Participants: Magna Parks PhD.
Series Code: 13SCM
Program Code: 13SCM000017
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00:31 Good morning and Happy Sabbath.
00:34 We just want to welcome everyone who's tuning in 00:37 from around the world to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting 00:41 2013. We're coming to you live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:46 And we have a beautiful live audience with us here 00:50 and they're very lively this morning. Happy Sabbath! 00:53 Happy Sabbath. 00:55 Oh I love it! You know what? 00:57 It is not only a day that memorializes God as Creator 01:02 but as the One who's re-creating us in the image 01:05 of Jesus Christ. My favorite scripture on the Sabbath 01:09 is Exodus 31:13. 01:11 That it is God who sanctifies us. 01:14 That's His will for us. 01:16 And I just want to as I'm getting ready to introduce 01:19 a song here I want to read a scripture to you. 01:22 Comes from John chapter 10 01:24 and I'm going to read... begin in verse 27. 01:27 This is Jesus speaking and He said: 01:30 "My sheep hear My voice 01:32 and I know them and they follow Me. 01:34 And I give them eternal life 01:38 and they shall never perish. 01:40 Neither shall anyone else 01:44 snatch them from out of My hand. 01:46 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all 01:49 and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 01:53 I and My Father are One. " 02:12 I've heard what doesn't kill us makes us strong. 02:19 And I've heard it's always darkest before the dawn. 02:26 But all I know is that God's promises 02:31 are true 02:34 and He only wants what's best for you. 02:40 We have this hope 02:43 that all hurting will be gone. 02:47 We have this hope 02:50 that all tears will be left behind. 02:56 I know down here life is hard 03:00 and the world is so unkind 03:03 but hold on because 03:06 we have this hope. 03:14 Every one of us has heartaches and trials. 03:21 Just remember we're only here 03:24 for a short while. 03:29 Sometimes I feel I've had more 03:33 than my share 03:36 but He won't give us more 03:39 than we can bear. 03:42 We have this hope 03:45 that all hurting will be gone. 03:49 We have this hope 03:52 that all tears will be left behind. 03:58 I know down here life is hard 04:02 and the world is so unkind 04:06 but hold on because 04:08 we have this hope. 04:12 And this hope for us 04:17 is Jesus. 04:26 So hold on because 04:29 we have this hope. 04:44 Amen! 04:49 I have the great pleasure of introducing you to someone 04:54 who's very special to me. This is Shannon Knight, 04:57 and she and her husband Derek have become members of the 05:00 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 05:02 And they have two beautiful children. 05:05 And they're such a special addition to our church 05:07 because they've just jumped in 05:09 and really done many wonderful things. 05:12 But Shannon, first of all thank you for being here. 05:15 Don't be nervous. Thank you for having me. 05:18 OK, let me ask you... We want you to tell 05:21 your story. You had a relationship with the Lord 05:26 for a long time - right - before you learned 05:29 additional truths, right? Right. 05:31 Tell me about it. We were deeply rooted in the Baptist 05:34 faith... it was over 30 years. 05:38 And just one day driving to work I was changing the radio 05:42 stations and I came across a sermon. 05:45 And it was very powerful and convicting. 05:50 What radio station was this? 05:52 It was 95.9- 3ABN Radio. 05:57 So you were watching... You know, there's a lot of folk 05:59 who listed to our local radio station. 06:02 But you said it was "moving and convicting. " 06:06 Was it different than what you'd heard before? 06:08 Yes. The sermon was on the importance of keeping 06:11 the Sabbath and also how much paganism is wrapped up 06:15 in Christianity. All right. So when you... 06:19 Did you just hear this sermon once? Or did you tune in to this 06:22 radio station frequently? 06:24 Every time I got in my car after that I would keep it 06:27 on that same radio station. 06:29 All right. Now when you came home 06:32 and you started learning some of these truths 06:35 what did you say to Derek your husband? 06:39 I said: "Honey, we're doing a lot of things wrong. " 06:44 Just love to hear that, don't you? 06:47 And you hear it all the time, don't you? 06:50 All right. Now you were really becoming convicted 06:53 because you were having the opportunity to listen 06:55 in the car. What did... How did Derek react when you 06:58 first told him you were doing a lot of things wrong? 07:01 Well, at first he thought I was crazy. 07:05 But the more I told him the more interested he became. 07:08 And we got rid of our satellite television at home 07:12 because of all the negative influences that were coming in. 07:16 How old are your children now? 07:19 Ten and twelve. 07:20 You know, what she just said is a good thing to follow. 07:23 That there is so much negative things on some of the regular 07:27 secular television and it has an impact on those young minds. 07:31 So you got rid of that and then what'd you do? 07:35 My husband put up a digital antenna 07:38 and we could get all of the 3ABN channels very clearly. 07:43 And so he started watching 07:46 and he would call me at work and say: "Ahh, guess what 07:49 I just heard? " 07:52 All right. But you know something? These folk had been 07:54 Christians for 30 years. They were Baptist Christians 07:58 and they were very serious. They even were helping 08:01 plant a church in this area. 08:03 That's what brought you to the area, wasn't it? Um-hmm. 08:05 So they were very serious about their commitment 08:09 to the Lord. But now when you hear these truths 08:13 did that mean that you just immediately hopped in the car 08:16 and went to a Seventh-day Adventist church? 08:18 No. We researched for 4 years. 08:24 Praise the Lord! Amen! Praise the Lord! 08:28 They investigated scripture. 08:30 You got in... you dug in the scripture 08:34 because you didn't want to be deceived. 08:36 You mentioned to me something about truth. 08:39 You said... "We know there's only one truth 08:42 and that it's found in the scripture. " 08:44 Amen! Amen! 08:46 So you weren't just going to let somebody that was talking 08:48 in the pulpit say something that was moving to you. 08:51 You were going to prove it from scripture that it was correct. 