Participants: Natasha Dysinger
Series Code: 16ASIC
Program Code: 16ASIC000010A
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00:19 It's a beautiful Sabbath day, and I'm happy to bring
00:22 one more segment of our offering in action 00:26 and with me is Randy Bivens, 00:29 he's the chief operating officer of Weimar, 00:31 and as a radiologist has volunteered in all but one 00:37 of Your Best Pathway to Health events. 00:40 And we're just really thrilled with the kind of outcome 00:43 that we've experienced with Pathway 00:46 touching scores of lives of individuals 00:49 who have come seeking services. 00:51 To date, we have provided services 00:54 to 22,000 patients or clients, 00:58 people that residents in those cities 01:00 to the tune of $86 million value of healthcare. 01:07 So we're really thrilled with that number. 01:09 Now, it's interesting, Randy, I want you to share with us 01:11 a little bit of your aha moments. 01:13 So you have participated in all of these events, 01:17 and just kind of walk us through some of the mind things 01:20 that you were sharing with me earlier? 01:22 Yeah, thanks, Debbie. 01:23 Initially I was asked to be the imaging director 01:27 doing x-rays, ultrasounds, 01:28 and I was very excited about doing that, 01:31 but I just kind of looked at the global idea, 01:33 does it really make sense to spend over a million dollars 01:36 to go to a large city and come in for three days, 01:39 everybody has this picture opportunity 01:41 to gets their picture taken and then they go home. 01:44 You know, did that seem to make sense? 01:45 And to me, it just didn't seem to make a lot of sense, 01:48 it would seem like, you could spend 01:49 a million dollars and hire three or four people 01:52 and leave them there for several years, 01:53 and that might have a better impact 01:55 on the community and so, 01:56 but I just love going to them 01:58 because I love going and seeing what it is, 02:01 but it wasn't until we went to LA 02:03 when I actually had a number of radiologists 02:05 coming from Loma Linda finally to help me, 02:07 because before that I was kind of doing it myself 02:09 and I was able to circulate out into the area of the clinic 02:13 and I had opportunity to query people that I knew, 02:17 that there was a bit of a paradigm shift 02:18 because I always thought 02:20 this is all about delivering to the community, 02:21 but I recognized something that was really a change 02:25 and that is people would tell me, 02:27 "This been the most amazing day, 02:28 three days of my life," 02:30 or someone else told me, they go, 02:31 "I finally understand what it means to serve." 02:35 And I had it, it was a bit of a paradigm shift. 02:38 We've been thinking about we're spending all this money 02:39 to serve the community, but suddenly I realized that 02:43 we're actually doing something more, 02:45 we're training 4,500 volunteers in one spot to teach them 02:50 the ways of Christ in how to serve. 02:53 And in that regard I go, 02:54 maybe it wasn't such a bad expenditure of money 02:57 because we did help a lot of people. 02:59 We did get some cute pictures that ended up in the record 03:02 and other, you know, church, you know in, 03:05 but really what was better was that we are training people 03:08 on how to serve, and what's really happened, 03:10 Debbie, and you know this. 03:12 We have people who are going back 03:13 to their communities, and they're starting 03:15 to pray with patients. 03:17 They go, "Okay, I know how to do that now." 03:19 They're setting up free dental clinics, 03:20 and they go, "Oh, I see how, that was so enriching." 03:23 And I can bring my staff in, and they can see 03:26 what it's like to serve. 03:27 And many of these people have non Adventist staff 03:29 and they go, wow, in fact a lot of dentists 03:31 have brought their non Adventist staff 03:33 to these Pathway events. 03:35 It's an evangelist outreach, and in that regard, 03:38 I see that this is really a much different animal 03:42 than we initially thought of when we first started. 03:45 Amen. 03:46 So then your best Pathway to Health 03:48 is really very transformative not just for patients... 03:51 Absolutely. But for volunteers as well. 03:54 You told us that you shared with me a story of 03:57 one of your friends who had that experience. 03:59 Can you share that with us? Yeah, in fact I was... 04:04 I won't mention his name, but his daughter is a student 04:08 at Weimar Academy. 04:10 So, you know, that kind of narrows, you know, 04:12 you can start doing the math, and she kept saying, 04:14 "Dad you've got to come to this, 04:15 you've got to come to this, you've got to come to this." 04:16 And finally he went to LA. 04:18 He came from Seattle, went to LA, 04:20 so that's even narrowed it even more, 04:21 you can for those of you who really can figure it out. 04:24 And I talked to him recently and he said, 04:27 he's the one that really told me, 04:28 he said, I really finally, he says, 04:30 I've been in the church all my life, 04:31 I finally realized what it means to serve. 04:37 And that was really kind of a click moment, 04:40 an aha-aha moment, where it's like, 04:41 we're helping people but more than that we're helping, 04:45 and as you know, what Pathways does is it brings, you know, 04:49 I don't like the term liberal, and conservative, 04:52 and social Adventist, and people gave me list, 04:54 it was like seven kinds of Adventists. 04:55 And I think there's only one kind of Adventist. 04:57 You know, we all want to get to heaven. 04:59 But it brings all different segments of Adventism 05:02 and even non Adventists or non Adventist friends, 05:05 it brings them all together, and they're all happy, 05:08 and they're not fighting, and we're all serving together. 05:11 Amen. 05:13 Thank you very much, Randy, for sharing that perspective. 05:14 My pleasure. 