Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190007A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:11 Hello and welcome to 3ABN. 01:13 We're so excited 01:14 that you're joining us again today. 01:16 And we have a wonderful and inspirational topic 01:21 that we'll be covering. 01:22 Let me introduce our special guest to you, 01:24 Nelson Ernst. 01:26 Good German name. 01:27 Yes, it is. 01:29 Nelson, thank you for coming to 3ABN. 01:31 Oh, it's a pleasure. 01:32 You feeling a little bit jet lagged? 01:34 Just... 01:35 Yeah, just a little bit, right. 01:37 If your eyelids start drooping, 01:39 we will get you some toothpicks to prop them open, okay? 01:42 Good, good. 01:44 Well, we're going to come back and get this young man's story 01:47 and talk about the ministry that he oversees. 01:51 And actually that it was the Lord 01:53 who inspired him to start this ministry 01:55 a number of years ago. 01:57 But first, let me read a scripture, 02:00 we always like to start off with a scripture, 02:02 Revelation 18:1, And, you know, 02:07 Revelation is the fifth gospel. 02:10 Do you realize that? 02:11 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 02:12 talk about the ministry of Jesus on the earth, 02:16 but Revelation is the ministry of Jesus in heaven, 02:20 and it's such a beautiful book. 02:22 He says in Revelation 18:1, 02:25 "After these things, 02:26 I saw another angel coming down from heaven, 02:29 having great authority 02:32 and the earth was illuminated with His glory." 02:37 We're going to talk today about GLOW Ministries, 02:42 and how God can use us to illuminate the earth 02:46 with His glory. 02:47 But first, 02:49 our own Yvonne Shelton, who is my dear sister, 02:51 I love her so much, 02:53 is going to sing for us "In Christ Alone." 03:14 In Christ alone 03:17 My hope is found 03:20 He is my light my strength, my song 03:24 This cornerstone 03:27 This solid ground 03:30 Firm through the fiercest drought and storm 03:35 What heights of love 03:38 What depths of peace 03:40 When fears are stilled when strivings cease 03:46 My comforter 03:48 My all in all 03:51 Here in the love of Christ 03:54 I stand 04:04 In Christ alone who took on flesh 04:09 Fullness of God in the helpless babe 04:14 This gift of love and righteousness 04:20 Scorned by the ones He came to save 04:25 Till on that cross as Jesus died 04:30 The wrath of God was satisfied 04:35 For every sin on Him was laid 04:41 Here in the death of Christ 04:43 I live 05:06 There in the ground 05:09 His body lay 05:12 Light of the world by darkness slain 05:17 Then bursting forth in glorious day 05:22 Up from the grave He rose again 05:27 And there as He stands in victory 05:32 Since curse has lost its grip on me 05:38 For I am His and He is mine 05:43 Bought with the precious blood of Christ 05:56 No guilt in life no fear in death 06:01 This is the power of Christ in me 06:06 From life's first cry to final breath 06:12 Jesus commands my destiny 06:17 No power of hell no scheme of man 06:22 Can ever pluck me 06:25 From His hand 06:30 Till He returns to take me home 06:35 Here in the power of Christ 06:38 I'll stand 06:40 No power of hell no scheme of man 06:45 Can ever pluck me 06:49 From His hand 06:51 For I am His and He is mine 06:56 Here in the power 06:59 Of Christ 07:04 I'll stand 07:18 Amen and amen. What a beautiful song! 07:21 And we're sitting here saying, what a note she hit. 07:24 You know, it's wonderful, 07:26 of course, if you know Yvonne or her history, 07:29 she had an incredible career in secular music. 07:35 But how wonderful now that she dedicates, 07:38 when she re-dedicated her life years ago to the Lord, 07:41 she gave all of that up, 07:43 gave up her medical practice, everything, 07:45 and she dedicates all of her talents 07:47 to the glory of God. 07:48 And I have a young man with me today, 07:50 he's young to me anyway. 07:54 I know that you Nelson are married 07:56 and have a four-year-old. 07:58 Yeah, that's right. 07:59 So you're not too old, but this is so interesting 08:03 because we have a gentleman here 08:05 who is the director of GLOW Ministries. 08:08 And... Just GLOW? 08:10 You just call it GLOW? Right, we just call it GLOW. 08:12 Okay, the director of GLOW. 08:14 And you just got there telling me 08:16 you're an introvert. 08:17 I think that's so fascinating to me. 08:20 But let's get a little bit of your history. 08:23 Did you grow up in a Christian home? 08:25 Yes, yes, I did. 08:27 In fact, I grew up in Seventh-day Adventist home. 08:30 My dad was attending a college, 08:32 a Christian college at the time in Andrews University, 08:35 born there. 08:37 Yeah, so I was raised going to church 08:39 the entire time of my life, 08:41 always remembered going to Sabbath school, 08:43 my parents would have me memorize 08:44 my memory verses every weekend, 08:47 and yeah, the whole bit 08:49 definitely raised Christian. 08:51 All right. 08:52 But being reared in a Christian atmosphere 08:54 doesn't necessarily mean that you actually make 08:58 that personal connection with the Lord. 09:00 When did it become real for you? 09:03 Yeah, you're right. 09:04 Just because you're raised in a Christian home 09:06 doesn't necessarily mean 09:07 that you have a personal walk with God. 09:08 Yeah. 09:10 And I think that's something that people, 09:12 you know, they kind of have to work into on their own, 09:15 and God leads everybody individually. 09:16 In my experience, 09:19 you know, I thought 09:21 that I had my spiritual life pretty well put together, 09:24 but God saw things differently. 09:26 And when I was in... 09:28 I think about ninth grade, 09:30 I had a job at a place after school, 09:33 working at Carpet One, 09:35 and I used to do all kinds of stuff with carpet there 09:37 inside the warehouse. 09:39 And there was a Jehovah's Witness family 09:41 that worked there, and they were quite evangelistic. 