Participants: C A Murray (Host), Irma Murray (Host), Jason Bradley, Luis Capote, Lynette Jaque
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW016031A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people. 01:06 Hello, and welcome to Family Worship, 01:09 and thank you for joining us on this Sabbath day 01:12 whether you have begun the Sabbath, 01:15 or about to begin the Sabbath, 01:16 or the Sabbath is yet to come in for you. 01:19 We invite you to our family worship. 01:21 Now, you may be watching this on a Saturday evening, 01:24 in which case you are beginning to start your week, 01:26 but worship with us 01:29 because together we're gonna praise the Lord 01:31 and have a good time together. 01:32 I'm in the company of Jason Bradley, 01:35 who I've known literally since birth. 01:39 I baptized this guy 01:42 when he was still in his mother's womb. 01:45 His mother was carrying him when I baptized her. 01:49 So I've known him 01:50 before he made his entrance into the world. 01:53 Yeah, before I knew myself. 01:57 And my wife Irma. Irma, good to have you here. 02:00 Good to be here, honey. Yeah. 02:01 And Lynette sans her husband, 02:04 she is without her husband today, 02:05 he is out off doing work for the Lord. 02:07 Lynette Jaque, good to have you here, Lynette. 02:08 It's lovely to be here. Praise the Lord. 02:10 And our buddy Luis. This is, meet my, my... 02:15 Sobrino. Sobrino, yeah. 02:18 And we need to share that story 02:20 because we found out once that once he and Xenia came 02:23 that they are sort of related to you. 02:25 Yes. Oh, wow. 02:27 Yes. Yeah, you're telling the story. 02:29 Oh, I'm telling the story here. 02:32 Okay, yes, Xenia came to my office 02:36 and we're talking and she is telling me, 02:39 she is from Canada, so I said, 02:41 oh, did you know a pastor named Sansa. 02:44 Said, that's my father. 02:48 And so we realized right away that we were related 02:53 because he is my cousin. 02:56 Yes. 02:57 And yes, so that was a beautiful thing. 03:00 So they're family? Oh, we have family here. 03:03 Yeah, that means you can borrow money from them. 03:10 And they are good people, and his wife is a great cook. 03:13 Oh, wonderful, yes. 03:14 Yes, yes, and a great person and a great family, 03:17 and we praise the Lord for that. 03:18 Very please to know her because I... 03:22 You know, I had a lot of... 03:25 How you said I thought very highly of her father, 03:29 you know, all that he was the one, 03:31 and he is only Adventist in his family. 03:34 That's right. Yes. 03:36 You know, it's interesting, 03:37 we wonder about miracles in lives. 03:40 We look at, we always say, 03:41 well, the Adventist world is a small world, 03:44 but when you really look at it, 03:45 we had nobody here. 03:47 You know, we were coming to a place 03:49 where all our families were in Canada. 03:51 Both her family and my family there, 03:53 but then God in His infinite mercy 03:56 send us to a place where there is family. 03:58 There is family. 03:59 You know, even though we all at 3ABN one big family, 04:03 it's good to know that we have blood relatives, 04:06 you know, individuals that 04:09 not only believe like you believe 04:11 but that have the same moral patterns 04:14 and have the same thought process. 04:17 I'm sure it's amazing to know that God continually shows us 04:24 that no matter where we go, 04:25 He never is gonna leave us nor forsake us. 04:27 Yeah, yeah. 04:29 You know, we talk about family when we became, 04:30 when my mom became Adventist, I actually baptized her myself. 04:36 Her family sort of stepped back. 04:38 You know, our Adventist family is truly our family. 04:42 Her family is also in Canada, all in Canada, 04:46 and my dad's brother, 04:47 one brother have was in Nova Scotia, 04:48 so also Canadian roots, but when we became, 04:51 we became Adventists, they were Methodists 04:53 and so they kind of just eased away from us. 04:56 And it is true that sometimes your church family, 05:00 your brothers and sisters in Christ 05:02 can be closer than your biological family 05:04 because you're walking in the same direction. 05:07 Your life view is the same, you know, 05:10 and you feel very comfortable 05:12 in the presence of your church family. 05:13 Yeah, I find that 05:15 there is something interesting also 05:16 is that when you become Adventist, 05:21 you have that, you know, more likely that 05:24 people and families step away from you. 05:27 You can become any other denomination 05:31 and they just find it, 05:33 okay, so but Adventist have a little bit of... 05:38 That peculiarity. Yes, that peculiarity that... 05:41 Yeah, we have family, they don't have, 05:44 they don't like us very much because of it, yes. 05:49 And it's blood family, 05:53 but it is beautiful when we go, 05:55 anywhere you go and you find the family of, 06:00 you know, Adventists that is so easy to, 06:04 you know, you feel at home, and they make you feel at home 06:08 because you have that one belief 06:10 and course for unity. 06:12 That's what I found everywhere we've gone. 06:14 Yes. 06:16 I remember when we first got from Costa Rica 06:19 that when we left Cuba, went to Costa Rica, 06:21 from Costa Rica we came to Edmonton, Alberta. 06:25 That is the first time I ever saw my father cry. 06:28 I remember vividly, 06:30 he was at the airport at a hotel in Houston 06:34 and he said, "What have I done." 06:36 You know, he looked at a map where Canada was, 06:38 he looked at a map where Edmonton was, 06:40 and he says, man, 06:42 this is where the polar bears are, 06:43 you know, we're gonna be shaking and shaking, 06:45 I know, we're gonna be... 06:47 You know, we're gonna be meeting the bears 06:49 in the morning and we're going to a country 06:51 where we don't know the language. 06:53 It was in the middle of winter. 06:54 I mean that was all of these things 06:57 that our eyebrows are gonna fall off, 06:59 you know how they tell you. 07:00 And it was in the middle of the winter we got 07:03 and it's amazing, I remember vividly that, 07:08 that first two days my dad went frantically 07:11 looking for church, 07:13 and the moment he found a church, 07:15 that first Sabbath we did not understand the thing 07:18 but we were within, we were among friends. 07:21 Yes, yes. 07:23 And that's what so amazing that even when you go to a place 07:26 where you don't even understand 07:29 you know that the God that you are accustomed to 07:34 or the God that you have fallen in love with 07:36 is the messages going through 07:38 because you see the same quarterly. 