Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Melissa Reed
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000238B
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00:06 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:08 Before the break with guest Melissa Reid 00:10 we were, we were talk about Liberty Magazine 00:12 which is a favorite topic of mine 00:13 and I think of her's too. 00:15 But it comes up naturally because right now 00:19 we're in the beginning phase of Northern American wide 00:24 awareness campaign more than awareness, 00:26 fundraising campaign to enable the magazine for one more year. 00:30 Right, right. So we put together a theme. 00:33 We come up with the theme or a concept 00:35 for each campaign and our 2014 campaign. 00:38 So religious liberty Sabbath 00:39 for in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:40 is always the fourth Sabbath in January. 00:43 So that will be January 25 in 2014. 00:45 But our promotional period is a quite a bit longer, 00:48 so at least first three or four months of the year. 00:50 First three yes, yes. 00:51 Because we certainly don't want limit a church 00:54 or congregation to only promoting 00:57 liberty on that Sabbath. 00:58 A lot of times there is event scheduled. 01:01 And also we want, you know, we would, 01:04 would love for promotion 01:05 throughout that campaign period as we call it. 01:08 So yes, our campaign season 01:09 we consider January through March. 01:11 But so our theme that we came up with 2014 is Trust 01:15 and Obey which is one of my favorite songs. 01:18 And it highlights-- There is another way, right? 01:19 Absolutely there is no other way. 01:22 So we highlight the story of John Sproad. 01:26 Dr. John Sproad. 01:27 Exactly, yes. As he became. 01:29 As he became and we actually profile him 01:33 and tell the story of actually when he was young man 01:36 I believe as when he was in college 01:39 he grew up in an agricultural area of United States 01:42 and would come home in the summers 01:45 in order to earn money for tuition 01:46 for the following school year. 01:48 He would work in harvesting. 01:51 And one of the jobs that he worked one summer 01:54 was in harvesting peace and he was-- 02:00 That was peace works. 02:02 Peace work yes, yes. It's like farmer. 02:07 And his story was very interesting to us 02:10 and I think really caught your attention 02:12 because a lot of times the stories 02:14 that we will profile in the religious 02:18 liberty campaign is how the Seventh-day 02:20 Adventist Church is been able to. 02:21 To intervene in so much-- 02:23 To intervene in some way with someone 02:24 who's had Sabbath work place accommodation issue 02:27 or something like that. 02:28 And of course where, you know, 02:31 those are important stories to highlight 02:32 and we, you know, will continue to do so. 02:35 But the thing about Dr. Sproad story 02:38 that was very interesting was he was working the nightshift 02:44 I think its call the swing shift during the summer. 02:48 And so that you know and it was a very good job 02:53 there was limited jobs in the small community 02:55 and it was a good one a coveted one among the young man 02:59 that were there in the community. 03:01 And so here came his Friday shift or Saturday shift 03:05 and he was unable to work because of his-- 03:09 Throughout sunset Friday night until sunset Saturday night. 03:12 Right. This is Sabbath 24 hours Sabbath period. 03:13 Exactly that is 24 hours Sabbath period. 03:17 And so when he showed backup 03:19 when he came back to work on Saturday evening 03:21 a couple hours after Sunday 03:23 and he actually showed up to work a few hours late. 03:26 The foreman says "you don't have job here." 03:29 You know, and he said "if you want you can wait." 03:36 You know all the slots have been filled 03:38 as far as on the shift and he says if you want. 03:40 They've been filled because he'd opted out. 03:42 He had been there. He lost his continuity. 03:44 Exactly, exactly. 03:47 And so the foreman said "if you like even wait 03:49 till lunch break and if somebody leave's 03:51 or something which was rare then you can pickup your shift." 03:56 Well, that is exactly what happened. 03:58 Every time, every week. 04:00 For the entirety of that position for the entirety 04:03 of that summer every week that exact situation happened. 04:07 And so because of his faithfulness for keeping 04:09 the Sabbath the church didn't need to get involved. 04:13 God did it. 04:14 God made, you know, impressed this young man 04:17 and it was interesting the conversations 04:19 that we had with he and his wife Arlene were just so inspiring 04:22 because it really affected who he became. 04:25 Well, and you and I were there 04:27 and I can see adorning on him to a larger degree. 04:31 Yes. 04:32 Yes, my faithfulness here really affected the rest of my live. 04:36 Yes. That set a pattern. 04:38 And I-- yeah, I saw that when I first spoke to him. 04:40 But I didn't realize till then that he hadn't quite 04:43 seen the cause in affect. 04:44 Yes. 04:45 So he actually-- their family committed themselves 04:49 to mission work, a life of service to others 04:55 and that, the way that God intervened in his life, 05:01 you know, on behalf of this teenager 05:03 who honestly wasn't expecting that in anyway. 05:06 He wasn't looking for it anyway. 05:09 Really, really stuck with him and shaped who he was 05:12 and he wanted to remain faithful to someone who looked at. 05:15 You know, to his Creator 05:17 who looked out from him in that manner. 05:18 All right, good summary 05:19 because you know I've been convinced 05:21 from the beginning that religious liberty 05:23 is not just a structural add on to Christian faith. 05:27 Yeah. It's integral to it. 05:28 Absolutely. 05:29 And he showed through his life that he-- Well, 05:32 what Jesus says you know, "He that is faithful in that 05:35 which is least is faithful in the most." 05:38 Yeah. 05:39 It seemed the small thing doing them 05:40 but he was establishing his creditability his integrity. 05:45 Yes. That shaped his future life. 05:47 Right. 05:48 A successful career in as a medical doctor, 05:52 a missionary doctor in Korea and then now in semiretirement 05:57 well, I think he's technically retire 05:58 but he started his semiretirement. 