Participants: Jim Ayer
Series Code: MW
Program Code: MW000044
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00:02 Exiled to the island of Patmose,
00:04 the apostle John received direct revelation from 00:07 Jesus Christ. In chapter two of the 00:10 book of revelation we find the council to 00:12 Pergamos. The church here in this area at 00:15 the time he wrote in verse 12, 00:18 an angel of the church in Pergamos right. 00:20 These things saith he that he has the two edge 00:22 sword, I know thy works that are dwellest 00:25 even where Satan seat is. This was an area of 00:29 worship of every kind of God. God's of sacrifice, 00:33 Zeus the God of all Gods, 00:36 the giants who battled against the Gods. 00:39 But yet, yet the church stayed faithful notice 00:42 these words. And thou hold is 00:45 fast my name and is not denied my faith. 00:49 Today the story of Tanya, 00:51 is a young lady who searched and searched 00:54 but when she found the faith of Jesus Christ 00:57 she too is holding fast. 01:00 Stay tuned for this exciting story. 01:49 Into the angel of the church of Pergamos right 01:51 these saying saith he which have the sharp 01:54 swords with two edges. I know thy works and 01:57 where thou dwellest even where the Satan seat 02:00 is and thou holdest fast my name, 02:02 and has not denied my faith, even in those days 02:07 wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, 02:09 who was slaine among you, where Satan dwelleth. 02:13 But I have a few things against thee, 02:15 because thou hast there them that hold the 02:17 doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to 02:20 cast a stumblingblock before the children of 02:22 Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, 02:25 and to commit fornication. 02:27 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine 02:30 of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. 02:34 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, 02:37 and will fight against them with the sword of 02:39 my mouth. He that hath an ear, 02:41 let him hear what the Spirit saith unto 02:43 the churches; To him that overcometh 02:46 will I give to eat of the hidden manna, 02:48 and will give him a white stone, and in the stone 02:52 a new name written, which no man knoweth 02:54 saving he that receiveth it. 03:00 Lilya how many years have you worked for the 03:02 studio in AWR? Fifteen years. 03:06 Fifteen years! You don't look that age, 03:09 you must have started as a little child. 03:12 Thank you, almost. You see AWR making 03:17 a real impact in the lives of many people there? 03:24 I visited my relatives Odessa and in the morning 03:28 I woke up at 8 a.m. to a loud sound of radio. 03:39 And I was happy to hear 03:41 that it was the voice of hope. 03:45 What does it feel like to you when you see people 03:48 who you lead through Bible studies and then they 03:51 are eventually baptized? 03:58 This is very joyful and I was very happy, 04:02 but when they write that they were baptized I 04:06 am not the only one that is happy. 04:11 We are happy altogether and we pray for this 04:15 person like the rest of our sisters. 04:22 We try and help one and another to get closer to 04:26 Christ, this bring joy. 04:30 Tell me about some of the other exciting stories? 04:38 I want to tell you a story about the girl 04:41 Raymant. Me and her were writing back and forth 04:47 and I sent her homework. Later I found out 04:51 she was a young lady and so I offered to talk 04:55 to her of the job personal. 04:59 She wrote in her letter that her grandmother was 05:03 from Orthodox Church. Her grandmother took her to 05:09 church showed her how to pray 05:12 and read the Bible with her. 05:16 Right when she started to read the Bible deeply 05:20 on her own, she found out that her wrote seemed 05:24 different from the wrote of Orthodox Church. 05:28 God said something different to her. 05:33 During her studies she learned more about the 05:36 church. I invite her to church in one of my 05:40 letters and she came to church. 05:43 She was then baptized. 05:49 She happened to come to the 05:51 same church and visit. 05:55 She walked by one day and said hello my name is 05:59 Tanya, the Tanya that wrote to you. 06:03 We talked about how her life changed and she 06:07 thanked God every day for listening to the radio. 06:14 Today, she is still my friend. 