Participants: Danielle Harrison (Host), , Souls West (Michael Tuazon), New Beginnings (Dan Houghton)
Series Code: 16ASIC
Program Code: 16ASIC000006A
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00:19 It is good to see you here today,
00:21 hasn't it been a powerful morning already? 00:24 Amen. 00:26 Let's hear it, amen. 00:28 And it's been wonderful. 00:29 If you really want to hear some a cappella harmony 00:33 go to the early morning 6 o'clock prayer session, 00:35 it is beautiful. 00:37 Anyway we've had breakfast, 00:39 and we've had our devotional this morning, 00:41 and I just want to say welcome to beautiful Phoenix, Arizona, 00:45 ASI convocation night 2016, is been powerful already. 00:50 And I know that we're going to be in store 00:52 for even more wonderful things today, 00:55 powerful things that God has laid the burden 00:59 and message on the hearts 01:01 of those who are gonna to speak to us. 01:03 So I hope that you're comfortable 01:05 and you're ready for some more powerful speakers 01:09 as they share with us 01:11 their burden and their concerns 01:14 for reaching the lost for Jesus. 01:17 This morning, I just imagined seeing Jesus' face, 01:22 isn't that wonderful? 01:24 I thought it was so powerful for my own experience, 01:27 but just imagine when we get to see Jesus. 01:30 So anyway welcome, God bless you 01:33 as we continue forward in this beautiful day 01:36 that God has given us. 01:37 God bless you. 01:39 The next voice you will hear is Scott Griswold. 01:42 He's gonna talk about reaching into those dark areas 01:46 of our communities with the gospel. 01:49 Good morning. 01:51 With 4,051 unreached people groups in the world, 01:55 God is gonna have to pull out every stop 01:57 to keep His promise, but so are we. 02:00 And one of the areas that He has found 02:02 to bring the world right to us is through tourism. 02:06 Now maybe after ASI you have plans 02:08 to visit the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and Bryce 02:10 or some other time a place to go. 02:13 But think about all the places 02:14 that people from around the world come 02:16 including Hollywood and Disneyland 02:19 and the metro areas like New York City. 02:21 Thirty eight million people nonresidents visit the USA 02:26 just in 2015, 02:28 that's over a 10th of our population 02:30 passing through, 02:32 and they are coming from countries 02:33 that need to be reached. 02:35 Three out of the top 21 are Japan, China, and India, 02:40 major places that God is seeking to find a way. 02:44 It's not just the tourists, 02:45 it's also those who are working in the different places 02:49 like our national parks, 02:50 25% of those short term workers 02:53 come from somewhere besides the United States. 02:56 Right there at Mount Rushmore, I met a young Chinese man 02:59 who was selling souvenirs, what can we do for them? 03:03 It starts by having a prayerful heart 03:05 by saying, "Lord, open my eyes to see them 03:07 and to care about them." 03:09 You see, if we think that Jesus loved them so much 03:12 that He would die for them, 03:14 and we think that if they are not in heaven, 03:16 He will miss them for eternity, 03:18 it will change the way that we treat those 03:21 who we pass. 03:22 I love to carry with me MyLanguageMyLife.com 03:25 a card that we've created 03:27 that has more than 150 languages 03:30 with Seventh-day Adventist Biblical materials 03:32 that we can share with people 03:34 of so many different backgrounds, 03:36 and just take it and hand it to them. 03:39 But others have even started ministries, 03:41 like in the past recreation unlimited 03:43 doing ministry to campgrounds, 03:45 so much more that we could do 03:47 maybe even right outside the doors of Disneyland. 03:50 We may be the only Christian that ever befriends them. 03:55 Let's listen for just a moment to what Ellen White wrote 03:57 in Christian Service, page 200. 04:00 "God's hand was in their coming to America, 04:04 that they might be brought 04:05 under the enlightening influence of the truth 04:08 revealed in His Word, 04:10 and become partakers of His saving faith." 04:13 We must see each one of them as sent by Him 04:16 and partner with Him to reach them. 04:18 Let's pray together today for Phoenix, 04:21 for the people we see 04:22 even in the international restaurants that we go to, 04:25 and ask him to reach the world next door as soon as possible. 04:29 As far as you can, we'd like to, 04:31 let's kneel together 04:32 as we begin this morning with prayer. 04:38 Father in heaven, 04:40 we cannot comprehend the love that You have 04:43 for the seven billion people in this world, 04:45 and we ask You to fill our hearts with it. 04:47 To open our eyes, 04:48 to be ready like Philip and the Ethiopian 04:51 to meet those that you are sending to us. 04:54 Lord, You can see where we will be traveling, 04:57 whether it's on the plane or on vacation 04:59 or on business, 05:00 but, you know, and You can mastermind divine appointments 05:03 so that we can be used by You. 05:05 Lord, we give our lives to You and we ask this morning 05:07 that You would speak to us individually, 05:09 directly through what spoken by different people 05:12 from up front or as we pass one another 05:15 and pray together and plead 05:17 for that outpouring of Your Holy Spirit 05:19 which will transform our lives 05:20 more and more to the coming of Christ, 05:22 but will also prepare us to reach the world 05:25 that You have sent to us. 05:26 Thank you in Jesus' name, amen. 05:40 We return our gifts and talents slow to You 05:46 To ask Him multiply them within many or few 05:53 In the home and in the marketplace 05:56 May lives of service speak 05:59 A testament of Jesus love 06:03 Before all humanity 06:07 Reflecting Christ is our most earnest prayer 06:14 To shine His light 06:18 To a dying world out there 06:21 The gospel of salvations love 06:25 His Words of life to share 06:28 Will dispel the darkness with His glorious light 06:35 When we are reflecting Christ 06:44 We desire to be like Jesus more each day 06:50 His hands of help and healing 06:54 Serving others on life's way 06:57 And though we are unworthy Lord 07:00 Through His love may others see 07:03 The light of your redeeming grace 07:07 Shining down from Calvary 07:10 Reflecting Christ is our most earnest prayer 07:18 Shine His light 07:21 To a dying world out there 07:25 The gospel of salvations love 07:28 His Words of life to share 07:31 Will dispel the darkness with His glorious light 07:38 When we are reflecting Christ 07:45 Reflecting Christ 07:51 It's our most earnest prayer 07:54 To shine His light 07:57 To a dying world out there 08:01 The gospel of salvations love His Words of life to share 08:07 Will dispel the darkness 08:10 With His glorious light 08:14 When we are reflecting Christ 08:21 Will dispel the darkness with His glorious light 08:28 When we are reflecting 08:34 Christ 08:44 Amen. 08:45 Good morning, ASI. 08:48 So glad to have you here 08:49 to hear more from our offering and action segment. 08:53 And accompanying me to the podium 08:56 is Michael Tuazon, 08:57 he is the director for SOULS West. 09:01 Michael, tell us where is SOULS West located? 09:04 And what is the focus of the ministry? 09:06 SOULS West is the Pacific Union's school of evangelism, 09:10 it's a two-year program, 09:11 it's located in Prescott, Arizona 09:13 also in our union office in Westlake Village. 