GYC 2021: Nothing

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Testimony

Shandy Tengkano

Ramon Tengkano

So You Asked Now What?

My wife and I flew from Indonesia last Friday.

We're, I think we're about half the globe away.

We got to Atlanta, stayed around Chattanooga, Collegedale area for a few days, drove here from there, another 12 hours.

So I expect good things to happen here, amen?

All right, we're missionaries from Indonesia.

We live there, born and raised there, so excuse our English.

We're called to share testimony here during this week.

We believe the things that we're going to be talking about, you can relate, because at the end of the day, We're all seeking for 1 same thing, right?

But there's always 1 thing that's hindering us.

So we want to talk about something that might feel like I'm stepping on your toes, but I hope you wear steel-toed boots.

Because we know the love of money is the root of all evil, but we still want the whole tree.

I want to bring you a quote that's found in Mrs.

Page 148, paragraph 1, it says this, "'Affliction and adversity may cause much inconvenience and may bring great depression, but it is prosperity that is dangerous to spiritual life." Wow.

When I found this writing, I'm like, wow.

But this is the very thing that we're all struggling to achieve.

We have prosperity in mind When we go to college.

We have prosperity in mind when we start career, right?

We have prosperity in mind that is our main destination once we start establishing businesses.

Prosperity is the reason why we even marry somebody.

Prosperity is sometimes the reason why we establish churches.

Prosperity is the reason why we have ministries sometimes.

So this prosperity thing, even though it's great, We all need to be prosperous, right?

But there's something that she's trying to remind us.

There's a danger that's lurking behind our desire to be prosperous.

I was born in Seventh-day Adventist church, I was raised a Seventh-day Adventist, I did all this young Seventh-day Adventist young people did, played the music, did the Sabbath school, all the Pathfinder, all these good things, right?

My daddy kept saying, you know what son, Jesus is coming soon.

Send me to school, only for the purpose of what?

Because they all say once you're successful, you have a lot of money, life is good, you got nothing to worry about, you can help church.

Then I remember going to college, I graduated from college, I lived in California for 6, no, 7 years or 8 years, back in the 90s, 200 years ago.

I remember finishing college, somebody asked me for a challenge.

Who's going to get the first million dollar in the bank?

But you know, something about this guy, I didn't like him.

So that thing stayed in the back of my mind forever, for years, you know, when I started my career, when I started establishing my businesses.

There's always that 1 guy in the back of my mind that I had to defeat.

The whole life I had to prove I can beat that guy.

You feel like you have to prove to somebody, you have to prove to your family, you gotta prove to your friends that you can make it, and then you don't realize that is the driving force.

To the point that you don't think about anything else but money.

I had a good concession from the government to run a few things, moving goods here and there, in and out.

I got into a good business, good partners.

And then I, when I was 28, 29, I looked at my bank account.

After I have all the houses, all the cars paid for, properties, I looked at my bank.

I got a lot more than a million dollars in my bank.

I picked him up with a nice $200, 000 car, I think.

And then it felt so good when he said, you know what?

You know, it's good when somebody try to size you up, they look at you, try to size you up and everything, and then you show what kind of power you have, and then the guy's sort of Like a dog with a tail tucked in behind his back, right?

We were in our, how many years were we married?

But you know, the work of the ministry We can share.

In Indonesia we have a television, satellite television ministry broadcasting over all of Indonesia.

It's as big as the United States, the continent.

But we have a booth right there, when you go outside, it's just on the right side, we're with Jesus for Asia.

But what we want to talk about is not about reaching out to God's people, but how God is reaching out to us.

The story my wife and I, we, what's the time now?

My wife and I, we have a little story to tell you.

6 years, no, 6 months before we got married, you know, the title of today's testimony is So You Asked.

6 months before we got married, I remember clearly, I was a good Seventh-day Adventist.

The Second Mile

We're almost coming to New Year, almost a Sabbath day also.

So this is going to be the last meeting for 2021, I guess.

My wife and I are thankful to be here again to be sharing with you.

But there's 1 thing that my wife and I are always struggling with.

Every time we're asked to share testimony stories about our past, we're always praying earnestly to the Lord that I—we feel like there's always 1 person at least thinking, I can relate to that story.

Maybe the person saying, I don't have desire to have a life like them.

