We all know that a time of trouble is coming. What we may not know is that in some ways it has already begun. This testimony will inspire, inform, and speak to how professionals respond when they face fire for their faith.

ASI 2014: Lift Him Up

<p>We all know that a time of trouble is coming. What we may not know is that in some ways it has already begun. This testimony will inspire, inform, and speak to how professionals respond when they face fire for their faith.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

ASI 2014 Plenary Sessions

Chris Holland

Why Adventist? Why Now?

When I stood here in front of you a year ago, I was your secretary treasurer.

But sometimes God works in mysterious ways that we don't pretend to understand.

I don't pretend to understand, but we feel, Debbie and I, feel like we followed the Lord's leading.

Debbie and I still count you all as family.

And Dan Houghton told me that once you're blood with ASI, you're always family.

So I hope I can still count you as family.

You know, folks, I want to ask for your prayers for It Is Written Canada.

It Is Written Canada, the ministry that I am now leading, is uniquely poised to do something that many media ministries do not have the opportunity to do.

It Is Written Canada has secured a contract with CTV, which is the equivalent of ABC or NBC or CBS here in the States and we secured that contract and in securing that contract we have access to 98% of the homes of the 40 million Canadians.

Just before I left to, on our camp meeting circuit, our negotiator called me, and in something that is absolutely unprecedented, CTV, as we negotiated, raised our rate per week by 0%, which is unheard of.

Jesus is leading this ministry, and I would just ask that you keep us in prayer.

We have been also uniquely positioned through the studio that we rent, that our set is permanently set up in this studio that we can record current items.

And we have recently recorded a series on Noah, addressing the movie that had little to do with Noah and little to do with the real character of God.

We were able to film a series on Is Heaven For Real, again, addressing this recent movie that came out.

Friends, we have plans for a studio in our office, and in that studio, we are going to be able to do live programming.

We're also going to do live lay training, and then continued networking of that lay training.

And so, friends, I just want to ask that you keep our ministry in prayer.

I'd encourage you to stop by booth 600B to learn more, and you can also receive a free sampler DVD of our 3 series that we've done together.

If you don't mind, I'd just like to have a word of prayer once again as we start.

Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the opportunity to come and to be a part of this movement of destiny that you have called forth.

Tonight as we spend some time in your Word, Lord, we know that your Word is truth.

And so we pray for your Spirit to lead us into all truth, convict us of sin, convict us of righteousness, and convict us of the judgment to come.

The title of the message this evening is Why Adventist, Why Now?

And as I prayed about ASI 2014 wondering what is the message for these folks of ASI?

I believe the Lord led me to the answer, and that is to the relevance of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 21st century.

See friends, we are in a culture, we are in a society that is comforted in denominationalism, and many have simply relegated Seventh-day Adventism to just another denomination, just another choice.

They say we are just 1 option among the many options of the crowded environment of Christianity.

In fact, the World Christian Encyclopedia says that there are 38, 000 Christian denominations.

In fact, In some realms, there has been an attempt to make Seventh-day Adventism look, sound, worship, and train like everyone else.

And in so doing, in many circles, the Seventh-day Adventist church has simply been dismissed into the realm of irrelevance and insignificance.

So the question we must ask is why Adventist?

And so I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Revelation the 12th chapter, excuse me, Daniel the 12th chapter.

And there in Daniel the 12th chapter in verses 5 to 10, there are verses that you're familiar with.

This is what Daniel wrote, then I Daniel looked and there stood 2 others, 1 on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank, and 1 said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be.

Then I heard a man clothed in linen who is above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it should be for a time, times and a half a time, And when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.

Then I said, my Lord, what shall be the end of these things.

And he said, go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Many shall be purified, many, excuse me, many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." Friends, I want you to take notice as we look here at this portion of Daniel.

Daniel is instructed to seal up the book.

This is ASI, so I know you know the answers.

No, did Daniel understand Daniel chapter 2?

Of course he understood Daniel chapter 2.

Of course he understood Daniel chapter 7.

Did he understand a portion of Daniel chapter 8?

He did in fact because the angel explained it to him and Daniel understood portions of Daniel chapter 9.

But what is it that Daniel specifically did not understand as he was given vision?

In fact, in Daniel chapter 8 and verse 27, Daniel reacts and what does he say?

I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days.

Afterward I arose and I went about the king's business and I was astonished by the vision, but no 1 understood it.

This word astonished in the Hebrew literally means to be desolate or appalled.

He didn't understand the vision of the 2300 days, and God in His grace and mercy did not reveal to Daniel the answer of the 2300 days, because had he, Daniel would likely have been overwhelmed.

So Daniel looked for explanation, but he did not have it.

But God in His great mercy gave Daniel, Daniel chapter 9, when Daniel prayed, oh Lord, when will you deliver us from Babylon?

And God told him when He would deliver them from sin and the permanent deliverance of the coming Messiah.

But Daniel, as he's standing and closing out this book, the angel tells him that he needs to seal up that book.

He needs to seal up that book until the time of the end.

And then the angel explains to him when the time of the end will be.

It will be after a time, times, and a half a time.

