Tribute to the late Dr. Newton Cleghorne "He Lived His Life Touching Lives" || September 11, 2021

that's it you have questions but i push the questions to the side and say let's focus on opportunity yeah yes yes yeah yeah so we're going to start a sunday morning service to attract them first sunday morning evangelistic meetings well you know um who knows who knows we might end up with a bob study or something yeah you diversify now is this going to be like streams or something that's what i'm wondering whether or not we yeah we're streaming but i'm i'm wondering if it's a live program or is this exceptional formal program all right because i don't i don't see the whole steps [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] and we want to welcome those of you who are joining us for this very special program i'm ann julie james soyuz and my co-host for today is roma white all right so the transforming lives program is being hosted in association with the premier entertainment services company and this is being done in alliance with a belvedere seventh-day adventist church we want to say thank you to the host pastor of the belvedere seventh-day adventist church samwell bulging who is a senior pastor who facilitates this program sabbath after sabbath now today we will be paying tribute to a man who has been described as a mentor father figure an extraordinary leader encourager a giant and mentor in youth ministries one who unapologetically defends the oppressed with courage and an evangelist at heart i am speaking of the late dr newton cleghorne and julie it's such a pleasure to lead us in prayer pastor bolton okay let's pray our father in heaven we thank you so much for life and health and strength we thank you for this continuing ministry we pause this afternoon to reflect on and remember dr newton clegon and the contribution that he has made not only on this program but in the lives of young people across north america and the west indies we thank you god for the impact that his life has had and as we share and reflect on his contributions this afternoon may our minds be clear may our perceptions be deepened and may your name be honored in the process we ask in jesus name amen he wants to hang past the belgian for having led us to the throne of grace like that brothers and sisters today we've assembled a panel of esteemed men of god to reflect on the life and legacy of dr cleghorn these men knew him personally having served with him at different levels throughout his life and ministry and andrew what a life in the ministry that was today we reflect on that life but before we introduce you to this panel we want to let you know that later in the program you two will have an opportunity to share we're going to be having an open tribute segment and of course we'll tell you a lot more about that a little later on and there are some other things that will be taking place as well andrew yes we will be having a discussion a little later about grief and death and we will tell you all about that and further down we also will be hearing from mrs wayne ireland clegg horn she'll be sharing with us and we'll also be hearing some special music from her as well amen now brothers and sisters you know that death is never an easy thing for us to deal with we are christians and we understand that the the lord is always with us in our times of challenges but so it came as quite a shock to many of us though in spite of what we know about death and the uncertainty of life yes it came to let me say that again i'm feeling a little sad as i think of you know dr cleghorn but it did come to us and it came to me as well as quite a shock and i think many of us are still there but we want to give thanks to god for the life he led and so today we are going to be talking as we said to a number of men who were close to dr cleghorn they had a relationship with him as we said a little earlier and we will be hearing from his wife i believe you said and i'm very pleased that she is here with us let us as we focus on his life understand that this is really not about him but this is about the life that he led for jesus yes and so we want jesus to shine through this program this afternoon his ability as our lord and savior to take us through these challenging times and ultimately we want you to focus on the resurrection amen so at this time andrew yes i am just going to throw to you and ask you to just introduce our panelists as we begin this discussion segment sure thanks roma so we have with us this afternoon or host pastor samuel belgian he's a senior pastor of the belvedere seventh-day adventist church we also have pastor michael henry who is the education director for the jamaica union conference of seventh-day adventists and for those of you who are joining us and you may not be familiar with the organizational structure of the seventh-day adventist church the jamaica union is the body that represents the adventist seventh-day adventist church here in jamaica so that union is responsible for all of the seventh-day adventist churches right across the island of jamaica we also have with us everton edis who is the senior pastor for the new jerusalem praise and worship center in the united states and we have michael harvey senior pastor of the maranatha district of seventh-day adventist churches and pastor robert wright who is the director of the lng white research center at northern caribbean university welcome gentlemen thank you thank you very much but of course we are going tearing music at this time oh yes absolutely and so we are going to be welcoming sister wayne ireland cleghorn i paused a little bit before introducing her because she is the wife of our late brother brother newton cleghorn pastor dr newton cleghorn so she will be doing a rendition for us it's entitled god's love foreign [Music] easy [Music] so [Music] thank you for staying with us you are watching the transforming live series and our program for today is a special edition we are paying tribute to the late dr newton clay horn at the time of dr clegg horn's passing he was serving the seventh day adventist institution northern caribbean university ncu as vice president of student services dr cleghorn was an ordained minister of the seventh-day adventist church with over four decades of service he also served as dean of the school of religion and theology at ncu for several years that's right andrew and it is an honor for both of us to be sharing on this occasion as i know that you know dr clay corn really was a giant of a man in so many ways and for those of you who are listening and perhaps watching at this time i just want you to continue to pray for the family of dr clegg horn pray for his wife and extended family also for his colleagues and so many of the young people in particular at northern carbon university in particular and i'm sure elsewhere who he would have served you know so well up to the time of his passing many of them are very close to him and are still trying to deal with his passing yes there is a time and a season for everything under the sun even though there is a time to die and a time to mourn it is still never easy to go through the grieving process it is never easy when any of us loses a loved one or a friend but we have with us today several esteemed gentlemen to help us to take the journey as it relates to overcoming grief what happens during that process and we'll be also looking at death and grief from a biblical perspective that's right and so i think it's time for us to open the discussion now andrew yes so gentlemen we have already welcomed you and we want to say yet another very special welcome to you we are asking that you feel free to respond as passionately as you desire and just share with us all our panelists are ministers of the gospel in their own right you have all served just as dr cleghorn did at different points in different levels i should say in church administration and you continue to serve in god's vineyard and we want to thank you for taking the time out to serve so my first question is one that i hope will bring a smile to your face i'm going to throw this question out too uh let's see now to pass the right right right i'll ask pastor robert right to begin pass the right how did you first meet dr clegg horn we're going back in history a little pastor right please share with us i hope my i hope my history is accurate um dr clayton came to ncu during the time of the administration of dr thompson if i remember well i think it was maybe sometime in 2003 or so i was lecturing in the school of religion and theology he was recruited by dr thompson to be one of the lecturers there and uh dr kerr was the dean at the time and uh a few years later um dr clay horn became the dean of the srt so he served as dean of srt for about 10 years i think or or maybe a little over that before ultimately he was transferred to the office of the vp for student services and uh um dr clegg horn as i said it to him once i said dr clegane i don't know how you do it you don't seem to get tired i mean he he was doing so much in that uh department he not only was he uh the dean he was uh teaching a number of classes he would conduct the master guide program for the ministerial students every sunday from about seven o'clock in the morning and uh plus every year he would do at least one evangelistic campaign all right and uh at the same time he was overseeing the demon program for the iits he was constantly on the move constantly on the move i simply cannot say how energetic he was he was just in the fatigable he just kept going but he kept he did a good job in the uh school of religion and theology he oversaw the department very well and uh under under his uh um leadership the the um the department or the school of religion and theology um was placed in a recognizable way on the map among the other um colleges uh in the university um he he was a a voice he had a commanding voice when he got up to speak you know he commanded your attention and um he was well loved and respected by the the students in the srt and uh he had a very good rapport with them and with the staff as well very warm friendly personality and i enjoyed working under him um while he was uh the dean of the srt so i think you know that's a little history on on his coming to mcu um from the u.s during that time thank you so much pass the right i want to throw that question also out to pastor harvey michael harvey no pastor harvey we know that you are both men from the west yes and so you go way back so share a little with us about how you first met this gentleman everyone and to the viewers who are online thank you very much my name is everybody here with you i originally from the west um we served west jamaica conference as new director served with extinction even before i became a member of the church i heard about him serving in the conference as the director when i became new director myself i having read the history the first time i met the man in person was when he was serving as youth director for the north eastern conference and i went there