is everything monsters and zombies 47:54 and drinking blood and all this dark so 47:57 because the devil knows 47:59 if he can get television into your home, 48:01 into your head and into your heart, he's got you. 48:05 And that's why 3ABN works so very, very hard. 48:07 Now why I'm saying this? 48:08 I'm saying this because the explosive growth 48:13 in the Adventist Church is due in part to television. 48:19 We have documented proof of over 30 first day pastors 48:25 many who brought their whole congregation, 48:27 two of them I've talked with and sat and talk with myself 48:30 over to the Adventist Church through watching 3ABN. 48:35 I mean, not just a pastor, I mean a pastor 48:38 who brings his entire church with him. 48:41 We had a pastor who was afraid. 48:43 He took a month off to pray about it. 48:46 And then in January of the next year, 48:48 he told his church, "I don't know about you, 48:50 but I've studied this 48:52 and I cannot be a Sunday preacher anymore. 48:55 From now on I'm keeping the Sabbath." 48:58 And then he waited for the explosion 49:00 and a deacon boy said, "Sir, what's the problem? 49:03 You want to keep it? We're gonna keep it, too. 49:06 You've been sweating and taken this battle for a whole month. 49:09 We know what you've been doing. 49:10 We know you've been studying the Sabbath. 49:11 You want to keep it? We're gonna keep it, too." 49:13 Whole church went with him. 49:19 But as powerful as television is, 49:24 it cannot was never designed to take the place 49:28 of one to one ministry and witnessing. 49:33 We cannot do what you do. 49:36 We cannot say what you say. 49:39 We can preach the gospel, 49:40 but 3ABN is just an aid to your personal witness, 49:46 so that when you tell somebody about the Sabbath 49:49 or you tell somebody about the state of the dead, 49:50 you can say to them, 49:51 if you turn on this particular channel you'll get this 24/7. 49:56 You'll get it all the time. 49:57 So we just assist, but it does not, cannot, will not 50:01 take the place of what we do every-- 50:04 Of what you do rather every single day. 50:07 Now that's really just a Sabbath part. 50:10 We're gonna go over to Sunday now. 50:13 Never ending witnessing an evangelism. 50:14 It must be emphasized. I'm reading the first line. 50:17 "Again that witnessing and evangelism 50:21 must continue as long as there are people who need salvation. 50:25 Now I want to talk to you about witnessing and evangelism. 50:27 Does anybody know what Guerrilla evangelism is? 50:32 Actually you do. You just don't know other term. 50:35 Guerrilla evangelism is a term that I invented. 50:38 That's why you don't know it, it's mine. 50:42 It's what I and Pastor Gilley 50:45 and most of us practiced all the time. 50:47 You know what Guerrilla warfare is? 50:49 Guerrilla warfare if a person pops up in the jungle, 50:52 fires off the few bullets, disappears backinto the jungle 50:55 and then pops up a little bit later, 50:57 fires off a few more bullets 50:59 and then disappears back in the jungle. 51:00 What is that sound like? 51:03 That sounds like evangelism we tend to practice. 51:05 Amen. A 10 appears. 51:11 We fire off a few bullets, take a few souls 51:14 and then we disappear. 51:18 And then a two or year so later another 10 appears, 51:23 fire off a few bullets, take a few souls 51:27 and then we disappear. 51:30 Then another pastor comes, another 10 appears, 51:33 fire off a few bullets, disappear back into the jungle. 51:39 And you know what? 51:41 God has blessed our Guerrilla evangelistic efforts, He has. 51:48 The church has grown through that. 51:49 It's been very productive. 51:54 But I don't believe 51:56 that kind of evangelism will finish the work. 52:03 I don't think so. 52:04 Because we leave that through the professional. 52:07 See, I pastored in this conference. 52:12 I can name the churches. 