Participants: Danny Shelton (Host), Jim Gilley (Host), Bruce Fjarli, Mollie Steenson
Series Code: V
Program Code: V000030
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00:10 You know the most exciting thing, Danny,
00:12 is how God continues to work in this ministry. 00:15 Absolutely, absolutely. 00:17 After almost 30 years, miracles still keep coming. 00:21 And you know, you told me recently that 00:24 there are bigger miracles today 00:25 than they were even 30 years ago. 00:27 It has to be. The needs are so much bigger. 00:29 Yeah. 00:31 We were starting, you know, infancy, 00:32 but whatever the need is, God supplies that need, 00:36 so whether it's small or whether it's big. 00:39 But He does it like I heard a preacher say one time, 00:42 we have Bruce Fjarli over here. 00:44 Bruce, I'll introduce you and Mollie Steenson. 00:46 I heard a preacher one time. 00:48 He was preaching and he said 00:49 they were building on huge addition 00:51 and he said, 00:52 "Folks, we have all the good news, 00:54 we got all the money we need." 00:56 And all the people were excited, 00:57 praising the Lord. 00:59 He said, "The bad news, it's still in your pockets" 01:01 And all of a sudden, they got quiet, 01:02 and he said "Boy, you got quiet now." 01:05 But no, the good news is God is in control, 01:08 but He allows us to help in the ministry. 01:13 It can be financially, maybe prayerfully, 01:15 so many ways that we can help. 01:17 Some can go and tell, 01:18 and others can support those who go and tell. 01:21 You know, Danny, 01:23 one of the things you've talked about is eating an elephant 01:25 which we only do as an illustration. 01:28 But one bite at a time. Yeah, yeah. 01:31 Sure. 01:32 And we began some projects about three years ago. 01:36 All of a sudden, 01:38 we had about 150 of our low-power stations 01:42 that were all having to be converted to digital. 01:46 Which is expensive. 01:47 About $50,000 a station average. 01:52 Now when you take 150 stations, 01:54 you just take 100 so that we only had to do 100. 01:57 That's five million dollars. I know. 01:59 We figured it's was going to take about 02:01 $7.5 million to do this. 02:05 We did not have that money. 02:09 I'll be honest with you. 02:10 I lay awake at night just wondering 02:12 how we're going to do this 02:14 'cause if we didn't do it within a certain time, 02:15 you lost them. 02:17 But you know, 02:18 God has provided that one station at a time 02:22 until we are almost finished with all those conversations. 02:27 Praise the Lord. Amen. 02:29 And we still have to operate it. 02:30 It takes us about $1.2 million every single month 02:35 from those who give $50 a month, $100 a month, 02:39 whatever they give to keep the lights on as we say, 02:42 which means literally keeping us on the air. 02:47 So what we do on some of these projects 02:50 has to be over and above, Danny, 02:52 what people normally give. 02:53 We don't just shift that which we give to a project 02:57 if we're giving $100 a month, then if we're doing a project, 03:00 we want to be a part of that, Bruce, 03:02 we have to do something over and above 03:04 what we are normally giving. 03:06 So we saw that take place, and we're praising God today. 03:09 Amen. 03:11 We're saying, "Lord, our faith is sometimes so small 03:14 but you are so gracious 03:16 that you have filled these needs." 03:19 Now there was another thing we needed to do 03:22 and that was to go tapeless. 03:24 Tapeless conversion. 03:25 Now that has firstly been completed. 03:27 All the money has been spent. 03:29 There's a little bit of the work 03:30 that's still being done 03:31 'cause it takes a little time so that project... 03:34 And that was an expensive, something like $2 million. 03:38 And so that has been done. 03:40 In addition, all of a sudden, 03:43 one day just before the end of the year, 03:45 a little over a year ago, 03:47 Moses calls me and he says we have an opportunity 03:51 to buy some high-definition cameras. 03:55 Now we are not high-definition yet, 03:57 but we had a chance to buy these cameras, Danny, 04:00 at an unbelievably low price. 04:04 And he said, "What should we do? 04:06 We've got to let them know within..." 04:07 And he just gave me like 20 minutes. 04:10 And we prayed and we said, "Let's do it," 04:14 and we bought those cameras. 04:16 Now we're going to be moving, 04:19 and we'll tell you about that in a few moments, 04:21 towards high-definition. 04:22 What was one of the other projects, Mollie? 04:25 We needed to complete the control room 04:28 at our worship center. 04:29 All right. 04:30 And the other one was a storage building. 04:32 The storage building. These were five major projects. 04:36 And it was two or three years ago 04:38 at the board meeting that you went over these. 04:40 Five major projects that we have to complete. 04:43 Right. 04:44 And so we're looking back, this is a praise to God. 04:47 If we just thank God and you for your support 04:50 because that building is finished. 04:52 The storage building is done. 04:54 Beautiful building, completely climate-controlled, 04:57 beautiful storage situation, 05:00 we do all of our shipping out of there now, 05:02 and all of our inventory, and so forth. 