05:18 In every other seat there is a card with a picture 05:20 and a statistic on it. 05:22 And on the back is an incredible quote 05:24 from Evangelism, page 570, it says, 05:27 "We should be able to see in the multiplying opportunities 05:30 to reach many foreigners in America, 05:33 a divinely appointed means of rapidly extending 05:36 the third angel's message 05:38 into all the nations of the earth. 05:40 God in His providence has brought men 05:42 to our very doors and thrust them, 05:44 as it were, into our arms, 05:48 that they might learn the truth, 05:49 and be qualified to do a work we could not do 05:52 in getting the light before men of other tongues." 05:55 Consider Somalia, 05:58 this is that country that juts out into the ocean, 06:01 the northeast corner of Africa. 06:03 It has been struck with droughts, 06:06 and with war for over 20 years. 06:08 It takes people feeding, about a million people 06:12 just to keep them from starving, 06:14 and one out of four people have been uprooted 06:16 from where they live. 06:17 I'm sure of the 99.6% Somalis that are Muslim, 06:22 there are many who are true God seekers, 06:24 and generous hearted hospitable people. 06:27 And yet, it is the second most dangerous country 06:30 for Christians in the world. 06:32 How on earth is God going to reach these people? 06:36 I am happy to say that there are 85,700 Somalis 06:40 who now have religious freedom in America. 06:43 They have come to our cities and neighborhoods. 06:46 Recently my son and I visited some of them 06:48 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, 06:51 25,000 Somalis live there. 06:54 As we listen to their stories, three shared with us, 06:57 how they came to put their trust in Christ. 07:00 One of them a lady, I'll call Francis said, 07:02 when she was in Somalia she watched her father, 07:05 her brother, and her friends murdered in front of her eyes. 07:09 Her mother and her fled in a boat towards Kenya, 07:12 it was a sailboat. 07:13 And the sailboat stopped as the wind ceased. 07:16 There they were no food, no water, 07:18 blistering in the sun, 07:19 when suddenly out of nowhere a wind came 07:22 and drove them towards Kenya. 07:24 When they got out, they were welcomed 07:25 into a refugee camp, and things seemed safe 07:28 but just a few days later Francis almost died 07:30 from a cobra. 07:32 Finally, she got to America and her mother 07:34 and she began to study English, study to be a nurse, 07:37 studied to be a teacher. 07:39 And during that time a young man 07:41 playing basketball with her invited her to church. 07:44 She said, "No way, I'm a Muslim, 07:45 I teach the Quran to young girls." 07:48 But after a while, 07:49 when he had given her a New Testament, 07:51 and he kept sitting on her desk saying, 07:52 read me, read me, read me. 07:54 She picked it up, she saw love in every page. 07:58 She was confused, she cried out to God, 08:01 please show me who you are. 08:03 And that night in the dream, 08:05 she saw somebody speaking to her saying, 08:07 "I am the one who sent that wind 08:09 to push the boat to the shore. 08:10 I am the one who protected you from the cobra. 08:13 I am Jesus, follow me." 08:16 She gave her heart to Him. 08:17 And now she and 30 other evangelicals 08:20 meet in a Seventh-day Adventist church on Sunday. 08:22 They are also learning the truth. 08:24 Pray for the Minnesota Conference 08:27 as they reach out to this group, 08:28 especially pray for them this week. 08:31 God told us in Leviticus 19:34, 08:33 "But the stranger who dwells among you 08:35 shall be to you as one born among you, 08:39 and you shall love him as yourself 08:41 for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: 08:43 I am Lord your God." 08:46 On that card that you have in your hands, 08:49 there is the website that offers the kit 08:52 that you can go back to your local churches, 08:54 gather a group of ten or so, pray for these people, 08:58 and begin to go out to reach them for Christ. 09:01 You also have on almost every seat, 09:03 the card mylanguagemylife.com. 09:06 You can carry this in your wallets, 09:07 in your purses, get more of them, 09:10 and then when you meet somebody who speaks another language, 09:13 hand it to them 09:14 because here we have as a portal to 150 languages 09:18 with Seventh-day Adventist resources. 09:20 Let's pray, and see God finish His work 09:23 right next door. 09:26 Father in heaven, we are lifting up to You 09:28 the Somali people, so much heartache, 09:30 so much need and yet you love them 09:32 as we love our own family. 09:34 Please, Father, reach them, work with them, 09:36 bless the Minnesota Conference, at other places 09:38 where they have gone, 09:40 and raise us up to finish your work. 09:42 Lord, You love them, You want to see 09:44 every single person we meet guide us and show us 09:46 just what we can do as we commit 09:49 to be part of Your people that take the gospel, 09:51 the three angels' messages to every kindred, 09:54 tribe, and tongue. 09:55 Thank you in Jesus' name, amen. 10:00 Good morning ASI family. 10:01 Isn't it good to be in Sabbath school this morning? 10:04 Amen. 10:05 We're so happy to be here this morning. 10:08 And, you know, Sabbath school as I remember it 10:11 from when I was a child was all about missions. 10:14 We had mission stories in our Sabbath school 10:17 and we talked about missions 10:18 and we watched missions spotlight 10:20 and we were always enthralled and I grew up on the stories 10:23 of Eric B. Hare and such 10:25 and was always enthralled with the idea 10:28 that there was so much work to be finished 10:30 around the world. 10:31 This morning we have the distinct privilege 10:33 of having with us representatives 10:35 from our world church from around the world. 10:38 These men on the stage today 10:40 represent your world division presidents. 10:49 And it is a great privilege for ASI to have them 10:52 at the convention this year 10:54 and to know that we are partnering together 10:56 to see how God's work can be finished. 10:59 This afternoon, there's a very special program 11:03 that we're going to do it. 11:04 It's going to last for two hours. 