”I Have a Reason to Believe in Miracles” Danny Shelton April 25, 2026

Hello and welcome to church. We're so

glad that you were able to join us here

at the McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist

Church for our worship time. I hope that

your time is blessed. I hope the music

blesses your soul. I hope the message

touches your heart. And if if it does,

we would be honored if you would share

this content with somebody else so they

can be blessed as well. We're so glad

that you can be a part of our online

church here at McDonald Road and hope

that you are blessed in your worship

together with us today. God bless and

enjoy our worship service.

I'm extremely excited about the message

today. And I'll tell you why. Cuz I

didn't plan anything. All right? No,

that's the truth. I didn't plan

anything. But here's the good news. I've

asked the Lord to let you hear what you

need to hear. So it really is irrelevant

what I say because nothing that I have

to offer is any good, right? But God has

So if you came looking, if you came

looking at me, you'll say, "He looks a

lot older than you." Unlike Jill,

they'll say, "You look a lot older than

you do on TV." Uh you you're not Yeah.

all these things. Don't look in the

physical. Look in the spiritual today.

And so we've already prayed that uh the

Lord would give you what you need to

hear because that's really what it's all

about. So today I'm going to be talking

to you, sharing some things. We call it

the miracle story of 3ABM. But the

reason when coming here to McDonald

Church is one of the first churches that

I was able to get up and share with

people about the dream to build a

television station to reach the world.

So that's why I was especially excited.

I said, "Wow, this is like going back

takes me back almost 40 years." And uh

so it's amazing. And so a lot of people

here in this area had was a springboard

for 3ABN. And as I thought about it and

we started coming, I said, "Man, this is

amazing." Because all the events, all

the things that happened, the support we

got because I want to tell you what

happened. But my daughter Melody and I,

we were in 1982

or few years before that, we were

singing with her mother. And in 1982, on

June 30th, 1982, she and her mother went

into town. We lived out of town a little

bit there in West Frankfurt, Southern

Illinois. And they were in a car wreck

and someone ran a stop sign and her

mother was killed instantly. And so

Melody was 11 years old. And so she and

I was together. She had been thrown

through the windshield. She had a lot of

cuts and bruises. And so u it took her a

long time. We went to the emergency

room. And when we tried to let her know

that she kept saying, "Where's mom and

when's mom going to be here?" Oh, it's

tough. All these years later thinking

about her, this situation she was in.

And so we went home that evening, she

had a cast and she had a lot of cuts and

bruises on her. So all night long, my

fear was that Melody would be

discouraged that she'd want to put the

blame of sin, death, disease, and

sickness on God when it should go on the

devil. And that's exactly what happened.

So many of us something happens, they

say, "Why me?" You know, "Why me?

Where's God? Why me?" I've said that

when I was a young boy. I said, "Dad,

why me?" He said, "Why not? Why not you?

You're just one of several billion

people on Earth. You're no different

than anybody else. Why not? The rain

falls on the just as well as the

unjust." And so Melody and I, we were

scheduled with her mother to sing in

Bering Springs a couple weeks later. And

when they heard about it, they called us

and said, "Oh, we're so sorry about

about about your wife and Melody's

mother in this accident. So, we're we're

going to cancel the concert." So, we

talked about it. We said, "No, we're

going to go." But all that night, I

remember that I would sit by Melody's

bed. I sat up and we talked the whole

night and I would give her Bible

scriptures. 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all

1 Peter 5:7

your cares on him, for he carth for

you." Now, I'm a carpenter by trade at

the time. my brothers and I, we had a

little construction company, Shelton

Construction, had been doing that for

quite a few years. And so, you know, I

give her 23rd Psalms, John 10:10, the

John 10:10

thief cometh not, but for to steal,

kill, and to destroy, but Jesus says,

I'm come to give you life and give it

more abundantly. And so, all of these

things I was doing, I wanted to make

sure. So, by morning, I said, "Honey,

we're going to have to get someone to

sing for your mother's funeral." Her

mother had a beautiful voice, was a

singer. I said, "We're going to have to

get somebody. who should we get? She

said, "Daddy, I I'm going to I want to

sing." Now, she's in cast and she's

running a fever and she said, "I want

Jesus would want me to sing and mom

would want me to sing." And so, we were

able to go the funeral. She literally

couldn't get up to sing. She sat on the

front seat and sang two songs. And I

said at that point, "Lord, I want that

kind of relationship with you." Now I

was an Adventist born and raised my dad

dad and mom they were my dad especially

for years had a country band and sang

country music and so my mother became an

Adventist in 1951.

That was the year I was born. So you can

do your math on that. So 74 and getting

ready next month to be 75. The young age

of 75. So that's pretty young cuz some

of you want somebody come up all goes

96. We have people in here. I mean,

honestly, God has blessed you

tremendously.

So, here we are not knowing what to do,

what's happened. All I know is she says,

"I want to I want to sing, Lord. I want

that kind of relationship." So, I was

raised in the church. Anybody raised in

the Adventist church? I was raised, but

um I'll talk a little bit more camp

meeting on some subjects actually false

gospels. One of those would be legalism.

And so I was raised in a pretty

legalistic home is all about what you do

and what you don't. And you know it's a

you're looking late 50s and 60s things

the world was changing. And so I was but

my brother and I we had a softball team

fast pitch. We love playing fast pitch

softball. We do nearly 100 games a year.

I mean St. Louis Cardinals I think major

leagues do like 160 or something. We we

do I mean play double headers at night

on weekends we'd play. But my brother

and I, we want to be good Adventists, we

want to be good examples to everybody

around us. So Friday evening, if we were

in a tournament, let's say sundown this

summer was, what is it here? About 8:20.

