Participants: David Kulakov
Series Code: 11ASIC
Program Code: 11ASIC000002
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00:19 Good morning. Good morning.
00:20 Please bow your heads with me as we pray. 00:24 Loving Lord of heaven and earth, 00:27 what momentous times we find ourselves in. 00:30 Keep us mindful of the times, 00:34 what a duty is ours to carry the gospel 00:36 to the whole world, what a privilege 00:40 to be co-workers with angels. 00:43 Give us faith to see the invisible, 00:46 and with the angels to do the impossible. 00:50 What a future lies before us, 00:53 You Yourself will return to this little world, 00:56 where You gained the victory over sin, 00:59 and proved without question, 01:02 the righteousness, and holiness, 01:04 and perfection of your law, which is Your character. 01:09 Lord, grant us repentance and a deep 01:11 love for You, restore Your image in us 01:15 as it was in the beginning. 01:17 May Jesus be praised; may He be the focus 01:21 of our meeting this morning. 01:23 Amen. Amen. 01:33 Good morning. Good morning. 01:34 You know, one of the passions for like 01:36 mission minded people is that they're constantly 01:40 coming up with ideas and tools how to make 01:44 sharing Christ in the market place easier. 01:46 This morning I have three individuals 01:48 that would share with us their dreams, 01:50 their products, their ideas, their tools. 01:52 The first one to speak will be Will Evert, 01:56 followed by Will Evert is, is that right? 01:59 Young Disciples Ministries, yep. 02:01 And then Darryl Thompson, 02:03 the assistant director of the White Estate at GC 02:06 will talk to us about the DVD containing 02:10 the writings of Mrs. White. 02:11 And Volker Schmidt will talk about a special 02:15 product that he has come up with. 02:17 Now I want you to listen carefully, 02:20 because we have, you noticed I have an accent, 02:23 but these three gentlemen have accents also. 02:26 One of them is from South Africa, 02:28 the other one is from Australia, 02:30 and the third one is from, well, Germany. 02:33 So let's listen to the South African accent. 02:40 Research has shown 02:41 that children 5-13 are five times 02:45 more likely to make a lifetime decision for Christ. 02:50 Young Disciple Ministries, 02:52 Truth for Youth Evangelism Program 02:54 has proven highly effective for children. 02:58 And that is why the West Central Africa Division 03:02 has made a commitment to reach every child 03:07 in each of the countries in their division, 03:10 using the Truth for Youth Evangelism Program. 03:14 And you have received many version 03:17 of that program in your registration packet, 03:21 included our four programs complete with sermons, 03:25 activities, crafts, and songs. 03:30 Use this program, take it home with you, 03:32 use it in your family, use it in your church, 03:36 use it on your mission trip. 03:37 And especially use it in your neighborhood. 03:41 If the West Central Africa Division can 03:45 reach every child in their division, 03:47 surely we can do the same. 03:49 If you want ideas on how to use the program 03:52 or if you did not receive one in your registration packet, 03:56 please come by booth number 317, 03:59 Young Disciple Ministries booth. 04:02 Five million children in Africa is exciting, 04:07 but let's not avoid reaching the children 04:11 in our neighborhoods as well. Amen. 04:15 In your registration packet, you all, 04:18 all delegates, we'll hand it out, 04:20 one of this Ellen G. White Writings 04:21 CD-ROM in there is all 04:25 the comprehensive research edition, 04:28 both in PC and in MAC on this DVD. 04:34 If you did not get one, you can come by our booth, 04:37 booth 402 in the exhibition hall 04:41 and you can get one from us there. 04:45 They're $10 but to the delegates they are free. 04:49 Okay, now we have a website, 04:52 I don't know if you've all been there, 04:53 but egwwritings.org, 04:55 currently is in nine languages. 04:58 And with your offering this week 05:00 we hope to go to a hundred languages. Amen. 05:04 That will be in Steps to Christ, 05:05 in Great Controversy. 05:08 We really know that the world needs 05:10 the writings of Ellen G. White, 05:12 and if we make them available freely on the website, 05:15 then people can find in there, egwwritings.org. 05:18 Now if you want to contribute to this 05:20 campaign post this, you can go to 05:23 partner.egwwritings.org and on there you'll see 05:27 a list of all the books that we currently have 05:29 scanned that we would like to digitize. 05:32 And you can make it a nation there 05:33 at partner. egwwritings. org. 05:38 One of the greatest things that this world 05:41 or this church has received is Ellen G. White's writings. 