This past weekend I was in the beautiful state of Virginia speaking for the Potomac Conference Bible retreat. We had students from all over Virginia and Maryland come out to Blue Ridge Camp in the hills outside of Charlottesville, VA. The theme for the weekend was The Omega Declaration: God is my final answer! And what I was challenging the participants with was to choose to allow Jesus to have the final answer in their lives.
Today was honestly the highlight for me as we explored Jesus going into the temple and throwing over the tables of the money changers and the pidgin sellers and running them out of the way so that the sick people could come in and receive healing. I made a call, first for people to take a stand that they were publicly declaring that they wanted to follow the Omega Declaration. Then I had a specific call for people who hadn’t ever accepted Jesus as their savior to come forward. While nearly everyone in the room stood, three young men came forward to accept Jesus into their lives! And that was the icing on the cake for me. Don’t get me wrong I was stoked hearing from the people that I had a chance to speak to about their journey, but to see these three young guys take a stand was amazing!
To God be the glory. It ain’t a game anymore! This is as real as it gets!
This weekend I’ll be in Finland as the keynote speaker at SOUL REBOOT. This is a weekend event for both people that already love Jesus and people that are seeking deeper meaning in their lives. If you speak Finnish, the weekend itinerary is laid out below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Ansku (the program coordinator) at ansku@sdafin.org.
Blessings to you and I hope to see you in Jyväskylä, Finland this weekend!
(A friend of mine who is a reporter in Australia just wrote me inquiring about the baptisms at the NNSW Big Camp the final Sabbath we were there… Here is my take on the story...).
While en route to Big Camp, I knew that the one thing that was going to be talked about in the 18+ tent was Jesus. As in Jesus period! We would start Friday evening in Genesis and end 8 days later in Revelation.
Come Friday afternoon the team was assembling and I heard that a pastor fried of mine (Mark Tipple) was scheduled to get baptized the following Sabbath at Big Camp along with several others who I have seen in leadership roles at previous Big Camps as well as other events I’ve been involved with. Upon this discovery, I asked everyone around the circle to raise their hand if they had not been baptized. To my surprise roughly half of the circle of leaders had not be baptized. Through some inquiry of my own I found that it wasn’t that these people didn’t love Jesus, it was that they were opposed to joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church, not due to theological issues, rather because of some of the wounds the church had inflicted on them or their peers.
Friday night was an introduction to a man who was fully human and fully God, Jesus. We ended that night looking at the fact that salvation is found in, and only in Jesus. I told the crowd right then and there that we were going to be talking about the birth, childhood and baptism of Jesus on Monday night at which time I was going to make an invitation specifically for the people who knew Jesus, were following Jesus, but had never been baptized. So Friday night, that is what I did. I made a specific appeal for that group of people who were already studied up and following Him, but hadn’t crossed the line through baptism. It was simple, not drawn out. Some 30 people came forward (I’m really bad at numbers).
Jeff Parker and myself met with the group briefly that night and then invited them back for another meeting the next day. On Tuesday we confirmed contact information and started work on connecting the pastor to the candidate. This gave us ample amount of time to clear up any questions and make sure that the person was ready to take the plunge.
I am sure that your son has told you about Lydia who was baptized on Friday morning. Then on Sabbath morning there were several baptism going on (I was literally running down the beach to witness them) and that afternoon after church was the same deal. All in all Jeff tells me that some 35 were baptized that day (I sure some of whom were not in the 18+ tent, but I am under the impression that most of them were). Then yesterday Jeff wrote me to tell me that another 32 people marked on the appeal card that was given on the last Friday night of Big Camp to be baptized. When I posted that on my Facebook page, another girl wrote and said make that 33 as she had decided to be baptized as well!
