Shawn Boonstra

Voice Of Prophecy

Nutella, Beethoven and You

What do Beethoven, Bible prophecy, and a jar of Nutella have in common?

If you don't know the answer, I think you're going to want to stay tuned to this week's edition of the Voice of Prophecy.

You know, when I was a kid visiting a great uncle and aunt in Germany, I went downstairs 1 morning for breakfast and discovered that Europeans eat chocolate for breakfast.

Now to be honest, that didn't come as a complete surprise because I have Dutch background.

The Dutch put chocolate sprinkles on a piece of white bread and heat butter on top of it and they actually call that lunch.

So I'm used to the idea of chocolate at mealtime.

But in Germany I discovered something brand new.

Now, back in the 1970s, I'm not sure that Nutella was all that common back here in North America.

And even if it was, I lived in this tiny little town behind the Alaska Panhandle.

And I'm pretty sure our grocery store didn't have this stuff.

Or if they did, my mother never bought it.

Or to be more precise, chocolate and hazelnut spread.

Now, what I didn't realize that morning, in fact I didn't even realize this until a few weeks ago, Napoleon Bonaparte to some extent is actually responsible for the invention of Nutella.

Yeah, I think you're going to see it's true.

Back in the year 1806, just after the Dark Ages came to a close and General Berthier marched on the city of Rome, Napoleon turned his sights on the British Empire.

The Brits were a key obstacle to his dreams of world domination, or at least continental domination.

So Napoleon tried to cripple British trade routes.

A Mediterranean blockade that had the unintended consequence of driving the price of chocolate through the roof.

So over in northern Italy, that caused a problem for chocolate makers, particularly in the Piedmont Valley.

Now, if you happen to be a student of Bible prophecy or religious history, you might remember the Piedmont Valley or the Piedmont region is home to the Waldensians, this early Protestant group that was heavily persecuted for its distinct biblical faith.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, the Piedmont region was also home to a thriving, or at least I'm assuming it was thriving, chocolate industry.

So over in the city of Turin, you know the place where they have the Shroud of Turin, there was this guy by the name of Michel Prochet.

I'm hoping I'm pronouncing that correctly.

And he came up with the idea of adding chopped up hazelnuts to the chocolate in order to thin it out to ration the chocolate supply.

So his chocolate was about 70% chocolate and 30% hazelnut paste.

And of course as those of you who have actually tried Nutella know the end result was absolutely delicious.

But back in those days he didn't call it Nutella.

He called it, and I hope I can say this right because I don't really speak Italian, he called it Gianduia.

And about a half century later a local chocolate manufacturer took his idea and created a product, and here we go again, I'm going to have to pronounce an impossible Italian word, he called it Gianduotto.

I think that's how you say this, G-I-A-N-D-U-I-O-T-T-O, Gianduotto.

It was actually named after this popular puppet who was supposed to look like the people who lived in the Piedmont region.

So, in a way it's actually Napoleon you can thank for the invention of Nutella.

Because in the middle of the next century, World War II breaks out, and once again, supply lines are compromised, and chocolate gets expensive.

You might even remember that in almost every World War II film you've ever seen, chocolate is this big treat that a soldier can give to a local kid.

So Hitler actually made chocolate expensive, and it was in short supply, so once again the resourceful Italians started adding hazelnuts.

In 1946, this pastry maker by the name of Pietro Ferreiro resurrects the old recipe of chocolate and hazelnut and in 1964 he changes the name to Nutella.

2 of Europe's biggest warmongers gave you your chocolate hazelnut spread.

They didn't know they were doing it, but they're the ones who are responsible.

And now that I know the history, every time I see a jar of Nutella, I actually like to think of that as a tangible 21st century reminder right there on the grocery store shelf.

A reminder that Bible prophecy has never been wrong.

And why in the world would a jar of chocolate spread make me think about Bible prophecy?

Well, it's because of an old, old prediction in the book of Daniel.

