ASI 2012: It's Time... To Be About Our Father's Business

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ASI 2012 Seminar: It's Time

Howard Peth

Contemplative Prayer: A Clear and Present Danger

The best laid plans of mice and men, so we're a couple minutes late to start and every minute is precious because my time is a little bit abbreviated at this particular meeting.

But my name is Howard Peth and they asked me to come because I wrote a book on contemplative prayer that came out just last December.

And you who are members of the ASI are going to get a free copy of that.

You'll see an envelope and inside is a cover letter by the president, Frank Fournier of ASI.

And you'll get a copy of my book called the dangers of contemplative prayer.

And you'll also get a copy of this month's ministry magazine, which is for pastors.

And there's 1 other thing I don't want you to forget and go off leaving without, it is a four-page handout, which has some other information that I'd like to put into your hands that's not in my book.

And there's 1 other thing that 1 of the exhibits downstairs has, it's right near the front when you enter any of those doors, and I think the exhibit is for a ministry called the Covenant.

But the Covenant is making a DVD of this particular issue.

And you can pick up a free sample since they didn't finish all of that work.

They give you a brief taste of what this will be like later when it comes out in the fall.

So if you can pick up those things, you'll go home loaded and informed, certainly about contemplative prayer.

I just ran downstairs to see if some technical person could know how to dim the lights a little bit.

We don't have to turn them out completely, but it's rather bright, almost like daylight with all these lights.

And if someone comes along and dims the lights, you'll know that we got results on our request.

But let's go ahead now without further ado.

I might say that I'm going to talk rather fast because usually when I give a presentation on this, it's in 3 parts, maybe a Friday night and then a Sabbath, have 2 more parts.

Altogether, they take just a little less than 4 hours, about an hour and some for each of those.

And today, I only have an hour and 15 minutes.

So if you'll excuse me, I'll try to talk fast enough because you folks are spending time and money to come here and I want to give you as much information as I can.

Today we want to turn the spotlight on contemplative prayer.

And I'd like to have a word of prayer with the Lord.

I'm glad, that looks pretty good, doesn't it?

I wanna ask the Lord to be with us as we go ahead.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your truth, your blessing, your church, and we pray that you will help us to learn our lessons well in this regard so that we in turn can teach others.

We love your truth and we pray that you'll be with us, present by your spirit.

Now, God warns in the last book of the Bible that the devil has come down to us in great wrath, why?

Because he knows he has but a short time.

And I believe that the devil is pulling out all the stops in these last days because he knows that he has but a short time.

Paul warns, he says, and this is a powerful verse that's very pertinent.

The Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of who?

Contemplative prayer is really a clear and a present danger because if you'll remember, the devil's target has always been our mind.

He reached the mind of Eve in the Garden of Eden and now he's got a method perfected where he can reach the mind of just about everyone in the world in these last days.

So That's something really to think about.

But the church is becoming awakened to this threat and the first shot across the bow was by our new president just 2 years ago he was inaugurated at the general conference.

And in that long inaugural address, toward the end, he saved these words for the end, which I think is a good place to help us remember them.

He said, stay away from non-biblical spiritual disciplines of spiritual formation that are rooted in mysticism, such as contemplative prayer or centering prayer, and the emerging church movement in which they are promoted.

So he gave that warning, and my publisher asked me if I would write this book last year and I did.

It's called The Dangers of Contemplative Prayer.

It was published by Pacific Press and it was approved by our Biblical Research Institute.

And this very month of August 2012, that entire issue of this magazine for pastors called Ministry is devoted to this topic of spiritual formation.

There's a great editorial by the editor Derek Morris, who is even present in this audience today.

He was misled into this some years ago, 20 or some years ago before most people recognized the dangers, but he's come out of it now.

He's come out of it and he wrote a powerful editorial in this magazine.

And he's a good witness to help maybe other pastors who have been misled into this.

But also Mark Finley wrote A04 or 5 page incisive article on this, plus other ones.

Those are all on the issue that you will receive.

3ABN is a powerful outreach and on Thursday nights they have an interview program.

Tonight they're going to tape right here in Cincinnati a program 2 hours long dealing with this problem of contemplative prayer.

