j u l y/a u g u s t 2 0 0 6
Events Schedule August 25-27
Young Adult Retreat Herb Montgomery–
The Newsletter of Light Bearers Ministry
☎(650)654-5000 x306
September 7-9
Auburn Academy SDA Church, WA Ty Gibson– (253)833-5853
☎
Life Unlimited
September 8-9
Auburn City SDA Church, WA James Rafferty– (253)833-2560
☎
September 15-16
Stoneham SDA Church, MA Ty Gibson– (978)440-7838
☎
order now! If you were unable to attend either our West Coast
or East Coast Convocation, you can still share in the blessing. Listen to Ty Gibson, James Rafferty, Herb Montgomery, Risë Rafferty, Dr. Fred Bischoff, Dan Ross, Steven Grabiner and Dr. Phil Mills as they bring you powerful messages from God’s word, available now on regular CD or MP3 CD format.
Call today and place your order.
1-877-585-1111
September 22-23
Worcester SDA Church, MA Ty Gibson– (508)867-3156
☎
September 29–October 1
Mosaic Christian Fellowship SDA Church Herb Montgomery– (972)880-9269
☎
October 6-7
Marlington, WV Herb Montgomery–
☎(304)872-9150
October 13-15
Central California Conference Youth Retreat Yosemite, CA James Rafferty– (650)281-4647
☎
October 13-21
24/7 SDA Church, Seattle, WA Ty Gibson– (206)423-1991
☎
Or you can download MP3 files for free from our website. Simply go to www.lbm.org/store/information.php?info_id=26. Published by
Lift3ABN Him Up Schedule Tuesday—4:30 pm (PST) Friday—6:30 pm (PST) Saturday—10:30 am (PST)
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PO Box 1888 • Malo, WA 99150 • USA Phone: (509)779-4444 Fax: (509)779-4140 E-mail:
[email protected] www.lbm.org Light Bearers is a non-profit ministry based in the beautiful northeastern mountains of Washington State. Our purpose is to help proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through the spoken and published word.
By Herb Montgomery
J
esus clearly stated His purpose for coming to this wayward planet: “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”1 Some say, “Well, of course. Jesus gave us eternal life.” But Jesus was not talking about the quantity of life abundant, but rather its quality. He wasn’t talking about the life to come, but rather the quality of a life we can experience today by following Him. Pay close attention to His words, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”2 Not only eternal life later, but also “many times as much at this time.” Today there’s a lot of talk about the abundant life. For many this term is synonymous with financial wealth. But could Jesus have been talking about something far greater than material gain? Absolutely. He was not offering
riches, but life enrichment, meaning and purpose. And note how He came to give us this new life: “The only begotten of God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”3 Jesus came to show us the Father. He came as a hard copy of what God is truly like. Why? Because when we see our Heavenly Father as He truly is, we encounter the length, height, depth and breadth of a love that we’ve never known before. And in that moment, something deep inside resonates. A still, small voice within us whispers, “This is what I was made for—what I’ve always been looking for.” And life, from that point forward, is never the same. There are five areas that today’s society is running after in an attempt to find fulfillment and meaning: 1) financial freedom, 2) health and fitness, 3) intellectual greatness, 4) emotional maturity/ lasting relationships and 5) religious conformity. And yet, looking at those who have gone before us, many have
money and haven’t found happiness. Some have achieved intellectual greatness, but are miserable. Others are physically fit, but remain empty. Those who look to functional relationships are still let down. And lastly, how many religious zealots, those in perfect conformity to whatever standard they have chosen to follow, sense that something is still missing? Dear reader, nothing will satisfy like the love in God’s heart for you—the love that you were made for. Will you not look to Jesus and begin to see God anew? Life-changing rays of truth will pierce through man’s false representations of Deity, and your heart will be set free to experience a life you’ve only dreamed of—life unlimited.
1
John 10:10, NKJV.
2
Luke 18:29-30, NAS.
3
John 1:18, NAS.
july/august 2006
Mission Update
A
As most of you know, last August Light Bearers’ board made the unanimous decision to relocate our facility to Jasper, Oregon. As of this writing the office building is completely framed and roofed. Concrete for the publishing house is poured and framing was planned to be finished by August 15. Praise God! According to our most recent projections it looks like we will be able to start moving equipment into the publishing house the second week in September. Our eagerness is intense, in proportion to our sense of the Lord’s soon return and the great need for gospel literature the world over. Although we are not yet fully moved to our new location, we did hold Light Bearers’ Annual Convocation in Jasper, Oregon this year. The meetings were
held on the Laurelwood Academy property that is across the street from our new location. This gave us an opportunity to get somewhat oriented to the area. Many friends of the ministry joined us for the great spiritual 2
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25 feast we enjoyed. Our theme was, “The Finisher,” drawn from Hebrews 12:1-3. It was a high experience with the Lord as many powerful insights emerged from His Word. The staff at the Laurelwood facility went the extra mile and made the grounds more than comfortable for the event. If you couldn’t attend this year, we would encourage you to make plans now to join us July 3-7, 2007, God willing (James 4:15). We sense that God has great plans for using Light Bearers Ministry in a mighty way in the days ahead. The new facility, in a more strategic location for staffing and shipping, will afford us the opportunity to achieve higher levels of organization and production. It will also make the ministry more accessible for those who want to explore our work and partner with us to hasten the coming of Jesus by taking the gospel to all the world. To give you an idea of what’s ahead, God just opened a huge door to the
newly formed (3 years ago) Southern African-Indian Ocean Division (SID). Elder Paul Ratsara (President) and Gilberto Araujo (Vice-president) of SID made a trip to the United States
the entire division membership in conducting in-home Bible studies with their neighbors. They are eager and willing to distribute 8 million sets of Bible lessons, a total
primarily to meet with us at ASI for the purpose of asking Light Bearers to partner with them in a massive literature campaign. It is their plan to engage
of 208 million pieces of literature, or 100 container loads. Here is what they told us: “We started a pilot project in
one of the hardest areas, which is the Mwenezi District in the Zimbabwe Union Conference, using VOP lessons provided by Light Bearers. There was an evangelistic explosion. Membership increased from 276 to 13,000 in only two and a half years. Ninety-three percent of this new membership is active in
the church today.” And these are solid believers because their faith was nurtured through serious Bible education rather than based on a momentary emotional appeal. With your prayers and support we will be able to duplicate this kind of effort throughout the SID division and around the world.
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