Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL210002B
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00:10 Hello, and welcome back
00:12 to our live Thursday Night Behind The Scenes program. 00:14 We're so glad that you have joined us this evening. 00:16 The first hour went by in a real hurry, 00:17 you know, just talking about what God is doing, 00:19 the opportunities that are before us. 00:21 We talked about 3ABN Cuba, 3ABN Latino being in Cuba, 00:25 the Interless System with Dr. Moses 00:28 and that's just an amazing 00:30 may I say actually invention or opportunity. 00:32 You don't have to have the internet, 00:34 you can have what 6,000 3ABN programs 00:37 available off of a hard drive, it's very easy. 00:39 You can just plug this little box, 00:40 I mean, it's amazing, a little box, 00:42 a little bit bigger than my Bible, 00:44 just a couple of cables into your TV, and you've got, 00:46 what do you say four plus years worth of programming of 3ABN. 00:50 So we're excited about that. 00:51 And then how that then correlates to the Dare to Dream 00:54 Hard Drive Initiative, 00:56 where they're going to take those boxes into prisons. 00:59 And already that amazing testimony 01:01 that Jason shared about a prisoner reaching out 01:03 and wanting a box in his prison, 01:06 but we've changed out and played the musical chairs. 01:09 And we have with us who this evening? 01:10 We have more of the 3ABN family here. 01:12 We have specifically tonight, our Pastoral Department, 01:15 not all of our Pastoral Department 01:17 because we couldn't fit them all 01:18 but we have a few members of the department. 01:20 We have JD Quinn, 01:21 who is the manager of 3ABN Pastoral, 01:23 and just so glad to have you here, JD. 01:25 Thank you. Thank you. This is fun. 01:27 It's always fun to be with my brothers 01:29 and then to be with administration. 01:32 This is working. 01:33 We're all family. Amen. 01:35 Well, that's exactly. 01:36 And one thing that I really appreciate about, 01:38 appreciate about y'all is that you do unite the team. 01:43 And that's really 'cause we're all part of this team, 01:45 we're all part of... 01:48 We're all children of God. Amen. 01:50 We are. That's important to remember that. 01:51 Yeah. Praise the Lord. 01:52 Sitting next to you, Pastor Ryan Day, 01:54 and yeah, we sit together in Sabbath School Panel. 01:57 The Lord has given you insight into the Word of God. 02:00 Not only do you preach, but you sing and you minister, 02:03 and you're developing an incredible database for us 02:06 in pastoral too. 02:07 So just glad to have you here. 02:09 Yeah, I know it's a blessing to be a part of this. 02:10 And I'm looking forward 02:11 to what this hour together has in store for us. 02:13 And you've been here now, Ryan, you and your wife, of course, 02:15 Stephanie is the principal of our local school here, 02:17 Seventh-day Adventist school, 02:19 but you both have been here for how many years? 02:20 Yeah, this June, this coming June 2021 02:23 will be three years. 02:24 Wow. Wow. Amazing. 02:26 A little over two and a half years. 02:27 I didn't see that. 02:28 And we feel you know, Jill and I 02:30 and the rest of the administration 02:31 that God has just brought this family together, 02:32 just together for such a time as this. 02:34 Amen. 02:35 Sitting next to you is Donald Owen. 02:37 And we're so delighted. You have a heart for people. 02:38 Amen. 02:40 And you and your wife ministered a numerous people 02:42 in the community, 02:43 a lot of Celebrate Recovery programs 02:46 and helping people through that. 02:47 And thank you so much for being here tonight. 02:49 Yeah, it's a blessing. 02:51 You know, I like the back of what JD said about you two. 02:53 And what I really appreciate 02:54 about you two is your vulnerability. 02:56 That speaks a lot to me, 02:58 I see people especially in leadership 02:59 that are be willing to be vulnerable, 03:00 that just, that just that encourages me 03:03 because I can respect something that's actually vulnerable, 03:05 so I appreciate it. 03:06 Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 03:07 We appreciate you and your wife very much. 03:09 She works in the Publishing Department, 03:12 does a great job. 03:13 She's busy. She is. 03:14 She's busy. 03:16 That's a very busy department 03:17 'cause a lot of what you see far as like a websites 03:19 and print material, 03:21 and mailing and magazine, the world magazine 03:23 that all goes through the Publishing Department. 03:26 So yeah, we don't want to forget Shelley. 03:27 I was just thinking that, 03:29 we didn't talk about Shelley, so? 03:31 We're thankful for Shelley, your spouse. 03:33 You know, what a great blessing you are. 03:35 Precious little darling. That's right, she's a trooper. 03:39 You know, in this hour, 03:40 we want to talk with the Pastoral Department. 03:42 And, of course, all the departments 03:44 are very important here at 3ABN, 03:46 it all makes the ship go forward. 03:48 But the Pastoral Department I think, 03:49 to me just has a really unique opportunity 03:53 of ministering to you. 03:55 I'm sure many of you 03:56 that are viewing listening right now 03:58 like, Oh, yes, JD, 03:59 I talked to him just the other day, 04:00 or Donald or Ryan and the others 04:03 in Pastoral Department. 04:04 And it's just a really great way. 04:06 That's how we view it for you to connect, 04:08 you know, it's a great way to if you have a prayer request 04:10 or something's on your heart, 04:12 at times, you may feel isolated, 04:13 no one is there 04:15 and you need someone just to pray with you, 04:16 where the Pastoral Department is available. 04:19 And then also I think about biblical questions too. 04:20 Yes. 04:22 There's a lot of questions that are out there. 04:23 You're watching something on 3ABN, you're like, 04:24 "Ah, that just doesn't make sense to me. 04:28 I have another question on that." 04:29 Well, the Pastoral Department is there 04:32 and I think in your department, JD, 04:34 you have a lot of experience with all of the team members. 04:38 Maybe tell us who is actually a part of your team, 04:40 because there's quite a few members. 04:41 Yes, we do. 04:43 I've got it in my mind. Okay. 04:45 He's my sacrament. Got Mitch Owen. 04:46 Yes. 04:48 Mitch has been here for quite, he's worn many hats. 04:50 Oh, yes. But he really is a man of God. 04:52 That's right. We have Don Owen, Joe O'Brian. 04:55 Yes. Ryan Day. 04:57 We've got Pastor Claude Turner. 04:59 101. 101 the 24th of this month. 05:02 Amazing, can probably outwork us all. 05:06 It's amazing. 05:07 And he speaks clearly and with authority. 05:09 Absolutely. Oh, yeah. 05:11 And he knows the Word of God. 05:13 He's a true inspiration, true inspiration. 05:16 You know, when you go back to the 1800s 05:18 and him on the farm in Colorado, 05:20 it's kind of like what? 05:22 There were really people in the 1800s. 05:25 Wow. 05:26 Anyway, he's a precious, precious man 05:29 and Andaluse, she helps Claude. 05:33 We have so many good reports on Ann 05:36 and her tenderness and her love for mankind. 05:39 We also have some volunteers that are always available, 05:42 and... 05:43 Prison ministry too, tell us about that team? 05:45 Prison ministry, 05:46 prison ministry is, what a blessing. 05:49 Iris Giguere and Jenni Poling, 05:53 and they're both just so hard workers 05:56 they've established a relationship with the Lord 05:58 by seeing all these requests that come in 06:01 and how people's hearts been changed. 06:04 And we'll go into the Bibles here in a little bit. 06:06 But wow, powerful ministry, powerful ministry. 06:09 That's right. 06:10 Amen. Amen. 06:11 Talk to us about some of the statistics, 06:13 some of the phone calls that you receive, 06:15 or how many Bibles are sent out through prison ministry 06:19 or emails answered? 06:20 Part of Mitch's job. Okay. 06:22 It's to keep track of details. 06:24 Has got lot of details. 