In the second chapter, the king of Babylon suddenly has this disturbing dream, and in the middle of the night he wakes up absolutely terrified.

But it wasn't a monster in his dream that woke him up.

It wasn't somebody chasing him, or 1 of those dreams where you're back in school and you can't find your classroom, or it's exam day and you didn't study.

The head was made out of gold, the chest made out of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, the legs of iron, and the feet made of iron mixed with clay.

And when you get to the end of Daniel chapter 2, you actually discover that each of those sections, each of those different substances, represented a different world empire.

That statue in the dream was actually a prediction of the world's history in advance.

It predicted Babylon and Persia and Greece and Rome and the breakup of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.

Somehow, almost 600 years before Jesus, a Hebrew prophet accurately predicts the future of the world, and he gets it 100% right.

It's the kind of thing that defies explanation.

And I'm not talking about fuzzy predictions like the ones you get from Nostradamus.

I mean, if you haven't read Daniel 2, you've got to read it, because there is no way a human being just made this stuff up.

At the end of that prediction in Daniel 2, Daniel tells the Babylonian king that the fragments of the Western Roman Empire, which eventually became the nations of Western Europe, the Western Roman Empire, said Daniel, would never be put back together.

He said people would try and try and try, but it would never be successful.

Here's what he says in Daniel 2.43, As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to 1 another.

All you have to do to figure out if Daniel was right is open a European history book.

1 after another, different contenders have tried to piece that empire all back together.

They even called it the Holy Roman Empire, and everybody from Charlemagne to present-day contenders have tried to defy the prophecy of Daniel chapter 2.

They have tried to restore what the Western world had when there was a Western Roman Empire.

So now, every time I see a jar of Nutella, I'm reminded that Daniel was right.

Napoleon tried to put all of Europe together under his influence.

Hitler told himself he would succeed where Napoleon failed, that he would build the Third Reich, and you know how both stories ended.

Napoleon died in exile, his dreams never ever realized, and Hitler dies in a bunker.

And I'm telling you it wasn't because they weren't capable.

Their early military campaigns demonstrated they could have done it.

But the second chapter of Daniel said they would not.

And that's the connection between Nutella, the Bible, and Napoleon.

I promised you at the outset of the show that I would show you how he fits into the mix so we'll take a short break and then we'll come right back and visit the great composer hello I'm gene boonstra do you feel as if you have more questions than answers in your life Like where is God when people suffer?

And is there any hope for our chaotic world?

Are you searching for answers to these and other of life's biggest questions?

Well, the Discover Bible Guides will help you find the answers that you're looking for.

Visit us at BibleStudies.com or give us a call at 888-456-7933 for your free Discover Bible Guides.

You can choose to study in the format that's most convenient for you.

You may either do the lessons completely online or have them mailed right to your home.

H.M.S. Richards

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring, Jesus is coming again.

Cheer up your pilgrims, be joyful and sing, Jesus is coming again.

This is the voice of prophecy, a voice crying in the wilderness of these modern days.

Coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming again.

From our Voice of Prophecy studios in Los Angeles, California, we welcome you to this half hour of inspiration and music with the King's Heralds, Del Delker, Brad Braley, and our speaker, HMS Richards, a Seventh-day Adventist minister.

The music is different, but the words are the same as long ago, when David sang, The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Though an host of men were laid against me, Yet shall not my heart be afraid, and though there rose a war against me, yet will the poor against me.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His tabernacle.

Yea, in the secret places of his dwelling shall he hide me And set me up upon a rock of stone.

The Lord is the strength of my life, the Lord is the strength of my life, Of whom then shall I be afraid?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ O Lord, our Heavenly Father, Take all fear from us, give us trust in Thee, and bless this broadcast to every listener.

Is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God, a place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blessed Redeemer, sent from the heart of God, Hold us who bow before thee, near to the heart of God.