And I know I'm at ASIN, so I'm moving quite quickly, but I think you know this and I think you understand this.

The angel tells Daniel that this prophecy is for the time of the end, and we know that the 1260-day prophecy began in 538, which means somewhere around 1798, the time of the end would begin and the unsealing of the book of Daniel would happen.

And so while I'm sure Daniel was disappointed because he wanted to know in faith he allowed Jesus to lead and placed his faith in him and his trust in him.

And so you question, what does this have to do with anything?

The apostle John sat on that rocky island called Patmos, and in Revelation the tenth chapter, God would give an answer to the unsealing of the book of Daniel.

Revelation the tenth chapter is what they call in the commentaries an interlude between the sixth and the seventh trumpet.

The 7 trumpets are in… are 1 in a series of 3 sevens.

The 7 churches, the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets.

7 churches, the spiritual condition of the church.

The 7 seals, God's judgment on the church.

The 7 trumpets, Satan's attack on the church.

But let's read here in Revelation, the 10th chapter, beginning in verse 1.

I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.

He had a little book open in his hand and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land and he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars.

And when he cried out, 7 thunders uttered their voices.

Now when the 7 thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up the things which the 7 thunders uttered and do not write them.

The angel who I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer.

But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants, the prophets." Friends, as we read this and as John would have heard these words, John undoubtedly was a student of the Bible.

John undoubtedly was a student of the Bible.

John undoubtedly was a student of Bible prophecy.

And as soon as he would have seen this in vision, all of a sudden it would trigger in his mind.

Vicki Griffin

Lessons on Loss

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to ASI.

I get you the first morning when you're still awake.

My name is Vicki Griffin, and I'm the Health Ministries Director for the Michigan Conference and the Director of Lifestyle Matters.

And it is a genuine thrill to be here with you this morning and to share together as we worship and turn our faces toward God.

Would you bow your heads with me in prayer?

Father in heaven, thank You, Lord Jesus, for this time that we can spend together focusing upon You.

We ask You to come and be our teacher, that Your Spirit will be present to move my heart, my lips, and the hearts of the hearers.

I saw a news headline this morning that really arrested my attention.

It was a statement by John Bolton, former U.S.

Ambassador to the United Nations, and it was quite a stunning statement.

I didn't read the whole article, but he said, the world is descending into chaos.

The United States has lost its platform in the world, and as a result, anarchy is on the way.

What an incredible eye-opener this morning as I read that statement.

Do you feel and sense in your hearts that we are in an incredible time of transition?

Yes, we just sense that so much is happening.

And I remember not paying too much attention to this word transition until I was pregnant with our first child.

And women who had more experience than me would come to me and talk to me about this thing that was going to happen to me at birth called transition.

And they would give me a dark look, and they would say, you will think you're losing your mind.

So my husband and I bought this little instrument, this little game called Simon.

It was a light and noise sequential game and you follow the patterns and see how far you could go on this pattern and it was to distract attention.

And so we started out really well with Simon when labor came until transition.

Dane said, my husband Dane said, bite my knuckle.

And as I've been reading the Bible, I came to a very significant passage in Mark chapter 10.

Mark chapter 10 talks about an incredible time of transition in the disciples' experience.

Mark chapter 10, Jesus is nearing the crisis of the cross.

He's nearing this crisis, And now he's beginning to make these cryptic remarks to the disciples that they do not understand.

He talks to them in Mark chapter 10 several times about how hard it is for the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And then He tells them they need to forsake all or they cannot be His disciples.

Well, they had forsaken all, or so they thought.

He tells them that they need to take up their cross daily.

He asks them, are you able to drink the cup that is going to be put to your lips?

Are you able to pay the price for where you want to be next to the throne of God.

For the third time in this chapter, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection, and He darkly intimates that this cup of suffering is going to be placed to His followers' lips.

He is now transitioning from feeding the multitudes to facing torture and death and submitting to the evil tormentors who are going to crucify Him.

Now He is walking ahead of the disciples briskly.

His disciples have to scramble to keep up with Him and to keep Him in sight.

And in Mark chapter 10, verse 32, It says, and they were in the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus walked ahead of them, and they were amazed.

And he took again the 12 and began to tell them again the things that were going to happen.

I really resonated with this chapter as I have gone through the experience of a major transition in my life, the loss of my ministry partner and husband, Dane.

And my background, people will look at me and they'll say, well, sure, you know, you're health ministries director, it's easy for you to tell people what to do.

Probably line up your paperclips same direction.

But the fact is I was not raised a Seventh-day Adventist.

I was raised in an incredibly brutal, violent home.

I started running away from home when I was 5 years old and got into chronic trouble.

By the time I was 11, I was in major trouble, all the runaway stuff, and also developed a very severe eating disorder, bulimia, which I had for 20 years until the age of 31.

I was, my father left home when I was young and so I was left in a very brutal, unpredictable situation.

The saving grace there for me was that I would hide out in libraries, so I always kept my grades up.

But I grew up very angry, wanting justice.

And my early career path reflected this vengeance against evil, even though I was evil myself.