09:45 And one of them sat down with me 09:48 and he began to proceed to engage 09:51 in a very thorough discussion with me 09:54 about what he thought was right and not right about my faith. 09:59 And being the young man that I was, 10:01 I was quite the debater. 10:03 I tried my best to, I should say, 10:06 kindly interact with him 10:08 and help him to see things differently, 10:10 but I got really frustrated because of that conversation. 10:13 And so I went home that evening determined 10:16 that I was going to go and study my Bible 10:18 and prove this guy wrong. 10:20 And so I went back, and, you know, 10:22 you think that I knew my Bible well, 10:24 but even though I was raised going to church, 10:25 I didn't really study it for myself. 10:26 And so I went home that evening, 10:28 and I started studying the Bible. 10:29 And, you know, I kind of got somewhere, 10:32 but that connected me 10:33 with the book called Desire of Ages. 10:35 And when I read a chapter of that every night, 10:38 that's really what brought conversion 10:40 to my life, that book, Desire of Ages 10:42 just revealed Jesus to me in a way that, 10:44 you know, I'd never seen before. 10:46 My life was changed. 10:47 I became a different person on the inside. 10:48 Amen. Yeah. 10:50 And that attitude of arguing just to be right, 10:52 I mean, I always think of 2 Timothy. 10:55 I can't think of the scripture right now, 10:57 but where Paul said to Timothy 11:00 that we are to teach in humility 11:03 to gently instruct others in hopes 11:06 that God would grant, 11:08 if they oppose you, in hopes 11:09 that God would grant them the repentance. 11:12 So we can never be someone else's God 11:16 when we're showing in scripture, 11:17 we just have to pray 11:20 for the leading of the Holy Spirit 11:21 in their lives. 11:23 Yeah, that's true. 11:24 You know, and also to say, "Lord, if we are in error, 11:27 open our eyes," right? 11:28 Hundred percent 11:29 So let's talk about GLOW, 11:32 first of all, I love the name, GLOW. 11:35 How did GLOW begin? 11:37 What year did it begin? 11:39 Yeah, so back in 2007 is kind of 11:43 when we started off with the ministry. 11:46 That year God had put it in the hearts of God's people 11:49 in Central California 11:51 to put together a large evangelistic offering. 11:55 And I think they raised about $3 million 11:57 towards evangelism. 11:59 And my boss's boss at the time, 12:01 a guy by the name of Jerry Page in the church. 12:03 Dear friend, yes. 12:04 Yeah, he got in his mind 12:07 that he wanted to start a new ministry 12:09 to try and get adults involved 12:12 in some kind of literature ministry. 12:14 We already had stuff going on for the youth and young adults, 12:16 but he wanted the adults to get involved. 12:18 And so he tasked us with that, 12:20 he came to our department 12:21 in literature ministries in 2017, 12:23 he said, "Hey, we've got funds, 12:25 we want you guys to try 12:26 and come up with a creative idea 12:27 to get adults to be able to access 12:29 and use literature to share their faith." 12:32 And so I was personally delegated to that job. 12:36 And I went 12:37 and I studied a book called Publishing Ministry 12:40 written by Ellen White, 12:42 and really the blueprints came out of there, 12:44 out of prayer, and just studying that book. 12:46 You know how God inspires you as you read? 12:48 Yes, amen. 12:49 You know, and it's sometimes just these thoughts 12:51 pop into your head and you're like, 12:52 "Oh, that's a good one, let me write that down." 12:53 So that's kind of the process 12:55 and the basic structure for GLOW 12:57 kind of came out of that time 12:59 of studying Mrs. White's writings about publishing, 13:02 and it's all history from there. 13:04 Okay, so there's many of you, 13:07 if you are a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 13:09 you are familiar with GLOW tracts. 13:12 But there's people, we have so many people 13:15 who are tuning in or new, don't know anything. 13:18 Tell us about the GLOW track? 13:20 Sure. 13:22 What is the idea of the mission? 13:23 Yeah, so basically, it's very simple, 13:27 all we're trying to do 13:28 is we're trying to encourage church members, 13:30 believers, doesn't even matter if they're part of our church 13:33 or any other church to get small Bible literature 13:37 and carry it with them in their pockets 13:39 and in their purses 13:41 wherever they go, 13:42 so that when God opens up an opportunity, 13:45 you have something that you can give to somebody. 13:46 Not all of us are eloquent preachers, 13:49 not all of us can do some of the other things 13:51 that we think of when it comes to ministry, right? 13:54 But all of us can be 13:56 what we call literature evangelist. 13:57 All of us can carry 13:58 a small piece of literature with us 14:00 and we can give it away as God opens up opportunity. 14:01 I think about a story that we heard of recently 14:03 where a young man was going... 14:06 Done shopping in the grocery store, 14:09 I think it was, and he gave a small Bible tract, 14:12 a GLOW tract to the cashier. 14:14 And the cashier when they got it, 14:16 they saw that it was on the topic of health. 14:18 And they said, "Wow, this is remarkable 14:20 because our staff here at the grocery store 14:24 are just starting a new health challenge, 14:25 and we're all trying to lose weight. 14:27 And I'm sure 14:28 that we're all going to read this. 14:30 Wonderful. 14:31 You know, so that's just, you know, 14:32 a little golden opportunity. 14:34 And these are quite small, 14:35 but what I love about it 14:37 is these are all Bible based, 14:39 it's something that gives 14:42 the scripture evidence. 