06:25 And I don't wanting to see this. 06:27 But this is really kind of big business stats right here. 06:30 I mean stats really mind. 06:31 Yes. Numbers that makes sense. 06:34 I'm glad you could see that 06:36 because I cannot see it from here. 06:37 It looks like a lot of information. 06:38 It is a lot of information. 06:40 Let me just take... 06:42 What I'm doing here real quick, 06:43 is I'm taking the number of calls, 06:45 we got the number of calls that we missed, 06:48 that went into voicemail 06:49 and also an answering service that 06:51 and we had over 15,000 calls last year... 06:54 In 2020. 06:55 Fifteen thousand calls last year. 06:57 Wow. That's a lot of calls. 06:58 Yeah, it is. Okay. 07:00 And yes, 07:01 from the deepest part of our hearts 07:03 there are some people call in, 07:05 sometimes they just don't get in, 07:06 don't give up. 07:07 I mean, we're busy, busy, busy and we want your calls. 07:11 And so they're certainly there's no agenda on our part, 07:16 you know, we're here to serve people. 07:17 Amen. 07:19 Okay, let's just talk about the number of letters 07:25 that came in with each letter that we get, 07:28 it's, there's a prayer request there. 07:31 And we had over 9,000 of those last year, 07:34 letters that we prayed for specific prayer request. 07:36 Nine thousand! 07:38 A literature mailed out. 07:39 Now let's move over to the prison ministry, 07:41 because they are so busy. 07:44 I mean, this is unbelievable to me. 07:47 Literature that went out last year 07:49 was 12, 000 pieces 07:51 from our little prison ministry office. 07:54 That's averaging a thousand pieces of literature 07:56 that's going out every month. 07:58 Now that could be Desire of Ages, 08:00 that could be a... 08:01 Step to Christ. Steps to Christ. 08:03 It could be a little pocket Glow tract. 08:08 Does that include Bibles or not? 08:10 No. Okay. 08:11 This is not Bibles. 08:12 Bibles this year, 08:14 and you can certainly see because they call this, 08:16 this is the year of the COVID year. 08:19 And you could see last January, pre COVID, 08:23 we sent out 1, 000 Bibles one month. 08:26 That's a lot. 08:28 Then February, 08:29 there was the, there was some indications 08:32 that there could be a problem here. 08:34 And so it dropped down to 730 Bibles 08:36 that we send out that month. 08:38 That is still a lot. Yeah. 08:40 These are who's got a Remnant Study Bible here? 08:43 I don't. Not with me. 08:45 Fantastic Bible, I mean, they're study Bibles, 08:47 the premium. 08:49 And that's what we send out to the prisons. 08:50 That's what we're sending out. 08:51 Then we come into March, and we dropped down to 520. 08:56 So then we even get down as low as 350 Bibles 09:01 that we send out a month. 09:02 Now this is because of the COVID. 09:03 Everything is becoming shut down in the prison. 09:06 These are only going out to the incarcerated, 09:08 they have to send it in and make that request. 09:11 And then the precious ladies, they'll take 09:13 and they'll process that information. 09:15 Maybe someone's asking you a question, 09:17 maybe someone has a special prayer 09:19 or whatever it is. 09:20 And then we send them to study the Bible with it. 09:22 But last year, we sent out 6,550 Bibles. 09:26 Wow. 09:28 That's averaging 500 Bibles a month 09:30 is going out to the prisoners. 09:32 Wow. Praise the Lord. 09:33 Praise the Lord. 09:34 I mean... What an amazing ministry. 09:36 And we've got stacks like this 09:38 of people that are sending in thank you notes. 09:40 My life has been changed. 09:42 I always wanted a Bible. 09:45 I mean, please continue to pray for my family. 09:49 I miss them so much, you know, etc. 09:52 Amen. 09:53 And one more thing 09:54 I want to share with you here is we, prayer warriors. 10:01 We have 2,200 plus prayer warriors 10:04 around the world. 10:05 Now what does it mean to be prayer warrior? 10:06 These are people that 10:08 the Lord has put on their heart, 10:09 "I want to be involved in ministry. 10:12 And I see that 10:13 y'all pray for people around the world, 10:15 I would like to be part of that." 10:17 And if that appeals to you, 10:19 go to our webpage, 3ABN, our major page, 10:23 look at the very top bar and you'll have Pastoral. 10:26 Tap that, click it, 10:27 it will take you down to prayer request. 10:29 If you have a prayer request, fill it out. 10:32 Simple, simple. 10:33 I mean, a first grader could fill this out. 10:37 Most first graders can. 10:40 And if you want to sign up to be a prayer warrior, 10:42 you can sign up there as well? 10:44 Just hit that, 10:45 take you down to the bottom of the prayer request. 10:48 And I would like to be a prayer warrior. 10:51 Now we whet those, 10:53 we want to make sure 10:55 that people truly have a heart for the Lord. 10:57 So because I mean, there's all kinds of people out there 10:59 that are, that could take, 11:01 try to take advantage of a situation. 11:03 We're mature enough to know that. 11:05 So we ask for the church that you belong to, 11:07 the pastor that we can follow that up with. 11:10 And, of course, 11:11 this has to have an email address, 11:13 because Mondays, Thursdays, prayer requests goes out. 11:17 Don's involved, Don and Mitch take care of that. 11:20 And we could have 50 or 100 prayer requests 11:22 that come in twice a week. 11:24 And those goes out to those people 11:26 the remaining ones. 11:27 And then they receive it, 11:29 we've got it broken down into different categories. 11:31 And they pray accordingly. 11:33 It's their ministry. Amen. 11:34 But every time zone in the world 11:37 is being covered there. 11:38 We have people in South Africa, we have people in Asia, 11:41 we have people in South America, 11:43 Central America, 11:45 of course, the United States that are that's their ministry, 11:49 they look forward. 11:51 If per chance there's a holiday, 11:53 the phone lights up. 11:56 Where is our, our ministry, 11:59 where is the prayer request today? 12:01 So we have learned that 12:02 if something if there's going to be a reason 12:04 why we're not open that particular day, 12:06 we send it out to them ahead of time 12:08 so that they know what to expect. 12:10 Not today, but we'll double up by the end of the week. 12:13 Wow. Powerful ministry. 12:15 Amen. Yes. 12:17 And before we go to some music, 12:18 I just want to comment again on those Bibles 12:21 for prison ministry. 12:22 And again, this is Behind The Scenes, 12:24 the first hour we spend also thanking you 12:26 for your support of the different projects Cuba, 12:29 the Hard Drive Initiative with Dare to Dream. 12:31 I also want to mention a big thank you to you 12:34 because many of you have stepped forward, 12:35 articles in the World Magazine you've seen 12:37 or some of the newsletters from 3ABN online. 12:39 Behind The Scenes 12:41 you've heard about the prison Bibles, 12:42 thank you for your support, 12:44 because thousands of dollars have come in, 12:46 JD, for the Bibles for prison ministry 12:48 because these Bibles, like you said 12:50 are not just a really cute little Bible. 12:51 These are nice, has study helps inside of them. 12:54 These goes to the prisoners. 12:55 And so thank you for standing behind that initiative of 3ABN 12:59 to prison ministry. 13:00 It's a great, great outreach. 13:02 I would just like to take this time, 13:03 Ralph and Marilyn, thank you so much. 13:06 Two or three times a year they'll say, 13:08 "Hey, send out another 100 Bibles. 13:11 We want another 100 Bibles for y'all to send out." 13:14 That will happen two or three times a year. 13:16 Here's a precious lady right here. 13:18 She's where you take $50 of this donation 13:23 and put it toward Bibles. 13:24 Amen. 13:25 And so people, you know, 13:27 they're really getting behind this. 13:28 It's absolutely fantastic. 13:30 I'm really excited about 13:31 and I don't know a whole lot about it, 13:32 but I'm really excited about what Jason's talking about. 