3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 2013: Showers of Blessings

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Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

Magna Parks

Growth Through Trials

Father, we thank you so much that you lead us and we pray that we may always remember this no matter what comes our way.

And as we talk about growth through trials, may this theme run constantly through our minds and our hearts.

We pray for your Holy Spirit to continue to abide in this place.

In the name of Jesus, your son, we do pray.

If you can't relate, that means you're not still living.

Only Those who are 6 feet under cannot relate to the words difficulties, difficulties, trials.

Everyone sitting here, I'm sure if I took a mic and I went to each 1 of you, you would be able to tell me some difficulties that you've been through or that you're currently going through now.

Unfortunately, I always look at things through how society teaches us.

We're not learning real well how to deal with difficulties.

I mean, that's always been the case, but it's getting even worse.

And I can go on and on with the wonderful things that technology has done, but you know what it's done?

It's conditioned our mind to say, I can't handle things.

As a psychologist, I deal with people and sometimes people call me.

I'm not in practice anymore, but I do a lot of phone counseling.

And sometimes people call me merely because they're having a hard time dealing with their difficulties.

I'm glad to be there brothers and sisters but I'm gonna make a confession to you.

It saddens my heart, I don't know how to say this without making people feel bad, but it saddens my heart that Christians are having an increasingly difficult time dealing with difficulties that come their way.

Actually it was a book written by a psychiatrist and a lay person.

And listen to the title, 1 Nation Under Therapy.

And the subtitle is, How the Self-Help Movement is eroding our strength.

In this era of grief and trauma counseling, 1 is tempted to ask how humanity managed to survive for thousands of years before its advent.

In previous years, we were more likely to seek solace from a priest or a minister or to accept another explanation for catastrophe.

We were once fairly recognized to what could not be changed.

And there's several things in the book that they talk about where they see this self-help movement, sad to say my people, many of them, pushing people to rely too much on human beings for help.

Now no man is an island, so I don't want you leaving here thinking that I'm saying don't ever talk to people.

Jesus sought for support from his disciples at times, right?

But what I'm saying is we're becoming too dependent on human beings and as difficulties come our way, we don't know how to handle them as well.

And so I've written a book about, this is just an aside, if you're interested at my booth, I've written a book about the danger, some of you have it, You've stopped by the table and told me.

It's called Christians Beware, the dangers of secular psychology.

And I talk about some of the ways that psychology, sad to say, secular psychology has a, how it has had a negative impact in some ways.

And I also have a series that I did at Pastor Boris' church called Mind Games, similar information to the book.

But psychology has done some good things and in other ways has not done some good things.

Now we have words such as trauma, crisis, and we use these words.

And 1 thing that's connected with the word trauma, and I'm sure you've heard about this, is post-traumatic stress disorder.

Actually that word came about right after the World War veterans, World War II veterans came back and we heard about them having shell shock and flashbacks and nightmares.

And the term post-traumatic stress disorder was first applied to them.

And then we started to apply it to abuse victims and people who were raped, dealing with all kind of trauma.

And I don't want to minimize that at all.

I've met people who they can't sleep because they have nightmares of the horrible things that has happened to them, or they avoid certain places because it reminds them of how they were taken advantage of and mistreated.

So I don't want you to at all think I'm minimizing that.

But today I want to talk about another side to difficulties, a side in which we can be helped to become better people and better Christians, in fact.

And the Bible has, tells us that in many different ways, shows us that we can grow from trials.

And there are many texts, but there's just a few I wanna share with you.

And 1 that we'll look at and see on the screen, or you could use your Bible to turn to, James chapter 1, verses 2 and 3.

A verse that we're familiar with, James chapter 1, verses 2 and 3.

You're familiar with this verse, I'm sure.

You could read it on the screen as well my brethren counted all joy when ye fall into what type of temptations?

When you fall into different temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh what?

You don't feel that way when you're being tried, do you?

But the end result if we hang in there is that the trying of your faith worketh patience another 1 Romans chapter 5 and verse 3 Romans chapter 5 and verse 3 and not only so Paul says but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh what you'll see that as a common theme with these verses the Lord says through different people if you hang in there and deal with this difficulty, it's going to work.

And it's so interesting to me because I think of the end of the 3 angels message.

Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.

But we always think about the commandment keeping, but what other characteristic is gonna be shown?

And that patience, brothers and sisters, is going to be developed by the trials that God is allowing to come our way.

It's something that's simple but profound when I've started to connect that.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but what that's real nothing seems to be joyous at the time that we're going through it nevertheless it yielded the peaceable fruit of what Righteousness unto them which are trained thereby.

We're being trained by these various things that are coming our way.

As we're down here on earth We're actually in school.

And do you ever graduate from this earthly school?

She says, yes, we graduate when Jesus comes and gives us instead of our diplomas, what our crowns, but we're in school and we're being trained.

I like this quote that I read from the Spirit of Prophecy.

And she says, faith, patience, can I read my words?

Forbearance, heavenly mindedness, trust in your heavenly father.

Are the perfect blossoms which mature amidst clouds and disappointments and bereavement.

Growth Through Trials

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