Participants: Janet Page
Series Code: 11GYC
Program Code: 11GYC000003
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00:11 I have with me Berneice and Daryl.
00:14 They are from the land down under with AYC. 00:19 Now AYC started a few years ago. 00:21 Berneice, when did AYC start? What is AYC? 00:23 Well, AYC stands for Adventist Youth for Christ. 00:26 We are a movement down in Australia, 00:28 similar to what you are doing here in the United States. 00:31 So we actually started with our first 00:33 conference or convention in 2006. 00:36 And we were inspired actually when a few of our youth came 00:39 to the United States for GYC in 2003 and 04. 00:42 And they saw the work that the Holy Spirit 00:44 was doing here, and we wanted to do 00:46 a similar thing and inspired the youth 00:47 in Australia back home. 00:49 So we started with a very small group of 150 youth 00:52 and we've grown since then, 00:54 we have three to four consecutive conferences 00:56 that will be running back to back 00:58 in consecutive weekends next year. 01:00 So we are very excited. 01:01 So were the youth in Australia where they 01:03 trumping it a bit to do something, were they excited? 01:05 Were they just waiting for this opportunity? 01:07 Or has this created some energy 01:09 and some synergy in Australia? 01:11 I think, yes to both. 01:14 Australia is a little bit different in the sense 01:16 that we are very secular country, 01:17 so Adventism is not as prominent as it is here. 01:21 We have 52,000 Adventists 01:23 in a country of 20 million people. 01:26 And in that 52,000, there are very few youth. 01:29 So the youth sometimes feel little bit isolated 01:32 like they are not sure how their role in the local church 01:35 fits in to the global picture of the SDA community. 01:37 So do you have some stories, some practical examples 01:41 of how the youth have related to AYC? 01:43 Sure, right I am going to share with you 01:44 a story of Suki, one of the youth who is involved 01:48 in AYC and continuously to be involved as well. 01:50 She first came to AYC in 2007 in one of our conventions. 01:54 And she responded to a court to be a Bible worker 01:56 for year in Mark Finley's campaign, 01:58 he did a evangelistic series in Melbourne. 02:00 But she soon realized that even though you come to 02:03 a GYC or AYC Convention, it doesn't end there, 02:07 because revival happens at the convention, 02:09 but she realized that when she went back 02:11 to her local church that, that was where it all started. 02:15 And so since that time she has gone back 02:16 to her local church as a counselor. 02:18 She is a small group leader in her local churches 02:21 involving campus ministries and that complements, 02:24 her involvement in AYC as well. 02:26 And she realizes that... she realized that youth 02:29 will come to places like this, need to go back 02:31 to their local church and do some work. 02:33 Amen, and it's exciting to see that, 02:35 that when people experience that, that outpouring 02:38 of the Holy Spirit that encounter with Christ. 02:41 They cannot help but go back and share with other people. 02:45 Are there more stories, more examples 02:46 of how AYC is impacting lives? 02:48 Yes, if I could just share one of the stories 02:50 that really warms my heart. 02:52 We have a school group from one of our 02:54 Adventist academies that has attended AYC 02:56 for the last two years running. 02:58 And the story behind that is that-- 03:01 one of their teachers actually attended our conference 03:04 a year before and he was really inspired 03:05 and really touched and blessed by what was happening. 03:08 And he decided that it was so meaningful 03:10 and so wonderful that he wanted every single student 03:14 in his academy to have the opportunity to attend. 03:17 He went through the school board, 03:19 he made it an official school excursion 03:21 and he out of his own pocket, decided to sponsor 03:24 60 percent of the registration fee 03:26 of any student that would like to attend. 03:28 He also organized for them to meet every day 03:31 at the school and he organized for his school bus 03:35 to drive them an hour and half to the conference 03:37 in time for morning prayer, and there was-- 03:39 I don't think they understood. 03:41 This is a teacher that is paying 60 percent of each 03:46 student's registration? That's right, yes. 03:47 Organizing to drive them an hour and half, 03:49 is this amazing? Yes. 03:51 And what's more is that this is a most dedicated 03:55 group of 16, 17 year olds that I've ever seen. 03:57 In Australia, we have school uniforms, 04:00 so being a official school excursion, 04:02 they all have to dress nicely and wear their school uniform. 04:05 And one interesting story was that, one morning, 04:08 one of the boys actually didn't actually 04:10 wake up in time to get to the meeting point 04:12 at the school before they had to leave. 04:15 And so he lived quite close to the school 04:17 and what the whole group of students and the staff 04:19 did was they jolt to his house. 04:20 One of his friends ran the doorbell and woke him up. 04:23 And he got ready, he was running out 04:25 the door five minutes later, Bible in one hand, 04:27 shoes in the other, tie in his pocket. 04:29 And they were on time for morning prayer that day. 04:31 Amen. Now for those of you that don't know, 04:34 what does AYC stand for? 04:35 So AYC actually stands for Adventist Youth for Christ. 04:37 And Brandon, we've changed our name from 04:39 Australian Youth Conference to Adventist Youth for Christ 04:42 to reflect that AYC is a movement. 04:44 AYC is not a conference, AYC is not a convention, 04:46 AYC is a movement of young people. 04:49 We've also instituted training workshops, 04:51 evangelistic series, you may have heard 04:53 Justin sharing with you. 04:55 We're aiming to do multi-site public 04:57 evangelistic series all across Australia. 04:59 So encourage young people to not only come 05:01 to the convention to be revived, but to go back, 05:03 be trained and be active in soul winning for Jesus. 05:06 Amen. Thank you, guys. 05:11 Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to welcome you 05:14 to our third meeting together. 