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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Reviewing Adventist Today
May-June, 2012
Vol. 20, No. 3
WWW.ATODAY.ORG
GENERAL OBSERVATION
I read the issue in our dentist’s waiting room—66 minutes—while my wife was sedated for a complicated tooth extraction. The only memorable piece was written by Adventist Man—his best performance in memory. If he hadn’t come through, I, a long time subscriber and passionate supporter, might have asked the receptionist if I could use their shredder. I had contemplated phoning my doctor for antidepressant medication. Aw well, on with this painful business.
REVIEWS
In his editorial, CONFLICTS ARE BETWEEN PEOPLE, J. David Newman offers a general definition of conflict that is in conflict with common sense and dictionary definition when he asserts that conflicts only occur within people and require desperate states of mind in which persons feel their self-esteem is endangered to the point that they think something drastic must be done in order to restore their self-respect…feelings and thoughts that exist inside persons, not outside them…always involve disagreement, but with hostility.
This premise turns what might have been a brilliant use of the moral confrontation between Shimei and David (2 Samuel. 16:5-11) into psychobabble. In this confrontation, Shimei is distraught and grieving to the point of provoking a suicidal confrontation with David. David is forced to recognize that his actions, the politically expedient execution of members of Saul’s family, are murder, and that Shimei’s condemnation and stone throwing, is a message from God. David is humbled, and by allowing Shimie to live, publically acknowledges his guilt and asks God for forgiveness. Moral: Don’t confuse the messenger, no matter how unkempt and unpleasant, with the message.
BINGO, RAFFLE TICKETS, AND PLEDGE DRIVES by Chester Hitchcock is a cautionary tale about committing monetary resources to church projects that put your livelihood at risk. This article should have been edited down to one page. However, Hitchcock offers some sound principles to consider before pledging money for anything.
- Avoid appeals that pressure people to make pledges beyond their means.
- Inform those who wish to make a pledge that it is not a sin to make a pledge, but it is a sin to fail to pay it.
- Instruct people to give according to God’s design—through systematic giving. Like tithes, systematic offerings are based on actual—not future—income.
THE JESUS CENTERED LIFE by Joe Kidder is a paean to a church that existed only in the imaginations of folks who love to talk about “the good old days” and use trite phrases like “the Jesus–centered life” and refer to the Holy Spirit as “the empowering agent” to inspire devotional responses in their readers. It’s as if these writers have no conception of the human foibles and organizational difficulties Paul experienced in ministering to his wayward congregations. Kidder’s descriptions may describe “the church we long for,” but a realistic portrayal of the problems of the Early Church would go a long way toward helping the reader understand that church has always been the proper place for sinners, not the residence of the people described in this article.
The life and example of the early church is a picture of the Lordship of Christ ruling over every area of life—religious, secular, emotional, and physical. It is the integration and balance of the individual and the corporate, the theological and the practical, the internal and the external, God and others, but always with Jesus in the center… These first believers had an intense passion for God. Their souls were preoccupied with his kingdom, his purpose, his love, his creation, his people, and his vision for the world.
APOCALYPTIC OR PROPHETIC? by Richard Coffen makes the distinction between prophetic and apocalyptic this way: prophetic theodicy explains: You suffer because you’re bad; therefore, repent and God will repent. Apocalyptic theodicy tells you: You suffer because you’re good; therefore, wait for divine deliverance. Unfortunately, these definitions are about as helpful in confronting suffering and evil as were the speeches of Job’s friends.
Coffen argues that Maybe, just maybe, the wise among us should adopt an agnostic attitude when it comes to theodicies. (1) If the existence of suffering is a consequence of evil, and (2) if the existence of evil is inexplicable, inexplicable (Ellen White proposes that this is the case because explaining evil entails defending it), then (3) suffering is just as much a mystery as is evil.
THE CAREER OF THE UNKNOWN PROPHET was disappointment. Benjamin J. Baker revealed very little of William Foy’s career and nothing whatsoever of what he prophesied.
FROM PUSHING DOPE TO PUSHING HOPE—IN JESUS by Greg Sereda is the story of a man who spent eight years in prison for drug trafficking and gun possession and became a Seventh-day Adventist while he was incarcerated. He is adamant about sharing his faith. Happily there is no shortage of opportunities to do so, since I have been deported to a predominantly Catholic country: Poland.
