Participants: Yamil Rosario (Host), Nathan Renner, Sebastian Braxton, Aiko Reichard, Jeff Tetacheck, Ty Gibson
Series Code: 10GYC
Program Code: 10GYC000009
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00:12 And my name Yamil Rosario,
00:13 for those of you who don't know. 00:14 I am General Vice President for GYC. 00:17 I wanna quickly introduce our 00:18 panels here, to my left is Pastor 00:20 Nathan Renner, he's a pastor in the 00:22 Central California Conference 00:24 and is also involved with ARISE. 00:28 To his right is our very own Sebastien 00:32 Braxton and he is a GYC General Vice 00:35 President as well. To his right is, 00:39 to his left is Aiko Ryker and she is a 00:43 missionary in Japan, Amen. Amen 00:47 and to her right is Jeff Tatarchuk and 00:51 he is the Director of, I'm sorry. 00:58 Truth Link Ministries, I apologize for that 01:00 and to his right is Ty Gibson, 01:02 Light Bearers Ministry. This morning I want 01:05 to show you a video that I found online 01:09 which will basically set the stage for our 01:12 discussion this morning, so at this moment 01:13 I want to direct your attention to the 01:15 screens and pay very close 01:17 attention please, thank you. 01:24 My savior. Good guy. 01:28 Love, compassion towards me. 01:31 Easter, loving, bearded, kind. 01:36 I got a good opinion of 01:37 Jesus Christ that's for sure. 01:39 Excellent man, wonderful. Sure. 01:41 We've had a religion after him. 01:42 My savior. Actually Jesus was 01:44 the Punk Rocker. Yeah. Yeah, 01:48 he is pretty cool and I like him a lot. 01:50 Savior. Savior, what else? Black. 01:56 It's good. Good. I think of good 02:00 because it's Jesus what else would you think of? 02:03 I'm definitely altruistic, philanthropy. 02:06 Loving, peaceful, sincere. 02:17 Heart touch, hopeful. Yeah. On their part, 02:21 they're hoping for something 02:22 that I can do, get I believe. 02:25 Psycho, uneducated, backward, south. 02:30 I think of somebody that's possibly 02:31 just a little bit, little bit 02:34 overboard, a little bit extreme. 02:37 My Uncle Bob, conservative, white. 02:42 Fanatical. Okay. Bible members. Crazy 02:47 People who wear white and like kind of 02:49 glow but are kind of freaky. 02:52 Okay. Yeah and Texas. 02:55 I think, think there is everlasting 02:57 stigmas attached to that word. 03:00 I can't answer that, crazy. Okay. 03:03 Frightening. Yeah. Yeah and just 03:06 overpowering. Overpowering. Yeah. 03:08 You don't want to know, somewhat scary. 03:11 Maybe a little rigged and they're full 03:14 and they're dogma in their philosophy. 03:17 Oh! Nothing too good. 03:25 Ouch! Right? I mean were any 03:30 of you as disturbed as I was when 03:32 I first watched that. I mean did you hear that? 03:36 Overpowering, scary, fanatical, 03:40 out of touch and frightening, 03:43 that's what some of the world perceives 03:45 us as. Now what do you think about that? 03:54 It's very inconsistent. Very inconsistent okay, 03:57 any other thoughts, any other thoughts. 03:59 How do you think about that? 04:00 It's disturbing. Very disturbing, okay. 04:05 Our panelist, what do we do with this? 04:07 What are your thoughts on this? 04:11 Well, I think you have to at first 04:15 acknowledge the fact that the individuals 04:18 in this video have a particular perception 04:21 of Christians and obviously that 04:24 perception is different from the perception 04:26 of Jesus. And so it is clear 04:28 from the video that at least in a limited way, 04:32 there is a large gap. There's this kind of 04:36 chasm between how they see Jesus 04:38 and how they see the people that follow him. 04:41 And I think when we start off by 04:43 acknowledging the fact that yes it is a 04:44 perception of valid or not invalid, 04:47 that's another question. You know I, 04:50 I am sorry Nathan, you know I read a 04:52 bumper sticker that said I've got 04:54 nothing against God, it's his fan club 04:58 I have a problem with. Go ahead Nathan. 05:01 You know I was just thinking when I 05:03 watched that video that reminds me so 05:05 much of my own experience. 05:07 When I think about my own younger years 05:11 before I became a Christian and a 05:12 Seventh-day Adventist. I mean if somebody 05:14 would have asked me what I thought 05:16 of Christians, I know exactly what I 05:17 would say because I was glad to freely 05:19 share my opinion that people like I am 05:22 now are wackos, fanatical, stupid, 05:27 backward, uneducated. That's exactly my 05:31 perception and you know I think that 05:35 there are two, maybe two possible 05:37 reasons that we have that kind of perception, 05:41 that people have that kind of perception 05:42 about Christians. One reason is that 05:46 we act psycho sometimes. The other reason is. 05:51 Got to speak for yourself. I've seen you brother, 05:55 I've seen you. Sometimes we act crazy, 06:00 I am not, as Christians we act crazy, 06:03 I'll give you an example. I'll give you an example; 06:05 I used to work at a restaurant. 06:07 This is before I was a Christian and I 06:10 grew up in a very conservative part 06:12 of the country. I grew up in the 06:13 black hills of South Dakota; 06:15 I think there are two democrats in 06:17 the entire state. My mom and my dad, 06:21 I mean it is such a conservative state 06:25 that you can literally. I mean you just 06:27 it's just a very conservative state 06:29 and basically everybody thinks they're a 06:32 Christian and so I was being evangelized 06:36 all the time by their repulsive God. 06:41 By their repulsive ideas about who God is. 06:44 But one thing that would happen quite 06:46 regularly is just that everybody would get 06:48 done with church and they would come 06:51 to eat at the restaurant I would work at. 06:53 And then they would tell me that I was a 06:56 bad person because I wasn't going to 06:58 church and then I would tell to them that 07:02 they're hypocrites and the reason I couldn't 07:03 go to church is because I had to serve 07:05 and bake eggs. So that left a bad impression 07:10 on me because I felt a sense 07:14 of hypocrisy there. So I think some of 07:16 these things we as Christians have to 07:18 own because of our own sense of hypocrisy. 07:23 There is a validity to the second group 07:26 of people who are basically reacting 07:29 negatively to Christians while at the same 07:33 time they're positive toward 07:34 Jesus as a person. My own experience 07:37 was very similar, I was not raised 07:39 with any religious background whatsoever 07:42 and if you would have asked me the same 07:45 questions that were asked. 07:46 I would have given similar answers, 07:48 I felt very strongly that Jesus was probably 07:51 a good guy but Christians were just 07:53 whacked out and I wanted nothing to 07:55 do with them, but the issue was 07:57 deeper than that. Because there was 08:00 an assumption, there was a picture of 08:02 God that I believed must be true and 08:06 therefore I had to react against it because 08:09 I didn't have any resonance with it. 08:11 Well fast-forwarding my experience after I 08:13 become a Christian I had an experience 08:16 with somebody that really illustrates 08:18 the difference between who God truly 08:21 is and how attractive he can be 08:23 if rightly presented. And how ugly he has 08:26 been misrepresented, I got into a plane, 08:29 going out of Denver, I sit next to a guy, 08:30 I am reading a religious book. 08:33 He obviously sees, glancing over my 08:35 shoulder that it's you know the word 08:37 God or something and so he just hey what, 08:39 where are you going, what do you do? 08:40 I say oh I teach. Well what do you teach? 