I don't have desire to have nice fancy cars.

We never have desire to have AP watches, Hermes bags.

We just fancy all these good things that that are attached to wealthy people But you know what My wife and I we live in the mission field first time we got exposed to mission work, to the mission field, we realized the mission work is damaged, not by anybody else, but it's damaged because of good Seventh-day Adventists.

Because many Seventh-day Adventists think they've done enough.

Isn't it enough, Lord, that we go to church and we're active in the church on Sabbath day?

Isn't that enough that we're a good vegetarian, we don't even eat eggs or cheese?

Isn't that enough that we dress properly, we don't use makeup?

Sometimes we put ourselves in such standard and when God is about to give us something to do, we're not willing to take it.

Just because we're not willing to settle for anything less.

When God says go, we take it as if it's only, you know, it's only a theory.

You know, let them go, Lord, I'm going to support their work.

But we don't want to explore The possibility that maybe God is trying to use us to be in the mission.

All these questions, we don't realize these questions actually damage the mission.

That's why our desire to seek prosperous life.

You know, you may not necessarily want to drive a Lamborghini, but with the mentality saying to yourself that you're in good position, you don't have to do anything else.

You know, I don't live a profligacy life.

Actually, within these 2 types of person, You can see somebody who's like materialistic, very profligate, and then there's this good Seventh-day Adventist who's just thinking they've done enough.

These 2 things actually stem from the same source.

So my friends, my brothers and sisters, my wife and I, we came here, we share a story even though it wasn't finished yet.

The only intention we have is that for you to experiment, taste and see that the Lord is good.

You know, growing up a Seventh-day Adventist, I was just 1 of those, you know, lukewarm Seventh-day Adventists.

You know, you know how you tell a lukewarm Seventh-day Adventist?

They want to be delivered, Not from sin, but they want to be delivered from the punishment of sin.

In meetings like this, GYC, we realize, yes, we want to do good things for the Lord, amen?

You come here all the way from wherever you are, you want to have something done in your life.

You want something by the end of this meeting, you want something done.

I don't know if it's our story or somebody else's presentation, whatever.

There has to be somebody, 1 person at least in this room that's going to say, Lord, I'm going to take it now.

Take me by the hand and change me at any cost.

You know, I remember I was a smoker before, even though I was a Seventh-day Adventist.

My wife was a Seventh-day Adventist, but you know, that life was so familiar to her.

But I remember when you're smoking, it's so hard to quit.

Sometimes you go out and party at night, you know, you're smoking a lot, and then the next day you're feeling like, oh, your throat is just, it hurts so much.

And that morning you go to the Lord, Lord, I'm so ready to quit.

You don't want to deal with the punishment of sin, But do you really want to be delivered from the sin itself?

Because by the afternoon, you know, with the throat, the sore throat is gone, you have your lunch.

So we certainly don't want to be that kind of Christian, brothers and sisters.

There's this element, you know, yesterday my wife and I were saying a few times, you know, if you believe, you will see the glory of God.

Believing has an element of time attached to it.

This time is something that we don't like.

If we want something done, we want it now.

If we want something, Mommy, give it to me now, right?

Lord, if I want something, yes, I want a new life, Lord, with you, but I want it now.

I don't mind sacrificing everything I have, Lord.

Here, take all my money, but give it back to me tomorrow." We don't like to deal with this element of time.

But God says if you believe, if you just keep being persistent, stay in the course.

I know it hurts, but it's not going to last a long time.

But my wife and I decided to actually just surrender everything to the Lord.

We know, we understand the full consequences that there might be a possibility that God's going to take everything that we had.

We came to a point in the ministry, I, in 2008, I think in the month of July, I prayed, Lord, I'm tired of this lukewarm life.

I prayed like that so many times, but I think that month was a serious prayer before, compared to the prayers before.

My wife didn't realize that I was actually praying like that.

And then The journey that God took me was a serious journey to the point where I realized my money is starting to go more and more and more and more every day to the point that I remember a few years ago, I want to tell you a story.

We live up in the mountain in the countryside with the village people.

That's where we have our television station.

I become a dentist, although I'm not a dentist.

1 evening I realized I got no money to even buy a propane tank.

Flying Butterfly

Time goes by quick when you're having fun, right?

