Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018011A
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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 01:10 Hello and welcome to Family Worship. 01:12 Thank you for inviting us into your home 01:13 on this blessed Friday evening, Sabbath. 01:16 Amen. 01:17 Honey, good to have you. Happy Sabbath, everyone. 01:18 Happy Sabbath. 01:20 I'm glad to be here, and we're in your homes, 01:22 and we're still glad that you've tuned in today, tonight. 01:24 That's right. That's right. 01:26 And we are talking about kindness. 01:29 Can we give them a kind, happy Sabbath? 01:31 Happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath. 01:32 We have our... 01:34 My posse right here to my right, 01:35 good old JD Quinn, the head of pastoral, 01:38 always good to have you on 3ABN. 01:39 Thank you, you too. 01:41 JD is like our resident teddy bear. 01:43 What better person to have on the set 01:45 about kindness than JD, a kind man. 01:49 Thank you so much, JD, for your kindness. 01:50 Well, thank you. 01:51 You shared, and you receive it. Amen. 01:54 And to our left are the Capotes, Louis and Xenia. 01:57 Good to have you both. 01:58 Thank you, thank you. Happy Sabbath. 01:59 And your head elder. 02:01 My head elder and his lovely wife. 02:02 That's right. Amen. 02:03 And to my left is my lovely wife. 02:05 Good to have you here, honey. 02:06 I'm so happy to be here with my, what, co-pilot? 02:10 Okay, that makes you the pilot. 02:13 Okay, my pilot. And remember, we have fun. 02:15 You know, we have fun on our program. 02:17 But this topic of kindness 02:19 is one that's vitally important. 02:20 All you need is your Bibles, get your Bibles, 02:22 invite your family to gather together. 02:24 We're gonna walk to through God's Word. 02:26 But before we do anything, we always like to have prayer, 02:29 and I'll let my wife have our prayer for us. 02:31 Sure, let's bow our heads. 02:32 Our loving, kind, and gracious heavenly Father, 02:35 we bow before Your presence this blessed Sabbath evening, 02:38 and we lift our hearts to You. 02:40 We thank You for this wonderful privilege 02:43 to worship together. 02:45 Those that are watching and listening, 02:47 we pray that they'll get a blessing 02:49 and that we will be kind to one another. 02:52 And so thank You, Lord, 02:54 for being in our midst through Your Holy Spirit, 02:57 in Jesus' name, amen. 02:59 Amen. Amen. 03:00 Now I have titled this the law of kindness. 03:05 That's kind of an oxymoron, the law of kindness 03:07 because kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit, 03:11 and when you think about the fruit of the Spirit, 03:13 there is no law against any of the fruits. 03:16 You know, you can't be too kind, 03:18 you can't be too loving, you can't be too graceful, 03:21 you can't be too patient, too peaceful, 03:22 too joyful, too long suffering 03:25 because the Bible speaks about this fruit, it says, 03:26 "Against such, there is no law." 03:29 So the law of kindness is an oxymoron 03:31 in the sense that there's nothing preventing it, 03:35 and when you think of law, 03:37 and I thought about this in preparation for the program. 03:39 You think about law, law is... 03:41 We operate within the law. 03:44 You know, sometimes you go... 03:45 When you're driving on certain places, 03:47 like on the freeway, 03:48 you can't go below a certain speed limit, 03:50 and you're prohibited to go above a certain speed limit. 03:52 The law says this is your operational parameters 03:54 right here. 03:55 Well, you know, when you think about 03:57 the law of kindness 04:00 or the Holy Spiritual kindness itself, 04:03 there's no law, there is no preventive... 04:05 You can't be too kind, you can't be too loving, 04:08 you can't be too joyful. 04:10 But the reason why this topic came up, 04:11 and my wife and I were talking about this is, 04:13 because in Christianity it seems, 04:15 another oxymoron is an unkind Christian. 04:19 Yeah. An unkind Christian. 04:22 To be Christian means that the fruit of the Spirit 04:25 should be revealing itself, 04:26 and one of those fruit is kindness. 04:30 And when I say one, 04:32 the Bible doesn't say the fruits of the Spirit, 04:35 but the fruit of the Spirit. 04:37 So what we often do in our program 04:39 is we share some of the stories of our experiences 04:41 how kindness has been shown to us, 04:42 how we've shown people kindness, 04:44 and what difference it makes, 04:46 and how kindness is so vitally important 04:50 if you are a Christian. 04:52 But if you're not a Christian, you might say, 04:54 "I met a Christian that was kind to me, 04:57 " and that shows me that that fruit is evidence 05:00 that Jesus is operating in their lives. 05:02 Amen. Yes. 05:03 JD, have you ever had kindness shown to you? 05:06 Oh my! 05:07 Yes, yes. 05:10 You know, it tickled me when I saw the title of this 05:15 because... 05:18 Thank you, Jesus, that I do see myself as a kind person. 05:21 It just comes natural. 05:23 I mean, no, there is no book that says that, 05:25 well, the ABCs of kindness are, start with this, do this, this. 05:29 It just seems like that's part of your DNA. 05:32 And it seems to me like, that if you're kind, 05:36 people are just kind to you. 05:39 And I'm very fortunate that I married to Shelley, 05:42 Shelly is a kind person. 05:44 And I've noticed that as we travel, 05:46 we don't have any problems, you know, 05:47 people don't come up and shun you or anything, 05:51 it just seems like a conversation 05:52 just kind of takes place. 05:54 So there's something, I don't know how it all works, 05:56 you know, but there's something 05:58 that just seems like it goes out, 05:59 conversation start, and you get to talk about 06:02 whatever is the topic of the day 06:05 hoping that it'll come around to Jesus 06:07 because, you know, 06:08 we love to plant seed at the right place. 06:11 But let me thank a little bit about something in my own life 06:14 that really jumps out at me. 06:19 And something... 06:21 As my good friend, will get in the middle of his story, 06:23 he'll come to me. 06:27 Well, let's kind of go to the opposite of kindness. 06:30 But what I like us to do on our syllabus, 06:32 we have under question one, we have a simple question, 06:35 what does the Bible tell us about kindness. 06:37 And we're gonna begin with Galatians 5:22 and 23, 06:42 and we find clear in the scriptures 06:44 what the Bible talks about. 06:46 Now as JD is turning to it, 06:50 we have it on the syllabus here, 06:51 maybe it will save a little bit time. 06:53 But as he's turning to it, 06:54 let's read this first one together. 06:56 It says, and notice it begins with the word 06:58 but, which means it's contrasting to something 07:00 that was before it. 07:02 You know, the lust of the flesh, 07:05 the sins of lust 07:06 of all the evidences of a person 07:09 that's not filled by the Holy Spirit. 07:12 Well, let's read this together. 07:14 It says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, 07:17 joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, 07:22 faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 07:26 Against such, there is no law." That's right. 07:30 Against such, there is no law. 07:31 Have you ever met a mean person? 07:33 Yes. Xenia, can you kind of... 07:38 You don't have to tell me who they are. 07:40 Could have been a long time ago, 07:42 but what is it like to run into a person that's mean? 07:45 Seems to me that nowadays, 07:48 you find mean people everywhere. 