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Monday, April 11, 2016
A Noted Evangelist, Dr. Abraham Jules, Flies from NYC to the ATL to Preach a REVIVAL
A Work In Progress: A Revival “The Arrival”
The first of four installations of a revival crusade at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta, featured a sermon by pastor and evangelist Dr. Abraham Jules. It was a commentary on John 5:1-15, the healing of the man who hung about the Pool of Bethesda. He was rescued from a life of utter uselessness by Jesus. This revival series, entitles “The Arrival,” is available on YouTube, and installment #1 may be accessed through this LINK. Dr. Jules is an extremely polished and knowledgeable expositor of the Word, and a proven harvester of converts to Christ. Music was provided by Pastor Darrell Palmes, Pastor Danielle Pilgrim, and Menia Chester, with musical accompaniment by a trio under the direction of Bruce Seawood. A cursory summary of Dr. Jules’ sermon follows a short biography of Dr. Jules, and a few uncharitable, inappropriate, and utterly irrelevant remarks about some waters that passed under the bridge long ago (although there does exist a strong parallel between the state of inertia that distinguished my design career, and the comfortable rut that the man by the Pool of Bethesda inhabited for 38 years).
“Its a sad day in this country when people celebrate perversion…”Abraham Jules speaks on the sanctity of marriage at Mount Vernon SDA Church, as seen at this LINK . Check out the cut crystal water decanter!
A FOURTH GENERATION SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST
The facilitator of a four day revival at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta, is Dr. Abraham Jules, a native of Trinidad and Tobago. His grandmother hailed from India. It would interesting to know how she came to reside in the Caribbean. Mahatma Gandhi wound up in Africa because of a spat he had with a British official back in his homeland. Many expatriate Indians are members of the merchant “caste.” Dr. Jules’ linked biography relates how his early calling was reinforced after having listened to a sermon by E.E. Cleveland at Oakwood University. Here is a quote from E.E. Cleveland’s linked bio: “In his campaigns, Cleveland baptized approximately 16,000 persons, including George Juko, the Crown Prince of Uganda.” This could explain why I have so many Adventist “friends” from Uganda on Facebook.
Abraham Jules had some traumatic experiences as a youth at summer camp. After giving rides in a canoe to some fellow campers, young Abraham retired from the scene. Shortly thereafter, word spread quickly that the campers that had continued canoeing on the lake were now drowning. Abraham and some helpers were able to save three fellow campers from the waters, but it was too late for three others. Dr. Jules carried a burden of guilt around for years about this tragic incident, as he felt that without his initial involvement in the canoe rides, the subsequent fatalities would have not happened. Despite the judgmental attitudes of others in regard to the degree of his guilt, and also despite his own unwonted feelings of responsibility for the loss of his peers, the support of the fellow members of his church, and indispensable support by God, got Pastor Jules through this trauma. It ultimately served to strengthen his faith. He states, “I learned the fragility of life, and that has helped me to consecrate myself every day and be committed to Christ and His cause.”
Adventist pastor, master evangelist, and civil rights activist Edward Earl (E.E.) Cleveland (1921-2009) was born in, and died in, Huntsville. Alabama.
A close relative of mine was driving my late father from the mountains to the beach one morning. He nodded off for moment, and the car left the road and plunged down the side of a mountain. My father was killed, and the driver still carries around a burden of guilt about this tragedy. Pastor Jules overcame his guilt with the help of God. My relative tries to overcome his guilt by resorting to alcohol, and is therefore an alcoholic. God can rescue him from this condition, just as surely as Jesus rescued the man by the Pool of Bethesda. God’s strength represents a more healthy and permanent solution for difficulties than does the unhealthy crutch of alcohol. He is currently ensconced (an a state of deluded complacency, another parallel to the man by the Pool) in a denomination that is too lukewarm to ever impress upon him the urgency of his need for a very close, and very personal relationship with Jesus. This denomination also happens to be an “alcohol friendly” one. Henry VIII was responsible for its creation.
