Participants: Karen Pierson & Pierre Quinn (Host)
Series Code: SOR
Program Code: SOR000011A
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00:24 Hello. I'm Karen Pearson and I'm here again today
00:27 with my co-host Pierre Quinn. 00:28 Hi, Pierre. Hey, Karen. 00:30 And are here to bring you 00:31 another episode of Stones of Remembrance. 00:35 The program where we visit and chat with one of your 00:37 favorite authors and look at some of their life experiences 00:40 that have helped to shape them 00:42 and the message that we find in their books. 00:45 So often as we pause through life's deep waters, 00:47 just as Joshua did, we can across some 00:50 unexpected blessings that will determine 00:53 the future direction of our lives. 00:55 But before I introduce you today's guest, 00:57 I'd like to share something with you from God's word. 01:00 It's found in Habakkuk 2:2. 01:05 "Then the Lord answered me and said, 01:07 'Record the vision and make it plain 01:10 that the one who reads it may run.'" 01:14 I'd like to welcome Seth Pierce to our program today. 01:17 Hi, Seth. Hi. 01:18 Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. 01:20 We're so glad that you're with us today. 01:23 Seth, you are the head pastor in a church in Washington. 01:28 Correct. 01:30 Tell us a little bit more about yourself. 01:32 Where did you study, what do you have? 01:34 I studied at Union College. 01:37 I did my undergraduate degree there, 01:38 and then I interned pastor for two years 01:40 in Wichita, Kansas, went to seminary, 01:42 did the Master of Divinity up there. 01:44 Came back to under Omaha and pastored 01:46 for three and a half years and then by that time, 01:49 you know, my wife and I had three children and life was-- 01:53 oh, we had two children and life was very full 01:54 and then we received a call to go to Washington 01:56 where we had our third child and now pastoring. 01:59 It's been almost four years out there. 02:01 That, that's awesome. Thank you. 02:03 Um, you are an author. 02:08 Um, Pacific Press has published your books. 02:11 I think you've had a devotional published as well too. 02:13 Yes. How many books? 02:14 About ten? Nine or ten. 02:15 Nine or ten books under your belt. 02:17 Pretty good. It's getting up there. 02:19 It's getting up there. That's pretty good. 02:21 And um, I think probably what you are best known for, Seth, 02:26 is writing for children and for young people. 02:30 That is a special gift, a special calling. 02:33 Yeah, yeah. It's, it's interesting. 02:36 I never started out wanting to write 02:39 specifically for children or youth. 02:42 Just... opportunities sort of showed up. 02:45 I remember being in seminary, in my last semester 02:47 and receiving a call from Pacific Press. 02:49 They had read book which was Review and Herald 02:51 called "Pride and Seek," 02:53 which is where my story book growing up, 02:55 an Adventist preacher's kid and becoming Pentecostal 02:57 and coming back to the Adventist Church. 02:59 And the, one of the editors' children 03:02 liked the book a lot and wanted me to uh, 03:05 write a book on the fundamental beliefs and initially, 03:09 it was a supposed to be 500 words per chapter 03:12 and I had to think about it about six months to write it. 03:13 I thought, great, it's a good opportunity 03:15 and then as time went on, I found out that 03:17 I had only two months to write it 03:18 and the chapters needed to be much longer. 03:20 So they increased the length and shortened the deadline. 03:23 And by God's grace, 03:24 I wrote the book in two and a half months. 03:26 Um, just tried to keep it simple 03:28 and write for an audience as if they had never picked up 03:31 scripture before and that book not only sold well among youth, 03:36 but also young adults, and even adults. 03:38 And since then it has been published 03:40 in other languages and... 03:41 And what was that book? "What We Believe for Teens." 03:44 "What We Believe for Teens." Yes, I know that. 03:46 That went on to become a bestseller. 03:48 Yes. 03:49 I have a friend too, who lives in South Africa, 03:51 and I was chatting with her on the phone one day 03:53 and we were speaking about that book and she said to me, 03:56 "Karen, we use that book 03:58 in our adult Bible study group at church, 04:02 our baptismal class." 04:03 Yeah. And she said it is phenomenal. 04:06 So, you know, as a writer, 04:08 you write what God calls you to write 04:10 and you leave it with Him 04:12 and He just does magnificent things with it. 04:15 Oh, yeah. 04:16 It's fun to watch and to hear the stories 04:18 or letters or emails that come in 04:20 'cause you have no idea when you're writing. 