Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY210055A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:03 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. 01:18 I'm Jason Bradley, and I'm so glad 01:20 that you decided to join us once again as you always do. 01:23 My guest today is Pastor John Bradshaw. 01:28 He is the president of It Is Written. 01:31 Welcome to the program, Pastor Bradshaw. 01:33 Thanks, Jason. Great to be here. 01:34 I'm looking forward to chatting a while. 01:36 Yes, I am too, 01:37 and we want to find out all about It Is Written, 01:40 what the ministry is all about, 01:42 and you're celebrating something very special, 01:45 and we want to jump into that too. 01:47 But before we do that, 01:48 we're going to be blessed in song 01:50 by Reggie and Ladye Love Smith, 01:52 and they will be singing "Who At My Door Is Standing." 02:20 Who at my door 02:24 Is standing 02:30 Patiently drawing near 02:38 Entrance within 02:41 He is asking 02:47 Who is the voice 02:51 I hear? 02:55 Sweetly the tones 02:59 Are falling 03:03 Open the door 03:07 For me 03:12 If you will heed 03:16 My calling 03:21 I will abide 03:25 With thee 03:33 Lonely without 03:37 He's standing 03:42 Lonely within 03:46 Am I 03:50 While I am still 03:54 Delaying 03:59 Will He not pass me 04:03 By? 04:06 Sweetly the tones 04:10 Are falling 04:15 Open the door 04:19 For me 04:24 If you will heed 04:27 my calling 04:32 I will abide 04:36 With thee 04:39 I will abide 04:47 with thee 04:57 Who at my door 05:02 is standing 05:14 Amen. 05:16 Thank you for that beautiful song, 05:17 Reggie and Ladye. 05:19 Pastor Bradshaw, tell us about It Is Written? 05:23 What is It Is Written all about? 05:24 I tell you, what, 65 years ago, and we turned 65 this year. 05:28 Wow. 05:29 Sixty five years ago, an evangelist, 05:31 a young evangelist by the name of George Vandeman 05:33 had this mad headed idea that if he could get on TV, 05:38 it would give him a greater evangelistic reach. 05:41 Of course, that wasn't the slam dunk idea 05:44 that today that would make sense. 05:45 Back then, you know they had some tape to cut through 05:48 and some opposition to get around. 05:50 I don't mean to say it was great opposition, 05:52 but he was a visionary and got on television 05:55 and started sharing Christ and sharing the gospel. 05:58 And, of course, that did indeed grow evangelism numbers 06:03 and people were want to baptize 06:04 and since then It Is Written is grown. 06:06 We had one TV program in English 65 years ago 06:10 and today we have English and Spanish, 06:11 that's, that we create, 06:13 of course, other places will translate this. 06:16 We're creating, it depends how you look at it, 06:18 two or three or four programs in Spanish 06:20 and about 10 in English. 06:22 So things have grown. 06:23 Wow. So yeah, you've been pretty busy then? 06:25 Have been busy. Sure. 06:27 Yes. Yeah. 06:28 So I heard you used the word evangelism. 06:30 It's a word we hear, 06:31 you know, our fellow Christians using quite a bit. 06:35 Now to the non-believer, you know, when they're asking, 06:37 "Well, why are these Christians so passionate about evangelism? 06:41 What's the point of evangelism?" 06:43 What would you say to that? 06:44 It's just the same as somebody tweeting 06:48 about something they're excited about, 06:50 whether it's a sports score 06:51 or whether it's telling your neighbor over the fence, 06:55 I found peanut butter half price the other day 06:58 and I know you all eat peanut butter. 07:00 It's sharing what you're passionate about. 07:03 Shipped, of course, this goes beyond sport or food. 07:05 This is actual life. 07:07 Yes. 07:08 Jesus commissioned His followers, 07:09 you know, "Go therefore, 07:11 and make disciples of all nations." 07:13 It's the mandate that we've been given 07:16 and no sooner does somebody receive Jesus into their life 07:19 then the impulse arises to go 07:21 and share Him with somebody else. 07:23 If you found life, 07:26 you've been saved from certain death, 07:28 eternal death and now you found life in Jesus, 07:31 you want somebody to know about that. 07:33 And we want people to know about Jesus 07:35 to know that there is salvation, 07:37 that there's life beyond this life. 07:39 When you make the mistake of thinking 07:41 that this world is all that there is 07:43 what you're booking your threescore and ten, 07:47 if you're fortunate to get that fine, 07:48 many aren't, and then watch. 07:51 James wrote that life, your life is just a vapor, 07:54 it appears for a moment and vanishes away. 07:56 We have eternity to look forward to. 07:58 Yes. 08:00 An eternal life is a terrible thing to waste. 08:03 And so we would want, 08:04 as Christians would want everybody to know Jesus, 08:07 experience the blessing of living in communication 08:09 and contact and connection with them. 08:11 And they knew experience everlasting life. 08:13 It's just, it's the best thing 08:15 and why would we not want to tell others 08:17 that they ought to have it too. 08:18 Amen. 08:20 And when you live for Christ, your decisions change, 08:21 your choices that you make change, 08:23 because you're living for Christ. 08:24 That's true. 08:26 Yeah, that's important. 08:27 You have to keep that eternity in mind. 08:28 Yes, you do. 08:30 I love that. 08:31 You've had a challenge, 08:33 where there was a miracle story that took place. 08:36 Tell us a little bit about that? 08:38 Yeah. 08:40 Less than two years ago, 08:41 It Is Written moved into new ministry headquarters. 08:43 We are based in the Chattanooga, 08:46 Tennessee area, 08:47 Collegedale to be exact, 08:49 but greater Chattanooga is where our headquarters are. 08:52 We used to be in Southern California 08:55 and about seven years ago, 2014, 09:00 we moved east. 09:03 And so where are we going to... Where are we going to land. 09:05 We rented facilities for a while. 09:07 You know we rented space and I was woefully inadequate, 09:11 but somehow we were able to get the job done. 09:14 Jammed in there like 09:15 we're in the little rabbit warren. 09:17 We had staff members working literally in some departments 09:21 elbow to elbow, literally. 09:22 Wow! 09:23 Oh, yeah. 09:25 And there was much we couldn't do, 09:26 but it was temporary. 09:28 Yeah. 09:29 We thought maybe we'll buy a building and retrofit it 09:30 but in that area there are not buildings growing on trees 09:33 and what we wanted simply couldn't be found. 