Dr. Abraham Jules remained single until he was 42 years old, an unusual state for the typical pastor. Despite the reservations of his superiors in the church, Dr. Jules thrived as a single preacher. He ultimately did “tie the knot.” Single life was OK for a while, but the evangelist notes, “…if I were to do it all over again, I would have gotten married earlier, because it made me a more balanced person. I had someone to share with me the burdens of ministry and life.” A one hour presentation that he delivered at Mt. Vernon church, one available on YouTube at this LINK, reveals that Dr. Jules is currently an enthusiastic advocate of the institution of marriage. Formerly celibate Catholic priest Martin Luther was similarly delighted when, during the course of his enlightenment, he discovered that it would be OK with God if he got married.
Dr. Jules relates that he once had to overcome a lot of resistance from the hidebound congregation of a church he pastored in NYC in order to get them to accept female elders. It was, at times, a “dark and lonely” battle, but one that built both his faith and his character. The church now has female elders, and is doing very well, thank you!
Pastor Abraham Jules reveals that he was first called by God to be a preacher when he was eight years old.
From 1991-1997, Dr. Abraham Jules was head of Kingsboro Temple of Seventh-day Adventists in Brooklyn, NY. Not having a permanent home, the congregation purchased an abandoned church at 415 7th Street, Brooklyn. It was formerly a Lutheran church. One year after assuming leadership, in 1992, Dr. Jules began to oversee the restoration of the old church. When the congregation was formally recognized in 1994, there were over 450 members.
A quote from Dr. Abraham Jules is especially pertinent to the current revival at Berean. The quote reflects a wish by the evangelist that he might manage to follow the example of his inspirational mentor, E.E. Cleveland. Here is the quote, “My greatest joy in ministry is when I’m actively involved in public evangelism, and I experience people accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior and being baptized.”
The tall people in this picture are Dr. Abraham Jules and his wife Dominique. The short people are Raven-Aniah Cheyenne and Dylan Julius, daughter and son to the tall people.
DR. JULES’ SERMON: “CHRIST IS LORD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE”
Here is a link to the WEDNESDAY NIGHT REVIVAL at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church. Visiting evangelist Dr. Abraham Jules intimated that his remarks would be brief, Instead, the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening meetings contained Sabbath-length exhortations. The theme alluded to by the title of this revival series, “The Arrival,” is clarified by the subtitle, “Are You Ready?” Dr. Jules put a lot of effort into motivating those potential converts to Christianity in the audience who might still be vacillating about a serious commitment to stop straddling the fence. All of this effort paid dividends Sabbath morning, as Elder Charles Cunningham and Pastor Austin Humphreys baptized around 20 new followers of out Lord Jesus Christ.
Berean Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell introduced Dr, Abraham Jules, an old Oakwood University classmate of his, to the Wednesday night crowd that attended the first in a series of revivals that are to be held this week, Wednesday through Sabbath night, April 6-9. Pastor Russell had previously recognized the candidates for baptism that were present at this revival. “We are blessed that we have a number of individuals who have been studying the Word. They have discovered that there is light in that Word, and that light is Jesus Christ.” He related that in the course of recent regularTuesday morning meetings of the entire Berean pastoral staff, “one name kept rising to the top” as a candidate to lead the current revival. It pleased God that this “one name” happens to be that of he who has graciously accepted the invitation, and has descended from “The Big Apple,” to “The Big Peach” in order to ply his trade. Pastor Russell mentioned a recent revival conducted at Mount Vernon SDA Church, by Dr. Jules, that yielded hundreds of baptisms. He remarked upon the fact that Dr. Jules has managed to quadruple the membership of a church that he pastors in Queens, New York, Community Worship Center of Seventh-day Adventists, a “House of prayer for all people.”