04:21 You kind of get in the middle of a project, 04:22 you think is this, does this even make any sense? 04:24 They won't even like this at all. 04:25 Maybe my mom will buy a copy, maybe that's about it. 04:28 And then you start receiving feedback this way, 04:31 positive or read this at my baptismal class or you know, 04:34 I read this book, you know, every year. 04:36 One of the coolest compliments I get is from parents who say, 04:38 "My kid has slept with that book 04:41 and the pages are dog eared and we almost need 04:43 to buy another copy because it's so roughly. 04:44 They keep re-reading it, that's pretty amazing to hear. 04:47 As you are working though the major script for this book, 04:50 what were some things in your mind about 04:52 how young people struggle with articulating their faith 04:57 that you were able to bring out in 04:58 "What We Believe for Teens?" 04:59 I think, not shying away from the hard questions. 05:04 You know, you don't want to get, 05:05 you don't want to get sidetracked but I think 05:07 trying to get the big picture, I think that's, 05:09 that's the biggest thing. 05:10 I think Adventists are prolific producers of text. 05:15 You know, we buy an awful lot material 05:17 and can we write intellectual 05:19 cerebral with a lot of stuff and it's easy to drown in that. 05:22 You know, and sometimes, you know, as a cliche, it goes, 05:25 "You can't see the forest for the trees." 05:28 And so really reminding myself as I want to do that project. 05:31 It's a big picture, big picture. 05:32 Lots of stories, you know, and connecting it to 05:34 everyday life and um, and again, 05:36 it's been an amazing thing to watch. 05:38 Not only kids connect with it, but to hear about adults 05:41 are reading it, um, yeah, it's been, 05:44 it's been an interesting journey to watch 05:46 the life of the book and how it's impacted people. 05:48 'Cause the truth is, no matter how we get there, 05:50 there's still a part of us that longs to be a kid 05:53 and see things through a kid's eyes. 05:55 Yeah, that's great. 05:57 Seth, you also wrote the Peter Paul Pappenfuss series, 06:02 which was a real character of a kid. 06:05 So I have to ask you this question, 06:07 what were you like at that age? 06:10 Yeah, that's the biggest question I get from those books 06:11 'cause it's not about you, you know, 06:14 I had people who knew me as a kid. 06:17 I think this character is this person, is it that person? 06:19 And I have to tell them, "Oh, it's sort of based on 06:21 a compilation of several real people and real instances 06:24 that's woven into a fictional narrative but rings true, 06:28 you know, with life and it's, you know, 06:29 it features of preacher's kid in fifth grade, 06:31 it's sort of a first person narrative. 06:32 And one of the books that influenced the tone of the book 06:36 when I was growing up 06:38 and developing a passion for reading. 06:39 I love Judy Blume's books, 06:41 'Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing', 06:43 you know, things like that which-- 06:44 it's a first person perspective of a fourth grade boy 06:47 who has a little brother and that was me 06:49 and so I really identified with the, 06:50 just the silly antics that happened with, 06:53 when you were a kid and... 06:54 The real-life stuff. 06:55 Yeah, the real-life stuff, and so um, 06:57 when I was working on those books and conceptualizing them, 07:00 I noticed that in the Adventist publishing world 07:03 there wasn't a lot of books for young boys, 07:06 lot of Adventist girl stories and horror stories but nothing, 07:09 you know, that boy 10 to 12 or 13 can really connect with, 07:14 and so I thought I would try this 07:16 and because I grew as a preacher's kid 07:17 and knew some of the struggles and challenges, 07:21 or try to make it as real as possible 07:22 and keep the humor, you know, in there. 07:25 And the response was pretty amazing and diverse too. 07:30 Kids really liked it. 07:31 There were some concerned adults about it. 07:34 You know, they thought maybe this character 07:35 is a little too rough around the edges 07:37 and one of the guiding philosophies 07:39 while I was working on the book, 07:40 if you look at Ellen White growing up, 07:43 and the books that she read in the Methodist church library, 07:46 they feature these flawless children, 07:48 and one of the things that led to her spiritual depression 07:50 as a kid is reading these stories that I can, 07:52 I can never be like these kids and it was an incredible source 07:55 of discouragement for her. 07:56 And so, I wanted to keep the kids real 07:59 and tell it a bit slower, character arc, where they, 08:03 you know, they are better by the end of the book 08:04 but they are not perfect yet, 08:06 they are still rustling with the issues of life 08:07 and it's been amazing to have pastoral families. 