Participants: Jerry Page
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000930
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00:01 Music playing...
00:11 More music... 00:20 music... 00:27 some more music 00:32 music 00:41 On the Road... 00:54 ASI Tampa, Florida Friday Morning, Jerry Page 01:01 I would like to introduce to you today the Speakers that we have 01:07 Elder Jerry Page is President of the 01:10 Central California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 01:13 and his wife, Janet, is Ladies Ministries Director 01:18 and also Prayer Director 01:20 for the Central California Conference 01:22 I want to tell you a little story that happened in 2008 01:28 it was soon to be time for the Mid-America Union ASI Retreat 01:33 in fact, it was planning time for that Retreat, 01:35 I had the duty of finding the Speakers for the Retreat 01:42 we decided for the location to be 01:44 at Glacier View Ranch in Colorado, 01:46 we had formulated a list of excellent speakers 01:52 and we knew that whoever spoke, would do a very good job 01:55 but I felt the responsibility of praying very hard 01:59 that God would bring to us the person, 02:02 the exact person that would be needed 02:05 for the people that would be coming to that retreat. 02:08 We wanted the people to feel like 02:11 that they received a specially close walk with God 02:14 while they were there and when they left 02:17 that they would know that they had been drawn closer 02:20 to Jesus as a result of being at Glacier View, 02:24 before I asked any Speaker 02:27 I would go to my list and I would pray, 02:30 "Dear Lord, you know who the Speaker should be" 02:32 and as I would go to the phone 02:34 to place the call, I would pray again, 02:37 some Speakers said they couldn't make it 02:40 and I understood that that wasn't God's plan for us 02:44 pretty soon the list was... the Program was fulfilled 02:50 and it was time for Glacier View Ranch ASI Convention 02:55 to take place in about four weeks 02:57 I got a telephone call one day and it was from our Key Speaker 03:01 and he said, "I'm sorry to tell you 03:03 that I will not be able to come to Glacier View Ranch 03:05 I have another commitment that I didn't realize 03:08 and I won't be able to come. " 03:09 I remember, myself, thinking, "Well, God is in control 03:14 and whatever He thinks is best is fine 03:16 and He'll work something out" 03:17 I hung up the phone and when I left my office 03:21 and started to drive home, 03:22 I remember, I got this feeling of despair that came over me 03:25 and I thought, "3 and a 1/2 to 4 weeks 03:27 until the Glacier View Event for Mid-America ASI Chapter 03:31 and we don't have a Keynote Speaker, 03:32 Lord, what are we going to do?" 03:34 and about that time, I got this overpowering thought 03:37 that came within me and it was only four words, 03:40 and it was, "Don't you trust me?" 03:42 and I thought, "Yes Lord, I do trust you" 03:45 and I felt peaceful and I felt very curious 03:48 I wondered what God is going to do 03:50 I know He has a special plan for Mid-America ASI Retreat, 03:53 and so the next morning I got my list out 03:57 and I started going over it, who hadn't I contacted 03:59 and I prayed and I said, "Lord, please lead who 04:02 should answer our response and who should be the Speaker" 04:05 and so the names of Jerry and Janet Page were on the list 04:08 and I called Elder Page and he responded and called back 04:12 he was very, very kind, 04:14 and he told me a little bit about himself, 04:16 and he said that Colorado was his home 04:18 and he liked to come but he had a heavy schedule 04:21 and didn't know if he'd make it, 04:22 but he said, "Talk to my wife, 04:24 really she's the one who makes the appointments 04:26 for our prayer conferences" 04:27 so she called and I talked to her and she said, 04:30 "Well our son is coming home that weekend 04:33 I don't know if it would work" 04:35 she said, "I need to pray with my husband" 04:38 and there was a group of other people that pray 04:40 when it's time for us to accept Prayer appointments 04:43 for the Prayer Seminars 04:44 and so she said, "I'll call you back tomorrow" 04:48 so the next day she called back and she said, 04:52 "My husband and I prayed and we felt very impressed 04:55 that we should come to the Mid-America ASI Retreat" 05:00 as time passed and it was time for the Retreat, 05:04 I wondered within myself what God was going to do 05:07 we got to the Retreat, 05:09 there were probably about 80 people that came 05:12 I was almost embarrassed that the attendance wasn't larger, 05:16 we were placed in a little room with a nice stone fireplace 05:20 and the snow was gently coming down, 05:21 and when it was time for Elder Page to get up, 05:25 he had a simple format, he told about prayer, 05:28 and he told about stories of answered prayer, 05:31 and he praised God and then we prayed, 05:34 and when it was time for his wife to get up, 05:37 she did the same thing, 05:38 she told simple stories of how 05:41 God had answered wonderful prayers 05:42 that seemed impossible for them to solve 05:46 but God answered the prayers and then we praised God together 05:50 and then we prayed, and this continued 05:52 and it continued for two or three sessions 05:55 and I remember on Sabbath morning 05:58 we turned the Sabbath School over to them, 06:00 and then the Motel-room-type hallway 06:03 that led right outside the meeting room 06:06 we gathered together about 12 people 06:09 that were lay people there from the convention 06:12 and we got down on our knees in that room 06:13 and closed the door and we prayed 06:15 "Lord you've done some wonderful things here, 06:17 this is like a mini-Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is here 06:20 and we praise you for it dear God, 06:22 you know what happened last night, 06:24 you know that we felt your power 06:26 we know what happened during the Sabbath School hour 06:28 and how we felt your power, 06:29 oh Lord, please continue during the church service 06:32 and please continue during the afternoon session 06:34 so that when people leave here 06:36 they will feel like they've been with Jesus" 06:38 and I'm here to tell you that God continued to bless 06:42 and any one of you that may have been at that Retreat 06:46 can testify that God was present 06:48 that the Holy Spirit was there 06:50 and that we left feeling like 06:52 we had been drawn closer to Jesus 06:54 God used the Pages that weekend for a special purpose 06:58 to lead us closer to Him, 07:00 and I'm here to tell you this morning 07:03 that He will do the same thing this morning. 