00:00 So here’s my clinic in northern Peru. Actually, not four walls but three walls. Well, maybe one wall and two sort of thatched things, and I saw patients all day in a village that had no electricity, no running water, out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It was three hours from the nearest any civilization; and so what did I do when I saw these patients? Well, not a whole lot, as far as lab tests, or x-rays, or CTs, or things like that—no ultrasound, sorry, but next time. So what I did was I taught them about the 8 natural remedies. Water is a big issue in third world countries—those of you who went to Bangladesh know that everyone is like bone-dry dehydrated. There are other things you can always teach people. Hygiene is a big issue in the Third World; but there were persons after persons after persons that would come to ask for medical help. They had never seen a doctor in their whole life. They had never seen even a nurse in their whole life. But of all the 8 natural remedies, something that I would do with every patient: I prayed with them and I pointed them to the God of heaven.

01:10 One of things I noticed is that there were so many people who wanted medical care, they were always trying to cut in line, get ahead, and stuff like that. In fact, there was only one break that I took throughout the day and that was just to go to the bathroom. The bathroom is that thing behind that whitish thatched area. When I took a break, I noticed that three guys followed me to the bathroom. Well, I’m thinking, you know, they’re going to take a bathroom break at the same time. But as soon as I got in there they were like, Doctor, una pregunta. So they wanted to ask questions and I’m like, Dude, I’m going to the bathroom right now. That's how desperate people were to cut in line. And I said, I’ll answer your question in line, like everyone else.

01:52 But there was only one person who didn't do that. It was a young girl who was there with her mother and her sister. And she never came to the front of the line. She never tried to cut. She never tried to push or anything like that and I would catch just little bits and pieces of her conversation as she stood at the outskirts of the crowd. I would hear stuff like, Oh, you know there's so many people he's not going to be able to take time to see me; or you know I'm not that bad off. All these people have like cancer and diabetes; and you know, they have all these infections and wounds. I'm not that bad; it’s not really a big deal. Until finally it got close to the end of the day, her mom kind of like marched her up to the front and sat her down in front of me. And she says, this is my daughter and I would like you to see Helen because I know there's something wrong—and so I said—well, what seems to be the trouble?—she says—I'm not sure but I think it may be something wrong with my heart?—I thought—well, why do you think it’s your heart?—I feel pain sometimes and sometimes I pass out; and I feel really tired and sometimes it’s racing really fast; and you know, I can't play like I use to with my friends. And I’m thinking—she's 15. What really could it be?—So I listen with my stethoscope and I hear the worst murmur I've ever heard in my entire life. Normally your heart goes dupe-dupe/dupe-dupe, this sounds like poof-toott!/poof-toott! And so I had her stand up. I had her sit down. I had her roll on her side. I had her bear down. I had her do all these little things because obviously I couldn’t ask for an echo. Right? But if you were there, I could have, right? But I couldn’t ask for an echo so I had to have her do all these different maneuvers to figure out where this murmur was coming from. Eventually, I realized that she had a large VSD- ventricular septal defect; that's a big hole between the large chambers of the heart and she was developing something called Eisenmenger syndrome which is where instead of the blood passing from the right heart to the lungs to get oxygen to the left heart, it just goes straight to the left heart. Eventually, when you keep shunting the blood without going through the lungs you have no oxygen and what happens is fairly complex and those of you who are residents probably understand a little bit better, maybe not, I'm not sure; but the long story short is eventually the pressure becomes such that none of the blood will go through the pulmonary circulation and then you die, eventually. So, I shared this with her in very simple terms, and she said, well do I need to drink more water?—and I said—no, that won’t help you—she said— well can you put a poultice on it?—I said—no, you’re going to need surgery on your heart. I think you may actually need a new heart, a transplant. I don't think that they will be able to repair this, it’s gone too far. You’ll have to go to Lima, the capital of your country, and find a cardiothoracic surgeon—she said—okay, can you do the surgery?—I said—no I can't do the surgery—she's like—how will I get to Lima; I've never left my village?—I said—I don’t know—she asked—will they do the surgery for free?—I said—no, they won't—where will I get the money?—I don’t know. I’m not sure. I'll try to ask some of my friends back in the states to help; but that’s your only hope of survival. And as I began to think about this, as I looked into the eyes of a 15 year old girl who needed a new heart, God told me, Tim, you need a new heart.

