AMEN 2009: Faith in Practice

<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>

Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

AMEN 2009 Plenary Sessions

Phil Mills

Is It A Time?

I love to study dermatology in the Bible.

Perhaps the greatest dermatology story from antiquity is the story of Naaman.

It's a story abounding in contrast, muddy rivers that clean, clean rivers that don't.

1 man with leprosy who comes to a prophet and leaves cured of leprosy.

Another man without leprosy comes to the same prophet and leaves cursed with leprosy.

It shows 1 man seeking to give away a fortune ends up keeping it, and another man seeking a fortune ends up only with misfortune.

It's the story of a Hebrew slave who has answers and a Hebrew king who does not.

It's a story that speaks to a serious dermatologic disease in Naaman that uncovers a more serious cardiac problem in Gehazi.

It's a story that speaks to all medical missionaries.

In some respects, Naaman is every patient we see, and Gehazi is the physician and the dentist we must not be.

Father in heaven, We're going to be looking at your Word, a passage that you would like to apply to our lives tonight to make us different.

We need to hear your voice speaking to us from the sacred words of Scripture.

I pray that this message may somehow soften us and prepare us for the seed of truth watered by the Holy Spirit and transforming us into the medical missionaries that You've called us to be, we pray in Christ's name, amen.

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria.

Like Cyrus after him, God could say of this heathen gentleman, I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me.

Any success saint or sinner has comes from God.

In every area of life, the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

Josephus tells us how Naaman gave deliverance to Syria and became a great man.

He states that Naaman was the certain man who drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness, resulting in the death of King Ahab.

Ellen White may hint at this in the book Prophets and Kings.

His deadly aim was not simply a lucky shot on a lucky day.

The verse continues, he was also a mighty man in valor.

He had the world by the tail, everything was going well, he was successful, he was popular, he was wealthy.

But if the story quit there, there'd be no story.

Naaman would have simply been 1 of the countless unknowns.

His grave would be lost, he'd be forgotten.

There would not be a trace left of him today.

All his past successes would mean nothing today.

Worldly fame and prosperity you see is not lasting.

As counterintuitive as it might seem, it was Naaman's medical problems that brought him a lasting legacy with 1 of the great classic stories of the ancient world.

I'm not able to tell you whether Elisha violated HIPAA in recording this story, but after telling of Naaman's valor, Elisha adds, He was a leper.

And leprosy was both incurable and deadly.

Naaman could conquer the enemies of Syria without, but he could not conquer the enemy within.

Here is in so many areas, fame and fortune mean nothing.

Naaman thought that his leprosy was a great tragedy.

His wife thought that his leprosy was a great tragedy.

The king thought that the leprosy was a great tragedy.

But that leprosy was to bring Naaman the greatest blessing of his life.

Ministry of Healing tells us, in the future life, the mysteries that here have annoyed and disappointed us will be made plain.

We shall see that our seemingly unanswered prayers and disappointed hopes have been among our greatest blessings.

Christ will work through those who can see mercy in what?

When the light of the world passes by, privilege will be discerned in hardship, order in confusion, success in apparent failure, calamities will be seen as disguised blessings, woes as mercies.

David put it this way, before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word.

The Syrians and the Israelites were in a state of war.

Naaman's leprosy, however, did not have him slacking the pace of this war against the Israelites, and the Syrians had gone out by companies.

They stole, they pillaged, they raped, they robbed, they murdered, and the Israelites were crying out to God to send and deliver someone like...

Like a Joshua, a David, a Gideon, a Jephthah, a great hero soldier to deliver his people.

But God had another plan, a plan to bypass the Syrian's prejudice.

Like Naaman's leprosy, her capture appeared to be a great tragedy.

The Hebrew expression in the passage could mean the youngest daughter.

She would have been unmarried but could have been of marriageable age.

The Hebrew word translated here could be emphasizing her size, petite, or it could be emphasizing her age, her youthfulness.

But the God who delights in using worms to thrash mountains, delights in taking the unimportant, the marginalized, the ignored and the poor to accomplish great things for Him.

This girl was kidnapped and like Joseph, sold as a slave to the enemies of Israel.

Except, this was much more frightening and far more dangerous for a girl than for a fellow.

But like Joseph, whose story she had heard from her mother's knee, she determined to be faithful to the God of heaven.

As a teenager, she would have been born about the time of the revival of primitive godliness among the remnant in Israel following the showdown at Mount Carmel by Elijah.

Her parents would have been in the crowd or could have been in the crowd that saw the fire fall from heaven and flash on the altar consuming it and its contents.

The message God sent through the prophet Elijah was not in vain.

It produced a young person that God could trust on an important but dangerous mission to Syria.

Naaman and his wife observed this girl who lived her religion.

But when they worshiped their idols, she prayed to the God of heaven.

While she lived her religion, she also talked about her religion, and she said unto her mistress, Would God, my Lord, were with the prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy.

