Participants: David Shin, Justin McNeilus
Series Code: 12GYC
Program Code: 12GYC000005
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00:12 Let's pray.
00:14 Blessed Father, here we are, it's the opening night of GYC. 00:18 We're excited. 00:21 We have an understanding that You will do great things 00:23 through this conference. 00:25 We have a trust that You would teach us more 00:27 about Yourself through this conference. 00:30 And so we ask that tonight through this, 00:33 this opening night that You would teach us 00:35 something about You. 00:37 We pray these things in Your precious name, amen. 00:40 I should alert you to the rest of the tonight's proceeding. 00:43 I'm not actually gonna preach to you tonight. 00:45 I've asked Israel to come up and have him 00:48 give our devotional thought. 00:49 He will do that a little bit later 00:50 because I wanted the opportunity 00:52 to explain a little bit to you of what I think GYC is 00:56 and why young people continue to be attracted to it. 00:59 Can I do that? A very presidential update. 01:03 Am I allowed to do that? Amen. 01:07 So what I would like to do is take us 01:08 through a very systematic approach to what GYC is. 01:14 We'll have a slide in just a second 01:15 but there's a gentleman by the name of Simon Sinek. 01:20 I maybe pronouncing his name incorrectly 01:22 but he takes to look at organizations 01:24 and movements and leaders and he says that you-- 01:26 there's a very common threat between the three of them. 01:30 If you look at them you can look at the "What," 01:32 the "How" and the "Why" of an organization. 01:36 Anyone ever familiar with this kind of thinking? 01:38 You can see it up on the screen, 01:40 What, How and Why of an organization. 01:43 Now with your permission we'll take that as our filter 01:46 and look at GYC. 01:49 So when outsider came in, looked at GYC, 01:52 what would be their perspective as to what GYC is? 01:59 This is the part where you interact, respond. 02:04 What would they say it is? Young people coming together. 02:07 Young people coming together. 02:09 A youth conference. A youth conference. 02:13 Anything else? Finished the work. 02:16 Finished the work. 02:17 Seventh-day Adventist. Seventh-day Adventist. 02:20 Revival. Revival. 02:24 All good answers and so, I think I heard someone say, 02:27 a youth conference. 02:29 Very clearly, if someone came in, 02:30 look through here and they looked around, 02:32 they surveyed the landscape of this, 02:34 they would say undoubtedly 02:35 we're a youth conference that is meeting. 02:38 Yes? Yes. 02:39 So we must ask ourselves a question. 02:41 Has GYC been successful in holding youth conferences? 02:46 I would submit to you, yes. 02:47 Let's take a look at the next slide, 02:49 this is year one from GYC. 02:52 The short version of the history of GYC is this. 02:54 A group of young people 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 year olds 02:58 got together and their collective thesis was this. 03:02 We want to study the Bible 03:04 and there must be other young people out there 03:06 that what to study the Bible. 03:08 And so they did something like any rest 16, 17, 18, 03:12 and 19 year olds would do. 03:13 They borrowed their parent's credit card 03:15 and they put a $50,000 down payment on a venue 03:20 and they held the youth conference 03:23 and God blessed it. 03:24 And you can see there visually on the screen 03:26 this is GYC 2002, there was representation 03:30 from three different continents or countries. 03:33 You know someone from China came to the first GYC, 03:37 even Australia? 03:39 It's fascinating to me, a bunch of young people. 03:44 So we moved on. 03:46 We continued to have youth conferences 03:48 and God has blessed our efforts. 03:51 And I want to take just a little bit of time 03:53 to go on international tangent with you 03:56 because we've been praying 03:58 for discernment for quite sometime 04:00 as to what GYC would look like on an international level. 04:04 And for a long time we prayed. 04:06 We want to go to a difficult territory 04:09 because we thought, you know, if we went to Asia, 04:11 if we went to Africa, if we went to South America, 04:14 we could probably get quite a few numbers 04:16 to come to the conference, 04:18 but we wanted difficult territory. 04:21 And so we surveyed the landscape of the church 04:24 and we decided that Europe was probably 04:26 the most difficult territory that our church has. 04:30 Middle East is probably up there. 04:34 That's Europe. 04:36 That's what happens when you don't have a clicker, 04:37 they go a little aggressively. 04:40 That's Europe. 04:41 Now let you what happened in Europe. 04:43 We put the Word out, the vibe up 04:45 that we wanted to have a conference in Europe. 04:48 And you know what immediately the critic said? 04:51 It's not gonna work. 04:53 You see the young people in Europe, 04:55 they don't want the same thing as the young people in America. 04:58 Just because it happens here, 04:59 doesn't mean it could happen there. 05:00 And further more listen to this young people, 05:03 the fact that the Seventh-day Adventist message 05:06 has to be segregated from country to country. 05:11 The message that we preach in Switzerland 05:13 will not work for the message we preach in Germany. 05:17 You think we believe that? Not for a second. 05:20 We went to our knees, we prayed and we said, 05:22 Lord, we want to go to Europe, 05:24 we're gonna take a spot in the middle of the continent 05:26 and we're gonna invite the entire continent to come 05:29 because the gospel message is not related to one country. 