11:06 The focus of the program 11:08 is to talk to these world church leaders 11:11 about the unfinished business of what we yet need to do 11:16 to finish spreading the gospel to the entire world. 11:19 We're inviting you to join us this afternoon. 11:22 The program will be right here, and you won't want to miss it. 11:25 In addition, we're inviting you to communicate 11:28 with your family and your friends. 11:29 All of these programs are being streamed online live 11:32 and they're on 3ABN. 11:34 We would like this message to be broadcast 11:36 around the world. 11:37 And so as you are here today, as you're thinking about 11:41 what you might do to help the program of ASI 11:44 this afternoon. 11:46 We invite you to communicate with your friends 11:48 and let them know. 11:49 Go to 3ABN this afternoon and watch this special program. 11:52 Program begins at 4 P.M., 3:30 P.M., 11:56 I think, 3:30 right here. 11:58 And so you want to be joining us, 11:59 and we just invite you, 12:01 Elder Wilson, just say a word to us 12:02 about this opportunity we have to encourage the work of God 12:07 around the world. 12:09 Thank you, Steve, and thank you for the incredible hospitality 12:13 that ASI has provided for the world leadership. 12:17 We have 13 world divisions and one attached union, 12:22 that's the Middle East North Africa Union. 12:26 A number of months ago, knowing the importance 12:30 of how ASI in its worldwide outreach 12:34 touches so many of these divisions. 12:37 I appealed to my colleagues to be here 12:41 at this very special ASI convention here in Phoenix. 12:45 And I want to tell you that out of the 14 leaders, 12:49 13 of them have been here. 12:52 Amen. And we praise God for that. 12:58 They have been in the meetings, 13:01 they have been networking, 13:02 they have been talking with people, 13:04 and they have been so well hosted by ASI. 13:07 Brothers and sisters, it is only as we work together, 13:12 lay members and paid workers in the church 13:17 united in a dynamic approach to evangelistic outreach 13:23 that the Lord will truly bless His church. 13:26 We want to see God's church moving towards 13:30 complete submission to the Lord, the latter rain, 13:34 and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 13:36 and the finishing of the work. 13:38 And these world leaders are committed to that. 13:42 This afternoon they will be responding 13:45 to very pointed questions. 13:48 I want you to be here. 13:50 There will also be a time when we will have 13:53 a special prayer of dedication for them. 13:58 I hope that each of you will tell those 14:00 who may be in the convention center 14:03 and elsewhere to come and be together this afternoon, 14:07 not only physically but spiritually 14:10 as we face the world mission approach 14:14 of taking the three angels' messages 14:16 to every corner of this globe. 14:19 Thank you, Steve, again for the wonderful hospitality. 14:22 And I'm so proud that all of these leaders 14:25 could be here with us today. 14:27 We are one in Christ. Amen. 14:30 You'll notice ASI family that the theme for this year 14:34 is called "Chosen and Committed". 14:37 This afternoon as we have this time together 14:40 with our world church leadership, 14:42 I'm going to invite you to begin praying 14:45 about what God is calling you specifically to do, 14:50 because at the end of that program, 14:51 there's going to be an opportunity for you 14:54 to make a commitment 14:55 to what God is calling you to do. 14:57 Pray with us as we prepare for this program this afternoon 15:00 that God will bless in a remarkable way. 19:58 Well, good morning and happy Sabbath everyone. 20:02 It's a blessed and beautiful day, isn't it? 20:05 I'm so thankful to be here. 20:07 We've been, my brother Shawn and my husband Paul 20:10 have been running the youth section 20:13 in the youth convention downstairs, 20:15 and so I've been down with them this whole convention long. 20:19 And so I actually didn't even come into this auditorium 20:22 until last night because I have been with them, 20:25 and so I've missed what's been going on up here 20:27 and I have heard it's been a tremendous blessing, 20:29 but we've had an amazing time down there as well, 20:32 so you can know your young people 20:34 are truly wonderful, and we've loved them, 20:36 and we've enjoyed them so much. 20:38 And we've had tremendous blessing down there as well, 20:41 but it's a joy to be with you here this morning 20:44 and also being here itself 20:47 just brings back a lot of memories 20:48 because my first, my first conference 20:53 as president of GYC was held in this convention center. 20:56 And so being in this room here 20:58 brings back a ton of memories as well. 21:00 Beautiful memories of the mercy and goodness of God. 21:04 And I grew up coming to ASI and GYC, 21:10 so it's just lots of good memories 21:11 packed into one place 21:13 and plus my wonderful family is here, 21:14 my whole family is here. 21:16 Even though we're scattered across the United States 21:18 and the world part of the time 21:21 because my sister and brother-in-law 21:22 are missionaries in Africa, 21:24 but they're all here this morning. 21:25 And I am so thankful for that. 21:28 God is good. 21:30 So let's have a prayer 21:32 before we start into our lesson study 21:35 because there's no blessing without the Spirit of God. 21:40 Let's pray. 21:42 Heavenly Father, You know as always, 21:48 I'm just a little child 21:51 but You, O, Lord, my Father, 21:54 I am the clay and you are my potter, 21:57 and I am the work of Your hands. 22:00 Lord, I pray this morning that You would set me aside 22:04 and lay me low and that You alone would be exalted 22:09 and that Your ways would be beautiful before our eyes. 22:13 And that You would be with those listening here live 22:17 and those listening via 3ABN or over the internet, Father, 22:23 that just every hearer would not hear me 22:26 but that they would hear the words of Jesus to them. 22:30 Whatever our individual needs are this morning 22:33 that You would minister to them through Your Word. 22:38 You are God and we exalt You, we love You, we praise You, 22:42 we thank You. 22:45 Thank You most of all for Jesus, 22:48 that's His name we ask, 22:49 amen. 22:52 So if you looked in your program, 22:55 it said the Sabbath school lesson study 22:57 is for this morning what I'm giving you, 22:59 and it's too bad really 23:01 that we can't actually have a Sabbath school discussion. 