09:16 And tell me how did this start? 09:17 Because this is relatively a young ministry, 09:21 so how did it start 09:22 and how did you get involved in it? 09:24 Well, personally it was a funny story, 09:26 what happened was after my conversion 09:28 a friends of mine were walking in Redlands California 09:31 and we were real zealous for the faith, 09:34 and we wanted to share our beliefs with someone, 09:36 and we saw a Mormon Ward. 09:38 Now if you don't know what a Mormon Ward is, 09:39 it's a Mormon sanctuary 09:41 that's where they fellowship for worship. 09:43 And we said, "Hey, let's go into that ward, 09:45 and let's convert that whole church to Jesus." 09:47 And so my friends and I went in and they said, 09:49 "Hey, we're gonna to wait for your signal, 09:50 the moment you pull out your Bible, 09:52 we'll pull out our Bible too, 09:53 and we're just gonna tell them about the Sabbath 09:55 and state of the dead and everything. 09:56 And so we went into the Mormon Ward 09:58 and we were greeted by two of the elders, 10:00 they sat us down, they were very nice and cordial. 10:02 And before you talk to them about, 10:04 you know, what they are in the area 10:07 and you want to kind of make friends with them. 10:08 So I started to ask them about their church 10:11 and what they believe and why are they missionaries, 10:14 and I will never forget what they told me, 10:16 they said, "We are missionaries for two years, 10:18 we don't get paid, and we've been saving up 10:20 since we were little kids our birthday money, 10:22 Christmas money, everything we've ever had, 10:24 we're saving so that we could be missionaries. 10:26 And let me tell you something, Debbie, 10:27 we came out of that place refute. 10:30 A kind of a watered down your youthful fervor. 10:34 Yes. Just a little bit. 10:35 Yeah, here are these individuals 10:37 they don't have the truth, 10:38 but were living as if they had the truth, 10:40 and here we have the truth 10:42 and we're living as if we don't have the truth. 10:44 And that really struck a chord in my heart 10:46 and so I wanted to find a ministry 10:48 that would also do something 10:50 and be involved in frontline evangelistic work. 10:53 And so that's where SOULS West came in. 10:55 Right. All right. 10:57 I found a two year Bible college 10:58 that goes door-to-door most of the year, 11:01 30 weeks out of the year actually, 11:03 and does evangelistic series and goes all over, 11:05 and work symbiotically with the union conference, 11:07 local church, and laity. 11:09 Amen. 11:10 Now let's talk about this year's project. 11:12 What's the focus of this year's project? 11:14 You have a couple of things here that we can show people. 11:16 In addition to the two-year Bible college, 11:20 we try to focus on ways that we can distribute literature 11:23 and many of you heard of GLOW. 11:25 GLOW is something that 11:26 came from some graduates of our school, 11:28 and now it's gone all over the world. 11:30 And this year what we wanted to do 11:32 is find something to reach the atheists, 11:34 agnostics, 11:35 as you know the Seventh-day Adventist Church 11:37 has been featured on Oprah, and on the Blue Zones, 11:39 and so we capitalized on that. 11:41 We just made this book, got off the press, 11:43 this is by ASI so thank you, ASI. 11:46 Called "Habits that heal", 11:48 and what it is, is it follows the lives 11:51 and the longest living people Seventh-day Adventists 11:54 and it shows their healthy habits namely Newstart, 11:57 and it goes through 11:58 how they can live to 100 years old. 12:00 And the nice thing about this is 12:02 really the reading the book Ministry of Healing. 12:05 So we've modernized Ministry of Healing, 12:07 we've backed it up with doctors' research as well. 12:09 So how many of these books are available 12:12 or have been printed at this point? 12:14 We have just printed off 75,000 in our first press 75,000 12:20 and they've been distributed all summer long. 12:22 And let me tell you one quick story. 12:24 We reached some real secular areas of San Luis Obispo, 12:27 San Francisco all throughout the nation, 12:29 all these people who don't believe in God. 12:31 And when we show them a Great Controversy 12:33 or a Steps to Christ, 12:34 they don't want anything to do with it. 12:35 They said, "I'm not religious, don't want to see it, 12:37 don't want anything to do with it." 12:38 But when we show them this book and we... 12:40 The canvas is real simple, 12:42 we say, "Hey, this book takes 12:43 a look at America's longest living culture. 12:46 They will entreat, and they look through this 12:48 and they end up purchasing the book, 12:50 and we say, "You know, with the purchase of this book, 12:51 you're gonna want your spiritual health in check too." 12:53 And we give them a Great Conversely 12:55 or a Steps to Christ. 12:57 Now, you have a story that gives an example 13:00 of the kind of impact that this has had already. 13:03 Yes. 13:04 There was one particular story, it's a pretty powerful story. 13:08 A young individual knocked on a door 13:09 and the guy who came out was openly homosexual 13:13 and he says, "What are you doing here? 13:15 I want nothing to do with you? 13:16 I'm not religious, I'm living a homosexual lifestyle." 13:20 And the young person who was canvassing 13:22 gave them these books and showed them, 13:24 and the person, long story short, said, 13:26 "Well, I'll give it a try," and got one of our books. 13:29 And it happened to be Steps to Christ, 13:31 and as he was going through the books, 13:33 he was reading Steps to Christ 13:34 and he saw the love of Jesus, 13:37 he saw what forgiveness is like, 13:38 he saw what it's like to have a personal walk with God, 13:41 and he then called his friend who went to church that night 13:45 and said, "You won't believe, 13:46 I've been reading this book that's changing my life." 13:49 And he was in tears, and he was crying, 13:51 and saying I want to change my life, 13:53 and you won't believe it, 13:54 the next day that same colporteur 13:57 went to a church, knocked on the church door 13:59 and it was the church secretary. 14:01 And they canvas them also on these books 14:03 and the church secretary said, "Wait a minute, 14:06 my friend who is homosexual told me about these books, 14:10 and how these books are changing his life, 14:13 I got to see these books." 14:15 And the colporteur said, "I want to see him, 14:16 do you have a picture of your friend?" 14:18 And the church clerk said, "I do." 14:20 And she opened up her phone 14:21 and showed a picture of her friend, 14:23 and that was the homosexual man the day before 14:26 who was looking to find God. 14:27 So we could see the immediate impact of these books, 14:30 and it was beautiful to see 14:31 that the church clerk thanked us. 14:34 A non-Seventh-day Adventist Church thanked us and said, 14:35 "Thank you for reaching my homosexual friend." 14:38 Amen, amen. 14:39 Now what's in the future for SOULS West? 14:42 We have been asked by the General Conference 14:43 to teach and to train our world leaders 14:45 at this coming fall Council. 14:47 We're gonna be taking all the division and world leaders 14:50 who come, we're gonna be taking them door knocking. 