07:40 It might look differently, the words may look 07:43 but the cover is exactly the same 07:45 and you know that they're studying. 07:47 And it's so amazing to feel that warmth 07:50 in such a cold country, 07:52 feel the warmth and embrace of an Adventist friend. 07:56 There is this and we have not started our program, yeah, 07:58 we're just sort of reminiscing here. 08:02 Couple of years ago we were in the Philippines, 08:03 we went to the Adventist institute of higher education 08:06 where you get your doctorate degrees. 08:08 And we were in the library talking to some people 08:10 and I looked down 08:11 and there is a fellow down there studying, 08:13 his younger years, 08:14 he is studying for his PhD in education. 08:16 And I don't know how we, I got talking with him 08:20 and he gave me his name, and I said, you can't be. 08:25 When I was his pastor 30 years ago, 08:28 he was a little child running around terrorizing the church. 08:32 It was just fun, I said, 08:34 you know, when I was your pastor, 08:36 I wanted to throw you through the window. 08:39 He was a little terror in the church, 08:42 and here he is here now in the Philippines 08:44 studying for his doctorate in education. 08:46 You can never tell, you know, and we laughed, I said, 08:48 "How is your mom, how is your dad?" 08:50 They are quite a bit older now. 08:51 In fact, I think his father had passed 08:52 but he had two older sisters 08:54 and he was the baby of the family, 08:55 just running around wreaking havoc 08:57 and now he is serving the Lord, studying for his PhD 09:00 in Manila, Philippines of all places, 09:02 but it was really kind of great. 09:04 So there is this family, 09:05 you know, this worldwide family. 09:07 And if you talk to an Adventist long enough, 09:10 you're gonna find somebody 09:11 that know somebody that you know 09:13 or that you know somebody that they know 09:14 or that you're related to them, it just happens that way 09:16 so we praise the Lord for the family of God. 09:19 We want to do some singing before we go on 09:20 to our subject matter for today. 09:22 We're gonna be talking about our subject is, 09:24 "I know it was the Lord." 09:26 And we're gonna be recounting things 09:29 in our lives that we know were of God, 09:32 that we know that God had a hand in it. 09:34 When I was pastoring, we had every now and again, 09:37 maybe once every couple of months 09:38 we had a prayer meeting. 09:40 Luis, I had a, don't give me no bad news prayer meetings. 09:45 And that was, while I was at Ephesus Church, 09:47 we would have prayer meeting where you know, 09:49 you got aches, you got pains, you have things 09:53 but I said, tonight, it's gonna be all praise, 09:56 no bad news, we're gonna praise the Lord. 09:58 And I got that from an idea, 09:59 Ellen White says that there used to be a meeting 10:01 that they had after the church service 10:02 called the social meeting. 10:05 The social meeting was a prayer praise testimony meeting, 10:08 and she would talk about how the Spirit of Lord 10:09 would come down in the social meeting. 10:12 And she says there should be no silence 10:14 in the social meeting, there should be no quiet times. 10:16 People ought to be praising the Lord. 10:18 And she would say how the Spirit of God felt 10:20 as people testified to the goodness of the Lord, 10:22 and the social meeting 10:24 was designed to encourage these things, 10:26 you know, positive testimonies, 10:27 not oh, my head hurts today and oh, my, my cow died, 10:32 and none of that stuff. 10:33 And we know that happens, you know that happens too, 10:35 but in the social meeting 10:37 it's gonna be good stuff, good news. 10:38 We're gonna talk about how good the Lord was, 10:40 spirit and truth. 10:41 And so I modeled my prayer, 10:43 don't give me no bad news prayer meeting 10:45 after the social meeting, 10:47 say we're gonna talk about good things, 10:48 so today we're gonna talk about times 10:50 when we knew something happen in our lives, 10:52 we knew it was the Lord. 10:54 And so it's gonna be a good time together. 10:56 We have Miss Jill Morikone over on the piano, 11:00 and I'm gonna ask you to turn with me 11:02 if you will to leaning on the everlasting arms 11:05 which is 469, 11:07 but I guess we really need to pray. 11:09 Jill, before we play let's pray. 11:14 Let's do that, yeah. You want to note down. 11:16 Let's pray before we play and sing. 11:19 Father God, we just praise You and thank You 11:21 for this wonderful opportunity that we have, 11:24 to praise You and to pray to You, 11:28 and we ask Mighty Father that You will be the centre 11:31 and circumference of our time together 11:33 as we worship You, as we bring in the Sabbath 11:36 or prepare for the upcoming week, 11:38 may we be blessed to walk in the paths of Jesus. 11:42 Accept our prayers, accept our praise 11:45 in Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. 11:48 What a fellowship, what a joy divine 11:52 as we lean on the everlasting arms, 469. 11:58 469. Okay, are you there? 12:02 Here we go. 12:03 What a fellowship, what a joy divine 12:08 Leaning on the everlasting arms 12:12 What a blessedness, what a peace is mine 12:17 Leaning on the everlasting arms 12:22 Leaning, leaning, leaning 12:26 Safe and secure from all alarms 12:31 Leaning, leaning, leaning 12:35 Leaning on the everlasting arms 12:39 Oh, how sweet to walk... 12:41 Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way 12:46 Leaning on the everlasting arms 12:50 Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day 12:55 Leaning on the everlasting arms 12:59 Leaning, leaning, leaning 13:04 Safe and secure from all alarms 13:09 Leaning, leaning, leaning 13:13 Leaning on the everlasting arms 13:19 What have I to dread, what have I to fear 13:24 Leaning on the everlasting arms? 13:28 I have blessed peace with my Lord so near 13:33 Leaning on the everlasting arms 13:37 Leaning, leaning, leaning 13:42 Safe and secure from all alarms 13:46 Leaning, leaning, leaning 13:51 Leaning on the everlasting arms. 13:58 And just one more 388, 388. 14:11 I like this song. 14:13 Don't forget the Sabbath 14:16 The Lord our God hath blest 14:19 Of all the week the brightest 14:23 Of all the week the best 14:26 It brings repose from labor 14:30 It tells of joy divine 14:33 It beams of light descending 14:37 With heavenly beauty shine 14:41 Welcome, welcome, ever welcome 14:44 Blessed Sabbath day 14:48 Welcome, welcome, ever welcome 14:52 Blessed Sabbath day 14:55 Keep the Sabbath holy. 14:57 Keep the Sabbath holy 15:00 And worship him today 15:04 Who said to His disciples 15:07 "I am the living way" 15:11 And if we meekly follow 15:15 Our Savior here below 15:19 He'll give us of the fountain 15:22 Whose streams eternal flow 15:26 Welcome, welcome, ever welcome 15:30 Blessed Sabbath day 15:34 Welcome, welcome, ever welcome 15:38 Blessed Sabbath day 15:43 Day of sacred pleasure! 