Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Jim Gilley (Host), John Bradshaw
Series Code: NLLB
Program Code: NLLB011502
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00:14 Well, welcome back.
00:15 We're glad that you could join us. 00:17 We are getting acquainted with John Bradshaw, 00:19 the new speaker/director. 00:21 He is the fourth in the history of "It is written," 00:24 beginning with George Vandeman and then Mark Finley, 00:27 Shawn Boonstra and now John Bradshaw. 00:31 And those of you that were with us the first hour, 00:33 you've learned a lot about John 00:35 and those of you that might have missed it, 00:38 you may want to tune back in at another time. 00:40 For instance, this is shown on Sunday afternoon 00:43 4 o'clock Eastern time 00:46 and then at 9 AM on Tuesday mornings. 00:49 It's re-shown again. 00:50 So you may want to check back if you haven't-- 00:53 didn't get in on that first part. 00:55 But, C.A., why don't you tell us about our special offer 01:00 and also our music that we have. 01:02 All righty, our special offer for the evening is the book, 01:05 "Steps to Christ." 01:07 As we mentioned in the first half, 01:08 this is something you want to add to your library 01:10 if you do not already have it there. 01:12 It is a primer. 01:15 It is a walk through a developing relationship 01:19 with Jesus Christ. 01:20 If you don't have one, this will help you start one. 01:23 If you have one, 01:24 this will improve the one you have. 01:26 If your relationship has fatigued just a bit, 01:30 then this will be, dare I say, 01:32 the shot in the arm that you will need to re-animate 01:36 your relationship with Jesus Christ. 01:37 This is just a great little book 01:39 and even those who've been in faith for many, many years-- 01:41 we like to go over this again and again and again 01:44 because it does-- 01:46 it just works to draw you closer to Jesus. 01:48 And we would like to get this to you 01:50 if you will email us freeoffer@3abn.org. 01:55 That's freeoffer@3abn.org or call us 618-627-4651. 02:02 We will be more than happy to get this in the mail to you. 02:05 And you will find-- 02:07 this is a book that you will refer to 02:08 over and over and over again 02:10 and it's a good size for sharing. 02:12 Once you have filled your soul with this then pass it on, 02:16 give it to a friend 02:17 and it will be a blessing to them also. 02:18 So contact us this very night and we will get this 02:20 in the mail to you just as quickly as we possibly can. 02:25 Music is a great part of this ministry 02:28 and a great part of our lives 02:30 and we have the privilege of having Yvonne Lewis 02:33 sing for us in the first half. 02:35 We're gonna bring her back now. 02:37 She came just a little while ago 02:38 and recorded two songs on this very stage 02:41 and she's going to be singing a song 02:43 which sort of bespeaks what we've been talking about 02:45 this very night, "Were It Not for Grace." 02:48 One of the things that we saw in the first half is that, 02:51 God leads and guides particularly those 02:54 who are seeking after Him. 02:56 And I think we can each look back in our lives and say, 02:59 Were It Not for Grace, for the goodness of the Lord, 03:01 where would we be. 03:02 Well, that is the message of the song 03:04 that Yvonne Lewis brings us at this time, 03:06 "Were It Not for Grace." 03:29 Time measured out my days 03:36 Life carried me along 03:43 In my soul, I yearned to follow God 03:51 But knew I'd never be so strong 03:57 I looked hard at this world 04:01 To see how heaven could be gained 04:10 Just to end where I began 04:15 Where human effort is all in vain 04:23 It's all in vain 04:26 Were it not for grace 04:34 I can tell you where I'd be 04:41 Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 04:48 With my salvation up to me 04:54 I know how that would go 05:01 The battles I would face 05:08 Forever running but losing the race 05:15 Were it not for grace 05:25 So here is all my praise 05:32 Expressed with all my heart 05:39 It's offered to the Friend who took my place 05:47 And ran a course I couldn't start 05:52 And when He saw in full 05:57 Just how much His love would cost 06:05 He still ran the final mile between earth and heaven 06:14 So I would not be lost 06:22 Were it not for grace 06:30 I can tell you where I'd be 06:37 I'd be wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 06:45 With my salvation up to me 06:51 I know how that would go 06:58 The battles I would face 07:05 Forever running but losing the race 07:12 Were it not for grace 07:20 Forever running but losing the race 07:28 Were it not for Your grace 07:36 Your grace 07:39 Jesus 07:40 Your grace. 07:54 Amen. Amen. 07:56 Thank you, Yvonne. We appreciate that so much. 07:58 Beautiful. 08:00 Well, listen, we are back to the story. 08:03 We're back to Columbia, Kentucky. 08:05 Tell us a little bit about that. A great place. 08:09 I was working as a brand new trainee evangelist. 08:14 Well, I'd gone and observed a meeting 08:17 and somehow, someone convinced Kentucky TN 08:22 to have me come and hold a meeting 08:24 in this little town of about 3,000. 08:27 And what--just what a cool place, you know. 08:31 I was visiting a man. 08:34 His wife was in the church, his children in the church. 08:40 He was coming to the meetings, you know. 08:41 He'd been around the church forever 08:43 and never been baptized. 08:45 So I went to his house to visit as you do. 08:47 First series. 08:50 And, you know, he knew why I was there. 08:53 And so he said to me, he said, 08:55 "you know, I need to tell you something." 08:56 And he said, "I've heard them all." 08:59 He said, "I've heard Finley, I've heard Cox, 09:03 I've heard Falkenberg" I guess he was talking about 09:06 our former general conference president. 09:08 He named some others. 09:10 He said, "I've heard all these guys 09:12 and I still haven't been baptized." 09:17 And I thought, oh man. 09:19 And I went out of there, I just prayed. 09:21 I said, "you know, Lord, I can't change this man's mind. 09:24 I can't change his heart. 09:26 But you can." 09:27 And we prayed and prayed and I'm not saying 09:28 it was because of our prayers or anything else, 09:31 but it was--that was one of the great experiences, 09:33 to stand there that day as the pastor of the church 09:35 baptized that man. 09:37 And he became a dear friend and I had the privilege, 09:41 the sad privilege of performing his funeral service 09:43 a number of years later. 09:44 Just, you remember stories like that 09:47 when people's lives are changed. 09:49 He went on to be-- let's call him an evangelist. 09:51 He'd start recording TV shows of 3ABN 09:57 and mailing them to his family members 09:59 and several of his extended family members were baptized 10:03 as a result of this man's ministry. 10:05 Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah, that's wonderful. 10:06 He wasn't a--he wasn't a preacher-preacher, 10:08 but boy he preached, 10:10 and he took every opportunity he could. 10:12 And so from that meeting, 10:13 you know, I guess Kentucky Tennessee thought 10:16 we could have this guy back 10:18 and the ministerial secretary, at that time, 10:20 was a fellow named Jim Thurman. 