Preacher to begin 12-day crusade in Alerus

Stephen J. Lee Grand Forks Herald   ·   Published 08/01/2008

A California preacher is advertising to an unusual extent an unusually long crusade — a dozen days —beginning tonight in the Alerus Center.

Besides lots of colorful brochures being distributed, Steve DeLong bought a full-page color ad in Tuesday’s Herald.

That, said Herald Publisher and Editor Mike Jacobs, is unusual for a religious event.

DeLong travels the world as a speaker with Sure Word Ministries, based in Rio Rancho, N.M., near Albuquerque, which bills itself as an interdenominational group that holds Bible seminars for Christians and non-Christians.

DeLong is described on the ministry’s Web site as “one of the leading speakers on Bible history, prophecy and current world events,” who has taught classes on Bible topics for 22 years.

According to the Web site, he “holds a degree in theology.”

He also is, or recently was, part of Last Day Events Ministries, according to another Web site that includes his photograph and lists the telephone number he still uses.

DeLong asked the local Seventh-day Adventist congregation to help with the crusade, and he formerly belonged to the Adventist denomination, he said Thursday in a telephone interview.

The Grand Forks congregation of Seventh-day Adventists is helping with the event, said the pastor, the Rev. Harold Chin, who said he wasn’t familiar with DeLong until the evangelist asked him to get involved.

Besides his nightly addresses at the Alerus, DeLong will speak at 11 a.m. Saturday in Chin’s church, at 3610 Cherry St., Chin said. The public is welcome to the service.

Seventh-day Adventists emphasize, as their name indicates, observing the Sabbath on the seventh day, Saturday, rather than Sunday as most Christians do; and being ready for the second coming, or advent, of Christ at the end of times. The SDA church also emphasizes healthy living, especially focusing on diet; about half of Seventh-day Adventists are vegetarians, a church theologian said. The denomination was formed in America in the mid-19th century and now has about 1.1 million U.S. members, about 20 million worldwide. There are 31 Adventist churches in North Dakota, and only about a dozen pastors.

Thursday, DeLong declined to say much about himself, saying he put all he wanted to make public in the ad.

But his basic message lines up well with Adventist teachings in general, Chin said.

The ad bills the crusade as “Unfolding Revelation,” referring to the last book in the Bible, John’s vision of what Christians have widely — if disparately — seen as prophecies of the end of the world and the ushering in of a new heaven and Earth by God. The dramatic art in the ad includes a winged lion, used in the Old Testament book of Daniel, as well as in Revelation, to refer to one of the nations at the end of time, Chin said.

DeLong’s first topic tonight, according to the ad, is “The Global Market Meltdown and the Race to Armageddon and the End!”

DeLong said he expects anywhere from 200 to 2,000 people to attend the crusade each night, based on the population of Grand Forks.

According to the newspaper ad, the crusade, or seminar, runs through Aug. 12.

In the ad, seven nights’ topics are listed, with a “series continues,” indicated.

The topics the first seven nights include “The Antichrist Beast of Revelation 13, the Nemesis of Israel,” “The Israel Code & Revelation’s Greatest End-Time Prophecy,” and, for Tuesday night, “666 Part 1 and the Beast, the Dragon and the Woman, (The Antichrist Exposed Tonight!)”

The meetings begin at 7 p.m. each day in a meeting room in the Alerus.

It’s free, but those who attend are encouraged to register by calling (800) 570-9644 or arrive early to register at the door. In fact, free child care, parking, Bibles and study materials also will be available, according to the ad.

DeLong emphasized that his work is interdenominational and all are welcome.

“I have been Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Lutheran. My wife is a Roman Catholic. Now I’m interdenominational,” DeLong said in a telephone interview Thursday. “I work with a lot of people, from Baptists to Lutherans, Adventists, nondenominational, I work with all groups. I do not associate with cults.”

He and his wife, Sue, who travels with him and helps in the crusades, live in California, and have a home in Tennessee, DeLong said.

His ministry goes “worldwide,” and people “come out in droves,” DeLong said.

For more, log on to www.surewordministries.org.

Reach the local Seventh-day Adventist Church at 3610 Cherry St., at 775-5936.

Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com