08:42 I teach spiritual subjects, 08:44 I said and the Bible is my text book. 08:47 And he says just rather abruptly, 08:48 he says why I am an atheist? 08:51 And so I respond in a way that he 08:53 is not expecting, I say well actually 08:55 I am an atheist too. And he says but you 08:59 teach the Bible, no, no you're playing 09:01 with my mind, you're not an atheist. 09:03 I said no, I am an atheist 09:05 and he says how so? And I say well, 09:07 we'll just take a moment, 09:08 you know we have a two hour flight 09:10 and describe for me the God you don't 09:12 believe in. So this guy starts 09:16 thinking and he comes up well you know 09:17 what I'm taking about, this like Head Honcho, 09:20 all powerful being in the sky who torments 09:25 people forever and ever if they don't agree 09:27 with him and then he's gonna burn them 09:29 and you know this once saved, 09:31 always saved thing where God decides 09:32 from eternity past who's going to heaven 09:34 and who's going to hell and we have no 09:35 choice in the matter and he just goes 09:37 on describing this God. And I say that's 09:39 precisely the point, I don't believe that 09:41 any such God as you just described exists 09:43 anywhere in the universe. So I share your atheism 09:49 against that picture of God but let me 09:50 ask you another question I said to him. 09:54 Just hypothetically what if a God could exist, 09:58 I'm not saying he does but what if a 10:00 God could exist that is the diametric 10:03 opposite kind of character to the one 10:06 that you don't believe in. 10:08 I said what if a God could exist, 10:09 who is nothing but infinite love and 10:12 mercy and justice. A God who would 10:14 never do wrong to any person, 10:17 a God who literally loves everybody more 10:19 than his own existence. Would you want that 10:22 God to exist? I am not saying he does, 10:26 but would you wish for him to exist 10:29 and he said, well I be a fool not to. Yeah. 10:31 You know that shows that they are people out 10:33 there who are unbelievers; 10:35 they're rejecting God because of 10:37 a gross misrepresentation of his character. 10:40 But Ty, here's the thing though and 10:42 I guess when I watched that video 10:44 it's true you know, in Christians we 10:48 definitely can portray an incorrect picture 10:51 of Christ. But the Bible says 10:55 Jesus said because the world hated me, 10:58 it will hate you. But when I look at 11:00 that video people in the world say they 11:02 like Jesus but they don't like Christians. 11:06 So for me that creates some tension 11:08 in that as not just a misrepresentation 11:11 because maybe their perception of 11:13 who Jesus is, is actually incorrect 11:17 and therefore the Christians that they're 11:19 meeting because we can't assume that 11:21 the Christians that those people met in the 11:22 video were bad Christians. 11:25 We can't assume that, so the truth must also 11:28 come forward that it could be that they 11:30 actually met the sweetest, 11:32 most faithful Christ loving Christians known 11:35 to humanity and because of their 11:37 perceptions of who Jesus is or their 11:39 love for sin. They say look I hate 11:42 your Christians because that's a physical 11:44 representation of Jesus but in your minds 11:46 Jesus is just an idea. He is a figure of 11:48 history that we exalt and say he 11:50 had preached the greatest sermon ever 11:51 preached on the mount. Exactly and it seems 11:54 like as somebody who was born in Christianity, 11:57 somebody who was born in the Seventh-day 11:59 Adventist Church that the paradigm can 12:01 completely different. You know when you are, 12:04 you seem to be almost turned off by God 12:06 because you see almost the different side. 12:08 You see the backside, you see the dark 12:09 side of Christianity, you see the dark 12:11 side of the moon almost. The entire picture and 12:15 so a lot of times when it's portrayed 12:17 to the public, a lot of times you don't 12:19 understand what you're fully seeing 12:21 from the front. You're seeing the 12:23 lights of it but you don't understand 12:24 the backside of it and a lot of times people 12:28 have been hurt by Christianity. 12:30 People, there have been Pastors that have 12:32 gone home and molested their 12:34 daughter or gone home and abused 12:36 their wives at the end of the day. 12:38 So how do we respond, how do we react to 12:40 that sort of perspective for the people who 12:42 are hurt by that. How do we show 12:44 a different paradigm, how do we show a 12:46 different perspective to those that were 12:48 actually hurt by that? So I guess what 12:50 we're saying is there is a validity. 12:52 Right. And there is a sense which it's invalid; 12:55 it depends on what they've encountered. 12:57 Yes. Exactly. Any counsel pass on that 12:59 from the floor, how do we deal with this? 13:03 Any thoughts? What were you gonna 13:04 say Aiko? I was just gonna say, 13:07 well I think one thing we need to address 13:09 first is, is it our responsibility first 13:13 of all to try to polish our image. 13:16 That's an amazing question. Is it, are we supposed 13:19 to just base our actions on over the feedback 13:23 we get from other people. Yeah. Oh! That's 13:25 an amazing question. Yeah, yeah lets get to 13:27 the heart of the matter. I think there is a 13:34 yes and a no to that question because 13:39 on one hand you have the idea that 13:41 there are Christians who are of the persuasion 13:44 that it's about being light. 13:45 That's how I know I am a good Christian 13:47 and we may emphasize the grace aspect 13:50 of Christianity. Oh! You know that 13:52 person is very giving, that person is 13:54 very loving. That person is very kind, 13:56 very welcoming and that's true but 13:58 I think we also have to recognize that 14:01 there's an aspect of love that's also tough. 14:03 Tough. You know, I read a story about 14:05 a mother who you know her child was 14:09 stuck under a vehicle and she I mean 14:11 through the adrenaline rush lifted that 14:13 vehicle off of her child to save her child. 14:16 So to me there's a certain kind of rough 14:20 edge to love that says look. 14:21 Normally if I went to that woman say hey 14:23 can you lift this car up for me? 14:24 She wouldn't do it just for general show off 14:26 or as some guys might do. 14:28 Hey let's see who's stronger, 14:29 lift the vehicle, but because of 14:31 the love for her child that leads her to 14:32 take some radical steps even when I grew 14:35 up in inner city Chicago. 14:36 I've seen mothers stand up to gang 14:38 leaders in defense of their sons. 14:43 Now, these are gang leaders bringing guns, 14:44 knives saying look you know if you 14:45 don't step out of the way she said look 14:46 if you're going to get to my son, 14:48 you're gonna have to come through me. 14:50 And I think there's an aspect of love 14:52 that says yes there's also the hard 14:53 aspect and I think that aspect of the love of 14:57 God and of Christianity is the aspects 14:59 that you can't polish up. You can't polish up 15:03 Seventh-day is the Sabbath. That's right. 15:05 You can't polish up you shouldn't lie, 15:07 that's right, you can't polish up you only get 15:09 divorced for this reason. 15:11 There's no polishing but we can, 15:12 we can polish up God is not a God of 15:16 eternal torment. Yes. That God is not a 15:19 deterministic deity that orchestrates every 15:22 tragedy that ever happens to anybody 15:25 in the world. I mean Seventh-day Adventism 15:27 if you think about, is a revolutionary movement. 