Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM210015S
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00:09 Who was Jesus?
00:12 He had compassion for the weak and the hurting. 00:15 He loved every person He met 00:18 and taught them how to love, 00:21 His great heart helped all those who came near Him. 00:24 But most of all, He was a friend. 00:27 That was who He was. 00:29 Now find out who He is. 00:37 What a privilege to be working for the Lord 00:40 in the closing moments of earth's history. 00:42 Such a privilege to work here at 3ABN 00:45 with so many wonderful brothers and sisters, 00:47 who love the Lord and joining hands with you 00:49 from around the world. 00:51 We want to thank you for your love and your prayers 00:53 and financial support of 3ABN 00:55 as we endeavor to take this great gospel of the kingdom 00:59 into all the world. 01:00 Sister Shelley Quinn, 01:02 she usually puts out the titles for us 01:03 to what we're going to talk about, 01:05 whether we call it a sermon, 01:07 I like to call myself a talk rather than a sermon. 01:10 And, but when I talk, 01:12 she usually gives the subjects 01:14 and this one is called Expanding the Kingdom. 01:17 Well, it kind of goes back 01:18 to what I've been talking about for many, many years. 01:22 And that's the Go ye. 01:24 That's a great gospel commission 01:26 found in Matthew 28:18-20. 01:30 And if you have your Bibles, follow along, please. 01:32 "And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, 01:34 All power is given me in heaven and earth. 01:37 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 01:40 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 01:42 and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost: 01:45 teaching them," what? 01:47 "Teaching them to observe all things 01:49 whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, 01:52 I am with you always, 01:53 even unto the end of the world." 01:55 Now, each of these verses 01:58 could be whole sermons within themselves. 02:00 But today, I want to touch on just maybe 02:02 three main points of each of these verses. 02:06 The very first one, Jesus says in verse 18, 02:09 "All power is given Me." 02:11 The dictionary says, one's whole interest, 02:14 energy or property, to give one's all it says, 02:17 or it could be to lose all, 02:19 but it says often all represents, 02:21 and I love this one, the entire universe. 02:25 So the little word, three letters A-L-L. 02:29 And so when you think about our Creator God, 02:31 who created the entire universe, 02:34 He's sitting here saying to us, and these words, 02:37 "All power is given Me in heaven and earth." 02:40 This little tiny word now suddenly becomes huge, 02:43 it becomes the whole universe, 02:45 because the Creator of the universe says, 02:48 "All power is given me." 02:50 And now guess what he's saying, 02:51 I'm going to give that power to you to take 02:54 the gospel of the kingdom into all the world. 02:56 So Philippians 4:13, 02:59 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 03:02 That little word all again. 03:04 We can go again to Philippians 4:19. 03:07 I know I'm running through these, you can write them down. 03:09 If you don't have time, write them down, 03:11 read them later. 03:13 "My God shall supply all of your need, 03:14 according to his riches and glory." 03:16 Then, Romans 8:28, for we know that, all things 03:22 and what I'm doing here is keep bringing back 03:24 that word that is so complete, when Jesus says, 03:27 "Go ye into all the world." 03:30 He's just made some promises. 03:32 "Go therefore and teach all nations," 03:34 He says in 19, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, 03:38 the Son and the Holy Spirit." 03:39 You say, "Well, I'm not a preacher. 03:41 I don't know how to do any of that. 03:43 Where in the world would I get the resources for all of this?" 03:46 Well, let me tell you something, 03:47 the blessings of God really are on the go. 03:51 Now, many of you heard me say that before, I'm sure. 03:53 And I've said it many, many times, 03:55 but the blessings on your own life, 03:57 the blessings of your ministry, when you go into ministry, 04:01 and we each should is on the go. 04:04 Once you settle in your mind that Jesus is all power, 04:07 and He's willing to use you as a conduit. 04:10 Nothing should stop you from carrying God's directive 04:13 for your ministry, right? 04:14 Yes. 04:16 And even including a worldwide ministry 04:18 because He says as we just read twice. 04:21 He says teach all nations, the whole, 04:23 that little word all universe again, right? 04:26 Okay. 04:28 So the question you may be asking, 04:30 and each and every one of you 04:31 is how do I do my part in expanding 04:34 the gospel of Jesus into all the world. 04:38 People asked me that often 04:40 as we travel from church to church. 04:43 So I want to talk about that a little bit. 04:45 As I mentioned today, 04:47 I don't want to just talk about 3ABN and what we're doing. 04:50 I want to talk about what God is doing, 04:51 what He's willing to do through anyone 04:54 who's willing to be used. 04:56 So number one, make sure it's God who's calling you. 05:00 Are you, when you want to go on ministry, 05:02 you're feeling called? 05:04 Are you trying to fulfill your dream 05:09 or God's will for your life? 05:11 There's a big difference. 05:13 I remember about three or four years 05:15 after we went on the air back in the late '80s. 05:18 I had this preacher call me. And he was... 05:21 We were talking and one day he said, "I'm just so upset. 05:25 Things aren't going my way." 05:26 He had started a TV program, 05:28 and he was having all kinds of issues. 05:30 And 3ABN was continuing to grow. 05:33 We were growing and growing and growing. 05:35 So he said, I watched, I sit at home and he said, 05:38 "I just beat my chest sometimes." 05:41 And I say, "God, why did you give that ministry? 05:44 Why did you give 3ABN to him? 05:46 Danny's done, and all his folk up there 05:49 and his workers, why did you give it to them? 05:52 I want, I wanted it. Lord, I wanted to be on TV." 05:55 He's telling me this. 05:57 "Lord, I wanted to be on TV since I was in high school. 06:00 I wanted to be known around the world. 06:03 And now here, 06:04 God picks a place in a little cornfield in Southern Illinois. 06:08 I'm in Florida, I'm in an area 06:09 where a lot of people around, 06:12 but he picks that area and he chooses you. 06:14 You don't seem to care whether you're on TV or not. 06:17 And I've always wanted to be on TV. 06:18 And now that I'm a preacher, now that I'm a preacher, 06:22 I really want to use this platform 06:24 to get the gospel to the world. 06:26 But I don't want to just have a 30 minute program. 06:28 I want my own television network." 06:33 He quieted down, he talked about as fast as I just did, 06:36 he quieted down a minute. 06:37 And he said, "Brother, Danny, do you have any idea 06:42 why God chose you for this ministry 06:46 instead of me?" 06:48 And I said, "Well, I'm not sure why He chose me. 06:52 But I think listening to yourself, 06:54 you may understand why He hasn't chosen you." 06:57 And I didn't mean to be hurtful to him. 06:59 But I heard too many I's. 07:02 I wanted to be on television, I want to be known. 07:05 I want to do this, I want to do that. 07:08 And so that's what I'm saying, 07:10 when God is calling you into ministry, 07:13 make sure one of the first things you want to do 07:16 is to make sure that guess what? 07:20 You are following what God wants you to do, 07:24 and not what you want to do. 07:25 Right? 07:27 Because you may go on areas, I've been in many areas, 07:31 and I'm still in that from time to time you get an areas 07:33 that are uncomfortable. 