52:14 And I ran an evangelism crusade at every single one 52:18 and I never baptized less than 35 people, 52:23 but that's not gonna finish the work. 52:26 Me working up a sweat and folks in there saying amen 52:30 was not the way God intended to finish the work. 52:36 I'm working up a sweat now. 52:40 And it's never the way the God intended to finish the work. 52:42 God intended everybody, everywhere 52:45 to do everything to everyone they can 52:47 for as long as they can, 52:49 that's how the work is gonna be finished. 52:52 We can't leave it to the professionals. 52:56 The professionals are overworked. 52:59 You have to do that work. 53:01 There are places I cannot go. 53:03 There are places 3ABN cannot go. 53:05 There are work situations that will never have 3ABN. 53:09 Did you know? And I'll tell you a secret. 53:12 We have worked out an agreement with the Falkland Islands. 53:17 Anybody knows where Falkland Islands are? 53:19 Remembered hearing about 53:20 the Falkland Islands a few years ago 53:22 where England went down and took them from Argentina. 53:27 We just worked out agreement with the Falkland Islands 53:29 and nobody knows it. 53:31 Well, they know it now. 53:34 To bring 3ABN into the Falkland Islands. 53:38 Yeah. Yeah. 53:40 First and only religious station there, Falkland Islands. 53:45 Yeah. But that's not gonna finish the work. 53:47 It's the evangelist and the missionaries 53:49 down there working with 3ABN, 53:51 that's gonna finish the work, amen. 53:53 That's how it's done. 53:54 Now we talked about event to process. 53:57 I want to go through this really quickly. 54:00 And event is a team meeting, revolution seminar. 54:07 Those are events. 54:09 We need to move evangelism from an event to a process. 54:14 A process is men and women whose livesare so in-depth 54:18 with the community and with Jesus 54:19 that there is constant evangelism 54:21 by meeting community needs. 54:23 I'll tell you a story. 54:24 And I was gonna tell some names, 54:25 but I won't tell their names, 54:26 I don't want to embarrass anybody. 54:27 I am pastoring a church in this conference. 54:30 What are my early churches? 54:31 When I got there, there was a member there, 54:33 sweet lady who was head deaconess. 54:35 We're talked about was rather unusual 54:38 because she was known as a notorious Adventist hater. 54:44 So how is this hater of Adventist 54:45 gonna be the head deaconess? 54:49 Well, her husband was a deacon in that particular church. 54:53 He got sick with cancer 54:56 and that church showed her so much love. 55:02 They knew she hated them. 55:04 They knew she didn't want any Adventist in her home. 55:07 But they love him 55:08 and they love her through him, amen. 55:12 Had a nice funeral and one member of the church 55:16 who was the treasurer, a good friend of mine, 55:19 decided she was going to practice 55:23 Escovitch Fish Evangelism. 55:32 That's what I said. Escovitch Fish Evangelism. 55:38 No 2,300 days. 55:42 No Bible studies. Fish. 55:48 And so every Friday, she took a fish dinner to this widow. 55:56 She had two big stripping sons 55:58 played on a basketball team with me. 56:00 I mean, big boys. You know, eat like locust. 56:03 She took Escovitch fish, she took rice and peas. 56:13 She took callaloo, 56:17 she took candied yam, 56:23 lemonade and all of sip. 56:25 Well, you know plastic knives, plastic forks 56:26 and occasionally some dessert. 56:29 She had prayer, she set the table and she left. 56:35 Now somebody told her during that time, 56:37 why are you taking fish to that woman? 56:39 Adventists don't eat fish. 56:48 See, Jesus taught you fish with the bay. 56:53 That they'll bite on and that woman ate fish, 56:56 clean fish, amen. 56:59 So we solve that issue, amen. 57:02 Six weeks, fish evangelism. 57:07 I think she fried it a couple of times, 57:09 multi Escovitch because that was her favorite. 57:12 Big red snapper. 57:20 Onions. 