05:35 The gospel message transcends culture, 05:38 transcends age, transcends history 05:41 and it applies to everyone. 05:44 So we went to Europe, 05:45 we picked the place in the center of the country 05:47 and we put the Word out. 05:49 Critic said, young people will not come 05:51 and if further more or maybe one, 05:52 two countries will be represented. 05:54 Let's put the slide up again so you do not miss it. 05:57 The entire continent you can see is colored. 06:01 You know, what happens? 06:02 The same message that is preached in Switzerland 06:05 or in Italy or in Norway 06:07 or you pick the continent is relevant. 06:10 The Seventh- day Adventist message 06:11 is relevant anywhere in this world 06:14 and young people are proving that. 06:17 The critics they can go the side, 06:18 it can be preached anywhere. 06:21 And so the young people held a conference. 06:23 The word of GYC is a conference. 06:25 Each year we have young people coming 06:27 from countries and countries and countries. 06:30 And let me show you a graphic representation 06:32 of what we've had so far in GYC. 06:35 Fast forward a 11 years from 2002, 06:38 that is the impact. 06:40 That is actual attendees that have come 06:42 to the conference in the United States 06:44 or in Europe over the last 12 years. 06:48 We're creating a revolution. 06:53 The what of GYC is youth conferences 06:55 and God has blessed us. 06:57 We're the impacting the world 06:58 and we're creating a revolution. 07:01 There's an understanding now 07:02 that the Seventh-day Adventist message 07:04 for young people applies to anyone in any country. 07:08 The revolution is happening. 07:13 So what's the next step? How does it happen? 07:16 The what of GYC is certainly a young conference. 07:19 And among other things we produce resources, 07:21 we do mission trips, we do studies, weekends, 07:24 we do all these different thinks 07:26 that certainly is the what of GYC. 07:28 But how does it happen? 07:30 And to do that I want to just use this analogy. 07:34 Just bear with me. 07:36 My wife and I we stumbled across 07:38 some exciting news recently. 07:40 And I was gonna have her stand 07:41 but apparently she's way, way in the back 07:43 where no one would see her but she's in here. 07:45 And if she was here 07:46 and if she would come on stage like 07:48 I was hoping she would, 07:49 you would notice a certain glow about her, 07:54 because she's pregnant. 07:57 We found out that my wife is pregnant. 07:59 We're by God's willingness going to have a baby in July. 08:03 You don't have to clap. 08:04 You don't have to clap, don't clap. 08:07 We're very excited. 08:09 So you would notice the glow about her if you saw her. 08:13 Now immediately what happens is this, 08:15 we found out we're pregnant, 08:17 we found out we're gonna be having the baby 08:19 and so the next step is how do you tell the parents, 08:22 because the parents 08:23 are both grandparents for the first time. 08:25 Now my parents live in Minnesota 08:26 close to where we live. 08:28 So we were able to tell them face to face, 08:30 but I really sort of a slave to the dramatic things in life. 08:34 I really just, I just love 08:36 the theatrics of telling someone. 08:39 And so I was a discussion with my wife, I said, 08:41 you know, we should sneak out to your parents place 08:44 and show up there maybe late at night 08:45 or early in the morning 08:47 and maybe we've a baby carriage, maybe we don't, 08:50 but we just sneak out there and tell them 08:52 and it will be so excited, we'll do this, 08:54 this is a grand thing to tell them. 08:57 And she said, you know, we should just call them. 09:00 And I'm thinking what in the world 09:02 is it that we've a great news, we got to tell them, 09:04 we got to get there and she said 09:05 we got to call them. 09:06 And so we went back and forth and back and forth. 09:08 And we did like any happy married couple 09:10 would do, we compromised. 09:14 So as we're dialing the phone to call them, 09:18 no, no, no, no. 09:22 As we're dialing the phone to call them 09:26 my wife made an important 09:29 relevant pregnant with meaning thought. 09:33 There's a point intended there. She said this. 09:37 Justin, it doesn't matter how we tell them, 09:42 it's what we tell them. 09:46 We could slop it together in a text, 09:48 we could, we could call them, 09:50 we can Skype, we could email them, 09:51 we can do whatever it was but they are gonna be excited 09:54 because of the message that we're telling them. 09:58 And if you follow that logic to the next step, 10:00 it's the person behind the message 10:03 that we're telling them. 10:05 So how does GYC happen? It's sacrificial service. 10:10 Sacrificial service of our volunteers, 10:13 but it's the message that gives the power. 10:17 Won't you get it? 10:19 It happened in the Book of Acts. 10:20 A bunch of ordinary people 10:22 who preached an extraordinary message 10:24 and the gospel, the revolution just flew 10:26 through the whole Book of Acts. 10:28 You're looking, when our church started 10:30 Ellen White, J.N. Andrews, James White, 10:32 they are many of them, ordinary people 10:34 with an extraordinary message to preach. 10:37 And you look at GYC, last year we had 636 volunteers, 10:40 this year we'll have something equivalent to that, 10:42 ordinary people 10:44 with an extraordinary message to preach. 10:48 As volunteers we don't have any more talents 10:50 or anything else that you don't have, 10:53 but we have an extraordinary message to preach. 10:57 The what of GYC is a youth conference 10:59 and God has blessed it. 11:01 The how of GYC is sacrificial volunteers 11:05 preaching an extraordinary message. 