Amazon Stocks EG White Books

This is exciting, finally a product I can promote wholeheartedly on this blog. Amazon stocks EG White books, this is really exciting. Potential to live the message and make a living with online literature evangelism.

This is really exciting.

Studying the Testimonies

There was a time many many posts ago, when I proposed a comprehensive study of the EG White writings on this blog. I am becoming more and more informed on internet writing opportunities, and I wish to earn money from internet writing.

Soooo...I am wondering. What if I focus on a blog which sells EG white books while discussing the writings.

Problem is that our Adventist Book Centre does not have an affiliate programme. So I need to check Amazon and others.

That should be easy to find out and follow up. Or why dont I approach the publishers and do a shipping arrangement. After Sabbath I'll give more thought to that business part.

SDA Deliverance Ministry

In view of the recent events at one of our schools, and elsewhere in Jamaica I wish to point the reader to the following site

http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/warfare/index.htm

I now humbly paste a section of the paper for for urgent reference:




"Spiritual Warfare" and "Deliverance Ministry"
and Seventh-day Adventists



IV. Prayer for the Afflicted
With this kind of "deliverance services" in extreme doubt, is there no hope for victims of genuine demon-possession today? The committee, while unanimously recommending against certain procedures described in the preceding section, yet feels that the Lord's commission, "Cast out devils" (Matt 10:8), was given to meet the real situations that do confront God's people. The methods used, however, will be in contradistinction to the highly ritualized and sensationalized drama of the "deliverance session" which appears to borrow (however unconsciously) substantially from ancient pagan cults of Mesopotamia. There is, indeed and in fact, hope for genuine deliverance.


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A. Hope in the Face of Hopelessness
"If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us," the father of a demon-possessed lad once appealed to Jesus (Mark 9:22). Jesus' immediate response was, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (verse 23). Matthew quotes the Master, in the same incident but now talking privately with the nine disciples who had been defeated in their attempts to cast out this demon earlier, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,... nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt 17:20).

In the face of increasing activity of a supernatural nature emanating from the prince of darkness, Christians in general and Seventh-day Adventists in particular may face this distressing phenomenon with optimistic courage and confidence.

While the Scriptures clearly teach that these malevolent spirits are banded together in an organized power structure for the express purpose of subverting and destroying God's created works, and especially mankind, those same scriptures declare the unwillingness of our God "that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9).

In "every time of need" Christians are invited--indeed, commanded--by a loving Father in heaven to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help" (Heb 4:16).

Standing by the right hand of that throne (Acts 7:56) is an Intercessor who has never lied (Num 23:19); and His continual declaration is that "him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). He further adds:

And I will give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand (John 10:28, 29).

Indeed, the "good news" of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that by one decisive blow at Calvary, God, by the death of His Son, effectively broke the power of Christ's mortal enemy, Satan.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Christ] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb 2:14, 15).

The essence of the gospel that God now bids His servants declare is the proclamation of individual Christian liberty from the bondage of sin and Satan, here and now, through a bestowal of unmerited eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life, this Life is in his Son. He that hath the Son of God hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (1 John 5:11, 12).

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free...If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:32, 36).

While Christ lived among men on this earth He utterly defeated every demon He every confronted; and, furthermore, He gave His disciples the power to confront and cast out demonic spirits from human beings who were thus oppressed: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give" (Matt 10:8).

In New Testament times, as we have already noted, the phenomenon of demon possession was a stark fact of existence:

Satanic agencies were incorporated with men. The bodies of human beings, made for the dwelling place of God, had become the habitation of demons. The senses, the nerves, the passions, the organs of men, were worked by supernatural agencies in the indulgence of the vilest lust. The very stamp of demons was impressed upon the countenances of men. Human faces reflected the expression of the legions of evil with which they were possessed. [footnote 33]

Christ did something about it; and the same author, elsewhere, adds that today "God's messengers are commissioned to take up the very work that Christ did while on this earth. They are to give themselves to every ministry that He carried on." [footnote 34]

We would add only, at this point, that our work today is not the conducting of rituals and ceremonies so common among those of the "deliverance ministry" persuasion which bear a striking resemblance to similar rites in the very heart of paganism in Old Testament times. Indeed, with Paul, "I show you a more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31).

It is neither God's intention nor His plan that the people created in His own likeness should be the plaything of Satan. In love, and by a divine initiative, our heavenly Father has in mercy provided "the weapons of our warfare." They are "not worldly"--human or naturalistic, and certainly not of pagan origin--but they are indeed "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor 10:4, RSV, KJV; see also Eph 6:10-18).

Therefore, the individual Christian need not falter, much less fail, if confronted by supernatural demonic forces (Eph 4:13). Rather, he/she may fight victoriously "the good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12), in God's strength (Phil 4:13), and then come off from that battle "in all these things ... more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Rom 8:37).

This is the birthright of every "born-again" Christian child of God.


