Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200476B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:04 This is a stimulating session 00:05 with me interviewing my young daughter. 00:08 Can I give your age? Yeah. 00:10 Under 30, a woman's age should be 00:12 at least something to brag about, 00:15 18 years old. 00:16 Yep. 00:18 And more than her age, I know your birthday. 00:20 We share the same birthday, A few years apart, of course. 00:24 Let's talk a little bit more about what you are, 00:27 a young woman, 00:29 beginning of life as 00:30 Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 00:32 and you're learning, we're all learning. 00:34 But, you know, 00:35 there's a long road ahead of you. 00:37 And immediately there's a pothole COVID 00:41 changed everything about life. 00:43 And in particular, and you've heard me 00:46 going on about it, I think it's been unfortunate 00:49 the way faith practice, church attendance, 00:52 even administrative church workers, 00:55 sort of, just stopped 00:57 or it's gone into the background. 01:00 The reaction has been the sort of thing 01:02 that we say is horrible when there's persecution 01:06 'cause that's what persecution 01:09 in most systems designed to restrict church activity. 01:13 They got it quickly, 01:15 whether they intended who knows. 01:17 But what do you see is your future 01:20 and the future of fellow Adventists 01:22 as we move through this difficult time? 01:24 Is it going to be possible to practice your faith? 01:28 I think it will be but just in a different manner. 01:34 I know like in our church, I feel like people 01:37 are getting too comfortable in this time. 01:39 Like, you know, we don't have to go to church 01:42 because like they were closed before 01:44 and they have them online now, a lot of churches. 01:47 And I know, like, on Saturday, we were like, 01:51 "Do we really have to go to church? 01:52 You know, we could just stay home," 01:54 which, of course, it's not bad, but also that means 01:58 we're just getting too comfortable in what's going on 02:02 and that could really hurt our church. 02:05 It could. It's a bit early to know. 02:09 Some early signs show the tide holding steady 02:12 or perhaps going up and money's not everything. 02:14 But that's the structure won't continue long 02:17 without continued funding. 02:19 So that's good. 02:20 Church attendance, I haven't seen statistics, 02:24 but the online attendance 02:28 is in some churches close to 02:30 what it was otherwise and others, it's a fraction. 02:33 But you're right. 02:34 Logically, it seems that we will get people out 02:37 of the habit of assembling together, 02:39 which is not quite the same 02:41 as losing spiritual interest, is it? 02:44 But it might tend to work against. 02:47 Yeah. And you haven't even... 02:49 Well, you did. 02:50 You've met with some of your classmates 02:52 the other day. 02:53 Yeah. 02:55 I have no way of knowing the answer to this. 02:56 But did anybody talk about 02:57 how it affected their connection 02:59 to the church? 03:01 Not really, simply quite honest. 03:03 No, I wouldn't have expected, 03:05 but I just was hoping that something might have come up. 03:09 And it does seem that 03:10 your generation is most at risk 03:12 because they're just establishing 03:14 a connection with the church community 03:16 and an identity as a new Christian. 03:19 And if the social supports are taken away, 03:23 it might be easy to sort of drift away. 03:25 Yeah. So it's a challenging time. 03:28 In my view, it's a soft persecution 03:32 and not the sort of thing you can go to court over a law. 03:36 It's a lost opportunity. 03:37 I feel, and this is not our church position, 03:40 but I think we should have challenged to 03:42 some degree the restrictions because a lot of 03:45 it hinged on essential services, 03:47 and the churches were not counted 03:49 as essential services. 03:50 But I know in Maryland, pawnshops were open. 03:55 So essentially, if you got the money 03:56 and need to hook stuff, I guess, 03:58 but surely spiritual health is pretty essential. 04:02 So they could have allowed 04:03 some sort of ongoing church connections, 04:07 maybe private prayer meetings, 04:11 you know, half a dozen or so people. 04:14 We could have had... 04:16 You've been to churches, haven't you, 04:17 with more than one service? 