07:51 And it's hard 07:53 because they take you by surprise 07:56 and so you don't know how to react to it. 08:01 But it's always nice to just respond 08:05 with a calm voice, so kind of to dissipate 08:09 and not to raise your voice like they are, 08:11 but I mean, sometimes I don't even have 08:13 to say weird things, 08:15 sometimes their attitude is not nice, 08:19 and you find that a lot. 08:21 If you're making a line, let's say, 08:23 to be at the theater or something like that, 08:26 there'll be that person that wants to run you off the line, 08:29 you know, cut off everybody, or you come up to the desk, 08:35 and the person on the other side of the desk 08:37 is not nice to you. 08:39 Yeah, so it's always hard and to think that 08:43 lot of times what I like to think is 08:46 they're having some kind of problem 08:48 because a lot of times, we think, 08:49 "Well, what did I do?" 08:52 Right, right. 08:53 And so I try to think, you know, 08:55 if they're having a hard day 08:58 or they're having a hard circumstance, 09:00 maybe that's why they acted this way. 09:02 Exactly. 09:03 So in other words, people are not always unkind 09:06 because they aren't necessarily unkind generally. 09:09 But sometimes in situations 09:11 where the worst part of them come out, 09:13 you know, circumstances sometimes 09:14 bring out the best of us, 09:16 or sometimes it brings out the worst of us. 09:18 Honey, what about you? Yeah, kindness begins at home. 09:21 Always say kindness begins at home. 09:23 I had a kind mother, very sweet kind mother. 09:27 And anybody comes in our home, you want something to eat, 09:32 you know, whatever you want. 09:33 You know, honey. Oh, I know that. 09:35 Yeah, kindness, and in our home, 09:36 it begins at home, 09:38 and I'm a brag on you a minute, okay? 09:41 I have, I believe, 09:42 one of the kindest husbands anyone could have. 09:46 He's very sweet, he's compassionate. 09:49 Even when I go to bed, he'll tuck me in my bed, 09:52 little things like that. 09:54 That means a lot, you know, little things, 09:56 little things truly do mean a lot. 09:58 You know, I'm... Thank you, honey. 10:01 I'm sick, you get up and run to the store for me. 10:03 Oh, you have a cold, let me go get you 10:05 some medicine, no matter what time it is. 10:08 I'm like, "No, no. I'm okay." 10:10 And you say, "No," or get me a cup of tea, ginger tea. 10:13 I like ginger tea with lemon, 10:15 and you'll get me my ginger tea. 10:17 And those are acts of kindness 10:18 which I do appreciate very much. 10:21 You know, as I said, no act of kindness 10:23 no matter how small it is, is ever wasted. 10:26 And so when we talk about kindness... 10:27 Thank you, honey. Just being honest. 10:30 Well, after the Sabbath. Good, I like that. 10:35 We have, through the years, grown together. 10:38 We were young and selfish when we met each other. 10:40 Yeah, we were. 10:41 But we learned to be kind through the years. 10:43 And kindness, as I think about it, 10:45 kindness is not something you demonstrate 10:47 as a Christian periodically 10:49 but kindness should be the very attitude 10:51 you have as a Christian. 10:52 I like that you put Brother Al and Xenia, 10:54 kindness is an attitude, sometimes people in line, 10:57 I remember being in the hospital once, 10:58 and this is years ago in California, and I was... 11:02 There was a form I didn't remember, 11:04 and I was supposed to go upstairs and get it. 11:06 The person behind the desk said "When you come back, 11:08 just come to the front of the line." 11:09 Well, when I came back, 11:12 three people walked right in front of me 11:13 three ladies walked right in front of me, 11:15 and my wife was already behind the counter waiting for me, 11:17 and it was another nurse behind a counter waiting for us, 11:20 and so the way they had it situated, 11:21 you can see the nurse looking over, 11:23 my wife looking over, it's like, "Come on already," 11:26 but I said, there are three people in front of me. 11:29 And the nurse said to my wife, "Is your husband a Christian?" 11:33 She told me that after, "Is your husband a Christian? 11:35 Because normally, I told him, 11:37 "Come straight to the front of the line," 11:38 but there were three ladies in front of him, 11:40 and he just stood there so patiently 11:41 and waited till they went. 11:42 And sometimes it's... 11:44 Sometimes your kindness is tested, Brother Louis? 11:46 That's right, yeah, there's many times that, 11:49 that's happened in all of our lives. 11:51 I mean, I remember growing up, specially now in my, 11:54 in Windsor in Canada where my family, 11:56 I would call it the Adventist hotel, 11:58 you know, when people come 11:59 and they want to stay in the area. 12:01 That's where they stay, at my dad's home. 12:04 But I've been on both sides, you know, 12:07 I used to have a boss that was very unkind, you know, 12:10 that pretty much drove me 12:12 into a depression time in my life. 12:15 And what I figured out at the end, 12:18 as though she was very depressed. 12:20 She didn't have the kind of home that I had, 12:24 she didn't have the love that I had in my home, 12:27 and the upbringing that I had. 12:29 So a lot of individuals, 12:31 this is so important for us to show 12:34 because this is the example that Christ gave to us. 12:37 Christ modeled kindness so we can... 12:41 And I love what you said, 12:42 this is not you reflect one, no, 12:45 it is the fruit which is you're reflecting 12:48 each one of those aspects in our lives, 12:50 and when you do that, 12:52 your neighbors are going to notice. 12:55 And I have a perfect example of that. 12:57 I had a neighbor when I was in Canada, 12:59 and we used to be friends, and I mentioned it before. 13:03 Not once did we speak about God, 13:05 not once do I speak about my religion. 13:07 We would speak about government, 13:09 about politics, about sports but at the very end, he said, 13:13 "You know what, I grew to hate you." 13:16 And I said, "Bob, why?" 13:18 And he says, "Because you reflect everything I'm not. 13:21 You're kind to your child, you're kind to your wife, 13:24 you always have a smile in your face 13:26 no matter what happens. 13:27 You have this glow about you. 13:30 But it's like, the more I got to know you, 13:33 the more I yearn for what you had." 13:35 And it's such an important thing 13:37 that we need to understand that kindness is the best way 13:41 for us to be able to reach individuals and to reflect, 13:45 and that might be the only Christ 13:47 that they see in their whole lifetime. 13:48 JD, I see you contemplating over there. 13:51 Well, I was just sitting here, going through some scriptures. 13:53 And normally when it comes to wisdom, 13:56 we always go to Proverbs, 13:58 you know, Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. 14:00 And it says here in Proverbs 19:17 and in 22, 14:05 "He who has pity," pity in this particular case, 14:08 lest you say has compassion or has sympathy, you know. 14:11 "He who has compassion on the poor," 14:14 the poor, necessarily, 14:16 we're not talking about monetarily here, 14:17 there's a lot of different types of, 14:19 as we're talking, you know, just he that has... 14:24 He who has a kind word, 14:25 he who does not have a kind word. 14:27 One would be poor than other. 14:29 Say, "He who has compassion on the poor lends to the Lord," 14:32 in other words, advances to the Lord. 14:35 He's doing... 14:36 The Lord is proud as He's looking down and sees, 14:39 you know, that a person has compassion 14:41 on someone else. 14:42 Then I love the B part here. 14:44 "And He," that's with a capital H, 14:47 "God will pay back what he has given," 14:50 and then it goes down to verse 22, 14:53 "What is desired in a man that is kind." 14:57 And so here, you know, 14:58 we're talking about kindness and so we're, 15:00 "Lord, thank You for the compassionate 15:03 that You put in my heart. 