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Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL220015B
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00:11 Welcome back to our special Thursday Night Live. We're so 00:13 glad that you have joined us. The first hour has gone by in a 00:16 hurry. What a blessing to hear 00:18 the incredible stories that 00:19 Elder Wilson and his wife have 00:21 been sharing about what God is doing through the work of the 00:25 Seventh-day Adventist Church. But you know as he's mentioned 00:27 it's really the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God 00:31 that changes life. And we want to encourage you tonight too. 00:36 Maybe you're there all alone and you're wondering and trying to 00:39 find purpose in your life. Elder Wilson will have you address 00:43 maybe that person, but you're wondering where to turn and is 00:46 God real and what's your purpose in life. Well you know you're 00:50 here today for a reason, (Amen) We know that God loves you, we 00:54 love you, you're part of a family and God has a work for 00:57 you to do. No matter where you are in the world, no matter what 01:00 is going on, God has a work for you to do. But if you're just 01:04 now joining us, I've already referenced the Wilsons, but we 01:06 have Elder Ted Wilson and his wife Nancy here with us. You're 01:09 the General Conference President of Seventh-day Adventists. We 01:12 know you have a very busy schedule. Thank you so very much 01:15 for taking the time to come here to 3ABN. Your support again of 01:20 3ABN. We know that you stopped in St. Louis on your way here. 01:23 We're going to talk about the General Conference session that 01:25 is coming up in Mmm what a month or so. A little over a month. 01:29 Forty-six days. 01:30 Very good and so many minutes right. We'll be talking about 01:34 that in just a couple of minutes as well. Of course, Mr. Danny 01:38 Shelton, founder of 3ABN and your wife, Dr. Yvonne. So good 01:41 have you both on as well this evening. 01:44 Well we're encouraged and when we hear these stories, I always 01:49 say the blessing is on the go. 01:53 So Jesus says go ye into all the 01:54 world. And so the power, Jesus 01:56 says all power is given me in 01:58 heaven and earth. Go ye therefore. So what he's saying 02:01 to us is when we submit and commit our lives to Him He 02:04 transfers that we can go now and be encouraged to know that God 02:10 is with us and all power is given to Him. Go ye therefore so 02:15 each one of us our potential people want to look around 02:18 us. If we 02:20 get discouraged, well where is God. Well where was He when I 02:22 needed Him for this. Where was... You know that's the devil 02:25 We encourage people that each and every one of us, the people 02:29 you're talking about. One person You being willing to preach to 02:34 those people could have made all the difference. Had you just 02:37 said, You know what, this is raining, I'm going to quit and 02:40 leave. They may not have come back the next day. They may have 02:43 said, Well this is not very important. Look what we're 02:46 giving up in our change in our life. But it's each of us as you 02:51 were saying, Greg, got it, He says I knew you before you were 02:54 even formed in the womb. I knew you from the beginning. I have 02:58 a plan for you. And so that plan is that each of us are to be 03:02 evangelists and so it's not what we know or how much do we 03:06 memorize the book of Revelation or do we whatever but Ellen 03:10 White says that our own personal testimony is our greatest asset. 03:14 So as we listen to you tonight Elder Wilson and Sister Nancy 03:20 it is encouraging, and I hope everyone listening we don't want 03:24 to just it's great to hear about that, but what does God have in 03:28 store for you. God wants you to do something when you come in 03:31 the name of the Lord, mighty marvelous things happen in spite 03:35 of us, not because of us. But when we go forward and we 03:38 rightly divide the word of truth this should be infectious to all 03:42 of us. It's like, hey I want to get up, let's go do something 03:45 right now you know for the Lord so thank you and I know that 03:50 this is happening around the world and even in places we 03:53 even know. But the Lord is coming back very soon in the 03:57 clouds of glory and its things just like this that is making us 04:01 as Seventh-day Adventist Christians we should never be 04:04 discouraged but encouraged that God has given us an end times 04:08 message for an end-times people. And to hear these stories, I 04:11 don't know about you, I'm ready to go do something. 04:14 I know, fired up. That's right. 04:16 You are doing something. 04:17 I want to do more. 04:21 Yeah, do more. 04:22 You know we talked the first hour about Philippines and the 04:24 incredible work, transformation, that the Holy Spirit did there. 04:29 The text you referenced, I love that text. Second Timothy 1:7: 04:33 God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and 04:36 of a sound mind. And as we live in these closing moments of 04:39 earth's history, as we see the wars and rumors of wars and the 04:45 famines and the pestilences that take place you can be afraid. I 04:48 think of what's happening right now in Ukraine with our brothers 04:53 and sisters in Ukraine and Russia and other countries in 04:57 that region, the terror that would be in people's hearts 05:01 during this time. The suffering that's going on right now. Talk 05:05 to us about how our brothers and sisters, especially in the 05:09 Seventh-day Adventist Church, are dealing with this crisis. 05:15 Well, of course, our hearts are heavy for our brothers and 05:18 sisters in Ukraine, in Russia, 05:22 in eastern Europe. We have many 05:25 faithful people in all those 05:28 countries and we love them and 05:31 we just feel a part of their love for the Lord and we just 05:38 want to be together. But the things that are happening in 05:42 Ukraine are very tragic. We pray for the cessation of violence 05:50 and for the bloodshed that is taking place that God will 05:53 somehow intervene. But it's amazing to see in this situation 06:00 how God is working in the lives of our church members to witness 06:07 to people and to help them even amidst all of these challenges. 