06:22 Almost forty five thousand people live in 06:24 Bergamo Turkey, a city of 50 miles 06:27 North of Izmir. This modern day 06:30 city is built over the ancient remains of the 06:32 Roman city. To the North East is 06:34 the ancient Greek Acropolis and the 06:36 biblical city of the Pergamos, 06:38 one of the seven churches of the 06:40 revelation. Looking up from the valley where the 06:44 common people lived worked and farmed, 06:46 Pergamos was a grand site. 06:55 I am on the very top of the mountain here in 06:57 Pergamos. The ancient city was walled all around 07:00 this. This center contained all the 07:01 government functions, all the temples, 07:03 all the market place, because as long as 07:06 they protected this area from invaders then the 07:08 city was saved. It didn't matter about 07:10 the populations below. And during the time 07:13 of John writing to the people here from the 07:16 Book of Revelation there was over a hundred 07:18 and fifty thousand down in the valley. 07:26 The theatre was a lot smaller than the 07:28 population of the area at that time. 07:30 It held about ten thousand people; 07:32 eighty rows of seats, all over the upper seats 07:35 were formed of andesite but the lower seats those 07:39 were constructed of marble. 07:40 Those were for the high officials of the area. 07:44 Below me is the temple of Dionysus. 07:47 Dionysus was the God of fun, 07:49 frivolity of wine and party and happiness. 07:52 It seemed like they were associated many times 07:54 with the theatre such as this. 07:57 An interesting thing also this particular area 07:59 was a movable stage. It's one of the only 08:02 movable stages around in that time, 08:06 I am not told why there was a movable stage 08:08 but it seemed like there was. 08:12 The view from here was spectacular; 08:14 I don't know how they can keep their eyes 08:17 focused upon the actors with 08:18 such an exquisite view. 08:24 As you can see AWR is frontline mission radio. 08:27 Our first priority is to travel where 08:29 missionaries cannot go. We broadcast thousands of 08:33 hours each day in seventy major languages 08:36 of the world. AWR has the capability 08:39 and capacity of blanketing almost 80% of the 08:42 world's population. Not only do we broadcast 08:45 the shortwave radio but our signal is on over 08:48 1000 FM and AM stations around the world as well. 08:53 Our broadcast subscribers, internet users, 08:55 satellite downlinks are growing rapidly. 08:58 Evidence by the hundred thousand plus e-mails, 09:01 letters and phone calls we receive each and 09:04 every year. Yes AWR your mission radio. 09:09 No walls and no borders. For AWR that means 09:11 changed lives and changed hearts around the world 09:14 because God is using the airwaves of AWR 09:18 to reach people everywhere. 09:30 Pergamos like most Hellenistic cities of its 09:32 time was filled with temples to the Gods, 09:35 a great library, and sophisticated 09:38 water delivery system. 09:49 I am standing in the Library of Pergamum. 09:51 I am told it's the second largest in the 09:53 world only to Alexandria in Egypt. 09:56 I am actually on one of the walls right here. 09:59 Another wall over here but what I want to call 10:00 your attention to is the space in between. 10:03 One wall space another wall, 10:05 they created this to cut off all the humidity to 10:08 protect the 200,000 scrolls and parchments 10:11 in the library. But in 41 AD, 10:14 Mark Anthony decided to give a gift to 10:16 Cleopatra so he took all of these and 10:18 gave it to her, what a gift! 10:31 The temple of Trajan! He was the emperor 10:33 of Rome during the time of the 10:35 Book of Revelation. Although, 10:36 he was never here he was far off in Rome, 10:39 but it certainly is a beautiful place, 10:41 a beautiful location, tremendous columns, 10:44 a gorgeous area for sure. 10:56 During the rule and the time of Emperor Trajan, 10:58 he extended his territory and his power 11:01 to control. One of the favorite things with the 11:04 emperors and the rulers were to provide places of 11:07 sanctuary for certain crimes and criminals, 11:09 so a criminal could start out down there commit a 11:12 crime and if he could get up here he would find 11:15 sanctuary. Quite an interesting situation, 11:19 we don't know exactly which ones were offered 11:21 the sanctuary although I am 11:23 certain that every criminal wanted it. 11:38 Tatyana, thank you for meeting us here at 11:40 your church today, I understand that 11:41 you had to take off work to do this? 11:46 What type of work do you do? 11:48 I am a nanny. I baby sit a small baby. 11:51 Have you always been a nanny or have you had 11:53 another profession? This was my only job. 11:59 Can you tell me a little 12:00 bit about your childhood? 