07:07 We serve an awesome God and He uses human people 07:10 to bring other people closer to Him, 07:12 and we will be blessed 07:14 by hearing the Pages, shall we pray? 07:17 Our dear mighty heavenly Father, 07:20 we do thank you 07:22 that we can come together right now 07:24 we pray for every person that's here, 07:26 we pray for every heart that needs to be strengthened, 07:30 dear Lord, help us to learn more about you, 07:33 help us to learn more about prayer, 07:36 I pray that you'll be with Janet Page 07:38 and that you'll be with Jerry Page 07:40 this morning as they present, 07:41 I pray that you will touch their lips 07:44 and help them Lord that they can convey their ideas 07:47 in a way that will bring each person present 07:50 to a closer relationship with you, 07:53 and may we leave this room 07:54 feeling like we have been with Jesus 07:56 thank you so much, Amen. 07:58 Special song... 08:04 Rafael Scarfullery on guitar... 08:07 Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit, 08:10 Bath my trembling heart and brow; 08:16 Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, 08:21 Come, O come and fill me now. 08:27 Fill me now, fill me now, 08:33 Jesus, come and fill me now; 08:39 Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, 08:46 Come, O come and fill me now. 08:53 fill me now... 08:59 come and fill me now... 09:05 Thou canst fill me, gracious Spirit, 09:11 Though I cannot tell Thee how; 09:16 But I need Thee, greatly need Thee, 09:22 Come, O come and fill me now. 09:29 Fill me now, fill me now, 09:35 Jesus, come and fill me now; 09:41 Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, 09:48 Come, O come and fill me now. 09:56 fill me now... 10:00 come and fill me now... 10:08 I am weakness, full of weakness, 10:15 At Thy sacred feet I bow; 10:19 Blest, divine, eternal Spirit, 10:27 Fill with power, and fill me now. 10:34 Fill me now, fill me now, 10:42 Jesus, come and fill me now; 10:49 Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, 10:55 Come, O come and fill me now. 11:04 fill me now... 11:11 come and fill me now... 11:20 Cleanse and comfort, bless and save me, 11:27 Bathe, Oh bathe my heart and brow; 11:33 Thou art comforting and saving, 11:39 Thou art sweetly filling now. 11:46 Fill me now, fill me now, 11:53 Jesus, come and fill me now, 12:00 Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, 12:08 Come, O come and fill me now. 12:16 Jesus, come and fill me now. 12:24 Jesus, come and fill me now... 12:31 fill me now... 12:37 Amen... 12:43 clapping... 12:49 Elder page walking to pulpit. 12:56 Praise the Lord for beautiful music 13:00 Amen... Amen... 13:02 What a privilege it is for Janet and I to at 13:06 the ASI Convention again, 13:08 it's been a blessing to us so many times in our lives 13:10 and to have the privilege today 13:12 of sharing a little of our testimony with you 13:14 is a great honor 13:15 and we just pray that the Holy Spirit will be here 13:18 and do in all of us what he wants to do today 13:22 we're hoping that He'll speak to our hearts as well. 13:24 So I'd like to just begin with it if I can 13:26 and we'll share a little more later 13:29 about how ASI has become one of the great waymarkers 13:33 and milestones in our own family's journey, 13:35 our own ministry journey lately, 13:37 but right now I just want to ask you 13:39 to pray with me, pray for the Holy Spirit 13:42 to speak to your hearts, pray silently 13:44 and just ask Him to use Janet and I as we talk today too, 13:47 and want to be a blessing 13:48 and want to get out of the way so He can use us, 13:50 let's pray together. 13:59 Praying silently... 14:06 Lord we are so thankful for all of your promises 14:10 Luke 11 says, "Whenever we ask 14:13 for the Holy Spirit, He comes, He speaks to us, 14:16 He gives us what we need, sometimes it's comfort, 14:19 sometimes it's rebuke, sometimes it's just teaching, 14:22 but always... it's what we need, 14:24 and we're praying for that today, Lord. 14:25 You know that Janet and I just want to be used 14:28 and lift up Jesus, we thank you so much 14:30 you're such a wonderful God, 14:32 for what you've been doing in our lives, 14:33 to teach us and grow us and 14:35 sometimes dragging us along in our resistance 14:37 in our rebellions but you're such a good God 14:40 so just now, 14:41 drive all the other influences away and use us I pray 14:43 in Jesus' name, Amen. 14:45 Tony Campolo tells an experience in prayer that he had, 14:53 when he went to preach at a Bible College, 14:54 when he got there, he said there were eight guys 14:57 who took him in a back room, circled around him, 15:00 put their hands on his head and they began to pray 15:02 and he said, "That's good, I need all the prayers I can get" 15:04 I hope you're praying over your pastors and your leaders 15:06 and each of you as you're doing things for God too 15:10 but he said, "These guys, they prayed long prayers," 15:12 you know what I mean? 15:13 And he said, as they prayed they went on and on and on... 15:16 and he said, "One guy, he wasn't even praying for me 15:19 he was praying for some guy named Charlie Stoltzfus 15:21 and he said, 'Oh Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus 15:23 he lives a mile down the road 15:25 on the right-hand side of that silver trailer 15:27 Lord, he left his wife and his three kids this morning 15:29 step in, intervene Lord, do something, save that family'" 15:31 and he said, every time he'd get done, 15:33 he'd start over and hit it again, 15:35 and every time he'd tell the Lord where he lived 15:37 he said, "You know Charlie, Lord, 15:38 he lives a mile down the road, 15:39 on the right-hand side of that silver trailer... " 15:41 Tony felt like saying, "What do you think, 15:43 He's saying, 'what's that address again' or something?" 15:46 And he said, "But kept doing it, he said, 15:48 'Lord, you know he left his wife 15:50 and his three children this morning 15:51 step in Lord, intervene, do something, save him,'" 15:53 finally he said, he quit 15:55 and they all quit and "I was kind of glad," he said, 15:57 because I don't know if you had eight guys 15:59 praying long prayers, when they get kind of tired 16:01 they lean on your head, so I was glad they all quit. 16:03 But he said, "I went and preached my sermon 16:05 I was getting in my car to drive back to Philadelphia, 16:09 and as I was getting on the freeway, he said, 16:11 there was this guy on-ramp 16:13 with his thumb stuck out hitchhiking... " and he said, 16:15 "I know you're not supposed to pick up hitchhikers, 16:16 because that's dangerous," 16:17 but he said, "You know, I'm a preacher, 16:19 any time I can get a captive audience in my car 16:21 and tell them about Jesus, I do it, so I picked the guy up, 16:23 we're headed down the road, I looked at him and I said, 16:25 'Hi, my name is Tony, what's yours?' 