05:05 So that has been done. 05:07 Now we're halfway through what needs to be done 05:11 on converting the worship center control room. 05:15 We need... 05:17 That's about a million-dollar project. 05:18 We need about $500,000 more to finish that. 05:23 We have some of the equipment, Danny. 05:24 We have a board. 05:29 It's high-definition. 05:31 I mean it is state of the art. 05:34 It's actually too big to put in the truck they said, 05:37 but it's just right for the control room there. 05:41 And then we've got several other components 05:43 that we're going to do. 05:45 Yeah, those were cameras. We have the cameras. 05:47 We need some more lenses for those cameras, 05:50 High-Def lenses. 05:51 So that's about another half a million dollars 05:53 that we need to finish up that control room. 05:57 Now when we do production now, and I'm talking too much, 06:01 Danny, so bump in here. 06:03 Go ahead. 06:04 But when we do a production now, 06:06 we have to bring our truck up and hook it up there 06:10 in order to do production in the worship center 06:14 or to tape into the Kids Time programs 06:17 or anything that happens in the Kids studio there. 06:21 We want to be able to take and do taping there 06:26 while the truck is on the road 06:28 because right now we can't, right? 06:30 Absolutely. 06:32 And so how can we raise 06:35 the expectations of our people 06:39 so that we can actually meet those demands, Danny. 06:44 Well, I think going to the Lord and prayer, 06:46 getting on our knees, 06:47 we had a prayer here before we start, 06:49 and just asking you to do the same thing. 06:52 You pray and ask the Holy Spirit 06:53 what He would have you to do. 06:55 And some of you say, 06:56 "You know, I can't do anything." 06:57 Well, then don't do anything. 06:59 I'm sure that God has got you doing something somewhere. 07:02 So wherever the Holy Spirit is impressing you... 07:05 But some of you maybe just like us. 07:07 3ABN's been around for almost 30 years 07:09 so we just take it for granted. 07:11 SIU University has been down here 07:13 ever since I've been a kid. 07:15 Southern Illinois, 07:16 I don't think about supporting it 07:17 'cause it's always going to be there, 07:19 when I'm dead and gone, it'll be there. 07:20 But 3ABN's not that way because we're not part of the, 07:24 you know, physically the Adventist Church 07:27 or legally we're an independent self-supporting ministry. 07:31 So the only way we survive is by those 07:34 the Lord impresses to donate. 07:36 So this is something we're no longer... 07:38 We're not considered an institution 07:40 after 25 years are here, 07:42 people think you're an institution, 07:44 whatever you call it, but we still have needs. 07:46 But we've always said from the beginning, 07:48 we never want to beg for funds. 07:50 We won't borrow money, beg for money, 07:52 we don't want to do those things. 07:54 And so the Lord has always blessed, 07:56 but He's done it through His people. 07:59 And so today, we're here. 08:00 I wanted to talk to Bruce for just a minute. 08:02 Bruce Fjarli, you and, of course, 08:04 your dad was on the board for years, 08:05 your family, your mother, Joy, 08:06 and they had been great supporters, 08:08 and you've been on the board for some years. 08:11 And I thought I'd maybe ask you, 08:12 your family has supported financially, not only 3ABN, 08:15 but building churches 08:17 around the world with Maranatha. 08:19 And about from a giving aspect, 08:21 tell us what it does for your own life 08:24 when you give and support the Lord's work. 08:26 I never miss the money I gave to 3ABN. 08:29 Wow. 08:30 I never miss the money I gave to the Lord's work. 08:34 And the reason we like to give to 3ABN and the Maranatha 08:39 is because it's the best bang for the buck that we can find. 08:43 Wow. 08:44 You guys don't run a flamboyant ship here. 08:47 You're not making foolish things happen, 08:52 and squandering the money around. 08:54 You find projects that need to be done 08:57 to further the gospel around the world. 08:59 And we like watching that and helping with that. 09:03 And I would encourage the people at home 09:06 to continue to give to 3ABN 09:08 because they're not under the umbrella 09:10 of a large organization, 09:12 it's a self-supporting ministry, 09:14 and we're the ones that get the blessing for helping 3ABN. 09:18 God says, "Lay up your treasures in heaven, 09:21 not here on earth, 09:23 where moth and rust can corrode and they go away." 09:28 We don't need the money. 09:30 God needs our giving spirit to help with this ministry. 09:34 It's great we're going HD. 09:36 That'll give us the opportunities 09:37 to get on the cable stations. 09:40 And I would, again, encourage everyone to give, 09:44 and remember, it's a continual thing, 09:47 it's not just a onetime offering. 09:48 But it's a great place to do something for Jesus, 09:52 do something for your salvation, 09:54 not that you can buy it, 09:56 but He will bless you 09:58 abundantly more than you can ever ask or think. 