11:09 But what about the "Why?" What about the "Why?" 11:20 The core of GYC, what it is? 11:26 Why you have been, 11:27 will be or should be attracted to GYC is this. 11:32 Radical commitment to Him. 11:38 Radical commitment to Him. 11:42 You see my thesis to this explanation is this. 11:45 If all the money from GYC dried up 11:47 and we could not have our conference, 11:49 if we could not have Seattle, 11:51 if we could not have Orlando next year, 11:53 if all the money dried up 11:54 and we could not have a youth conference, 11:57 GYC still exist 12:02 because there's still commitment to Him. 12:05 There are still men and young men, 12:07 young women who are praying 12:09 to their Savior night after night. 12:11 There are still young people scattered around the world 12:13 who are committed to study in the Word. 12:15 There are still young people all over the world 12:17 who are committed to learning more about 12:18 the Sprit of Prophecy. 12:20 There are still young people who are brought to tears 12:22 when the Adventist churches are erected. 12:24 They are still young people 12:25 who despite the clause are smuggling 12:27 in Ellen White books in to countries. 12:29 They are still young people 12:30 who are coming up by the thousands 12:32 proclaiming that we want to be committed to Him. 12:35 We don't need a youth conference, 12:36 GYC exists without it 12:39 because you are committed to Him. 12:43 So why is the Why important? 12:46 And Simons account in his book of What, 12:49 How and Why of explanations. 12:50 He looks at two examples. 12:53 There was a man by the name of Langley. 12:56 Langley was given $50,000 by the government. 13:00 He was given all the best Ivy League mines and flight. 13:04 The New York Times followed him around 13:07 and he set out to be the first man in flight. 13:11 At the same time the Wright Brothers, 13:14 there they were financing their-- 13:16 their mangled institution with their money 13:19 from their bike shop. 13:21 They didn't have anyone with the college degree. 13:24 The New York Times didn't follow them anywhere in fact. 13:29 But you never heard of Langley, 13:32 and my assumption is you heard of the Wright Brothers. 13:36 Langley didn't make the first of flight 13:38 and that the authors premise is this. 13:41 He had the Why mistaken. The difference was this. 13:46 Langley was driven by a passion to be rich 13:49 and to be famous and he failed. 13:52 The Wright Brothers only wanted to fly, 13:54 that's all they cared about and they succeeded. 13:59 They had the Why in place. 14:02 GYC we must understand the Why of why we're here. 14:06 It is the unfiltered, unhindered, 14:09 radical commitment to Him. 14:13 I'm sure it manifests itself in different ways. 14:16 It gives us a passion for souls like Paul. 14:18 It gives us the humility of Mary. 14:20 It gives us the commitment to our church. 14:22 I don't doubt it, 14:23 but at the end of the day GYC exists 14:26 because you and I have a desire 14:28 to be radically committed to Him. 14:32 Now let me be 100 percent raw and open and expose to you, 14:36 which is not in my nature. 14:40 But I've alerted to the board, to the fact that 14:42 and the executive committee, next year after Orlando 14:45 I'm gonna step down as president. 14:48 It's time for me to retire, I'm getting old. 14:54 And I think through this process of understanding 14:57 what no GYC in my life means, at least in the capacity 15:01 I'm now understanding that 15:03 I've hit a bit of a midlife crisis. 15:07 I've always plague with the sense 15:10 of under accomplishment. 15:12 I just can't shake it. 15:15 And when I take a long unfiltered look in the mirror, 15:18 here's my conclusion. 15:20 Sure there are selfish worldly ambitions 15:22 that I've to push through but at my core, 15:26 at my core of my unrest is the unsettling fact 15:29 that I'm the president of one of God's greatest movements 15:33 and I think we've settled. 15:37 I think through our success of all these great pictures 15:40 and all these great people coming 15:42 and all the thousands and thousands of people 15:45 that we get, we have settled and we missed the Why. 15:51 We understand the What. 15:53 We understand the How but we missed the Why. 15:57 When GYC started we're gonna preach to the world, 16:01 we're gonna wear out the pages of our Bible, 16:03 we're gonna pray without ceasing 16:05 and Jesus was gonna come again in our generation. 16:09 Jesus in our generation. 16:12 It was the heart of GYC then 16:14 and it needs to be the heart of GYC now. 16:17 GYC is not a youth conference. 16:20 It is not an association of youth club presence at the GC. 16:23 It's not a series. 16:24 It's not a bunch of biblical preaching. 16:27 It's not a map. It's not any of those things. 16:30 GYC is you and your commitment to him. 16:37 Young people don't screw up the Why. 16:42 Some of you have come because it was cool. 16:46 But I pray you leave and come back next year 16:48 because you're committed to Him. 16:50 Some of you came because your youth group came 16:52 but I pray you leave and comeback next year 16:54 because you're committed to Him. 16:56 Some of you came and met, 16:57 hoping to meet someone from the opposite sex 17:00 but I pray that you comeback next year 17:02 because you're committed to Him. 17:05 GYC is you. 17:07 Believe you can preach to the world. 17:09 Wear out the pages of your Bible. 17:11 You pray without ceasing and you believe 17:13 Jesus gonna come in your generation. 