So we would play Friday evening till

about 8:19.

Then we'd take ourselves out of the

game, put in two of the guys, and then

we'd say, "Now, if we won, our team won,

the next night, we would play maybe for

the championship." So my brother and I,

it may be an hour and a half from where

we live. So about 6:00 or 6:30, we'd get

in our softball uniforms and we'd drive

that hour and a half, Sabbath, right?

We'd drive to the ball diamond and we'd

sit in our cars and we'd watch the game

and wait till 8:21.

Then we call timeout and put ourselves

in the game and finish the game. Cuz

why' we do that? We want to be good

Adventists. We wanted to let these

people know that, hey, our religion

means a lot to us. Well, that's what it

was. It was religion and not

relationship.

There's a difference. You got it. If you

don't know, it's time you learn. There's

a difference between being religious

because people I've talked to people,

Adventists, they'll say, "Oh, I'm I'm

very religious." I say, "Yeah, you know,

so do people who smoke, they smoke

religiously, right? Whatever it is they

smoke. Alcoholics drink religiously,

right? People who curse curse

religiously. So that religious, that

word doesn't really mean anything to to

us to anything positive necessarily." So

my brother and I, that's the type of

relationship. But when Melody sang, I

knew I couldn't have. I didn't feel like

it. She lost her best friend in the

world. Dad's number two. Mom was number

one, but she was able to do that in a

position that she physically should not

have been able to do, but she did it.

Lord, I want that kind of relationship.

So, I didn't want to leave her. She had

lost her her best friend. So, she and I

I decided, you know, I'm going to quit

construction and and and we'll just

start we'll continue to sing. So we went

to Berian Springs and we began made that

our testimony that no matter what you

don't give up and my relationship with

God began to grow and grow and grow and

I'm so thankful it's still growing

today. And so we've had our ups and

downs and all of so have all of you but

a relationship with Jesus Christ is the

most important thing today that we could

ever have. And so I'm so thankful that

that we Melody and I we started singing

getting invitations to sing on Christian

television stations. Now 1984

the November 194th

late night early morning I was

impressed. Build a television station to

reach the world with an undiluted three

angels messages. One that would

counteract the counterfeit. Now here's

the thing about that. I didn't know what

any of that meant. So, so I know I know

it I knew it didn't come from me cuz I

don't talk like that. I don't know

anything about undil I hardly knew about

the three angels messages. I would argue

with you about the Sabbath, the state of

the dead and all those things. I did

that since grade school. I remember one

fell and I about fourth, fifth grade. We

got to arguing about Saturday, Sunday.

So, I'm invited him out to settle it

outside on the school grounds. We put we

put our Bible down. That's how I was

going to really teach him about the

Sabbath. Right. So, so that's what

happens to us sometimes. We get so

caught up in all that. We We get so

caught up in all of that. But now we're

singing on

Christian stations that's on 24/7.

And there was not one Seventh Day

Adventist television station. one's

television station giving the Adventist

or the Bible message anywhere on planet

Earth. Did you know that 1984? Not one.

Not one that you could turn on in 24/7.

That seems impossible now with social

media and all the things that we've got.

Right. But that's the truth. There was

not one station. So when I was impressed

because everywhere I'd go, I'd say,

"Lord, where are we as Seventh Day

Adventists in the media? Shouldn't we be

the heads and not the tales if we have

the truth?" And yet nobody's doing

anything. So I would say the church

should do this. The church should do

that. Well, I wonder why the church

isn't building. So this night, November

1984, 82, sorry, 1984.

Um, I want you to build a television

station that will reach the world with

an undiluted three angels messages, one

that would counteract a counterfeit. So

I'm a simple guy, don't have much of an

education. And so I try to do my dad was

very common sense person. And so I said,

"Well, let me see. How do I figure this

out?" Well, Isaiah 8:20 says, "To the

Isaiah 8:20

law and to the testimony, if they speak

not according to this word, there's no

light in them." So I said, "If there

were a television station giving the

Adventist or the Bible end time message

to an end times people, would that be of

the Lord or the devil?" That's pretty

simple, right? Okay. Lord, that's the

view. Now, here's the next thing. When

we would go to these Christian stations,

they they called them uh praiseons.

People come on and sing and then they'd

get in and say, "Little grandma, we need

your $5 and we need yours. You know,

we've got to have this money. We're

going to have to turn our lights out.

And you know, if you'll if you'll if

you'll give us $100, I'll have so and so

here pray over this handkerchief. And if

your husband's not a Christian, put it

under his pillow at night and and he'll

give his life to Jesus." I mean all

kinds of gimmicks. There was more

gimmicks in the church than I thought

the Christian church and some of this

more phony than than the world. And I'm

like this cuz we it was an eye openener

for me to go see how the people lived

and how they acted off camera and all of

this stuff. And it's like wow this is

amazing Lord where are we as Seventh Day

Adventists in the media? So I said

didn't know if you're supposed to

bargain with God or not but I said I'll

go forward on two conditions. if this

really is you, I'll go forward, but I

won't beg for money because that's what

these people I call them begathons. I

said, I won't beg for money and I won't

borrow money. Now, the second one was

easy. I didn't have any credit.

I didn't have to worry about going to a

bank and them loaning me any money at

the time. Right? So, my dad used to say,

"Son," I'd say, "You got any lunch

money, Dad, for school?" He said, "Son,

I'd love to give you some, but I'm

financially embarrassed." He would say,

"I don't have enough money to feed a

sick chicken." Well, we were almost that

bad when it come to building a

television station that we didn't have

any money. But yet, I knew and for some

reason never doubted that wasn't God.