05:44 Amen. But currently it has only been really in English, 05:50 in that we have added now, 05:51 if you go to egwwritings.org, 05:53 we have added French, Spanish, Russian, 05:58 Portuguese, Romanian, 06:00 Chinese, Italian, and German. 06:05 Now we hope with those major languages 06:07 that would touch around 85% of the world's population. 06:13 But as we add more languages with your help 06:15 then we can reach even more people worldwide 06:19 with the Great Controversy, 06:20 the Desire of Ages, and Steps to Christ, 06:22 and many other of her good books. Thank you. 06:28 Good morning. Good morning. 06:30 We are living in a time of unparalleled problems 06:33 in the world, have you noticed that? Yeah. 06:34 The weather is too hot, it's too hot or too cold, 06:38 or it's too wet, or too dry. 06:39 And then look at it when we're looking 06:41 at the financial situation of our country, 06:43 we are in trouble. 06:44 There seems to be no way out of this, 06:46 and even morally look at this, headline, 06:49 "You can be good without God, 06:50 " where are we going? 06:52 People are wondering what in the world 06:55 is going on in this world? 06:57 You and I have been given a message of hope 07:00 and we need to give that message to our neighbors 07:02 and friends now, because they want to have the answers. 07:06 Your ASI has come up with, 07:08 Ramon showing it a whole series of books here 07:11 that are on subjects that are talking about us today. 07:15 Give you an idea, it is read in the paper that 07:17 our health care costs are about 07:19 one trillion dollars a year. 07:21 If people would read the book Ministry of Healing, 07:23 I think, what do you think? 07:24 I think they could cut it into half 07:25 don't you think? Amen. 07:26 You see we need the solution books 07:29 and they are found in the books that God has given us. 07:32 Here's the book "The Great Controversy, 07:34 " what is going on in the world? 07:36 How where is it all are going, 07:37 is there any hope? 07:38 We know, you know, now I want you to consider 07:42 doing something about these books, 07:44 buy them by the box, and go out there 07:46 and visit your friends and neighbors. 07:48 How do you do it, you want to know? 07:50 Well we also have come up with a DVD and here 07:53 it is, it says, ASI sharing happiness books. 07:56 It gives you a canvas on there, 07:59 what to say that the important things 08:01 and then if you have some problems, 08:03 what do you do about that. 08:04 So you have all the tools that your ASI 08:06 has made available to you. Amen. 08:09 Brothers and sisters, friends, 08:11 share the faith that God has given us 08:13 and you'll have an experience that you will never forget. 08:17 God bless you. Amen. 08:20 It is my privilege to introduce our primary 08:24 speaker this morning after our special music, 08:27 you will hear our Russian brother David Kulakov. 08:32 David is a graduate of Zaoksky Seminary and, 08:36 what was the former Soviet Union. 08:39 David is a businessman, a consultant in Moscow; 08:42 he is the head elder of the largest 08:47 Adventist church in Moscow. 08:49 He is a ASI type member, 08:53 there is no ASI proper in Russia yet. 08:56 ASI Europe has opened I believe 17 chapters 09:00 around Europe, they open in Serbia this year 09:03 and Russia is next on their list and David will be 09:05 one of their charter members. 09:07 David has a rich patrimony, 09:10 his grandparents were leaders in the Adventist church, 09:14 many of his family members have 09:16 suffered and David has a rich story to share with us. 09:19 He'll be on after our special music. 09:37 Look at the world, everything all around us 09:43 Look at the world and marvel every day 09:50 Look at the world, so many joys and wonders 09:56 So many miracles along our way 10:02 Praise to thee, O Lord for all creation 10:09 Give us thankful hearts that we may see 10:16 All the gifts we share, and every blessing 10:23 All things come of thee 10:34 Look at the earth bringing forth fruit and flower 10:41 Look at the sky the sunshine and the rain 10:47 Look at the hills, look at the trees and mountains 10:54 Valley and flowing river, field and plain 11:00 Praise to thee, O Lord for all creation 11:07 Give us thankful hearts that we may see 11:13 All the gifts we share, and every blessing 11:20 All things come of thee 11:32 Think of the spring, think of the warmth of summer 11:39 Bringing the harvest before winter's cold 11:46 Everything grows, everything has a season 11:53 Till it is gathered to the Father's fold 11:59 Praise to thee, O Lord for all creation 12:06 Give us thankful hearts that we may see 12:13 All the gifts we share, and every blessing 12:20 All things come of thee 12:31 Every good gift, all that we need and cherish 12:38 Comes from the Lord in token of his love 12:45 We are his hands, stewards of all his bounty 12:52 His is the earth and his the heavens above 12:58 Praise to thee, O Lord for all creation 13:05 Give us thankful hearts that we may see 13:12 All the gifts we share, and every blessing 13:19 All things come of thee 13:27 All things come of thee. Amen. 13:59 Good morning children of God. Good morning. 