Modified from the comic Non Sequitur, by Wiley
(click to enlarge)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Reviewing Adventist World: NAD Edition
March 2008
GENERAL COMMENTS: Adventist World makes a claim to be The International Paper for Seventh-day Adventists. This edition comes close to living up to that claim. I consider it definitely worth reading.
CHURCH WORKS
From the Editor's Pen by Bill Knott includes a reference to me. I am one of the "15 million restless souls" that call ourselves Adventists.
France: Saleve Adventist University honors "Righteous Alumni" who gave and risked their lives to rescue hundreds of Jews and others who resisted Nazi terrorism. This story is a must read.
Ugandan Daniel D. Ntanda Nsereko was elected one of the 18 judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Nsereko and his wife, Helen, are members of the Broadhurst Seventh-day Adventist Church in Botswana.
WORLD REPORT
Billy Wright, reporting from Taipei, Taiwan, reports that the 1500 delegates to The Second World Conference on Youth and Community Service participated in thirty community service projects prior to the conference's start. Leslie Pollard of Loma Linda University was impressed. "For the first time in my 30 year leadership career, I witnessed the awesome power of our twentysomethings and thirtysomethings as they unleashed their enthusiasm, vision, and spirituality on a specific community."
From Sri Lanka, Hans Olson reports that the number of Seventh-day Adventist congregations has grown from 28 to "nearly 50" since 1997. 4000 students are enrolled in five different Adventist schools.
CLEAR THINKING ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE
Jan Paulsen's essay is another must read for all Adventists, especially for people who are considering a career in the military. Unfortunately, as a citizen of the United States, my taxes buy soldiers, bullets, and bombs. The question remains, who among us is a noncombatant?
HOW DOES POVERTY IMPACT HEALTH?
Allen R. Handysides and Peter N. Landless don't mince words when asked the question, How Does Poverty Impact Health? "International efforts at improving conditions surrounding childbirth have not been very successful. . .The SAFE Motherhood initiative shows, for a variety of reasons, almost no improvement. An absence of truly strategic intervention is apparent. Such failure is also ours as a church, because we have lacked cohesiveness of purpose and shown a tendency to pursue individual and self-satisfying projects. . .We need to work strategically and cohesively. Problems of such major proportions as poverty are not attacked by local feeding programs. Our church must join hands with other communities of faith and address the needs of the poor, especially their health needs."
WE HAVE CIRCLED THIS MOUNTAIN LONG ENOUGH
This essay by Ron E. M. Clouzet, Secretary of the North American Division Ministerial Association, is a disappointing response to what he calls "a crisis of faith". It absolves Adventist doctrine, leadership, and evangelistic strategies for the less than two percent growth rate of the church in North America. He laments, "Most people in North America hardly notice that Adventists exist", and goes on to comment, "Something is not working." That “something” is us. We unlike the "little flock" that "survived the Great Disappointment" have not made the "enormous personal and corporate sacrifices" necessary to evangelize our neighbors.
2009 has been designated by the North American Division as The Year of Pastoral Evangelism, and the goal is to baptize 100,000 new members. In Clouzet's words, "It will take real faith at work to accomplish the kind of growth I'm talking about. It will take much prayer, genuine surrender, and earnest searching for the Holy Spirit by our members." We are assured that armed with our Biblical exposition of twenty-eight fundamental doctrines along with "the staple of Adventist evangelism, Bible prophecy and the time of the end message . . . millions await our ministry."
PASSIONATE ABOUT PEOPLE
This cover story is another must read. Birgit Philipsen is the first female regional director of ADRA/Africa. Kimberly Luste Maran is the author of a well-written biographical sketch of an amazing innovator, an astonishing linguist, and a brilliant administrator. In addition Maran has included a description of how ADRA works and the ways in which readers can contribute their time, energy, and money to this worldwide Adventist ministry.
MIRACLE CHURCHES
Nathan Brown visited so-called "miracle church". He discovered that it "seemed to have more internal problems than most, and the focus on outreach seemed to be . . . at the expense of real caring". Brown's concluding words are a stark contrast to Ron Clouzet's frenetic emphasis on baptisms. "If we were able to pay less attention to trying to create another 'miracle church', we might direct more attention to the real purpose of the church as part of the kingdom of God in our respective corners of the world.”
