by Loren Seibold | 8 September 2022 | In a memoir in the New Yorker magazine (August 22, 2022), writer Hua Hsu told of how his family tried to overcome the barriers to success in their new home in America. “Like many immigrants who prized education, my parents had faith in the mastery of technical […] Source: https://atoday.org/the-blueprint-part-1-the-myth-of-the-perfect-answer/
Inside Story: South American Division ~ Part 11: The Final Attack
Part 11: The Final Attack
By Andrew McChesney
Two weeks before Father’s baptism, he inexplicably grew angry after guests left the house following a small group Bible study in Manaus, Brazil, on Friday evening. He announced that he would sleep in the living room.
The night was darker than usual. Electricity went out in the neighborhood, leaving the houses and streets in pitch blackness.
About 1 a.m., Junior woke up to the sound of a voice shrieking that Father was not going to be baptized.
Junior was scared and didn’t know what to do. He stayed in his room to see what would happen.
The voice screamed again, saying that Father was not going to be baptized.
Junior waited.
He heard someone enter his room.
“Please, son, pray with me,” Father said. “The enemy is attacking again.”
Another voice spoke. “What are you doing?” It was Mother. When she heard the screams from the living room, she had sunk onto her knees and began to pray. Now she invited Father and Junior to join her in pleading for Jesus to chase away the evil spirits.
After some minutes of prayer, Mother suggested that they step outside the house where they would be able to see one another in the dim moonlight.
Outside, Father said he was thirsty. Junior volunteered to go back in and fetch a glass of water. In the kitchen, he spotted a mysterious dark spot on the floor. Calling for Mother, he pointed at the spot and asked, “What’s that?” Mother looked closely at the floor. “That’s hair!” she said.
Back outside, Junior and Mother took a closer look at Father. Big tufts of hair were missing from his head. It looked as if someone had taken a pair of scissors and chopped off his hair haphazardly.
Father put his hands to the top of his head and winced.
“I’ll have to shave my head,” he said. “I don’t care if I’m bald.”
When the sun rose on Sabbath morning, Father felt terribly tired. He was unusually weak after the nighttime attack by evil spirits, as if he had received a severe beating. He decided to pray at home instead of going to church.
After Mother and Junior left, he prayed, “Jesus, don’t let them take over my body. Please be close to me. I don’t want to be possessed anymore.”
Opening his Bible, he read in Psalms 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (NKJV).
Father understood that Jesus was telling him not to be afraid. Jesus would guide him to his baptism. Sure enough, evil spirits never possessed Father again after that Friday night. But he could still hear them.
Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open eight churches in the South American Division, including four in Brazil, where Father (Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos) and his family live.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
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Friday: Further Thought ~ Waiting in the Crucible
Further Thought:
Read Ellen G. White, “The Anointing of David,” Pages 637-642, in Patriarchs and Prophets.
God’s plan for us may require that we do a lot of waiting, and this really can feel like a crucible.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Learning patience during this time can happen as we focus on the person of God and trust that He is acting for us. There are many reasons for waiting, but all are concerned with the fulfillment of God’s plans for us and His kingdom. We can lose much if we rush ahead of God, but we can gain much by maintaining an attitude of trust and delight in Him.
The Lord weighs and measures every trial.
“I cannot read the purpose of God in my affliction, but He knows what is best, and I will commit my soul, body, and spirit to Him as unto my faithful Creator. ’For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day’ (2 Timothy 1:12). If we educated and trained our souls to have more faith, more love, greater patience, and a more perfect trust in our heavenly Father, I know we would have more peace and happiness day by day as we pass through the conflicts of this life.
The Lord is not pleased to have us fret and worry ourselves out of the arms of Jesus. More is needed of the quiet waiting and watching combined. We think unless we have feeling that we are not in the right track, and we keep looking within for some sign befitting the occasion; but the reckoning is not of feeling but of faith.” — Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, p. 242.
Discussion Questions:
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/friday-further-thought-waiting-in-crucible/
Why is Jesus the Best Vaccine Against Sin?#sermon #shorts
This #short clip from the message, “Why is Jesus Our Ultimate Vaccine for Sin?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuqnDLIgqnE by Pastor Mark Finley explains that the resurrection of Christ is the ultimate life-changing event, and Jesus is the leading and only solution to all our sins. Jesus encourages us to believe that He loves and cares for us, that there is hope for us, and that He will deliver us from the virus of sin. Watch the video to hear Pastor Finley talk about the assurance we can have if we believe and trust in God, even when we can’t comprehend what’s happening around us. ————————————————————————————
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been an established denomination since 1863. It is a global Christian family with over 21 million members who hold the Bible as the ultimate authority. We are believers who promise to help people understand the Bible to find freedom, healing, and hope in Jesus. Want to learn more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church? Visit our website at: https://www.adventist.org/ Click the notification bell so that you never miss a new video! Find us on social media by following the links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventistChurch
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventistchurch/ Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6UGfCk3My8
Belief #25: Second Coming of Christ (What Does the Bible Say?) – Pastor Ted Wilson
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oogl5Nc2S88?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-GB&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=1280&h=720]
