iShare 2014: Light

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Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Seminar: From Darkness to Light: Overcoming Sin and Addictions

Adam Patel

Rescuing “P.O.W’s” (Reaching People with Addictions)- Part 1

I didn't expect, I didn't know what to expect when my brother got up here, but it's always a blessing to hear him speak, because we go back, you know.

And I was laughing with him on the way up here, like, man, I just was thinking about the other day, how we used to get in our battle stations to get ready to do our drugs, you know?

And I remember the state of mind we were in, and I was laughing with him and the Lord, like man, who would have thought at that time that the Lord would have chose you and me to speak in front of God's people.

I just thought that was the most funniest thing and the most glorious thing at the same time.

I'm gonna ask that you pray for me as I pray and continue to ask the spirit of the Lord to be here.

What my brother talked about was very important.

He talked mainly about how to reach those who are in bondage and as well as who are the eligible candidates to be reached.

What I wanna talk about is equally important and the whole subject that I'm going to be discussing by the power of God today is how to overcome.

And when I say overcome I mean addictions period but in essence what I'm going to cover today is how to overcome anything that Satan throws at you.

To make it simple, to hopefully you can remember these 3 points on how to overcome sin and addiction.

It's a recipe that has never failed and it's biblical.

Anything that you put before God, anything that takes the place of God.

I'm gonna read something to you that kind of blew my mind.

It's found in the book that I may know him, page 322.

Anything that separates our affections from God and lessens our interest in eternal things is an idol.

Let me read it again, it's that profound.

A whole lot of things on this earth separates your affections from God.

A whole lot of things lessens your interest in eternal things.

And I guarantee you and I promise you and I feel pretty confident you agree with me that Addictions whatever you're addicted to it could be pornography.

It could be people it could be drugs alcohol cigarettes They all lessen your interests in eternal things So guess what?

I loved what the servant of the Lord spoke of for divine hour.

Because what I'm going to talk about, it goes right in tune.

What is an idol a symbol of in the Bible?

It's actually in a couple places in the Bible, but we'll go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

And when you get there, would you please say amen?

1 Corinthians chapter 10, beginning with verse 19.

1 Corinthians chapter 10, beginning with verse 19, amen?

The Bible says, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 19, what say I then?

That the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to what everyone devils or demons and not to God and I would not that you should have fellowship with who An idol is a representation of demons Now let's let's rewind a little bit anything that separates your affections from God or lessens your interest in eternal things, cigarettes, drugs, weed, pornography, even movies.

I've been guilty, and I know this is true for me, I don't know about you.

Have you ever watched a movie that you know you shouldn't have watched, whether it be an action movie, and then you try to read a Bible after that.

We just read that idols are affiliated with what?

What Todd spoke of this morning was so profound.

Satan manifests himself in the United States in a different way than he does in other countries.

You know what a servant of the Lord says about the demoniac in Mark chapter 1, he was possessed with the devil.

She said that same spirit that was in that man was in the Pharisees.

He manifested himself 1 way wild and crazy, screaming and yelling.

The other way he was sophisticated and intelligent, a churchgoer and a law abider.

I submit to you today that if anyone is battling with addictions, there is a power behind the addiction that you're battling against.

Wait a minute, you might say, I've known people who's overcome drugs and cigarettes without Jesus.

In my experience and my brother's experience, Whenever someone overcomes an addiction supposedly without Jesus, that spirit of addiction is still there.

I remember when I stopped smoking cigarettes, you know what I picked up all of a sudden nonchalantly, I just picked up Pepsi cans and Coca-Cola cans and I was drinking coffee like crazy, didn't understand why.

And the Lord put this on my heart of what an addiction is.

An addiction is a visible manifestation of a spiritual bondage.

I had to write this down, the Holy Spirit gave it to me yesterday.

An Addiction is a visible manifestation of a spiritual bondage.

He just dropped it on me yesterday and I had to write it down.

There's a deeper spirit attached to it because what Satan doesn't want you to realize is that these drugs, these idols, really have spirits of evil attached to them and therefore you're bound with a supernatural power.

Being that addictions are affiliated with demonic activity, they're tools of Satan designed to separate your affections from God and lessen your interest in eternal things.

Being that it's a supernatural thing now, there is only 1 name under heaven, given amongst men, whereby we must be saved.

There's only 1 name that when mentioned, the host of darkness trembles.

But point number 1, here it is, of overcoming addictions or sin is that you have to want to be free.

Point number 1, you have to want to be free and you have to cry out to Jesus with all your heart and with all your soul.

I mentioned it this morning in Deuteronomy 4, verse 29.

But if thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

It's very important that we understand that when somebody's ready to overcome something, you have to cry out with all your heart.

The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt.

Do you know why God decided to set them free?

Taariq Patel

Rescuing “P.O.W’s” (Reaching People with Addictions)- Part 2

Today, my brother and I are going to be speaking about a very important topic.

Before I begin, I want to see the hands of those who know somebody, maybe yourself, or a loved 1 or a friend that is struggling with addiction.