HOPE AMID PAIN
Freelance journalist Josephine Akarue relates this mission story from Cote d'Ivoire. It is a testimony to what is possible when Women's and Personal Ministries Departments decide to hold an evangelistic campaign on the campus of the University of Cocody in Abidjan, "once a hotbed of social unrest” during the country's five-year civil war.
THE LOMA LINDA REPORT
LLU and LLUMC dedicated the Jerry Pettis Congressional Papers. First Lady Barbara Bush, and the Honorable Shirley Pettis-Roberson were in attendance.
HELPING THE BLIND SEE JUSUS
Bert Williams, Editorial Director for Christian Record Services for the Blind summarizes the outstanding work of this organization in his lead paragraph. “What do a New York probation officer, an Oklahoma priest, a Kenyan Adventist lay member, to Tennessee songwriters, and Alabama diabetes awareness advocate, a Florida writer, and a retired General Conference administrator have in common? The answer: they are all legally blind, they all lead active and productive lives, and they all value the spiritual support they receive from Christian Record Services for the Blind.”
NAD NEWS
Sabbath School U is a weekly television program telecast by the Hope Channel produced at the Media Education Center at Andrews University. "These programs focus on four basic principles: fellowship, outreach, Bible study, and missions. Each program explores ways teachers and leaders can use these emphases to breathe new life into Sabbath school."
The Review and Herald Publishing Association, in partnership with Griggs University, has launched a radio talk show dedicated to home-based education. The program airs Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. on Life Talk radio. It also airs live on www.lifetalk.net and lifetalkradio.ning.com.
The Lifelines Health Series for 2008 is now available. Check it out. www.VibrantLife.com.
Atlantic Union College has rewritten its curricula "to focus the entire school in preparing students for community service and contemporary Christian leadership”.
The SONscreen Film Festival is hosting its sixth festival event April 10-12 in Simi Valley, California. The Southern Adventist University's student production, Secret of the Cave, is now available at Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy.
MINISTRY BEHIND BARS
Daniel Weber documents the amazing story of Adventist prisoners who have been converted in Moldavia's prisons. (Moldavia is a country between southern Ukraine and in northern Romania.) Adventist pastor Pavel Girleanu works in seven prisons for men and women in addition to pastoring three churches. Thanks to his efforts, ADRA is able to provide volunteer transportation to the prisons for family members and personal hygiene kits for prisoners.
THE THIRD PERSON
Roy Adams reminds us that the Holy Spirit "is our greatest need as a church", and "the spirit never leaves us to do things that are repugnant or stupid in the particular culture or setting in which we function".
MY MISSION, MY WORLD
In the Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald of January 2, 1879, Ellen White wrote the following words that are as timely today as when they were written. "The world is our field; with a firm hold on God for His strength and His grace we may move forward in the pathway of duty, as colaborers with the Redeemer of the world. Our work is to spread the light of truth and advance the world of moral reform, to elevate, ennoble, and bless humanity. We should apply the principles of Christ's sermon on the mount to every move that we make, and then trust the consequences with God."
NAMES, DATES, AND PLACES
Angel Manuel Rodriguez' attempts to answer the question, "How could King Jehoram of Judah receive a letter from Elijah if Elijah was taken to heaven before the death of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram's father? RodrÃguez begins his answer with these words: "This question is not about history, but about the reliability of the Bible, caused by what some see as an apparent contradiction between 2 Kings 1-3 and 2 Chronicles 21: 12-15."
Manual, this question is about history. These are accounts of what happened years before different authors recorded the story. Contradictions far more egregious than this one appear in the New Testament. One needs only to read the four different stories of the Resurrection or the conflicting accounts of Jesus' ancestry. A faith based on the "reliability" of biblical history cannot stand the test of even cursory Bible study. It cannot provide a solid foundation for the Christian life.
A SIGN OF TRUE WORSHIP
Once again, Mark Finley gives the reader the impression that "true worship" is a matter of doctrinal conformity.
ADVENTIST SUMMITS EVEREST
Dr. Cedric Ross Hayden is one of fewer than a dozen athletes who has climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents and skied to both the North and South Poles. He is a member of the Fall Creek Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fall Creek, Oregon.
WORLD EXCHANGE & NAD LETTERS
These letters and prayer requests continue to be a vital connection between readers around the Adventist world.
GENERAL COMMENTS: Adventist World makes a claim to be The International Paper for Seventh-day Adventists. This edition comes close to living up to that claim. I consider it definitely worth reading.