13:35 Yeah. Amen. 13:37 To me the goal of the Pastoral Department 13:38 is to draw people nearer to Jesus, 13:41 bring people to the foot of the cross, 13:42 introduce them to Him and that's our song. 13:45 Layke Jones will be with us sharing a wonderful song, 13:48 "Draw Me Near." 13:49 Amen. 13:59 I am Thine, O Lord, 14:04 I have heard Thy voice 14:08 And it told Thy love to me 14:15 But I long to rise 14:19 in the arms of faith 14:23 And be closer drawn to Thee 14:32 Draw me nearer, 14:38 nearer blessed Lord 14:41 To the cross 14:43 where Thou hast died 14:49 Draw me nearer, nearer, 14:54 nearer blessed Lord 15:00 To Thy precious, 15:04 bleeding side 15:14 Consecrate me now 15:19 to Thy service, Lord 15:23 By the pow'r of grace divine 15:31 And let my soul look up 15:35 with a steadfast hope 15:39 And my will be lost in Thine 15:55 And draw me nearer, 16:01 nearer blessed Lord 16:03 To the cross 16:05 where Thou hast died 16:11 Draw me nearer, nearer, 16:15 nearer blessed Lord 16:21 To Thy precious, 16:26 bleeding side 16:40 Oh, the pure delight 16:44 of a single hour 16:48 That before Thy throne I spend 16:56 When I kneel in prayer, 17:00 and with Thee, my God 17:05 I commune as friend with friend! 17:13 Draw me nearer, 17:18 nearer blessed Lord 17:21 To the cross where Thou hast died 17:28 Draw me nearer, nearer, 17:33 nearer blessed Lord 17:42 To Thy precious, 17:48 Bleeding side 18:11 Amen. 18:13 Thank you so much Layke Jones and Tim Parton. 18:15 What a powerful message in song, 18:17 "Draw Me Nearer" 18:18 you know that should be the prayer of each one of us 18:20 is draw us nearer to Jesus. 18:23 You know what's interesting to me too 18:24 though is that God wants us to be near to Him, 18:27 but you know it's up to us 18:28 actually to go into His Word on a daily basis, 18:32 feed on His Word 18:33 and then we will be drawn closer to Jesus Christ. 18:35 What a great relationship, you know, 18:37 we can have with the creator of the universe, 18:40 you know, He's someone that we respect 18:43 and revere and honor and fear may I say in a good sense. 18:46 But the same time to realize that 18:48 the love that He has for us 18:50 that He'd be willing to die for just me or just you 18:54 or for the entire world as He's died for. 18:57 It's just incredible love. 18:58 And wow, what an opportunity 3ABN has, 19:01 we're talking about behind the scenes 19:02 of spreading the love of Jesus to a lost and dying world. 19:06 And on the Behind The Scenes 19:08 we've been talking about some of the new initiatives, 19:09 some of the things that are happening. 19:10 One of them that we've been talking about, 19:12 if you've been watching 3ABN for the last few months, 19:14 you've been noticing the text number 19:16 we've been putting up 19:17 because a lot of people email 19:19 still but a lot of people use this phone, 19:20 not this phone, your phone. 19:22 Thank you. Make sure I get that right. 19:24 Use your phone, 19:26 and your texting messaging people. 19:28 And we have the ability to text the pastoral department. 19:31 Donald, tell me how that's going 19:32 and someone may say, 19:34 "Wow, how do I do that?" 19:35 Yeah, yeah, incredible this opportunity we have. 19:38 You know, people that are kind of more shy 19:39 about calling in 19:40 and more people are more comfortable 19:42 they can text into the (618)-228-3975 number 19:46 they can send a text to us but... 19:48 9375 or is it... 19:50 3975. Okay, 3975. 19:51 So we, they've been texting in with their Bible questions. 19:54 Some people I just recently... 19:56 Oh that's neat. So not just a prayer request. 19:57 Yeah, yeah, it's so they're asking 19:59 just had one recently said, 20:01 "Are we in the time of the abomination 20:02 causes desolation?" 20:03 So to answer that, 20:05 and won't do it all through texting, 20:06 but we'll actually email the person who responds, 20:08 but we also have some individual adult person 20:11 sent me a text that's recently said, 20:13 "I don't know how to pray, 20:14 I don't know, I've been so abused, 20:16 I've been so roughed up, I just don't know how to pray. 20:18 I don't know what to do." 20:19 And I mean, this is somebody can just reach out 20:21 just to have a little bit of an opportunity 20:23 to reach out through texts, 20:25 and communication with this person on and off 20:26 and they're starting to feel more comfortable. 20:28 They want to start being open 20:30 and start sharing to get through all that stuff 20:32 that they're experiencing. 20:33 So this texting is a really an interesting tool. 20:36 Because you know, the generation we're in 20:37 so many people are just easily to send a text, 20:39 it's real quick and so. 20:42 Yeah, this texting, I think is a great opportunity for us 20:44 to connect with our viewers and with those who, 20:46 even new people that haven't experienced, 20:48 you know, 3ABN before. 20:50 So if you have tonight, if you have prayer requests, 20:53 or if you have Bible questions, and not just tonight, 20:56 you can send them tomorrow, 20:57 you can send them on the weekend. 20:59 You can send them every day of the week, 21:01 you can send them during the day, 21:02 you can send them in the middle of the night, 21:04 they all come in through the computer system 21:06 and the Pastoral Department has access 21:08 to answer your Bible questions 21:10 or pray for your prayer needs. 21:12 So make sure you text us. 21:13 Write that number down, save it in your cell phone, 21:16 3ABN prayer line for texting. 21:18 This is (618) 228-3975. 21:23 That number again, 21:24 if you're listening on the radio right now, 21:26 is (618) 228-3975. 21:31 You can text any time of the day or night, 21:34 it doesn't mean we answer right away. 21:35 But we will be able to get to you 21:37 when the department comes back into work. 21:39 You know, I mean, this is Behind The Scenes, 21:41 and I just want to share with you, 21:43 you know, my dream and vision. 21:44 I don't know if it ever come to fruition, 21:45 but I would really like it someday. 21:47 Because again, 3ABN is worldwide, 21:49 there's someone always awake or someone else is sleeping, 21:51 just because of the time zones, right? 21:53 I would really, it'd be just so neat 21:55 through like texting, messaging, 21:56 that there's someone that actually will respond 21:58 within a matter of a minute or two, 22:00 no matter what time of day, 22:01 no matter what part of the world you're from, 22:03 these gentlemen have to sleep. 22:04 We're in the Central Time Zone. 22:06 But it'd be so neat, you know, 22:07 and I know God will provide that somehow 22:09 because again, this isn't communication. 22:10 You all experience this, 22:12 someone who's getting ready or thinks about 22:13 thinking about committing suicide, 22:15 you know, they don't want to wait 22:16 or can't wait, you know, 12 hours, 22:18 maybe so I think, I don't know, 22:20 God will provide a way for that to be possible that 22:23 that communication can be 24 hours a day, 22:25 seven days a week, even Bible questions. 22:27 Because again, we're in an age of people wanting instant reply 22:30 of some sorts, like an instant gratification, 22:32 but the instant gratification in a good way 22:34 of the biblical spiritual aspect. 22:37 That's right. Amen. 22:38 Going on to new things, Pastor Ryan, 22:40 tell us about this exciting database, 22:42 because this is another initiative 22:43 of the Pastoral Department. 22:44 I'm so excited. Yeah, absolutely. 22:46 So it's still a work in progress. 22:47 We're still trucking along trying to build our database, 22:50 because obviously, the database is not worth anything, 22:53 unless it's actually got content. 22:54 That's right. 22:55 People can actually go to, 22:57 but that's what we've been working on 22:58 over the past few months to a year. 22:59 And basically, the concept is that 23:02 if you have a Bible question, 23:03 whatever that Bible question may be, 23:05 sometimes we get calls all the time, 23:07 whether it's me, JD, Donald, Mitch, 23:09 and people call in and they have a Bible question. 