17:16 GYC is you and your commitment to Him, 17:20 radical commitment that is what GYC is. 17:23 We're not a youth conference, 17:24 we're not an organization of young people, 17:27 we are you and your commitment to Him. 17:33 And I would submit to you 17:34 that GYC can be summed up into one word. 17:38 One word. 17:40 You can pass all the preaching, 17:41 you can pass the stage, the lights, 17:43 the great graphics, the flowers, everything else, 17:46 and at the end of the day 17:47 GYC can be expressed in one word. 17:52 At the core of GYC it is faithfulness, 17:59 faithfulness, faithfulness, 18:05 faithfulness, faithfulness. 18:11 Let's pray. 18:14 Heavenly Father, 18:16 we understand that You blessed us greatly. 18:20 The What of GYC that youth conference is. 18:25 We don't deserve it 18:26 but You've done something great here. 18:29 We look at the How and it's that sacrificial service. 18:33 Young people volunteering with a powerful message, 18:38 it's the message that makes the volunteers extraordinary. 18:42 It's not the volunteers themselves. 18:45 And Lord, we looked at the Why. 18:49 We come to the realization 18:50 that GYC is not a youth conference, 18:52 it's not an association of youth, 18:54 it's-- it's not any of those things 18:56 where we need to placein the What category it's us. 19:01 It's the young man sitting in a seat 19:03 that's what to be committed to you. 19:06 It's the young woman that sitting in her seat 19:08 that wants to be committed to you 19:09 and so Lord, as we go through this weekend we pray 19:13 that we'd have a more firm understanding 19:15 of why it is we're here, 19:18 because we want to be radically committed to You. 19:22 We want to wear out the pages of our Bible. 19:25 We want to pray without ceasing. 19:27 We want to believe that You can come in our generation. 19:33 We want all the scores away and when we go home 19:35 we pray that at the end of the day 19:39 we would be found faithful, 19:42 faithfulness, faithfulness, 19:49 faithfulness, amen. 19:55 I like to invite you to bow your heads with me 19:57 as pray this evening. 20:02 Our Father in Heaven, 20:04 we thank you for this opportunity 20:06 that we're having to come into Your presence. 20:12 We recognize tonight that Your strength is perfect 20:17 when our strength is gone. 20:21 As we talk about revolution, as we talk about 20:26 how You moved in the Book of Acts, 20:30 how priorities were shifted in the hearts of Your people 20:37 we pray that You would speak to us. 20:42 We pray that Christ would be uplifted 20:46 that Jesus would be seen. 20:49 Cover us with Your robe of righteousness here tonight. 20:55 May our hearts be drawn closer and closer to You. 21:00 For we ask these things in Jesus name, amen. 21:06 This evening I'd like to invite you to turn with me 21:08 in your Bibles to Psalms 90:10-12. 21:15 The Book of Psalms 21:18 Chapter 90:10-12. 21:28 Revolutions even though they are corporate events, 21:35 always begin with individual change. 21:41 God always changes the world by changing me. 21:49 Revolutions even though they are mass scale, 21:52 always begin with an individual conversion. 21:59 A conversion is a reorganization 22:01 of the thoughts and priorities of the hearts. 22:03 It's a radical experience and as Pastor Wes Peppers 22:07 mentioned this morning, 22:08 it begins the process with repentance. 22:15 The Book of Acts is no exception 22:19 and this evening I'd like for us 22:21 to reflect on some scriptures that show us 22:23 that there are certain times in our human experience 22:28 when even unconverted individuals 22:31 recognize heavens values. 22:35 The Bible tells us what is important, 22:37 what we should live for 22:39 but there are certain in aid experiences 22:42 that help us to recognize 22:45 what is ultimately important in life. 22:50 In Psalms 90:10-12, 22:54 it's a reflection by the psalmist and he says, 22:57 "The days of our lives are seventy years, 23:02 and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, 23:07 yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, 23:10 for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 23:15 Who knows the power of Your anger? 23:16 For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 23:21 So teach us to number our days, 23:25 that we may gain a heart of understanding." 23:31 The Bible tells us that life is short. 23:36 Life is finite, we do not live forever. 23:39 And he says here and even back in the days of the psalmist, 23:42 he says, there are 70 years 23:44 and if reason of strength they are 80 years. 23:49 The Bible is telling us that it is good for us 23:52 to recognize our mortality 23:54 that we do not live forever. 24:00 So the psalmist goes on and says, 24:01 "So teach us to number our days." 24:06 We need to count to calculate, 24:08 to recognize that life is short 24:11 and this helps us to gain a heart of understanding. 24:20 And so this morning with your permission 24:21 I'd like to have us meditate 24:25 for a little bit about the brevity of life. 24:27 It says to number our days. 24:29 So I want to take this literally. 24:32 Let's say that you live till 70 24:34 and I pray that you live longer 24:36 if the Lord doesn't come, amen. 24:38 But just for the sake of illustration, 24:40 let's use the psalmist example and say, 24:42 you live till 70 years of age that comes to, 24:46 if you multiply 365 24:48 by 70, 25,550 days. 24:58 If you're 20 years of age, 25:03 you have 18,250 days left. 25:10 If you're 35, 25:13 and you paid the penalty 25:16 for being over 35, 25:21 you have 12,775 days left. 25:29 If you're 50, 7,300 days. 25:40 James says in James 4:14. 