Of Jesus love that sought me when I was lost in sin, of wondrous grace that brought me back to his fold again, of heights and depths of mercy, far deeper than the sea, and higher than the heavens, Higher than the heavens, my theme shall ever be.

Sweeter as the years go by, Sweeter as the years go by.

Richer, fuller, deeper, Jesus' love is sweeter.

"'Twas wondrous love which led him for us to suffer loss, to bear without a murmur, the anguish of the cross.

With saints redeemed in glory, let us our voices raise, ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing, and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, praise.

Sweeter as the years go by, sweeter as the years go by, 1 of the as the years go by.

1 of the greatest of recent discoveries is that of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Already, much has been written on the subject.

As a matter of fact, this subject on the Dead Sea Scrolls has found its way into the list of the 10 bestsellers in many areas.

Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.

Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.

Words of life and beauty, teach me Faith and duty.

Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life.

Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life.

Jesus, holy Savior, sanctify Sanctify forever.

Here now is HMS Richards, the voice of prophecy speaker.

The so-called Dead Sea Scrolls are of special interest to all believers in the Bible.

The first of these scrolls was discovered in 1947 in a cave near the northwest corner of the Dead Sea.

Since that date, many other discoveries have been made of fragments of various sorts of books of the Old Testament as well as non-biblical writings.

Why are these lately discovered scrolls so important to Bible believers?

The answer is that they confirm the authenticity of the Bible writings which we already possess.

Siegfried Horn, writing in the Review and Herald of Washington, D.C., December 29, 1955, says that they come from Bible times.

The linen cloth which had served as wrappings for the scrolls was tested by the Carbon 14 method at the Nuclear Institute of the University of Chicago.

33 with a margin of error on either side up to 200 years.

Other methods have also been used in dating these manuscripts, and most of the experts on these subjects say that they come to us from the time of Christ or a little before.

We now have actual writings which were in existence in the time of Jesus and right in the land of Palestine.

1 complete roll or scroll of the book of Isaiah was discovered And it's interesting that in all essential points it reads exactly like the book of Isaiah in our Bibles today.

Do you remember what we read in the fourth chapter of Luke about Jesus visiting his hometown at Nazareth?

On the Sabbath day he went in the synagogue there and took part in the service and they gave him the book, the Holy Scripture, and he read, where from do you suppose?

From the 51st chapter, or the 61st chapter rather, and he applied it to himself.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, the recovering of sight to the blind.

He closed the book and gave it again to the minister and he said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

So Jesus called the book of Isaiah scripture and applied it to himself.

Now the thing that's interesting is this, interesting to me, that in that very year in which Jesus did this, in another little town over near the edge of the Dead Sea.

Someone else probably in the same day was reading that same passage of Scripture, because in the Jewish synagogues the same Scripture is read in every synagogue on the Sabbath day.

And it may have been from this same roll or scroll which we have discovered or which men have discovered in our day.

The same book, the same time, the same message, all pointing to Jesus.

It's quite clear from the ruins they've discovered over there near this cave by the edge of the Dead Sea, that there were some people who lived there for quite a long time, probably over 100 years.

The place was finally destroyed by the Roman soldiers when they marched against Jerusalem about 30 years after Jesus had ascended to heaven, it is believed that these same people, whoever they were, hid their precious library of religious books in the caves where they have lately been found.

Not in the form of books as we have them today, of course.

They were written mostly on the skins of animals and some on just plain leather.

These pieces of leather were fastened together in long strips and then rolled into a scroll.

As 1 would begin to read, he would unroll the scroll from 1 end and roll it up at the other end.

These scrolls were wrapped in linen cloth and placed in earthenware jars which were securely sealed with some sort of wax or tar.

They had earthenware lids and these lids were sealed on in that way and placed in these caves.

Of course during hundreds of years people have visited those caves hunting for gold and silver and hundreds of these jars have been kicked around and broken and manuscripts just torn and scattered in the caves.