15:05 Thank You, Lord, that I care what happens to other people." 15:08 And at that particular time, 15:10 it's kind of like you get a pat on the back, 15:12 and you get an extra blessing for doing that, 15:15 and the kindness is the fruit that comes from that. 15:19 So I love that because it's kind of like 15:21 a person that does have compassion, 15:23 a person that does care, 15:25 a person that does extend their hand in time of need. 15:29 Well, we know that he is satisfying Jesus, 15:32 we know that, 15:33 with that it's going to come a blessing, 15:35 not that you're looking for a blessing, 15:36 to me, that's the cherry on the cake, you know. 15:38 Yeah, exactly. 15:39 But anyway, I just love that scripture. 15:41 And as you were talking, that kind of came to me. 15:44 Very good scripture, JD, because it says, 15:47 "What is desired in a man is kindness." 15:50 That's right. Kindness, and that happens... 15:54 Sometimes it happens in people who are just... 15:58 I would use the word, impromptu. 16:01 They could be in a situation, 16:03 and you might not even know them 16:05 but because they have practiced it so much, 16:07 you become a recipient of their kindness. 16:10 And you say, "Who is that person? 16:11 I don't know who they are." 16:13 They may have helped you to your cart 16:15 or your car from the store, 16:16 they may have picked something up, 16:18 or they may have just struck up a conversation with you, said, 16:20 Are you okay? Can I pray for you? 16:23 And so kindness is very much a fruit that everybody... 16:26 I like that what is desired in a man is kindness. 16:29 That's right. Yes. 16:30 I think that's what Mother Teresa 16:33 said when she said, 16:35 "Be the living expression of God's kindness, 16:38 kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, 16:42 kindness in your smile." 16:44 Amen. 16:46 Even in your face. 16:47 In your face, one of the sayings, 16:49 and I wrote down a couple of them. 16:51 Kindness is... 16:54 Speaking about kindness is the character 16:57 that a blind person can see, and a deaf person can hear. 17:03 Wow. Wow. 17:04 Wow. Wow. 17:06 I thought about it, then I said, "Man..." 17:08 Where did you get that from? 17:09 I don't remember, but I thought I wrote it down here, 17:11 but I didn't, actually I just remember. 17:13 I love that. 17:14 Kindness is the character that a deaf person can hear 17:17 and blind person can see. 17:20 And so what we need, 17:21 we're talking about this kindness 17:23 because we're Christians, 17:24 and you may be a part of a fellowship. 17:25 I know that some people go to church, and they say, 17:27 "Nobody talked to me, nobody approached me." 17:31 And then there are times when somebody would say, 17:36 to be, "To have a friend, 17:38 you must first show yourself to be friendly." 17:41 And sometimes people don't exude the spirit 17:44 that you could approach me 'cause it might be the, 17:47 "Who's going to talk to me? Who's going to talk to me?" 17:50 And you see that look and you think, 17:51 "I don't want to talk to that person. 17:53 I don't know who they are, 17:54 and they don't really look very, very approachable." 17:56 So one of the things we have to plant it, 17:57 if you want to experience kindness, 17:59 it might be very good to exude kindness. 18:03 You know, since we do a lot of traveling 18:06 going from church to church, 18:08 you can see those churches that are growing 18:10 because of their greeters. 18:12 You know, when you come into a church 18:14 and you've got these individuals, they just... 18:16 There's something about them 18:18 that they make you feel like a family instantly. 18:22 You know, I was born in Cuba, from there to Costa Rica, 18:26 went on to Canada, now I'm in United States, 18:30 so I have experienced not only called different areas 18:35 but the same cultures, 18:36 different cultures where you're going to. 18:39 And it's amazing how small the Adventist community is, 18:45 and how anywhere that you go, 18:48 you feel like you've been there for years, you know. 18:54 And most of the time, it's because of the warmth 18:58 that is in a church not when you don't get that. 19:02 When you're going to a church 19:03 and nobody pays attention to you 19:05 and you're sitting in the back, 19:07 it's hard for me because I'm a sanguine, 19:08 everybody has to say hi to me, there's no choice. 19:11 They don't have a choice whether to say hi to me or not. 19:14 But if you're an introvert, if you know, 19:16 you can easily slip into some churches, 19:18 sit down, and slip out, and nobody would say hi to you, 19:21 but you definitely do not get the same blessing 19:24 as when the kindness that God, 19:27 that Christ gave us and showed us 19:30 is bestowed upon you, 19:33 and it's so wonderful to be able to experience that. 19:36 And I'm hoping that by the program 19:38 that we're doing today, 19:40 we are actually showing somebody 19:42 and understand, letting individuals know 19:44 how the vitalness of this particular... 19:47 Kind. Right, how vital it is. 19:50 It takes two seconds, it could be a simple smile. 19:54 You might be having the worst day, 19:56 but a simple smile can change 19:57 an individual's lives completely. 20:01 You know, I got a letter last Sunday 20:03 when I was at the prison ministry, 20:05 one of the gentleman, he went on, whole letter going, 20:08 you know, "Boy, you look so... 20:11 You have touched our heart, you have done all this. 20:14 You know, you have seen that, 20:16 you have taken time from your family, 20:19 birthdays, anniversaries, 20:20 and things like that to come and see us. 20:22 We truly appreciate that 20:23 and now we get to see Christ in you." 20:26 It just made me cry almost to reading that letter 20:29 that a simple act, 20:31 that is what God is asking for us, 20:33 like you were saying, JD. 20:36 What is desired in a man is kindness. 20:37 To be kind to others just by you exerting that simple act. 20:43 God gives you so much more for you to be able that 20:47 it gets you to tears sometimes, 20:49 to do understanding the... 20:55 I know the word great, it's not the best but the... 20:57 The blessing of kindness. 20:58 The blessing of... 21:01 You know, it's got, 21:02 and following what you said in here, 21:03 talking about, here again, 21:05 let's talk about what we found in the Bible, 21:08 and that's Romans 12:10. 21:09 That's right. 21:11 Romans 12:10, and it says, 21:12 "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love." 21:16 In another words, in your Christian family, 21:19 be kindly affectionate. 21:20 In another words, go over there, 21:21 wrap your arms around them, 21:23 you know, give them that handshake, 21:24 give them that big smile, 21:26 let them know how much they're appreciated. 21:27 And it said, "Be kindly affectionate 21:29 to one another with brotherly love," especially, 21:32 and we're talking about within your parameters, you know. 21:35 I'm talking about our church right here. 21:37 "And honor giving preference to one another." 21:40 In other words, we're talking about, 21:42 you know, to that brotherhood. 21:44 And then it says here, literally what that saying is, 21:47 "Be kindly affectionate, especially be warm, 21:52 warm as close as the person is a relative." 21:57 So don't allow, you know, 21:58 just because you're not blood clan 22:00 doesn't mean that you can't go and you can't appreciate. 22:03 I remember, we came from a small church in Texas. 22:07 Oh man! We had Janie... 22:09 There's some small in Texas? 22:10 There is one little place, 22:13 and I just love my Santa Ana church, 22:16 Santa Ana SDA Church, 22:17 little bitty church out in the middle of nothing. 