ASI 2011: Inspired to Finish Strong

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ASI 2011 Seminar: Evangelism

Fred Bischoff

Finishing Strong by Remembering the Past

Okay, for the sake of time, I think we should get going, even though there may still be some people coming in.

Let's just bow to begin with a word of prayer.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity to spend this time reviewing our history, especially from the viewpoint of soul winning, how to win people's hearts and souls for your kingdom.

Give us wisdom as we look, as we ponder the records of the past.

May we see the sacredness that there is in history because you are there.

You've been guiding, you've been directing.

Teach us how to follow, teach us how to learn.

Teach us better how to duplicate your methods of reaching hearts by our study today.

Our title today is Finishing Strong by Remembering the Past.

What I am doing today is just sharing a few thoughts, stories, ideas from my own personal look at the past in the opportunity I've had to look at Adventist history.

Someday we'll be able to open those books and we will have all the pieces of the puzzle.

And we'll see things probably that will amaze us.

But we do have an amazing amount of history.

And we do have the privilege of, especially in our day, of having pieces of the puzzle to put together to teach us.

The organization I represent is Adventist Pioneer Library.

The website I've given you there on the screen, aplib.org.

We do have an exhibit as well in the exhibit hall, exhibit 108.

How early Seventh-day Adventist efforts teach valuable lessons for soul winning today.

And obviously the past that we're looking at is the early part of our sub-davenist history.

For us, we have to go back some 170 years.

But interestingly enough, about 120 years ago, Ellen White was doing something similar.

Because at that point, they had already been into the work for some 50 years.

And here's 1 of the statements that you can find in her writings.

During the past 50 years of my life, I have had precious opportunities to obtain an experience.

Let me interject, we all need an experience.

Soul winning is giving people a testimony, a witness.

And so she continues, I have had experience in the first, second, and third angels' messages.

The angels are represented as flying in the midst of heaven, proclaiming to the world a message of warning and having a direct bearing upon the people living in the last days of this earth's history.

Men and women, enlightened by the Spirit of God and sanctified through the truth." We read a little bit about that in the early morning devotional if you were there this morning, the importance of that witness, sanctified through the truth.

She says, they proclaim the 3 messages in their order.

Nearly all my Christian experience is interwoven with it.

There are those now living who have had an experience similar to my own.

They have recognized the truth unfolding for this time.

They have kept in step with the great leader, the captain of the Lord's host.

That's from Second Selected Messages, page 387.

1890, go back 50 years from 1890, where are you?

They were looking forward to Christ's coming.

Studying the messages, studying the prophecies.

She had not even thought about the Sabbath.

She had not even thought about the sanctuary.

She was struggling, as we'll see, with her own Christian experience at a very basic level.

Another statement, a couple years later, in reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, praise God.

As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment and with confidence in Christ as leader.

We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us in his teaching in our past history.

Life Sketches 196, written in 1892 for the first time.

So before we actually dive into some of the concepts and stories, we just need to reemphasize the fact that we do have today amazing resources that She did not have in the 1890s.

Abundant light has been given to our people in these last days.

Whether or not my life is spared, and obviously after 1915, the answer was clear.

She was not going to live to see Christ come.

Whether or not my life is spared, my writings will constantly speak and their work will go forward as long as time shall last.

My writings are kept on file in the office.

And we still have paper files in the office of her writings.

She says, Even though I should not live, these words that have been given me by the Lord will still have life and will speak to the people.

Volume 1, Selected Messages, page 55, she wrote that in 1907, some 8 years before she died.

She also stated this a few years before that.

We are to repeat the words of the pioneers in our work, who knew what it cost to search for the truth as for hidden treasure, and who labored to lay the foundation of our work.

They moved forward, step by step, under the influence of the Spirit of God.

Let that which these men have written in the past be reproduced.

Let the truths that are the foundation of our faith be kept before the people.

The truths that have made us as a people what we are.

Well, I would say this CD-ROM, which came out in the early part of 2009, the Ellen G.

White Writings comprehensive research edition, is probably the first time those 2 statements have actually been put together, literally.

Because on the CD-ROM are what she called my writings, and also what she called the words of the pioneers.

There it is, on 1 collection, an amazing library, every word indexed.

You can search for words, you can search for phrases.

In the pioneer section, you can actually search for dates.

And unfortunately, the White Estate has not yet date stamped all of their paragraphs, but eventually, I'm sure that will be done.

So, what are we also available to see today?

Things like this, Maybe you don't even know about this.

Ellen, egwritings.org, the new website for the Ellen White writings.

