AMEN 2018: Call to Service

Plenary

AMEN 2014: Joined Together

AMEN 2013: Following the Leader

AMEN 2013: Breakout Sessions B

<p>Naren James, MD is a board certified family physician. He is the practice owner and medical director of the Bluegrass Clinis with offices in Stanford and Liberty, Kentucky. Dr. James served as the first president of AMEN from 2005 to 2008 and is currently chairman of the Life + Health media ministry based in AUburn, CA.</p>

Naren James

Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

Testimonies & Mission Reports

Lord God, on this Sabbath afternoon, we just praise you for this high time together.

We feel that your presence has been here with us.

We pray that as we move into this time of worship reflection, testimony, that your Holy Spirit would subdue our hearts, that you would speak to us, and that you encourage us, Father, as we see what you are doing in the lives of your children throughout the world, As we hasten, we do what we can to hasten your coming.

Thank you again for this opportunity and these things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

I had the opportunity to go to Philippines in June, a couple months ago, to inaugurate their very first annual Amen Conference over there.

And some of you saw, most of you probably saw the video we had this morning.

And it was, yeah, I didn't think I was going to be in that 1.

I asked Shane to cut me out, but there I was.

So this second video is an additional information slot that we just wanted to share with you.

And then immediately after the video, Dr.

Elvin Texson is going to be sharing with us a little bit about AIMEN Philippines, its inception, its progress, and what to expect in the future.

You know, an AIMEN chapter in any part of the world helps the local physicians to actually work together along with the pastors and others, the hospitals that we may have, the institutions that we have, the other health ministries and supporting ministries to be able to work together in unison, to have a tapestry of work and the pattern of the beehive, where it's not just health ministry, but health ministry plus others in the local conference, in the Union, in the division.

This is a way of actually being able to reach a larger number of people with the good news of the gospel.

When I was first asked to come to speak at Amen Philippines, I was picturing maybe 40 or 50 people from a local group.

I never expected they'd be coming from various islands, from the north, from the south, from Malaysia, from Guam, there's even somebody from Africa.

They have over 200 delegates in attendance.

Many speakers from Our AMEN conferences back in the United States have been speaking here as well as some of their own speakers and it's been a very powerful, exceptionally good start for the first annual AMENS Philippine conference.

From the devotional, to the testimonies, to the breakout sessions.

I think all these things, they teach me something to be a more effective doctor, pray God.

And this conference, it changed my point of view that we are here on this earth.

We are just instruments to make a difference to people's lives.

We're not just here to heal the sick, but to bring them close to Jesus.

And my point of view now is that all of the patients are important.

And the most important thing that we should do is to bring them to Jesus.

Before we were more focused on the physical health.

So this time around we hope to incorporate the spiritual and health together in our practices.

So it's really been a blessing to be able to attend the AIMEN conference.

I believe that we are living in the last days and to keep this message within our own selves is a great mistake.

We need to share it because you know people are dying because of ignorance.

As medical professionals we should not only be well-versed with our field, I mean in our specialty or how to treat diseases, but more so how to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

In this meeting the people exuded energy.

They're excited about what they're doing.

Just the mere fact that more people attended than was anticipated would attend.

And it's not because they have this great marketing machine, right, that got everybody here.

It's that people who were coming were excited and they told other people, you ought to come to this.

So the tone of people here was 1 of interest, of a desire to work together.

I would assume that some of them were curious, right, as to whether this would actually take off.

And they put their money where their mouth was and they came to see, to hear, to experience and from what I hear already they don't seem to be disappointed at all.

I would like to say Mabuhay from the Philippines and we are so thankful for the opportunity we had when we attended AMEN there and now we are also having that AMEN conference here and we have been blessed by the people from AMEN USA and we hope that you will also pray for us here, that we will be able to do the medical missionary work and how you inspire others too, that we will be able to do that also, so that our work here in the Philippines will be united and we can even be a stronger medical arm.

I want all medical professionals to also join the AMEN Convention wherever these are held.

They will really help you, not only benefit you, but also benefit others who will be under your care.