CHURCH WORKS
From the Editor's Pen by Bill Knott includes a reference to me. I am one of the "15 million restless souls" that call ourselves Adventists.
France: Saleve Adventist University honors "Righteous Alumni" who gave and risked their lives to rescue hundreds of Jews and others who resisted Nazi terrorism. This story is a must read.
Ugandan Daniel D. Ntanda Nsereko was elected one of the 18 judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Nsereko and his wife, Helen, are members of the Broadhurst Seventh-day Adventist Church in Botswana.
WORLD REPORT
Billy Wright, reporting from Taipei, Taiwan, reports that the 1500 delegates to The Second World Conference on Youth and Community Service participated in thirty community service projects prior to the conference's start. Leslie Pollard of Loma Linda University was impressed. "For the first time in my 30 year leadership career, I witnessed the awesome power of our twentysomethings and thirtysomethings as they unleashed their enthusiasm, vision, and spirituality on a specific community."
From Sri Lanka, Hans Olson reports that the number of Seventh-day Adventist congregations has grown from 28 to "nearly 50" since 1997. 4000 students are enrolled in five different Adventist schools.
CLEAR THINKING ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE
Jan Paulsen's essay is another must read for all Adventists, especially for people who are considering a career in the military. Unfortunately, as a citizen of the United States, my taxes buy soldiers, bullets, and bombs. The question remains, who among us is a noncombatant?
HOW DOES POVERTY IMPACT HEALTH?
Allen R. Handysides and Peter N. Landless don't mince words when asked the question, How Does Poverty Impact Health? "International efforts at improving conditions surrounding childbirth have not been very successful. . .The SAFE Motherhood initiative shows, for a variety of reasons, almost no improvement. An absence of truly strategic intervention is apparent. Such failure is also ours as a church, because we have lacked cohesiveness of purpose and shown a tendency to pursue individual and self-satisfying projects. . .We need to work strategically and cohesively. Problems of such major proportions as poverty are not attacked by local feeding programs. Our church must join hands with other communities of faith and address the needs of the poor, especially their health needs."
WE HAVE CIRCLED THIS MOUNTAIN LONG ENOUGH
This essay by Ron E. M. Clouzet, Secretary of the North American Division Ministerial Association, is a disappointing response to what he calls "a crisis of faith". It absolves Adventist doctrine, leadership, and evangelistic strategies for the less than two percent growth rate of the church in North America. He laments, "Most people in North America hardly notice that Adventists exist", and goes on to comment, "Something is not working." That “something” is us. We unlike the "little flock" that "survived the Great Disappointment" have not made the "enormous personal and corporate sacrifices" necessary to evangelize our neighbors.
2009 has been designated by the North American Division as The Year of Pastoral Evangelism, and the goal is to baptize 100,000 new members. In Clouzet's words, "It will take real faith at work to accomplish the kind of growth I'm talking about. It will take much prayer, genuine surrender, and earnest searching for the Holy Spirit by our members." We are assured that armed with our Biblical exposition of twenty-eight fundamental doctrines along with "the staple of Adventist evangelism, Bible prophecy and the time of the end message . . . millions await our ministry."
PASSIONATE ABOUT PEOPLE
This cover story is another must read. Birgit Philipsen is the first female regional director of ADRA/Africa. Kimberly Luste Maran is the author of a well-written biographical sketch of an amazing innovator, an astonishing linguist, and a brilliant administrator. In addition Maran has included a description of how ADRA works and the ways in which readers can contribute their time, energy, and money to this worldwide Adventist ministry.
MIRACLE CHURCHES
Nathan Brown visited so-called "miracle church". He discovered that it "seemed to have more internal problems than most, and the focus on outreach seemed to be . . . at the expense of real caring". Brown's concluding words are a stark contrast to Ron Clouzet's frenetic emphasis on baptisms. "If we were able to pay less attention to trying to create another 'miracle church', we might direct more attention to the real purpose of the church as part of the kingdom of God in our respective corners of the world.”
HOPE AMID PAIN
Freelance journalist Josephine Akarue relates this mission story from Cote d'Ivoire. It is a testimony to what is possible when Women's and Personal Ministries Departments decide to hold an evangelistic campaign on the campus of the University of Cocody in Abidjan, "once a hotbed of social unrest” during the country's five-year civil war.
THE LOMA LINDA REPORT
LLU and LLUMC dedicated the Jerry Pettis Congressional Papers. First Lady Barbara Bush, and the Honorable Shirley Pettis-Roberson were in attendance.