14:44 It's the Word of God in so many different topics 14:48 and, you know, we know, we have friends in Tennessee 14:51 that their church 14:53 every Sabbath, after the fellowship lunch, 14:56 they all get together, get a few pockets of these 14:59 and they go out walk, 15:00 they're walking in neighborhoods 15:02 or the malls or wherever they can give them away. 15:04 That's one way of doing it. 15:05 In fact, you know, I know of a couple who... 15:07 They were walking in a neighborhood, 15:08 and they were passing these out as their routine, 15:12 and they gave it to a little boy, 15:14 a tract, 15:15 and the boy said, "Hey come to my house." 15:17 So they went up the sidewalk to his house. 15:19 He got a hold of his mom, showed them the tract, 15:21 and then she actually just went inside 15:24 and made a call real quick and came back out 15:26 and she said, "Would you guys mind coming to the place 15:29 where I work at? 15:30 I work at a retirement facility 15:32 and our staff has just been looking 15:34 for somebody to come 15:35 and give Bible studies to the people 15:37 that we're taking care of 15:39 because they've been asking for it. 15:40 But we didn't know anybody that we could talk to you 15:42 and I see that you have a Bible pamphlet here 15:44 that you're giving, 15:45 do you guys know how to give Bible studies?" 15:46 So they ended up connecting and giving Bible studies 15:49 to 14 elderly people at this facility 15:52 from that point forward, 15:53 just because they gave out that tract 15:54 while they were taking a walk in their own neighborhood. 15:56 Amen, amen. 15:57 And this is small enough that anyone can take 15:59 and put in their pocket. 16:00 And how many topics do you have on GLOW tracts? 16:04 Yeah, we actually have about 45 or maybe 47. 16:07 I'm kind of losing track. 16:09 'Cause you're adding new ones all the time. 16:10 Yeah, yeah, we're always making more. 16:12 In fact, the one you have in your hand right now 16:15 has a little symbol on the upper right of the front 16:18 that says waterproof. 16:20 Yes. 16:21 We actually have tracts now that are even waterproof, 16:24 so Christians can carry them 16:26 and give them away if it's raining outside... 16:29 That's a great idea. 16:30 If it's snowing, and I'm still waiting for the story 16:32 that's going to come in from somebody 16:34 who does evangelism while they're snorkeling 16:35 under water on vacation, 16:36 you know, 'cause we can now do that, 16:38 but I haven't heard it yet. 16:39 So maybe somebody viewing this 16:41 will get that idea to take it up, 16:42 and then they'll contact us afterwards, 16:44 that'd be great. 16:45 That is really a visionary statement there. 16:48 So tell us about some of the mission trips 16:51 that GLOW has been involved in? 16:53 Sure. 16:55 Yeah, that's one thing that we do as well. 16:56 We not only encourage people 16:58 to just take this in everyday life, 17:00 but we also put together mission trips. 17:05 And not only that, but we encourage other people 17:07 to create their own mission trips, 17:08 and then to go out, and to execute them, 17:10 and we'll help them with that process. 17:12 We have a website called glowmissiontrips.org, 17:16 where people can go 17:17 and they can get step-by-step instruction 17:19 on how to make their own mission trip 17:21 in their own community 17:22 or even in some other place in the world. 17:25 And how can they can cooperate with us to make that happen 17:27 but your question was, 17:29 what are the mission trips all about? 17:31 Well, first let me ask you this question. 17:32 Are these available in different languages? 17:35 Yeah, 100%. 17:36 We have actually in about 17:37 78 different languages right now. 17:39 Yeah. 17:40 Wow, that's impressive, I didn't know that. 17:42 Yeah, this last week, 17:43 we are finishing up as of this last week, 17:47 our translation into a language called a Zomi, 17:50 and Armenian is now ready to print too. 17:53 So we're hoping to print 25,000 Armenian tracts here 17:56 in the US 17:57 and Zomi tracts, and then another language 18:00 which I can't remember right now. 18:01 So the object then of the mission trip 18:05 would be to go somewhere 18:07 and just have a group of people 18:09 who are handing out these tracts? 18:10 Right, right, yeah. Wow. 18:12 So what we do is we kind of try to have... 18:17 Find places where there's a large group of people 18:19 coming together 18:21 and go to a mission trip there 18:23 or we'll try to go to maybe some place 18:25 that hasn't been accessed by evangelistic efforts 18:29 because maybe it's remote 18:30 or maybe it's just a small town 18:32 which is overlooked, 18:34 and we try and go and visit those places 18:36 and do these mission trips. 18:38 I'll give an example back in, 18:39 I think it was 2015 or 16, 18:43 Pope Francis came to visit in Philadelphia, 18:45 and a lot of people came together 18:46 because they are interested in spiritual things, 18:48 you know, they have a spiritual desire, 18:50 and they think that they might 18:51 receive something there. 18:53 And so we formed a mission trip 18:55 and went out with 34-35 young adults, 18:58 mostly young adults that came. 18:59 Although we did have some elderly folks, 19:01 and we passed out a million tracts 19:04 to the 1.5 million people 19:06 that came together for that event. 19:08 You passed out 1.5 million tracts? 19:12 Well, there was 1.5 million people there, 19:16 for two days, and we passed on a million tracts. 19:18 A million tracts! 19:20 Yeah, that was a lot of work. 19:21 Yes, that is. Yeah. 19:22 For 35 people, that's amazing. 19:24 But, you know, God was there, God was there. 19:27 We saw Him working with us 19:28 the entire time from the very beginning. 19:30 In fact, I didn't even want to do that mission trip, 19:32 I wanted nothing to do with it, 19:33 but God told me specifically, 19:35 this is what I want you to do. 19:37 And He put together the funding, 19:38 He brought the people, 19:40 He protected us while we were out there. 