14:03 I'm so happy to be here with you today, 14:06 and so let us bow our heads, and pray. 14:12 Dear Lord, You understand how much 14:15 and badly we need Your presence today, 14:18 because we want to glorify Your name. 14:22 And we want allt he glory to be attributed 14:25 only to You, and may Your Holy Spirit 14:29 guide us through this presentation, 14:31 and may my words be Yours. 14:34 In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 14:39 Well, some of you might be still wondering 14:41 what's this guy from Russia doing on this stage? 14:45 And quite frankly it's exactly the same 14:50 question that still disturbs me. 14:54 So the very first thing I'm going to do 14:56 right after the presentation, I'm going to step down 15:00 and come up to Dr. Wright, the President of ASI, 15:04 and ask him what did I do? 15:10 God has miraculously led me through my life 15:15 and I want to share this story with you. 15:19 I'm a fourth generation Adventist 15:22 and that's quite uncommon for Russia, 15:27 from my father's side. 15:29 But today I'd love to share my story, 15:32 my mom's story, because she was never, 15:38 she had never been an Adventist 15:39 before she actually became one. 15:44 When she was 23 years old, 15:48 she was one of the most successful accountant 15:53 and an auditor in her region, Stavropol, 15:57 that's in Russia, former Soviet Union. 16:02 And she was also rising 16:05 communist party leader, 16:08 she was also rising star, 16:10 political star is how they called her. 16:15 And one day her landlady invited her to come 16:20 for Sabbath evening worship. 16:24 And she started visiting and she had actually 16:28 known of Adventists because in the village 16:30 where she grew she had a distance relative 16:33 of hers that was an Adventist. 16:37 So she became an Adventist, got baptized, 16:41 and then she had to come to her boss and tell him 16:45 that she cannot work on Sabbath. 16:49 Her boss really loved her, 16:51 because she was one of his best workers 16:54 or actually the best. 16:56 And he tried to talk her out of believing in 17:00 Adventism and you know, she never gave up, 17:06 she told him that she will be an Adventist. 17:11 He told her that he will have to fire her 17:14 as soon as the government knows. 17:17 And she still remained an Adventist 17:21 and after a while, 17:22 as soon as the government and the KGB 17:25 knew about that, they got furious 17:28 and told her boss to fire her immediately, 17:31 and that's what he did. 17:35 Then since she was a youth communist party leader 17:38 for branching that same, 17:41 she was summoned 17:42 to her communist party meeting. 17:47 And she went through hours 17:50 of humiliation; 17:54 dozens and dozens of people would stand up 17:57 and shout insults at her. 18:02 They told her that she was a disgrace 18:04 to the communist party, 18:05 that she betrayed their trust. 18:12 And finally after hours of this process, 18:18 Mr. Gorbachev stood up, Mikhail Gorbachev; 18:22 I believe know who he is. 18:25 He was the head 18:28 of the youth communist party for the region. 18:32 He stood up, he was presiding over that 18:34 gathering and he said, dear Vera, 18:39 I know that you have always been 18:42 the best in our party, 18:45 and I believe that you've done 18:49 so much good to improve our party. 18:55 And I believe that one day you will return, 18:58 and I will keep your member card 19:03 under the glass on my desk. 19:07 Because one day you will return 19:09 and I will gladly give it back to you. 19:14 However but she never did, praise God. 19:21 Since she lost her job, 19:22 she had to look for one again, 19:25 but she couldn't find one. 19:27 She would go to different places to find a job 19:31 and whenever a boss of her firm would 19:34 hear that she need a job and saw all her resumes 19:39 and everything, all the papers, 19:41 they were very glad and said, 19:43 they would gladly accept her. 19:46 But after a few days when she would come back 19:48 to start her work there, they would sit 19:53 with their heads bowed and say, you know, 19:57 by the way we don't need right now. 20:01 Because this position is filled, 20:04 because KGB was tracking her, 20:07 and would not allow any firm in the town to hire her. 20:13 So finally she decided to look for a job, 20:18 another job, she was, I told you the best 20:24 accountant and auditor at her age in the area. 20:29 And she decided to look for a job as a housekeeper, 20:32 finally a professor's family hired her 20:36 and she was able to work for them for almost a year. 20:41 But after a year this professor came home 20:45 with his head bowed and said, 20:46 dear Vera, I love you so much and you know that, 20:50 but you know two KGB agents paid a visit to me today, 20:53 and they said that if I don't fire you immediately 20:59 I will lose my position as well. 21:02 And so she lost even that job, 21:05 but they loved her very much and so they pass 21:07 her onto another professor's family, 21:10 but she was able to work for them even less 21:13 about three or four months, before being found out 21:17 again by KGB agents. 