14:52 And so it's not gonna be unlike any other meeting, 14:54 we're gonna take them door knocking, 14:56 having them to go glowing 14:57 and so they don't know that yet, 14:59 but I guess I kind of let the cat out of the bag. 15:01 But we're gonna be doing that this coming fall 15:04 in October during annual council, 15:05 we're gonna be taking our world leaders out 15:07 and letting them experience the testimonies 15:09 that we've experienced. 15:10 Excellent. Wonderful. 15:12 Now we have a video clip that we'd like to play 15:13 that just gives an example of how the church views 15:18 and appreciate SOULS West. 15:27 Hi, My name is Kyle Allen and I'm the secretary, 15:29 treasurer for ASI at the North American division. 15:32 When I was a pastor 15:33 in Southeastern California Conference, 15:34 I had the blessing of being able to work with SOULS West 15:38 as a local church pastor. 15:40 Over three different years 15:42 as the pastor of the Mentone Church, 15:44 we had SOULS West students come 15:46 and help us with our evangelism, 15:47 and it was really made a huge impact on our church. 15:52 Of course, we had decisions that came out of the meetings 15:55 and over the three years we had 85 decisions 15:58 as a result of those evangelistic meetings 16:00 and the series that we had. 16:02 But perhaps even more significant than that, 16:05 we had over 100 of our church members 16:07 that were trained on giving Bible studies 16:09 on how to reach their friends and neighbors for Jesus, 16:12 on how to reach out to those 16:14 in their communities for Christ. 16:15 And not only is SOULS making an impact on local churches, 16:19 but now that I'm at the North American division, 16:21 I see the impact still happening. 16:23 We actually just had 16:24 an evangelism brainstorming think tank for ASI 16:27 over the past couple of days here 16:29 at the General Conference headquarters. 16:30 And over half of our group were graduates from SOULS West, 16:35 and they came up with amazing ideas. 16:37 My prayer is that the ministry of SOULS West 16:40 would not only expand in the Pacific Union, 16:42 but across our entire North American division 16:45 so that Jesus will come soon. 16:51 I'm Kurt Johnson, I'm the Bible School Director 16:53 for the Voice of Prophecy here in North America. 16:56 And we have over 2,000 Discover Bible schools 16:59 in the division, 17:00 and we give those Bible schools support 17:02 by helping them to learn 17:04 how to make door-to-door visits, 17:06 how to obtain decisions in Bible studies. 17:09 And over the last few years in order to provide trainers 17:12 and to assist with our discover schools, 17:15 we have hired four different individuals 17:16 who are graduates from SOULS West, 17:19 and we really appreciate working with Michael 17:22 and the SOULS West team 17:23 because the graduates have the exact types of skills 17:27 that we need. 17:28 And so we just want to continue this relationship, 17:31 and we pray that SOULS West 17:33 will continue to turn out the graduates 17:35 to the caliber that we have currently experienced. 17:43 Hi, I'm a Duane McKey, Director of Sabbath School 17:44 and Personal Ministries 17:46 and the Total Member Involvement Director 17:48 for the General Conference. 17:49 Greetings to you, and I just want to say 17:51 just a word about SOULS West 17:53 since I was president in the Arizona Conference, 17:55 I'm quite familiar with it. 17:56 It's a wonderful program, 17:58 it transforms young people's lives. 18:00 They also going to our churches, 18:02 and they transform those churches 18:04 because when older members see young people 18:06 get excited about soul winning, outreaching and evangelism, 18:09 they get excited about it as well 18:11 and it revitalize those churches. 18:12 So thank you so much for your support 18:15 for SOULS West. 18:16 I believe SOULS West is an answer 18:18 to get our young people involved all around the world. 18:20 So we have encouraged SOULS West 18:22 to work with us here at the General Conference 18:24 as we reach out to different parts 18:26 of the Adventist Church worldwide. 18:28 Thank you, thank you, thank you. 18:33 Hello, my name is Ramon Canals and I am an Associate Director 18:36 for the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department 18:39 at the General Conference. 18:41 And I just want to talk to you a little bit about SOULS West. 18:46 SOULS West is a wonderful school for training leaders 18:52 in the North American division. 18:54 We wanted to do something like SOULS West in our union, 19:01 in the North Pacific Union, and we tried several models, 19:05 and then we found out 19:07 that the one that works the best 19:10 is the SOULS West model. 19:14 And that's why now in this position 19:18 in the General Conference, 19:19 I would like to see this model throughout the whole world. 19:25 God bless you. 19:38 Amen. 19:39 Well, that sounds very exciting. 19:41 We really appreciate 19:42 everything that you're doing through SOULS West. 19:44 And those young people 19:46 that are really leading the path 19:48 about what's going to be happening 19:49 and what they're doing. 19:51 Oh, and we also have it in Spanish. 19:52 I forgot we have it in Spanish. 19:53 So if it's habla espanol, you know, 19:55 we got the Habits that Heal in Spanish as well. 19:58 So I just wanted to let you know 19:59 that it's in English and Spanish. 20:01 Thank you very much, Michael. 20:02 God bless you and SOULS West. 20:06 So interestingly I did ask Michael, 20:09 they don't have a booth 20:10 because all their young people are out working, 20:12 distributing the books. 20:14 So go to their website SOULSWest.org 20:17 and you can get the information 20:18 that you need about their ministry. 20:20 Oh, Dan. Hello, Debbie. 20:22 So good to have you here with me. 20:24 We want to talk a little bit about 20:25 the New Beginnings DVD sermons. 20:28 Now, you know, for those of you have been with ASI for a while, 20:32 this is a wonderful ministry, 20:34 a tool for evangelism that has literally transformed 20:37 the public evangelism, empowering laypeople, 20:43 and church workers to use this particular tool 20:46 to reach out and to let people know about Jesus 20:49 and His soon coming. 20:51 And I was so excited, Dan, 20:53 that we were on the ground floor 20:56 of this ministry, 20:57 we actually piloted this in on the Island of Mindanao 20:59 in the Philippines. 21:01 Share with us where it's come from since then? 21:03 Okay, I will. 21:04 You know, this started the whole idea 21:06 of New Beginnings actually started 21:08 when Garwin McNeilus and Bob Paulson 21:11 went to India to hold an evangelist meeting. 21:13 And when they went over there, 21:15 they had some slides up on a screen 21:16 and they were preaching, 21:17 and all of a sudden the idea started coming together, 21:19 Pastor Mark Finley was involved and helping to birth this idea. 21:23 But I remember one day Denzil McNeilus called me 21:25 on the phone. 21:27 Denzil and I are good friends and he said, "Dan, 21:29 I think you and I ought to go preach 21:30 a series of evangelistic meetings in the Philippines." 21:33 I said, "Okay, I'm in." 21:34 He said, "We need to create some new resources, 21:37 some new graphics and put together a whole plan 21:39 that anybody can use." 21:41 And the next thing I know 21:42 if you know Denzil, it is expanded. 