If we don't meet each other again for some reason, we hope to see each other under the tree of life when Jesus comes.

Okay, before that, there's a story I want to bring you that's found in Matthew 14.

You know when Jesus is calling Peter to step outside the boat, right?

When Peter acknowledged it was Jesus because it was Jesus alone that's, who was able to walk on water.

But What's interesting is Peter had the same desire to do what Jesus had done.

That's why he said, Lord, if it is You, I know it's You.

Bid me to do something that is impossible to be done without You.

This very word, the word come is the word that sustains Peter, That Peter was able to walk on water and did not drown.

So you know, my brother and sister, last night was a good presentation about what?

When you're on the board, you acknowledge what Jesus is able to do to you, You have faith in Jesus, you have been justified.

But you're only sanctified once you have the desire to emulate, to do what He does.

The life in flesh, the life in the boat is a comfortable life.

Often we say, Lord, I'm going to step on water, but you provide some kind of net, some kind of security system so we don't drown.

Nobody's going to see it, it's a net underneath.

Get out of your comfort zone, because that's the only way you're going to experience what God is like.

Blessed is a man who trusts in Him, Psalm 34, verse 8.

You know, throughout our lives, we desire to have security system, right?

Yes, Lord, I want to become a missionary, but you know what, Lord, give me passive income.

You know, if the nerves that gives us the fear, feeling of being afraid were to be taken out, can you imagine what sort of things you'd be doing if you had no sense of fear?

Yeah, you and I would be doing wonderful things for the Lord.

What's safe in the life of flesh is actually dangerous in the life of Spirit, because what's born by the flesh is flesh, what's born by the Spirit is Spirit.

Us as Seventh-day Adventists, we know this exactly, but it's always this 1 thing that's stopping us from doing the wonderful things for the Lord, with the Lord.

Oh, yeah, that guy is saying that because he's got a lot of money.

I'll tell you what, You know, it's funny, somebody, I heard somebody, hey, you want to go to the mission field?

Don't worry about snakes, it's serpents you got to worry about, right?

Don't worry about snakes, snakes are not going to kill you.

About 8 years ago, almost 8 years ago, my wife's mother died.

It was 1 of the lowest points of our lives financially because we had sacrificed everything for the Lord.

We had made journeys walking on water with the Lord.

Sometimes we look back, Lord, take me back to the boat.

Yes, Peter got comfortable walking in the water, he became overconfident.

God doesn't want us to become overconfident, right?

But Jesus was there, take him by the hand.

He got too comfortable, too confident, Jesus had to walk him back to the boat.

It's wrong to be in the boat if you're afraid to step outside the boat.

Once you step outside the boat and start walking with Jesus, He's going to bring you back to your boat, amen.

There's nothing wrong with the boat, brothers and sisters.

Sandy and I, we're not walking always on the water.

What we think we have lost, we've gained some back.

I'm still not a multimillionaire, no, but God restores a little bit.

The ministry that we run, the television, You know, we can't pay with leaves, we got to pay with money.

We just acquired an airplane last October, 2 months ago.

I became the pilot, that cost money too, because that way God has to take you back in the boat.

But the story I was going to tell you is when my mother died, my mother-in-law died.

Series

Testimony

So You Asked Now What?

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Testimony

Flying Butterfly

57m

Raymond Holmes: Studies in 1 John

To Tell the Truth

57m

Devoted Devotions: A Vibrant Devotional Life for the Last Days

Bound by Devotion

59m

Unraveling the Gay Spin

2. Identity Matters

1h

Remnant Identity: Who We Are and Why It Matters

3. The Remnant & the SDA Church: Will the Church Survive or Will there be a Remnant of the Remnant?

1h

Ignite Your Local Church for Mission

Q and A and Final Charge

1h

Knees, Keys, and Please!

5. Victory in the Final Conflict

1h 4m

GYC 2012 Seminar: Power to Change the World - Jesus, Arabic, and Kale

Human Rights and the Gospel

54m

Morning Devotional

A Tsunami Warning

1h 9m

Bob Folkenberg, Jr. - Evangeliving: The Great Commission in Action

Preparing for the Harvest Now

1h

I Know Something You Don't Know

Sunday Law Rumor and Reality

1h

Medical Mission Work

02 Undo Heavy Burdens

56m

Sound Doctrine