ASI 2016: Called. Chosen. Committed.

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Plenary

Steve Dickman

Called. Chosen. Committed

Father in heaven, we come here tonight and we humble our hearts now before you, crying out to you that you would send us the Holy Spirit.

For without the Holy Spirit, we cannot understand your word.

And tonight, our desire is to understand Your Word.

Saul was on his way to the city of Damascus.

He was on a mission and he was pretty certain that he was on a mission for God.

Until that blinding light struck and he was knocked to the ground and ended up blind.

Tonight I want to talk to you just a little bit about some of the experiences that Paul had, Saul had.

Through the calling and the empowerment of the great God that we serve, Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a man who was a persecutor became a preacher.

A man who was against the cause of God converted sides and became completely dedicated to the cause of God.

And tonight we are living in the world in such an age that each 1 of us have a similar decision to make about on which side we will stand.

Will we advance the life of God through Jesus?

Will we say as Paul did, I determined to know nothing except the cross of Christ and Him crucified?

So tonight I would like to invite you, if you have your Bibles, to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

We find here Paul speaking to the Corinthian church and this is what he says here, Paul called to be an apostle of Christ through the will of God.

Would you agree that he had a dramatic and miraculous calling?

Obviously getting struck from his horse and falling to the ground blind, it was obviously a miraculous calling by God.

He goes on to say in verse 2, though, he's writing now, he's writing unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints.

Now, so we see that not only was Paul himself called, but in speaking to the church in Corinth he also felt that they were called.

And they weren't just called to any calling, he goes on to say that they were called to be saints.

It's hard to raise your hand when you know that there are things in your life and in your world that you struggle with that would leave you a little less than saintly on some days and a little more than less than saintly on other days.

Well, he goes on to say here, not only does he talk about the church in Corinth, but he goes on to indicate here, says, with all that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." Now if you want the Steve Dickman interpretation of that, Paul has just said, I got called, the church in Corinth got called with all the saints there, and anybody who calls on the name of Jesus is also called.

If you are here tonight, I am making an assumption that you call on the name of Jesus.

Phoenix is a place in this world because he says, that in every place, with all that in every place that call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.

An interesting way to say that I think everyone is called.

And that's the idea I get from this section in 1 Corinthians here, that Paul says, I was called, the church is called, the saints are called, and everyone who calls on the name of Jesus is called.

I believe that each 1 of us have been called.

But it could be, it could be that some of us have not been paying attention to our calling.

In fact, that's the very situation that Saul found himself in when he was on the road to Damascus.

We actually find in the Spirit of Prophecy some enlightenment about this, talking about, if you read the section there in Acts of the Apostles and in other places you find that Saul was being bothered.

He was being bothered by the behavior that he saw in the life of Stephen when Stephen was stoned.

Saul was there, he was holding the coats.

He said, we've got to get rid of this heretic.

But when he participated in that event and he looked up and he saw Stephen looking up as it were into heaven and that calm look on his face.

He said, there's something different about this man.

But he wasn't paying very much attention.

Personally I would like for God to get my attention in a much easier way than it seemed he had to work with in the case of Saul.

How many of you would like to be blind, even for just a few moments?

I think we would like for God to work with us in a different way.

You know, it goes on here in 1 Corinthians.

It's a very, very interesting reading here in this chapter and we're going to explore some of that.

In verse 7 it says this, and in talking about why, why do we get called?

And in verse 7, so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's interpretation here evidently was that we are called and he says earlier that grace and peace and all these wonderful things be upon you but he says we are called, we have been asked by God to do a work for Him, and God is going to empower us to do that work, and He doesn't want us to be short on anything we need to do the work that He has called us to do.

Are you waiting tonight for the coming of Jesus?

I can tell you for sure I want to see Jesus come very soon.

I think we should get over whatever we're waiting on and do whatever God is asking us to do.

I believe Jesus Himself is waiting in the heavenly courts and He wants to see the work on this earth finish soon?

We're told that the sorrow we experience here is only a small drop or a small portion of what God Himself experiences every day.

When He looks down on this planet and he sees the starving children and he sees the sin and the death and the wars and all of these things taking place on this planet.

Don't you know that he is suffering right along with his children?

I think sometimes we ignore this and we think he is just up there waiting with his feet propped up waiting for something to happen.

I believe that God is experiencing our sorrow times an infinite number of sorrows and that He too would like to see this work get done.

Verse 8 goes on to say, Who shall confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ?

The calling that was received by Paul, the calling that he was talking about to the Corinthian church, the calling that he was talking about to us is a calling that we should live by the power of God in such a way that the Holy Spirit will be able to say of us on that day, you are blameless in the power of your Lord Jesus Christ.

And in verse 9, Paul goes on to say, God is faithful by whom you were called in the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

If He calls us, He is intentionally preparing to empower us to do the work that He has called us to do.

I believe there's 1 thing God needs more than anything else, and it's not our abilities.

As much as we would like to believe there's something about ourselves that God could just reach down and use and say, yeah this really is great I'm glad this person can sing so nicely.

Listen, God needs our availability not just our ability.

