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Lights Off...Lights On!
June 27 2012 / ShareHim in Dominican Republic A, Jun. 8 - Jun. 23 '12 #553by Isaiah Black
Personal Testimony of Isaiah Black.
I must tell you about the most epic night I had during my two week series at Las Mantas central church. The day was Thursday, June 14 2012; the 7th day of the campaign. The subject: The Sabbath. Now if we know anything about the great controversy between God and the devil, we know that this subject is of the most crucial for people to know about because it has to do with who we will ultimately worship. God wants to lovingly allow us to know about this day of rest and reminiscence while the devil will do everything in his power to destroy our awareness of this holy day.
The evening of this presentation was no exception. When I arrived to my site after a day of sermon preparation and outreach visitations, I was a bit exhausted but I knew the Lord would provide me with the energy that I needed. When we began to set up, I fired up the projector and got it ready to show a video about the life of Jesus. And the power went out. This had happened on my first night so we already had some experience getting it taken care of and we were powered back up in a matter of minutes. I powered on the projector once again and within a few minutes, the power was out again. We switched the projector's power line to another side of the building and the power remained consistent for a longer period of time so we moved on.
Then, after the projector was on for a few minutes or so, the blue screen suddenly went red. BRIGHT red. "I don't really want to function properly so this is my stark red warning sign" red. So at this, I turned it off and let it cool down for a minute or so. As the congregation of people began to arrive, I turned it back on and got the movie going and all seemed fine. About a minute or two before the end of the chapter, the screen went blank even though the sound was still on. The projector had died. This was not only a problem for the projector but because the computer was outputted to the projector monitor, I had a blank screen in front of me so I couldn't access anything on my laptop.
At this time, my translator, who also happened to be a doctor, stepped in and gave a health talk while I tried to troubleshoot the situation. I turned the computer off and cut the power to the projector. I switched the projector power line once again and the standby light came on. Good sign! I turned the computer back on and it had reverted back to the regular mode where it was outputting to the computer screen. I fired up the projector once again and it was time to begin the presentation. Before beginning, I told the congregation that we were in the middle of the great controversy and that Satan would do all he could to stop this presentation and that they would be witness of this battle throughout the night. Then we began the presentation.
About 12 or 15 slides into it, the projector failed once again. This time there was a little red indicator light on the top that was on. This precious little ruby of light let me know that the lamp, or lightbulb, in the projector had gone out. This meant that there was not going to be any more projector for the night and, quite possible, for the rest of the series. I officially came to a point of desperation within myself. But the Holy Spirit reminded me to pray. So I did. And that peace that surpasses all understanding came over me and we continued without the projector.
About 10 minutes later, the power went out again so we were, once again, forced to pause in order to get it back on. At about this time, people started getting restless, children began to whine and cry, and the focus seemed to be dwindling throughout the congregation. We received power yet again and people refocused. I could see that they were getting the message of the Sabbath but I kept reinforcing that pertinence of the battle that this subject was all about. The feeble efforts of the devil to try and ruin the night's presentation actually proved to make for good illustrations as I was able to incorporate the night's debacles into convicting points about the epic battle.
Anyway, the lights went out once again, with about 15 minutes left in the presentation but my translator suggested that we keep going in the darkness. Since the computer screen gave enough light for the gathering of people to see us, I consented and we pushed through (yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... right?!). The power came back on and remained until the closing prayer. As I was praying, the lights went out so I used it in my prayer to illustrate how we live in a world of darkness and it is the light of Christ that will see us through. The lights came back on toward the end of the prayer and I praised God for bringing light into our lives. We said "Amen" and disassembled. I felt ecstatic!