09:36 We needed little warehouse space 09:38 and we needed studio space and office space. 09:40 So the Lord led us to a piece of ground, 09:43 we purchased. 09:45 We built a ministry building, thanks to God and many friends. 09:49 And we moved in September, 2019. 09:54 March of 2020, 09:57 a devastating tornado ripped through the area. 10:00 Numerous people were killed, neighborhoods were destroyed 10:03 and if you look at the trajectory 10:06 or the path of the tornado, 10:09 it was heading right towards 10:10 our It Is Written ministry headquarters. 10:12 Wow! 10:14 So, you know, I didn't know that night. 10:16 I don't live too terribly far from the building 10:19 and we saw trees in our backyard doing this, 10:23 you know, swaying like this and that, 10:25 but didn't know that all the devastation 10:28 that was being wrought. 10:30 Somebody called me, "Are you guys okay?" 10:31 Yeah we're fine. Are you okay? 10:33 "Yeah, we're fine 10:34 but our neighbors got all of his windows blown out." 10:36 Oh, maybe this is something. 10:38 We have pictures of the damage. 10:40 Oh, yeah. Take a look at this. 10:41 Yeah, look at some of these pictures. 10:43 You know, the tornado headed straight 10:46 for our ministry building and split. 10:51 And went down one side of the building 10:53 and down the other side of the building. 10:55 Wow. 10:56 If you take a look here, you'll see some of the damage. 10:58 And you can see this was no laughing matter. 11:03 Right down the... 11:05 Would it be the west and the east side 11:07 of the building crossed the road, 11:10 went through the woods. 11:12 Even today, you can see that 11:13 the path of the destruction down in those woods 11:15 and then jumped. 11:17 It leaped over Dr. Otis's dental building, 11:21 it leaped over a residential care facility. 11:23 Thank God, it didn't go steaming through there. 11:26 So you know, my wife, Melissa, likes to say 11:28 there was an angel standing at the front of our buildings. 11:30 "Oh, no, no, no. 11:31 No, no, off you go." 11:33 And it's amazing that the path of destruction 11:36 was two pods down on either side of the building 11:38 and the building itself was untouched. 11:42 That was a week before a major evangelistic series 11:46 was going to be aired from our ministry headquarters. 11:49 Wow! 11:50 Quite the miracle and it was all around that time 11:52 that the pandemic broke out. 11:54 And so we were in our building all socially distanced. 11:57 We were no longer elbow to elbow 11:58 and so It Is Written, 12:00 when lots of other organizations 12:02 and churches and so forth had to essentially 12:04 pull over to the side of the road and waited out. 12:06 We didn't have to. 12:08 Instead we pressed our foot to the floorboard 12:10 and ramped up evangelism and soul winning and ministry, 12:15 and we were very blessed to be able to do that. 12:17 Yeah, so the devil was trying to shut it down. 12:19 He was. 12:20 He was trying to stop it before it could get started. 12:22 He saw the pandemic was there and everything 12:26 and he was trying to put a stop to the gospel going forward. 12:28 Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. 12:31 And you know, if for some reason 12:33 the building got knocked out or whatever, 12:35 we would still have said God is great. 12:37 We'll trust God. 12:38 All things work together for good 12:39 but God saw in this instance, the right thing. 12:42 You know, the building itself, Jason, wasn't touched. 12:45 That's incredible. 12:47 We had a tree fall down on a bit of fence 12:50 and in the parking lot there was a light pole 12:52 and one of the little four lights got donked 12:55 by a tree. 12:57 Otherwise, nothing, 12:58 building wasn't scratched, nothing. 13:01 And we just said, "Thank you, Lord." 13:03 Yeah. 13:05 What a blessing. It was a miracle. 13:06 There's no other way around. 13:07 Amen. 13:09 I'm sure that was extremely powerful evangelistic series 13:12 after that experience. 13:13 Oh, yeah. 13:15 And we were fired up after that, 13:16 knowing that the devil was trying to shut us down. 13:17 Yes. Oh, yeah. 13:19 Yes. 13:20 So what are some other facets of It Is Written? 13:23 Oh, my, where do we begin? 13:27 It Is Written really is about evangelism, 13:30 public evangelism, personal evangelism, 13:32 evangelism training. 13:35 With Elder Vandeman all those decades ago decided 13:38 we want to press evangelism further, not lesser, 13:43 you know, that's kind of handed down to us 13:46 as a legacy over the years. 13:48 And what's fascinating about It Is Written is in 65 years, 13:50 we never did reconfigure and say, 13:53 well let's tone that down and instead do something else. 13:57 There are other things worth doing. 13:58 But It Is Written exists for evangelism, 14:00 to proclaim the message, to share, 14:03 to preach to, to publish, 14:05 to announce, 14:09 you know, to herald the soon coming of Jesus, 14:13 and that's a major part of Christianity. 14:15 Again, this is not to diminish 14:17 any other part of the Christian walk. 14:19 But our role, our calling has been called to herald, 14:23 to proclaim, to preach. 14:25 Yes. 14:26 And that's what we've been doing. 14:27 It's been evang... public evangelism, 14:29 church growth, personal evangelism, 14:31 a big emphasis on evangelism training, as well. 14:35 Imagine this. 14:36 I mean, how many church members are there 14:38 across the fruited plain? 14:39 Many. 14:40 Yes. 14:42 What if everybody felt confident 14:44 that they could do something 14:46 to share Jesus with somebody, regularly? 14:51 Do you think the world might change? 14:53 Big time. 14:54 Oh, yeah. 14:56 You think the country might be impacted? 14:57 Of course. 14:58 Absolutely. 15:00 The church membership is the sleeping giant 15:01 for a variety of reasons 15:03 and I don't say that to find fault. 15:05 But imagine if the potential latent within the church 15:09 and the church membership was unleashed somehow. 15:13 So that everybody says, "I'm going to share Jesus, 15:16 I'm going to witness to a neighbor." 15:18 Or if they said, "I'm going to pray 15:20 that God would bring someone to me 15:22 or me to someone to share with." 15:24 The landscape would be radically altered. 15:28 Yes. 15:29 So our focus on evangelism is not about to change. 