Simply put, to God be the glory. He had an agenda for those people in that tent that week. I would say one of the most moving stories for me personally was Lydia’s journey. Here is a girl that I’ve seen at every Big Camp and actively involved in leadership. I don’t know here very well, but enough to hug her when I saw her. She was one of the people that I pulled aside on the first Friday to try to better understand why she hadn’t been baptized. That following Friday before Bevan dipped her in the water her sister shared the story how during the week leading up to Big Camp Lydia told her, “Matty Gamble is coming back to Big Camp. I am going to talk with him about his take on baptism.” Not knowing any of this, the Spirit led me to put her on the spot and ask her why she hadn’t been baptized. When I heard her sister sharing this testimony, I nearly lost it emotionally as God had literally worked a miracle in front of our eyes and I was completely oblivious to it! Sabbath October 17, 2009 is one day that I will never forget. We witnessed mountains moving in the tent that week. GOD IS GOOD!
It has been too long since I posted on the old blog here.
Just a couple of quick updates for where I’ve been/what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks:
1 - For starters, I was down in Trinidad and Tobago to address the issue of pornography. I want to thank Youth Alive for hosting the event and organizing everything. It was an absolutely power-packed week as we were on two radio shows, three TV shows, in addition to presenting publicly several times to various audiences. We are already discussing the possibility of pulling something together for 2010!
2 - The following weekend I was out in Montrose, CO where I was picked up in a 1977 Bronco 4x4 with three other guys. We headed out for the annual Men’s Advance (as opposed to retreat… because men don’t retreat, we advance!). What an amazing weekend. Of the some 50 guys who attended we had everything from seekers to pastors (who may still be seeking). What an incredible weekend together. If/when we move to Colorado, you can be rest assured that I will be joining these men as an attended. It was a powerful weekend as God challenged us to become men after His own heart.
There is more to come, but I am running to catch a flight to Sydney for the annual NNSW Big Camp a few hours north of the city. Please keep us in prayer as the entire series that I will be presenting seeks to look at Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. May He be lifted UP!
If you ever wondered what words you most frequently use on Twitter, you can go to: http://www.wordle.net. There you will find the ability to make your own list of words that are important to you as well or even provide the domain to your blog and it will compile it for you automatically. Good stuff.
I was happy to discover that the word that I most commonly Twitter was “Susan”! She is my wife and I love her!
I am sure that if you are anything like myself (which I pray you are not) that you struggle with doubt from time to time. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” In other words faith would not be faith if you could prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, but then again for you personally God may give you an experience that enables your faith to be unshakable. The problem is that we base much of what we believe on our five senses, and yet with God we cannot, per se, hear Him, touch Him, see Him, etc. Faith, for the most part, moves us out of our sensory world to the Spiritual realm where Spirit (God) touches spirit (us). That being said, it is difficult to define faith and that is where our testimony comes in.
God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, his character, the truthfulness of his word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt, will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth, will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith.
It is impossible for finite minds fully to comprehend the character or the works of the Infinite One.
Ellen is quick to dive into the importance of scripture, but again it is there that confusion can arise as well:
There are in the Bible many things which they cannot explain, or even understand, and Satan employs these to shake their faith in the Scriptures as a revelation from God.
Keeping in mind that in an early chapter A Knowledge of God, Ellen stated that “The Bible was not written for the scholar alone; on the contrary it was designed for the common people.” While I believe that is true, there are things in the Bible that are not so easy to understand. She continues:
If it (the Bible) contained no account of God but that which we could easily comprehend; if his greatness and majesty could be grasped by finite minds, then the Bible would not bear the unmistakable credentials of divine authority. The very grandeur and mystery of the themes presented, should inspire faith in it as the word of God.
On the next page, she adds:
To acknowledge that we cannot fully comprehend the great truths of the Bible is only to admit that the finite mind is inadequate to grasp the infinite; that man, with his limited, human knowledge, cannot understand the purposes of Omniscience.
Again, spiritual things are spiritually discerned (I Corinthians 2:14). In order for us to have a chance at understanding the deeper teachings in the Bible, we must have the Spirit guiding us into truth!
While there were a lot of great points in this chapter, I will close with this:
There is an evidence that is open to all,--the most highly educated, and the most illiterate,--the evidence of experience. God invites us to prove for ourselves the reality of his word, the truth of his promises. He bids us “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Instead of depending upon the word of another, we are to taste for ourselves.