05:47 In the experience of Helen, you will find the experience of salvation. Please open your Bibles to Ezekiel 36:26. We read, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” So, God is the One who gives us the new heart. I learned that from the very beginning of my experience with Helen. Where did I meet Helen? You guys remember? Peru, but what part of Peru? Like Booniesville, Peru, in the middle of nowhere. This is actually northern Peru, near Chiclayo; if any of you are familiar with the geography of Peru. But I met her in the middle of nowhere. So let me ask you this, what are the chances of a physician meeting this girl who has Eisenmenger’s in the middle of nowhere, in time to save her? What are the odds of that?

6:56 Well, when you understand how God rolls, it’s pretty good because the first step of salvation is that God searches for us in a thousand ways, through a thousand means. He's trying to get your attention even now, even today, through maybe a friend, through maybe a teacher, maybe a family member, maybe an e-mail, maybe a text msg, maybe a forwarded e-mail. God is using those things to draw you to Him. And I believe with all my heart that He sent me to Helen.

7:30 Luke 19:10 tells us, “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.” God makes the first move and that's another very comforting thing to me—about the plan of salvation—is that Jesus is looking for me. My question is, are you looking for him? John 12:32 tells us, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” It’s interesting, the word men is supplied in that verse; so how is it suppose to read? Peoples? People say stuff like that; but did you know that that's also always supplied? The way it’s supposed to read is, “If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.”

08:19 Jesus through His sacrifice draws not only humanity, but the whole known universe to Himself. God is drawing you whether or not you grew up in a Christian home, whether or not you've had a dysfunctional or healthy family, it doesn't matter. Jesus is drawing everyone. So the next time you think that the person with the tattoos and the multiple body piercings and stuff like that is not interested in God, think again; because God is drawing them just like He's drawing you and me.

08:50 Read this quote from Desire of Ages , p. 479, “Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows us all by name.”—no matter how many lambs God has, He still knows each one of them by name. That’s how intimately He knows us. God knows us as if we were the only person on the earth.—“He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His”—lost—“sheep.” (DA 51:479.3)

09:27 So what are the odds of my seeing Helen? Pretty good! God gives instructions to find how many? Even just one. The second thing that I learned about salvation is Helen spent most of her time where, when I was running clinic? In the back! She was in the background. What do you think would've happened if she had never come forward? She would die. There’s no question. She would die. Out in the middle of nowhere, how would she ever get any sort of—not just treatment, but—diagnosis? She would die. And that is the second step of salvation: God is searching for you but you must respond to God. You must come forward. You must make an effort. You must say, yes! You must acknowledge that God is there; just like Helen came forward, you and I must come forward.

10:37 Rev. 3:20 tells us, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock”—if any man hear my voice, and Jesus opens the door, is that what it says? Who is the person that opens the door? It's us. Read it—“if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”

11:06 Anyone knows who Harry Anderson is? Harry Anderson is a very famous Adventist artist and he has this picture of Jesus knocking on a door. Have you ever looked closely at the door? There's something wrong with the door. Has anyone ever noticed it? What's wrong with the door, tell me? (It doesn't have an handle on the outside.) Isn't that interesting? And that is a perfect illustration of this verse. Jesus will knock but who must open the door? You and I must open the door. Jesus is a perfect gentleman. He will not pick the lock. He will not jump through the window. You know He's not going to deceive you. He´s not going to go to the back door. He´s going to knock at the door. Have any of you ever had someone come to your door and you didn't want them to know that you were home? (laughter) Has that ever happened? And so someone comes to the door (knock, knock, knock) and you’re like (laughter). You’re just really quiet because eventually if you’re quiet enough, what will happen? (They’ll go away.) Not Jesus. He´s like, Tim, I know you’re in there. I see you hiding under the bed, right now. I'm still going to keep knocking. And I‘m so glad He does not give up, easily. But the key is that you and I must open the door. We must respond to God’s drawing. This is the reason why most people do not respond to God’s drawing, “but when Jesus heard that he said unto them, They that be whole have no need of a physician but they that are sick; but go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