HELPING THE BLIND SEE JUSUS
Bert Williams, Editorial Director for Christian Record Services for the Blind summarizes the outstanding work of this organization in his lead paragraph. “What do a New York probation officer, an Oklahoma priest, a Kenyan Adventist lay member, to Tennessee songwriters, and Alabama diabetes awareness advocate, a Florida writer, and a retired General Conference administrator have in common? The answer: they are all legally blind, they all lead active and productive lives, and they all value the spiritual support they receive from Christian Record Services for the Blind.”
NAD NEWS
Sabbath School U is a weekly television program telecast by the Hope Channel produced at the Media Education Center at Andrews University. "These programs focus on four basic principles: fellowship, outreach, Bible study, and missions. Each program explores ways teachers and leaders can use these emphases to breathe new life into Sabbath school."
The Review and Herald Publishing Association, in partnership with Griggs University, has launched a radio talk show dedicated to home-based education. The program airs Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. on Life Talk radio. It also airs live on www.lifetalk.net and lifetalkradio.ning.com.
The Lifelines Health Series for 2008 is now available. Check it out. www.VibrantLife.com.
Atlantic Union College has rewritten its curricula "to focus the entire school in preparing students for community service and contemporary Christian leadership”.
The SONscreen Film Festival is hosting its sixth festival event April 10-12 in Simi Valley, California. The Southern Adventist University's student production, Secret of the Cave, is now available at Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy.
MINISTRY BEHIND BARS
Daniel Weber documents the amazing story of Adventist prisoners who have been converted in Moldavia's prisons. (Moldavia is a country between southern Ukraine and in northern Romania.) Adventist pastor Pavel Girleanu works in seven prisons for men and women in addition to pastoring three churches. Thanks to his efforts, ADRA is able to provide volunteer transportation to the prisons for family members and personal hygiene kits for prisoners.
THE THIRD PERSON
Roy Adams reminds us that the Holy Spirit "is our greatest need as a church", and "the spirit never leaves us to do things that are repugnant or stupid in the particular culture or setting in which we function".
MY MISSION, MY WORLD
In the Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald of January 2, 1879, Ellen White wrote the following words that are as timely today as when they were written. "The world is our field; with a firm hold on God for His strength and His grace we may move forward in the pathway of duty, as colaborers with the Redeemer of the world. Our work is to spread the light of truth and advance the world of moral reform, to elevate, ennoble, and bless humanity. We should apply the principles of Christ's sermon on the mount to every move that we make, and then trust the consequences with God."
NAMES, DATES, AND PLACES
Angel Manuel Rodriguez' attempts to answer the question, "How could King Jehoram of Judah receive a letter from Elijah if Elijah was taken to heaven before the death of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram's father? RodrÃguez begins his answer with these words: "This question is not about history, but about the reliability of the Bible, caused by what some see as an apparent contradiction between 2 Kings 1-3 and 2 Chronicles 21: 12-15."
Manual, this question is about history. These are accounts of what happened years before different authors recorded the story. Contradictions far more egregious than this one appear in the New Testament. One needs only to read the four different stories of the Resurrection or the conflicting accounts of Jesus' ancestry. A faith based on the "reliability" of biblical history cannot stand the test of even cursory Bible study. It cannot provide a solid foundation for the Christian life.
A SIGN OF TRUE WORSHIP
Once again, Mark Finley gives the reader the impression that "true worship" is a matter of doctrinal conformity.
ADVENTIST SUMMITS EVEREST
Dr. Cedric Ross Hayden is one of fewer than a dozen athletes who has climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents and skied to both the North and South Poles. He is a member of the Fall Creek Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fall Creek, Oregon.
WORLD EXCHANGE & NAD LETTERS
These letters and prayer requests continue to be a vital connection between readers around the Adventist world.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Reviewing Adventist Today
March/April 2008
GENERAL COMMENTS
The graphics are excellent, and the three major articles are timely and informative. (I'm hoping that the extra pages, 13-16, were not included in the entire print run.) However, more editorial attention needs to be given to problems of syntax and economy of expression.
EDITORIAL
I particularly appreciated Andy Nash's editorial, BALANCING SABBATH, when he writes, "The Sabbath is about rest, not church. No matter what you might have been taught, the simple fact is that the Sabbath commandment is heavily focused on resting from work, not on worship per se. So then, can you rest on Sabbath and go to church on Sunday? Yes, of course you can. I think corporate worship is a natural part of the Sabbath experience." The premise underlying this argument is that we are Christians first and Adventists second.