06:12 So many people are leaving you know as refugees, over five 06:16 million have left now and our church in Poland, in Slovakia, 06:24 in Hungary, in Romania, in Moldova and in Russia, they have 06:31 responded by helping people who are refugees, giving them 06:35 encouragement. ADRA, our Adventist Development and Relief 06:39 Agency International and ADRA Europe has done phenomenal work 06:44 in helping to make people feel loved and accepted and a warmth 06:52 that is there. And our people in Ukraine are trying to help not 06:59 just their own Seventh-day Adventist members but so many 07:03 others and it's a huge witness. And probably the greatest thing 07:08 that they can do is as Romans 12 tells us at the end of that 07:16 chapter, it tells us repay no one evil for evil, verse 17, and 07:21 then it says you know in verse 19-Beloved do not avenge 07:27 yourselves but rather give place to rath for it is written, 07:31 Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore if your 07:35 enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him drink for in 07:39 so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be 07:42 be overcome by evil, verse 21, but overcome evil with good. 07:47 And our church members are helping so many people. I see a 07:54 picture in my mind of church members in the city of Odessa 08:02 and they were providing food for people who were leaving and then 08:10 right next to that they were providing Bibles and the Great 08:14 Controversy. I mean, these are church members trying to help 08:18 those who are filled with the spirit of fear. You know, one 08:25 illustration of even God's protection just came about 08:29 recently where there was a terrible attack on a train 08:33 station and a missile came. Over 50 people died. One lady, a 08:42 Seventh-day Adventist, was part of that particular group when 08:46 this bomb hit. And the bomb blast threw her many, many feet 08:51 meters away. She was stunned, kind of woke up, looked around 08:58 and saw all these dead bodies around and blood and everything. 09:03 She was able to get up, shake herself, you know, and shake the 09:10 dust off her and walked away without one scratch. 09:14 Unbelievable the protection. But this is a witness to people 09:19 of what God is doing to try to help keep people focused upon 09:25 the things that are of a positive nature. And our pastors 09:31 are helping to move people from one place to the other, not just 09:35 members of our church, but others and people are just 09:38 amazed; you would help me to be able to be safe? The church is 09:46 moving ahead in a very difficult time and I want you to pray 09:50 earnestly for all people, in Ukraine, in Russia, throughout 09:56 Eastern Europe that God will use His people to stay firmly 10:00 rooted in Him and not allow anger and strife to create such 10:09 animosity that you cannot then fulfill what God has said, to 10:14 overcome evil with good. And so by God's grace, we're seeing a 10:22 tremendous impact on the people in Ukraine by our church members 10:26 but it's not easy at all. But we're in very closed contact 10:32 with them. We're working with them, trying to encourage them. 10:37 Just a couple days ago we had a very good meeting through 10:42 electronic means trying to bring encouragement to our church 10:46 leaders. But I just ask you to pray earnestly for these people. 10:50 Many people, of course, have lost their homes and are 10:57 refugees. And the men in Ukraine are not allowed to leave, those 11:06 under 60, so the pastors were staying with their churches and 11:12 many women were leaving but the wives said we're going to stay 11:16 and work with our husbands. Yes. And they have opened their 11:24 churches for those who have no shelter. They have provided food 11:28 and clothing. I don't know where they get all of this but 11:32 they are assisting whoever is in need and was it our clinic in 11:37 Kiev where they were baking the bread? Yes. Like 100 loaves a 11:42 day and passing it out because people are... they have no 11:47 kitchen, many of them they have no food and so our church is 11:51 just doing incredible things to feed people, to shelter them, to 11:57 give them clothing. 11:58 This is true medical missionary work. Following in the footsteps 12:02 of Jesus. Helping people physically, mentally, socially 12:05 and spiritually. And you know these are our laypeople too. 12:08 I mean it's not just pastors. This quotation from Testimonies 12:15 for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 117, it says: The work of God in this 12:20 earth can never be finished until the men and women 12:23 comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite 12:27 their efforts with those of ministers and church officers. 12:31 Everybody is working together, just total member involvement. 12:35 And it's just an amazing thing to see how God is pouring out 12:40 His Spirit even in the midst of a terrible conflict. 12:43 It's during the time of tribulation that we really find 12:47 out, you know, a lot about ourselves and about our church. 12:52 For instance, I was talking to Pastor Mark Finley the other day 12:55 and he was saying in some of these countries like Poland and 12:58 all the churches there in order to help people coming in they 13:02 were tearing out the pews and cleaning it out to bring so 13:06 there's room for people to come in. I mean, that's true religion 13:10 right there. It's not oh well wait a minute we don't want to 13:12 tear out all of our pews and move everything out of the way. 13:16 We got to meet. No. The people need a place and shelter over 13:19 their head we're going to turn this into you know not just 13:24 where we can come and oh enjoy. We're going to help people. 13:27 That's such a I don't want to say sacrifice but it's so bold 13:31 on the part of the people and it shows they have caught the 13:35 vision. And I know that especially dear to you all. You 13:38 lived in I guess Moscow for a while for you speak Russian. 