Yeah, I think that everybody in this room could probably raise their hands to that.

Today, we are gonna be discussing What are some ways you can rescue POWs?

What are some ways, what are some things that you can do to reach out to help these individuals?

After that, my brother is going to take over and he's going to speak about how to overcome addictions.

Before I go any further, I would like each and every 1 of you to join me in a word of prayer.

And as we pray, I ask that you all pray for yourselves and ask for the Holy Spirit to come into your hearts and mind to give you understanding.

And while you're praying for yourself, please say a word of prayer for me.

So I'll pray out loud and you all just pray in your minds.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful, Lord, to be assembled here, your people, awaiting to hear some truth from your spirit.

And Lord, we pray that you would forgive us for our sins, Lord, and clear our minds from distractions, Father.

And as we focus on this most important topic on how to reach and save those in bondage, I pray, God, that your spirit would enlighten us to think along trains of thought that we never thought before.

And that whatever I say, Lord, your spirit will magnify it to the hundredth power and give people understanding that they can understand according to your spirit Lord.

And so Father I am grateful that you care about us, you've bled for us, and you've bled for these prisoners out there who are bound by chains of addiction.

I thank you Lord for your power in Jesus name, Amen.

Turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4.

And when you have it, please let me know by saying amen.

Ecclesiastes chapter 4, amen, here we go.

Look with me if you will, starting at verse 1.

So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun.

And behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter.

And on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.

Wherefore, I praise the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

Yea, better is he than both they which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

I mean, you walk outside of where we live, my front door, and you can see the night star is so clear.

However, we were in San Francisco on Sunday, this past Sunday, and it's total opposite from where we live.

Compact, filled with people, back in the city, the dirty streets of San Francisco.

And we were walking down this street on this past Sunday, and I was pretty much assaulted, being that I come from Angwin now, and I'm not used to coming to the city as often as I was back in the day.

As I'm walking down San Francisco, I'm seeing hundreds of people all over the street with care-worn faces, leather-beaten faces, faces that been through some rough stuff.

I can look at these people and I can tell that they're held by chains of alcohol addiction, amphetamines, heroin, you name it, I could see it on their faces.

I was walking down that street and it struck me profoundly, because I said, Lord, there's a lot of people living here with no hope.

1 brother was sleeping on the side of the street with no shirt on and he was sleeping like it was no big deal and everybody was walking by him.

He smelled as if he hadn't taken a shower all year.

Another guy was there on the side and he had his hoodie all over his head so he could catch some Z's.

But what struck me the most was there in the middle of this sidewalk was this woman.

And she was on her knees with her head between her knees and her arms were out and her mouth was open and she had this cup of change right there in front of her.

And I looked at her and I said, Lord, she looks broken mentally, physically, emotionally, on all levels.

And it struck me that day on Sunday, I said, this is the testament of Satan's kingdom.

This is what he wants to do to all humanity.

And I felt like Solomon on the way back home.

I returned and I considered all the evil works that were done under the sun.

And on the side of the oppressed, their tears, they had no comforter.

But on the side of the oppressors there was power.

Recently we heard the tragic news of Robin Williams, who killed himself on Monday.

What struck me profoundly about that was here was a man that dedicated his life to make others laugh.

Every time I thought about that guy, I saw him smiling.

And here, we find out that in his heart was something total opposite.

It's a testament of Satan's kingdom, what he has to offer you in this world.

And he also struggled with addictions in his life.

And as Taj mentioned today, you think about all the artists and musicians and all them who have struggled with addictions in their lives.

The Bible says, speaking about Lucifer, Satan, and Isaiah 14, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms, that made the world into a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners.

Today we're gonna be talking about how to reach into that house of prisoners and how to rescue these prisoners of war.

It is the over conditioning of your brain's reward system.

Everything you see, everything you hear, you're listening to me right now, it's a chemical reaction going on.

We're like a bunch of chemistry machines out here.

But you have certain chemicals in your mind, such as, in your brain, such as dopamine, and when you do things that make you feel good, dopamine goes off, and it's a chemical reaction.

When you overcondition your brain's reward system, that's addiction.

The question is, why do people get addicted?

To understand how to help someone, you gotta know why.

I've been to a lot of NA meetings, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and I have yet to meet a addict, a recovering addict, someone who's struggling with addiction, who does not have a past filled with pain.

Everyone, the Bible says we are born into trouble, the book of Job.

Now there are different ways that people deal or cope with pain.

There are many people who grew up in divorced homes, parents split up.

It has a profound traumatic effect on a child.

There are many adults walking around this world that are affected from their childhood from a divorce and they don't even really realize it yet.

Sexual abuse, physical abuse, death in the family, a sense of unsatisfaction, an unhappiness in your life.

I used to work at this job, warehouse job, for 8, 9 years.

First thing I wanted to do when I come home from work, my back's hurting, didn't like what I was doing, first thing I wanted to do, go to the bar, get some beer.