12:02 I was born Yurigi Thormer in a village. 12:07 I was born in orthodox family. 12:09 I always believed in Christ. 12:11 I attended church with my grandmother. 12:14 Do you have any brothers and sisters? 12:16 Yes, I have an older brother. 12:20 Did he go the Orthodox Church also? 12:25 I believe he did as well. Our grandmother wanted 12:29 us to be used to it. She wanted us to be 12:32 regular attendees. We knew that there was God. 12:35 We celebrated different events and she prayed 12:39 before eating. She showed us how to pray. 12:45 So pretty much every week you went to church? 12:48 No, not every Sunday but once in a while 12:51 she took us. And as a young lady did those 12:55 services have real meaning for you? 13:03 It was interesting. I didn't understand much, 13:06 but I prayed my own way listening to music and it 13:10 made me feel good after church. 13:17 It brought me happiness. 13:23 I love attending the church. 13:29 It seems to me that it was very attractive 13:31 for you. You liked everything about it, 13:36 but now here we are in a setting with chairs with 13:39 no icons, no gold, what happened? 13:47 This was a very interesting morning. 13:49 I was getting ready to go church when I heard a 13:52 radio station. I heard it mentioned whoever wants 13:58 to learn more about the Bible write us. 14:04 I owned a Bible and I really wanted to 14:06 know it more. I really wanted to know more about 14:11 that Old Testament. Our church didn't talk 14:14 much about it. The lessons came I studied 14:19 them and they became closer with the God. 14:23 You received that first Bible study what then? 14:31 I was very happy. They sent me a book 14:33 about Christ. This brought a lot of 14:36 happiness in my life. 14:41 I continued to write to them and slowly I was 14:44 completing the discourses. 14:50 Because of listening to that discourses, 14:53 I have found out to the Seventh day is Saturday 14:57 I became very interested and began to write them 15:00 why Saturday? What's the difference and they 15:04 slowly were sending me the information. 15:07 Slowly I was starting to understand God more. 15:11 Did you have a Bible instructor that gonna work 15:13 you through the lessons and helped you? 15:20 I knew there was someone very serious 15:23 on the other side. Someone who cares 15:26 and wanted to explain everything to me, 15:29 they really wanted me to know more. 15:32 They were questions and if I didn't understand 15:35 them they would send me more information 15:37 about it, so I would understand the topic. 15:41 Did you let your mother know and your grandmother 15:43 know that you were doing this? 15:47 I don't remember, they knew I sent letters. 15:58 They knew about it. 15:59 There was nothing wrong with it. 16:05 I shared information with them at that time. 16:11 So they were okay with your searching and 16:12 wondering about God? 16:16 Yes they liked knowing that I was close with God. 16:20 They enjoined the information that I 16:23 passed down to them. They would even ask me to 16:26 ask my instructor questions. 16:28 What was your instructor's name? 16:31 During that time I didn't really 16:32 paid much attention to that. 16:41 This city built on the mountain top is known for 16:43 the altar of Zeus, often referred to as the 16:46 Throne of Satan where the people worshipped and 16:49 offered sacrifices to demons. 16:52 This in Percy Walter was excavated in 1878 and 16:56 eventually moved to Berlin. 16:59 Hitler was so impressed that in 1934 he ordered 17:02 the construction of the tribune at 17:04 Zeppelin field. The architect used the 17:07 altar as the model. 17:14 Antipas, the faithful martyr was the leader of 17:16 the small Christian community in Pergamos, 17:18 a faithful servant of the creator and savior, 17:22 two very different religions in the same 17:24 place and by definition at great odds with 17:27 each other. One story says that the 17:30 demons complained to the people saying that there 17:32 sacrifices would not be accepted because of the 17:35 Antipas and his power to cast them out. 17:39 Through the radio waves of AWR God is reaching 17:42 people around the world. 