10:22 And Jim showed faith in me and not just that, 10:29 he became a dear friend, if I could presume to say that, 10:33 and something of a mentor and he continued 10:36 to call me back and he called the office one day 10:39 and he said, "how many meetings 10:40 does Bradshaw have this year? 10:42 We'll take everyone you've got. 10:43 It's 'cause we want to have them here." 10:45 You know, he would invite me to come 10:47 to the conference ministerial meetings and, 10:49 in fact, a number of the pastors in the conference thought 10:52 I was a conference employee 10:53 because I was around so much. 10:55 And you know, without-- now, you know, 10:58 we praise the Lord and this was God's doing. 11:00 But without Jim being impressed by God 11:02 and being used by God to invite me 11:05 into his part of the vineyard and give me meetings to do, 11:10 it's doubtful that I'd be the speaker/director 11:13 and it is written today. 11:14 You know, we owe it all to the Lord, 11:16 but true we feel gratitude to the people God uses. 11:18 And I feel immense amounts of thanks 11:24 and gratitude and real warmness towards Jim. 11:28 Boy, he was good to me. 11:29 And I tell you, Jim and Judy are people that love the Lord. 11:33 Yes, that's true. And they really do. 11:35 And I know that Jim is the son of my father-in-law 11:42 Roy Thurman, Roy and Venice Thurman. 11:45 And he has been a tremendous-- 11:49 he's not well now and he's retired, 11:51 but he has been a tremendous evangelism coordinator. 11:55 Oh, yeah, that's for sure. 11:56 And he's always ready to get people like you, 11:59 and help you to get out there and win souls. 12:03 See, you learn to appreciate people 12:05 who believe in evangelism. 12:06 And Jim was one of those people. 12:08 And when you get people who have a vision 12:10 for evangelism and they do some 12:13 and they enable others and they organize it, 12:15 you know, it makes such a difference. 12:16 And as we mentioned earlier, evangelism-- 12:19 I think C.A. you said, it's outreach and in reach. 12:22 Yes. Certainly it's outreach. 12:24 But, boy, it focuses a church. 12:26 And it helps us to remember why we are here, 12:31 what we believe-- 12:33 you know, there's a fellow in a church 12:35 we held a meeting in, 12:36 if I mentioned his family name many people 12:39 would recognize that name as a significant name 12:42 in church history. 12:44 He's a descendant of someone significant. 12:46 And we came to that town 12:49 and he decided that he would invite some people 12:51 to come out to the meeting. 12:53 One of his colleagues came, you know. 12:54 Well, now, he's there ever night. 12:56 He's there ever night. And this guy just-- 12:59 I don't want to overstate it, 13:01 but for him to see his colleague, 13:03 whom he invited, baptized and one to Christ, 13:07 man, it changed his life too. 13:09 Yeah, powerful stuff. Amen. 13:11 Well, listen, you moved along in evangelism 13:14 and then you pastored? 13:15 Yeah. In Kentucky Tennessee? 13:17 Wonderful. What church was it there? 13:20 Kentucky TN had called me 13:21 several times to come and pastor. 13:23 And we knew it would come one day 13:25 I would say to John Funiciello who was the new-- 13:30 In fact he succeeded Jim as ministerial secretary. 13:33 I would say, "John not now, but don't give up on me." 13:35 You know? 13:36 Don't let my nose, you know, dissuade you from asking. 13:42 We had held two evangelistic series 13:44 in the town or the City of Lexington. 13:46 I remember reading in the Southern Tidings 13:50 that someone from Washington straight up 13:52 at Columbia conference had been called to Lexington. 13:56 And I remember thinking, "Huh, they didn't call me." 14:01 And then I remember thinking to myself, 14:03 "well, I wouldn't have gone anyway," 14:05 'cause I don't feel like the time is right, 14:07 but I remember saying to Mellissa, 14:09 "but, boy, Lexington, 14:11 that'd be a great place to pastor a church." 14:14 My children were about 7 and 5 14:16 and it was better for them to be settled, you know, 14:19 and Melissa and I sensed God leading us off the road, 14:23 but we didn't want to just bail out, 14:25 "Lord if you--if this is time for the transition, show us." 14:28 I got that phone call from Elder Funiciello 14:31 and, you know, it just clicked, I knew that this is it. 14:36 So we worked and we prayed and so forth 14:39 and the Lord was gracious enough to allow us 14:41 to pastor in the Lexington Church 14:45 and Kentucky TN conference. 14:47 What a great church. 14:48 You know, there are some churches 14:50 that eat up their pastors. 14:51 I mean, that's just a sad truth. 14:52 And it's often not the church, 14:54 but may be an element in the church. 14:56 You know, at some churches, 14:58 some pastors probably need to be eaten up I guess, but-- 15:01 but there are some that just eat up pastors 15:04 and you know I've-- 15:06 I consider it that I've been greatly blessed 15:09 to be in churches that were just great, yeah. 15:11 And the Lexington Church, great church, great people. 15:14 I got such a lot of dear friends there. 15:17 We had a wonderful time and it was a tremendous 15:20 introduction to pastoral ministry. 15:22 We thought we'd stay there forever, 15:23 but I got a phone call out of the blue. 15:25 I was in New Zealand visiting my mom 15:28 and Melissa called and said, 15:29 "you got a phone call from someone at the-- 15:31 up at Columbia conference. 15:32 They're talking about 15:34 if you want to go to a church there." 15:35 I said, "no, no we're happy in Lexington. 15:37 No, I'm not going." 15:38 Then she said, "they want you to call." 15:41 I said, "I'm in New Zealand, I'm not calling." 15:43 I mean, this is the, the shortened version. 15:46 I probably said something like, 15:47 "oh, really, hmm, let me think. 15:49 Well, I think upon reflection I should wait." 15:52 But the shortened version is, "no, I'm not going." 15:54 And so I got back to the US and I don't know 15:59 who called who and they said, 16:01 "would you like your name to go on a list, 16:02 it's this big church with 1700 members in, 16:05 like, Walla Walla area." 16:10 I said, "man, I never thought about that in my life." 16:12 You know, if they, if they'd mentioned 16:14 to me something that I thought about 16:15 I could've just said no 16:17 but I thought I really don't know 16:18 what God wants us to do. 16:19 It seems a little too soon to be leaving Lexington, 16:22 but, okay, 16:24 put my name on the list if you like and we'll pray. 16:27 And then you know, they called back and said, 16:28 "Thou art the man" and that was a problem. 16:33 And then we had to pray, 16:35 "Lord, we don't want to leave where we are, 16:37 but we do want to be obedient." 16:39 And long story short, 16:41 we saw the pillar of cloud move very, very directly. 16:45 And a dear friend in Lexington came to me and she said, 16:48 "have a look at this." 16:50 It was from the Oswald Chambers, 16:52 Daily Devotional "My Utmost for his Highest," 16:55 I made that back to front. 