Cuz I said, I'll go forward. See the

blessings on the go. What you just read

on the scripture while ago. Thank you,

son. On the scripture, go ye into all

the world. So, I want to tell you today,

I'm not just telling you stories about

3A and what happened. And I want you to

think about your own life and your own

relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The blessing of God is on the go. When

you go forward, God will open the doors.

If he tells you what to do, Walt

Thompson, one of our board members, used

to say years ago, if the Lord tells you

to do something, he's counted his

resources in advance and found he's not

wanting.

>> Right? Ain't that great confidence?

The Lord's in people will come up to me

and they'll say, "Oh, Danny, I've got

this great idea that you should do." And

and they'll tell me some great idea. And

I say, "Why should I do that? I'm doing

television. If the Lord impressed you to

do it, you do it."

>> Amen.

>> Right? People said, "Well, you could do

that because you I said, "No, you don't

need anything. You and God, that's all

you need." So, other words, the blessing

of God is on the go, not just pushing it

off to somebody else. So I said, 'Lord,

we'll go forward, but you have to supply

every need. From that day on, God be to

bless incredibly. But what I didn't

realize is how much opposition there

would be in the church. Now, we talk

about all these other churches having

been steeped into tradition and all

this, but we don't dare talk about

ourselves, but honestly, we're caught up

in a lot of that, too. Now, this was 40

years ago. There was very few

independent or supporting ministries.

So, I'm all excited because I know that

God's impressed me. We're going to be

all all these other TV ptl, TBN, Jim and

Tammy, you know, all of those folks.

Some of you younger kids won't know who

that who they are, but some some of you

older ones will. I said, man, we're

going to be out there and and we're

going to counteract all of that 7th day

Adventist message. We're going to do it.

God's going to bless. Lord, we'll go

forward. you supply every need. So we

start going forward and I thought

everybody when I said the Lord's

impressed me to build it, I'd say with

enthusiasm, the Lord's impressed me to

build a television station to reach the

world told people locally. Well, they

knew me. I was raised, we were raised in

a poor family who's poor, five kids, and

my dad was disabled when I was very

young age. He was 36 years old. So we

literally had to make our way and work

and do everything. We, my mother and I,

we'd mop house. um paint houses, mop

floors. We carried in coal for all the

neighbors back then, young folk. We used

to get coal buckets and had stoves

inside and you you burn all that and

then take the ashes out. We do anything

we could do to to to make a living. And

so here we are. Lord, we'll go forward.

I'm going keep going to this. The

blessing is on the what?

>> Lord, we'll go forward, but you must

supply every need. So I said, "Okay,

what is it that we can do? I don't know

what to do. I'm just going to go

forward." So I began to tell everybody,

"We're going to build a television

station to reach the world." And they

were like, "Hm, they're thinking I know

him. He's a carpenter. He's 30 33 years

old.

You've never done anything like that."

And I thought everybody would be I said,

"Aren't you excited? We'll have an

Adventist television station." So

finally somebody called me and said,

"Hey, the media Adventist media center

in California, they're having in a few

weeks they're going to have what some of

the well-known speakers are going to

teach people about media." Now, we

didn't have social media, any of that

back then. So I thought, "Wow, this is

going to be great. They're going to

teach us about media." So, if you're

doing radio, nobody even would dream of

doing television, but if you got a radio

spot or a health tip you want on a local

radio channel, just come out here and

you can ask them questions. And so, I

was excited. I didn't have any money.

And somebody actually called and said,

"Well, you know what? I'll pay your

plane ticket for you to go out there. I

think it'd be good to talk to these

people and if you're going to get into

television, you need to hear from the

pros." I said, "Okay." Okay. So, I flew

flew to Thousand Oaks and I won't give

any names because you'd some of you

would know who they are. But, so the

first day there was a crowd less than

what's in here. And the first day people

would just they'd call them up and say,

"Come up and give us your name and tell

us where you're from and what it is you

want to do in media." So, they'd come up

and my name's John Doe and you know, the

Lord's impressed me. I'm doing a

twominute uh two-minute health tip on a

local radio station. and everybody would

clap.

Everybody's praise the Lord. Next one

get up and say I'm going to do a

fiveminute radio spot. And almost all of

them was we're going to do a health tip

cuz you can't do a lot more in five

minutes, right? It's hard to get on the

radio. So nobody mentioned television.

Finally, one guy said, "I want to build

or I I want to put some programs on

television." And they thought, "Oh my,

that's just an amazing thing." I

couldn't wait. It seemed like hour after

hour after hour and I said, "That's all

we This is something big. This is going

to help everybody. We don't have to

settle for a minute here or there or two

minutes. This is going to be great and

people will be so happy about this." So,

he finally calls me up, young man. I was

young at the time, right? He says, "Uh,

young man," he said, "Uh, give us your

name, where you from, and what is it

you're going to do?" Danny Shelton from

Southern Illinois. The Lord's impressed

me to build a television station that

will reach the world with an undiluted

three angels message is one that would

counteract the counterfeit.

You you could hear a pin drop. Nobody

said a word. And I thought they can't

they didn't hear that. I mean, why are

we talking about one minute radio here

or there locally? We're talking about

reaching the world. So the guy looked

over at me. He said, "You're going to do

what?" He he was the host and one of the

media people. You're going to do what? I

said, "Build a television station to

reach the world." So, let me get this

straight. You're going to build a

television station to reach the world.

So, I began to say, "Either I don't talk

plain or he doesn't understand cuz we're

having some communicate, real

communication problems here. What's hard

to understand?" So, you're going to be

able to I said, "Yes, sir." Okay. People

still quiet. You could hear pin drops.

Okay. Let me ask you something.

are you are you wealthy? I said no. He

had no idea how unwealthy. I said I said

I didn't have money to go out there.