19:42 We were working in some areas of Philadelphia 19:44 where, you know, there were drug deals going on 19:47 where some of our missionaries 19:48 were out giving them literature, 19:50 and, you know, 19:51 we had to work sometimes 19:52 into the evening when it got dark. 19:54 And I remember one of our people, 19:57 they were passing out tracts on the street 20:01 that they were assigned to, and this man approached them, 20:06 and our young missionary was named Jericho. 20:11 And Jericho gave this guy two tracts. 20:13 And the man said to him, where are the other three? 20:16 And then the men proceeded to name the titles 20:19 of the other three tracts 20:21 that Jericho had in his bag that day, 20:23 but he hadn't received it. 20:25 And the man also said to Jericho, 20:26 and where's your partner? 20:28 And Jericho was just totally dumbfounded 20:29 at this time, 20:30 I mean like how does this guy know 20:32 what kind of tracts I have 20:33 and I didn't even give them to him? 20:35 And what's he talking about a partner? 20:36 Come to find out, 20:37 this guy had a dream about two months prior 20:40 where he had seen Jericho coming with a partner 20:44 who he described as much taller and handsome looking. 20:47 And that in the dream, the partner said to him, 20:52 said to the man, 20:53 when this young man comes to you, 20:55 he has what you need, 20:56 make sure you get all five different pamphlets 20:58 that he has and then he named them, 21:00 that's how the man knew the different titles. 21:01 How amazing? 21:03 That gave me chill bumps. 21:04 'Cause, you know, sometimes, 21:07 when I'm talking or we're talking 21:09 with missionaries from overseas, 21:12 we hear miracle after miracle after miracle 21:15 that God is doing. 21:17 And I believe He wants to do it for us here too. 21:20 It's just that sometimes we get to where we're thinking, 21:24 maybe we know how to do things, and maybe we leave God out. 21:28 But this shows how God is working. 21:31 Totally. Wow! 21:32 God is working in the United States. 21:33 I think a lot of times, we just don't hear the miracles 21:35 because we're not as active as some of the people 21:38 in the other countries. 21:39 And if we would get out there into the front lines, 21:41 and we put ourselves into circumstances 21:42 where we feel stretched and out of our comfort zone, 21:46 then God will step in 21:47 and we'll begin to see some of the miracles 21:49 that we hear about in other places. 21:51 Yeah, He don't need to do a miracle 21:52 if we've got it all covered, does He? 21:55 Okay, so tell us about some of the overseas projects 21:59 you've done with the missionary trips? 22:02 Okay, so well, we've done 22:05 a lot of mission trips in different places, 22:07 you know, it's going to be hard for me 22:09 to remember all of them, but I know 22:10 we've gone and distributed a million tracts 22:12 in Romania, 22:13 that was pretty exciting. 22:15 In the winter, 22:17 bunch of us there didn't even know Romanian, 22:20 and to access the mailboxes, 22:23 which is where we put a lot of the tracts, 22:25 you had to get into these multi-level apartment buildings 22:28 that were built during the communist era. 22:30 And you couldn't get into the apartments, 22:33 unless somebody from one of the apartments 22:34 buzzed to let you in. 22:36 So you'd have to go to the little microphone intercom, 22:40 you'd have to press a button, and call various apartments, 22:44 and then some of us who didn't speak Romanian 22:46 would have to read a script into the intercom, 22:49 and then people would let us in, 22:51 and then we'd go and we'd distribute literature. 22:53 And there's so many miracle stories 22:55 of these people from America 22:57 who didn't understand or speak any Romanian. 22:59 And they just walk up to departments, 23:00 and all of a sudden the janitor would show up 23:01 and open the door in front of them or whatever. 23:04 So there was a lot of neat stories 23:05 that came out of that. 23:06 We passed out 2 million tracts on a mission trip in Ukraine. 23:10 There was a million 23:12 that were passed out in Tanzania. 23:13 I wasn't there for that one. 23:15 We have done see 144,000 in Sweden. 23:21 And yeah, there's just been... 23:23 Oh, there was a 500,000 that were passed out in Poland 23:26 when the Euro Cup games were there once. 23:28 That's amazing. That's amazing. 23:29 In fact, one of the missionaries 23:31 on that trip, kind of funny, 23:32 he was passing out GLOW tracts 23:34 that have been translated into Polish. 23:36 And he was in the midst of a big crowd, 23:42 and a person bumped into him, 23:45 and he didn't pay much attention to it, 23:47 but later he realized 23:48 that he had gotten pick pocketed. 23:50 At that moment, but they got the wrong pocket 23:54 or rather, they got the right pocket 23:55 because they stole a whole stack 23:57 of his GLOW tracts, 23:58 but they didn't get his wallet which was in the other pocket. 23:59 Wow. Yeah. 24:01 So, you know, I guess it kind of pays 24:02 to have GLOW tracts in your pocket, 24:04 maybe, you know, they'll pick the wrong one. 24:05 How funny? 24:06 Yeah, so that that was kind of a funny story. 24:08 And we've done mission trips in a lot of different places. 24:12 I think those are just some of the top ones 24:14 that we've done, yeah. 24:15 You know, it's so interesting because, as I said, 24:18 a lot of times, for me, 24:21 it doesn't bother me at all 24:22 to stand in front of 10,000 people and talk, 24:25 you know, or to be on TV, 24:28 but going door-to-door would trouble me. 24:32 Yeah. 24:33 You know, so it depends on people's personalities. 24:35 Sometimes people say, 24:37 "Oh, I'm too much of an introvert 24:39 to get involved in this." 24:40 And you told me the way we get into that conversation, 24:43 I was asking about your four-year old daughter, 24:46 Emma. 24:47 And you said, 24:48 when I asked Nelson 24:51 is she more like you or your wife? 24:52 And he said, she's not like either of us. 24:54 She's very outgoing, extrovert, we're both introverts. 24:57 She's a talker, that's for sure. 24:59 Ain't that funny that God would tap you 25:02 on the shoulder... 