07:35 You're not sure, really, where do I go? 07:37 This is the first, 07:38 I don't care how many years you've been in ministry, 07:40 we're going on 37. 07:42 We still run into things, Greg and Jill 07:44 and I and we're meeting and our meetings like, 07:46 well, I've never run across that one before. 07:49 What do we do? 07:50 So okay, so now you said, "Lord, I'm ready to go. 07:53 I feel like you're calling me into ministry. 07:56 But maybe let me check that out." 07:59 So what I do, the next thing you do is you try the spirits 08:02 to the law and to the testimony, 08:04 you know the scripture, Isaiah 8:20. 08:07 "If there's, if they don't speak the truth, 08:09 there's no light in them." 08:10 So what I have to do now is I've got to put it to a test. 08:13 Now when the Lord impressed me, it was November 14, 08:16 late night hours, early morning hours, 08:18 November 15th, 1984. 08:21 And the Lord impressed me. 08:23 I was trying to sleep. 08:25 And the Lord impressed me, 08:26 I want you to build a television station 08:28 that will reach the world 08:29 with an undiluted three angels' messages, 08:32 one that would counteract the counterfeit 08:33 into all the world. 08:35 Now, folks, I have to tell you something 08:37 that is not Danny Shelton, that's not the way I thought, 08:40 was not my thinking. 08:42 I had never thought about going into all the world, 08:46 because it just would be impossibility for me. 08:51 But as I heard this voice, I had to try the spirits, 08:55 because I said, "Well, wait a minute, 08:57 why, Lord, why doesn't a church build television stations 09:01 to reach the world?" 09:03 Now why did I was I having that conversation with God? 09:05 Let me take you back. 09:07 My daughter and I were traveling, 09:08 and we were singing, this was early '80s. 09:11 And we were singing on some television networks. 09:14 And so every television network I would go to, 09:16 we would see people there 09:19 that they'd have their prayer counselors they called them, 09:22 people were calling in. 09:23 And I thought, Lord, 09:25 where are we a Seventh-day Adventists 09:27 in the media. 09:28 There's 24 hour religious networks, 09:31 and I'm thankful for our It Is Written program 09:34 and Breath Of Life and some of the others 09:36 that we have that's on a half hour 09:38 Sunday morning in some cities in the United States, 09:41 but these people have taken authority over television, 09:44 and they're 24/7. 09:46 But yet so much of the stuff I heard was not the truth. 09:50 So I had this burden. 09:53 Every place we would go, 09:55 one of the places I went they said, 09:57 "Oh we can't wait for the rapture. 09:58 When rapture comes, you know, 10:00 God Himself is going to come down to this channel, 10:02 here in California or wherever. 10:04 And, you know, the disciples and they're going to preach 10:07 to those here that were left behind for seven years." 10:10 I'm like, "Lord, where are we 10:11 as Seventh-day Adventist in the media? 10:14 Shouldn't we be the heads instead of the tails? 10:17 So you try to spirits, so I said in my simplicity, 10:23 okay, Lord, my first thing was I've told you as well, 10:26 shouldn't the church do this, Lord? 10:28 Why don't you have the church do this? 10:31 But their voice I heard said wasn't audible but in my head 10:36 when it said build an undiluted three angels, 10:39 television station reached the world 10:40 with an undiluted three angels' messages, 10:43 one that would counteract the counterfeit. 10:44 I'd never thought that way before. 10:47 I had never thought 10:48 about the three angels' messages that much. 10:50 And I tell people now back then I could, 10:53 I was raised in the Adventist Church. 10:55 My mother became an Adventist, the year I was born. 10:58 And so now I could argue with you 11:01 about debate somebody about the Sabbath 11:03 and the state of the dead, 11:05 even about health certain things like, 11:07 you know, you name the subject, 11:09 what happens to you after you die? 11:11 You know, how long does hell burn, 11:13 all of these types of things, but really, 11:15 I had never really studied the three angels' messages. 11:19 And so for me to think and to hear this voice 11:22 to build a television station that will reach the world 11:25 with an undiluted three angels' messages, 11:28 one that would counteract the counterfeit was not me. 11:31 So I said, "Okay, Lord, this is not me." 11:34 So I'm trying the spirits is Isaiah 8:20, 11:37 what if there were a television station 11:39 to reach the world 24/7. 11:42 Now I didn't have any idea how this could happen. 11:45 But it was giving the what we call 11:47 the Adventist message, which is really, 11:50 I want to make this clear to all of our viewers, 11:52 the Bible message, a complete message, 11:55 including the Old Testament and the New Testament, 11:58 including all 10 of the commandments of God. 12:01 What if there were possible, there was a television station 12:05 that could reach the world and it was giving truth 24/7? 12:10 Would that be of the Lord or would that be of the devil? 12:13 Well, that wasn't a very hard decision. 12:15 I said, "Okay. 12:17 That's got to be of the Lord." 12:18 So I said, "Okay, Lord, I'll go forward on two conditions." 12:21 Now, I don't know if I'm supposed to do that or not. 12:23 But I had seen people in the Bible put out fleeces 12:27 sometimes so I said, "Well, okay, maybe I can do that." 12:30 So I said, and I don't know 12:33 if word is innocence or ignorance, maybe both. 12:37 I said, "Well, Lord, I'll go forward on two conditions. 12:40 If this is really You, I won't beg for money. 12:43 I won't borrow money." 12:45 Now, as I always tell folk, 12:46 and some of you've heard me said before, 12:48 that was pretty easy. 12:50 When I'd gone to these, 12:51 a lot of these TV stations to sing, 12:54 I felt like they were begging for money. 12:56 And I said, "I'm not going to do this. 12:57 If this is the Lord, He'll supply every need." 13:01 And then I said, "I won't beg for money or borrow money." 13:03 Well, guess what? 13:05 I didn't have any credit. 13:06 I'm working hand to mouth, 13:08 just trying to every day as I can get by. 13:11 So I'm not, I don't have any money. 13:13 I don't have credit. 13:14 I couldn't borrow very much money if I had wanted to. 13:18 So, Lord, I'll go forward on two conditions. 13:22 I won't beg for money, borrow money. Okay. 13:24 Then the next step, I'm talking to you now, 13:26 the next step, the Lord's impressing you 13:28 what to do? 13:29 You've tried the spirits, what do you do? 13:30 You step out in faith, and you do it. 13:33 If God directed you, He will supply your every need, right? 13:38 Just take these steps one at a time. 13:40 I'm not talking about us. 13:41 I'm talking about you right now. 13:43 So please listen carefully 13:45 to what I'm about to say right now. 13:47 Timing is everything. 13:49 I'm going to say it again, timing is everything. 13:52 When God impresses you to do something, don't wait. 13:57 Don't wait. Don't put it off. 13:59 Don't plan. 14:00 Don't get a bunch of people together 14:02 and get committees together. 14:03 You know, they say committees keep minutes but lose time, 14:07 you've probably heard that. 14:08 Don't say, "Well, let me figure this out." 14:10 Because I can guarantee you 14:13 that the devil would love for you to wait 14:15 and just talk about it. 14:17 So in my case, I really had no reason to dream 14:20 about building the station to reach the world 14:22 with a worldwide network. 14:24 How could it ever be a reality? 14:27 But the next morning, after I was impressed, 14:31 I felt I had to do something. 14:33 I almost felt like there was something in my shoes 14:35 that were burning, 14:36 that I just had to do something. 