We had just been through a living experience of what the message that we were presenting! It bolstered my faith and increased my belief in the truth of the Bible and the knowledge of the great controversy that we live in. If this testimony can prove one thing, it proves that evangelism, especially about the Sabbath, is a God-given work for His people to do. Satan may try but he has NO POWER!! He might try to take the wind out of our sails to prove that he has some sort of dominion over this planet still but I remember the promise of Jesus in Matthew 21:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." I believe the Holy Spirit allowed the fallen angel to afflict us in order to prove God's goodness and throughout it all, I only left with more faith and confidence in God. Nice try, Satan, but you failed this time, guy. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!!
The evening of this presentation was no exception. When I arrived to my site after a day of sermon preparation and outreach visitations, I was a bit exhausted but I knew the Lord would provide me with the energy that I needed. When we began to set up, I fired up the projector and got it ready to show a video about the life of Jesus. And the power went out. This had happened on my first night so we already had some experience getting it taken care of and we were powered back up in a matter of minutes. I powered on the projector once again and within a few minutes, the power was out again. We switched the projector's power line to another side of the building and the power remained consistent for a longer period of time so we moved on.
Then, after the projector was on for a few minutes or so, the blue screen suddenly went red. BRIGHT red. "I don't really want to function properly so this is my stark red warning sign" red. So at this, I turned it off and let it cool down for a minute or so. As the congregation of people began to arrive, I turned it back on and got the movie going and all seemed fine. About a minute or two before the end of the chapter, the screen went blank even though the sound was still on. The projector had died. This was not only a problem for the projector but because the computer was outputted to the projector monitor, I had a blank screen in front of me so I couldn't access anything on my laptop.
At this time, my translator, who also happened to be a doctor, stepped in and gave a health talk while I tried to troubleshoot the situation. I turned the computer off and cut the power to the projector. I switched the projector power line once again and the standby light came on. Good sign! I turned the computer back on and it had reverted back to the regular mode where it was outputting to the computer screen. I fired up the projector once again and it was time to begin the presentation. Before beginning, I told the congregation that we were in the middle of the great controversy and that Satan would do all he could to stop this presentation and that they would be witness of this battle throughout the night. Then we began the presentation.
About 12 or 15 slides into it, the projector failed once again. This time there was a little red indicator light on the top that was on. This precious little ruby of light let me know that the lamp, or lightbulb, in the projector had gone out. This meant that there was not going to be any more projector for the night and, quite possible, for the rest of the series. I officially came to a point of desperation within myself. But the Holy Spirit reminded me to pray. So I did. And that peace that surpasses all understanding came over me and we continued without the projector.
About 10 minutes later, the power went out again so we were, once again, forced to pause in order to get it back on. At about this time, people started getting restless, children began to whine and cry, and the focus seemed to be dwindling throughout the congregation. We received power yet again and people refocused. I could see that they were getting the message of the Sabbath but I kept reinforcing that pertinence of the battle that this subject was all about. The feeble efforts of the devil to try and ruin the night's presentation actually proved to make for good illustrations as I was able to incorporate the night's debacles into convicting points about the epic battle.
Anyway, the lights went out once again, with about 15 minutes left in the presentation but my translator suggested that we keep going in the darkness. Since the computer screen gave enough light for the gathering of people to see us, I consented and we pushed through (yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... right?!). The power came back on and remained until the closing prayer. As I was praying, the lights went out so I used it in my prayer to illustrate how we live in a world of darkness and it is the light of Christ that will see us through. The lights came back on toward the end of the prayer and I praised God for bringing light into our lives. We said "Amen" and disassembled. I felt ecstatic!
We had just been through a living experience of what the message that we were presenting! It bolstered my faith and increased my belief in the truth of the Bible and the knowledge of the great controversy that we live in. If this testimony can prove one thing, it proves that evangelism, especially about the Sabbath, is a God-given work for His people to do. Satan may try but he has NO POWER!! He might try to take the wind out of our sails to prove that he has some sort of dominion over this planet still but I remember the promise of Jesus in Matthew 21:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." I believe the Holy Spirit allowed the fallen angel to afflict us in order to prove God's goodness and throughout it all, I only left with more faith and confidence in God. Nice try, Satan, but you failed this time, guy. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!!