I absolutely love this statement. If you’ve ever heard me share my testimony, you’ve probably heard me make the comment that, “If you don’t have faith, you need to go get some.” You may also recall hearing me comment that I am sick and tired of hearing people say, “I’ve been a Christian all my life and...” or “I’m a 29th generation Seventh-day Adventist...” Are you serious? Have you been a faithful Christian all your life? What does that mean exactly? According to Scripture the only person who has followed God their entire life is Jesus. What’s lacking for you, if you are struggling with doubt, may be experience. Have you experienced the life changing grace and power of God in your life? Have you come to the place where you recognize your brokenness and need of a Savior? Until that point of realization, Jesus, the Bible, church, etc. will have little to no value to you.
If you haven’t had an experience with Jesus to the point where you know that He is real, ask Him for one. Then watch out!
The classic line in this entire chapter is the second one which reads:
Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary, in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.
If we could all come to the place where we truly understood and believed this, imagine what our prayer lives would look like. Let’s break this down just a minute.
So when we pray to God, we should be praying to someone as though this Someone was our friend, better yet our best friend. Think about that for a minute. How do you talk to your close friends? I venture to guess that sometimes you are joking around having a good time, while other conversations go deep into the core of your being. When it comes to prayer it should be similar. Sometimes we are laughing, praising God for His goodness, while at other times we are really wrestling with an issue in our lives, at times bringing us to tears. The bottom line is that when you have something on your heart to say to God, say it. Tell Him how it is… what’s going on in your life… what your struggles are… what successes you’ve experienced.
Notice in the second sentence that prayer is not about us making ourselves “known to God,” “but in order to enable us to receive Him.” Prayer unlocks something. I wish that I had a more profound or accurate word for what prayer unlocks other than something, but the bottom line is that I don’t entirely understand how prayer works, all I know is that it does. It enables us or others to receive Jesus more fully and when Jesus is around, miracles take place.
Lastly, out of this paragraph, we see that prayer “brings us up to Him.” Do you want to be where God is? Pray! Do you want to become more like Jesus? Pray. Jesus prayed to His father and if Jesus prayed, how much more do you and I need to be people of prayer?
Switching gears a bit, I don’t know if you struggle with sin like I do (I pray you don’t!), but if you do here is what Ellen has to say about prayer, sin and Satan:
The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all because they do not make use of the privileges that God has given them in the divine appointment of prayer....
If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin, the Lord will not hear us: but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted. When all known wrongs are righted, we may believe that God will answer our petitions. Our own merit will never commend us to the favor of God; it is the worthiness of Jesus that will save us, his blood that will cleanse us; yet we have a work to do in complying with the conditions of acceptance.
Have you experienced that before. Your prayer life is flatline and who is tempting the daylights out of you? Satan. He is right there to coerce you to sin. That’s not to say that when you are praying heavily that you won’t be tempted, but when you are not praying, Satan seems to have much access on your life. When we pray, we are taking strides into “complying with the conditions of acceptance” and that is another reason why it is so important to pray.
Ellen states that “to pray in the name of Jesus is something more than a mere mention of that name at the beginning and the ending of a prayer. It is to pray in the mind and spirit of Jesus, while we believe his promises, rely upon his grace, and work his works.” After all, Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. When you pray, enter into the mind and spirit of Jesus! Pray for that Spirit that will guide you into all truth!
This chapter, A Knowledge of God, is a compliment of chapter 1. In both chapters Ellen emphasizes both the lessons learned about God through nature and the Bible. She states that “The Poet and the naturalist have many things to say about nature, but it is the Christian who enjoys the beauty of the earth with the highest appreciation, because he recognizes his Father’s handiwork and perceives His love in flower and shrub and tree” (88-89 Youth Edition). Like I always say, if you don’t have faith in God, you need to go get some. While I believe that faith is actually a gift from God, I believe that He supplies things in our lives that assist us on the journey to build our faith. If you are wrestling with faith, I would challenge you to consider taking some time to go sit out in nature somewhere. I am not a transcendentalist, but I do believe, as Ellen insinuates, that God can speak to us through the things that He has created.