14:38 I'd had these conversations I felt like with the Lord 14:41 during the night, but I couldn't just sat still, 14:44 I didn't want to say well, let me see. 14:46 Lord, open up the windows of heaven 14:48 and pour me out a blessing 14:49 where there's not room enough to receive it. 14:52 I said, "No, I'm not going to do that." 14:54 Go ye into all the world. 14:57 Go ye, the blessing of God is on the go. 14:59 So I didn't know what to do. 15:01 Next morning, I'm knocking on my Brother Kenny's door 15:03 at 6 o'clock in the morning, 15:05 because I know he's an early riser. 15:07 And so he's going to be there. 15:08 So I told him, 15:10 "Kenny, this is what the Lord's impressed me to do." 15:12 Well, he could have laughed at me. 15:13 He could have, you know, said, Danny, 15:15 go back to bed, whatever, he didn't. 15:17 He said, "Well, whatever, if that's what the Lord wants, 15:20 you know, count me in. 15:21 I'm part of it. I'm going to be with you." 15:24 So then I said, "Well, what do I do now?" 15:26 Old Hal and Mollie Steenson. 15:29 Yeah, they're charismatic pastors at the time. 15:32 Many of you know how and Mollie and Mollie, 15:35 God rest her soul. 15:36 She's now resting in the Lord. 15:38 And we miss her tremendously here at 3ABN 15:41 and her husband Hal, he's still going. 15:43 So keep praying for Brother Hal and, Brother Hal, 15:45 if you're listening, God bless. 15:47 We love you. 15:48 But I said, "I got to do something." 15:50 So what am I going to do? 15:51 So I decided to go out to their church. 15:53 Why did I go to their church? 15:55 Because they had a little television studio. 15:58 They were producing programs for a local television station. 16:03 And so, sometimes my daughter Melody 16:06 and I had sang on the station. 16:08 So I said, "Well, if I'm going to be in television, 16:10 I probably should go out. 16:12 I probably should go out and see what it entails. 16:16 I've been in front of the cameras, 16:18 but I'd never been behind the cameras. 16:21 So I said, "Okay, now what else am I going to do?" 16:24 Well, let me go visit that local television station 16:27 in the area. 16:28 So what happened is my dream began to grow 16:31 instead of diminishing. 16:33 See, the Lord kept me focused on the positive. 16:36 So that's what I want you to think about, 16:38 see being raised poor 16:40 because of my father's disability 16:41 and I only had a high school education, 16:43 had no money, had no property, 16:45 don't have any qualifications, really. 16:48 I was living, as they say, from hand to mouth, 16:50 week to week, trying to make a living 16:53 and just making enough money to pay the bills. 16:56 And it seemed like it was an impossible dream. 17:00 But everything changed. 17:02 Now, I want you to listen this really closely too, 17:05 and this may be your life. 17:07 What you're just hearing, maybe you say, well, Lord, 17:09 I'm not qualified. 17:11 I don't have anything. 17:13 Lord, I don't even know where to begin. 17:16 I don't have money. I don't have an education. 17:18 I've got six kids, you know, whatever. 17:22 I just don't know what to do. 17:24 And when you say to the Lord, "Okay, Lord. 17:29 If this is really You, and You want me to go forward, 17:32 I'll go forward. 17:34 I'm going to trust You." 17:35 And I step out in faith. 17:37 Go ye, the blessing is on the go. 17:40 Everything will change, what happened? 17:42 It changed my whole life, all of those impossible dreams 17:46 became a reality with one encounter with God. 17:50 That's all it took was one encounter with God, 17:53 took my doubts away. 17:55 And I can promise you, I've never doubted God 17:58 and His Word and the blessings that He would continue 18:02 to bless 3ABN for almost 37 years. 18:04 I promise you that, 18:06 no matter how bleak things have looked 18:08 and how we've been through all kinds of situations. 18:10 Absolutely, we have. 18:13 Have I been through personal problems 18:15 and disappointments in my life in the last 37 years or so? 18:19 If you don't believe it, look at me. 18:20 Some of you remember when I used to look 18:22 a lot younger and look a lot better, right? 18:24 So that's part of it. Yes. 18:26 Have I been through these things? 18:28 Have you been through these things? 18:30 Absolutely, we have, but I have never doubted, never. 18:34 My right hand up as we say before the Lord. 18:37 He knows I'm telling the truth. 18:39 I've never doubted since that night, 18:42 since the Lord said, "Build a television station 18:44 that will reach the world with an undiluted 18:46 three angels' messages, 18:48 one that would counteract the counterfeit." 18:50 I've never doubted that God would do His part. 18:54 Now, I've been worried about myself doing my part. 18:57 We've had many people come and many people go, 19:00 but what the Lord also has shown me 19:02 and He will show you this too. 19:04 It's not about the messenger, it's about the message. 19:08 We'll talk about that a little bit later on. 19:10 But that's what God is looking for. 19:12 And that's what He's going to bless. 19:14 As I said, "People come and go." 19:15 We get people come in over the years, 19:17 no matter who you are, and you meet people, 19:19 we're all can, it can happen to us. 19:21 We can get full of ourselves, 19:23 pastors can get full of themselves, 19:24 evangelists thinking, oh, look at me, 19:26 I'm really, you know, God's using me, 19:29 I'm doing all these things. 19:31 No, God is blessing you in spite of you. 19:34 God is blessing you in spite of you 19:36 because he says His Word will not return void. 19:39 So it doesn't, you don't have to be, 19:41 that's why when I've watched some of these TV stations, 19:44 I remember in the very beginning, 19:46 I'm like, Lord, these TV station, 19:49 some of these that I'm watching, 19:50 there was a couple of channels in the '80s 19:52 and I said there are so many things, 19:54 they are so far off biblically on it. 19:58 Their theology is off, 20:00 so how you can be blessing those people. 20:03 And one night I had a dream. 20:06 And in this dream, I was, I don't know where I was, 20:09 but I was in the midst of a apple orchard. 20:12 And the apples were huge. 20:15 And the trees were all hanging down, 20:18 loaded with these ripe red apples. 20:22 And all I had to do is just reach out and pluck them. 20:24 Just like this. 20:26 I could walk around, I didn't see God. 20:28 But it was just He and I talking, I said, "Lord, 20:31 what are all of these ripe red apples?" 20:35 And I'm going to take you back before I give you God's answer. 20:38 Because I had been traveling, 20:41 start since my daughter and I sang and ever since 20:43 I was impressed to build this television station. 20:46 For the next couple of months or so, 20:48 we had what we call engagements on weekends to sing. 20:52 I would get up and tell people 20:53 we're going to build Adventist television station 20:55 to reach the world, we're going to counter counteract, 20:58 because I heard counteract the counterfeit. 21:00 So I'm going to counteract and I would name names, 21:03 this network and that network, and we're going to do, 21:07 you know, whatever. 21:08 So this night, I have the dream. 21:10 I said, "Lord, what are all these ripe, red apples," 21:13 this beautiful this hanging down. 21:16 And it's just like He said to me, 21:18 "These are people. 21:20 These represent people who've come to the knowledge 21:22 of the truth through these other networks. 21:27 They've come off of drugs, they've come off of alcoholic, 21:30 come off of all their problems, their bad habits, 21:34 they've surrendered their lives. 21:35 And now you with giving the three angels' messages, 21:39 3ABN are ready, 21:41 these ripe red apples are ready to be plucked. 