There's too much there to describe right now, but egwritings, there's 2 Ws when you put EGW and writings next to each other, so make sure both the W's are there.

.Org, there are the entire contents of the major collections on that CD-ROM online.

Barbara Watson

Common Sense Health Ministry for Such a Time as This

It's beautiful here in California, isn't it?

This is Sparks Lane and Cades Cove near the Smoky Mountains.

It's actually part of the Smoky Mountain National Park.

I'm actually in Virginia now, which is also beautiful, but it's wonderful to be here with you at ASI.

Most of you know me, if you know me at all, as Barbara Watson.

5 years ago I became Barbara Pye, but most people don't know me as that nor would they know how to pronounce it if they saw it written.

I married Rene Pye and it rhymes with Versailles.

He's a French heritage and so that's why it looks not like what it is.

I'm the producer and director of the Step Fast Lifestyle series.

How many of you are familiar with Step Fast at all?

All right, well you'll learn a little bit more about that today.

And here's my contact information, but I'll be sharing that again at the end of the series of the seminar today.

All right, before we begin, let's just have a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the opportunity to come together this afternoon and to look to you for inspiration regarding this marvelous plan of health that you have given and entrusted to us and we ask Lord that you would Speak to us now give us wisdom as to how we might share these wonderful principles that many would be drawn to you through this saving health message we pray in Jesus name amen.

I've entitled this seminar common-sense health ministry for such a time as this, because if ever there was a time when people are ready to hear this message, it's now.

It's amazing what has happened, it continues to happen, it continues to get worse.

The healthcare crisis in individuals' lives and in this nation is dramatic.

And it's in the forefront all the time, as you well know.

So it not only makes common sense that we need to take care of our health, it's good financial sense as well.

When we think of personal finances and the financial crisis that the country is in right now, and the world for that matter, as you well know.

And God has entrusted it to us, and that's what's so important for us to realize.

The Hemisphere magazine in the pocket, I took a few minutes to read this.

And there was a very interesting interview, Alice Waters was interviewed.

She is the person, if there was 1 person in this country who pioneered the organic food movement beginning some 30 years ago, 40 years ago.

It's the 40 year anniversary of Chez Panisse, the restaurant that she started in LA.

And most recently, she has pioneered a movement called, or program, called the Edible Schoolyard, where they have gardens in many schools now in California, and a school lunch program.

So they're really trying to teach the children at a young age Because the obesity crisis among children, it's epidemic some 30% of children are either overweight or obese And they're trying to catch them young.

As she says, before they become addicted to fast foods, this is what they're trying to do.

And we know that if children are obese and are beginning to manifest health issues, we know as adults there's going to be serious problems.

We know that adults sometimes are harder to educate than children because habits are so ingrained.

And as I said, this epidemic is, obesity epidemic is incredible.

And this issue of Hemisphere Magazine, they said it was their first annual food issue, but it was full of advertisements for medical clinics, 2 of which were obesity treatment centers.

But it's just amazing what is out there today.

And while there's lots of good food available, there's so much other food available to us that we know is what's killing us as a nation.

The prevalence of it, it tastes good, it's convenient, in many cases it's cheap, and so that's the food of choice for most people.

Of course there's also what we call haute cuisine, which I call gourmet junk food.

And if people can afford it, this is what they want to do.

And so we need to intervene where the problem is.

And many, many people are beginning to sense.

She said, people are coming to their senses.

And they are, because this is what's happening.

They're indulging, but then they feel lousy, they're gaining weight, and they have all sorts of lifestyle-related diseases.

And then comes with that the brain fog that you wake up with after you've eaten a big meal in the evening, the guilt, the feelings of failure and discouragement and depression and on it goes.

Education and health principles was never more needed than now.

Because it's so pertinent to today, and yet it has been for years, but ever more so today.

Notwithstanding the wonderful progress in so many lines relating to the comforts and conveniences of life, even to the treatment of disease, the decline in physical vigor and power of endurance is alarming.

It demands the attention of all who have at heart the well-being of their fellow men.

I want to tell you about a man I met yesterday.

I invited him to come to the seminar, but he's not available.

He was riding the same shuttle that I was from the airport.

There was a Brazilian lady who couldn't speak English who was coming to the ASI seminar.

And then she asked this gentleman if he was an Adventist and he said no, but that he'd studied with the Adventists and that he'd studied with Breath of Life and with a pastor up in Seattle and so on.

He was well-dressed, well-spoken, but a heavy black man.

And then it turned out that we were in the same van.

And I invited him to the seminar this afternoon.

But he said that he had his dialysis appointment this afternoon.