13:07 And if you understand the sermon I gave last night, you’ll understand that we are sick. We are desperately in need of God. We are hopelessly lost without Him. And you know we are a hopeless cause, were it not for grace. And when you feel that, when you understand that, you realize that you need help, you desperately need help; but the thing is, most of us don't feel our need. And the way I would explain it is this. What caused Helen to come see me? What was it? (She was an invalid.) But what was she feeling that caused her to come see me? (Acute pain, shortness of breath, palpitations.) She had symptoms. She had a need. I believe that all of us have the same scenario we go through. Many of us feel a hole in our hearts. Many of us feel emptiness. Many of us feel a longing for something; but we attribute that longing to something else; if I only had a girlfriend, or if I only had a guy, if I were married, if I only had that job, if I were only done with school; but that's not it. If only we would recognize those longings as the voice of God to our soul. We would realize what we’re missing.

14:46 The third thing I understood from Helen is when I gave her the diagnosis. This may not seem apparent, but it's like when I give any patient a diagnosis. They can either believe me or not. When I told her what was wrong, it was very interesting because she just accepted it as truth. But then began asking questions on what should she do. And that's the issue. You've got to believe what God says. When God says in Jeremiah your whole head is sick from the soul to the crown of your head; putrefying sores. You have to believe it. When you read that all of heaven and all the unfallen worlds would have voted against you, you’ve got to believe it or not; it’s that simple.

15:42 When I told Helen, listen, you've got a big hole in your heart. What could she have said? Well, I appreciate your diagnosis but I want a second opinion. People do that all the time. People don't always believe what you have to say. In fact, you can actually modify it. You could believe there was something wrong, she could have said, yea, that doctor said there was something wrong with my heart but I think I’ll just stay here and eat aloe vera and drink water. She could have done that. But what would happen? She dies. It’s that simple.

16:23 If you believe God not at all and if you believe him partway, it's the same net result: you die. You can believe the diagnosis but not follow the treatment; it’s the same net result. In order to be saved we have to believe what God says AND do what He asks of us, in order to be saved. Here’s a way of illustrating it. “Then said Jesus to the Greeks”—who was it? Then said Jesus to the Jews who mocked him and made fun of him? The Scribes and the Pharisees? Is that who Jesus was talking to? Who was Jesus talking to? The Jews that believed on Him. So who was he talking to? Us, right? Us! I mean we accept Jesus as Messiah. So Jesus is speaking to believers right now but watch what He says. Remember Jesus is talking to us—“if you continue in My words then are you My disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Then they answered Him, listen I am a fourth generation Seventh-day Adventist. Isn’t that what we say? Listen, I’m like Ellen White's great-great-grand-nephew, I've got a sure place in God’s kingdom. I’m an elder. I'm a pastor. Right? That's exactly what they said to Jesus. Do you realize that? They said, we don't need a heart change. What are you talking about we need to be made free? We’re already free! We’re Abraham’s children! They ignored the fact that the Roman ensign was waving over their city. They weren’t free. And they weren’t free of sin! That was the main issue. We’re Abraham’s seed and we are never in bondage to any man! How are you saying you shall be made free? Then Jesus answered them, verily, verily I say unto you, whosoever commiteth sin is a servant of sin—now don’t raise your hand—anyone commit sin here? What does Jesus say?—if you commit sin, you’re the servant of sin. It’s that simple guys. It’s not complex. If you are still in sin, you are the servant of sin. It’s that simple. But here’s how it would make it maybe even easier to understand, think about it in terms of Helen. What sort of things did she feel? Chest pain, shortness of breath, she was passing out, palpitations. If I just told her, the answer to your shortness of breath is just to give you oxygen when you're short of breath. People do that on the floor, all the time—I don't know why. They do it. O, let’s put some oxygen. Why don’t we find out why they’re short of breath? Wouldn’t that be better? I think so. The thing is that shortness of breath, chest pain those are symptoms of a deeper problem; symptoms of the fact that she has Eisenmenger’s. Sin in our lives is a symptom of the heart. It’s telling you, there’s an issue. Don't attack the sins. Go for the heart. Go for the cause. Understand that sin is the symptom. Does that make sense? The symptom should provoke you to go get help. When you feel chest pain, 911, right? But chest pain is not the problem. If I just give the patient nitro until the pain goes away and never stent them, they die. Don't just treat the symptom. Oh, lord, if I just prayed more. I have to study more. You know, I just have such a problem; I have to cancel my internet. I have to stop gossiping. Don't focus on the sin. Focus on the cause.