16:27 and he said, 'My name's... '" what do you think? 16:28 'Charlie Stoltzfus... ' 16:30 Tony said, "My eyes got big, I looked at him 16:32 and I got off at the next exit, 16:34 drove across the bridge and began to turn back" 16:36 his eyes got big, 16:38 he plastered himself up against the door and he said, 16:39 "Hey, Mister, where are you taking me?" 16:41 and Tony said, "I'm taking you home" 16:43 and he said, "Why?" 16:45 Tony said, "Because you left your wife 16:47 and your three kids this morning didn't you?" 16:49 And Charlie says, "Yeah, how did you know that?" 16:51 Tony said, "Because God told me" 16:53 you know what, 16:55 I believe the Lord did tell him, what do you say? 16:57 Tony said, "I went back to that exit, 17:00 I drove a mile down the road, and pulled in the driveway 17:02 in front of his silver trailer, that blew his mind... " 17:03 He said, "How did you know I lived here?" 17:06 Tony says, "Because the Lord told me" 17:08 his wife came to the door 17:10 and said, "You're back, you're back" 17:12 so Charlie went up, whispered in her ear 17:13 and pointed at Tony, and her eyes got big, 17:15 and Tony said, "I said to them, 17:16 'Now listen, you two get in that trailer, you sit down, 17:18 and I'm going to talk and you're going to listen'" 17:20 he said, "Man did they listen!" 17:21 he was like, "I was EF Hutton, or God himself, 17:23 that afternoon, 17:25 I was able to lead those two young people to Jesus Christ, 17:27 and that guy is a preacher in California today" 17:30 hallelujah, amen. 17:31 Jeremiah 33:3, if you have your Scriptures 17:34 it's a text that many people call "God's phone number" 17:37 Jeremiah 33:3, what does it say? 17:40 "Call to me" and what? "I will answer you" 17:44 but that doesn't stop there does it? 17:46 and that's really our testimony this morning, 17:49 as Jesus has been dragging us along in a new understanding 17:53 of prayer and intimacy with Him 17:55 and what He wants to do in our lives 17:56 with spiritual revival and reformation. 17:58 We have discovered that it isn't just not about 18:00 getting stuff when you pray... right? 18:02 It isn't just about getting answers 18:03 but it's about the Creator of the universe 18:06 who creates worlds and universes and galaxies with a word 18:09 teaching us and growing us and telling us what He's like, 18:13 amen... sharing His personality 18:15 we get to know Him, what His character is like 18:18 and all of those kinds of things. 18:19 Thank God that when we pray, 18:22 when we talk to Him 18:23 when we just listen, pour our hearts out to Him, 18:25 I was reading this morning the Psalms, 18:27 we just pour our hearts out to God about stuff, 18:28 He tells us what we need to know, 18:30 sometimes it's about our own heart 18:33 and all the troubles there, 18:34 sometimes it's about somebody that we can help 18:36 just like Charlie, right? 18:37 And sometimes when we are praying in groups, 18:39 I've discovered, if we are praying with other people 18:41 who are connected to the Holy Spirit, 18:43 many times God will speak to us through them, doesn't He? 18:45 Give us information we need or minister to one another, 18:49 that's why we become so excited about United Prayer 18:50 as well as our personal devotion life in our walk with God, 18:53 so, I just... I'm here to praise God and thank Him, 18:57 I'll tell you what, Janet and I... 18:59 if you came thinking 19:00 you were going to have an expert presentation 19:01 about prayer you're going to be disappointed, 19:03 because we're not experts in prayer, are you? 19:05 No, we're just on a journey with the rest of you, 19:08 learning, but God is so good, 19:10 He's teaching and growing us 19:12 and so we just share testimony of our struggles... 19:15 our trying to get away from it sometimes, 19:17 all the stuff we have to learn and grow 19:18 and I've just discovered that it affirms 19:21 and many people say, 19:22 "Hey, that's the way the Holy Spirit is teaching me too" 19:24 and it strengthens and helps us as we go along, 19:27 as I look back over my life, in fact, I realize 19:29 how often I've been asleep in my life, 19:31 I was Personal Ministries Director 19:33 in Rocky Mountain Conference for a while, 19:35 and I was up at a meeting in Glacier View Ranch, 19:38 and I was staying in a room, 19:39 Janet wasn't able to be with me 19:40 I was staying in a room with Bob Rice 19:42 who was the Educational Superintendent at that time, 19:44 in the middle of the night I had one of those dreams 19:46 you know what they're like? It was like virtual reality, 19:48 I was just sure that it was my wife, Janet, in the other bed, 19:51 and I got up in the darkness of the night 19:53 and I began to sleepwalk across the room 19:55 towards poor Bob, thinking it was Janet, 19:57 and I ended up standing right over Bob 19:59 on top of the bed looking down at him 20:01 and just then he woke up and looked at me, 20:03 and I woke up and looked at him, 20:04 you know, it was one of those moments in life, 20:06 and I have San Francisco in my Conference 20:08 but that's not what's happening but Bob says, 20:10 Bob says to me, he has a good sense of humor, 20:13 he says, "Jerry, I won't tell a soul" 20:14 and I said, "Bob, I'm going to tell everybody 20:18 before you get a chance," 20:20 and I gathered all the pastors at breakfast 20:21 and I told them about my sleepwalking experience 20:24 but, you know, to me that's metaphor, 20:26 I don't share it just to have you smile but rather 20:29 it's a metaphor of my life, how about you? 20:32 How often I think I'm awake when really I'm asleep? 20:35 God in His mercy has to wake me up all the time, doesn't He you? 20:39 Every day I'm chairing a committee 20:41 He says, "Jerry, you're becoming a bureaucrat again, 20:42 wake up, see with my vision, 20:44 stop just being an Administrator, be my man, 20:47 be alive in me... be filled with the Holy Spirit 20:49 don't run this church humanly, 20:51 run it with the power of the Holy Spirit. " 20:52 I love Mark's sermon yesterday, wasn't that powerful? 20:55 Talking about how... and I just have to say too 20:58 as a church leader, "Forgive us, 20:59 forgive us for trying to run the church by human methods, 21:02 doing things that we're pretty sure 21:03 that we can pull off on our own power," 21:05 we should be praying so big 21:07 that we can't pull it off on our own power 21:09 that only the God of the universe can show He's alive 21:11 and only He will get the glory, amen 21:12 and I hear a lot of testimonies with that kind of thing. 21:15 Eighty-one years old and these meetings... 21:17 what's a steal... last night... 21:18 I mean, I don't know if I'll be doing that at 81... 