Somebody paid my way out there. So I

said no I'm not wealthy. Well let me ask

you another. Are you an engineer?

I said no. Now you're not an engineer

here. I thought here he goes again.

Something's wrong. So you're not an

engineer. You're not wealthy. No. And do

you know anything about television? I

said no. I was saying in front of the

camera, but I've never, you know, been

behind it. I don't know anything. So,

let me get this straight. You don't know

anything about Do you have an education

in communications at all? No. Last

question. I thought I did okay answering

so far. Last question. He said, "Well,

let me ask you." And instead of talking

to me, I was right here. He would look

out at the audience like, "Let me ask

you a question." So I thought this

didn't this I don't feel like he you

know taking me serious on this thing. So

he says let me let me ask you a

question.

Do you have a perspectus?

And I looked at him and I thought I have

never heard that word in my life.

So I said well um I don't I don't think

so.

He said you don't think so. Now here I

go again. I just told him I don't think

so. And then he's like, "You don't think

so." So hearing or me, I'm not sure what

it was. Maybe some of both. I said,

"No." And he said, "So you don't have a

perspectus." And I thought again. I

said, "I guess I don't. I would know if

I if I knew such a thing." So I said,

"No." So he said, "So let me ask I said,

"Can I ask you a question?" I was kind

of getting tired of this really. So I

said, "Let me ask you a question if you

don't mind."

Okay. And there's a couple hundred

people there. I wanted to be very, you

know, as nice as I could about it. I

said, "Let me ask you a question. You

don't seem very excited

that instead of I said, like the media

center, you guys produce, you know, all

your different programs, but they're

only halfhour programs that go on some

cities once a week around the United

States. They don't cover near even North

America, let alone the the the world.

And if nothing's 247, it's just a

halfhour program. I thought you'd be all

excited. I said, 'You don't seem very

happy that there's going to be an

Adventist or television station giving

Adventist program 24/7 around the world.

He said to my surprise, "No, I'm not."

And I said, "Oh." I said, "Why not? Can

I ask?" Figure it's my turn to ask a few

questions. So, why not? And he said,

"Have you ever heard of the Adventist

financial pie?" And he went like this. I

said, "No, sir." And he said, "Every

time somebody, there's only so many

slices. And every time somebody like you

gets up with a big idea, you're going to

do something big. My financial slice of

the pie gets thinner cuz people will

quit giving to us and they'll give to

people like you." And I remember I said,

"Well, that may be, but if you look in

the refrigerator, God's got a lot more

pies. So, I'm not I'm

I'm not sure why you want to fight. For

my God shall supply

>> all of your needs according to his

riches in glory. I can do

>> through Christ who strengthens me. And

we know that all things work together

for good, right? I mean, all these

scriptures going through my mind. And

he's worried about his slice, the

financial slice of the pie. I mean,

okay, that that's fine if that's what

you want to do. But I didn't know

anything about it. So, basically what

they were telling me, he said, "This is

impossible for you to do because if you

if this could be done, we would do it as

a church. We would already have done

it." I said, "Well, other churches are

doing it. Other Christians are doing it.

Look at PTL and TBN. They're already

doing it." No, it's too expensive. It'll

never happen. So, I was surprised

at the opposition that I would get. And

when I would talk to some of the church

leaders, I actually had some fly from DC

to come and talk to me because they

heard about it. And then they're like,

why would you be telling everybody, I

said, it's just what the Lord said to

do. And then we'd go through the whole

thing. So, you're a carpenter? I said,

yes, sir. And and you're going to build

a station, reach the world. Yeah. And

we'd go through all of that. Didn't get

didn't really get any support. And I

said, man, this thing is tougher. I

don't see why people not getting the

vision. Then some really great things

happened. The blessing of God is on the

>> go. Right. So we were my brother and I,

we went by faith. A woman gave us, I

won't go through, don't have time to go

through the whole thing, but a lady

donate, not non-adventist lady donated

us two acres of property. That two acres

of property, if you've ever been to How

many been to 3ABN? You've probably been

out there and you've seen it where that

big 30 30 foot diameter dish was there

from way back in the late middle 1980s

and a lady gave us 2 acres of property

and and all the property in southern

Illinois that's the only one that would

shoot microwave signals to satellite

22,300 miles to space without any

interference from M Bell we call it or

any other technical it was amazing

exactly what we needed where we needed

and you can watch. We got a tape uh Jim

Gilly used to say it's a a DVD on

mending broken people and it's just a

little bit short of the length of Gone

with the Wind. So you you may not want

to watch it all at one time, but but at

least watch what you can of it. But it

tells these miracle stories. So here we

are.

I'm like, Lord, this is this is amazing.

I don't know what to do. I'll go

forward. People aren't that you know.

Then some people said, "Yeah, well this

person said tell cuz they already paid

for one trip." But then somebody said

you need to go out to ASI. They're

having Well, I'd never heard of ASI. I

had no idea what it was. But my brother

and I, we decided, you know what? We got

the we got the the property. So we

figured up we need 1,400 foot make a

little gravel road. It was getting fall.

We didn't want to be rained out. We

needed $6,000. So we prayed for it.

There's a lot of money. We were buying

diesel fuel five gallons at a time,

pouring it in the the uh literally we

had had a had a backhole there that a

friend had let us use and we'd do that

till we run out of money. But it seemed

like the $5 we'd keep filling it up. So

one day some people came. They're from

Cleveland, Tennessee. Marvin and Rosella

Mcculpin. Anybody ever knew the

Mcculpins? Okay. A few hands went up.

Marvin and Rosella Mcculpin. Older

folks. They're so old, they're probably

almost as old as I am now. And so these

folks came and they said, "We want to

hear what you see what you're doing."