25:03 Yeah. 25:04 And say, "This is something you can do. 25:06 And not only do, you're directing it. 25:08 Yeah, well, you know, 25:11 I think that as we grow in our walk with God, 25:15 that one of the things that He does, 25:17 probably with everybody, if they're willing 25:19 is He stretches them, 25:21 He takes them out of their comfort zone, 25:23 you know, you're talking about being comfortable speaking 25:25 in front of 10,000 people, 25:26 but maybe not going door-to-door. 25:28 And I can relate with that, in my own experience, 25:30 doing outreach and evangelism, 25:32 there have been things that I've been uncomfortable 25:34 with initially, 25:35 but then I've done it. 25:37 I pushed myself out of my comfort zone 25:38 and I've just gone out there and done it. 25:40 And then after time when I get used to that, 25:43 that becomes my comfort zone, 25:45 and the thing which I was comfortable with before, 25:47 then doesn't. 25:48 So, you know, as humans, 25:51 we can grow, and we can change, and we can adapt, 25:53 and God can make us comfortable with things 25:56 which we would be surprised 25:57 that we could even be comfortable with, 25:58 if we'll just step out in faith. 26:00 Amen. 26:01 And He doesn't call the qualified, 26:04 He qualifies the called. 26:05 So now you've got... 26:09 You're in the publishing ministry, 26:12 I guess, you would say. 26:13 So you've got this and 48 plus different topics 26:17 for the GLOW tracts 26:19 in how many languages? 26:21 About 78, yeah. 26:23 Seventy-eight, languages, that just amazes me. 26:25 Now you're doing the mission trips. 26:28 What other projects have you all got going on? 26:32 Yeah, we are doing actually a lot of things, 26:35 we have... 26:37 One of the things that actually I'm excited about right now is 26:40 we're trying to get about a million tracts, 26:43 a million to 2 million printed in China, 26:46 and that's something that we're... 26:48 In the Chinese language? 26:49 Correct, they're already translated. 26:51 We already have the files, 26:53 and we're actually partnering with ASI 26:55 to put that project together. 26:56 Praise God. 26:58 And let's explain ASI. 26:59 It's Adventist-laymen's and Services Industries. 27:03 It is a supporting ministry 27:05 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 27:07 And what you find it at ASI, sometimes people will say, 27:11 "Well, it's the movers and the shakers 27:14 of the Adventist Church." 27:16 What they are... 27:17 Their slogan is sharing Christ in the market place, right? 27:21 Right, yeah. 27:23 So once a year they have this annual convention, 27:25 and they've got other regional conventions. 27:28 But what you see is all these people 27:31 who are business people, they're not... 27:34 Many are not in full-time ministry, 27:36 but they're sharing Christ, 27:38 maybe they're a doctor in their office, 27:40 they do different things, 27:41 but then they bring in at this annual convention, 27:44 you have... 27:45 If you can ever go to one, you wanted to go 27:48 because they have wonderful sermons, 27:50 wonderful seminars, 27:51 but then they'll have rows and rows of booth 27:56 of Adventist Christian ministries, 27:59 and it is really exciting. 28:02 Yeah. And we've been there. 28:04 In fact, I think we're there pretty much 28:05 every year with a booth. 28:07 Yeah. 28:08 So it's a great opportunity for networking 28:09 with different ministries. 28:11 But then ASI does something where they help... 28:14 When they raise their evangelism funds, 28:16 they help various ministries who have put in a proposal. 28:20 So ASI is going to help you with this China project. 28:23 Yes, yes. 28:24 So we're partnering with them 28:26 to get this project going in China 28:28 as well as partnering with the Chinese Union. 28:30 And we're also trying to work towards printing 28:34 about five million tracts in India. 28:36 That's another project 28:38 which we have talked to ASI about. 28:40 And so one of the things 28:42 that we do is we encourage church members 28:45 to carry literature with them wherever they go, 28:47 we do mission trips, 28:48 but we also sometimes target different areas in the world 28:52 where we would like to see 28:54 literature ministry happen more. 28:58 And so that's what I'm talking about 29:00 when I say China and India, 29:02 we also are in conversation 29:03 with some of the church leadership 29:07 that works in Inter-America. 29:10 Yes. 29:11 And I was surprised the other day, 29:13 I went down to some meetings in Cancun for publishing, 29:17 and the personal ministries director 29:20 for that region down there 29:22 who we had interacted with before, 29:24 he came up to me and he said, "Hey, you know, 29:27 we've printed 14 million of your tracts." 29:30 Wow! And I said, "What?" 29:32 You know, I had no idea that they had done this. 29:35 And we were just wanting to get to 100 million tracts printed 29:40 and when he told me 14 million that got us exactly to where, 29:44 you know, we were targeting which is 100 million. 29:46 So right now we're at about 109 million tracts printed, 29:49 but he got us right to the 100 million mark, 29:52 and these tracts are ones that we didn't even know of. 29:54 So those are just, you know, 29:55 some of the exciting things that we see every now 29:57 and then as we're going around and hearing reports 30:00 from different parts of the world 30:01 that people are using our tracts. 30:02 There were 2 million tracts which were printed 30:05 by church members down in South Africa recently, 30:08 we have some that were just printed 30:10 in France recently, 30:11 and, you know, we're just a... 30:16 It's just exciting to see God's people 30:17 in different parts of the world 30:19 taking up the work and passing it out. 30:20 And one of the things that, 30:23 you know, some of these 30:25 are very basic like they are prayer of faith 30:28 on the plan of salvation, assurance of salvation 30:31 very, very beautiful messages that are sweet and simple, 30:36 somebody can read this, what size is this sheet? 