Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200473B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:02 Before the break, we were into some heavy stuff, 00:07 thinking about what should be our motivation 00:10 or what we should be motivated to do to participate 00:14 in answering great injustices and so on. 00:17 And I was giving the example, 00:19 remember of the Seventh-day 00:20 Adventist Church and its leader, 00:23 co-leader Ellen White at that time, 00:25 most moved by the problem down south 00:28 that helped precipitate the civil war of slavery, 00:32 huge injustice that will be a ghost haunting 00:34 this country till the end of time, I'm positive. 00:37 It's the original sin. 00:40 But the Adventist Church 00:41 while it included many people 00:43 involved in the Underground Railroad, 00:44 there were many abolitionists. 00:46 Ellen White herself had a huge affinity 00:48 for the work in the south of the... 00:50 at least to say the colored people. 00:52 I mean, that's what she said, 00:53 they worked for the color people. 00:54 And to this day, 00:56 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:57 has structures set up for black communities, 01:01 separate conferences. 01:03 But yet, right at that time, 01:05 they decided to be non combatants, 01:07 not to fight in that war. 01:10 And I can only extrapolate it for our time that, 01:13 you know, on a certain level 01:15 we need to help and support such things. 01:18 But our charters what Ellen White says, 01:21 carry present truth, and present truth 01:23 is to warn a world of coming judgment 01:27 of the coming kingdom of glory of the Lord, 01:29 and warn the world 01:30 that this is the time to get yourself 01:32 and your personal house in order spiritually 01:34 to prepare for that moment. 01:36 The grand moment of the ages is upon us. 01:39 You know, as I was driving up here, 01:41 I spent some time reflecting on this in this long drive. 01:44 And, you know, the focus today is very much 01:48 about Black Lives Matters 01:50 and all those other things 01:52 and then you have Other Lives Matters. 01:55 But to me as I pondered this, 01:57 I think one of the reasons that we're not supposed 01:59 to get focused in on this is because all lives matters. 02:04 Well, of course. 02:05 And because all lives matters, 02:07 our focus is not just on one particular race, 02:10 one particular color, 02:11 but our focus is on a global scale, 02:14 that there's a world that's dying out there. 02:16 And if we just hone in on one niche 02:18 of the whole thing, 02:20 we're missing out on the opportunity 02:21 to proclaim that gospel message to everybody. 02:24 And this is the time period, 02:26 and Satan is using orchestratively, 02:30 he's using this time period right now to sow focus 02:33 and take all our energies, 02:35 take all our focus and everything 02:37 and throw it out somewhere else, 02:39 so that we can't be about our Father's business. 02:40 Right. 02:41 And you say focus, 02:43 but part of what I see him doing is divide and conquer. 02:45 That too. Like right now. 02:46 Yeah, within... In some countries in... 02:51 Usually Muslim parts of Africa, there's actual slavery still. 02:57 I mean, what happened here was desperate 03:00 and we bearing the consequences. 03:01 But I don't see these people going on about 03:04 the literal slavery in certain countries, 03:06 that's justified by in some of those countries, 03:09 both by the government and the religious leaders. 03:12 There has been a concern about human trafficking, 03:15 which is, you know, all that slavery in term. 03:19 It's the same sort of thing. 03:21 I mean, there's horrible human abuses 03:23 all over the world 03:24 and you can see how a Creator God 03:26 at a distance would be weeping over the whole, 03:29 toward retail, but, you know, 03:31 what's near at hand, that's ours, 03:34 but people are dying by the minute 03:36 from one thing or another, 03:37 whether it's abuse from humans or starvation. 03:40 You know, we are worried about whether it's enough 03:43 in our supermarkets, not as much as it used to be, 03:45 but there's places in the world, 03:47 if rice goes up a couple of cents, 03:49 people die. 03:53 So somehow, yes, 03:54 we need to have an increased affinity 03:57 and sympathy and on occasions, 03:59 even assistance for this thing, 04:01 but that's not our singular aim. 04:03 And, you know, I look a lot at 04:06 the ministry of Jesus Christ and, you know, 04:08 on one level we're called to be 04:10 exemplars or imitators of Christ. 