Reach - July, 2009

Reach North NSW Conference Evangelism News

JUL

09

Calling All Members We need you!

An exciting new era is about to take place in Adventist witness to the Australian community. Pastor Leo Schreven will commence his “All Power Seminar” at the Newcastle Panthers Club, on Friday 7th August at 7:00 pm.

If you live in the lower Hunter region, Lake Macquarie area or even on the Central Coast, please plan to bring a friend to this lifechanging weekend. If you live in other parts of the Conference but are interested in finding new ways to reach your community, plan to visit Newcastle for the weekend.

In this issue...

Pastor Kevin Amos, of Hamilton and Charlestown Churches, and Pastor Roger Nixon, of Wallsend Church, have been working with the Adventist Media Centre to develop an exciting advertising campaign that will soon be released through print and electronic media.

Please hold this up before God in prayer!

On Tuesday 11th August Pr Leo Schreven will start a follow up seminar called “The Turning Point” that covers the essential teachings of the Bible and will conclude on Sabbath 22nd August.

It is our prayer and hope that many people in the city of Newcastle will come to know Jesus through this program.

Pastor Justin Lawman

SOME EXCITING NEWS

ONE MANS SEARCH FOR GOD

RELATIONSHIPS THAT LEAD TO SALVATION PART 2

One man’s search for God... honestly address those big questions that kept playing in the back of my mind – questions like; Is God real?

Can I grasp truth enough to give my mind some degree of peace?

How can I walk through the maze of religious claims out there and yet make sense of what I believe?. This series is about sharing that journey of discovery.

Dr Subodh Pandit recently presented an evangelistic series at the Byron Bay and Ocean Shores Churches. He spoke to Sharlene Guest about his search for God and his passion to share it with others.

Q. You’re here in Australia to present a unique evangelistic series, but that’s not your primary profession is it?

I’m actually a physician, originally trained in India and currently working as an Emergency Room (ER) doctor in two hospitals in Hendersonville, North Carolina in the United States.

When I’m not working in the ER, I’m sharing seminars like these. All the resources for this are personal and all the time I have spent is my own.

Nobody has sent me to any place but this is the fifth continent I have come to. If you call, I will come, because there is an inner compulsion to share this journey with others.

Q. Your presentations are called “Search” seminars. Are they based on your own search?

Yes, they are about my own personal search for truth. I was born in Meghalaya, India, a place where I was surrounded by incredible diversity both in culture and religion. So I was naturally faced with a lot of questions and I wanted to evaluate what was confronting me. I decided to try and

Q. How did you go about comparing these religions?

Q. Where and how did you begin your search?

These religions have some similarities, but there are some irreconcilable differences. So my first question at that point was “How does anyone compare apples and oranges?”

You can describe their different features (and we usually call that a comparison), but that really is not a comparison when you want to make a choice.

My search was intense, exciting and challenging. It began innocuously — just mulling over the way people made claims regarding religious ideas. But once I decided to evaluate it for myself, what I saw gripped my interest. For one thing, the gap between the claims being touted and the evidence being offered was too big to ignore. It was like a salesperson pointing to a car in the lot and describing it as the best in town

My example is this: I have an apple and an orange. I want to make a choice. I am hungry. I love oranges.

Under normal circumstances I would choose the orange right away. But in this case, the apple is red, shiny, fresh and sweet. The orange was picked up from the ground two weeks ago, it is shrivelled, wrinkled and rotten. Now which one would I choose? I would naturally choose the apple — even though I love oranges.

“I explored five major world religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. They each made a claim that they know what they were talking about, saying “Only we have the truth, nobody else.” without having visited any of the other dealerships even on the same street. For another, I realised that I also was in that picture, doing the same thing. And worse, I was not sure if I could offer anything that would be more credible. This confession shook me and I decided that I had to go on a hunt for something more.

So I sought out religions that made a claim about something or someone, something at a higher level than me.

I explored five major world religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. They each made a claim that they know what they were talking about, saying “Only we have the truth, nobody else.”

The question is “Did I choose between an apple and an orange?”

The answer is Yes and No. Yes I chose because they were the two choices confronting me. But no I did not choose between the fruit. I chose between characteristics — between rottenness and freshness. So when you look at religions, it is very difficult to really look at their doctrines and compare doctrine with doctrine.

You have to go to factors other than the meaning of what they’re saying to factors that anybody else can understand and can evaluate and compare.

I had to come up with what I call Para-religious factors. One example was to look at what kind of writing

was presented in each religion – was it folklore, legend, historical piece of literature or mythological. Historical writing will generally have more credibility.

Another question was about the founder of each religion – what is the highest claim you make for yourself?

Who made the highest claim? Jesus is one who is in a category of his own - he is super human. And His claim is in historical literature so you can’t denounce it, but don’t totally have the absolute proof.

Q. This doesn’t sound like it was a fast journey.

Over the next twenty years I questioned numerous people and was amazed at the variety of responses I got. From the erudite to the coarse; from the humble and hopeful to the proud and pretentious.