08:54 Yes. So obviously your four years paid off. 08:57 Now how did you feel about first coming to the 09:03 Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church? 09:05 Well we were a little nervous about changing churches 09:09 'cause that is a big step and changing faith. 09:14 We were concerned that everyone would treat us as outsiders... 09:19 that we would be the only ones that weren't born and raised 09:24 Adventist and that people would just think we were different. 09:28 And what was your experience, Shannon? 09:30 Oh it's such a loving church. 09:33 Praise God! Praise God! 09:35 And I have to tell you: these precious people 09:38 have been such a wonderful addition because 09:43 they're doers of the Word. 09:45 And they are a wonderful addition 09:47 and I'm just so glad that they walked into a loving church 09:51 and I hope all Adventist churches are loving. 09:53 But you also said something else to me 09:55 that I just think is precious. 09:57 You said since you started keeping the Sabbath 10:00 that something has happened as far as what God is 10:05 doing by the power of His Holy Spirit. Tell us about that. 10:08 The only thing we can attribute it to is keeping the Sabbath 10:12 because we've always read our Bible 10:15 and, you know, stayed in the Word. 10:17 But it is such a deeper understanding of scripture. 10:23 She told me backstage and I didn't know... 10:27 You know, I've known them for some time but I didn't realize 10:29 it took four years of investigation to make sure. 10:32 But aren't you glad that she's sure? 10:34 Amen! And she told me backstage... 10:37 She said: "Our growth in understanding of the Word 10:41 has been exponential since they've begun keeping 10:46 the Sabbath. " And it hasn't been without its struggles. 10:50 There's been some... Your husband's in business 10:52 for himself. Um-hmm. There's been some challenges 10:55 but all in all God is blessing. 10:57 And your children are going to school here now? 10:59 Yes. And they love it. It just have to tell you 11:02 we love this precious family. 11:05 And we're so grateful that 3ABN, and I hear this everywhere I go, 11:09 3ABN is the greatest tool for evangelism 11:13 in the hands of the Lord today. 11:15 And we're reaching millions around the world 11:18 and even in our own back yard. Thank you very much. Thank you. 11:25 Now we have a gentleman here who has a shirt on. 11:29 What does that say on your shirt? I think it says 3ABN. 11:33 Praise God! We've all got shirts on but... 11:34 I mean... well the ladies don't - but.. 11:37 3ABN and Bob, you are a full-time volunteer. 11:42 That's correct. God brought me and Alice here, my sweetheart - 11:45 all right - just a little over a year ago. 11:47 OK. We've been here ever since and plan to stay her till 11:49 the Lord moves us on to a hole in the ground. 11:52 All right. 11:53 Well... well... 11:56 I mean you got me going there. I'm laughing. 12:02 Now Bob, your background is a little bit different 12:05 than Shannon's. Shannon was a Christian 12:07 and she took 4 years in study and so forth. 12:12 You had one of those big-dish satellites. 12:15 Yes, that's correct. It was the Fall of 1997. 12:18 Bored to death. Addicted to pornography 12:21 and many other things in my life. 12:22 There was nothing I wanted to watch on TV 12:24 so I started surfing the satellites 12:26 and I came across Doug Batchelor. 12:28 And in '97 3ABN and Doug Batchelor 12:31 collaborated together and they put on what was called 12:34 the Satellite Seminar. It was not a Net 12:36 like most of us are used to like Net '99. 12:39 I watched that. I was fascinated with it 12:41 and two weeks into that program I was a born-again Seventh-day 12:45 Adventist Christian. Amen! 12:46 How am I going to pay tithe? I'm getting pork out of my freezer. 12:49 The rest of it, just... What am I? God help me with this! 12:53 Yeah. Now you had started out in life with... 12:57 You were smoking the time you were what? Seven years old? 13:00 Seven years old. Older children introduced my sister and myself 13:03 to nicotine. I became addicted and smoked for over 20 years. 13:06 My sister took one drag, got sick, and never smoked 13:09 another day in her life. 13:11 Well listen, then alcohol came into your life? 13:16 Yes. Back in the '50s, '60s, the families would gather together 13:20 from the neighborhood. They would sit around and play 13:21 their penny ante poker and their canasta and different card games 13:24 and they always had their alcohol - their liquor, 13:27 their beer, their whiskey, whatever - and of course 13:29 we would pester mom and dad: "Can we have a sip? 13:30 Can we have a sip? " And they finally would break down 13:33 and give us a sip. And therefore for over 30 years 13:36 I was addicted to alcohol. 13:38 All right. And you were always thin like this, right? 13:41 Yeah, except for the time when I weighed 200 pounds. 13:44 Right. 13:46 That was shortly after the Fall of '97 when I came 13:50 to the health message. 13:51 And I would like to clarify one thing. 13:53 We hear and we speak many times of the Seventh-day Adventist 13:56 health message. The Seventh-day Adventists 13:59 do not have a health message, God does. 14:01 He has asked us as a people to preach that message 14:04 and to teach people. 14:06 That's how much I weighed when I came to 3ABN, 14:09 when I came to God through 3ABN and Doug Batchelor 14:12 in 1997. Amen! Baptized in 1998. 14:15 My pastor in the little town I was in would not baptize me 14:18 because I had to study what at that time was the 27 Fundamental 14:22 Beliefs. And I walked in the door and said: 14:25 "Baptize me... I'm ready. " 14:26 And I had to go through the studies so it was '98 14:29 before I got baptized. All right. 14:32 Well they wanted to make sure, Bob, because... You know... 14:34 Yes. But we have this happen over and over again. 14:39 People walk through the door and they know as much 14:42 about this message as they possibly can. 14:45 And some of the pastors immediately baptize them 14:49 and some want to go ahead and take them through studies. 