25:43 "Whereas you know not what shall be tomorrow. 25:46 For what is your life? 25:48 It is even a vapor that appears for a little time 25:51 and then vanishes away." 25:52 Life is short. Life is finite. 25:55 I remember my grandmother telling me 25:57 in one of those moments that I had, that I treasure. 25:59 She was sitting down with me at the table in my home 26:06 and she said, David, I want to tell you 26:09 a reflection of my life. 26:10 She told me how she escaped from North Korea. 26:15 Went to Japan as a missionary. 26:18 Came to America, worked her fingers to the bone 26:22 to provide an education for her family. 26:25 Finally she said, she got to the point in her life 26:28 where she could breathe or sigh of relief 26:30 and then she looked in the mirror 26:31 and she was over 70 years of age. 26:35 And she said, live is short. Life is finite. 26:40 We do not live forever and it's in this moment 26:42 that the Bible tells us 26:44 reflecting upon our own mortality 26:47 that it shows us something about values. 26:51 It shows us something about priorities. 26:56 I found another statistic, 26:58 it said, for the average American 26:59 who leaves college at 22 and lives to be 70. 27:03 So average college student graduates at 22, 27:08 he lived to 70 it's 48 years from 22 to 70. 27:13 The adult lifespan can be broken down 27:17 into a few key activities. 27:21 You will spend 16 years working. 27:25 Sixteen years if you would have compressed 27:27 that time to 16 years non-stop without taking breaks 27:30 for eating, sleeping or vacationing. 27:35 You will spend 15 years sleeping. 27:40 Some of us more than other. 27:45 Sixteen years working, 15 years sleeping. 27:50 The next biggest strain on your time, 27:52 they say, on average it's media. 27:55 They're saying, you could spend 27:56 up to eight years watching television, 27:59 on the internet or other sources. 28:03 Four years eating. 28:10 Two years commuting for the average American. 28:15 And when you subtract all these things, 28:17 16 years working, 15 years sleeping, 28:23 four years eating, eight years in media, 28:27 two years commuting, 28:29 you have less than four years 28:31 to do what you actually like. 28:37 Time with a spouse or loved one. 28:40 Time with the children and grandchildren, 28:43 outings, and vacations, 28:45 it comes down to 1/12 of your life. 28:50 A maximum of five minutes every hour 28:55 and tragically most of that time 28:58 will be postponed to a period called retirement. 29:02 When many people no longer enjoy the health 29:04 needed to live life to the fullest. 29:09 Life is short. 29:14 James 4:14 says, "For what is your life? 29:16 It is a vapor that lives and appears for a time 29:19 and vanishes away." 29:22 Psalms 39:5 says, 29:23 "Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, 29:26 and my age is as nothing before You, certainly every man 29:29 at his best state is but a vapor." 29:35 Psalms 103:15-16. 29:37 "For as a man, his days are like grass, 29:40 as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 29:42 For as the wind passes over it, and it is gone, 29:44 and it remembers it no more." 29:49 Billy Graham that American evangelist said 29:51 the greatest surprise to me 29:54 is the brevity of life. 29:59 Life is short, so the obvious question is, 30:04 how should I spend it? 30:07 If you only have a few moments to actually do, 30:13 to actually be, to actually prioritize, 30:17 what should I do? 30:19 How should I spend my life? How should I spend my time? 30:23 Ecclesiastes 7:2, that great experiential chapter 30:29 from the wisest man that ever lived 30:32 in a personal reflection upon life says these words. 30:38 Ecclesiastes 7:2, he says, 30:44 "Better to go to the house of" what? 30:49 He says, "Better to go to the house of mourning 30:53 than to the house of feasting, 30:56 for that is the end of all men, 31:00 and the living will take it to heart." 31:06 Solomon is saying that it's better to go to a funeral 31:10 than to a wedding. 31:13 If I had my choice I'd rather go to a wedding. 31:18 Solomon is not saying that we should go to funerals 31:21 because he's a melancholy individual. 31:27 He is saying that, funerals, places of mourning, 31:31 help the living to recognize their mortality 31:36 and it's in this event 31:39 that priorities and values are recognized. 31:45 Several years ago I had the privilege 31:47 of going to Africa on a mission trip 31:54 and it was an incredible experience. 31:57 I'd never been to Africa before 31:58 I've since gone a few more times. 32:02 And I noticed immediately that economic poverty 32:07 does not equates spiritual lethargy. 32:13 People would stop me in the jungle and say, 32:16 do you have any literature? 32:19 In America you can't give it away. 32:22 And it was an experience 32:24 where I saw souls come to Christ. 32:27 We had a wonderful time. 32:29 There was an element of discomfort though 32:31 and it seems like even in the States 32:33 whenever I'm in a place that is more tropical, 32:36 I don't know because I'm Asian or because of my blood 32:41 but it seems like I can be in a place 32:43 and no one else is getting bit by mosquitoes 32:45 but they are just swarming all round me. 32:49 And this was the case I had multiple welts 32:51 all over my body but I said, hey, 32:53 this is for missions, this is for the Lord. 32:57 I would suffer for Him 33:01 and I came back to the States 33:06 it was around December, went to my parents home, 33:11 it's around Christmas break and I started getting flu like 33:15 symptoms there's a flu going around. 33:20 And this is a little bit different. 