30:40 That's a 11 inches long 30:44 by about three and, I think, a quarter wide. 30:45 Okay, so basically, it's a fourfold, 30:49 and it's something that somebody can pick up 30:53 and it is not so much information 30:56 that it's intimidating, 30:58 it is something that with the scripture 31:01 and a few comments, 31:02 you can get somebody's attention 31:05 and I think now, 31:07 do some churches print their name of their church 31:09 or phone number on the back or stamp it or something? 31:13 But you've got all of these wonderful ones. 31:16 Now you're working on some new tract or you have. 31:21 This is a new one, "What is Jesus Doing Now?" 31:24 It's talking about what is His heavenly ministry. 31:27 And as you said, this is waterproof, 31:30 which I guess, it's just a different kind of paper. 31:33 Yeah, it's not even really paper, 31:35 it's some kind of plastic something or other material. 31:37 Really! 31:39 Yeah, it's actually very lightweight, 31:41 and it's very hard to tear as well. 31:44 In fact, when we're at our booth, 31:45 sometimes I'll challenge people 31:46 to try and tear one of those tracts. 31:48 You're right. 31:49 So it's nearly, you know, destruction proof. 31:51 That's amazing. 31:52 We just need to now make tracts that are fireproof, 31:53 and then you can pass them out wherever, 31:55 and you'll never have any problems, right? 31:56 But it's something that you've got, what? 32:00 Eight new ones or number of new ones. 32:02 Yeah, well, we're making new ones every year. 32:05 We get together with a group and we vote on which ones, 32:08 new titles we want to develop, 32:09 and then I'd say we make between four and eight titles, 32:13 new ones per year. 32:15 So you have some of the new ones 32:16 in your hand actually. 32:17 And one thing that I'm noticing well, 32:19 here's one for media on and the brain, 32:22 and that's really becoming an important topic. 32:24 Totally. 32:26 American prophecy and we just have a few, 32:28 but here I picked this one up and I thought, 32:31 "How cute" It's called the boat rescue. 32:35 And I thought what is that going to be about. 32:37 And then it says, "Giving light to our world for kids." 32:42 So you're starting off, 32:45 it's bigger type just something simple. 32:47 And some pictures inside. 32:49 Pictures? 32:50 Yeah, those are those are tracts 32:51 that we make for kids because a lot of times, 32:54 you know, even little kids can take the tracts, 32:57 and read them, and be blessed by it. 32:59 And you'll notice the contact information 33:00 on the back of that children's tract, 33:04 directs them to a website which is built for kids, 33:08 and we have a lot of great resources 33:10 for kids on the internet, 33:11 so that they can learn more about the Bible. 33:13 One of which is routing them to a program that 3ABN puts on, 33:17 that has to do with kids. 33:18 Wonderful, wonderful. 33:20 Good materials on there. 33:21 Well, this, that's exciting 33:23 because if your children are using media in any way, 33:28 then you definitely want to make sure 33:31 that you are watching how they're using it 33:33 and get them to the right sources. 33:36 So tell me... 33:39 I know you have, 33:41 I mean, I've heard stories personally 33:43 from my friend in Tennessee how Bible studies... 33:47 Do you have any stories 33:49 that are coming to your mind about 33:50 when people, either the people who are passing them out 33:52 and have this miracle happen or people who've received them, 33:58 and it's been life changing. 34:01 Yeah, yeah. A 100%. 34:04 We have stories coming in all the time. 34:06 You know, we have thousands of these things 34:09 being passed out every day. 34:11 And so people are calling us, 34:12 they're requesting Bible studies, 34:14 they're leaving voicemails, 34:15 they're emailing us, 34:16 we have people who, 34:18 you know, grocery store workers 34:19 would find them even just on the ground, 34:21 and, you know, they're contacting us. 34:23 I think some of the ones that actually speak most to me 34:25 are the ones that I've had myself. 34:27 Absolutely. 34:29 Yeah, a long time ago, 34:30 well, I shouldn't say a long time ago, 34:31 six years ago, when I was getting married to my wife. 34:34 We were in a store 34:36 and we were shopping for dresses 34:38 for her bridesmaids. 34:39 We ended up accidentally going 34:42 or I should say my wife to be went 34:44 into the men's dressing room accidentally, 34:46 but nobody was there, 34:47 and we didn't notice it until we came out 34:49 because one of the workers there told us 34:51 "Well, this is the men's dressing room." 34:53 Well, this young man, 34:54 as we were walking away from him, 34:56 I just felt this conviction that I had to give this guy 34:58 a Bible pamphlet, and so I did. 35:01 And he looked at it and he said... 35:03 And he was about my age, he was in his mid 20s. 35:06 And he said "You know, I really like reading 35:09 this kind of stuff." 35:11 And then we started 35:12 a spiritual conversation right there, 35:13 ended up praying together in the men's dressing room. 35:16 Before I left, we exchanged contact information, 35:18 and I literally was able to connect him 35:21 with evangelistic series 35:22 which are happening the very next day or two after, 35:25 and he got baptized just a few weeks later. 35:27 Ooh, how exciting. 35:29 Yeah, so, I mean, 35:30 that's a total divine appointment right there, 35:31 you know, I mean, giving a tract 35:33 opens up the door to a young man, 35:34 you know, just getting baptized 35:36 and coming to know the Lord more. 35:37 Amen. 35:39 We actually hear about tracts getting all over the place too, 35:42 you know, we've heard of a man who contacted us one time 35:45 because he found his tract in solitary confinement. 