14:52 Well listen, you're now... you're a volunteer here. 14:55 Yes, praise God! What do you do here? 14:57 From 1:30 this afternoon on - that's why I'm wearing my work 15:00 clothes - I will be behind one of the cameras that... 15:02 that are filming or taping us at this time. 15:06 Tear down; set up studios for the various programs 15:09 that are put on. Shuttle runs. 15:11 I also do the shuttle for the Camp Meeting. 15:14 St. Louis airport: people that need to be picked up and taken 15:17 back and forth. Pretty much anything that 3ABN needs 15:20 if I have any qualification at all 15:22 all they have to do is call on me and I'm ready. 15:24 And you and Alice actually moved here, right? 15:27 Yes we did. We came here for the intent... 15:29 We came originally for both of us to volunteer. 15:32 That was our plan. God had other plans. 15:35 During the interview process they actually offered Alice 15:38 a full-time position - paid position - here at 3ABN. 15:41 All right. Which at the time we didn't know we needed. God did, 15:43 and He fulfilled that need for us as He always will. 15:46 And by the way, we are always looking 15:48 for qualified volunteers. So if you'd like to be a part 15:52 of that you can be. You just contact Mollie 15:56 and she begins the process. We go through a process 16:01 of looking at all the different requirements 16:06 that you have and the ability you have. 16:08 But also your references 16:10 and just like we would hiring somebody. Yeah. 16:13 We don't just let somebody drive in and volunteer 16:17 without going through that. So it is important 16:20 and we appreciate all that you're doing, Bob... 16:23 you and Alice both. God bless you. 16:25 Thank you so much. 16:28 I'm here with Eric Zottel and I think I want to start 16:32 with a punch line first. Eric, where are you from? 16:35 West Branch, Michigan. 16:37 In Michigan. How far away is that? 16:39 It's according to the GPS 618 miles. 16:44 All right. Eric showed up here one Wednesday afternoon 16:48 just about closing time. Everybody was gone. 16:51 And what was your request when you came? 16:54 Well, I wanted to talk with a pastor and I wanted to be 16:58 baptized. He came with a request. He said: "I want to be 17:01 baptized and I want to be baptized now! " 17:07 So guess what we did... we baptized him. 17:11 We surely did. He is now a baptized member 17:14 of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Amen? 17:16 Amen. All right, now let's back up a little bit. 17:20 How did you first hear about the Adventist church 17:22 and about 3ABN? Well, I faced a little bit of trauma 17:28 with my dad when he had some heart trouble. 17:31 I stopped by one day to see my dad 17:34 and he said he wasn't feeling well. 17:37 And when I looked at him he was real green in the face. 17:40 And so we had to take him to the hospital. 17:43 And it got me started on something that 17:46 had come up in my life before. Most people have faced it: 17:49 the seriousness of "What are we here for? " 17:52 and "What about death? " and "What's this all about? " 17:55 So I started reading my Bible. 17:58 And as I read and was learning on my own 18:01 I also... soon after, I don't know exactly when... 18:05 I started listening to 3ABN on the radio. 18:08 A local radio station there by the Adventist church... 18:11 the local church's re-broadcast of 3ABN. 18:14 So... When you began listening to 3ABN 18:18 did the truths... the things that you were hearing... 18:22 did they sound strange to you? New to you? 18:24 Different to you? Was it a change in your life? 18:26 Very new to me. The amazing thing is that 18:30 because I had grown up as a Catholic 18:33 and was raised by very devout Catholic Christian parents - 18:38 a wonderful family - that I had never read the Bible. 18:42 I had it with me and I went to Catholic school 18:47 and I never read it for myself until I was an adult. 18:50 So when I read it for the first time 18:52 and then soon after found the radio station 18:55 it became easier for me to accept because I would read 18:58 and study and I would hear things that were consistent 19:01 with what I was learning. Amen. 19:04 What was it like the first time you stepped into a SDA church? 19:09 Well, that was interesting. It's a very small church. 19:12 A very loving church... wonderful people. 19:15 But only about 5-7 people, 19:18 so very small from what I'm used to. 19:21 And there was no pastor there. We have a pastor that has 19:25 three churches and can only be there every other week. 19:27 So it was a bit of a shock. 19:29 The church I heard about on 3ABN on the radio 19:33 when you walk into that it was shocking to me. 19:38 This is where I'm going to go to church? 19:43 Here then is the 64 million dollar question I should think: 19:47 why the 7-9 hour drive all the way down here to be baptized? 19:53 Well, believe it or not I faced some struggles 19:57 with being baptized. Just circumstances kept coming up 20:02 that seemed to stop that... 20:04 both for myself - a little hesitation - and... 20:07 and just amazing things that had happened. 20:10 And I finally got to the point where I was grieved by this. 20:13 And I decided that, you know... The Lord impressed me 20:17 that I need to step out in faith and do something. 20:20 I didn't understand what exactly, but this is where I got 20:24 my spiritual food. A big source of it was from that little 20:28 radio station and 3ABN. 20:31 So I knew that there were people here that were following 20:34 the Spirit, and I came here. 20:37 You came down. It's 5:30 PM. 20:40 I grabbed Dee, grabbed Larry McLucas. 20:42 I said: "Run some water. We don't care whether it's 20:44 cold or hot. Just get some water in a tank. " 20:47 We came over here. I gave him a quick 30-second 20:50 Bible study. He sounded good; he answered the questions 20:52 all the right way and we baptized him in the 20:54 name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 20:56 And he is a baptized member even now. 21:02 Last question very quickly in the last few seconds: 21:04 how does it feel now to be a member of the world-wide 21:07 family of God? It is... it's a big relief 21:12 to have the truth and not have to worry about 21:15 someone breaking that apart on me. 21:17 To actually have something where I can come in and... 21:20 and bring my mind and my intellect and be a whole person. 