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B. The Christian's Preparation
There are times when the Christian layperson or minister is confronted by evil spirits harassing or possessing those for whom Christ died. He/she must sense the necessity of proper and complete spiritual preparation to meet the situation. The need of such preparation is highlighted by the experience of the nine disciples of Jesus who attempted--unsuccessfully--to cast out a demon possessing a young man brought to them one day.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John were on the mount of transfiguration when the distraught father came with his demon-possessed son looking for the Lord down in the valley. Upon learning of his quest, the remaining nine disciples may well have assured the man that he need not await the indefinite return of Jesus. They themselves were eminently capable of dealing with perplexing situations such as these (see Matt 17: 14-21; Mark 9:14-29).

Now, prior to this the Twelve had been given power over unclean spirits (Matt 10:8). And still later the Seventy would experience so great success in their ministry in freeing Satan's captives that in returning to Jesus they came with great rejoicing because "the devils are subject to us through thy name" (Luke 10:17-20). Yet, strangely, upon this singular occasion, these nine men all tasted the bitter fruit of total defeat. And they privately besought Jesus to explain the cause of this humiliating failure.

Jesus' immediate response revealed a serious deficiency: They lacked "mustard- seed" faith. And to correct the situation they needed to engage in prayer and fasting--for themselves (Matt 17:20, 21).

In her inspired commentary on this passage Ellen White identifies the various causes of this celebrated failure as (1) an "unbelief" that "shut them out from deeper sympathy with Christ," (2) the "carelessness with which they regarded the sacred work committed to them," and (3) dwelling in "a state of darkness" in which they mulled over their "discouragements" (Jesus had pointed to His impending death) and their "personal grievances" (jealousy toward the three favored disciples who alone were invited to join Jesus on the mount).

Now, in order to succeed in their conquest of the kingdom of darkness, Mrs. White continues, these nine disciples needed: (1) to have their faith "strengthened by fervent prayer and fasting, and humiliation of heart;" (2) they must be "emptied of self"; and (3) they must "be filled with the Spirit and power of God." Then they must come to God with earnest and fervent supplication in faith.

Earnest, persevering supplication to God in faith--faith that leads to entire dependence upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work--can alone avail to bring men the Holy Spirit's aid in the battle against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in high places. [footnote 35]

Indeed, "if you have faith like this, you will lay hold upon God's word, and upon all the helpful agencies He has appointed. Thus your faith will strengthen, and will bring to your aid the power of heaven....'Nothing shall be impossible unto you.' " [footnote 36]

The human agent should ever remember that he/she has no power within himself/ herself; we are simply channels through which the divine power may be poured out to the stricken victim. This being the case, Paul's admonition is appropriate: "Let a man examine himself" to see if there is anything in the life that could possibly obstruct the flow of divine power (1 Cor 11:28). If such be found, it ought speedily be removed by the confessing and forsaking of sin, lest one's prayers be "hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). Fasting may be necessary (it is always appropriate) in the making of this self-examination.

And, in harmony with our Lord's admonition in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:16-18), this fasting should be done privately, individually. Again, long, drawn-out prayer seasons involving self-examination certainly seem contra-indicated by the thrust of this passage.

Finally, this inspired counsel may prove helpful as the Christian prepares himself for this special ministry:

In such cases of affliction where Satan has control of the mind, before engaging in prayer there should be the closest self-examination to discover if there are not sins which need to be repented of, confessed, and forsaken. Deep humility of soul before God is necessary, and firm, humble reliance upon the blood of Christ alone. Fasting and prayer will accomplish nothing while the heart is estranged from God by a wrong course of action. [footnote 37]

In such situations "the earnest prayers of His faithful followers" are necessary. [footnote 38]


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C. The Afflicted One
The manner in which good and evil angels secure the compliant cooperation of the human agent is not always apparent. In some cases demonic possession may begin with the weakening of the bodily forces brought about through dissipation or circumstances causing continuing and unrelenting anxiety, to the point where the human being finally loses control of himself or herself and in some cases control passes over to the hands of unseen evil entities. The converse may also be true: Through the building up of the physical powers, self-control may be regained, even wrested from satanic forces, by the active cooperation of the human will with the power of the Holy Spirit and holy angels.

Also, control of an individual's will by demonic forces may be partial or total. Cases vary, and it is not always clear why they vary. But in cases where control is partial, it would seem appropriate--even essential--to secure the cooperation of the subject. In all instances the worker for Christ should seek to enlist the will of the afflicted on the side of Christ that he or she may be strengthened to resist the evil foe. In cases where control of the individual seems more total, it may be necessary for the Christian worker to secure the cooperation of those closest to the victim of demonic harassment and to pray on his or her behalf without this manifest consent.

There are today perhaps three groups of individuals who are particularly susceptible to the approach of demonic forces: (a) some who are emotionally disturbed; (b) some who are presently (or formerly have been) associated with spiritualistic phenomena--seances, Ouija boards, mediums, et cetera; and (c) some who make room for sin in the daily life, especially those who are professing to serve God, but who have not yet totally surrendered to His Lordship over their lives. All need help, and all need a work of preparation if satanic power is to be broken.

Instruction in Bible Truth. Before prayer is undertaken, the victim of satanic oppression should first be helped to understand certain rudimentary Christian principles, including:

1. His/her inalienable right as a confessing Christian, to live a life free from control (though not, of course, from temptation and/or harassment) of evil spirits, in harmony with the expressed will of God.

