News Release From Amazing Facts---4-25-07 Options

[caribbean sda]

I'll second that. What seemed like such a sure thing just a month ago must not be looking quite so sure now.

Yeah...I thought it was a done deal...but as the old people say, "there's probably more in the mortar than the pestle."
After all the fanfare, prophecies, dreams and visions, there is now an aura of uncertainty...

This post has been edited by caribbean sda: May 25 2007, 12:02 PM

[LaurenceD]

When things are iffy, you always shape developments in the most positive light....like "we've had record donations since the divorce," ... "what a blessing we've received" ..."we had one donor say if donations are down, I'll double mine" ... "we're getting good feedback about the joint venture from eveyone" and place the most favorable pictures on TV and the net...like two men shaking.

It all reminds me of a local car dealership that was down for remodeling for about a year. The other day, while listening to the radio, the dealer said, "record sales, people are lined up, can't keep up with business, come see the new show room."

All the while, Christ and his disciples know what it's all about...it's a totally different understanding of life...

Mat 20-23 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Might start by lowering the personal benefits a little...like from 70K p/yr (maybe more now). whoever dreamed a high and mighty ministry would have to get down in the furrow like all the rest, to experience the salvation they preach.

[lurker]

I hope someone taped where Danny said that it was because of being off sky angel that donations were way down. Sounds like good evidence in court if he tries to say that donations were down because of gossip.

[PeacefulBe]

I really appreciate the NCC President and AF Chairman keeping things real for us. I remember the announcement of the merger on the April 19th Live program and the press releases that followed. While details reportedly still needed to be worked out it was still treated as if the merger was a done deal.

Just one week later, Jim Pedersen emailed the statement "If AF and 3ABN actually merge..." so we can see that, at least in the eyes of the AF Board Chairman, the merger was actually still only a proposal, a possibility.

******************************************
SNIP

From: Jim Pedersen
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: Amazing Facts

Hi, nice to chat with you. Let me respond with some clarifications to the AF questions you raise.

Amazing Facts is listed in the NAD Yearbook under the Northern California Conference. That makes them an official SDA entity, with ties to NCC — “under the umbrella” of NCC.
Amazing Facts has its own separate board of directors. Thus, the NCC does not directly oversee the ministry. As NCC President, I chair the AF board, as per the AF Bylaws. However, the constituency of AF is technically made up of a majority of NCC members.
As a SDA entity, AF leaders and evangelists are entitled to receive SDA credentials. Currently, those credentials are issued by the Pacific Union Conference, not NCC.
I’m not sure what “certificates” you make reference to. Please clarify.
If AF and 3ABN actually merge, there would be a new constituency and a new board, which would take them out from under the umbrella of the NCC, as I understand it.
There is no direct financial support from NCC to AF. They handle their own payroll, raise their own funds, etc.

I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me again as needed.

Best wishes,

Jim
--
James E. Pedersen
President
Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
401 Taylor Blvd.
P.O. Box 23165
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
925-685-4300 x1200
jpedersen@ncc.adventist.org

Now, both Danny and Walt Thompson seem to have done some back-peddling on where the merger actually stands. I wonder just how much input the AF Board had before the merger was announced on April 19th. I also wonder if all those who sat on the 3abn set that evening are, perhaps, thinking it would have been wise to wait for a bit before making that big announcement?

This morning, I finally sat down to watch the opening night (Weds.night) of 3abn's spring campmeeting which I had taped. I was dozing off, as I tend to do during the music, then snapped awake as I heard the following, herewith transcribed:

(Walter Thompson & Danny on stage)

Danny: " We're still facing challenges -- We'll be honest with you--there's [sic] a lot of challenges going on, but if we aren't facing challenges, something's wrong. Am I right?"

Walt, interjecting: "And, we haven't given up on our merger with Amazing Facts yet, either -- that's moving forward and (pause) keep it in your prayers."
Danny: "Yeah. We're working to merge it -- Did any of you (addressing the audience) hear about the merger? (looking for a show of hands---very few people that were on camera raised their hands) OK--some of you have, and some of you haven't. We're looking at merging with Amazing Facts, and..uh....all we know how to do is announce it to you all to pray about it. There's [sic] a lot of extenuating circumstances -- a lot of things that have to be looked at legally, and looked at contractually. But spiritually, we see a lot of things we have in common (then some talk about AF's school of evangelism, 3abn's satellite capabilities), so you be praying ; if it's the Lord's will, we're going to do this. If, for some reason, it isn't, then we're still gonna be friends, we're still gonna work together every way we can, because we support Doug Batchelor and Amazing Facts; they'll still support 3abn...but right now, it's up--we want you all to pray about it, that...that the Lord's will be done. (He they quickly changed the subject to the 10 Commandments Weekend.)
Blessings,
Maggie

[Johann]

I really appreciate the NCC President and AF Chairman keeping things real for us. I remember the announcement of the merger on the April 19th Live program and the press releases that followed. While details reportedly still needed to be worked out it was still treated as if the merger was a done deal.

