ASI 2009: By Knowing Him

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ASI 2009 Plenary Meetings

Justin McNeilus

Did They Miss Her?

You will bow your heads with me and we will pray.

Our precious Heavenly Father, Lord, you see me here as a young person, a servant of you.

You know my deficiencies, you know my selfish desires, you know me better than anyone, And yet you've selected me this evening to preach to your people.

I pray that as you, as we invite your spirit into this auditorium, may all distractions be taken away.

May angels fill the empty seats and may you speak through me tonight, Lord, like you never have before.

Not so people can leave here tonight and say Justin preached a powerful sermon, but so that they can leave here tonight and say they saw Jesus and they learned more about your love.

Lord be with us as we dive into your scriptures and may you give us a new look at life tomorrow.

I humbly pray these things in your precious name.

It was not that long ago that I was at ASI Youth for Jesus in Columbus, Ohio.

We were simply inviting people to the meetings that we were having.

I was teamed up with 1 of the younger youth for Jesus and I was considered I guess a senior youth for Jesus if there is such hierarchy in youth for Jesus terms.

We were going out door to door, we were knocking on doors and to be honest it wasn't going that well.

People were meeting us with rejection, they were slamming the door in our face and it was getting a little discouraging.

And I was speaking that night so I honestly thought to myself a couple times, you know what, my time might even be better spent preparing for my sermon.

Not that many people came to the door and when they did, they pretty much slammed it in our face.

And we got to the end of the cul-de-sac and the young lady I was with said, Justin, we need to go back to that 1 house.

I was thinking to myself, we went there once, she or he didn't come to the door, why on earth do we need to go there again?

But I was the senior youth so I couldn't say that out loud.

We went back to the door because of her persistence.

We knocked on the door and a young middle-aged, I'd say, lady came to the door by the name of Kathleen.

Kathleen opened the door, let us come in, and she began to say with tears in her eyes, I'm so happy you came.

I'm so happy you stopped by my house this afternoon.

You see what, I've been in and out of jail.

I have 3 kids and I couldn't be any worse to them.

To be honest, I've been ready to call it quits on life." And Kathleen said with tears welling up in her eyes, this morning I got out of my bed and as if 1 last time I cried out to God, God send someone to my door today to tell me the good news about you.

We invited her to the meetings and Kathleen came night after night.

I shudder to think what would have happened if that un-senior youth wouldn't have been with us.

If we hadn't have gone back to that door to meet with Kathleen, I believe her eternal destiny would have been much different.

You've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John.

We will spend the majority, we will spend probably the balance of our evening inside the book of John.

I like John because John I believe sized up Matthew, sized up Mark, sized up Luke, read through them and put things in his account of Jesus that he believed had the capacity, had believed he had the capability to change the world.

So we find things in the book of John that we don't find in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.

We're going to study 1 of those unique stories tonight.

Now if you read this text quickly enough you could miss a valuable lesson.

I would submit to you what in the world was Jesus doing going through Samaria?

You see at the time of Jesus a bitter hatred existed between the Jews and the Samaritans.

You remember that in this time if a Jew wanted to go to the other side of Samaria, it was common for them to take the long route around the city so that they wouldn't have to associate themselves any with the Samaritans.

So why was Jesus going through the city of Samaria?

Some could speculate Jesus was on some sort of a time crunch.

He needed to get to the other side and thus he was going straight through his shortest route possible.

Some may say that Jesus wanted to prove a point.

That he wanted to rise above these ridiculous racial traditions and associate himself with the Samaritans.

I would argue that's even more possible, but in my mind's eye, I picture it a little differently.

In my mind's eye, I picture a woman waking up that morning, that same morning Jesus was walking through the desert.

I picture this unnamed woman almost unable to rise out of her bed.

She lays there in her bed hopeless, meaningless, empty, and hollow inside.

And as if to risk it all, I picture in my mind's eye her risking it all 1 last time.

I see an unnamed woman kneeling beside her bed that morning as she awakes.

Tears streaming down her face, she cries out for God to reveal himself to her.

She cries out for God to give her hope, to give her a purpose, to give her a sense of destiny.

And as she rises that morning she rises with a smile, with that blessed assurance because Jesus is hers.

See, friends, the God I serve is not a God of accidents and coincidental encounters.

He was there to answer a prayer, an aid, and a heavenly objective.

So my question I would propose tonight to us is simplistic in nature.

How many people have crossed our path who woke up in the morning crying out for God?

How many people have walked by us when all heaven was waiting for us to rise to our true purpose.

How many people has God orchestrated for you to meet so you could share the gospel with?

God is not a God of accidents and coincidental encounters.

He's placed you here on this earth for a reason, for a specific purpose.

John 4 and verse 5, So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

The sun was high up in the sky, making the heat almost unbearable, and we find the Savior of the world fairly exhausted.

He's just returned from Judea, where his own people rejected him.

It's been a while since he and his disciples have had any food, so hunger is setting in his stomach.

You can kind of feel that dry, moist, not moist, that dry feeling you get in your mouth when it's been a while since you've had water.