22:19 Well, it's really between two little mountains, you know. 22:21 And when I say little bitty mountains, 22:23 we're talking about two little mounts, you know, 22:25 that there are things in Texas 22:27 that are not as huge as the Rockies. 22:29 But anyway, Janie was our greeter. 22:34 Oh, Janie was unique. 22:35 She's probably about 5'0", and maybe 80 pounds. 22:41 But boy, when we had a visitor, 22:43 they knew that they had been greeted by Janie. 22:46 She would run to them, 22:48 she would throw her arms open like that, 22:50 and just hug them. 22:52 And if I saw, once I saw a dozen times the other person, 22:56 their eyes would get black this, you know, 22:58 and then they would see how sincere Janie is. 23:01 So having the right greeter, that is truly a gift. 23:07 But we're sitting here, and this was a vesper. 23:10 Now just think of how she treated 23:12 each one of the members. 23:14 Oh, she was a sweetheart. 23:16 And I had the opportunity to talk to one of our elders 23:19 a couple of days ago, 23:20 head elder at our little Santa Ana Church. 23:22 And, of course, I asked how was Janie, 23:25 and little Leroy? 23:27 Little Leroy was her husband. 23:28 Anyway, they were so special and they both love Jesus. 23:31 But we're talking about... 23:33 We're talking about kindness right now. 23:36 And this was exactly how well, how well put. 23:40 It was the first touch that a lot of people received. 23:42 And Janie, remember her, 23:45 remember that smile, big eyes, you know. 23:49 And some people kind of thought, 23:51 "Whoa! That's a little aggressive." 23:53 So what? That's right. 23:55 So what? Exactly. 23:56 I mean, that's exactly right. 23:59 And you saw quickly that there was no harm being, 24:02 this was Janie, this was loving, 24:06 and this was a gift that God gave her. 24:09 But as Christians, I believe that 24:12 that is our first impression we give 24:15 is that kindness that we show in our eyes, 24:18 and our smile, you know. 24:20 You're sitting there, you turn around, 24:21 what kind of face you give people, you know, 24:24 that you might now know anybody. 24:26 When you get out of your house, what does your neighbors see? 24:30 You don't have to talk to them or anything, you know, 24:32 they just see your face, they just see your smile, 24:35 and that's the first impression you give them. 24:38 Yeah, life is a testimony. That's right. 24:40 So when the Bible says let your light shine, 24:41 it doesn't just mean 24:43 the light of the doctrine that you believe, 24:44 it means the glory of God's love is... 24:47 And when that fruit is there, when that fruit is there, 24:51 then it's going to come out but if it's not there, 24:52 I like the way you say that because many greeters... 24:54 You may be a greeter in your church, 24:57 the greeter is the sermon way before you know. 25:00 Oh, yes. Yes, it is. 25:01 Oh, yes. 25:03 The greeter is the message long before the message is preached. 25:06 You see that first person... 25:08 We had an experience in the Paradise Valley Church 25:12 in Phoenix, Arizona. 25:15 Lila, I don't want to be too specific. 25:17 There was a young lady that walked in first time 25:20 in an Adventist church on a Sabbath morning. 25:22 Oh, yeah. You know. 25:23 Yeah, and here comes Dr. Lila. 25:25 Here comes Dr Lila, and she saw her sitting 25:27 in the fellowship hall by herself, 25:30 went to her, and greeted her. 25:31 Next thing you know, 25:33 this young lady came down to me, 25:35 and she said, 25:36 "This is my first time ever in an Adventist church, 25:39 my first time." 25:40 Twenty two years old, 25:42 the Lord was reaching out to her 25:43 and she found out about the Sabbath on the internet, 25:46 found out about the change of the Sabbath, 25:47 then she found out 25:49 about the Seventh-day Adventist church. 25:50 And then she thought to herself, 25:52 "Wow. Here I am living in Arizona. 25:54 Well, there must be a Seventh-day Adventist church 25:55 in the Middle East somewhere, I've never heard about that. 25:58 That' sad. That's what she said. 26:00 But she put the information in 26:02 and found out that the church we were at 26:03 was close to where she lived 26:05 and walked in and sat down. 26:06 And Dr. Lila went to her, 26:07 and raised her, brought her to us, 26:09 and that young lady said, 26:11 "The Lord has been working on me for the last two weeks, 26:13 in our meetings with the last two weeks." 26:16 That was the baptismal Sabbath, the last message. 26:19 And she walked in after this warm greeting 26:21 with tears in her eyes. 26:22 She says, "God told me that it's time for me 26:24 to give my life to the Lord. 26:25 What do I need to do to be baptized?" 26:27 Had Dr. Lila ignored her, 26:29 had they just act like she wasn't even there, 26:31 and what an experience. 26:33 It was. It's beautiful how... 26:36 We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. 26:39 That's right. 26:40 What we say, what we do. 26:42 Everything about that. 26:44 And look at a couple of examples 26:45 because I bring out some in the Bible 26:46 that are kind of unique experiences. 26:48 I want to go to Genesis 40:14. 26:51 This is a unique one 26:52 because Joseph is in prison for being wrongfully accused. 26:55 You remember that story? 26:57 And he meets a butler, 26:58 one of the ones he meets in the prison. 27:00 He meets a butler, and a butler and a candlestick maker... 27:03 Yeah, the baker. 27:05 And a baker and the candlestick, 27:06 that whole... 27:07 It's kind of like a riddle, you know. 27:09 Yeah, I'm just thinking. Go ahead, go ahead. 27:11 And they both have dreams, and Joseph said, 27:15 "Well, the Lord is the one who interprets dreams. 27:18 What was your dream you had?" 27:19 And he prays, and the Lord gives him 27:21 the understanding of the dream, 27:22 and he says, 27:23 "You're gonna be led out pretty soon 27:25 when you are released..." 27:29 Read that for us, honey, right here in Genesis 40:14. 27:34 It says, "But remember me when it is well with you 27:37 and please show kindness to me. 27:41 Make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house." 27:46 Please. 27:47 Get me out of here, I don't belong in here. 27:48 Say something good to Pharaoh for me. 27:51 And you think, he's out, what does he do? 27:54 He forgets. Forgets him, sad. 27:57 He forgets him. 27:59 But the seed was planted. 28:01 That's exactly right. 28:02 You see, and that's the thing that is so important. 28:04 A lot of the times, we forget all we go, 28:06 and how many Bible studies we give, 28:08 how many, all the life, we're constantly... 28:11 It's funny, 28:12 people remember the bad things you do rarely 28:16 always. 28:18 But the good, kind things, 28:19 they only remember when there is a time of need. 28:23 And a lot of times, that's what we need to understand. 28:25 We are the farmers that spread the seeds. 28:30 We can't do much more than that. 28:32 And kindness is one of the greatest seed 28:34 that we can throw out 28:36 because there's so much depression. 28:37 You look at the statistics right now. 28:40 A large majority of the communities 28:42 are depressed, 28:44 they don't know where they're going. 28:45 You listen to the news. 28:47 "Oh, we don't know where we're coming, 28:48 we don't know where we're going." 28:50 I'm like, "Read your Bible. We know where we're going. 28:53 We know where we came from, and we know where we're going." 28:55 But there are so many people that don't know those things. 28:58 And unless we understand 29:00 that we must always be seeding for Christ 29:02 because the moment you stop, 29:04 that's what they're going to remember, 29:05 and that first impression is the hardest. 