Just one week later, Jim Pedersen emailed the statement "If AF and 3ABN actually merge..." so we can see that, at least in the eyes of the AF Board Chairman, the merger was actually still only a proposal, a possibility.
Now, both Danny and Walt Thompson seem to have done some back-peddling on where the merger actually stands. I wonder just how much input the AF Board had before the merger was announced on April 19th. I also wonder if all those who sat on the 3abn set that evening are, perhaps, thinking it would have been wise to wait for a bit before making that big announcement?

Who was telling the TRUTH last month?

[maggiecttr]

I hope someone taped where Danny said that it was because of being off sky angel that donations were way down. Sounds like good evidence in court if he tries to say that donations were down because of gossip.

I have it on tape (as mentioned awhile back today).
maggie

[Pickle]

Can I get a copy? Maybe just that excerpt could be copied.

[Skyhook]

I also received some interesting information. I hope it is true, but it is not yet verified. It says that Doug B has apologized to his board. . . making statements before approved by the board. Therefore I will merely apply that as meaning we must not jump to conclusions too soon.

That picture you mentioned might not be approved. . .

Making statements about such a merger before it is even discussed by the board is very amateurish. I don't think it would happen in a well run business. World wide sattelite TV has created Adventist celebrities. That is a dangerous snare for a preacher. I hope Doug does not look at the AF board as just a rubber stamp formality as it appears the 3abn board is in fact.

This post has been edited by Skyhook: May 25 2007, 06:03 PM

[PeacefulBe]

Making statements about such a merger before it is even discussed by the board is very amateurish. I don't think it would happen in a well run business. World wide sattelite TV has created Adventist celebrities. That is a dangerous snare for a preacher. I hope Doug does not look at the AF board as just a rubber stamp formality as it appears the 3abn board is in fact.

I don't know how Doug views his board of directors, but from what AF Chairman Jim Pedersen says in his emails about the AF Board, they hardly sound like the rubber stamp type!

[Johann]

I don't know how Doug views his board of directors, but from what AF Chairman Jim Pedersen says in his emails about the AF Board, they hardly sound like the rubber stamp type!

Just now I got a copy of 3ABN WORLD, published by 3ABN/AMAZING FACTS with the two presidents of the front page. Danny refers to the merger as a "historic ministry event."

It will be interesting to see the magazine next month.

[ex3ABNemployee]

Just now I got a copy of 3ABN WORLD, published by 3ABN/AMAZING FACTS with the two presidents of the front page. Danny refers to the merger as a "historic ministry event."

It will be interesting to see the magazine next month.

What will be even more interesting is to see how Danny tries to spin it if the merger ploy falls apart. He has such a history of blaming other people when things don't go his way. He can't afford to do that in this case, because Doug and AF are viewed so favorably. He knows it would be disastrous to rip them apart.

BTW, still no news outlets seem to have picked up on this "national news story" as Danny was so sure would happen.

[Observer]

Making statements about such a merger before it is even discussed by the board is very amateurish. I don't think it would happen in a well run business. World wide sattelite TV has created Adventist celebrities. That is a dangerous snare for a preacher. I hope Doug does not look at the AF board as just a rubber stamp formality as it appears the 3abn board is in fact.

More that, one might ask, who is in charge, and do they know what they are doing?

It has been correctly pointed out that I posted a false statement at the beginning of this announcement. Well, I had checked sources connected with DB and 3-ABN prior to posting it. They generally agreed, so I posted it. I can not accuse them of intentional deceit. There would be no benefit to them to attempt to deceive me. So, I can only assume that people who thought they were in the "know" were not in the "know." I now wonder if anyone supposedly involve d in this had thought it through before going public.

Whatever the case, it sure presents a view of a failure to properly plan, in my opinion.

This post has been edited by Observer: May 26 2007, 08:39 AM

[PeacefulBe]

More that, one might ask, who is in charge, and do they know what they are doing?

It has been correctly pointed out that I posted a false statement at the beginning of this announcement. Well, I had checked sources connected with DB and 3-ABN prior to posting it. They generally agreed, so I posted it. I can not accuse them of intentional deceit. There would be no benefit to them to attempt to deceive me. So, I can only assume that people who thought they were in the "know" were not in the "know." I now wonder if anyone supposedly involve d in this had thought it through before going public.

Whatever the case, it sure presents a view of a failure to properly plan, in my opinion.

If they had thought it through before going public, one must wonder if there was a compelling motivation to do so when and how they did in spite of the many obvious reasons for waiting patiently for the process to reach a more solid point of development.

The May 10th email from Jim Pedersen contains this acknowledgment from him:

http://www.blacksda.com/forums/index.php?s...st&p=196721

While AF may indeed bring credibility to 3ABN, they want to be careful that AF isn’t blind to anything, or get hurt in the merger process.

Could the desire to improve the 3abn image have been the motivation behind the rush to announce the merger?

The best PR advice I have ever heard is found in Proverbs 3:1 - 8

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you prosperity.

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

[maggiecttr]

Can I get a copy? Maybe just that excerpt could be copied.

I have no way to copy it, but I can send you the original VHS tape if you PM me with a mailing address. I have a lot of Campmeeting programming on the tape & would like to watch it, then rewind to the pertinent section & then send it to you.

Maggie

[lurker]

Maybe I am paranoid but I would hope there are multiple copies and that nothing gets lost in the mail.