There are only a few things
in life you can't plan for,
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like being born and it is
especially difficult if no one
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else is planning for you either.
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No one that is, except
for the God of the universe
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who had a divine plan after all.
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There is Life After Choice.
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My name in Brian
Hindman and this is my story.
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There is a verse in the
Bible that I've often wondered,
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does it apply to me?
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It's found in Jeremiah 1:5.
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It says: "Before I formed
you in the womb, I knew you."
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Because of my experience and
the circumstances surrounding
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my birth,I have
wondered, did God know me?
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Me, before I was born
and as my life has continued
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and as I have grown, I
believe that the answer is YES,
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a resounding YES.
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No matter who we are
and no matter what the
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circumstances are
surrounding our beginnings,
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that God knows us and has
a specific plan and a purpose
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for us. Well my story begins
back with a young teenage girl
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and a teenage boy who were
together and had been dating
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for a little while and as a
result, there was an unexpected
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or unplanned pregnancy.
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As a result of this pregnancy
of the lady that was my mother,
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she was only 15 at the
time, both her and my father
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were sophomores in high school.
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They were very scared
about what had transpired
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because of this pregnancy
and so my mom, she was so afraid
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as I have been told,
that she kept this to herself
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for a long time.
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In fact she kept it to
herself for over 8 months.
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I was told this by her sister
who actually shared a bedroom
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with her, that she
even kept it from her.
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So private was she
about this pregnancy.
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Well it didn't take long
as the pregnancy continued
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though and got to that point,
before she had to share or
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tell her
parents. My grandparents.
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And they were faced
with a difficult decision
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and that difficult decision
was, what should we do with him?
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What should we do
with this pregnancy?
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Now it's interesting to me that
I happened to born the same year
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that abortion was
legalized in 1973.
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But I understand that abortion
was never an option though
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for my mother and so, they
had another decision to make.
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Would they keep me,
because my mother was so young?
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and she had a younger
brother and a younger sister
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one of which is only 9 years
older than me and I could just
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be raised with my aunts and
uncles, but thinking they were
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my brothers and sisters.
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So they contemplated this for
awhile and there was a strong
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pull and desire to want to
keep me and take care of me.
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But I think God intervened and
God saw that a day would come
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when they would have to
sit down and explain to me
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that your brothers and
sisters are really your
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aunts and uncles and
your mom and dad are really
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your grandparents,
grandma and grandpa and how that
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would just be really confusing
and devastating for me.
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So the wise decision was
made to put me up for adoption
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and after seeking out
some counsel, they wanted to
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make sure I was
adopted by a good family.
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They found a person, a contact
rather that knew of a family
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that was in another state,
that had been trying to plan
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and start a family and
they had been unsuccessful.
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In fact this young family
had had several miscarriages
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and because of this, they
thought they wouldn't be able
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to have any children.
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They decided they were going to
seek out and try to find someone
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to adopt and it just so happened
that I came along at that time.
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This young family out of
state so my adoption as it was,
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the way it turned out,
it was supposed to be a
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closed adoption.
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That means that neither party
would know about the other side.
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They wouldn't understand or
know the other names and the
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other individuals involved.
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But through some interesting
circumstances, both parties
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happened to find out
the names of each other
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relatively early on.
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One of the things that happened
was the hospital, when they
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carried me to my adopted
parents, the pastor rather
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that carried me over,
that was the go between,
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they left the
bracelet on my wrist...
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It had my name on it and it
also had my mother's name on it.
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My adopted parents saved that
for me and so we always knew
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and I always had a name
for my biological mother.
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Well the family that adopted
me, just so happened to be
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a pastor, a young,
just beginning the ministry,
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Seventh-day
Adventist pastor and his wife.
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So I feel so fortunate and so
blessed that even though my...
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the beginnings of my
life were really surrounded by
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embarrassing circumstances,
I was placed is a position
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where I would have
every opportunity to know God
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and to learn about God and to
find out His plan for my life.