05:16 And would you just bow your heads 05:17 in a word of prayer with me? 05:20 Father, we are here, we are bursting 05:25 and blooming with excitement that what you are doing, 05:28 but God we are begging that You would do more. 05:31 Please bless us more right here in this plenary session, 05:34 I pray that You would overwhelm us with Your love. 05:36 Thank you for what You will do. We love You, amen. 05:40 Not to brag or anything but I have the distinct privilege 05:43 to introduce to you James Ervin. 05:46 He is a Senior at Eastern Michigan University. 05:49 And he has what I believe is a very 05:52 moving and powerful testimony. 05:53 Don't tell him this but I nearly started crying 05:55 when he told me his story in the back. 05:57 So James, would you just tell us a little bit about 06:00 your experience how God has been leading you, 06:02 and tell us what your life used to be like. 06:05 Sure, sure, thank. First, I say good afternoon GYC. 06:10 It's a pleasure to have it here in my home state Houston, 06:13 I mean, home state Texas. 06:15 I grew up an hour and half away from Houston. 06:18 But it's a pleasure to have it here. 06:20 I'll get right into it, I played ball, football 06:24 for Eastern Michigan for about two years, 06:27 going on my third year. 06:28 And when the moment I stepped on campus, 06:31 I told myself that I want to be 06:32 the face of this university. 06:34 Nobody is going to stop me from being 06:36 the face of this university. 06:37 And I was going to be the face. 06:39 In order to do that, I needed status, 06:41 and I need to make myself known. 06:43 And so when it came to football, 06:46 I was one of the best athletes that 06:47 they had ever seen at that time. 06:50 I was the highest lifter, one of the highest lifters 06:52 in my class, and also one of the fastest runners. 06:55 And when it came to clubbing and partying, I was the man. 06:59 I go into club with the fellows, you know, 07:01 they dab me up and they took their hat, 07:03 and all the ladies would wave a smile or come and hug me, 07:06 and so I was well on my way. 07:08 In fact, they started to know me so much 07:12 so that I began to get into club for free, 07:16 and when I went to go buy liquor, 07:17 I was under age at the time but they didn't care, 07:20 they knew me, so they gave it to me and said, 07:22 hey, take as much as you want. 07:25 And it was all going well, and everybody knew me 07:29 in Eastern, showing homage, and showing much love 07:32 but for me it wasn't even enough. 07:34 I said, you know, what? Pump that. 07:37 They know me in Eastern but I wanted more people to know me. 07:40 So I decided to pledge Omega sci fi that's cue, 07:45 I don't like everybody who is anybody pledge his cue, 07:47 I mean Michael Jordan plays cue, 07:50 Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Cosby, so I'm okay, if I do this, 07:53 then I'll automatically get a good job when I... 07:55 when I put it on my resume for a job. 07:57 So I said, I will do it, and I was pledging 08:00 and I was partying, I was playing a ball 08:02 and all things seem well so I thought. 08:06 So, yeah, you had arrived, how did you feel, how was that? 08:10 Well, I mean, it felt good. 08:13 Every time, you know, to see the people, 08:15 you know, showing much love and see that 08:17 everybody knew my name, but when I went back 08:20 to my dorm every night, after... after all the facade 08:26 has been taken off and I sat at the edge of the bed. 08:28 I saw that my life was falling apart right before my eyes. 08:32 I mean, my GPA, my lofty GPA has fallen down to 1.6, 08:39 a 1.6, if my daddy knew, if he, I mean, 08:45 he would have a heart attack if it went below 3 point. 08:47 Oh, it went to 1.6, and I was almost kicked out of school, 08:52 I was on AP Academic probation if you don't know 08:55 what that is good, you don't need to know. 08:58 And then moreover because of the life, 09:02 I was addicted to alcohol, liquor, and weed and sex 09:07 and that's all I did, and like at times, 09:09 my conscience would try to talk to me he's like James, 09:12 "You know you don't need to be doing this, just put it down." 09:15 But I said, "No." In fact, I drunk, I smoked, 09:20 and so that I didn't hear the man anymore. 09:23 And after that as if there wasn't bad enough, 09:26 pledging and playing football started to conflict. 09:30 So it's so much so that I started missing 09:32 some of my football meetings and workouts. 09:34 And next thing, you know, coach calls me into office, 09:36 he is like, "Hey, man, I've disciplined everybody else, 09:39 I kick other people off the team, 09:42 but I won't do that to you because I like you. 09:44 So I'm just going to suspend you for a week. 09:45 So I was suspended for a week. 09:48 And during my suspension, I get back to my dorm 09:52 and I am sitting at the edge of my bed like, 09:53 how in the world do I go from the top to the bottom 09:57 so fast and I like, you know, what? 10:01 Tomorrow when I wake up, I'm gonna get my life together. 10:04 I'm gonna go back, and I'm gonna pull myself back on top, 10:06 you know, they got to know me. 10:09 But it just so happens that the next day, 10:13 when I was walking to the student center, 10:15 I saw a familiar face, his name, uh, 10:17 he was a student in my class, and he was reading 10:21 the Bible and I'm a pastor's kid, 10:22 I come up our prayerful life, man what in the world 10:24 do you know about the Bible. 10:26 And he looks me dead in eye and he says, 10:28 "He that is not with me is against me, 10:31 and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad." 10:34 And the moment I heard that I was pricked to the heart 10:36 because in my mind I'm like, this entire time, 10:40 the people who have been drinking, 10:42 they have been drinking with me. 10:44 When they smoke, they smoked with me, 10:46 and whatever they do apart from church, 10:48 apart from God, they do it with me. 10:49 So I was leading people astray and Jesus says, 10:52 "James, you are not with me." 10:55 And so he then said, "Hey, we're having Bible study 10:58 at 7 O'clock, I expect to see you there." 11:00 And I am ah, ah, yeah, yeah, 11:05 I will be, I will be, I will be there. 