21:19 And she lost even that humble position of a housekeeper. 21:24 Then one old lady, her son-in-law was a KGB agent, 21:30 he passed on some information through his mother-in-law 21:33 and said, tell Vera, 21:35 KGB is going to put her to prison. 21:37 And so the best way to escape, 21:40 if she leaves this city immediately, 21:43 and so that's what she did. 21:44 She found a place where she would collect hay 21:50 and put it with a pitch fork, 21:53 I believe pitch fork on a truck. 21:57 And very soon she lost even that job, 22:01 she returned to the city, 22:02 tried to find job for several months, 22:06 and after starving for several months 22:08 she decided to go back to her mother in village 22:12 where at least she could find food. 22:15 The reaso I started this story, 22:17 the reason I started with this story 22:19 with mom's story is this. 22:22 From my childhood I was told this story 22:26 over and over again, and this was a 22:30 paramount example for me, 22:32 and has always been of a person who really, 22:37 literally gave everything he had to be with Jesus. Amen. 22:43 Praise God for my dear mom. 22:47 You know, the interesting thing is that 22:50 she has outlived all her persecutors. Amen. 22:55 Two days ago she turned 78, 22:59 and among all her relatives, and among all her relatives 23:04 where she is the eldest daughter in her family, 23:07 she is the healthiest one. 23:10 God has blessed her with five children, 23:13 seven grandchildren, 23:16 and all of whom who are in church, 23:20 working for the church, 23:22 and helping to promote the God's cause. 23:25 Amen. Praise God. Amen. 23:29 And do you know what? 23:30 She also really enjoys that love 23:35 and admiration that she surrounded with, 23:39 and I am quite sure there are very few 23:41 people that are surrounded with that 23:43 love that she's surrounded now. 23:47 And then next story I would like to share 23:53 with you is also one from my childhood. 23:58 When I was seven years old, 24:00 I paid to visit to a friend of mine 24:02 who was also a seven years old boy. 24:06 And we were playing in his room 24:08 and suddenly I noticed that there was a book, 24:13 a type written copy of a book. 24:17 So I picked it up look at it and I saw that it was 24:22 Patriarchs and Prophets, 24:23 the Patriarchs and Prophets Books by Ellen G. White. 24:26 Astonished I turned to the, to my friend and ask him, 24:30 are you reading this book? He said, yes. Why? 24:35 It's an interesting book. 24:37 You see at my age I consider that only books 24:43 by Arthur Maxwell are the best books for children. 24:49 And so being ashamed with, 24:52 I returned home and immediately asked 24:55 my parents to provide me with the copies of all the set, 25:02 and started reading immediately. 25:04 My father as soon as he realized 25:06 that I was persistent in my reading, 25:07 he also gave me a nice and very expensive notebook, 25:10 so when, so I could write on my excerpts 25:13 that I like the most from the writings of Ellen G. White. 25:19 And during the evening worships, 25:21 he would ask me questions why I had chosen those excerpts. 25:26 So these are the events that had profound 25:29 influence upon my life. 25:32 And you know what, at the age of seven 25:34 after reading the Great Controversy, 25:38 I learned that at the end times 25:40 there would be only one superpower 25:43 and that is the United States of America. 25:48 And I shared sometimes my believes with my classmates 25:53 during the Soviet time, 25:55 whenever they would boast of the Soviet Union, 25:57 how powerful it was? 25:59 I would tell them, you know guys 26:01 Bible has nothing to say about Soviet time existing 26:05 at the end time. You know that was a quite, 26:08 quite a risky thing to say. 26:12 But you know, I'm so proud God gave me that 26:15 truth at the age of seven, 30 years ago. 26:19 Because in my short life, I'm not yet too old, 26:22 you can probably see that only 37. 26:26 And God has granted me this opportunity to see 26:32 the ultimate fulfillment of his prophecy. Amen. 26:36 Who could say 30 years ago, 26:38 that such a huge superpower as the Soviet Union 26:41 was at the time would just vanish. 