20:31 Come to God to have a heart change. Sin is the symptom. “Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin and the servant abideth not in the house forever.” Now that sounds depressing doesn't it but it really is encouraging. The servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son abideth ever. It just finished saying there, if you commit sin you will not live forever. You can read it that way. But look at it this way. Even if you commit sin, you live for a time. You see that? The servant does not abide forever but he abides for a while in the house. Jesus Christ through His sacrifice has purchased not just salvation for those who would accept Him; but a window of time, even for those who would reject Him.

21:22 We have an opportunity, even though we're in trouble, we’re in sin, we have a hole in her heart, God is still pleading for us, the door of mercy is still open. The servant abideth in the house for a time; if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. But here's an interesting picture. When this picture was taken I had just finished telling Helen the diagnosis. Does she look happy or sad? Happy! Now why in the world? I say, you have a big hole in your heart, and you’re going to die unless you get a transplant. Why do you think this girl would be happy? (Because she knows what’s wrong.) At last she knows what’s causing the chest pain, the shortness of breath. And you may in your life have this nagging feeling, this emptiness, this depression, this fear, this anxiety, the gospel is good news because even though you're in bad shape you know what's wrong and you know that there's a cure. A 100 % certain cure. So she’s happy. But look at that, she’s facing leaving her village, finding some physicians; she doesn’t even know who they are. No money. But she knows what's wrong because she has faith in the one who told her the diagnosis that it would be all right.

23:10 Here's the biggest struggle that I hear from people, yes, Tim, I understand all those things. I’ve read Steps to Christ like 14 times, but I just don't understand what am I supposed to do? Have you ever heard people say that? Just tell me what I'm supposed to do. Just make it, like The Gospel for Dummies; they need to write a book like that. What's my part? What's God’s part? It is so simple, it is unreal. If you think of the example of Helen it will help you; but I’m going to give you one verse: Philippians 2:13 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” So what does that mean? Well, here's the way I’d explain it.

24:04 I came into the ER one evening and I went into your room and I said, Hi I’m Dr. Riesenberger, how you doing?—Aw, my finger is really bothering me—well, did you smash it?—I don’t know.—Did something bite it?—I don’t know.—Did you fall?—I don’t know.—Did you crush it?—I don’t know.—what do you know?—umm, I did a lot of meth last night, drank a lot of alcohol, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and I woke up and it was hurting—okay. Let’s take a look at it. Maybe it’s a little red, not really sure, so I ordered a CBC and I ordered an x-ray; and the CBC came back normal. The x-ray showed no fracture; and no gas in the tissues to indicate a serious infection but it was kind of red so I say, maybe you have an early cellulitis or something so I’ll give you a dose of Keflex here, and I'll write you a prescription, and what do I always tell people? Take the entire prescription even if you feel better, of course. And if you feel worse then come back, yep—you guys know the routine.

25:10 So ten days later, this lady comes in and she sees one of my nurse practitioners and the nurse practitioner panics. She actually comes, Tim, I can't believe the lady, her fingers is like all puss and it's like cellulitis all the way up her arm and it looks like she has to go to the OR and I think she may need an amputation and she goes on and on. And I say, wait a minute. What’s this lady’s name? Is it such and such? And the nurse is like, wow, how did you know?—well, I just saw her last week—would you come and see the patient? So they’re like dragging me into the room. And I’m like, Hi I’m Dr. Riesenberger—O, doctor, I’m so glad you’re here. The last doctor he didn’t care. He didn’t do anything—she didn’t realize that it was me. She didn’t recognize me and I say, o that’s such a shame. Tell me what he did—what he did?! He didn’t do anything!—I say, really? Umm, did he maybe order any studies?—well, I think he took a drop of blood and maybe took a picture or something like that—really? Okay. Did he treat you?—Yeah, he treated me really bad!—really? He didn’t give you any medicine?—Oh, umm, I think he gave me one pill. And he wrote me a piece of paper, something like that—would that have been a prescription that he wrote you?—yeah, I think so!—and did you fill it?—well, of course I couldn't! It was snowing the next day—oh, okay. Did he tell you to not do anything?—yeah, he really emphasized the fact that I should quit smoking, quit drinking, and quit the drugs—oh, okay and did you do that?—yes, I did quit—when did you quit?—today!