16:57 The day I made the announcement in the church 17:00 that we were accepting a call out, 17:04 in that devotional book that day was a little passage 17:07 where he said, in effect, if God calls you to go, 17:10 but you say God I can't go because of my people, 17:14 then you are giving them an example of 17:15 disobedience and faithfulness. 17:18 If God is calling you to go, leave those people with God, 17:21 you go and God will take care of them. 17:24 And I don't know that everybody understood that, 17:26 but many people did. 17:28 You know, they've got such a wonderful pastor 17:30 in that church now I bet if you went there 17:32 and said my name they wouldn't even know who I was. 17:35 Because the fellow that replaced me 17:36 is ten times the pastor I could ever be. 17:38 A wonderful man, Pavel Goia. 17:40 You may have read his book, 17:41 you know, about the miraculous-- 17:43 We've had him at 3ABN. 17:44 Yeah, yeah, you know, I'm talking about. Oh, yes. 17:46 And, you know, I bet when he arrived they said, 17:50 we wish Bradshaw had left sooner. 17:51 Because he is, honestly, 17:53 what a great guy and good things are happening there. 17:56 Well, you know, John, I've had that experience 17:59 and I feel like I made 100% of the people happy, 18:03 50% when I came and 50% when I left. 18:06 And so they're always some-- That's right. 18:09 That are ready all of us to move on. Yeah. 18:11 So we were so blessed. 18:13 We got to go to the Village Church 18:14 and in College Place, not Walla Walla, College Place. 18:20 And what a church, what a church. 18:22 You know, we didn't go there 18:24 because it was a great church. 18:26 We didn't know. 18:27 We went there because we saw 18:29 the pillar of cloud move and-- yeah. 18:30 So if you don't go when God calls, 18:34 then you--look out because there's probably 18:35 a whale coming to swallow you up, you know. 18:38 You said twice, the pillar of God, 18:39 so God must have done something very definite, 18:41 very direct, very--probably very open to affirm to you 18:45 that this was of God. 18:46 Can you talk about that? 18:49 A little bit, I guess. 18:50 We--you know, I'll tell you what, 18:54 a little bit, 18:57 Elder Falkenberg said, funny thing Bob junior, 19:00 he said, "take as much time 19:01 as you want to make this decision. 19:03 As much time as you want." He, he didn't mean that. 19:08 He meant it metaphorically. 19:10 He meant take as much time as you want, 19:11 but I know you won't need long. 19:13 And we kind of took a little too much. 19:16 And he said Friday at 4:00, 19:18 that's when we need a decision. 19:20 Well, we're driving down a road and it's 10 to 4:00. 19:24 We're driving to Harbert Hills Academy in Savannah TN 19:27 to speak at their lumni weekend. 19:30 And I said, "Melissa, do you feel like you know 19:32 for sure what God wants us to do?" 19:34 And she said, no. I said, "I don't either." 19:37 And so that's it, we can't go. 19:39 And then I think she said, 19:40 "why don't you call Herb Douglass." 19:42 Herb is a just a giant. 19:45 And I think I could presume to call him a friend. 19:50 I said, "yeah, I will." 19:52 I said, "Herb, I don't know what to do. 19:54 I just don't know." 19:56 Lots of other people knew what I should do. 19:57 They were telling me what to do. 19:59 But I-- "this is a great opportunity." 20:01 I said, "I don't want a great opportunity. 20:03 I just want to be where God wants me to be. 20:05 It's not about opportunities in ministry man. 20:07 It's about following the Lord." 20:10 So I called Herb and he said, 20:15 "why don't you just take the Sabbath? 20:17 Don't think about it." 20:20 Like that was ever going to happen. 20:21 He said, "maybe you'll hear something in a sermon." 20:25 I thought well, I'm doing the preaching 20:26 so I'll listen carefully. 20:29 "Maybe, maybe someone will say something. 20:35 Just take the Sabbath." 20:38 And I don't know he probably said something like, 20:40 if they've waited this long they can wait another day. 20:43 And right at about 4 o'clock my phone rings 20:45 and it says Falkenberg, Bob right there on the screen. 20:49 And I said, I'll let that one go to voicemail. 20:52 And I didn't answer the call and I'll just say this, 20:55 the next day we had an encounter 20:56 with somebody who was familiar with-- 20:58 who wasn't familiar with our situation, 21:00 but if for God to speak to me anymore clearly, 21:07 then he spoke through this man that day, 21:09 I don't know what it would take. 21:11 So I said-- Melissa and I just said, 21:14 "well, that's it we're going." 21:15 What about our church family in Lexington? 21:17 And I just said, "what can we do, we have to go. 21:19 God has shown us, we have to go. 21:21 So we'll just explain it." 21:22 And the Village Church is a wonderful church. 21:27 Man, these are great people. 21:30 The dearest people in the world, I think. 21:32 Tremendous people who love God, 21:34 they love their church. 21:38 And someone said, "well, you can't do evangelism 21:40 in this Adventist ghetto." 21:44 Well, wait a minute, 21:45 there's 60,000 people in the valley, 21:47 I know that's not as many as Lexington. 21:49 You count up how many people are in church on Sabbath. 21:51 It's a fraction of that. 21:52 There're thousands of people that need to be reached. 21:55 So--and we held two meetings in that year. 21:57 I held one and we had-- one of our church members 22:00 Larry Moore held a share-hymn meeting. 22:02 Oh, it's a great meeting. Boy, he did a great job. 22:04 God used him. 22:05 Number of people gave their lives to Christ. 22:07 We held another meeting that we always wished 22:09 they were better, but God did good things there. 22:12 What a good church family, willing, helpful, encouraging. 22:15 Man, they put up with me. 22:17 I think they used to have these sermons that, 22:18 you know, went regular sermon length 22:20 and I stood up and said, I think first Sabbath, 22:22 if you're used to getting out of church at a certain time, 22:25 you might need to rethink because I'm gonna preach 22:27 until I'm finished preaching. 22:29 And if, and if you need to leave, 22:31 go, but I'm not gonna finish early on your account. 22:34 And there were a couple of people 22:36 who might have had a hard time with that, 22:38 but the majority of people said praise the Lord. 22:41 So, you know, they put up with my waywardness 22:44 and my incorrigibility, a wonderful church. 22:48 If there's a better church on earth than Village Church 22:51 in College Place, Washington, I don't know about it. 22:55 They're great people, I love them. 22:56 Great conference leadership there, too. 22:58 Oh, yeah. Falkenberg. Yes, yes. 23:00 I had wonderful colleagues at Village Church, 23:02 great associate pastors-- yeah. 23:04 The conference leadership is A++. Right. 23:08 Bob Falkenberg is great conference preacher 23:10 and a terrific guy. 23:12 And this is a, this is a-- the local congregation, 23:15 you know, they know how to do church, 23:19 the conference leadership is very focused 23:22 on outreach evangelism, sharing Christ. 23:26 What a great experience I've had, 23:29 a privileged experience to be in wonderful churches. 23:33 So you were there 25 years, were you? 23:37 Um... Almost I'll be precocious, 25 months? 