As James assures us, Bible faith is not simply advising someone to be clothed and fed.

It seeks the good of our enemies and even prays for them.

And Bible religion is not ashamed of the spirit of prophecy.

The captive maid wasn't ashamed of the spirit of the prophecy.

She didn't hide her belief in the spirit of prophecy, though she could cite no peer-reviewed literature for her statement.

With full confidence, she presented the spirit of prophecy as the solution to Naaman's health problem.

And Naaman didn't dismiss this information.

He had never heard it before and may have thought he had uncovered a carefully guarded secret of Israel.

Those words of the Hebrew slave were carried all the way to Ben-Hadad II, the king of Syria.

And after the king listened to Naaman, he told him, Go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.

Naaman departed in the official chariot, surrounded by soldiers, horses, and at least 2 mules, with attendants guarding both him and the payment for his healing he brought with him.

It was a several-day journey from Damascus to Samaria and would require food and lodging.

In addition, he took with him 10 talents of silver and 6000 pieces of gold and 10 changes of raiment.

750 pounds of silver would be worth more today than it was when I looked it up, but it's greater than $153, 000.

And 750 pounds of gold is greater than 1.8 million dollars.

Naaman was willing to give a fortune for his health, nearly 2 million dollars.

With the letter and with the cash, Naaman set off to Israel an official ambassador on official business.

There was little communication between the warring kings of Syria and Israel.

It would be humbling for the king of Syria to ask a favor of the king of Israel, and it would obligate the Syrians to Israel.

Louis Torres

God’s Healing Power

There was a missionary who was sent to Africa, and after they showed him around to all the different facilities that were available to him, they showed him the car.

They said, you got a car, there's only 1 problem with it.

And so he got a few people to push it, and sure enough, started it.

So he tried to figure out how he's going to use this car for the duration of his tenure of his ministry there.

He figured out where the hills were so he could park the car on the hill and pop the clutch and take off.

And when he had a park in places that there were no hills, then of course he had some good people who came by and helped him push it.

And finally a new missionary came in and he did the same thing to him.

Well, the new missionary looked around the car and looked OK.

And finally opened up the hood, looked inside, moved the compartment.

Everything looked intact, except he noticed that there was a wire dangling.

And so he took a screwdriver, connected the wire, went inside, turned the key, and boom, off it went.

So, for 6 years, the other missionary was pushing the car and figuring out ways to keep the thing going, And all it took was to connect the power.

Oh, Father, as we study your Word today, we pray for your leading, your spirit to be here with us.

Thank you for hearing us, in Jesus' name, amen.

The wonderful text that we begin with is Ephesians 2, verse 8.

I've been to many Sabbath school classes, and the question that I hear asked is, what is grace?

When you think of the term unmerited and favor, those are 2 words, what is the definition of unmerited?

No, it doesn't really tell you what it is.

Most people think it's a gift you don't deserve, correct?

I was just in Switzerland and it took me a few dynamites to get the brethren to say amen.

And so when you think of the unmerited idea, the concept, it really does not convey what it really is.

For example, if I came to you and I gave you a gift and you said, what is it?

It just tells you you don't deserve it, whatever it is.

Some people think it's just unmerited pardon, pardon you don't deserve.

But I want to delve into the topic today And get into this wonderful Word that we sing about so much, grace.

When you think of pardon you don't deserve, you think of forgiveness.

And obviously, you and I do not deserve forgiveness.

But if all that God was offering to us was forgiveness, then we could go to 1 of these places.

How many of you ever went to a confessional?

I remember my first ever, and I think my last confession.

I was told you had to say, bless me, Father, for I have sinned, and you had to cross yourself.

So I went in there, crossed myself, said, bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

I have to tell you, I was petrified, scared to death.

And especially since when you went into the booth, it was kind of dark inside, and you didn't know what to expect.

All of a sudden, from the other side, I heard this voice, what have you done?

And so very quickly, I had to come to an answer and I told him a fib and he said, all right, all you have to do is say a few Hail Marys and a few our fathers and get a candle for a quarter, and you'll be okay." And I thought, man, that was easy.

If God is only offering us forgiveness, then you and I will have to be confessing for all eternity.

I by no means am trying to belittle forgiveness, but God has given to us something greater than forgiveness.

And since it is more than forgiveness, then grace must be something more.

And if you have your Bible, if you don't, that's okay.

You can trust that what I put up here is correct.

If you don't trust me, then you better get out your Bible.

And what is the exceeding greatness of his'—what's the next word?—'power to usward, who believe according to the working of his mighty power.'" I want you to notice that word, power.

In the book of Acts 4, verse 33, it says, "...with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of whom?

And it says that great grace was upon them all.

Now, if they had had little power, then they would have had little grace.

But it was great grace that gave them great power.

So, little grace, little power, great grace, great power.

It was then the power of God that enabled them to do what in their own human ability they could never accomplish.

Paul puts it this way, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the what?

Daniel Choo

Right Arm of the Gospel

It's such a privilege to be here with you.