Was that where you from? We're from

Tennessee around the Cleveland area and

we heard you're going to build a

television station to reach the world

Adventist. I said, "Yeah, it's what

we're planning." He said, "Do you mind

if we come and just watch what you're

doing?" We said, "Okay." So we, my

brother and I, as I said, we don't plan

a lot. When we went to do the building,

we had a long tape and so we said,

"Let's see what size does this need to

be if we're going to build studios and

production facilities." So, um, I had

the end that you carry. My brother had

the smart in. I had the one that you

just te and he tells you how far. So, I

started walking and, uh, I said, "How

how do you like this?" Went about 70 ft.

He said, "Looks good to me." I said,

"Well, if you like that, maybe you like

this better." So I went a little farther

and instead said 100 ft. I said you

really like well let's just keep going

till our tape runs out. Well that was

about 150 ft. So we did the same way

with the width about 70 ft or what have

you. We said that's the building we're

going to build. Now I had a little bit

of experience of drawing blueprints and

what have you for people cuz we were

building houses quarter inch scale very

simple. So I said okay let's do that. So

we're going to build it. So here came

the mccauins. Mccau came in a Marvin

Rosella from Cleveland. They were on

their way going up Michigan to do some

project. They stopped by. So they said

they put up their station wagon, let the

tailgate down, and we just set for hours

while my brother had to back and he was

digging and we were trying to set the

footings. And so they get ready. So they

watched us for two or three days. Second

day we were hungry. It's about 1:00 in

the afternoon. And I said, "Uh, you guys

want to go in with us?" I said, "Little

town in Benton." I said, "They have a

little bonanza restaurant there. You

could get a all you can eat for like

$6.95." Then I said, "You want to go

with us?" And they said, "Go in. You eat

at a restaurant." I said, "Well,

sometimes." Yeah. They said, "Oh, no. We

wouldn't waste money like that. Why

don't you eat with us? We have plenty of

food in the car." I said, "Okay, what do

you got?" They had a can of green beans

unopened, right? and a marshmallow or a

cantaloupe that would looked like it had

been good two weeks before, right? And

then they had a loaf of bread and they

said, "Where would you get a better meal

than this?" My mind was saying about

anywhere cuz I don't I didn't that

didn't but you know you want to be nice

to them but I said okay you know you

know what we're not that hungry. I said

we we'll just we'll work through it you

know and it's like man so what do these

people want? They're just sitting there.

So the next day they came. Well, he

said, "I hate to be a doubter, but we

got to leave tomorrow, but you're

digging all these footings. What if it

rains? You don't have any money to pour

the concrete. What if it rains?" I said,

"Well, I guess we have a river for

Jesus." I don't know. I said, "I'm just

know that unless we go forward, God

won't supply the needs." The blessing of

God I knew back then was on the go. So

they just watched us Friday. They said,

"Well, can we meet with you for just a a

few minutes?" We said, "Sure." So he

says, 'Well, I've been watching what

you're doing and I believe that there's

a need for a television station to reach

the world and I decided that I wanted to

give you a check. Well, I said, "Oh,

great. Praise the Lord." We had already

looked at a building. It just to shell

up the building at the time was going to

be about $50,000 and that wouldn't get

it done, but it' get us a roof over on

top of the building so we could be out

of the winter winter weather. So he

said, "I want to give you a check for

$25,000."

And she said, "And I want to give a

check for $25,000, too." They gave us

$50,000.

Now, here's the here's the amazing

thing. They said, "But you got to hold

it a few days." We said, "Well, okay."

You know, we'll hold it. Don't try to

cash it right away. I said, "Okay." So,

they left. And you said, "Well, I hope

this is going to cash eventually, but

what great news." So a few days later,

we called the bank and said, "Could we

cash?" They said, "Yeah, there's money

in your account. You can cash it." He

came up 6 months later and he said, "I

want to tell you a story. When I we

wrote those checks to you, we didn't

have any money in the bank." He's 77

years old at the time. We didn't have

any money in the bank. So he said, "I

went home and I said, we're going to

we'll take a mortgage out on our house

that's paid for." But he said, "I had

bought some property and and he'd gone

in with some of you know Bill Hollyy.

I'd bought some property with Bill Hoy

and a guy came by and wanted to buy it

and I cleared $50,000 on the deal.

Come on people, you got to be awake

better than that.

You don't have to be mathematicians to

figure that out." He made He cleared

$50,000. The blessing of God is on the

>> go. So when God's impressing you to do

something, go. Don't wait for the

windows of he oh pour out the windows of

heaven, you know, and and all these

bless. No, go and then God will open the

windows of heaven. So now we have the

$50,000

that we need. So we we we get the the

footings poured. We start shell up a

building and somebody said there's ASI.

is in August and it's going to be in Big

Sky, Montana. That's 1985. Going to be

in Big Sky, Montana. Why don't you go

out there and talk to some of the

people? I said, I don't know who ASI is.

Well, it's a national organization. They

only had about probably 250 people at

the time. Why don't you go out to ASI

and uh and and talk to them? And I said,

well, we don't really have the money to

do it. So, this guy called me from San

Diego and he said, I heard about that

and and I'm impressed. You should go.

And I said, "Well, if the Lord sends the

money, I'll go." Well, I hung up the

phone. He calls right back and says,

"Well, the Lord's impressed me to pay

your tickets out to ASI." Marvin and

Rosella said, "From here, we're going to

go out there and we want to introduce

you to some of the ASI people uh out

there and tell them your story." So, I

said, "Sure." So we go out and they're

in their excitement, they said they'd go

to the leaders and say, "This young man,

he's he's going to build an Adventist

television station. Is there any way we

can put him on the the schedule?" Well,

if anybody's into scheduling we do with

television, people don't just show up

and we say, "Okay, yeah, we'll put you

on." Right? So I didn't blame them and I

was like, "Don't do no, no, no. We we

people have got to hear your story." So

then they would say, "Well, how about at

9:00 at night when the meetings are over

if we get people together?" So they were

telling everybody there's an Adventist

going to be an Adventist television

station. It's going to reach the world.