on a visit i met him very warm cordial um inviting person as the dean of youth ministry we would call him and he would provide advice and instruction as to the importance of working with our young people to be um energetic to be innovative in reaching out to our young people one of the things i remember he said to me clearly he said harvey working with young people is a privilege it's a privilege but remember this one thing you cannot entertain young people to keep them in the church they have to have a meaningful relationship with jesus that has to be and once you get them to love the lord then they will show a great appreciation for knowing him for themselves not a borrowed faith but a faith that they have developed for themselves and shortly after after that i met him again when i saturn at ncu in 2010 i met him he was then in the school of religion and theology serving there as the dean while i served as pastor for the university church and vice president for spiritual affairs so we had a good symbiotic relationship as the young men in the school of religion and theology the ncu church was the incubator for those men going out so we had that relationship and it's a very sad day it's a very painful moment but i thank god that he lived a life of worth he was not afraid to testify of this god wherever he went he spoke gallantly courageously about god and he no doubt as influence hundreds of persons to come to a saving relationship with god and so today i take comfort in the fact that death will not have the last word amen thank you so much pastor and on that note of death not having the last word we're going to take our first break on this program you're tuned into the transforming lives program we invite you to sit back and listen to some thoughts from the late dr newton cleghorn thank you so so very well said know as we continue to contemplate this topic in case uh you are just joining what is wrong with the certainly in this church we are looking at questions that are coming from persons who who are wondering and who are skeptical about who we are and what we believe and we are also looking at at at getting information that will cement our beliefs as seventh-day adventist christians as we listen to what our panelists have to share and so mrs barry sorry somebody yes dr claire you wanted to i i want to add um in support of dr baldwin and dr wright something that i think is critical to our discussion here this afternoon okay and um [Music] the the question that is emanating from the discussion dr newton clegg horn is known for his energy his voice that's one of the memories i have of him his thunderous voice i've never heard a voice like that in my life but it commanded so much attention and i heard the authority in his voice i remember the first time i heard him pray and i felt the holy spirit in the room what was one of your fondest memories of him romo well i can't think of a particular memory what i think of though what i what i remember most about him is his may i use the term giant his giant-ness whoa i think i just coined that term but he he command there was something about him that commanded respect but yet he was he was quiet and gentle perhaps quiet is not the word we want to use to remember dr claycorn he certainly was not a soft man but as has been said by so many of his colleagues he was quite endearing approachable though quite a giant but you asked about her memory for me what stands out most is his his his ability to champion the cause of persons who were not able to speak on their own behalf so he would say it like it is he would speak truth as he saw it and though he was firm and strong about it he spoke it in love yes he did because he wore a smile i remember that that's right a very big one too yes very big one aroma you have um you have john 11. um we're going to be sharing some some excerpts from john chapter 11 um for our program for today and for that for that book in the bible and that chapter really it speaks to the story of lazarus's death and resurrection so a little later in the program we will be sharing uh some excerpts from that chapter we pause at this time just to invite those of you who are watching to share your tributes in the chat we are we are on youtube and we are seeing your condolences and your tributes coming in and for those of you who are just joining us we invite you to share your tributes in the chat we will be sharing some of your tributes or as much as possible as many as possible and we also have a special segment where we we will be facilitating open tributes if you don't get a chance however to share during the open tribute section you can always feel free to share your tribute in the chat absolutely and we invite you just to continue to pray for the family as we go throughout this segment and also as andrew said to ensure that you put your thoughts about dr clegg horn and about the resurrection as well and or hope in jesus in the chat i just want to throw another question out at this time and pastor michael henry is one of our panelists pastor henry you serve in the capacity as education director at the jamaican union at the jamaica union conference and i know that in that capacity you would have shared in a number of ways with pastor clegg horn can you share with us what your thoughts were what your memories are of dr cleghorn as a leader within the school of religion and theology where he would have you know been responsible for training a number of pastors throughout the years thank you so much let me go back a little bit as i address that because as i served as youth ministries director in central jamaica conference pretty much point person in that regard in north east jamaica conference and later at the union one of the challenges that i found in the earlier days was a problem with support from pastors for youth ministries um our youth leaders complained bitterly about the lack of support or the lack of quality support for youth ministries especially for the uniformed groups and as i pondered it and as i spoke to one or two pastors i came to the real estate that the the the big problem was that many of these pastors did not have any knowledge at all about youth ministries some persons came into the church i mean a short while before coming to college and for some there was no no such program in their home church before they went into college and all of that and i always said that one of the things we needed was to ensure that each pastor coming out of ncu westerners college ncu would be trained as a youth minister when dr clegg horn came to srt that became a reality and he ensured that all pastors coming out would be at least an invested master guide and um very lively invested both as master guide and see the youth leader and that has made a profound difference in the delivery of youth ministries in the churches and in the fields and i think we owe him a gratitude because there is insistence of that particular aspect of ministry being emphasized at ncu as i worked at the union in education and he at ncu i saw that he was a problem solver and several times we have had to work together on intricate little cases some of them with a history going like way back and he would tackle these things he would go back into the history he would talk to people he would negotiate um he would do a proper go-between in between students and and administrators and teachers as a case maybe and several of these cases were solved as a matter of fact um i i think that it was mainly because of who he was that we got those solutions he was unflappable he wouldn't get flustered he was calm cool collected always approachable or always pleasant always reasonable never too big to say but i made a mistake here and let me go let me do this again and these are things that our young people respect and have a high regard for and i think that is perhaps why he was so successful um in student affairs because i mean that is what our youth need persons with that kind of personality he was a a big man and i heard you speaking earlier roma uh uh about his giant-ness and i would like to say uh term him perhaps a gentle giant he was a big man in many ways and yet he was so gentle and kind and pleasant and genuine um one of the things we have always said is that young people are the litmus test for hypocrisy that a young second hypocrite a mile of and the general idea or the general consensus was that he was a person who was genuine and so it has been my pleasure to interact with him i notice you didn't ask me about where i first encountered him but i guess i'll answer that one later on if a question is asked but um he he's somebody i proved to respect we had a warm working relationship and i can tell you that his passing is really ground shaker and he has left shoes that will be very very difficult thank you thank you so much pastor henry for sharing i i just want to highlight a few things that you have said so the bible describes being a leader as being one who is a servant leader and i made a note of some of the descriptions you gave um about dr cleghorn you said he was kind he was a problem solver he was pleasant he was approachable reasonable genuine and acknowledged when he made a mistake we are going to take a short break at this time we are going to be hearing again from the late dr newton cleghorn thank you so very well said you know as we continue to contemplate this topic in case uh you were just joining what is wrong with this certainly in his church we are looking at questions that are coming from persons who who are wondering and who are skeptical about who we are and what we believe and we are also looking at at getting information that will cement our beliefs as seventh-day adventist christians as we listen to what our panelists have to share and so mrs barry sorry somebody yes dragon you wanted to i i want to add um in support of dr baldwin and uh dr wright something that i think is critical to our discussion here this afternoon okay and um [Music] the the question that is emanating from the discussion is how do you respond to the belief that the teachings of ellen g white formed the foundation of the center venice church and my first part of the answer this is a faulty premise correct a faulty premise for us to hold that the doctrinal foundation of the celebrities church is found exclusively in the bible the word of god ellen white's counsel only concur with what the bible already established and and when i i struggled in my earlier years as a christian so to navigate through where how can i how can i bring a level of compatibility with what ellen white is saying and what the bible is saying and i found it in the introductory chapters from roman numeral v to x i i in the introduction of the book great controversy um i am quoting her now quote and this is on page seven of that between five and twelve the holy scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative infallible revelation of his will they are the standard of character the revealer of doctrines and the test of experience the spirit was not given nor can it ever be