35:48 Another man found a tract on the topic of the Sabbath 35:52 in his bathroom at home, 35:53 and he has no idea how it got there. 35:55 How strange? 35:57 Yeah, I know, I mean, they're small, right? 35:58 So they just get all over the place 36:00 and nobody knows how, silent messengers. 36:04 But we had a man one time 36:08 who was in the military, 36:11 and he was an Adventist, 36:14 and he was in some training 36:18 that was happening out in the desert 36:19 with some other folks in the military there. 36:22 And he happened upon another young man 36:26 who was sitting down reading his Bible. 36:29 And so he was interested in that 36:31 and he went over and he said, "What are you reading?" 36:34 And he noticed that he was reading the Book of Daniel. 36:37 And he said, "Do you enjoy 36:38 what you're reading in that book? 36:39 Do you understand it?" 36:41 And, the other man said, "Yeah, I do, 36:42 I especially like the stories." 36:44 And then the Adventist young man 36:47 asked him, "Well, do you understand the parts 36:49 that do with like Bible prophecy 36:51 and the symbols?" 36:52 And he said, "No, I don't understand that actually, 36:54 I wish that I did." 36:56 And so the Adventist man 36:58 then began to sit down right there 37:00 on the spot with him 37:02 and to begin to give him a Bible study 37:05 on some of the prophetic portions 37:06 like Chapter 2 of Daniel. 37:08 And as they were having a Bible study 37:10 right there in that base 37:11 out in the desert doing this training, 37:14 apparently a staff sergeant was sitting close by 37:17 and overhearing what they were talking about, 37:19 and he interrupted them 37:20 and he said, "Hey I know 37:22 what you guys are talking about?" 37:24 And he went over to his wallet, and he pulled out of his wallet 37:28 a Daniel Chapter 2 GLOW tract. 37:31 How amazing. 37:32 Yeah, which he had received, who knows where, 37:34 and he said, "I know 37:36 what you guys are talking about. 37:38 That's what it talks about right here." 37:40 And in that particular tract, we actually have 37:42 a picture or a diagram of the Daniel Chapter 2 statue. 37:47 Yes. 37:48 And so the Adventist young man 37:50 who communicated this whole story to us 37:51 said that from that point forward, 37:54 the Bible study went much smoother 37:55 because we actually had a visual 37:57 'cause they used that GLOW tract 37:59 that it comes from who knows where. 38:01 But that was a divine appointment for sure 38:02 because how amazing that this... 38:05 And it shows you, 38:07 you know, people don't know, 38:08 how do I get this out? 38:10 Well, I'll tell you, it's really something 38:12 that you don't have to worry 38:15 about when God will let you know 38:17 when to share it with someone. 38:19 And if you are reticent about interrupting, 38:23 I remember we were... 38:26 Someone was picking us up from the airport, 38:28 and there were three cops there, 38:30 and this guy pulled over, 38:32 and he jumps out 38:33 and these cops are like, "Go on, go on." 38:36 And I thought... 38:37 And then he hands them, 38:38 he was actually passing out a book. 38:40 But he hands them a book and they were... 38:44 By the time he got back in the car 38:46 he said, "I just have a gift for you." 38:48 Every one of these police officers 38:50 was into this book, 38:52 I mean, they're like, oh, somebody gave us something. 38:54 And they're waving us off saying, "Thank you." 38:57 You know, so sometimes we feel like 39:00 we're interrupting someone's day, 39:03 but if you're bringing them 39:04 a little message from God, that's wonderful. 39:07 Now... 39:08 It's a good interruption. 39:10 It's a wonderful interruption. 39:11 And obviously for this sergeant, 39:13 it meant enough to him that he kept it in his wallet. 39:17 I actually had a friend, who had GLOW tracts in his car, 39:20 and then his car was stolen, broken into and stolen, 39:23 the cops later, got the car, and they got it back, 39:27 and it was at their station. 39:28 My friend went to go pick up his car, 39:29 and he saw that all of this GLOW tracts 39:31 had been strewn all over the car 39:33 by the person who stole it. 39:34 I guess they were looking for something. 39:36 And at the end of the whole visit there, 39:39 my friend was leaving the police station 39:41 and he gave a GLOW tract to one of the police there. 39:44 And they said, "No, no, no, that's okay, 39:45 we already got those from your car." 39:47 So they've already gone in 39:49 and taken the ones that they wanted anyway. 39:50 How wonderful, how wonderful. 39:52 Now I know that GC 2020, 39:57 let's talk about it 39:58 and let me explain what that is. 40:00 The Seventh-day Adventist Church 40:03 has a general conference every five years, 40:06 and there'll be a couple hundred thousand people 40:08 from around the world, you know, our... 40:11 I'm not sure what the latest is on our church membership, 40:14 but 20 million plus. 40:16 Yeah, I've heard it's about 22 million. 40:18 Twenty two million, okay. 40:19 So at the GC, you've got people 40:23 coming from around the world to get together 40:26 and have a beautiful time, 40:28 that's when people are elected to up 40:31 different General Conference positions or divisions, 40:35 etcetera. 40:37 But great sermons, great time. 40:39 This 2020, what is the theme? 40:43 The theme for the next meeting 40:45 is Jesus is coming, get involved. 40:49 And actually, when we heard, we being GLOW, 40:51 when we heard about that, we contacted 40:54 some of the different ministry departments 40:56 in the General Conference and we said, 40:57 "Hey, we're talking. 40:59 We're supposed to be talking about getting involved. 41:01 Why don't we get involved 41:02 actually, during the session itself 41:04 for the 10 days while we're there 41:07 in Indianapolis?" 41:08 And they thought it was a great idea. 41:09 So we're working together with a couple of departments there 41:12 to get all the Adventists who attend these meetings 41:15 to pass out GLOW tracts, 41:17 and some sharing books while we're there. 