15:30 We've been given a package of doctrines 15:34 and truths that will in fact present to 15:37 the world the most beautiful picture of 15:39 God the world has ever seen, 15:40 Revelation 18:1 says the whole earth will 15:43 be illuminated with God's glory that's 15:46 just prophetic shorthand for there will be 15:48 a global God revolution that will magnify 15:52 the truth of god's character in a system 15:55 of theology and in lives that rightly 15:58 represent the character of God but 15:59 even when we come down to that point, 16:01 Jesus was the best Christian that ever 16:03 lived and he was crucified. That's right. 16:05 And if I can read a verse its John 15:19, 16:10 yeah that came to my mind too, 16:11 Jesus was crucified. People hated Jesus 16:16 and John 15:19 says, if you were of this world, 16:22 the world would love it's own but because 16:25 you are not of the world but I have chosen 16:29 you out of the world therefore the world 16:31 hated you. Now let's ask the question though, 16:34 do most people who have a negative 16:37 reaction to Christians. Do they have a 16:40 negative reaction to Christians because 16:43 they are living totally completely selfless 16:46 lives of Godliness or do they have a negative 16:49 impression of Christians because so often 16:52 Christians live lives of selfishness and 16:58 uncharitableness? You know I'll give you 17:00 an example, let's say you're a Christian 17:05 and you're, you have this idea 17:10 that you are going to do your Christian duty 17:16 and you are going to go hang the 17:20 sign and we've all seen them. 17:21 We've seen them, it's the God hates 17:24 homosexual sign. So you're gonna 17:26 do your Christian duty and preach the 17:28 truth and go stand on the street corner 17:33 with the God hates fill in the blank, 17:37 street sign. So that person 17:39 might smugly think. Well, the Bible says 17:42 that if you follow Jesus the world's gonna 17:44 hate you and I am sure being hated, 17:47 so I must be following Jesus right? 17:50 So we as Christians, we have to ask 17:53 ourselves if I would go into my neighbor 17:57 in disinterested love, treating them kindly, 18:00 ministering to them in their sickness, 18:03 caring for them in their brokenness 18:05 and sharing with them the hope of 18:07 the Gospel in a winsome positive way 18:10 and lets dress that Sabbath up a little bit. 18:12 Not my days better than your day 18:14 or my dad can beat your dad up but 18:16 you know what, we serve a God 18:18 who is so awesome that he is not like 18:20 the tyrant corporate Titans who keep 18:23 you slaving away. Amen. The God of the 18:25 universe says you get rest, 18:27 complete rest each and every week 18:30 and my sovereignty overrules the 18:32 sovereignty of your boss. That dresses the 18:35 Sabbath up, can you say amen? 18:36 Amen, amen. So, so anyway go ahead. 18:39 I can keep talking I am getting preaching. 18:41 Am I preachin g? Yeah you are preaching 18:42 and it's all right. I have a comment here, 18:44 what's your name brother? 18:46 My name is Handel Smith and I have 18:48 a verse here First Peter 2 verse 9 says, 18:53 But ye are a chosen generation, 18:55 a royal priesthood, an holy nation, 18:59 a peculiar people; that you should bring 19:00 forth the praises of him who hath called 19:02 you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 19:04 As Christians we have a responsibility to be 19:07 priests as Christ was and is to us today. 19:11 He goes before the Father and pleads on 19:12 our behalf, we must go to the people 19:16 and pray for them. People who aren't 19:20 even Christian, people who don't even know, 19:22 we need to lift them up before our Father 19:24 in heaven and connect with them, 19:27 connect with God on their behalf. 19:29 And that's living a Christ like life. Amen. 19:32 You know, I appreciate the comment 19:35 that the young man just made, 19:36 because what it tells us is the fact 19:40 that it is our perception of what it means 19:42 to be peculiar and so the perceptions, 19:46 false perceptions or a true perceptions, 19:48 but let's just deal with false perceptions. 19:52 Comes as a fact that I as a Christian may 19:55 have false perceptions of God and if I have 19:59 false perceptions of who God is, 20:01 I will always portray a false picture of 20:04 who God is to others and therefore that 20:06 false perception is perpetuated in society. 20:09 The only difference is that I as a Christian 20:11 have access to true information, 20:14 to correct perception of God and so I think 20:17 we have to on some level own that this 20:22 issue that yet sometimes we do cut 20:23 people off in traffic. Sometimes we are 20:26 rushing to get to Sabbath school amen 20:28 and bump somebody out the way on the escalator. 20:30 With a what would Jesus do sticker on the car. 20:33 ,No what I raced it on, wwjd. 20:38 Jesus would get to the front of GYC; 20:40 you know and reserve these seats. 20:42 So I think on some level. Careful, careful. 20:49 On some level we have to own the 20:51 misrepresentations that exist but on 20:53 the other level we also have to disown 20:55 the fact that sometimes we are following 20:58 our Lord faithfully and people just have 21:00 a misconception that is perpetuated because 21:03 of that love of sin. And it's that what 21:04 being distinct to one of the things that 21:05 really spoke to me in the video is when 21:07 one of the girl she says you know, 21:09 when I think of Christianity I think of 21:10 my uncle Bob. You know, and that's 21:14 asking me anything. We can have somebody 21:16 like I remember being, I remember being in our 21:18 in you know, in my Christian home 21:20 and looking and seeing certain people that 21:22 would do things that to me would be 21:24 weird as an unconverted person. 21:27 You know, that they would be getting up 21:28 early in the morning that they would, 21:30 that they would be living a healthy lifestyle, 21:32 that they would not certain things. 21:33 That they were living a distinct life style 21:36 and to me not being converted that 21:39 was weird, that I would call 21:41 you know like crazy uncle Bob or you know, 21:43 crazy aunt, you know so and so. 21:46 To me that was weird, so like what Sebastien 21:47 was saying, we have to understand is it a 21:49 true perception or a false perception. 21:52 Before talk about that, we have another 21:54 comment here from the floor. 21:55 What's your name? Marissa. Marissa, 21:57 what's your comment. Thank you, 22:00 I am just thinking of a quote from steps 22:02 of Christ that reminds us that Jesus never 22:04 said a harsh word to a sensitive soul. 22:08 Amen. And I just I look at him as an 22:11 example this is something we 22:12 were talking about a breakfast one 22:13 of the days here at GYC. That if we have a close 22:16 enough relationship with God that everything 22:19 that we do is permeated with his spirit. 22:21 Every word that we have for somebody, 22:24 every gesture that we have for somebody 22:25 is permeated with the spirit of God, 22:28 the spirit of God is gonna lead us 22:29 to love them. Even if we're reaching 22:32 out to them and asking them to change 22:34 or forming a friendship with someone who's 22:36 an atheist and if we have that relationship, 22:39 we'll be able to have perfect balance between 22:42 standing apart from the world and having 22:45 sometimes people dislike us or treat us 22:47 poorly and being a witness. Amen. 22:51 Thank you so much Marissa, 22:52 that's an excellent comment and I think 22:56 that kind of brings out the tension. 