What I really valued most from this chapter was the emphasis on studying the Word to get to know Jesus better. Listen to this:
Jesus said of the Old-Testament Scriptures,--and how much more is it true of the New,--"They are they which testify of me,” the Redeemer, him in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Yes, the whole Bible tells of Christ. From the first record of creation,--"for without him was not anything made that was made,"*--to the closing promise, “Behold, I come quickly,” we are reading of his works and listening to his voice. If you would become acquainted with the Saviour, study the Holy Scriptures.
Fill the whole heart with the words of God. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst. They are the living bread from heaven. Jesus declares, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” And he explains himself by saying, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Our bodies are built up from what we eat and drink; and as in the natural economy, so in the spiritual economy: it is what we meditate upon that will give tone and strength to our spiritual nature.
Imagine what your life may look like if you were regularly, daily digging into the Word of God, especially focusing on the life and teachings of Jesus. I hear it all the time of how boring or confusing the Bible is, but Ellen is quick to state that “The Bible… was designed for the common people.” Could it be that Satan wants you to think of the Bible in such terms? Have you tried reading the Gospel according to John lately? If not, would you consider joining me in the challenge? If you email me, I will commit to reading all 21 chapters with you. The bottom line is that I am ready to get real with Jesus! To grow in a knowledge of God, which is what this chapter is all about.
Simply put, if you are desiring a knowledge of God, there are two great places to start: 1) In creation; and 2) In His divinely inspired Word! Whether in nature on in the Word, pray to God that He would give you the Spirit to guide you into all truth! After all, “The Spirit of truth is the only effectual teacher of diving truth.” Go to Him now on your steps to Jesus!
This weekend we are in Hartford, CT at the Souther New England Conference Youth and Young Adult Rally. If you are in the area, please join us.
For those of you who have attending, your comments, questions or prayer requests are always appreciated and valued.
Lastly, if you are interested in joining us on the journey through the book, Steps to Christ, please CLICK HERE. Be sure to read the corresponding chapter with the book. I encourage you to underline it and make notes, write down comments and questions. Then post those on the blog!
WOW! Yet again, another amazing chapter. Here we move from “we are saved by grace through faith” to “faith without works is dead.” The focus of this chapter is simply that when Jesus is living in you, there is nothing that you will desire more than to serve others with an unselfish love! This is so powerful! Why? Because I believe that if you were honest with yourself, you would agree that your greatest moments of happiness and sense of fulfillment came at a moment when you were serving someone else. It may have been a mission trip or helping someone who was in need in your own neighborhood. When we act selflessly, we are living the life that Jesus not only modeled for us, but called us to live.
Our Saviour’s joy was in the uplifting and redemption of fallen men. For this he counted not his life dear unto himself, but endured the cross, despising the shame. So angels are ever engaged in working for the happiness of others. This is their joy. That which selfish hearts would regard as humiliating service, ministering to those who are wretched, and in every way inferior in character and rank, is the work of the sinless angels. The spirit of Christ’s self-sacrificing love is the spirit that pervades heaven, and is the very essence of its bliss. This is the spirit that Christ’s followers will possess, the work that they will do.
As we put our faith, hope and trust into Jesus, He will live in us. All we need to do is simply allow Him to come in (Revelation 3:20). As He does so, He will start living out His “self-sacrificing love” in and through our lives.
The Saviour’s life on earth was not a life of ease and devotion to himself, but he toiled with persistent, earnest, untiring effort for the salvation of lost mankind. From the manger to Calvary he followed the path of self-denial, and sought not to be released from arduous tasks, painful travels, and exhausting care and labor. He said, “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). This was the one great object of his life. Everything else was secondary and subservient. It was his meat and drink to do the will of God and to finish his work. Self and self-interest had no part in his labor.