21:44 What God taught me was something very important. 21:46 Man is not my enemy, 21:49 because I disagree with someone, 21:51 because I look at some preacher and say, 21:53 "Oh, boy, he's a phony." 21:55 Maybe he is or because I look at somebody else. 21:57 Or they look at me because people look at me the same way. 22:01 What I learned about that is our enemy's the devil. 22:06 I'm gonna say it again, our enemy's the devil, 22:08 it is not each other. 22:10 And this disunity is the division in the church 22:14 that's keeping this gospel of the kingdom 22:17 from going into all the world. 22:20 My hope and prayer today 22:21 is that each and every one of us, 22:25 me included, will pray, Lord, help us to be one. 22:29 Remember the disciples that came in one accord? 22:32 When they came in one accord? 22:33 We're not talking about a little car around here 22:35 they call the Accord, right? 22:37 We're saying them when they came in one accord, 22:39 one mind, one heart, guess what God did? 22:42 He poured out His Holy Spirit, 22:44 when He begin to pour out His Holy Spirit on people. 22:47 Then when they went forward, 22:48 people could see the Jesus in them. 22:50 I, if I be lifted up from this earth will draw, 22:54 that little word again, all men to me. 22:59 Now, I've learned a lot. 23:01 Thirty seven years, I'm still learning. 23:03 I don't have it all, I still make mistakes. 23:06 I still can't believe that I do some of the things 23:09 that Lord only by Your grace. 23:13 And I want you to think about your life today. 23:15 You say I'm not fit for ministry. 23:18 I have people tell me I'm not. 23:20 I'm just not good enough to go to church. 23:22 Had a guy that I knew for years, 23:23 and he traveled with me 23:25 and I won't give too much details, 23:28 because some of you would know who he is. 23:30 But he's a wonderful guy. 23:32 But I would say, 23:33 "Hey, when you want to come to church? 23:34 You want to come to church?" 23:36 He'd say, "I just can't go to church." 23:38 I said, "Why not?" "I'm not good enough." 23:40 I said, "I'm not either. 23:43 I'm not either." 23:44 We can go to church 23:45 because of Christ's righteousness 23:47 because He shed His blood on the cross of Calvary 23:51 for you and me. 23:52 Therefore, we can stand perfect before the Father, 23:55 so all we have to do is to confess our sins, 23:58 realize that we're sinners, confess our sins. 24:01 The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, 24:03 "He's faithful and just to forgive us from our sins, 24:07 and to cleanse us from..." 24:10 Oh, there's that word again, "All unrighteousness." 24:14 Isn't that amazing how that word just keeps popping up? 24:18 All when I'm thinking about universe, 24:20 the creator of the universe 24:23 is willing to forgive us from our sins 24:25 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 24:28 So no, God uses us in spite of us. 24:31 We are not each other's enemies. 24:33 We've let, and I won't get into it now. 24:35 But maybe at some point, 24:36 and you know what I'm talking about. 24:38 We've let politics divide the church. 24:40 We've let all kinds of things divide the Church of God. 24:44 We should not be changing 24:46 the thing that I want to encourage you 24:47 when you're in ministry. 24:49 When God gives you a message 24:50 when He gives you a message, mission, stay focused on it. 24:54 Now, the waiting part. 24:56 I believe that if I waited even a week or two 25:00 just start to go ye directive. 25:01 You know, I said, I got up that next morning. 25:04 I believe God would have allowed 25:05 the devil to talk me out of it. 25:08 Think about that for a minute. 25:10 The Lord's impressing you to do something, 25:13 and you want to think about it. 25:15 So your tendency is, oh, that's a huge, 25:19 that's a huge task, 25:20 Lord, how could You ask me to do that, that, 25:24 I can't do that, that's big test. 25:27 What you will do is you will talk yourself out 25:30 of doing what God's called you to do. 25:32 So and don't spend too much time planning. 25:35 Because remember, it's not about you anyway, right? 25:39 So don't spend too much time planning. 25:40 Just go forward, in the beginning, 25:43 the Lord's impressing you. 25:44 I go, I ended up with my brothers. 25:46 As I just mentioned, I ended up at Hal 25:49 and Mollie Steenson's church, they all encouraged me, 25:51 went to the television station to see how it worked. 25:55 And so that's all I knew how to do. 25:59 But see, I really believe this with all my heart 26:02 that if you don't do what God's impressing you to do, 26:05 He will pass you right on by, and He'll go to somebody else. 26:10 And they will be doing 26:12 what really He had planned for your life. 26:15 You know how I know that. 26:17 It's happened at least three times that I know of, 26:21 within a year or two, after 3ABN went on the air. 26:24 I started going to different churches. 26:28 And I would tell my story, 26:29 the Lord impressed to build His television station, 26:32 then this little lady donated property, 26:34 then I would say, then, then the power lines was there, 26:38 the electricity, people came up from Tennessee, 26:40 and they gave the first 50,000 to erect this station. 26:45 And so, the Lord's impressed us 26:47 and now we're getting ready to go on satellite, 26:49 that satellite's going to cover North America. 26:51 And then eventually the world after the service, 26:55 three different occasions. 26:57 One was the lady in Chicago, she came up to me 27:00 and she had work some in television. 27:02 She said, "I know every word that you're saying is true." 27:06 I said, "Really?" 27:08 She said, "Yes," 27:09 because I don't remember the exact years, 27:11 but two or three years ago, whatever. 27:13 The Lord impressed me the same thing. 27:15 He came to me. 27:17 And I wrestled with Him, just like you did, 27:21 because He's told me to build a television station 27:23 that would reach the world, 27:25 almost exactly what He told you. 27:27 But she said, "I'm one person. 27:29 I don't have any money. I work for a TV station. 27:33 There's no way I could do it. And so I didn't do it." 27:37 Now I see that God called me and I missed out. 27:40 I was over in Indiana at a church told a story. 27:45 Maybe months later, a man came up to me. 27:48 And he said, "Every word you're saying is true. 27:53 I know it because I'm an engineer." 27:56 He said, "I'm a television engineer, 27:58 I worked for," I don't remember 28:00 what network it was. 28:01 "I work for network. 28:03 And I've been thinking that I was so impressed, 28:06 Adventist should have television station 28:09 to reach the world. 28:11 And so I got this impression one night, 28:13 build a television station to reach the world. 28:16 But I couldn't do that. I didn't have the money. 28:20 I don't, you know, 28:21 I know how to build the stations. 28:23 But I don't know anybody. How would I put it together? 28:25 I don't know anything about programming. 28:28 I don't have any. 28:29 I just can't, Lord, I can't do it. 28:33 So I didn't." 28:36 Third place I went to, exact same thing happen. 28:40 Another person came up. 28:42 "I know you're telling the truth." 28:44 Then years later, when Jim Gilley was here, 28:46 Jim, he's told the story on the air. 28:50 And like 1979 or 1980, 28:53 he was working at the North American Division, 28:56 and was at the General Conference. 28:58 And he said he went to the General Conference 29:00 and said, 29:01 "We need to build Adventist television station 24/7 29:05 to reach the world." 29:07 But he said, "I couldn't get anywhere. 29:09 No one would go for it." 29:12 Everybody said, "There's just no way we can do that. 29:15 That's huge. It would cost tremendous amount of money. 