17:45 We would like to offer you an addition of making 17:47 waves. It's four of our episodes brought to you 17:49 from around the world. God speaking to hearts, 17:53 the hearts of listeners of AWR exciting stories, 17:55 we hope that you'll share those with friends and 17:58 neighbors, apprentices, anyone who come in 18:00 and contact with, join us to make waves. 18:02 It's completely free. Right now the 18:05 information is on your screen. 18:06 For your free, no obligation DVD write to 18:10 Adventist World Radio 12501 Old Columbia 18:15 Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 or call 18:19 1-866-503-3531 or log on to 18:25 www.awr.org/MWDVD. Be sure to request offer 18:33 No 10, that number again is 1-866-503-3531. 18:42 We are right on the edge of the precipice here, 18:43 but what I wanted you to see down on the 18:45 distance, is the Roman aqueduct system. 18:48 It was designed to bring the water 30 miles. 18:51 Now the problem is we are way up the hill. 18:54 How did they get it up here? 18:56 They apparently designed a wooden turban system 18:59 that horses would pull and drive the water on and 19:02 up here, incredible ingenuity. 19:05 One of the other things is often the distance you 19:07 can see a circle of trees, form those trees is 19:10 the little road that goes out to the area that 19:12 was a medical treatment centre. 19:14 Gratian started this treatment centre using 19:16 physical medicines but also mental. 19:19 He began to look at the dreams and analyze the 19:22 dreams of people and treat them 19:24 based upon their dreams. 19:31 In the valley below the Acropolis a temple can be 19:33 found to Asclepius, the Greek God of healing. 19:37 Both the religious and secular medical practice 19:40 flourished side by side in Pergamos. 19:43 Many Greek Gods were associated with health 19:45 and healing. Each Asclepeion temple was 19:48 conglomeration of buildings and areas 19:50 depending on size and opulence on it's wealth 19:53 and influence. The dominant structure 19:56 was usually the main temple in which a statue 19:59 of God was given a prominent place. 20:03 Somewhere in the precincts on the entrance gates 20:05 or before the portals were tablets describing 20:08 earlier miraculous curers and voodoo offerings 20:11 which expressed gratitude for successful results. 20:16 Around building the tholos contained water 20:19 for purification sometimes in a pool or 20:22 bubbling up from a sacred spring. 20:24 Here too paintings and decorations were frequent. 20:29 The most important structure to the ailing 20:31 patient was the incubation site, 20:33 the Abaton where the actual cure took place in 20:36 the worshipper's dreams. All the preparations and 20:39 anticipations were prelude to what happened 20:42 within the Abaton, where the patient went 20:45 to sleep until he was visited by the God. 20:48 It was common practice for the priest to whisper 20:51 things to the patients at night. 20:52 And when they spoke of it in the morning they 20:55 were told it was the visit from the Gods. 20:59 It took you six months to complete your studies 21:02 what happened after you have done? 21:04 At the end of my courses they asked me 21:07 if I wanted to attend a church nearby, 21:10 and that they would be able to send 21:13 me the address. Of course I said yes. 21:16 They sent me the address and in 1998. 21:19 I attended their service here at the 21:23 Adventist church. And you are still here. 21:25 This is your church. How did it happen? 21:31 I introduced myself to all these people. 21:34 I wasn't ready for Baptism. 21:36 I was about twenty years old. 21:40 I didn't have one to talk about my decisions. 21:44 I was worried, unsure about what I was doing. 21:51 I constantly prayed and asked God to show me 21:54 the way. Christ opened up to me. 22:04 I met a lady that lived next door and she always 22:08 invited me always wanted to talk about Christ. 22:12 And then I knew that God had shown me the right 22:15 church and rest with me, and after the program 22:18 I was happy to be baptized at this 22:21 Adventist church. 