ELDER TRACEY WALLACE, M.D. IS THE SEVENTH IN A SERIES OF TEN ELDERS TO ADDRESS THE BEREAN “WAR ROOM”

Cort, Armstrong, Taylor, Noisette. Findley, McCurdy, and now, preaching in the intimate venue of the “War Room,” Wallace. He was, as stated above, the seventh elder to speak in the projected set of ten. He represented the third “Doctor/Elder” to have spoken. His wife Debbie is a doctor, too, making them Dr. & Dr, Wallace. The President of Oakwood University and his wife are also both doctors, Dr. & Dr. Pollard. Berean has several Doctor/Elders, of both the medical and PhD variety.

Elder Tracey Wallace is no neophyte when it comes to public speaking, He delivered a well-received sermon at Berean SDA Church one Sabbath last November. The post on this contained nothing but a brief introduction, and some shameless self promotion by myself. It was the stone age of my brief history of reportage, and did not even link the YouTube video. That neglect will now be remedied. Here is a link to the ENTIRE SERVICE. The medical allusions and metaphors are flying left and right in the course of the sermon, which begins around time marker 1:53:30. The sermon ends with a “standing O” at time marker 2:35:51. The Doctor had preached for over forty minutes, without a single misstep.

The fifteen minute presentation he delivered as part of the 5/25/2016 “War Room” prayer meeting at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church was a trice by comparison. The narrowed focus of this circumscribed talk was “prayer.” The doctor (henceforth to be designated “the elder”) continued his tradition of bringing a medically tinged perspective to his remarks. There was also some accomplished composition on display. Many instances of Anaphora were incorporated into the structure of the sermon (a fancy term for “repetition with variations,” and a recent obsession of mine, as it seems that 8 out of 10 preachers are big fans of it). The repetitive sequences will not replicated verbatim, as they flew by too swiftly to be properly captured. An introduction of the elder by Berean Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell noted that he is co-director, with his wife Dr. Debbie Wallace, of True Health TV. Here is a LINK to short extract from a much longer post that describes how Dr. Tracey eventually came to share his wife Dr. Debbie’s vision (or, more properly, God’s providence) during the creation of this television station. I described the whole improbable history of the genesis of this enterprise as a “Remarkable Affair.”

Here is some recycled data from the six month old Dr. Wallace post:

“Dr. Wallace attended Loma Linda University. He is an enthusiastic evangelist for the Adventist Health Message, first revealed in 1863. He described it as being 150 years ahead of it’s time. It was concurrent with now obsolete medical practices such as ‘bleeding, purging, and poisoning.’ Dr. Wallace touted the accuracy and wisdom of Scriptural prescriptions for healthy living, with an emphasis on dietary law.

He remarked upon Ellen White’s prescient recognition of the bad influences tobacco and meat has upon the constitution. He referenced the BLUE ZONE phenomena in regard to the Adventist lifestyle and it’s beneficial contributions to longevity. Dr. Wallace’s oratory was well crafted.”

The Wednesday night oratory was also well crafted. The linked sermon (the link is in the caption of the first image on this page) at West End was also nice, and may have represented a practice run for the Sabbath sermon he was to deliver at Berean SDA a month or so later. Dr. Wallace is a physician, a Christian, and unmistakably, an Adventist as well.

LAUGHTER IS APPARANTLY NOT THE BEST MEDICINE!

Pastor Russell encouraged all prayer warriors to “Put your hands together for the man of God…”

Elder Tracey Wallace launched right into what was the oratorical equivalent of a Nantucket sleighride. The key Scripture was from the Living Bible translation. It was Colossians 4:2. Here is the hard to access (if you don’t own a hard copy) Living Bible version:

“Don’t be weary in prayer; keep at it; watch for God’s answers, and remember to be thankful when they come.”

(Here is a LINK to the Wikipedia article on Kenneth N. Taylor’s 1971 “Living Bible,” which has been nicknamed by some the “Bathroom Bible.” You will have to discover on your own why this is so).

Elder Wallace revealed the title of his sermonette, “I Need Some Medicine!” He noted that 70% of all Americans take some kind of pill every day. “It seems that no matter what your problem is, there is some kind of pill to fix it. There is a pill to…

…raise your blood sugar, and to lower your blood sugar. There is a pill to…

…raise your blood pressure, and to lower your blood pressure. There is a pill to…

…cause you to throw up, and a pill to keep you from throwing up. There is a pill too…

…make you lose weight, and to make you gain weight. There is a pill to…

…rev you up, and to calm you down. There is a pill to…

…stimulate the appetite, and to suppress your appetite. There is a pill to…

…help you remember, and to help you forget.”

[All of this has precipitated a short digression. In this link to the Eagle’s depressing song “Hotel California,” the line “Some dance to remember, some dance to forget” is at time marker 2:30. As a way of prefacing a second, less wholesome musical link, here is a biopsy from “Alices Adventures in Wonderland:” “… if you drink much from a bottle marked `poison,’ it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.” The second link is, of course, to Grace Slick (now old and respectable) singing “White Rabbit,” a song that Dr. Wallace, a product of the Adventist school system, may have been blessed enough not to have ever been exposed to as a youth. It is very reminiscent, however, of the introductory segment of his sermonette.]