15:46 Its golden hours we'll spend 15:50 In thankful hymns to Jesus 15:54 The children's dearest Friend 15:58 O gentle, loving Savior 16:01 How good and kind Thou art 16:05 How precious is Thy promise 16:09 To dwell in every heart! 16:13 Welcome, welcome, ever welcome 16:17 Blessed Sabbath day 16:21 Welcome, welcome, ever welcome 16:26 Blessed Sabbath day. 16:30 Amen. Amen. 16:32 I think that needs to be brought back 16:33 into the spirit of regularly sung psalms. 16:36 Yeah, that is not one we sing too often. 16:39 I remember singing as a child, then it kind of went on hiatus, 16:42 you know, you don't sing that too much. 16:45 We thank Jill so very much for assisting us there. 16:50 I want to read something very quickly. 16:54 Ellen White talks about a life 16:55 that is wholly dedicated to others 16:57 in serving the Lord. 16:58 You know, even when you're serving the Lord 17:00 and doing work for the Lord as we do here at 3ABN, 17:02 you need times when you need to come aside, you know, 17:05 and just spend time with you in Jesus. 17:07 The truth is, you can get so caught up 17:11 doing the things of God 17:13 that you neglect your time with God 17:16 and they're not the same. 17:17 You can do the things of God, you can preach and pray, 17:19 and work and edit, and do all these kind of things, 17:22 but you need time for refreshing. 17:23 And Ellen White says our cries after a day of healing 17:26 had to come aside himself and meditate on and worship 17:31 and spend some time along with God. 17:34 And I think one of the best ways to do that, 17:36 that is most refreshing 17:38 is to recount the goodness of the Lord in your life, 17:43 you know, to look back and see, yeah, God was there, 17:46 and God was there, and God was there, 17:49 and God was there. 17:50 And one of the things that does, 17:52 ladies and gentlemen, 17:54 is that it prepares you and buttresses you 17:57 for the times when stuff gets rough 18:03 and you may be tempted to think 18:05 or Satan may be whispering in your ear, 18:07 God, you forgive my pejorative of English ain't there, 18:11 You know, so you sort of fatten up 18:15 during the good years and remember what he has done, 18:18 so that when the lean years come 18:20 and we're all gonna have some lean times. 18:22 You can remember, oh, yeah, God was with me then, 18:25 He is with me now, I don't feel like it. 18:28 And Ellen White says, you know, don't always go on feeling, 18:30 unless you're gonna go on fact that God loves you. 18:32 God said I love you, 18:34 I will never leave you, nor forsake you. 18:35 And though you don't feel 18:38 that it's still true. 18:42 I always give the example, 18:44 there are times, you are married, 18:46 you are married, you are married, 18:49 when you feel very married... 18:50 I want to get there. 18:52 And yours is coming and so maybe this is for you. 18:56 You know, there are times 18:57 when from the time you work in the mornings 18:59 it's gonna be good day, 19:00 you know, you're just having a good day, 19:02 hormones are right, everything is good, 19:03 and you feel very married. 19:05 You know, just we are married, you feel so married. 19:08 And then you have some days when you don't feel so married. 19:12 Amen. Amen. 19:13 Yeah, some days, you know, everyday isn't the same, 19:16 you know, some days you feel very married, 19:18 and some days you don't feel so married, 19:20 you know, something happens or, 19:22 you know, little things come in. 19:24 On the days when you feel married, 19:28 you're married. 19:30 Amen. Amen, yeah. 19:32 And on the days 19:33 when you don't feel so married, guess what? 19:35 You're still married. Still married, that right. 19:38 Nothing has changed, you're still married, you know, 19:40 and you'll find that. 19:42 Right now you and Lady Tiffany, 19:44 we see you tip going through the tulips. 19:46 He is flying to California, she is flying to Illinois, 19:48 you know, flying to California, going back and forth, 19:51 and we praise the Lord for that. 19:53 But you gonna get up one morning 19:54 and not feel so married. 19:57 But guess what? I'm still married. 19:59 You're still married, that's right. 20:02 You still gonna be married, man. 20:03 And it's that way also with Christ. 20:06 Some days you feel like you can carry the weight of the world. 20:09 You know, I can carry it all. 20:11 And some days you feel like 20:12 you are carrying the weight of the world, you know. 20:15 And on the days when you feel very triumphant 20:17 and very victorious, you are. 20:20 And on the days 20:21 when you don't feel so triumphant, 20:23 you still are because you got Jesus. 20:25 And you never know that Jesus is all you need 20:27 until Jesus is all you got, you know. 20:29 So it's at those times you need to think about 20:32 the goodness of the Lord, 20:33 those times when you know it was God in your life, 20:36 when you know and sometimes it means all the time. 20:41 Got to turn off the television set, 20:42 turn off the computer, turn off the internet, 20:45 and just spend some a lone time with God. 20:47 And wait on the Lord. 20:48 And wait on the Lord, well said, 20:50 you got to spend some lonely time with God. 20:51 One quick thing and then we'll go into our... 20:53 I won't do all this reading up, I'm not gonna go. 20:57 Ellen White says this, 20:58 "When every other voice is hushed, 21:01 and in quietness we wait before Him, 21:05 the silence of the soul 21:07 makes more distinct the voice of God. 21:12 He bids us, "Be still, and know that I am God." 21:18 ' So sometimes you got to shut off the racket 21:22 and just lock in with the Lord, 21:24 and one of the good ways to do that 21:25 is to remember those times when you know it was the Lord. 21:31 Who wants to start on and give me a testimony? 21:34 I was telling you, I don't know how many... 21:36 You know, how many do I have to say. 21:38 I may be here for the next two, three hours 21:41 because they all come into my mind. 21:45 Psalms 143:9 says, "Deliver me, oh Lord, from my enemies, 21:50 in You I take shelter." 21:52 And I remember as I've always been 21:56 in charge of the youth in one way or another. 22:00 And one day we were going 22:01 to a youth conference in Shreveport. 