26:54 True story. What was the only thing she did right? She did one thing right. (She came back.) She came back. So why didn’t she get better? She didn’t do anything except come back. She didn’t quit any of the drugs. She didn't take any of the medication. But you know, we do the same thing. We go through Week of Prayer, after Week of Prayer, after evangelistic series, and we’re like, why isn’t our life any different? Why I’ve been to the New Start program like 14 times. I should be cured by now. We go through the program but then we go home and we do nothing. And if nothing changes, then nothing changes. The Week of Prayer speaker can tell you this is how you do outreach, this is how to read your Bible, this is how to pray, this is how to share, this is how to live, this is how to eat, this is how to cook; but if you don’t do any of those things, nothing changes. Amazing.

28:03 Well, we all laugh at the story of the finger, which is a true story. We can all see why she didn't get better because she didn’t do anything. But we have the same problems spiritually. Our devotional lives don't change after a Week of Prayer. Our Bible study doesn't change. We don't start sharing with people after we have the revival meetings. And therefore nothing changes in our lives. It's not complicated. It's that simple.

28:37 Let me break it down for you. What was God’s part and what is your part in the plan of salvation? It’s just like the lady with the finger. What was my part for her as the physician? Diagnose. Could she diagnose herself? No. What else could I do for her? (give her medicine) Could she write her own prescription? No. She couldn't order the x-ray. She couldn’t order the CBC. Can you imagine after she leaves the ER, six hours later, she hears this knock? (knock, knock)—Who is it?—it’s Dr. Riesenberger—what do you want?—I’m here with your next Keflex—Ahh!—Does any doctor do that? Why? Why don’t we do that? Because you can. Do you see the difference? God is going to do for you what you cannot do for yourself; but he leaves for you to do what you can.

29:51 Does that make sense? Can you forgive your own sins? No. Can you change your thoughts? No. Can you change your heart? No. But can you put good things in your mind? Yes! Can you read your Bible? Sure. Can you pray? Sure. There are things that you can do. One of my friends he had been on a lot of drugs and he’s like Riesenberger, you know I'm just not getting this whole Bible thing. I like read a paragraph and when I’m done I don’t even know what I just read. Anyone sympathize with that? I read a paragraph and I’m like what did I just read? But it's so bad, Tim, It’s like when you make spaghetti and you go to drain the pasta, I’m like the colander. The water you pour in just goes right through the holes. It doesn't retain. I'm not holding anything. This is no good. And you know what I told him? Keep reading because even though the waters going through the holes of that colander the water is cleaning the colander. Pretty soon you’ll start to retain. Just keep at it.

30:58 So God is going to do for you what you cannot do for yourself; but He's going to leave for you to do what you can. I’ll give you a real example. Anyone like to do their devotions in the morning? Read the Bible in the morning and anyone find that when it's really cold in the morning, you don't want to get out of bed—don't raise your hand. That happens to me. And on those mornings we just never want to get out of bed does the Bible ever get off the shelf and float over to you and open up and say, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Does that ever happen to you? It's never happened to me. Why? because you can.

31:48 Anyone like to pray before they go to bed? Anyone really tired, though, before they go to bed? Anyone when they pray, when they're really tired do one of these (laughter) sort of prayers? Dear Jesus, (snoring sound)—you’ve done it because you’re laughing. So have I. Why doesn’t Jesus keep you awake when you pray face down on your mattress? because you can. Don’t pray like that when you're tired? You know you’re going to fall asleep! Come on! God’s not going to prevent you from falling asleep because you can take measures to do that.