04:19 Mm-hm. Yeah. 04:20 I wouldn't think with the pastor out 04:23 if there were a dozen services, 04:24 shorter services on the Sabbath morning. 04:27 There's many ways that it could have been done. 04:29 And we should have, I think, a lost opportunity challenging. 04:33 By not doing it, there was a great evil. 04:36 I just think maybe an opportunity 04:37 lost that your generation 04:40 might suffer a little bit because of... 04:42 Yeah. 04:43 And now you're going to continue your education. 04:47 And I guess for now, it might be online, 04:50 so you can't witness as much as you might have otherwise. 04:53 Mm-hm. 04:55 But I'm sure that 04:57 there'll be some connection with people 04:58 and the world has to go back. 05:01 Even after the Black Death in Europe... 05:03 Did you ever read about the Black Death in Europe? 05:07 I'm pretty sure that came from the Middle East, 05:10 ships brought rats with the plague 05:13 on the fleas on the rats. 05:15 And they didn't know anything about germs or whatever, 05:17 even cleanliness much. 05:19 So a third of Europe, 05:21 between a quarter and a third of Europe, 05:23 died over a couple of years. 05:27 But still life came back to normal, 05:29 eventually, it has to. 05:31 So it'll be the same now. 05:34 So I think even though 05:35 we've seen a restriction of religious practice, 05:40 particularly the new generation that... 05:44 You know, you're like the explorers, 05:45 you're moving out into life, going to a new horizon. 05:49 You need to forget the restrictions of the past 05:52 and see that 05:53 that's a world as your ministry, 05:55 friends and needy people out there are plenty, right? 05:59 Yes. 06:01 And I know you want to be a nurse 06:02 and that I might change. 06:04 This is not a formal lucky given, 06:06 but as a nurse, 06:08 that's a sort of a practical Christianity, isn't it? 06:11 Mm-hm. Yeah. 06:12 Is that part of what attracted you to it? 06:15 Oh, I always have liked helping people. 06:18 I mean, I think most people should like it. 06:20 But that's what attracted me to it. 06:23 And I think being a nurse 06:26 is a very good work as a Christian 06:29 because you can share your beliefs 06:31 maybe a little more easier 06:33 because people are hurting when... 06:35 You're right. 06:36 Well, that was Jesus' initial approach to heal people 06:40 and then work on their psyche, heal them spiritually. 06:45 Although, in a couple of cases, He made it plain 06:47 that the greatest healing is of the mind, the spiritual. 06:52 But it's very hard. 06:53 I remember, like it was yesterday 06:56 being with your road. 06:58 And you don't think about the end of life, 07:00 you don't think about the negatives, 07:02 life is sort of a big game and a big possibility. 07:06 And that's great. 07:07 And I know that the trick on spiritual things 07:12 for another time and place in eternal kingdom 07:15 that doesn't have the immediate appeal 07:17 for young person 07:19 that it does for an older person 07:21 because this world's pretty exciting. 07:23 You want to get what it's got? Yeah. 07:25 But that said, we're living through a COVID thing. 07:28 All right, that's got to have been 07:29 a mind game for young people. 07:31 And I know you're quite maybe even depressed 07:34 that you didn't have a normal graduation, 07:37 so like five of your promises been taken away, right? 07:41 Yeah. 07:43 So that thinking, how do you carry that on? 07:46 Oh, well... Is this making you more... 07:48 Sorry to interrupt, but are you more inclined 07:51 to want to get 07:53 what this world has in the best sense 07:55 or does it move you more toward thinking 07:57 like an older person that there's a promise 08:00 kingdom coming? 08:01 There's a bit of both because, 08:03 you know, we are hearing 08:05 a lot about like the end of the world. 08:06 And so it's making, I think, a lot of youth think about it. 08:10 And of course, in that regard, 08:13 like, a lot of people are also going to think like, 08:15 "Oh, so we should live, you know, 08:17 what we have now and do the best, 08:19 you know, we can," which isn't important. 08:22 But we also do need to think about the future 08:27 because it's really important, 08:29 especially in our church, and yeah. 08:34 The end of the world is an interesting concept. 