13:42 Russians and Ukrainians together we built this huge facility and 13:48 we hired over a hundred Ukrainians to come and work 13:51 together with the Russians and the Americans there that we had 13:54 and to build this huge facility and of course, we all got along 13:58 we're all brothers and sisters in the Lord. And now to see this 14:05 separation of the countries and so people are saying you're this 14:09 country that and this one. You know I tell them we don't really 14:12 know what's happening. We just know our responsibility is to be 14:15 there when people need us, to continue to give the gospel, to 14:19 continue to preach love one for another and let the Lord work 14:23 out all the details. And so I'm thankful as a church basically 14:28 what I'm hearing is that we need to pray for everybody and yet 14:32 take care of those in need no matter where they are or where 14:35 they're from and that's true religion is taking care of those 14:39 who can't take care of themselves. 14:40 And what you said, Danny, is absolutely true, it doesn't 14:43 matter where you're from, what country, whether there is 14:48 conflict, we are all as Seventh- day Adventist Christians 14:51 brothers and sisters in Christ. And we're a family. 14:55 We should probably have a little season of prayer maybe I'm 15:00 suggesting. Maybe Dr. Yvonne let's pray for the situation 15:02 there that's been brought to us here this evening. 15:04 Thank you so much. 15:05 Dear Lord, thank you so very much for allowing us the 15:08 privilege of coming before you, the Almighty God, the One who 15:13 sees all and knows all, the all powerful God Lord. So we know 15:18 that you've got all of this under control. You know 15:21 everything that's going to happen. But we want to lift up 15:24 our brothers and sisters over in that area of the world, Lord, 15:28 who are going through such pain and torment and they're just 15:31 hurting right now. So we just lift them up before you. We ask 15:35 you for resources for them. We ask you that you will calm their 15:40 fears, that they will trust you, that they won't worry about 15:43 anything but they will pray about everything and tell you 15:47 their needs and not forget to thank you for your answers Lord. 15:52 And we know that you're with us So we just lift them up. We lift 15:55 up our leadership, lift up our church leadership here, Elder 15:59 Wilson and Sister Nancy. We thank you for them and we just 16:03 pray Lord God again for your continued blessings and 16:08 overseeing the situation. We praise you Lord and thank you 16:12 that you are our God and that you will deliver and that you 16:17 will feed those who are hungry and take care of those who are 16:20 hurting. Our brothers and sisters over in that area need 16:23 you more than ever before so help us, Lord, help us all, to be 16:28 what you would have us to be. We thank you and praise you 16:31 in the worthy name of Yeshua, Jesus, our Savior, Amen. 16:36 Greg, maybe you could address 3ABN Russia right before the 16:41 banks you know closed and getting money. Maybe you could 16:44 share a little bit of that without giving all the details 16:48 but some of it. 16:49 You know, it's yeah, this is a miracle. We call it just in the 16:52 nick of time. Mr. Danny's... We're getting ready to do 16:55 camp meeting and he's going to be doing a sermon called Just 16:56 in the Nick of Time. So this is 16:57 God's miracle as you've seen 16:59 through the years. But we sent 17:01 funding, two or three, to the 17:04 Russian facility to keep it on on satellite every month and so 17:07 we heard that things were shutting down we tried to get 17:08 some funds over there quickly. We got a few months over there 17:11 but we wanted to do a lot more months, like to the end of this 17:14 year. So we heard that things were shut down. We said okay by 17:18 faith we're going to send basically the rest of this 17:21 year's money. And we've heard by man that it's shut down but with 17:25 God nothing is too hard. Yeah see what happens. So put the 17:30 money did the wire, and we received confirmation in about 17:34 24 to 48 hours that the entire amount of money made it there 17:37 so they are good through the end of this year. Praise the Lord. 17:40 It is so a miracle. 17:41 Tell them what else happened right before. 17:43 You know, this is incredible too So at the end of last year 3ABN 17:47 Russia had a number of needs, one of them like the LED wall 17:50 some other control room equipment that they needed and a 17:54 donor heard about that and said you know what, I'm going to step 17:57 forward and donate some funds to do an LED wall for them in 18:00 Russia. A lot of money. Oh yeah a lot of money. A vehicle, they 18:03 needed that. And they finished their control room. So the money 18:06 came in, purchased the equipment We had no idea that things would 18:08 be shut down. Inflation would just skyrocket. So they have 18:11 over there they have an LED wall they have a control room that's 18:15 working and they have a vehicle because they didn't have one 18:17 that was working. Just in the nick of time, right? We had no 18:19 idea this conflict was going to take place. Praise God for that. 18:23 The LED wall is, no more building sets, you can change 18:26 everything in five minutes, your whole set you can do all of this 18:29 stuff. And then to get the new vehicle. Again it started but by 18:33 time it got there it all just in the nick of time. 18:35 They're not shut down. No. They're going forward right now 18:39 and the cable stations, they're still growing and people because 18:41 of everything that's going on, right, they're looking for truth 18:44 so 3ABN Russia is broadcasting in the Russian language. It's 18:47 phenomenal because it reaches... 18:50 All over the Soviet Union. 18:52 Five hundred and forty-six cable systems and about 4000 cities 18:55 and counties in Russian. Such a blessing and the gospel... 18:59 Elder Wilson, you know they didn't have cable when you were 19:02 over there and you were president when we first started 19:04 there cable was basically unheard of there. 19:07 Now cable in the 19:09 last 20, 25, 30 years has grown, as you said we're on 500 and 19:13 nearly 50 cable stations throughout the ex-Soviet Union 19:16 so people are still all throughout able to watch you 19:21 know the 3ABN. 19:22 They get hope and encouragement. 