21:25 That's something that's new to me, 21:27 and I'm looking forward to sharing that with others. 21:30 Amen; amen; amen. 21:32 The cherry on the sundae: he's young; he's Adventist; 21:36 he has his own business; and he's single! 21:44 I'm going to sit down here next to Brenda. Hi Brenda. 21:47 Hi, how you doing? Brenda Keifer, right? Yeah. 21:50 And you've probably been going to Adventist churches 21:53 all your life? Nope! No? No. 21:56 Is this your first time? Yes, sir. 21:58 All right. Everybody glad she's here today? 22:01 Amen! All right! 22:03 Thank you. I understand that you... you 22:06 are from Benton. You live over in Benton. 22:09 Originally from St. Genevieve, Missouri, but 22:11 I've lived in Benton now about, I guess it's been about 22:16 20-25 years... so I'm a Bentonite. 22:19 All right, so you're from Benton now. 22:21 And you've been listening. Today's like we always talk 22:23 about 3ABN television... today's a 3ABN Radio day. 22:26 Yes. So you were listening, switching channels 22:29 or listening to radio and you heard somebody laugh. 22:32 Yes. Tell us about it. Yeah. 22:34 Reverend Murray. I had gotten a new radio 22:38 and I was trying it out and seeing what it could do 22:43 and so forth, and I happened to run across 22:46 the dial and all of a sudden I heard this... 22:50 There was some conversation going on and I didn't know 22:53 what it was about or who it was or anything. 22:55 And someone said something and he laughed, 22:59 and when he laughed it seemed like he just... 23:02 he laughed all over. You know, it was amazing. 23:06 I thought: "Well I don't know what that fellow finds so funny 23:09 but I'm laughing now and I don't know why! " 23:14 A friend of mine came in the room and she said: 23:17 "What's so funny? " And I said: "I haven't the fainted idea... 23:20 not the foggiest. " And she said: "You're laughing 23:23 but you're... " I said: "I don't know why but... " 23:25 I said "this guy I'm listening to, he must be one of the 23:30 happiest people on earth because boy he's really laughing. " 23:34 And his laugh was infectious. 23:37 OK, good. And so I started listening, you know, 23:39 once in a while here and there. 23:41 And then the more I listened the more I realized 23:45 that there was something going on more than just 23:47 listening to his laughter - um-hmm - because 23:50 I've been born and raised Catholic like this gentleman 23:53 here who just spoke. Um-hmm. My whole family's Catholic. 23:57 And I was baptized, of course, in the Catholic church. 24:01 As a matter of fact, I was baptized twice 24:03 because when I moved from St. Louis to St. Genevieve 24:06 the priest down there didn't know that I'd been baptized 24:09 for sure, so he asked me to come down at 11 years old - 24:12 OK - to be baptized again. So I'm the only person 24:14 in Missouri I guess that's been baptized twice. 24:17 But anyway, the more I... All my friends were Protestant. 24:22 And I began reading the Protestant version of the Bible, 24:26 and the more I read it the more it made much more sense 24:28 than what I was reading. Um-hmm. 24:30 What I was hearing. So were you a member of any church? 24:33 Yeah, I was a member of the Catholic church. 24:36 And then after that... did you become... join any - no - 24:39 other churches? No. Right now I guess I can't really say 24:42 that I'm a member of any church because I've stopped going 24:47 to the Catholic church. Except well... There was a situation 24:51 where I went with my family because of a funeral situation. 24:56 I know a church that'd be really happy to have you. 24:59 Oh you do? Yeah, I do. I could... I wonder who that 25:01 would be? Yeah, I don't... I can't imagine. 25:04 Probably... probably right here in this church. 25:06 Yeah, I could be part of it. 25:07 Absolutely. Tell us about C.A. 25:11 Then you heard another sermon by him. 25:13 Oh yeah. Then I turned it on again because I was intrigued 25:17 and remembered what the call letters were and so forth. 25:20 So I turned it on again and I just kept listening. 25:23 Was intrigued by what I was hearing... different people... 25:26 and found out who the gentleman was with the infectious laughter 25:32 and heard him give a sermon. Um-hmm. 25:36 One of the first ones was when he was teaching people 25:39 how to roller skate. Roller skate? And he walked in... 25:42 He sounds like a different kind of preacher. 25:44 He's laughing and roller skating. 25:46 Yeah... that's exactly what I thought. 25:48 The ones that I know walked around like they were half dead 25:52 and I couldn't get that, you know? 25:56 Uh-huh. And so one of the first sermons I heard 26:00 like I said was the one that he talked about 26:02 he would teach people to roller skate and then 26:05 in the evening they'd get together and have a Bible study. 26:09 And I thought: "Boy, that's a clever way to get people 26:11 in... the kids... interested. You know that's good. " 26:14 Um-hmm. And so I kept listening and the more I listened 26:17 the more I liked it. And that's been about two years ago. 26:22 Two years. How did you get in contact with C.A.? 26:24 We only have a couple minutes left. 26:26 I just called 3ABN - 26:30 um-hmm - and I thought: "Well this is ridiculous. 26:32 He doesn't know me from Doodery. " 26:35 You know, and I asked if there was any way I could contact him. 26:39 And they gave me a telephone number 26:42 and I called it. Didn't get any answer. 26:45 And called it again, and he answered this time. 26:49 OK. And we talked a little bit. 26:51 At the time I was going through an extremely serious 26:54 cancer scare - um-hmm - which turned out to be just fine, 26:57 thank God. So did he actually come and see you? 27:02 Yeah, he did about three days ago for the first time. 27:05 All right. Yeah. All right. 27:07 And so what do you hope? 27:09 What's your plans for the future? What do you think is 27:11 gonna happen through all of this? 27:12 You think this is accident or divine providence? 27:16 Oh no, I don't believe anything was accident. No. 27:18 Yeah... God has His hand in this right? Oh yeah! 27:21 Yeah. 'Cause I can tell the progression what's happened 27:23 and so forth, you know. All right. 27:25 Brenda, you're a blessing. We want to welcome you today 27:29 for being here... your first time in church. 