15:32 I've been with the ministry as president 15:34 for almost 11 years. 15:36 We have a fantastic team of people 15:38 who agree with the mission and the vision. 15:40 We are sharing Christ, proclaiming the gospel, 15:44 preaching the good news. 15:45 Amen. 15:47 You know, when it says in the Book of Acts 15:48 that the Word of God increased. 15:50 It says, a great multitude of people 15:51 were added to the church. 15:52 Yes. 15:54 And a large company of the priests. 15:55 So let's increase the Word of God, 15:58 proclaim the Word of God. 16:00 You can only see great things happen as a result. 16:03 Amen. 16:04 And you said you had been there for 14 years? 16:06 Yeah. Almost 11. 16:07 Almost 11. 16:09 So how did you find out? 16:10 How did you end up making it to It Is Written? 16:12 What's that story? 16:13 I mean, it's a strange thing and there's almost no story. 16:18 I was minding my own business, 16:20 working on the pastoral staff of a magnificent church 16:23 in the Pacific Northwest 16:25 and I got a phone call out of the blue. 16:28 "Would you be interested? 16:29 And I said, but I think I don't think so 16:33 but I guess we should talk to God about this maybe. 16:37 You know I have a background in broadcasting. 16:41 So media broadcasting wasn't an odd fit. 16:46 So whatever I heard about this, 16:48 there was no time that we said, "Oh, that doesn't work." 16:49 Yes. 16:51 And when I spoke with people, 16:52 they said that we believe 16:53 this is what God is calling you to. 16:55 So I said, "Okay, I'll check it out." 16:57 If somebody sees light in us 16:59 and it became pretty apparent, 17:00 this was God's calling. 17:02 It's what He wanted me to do and it's been a thrill. 17:04 The rest is history. 17:06 Yeah, you know some of us and you're one. 17:11 We get paid to tell others about Jesus. 17:13 Yes. 17:15 We get paid to do this to point people heavenward. 17:18 You know what I mean? 17:19 I don't mean to oversimplify. 17:21 And there are many, many people who love what they do. 17:26 We do what we love. 17:28 Yes. 17:29 I'd like to think we do it if we weren't getting paid. 17:30 Absolutely. 17:32 This is what God has called us to 17:33 and it's a thrill when somebody says, 17:38 I spoke to a lady just the other day. 17:41 And she said, "I've been watching It Is Written 17:43 and I learned about this wonderful Jesus 17:44 and I chose Him as my Lord and Savior. 17:46 Today, I'm active in the church and my faith is growing." 17:49 You know, you've heard stories like that. 17:51 Yes. 17:52 So it's why we do what we do. 17:54 So what would you say to that individual that's like, 17:56 "Well, I need to be in official capacity to witness 17:59 or I need to be in an official capacity 18:01 to do something or tell someone about Christ, 18:04 like I need to be the pastor or something like that." 18:06 Yes, I'd say to that person, 18:07 okay let's leave it to the pastors 18:10 and see how well that works. 18:15 It's an untenable plan. 18:17 It doesn't work. 18:18 Yes. 18:20 Secondly, we believe in this thing 18:21 called the priesthood of all believers. 18:22 God has called all of us to witness. 18:25 So to that person who says, "Oh, 18:26 I think only the officials should do it." 18:28 I'd say, I think you're kidding yourself 18:30 and missing out on the blessing. 18:31 Yes. 18:33 You know, you want to share your faith. 18:34 It's just great for you. 18:36 It's good for you. 18:37 It's a thrill. 18:38 I remember being a little boy 18:40 and I had been hospitalized for pneumonia 18:41 and so I couldn't play football with my team 18:43 on the Saturday morning, it was a Saturday morning. 18:46 My mother put me in the big old car 18:48 and drove me over to the football ground 18:49 and we parked, like, man, I still see it. 18:52 Parked on the side of the field 18:54 and from the front seat of the car, 18:55 I watched my teammates playing, wished I could be out there. 19:01 It's a whole lot more fun to be out on the field 19:03 than to be standing on the sideline. 19:05 It is. 19:06 Yeah. 19:07 So when you pray for a divine appointment 19:09 and God bring somebody to you 19:10 that you can share Jesus with love, 19:12 you grow, the church grows, 19:13 that person has the opportunity to grow. 19:16 This evangelism is a team sport. 19:19 Yes. 19:20 It's not an individual sport. 19:21 Absolutely. 19:23 We need each other. We all want to get involved. 19:24 I discovered long ago, 19:26 I'm not God's gift to evangelism by any means, 19:28 but evangelism is certainly God's gift to me. 19:31 So in the Book of Nehemiah Chapter 3, 19:33 there is this wonderful passage 19:35 where it talks about these people were working on the wall 19:37 and next to them 19:39 and they worked and next to them and next to them. 19:42 That's what the church ought to be like. 19:43 Amen. 19:45 All up that wall doing our thing, 19:46 somebody next to us. 19:47 And speaking of evangelism, being a team sport, 19:50 talk a little bit about SALT's involvement 19:53 in evangelism training? 19:55 Just after I joined It Is Written, I had this idea 19:59 we ought to be on the frontlines of evangelism 20:01 training. 20:03 A friend of mine at Southern Adventist University, 20:05 Dr. Alan Parker had the same ideas. 20:07 We want to do evangelism training at Southern. 20:11 Neither of us had the complete answer. 20:13 We happened to be on the phone 20:15 and he said, "Hey, I've got this idea." 20:16 I said, "I've got the same idea." 20:18 "Maybe we should talk." 20:19 I said, "I'm going to be there tomorrow." 20:23 He said, "Okay, let's talk." 20:25 And so over, I think he brought me over pancakes 20:30 and blueberry sauce or something like that. 20:33 This is sort of thing you don't forget easily. 20:34 Yes. 20:36 We realized here we think God is in essence. 20:37 So SALT, Soul-winning And Leadership Training. 20:41 Nice. 20:42 It Is Written's evangelism training school. 20:44 Right now we have a class in session. 20:47 People from a wide variety of ages, 20:50 from many different nations, 20:53 all kinds of backgrounds, 20:54 learning how to sharpen their tools, 20:57 so they can be more effective 20:59 in sharing their faith in Jesus, 21:00 more effective in evangelism. 21:02 Amen. 21:03 As we begin meetings coming up very soon. 21:04 Now SALT's students will be an integral part 21:06 of those meetings. 