21:44 And we ended up, Debbie, having 70 of us go over, 21:47 that was in January of 2001, 21:51 so it's been fifteen and half years ago. 21:54 And we had a group that went over there 21:55 and we had actually put together 21:57 a series of presentations with all the graphics, 22:00 all of the sermons and Don Gray helped 22:03 and some other people got involved, 22:04 we were making all this come together. 22:06 And we had a chance to test that 22:09 and we held I believe there were 22:10 13 or 14 evangelistic series 22:12 all throughout that part of Northern Philippines. 22:15 And, Debbie, there were 3,300 as I recall baptized. 22:19 And we got all excited. 22:20 We had tested the idea 22:22 of being able to have the sermons created 22:23 so a lay person could use them, 22:25 and that was only one language at that time 22:27 but since then it has caught fire 22:30 as many of you know. 22:32 Now, today, right now it's in 38 plus languages right now. 22:37 We know 38 plus, there are more being created, 22:39 and the graphics are being customized 22:41 for each individual culture. 22:43 And we have gone from originally 22:45 calling it the DVD project. 22:46 You notice that we call it New Beginnings now, 22:48 but then our name for it was the DVD project 22:51 because DVD was a brand new technology 22:54 at that time. 22:55 We could put it on and just take a little DVD player 22:57 and put it on a computer on a screen whatever. 22:59 Today, well, actually 23:00 I'm jumping ahead of myself, Debbie. 23:02 We actually went through a process we're, "Okay, 23:04 let's put this up on the Internet." 23:06 How many of you have been 23:07 to our AdventistEvangelism.com website? 23:09 Anybody? Okay, there's a few of you that have. 23:11 Several years ago we actually were able to bring 23:14 all of those languages and all of that material up 23:17 so that you can go on to the website 23:19 and download that, in fact, anyone can. 23:21 And then most recently we've discovered that 23:23 in some places in the world it's difficult 23:26 to get fast enough internet access 23:28 so we have little thumb drives. 23:29 And I actually intended to have one of those, 23:31 and I don't have it, but a little thumb drive 23:33 that has the entire evangelistic crusade 23:37 on a thumb drive, 23:39 all it needs is a human being that knows how to do something, 23:42 and that has come in 15 years 23:44 to where now it is being used all over the world 23:48 by laypeople and pastors alike. 23:51 What's on the horizon for New Beginnings? 23:55 Well, I just came from a late breakfast meeting this morning. 23:59 In fact, yesterday I was in a meeting 24:00 with some of our division presidents 24:02 and the division president from that part of East Africa 24:05 where Rwanda took place. 24:07 And many of you have heard 24:08 that there has been 100,000 people baptized 24:11 at an evangelistic meeting held by pastors 24:14 and many, many laypeople 24:15 in Rwanda back earlier this year. 24:18 Well, I heard the division president 24:21 from that division Elder Ruguri say 24:24 that 90% of all of those 24:26 evangelistic meetings took place 24:28 were using a little thumb drive with New Beginnings on it. 24:31 And those meetings were taking place 24:32 and 100,000 people have been baptized, 24:35 and I just heard this morning in another meeting 24:37 that they're anticipating in 2017 24:40 having 17,000 more evangelistic meetings 24:43 that laypeople were conducting 24:44 all throughout that section of Africa. 24:46 And West Africa, Duane McKey told me this morning, in 2018 24:50 they want to do 20,000 meetings. 24:52 So they're translating more languages so, Debbie, 24:55 it's amazing we had no idea 24:57 what we were getting into, did we? 24:58 Absolutely, absolutely. 24:59 And, you know, it's touched thousands, 25:02 thousands of the lives. 25:04 And I just want to share with you one 25:05 that you may remember from way back then, 25:08 and we have some pictures 25:09 I just want to scroll through pretty quickly. 25:11 This young lady, her name is Lakshmi. 25:14 And you may remember Bob Paulson and Garwin 25:16 went back to India, held a series 25:18 and this young crippled girl came to the meetings 25:22 just kind of pulling herself up because she couldn't walk. 25:26 And so she was baptized and Lakshmi has really grown. 25:31 She was baptized, she went to school, 25:34 she graduated with a bachelor's degree. 25:38 There is she is with Garwin. 25:40 And then the next picture I think 25:41 shows her having graduated. 25:43 And then after that she married a minister, 25:46 and since then she has had a baby 25:50 and so she is growing 25:52 and teaching now her young daughter 25:55 or her child about Jesus and His love 25:58 all because of New Beginnings. 26:00 That's right. 26:02 So how many more Lakshmis can we reach? 26:06 Well, I just talked with Denzil 26:08 by the text a few minutes before. 26:09 I just wanted to get the latest things on this. 26:11 We have now trained over 200,000 people 26:15 to be able to share and use New Beginnings. 26:17 And we have no idea how many millions of people 26:19 have actually participated, 26:21 but one look at Lakshmi if it was only for one, 26:24 wouldn't that be worth it? 26:25 The other thing that's really popular in business today 26:28 is to look at what the long term impact 26:30 of something is going to be. 26:31 This goes back 15, 16 years, 26:34 and we have the privilege today to look back 26:36 and see how God has blessed, 26:37 and I wonder what today will we be doing 26:41 that will have that kind of a trajectory into the future. 26:44 We shouldn't expect that this is the last of it, 26:46 this is just the beginning of it. 26:48 New Beginnings is having a New Beginning, 26:49 it's time to go for a New Beginning. 26:51 Well, thank you, Dan, 26:53 for helping us to tell the story, 26:55 and to let everybody know that we still need that support. 26:57 Yes, we do. 26:59 So that we can enhance the reach of New Beginnings. 27:01 Thank you. Amen. Thank you. 27:08 Five years ago several individuals 27:11 met together 27:13 at SoCal camp meeting in California 27:17 for the purpose of exploring 27:19 the possibility of working together, 27:22 combining their individual ministry efforts 27:26 as a united effort to deal with the LGBT issue 27:31 not only in the world but in the church. 27:35 Out of that meeting was born Coming Out Ministries. 27:40 And our purpose in Coming Out Ministries 27:43 is not only to inspire, 27:45 but to enlighten, to educate, 27:48 and to equip the church to deal with the LGBT issue 27:53 in a redemptive way in the LGBT arena 27:59 as well as every other arena. 28:03 About two years ago 28:04 Danielle Harrison joined our Coming Out Ministries group, 28:08 and since then she's been traveling the world 28:11 turning the world upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ 28:15 from her powerful testimony perspective. 28:20 And I'm delighted today to introduce Danielle Harrison 28:23 to share with you her amazing testimony, 28:27 and I know that you will be blessed, Danielle. 28:30 Amen. Thank you, Ron. 28:32 It's a privilege to work together in ministry, 28:34 I'm sure that any of you who work in ministry 28:37 can understand the blessing 28:40 it is to labor for God together. 