2. The biblical provision and teaching of personal victory over the evil one, through which even the thoughts may be brought into captivity to Christ (1 Cor 10:13; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 2:5).

3. The fact that as long as a person is himself/herself able to confess, repent, and commit his/her life to Christ, such individual is able personally to invoke the Lord's power against the enemy on the basis of Christ's victory over Satan at the cross (John 16:33).

4. The fact that Christ has already won the "great controversy" against Satan by His decisive victory at Calvary, and that He has committed to His followers a redemptive ministry to free the captives of satanic control in and through His holy name.

5. The nature and practice of importunate, "effectual fervent prayer" by the Christian (James 5:16).

6. The need for faith to believe that prayer offered in Jesus' name and for His sake will bring deliverance from Satan's control.

Ellen White makes a cogent point about the fact that there is a work for persons who are still in control who need not (indeed cannot) be done by another:

Those who have tempted the devil to tempt them will have to make desperate efforts to free themselves from his power. But when they begin to work for themselves, then angels of God whom they have grieved will come to their rescue. Satan and his angels are unwilling to lose their prey. They contend and battle with the holy angels, and the conflict is severe. But if those who have erred continue to plead, and in deep humility confess their wrongs, angels who excel in strength will prevail and wrench them from the power of the evil angels. [footnote 39]

And what is the nature of the work that the victim must do for himself/herself? First, he/she must seek the Lord earnestly. "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me *with all your heart*" (Jer 29:13, emphasis supplied).

Then he/she must accept God's word that deliverance is possible. There are three important points in 1 Cor 10:13--temptation is the normal experience of every human being, God is faithful to those who serve Him, and a way of escape is available for all who wish to find one. '"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye re able; but will, with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Then the counsel of James 4:7-10 is especially appropriate at this point. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

And "wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Ps 119:9). The mind must be focused away from self and defeat and directed upon God and victory: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isa 26:3). Indeed, we must allow Jesus to bring into "captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5).

Power of the Will. An individual's will plays an important--even decisive--role in the success or failure of prayer upon his behalf, and it is therefore imperative that the afflicted one being prayed for understand the place and the power of the will.

While it is true that supernatural beings seem to have an incalculable advantage over human beings in the warfare thus waged, yet these angels--whether evil or good--cannot compel the will of an individual when that will is committed to Christ. Evil angels can tempt and harass; good angels can woo and bless. But evil angels cannot force the will, and good angels will not. So the surrendered human will, exercised with faith in God's Word and power, is the crucial factor in this consideration.

(Unfortunately, in some "deliverance" circles today the concept of "surrendered" has come to mean a totally passive stance on the part of the individual vis-a-vis God's control. While such practitioners would deny that they [or God] manipulate the afflicted person, the net result often comes down to a mindless abdication of the victim's human reasoning powers, instead of the combination and cooperation of "divine power and human effort" which Ellen White continually holds before us. Surrender is not passive; it is very active.)


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D. Concerns and Cautions
Basic Attitudes. Church leaders have been accused by some in "deliverance ministry" as wishing to create a monopoly in which only "professionals" or "specialists"--be they clergy, medical psychiatric, or psychological--may officiate in prayer for the emotionally and physically ill. (Ironically, some of these who protest thus give evidence that they would prefer to have the monopoly in their hands.) Prayer is not the prerogative of any one group; and the church continues to hold that no practicing Christian needs an advanced academic degree in prayer before he/she can be used to minister successfully to those afflicted by Satan.

Avoid "Adventure" Approach. When after careful consideration and prayer for guidance it is decided to intercede with God for relief and victory of one afflicted by satanic power, the one who leads out and those who take part need to guard against a "morbid" curiosity, a craving for the sensational, the dramatic, a desire to witness supernatural forces in mortal combat, in short: to indulge a sort of "adventurism." Each Christian participating in this kind of personal ministry needs to examine carefully his/her motives. One thinks instinctively of the story of the seven sons of Sceva (see Acts 19:13-17). These men "played around" with exorcism, perhaps little realizing the power of the agencies with which they were dealing. They received a sound thrashing for their pains. Those same evil spirits are still around today; and those who flippantly, carelessly seek to confront demon forces could run substantial personal risks.

Avoid Inordinately Long Seasons of Prayer. Evil angels sometimes seek to prolong the season of prayer, hoping thereby to wear out the supplicants and eventually to win the day by default.

There is no evidence in Scripture that when demons were cast out by Christ or His disciples that the service was dragged on inordinately long. Jesus Himself decried the "heathen" philosophy that repetitious utterance of the same petition, in "much speaking," was the way to move effectively the hand of the Almighty (Matt 6:7; see 1 Kings 18:26). And Jesus was also down on "long prayers" (see Matt 23:14), as was also Ellen White, who had quite a little to say in warning against prolonging seasons of public or semi-public prayer. [footnote 40]

Not only are long, drawn-out prayer services unnecessary and without Scriptural foundation, they are also generally counterproductive in terms of exhausting the physical and emotional resources of all concerned.

Avoid Encouraging Over-dependence. There is a twofold danger that the one who is doing the praying will experience difficulty in confidently leaving the one prayed for in the hands of God, and also that the one being prayed for will develop an overdependence upon one or more of those who intercede in prayer on his/her behalf.