I consider my part this afternoon as a divine appointment.

I am grateful to God for this opportunity to share what he has done for the medical community in the Philippines.

Oh God, my Father, please speak through me and stand beside me as I share to my brethren here what you have done to Amen, Philippines.

I feel inadequate for this task, but although I have this script here, but I'm open for the Holy Spirit to impress me what to say.

It all started from a burden, a deep burden on how the medical profession is being conducted in our country, whether in our very own Adventist hospitals or individual practices.

After finishing our residency training, me and my wife were called to work as staff physicians in 1 of our Adventist hospitals.

We have observed how our sanitariums have evolved from being missionary institutions to becoming business-like in nature.

We do understand that for an institution to be sustainable, it must have profits or return of investments.

But we felt that the focus is more on business rather than ministry.

We cannot even cater for charity or poor patients and we lack intentional programs for the poor.

Wherever poor patients come to the ER and cannot secure money for down payments, we transfer them to government hospitals or less equipped facility for treatment.

Another burden is our spiritual condition as practitioners.

Since Philippines for a very long time do not have SDA medical or dental schools, most of us who are practicing now are products of secular or private state universities.

We have observed transformation from being active church leaders and members before entering medical school to becoming passive members and even not attending church anymore after medical school, compromising our faith during our residency training and in our practice.

There have been attempts to organize our Adventist medical and dental professionals, but to no avail.

Doctors were either passive, resistant, or suspicious.

Sometime in 2015, a friend introduced to me, to my wife, Audioverse.

We have not heard about this website before, which provides Bible-based and Christ-centered media globally.

We were especially encouraged by sermons from ASI, GYC, and later sermons from AMEN conferences.

A presentation by Pastor Mark Finley to medical students made an impact on us.

I began to search the website amensda.org, going through the organization's mission, vision, and objectives.

We were so excited and blessed to know that an organization like this has been existing already.

It brought joy to our hearts knowing that God has a people in North America who are passionate about medical missionary work.

Reminds us of what God told Elijah, yet I have left 7, 000 in Israel, all the niece which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." This triggered a series of emails with Rebecca Barnhurst.

Praise the Lord for her patience, dedication, and love for ministry.

5 of us physicians from the Philippines were able to attend the 2016 AMEN right here in Indian Wells, followed by 4 delegates in the 2017 AMEN in Sonesta.

May I request my friends from the Philippines to stand up?

These are officers and part of the organizing committee of AEMEN Philippines.

We were so inspired and blessed to network with our brethren here in the U.S.

Todd Guthrie about our desire of establishing AEMEN chapter in the Philippines.

He gave us his blessing and support which even inspired us to move ahead.

In April of 2017, an AEMEN chapter was established in Central Philippines.

But it was not until May of the same year during a health summit in Bali, Indonesia, sponsored by our division that AEMEN Philippines was established on a national level.

Zeno Marcel was the main speaker during the summit.

We gathered the few doctors who were present in the summit, around 13 or 14 of us, and scheduled a working lunch since it was not part of the program.

It was an informal meeting, and we introduced AEMEN to them, its mission, vision, and objectives.

We answered their queries and solicited their ideas.

Later, a decision has to be made whether to organize right away or to go back to our respective areas and form AEMEN chapters first.

Some concerns identified were funding, the SEC registration, etc.

Zeno was across our table eating and attentively listening to our discussions.

It was the Holy Spirit who inspired him to stand and speak up.

He introduced himself that he is part of the Amen Board, and I could not forget what he said, do not let formalities or red tapes prevent you from organizing the group now.

Immediately, we voted for the Philippine AEMEN officers and advisors.

Spiritual Entrepreneurship: In Search of Investors

Thank you, dear God, I'm grateful to be here at this AIMing conference, 14th annual AIMing conference.

So exciting to hear the developments, the international scope of this organization, and the impact it's having on the individual lives of the individual patient, medical and dental.

So we just want to praise you, invite your presence now as we share, let's help be hidden and let you come forward.