Andy's editorial reminded me of something that happened when my brother and his family moved to a very small town in Northern California. The town's nondenominational church was boarded up because there were too few members to support a minister. Three Adventist families did what was necessary to reopen the church. The Adventist men preached on both Saturday and Sunday. The town was grateful, and the free will offerings of both congregations were enough to keep the church heated and in good repair. The church became the social center of the town as well as a place for Bible study and Christian fellowship. All went well until the Adventist members asked that their efforts the recognized and supported by the Northern California Conference. For a variety of reasons, including the use of the words, Seventh-day Adventist, that request was denied, and the church ceased to exist.
A family that I know moved to a Midwestern town where the Adventist Church is dying. The church does not have a phone number, and the retired pastor will really retire in a few months. Before this family arrived, the regular membership was about twelve. The average age of the members was seventy plus. There was no children’s Sabbath school. When I suggested that the newcomers "rest" on the Sabbath and worship at a Sunday church, they rejected the idea. For this family, worshiping on Sunday with non-Adventists is tantamount to leaving the Adventist Church.
LETTERS
Once again readers play an important role in determining the relevance and editorial tone of the magazine. I particularly applaud Jim Schelling's exasperated response to the following Goldstein comment in his debate with Ervin Taylor in the January/February edition: "One can be an Adventist and believe in and do a lot of wrong things. (After all, look at how many voted for George W. Bush—twice! and for Hitler.)” While it is true that the majority of Adventists in Germany, with initial support of the General Conference, voted for the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1933, Goldstein's flippant sarcasm needs to be called to account. His response is classic Cliff. "I was just joking, brother—that's all. Please, give me a little credit. Though I consider Bush a doofus who should not have been elected, it was never my intent to make a moral equation between the two. Remember, too, this is Adventist Today, so we can be a little irreverent, right?"
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Folkenberg’s New Deal, as reported by Vanessa Sanders, is “ShareHim”, a packaged evangelistic program that gives "people with no preaching experience—college students, teachers, social workers, and accountants—the opportunity to travel to churches in the United States or abroad and preach an evangelistic series". Critics call it "evangelistic tourism". Carlos Martin, Director of the Evangelistic Research Center at Southern Adventist University "acknowledges that while some may volunteer to preach for the adventure, many go to do something for God. 'We don't go to relax, we go to participate in the preview of the latter rain.’"
David Person reports that there's trouble in Orlando, Florida. "When the Church Fights" is a sketchy account "of the controversy that enveloped the Guilgal Seventh-day Adventist Church of Orlando, Florida." Unfortunately, I was not able to check out some of the sources Person mentions to the article. You can read more about the situation and the involvement of the Southeastern Conference by reading one account on "www.hatiansda.com", Past Articles #17, "The Debacle of the Guilgal SDA Church". I'm checking out the story, and if it "has legs" and it is possible to contact an unbiased observer and sources that are not anonymous, AT will keep you informed.
MY NOMINATIONS FOR SHEEP, HYBRIDS, AND GOATS
Sheep—Us
Hybrids—Us
Goats—The rest of us
SHOULD I SEND MY 14-YEAR-OLD TO A BOARDING ACADEMY?
This article might also be titled, Everything You Want to Know About SDA Boarding Academies But Were Afraid to Ask. Melanie Eddlemon delivers the goods. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators talk candidly about the pros and cons. On a personal note, both my sons attended Monterey Bay Academy as juniors and seniors. It was a great experience for everyone.
WHO SHOULD WORK ON SABBATH?
This article raises important questions about the Adventist Church's do’s and don'ts of Sabbath keeping. Dan MacArthur raises questions about Sabbath work that many Adventists have not thoughtfully considered. Angela Baerg discusses Sabbath keeping from both a Jewish and Puritan perspective. I'm surprised that many Adventists need to be reminded that we lucky few can "keep the Sabbath" because millions of other Americans are busy working to provide for our health and welfare 24/7.
WHY ELLEN WHITE AND LEADERSHIP DIDN’T GET ALONG
Ciro Sepulveda doesn't come right out and say it, but his well researched article makes it clear that Ellen White's priority was an end-time message, while the priority of the men in church leadership positions was establishing the institutions of the Church. It is ironic that Ellen White's name is prominently displayed on the grounds of SDA university buildings and libraries. She advocated a two-year tertiary education designed to create lay evangelists.