29:07 And this is what that's saying. 29:09 "Yes, remember me." 29:11 He forgot for a little while 29:13 but when it was time, the light bulb came in, 29:17 and look at the change that happened in his life. 29:20 Joseph's life. 29:21 And I just like to take a moment 29:23 'cause there's probably lots of people out there 29:24 that may wonder what their ministry is. 29:26 And it could be just as a sower, 29:29 a sower of seed, 29:31 just a kind word, you know, 29:32 just that hug at the neck or whatever, you know. 29:34 So if you're having difficulty with that, 29:38 I know who the creator is 29:40 that can allow things to happen, 29:41 in fact, can make things happen. 29:44 And so if you will just ask, 29:45 "Lord, please use me. You've given me a gift." 29:49 And if I was a betting man, 29:52 I would say that the Lord will certainly put the right seed 29:55 into your heart 29:56 that will allow those seeds multiply to others. 30:00 There are so many ministries that are available out there. 30:03 There's a person in Canada that decided, 30:05 "Well, I'm bedridden, I can't do anything." 30:08 And you've heard the story, a church. 30:11 And she decided, "Okay, what I'm going to do, 30:13 I'm going to take the phone book 30:14 and I'm just going to start calling people 30:16 randomly from the phone book, inviting them to our church." 30:19 And she started, and she called 100 people to go 30:24 and they would invite them. 30:26 And all the sudden, there was a big revival, 30:28 and there was all these baptism, 30:29 and she's saying, 30:31 "Boy, that name strikes me familiar, 30:33 and that name strikes me familiar." 30:35 Twenty individuals of the ones that he had called 30:38 were baptized, 30:40 and that's all that this individual did. 30:42 Being kind to people that she doesn't even know. 30:44 That's right. 30:45 I want to throw another question out 30:46 and then I'll have one of you read this 30:48 under point number six on our syllabus here. 30:50 Actually point number four. 30:52 Yeah. 30:53 The question was asked very simply, 30:55 "How does the Bible reveal the need of those 30:57 that are being afflicted?" 30:59 This is a very important one. 31:00 Job 6:14, Xenia, would you read that for us? 31:03 "To him who is afflicted, 31:05 kindness to be shown by his friends 31:07 even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty." 31:11 Now this is an interesting one I thought about 31:12 because sometimes people say, 31:14 "He deserves what he's getting 31:16 because he turned away from God. 31:18 He shouldn't have any kind of kindness shown to him. 31:21 Look what kind of person he is." 31:23 But it says, "To him who is afflicted, 31:27 kindness should be shown by his friend even though," 31:30 that's the condition. 31:32 Those two words say, 31:33 doesn't matter what the situation is. 31:35 No matter what his life journey is all about. 31:38 Even though he's not a Christian, 31:40 even though he's a wild man, 31:42 even though he doesn't know God, 31:44 even though he may be 31:46 the worst person you met this week, 31:48 show him kindness. 31:50 And what difference does that make, JD? 31:51 Well, to me, thank you, Jesus, that I don't see in colors, 31:57 I don't see in personalities. 32:01 To me, it's all the same. 32:04 So I don't have that hurdle 32:06 that I have to jump across, you know. 32:09 Well, wait a minute here. 32:11 "Have you done this? Have you done this? 32:12 Have you done this? 32:14 Well, then I'll talk to you." 32:17 My mind doesn't work like that, my mind is just... 32:20 I would like to say that 32:22 if I had anything on my tombstone that, 32:23 "He was a sower of good seed." 32:25 And so that to me is a gift from God 32:30 that I don't take lightly, 32:32 but I think that it's there for everyone. 32:35 And so to answer that, you know, it says, 32:37 "Well, wait a minute here. 32:38 I know that these stories 32:40 that I've been hearing about you are true, 32:42 we don't even need to be associated with each other." 32:45 You know, to me, it's just say, 32:46 "Hey, I understand you've got some problems. 32:48 Well, I do too. 32:50 Maybe you can help me, and I can help you." 32:53 And just, Lord's the one who's in charge, 32:57 you go from there so. 32:59 'Cause you never know what gets a person to it... 33:00 You don't, you don't. 33:02 No, no, no. 33:03 I mean, they can snap actually, just that fast too. 33:07 "Get out of my face. 33:09 I don't want to hear this kind of thing, you know. 33:11 I mean, I've heard this since I was a kid." 33:14 Wow. 33:15 Xenia? 33:17 Well, I have one in Acts 28:2. 33:22 I would wish that that would be said of me, 33:25 when people meet me. 33:26 It says, "And the natives show those unusual kindness, 33:30 for they kindled the fire, and made us all welcome 33:34 because of the rain that was falling, 33:36 and because of the cold." 33:38 So the people that become acquainted with me 33:40 be able to say, you know, 33:42 she opened herself, she opened her house, 33:46 whatever it was to what's going. 33:48 Isn't it amazing 33:50 because when you're a pastor, I don't know if this is true 33:52 but everybody, but my mind sees literally and spiritually. 33:57 And there are people 33:59 who are in a cold experience of their lives. 34:03 There are people who rain is falling on them. 34:06 And all they need to alleviate that suffering 34:09 is some warm fire being kindled. 34:12 Warm them up. 34:14 Honey, didn't we do that once in Weaverville? 34:16 Oh, man. I say... 34:17 A few times, we took... 34:18 A few times, you know, even at our own behest, 34:20 we didn't know how dangerous it was. 34:23 But the Lord, sometimes, 34:26 He allows you to show people kindness 34:28 and then it breaks them, 34:29 then you find it, we had a father and son. 34:31 Father and son. 34:33 Yeah. 34:34 So I just drove up to our church 34:36 on a Tuesday afternoon. 34:37 From Arkansas. 34:38 Yeah, I was from... 34:40 No, actually it was from, not Arkansas... 34:41 Joplin, Missouri. Joplin, Missouri. 34:42 Yeah. 34:44 And if you're watching this program, boy, 34:45 I'd love to get in touch with you. 34:47 Because this story, I wrote a song about him, 34:48 I hadn't recorded it yet. 34:50 It's called 'A Man and his Son.' 34:51 The words are, "A man and his son 34:53 Were out on the run heading nowhere 34:56 They pulled off the road 34:57 To lighten the load that they had 34:59 They saw a small steeple 35:01 And then they found people right there 35:03 And what they did not know 35:05 Is you will come to show them you care 35:07 They were out on the go 35:10 And what they did not know 35:12 Is there is no place you can find them 35:14 And so this father and son 35:16 pulled up on a Tuesday afternoon, 35:17 because we had just older people at our church. 35:19 We had too ages, very, very old, 35:21 very, very young. 35:22 Couldn't drive during the night time. 35:24 And so we had this prayer meeting. 35:26 They pulled up and he said, 35:27 "I need some help so where are you going?" 35:29 He says, "Anywhere, nowhere." 35:32 "Well, how can we help you?" 35:34 "Need some gas money, maybe get some food." 35:36 He said last, he said, "I'm an Adventist." 35:38 so he pulled out his Revelation seminar Bible, 35:40 certificate of completion which is like, 35:43 that was his evidence as an Adventist 35:45 but what that meant was he attended Revelation seminar. 35:48 And he said... 35:50 Good for him. Yeah. 35:53 And the last Sabbath church, he said he attended now, 35:55 I mean, he stopped at the pastor gave him 42 cents. 35:58 I thought, "Oh, what could you do with 42 cents." 