So, all right, investment is a hot topic.

Ford magazine published the richest man in the world.

Bill Gates was once 1 of them, founder of Microsoft, follower of Warren Buffett back in my days.

He's actually was just $150 billion, maybe a little less after the stock market went down.

But nevertheless, the richest man in modern times.

And I, too, have been an investor back in the year 2000.

And I'm talking spiritually and materially.

Back in the year 2000, I came out of a very deep depression, literally, spiritual, mental, because I had just started medical practice and I went through a severe financial downturn to the point that I actually was depressed for months.

And I came out of it, it was actually a close to bankruptcy situation, you can read about, you can actually listen to audio verses there.

So I kind of learned from that, that basically we are all stewards, We own nothing.

Everything we have and everything we think we are is actually His.

It's a trust from Him, and that is what I took out of that.

I returned to the Word for direction, and 1 of the texts that really came home to me was the 1 in Matthew 7 where it says, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock, and you know what happened to the man who didn't, who built on sand.

So essentially it was saying, those who hear these words and act upon them.

And so I, I took that seriously and I decided I was going to implement the, the gospel as, as much as possible with the Lord's help.

And so I reaffirmed my commitment to stewardship.

It led to a revival in my personal life and my family life and my practice life.

That's where actually the inception of what I think AMEN started, my own personal life, because basically I began to realize my mission field was in the practice with the individual patient, not in church as personal ministries leader, which I was.

And it was really quite revealing because it really energized my practice.

And I think any AMEN members will tell you that.

It truly made me come to a tremendous sense of satisfaction in medical practice, which I never had before.

So I think it's something that I really learned.

And I was impressed in studying the testimonies and Ministry of Healing that really we needed to share this.

So that led to a luncheon at ASI in Cincinnati in summer 2004, which led to the first gathering of modern day medical evangelists at Cajara Springs, Georgia in the year 2005, Elder Finley spearheaded that.

He actually encourages, he said, you come together and I'll come and speak.

So he spoke and that's when we launched A-Man as an organization in the spring of 2005 and we organized that first conference in the fall right here in San Diego, and it was quite an experience because we, like the guy was talking about in the Philippines, we had nothing either.

We went in that conference not knowing how we were gonna fund it even.

And the Lord worked out everything so today we're here 14 conferences later.

So anyway, I served as the first president for 3 years, and then an additional 2 years an appointed board member.

But I want to tell you about the example of the Israelites.

In Deuteronomy 8, 1 to 3 is an interesting text, which is interesting.

Jesus quoted it in his very first temptation, and you shall remember the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test you in what is in your heart.

Whether you would keep his commandments or not, He humbled you, he allowed you to hunger and fed you in a manner which you did not know nor did your fathers know." What did he do it for?

He did it so that you will understand that man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." So, I got to ask you this question, did God need to know their hearts?

He didn't need to know the hearts, they need to know their own hearts.

He was basically getting to the point, hey, you don't know your own heart.

I led you to the wilderness, I made you hungry, I allowed you to be hungry, I allowed you to be thirsty, I provided man, I provided water from the rack because I want to make sure you understand you don't know your own heart.

I don't even know your heart, I know your heart, I want you to know your own heart.

And that's basically what he was getting at.

The fact is, you don't know your own heart, I don't know my own heart.

It is real, it is tangible, because we think we know our hearts, We're self-deceived so often.

And only in returning the will to Him do we get to know our own hearts, because it is a voluntary thing.

Well, the year 2016, I decided to do just that.

I realized that everything I did was literally tainted with self.

I was basically, everything I did has something about me.

Even in ministry, it was about me and my involvement in ministry.

It was with Naren James and his involvement in ministry.

I just began to realize, it was a lot of it was really about me.

So I got on my knees a lot and started praying, Lord, I really don't know my heart.

I really want to focus on what is important to You.

And so, I got to ask you the question, your engagement in ministry, your efforts in ministry, which I'm talking to leaders here, by the way.

I've sat at every table here throughout this weekend.

I can tell you every single person is a potential leader in a man, a potential board member, president, whatever.