27:31 Thank you. You're learning a lot of new truths. 27:33 Yes sir, yes sir... I sure am! 27:35 It's making a change in your life? Um-hmm! 27:37 Um-hmm. Absolutely. Yeah. Even my best friend said... 27:41 She said: "I can see it. " 27:43 All right. She sees me all the time. 27:45 She knows me I guess better than anyone does 27:47 and she said: "Yeah, I can really see it. " 27:49 All right. I'm going to ask for our folks a show of hands. 27:53 How many of your will promise to pray for Brenda? 27:56 All right. Now look at all these hands. Oh. 27:58 See the monitors up here or the screen? 28:00 See all these hands going up? 28:02 See, I need all the help I can get, so that's good. 28:04 Some of them had two hands up. 28:06 Did you see that? Two hands up! 28:09 Like I said, I need all the help I can get so that's fine. 28:11 Well listen, your future? You know you have a church 28:15 here - yes sir - and you're a sister in the Lord already. 28:18 You're no longer a visitor. This is your first time here. 28:20 We let you be a visitor today. OK. 28:22 After this you're just family, OK? OK, and I'm thinking about 28:26 very strongly about baptism. 28:28 Really? Praise... Can anybody say "Praise the Lord" 28:31 on that one? Praise the Lord! All right. 28:33 And now I wonder who would do it? 28:34 Oh I can't imagine. I think his name is Murray. 28:37 C.A. Murray... OK! 28:38 Yes. You know what? I think he'll be very happy to do it! 28:41 I hope so 'cause he's the one I wanted to do it. 28:43 Thank you, Brenda. God bless. 28:47 Just before Magna Parks comes to give us our study for the 28:50 morning we're going to ask Tammy Chance to come and... 28:53 and sing "Through the Years. " 28:55 And we're so thankful for Tammy: her beautiful voice 28:57 and her beautiful spirit. And then after she shall have sung 29:00 the next voice will be Magna Parks - Dr. Magna Parks - 29:04 who will give us the study for this morning. 29:17 "Don't waste your time in lookin' back" 29:21 I've heard a lot of people say. 29:25 "Just keep your eyes on the future... 29:28 forget the things you did yesterday. " 29:32 But every now and then I like to look back 29:36 and reminisce how good it's been 29:40 walkin' on this Christian journey 29:44 and havin' Jesus as my friend. 29:47 Through the years He's blessed me, 29:50 through the years He's kept me. 29:54 The good times and the bad 29:58 He's been the best friend I've ever had. 30:02 Through the years I'll love Him; 30:06 through the years I'll serve Him 30:10 till I reign with Him forever 30:13 through the years. 30:29 Beautiful memories He's given me 30:33 along with blessings by the score. 30:37 Love like I thought could never be 30:41 got sweeter than each day before. 30:44 Oh, I know that I could never explain it: 30:48 the joy His love and goodness brings. 30:52 And if He's been just as good to you 30:56 why don't you join in and sing? 30:59 Through the years He's blessed me; 31:03 through the years He's kept me. 31:06 Through the good times and the bad 31:10 He's been the best friend I've ever had. 31:14 Through the years I'll love Him; 31:18 through the years I'll serve Him 31:22 till I reign with Him forever 31:25 through the years. 31:31 He's been a strong and a mighty tower. 31:34 He's never left me in my darkest hour. 31:38 I know He won't fail me now 31:41 or through the years. 31:45 Through the years He's blessed me; 31:48 through the years He's kept me. 31:52 Through the good times and the bad 31:56 He's been the best friend I've ever had. 31:59 Through the years I'll love Him; 32:03 through the years I'll serve Him 32:08 till I reign with Him forever 32:11 through the years. 32:18 Through the years. 32:26 Through the 32:29 years. 32:35 Amen! 32:40 Good morning everyone. Good morning! 32:43 Now I've been accused of talking fast 32:45 and I tried to slow down yesterday. But today I only have 32:48 35 minutes so I'm going to be talking fast, OK? 32:51 Let's bow for prayer. 32:53 Father, we thank you so much for this privilege of being able 32:56 to come before You on this beautiful Sabbath day. 32:59 We thank you for the testimonies and the songs, 33:01 and as we approach this delicate topic I pray that 33:03 Your Holy Spirit may be with me, 33:05 may be with those who are listening here today 33:08 and by television and radio. 33:10 Thank you for this opportunity and we just praise Your name. 33:12 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 33:15 The story is told by Dr. Karl Menninger, 33:18 a psychiatrist, of a man stand- ing on a busy Chicago street. 33:23 He stood there solemnly and as people would walk by 33:26 the person nearest to him he would point to them and say: 33:28 "Guilty. " Then he would put his hand back down. 33:31 This is a true story. He would stand there for a little while 33:33 longer and another person would walk by near to him 33:35 and he would point and say: "Guilty. " 33:37 The people would look at him, 33:40 they'd look at other people, they'd look away, 33:42 and then they'd scurry along. 33:43 Finally one man said: "But how did he know? " 33:50 We laugh, but every single one of us sitting here today 33:54 are guilty. Do you know what we're guilty of? 33:58 Sin. Lying, cheating, 34:02 gossiping, criticizing, 34:06 backbiting, killing with our tongue. 34:10 We're guilty of sin, brothers and sisters. 34:12 I read a book probably about two months ago... 34:16 no it was more than that, maybe six months ago... 34:18 written by a psychiatrist who I don't think is a Christian 34:22 at all. And the title of the book was 34:25 "Whatever Became of Sin? " 34:30 I want to share this quote that Dr. Menninger 34:32 mentioned in his book. You'll be reading it on the screen. 34:35 And it says: 35:14 We don't like to talk about sin. 35:16 We may mention it here and there 35:17 even though the Bible says we've all sinned and done what? 35:21 You know, we throw that phrase around 35:23 and we say it, but do we really realize that? 35:26 I wonder. 35:27 And we look through the Bible we see that God wasn't 35:30 afraid of sin. He would address sin in different ways 35:33 and He would ask questions like in the Garden of Eden. 35:35 After Adam and Eve took the fruit He came and asked 35:38 questions, did He not? 35:40 We have Nathan appearing to David 35:42 giving him the parable and David realizing 35:45 was incriminating himself. 