Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL190016A
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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 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, and welcome to another 3ABN Today Live. 01:13 My name is Jason Bradley, 01:14 and I'm so happy that you could join us this evening. 01:17 We have a powerful two hours planned for you 01:21 where you'll get SALT update, 01:23 as well as we'll be talking about 01:26 how Service Builds Character. 01:29 SALT is no stranger to 3ABN. 01:34 Perhaps you've seen another interview with them, 01:37 they have a very powerful ministry. 01:39 And so we'll be taking a look at practical Christianity, 01:43 as well as various other aspects of their ministry. 01:48 And tonight, another exciting thing 01:51 is the fact that you get to be my co-host. 01:56 And what do I mean by that? 01:57 Well, we will be taking questions. 02:00 And we will ask questions in the second hour. 02:03 So we'll be looking for your questions. 02:05 You can send those questions to live@3abn.tv 02:11 or you can call (618) 627-4651. 02:15 So we'll be taking those questions in the second hour. 02:18 Make sure you send us your questions 02:21 in regards to the ministry of SALT 02:24 in finding your purpose. 02:26 All right, Eric Camarillo. 02:28 We have Eric and he's the president. 02:31 And you also added some more letters 02:33 behind your name, Eric. 02:35 Yeah. Yeah, I have MNM after my name. 02:39 Now I got my master's 02:40 in nonprofit management last Friday. 02:43 Okay. 02:44 Yeah, so I've graduated now, no more homework. 02:47 No more staying up till 3:00 in the morning doing papers, 02:51 you know, that's all. 02:52 It's all behind me now. 02:53 So the President of SALT Outreach, 02:55 and then we have Lo-Ammi Richardson, 02:57 who is an Evangelist 03:00 and Harvest Director for SALT Outreach. 03:03 Yes. 03:04 You got to tell us about that? 03:06 And what is Harvest? What is that? 03:09 Well, the title kind of, 03:11 the name kind of came up with Eric 03:12 as he was kind of developing 03:13 what we're gonna do on the Spiritual Emphasis 03:16 with the organization and he's like, man, 03:18 "Well, we sow a lot of seeds throughout the community, 03:21 we need to harvest them. 03:22 Harvest Director and that's how it kind of came up. 03:24 So my job is to kind of focus 03:26 on the spiritual element of SALT 03:28 and create programs to harvest the souls 03:31 that we've been ministering to in the city of Orlando. 03:33 Nice, nice. 03:34 And, Eric, what does SALT stand for? 03:36 Yeah, SALT's an acronym for Service and Love Together. 03:39 We actually have our logo, updated logo, actually. 03:43 And you see it's on a clock. 03:46 And, you know, and, you know, 03:49 I guess a plug here is the SALTstore.org. 03:53 Is a place we started selling some SALT merchandise, 03:55 but you see, there that we added a slogan 03:58 "At Your Service." 04:00 Our vice president Esau Vargas came up with that slogan 04:03 and it's stuck ever since. 04:05 He has millions ideas, and this one actually stuck. 04:08 I like, I love it like so At Your Service, 04:10 what can we do to serve? 04:11 And better use of SALT At Your Service. 04:14 That is awesome. Right. 04:15 That is awesome. 04:16 So tell me a little bit about your background 04:18 and your upbringing? 04:20 Were you always in the church? 04:22 Yeah. 04:23 So I was raised as a Catholic, 04:27 you know, my parents, you know, will go to church, 04:31 every now and then on Sundays. 04:33 And, you know, I didn't really believe, 04:36 I just kind of went along with emotions. 04:40 It wasn't until I was going through a downtime. 04:43 I had a Bible that someone had bought me 04:45 just a few months prior 04:46 and I flipped through and the words 04:48 in red caught my attention. 04:49 So I started reading the Sermon on the Mount. 04:52 After I started reading that, 04:53 I started to feel this comfort I hadn't felt before and, 04:57 you know, I called up some groups of friends 04:59 and they were Christians 05:01 and two of them happen to be Seventh-day Adventist 05:03 and other nondenominational group. 05:04 And, you know, about three months later 05:07 I was baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 05:09 Wow, that's awesome. 05:11 What about you, Lo-Ammi? 05:12 Well, mine was quite the opposite. 05:13 I kind of grew up in the Adventist Church, 05:15 you know, grew up in a Christian home 05:16 where you had morning, evening devotions. 05:18 If you ever attended a black church, 05:19 it's all day event, 05:21 so I literally grew up in the church seven days 05:23 out of the week, 05:25 Home Church and then Pathfinders 05:26 and then AY and Choir 05:28 and everything else in between. 05:29 But just because you go to church doesn't mean 05:32 that you have a saving relationship with Jesus. 05:33 And so, at the time, 05:35 I kind of drifted away from God 05:37 and pursued a career in basketball 05:39 and got caught up in drugs 05:41 and, you know, violence, and fighting, 05:42 and, you know, everything else in between, 05:44 and just was drawn to the things of the world. 05:46 And eventually, 05:48 you know, my sister invited me to a conference called GYC, 05:52 Generation of Youth for Christ, 05:53 which is a youth conference that meets up once a year. 05:56 And she said, "You've been sponsored." 05:57 Well, a little bit I know, the person 05:59 who sponsored me was my mother. 06:00 She always was laboring for my soul. 06:02 And so... Yes. 06:03 Long story short, you know, 06:05 I went to that conference and completely changed my life. 06:07 And I've been in full time evangelism 06:08 and ministry ever since. 06:10 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 06:11 Yeah, I think it's always nice to really get to know 06:13 the people behind the ministry. 06:16 You know, because they see this side of you, 06:21 but, you know, they don't know the background. 06:24 So that's always important. 06:25 Right now, we're gonna take a brief break 06:27 and go to some music. 06:29 Before we get deeper into this interview, 06:31 and we're going to be blessed in song by Lake Jones, 06:34 "How Deep The Father's Love For Us." 06:49 Well, that's the fun thing with live TV, right? 06:53 Yeah. 06:55 Live television sometimes a button gets pressed 06:56 and it doesn't work, but you role with it anyway. 06:59 That's right. 07:00 We could sing too, but I don't know... 07:02 I don't think that's a good idea. 07:03 Probably not a good idea. 07:04 I don't think we're called for different ministry. 07:06 I think we should talk about SALT. 07:07 Okay, yeah, that's better. 07:09 I like that. Yeah. 07:10 We talk about SALT. 07:11 So what are some of the things 07:13 that you guys do within the community? 07:16 I know, you said you're in Orlando. 07:18 Yes. 07:20 So what are some things that you focus on? 07:21 Yeah, so as far as Outreach is concerned, 07:24 we have our hospital outreach, 07:26 we have groups of volunteers 07:28 that go out room to room in the hospital, 07:30 they sing and pray with patients. 07:33 And, you know, we have many testimonies 07:34 that come out of that, 07:36 you know, when you lose your health, 07:38 I mean, you're at the bottom, 07:40 you know, and so when volunteers come in, 07:41 and they kind of offer hope, 07:44 it really makes a difference, you know, 07:46 and so we have a good volunteers to do that. 07:49 We still have our tutoring program, 07:51 which we're in the works of recruiting tutors 07:53 still to hopefully launch that soon officially. 07:57 And then, we have our homeless outreach, 07:58 which is probably our most known outreach, 08:03 and most impactful, it's our largest one right now. 08:06 So we're working on a 08:08 back to work program for the homeless. 08:10 Okay. 08:11 As we build up to that, 08:13 we're offering services that would help the homeless 08:16 in obtaining employment, 08:18 that includes, you know, haircuts, 08:20 that includes clothing, showers, 08:22 that includes partnering with an organization, 08:25 project ID that helps with identification, 08:28 you know, and various other organizations come in 08:30 and help the homeless to get to that place. 