21:20 but I know some other people 21:21 that are getting up in years doing fantastic things for God, 21:25 anyway I love this Scripture and I won't read it to you from 21:29 I usually use the New King James, 21:30 but I'm going to use the message paraphrase on this 21:32 because I like what it says and think about your own life 21:34 right now whether you're in ministries 21:35 or whether you're doing a career 21:37 or you're trying to be a minister 21:38 while you're doing a career, 21:40 Romans 13 verses 11 and 12, the message paraphrase says this 21:43 "But make sure you don't get so absorbed 21:45 and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations 21:50 that you lose track of the time and doze off oblivious to God 21:56 the night is about over, amen, dawn is about to break 22:01 be up and awake to what God is doing, 22:03 God is putting the finishing touches 22:04 on the salvation work he began, when we first believed 22:09 thank God, He's waking us up all the time. 22:13 What is our greatest need? We know what it is, right? 22:15 What are we told in the Spirit of Prophecy? 22:17 A revival of primitive Godliness is our first and our most urgent 22:22 of all our needs, amen, and as you read on down that page 22:24 it talks about confession, humiliation, seeking God, 22:27 but it talks about prayer 22:28 being the only way to expect a revival. 22:30 So what we're talking about this morning is 22:32 just a thing we've come to find is... 22:34 is God rules in the great controversy, somehow, 22:37 but unleashes His power, 22:38 when we talk to Him, when we ask Him, 22:40 He says, when he was leaving the disciples, John 14:14 to 16, 22:43 he says, "Ask anything in my name, of the father, 22:45 and I will do it to glorify Him and to bear fruit. " 22:48 Ask anything... 22:50 it says it a number of times in those three chapters. 22:52 I'm so weak in faith so many times, 22:55 I look back over my life 22:57 and think of when God first woke me up, 22:59 I guess, is to become a Christian 23:00 I was raised in a good Adventist home, 23:02 and had a dad who was a Publishing Director, 23:05 very loving, Guy Art Page and 23:07 he was always out on the road with the Literature Evangelists, 23:09 my mom was a good lady, both of them have passed now 23:11 I look forward to the resurrection 23:12 but my mom 23:14 had had some stuff in her past 23:15 she was a little more legalistic in her views 23:17 and to her it was about the rules and behavior, you know, 23:20 "Jerry, you know what you ought to be doing" 23:22 and you know, they say, 23:23 "Rules without relationship leads to... " 23:26 what...? can lead to a rebellious heart, 23:28 that's what happened with me, 23:29 and I won't go into all the details this morning 23:30 because I don't want to bore you with all that but... 23:32 that's what happened to me, 23:33 by the time I was late in Grade School, 23:36 I was running with the wrong kids and shoplifting 23:37 then kicked out of few academies and made to leave a college 23:41 even... one of our colleges, but I wanted to be out, 23:43 I wanted to be free of all the rules and the Adventism, 23:46 so if you got... 23:47 this little piece of a talk is about... 23:49 if you got kids, grandkids, relatives, loved ones, 23:53 that haven't come back to Jesus, 23:54 here's what to do, 23:55 now my folks had made mistakes, 23:57 and I was getting raised by the TV too much 23:59 and while they were at the LE Rally 24:01 hearing wonderful testimonies, 24:02 I was chasing the girls around the lake and stuff, you know, 24:04 but God had mercy upon me and on them 24:08 and when they got to the point, 24:10 when I was buying drugs, selling drugs, 24:11 and using them, I was living free, 24:13 and I was on my way towards Law School, 24:15 had everything on the way I thought I wanted it all along, 24:17 but my parents would not let me go, 24:19 and instead of being embarrassed 24:21 about their "preacher kid" that was so rebellious, 24:23 they got everybody they could 24:25 in the middle part of this United States, 24:26 praying for Jerry Page, I didn't have a chance, 24:29 they prayed me miserable, hallelujah. 24:32 Now we can't force our kids to be saved, 24:34 is that right? They have free choice, 24:37 but we sure can make them miserable if need be, amen, 24:39 and my folks got everybody praying for me 24:41 and so when the other kids were enjoying the drug trip, 24:44 I was worried about my heart, something else, 24:46 I said, "Just relax Jerry, so what if you die, 24:48 see what's next... " but it was in me, 24:49 all those Pathfinders and Sabbath Schools seeds 24:51 and all those other things were in there 24:53 and God was watering them 24:54 and so I won't go into all the details 24:57 we'd stolen some Cocaine from a hospital there in Denver, 25:00 and we were selling it on the backstreets of Boulder, 25:02 and we were thinking about using needles 25:04 and we had gone about as far as we could go 25:06 back in 1970 without totally blowing our life away 25:09 one of my friends, a Treasurer's kid, 25:11 died in a drug deal in Lancers Park?, 25:13 and others were getting into that level, 25:15 but we had such a bad drug trip one day... my girl and I, 25:17 that night we were sitting around 25:19 as we were coming down off the psychedelic drug, 25:21 and we were saying, 25:23 "What is going to make us happy? 25:24 We got away from the rules and the schools 25:26 and the Adventism and all that stuff, 25:28 but our friends were crummy... we hate them, 25:30 we hate people, they cheat us in the drug deals, 25:33 we're not happy, what's going to make us happy?" 25:36 And God brought to our minds that night, 25:37 the little lady from the church that came with a casserole 25:40 trying to love us no matter how we were, 25:42 Bible worker, old Dan Collins, 25:44 the ex-alcoholic who knew Dan... wild guy, 25:46 my dad sicced him on us at the apartment, 25:48 he came, knocked on the door, 25:49 he said we weren't very nice to him 25:51 so he got mad, stepped down... 25:52 as he was going down the steps... said, 25:53 "I don't care God, let them go to hell" 25:55 but then God convicted him, 25:56 he went back up and he knocked on the door again 25:58 gave me his card, stuffed it in my bib overalls 26:00 and said, "Listen, you're going to need me some day, 26:01 and when you do, you call me. " 26:03 That night as we sat there thinking... 