Dr. Jules began his sermon by remarking upon how he had traveled all day to get from New York to Atlanta, expecting to arrive tired, but pleasantly surprised that God had renewed his strength. He quoted a homespun beatitude, “blessed is he who preaches a short sermon, for he will be asked to preach again.” Regarding the revival, he expressed his intention to, each evening, “lift up Jesus here,” and to also to “make sure Christ is honored.” When the name of Christ is honored, then someone will be blessed. Prayers will be answered.
A recycled image of some “gifts”
The “Arrival” theme was touched upon at this time, but the primary focus of tonight’s message was upon accepting the unspeakable gift that Jesus seeks to give to everyone who is willing to receive it. Dr. Jules stated, “before Jesus comes back into this world, He has to find his way into your heart!”
The text of John 5:1-15 is the narrative of Jesus’ encounter, at the Pool of Bethesda, with the afflicted individual who had been stuck there for 38 years awaiting a miracle. The duration of this wait formed a sub-theme to both Dr. Jules’ presentation, and also to a previous Berean sermon by guest Pastor Tyrone Boyd entitled “You Got To Have To Want To.”
“Christ is the Lord of the Impossible.” Dr. Jules observed that there are often times in our lives when what we have desperately needed seemed to be impossible of attainment. As a result, we live not in a state of expectancy, but in a state of regret. The Word of God reveals to us that, “with God, all things are possible.” He dipped into the story of what transpired by the Pool of Bethesda, illustrative of Christ’s unlimited capacity to overcome impossibilities. “Bethesda” means “mercy,” Dr. Jules revealed. All of the benighted souls that lounged about the pool of Bethesda required mercy. He likened it to a badly managed, understaffed nursing home. It was not a pretty picture, as the lame, halt, and infirm lay about, moaning and groaning, crying out that mercy may be found. A superstition noted in Scripture, one concerning the angel who would occasionally stir up the waters of the pool (thereby rendering them into a kind of temporary panacea) was debunked by Dr. Jules. The bubbles that arose, resulting in a periodic “troubling of the waters,” has been revealed by geologists to have been a physical, and not a spiritual phenomenon.
The length of the man’s residence at the pool, 38 years, is described in the Book of John. Dr. Jules lamented that “there are still some superstitious people, putting their hopes in bubbles, in silly superstition.” He elaborated upon this. The world of today is assumed to be a time of erudition and sophistication. “Isn’t it nice to know that we have moved beyond” the silly attitudes on display by the crowd that hung about the Pool of Bethesda? But Dr. Jules revealed that, in the course of his wide travels, he still encounters many “Pools of Bethesda.” He mentioned the lottery. The gullible and superstitious still plow money into this unprofitable (for the vast majority) enterprise, fruitlessly hoping that an “angel might come and stir up the waters.” “My brothers and sisters, we have not graduated far beyond those people by the Pool of Bethesda” Dr. Jules said. The lottery is does not represent the sole example of these modern day lapses of lucidity. The speaker observed that “wherever we go, we are being admonished to go to these pools.” When we do, we find that that our emergence from the bubbling waters has done nothing to improve our condition.
A print out that reveals the rare winning numbers of drawings for the Georgia State lottery. My neighborhood is well littered with these printouts.
Some principles from the Book of John that can effect a real improvement in our lives were now provided. The first of these principles is contained in this statement by Dr. Abraham Jules, “in order to experience the impossible, you have to WANT the impossible.” For 13,870 days the man had lain by the Pool of Bethesda, on his back. Jesus, in His encounter with the man, knew what modern psychologists have rediscovered, that “attitude” is an important component in the process of both mental and physical healing. Dr. Jules revealed, parenthetically, that he has an aversion to hanging around negative people, and cited the members of some of the church boards he has encountered as examples of this. “Whatever affects your mind, affects your body,” he observed. This is the principle that undergirds the use of “lie detectors.”
