Newsletter
155, October/November 2008
Dear Last Day Remnant
Scattered Abroad,
We are truly living in the
time of rapidly fulfilling prophecy! I pray that you have been studying the
book of Daniel and Revelation, reading the Great Controversy, and paying
attention to the checklist of events given by our Lord marching forward as
given in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13.
Let’s take a look at the
comparisons with prophecy and fulfillments and see where we stand:
“Many shall come
in my name” – Fulfilled
“Wars and rumours
of wars” – Fulfilled and continuing
“Nation against
nation” – Fulfilled
“Famines” – Yes
“Pestilences” –
More than ever
“Earthquakes in
divers places” - Absolutely
As our faithful band of
travelers entered and departed Kenya it was notable that we have never seen
so many military soldiers and policemen on the streets of Nairobi as on this
missionary journey. There is a soccer stadium about ten minutes from the
Joseph Kenyatta International Airport and there were hundreds of soldiers
with rifles loaded and ready and armored personnel vehicles standing by to
quell any trouble from the recent upheavals in the political system
surrounding the national elections so well documented in the news.
The drive from Nairobi to the
East African Mission Orphanage in Nakuru takes about two hours. The last
time I was here we encountered no police checkpoints. This time, there were
at least ten checkpoints where the police were stopping vehicles and
checking the occupants therein.
In addition to the
police/military presence, we passed “displaced persons camps” along the
way. There are still thousands of people who are living in hastily
constructed tent cities in Kenya! I wonder how long it will be that you and
I will find ourselves in similar circumstances as the Sunday Laws become a
reality in the United States?
I was able to draw very close
and make friends with some Kenyan folks I had never met before. They are a
lovely couple with two children by the name of John and Elizabeth Mwangi.
They are strong believers in the Three Angels Messages and active in
evangelism in Kenya.
As we talked together John
said “I want to give you something.” What he gave me were a series of
heart-wrenching and shocking photographs of what used to be their home. The
rebels had come and literally taken their stone home and reduced it to a
pile of rubble. When I saw the picture it reminded me of the prophecy Jesus
gave the Jews about their temple – “…there shall not be left here one stone
upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2).
This EXACTLY describes the
destruction of John and Elizabeth’s home.
In just a very few minutes
everything they had worked for (John is an electronics technician) had been
destroyed. They literally have nothing left. They are living in a tent and
hoping to make a new start. By God’s grace we were able to leave them
something to help in this tragic circumstance.
And what was their “crime?”
There were born of the Kikuu tribe! Can you imagine, all of this carnage
and destruction in Kenya has been nothing more than tribal warfare for
supremacy and control of the country.
Take heed dear friends.
Similar injustice and bigotry against Sabbathkeepers is but a hair-trigger
away in the “land of the free, and the home of the brave.” Do you doubt
this? I have personally spoken and prayed with three individuals in our
movement recently who have been threatened or fired because of their stand
for the Sabbath! I am not talking about Kenya, I am talking about here in
the United States of America.
During our stay in Kenya we
were amazed as we saw the reports of the world stock markets melting down.
Are you aware of the quotation from Evangelism, page 62? “But in the
work and cause of God, men are afraid to venture. Money seems to them to be
a dead loss that does not bring immediate returns when invested in the work
of saving souls. The very means that is now so sparingly invested in the
cause of God, and that is selfishly retained, will in a little while be cast
with all idols to the moles and to the bats. Money will soon depreciate
in value very suddenly when the reality of eternal scenes opens to the
senses of man.”
Friends, you would
have to be living on another planet to have missed the worldwide financial
crisis! Years ago when I would speak in New Zealand or Australia the rate
of exchange for the American Dollar was about two to one. Today, you must
give more American dollars than you receive in return. What a dramatic
turnaround in a short period of time.
Since being called into this
ministry in 1991 the world has dramatically changed everywhere I go. As we
passed through London on the way to and from Kenya, you can sense the
concern of the Europeans with whom I had the opportunity to talk. They
simply are at their wit’s end with the crash of their economy. Then, the
ensuing recovery (so-called) and wild volatility in financial markets is
amazing. I believe we will witness a series of continuing crises leading to
the people begging the governments to find a solution. Of course, this will
continue with the erosion of personal freedoms around the world. I always
put present truth literature in their hands and explain as much of the
concept of the great controversy between Christ and Satan as I am given
opportunity. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
(John 8:32).
Here is where we are in
history as predicted in 4SP, page 398 – “The greatest and most favored
nation upon the earth is the United States. A gracious Providence has
shielded this country, and poured upon her the choicest of Heaven's
blessings. Here the persecuted and oppressed have found refuge. Here the
Christian faith in its purity has been taught. This people have been the
recipients of great light and unrivaled mercies. But these gifts have been
repaid by ingratitude and forgetfulness of God. The Infinite One keeps a
reckoning with the nations, and their guilt is proportioned to the light
rejected. A fearful record now stands in the register of Heaven against our
land; but the crime which shall fill up the measure of her iniquity is that
of making void the law of God.”
“Between the laws of men
and the precepts of Jehovah will come the last great conflict of the
controversy between truth and error. Upon this battle we are now
entering,--a battle not between rival churches contending for the supremacy,
but between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and
tradition. The agencies which will unite against truth and righteousness in
this contest are now actively at work.”
“God's holy word, which
has been handed down to us at such a cost of suffering and blood, is but
little valued. The Bible is within the reach of all, but there are few who
really accept it as the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming
extent, not in the world merely, but in the church. Many have come to deny
doctrines which are the very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts
of creation as presented by the inspired writers, the fall of man, the
atonement, and the perpetuity of the law of God, are practically rejected by
a large share of the professedly Christian world. Thousands who pride
themselves upon their wisdom and independence regard it an evidence of
weakness to place implicit confidence in the Bible, and a proof of superior
talent and learning to cavil at the Scriptures, and to spiritualize and
explain away their most important truths. Many ministers are teaching their
people, and many professors and teachers are instructing their students,
that the law of God has been changed or abrogated; and they ridicule those
who are so simple-minded as to acknowledge all its claims.”
“In rejecting the truth,
men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law of God, they deny the
authority of the Lawgiver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines
and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. Satan leads men to
conceive of God in a false character, as having attributes which he does not
possess. A philosophical idol is enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while
the true God, as he is revealed in his word, in Christ, and in the works of
creation, is worshiped by but few. Thousands deify nature, while they deny
the God of nature. Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the
Christian world today as verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the
days of Elijah. The god of many professedly wise men, of philosophers,
poets, politicians, journalists,--the god of polished fashionable circles,
of many colleges and universities, even of some theological
institutions,--is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phenicia.”
Dear friends, does
this not describe the world in which we find ourselves? Time is very
short. May we all be gaining the victories and making our decisions for
Jesus each and every day.
Dennis and Mary
Crystal
Laymen United
for Truth