Presidents of the conference, the North American Division and so forth, of the ASI and so forth.

So you probably won't be allowed in there because they want everything quiet when they're taping.

I think they're gonna run it again on Sunday, for instance.

Now we wanna see what contemplative prayer is, because it's new to most people, and how it really works.

Well, you could define it maybe in a single word like spiritualism, which God's word condemns very strongly.

Another possible definition might be mysticism, which is also condemned.

Now, we know what spiritualism is, but some of us might not be clear on mysticism.

So the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines that as direct communion with the ultimate reality or with God and so forth.

It's direct knowledge of God in a subjective way.

You see, the mystic doesn't like to get his knowledge secondhand, like reading from a sacred text like the Bible, or listening to an inspired sermon from somebody else.

Instead, the Hindu guru, the Buddhist priest, the African witch doctor, Indian medicine man, spiritualistic medium, new age channeler, or professional psychic, all believe that they've been blessed with the gift of direct personal knowledge with the invisible supernatural world of all knowing spirits.

And right along with all those mystics of the occult, the innocent Christian folks who is misled to indulge in contemplative prayer also communicates directly with the mystical forbidden world of spirits who will reply, they honestly will reply to him or her personally.

What's not realized though is the voice of that they think is God's angel is 1 of Satan's fallen angels, a devil.

You see, if Satan can deceive, seduce, and convert a real Christian into becoming a mystic who is so addicted to contemplative prayer that he longs to listen directly to spirit voices becoming, knowingly or unknowingly, a spiritualist, then the devil really has got him.

But you might ask, and a lot of people wonder, I'll tell you that What you have to do to go into contemplative prayer, they tell you you have to empty your mind.

My mind is always going, even when I'm trying to fall asleep.

Well, the Hindus discovered the secret to this thousands of years ago with a device they called the mantra.

A mantra is a syllable or a word or a brief phrase that you repeat when an intruding thought comes along.

So if some stray thought enters or a worry or concern, you say your mantra, which is like a prayer word.

You could say Jesus, a stray thought, you knock it down with this mantra.

It's helpful to understand the correct definition.

It really comes from the Sanskrit language of Hinduism.

The first syllable man means to think and tra means to be liberated from.

So it literally means to escape from thought.

And here this Catholic monk explains it more.

He says Listen to the mantra as you say it, gently but repeatedly.

If thoughts or images come, these are distractions at the time of meditation.

And the way to ignore it is to say your mantra.

Return, they say, to, they encourage you, return to meditation each morning and evening for between 20 and 30 minutes.

Dwayne Lemon

Stand Firm

Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the blessed hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

We thank you that we can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

And even though we see so many things taking place in this world that truly is about to take the majority of the people in this world as an overwhelming surprise, Father, we desire to be counted amongst those whom the Word of God calls the children of the light and that that day take us not unawares.

May he come and open our eyes and help us to behold wondrous things from your word.

For Father, this is our prayer that we ask, in Jesus' name, amen.

You know, I was studying a little bit about our church history.

And as I was studying church history, there was some accounts in our history that I began to read about that I thought was very eye-opening.

1 of them was that during the time of the Dark Ages, how many of you have ever read the book Great Controversy?

Okay, good, That's pretty much almost 100% of you.

Well, that means that I'm sure you remember the account where 1 of the ways that God would differentiate himself, his people, and his work from that which was done by the papacy during the time of the Dark Ages, if you remember, there was a little story about some reformers who decided to paint a picture.

If you remember reading that in Great Controversy, they wanted to show the difference between the pomp and the arrogance of the Pope versus the simplicity of Jesus Christ.

And the best way that they knew that they could do that was by painting a picture.

And as they painted that picture and laid it before the people, the people were able simply by the viewing of a picture, they were able to see truth versus error.

And it began to stimulate their minds to the point that they began to inquire, well, wait a minute, are we really followers of Jesus Christ?

And it was part of what brought about this great work that was known as the Reformation.

Well, the reason why I bring that up to you is because I believe in pictures.

And I believe that there are pictures that can be presented before God's people that by His grace will have an effect on their minds and make them think.

An example of that would be that I want you to notice this picture.