So finally I said, somebody came up from

ASI and they said, "We hate to say this,

but we don't really know you. We don't

know anything about you. So you're not

going to be uh upfront uh this year

talking." And I said, "No, I'm not

trying to do that. I I wouldn't do that.

I've been offered to do after I'm if the

Lord wants me to speak, you know, we'll

speak. I said, "Okay." So, that was like

Thursday. Friday afternoon was a free

day. Some of you in here, Ellsworth,

McKe and others in here can tell you cuz

they were there back then. And so, it

was a free day and they were 7,500 ft up

in the mountain. So, everybody was could

take your ski rides and look at the

beautiful area. But what happened Friday

morning, I went into one of the meetings

and there was about a couple hundred

people there. It came a downpour. It

started raining so hard that you were in

the clouds. When you're 7,500 ft, you

can't see anything. It was pouring down

raining, right? Well, all afternoon

people were supposed to be out on rides

having free time. So, I'm sitting there

and I look over. I'd been introduced to

a guy named Phil Winstead and Henry

Martin. Henry Martin was vice president

out in from Oregon. Bill Winstead, he

was the president. They were back about

as far as those back doors. And I looked

over and I saw them go like this. So I

said, "They're not talking to me. They

don't know who I am." So I sat there and

I'd look over again and they'd go like

this. So finally I thought this I don't

want to embarrass myself. So I'd go like

like this and look over and they'd go.

So then then I would still look around

me. I said, "Okay, this is going to I

don't want to get up." So finally I

said, "Well, what I'll do is I'll get up

to myself. I'm debating this. I'll get

up and I'll walk and if they don't say

anything, I'll just walk past them like

I'm going to the bathroom. If if if they

want me, they'll stop me." So I get

close to them and they introduce

themselves and they said, "We've been

hearing about your story to build a

television station to reach the world."

I said, "Yes." And they said, "Well, as

you can see, it's supposed to be this

afternoon free time, but it's going to

rain all day. It's going to rain all

afternoon. Could we impose on you to

tell your story to our audience to this

afternoon?" Now, come on.

>> Was that coincidence or divine

providence?

>> Come on, folks. There's no such thing as

coincidence.

It's okay to give God a hand. We're not

giving people, we take credit for all

the bad things and God gets the credit

for the good things. So there we met so

many people number of them for right

here from Collegedale. One of the things

Marvin and Rosella said, you got to be

meet a man named Bill Hollyy. And so we

went I went and met Bill Hoy. Bill

Myrtle wonderful people. Anybody know

him? Anybody remember Myrtle and Bill

great people and from this area and so

Bill caught the vision. He said, 'Th

that's that's really really good. Have

you talked to the McKes yet? And I said,

'N no. Um he said, ' Do you know them?'

And I said, 'Well, in a way, cuz I've

had them in my cabinets for years and

and I know them, but I never met any of

them personally. Uh but you know, um so

he said, "Well, I think you need to

meet." So we ended up meeting and M

Chong was another woman there. they end

up meeting and all of a sudden things

begin to change. So finally when we were

getting up a we needed a a 10 10 meter

dish 30 foot big dish to go to take to

satellite to shoot 22,300

mi to space is about 375,000.

We didn't have any money. So we needed

some money to do that. Well these people

got together and said you know what

we'll come up with some of it if you can

come up with the rest of it. the Lord

blessed and all that money came in. I

could go in more detail, but I don't

want to embarrass anybody. I don't want

to say more, but I'm just going to say

people from this area jumped on board

and begin to help in any way that they

could. So, this went up. So, now while

we were there and I gave my talk that

afternoon, there was a really young

couple, nice couple. I loved them. Never

met them, a little bit younger than me.

Their names was Dan and Karen Hton. And

anybody know the Htons? Any Htons? Okay,

some of you do. Well, they were their

little job was they had their cassette

recorders and they recorded every

meeting, then they would make tapes and

people could buy the tapes of all the

meetings. So Karen and Dan, they taped

and then as they begin to give these

tapes away, people from all across the

United States would say, "Man, we heard

your story. This is amazing. We want to

help." Well, just a few years ago, K.

Koosma sent me, she was there at the

meetings. She sent me, Terry Mortyn was

there, he's here today. Uh, he was at

the meetings. She sent me one of the

cassettes and said, "This is your

original talk. The first time you

first time you ever got up and talked to

a crowd about 3ABN, and this your

original talk?" And I said, "Well, I

want to hear this." I listened to it for

five minutes and I said, "I wouldn't

give that guy a penny.

I mean, honestly, he's had such a

hillbilly talk about him. He didn't know

anything. He didn't know how much it was

going to cost. He didn't know. And

that's what the media center. Another

thing the guy said, "Well, let me ask

you this. How much will it cost to build

a station to reach the world?" I said,

"I have no idea." So, you're going to

build a television station, reach the

world, you don't know how much it costs.

I said, "No, it's irrelevant because I

don't care if it cost 500,000 or 50

million cuz it's not me raising the

money. The Lord said, "Go ye." And if we

do it, whatever it costs, God will

supply every need. So, I want to let you

know because I could, as you can tell, I

could go on for hours giving God the

credit for what he's God's willing to

use anybody who's willing to be used.

>> And it's all about just going forward by

faith right now. It's no accident that

each and every one of you are here.