08:33 So... That is, that is huge. 08:36 And that is a big part of practical Christianity 08:40 finding the need, meeting the need, 08:42 the interesting thing 08:44 with being in the community is that, 08:49 you know, you have the opportunity to have 08:52 either an influence over someone for good 08:55 or an influence over someone for bad. 08:57 Lo-Ammi, you are saying that you were out, 09:01 you know, of the church for a while. 09:03 But then you came back and you heard something at GYC 09:07 that just transformed your life. 09:09 Yeah, it was quite amazing, actually because, 09:12 you know, I grew up, you know, Adventist all my life, 09:15 understood the culture of Adventism 09:17 and just being a Christian as a whole. 09:19 And it was actually the messages 09:21 like Sebastian Braxton early in the morning that, 09:23 you know, he didn't grow up Adventist, 09:24 and he was preaching with such passion and intensity 09:27 and just completely convicted over the message. 09:30 He was preaching and I was thinking to myself, 09:32 I'm like, "Man, this brother is zealous over something 09:36 that I grew up hearing and understanding." 09:38 It wasn't until, you know, 09:39 I had an experience with Christ, 09:41 that everything that, you know, grew up learning and believing, 09:44 actually made sense 09:45 that I realize is far more than 09:47 just studying my Bible and praying. 09:49 God has actually commissioned me 09:51 to do much more and do greater works 09:54 than I had been doing and so yeah, 09:57 so it was in that conversion experience 10:00 that I realized that God was calling me 10:01 to something higher and greater than myself. 10:03 And so that's why I chose to be in full-time ministry 10:06 ever since. 10:07 Amen. Amen. 10:08 And, Eric, like, what made you why SALT? 10:13 Why are you so passionate about helping other people? 10:16 Right. 10:18 Well, you know, SALT started a year after 10:20 I became a Christian, 10:22 and, you know what? 10:24 It just was something that needed to happen, 10:31 you know, in the community in Orlando, 10:33 you know, there's tons of churches there. 10:36 But there needed to be a vehicle, 10:38 not only to help create a community of young adults, 10:42 and not only a community of young adults, 10:43 but a community of service among young adults. 10:46 But also, an organization 10:48 that help create relationships with those 10:51 that were ministering to Christ method 10:55 is to create relationships with people, 10:58 you know, that's how meet their needs 11:00 and create those relationships. 11:01 That's what we're called to do, you know. 11:04 And why SALT? 11:05 That's starts the vehicle in which that 11:08 I use to make that happen, 11:10 you know, and lots of other 11:11 all of our volunteers are leadership, 11:13 they're all on board for the same reason, 11:15 you know, to make an impact in the community 11:16 to reach other people. 11:18 Which is quite interesting, 11:19 actually a part of your testimony, 11:20 when you said you was reading through the, 11:23 you know, the letters in red. 11:24 What was the verse that actually stuck out to you? 11:27 Yeah, you know what? That's funny. 11:30 I mean, Matthew 5:13-16, did stick out. 11:33 And at that time, you know, that was one of the first 11:36 I mean, verses there in the Sermon on the Mount. 11:40 Somebody wanna read that? Yeah. 11:42 Let's see, there's nothing like going to the Word. 11:45 That's right. 11:46 Which is quite interesting because we talked about, 11:48 you know, our personal experiences 11:49 and our background. 11:51 You know, we both, you know, with Eric, 11:52 having some sort of understanding 11:54 about Christianity grew up a Catholic, 11:55 for me growing up in the Adventist Church. 11:56 But like, before, you know, 11:59 you got to Matthew 5:13, 12:02 Jesus kind of, is explaining the outward works 12:06 that correlates from a relationship with Him. 12:08 So Jesus in the Beatitudes is laying out the foundation 12:11 as to what we need in order for our experience 12:14 and our relationship with Him to grow. 12:16 And then as a result, 12:18 He says, "You're supposed to infiltrate, 12:20 you're supposed to be salt, 12:22 you're supposed to be a light to the world," 12:24 which is quite interesting how Jesus lays that out. 12:26 And that was the verse that actually popped up, 12:28 you know, for you. 12:29 So Matthew 5:13, the Bible says, 12:31 "You are the salt of the earth, 12:33 but if the salt loses its flavor, 12:35 how shall it be seasoned? 12:36 It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out 12:39 and trampled underfoot by men." 12:42 So actually, our experience should have flavor, 12:44 our experience should have something that is a value 12:46 to the people that we come in contact with. 12:48 But the only way that can, you know, 12:50 you know, take places, 12:51 the relationship that you have personally 12:53 with Christ is understanding your need for Him 12:55 praying and laboring and, 12:56 you know, the forgiveness and the power 12:58 that God wants to give to you, 13:00 that leads us to understand, 13:01 man, God has called me to actually 13:04 make an impact in the world that I'm living in. 13:06 And so that's kind of what's highlighted there 13:07 in Matthew 5:13. 13:09 Yeah, you know, it's... 13:12 And maybe some people might disagree with me on this, 13:14 but I don't believe it's ministry 13:16 if you're not creating relationships with the person, 13:18 you know, if you're just going out 13:20 and giving food to the homeless, 13:22 but you're not getting to know their first names. 13:24 You're not, you know, giving them a hug. 13:26 Yeah. Right? 13:27 Or you're not just hearing out their story, 13:29 just listening to them. 13:31 It's not ministry, 13:32 you're just going through some emotions. 13:35 You know, that's why I believe. 13:38 What's so funny 13:39 because Jesus says the same thing, right? 13:41 Right. 13:42 In verse 20, Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, 13:44 He's preaching and breaking down practical Christianity, 13:47 He's showing the results of it. 13:49 Then He says, you know, everyone who's hearing this 13:51 is so different from what they've been hearing. 13:54 You know, we've been taught you go to church, 13:56 you pay your tithe, you do all these duties 13:58 and these religious components in your experience, 14:01 but, you know, what 14:02 there was lacking was love, right? 14:03 Yeah. 14:05 Jesus says, "Don't think that I came to change the law 14:06 or the prophets I didn't come to destroy, 14:08 but to fulfill." 14:10 Romans 13:10 says that 14:11 "Love is a fulfillment of that law." 14:13 So this law that you think I'm trampling under, 14:16 actually is I'm exemplifying it. 14:19 You know, as to what I came to accomplish and fulfill. 14:23 So in Matthew 5:20, 14:25 you know, you're talking about 14:27 that unless services are part of our Christian experience. 14:31 That's the same message that Jesus was trying 14:32 to emphasize in this whole sermon. 14:34 He says, "For I say," Matthew 5:24, 14:36 "it to you, 14:38 that unless your righteousness 14:39 exceeds that the righteousness of the scribes 14:40 and the Pharisees, 14:42 you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." 14:44 That's kind of mind blowing. 14:46 Think about your favorite pastor, 14:47 your favorite evangelist, 14:48 who you look up to spiritually. 14:50 And Jesus says, unless your righteousness 14:52 exceeds that of your favorite evangelists or pastor, 14:56 you can't enter into heaven. 14:57 Think of the Mark Finleys 14:58 or Doug Batchelors of the world, 15:00 the people that we admire, 15:01 and look up to it's like, 15:02 man, I can never be better than them. 15:04 But this is a key, Matthew 23:2-3. 15:08 Here's how your righteousness 15:09 can exceed that of the Pharisees, 15:11 which ties into what you just said, 15:13 "The scribes and the Pharisees..." 15:14 Matthew 23:2-3, 15:16 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 15:19 Therefore 15:20 whatever they tell you to observe, 15:22 that observe and do, 15:24 but do not do according to their works for they say, 15:27 and they do not do." 15:29 So in other words, 15:30 the problem with the Pharisees was that they set a whole lot, 15:33 but did very little. 15:35 And that was the point that Jesus was trying to emphasize. 