26:05 God brought back to us again 26:06 that really what we were looking for was love, 26:09 people who loved us, 26:10 my parents who had been unconditional in their love 26:12 even though they made some mistakes, 26:13 but the point is, no matter how many mistakes 26:16 you've made in your loved one, your kid, 26:18 don't be discouraged about that, 26:20 God makes up the years the locust has eaten 26:22 what you need to do... is get many people intensely praying 26:26 for your kid and God will do things, 26:28 and unleashes His power, I don't understand it all 26:30 some get prayed for... more than others 26:32 I don't have to figure that out, 26:33 I just know that the Bible says, 26:34 "If you pray, I will answer 26:36 and if two or three pray, I will answer" 26:39 and I believe... in united prayer there's even more power 26:41 and I'll share a statement 26:42 from Ellen White in a minute on that. 26:44 But anyway, that night, 26:45 we decided we'd give Jesus a chance. 26:46 He said it was 3:00 in the morning when we called him, 26:48 and very soon after that, 26:50 we were studying the Bible with him 26:52 and got dragged in a little church... Denver West there 26:55 and Denver was on fire with love, 26:56 they didn't care if we had long hair and beard, we looked like 26:58 we crawled out from under a rock there in the lake... 27:00 in the '60s, early '70s, 27:02 but they just loved us... if we weren't at the small group 27:04 if we weren't at the Fellowship Dinner, 27:05 if we weren't at church, they asked, "where were you?" 27:08 and they loved us into the church... and we went back then 27:10 six months later, we were re-baptized 27:11 went back to Andrews and started into ministry. 27:14 I saw Paul Cannon here from the bridge, 27:16 we prayed together yesterday after Mark's sermon and 27:18 when I walked on the campus at Andrews... 27:20 and I want to share with you now several keys 27:23 that in my life, always bring me back 27:25 when I need it... to Jesus and to life 27:27 and to be awake in Him, 27:28 one of them is, I walked on the campus and 27:30 the guy in charge of Christian Ministries that year said, 27:33 "Hey, we're doing Mission '72 we're going to have 13 groups 27:36 going out... and students to hold meetings 27:37 in different churches, would you coordinate that? 27:39 And I said, "Sure, no problem" 27:40 I didn't have a clue what I was doing 27:42 but God let me lead from the beginning 27:44 took me into a small group, we prayed, we praised, 27:47 we drove two hours every Sabbath morning 27:50 singing praise songs and going on ministry 27:52 and get a hold of a little lay Evangelistic Meeting 27:54 and that year... you heard last night Ron Clouzet say... 27:56 that year we had so many baptisms in North America, why? 27:58 Because so many people were doing it, 28:00 lay people and pastors together, next year can be like that 28:03 in 2009... as we all pull together 28:06 to see something major happen 28:07 anyway, small groups, service, claiming the promises, 28:11 Len Cloumet is coming around with the ABCs of prayer 28:14 those are the things when I do it... keep me alive 28:17 you see, running the church is not enough for me, 28:20 I can do all kinds of administration, 28:22 I can tell you how to get to work, 28:24 but unless I give Bible Studies to the lady that cuts my hair, 28:26 and keep working for Debra until she finally joins, 28:29 she's attending now, I'm not going to be alive 28:31 plus I give out literature, I got my little pack 28:34 our student LEs, they won't let us alone, 28:35 I have my pack of literature, man, 28:37 I left one for the housekeeping this morning, 28:38 wherever I am, I want to be doing something 28:40 for Jesus personally, 28:42 then it's a living experience for me, then I'm alive in Him, 28:45 then prayer begins to be powerful for me, 28:47 I found out some other things in my journey 28:50 well, it was probably five years later that I became perfect 28:52 and it's really been wonderful since then, 28:53 I have just loved being a 28:55 perfect prayer warrior and a perfect guy, 28:57 and my wife's talking next so I got to be real careful here, 29:01 but you know, in my prayer times, 29:03 and I don't know how it is with you 29:05 I have discovered that sometimes, 29:08 my prayer life becomes very dry, 29:10 it's like reading an old history book when I read the Bible, 29:12 it's like, I can't get through to God, 29:15 He's not responding and I just discovered 29:17 that I need to just keep pressing 29:18 and keep asking Him to wake me up and help me 29:21 to give me a word from His Scriptures 29:23 to help show me if there's sin, 29:24 whatever it is in my life that I need, 29:25 sometimes I've gone to prayer 29:28 and ended up more depressed when I got done 29:29 than when I started, have you ever been there? 29:31 They gave you a little hand-out sheet, 29:33 hopefully you got the statements there, 29:35 and I've got a number of statements, 29:37 I'll just hit a couple of them in the time I have this morning 29:39 but I've got to hurry here, 29:41 but on the back of the page, there are a couple of good ones, 29:44 Twelve is a good one on parents by the way 29:46 on the Mother Augustine, praying for her kid 29:48 and how God answered her prayer and He's still doing it today 29:50 Janet is going to tell you a little bit about our youngest 29:51 and some of the issues that we're going through with him, 29:53 but number 13 there talks about turning away from 29:56 the four things Satan tries to get us diverted to: 29:58 the pleasures of this world, 30:00 life's cares, perplexities and sorrows, 30:02 the faults of others or your own faults and imperfections 30:04 to any or all of these, he'll seek to divert the mind, 30:06 don't be misled by his devices, 30:08 many who are really conscientious 30:09 and desire to live for God 30:11 he too often leads to dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses 30:14 and thus by separating them from Jesus, 30:15 he hopes to gain the victory, don't make self the center 30:18 and indulge in anxiety and fear as to whether you'll be saved, 30:21 all this turns the soul away from the source of strength 30:23 commit the keeping of your soul to God, 30:25 trust in Him, talk and think of Jesus, 30:27 let self be lost in Him. Steps to Christ, page 71. 30:30 One of the great keys that Jesus gave me a number of years ago 30:34 when He kind of woke Janet and I up in a new way, 30:36 she'll talk more about that in a minute but 30:37 one of the things He gave me was, in my prayer time, 30:41 instead of going right to my sins, 30:42 spending a lot of time there thinking about how bad I am, 30:44 or going right to my knees... 