AMERICAN GUY
Alex King provides a thoughtful reminder that America is an island in a world of poverty. In our frantic quest to avoid boredom, it's easy to forget the difficult living conditions of others, particularly those in developing countries.
A BRIEF MOMENT WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE ACTUALLY HAD THEIR ACT TOGETHER reflects Alden Thompson’s optimistic view that what happened at the Questions on Doctrine Conference in October may be a portent of things to come. Alden, just because Angel Rodriguez, George Knight, and Colin Standish stand side-by-side for a photograph at a communion table doesn't indicate that God's people actually had their act together. It means that three Adventist preachers and theologians, vastly different in personality, temperament, and theology can make nice. What that means for the rest of us has yet to be determined.
7 QUESTIONS FOR ED DICKERSON
Marcel Schwantes asked Ed Dickerson seven good questions about his book, "Grounds for Belief" and his hope to establish Grounds for Belief Cafes around the country. What I found most enlightening was Dickinson's response to the question, "What's the greatest obstacle to reaching generations X&Y?"
"Many Adventists . . . treated the Advent Movement as if it was a sprint to the finish—hurry, hurry, hurry. Others have treated it as a marathon—keep going, keep going, keep going. We have failed to see it as a multigenerational relay. And relay teams practice passing the baton more then any other part of the race, because it is impossible to finish the race if you fail to pass the baton."
PSALMS, PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES provides and solicits memorable statements from Adventist writers. I suggest any essay written by Roy Adams or Stephen Chavez.
ADVENTIST MAN has yet to find a completely credible voice, but progress is being made.
GENERAL COMMENTS
The graphics are excellent, and the three major articles are timely and informative. (I'm hoping that the extra pages, 13-16, were not included in the entire print run.) However, more editorial attention needs to be given to problems of syntax and economy of expression.
EDITORIAL
I particularly appreciated Andy Nash's editorial, BALANCING SABBATH, when he writes, "The Sabbath is about rest, not church. No matter what you might have been taught, the simple fact is that the Sabbath commandment is heavily focused on resting from work, not on worship per se. So then, can you rest on Sabbath and go to church on Sunday? Yes, of course you can. I think corporate worship is a natural part of the Sabbath experience." The premise underlying this argument is that we are Christians first and Adventists second.
Andy's editorial reminded me of something that happened when my brother and his family moved to a very small town in Northern California. The town's nondenominational church was boarded up because there were too few members to support a minister. Three Adventist families did what was necessary to reopen the church. The Adventist men preached on both Saturday and Sunday. The town was grateful, and the free will offerings of both congregations were enough to keep the church heated and in good repair. The church became the social center of the town as well as a place for Bible study and Christian fellowship. All went well until the Adventist members asked that their efforts the recognized and supported by the Northern California Conference. For a variety of reasons, including the use of the words, Seventh-day Adventist, that request was denied, and the church ceased to exist.
A family that I know moved to a Midwestern town where the Adventist Church is dying. The church does not have a phone number, and the retired pastor will really retire in a few months. Before this family arrived, the regular membership was about twelve. The average age of the members was seventy plus. There was no children’s Sabbath school. When I suggested that the newcomers "rest" on the Sabbath and worship at a Sunday church, they rejected the idea. For this family, worshiping on Sunday with non-Adventists is tantamount to leaving the Adventist Church.
LETTERS
Once again readers play an important role in determining the relevance and editorial tone of the magazine. I particularly applaud Jim Schelling's exasperated response to the following Goldstein comment in his debate with Ervin Taylor in the January/February edition: "One can be an Adventist and believe in and do a lot of wrong things. (After all, look at how many voted for George W. Bush—twice! and for Hitler.)” While it is true that the majority of Adventists in Germany, with initial support of the General Conference, voted for the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1933, Goldstein's flippant sarcasm needs to be called to account. His response is classic Cliff. "I was just joking, brother—that's all. Please, give me a little credit. Though I consider Bush a doofus who should not have been elected, it was never my intent to make a moral equation between the two. Remember, too, this is Adventist Today, so we can be a little irreverent, right?"
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Folkenberg’s New Deal, as reported by Vanessa Sanders, is “ShareHim”, a packaged evangelistic program that gives "people with no preaching experience—college students, teachers, social workers, and accountants—the opportunity to travel to churches in the United States or abroad and preach an evangelistic series". Critics call it "evangelistic tourism". Carlos Martin, Director of the Evangelistic Research Center at Southern Adventist University "acknowledges that while some may volunteer to preach for the adventure, many go to do something for God. 'We don't go to relax, we go to participate in the preview of the latter rain.’"