26:47 And, you know, we have so many more prophecies 26:51 in the Bible that are going to be fulfilled 26:56 in the same certain way. 27:01 And more over I'm so happy 27:05 that I was on the winning side back then 30 years ago. 27:10 You know, back then I look stupid, 27:13 people laughed at me, ridiculed for my beliefs, 27:18 but, you know, now they realized that their belief, 27:23 they believed in communism it doesn't exists now. 27:29 And God helped me to see that His word 27:34 is always certain, and always fulfills. 27:43 So I'm so grateful that God has blessed me 27:50 not only with my mother to be a paramount example for me, 27:55 to be an example of, 27:59 to show that example what it means. 28:02 To give your best to our loving Lord. 28:08 I want to share another story with you, 28:10 at the age 18 I went to study at 28:13 Zaoksky Adventist University and there I was introduced 28:17 to a story of Garwin McNeilus, 28:21 praise God for this man. 28:25 You know, this man supported that university, 28:29 he would invest hundreds 28:31 of thousands of dollars into that university. 28:34 I lived in the dormitory that was build with his money, 28:39 I went to classrooms that were built with his money. 28:44 And now Russia prospers, 28:46 Russian Adventism prospers in Russia, 28:49 because we have hundreds and hundreds of pastors 28:53 that were educated at that university. 28:57 And all of that I do not even want to talk in if terms, 29:04 I don't know how would Russia look today 29:07 if it were not for this man and for his generosity. 29:12 Praise God for people like him, 29:14 who give their best to our loving Lord. 29:22 There is, there were some events 29:27 that are not so probably excited, 29:30 exciting but at my early 20s, 29:36 in my early 20s I realized that due to 29:39 some bad influences in my teenage years, 29:43 my mind was corrupt, my character was corrupt, 29:47 and I actually wanted to somehow clean up my mind 29:51 to make it purer, to fully resemble Christ character. 29:57 And so since I had studied psychology for many years, 30:02 I knew that it would require a miracle to change 30:05 the pathways between the brain cells, 30:09 because years of undisciplined thinking, 30:11 and immortal thinking had destroyed my personality. 30:17 So after considering all the ways and searching 30:22 for difference ways that I could use, 30:25 I believe I have, I had found the best one. 30:29 And that was I decided to copy the whole Bible by hand. 30:34 And this is the Bible that God has helped me 30:39 to copy by my own hand, 30:43 it took me 800 hours, 30:46 two and half years. 30:51 If you do it one hour a day you'll be able to 30:54 also to finish it in two years and half. 30:57 You know, when I come up with this, 30:59 when I came up with this idea also even 31:03 my believing friends would laugh at me. 31:05 And ask, you don't have a copy of a Bible, 31:08 would you like us to present it to you. 31:12 I said, you know guys, I have at least a couple 31:15 of dozens of them and most of them are leather bond. 31:19 So what I need, 31:22 I need not a Bible on my shelves, 31:26 I need a Bible in my mind. Amen. 31:30 And praise God, God help me to achieve the goal, 31:35 you can see it and after the presentation 31:38 you can come forward and if you'd like to touch it 31:41 I'll allow you gladly. 31:44 But only I'll ask you to be careful, okay. 31:51 And you know, I had perceived 31:55 some of the changes that God would bring into my character 31:59 if I do this, but you know, 32:02 I was absolutely wrong, I correctly predicted 32:05 only 3% of all the good changes, 32:09 miraculous changes that God had brought into 32:13 my character and into my mind. 32:16 My character was transformed 32:19 and God had helped me to build new mind, 32:25 new character, a new personality. 32:29 But the most amazing thing God had also 32:34 helped me to improve my scholar skills, 32:37 scholarship skills or how do you call it, scholar skill? 32:40 Scholarship skills, thank you. 32:45 God gave me a unique ability whenever I read books 32:51 written by secular writers on business, 32:54 I can clearly see whether they resemble 32:59 the teachings of Christ, God, 33:02 and if they can find support in Ellen G. White's writings. 33:08 And this ability has helped me a lot, 33:12 because you know, 90% of all the books 33:15 that you can find in book stores are just trash, 33:18 I can honestly say that. 33:20 Nine percent of them are low value, 33:25 and or really good ones are really few. 33:30 And so, when I was taking my third year, 33:37 I started my own business in the nearby town, 33:43 that was a tutoring agency. 