30:46 to start out by praising Him, can you do that? 30:48 In your personal time, in your group prayer, 30:51 always be focusing on how good He is 30:53 His promises, the Word of God, 30:54 praising Him that way, 30:56 when I do that, it changes my mind, 30:57 now God is in charge, His promises, He can do it, 31:01 if I spend too much time on my sins, 31:03 now we need to confess, some people don't believe in 31:04 confessing anymore and we need to confess specifically, 31:06 we're in the Day of Atonement, 31:07 we're in the time of the end 31:09 but we need to get off those and start thinking 31:12 about the sin forgiver and the sin cleanser 31:14 the one who can make us new, otherwise we'll end up depressed 31:18 and thinking about other people's problems, 31:19 everybody... pray for them but don't just dwell on it 31:21 because by beholding you become changed. 31:23 There are a lot of other things I can say 31:25 as a Leader of the church 31:26 I've sometimes use prayer to manipulate, how about you? 31:29 That's how you start meetings and end them, right? 31:31 That's how you get people to be quiet 31:33 so that you can have your meeting 31:34 by God's grace we have decided a number of years ago 31:38 and it's making a difference in our lives 31:39 we'll talk more about it, 31:41 but to take meetings as a time to really talk to God 31:44 most of our Staff Meetings 31:46 and in our Executive Committee and other things, 31:48 we take from half-an-hour to an hour to really pray 31:50 conversationally, sentence prayers, back and forth 31:52 to talk to God and I've discovered 31:54 when we do that in our meetings, 31:55 it changes our hearts, brings us into unity, 31:58 God comes into that place where we have praises of Him 32:01 and it changes the meetings, 32:02 we fight in our School Boards, 32:04 we fight in our Church Boards, and all that stuff, 32:05 but if we will take time to really talk to God, 32:08 our actions will become actions of the Spirit 32:10 instead of just words that we put on paper, 32:12 which don't really mean much, 32:14 well, I can go on and on, but I won't here, 32:17 my own personal prayer life is the core 32:20 but we have come to find that 32:22 united prayer is what flows out of that 32:24 in my own prayer life, 32:25 if I don't take time with God everyday, 32:27 and I'm telling you something 32:28 you already know and do... most of you... 32:30 but I discovered that I'm running on my own power 32:33 and that's a pretty bad thing because when you get to Jerry 32:35 when he's not filled with the Spirit, 32:37 not living in God, it's not a pretty thing, 32:39 I'm a pretty clear guy in many ways 32:41 one day I got back from a trip 32:43 and one of the guys in the office was doing it again, 32:45 he was gossiping about this other couple, 32:48 and I had talked to him before about that, 32:50 you don't have that problem in your Institution 32:53 or in your Organization, do you? 32:55 He was nailing them, he was saying stuff about them 32:56 that wasn't even true, he was hurting their feelings 32:58 and so, it really annoyed me, upset me, 32:59 and so I said... I made an appointment with him 33:02 for the next Tuesday, and then I said, 33:04 "I want to meet with you about this" 33:05 and as we got together, well, actually, that morning, 33:08 I did what I try to do everyday 33:10 but sometimes... get too rushed and don't... 33:12 that is... spend time with God, 33:13 but I said, "You know Lord, 33:15 it seems like your Word is getting really dry again" 33:17 you know I have in my fly-leaf of my Bible, 33:19 sixth volume of the Testimonies, pages 392 and 393, 33:22 it says, "The Word of the Living God 33:24 is not merely written, but spoken. 33:25 The Bible is God's voice speaking to us, 33:27 just as surely as though we could hear it 33:29 with our ears. If we realize this, 33:32 with what awe would we open God's Word, 33:34 and with what earnestness would we search His precepts!" 33:36 I said, "God, this is supposed to be your Word, 33:38 please speak to me today," 33:40 and I wasn't thinking about this guy, but God was. 33:42 As I opened up, I'd been reading through Proverbs, 33:45 and these, I have put in yellow several texts, 33:48 it jumped off the page at me, 33:49 have you had that happen to you? 33:51 You're reading... and I try to pray a lot with the Bible open, 33:53 and praising through that and claiming promises 33:56 and letting him cleanse me with the Word open 33:58 but anyway, I'm reading now through Proverbs 12, 34:00 "A fool shows his annoyance at once," 34:01 God was annoyed with this guy, 34:03 "reckless words pierce like a sword, 34:05 but the tongue of the wise brings healing" 34:07 I was going to cut him up with my cleric tongue, 34:10 and leave him bleeding, I had a little legal brief there 34:12 I was going to show him and make him squirm 34:14 and then watch... 34:15 there will be behavior modification, you know, 34:18 "A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself," 34:20 I was going to dump everything I knew on the poor guy, 34:22 "A righteous man is cautious in his friendship" 34:25 how does the Lord do that? you know... 34:26 I could tell you stories for the rest of the week, 34:28 of my journal here, 34:29 I've got my journal with me, I won't let you get at it, 34:31 but in here... are the times I know God is alive, 34:33 because when I ask Him to speak to me, 34:36 He speaks in such unique and personal ways 34:38 that I know, it's not a coincidence. 34:40 "The more you pray," they say, 34:42 "the more coincidences you'll see" amen, 34:43 and that's what's happened to me, 34:46 anyway, so I went to meet with that guy, 34:48 God brought to my mind, I said, 34:49 "Jesus, I'm not going to go in the right spirit today, 34:52 I'm going in the spirit of 'Jerry' instead of 'Jesus'" 34:54 and Galatians 6:1 came to my mind, 34:56 you know it says there, "You who are spiritual 34:58 want to restore somebody else, do so how? 35:00 "In the spirit of gentleness, 35:02 remembering your own weaknesses, your own sins... " 35:04 so as I met with him, I said, "Brother, I've got a problem" 35:07 I read Galatians 6:1 and 2 35:08 and I said, "I often talk about people 35:10 behind their backs in negative ways," 35:12 anybody can raise your hand and say you don't ever do that? 35:14 Yeah, I'll see you afterwards, no... 35:17 and then I shared a little bit of what I knew... with him, 35:20 I said, "I want you to pray for me that I'll be like Jesus" 35:23 I shared a little of what I knew he'd been doing, 35:25 he got the point, we ended up with our arms 35:27 around each other tears in our eyes, 35:29 praying for both of us to be more like Jesus. 35:31 you know, it was a much better ending 35:32 and I can tell you stories all day long 35:34 that didn't work out so nice, but this one did, 35:36 but you know, God says, "I'll work on you morning by 35:38 morning, and give you a word to help" 35:39 that night I got home late, the Pastor was on the line, 35:43 he was really angry, he said, 35:44 "My members are going around behind my back, 35:46 saying stuff about me, it's not true, 35:48 I'm going to sit them down tomorrow, 35:49 I'm going to really straighten them out," 35:50 isn't God good? 35:52 He worked me over in the morning, 35:54 so I could have a better meeting with my staff member, 35:55 and be able to help a pastor... cool down 35:57 and do it better the next day with his members. 