22:03 We packed all in into a, 22:06 you know, one of those school buses, 22:08 and we're traveling, 22:09 everything's going great while this, 22:12 the bus driver had just gotten her license, 22:14 never driven a bus before. 22:17 This was the very first time 22:18 she'd been behind the wheel of a bus. 22:21 We are about 500 yards away from getting there, 22:25 we're in a country road and I know that if, you know, 22:28 if you remember country road's only enough room for two bus, 22:32 for two vehicles. 22:34 This young lad comes with his car 22:37 just zooming right by us. 22:39 She gets nervous, loses control 22:42 and the bus literally is facing the other way. 22:48 So she did a 180 in with the bus 22:53 full of young people. 22:56 When we got there all the nurse were, 22:59 you know, racing, 23:01 I didn't understand what happened 23:02 because I was sitting normally in my chair, 23:05 all of a sudden I'm flown over to the other side. 23:09 There are several kids that said, 23:11 I saw the hands of an angels that literally took our bus 23:16 and kept it in line 23:17 because there is embankment on either side. 23:20 How you do on 180 on a small country road 23:24 with embankments on either side 23:26 and you don't fall with the person 23:27 that just got her license, the very first time driving. 23:31 It's only God. Praise God. 23:33 It's only God and we were able to use this particular verse 23:38 that says, God, you will shelter us, 23:40 You will deliver us from the enemy 23:41 because you know that the enemy 23:43 didn't want us to be blessed on that weekend. 23:46 And it's so amazing to be able to testify today 23:51 about that fact, 23:53 and still to the day the young people that went 23:56 and we took a picture, 23:58 we actually were on the World Magazine 24:02 that, you know... 24:04 Is that the World Magazine that take, one that... 24:08 the General Conference puts out. 24:10 3ABN World. Not 3ABN World. 24:14 Adventist World. Adventist World. 24:16 Yes. 24:17 And we were actually on that magazine, 24:18 the picture of us, how miraculous that day was. 24:23 Praise God. Praise God. 24:26 And that was the Lord. 24:27 That definitely sounds like the Lord and the angels 24:31 because we've been in roads like that 24:33 and to turn a bus around, even a car, 24:38 you have to do many maneuvers before you, 24:41 so that you know, you cannot say that it was man. 24:45 Amen. Amen. 24:47 And the fact that it didn't flipped over or anything... 24:49 Yes, exactly. That is amazing. 24:51 And somebody with first time driving. 24:55 I worked one time in an institution 24:58 where you have to learn to drive a small bus, you know, 25:04 but it's still pretty big compared to any car. 25:09 And you had to, that was strictly says 25:12 because at any time you have to take somebody 25:16 to the doctor or whatever, and you have to. 25:23 There are certain things that you have to do 25:26 in order to even just turn on to another road, 25:30 so I cannot imagine and that was, 25:33 we did this for weeks of training, 25:36 can't imagine someone first time on a bus like that. 25:42 You cannot say that it was not God, His angels. 25:47 Tell you a quick story. When I was... 25:48 It was in my second church, my first church on my own 25:52 and I just preached a sermon about faith and my elders said, 25:55 you know, you need to go and see Sister Jackson, 25:57 her daughter is pretty ill. 25:59 And so I went to the house, 26:00 this is right after our worship service, 26:03 and the girl is laying in bed 26:05 and she has absolutely no color. 26:06 I mean she is breathing very shallow 26:09 and she has no color. 26:10 And is said, Sister Jackson, 26:12 you need to take her to the hospital. 26:14 And she said, no pastor, I have faith, 26:16 you just pray for her and she will be fine. 26:20 I said, no, 26:22 you need to take her to the doctor 26:24 'cause that girl looks, she doesn't look good at all. 26:26 She said, no, no just pray and everything will be fine. 26:30 You know, you're at the confluence 26:33 of a lot of different emotions. 26:35 One, if I wimp out here, you know, 26:38 I just finished preaching about faith, 26:41 and the second one is like, if this child dies, you know, 26:45 and she said, no, you just pray, it will fine. 26:48 She had more faith than I did. 26:50 I'm saying, please take her to the doctor. 26:52 She said, no, I'm not going to take her to doctor, just pray. 26:54 So after while you praise, so we hold hands, 26:57 you know, Lord, please, 27:01 you know, so you're begging to Lord, 27:02 please you got to do something Lord 27:04 because you just have to. 27:06 And so we prayed and prayed and prayed, 27:08 and then I went back to the church, 27:09 I didn't even go home to eat. 27:12 This was before I was married. 27:13 I just kind of sat in my office because I was just so worried, 27:16 I had no appetite, you know, 27:17 when you got something going on, 27:18 you don't have appetite. 27:20 And about two hours later Sister Jackson comes 27:24 trotting in with her daughter. 27:27 They come bounding in, 27:29 she says, pastor, look at her, she is fine. 27:31 Wow! Now, here's the funny part. 27:34 When, she says, after you left, 27:37 she threw up and she's fine. 27:43 And she said, I have it in a bag, 27:46 and she just brought it so you can see. 27:49 Why would you save that? Yeah, she saved it. 27:52 And she said, she threw up this black rope, 27:55 it was this black thing and so opens the bag 27:58 and all of this black stuff piles over my desk, 28:01 and it's, it's, oh, it's horrible, 28:02 but she is so excited, 28:04 her nose has gone nose-blind but it's killing me, 28:06 and she said, pastor, look, 28:08 and out comes this black rope thing 28:11 and I was, oh, praise the Lord. 28:17 Thank you, Jesus. Whoa! 28:19 Kind of thing. 28:21 But I said, you know, her faith was so strong, 28:26 and at that point she had more faith than I do. 28:28 And you say, now it was the Lord, 28:30 it had to be the Lord 28:31 because that girl looked like she was at death door, 28:34 and she was totally fine 28:36 within two hours of that prayer. 