23:01 Sometimes we need, I mean all the time we 23:03 need to have that spirit of Christ to have 23:06 that tender word right there but in 23:08 the Bible like for example the way Jesus 23:11 dealt with Judas that was read out, 23:14 but then on the other hand, 23:15 sometimes you have Jesus outright 23:17 rebuking Peter. Yeah. So how with the 23:21 and the and Marissa said, the only, 23:24 the only way that we can know when to do 23:27 what is by maintaining that relationship 23:30 with Jesus. Yeah. It's through love 23:31 and one of the things that I want to bring up, 23:33 that I really have to get off my chest 23:34 is when you read that text earlier in John 23:37 15:18 that if the world hates you, 23:39 you know that it hated me before it hated you. 23:42 And so when you think of the perspective, 23:43 you think of the perspective of Jesus 23:45 people have said well Jesus is a good guy. 23:46 You know he was a prophet and he was 23:48 a good rabbi but yet they hate Christians 23:51 and so it seems there might need some 23:52 kind of perception difference 23:54 and so what's interesting is when it comes to 23:56 the love and how we are perceived by 23:59 the world in verse 13. It says greater 24:00 love has no man than this then a man lay 24:03 down his life for his friends and he says 24:06 I am not gonna call you servants but I 24:07 call you friends. You know, 24:09 and this is how Jesus is portraying 24:11 himself to his disciple as he's teaching this 24:14 to them. That no greater love hath any 24:16 man than this, that he would lay 24:17 down his life for his friends. Amen. 24:21 Jeff I was thinking as you were reading 24:23 this point up that Bible prophecy is extremely 24:27 helpful in giving us a historic understanding 24:31 of how we got where we are right now 24:33 in history where the United States of 24:35 America which was once a Protestant 24:38 Christian nation is becoming increasingly 24:39 more and more secular, more and more 24:42 post modern, more and more people 24:43 are professing themselves to be agnostics or 24:46 atheist or unbelievers of different kinds 24:50 and that we're going the way of western 24:51 Europe which was the cradle of western 24:54 civilization and of Christianity for so long. 24:58 Before we know it we're going to be 24:59 in a situation where United States of America 25:02 is in fact just a secular nation full and complete. 25:06 Bible prophecy tells us what's happened, 25:08 in the book of Revelation we're told in four basic 25:12 steps that number 1 that in history there will 25:15 arise a colossal system of false Christianity, 25:22 a grand masquerade if you will that will 25:25 purport to be the Christian church but 25:28 will form a system of doctrine that will 25:31 misrepresent the character of God. 25:33 That's the dark ages, the middle ages 25:35 and then we're told in Bible prophecy 25:37 that as a reaction to that false Christianity 25:41 the beast from the bottomless pit will 25:43 emerge in chapter 10 and that beast from 25:47 the bottom of chapter 11. The beast from 25:48 the bottomless pit according to great 25:49 controversy and Bible said is in fact the 25:52 French revolution and the birth of 25:54 modern atheism, right there in the cradle 25:57 of Christian civilization. 25:59 Atheism was born as the excuse me, 26:02 the bastard child of the church. 26:05 In other words Ellen White says in Great 26:07 Controversy that atheism arouse as a 26:10 violent reaction against Catholic doctrine. 26:14 That's right. Then prophecy says, 26:18 a movement would be born called the 26:19 advent movement. That's right. 26:21 That would prophesy before the world 26:23 with a declaration of truth, 26:26 that would exonerate and vindicate the 26:29 character of God before the nations. 26:31 Ty, you know, you just reminded me 26:33 of an experience I had in college, 26:36 where I worked with the service organization 26:38 at my school and the LGBT, Lesbian, 26:42 bisexual, gay, transgender, 26:45 kind of organizational campus they said, 26:46 they wanted to show a video about 26:48 Christians and homosexuality in 26:50 lesbian, gay, bisexual, all this and it said 26:52 you know Sebastien, we know that you 26:53 are a Christian. You know profess 26:55 and so we like you to come to the video 26:56 and participate in the discussion. 26:59 Now as I am sitting in the video, 27:01 I am thinking may be I am one of maybe 27:05 four people in this entire kind of theater 27:07 setting that is not lesbian, gay, 27:10 you know etc, etc. And the video was 27:12 basically about the Christian right in, 27:15 you know how these people are in the 27:17 church and they're coming out of the closet 27:20 and these people are chalking their 27:21 drive ways and lighting bottles with fires 27:24 and throwing them into churches and etc, etc. 27:26 Parents disowning their children because 27:28 they never thought that their son would be 27:30 homosexual, they were raised in a good 27:31 Christian family. How could this 27:33 happen to them and at the end of the video 27:34 I was thinking to myself you know. 27:37 My only question to them was that, 27:39 would if there was an alternative perspective 27:41 that Christians have on this issue, 27:43 can I disagree with homosexuality 27:45 and at the same time still remain in a loving 27:47 relationship and the reason I am 27:49 bringing up with what you said is 27:50 because if the Adventist Church was raised 27:52 up to proclaim truth as well as grace. 27:56 What I find is that we kind of become 27:59 paralyzed with these young people 28:00 because how do I speak up in a situation 28:04 of homosexuality that I don't support but 28:06 I want to speak up to say that I am still 28:07 loving without saying that I am 28:09 endorsing what you're doing. 28:10 But the Christian rights speaks up without 28:12 a problem and they say look we're against 28:15 this and we believe that you know all 28:17 those who walk up this lifestyle are gonna 28:19 burn in hell etc, etc and I am like look, 28:21 there's deliverance but that voice is 28:24 very small in the world. And I think that 28:28 tension right there at least with me 28:30 that's difficult, you know, 28:31 how do I sit in this room and be like 28:33 I still love you and I wanna have friendship 28:36 but I don't endorse what you do. 28:42 And how do we, how do we relate 28:43 from there? And I think on some level 28:45 that's a hard, that's a hard thing 28:47 to walk straight. Hey before we, 28:48 before we get into that I really wanna 28:49 touch on that we have another comment 28:51 here from the floor, what's your name? 28:52 Daniel, go ahead. In the Bible 28:55 I believe it's in Genesis or Exodus 28:56 it says that in the last days scoffers 28:58 will come walking after their own lusts. 29:00 And I feel that the issue actually goes 29:02 clear back to evolution. Evolution, 29:05 the idea of evolution was brought about 29:07 because people didn't like the constrains 29:09 of the Bible. They didn't like 29:10 the constrains of God's law and with the 29:13 idea of evolution there isn't any of that right. 29:16 You know, you don't there is no constraint 29:18 and that's what it is today. Non-Christians 29:21 have a problem with Christians because 29:23 we make them look bad. Our lifestyle makes 29:26 their lifestyle look worse, 29:27 if they can make us look radical, 29:29 if they can convince themselves in 29:30 their mind, that we're radical 29:32 and we're different then it makes 29:33 them feel better about themselves. 