The man by the Pool, who may have been a hypochondriac, had no doubt grow accustomed to his dull routine. He was taken care of by others. Were he to be healed, he might be forced to get a job and take care of himself. Dr. Jules digressed a moment to decry the many instances of people who love to complain, but never seem motivated to ameliorate the root causes of their grievances. Women saddled with a “no-good” man was one example. Donald Trump was another. He also regretted those who can’t seem to let go of the past. Some people are still consumed by events that happened 50 years ago, Some may desire Christ, but without first letting go of the past, Christ does not have adequate room in your heart wherein He may dwell. It is too cluttered with your long-cherished grudges.
In addition to the preliminary need to “want” help from Jesus (John 5:6: “Wilt thou be made whole?), there exists a subsequent need to OBEY Him (John 5:8: “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”). Dr. Jules playfully endeavored, at this point in his speech, to see if we were paying attention to what he was saying:
“There are some things that you can’t get over until you get under He who wants to get over you!”
Jesus will not bless you while you are still living in rebellion. If you want to live a victorious life, you must allow Christ to assume his proper place. Worry, without effort, accomplishes absolutely nothing. It won’t pay the bills. It won’t bring a wayward husband home. It will not do a blessed thing! Jesus ordered the man to “Rise!” This is perhaps the one thing that the man considered to be an impossibility.
Andrew Wommack at the time of his high school graduation in 1967. His next stop was not so tranquil. It was Vietnam!
Jesus did not ask the man if He felt like arising. This thought introduced an important issue that was raised by Dr. Jules regarding the relation between thought and action, and featuring a technique that is an important one to utilize in everyday living. I had previously heard this technique described by Andrew Wommack, and thought it sounded rather depressing at that time. But it is a approach that yields ultimate satisfaction, and not depression. Dr. Abraham Jules revealed:
“You’ve got to act your way into feeling, even if you don’t feel like acting!”
The speaker has been pastoring for 33 years. If anyone asks him how it is going, he replies “great!” How are the all the people at his church? “Wonderful,” the preacher responds. But life is not entirely a bowl of cherries. Sometimes he does not want to be a pastor, or a father, or a husband. But, even if he may not “feel” up to his role, he must nonetheless “act” it (the show must go on! But one quickly grows into their “part.” Commencing an activity often represents the hardest part of it. It all downhill after that. This message is an important one not just for everyday living, but particularly to those at the threshold of accepting Jesus into their lives).
A decision to obey must now result in the actions of obedience. John 5:8 reveals that subsequent to the command by Christ for the man to “Rise,” he is instructed to “take up his bed.” Dr. Jules postulated that, as an alternative to the injunction by Jesus to carry his bed off of the premises, the man could have decided to leave it there (I had an uncle who quit smoking, but kept an unopened pack of cigarettes in the glove compartment of his car, “just in case.” He never smoked again, but did become one of those “toothpick in the mouth” people). “Sometimes you have to burn some bridges,” Dr. Jules stated.
A type of plea for tolerance and understanding on the part of old church members toward the newly minted Christians was urged upon us by Dr. Jules. The 38 year indolence of the man by the Pool was again noted. Dr. Jules stated that old members of the church had a 38 experience in the fine art of hiding their sins. New members were, like the healed man, walking on legs that were not yet grown as strong as ours (a very ironic statement, when juxtaposed to the preceding comment. But you know it is true). A digression about Sabbath activity was inserted here. It was very droll, and available on the YouTube video linked above. I have to skip over it for the sake of brevity. I stand at the threshold of a major interruption to my habitual activities.
The “Big W” that concludes the action of the 1963 farce “Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” Dr. Jules’ sermon was not a farce. but a cautionary tale.
Three significant “W‘s” wrapped up the sermon, very germane to the primary objective of this campaign to win souls, and to every other revival in history as well:
Whenever Jesus makes you whole, you are WALKING on your own. The preacher was single for 42 years, he said. He was far from miserable. It is OK to walk alone {for you are not ever truly alone, when you are in Jesus].
When Christ is with you, you are WORSHIPPING. Gratitude is practically an involuntary reflex to an act of salvation.
Now that you are redeemed, you are now under obligation to spread the good news through the process of WITNESSING.
