有两位传道人在挪威传道。

第一位传道人穿着正式，但是在坐在后排穿着工作服的农民看来，他稍微有点傲慢。

这位传道人打开一本书，朗读了一句复临安息日会创始人之一怀爱伦写的话。他又拿出另一本书，朗读了怀爱伦写的另一句话。他的整个证道都是由怀爱伦的话组成的。

奥尔森并不是很在意，他只是坐在后排的30岁的农民。

然后第二人上台传道。 他的穿着也正式，但是他的西服是旧的并且还修补了好几次。他的皮鞋被擦的很亮，但是磨损得也很厉害。他很少引用任何书中的话。但是，他用心地传讲上帝的话语。

这位传道人的诚挚打动了奥尔森，但是他完全不同意传道人证道的主题。实际上，他完全地被冒犯到了。

这位传道人注意到了奥尔森，并且在证道结束后走向他。传道人向这位农民打了招呼，并且礼貌地问了奥尔森的名字。他还进一步询问了奥尔森的工作和家庭情况。而关于刚刚的证道，他只字未提。

几分钟过后，这位传道人问能否为奥尔森献上祷告。正当他祷告的时候，一场激烈的矛盾在奥尔森的脑海中迸发：“你刚刚十分不认同这人的证道，你怎么还能让他为你祷告呢？”

奥尔森立刻感觉到主对他说：“你应该相信我。”

回到农场后，奥尔森决定证明那个传道人是错的。他用了很多时间来阅读《圣经》。他买了一些关于之前冒犯到他的那个主题的证道录音，发现复临传道人对这一主题持有不同的观点。同时，他也感觉到耶稣在离他而去。一年后，他完全糊涂了。

一天，奥尔森再次阅读了在马可福音10:46-52中，耶稣医治盲人巴底买的故事。当他阅读时，他深深地感到自己就是巴底买。尽管奥尔森的视力一直很好，但是属灵上他就是个瞎子，他需要耶稣开启他属灵的双眼。

奥尔森张开口呼求道：“求你让我在属灵上能看见！”

顷刻间，他受到感动去阅读路加福音24章，关于两个门徒在不知情的情况下与耶稣一同去以马忤斯的故事。在他们同行的时候，耶稣引导他们深入地学习了《圣经》中关于祂自己的经文，但是这两人还是没认出祂。最后耶稣为食物祝福的时候，他们的眼睛才被打开。

奥尔森记得那时十二门徒与耶稣同行已经超过三年了，但是在属灵上，门徒们还是不理解耶稣的使命和十字架。 

他最后意识到，他虽然是家族里第五代基督徒，并且看似一生都与耶稣同行，但是在属灵上自己还是个瞎子。因为他没有让圣灵来打开他属灵的眼睛，而是一直都坚持自己的理解。耶稣没有离开他，但是他自己却一直处于离开耶稣的危险之中，因为他一直坚持着自己的观点。

在尝试证明这个传道人是错的这些年，他从来就没有祷告求主来打开他属灵的眼睛。他一直都只想证明这个传道人是错的。

奥尔森闭上眼睛，第一次祷告上帝打开他属灵的眼睛。

“那天之后，《圣经》在我眼里就活起来了。”他在采访中说道，“所有在福音书中的故事再也不只是在耶稣时代生活的人了。这些故事使我产生共鸣，对我也很有意义。”

他在农场工作漫长的时间中，《圣经》和怀爱伦的录音被赋予了新生命。他的心改变了，头脑里的《圣经》知识变得鲜活而实用。

一年后，奥尔森开始在挪威的教会分享他的故事。不久后，东挪威区会的教会领导来邀请他担任牧师。

现在61岁的奥尔森还拥有着一个农场，但是他现在用他的时间和精力来为福音撒种。现在为止，他已经当了九年全职牧师，并且管理着在奥斯陆和耶斯海姆的两个教会。

奥尔森是在教会前排听着他母亲弹奏管风琴和他爷爷证道长大的。他在17岁受洗，他一直都是复临信徒，并且一直也想成为复临信徒。但是，他说道，他在属灵上一直就是个瞎子，直到他祈求耶稣使他睁开双眼。

“在那之后，《圣经》和怀爱伦所著的书籍成为了我的人生。”他说。

Preaching to the Blind

Two men gave sermons in Norway.