There's all kinds of things we can do with our abilities.

We can advertise our abilities on the international worldwide web.

We can talk about them on Facebook, but what God is looking for is a people who will agree to do what He has asked them to do.

It's a people who will agree to work for Him according to His calling, not according to their own ability.

We read in our verse tonight in 1 Corinthians same chapter in verse 26, for ye see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh and not many mighty and not many noble are called.

Derek Morris

Praying the Radical Prayer

I was standing in the back of the General Conference auditorium about to find my seat for worship.

And as I was about to move toward the seat, 1 of the vice presidents of the general conference tapped me on the shoulder and said, I'd like to talk to you on the third floor.

Well, I didn't know if I was in trouble, But I found out when I got to the third floor that I was to be asked if I would consider serving as president of the Hope Channel.

They knew that I was a passionate volunteer with Hope Sabbath School for the last 8 years with more than a million people now participating in that interactive Bible study.

And even in ministerial where we had started a program called Ministry in Motion to train pastors and elders.

So they knew I was committed to the mission of Hope Channel and to the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

But what they didn't know is I was very happy in my work in the General Conference Ministerial Association.

But when you pray the radical prayer, you give God permission to throw you out into his harvest where he knows you will be most effective.

It's not about how we feel, how talented or strong we are.

It's about God, the Lord of the harvest, knowing we will be most effective.

So My first reaction was resistance because they said, take your time, we need to know by 03:00 this afternoon.

I love him as a spiritual mentor and father.

My wife and I were praying, seeking counsel, listening.

And I was walking into the Hope Channel studio where I would be filming again, not as an employee but as part of ministerial all day.

And as I was walking in, I saw the media screens from Hope Channel Africa, from Hope Channel India, from Hope Channel International, all around the world.

And on 1 of those screens, Greg, I was teaching Hope Sabbath School.

And on another screen, 1 of my favorite preachers, Dwight Nelson, was talking to someone, and then the camera switched, and it was me.

And the Lord in that moment said, Derek, I have been preparing you for the last 10 years for what I'm asking you to do.

You see, when you pray that radical prayer, you give God permission to do what He knows is best.

I hope you'll get a copy of that DVD from our booth.

I don't know if there's a thousand here yet, but there will be this weekend, so make sure you get a copy.

Well that afternoon, I'd been filming most of the day, and Jack Blanco called me.

To be honest, I had no idea what you should do.

And as I was praying, the Spirit of God said to me, call Derek and tell him to take the assignment.

Well, I'd already felt some conviction, but let me tell you, when a person who walks with God and cares about you calls you like that, it leaves a bit of an impression on you.

Then I'm walking through the building and a vice president came up to me with tears in his eyes.

Now I know this man, he walks with God, I respect him deeply.

He said to me, Derek, I have been praying for you today.

I want to tell you the committee is not calling you.

You see, when you pray the radical prayer, it's not based on how strong you are.

Jesus said, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

But God in His wisdom knows that you will be more effective where He throws you than where you go by yourself.

And so after praying through the day, I went to the board meeting for Hope Channel that night and I knew something was up when I walked in.

I'm so glad that God put me there because otherwise I would feel overwhelmed.

In fact, God led me to a passage of scripture that I'm going to share with you today.

Some lessons that maybe you need to learn too.

God said, Derek, because I have ekebaloed you, thrown you out into this position, there are some lessons you need to remember.

And those are the lessons I will share with you this morning after we pray.

Our Father in heaven, thank you that your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Thank you that when we pray the radical prayer, when we give you permission to throw us out into your harvest, that you will put us where we will be most effective in your work.

That's our desire, to be faithful, fruitful harvest workers.

We believe you've called us to be involved, all of us, total member involvement, to do what you want us to do, where you want us to do it.

And so as we come to Scripture today, the passage that you brought to my heart to reflect upon for these past weeks.

I pray that some lessons here would bless many lives of those present here today and those who will watch this recording.

And we will be quick to give you all of the praise in the name of Jesus, amen.

His name was Hacker, not as in computer hacker, but hacker as in someone who hacks things down.

Now I have no idea why parents would name their little boy hacker, but God had amazing plans for this young man's life.

Later in the story, he's given another name, Jerubbaal, which means 1 who contends with Baal.

But we know him by his first name, Gideon The hacker.

As I began to read the story of Gideon again, as the Spirit of God said, Derek, because the Lord of the harvest has thrown you out into his harvest, into this new assignment with Hope Channel, there are some lessons I want you to learn from the story of Gideon.

And so I took my Bible, and if you have your Bible with you, we're beginning in Judges chapter 6.

I took my Bible, and as I began an initial reading of Gideon's story, there were 2 important insights that I learned.

When the angel came to him to announce that the Lord was with him, where did the angel find him?

Did the angel find him standing boldly in the field of wheat with a sword strapped to his hip in the face of his Midianite oppressors, Threshing the wheat?

He was hiding in an abandoned wine press trying to thresh wheat with nobody seeing him.

When the angel of the Lord told Gideon that he needed to tear down the altar to Baal at his family house and to cut down, that's where the name Hacker comes from, to cut down the pole idol to Asherah, the Canaanite goddess.