32:30 I guess the way I could vividly describe it would be let's say Caitlin passes out right now. She collapses. Kerry, what are you going to do? Okay, put her feet up, alright. Her feet are up now. She's not responsive. I’m not here. Okay. So what are you going to do? (She’s non-responsive?) Non-responsive. No. No. (start CPR) Okay and while you start CPR, what else are you going to have someone else do? (call 9-1-1). Call 911, right. So you're doing CPR. Someone’s calling 911. Okay, now will change the situation. Kerry, this happens right outside the ER where I am. What are you going to do? (Run inside) now let's say I say, quick, Kerry, call 911! (laughter) What if I said, okay let’s pray? Dear Jesus, please bless Caitlin and bless the missionaries. Amen. (laughter) Is prayer good? Are you happy with that though? Okay, let's just do CPR. Would you be happy with just that? (No) why? I'm doing just what you guys did. Why aren’t you happy with that? What do you expect? You expect me to intubate, shock her, epi, atropine, the whole 9-yards; and anything less, would be murder if you knew that I intentionally withheld something from Caitlin that could have saved her life. What would you think about me? Pretty shady. The reason why I share this is that God expects 100 % from each one of us. What’s our part? 100 %. Whether that 100 % is a 5 year old—I’ve had 5 year olds call 911, did you know that? And save their parents. I've had them activate the MS system and save their lives.

34:58 Whether you're 5 or whether you’re an ER doctor—you expect me to do it all because I do it every day. Anything less, would be totally unacceptable. But the 100 % for the 5 year old is different than Kerry, is different than you, and is different probably than various people. God gives you a 100 % but He expects a 100 % back but He knows that each 100 % is different.

35:30 But I'm telling you that not one person in this room will be saved unless you give 100 %. You know what? Your 100 % though it may be very small and very weak—with Jesus—is enough! Even if you're just 5 and all you do is say, hey mommy’s not well. Mommy’s sick or something like that. I've had lambs save their parents like that.

35:55 This was the first patient that I had in Cambodia. Any guess as to what's wrong? Look closely, what do you think is the problem? It’s his wrist. Do you think it’s painful? Look at the sweat beading on his lip, it’s horrible. This is an illustration of the spiritual life. We come to God and we’re broken. We’re totally messed up. This child’s ulna and radius were completely fractured and displaced. And what is the first thing I'm going to do to him? I’m going to make it hurt more! Isn’t that terrible? How dare I put that iodine on there. Look, watch what I’m going to do now. See what’s in my hand? What do I have in my hand? I have a needle and I’m going to stab the needle into his fracture. Ahh!!! Sometimes we don’t understand that when we come to God it suddenly starts to hurt. To have our sins cut away is like cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye or cutting off your foot. Do you think that if you were faced with death you would cut off your hand?

37:08 Does anyone know Aron Ralston, the hiker? A boulder pinned his arm. He was out in the middle of nowhere, and he knew what? it was either him or the arm. And what did he do? Do you know? He hacked off his forearm, but is he alive? Yes! A pretty vivid illustration. Let me assure you that when you come to God, it will hurt a lot! I'm not lying; but the thing is, why does this child hold still while I'm like totally causing all this pain? Why would he hold still? (He trusts you.) He trusts me! He trusts that I'm not causing all this pain for nothing. But what am I going to do for his arm? Fix it. Do you trust God? It will hurt a lot; but He's only causing the pain so He can make the broken things right. So after I injected the fracture—it’s called the hematoma block, Lidocaine and Bupivacaine, kind of interesting because after I finished injecting it he said, it doesn't hurt anymore! And as soon as he said that I went cluuu-ick and he went, Ahh! (Laughter) and one of our dentists actually turned green and started to pass out (laughter). After I snapped it back in, I put plaster on it, molded it around the fracture site, shaped it, made sure it had plenty of padding on it, and I pulled on it, I heard it pop, and then I put a sling on it. And both bones were in perfect alignment we found out later. You know what’s amazing? When that fracture heals, at the place where it broke, that the bone is stronger!

39:05 God wants to not only heal you in the areas where you are weak; but He will make those areas your strongest points. It's going to hurt and you have to trust Him. You have to be willing to go through the pain, of even if it feels like, Lord, you’re cutting my hand off. This is crazy. That's not going to be me anymore by the time you're done. The Great Physician knows what He's doing. And He doesn't cut with a wanton hand. He doesn't cause any more pain than is absolutely necessary for your survival. But will you let Him do it? Will you cooperate with Him? John 11:39 is probably the greatest Biblical evidence of this.