15:38 So basically, what you're saying 15:41 is they're professing Christianity, 15:45 but they're not practicing Christianity. 15:47 So they're not exemplifying practical Christianity. 15:50 Exactly. 15:52 Which leads to what Eric was saying, 15:53 unless you're not doing servicing, 15:55 you're not really experiencing Christianity as a whole. 15:58 Jesus emphasized that clearly in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. 16:02 Right, you know, the, the acronym for SALT, 16:05 Service and Love Together. 16:07 You know, it's interesting 'cause, you know, 16:10 some people look at service like, 16:11 "Oh, that is love," you know, or, like, 16:14 almost like, it's always synonymous. 16:15 And that in the church, you know, 16:18 when we're ministering to others, 16:20 it's possible to serve others without love is possible. 16:23 And it's possible to "Love without service." 16:27 And when I say that in, 16:28 you know, quotations because, 16:30 you know, you go like in James, 16:32 it says, you know, someone's hungry, 16:34 they asked for food, 16:36 say, go away and be filled, right? 16:38 And it's like, that's supposed to be love, 16:42 but that's not love, 16:43 and that's not service either, I mean, nothing. 16:45 So service and love together, it needs to be together. 16:48 You know, that's what SALT is. 16:50 Even looking in the Bible, 16:51 you know, when we're looking at what how Jesus described salt. 16:54 That's what it is. Yeah. 16:56 You know, it's combined. Yeah. 16:57 And so that's actually love. 16:59 Again, going back to referencing Romans 13:10, 17:03 "The love does no harm to a neighbor." 17:05 So how is it that you can see somebody 17:07 who needs and just sit there? 17:09 Well, man, I'll be praying for you hopefully, that, 17:10 you know, hopefully, you get some food in your stomach, 17:12 as you have money in your pocket to give, 17:14 hopefully you find a place to stay man, 17:15 you know, tonight, 17:17 when you have money to give for that person 17:19 to stay at a place for the night. 17:20 So love does no harm to this neighbor. 17:22 And in conclusion, Paul says in Romans, right? 17:25 Therefore, in conclusion, 17:26 love is the fulfillment of that very law, right? 17:29 Everything hangs up on our relationship with God, 17:31 that ultimately response 17:33 to the last six how we treat humanity. 17:35 So yeah, service and love have to be combined 17:39 and it's not service 'cause you can do service 17:41 and get a tax break and say, "Hey, 17:43 you know, that's the reason why I'm really serving." 17:45 And people can say love on the other end 17:47 and not do anything. 17:49 They have to go, you know, 17:50 they have to go together, they have to go hand in hand. 17:53 Absolutely, it's just like how faith without works is dead. 17:56 Right. Right. 17:58 If you have and somebody is in need, 18:01 and you're saying, "Well, you know, I'll pray for them." 18:03 They're freezing, 18:04 they're freezing outside, with no coat. 18:07 You have 15 coats in your closet, 18:09 and you're like, "Well, you know, I'll pray for you." 18:11 I hope I'll pray. I hope you get warm. 18:14 You pray for them, yes. 18:17 But also give them that coat, 18:18 you know, make sure that you help them. 18:23 There's a verse, 18:25 there's a couple verses in Matthew 2, 18:27 and I don't remember exactly where they are. 18:30 But it was like, Jesus was saying, 18:32 you know, when I was naked, you clothed? 18:34 Matthew 25. Matthew 25. 18:35 Yes. When I was hungry, you fed me. 18:37 When I was in prison, you visited me, 18:40 you know, like, those are deep words, 18:44 you know, 'cause it's like, 18:45 "Well, when did I do that to you?" 18:47 You know, and so yeah, that is key. 18:51 Yeah. 18:53 But on the flip side, in that very chapter, right? 18:55 When did we? 18:57 Well, that's one group, but the other groups says, 18:58 "Well, you never told us, when did you, 19:01 you know, Lord, Lord, didn't we?" 19:03 And God says, "Yeah, you said a whole lot, 19:05 but you did very little," 19:06 you know, you didn't get the bulletin, 19:07 you know, you didn't get the announcement in the bulletin. 19:09 So that's the reason why you didn't go, 19:11 it wasn't something that was a part 19:13 of your everyday experience to really go help out, 19:17 you know, those who are in need. 19:18 And so, at the end of the day, 19:20 those who are saved, those who are lost, 19:22 the works component doesn't save you. 19:25 It's the connection that you have with Christ 19:26 that leads you to want to do service for other people. 19:29 And so this is why God says, you know, 19:31 "Depart from me those who workers of iniquity." 19:33 In other words you're doing a whole lot of things 19:35 where you're not really 19:36 making a difference in the lives of the people 19:39 that you come in contact with. 19:40 Yeah. Right. 19:41 And that's how He separates the sheep from the goats, 19:43 those who did it out of love for their master, 19:45 and those who did it out of mere obligation 19:47 thinking they're gonna get something in return. 19:50 Yeah, like we can do good things for the wrong motives. 19:53 Right, right. Yeah. 19:54 What's the root and like you guys are saying, 19:56 Matthew 25, really, 19:58 it seems like in that section, 19:59 that is the point when we look at like the goats, 20:02 for example, you know, in Matthew 25, 20:06 starting in verse 44, right? 20:10 The ones that are righteous say, 20:13 you know, oh, when did we do this to you, right? 20:16 And they did it almost naturally. 20:18 It came so natural to them. 20:20 Well, the people on, the goats, 20:22 they said in verse 44 20:23 "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 20:25 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty 20:27 or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, 20:30 and did not minister to You?' 20:32 " So they also perform the same works as the righteous, 20:35 but the difference was, what was the root? 20:39 Was it out of love or not? 20:41 For them, they were like, 20:42 but wait a minute, we did this every single time, 20:45 when did we not do this? 20:46 While the righteous were like, 20:48 what, when did we do this? 20:49 It was a part of the... It was just so natural to them. 20:51 It was second nature. Right. 20:52 You know, Edgar E. 20:54 Guest says that I'd rather see a sermon 20:56 than hear on any day. 20:57 So these are the people that actually practice 20:59 what they preach, 21:00 they actually did what was in the hearts to do, 21:04 and as a whole that was God's desire 21:06 for the people of Israel 21:07 was for you to be a light to the Gentiles. 21:09 The people have a misconception of who God is. 21:13 God is defined as love, 21:14 yet they only see you as this group of people 21:17 who has a whole bunch of rules, 21:19 and regulations, and restrictions. 21:21 I'm not a God like that, I'm a God who liberates, 21:23 I'm a God who gives freedom and joy, 21:26 and so I, my desire for you in Isaiah Chapter 49, 21:29 I believe, God says, 21:30 "My desire for my nation is to be the glory, 21:32 to be the light to the Gentiles, 21:34 the non-believers 21:36 that ultimately I want your work 21:37 supersede the relationship that I have with you. 21:40 And that's when the people 21:41 who are non-believers will actually believe 21:43 that I am the God of the Bible." 21:45 So... Yeah. 21:47 Yeah, so let me ask you guys this question. 21:51 How has working in ministry, 21:53 how has being heavily involved in SALT 21:59 transformed your lives? 22:01 You know, I honestly and I've said this to some people 22:06 as well, 22:08 if it wasn't for SALT, 22:09 if God did not put me where I am right now, 22:12 I believe He placed me, you know, 22:13 I believe He had the vision. 22:15 This is His ministry. 22:17 He just, I'm just trying to follow 22:19 in what He has for me. 22:21 And if it wasn't for this, I don't know where I'd be, 22:24 you know, I want to say 22:28 like, I might be lost, 22:31 I might have been lost, you know, I was so... 22:34 When I first came into... 22:36 You know this started a year after I came into the church, 22:38 you know. 22:39 There was still so much sin that was affecting my life 22:42 and that was still just taking over my life at that time, 22:45 even after baptism. 