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Openings Available In Every City
 N case you haven’t been paying attention tothe news lately, the business world seems to be going through another one of its periodic eco-nomic downturns. Some say this one is worsethan usual. That may be. There certainly has been a string of job layoffs from the big corpora-tions. Some say that trend will continue for quitea while. It just may.
I
In any case, it seems like there are always people looking for work. You may be one of them. It may be that you are fresh out of schooland looking for your first job. It may be thatyou’re tired of unfulfilling work and ready tofind more meaning in what you do. In either case, there is good news and bad news.The good news? There are openings availablein every city.The bad news? Well, those openings have been there for more than a century now.Kind of weird, I know. Right through theGreat Depression. Imagine that! Millions of  people looking for work, and those openingsnever got filled. Amazing!“Why?” you ask.Giants.Oh… and one more piece of bad news—thegiants have grown in the last hundred years.That’s not good. But I’ve seen this story before,and I already know how it’s going to end. Trustme on this one: the good guys are going to win.
Problem: Giants
And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we mayfight together.” When Saul and all Israel heardthese words of the Philistine, they were dis-mayed and greatly afraid. And all the men of Is-rael, when they saw the man, fled from him andwere dreadfully afraid. 1 Samuel 17:10, 11, 24
Goliath was every Israeli soldier’s worstnightmare. For forty days he’d been tauntingthem—and there wasn’t a thing they could doabout it. Oh, sure, someone could volunteer togo out there and get himself killed. Then he’d bedead and everyone else would be a slave. Whata great way to make your mark in history! EvenSaul—head and shoulders taller than the rest— was smart enough to keep his head down.Goliath was serious bad news, so the war planhad been revised. Every morning the Israelitesformed their battle line and… shouted veryfiercely at the Philistines. From a safe distance.The only thing to be grateful for in the wholesituation was that Goliath et al. had stayed ontheir side of the valley. Surely that wassomething to praise the Lord for; the Israeliarmy had (so far) completely avoided actuallyfighting the Philistines.I’m a Seventh-day Adventist. Since you’rereading this, there’s a good chance you are too. Solet me introduce you to a parallel to this story andthe giant that has been defying our church for thelast century and more: cities, big cities. Maybeyou already know all about this, maybe you don’t.I’d love to take you through all the history, butI’m going to have to settle for a string of quota-tions. Please notice the date following each quota-tion, and check out the context surrounding thesereferences if you want more info.
We must do more than we have done to reachthe people of our cities. — 
Testimonies
, vol. 7,115 [1902]There is to be a working of our cities as theynever have been worked. That which shouldhave been done twenty, yes, more than twentyyears ago, is now to be done speedily. — 
 Loma Linda
Messages, 143 [1905]There is a great work to be done in the citiesand villages that is not being done. — 
Manuscript Releases
, vol. 3, 220 [1908]*I am instructed to say to those who have longstood at the head of the work, and who for yearshave allowed many of our large cities to remainunworked: The Lord will call to account thosewho have worked out their own plans to do alarge work in a few places, while they have leftundone the work that should have been done ingiving the last warning message to the manylarge cities of our land. — 
Manuscript Releases
,vol. 10, 218 [1909]*
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The message that I am bidden to bear to our  people at this time is, Work the cities withoutdelay, for time is short. The Lord has kept thiswork before us for the last twenty years or more.A little has been done in a few places, but muchmore might be done. I am carrying a burden dayand night, because so little is being accom- plished to warn the inhabitants of our great cen-ters of population of the judgments that will fallupon the transgressors of God’s law. — 
Medical Ministry
, 300 [1909]*In every city there should be a city mission,that would be a training school for workers.Many of our brethren must stand condemned inthe sight of God because they have not done thevery work that God would have them do. — 
Medical Ministry
, 303 [1910]The burden of our cities has rested so heavilyupon me that it has sometimes seemed that Ishould die. The work in the cities is the essen-tial work for this time, and is now to be takenhold of in faith.… With mighty power the cry isto be sounded in our large centers of population,“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out tomeet him.”
 —Review and Herald,
November 17, 1910 [1910]Will you not now gather up many of my pastmessages, study them, and present them to the people? It is high time that our churches shouldknow what has been the word of the Lord. Thesecities must not remain unwarned. — 
Manuscript  Releases
, vol. 6, 75 [1910]*I spoke of the duty resting upon conference presidents to understand the necessities of our large, congested cities, and of the necessity thatspecial attention shall be given to these neg-lected, unworked cities, and I referred to the factthat the president of our General Conference hasneglected his duty regarding this work. It is timethat there shall be a general waking up to our re-sponsibilities in this matter. There is a great work neglected that should be faithfully undertaken. — 
Manuscript Releases
, vol. 9, 153 [1910]*In conclusion I will say, Redeem the lost timeof the past nine years by going ahead now withthe work in our cities, and the Lord will blessand sustain you. — 
Manuscript Releases
, vol. 3,224 [1910]*
As you can see from the dates on those state-ments, the need to work the cities became a pressing issue for Ellen White in the early1900s, and seems to have reached something of a peak in 1910.There’s a little story that illustrates this situ-ation in a very pointed manner, and—since I likestories—I’ll slip it in. You may have noticed thatseveral of the quotations given above aremarked with asterisks. Those comments were allwritten to or about one man, the subject of our little story. His name was Arthur Daniells, andhe happened to be the president of the GeneralConference at the time.Ellen White had been writing to Elder Dani-ells for quite a while about the need to work thecities. He had been slow to respond, so she keptwriting. And then (in the words of Arthur White,an author never yet accused of exaggeration)— 
Elder Daniells, endeavoring to do what hethought was the best he could, arranged for afive-day meeting on city evangelism to be heldin New York City, July 7–11.