“I want to talk about an alternative medicine. This medicine is prayer. Prayer is good medicine!” The elder mentioned the double-blind experiments that have scientifically verified the efficacy of prayer to heal the sick (here is a link to an ABSTRACT about the health benefits of attending church). “People tend to do better when somebody prays for them. I don’t need a single scientific study to know this,” the elder asserted. Some examples of the power of prayer were provided, a few of which will be roughly reproduced. The subject matter of these examples shifted from the secular, to the scriptural realm. Many sermons also shift seamlessly from the scriptural, to the secular realm, thus underscoring the universality of the Bible message, and its practical application to modern problems. A recent sermon by guest pastor Furman Fordham featured this technique, which might be described as “hip” (in a good way). The speaker stated that:

“Prayer can put food on the table.”

“Prayer can keep families together.”

“Prayer can deliver one man from the belly of a whale.”

“Prayer can deliver three men from the fiery furnace.” etc…

Elder Wallace attempted to distinguish between “prayer in theory,” and “prayer in practice.” He mentioned that studies show [maybe Barna Group studies] that the average Christian spends zero to four minutes a day in prayer. The speaker compared this degree of brevity to a “Tweet.” People seem to have lost their appreciation for prayer, noted the elder. He quickly asserted that he had not. It was overwhelming, he confided, to realize that he represented merely one out of seven billion individuals on this world. Our galaxy is only one out of a possible billion galaxies. These incomprehensible numbers underscore the smallness of an individual, measured against the immensity of the universe. Yet… the speaker told us, God is able to listen to our prayers, as individuals, and with absolute attention. “What a mighty God I serve! What a privilege it is that, anytime I wish to, I can go directly to Him in prayer” [a paraphrase, but a close one]. “Jesus [through Peter] said, ‘cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.'”

Prayer is not simply just asking God for “things,” the elder noted. This is an insignificant aspect of prayer. It does not even begin to scratch the surface of what prayer can ultimately accomplish. Here is a quote by the speaker that deserves to be highlighted:

“Prayer is not meant for God to do your will, but so that you can do God’s will.”

An old, old theme was briefly raised by Elder Wallace. We have it too soft. Hardship is the crucible of fervent devotion. “Many of us would be better off [in regard to out prayer life] were we persecuted,” the elder vowed. “Prayer takes on earnestness when bills are not paid.” He provided several other examples of adversity [I have heard hour-long sermons on this subject before].

The elder asserted that prayer puts order into our lives. We no longer live randomly. And, although it would be unrealistic to expect God to solve our every problem, we can faithfully expect Him to grant us whatever strength may be required to get through our problems. We should relinquish our willfulness. The speaker observed that the best part of the Lord’s Prayer was the phrase, “Thy will be done” [I know the thoughts that I have for you…].

Some world class spokesmen for atheism seem to come from the scientific and semi-scientific realms. Bertrand Russell had a gigantic brain. He discovered that nothing could be proved mathematically in absolute terms, as everything was derived from initial assumptions that could not be proven. Russell poked holes in all kinds of logical arguments, including Marx’s. The “foolishness of preaching” was beneath his consideration. Russell was despised by many. The gigantic atheistic brain referred to by Elder Wallace for the purposes of his sermon was Stephen Hawking. Hawking is an atheist, like another cosmologist, the late Carl Sagan. Sagan once wrote”My long-time view about Christianity is that it represents an amalgam of two seemingly immiscible [a new one on me] parts, the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul.” Sagan had a personal definition of what God might be, were He knowable. He knew nothing for sure. This made him an agnostic, instead of an atheist.

Elder Wallace proved that his foolishness was wiser than the wisdom of Hawking. He provided a quote by Hawking for our examination, “For God to exist, He would have to exist outside of time and space.” The elder repeated this quote. What was, for Hawking, a patent impossibility, was, to every Christian, just one more description of an attribute of God [prophecies revealed, and then fulfilled, are a good indication of God’s independence from chronology]. His omnipresence makes hash of the notion of spatial limitations. Elder Wallace cited Revelation 22:13: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Peter’s poetic phrase in regard to God’s timetable was also alluded to, from Second Peter 3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” God is not limited by time or space, the speaker assured us. Therefore, “our prayers are not limited by time or space.” Some examples were provided. A trinity of comments of God’s capabilities followed the examples:

“He can work in your future.”

“He can work in your present.”

“He can work in your past.”

“Don’t limit God,” Elder Wallace strongly advised. “God is unlimited!” God is everywhere at once, and always available. There is no reason to not include Him into your life. The speaker did not intend that our relationship be a casual one. The conclusion of his remarks would be dedicated to emphasizing the need for God’s continuous presence in the course of our day-to-day affairs. Elder Wallace noted that people are capable of multi-tasking. He provided a humorous example of what type of thoughts might be running through his mind, concurrent with his present activity of delivering a sermon. “I wonder if anyone is listening?” This might be one thought running in the background of his mind. Another might be, “boy, it sure is hot in here!” {The venue of the “War Room” is perfect in every way, so this allusion slipped right past me (another inside joke).] The speaker passed third base, and was heading fast for home plate. It had proven to be an event-packed fifteen minutes.

Approximately six or seven admonitions marked the last leg of the homily. We can multi-task. We can undertake the routine activity of our lives, and simultaneously stay in touch with our Father in heaven.

“Our lives would be much greater if we only woke up with prayer.”

“Our lives would be much greater if we only travelled to school or work with prayer.”

“Our lives would be much greater if we spent our lunch break in prayer.”

“Our lives would be much greater if we spent our rides back home in prayer.”

“Our lives would be much greater if whenever our backs were against the wall, we would go to the Lord in prayer.”

Our lives would be much greater if when we ran out of options, we would take our troubles to God in prayer.”

Now for the last word. “Prayer is good medicine. Wherever life may lead you, remember…”

“Don’t forget to take your medicine!”