10:00 All right. Praise the Lord. That's right. 10:02 Mollie, so you've been here how many years? 10:04 20 some odd? 10:06 Well, I'm in my 20th year now. 10:07 Okay. 10:09 And the things that are happening today, 10:10 are they more exciting than in the beginning? 10:13 You know, Danny, they are more exciting, 10:15 and I was talking with someone about this the other day. 10:18 The way it seems like we measure the miracles 10:20 around here are the finances because that's measurable. 10:24 You can determine that by looking at 10:26 what comes in and what goes out 10:28 and what the need is. 10:30 But that's not the greatest miracle of this ministry 10:33 and I know that you all know that, 10:34 the greatest miracles are the letters that we get, 10:38 and the emails that we receive, and the phone calls we receive 10:41 were souls that have come out of darkness and into light. 10:44 People have made Jesus Christ the Lord of their life. 10:46 They've come into new truth that have picked them up 10:49 and just catapulted them closer to the Kingdom of God, 10:53 into the heart of God. 10:55 And we know those are the true miracles. 10:57 That's the whole purpose for this ministry 10:59 to exist in the first place. 11:02 So we don't want it to sound like 11:03 we're looking at miracles with the finances 11:06 but someone said the... 11:08 I was talking with Shawn Boonstra 11:10 on the phone just a few minutes ago, 11:12 and he said, you know, 11:13 people say that we shouldn't maybe charge 11:16 for the CDs and DVDs and that sort of things, 11:19 the gospel ought to be free, 11:20 and he said the gospel message is free. 11:23 But, boy, it takes a lot of money 11:25 to get that gospel message up and out. 11:27 So we don't want to measure our miracles that way. 11:30 That is just a measuring stick that we have 11:33 that we can use to see how God provides. 11:37 Absolutely. 11:38 And to me, you've already said it, 11:40 but it's about the souls that are coming to the Lord. 11:43 And we don't go... 11:45 For instance, we don't want to go High-Def. 11:47 I didn't want to go high-definition, did you? 11:49 We don't really want to do these things, 11:51 but in order to keep up and, in fact, by law, 11:54 our stations, we had to... 11:56 When we upgrade, you know, we have to do that. 12:00 But nowadays, not only if you don't have to... 12:03 It's not just because we have to 12:05 but to keep up when people turn on a channel, 12:07 Bruce, and they can barely see us 12:09 versus some other channel on High-Def, 12:11 guess what they are going to watch. 12:12 Yeah. 12:14 So it's all something that we do. 12:15 But growth, in everything, every period of our life, 12:17 there's growth, whether it's spiritual growth, 12:20 and hopefully from physical growth 12:21 when we're growing up, mental growth, 12:23 all of these things, and it's the same way 12:25 when you start a little baby. 12:26 This is a baby. 12:28 And God has birthed it. 12:29 And as it grows, it continues to grow. 12:31 We're going to go through changes. 12:32 We're going to continue to go, 12:34 and God blesses every bit of that. 12:36 But the end result is there's not more buildings. 12:39 We don't want to build a bigger building, 12:41 you know, who wants to build a bigger building? 12:43 Well, we needed to because why? 12:45 To fulfill your orders from the call center, 12:47 that when you're ordering the products 12:49 that are going out to be witnessing tools, 12:51 evangelistic tools around the world, 12:54 we got to have a place to store those and move them. 12:56 Hopefully, they don't sit long. 12:58 But it's all of that is just growth. 13:00 And that's a praise report, that's a two hander. 13:02 So when we come to you, we're not discouraged, 13:05 and, boy, we need a million dollars, 13:07 you know, to do all of this, Jim, 13:09 we're excited about it. 13:11 Praise God. 13:12 When there's a need God, where God guides, He provides. 13:15 And He's going to do that absolutely, 13:17 no doubt in our minds. 13:19 Oh, yes. 13:20 But we want to give you the opportunity 13:21 because you ask us about it, 13:23 "How's things going on at 3ABN?" 13:24 Everywhere I travel, "How's things going? 13:27 How are you doing financially?" 13:28 Well, we're here, that's why 13:30 we can do these kind of programs, 13:31 and we have a few minutes here to talk to you about it. 13:33 So we want to thank you for your love and your prayers 13:36 and financial support of 3ABN. 13:39 This is going into our 30th year, 13:40 maybe some of you, if you've never given anything, 13:43 maybe you want to give $30 a month for one year, 13:45 we're not going to make you sign a pledge 13:47 or do any of that. 13:48 We just want to thank you in advance 13:50 for what you do for the cause of God. 13:52 Amen. You know, Danny, I'm excited. 13:54 We already have $200,000 gift, 13:57 and towards this million dollars 13:59 that needs to be raised. 14:01 We'll be talking to you more about it. 14:03 So please be praying about what you can do 14:06 to be a part of sending the gospel 14:09 around the world. 14:11 Amen. |
Revised 2019-01-28