19:24 What a blessing. What a blessing 19:28 So we referenced this several times. But you all just came 19:32 from you can say, I don't know if it's a preplanning meeting 19:34 for the General Conference session, so talk to us about 19:37 what's going to be taking place June 6-11 coming up. 19:42 Well as many of our viewers and as you know we had to postpone 19:49 the general conference session of 2020 to 2021. We thought okay 19:57 I mean actually when this pandemic started I, okay, maybe 20:01 six weeks everything will be 20:02 over. No. So we postponed it. 20:04 Then we postponed it with the 20:08 idea of still having it in Indianapolis because that was 20:13 originally placed. And then the pandemic just kept exploding and 20:19 finally, we had to postpone it again till 2022. And 20:29 unfortunately, Indianapolis said no, we can't accommodate you in 20:33 2022. We contacted St. Louis because it was already planned 20:39 for 2025 to hold the general conference session there and 20:43 St. Louis had exactly the dates we needed open in 2022 and they 20:50 welcomed us. So in the nick of time. In fact, it's interesting 20:54 that you should use that phrase because we used almost the same. 20:57 Just in time. With the whole experience that we have had in 21:05 the Philippines about getting visas, PCR tests, getting into 21:10 the country everything happening just in time. And that's a 21:14 witness to the Lord. So he just knows how to time everything 21:19 perfectly. But in any case, so we moved it to St. Louis and we 21:27 will be holding the session June 6-11 and in fact all of 21:32 those of you who are watching 21:34 if you'd like to come it's going 21:36 be open, we have plenty of seats 21:38 there. You'll be able to find a place. We were just there today 21:43 actually and saw the stadium. 21:46 Where's it going to be? 21:48 Well it's in the main convention center and the stadium next to 21:51 It's amazing. 21:52 Yeah, it's a beautiful facility. We will be doing some 21:58 interesting things because of the hybrid arrangement. We are 22:02 going to be having some delegates who will not be able 22:05 to come because they couldn't get a visa, because the 22:08 consulates are not functioning, the embassies or whatever, 22:14 travel restrictions, maybe they're sick, whatever it is. 22:16 So provision has been made, and we praise God for that, that 22:21 delegates who cannot come can be delegates through electronic 22:26 connection. So we probably are going to have at least I would 22:30 say 350 to 400 delegates in that way. We'll see what the final 22:35 tally is. Virtually. Virtually. But it does look as though we'll 22:39 have at least maybe 1900, maybe 2000 delegates on site. We will 22:47 not be having the traditional evening program with lots of 22:52 reports from divisions. We are placing that all day on Friday. 22:57 Now someone might say, but why do that. We look forward to it 23:01 in the evening and we want to have that. We will be having 23:04 devotionals in the morning and the evening, but we'll have 23:07 business sessions in the evening and why? Because by doing this 23:11 virtual connection electronically when we come to 23:16 Thursday night and Friday starts moving in here, you're in 23:21 central time and St. Louis is in Central Time, in the Asia Pacific 23:26 area it's already coming close to Sabbath and then it is 23:31 Sabbath. And so to carry on business on Sabbath for those 23:35 who are connected is not appropriate. So we've moved all 23:40 those beautiful spiritual reports to Friday which will be 23:43 a wonderful thing. Friday night tremendous emphasis on Total 23:47 Member Involvement. There's going to be a baptism. It's 23:50 going just be fantastic. And then all day Sabbath, Sabbath 23:53 School, church service, magnificent music. The afternoon 23:57 will be packed with mission, mission focus. So the session 24:04 will take place. By God's grace it will have this hybrid 24:07 arrangement with electronic connection, but we are earnestly 24:14 praying and asking all of you who are watching, pray for the 24:18 latter rain of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be 24:22 present at that General Conference session so that we 24:25 will be filled with the sense of mission and it won't just be a 24:30 bureaucratic kind of business meeting which it is. It's a 24:34 business meeting. Elections take place, reports are given, all 24:39 this kind of thing, but that it will be a mission-focused 24:43 meeting. And we are asking that people will participate in the 24:49 40 days of prayer beginning May 3 through June 11. Forty days of 24:57 prayer asking that the Holy Spirit come down upon this 25:02 general conference session in an absolutely unusual way. So we 25:08 invite all of you to come if you can and you can watch it of 25:12 course live streaming and all that kind of thing. But general 25:16 conference will take place and then general conference, if the 25:20 Lord isn't here, will take place again in St. Louis three years 25:24 later. So we're really two years into what we call a quinquennium 25:28 or a five-year period. So there'll be another three years 25:31 to finish that out and then a new quinquennium will begin. But 25:35 the theme of general conference session is so appropriate. Jesus 25:42 is Coming, Get Involved. Total Member Involvement. Telling the 25:49 Lord, yes Lord, as you know in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah was 25:54 so enraptured with being taken into the throne room of heaven 25:59 and all of this and his sins were forgiven, and oh it's a 26:03 fantastic story, I love to preach on it, but then he heard 26:07 a voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go 26:11 for us? And Isaiah was so excited and so grateful for the 26:16 righteousness of Christ that had cleansed him, he said, Here am 26:20 I send me. I will go. And so this is part of our strategic 26:25 plan for the world church, reach the world, I will go. And this 26:31 phrase, I will go, has just caught on like wildfire around 26:35 the world. And in fact, we first heard about that phrase from 26:43 South America. Young people had come up with that phrase. And we 26:47 asked them can we use that phrase? Yes, yes. You can use 26:51 that phrase. But they kind of wanted us to tell people, young 26:54 people came up with it. So I'm telling you and I'm telling the 26:58 whole audience young people came up with it. I will go. We will 27:03 go. I mean you can use whatever variation. But North American 27:08 Division has said their motto is Together In Mission, I Will Go. 27:14 And the whole world is just galvanized around that. So we 27:18 praise God and we want people to be part of that. 27:22 Yeah 3ABNs excited because we'll be there are the GC session and 27:25 it's kind of in our backyard, Mr. Danny, just two hours away. 27:28 I know what a blessing. 