29:35 Agreed 100% but I wanna make a caveat, 29:39 I was a non Christian who hated the idea 29:43 of creation, I thought that you 29:45 had to be an absolute idiot, 29:49 an imbecile to believe in a six day creation. 29:50 I was a person who mocked the 29:52 Christian lifestyle. I was totally complete, 29:55 I had no problem with homosexuality or 29:57 any other lifestyle decision 29:59 and so I and when Christians would talk 30:01 like you just did no offense. 30:06 I would write them off as imbeciles okay. 30:07 But when a Christian came to me and said 30:10 let me give you a little evidence as to why 30:12 the Bible is true and then I read that 30:15 evidence Daniel 2, Daniel chapter 7, 30:19 Daniel chapter 9, Revelation 13 and then 30:23 that person and then I said, well okay, 30:25 okay may be the Bible is beginning to 30:28 appear true but what about this God 30:30 who burns people in the lake of fire. 30:33 And then they said well let me kind of show 30:34 you what the Bible teaches about who God 30:37 is as concerns this matter and then they 30:40 gave me this beautiful Bible study on 30:41 the Great Controversy and then all of 30:44 the sudden rather than automatically 30:47 reacting against, my heart was totally open. 30:52 And you know how easy it was for me 30:53 to believe in creation and reject evolution 30:56 as soon as I got the proper picture of God, 30:58 I mean it was instantaneous. 31:00 So we as Christians and I am not saying 31:02 that you are being smug not one bit. 31:04 And there are certainly, there are certainly 31:07 people who have heard and have just 31:10 rejected because they're hard hearted 31:12 and they love sin. But there are lots of 31:15 people out there who have tender hearts, 31:18 tender hearts and they will not read. 31:22 They will not respond positively when we 31:24 come to them and just say, 31:25 you're hard hearted because you 31:27 don't believe in creation the only reason you 31:30 believe in creation is because you're a rebel 31:31 and you don't wanna follow God. 31:33 Well may be they just, they just don't have 31:35 any world view and so we need to help 31:38 them tenderly and gently. 31:40 And I wouldn't have listen to just anybody 31:42 happened to be a friend that talked to me. 31:45 I have a question, I have a so what question. 31:49 Okay, so we need to do some self 31:52 examination right, to see whether their 31:56 reaction is, if it's a negative reaction 31:59 to see if that's our fault or may be 32:04 that the condition of their heart. 32:06 So how practically, how do you self examine 32:11 yourself? I think Aiko you should answer 32:15 that question or begin the answer, 32:21 what do you think? I was the one that 32:22 asked the question, I wanna know. 32:26 It's a tight rope walk isn't it? 32:28 It really is because if you think about it 32:32 the negative attitude against Christianity 32:35 and Christians could be valid or invalid 32:37 depending on how we're representing 32:39 God and we need to be self examining 32:43 and on the one hand we need to correctly 32:45 represent God in our teaching. 32:47 God has given Adventism a package of 32:50 doctrinal trues, a perfect chain of 32:52 truth that literally beautifies the character 32:55 of God and you know the little horn power 32:57 is said to blaspheme the name of God. 33:00 To defame the character of God, 33:02 God give the advent movement a package 33:04 of truths that exonerates the character of God. 33:06 So that's the teaching aspect but when 33:08 there's the living testimony of our actual 33:12 lives that gives credibility to that 33:15 proclamation and that's what puts 33:17 a seal on it. That's what causes 33:19 people to say what you're saying to 33:21 me makes emotional sense not just 33:23 intellectual sense. We have a comment 33:26 on here, your name please? 33:27 Keisha and I just want to comment 33:30 on both Pastor Nathan and 33:33 what you just said. And I just watching 33:37 this video I realize that the world 33:40 doesn't know Jesus and he told us that, 33:42 he said the world doesn't know me 33:44 but this God said For God so loved 33:47 the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 33:50 that whosoever believeth in him should 33:52 not perish, but have everlasting life. 33:55 And then Jesus continues to say He 33:57 that believeth on Him is not condemned. 34:00 But he that believeth not is condemned 34:02 already and so He continues to say 34:05 that and this is the condemnation 34:08 that the light is come into the world 34:09 and men love darkness rather than 34:11 light because their deeds were evil. 34:14 So when we see sinners or other people 34:17 in the world who does not understand 34:19 Jesus, we have to remember that this 34:22 is the condition and we also have 34:25 to know that our lives can be a 34:27 living testimony. Pastor Nathan said it, 34:30 he said it was his friend who you know, 34:33 inspired him and spoke to him and so we 34:36 cannot reach everyone but everyone 34:39 that comes in contact with us we 34:41 influence them either for the kingdom or 34:44 for eternal damnation. Amen. And so I believe 34:47 that if we live a life that is pleasing to 34:51 God in everything that we do, 34:54 we will have a influence on other people. 34:57 Amen, amen. You know when, 34:59 when I was a young man just learning how 35:06 to do ministry. There were times when I would 35:09 go into a situation and you know brand new 35:12 Christian and very zealous by God's grace 35:15 I am still very zealous, 35:17 but that zeal might have a little bit 35:19 more knowledge now but I remember 35:21 many occasions where I would go to my dear 35:23 friend Pastor Luis Torres and I would say 35:25 to Pastor Torres. I would say, 35:28 hey I just you know I was in this situation 35:30 and I did thus and so and he would just 35:32 look at me with that inimitable smile 35:34 and laugh and just put his hand on my head 35:37 and rub my head and I would just know 35:40 that I had done something totally, 35:42 completely stupid. And then you know 35:46 he would graciously teach me about that 35:51 and you know, that goes back to your question 35:53 about self examination. 35:55 It's very easy for us to spend time 35:59 with people who are a lot like us. 36:01 So I've got a you know, 36:03 I blasted somebody and I think 36:05 I did the right thing by standing up 36:07 for the truth and then I tell my buddy 36:09 Sebastien and Sebastien is like that's right, 36:12 go get him. Go get him partner right? 36:14 And it's good for us, 36:17 it's good for us to have, 36:19 to think about these things before God 36:22 and pray and ask God. 36:24 God, you know, 36:25 could have I said a little differently. 36:27 Could have I toned it down a little bit, 36:28 could have I but it's also good for us 36:31 to say to, to have people. 36:33 I mean my elders come to me sometimes 36:35 and say you know pastor, 36:36 this thing I am not feeling that 36:38 or this thing that's good 36:40 and it's good to have 36:42 that kind of relationship 36:43 so that we can learn how to really 36:45 treat people the way Christ would have us. 36:47 And I think what you're hitting on is the 36:49 importance of modeling, you know. 36:51 Yes. That's a big thing that's been missing 36:53 is the disciples should peace is that you know, 36:56 we've all had experiences when we 36:57 first came into the church. 