I can honestly attest that the greatest joy in my life is ministering to others on behalf of Jesus! On the contrary, I will tell you that when I am not ministering to others or focused on serving other people but focused on myself, I am often miserable, depressed, and unmotivated. Can I get a witness?
No sooner does one come to Christ, than there is born in his heart a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus; the saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in his heart. If we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and are filled with the joy of his indwelling Spirit, we shall not be able to hold our peace. If we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we shall have something to tell.
Is this your experience? It certainly is mine. When I first met Jesus, I couldn’t stop talking about Him. And guess what? I haven’t stopped. Sometimes when I will study the Bible and something will really leap of the page, I just have to tell someone about it. I remember on a couple of occasions going into a restaurant after a Bible study and telling the cashier everything that I had just studied. This is what I would liken to the living water that is spoken of in John 4. The woman at the well went back into her town and said, “Come meet a Man!” When you’ve met Jesus, you can’t help but tell other people about Him.
And the effort to bless others will re-act in blessings upon ourselves. This was the purpose of God in giving us a part to act in the plan of redemption. He has granted men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature, and, in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellowmen. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Creator.
Can you imagine for a moment that you are God? Would you ever in a million years choose someone like you to represent perfect Majesty, Dominion, Holiness, Glory, Love, Power, etc? Maybe you are shacking your head yes, but for me, if I were God, there is no way that I would ever choose someone like myself to represent me. We must remember that God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Simply put, the way I/we roll is not the way that God rolls. He chooses people like you and me, broken, sinful, selfish people to represent Him. Why? Because it reveals to the world what our God is really like. His divine character/nature sees in you a pearl of infinite value and invites you to partner with Him in the plan of salvation! WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!
Here’s where Ellen flips the script,
Those who endeavor to maintain Christian life by passively accepting the blessings that come through the means of grace, and doing nothing for Christ, are simply trying to live by eating without working. And in the spiritual as in the natural world, this always results in degeneration and decay. A man who would refuse to exercise his limbs would soon lose all power to use them. Thus the Christian who will not exercise his God-given powers, not only fails to grow up into Christ, but he loses the strength that he already had.
I reiterate again, that faith without works is dead (James 2:20). If you are finding yourself frustrated in Jesus, the church, your christian experience, before you give up on it all, try taking a step of faith and serving someone else in the name of Jesus. I will promise you that it will be the greatest experience of your life. Go on a mission trip, volunteer at a local soup kitchen, help an elderly person with yard work, go visit folks in a retirement home or prison. Put your faith into practice.
The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others. They may not realize that they are doing any special good, but by their unconscious influence they may start waves of blessing that will widen and deepen, and the blessed results they may never know until the day of final reward. They do not feel or know that they are doing anything great. They are not required to weary themselves with anxiety about success. They have only to go forward quietly, doing faithfully the work that God’s providence assigns, and their life will not be in vain. Their own souls will be growing more and more into the likeness of Christ; they are workers together with God in this life, and are thus fitting for the higher work and the unshadowed joy of the life to come.
My friend, it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, what you do. We are all called by God to serve in His name! Choose this day who you will serve. As for me and my household, I will serve the Lord!
For starters, I was down in Trinidad and Tobago to address the issue of pornography. I want to thank Youth Alive for hosting the event and organizing everything. It was an absolutely power-packed week as we were on two radio shows, three TV shows, in addition to presenting publicly several times to various audiences. We are already discussing the possibility of pulling something together for 2010!
The following weekend I was out in Montrose, CO where I was picked up in a 1977 Bronco 4x4 with three other guys. We headed out for the annual Men’s Advance (as opposed to retreat… because men don’t retreat, we advance!). What an amazing weekend. Of the some 50 guys who attended we had everything from seekers to pastors (who may still be seeking). What an incredible weekend together. If/when we move to Colorado, you can be rest assured that I will be joining these men as an attended. It was a powerful weekend as God challenged us to become men after His own heart.
This weekend we are in Hartford, CT at the Souther New England Conference Youth and Young Adult Rally. If you are in the area, please join us.