33:48 And immediately after that I was under severe pressure 33:51 from my relatives and especially my dear mom. 33:55 Because they said, David, 33:57 you're betraying your call, David, 34:00 you're a forth generation Adventist, 34:03 David, your call is to be a pastor. 34:08 And, you know, I was in severe pain myself, 34:10 because I couldn't make up my mind, 34:14 and I didn't really know what to do with, 34:15 and which my calling really was. 34:18 So I had to pray a lot, but I still continued 34:21 with my business and developed it, 34:24 and God helped me to develop it 34:26 and so we had between 400 to 700 students at a time. 34:34 But in the year 2000, I met with Dr. Bill Shea, 34:41 probably some of you have had an opportunity 34:45 to meet this person. 34:48 And I asked him, told him my concerns, 34:52 told him about that severe pressure 34:54 from my relatives that they did not think that being 34:58 a businessman was a good idea. 34:59 Because you see in Russia, 35:01 we couldn't get educated during the Soviet period. 35:05 So there were two options for Adventists, 35:10 you should be, you could only be a pastor or like 35:16 any woodworker or a carpenter something like that. 35:20 We could not work in Soviet organizations 35:24 actually, could not do much work there. 35:28 And so that's why everybody, 35:30 and all my relatives and all the people 35:32 that had known me since my childhood, 35:34 they said that I was wrong. 35:37 And so then I shared all these concerns 35:39 with the Dr. Bill Shea, and said that I wanted to fully 35:44 fulfill God's calling in my life, 35:48 and also to fully show what a good businessman 35:56 can do for the church, 36:00 and for promoting God's cause. 36:04 And so this man then asked me a question, 36:07 he said, David, how many good preachers 36:10 do you know in your division? 36:12 I said, well, I know probably a hundred. 36:16 He said, no, I mean, really excellent preachers. 36:20 I said, well, I know at least a dozen. 36:24 He said, well, then that was ten years ago. 36:27 Well how many good businessmen do you know 36:32 that fully live out the principles, 36:36 open for us in the Bible and in the Spirit of Prophecy, 36:39 how many business people of this kind do you know? 36:43 I was astonished, confused, 36:45 didn't know what to answer, my jaw dropped, 36:49 he looked at me and said, David, that's the answer. 36:54 You know, that the greatest need 36:56 in your division is of godly business people 37:00 who can promote God's cause with their means. 37:04 I didn't listen to Bill Shae's advice at once, 37:10 it took me sometimes to realize how right he was. 37:14 So after the time I went to Zaoksky Adventist University, 37:20 actually to the pastor of the central church. 37:23 And told him that 37:25 I had developed seminars based on Bible, 37:28 on the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy 37:31 on how to become successful, 37:33 how to improve your personality, 37:35 how to become highly affective? 37:39 And he was so happy, he told me I give you, 37:44 I'll give you all the Friday evenings after vespers, 37:49 so you can use them for seminars. 37:51 And so I started conducting my seminars 37:54 and after a year, I was teaching students, 37:59 both the students from the university. 38:02 How God had improved my life through my copying 38:07 the Bible by hand and that by studying the Bible. 38:12 By the way do you know that most, 38:15 most of the most successful people in this world 38:20 are those who learned a lot the Bible by heart, 38:27 do you know this information? 38:29 You can find this information about Bill Gates. 38:32 He was the guy who knew the most, 38:36 he knew more than anyone in his class 38:40 the Bible by heart, he was known for that, 38:42 he in his childhood he knew the whole sermon 38:49 on the mount of blessings, all three chapters, 38:52 you can find that. 38:54 Oprah Winfrey, she also knew 38:57 more than anyone else in her class, 38:59 parts from the Bible by heart. 39:02 And so the same with, the same with many other 39:05 prominent people, some of the richest people in 39:08 the world are thos who learned the Bible 39:11 by heart a lot in their childhood or continue 39:13 learning Bible by heart even when they're adults already. 39:19 So I would teach that to the students 39:20 and I would also teach them that studying 39:23 the Spirit of Prophecy especially the testimonies 39:27 for the church helps you to really improve 39:31 your character, has the best advise except 39:34 for the Bible of course, it has the best advice 39:38 on how to make your will power strong, 39:42 the best advice on leadership skills. 39:46 But after a year the same pastor approaches 39:48 me and says, you know, David, 39:49 some people are concerned 39:51 that you are using this time after Friday vespers 40:00 and you don't allow other 40:02 prominent speakers to use the time. 40:04 So could you please stop with your lectures for a moment? 