23:12 And sometimes, it may be a Bible question 23:14 that you can answer 23:16 as Brother JD would say in 25 words or less, 23:18 or may be something that requires a little bit more 23:22 of an extensive answer. 23:23 Regardless of that 23:25 this database comes in to help us in that manner. 23:29 You know, somebody calls in and says, 23:30 "Ryan, I'm really struggling 23:31 with understanding the 2, 300 year time prophecy," 23:34 or "I'm really, 23:35 I'm not really fully understanding 23:37 the concept of sanctification 23:38 and how it pertains to the gospel." 23:40 You know, we're, we can be able 23:42 to encourage them on the phone and say, 23:43 "You know, this is the general juiced version of it. 23:45 But you know what? 23:47 Let me, what's your email address? 23:48 Let me send you a link to our database 23:51 where actually we answer this in its fullness right there. 23:55 And in course, it's going to be an awesome, 23:57 the way it's going to be set up 23:59 as you'll be able to go on there 24:00 and, you know, search certain topics, 24:01 whether it's truth about death, truth about Sabbath, 24:04 truth about whatever it is that it is, 24:06 you have a question about, 24:07 they will be able to search that 24:09 just by simply, you know, typing in a search bar, 24:11 or looking it up alphabetically, 24:13 or there's going to be multiple ways 24:14 that we're going to build this to be user friendly for people 24:16 to be able to get their Bible question answered. 24:18 And so again, it's a work in progress, 24:21 Lord willing, we hope to have something up 24:23 in the next few months. 24:24 Amen. But will... 24:26 I think by the end of, for sure, 24:27 by the end of year 2021. 24:29 I think we're going to have a nice, beautiful, 24:31 functioning database 24:32 that we're constantly going to be, 24:34 you know, because we get questions sometimes 24:35 that I've never heard of, right? 24:37 There'll be somebody to come up with a question. 24:39 I'm just, it just floors me, 24:40 I'm like, oh, you know, I never considered that before. 24:42 If the Bible talks about that, and, you know, 24:45 it causes me to do some Bible research, 24:47 right, which is wonderful. 24:48 And so that that being said, 24:49 that's what this database is going to be all about. 24:51 It's going to be an all access, 24:54 user friendly way that people can communicate 24:57 and use this as a resource, as a tool 25:00 to get their Bible questions answered. 25:02 It's going to point them right to a nice, harmonious answer 25:05 from the Bible. 25:07 I'm so excited about that. 25:08 Wow, yeah, me too. 25:10 And I'm assuming it's going be on your phone too right, 25:13 the database be easily searchable 25:14 with your phone. 25:16 You know, it'd be neat and maybe you're thinking 25:17 about this to actually have an app somehow, 25:19 that's part of that, like a 3ABN, and whatever 25:21 we're calling a question and answer database 25:23 or something that would connect to it as well 25:24 that you could share with somebody to 25:26 because this is an incredible resource. 25:27 Where are you at now 25:29 as far as questions and answers? 25:30 Do you know? 25:32 Do you even have a note where you're at? 25:33 Oh, man, I don't know for I would have to go back 25:34 and count probably in the upper 25:36 I don't know, we're close to 100 at this point, 25:37 just by myself. 25:38 Yay! That's exciting. 25:40 The idea would be to, 25:41 eventually this machine's going to become so big, 25:42 that it's not going to be able to, 25:44 and we're going to need multiple people 25:45 to contribute to. 25:47 Pastor John Lomacang... 25:48 Yeah, Lomacang, and then several other resources as well 25:49 that we can tap into to 25:51 get some good clear Bible answers from 25:52 but, yeah, it's, it's going to be good. 25:57 It's extremely exciting. 25:58 I mean, I mean, it just, 26:00 if you were sitting in our chair, 26:02 in our office, 26:04 man, this is, this is just right there 26:06 at your fingertips 26:07 people could call in, 26:09 and you may not truly understand everything yourself. 26:13 But you can just bring it up that fast. 26:15 And I'm just so blessed. 26:17 Amen. 26:19 And this is, this is the God that we serve. 26:23 He brings the people in that we need at the right time. 26:25 That's right. And it was time for this. 26:27 Oh, definitely. 26:29 We've done this in the past, 26:30 we have 3ABN questions and answers. 26:32 And how long is a day? Twenty four hours? 26:37 So we can answer that. 26:38 You know, but people want a little bit more. 26:40 Today's people's minds is wandering a little, 26:42 they take a little bit step further. 26:43 And so Ryan was very... 26:46 Oh, wow, that's great. Amen. 26:48 He's very gifted by the Lord. 26:50 Ryan has put this in my mind, 26:53 because a couple of times I've gone and said, 26:54 "Boy, that's great, man. There's nothing good in me." 26:58 And, you know, that's thinking through 27:00 because we're all gifted of God. 27:02 Right. That's right. 27:03 And so I'm working on that. 27:05 God has certainly blessed this young man over here. 27:08 And the way his mind works, 27:09 where he processes his information, 27:11 and how he can put it in writing and so. 27:14 And I have to say here, you know, again, 27:15 not to uplift the individuals, 27:17 but it's been such a blessing working in Pastoral 27:19 because you get to be surrounded 27:21 by individuals 27:22 who are just on fire for the Lord, 27:23 people that are dedicated to the mission of God's Word. 27:27 And you know, to be able to have our little chats 27:29 every day that JD and I have, you know, it's a blessing. 27:32 I learned so much because 27:34 while I'm approaching things from a very systematic, 27:37 you know, biblically research type perspective, 27:40 he'll come in and drop a parable, 27:41 just his own made up parable on to illustrate something, 27:45 and I'm just like wow, you know. 27:48 That just completely revolutionized my thinking. 27:50 And it also helps 27:51 to be around people like Donald, 27:53 it's never a dull moment around Donald 27:54 because he's always outgoing, he's always smiling. 27:56 Oh, yes. 27:57 He's always excited and on fire for the Lord. 27:58 And there may be days that I come into work 28:00 just that's my human side of me that I'm just like, 28:02 "Oh, man, it's, you know, 28:04 it's going to be really hard for me to get myself you know, 28:07 my brain up and going 28:08 to really go back through this whole, " 28:09 but to see somebody like Donald come in, 28:11 it's like, you know, on fire ready to go. 28:13 Praise the Lord, another good day, 28:14 you know, I'm just like, 28:16 you know what, I need to be more like Donald. 28:18 You know, what a great team. 28:19 Absolutely, absolutely. 28:21 And then reaching the world to is an incredible resource, 28:24 the 3ABN Pastoral Department. 28:25 I'm just thinking how we're all part of the body of Christ. 28:27 That's what I was going to say. 28:29 And God makes, gives gifts to each member of the body 28:34 to fulfill that role and as we transition here, 28:37 we had told you at the first hour, 28:38 we're going to hear some of the stories, 28:40 some of the miracles, 28:41 some of what's happening from people 28:43 who call the prayer line, 28:45 some of those answers to prayer. 28:47 So every day, every single day, 28:50 these men and women 28:51 because we have Iris and Jenni up there 28:53 have the privilege and opportunity too 28:55 and Anne, thank you 28:57 to impact people's lives for eternity. 28:59 So let's just go around the circle and share. 29:02 We'll start with you, JD. 29:04 Share a story, experiences? 29:06 I don't know if you can read this. 29:07 This is a letter that we received. 29:10 This is my word right here, very good. 29:12 This is very good. I can see that. Yes. 29:15 Let me just read part of this, this is touching. 29:17 I mean, this is, uh... 29:20 Let me read one of the, read one end of it first. 29:23 A lot of highlights on that paper I see. 29:25 Oh, I mean, this is so yummy, yummy, yummy. 