21:08 It's great for them. 21:09 Yes. 21:10 Great for the church because people are being trained, 21:12 some are employed from there as Bible workers, 21:14 some have been employed as pastors, 21:16 many go back to their regular lives 21:19 but now they're sharp 21:20 and they're ready to share Jesus and witnessing. 21:24 Fire up their churches is a great thing. 21:26 We just love SALT. It's tremendous. 21:28 Anybody interested in evangelism training ought 21:30 to contact us at It Is Written and say, 21:32 "Tell me more about SALT. 21:33 I want to know about SALT." 21:35 It's life changing. 21:36 Yes, and what's your website? 21:39 Well, itiswritten.com best place to go. 21:42 Got you. 21:43 When you ask that question, 21:45 I start going through the Rolodex of websites. 21:46 Yes. 21:47 Itiswritten.com Yeah, you find out more there. 21:49 And we have a video with SALT, an interview that took place. 21:54 So let's take a look at that now. 21:56 You're not just investing in a program, 21:59 you're actually empowering someone 22:02 to go through a transformative experience. 22:04 I've had just a few classes so far, 22:06 but the professors are really awesome. 22:08 SALT is bigger than the class of 2020. 22:11 SALT is a legacy of classes over the year. 22:14 So wherever I go, you know, whoever I meet, 22:18 you know, there's something about saying 22:19 that you went through SALT 22:21 that, you know, helps you, you know, wherever you are. 22:25 SALT is, first of all, 22:27 a partnership school of evangelism 22:29 between It Is Written 22:31 and Southern Adventist University. 22:33 And it is a 16-week program 22:36 that's hosted at Southern Adventist University 22:38 and there are some classes here at the It Is Written building. 22:41 And for my career 22:42 was I wanted to learn how to better be a witness 22:45 to the people around me but much more specifically, 22:48 my brothers and some of my other siblings 22:51 and family, and then also close friends. 22:53 This is what I've been praying for. 22:55 I've been looking for this for a whole life, 22:58 just because I really want to know God. 23:00 So I am really thirsty and hungry for the Word of God 23:02 because I have this passion to connect with people 23:05 but I don't know how, like, I need somebody to help me. 23:08 But with SALT, it actually will like help me to, 23:12 you know, reach the things that I want to do in life. 23:14 I believe people are called to the SALT program. 23:18 I don't necessarily believe it's just some program 23:20 that you know, people just randomly think 23:23 that they're going to take, 23:24 and even if people think, "Oh, I'm gonna take SALT." 23:28 What they don't realize is that God is in that call. 23:31 Like, even like spiritual leadership, 23:32 that's one of our classes, 23:34 I would have never guessed 23:35 that that's something that I would need. 23:36 But now that we're even getting a tiny bit of what it means, 23:39 I'm really excited to do that. 23:41 Even though there are people who support It Is Written 23:45 through means or through prayers, 23:47 their support actually impacts someone's life. 23:51 They come into the SALT program 23:53 and they leave a different person. 23:54 And for those who are coming in or finally joining SALT, 23:58 I highly encourage them to join because it is really worth it 24:01 especially if you have that passion to help people, 24:04 that passion to share, to spread the good news, 24:07 the gospel of God, 24:09 As a young person, I'm also very passionate 24:11 about seeing the gospel go to the world 24:13 especially as we can see 24:14 that God is coming back very soon 24:16 and I appreciate your support through programs like SALT 24:19 that make it possible. 24:25 Wow. 24:26 I love that, it's all about evangelism 24:28 and that evangelism training 24:30 prepares people to go into the mission field. 24:32 Absolutely. 24:33 So why don't you tell me a little bit about 24:35 It Is Written mission? 24:36 Hey, this was fun. 24:38 A number of years ago, we were going to India 24:39 to conduct a big evangelistic outreach. 24:42 We have a humanitarian project called Eyes for India. 24:46 We are for a very small, some relatively small some, 24:50 you can literally give the gift of sight. 24:52 We worked with the gifted ophthalmologist. 24:54 He's performing cataract surgeries 24:56 and the blind are able to see. 24:58 So we were going over there to conduct meetings. 25:00 We said, "Why don't we take a bunch of people with us." 25:02 And so we took some physicians and some families 25:04 and they held meetings and saw patients 25:06 and we said, "Wait a minute." 25:08 Let's do this again and again and again. 25:10 And so It Is Written missions was born. 25:12 We regularly conducting mission trips. 25:15 Yeah. 25:16 I mean, we've been all over the world, 25:18 far and near and really exciting. 25:21 In 2022, we'll have mission trips to Ethiopia, Bolivia, 25:27 the Dominican Republic, somewhere else. 25:32 Ethiopia, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Vieques. 25:35 Wow! 25:37 And in the Navajo Nation here in the United States. 25:38 Wow! 25:40 Yeah, cool. 25:41 Yeah, you're gonna be busy. 25:43 Would you tell us about Ethiopia, India and Mongolia? 25:45 Oh, yeah. Hey, take a look at this. 25:47 Ethiopia, we went to a place that 25:49 was not majority Christian. 25:53 Eyes for Ethiopia was conducted, lots of surgery. 25:55 Wow! 25:56 Physicians went, a team of missionaries 25:58 went to do ministry in the community. 26:00 Hundreds of people were baptized. 26:02 I think we've got a picture to show you here. 26:04 Some young ladies are preparing to be baptized very, 26:08 I mean, inspirational, you know? 26:10 And in other places you see God having done great things 26:14 in India, as well as the pictures will show. 26:18 Mission work is powerful. 26:20 Every so often, you'll get someone 26:22 who's a little cynical about short term mission work. 26:25 You know, don't be. 26:27 You go to a place you make an impact there. 26:28 Yes. 26:30 And that place impacts you. 26:31 Yes. 26:32 You come back, you impact your local church. 26:35 Again, it's evangelism, its mission, its soul winning. 26:39 No one's pretending. 26:40 Its long term mission work 26:41 that's a horse of different color, 26:43 but it is... It's powerful. 26:46 We see miracles worked. 26:48 A young man was holding meetings with us 26:49 in South Africa. 