You're here in the closing moments of

Earth history because God has something

mighty and marvelous for you to do in

these closing moments of Earth history.

I don't care how young you are, how old

you are. You're here for by design. And

I'm so glad, Brother Hton, when I came

to this church, I came early purposely.

I like to talk to people. Our church is

changing a lot like the world is

changing a lot. And I was really happy

that I didn't have to get up and start

my sermon, but I did last week was, "Can

anybody tell me the difference between a

man and a woman?"

Yeah. Some of our Adventist churches

now, I have to ask them that question.

How many genders are there? And they

look at you like, "What?" You know, so

I'm glad you're not that way. So I said,

"Okay, now we can just talk about other

stuff. I don't have to worry about all

that foolishness going on that the devil

is working and trying to do." So right,

we don't care what the devil does. As

long as we go forward, God will supply

every need. So I want you to think about

your life and what God has planned for

you. No matter how young or how old,

have you really submitted and committed

your life to Jesus? Do you have are are

you religious or do you have a

relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?

One that you're excited every day when

you wake up. No, you may not feel good.

You got some aches and pains. You got

whatever going on. You got financial

problems. You got all kinds of problems.

But you're excited that God's given you

another day that you can witness to

somebody. You see, you you that's what

God's called us to do. He said, "Go ye

into all the world, make disciples,

right? Teaching them to observe

>> some things." All that little word all

keeps popping up, doesn't it? Continues

to observe all things that I have

commanded you. God has given us as a

people, as Seventh Day Adventists, an

end times message for an end times

people. No one else has that message. No

one else is preaching the the three

angels messages. And yeah, is it

sometimes diluted? Now, 40 years later,

I say, boy, I was impressed to build a

television station to reach the world

with an undiluted three of those

messages. So maybe there is some

counterfeit going on. I'm going to talk

about that at camp meeting in a few

weeks. some of the false gospels that

have made their way into the Adventist

church. I'm not going to do that today.

We're going to keep this one exactly

where it is. God has something marvelous

for you to do. You get no credit. If you

take credit, you mess it all up. But all

you do is go forward and say, "Lord, I'm

available. What do you want me to do?" I

see people like, and I don't mean to

embarrass them. Dr. Markhamm and his

wife are here that you know cardiologist

right here from this area yet he's got

literature he's got Bible scriptures he

not only does programs on 3ABN but

anything you do he sends you it talks

about Jesus and it always leads you to

the cross of Calvary leads you leads you

to a relationship with the Lord Jesus

Christ that's what God wants us to do

some of you in business you say well I

can't some people say well you know you

got the gift of gab and and I don't have

the gift of gab and I was at a church

out in Texas and so we were eating lunch

afterwards and I had said to people you

know God has something for you to do. So

one guy come up he said do you mind if I

sit here and talk to you? I said sure go

ahead. He said well when you're saying

that about you know go witness, go do

this. I'm a I'm a quiet guy. I don't I

I'm not a good communicator. I I can't

talk that well. you know, I I just I'm

not that good and at doing it. I said,

"Really?" He said, "No." So, I had heard

him, he and his wife, they were talking

to two other people, and the one the

other people was saying right before

that in line pot, they said, "Man, that

you got such a beautiful home. It's

just," he said, "Oh, we're so blessed to

have that new home. It's a big,

beautiful home." So, I said, "I just

heard you got a new house." I said,

"Congratulations." He said, "Oh, thank

you." I said, "Uh,

I said, 'What'd you pay for it?" Well,

what do you mean? I said, 'Well, there's

an asking price and then there's a

price. I said, 'Most Adventists don't

like to just pay what they're asking. I

said, did you give the guy Did you talk

him down is what I'm trying to say. Oh,

yeah, absolutely. I got a great deal on

it. I said, you just told me you

couldn't talk. You just said, I don't

have the gift of gab. But see, what

happens when it comes to our own things?

Suddenly, we do. if we're going to buy a

new car. Oh, now we got the gift to get.

Wait a minute. I'm not going to pay

that. I want to pay this. When it comes

to sharing the gospel, well, that's just

not my for my forte. I I can't do it.

God has something for each and every one

of you to do. And I'm sorry that I'm

going to have to to close with this

because I'm going to wear you out. And I

know we got potluck and afternoon

service, but please think about it and

pray about it. Lord, what would you have

me to do right now?

this church, we're in trouble.

Now, bad news and good news. We're in He

got awfully quiet on me. Everybody got

awfully quiet. See, we don't like to

deal with our own problems sometimes. We

It's easy to deal about it for everybody

else. If I stood up and said the

Catholic Church got all these issues,

we'd all be saying, "Amen." But if I say

we have issues, you know, everybody, you

can hear the pin drop again.

But the good news is I tell people the

church is a mess. We ought to know. We

travel, we we meet people all the time.

And my lovely wife, Ivonne, don't we? We

meet people all the time. And and we

say, "How in the world are these people

Adventists? They no longer support what

we've been taught and are teaching for

150 years. It's okay to murder babies.

It's okay to, you know, to all I won't

get into it today, but all of these

things h how do how are we getting into

that?" Then I say, "We're in a shaking."

So the good news is we are in a shaking.

If you don't know it, you need to ask

God to wake you up spiritually. We're in

the middle of a shaking, which is great

because everything's wheat and shafts

going to be right. It's going to be

separated and then then God's remnant

church is going to come forward. So

what's going to happen? The church will

appear to fall. Have you ever heard that

statement before? I didn't make it up. I

didn't make that up. The church will

appear to fall. But God's people will

never fall. Those who are willing to

give their lives unto death if necessary

for the cause of God, they will be

there. They're called a remnant people.

And we have an opportunity, you and me,

to be part of the remnant church. But

before that happens, there's going to be

a great shaking and then a great

revival. The latter rain is going to be

poured out.