27:29 We'll come out quickly and we'll get there and less expensive 27:32 and all that. 27:33 Oh yeah. 27:35 You can have them there every time as far as we're concerned. 27:36 We'll be doing some programming from there, giving some reports 27:40 from the GC session. We'll be actually streaming and airing a 27:43 number of the programs, especially some of the reports 27:45 and stuff. You know what God is doing around the world. Such an 27:48 inspiring time, the GC session, so that's great. Do you want 27:51 to touch a little bit more, expound a little bit more upon 27:54 the I Will Go initiative and little bit, what that all 27:57 entails or... 27:58 Well every five year period we do research on what is really 28:04 needed in the church. We have a special committee called Future 28:09 Plans Working Group. And this particular group looks at all 28:14 kinds of statistics, surveys that are taken, trying to see 28:17 how we can nurture the church with a mission and a focus. And 28:22 out of that comes the strategic plan. The strategic plan is very 28:27 it's rather focused and not too long, but it has certain key 28:33 performance indicators that will help people know how to 28:37 accomplish certain things. And the strategic plan, as I said, 28:43 has the theme or the title, Reach the World, I Will Go. 28:48 And this I Will Go seems to have caught on like very few things I 28:54 have seen because it's so personal, it implies commitment 28:59 and it's action-filled and it's mission-focused. So it's 29:07 something that people can rally around but it's all based upon 29:12 the word of God, upon what God has asked us. I mean Matthew 29:16 28:19 and 20, God wants us to go and actually, Christ was the 29:21 first one to say I will go. He and the Father and the Holy 29:27 Spirit were in consultation before even the establishment of 29:30 this world and they knew there would be a crisis. And so Jesus 29:35 said, I will go. And then he asks His disciples to go. You 29:42 know, your reference. So we're all to participate and to be 29:49 willing. Nancy and I will never forget a general conference 29:54 session, I think it was in New Orleans in 1985 and we were part 30:01 of a big mission pageant. We were overseas missionaries at 30:04 that time in Africa and had a you know in a complete sense a 30:11 wonderful experience. We were there with our costumes on and 30:16 our flags and banners and what have you. And the whole mission 30:21 pageant stopped then for a few moments and a wonderful sweet 30:27 singer of Israel I like to call him, Elder C.L. Brooks, who was 30:33 such a powerful singer. He was in the Sabbath School Department 30:38 He preached a sermon every time he sang. A wonderful African 30:44 American leader and he sang the song So Send I You. It melted 30:54 everybody's hearts and we were just tearing up. Even to this 31:00 day I can remember it. It was just so powerful. And that's 31:03 what God wants us to do, He wants to send everyone. Not just 31:08 for evangelists or pastors or literature evangelists or 31:12 teachers. Everybody has a role. Children... 31:16 Children of all ages, men, women and children. 31:19 Total youth involvement, total children involvement, total 31:22 member, total 3ABN involvement. 31:24 That's right. Well Greg you remember the 1985 general 31:30 conference session in New Orleans? 31:32 No, you know, I was a little guy. I was just oh about 10 31:37 years old. I remember 1990 in Indianapolis. I think that's 31:43 where 1990 was at the time. 31:45 Yes, I remember 1985 because we were just getting started you 31:48 know. November 1984 was the you know when the Lord I felt spoke 31:54 and said Go ye into all the world build a TV station So 1985 32:00 I remember driving down there. 3ABN was just a dream, it was 32:04 just something we wanted to do so we had postcards and I'd put 32:08 them on the post by the bleachers that would say 3ABN 32:13 and just write a little something and give us like 32:15 our phone number or contact 3 Angels Broadcasting. 32:20 No website. 32:22 We literally wrote by hand What is a website? Exactly. 32:27 No website, but I remember walking around and meeting 32:29 people and I thought man this is...I'd never been to a general 32:33 conference session. This is incredible. How do you start? 32:36 And somehow look the Lord has blessed. Again the blessing's on 32:41 the go you know. 32:42 You know when I think about too how many times you say you know 32:45 go ye into all the world right and that's the commission of God 32:48 and then you ask the question and what's that question and how 32:50 many ye's are in right, raise your hand and you say, everyone 32:54 your hand should have went up right because all of us are a ye 32:57 Everyone needs to be involved. Total Member Involvement. 33:01 There's so many people that say well, what can I do? I don't have 33:04 any money or I don't have any... I don't have any mobility. I 33:08 can't get around. Everyone can do something. God has called us 33:13 all to be workers in his vineyard. So everyone can do 33:18 something. And we just have to find out what that something is 33:21 and here I am. Here am I send me. 33:24 What is this you have in your hand? That's right. That's what 33:28 the Lord is asking. And that's Fonda Summers when I first went 33:33 to a prayer meeting, probably 12 people, in November 1984. And 33:39 this woman who had never...she was Methodist, and never been to 33:42 an Adventist church came to the prayer meeting. My mother had 33:45 invited here because she had filled out a little card for a 33:48 literature evangelist. She showed up at that prayer meeting 33:52 So I stood up in West Frankfort saying the Lord impressed me to 33:55 build a television station to reach the world. She calls... 