I was raised in evil, and I did evil, and I was evil.

I wanted something to happen that was right and fair and just.

And matter of fact, at age 15, I turned myself into juvenile hall as an incorrigible.

They said, you know, the cops usually go looking for runaways, I showed up.

I said, I am incorrigible, I want you to jail me now.

Because I wanted the people that were hurting me to be brought to justice, and there was no justice.

And that's what I wanted, so I was put in jail with a gang leader.

And even though she was a lot shorter than me, she was pretty scary.

In my career path, when I started my career path, I was a social worker who did child abuse investigations.

In the finance world, I repossessed cars, skip traced on bad checks, and collected delinquent accounts.

It was a really good day if you were on my list for getting your car repossessed because I had such an abysmal sense of direction, I never could find anyone's house.

So, it was a good day for the repossessee.

I was going to be a prosecuting attorney.

I wound up getting a master's in public administration and I was going to zone the city perfectly.

We were going to zone out social injustice.

ASI Members In Action

Ladies and gentlemen, once again, welcome to ASI.

Now you know that Members in Action is the very heartbeat of ASI because only what we do for Christ will last.

And I'm gonna tell you, you might not be as excited as I am now, but when you start hearing some of the testimonies, you will be exuberant with excitement, okay?

Right now with me I have Richard Alva, who is a nutritionist and health educator, and we have Elton DeSosa, who is a chaplain and Bible worker.

Now the thing with these 2 gentlemen, they both work at a medical practice, MediCorp Partners.

Yes, we have a chaplain and Bible worker with a nutritionist and health educator at a medical practice.

We have an amazing opportunity that God has provided.

MediCorp Partners, it's a medical practice that was started by Drs.

And they've been in ministry, in health ministry doing that work for a few years now.

Because you know traditional with natural typically doesn't blend.

What's beautiful is that God is the 1 that does the work.

And so because God is the great physician and salvation comes from him and health also comes from him, God is the means by which people receive health.

So God uses conventional means, he uses natural approaches, And that's why Elton and I have the opportunity to work together in ministry.

So now how did the 2 of you come together?

I mean, where did you find a chaplain and a Bible worker?

For a few years I was working there in the clinic giving health education classes, and we had that going.

And so 1 thing that really laid the foundation was the way that the doctors, my parents, the physicians, interact with the patients.

Praying with their patients, talking to their patients about God, winning their trust and their confidence that way, introducing them to Christ.

So when I came along, They were prepared and ready to hear about nutrition, to hear about health, to hear about better living.

So Brother Elton, you are the chaplain and Bible worker.

I mean, you just, I'm sick and you're going to talk to me about the Bible.

Well, Jesus is the great physician, and working at the clinic, I learned that eventually everybody has some level of stress.

And the patients that Richard sees every day with his class, he introduces to the stress management class that we have at the clinic.

And this class, when people come to the class, they expect to be healed with their stress.

There will be some kind of a psychologist or some, you know, procedure.

I mean, because when I come to a doctor or when people come, they're typically looking for a quick fix.

They do, and especially when they come with their stress, they expect, you know, wait that we're going to give some kind of a pill or some kind of a, you know, yoga treatment or something like that.

But then I tell them, I have to be honest to you.

I cannot help you, but I know someone that can.

And when I say that, they look at me and I bring a steps to Christ and I tell them, Christ is the way.

Would you like to sign up and continue with this Bible study?

I mean, you were telling me that 90 percent, are they Seventh-day Adventists?

No, 90 percent of the people that we are working with, they are Catholics.

And in that region there, there's a lot of Catholic people.

So they start reading the steps to Christ, and they get very impressed how we are saved by grace.

Elton Richard looks like he's just bursting with something to say about that.

It's incredible because when you see somebody who has the right healthy living information, but they don't have Christ, it's 1 thing.

But when Christ is introduced into that equation, it changes everything.

Now since you brought in a Bible worker into the practice, what has been the results?

Now, how long has he been in the practice?

Well, we are there for 4 months, and we have 105 steps to Christ given and 105 Bible studies set up.

Okay, so now Richard, you've been there since when?

I started working with my parents in 2003, with the health education in 2006, and then full time since 2011 with the series of health education classes.

But since we started making Bible studies available to the patients, we have not seen health outcomes so quickly as we're seeing now.

So you're literally seeing physical results in addition to spiritual?

Okay, we're gonna run out of time, but I want to see your pictures.

I want to share real quick, there's this man comes to me and when he hears about the stress management class, he calls me aside and he say, how do you do this class?

Because I've been to a psychologist, I've been to, you know, some yoga classes and everybody tells me the same.

Back to Menu

Series

ASI 2014 Plenary Sessions

Facing Fire

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

Why Adventist? Why Now?

1h 58m

Lessons on Loss

45m

ASI Members In Action

1h 57m

Genes, Health and Spirituality: What’s the Connection?

1h 34m

Town Hall

1h 13m

This Testimony

1h 57m

Growing Up In Christ

1h 27m

End Time Hope

1h 54m

Living and Sharing the Three Angels’ Message

1h 58m

Facing Fire

58m

Sound Doctrine