57:25 And after six weeks, the woman said-- 57:29 I almost called her name. 57:30 The woman said, "You know, tomorrow 57:34 when you going to church, stop by and pick me up. 57:44 So by the time I get there, 57:47 she's the head deaconess at a church. 57:51 Escovitch Fish Evangelism. 57:57 Find what they need 58:00 and in the name of Jesus, give it to them. 58:10 The Bible says, "Let them see your good works." 58:18 What's that text? Oh, Ephesians 2:10. 58:25 Bible says, "We're created for good works." 58:30 That's why God made us to do good. 58:33 And when you do good, people will come to Jesus. 58:39 That means evangelism from an event to a process. 58:47 I realized this when I was pastoring. 58:49 I would say, "Go bring all your friends, 58:53 bring your friends to the meeting." 58:55 The problem is, the longer you are an Adventist, 59:00 the less non-Adventist friends you have. 59:04 Your friends are sitting in the pew next to you. 59:09 You go to church with your friends. 59:10 You eat with your friends. 59:12 So it's hard to go get friends unless you're making friends 59:18 not because you want to make them Adventist, 59:21 you're making friends because making friends 59:25 is what Christian people do. 59:29 And if you make friends and live for Jesus, 59:32 the Adventists stuff will come, it will. 59:38 You don't-- You don't have 59:39 this thing behind your back shaking hands 59:40 because you're gonna pull out 59:41 this Adventist on him, just do good. 59:45 They will see your good 59:47 and wanna glorify your Father which is in heaven. 59:49 It worked because God said it will work. 59:51 First, my first funeral at the Ephesus Church. 59:53 When I was pastoring Ephesus Church, 59:54 117 funerals I did in Ephesus Church. 59:57 First funeral was Kathleen Downs. 01:00:00 Some of you may remember that name. 01:00:03 Tall, beautiful woman about 5 foot 7, 135-140 pounds. 01:00:08 When I met her, she was 5'7'' 85 pounds. 01:00:13 Cancer had taken her. She was at Calvary Hospital. 01:00:15 The doctor told me, 01:00:16 "Kathleen Downs is in apocalyptic pain." 01:00:19 I said, "Term the youth." 01:00:21 He said, "We can't give her enough drugs 01:00:24 to soften the pain that she's in and she's refusing. 01:00:28 She won't take it." 01:00:31 Cancer in every major organ of the body. 01:00:34 5 foot 7 under 100 pounds. 01:00:38 And you know all that woman did 01:00:40 was sing for Jesus day and night. 01:00:43 Her oncologist said, "Who is that woman?" 01:00:49 When she died and we had the funeral 01:00:51 at the Ephesus Church, that 1985 late September. 01:00:56 You know, her oncologist came, her floor nurse came, 01:01:00 her orderly came 01:01:02 and another nurse on the floor came, you know why? 01:01:06 They said, "We just want to see the church. 01:01:10 We just want to be in the church 01:01:13 that has members like that. 01:01:17 Who we couldn't give enough drugs to kill the pain?" 01:01:21 And all she did until her mouth froze 01:01:23 and she couldn't move. 01:01:25 It singed for Jesus. 01:01:27 She that's witnessing. That's witnessing. 01:01:31 She couldn't give a Bible study. 01:01:34 She didn't have talk about the 144,000. 01:01:38 She just sang for Jesus. 01:01:40 And they saw the Jesus in her. 01:01:42 Now, can I say we baptized everybody in the hospital? 01:01:45 No, we baptized one. 01:01:50 Now here's my question to you. 01:01:52 Did Kathleen Downs have to get cancer 01:01:54 for that one person to be baptized? 01:01:58 Huh? 01:01:59 Did she have to for that person be baptized? 01:02:03 I will give you my thought. I don't think so. 01:02:09 But here's what I do believe 01:02:11 that when you stand for Jesus, Jesus stands for you. 01:02:16 When you live for Jesus, Jesus shines through you. 01:02:20 When Jesus shines through you, 01:02:22 people are going to be attracted to Jesus. 