34:00 This was Wednesday night. Friday night my mother calls me and she 34:03 says the little lady that came, the older lady that came, her 34:07 name is Fonda Summers and she lives out by Thompsonville, a 34:12 little area out here called Thompsonville and she said she 34:15 thought she was so impressed by that she went home and said, 34:19 Lord I'd like to help them build a TV station but I don't have 34:24 anything and she said the Lord said, What is this you have in 34:28 your hand? And she said well I don't have anything but just a 34:31 few acres of property and she said my house is towards the 34:35 front but I got a couple acres of property in the back. I guess 34:38 I could give them if they really needed it. So she called my 34:42 mother and said, Well I've got a couple acres of property. My 34:47 mother said, Why would you take it. She said, Well years ago we 34:50 bought this property, my husband and I, and he was going to sell 34:54 it. At the time he wasn't a Christian and I had a dream and 34:58 the Lord told me don't sell it. She said I saw like a fence 35:02 around the back two acres and I saw the more beautiful fatted 35:06 cattle coming from all directions and I always said the 35:09 Lord must want to use that property for something. She 35:12 donated us that property. When we got Scientific Atlanta to 35:16 come to look at the satellites because you can only build these 35:19 uplinks. At that time they didn't have the KU, they had the 35:22 C band and all of the microwave interferences. It was the only 35:27 property that would work in this entire area that was totally 35:30 free of any satellite signals and they gave us the license to 35:35 shoot signals from there and eventually around the world. 35:38 What is this you have in your hand? She could have just said 35:42 well I'd like to help but I don't have any money. So what 35:44 you're saying is each of us in the initiative you know I Will 35:48 Go. Okay Lord what is it you've given me that I can share. 35:53 Nothing else it's my own personal testimony, what Jesus 35:56 has done for me. So thank you for that and for the vision. 36:00 Our theme this year, Jill kind of came up with Look at God. 36:03 You know we're always amazed, those stories you just told a 36:06 while ago, I was kind of looking over at Jill and I'm going to 36:09 say Look at God. 36:10 Yeah, this is kind of interesting because as I was 36:15 driving here this afternoon from St. Louis, I was thinking about 36:21 that very fact and I didn't know 36:24 all the details but where you 36:26 are positioned at that time, because now of course you've got 36:29 internet connections and all that kind of thing, transmission 36:31 but at that time this was the perfect place for the uplink. 36:36 Right, it was, it was. 36:38 It's just in God's hands. Look at God. 36:43 But Yvonne you were saying something about how anyone, we 36:48 can all do something. And it reminded me of my Grandma Evans 36:53 She never really drove. She 36:58 learned to drive but I don't 36:59 think she ever drove much and 37:01 when my grandpa died unless my 37:04 mom would take her out she was pretty much homebound unless 37:09 someone would take her out. And she, when she was out and about 37:15 she taught Sabbath School. She was very active. But here she 37:19 was, she was crippled with terrible arthritis, she would 37:23 call people and encourage them. And that was like a ministry. 37:27 And she could have thought, I can't go anywhere, I can't drive 37:32 what can I do but she had a phone ministry. She would call 37:37 people and connect with them and so you really...the Lord can 37:44 show each one of you exactly how he can use you. 37:50 I love the fact that the I Will Go initiative I believe you said 37:55 began with young people in South America. So... 37:59 It's like our church, the Adventist Church began with 38:03 young people. 38:05 And so you had referenced it before the program but talk to 38:08 us about young people. This is a special program Duane Esmond had 38:14 put together, Back to the Altar. Young people especially in 38:16 social media, because that's a tremendous issue right now in 38:22 this culture. 38:24 The challenge of using, you know, our cell phones, our smart 38:34 phones, electronic devices, all this kind of thing, there's so 38:39 much good that can come out of it. I mean the very fact that 38:43 3ABN is broadcasting this and it's going literally worldwide 38:48 is an amazing miracle. But on the other hand people can become 38:56 so absorbed with staying in contact with people and 38:59 measuring themselves against what it appears that others are 39:05 doing and how great they are and then feeling worthless because 39:08 you haven't measured up and on and on and on. Social media has 39:13 certain positive things but it has some real negative things. 39:18 And Duane Esmond who's an associate director in our 39:23 Ellen G. White Estate and a very capable young man has had a 39:30 burden. And he came to my office the other day and was sharing 39:33 this burden along with our family ministries directors, 39:39 Willie and Elaine Oliver, because it really has to do with 39:43 families, connection with people and with God. And Duane has a 39:51 real burden and so he was sharing it and so I really 39:55 understood what he was trying to say and so we've now been able 39:59 to share it with world leaders, we shared it with our executive 40:03 committee the other day. It's going to be nurtured by our 40:09 revival and reformation committee and probably next 40:12 annual council in about five, six months. It'll be fully 40:19 explained and voted into a program aspect and what it is, 40:27 is to try to help especially young people as well as older 40:31 ones who seem to be overwhelmed by these connections to 40:37 electronic media that they fail to have the time to get back to 40:43 the altar of worship and reading the word of God and meditating 40:48 upon what God has instructed them. Because their minds are so 40:54 filled with trying to keep up with everybody else who's online 40:58 and feeling so overwhelmed by the constant flow of information 41:04 that you actually crowd out completely the word of God. 41:09 So this Back to the Altar is back to family worship, back to 41:14 personal worship. And it's so important and people resonate 41:19 with it and they understand it. And they are willing to support 41:23 it. And so materials will be provided, encouragement 41:27 especially for young people. How do you actually 41:30 disconnect appropriately keeping in contact because we're in the 41:35 21st century. I mean, how can you get along without your 41:39 iPhone. In fact, there was a statistic, this is really 41:43 interesting. Duane mentioned this in a presentation. He said, 41:45 There was a survey done: Would you rather break a bone or break 41:54 your phone? (laughter and chatter) And a large percentage 42:01 of people actually said I'd rather have a broken bone than 42:05 break my phone. (groans) So I mean this tells you how 42:08 dependent we are. But it all comes back to relationship with 42:16 Jesus and a daily walk with Him. Making time. So that's what Back 42:21 to the Altar is about. And it's going to be expanded even more 42:25 and the whole world church will hear about it. 42:29 Pastor Wilson that is a...it's by design that young people and 42:35 older people are addicted to their phones. It's by design. 