11:08 And so I showed up and heard truth 11:10 that I never heard before in my life. 11:11 The Daniel 2, you know, the toe nails of time, 11:14 I heard about the Sabbath, I heard about Daniel 7, 11:16 the little horn power, and I heard about the millennium 11:19 and how hell doesn't burn forever, 11:21 I heard about God's love, and then I was loving 11:23 and I was consistent member. 11:24 And then one day he preached on Mark Chapter 8 11:28 that he use a preaching manual during his Bible study. 11:30 Preached on Mark Chapter 8 and he asked the question, 11:32 "What are you willing to give up for Jesus?" 11:36 And he goes to verses 36, "What shall a profit a man 11:38 if he gains the entire world and losses his soul? 11:41 Or what shall man give in exchange for his soul?" 11:44 James, you want the world. 11:46 You want everybody to know your name. 11:49 But what is it profit if you don't know Jesus? 11:52 After all Jesus gave up the world just for you. 11:56 So I had a decision to make, and at that time 11:59 tears start rolling down my face. 12:01 I'm not a crying man but I couldn't contain myself 12:06 because at that moment, I had just tasted 12:08 the living word and finally 12:11 found something that satisfies. 12:14 Amen. Well, praise God for what the way he hunt after us. 12:17 Amen. Thank you, James for sharing your testimony. 12:19 Praise the Lord. 12:36 (song lyrics not found) 15:27 What a privilege to be here. My name is Janet Page. 15:29 I work in the ministerial department 15:32 at the world church headquarters. 15:34 Only been there about a year. 15:35 It's been absolutely overwhelming to travel 15:39 around this world and to see the needs. 15:41 I hope every one of you can be involved in a mission trip, 15:44 be involved in service outreach going to places. 15:48 It opens your eyes to this incredible world 15:51 that needs our help, I had something happened 15:54 to me 18, 19 years ago, that was awful. 15:59 I turned 40. I know, I know, lot of you cannot 16:05 even relate to that, even 18 years you can't. 16:10 But my friends, I called them my ex-friends because 16:13 they did one of these horrible parties where black balloons, 16:16 black crepe paper, a tombstone cake say, 16:19 Janet Page's youth had died. It was awful. 16:24 That was on the East Coast, because of that 16:27 I moved to the West Coast, 16:29 actually I moved because God called us to. 16:32 But I thought it will never happen to me again. 16:35 But then when I turned to 50, it happened 16:37 all over again but this time it was worse. 16:39 I don't know why? My husband were here, he'll tell you why? 16:43 But we won't let him. But when I...when you're young, 16:48 you can't wait, you can't wait for that day, 16:51 you get to go to school. 16:52 You can't wait for that day when you get to drive a car. 16:54 You can't wait for that day you graduate from college. 16:57 You can't wait for that day you're going to marry. 17:00 And life seems like it's going slow, 17:03 but as I started getting into my 30s, 17:05 life just seem like it's going faster and faster 17:08 and faster, and they're always busy and all these priorities 17:11 this things that got to be done. 17:13 And I remember one day just going what really matters, 17:16 I can't do all these good things. What really matters? 17:20 You think about your life really what matters 17:23 and what came to my mind is I thought 17:25 that was John 17:3 which says, 17:28 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, 17:31 the only true God, Jesus Christ 17:33 whom You have sent." 17:35 The only thing that really matters 17:37 is if I know Jesus Christ. 17:39 And yet I had learned when I was 17 years old 17:43 from a Bible teacher that I needed 17:44 to spend time with Jesus everyday. 17:47 And I thought, why? I mean, I tried to be good, 17:51 I tried to go to church, and read my 17:53 Sabbath school lesson now and then. 17:54 Why do I need to spend this time with God everyday? 17:57 He knows I love Him. I raised my hand 18:00 and I asked the teacher that, and he said, 18:02 "If you don't spend time with God and get to know Him, 18:06 reading the Bible, you're not going to know Him, 18:10 you won't love Him, and if you don't love Him, 18:12 you're gonna walk away from Him." 18:14 I said, "Well, I don't want to do that." 18:16 I said, "I'm gonna start spending time with Him." 18:19 I said, "Well, how do I do this." 18:21 And he showed me how to do it. 18:23 He said, "There is really no set way, 18:25 just take your Bible and pray." 18:28 And I said, "Well, how long." 18:30 And he suggested, "Well, maybe, maybe 30 minutes." 18:33 He said, "There is no set amount of time." 18:35 So I said, "Okay." And decided I want to do this right. 18:38 So I got out my alarm clock, set it on the edge 18:41 of the bed and I started trying to pray. 18:44 I read my Bible Psalm, I started praying 18:46 and I prayed everything I could think of 18:48 and then I looked at the clock, 18:49 wow! Only five minutes have gone by. 18:52 And I thought, how am I gonna spend 18:54 the rest of this time with God. 18:56 And I just did... I didn't know how. 18:58 But I have found the more I pursue God, 19:02 the more He shows me how to spend that time with Him. 19:04 And shows it makes the word interesting to me. 19:08 But I got into college, and college was busy, really busy. 19:12 And I kind of forgot about spending time 19:15 with God until exam week. 19:16 And then I was oh, God, if you will get me through exams, 19:18 to get me through exam I'm gonna spend time with you. 19:21 I'm gonna read the Bible everyday and spend that time. 19:24 And He would, He did help me, He get me through exams. 19:29 And I would try to keep my promise 19:31 and started spending time with Him. 19:33 But then I get busy again and I'd fall out of it 19:36 until the next exam week, I would remember again, 19:38 I go, oh, God, if you just help me get through exams, 19:41 I'm gonna read that Bible and really get to know you. 19:43 I went all the way through school like this 19:46 but I always thought, "Well, once you're done with college, 19:48 all you doing is working full time job, you know." 19:51 You got, what's that? Eight hours or so a day. 19:54 You got all the rest of the time to get to know God. 19:56 And I found I was just so busy. 20:00 There are so many things to be done all the time. 20:02 But then I got married and then we had a little baby, 20:05 and I quit my job two weeks before 20:07 the baby was to be born, 20:09 because I wanted to stay home with my baby. 20:10 And I was so excited, I thought I'm gonna quit my job, 20:14 I'm gonna get to stay home, I'm gonna have 20:16 so much time to get to know God and read my Bible. 