23:40 No, no, it was-- I know you are. 23:43 I'd like to put it like this, 23:44 we were there for almost 500 days. 23:46 Okay, all right. 23:48 And then--then how did you get this call? 23:52 it is written, I mean how did you hear about 23:54 what was going on there? 23:57 If I had known there was a job vacancy, 24:00 if it had been advertised, I would not have applied. 24:03 No. Just wouldn't. 24:04 Wouldn't have even dreamed of it. 24:06 I'll tell you what happened. 24:07 We were visiting an interest from our meetings, 24:10 the fellow who came to our meetings, 24:11 he's a great guy. 24:13 And our Bible worker coordinator Jon Jennette 24:18 and I made this visit. 24:21 And during the visit, 24:23 I'm getting these phone calls from a fellow 24:25 and I did not know that he was associated 24:27 with "It is Written" at all, but he's a friend of mine. 24:29 No, I knew he had an association, 24:31 but I didn't know he was about to work there. 24:33 And so on the way home I said, 24:37 "all right, I'll call Heath, I'll just call him up." 24:39 And I pulled out my phone and was driving down the-- 24:42 wait a minute that's illegal in Washington State, so-- 24:49 So you pulled over to the side. 24:50 By means, by means, I shall not disclose. 24:54 I was having a conversation with this man 24:56 as I drove and he started with a long explanation 24:59 and all of this and, and then I saw a policeman. 25:05 So I did what you do, you know, 25:07 I put the phone down and the policeman 25:11 was driving very slowly, 25:12 so the phone was down for the longest time 25:15 but when I put the phone back up, 25:16 he said to me, he said, 25:18 "and so his health isn't good 25:20 and we're really sad about that." 25:22 And it isn't something that he's going to be 25:24 able to over in a hurry and so-- 25:27 and I thought-- I don't know, 25:29 I thought he was telling me about his associate pastor. 25:33 And we had a vacancy at Village. 25:35 And I thought uh, uh, well, he's gonna suggest 25:38 that we give this guy a call, 25:39 which would be great 'cause he's a fantastic pastor. 25:43 But he said "and so, so that's why 25:45 I'm calling you to ask if you have any interest 25:47 in being the next speaker director of, 'It is written.'" 25:50 And I've, I mean, I ran off the road man. 25:53 And I don't know any other time in my life 25:59 that I've just not know what to say. 26:02 Silent. Silent. 26:05 The only other time, I think, 26:06 was when I asked Melissa to marry me and she paused. 26:11 And I just thought I'll say, "Will you marry me?" 26:14 And I just thought she'd say yes. 26:16 But she paused 26:17 and it was like time stood still. 26:19 It took like a week for her to say it 26:22 and it was probably 4 seconds, but it seemed like forever. 26:25 And, and it was like that, now I didn't know what to say. 26:30 And first I'm saying, I haven't even been here very long. 26:34 And anyway I said, 26:37 I don't know what to think so if you want to put me 26:38 on a list, do, and God will show me what to do. 26:42 You know, I'll tell you what, 26:45 I was the senior pastor at Village Church 15 months. 26:48 That's not long and I wouldn't recommend a fellow to do that. 26:53 And I've heard of that being done and people ending up 26:55 with a bad taste in their mouth, people being angry. 26:58 I'll tell you how angry my church members were. 27:01 It was on a Thursday, I think, 27:04 and I was going to the Christmas Soiree 27:06 at Gospel Outreach, 27:08 which is a wonderful organization 27:10 there in College Place. 27:13 The head Elder of our church Larry Sharren 27:15 one of the finest Christian men 27:17 you'll ever meet was walking out 27:19 as I was coming in and I said, 27:20 "Hey, Larry, I'd like to talk to you later." 27:23 He said, "so did you get offer the 'It is written' job?" 27:30 I said, "uh, yeah." He said, "gonna take it?" 27:36 And I said, "you know, I think we are." 27:41 And he looked up and he said, "good, I'm glad you are." 27:47 I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to think. 27:51 He said, "you need to go. 27:52 I think God is calling you to a state being 27:54 having that conversation 27:55 at Gospel Outreach in my absence. 27:57 It was just speculation. 27:59 They had heard that Shawn wasn't well and would need 28:01 to be stepping aside. 28:02 And incidentally, just to back up, 28:04 we were both right, Shawn was with, 28:05 "It is Written" 12 to 13 years. 28:08 "It is Written" Canada first. That's right. 28:09 And then "It is Written" US, so pardon my slip really. 28:14 And that was what they said. 28:16 They said, we're gonna share you now 28:17 with the world of whatever and we're gonna send you 28:20 as a missionary and, 28:21 and we'll still be able to watch you on TV 28:23 and boy, what gracious people. 28:25 I would have been as mad as anything at me, 28:27 but, you know, they got it. 28:29 Elder Falkenberg, he says, 28:32 "you know, we don't want to loose you. 28:33 We don't think you've been there long enough, 28:34 we don't think your job is done." 28:36 But I see God moving in this. 28:38 He said, I think this is a God thing 28:39 and so John if you think God is calling you go. 28:42 Which is what Richard Helix said when I was leaving Lexington. 28:44 I thought Elder Helix would, you know, 28:48 read me the riot act. 28:49 He said, "you know, maybe this is God leading." 28:52 Yeah. This is God. 28:53 So when people are saying those things to you 28:55 it's very reassured. 28:57 And so we come to "It is Written" confident 29:00 about the fact that God is leading us there. 29:03 Praise God. 29:04 If I wanted to be daunted, I would be very daunted. 29:07 How in the world do you follow Shawn? 29:11 And before him Mark and before him George Vandeman. 29:14 Well, you know, what, you don't. You cannot. 29:17 These are men who operated "It is Written" 29:20 at the highest level and with great excellence. 29:25 And so if I wanted to second guess myself, 29:27 I'd start shaking in my boots and I can't do that. 29:30 I just have to say, if God is calling 29:33 and if others believe God is calling, 29:34 the Lord will take care of that. 29:36 Yeah. That's right. 29:37 Now, I know that Shawn had shared with me this plan 29:41 that he had for Babylon Rising. 29:44 Yeah, great. 29:45 And so now you have inherited that. 29:48 Yeah. We're excited about it. 29:52 We at 3ABN hope that there is some way 29:54 that we can be a part of that. 29:55 Oh, yes, we hope that too. 29:57 And--but we have, have looked down 29:59 to the point of this actually happening. 30:04 Tell us a little bit what's going on. 30:06 Over the next nine months... nope over the next year 30:10 there's gonna be a tremendous 30:11 evangelistic outreach in the city of Las Vegas. 30:15 As I think about it, I don't know 30:16 why this has never been done before. 30:18 It's an iconic city. 30:20 The strip at Las Vegas, the third most 30:24 popular tourist destination in United States. 30:26 You know, people aren't going there for the scenery. 30:29 It's known as Sin City, big city. 30:32 It has grown more rapidly than any other city 30:35 in United States in the last century. 