28:45 I'm so glad to be here this morning, 28:47 I'm sure that many of you are as well. 28:50 ASI I believe is not only a networking opportunity, 28:54 but it's also like a family reunion, 28:56 so it's great to come together 28:58 and to be encouraged 29:00 by what other people are doing in ministry, 29:03 hearing the stories of how God is answering prayers 29:06 and moving abundantly. 29:08 So I think that is a big part of the ASI experience. 29:13 I've heard that every year on Friday morning 29:15 they have a very powerful testimony, 29:18 and I was humbled and a little bit shocked 29:22 when I received the call to be that powerful testimony. 29:27 So I come this morning excited 29:31 and very humbled again to be able to have this opportunity. 29:37 And I will be sharing my testimony this morning, 29:40 the way that the Lord has led me 29:42 out of the world and into ministry. 29:45 And so I hope it will be a blessing 29:46 and an encouragement to all of you. 29:48 Let's say a word of prayer before I begin. 29:53 Dear Heavenly Father, 29:56 I want to thank You so much 29:57 that in this place as Your children 30:00 have gathered together, 30:02 we can invite Your presence 30:05 and, Lord, You promised in Your word 30:07 that if we ask for Your Holy Spirit You will send it, 30:11 and so, Lord, we know that You're here with us. 30:13 And I just ask You humbly now, 30:15 Lord, that You would please anoint my lips 30:18 with a call from Your altar 30:20 that You would hide me behind Your cross 30:22 and that Jesus Christ would be seen. 30:25 Lord, because this has less to do with me 30:27 and more to do with Jesus and His power. 30:31 It's His book, I'm just the pages, 30:34 and so, Lord, help me to have ears 30:37 to hear Your Spirit and words to speak Your Words, 30:41 and help everyone here to have ears also to hear, 30:44 in Jesus' name I pray, amen. 30:48 So when I share my testimony, 30:49 I always start from the very beginning 30:52 because I believe that there were experiences 30:54 that happened for me very early on in my life 30:58 that paved the way 31:00 for a lot of other things that would come. 31:03 And as I was coming into the world, 31:07 my parents were struggling in their relationship, 31:10 they weren't expecting to have another child, 31:13 and I was a surprise, 31:15 but nonetheless I was very loved, 31:17 I was a very happy baby. 31:19 And my mom says 31:20 that she remembers of my character 31:22 that music was a big part of my joy, 31:25 a big part of my experience. 31:27 I loved music. 31:29 And unfortunately the music that came into our home 31:33 was not of a heavenly type of atmosphere 31:38 or heavenly Spirit, 31:39 it was from the world 31:41 through the radio and television, 31:44 Hollywood movies, and that kind of a thing. 31:46 So we had an abundance 31:48 of the world available in our home, 31:50 and it wasn't a Christian home 31:52 so I didn't have Jesus there to pattern after, 31:57 instead I was patterning after the world, 31:59 and this was what was building my character. 32:02 Now I want to share with you a quote 32:05 from the book Appeal to Mothers. 32:08 Now as I share my testimony, 32:10 I'm going to be focusing 32:13 or expressing my journey 32:16 through sexuality. 32:19 I think that this is sort of taboo 32:22 in our churches 32:23 and to a lot of the conservative environments, 32:26 we don't really talk about sex, right? 32:28 But I think that this is a topic 32:30 that needs to be addressed 32:32 because if our young people 32:34 aren't receiving information from us, 32:37 from the church, 32:38 then the world is the only place 32:40 they're getting their information. 32:42 And what a scary thing that is, right? 32:45 So I'm gonna be talking about that this morning, 32:48 and I'll start by sharing this quote Appeal to Mothers 32:51 found on page 11, it says, 32:53 "Mothers, you cannot be too careful 32:56 in preventing your children from learning low habits. 33:00 It is easier to learn evil, 33:02 than to eradicate it after it is learned." 33:05 So it's a lot easier to learn how to sin than just learn 33:09 how to stop sinning once we've been there, right? 33:12 "Neighbors may permit their children 33:14 to come to your house, 33:16 to spend the evening 33:17 and the night with your children." 33:19 But she says, "Here is a trial, and a choice for you, 33:24 to run the risk of offending your neighbors 33:26 by sending their children to their own home, 33:29 or gratify them, 33:31 and let them lodge with your children, 33:33 and thus expose them..." 33:35 Meaning your children, 33:36 "To be instructed in that knowledge 33:38 which would be a life-long curse to them." 33:42 Now if you look at this quote contextually, 33:45 the way that it's found in the context of the chapter, 33:48 you'll see that this curse here 33:49 that she's talking about is the curse of self-abuse. 33:53 Now that's kind of an old term 33:54 that we don't necessarily use a lot today, 33:56 the medical term 33:57 that we use today is masturbation. 33:59 Unfortunately, 34:00 my mom didn't know this council. 34:02 And I was permitted to have frequent sleepovers 34:05 when I was younger. 34:06 And this very curse came into my life 34:09 through this very avenue. 34:11 How important it is for us to read and learn 34:14 from the Spirit of Prophecy and from the Bible 34:17 so that we can walk in the way that God is directing us. 34:21 My parents separated 34:22 when I was six years old and my mother, 34:24 my siblings and I moved 34:26 into a low income housing development, 34:28 and it was there that a young girl 34:30 lived down the street, 34:31 she was my same age, 34:32 and she was being sexually abused by someone, 34:35 so she was learning things about her body 34:36 that she should not have known. 34:38 And so as a result of her sharing 34:41 that knowledge with me, 34:42 I also was learning things about my body 34:45 that I should not have known. 34:47 So I was only seven years old 34:49 when I started to have sexual interactions 34:53 with the same sex 34:54 and masturbation soon became an addiction for me, 34:57 this was a stronghold in my life for many, 35:00 many years until the Lord gave me victory. 35:05 A couple of years later, I was actually baptized. 35:08 I had been attending church frequently 35:10 with a family friend, 35:12 and the pastor sat us down and asked us 35:14 if we wanted to be baptized and we were. 35:17 But I wasn't making a commitment to Jesus, 35:19 I just thought that's what you do 35:20 when you love Jesus so I was baptized. 35:22 I knew that Christians were good people, 35:24 and I wanted to be a good person 35:26 so I started making some promises to myself. 35:29 I had learned a little bit about sexual purity 35:31 so I promised myself I wanted to stay virgin 35:34 until I was married. 35:36 And I wanted to abstain from all drugs and alcohol 35:39 because I'd seen the way that those things 35:40 had played a part in my parents' struggle 35:43 in their marriage and their separation. 35:46 But it didn't take very long for me 35:47 to start to realize 35:49 that there was this deep chasm between the person 35:52 that I wanted to be 35:54 and the person that I naturally was. 35:57 It didn't take very long for me 35:58 to start breaking those promises 36:00 that I made to myself 36:01 because our promises and our resolutions 36:04 are just like ropes of sand, right? 