23:04 Because I was just so touched and moved 23:06 by the lesson study this week, 23:09 this whole quarterly has been just wonderful. 23:12 And if any of you did not study the lessons this week 23:15 that's certainly no condemnation 23:17 because it's easy to, 23:18 there's so much out there to read, 23:21 so much to pack into our devotions 23:23 that maybe some of you 23:25 didn't get a chance to study it. 23:26 if you didn't, I would appeal to you 23:28 to just go back and study it 23:29 just to receive the blessing yourself 23:30 because it is just beautiful, 23:32 but it's too bad that we are not 23:34 in our own little local churches 23:35 that we could just or here just break up 23:37 and have discussion 23:39 because there are so many practical things 23:40 since we can't do that 23:41 and since you're just going to have to listen 23:43 to a monologue from me, 23:44 I'm just going to share with you 23:46 some of the things that I learned 23:47 from this week Sabbath school. 23:49 Well, God has impressed my heart with 23:52 and I'll just appeal to you as you listen to it 23:56 to just think about the truths of the Word of God 23:58 as were brought out in this week's lesson study, 24:01 and how he may want to apply that to your life 24:04 even as he has challenged me to apply it to my life. 24:07 So to start out, let's turn to the Gospel of John 24:11 in your Bibles, 24:12 John 1:14, 24:18 this is a very familiar verse to all of us 24:20 but it is so incredibly rich, and deep, and profound, 24:25 let seek to listen to it and to read it 24:28 with new ears and eyes. 24:31 "And the Word was made flesh. 24:36 And dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. 24:41 The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 24:44 full of grace and truth." 24:49 That sentence touches me so much 24:51 or that phrase full of grace and truth. 24:56 So the main idea of behind redemption 24:58 is this drawing close. 25:00 You think about the very beginning 25:02 when iniquity entered our universe. 25:04 Here we have Lucifer, 25:06 who is the closest to God of any created being. 25:11 God created him specifically 25:14 to be the closest of any other created being to God, 25:19 the anointed cherub who covered, 25:21 the one who walked up and down 25:23 in the midst of the stones of fire, 25:25 the one who beheld the ceaseless glory 25:27 pouring off of God, 25:29 the one that knew him better than anyone else 25:32 knew as we read in the Bible and the Desire of Ages, 25:35 Ellen White describes very poignantly 25:38 how Lucifer left 25:40 when he is cherishing these ideas 25:42 of his own importance 25:43 which how you cherish ideas of your own importance 25:45 in front of God. 25:47 Iniquity is a mystery. 25:49 But he's cherishing these ideas of his own importance 25:51 and he is disgruntled that Christ has gotten that, 25:53 you know, this gotten exalted 25:55 and all these things that happened, 25:58 he is frustrated about this, so he leaves the presence, 26:02 the immediate presence of God and he goes out, 26:04 and he starts spreading dissension amongst the angels. 26:06 And think about the power of his arguments 26:10 because the angels have, 26:12 a, never been lied to in all of their existence. 26:16 They don't even understand the concept of a lie. 26:19 So here comes Lucifer, the one being in the universe 26:22 who is closest to God, 26:24 the one being who stands in his presence, 26:26 he starts saying things about the character of God 26:28 and how our freedom is over 26:30 and this and that and the other. 26:31 And the angels who have never been lied to, 26:33 they were like, 26:34 Lucifer is closer to God than anybody else. 26:37 How can you discredit what Lucifer has to say, 26:40 and his lies took a tremendous amount of power 26:45 there in heaven. 26:47 Then he comes down to earth 26:48 and Adam who was also created close to God, 26:50 not as close as Lucifer was, obviously, he was created, 26:52 he was here on earth. 26:54 But yet he had the blessing 26:55 and the privilege of visits of God 26:56 and of the angels. 26:58 He starts out not as close as Lucifer 27:00 but closer than we are, 27:02 starts out closer and then this, 27:04 he makes the same choice essentially 27:06 that Lucifer made certainly at a different level 27:08 because Lucifer had a different amount of knowledge. 27:12 But he also chooses to turn away, 27:15 to leave the presence of God. 27:19 And then 6,000 years later, 27:21 you fast forward to us 27:23 and we start out far away from Him. 27:27 But then the idea of redemption as clarified through the Bible, 27:31 is that God says, we're going to draw close again. 27:34 We started close and that separation occurred. 27:39 Now we're starting with the separation 27:42 and we're going to draw close again to see that 27:43 if human beings can get back close enough to God 27:46 that they can see obviously not with our actual vision 27:49 but through the eyes of faith, 27:50 if we can see God and understand 27:52 who He is that maybe we will decide to ditch the sin thing. 27:56 To draw close again, 27:57 but of course we can't get back to God, 27:59 so what does He do? 28:00 The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. 28:03 And He did it even before He came to earth 28:04 practically, right? 28:05 Said, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, 28:08 let them make me a sanctuary, so that I can do what? 28:11 Dwell among them. 28:12 So that I can be amongst them, 28:13 so that we can be near each other, 28:15 we can mingle with each other, 28:17 we can be around that there's this closeness, 28:19 not kneel them down here and I up there 28:22 and there's this great gulf and between know 28:24 so that we can be close. 