But it's believed that a very severe earthquake which occurred during the reign of King Herod sealed up this 1 cave, so it was not discovered until 1947 when a sheep herder chasing a goat climbing up over these rocks found a tiny entrance to this cave that had been sealed by the earthquake.

It is believed that part of every book of the Old Testament, with the exception of Esther possibly, has been found in that cave, parts of the books, with many other books, and they're still finding more.

In fact, they've looked into over a hundred caves around there and found something in almost every 1 of them, just little parts in many cases.

But very interesting and very important because they sustain the authenticity of the text of the scriptures.

Also, much information as to the meaning of words has been discovered so that our modern scholars can better give us the exact meaning of some of the scriptural words.

Now remember this, friends, archeology and scientific research do not demonstrate the existence of a personal God, nor do they demonstrate that the writings of Holy Scripture are divine revelation.

But the evidence discovered has revealed facts that cannot be disproved by mere human speculations.

They have shown that the historical statements in the Holy Scriptures are reliable in every case where archaeology has made available material bearing on the same facts.

Now the archaeologists have found many other things in the last few years to sustain the scriptures.

Christianity is the holy secret of the ages, which human reason alone could never discover, but which is revealed by God Himself through His prophets and through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Christianity is really revealed in a person, Jesus, our Lord.

Anil Kanda

Ceres SDA Church

Chapterless Life

God wants us to grow as a church and he sets things up So so that we would continue to grow the last 5 6 years that I've been here We have several times come across growth barriers in our church.

In other words, we're growing growing growing.

We're hit a ceiling and then we back off We'll grow grow grow grow again hit a ceiling then we back off and every time we back off we become less and less and Then we have to try again and we grow grow grow grow boom We hit the ceiling then we back off.

God is wanting us to break through these barriers Can you say amen to that and because of it we need to realize that our church needs a what a?

Face lift There's some things that need to change Some things that we need to really examine and evaluate and I'm gonna present some things that are tentative Although we are trying to head towards that direction Look what this is right here.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church boasts 18 million Members worldwide we have now just become 18 million member church, but leaders recently revealed that the denomination has lost 1 in what?

3 members over the last 50 years Additionally for every hundred people the Adventist Church gains it loses what?

43 per 43 previous members a hundred come into the church 43 leave the church a hundred come into the church 43 leave the church here.

We are trying to understand something and that is we have a problem.

A leak in our church, and we need to plug that leak.

According to the research presented at the denomination of the first summit on Nature and Retention Reports Adventist News Network.

Here are some Issues that may be the cause of these leaks or the leaks themselves number 1 There is a lack of ability to retain new converts when we first started doing evangelism here We started having strong retention rates but what happened is over a course of time the retention rates begin to go down and the reason why is because we have filled our church with a lot of new Adventists and many of them have not had the opportunity to mature in faith and take on the Responsibilities and roles of those who came before them.

So we have an old church full of new people number 2, there's a lack of leadership training a Lack of leadership training our leaders need to do more than just learn how to give a Bible study but how to effectively make a community that benefits the whole church and learning how to minister to different groups as well We need to have everything across the table when it comes to groups and different kinds of leaderships We need diversity in leadership as well.

By the way, do you know what the very first small group was in the Bible?

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our church was built upon small groups, and it's going to end on small groups.

It is the backbone of Seventh-day Adventism.

Number 4, there is a lack of unified evangelism with ministries In other words, we have ministry here ministry their ministry there, but there needs to be a more unified purpose to these things Here's another reason.

There is a lack of safety for baby Christians A lack of what a lack of safety Now heed my words when I say this ladies and gentlemen when new people come into our church We need to make sure we're not jumping into relationships with them.

Amen We need to make sure that they are in safe environments and they actually have Opportunity to grow in Christ before other steps are taken and that is extremely important This is why people sometimes leave the church they get into a relationship.

They don't want to be here who would want to be here not me So we need to understand this that when baby Christians come into our church we need to guard them and make sure they are growing in Christ first and Primarily more than anything else.