36:58 We were the fire ball of the church, you know. 37:01 I went to the potluck lunch my sister 37:02 got couple extra pieces of pie. 37:04 You know, I said Acts 319. 37:06 She didn't know the verse she looked it up, 37:08 repent therefore and be converted. 37:10 You know it's like. 37:14 Did she take the whole pie? 37:16 I mean it was like two or three slices. Okay. 37:18 And even worse than that, 37:20 she is the one who made the pie, 37:21 so you recognize that. 37:26 Is she okay now? I hope not. 37:28 So I think the modeling piece is key 37:33 but we also recognize that the spirit of 37:36 prophecy affirms that we have one pattern. 37:38 Amen. And that pattern is in Jesus. 37:42 And in the verses that the sister just read 37:45 John 3:16 was not spoken to a congregation, 37:49 it was spoken to one man in the middle of 37:52 the night but notice the first part 37:55 of the conversation was except 37:56 you'll be born again, 37:57 you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 37:59 So we see that Jesus gives us a model of 38:03 the fact that he can actually successfully 38:06 exist in that tension. Yeah. 38:09 That Jesus can actually go to a man 38:10 and tell him, you're not converted first 38:13 words out of my mouth in the conversation 38:14 and by the end of it I am telling you 38:16 that God so loved the world that 38:17 He gave us only begotten Son 38:19 or He goes to John chapter 8. 38:20 Hey you know this women caught 38:22 in adultery neither do I condemn thee 38:26 yet verses later you are of you 38:27 Father the devil. What about John chapter 4? 38:30 Go call your husband. Yes. 38:33 I don't have a husband, you're right 38:34 you don't have a you got a whole 38:35 pile of husbands. 38:37 I mean when you read verses like that. 38:40 But then she is thrilled with this encounter 38:42 with Jesus, He had this way. 38:44 And that's what I think when the Bible says 38:46 the word be king flesh and was full of grace 38:50 and truth. And I think. Amen. 38:53 Jesus is walking that tension throughout 38:56 the entire Gospels which creates an entire 38:59 new respect from me because 39:00 I think for many us here and I think 39:02 it's important for as young people to 39:03 recognize there is no formula that there is 39:06 an element of discernment 39:07 that is needed to know this is the time 39:10 when I am wrong and I need to have 39:12 the humility to admit it. 39:13 And I also need to have the courage 39:16 to say this is the truth. Here I stand, 39:20 I can do know other and I think learning 39:23 to walk that line as I like to say 39:26 that Jesus didn't walk a line. 39:27 Jesus walked a tight rope, 39:29 that they were parleys, 39:31 obsesses on either side. 39:33 If he was too harsh and if he was too nice 39:37 and too, you know reluctant to speak 39:39 of truth and I think of specifically 39:42 when Peter denied Christ and Ellen White says 39:44 when Jesus turned his head had his face 39:47 had a look of condemnation. 39:49 She said that Peter would not have 39:50 come because of just the face of Jesus; 39:54 do we understand the impact of our 39:55 countenance? And the turn around points. Yes. 39:59 We have a comment here from Taj. Yes, 40:02 I just want to follow up on what you folks 40:04 are really been talking about 40:05 are perfect example of Christ 40:07 when we look at him we see the picture 40:09 that God wants to review to the world 40:11 in us and through us. 40:13 And we sort of when we look at Christ 40:14 we see a God that hates sin 40:16 with a perfect hatred but at the very same 40:19 time He love sinners with a perfect love. 40:21 But the corner of sinful heart we love sin 40:24 and we hate sinners, 40:25 and so the only way possible 40:27 that we can wipe, walk this tightrope 40:31 and learn how to embrace humanity 40:33 but not embrace the things that they do 40:36 is to look upon Jesus and let Him 40:37 give us His character. 40:39 And he says Jesus made it clear that 40:41 you know before the end comes the gospel must go 40:44 through out the world as a witness, 40:45 He didn't use the word Testimony 40:47 but a witness and the difference is 40:48 the Testimony is something you can hear 40:50 audibly but a witness is something 40:52 that you can see visibly. 40:53 We've done a good job of appreciating the gospel 40:56 as a Testimony but the end has not come 40:58 because the witness, 41:00 the visible demonstration 41:01 of the love of God in us has not been 41:03 fully experience, so we need to pray 41:05 that demonstration comes with our proclamation 41:09 so that we can be glorified 41:11 when Christ comes. Amen, amen. 41:12 Now that thank you Taj. 41:14 What you guys think? 41:15 I really love the prophecy of David 41:18 along the lines what we've been discussing 41:19 and when the point that Taj has just made, 41:21 where David says that in Jesus Christ mercy 41:24 and truth kissed each other. Amen. 41:26 They had a perfect embodiment and union 41:30 that tightrope of justice and mercy. 41:32 What, what we see happening in Jesus 41:34 is that when people encountered Him 41:36 like the people women at the well. 41:37 She was under the distinct impulsion 41:39 this man knows everything about me 41:44 and at the same time she runs back to her village 41:47 and she says, come and meet a man 41:48 who had told me everything I ever did. 41:50 I mean if you think about that rationally, 41:52 how many of us would want to meet a man 41:54 who could tell us everything we ever did? 41:55 I mean, that's not rational, 41:58 somebody else be there, 41:59 somebody knows who knows every dark nuke 42:00 and cranny of your history. 42:02 But somehow he was attractive to her, yeah. 42:06 And I take that to mean that she knew 42:09 that he knew everything about her, 42:12 and still loved her. Amen. 42:14 Somehow he communicated that. 42:16 You know what's interesting Ty 42:17 is that who was that, 42:19 that really was opposed to Jesus, 42:21 I mean Jesus was a winsome personality, 42:23 He had a winning character. 42:25 When you lead through the gospels 42:27 I get the distinct impression 42:28 that Jesus was going to communities 42:32 and the whole town was going. 42:33 The guy was so mobbed by people, 42:35 he didn't even have time to eat, 42:37 that's right, right? 42:38 So when we get the idea that Jesus 42:40 was hated by everyone. 42:42 Wait a minute when you're so surrounded 42:45 by people that you don't have time to eat, 42:47 it's not because they hate you, right? 42:49 He was surrounded by the people because 42:52 they were interested in Him, 42:53 they wanted to see Him. 42:55 But the religious establishment 42:58 reacted because He pulling people away 43:03 from their thinking. Its interesting Nathan 43:06 that the religious establishment 43:08 that rejected Him was the conservative end 43:10 of the religious establishment, 43:11 that's right, the Pharisees 43:13 and the liberal end of the establishment 43:15 the Sadducees, that's exactly right. 43:16 The liberals and the conservatives ganged up 43:18 against Jesus and crucified him, 43:19 so even we as the Seventh-day Adventist 43:21 fulfill our God given purpose of reflecting 43:25 the love Christ. I believe our church 43:28 will have a power that we have never seen. 43:30 Amen. It will, it will reach across 43:33 these boundaries that are so drawn almost 43:36 as if they were concrete walls. 43:40 God will give us the power to do that 43:41 when we embody Christ's love 43:43 and proclaim His truth. 