bestowed to supersede the bible for the scriptures explicitly state that the word of god is the standard by which all teachings and experience must be tested and she includes what god has revealed to her as well so i am clear and clear that ellen white herself was not hesitant in yielding to the fact that they are the standard of character the reveal of doctrines and the tests of experience thank you wonderful thank you for that addition that is indeed a very important statement i think when we look at the the history even before mankind um based on the biblical records i mean we see that that the enemy says in himself he has mastered the art of misrepresenting facts and of distorting truth and really distracting individuals from the truth and so sometimes persons are very zealous in what they believe um however zeal does not necessarily equate to truth and i think what has been said has been so clearly um put so that i trust that our listeners and those who will listen to this recording after will understand our standing now there is a question again pertaining to e.g white um and it it really is tied to to the rule of women in the church and so the question is based on first timothy and i'll send this one to pastor sue based on first timothy chapter 2 and verse 12 where it says but i suff if you are just joining or joining us radha if you are watching or listening we are we are broadcasting to you a special edition of the transforming lives series and for our program today we are paying tribute to the late dr newton clegg horn we have on our panel everton ennis who is the senior pastor of the new jerusalem praise and worship center in the united states and dr ennis is a very close friend of the late dr newton cleghorn and dr clegg horn also served as his marriage officer and we want to ask you dr anytime this time to tell us about your first encounter with dr clegg horn there is quite a bit of feedback can you help us with that thank you so much good afternoon everyone my first encounter with dr clay horn occurred back in the year 2000. i was a student at andrews university um pursuing my master's in divinity degree dr cleghorn at that time was a doctor of minister's true ass student i had just recently become president of the black student association of the seminary and we were making plans to have ellis bradford brooks and cleveland of course ella bradford died i just night before last at age 96 and we were doing a tribute to them on campus through the black student association and dr clay horn at that time he was you know not yet dr cleghorn our popular name for him here is uh cleggy for those who were his colleagues we all call him cleggy and someone a mutual friend introduced us actually i was on my way to the library he was coming from the library with a friend of ours mutually and the person stopped me and introduced us this was in the year 2000 in and so her and of course pastor clegon and her brothers i think two of them used to sing together in a quartet and then of course when she came to the united states he ended up pastoring her again at city tabernacle in harlem new york which is where we got married so i became a part of that family pastor clay horn the term was used earlier he was a giant of a man not necessarily in stature but certainly in status and we all remember him well fond memories it was quite quite uh a shocking revelation to find out that he had passed away in fact i was in jamaica and was trying to reach him and wondering how come how come clegg is not responding to my efforts because i wanted to visit with him in mandeville and since the clerk on and just came back and not too many days after found out that he had been sick with covet i i wasn't aware of that and so and it's a very personal loss um to say the least and uh he'll be missed very very much right i'm not sure where our hosts went uh i'm here are you hearing me okay there you are now i hear you okay beautiful thank you so much dr ennis for sharing we appreciate your words the next question that i have is for pasta pasta are you there yes i am okay okay so i would like for you to share with us some of the leadership qualities that you would have noticed um working with or observing or hearing about dr newton uh thank you very much pastor clegon and myself go back quite a ways in fact we were students together at there's a feedback coming i think noel needs to close his mic thank you so much pastor wright for intervening there uh yes we we go back we go back uh in quite a ways back to the days of west indies college before it was even conceived to be northern caribbean university and during those years as a student there dr clegon demonstrated strong leadership qualities and the student body benefited from his leadership after leaving westerners college in 1979 uh we did not reconnect until uh in the 1980s back in new york when i was working with the north with the greater new york conference and he with the northeastern conference so we followed each other others development and career over the years and i can say of him that he has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to the seventh day adventist church and the leadership qualities that we all desire and the fact that once he entered ministry in the westernmaid conference he rapidly moved through the ranks and became youth director and again the same followed through when he came to the united states and was employed by the northeastern conference yes he spent a few years in pastoral ministry but moved rather quickly to youth ministry and because of the his strong leadership uh abilities and and he they the the the youth department and youth ministry thrive under his leadership in fact i was i was really surprised at the point in which he decided to accept an invitation to go back to the northern caribbean university and to show that he went back and shortly thereafter became the chair of the department uh again speaks of this strong commitment that he had to the faith of the seventh-day adventist church and his leadership ability that has been spoken of so eloquently uh during this program you do not you do not excel in the seventh adventist church without those fundamental leadership traits and character where you are not only loved but you are respected by your peers as well as those that you need and his career has demonstrated uh his strong commitment to leadership and as a result today as we look back there's a great void that has been created as a result of his loss and we know we know that it will not be easily filled but he he served well he lived well he modeled extensively for younger leaders and ministers and we are the poor for his passing and we look forward uh to the time when we will see him in the earth made new yes a great outstanding leader made tremendous contribution to the seven adventist church and youth ministry in particular but also informing uh they the the future leaders through his work in the theology department or the school of religion at northern caribbean university thank you so much pastor baldwin i just want to piggyback on andrew on that question that pastor bolton responded to so so well but even more but he was quite an evangelist himself i recall going to a major crusade that he had in hadley park in jamaica some time ago major because you know there were big tents and that kind of thing uh pastor harvey can you share with us what you believe would be his greatest desire for the pastoral ministry in particular going forward thank you thank you very much i i believe clearly that unequivocally he reminds he reminded people every opportunity he got that we this is a missional church and we have to be committed to the mission of the church he was uncompromising in his proclamation of the word and for those he interferes with on a daily basis he demonstrated what it is to declare at all times the word of god so what i think he would want his legacy to be in evangelism as you heard someone mentioned earlier that though he was in administration he ensured that every year he conducted an evangelistic series i believe that he would want to see more pastors who take the preaching of the word the urgency in the preaching of the word more seriously not to be afraid to declare the distinctiveness of the gospel that we embrace but at the same time to understand that is the reason we exist i think we are seeing where persons are losing the passion for evangelistic preaching and also prophetic preaching and to preach the distinctive message as we understand it as seventh-day adventists we need more pulpiters persons who are fearless in declaring the word of god and at the same time with the love and compassion that is needed and so that is where i see his legacy would be carried forward in evangelistic where more persons especially his students would seek to model him in preaching be it expository preaching narrative preaching whatever but be committed to god be a servant to these people and not be afraid to declare the thus saith the lord as we understand it in the three angels messages of revelation 14. thank you so very much pastor harvey for sharing now we promised you a little earlier that there would be an open tribute segment and you must be realizing now that we have uh a new person sitting in the seat there with me we want to welcome sister carlene barrett now sister hello sister barrett happy sabbath hi sister roman thank you so much sister barrett has a very special seat this afternoon she is going to be opening the open tribute segment sister barrett has moderated programs in this particular transforming life series and i believe she has the pleasure of moderating on one of those occasions when pastor cleghorn was guest perhaps one or two such occasions so we're going to invite you know to just share what your thoughts were even as we encourage the rest of you to continue sharing in the chat we're going to be pulling up some of those some of those and sharing with you so sister barrett what are your memories well sister roma i am telling you my memories are of a soldier a true christian one who modeled christ and one who divided the world like not many others do he had a way of making things simple so that they so that everyone could understand but at the same time he was profound and it is not surprising because i remember in one of those panelist questions when he said listen when we are witnessing we need to ensure that those that we are witnessing to understand what is being said so he was quite a teacher of righteousness as we has been hearing yes indeed if you were to pull on a character traitor too i know you touched on a number of things but if you were to pull on a character trait or two and we're talking christian character traits now that you believe you know we could really just hold up as an example of course christ is our ultimate example and it is through dr cleghorn's following of him that we are discussing all of this now but if you were to pull those characters what would they be well humility stands out very strongly because i think it's very important that