I'm not going to point any fingers tonight, but most of us in this room if we were in the sandals of Jesus would be rather grumpy.

But our Savior of the world was there waiting with open arms for his children.

Verse 7, a woman from Samaria came to draw water.

An unnamed woman in the Bible enters the scene.

An unnamed woman who through the ages has changed countless lives.

Jim Ayer

Footsteps of an Approaching God

That should be the prayer of each 1 of us, shouldn't it?

That's the footsteps of an approaching God.

It's the footsteps of an approaching God.

You can hear the footsteps of an approaching God.

Everybody's running to Rome, all these things going on.

You can hear, brothers and sisters, the footsteps of an approaching God.

Praise God that ASI is on the cutting edge of things.

That means that we can hear the footsteps of an approaching God.

I mean the list could go on and on and on.

We can hear the footsteps of an approaching God.

But at the same time as God is preparing His people for His soon coming, the devil is as a roaring lion going around seeking whom he may devour.

But you know, I didn't always believe that.

I didn't believe in a lot of these things.

Matter of fact, I didn't believe in any of these things.

Now, it may be a little difficult to look at me this morning.

I was going to say middle-aged, but I can't say that anymore, Herb.

You see, I was a drug dealer, an alcoholic, and a thief.

1 day in my life, I was sitting in my little room, and I was smoking away in a joint.

And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, the room just expanded into this mighty auditorium, and there in the bottom floor was God and the devil.

I didn't need any introduction, and they were debating over me.

Well, I couldn't really understand a lot of the things they were saying, but I can remember that the arguments the devil was using over me were the same things I'd use to turn people on to drugs.

See, young people, you've got to understand that the devil hasn't changed his arguments in 6, 000 years.

It'll raise you up to a superior existence.

Sin is exhilarating at the first bite, but then you know the rest of the story.

And there the devil was debating over me, but praise God, the things that God would say, the devil would have to be quiet.

And then a moment would pass by and again the devil would come with another argument and God would again say something and The devil would have to be quiet.

And then a moment would pass by, and again the devil would come with another argument, and God would again say something, and the devil would have to be quiet again.

And soon it was all over, and I was back in my room, stone cold, straight, and sober.

And just like I'm speaking with you this morning, the voice said, Jim, Jim, you have a short time to decide.

I thought, this is crazy, you know, I've taken all kinds of drugs, I've done all kinds of things and I don't understand what's going on here.

And every single day that I would get loaded, which was every day, The voice would say, Jim, you have a short time to decide.

Well, it got to the point, it almost ruined the whole experience for me, and I finally quit.

And I moved back in with my parents, which was an interesting thing to do at that time.

I wanted my dog to sit at the dinner table with me.

You've got to know my mother to understand that 1.

But they loved me so much and they wanted me to be a part of the family again so much that they kind of allowed it.

Now my mother was so fastidious in those days when people would smoke, I swear she cleaned out the ashtray between flicks of the ashes.

And, But as time went on, it's like I wanted some drugs so badly, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't do anything, I wanted something so much.

And after about 8 months, I went to the local bar.

I thought, you know, drinking, that's okay.

So I went to the local bar, and at the bar I'm sitting there and a fellow walks through the door, and the old saying, it takes 1 to know 1.

Well, he began talking a little bit and saying he needed a ride to the next town.

And it just so happened that's where My girlfriend was, a young lady I was going out with, that young lady sitting in the front row today of 39 years of marriage, by the way.

You know, if it hadn't been for God, we couldn't have gotten through a lot of this, but praise God, stick with it.

If you're younger, it gets better all the time, as long as you look to God.

But I—this guy hopped in my car that night.

He rolled a joint and said, would you like a—oh yeah, absolutely.

I mean, he didn't finish the sentence, I didn't finish the sentence, I just grabbed it out of his hand, and off I went, and no voices.

And I started getting my loved 1 over here in the front seat.

I used all those same arguments to turn her on to drugs.

She'd never done anything like that in all her life, but oh, you know, I had the cunning of the devil on my side." Used all those arguments.

Well, life went on for a while and we began having a good time.

And then 1 day I took her down to a river, got loaded, and I said, honey would you would you marry me?

Kind of an interesting thing, you know, I had to get her stoned before she'd say yes, I think.

And we traveled along that pathway for some time.

1 day I was down in Sacramento and we were partying with some friends and I was so loaded that night that Jeanine had to drive.

We get home, she's changing the baby on the kitchen table, small house, changing the baby on the kitchen table, and by now she's loaded too and I'm loaded.

And all of a sudden I walk back into the other room and there's the voice.

It said, Jim, tonight is your last night to decide.

And it was at that moment, there was the crossroads of eternity.

I mean, this way led to eternal life and this way to damnation.

And I needed no 1 to tell me anything else.

It's like I knew it was there, it was laid out right in front of me.

And I went to the drawer and I picked up all my stuff and I walked into the kitchen.

I said, honey, I've got to get rid of all this.

ASI Members in Action

Dear Father in Heaven, Lord we thank you so much for this time that we've come.