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So from the earliest
days... My mother's a nurse
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and although she had a
rough childhood herself,
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she was always very very loving.
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One of the things that was
so special was that we were born
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on the same day, December 5.
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So my mother would
always tell me, you were my
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birthday present, you
were very special to me.
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So I would always bask in
her love and affection for me
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and one of the wise things
that my parents did for me
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looking back now is... I
was adopted when I was only
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3 days old. But my
parents, my adopted parents,
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when they picked me up from
the hospital and took me back
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across the state line,
back to where they were living,
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they began telling me
on the way home, Brian,
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you are adopted and
you are very special to us.
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So they began to tell me
this and they repeated that
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every so often, every few
weeks or so, my whole early life
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so I can't ever remember
not knowing what it was like
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to not be adopted.
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The way that they dealt
with this situation in such an
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open way, I think it
really shows the importance
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of being open with things
that are difficult or hard.
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I never had any stigma
or any negative feelings
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associated with being adopted.
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In fact, I thought I was more
special because I was adopted
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rather than people that
have their own children.
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My parents came and picked
me out, they came and got me.
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So the Bible says in Proverbs
28:13, he that covereth his sin
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shall not prosper:
but whoso confesseth and
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forsaketh them shall have mercy.
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So I think that principle is
so important, that we are open
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with each other. We're
open with God most importantly
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because He already
sees and knows everything,
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so why would we want to be
open with him so that we're not
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covering and hiding from
the mistakes that we've made
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and we've all made mistakes
but rather we're taking it
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to Him and saying
Lord, please I want you to
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forgive me and to help me with
whatever situation I've created
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that is because
of my poor choices.
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Well, wouldn't you
know it that my parents
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who were not able to
have kids, my adopted parents,
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they got pregnant right after
they adopted me and 11 months
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after they adopted me,
they gave birth to a girl.
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So I have a sister named
Kristen who is very close to me
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in fact I find it very
interesting that even though
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we're not blood
related, there's so many times
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when we have met
people and they have said
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time and time again, you look
just alike, you look so similar.
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Same color hair, same color
eyes and we'd been brought up
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and been so close
together that I would never even
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consider that she's not really
my sister, we're that close.
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I don't think she would
ever consider the same about me,
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that I'm not really her brother.
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Well one of the tremendous
advantages that God gave me
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through my parents,
was the importance of
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Adventist Christian education.
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Placing me in elementary
schools and high schools
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that would give me
the opportunity to learn
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from a Bible perspective
what God's will is for my life
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and what His
plans are for my life.
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To realize that's the
most important thing of all
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is to find out what God's
plans are and then to seek
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to follow Him with His strength
because He'll help us to do
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His will. Right!
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So going through Adventist
schools and then later on
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when I attended
Southern Adventist University
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for college, I
decided to take Theology.
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Because of my adoptive
dad, because he was a pastor
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and I looked up to him so
much, I thought, I want to be
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just like my dad. He was
my dad in the highest sense
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of the word. So I took
Theology, but after several
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years of taking
Theology, I became scared of
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public speaking and so
I said this is too scary.
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I began to ask for God to
lead me an still guide me,
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thinking this was too difficult,
into a different direction.
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So He led me into education
and I had the privilege
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after graduating from
college of serving as a teacher
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in high school for 18 years.
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I had the privilege of serving
and sharing with young people
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and encouraging them who are
in the same age as my parents
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when they had me
and made a mistake.
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To be able to reach out
to them and encourage them
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and try to nurture them
and lead them to trust God
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with their lives and to realize
that He has a plan for them,
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so that was always a
tremendous privilege...
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But God had another
still further plan that was
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unfolding in my life
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Boy, His plans are amazing, His
thoughts are not our thoughts
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and His ways are not our
ways and His plan began to grow
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in my heart from a conviction
that He really was calling me
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to serve as a full time pastor,
just like my adopted dad.