04:14 He called Herod a fox, so he had no political fear. 04:18 But he wasn't trying to solve the situation. 04:21 They were under horrible occupation, 04:22 weren't they with the Romans? 04:24 I mean, we forget what the Romans were like. 04:26 I mean, crucifixion for Jesus. 04:28 Yes, they crucified people pretty commonly. 04:30 Roman... 04:31 The Romans weren't unhinged barbarians, 04:34 but they were the cruelest most... 04:38 What's the word? 04:40 At the moment anti-fascist. 04:41 The Roman regime was fascist to the limit. 04:46 The iron fist of the state, inflexible law 04:50 and especially if you ran afoul of it, 04:53 it will walk all over you, 04:54 cut your head off, put it on the pike in the town, 04:57 all of that, in the name of integrity 05:00 and supporting the state. 05:04 Jesus didn't challenge that. 05:06 I can't see it all, He challenged the abuse 05:09 of spiritual prerogatives, 05:10 threw the money changers out of the temple. 05:16 But, you know, what do we do? 05:20 We can't sit idly by 05:21 but what should we be active about? 05:23 What's your prescription, Alden? 05:24 You know, for me, remember, 05:26 during that time period 05:27 as we mentioned in previous shows, 05:29 I was cycling across the country 05:31 through all this 2,500 miles 05:33 from San Diego to St Augustine, Florida. 05:36 And for me, I took that time period 05:38 to when I had the opportunity 05:41 to actually meet somebody, 05:42 I was always witnessing with the people. 05:44 Right. 05:45 You know, when you're on a bicycle, 05:47 you're very limited as to what you can carry. 05:49 But I did carry a few tracks with me, 05:51 and I was able to pass them out, 05:53 pray with the people. 05:54 I mean, wherever we are today, 05:56 no matter what the circumstances, 05:59 no matter even if we're at war with people, 06:02 there is still an opportunity that the Lord gives us 06:04 if we ask for that each and every day, 06:07 an opportunity to be able to witness 06:09 and share the good news. 06:11 Remember, there is good news in a very bad news world today. 06:15 And that's what we have to do. 06:18 As you talk about 06:19 in the "Religious liberty area." 06:21 There may be strife, there may be famine, 06:24 there may be destruction all around us. 06:26 But that should not at all impact us 06:30 or cause any fear with us because Jesus says, 06:33 I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. 06:35 So based on those promises, 06:37 there's a work that we have to do today, 06:41 no matter what goes on, 06:42 because all lives matter in Jesus' eyes. 06:46 Right. Absolutely. 06:49 I was thinking of the statement, 06:51 the Bible says, perfect love casts out fear. 06:54 So if we have... 06:56 I mean, none of us will have perfect love, 06:58 but if we are as perfectly 07:00 as we can oriented toward heavenly things 07:03 and emulating Christ, 07:05 it will diminish our fear factor. 07:06 There's no question. 07:08 But I think we need to be sober minded in these times, 07:11 not puritanically permanent, you know, 07:16 removed from the world but, in fact, 07:18 it seems to be religious 07:19 or otherwise you're disconnected 07:22 from reality if you're not restrained 07:26 by current situation in the world. 07:28 The world is... 07:30 I wrote an editorial a few years ago that 07:32 I keep reminding myself of, I called it Convergence. 07:35 When I was a kid. 07:37 The church was on a prophetic evangelist 07:40 as they still are, would talk about prophecy 07:42 and the great empires 07:43 and the resurgence of the worst parts 07:46 of the Roman Catholic Church 07:48 because, you know, many wonderful Roman Catholics 07:50 I've met over the years, 07:51 but the Roman Catholic Church had drifted away 07:53 from doctrinal purity from a biblical point of view 07:56 and the Protestant revival, of course, challenge that. 08:01 But it... 08:04 The Bible says that 08:05 Rome will come to power again, right? 08:08 We see that. 08:09 And I remember the evangelists talking about it. 08:10 And, you know, we were always troubled 08:12 about ecumenism and so on that had its line. 08:15 You could look as people now as sort of consumed on, 08:19 you could look at ecological degradation. 08:22 And the Republicans in particular 08:25 seem to hate the idea of global warming. 08:28 I think it's a terminology problem. 08:29 But global change is everywhere. 08:32 Anywhere you go in the world, the weather's wacky, 08:35 it's never been like this before. 08:36 It's turmoil. 