ASI Southwest 2024: We Have This Hope

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ASI Southwest

Seminars

Tom Evans

Hope for the Hopeless

My friend and colleague Brian Hamm is passing out some magazines and we have a special card as well.

We will have a drawing with this card later so that will be important to work on filling out.

But right now let's begin with a word of prayer as we get started.

Dear Lord I want to pray that you will be with us this afternoon as we come together, as we examine what steps we can take to make a difference in this broken world we live in.

Well, Crowley Church is kind of like a second home church for me, currently living in the Southern Adventist University area.

Our ministry, Child Impact International, is actually located on the campus of Southern, which is a real blessing.

We made that transition at the end of last year.

But I was a charter member here at the Crowley Church and was leading in church planting for over 9 years in the Texas Conference.

So this is like coming back home in a way.

And so anyway, this is a home church for us in many ways and Adam Keating is 1 of my best friends, your pastor, so glad to be here with you this afternoon.

I want to share this quote with you and That is that whoever saves 1 life saves the world entire.

It's a fairly deep concept, but this quote is taken, of course, from Schindler's List.

But we can truly make an impact that has a ripple effect when we can help 1.

And I think we live in a world where things are so complex and there's so many challenges that we sometimes feel overwhelmed to the point of inaction, but we don't really fully realize the impact that can be made through the 1.

The average price of a slave today is $90.

And a domestic worker, in case you didn't know, is a front for human trafficking.

So this verse I think is something that we can really take to heart in Matthew 18 verse 10.

Don't think these little children are worth nothing.

I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my father in heaven.

Now I grew up going to a livestock auction in Walla Walla.

In fact, I went out to visit this same auction that I went to growing up.

They would sell goats and sheep and cows and horses and we raised dairy goats and at the time, the going price for a dairy goat was around $50.

And so, you know, there's the auctioneer's chant and I tried to practice it, I'm a total complete failure in doing the auctioneer's chant.

But what fascinated me was the bidding, because people would make very subtle cues that they were making a bid.

And I was afraid to scratch my nose or scratch my head because I might have just bought an animal.

But goats today at auctions sell for $200.

And yet, as I just shared, the price for a human slave in today's world is $90.

And it's really hard to even comprehend that.

And there's a whole list of items that the merchants of the earth will sell.

And there's a whole list of items that the merchants of the earth will sell, and at the very end of that list it says they will sell the bodies and souls of men.

That is the world that we live in today where there are more slaves than at any time in Earth's history.

Now because we don't see that, we don't come across that in our daily travel or in our workplace, it's almost like it's out of sight, and so it's out of our minds.

But I want to frame that for you in terms of the vast number of those that are enslaved in the world today.

50 million individuals are victims of human trafficking globally.

That's greater than the population of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi combined.

An incredible challenge as we look at it, an overwhelming challenge to say how can I really make a difference?

10 years ago Child Impact launched its very first rescue project.

Child Impact has been an organization sponsoring children, vulnerable children for the past 57 years, starting as Asian aid.

But 10 years ago, launched Operation Child Rescue as a project of child impact to make a difference directly in the fight against human trafficking.

In the country of the world where there is the most human trafficking.

Thailand's a good guess because probably they have some notoriety for that.

But India has approximately 1 third of the global issue of human trafficking is in the country of India, which happens to be the most populous country in the world.

But having the most trafficking victim is not a status that you want to lay claim to, but that is the case in India.

And so we started our first projects there, and over the past 10 years, particularly in the last 3 years, we've begun to multiply the number of projects.

And this is our current map of where we are working with Child Impact.

You see some are sponsorship, some are rescue projects, and there are many of the countries that we're doing both.

We've added projects with Gypsy Children in Bulgaria that we're working on right now.

And on the far right, you will see, on the far right of the screen, something that says Secret Project.

We actually have a second secret project now that we've started.

So if you would like to hear about that, I invite you to come to the dinner that we're putting on this evening because we cannot talk about our secret project where there's a recording taking place or videos, or we cannot put that in print either.

So in any case, these are the countries we're working in now.

But I have a video here that I want to share with you about 1 of those projects.

Set free those who are held by the chains without any reason.

Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves.

Provide homeless people with a place to stay.

Give naked people clothes to wear and provide for the needs of your own family.

Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun.

And my glory will follow behind you and guard you.

So really I wanted to share that with you for the verse itself that we need to break every evil chain.

And that is what we are attempting to do and to be a part of through Operation Child Rescue, a project of child impact.

But here's the statistic for India, the number 1 country in the world for human trafficking.

So some extreme challenges there, and I want to share with you 1 way that we are addressing that in the Weizig slum.

So this is a bird's eye view of part of this slum.

Nathan Krause

Understanding the Longest Time Prophecy

All right, so the longest time prophecy we read in 2 Corinthians 5.10, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each 1 may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

In other words, there is a judgment coming and all of us will appear.

We all have our day in court, so to speak.

We will be held accountable for what we do in this life.