And it just made me realize ever more, sometimes when we see someone, we don't think about that they're having all sorts of health issues necessarily, but indeed he was.

And we talked a little bit about health and how he might get on the road to recovery.

And it's so easy when we mingle with people to understand the kinds of problems that they're having and we have the answers.

Many transgress the laws of health through ignorance and they need instruction.

This man needs instruction But the greater number know better than they do.

That's why this health message is different from any other message.

I don't know about you, but a few times, I've done not what I knew was best.

And it's a universal problem, really conquering the appetite and making the best and sensible choices.

And we know that that takes self-control.

And that's why this is the entering wedge, because the answer is not just information about physical health.

James Rafferty

The Last Revelation: Making Christ the Center

Father in heaven, we want to thank you right now.

It's our privilege to be learners at the feet of Jesus, to understand the message, the last revelation that you want us to give to the world.

Father, as we pause for this moment, We're asking for the blessing of your Holy Spirit.

We cannot move forward without the impartation of that third person of the Godhead.

We pray that you will lead and guide us as you promised to do.

That no man needs to teach us, but that we can have an anointing, so that we can know that what we hear is true, that your word is sure, and that we can walk in the light of that word through your power and your grace.

Allow each 1 of us to be open, to understand what you want to share with us, we ask.

And again, we do this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

When I was at home this last, oh, 2 weeks ago, I planted potatoes.

It was the end of July, and I had to do it.

I had to do it because for weeks I had been working on planting potatoes.

I had a tiller and the tiller had a missing part and I spent a lot of time and effort and a little bit of money finding a part for the tiller so the tiller could work, so I could till the ground.

And so I finally got the ground tilled in late July.

I went to the seed and feed place and they had some old wrinkled up seed potatoes and they were just about giving them away.

So I said, ah, a couple dollars, that's not, you know, nothing scary to invest.

I watered them, watered them, watered them.

And before I left, there were green sprouts coming up.

Now I don't know if I'm going to get potatoes yet.

I don't know if it was too late, but I think, I believe, and I prayed earnestly over those potatoes, I believe that God is going to bless.

God has over the years given to this church a powerful message, an incredible message, an incredible insight that no other church has.

It's described in Revelation 14 verse 6 as the everlasting gospel.

We have, generation after generation, neglected not just to share the message, but to understand it ourselves.

There are people today who are saying, I never knew that the third angel's message was all about righteousness by faith.

I've heard that while I've been here at ASI.

I thought it would be good for us to go back to basics.

When we talk about evangelism, what are we talking about?

I like the understanding that is brought to us when you look up the word itself.

In your outline, right there in the marginal reference, there's a definition for evangelism.

Good tidings, a bringer of good tidings, an evangelist.

It was also, definition number 2, the name that was given to the New Testament, heralds of salvation through Christ, who are not apostles.

The word itself is defined as someone who brings good news.

Someone who heralds the salvation of Jesus Christ.

It's all about heralding the good news of Jesus Christ.

I was nervous and somewhat unwilling to travel to Pakistan in 1997.

I got a call from a conference president who had worked in Pakistan and he asked me if I'd be willing to go there.

I told him initially, no, but I'll pray about it.

Now today, Pakistan is very scary, but this was before 9-11, and I was still nervous.

140 million people, 96% of them are Muslims, and it's against the law in that country for a Christian to proselytize.

And if a Muslim becomes a Christian, they die.

When I went over there, a young girl, a Christian girl, had been taken to court on trial because she had witnessed to a friend of hers who was a Muslim, and that friend had become a Christian, and her parents killed her.

And now they were trying the Christian girl for her death, the death the parents had to do in order to be in harmony with the law of the land, but 1 that they felt that Christian girl was responsible for.

And as I was traveling to Pakistan, I thought, what am I going to preach in a Muslim country?

Because they told me, they said, we're gonna have loudspeakers.

We're gonna be on this compound, the Adventist compound, there's a church of 50 people there.

But the people, the Muslims are going to be listening.

Because even though it's against the law for them to actually come to the meetings or become Christians, they're very interested and they want to hear.

So, we're going to have the speakers loud and you can preach and just preach to them.

I was just preaching but I thought, what should I preach?

And The verses that God brought to me over and over again were right there in John 12.

I believe that these 2 verses, John 12, 30 and 31.

And I got the wrong reference on the outline.

You'll see why as we go through the series here, but John 12, 30 and 31.

Something very powerful that Jesus is communicating here, and I believe that this is the essence, the foundation of evangelism.

Verse 31, now is the judgment of this world.

Series

ASI 2011 Seminar: Evangelism

Common Sense Health Ministry for Such a Time as This

Transcript

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