While the Christian should and will carry a burden for those under Satan's control, he/she needs to know when to "let go" and trust God to take over and do whatever is needful in the case. Christians can become genuinely trapped by these burdens for others, and it interferes not only with their ability to help others but also may interfere with their own ability to function in daily living. One may be tempted to conclude that he/she cannot trust God to handle the case in His own way and in His own time, and also that he/she can really add something to the ministry of Christ. The idea grows that somehow if I can add my sacrifice to Christ's then it will count for more in the victim's life than Christ's sacrifice without my own.

Sometimes the one for whom prayer is offered develops an unreasonable overdependence upon one or more of those who pray. While the mature Christian will certainly be called upon to supply large, personal quantities of love, care, and interest in providing personal support in prayer, study, and emotional stabilization, he/she will certainly need to avoid permitting the victim to develop a mindless, irrational overdependence by encouraging telephone calls at all times of the day or night and childish and unreasonable demands for personal attention.

While no Seventh-day Adventist Christian would ever seek to hypnotize someone for whom he/she was working to bring relief from demonic forces, there is yet a potential danger of "practical hypnosis," whereby the effective control of the believing Christian over the mind of the victim of harassment is accepted by the latter because of an undesirable overdependence upon the former.

In this context, then, the cautions of Ellen White concerning one of the practical dangers of hypnosis seems particularly apt:

The theory of mind controlling mind was originated by Satan, to introduce himself as the chief worker, to put human philosophy where divine philosophy should be. Of all the errors that are finding acceptance among professedly Christian people, none is a more dangerous deception, none more certain to separate man from God, than this. Innocent though it may appear, if exercised upon patients it will tend to their destruction, not to their restoration. It opens a door through which Satan will enter to take possession both of the mind that is given up to be controlled by another, and the mind that controls. [footnote 41]


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E. As We Look to the Future
Ellen White has written that satanic activity will greatly increase in these last days before Jesus returns, and we accept that declaration without equivocation. As it examined the work of many engaged in "deliverance ministry" at this time it also concluded that cases of genuine demon-possession associated with physical phenomena are still not as common today as is confidently declared by some practitioners of "deliverance ministry." However, the near future may reveal more such cases, especially in some cultures.

We fully recognize that Satan is at work in the earth today, and in certain instances he actually does control individuals in the here and now. This is an undeniable fact.

But to make "deliverance ministry" a prominent, if not the chief, work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at this time, is, we believe, to fall for yet another of Satan's specious devices: that of diverting the remnant church from its true, ultimate mission on earth--spreading the Three Angels' Messages of Revelation 14.

We have often been reminded that "we have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teachings in our past history." [footnote 42] Let us, therefore, at this point examine an incident in our past history which we feel teaches a lesson that is well considered yet today.

In 1900 the devil succeeded in getting a large number of Seventh-day Adventist church members, ministers, and even at least one conference president, into a fanaticism which called forth an unsparing, direct rebuke from the Lord through His servant, Ellen White. This "holy flesh" movement (as it came to be known) was, in turn, but a repetition of an earlier fanaticism by which Satan had succeeded in seducing certain of the people of God. [footnote 43] It involved manifestation of supernatural powers that were most dramatic and sensationalistic. There was much excitement. But God was not in it; And the net effect of it all was to disgust and turn away serious-minded people who might otherwise have felt led to become members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Ellen White declared to the practitioners of this fanaticism in Indiana: "You are giving the wrong mold to the precious and important work of God." [footnote 44] Then she added that at the very end of time Satan will come in again among the remnant people, to destroy their effectiveness by getting them entangled with fanaticism involving excitement and confusion. [footnote 45]

An important distinction, perhaps, needs to be made at this point. It is clear from Ellen White's writings that after the latter rain experience has been received by the remnant people of God, there will be amazing phenomena exhibited by laity and ministers alike: "Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men.

However, she also seems to indicate that before the latter rain is poured out upon Adventists, such miracles will not be so abundant. Indeed, the miracles of Satan, his evil angels, and their human accomplices, will be held up to Seventh-day Adventists (whose activity then is not especially characterized by the working of miracles) as proof of the legitimacy of their position and their standing with God!'' [footnote 47]

Even as late as the giving of the mark of the beast, and the concomitant forbidding of the sealed saints to buy and sell, those in Babylon will be "mocking" the remnant, "threatening to destroy" them. They ridicule their "feebleness," mock at the "smallness" of their numbers. And at this time the wicked declare that they (and not the remnant) have "the truth, that miracles were among them" (and, by contradistinction, not abundant among the remnant). They will boast "that angels from heaven talked with them, and walked with them, that great power, and signs, and wonders were performed among them" (and, by distinction, not so much among the remnant), and that "the whole world was converted and in harmony with the Sunday law." [footnote 48]

More to the point, Ellen White further points out very clearly that in the last days (especially before the outpouring of the latter rain), "God's people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan would counterfeit any miracle that might be worked.... They are to take their stand on the living Word." [footnote 49]


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At Issue Index Spiritual Warfare Index Back to Part III Forward to Summary and conclusion

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Supervise Your Children

Recent events at the Victor Dixon High School, a Seventh-day Adventist high school in Mandeville, has again pointed out the need Christian parents, all parents, to supervise their charge.