08:12 So, I thank you so much making our, 08:14 the pastoral family look normal 08:15 and really sharing the struggles, you know, 08:17 we have and it means a lot to our kids and stuff, 08:19 that's been pretty cool to see. 08:21 That is awesome, that is awesome. 08:23 Thank you, Seth. 08:24 Um, a lot of our viewers are parents and grandparents 08:29 and I think one of the things I appreciate in your books 08:35 is your underlying passion that comes through 08:37 for helping kids to connect them with Jesus. 08:40 Um, 08:42 where did you first encounter Jesus in your own life? 08:47 I think it's a series of encounters. 08:50 Um, obviously growing up as a pastor's kid, 08:51 you are exposed, you know, 08:53 to a lot of opportunities to connect with Jesus. 08:55 I was baptized when I was 11 08:57 and I had a tremendous experience, 09:00 a good experience growing up as a preacher's kid. 09:02 Sometimes, there's horror stories, 09:04 you have a terrible experience, I never did. 09:06 Uh, but you know, my family wasn't perfect 09:08 and my parents got a divorce when I was eight. 09:10 You know, dad left the ministry and there was sort of 09:13 a extended period of spiritual searching 09:15 and trying to figure out who I was, 09:18 do I want to be a Christian and at the same time, you know, 09:21 there was this incredible arrogance. 09:23 You know, I'm a preacher's kid, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. 09:24 I know everything. 09:26 I don't need to go to church, you know, and uh... 09:28 I've got the inside track. I've got the inside track. 09:30 I grew up here. You know, I've got it. 09:31 You know, I was born into it, you know, that kind of thing. 09:34 And when I was in High School, I dated a girl whose condition 09:38 was you need to come to church with me on Sunday, 09:40 you know, otherwise you can't date me. 09:42 I figured that's a small price to pay, 09:43 so I showed up on Sunday 09:45 and it was a large, charismatic, mega church 09:47 and I remember I was judging those people, you know. 09:49 I mean as soon as I saw somebody, you know, 09:52 raising their hands and singing out loud, 09:53 I thought these people are going to hell. 09:55 There's no way you can be this happy and demonstrative, 09:57 you know, and be a Christian. 10:00 You know, I grew up in Northern Minnesota, 10:02 you know, we just don't do that, 10:05 you know, we are not that demonstrative. 10:08 And you know, through, you know, 10:10 making a long story short, God really broke through 10:12 a lot of my spiritual pride and I had 10:14 a conversion experience in the Pentecostal Church, 10:18 you know, and it was, it was very real 10:22 and it very much life changing. 10:24 I had some things in my life that need to get cleaned up 10:26 and it just was a complete 180 for me. 10:30 And as I, you know, grew in that setting 10:32 and returned into scripture and studied and prayed 10:34 and got involved in another 10:36 Adventist Church at the same time. 10:37 I eventually was reconvicted on the Adventist message 10:40 and made a decision to go to 10:43 Union College and study for ministry. 10:45 Well, that's awesome. 10:47 Now I know that you are a sought after speaker, um, 10:52 across the country and internationally as well. 10:54 What do you hear from parents or from kids when you travel? 10:59 What kind of feedback do they give you on your books? 11:02 Um, they like, they like the humor, 11:05 they like the stories. 11:07 Um, you know, one thing, I think it's important. 11:09 You know, we have this incredible theology 11:13 and its incredible message 11:14 and there's so many facets to it 11:16 and sometimes if we are not careful, 11:17 we kind of dump it on people and again, 11:19 you can get, you can drown in it, 11:21 you know, because there's so much 11:22 and so I think by connecting our stories and metaphors 11:26 and humorous events that are true to life, 11:30 it just helps them connect with the message 11:32 and they also like the realness of it. 11:36 You know, you are not skirting around the hard questions 11:40 even being willing to admit that I don't know. 11:42 Is there some questions I have that I don't know, 11:43 you know, and that's okay, you know. 11:47 And yeah, and so I think just the realness of it 11:50 and I think my willingness to share a lot of my 11:52 personal stories and struggles, within the books that I write. 11:56 You know, I don't write of a place of now 11:58 I've got this all figured out and you know, 12:00 and let me just tell you know everything. 