41:19 So, you know, many people will be staying in hotels, 41:22 they have maids that are working there, 41:24 people that are working with at the front desk, 41:25 they'll have literature that they can give to them. 41:27 People that they bump into on the streets, 41:28 they'll have literature. 41:30 And the president of the church, 41:33 Elder Ted Wilson has recently given us 41:35 clearance to take 41:37 about three hours of the very first Sabbath 41:40 to take 50 buses worth of people, 41:43 5-0, 50 buses worth of people out door-to-door, 41:47 passing out GLOW tracts and the sharing book too. 41:50 So we're hoping that we can 41:52 not only reach people in Indianapolis, 41:53 but that we can kind of set an example, a model 41:57 for all the representatives of the church 41:58 that are coming together. 41:59 So they'll say, hey, 42:01 this is something that we can do 42:02 more fully back in our own regions 42:04 of the world church too. 42:05 We can get our people passing out literature just like this. 42:07 Amen. Amen. 42:08 And, you know, 42:10 this is something that it takes a little... 42:13 It takes very little planning, just to go. 42:15 We have a couple here. 42:17 You've probably seen them on family worships before, 42:20 but Donald and Janelle Owen, and they are, I mean, 42:26 they are literature evangelist to the max. 42:29 And everywhere they go, 42:30 they're handing it out every now and then they'll say, 42:32 "Hey, there's such and such event going on in the area," 42:36 and they invite people to join them 42:38 say on a Sabbath afternoon and they'll go out, 42:41 and go to the event, maybe have a little table 42:43 and they're passing a lot of GLOW tracts. 42:45 But if you're interested this is... 42:49 I don't think this is going to be coming up 42:50 on your address roll, 42:52 but if you are interested 42:54 in maybe doing a missionary trip 42:57 or finding out some methodology on how to put this together, 43:00 let me repeat that particular, it's GLOW mission trips, 43:05 just G-L-O-W, like a glowy face, 43:09 GLOWMissionTrips.org. 43:14 So you can go there and see. 43:17 It's in 78 languages. 43:19 And maybe, you've already got a mission trip planned, 43:21 well, then you need to go and look, 43:24 so that you can figure out. 43:26 While you're there, 43:27 you can make this part of your mission trip. 43:29 Now I noticed on the back, 43:32 you have a website GLOWOnline.org, 43:37 what's on that website? 43:38 So that website is for the people 43:39 who read the tracts. 43:41 You know, whoever the tract is given to, 43:44 and when the person goes to that website 43:45 after having read the tract, 43:47 they can find a lot of online resources. 43:49 We offer free Bible studies for people there, 43:52 we offer contact information so that they can call us 43:54 if they need prayer or anything, 43:57 we offer an online version of all of the tracts, 44:01 so they can, you know, 44:02 if they get just one track, 44:04 if you give away a tract on health, 44:05 for example, and you're like, 44:07 "Oh, man, I should have given this other kind of tract, 44:09 and, you know, you're not going to see him again. 44:10 Well, don't worry about it because now they have 44:11 access to all of our tracts online 44:13 which they can read later. 44:14 So we offer a lot of different services online for people 44:18 when they visit GLOWOnline.org. 44:20 And also they can purchase the tracts there too. 44:22 We've actually had a day one time where more people 44:25 who are not from the Adventist Church called us 44:27 to order tracts than people who are Adventists. 44:29 Halleluiah. 44:31 Well, we know and people get excited 44:32 you get something that's a concise little message 44:36 that has an impact on your life, 44:37 you're excited about sharing it. 44:39 Well, we know that you would like to know 44:42 how to get in touch with GLOW, 44:45 and so we have an address role 44:47 that we're going to show right now 44:50 and this is how you can get in touch with them. 45:40 You know, it's just so exciting to see 45:42 how God reaches down and taps various people 45:45 on the shoulders and says, 45:47 "Come with Me, I've got something for you." 45:49 'Cause I know this has been life changing for you, 45:51 and we'll talk about that in just a moment 45:54 when we conclude the program. 45:56 But right now, we have our dear precious sister, 45:59 Yvonne Lewis Shelton, 46:01 who is going to sing one of my favorite songs 46:05 that "Your Grace Still Amazes Me." 46:27 My faithful 46:30 Father 46:35 Enduring friend 46:40 Your tender mercy's 46:43 Like a river 46:47 With no wind 46:50 It overwhelms 46:54 Me 46:58 Covers my sin 47:03 Each time 47:04 I come into Your presence 47:10 I stand in wonder 47:14 Once again 47:19 Your grace 47:23 Still amazes me 47:27 Your love 47:30 Is such a mystery 47:34 Each day 47:38 I fall on my knees 47:44 'Cause Your grace still amazes 47:49 Me Oh 47:52 Your grace amazes 47:57 Me 48:12 Oh, patient 48:15 Savior 48:20 You make me whole 48:25 You are the author 48:28 And the healer 48:32 Of my soul 48:35 What can I give You 48:39 Lord Oh 48:43 What can I say 48:47 I know there's no way 48:51 I can repay You 48:55 Only to offer You 48:59 My praise 49:04 Your grace 49:07 Still amazes me 49:11 Your love 49:15 Is such a mystery 49:19 Each day 49:23 I fall on my knees 49:29 'Cause your grace still amazes me Lord 49:36 Your grace amazes me 49:42 It's deeper, it's wider 49:49 It's stronger, it's higher 49:57 It's deeper 50:01 Much wider It's stronger 50:08 And higher Than anything 50:15 My eyes can see 50:18 Your grace 50:21 Still amazes me 50:26 Your love is such a mystery 50:34 Each day 50:37 I fall on my knees 50:43 'Cause Your grace still amazes me 50:51 Your grace amazes me 50:59 Your grace still amazes 51:06 Me |
Revised 2019-04-01