43:45 I, I, I can't wait for that day to begin, 43:47 that day is happening, 43:48 it's beginning to happen right now. 43:50 That's right you know 43:51 and that just bring to mind I read a statement 43:53 while ago that said when Jesus walked into a room 43:57 all attention was on Jesus, 44:00 there was no, there was no other object 44:02 near them that would deserve that attention, 44:06 and you know, do we have that? 44:08 Do we have that? When we walk into a room 44:10 the people look at us and say, 44:11 there's something about that brother, 44:13 I don't what it is? 44:14 But something about that young lady 44:17 is just attracting me to her besides what. 44:20 She's wearing white and her face is glowing. 44:22 Now we have another comment here. 44:23 And he has an uncle named Bob. 44:25 That's right, it's kind of freaky. 44:27 Good morning, my name is Eric, 44:29 you have done that, should not have 44:33 admired to us how the world perceive us 44:36 because many of them will think that 44:39 we walk over grace but who we are in our rooms 44:43 in our bedrooms with our families, 44:46 husbands and wives childrens 44:48 is who we really are in household relationship 44:52 with Christ that's what matters, 44:53 because at the end they won't judge us God will. 44:58 So we have to make sure we have our relationship 45:00 with Christ because after this we'll practice 45:05 the love of God those all there 45:07 because we have fulfilled the law 45:09 which is in First Corinthians 13, 45:12 and not because we have to do 45:15 it but because we love because we have 45:19 the love of God that is flowing through us. 45:23 Amen. So it seems that, 45:28 that we've been talking a lot about 45:31 our perception of Jesus as we understand 45:33 it's a day is of positive perception, 45:36 you know grace and mercy justice 45:38 and mercy kissing but how does this tie 45:41 over to us? How do we portray this 45:45 to the world? How do we show that 45:46 we are the followers of Christ? 45:47 How do we show that we are Christians? 45:49 How 'cause that there seems like 45:51 the perception, they like Jesus 45:52 but they don't like Christians. Why? 45:57 How does that tie over, how do, 45:58 how do we make that practical 45:59 for our own lives? 46:01 How do I make that practical? 46:03 How do people perceive me as a Christian? 46:05 The practical embodiments of that 46:08 beautiful balance is in Jesus 46:09 and by beholding Him we become change 46:14 from glory to glory. That is from one stage 46:16 of character development to the next are emotions, 46:20 our intellects, 46:21 our behavior of patterns begin to shape 46:24 and to move in harmony with what we see in Him. 46:28 So what you're saying that by us 46:29 being in Christ, by us being submitted 46:32 to Christ. Experientially, yes. 46:35 Experientially, having that genuine because 46:36 a lot of times we talk about having an 46:38 intellectual knowledge of Christ, 46:40 the information without the actual 46:42 transformation of the life, 46:44 and lot of times when we need to take our 46:46 information and transform it 46:47 into the heart? Yes. 46:49 One of the most beautiful things 46:50 I've read recently is the Desire of Ages 46:52 description of Jesus going into the temple 46:55 with the money changers, you know, 46:57 you know that story, this is Jesus, 46:59 Sebastien with tough love. 47:00 He's turning tables over, 47:02 He's cracking a whip literally 47:04 and Ellen White paints this picture 47:06 where all the money changers 47:07 are just running from Him, 47:11 and then at the same time little children, 47:15 women fled into the temple 47:17 and surround Him. So there's the strength, 47:20 there's this expression of justice 47:22 and indignation at how God is being 47:24 misrepresented. And then there's this attraction 47:28 where Jesus is drawing another group, 47:30 that aren't intimidated to be afraid at all. Yes. 47:33 We, we have, we have a last comment here 47:35 from the floor, I am sorry. 47:36 Hi, I just wanted to make a comment regarding 47:38 the video that was shown, 47:39 and I wanted to say it is inevitable, 47:42 when we look at that video 47:44 it's a reminder for us as a 47:46 Seventh-day Adventists to recognize the work 47:49 that work that God has called us do. 47:50 As we look at that video 47:52 and when we saw the contrast between 47:54 how people perceive Christ 47:56 and how to perceive Christians, 47:59 we need to be reminded that in our homes 48:01 our first example of Christ whether 48:04 we're believers or not is our parents, 48:07 our guardians. And many of these people 48:09 they have valid perceptions of how 48:12 they viewed Christ and how they viewed 48:14 Christians based on their experiences, yeah. 48:17 that's what they based it on, 48:19 it was valid but not true 48:21 but God has called us as Christians 48:23 and Seventh day Adventists 48:25 to make sure that we have an intentional 48:28 and we have a influential witness 48:31 to the world not that we can defend 48:34 the truth because the Lord says 48:35 His world won't return to Him boy 48:37 but that we shall make sure that 48:39 we live that life that when people see us 48:41 even if it be our words or even our present 48:44 speaks first they can know 48:46 that we are Christians because the Lord said 48:48 let them see your good works 48:50 that they may glorify our Father 48:53 which is in heaven. 48:55 And I leave this last thought with us 48:57 is that the greatest argument for the truth 49:02 as it is Christ Jesus is a loving 49:04 and a lovable Christian. 49:06 The Lord said oh no man nothing 49:09 but her love Him for this is the 49:10 fulfillment of the law. Amen. 49:12 You know it's interesting, 49:15 I am just thinking of this amazing verse 49:17 in the Titus words, it's describing us 49:19 before we were Christians 49:20 and the scripture says that we, 49:23 it says in Titus chapter 3 verse 3, 49:27 for we were ourselves were once foolish 49:29 disobedient, led astray, 49:32 slaved to various passions and pleasures. 49:34 Passing our days in malice and envy, 49:38 hated by others and hating one and another, 49:42 so being hated is actually one of the 49:46 characteristics of being unconverted, 49:48 to me that is just an amazing text 49:53 in scripture, if you are hated it maybe 49:56 because you're unconverted 49:58 and you're presenting yourself 49:59 in a hateful kind of a way. 50:00 That's so, that's so a needed, 50:04 we just need to internalize that. 50:06 I mean it's just amazing. 50:07 But I guess you know for me 50:11 I kind like to get into the heart, 50:12 the practical what do I actually do 50:15 when I leave this auditorium? 50:16 How do I treat GYC attendees 50:19 you know in the hallway? 50:21 How do I behave on outreach today 50:23 when we go out into the city of Baltimore. 50:25 And I map that door in the person 50:27 may come to me with scowling 50:28 in a mean spirit. And I think about 50:31 the fact that in John chapter 7, 50:34 when the religious leaders 50:36 had sent the soldiers to go take Christ 50:40 and the Bible says beginning in verse 44, 50:45 in John chapter 7 it says, 50:48 "And some of them would have taken Him 50:50 but no man laid hands on Him. 50:53 Then came the officers to the chief priest 50:56 and the Pharisees, and they said to them 50:58 why have you not brought Him? 51:00 And the officers answered never man 51:03 speak like this man." Amen. 51:06 And Ellen White adds because never a man 51:09 lived as this man lived, 51:10 and in heavenly places page 54 she, 51:14 she portrays to me one of the most 51:17 powerful illustrations of the depth 51:20 and the difficulty of following 51:21 this man Jesus. She says that 51:24 Jesus was able to combine manly strength 51:27 with childlike simplicity, 51:29 all observing devotion to God 51:32 with tender love for men. 51:34 I mean when you think about 51:36 how do you give both of those 51:37 in the same man? 51:38 How can Jesus know how and when to do 51:42 each of these particular things? 