28:38 So once we got my desk cleaned up, 28:41 my appetite came back and I went over and ate. 28:44 But I thought that was it, you know, 28:46 the Lord does do miracles to honor His name 28:49 and that one had stayed with me, 28:50 and that was over 40 plus years ago. 28:52 Wow. 28:53 You know, that's interesting 28:54 how a lot of times when you do things, 28:56 I remember, I went to visit my home 28:58 and I was distraught, 29:01 I mean, everything was going wrong in my life, 29:03 so I went in, I wanted to spend a little bit of time 29:06 with my family in solitude, 29:08 you know, not worried about anything else. 29:11 My dad was having heart issues, my mom was having cancer 29:14 and so I wanted to kind of visit them 29:16 and all of these thoughts in my mind 29:19 so they asked me to teach the lesson, 29:21 so the lesson was about Moses 29:23 and how Moses kept on telling God, 29:24 God, not me, I don't know how to talk, 29:26 I don't know how to deal with these things, 29:28 so I kept on telling the young people, 29:31 you know, you've got to just lend yourself to the Lord. 29:35 All the sudden, I go and I sit at the front. 29:38 The pastor sends up and he says, 29:40 Luis, would you like to preach today. 29:43 I'm like no. 29:48 He says, I'll tell you what I'm going to do, 29:49 I'm going to sing and then you make up your mind 29:53 whether you want to preach or not. 29:55 All the sudden he's starting to sing 29:58 and the Holy Spirit talks to me and says you're hypocrite. 30:01 You just finished telling the young people 30:04 that all you have to do is lend your voice 30:06 to the Lord 30:08 and the then the Lord will do the rest, 30:10 and now you're sitting here and you're saying no. 30:12 I didn't say no to him, in my mind I said no. 30:15 The moment he finished preaching I stood up, 30:17 it was the most amazing sermon that has ever been, 30:21 you know, that I have ever preached. 30:23 I knew, know, it couldn't have been of me 30:25 because I wasn't prepared of it, 30:27 but it's when God, when you are, 30:30 when you trust God, 30:32 you've got to prove it with your lips, 30:36 you got to make sure that 30:37 if you're going to tell young person 30:39 that you need to stand up for Jesus 30:42 and you then do not do it, what kind of example are you. 30:45 And it's amazing how God will do amazing, 30:49 powerful things through you if you are willing to commit, 30:53 and this reminds me of the movie 30:56 that Desmond Doss that's just coming out, 30:58 the book, if you read the book is because he was, 31:01 he committed to what his beliefs were, 31:06 look what he was able to do save 75 plus individuals, 31:10 and that gives me joy to understand that 31:12 when we stay firm and we understand God will do, 31:16 we don't have to do anything 31:18 but lend ourselves to be a vessel, 31:21 to be used by God. 31:22 Amen, amen. Very true, very true. 31:24 You know, I think that many people talks about 31:27 journaling your encounters with the Lord 31:31 and He is really, really more important than 31:36 sometimes we realize 31:38 because there are times in our lives that we, 31:42 our faith it falls, 31:45 and the situations that come alive are so strong 31:51 that you can get so involved in the situation, 31:56 and you don't see and you ask, even forget that faith 32:00 that you're supposed to have and trust in the Lord. 32:03 And I think it's important also... 32:10 Having always a friend 32:12 that is sort of ready to pray for you, 32:16 to pray, oh, let's put this on prayer. 32:18 And I have a friend in my, 32:21 the first latter church that I went to. 32:24 And my son Kevin who is a pastor now 32:31 was getting in a little bit of troubles in his life. 32:35 He had an experience that where his best friend 32:39 got killed in a motorcycle accident 32:42 and then he blamed himself and then, 32:45 he just, his life is starting to go on the wrong direction, 32:50 but my friend and I was worried about it 32:52 and we prayed about it, 32:55 but my friend had so much faith, 32:58 and I was so worried 33:00 that he will go in the wrong direction, 33:02 and sure enough, he was going in the wrong direction of drugs 33:08 and other things that, praise the Lord, 33:11 he never got too far into it 33:13 but still he was leaning that way. 33:17 And she says, you know, 33:20 we have to take Kevin out of this town. 33:23 He needs to go away from this kind of friends he has now. 33:28 They were good kids 33:29 and they're from wealthy families 33:33 but they were doing things that were not right. 33:36 And so I says, but, you know, 33:39 he doesn't even want to go to school anymore. 33:41 It doesn't matter she says, 33:43 we're just going to pray about this. 33:46 And I said, okay, we prayed about it, 33:49 and then Kevin totally refused to go to college. 33:54 He says, no, I am not college material. 33:57 His ideas are beautiful, I mean, 33:59 his drawings are so amazing. 34:04 No, I'm not going to but he had a whole series of pictures 34:08 that they were all very much into the dark, 34:11 you know, part of the world, Satanic even. 34:15 And, but he says, she kept telling me, 34:19 don't worry, if he doesn't want to, 34:21 it still doesn't matter. 34:22 She says, we just gonna trust the Lord. 34:26 And that was a real eye-opening and growth and faith for me 34:32 because we did all the things, 34:36 you know, fill our papers to go to the college, 34:39 I did everything, 34:41 he didn't do anything other than, than... 34:47 When the papers went to the college, 34:49 you know, it's a four year college, 34:51 and we got a letter back 34:53 that he had been accepted and then he was amazed, 34:58 so when he saw that this could not happen 35:02 says my grades are not good, 35:04 I don't want to go to the college. 35:06 And I says, yeah but, you know, we did this 35:10 but they had accepted you. 35:13 So then one morning he gets up and he says, 35:16 okay, mom, I'm gonna go to college, 35:18 you know, just because you say, but I'm sure, 35:20 I'm not gonna last in there 35:21 but just because, you know, you are so firm 35:25 and that you believe that I'm gonna do okay there. 35:28 So, okay, great, grade it. 35:30 So then it came the time, the letter comes and he says, 35:34 you need $1500 to matriculate, you know, the fee. 35:40 I was alone, I was just, have a job. 35:43 I was losing my house, all of these and I said, 35:48 I mean where does this money going to come from. 35:51 And it sounds like a long, long story 35:55 but it was just the first amazing thing 35:59 that it happened to me that I knew was from the Lord. 36:05 Kevin has never had allergies other than the poison ivy 36:10 and we are one Sunday just, you know, 36:14 visiting and having a good time, 36:17 and all of a sudden he gets home, 36:22 and he is with this allergic reaction. 36:27 He says something bit me on my arm 36:29 and I don't know what it is and, 36:31 so we run with him to the emergency room. 36:34 Everything was taken care of and he was fine, 36:39 then it came the time to go to, to the, 36:43 you know, to sign the papers for insurance. 