22:23 It's always interesting to me to see how God 22:26 weaves a thread connects everything 22:28 in each person in a special way and He 22:31 certainly did that for you. Amen. 22:34 Tell me about momma and grandma, 22:37 what's going on with them now? 22:42 My grandmother passed away already but at first 22:45 they were amazed and didn't take it serious. 22:53 They thought that I would stop coming after a 22:55 while then they asked me to read my books and 22:59 talk about Christ a little. 23:07 My mother and my brother never attended 23:09 the church with me. 23:13 And how does that make you feel? 23:16 I am very happy. I understand someone 23:19 told me that after you were baptized you got to 23:22 meet your person who helped you 23:25 through your Bible studies? 23:30 Yes! It was on Saturday. 23:33 I heard someone was coming from Keel. 23:41 I had the chance to meet this lady and I still 23:44 talk to her until this day. 23:50 You find it's wonderful in the family of God, 23:52 don't you? Yes, of course this is big 23:56 happiness in my life. 23:58 Do you share AWR with others now? 24:05 Yes, I gave my completed courses to my friends 24:08 and families so they could read 24:10 and become closer to Christ. 24:14 It sounds like you share with everybody 24:16 you can find you tell them about Jesus now. 24:21 Of course I didn't want to keep this miracle 24:23 to myself I told people that my life changed. 24:28 How much easier it is to live with God and I just 24:31 can't imagine my life without Christ. 24:35 I am so happy that you are a part of making 24:37 waves around the world also. 24:39 Thank you so much. You are welcome. 24:45 Tatyana in our story today was not one who had 24:48 a dramatic experience of persecution or 24:51 difficulty rather she was one who God led step 24:55 by step to a greater unfolding knowledge 24:58 of the truth. Notice the agencies 25:01 the God used to catch her attention and bring 25:04 her to Him. First of all He implanted in her 25:08 heart a desire, a hunger to learn more about Him. 25:12 And that caused her to begin to search here and 25:15 there and everywhere. Secondly, 25:17 came the radio broadcast, the voice of hope. 25:21 From there she got the bigger, 25:23 clear understanding of who God was. 25:26 Third was the Bible correspondence course. 25:29 There she learned more deeply about what the 25:31 Bible taught and what the truth really was. 25:35 Fourth, she had a neighbor, 25:36 a neighbor that also believed and encouraged 25:39 her and brought her to church together. 25:44 Then finally came the church that served as 25:47 a family to help her fell solidified in her faith 25:50 and her belief. Tatyana didn't take 25:53 everything just as it came. She had many 25:57 questions along the way and she did a lot 25:59 of checking to make sure that what she was 26:02 learning was indeed the truth. 26:06 Perhaps unconsciously she followed the council 26:09 of first John chapter 4 verse 1. 26:12 Test the spirits to see if they are from God. 26:17 Well, she finally came to the place where she 26:20 felt confirmed in her belief. 26:22 She felt like she understood the basic 26:24 things about the Bible and she could have 26:27 confidence that it was the truth, 26:29 just like the people who lived here in Pergamum 26:32 the Christians, as was recorded in the 26:36 Book of Revelation in the letter to them. 26:40 That's what you and I need to do. 26:41 We need to study, we need to test, 26:45 we need to make them to make a decision. 26:47 So many people in this world gain a lot 26:50 of knowledge, but they never come to the point of 26:54 making that decision to follow Jesus Christ and 26:57 make Him part of their life that's what we need 27:01 to do. Won't you help AWR in bringing more and 27:06 more people to decision, who need to learn more 27:10 about Jesus Christ in this world around us. 27:13 AWR is your ministry reaching people around 27:16 the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 27:18 If you would like to partner with us give 27:20 us a call, 1-866-503-3531, or you can write to 27:26 us at 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, 27:29 MD 20904 or log on to www.awr.org. 27:38 Well, thank you for watching. 27:39 Please join us again for another exciting gospel 27:42 adventure because around the 27:43 world AWR is making waves. |
Revised 2014-12-17