36:01 So we said, "Well, what do you need?" 36:03 "Well, some money for food and gas." 36:06 "Okay. 36:07 Well, you're in hurry to go anywhere?" 36:09 "No." 36:10 "Hey, just hang out a little bit. 36:11 Hang out a little bit." 36:13 And so our church members took him in a Nissan 36:14 and gave him some food. 36:15 "Are you in a rush to go anywhere?" 36:17 Not yet. Okay. 36:19 "Are you in rush to go anywhere?" 36:20 "Well, not really." 36:22 "Well, hey, I want you to stay in town a little bit." 36:23 So, "Well, okay." 36:25 So we put him up in a motel for five days, 36:28 that church did and said, 36:31 "Any particular destination you have?" 36:33 "No, we just kind of out on the go, 36:35 just going nowhere." 36:36 "Hey," we came to church at Sabbath, and we said, 36:40 "How's it going?" "Pretty good," he said. 36:41 "Well, you're looking for a work or anything?" 36:43 So we get... 36:44 the county gave him a stack of paper, 36:46 they try to discourage you from staying in town, 36:48 so they must have given him 36:49 like 40 pieces of paper to fill out. 36:50 And all of us got together and helped him. 36:52 He got assistance. 36:53 He got assistance, and financial support, 36:54 and all that. 36:56 But meanwhile, he's in the hotel. 36:58 And he said, "Okay, see you later," and he left. 37:00 And I went to the gas station to get some fuel, gas. 37:03 My wife calls it gas, I call it fuel. 37:06 And I saw up at the gas station, 37:07 I said, "You okay?" 37:08 He said, "Yeah." 37:10 I pulled up and he was still getting gas, and I was leaving. 37:12 And he was still there and I said, "You leaving? 37:14 I'm going." 37:15 "Good to see you, pastor, take care." 37:17 "But aren't you leaving too?" "Yeah, I'm leaving." 37:18 "Well, go ahead. What's wrong?" 37:23 He said, "Well, we got put out of hotel 37:27 'cause my son has little temper and he broke something." 37:31 "So where are you guys staying?" 37:32 "Well, right outside of town up on the side of road. 37:35 As you go outside of town, there's a turn off there, 37:37 we stay there." 37:39 "And what are you doing for food?" 37:42 "Well, kind of whatever we get." 37:44 And so he said, 37:46 "Well, I'm waiting for you to leave 37:47 because my battery is dead, I can't get my van started." 37:51 He said, "It's been dead all week long. 37:53 I get people to jumpstart it." 37:54 Well, how do you get it start in morning?" 37:55 Well, put it in neutral and pushes, 37:58 so it starts going downhill, and we kick it in the gear." 38:01 I said, "That's not right. Come and move in with us." 38:04 Still don't know who they are. No. 38:08 White man and his young white son, 38:10 I'm telling you that for a particular reason, 38:12 there's a purpose for this. 38:13 So he comes in and it was around Christmas. 38:19 My wife bought him a gift, and we bought... 38:21 We didn't have much. We didn't have much. 38:23 I was making $500 a month, that was stipend. 38:26 We had JCPenney's credit card. 38:29 It's all we bought and gave them. 38:30 Yeah, we got him shirt, got something for his son. 38:33 And he's sitting at the table after we had Christmas dinner, 38:38 and he said, "Dale, go outside. 38:41 Craig, go outside, Dale and Craig." 38:44 And he said, "Go outside, play with your car." 38:46 And he came and he said, 38:47 "I got to tell you guys something." 38:49 He said, "First of all, this is my name." 38:50 He told us his name, he says, 38:54 "I was a police officer in Joplin, Missouri. 38:58 I've been out on the run from the law." 39:02 He told his situation. 39:04 He said, "I got to tell you something else." 39:08 He said, "My son and I, 39:12 we don't like anybody that's not white 39:14 until we met you guys." 39:17 And he started to tear up and start to cry, he said, 39:19 "I don't know what it is. We never met nobody like you. 39:24 You don't know who we are, you gave us a room, 39:27 your church took us in. 39:29 You've been so kind to us." 39:31 He said, and he told us the rest of his story, 39:33 I want to be kind of discreet. 39:35 He said, "Just to verify it, let me call my mother. 39:37 She probably doesn't even know where we are. 39:39 But I'm gonna call and talk to her on the phone. 39:41 You could find out that I'm telling you the truth." 39:43 Yeah, he used to be 39:44 in particular position of authority 39:46 in state of Missouri, 39:47 and she told me about what happened. 39:49 And he said, "You know what, this Sabbath, 39:52 I'm coming to church." 39:53 And he came to church that Sabbath 39:54 and stood up and told his testimony. 39:56 He says, "Well, I'm going back to where I came from, 39:58 and the moment I enter town, 39:59 I know I'm going to get arrested, so is my son 40:01 'cause something happened," 40:02 and said, "we're going to serve our time..." 40:04 And it was a situation that was not, 40:05 they were not straight out criminals. 40:08 But something happened in their family, 40:09 the family fell apart, the dad took it out one way, 40:11 the son took it out another. 40:13 And he said, "When I'm done serving my time, 40:16 we're coming back to live here, and we will do." 40:19 But we left before they came back. 40:21 We got a letter from them. 40:23 I have it in my file to this very day. 40:26 And you know what, the nutshell of that story was, 40:30 and the natives showed us unusual kindness, 40:34 for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome. 40:38 Boy, what a story! Wow, wow. 40:39 I know. 40:41 Because of the rain that was falling, 40:42 because of the cold. 40:44 I don't know why it's touching me like this, 40:45 but you know, 40:48 when I was reading that, it's powerful story. 40:49 When I was reading that, that's what happened to me. 40:51 It just connected. 40:52 You know, when I was three months old, 40:54 there was rain falling in my life. 40:56 And husband, 40... 41:00 his wife was 50, and he was 49, 41:02 and they showed my sister and I unusual kindness. 41:07 Somebody do something. 41:09 I don't play on this, 41:11 but my whole life just came back to me. 41:13 They didn't have to give us anything. 41:14 No, they didn't. 41:16 I mean, you can't get any more precious than this. 41:18 Wow, wow. 41:20 I had a great time today with one of our guys 41:23 who came up just talking about kindness. 41:27 3ABN's been very kind to this young man. 41:30 But he's been very kind to show us the reciprocation. 41:33 But what was beautiful about is he would sit down 41:36 and he was starting, he was just saying, 41:37 "Oh, God is so good to me." 41:39 And then a big tear fell. 41:41 And then he says, 41:42 "I just can't really explain it. 41:43 I don't even really know what's going on in my life right now." 41:46 Now, not one tear but those tears are multiplied. 41:49 And now his face just becomes wet. 41:52 This is in our own building there. 41:56 The Holy Spirit is working all the time, you know. 41:58 Holy Spirit is there because we are loving. 42:03 He was just... 42:05 I'm just, whatever office I walk into today, 42:07 I just can't hold it back any longer. 42:09 I've just got to say how good Jesus is to me. 42:12 Amen. Amen. 42:14 And so you're sitting here when I saw the tears 42:17 that remind me of this precious young man today. 42:20 You know, the Holy Spirit is out there 42:22 working in all of our lives. 42:24 Yes, it is. Yes. 42:26 I came across this printout. This is kindness rules. 42:32 I want you to read it. Oh, sure. 42:34 Kindness rules. 42:36 Okay, here we go. 42:38 You have this poetic voice. 42:39 "Treat people how you'd like to be treated 42:43 Say I love you right loving notes 42:47 Say please and thank you and mean it 42:51 Forgive, give." 42:54 Okay, forgive, then it says give. 42:56 "Respect everyone 42:58 Don't hurt others on the inside or outside 43:04 Hug, listen 43:07 It's nice to be nice 43:10 Share, lend, help 43:15 Say good morning," and so true. 43:19 "Smile, encourage, inspire, offer, 43:24 donate, compliment, 43:27 open doors. 