God’s Good Men

While “Uncle Sam” is looking for “a few good men,” Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church has already found theirs as evident in its recent men’s ministry program and theme bearing the phrase “A Few Good Men.”
June 3, 2018

While “Uncle Sam” is looking for “a few good men,” Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church has already found theirs as evident in its recent men’s ministry program and theme bearing the phrase “A Few Good Men.” The weekend service included our men’s chorus arrayed in their black suits, and black dress shirts accented with red ties. Guest speaker Pastor Robert T. Smith of Teaneck, New Jersey, delighted the congregation by joining the chorus in one of its Sabbath numbers. 

“A speaker should be longsuffering, not long winded,” is how Smith began his message which he titled “Who Are You?” Using John 1:19-28 as his backdrop, his focus highlighted the three factors that made the life of John the Baptist great. The first was “John had the right Spirit in his life—the Holy Spirit. Many have a spirit, but it’s the wrong one, and results in their jumping up and running down the aisle. Jesus is more interested in how straight we walk when our feet hit the ground.” That factor concluded with the need for Berean Church to be filled with the Holy Ghost. 

The second factor was John having the right kind of home training. He reminded us that Jesus spent 30 years training for a three-and-a-half-year ministry. The lesson was that results require time.

Capitalizing on Men’s Ministry Day, Smith emphasized the importance of older men mentoring younger men by providing what the average school fails to do. “Today’s jails are full of men with degrees because education without Christ produces educated fools,” eliciting acquiesced nods from the audience. 

Smith’s last factor was John having the right type of message in his life, a life with purpose. “He had no degree, not even a GED, but he had a G-O-D. Unlike many of today’s names, John’s name had meaning. Thus, he identified himself in terms of his function being ‘…the voice of one calling in the wilderness, make straight the way for the Lord.’” 

Speaking to Berean, Smith posed the question, “Who are you? Better still, how do you function?” He answered his own question with 1 Peter 2:9 further delineating the words chosen: generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, and peculiar people. He closed with “Who are you? Better still, how do you function?”

By Evelyn Edwards