20:19 My mother failed to tell me just going to warn you now, 20:23 it's a 24 hour day job taking care of that baby, 20:26 and it keeps you busy, and it was... 20:31 I'd start praying as I'm driving in the car. 20:33 Lord, I got to help with the vegetarian cooking school. 20:36 Will You bless me? God, I got to help with 20:39 the Vacation Bible School, I got to tell stories. 20:41 Will You bless me, Lord? I'll never forget the day, 20:44 I was driving down the highway and I go, God, 20:46 isn't that exciting, Michelle wants Bible studies. 20:49 Lord, isn't it a good, I'm sorry, I haven't, 20:52 had time for you, but I'm doing Your work God, 20:55 will you bless me? Before I know it, 20:58 I'm in my 30s realizing, I really don't know Him. 21:03 And I thought it's been so fast. 21:06 Believe me it's gonna be fast someday. 21:08 Your years go, ooh, it went fast. 21:09 Right now it seems slow, but it will be fast. 21:12 And I thought it's gone by so quick and if I don't start 21:15 getting to know Him now, it's not gonna happen. 21:17 So I started trying to spend time 21:20 everyday with God in the Bible. 21:23 And as I did that, I tried to follow the steps 21:26 through the sanctuary, a praise and thanksgiving. 21:29 You enter His gate with thanksgiving, 21:30 and in His court with praise. 21:31 And then I go into time of confession 21:34 and then into inner session. 21:35 But as I did the praise part and went into confession, 21:38 I tried to confess everything I thought 21:41 I needed to confess, but there was this one particular 21:44 thought that kept coming to mind. 21:45 And as it would come to mind I think, oh, 21:47 I'm Mellon Colley I just have an over guilty conscience. 21:51 I know that's not a sin. 21:52 And I just would try it shove it way. 21:55 But every time I spend time with God that same thought 21:58 would keep coming back or sitting in meetings like this 22:02 where they had prayer times, it would keep coming to me. 22:05 And I finally told God one day, I said, 22:07 "Okay, I know it's sin, but I can't deal with it. 22:11 I don't think Jesus could if He were here 22:13 and had this problem, just no way. 22:15 And I thought, I could go on with life, 22:20 living a Christian life 22:21 and not deal with that sin in my life. 22:23 And I just thought I could shove it to the side. 22:25 I didn't realize till years later what that did to me, 22:29 but my whole experience with God started just drying up. 22:32 The Bible, I tried to read the Bible and it just seems 22:36 so boring to me and lifeless. 22:38 I wasn't getting anything out of it. 22:40 And when I pray, I didn't feel like my prayers 22:42 went higher than the ceiling, 22:44 and I got into this vicious cycle of depression. 22:47 And I just, I didn't want to live. 22:49 Life was miserable for me. 22:52 At the time this started happening, 22:54 what's happened in my life, we had moved to Pennsylvania 22:57 and we were there for about a year. 23:00 Jerry was pastor to the pastors there. 23:02 And he went around visiting them in their homes 23:05 and found out what they needed 23:07 was retreat for the pastor's lives. 23:10 He thought, well, that would be good. 23:12 So he worked that out for that to happen. 23:14 I didn't want to go. I wasn't interested, 23:16 you know, this is a pastor's wife, 23:18 you don't tell anybody this kind of thing. 23:20 But I had given up, I felt like I was hopeless. 23:23 I Just kept going through the motions what you do 23:25 at church and with your kids 23:27 and everything feeling like I was lost. 23:30 There was no hope for me. God couldn't save me. 23:32 I was too bigger sinner. 23:33 And but I didn't tell anybody about it. 23:37 And a year later, my husband became 23:40 the conference president there, and it was right 23:43 at camp meeting time, right before camp meeting. 23:46 At camp meeting, people started 23:48 coming up and saying congratulations. 23:49 How does it feel to be the first lady? 23:51 I hate that kind of talk, and I told them, 23:54 I wash his clothes, it's the same I always have, 23:55 nothing has changed, you know, leave me alone. 23:58 And towards the end of that ten days at camp meeting 24:02 that last weekend, some of the people had been attending 24:06 a seminar that was on the Holy Spirit 24:09 and the speaker Dave Walker was telling them 24:12 how important it is that we pray everyday 24:14 for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives, 24:17 throughout the day. 24:19 But he also told them to pray for your families, 24:22 pray it for your leaders, and he got them to commit 24:26 to pray for Jerry and I everyday for the baptism 24:30 of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 24:32 And at that time, it was like 6:15 in the morning 24:35 or some time quarter past the hour to pray for us. 24:39 Well, that last weekend on Sabbath, 24:41 people started coming up to me and saying, 24:43 we just want you to know, we've attended the seminar 24:47 in the Holy Spirit, and the speaker got us 24:50 to commit to pray for you and Jerry everyday 24:52 for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in your lives. 24:55 And I looked out and I smiled and I go, 24:57 "Oh, thank you." But inside I was thinking, 25:00 big deal, so they're praying. 25:02 What good does that do? And that wasn't helping me, 25:06 but I couldn't tell them that. 25:09 But one person after another kept 25:12 coming up to me and saying that. 25:15 Then for the next two years, we've been a different church 25:18 almost every Sabbath because of Jerry's job. 25:21 And every Sabbath, not every Sabbath, 25:23 but lot of different Sabbaths, someone would come up 25:26 to me and say, "We are meeting in our groups 25:28 where they pray and study the Bibles. 25:31 So we meet, we pray for you and Jerry 25:33 for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in your lives." 