12:02 It's, you know, we're on this string together 12:04 and there's things that I'm wrestling within, so are you. 12:06 And you can, and you can resonate sometimes 12:08 with the assumption that we have as Adventist 12:11 sometimes that you are born into the church, 12:15 you should know. 12:17 You should know Daniel, 12:19 you should understand a Revelation, 12:20 you should understand a sanctuary. 12:22 Yeah, and that was something when I was studying, 12:24 I remember pitching this idea to you at 12:26 General Conference session, I think it was the last 12:28 General Conference session thing where has anyone 12:30 ever a tackled a prophecy series for teens 12:32 and I didn't really, really, we were chatting about those 12:34 two a little while ago. 12:36 I don't really think through without, 12:37 the work that would entail doing that, and um, you know, 12:40 that may not be a great idea for somebody else to do 12:43 and that was the project unfolded, you know, 12:46 started doing a lot of reading and studying, you know, 12:49 re-reading, you know, materials I got in seminary, 12:51 re-reading, you know, scripture and really looking 12:53 at the prophesies and there's the huge breadth of knowledge 12:58 and materials that we have as Adventists 13:00 and one of the things that I found, 13:02 in addition to an incredible amount of truth, 13:05 was we assumed that people know what we are talking about. 13:08 We do an awful lot. 13:09 We just sort of assume that everyone kind of knows 13:10 this and they don't. 13:12 And I found several places where the content was good 13:15 in the material I was reading but they would make jumps, 13:16 just kind of assuming that the reader would follow. 13:19 And so part of the task was to step backwards and say, 13:22 I want to start this thing from scratch as if this person 13:24 has never cracked open scripture, you know, 13:27 and we are going to start from the very beginning. 13:28 Right. And I just to want to say to our viewers, 13:31 if you've read any of Seth's books, 13:33 you'll know that he has a gift for taking very difficult 13:36 ideas and concepts and presenting them in a way 13:39 that makes them so easy to understand, 13:42 which is really perfect when it comes to writing 13:44 about prophecy, right? 13:46 Um, because they are not easy always... 13:49 No, they are not. ...to understand. 13:50 The experience... especially, for the Revelation book, 13:52 it felt like somebody handing me a giant ball 13:54 of tangled Christmas lights and having to go through 13:57 and just unravel, you know, all 'cause they were so many 14:00 views and so many different, imagery, you know, 14:02 images that people use and so... 14:04 And approaches. 14:05 Yeah, different approaches, different hermeneutics, 14:08 different traditions and so it was a, you know, 14:11 trying to tend to distill it down 14:12 and say this is the central, you know, 14:15 the way that Adventist view prophecy, you know, 14:18 and allowing for few areas, you know, 14:21 like when you get to Daniel 11, for example, saying, 14:23 there's a few ways that people approach this 14:25 within the Adventist Church, you know, and here they are. 14:27 You know, and really try not to um, 14:30 be dogmatic about it but just say, look, here's a, 14:33 this book is a stepping stone for deeper study 14:35 and here's the big picture, the macro, you know, picture. 14:38 Um, and then hopefully when people read the book, 14:40 they feel that they've got a good general grasp 14:42 and they can launch often the deeper study. 14:44 Right. Yup. 14:45 So, "Prophecies of Daniel for Teens" 14:48 and "Prophecies of Revelation for Teens" 14:51 are the two books that we are going 14:53 to look at a little bit closely. 14:55 And we are going to take a moment now to take-- 14:57 to find out how you can get your copies of these books. 15:00 Watch this and we'll be right back. 15:01 Thank you. 15:04 Daniel wrote his book a long time ago and it's filled with 15:08 weird beasts and even stranger words like, 15:10 many, many -- 15:13 Can Daniel really tell us what to expect in the future? 15:16 And what about Revelation? 15:18 The symbolism can be difficult to understand. 15:21 What are the seven seals, scrolls, trumpets? 15:24 Though the animals in the book of Daniel were confusing, 15:28 the ones in Revelation are even stranger. 15:30 If you've ever asked these questions, 15:33 then these books by Seth Pierce, 15:35 the "Prophecies of Daniel for Teens" 15:37 and the "Prophecies of Revelation for Teens" 15:40 are a perfect match for you. 15:42 To get your copy of Seth's two outstanding books, 15:46 all you need to do is call 1-800-765-6955. 