SABBATH MUSINGS an eBook by United Church of God, 2012. It purports to provide exhaustive proof that Sabbath is the seventh-day of the week. When outsiders agree with us about Sabbath keeping, we seem to forgive their sometimes tortured and unsophisticated arguments. http://www.ucg.org/booklet/sunset-sunset-gods-sabbath-rest/ Mike Fortune adds CURRENT SABBATH APOLOGETICS as a short, concluding essay.
Alden Thompson continues to beat his dead theological horse with his essay, DOLLARS, CANDY BARS, AND TACKS UNDER THE WRISTS. He uses the analogy of different piano teachers. Some punish to get results; other use dollars and candy bars. According to Alden, in the Old Testament, God punished to get results. In the New, he used grace. (At least he didn’t use one of his most notable sayings: In the Old Testament He came to kill; in the New Testament He came to save).
Note that this “new” covenant is an Old Testament promise for Old Testament people. It’s not Old Testament law (Sinai) and New Testament grace (Golgotha). God always saves by grace, and law is always his gracious gift. But en route to the ideal, some get dollars and candy bars, while others get tacks under the wrists—and, as we all know, the Old Testament has lots of tacks.
Usually, I complain about the paucity of space devoted to LETTERS. Not this time. The previous issue didn’t contain much to reflect on.
Just before my wife managed to separate herself from the dental chair and walk carefully into our dentist’s waiting room, I had a pleasant surprise. Adventist Man came through with a marvelously witty and sly piece called THE PERFECT PASTOR. If you aren’t a subscriber, you are going to miss the most original, well-written, intelligent piece in the issue.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Reviewing Adventist World, NAD Edition
June, 2012
Vol. 8, No. 6
http://www.adventistworld.org/
Adventist World is free online. For that reason, I only review or comment on articles that I believe to be of special interest. This includes editorials, special supplements, and NAD features not available online.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
This issue is interesting reading from first page to last. For those of you who don’t have the time or inclination, I can give you the flavor of the reporting, the sentiment, and the theology by providing a sampling of the quotes I found inspiring, jaw dropping, hard to take seriously, informative, antediluvian, and dumb.
However, before I begin, I do want to give my enthusiastic thumbs up for EYE HEALTH by Drs. Handysides and Landless, THE STORY OF A ONE DAY CHURCH, reported by Dick Duerksen, and a great mission story, THE CHURCH THAT MET UNDER A TREE by Ephraim Nkonya.
QUOTES
A hundred stimulating Sabbath school discussions that try to answer the question “Why does God allow suffering?” melt away in the midnight silence of another hospital waiting room. We speak softly; we hold each other’s hands; we move repeatedly to prayer.
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Before the start of a massive March 24 evangelistic outreach in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, Ted N. C. Wilson, General Conference president, had encouraging words: “Everyone can be part of God’s remnant church.”
The World Church has committed itself to distribute 175 million copies of the Great Hope and the larger version [The Great Controversy] this year and next year.
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How is The Great Hope different from the great controversy? What chapters are included, and why? See http://www.sharethegreathope.com/chapters.html
Two Million copies of the unabridged version have been distributed in North America.
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Young people are trained for one year and during this time are given various responsibilities by their supervisors. After one year the best students are hand picked for additional theological training…’All our students are self-supporting and need to fund themselves,’ said Hao Ya Jie, church and school leader.
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Rather than being governed by an oligarchy, the church works through committees and is dependent upon the working of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide as issues are discussed and voted.
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The church system throughout its various levels of administration, from the local church to the conference/mission to the union to the division/General Conference level, and, of course, at worldwide sessions of the General Conference, use methods of consensus and democratic voting after seeking God’s guidance through the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, earnest prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
As we near the end of this world, we must not allow the devil to divide the church with controversy or conflict. Let us plead with the Lord for revival and reformation leading to the latter rain of the Holy Spirit that will keep us united in our biblical beliefs and our mission to this world. We must follow the example of the early disciples as we fulfill God’s designs for us as His last-day disciples.
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Male church leaders must advocate for women in ministry.
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Approximately 107 women serve as pastors of local churches in 34 conferences of the North American Division—2.7 percent of the total pastoral workforce of more than 4,000 pastors.