25:35 And I say, "Oh, thank you." 25:37 But do you know it was two years later, 25:40 that God started moving on me in a dramatic way, 25:43 turned me upside down in my whole experience with Him 25:46 made something happened that pushed me 25:49 into spending time with Him again. 25:51 And just seeking His face, and in desperation, 25:54 I would take my Bible, I would get on my knees 25:57 and I take my Bible and I said, "God, I don't know You? 26:01 I'm miserable, I don't even want to live." 26:04 And I said, "Lord, will You help me to know You? 26:07 Will You help me to love You?" 26:09 Do you know, that is a prayer God will answer? 26:13 It didn't happen overnight. 26:16 It was a good three weeks of me continually 26:19 coming to God and telling Him, 26:20 I'm gonna spend this hour with You. 26:23 I'm gonna spend it with You whether you show up or not. 26:26 But I'm gonna spend it with You, 26:27 and I would take my Bible, and I said, 26:29 Lord, speak to me, show me that You love me, 26:33 help me to love You God, help me to know You. 26:36 And do you know, God did. 26:39 He started pouring Himself out on me. It was incredible. 26:43 Do you realize that this Holy Book will speak to you 26:48 just what you need for today? 26:50 It's incredible. I didn't know that then. 26:53 I didn't know that God will speak to me through His word, 26:56 but He does, and He started doing that in my life. 27:00 But I know, it's because of those people praying. 27:06 God led me because of that, just pushing on me 27:13 the Holy Spirit pushing on me, my husband. 27:15 He used my husband to get me to do a women's retreat. 27:18 I did not want to do this, I was too shy. 27:21 I was embarrassed to be in front of people. 27:22 What am I doing now, right? 27:28 But because of that, I didn't want to look bad, 27:31 I want that retreat to be successful. 27:33 I started pleading and spending time with God 27:36 and saying, God, Ellen White says 27:38 Your word is Your voice speaking to us, 27:42 just what we need, I said, speak to me 27:44 what I need to do with this women's retreat. 27:46 And do you know God started showing me 27:48 what to do with that retreat. 27:49 But I didn't trust Him, I didn't believe Him. 27:52 And I...it was later I met some woman 27:55 who actually did retreats. 27:56 And I asked her about it, I said, 27:57 what you do in a women's retreat? 27:59 And do you know, she started sharing with me, 28:01 what to do with it, it's like I could just faintly 28:04 God saying, I already told you that, 28:06 why don't you believe me? Why don't you trust me? 28:08 I already showed you that, I already showed you that. 28:10 And I was amazed at how personal and intimate 28:15 the relationship is with God. 28:18 But in this time, God started working on me 28:21 about that sin problem I had, because of that retreat 28:25 I was scared to do it, he got me to start praying 28:29 for somebody else to pray with about it 28:31 'cause I just knew it's going to be a failure 28:33 and I was complaining to my husband. 28:35 He pushed me into it and he said, just go do it. 28:38 I went on go, just go do it, it's easy for him to say that. 28:41 But the thought that came to mind was to pray 28:44 that God would send me some woman 28:47 to pray with it about this women's retreat. 28:49 And do you know He did. 28:50 But there was one minor detail I forgot about. 28:53 And that was, I was afraid to pray out loud with anyone. 28:57 Do you know in church how they'll say 28:59 or youth groups say, now let's divide 29:01 in threes and fours and pray together. 29:03 I would go, I got go to the bathroom or pinch the baby 29:07 get him crying, do something to get out of that room. 29:11 'Cause people, people will pray these beautiful prayers 29:15 and I'm stumbled all over my words and oh, 29:18 I start crying and of course, 29:20 everybody wonders, why you're crying. 29:21 I don't even know why I'm crying, you know. 29:23 And then by the time they get to me to pray, 29:26 everybody has prayed 29:28 everything that I can think of. 29:29 There is nothing left, but what I learned about God is, 29:33 it's okay to pray about the same thing, 29:36 because the Holy Spirit prays it through your personality 29:40 and it's okay to stumble over your words 29:42 'cause nobody's word are good. 29:45 The Holy Spirit takes all of our words 29:47 and make some powerful, 29:49 meaningful to God and prays through us. 29:52 And the Lord sent me somebody to pray with. 29:55 It was amazing and I had hind around 29:59 to my best friend and that didn't work. 30:00 But some woman has the clear blue calls me on the phone, 30:03 introduce herself and says, this may sound strange, 30:06 but I feel like God is asking me if you wouldn't want 30:08 to get together and pray once a week before you retreat. 30:10 So that I knew is an answer to prayer. 30:13 We started meeting and praying together. 30:16 Another woman joined us and I would pray, 30:18 Lord, help this women this retreat, they need revival. 30:22 They need to be converted, one of the times 30:24 I'm praying this, also and I felt like it was so loud, 30:28 God talking to me was if you want me to help this woman, 30:31 let's work on your life first. 30:33 And I knew God was refereeing to this 30:36 one particular sin problem, and I was so embarrassed, 30:40 I opened my eyes but everybody was like this, 30:42 so I know they didn't hear me. 30:44 And I said, later, later, I'll deal with it God, later. 30:48 But I didn't, I procrastinate. Do you procrastinate? 30:51 It's a horrible thing to do. 30:53 But later on, I was at a meeting 30:56 and we were in a motel room and my husband, 31:00 he didn't want to go to the meetings. 31:02 It was all about prayer and he said, you know, 31:04 I'll not pray, I don't want to go there. 31:06 And he tell you that if you were here. 31:07 I am not telling you something he wouldn't. 31:09 Well, God have been waking me up now early in the morning. 31:12 I started spending this time with him 31:14 And Jerry wasn't awake yet, so I went into the bathroom 31:17 to spend this time with God 31:19 'cause I don't want wake Jerry up. 31:20 And but I didn't sense God there like He usually was, 31:24 and I started saying, God, where are You? 31:26 You know, Your word is not speaking to me. 31:28 I just don't sense You are here. 31:30 And I just his faint, and I thought may be 31:33 because I was by the toilet. 