35:46 Even Jesus... we talk about how loving Jesus was 35:49 and compassionate. But even Jesus didn't stay away from 35:52 talking about sin. The woman who was almost stoned. 35:54 He was gracious and compassionate with her, 35:56 but then He said what? "Go and sin no more. " 35:59 And then the man that He healed at the pool. 36:01 And then afterwards He saw him later. He said: 36:03 "Sin no more lest a worst thing come upon you. " 36:07 So God was not afraid of dealing with sin... but we are. 36:10 And we know the general definition for sin. 36:14 It is what? We as Adventists really know this. 36:16 Sin is the transgression of the law. I John 3:4. 36:20 And I'm not making fun of that but we know that. 36:22 We can quote that. But sin is also other things. 36:25 James 4:17 says that he that knoweth to do good 36:28 and doeth it not... It is what? Sin. 36:30 And not only is sin doing bad things... 36:33 sin is also when we don't do the things we should do. 36:36 Isaiah talks about "Cease to do evil and learn to do good. " 36:41 When we don't do good, when we don't help our brothers 36:44 and sisters that are less fortunate, 36:45 we are committing sin. 36:47 These are the things that we are staying away from 36:49 and Dr. Menninger was concerned about that. 36:52 Now there are a few things that I think have contributed 36:55 to us getting to this point where we don't want to talk 36:58 about sin. The enemy #1 doesn't want us to talk 37:01 about it. He wants to keep us deceived because 37:04 if he can keep us deceived and we don't talk about sin, 37:06 we won't go to the Savior looking for help. 37:08 This is a quote. You will read it with me on the verse... 37:10 on the screen... that the enemy talks about... 37:13 that's focused on when we talk about sin. 37:27 That's his plan. 37:29 And if he makes it attractive, we won't talk about it as sin 37:32 brothers and sisters. 37:34 The other thing that I see happening 37:36 is that we are fearful of offending people. 37:40 Now I am not saying and encouraging us to offend people 37:44 on purpose. But sometimes this fear of offending 37:48 makes us careful of pointing things out. 37:53 And this is happening even in our dear church... 37:56 Christian church and the Seventh-day Adventist church. 37:59 But this woman who was actually a Catholic I don't know 38:05 what exactly... a theologian or something. 38:07 She wrote a book called Speaking of Sin. 38:10 I thought it was real interesting. 38:11 And this is what she said in regards to offending. 38:14 It's on the screen... read it: 38:38 Is grace and forgiveness important? 38:40 But we need both brothers and sisters. 38:43 Not just grace and forgiveness but also sin and repentance. 38:49 We also are hesitant in talking about sin 38:52 because we feel we're going to make the wrong judgments 38:55 about people. And we should be hesitant about that. 38:58 But sometimes in our fear of making the wrong judgments 39:03 we may miss something. 39:05 Mohammad Atta... I don't know if I'm pronouncing his name well 39:08 but he was the mastermind behind September 11, 2001. 39:12 He came into an office in Florida 39:15 and he wanted a loan to buy these cropdusters. 39:18 He got angry at the woman and said: "What about if 39:22 I went behind the desk and slit your throat? " 39:25 Then she had an aerial picture of Washington 39:28 and he started asking her questions about the security 39:32 with Washington and he also did some other things. 39:35 And she didn't... She was so nice to him 39:38 and didn't say much. 39:40 She was interviewed on one of these programs - I think 39:41 ABC News Tonight or one of the others. 39:44 This book I mentioned earlier about... Remember I mentioned 39:47 the book One Nation Under Therapy? 39:50 The psychiatrist talks about in there about how Americans 39:52 have gotten so nice and don't want to talk about and point out 39:55 what's wrong. And the woman said on the show: 39:58 "Why didn't you address this thing? " 40:00 And she said: "Oh, he was a foreigner from out of town 40:03 and so I thought he was trying to adjust to coming 40:05 into the American culture. " 40:07 You say that, brothers and sisters, but we do the same 40:10 thing sometimes. Someone is doing something wrong 40:13 but we're fearful of making the wrong judgment. 40:15 And sometimes we NEED to say something and do something 40:18 and we don't know what we can PREVENT 40:21 by saying or doing something. 40:22 Am I saying we should go around walking, acting as judges? 40:25 No, but there are some things... I heard C.D. Brooks say 40:28 "We're not judges... we're just fruit inspectors. " 40:33 Amen? And when you see the fruit, you can call the fruit 40:36 for what it is. 40:38 The other thing that I think has affected us with sin 40:40 is my dear colleagues... psychologists. 40:44 You know what Dr. Menninger talks about in his book: 40:47 he says: "Certain things that we used to call sin 40:50 now has a diagnostic label. " 40:54 We have a diagnosis for everything. 40:56 Lord help me as I say this, but I see this happening 40:58 in our pulpits too. 41:00 I see our pastors sometimes turning into counselors 41:04 in our pulpits as opposed to pointing out what's right 41:07 and wrong. Now there's a way to do that, 41:09 and I'm going to mention that. 41:10 But this quote shows it real well on the screen 41:13 if you read it with me. 41:33 The quote goes on: 41:54 I see this happening more and more brothers and sisters. 41:57 I have a burden because I see as a psychologist 42:01 and I hear the stories that are resulting 42:05 from us not pointing out what's right and wrong. 42:07 That's why this is a burden for me: 42:10 'cause I see the end results. 42:11 In society and in the church we are moving away from this. 42:15 And what happens is that instead of calling out sin 42:18 we start to place the blame for sin on external factors. 42:23 There was once an American university professor 42:26 who was caught making obscene phone calls. 42:29 You know what he ended up doing? 42:31 He ended up checking himself in for treatment 42:34 and he blamed it on his past childhood abuse. 42:39 External factors. 