15:52 Stop by your local Adventist book center 15:55 or you can order online at www.AdventistBookCenter.com. 16:05 Welcome back. 16:06 We are visiting with one of your favorite authors, 16:08 Seth Pierce and we speaking to him 16:10 about his two books in particular, 16:12 "Prophecies of Daniel" and "Prophecies of Revelation," 16:16 both for teenagers. 16:18 Yes. 16:19 Seth, how would you describe um, 16:22 your approach to the topic of prophecy in these books? 16:26 You are writing to teenagers. Yes. 16:27 Are they even really interested in prophecy? 16:30 I think they are. 16:32 I think, the way we've typically approached prophecy, 16:37 you know, at least in my experience, 16:40 is it's usually during Evangelistic series 16:42 and while we advertise prophecy meetings. 16:45 And what typically happens is we will pick 16:47 certain portions of prophecy to share, you know, 16:49 with our distinctive beliefs of Seventh-day Adventist 16:51 and that's great. 16:53 But we don't really start a Chapter one of Revelation 16:56 or Chapter one of Daniel and let the narrative build 16:59 and so when you can take Revelation especially, 17:02 'cause that's not quite the narrative the Daniel 17:05 is and somehow make it chronological, 17:08 chapter by chapter and really weave it into 17:10 a narrative or a story. 17:12 They follow along, they are very interested 17:15 because they get to see the whole picture, 17:17 it's not just, you know, here's a doctrine, 17:18 here's a text, here's this truth and this truth. 17:21 It's like here's the big story, here's the big picture. 17:24 And it also allows you when you hit those doctrines, 17:26 those distinctive truths to look at different facets of it. 17:29 So, you know, if we talk about the Sabbath 17:30 or state of the dead, um, one of the things 17:32 that we can do is, as opposed to saying, 17:34 "Okay", here's several texts and things that prove that," 17:37 is, we can actually walk it back and say, 17:39 "This is how we discovered, you know, this belief. 17:42 This is how this belief comes about. 17:43 This is how this belief relates to multiple facets 17:46 of human existence particularly, 17:48 in the end-times." 17:50 It's um, it's just a fuller picture, 17:52 just really let's us look at different nuances 17:54 and so it comes across as being very fresh, 17:57 even though these truths has been in scripture 17:58 the entire time. 18:00 We just get to look at it with the entire backdrop 18:02 of Daniel and Revelation. 18:05 Well, how do you deal with people who may be questioning 18:08 the approach, who say, "Oh, you have to teach it 18:11 in this specific evangelistic way?" 18:14 I liked prophecy seminars as a kid, 18:17 honestly because of the scary element that we come through 18:20 some times and you are advocating an approach 18:22 that doesn't use necessarily the perspective of fear. 18:26 Right. 18:27 You know, I think, you know, fear is always 18:29 one of those things you can get some good short term 18:30 results with fear, but you, but it doesn't last 18:33 and I think anyone who's done an Evangelistic series, 18:37 you know, any pastor who's done one, 18:38 you know that you know, you could have a really 18:39 dynamic sort of meetings and then that's great, 18:42 I've got it in my head and thank you 18:43 for the good series and then leave 18:45 and they already become a part of the community 18:46 and when you can take these prophecies 18:48 and these truths and couch them in a grand narrative 18:49 or the grand story that God 18:51 is telling you the Great Controversy. 18:52 Now they understand, "Okay, this isn't something, 18:54 some doctrine in my head. 18:56 This is, this involves me as a character 18:58 in the story that God is telling 19:00 and it's just much bigger thing than just simply 19:03 a set of doctrine. 19:04 This is a much bigger deal and I've got a role of play 19:06 and I've got, I've got a plot, you know, to carry out, 19:09 you know, in this Great Controversy story." 19:11 And so people are fascinated by that and especially 19:13 when you can start connecting doctrines 19:14 that maybe have um, been become familiar with just because, 19:19 not necessarily that they could reproduce a Bible study for it, 19:21 but they just heard it. 19:22 But when you can present new facets of it 19:24 and connect it with a story and a big picture of scripture, 19:28 um, it becomes really fascinating, you know, 19:30 for them, 'cause they get to see 19:31 how it connects to everything else. 19:33 So you are basically saying you can't scare people into Heaven? 19:36 No, it doesn't, it doesn't work. 19:38 Unfortunately, you know, you can maybe get 19:41 their attention, you know, but to have a really lasting, 19:43 you know, relationship with God, 19:45 it's, it's got to be something deeper. 