30:37 Of all towns founded in the 20th century, 30:42 Las Vegas is the biggest of those. 30:43 It's grown rapidly. 30:45 It's now about 1.9 million people. 30:46 It has fallen on very hard times. 30:48 You can buy a lot of houses in Las Vegas 30:50 for a much smaller amount of money than you used to. 30:54 It's the foreclosure capital of the United States 30:57 and it's the unemployment capital of the United States. 31:00 So it's this big vibrant bustling exciting-- 31:04 okay wrong kind of excitement for most of us, 31:07 town ready to hear the good news. 31:12 I'll tell you a cool thing, I was preaching 31:14 at the Mountain view Church a month ago 31:16 and this Sabbath I'll be in the Paradise church. 31:18 I got up to preach and this elderly man stood up. 31:20 I thought he was one of them. 31:22 The congregation thought he was one of us. 31:25 And he just got up to share a testimony, 31:26 50 years ago we came to Las Vegas 31:29 when the airport was way out of town 31:31 and we put up a tent and we preached a series of meetings. 31:34 I'm excited that there is more-- 31:35 you know, it just was like some kind of conformation 31:39 and so we go in there and kicking off the project proper 31:44 with a four night series of meetings called, Babylon Rising. 31:49 And we're going to look at the way the world is going, 31:52 you know, there's great movement in the natural world, 31:55 the religious world and the political world. 31:57 Lots of people are asking questions. 31:59 I've had people say, "so this thing in Egypt 32:01 how does that play the Bible prophecy." 32:02 And I told them, I don't know. 32:05 But people are still asking. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 32:08 Everything--look at what was going on around the world. 32:10 Last year the worst natural disasters ever. 32:13 And I'm not-- every time you see 32:14 a tornado look for Jesus to come. 32:15 We can't go there, but Jesus did say 32:18 you'll see certain signs and you can know that 32:20 my coming is near you and at the doors. 32:23 So, so we're gonna start 32:25 looking at the questions people are asking 32:27 and we're going to parallel that with the rise of Babylon. 32:33 Ancient Babylon rose and fell. 32:35 The Bible says in the Book of Revelation, 32:36 this mysterious thing-- actually 32:39 mystery Babylon is going to rise again. 32:42 What's that all about? 32:44 So as we bring these two things together 32:46 and show how the rise of Babylon in the last days, 32:51 answers many of the most pressing questions 32:54 everyday people have today. 32:56 This is something, that under Shawn's direction, 32:59 "It is Written" conceived and it's gonna be 33:01 it's gonna be a winner I believe. 33:02 It will press a lot of buttons in a lot of lives. 33:05 You know, we have found more interesting 33:08 spiritual things in Las Vegas than perhaps 33:11 any city where we have a station. 33:14 We have a low power television station there. 33:18 They tell us in the last few years 33:20 the collective churches-- Yeah. 33:22 Of Las Vegas and we have a lot of good churches 33:24 in and around Las Vegas. Well, that's so true, yeah. 33:26 About a dozen actually in the greater Las Vegas area 33:29 and they tell us that over 300 people have directly 33:34 come into the church through watching 3ABN. 33:38 We have Mark Anthony who does cooking shows 33:42 on our program and so forth. 33:43 Mark Anthony saw 3ABN, watched it, 33:47 came to the Paradise Church, gave his heart to Jesus Christ, 33:51 came out to 3ABN and was baptized. 33:53 But that city is full of people-- 33:56 Who are looking for the truth and one of the reasons 34:00 our station has been so big there, 34:02 a lot of people there have had hard times 34:05 so they don't have cable. 34:07 They just have television and they're watching 34:10 the local ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, 34:13 and our little power station there. 34:16 And so they really do get into the scripture-- 34:21 Mm-hmm. With 3ABN. 34:22 So we are excited about what you're gonna do there. 34:26 Yeah, I'm excited. We really are. 34:27 I tell you this is--there's a confluence of things here. 34:29 The Nevada- Utah Conference 34:32 under the leadership of it's President, 34:34 Elder Larry Unterseher, are our on board. 34:38 They're excited. Amen. 34:39 They're our major partner in this 34:41 and Larry is our coordinator in the Vegas area. 34:43 You know, for a president to take that on-- 34:45 You know, that's him saying, "man, I'm involved." 34:48 We're partnering with ASI and a number of ASI Ministries 34:51 who are going to come to Vegas and work with us. 34:53 This is really a collaborative venture. 34:55 And we're not, we're not interested 34:57 in who gets credit for what. 34:58 We want to see the biggest splash 35:01 made for Jesus that we possibly can. 35:04 Let me tell you this. 35:05 I've been having some exciting conversations lately. 35:07 I believe in medical missionary work. 35:09 And I mean that, understand what I mean, 35:12 more than just a health talk, medical missionary work. 35:15 We're talking to people now that are coming in 35:18 and doing a real medical missionary thrust 35:22 as our pioneers talked about 35:23 medical missionary work being done. 35:25 So we're just going to try our best 35:27 and we really believe God is leading this together 35:30 and when we have ASI ministries, 35:32 the conference are so supportive, you know, 35:35 sometimes you have these big meetings 35:37 and there are some pastors who say, 35:39 "uh, well, I don't-- we don't believe 35:41 in that stuff" they're all on board. 35:43 Yes. They're all on board. 35:45 They're excited, which excites me, you know? 35:47 Yeah. Praise God. 35:49 I'll be there Sabbath as I said, 35:50 I can't wait to get back because I know that 35:52 the pastors there are really supportive 35:55 and God's going to do something great. 35:56 The four nights with Babylon Rising are in May. 35:58 I think it's the weekend of, wait, what is that? 36:02 Labor Day? Is that in May? no. 36:03 Memorial Day. Memorial Day, that's right. 36:08 Excuse the foreigner, I've been here 36:09 for over 20 years, but I get my days muddled. 36:12 And so it's leading up to the Saturday night of that weekend. 36:16 And I have the dates, but you can-- 36:19 you know, what they are. 36:20 I think this is just the prefect kind of meeting 36:22 for that particular town. I think so. 36:23 Because it's a heads up kind of meeting-- 36:25 "Hey, here's what's going on, here's some context 36:27 for all the questions you're asking." 36:28 Now we've got a one minute promo for Babylon Rise. 36:31 I think it would be good if we go to that 36:33 at this time to, sort of, give us a little context of 36:35 what we're going to be doing 36:36 and what we're going to be seeing in May. 37:43 That should get some interest. 37:44 I think people are gonna be excited about that. 37:46 Yeah, we think so, we think so. 37:48 Yeah. And I want to say this, too. 37:50 And this is going to be a little bit of 37:51 a balancing act for the preacher. 