31:34 But it really didn't matter where you are, 31:37 you know, God is there with you. 31:40 But I just sense God is saying to me, 31:42 Janet, I want you to deal with the sin problem now. 31:46 My sin problem, this particular one 31:48 was a bitterness or resentment towards someone who, 31:52 someone who had hurt me terribly many, many times, 31:56 and I just...God had been after me to ask their forgiveness. 32:00 And I thought for what? 32:01 They are the one who've done all the bad things to me. 32:03 I haven't done it to them anything. 32:05 Why should I be asking their forgiveness? 32:08 And as God started moving on me, I said, 32:10 you get them to call me and then I can talk to them. 32:15 Let them say something to me first. 32:17 But there was nothing, God wouldn't argue with me, 32:19 and I just...I was so, I so did not want to lose 32:23 that time with God that I got up 32:27 and went to call the person. 32:29 And I went outside the room down the hall, 32:32 because I didn't want Jerry to hear, it was embarrassing. 32:35 And the hallway to the, to...to... go where I could call 32:39 them, I'm thinking, "I hate this person." 32:43 They have been so mean to me. 32:44 I just said there's no way I can do this. 32:46 God, you've got to do it through me 32:48 the Holy Spirit because I can't. 32:50 And as I got him on the phone, I was hoping 32:52 that he wouldn't be home, but I woke him up, 32:54 it was so early in the morning. 32:57 I started jumping into asking forgiveness, 33:01 not knowing how to even do this but I'm praying, 33:03 Lord, how do I do this, but if I did it, 33:06 one thought after another kept coming to mind 33:09 that I specifically needed to ask forgiveness for. 33:11 And I was in shock and I am going, 33:14 will you forgive me for this? 33:15 And then, will you forgive me for this? 33:18 And then, will you forgive me for this? 33:20 I was hoping, praying that it would end soon, 33:24 I was in such shock, I didn't know 33:26 I've done these things to them. 33:28 And it finally ended, I was thankful. 33:33 But doing this knowing full well that they would never 33:36 ask my forgiveness, but you know what happened? 33:39 It's like a wave wash through me taking out 33:42 the bitterness and the resentment. 33:43 And in its place gave me 33:45 love and compassion for this person. 33:48 I don't know how it is for you, 33:50 but I can remember as a older teenager, young adult, 33:54 taking out the book Steps to Christ and reading it 33:57 and getting to those chapters on confession, 33:59 and repentance, and putting it away 34:02 'cause I knew it was calling me to go to someone 34:05 who I felt it hurt me a lot that I needed to ask 34:08 their forgiveness and I would not do it. 34:10 It dries up your experience. 34:14 There is such a freedom and a joy in going with 34:18 how God leads you to ask somebody's forgiveness, 34:21 to humble yourself, you cannot go wrong in doing that. 34:25 You know, that person I could be friends with him. 34:28 We still had our differences, 34:29 but God had brought healing there. 34:31 But that night in that motel room, 34:34 Jerry didn't want to go to the meeting. 34:36 He said, I'm gonna stay here, you can go 34:38 but I felt like I needed to stay with him. 34:40 And after I decided that I felt like God was saying 34:44 share with Jerry what happened on the phone this morning 34:46 'cause I had not told him about it, nobody. 34:50 And I started sharing it with him. 34:52 Now I knew something had been bothering Jerry, 34:54 but I didn't know what? 34:55 But if I shared with him what happened, 34:58 I could sense this emotional wall 35:00 just coming down in Jerry. 35:01 And I... as I telling him this, 35:06 you know, what he started telling me. 35:07 He started saying, yesterday, he says 35:11 as I walking back and forth here in the motel room, 35:13 I was in here alone, and I was going, God, 35:15 I don't want to be at these meetings, 35:17 I need to be back home doing my work. 35:19 Why did you make me come here. 35:20 They are teaching us how to pray, 35:22 and who are they teachers, I know how to pray. 35:24 My conference, we know how to pray, we pray. 35:26 So I don't need to be here, and Janet, 35:28 If Janet is so spiritual getting up so early 35:31 in the morning, spending time with you, 35:33 how comes she has a trouble with so and so. 35:38 It was a very next morning, that God 35:40 told me do it now and call this person. 35:43 When Jerry shared that with me, I was really in shock 35:46 'cause I was going, wait a minute 35:48 I thought you're always on my side. 35:51 Again I found out different at that time, excuse me. 35:58 I'm sorry, you don't have any. 36:03 Do you know those verses Matthew 23:12 that says, 36:06 "Whoever humbles himself, whoever exalted himself 36:08 will be humbled, whoever humbled himself 36:10 will be exalted." Or in James 4:6, 36:13 "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 36:17 Luke 14:11, It's the same thing as Matthew 23:12, 36:20 "Whoever exalted himself will be humbled, 36:22 whoever humbled himself will be exalted." 36:24 I always thought those verses are for somebody else. 36:28 I am not going be at anybody's door now, 36:31 and I just always be not going to deal with 36:33 those verses but do you know what? 36:35 If you have a problem with pride, you can't get away 36:38 from it if you read the Bible, it's everywhere. 36:40 It's just through the Bible about being humble. 36:43 And that night when Jerry shared with me 36:46 how he had been praying the day before. 36:48 I just got chills, because I realized 36:50 this really is a God thing. 36:52 He's the one that got me to do this morning. 36:55 He really does speak to me. It was just incredible to me. 36:59 But it then gave me the courage 37:02 'cause God was pushing on me then. 37:04 You need to talk to Jerry, and God had been after me 37:09 for a number of years to ask Jerry's forgiveness 37:11 for a number of things, and I always said, 37:13 no, no way, if I do that, you know, 37:15 he will just hold it over my head. 37:16 Next time, we have a disagreement, 37:19 and I wouldn't do it. 37:20 But because of what happened that morning, 37:22 he gave me the courage that night to ask 37:25 Jerry's forgiveness for a number of things. 