01:02:27 Now I don't think she had to, 01:02:29 but the fact is, she did and she did get cancer 01:02:34 and she did stand for Jesus 01:02:36 and above us when you put that together, 01:02:38 that's irresistible to some folk. 01:02:40 When they see that, they're attracted to that. 01:02:43 Now we didn't baptized the whole floor, 01:02:45 we baptized the nurse, 01:02:46 but everybody saw the Jesus in her 01:02:49 and that seed is planted 01:02:50 and it's up to God to water that seed. 01:02:52 So that moves evangelism now 01:02:55 from an event done by evangelist and pastors 01:02:58 to a process, amen. 01:03:01 And when you do the process, 01:03:04 men and women will come to Jesus. 01:03:06 It's an ongoing process. 01:03:08 We need a nurturing environment 01:03:11 that nurtures men and women. 01:03:12 Pastors would do well to spend their time 01:03:14 teaching folk how to stand on their own 01:03:17 and witness for themselves. 01:03:18 Don't need a theological degree. 01:03:20 All you need to talk about is what Jesus has done for you. 01:03:28 I'm looking at my buddy Pastor Larry Bailey. 01:03:31 I got on television several years ago 01:03:33 and I told the world I have cancer. 01:03:38 I was diagnosed for prostate cancer. 01:03:40 Diane and Bailey heard it and told Larry, 01:03:42 you better your prostate check. 01:03:44 He had prostate cancer, too. 01:03:47 Had I not said something 01:03:48 he may have got it checked, maybe not? 01:03:54 But he did. 01:03:57 My wife said to me-- 01:04:00 I said, "Well, I can get this, I can get that, 01:04:03 I can get radiation, go to..." 01:04:05 She said, "We're not gonna do any of that." 01:04:08 I said, "Oh, do we have cancer?" 01:04:16 I got the cancer. 01:04:17 But you know, you need to listen to your wives. 01:04:23 So we went Eden Valley, 01:04:26 changed the diet, did a bunch of stuff. 01:04:29 You know... 01:04:31 that was 2008 or 2009, 01:04:37 I still got prostate cancer. 01:04:40 I haven't done anything, but changed my diet. 01:04:43 Went to the doctor sometime ago and the doctor said, 01:04:46 "You know, you got funny cancer." 01:04:51 He said, "Your cancer is cancer, 01:04:54 but it's trying to act like it's not cancer." 01:04:59 He said, "It's just kind of 01:05:01 sitting there and staring at us." 01:05:05 So the numbers have gone up just a little, 01:05:08 just a little and sooner that later I go back, 01:05:12 I'm supposed to getting all the biopsy 01:05:13 and do the whole thing again 01:05:14 so you can tell me what I already know, 01:05:15 because I told him-- 01:05:17 He said-- You know, you need to be-- 01:05:19 I said, "This cancer is not gonna kill me." 01:05:20 He said, "How do you know?" I said, "God told me. 01:05:24 Yeah, I will die, but it won't be from this cancer." 01:05:31 So I get calls and letters 01:05:35 everyday from people around the world 01:05:37 who I'll never see and never know, 01:05:39 what should I do with my cancer? 01:05:41 I said, "Go to the doctor. 01:05:44 And then change your diet, 01:05:48 do what the doctor says and pray like crazy." 01:05:57 Amen. 01:05:59 See, your greatest witness is what God has done for you. 01:06:07 That's your greatest witness. 01:06:08 You may know that 20, 30 days, 01:06:10 you may not, it's not important. 01:06:12 You know Jesus. 01:06:13 So tell him about Jesus and let the Lord lead, amen. 01:06:21 Okay, now let me tell you one other quick story. 01:06:25 No, let me go through lesson. No, let me go through lesson. 01:06:27 Let me go through lesson. Okay. 01:06:28 On Sunday, there are five points I really want you to get. 01:06:33 I maintain deeds of kindness 01:06:37 tear down walls of separation, build bridges to salvation. 01:06:42 So if you want to lead, lead with deeds of kindness. 01:06:46 It's hard to hate somebody that's doing stuff for you. 01:06:50 So rather than leading with your Bible, 01:06:52 lead with deeds of kindness. 