There is a lack of community a lack of community when you read about the early church in the book of Acts You find that there was this Unified sense of mission and purpose where there was not just about 5 or 6 doing all the work Everybody did some kind of work and they were more of a family unit more than anything else That's why when you look at the qualifications of elders, the elders are not it doesn't say can they learn how to can they know?

How to give a good board meeting do they know how to lead in song service?

When you look at the qualifications that Paul gives to elders the things are like this Are they a good family man?

In other words, what you are seeing about leadership is that God intended the leadership to be family-oriented, Indicating what kind of body he desired and that was a family oriented body.

Vision the what people perish God sets up the leadership so that we can have a wonderful vision and head towards that vision.

And we've been given the 3 angels message, powerful messages for people who are living at the end of time and we need to make sure that is part of our mission and our mindset and purpose.

In the book of Acts we see a very organized yet very organic yet very organized discipleship model.

The new church was fulfilling its purpose by being a community of believers who were united in purpose and mission.

The growth strategy included prayer, small groups, leadership development, and something unorthodox for the times, a willingness to adapt to meet the needs of a growing movement.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I said before, we are not living in 1980s.

God wants us to be founded upon the Bible and to be able to reach people in a very relevant context without compromising the wonderful truth.

God wants us to have both, to be uncompromising and still learn how to be relevant to the people that are surrounding our church, and that's very important.

4 levels of discipleship that we want to include in our church model, number 1, a commitment to Christ, which means to remain in Christ.

Number 2, commitment to the body of Christ.

And number 4, a commitment to be a lay minister In other words, the fourth thing is different from a third thing.

The third thing is about being a good witness.

The fourth thing is making Disciples who can be other witnesses the greatest mark of a leader ladies and gentlemen is somebody who is able to duplicate himself So if you're praying I want to be a good leader in my church ladies and gentlemen learn to duplicate yourself Learn to make disciples who can take your place that even if you are gone that structure is not going to fall apart And that's extremely important.

Let's take a good look at some possible options for a facelift Number 1 we need a new vision a mission statement and we'll be heading towards this number 2 We will be looking at leadership development number 3 We will have a very intentional plan for Sabbath schools, and I really appreciate our Sabbath schools But we do need more Sabbath schools that can engage people off the street People who have no understanding of the scriptures who have a partial understanding of the scriptures when they come into a Sabbath school They can immediately come into Into what's taking place?

Ken Cox said this that old evangelist he says you want to know why people don't come back from to church it's because they go to Sabbath school that's what he said you know why because there's sometimes people in Sabbath school who choose to fight over little things and miss the bigger picture and understandings of scripture and This is something we need to really start Evaluating and take a good look at new member development and integration.

We want to make sure our new members not only become solid Christians But they're actually integrated into the body Number 5 we want to make sure small groups become the earmark of series and we have multiple small groups already taking place But to have even more our church needs to be known for small groups In fact Ellen White says that we have been given counsel by 1 who cannot air about Small groups and you want to know the funny thing is The other Christians are already ahead of us in this The other Christians are already ahead of this and that's why their mega churches are exploding because they're implementing What's already been given to us about hundred years plus now look at the next thing possible new first name for series SDA now just hold on for a second there You're thinking yourself.

We're gonna change the name of series SDA No, we are not seventh day Adventism is a special name a rebuke to the Protestant world God has given us that holy name and it indicates our mission and what we believe in.

But we as a church do not have a first name.

Did you know that Ellen White was actually part of naming a church?

It was called the dime tabernacle seventh-day Adventist Church When they were looking to name a church, they based it upon the character by which that church was built up Do you know what supplied the money for the church or how much or how people were supplying the money for that church.

So she called it the, she helped, was part of that naming her and her son the Dime Tabernacle Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

Nutella, Beethoven and You

30m

The Dead Sea Scrolls

29m

Chapterless Life

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