29:18 We're not able to do it, 29:20 you know, lest, just don't do it." 29:22 So he said, "I just forgot about it." 29:26 Then, about six years later, 29:28 he said the very first time I heard you, 29:31 you were in Texas in Keene, 29:33 talking to the church and Sabbath School. 29:35 I was there, and I said, "I'm on board, 29:39 because I know this is God's will because that's exactly 29:42 what the Lord impressed me six years before." 29:46 So, folks, if the Lord's impressing you to do something, 29:49 don't wait, don't try to hire a bunch of people, 29:53 don't find out you know all they say 29:56 that I won't go into that story about the perspective. 29:59 Do you have a perspective? 30:00 Don't worry about all that, go forward and watch 30:02 what God has you to do. 30:04 Then next, this one's a tough one, 30:08 when you don't blame things on other people. 30:12 Okay, take the responsibility. 30:14 Don't wait on others. 30:16 Because I've seen that so many times people come to me, 30:19 "Well, have you thought about building this." 30:20 And wouldn't even be television. 30:22 They'll say, "Well, the Lord impressed me 30:24 to do this ministry. 30:26 But I think 3ABN should do it. 30:27 You'd be good at it." 30:29 I said, "Well, wait a minute. 30:30 You just said the Lord impressed you, right?" 30:32 Well, yeah. Then why 3ABN. 30:34 Well, you guys have the resources. 30:36 I said, "You have the exact same resources that we have, 30:40 the Lord and the Holy Spirit to work on. 30:43 So people say, "Oh, well, 30:45 I really wanted to do something, 30:46 but my church didn't support me." 30:48 Excuses. See, the devil loves excuses. 30:51 So when the Lord's impressing you to do something, 30:54 don't say, well, you know, my church didn't support me. 31:00 My pastor didn't support me. 31:01 My husband didn't support me, you know? 31:04 So when things don't go right, what do you do? 31:06 You take responsibility. 31:08 Here's where the devil has a heyday, 31:11 literally has a heyday, excuses. 31:13 There's no song says excuses, excuses, I hear them every day. 31:17 The devil, he'll supply them if from church, you stay away, 31:22 you know? 31:23 So anyway, I won't even go on the rest of that song, 31:26 I've repeated it before. 31:28 But I want to encourage you never be discouraged. 31:32 There's no reason, all heaven is on your side. 31:34 I want to tell you even after 37 years of ministry, 31:38 3ABN still deals with opposition virtually every day. 31:43 There's times that we deal with opposition, 31:46 sometimes within the church, 31:48 sometimes without it, but why not? 31:51 I mentioned it earlier, I said sometimes, 31:54 if we're not, I've mentioned to other people, 31:56 and look, if we're not butting heads with the devil, 31:59 then we must be running alongside of him. 32:01 So don't be discouraged. 32:02 Don't let the devil discourage you. 32:04 Go forward. 32:06 Don't worry about oppositions. 32:07 I want to go up now and talk about 32:09 some of the things that we can be encouraged about, okay? 32:12 I'm kind of telling you 32:13 what not to be discouraged about. 32:15 But let's talk about being encouraged. 32:17 I want to talk about the goodness of God. 32:19 And I want to talk about God's timing. 32:22 It's no accident again. 32:24 I believe in divine providence, 32:26 we do not believe in coincidence, 32:28 we don't believe in accidents, 32:30 but we believe in divine providence. 32:33 So I want to go back to timing. 32:35 When the Lord impressed us to build a station, 32:37 we didn't have anything. 32:38 Now think of this timing. 32:40 The first Wednesday night after I was impressed 32:43 to build a station, I went to prayer meeting. 32:45 Now I have to tell you the truth. 32:46 I didn't always back then go to prayer meeting. 32:49 Maybe don't always now, and should more, 32:51 but I'm just saying a lot of times I didn't go, 32:54 I show up at prayer meeting. 32:56 And there's a woman, 32:58 now our prayer meeting in that little West Frankfort Church 32:59 had about 12 people in it. 33:01 But there was a lady who showed up 77 years old 33:04 I believe, her name Fonda Summers. 33:06 She came to that meeting, 33:08 because my mother had gotten a card 33:11 from a literature evangelist who said, 33:13 "Hey, this lady asked about books. 33:15 Maybe you want to go see her." 33:17 So my mother drove out towards Thompsonville area 33:20 to find a lady, she talked to her. 33:22 Her name was Fonda Summers. 33:24 I think she belonged to the Methodist Church 33:26 and invited her to come to prayer meeting. 33:29 So that Wednesday night, she came to prayer meeting. 33:32 Now, just a coincidence, 33:34 I'll keep saying this or divine providence. 33:37 She comes to prayer meeting that night, 33:39 I stand up and say, Tell him look, 33:41 the Lord's impressed me to build a television station 33:43 to reach the world. 33:45 And prayer meetings over, we go home two nights later. 33:48 Friday night, my mother calls me, 33:49 Danny, guess what? 33:51 Fonda Summers, the little lady 33:52 that was at church Wednesday night. 33:54 Yes. 33:55 She said she went home and said Lord, I'd like... 33:57 Was praying, "Lord, I'd like to do something 33:59 to help this folk, but I don't have any money. 34:02 I don't have anything. 34:03 The Lord said to me, 34:05 she says, what is this you have in your hand? 34:08 Well, I don't have any, I got six acres of property." 34:11 I mean, my house and everything's on the front. 34:13 Maybe I could give them two acres in the back 34:15 of the property, if that would help. 34:19 Well, now, really Thompsonville 600, 34:21 West Frankfort was about 9000, 34:23 Thompsonville about 600. 34:25 If you're going to build a TV station to reach the world. 34:28 That's probably not where you're going to figure 34:30 that you want to be in the back of somebody's property 34:33 out in the middle of Timbuktu, right, in the boondocks. 34:36 But she says, Fonda Summers said, 34:39 "Well, the Lord impressed her to give some property." 34:42 So I said, "Well, praise the Lord, 34:43 that that's good." 34:45 Well, I mentioned I've gone to a TV station, 34:47 I talked to an engineer named Clarence Larsen, 34:50 Clarence said to me, "I know what you're doing, 34:53 I think of Adventist or Sheltons, 34:55 he said, as singers and carpenters." 34:57 And he said, "I don't think of you building stations, 35:00 because I've seen you on ours. 35:02 But I've been doing an engineering study 35:04 for another station about going to satellites, 35:07 which I knew nothing about, and satellites 35:09 and taking signals that will go all across North America." 35:13 And I said, "Really?", 35:14 And he says, get this. 35:16 He says, "I've been studying on my little Apple 2 computer. 35:19 And I think there's a place out towards Thompsonville 35:23 that would be free of microwave signals, 35:26 where you could send satellite signals to space 22,300 miles 35:31 to hit a satellite that then would send signals 35:34 all around North America down into TV stations, 35:37 down into homes, through big satellite dishes. 35:41 And I said, huh, wow, 35:43 property she's saying out this way, Clarence says, 35:47 so we get Scientific Atlanta from Georgia 35:50 come out and do a study on properties. 35:53 I said to them, "I have some property." 35:55 I'll never forget what the man said, 35:57 "No, you don't know if you have property or not, 36:00 let us come to your area, 36:01 we'll do a study and see if any of that, 36:04 let's see if any of that there's property anywhere 36:07 that would be free of microwave interferences," 36:10 because your Illinois Bell and all these different 36:12 microwave signals flying and you, 36:14 if you're going to satellite, you can't have interference. 