As evangelist Latoya Forbes, the school chaplain and guidance counsellor, declared the gospel of Jesus Christ to the school population in their Week of Prayer, the dear young people gave theit hearts to the Saviour.

It is believed that one or more of the converts were previously involved in occult activities that may or may not have involoved the internet.

Anyway, right in the middle of the service the demons possessed students, and thus began an intense spiritual struggle. Prayer was made on their behalf. Thank God that the power of the blood of Jesus is giving victory.

Some of them have been baptised. But the situation is still tense.

Last Sabbath, two of the new members were again attacked by demons. The brethren at Cedar Grove Seventh-day Adventist Church had to wrestle in faithful prayer and supplication for them.

The saints in this part of the field are praying with and for the students affected. At Knockpatrick, my home chuch, the singing evangelist from the high school shared her testimony, and then the elders had a special prayer session for the youth.

Sermon: A Planet Prepared

I had the privilege of preaching last week at the Dunsinane Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mandeville. My wife was delighted to come on this particular trip since her former coworker worships there. Glendon Jnr came along. He's so smart now.

The Dunsinane church is a relativly small sanctuary just opposite the Oaklawn Cemetery. It was the first Sabbath in October, so I used a personal ministries emphasis. For those not in the know, the first Sabbath of every month is usually assigned to evangelism unless otherwise announced. Here is the sermon as written, not as preached:


A Planet Prepared
Acts 14:8-17; Acts 17:22-30
15 My Maker and My King
373 Seeking the lost
• A young friend said to me this week. “I wish fairy tales were real. Magic, genie. Could do those things."

God is bigger than fairy tale. Welcome to the world of the real. Fairy tales belong in books.
Today dear friends I want to invite you to consider something far more beautiful and real than Lord of the Rings. No snow white. Jack on bean stalk

There is a Book I would like to recommend to this present digital generation immersed in movies, games, music, sex, and forced to attend church by parents who themselves were probably forced to attend church.
.
Book of questions. “who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
Who is the King of glory? Who do men say that I the son of man am? Who then shall be saved? Where is thy brother? What is truth?

Thank god through Jesus that the book we call the Holy Bible is also a book of answers:
The Lord of hosts He is the king of glory.
Lift up your head o ye gates even lifted up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in.
You are the Christ the Son of the living God.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou salt be saved.
I am the way … and the truth.

Today I invite us to consider the big picture. A simple message.
A good story has a good beginning, a well developed middle, and a good ending.

Children love fairy tales because they have such a predictable happy ending.

Salvation history began in a garden. Middle filled with war disobedience, bloodshed even of the son of god. Sometimes we are impatient to know the ending. Can’t wait to get to the end

Watch a movie with a friend who saw it already and can’t keep mouth shut. I want to find out for I don’t tell me.

Well when it comes to your salvation God does not leave you guessing. He tells you the story. It comes out all right in the end. Better than any Hollywood or Pinewood or Bollywood fantasy.

“And I saw new heaven and new earth.”
“God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life.”

That’s how the story ends.
Happy endings are for believers in Christ, not just movie junkies and comic strip heroes, or fairy godmothers.

What is our task in the middle of the story?
Because I’m in a Seventh-day Adventist church I can quote Ellen G White without apology and say in that great book Evangelism

Compilation from several of her writings:
Begins
“Christ’s last words to His disciples were: “Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world. “Go ye therefore and teach all nations.’

On the LAST PAGE OF THE BOOK she writes
“Our watchword is to be, Onward, ever onward! Angels of heaven will go before us to prepare the way. Our burden for the regions beyond can never be laid down till the whole earth is lightened with the glory of the Lord.” EVANGELISM P.707

According to www.adherents.com their 2005 figures: CHRISTIANITY REPRESENTS 33% or 2.1 billion believers followed by Islam with 1.5 billion

Guess which is the third largest group
No not Rastafarian

Nonreligious/secular/agnostic/atheist account for 16% or 1.1 billion.

Rastafarian ranked number 21 at 600,000

How near are we to finishing the work?

We little but we tallawah.
Under the power of the Holy Spirit we’ve blessed the world with
106 tertiary institutions
36 worker training institutions
Over 5000 primary schools
And over 1400 secondary schools

30 food industries
167 hospitals and sanitariums

Publishing work we have 65 publishing houses and branches.
And get this we fellowship and worship in the lands of this earthly globe in over 120,000 churches and companies.

We are in 202 of the 228 UN recognised countries.
General Conference of SDA website states that as of 2005 SDA world membership stands at 14.4 million.
That’s out of a world population of 6.4 billion. A little rough arithmetic tells me the remnant message is just over 0.2% of total world population.


What about Jamaica?

6.7% of Jamaicans are SDA over 170,000.

Only five other countries worldwide beat us in percentage Pitcairn at top of list with 76% a total of 42
Antigua Barbuda
Montserrat
Grenada
St Lucia
Jamaica shares position with five other countries including Belize.

If we are lazy we’ll say we’re doing great. If we’re easily discouraged we’ll say alas will the Son of Man find faith.