36:00 God will do that every time for us 36:02 if we'll spend the time with Him... He will do that. 36:04 Now I've only got a couple of minutes here to tell you 36:06 one of the most amazing stories in our whole journey, 36:08 but I want to do it because... I'm a leader out of control. 36:12 You probably notice that by the way I speak 36:14 but, I'm a Leader out of control I hate it but I love it, 36:17 because we've been on a journey in Central California 36:20 since we went there and again... 36:21 I can tell you lots of other stories, 36:22 but when I went there, 36:24 Janet... we got prayer partners together 36:26 and she brings the prayer partner groups... 36:28 some of them together every week at our Conference Office 36:31 for three hours on Wednesday and I have a sheet I give them, 36:33 two or three pages that are thanks and answers to prayer, 36:36 and then about 15 pages of all the latest needs and crises 36:39 and stuff I can't handle and personnel and money 36:41 and all those issues 36:42 and every week... they sit there for three hours 36:45 and just pray... back and forth 36:46 as the Spirit leads them over those 36:47 a few sentences by this one, a few sentences by that one, 36:50 praising, thanking, claiming promises 36:52 and God does tremendous stuff. 36:53 But you know as they were seeing miracles, 36:55 in Camp Meeting, we have a group of 30 that pray 36:56 from way before... to all during... 36:59 and God does tremendous stuff and they were seeing miracles 37:01 but they were frustrated because the point was 37:05 in your church, in your school board, 37:06 in your problems in your family, your marriage, 37:08 God will answer your prayers too, amen. 37:11 He says, "You have not... " why? "because you ask not" 37:14 He says, "I will give you an answer to prayer 37:16 things I can't give you if you don't ask" 37:18 and they said, "People just don't get it" 37:21 and so they began to ask God, "What should we pray about?" 37:24 Do you do that? Romans 8:26 37:26 Ellen White says in Christ's Object Lessons, 37:28 it says that God will inspire our prayers, 37:30 He will actually indict prayers out of us what He needs 37:32 in the great controversy and I don't know how it works 37:34 but I know in the great controversy 37:36 my testimony is... and you can too... 37:38 that there are rules there somehow, 37:40 God is limited in... somewhat to our prayers. 37:43 in some ways, He's limiting Himself, 37:45 He says, "if you don't ask, I can't give it to you" 37:47 and so, I believe that when we pray, 37:50 He unleashes His power, anyway, 37:52 they said, "What shall we pray about" 37:53 and they felt impressed over a period of time 37:55 to pray about the Evangelism offering at Camp Meeting. 37:57 Now this wasn't Leaders with smarts... strategy 37:59 thinking in a room about how to get more money 38:01 out of the members to do Evangelism, 38:03 this was some prayer partners saying, "God" like Mueller did, 38:07 "give us a witness... a testimony... 38:09 that will show people that you can do anything 38:11 in their church, in their marriage, in their home 38:13 and to quit giving up on the stuff around them 38:16 and praying intensely about it, unitedly," 38:17 and so, they started praying, 38:20 the first year they prayed that it would overflow 38:22 to show me as a Leader and others... that it could be done 38:25 begin with 70,000 to 80,000... or $100,000 a year, 38:28 that year, it went to a $150,000 38:30 so they came to me and said, 38:31 "Jerry, raise the goal next year, 38:32 raise it up to $200,000 or $250,000 38:34 we're going to pray for $250,000" 38:35 now what did the Leaders say? 38:36 "Are you crazy? 38:38 You had a good thing one year here 38:40 but don't... what if we set a goal and don't reach it?" 38:43 That's where I was... in my thoughts... lack of faith 38:45 so anyway, they said, "Okay" 38:46 so I raised it a little $125,000... 38:48 we have a Committee and we raised it together 38:50 that year, they were praying for $250,000 38:52 and guess what it went to? $250,000... in ten days... 38:55 and all we were doing was asking the people at Camp Meeting 38:58 when you pray during these ten days, 39:00 ask what God wants you to do 39:01 in terms of reaching the lost in this Conference 39:04 and so... anyway... I've got to make this quick, 39:07 the story goes on... went to $350,000... 39:09 and then they were praying for half a million 39:10 and I'm just getting up in front of the people at SoCal 39:12 I'm going, "Folks, I'm not in control here, 39:14 we know what we're doing, I mean, we have... 39:17 we try to use our left brain 39:18 we try to work as hard as we can, 39:20 we know the ministries we'd like to do, 39:21 we started Bible Workers, Church Plants, 39:22 we upped our meetings, 39:24 we had Youth Evangelism Teams, 39:25 all this stuff was beginning to happen, 39:27 we told them about it, but we said, 39:28 "We're not going to twist your arms, 39:29 this is a prayer thing... it's a prayer journey we're on, 39:32 and if God wants you to give, fine... 39:33 and if He doesn't, don't" they went over a half a million, 39:37 went to $600,000... $700,000... over several years there 39:42 and we kept just watching people love it 39:44 and then the story took a twist, evangelism was growing 39:47 people were beginning to believe more in prayer, 39:49 but still... you know... kind of thinking... 39:51 "Well, that's the prayer partners, 39:52 that's the special group over here or something... " 39:54 and so, we began to watch that happen, 39:57 and then... the third thing that happened is 40:01 the wonderful journey of trust and faith, 40:04 as many people were pledging, 40:05 God would tell them to give more than they could see... 40:08 Janet and I are way, way off the limb on what we pledged 40:10 because we don't know how to do it 40:11 but every year, when God brings that about, 40:13 then we had these wonderful testimonies of stewardship 40:15 it's wonderful, 40:16 so at SoCal Camp Meeting if you ever watch, 40:18 we have people talking about... this widow got up last year, 40:20 her husband had died, 40:21 she knew they couldn't give us much this year, 40:23 they've been giving this... 40:24 God told her to give twice as much... so she did it, 40:26 God gave her a short-term job just to pay the very penny of 40:30 that pledge and then the job stopped. 