I'd like to thank the AMEN organization, Dr.

And he told me that I'm the last speaker, so I don't have any time constraints.

Well, tonight I'm so touched to be here, and just being here for the last 24 hours, I've heard so many stories about God, how God has led all of you in your lives.

So what I'm going to share tonight is about how God has led my life from birth.

And he has brought me to serve in a capacity that I never dreamed of as a child.

I feel like I'm just walking through life, not knowing the future, but I can be safe and secure knowing that there is someone that's much greater than me, the creator of the universe that's leading me throughout this time.

Now, I was born in Youngberg Memorial Hospital.

And I met a couple outside 1 of the attendant booth, Elder Youngberg and his wife.

And this hospital was named in honor of his uncle.

And this hospital was set up some 60, 70 years ago in Singapore.

It is a seven-day Adventist mission hospital, and it flourished really well in the 50s, because Singapore was just a small colony at the time.

There were a lot of medical missionaries there.

So I was born in this hospital, and I can consider myself a third generation Seventh-day Adventist.

Missionaries started to arrive in Singapore in the early 1900s.

My home church is the Chinese SDA Church in Thompson Road, which was started in 1957.

And they just celebrated their 50th anniversary about 2 years ago.

My grandparents were poor immigrants who immigrated from China to Malaysia and subsequently to Singapore.

My grandparents took my father and his 5 other siblings to look for a place to rent at the time in Singapore.

They were fortunate to find a kind elderly gentleman who happens to be a recently converted Adventist who attended this church.

He happened to have an extra room for my father's family and so my father and his my grandfather and his wife and the children move in to this small apartment.

At that time Pastor Jerry Chang, this pastor here, he was the pioneer pastor of the church.

And He was very active in the outreach program of the church.

So he would visit this newly converted member and naturally brought the message of the Adventist church to my family.

And my mother was dating my father at the time, and she was offered a job at the Sun Yu Chinese Secondary School.

She thought that she was going to just work there for a short period of time, but she ended up teaching there for 25 years, the next 25 years.

Through the untiring efforts of this pastor and his church members, my whole family was converted and a salvation was brought to my family.

This picture was taken 2 years ago, so this pastor is retired, but he still looks very young.

My mother had to learn the Adventist lifestyle like every new convert.

She has to give up pork, shrimp, crab, oyster, and all that unclean food that is commonly found in the Chinese diet.

She has to go against her family's tradition of ancestor worship, idol worship, and she has to start keeping the Sabbath.

Over the years, she has trained my taste buds to be very sensitive to good food.

And she prepared a lot of delicious food for us when I was growing up.

Since we couldn't eat all the unclean animals, she made sure we had all the clean meat that was available.

And she gave me my name, Daniel, from the Old Testament, and also gave me a Chinese name, named after a famous Chinese physician.

She was hopeful that I would 1 day be a doctor.

However, when I was growing up, that was the last thing on my mind.

Although my mother taught in an SDA school, she sent me to a Catholic Chinese school because she believed that the educational standards were higher in that school.

I learned Chinese, the Chinese language there is my first language.

And my mother kept the Sabbath and taught me how to keep the Sabbath also.

She made sure that I would not attend any classes or any exams, although I was in a Catholic school.

She would bring my pastor to the school if there were any conflicts in schedule.

Not knowingly that by doing so, my faith was tested from a very, very young age.

I came to realize that I was different from the people that was growing up from me.

For example, I was invited to my neighbor's house for a meal, and they had served fish.

And I find myself asking them, is there any scales on your fish by any chance?

I was trained from young to believe that this church that I attend is the 1 true church of God, the remnant church.

And in Singapore, we're exposed to many different kinds of religion, including Buddhism, Taoism, Muslims, Hinduism, Catholicism, and many other Chinese, Sunday Christians, I mean.

So I felt very fortunate that I was born into a family that believe in a true God who made the world.

And I often wonder, I always have this doubt at the back of my mind, was I that fortunate to be chosen to be born into a family that believe in a true god.

School was really difficult when I was growing up in Singapore, as some of you may have been to Singapore.

It's an authoritarian type of a government.

We have a form of democracy, a little different from this country, but we're not communists.

In fact, Singapore is very anti-communist in the 60s and 70s.

My faith continued to grow as a result of experiencing God in my prayers and also through learning about God in Sabbath school.

Throughout my childhood years, certain behaviors were strongly indoctrinated into my mind.

Keeping the Sabbath and not eating unclean meat was among the top of the list.

And then my parents sent me to Pacific Union College when I turned 16.

At this time, it was a really refreshing experience.

Back to Menu

Series

AMEN 2009 Plenary Sessions

Old Things Have Become New

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

Is It A Time?

56m

God’s Healing Power

51m

Right Arm of the Gospel

1h

Grateful Debtor

50m

The Temple

56m

Outside the Curtain, Inside the Camp

43m

Old Things Have Become New

45m

Sound Doctrine