19:47 I like the way that you connect that with the, um, 19:50 the mega story, the big story of The Great Controversy. 19:53 I think that's one of the blessings that we have 19:56 as Seventh-day Adventist. 19:57 We have that understanding that there's more to our story 20:02 than just what we are experiencing here 20:05 and to be able to help them connect the dots in place, 20:08 these prophecies in the context of the Great Controversy. 20:12 It's really important. Yeah. 20:14 And that's exciting, you know, when you get to see um, 20:16 different nuances, I mean, every, I mean, 20:18 think about every proof text some are really used, 20:21 it's part of the story. 20:22 These are ones where every text is part of a chapter 20:24 which is part of a book which is a part of the... 20:27 I mean, there's a whole lot in the background 20:29 going on and when you can see that, 20:31 suddenly the text becomes very fresh and exciting 20:34 and there's different nuances to explore, 20:36 different ideas, so it's pretty cool. 20:38 So, as you're threading together these prophecies, 20:42 do you make a conscious decision as a writer to um, 20:46 make sure that your reader see Jesus? 20:47 Oh, yeah. 20:49 At the end of every chapter, it says, you know, 20:51 what does it tells about Jesus? 20:53 You know, 'cause we can look at some cool history 20:55 and we can talk about some interesting theology and-- 20:58 but ultimately, if we can connect it to Christ, 21:02 you know, it's just facts, you know. 21:04 Because I think that's for parents and for grandparents, 21:07 that's what we want, isn't it? 21:09 We want to connect to our kids with Jesus 21:12 and give them a sound understanding and knowledge 21:15 base of what they believe in and why they believe that. 21:18 Yeah, I think it's especially with Revelation. 21:20 I mean, I think you see Christ throughout scripture 21:22 but Revelation, I mean, you read or at the beginning, 21:25 this is the Revelation of... 21:26 Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. 21:27 You know, and in that sense, you know, it's not a gospel, 21:32 you know like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 21:33 but in other sense it is like a fifth gospel. 21:35 I mean, this is really a whole new picture of 21:38 Jesus Christ that you don't get in the four gospels 21:41 that we tend to study more. 21:44 We want to go and learn more about Jesus, 21:46 I mean, I have sermons and presentations 21:48 where I talk about what the beasts tell us about Jesus. 21:52 I mean, you consider, I mean, as scary and as some people 21:54 don't like that and they think, "Ah, let's get rid of those 21:56 beasts and let's not send flyers out." 21:59 What's interesting to me is of Jesus, 22:01 if this Book of Revelations is about Jesus 22:03 and Jesus is the one giving John the Revelation, 22:04 who's the one picking the imagery? 22:07 So Jesus obviously has purpose with the beasts, 22:09 you know, what is He revealing about Himself 22:11 by choosing the images of the beast, you know, 22:15 and so yeah, you can see Christ throughout the whole thing. 22:17 Now when-- in the preaching moment, 22:19 as pastors we know, there are parts of a sermon, 22:22 where in the middle of preaching, 22:24 you almost take a step back because you realize 22:26 God is speaking directly to you based on what 22:29 you are presenting to your congregation. 22:32 Have there been times in writing, 22:34 what we believe about Daniel and Revelation for teens 22:37 that you took a step back and said, 22:39 "Man, God is having me write this because 22:41 He's trying to teach me something." 22:42 Yeah, it was for me, yeah. 22:44 Yeah, yeah, and I think um, 22:46 there's definite moments when you, 22:48 uh, as my editors will know, you know, 22:51 there's things that end up on the scrap room 22:53 for you can't put everything in there 22:55 and sometimes when those things that I wrote down 22:57 that didn't quite make the final edit, 22:58 they were for me 'cause I mean, I had the director's cut 23:00 manuscript on my hard drive, you know. 23:03 And I'll go back and look at those notes 23:05 and it's amazing when you go through 23:06 a process of writing something like that. 23:11 Yeah, you don't, you are not unaffected by it. 23:15 I mean, you really come away with some different insights 23:17 and images and metaphors and ways to articulate um, 23:22 how you see Christ in these books 23:23 or how you see the Adventist message in these books 23:26 and that's and we now never has the time to do it 23:28 or the um, maybe the psychosis to do it, 23:31 to go sit down and write something like that 23:33 but when you work systematically on your own, 23:37 I mean, you use all the resources available to you 23:39 but when you produce your own commentary, 23:43 you know, on Revelation or Daniel, you know, 23:45 with the help of the Holy Spirit 23:46 and Scripture and study. 