28:26 This concept of drawing close 28:28 it's the bottom line idea of redemption. 28:33 So then, God becomes Emmanuel, God with us. 28:37 I mean, He always was. 28:39 But He does it in a way that we can understand, 28:41 He comes to live on this earth, 28:44 He was in the world and the world was what? 28:48 Made by Him. 28:51 And the world knew it not. 28:53 Phenomenal. 28:54 He was in the world and the world was made by Him, 28:57 everything He could see, made by Him, 28:59 and the world knew it not. 29:01 He came unto His own and His own received Him not. 29:07 This is where it's so profoundly beautiful to me 29:10 that when He became flesh and dwelt among us. 29:13 There's this parenthetical thought in that verse, 29:15 in verse 14, the one we read, John 1:14, 29:17 there's this parenthetical thought that says, 29:19 "we beheld his glory, 29:20 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." 29:22 And that parenthetical thought is so profound 29:24 that I think it can sometimes distract us 29:26 from the thought of the verse 29:28 minus the parenthetical thought. 29:29 Now, I mean, you don't want to remove it entirely 29:31 but if you read the sentence 29:33 minus the parenthetical thought, 29:34 it says, that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, 29:37 full of grace and truth. 29:39 His dwelling amongst us 29:41 was full and characterized by this, 29:43 grace and truth. 29:45 Grace and truth, in every interaction, 29:47 in every word, in every thought, 29:49 in everything that He did, 29:50 it was grace and truth that was defined by it. 29:52 I am profoundly blessed 29:54 and this is what He desires us to now do, right? 29:57 He says at the very end of his life 29:59 after He's washed the disciples feet, 30:01 He's like listen, "I have left you an example." 30:03 And if washing Judas' feet 30:04 is not the epitome of grace and truth, what is? 30:08 But after He finishes this, He gets up and He's like, 30:10 listen, I have left you an example, 30:12 so that you should do as I have done. 30:18 Translation the way I have lived among you, 30:20 the way I have served you, this is the way you are now, 30:24 we are now called to live amongst each other, 30:26 amongst the world, 30:28 amongst those that don't know His name, 30:29 just the way He lived amongst us. 30:31 And He says, if you know these things, happy are you 30:33 if you do them, grace and truth. 30:36 I am blessed to be married to a wonderful, wonderful man 30:43 whose life has redefined grace and truth to his wife. 30:49 Profoundly blessed. 30:50 And just a week ago Friday, so week from yesterday, 30:56 it had been an ordinary Friday, I was at home, 31:00 and I was, it was late afternoon now 31:04 and I was cleaning the house, 31:06 and we live in this absolutely 31:08 adorable tiny house in Tennessee 31:10 in the beautiful rolling hills of Middle Tennessee, 31:12 incredible life there. 31:14 Anyway, I love my tiny house with all my heart, 31:17 and so I was in there and I was cleaning 31:19 and putting fresh flowers out 31:21 and just delighting in my little home 31:24 and my honey was outside somewhere working, 31:26 and so I was looking forward to when he got back, 31:29 and it was about 45 minutes 31:32 before an hour or 45 minutes before, 31:35 we were going to have our sundown worship. 31:37 And I was just wrapping up there, 31:39 and I went over for some reason to pick up my phone, 31:43 it was on the kitchen counter and I picked up my phone 31:45 and on my phone there was a text from my mother. 31:50 Well, she had sent some time before but I hadn't seen it. 31:54 Letting me know that one of the most important people 31:57 in the world to me had died, 32:02 two words, so and so, 32:05 she put the name, died. 32:09 A little mojo icon with tears coming down. 32:14 I am looking at my phone. 32:19 And it was perfectly unreal to me. 32:20 I'm like, 32:25 "How can that be true? 32:29 How can that be for real? 32:32 Six months ago she was at my wedding, 32:34 she was in my wedding." 32:36 I never got to write her a thank you note 32:39 for the last most beautiful gift 32:41 she had ever given to me. 32:42 This is a person that is one of the most important people to me 32:45 on earth, 32:46 and I never got to say goodbye at my wedding 32:48 because of all that, you know, the busyness of trying 32:50 to get out of the reception, 32:52 so many people there to say goodbye to you, 32:53 and trying to get out to take pictures 32:54 before the sun set out in the snow. 32:57 And now, so I never got to say goodbye to her 32:59 at my wedding and now she's gone. 33:00 You mean to tell me, I'm never going to see her again, 33:04 and I was just like perfectly now, it's like how. 33:08 It was like 100% unreal to me. 33:10 So I set the phone down and I started going back 33:13 to just finish the last touches on my house. 33:18 But then I couldn't do that either, 33:19 so I'm just sort of standing here 33:20 in this state of perfect limbo. 33:23 And then I'm like, 33:25 well, if this is true I want to find out how. 33:28 So I pick up my phone to FaceTime my mom, 33:32 and I FaceTimed to my mom 33:34 and when her face showed up on the screen of my iPhone, 33:38 her face was streaked with tears 33:40 and the combination of seeing her face streaked with tears 33:42 and at that moment my husband opened the door 33:44 and walked in, 33:45 and between that combination of his presence and her face, 33:48 I dissolved. 33:51 For the next, I don't even know how long, 33:54 the rest of the cleaning in my house did not get done, 33:56 I was almost done anyway, but it did not get done. 34:00 And I was lying on my bed, 34:01 trying to wrap my mind around this reality 34:04 that she was gone and I would never see her again. 34:07 With zero closure, zero closure. 