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Plans are being laid for a global field school of evangelism, where preachers from all over the world will come to New York to study comprehensive plans for urban evangelism. Not only will they preach to the people of New York,--they will also take away key lessons and strategies so they can replicate what happens in New York all over the planet.
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Women’s Ministries Emphasis Day should not be confused with Mother’s Day celebrations, common in most churches, since not all women are mothers.
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We do not need to ask whether the Son was really born by the Father, or whether the Father and the Son are superior to the Spirit. So even though Mary was “found to be with child by the Holy Spirit”, the Spirit is not the Father of the Son, who is Himself “Eternal Father.”
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In December of 2007 the project was submitted via the EUD to a special appropriations committee at the General Conference. Eight months later Matthias and Klaus got the green light, and the team began to further develop the concept. The year 2009 was reserved for bringing the regional church administrations on board (including representatives from all German-speaking European countries), and the project was finally voted in December of that year.
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Especially is this true of those who are unable to give an intelligent reason for their faith, and of those who have a zeal not according to knowledge. Such believers should talk less in vindication of our faith, and study their Bible more, letting their deportment bear eloquent testimony to the power for good which the truth exercises on the willing heart and life.
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[At a Chinese] university something out of the ordinary occurred. The English department decided that in order for students to have a strong foundation in English, they must read English books. One of the courses in the curriculum is Bible, and all English majors use it as a textbook for studying English. Inevitably, the university also made sure the instructors were agnostics or atheists, who viewed the Bible merely as a language text rather than a holy book.
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That’s when the Lord took their case in His own hands and allowed the bloodguilt to fall on the land in the form of a prolonged famine.
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Immediately Watts stood in the carriage and responded, “Madam, could I in fancy grasp the poles and hold creation in my hand, I would still be measured by my mind, for the mind is the measure of a man.”
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Harvard University followed 121,000 people for 20 years and found the following foods most effective in helping people maintain a healthy weight: 1. Nuts 2. Yogurt 3. Fresh Fruit 4. Whole Grains 5. Fresh Vegetables
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
In Memorium
July 21,1945—April 21, 2012
His life but not his soul has flown away
It shimmers like a rainbow in a dream
“He was my friend,” these words are hard to say.
The treasure of his life words can’t convey
He laughed and loved; we held him in esteem
His life but not his soul has flown away.
His spirit rides the wind, a stowaway
That soars the cloudless sky where eagles scream
“He was my friend,” these words are hard to say.
He fished each rivulet a special way
And caught the wary trout by skillful scheme
His life but not his soul has flown away.
His kayak waits impatiently today
The river nymphs anticipate the team
“He was my friend,” these words are hard to say.
His spirit lingers in the ocean spray
It murmurs softly by a summer stream
His life but not his soul has flown away.
“He was my friend,” these words are hard to say.
ah
Saturday, April 21, 2012
A villanelle written the day Thomas died
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Reviewing the Adventist Review
May 24, 2012
Vol. 189, No.15
http://www.adventistreview.org/issue_toc.php
NOTE TO READERS:
WORLD NEWS AND PERSPECTIVES is an important section of each magazine. I don’t usually report on its contents because it is available at the online address I provide with every review.
GENERAL COMMENTS
This is an online issue. That means this Summer Vacation Issue can be read online for free! It lives up to its promise of 48 PAGES OF IDEAS for Adventist summer fun. However, if your summer is already planned, or you aren’t going anywhere, there are two articles you might want to take a look at.
REVIEWS
Allan R. Handysides and Peter N. Landless advise SMART TRIPS. That means be smart when leaving home. Briefly: know what to do for traveler’s diarrhea, don’t overeat, get necessary immunizations, exercise responsibly, use plenty of sun screen, don’t forget your medications, and wash your hands!
FIRST-TIME MISSIONARIES by Jean-Luc Lézeau is an amazing account of the almost insurmountable difficulties faced by a husband and wife’s journey to the Adventist secondary school in Lukanga, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Believe me, it’s a story you won’t want to miss!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Reviewing the Adventist Review
May 17, 2012
Vol. 189, No.14
http://www.adventistreview.org/index.php?issue=2012-1514
NOTE TO READERS:
WORLD NEWS AND PERSPECTIVES is an important section of each magazine. I don’t usually report on its contents because it is available at the online address I provide with every review.