36:17 So I said, well, actually, I have two properties. 36:19 He said, two piece, two acres of property. 36:22 He said, you don't know that work. 36:24 I said, "Well come up and do the test." 36:25 They did, not only did it work, he said, 36:28 "This is the only area spot in the entire area, 36:31 you can send satellite signals to any of the 20 I think, 36:35 it was 20 or 21 satellites in space right now 36:38 that can be downlinked anywhere across North America. 36:41 Can you imagine what that did to us 36:44 in the beginning to say, oh, the Lord has... 36:49 This is real. 36:51 That dream build a station what? 36:54 The Lord impresses people, 36:55 I don't even know is that timing 36:58 is what I want to talk to you about, 36:59 God shall supply all your needs. 37:01 But the timing is so important. 37:03 Had she not been to prayer meeting, 37:05 had I not been at that same time? 37:07 How things work is divine providence. 37:10 I went to Clarence, 37:12 the engineer I was telling you about. 37:14 And so, the timing of meeting him, 37:17 and I knew him from before, 37:19 but meeting him and finding out 37:20 he only lives a couple country blocks from me 37:22 and start working with this man to do engineering studies. 37:26 I could go through over and over and over again. 37:29 Now we needed money. We needed some money. 37:31 The lady gave us the property, 37:32 we needed money to build the roads. 37:34 So $6,000 we didn't have any money. 37:37 But I talked to the guy who delivers the gravel. 37:40 Well, he could do it the next like five days 37:43 later. So I told Him by faith, bring the gravel 37:45 because it was fall, it was starting to go on. 37:47 I knew it was going to rain, 37:49 we wouldn't be able to get through all of 1400 feet 37:51 to get to the back of her property. 37:53 We needed to get road dug and get some gravel in there. 37:56 So we could drive to build the building. 37:58 My brother and I did know how to build buildings. 38:01 We were carpenters. 38:02 So we didn't have the money. 38:04 So we're praying about it for several days. 38:06 Oh, Lord, this is huge. We don't have $6,000. 38:10 No one had ever given $6,000. So we pray about it. 38:14 On a like a day or two before 38:16 that the gravel was to be delivered. 38:18 I went to the mailbox, PO Box 38:21 I think was 582 in West Frankfort little small box, 38:24 we got a bigger one now, praise the Lord. 38:26 This time a little small box and I opened it up. 38:29 There were only two letters. 38:30 Now people would hear about 3ABN, 38:33 we were young, we weren't on the air, 38:35 just starting. 38:36 But I put out little newsletters 38:37 and handout at churches. 38:39 So word was getting around every now 38:40 and then somebody would sent $10 and say, 38:42 I want to help you or $15 or 20. 38:45 But no, this one I opened up two letters and I'm like, 38:48 oh, boy, first one is for $2,000. 38:51 A lady from Chicago said, 38:53 "Hey, the Lake Union Herald did a little story about you 38:57 and your brothers and your family going to build 38:59 Adventist Television Network. 39:02 And the Lord impressed me to send you this $2,000." 39:05 I opened up the next letter, 39:07 $4,000 from a guy named Dale out in California, 39:11 San Diego area. 39:13 And he said, "The Lord impressed me 39:15 of the urgency you need this $4,000. 39:19 Two and four, you don't have to be much 39:20 of a mathematician to figure that one out. 39:23 $6,000 just while we needed to build the road. 39:26 Now when the Lord says go ye into all the world, 39:30 we've said it over and over again. 39:32 He will do if He hasn't been doing it for you, 39:34 maybe it's because you haven't stepped out in faith yet. 39:36 So again, when God blesses us, in spite of us 39:39 what I'm sharing you some of these things. 39:42 He didn't do it because we're good people. 39:43 None of us are good. 39:45 We're all as filthy rags in the sight of the Lord. 39:48 But God wants to do great and mighty 39:50 and marvelous things in us and through us 39:53 as we go forward. 39:54 And I'm just I'm amazed. 39:56 I'm sitting here saying, what could I say? 39:59 Now it's what do I not have time to say, 40:02 the clock is my enemy. 40:03 There's so many things that right now 40:05 is going through my mind, miracle after miracle. 40:08 Timing, divine providence, not coincidence. 40:11 Give you an instance. 40:12 We're on the air out to two acres of property 40:14 for a few years. 40:16 We start growing, ministries out growing, 40:18 we need to buy some property. 40:19 So I said, "Well, let's go out to 149." 40:22 That's the highway between West Frankfort and Thompsonville. 40:25 See if there's any property. 40:26 One evening I'm driving by, I look up on the right 40:30 and there's some really beautiful property. 40:31 I don't know how much is there, but had been farming, 40:34 had been in corn or what have you for the last few years. 40:37 But it was up there empty. 40:39 So I asked a neighbor who owns that. 40:41 They told me who owned the property. 40:43 So I just felt impressed back then 40:45 you could look up in phonebook and get a guy's name, right, 40:48 phone numbers back then. 40:49 So I went home, I looked up his phone number, 40:52 so I called him. 40:53 And I said, "Listen, I understand you own 40:56 the property out there on Charlie Good Road, 40:58 it's where our main administration building 41:00 is right now. 41:01 I said, "I understand you own that property?" 41:03 "Yeah, I do." 41:04 And I said, "Would that property 41:06 by chance be for sale?" 41:08 And he was quite a second. He said for sale? 41:13 Why do you ask? 41:14 And I said, "Well, I was looking for some property. 41:17 And I drove by that and it just looked like is pretty property. 41:20 I have no idea how much property you have, 41:22 if it's for sale." 41:23 He said, "Well, no, it wasn't for sale. 41:25 I do have 70 acres there." 41:27 And I said, oh, wow, because I didn't know 41:30 how much that would cost. 41:32 But I said, "Oh, 70 acres." 41:34 He said, "But you know what's interesting?" 41:36 He said, "My wife and I were farmers. 41:38 And we have orchards. 41:40 And this property that you're talking about 41:42 is about two miles from the rest of our property. 41:46 And I'm getting older now. 41:47 And it's too much hassle for me to go back 41:50 and forth with my farming equipment, 41:52 and try to farm this. 41:54 So tonight we were sitting here," 41:58 they were Christians, said, "we were sitting here saying, 42:00 I wonder if we should sell that property. 42:02 Maybe we should put this property up for sale." 42:05 He said, "And you called, the phone rings." 42:08 Now, is that coincidence or that divine providence? 42:12 So I said, "Well, do you have any idea 42:15 how much you would take for the property?" 42:16 He said, "Well, we were just talking about that too." 42:19 He says, "Would 50,000 be fair enough?" 42:23 I said, "Yes." 42:25 He said, "It is? 42:27 You want to buy it?" I said, "Yes, sir. 42:29 I want to buy." 42:30 And I hadn't even gone to look the rest of it. 42:33 I said, "I want to buy it." 42:35 So now did I have $50,000? 42:36 No, I did not, did not have 50,000. 42:39 So I said, he said, "When you want to do this?" 42:41 I said "As soon as you can get the title insurance, 42:44 I'll have the money." 42:46 "Well, that's gonna take about a week or so." 42:47 I said, "Okay, we'll have the money." 42:49 And you know what? 42:50 A week or so later, 42:52 when we went into Mike Griever's office 42:53 in West Frankfort attorney, 42:55 we had the money put down the $50,000. 42:58 God blessed that over and over, we began to grow. 43:01 We were growing. 43:02 So now we need, we said "Well, now we need this sanctuary." 