37:55 Some of us probably have a good understanding of 37:58 what this Babylon thing is in the Book of Revelation 38:01 and so if you're watching and thinking, 38:04 "how in the world do I invite my neighbors 38:07 when this guy is gonna do this big expose there on Babylon?" 38:10 I want to tell you this. 38:11 It's going to be user friendly and seeker friendly. 38:14 We're not going to embarrass anyone or offend anyone. 38:17 There are certain things that we feel in the context 38:20 of this we shouldn't say, but we'll say enough 38:22 that is going to be medium substantial. 38:25 So this is something that people can participate 38:28 and we want people to participate in this. 38:31 People are going to be able to watch this on TV 38:33 and also we are gearing this, we are investing, actually, 38:37 a lot of money in doing this via the internet expertly. 38:41 So we hope that people will encourage folks just to logon. 38:46 Our website right now, babylonisrising.com, 38:51 remember the "is." 38:52 The series is Babylon Rising website. 38:54 Babylonisrising.com and if you go there 38:57 you can sign up to be a host site. 38:59 We want people to be involved and to be a host site. 39:03 This is something you can invite your neighbors too 39:05 the easiest witnessing in the world, 39:06 "hey, something I'd love you to see. 39:09 Come to my place tonight we'll roll it out." 39:11 And we invite people to be involved live or, 39:15 the beauty of it being online, if you miss it live, 39:17 download the thing and play it later. 39:20 We're going to be doing two sessions a day from Vegas 39:23 owing to the interesting nature of the town, 39:27 we've been advised to do something 39:28 in the morning and in the evening. 39:30 So at 11 AM live on the internet, 39:33 7 PM Vegas time, live on the internet 39:37 and of course there will be television times 39:39 in addition to that which we're excited about. 39:42 So want to encourage people to get involved, 39:45 Babylonisrising.com and if you should forget that, 39:50 go to the "It is Written" website. 39:53 We really hope that a lot of people will participate. 39:55 And you know something, 39:57 there's a net meeting later on this year. 39:58 And loads of churches are gearing up for this, 40:00 later on with Dr. Cloosay. 40:02 This is something that you could do 40:04 even to build towards that. 40:06 You know, what could we invite our friends 40:08 to get them interested, to give them a little 40:11 taste of what might come later. 40:12 We're not going to pull the rug out 40:14 from under anyone's feet, 40:15 we're not going to embarrass anyone, 40:16 you won't have people leaving your house because 40:18 they're offended, you'll have people saying, 40:20 "wow, I want to learn more." Praise God. 40:22 We're very excited about this. 40:24 Couple of things, John, one, 40:25 this is primarily an internet media ministry, yes or no? 40:31 Yes and no. Yeah. Yes and no. 40:34 But it will have broadcast-- Yeah. 40:37 Outreach also. Absolutely. 40:38 I'm glad you clarified that. Yeah. 40:40 There will be a live meeting going on. 40:42 In Las Vegas? Yes, absolutely right. 40:44 That will last more than just four days, right? 40:46 Yeah, that's coming up in January of next year. 40:48 Okay, so you start off with four days. 40:51 Then you continue with the internet ministry. 40:54 Well, the four days of meetings is just, 40:57 you know, it's a four day, four night series. 40:59 And we're going to broadcast that with TV and the internet. 41:02 And when I talk about the internet, 41:03 I'm saying we are putting a lot into our infrastructure 41:06 there so that we can be sure that from 41:08 the internet point of view it's happening. 41:10 People can get stuff on demand. 41:12 There won't be any screening problems. 41:15 We're going to involve a very strong interactive 41:20 component so people can text their questions to us live 41:24 and we may be able to throw these up on the screen 41:26 and I don't know whether you-- I got to tell you man, 41:30 when it comes to this technology 41:32 I'm a bit of a dinosaur, I've turned into my dad. 41:35 I don't need to be, I don't need to be, 41:38 but when they say tweet, I go... 41:41 but we're embracing this. 41:43 I mean "It is Written" is full on, 41:44 we got a pile of experts there. 41:46 They are educating me and helping me. 41:48 So we're going to-- the internet component 41:51 is going to help with that interactivity business a lot. 41:54 So people who want to log on can watch that way. 41:57 If they want to turn on and watch by TV they can. 42:00 And then we have the full meeting, you know, 42:03 the month long series of meetings 42:05 starting at that end of January next year 42:07 and going through to about the end of February. 42:09 And between now and then we have Babylon Rising. 42:13 That's going to gather a lot of interest. 42:15 And on the ground, you know, what-- 42:17 of course our plan is, someone is interested and will say, 42:20 "I want to know more." 42:21 Great, have we got something for you. 42:24 Health programs, we've got Bible studies, 42:26 we've got all kinds of things that we can help you 42:30 grow in your interest and of course the plan is, 42:32 by the end of January next year 42:34 now you need to come to the series of meetings. 42:36 People will be saying yes, they will. 42:38 We're at the Cashman's Center in Las Vegas, 42:40 1922 seats according to the sign on the walls 42:45 a great auditorium on the North 42:47 end of the Strip out of harm's way. 42:50 And we couldn't be more excited about this. 42:53 God's doing great things there already. 42:55 A number of vibrant active churches-- 42:57 of course, we'll do it in multiple languages 42:59 and it's going to be a big deal. 43:02 Let me ask to you one of those ontological questions 43:04 that we throw out to people of every know and again. 43:06 Because you've cut your teeth being 43:07 an evangelist as you've pastured, 43:09 are you an evangelist who pastors 43:11 or you're a pastor who evangelizes? 43:17 I'm probably an evangelist who pastors. 43:20 Aha, I thought so. 43:22 I'm not going to preach a sermon 43:23 without calling for a decision on some level. 43:25 Mm-hmm. I'm just not. 43:28 But I--in my ministry I've had a very strong pastoral bend. 43:31 Man, I visit, visit, visit, visit, visit. 43:34 It's--you've got to invest in people, you know? 43:37 We've been told after the sermon 43:39 the work for the pastor just begins. 43:41 He's got to get out of the desk 43:42 and mix up with the people. 43:43 If you're not doing that, you're not doing ministry. 43:45 And I don't mean to be unkind, 43:46 but pastors who think they can be 43:48 successful pastors without involving themselves 43:53 in the lives of a flock then they're kidding themselves. 43:56 And if they were to say, well, 43:57 look at my track record, I would say imagine 43:59 what you could be doing. 44:01 So anyhow I think an evangelist who pastors 44:05 a very pastoral evangelist though, you know? 44:09 People have always been very important to me and, 44:13 I think though, if when I preach 44:16 we're going to call for a commitment. 44:18 When I preach I'm gonna confront you somehow. 