36:06 They're nothing that we can cling on to 36:08 or grab on to. 36:10 And so this was my experience 36:12 because I could not control my thoughts 36:15 or my impulses or my affections. 36:18 And so I started very young in my early teenage years 36:23 not only to have these sexual experiences 36:25 with these girls 36:27 because it had happened not only with that first girl 36:29 but many other girls as the years went on. 36:32 But I also started to have sexual interactions 36:34 with the boys too 36:36 because why is it a big deal to share it with them 36:38 if I've been sharing it with these other girls 36:41 for so many years. 36:44 And this for me, it was creating a struggle 36:47 as I was breaking the promises 36:48 that I wanted to keep to myself. 36:50 And, you know, 36:51 I started to really struggle with depression. 36:54 I started to dislike myself, 36:58 and I started to blame God 37:01 because I couldn't be who I wanted to be. 37:04 I couldn't be what the Bible told me to be 37:05 so I got angry at God, I blamed Him for it. 37:10 There's a quote in the Great Controversy, 37:12 it's found on page 525, and it says that, 37:16 "It is a law both of the intellectual 37:18 and of the spiritual nature 37:20 that by beholding we become changed." 37:22 It says the mind gradually adapts itself 37:25 to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. 37:28 And I believe that 37:30 this was what was happening for me, 37:32 I was so saturated in the things of the world, 37:35 I was saturated in the sin 37:38 that the world had brought into my life, 37:40 and that I had welcomed in. 37:43 So I was blinded to receiving the light 37:46 that I was now receiving from the Adventist neighbors 37:50 that we had moved in next door to and started studying with. 37:53 My sister was choosing Jesus, 37:56 being baptized and walking in one direction, 37:58 and I was walking in the other. 38:02 You know, I was about 15 years old 38:05 when I came out as bisexual. 38:09 Coming out to the world and saying this is how I am, 38:11 and you can't change it, 38:12 and who I am 38:14 was the biggest part of the sentence. 38:17 It wasn't just what I did behind closed doors 38:19 in the privacy of my own bedroom, 38:21 it was who I was, it was my persona, 38:25 and I think that's why so many people 38:27 who struggle with same sex attraction 38:29 have such a hard time coming out of it. 38:31 Because not only is it a stronghold sin 38:34 this bondage that is so hard to break free from, 38:37 but it becomes your identity. 38:39 You base who you are upon it. 38:41 And that was what was happening for me, 38:44 15 years old was when it started. 38:46 By the time I was 17, I moved away from home, 38:49 and I dropped out of school, and music became my idol. 38:54 Now I say that music was my idol 38:55 because music was the thing that I turn 38:57 to when I should have been turning to God. 39:00 When my friends let me down, when I was confused, 39:03 when I was upset, when I was angry, 39:05 those strong feelings come in, I turn to my music 39:08 because my music was always there for me, 39:10 my music made me feel better. 39:12 But really it just encouraged those negative feelings 39:15 that I wanted to be free from. 39:18 And as I started to allow this music 39:21 to come into my mind, 39:22 I started to develop a taste 39:25 for the music of the world in it, 39:26 and the music that I gravitated towards was darker 39:30 and darker and by beholding I became changed. 39:34 Image it would be called number two here, 39:37 is the person that I became 39:40 as I was about 18, 19, 20. 39:45 In my younger years I started to dress the part, 39:49 extravagant hair, makeup, and dress 39:51 became my way of life. 39:53 I wanted to be art 39:55 because that was the only thing 39:57 that really made sense to me anymore. 39:59 And the music was a gateway drug, 40:03 music really can't be a drug, for many people it is. 40:07 Music was my gateway drug into the world, 40:09 and it was yielding a very satanic crop in my life. 40:13 I began to wear devil horns 40:16 at first to concerts and parties, 40:18 but eventually just to the supermarket 40:19 on a Tuesday afternoon 40:21 or walking down the street because this was my persona. 40:24 And I didn't believe in God or Satan anymore 40:26 so why would it be a big deal to joke about it. 40:29 And to joke about the silly Christians 40:31 that actually believed in it. 40:33 There's a quote in Mind Character and Personality, 40:36 she calls it the degrading process. 40:39 Says, "The mind of a man or woman does not come down 40:42 in a moment from purity and holiness 40:45 to depravity, corruption, and crime. 40:47 It takes time to transform the human to the divine 40:51 or to degrade those formed in the image of God, 40:55 to the brutal or the satanic." 40:58 This was what was taking place in my life, why? 41:01 The next word say because "By beholding, 41:04 we become changed." 41:07 I was being made into the image that was ever before me. 41:10 I was struggling with anxiety attacks, 41:13 eating disorders, multiple drug addictions, 41:16 I was dabbling in witchcrafts 41:18 so I was seeing shadows crawl and hearing voices. 41:22 You know, when I was younger 41:23 there was a turning point in my life 41:26 where I sat down on the couch and I thought, 41:28 "I don't have to listen to what everybody tells me 41:30 I need to do, I can do whatever I want, 41:32 I can be crazy if I want, 41:34 what's the worst thing that could happen?" 41:36 Now I was experiencing what could happen, 41:39 it was a very dark and scary place 41:42 in that wilderness 41:43 where I had walked very far from God. 41:46 It was enslaving there. 41:48 And I wanted to change, I was desperate for change, 41:51 I had this aching void inside of me that, 41:54 that I tried to fill with anything and everything 41:57 from the world. 41:59 The parties didn't do it, the drugs didn't do it, 42:01 the girlfriends didn't do it, the boyfriends didn't do it. 42:04 And every time I tried to fill that space 42:06 that only Jesus can fill, 42:09 I just sense the emptiness more and more and more. 42:14 And one day, I was thinking about my life, 42:16 I was thinking about this desire for change. 42:20 And this thought and a still small voice 42:22 came into my mind and it said, 42:24 "Danielle, you have got to change 42:26 or you're going to die." 42:28 And I knew this was a call from the divine 42:33 that I needed to make a change, but I didn't know how 42:35 so I decided I was gonna move out 42:37 into the country with my dad, 42:38 get away from the city, 42:40 and that was the first change that I made. 42:42 God impressed one change upon my heart 42:43 that I could make, 42:45 and then he led me to make another change 42:46 and another change and another as I started to become sober 42:49 and get away from the drug addictions, 42:51 and I started to go vegan 42:53 mostly for animal rights reasons. 42:55 You know, I said, "I'm gonna save the world 42:57 one chicken at a time, if that's the best I can do." 43:01 But as I was making these little steps, 43:03 my mind was becoming clearer. 43:06 And even though I was calling God by the wrong name, 43:10 even though I was searching for the divine, 43:12 looking for love in all the wrong places. 