22:47 'Cause everyone thinks, oh, you got baptized, 22:49 you're perfect, you guys up from the water, 22:51 you're ready for translation, 22:53 you know, but that's not how it is, you know. 22:55 And so, when getting so deeply involved in service 22:59 where it literally takes up my mind, 23:01 like my mind space, 23:03 every moment, you know, you're thinking about it, 23:06 it transforms your character. 23:10 You know, I believe the Bible teaches that too, 23:13 you know, and when it comes to that, 23:14 but yeah, it's really has transformed me. 23:17 Yeah, and service is actually, 23:18 when God designed 23:20 and He talks about us being a part of the, 23:23 of the great commission, right? 23:24 And being a part of helping those who are in need. 23:28 Jesus says, you know, 23:29 "I designed this method not as a way for you to be saved, 23:33 but a way for, you know, 23:34 to reveal truly what's in your heart." 23:37 I can remember countless times where we have events 23:40 or, you know, whether I'm preaching 23:41 or, you know, just doing community service, 23:44 and I don't want to be here, 23:45 it's hot, it's annoying, I'm hungry. 23:47 And God reminds you at that moment, 23:48 like you see how selfish you are, 23:50 you see how self-centered, 23:51 even while you're doing service. 23:52 And so is it those moments that I realized, 23:54 man, it's far more than just this intellectual stimulation 23:58 that I'm getting from my devotions 24:00 or just praying a prayer says, 24:01 "Lord, forgive me for my sins." 24:02 God says, "You become so absorbed in yourself 24:05 that I've designed service for you 24:06 to kind of uproot the selfishness." 24:08 Because everything in our Christian experience 24:11 should be selflessness and not selfishness 24:13 and that's what service is about. 24:15 So when Eric is talking about, 24:17 yeah, if it wasn't for ministry, 24:19 I'll be lost is the same thing. 24:20 If I wasn't involved in evangelism or ministry, 24:23 I don't know what I'll be doing with myself, right? 24:25 Because God is constantly putting me 24:27 through the fire of "tribulation." 24:30 And I say that to the sense of 24:31 God is constantly revealing something about myself 24:33 that I would not have known 24:35 if I wasn't actively engaging in some sort of ministry. 24:39 Yeah, you know, when you were talking 24:41 it made me think of John Chapter 6. 24:43 When, you know, Jesus is talking about, 24:47 you know, eat My flesh and drink My blood, 24:50 but He was talking figuratively in those... 24:53 There are some people following Him 24:55 that did not understand, right? 24:56 And then they ended up leaving. 24:58 And, you know, 25:01 He turns, I just see it in my mind, 25:03 so I see Him turn to Peter. 25:05 And, you know, in that chapter, He asked Peter, 25:08 "Basically, are you gonna leave too?" 25:10 And Peter says, "Where am I gonna go?" 25:14 You have the words of eternal life, 25:16 where do I go? 25:17 You know, and that's how I feel now, 25:19 you know, being so engaged in ministry. 25:22 It's like, 25:23 if you're not doing this, then what are you doing? 25:25 Yeah. You know, what do you... 25:27 You know, so that's just... 25:29 And that's kind of like 25:30 a reflection of our church, right? 25:31 We go to prayer meeting or Sabbath school 25:33 and we have these testimonies is it's dry, drawn out. 25:36 Oh, I remember back then, back when, 25:39 when God says, "My experience with you 25:40 should have been 20 years ago, 25:42 it should be an experience that you're having now". 25:44 And God says, "Listen, greater works 25:47 I want to do in you than I've done 25:48 while I was here on earth." 25:50 Well, how are we going to be able to participate 25:52 or partake in those miracles, 25:54 if we're not actively engaging, right? 25:56 God never called us to play defense, 25:58 always called us to play offense. 26:00 He wants us to go out, 26:01 go, go, go, go, that's the command. 26:03 He never says preserve yourself 26:04 and the way that you preserve yourself 26:06 is actually to go 26:08 and do what God has commanded you to do. 26:09 And so that's kind of the theme 26:11 all throughout the Old and the New Testament. 26:13 Jesus is constantly reminding His people, 26:16 listen, 26:18 the way that you overcome sin, 26:19 the way that you draw closer to Me 26:21 is actually feeding My lambs, feeding My sheep, 26:24 going out and doing what I asked you to do, 26:26 that's where you're going to know 26:27 the true heart of humanity, 26:29 then you start seeing what Jesus sees. 26:31 Man, Lord, like this person is going through so much trials 26:35 yet they're rejoicing? 26:36 Why is it that I have everything 26:38 and I can't seem to be happy in my experience? 26:39 Those are the little things like Jesus says, 26:41 we may not look at it as a miracle. 26:42 But for me, it's like, man, 26:44 Lord, I would have never seen that if I didn't, 26:46 you know, have that personal relationship with You 26:49 to actually go and do what You said to do, 26:51 which in essence is really what God is, 26:54 what desires and wants us to, 26:57 you know, to experience. 26:59 Right. That's really deep. 27:00 Because I mean, there are a lot of people out there 27:02 that are searching, you know, they're empty, 27:04 they feel that emptiness. 27:06 And, you know, some people think 27:07 that they can replace it with things 27:09 or money is gonna make the difference, 27:12 or, you know, whatever the case may be, 27:15 but what I'm hearing from you guys is that, 27:17 you know, you found your purpose, 27:19 you found your calling in life, 27:21 and there's nothing else that you would rather be doing. 27:23 There's nothing else 27:24 that you can even envision yourself doing, 27:27 other than what God's called you to do. 27:29 Right. That's powerful. 27:30 It's the most hardest, difficult, 27:32 most fulfilling and rewarding, 27:35 the thing you can do it in all seriousness, 27:37 you know, it's something that... 27:39 God is calling for something greater than ourselves. 27:42 And yeah, man, if it wasn't for ministry, 27:43 is it difficult? 27:45 Yeah. Is it easy to do? 27:46 Absolutely not, you know, 27:48 like, there's gonna be things that you're gonna experience. 27:49 But at the end of the day, 27:51 it's the most fulfilling and rewarding thing 27:53 that you can do. 27:54 And so I always encourage people, 27:56 especially my appeals, 27:57 when I'm speaking to young adults or just older alike, 28:00 go and do something great for God, 28:02 and you're gonna see God perform 28:04 great and mighty things in your life. 28:06 And that's how you're going to draw close to the Christ 28:08 during those moments where you're seeing 28:10 the need of the people and so, 28:12 yeah, nothing else, 28:14 what I rather be doing than what I'm currently doing. 28:16 Absolutely. 28:17 How did you find your purpose in life? 28:21 That's the question? 28:23 Yes, that's the... 28:24 As a young adult, you know, you go to any retreat, 28:28 any conference, 28:30 you know, what is your purpose 28:31 that conference room is full. 28:34 No, but, you know, the way... 28:38 It's funny, the way that it happened was. 28:41 I was studying and it comes from the Word, 28:43 you know, at the end of the day prayer and the Word. 28:45 God will tell you what it is you have to do. 28:48 You know, I remember when before SALT started, 28:51 I was studying John Chapter 4, 28:53 and, you know, you have the woman at the well in that, 28:56 you know, in that chapter and so, 28:59 you know, I remember at that time, 29:01 God had just revealed to me that 29:02 I need to be a pastor, 29:04 you know, I needed to lead His people, right? 29:07 And so, I'm studying this chapter and, 29:09 you know, before that I'm thinking, 29:11 man, when I graduate school, 29:12 I'm gonna go to school now that God's confirmed that to me, 29:15 going to school, and then after four years, 29:18 I'm gonna do these great things for God, right? 29:20 And that was my mindset. 29:21 So I was studying John Chapter 4 29:23 and you look at Jesus with the disciples. 29:26 Disciples went into the city to buy food, right? 29:29 Then Jesus is speaking to this woman, 29:32 the disciples come back from the city bringing nothing, 29:34 they just had food with them, which is what they went to get. 29:37 The woman goes into the city 29:38 brings the whole town to Christ. 