40:08 And so I stopped my lectures and that time 40:12 has never been used for any lectures of seminars. 40:17 Later I learned from my friends that there 40:20 was a discussion and there were concerns that David 40:28 was teaching some odd teachings. 40:31 He was teaching how to become successful using 40:34 Bible, the Bible, and Spirit of Prophecy, 40:39 and his teaching sounded too alter conservative. 40:45 And to save, to save the youthful minds 40:49 from such an influence, 40:52 they decided to stop my lectures. 40:56 So after that, I started praying a lot 41:01 and ask whether God was really guiding me. 41:04 And you know what I did? 41:07 I rearranged those same seminars into secular 41:11 ones, I just took away all the religious terms 41:17 and since I had read a lot of books on 41:19 leadership skills, on management, on success. 41:23 I clothe pure Bible teachings and teachings 41:28 from the Spirit of Prophecy with secular terms 41:33 and started selling these seminars 41:37 at a humble price eight years ago. 41:40 And you know what, since then, 41:43 some of the most prominent people in my country, 41:47 some of the wealthiest people in my country, 41:51 some of the most powerful people in the government 41:55 of my country have heard of my seminars. 42:00 And I have a two year list of people 42:05 wanting to hear those seminars, 42:09 wanted to hear the secrets on how to become 42:12 a good strong leader, how to become successful, 42:17 how to develop your character. 42:20 And by the way they're ready to pay 42:22 six U.S. dollars for a single minute. 42:26 Wow. Praise God. Amen. 42:30 God is really good, our church enjoys 42:35 the best material, 42:38 the best material on character improvement. 42:42 God has granted our church with the best 42:44 teachings on leadership skills. 42:48 You know, sometimes I wonder when I hear 42:50 people amazed with Dr. Covey, 42:54 I like this man, he's really good man, 42:56 you probably you've also read a couple of his 42:58 books on leadership. 43:01 You know, he developed a principle inside out 43:03 and he's so praised for opening and developing 43:07 this principle, that principles tells you 43:09 that everything starts from your character, 43:11 never try to improve just your appearance, 43:16 just your image. 43:18 You have to start with the character, 43:19 who told that 150 years ago? 43:24 Who told that more than 3,000 years ago? 43:29 Folks, God has blessed us with the best 43:31 teachings on every possible subject 43:35 and if we are good 43:37 and diligent students of His word, 43:41 and of the wisdom God has granted us 43:43 through the Spirit of Prophecy. 43:46 You cannot imagine how far up you can go in 43:53 glorifying God's name, 43:55 in being useful for the church, 43:57 in being useful for your country. 44:02 You know what, some friends of mine when they learn. 44:06 some business people 44:07 or people of the government they learn that I pay taxes. 44:12 You know, in Russia no one pays taxes 44:14 and government also almost just has to go 44:19 with revolvers, take taxes out of people. 44:25 And when they learn that they are amazed and say, 44:28 why you do that? And I tell them you know, 44:30 I love my homeland, and I want to support 44:33 my homeland Russia with my taxes. 44:38 Because I enjoy peace there and I like, 44:42 the police protects me from terrorists and so on. 44:49 And I'm a kind of a thorn in their eyes, 44:51 you know, well being faithful with my tithe, 44:54 with my taxes. 44:55 But you know, by the way I've already said 44:59 what I'm about to say. 45:03 You know, we all here belong to a heavenly country. 45:12 And it's so sad to hear sometimes 45:16 that 50 to 60% of all the church members in 45:21 Seventh-day Adventist church are not faithful 45:24 with their tithes and offerings, it's so sad. 45:28 Actually the figures are much worse. 45:33 And-- 45:39 one of the miracles that God created in my life 45:45 was to make me willing to pay all the tithes 45:50 that I could read about in the Bible. 45:55 And I found out that there is a question 45:57 between whether we should pay two tithes or three tithes, 46:00 one is the regular tithes that we put into envelopes 46:03 and give it on Sabbath 46:06 that goes to support our church. 46:10 But I decided that I will not since there is no certainty, 46:15 I'd better do my best for the Lord. 46:18 So I decided that I would give two more tithes, 46:23 so one tithe goes as offerings to support God's church, 46:28 pastors' families or whatever activities 46:32 that is promoting God's cause. 