As each 1 of us has come from our different places, we pray that you'd send your Holy Spirit, guide each 1 that will speak and share about their ministry.

And help us all Lord that we may be more encouraged to go forward and bring these things into practice into our different workplaces and our ministries.

And we thank you so much for the promise of your presence.

There are so many ministries that are going on all over the world and Sharing Christ in the Marketplace is now worldwide for our organization.

And so this evening we have the ASI president for Europe and we also have who is Angel Duo and We have Radim Passer who is the VP vice president for evangelism They're now going to tell us about How Europe is sharing Christ in the marketplace.

It's nice to be here again and a blessing to be here sharing with you the experiences that we are having in Europe.

It's challenging the work there, but ASI is a growing force in Europe.

In this moment we are present in 14 countries, and our membership is more than 700 members already, and growing.

But the main challenge is to get all the lay people moving, working for Jesus Christ, and preaching the gospel.

And we are very happy because we are finding a lot of support.

It is Ritson, for instance, with whom we are developing the program with the new beginnings and working in small groups in all different countries.

In Spain, particularly, we've had a great experience the last months with that program.

And in the few months in October, we are going to have reaping campaigns all over the country.

And Pastor Robert Costa is going to lead the main 1 in Barcelona City, and 25 members of ASI are going to lead their own campaigns in different towns all over the country.

So this is what we want to do all over Europe, and we're sure that we're going to do it with the Lord's help.

We are also very active in youth evangelism, Not only evangelism, also training, and Radim will talk a little bit about that just in a minute.

But I can proudly say that we've been working this year in a very important city that is Santiago de Compostela.

That is the second Catholic city in the world.

And we have a very small church there, but we've had our young people working and the result has been great because all our young people are, you know, very happy with the work they have done there.

And we've reached the number of 4 baptisms at the end.

And that in that place, I can tell you, is something.

We also have a lot of people with Bible studies, and we, we praise the Lord for the work that has been done there.

But this is also being done in England, in other countries in Europe, but that I will let Radim, that is responsible for evangelism in Europe, to go on with that.

First of all, I would like to, I would like to thank God I can be here because if 12 years ago anybody told me or put me question about the preaching gospel in the Europe, I would ask him probably what is the preaching the gospel.

Europe is, of course, a difficult mission field.

Maybe some of you can hear Macedonian calling, like Apostle Paul from Europe a few years ago.

And I think we have to be good example for our members because we need to wake up.

We translated DVD programs, New Beginnings in many languages.

We started to use program Use for Jesus in some countries in Europe like France, Spain, Great Britain, Hungary, Czech Republic, and a few others.

Of course, it's also very important to have schools for training our evangelists and missionary workers.

It's nice also to see every year more and more people, including youth in Europe, to have patience, sharing the cries.

But of course we would need much more workers for God's work.

In many countries we're starting to work with small groups And that's why, as Angel said, we are preparing some ripping campaigns in some cities like Rome, Italy, Barcelona, Spain, Lisbon, Portugal, and Prague, Czech Republic.

And please pray for Europe, because some centuries ago we exported Christianity to the whole world and now we are in quite opposite situation.

Also I would like to mention a little bit ASI work in Czechoslovak Union.

Every year we have convention attending approximately 1, 000 people which is about 10% of the membership, some day Adventists in our country.

And usually we support about 20 projects every year.

What is important, these projects brought already many or a nice number of baptisms.

Also In our country we have main projects used for Jesus and new beginnings.

And we are preparing for 2011 in spring some reaping campaign together with It is Written.

So we have a lot of work and we are asking you for your prayers.

And television, we know, is 1 of the main mediums by which the world will hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And here we have Ron and Marta Davis of KBLN TV.

Would you tell us about what KBLN is and does?

Well, first of all, I'd like to say we are so happy to be here with our ASI family.

We really are, and we'd be happy to tell you about KBLN.

KBLN's our full power station call letters for television station in Grants Pass, Oregon.

The name of our organization is Better Life Broadcasting Network, and we were in Dallas about, well it was 3 years ago, introducing the idea that we would be purchasing another full power television station in Roseburg area, and then along with that, a low power television station in Eugene.

And so we're here to tell you about the rest of the story so far.

But before we do, we'd like to show you a short video.

I'm Bart Shields, director of His Song Chorale, and I'm honored to be associated with the ministry of Better Life Broadcasting Network.

I am blessed today to share with you the mighty things God has done and is continuing to do through his broadcast ministry.

But first, some quick history on how it all started some 20 plus years ago.

I remember when our founders, Delmer and Evelyn Wagner, saw the need to have clean, wholesome, and inspiring television programming in the Rogue Valley area here in Southern Oregon.

Back in 1988, they ventured out in faith seeking how that need could become a reality.

But in 1990, Better Life was on the air with their first over-the-air broadcast station and now 16 broadcast stations later with a 6, 000 square foot facility we reach a potential viewing audience of over half a million people.

Very soon we will more than double our potential viewing audience to over 1 million people with the acquisition of the Roseburg full power station and the Eugene low power station.

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