08:38 You can look at political collapse 08:40 in formally solid countries like the United States. 08:44 We're clearly going through a dicey political time. 08:46 So, you know, individually, you could argue against one 08:50 or the other, but put together 08:51 you got all these lines of convergence 08:53 and they're accelerating and coming together. 08:55 There's a flashpoint. Yes. 08:57 A moment of truth, who knows where it is, 08:59 but it's not far ahead. 09:00 And even if one or two 09:02 of these lines have crossed already, 09:03 don't pan out, we're going to have a conflict... 09:07 Well, there was a book Conflict of the Ages, 09:09 the Conflict of the Ages is upon us and I... 09:13 In afternoon meetings, 09:14 I tell people who like to set dates 09:16 and our church doesn't set dates, can't. 09:19 Ellen White says, no date after 1844. 09:21 That was a political mark. 09:22 I mean, a prophetic marker. 09:24 But I tell people, 09:25 the world you know is about to pass away. 09:29 I'm sure we're at the end of an age. 09:32 All you have to do is read Matthew 24. 09:33 Yeah. 09:35 That'll tell you for sure 09:36 where we are in this time period. 09:38 Yeah. 09:39 A wonderful beginning, a rough like... 09:42 Well, Jesus says birth pangs, these are the birth pangs. 09:44 Beginnings of it. Yeah. 09:46 And, you know, after the birth, wonderful. 09:47 I mean, that's the beginning of life. 09:49 But then He also goes on to say, 09:50 "You'll be hated because of Me." 09:53 Yeah. And why would people be hated? 09:55 I think it's because 09:56 we're at a choosing time period. 09:58 People have to choose who... 09:59 And people that have made a choice, 10:01 which we could say is the wrong choice, 10:02 but made a choice, 10:04 and might have a few second thoughts, 10:07 then we'll hate someone 10:08 that reminds them that they made a bad choice. 10:10 It's a psychology that I think we all understand. 10:13 It's not just in spiritual matters. 10:14 Well, sure. 10:15 If you represent Christ, and you're blaming Christ 10:19 for all the bad things that have happened, 10:20 why people do that, I don't know. 10:22 But where Christ allows these things to happen. 10:26 Why? 10:27 Because He's trying to bring us closer to Him. 10:29 Yeah. 10:30 Well, that could be our prayer 10:31 and I hope all of those 10:33 that watch this from time to time. 10:35 I hope you're just not a onetime watcher, viewer. 10:38 I hope there's an underlying message 10:41 that we have a God that loves us, 10:43 there's another world to be gained 10:46 and this world is not yet lost 10:48 because there are those seeking 10:49 and searching for God and we can play a part 10:52 in spreading God's love, a warning. 10:56 And, yes, religious liberty is important, 10:58 but religious liberty is the mechanism to proclaim 11:00 what we already have, freedom and trust. 11:03 Proverbs 3:5, 6 tells us that, 11:06 "We are to trust the Lord with all our heart 11:08 that we're not to lean on our own understanding." 11:11 And then he also says, 11:13 "In all your ways acknowledge Him 11:14 and He will direct your path." 11:16 And I think in this time period that we're living right now 11:19 is our only trust can be in Jesus Christ. 11:22 And with all the stuff 11:23 that's happening in the world today, 11:25 I ask you the question, who do you trust? 11:28 Who are you living for today? 11:31 It's a little ironic that in the COVID-19 11:35 period of isolation, 11:36 we've seen a resurgence of demonstrations. 11:40 That's good because we've come a long way I think, 11:43 since the George Bush administration, 11:46 when free speech zones were roped off areas, 11:50 often miles from a presidential cavalcade. 11:53 Now admittedly 11:55 with the risk of smoke, grenades, 11:58 people can demonstrate in front of the White House. 12:01 People are moved with 12:02 what they see as moral imperatives. 12:05 But as Jesus said, 12:06 the poor you will always have with me. 12:08 Some of these besetting problems 12:10 are a part of our condition. 12:12 And while we need to be disturbed by them, 12:14 speak out against them. 12:15 We need to clearly advance 12:18 with every energy and fiber of our being, 12:20 the coming Kingdom of the Lord 12:22 and the ultimate fix for all that ails us. 12:26 If we are an activist in one area, 12:29 we will by definition ignore others. 12:32 The singular area of focus for the Christian is Christ. 12:36 And the singular hope for the Christian 12:38 is an eternity of bliss with Christ in heaven. 12:42 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2020-09-04