37:27 And do you know what it did? 37:28 It did just what God's word says, 37:31 if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted. 37:35 It drew Jerry and I close together. 37:37 For years, I have been trying to exalt myself 37:40 and all I've been is humbled, 37:42 and now as I humbled myself, I was exalted. 37:45 We cannot go wrong in obeying God's word. 37:47 But you know that women's retreat. 37:50 We were meeting once a week praying. 37:52 Do you know what happens if you commit yourself 37:54 to get together and study the Bible and pray with people? 37:57 Do you know what happens? 37:58 Do you know what happens if you commit yourself 38:01 to spend time with God everyday in the Bible, 38:04 reading the word and praying, you know, what happens 38:06 You'll get busier than you've ever been, 38:09 you will get so busy, and that Satan will do 38:13 anything he can to keep you from spending that time. 38:16 And that's what was happening to me. 38:18 But I knew God has sent me these women to pray with them. 38:21 And I grip my teeth and say, I'm gonna go 38:23 pray with them, no matter what? 38:24 And we did, we kept meeting every week. 38:26 And when now women's retreat came. 38:29 We saw so many miracles happen there. 38:31 We had a woman that was physical healed. 38:33 The doctors, two years later were saying, 38:35 I don't know what it went on there, 38:37 but you're healed from a disease she'd had 38:39 for 13 years, a very serious disease. 38:41 But the most, the most beautiful thing 38:44 was the conversions of the lives that were changed. 38:47 The women were changed so much that 38:49 when they went back their husbands would call me 38:54 or write letters saying, thank you, thank you for you did. 38:57 Mean, it was nothing I did, it was, 38:58 you know, what God had done. 38:59 But churches were changed, because of what happened 39:02 at that retreat, well, my husband said, 39:04 this is wonderful what all happened. 39:06 He says, we've got to start doing this. 39:07 I said, doing what? He said, we've got to start meeting 39:10 with other families once a week to pray together 39:13 for our community, for the people around us, 39:15 for our school, so we started meeting with other families. 39:19 We got everybody to commit. 39:20 They would spend time daily with Jesus in the word. 39:23 If you want power when you pray with people, 39:26 spend time in the word with God. 39:29 Know your God, then you will be praying God's heart 39:33 when you meet with people to pray. 39:34 And we kept the list of the things we prayed for. 39:39 And after that first year, we saw over 15 people 39:42 that have been converted, that did not even, 39:45 we weren't even working with just 39:47 people we were praying for. 39:48 We start our academy, a revival started happening, 39:51 and one student after another wanting to be baptized. 39:54 They didn't know we were praying for them. 39:56 And through that God started showing me, 40:00 it's because of those people praying for you, Janet, 40:02 that your life has changed, praying for the Holy Spirit. 40:06 And it's because of that when we were asked to come 40:09 to the General Conference and Ted Wilson asked for revival 40:13 and reformation committee to try to encourage 40:15 revival and reformation across our world church. 40:18 And we were praying about what can we do? 40:21 Jerry talked with Mark Finley and said, 40:23 do you know what happened in our lives, 40:25 it was through people praying for the Holy Spirit 40:27 in us everyday at the same time. 40:30 And out of that Mark Finley came over with the idea, 40:33 let's get our people praying, seven days a week 40:37 at seven in the morning and seven in the evening. 40:39 You know, around the world that's always 40:41 gonna be different or somewhere to pray 40:44 during the day for the Holy Spirit to be poured out 40:47 on us as his people, so we can reach this world for Him. 40:50 My life was changed through that. 40:53 It's going to change this world. 40:55 I've seen in the church a pastor, 40:58 all he would do is get up and tell jokes from the pulpit. 41:02 He didn't come to prayer meeting. 41:04 He wouldn't do evangelistic meetings in his church, 41:06 and he needed to be converted. 41:09 And people that were in that church said, 41:11 we were just gonna go to another 41:12 Adventist Church nearby. 41:13 And we said, no, no, no, 41:14 you need to pray for him, and they did. 41:17 A small groups started to getting together and praying 41:20 for the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God would 41:22 give them Holy Spirit filled pastors, it took a while. 41:27 One of the biggest reasons, people don't see answers 41:30 to their prayers is they give up, they don't keep at it. 41:34 It is that we've got to beg God to work, it's not that. 41:37 There is a great controversy going on, 41:40 and God has limited Himself to our prayers. 41:43 We've got to join Him in praying, 41:46 so that He can work in this world. 41:47 It's just like witnessing. 41:49 The very rocks can cry out but He gives us the privilege 41:52 of reaching people for Him. 41:54 The same way with prayer, no one is blessed 41:57 like we are when we pray. 41:59 Job 42:10 in the King James, it says, 42:02 "Jobs captivity was turned around 42:05 when he prayed for his friends." 42:07 My captivity has been so turned around 42:10 as I have prayed for the people around me. 42:12 I pray more for others and the community that 42:15 I ever do for myself and yet God 42:17 continually blesses and blesses my life. 42:20 My son, my younger boy started going through 42:24 this rebellious time and I kept praying 42:26 and lot of people were praying is God 42:28 what do we do, what do we do? 42:29 And God led me one day to start praying. 42:32 Isaiah 42:3, it would says, 42:36 "The God will pour out His spirit on her 42:38 descendants and will bless them." 42:40 I said, but, Lord, he doesn't, 42:41 how can the Holy Spirit be in him, he is not living right. 42:43 He said, that doesn't matter, you just pray 42:47 for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on him. 42:49 That boy I wish he could be here right now but he can't. 42:52 He is with my 90-year- old my mother. 