43:30 When you get new clothes, give away something old." 43:35 We got lot to give away. 43:37 "Give flowers, apologize." So true. 43:43 "Support, let everyone play 43:47 Play fair 43:50 Do all the good you can in all the ways you can 43:56 Kindness, you." 43:57 That's beautiful. You know, it's interesting. 44:00 You talked about simple gesture as opening doors. 44:04 The enemy has done to our young kids 44:08 that disjustice. 44:09 Our generations, my, and my kids' generation, 44:15 we were kind of shun into opening doors for people. 44:18 You know, people say, 44:20 "You're just being, you know, whatever. 44:23 I can open my own door." 44:25 And that's happened to me several times, you know. 44:29 A simple gesture for an individual, 44:33 it means a lot to them. 44:34 So even though somebody may tell you several times, 44:38 and that's you're being annoying 44:39 or let me be, 44:41 it doesn't matter, do it to the tenth person 44:43 because that's the one that God has asked you to do. 44:46 And there's many times, Pastor, that you just mentioned, 44:49 we didn't even know these people, 44:51 we had no idea who they were. 44:52 And there are so many people that lose the blessing 44:55 that the pastor look to this day, 44:57 he's still tearing up 44:58 because they're listening to all of these stories 45:00 that are happening in the background. 45:02 And then when somebody comes to their church, 45:04 they give him 45 cents. 45:06 What are you going to do with that? 45:07 You know what I mean, until you open up your heart, 45:11 you know, we're talking about traveling to areas 45:14 that there are going to be volcanoes and all that, 45:16 and that's where I'm listening to the story about volcanoes, 45:19 and I'm saying, "Wait a minute, you've got God on your side. 45:22 You can have volcanoes all around you, erupting you. 45:24 God's not done with you. 45:26 When God's not done with you, you can travel to the world 45:29 where there's five volcanoes erupting around you. 45:32 And you're going to say, "Doesn't the Psalm say 45:35 there'll be 10,000 on one side and 10,000 another, 45:38 and they won't harm you. Preach, preach. 45:40 You know, and those are the things 45:41 that the only time 45:43 that God's going to be done with you 45:45 is when you don't have the fruit of the Spirit, 45:47 that's when you're going to... 45:48 Until then, 45:50 God is going to take you through 45:51 whatever issue in your life, 45:53 and that's what's so beautiful about this particular program 45:56 because it is so simple. 45:58 And like you were saying earlier, JD, 46:03 you have no idea, 46:04 "Wait a minute. 46:06 People are so kind to me because I'm kind to them." 46:09 So every time that God asked you to do something, 46:11 it's because He knows that what's coming back to you 46:15 is going to come ten times greater 46:16 than what you're giving out. 46:18 I want to be on the other side of this 46:20 because he's saying, you know, go ahead and open doors. 46:23 But you have to be willing 46:25 for people to do these things to you. 46:28 In this generation, especially for ladies, 46:31 it's like, "I don't need help, I can do it on my own. 46:35 I can carry my groceries. I can pull that box. 46:39 I can do everything. You're as good as a man. 46:42 So we need to humble ourselves 46:45 to the point that we cannot set 46:47 the kindness that is shown to us is not... 46:50 They're not saying we can't do it, 46:52 they're just showing kindness to us. 46:55 And why do we have to hamper somebody's spirit 46:58 by not accepting their kindness. 47:00 Yes, yes. You do that with me. 47:02 You said, "I can do." I said, "I know you can." 47:04 I can do it. 47:05 I have this big old box I'm going to pick up, 47:07 he'll run and pick up that big old box for me. 47:10 I said, "Oh, I can get this, it's not that bad." 47:12 "No, I'll get it." 47:14 I come home with groceries in my hand, 47:16 he'll run to the door and grab the groceries 47:18 out of my hand 47:19 and put it in the kitchen for me. 47:21 And I always sort of pick up the lightest suitcase 47:23 and which one she picks up the heaviest. 47:25 She sling it out the car and said, 47:26 "Honey, pick up the lighter..." 47:28 You know, from the eyes 47:29 that I'm looking to get right now, 47:31 this is just showing me more that you're a man's man. 47:33 You know, I mean, wow, this is the way it ought to be. 47:37 And boy, it's exciting to be 70 years old, having Grey hair 47:41 because in opening of a door, 47:44 I can imagine somebody and say, "No, I get my own door." 47:48 But there's a respect that if you're 70 years old, 47:52 and you have Grey hair, it seems like, 47:54 "Thank you for opening door for me." 47:58 I mean, I love being the saints. 48:00 Yes, there are some things that you can't do. 48:02 Yes, you're a lot slower, you know, 48:04 yes, you'll forget this word or that word 48:06 but still, it's a wonderful time. 48:07 Thank you, Jesus. 48:09 But let me bring up one thing here right quick. 48:13 Nola, Nola was my favorite horse, 48:17 just a little boy, 48:19 didn't know anything about horses, 48:21 raised on a ranch, 48:22 so expected of me to be able to put my chaps on, 48:25 put my spurs on, my boots on, put my little hat on, 48:28 get on Nola and ride into the sunset. 48:32 My daddy picked me up on Nola, put me on the back, 48:36 Nola butt me off so fast. 48:39 Scared me absolutely that my eyes, 48:42 you can't imagine how big were they, 48:44 what's just happened, you know. 48:46 Well, of course, daddy says, in old school, 48:49 well, we're not gonna remember this 48:51 that you got bucked off, 48:52 we're going to do this again. 48:54 But Nola butt me again. 48:56 Now where does kindness come into this? 49:01 Yeah. 49:02 All of a sudden, Nola knew what she could get by with. 49:06 She didn't put up with this little old 30, 40-pound guy, 49:09 you know, that now if I was too heavy. 49:11 If I was my size today, 49:13 shouldn't I have to take a deep breath, you know. 49:16 But anyway, there comes the word kindness, 49:22 and then there comes the word firmness. 49:25 Somehow the other, that's got to be balanced. 49:28 You know, as you're telling about the volcano. 49:32 For greater is He that is in us than he is in the world. 49:34 Yes, we certainly know that God is going to put 49:36 His protection around His people, you know. 49:38 But still volcanoes are... 49:42 They're dangerous, and we certainly need to go in. 49:45 As I found out from that early age, 49:48 my next horse... 49:50 Nola and I never came eye to eye. 49:55 Nola was always able to butt me off 49:57 or to find the lowest tree to run me under. 50:00 Anything that was to get little Jimmy Quinn 50:03 off of this horse, you know. 50:04 And then Nola, and it is true 50:06 that horses always go back to the barn. 50:09 I mean, so I could be a quarter of a mile from home, 50:11 Nola could throw me off, and she's gone. 50:15 And man, did I learn 50:17 the old lesson of walking back to the house. 50:20 But she'd be in the barn. 50:21 She is in the barn 50:22 and she is just there like nothing, 50:24 just fluttering flies, you know. 50:26 But anyway, there does come a time for firmness. 50:31 Now my dad didn't put up with Nola stuff. 50:35 So, you know, he just got on that, 50:37 Nola didn't dare to jump. 50:40 Nola behaved just so perfectly. 50:42 But he had been firm with her at an earlier age. 50:46 I didn't understand that firmness at that time, 50:49 and so, you know, I do believe in being kind. 50:53 You can be certainly kind and be weak. 50:55 That's right. 