Morning session LINK
Ted Wilson made an announcement at beginning of the morning session about how the GC is developing new areas of emphasis to uphold our fundamental beliefs:
Bible conferences
New Media platforms
Seminary control (big positive)
There is a $2 million layman’s donation to help implement these ideas.
Treasurer’s Report
The GC is in a strong financial position.
Appropriations will be more deliberate for funding mission activities.
Tithe increased 3.6 million above budget.
Mission offerings are still below pre Covid levels.
Expenses increased 9.2 million due to inflation etc.
Appropriation to divisions had to be decreased.
Elder Wilson pled for stewardship leaders being appointed in unions and conferences, not just Divisions and the GC.
If every Adventist paid tithes there would be about 28 billion in tithe instead of 2.
Auditors Report
It was observed that our church-audited entities need to take the audits more seriously and maybe not re-elect leaders that ignore it.
Andrews University Report:
100,000 alumni.
Mission driven.
30 student missionaries this year.
There are multiple evangelistic meetings around the world conducted by students. One location had 1300 baptisms. That’s positive.
The Center for Community Change is a new outreach/training center to promote community involvement funded by the Eli Lilly foundation. That’s a possible problem, in my opinion. Eli Lilly was helping universities hire DIE officers a couple years ago. That’s a hard no.
Andrews just released the Andrews Bible Commentary to go along with the Andrews Bible.
Andrews is ranked most diverse college in the US and in the top 15 out of 315 Christian colleges in the US.
New Goals: Be Distinctively Adventist. That sound positive, if the distinct Adventism is Bible-based and values the beliefs of our Message—not wokeness, CRT, political activism, and social justice. That would be positive.
Transform through education. (there are many kinds of education, and some of them close more doors than they open).
Seek knowledge from God and the Bible. A hearty Amen!
Change the world through God.
TMI (means Total Member Involvement—not ‘too much information’, as the young people say).
Christ for Europe a new Total Member Involvement project along with AWR 360 in 3 divisions has 1,530 planned evangelistic series all over Europe, including Ukraine. 12 training centers prepared laymen and pastors for the meetings. It is still ongoing into 2024
Lunch time, and behold it was very good.
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Afternoon Session LINK
Global TMI: disciple-making, evangelism, Harvest 25 report
Developing a disciple making culture.
Example: Eyes for India, an Adventist physician, Dr Jacob, performs 260 cataract surgeries per day at a free SDA eye camp in India for 10 days. Surgery is about 2 minutes long with no failures to date. Evangelism follows some of this doctors mass surgeries that his patients attend.
A plan has been developed to include all SDA members in the worldwide church in some type of involvement in personal or public evangelism in 2024-25. Big positive.
Each church should have a single active, ongoing plan to disciple. AMEN
Steps: Make friends, meet needs, invite them to gatherings, give literature, Bible studies, decision, baptism, integrate into church life, nurture, then teach them to disciple others immediately through involvement in personal or public evangelism.
Developing interests is key to starting this process. Every church a training center.
Mark Finley is concentrating on digital evangelism. He had an online evangelistic series translated into Chinese. He had 10 million downloads. They have 14 languages on his website and Arabic is the second most popular language.
Doug Batchelor Prophecy Odyssey 2024 is scheduled in person, and online worldwide next Fall sponsored by Amazing Facts, Greater New York Conference and the GC. With AI it can be translated into almost any language in Doug Batchelor’s voice. Astounding.
140,000 laymen preach each Sabbath. Good.
ADRA Report
40th Anniversary QR code
AWR Report
They are distributing God’s Pods AWR radios to the front lines of the military in the Ukraine that receives AWR radio programs.
Radio Anywhere Everywhere is a new software developed by AWR that allows anyone from anywhere to control the broadcast of AWR programs anywhere remotely. You can do whatever you do from the studio from your home for sensitive or dangerous areas and can integrate multiple sites.
Back to the Altar initiative report, Part of revival and reformation
Return to personal, Family and congregational worship. AMEN²
Come as you are
Pray and study the Bible
No more business as usual. You can’t add spiritual things on top of a full plate. You have to remove things, even good things to make room for God.
Wait on God
Lead a focused simple life
Persevere
Be kind and grateful (Psalm 100:4)
Embrace the Sabbath
Some things can’t be digital so be more hands on analog
Back to the Altar is the foundation for everything we do.
Do as Jesus and EGW did, rise early and spend private time with God. Be a companion of Jesus. AMEN³
See you tomorrow!
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