46:35 And there is also a third tithes, 46:37 by the way I was asked to mention that 46:39 I've pay my tithe from my gross income 46:42 and if you'd like know how I do that, 46:44 please come forward and after the seminar I'll tell you, 46:48 after the presentation. 46:51 And you know what? 46:53 God has so richly and abundantly blessed me. 46:58 Since the year 2008, when the crisis started 47:03 and this crisis severally shook Russia. 47:07 Praise God my income has grown up five times. 47:12 And I was able to, and I have been able to 47:15 open new businesses in the same period, 47:19 that are successful and give me profit now. 47:23 Praise God. 47:25 God always blesses us if we're faithful. 47:30 And about the third tithe by the way, 47:35 you know, sometimes we get annoyed 47:38 when people come up to ask and ask for money. 47:42 We preserve it as a threat 47:45 to our own wallet. 47:48 And we don't really like people asking for money. 47:52 But you know what, if you from the very beginning, 47:54 you set aside this tithe as also not belonging to you, 47:59 but to our loving Lord. 48:01 Then you have a different state of mind, 48:05 and then you're looking for an opportunity to serve others 48:09 with this money that God has given you. 48:14 Then you're looking for who are the recipients 48:17 and so my third tithe I used for charity. 48:21 And God has blessed so many people around me 48:25 with this third tithe that has never belonged to me. 48:31 As soon as I get money I always set aside three tithes. 48:36 And you know, it's so joyful 48:38 you just cannot imagine that. 48:42 You know, I had a teacher of English 48:47 who taught me English exactly twenty years ago. 48:51 By the way he now lives in America, in New York. 48:56 And so two years ago, he had some 48:58 very, very severe health problems. 49:02 And so God helped me to support him, 49:07 by the way with my third tithe greatly. 49:11 I actually hired a housekeeper for him 49:13 so she could cook a good Adventist vegan food. 49:18 Can you image this? 49:21 And his health considerably improved. 49:25 And, you know, after the time 49:28 he once asks me a question, 49:30 David, if God really exists. 49:36 He's an atheist by the way, 49:40 if God really exists and He sees 49:44 how generous you are, and He sees that 49:49 you have to work very hard 49:52 to earn this money, and I know that 49:56 you are almost wearing yourself down, 50:00 why doesn't He just drop down money from heaven for you? 50:04 Since He knows that you're a trustworthy, 50:07 steward of his means. 50:11 You know, that question puzzled me, 50:16 and I knew that there was a good answer 50:19 for that question since the very beginning, 50:21 I just wanted to find one. 50:26 And I'd, of course, I knew that God 50:28 was not supposed to drop money from heaven to anyone. 50:33 And you know what God after weeks, 50:37 because I was really concerned, because I really 50:40 wanted to know the answer to that question. 50:43 And so after weeks of diligent pray and studying. 50:48 God had blessed me 50:52 with one of the most amazing answers 50:56 for this question. 50:58 And here it is, "gift that cost us 51:03 nothing have no value." 51:13 You know folks tithes, 51:17 offerings, and charity 51:21 will always require sacrifice on our part. 51:26 However rich we become, 51:30 that will always require sacrifice. 51:37 You know, Jesus Christ 51:38 on that cross showed that absolute, 51:44 ultimate example for us. 51:47 That God never accepts 51:51 partial service, never accepts 51:55 partial sacrifice, He's offended, 52:00 He's deeply offended 52:02 when we are not giving our best to our loving Lord. 52:07 In that gift on Calvary, He has given all heaven 52:13 in just that one gift, 52:16 and He expects from us nothing less. 52:21 So may God bless each one of us, 52:25 so that we can share this massage with those 52:28 who haven't been able to hear it today, 52:32 that our church needs you business people, 52:36 good managers to promote God's cause. 52:41 As no one else you've been blessed with a special, 52:46 special probably most special talent 52:50 of leadership and management. 52:54 And this ability can greatly promote 52:57 God's cause on our earth. 53:00 And may this example of the Godly people 53:03 that I've mentioned in my presentation today, 53:08 and may that example that was shown to us on Cross, 53:13 stay with us always and make us more generous 53:18 and give us more sacrificial spirit, let us pray. 53:25 Dear Lord, you know how much we need 53:28 Your Holy Spirit to soften our heart, 53:33 so that we can be more generous, 53:35 so that we can do really our best for our loving Lord. 53:41 Dear Lord, we need Your power today, 53:45 to make our hearts receptive 53:49 to Your influence, so that we can fully resemble 53:54 Your Christ like sacrificial character. 53:57 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17