50:56 Or you can be firm in who you are 50:58 and know who you are as a person. 51:00 And so there is some where there is that balance. 51:03 And you know, whenever we were talking about kindness, 51:05 you know, boy, Nola came to mind. 51:07 I love this horse, 51:08 and I was kind to my next horse. 51:10 I experience the same thing 51:12 because when I was a youth, I learn to be afraid of horses. 51:16 I was the first in our neighborhood 51:18 to have a four-wheeler. 51:19 You know, you can round up caliber with a four-wheeler too 51:22 and they don't throw you off, you know. 51:24 So you know, there came this, the balance, you know. 51:29 The balance is important, 51:30 that's why there's a text I want to include. 51:32 Go to point number five about Isaiah 54:8. 51:34 I'm gonna have you read that. 51:36 Because the Lord is firm and is kind. 51:38 Amen. Yes. 51:40 We don't expect the Lord to be a pushover. 51:41 I like that example of Nola. 51:43 I won't forget that for a long time. 51:45 But as the father 51:46 who didn't take any stuff from Nola, 51:49 Nola knew it. 51:50 And we have a Heavenly Father who is kind to us. 51:53 But by no means is He going to clear the guilty, 51:56 you know, He says in the Bible. 51:57 But look at this passage, Isaiah 54:8. 52:00 Read that for us, dear honey. 52:01 54:8, it says, 52:03 "With a little wrath 52:05 I hid my face from you for a moment. 52:09 But with everlasting kindness, I will have mercy on you' 52:16 says the Lord your redeemer.' 52:18 Notice that? Wow. 52:20 So the Lord, "With a little wrath 52:22 I hid my face from you for a moment. 52:24 But with everlasting kindness, I will have mercy on you. 52:27 Thank you, Jesus. 52:29 And so there's a balance between firmness and kindness. 52:32 We're not, by any means, communicating the idea 52:34 that we should be pushovers or marshmallow Christians, 52:36 but we ought to recognize 52:38 that the fruit of the Spirit demands more of us 52:40 than it does of a person who doesn't know Jesus. 52:42 No. Amen. 52:43 I think the purpose of this topic was that 52:46 I was looking through some very famous individuals, 52:48 it says that you can accomplish by kindness 52:50 what you cannot accomplish by force. 52:52 You see, like Nola. 52:54 Nola accomplished by force 52:56 what she didn't accomplished by kindness. 52:58 But we are Christians, we must accomplish by kindness 53:00 what we cannot accomplish by force. 53:02 And kindness is loving people more than they deserve. 53:05 Amen. Amen. 53:07 Very well said. Wow. 53:08 Because even in the church sometimes, 53:10 like you were pointing out, 53:12 the teller might have a difficult day, 53:13 or the person that you saw in the store 53:15 might have a difficult day, 53:16 or the person in line just, 53:18 "I'm getting out of the store. 53:19 I don't care what your cart has. 53:20 I don't care anymore." 53:22 They might have, you know, ten items... 53:23 You don't know what they have gone through. 53:24 You have no idea. 53:26 You know, that reminds me of a program 53:27 that I just heard a couple of days ago, 53:29 a today program of a gentleman that was asked by his boss, 53:32 "Hey, can you do this task for me on the Sabbath?" 53:35 And you know, he says, "I'm desperate. 53:38 This is, I must have it done." 53:40 And he says, "I'm sorry but this is what I've learned, 53:42 and this is what, you know, 53:43 the Sabbath is sacred to me, you know." 53:46 And he says, "Well, then you're not going to come back 53:49 on Monday morning, you know. 53:52 You're going to lose your job." 53:53 And he says, 53:54 "Well, you got to do what you got to do." 53:56 And he didn't, he was firm, 53:58 he could have said, "Well, I needed to be kind, 54:01 they were desperate." 54:02 But because he was firm, 54:04 not only did they took him back, 54:05 they gave him a higher position 54:07 not only from there, he went on to, 54:09 now he is an evangelist in one of our conference, 54:12 you know, because he was firm, 54:14 so a lot of the times in the video says, 54:15 "Wait a minute, you're a Christian, 54:18 you need to be kind, 54:19 and you know, I'm in a desperate position right now. 54:21 You need to do this." 54:23 No, there's a difference between being kind 54:25 and staying with what God has asked you to do 54:28 because God knows best. 54:30 You know, if they fired you at that moment, 54:33 they still didn't have somebody to do that job. 54:36 So if you were firm with God, if you trust God, 54:39 if you're firm with individuals, 54:41 and you trust God, God will enable. 54:44 God will do the need that this individual has. 54:47 They will fulfill it, 54:49 but at the same time, 54:50 they would understand what kind of person you are. 54:51 That's right. 54:53 Abraham Lincoln said, "Kindness is the only service 54:54 that will stand the storm of life 54:56 and not washout. 54:58 It will wear well 54:59 and will be remembered 55:01 long after the prism of politeness 55:03 or the complexion of courtesy has faded away, kindness. 55:07 Notice, I like the way that the prism of politeness 55:10 or the complexion of courtesy, 55:12 long after all those things have forgotten, 55:14 kindness will still be remembered. 55:17 Ellen White says in Patriarchs and Prophets, 55:19 page 574, 55:21 read that for us here, honey. Sure. 55:22 It says, "Integrity in little things, 55:27 the performance of little acts of fidelity, 55:31 and little deeds of kindness will gladden the path of life. 55:36 And when our work on earth is ended, 55:39 it will be found that 55:41 every one of the little duties faithfully performed 55:45 has exerted an influence for good, 55:49 and influence that can never perish." 55:52 Isn't that wonderful, JD? 55:53 Amen. Amen. 55:54 You know, we have just a little less 55:56 than two minutes here. 55:57 Anything you want to add to this 55:59 before we cap it off, JD? 56:00 Well, in your syllabus here, 56:03 I wanted to read what one person said 56:06 who was the president of the United States 56:07 as a matter of fact at one time, 56:09 Ronald Reagan. 56:10 I love this. 56:11 "Live simply, love generously, 56:15 care deeply, speak kindly, 56:20 and then leave the rest to God." 56:22 Amen. That's right. 56:24 I mean, you know, that's the... 56:25 Speak kindly. Yeah. 56:26 That's right. 56:28 And so those are the things that... 56:29 And this is something that as Christians, 56:31 and we've talked about this in some of our examples, 56:34 analogies, our experiences of life 56:36 how kindness goes a long way. 56:39 I love that quotation where it says, 56:41 "It's the language which the deaf can hear 56:43 and the blind can see." 56:44 My favorite one. 56:46 And so you might be in a situation 56:47 where your life is maybe going through a storm, 56:49 or it's raining on you, 56:51 or maybe you ran into somebody whose life was being rained on, 56:55 and you just was impressed by the Lord 56:57 to lift their burden, and be kind to them. 57:00 This is an act that will never go unrewarded 57:05 because as you would have others to do to you, 57:10 do also like ones. 57:12 Amen. What do we call that? 57:14 Golden rule. 57:15 And so here at 3ABN, 57:17 we believe the golden rule is transforming 57:18 all of our lives, those who work here, 57:21 and those who minister here, 57:22 and those who are being ministered by what we do here. 57:25 So may the Lord show you kindness, 57:27 may kindness of the Lord be shown through you, 57:29 for my wife, and I, and JD, and Luis, and Xenia, 57:34 God bless you until we see you again. 57:35 Be kind. Happy Sabbath. 57:38 And Happy Sabbath. |
Revised 2018-05-02