Jesus stood in the presence of the man by the Pool of Bethesda, asking him to do something that had never been done before. Something unprecedented. Something impossible. Dr, Abraham Jules informed us (in the manner of Joel Osteen) that we my have suffered deprivation in our lives. Success may have eluded us. We may have never tasted victory. But Christ stands ever ready to offer us a solution to these shortfalls in our expectations for life, and make us into winners. An appeal, the first of four, followed the concluding question of Dr. Jules’ sermon:
“Is there anyone here who wants to do something they have not done before?”
Berean Outreach Ministries volunteer Gwen White distributes savory green onions to patrons at the Wednesday distribution. She is very photogenic!A NORMAL SONG FOR NORMAL PEOPLE
My dream girl is not an eccentric, so the kind of deranged musical material that I usually manage to crank out is much more likely to repel, rather than to attract her. As I have invested eight years of waiting for a miracle to happen in regard to our potential relationship, I fear that I am now on the verge of scuttling the vessel of my hopes. The timely arrival on the scene of late-bloomer Pastor Abraham Jules, combined with rapid unwinding of my biological clock (if men have one, that is, and I think that they do), has served to place me at a kind of crossroads in my life. After a half-century of life, God placed the woman I had been waiting for directly in my path. Eight years later, I am still immobilized, no longer traveling, but just standing here, looking at her, afraid to move toward her, and reluctant to move past her. I can only pray like crazy at this point that God will resolve this impasse.
The inoffensive (vocals excepted, as always) song in question is one named “Trinity,” a name unfortunately associated in my mind with the codename of the atomic bomb research project during WW II that was supervised by General Leslie Groves. The song, in three iterations, is placed on this PAGE. An elaborate production, complete with soothing images, may be discovered at this first YouTube LINK. A less elaborate, and very unbeloved version is available at this second YouTube LINK.
Another photogenic volunteer at the Wednesday Berean food distribution is Dean Smith. The photograph makes him look a little like a bartender, but this is not liquor that he is serving up to a thirsty public.THE 4/7/2016 SESSION OF “THE ARRIVAL “
Here is a link to the THURSDAY NIGHT REVIVAL at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church.
This evening’s sermon by Dr. Abraham Jules was based on the parable of the Prodigal Son, an allegory that Jesus Himself relates in the Gospel of Luke. It is perfect for any revival, and though I have heard many sermons based upon it, Dr. Jules made it his own. I discovered that a time-consuming demand upon my small design talent will divert me from my hobbies this week. I hope to have the opportunity to eventually extract all of Dr. Jules’ talks at Berean, as I has eagerly anticipated the effort. In a terrible instance of misplaced priorities, I decided to squander a few precious hours remaking a song about the Prodigal Son that I originally created last Fall. The first version had enormous problems. The only positive thing I can say about the second version is that it has slightly fewer problems. It will be used as a temporary placeholder for more substantive material. It represents another attempt to create songs that are less eccentric than usual. They may not be more pleasing to God, but they will draw less criticism from man. They may or may not assist me in my ongoing effort to woo the “desire of my heart.”
Here is a LINK to a YouTube version featuring footage of homeless people by Michael C. Clark (Creative Commons, Attribution, No Commercial Use, etc. etc,).
A sailor who gets stranded far from home, searching for a ship that will rescue him from his predicament, is described as being “on the beach.” A CONVICTED SINNER SEES THE ERROR OF HIS WAYS!
Lost
In a 8 Far country, in a far, far country, 8 Lost to the world I used to know, 4 Gone forever more, what my 4 Father laid in store for me, and 8 Knowing myself for the first time, De- 12 pising, everything I had become, I’m going
8 Home, without a penny to my name, I’m going 8 Home, without a cover for my shame, I’m going 8 Home. There’s no one I can blame, but my- 8 self. I never
8 Knew till now, just how good I had it. I was the 8 Apple of my father’s eye. In the 4 Wallow where I lay, I re- 4 called a another day, it was a 8 Lesson I suppose I had to learn. Now I 12 Knew that it was time I should return. I’m going
8 Home, with a fearful state of mind. I’m going 8 Home, and I hope he will be kind to me, I’m 8 Going home, hoping I will find… for- 8 giveness.