01:06:54 Now on the Sunday lessons there are five things 01:06:56 I want to put some leads on it, some actuality, too. 01:06:58 Number one. Talking about Jesus, example. 01:07:03 And of course, it's going with the woman 01:07:04 at the well in Sumerian. 01:07:06 One, he arrested her attention by saying, "Give me a drink." 01:07:08 I really like this. 01:07:10 Second, he secured her ringers. 01:07:15 Third... 01:07:21 Right, he created a desire. Fourth. 01:07:26 He brought conviction and then He made the call. 01:07:32 We need to follow that. Secure and interest. 01:07:37 Look at what they're doing and in secure into this. 01:07:40 Tell you a story, this is about a General Conference official. 01:07:43 Now he's North-American Division official in Washington DC. 01:07:46 He moved into a part of the town in Washington DC, 01:07:50 where they were, he and his wife, were the only persons of 01:07:56 Euro trickish hair and Australian complexion. 01:08:05 You know what I mean. 01:08:08 And the lady next door really didn't like it. 01:08:14 And so they prayed not 01:08:17 only do we want to win this person as a friend, 01:08:19 we want to win it to Jesus. 01:08:21 She and her husband. 01:08:22 And this woman was so upset, 01:08:24 she almost ran the wife down. 01:08:26 This is a North-American Division official. 01:08:29 So they prayed and they waited for an opportunity. 01:08:31 Here's what happened. 01:08:33 Wife sitting in the kitchen looking out the window 01:08:37 and the woman pulls and they got those adjoining driveways. 01:08:40 The woman pulls in and she gets 01:08:43 a bag of groceries out, fills this hand 01:08:46 and then she gets another bag of groceries out 01:08:48 and fills this hand 01:08:50 and she tries to close the door with her hip. 01:08:52 You know, you just wanna gonna hip the door close. 01:08:55 So as she tries to close the door with her hip, 01:08:58 so when hit the door with her hip, 01:08:59 the top of the door, zipped open the bag, 01:09:02 this bag of groceries and down they went. 01:09:05 Now of course, your natural reaction is to do what? 01:09:09 Try to catch that bag. So what happens to this bag? 01:09:12 You loose both bags. So both bags tumbled out. 01:09:15 Now when the bags tumbled out, 01:09:17 they're fell out and exploded on the ground, 01:09:20 a large jar of Maxwell House Coffee. 01:09:26 Sister Saint said, "This is my opportunity." 01:09:30 She grabbed a broom and a dustpan 01:09:36 and ran out and began sweeping. 01:09:40 Now some of you folk would've said, 01:09:42 "Good for you, you racist. I'm glad it happened." 01:09:48 But she didn't do that. 01:09:51 She said, "Here is a chance for me to serve someone 01:09:55 who doesn't even want me there." 01:09:59 So she began to sweep and serve 01:10:02 and then she grabbed woman and said, 01:10:04 "Listen, I've got something in my house, 01:10:06 it's way better for you than that coffee. 01:10:08 That coffee is gonna give you caffeine. 01:10:10 It's gonna mess with your nurse. 01:10:12 I've got something in my house that you're love. 01:10:14 It was either a breakfast cup or rumor or, one of the stuff." 01:10:16 And she grabbed the woman, 01:10:17 didn't even listen to her protest, 01:10:20 grabbed her by both wrist 01:10:21 and drugged her into the house. 01:10:25 So by the time elder brother man 01:10:28 comes home for the General Conference head quarters, 01:10:31 this woman is sitting in the kitchen, 01:10:36 drinking whatever that stuff is and eating with his wife. 01:10:42 Now these two North-American Division officials 01:10:44 have both died, they died 01:10:47 before they even had a chance to know that that woman is now 01:10:50 a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:10:53 Deeds of kindness, teardown walls of separation, 01:10:58 build bridges to salvation 01:11:01 and it's hard to reject somebody 01:11:04 who's doing something good for you, amen. 01:11:07 So find out what they need 01:11:10 and give it to them in Jesus' name. 01:11:13 They will see your good works 01:11:14 and glorify your Father which is in Heaven 01:11:16 and that changes evangelism 01:11:19 from an event to a process which everybody can do. 01:11:25 We've got to be sensitive to your neighbors. 