persons who we witness to that humility of christ even when it is clear that we are learning and when we have the type of doctor or whatever else is humility i also think that we need to be real when you [Music] that were bothering members of the church those who were once members of the church in some of the discussions that we had and he just unraveled the scripture so easily it was he was an inspiration because he made you realize that hey we all as soldiers need to be in the world so that we can rightly divide the world over and over again amen praise the lord and we want to thank you to sebaris who are not letting you go yes yes just want to thank you for sharing those words with us i just want to pull on some things that are in the chat i know that you will probably agree with them all as we would uh we are seeing from hermann buzz farming that he was a gentle giant and we are seeing that he was a real man a true servant leader of god and very humble a very humble human being now we there is so much more that can be said mr barrett if he were here now sitting on a planet i'm just pulling on your your thoughts now give me your your prior experience with with him if you if you were here right now sitting on a panel what do you think he would want his message to his church in particular well i think he would perhaps reiterate a message that he shared in one of our discussions where he made it very clear reminding us if you please that there is no offense there is no sitting on the fence there's work to be done and we need to be busy with god's business i think that's what he would want us to to remember and i am just happy that god loaned him to us i think god blessed his church and the people that he came in contact with through dr clegg horn and i am happy that his wife sister clergon thank you for sharing him with us the many hours that he would have been out on the field thank you so much and on behalf of all those who have moderated in the transforming live series where he taught so many lives as one of our panelists i must use this opportunity to also extend sincere condolences to sister claire gohan and the family it was a very painful experience but thank god we have this hope and he had that hope and he was very vocal and clear about it and we're looking forward to that grantee thank you so much my sister god bless you we continue now by sharing with you some of the discussions as a matter of fact i mean the the chat is is lighting up with a whole lot of thoughts we could sit here all day and just share these i am seeing uh pastor schilling ford saying he was a real man e frame velesquez i hope i got that right thanks to all of you and we're seeing a person saying that we will miss him dearly we're seeing condolences to the family to dr cleghorn's family and to others other members of his family we loved him deeply and he loved his church we're thanking him for his ministry obviously we're thanking god rather for his ministry and persons are looking forward to the day when they will see him again in the earth made new praise god for his life and uh just one final one from gordon lindsay mercy each time that that video comes up i imagine the resurrection so he's probably referring to the video that we played a little earlier thank you so much my sister any final word of comfort as you go uh i me just say that god is good and as he as he shared and as we recall that our faith is solidly placed and built on the word of god soul of scripture as we said our doctrines our beliefs are firm and i would just want to encourage us all to hold firm to that faith that he had that faith that we have based on the word of god it is sure and indeed he is coming again amen thank you so much my sister god bless you and enjoy it we continue here on the transforming lives series inviting you to continue to light up the chat with all your comments with your prayers with your your praise as sister barrett said he was loaned to us by god and it was a privilege to have served with him because he served the lord and he shared that christian gentleman-ness with the rest of us here so as we contemplate on the resurrection i invite you to listen to well to watch i should say and listen to another video as we see to break this segment stay with us this is transforming lives teammate that was his intention for our sexuality now uh so going back uh knocked the clay on you have something yes um i checked with the with facebook software engineer brielle harrison and bill harrison in the associated press stated that there are 58 genders that are being used today 58 genders and as a result of these shifts you have a new word called catholic so in the buddhist myth the buddhists describe three original human genders male female and the biological hermaphrodite or cathoy so so it is it is getting more complicated now and um i don't want to jump ahead the questions and the the the format and the movement of this no one go go right ahead man go right ahead but i want you to know that this is causing more as as dr fox as indicated this is causing more complications for us even as pastors as leaders as spiritual leaders how do we respond to someone in the church and i'm not talking about the world now because we well know that they are practicing persons that are different from the genesis to model of sexuality and they are in the church what do we say to them and when they will tell you well i my gender has been described as a cis gender man what can you tell me about that and all i can say to them is that we're all born in sin shaping in the iniquity we have departed from the blueprint that god has given us but there is hope there is a possibility for recovery one of my questions i ask my young people sometimes is are you willing to experience a recovery you cannot force them but that accent this very very first are you are you willing to experience a recovery once they say that and i i'll tell you i have multiple cases of individuals from various levels who have said yes i want to recover because it is not in keeping with the genesis model the template and when we begin to pray and to see god's face a number of these have a recovered have gotten victory so despite the many nomenclatures that have been developed to describe gender today we must as spiritual leaders understand that there is the possibility for recovery if if if there was no possibility for the recovery from sin then the death of jesus and the cross would be implications so once god has given us the possibility to recover like you know we we we talk a lot about sexuality but there are people who have other serious that battling with serious sin problems that are not sexual and we offer remedy the same way we are for for anybody else we are offering the same revenue there is power and this may be this may sound homolytical i'm a preacher and this place are normally if i say there is power in the blood and people ask me what do you mean by that and i explained to them the sacrifice of jesus on the grass and if he gave all of those persons that we find in scripture the power to live above sin he can give us the power to live above any sin including sexual sins amen most certainly are we faster uh so we ventilated this point but it now begs for a discussion uh barring the the other 58 genders that are being uh profound uh around the world no it does make for a question because it relates to man and a woman and his sexual things are very much uh present between man and woman i on clegg horn who served the seventh-day adventist church with distinction as an ordained minister an evangelist and a mentor to many god loaned us to him and as you've been hearing he served and served well and we believe andrew based on you know what we would have seen and what we would have heard that he is awaiting the master's call on resurrection day and so we give god thanks for the fact that he was he walked with him throughout his life and we are hoping to see him very soon amen we have some more tributes coming in as roma said a little earlier the messages are coming in and we thank you so much for sharing and we are pulling some at this time i'm seeing one here from marilyn anderson and she says dr newton cleghorn is an extraordinary colleague who cannot be easily replaced someone with outstanding integrity and his love for all was inclusive i will miss him rayon daily says he was a father to me gloria gregory says since their condolences to the family of dr clegg horn he was an inspiration to all he will be greatly missed and gordon e lindsey says a mentor extraordinaire he sought to make others better than he was and he wasn't threatened in any way by it that's right so many tributes coming in you are not able to join us physically but we're sharing them in this open tribute segment so we encourage you to continue to share as we remember our brother in christ but brothers and sisters uh friends guests visitors who may be on the platform we just want to remind you of who or our panelists are we have our host pastor pastor samuel belgian and passed the belgian pastors the belvedere sda church in atlanta georgia pastor michael henry education director at the jamaica union conference of seventh-day adventists pastor michael harvey who is senior pastor at the maranatha sda church and someone who served previously rasa as vice president for spiritual affairs at the northern caribbean university and also as senior pastor of the ncu church and would have worked very closely with dr cleghorn pastor robert wright also is with us on the panel and passed the right serves as um the director of the ellen g white center on the campus of northern carbon university where dr clegg horn served and also served closely with him as well as assistant a lecturer assistant professor as the correct term in the school of religion and theology so pastor wright has um was close to him in two areas professionally and certainly personally as well and our panel is completed by pastor everton enes pastor ellie serves as senior pastor in the new jerusalem praise and worship central in the united states so it is a jamaican us connection today andrew as we seek to hear from or rather we seek to hear from the colleagues of dr cleghorn as they remember his christian virtues and share in his legacy so i want to throw a question out to you panelists now that uh dr cleghorn is no longer with us and we know that we must continue because we have a hope in the resurrection how do we know as christians what can we do what else can we do as christians to share the love of jesus in these very very trying times in earth's history now i'm going to ask all of you to respond to that let me repeat what else can we do to share the faith of jesus with our brothers and sisters particularly those who are not yet christians in this very trying times that we live in uh i'm going to start by asking pastor harvey to share and then each of you can pick up as we move forward in this difficult time um what can we do now it is very challenging as you have said because we live in a society where people are trying