We have 1 lifetime to live and then there's a judgment and we will all face the judge.

Will the judgment take place prior to the second coming of Jesus?

Revelation 22, 12 says, Behold, I am coming quickly, this is Jesus speaking, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work." If Jesus is coming and his reward is with him, then of course, he's already done some kind of judgment, right?

You can't be rewarded unless there's been a judgment already.

First there's an investigation of evidence.

In any judgment there is an investigation of evidence.

So those are 3 aspects or 3 phases of judgment that we keep in mind now as we're thinking about judgment in end times.

Investigation of the evidence and then a decision or a verdict and then the sentence.

What is, is it a reward or a judgment other than reward?

How did Daniel, the prophet Daniel, describe the judgment?

In Daniel 7, verses 9 and 10, we read this.

I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated.

The court was seated, and the books were opened.

Now, I'm pretty sure, and I know you'll agree with me, that God doesn't need to have records in books in order to know how to judge the lives we've lived, right?

This is an open, transparent investigation for all the universe to be aware.

So in Daniel's time, of course, this is how it would be understood.

So the books were opened in this judgment.

Daniel 7, 18, it says, the saints of the Most High shall Receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

That's the outcome of the judgment and that's really God's purpose.

He does not want to spend eternity without you.

I often tell people, you know, you are the only, I don't care if you're a twin or a triplet or quadruplet, whatever, there's only 1 of you.

Your unique features make you precious and special.

And if you are lost for all eternity, you could never be replaced.

God will not force you to spend eternity with him, but he is longing for that relationship of love and connection for all eternity with you, because you are precious to him.

You have been created in his image, but you are uniquely created in his image.

There's only 1 you, and he wants to spend forever with you.

So the purpose of the judgment is so that that might happen.

He wants the saints to inherit the kingdom.

Revelation 15, verses 3 and 4 says, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints.

For all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested." So when his judgments are manifested, when the books are open, what do we see?

The proclamation from all is, just and true are your ways.

There's no question about the fairness in His judgment.

The word on everyone's lips is, God, you are just and true.

Ecclesiastes 12, 14 says, God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing whether good or evil.

So everything we do is open for judgment.

We are not saved by works, of course, you know that, but we are judged by our works.

That's the evidence of who we are and what we do, what we've become.

Also in James 2 verses 10 through 12 we read this, "'Whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in 1 point, he is guilty of all.'" So James is saying, you know, you could be pretty close to perfect, but if you have 1 flaw in regard to God's perfect law and His holy standard, then you're a guilty sinner, and therefore you need salvation.

Now, if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

And I love that he puts that qualifying extension on.

He doesn't say judged by the law, he says judged by the law of liberty.

Before I committed my life to Jesus Christ, I thought I was free.

I was indulging in sin and I was free, baby.

And then when I met Jesus and I understood that he frees me from that and I have the liberty to live in harmony with his perfect, pure, holy law.

I'm not perfect, I don't keep his law perfectly, but I strive to because now he lives his life through me.

And so James calls God's law the law of liberty, and when you are in harmony with God and his law, you'll find it to be liberating, or freeing to, liberating.

In Daniel 8, 14, we come to our key text here, where it says, for 2, 300 days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

So Daniel has this vision, he's curious about it, he wants to understand it, and he is told by the angel, it's going to be 2, 300 days and we're going to look at the principle or the verses which help us understand the principle that a day equals a year in prophecy, right?

Now Daniel, thinking about the future, that's a long time.

I want you to think 2, 000 years into the future.

Doesn't seem like it's right around the corner, does it?

Does it overwhelm you to think about 2, 300 years?

So 4, 324 is the year we're talking about if we launch forward in time and think about a 2, 300 year lapse forward.

For 2, 300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

The problem that was addressed here in this vision was the sanctuary, there was something going on.

And the word cleansed there in Hebrew is nitzdach.

I won't go into all the details there, but you'll see that many times the Bible translates, your Bible, different versions translate it differently.

You may read, sanctuary may be cleansed or set right or restored because all of those are words that could convey the meaning of nit-stock.

Eric Walsh

Under the Spell of Revolution

A lot of the issues and things that are going on around social justice and some of these movements, I've been talking a lot about this recently, very controversial topic, but I think it is necessary for God's remnant church to look at these issues.

I think I'm going to be able to do both of the topics.

I'll cover everything for the 2 seminars I was going to do today.

And actually, this later today, I want to do 1 on music and some of the things about music that are really relevant for us in the end times.

We're gonna jump right in and get started.

Genesis chapter 3, actually our first verse will actually be 1st Samuel 15 22.

Behold to obey is better than to sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

So our message for this first seminar, my first seminar of the day here is, Under the Spell of Revolution.

Father God, we thank you for this opportunity to study your word and to look at end time issues, Lord.

These are difficult and challenging issues, Lord, so we are asking for an extra portion of your Holy Spirit.