Today as I encourage the missionaries, community service workers, and bible worker and colporteurs, in fact as I encourage all of you and myself I want to remind you that the harvest is ripe. And God has not left Himself without a witness.

Consider with me the Miracle of Mars Hill.
Textual approach to passage under consideration:
Acts of the Apostles could be called the acts of the Holy Spirit. A few men and women under influence of Holy Spirit turned world upside down for Jesus. We need same unction now for this world need to be turned upside down that Jesus might come back to create a new garden where there is no more sin and death and pain. Consider Paul in Athens in Acts chapter 17.

1. Paul leaves Silas and Timothy in Berea to organise the work there and sails for Athens.
a. Acts 17:16 Paul was like any good Christian upset with the idolatry of Athens. Possibly hundreds of gods.
b. DON RICHARDSON IN BOOK ETERNITY IN THEIR HEARTS writes “Once men reject the one omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent god in favour of lesser deities, they eventually discover that it takes an infinite number of lesser deities to fill the true God’s shoes.” P18.
Church!!! Once reject Creator nothing can fill the soul’s needs. Not liquor, not drugs, not lust of flesh, not lust of eyes, not pride of life. Only the love of Jesus.

2. What did Paul do?
a. “He started to motivate the people who already believed in Yahweh, the one true God. Like Lot in Sodom they were so accustomed to evil that they needed someone to come with new insight.
b. Secondly verse 17: “he went to thoroughfare to preach against evils of the day.”
1. In midst of idolatry Paul comes teaching and preaching.
There is a story of man in Sodom
Talked nobody talked
Wore a sign REPENT nobody paid attention
Shouted “Repent” people laughed
Still he went about shouting “Repent.”
Someone said “Cant you see you’re shouting is useless.”
“Yes I see that when I arrived I was convinced that I could change them. Now I know I cannot. But I continue shouting because I don’t them to change me!”

c. V.18; Athens had many gods so when philosophers
i. These Epicureans and stoics:
The founder of stoicism is Zeno of Citium (333-262) in Cyprus. Basically, he believed in being virtuous, and that virtue was a matter of submitting to God’s will. As usual for Greeks who postulated a single god, Zeno did not strongly differentiate God from nature. So another way of putting it is to live according to nature (“Zen kata physin.”).
The school got its name from the Painted Porch (stoa poikile) in Athens where Zeno studied. Walking up and down the open hallways, he lectured his students on the value of apatheia, the absence of passion, something not too different from the Buddhist idea of non-attachment. By passion Zeno meant uncontrolled emotion or physical desire. Only by taking this attitude, he felt, could we develop wisdom and the ability to apply it.
“Let no one break your will!” he said. Man conquers the world by conquering himself. Start by developing an indifference to pain and pleasure, through meditation. Wisdom occurs when reason controls passions; Evil occurs when passions control us.
Another aspect of Stoicism is its belief in the development of a universal state, in which all men were brothers. Stoics believed in certain “natural rights,” a concept which we wouldn’t see again until the 18th century. They also believed in the right to commit suicide -- an important part of Roman cultural tradition.
Epicureans. Another set of bright people out to challenge Paul.
Virtue for Epicurus was a means to an end. That end is happiness. It is good to feel pleasure and to avoid pain, but one needs to apply reason to life. Sometimes pain is necessary in order to gain happiness. Other times, pleasure leads to more suffering than it is worth.
And there are levels of pain and pleasure, smaller and greater happiness’s. Friendship, for example, is rated one of the highest pleasures. “A sage loves his friends as he loves himself,” he said, and “It is better to give than to receive.” And “It is not possible to live pleasantly without living prudently, honorably, and justly; nor to live prudently, honorably, and justly without living pleasantly.”
Society is seen as necessary: It protects one from injustices. He foreshadows utilitarianism by suggesting that a society should be arranged to provide the greatest happiness to the greatest number.
The ultimate happiness, though, is peace, and he borrows Pyrrho’s word for tranquility -- ataraxia. His motto was “lathe biosas” -- live unobtrusively. He may be considered the first true humanist, as witnessed by this quote: "Philosophy is an activity that uses reasoning and rigorous argument to promote human flourishing."

________________________________________
These were the kind of ideas that Paul had to confront. Jesus showed him the way.
d. heard Paul talking about Jesus two thing happen:
i. Speaking in foreign tongue/accent so call him babbler
ii. He was preaching of Jesus and resurrection so thought just another god to add to many they had.
But how could Paul carry out the Damascus Road commission “I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light.”
Paul needed an eye opener. An icebreaker. For that we go back six centuries before Paul.
Yes children a story even more fascinating than fairy tale.
*Plague.
Wise man said offered to many gods but still have plague.
Which of many gods not yet placated? Sent for a wise man afar.
Epimenides. There is a god I don’t know.
Sheep. Allowed to graze yet several rested one by one. Those that rested were sacrificed to the unknown god. Plague abated.
Altars.

Paul saw one of these altars 600 years later. To Unknown God.
Paul could have behaved like so many good zealous Christians and just go right ahead and condemned the sins and leave it at that.

But he was first and foremost an evangelist. Christ told him to open eyes in order to turn from darkness to light.

v. 22, 23: The newer versions give a slightly more accurate rendering: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, for as I was walking along I saw your many altars. And one of them had this inscription upon it – to an Unknown god. You have been worshiping Him without knowing who He is, and now I wish to tell you about Him.”