to replace god with science and technology some people will tell you and they are not ashamed to declare that science and technology do not need god so because they don't need god they they are saying that we are succeeding very well without god but for me and i always say to individuals all true signs lead everything leads to god and so we have to now recognize that where people have become more secular in their thinking where it is personal and subjective truth and the objective truth is going through the window relativity is the order of the day i say we have to now see to demonstrate what christianity is all about in our personal lives in our interaction with individuals we can't just use terms and phrases that people don't seem to readily understand the jargons that we use so i say it is simply this and i like the quotation in ministry of healing page 143 it says and i quote christ's method alone will bring true success in reaching the people the savior mingled with men as one who desired their good he showed his sympathy for them he ministered to their needs he won their confidence then he bought them follow me end of quote ministry of healing page 143. i feel that that is where we ought to go we need to love genuinely care compassionately and serve sincerely so once people can see the gospel in demonstration through our lives or we relate to people then we will be able to win many more persons to christ who to know is life eternal we have a tremendous work in this secular society to help people to understand that god cannot be substituted the creator cannot be the creature and the creature can never become the creator we are dependent beings and we need for us to survive we have to see outside of ourselves so we need god and so we have to show individuals the importance of that by demonstrating that in our lives or proclamation and or demonstration there must be no dichotomy between both of those thank you so much pastor who's going next after pastor harvey has spoken it's it's it's difficult to come in because he covered so much in such a brief time but i think one area and and spinning off from dr klebhan right now i think one of the areas we need to look at is the area of the of of self-centeredness [Music] all right i turned this on to to get the youtube feed um i think one of the areas we need to look at is a matter of self-centeredness this i think is one of the the big sins or the big challenges that we face today um being willing to listen to people take a genuine interest in in them and to give freely of ourselves to them i'll go back to dr clayhorn um in spite of his achievements in spite of his accolades he was a simple person he he was willing to talk to anybody anytime listen to him and he could give a listening ear one of the biggest challenges we have these days is people's tendency not to listen and the the the higher we go in terms of qualifications and status is the more we tend to talk and the less we tend to listen the in the multitude of counsel there is wisdom the people who are considered this small people in the system are people who know god who listen to god through whom god speaks and from whom we can learn so much if we take the time to listen many times we don't know how to scratch in the lives of people because we don't know where it's itching we decide where the itches are without listening to them and so you're asking what can we do that to me is one of the things we can do most take a genuine interest in people be interested enough to listen to them speak to hear what they are saying to move beyond what we see on their faces reach inside and try to understand and appreciate and help and as we listen learn to speak less because confidentiality is a very important thing and becoming rarer and rarer among us and as we learn to speak less and listen more and give ourselves i think we will be modeling to a great extent what true christianity is thank you pastor henry who will be going next dr cleghorn was a man of many talents many gifts he was an educator he was an evangelist he was an administrator and at the center of his ministry were was uh the improvement and betterment of young people and people in general he has left us the legacy of dedication and commitment and hard work as i said at the beginning he was an in the fatigable worker he committed himself to the various areas of giftedness that he possessed he was a great parliamentarian as well and um in his extension of himself to minister for god he was able to reach many souls as we respond to this question that you asked each of us needs to understand that we are gifted uniquely we cannot all be a pastor clegg horn with his um many gifts and and talents some of us have less some of us have more the important thing is that we need to dedicate ourselves to the task to the duty to the responsibility to the ministry to which we are called and we should do so with our utmost commitment we must also always remember that we are co-laborers together with jesus christ in saving souls for the kingdom it is not we who have the power to convert lives or convert souls but we have the privilege of being the instrument in the hand of god to accomplish whatever he has directed us to do there is no place in god's army for reserves there is no place in this game of life for anyone to be sitting on the bench we are all on the field we're all warriors we're all combatants we're all militias in the army of heaven we're fighting a spiritual warfare and people are expecting that we should know the truth we should be able to execute it well we should be able to wield the sword of truth we should be men and women of integrity we should not fear to call sin by its right name we should not be compromising when it comes to principle and we must always remember that only those who fight the battle fairly according to the rules will ultimately be victorious i want to close with a quote from ellen white testimonies volume five page 136 a brief quote says the sign of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us to fight the battles of the lord when champions are few this will be our test our dear dr clegg horn set the standard of integrity of honesty of being true to duty we also need to do the same and even though we may have to stand alone we are not alone because we have the mighty warrior jesus christ the lion of the tribe of judah to stand with us and to give us the victory and if you are faithful as i believe dr klegan was faithful we will stand together with him and all the saints of all ages to rejoice and give god glory for the victory that we would have experienced through the blood of the lamb god bless you thank you for right we will thank you so very much uh earlier this afternoon i was checking my facebook page and you know those notifications about birthdays and lo and behold of the nine people who are on my friends list to have a birthday today one of them is pastor claycorn today if facebook is correct and i think it is uh would have been pastor clay horn's 68th birthday and i don't know that this gathering this afternoon is a coincidence in that regard so what can we do we can certainly each one of us made a commitment to continue to champion the cause of youth when i came into the seventh evans church 34 and a half years ago i was immediately placed in four different offices within two weeks one of them was assistant a y leader the other one was pat's final club director for my local church subsequent to that i was federation pre treasurer then i became federation uh president uh we are about in my my smaller church about to elect an 18 year old recent high school graduate college-bound young lady to be clerk of the church 18 years old not because we were looking for someone to fill an age criteria but because we were looking for someone who had the the academic acumen the skill set with the word processing software someone who had a right spirit and we centered on this young woman who we have watched grow up i've been with this church now for seven years so i watched her grow up this is the kind of thing that pastor clegg horn was about when he and i talked some years back and he shared with me that he was on a program to implement a master guide training in the ministerial training program there at ncu i was amazed and i was happy because as one speaker mentioned earlier the challenge over the years had been to some degree at least we can't just say what's the pastors because of course home has a lot to do with it too but surely the person who spoke earlier um pardon my not recalling who it was i think it was pastor henry the fact is that many of our pastors did not have that level of exposure at the local church level so that upon graduating from the ministerial training program and being sent into the district to be the pastor uh they didn't have that experience to fall back onto i went to college two and a half years after i came into the church but i had served in those capacities prior to going so my journey was a little bit different so pastor clay horn has been that voice for youth he has been a trainer a mentor a motivator someone who counseled young people hundreds of them over here in the states when the word went out that we lost pastor clay horn there was a tremendous cry of bewilderment and grief all across this division from the young to the old kids who he mentored and they are now adults with their own children their young families they bemoaned his passing so his works follow him because you cannot go wrong in pastoral ministry when you sow into young people you invest yourself you invest your time and your energy your resources both of my churches are streaming now since the first of july and if you look at my media room they're teenagers running that video ministry taught them turn them loose that's what klege would do that's what he would affirm and i would suggest that's what we need to do more of per chance we can help to save more of this next generation i want to say condolences to sister clay horn i think she's on here this afternoon and uh ingrid and i extend our condolences in that regard we miss pastor cleghorn we pray god's support and strength for you and there's so many who are watching this this afternoon who are genuinely grieved that we've lost a great man a servant leader one who loved the lord and loved young people thank you so much pastor ennis and pastor belgium we should now take your response the question is what can we do uh to continue the work that dr clegon has started well each one of us is uniquely gifted and because we're uniquely gifted we're not necessarily called to continue the work that he has he has been doing but to do what god has called us to do and uh there are three things that i think are important number one uh there needs to be readiness to serve uh each one of us need to commit ourselves to be available to god to be used in the way that god chooses to use us and at the time and place god chooses to use us the the second thing that i think is important is for each one of us to be faithful faithful to the task