33:22 I would wake up in the middle of the night chills. 33:25 I've to change all my clothes 33:26 and lot of other things happening 33:29 which I won't go into detail. 33:33 It was absolutely misery and one day, two day, 33:36 three days, four days, five days, six days go by 33:39 and finally in the middle of the night 33:42 I feel this incredible impression. 33:44 David you need to go to the hospital, 33:45 this is not normal. 33:49 I'm a typical male. I do not like hospitals. 33:56 I can't remember the last time 33:57 I've gone to the doctor for a check up. 33:59 My wife keeps reminding me I should go. 34:01 And that night I crawl upstairs, 34:04 I said, mom, dad, something is wrong, 34:06 we need to go to the hospital. 34:07 They bundled me up, took me off to the hospital. 34:09 The doctor on call that night had been to Africa. 34:16 He took one look at me and he said David, 34:20 I don't even need to see the blood test. 34:23 You're six days into this, I think you have malaria. 34:30 He educated me very quickly about what malaria was. 34:33 When mosquito comes and bites you 34:35 and he takes your blood but leaves a gift. 34:41 He leaves a parasite 34:44 and that parasite incubates in your liver 34:47 and then in a few days or few weeks it comes out 34:50 and this parasite goes into your red blood cell, 34:53 starts multiplying and then when it reaches 34:56 a certain capacity it bursts. 34:58 Then they go out to another red blood cell 35:01 and it keeps going and that's why you get fever 35:03 and flu like symptoms. 35:04 And the type of malaria I had, 35:07 I found out later was called falciparum 35:11 and they say that you have up to seven days to treat it. 35:16 I was on day six and they said 35:17 even if you catch it at day six or seven 35:22 you get liver failure, kidney failure, 35:25 you could be on dialysis for the rest of your life 35:28 and you could die. 35:31 And I'm sitting there 35:35 in that hospital bed 35:39 sweat pouring down my face, my parents looking at me, 35:45 and I said look, this is something 35:47 you read out in Readers Digest. 35:50 I said this is always happens to someone else not me. 35:56 And I recognized that night, 36:01 a recognition on what I thought was my death bed 36:09 knowing that I might not making it through the night. 36:12 I want to tell you that my priorities crystallized. 36:18 It's an element of human experience. 36:21 I recognized what was ultimately important. 36:26 And it came down to two things 36:30 or two individuals or two entities. 36:33 God, if I don't make it through the night, 36:38 do I have a relationship with Him 36:42 and the other one was people, 36:44 everything else paled into insignificance. 36:51 There was no fog, 36:53 there was ultimate clarity. 36:58 "Better to go to the house of mourning 37:04 than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, 37:09 and the living will take it to heart." 37:16 Recognizing our mortality is a healthy endeavor. 37:26 I did youth ministry for a few years 37:32 and as I would talk to these academy kids 37:35 and high school kids, I would ask them, 37:39 let's say that you're on a plane, 37:42 Transatlantic flight and the pilot comes 37:47 over the intercom and he says, 37:51 we're having some technical difficulties, 37:56 this is not turbulence and for whatever reason 38:00 he tells you that we're going to crash in the Atlantic Ocean 38:05 and you have five minutes before impact. 38:10 And the pilot says, use those five minutes well. 38:15 And I ask these teenagers, 38:19 what would you do for the last five minutes of your life? 38:25 And I said how many of you would play video games 38:27 for the last five minutes of your life? 38:31 Not a single hand went up. 38:34 I said how many of you ladies would go off to the bathroom 38:37 and check your hair because you want to die pretty? 38:42 Not a single hand went up. 38:44 I said how many of you would watch television 38:46 or be on the internet? 38:47 Not a single hand went up. 38:50 And then I asked them, how many of you would pray? 38:56 Every single hand went up. 38:58 And I said how many of you would call your parents? 39:03 Every single hand went up 39:05 and I said, isn't it ironic that the two people 39:09 you want least in your life right now 39:10 when you're about to die are the two people 39:12 that you want most in your life. 39:17 Better to go to the house of mourning 39:22 than to the house of feasting, 39:27 for the living will take it to heart. 39:36 I was listening on the radio, 39:40 it was the 10th anniversary of September 11. 39:47 And I don't know how many of you ever heard StoryCorps. 39:51 It's an audio description of people 39:56 testifying about certain events. 40:01 And on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 40:04 they had different individuals that would come on 40:06 that had lost loved ones in that terrible event. 40:13 And there was one widow that was on the radio, 40:18 her testimony just broke my heart. 40:20 She says that, her husband worked on tower one. 40:25 She heard the news that one of the towers had been hit 40:29 and then she received a chilling phone call, 40:33 it was her husband. 40:37 And her husband is on the phone and he says, 40:42 I'm above the explosion. 40:46 I've checked every exit 40:49 and I don't think I'm going to make it. 40:53 And she tells the story about how for half an hour 40:56 they are on the phone. 