08:38 You know, Jesus said, there's many people here, 08:42 He was speaking once, He says, you know, 08:44 you're not going to stop death. 08:46 They died. 08:48 Ellen White, a prophet in the pioneer 08:50 of Adventist Church, 08:51 she looked out on an audience, she says, 08:53 "I was shown that people here that will be there 08:56 at the return of Christ." 08:59 They were both quite wrong. 09:02 CS Lewis writing on that said correctly, 09:04 he said he'd rather believe in a god 09:06 who didn't know that who was wrong. 09:08 Jesus was the Son of God. 09:09 But He said, "Only the Father in Heaven 09:11 knows when I'm coming." 09:14 But the point is that Ellen White, 09:18 Jesus Himself, the apostles, 09:19 they all believed that Christ 09:21 was coming back very, very quick. 09:24 And it was even said better not to marry, 09:26 you know, it's end of all thing. 09:28 But, you know, you're a young person, 09:30 you live here now. 09:31 We've got to, as Christians, 09:34 steer clear of being no good here 09:37 and now we're just living for tomorrow or, 09:39 you know, the eternal tomorrow. 09:41 But the church on you... 09:43 And I want to communicate it to our listeners, 09:46 Christians are not just to turn themselves 09:49 into holy beings that can flip across to another life. 09:52 Christianity means anything. 09:54 It's spreading the good news 09:56 and getting other people to join you. 09:58 It's a group activity and that's why 10:00 I'm dwelling on this 10:01 'cause COVID cuts the group activity. 10:03 So we have a direct conflict 10:05 with the types of restrictions now 10:07 and what Christianity is all about. 10:09 It's not only tomorrow. 10:10 It's concerned with today, but today, 10:13 gathering people to knowledge of God. 10:16 So a big challenge for young people. 10:17 Yeah. 10:19 Of course, like when we go to church, 10:21 it's a big gathering and a lot of people go, 10:25 sadly, mostly for the gathering. 10:27 Yeah, that's humans are like... 10:29 At least, you know, young people, you know, 10:31 we want to, you know, see our friends. 10:33 And that's really important, especially in Christianity 10:37 because it's a religion 10:40 and we're supposed to work together 10:41 in it to get the final, you know, 10:46 what we're trying to go to. 10:48 And it's very important that we share 10:54 what we believe so we can go and, you know, 10:59 bring others to Christ and have a final, 11:04 you know, meeting with Him in heaven. 11:08 When my father died, of course, 11:10 it was traumatic for the family, 11:14 also for the church that he'd helped 11:16 bring into being, 11:17 and they were a small close-knit community. 11:19 And I can remember at one point in his final days, 11:22 as he was struggling for life 11:23 at the intensive care ward, 11:26 a church member came to me 11:28 and she said she'd had a dream 11:30 that she'd seen my father with the redeemed 11:35 coming to a great celebration in heaven. 11:36 Well, I don't think that was prophetic. 11:39 And I hope and pray that he's there. 11:40 But the dream was significant in this regard, 11:43 and it's why I'm sharing it. 11:44 She said she saw this grand company. 11:48 And the redeemed of the ages were coming in rows of three 11:53 and they were led by a procession of angels, 11:56 three across. 11:59 And the first three angels, he said were Indian angels, 12:03 which resonated 'cause my father had 12:04 had a lot of time in India. 12:06 But with my daughter, who's troubled, 12:08 as you may have heard in the program 12:10 that she sort of lost something 12:12 at home study and then not really 12:15 the full graduation ceremony. 12:17 I don't think she missed much 12:19 because the personalized ceremony, 12:21 who would not want such a thing? 12:23 But what's lost there, what didn't happen here 12:27 in the time of COVID, and what has been denied 12:30 by people have stood 12:31 for their faith through the ages, 12:33 like John the Baptist dying in a solitary prison, 12:38 what's lost will be given 12:40 if this great graduation ceremony in heaven, 12:43 which the Bible describes in grand terms, 12:46 where the redeemed of the ages 12:48 and unnumbered multitude 12:51 will celebrate crowns of graduation 12:55 and it eternity of bliss and adoration of the Lord. 12:59 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2020-09-11