faithful to the completion of the task in fact jesus's uh words are you have been faithful over a few things no matter how gifted i am no matter how hard-working i am if i do not stay faithful i will miss out on the ultimate reward that god has in store for me because it is faithfulness to the end you have been faithful over a few things i will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of thy lord then the the third thing that i i think is important for us to be mindful of is that there is a reward awaiting us there's a reward awaiting us so readiness to do what god has called us to do faithfulness to the end keeping our eyes always on the reward and i think that those three things encapsulates what we refer to as paul's a valedictory uh statement when he came to the end of his ministry he says i'm ready as a poured out as a drink offering therein lies one's openness and one's willingness to be used and then he says i have fought a good fight which means that he was not only ready and available but he kept on being available to god to be used by him and then the third thing he says uh there is later for me a crown of righteousness faithfulness is critical it is not how much in fact when when when jesus commended the individuals to whom he gave gifts he said the same thing to the guy who had five talent and the one who had two and to the one who had only one who squandered it he had a long statement uh to that one he was cast out and so i want to be faithful to the call of god upon my life i want to pour myself into those over whom god has given me the oversight and i want to be available to be used by him and i also want to be able to hear from him well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a few things i'll make you ruler over many things no matter how gifted we are here on this earth no matter how much we have done in the scheme of eternity what we have done here is regarded as just a few things because the wider field of service and the earth made them is just beyond our wildest expectations dr newton claiborne has done his his his bit he has served and served well he has served with distinction he has given himself he has poured himself into young people and older folks as well and our hope and my hope is that ultimately he will hear well done from his savior he has left behind his wife of many years wayne uh i i extend to you my condolences along with that of my wife and family and know that god will walk with you through this veil of sorrow and bring you out on the other side and when reunion day comes uh i hope that when your eyes catches his eyes and you both uh see the face of your savior it will be a grand reunion day and certainly you will hear from your lord and savior jesus christ both of you welcome home children and our sick and tainted bodies will give way to an immortal body that will no longer be subject to the pain and death and suffering because that's what ultimately god has in store for us that's what we strive for and my prayer is that we will be available that we will be faithful and that we will look forward to that crown that jesus christ has prepared for those of us who love him and serve him amen thank you thank you so much for sharing and i think that's a wonderful way for us to to end this segment of our special edition of transforming lives today we are being reminded that it is important for us to stay faithful not to break faith god was in the final analysis well done though good and faithful servant if we continue to remain faithful and allow ourselves to be led by the holy spirit as we continue to be about god's business while we are here on earth i'd like to share another tribute that came in from lambert hamilton that's lambert's hamilton and he says dr newton cleghorn was a mentor a friend a prayer partner dean of preachers youth ministry expert the most millennial baby booner let me read that again the most millennial baby boomer i know a spiritual guardian this man was so much wonderful way to end that segment as we uh continue to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the late dr newton cleghorn as we move into our next segment where we'll we will be talking about grief and death we want to highlight a few of the areas that our panelists will be helping us to walk through and uh we will be well the panelists will be sharing with us how we can prepare for death how families can prepare for the death of a loved one how the church should deal with the loss of a member and they will also help us with counsel as to how we can help someone who is who is at the stage of death and they are not a christian what they can do to make sure that they make themselves right to meet the mayko we want to start off this segment with grief so we want to talk a bit about the stages that we go through we want to know more about what grief is the stages that we go through when we are grieving we want to get some examples of what happens at each stage of grief and how we can best go through each stage so that we can overcome i would like to start off this segment by asking pastor ennis to help us to understand a little bit more about what grief is and the different stages of the grieving process [Music] why did i think you were going to do that you did well not an expert by any means with respect to this particular subject even though as a pastor i have to be around it from time to time especially during pov nonetheless from a layman's perspective not being a trained counselor i would i would prefer that grief is the process of coming to terms with the reality of loss and will involve perhaps emotional mental physical and even spiritual distress um depending on the person from person to person um and as i understand it grief goes through different stages as you intimated beginning usually and many of us can relate to um disbelief a sense of shock and it's amazing that as human beings it doesn't matter for us how long a person might have been ailing i've seen so many cases where a person is near to 100 years old and when the person passes away the outpouring of grief in words such as gone too soon or i can't believe this is happening and so forth uh so it's always it's it seems as though even though we are constantly around lost in the form of death because of course death is not the only form of loss the same thing could be said for divorce as well and separation is that we're just never ready so there's always an impact a deep impact upon the human psyche especially when it relates to people we know and love death is in the news every day people getting shot people getting killed in car accidents it doesn't impact us as brief until it gets close to home and so i think um after that there is denial there's a shock there's denial and then there's some anger i understand they they put that as the third step in the process some uh suggest a four and some suggests a five step step process and there's i then there's acceptance and the acceptance some interpret or define as when healing is realized i'm not so sure that each phase can be as clearly delineated as a textbook might might suggest they're overlapping ebbs and flows a person might appear to be going forward and something a memory might spring up a birthday anniversary some special other event a family reunion and the person is not there next holiday in the chair is empty and it may trigger that sense of deep loss and and and grief and so there's an ebb and a flow and this is why we have to constantly constantly be in touch with the lord and be there the ministry of presence ministry of encouragement when people are going through these challenges all right pastor ennis for sharing um i love that you touched on the the fact that uh the the stages may overlap and that there are possibly events or things that we may be reminded of that may trigger at a particular stage in in the whole process of grieving um i'm going to direct this question to pastor belgium how does the bible express um that we should should deal with grief a very a very interesting question and while there is no there is no uh systematic treatise on dealing with death and dying the the fact is that death and dying is a is a theme that runs through scripture uh death is associated with sin and and in fact paul says the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life so how do we then use the reality of death in a sinful world we see it as the enemy of the child of god it's our it's our enemy and the bible says that it is the last enemy that will be destroyed and so uh as as the bible deals with it jesus refers to the process as a real one in fact when mary and martha came to him and was attacking him for not being there not that he was not aware of the fact that their brother was sick but that he says that it was for the glory of god it is interesting that in the book of revelation it declares blessed are the dead who die in the lord that henceforth they may rest from their neighbor and their works do follow them what does that say to us it says that our creator is not afraid of death it says to us that we as christians ought not to be afraid of it either because what uh jesus said to mary and martha is what he continues to say to us i am the resurrection and the life he says i tasted death for all of you and because i tasted that i am alive and i'm alive forevermore and i have the keys of hell and of death so the child of god can take uh uh take uh respite in the fact that while death for us on a purely human level is inavoidable inescapable and seen so final when we add the spiritual component to it it helps us to appreciate that it's a transitional phase it is a pause in our life experience because eternal life is not something we get afterwards it's something that we receive when we accepted jesus christ and death really is a pause and that's why jesus is able to say to his angels go get my children the angel did not resurrect jesus he simply come came to the tomb and says jesus your father calls you he got up and he fold up his clothes got out of there showed himself to his disciples went to show himself the the father came back spent some time with the disciples and so the bible lets us know that while death causes our love and our hate and our envy and all of the things that go along with the human experience to cease uh there there comes life thereafter and that for me is the driving force that encourages me and should encourage all of us as christians that while we death on this side of heaven is inevitable the reality is that it's not final it's not the end that there's a life after death that is a life eternal not plagued with sickness not plagued with pain not plagued with uh any of the atrocities that we see in in this world but a life lived in the eternal purpose of god a life void of the effects of sin so yes uh death is inescapable but there is life beyond death a life that is free from all of the pain and disappointment that comes with it here on this side of heaven amen a very beautiful illustration shared with us by pastor beaujon thank you so much there's a scripture that