40:57 What would you do with that last half hour with your spouse 41:00 and she's talking and their sharing experiences 41:03 and finally they get to the place 41:04 where they had nothing more they could say 41:07 and all they are saying is I love you, 41:10 I love you, I love you, I love you, 41:13 and then there is the crash and silence 41:15 and she says, she was sitting there 41:17 with the phone on her heart weeping 41:19 and she said she-- not want to go to bed that night 41:22 because as long as she stayed awake 41:24 she believed that it was the day 41:26 that she had spent with her husband. 41:30 Instinctively people that knew they were perishing, 41:35 knew what was important and knew whom to call, 41:42 people, relationships. 41:47 If we discovered we only had five minutes left 41:49 to say all that we ever wanted to say, 41:53 every cell phone would be occupied by people 41:56 calling other people to stammer, I love you. 42:04 "Better to go to the house of mourning 42:07 than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, 42:13 and the living will take it to heart." 42:19 Blaise Pascal says this, 42:20 "I've learned to define life backwards 42:24 and live it forwards." 42:28 I like to invite you to turn with me 42:29 in your Bibles to the Book of Acts, Acts 4:32. 42:37 The corporate revolution in the Book of Acts was made 42:44 and represented by individuals 42:49 that had one heartbeat, 42:54 one priority. 42:57 Acts 4:32. 43:06 "Now the multitude of those who believed 43:08 where of one heart and one soul, 43:13 neither did anyone say that any of the things 43:16 he possessed was his own, 43:18 but they had all things in common. 43:23 And with great power the apostles gave witness 43:25 to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 43:28 And great grace was upon them all. 43:31 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked, 43:33 for all who were possessions of lands or houses sold them, 43:37 and brought the proceeds of the things 43:40 that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet, 43:44 and they distributed to each as anyone had need." 43:51 The energies, time 43:53 and resources in the Book of Acts 43:56 was sacrificed for the salvation of souls. 44:01 The Book of Acts represents a radical paradigm shift 44:06 in the minds o f the disciples 44:08 where every resource was invested 44:13 in what heaven values most, souls in the kingdom. 44:19 It was a paradigm shift of priorities 44:22 where God and the worth of souls 44:24 was supremely realized. 44:34 There was a man that had a dream. 44:39 And in this dream he was hearing voices. 44:44 One voice in particular told him to go down this path 44:49 and was giving him direction around the path, 44:51 go left, go right and finally the voice said stop. 44:56 He stopped and the voice said, 44:58 I want you to pick up these rocks 45:00 and place them in your pocket. 45:03 So he did that. 45:04 He place the rocks in his pocket 45:06 and, then the voice told him 45:09 go back out the path, go home, 45:11 don't look at the rocks until you get home 45:13 and when you look at the rocks 45:14 you will be extremely elated 45:18 and at the same time you will be extremely sad. 45:22 He thought that was strange 45:23 to experience two conflicting emotions 45:25 but he followed that instruction 45:27 and went out of the path, came back home 45:29 and reached into his pocket to pick out the rocks 45:34 and he looked at them in the light 45:37 and they were not rocks, they were diamonds. 45:42 And then he understood the meaning of the words. 45:45 You will be extremely happy, yet you will be extremely sad 45:48 because he was happy. 45:49 Yes, because he had the diamonds 45:52 but if he recognized the value of the rocks 45:57 he would have taken more. 46:00 I believe that we won't recognize 46:02 the value of a soul until we stand 46:06 on the sea of glass in heaven. 46:09 And it's my prayer here tonight that none of us, 46:12 when we get to heaven we'll have any regrets 46:16 as to what God would have us to have done here on earth 46:21 while we had the opportunity. 46:25 I think of Jesus. 46:29 In Luke Chapter 15, 46:32 He's portraying to the disciples 46:35 and to the people, 46:36 how heaven looks at individuals. 46:42 He's hanging around with individuals 46:45 that the Pharisee say, He should not be around 46:47 and suddenly the Pharisees come up to Him and say, 46:50 why you're hang around with these people? 46:52 And Jesus says to them, I want to tell you a story. 46:55 It was actually one story 46:57 but it's three stories combined to portray a point. 47:01 It's the parable of the lost sheep, 47:03 the lost coin and the lost son. 47:08 In all three stories there is something that is lost. 47:13 Illustrating three lost conditions, 47:15 the sheep, doesn't know he's lost, 47:18 doesn't know the way back home. 47:20 The coin-- doesn't know he's lost. 47:26 The Prodigal Son knows he's lost, 47:30 knows he's way back home at the end each parable 47:34 there is a celebration that takes place. 47:39 The lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son 47:44 and it helped me to recognize, 47:47 that when I knelt down in the hills of Pennsylvania 47:51 and gave my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ 47:55 that heaven, God the Father, God the son, 47:59 God the Holy Spirit, the angels they stopped. 48:05 Those are moment of silence and then celebration. 48:13 And there was place reserved in heaven for me 48:18 just in that moment. 48:23 Who can estimate 48:25 the value of a soul in the eyes of God? 48:33 I like to read the statement from Ellen White. 48:39 Review and Herald, March 25, 1880. 48:45 "Here is a work for every one of us to do. 48:50 Never did I see and sense the value of souls 48:54 as I do at the present time. 48:57 How can we realize the important 49:01 the importance of the work of salvation? 