43:15 And my quest for knowledge 43:17 in the new age search through 43:19 all different types of religions of the world, 43:22 and new age healing modalities, and everything in between. 43:26 Even though I was calling God by the wrong name 43:29 and looking in all the wrong places, 43:30 He was hearing my prayers. 43:33 And as far as my prayers fit into His will, 43:35 He was honoring those prayers, 43:36 and He was moving me gently in the direction 43:40 that I needed to go, to be able to receive more light. 43:43 And I know that God was able to speak into my life, 43:46 into my heart in the darkest place 43:48 of my experience 43:50 because my mother and my sister were earnestly praying for me. 43:56 And so if you only remember one thing from my testimony, 44:00 don't let be the devil horns 44:01 and the, you know, the crazy dark point, 44:05 let it be that the thing that shifted my experience 44:08 was the earnest, and consistent, 44:11 and fervent prayers of the people that loved me. 44:15 And not only do I recognize that in my experience, 44:18 but so do every single one of my colleagues 44:20 in Coming Out Ministries 44:22 that it was the prayers of our family that invited God 44:26 who's a perfect gentleman, 44:28 and will never force Himself upon us into our lives 44:31 when we needed Him the most. 44:35 So my sister could see 44:37 that my heart was softening a little bit 44:39 because before when I was running around 44:40 with devil horns and I didn't want to talk about God at all, 44:43 but now I'm talking about spiritual things. 44:45 And her husband was going to be going out to the Black Hills 44:48 Health and Education Center 44:50 to do an internship on the farm. 44:52 So because their family was going out, 44:54 there she invited me to go with them. 44:57 It was a challenging decision, but to make a long story short, 44:59 I ended up going. 45:01 Expecting to be there for six months, 45:03 but I was there for three and a half years. 45:05 And it was there that I sincerely met 45:08 the man named Jesus. 45:10 I met that man through His Spirit manifest 45:15 in His children. 45:17 There was one man in particular 45:19 that really, really caught my attention. 45:22 His name is Dan Gabbert 45:24 and he's the spiritual counselor there. 45:26 And every time we would cross paths 45:29 and we'd exchange words, 45:32 I would walk away from him, 45:33 and I was so impressed by the gentleness, 45:37 and the kindness, and this joy and this piece 45:40 that just flowed out of him, 45:42 and I wanted that kind of spirit. 45:44 And I thought I don't know what's working for that man 45:47 but I wanted too. 45:49 And so one day I decided, I was gonna go to church 45:51 when I knew he was speaking 45:53 not because I was interested in the gospel 45:55 because I wasn't, but because I wanted to know 45:57 what was working for him. 45:59 So I sat down in the church in the very back 46:01 hoping no one would notice me, 46:02 and I was just kind of drawing on my little drawing pad there, 46:06 and he said today we're gonna talk about the crucifixion. 46:11 And in my mind I thought, "Oh, the crucifixion, 46:12 why that anything but that." 46:14 Because when I thought about God, I thought about light, 46:16 and love, and peace, and joy, 46:18 I didn't want to think about 46:19 death, and war, and tribulation, 46:21 and the crucifixion like I read about in the Bible. 46:24 But then the next thing he said was, 46:26 "And maybe you're thinking, 46:27 "Oh, the crucifixion, why that anything, but that." 46:33 And when he said what I had just thought, 46:35 I knew that God was about to speak to me. 46:39 And he started to describe sin. 46:42 That when we transgress the law of God, 46:43 we are separated from Him, 46:45 and because He is the source of all life 46:48 if we are separated from Him, 46:49 the natural occurrence is death. 46:51 And so by choosing sin, we deserve that death. 46:54 But if we will choose Jesus 46:56 and we will accept the sacrifice 46:58 He has freely given, then Jesus bridges the gap 47:01 for us to come back to God and eternal life. 47:03 This massage shook me from the very core of my being, 47:09 and it wouldn't let me go. 47:10 All day I was wandering around just praying to God, 47:13 walking around the hills, praying out loud, 47:15 and just trying to reconcile this beautiful life 47:19 with all of the understanding spiritually 47:21 that I had that it conflicted with. 47:24 But that was when I finally decided 47:25 I would give Christianity another chance. 47:28 And God brought many other people 47:30 to minister to me and to teach me. 47:34 Chad and Fadia Kreuzer with Anchor Point Films 47:36 were especially prominent in teaching me 47:39 a lot of the things that I learned. 47:41 But when Thom Mayer from Little Light Studios 47:44 came with his family, and they were working on a film, 47:49 they developed a friendship with me 47:50 and when he left, 47:52 he left me five DVDs of the documentaries 47:54 that he makes with his ministry. 47:56 And I watched the documentary called Magic Kingdom, 47:59 it's about Disney. 48:01 Who could have imagined 48:02 that God was about to totally shatter my earth 48:08 as it were. 48:10 I was not ready for the profound truth 48:12 that was going to come from it, my guard wasn't up, right, 48:16 because God uses the simple things 48:18 to profound the wise. 48:20 I had professed myself to be a wise, I'd become a fool. 48:23 And God needed to use something very simple 48:27 to get into my heart, 48:28 and so He did from the simple documentary. 48:30 The first thing that stuck out was Disney says, 48:33 "Follow your heart, listen your heart." 48:35 But the Bible says that the heart 48:36 is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked 48:39 who can know it. 48:40 I knew that I couldn't trust my own judgment, 48:43 I had enough experiences to know that, 48:45 so why am I trying to figure out 48:47 God and the universe all on my own, 48:49 was the thought that came into my mind 48:51 after I was hearing this. 48:54 Then it started talking about spiritualism and witchcraft 48:57 and a cult symbology in Disney. 49:00 And I thought that this was very unlikely being 49:04 that I was very interested in all of these things, 49:06 but then I started thinking about the story lines. 49:09 And my two favorite movies growing up 49:11 were filled with the two spiritualisms 49:15 that I was most interested in as an adult. 49:18 I thought maybe these movies did have an impact on the way 49:21 I've used spiritual things. 49:23 But then it started talking about 49:24 how Disney portrays the woman's body, 49:27 whether it's an old movie or a new one 49:29 they have the very highly hourglass curvy figure 49:32 and co-in seductive facial expressions, 49:35 and overly sensual body language. 49:38 This documentary was saying that 49:40 presenting this notion of femininity 49:42 to a young child's mind 49:43 is simply unhealthy and inaccurate 49:46 to teach them what femininity is. 49:49 But there came that still small voice again 49:51 as I was watching this part of the documentary 49:53 and it said, "Danielle, you've been programmed 49:56 from the young age to view life the way that you do, 49:59 to view spirituality the way that you do, 50:02 and to view sexuality the way that you do, 50:04 to view the woman's body the way that you do, 50:06 and it's not my plan for your life 50:08 for you to be a lesbian." 