36:47 Oh, he says, your son is not on insurance. 36:50 And I said, what do you mean, you know? 36:52 They have been taking money out of my paycheck 36:56 to have him in the insurance, so this cannot be possible. 37:00 Well, you have to got to work and find out what's wrong. 37:04 So I go on Monday to the manager and I said, 37:08 Hal, his name was Hal, he says, 37:10 this is really strange, I said it, 37:13 you've been taking money out of my paycheck, 37:15 but the hospital tells me 37:17 that your son is not in the insurance. 37:20 And he says, well, that's not possible, 37:23 let me take care of it, let me look for that. 37:26 Find out that for some reason that policy never went in 37:33 but they had taken $1500 37:36 and for $1500 37:41 and there were like $40 left besides that. 37:46 And so he says now, 37:50 we have to give you back that money. 37:52 We have to put them in insurance, 37:54 and we're going to pay for the hospital fee. 37:59 So that was the first miracle that I can remember, 38:06 it's powerful. 38:08 And that helped Kevin into the school. 38:09 And Kevin needed 1500 and $45, $40 38:13 went for the couple of things he need to take 38:17 and the gas to take him, 38:20 and then that was a little struggle 38:23 the first year or two for Kevin 38:28 and but the Lord started doing miracles in his life 38:31 right then and then, yes. 38:33 I'm gonna go ahead and jump on in there. 38:34 Yes, do that. 38:36 Now, it seems like we've been hearing a lot from everybody's 38:40 about faith basically, so it boiled down to faith, 38:42 you know, with you experiencing that nasty stuff on your desk 38:46 and everything like that, and Kevin and Luis. 38:51 So let me think about Hebrews 11:6 where it says, 38:56 'But without faith it is impossible to please him: 38:59 for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, 39:02 and that he is a rewarder of them 39:03 that diligently seek him." 39:05 I had my moment when I was in Atlanta. 39:07 I was in Atlanta Georgia, 39:09 I was, I think around 19 years old, 39:11 and I remember my stomach was hurting. 39:16 I had a pain in my stomach, 39:17 and I hated going to the doctor, right, 39:19 I didn't want to go to the doctor, 39:22 but I needed like my stomach, I told my dad, 39:25 if my stomach gets any worse, 39:26 I will go tomorrow or the next day or whatever. 39:29 So I waited, I tried everything, 39:32 I was curled up in the fetal position, 39:34 I took hot baths, and hot showers, 39:36 and stuff to try and make it feel better. 39:38 My stomach was growing and growing 39:41 and it was getting warm 39:42 and hard and everything like that. 39:45 So I went to a doctor, and he looked, he looked, 39:50 ran a few tests and gave me some medicine 39:52 and sent me home. 39:54 I went home, my stomach still just hurting, 39:58 I'm in so much pain, 39:59 I've never felt this type of pain before. 40:02 And I remember saying, 40:04 man, I feel like I'm going to dye or something, 40:06 and I went to bed, 40:08 and then went back to the doctor the next day, 40:12 gave me some more medicine, sent me home. 40:15 Now my doctor was supposed to be 40:17 on vacation this third time 40:19 'cause I still wasn't getting any better, 40:20 I was only getting worse. 40:22 My doctor was supposed to be on vacation. 40:24 I went into the office with my dad, 40:26 and I saw the fill in doctor, 40:29 the temp doctor while my doctor was on vacation. 40:33 And my doctor happened to be in the office at that time 40:35 'cause the temp was going to give me 40:37 some more medicine and sent me home. 40:39 Well, he decided to come in and he ran another test, 40:43 and he hold my dad, he said, 40:45 you need to take him to the ER right now. 40:47 You see what happened was my appendix ruptured inside of me. 40:51 And he didn't expect it because of my age or whatever, 40:57 but when he ran the test and he told my dad 40:58 to take me to the doctor right away, 41:00 I ended up having an emergency surgery 41:03 that same day or that night. 41:06 And the surgeon told my dad 41:08 that if you wouldn't have brought him here when you did, 41:10 he'd be dead 41:12 because my large intestine was blocked as well 41:16 and that was about to go next. 41:18 So that was truly a God thing and even at a time 41:22 when I wasn't in the church at that time, you know, 41:26 so even at a time were I wasn't in the church, 41:28 God showed that He love me so much 41:32 that He was going to deliver me 41:33 because he had a purpose and a plan for my life. 41:35 Amen. Amen. 41:39 Lynette, I know you got something. 41:41 You've been waiting patiently. 41:43 Well, actually I've just been sitting here and feeling 41:45 remarkably unprepared, 41:47 it's been not to whine and complain, 41:50 it's just been really, really insanely busy 41:53 in the last two weeks of my life 41:54 being mother and father on the go constantly 41:59 but, I guess what is coming to my mind 42:04 isn't as dramatic. 42:07 I don't think, it's just, I've been a Christian 42:10 since I was a teenager. 42:12 I came into the church through the Baptist church. 42:16 Very dear girlfriend Lea invited me to a camp, 42:21 and that's where I really solidified my decision 42:25 for the Lord. 42:27 But over the years, I had been in situations 42:30 where it just starts slowly spiritually 42:34 starving to death in churches 42:37 where there was wonderful people, 42:39 but the spirit wasn't there. 42:43 And you hang on because, you know, 42:45 you're in a traditional situation, 42:47 you need to keep going traditionally 42:48 and went a lot of years that way, 42:52 and just slowly dwindling inside 42:55 and yearning for more. 42:58 And the Lord just gave me an ability to dig my heels 43:04 and I guess because so many people said, 43:06 well, you're gonna lose your faith 43:08 on this journey. 43:09 You know, why don't you just forget about it, 43:10 you don't need to go to church anymore, it's okay. 43:12 You know, you're fine without that. 43:14 And deep in my heart it's like no, 43:17 I know that I believe in God, you know, 43:20 I believe Lord forgive, tell me I believe, you know, 43:24 when I falter a bit, I've just been clinging and clawing 43:27 trying to hang on to my Christianity 43:29 and then through varied and sundry things, 43:33 I ended up living with my mom and my two then young sons 43:38 and came back to church 43:41 for the first time in several years. 43:44 I knew that I was on my way home 43:47 but the church was missing something. 