GENERAL COMMENTS
This issue has more than its share of thoughtful comment. I’m always happy to report that an issue can be handed to a nonAdventist friend without apology or explanation. This is one of those issues.
REVIEWS
If you time is limited, read SUBMIT OR RESPOND? first. Shawn Brace is brilliant! I guarantee you will never read Ephesians 5:22 the same way again. Here is an extended quote.
“When a husband follows Paul’s imperative command to love his wife in a self-sacrificial way, the woman will naturally want to submit to her husband. So if your wife is not interested in aligning herself with you, dear husband, don’t lay the blame at her door—look in the mirror! Paul lays the blame at your doorstep. ‘Husbands, go all out in loving your wives,’ he says.
“’The sharpness of Paul’s address to the husbands in comparison with the soft manner of encouraging the wives indicates that Paul considers the men more reluctant to show love for their wives than for the wives to subordinate themselves to their husbands. . . . In my experience the church has used [this passage] to exhort women to be subordinate to their husbands and to men in the church. I suggest that we have misinterpreted the text. Paul wrote the text to exhort men to love their wives. Paul saw men as the problem, not women. We would do well to let Paul’s vision for men and husbands correct our distortions. The family crisis of our time, as I see it, is fundamentally a crisis of the male ego and role as husband, first of all, and then father.
“This interpretation, which may seem radically different from what we’ve thought before, is solid and based completely on the text itself.”
Gerald A. Klingbeil’s editorial, MEDIA BLITZ “is a plea to huddle together and think scripturally and consistently about all types of media and media content. If we fail to do so, we may not only face the potential loss of a new media-savvy generation of Adventists—we may ourselves get lost in digital nirvana. As a church we have not consistently thought together about how one is to live in an information age…
“I increasingly wonder about the adequacy of our stance toward media. True, the latest edition of the Church Manual (published in 2010) includes a significantly rewritten section on modern media (instead of only radio and television). But its passing reference to radio, television, and the Internet is hardly enough. As a church we surely need a more comprehensive vision of how we should deal with any media, including current social media and media we cannot even imagine right now.”
ADVENTIST AND SINGLE by Stephen Chavez is an objective look at the lives and aspirations of Adventists who are single adults in North America. It’s a MUST READ, even if you are not single. He concludes: “The singles I spoke to don’t see their “singleness” as a problem to be solved. With few exceptions they understand and appreciate God’s ideal of a lifetime relationship of love and commitment. But they also understand (some from firsthand experience) that being in a relationship with the wrong person can lead to a lifetime of regret.”
WHO’S OUT THERE? by Jaime Jacobson is a review of Internet computer dating cites. Her advice in a nutshell: “Match.com was by far the largest and most professional Web site. However, I felt as though I could get lost among the thousands of users, many of whom were not Christian, much less Adventist. Although AdventistContact.com was a traumatizing experience, it was a safe Web site with options that I was comfortable were all already Adventist. If you’re looking for something neutral that helps you find other Christians, ChristianMingle.com has nothing too extreme, and still has plenty of options.”
An aging fifty-six year old Cliff Goldstein reports on HEALTHY 100 CHURCHES, a program sponsored by Florida Adventist Hospital, is “specifically designed to help people optimize their health so that they, indeed, could live to be 100. The program was created ‘to equip churches with growing health ministries and empower congregations to live life abundantly, experiencing physical, mental, and spiritual wellness.’”
WALLS OF SALVATION is a cautionary report on domestic violence in the Adventist Church. Hyveth Williams outlines the strategies that laypeople and church employees can employ to lessen its physical and spiritual injury.
“Even though because of inadequate information, sometimes perverted theology, and incompetent pastoral practices we have often given wrong, destructive advice to this problem, the church can immediately employ several strategies. For instance, we can teach and learn to practice Christ’s command “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12). We can disseminate, in sermons, enditnow programs, and other writings, insights about the cause and prevention of domestic violence. Ellen White suggests that these “precious souls” should be rescued (see Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 125), and we can do this by providing safe places for victims seeking sanctuary, or healing in its aftermath. We can cease shielding abusers and hold them accountable to the law of the land, as well as our religious rules that denounce this behavior.”
“MOMMY, STOP TEXTING AND TALK TO ME” is a charming piece designed to make us aware that there is no substitute for uninterrupted face-to-face communication.
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