When you see this picture, what comes to your mind?

It is imperative that we take a moment to glean on that picture.

And the reason why I want you to glean at that picture and look at it carefully is because this picture tells the story of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

This picture makes clear as day the whole purpose of our movement.

I remember reading that little book, manuscript release, book 1, page 228, where it says so clearly that God's purpose in giving the third angel's message is to prepare a people to stand true to God during the investigative judgment.

Do you know that's the whole purpose of why we exist?

Our whole purpose, brothers and sisters, of why we exist as a movement, as a people, is so that we can prepare men and women and show them how to stand true to God during the final scenes of this investigative judgment.

If we forfeit this work, brothers and sisters, you might be doing A work, but you're not going to do the work that's designed to finish the work.

It begins to tell us that this is the reason that we establish and maintain our publishing houses.

That means that the only reason our publishing houses exist today is to help people know how to stand true to God during the investigative judgment.

Do you know the whole purpose of a seven-day Adventist school?

Is to show people how to stand true to God during the investigative judgment.

I see a lot of schools that are being told, that are telling people that we're Seventh-day Adventists.

Brothers and sisters, time will tell, because anybody can take a name.

Romans chapter 9 and verse 6 says, not all who say they are Israel are Israel.

Anyone can say who they are, but at the end of the day, it's the character that tells that we are who we say we are.

If you call yourself a seven-day Adventist school and if people can literally graduate and not know how to stand true to God during the investigative judgment, you might be a school, but you're definitely not a seven-day Adventist school.

And it closes in that paragraph by telling us that this is the focus of Every line in the work.

I see so many medical missionary booths, and I see so many school booths, and I see so many booths of every kind.

And, brothers and sisters, the key thing is this, are we making sure that our booths have material that is designed to show people how to stand true to God during the investigative judgment.

Brothers and sisters, search your hearts.

Am I a Seventh-day Adventist or am I not?

Because 1 thing I know for sure is that time is almost finished.

And as a result of time being almost finished, it is decision time.

God wants to do something special in us and through us for His glory.

Go with me to the book of Revelation, the 14th chapter.

I want you to see what the Bible says as we just consider such a common verse, such a verse that has been with us Perhaps all the years that we have named the name of seven-day Adventist, but the question is have we considered it?

The Bible says in Revelation the 14th chapter if you're there, please let me know by saying amen The Bible says in Revelation 14 right there at verse 9 you see it was in 1842 between 1842 and 44 we find that the first and second angels' messages were given with great power.

But it was only after the disappointment of 1844 that once again a new light came to God's people as they studied together to discover what was their error, what was their mistake.

And of course, we know that they mistook the earth for the sanctuary and they began to understand through different providential leadings that they began to understand the sanctuary in heaven.

And of course, they saw the law of God there and they realize that the sanctuary is not on earth but in heaven and that God moved from the holy to the most holy to begin doing a work of judgment, to blot out sin, not simply to forgive sin, not simply to cover sin, but to completely blot it out, which means you don't do it anymore, which means you get to a point in your love relationship with Jesus Christ that you love God so much that you actually would prefer to die than sin against God.

And I'm gonna tell you the truth, brothers and sisters, This has been the great focus of Jesus since 1844 till today.

And I believe with all of my heart the reason why Christ has not come is because he has not rebuilt his love within our hearts.

Don't ever forget we are loyal to what we love.

You love food, you're gonna be loyal to it.

No matter how much counsel you get on health reform, if you love food more than principles of life and health and strength, you're gonna be loyal to it.

And when the belly got, when the God belly growls, you're gonna go ahead and invest in it.

If you love video games, if you love sex, if you love whatever it may be, brothers and sisters, you're loyal to what you love.

And this is why Jesus, he has come And He wanted to reveal Himself to us, that by beholding, we'd behold that lovely image of Jesus so clearly that by beholding, we would become changed and we'd begin to love the very 1 that we behold more than life itself.

And when that's done, brothers and sisters, that's when God says, now it is safe to bring them into eternity with me, and not before then.

The Bible says in Revelation 14, starting at verse 9, And the third angel, this was that prophesying again, Revelation 10, 11, that prophesying again.