43:52 It was just missing something 43:54 and I was clinging and clinging and clinging 43:56 because that's the only way I knew 43:57 I could make it back and... 44:00 Then the Lord brought my husband into my life. 44:03 And as, I guess insignificant as that might sound to some, 44:08 my husband is an Adventist, I was not an Adventist. 44:12 But I always believed as Adventists believe 44:15 which surprised him, 44:17 and being with him and going to church with him, 44:22 and hearing the Adventist message. 44:26 It filled in all the little pieces 44:27 that were missing 44:28 and it put that spiritual ivy into my arm 44:31 and was able to resuscitate that Christianity 44:35 that I had been clinging to in perfectly all that time 44:39 by the grace of God, only by the grace of God. 44:42 That's powerful. I'll tell you a quick story. 44:45 You say no, it's the Lord. 44:47 When we were growing up and Irma as well, 44:48 she certainly tell it. 44:50 We lived next door to some people, 44:52 one of my best times growing up in while Brook Royals, 44:55 and they lived next door but behind a fence. 44:59 And we noticed on Saturday mornings, 45:01 they would all get up, get in a car 45:02 and disappear for the day. 45:04 And we didn't know 45:05 where they went and what they did, 45:07 we just knew on Saturday morning, 45:08 about 8:30, everybody got in the car, 45:09 everybody is dressed, off they went, 45:11 we didn't see them until dark. 45:13 And we were six, seven, eight, nine, 45:16 you know, just kind of file it away, 45:17 so we moved to another part of the city 45:20 and as fate would have that 45:22 we moved right across the street 45:23 from some people with that some weird behavior. 45:26 Every Saturday morning they get up, 45:28 everybody jumped in the car and disappear, you know. 45:31 And the daughter was my sister's age 45:32 and the one son was my age. 45:35 And so I asked, I said, where do you go? 45:38 You know, when you disappear on Saturday mornings, 45:39 what do you do? 45:41 They said, we go to church, we got to Sabbath school. 45:44 Nothing to me, you know, 45:45 my parents were holiday Methodists, 45:47 you know, Christmas, New Year's Eve. 45:49 Whether you needed it or not. Yeah, yeah. 45:51 They were holiday Methodists. 45:53 I asked, where do you go, you disappeared. 45:54 They said, we go to Sabbath school. 45:56 I said, well, I want to go, so we go. 45:59 We went to Sabbath school 46:00 and there was this beautiful teacher, 46:01 and I hope, 46:03 one day I could meet her again. 46:04 Her name was Mildred Willis. She is now Mildred Gill. 46:08 Beautiful young lady, maybe 17, no 18 or 19, 46:11 maybe 20, but gorgeous, 46:13 and they had this thing called the treasurer, 46:16 the primary treasurer, nice little book. 46:19 And they would study and she would ask questions 46:21 and when you got the answer right, 46:23 she would say very good, and she'd stroke your cheek. 46:27 And I said, boy, that is very cool. 46:30 And so she'd say very good answer. 46:33 I said you know what, 46:34 I want to get my cheeks touched like that, 46:36 you know, I want that, so when we went home 46:39 and I said, I want to have that... 46:40 I studied that lesson all week long, 46:43 and next week we went back to church again. 46:44 And so the very first question she asked, 46:46 I don't remember what the question was, 46:47 didn't matter I just wanted to get the stroke. 46:49 So she asked the question... 46:54 She said all right, I said, whatever answer was. 46:57 She said, she came to me and said, oh, very good. 47:00 And I was like, ooh. 47:04 I like Sabbath school. 47:05 And that's why you became a pastor. 47:07 That's why you became a pastor all these years later. 47:10 Well, the thing was, thing was about a year later 47:14 she got married to Conrad Gill, 47:16 he's a pastor in the Adventist church 47:17 and he took her away. 47:19 And we all are young people, all are young guys, 47:20 we hated Conrad, you know, 47:21 because he took our teacher away. 47:24 And it was years later, 47:26 he was an associate dean at the seminary. 47:28 He was on the campus of Andrews University, 47:31 and I was there as the seminary student. 47:33 And I said, Conrad, man, we used to hate you. 47:37 We really hated you, we didn't like you 47:38 because you took our teacher away, 47:40 but the thing that I know it was the Lord, 47:43 we lived next to some Adventists, 47:45 moved right across the street 47:46 from another group of Adventists 47:48 and that's when I really got into serving the Lord. 47:51 It started out with want to get my check touched 47:54 but it ended up with me giving my heart to the Lord, 47:56 with me baptizing my sister, baptizing my mother, 47:59 baptizing my dad one month before he died, 48:02 so a little thing like that. 48:03 So I know it was the Lord and all those years, 48:05 there were times 48:07 when I was the only one in my family going to church 48:08 but it never occurred to me that I could not go. 48:10 I had to go because I gave my heart to the Lord to go, 48:13 so I know it was the Lord 48:15 and I'm very, very pleased, yeah. 48:18 I think that is a wonderful thing 48:21 that we can look back, see, 48:24 because sometimes things happen and we don't realize 48:28 that there was such a powerful thing 48:30 but the Bible says in the New Testament 48:35 and I can't remember exactly, 48:37 but it says that 48:40 nothing good comes 48:44 other than the Lord, and that He arranges our lives 48:49 because He has the best interest for us in our life. 48:54 He desires that we get saved, that we can rejoice, 49:00 enjoy the life with Christ 49:02 because it's a life free of 49:07 the worries that you have when you run out with the Lord 49:10 cannot compare with the worries or the concerns that we have 49:15 when we are with the Lord. 49:17 And the Lord is always leading us. 49:21 And I remember when my first husband 49:27 that there were some years that went by 49:33 and I could say everyday, possibly not, 49:38 but to me it seems like everyday was in my mind, 49:42 is my marriage going to last? 49:46 Is my marriage going to stay? 49:48 And I had that worries and worries about it, 49:52 and I remember that sometimes 49:56 I was not in the church at the time 49:58 because we have been away from it 50:01 because of his belief and my belief were different. 