The Ark from John Houston’s “The Bible… In the Beginning.” Impatient of waiting for the tortoise to board, Huston as Noah picks it up and carries it in!THE 4/8/2016 SESSION OF “THE ARRIVAL”- “BUILD YOUR ARK WHILE THE SUN STILL SHINES”
Here is a link to the FRIDAY NIGHT REVIVAL at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church. I pray that I will be able to transcribe the notes I took during the session. They do not represent a distillation of the essence of Dr. Abraham Jules’ remarks, as they do a lobotomized variant on the original. Unlike Charles Dickens, I have not mastered shorthand. I can review he video at my leisure, and create a considered extract. But Alas! I don’t have any leisure! My back is against the wall at present. I am really dropping the ball this week, vis a vis this poor website. May the Lord help me! I am horribly overextended at present.
The theme of Friday nights sermon was the story of the Flood. The Second Coming of Jesus will result in a similar destruction of the wicked, and the only hope that we might survive is to board the ark of salvation. Noah was not saved by his virtue, but “by grace.” As Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell noted in the course of a previous sermon, the portal to the ark that Jesus has provided for us will close, even before the heavens open, and the rain starts to descend. Dr. Jules restated this information, a kind of urgent, last minute conclusion to the evening messages of the Revival Series. Again, I hope to eventually provide a summary of this exhortation, just out of force of habit, if nothing else.
While writing about another sermon on the subject of Noah, I cited the children’s song “Arky Arky” as being a model of perfection that it would be folly to attempt to emulate. But this represent, of course, a bit of facetiousness by myself. Just as the parable of the Prodigal Son addresses the subject of God’s forgiveness, the story of the flood addresses God’s displeasure with sin, His judgment thereof, and His “grace” toward those who choose to obey Him. Dr. Jules’ urgent message included a three step method for self-preservation: (1) deal with your GRIEF (repent), (2) acknowledge God’s GRACE (accept), and (3) follow God’s GUIDANCE (be ye baptized, putting off the old man).
I ought not be using a public (though very obscure) forum as a napkin upon which to jot down half-polished notes for a song. But I have hitherto forborn to treat the topic of the Flood, as I mistakingly considered that any such effort would be forced into a mundane narrative format. But Dr. Jules boiled the story down to its essence for me. It is an exhortation for us all to “get ready” for “The Arrival (Are You Ready?)”
SOME PROJECTED LARCENY OF JOHN LEE HOOKER’S STYLE
Ark
8 Every imagination of the 8 Thoughts of the hearts of 8 Men is on evil, continuous- 8 ly. The
8 Wickedness is great on the earth! The 8 Wickedness is great on the earth! The 8 People God made were more trouble than they were 8 Worth! The Lord was
8 So annoyed that everything would be destroyed, both 8 Man and beast, from the greatest to the least, from 8 High to low, everybody had to go, and in 8 All of that place, only Noah found grace.
4 So God e-
8 stablished a covenant with 8 Noah and his kin. 8 Noah made an ark outta gopher wood, 8 Made it in the way that God told him that he should:
8 Three hundred cubits from tip to tip. 8 Three hundred cubits from tip to tip, so all the 8 People and the animals could squeeze into the ship.
8 Things that creep got saved from the deep, every- 8 thing that flew came two by two, by the, 8 Word of the Lord they all walked on board, till the 8 Door got sealed, and the world got filled by forty
8 Days of flood upon the land. By forty 8 Days of flood upon the land. Every- 8 body in the ship, was 8 Safe, and sound, until the 8 Water dried up and it rested on solid 8 Ground.
Charles and Austin baptize Victor and FabianSABBATH
This will have to do for now. Many were baptized. Several more answered the last appeal of the revival series. Here is a link to the ENTIRE SERVICE.
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