39:50 John 11 is about the death of Lazarus. When Jesus comes to the tomb there’s something in His way. What was it? (a stone) Now, this is something that He said at the entrance of the tomb. But who is He talking to? Who was he talking to? He says, Take ye away the stone. Desire of Ages, p. 535, “Christ could have commanded the stone to remove, and it would have obeyed His voice. He could have bidden the angels who were close by His side to do this. At His bidding, invisible hands would have removed the stone. But it was to be taken away by human hands. Thus Christ would show that humanity is to co-operate with divinity. What human power can do divine power is not summoned to do.”—there are many, many people who will be lost in the end because they are waiting for God to do for them what He has given them the power to do. Many of them will be lost, hoping to be Christians when God has enabled them, given them friends, support, resources, His Word, Spirit of Prophecy to do it.—“What human power can do divine power is not summoned to do. God does not dispense with man’s aid. He strengthens him, co-operating with him as he uses the powers and capabilities given him.” (DA 57:435.3)

41:48 So after we were done with the clinic we left on a bus and the whole village, lots of the lambs came out. Do you see Helen in the background, the guy in the orange shirt? She and her sister are behind him, they came all the way to the entrance, there she is with her hand raised, and they even went so far as I put my head out the window and she jumped up and threw her arms around my neck and she said, Tim, I’ll never forget you. But of course what does everyone always want to know after I went back? What happened to Helen?

42:30 Well, I went back to work. All my colleagues when I come back ask like, wow, where did you go Riesenberger?—I went to Peru—what did you do?—I did medical-missionary work—anything interesting you see?—I saw a girl with Eisenmenger’s—oh, probably died, right?—no, not died so far; trying to get someone to maybe donate some money so that she can go to Lima. And when I told that story, the next day, it was not a doctor, it was not a nurse, it was one of the CNAs in the ER, came to me with an envelope of $1,000.00 dollars cash. This person was not an Adventist and not a Christian and said, I want you to give this to Helen. What did I do? I wired it to Helen. With that money she had enough to go to Lima to see the right doctors, to get the right tests to be treated, to be cured, and enough extra money to go to our Adventist Academy in Peru. She was not a Seventh-day Adventist when I saw her. She started Bible studies afterwards but became a believer in just two short weeks because she had the story of the new heart in her own experience. She understood the plan of salvation because it was written on her very soul.

43:52 If you forget everything that I've shared. If you forget the steps of salvation: 1) God looks for us 2) we respond to God 3) you have to believe God 4) and our part/His part. He does what we cannot do for ourselves; but He leaves for us to do what we can. If you forget all that stuff, just remember this last thing: Genesis 22:8.

44:19 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering”—think about that for a moment. Isaac’s there on mount Mariah with his father. And he says, well, here's the wood, here's the fire, but where's the lamb for the offering? and Abraham said something so profound; he says, “My son, God will provide”—who?—“Himself a lamb” for the sacrifice. If you forget everything else I want you to remember this: when you are on the transplant list, and when you are going to die without a heart, when you are critical, when you are terminal, in order for you to live, do you know what it means? you need someone else to die for you to get that heart. The plan of salvation is free for you and me. It’s very expensive to the Father because it cost Him the heart of His own Son; because Jesus is the donor for our new heart, for each one of us. And I just want to make an appeal to each one of you, that you would make that decision for a new heart, to give your 100 % to God, to be willing to make the changes that you've never made before. Let me tell you those changes, will hurt but it's only the hurt that precedes the relief in the healing of our souls. Let’s kneel for prayer.

46:07 Loving Father in Heaven, I thank you and praise you for the testimony of Helen of the new heart. Lord, I thank you for writing the story of her life with fire on my mind and I pray that her legacy will never be forgotten; not only in my life, but in the life of everyone who hears her story. Lord, thank you for searching for us first; for making the first move. Lord, help us to respond to that love and Lord, help us not only to respond to it but when you give us the diagnosis Lord, help us to believe you and help us not only to believe you; but to follow your prescription, to follow your plan for victory that Lord, we may do our part and as we do that we know and are confident that you will do your part. Lord, thank you most of all for offering us that new heart for free. And thank you that it comes from the very heart of God. We thank you in Jesus’ name, amen.

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A New Heart

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