50:06 And so in my ways 50:11 of praying to him, 50:15 it was just like a little church conversation, 50:18 just more like a boring conversation with him. 50:23 I says Lord, but, you know, 50:26 what happens if my marriage doesn't work. 50:29 How am I gonna do it and worried about that. 50:34 And at the time I felt that how the Lord is going to, 50:40 He is going to allow that 'cause here am I, 50:43 I will not have anything, 50:45 I'm worried my children would not have all the comforts 50:49 that we had at the time, 50:51 and so the things where I worry, 50:54 but the Lord just kept and kept with me. 50:58 And finally, you know, 51:01 I started to be able to really pray and ask Him, 51:04 what am I gonna do if this happen 51:06 because things isn't good. 51:08 It got worse and worse and worse. 51:10 And finally I got this very, 51:16 that strength that I know 51:18 that would only come from the Lord, that I say, 51:21 whatever it happens, I'll follow the Lord, 51:25 you know, I will trust the Lord, 51:27 and it just came to me, just so powerful. 51:34 And I can't say that it was not a very painful situation 51:39 when it actually happened, it did happened 51:43 because he didn't want to follow, 51:47 didn't want to follow the Lord, 51:49 he just was thoroughly involved with somebody else 51:53 and the thing is that when he left, 51:59 then about a month later he came back 52:02 and he says, you know, I'm coming back 52:05 because there was this big force, 52:08 it was like somebody was pushing me literally in my back 52:13 and say you need to go to your family. 52:16 So he went to this lady's son and he says, you know, 52:20 I need to be with my family, and the son said, 52:23 I'm glad that's the best decision you made. 52:27 He came and he was not, 52:29 was only there like about a week 52:31 and then he had to follow his, you know, his lead of the, 52:37 the lady says, if you don't come back to me, 52:39 I'm gonna kill myself 52:40 and he got very weak in that situation. 52:43 The thing is that it's just amazing 52:48 how strong I was through that week with him 52:50 being in there, 52:51 and he wanted me to throw him out of the house, 52:54 just tell me to go, just leave. 52:56 I said, no, I said, this is your house, 52:59 I'm your wife, you have your children, 53:01 you decide, it's your decision, 53:06 and I felt so strong. 53:08 When he decided to leave, 53:11 then I found myself in real weakness. 53:15 You know, I thought 53:16 that the world was going to end for me, 53:18 just so, so painful that situation. 53:21 And I was one day in my job where I said, 53:25 I cannot go any longer 53:27 and I closed the door of my apartment 53:31 and I just was weeping, and I said, Lord, this is, 53:36 I just can't go forward, 53:38 and I literally felt these arms that came around me. 53:45 I felt the touch, and it was just like peace, 53:50 total peace came to me. 53:52 And I haven't had too many 53:55 those powerful experiences like that, 53:58 that I can say wow, you know, 54:00 but unless I look back and as I see many things 54:04 but that was very powerful, that was, you know, 54:07 I just praise the Lord 54:09 because that was my beginning of starting to, 54:14 you know, adjust and be able to continue functioning. 54:17 It's amazing when you were talking about dueling, 54:22 when you were talking about checking, 54:23 that's when you're going to really find out 54:26 and you can look back on all of the great things 54:29 that God has done for you. 54:31 I'm looking at 1 Corinthians 2:11 it says, 54:35 "For what men knows the things of a man, 54:37 except the spirit of the man, which is in him? 54:41 Even so, no one knows the things of God, 54:45 except the Spirit of God." 54:47 Amen. 54:48 And that really gives me a joy because about a year ago, 54:51 they've asked me to start prison ministry and I thought, 54:55 I said, Lord, no, there is no way. 54:57 And there was a sermon, I was listening to 3ABN 55:00 and there was a sermon about one of the kings 55:02 that he was just doing atrocious things 55:06 and even to the prophets and all and God. 55:09 He went to jail, God forgive him 55:11 when he became a man of God. 55:13 And God told me to do that, 55:14 you know, you have that mentality, 55:16 that thought process of those people in jail 55:17 being the horrible things that you cannot save, trust me, 55:22 and now when I go, when you're talking about praises 55:26 that you don't bring any of your troubles. 55:28 When I go and I ask people for their prayer request, 55:30 it's all about how great God is, 55:32 how wonderful He is, 55:34 and they were prison, they're in jail, 55:36 and they're saying, I thank God because one day I prayed 55:39 God do whatever it takes to save me, 55:42 and this is where I'm at. 55:44 This is where he sent me, that's what happened this week. 55:46 And says, he sent me to jail so I could be saved, you know, 55:50 and a lot of times you need to realize 55:52 that when you look back at all the miracles, 55:55 when you had asked us, I said which one. 55:57 I mean, I've been in four different countries, 55:59 I've had so miracles that God has saved me literally, 56:04 and it's very difficult to choose. 56:07 But when you write them down and then you go back, 56:10 then you could acknowledge what power God is your life, 56:15 you know, and our sister saying that, 56:19 her understanding and finally clicking, 56:21 oh, that's my new, no, that is it. 56:23 Yeah, that is the big story. 56:25 You know, the buses being saved, all this, 56:27 that's minute to somebody finally getting it, 56:32 to finally somebody understanding 56:34 that there is a loving God that wants to spend, 56:38 that wants you to be with Him for all eternity. 56:40 And these stories are the ones that are going to remind us 56:43 that there is power in prayer, there is power in God, 56:48 and the only way we're going to find out 56:51 is through those recollections, those recollections 56:57 and understanding that He is yearning for our love. 57:01 Amen, amen. Well said. 57:04 You know, we're told basically if you cannot see a head, 57:08 then look back over your shoulder, 57:10 it will give you strength to know that the same God 57:13 who got you to today 57:15 will get you through to tomorrow. 57:17 Sometimes the way ahead is foggy, 57:20 so you got to just take hold of the hand of God 57:23 and together walk out into the fog, 57:26 knowing that God will lead you safely home. 57:30 Recount those miracles because they are there. 57:32 They are for you and they are to encourage you 57:34 as together we walk the road that leads to glory. 57:37 Hope this program has been a blessing to you. 57:39 God bless you, we'll see you again real soon. |
Revised 2016-11-28