26:51 The projector went off. 26:52 He was outside sort of in a field, 26:54 extension cords, the projector stopped working 26:58 and he said, "Oh, look sorry everybody. 27:01 We need to pray that this thing works." 27:03 And they prayed and the projector came back on. 27:05 He's, "Oh, look an answer to a prayer. 27:07 Oh, good." 27:08 When he got done, they said, 27:10 "So how did the power outage affect you guys tonight?" 27:12 He said, "Yeah, our projector stopped 27:14 but we prayed and then it worked again." 27:17 No, how did, the power cut, the outage? 27:20 Outage? 27:22 There was no power. 27:23 Wow! 27:25 Yeah. Cool. 27:26 There was power. 27:27 It was God keeping that going and the missionary himself, 27:30 you know, in his experience, 27:32 he needed a miracle like that to, 27:33 you know, it's so strengthened his faith in God. 27:35 So... Yes. 27:37 Yeah, we have an exciting time with missions 27:38 and we want to get churches energized, 27:40 to get people involved. 27:41 Some of them are further away Ethiopia. 27:43 In fact, it looks like 27:45 we're going to be holding meetings 27:46 in not just Arsi Negele, where we visited. 27:49 We, I didn't go last time, well they went last time. 27:51 This time around looks like we'll be there and Addis Ababa, 27:55 the capital as well. 27:56 I may be speaking a little too soon 27:58 but that looks like the plan. 28:00 So it's going to be May. 28:02 In fact... Claim it in faith. 28:03 Yeah. 28:05 Last time, 28:06 the impact made by our health outreach was so big 28:08 that the federal government, 28:09 the government of the nation of Ethiopia, 28:11 made a point of reaching out 28:12 and thanking our workers in the area 28:14 for what they've done for the community. 28:16 Wow! 28:17 So you don't know how big the reach of missions can go. 28:18 Absolutely. 28:20 And it's very practical. 28:21 Yeah. 28:22 And I want to go back to Eyes for India, 28:24 we have a video. 28:25 And I want to take a look at that video. 28:27 Let's check that out right now. 28:42 Patients are waiting eagerly here 28:44 for the surgery outside the gate. 28:52 During this COVID-19 pandemic, 28:55 the need seems to be more than ever before. 28:59 More than 4,000 to 5,000 patients 29:02 have been registered for Eyes for India 29:06 project this year in this very temple. 29:08 We want to thank you It Is Written. 29:10 We want to thank you donors 29:12 for making this life changing project possible 29:15 where we are able to operate 29:16 more than 2,000 patients this year 29:19 amidst this pandemic 29:21 when there's so much of unrest among people, 29:23 so much of fear among people. 29:25 You have made this project possible. 29:28 We want to thank you for making this generosity. 29:31 Thank you, may the Lord bless 29:33 and keep you as you continue to support Eyes for India. 29:44 That was a lot of people. 29:47 We get thousands of people come out, they're screened 29:49 and those who need surgery receive surgery. 29:51 Some it's, most it's cataract surgery, 29:54 others it's maybe a little more involved. 29:58 You heard Dr. Jacob say, "At this temple." 30:02 Can you imagine a witness at a Hindu temple 30:05 where Christians come in 30:06 and give sight to several thousand people 30:08 who couldn't see or hundreds of people who couldn't see? 30:10 Wow! 30:12 That's a major witness for the gospel 30:13 and to see people who are literally blind, 30:16 now can see. 30:18 Oh, powerful. 30:19 That's a big deal, very impactful. 30:20 It is. 30:22 I want to transition a little bit 30:23 because you have It Is Written at the Telly Awards? 30:28 Yeah, interesting. 30:29 These are industry awards 30:31 where, you know, programs are recognized 30:34 or not for achievement. 30:37 So it's very exciting. 30:40 We don't create TV programs 30:42 for plaudits or pats on the back. 30:44 Yes. 30:45 But when you create a program that's good quality 30:47 and industry experts say, that's award worthy. 30:52 No one's pretending these are the Academy Awards 30:54 but they're still industry awards 30:56 with big name entities into their programs 30:59 and there is It Is Written standing alongside them 31:02 and saying, the programs made by this Christian broadcaster 31:06 are of great quality. 31:08 I think that speaks well for everybody. 31:09 Absolutely. 31:10 And then when people see it, then they go check out 31:13 It Is Written, they check out 31:14 a Christian ministry proclaiming the gospel. 31:17 So that's awesome. 31:18 Let's take a look at that real right now. 31:25 Welcome to Hope Awakens. 31:27 You are joining people from around the world 31:29 in this series. 31:31 In Hope Awakens, 31:32 we're making sense of the moment, 31:34 finding hope in what's a time of real challenge 31:36 for all of us. 31:40 In this world, there's injustice, there's pain. 31:45 Slavery stands out as the national sin 31:48 for the United States. 31:50 Slavery existed in Great Britain 31:52 for hundreds of years up until the 12th century. 31:56 It's said that close to 5 million people 31:58 had been enslaved in Brazil, 32:00 by far the greatest number of slaves 32:02 that came to the Americas. 32:04 The German Nazi government endeavored to eliminate 32:06 an entire race of people. 32:08 Millions perished. 32:14 Almost 40 different treaties enacted between 1721 and 1819 32:19 saw Cherokee lands reduced drastically 32:22 from what they were before European settlement. 32:26 Much of the Cherokee land in Tennessee had been lost. 32:30 The land in Kentucky, 32:31 Virginia and West Virginia was lost. 32:36 Cherokee lost 90% of their territory. 32:48 Sometimes wrongs are righted, 32:51 sometimes didn't happen 32:53 in the case of the Trail of Tears. 32:55 But there's coming a time 32:56 when every wrong will be righted, 32:59 when every illness would have been cured, 33:01 where death no longer happens, 33:04 where tears will never more be shed. 33:07 The gospel opens the heart to the presence of Jesus. 33:11 No more sins, sickness, death, pain, selfishness 33:14 or trouble of any kind 33:15 and we get to be with God eternally. 33:22 Wow. 33:24 That was quite a reel there 33:25 and looked like a lot of locations. 33:28 Yeah, you know, in the last few years 33:29 we filmed in about 26 different countries, 33:31 many times where they're doing evangelism 33:34 and so we film as well. 33:36 A lot of great stories to tell. 33:39 Recently, we spoke to a man who'd been exonerated 33:42 after having spent 32 years in prison for a crime 33:44 he didn't commit. 