Shortly after laying these plans, he was onthe Pacific Coast and went to Elmshaven toreport this, which he felt sure would cheer El-len White’s heart. She refused to see him! Themessenger of the Lord refused to see the pres-ident of the General Conference, sendingword to the effect that when the president of the General Conference was ready to carry outthe work that needed to be done, then shewould talk with him. — 
The Later ElmshavenYears: 1905–1915
, 223
 Notice the quotation about the “lost” nineyears. Counting back from 1910, nine yearstakes us to 1901—the year Arthur Daniells be-came GC president. Ouch!So… what have we learned so far? That gi-ants can be pretty scary. That when facing a gi-ant, there is often a tendency to do nothing muchmore than talk (or shout). That even leaders cansometimes be too timid in taking on a giant.
Solution: Attack 
So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothedhim with a coat of mail. David fastened his swordto his armor and tried to walk, for he had nottested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannotwalk with these, for I have not tested them.” SoDavid took them off. Then he took his staff in his
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hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stonesfrom the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag,in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in hishand. And he drew near to the Philistine.…
So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog,that you come to me with sticks?” And the Phil-istine cursed David by his gods. And the Phil-istine said to David, “Come to me, and I willgive your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” Then David said to the Phil-istine,… “I come to you in the name of the L
ORD
 of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whomyou have defied.” 1 Samuel 17:38–40, 43–45
The most amazing thing in the whole story of David and Goliath is that Saul actually sent thisteenager out there on the battle field. What washe thinking?! True, he gave him the “Royal Ar-mor” to use. That was generous—especiallysince the chances of ever getting any of it back looked so slim.David may have felt pretty special for awhile, all decked out in the latest military tech-nology. But then reality set in. Armor isn’t “one-size-fits-all” and Saul was a big guy. (Not quitein Goliath’s league, but still “head andshoulders….”) So David went back to the low-tech approach that fit him better.To any rational assessment, this engagementwas ill advised from the Israeli point of view.Goliath thought so, and didn’t hesitate to issue ascathing press release on the prospects of the un-trained and under-equipped opponent that cameto meet him. For that matter, Eliab, David’s old-est brother, hadn’t been very encouraging either.David, however, advanced (
running 
, no less)“in the name of the L
ORD
of hosts.”The rest, as they say, is history. But does anyof this really have anything to do with
us
, andthe challenge of evangelism in the large cities of the world? Is that the
real 
reason this story is inthe Bible?Probably not. But there are enough parallelsthat it makes a good illustration, so permit me touse the story that way for now.
Details
Just saying that the way to handle a giant is toattack, isn’t all that helpful. There are, after all, anumber of details that need to be considered.Perhaps the most basic of these is the necessityof getting into the fight. The shouting army mayhave sounded impressive, but they accomplishednothing. If we are to make an impact
on the cit-ies
, we need to get to work 
in the cities
.
As a people, we are not doing one fiftieth of what we might do as active missionaries. If wewere only vitalized by the Holy Spirit, thereshould be a hundred missionaries where there isnow one. In every city there should be a corps of organized, well disciplined workers; not merelyone or two, but scores should be set to work.…More attention should be given to training andeducating missionaries with special reference towork in cities. — 
General Conference Daily Bul-letin
, January 30, 1893The words were spoken to me with impelling power: Wake up the watchmen to carry the wordof warning to every city in America. Build upthe waste places. The righteous judgments of God, with their weight of final decision, arecoming upon the land. Do not hover over thechurches to repeat over and over again the sametruths to the people, while the cities are left inignorance and sin, unwarned and unlabored for.Soon the way will be hedged up and these citieswill be closed to the gospel message. Wake upthe church members that they may unite in doinga definite and self-denying work. — 
Manuscript  Releases
, vol. 10, 216
Who leads the attack?
Statements like these could be piled up
ad in- finitum
(or nearly so). The basic idea—weshould be working the cities—is obvious. Butnotice a couple finer points: There is a call for a“corps” of workers, not isolated individuals buta team effort. The “watchmen” (ministers?)should press out from the churches to warn thecities, but they are to “wake up the church mem- bers” and get them involved as well.So… how do you “wake up the church mem- bers”? And how do you take the warning to thecities?
Work with tact and ability. Arouse your asso-ciates to work under some name whereby theymay be organized to co-operate in harmoniousaction. Get the young men and women in thechurches to work. Combine medical missionarywork with the proclamation of the third angel’smessage. Make regular, organized efforts to lift
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