34:12 And as the evening wore on, we had our sundown worship but, 34:15 of course, I'm totally like emotionally out of whack now. 34:19 And a couple other things happened that evening 34:22 that were unrelated to the loss of this precious person but... 34:26 And unrelated frankly to my husband 34:29 and it was certainly not his fault, 34:31 but a couple of things happened 34:32 that in my already very hyperemotional state 34:35 really bothered me. 34:38 And in that state of so and so was dead, 34:42 I cannot believe this, and I cannot handle this, 34:44 and this is too much for me, 34:45 I had no warning that she was going to die. 34:47 And anyway, needless to say long story short, 34:53 I ended up being quite difficult with my husband. 34:57 And allowing the little things really that bothered me 35:00 to just bother me and I was refusing to be comforted 35:03 and I was just generally being difficult, 35:05 and my husband was so gracious and kind. 35:09 And you say, well, you know, of course, he was gracious 35:11 and kind to you, you just lost somebody 35:12 that was super important to you 35:13 but listen, even if you lose someone 35:15 that was incredibly important to you, 35:18 that's no reason to be difficult with your spouse. 35:24 And he was just so gentle and so kind 35:26 that it really broke my heart. 35:27 And the next morning as I was, 35:29 you know, praying about and everything, 35:30 I was really convicted 35:31 I shouldn't have been difficult with him. 35:33 There was nothing he did wrong, there was no... 35:34 And it wasn't that I thought that there was something 35:36 he did wrong, it was just hyperemotional 35:38 that night before. 35:39 And so I went back to him, and I was like, you know, 35:41 sweetheart, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being difficult. 35:44 And he smiled at me and he wrapped his arms around me 35:47 and he said something to me, I'll never forget. 35:49 He said, "Honey don't even worry about it, 35:52 at moments like that I love to pray for you." 35:57 Grace and truth. 36:01 And grace and truth 36:02 are what enable us 36:03 to impact another life with blessing, 36:08 whether it's someone in our family 36:10 it's what impacts us and enables, 36:12 it's what impacts and then enables us 36:13 to lead them to Jesus Christ. 36:15 And it's what enables my husband 36:16 to lead me to Jesus Christ 36:18 the night that I've lost somebody 36:19 that's one of the most precious people to me on earth, 36:22 grace and truth. 36:23 And that's the way we reach out to our family, 36:24 is the way we reach out to our church, 36:26 and it's the way we reach out to the public in a society 36:29 from which grace and truth have seemingly evaporated. 36:35 It is what God is calling us to display to one another. 36:41 So continuing on, I think it was on Monday in the lesson, 36:44 there was this, it presented through the three parables 36:48 of the lost sheep, the lost coin, 36:49 and the lost boy. 36:51 And Jesus gave those parables 36:53 as a response to the concept of the, 36:55 you know, the Pharisees coming along, they're like, 36:56 well, you eat with publicans and sinners, this is, you know, 36:58 a very negative thing. 36:59 They're upset about this 37:01 and Jesus gives this as a response, 37:02 He gives these three parables, 37:04 lost sheep, lost coin, lost boy. 37:05 And when He gives these three parables, 37:07 at the end of each parable, 37:08 He gives like this concluding synopsis statement 37:11 of that parable, 37:13 and then He moves into the next parable. 37:15 And each synopsis statement gets increasingly strong 37:19 in its conclusion 37:21 and then at the end of all the three parables 37:23 He is basically like, so, yes, 37:25 I do eat with publicans and sinners. 37:27 First parable, he gives lost sheep, 37:29 when He comes to the end of that parable, 37:30 He makes the statement that the one sinner 37:35 who repents is more precious in heaven 37:37 than the 99 who do not need repentance. 37:40 Then He gives the next parable, the one of the last coin, 37:43 you can find this in Luke 15. 37:47 He gives them the parable of the last coin. 37:49 He makes a stronger statement at the end of that parable, 37:53 and He says that there is joy 37:55 in the presence of the angels of God 37:57 over one sinner that repents. 38:01 And I would like you to wrap your mind with me 38:03 for a moment around that concept 38:05 that there is joy 38:06 in the presence of the angels of God 38:09 over one sinner that repents, 38:11 and we're so accustomed to that verse 38:12 that we're like, oh yes 38:14 they're thankful for ones and they repents, 38:15 but I would like you to wrap your mind around this 38:17 as I have as God called me to do 38:20 in a very practical and personal sense. 38:23 Did you realize that in the moment 38:25 look back over your life and in the moments 38:27 when you gave your heart to Christ, 38:29 or you made a particular surrender, 38:31 or you let go of something that you had been holding on to, 38:33 or at your baptism or anything like this, 38:36 just think back over your life 38:38 as I have thought back over my life, 38:40 and realize that over at those junctures, 38:43 these angels, these cherubim, these Seraphim, 38:48 Seraphim name means the burning one. 38:51 There are tremendous incredible creatures 38:54 that are created for the glory of God, 38:56 they stand in the presence of God 38:57 and say, Holy, Holy, Holy, six wings, 38:59 one covering their face. 39:00 So they don't just directly gaze into the glory of God, 39:03 the ones that I got to mention with Lucifer that Bible says, 39:05 "Walk up and down amidst the stones of fire 39:08 they rejoice when just one of us, 39:15 when I, when you repent. 39:20 They rejoice, Ellen White has this profound, 39:23 you should go and read it, and I don't remember now 39:24 the reference I was reading it just yesterday morning, 39:26 my eyes just filled with tears, 39:28 this profound statement where she says, 39:30 that and, of course, she says that each of us 39:33 as the children of God have an angel with us, right. 