42:40 We've heard of stories of priests being found 42:43 molesting children, correct? 42:45 On particular priest went to therapy for two years 42:48 and at the end they asked: "What did you learn from this? " 42:51 He says: "Well, I think my childhood was fixated at 42:56 age 7 or 8 and that's why I was molesting these children. " 43:00 The sad part is that might have been related to it. 43:03 They put him back into the parish and guess what he 43:05 continued to do? Molest children. 43:09 It helps to call it sin brothers and sisters 43:12 and to deal with it. 43:13 Not only is this affecting us in this way. 43:16 When we don't deal with sin 43:18 it has an impact on other people. 43:20 Do you remember the story of Joshua and Achan? 43:24 Now if Joshua was a different kind of leader 43:27 what do you think would have happened to Israel? 43:29 After they were defeated and Joshua went before the Lord 43:32 falling on his face and saying: "What's happened? " 43:34 The Lord said: "There's sin in the camp. " 43:37 Thank God Joshua pointed it out, 43:39 was able to follow, and Achan confessed sadly. 43:42 Was sad what happened to Achan's family 43:44 but the point is it was because of sin in the camp 43:47 that they were not able to overcome this particular nation 43:51 that they were fighting. 43:53 Could that be happening in our camps today, 43:55 brothers and sisters? 43:56 I'm getting more and more calls from people who have been 43:59 mistreated by leaders, taken advantage of. 44:02 And they're leaving the churches; they're in despair. 44:05 They're distraught because nothing has been done 44:08 with the leader. 44:10 I'm saying it 'cause I'm frustrated with it. 44:13 I'm going to be honest with you. 44:14 We're not dealing with sin. 44:16 We're transferring them from one church to the other, 44:18 we're doing other things, and we're not dealing with sin. 44:22 And people are hurting and dying as a result of this. 44:25 And this is bothersome to me. 44:27 And then I'm not going to just talk about the leaders. 44:29 There are many of us sitting in here today 44:31 who have secret sins that no one knows about. 44:34 And it's eating us like a cancer brothers and sisters. 44:38 We need to address these things. 44:40 Listen to Dr. Menninger... what he says. 44:42 This is what led him to write the book. He says: 44:44 "As a psychiatrist he was seeing more and more individuals 44:50 who were displaying symptoms of physical sickness 44:53 which were rooted in a sense of guilt... 44:56 both false and real guilt. 44:59 He observed that when he was able to get the individuals 45:03 with whom he dealt to open up through confession 45:08 they experienced great relief. " 45:10 Remember... this is a secular psychiatrist. 45:13 Dr. Menninger wondered why more was not being said about 45:18 sin and the need for confession and repentance 45:21 in our churches. 45:23 He wondered why sin was not being taken seriously 45:27 in our churches and wondered at whatever became of sin. 45:33 Consider the situation of David. 45:36 In Psalm 32:3-4... you'll read it on the screen... 45:39 he says: 45:56 This is a clear example of what happens to some people 46:00 when sin is not called out. It says: 46:15 "Oh, nobody knows what I've done... I'm fine. 46:18 You know, I've covered it up with the death of Uriah. 46:20 I'm just fine. " 46:27 So during that time when nobody - he thought - 46:31 knew about the sin and he's going along 46:33 he's suffering not only mentally but physically. 46:38 Do you know that some people are suffering from physical 46:41 illnesses because of guilt and not dealing with sin? 46:46 I've seen it time and time again as I've spoken with people. 46:49 This guilt can really weigh down on us 46:52 because we're not calling out sin in our own lives. 46:56 David experienced peace, a sense of relief 47:00 after confessing his sin due to Nathan's calling it out. 47:04 This is another aspect of calling out sin. 47:07 We need to be doing it in our own lives. 47:09 That little white lie that you told the other day? 47:12 It's a sin brothers and sisters. 47:15 When that woman walked by and you said something about her 47:19 that she knows nothing about? It's a sin brothers and sisters. 47:23 When you made that little number change on your tax form 47:28 that's a sin brothers and sisters. 47:30 The list goes on and on and on. 47:33 Sin is something that we need to call out. 47:36 And pastors as with Nathan... they have the role of helping 47:40 ministers to see the sin. 47:42 Listen to what Dr. Menninger says 47:44 as we show it on the screen. 48:15 Do you all understand what that's saying? 48:17 Some people are sitting there and the guilt is just there. 48:20 And we can talk about His goodness and His expectations 48:23 of mankind to forgive and all of that. 48:25 But they're sitting there and the roar of guilt is just 48:27 affecting their mind. He goes on to say with the quote: 48:54 Now notice what he says here. 48:56 Not only should you point out the sin but you should also 48:58 point out the what? 49:00 So it's not only about getting up and blaming people on 49:03 the head with all the things they've done wrong. 49:05 People must also know there is a solution as well. 49:10 Understanding this concept helps me to better understand 49:14 some of the quotes I've read in Spirit of Prophecy about this. 49:17 It's like Menninger almost picks up Spirit of Prophecy. 49:19 Some point when I was reading his book I was saying: "Hmmm, 49:21 she must have read some of this. " 49:23 Listen to this quote... Or "He must have read some of this. " 49:25 Listen to this quote. You'll see it on the screen. 49:54 She said this way before Menninger wrote this thing 49:59 about sin. But as I went through Spirit of Prophecy 50:01 there are a lot of quotes that she mentioned - 50:03 I couldn't put them all up - where she talks about the need 50:05 to talk about sin. And if Menninger could read this 50:08 he would be exited to know that there is a church 50:11 who has a messenger who tells us that we should deal with sin. 50:14 Some people don't like the idea of talking about sin 50:18 and when we bring this up they say: "You know, 50:20 we shouldn't get into sin. " And there are consequences 50:23 for this. Look at the quote on the screen 50:26 from Testimonies 3 page 328. 