The first preacher was well dressed and, in the mind of the farmer wearing work clothes in the back of the room, a bit arrogant.

Opening a book, the preacher read a statement by Seventh-day Adventist Church cofounder Ellen White. Picking up another book, he read another statement by Ellen White. His whole sermon consisted of statements from Ellen White.

That didn’t bother Øystein Hogganvik, the 30-year-old farmer seated at the back of the room.

Then the second man stood up to preach. He also was well dressed, but his suit was old and had been mended several times. His shoes were polished but worn. He didn’t read much from any books. Instead, he preached from the heart.

The preacher’s earnestness touched Øystein’s heart, but he strongly disagreed with the theme. In fact, he was outright offended.

The preacher noticed and approached Øystein after the sermon. He greeted the farmer and politely asked for his name. He inquired about his work and family. He didn’t say a word about the sermon.

After a few minutes, the preacher asked for permission to pray for Øystein. As he prayed, a fierce conflict broke out in Øystein’s mind. “How can you allow a man to pray for you after you disagreed so strongly with his sermon?” he thought.

Immediately, Øystein sensed the Lord saying to him, “You have to trust in Me.”

Back on the farm, Øystein decided to prove the preacher wrong. He spent hours reading the Bible. He bought recordings of sermons on the topic that had offended him and found a variety of viewpoints from Adventist preachers. He felt as if Jesus were slipping away from him. A year passed, and he was completely confused.

One day, Øystein reread the story of how Jesus gave sight to blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52. As he read, it struck him that he was Bartimaeus. Even though he had always had excellent eyesight, he was spiritually blind and needed to ask Jesus to open his eyes.

Øystein opened his mouth and shouted, “Give me spiritual sight!”

Immediately, he felt impressed to turn in his Bible to the story of two disciples who unknowingly walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Along the way, Jesus gave a thorough Bible study about Himself, but the two men still didn’t recognize Him. Their eyes only were opened when Jesus prayed for a meal in their home.

Øystein remembered that the 12 disciples had been with Jesus for more than three years but remained spiritually blind about Jesus’ mission and the cross.

He realized that he, a fifth-generation Adventist, had been with Jesus all his life but was spiritually blind because he had clung to his own understanding instead of asking the Holy Spirit to open his eyes. Jesus wasn’t leaving him, but he was in danger of leaving Jesus because of his love for his own truth.

In his year of trying to disprove the preacher, he had never prayed for the Lord to open his eyes. He only had wanted to prove the preacher wrong.

For the first time, Øystein shut his eyes and prayed that his eyes be opened.

“From that day on, the Bible became alive for me,” he said in an interview. “Every story in the gospels was no longer about people living at the time of Jesus. They were stories that I could relate to and that had something for me.”

The recordings from the Bible and Ellen White books took on new life as he worked long hours on the farm. His heart changed, and intellectual knowledge became living, practical reality.

A year later, Øystein began to share his story in churches around Norway. After a while, church leaders from the East Norway Conference asked him to work as a minister.

Now 61, Øystein still owns a farm, but he uses his time and energy to sow the gospel. He has worked as a full-time pastor for the past nine years, and he leads two congregations in Oslo and Jessheim.

Øystein grew up in the front row in church, listening to his mother play the organ and his grandfather preach. He was baptized at the age of 17. He always was an Adventist and always wanted to be an Adventist. But, he said, he was spiritually blind until he asked Jesus to open his eyes.

“From that time, the Bible and the books of Ellen White have been my life,” he said.

Thank you for your 2017 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped turn the basement of the Betel Seventh-day Adventist Church in Oslo into a “center of influence” community center for young people.