49:04 In comparison with the value of the soul, 49:07 everything else sinks into insignificance. 49:11 This world and its treasures, this life and its happiness, 49:16 are of little consequence, when we compare them 49:19 with the joy of even one soul eternally saved. 49:25 Until we have a clear and distinct ideas 49:29 of what that soul will enjoy 49:31 when saved in the kingdom of glory, 49:34 until we can fully comprehend the value of that life 49:38 which measures with the life of God, 49:41 until we can fully realize the riches of that reward 49:45 which is laid up for those 49:47 who overcome and gain the victory, 49:49 we cannot know the inestimable value of the soul. 49:54 If I had a thousand lives, I would devote them all 49:59 to the service of the Lord. 50:03 Let us consider, dear friends, 50:06 what joy unspeakable will fill our hearts 50:10 in the day of God, 50:12 if, as we gather around the great white throne, 50:15 we shall see souls, saved through our instrumentality, 50:19 with the crown of immortal glory upon their brows. 50:23 How shall we feel as we look upon that company, 50:27 and see one soul saved through our agency, 50:30 who has saved others, and still others, 50:34 a large assembly brought into the haven of rest 50:38 as the result of our labors, 50:41 there to lay their crowns at the feet of Jesus 50:45 and to praise him with immortal tongues 50:48 throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity." 50:55 The Book of Acts represents 50:58 a radical transformation in human nature, 51:00 recognizing what heaven values most 51:06 is people. 51:09 What heavens values most is souls 51:14 and heaven forbid that when we get to heaven 51:21 that we will live a moment of regret 51:25 recognizing on that side of eternity 51:29 what is ultimately valuable. 51:38 I was at a pastor's retreat... 51:43 and one of the pastor stood up 51:45 and told us an experience that his wife had. 51:53 And he said that his wife was praying to the Lord, 51:57 she has a powerful prayer ministry 52:01 and she was praying, Lord Jesus, 52:04 please show me Your heart. 52:07 I want to see Your heart. 52:12 She fell asleep and in her sleep 52:16 she had a dream. 52:19 It was after the millennium, 52:23 the New Jerusalem had comedown from heaven. 52:28 Praise the Lord she was inside the city. 52:33 And she said the walls were of transparent gold. 52:37 She could see through them 52:38 and on the horizon she could see a shadow 52:41 that filled the entire landscape 52:43 and the shadow approached the city 52:47 and she said that, she could see that, 52:49 it was not a shadow but it was people. 52:54 They got closer and closer to the city 52:57 and she started to see faces. 53:01 There was one face that broke her heart, 53:05 it was her son. 53:10 Her son saw the mother through the walls 53:15 and in the dream the son walks up 53:18 to the walls of the New Jerusalem, 53:21 places his hands on the walls. 53:25 She places her hands on the wall. 53:29 And she could not hear through the wall 53:31 but she could hear or read his lips 53:33 and he's saying mom, 53:37 let me in, please let me in. 53:44 And instinctively from the mothers heart 53:46 she turned to try to let her son in 53:48 and she recognize that she couldn't. 53:53 And in that moment she heart the voice, 53:54 now is the time and she woke up. 54:03 And it was as if the Spirit of God was telling her 54:08 now you know My heart. 54:16 Friends, 54:22 I pray this evening 54:27 that God would give us 54:31 a love for souls for whom Christ died. 54:33 Amen? Amen. 54:37 I want to say Lord Jesus, help me to love people 54:39 like You love people because I don't. 54:43 Give me a love for souls for whom Christ died 54:46 so that when I stand in that New Jerusalem 54:50 I can say by the grace of God 54:52 that I've done everything possible 54:55 to influence as many people for the kingdom. 54:59 And tonight I want to make a very simple appeal, 55:03 this has what moved the revolution 55:04 in the Book of Acts. 55:05 They valued what heaven valued. 55:08 They invested in what heaven valued. 55:10 They gave up everything for the salvation of souls. 55:15 And tonight, I want to pray in my heart. 55:19 David, asking the Lord Jesus 55:23 give me a love for people 55:29 that You shed Your blood upon Calvary for. 55:31 Is that your desire here tonight? 55:34 It's something that we can not manufacture. 55:38 It's not something that we can try 55:40 to conjure up in our own nature. 55:41 It is a divine love for souls for whom Christ died. 55:46 Let the revolution begin and let it begin with me. 55:52 When we love the world as Christ loved the world, 55:59 then His mission for us is accomplished. 56:07 Is that your desire here tonight? 56:08 Amen. 56:09 Lord, help me to love people like You love people. 56:13 Let's bow our heads together as we pray. 56:20 Our Father in Heaven, 56:26 we pray tonight 56:31 that You would help us love people like You love people. 56:36 We pray tonight that You would help us 56:38 to see people the way that You see people. 56:44 That heaven values would become our values. 56:51 That when we stand on the sea of glass with You 56:55 that You would help us to recognize, 57:00 by the grace of God 57:01 that we've done everything possible 57:04 to lead people into the kingdom. 57:07 May we not live a moment of regret. 57:12 Help us to recognize from your perspective 57:17 what is ultimately important. 57:20 For we ask these things in Jesus name 57:24 and for His sake, amen. |
Revised 2015-02-05