29:31 Oh, and I was going to start well, okay. 29:34 "My husband and I are nearing the end of our lives now. 29:37 And we approach death knowing Jesus is coming for us 29:41 and that we are safe in the arms until then." 29:44 Now let me go back up here at the beginning, okay. 29:48 "Dear friends and family of 3ABN." 29:51 This came in December in the latter part of December 29:55 and I'm skipping a lot. 29:57 "But today 3ABN is our main lifeline 30:02 for worship, praise, study, encouragement, 30:06 and expanded faith 30:07 and understanding of who God is. 30:09 On down, we are so grateful for your faithfulness to God, 30:13 His Word, Jesus the truth, the Holy Spirit. 30:16 We are grateful for what you are doing 30:19 for God, for Jesus, for mankind. 30:22 You are the beacon of light in the dark storm. 30:29 I'm asking you to please 30:31 pray for my husband and myself. 30:36 We've been married for 58 years. 30:38 I can't think of life without him. 30:40 And he has esophageal cancer. 30:43 Bless his heart. 30:44 So we need your prayer for us in every way. 30:48 We have no family, no children, our church is our family. 30:53 So all we're just asking you to all hold your arms up, 30:59 help us raise our arms up and pray. 31:02 So blessed to know that you were there. 31:05 We've kept 3ABN in our prayers and have been truly blessed." 31:10 How special. 31:12 3ABN's a lifeline. 31:14 Lifeline, a beacon of light on a hill. 31:17 And here we're on 24 hours a day, 31:20 worldwide. 31:21 And there are many more like that. 31:23 Many more. Yeah. 31:25 This one just jumped off the page, 31:26 because been married 58 years and saying, there. 31:32 "I don't know how I'm going to live my life 31:34 without my helpmate." 31:37 I mean, and then here, both are, 31:39 we're nearing the end of our lives can still write. 31:43 But still are cognizant enough to know, 31:46 "Hey, we've had a good life, we've had a great marriage. 31:50 God has blessed 31:51 because we keep our eyes focused on Him." 31:54 Amen. 31:55 What a great, that's encouraging. 31:56 It just says that, 31:58 "So thank you, thank you." 31:59 Amen. Yes. That's powerful. 32:01 I want to encourage you at home 32:02 to pray for this precious couple. 32:03 JD just read the letter, but pray for them. 32:05 The Lord knows their name. 32:07 Pray for them that God would sustain them 32:09 and walk beside them through this time. 32:12 Ryan, your story. 32:13 Yeah, you know, where do I start? 32:17 You know, I tend to be more on the, 32:20 you know, answering Bible question side of things. 32:22 But you know, there's times throughout the day where I, 32:24 you know, I obviously am open to that pastoral group 32:27 and people call in, 32:28 they may not have a Bible question, 32:29 but they may just want to pray about something. 32:31 You know, my heart breaks, 32:32 because the majority of during this time 32:34 is people calling in and saying, 32:36 you know, my loved one's sick. 32:38 My friend has COVID, pray for my mom, she has this. 32:41 It seems a lot of COVID related stuff 32:43 during the time. 32:44 It's just real. I mean, that's just what it is. 32:45 And, you know what's amazing to me is 32:48 I had multiple cases 32:50 like the one I'm about to illustrate, 32:51 but it's amazing to me the power of prayer. 32:56 Because there's and I know you guys get this as well, 32:59 you'll get this person to call in. 33:01 And the tone of their voice says it all. 33:03 They call in and they may say, 33:04 it may sound something like this. 33:06 "Yes, I'd like to have prayer." 33:10 "Yeah, what can we pray for?" 33:12 "My father has COVID and it's not looking good. 33:15 He's in the hospital." 33:17 You know they're broke, 33:18 it's real somber and at that moment, 33:22 you get to tap in to this life source of God, 33:26 and call upon him. 33:27 And I always in every call that I get, 33:30 I read this text here from the Bible, 33:32 or I will say it in my prayer, 33:34 because I'm claiming its promise. 33:35 And it's 1 John 5:14-15. 33:39 I hang on to this. Yes. 33:41 And I encourage people to hang on to this one as well. 33:43 And this is what it says. 33:45 This is 1 John 5:14-15. 33:48 It says, "Now this is the confidence," 33:50 I love that. 33:51 "Now, this is the confidence that we have in Him 33:55 that if we ask anything, according to His will..." 33:59 Now that's the key. It is, yes. 34:00 A lot of people say, 34:02 "You know, I've prayed for this, I prayed for that. 34:03 And I keep praying and praying and praying 34:05 and God's not answering my prayer." 34:06 Well, is that according to His will, 34:08 we don't know that. 34:09 But God knows, right? And I love this. 34:11 It says, "If we ask anything according to His will, 34:13 He hears us." 34:14 Yes. And then verse 15. 34:16 "And if we know that He hears us, 34:18 whatever we ask, 34:20 we know that we have the petitions 34:23 that we have asked of Him." 34:25 And so in my prayer, I always utter those words, 34:29 I claim that promise, 34:30 and those individuals that call in 34:32 like a lady that called in the other day, 34:33 "You know, my father's, 34:35 you know, sick with COVID we're losing him 34:36 and it's just not looking good." 34:38 You know that that somber voice at the beginning, 34:41 after that prayer, by the end of that prayer, 34:43 that person is, praise the Lord 34:46 like I feel I just feel so confident 34:47 that God's going to answer that prayer, 34:49 just to know the power of a prayer 34:51 that not it may not have even been answered yet. 34:54 But because you pray that special prayer in such a way 34:57 that you have invoked faith and excitement 35:01 and encouragement within someone's heart 35:04 as to simple prayer like that. 35:05 It's just powerful. 35:06 And so in Pastoral, you know, we do, 35:09 you know, I get several calls, whether it's Bible question, 35:11 but I'll tell another encouraging thing 35:13 really quickly. 35:14 I don't want to hog all the time. 35:15 But I'm surprised by how many questions 35:17 or how many times we get calls in 35:18 from people that just simply say, 35:20 "Hey, you know, I've been watching 3ABN, 35:21 it's changed my life, 35:23 it's changed my whole perspective on like, 35:24 on the gospel in general and in the truth of God's Word. 35:27 And, you know what? 35:29 I want to know, like, where I can find my local, 35:31 is there's a local Seventh-day Adventist Church in my area." 35:33 So I find myself many times throughout the day 35:36 on Google Maps, or Google trying to find you know, 35:39 "Oh, yes, so where do you live now?" 35:41 "I live in this city." 35:42 So I'll search that city. 35:43 "Oh, it's not in it. 35:45 Closest to up, 35:46 it looks like you have one 20 minutes away 35:48 at this address." 35:49 It's powerful to know that there's, 35:50 you know, I get dozens of those sometimes a week, 35:52 I want to go to a Seventh-day Adventist Church, 35:54 but I don't know where it is. 35:55 Could you help point me in the right direction?" 35:57 Amen. 35:58 And so, it's just, it's powerful to know 36:00 that God can use each and every one of us 36:01 and that someone is being positively affected 36:04 in a miraculous way by the ministry of this 3ABN. 36:07 So praise the Lord. 36:09 That's why 3ABN exists, right? Right. 36:10 Yeah. 36:12 To spread the gospel and the good news to somebody. 36:13 Yeah, that's hopeless, feels hopeless 36:15 and like, there's no way out. 36:16 I mean, that's incredible. 36:17 Mending broken people. Mending broken people. 36:19 That's right. 36:21 What about you, Donald? 36:22 To pick up of what you said, 36:24 you don't take it a step further and say, 36:25 I'll call, I'll call the actual church. 36:27 I call the church I'll find an elder. 36:29 I'll find a pastor, somebody I tried to get a hold of, 36:31 and I've had a few that have called him. 36:33 I hope they didn't call him back. 36:34 But I just what God has given me 36:36 I don't know, just the gifts that He endowed 36:38 with each and every one of us. 36:40 When I, when I pray, it's like this, 36:42 God puts all these pieces together, 36:44 its scriptures, testimonies, and all these things. 