43:05 We ended up building a school and some apartments 43:08 and we needed more property. 43:11 So across the highway just past towards Thompsonville, 43:16 where we bought the 70 on the left, 43:18 I would drive by there. 43:20 And I remember the years ago and I'd forgotten about this. 43:23 I drove by and I saw a property over on the left 43:26 but has grown up and you couldn't really see 43:28 what all was there. 43:29 So I asked Larry Welch, who worked here at the time, 43:32 why you don't see who owns that? 43:34 How much acreage it is and see if they'll sell it? 43:37 So he did. 43:39 And he came back, and he said, "Oh, yeah." 43:41 And he gave me the lady's name. 43:43 I don't think she'd mind me giving her name, 43:45 but I won't without her permission. 43:48 So he said no, she said 43:51 that she and her husband had owned that property. 43:53 He died a number of years ago. 43:55 It's got a nice little pond on it. 43:57 And they used to have people out fishing 43:59 and property just means a lot to her. 44:01 So she's not, she's not, she doesn't want to sell. 44:03 So I said, "Okay." 44:05 So a few years went by that's what it was. 44:07 And then we ended up with this property. 44:11 I'm talking about on Charlie Good Road, 44:13 the 70 acres. 44:14 But now we're continuing to grow. 44:16 We need some more. I forget about it. 44:18 So I look up who she is, 44:21 should have thought about it because it's 10 years later. 44:24 So I drive in knock on her door, 44:26 told her I said, "Hi, I'm Danny Shelton." 44:28 She said, "I know who you are." 44:30 She said, "You're here about to ask him about property." 44:34 And I said, "Yes." 44:35 And she said, 'cause I was, I was at a blank. 44:39 You know, I'm like what? 44:40 She said, well remember what I told you the last time 44:43 and she had told, I guess through Larry, 44:45 she said, "I told you last time you asked several years ago, 44:49 I would keep this property till I die, didn't I? 44:52 I said, "You know what? I'm sorry. 44:53 I forgot about it." She said, "Come on in. 44:56 Come on in. You could have a minute to come in." 44:58 I said, "Yes." 44:59 She said, "Tonight, I was sitting here praying, 45:02 Lord, what should I do with that property?" 45:04 She said, "I have a little building on it. 45:06 People had gone out there, 45:08 they were staying all night round the pond, 45:10 I was afraid they're going to dry drown. 45:12 They were throwing cans through the windows. 45:16 And I had the insurance company out here. 45:19 And it's just too much responsibility for me. 45:22 I was praying tonight, 45:23 Lord, what should I do with this property? 45:26 And she said you knocked on my door." 45:29 Now is that coincident or is that divine providence? 45:32 So I asked her how much property, was nearly 100 acres. 45:35 Let me tell you, 45:37 she gave, also gave a great deal 45:39 wasn't much more per acre than that. 45:42 Now I won't give those details without her permission. 45:44 But it's amazing. 45:46 So I can take you time and time and time again. 45:51 And what people would say, 45:52 "Well, I don't know if I can go, you know, 45:54 I don't know if I can do this." 45:56 Look, you can do all things through Christ 45:58 who strengthens you, how much? 46:00 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 46:03 The reason that God is opening up doors, 46:06 and He's opening up technology, like with 3ABN, 46:09 to reach the world, 46:11 is because heaven is not heaven till God's children are home. 46:18 Heaven is not heaven 46:20 till God's children are all there. 46:22 Heaven for the most part is empty. 46:24 All there may be mansions been built. 46:27 There's plenty of room. 46:29 But God's people aren't there. 46:32 Jesus is coming back to this earth very soon. 46:36 And when He comes back, it's ready or not. 46:39 Are we ready? Are we not? 46:42 And I want to be counted among those that said, Lord, 46:46 send me and we're willing to go. 46:49 And the Lord wants you 46:50 I'm telling you again this today, 46:52 these things not for. 46:54 Again, God blesses us all in spite of us. 46:57 1991 in the fall, Pastor John Carter, called me, 47:01 "Danny, would you want to go to Russia, 47:04 God's opened the doors for to go to Russia 47:08 and preach the gospel. 47:09 Communism had just fallen." 47:11 He said, "We're going to do it May of '92. 47:13 We're going to go to Moscow, 47:15 but then a city opened up called Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, 47:19 third largest city in Russia, 47:20 about three and a half million people. 47:23 Would you want to go over there with me 47:24 and 3ABN bring cameras?" 47:26 Absolutely. 47:28 Some of you have seen the footage. 47:29 If not, we probably should get it out again 47:31 and show some of it from time to time. 47:33 But that meeting, those meetings, 47:36 thousands of people showed up every night. 47:38 Elder Carter rented a building, hold about 6,000 people 47:42 and made seven at most. 47:44 Three nights he had to do three services a night, 47:47 it just kept going on and on. 47:49 The crowds built, thousands of people. 47:51 At the end of the meetings, we baptized 2532 souls. 47:56 They're in Russia behind the Iron Curtain 47:59 that only a few years before would be impossible to get to. 48:03 Now we're there preaching the gospel and the baptisms, 48:06 the KGB brings out trucks, sets up tents. 48:10 And so all these pastors, 48:12 27 pastors can go out for four hours 48:15 baptizing people in the cold Volga River. 48:18 Now, all of this happens. 48:21 The president of the conference Vasily Stolyar, 48:24 and the vice president Aleksander Antonyuk 48:27 came to me and said, "We have a major problem now. 48:31 While these meetings have been so successful, 48:33 we don't have a place to put the people. 48:35 We only have one church in this entire huge city, 48:39 holds 225 people or so. 48:42 And one church is all we have, and it's almost full. 48:45 And now we baptized 2532 people, 48:50 what are we gonna do? 48:51 Can we meet together and talk?" 48:53 So we were staying into Rucia Hotel 48:56 there right on overlooking the Volga. 48:59 And I said, river and I said, "Sure." 49:02 "So when can we meet? 49:04 How about tomorrow morning at 11, can we meet?" 49:06 I said, "Sure." So I'm standing on the stairs. 49:08 Now listen to this. 49:10 God's timing, the blessing is on the go. 49:12 But I want to talk about His timing again, 49:14 when we're willing. 49:16 I'm standing on a little stairs coming down. 49:18 And I'm waiting. It's about 15 minutes till 11. 49:21 So I'm waiting on these conference pastors 49:24 to come to have a meeting. 49:25 We're just going to find a place in the lobby 49:27 to meet so I'm waiting on him. 49:29 And while I do, there's a man that walks up to me, 49:32 he's an American. 49:33 I've never met him before. Don't know who he is. 49:35 He says, "Hi." 49:37 He says, "My name is Manny Treves. 49:39 I'm from California." 49:41 Now some of you may know, 49:42 Manny Treves, I had never met Manny. 49:45 So he said, he had a little recorder, 49:47 little microphone, little recorder, and he said, 49:50 "Do you have just a minute? 49:53 I would like to interview you. 49:55 And because I'm going to take it back home 49:57 and tell people what's going on. 49:59 Could I just get a little interview?" 50:01 And I said to him, "I'm sorry, Mr. Treves. 50:04 I can't right now." 50:06 I'm waiting on the conference leaders 50:07 and I was looking down the doorway, 50:09 the hallway waiting for them. 50:10 I said they're coming in. 50:11 We're going to have a meeting about that we need to meet. 50:14 I said, "They don't know 50:16 what to do with all these people we baptized." 