39:36 And then she said, 39:37 which we are all accustomed to that concept, 39:39 but then she says that 39:41 when one of us become discouraged 39:43 or we weep, 39:45 that that angel flies quickly to heaven 39:48 and tells that news there 39:50 and that the angels cease to sing. 39:56 When one of us becomes discouraged and weeps, 40:01 the highest principalities and powers of heaven 40:04 cease to sing in sympathy. 40:09 Profound, profound and then she goes on to say, 40:14 that Christ will send another angel to come back 40:17 and support and encourage and seek to lead us to Christ, 40:20 and if that soul then continues to refuses 40:23 to turn their eyes to Jesus 40:25 and continues down the wrong path, 40:27 that angel will go back to heaven 40:28 and will tell it in heaven 40:29 and that the angels will look sad, 40:31 and then she says, and they weep. 40:34 And then at the end of them weeping, 40:36 they say, amen. 40:40 This is incredible. 40:42 This is incredible, Davie, but then she says, 40:45 but if that person will turn round 40:46 and they will turn and look to Jesus Christ 40:49 and they will be brought into the narrow way again, 40:53 then that news gets carried to heaven, 40:54 and the angels sing hallelujah, and they touch their hearts 40:59 and heaven's arches ring with music, 41:01 is it profound, or is not profound? 41:04 Can our hearts be touched that the fact, 41:07 when I picked up my phone and I saw that 41:09 one of the most important people 41:10 on earth had died, 41:12 and my heart was incredibly discouraged 41:14 and I wept. 41:16 Can it not be profound that in heaven in that moment 41:18 there was silence that the angel ceased to sing 41:21 because I was weeping? 41:23 How does this happen? 41:25 There is joy in Jesus knowing this 41:27 because he had been having, He says, listen 41:29 there is joy in the presence of the angels of God 41:31 over one sinner, one sinner that repents. 41:34 Yes, I eat with publicans and sinners, 41:36 this is what Jesus was giving this parable in response to, 41:38 right? 41:40 Yes, I eat with publicans and sinners, 41:41 and if our hearts can even be 41:43 a little bit in unison with heaven, 41:46 we will know the value of a soul, 41:47 we will know the value of our own soul 41:49 that we cannot be playing around with our own salvation, 41:52 we'd be working it out with fear and trembling, 41:54 we need to be on our knees before God 41:55 because the loss of one soul is a tragedy, 41:58 it's a tragedy beyond what we can compute. 42:01 And if we feel the feeling of the heart of heaven, 42:06 then the soul that is walking down the street 42:08 that looks like, they don't care 42:10 a hoot about God. 42:13 Our hearts will care too, because the principalities 42:15 and powers of heaven will rejoice, 42:18 if that one soul will repent. 42:21 They are sad when that one soul is sad. 42:24 They are glad when that one soul is glad. 42:27 What is... 42:29 The grace of God just leaves me speechless. 42:31 And then Jesus proceeds 42:33 from that already phenomenal statement 42:35 and then He proceeds to give the parable 42:36 of the prodigal son, the lost boy, 42:38 and at the end of that He's basically like, 42:40 look the father is standing at a great way off looking to see, 42:43 when is he going to turn around, 42:45 when is he going to come and runs 42:46 and throws his arm around, the Father himself loves you, 42:50 the Father himself rejoices over you with singing, 42:53 what must it be when Jehovah sings, 42:57 over the salvation of one of us. 43:02 And if we can connect with the heart of heaven about this, 43:08 will we not care about the salvation 43:11 of those around us? 43:21 So as I was studying this quarterly 43:27 which is about mingling with other people 43:29 and desiring their good. 43:31 I was sitting on my bed and because I said, 43:36 as I said, we live in a tiny house 43:37 and so every bit of space is precious 43:39 so our bed is up against the wall, 43:40 and I sleep right next to the part 43:43 that's up against the wall 43:45 and on that whole side of the wall on our bed 43:48 is a really large window that my parents gifted us 43:50 when were remodeling our tiny house. 43:53 And so like basically that entire side of my, 43:56 that basically that entire wall, 43:58 the length of our bed is just glass. 44:00 And it is beautiful because outside of that window, 44:03 there is this beautiful green field, 44:05 the slopes down and slopes back up 44:07 and disappears into the woods, 44:08 and the deer love to come every morning 44:10 and sometimes in the evening as well 44:12 and they play in that field and eat, and graze, 44:14 so I love sitting there and just having my devotions 44:16 looking out over this field. 44:18 So I was thinking about the quarterly 44:19 as I was sitting there in my bed 44:21 just looking out over the peaceful green. 44:23 And I was thinking you know the concept of mingling 44:26 is not a new concept, right? 44:29 I mean, we all know that Jesus did it. 44:31 We all know that He mingled with others 44:33 as one who desire their good that, you know, 44:34 He ministered to their needs, 44:36 won their confidence, made them follow Him. 44:37 We've all heard this is not a new concept 44:39 and probably to one extent or another. 44:43 Probably all of us have done it. 44:46 You know, some of us more, maybe some of us less, 44:48 but all of us have done it to some, one extent or another. 44:50 So I was thinking what... 44:52 You know, we were studying this, 44:54 I'm studying this, and I know it's important, 44:56 and I value it, and I've done it, 44:59 but what is going to give this mingling the power 45:04 that the mingling had when Christ did it. 45:07 Because Christ was no ordinary humanitarian 45:10 who was just amongst men as one that, you know, 45:11 He wanted their goody, he wanted their benefit, 45:13 he wasn't just habitat for humanity, you know 45:16 as good as giving habitats for humanity is 45:19 but it wasn't just that, 45:21 Jesus is not an ordinary humanitarian. 