36:46 I had a lady that called a few weeks ago, 36:48 and she said, 36:49 "Yes, you know, I've been on this type of diet." 36:51 I can't remember the name it was and she said, 36:53 "I was tired of all the recipes ahead. 36:54 It just weren't working for me. 36:56 I started clicking through the channels. 36:57 I saw this recipe online 36:59 and it looks interesting since then, 37:00 I see this little 3ABN in the corner 37:01 and decided to call. 37:03 Where are you, what is 3ABN? 37:05 Now what are you guys, what is this all about?" 37:06 So cooking programs, our cooking programs. 37:08 So she saw and I had another gentleman 37:09 like you're talking about 37:10 some people call really depressed, 37:12 an older gentleman, older gentleman. 37:13 And he's just down now. 37:15 He's like, "Oh, I'm just doing this horrible. 37:16 I'm just wrong. 37:17 And this is all this heaviness," 37:19 you know, you hear the heaviness. 37:20 As I began to pray, 37:21 I showed him through a certain scriptures, 37:23 Ezekiel 16 and Zachariah 3, 37:24 how Satan is really trying to just push us down 37:26 and suppress us and I said, 37:27 "You are a son of God." Amen. 37:28 When I told him he's a son of God, he goes, 37:30 "I am a son of God. I'm a son of God. Hallelujah." 37:34 He got so excited. Praise God. 37:37 And then I had another lady just recently, 37:39 she called and she talked to me, says, 37:41 "I've been calling you guys since August, 37:43 I call all kinds of prayer line talking like Joyce Meyers 37:46 and all these other various places." 37:48 And she said, I called and she said, 37:50 but your prayer line, she said, 37:52 "I see miracles happening every time I call you guys. 37:54 Yeah, since August, 37:56 the miracles are just incredible." 37:57 So she said, 37:59 "It's just amazing, 38:00 you guys pray something happens. 38:01 So, just been really blessed... 38:03 I think the thing that you hear most often, 38:06 I just thank you that someone's there to talk to us. 38:09 There's so many lonely people out there. 38:11 Right. 38:12 I remember when I first came here, 38:14 that was 15 years ago, 38:15 this one little lady 38:17 she called every day at 3 o'clock. 38:19 And attitude, if you're not careful, 38:24 your attitude can get away from you, 38:25 you know, because oh, 38:27 I can tell the story 38:28 better than she can tell the story because, 38:30 as I find out, she's been in a nursing home 38:32 incapacitated for something like 10 years. 38:35 The one thing that she looked forward 38:37 to every single day was at 3 o'clock 38:40 because she's going to get to call someone 38:42 that would spend some time with her. 38:43 Wow. 38:45 Boy did I, I got equipped in right there, 38:46 thank you Jesus, 38:48 because from then on, I really started looking forward to her. 38:52 It's getting close to 3 o'clock, 38:53 and then we go on rotation, you know, 38:55 so, but I'd see her number come up. 38:58 "How are you doing sweetheart. So good." 39:00 It was just like, none of us know exactly 39:04 what the hearts 39:06 that we're going to be touching. 39:08 Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. 39:09 What a gift. 39:10 You know, I think of every person 39:12 in the pastoral department. 39:13 God has called you. Amen. 39:15 You know, for such a time as this to minister, 39:18 to speak truth, to speak words of life, 39:21 to speak Jesus over people's hearts and lives 39:24 and lead them to Jesus, 39:26 lead them to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 39:28 lead them to the truth found in God's Word. 39:31 So we want to take, I know we have a few moments left 39:33 of the second hour. 39:34 We want to take a few moments 39:36 and have you share 39:37 some sort of thought each one of you, 39:39 some sort of thought, for the New Year. 39:42 We're in January, and we're starting this year 39:44 and what has God put in your heart 39:46 some word of encouragement 39:48 from our 3ABN Pastoral Department 39:50 to our family at home 39:52 and, Donald, let's start with you. 39:53 Great. Yes. 39:55 Just to kind of preface this, JD and I talked about like, 39:57 what we're going to share for devotions. 39:58 We didn't know and I'm like I have no clue, 40:00 Lord, I'm like okay, Lord, so what do I do. 40:01 So I said, "Lord, you're going to have to tell me 40:03 what to share because I don't understand, 40:04 I don't know what to say." 40:06 He said, "Be still and know that I'm God." 40:07 "I am being still. 40:09 I'm listening, what do you want me to share." 40:10 And He goes, "Be still and know that I'm God." 40:11 I said, "Okay, all right be still and know I'm God 40:13 and my wife, 40:16 this was lying next to her leg 40:18 and she picked this up to show it to me 40:19 right after I said, 40:20 "Be still and know that I am God." 40:22 Wow. 40:23 And then the very next day we had a devotional 40:24 and guess what the scripture was. 40:26 Be still and know that I am God. 40:27 Be still and know that I am God. 40:29 So I just wanted to share this time 40:30 what the Lord put on my heart to share. 40:31 I entitled this made to be still. 40:33 So Psalm 46:10 says, 40:35 "Be still and know that I am God. 40:37 I will be exalted among the heathen, 40:39 I will be exalted in the earth." 40:41 Lord, I re-exalt You today. 40:43 Mm-hmm. 40:45 And I'll just read this to you. 40:47 Have you ever felt that your life is out of control? 40:51 Have there been days when things seem overwhelming? 40:54 My wife and I recently experienced something 40:56 that shook us and caused us to draw closer to Jesus. 41:00 We came home on a Wednesday evening 41:02 in December to a surprise, 41:04 leaving 3ABN and heading out for some dinner, 41:06 we had joyous expectations of the many days of vacation 41:09 that lie ahead. 41:11 It was dark. 41:12 And when we approached the house, 41:13 we found that 41:15 most of the inside lights were on. 41:17 Yeah, yeah. 41:18 We had an eerie feeling that something wasn't right, 41:21 a sense of fear overtook us. 41:23 We approached the front door only to find the doorknob 41:26 and latch broke open. 41:27 As we peered inside the front door window, 41:29 everything was in total chaos. 41:32 Stuff was strewn everywhere. 41:34 We realized that we had just had a break in. 41:37 I'm gonna ask you a question. 41:38 Have you ever felt your space is violated or threatened? 41:42 Maybe it is somebody who gets too close 41:43 and makes you uneasy, 41:45 or maybe it is a conversation 41:46 that you shouldn't be involved in. 41:48 Perhaps it could be your surroundings 41:49 at the moment. 41:50 Whatever it is, 41:52 God says to be still and know that I am God. 41:54 Wow. 41:55 Before taking our Christmas break from 3ABN, 41:57 my wife and I commented on needing to clean our house. 42:02 Clean our house. 42:05 It is funny how God works everything out. 42:07 Prior to the break and we were discussing 42:08 which set of parents my wife or I 42:10 we would go and see. 42:11 And I got a little upset 42:13 because we don't see my parents very often, 42:14 they live kind of far away. 42:17 But we had a total shift in plans. 42:19 We spent the next several days cleaning up chaos. 42:23 As we prayed to God 42:25 we felt after getting a new door, 42:26 praise the Lord, installed. 42:28 And with the support from our landlord Dan, 42:30 which works here and wonderful church family, 42:32 a sense of peace washed over us. 42:36 Interesting enough those who or whoever they were 42:39 that broke into only got away the few things, 42:42 we retrieved much of what was taken. 42:44 It was interesting because what they did is 42:45 they stuffed a lot of this stuff 42:47 in the back of our other car we had 42:48 not driven that day in the back of our trunk. 