44:23 With the claims of Christ on your life 44:26 and with where your life is at the moment and so on. 44:29 I asked that question because now this must be 44:32 one of the most exciting times in your life 44:33 because now you get to evangelize the world. 44:38 And you get to pastor the world. 44:40 It must be a very exciting and humbling thing at once-- 44:44 To know that God has given you a world stage 44:47 from which to lift up Jesus. 44:49 Yeah. 44:50 And something that you have to take 44:51 very, very seriously. 44:53 One, because of the shoulders upon which you now stand. 44:56 And the fact that this was a God ordained ministry 44:59 that has a track record of success for the Lord. 45:02 And, of course, you now fall in to that train. 45:04 Yeah, there's a big responsibility, isn't there? 45:06 I tell you this, one thing I'm very thankful 45:08 about is that we have-- there are several things 45:11 and I know time is flying so I'll try to be brief. 45:14 At "It is Written" we have a great team. 45:16 They are tremendously talented, 45:19 very dedicated people. 45:21 At "It is Written" there isn't a single person who is saying, 45:24 "what can I get out of this, where's my glory." 45:27 We're very much mission focused. 45:29 I'm sure everybody says that, 45:30 but I can say that with certainty. 45:33 We are in a division that believes in evangelism. 45:38 You know, we got a great division president. 45:39 Yes, we do. Elder Dan Jackson. 45:41 Man, I tell you he's serious about 45:43 evangelism and about media. 45:45 And so, you know, we have his support, 45:48 the support of the division as we, 45:50 as we charge off evangelistically. 45:52 We have a general conference president 45:54 who is all about lifting up Jesus 45:56 and proclaiming the message and telling the world. 45:59 So it's a tremendous time to be involved 46:02 in a ministry like "It is Written." 46:04 Yeah, it's humbling. 46:06 I think every minister whether they are a lay minister, 46:12 lay person or in the ministry-- 46:15 Wants to be in a place where God can use them 46:17 most effectively and there's a danger there. 46:22 Someone might say, "hey, this is about me." 46:26 But you know I have several friends 46:28 who are good enough friends 46:30 that got on the phone and they've said to me, 46:31 "hey, watch this, be careful about that. 46:34 It's all about Jesus, it's not about you." 46:37 So with God's help things are going to be okay. 46:39 It's exciting and it's humbling, you're right C.A. 46:41 You know, I still don't get the entire picture 46:45 in Las Vegas on, we start with four nights-- 46:48 Yes, sir. 46:49 And then how does it continue until that next January? 46:53 The four nights is in a certain sense a seed sowing event. 46:57 We're not asking people to be baptized after four nights. 47:00 And if we're getting 2,000 people a night 47:02 at the Cashman's Center, we're giving them opportunity 47:05 to get involved in Bible studies. 47:07 We're giving them opportunity to sign up for more information. 47:09 We're giving them opportunities 47:11 to plug into the ministry and into the local churches. 47:13 So now we have, by the grace of God, 47:16 hundreds, and hundreds, 47:17 and hundreds of people that we'll be working with. 47:19 We have a wonderful Bible worker, 47:23 trainer, leader, extraordinaire, Muriel Hrbek 47:26 who is going to be on the ground in Las Vegas 47:28 coordinating with the churches and coordinating the interests. 47:32 So where the seeds that are planted and scattered 47:35 during Babylon Rising are going to start to grow, 47:38 we'll tend them--it's really an evangelism cycle. 47:43 ASI ministries are coming in to sow seeds and fan the flames. 47:47 Health ministries coming in to do the same. 47:49 So then when we get down to the end of January next year 47:52 with winning Las Vegas reaching the world, 47:55 then there's a reaping series and by the grace of God 47:58 we'll see many, many, many lives won to Christ. 48:03 That's the plan and we believe the Lord is leading us 48:06 and we're seeing that and we're fired up. 48:09 And the internet component will be lessons 48:13 that the people will be studying through the internet? 48:15 Well, now-- Are messages? 48:17 Back to the internet, we're inviting those 48:18 who wish to, to watch online. 48:20 Yeah, you know, people are going that way 48:22 so much, so much, so much, the younger generation-- 48:26 someone said to someone recently, 48:28 "hey, mom, come and see how I watch TV" and it's online. 48:32 People are watching on their phones-- 48:34 oh, hope you don't mind me mentioning this, March 15, 48:37 "It is Written's" mobile website comes out. 48:42 So you can-- there's a website 48:44 especially designed for the phone. 48:46 I mean whoever heard of watching TV on the phone, 48:49 but man that's where people are. 48:50 So we're inviting people to join in online. 48:53 The study component, of course, 48:55 through "It is Written's" website 48:57 there will be all kinds of study opportunities, 48:59 but really the major internet thrust is 49:03 with the meetings. 49:04 Yeah, there will be many who want to watch on TV, great, 49:08 but then they're going to be some who say, 49:09 "hey, it works better for me watching online" 49:11 and if that's where there are at, 49:13 that's where we want to help people to be comfortable. 49:17 You'd be a surprised how many people are watching us 49:19 online tonight, because everything 3ABN-- 49:23 3ABN Latino, 3ABN Proclaim, 49:26 and also the children's channel-- 49:30 Yeah. SonBeam channel-- 49:33 These are all online constantly. 49:36 We are 5 and 3ABN Russia is online. 49:40 So you can watch all of these 24/7. 49:42 And soon we'll have our new Dare to Dream, 49:46 which is our urban channel-- that'll be online. 49:49 But my wife and children are watching online. 49:50 It's online now, it will soon be on satellite. 49:53 Oh, there you go, yeah. Yeah. 49:54 My wife and my two children, Jacob and Shannon, 49:56 are watching online right now. 49:58 So--yeah, the proof is in the pudding. 50:00 Amen. Great. 50:02 Yeah. Thank the Lord for that. 50:03 It opens up so many opportunities 50:04 and particularly to reach people that, you know, 50:08 some of them just aren't gonna watch. 50:10 Because that's not the way they're wired. 50:12 It's a new world and I don't know 50:14 if we can run ahead of it, but we certainly want to be 50:17 where it is and maybe anticipate where it's going 50:19 so we don't miss a great opportunity. 50:22 That's right. Yeah. 50:23 A couple of things, our time is slipping away. 50:26 One, we want to talk about your vision for, 50:29 for "It is Written," because Babylon Rising 50:32 it sound that was kind of in the works. 50:34 And you sort of just got on the train 50:35 that already on the track. 50:37 But I'm sure you have some things 50:38 that you're looking forward to doing that are at home 50:43 and a little closer to you and then also before we're done. 50:46 You're feeling as to the movement of God 50:49 in revival and reformation of 50:51 the Seventh-Day Adventist Church 50:52 and how that impresses you. 50:54 Yeah, thanks for asking about that. 50:55 There's all sorts of things that "It is Written" 50:56 is doing that I think are exciting. 