comes to mind that talks about us mourning us morning or us not morning as those who have no hope i'm gonna ask pastor michael henry to explain what this text means pastor belgium would have started to answer this question but i'm going to ask pastor michael henry to explain to us what this means and also for persons who may be watching or would watch on the replay who may not understand what that text means uh thank you very much as you just mentioned pastor belgian has gone a long way towards explaining that um we do not beep as those who have no hope because we do have hope christ said that in him we have hope he said in revelation 1 he says that that i am i have a keys of death and of hell so when jesus and that's and held there being the grave when jesus died and he rose again he died the death for each and all of us and as a result of that those of us who put our faith in him do not need to fear death anymore and so we who mourn the loss of our loved ones yes we weep because we're going to miss them they are missing from our lives they are a part of our present existence that we actually enjoyed and seeing them go not covering them here again we are sad because of that absence but if that person was a believer in the lord then we do not weep as those who have no hope we expect to see them again it is incumbent on us to ensure that you know if we are confident that that person died in the lord that we live with the lord and we live in the lord so that we also will die in the lord if and when we die because some of us will be translated hopefully that the lord will come before we die but um if and when we die then we too dying in the lord will rise to walk in newness of life and meet those loved ones again so as a pastor so actually puts it it is not a full stop it's a comma it's a pause along the way and when the person goes we can be happy and buoyant because we expect to meet them again where there is no more death and no more partying this is something to look forward to with vibrant hope and joy thank you so much pastor henry for your response how then do we prepare how then do we prepare for for death emotionally mentally physically financially spiritually let's start with the emotionally aspect mental aspect how do we prepare for death who wants to take that question all right let me let me try with that one um christian the person who has a relationship with jesus christ has a natural immunity to to the fear of death when i say natural immunity i mean the new nature that christ gives to us is a nature which trusts god totally a nature in which there is no fear the bible tells us that perfect love cast without all fear and the lord has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind the christian as he approaches death um realizing that he or she is going to die will take a different approach to death than the non-christian does uh pastor henry referred that referred it uh refer to it a short moment ago that we do not mourn as those who do not know the lord naturally there will be some amount of you know concern am i right with god is it well with my soul etc the individual christian who approaches death will ensure that all is well between himself and his lord there will be a peace that only god can give the individual does not manufacture this peace god gives us his peace in the midst of the worst concern or the worst fear that comes upon humanity the loss of his life and uh you i'm sure some of you would have visited individuals on the last leg of of of life and the peace that you see on their faces the expressions of hope and confidence uh as a matter of fact they tend to encourage you more than you are able to encourage them these are people who know their lord who have a confidence in jesus christ and who are not afraid of death so this settles them emotionally it also settles them spiritually and they are able to you know utter words of courage and boldness and bravery like job though he slay me yet will i trust him i know that my redeemer liveth and i will stand at last in the latter days upon the earth with my own eyes i shall see him and so on and so forth so you visit a person who you know loves the lord who's connected with jesus and knows that he or she is about to die and that person manifests such indomitable spirit it is amazing [Music] all right so a pastor wright touched on the mental and spiritual uh ways that we can prepare for death and we want to to move on to the physical and the financial how do we prepare for death physically and financially who wants to respond to that aspect or those aspects [Music] okay you hear me clearly now yes pasta harvey go ahead i'm not sure if you're hearing me yes pasta yes we're hearing your passion yes we're here thank you thank you very much i i was about to say before we go to physical that death is pronounced on everyone we are assured of death more than how we are assured of life so death is inevitable so we are sure of death than we are sure of life why should we be afraid of something that we cannot stop and as was mentioned we try to find answers life is 10 years life is short so how do we prepare how can we prepare for for death i look at signs and the science says signs are law no continuity after the death of the body and the desolation of the brain it is only in religion that one speaks of life after death and we can find reasons to believe because we believe in the word of god in first corinthians 15 just as in adam um all died so in christ shall all be made alive so there is life after that how do we prepare for that physically and um financially we know that we have a limited time life is uncertain life is uncertain we don't know what it is so while we are alive we can make sure that we enjoy optimum living by following the laws of health so that we enjoy a physical and robust um physique wellness so that we can enjoy good quality of life because it's not so much the years but the quality of life so prepare physically for that is that you live your life with each day enjoying every moment of it those who are placed within the scope of your influence you show love you rely on your faith as i said it's only in religion do we have this hope of life after death so we believe in god we believe that he promises in his word that there is life after so we live each day with that realization and so we take care of our physical being knowing that any time he can come financially how do we prepare for that we live our lives we when we earn we make sure that we don't leave our family members in debt so we try as best as possible not to give them any headache after we are gone so we prepare we say well okay this is what i have acquired during my my years of strength and robustness this is what i have acquired and so i would i put something aside to say well okay i don't know when death will come i don't know when my name will be called so when that time comes i have laid aside um something that my family members will not be at a disadvantage to worry about how they are going to put me down and what is going to happen so one and then i am not leaving them with any debt that they should worry about that is how we can prepare i live my life with that realization that death can come anytime the assurance that i have is the assurance of salvation and that whatever god has blessed me with whatever the resources that i have then that i have to make sure that i utilize it to help others to be better and i know of a fact we talk about we're here to reflect on dr clegane i can tell you he he was he did not have any biological children but he fostered many children he spent his resources in ensuring that they get an education because he was a man who believed in life-long learning he was committed to people development that is there and he also dedicated his life to the church and so he always gives back to the church with that realization so that is how i could i can see it we can't do we don't know when it will come but we have to live our lives that we don't leave those we love in debt but we secure ourselves while we are alive thank you so much pastor and thanks to all of you who have been sharing with us so far we have one final question in this segment we are close to the wrap of the program how can you as pastors how can we as christians share hope with somebody who is dying outside of christ let me repeat yes this is a this is a very serious one how can we as christians share hope with somebody who is literally dying on his or her deathbed but who is outside of christ pastor bulging i'm going to throw that one to you sir thank you for that hard question the the the task that our task as not only as pastors but as as christians is to share the good news of the gospel with everyone within our sphere of influence if we are exposed to someone outside of christ who is dying it means that somewhere along the line they will within our sphere of influence and so the question is what did we do uh during that time when that individual was a part of or uh was in the prime of their life or at whatever point we came in contact with them that's why it is so important that we not lose the uh squander the opportunity that god has given us uh more often than not we think more about ourselves we think more about ourselves than we think about the mission that jesus christ has given to us so while i have said all of that i think it is incumbent on us to assess the frame of mind of the individual who is approaching death maybe maybe they are open at that point to acknowledge the lordship of jesus christ and to confess their sins and to ask for mercy and to confess their own sin if they are open to that then we're able to lead them through that prayer of commitment to christ we can pray for them and with them and uh point them to the one who has life everlasting uh we should not be afraid to do that um as a pastor you know i've i've sat with members i've sat with individuals who are non-members they are family members of members of my church and i know that they have not uh acknowledged jesus as their savior and as i said it's for me as a pastor to determine their openness to accepting jesus christ as their savior if i determine that they have this openness i share it is not for me to force jesus on them if they're not ready to receive and and the truth of the matter is as individuals approach death they are open to receiving uh more than at other times in their lives where they think that life is is an endless stream and they will always be healthy and vibrant and strong pain is a great motivator and so i'm saying let's be mindful to take advantage of every opportunity we have to share the gospel and for an individual who is on his his or her dying bed if they're open it's a prime opportunity because jesus uh gave us a clear example he says there are those of us who will accept him early in life there are those who will accept him in midlife there are those who will accept him in the noon time uh in in the afternoon time of life and there will be those who accept him at the final hour of life wherever you fall and we