29:41 And Christ looks at the disciples and says, 29:43 "You think the harvest is months from now. 29:46 No, the harvest is now." 29:48 And the reason why He said that 29:50 is because the disciples were looking at a future time. 29:53 They were looking at the time 29:54 that Jesus would be on the throne 29:56 and lead and oh, man, when that time comes, 29:59 and when there's so many great things for Christ so excited. 30:02 So their eyes were fixed on this future time. 30:05 We have to stop that, 30:07 we have to stop looking at this future time. 30:09 We need to look at now 30:11 and as we're looking at now, now, God, what can I do? 30:14 We need to be in the Word, we need to be in prayer, 30:17 we need to be communicating with people, 30:19 talking to people, God will reveal it. 30:21 I know He will, 30:23 but I think what happens is us millennials 30:26 give up too soon. 30:28 We don't have much patience, 30:30 and so, you know, we go a week or something 30:33 and we're like, oh, man, like, you know, 30:35 God hasn't spoken to me yet. 30:37 No, we got to keep going. 30:38 Yeah, that persistence. 30:40 Yeah, exactly. Yes. 30:41 Exactly, until He answered. 30:43 So how did you recognize that it was your purpose? 30:46 Like how, you know, 30:48 because there's trying to figure out 30:50 what your purpose is, 30:51 but then you also have to listen 30:53 and see what God is telling you. 30:55 How did you recognize that this was your purpose? 30:59 You know, 31:01 recognize that it was my purpose. 31:03 I think I recognized it being my purpose 31:07 when it consumed all of my thoughts, 31:11 you know, it consumed everything 31:13 I did in my life. 31:15 The reason why I went to school to get my masters 31:16 in non-profit management, 31:18 it wasn't to get a job at a nonprofit, 31:20 it was to help better, 31:21 equip me to run the nonprofit ministry 31:23 that God had put me in charge of. 31:25 Yes. That's it. 31:26 It didn't, you know, a lot of time we go to school, 31:28 'cause there's certain career we have in mind. 31:30 This is for the ministry. 31:31 You know, I studied social work, 31:33 so I could learn case management. 31:34 So we implement case management in the nonprofit, 31:37 I know how to do that. 31:39 It consumes your life, 31:40 everything that you do in your life 31:42 is the purpose is for that's what... 31:49 Everything is guided toward that purpose. 31:51 You know, what I mean, 31:52 and so that's, that's how I know. 31:54 And I think, other people can relate to that too, you know. 31:59 Yeah, and you know, 32:00 just to piggyback off what Eric is saying, 32:02 I think it's the same thing in my experience as well. 32:04 It wasn't, you know, you kind of grew up in the church, 32:06 knowing what it means to be a good Christian, right? 32:09 All of the things that you need to do and don't do. 32:11 And so, you know, 32:12 early on in my life was my passion was basketball, 32:15 my passion was music, my passion was partying, 32:17 having a good time getting money, 32:19 all of these other things. 32:20 And for the time being, it was enjoyable, 32:22 but then you realize there's this emptiness, 32:24 it doesn't matter how much more, 32:25 you do of this one thing, 32:27 you always find yourself even more depressed, 32:29 even more lonely, even more, you know, 32:32 a deeper desire for something more. 32:34 And so even for myself when I entered into ministry, 32:37 at first, it wasn't like, oh, you had a clear cut answer, 32:39 yeah, God is calling me to be a pastor, 32:40 or a chaplain, or a Bible teacher. 32:42 You kind of just take a step of, a leap of faith and saying, 32:45 all right, this is a door that God is calling me 32:47 to go through. 32:48 And then you go through it, you know, 32:50 faithfully and as time progresses, 32:52 you realize this is what God called me to do. 32:55 This is what God called. 32:57 Man, I want... 32:58 You know, now, that one thing 33:00 that you didn't know was your purpose, 33:02 now becomes your purpose 33:04 and it literally consumes you like to the point 33:06 that times we don't go to bed on time, 33:08 we don't eat properly, we just because 33:09 we're focusing so much on how can we better 33:13 you know, the calling and the purpose 33:15 that God has given me. 33:16 And so, you know, there has to be balanced, 33:18 obviously, but that's when you know, 33:20 if you wake up in the morning, 33:22 and you realize, I'm willing to do this thing, 33:25 and not get one cent for it, 33:26 but it will give me my fulfillment. 33:29 You know, you found your calling, 33:30 you found your purpose in life. 33:32 Yeah, that's a good measurement. 33:33 Yeah, that is because I can honestly say that about this. 33:36 I would do this for nothing. 33:37 Right. Yeah. 33:39 Nothing. Right. 33:40 You know, there are a lot of people 33:42 who are looking for that, who want that. 33:46 And I think the key is, to first, 33:48 seek ye first the kingdom of God. 33:51 You know, and all these things shall be added unto you. 33:53 Right. 33:56 It's a blessing to like... 33:59 I remember when I first met you guys, right? 34:03 And I was looking at your booth 34:06 'cause I think we're at ASI or GYC. 34:08 GYC, I think, yeah. 34:10 And I was looking at your booth, 34:12 and I was looking at the different cycles 34:14 and the practical Christianity 34:17 and how it ended in evangelism. 34:19 And I was just, I was blown away. 34:22 I was like, okay, so there's these young guys that, 34:26 you know, are allowing the Lord to work through them 34:29 in such a mighty way. 34:31 What are some of the challenges 34:33 that you guys have faced within ministry? 34:37 Well, I wanna kind of, you know, 34:39 continue with this line of, 34:40 you know, that line of thought that you brought up. 34:42 Because when we did first meet, 34:44 we had like this small little booth, 34:46 we had most of the stuff was just kind of a vision 34:48 and idea as to what we wanted to do. 34:50 And to see how God has opened up 34:52 so many doors and fulfilled 34:54 a lot of those dreams that we had. 34:57 Two years later, were just mind blown by like, 35:00 a vision now becomes a reality. 35:02 Oh, yeah. 35:03 And the difficulty of it is that, 35:05 you know, there's no... 35:06 Sometimes we limit God as to what He can do for us, 35:09 instead of realizing that we serve a big and mighty God. 35:12 The difficulty is that 35:13 not everyone is bought into that vision, 35:15 not everyone sees that. 35:17 The 80-20 thing is, you know, 35:18 80% of the work is being done by 20% of the workers. 35:21 And so for us at least without volunteers, 35:24 and leaders, you know, 35:26 as time progresses, you know, people get married, 35:28 you know, careers they move, and, 35:30 and so we always have to like plug 35:32 new people into those positions... 35:34 We constantly have to recruit leaders. 35:36 Constantly. And so... 35:38 But the hard part, at least for me, when, 35:40 you know, do week of prayers and evangelism 35:42 and revival weekends, is this, 35:45 we've gotten comfortable. 35:47 Not just with the young adults, but you know, 35:49 as church as a whole, 35:50 we just gotten comfortable where we're at. 35:52 And we rather have people come to us, 35:53 instead of doing the hard work of really 35:55 getting to make and make those connections and so. 35:58 At least for me, my experience is saying, 36:00 man, you can preach a powerful raw, 36:03 raw message and people are like, yes, stirred up, 36:04 and then when it actually comes down to do it, 36:07 there's no one there. 36:08 You know what I'm saying. 36:10 And so that's been, for me the hardest part in saying, 36:12 Lord, there's so much that needs to be done, 36:16 but You've even said it Yourself, 36:18 that the laborers are so few. 36:20 And so, you know, we want to inspire 36:22 as inspires many young people. 36:24 Even those that young at heart just realize, 36:27 if you're engaged in this work 36:29 that God has commissioned us to, 36:30 you know, to be engaged in, 36:32 is not only gonna change your life, 36:33 you're gonna see miracles transformed, 36:35 but most importantly, 36:36 you fulfilling a greater mission 36:37 and purpose of what God wants to establish. 