>> Boy, you could we couldn't be living in

a more exciting time.

>> I mean, you turn on the news, it's a

mess. And then you say, "Wait a minute.

That's all been foretold. We're right

there. You see what people are doing in

the church and dressing like and talking

about and all of this stuff. Transgender

elders and some of our churches." It's

like, "Wait a minute. This is terrible."

And then I said, "No, I think this is

good news. We're there. Jesus is coming

soon. When you get my age, you want him

come even sooner. I wouldn't mind death,

but it's a waste of time." So, I hate

just just I don't want to lay in the

grave very long till the Lord comes cuz

I'm a busy guy and I don't like to to

waste time. So, somebody got that. Okay.

All right. Somebody did. But what we're

seeing is we're living in the greatest

moments of earth history to share Jesus.

But we can't share what we don't have.

>> So, if we want to share Jesus, you have

to have him.

>> You have to have asked him, submit,

commit your life to him. Say, "Lord,

come into my life. forgive me for my

sins. He's faithful and just to forgive

us our sins and to cleanse us from some

oh that little word again all

unrighteousness. Isn't that amazing? God

can look down at frail human agents like

us who mess up all the time. We're all

big mess ups. Yeah, I mess up and so do

you. Don't look at me smirkly like that.

So do you. You all mess. I'm just

kidding. You don't get tight. So, but

that's the way that's the way we're all

mess ups. But when we accept Jesus and

say, "Lord, use me."

God will use us in spite of us. And

that's what's happened to 3ABN. People

come up and they mentioned this morning,

"Oh boy, I wish you had your faith." I

said, "I never had any faith. I just

used the faith of Jesus."

>> Cuz I knew when Jesus said, "Go ye into

all the world that I was relying on him,

his faithfulness to make this happen."

And so today, 41 years later, 3ABN is

literally can be seen anywhere on planet

Earth if you want to watch it. How many

satellites we own, Greg? Eight

satellites. And how many networks do we

have fulltime?

>> 10 networks. Separate networks 24/7

around the world. 3ABN can be seen

anywhere in the world. We say hello and

welcome to 3ABN. goes up 22,300 m to

space, hits eight different satellites,

traveling at the speed of light, 186,200

m per second, going all the way around

the world, then down into the homes of

people in less than 3 seconds. So people

say, "Well, how do you know Jesus is

coming?" Because, you know, our

ancestors, our early church leaders,

they thought Jesus was coming in their

day. And you know, grandma and grandpa

thought Jesus was coming in their day.

And I said, "Okay, how much if the world

lasts another thousand years, how much

can you improve on 3 seconds?"

>> You can't. We're here, folks.

Jesus is coming back for a purified

bride, a purified church. I'm not going

to get into all the the perfect church.

The perfect he, but he's coming back for

a victorious church. There is a

difference. We'll talk about it camp

meeting later on. There's a difference,

but he's coming back for a victorious

bride. victorious church that realizes

we can do nothing of ourselves, but we

can accomplish all things through the

Lord Jesus Christ. I know that Jill made

a an appeal. I'm not going to ask you

all to come forward, but but I want you

to think about we're going to have

prayer. And Tim, are you the piano? Give

me a B flat. And I didn't intend to do

this, but give me a B flat. And so,

what's going to happen while I'm singing

this? I want you to think about your own

life and your own relationship. with the

Lord Jesus Christ.

When I see

my brother stumble

and all,

his dreams crumble.

Let me be there

for I to fail.

It's going to be hard to get through.

And when I see

his heartbreaking

from a wrong turn he's taken.

Let me be there

for I remember.

Well, sing this with me if you know it.

I want to spend my life

mending broken

people.

I want to spend my life

removing

pain.

Lord, let my words

heal a heart that hurts.

I want to spend my life,

my whole life, mending broken

people. I'm going to ask Ivon to come up

and do a closing prayer. If you want a

new relationship with Jesus, if you want

him to use you in ways that he's never

used you before, I'm going to ask you to

stand as she prays and only do it if you

really mean it. Say, "Jesus, I want

more. I want more than I've ever had of

you. More of you, less of me. And I

promise God will do great and mighty and

marvelous things when you submit and

commit your life to him."

>> Thank you.

Let's pray.

Father God, we just praise your name

this day. We thank you so very much that

for each and every one of us, there is a

divine plan and what we have to do is

just walk into it. So we thank you Lord.

We ask for those who don't know what

that plan is. We ask you Lord God to

please impress upon them what you would

have them to do and then have them to

understand that the blessing is on the

go. that you are with us, that you will

never leave us nor forsake us, that we

can turn to you at every situation, in

every situation, and know that you are

there and that we can rely upon you. We

thank you for that. And so as we go our

separate ways now, hopefully being here

this afternoon for the the meeting, we

pray Lord God that you will continue to

be with us, to walk with us, to guide us

through the power of your Holy Spirit,

so that one day we can all be together

around your throne, worshiping you and

praising you in person

and loving you, Lord. Thank you so much.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

>> Amen.

Thanks so much for joining us here at

the McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church

for worship. Each month we reach between

25 and 30,000 people with gospel content

online. We're looking to expand our

audiovisisual department this year and

looking to raise $30,000 in this

project. We would love for you to

partner with us on this and consider

making a donation to our audiovisisual

department as we look at expansion and

reaching more people with the gospel

across the internet this next year. You

can go to mrcsda.org

to make a donation directly to our

audiovisisual department. Thank you so

much for considering making this

donation and the privilege is ours to

partner with you in making this a bigger

and more effective ministry here at the

McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church. God

bless each one of you and thanks again

for joining us here at the McDonald Road

7th Adventist Church.