33:46 Very powerful story. 33:47 They say soon I might get up on a P51 Mustang 33:51 which the Tuskegee Airmen flew at World War II. 33:53 Yes. 33:54 Yeah. 33:56 It's not guaranteed yet 33:57 but we've got a program looking at the Tuskegee in, 34:01 you know the Bible teaching program. 34:02 Yes. 34:03 Solid Biblical programs, 34:05 but we want to attach them to attractive stories 34:07 and interesting stories. 34:08 Yeah. 34:10 So it's a blessing. 34:11 You know, we launched our little channel 34:12 It Is Written TV a while ago and was hearing from people 34:15 who are encouraged by what they're seeing 34:18 and we just got to tell the world, 34:20 we've got to tell more people, tell more people. 34:22 Yes. 34:23 Yeah. 34:25 Speaking of tell more people, 34:26 tell us a little bit about this prophecy stuff 34:28 you got going on here, Bible prophecy? 34:30 Yeah, you know, we've had a number of series 34:32 in recent times focusing. 34:35 The pandemic was a wonderful opportunity, 34:37 either to do nothing or do something. 34:39 We felt like it was a good opportunity 34:41 to do something. 34:43 Particularly when at the beginning 34:45 you had a captive audience, 34:47 people who are stuck at home and couldn't go anywhere. 34:49 Now you don't have that, 34:50 but you have a searching audience. 34:54 I'm hearing more and more people saying to me 34:56 and I mean there's literally not figuratively, 34:58 more and more people saying to me, 35:01 it's never been easier to share my faith. 35:04 People are interested now. 35:06 People are asking questions now. 35:09 You're talking to somebody in the supermarket, 35:10 how you doing? 35:12 Well, I mean, what's going on in the world? 35:14 Is this the Bible? 35:15 Is the Bible happening? 35:17 People are wondering now and so we said, 35:20 let's develop some series that we can roll out. 35:22 Churches participated in this in our Acts 2021 initiative 35:26 and used these as witnessing opportunities. 35:30 You know, when you have media at your disposal, 35:35 everybody ought to use that to share, 35:37 you know, your neighbor's interested in history. 35:39 Hey, watch this history thing my church produced. 35:43 Tell me what you think. 35:44 It opens up a dialogue. 35:46 And some might shrug and others will ask you to tell them more. 35:50 So over time, we've looked at a number of different series, 35:52 we've conducted series, we held Answers in Prophecy 35:55 which was a short series that, no it was about 10 nights. 36:00 It wasn't like a full evangelistic series, 36:03 but it went into prophecy to whet the appetite, 36:06 engage people in a study of Scripture. 36:09 So we looked at Answers in Prophecies. 36:11 No Limits was a revival series we did. 36:15 There was a health series. 36:17 We've done two health series, 36:19 evangelism based health series during the pandemic. 36:23 Take charge of your health 36:24 and the next level health where... 36:28 Look, people are getting sick. 36:31 The one thing we're not doing is encouraging people 36:35 to not get sick in the first place. 36:37 We learn this thing comorbidities. 36:38 Well, how about as far as possible we eliminate those, 36:41 so that we're at less risk. 36:44 So we were able to do that with our health series. 36:46 We had a prayer series called Connect, 36:49 we walk through prayer. 36:51 We didn't do the ABCs 36:52 but we did the 1, 2, 3, 4 of prayer 36:54 and we spoke about the God who answers prayer miraculously 36:58 and we spoke about the God who at times 37:02 doesn't answer the way that you want. 37:04 We learned at It Is written that 37:07 people have prayer on their minds 37:10 and they're praying, they're reaching out, 37:13 they're thinking. 37:14 The statistics say that a lot of people pray every day. 37:18 I think the statistics might also say that 37:20 a lot of people exaggerate. 37:23 But there's an audience there. 37:28 There's a group of, there's a lot of searching people 37:31 and so Connect was our appraiser so great fun. 37:35 We're launching very soon, 37:40 a number of evangelistic meetings at once 37:42 in the state of Minnesota. 37:43 Eric Flickinger is preaching in Rochester, Minnesota 37:46 and they're going to be streaming throughout the state. 37:48 I'm going to be preaching in Chattanooga, Tennessee 37:51 and that's going to go from coast to coast 37:53 with our series Revelation Today, 37:56 The Great Reset. 37:59 People are asking questions. 38:00 Yes. 38:02 People are trying to make sense of what's going on. 38:03 Yes. 38:04 Our subtitle is Things Aren't Always As They Appear. 38:08 And that's just true. 38:09 We see the surface, 38:11 there's something going on behind that surface. 38:12 Absolutely. 38:14 There are moves afoot. 38:16 So our prayer is that 38:19 from one side of the nation to the other, 38:21 people will be engaging with us in Revelation Today, 38:23 The Great Reset. 38:25 Studying the prophecies of the Bible 38:27 and getting the story behind the story. 38:29 It's a great story. 38:30 Absolutely. 38:31 Now I know there's a lot of parents out there 38:34 that are saying I want my child to learn about the gospel. 38:37 So what do you have in terms of evangelism for children? 38:41 Hey, I'm glad you asked. 38:43 My wife, Melissa, leads our children's ministry, 38:45 My Place with Jesus, 38:46 and she's looked at that 38:48 and she said what can we do for kids 38:49 that's not just fun and games, 38:52 but connects young people with Christ 38:56 and connects him with the Bible? 38:57 Yeah. 38:58 So there's several things she did. 39:00 One was a simple Bible reading plan. 39:02 I mean, every church children study class 39:07 ought to have their kids reading the Bible. 39:09 Yes. 39:11 Simple. 39:12 Every family have your children reading the Bible. 39:13 So at It Is Written, we've got a little program, 39:15 Journey Through The Bible, doesn't cost you one cent. 39:17 It's simple. 39:19 Incentivizes Bible reading 39:20 and kids love it and parents say, 39:22 thank you It Is Written, 39:23 my children are reading the Bible. 39:25 Never thought I'd see the day. 39:27 Of course, kids are going to love the Bible. 39:28 The stories are fantastic. 39:30 David and Goliath and Gideon 39:32 and the Transfiguration of Jesus. 39:34 I mean, it's all gripping. 