What I really wanted was a safe, sturdy foundation that would weather the storms that inevitably arose when the going got tough and the complexities of life demanded an explanation. The answers did not become satisfactory just because they came from those I held in high esteem. I discovered conviction could not be passed on in the genes, nor could I hope to catch it second hand like a contagion. I had to struggle with each question myself.

That foundation, to be stable and meaningful, had to be personally and painstakingly laid.

Q. I imagine that a search like this would be a bit daunting and scary?

It quickly dawned on me that just a cursory glance, a half-hearted attempt would not do. The only chance of any success would depend on being open to the full weight of evidence. If I was afraid of being proved wrong and even more afraid of having to make changes in my life, my quest was doomed even before it

began. Of course, being open and fair under such circumstances was easier said than done, but I could not make that an excuse for not trying.

I encourage everyone to search because He wants to be found. And He went to the extent that nobody else went to; He died, to bring that possibility to every human on earth.

“Jesus is one who is in a category of his own - he is super human. And His claim is in historical literature so you can’t denounce it, but don’t totally have the absolute proof.”

Q. What was the final conclusion of your search?

Q. What would you say to encourage other people who are searching?

My final conclusion was that this person Jesus is different from every other claimant. The world emperor Napoleon Bonaparte even saw that.

Toward the end of his life Napoleon was asked to consider a carpenter called Jesus. He did and he was amazed. He said of himself and other world leaders that they had formed empires with a sword. This man Jesus formed an empire that is far greater than any of ours, and with a power that can put a sword to the ground.

His power is love.

The evidence is there. I hope that my journey can give others hope that if they search they WILL find. One of the things I found in the Judeo-Christian scriptures “You shall seek and find, when you search with all your heart.”

That is my message.

That is amazing and that tells me that He has something that nobody else can ever have. Jesus’ whole approach is an appeal to the intellect and to the heart — not just one or the other.

You can find out more about Dr Pandit’s journey of discovery by reading his book “Come Search With Me — Let’s Look for God”.

Interviewed by Sharlene Guest, Communications Director, North New South Wales Conference

Some exciting news...

We are excited to tell you that this year their is a record number of StormCo teams represented in this Conference with a HUGE 33 teams going out in 2009.

This is up from 22 teams from last year and represents on average over 750 young and old alike committed to representing our Conference in service.

This is extremely significant and is something that even only a couple of years ago we only dreamed of. We shouldn’t take for granted how God has inspired the people of North NSW to serve and how they have taken up that calling.

Five of these teams have adopted international destinations and are committed to returning to these communities on a regular basis as part of the StormCo philosophy.

Three teams are running their program in FIJI, the Pacific Mission our Conference chose to adopt and support as a mainland Conference.

For a list of this year’s teams visit: http://www.nnswyouth.com/f_stormco. html

North New South Wales Youth Ministries

Relationships that Lead to Salvation In our last issue we saw that relationships with non believers is God’s primary method of witness.

How does the Holy Spirit use these relationships, built on acceptance and love, to bring salvation to others?

1. The Holy Spirit in You John 16:8 says that when the Holy Spirit comes He “will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and

righteousness and judgment.” The Holy Spirit is present everywhere, but Jesus sent Him to live in a special location. We often miss the last words of verse seven. “I will send him to you.” That’s right, you are the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. You are the secret location for the Holy Spirit today. It is through your life, lived in the Spirit, that God convicts the world of their need for Jesus.

That is why friendships are so important. That is why having the Holy Spirit with all His fruit is vital to effective witness.

2. Talk About Jesus One of the great purposes of the Spirit is to testify about Jesus. In our relationship with others natural opportunities arise where Jesus can be spoken

2 t r Pa

about. There is power in Jesus’ very name and people are attracted to the person of Jesus. Speaking of your personal relationship with Jesus in the present is really challenging to modern people. It is easy to ignore an ancient person from history but a spiritual connection in the present is all together different.

Speak about your love for Jesus!

The Holy Spirit will bring that home to hearts every time.

3. The Authority of His Word Those simple words made famous

by Billy Graham, “The Bible says...” still have a great power today.

Jesus put it best in John 6:53. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken are spirit and they are life.” The Bible has life giving power that changes the human heart. In our witness we need to rest on the authority of the Bible. The Bible is bigger than any church or man made ideas. Our authority comes from what God has revealed. This brings great power to our witness.

Pastor Justin Lawman

SUBSCRIBE TO Reach FOR FREE Complete your details below and post to Reach, PO Box 7, Wallsend, NSW, 2287 to subscribe.

Title:

q Mr

q Mrs

q Miss

q Ms

q Dr

First Name: ____________________________________ | Surname: ___________________________________ Postal Address: _______________________________________________________________________________ Suburb: ___________________________ | State: ______________________ | Postcode: __________________ Phone (optional): _______________________ | Email: ______________________________________________ I would like Reach to be sent to me by: (please tick)

q Post q Email

Reach is published by the Evangelism Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (North New South Wales Conference) Ltd. News items and photographs for the next edition of Reach can be forwarded to: PO Box 7, Wallsend NSW 2287, or email libbyhergenhan@adventist.org.au.