Scripture records in verse 27 of Judges 6, He feared his father's household and the men of the city.

So as I begin to read about this man, Hacker, the first thing that impressed me was that he was fearful.

I see that fear rise again in chapter 7 of Judges when the Lord said to him in verse 9, arise go down against the camp for I have delivered it into your hand.

But if you are afraid to go down, what did the Lord say to him?

Go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Notice the next part of the verse, maybe you missed it before.

If you're fearful, the Lord said, take Purah.

And Gideon went down with Pura to the camp.

The first thing I learned as I read the story of Gideon is that he was full of fear.

I don't know about you, have you ever had times when inner fears or outward anxiety held you back from being all that God wants you to be?

The woman of God, the man of God He wants you to be, may be more concerned about what people think than what God thinks.

If you've ever felt fear sometime hold you back and you said, Oh Lord, take away my fear that I can be strong and courageous.

There's a second insight I learned from an initial reading of the story of Gideon.

I say the Lord is trying to Teach me a lesson here, maybe a lesson for you too, when he calls you to do something extraordinary for him." Gideon was full of fear and secondly, his faith was weak.

The angel of the Lord, Judges 6, verse 12, said to him, the Lord is with you, mighty man of valor.

And Gideon said to him, verse 13, "'O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, "'why then has all this happened to us?

ASI Members in Action

Hello everyone, we are continuing this evening with 1 of our favorite parts of our ASI convention and that is our Members in Action segment.

Perhaps you could tell us just a little bit about yourself.

There may be someone here who does not know you and perhaps would like to know a few things about you.

I was, you could say, heavy drinker, drunk.

She read my palm, did my astrology chart, rode a motorcycle, and this is how we met.

And she got pregnant, took her to Wildwood Hospital, met Seventh-day Adventists, and that's how I came to know God.

Okay, and so in a nutshell, you've told us how you became a Christian.

Well, I mean I hope to be in God's hands tonight, but I went to Wildwood, joined the staff.

He endured the Bible study, baptized us, my wife and me.

And then I went to Wildwood, and there I developed an orientation toward using natural remedies for health challenges.

And then Wildwood, we purchased some land in Iron City, Tennessee.

And my wife and I, we had the thinking, the mindset that we would just take guests and use the natural remedies to help them.

And as it turned out, our first guest, nobody knew we were there.

And you know, I've noticed that when you pray from an earnest heart, God always hears and He answers.

The Lord sent us our first guest, he was a crack addict from New York City.

Second guest came out of jail in Silverdale Jail and he was a dope dealer from Chattanooga.

And then the third guest and the fourth guest and the fifth guest and they were all problems with addictions, alcohol, depression, mental disorders and everything else.

You know, I found out they work just fine, whatever the problem.

And by the way, That's a growing problem.

The war on drugs back in the 60s just say, no, it didn't work.

That's a growing problem outside and inside the church.

So as the ministry developed, that was what we started doing.

And of course, I'm ministering to the same kind of people.

So it was very easy to sympathize and have some compassion.

By the way, in the Bible you see Mary has 7 devils, the woman at the well, John 4, had 5 husbands working on number 6, and Mark 5, the demoniac, had a legion of devils between his ears.

Those people, when they get turned around, make the very best missionaries.

So I'm just going to give just a short couple of stories about what God has done.

Lou, tell us the name of your organization.

You have told us about it, but tell us where you're at and the name of your city.

We're in the western part of Tennessee, Butler Creek Health Education Center.

So we have a health center, small health center.

We have an educational program, one-year health evangelism training school, and organic farm.

We grow the food to feed our guests and to feed our patients.

But, You know, this morning, I got a phone call this morning from a good friend named Travis.

He came to our program 5 weeks ago, Crystal Myth.

Everybody had told him, you're a five-time loser.

I say with Christ, you're a one-time winner.

In our program, you know, of these new start things, the most important is number last, which is what?

You know, Romans 8, 24, we're saved by what?

And to give people hope, they come hopeless and helpless, and to give them hope, This is the best medicine we can give them.

Proverbs 17 22, a merry heart doeth good like a what?

God changed that man's heart and he went back to Chattanooga.

Got a call from him this morning, had a baby.

I expect to be going to first a marriage and then a baptism very soon.

Now, the day before yesterday, we had a lady, Jerry, leave our program.

I have their permission to use their names and tell their story.

She came with debilitating depression, completely pessimistic, completely negative, saying she had no hope and she had no help.

Not because of what we do, but what God can do.

And God took that woman and changed her life completely.

She walked out of here yesterday, of our program, filled with hope, filled with a positive attitude, rejoicing in the Lord when?

Rejoice, and she found something to rejoice about.

In spite of the weak human agents, she found the Savior.

Now when I met my wife, she's also a Buddhist.

We had a lady call and she said you have a morning and evening devotional in your program.

She said I'm a Buddhist and I don't want to come.

Danielle Harrison

Sexual Purity: Lost & Found

Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank you so much that in this place, as your children have gathered together, we can invite your presence.

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