01:11:27 My mother died in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 01:11:29 baptized with my own two hands. 01:11:31 I think I did. Baptized my dad. 01:11:33 Praise the Lord, my sister is here, keeping me in check. 01:11:37 She would have been in a church 10 years earlier 01:11:40 except some good meaning Bible person 01:11:43 came and put their foot in the door 01:11:44 and try to give her Bible study on Friday evening 01:11:46 when she was frying fish. 01:11:49 So the person could mean and say, 01:11:52 wouldn't let her close the door 01:11:55 and my mother is doing a slow burn 01:11:57 while in the kitchen that fish is doing a fast burn 01:12:02 and she said, "I'm not gonna join the church 01:12:04 where people are so rude and unconsidered." 01:12:07 And then 10 years later, a loving, considerate saint 01:12:11 who lived across the street from us invited her, 01:12:15 my mother died in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:12:17 Deeds of kindness, tear down walls of separation 01:12:23 and build bridges to salvation. 01:12:25 So by that means, all of us can be witnesses for the Lord. 01:12:33 All of us can be evangelists for the Lord, amen. 01:12:37 All of us can be witnesses for Lord. 01:12:40 And I repeat, we never ever get a vacation. 01:12:43 So you arrest their attention 01:12:46 and then you move through those successive steps 01:12:49 and you will find that you will make souls for Jesus, amen. 01:12:55 Bottom of the page on Sunday, I really like this. 01:12:57 A question that we need to think through. 01:13:00 How often-- My wife says when you wipe, 01:13:03 wipe the whole head. 01:13:07 How often do you take advantage 01:13:10 or opportunities to witness or to minister? 01:13:14 Isn't it true that so often we go about our lives, 01:13:18 meeting people who despite their interaction with us 01:13:20 have no idea of what we believe, 01:13:23 what we stand for or the hope that we have. 01:13:27 How can we change so that we can be better witnesses? 01:13:30 You know, one other thing I was working, 01:13:31 I am a person who sleeps on airplanes. 01:13:34 I rarely see the plane take off. 01:13:36 I get in, I buckle my seatbelt and I'm gone. 01:13:41 I wake up in time to get my soda and peanuts 01:13:44 and then I'm gone again, 01:13:48 but with the encouragement Irma, 01:13:50 I'm trying to stay awake on planes 01:13:53 so that I can witness to those people next to me 01:13:56 'cause for years I slept on planes. 01:13:58 I just-- They closed the door 01:14:00 and they say buckle your seatbelt. 01:14:01 I buckle it and then I'm gone. 01:14:04 And I wake up when the plane is coming down. 01:14:06 But I'm training myself to stay awake 01:14:09 because you have X number of hours sitting next to somebody. 01:14:12 You can put in a little gospel presentation. 01:14:14 And you have to assault them with the Bible, 01:14:17 just put in a little gospel presentation, 01:14:19 give him something to think about, 01:14:21 that makes you an evangelist, that makes you a Mark Finley, 01:14:25 that makes you an Abraham Joel, that's makes you a Jim Gilley, 01:14:28 that makes you an evangelist, 01:14:29 that makes you a witness for Jesus Christ, amen. 01:14:32 And your testimony is what God has done for you. 01:14:35 Down the last 26 seconds. 01:14:37 This is a powerful lesson and a powerful set of lessons. 01:14:42 It is a tutorial for you and for me. 01:14:47 What we need to ask the Lord each morning is simply this. 01:14:51 Who do you want me to witness to? 01:14:54 Prepare me to find that opportunity, 01:14:57 to seize that opportunity and to direct their lives to-- |
Revised 2014-12-17