42:55 But that boy loves Jesus Christ. 42:58 He has been serving God for several years now, 43:01 doing youth evangelism and now he is at the seminary. 43:04 And my other son love Jesus, there's nothing our kids 43:07 and their wives love better then to get together 43:11 and to spend time praying together. 43:15 You think about it, it's the God of the universe 43:20 that wants to spend time with you. 43:23 You, you are very important to Him. 43:26 His heart grieves, His heart longs for us 43:29 to take time out of our busy lives and just sit and say, 43:33 Lord, help me to love You, help me to know You, 43:35 make Your words speak to me and He will do it. 43:39 It reminds me of Christmas time, when I go to spend 43:42 that time with Him, I don't know if you've 43:43 ever claimed Isaiah 40, no, Isaiah, I've lost it. 43:48 I get nervous up here and I can't remember text. 43:51 Isaiah 50 verse 4, It's a promise you can claim 43:54 asking God to wake you up, 43:56 so that you can spend time with Him. 43:59 And I didn't notice till later the reason 44:01 He wants to wake us up. 44:03 It's so He can instruct us, so we can help others. 44:07 And God will do that as you spend time with Him 44:10 in the mornings in his word or sometime 44:12 in the day when you can do it. 44:14 When you spend that time with Him, 44:15 God will lead you to someone to share 44:18 what He has shared with you to help somebody else. 44:21 It's incredible what He does. 44:22 But coming early in the mornings, 44:24 God would awake me up and the room maybe dark 44:27 and it's cold, and I go in there 44:28 to spend that time with Him. 44:29 It reminds me of Christmas time when my younger son 44:33 was then a little guy and he come home from school 44:36 and he wrapped a gift for me. 44:37 He made me some and then wrapped it himself. 44:40 He comes running and he goes, 44:41 mommy, mommy, can you look? 44:43 See what I made you for Christmas. 44:45 And he say, guess, and I guess I tried to shake 44:47 and I said, go put it down in the living room 44:49 and he put it out there. 44:51 He said, how long tell Christmas. 44:52 And I tell him how long. 44:53 Pretty soon, he had back out again 44:55 and he said, mommy, mommy, 44:57 can you guess what I made you. 44:58 And I would try to guess and then I tell him 45:01 put it away and he go, how long tell Christmas. 45:04 And I tell him how long. 45:06 He could not wait for me to open that gift 45:09 so that I could see, how much he loved me 45:13 by making me something. 45:15 And that's the way it is with our God. 45:17 He is so anxious to get you to sit still 45:21 so he can love you that He is just the room sometimes 45:27 feels like its just jumping alive with God. 45:29 Him wanting to spend time. 45:30 He's so happy I wanna sit still and let him 45:33 talk to me through His word. 45:34 What a God we serve, I hope we've seen it happen 45:39 in Central California where I was before coming here. 45:43 Youth risen up, youth risen up, 45:45 and I believe it's through all the prayers. 45:47 Shaun come on now. There is a Shaun back there, isn't there? 45:53 We're seeing so many youth they're not 45:56 young adults of lot of them. 45:57 They're on fire for God. 45:58 They're passionate about reaching people 46:01 for Jesus Christ, look at this room, 46:04 we need to, we need you forgive us as adults 46:08 for not showing you a real live experience in Jesus. 46:12 For not showing you that the most important thing 46:15 is not a new car, but reaching that person down the street. 46:19 Not that job, but reaching those people. 46:22 We want to just-Shaun. 46:29 We--I want to take you in a time of prayer. 46:31 And I just want to show you that prayer can be fun. 46:36 It can be fun but it's also powerful. 46:39 Powerful what God will do. 46:42 You know in prayer groups and I am not saying, 46:45 it's okay to do this. 46:47 But it's just hard for some of us. 46:49 But you are in a prayer group and this person 46:51 prays his long prayer. 46:52 Then this person prays his long prayer, 46:55 and then this person prays his long prayer. 46:56 Shaun is here. 47:00 By that time, I'm bored out of my mind, 47:03 you know, all these long prayers. 47:05 It's hard to stay with people. 47:07 So what we would like to show you tonight 47:09 is just to get you to pray brief prayers, 47:11 just short one sentence or two. 47:15 And we would like to just start with 47:17 praise and thanksgiving, it's a wonderful way. 47:20 I'll never forget the time I started with, God just, 47:23 you know, I was always Lord, help me this, 47:25 Lord do this, do that, do this. 47:26 And God said could you at least say hello first, 47:31 or good morning, or something. 47:34 Show Him how much you love Him, appreciate Him. 47:36 You want Him to answer to your prayers, 47:38 start praising and thanking Him more. 47:40 So we' re just gonna role model it show you 47:43 kind of how to do that, then we would like you to 47:46 if you're comfortable with it, 47:47 we don't wanna push you too hard. 47:49 Of course, they're going to Sabbath, do they know? 47:53 Right. Okay. Oh, Friday. Friday. 47:55 Okay, so we can push you now too. 47:57 We're gonna just ask you to get may be in 47:59 three's and four's and do the same thing. 48:01 So we'll try, push hard. 48:06 Father, as we start, would you just put on 48:10 our hearts how we could bring you joy right now. 48:17 For that your way is perfect. 48:19 Your love is so high, 48:25 would you help us just to see it? 48:29 Lord I am not good at words, God, you know, I am not. 48:32 But I just want you know, I love you, 48:34 I am so grateful, grateful that you 48:37 are wanting me as your child. 48:42 Father each heart in this room is precious to you. 48:46 Each heart in this world is precious to you. 48:49 There're so many that don't know you. 48:54 We wanna be catalyst Father to lead hearts to you. 49:02 In Isaiah 9:6 it says, for unto us a child is born 49:06 and unto us a son is given and the government 49:09 will be on his shoulder and his name will be wonderful. 49:12 Counselor, Mighty God. 49:14 Everlasting father, Prince of peace. 49:17 Thank you Father that You are 49:18 a wonderful Counselor, almighty God. |
Revised 2014-12-17