36:39 And the end of the day, 36:41 He called us to reflect His character. 36:44 And that's something much greater 36:45 than we can ever imagine, right? 36:47 Like, little sinful Lo-Ammi is 36:50 going to develop a character 36:52 through my relationship with Him 36:53 and fulfilling His desire of ministering to those. 36:57 He's gonna develop something in me 37:00 that I can't even see myself developing. 37:02 So that's for me, it has on the spiritual element 37:04 been the most difficult part with this or, 37:08 you know, with just 37:09 what we're trying to do is just the lack of volunteers, 37:12 and, you know, the ownership of saying, 37:14 yes, let's buy in this, let's do it. 37:16 Yeah. And so on and so forth. 37:17 I will say, now, if I can plug this in, 37:20 the leadership we have now, 37:24 you know, is our dedicated, you know... 37:30 I can't even... 37:31 They're sold out. 37:33 You know, they're sold out. 37:35 You know, they all work jobs 37:37 and none of us doing this full-time. 37:38 You know, they're all, 37:39 they're students working or both, 37:41 you know, and they put in that time, that effort, 37:44 you know, they inspire me. 37:45 You know, some of them are like, 37:47 you know, they're at work doing, 37:49 I'm getting, I'm at work, and they're at work, 37:52 and they're sending me texts, emails, 37:54 "Hey, what about this? What about that?" 37:56 Talking about SALT, you know, that's been such a blessing. 38:01 You know, the team we have now is a strong team, 38:04 but we need more. 38:05 We need more people and, 38:08 you know, hopefully, you know, as God continues. 38:11 Now that I'm out of school, 38:12 I'm really excited because now my full evening is not, 38:15 you know, get off of work, work on homework till midnight, 38:18 and then do SALT things in between. 38:20 You know what I mean. 38:23 How my evening is going to be, you know, at SALT. 38:25 So you notice how, now that I have free time, 38:27 I'm gonna dedicate even more time to SALT. 38:29 So this brother, he's dedicated for sure. 38:32 But at the end of the day, 38:33 imagine that being duplicated by 100 people, 38:35 by 300 people, 5,000 people. 38:39 We wouldn't be here, like the work will be done. 38:41 So, you know... 38:43 Yeah, I was thinking maybe, 38:45 you know, one thing as you mentioned that, 38:47 I was thinking about the first time we came on. 38:50 Because that was around the time we first met you. 38:52 A lot of that stuff was a vision, 38:54 you know, and now it's become reality. 38:56 We actually have some pictures. Yeah. 38:58 That our show kind of how it's progressed and, 39:00 you know, because the viewers here at 3ABN, 39:04 they have donated. 39:05 Yeah. 39:06 They've caught on to the vision, 39:08 you know, and so many... 39:09 It doesn't matter if it's a $5 donation, 39:12 or if it's, you know, 39:14 we had one person donate $16,500. 39:16 If you were here on 3ABN 16,500 39:19 and, you know, but combined they've helped so much, 39:23 they helped us get the shower trailer. 39:24 Yes. A lot. 39:25 Most of the funds that came in 39:27 or at least half of the funds that came in 39:29 for that shower trailer was from 3ABN viewers, 39:31 so we're so thankful for 3ABN and the viewers of 3ABN. 39:35 But we can show them exactly 39:36 what's happened in pictures right now. 39:39 Yeah, that's our food share, 39:41 that's our vice president Esau Vargas there. 39:43 He's doing a kind of a debriefing 39:44 to some of our homeless friends. 39:47 You know, that's our food share we do it once a month. 39:50 And then we use that as a platform 39:51 to create relationships with them. 39:53 Then we have our clothing trailer here, 39:54 so when a homeless individual comes, 39:56 they register 39:58 and then they go to our clothing trailer 39:59 to get clothing, they get their towels, 40:01 their wash cloths, their hygiene product. 40:04 And then after that, 40:06 you know, there's that they're the showers. 40:09 And you see them kind of lined up there. 40:11 That trailer right there is a four bathroom shower trailer. 40:13 Each bathroom has a sink, toilet and shower. 40:17 You know, and then we have barbers too 40:19 that are on site 40:21 and these barbers, 40:22 oh, that's actually the whole site there at the church 40:25 where we're doing the outreach. 40:27 So as they show in the pictures is one of our volunteers 40:31 getting a haircut to one of those people who needed it. 40:34 Homeless friends. 40:35 Yeah, homeless friends, but you know, 40:37 it's interesting because Christ's Object Lessons, 40:38 page 417 actually talks about 40:41 the very vision that you're seeing in the pictures 40:43 that are being shown on the screen that, you know. 40:46 What does a haircut do to the individual? 40:49 It changes a lot, you know, when you get a haircut, 40:51 you're much more confident. 40:52 When you've been dirty for three months 40:54 and you take a shower, you feel like a new man. 40:56 And it's so much easier for somebody to say, 40:58 hey, at the end of the day, I wanna pray for you. 41:00 Can I pray for you? 41:01 Is there any other burdens that you may have? 41:03 And yeah, absolutely. Please pray. 41:06 Is there any prayer requests? 41:08 You give them a Bible promise 41:09 and they're much more receptive 41:11 to what you have to share spiritually 41:13 once you fulfill the needs of that individual. 41:16 Christ's Object Lesson, page 417, powerful quote. 41:20 It said, "It is ours to aid in relieving and softening 41:26 life's hardship and misery." 41:27 Check this out, because listen, we have 41:30 and there's nothing wrong with what I'm about to say 41:32 because as an evangelist, right, 41:35 money is the key in order to have successful campaigns 41:38 and successful, you know, outreaches, 41:41 but this quotation kind of puts everything in perspective 41:44 because it says practical work 41:46 will have far more effect than mere sermonizing. 41:50 So what we're doing in the community, 41:52 right, giving haircuts, showering, 41:54 giving them clothes, 41:55 you know, getting them their IDs, 41:57 giving them you know, towels and, 42:00 you know, bath soaps and everything, 42:02 it just to, you know, put them back in a place 42:05 where they feel good about themselves, 42:07 will have far more effect in their lives than me saying, 42:10 "All right, come to church, 42:12 and I'm going to preach you a sermon" 42:14 that has no practicality in it but just theory. 42:17 And then the quotation actually, 42:20 you know, describes what this practical work is. 42:23 We are to give food to the hungry, 42:24 clothing to the naked and shelter to the homeless. 42:27 Jason, imagine if we would, 42:29 if we utilize the funds 42:31 that we would use in our evangelistic campaigns 42:34 to completely use that to impact those individuals 42:37 in our community, 42:38 how much work do you think will get done? 42:40 Because at the end of the day, 42:42 people say, man, 42:43 you care for me when no one else cared. 42:45 Yes. 42:46 And once they see that, 42:48 you actually have your best interest at heart, 42:49 to say, man, I wanna help you to get back on your feet 42:52 and establish that confidence. 42:55 Anything I say after that, 42:57 they're much more attentive to listen to what I had to say. 43:01 Can I pray for you? 43:02 Can I show you this Bible verse that that impacted my life? 43:04 Absolutely. 43:05 And you'll be amazed that most of our homeless friends 43:08 that we talked to always share their testimony. 43:10 Man, I grew up in the church, 43:11 man my mom was a Christian or I was a Christian at once. 43:14 And you guys really showed the heart of God today. 43:17 Countless times we hear those type of testimonies, 43:19 but it's not because we sat there and say, 43:20 hey, you're going to hear this word. 43:22 No, we actually relieved and softening life 43:24 hardships and misery 43:25 that had far more greater effect 43:28 than just mere preaching. 43:29 And so, there, 43:31 yeah, so I just realized that, 43:32 that is the work that God is calling us to do 43:34 because that is the work. 43:36 Because once that practicality 43:38 and the sermonizing comes together, 43:40 you have the whole picture of the gospel. 43:43 Yeah, that's powerful, that is powerful. 