45:22 What's going to transform my mingling amongst people 45:26 and especially those who don't know Christ 45:28 into the powerful thing that it was in the life of Christ? 45:31 So I was pondering this time 45:34 and I was praying and I was saying, 45:35 Lord, you know this is not a new concept 45:38 and it's not going to be a new concept really 45:40 to anybody that I share it with, 45:42 yes, you know grace and truth and have love for one another 45:46 and to recognize the value of a soul, 45:48 and the preciousness of every single soul 45:51 in the eyes of heaven. 45:52 But what is going to unleash this mingling 45:54 to have real power in the world around us? 45:56 And as I was sitting there, this verse came to mind. 46:01 2 Corinthians 8:9, it's the familiar one. 46:08 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 46:12 that though he was rich. 46:16 Yet for your sakes he became poor. 46:20 May ye through his poverty might be made rich." 46:29 My husband, when he's speaking, he often says this, 46:31 what proves love to be genuine? 46:37 Let say, there's a man and he tells a woman 46:39 that he loves her. 46:41 How does she know that that is true? 46:46 Does he purchase her a bunch of stuff? 46:48 Does that make it true? 46:50 Can she know concretely, 46:51 if he purchase her a bunch of really expensive stuff, 46:53 if he gets the flowers, if he buys a perfume, 46:55 if he buys all the stuff, can she know concretely 46:58 that when he says he loves her, that it is true. 47:02 Not necessarily, right? 47:04 There's been plenty of people that have bought 47:05 a lot of other stuff for other people 47:07 that did not have true and selfish love for them. 47:10 What if he wants her with him all the time, 47:12 does that prove that his love is true? 47:16 Does it? 47:18 Not necessarily. 47:20 If he does truly love you, he probably would want it, 47:22 you know with him, 47:23 but it could also mean he's very control, 47:25 so it doesn't necessarily mean that his love is true. 47:27 What if he's attracted sexually, 47:28 does that mean that his love is true? 47:32 Again not necessarily, could be, could be not, 47:36 right, in this degenerate age. 47:40 So how can love be proven true? 47:48 One way, 47:50 sacrifice and suffering. 47:56 You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 47:59 that for our sakes though He was rich, 48:02 yet He became poor, 48:03 that we through His poverty might be made rich. 48:07 1 Peter 2:21, "For even here unto were ye called, 48:11 were we called, because Christ also suffered for us, 48:17 leaving us an example 48:20 that we should follow in His steps." 48:22 Let me ask you a question. 48:24 Because this is the exact question 48:26 God asked me when I was sitting on my bed, 48:28 obviously through the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. 48:33 How can you know 48:35 that you love the world around you? 48:42 Just because we give something monetary for them, 48:46 does that prove that we love them? 48:52 Just because we mingle amongst them, 48:54 does that prove that we love them? 48:57 There is one way that our love for the souls for Him 49:01 Christ died can be proven is the exact same way 49:05 that the Christ Himself proved His love 49:07 and that is through sacrifice and suffering 49:11 here unto where you called Christ suffered for us 49:14 leaving us, what? 49:16 An example, that we should follow in His steps. 49:19 So my wonderful little beautiful tiny home 49:21 touching the rolling hills, 49:22 beautiful rolling hills of Tennessee 49:24 that I love so much and when I step out of my tiny house, 49:27 there's this sloping green lawn and then when I get down 49:29 there is my garden. 49:30 Let me tell you, there is more organic produce in that garden 49:32 than we can eat times, 49:34 I don't even know how many. 49:36 And so I go down and the average time 49:38 between when I pick produce the food 49:41 that I eat out of my garden and when I actually eat 49:43 it is probably maybe half an hour to 45 minutes, 49:46 it is so fresh, it is so good, it is such an ideal life. 49:49 I don't pay like my grocery bill is like this, 49:51 because I eat high quality organic produce of my garden, 49:54 I love it. 49:55 I love the beauty around me, 49:57 we live right near Paul's family, 49:58 I love my family, I love my relatives, 50:00 I love seeing my family when I come to a place like this, 50:02 I live a beautiful life, I live an ideal life. 50:05 So how do I prove that I love the world around me? 50:08 Let me tell you what God has been telling me. 50:12 Child, you need to be willing to suffer for someone, 50:17 not some kind of penance where we need to whip ourselves 50:20 but that we need to be willing to give ourselves 50:22 up enough to actually suffer. 50:29 That's what Christ did. 50:31 Christ was not an ordinary humanitarian 50:33 as I said, the reason why His mingling amongst us 50:36 was with such power is 50:37 because He gave up so much to do it, 50:39 and when you're willing to suffer that much 50:41 for someone else, your love is not a lie. 50:45 And it is that love that gives you mingling 50:48 so much power. 50:50 1 John 4:7... 50:59 "Beloved, let us love one another, 51:01 for love is from" where? 51:05 It's of God. 51:08 "And every one that loveth is born of God, 51:11 and knoweth God, He that loveth not, 51:14 knoweth not God, for God is love." 51:17 This is somewhat alarming statement 51:20 if we are having issues amongst our church fellow, 51:23 church members and disagreeing with them, 51:25 and not loving them, 51:26 he that loveth not knoweth not God. 51:29 Perhaps the conversion in our own souls 51:31 needs to go a little bit deeper because God is love. 51:36 But then He goes on to clarify what this love is like, 51:39 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us 51:42 because God sent His only begotten Son into the world 51:46 that we might live through him." 51:47 Then he repeats it, "Herein His love." |
Revised 2017-09-26