I had a hard day at work, so I wanted to just escape.

Let me talk with the fellas, let me watch the game, let me drink some beer, let me just escape.

As I'm drinking that beer, what's going on?

Because when you drink this alcohol, dopamine, and feel good stuff, chemical reaction is occurring.

So on the weekend, guess what I would do?

I'll go to the club, listen to the music, do some more drugs, get on cocaine and alcohol and weed, and I will escape away from my pain, from my unsatisfaction, from my unhappiness in my life.

Virna Santos

Loving as Jesus Would

Again, I want to encourage everyone in the back to move forward.

And I'm gonna try to accomplish 2 things here.

First, not only, I'm gonna try to share my testimony.

And my second goal here today, by God's grace, is I'd like to share with you about the homosexual community and what we don't understand and how can we reach them, including our friends and our family.

So if you can, before I even continue, please bow your heads with me as I ask for God's guidance and power.

Dear Father in heaven, Lord, I just want to just want to thank you so much, Father, for such an opportunity to testify of what you've done.

And Lord, I know what you've done in my life, you can do with everyone.

I ask Father that you open our hearts and our minds to hear this message that you've prepared, dear Father.

May we sit face to face with you right now.

May we leave this place changed, dear Lord, transformed by your love.

This is my prayer, dear Father, and I ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to speak through me and to hide me behind thy cross Lord for it is you that will be lifted up I pray this in Jesus name let everyone say amen amen wasn't that a blessing the Patel brothers amen praise the Lord I think they covered it a lot.

I actually heard a version of their testimony at the Army Bible Camp at Leone Meadows, and I was really blessed, and I was really looking forward to what God was preparing through them for iShare.

The title of my presentation today is Loving as Jesus Would, The people pleaser.

You know, 1 of the inspirations that me and my sister, and that's another note too, my sister was supposed to do this presentation with me, but as some of you might know, my sister has systemic lupus, and when lupus attacks, it really takes you down.

So even in the midst today if you can whisper a prayer for her.

She's in good spirits, God is good and she's resting and God has called me to share this message with you.

What inspires me and my sister with this story?

Because we've gotten a lot of people tell us, wow, it takes a lot of courage to share your type of testimony, especially in a day, in days like this now, right?

In the political climates that we face now.

Our confession of His faithfulness is heaven's chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world.

We are to acknowledge His grace, His grace, as made known through the holy men of old.

By that which will be most effectual is a testimony of our own experience.

All day, all this afternoon you've been hearing testimony after testimony after testimony.

Isn't it powerful when you hear what Christ can do in someone's life.

We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power that is divine.

Straight out of the mouth of our prophet.

In God's Word we find in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 and 4.

If you can go there, 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 and 4.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies.

And God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation.

That we may be able to comfort those who are in some trouble, any trouble, With the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

What a privilege God our Father has given us, brothers and sisters.

That through our own trials and tribulations and the mere fact that we reach out to God for comfort, that very comfort can be that same comfort we can share with somebody else.

I was born in the Philippines And we immigrated to the United States, to California, to Southern California when I was about 2 and 1 half years old.

We weren't here for quite that long yet until something started to happen in our home that went on for about 3 years without anyone knowing.

My mom still has a very hard time looking at this picture because all she sees is the sad face, the sad eyes in this picture.

You see, I was violated by a distant relative for 3 years in secret, sexually violated.

This was a time where I felt my vision of the world, the way I perceived the world and everyone around me was skewed.

And I struggled throughout my childhood, liking girls.

I would get down in the dirt and play marbles with the boys.

My uncles used to get mad at me for being that way.

And I grew up just struggling, struggling, went throughout elementary, junior high, and what plagued me was just fantasies.

I was caught up in the fantasy of picturing being with another woman.

And another thing was going on in my life.

You see, my mom caught the perpetrator when I was 6 years old.

What mother knows what to do in a situation like that?

We weren't created to deal with something like that.

We weren't created to be single moms or single fathers.

We weren't created to deal with sin, brothers and sisters.

We don't know what to do when something happens.

Adam and Eve ran and tried to hide themselves and covered themselves.

So my mom, my poor mom, broken as she saw this sight in front of her, her child, having been Touched and violated at such a tender age.

I remember the first thing was running up to her and asking her mama, are you mad at me?

And my mom said, no, but just go lie down.

And I felt at that time, I felt like my mother didn't want to touch me.

And this is what I grew up with, thinking that it was always my fault.

So I grew up with this struggle, and this was our home.

The only times we could get a hold of him or get to touch or have some sort of relationship with our father was when we would go out to eat.

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Series

Seminar: From Darkness to Light: Overcoming Sin and Addictions

Rescuing “P.O.W’s” (Reaching People with Addictions)- Part 1

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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Recorded

Parts

Rescuing “P.O.W’s” (Reaching People with Addictions)- Part 1

49m

Rescuing “P.O.W’s” (Reaching People with Addictions)- Part 2

40m

Loving as Jesus Would

56m

Sound Doctrine