43:46 What are some testimonies that you can share of people's lives 43:49 that were transformed? 43:51 Yeah, you know, there was one recently 43:55 a homeless friend of ours, 43:57 who would come out to our events, 43:59 you know, we provided, you know, 44:01 we, right now we're not in that employment program yet. 44:06 We're not doing that case management system yet. 44:07 We still need to build capacity, 44:09 raise more funds to run that during the week. 44:12 But we do it at least two or three times a month, 44:15 where we run the whole outreach center for the homeless. 44:18 So there was a guy that came 44:21 and he would come and he'd, 44:23 you know, go through the motions, 44:24 get the clothing, the hygiene, 44:26 the showers and we'd interact with him, 44:28 and was maybe a few, 44:31 maybe two events ago or three events ago, 44:33 he came up to us. 44:35 He didn't go, he didn't go to the showers, 44:37 he didn't go to clothing trailer. 44:38 He just kind of, he didn't register. 44:40 He just kind of came 44:42 and he came up to me 44:44 and he's like, and he was crying. 44:46 And he's like, Eric, 44:49 it's because of you guys that I have a job right now. 44:52 And he just walked away, 44:54 you know, and I hope 44:56 we're hoping that he comes back, 44:58 so we can talk to him more and really engage him more, 45:00 maybe start some studies with him that sort of thing. 45:03 But that's just an example of, 45:05 of a homeless individual that we were able to impact 45:07 through the program. 45:09 I mean, there's some other stories. 45:11 They become family actually the last story 45:13 with one of our homeless friends 45:15 had invited us to his graduation. 45:17 Yes, yeah, yeah. Oh, wow. 45:18 Yeah, so, you know, I was able to... 45:19 I travel a lot and so when I am not traveling, 45:23 and I can come to an event, I come to the event 45:24 and so we just got a 15 passenger van. 45:29 So which we'll talk about that later in the end 45:31 as the segment continues, 45:33 but we want to use this van 45:34 to actually bring in our homeless friends 45:36 from the outreaches that we're implementing 45:39 and bring them to the churches, to come to the, 45:41 you know, week of prayers, revival weekends. 45:43 But anyway, so I got the opportunity 45:44 to drive this van. 45:46 And so, just to see their response, 45:48 you know, everyone had their nickname. 45:50 There was one lady, 45:53 she was called the spaghetti lady. 45:55 And so she had nothing to do with our organization, 45:58 goes at the middle of the area that we're in and she gives out 46:02 spaghetti meals every single day. 46:04 So everyone in the community knows spaghetti lady. 46:07 It's like man, I want a nickname. 46:08 You know, he's like, I was like, 46:10 van man, like van man. 46:11 All right, Van man, could you drop us off this location? 46:15 So one of the gentlemen, 46:16 and Eric can share the story was saying, 46:19 man have Eric contact me, man, 46:21 I will really love for you guys to come to my graduation. 46:24 He's like, man, y'all the only family 46:25 that I have and I would love for you to come. 46:27 I wasn't able to go, 46:28 but Eric can kind of share a little bit more. 46:30 Yeah, me and some of our other leaders 46:31 we went to his graduation and basically it was a... 46:37 He went through this program at the Salvation Army. 46:40 And we've been in touch with him. 46:42 He's come out to our events a few times. 46:43 We've gotten to know him very, very humble, genuine guy, 46:46 you know, and he invite us over 46:50 and we went and afterward went out to eat with him 46:53 and just spent some time talking. 46:55 And we talked about the Word, 46:57 you know, his studies you know, 46:59 and he, and he said he had $3,000 saved up, 47:02 he's, like, ready find a place, 47:04 you know, you guys helped me find a place. 47:06 So we've been going back and forth, 47:07 sending him some things 47:08 and trying to get them in a place now and, 47:11 you know, it's exciting, 47:15 you know, to see people grow and to see people and, 47:17 you know, there's another story, 47:19 we can't share too much details on it. 47:21 But, you know, 47:22 someone who was sick became homeless. 47:25 You know, now, you know, he has a job working, 47:30 you know, and we're able... 47:32 Became a Christian in the process. 47:33 Became a Christian... Bible study. 47:35 Was identified as an atheist, 47:36 you know, now he identifies as a Christian. 47:38 He says, man, yeah, he identifies as a Christian. 47:40 He's like, man, I wanna to get baptized. 47:42 And so, again, this is all through the efforts of just 47:46 connecting with people on a personal level 47:48 getting to know them. 47:49 A lot of the reasons why we have developed, 47:51 you know, the shower trailer, the clothing trailer 47:53 was actually speaking to the people 47:55 that we're reaching out to and say 47:56 what is it that you guys need 47:58 because we can easily think, 47:59 oh, I know what you need here. 48:00 Here's a, you know, bag, lunch, or whatever. 48:02 And once you start having personal relationships 48:04 and talking to them, man, we need socks, 48:07 we need you know, undergarments, 48:08 we need, you know, backpacks, we need all of these things. 48:11 And so, all right, well, let's give them what they need. 48:14 And then once you fulfill that need, 48:16 man, that relationship blossoms 48:18 and then you can have those spiritual conversations, 48:19 you can do all those things. 48:21 And so at the end of the day, you can have somebody 48:23 who was known as an atheist to say, now, I'm a Christian. 48:25 Why? 48:26 Because these people show me love, 48:28 you know, at the end of the day, 48:29 and I want to be what they are, 48:31 and that in of itself is powerful. 48:33 That is powerful. You know. 48:35 And I know that, 48:36 a lot of people are going to have questions for you. 48:38 So I am counting on you at home to send in your questions. 48:44 You can call (618) 627-4651 48:49 and follow the prompts to the call center, 48:51 which I believe is just pressing the number two 48:53 when you hear the automated message. 48:56 And you can also email your questions to live@3abn.tv. 49:02 We're going to be answering questions in the second hour. 49:05 And you are my co-host tonight. 49:08 So I'm looking to you to send in those questions 49:10 for the second hour 49:12 that you would like to ask Lo-Ammi and Eric. 49:15 You were about to say something, Eric. 49:17 No, I was about to say something, wasn't I? 49:21 Yeah, you're too young for that. 49:23 Yeah. 49:25 I'm getting old, once you past 30 years old. 49:28 He didn't take a nap today. 49:32 No, I was gonna say that... 49:36 Actually, I'd lost it. 49:38 That's all right. I lost, it will come back. 49:40 That happens for me too. 49:41 Now just we're piggybacking off because at the end of the day, 49:43 we want to make sure that as Christians, 49:45 we are connecting the message that we grew up believing 49:50 and understanding the three angels' message 49:52 of Revelation 14, 49:53 this gospel unto all the world, right, 49:55 this gospel has to be seen. 49:57 That's what Jesus specifically said in Matthew 24:14, 50:00 it's not earthquake and pestilences 50:02 and all of these other things, 50:03 what puts an end to all of the world's misery 50:07 is the gospel being seen. 50:10 That is the emphasis of Revelation 14. 50:13 I wanna share one more quotation 50:14 because, you know, 50:16 when we're talking about these relationships 50:18 that we're building, and we're ultimately 50:21 having these people believe in the God 50:23 that we're claiming that we serve. 50:26 Christ's Object Lessons, page 69 says, 50:28 "Christ is waiting with a longing desire 50:31 for the manifestation of self in the church." 50:34 So God's saying, "Listen, 50:35 My church claims to be something that is really not." 50:38 And what Christ wants to see 50:40 is His church reflect His character, 50:42 His character of love. 50:44 So it says, when the character of Christ 50:46 shall be perfectly reproduce in His people, 50:48 then He will come to claim us as His own. 50:50 Now, I wanna premise by saying, 50:52 I never understood what this meant, 50:55 when Christian perfection, you know, Christ's character, 50:58 perfectly reproduced in His people 50:59 He will claim it as His own. 51:00 Christ's Object Lessons, 384 51:02 actually emphasizes what that looks like, 51:05 the completeness. 