42:40 And so it really takes, I believe, a supernatural 42:44 intervention break that, not to sever the connection but to put 42:52 it into perspective because it really is by design that you 42:57 know kids, you can't separate from your phones. If you ask 43:00 I know that there was one group that took some young people on 43:04 a trip and they said you have to leave your phones, you can't 43:10 bring your phones and they really went through withdrawals. 43:13 It was catastrophic for them. It's an addiction so it really 43:19 does in order...it's one of Satan's distractions because the 43:23 way the priority that has been set on it is you know it's 43:28 really rather worldly. So we have to ask the Lord to deliver us 43:34 from that, from the distraction of the phone. 43:37 But think of the technology. It's kind of like my dad used to 43:42 say about my mouth. He'd say, son because I talked all the time 43:46 even as a little kid. I was the youngest of four brothers and I 43:48 talked more than all of them put together. He'd say, Son your 43:51 mouth is either going to be your biggest curse or your biggest 43:54 blessing. So it's going to be one or the other, you know. 43:58 It's going to go like everybody else, you're either going to be 44:00 you know really bad or the Lord's going to use it. And so 44:04 I've been both, I've been used by the Lord and been...and my 44:07 mouth's got me in trouble at times too. But that's technology 44:10 is that way. This can be our biggest...I've got this. My 44:14 Bible is on here too. So I'm like everybody else. I have this 44:18 sitting here. But it can be our biggest blessing to get the 44:22 gospel to the world because everybody has an uplink station 44:26 now. You can go on YouTube and reach people around the world. 44:29 We did it was one of the few period, not just in the 44:33 Adventist Church are the only one to begin with but just in 44:38 general there were very few people going to uplink to 44:39 satellites in the middle 80s. Now everybody can do it but so 44:45 much of the time you turn on 44:46 we got all these chat rooms 44:47 where all we're doing getting 44:49 down on people, down on this, 44:52 down on that, always going on Facebook arguing with everybody 44:56 so this can either be a great blessing for us or our biggest 45:02 curse so I'm so thankful that you know you're dealing with 45:06 this saying how do we find a balance using the technology 45:10 but still, find time to get into the word of God. 45:13 I think it's important too to realize that you can find a lot 45:19 of things on a phone and your computer that aren't bad but 45:24 they steal your time and they are a waste of time. So I think 45:33 time, and the older I get I realize time is a gift and we 45:38 are held accountable for how we spend our time and we only have 45:42 24 hours a day, we need sleep, we need you know all these 45:46 things so it's not a matter of doing what is good or bad, it's 45:52 a matter of choosing between what is better or best because 45:58 we...I find that there are things that aren't really bad in 46:02 my life but I have just this much time so I don't have time 46:06 to look at these cute little videos all day on...of animals 46:12 birds. I have to ask God to help me prioritize even what is okay. 46:21 It's not going to tear me down but it will because it will 46:26 steal time from God's word so it's not just choosing between 46:33 what is good and bad but what do I have time to balance? 46:38 I really like that. You both are leaders in the Seventh-day 46:43 Adventist Church. Um, how do you as leaders make time for God? 46:48 How do you make time for marriage? How do you balance 46:52 that as leaders? 46:56 Well, it takes planning. If you don't take the time to schedule 47:02 it in, time will just slip away. 47:06 So I mean the early hours of the morning are usually the best 47:13 time to study, take time. Nancy is very persistent about that. 47:17 She's a real Bible student and you know it's just, it's an 47:25 opportunity to start the day basically. And some people may 47:28 like the evening or the middle of the day, whatever it is, but 47:32 usually the beginning of the day is the best. And you need to 47:37 start of course with prayer and invariably I just slide out of 47:44 bed and pray. And you commit your life to the Lord and I ask 47:51 for the Holy Spirit to come into my life. I pray for the latter 47:54 rain. I claim James 1:5 every day, basically to ask for wisdom 48:01 I ask for wisdom. And then you pray about you know many things 48:05 on your list or whatever. But you need to take the time to 48:10 study God's word, to read it and the Spirit of Prophecy. And one 48:16 of the ways, I mean you know, people well how do I do that 48:19 Again, we can go back to our smartphones. You can download 48:24 all kinds of stuff including the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy 48:28 and all of that and so you can listen in the car. I like to 48:34 walk and I listen to the Bible and to Spirit of Prophecy as 48:41 I'm walking. And so you know in fact Ellen White has 48:46 indicated she says you know when you're riding on the streetcar 48:51 I mean you know this is the language the 19th century right 48:53 You know take a book, you know make use of your time. So in 48:59 today's world I mean there are opportunities you can find to 49:04 actually, be quiet and focus on spiritual things. As far as 49:10 marriage and all of that you know in a busy schedule you have 49:16 to be fairly determined that you're going to take time with 49:20 each other, you're going to talk to each other. And of course 49:24 during this pandemic, it's maybe been a little easier because 49:27 you've been secluded, except for Zoom and all that. But you know 49:34 you have to be intentional. 49:35 You have to prioritize, you have to really seriously prioritize. 