23:47 I mean, even if you never preached it 23:50 or you never published it, it's an incredible, um, 23:54 it's an incredible blessing to you personally, yeah. 23:58 Yeah. 24:00 What do you think parents want you 24:03 to communicate with their kids? 24:08 It depends on the parent. It depends on the kid. 24:13 I would hope, the love of Jesus, 24:17 fundamentally to know that their child matters. 24:20 Yes. 24:21 And it's love and has an important part to play 24:23 in The Great Controversy that they are a character 24:26 in this great story they God is telling, and um, 24:29 they are important, you know, 24:30 and they're worth dying for, 24:32 and so they have a life that's worth living. 24:34 Unfortunately, we are out of time 24:36 in our program and happens just about every single time. 24:39 If you could, Seth, in just a few moments 24:41 looking to the camera, and maybe speak 24:43 to the young person or even the older person who, 24:46 when they think about scripture think it's too complicated 24:49 to really understand, what would you say 24:52 to try to get through to them? 24:54 That's tough. 24:56 I think first of all, um, just pray, you know, 24:59 and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance 25:01 and know that there's always more to learn. 25:06 You know, sometimes I think we take for granted, um, 25:08 that we know everything, especially when we're younger 25:10 and uh, there are incredible resources 25:13 and even though we might be young, um, 25:18 it's amazing the insight that God can give us, 25:20 you know, when we, um, submit ourselves to Him and uh, 25:23 I know He's got a messages He wants to share with everyone, 25:25 and so it's worth the time to put in and discover. 25:28 That's awesome. 25:29 You know, and, Seth, as someone who shares your book 25:32 with a lot of young people, I just want to really affirm 25:35 the gift that God has given you, 25:37 for being able to take these difficult concepts 25:39 and as we read in our scripture reading, 25:41 at the start of the program, to write it 25:44 and to make it plain, that we can give it our kids, 25:47 to our grandchildren and they can run with it. 25:50 Yes, absolutely. 25:51 And for being with and take up the challenge, 25:53 as a young man and do it. 25:55 You serve as an example as a young people 25:58 around the world and we thank you for that. 26:00 Praise the Lord. Thank you. 26:01 We've been having a conversation today with 26:02 Seth Pierce about his books, what we believe, 26:06 about Daniel and Revelation for Teens 26:08 and his story reminds us that this whole thing 26:11 about the gospel and a relationship with Jesus 26:14 and the dynamics of the Bible are not just for old people, 26:17 it's for young people too. 26:19 The message was taken around the world, 26:20 Jesus called a bunch of young men 26:24 and He empowered them to share a gospel 26:27 and that same Jesus today is still calling young men 26:30 and young women, maybe like someone as you 26:32 watching the program today 26:34 to take the gospel around the world. 26:36 This has been another episode of Stones of Remembrance. 26:40 My name is Pierre Quinn and from my co-host, Karen Pearson, 26:43 we thank you for being on this journey with us 26:46 and we'd like you to join us next time as we sit down 26:49 and have another conversation with your favorite author 26:52 and about their journey. 26:54 Take care and we'll see you next time. 27:29 "What the Bible Says About" 27:31 contains two powerful aids to Bible study. 27:34 First, there are 31 Bible studies on topics like 27:37 The Origin of Sin, Life After Death, 27:39 Angels, and the Sabbath. 27:41 Second, there's an easy to use Bible marking plan 27:45 that will help you transform your own Bible 27:48 into a virtual encyclopedia of biblical information 27:51 that you can share with others. 27:54 By using this plan, you can follow key subjects 27:57 throughout your Bible, learning and teaching 28:00 what God's word has to say about each important topic. 28:04 "What the Bible Says About" was written by 28:06 former Voice of Prophecy speaker and director, 28:09 Lonnie Melashenko. 28:10 Quantity pricing is available. 28:12 To get your copy of "What the Bible Says About," 28:15 call 1-800-765-6955. 28:20 Stop by your local Adventist book-center 28:22 or order online at www.AdventistBookCenter.com. |
Revised 2015-11-19