50:19 So he said, "Oh, I'm sorry to bother you." 50:22 And I said, "What brought you here? 50:23 Did you come with elder Carter?" 50:25 No, he said, "I didn't come with Elder Carter. 50:26 I just came on my, he said, I heard it on the air. 50:30 I saw what you were doing. 50:31 And I watched the meetings and I said I want to come." 50:34 So he said, "I heard about the meeting. 50:36 So I came over here." That's the way it was. 50:39 I came over here on my own. 50:41 Seventy four years old I think he said he was. 50:43 I was impressed to go Russia by myself 50:45 made my own arrangements. 50:47 And I said, "What do you do?" 50:48 He said, "I'm just seating people. 50:50 I'm an usher every night." 50:51 That was a big job 50:52 because people were literally running over each other 50:55 to get seats into this auditorium. 50:57 So I was just here. He said, "I'm just here." 51:00 So well, listen, I'm sorry to bother you. 51:02 I saw the conference president and vice president coming in. 51:06 And as like the Lord spoke to me, 51:08 Manny walked off. 51:09 I said, I said to Mr. Treves, 51:12 "Brother Treves, come back for a minute." 51:14 I said, "Why don't you go sit down with us in the meeting?" 51:16 Oh, I don't have anything to have no reason to. 51:20 I said, "Well, why don't you sit with us?" 51:23 Because I was feeling bad, 51:24 because I had kind of just brushed him off. 51:26 I felt like, man, that's not a nice way to do somebody. 51:29 I wasn't kind enough to him. 51:31 I was afraid I wasn't kind enough, 51:33 because I was so concentrating on this, 51:35 that I wanted him to know that hey, look, 51:37 I'm glad you're here. 51:39 Thankful you're here, but so no. 51:41 So I said, "Well, come on, sit down with this. 51:42 Let's talk." So they had a translator. 51:45 So they said, "What are we going to do?" 51:48 The governor has opened up 13 buildings. 51:51 And they're going to allow 13 businesses 51:54 or several in Nizhny Novgorod 51:56 that were being built back 20 years ago 51:58 that the government never finished. 52:00 So they're half done. 52:01 Some of them were huge buildings, 52:03 like 200,000 square feet, 52:05 but they're going to open them up for sale for the first time 52:08 since Communism started in 1917. 52:11 Would you help us buy some property? 52:14 And maybe one of those old buildings we can remodel? 52:17 And I said, "Yes. 52:19 But it have to be big enough to hold 20, 52:22 you know, 2500 plus, this church is going to grow. 52:25 So we need a building, that's going to be huge." 52:27 Well, there's a few of them started. 52:29 And then I said, "Well, why don't you look around 52:32 and see what you can find?" 52:34 And I said, "May we'll help you buy it." 52:35 I said, "What do you think it would cost 52:37 or something like that?" 52:38 And I remember that, the president said, 52:42 "Oh, it costs way too much money." 52:45 I said, "Well, just give me an idea." 52:46 "Oh, you couldn't afford it?" 52:48 I said, "Well, I can't afford it. 52:49 Maybe the Lord can. 52:51 What do you think it would cost to buy a piece of property?" 52:55 Now remember, people were making $15 a month at the time. 52:58 Julia Outkina, PhD in Linguistics, 53:01 who still our director, 53:02 and I won't have much time to get into that today 53:05 is our director of 3ABN Russia. 53:07 She's a PhD in Linguistics, 53:10 and I think making $15 a month 53:12 or her mother's a physician making 20. 53:15 So Russia, compared to economy, compared to the US then, 53:18 so they said, "Oh, you couldn't afford it. 53:20 There's no way you can afford it." 53:23 So I said, "What would it cost? Just give me a figure." 53:25 So finally, they looked at me and he says, 53:29 "Probably about $100,000." 53:32 Well, to me, you mean, we could build, 53:35 buy a huge facility in Russia, 53:39 never been able to do that before for only $100,000. 53:43 They were saying, "Oh, this is impossible. 53:46 There's no way we could raise that much money." 53:49 So I said, what people sometimes do 53:52 when we've been in ministry for a while, 53:54 we kind of think we know where God is leading. 53:57 And we shouldn't but our human tendency is, 53:59 so I say, "Well, listen, if you can get us something, 54:04 and we can buy for $100,000, 54:06 I'll go back to the States. 54:08 I'm going to tell all of our American friends, 54:10 I'm going to tell them about this opportunity. 54:13 About we need a church for all these people, 54:16 we need a center. 54:17 So these people can come they can learn and grow." 54:20 And I said, "I'm sure we can raise that $100,000." 54:24 So I looked over at Mr. Treves who hadn't said a word. 54:28 And he looked at me and he nodded his head, he went. 54:33 And so I looked at him and he just smiled he went. 54:36 I said, I said, "Don't you think, Mr. Treves." 54:39 He said, "Now I know why the Lord impressed me 54:41 to come to Russia. 54:43 I'll give the 100,000." 54:46 Now if that didn't give you some chill bumps. 54:49 Now you think about it. 54:50 The timing, God's timing, the blessing is on the go. 54:55 You go because I stood outside the hotel. 54:58 And I said, Lord, because 55:00 that Psalms 2:8 came to me, "Ask me, and I'll give you 55:03 the heathen for thine inheritance, 55:04 and the uttermost parts 55:06 of the earth for thy possessions." 55:08 And I said, "Lord, I'm standing on terra firma. 55:11 What can you do? 55:12 What are you going to do for us?" 55:13 But we're here. We made it. 55:15 The blessing of God is on the go. 55:17 So here we did, we came. 55:22 Manny gave the money. 55:23 We ended up buying the facilities 55:26 after two or three years 55:27 and we put a lot more money in it. 55:30 That facility 28, 29 years later, 55:33 is still, is still bringing in souls 55:37 for the Kingdom of God. 55:39 I could go on and on and on. I'm sorry. 55:41 Maybe I took too much time in the beginning. 55:44 But I want to let you know that Jesus says, 55:47 "All power is given me in heaven and earth." 55:49 Then He says, "Go ye therefore." 55:51 Then He says, "Teaching them to observe 55:53 all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 55:57 And I believe, as much as anything 55:59 that's teaching the Ten Commandments of God, 56:02 not nine of them, not eight of them, 56:04 not seven of them, because now it's in our church. 56:06 It seems like in the Christian church, 56:08 we're forgetting about the sixth 56:10 and seventh commandments. 56:11 We don't want to talk about those. 56:13 They're not politically correct. 56:14 That's another sermon. But we have to stand up. 56:17 So I want to promise you, 56:18 you give all God the credit and you trust in Him. 56:22 You go forward 56:23 when He impresses you to in ministry. 56:25 You stick to the message that He's called you. 56:27 Do not look to the left, do not look to the right. 56:30 Say, "Lord, I will not compromise, 56:32 I'm going to do no matter how unpopular it is, 56:36 no matter how unpopular it is, I promise you, 56:38 I'm going to preach the truth." 56:40 3ABN I can say this, in spite of all of our failures. 56:44 Those of you watching for years, 56:46 we've continued to preach and with by God's grace, 56:49 and through board members that care and leadership 56:51 like Greg and Jill and others here, Pastor John, 56:53 all of those 3ABN has is committed 56:57 and will continue is my promise to you 57:00 to give an undiluted three angels' messages, 57:03 one that would counteract the counterfeit 57:05 into all the world. 57:07 His body was broken, 57:11 so that we could live, 57:12 giving us the gift of eternal life. 57:16 He pursues us relentlessly with an everlasting love 57:22 regardless of our failures and mistakes, 57:26 the One who loves us like no other. 57:30 This is who Jesus is. |
Revised 2021-12-30