And Lord, we just pray that you open our hearts and minds to truth, for the Lord we might be effective in doing your work in these last days.

So we're gonna go to Genesis chapter 3, just do a little recount of, in my opinion, where a lot of the last day deception obviously originates and talk a lot about why this is so relevant.

Genesis 3, 1 says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said you shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest ye die and right away you see the first step in Satan's deception The first step is actually to question God's Word.

The foundation of the fall is in verse 2, sorry, verse 1 where Satan says, have God said?

By questioning God's word, who does Satan actually question?

Because John 1 says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

If God said it, in essence, it's Christ himself who's being questioned.

Here it is that you see the great controversy in the very beginning of the Bible.

Now, verse 4, and the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die.

The first lie, and this is upon this lie is all spiritualism based, And so much we could talk about with spiritualism, but this, we'll hold it here, that it is the idea that when you die, you don't really die, that allows spiritualism to happen.

And I can tell you from, you know, my parents are Jamaican and I've traveled all over the world, this is a recurring theme in all the world.

And unique to not believing in an immediate life after death is Bible-based Christianity.

Some believe you're reincarnated and come back, some believe you go straight to heaven, hell, some say you go to purgatory first, pay off some debt, but the Bible teaches something very different.

Verse 5, Satan takes the lie even further.

For God does know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open, and ye shall be as God's, knowing good and evil." Now there's an unwritten thing in this statement that you have to get for the rest of this talk to make sense.

In essence, what Satan is saying is that God is trying to keep something from you.

God is trying to keep something from you.

There's more that you could have than you've already been given, and remember they are in a perfect world.

There's not a thorn on a rosebush, not a lion attacking an impala.

The world is perfect and yet Satan says even though God has given you all of this he's holding back from you and if you ate the fruit you'd get the rest of it.

It's not all that it seems to be and basically you can't trust God to do what's best for you because he knows that the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and here's the promise Satan gives them, gives Eve, ye shall be as gods.

The Hebrew there actually doesn't say you shall be as gods, it says you shall be God.

Satan tells them what Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 tell us he actually wanted, which was to be God.

And we're gonna talk about Luciferianism in modern culture in the next seminar.

And so in pop culture in the next seminar.

You'll be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Right now, all you know is this perfect world.

Maybe he translates that to good, but guess what, there's a whole dark side, there's another side that you have not seen that you want to see.

Now, verse 6, and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, appetite, and it was pleasant to the eyes, it was dazzling, and a tree to be desired to make 1 wise, self aggrandizement, self, you know, selfishness, pride here.

She took the fruit thereof, she ate it, and once she ate it she was deceived, But she did not want to be in the boat by herself, so what did she do?

She gave it to her husband to eat with her.

Adam actually knew exactly what was happening.

He was not deceived, but his love for Eve, some say it was his love for Eve, others say it was just his maybe lack of spine, but he went along with it.

In verse 7, the eyes of both of them were opened.

So part of what the serpent, Lucifer, says is true, and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

Their eyes became open and what did they immediately know?

Their eyes were open and what actually the first realization they have isn't some amazing other worldly type things, it's that they are now inadequate.

That when you violate God's law, what you expose is your own nakedness, your own incomplete state.

Verse 7, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

So they try to fix themselves, that's self-righteousness that carries out to this day, it's righteousness by works, which fails.

Verse 8, and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Verse 9, and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where are you?

This is the question God has been asking since the fall of man.

God actually has to kill animals because he dresses them not in an apron, which covers from the waist down.

He covers them in a coat, which covers you from your neck down.

And any time something sins, what is the wages of sin?

So Adam and Eve could have died, but instead something else died.

And in this lays the foundation for the understanding of the entire plan of salvation, because by Genesis 3.15 is where a greater promise comes in, that in fact, you are going to have a seed, Eve, and it shall bruise the head of the serpent, but the serpent's going to bite his heel.

And so this promise of a coming victory over this deception is given.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3, but I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, so he gives us a last day warning, through his subtility, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

It was a simple task to not eat of 1 of the trees.

Series

Seminars

Under the Spell of Revolution

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

The End of Hatred

47m

Seminars

Beholding Christ in the Least of These: Serving in Practical Ministry

43m

The Book of Romans

The Bible and Politics

39m

The Book of Zephaniah

02 Prepare to Meet Thy Creator

55m

Talking Points 2nd Quarter 2024: The Great Controversy

02 The Central Issue: Love or Selfishness?

29m

Being Adventist

The Terrifying Tyranny of Adventist Eschatology

1h 7m

It's Time Someone Finally Told You the Truth About...

The Human Nature of Christ - Part 2

51m

Surviving the Surge

42m

Sabbath School 2nd Quarter 2024: The Great Controversy

02 The Central Issue: Love or Selfishness?

33m

The Power of Unity: Reflecting Christ in Every Relationship

04 Conflict Resolution

55m

Repairing the Breach

31m

Reprioritizing in the Last Days

Use of Spiritual Gifts

1h 10m

Sound Doctrine