39:37 So Melissa puts together this thing every month. 39:39 There's another journey through the Bible 39:41 and we love that kids just love it. 39:45 A resource, people would say to us, 39:48 what do we do for kids during an evangelistic series? 39:51 And Melissa said, 39:52 as a product of evangelism herself, she said, 39:55 we'll make something. 39:57 Okay. 39:58 And so she produced Buried Treasure, 39:59 which is an evangelism program for children 40:03 while the parents are having meetings here, 40:05 the children, study the Bible. 40:07 Study the same things the parents are studying. 40:10 Learn what the parents are learning. 40:12 Have a great time. 40:13 Yes. 40:14 Dig into the Word of God and get to know Jesus 40:16 as their personal Savior. 40:17 Amen. 40:18 And we have a Buried Treasure video 40:21 and we're going to go to that at this time. 40:57 Introduce children to Jesus with Buried Treasure. 41:00 A 21-part child evangelism program 41:03 built upon the much loved My Place 41:06 with Jesus Bible Guides, 41:07 featuring original scripture songs, crafts, 41:10 games and life changing Bible lessons. 41:13 Buried Treasure helps children develop 41:15 a meaningful relationship with God 41:17 in a fun and engaging way. 41:19 They'll discover 41:20 Jesus is the most precious treasure of all, 41:23 a lesson that will stay with them for a lifetime. 41:25 Buried Treasure can be used alongside 41:27 an evangelistic series in a Bible study class, 41:30 a VBS style program and much more. 41:33 Lead children to Jesus 41:35 in the gospel with Buried Treasure. 41:37 It's effective and easy to use and available now 41:39 from It Is Written. 41:42 Wow. That's awesome. 41:43 You know, the kids need to learn about Christ 41:45 and we have to start with them at a young age. 41:48 Oh, absolutely. 41:49 'Cause the world's trying to grab ahold of them. 41:51 Oh, when you think about 41:52 what kids are up against these days, 41:54 man, I wouldn't want to be a kid today 41:55 and try to navigate that mess 41:58 and Buried Treasure is this fun program work. 42:02 We've had parents say, "Kids, 42:04 we don't want to go to the meetings tonight. 42:06 We're just too tired." 42:08 And the kids say, "Please, 42:09 we don't want to miss Buried Treasure." 42:11 Wow! 42:12 The parents were baptized, 42:15 brought to the meetings by the kids 42:16 who didn't want to stay home. 42:17 Wow! 42:19 So it's cool. Yeah. 42:20 And wins the hearts of children too. 42:21 Amen. 42:23 What other testimonies do you have? 42:26 You know, when you share Jesus, people hear, people respond. 42:30 And there are so many stories that we could tell about lives 42:33 that have been changed, really changed. 42:36 I'm thinking of one lady. 42:40 She's not the person that you would think 42:42 would be the most obvious convert to Christianity. 42:45 Okay. 42:46 But you know God works. 42:48 We see the surface God sees what's behind the surface. 42:50 We see the outside, God sees the heart. 42:53 Then sometimes challenging things happen 42:55 in a person's life and you say, 42:56 what, why is this happening? 42:59 You may or may not understand that 43:01 God is working to bring a person to faith in Jesus. 43:06 Yes. 43:07 That's exactly what happened in Parina's life. 43:10 We Hope Awakens our evangelistic series 43:12 just a little while ago, 43:13 a major online evangelistic series 43:15 during the pandemic time was being carried out 43:19 and a young lady said, "I need to invite some friends. 43:22 Who should I invite?" 43:23 And then God worked. 43:25 Well let's take a look at that video of Parina. 43:30 Our local church was hosting the Hope Awakens. 43:33 And so every night we would send invitations 43:38 posted on our church website, 43:41 our social media, our personal pages. 43:44 I would send text messages to friends 43:47 and one of those was Parina. 43:49 I met Alanna in 2004. 43:51 I was visiting Ann Arbor 43:53 and that was the time we ended up meeting 43:55 through the friends. 43:57 And it was a nice meeting. 43:58 We went to Indian restaurant and it just clicked, 44:01 we just connected. 44:03 Just before Hope Awakens happened, 44:05 a lot of traumatic things were happening 44:08 in Parina's life. 44:09 As soon as Michigan decided to go on a lockdown, 44:11 schools were closed. 44:13 My husband decided 44:14 he doesn't want to work on our marriage 44:15 and he wants to move on and start his own life. 44:19 So he decided to pack up and left. 44:22 I am wondering what's going on in my own life. 44:25 I was struggling at the time 44:27 because I also had an aunty 44:29 who's very religion person in Hinduism, 44:32 where I talked to her. 44:35 She asked me to send money to a priest in India 44:39 to make sure everything gets better. 44:41 And I was like, okay. 44:43 I was just at the point 44:44 where I just needed to figure it out 44:46 what's going on in my life. 44:47 How can I save my marriage? 44:48 How can I bring my family together? 44:50 Because I felt as a failure as a mother 44:52 not having the family together. 44:54 And so I say, whatever it takes. 44:57 So I sent her... I send money to India to the priest 45:01 and he guarantee my marriage will be saved. 45:04 And a week later, 45:05 I see the divorce paper in my mailbox. 45:08 And I was like, no, 45:10 I did everything you asked me to do. 45:12 I send the money, I prayed, I fast. 45:16 Why is still happening to me? 45:19 Who should I reach out to? 45:20 I was going through my list of people on Facebook. 45:24 So I would just go through my friends list, 45:25 like who can I invite, you know. 45:27 And then Parina's name came up, 45:28 and I was like, I'm gonna text her. 45:30 Then one day, she asked me, 45:31 "Have you heard about the Hope Awaken series?" 45:33 I'm like, I kind of heard about it, 45:36 but I'm not sure what it's about. 45:38 I just like got glued toward like just listening 45:41 to what the questions and the message. 45:43 And I'm like, I think this is something 45:46 what I need right now in my life, 45:48 throughout the depression for everything is not perfect, 45:50 but this is gives me some type of peace in my life. 45:53 And I'm gonna listen to it. 45:55 So I made myself a note, 45:56 put it on my calendar so I can get the live sessions. 