50:59 You know the, the iPhone app. 51:03 You know, when I heard about iPhone apps I said, 51:05 "uh..., toys for boys" but you know, 51:08 people are serious about that and someone is gonna say, 51:11 "that doesn't sound exciting." 51:13 "Hey, yes it is." 51:14 Because people on their iPhone are going to be 51:16 able to access all of "It is Written's" archives. 51:18 It's kind of unique thing like that. 51:20 I'm fired up as we embrace the technological aspects-- 51:24 And encourage people to know Christ more 51:27 via the technology they are using. 51:32 "It is written," you know, it's two things, 51:34 it's an evangelism ministry and a television ministry. 51:37 It's an evangelistic television ministry. 51:39 So I'm excited about the evangelism opportunities 51:43 that are coming our way and there's-- 51:46 there are several I shouldn't say anything about it yet 51:48 because they are in the works and so forth. 51:50 We're going to continue with international evangelism 51:53 and local evangelism. 51:55 We're going to be continuing to do what "It is Written" 51:59 has done in keeping evangelism out front. 52:03 You know, evangelism from "It is Written's" 52:06 perspective gives us the opportunity 52:08 to proclaim the message and to define to the world 52:12 and to the church who we are and why we are here. 52:15 From the television point of view 52:16 we're brainstorming right now 52:18 and we've got some neat things on the drawing board. 52:22 Exciting locations that we're gonna be doing 52:24 compelling television programs from. 52:27 "It is Written" has a history 52:29 of presenting television broadcasts that draw people in 52:34 and compel people to say, "I've got to know more." 52:37 I mean we're not doing-- like 3ABN, 52:40 this isn't TV for TV's sake. 52:42 This is TV for evangelism's sake 52:45 and so we're sharpening our focus 52:47 with doing our best with strategizing 52:50 and brainstorming and saying, "what can we do?" 52:53 And so we have several different television programs 52:57 in the works that "It is Written" 52:58 is going to be rolling out in weeks 53:01 and months to come rather than 53:03 just the one "It is Written" telecast-- 53:05 We're going to see two, three, perhaps four 53:09 "It is Written" television programs 53:11 come and get things from a different angle 53:12 present different type of material. 53:16 So the problem with the ministry like 53:20 "It is Written" is that the sky is the limit. 53:23 And in talking about vision and my vision 53:27 one thing is to hang on to the old vision. 53:30 We are evangelism, we are lifting up Jesus, 53:32 we're encouraging people to make decisions for Him. 53:35 But to add to that we're going to say, 53:37 how can we be more aggressive, 53:39 how can we permeate our culture more, 53:41 how can we arrest the attention of people, 53:43 how can we more effectively encourage people 53:47 and invite people to make informed 53:50 intelligent lasting decisions for Jesus. 53:53 So, you know, you go back and looking at-- 53:57 I talked about not filling shoes, 53:59 but looking at the people who've come before, 54:00 that's being where they've been focusing. 54:02 I'm not going to grab the steering wheel and say, 54:04 "hey, let's throw that out 54:06 and do something radically different." 54:07 No, "It is Written" has been maintaining a good cause. 54:10 We're gonna keep the cause and pray that God 54:12 would help us to be more effective than we've ever been. 54:14 Wow. Well, that's, that's quite to go. 54:18 Yeah. Yeah, that is. Quite a vision. 54:20 At least four different telecast. 54:23 One would be what? 54:25 Public evangelism, one studio type ministry-- 54:28 We're looking at that at the 54:31 "It is Written" television program as it already is. 54:34 And, you know, it's a tremendous program. 54:37 Oh, yes. 54:39 Presenting key teachings from the Bible 54:43 in a very winsome way. 54:46 You know, what we don't have 54:48 is a real Bible study program, you know? 54:52 I mean sure it's a Bible study, 54:53 but it's not a Bible study program. 54:56 So we could perhaps start to do 54:59 a real Bible study television program. 55:02 Oh, one thing that we're starting it's some of-- 55:06 it's in actually in the works this second, 55:10 March 15, we begin a new devotional program, 55:14 60 second devotional. 55:16 Well, is that too short? No, it's not too short. 55:18 You can say a lot in 60 seconds. 55:20 Take a verse of the Bible and show a person 55:22 how this verse can impact their life at a positive way. 55:26 Not just a verse, but, man, this is power in your life 55:30 and so a new 60 second devotional series 55:33 every word is gonna roll out March 15, 55:36 and we're hoping people are gonna be able to see 55:38 that on their television sets some time very soon. 55:41 And then wouldn't it be nice to have an evangelism 55:45 television broadcast, several things. 55:49 I don't want to say too much of set in stone, 55:51 the program as it exists is going to carry on, 55:54 we've got some neat locations in mind to record 55:57 TV programs from and then the sky is the limit. 56:00 We're going to see the "It is Written" 56:03 people ministry, that people have known 56:05 and loved for decades doing exciting things 56:09 to make our soul winning ministry even more effective. 56:11 I'm excited. 56:13 Well, this is exciting and we're looking forward to this, John. 56:17 We really are and we're also looking forward 56:19 to introducing Melissa to our audience. 56:23 Yeah, that would be good. Yeah. 56:24 We want you to bring her next time-- 56:26 Yes, sir. 56:27 I look much better in the light that shines from her. 56:30 Well, I understand that. I mean that in ever way. 56:32 Yes, I understand that, but she is 56:34 such a gracious person-- Yes, she is. 56:36 And we, we know that our audience 56:39 is going to want to get acquainted with her. 56:42 And so we look forward to that. 56:44 And we are looking forward to this ministry in Las Vegas, 56:49 we're hoping that there's some way 56:50 that we can work along with you. 56:53 And, folks, I pray that you'll 56:55 continue to support "It is Written." 56:58 They carry a heavy burden. 57:00 We know about burdens and you have stood with us 57:03 year after year and you're been standing with them 57:05 and I just pray that you'd-- 57:07 especially during this time of transition-- 57:09 That you will not do a wait-see, 57:12 but that you will say count on me 57:15 and that you'll begin immediately to support 57:19 "It is Written" with all the strength 57:21 that you have in the past, because we believe 57:23 this is one of God's ministries. 57:26 We also thank you for remembering 3ABN 57:29 and you have, you stood with us 57:31 all these years in your prayers and in your financial support. 57:36 And now we're so happy 57:37 that we were able to be with you tonight 57:39 and we just pray that you will keep on, 57:42 keeping on with Jesus Christ our Lord, 57:44 our God and our Savior, God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17