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So I was at this time
still teaching but as the month
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began to go by, I
thought you know what,
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I've got to explore this,
I've got to trust that God
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is going to be calling
me to do something that He
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will equip me to do,
even though I am afraid of
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public speaking and I'm scared
of getting in front of people
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I'm going to trust that He
is going to show me and help me
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to be able to do that if that's
what he is calling me to do.
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So I quit my job as a teacher
and I waited and searched for,
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sent out my resume to different
conferences and churches
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and got no response.
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In the meantime, I
thought what can I do
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because I still have this
conviction that God wants me to
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serve Him in such a
precious important capacity
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and so I decided to go
to Amazing Facts Center of
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Evangelism and learn on
working practical evangelism
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training skills.
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So while I was at
Amazing Facts in California,
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I received a phone call
from a church in Hendersonville,
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North Carolina that said,
we need an Associate Pastor
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and we want to interview
you, we think you would do
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a great job.
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So low and behold, I
find myself being flown across
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the country from
California out to North Carolina
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and interviewing for what I
thought was from my earliest
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days, when I was just a very
young person, I always dreamed
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of being a pastor and
then low and behold I was
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hired to be a pastor.
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By the grace and privilege
of God, the last three years
00:12:20.24\00:12:25.67
I have been serving now
as a teacher and a preacher
00:12:25.71\00:12:29.71
and visiting and
sharing and giving Bible Studies
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in a wonderful church there in
Hendersonville, North Carolina.
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So God isn't finished
with me yet, He has led me to a
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wonderful woman that is
such a, not only is she a
00:12:39.55\00:12:43.93
beautiful woman but
she is also God fearing.
00:12:43.96\00:12:46.09
She is a tremendous compliment
and support in my life
00:12:46.13\00:12:49.96
and we have one
incredible son who is attending
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Weimar Institute out in
California and we are thankful
00:12:53.30\00:12:57.01
for the way the God
is leading in his life.
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One of the things that is so
important that I have learned
00:12:58.97\00:13:03.65
is that God is
inviting and calling all of us
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to be part of His divine family.
00:13:06.55\00:13:09.08
As I mentioned at the
beginning, heritage and ancestry
00:13:09.12\00:13:12.95
matters and God is calling
us to be part of the greatest,
00:13:12.99\00:13:16.12
most wonderful family of
all and we find this in the
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scriptures in John 1:11-13.
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Notice what the Bible
says here in John 1:11-13
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and this is the
experience of Jesus. It says:
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"He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not."
00:13:32.54\00:13:35.54
Jesus knows what it
is like to be rejected,
00:13:35.58\00:13:38.01
He knows what it is like to
be separated from His family
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and to be an
outcast. Now verse 12.
00:13:40.65\00:13:44.59
"But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power
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to become the sons
and daughters of God,"
00:13:48.99\00:13:52.36
The ability, the invitation
and privilege to be His sons
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and His daughters.
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Notice what it says
here right after that.
00:13:59.37\00:14:02.44
"Even to them that
believe on His name."
00:14:02.47\00:14:04.54
If we receive Him and
if we believe on His name
00:14:04.57\00:14:07.98
these are the
prerequisites that are necessary
00:14:08.01\00:14:09.84
in order to be
part of His family.
00:14:09.88\00:14:11.51
We can do that right
now. The last verse says:
00:14:11.55\00:14:15.68
These who do this which
were "born, not of blood,
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nor the will of the
flesh, nor the will of man,
00:14:19.49\00:14:22.62
but of God."
00:14:22.66\00:14:24.16
To be born of God,
means to be part of His family
00:14:24.19\00:14:27.96
and to have the greatest
privilege in the universe
00:14:28.00\00:14:31.10
to be His son or daughter.
00:14:31.13\00:14:33.03
So today I want to
invite you to accept Jesus
00:14:33.07\00:14:36.27
and to believe on His
name, because He has a plan
00:14:36.30\00:14:38.81
for your life, just as
He had a plan for my life.
00:14:38.84\00:14:41.38
He will show you if you
will just reach out and ask Him
00:14:41.41\00:14:45.05
to do so.
00:14:45.08\00:14:47.42