42:50 They took that and a few days later, 42:53 by God's leading we found a majority of it 42:54 stuffed under a little tarp we had, 42:57 we had covered some topsoil under some bags. 42:59 And so we pretty much found everything. 43:01 God says again, "Be still and know that I am God." 43:03 He worked everything out. 43:06 It is easy to lose focus 43:07 when our patterns or our days are shifted off course 43:10 when bad things happen to us, our faith is tested. 43:12 Some of us may even shake our fist to sky and ask, 43:15 "God, why me." 43:17 Our enemy knows 43:18 how to throw the stumbling block 43:20 of discouragement and doubt at us. 43:21 But God says again 43:22 to be still and know that I'm God. 43:24 I'm going to read this real quick. 43:25 Ellen White wrote this encouraging nugget 43:27 from the book Education, page 260 and 261. 43:30 This is powerful. 43:31 "And intensity such as never before was seeing 43:34 is taking possession of the world," 43:36 we can agree that, right? 43:37 "And intensity such as never before 43:38 was seen is taking possession of the world, 43:40 in amusement and money making 43:41 and contest for power. 43:43 In the very struggle for existence, 43:45 there is a terrible force 43:47 that engrosses body, mind and soul 43:49 in the midst of this maddening rush, 43:51 God is speaking, 43:52 He bid us come apart and commune with Him, 43:54 'Be still and know that I am God.' 43:58 More many, 43:59 even in their seasons of devotion fail 44:02 of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. 44:04 They're in two great haste. 44:06 With hurry steps they press through the circle of Christ 44:09 loving presence, 44:10 pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred presence, 44:13 but not waiting for counsel, 44:15 they have no time to remain with a divine teacher. 44:17 With their burdens they return to their work. 44:20 These workers can never attain the highest success 44:22 until they learn the secret of strength. 44:24 They must give themselves time to think, time to pray, 44:27 time to wait upon God for a renewal of physical, 44:29 mental and spiritual power. 44:30 They need the uplifting influence of His spirit. 44:33 Receiving this 44:35 they will be quickened by fresh life, 44:36 the wearied frame, 44:38 a tired brain will be refreshed, 44:39 the burnt heart will be enlightened, 44:41 out a pause for a moment in His presence, 44:43 but personal contact with Christ 44:44 to sit down and companionship with Him. 44:46 This is our need." 44:47 So that was just my prayer to encourage the viewers. 44:50 Yeah, thank you, Donald. 44:51 To know the circumstances just be still. 44:53 Amen. Amen. 44:54 It's hard sometimes, I know in my own life is kind of hard. 44:56 Sometimes it's like okay, wait, got to be quiet, listen. 45:00 Yeah. Yeah, that's what God wants. 45:02 When everything just seems like chaotic, 45:04 you know, that's when you really need 45:06 to just be still and see how God can work. 45:07 Amen. Thank you for sharing that. 45:08 That's powerful. Praise the Lord. 45:10 Brother JD, go you next and then Pastor Ryan. 45:12 Yes, starting a new year. 45:15 So as I'm, I just have my little thing, 45:19 enough is enough. 45:22 As I'm sitting here 45:24 thinking about a certain person, 45:26 and then I'm thinking, well, this is New Year, 45:28 what should we do, 45:30 what would be a good direction to go? 45:33 There's many people that are sick and tired 45:35 of being sick and tired. 45:37 Enough is enough. 45:39 They're ready to make 45:40 some major changes in their life, 45:42 but they really don't know what to do. 45:44 Every once in a while I have the opportunity, 45:47 you know, to speak with people about life skills, 45:49 maybe about little coaching, about motivation or whatever. 45:53 What is a good place to start? 45:56 A good place to start is Matthew 6:33, 46:00 "Seek first the kingdom of God." 46:02 That's right. I'll just read it myself. 46:04 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 46:07 His right doing, 46:08 and all these things shall be added in to you." 46:11 So if you're getting ready to start something new, 46:13 I think that I would go to somebody 46:14 that knows something. 46:15 And I think that that person would be no other 46:19 than the mind of Christ. 46:21 Yeah. Absolutely. 46:22 Seek first, and then I moved over here, 46:26 and Luke, and Luke says, 46:30 Jesus says, excuse me, Jesus says, 46:33 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. 46:37 Seek and you'll find, knock, and it shall be open." 46:40 Now remember, we started off by seeking Him. 46:44 Now we're asking Him, 46:47 you know, we're sitting here and we're asking, 46:49 we're seeking, we're knocking. 46:51 And in the seeking of the Lord, 46:55 He tells us, that you will be found. 46:58 Amen. 46:59 And it sits and it says, hey, my face is always available. 47:03 And with my face comes my strength. 47:06 Amen. 47:07 "Seek the Lord, while He may be found." 47:09 That's right. Oh, my goodness. 47:11 Boy, how many times has that little secret voice, 47:15 just sit there and impress upon your heart, 47:17 and you just shun it? 47:21 That's a special gift 47:23 when the Holy Spirit is sitting there 47:24 speaking to you. 47:26 And that, he says here, 47:28 "Seek the Lord while He may be found 47:30 and call on Him when He's near." 47:33 Now, remember, we're talking about starting over. 47:35 We're talking about a new start. 47:38 We're sick and tired of being, 47:40 we're sick and tired of being tired. 47:42 I want Him when He's near. 47:43 That way I know that He's listening. 47:46 And then it says, 47:47 "Sow for yourself righteousness, " 47:49 in other words, right doing, 47:51 "reap the fruit of unfailing love." 47:54 Oh, my goodness, thank You, Jesus 47:55 and break up the unplowed ground. 47:58 Being coming from a farming community, 48:00 boy, cultivation was so important, 48:02 getting out there and tilling that ground, 48:03 turning it over. 48:05 And he's kind of like, 48:06 "Daddy why in the world are we doing this? 48:07 It's just dirt." 48:09 Son, this is whenever it becomes alive. 48:12 That's right. 48:14 And so, you know, you go out there and you cut. 48:16 So, boy, there's times and you're like, 48:17 I don't want to do that. 48:21 Seek the Lord while He is there. 48:23 Amen. 48:24 And then God, this is so important. 48:28 God is not that far away from any of us. 48:33 He's within hearing distance at least. 48:37 He may be right here. 48:40 So Matthew also shares this and in hearing Jesus say it, 48:45 "For everyone who asked receive, 48:47 and he who finds unto Him who knocks it will be open." 48:52 So now let's step real quick over here. 48:55 And let's take a step forward. 48:56 We know that He's available, we know that He loves you. 49:00 Not that I've already attained this. 49:02 This is Paul, not that I've already attained this, 49:05 or have even arrived at my goal. 49:07 But I do press on and hold on to that 49:09 for which Jesus took hold of. 49:12 One thing I do, 49:13 I forget what's in the rearview mirror. 49:16 And I keep going forward, I press on to the goal. 49:20 And as you're pressing on to the goal, to not forget, 49:25 here again, Jesus says, 49:27 "But man, when you put your hand to the plow, 49:31 keep going, follow, continuing. 49:34 Don't look back 49:35 because if you look back 49:37 that may become attractive again, 49:38 and then the rows may just start weaving. 49:41 I don't remember the first time 49:43 I wanted to drive this tractor so bad. 49:44 I was probably about six or seven years old. 49:46 This is back whenever they didn't have the starters. 49:49 You had to do it the old hard way, you know. 49:51 Crank start. 49:52 And that's to crank that thing. 49:53 Man, I was tall but I had little bitty arms. 49:57 I could not crank that thing. 49:59 And my granddad, he was wise. 50:01 He steps in, 50:02 "Listen, whenever you can crank it, 50:05 you can drive it." 50:06 Man, I mean, every six months 50:08 I'm out there trying and huffing and puffing. 