49:39 And I know I feel like it's not safe to start the day off 49:44 without going to God because He's the one who guides you and 49:52 I wish we could just surrender one day and then that would stay 49:55 but we have to surrender every day because we're human and by 50:02 nature we are self-centered. So Lord take my heart. Keep it for 50:06 I cannot keep it for you. Save me in spite of myself. But 50:10 that's one thing about Ted's Zoom meetings in the dining room 50:14 because when I'm in the kitchen if I'm baking I like to listen 50:17 to sermons. But I think, I find myself because I have a lot of 50:24 Martha in me and we women like to multitask and I think well I 50:30 can start a load of clothes and then they'll be washing while 50:36 I'm studying. But I've tried and I don't always do this but I try 50:41 to say, No you're not going to look at your phone until you 50:47 study. I do sometimes look for messages if I know our kids are 50:51 going through something just to see they're okay but you have to 50:56 discipline yourself because there are too many distractions. 51:00 So I am still, you know, working on that because if you get off 51:06 track then you just get busy and then you...And one thing that 51:11 me too, I'm trying to memorize scripture so I put it on 3 x 5 51:16 cards. I have it in my purse and then if I'm waiting in an office 51:21 or somewhere or...that I can be reviewing or memorizing new ones 51:28 so there's...But as Ted said you have to be intentional. 51:31 Yeah amen yeah, that's important. 51:33 You have to plan dates once in a while. 51:37 Fantastic advice. 51:39 And bring flowers home to your wife. 51:42 That's a good thing. 51:44 And you don't have to spend money. Just spend an evening 51:46 together, you know. 51:47 Yeah, absolutely. 51:49 Spring time's coming, you can go out and cut the flowers in 51:51 your yard. Present them to your wife. 51:55 It's amazing. These two hours have gone by in a hurry and at 52:00 the beginning of this second hour we were talking about, 52:02 maybe it's you, someone, who's discouraged or trying to find 52:04 hope and Elder Wilson I'd like for you to maybe talk to that 52:08 person right now that is maybe discouraged. Something tragic 52:11 has happened in their life, they've had loss, like your 52:13 family's had loss with your grandchild, something 52:16 discouraging going on in their life. What do you have to say to 52:18 them at home right now. 52:21 Well depending on what your situation is you may feel alone, 52:26 you may feel somehow disconnected. You may feel 52:31 nobody cares. Or you may feel somewhat lost in all of the 52:37 things that are happening. I want you to know that first of 52:41 all God knows exactly where you 52:44 are. He understands your 52:46 situation. He wants to be your best friend. And know that He is 52:53 there. Secondly, know that the Seventh-day Adventist Church 52:56 is there to help you in every way possible, to nurture your 53:03 faith in Jesus. And that 3ABN here and many other avenues of 53:11 expression in the church are there to encourage you as well. 53:15 And that you are part of something and this is really 53:18 important, because sometimes we get overwhelmed and we think 53:22 only of ourselves. You are part of something much bigger. You 53:29 are part of God's overall plan for the advent movement to share 53:34 unbelievable messages with the world. You know I have open in 53:39 front of me Revelation 14 and those verses 6-12, the three 53:45 angels messages indicating you know that the everlasting gospel 53:51 is to go to every nation, tribe, tongue and people and saying 53:57 with a loud voice...this is not a quiet message, this is a 54:00 message that people need to hear to give God glory and to 54:05 worship Him and to respect Him. It says fear God doesn't mean to 54:08 be afraid of Him, it means to respect Him. And the hour of His 54:13 judgment has come. And He's the one who's made us. Don't ever 54:17 succumb to the delusion that you came from something other than a 54:23 creation. God created us. I mean we're running out of time here. 54:27 But you know we could go through the Lord wants us to come out of 54:31 confusion, out of Babylon, into pure Bible truth, He doesn't 54:35 want us to be connected with anything that will give us the 54:38 mark of the beast which is following that which is 54:42 righteousness by works but He wants us to have the seal of God 54:46 which is keeping of the Seventh day Sabbath which is His special 54:52 mark. And God has called you to be part of this. In fact, the 54:56 Seventh-day Adventist Church we're told in the Spirit of 55:01 Prophecy that the proclamation of the first, second and third 55:04 angels messages, this is in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 55:07 9, that there is no other work of so great importance and that 55:13 Seventh-day Adventists are not to allow anything else to absorb 55:17 their attention. Well of course you have a lot of things you 55:19 have to do but this is something to help people turn to the soon 55:23 coming of Jesus Christ and that is why it's so important to 55:28 share literature. Danny you've just written these beautiful 55:31 brochures about hellfire, the 10 commandments, salvation. Dr. 55:38 Yvonne, you have a beautiful book that's come out that you gave to 55:41 us, Glimpses of His Glory. And this is why we need to share 55:44 these things with others. But I want to appeal to you in this 55:49 final 30 seconds I have because we have to turn it back over. 55:53 I want you to be encouraged because in 1 Peter chapter 3 55:59 verse 15 it says: 56:15 God bless each one of you as you know that you're part of the 56:19 family of God proclaiming this message with Holy Spirit power 56:24 Jesus needs you. He needs you to say I Will Go. 56:29 Amen. Thank you. 56:31 Amen. Thank you so much, Elder Wilson and Sister Nancy for 56:36 being here tonight and Mr. Danny and Dr. Yvonne. 56:39 We're blessed. 56:41 Thank you both. 56:42 It's a privilege. We pray, Greg and I pray for you both often. 56:47 We're grateful for your leadership there at the helm of 56:50 the church. We know of course Christ is the leader of the 56:52 church. We're grateful. God has called you for such a time 56:56 as this. And we support you. We want to encourage you at home 57:00 pray for Elder Wilson and his wife Nancy. They have a 57:02 tremendous responsibility but the Lord is faithful. 57:06 We love you. We'll see you again 57:08 Bye, bye. 57:09 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2022-05-10