50:09 Because at that point I wasn't only identifying as bisexual 50:12 that hadn't worked out very well as you can imagine, 50:15 it was a very messy track record. 50:18 And so I thought, "Well, I must be a lesbian 50:20 maybe that will actually work." 50:23 Through this simple documentary, the Holy Spirit, 50:25 nobody could have imagined 50:27 spoke these powerful words to me 50:28 and my heart was broken. 50:31 I finally was willing to accept God's will 50:33 for my life instead of my own. 50:36 And nobody knows how the Holy Spirit can come in 50:38 and do that but He does. 50:41 And for me it was a very, very powerful experience. 50:43 You know, some people ask me, 50:44 "Do you think that people are just born gay? 50:48 Did you choose to be gay?" 50:51 And I say, "Well, I didn't choose my temptations." 50:53 I don't think any of us really do. 50:55 You know, God, if I'm gonna be tempted, 50:57 can we choose this, this and this. 50:58 I don't think any of us had that conversation. 51:01 But even though we don't choose our temptations, 51:04 when the temptations do come in, 51:06 we make a choice, 51:07 are we gonna turn and indulge in those temptations or not? 51:11 So we don't choose our temptations 51:12 but there is a choice and the matter. 51:16 And this was what I finally came to understand. 51:19 And I finally came to reanalyze that, that Satan is real, 51:22 the Great Controversy is real. 51:26 And that I'm not safe unless I'm with Jesus. 51:29 And this was when I truly started to surrender 51:31 my heart to Him, 51:32 I started to develop a relationship with Him 51:34 that I didn't have when I was little, 51:36 when I was baptized. 51:38 I started to interact with Him through His Word and spend... 51:41 Have conversation with Him through prayer 51:43 and I had started to develop a trust for Him 51:47 and love blossomed out of that trust. 51:50 And when we have a love in our hearts for God, 51:52 commitment and sacrifice naturally flow 51:55 out of that love. 51:56 It isn't something that we need to fabricate, 51:59 it's something that God places in our heart, 52:00 and it flows out of us for everyone around us 52:03 to experience as well. 52:05 So after, or the day that I was baptized, 52:09 this would be photo number four. 52:11 All day before my baptism, I wore a white dress 52:14 and all day after my... 52:16 Oh, I'm sorry, all day before my baptism 52:17 I wore a red dress, 52:19 and all day after my baptism I wore a white dress 52:22 because I wanted everyone to know 52:25 was mine to claim 52:28 that if I confess my sins, God was faithful 52:30 and just to forgive me 52:32 and to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. 52:35 And I said, "Lord, today, 52:36 I want to enter into a new covenant with you, 52:39 and I ask you to wash me clean and make me a virgin 52:42 in Your sight 52:43 because I can't keep myself pure, I tried. 52:47 But, Lord, with my hand in Yours You can." 52:51 And this was the new experience that I entered into with Him. 52:54 After my baptism, God started opening up doors 52:57 for me to share my testimony locally at first, 53:01 and then He'd move me to a new area, 53:03 and I'd speak there a few places, 53:05 and He moved me around quite a bit for a year or two. 53:09 And while I was still at the Black Hills 53:12 before I left, 53:13 there was this morning that I was, 53:14 I had watched a sermon by David Asscherick 53:17 and it moved me, it was so powerful, 53:19 and I was weeping. 53:20 And I just fell on my knees, and I said, "Lord, you know 53:23 that I want to do public speaking." 53:25 That was what I had an interest in doing 53:27 before I became a Christian. 53:29 Lord, You know that I want to do public speaking, 53:31 but I want you to use me to do whatever You want me to do 53:36 if I can do it with this kind of Holy Spirit power." 53:39 I saw the Lord moving through that message 53:42 so powerfully to move my heart, 53:44 and I said, "Lord, I want you to use me 53:46 to move the hearts of men 53:48 to come to know You and understand 53:49 who You are more clearly 53:51 like I have seen through this message. 53:52 And whatever it is for me to do, 53:56 I don't want to try and make it happen anymore. 53:58 Lord, I'm just gonna trust You that You will do it." 54:01 And so I laid that baby on the altar, right. 54:04 And that was when things really started moving forward, 54:08 and I started speaking more. 54:10 I said, "Lord, I'll go where You want me to go, 54:11 and I'll say what You want me to say." 54:13 I didn't really talk about sexual purity at that time 54:16 because we don't really talk about that, right? 54:18 I didn't know what I was getting myself into 54:20 when I prayed that prayer, 54:22 I'll go where You want me to go, right. 54:24 And I went to GYC one year 54:27 and I ended up at the Coming Out Ministries booth. 54:30 I started having a conversation with my colleague Wayne, 54:33 and through the course of the conversation 54:36 I ended up sharing some of my testimony with him. 54:39 And he said, "Wow, would you be willing to share your testimony 54:43 with us some time?" 54:44 And I said, "Oh, I'll pray about it." 54:46 And I'm thinking, "No way, 54:49 not this, Lord, anything but this. 54:54 But you know what, God remembered 54:57 the prayer that I had prayed. 54:59 And I said, "Lord, if You want me to do this, 55:01 You're gonna have to confirm it to me, 55:03 and You're gonna have to open up the doors." 55:05 And you know what, He's been doing that ever since. 55:08 And I have been working with them 55:09 for the last two years, 55:10 and it has been such a blessing for me. 55:13 God knows exactly 55:15 what we need to go through, right? 55:17 Sometimes we need to be humbled to speak about something, 55:19 we don't necessarily feel that comfortable speaking about, 55:23 but sometimes He has us in a very different position. 55:28 So for you today, I just want to ask you, 55:31 is God calling you 55:34 into a ministry experience for Him? 55:36 Maybe you've said, "No way, Lord, not that." 55:39 You kind of digging your heels, right? 55:42 But I can tell you from my experience 55:44 that no matter what it is, if God is calling you into it, 55:48 He has a plan greater than you could ever fathom. 55:52 God has showed me so much through this ministry, 55:56 has built my faith so much 55:58 as He has led us into the speaking engagements, 56:00 He has brought us around the world, 56:02 and He has now helped us to develop a film 56:05 that we will be releasing in September of our testimonies 56:08 that we pray will go out to many, many people 56:11 that maybe would never come to our meetings. 56:13 It's been powerful and profound, 56:15 so keep an eye out for that 56:17 Journey Interrupted film that's coming out. 56:19 These are the kind of things that God does, 56:20 He moves for us in ways 56:22 that we don't foresee happening. 56:24 So I just want to close here together 56:27 as we all have a season of prayer. 56:30 And so I want to invite you 56:31 to turn to the person next to you 56:33 if you're sensing that conviction 56:34 to respond to God and ministry in ways 56:38 that He's calling you into bigger things 56:40 and you haven't had the courage to do it. 56:42 Let's pray and surrender our talents and time 56:46 to the Lord today. |
Revised 2022-06-11