51:07 So being complete in Christ 51:09 of Christian character is attained. 51:11 Check this out, you'll like this, Eric, 51:12 is attained when the impulse to help and bless others 51:17 springs constantly from within, 51:20 when the sunshine of heaven fills the heart 51:23 and is revealed in the continents. 51:25 In other words, 51:26 the only time that Christ is going to come back 51:28 and claim His church as His own 51:30 is when the impulse to want to serve others 51:33 is constantly there 51:34 and if the continent shows that they enjoy doing it. 51:38 That's good. 51:39 Oh, I gotta go to outreach today, you know, I got to... 51:43 Like it's a burden. 51:44 Yeah, no, it's supposed to be seen in our content. 51:46 I want to do it. Yes. 51:47 I love doing it. Yeah. 51:49 Because at the end of the day, 51:50 Jesus done so much for me that I want to do it for you. 51:52 Yeah. 51:53 And mostly people not necessarily care about 51:56 the theology necessarily because at the end of the day, 51:59 they're seeing that 52:02 what we are doing 52:03 and what we're trying to implement 52:04 and serving and helping others is a reflection of Christ. 52:08 And when they have those questions, 52:10 guess what? 52:11 It's going to be easier for them to receive it 52:12 because they're saying, man, 52:14 you guys really love doing what you're doing 52:15 and then you guys are young people on top of that. 52:16 Yes. 52:18 You know, one gentleman, I remember 52:19 doing our outreach event. 52:21 He's like, man, 52:22 because we do a lot of outreach downtown, 52:23 he's like, man, you young people 52:25 could easily be going to the clubs 52:26 and bars and partying, having a good time. 52:28 And you guys are here on a Sunday. 52:30 Man, that for him spoke great volumes. 52:33 And at the end of the day, I tell any young person, 52:36 any, any viewer right now that 52:39 if you want to be complete in Christ, 52:42 you have to engage in the work. 52:44 And as you do so, 52:45 you're gonna see the blessings that God has in store for you 52:48 but more importantly, 52:49 people gonna see Christ through you. 52:51 And that's going to be such a greater witness. 52:53 Again, going back, I was an atheist. 52:56 After a few months of ministering to this brother, 52:59 identify as a Christian, I want to be baptized 53:00 and I want to know, I want Jesus as my personal Savior. 53:03 That has far more greater impact, 53:05 because at the end of the day, 53:06 we wanted to help this individual. 53:08 And you brought it up earlier too, Matthew 25. 53:11 You know, when we look at that, 53:13 the ones that were the sheep were the ones 53:16 that did all these works without even realizing it. 53:19 You know, when we look at that quote, 53:21 it springs constantly from within, 53:23 it's a second nature, you know, and yeah, 53:26 it goes hand in hand. 53:28 One final text 53:29 'cause now you got my spirits moving now, 53:32 yeah, juices are flowing now, I'm about to preach in. 53:34 But Isaiah 58 kind of gives us a blueprint. 53:38 Isaiah 58 talks about, 53:40 you know, the beginning of the chapter. 53:42 You know, God is calling out the people of Israel. 53:44 He's saying, "Listen, 53:46 my people does one thing and they do another 53:48 and we afflict our souls and we fast 53:51 and we do all these things. 53:52 And, you know, we go to prayer meetings, 53:53 we do great, 53:55 but is that what I've called you to do?" 53:56 Then Jesus kind of outlines, 53:58 "Listen, the fast that I have chosen 53:59 to loosen the bands of wickedness, 54:00 to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, 54:03 to share your bread to the hungry, 54:05 to bring to the house, you know, 54:06 to bring to the house to poor, 54:08 who are cast out to see the naked and cover him. 54:11 Like at the end of the day, 54:13 there's a works oriented principle that God says, 54:16 "Stop saying one thing and not doing it. 54:17 Go and do." 54:19 But here's the result 54:20 and I wanna kind of conclude on this thought 54:21 in Isaiah Chapter 16 verse... 54:23 Let's read verse 1, for the context, 54:26 because we actually saw this firsthand 54:28 'cause we always, our evangelist campaigns. 54:31 Again, as a preacher, 54:33 I'm not gonna knock it because I do it. 54:36 But, man, how are we going to share this gospel 54:39 to the entire world? 54:41 Well, here it is, Isaiah 16:1, 54:43 "Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory 54:46 which is the character of the Lord 54:48 is risen upon you. 54:50 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth." 54:52 What is the darkness? 54:53 It's a misapprehension of God's character. 54:56 People don't know who God is. 54:57 God is light, God is love. 54:59 So the world is in darkness of who God is. 55:01 So check this out. 55:02 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth 55:04 and the deep darkness of the people 55:06 but the Lord will arise over you, 55:08 and His glory will be seen upon you. 55:10 Check verse 3, 55:11 because we experienced this, Eric, 55:13 "That Gentiles shall come to your light 55:16 and the Kings to the brightness of your rising." 55:18 Once we fulfill the commission 55:20 that God has established us to do 55:22 to actually serve those in the community, 55:24 Christ says, the world will no longer have 55:27 a misapprehension of My character. 55:29 That light is going to be revealed 55:31 in a world full of darkness. 55:33 But the key is that Gentiles shall come to your light. 55:37 In other words, 55:38 there's going to be something that's taking place 55:41 that everyone is attracted to that 55:42 they're going to end up coming. 55:44 And this happened a few months ago 55:45 when the local news station came and they did, 55:49 they wanted to do interviews, like who's these young people, 55:51 this organization that's doing work in the community. 55:55 And I saw this and after that, 55:56 they did a segment, 55:58 they broadcasted at the local channel. 56:00 And exactly and it was verbatim, 56:02 I'm paraphrasing, 56:04 SALT Outreach, 56:05 doing community service 56:07 at the Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. 56:10 And just like that, 56:11 thousands of people heard about a Seventh-day Adventist Church 56:14 that's doing work in the community 56:16 that is driven by young people, 56:18 and all of a sudden people 56:19 who are non Christians are coming up to this, 56:21 you know, to our events, asking is this where 56:24 the events happening for the shower trailer? 56:25 I like to volunteer my time. Yeah. 56:27 When we do the work that God has called us to do? 56:30 He says, then your light shall shine for the Gentiles to see. 56:33 We didn't have to pass that one GLOW track, 56:34 we don't have to pass, I'm not saying that 56:35 those things are not important, mind you. 56:37 Handbills, 56:39 the world saw that we were actually doing so good 56:42 that the world is so selfish 56:43 and so self centered 56:45 that young people are doing something selfless. 56:47 We want to go to where they're at. 56:49 And they broadcasted 56:51 the message of hope to the entire world 56:53 and everybody is coming to the church. 56:55 And just think about it, 56:57 where you're sitting right now, 56:58 we're broadcasting the message around the world. 57:02 At 3ABN too. 57:04 Oh, yes, yeah. It's going around. 57:06 And it's exciting to, you know, 57:08 see the steady progression of the things 57:11 that you have needed, God has been providing. 57:14 I can't believe we're almost down 57:16 to the end of our first hour, 57:18 but we do have a second hour coming up. 57:21 You know, people at home, 57:23 you want to send in your questions, 57:25 send your questions to live@3abn.tv 57:30 or call (618) 627-4651. 57:34 When you hear the automated message, 57:37 press two, 57:38 and that'll take you to our call center. 57:40 And we have people standing by ready to take your questions. 57:44 You are my co-host for the second hour 57:47 and I will be asking Lo-Ammi 57:50 and Eric, your questions. 57:54 I've been amazed with what's going on with SALT, 57:57 and I'm sure you're too. 57:59 We'll be right back after this. |
Revised 2019-08-01