06:00 He and his wife going to Laos 06:01 and Cambodia and countries like that. 06:03 Right. Its pattern it's integral. 06:05 It's become who they are. 06:06 Because they're concerned about other people living 06:08 their faith to the fullest in even difficult situations. 06:10 Absolutely and I remember him sharing with us 06:13 that when he first started out in the summer 06:16 he was only taking off 06:17 "Friday night and Sabbath" because he was suppose to. 06:20 He was a minor child, he was, 06:22 you know, living under his parent's roof. 06:24 He didn't have that conviction for the Sabbath hours 06:27 that he absolutely developed then over the summer 06:31 once he saw God intervening and it was illustrative to him 06:35 of just how important it was to his Creator 06:39 for that time to be spend in that manner so. 06:41 I think the-- I think 06:43 it's the incredible story to me. 06:45 Absolutely and I think 06:46 within their own Adventist church 06:49 there will be a special role for the story 06:51 because currently there is a special emphasis 06:54 starting from top legislator, 06:55 top administrator not legislator 06:58 for evangelism and renew, 07:02 revival, renewal and so on. 07:04 And I am hoping that this will sort to click 07:08 rather than yes he is a legal thing we do. 07:11 This is integrated with spirituality 07:13 in the Christian walk and increasing dedication 07:16 to higher purpose that will produce a revival 07:19 I think if it's seemed for what it is. 07:22 Oh, I certainly hope so. 07:24 Yeah, it was just an incredible conversation 07:26 to have with these individuals. 07:28 It's certainly strengthened my resolve 07:30 and my faith and my commitment. 07:32 And I just, I am excited for the rest 07:34 of our church members to be able to share that story as well. 07:36 And we hope that they're excited enough to say 07:40 "here's some more money let's get this story out 07:42 to many more people." 07:43 And again to the viewers its Liberty Magazine 07:48 which began by the Adventist church 07:49 we still have a proprietary senses as far as funding it 07:53 but why not other people. 07:55 Any viewer can join with us. 07:57 There's people with means 07:58 and you don't need to lot of means. 07:59 You know, one subscription what is now $6. 08:04 I was shocked the other day at the airport 08:06 I want to get an ice cream and I don't think 08:08 there was anything less than $6 a little tiny cone. 08:11 And I remember at one point I was looking for an ice cream 08:13 and I noticed there hundred and something calories. 08:16 I am thinking that sounds very healthy 08:17 but that must mean that it's incredibly small serving. 08:21 And people don't think anything of that. Yes. 08:22 But for $5 or $6 you can send this all the year 08:26 to a legislator or lawyer the 300,000 lawyers in the US. 08:29 Yeah. 08:30 We're not covering most of them. Right. 08:32 These people need Liberty Magazine. Absolutely. 08:35 And yes, they all discover a little bit 08:37 of that Seventh-day Adventism but primarily they will discover 08:40 about this broad wonderful uplifting principal 08:43 of individual freedom of the integrity 08:46 of someone standing for what they believe in. 08:50 And I can't guarantee that what they believe in 08:53 as long as they're under conscience conviction 08:56 I think that's a good thing in the United States 08:59 in any part of the world. 09:00 Absolutely, now, definitely 09:02 we certainly do encourage you 09:03 please to visit our website libertymagazine.org. 09:06 And if you don't see religious freedom highlighted 09:10 at your local church whether it's Adventist 09:11 or non-Adventist take the initiative 09:13 and be the individual to make you know-- 09:16 Any if your local church of any denomination 09:18 needs help, contact us. 09:20 Absolutely, exactly. 09:21 We not have unlimited resources but I am sure 09:24 we have some considerable ability to line up 09:27 somebody in that area to go and present this topic 09:30 and inform people about Liberty Magazine itself. 09:33 Right, and again as we mentioned 09:34 before we make all of our promotional materials 09:36 for this campaign available on our website for download. 09:40 We want to make it as easy as possible 09:42 to highlight liberty in your community. 09:43 Very good. 09:45 It's an annual event 09:46 and it's one that's really important to us 09:47 so I certainly do advocate 09:51 that you all take advantage of this opportunity. 09:53 It really is an opportunity to highlight religious freedom 09:56 both in your church and your community. 09:59 And so let us know, you know, here's what we'd like to do 10:03 and we'll try to facilitate that make that happen. 10:06 So 2014 campaign, Trust and Obey. 10:12 When I lived in Idaho, I remember often driving 10:15 past a certain establishment with blacked out windows 10:19 and it was called Daniel's den. 10:22 And I've often wondered, you know, 10:23 what a person of faith would do in there. 10:26 Let's be honest what would a faith-- 10:28 person of faith go in there for. 10:31 When we were thinking 10:33 and when we think about Daniel and his companions 10:35 you know they wouldn't have naturally go on to Babylon. 10:38 They were thrust into an environment 10:40 that forced to examine their faith. 10:44 That's the dynamic we need to keep in mind. 10:46 And John Sproad our example 10:49 for our Liberty campaign this year exemplifies that. 10:52 He was not thinking about standing for his faith 10:55 but someone with a firm faith like his placed 10:59 in an environment that put him to the test 11:01 where his school money, his tuition money 11:03 that he desperately needed 11:05 was threatened by his Sabbath attitude. 11:09 He didn't hesitate for a moment. 11:11 He gave up his job once a week 11:14 and once a week God gave it back to him. 11:17 And I think of religious liberty 11:18 I can't think of a better example then that fact 11:21 that if we have integrity if we have faith in God 11:24 He will honor it so often 11:28 and every time He honors it we need to be reaffirmed 11:32 in our commitment to God religious liberty 11:34 and our love for our fellowman. 11:36 For Liberty Insider this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2014-12-17