Children if your parents have the book Acts of the Apostles it will help you to understand background to apostle’s work
Read p237 to 239 Acts of the Apostles
A few became followers.

II. A planet prepared.
a. Wherever God send you to witness he has prepared the vineyard. It’s not the baptism it’s the preaching. Witness, witness, witness.
a. *revival at comfort Richie and others etc
• Later in year he was baptised.
b. Through visions, and other tokens of providence God is preparing world for harvest.
i. In midst of Canaanite Abraham stumbled upon a godly king/priest Melchezidek

c. I’ve seen baptisms where persons prepared by Holy Spirit and just waiting for witness.
d. So called pagans have not been left without a witness:
i. Long before Europe Christianised the New world, Inca king Pachacuti who ruled 1438 to 1471 worshipped the creator as Viracocha. Unfortunately the Spanish destroyed the upper class that had knowledge of this truth.
ii. Before the coming of missionaries the Santal people of India longed for Thakur Jiu the Genuine god. When they received gospel their church grew faster than Europe. Their culture had dim history of god’s truth.
Stories all over the world of tribes and people prepared for the coming of missionaries prepared with cultural tools to welcome gospel. Africa, China. India.
The numbers look big but we serve a big god.


e. All over the planet God is preparing the harvest.
i. Pray for it
ii. Work for it
iii. Sacrifice for it


III. Mission and the Motivation
The site countrypreacher.com summarises it beautifully:

I. The Mission -- It is a command of God to preach the gospel to all the world (Mk.
16:15,16; Mat. 28:18-20).
A. Assumes Christians will not be stagnant
1. As you are going, teach (go discipling)
2. The goal is to baptize and then to stabilize
B. Christianity is a taught, learned religion
1. No one can call on the Lord who has not believed; and no one can
believe who has not heard (Rom. 10:13,14).
2. This is the Lord's arrangement: teaching, understanding, conversion,
and forgiveness (Mat 13:15).
-- Mat. 13:15 -- For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them.
C. The target is the world (Mat. 13:38 -- The field is the world)
1. Where there is sin there is need for a Savior
2. 1 Jn. 5:19 -- And we know that we are of God, and the whole
world lieth in wickedness.

II. The Man -- The world is yours to illuminate, serve and save
A. Christians "light candles" rather than "curse darkness." (Mat. 5:13-16)
1. "Shine in the midst of a crooked world." (Phil. 2:15)
-- Phil 2:14-16 -- Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be
blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the
word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain,
neither laboured in vain.
a. The honest Christian is a light shining in the midst of the
darkness of dishonesty.
b. The pure Christian shines as a light in the midst of the
darkness of vice and corruption.
c. The peace-making Christian shines in the midst of the
darkness of struggle, dog-eat-dog conflict.
2. Christians shine because they have been called out of darkness into
"His marvelous light." (1 Pet. 2:9)
3. Because of this transition from "darkness to light," his philosophy
toward the world has changed.
a. No longer "What can I get out of it?" but "What can I give?”
(Lk 12:15; Eph. 4:28)
b. No longer is his attitude toward others "What do you owe
me?" but "How can I serve?". (Mat. 20:26-28)
c. No longer is his conduct governed by the question "How
much fun can I have?", but "Is this pure and wholesome?".
(1 Cor. 3:16,17)
d. No longer is his confidence based upon the ideas and
traditions of men, but upon the simplicity of the gospel of
Christ. (2 Cor. 11:3)
B. The early Christians conquered and claimed the world for Christ.
1. As soldiers for Christ we need to:
a. Know the power and craftiness of the enemy-sin and Satan.
(1 Pet. 5:8)
b. Recognize the supreme power of our Captain who
conquered the flesh, Satan and death.
c. He has equipped us with "the sword of the Spirit." (Eph. 6:17)
2. Early Christians conquered by going. equipped by the Lord. (Acts
8:1-4)
a. They went.
b. They went everywhere.
c. They went everywhere preaching.
d. They went everywhere preaching the Word.
C. Let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season, we shall reap if we
faint not. (Gal. 6:9)
2
III. The Motivation -- (2 Cor 5:14-15) For the love of Christ constraineth us; because
we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died
for them, and rose again.
A. "Lift up your eyes and look." (Jn. 4:35-38)
1. See its plight. (Rom. 3:23 - all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God)
2. See its need for a Savior. "Jew & Gentile" (Mat.1:21)
B. Vision to see and feel the needs of our fellowman is imperative. (Prov. 29:18)
1. We need tender hearts that care. (Rom. 9:1-3 -- I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy
Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh...)
2. We need eager ears to hear. (Acts 16:9-10 -- And a vision appeared
to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed
him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he
had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into
Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to
preach the gospel unto them.)
3. We need alert eyes to see. (Mat. 9:37, 38 -- Then saith he unto his
disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
labourers into his harvest.)
4. We need open hands to give like the Philippians did for Paul (Phil.
4:15, 16)
5. We need willing feet to go. (Isa. 52:7)

D. Where would you and I be if someone, somewhere, had not said, “Here am
I send me?”

Can Sunday Night Service be Saved?