46:00 Pick up and I just started listening to it. 46:02 And it just, as I listen more and more, 46:05 I just get feeling like 46:06 that's something God is trying to talk to me 46:09 and if this is the one of the sign. 46:12 After the Hope Awakens, I decided to go help my study, 46:16 Bible study to like really get to know Jesus 46:18 and really understand these words 46:23 what it mean to me. 46:25 I remember where I was standing in my house, 46:28 the day that Parina called me 46:30 and told me that she was going be baptized. 46:33 And I cried tears of joy, kind of like now. 46:36 Because I just, I could hear the joy in her voice. 46:39 And I was just so thankful 46:41 for what God had been doing in her life. 46:43 And I was really thankful to have a small piece in that 46:46 and to see what God was doing. 46:49 So I was really encouraged. 46:50 I'm very thankful 46:52 because it just came out at a time I needed the most. 46:56 I did not have any answer, 46:58 I did not know where I was going. 47:00 It's like one of those things, what is my purpose in here 47:04 and the Hope Awakens series 47:06 really helped me to move forward. 47:07 You know, I am so grateful 47:09 that there was Hope Awakens at that time. 47:12 I remember because of COVID, 47:13 everything was shut down. 47:15 But I do see that God was leading in that. 47:17 And I know that financially, 47:19 there was probably a lot of expenses 47:21 that weren't anticipated 47:22 because when you're doing a big production like that 47:25 and through social media and internet 47:27 and all of that, it takes a lot. 47:29 So I'm very grateful for the financial investment 47:34 in doing evangelism in this platform. 47:36 You have really changed my life 47:38 and I have a lot of faith in God now. 47:41 Every time things not going the way I wanted it. 47:44 I just have that peace. 47:45 I pray about it. 47:46 I ask, "You know what needs to be done, 47:49 You know where I should be. 47:50 So You guide me and I have a faith and trust in You 47:54 that You will take me where I'm supposed to be." 48:05 Parina, as the minister of the gospel, 48:09 it's my privilege to baptize you 48:11 in the name of the Father, 48:13 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 48:16 Amen. 48:22 Wow! Praise the Lord. 48:24 That's what it's all about leading people to Christ. 48:26 Yeah, that's right. 48:28 That's why It Is Written exists, 48:29 you know and every day, 48:31 we're producing resources, 48:33 Bible studies that have been translated 48:35 into multiple languages 48:37 and being and they're online for people to study 48:39 all around the world. 48:40 Yes Whatever we do, it's for that purpose 48:43 of reaching someone with the gospel. 48:45 And, you know, as a donor funded ministry, 48:47 we just, we're dependent on, reliant on. 48:49 We are reliant on God. 48:51 Yes. 48:52 And God provides through gracious people 48:54 who say I want to be part of supporting the mission 48:56 of that organization. 48:58 So we're just very thankful 48:59 that for 65 years people have kept us 49:01 on the front line of mission. 49:03 Yes. 49:04 By God's grace, we haven't lost our focus. 49:07 Pray we never do. 49:08 And as long as there are people to win, 49:11 we want to be proclaiming the good news 49:12 and sharing the everlasting gospel. 49:14 There's hope in the message of Christ 49:17 and the messages of the three angels. 49:18 Amen. 49:20 That's where the hope is. 49:21 Amen. 49:23 What are some of the specific needs of It Is Written? 49:25 Always we need people to pray for us. 49:28 What we know is that without the Spirit of God at work, 49:31 nothing we do is worth anything. 49:34 Oh, I tell you what? 49:35 We're so blessed to have volunteers 49:36 who help us out. 49:38 Yes All that wonderful people who live in our community 49:40 and come to the ministry and help, 49:41 thank God for them. 49:43 We couldn't do what we do without Him. 49:45 Of course, financial support 49:46 is without that there's no It Is Written. 49:49 We're donor funded ministry. 49:51 And that's really important as well. 49:54 You know, from time to time, we need staff. 49:56 Yes. 49:58 And the Lord always brings the right people. 50:00 We have a great team of committed people. 50:03 They're focused, you know? 50:06 They can all make more money doing something else. 50:08 Yes. 50:09 Have a sacrificial spirit, they know that 50:10 this is what God is calling them to. 50:14 People have got to hear this message. 50:15 Amen. 50:17 They've got to hear this message. 50:18 What's your vision 50:19 for It Is Written in the future? 50:21 You know, we're growing and developing in certain ways. 50:24 We can't become General Electric you know, 50:26 Procter and Gamble they make, 50:28 Pringles and Chris toothpaste 50:30 and Pampers diapers, you know. 50:34 We're focused on ministry and mission. 50:37 We're going to continue to develop resources, 50:39 continue to train people 50:41 and teach people to share their faith. 50:43 Continue to preach the Word of God 50:45 and encourage to engage churches, 50:47 encourage churches to get engaged 50:50 and to foster church growth. 50:52 It Is Written TV, our channel is going to grow 50:55 and develop and continue to broadcast 50:58 and encourage people into the Word of God. 51:01 So we're going to continue to find 51:03 those new and effective and more effective ways 51:06 to share Christ 51:07 and just keep on sharing Jesus. 51:10 Adapt with the times. 51:12 Yes. 51:13 Proclaim the Word of God, 51:14 keep the Bible front and center 51:16 and do what we can to lead people 51:18 into a saving relationship with Jesus. 51:20 Yes, and leveraging technology to do it too. 51:22 All the time. 51:23 That's the way to get the gospel out 51:25 around the world. 51:26 Amen. 51:27 And It Is Written is doing a wonderful job in that. 51:30 In just a moment, we are going to go to the address roll. 51:35 Let you know how to get in touch with Pastor Bradshaw 51:38 and we'll go to a news break and we'll be right back. 51:43 If you would like to contact It Is Written, 51:45 you can write to them at PO Box 6, 51:47 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401. 51:51 Again, It Is Written, PO Box 6, 51:55 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401. 51:59 You can call them at (423) 362-5800. 52:03 That's (423) 362-5800. 52:07 You can contact them through email at info@iiw.org 52:13 That's info@iiw.org 52:16 or find them online at itiswritten.com. |
Revised 2021-10-21