50:10 Boy, that one day though it hit. 50:13 Oh, my goodness, 50:14 my joy level jumped to the ceiling. 50:18 But anyway, I just want to end it with this. 50:22 Don't be afraid, don't tremble. He's always there. 50:25 He's began a good work in you will bring to completion. 50:28 Let us run with endurance. 50:30 And then I want to end it with this. 50:33 God has a heaven full of blessing 50:35 that He wants to bestow on those 50:37 who are earnestly seeking for that 50:40 which Lord alone can give. 50:41 Amen. Amen. 50:42 Thank you. Praise the Lord. 50:44 Praise the Lord. Powerful. 50:45 Amen. 50:46 Pastor Ryan. Praise the Lord. 50:48 Praise God, amen. 50:49 Having church Thursday night. I know, right? 50:51 You know, one of the most difficult things 50:53 that I find in my ministry 50:55 that the Lord is teaching me gradually as I go along 50:57 as how to have proper balance. 51:00 And balance in everything, but for sure, 51:03 a balanced mental approach towards, 51:05 you know, understanding and relating to the gospel, 51:07 preaching the gospel, expressing the truth. 51:10 And, you know, 51:12 when I recently watched a series online 51:15 of the kind of a gospel series, 51:17 I'll just put it that way that kind of depicted 51:19 what Christ's ministry might have been like. 51:21 And I really, I didn't realize 51:22 until that series just how much of a visual learner I am, 51:24 because I can read these words, and try to envision my mind, 51:28 but sometimes I struggle to really pull it out 51:29 the way I want to see it, the way it should be. 51:31 The series really helped me to, 51:33 to kind of visualize and put in perspective, 51:36 what it could have been like 51:37 when Jesus was having these exchanges 51:39 with the Pharisees and when He was healing, 51:41 and when He was doing all these wonderful things. 51:44 What I learned as you read the gospels, 51:46 you come very much become clear. 51:48 This way you be very clear, 51:49 if you read this in the gospels, 51:51 that Jesus was a rebel in His day. 51:52 He really was, a rebel in a good way, okay. 51:54 Most time when you say that somebody is a rebel, 51:56 or that person is a rebel, 51:58 it comes off in a negative context, right? 51:59 Because no one wants to be a rebel. 52:00 But Jesus was truly a rebel. 52:02 What Jesus did, 52:04 He showed up to turn the world right side up. 52:06 Radical. 52:08 You know He was, He was... 52:09 A lot of the things that He taught, 52:10 a lot of things He expressed 52:12 was radical in comparison to the culture, 52:15 at that pharisaical mindset had bestowed upon the people 52:19 in the society of that time. 52:21 And, you know, I always try my best 52:23 to do my little thought 52:25 for our own Christ's life each day, 52:27 that doesn't always happen as I really like it to. 52:29 But nonetheless, I always find myself going back 52:31 to those gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 52:33 focusing in on the beautiful life lessons 52:36 that you can learn from there. 52:37 My brother sent me a quote, 52:39 and I want to read this quote in the time that we have left, 52:41 and I'm going to get some final remarks. 52:42 I think we have enough time to do so. 52:44 And this is the devotional thought 52:45 that really stood out in me recently, 52:47 that the Lord has bestowed upon me to, 52:50 you know, to really earnestly pray 52:51 and ask for balance, 52:52 will give me proper balance 52:54 and transform me more like unto Christ. 52:57 So this comes from Desire of Ages, 52:58 page 309, 52:59 referencing the exchange that Jesus had had 53:02 with the Pharisees. 53:03 And we know that Jesus had many encounters 53:05 with the Pharisees, 53:06 I think of John 8, you know, where He, 53:07 you know, the woman caught in adultery 53:09 and had on exchange where you know, 53:11 you don't know Abraham, and Jesus is like, 53:13 before Abraham was I am, right? 53:14 And blasphemy right and, but notice this right here, 53:18 Desire of Ages, page 309. 53:21 "The greatest deception of the human mind in Christ day 53:25 was that a mere assent 53:26 to the truth constitutes righteousness. 53:29 In all human experiences, 53:31 a theoretical knowledge of the truth 53:33 has been proved to be insufficient 53:35 for the saving of the soul. 53:37 It does not bring forth the fruits of righteousness. 53:40 A jealous regard 53:42 for what is termed theological truth 53:44 often accompanies a hatred of genuine truth 53:47 as made manifest in life. 53:50 The darkest chapters of earth's history 53:52 burden with the record, 53:54 are burdened with a record of crimes 53:56 committed by bigoted religionists. 53:59 The Pharisees claimed to be children of Abraham, 54:01 and boasted of their possession of the oracles of God. 54:04 Yet these advantages did not preserve them 54:08 from selfishness, malignity, greed for gain, 54:11 and bassist hypocrisy. 54:14 They thought themselves 54:16 the greatest religiousness of the world, 54:17 but their so called orthodoxy led them to crucify 54:21 the Lord of Glory." 54:23 And then she ends in this last paragraph, 54:25 "The same danger exists today. 54:30 Many take it for granted that they are Christians 54:32 simply because they subscribe to certain theological tenets. 54:36 28. Yeah, fundamental beliefs. 54:38 "But they have not brought the truth into practical life. 54:43 They have not believed and loved it, 54:45 therefore they have not received 54:47 the power and grace 54:48 that come through sanctification of the truth. 54:51 Men may profess faith in the truth, 54:54 but it does not make them sincere, kind, patient 54:58 forbearing heavenly minded. 55:00 It is a curse to its possessors 55:04 and through their influence it is a curse to the world." 55:07 When I read that, 55:09 immediately my mind thought, 55:11 "You know, Ryan, you know a lot. 55:12 But do you really know Him?" 55:15 You know you can talk with the best of them 55:18 not to bring myself high. 55:20 But do you, are you allowing that truth 55:23 to transform you from the inside out?" 55:25 You know, we as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 55:27 we boast, 55:29 I think in a spiritual type way 55:31 of having all this incredible truth 55:33 to give to the world because we've been commissioned 55:35 to go and tell the world about this amazing truth. 55:38 But are we allowing that truth to transform us, 55:42 to make us alike into the beautiful, 55:44 loving, compassionate, merciful character of Jesus? 55:47 Is it coming out that way? 55:49 That after reading this devotional 55:50 after considering its thoughts, 55:52 after contemplating on Christ has led me to say, 55:56 Lord transform me more and more each day 55:58 to not just talk about the truth, 56:00 not to just preach the truth, 56:02 but to live it out amongst others. 56:03 Wow. Amen. 56:05 Praise the Lord. 56:06 What a powerful evening, thank you all so much. 56:09 JD, thank you for your leadership 56:10 with our Pastoral Department. 56:12 Thank you, Ryan, 56:13 for what you bring to the ministry 56:16 and this department. 56:17 And thank you, Donald, for what you bring 56:19 to this ministry and this department. 56:20 And what you all share tonight, thank you for that. 56:23 I wrote down be still a know, ask, 56:27 and it shall be given to you 56:29 and learn to experience Jesus for yourself. 56:32 Amen. Amen. 56:33 What an incredible way to start the New Year. 56:36 I know we're a couple of weeks in already, 56:38 but to know that we can walk with Jesus, 56:41 to know that we can be still and experience Him 56:44 to know that we can ask and claim 56:48 and know that He hears us 56:49 and know that 56:51 you have that same experience as well. 56:52 Thank you for being part of our 3ABN family. 56:54 Thank you for your love, 56:56 prayers and financial support of this ministry 56:59 as we take this glorious gospel 57:01 to the far corners of the world. 57:03 We'll see you again. Bye-bye. 57:05 Amen. |
Revised 2021-02-05