You are all leaders in your own capacity.

The reality is I prayed seriously and I said, Lord reveal to me what is your priority because I am focusing on my priority.

And he revealed to me 1 important thing that I, I guess I should have known this as a seven-day Adventist, probably not new to you.

The most important thing to God, in my opinion, is His character.

I mean, in the end, the whole great controversy is about God's character.

Is he who God says he is or is he who Satan says he is?

And every day in our lives, by our actions and our words, we determine whether we believe God or not.

Every day you're faced with that same question.

So I wanted to give something back to God.

After you observe the love of God, you feel impressed.

You cannot help but want to return something.

The problem is, There is nothing to return.

There is nothing to return because you have nothing.

Everything you have is his, including your professional capacity, your talent, your licensure, whatever it is, your board certification.

John Chung

Mark Finley

Tim Howe

Phil Mills

Mark Ranzinger

AMEN 10th Anniversary Panel Discussion

Welcome to a short review of the history of Amen.

So the first question was for John Chung.

Oh, Doug Plata left us, and I can't answer that 1 either.

Why did you go to all the trouble of starting this organization?

Well, you know, I think it was an outgrowth of my own personal devotional experience and just my own practice situation.

You know, I had just like many Adventist, Physician, Dentists, I was just separating work from my church life.

And I finally realized, hey, my patients are my greatest ministry.

So I began to pray for them and start looking at them with souls that need to be saved as opposed to just a client.

And with that, it really made a transformation in my personal professional life and my personal life.

So I was so overjoyed by that that I felt I had to share it with someone else, with other professionals so they too can join in that effort.

Phil, what were some of the goals that you had when you started?

You and Naren have been there from right at the beginning.

What were the goals, the purposes that you have in mind?

1 of my goals was personal, was to personally understand medical evangelism.

What had God called me to do as a physician?

I'd read counsel, but I didn't really understand how to do it.

And another personal goal was to be part of a group.

Ellen White says that physicians, health care providers should be having meetings where they would come together.

And a third goal, it seemed like to me the church looked to physicians, dentists, as financial resources of the church.

We felt, and I felt, that physicians should be looked to as the spiritual resource of the church.

And so 1 of our core principles was that we would not have this as a primary financial raising program, but primarily to be spiritually feeding and helping us in our practices.

How has your life changed in the last 10 years as a result of this organization that you helped found?

After I heard Brian Schwartz talk about prayer and then the next year and I felt I should start doing this but I still wasn't sure how and then Todd gave a Presentation and after that I started praying with patients What a huge difference that has made.

In just simple ways of learning, as I've listened to the various, I've been to every 1, Naren has been to every 1, listened to the presentations, adapting a little piece every year.

I've taken baby steps, but every little step has been helpful to me.

So, Pastor Finley, why did you get involved with this group of suspects?

You know, physicians traditionally have been, you know, looked on with a little suspicion in our church ever since John Harvey Kellogg and that fiasco.

So why did you get involved with the likes of us?

And has it changed your ministry or the way the church looks at us as physicians?

Well, I've been suspect for a lot of my life and doing creative things.

Presenter

Naren James

9 Teachings

Description

Recent

Testimonies & Mission Reports

18m

Spiritual Entrepreneurship: In Search of Investors

31m

AMEN 10th Anniversary Panel Discussion

44m

Most Listened

Medical Ministry Panel Discussion

1h

Testimonies & Mission Reports

18m

In the Footsteps of the Great Physician: My Journey to Medical Evangelism

49m

Series

Series

Plenary

6 more

9 parts

Series

Plenary

8 more

9 parts

Series

AMEN 2013: Breakout Sessions B

2 more

4 parts

Also Appears In

Conference

Oct 25 – 28, 2018

AMEN 2018: Call to Service

5 series

Conference

Oct 30 – Nov 2, 2014

AMEN 2014: Joined Together

7 series

Conference

Oct 29 – Nov 3, 2013

AMEN 2013: Following the Leader

5 series

Sound Doctrine