Here in the Caribbean, we tend to throw guilt trips on the brethren for not supporting Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services.  In my own opinion the age we live in calls for a new and different approach to engaging the church and the world in worship and evangelism.  I believe we should move to cell group and community fellowships during the week and wait until weekend for the entire church body to gather for the celebration of the Sabbath.  

Anything else appears to be a losing battle.

These things are important and in this order:

1. Personal worship/evangelism
2. Family worship/evangelism
   
3. Small group worship/evangelism 
4. Local church worship/evangelism
5. Conference/district worship/evangelism

We have failed to train and motivate our people to recognise this order of importance so we have the incessant and hence meaningless appeals for #4 when we should begin at number 1 and work down the list.  

Okay now that I have got your attention with my own convictions about the need for community based small group ministry, I now also believe that with proper planning the  Sunday evening evangelistic meetings can become the centre of a massive local church campaign.

Recently, a friend was willing to share a revolutionary approach to improving, nay, reinventing midweek meetings.

"I said to the elders, give me every Sunday night for the quarter and I will fill the church!"


Now, I've heard many well meaning Christians bemoan the good old days when the churches had great attendance for mid-week services.  And I've heard people blaming everone but themselves for the lack of interest

in mid-week church progammes.  So I was prepared to give him the time of day and move on to 

the next topic of interest.  


What he went on to tell me caught my attention, sparked my imagination, and motivated my commitment to 
get involved if the idea ever got off the ground.  

He would promote the meetings, hype the location, create a media blitz, book the best preachers in the country, the best choirs, and a working transportation strategy to get members and visitors to attend.  Best of all he was so enthusiastic I knew in my heart he was capable of getting it done.  And he was willing to part finance the budget.

In fact, his suggestions can be integrated with small group efforts in such a way that 
the Sunday evenings would become moments of decision for Christ.

Sermon: Where is My Father

I was asked to preach today tomorrow Sunday evening. When I asked if there was a theme and was told of the emphasis on fathers I said "oh I have a sermon Where is my father', I'll just use that. Right away the elder said to me "That's interesting "Where is my Father." Don't be surprised if I ask you to speak on sabbath instead.

Sure enough I received a call in the week inviting me to speak on Sabbath (today).

Usually I would just copy the sermon to the blog, but since it's from my sermon bank I will have to do a summary here.


Where is My Father?

Luke 15:11-32

Songs 92 This is My Father's world
100 Great is Thy Faithfulness

IF
By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
but make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
or being hated, don't give way to hating,
and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master,
if you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
if you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
and treat those two impostors just the same;
if you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
and stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
and lose, and start again at your beginnings
and never breathe a word about your loss;
if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
if all men count with you, but none too much,
if you can fill the unforgiving minute
with sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!

I. Our Father in heaven is almighty.
Daniel 6:26. Living God.
Hebrews 13:8. Eternal.
1 Chron 29:12. Rev 19:6. Omnipotent.
Job 34:21. Omniscient.
Infinite.

II. Our Father in Heaven is the Creator.
Isa 40:26-28. God is Creator.

III. Our Father in Heaven is a God of Order.
He made laws for order.
Gen 1:11.
Gen 2:17
Psa 1:1-3.
Rev 22:14.

IV. Our Father in Heaven is the Holy One.
Whatever He dwells in becomes holy, including the human heart. He prepares us for heaven with
Holy law
Holy place
Holy day
Holy calling
Holy Spirit

V. Our Father in Heaven is a Loving Father.

1 John 4:8. God is love.
1 Cor 13:1-7.
John 3:16
Jesus Christ the loving revelation of the Father.

*The problem of the African diaspora in Caribbean. Where is my father?

Sunday Gleaner

The Schoolboy's Dilemma - Where is my father?
published: Sunday | October 16, 2005

Christene McDonald, Contributor

We must remember that for the most part, a child arrives at school with his character already formed. Too many Jamaicans are still not convinced of the importance of two things: One, the home; and two, the father, in the awesome task of rearing a child.

A survey conducted in the St. Catherine District Prison in the mid-1990s revealed that 98 per cent of the men on death row either did not know their fathers or did not know where he was.

Where are the fathers?

MINISTRY OF HEALING 390-392.

Head of household.

Combine affection with authority.

Heavenly father yearns in Jeremiah 3:19 How gladly would I treat you like sons...I thought you would call me Father.

God created a special day when sits and waits for us.

Most of what heavenly Father does we wont know until we get to heaven.

B. the holy righteous heavenly father is loving and merciful according to parable of Loving father in Luke 15.

v. 11-12 Sin causes presumptuous.

v.13 Sin sends us far from God.

v. 14-16 away from Father the madness of sin.

v.17-19 do not resist the spirit. You are going to come to yourself.

I will arise and go to my Father.

v.20 God is nearer than you think.

Calling families to covenant for a brand new life. Big wonderful father in heaven who cares.

He can melt the heart of mean fathers.

He can convert abusive fathers.

He can lift up the head of struggling fathers.

He can refresh the limbs of tired fathers.

And through the grace of Christ He promises rest and reward at the end of life's journey. Until then let us covenant to live in the image of the heavenly Father.