50:50 So when you decide that you want to talk about sin 50:53 be prepared for the consequence. OK? However, 50:57 we must point out sin in the manner that Christ did it. 51:02 Very important. In I Timothy 4:2 51:07 the apostle Timothy says: "Preach the Word. 51:11 Be instant in season, out of season. 51:14 Reprove, rebuke, exhort 51:17 with all longsuffering and doctrine. " 51:22 That last part is really important. 51:24 Notice he says "with all longsuffering. " 51:27 The servant of the Lord in Acts of the Apostles 51:29 says that this has to do with revealing the patience 51:32 and the love of Christ. 51:35 If you're not going to use or ask God for His patience 51:39 and His love, do not call out sin, brothers and sisters, 51:42 'cause you will do more harm than good. 51:44 She goes on to say in Acts of the Apostles... 51:47 you will read the quote on the screen: 52:17 Can we do this on our own, brothers and sisters? 52:19 It's a balanced walk that we need to have. 52:22 Only the Holy Spirit can give us that balance 52:25 where we love the sinner but we lovingly go to them 52:29 and talk to them... when the Holy Spirit leads us... 52:31 to talk to them and share about what they're doing wrong. 52:34 In fact, I believe I've read in one of the Testimonies 52:37 where she says: "If you're not willing to lay down your life 52:41 for that person, you need to think twice about going to 52:43 talk to them. " Because you have to have the right type of 52:46 motive and the love in your heart. 52:49 So that is very important. 52:51 I truly believe - that's why this is a burden on my heart - 52:54 I truly believe that some of the heartache and the difficulties 52:57 we are experiencing in our lives as Christians 53:00 would we redeem if we spent more time calling out sin. 53:05 We need to be shaken and convicted as Christians 53:08 when we come to church, when we spend time with God alone. 53:12 All of these we need to be in situations where we're 53:15 shaken up to see ourselves. 53:17 We've been hearing a call for revival. 53:19 Thank God for President Wilson who's been telling us 53:22 we need revival. But brothers and sisters, 53:24 revival is also connected to calling out sin. 53:27 And we look through the Bible and we see when John the Baptist 53:31 came he called out sin and others. When revival occurred 53:34 amongst God's people connected with that was also 53:37 calling out sin. And we have to put the two together. 53:40 Some of us are shackled by sin; we're imprisoned. 53:44 And unless we identify the sin in our own lives 53:47 we will never get out. 53:48 Another thing about calling out sin that I think is important 53:52 is that... do you believe that we can have victory over sin? 53:55 Amen. Amen! I'm glad to hear that 53:58 because there are some people who don't believe that. 54:00 Because we don't see it happening a lot we think 54:02 it can't happen... but I believe we can. 54:05 But the way that we get to call- ing out sin is by first what? 54:10 I'm sorry... victory over sin is by first? 54:13 Identifying sin and calling out sin. 54:16 If we don't do that, we won't have victory. 54:19 None of these things can occur without God's power. 54:24 The Holy Spirit has to convict us when our sin is revealed 54:28 and then the Spirit drives us to repentance. 54:32 Sweet repentance. We are told in Steps to Christ 54:36 "We can no more repent without the Spirit of Christ 54:41 to awaken the conscience than we can be pardoned 54:45 without Christ. Every conviction of our sinfulness 54:50 is an evidence that His Spirit is moving upon our hearts. " 54:55 Every time we are convicted of our sin, 54:58 brothers and sisters, it is because the Holy Spirit 55:01 is moving on our hearts. And you don't have to be 55:03 a Christian for that to happen. The Bible tells us 55:06 that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. 55:10 And she says in Steps to Christ that when we contemplate 55:13 what Christ has done for us and we focus on the cross 55:16 and we see and understand God's goodness 55:19 it helps us to see who we are 55:20 and then we start to see our sinfulness 55:22 and we are drawn towards Him. 55:24 But we have to make sure that we get to that point 55:26 where we love each other enough to call out sin 55:30 and then we ourselves are open enough to the Holy Spirit 55:34 to call out sin. You know, there's a song... 55:36 I wanted my girlfriend to sing it with me. I was going to 55:39 surprise you all, but she didn't want to 55:41 come and sing it with me. She's here today. 55:43 Have you heard this song? I Lay My Sins on Jesus. 55:49 Can you all sing it with me? 55:51 I'll say the words: I lay my sins on Jesus... 55:53 I lay my sins on Jesus, 55:59 the spotless Lamb of God... 56:00 the spotless Lamb of God. 56:05 He bears them all and frees them... 56:07 He bears them all and frees them 56:13 from the accursed load... 56:15 from the accursed load. 56:21 Repeat that again: from the accursed load... 56:22 from the accursed load. 56:27 I bring my guilt to Jesus... 56:30 I bring my guilt to Jesus, 56:36 to wash my crimson stains... 56:38 to wash my crimson stains 56:44 white in His blood most precious... 56:46 white in His blood most precious 56:52 till not a spot remains... spain remains... 56:54 till not a stain remains. 57:00 Repeat that with me... Till not a stain... 57:02 till not a stain remains. 57:08 Isn't that beautiful? Amen! 57:10 We can bring our sins, we can bring our guilt to Jesus. 57:14 But the only way we can do it is if we know what we're bringing. 57:20 How many of you all today - 57:22 and the Holy Spirit is moving on hearts, I know that - 57:26 the angels are watching. How many of you today 57:29 want God to help you to deal with sin in your own life? 57:32 See if you're bold enough? 57:33 I know I do. I have some things in my life 57:37 that I want to be able to deal with. 57:39 And I don't want to be too offended if someone 57:42 points it out. I don't want to be like Adam 57:46 blaming Eve and then Eve blaming the serpent 57:49 when their sins were pointed out. 57:51 I want to be open with the Lord because I don't want a spot 57:55 of sin to remain. Amen. 57:57 And I pray that that is the same with you. 57:58 Do you all still love me? Yes! |
Revised 2013-09-04