do not we do not need to make a judgment that because they live their lives without jesus that at the 11th hour of life that they are beyond the pale of salvation jesus is able to save to the utmost those who come unto him saying he ever lives to make intercession for them thank you pastor belgium for your response we invite each panelist to we're going to rather invite each panelist to make their final comments we're giving you each 10 seconds to be succinct and sweet and to the point and we will after hearing from all of our panelists uh we are going to be hearing from dr wayne ireland cleghorn she will be sharing some words with us and we look forward to hearing from the wife of the late dr newton clegg horn so panelists 10 seconds each after which we will hear from dr wayne ireland in cleghorn in my 10 seconds i'd like to express my condolences to sister clinghorn and to assure her that we are praying for her and uh god is with you and he will continue to be your source of help there is great comfort in knowing jesus as one savior and as we reflect on the life of dr cleghorn we know that he committed his life to jesus and so for those of us who are left behind there's a great void that has been created my hope and my prayer is that we will be comforted in the fact of the resurrection that there this death is not the end but that it is a transitional point where we will come into a new reality of living life eternal with our lord and savior jesus christ soldier has fallen on the battlefield one with a unique who had a unique place there i think that what we need to do is to ensure that what he has not been able what he's not anymore able to accomplish that we continue that task we will fight the good fight of faith and ensure that the as for whatever extent is possible we are not much poorer but that much poorer because he's gone but we'll continue his legacy dr wayne there is no right or wrong way in grieving you may experience from time to time an emotional roller coaster it's okay but draw strength from the god of your host your late husband you began the journey from an early year when you met each other when you were seven years old you continued and you have lived the long gamut of life together draw on your faith and when words are inadequate your god will be there to see you god bless you stay strong and safe in the lord what about this program this afternoon is that if we were doing this a year ago doing a tribute to dr clay horn before he knew and anyone else knew he would not be here today that we would have been able to say the same things that we said here this evening and that's significant and profoundly important to me [Music] it's a reminder of how we all need to live in such a way that our works can be spoken of in positive glowing terms and if we mortal humans could have been able to over the course of two hours 15 minutes or so to say these things what a blessed assurance that the angels have been able to record even more my condolences to the family again may god bless you as well as my fellow presenters this evening you so much gentlemen uh we appreciate your final words and we invite sister ireland clegg horn to to share with us at this time mr cleghorn i'm unsure i shock my grief my loss there i just know words my best friend my confidant my my companion my he who i thought i would journey with to the celestial city our loving heavenly father has chosen to allow him to sleep i do not truly know why but as i cried the same god who has always walked with us laid his hand on my breast and said but it's just a little time it's just a little time my daughter there is a work that is to be done in short order with great urgency today is my beloved's birthday there are no there are no words no letters in the alphabet for me to organize my thoughts and truth i cannot i cannot figure out how to place order to the to the confusion of my mind but i will still sing this testimony sister clegg horn powerful because we know that you are really going through a difficult time and we are standing with you but at the same time we can hear coming through your desire your passion and that sense of urgency for the work that jesus has laid on your heart i am truly blessed and i know that my co-host and joey is truly blessed yes and we are inspired because we are seeing in you the spirit of god that is pushing you propelling you to continue to share his message in spite of your great loss we really really thank you for having been on this platform this afternoon we know that it cannot be easy and we thank you too for having loaned us your husband over the years surely you have seen how many lives he has touched through his ministry and he continues to touch lives we will continue to pray with you and for you as our brothers on the platform this afternoon and uh on our panel have said understand that your brothers and sisters are with you and i know that you know because you said it just a while ago that christ himself is with you and he's bringing you comfort in spite of all the chat this afternoon you were indeed a blessing to us all well andrew we have come to the end of the program and i think we could not have we could not have ended on a more beautiful note yes than to have asked sister clegg horn to share with us this evening but of course you know we have to use the opportunity also to say thanks to our panelists i want to begin by thanking our host pastor pastor samuel bulgin pastor bolgen is with us every week for this transforming lives series and we want to thank you pastor bulging and your church community there in atlanta georgia the belvedere sd church for always being or supporters thanks to pastor michael henry thanks to pastor robert wright thanks to pastor michael harvey and thanks the pastor everton ellis you have blessed our hearts and we are thankful that you were able to share with us this afternoon and to share the beauty of the gospel even in this time of grief the hope of the gospel even as we grieve as human beings and as was said a little earlier by my co-host andrew that we do not grieve as persons without hope i think that is a beautiful note on which to end this program this evening as we contemplate on jesus's love for us as the resurrection and the life god bless you and have a wonderful rest of the evening we're going to ask pastor michael henry to just say a prayer for us for the family of the bereaved family after which uh we'll close those with a special item of music from dr wayne ireland cleghorn titled till we meet pastor henry are you still with us okay pasta belgian are you here with us oh pastor henry is here okay all right pastor henry please go ahead i didn't get what i [Music] i'm sorry this song was distorted i still haven't heard are you hearing me any better now all right all right i'm asking if i'm asking you to do the prayer for the members of the buried family please [Music] eternal god and our heavenly father you are the one who made us you made us in your image you made us because you had so much love to give that you had to have somebody else to share it with and we were made in order that you could love us and we have been loved lavishly by our creator and your god you're one who knows us inside and out who understands our feelings who understands our emotions who understands those emotions that are so intricate so deeply felt so hardly understood that we ourselves cannot express them and so farther at moments like these when words seem to defy the expression of those feelings that we have we turn to you knowing that you do not need words because even tears are a language that you understand we present to you sister wayne ireland playhorn the one who at this moment looks across at the space that has been occupied by her beloved for decades the one who has been her confidant the one who has been her best friend the one with whom she has shared her innermost secrets that one father who is not here anymore in this moment of bewilderment in this moment that seems surreal we are slower that you will step in beside her and feel that space that you lay your hand upon her and grant her healing that you put your arms around her and comfort her hold her close to your chest that she can hear the beating of your heart throbbing to the with about love help her father to understand to remember always to be confident that it's in your hands and in your hands it will all work out just fine we pray for the other members of the family we are sitting at this moment as they share together sometimes hardly knowing what to say to support each other that you will just be with them and help at whatever it is that they try to communicate and fail to do it effectively that even as the holy spirit promised to interpret our prayers in heaven he will interpret the words and the thoughts to them that they'll find comfort in each other we pray father that you will help them as they move forward as they make plans and go through expected things at moments like these be with them provide them with the necessary resources that they need we ask our father that in these confusing times when this pandemic has twisted and distorted everything that we consider to be normal that you will help them to navigate the unseen areas so that over on the other side of things they look back and understand that while they could not have made it through that you were there with them and they can depend on you truly they'll be able to say jesus led me all the way and so father continue to strengthen them empower them to face these moments and teach us who are supporting them in our prayers if there's anything else that we can do just let us know but we just want to close off by thanking you for the life of our brother whose life we celebrate today we thank you that you have gifted us and the family members with such a wonderful gift for all these years and we look forward farther to a time when we will meet him again and not just the newton that we have known but the newton as you have seen him in the ideal the newton as you have really created him we look forward to a time when we will spend eternity with him rejoicing and being happy even for these moments knowing that in spite of our tears we can understand that whatever god does is well done so thank you father for hearing our prayers and we place our sister and the rest of the family into your hands and ask that you take care as only you can in jesus name we pray amen so we will hear now special music from dr wayne ireland clickhorn the song is titled till we meet we pray we will all remain faithful and we pray that we will meet each other in the land made new [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] oh jesus [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] hey [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] wow [Music] [Music] position [Music]

Channel: Atlanta Belvedere Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 2,743

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Id: kU-t1mxyNQI

Length: 154min 7sec (9247 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021