40:31 She couldn't wait to get in the pulpit that next Camp Meeting 40:34 and share what God had done for her 40:35 because He's alive, done something for her... 40:37 so on the Stewardship journey as well, 40:40 and again, about three or four years ago, 40:42 they were praying for a million dollars at Camp Meeting 40:45 all these ministries were going, we had all these people 40:47 but only for one year at a time, so I come into Camp Meeting, 40:49 Jan and I come in, we don't know if we're going 40:51 to get a $100,000 or a million or what we were going to get, 40:55 and that's a stressful time, sometimes we say, 40:57 "You know, we'd like to get out of this Lord," 41:00 but it's such a wonderful journey too, 41:02 well, about three or four years ago, 41:03 it went over a million dollars, we couldn't believe it, 41:05 but our people were just enjoying it 41:07 and the Ministries were expanding... 41:09 and if you want to see, I've got a whole 25-page 41:11 document of a report of all the ministries that are going on 41:13 in our Conference, health and literature evangelism 41:16 all those things that have exploded 41:17 but, it went over a million... 41:19 then the next year, when you come back... and you go 41:21 "What's going to happen this year, 41:22 are we going to have to lay people off, 41:24 what are we going to have to do?" 41:25 That year they were praying... 41:27 Janet began to be convicted that God was telling her 41:29 to pray for two million in fact, we were on a 41:31 pre-prayer walk, the Sabbath before, 41:33 and she prayed for two million 41:34 in front of the Treasurer, he about dropped over... 41:36 but you know last Saturday night, 41:39 the offering had gone up to about $900,000 41:41 which I was hoping... would go to over a million again 41:43 people were just asking God, "What do you want me to do?" 41:45 and listening, you know, that Saturday night 41:48 as I was putting a mic on to speak for the meeting, 41:49 a guy walked up to me and he said "How is the offering going" 41:52 and I said, "Well, it's going pretty good," 41:54 I said, "looks like it's going over a million again, 41:55 and we just praise God" I said, "You know, some of the 41:57 prayer partners, I don't know if they're crazy or what 41:58 they're praying for two million dollars" 42:00 his eyes got big, he said, "Are you kidding me?" 42:01 He said, "My brother and I, we were talking to our family... 42:04 this afternoon, about what God wanted us to do 42:05 we were going to give a $100,000 42:07 to get you well over a million, 42:08 but God told us directly to give a million dollars," 42:10 so that night, when we told the people 42:13 what the total was, it was two million dollars 42:14 for evangelism for the next year praise the Lord, 42:16 you think people are praising God, 42:18 because everybody was asking, the widow was asking, 42:21 and those who had a little more were asking 42:24 but you know, the next year you come back 42:26 and now it's two million... you got all these ministries going 42:28 new initiatives and everything, 42:29 what if it's going to happen the next year? 42:30 And so we came back the next year, 42:32 we prayed, and the last night it was 42:34 getting a little over a million by Saturday night, 42:36 we praised God for that 42:37 somebody came up that night and said, 42:40 "We've been praying what we should do and God 42:42 has told us to give two million dollars" 42:43 it went to three million dollars, 42:45 3.3 million dollars and that was last year, 42:48 now coming into this Camp Meeting, 42:50 Janet and I were going, "Oh Lord, 3.3 million, 42:52 did you hear about the economy this year, by the way?" 42:53 The economy is bad, 42:55 ASI offering ought to be terrible this year right? 42:57 I don't think so, we came into our Camp Meeting 43:01 but we were claiming promises 43:02 and we were telling God, "You know God, 43:03 we've been saying all over the world, this is about prayer, 43:06 this is about God's people uniting in prayer, 43:08 it's about what God can do and if you don't do it this year 43:10 we think you're going to look bad... 43:12 we think it's going to take your glory... not us 43:15 because we're not saying this is about us, 43:16 this is about you speaking to your people 43:18 not us twisting arms, anyway, long story short, 43:21 and this is why I get gray hair... 43:22 this year, God's people gave 1.2 million by Saturday night, 43:27 and the people came up again and they said, 43:29 "Our business has gone terrible this year, 43:31 it's housing developments, it's not good, 43:33 we don't know how we're going to do it 43:35 but God has told us to keep this thing going 43:36 we're going to give you two million again," 43:38 so we have 3.3 million again 43:40 a week ago Saturday night for Evangelism this year, 43:42 God is alive in bad economies, amen 43:45 He can do it, 43:46 this one last promise I want to share with you 43:48 from the Spirit of Prophecy, 43:49 I hope you'll read all those things 43:51 I didn't judge my time right, 43:52 and all those statements are great ones 43:54 but the one that I want to read to you now 43:56 is one that's so powerful it's number five on the list, 44:03 after Matthew 18, 19, and 20, to "Wherever two pray 44:09 and agree on earth, God will do it in heaven" 44:11 Ellen White tells why this is, she says, 44:15 "This promise," number five, "is made on condition 44:17 that the united prayers of the church are offered 44:19 and in answer to these prayers, 44:20 there may be expected a power greater 44:23 than that which comes in answer to private prayer," 44:25 did you hear that? 44:26 When we get together in groups, when we get together by hundreds 44:30 which is what's happening in SoCal, 44:32 this year after the meeting 44:33 people came running up with their pledge cards 44:35 after it was announced they had 3.2 million, why? 44:37 Because they wanted to get their hundred dollars in 44:39 where God was working, 44:41 it wasn't about adding to the 3.2 million, 44:43 it was, "I'm on a journey, and I don't want to lose out, 44:45 I didn't put mine in yet" amazing! 44:47 but she says why... 44:49 "The power given will be in proportion 44:50 to the unity of members and their love of God, 44:52 and for one another" 44:54 I praise God, if we will pray together unitedly, 44:57 we'll see souls saved, 44:59 we will see money there that we need, 45:00 "Prayer is the key in the hand of faith 45:02 and unlocks heaven's storehouse where in Him... 45:04 are treasures of boundless resources of omnipotence," 45:07 we pray a little... but when we pray like Jesus prayed, 45:10 when we pray like the disciples prayed, 45:12 then we'll see Pentecost, I believe, coming in our midst. |
Revised 2016-02-08