The third angel now had to also come into the picture while they once again had to repeat the first and second angel.

And the Bible says in Revelation 14, 9, this has been the great focus since 1844.

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest.

Day or night, who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name, Here is the patience of the saints.

Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, this must be your experience.

How can I get to a point that God can look at me and count me as 1 of his patient saints?

Now, go to the book of Matthew chapter 16.

It was a long time ago that Jesus spelled something out in Matthew 16.

We know it to be true, but we also know that Satan will do everything possible to hinder this from becoming a reality.

James Hartley

Lighting the World!

Our Father, we thank you so much for the privilege to be at this convention.

We ask, Lord, that your Spirit would be amongst us in this workshop as we study, explore, and think of how the Third Angel's message can reach the whole world, and in what ways, what new ways and what strategies are best working today in a variety of cultures, especially through the the right arm of the gospel, the health message.

We pray for your Holy Spirit, Lord, and that that we would come away revived and motivated with your spirit urging us on, instructing us how to work as our Master worked.

We thank you so much for the blessing to even discuss these matters of extreme importance.

Well, let me just give a short introduction in case you didn't read it.

I was raised a Roman Catholic from La Crosse, Wisconsin.

And somehow through meeting Seventh-day Adventists through a vegetarian restaurant, a friend of mine went to a vegetarian restaurant in Switzerland while he was hitchhiking around going to rock concerts and learned about Seventh-day Adventists.

And We were both interested in organic farming.

And so we, this restaurant pointed him to a farm in Italy.

And my buddy went and worked on this Adventist farm in Italy, an organic farm, for 3 months.

Invited me there, and I worked there for 3 months.

We basically were experimenting you know with Adventist lifestyle, which I didn't know what an Adventist was.

I thought it was an Italian church of some sorts.

But through, you know, we were into partying and drinking and this sort of thing, we just decided to totally change our lifestyle and experiment with these people's lifestyle, living in the country and growing their own food and eating really healthfully.

And we were reading books of Buddhism and this sort of thing, like these disciplined lifestyles and higher states of consciousness and this sort of thing.

Well, we found out that, yeah, through this experience somehow we found the Lord on this farm and we read the Bible, we read the New Testament together, studied it, and we both were converted.

He ran our organic farm at Wildwood for a number of years.

I don't want to go on with my whole testimony.

But real brief, the chef from Switzerland ended up working near Wildwood, because it was all through Outpost Centers International.

So we both ended up getting baptized at Wildwood through a process.

We were both a total mess with a lot of different ideas in our minds, and it took some sorting out before we were baptized.

But the health message was very integral to our conversion story.

It was that vegetarian restaurant was a key point of interest.

We probably would not have responded to, you know, a Bible worker or a door-to-door worker, but the restaurant was, you know, was that non-threatening.

There's a common ground of health and healthful living, and so you, at least it was an entering wedge so we could at least hear out these people that, you know, actually impressed us very much as spiritual, people that seemed to be in touch with God that had a kind of a holistic approach to their religion.

Catholics, if you know Catholics, we're very, we separate very much heaven and earth.

There's no real strong victory over sin message really.

It's just we're all going to go to heaven after this earth.

And it seemed to be kind of a conflict or a contradiction.

So anyway, I was never really into the Roman church.

As soon as I got my driver's license, I drove away and never went to the church again.

Anyway, I've worked at Wildwood for 12 years since.

I got some experience in Bible work and overseas missions and then later became the director for their school.

I was director for their College of Health Evangelism for 7 years.

And then, you know, a burden on my heart was that we would get floods of applications from every corner of the earth.

Kenya, South Africa, Philippines, India, Brazil, almost every country.

Remember, we got an application from United Arab Emirates 1 time.

I could go on with this long list of tons of applications.

We only take 20 students usually per session.

And I'd call these people and say, well, isn't there a training near you?

And almost always the answer was no, there's nothing.

And I researched it and there are very few lay training courses across the globe.

And going on several missionary trips, I've been in over 40 countries and seen the condition of the church, visited churches and done trainings and so forth, and I've realized out of the 115, I think it's around 115 unions in the world field.

There's about 25 unions that have short lay training courses.

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