51:43 And I think the, the struggle of 51:46 dealing with that is the fact that we cannot 51:48 overestimate the prayer life of Jesus. 51:51 The time that He stole away 51:52 from the congregation in the mountains 51:54 because I think as young people 51:56 you know when we ask questions we, 51:58 we kind want the intellectual you know 52:00 fleshed out give me 15 verses kind of answer. 52:03 But I think if we are really honest 52:05 and someone response us and says you know, 52:08 you just have to pray, you know what we 52:10 hate that is because that, that, that, 52:14 that makes us feel the sense of dependence 52:16 up on God. It makes us feel that 52:18 says that there is no formula, 52:19 you can't just go to this training school 52:21 read these books, read x, y, z 52:24 spirit of the prophecy and now you're ready 52:26 to be a super Christian, 52:27 you'll always represent event 52:29 the Lord felt the constant need to pray. 52:32 Event the Lord felt the constant need to pray, 52:33 even the Lord felt the constant need 52:35 to take time to be with His Father. Yeah. 52:38 And I think that is more of a key to success 52:41 and navigating that line then what 52:43 we wanna like to admit to? 52:44 Amen. I had an experience just 52:47 yesterday I went to the business center 52:49 to send a fax in the Hilton. 52:53 And I walked in and, and the guy who 52:55 was helping me was in his mid twenties, 52:57 and he said to me, he said, 53:00 are you attending that, 53:01 that conference with all these young people 53:03 here and I said yeah I am attending that in 53:06 and he said they're different than the 53:09 other young people that we have come 53:10 through here. Amen. 53:12 And I said is that are you making a positive 53:14 assessment or a negative assessment, 53:16 I mean what's different? 53:18 And he said, he said, it's just different, 53:21 he said they are not acting like 53:23 what you expect they are demeanor everything 53:26 is different and New year's eve is coming up. 53:28 And he says, he says this hotel is expecting 53:32 you know with this many young people 53:34 on the premises? Some kind of serious 53:37 party is gonna go down. 53:38 And the only party is where outside 53:41 the hotel. Hallelujah. Yeah. Hallelujah. 53:44 So there's a Testimony, 53:45 I mean not to pat us on the back 53:47 or to inflate us, yes, 53:49 but I am just saying that a Testimony 53:51 is given in the way we interact in the way 53:55 we interact with people. So true, so true, 54:00 you know Ty when you just said that it a, 54:04 it reminded me off why my respect for Jesus' 54:11 life hasn't increased? And to think to my self 54:17 I need to begin to accept not just the 54:19 humanity of Jesus but also a sense of 54:22 the divinity of Jesus that there's no searching 54:25 of God's understanding. 54:26 And the I think that the ability for Jesus 54:29 to live that life and for us to sit 54:34 here and say, the life that we see Jesus 54:36 living in the gospels is completely 54:38 acceptable to us. That's right. 54:40 But follow this, where does that life end? 54:43 It ends in death, it ends in crucifixion, 54:49 it ends in the people who He might have healed, 54:52 the people He might have counseled 54:54 and brought up emotionally being silent 54:57 while this man Who is such a blessing to them, 55:00 is going to mockery of a trial. 55:02 And for me that tells me that 55:06 if I am really serious about walking 55:08 this line like Jesus did. 55:09 If I am really serious about righteousness, 55:12 if I am really serious about living a Godly life, 55:17 am I ready for where that will read? 55:19 Am I ready to see that just over the 55:22 horizon of the next victory over the sin 55:25 in my life that there's a cross waiting for me. 55:27 And I think that you know because you know 55:31 I have not much time but I think that, 55:34 that is a kind for me that the heart of it 55:38 is that on some level that we have to admit 55:41 that we'll free to be Godly 55:43 all the time at all places. 55:46 We're free to be Godly because 55:48 there's a cross waiting for us 55:50 and I think when we look at the life 55:52 of Jesus, do you want to be like this men? 55:54 You would say yes, but yet you don't want 55:57 the cross, you don't want the spitting 56:00 in your face, you don't want the people 56:02 misunderstanding you, 56:03 characterizing you as oh you're a fanatic, 56:06 you are, you are off some pit somewhere. 56:08 And so I think there's one thing that I think 56:11 for all of us that's self-examination, 56:13 an examination must have a standard 56:15 and that standard looking at the life 56:18 of Jesus is not just yeah I wanna have 56:20 little children flocked to me, 56:22 yeah I wanna walk in a room and be able to flip 56:24 tables and people say you did the right thing. 56:26 But you gotta take it all 56:28 and that includes the cross. 56:30 The aspiration that you have there 56:31 Sebastien in tables. Putting tables. 56:34 But I think I wanna have that but, 56:42 amen I want all. Amen. 56:45 I wanna all and I think we, 56:48 and looking that we no turning back 56:52 we'll walk up and flip the tables 56:55 and say we did the right thing. 56:56 We'll walk up and welcome Jackie 56:58 that other people will not welcome. 57:00 We'll walk up and say neither do I 57:03 condemn the end we felt good 57:04 that we were following the example of Jesus 57:06 but what happens when we step into Gethsemane? 57:08 Is that where our feet stops 57:11 and I think that this morning you know 57:15 it's exciting to get onto evangelism 57:18 but I think when the Bible 57:19 and Taj brought this out, 57:21 when this gospel is preached on the way 57:23 for witness it doesn't say everyone will be 57:26 converted but it says no one in that 57:30 second resurrection would be able to see me 57:32 and say that you gave in the incorrect picture. 57:35 Amen. You didn't show how me where 57:37 Jesus actually look like. 57:39 And I think that's, that for me is the, 57:44 is the scary thing because to try to 57:49 achieve that is gonna take something 57:52 that I don't think that we are ready 57:53 to embrace and if we can honestly 57:55 wake up every morning of our lives 57:57 and say that, Lord I know that as I continue 58:00 to surrender my life to you 58:01 I am one step closer to Calvary. 58:03 Amen. Embrace that cross. 58:05 And this is my final thought on this; 58:07 I was reading an early writings about 58:09 a time of Jacob's struggle. 58:11 And sister White said, 58:13 that when the people of God at that time 58:16 were stressing and they were, 58:17 they were burdened and she says the 58:20 angels of God wanted to go and help them 58:22 and encouraged them and she said, 58:24 a tall angel stood up and said no 58:25 they have to drink of the cup. 58:27 They have to drink of the cup and we say, 58:32 Jesus I want to sit on your right head 58:33 and your left then we want to be willing 58:35 to drink of the cup. I hope that our 58:40 discussion this morning was insightful 58:42 and that, it truly penetrated 58:45 our Christianity. |
Revised 2014-12-17