David Person reports that there's trouble in Orlando, Florida. "When the Church Fights" is a sketchy account "of the controversy that enveloped the Guilgal Seventh-day Adventist Church of Orlando, Florida." Unfortunately, I was not able to check out some of the sources Person mentions to the article. You can read more about the situation and the involvement of the Southeastern Conference by reading one account on "www.hatiansda.com", Past Articles #17, "The Debacle of the Guilgal SDA Church". I'm checking out the story, and if it "has legs" and it is possible to contact an unbiased observer and sources that are not anonymous, AT will keep you informed.
MY NOMINATIONS FOR SHEEP, HYBRIDS, AND GOATS
Sheep—Us
Hybrids—Us
Goats—The rest of us
SHOULD I SEND MY 14-YEAR-OLD TO A BOARDING ACADEMY?
This article might also be titled, Everything You Want to Know About SDA Boarding Academies But Were Afraid to Ask. Melanie Eddlemon delivers the goods. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators talk candidly about the pros and cons. On a personal note, both my sons attended Monterey Bay Academy as juniors and seniors. It was a great experience for everyone.
WHO SHOULD WORK ON SABBATH?
This article raises important questions about the Adventist Church's do’s and don'ts of Sabbath keeping. Dan MacArthur raises questions about Sabbath work that many Adventists have not thoughtfully considered. Angela Baerg discusses Sabbath keeping from both a Jewish and Puritan perspective. I'm surprised that many Adventists need to be reminded that we lucky few can "keep the Sabbath" because millions of other Americans are busy working to provide for our health and welfare 24/7.
WHY ELLEN WHITE AND LEADERSHIP DIDN’T GET ALONG
Ciro Sepulveda doesn't come right out and say it, but his well researched article makes it clear that Ellen White's priority was an end-time message, while the priority of the men in church leadership positions was establishing the institutions of the Church. It is ironic that Ellen White's name is prominently displayed on the grounds of SDA university buildings and libraries. She advocated a two-year tertiary education designed to create lay evangelists.
AMERICAN GUY
Alex King provides a thoughtful reminder that America is an island in a world of poverty. In our frantic quest to avoid boredom, it's easy to forget the difficult living conditions of others, particularly those in developing countries.
A BRIEF MOMENT WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE ACTUALLY HAD THEIR ACT TOGETHER reflects Alden Thompson’s optimistic view that what happened at the Questions on Doctrine Conference in October may be a portent of things to come. Alden, just because Angel Rodriguez, George Knight, and Colin Standish stand side-by-side for a photograph at a communion table doesn't indicate that God's people actually had their act together. It means that three Adventist preachers and theologians, vastly different in personality, temperament, and theology can make nice. What that means for the rest of us has yet to be determined.
7 QUESTIONS FOR ED DICKERSON
Marcel Schwantes asked Ed Dickerson seven good questions about his book, "Grounds for Belief" and his hope to establish Grounds for Belief Cafes around the country. What I found most enlightening was Dickinson's response to the question, "What's the greatest obstacle to reaching generations X&Y?"
"Many Adventists . . . treated the Advent Movement as if it was a sprint to the finish—hurry, hurry, hurry. Others have treated it as a marathon—keep going, keep going, keep going. We have failed to see it as a multigenerational relay. And relay teams practice passing the baton more then any other part of the race, because it is impossible to finish the race if you fail to pass the baton."
PSALMS, PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES provides and solicits memorable statements from Adventist writers. I suggest any essay written by Roy Adams or Stephen Chavez.
ADVENTIST MAN has yet to find a completely credible voice, but progress is being made.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Reviewing the Adventist Review
February 28, 2008
Vol. 185, No. 6
GENERAL COMMENTS: This issue could have earned another gold star from this reviewer if the editors had insisted that major authors communicate with sharper focus and fewer words.
LETTERS: In general readers make thoughtful comments that reference articles and editorials, most recent of which are two months old. This makes it next to impossible to re-evaluate the author's original message.
EDITORIALS
Roy Adams challenges Christians to be "Brave People", even though most of us are spectators on the sidelines of history.
Sandra Blackmer reminds us not to be so involved with the important business of church affairs that we forget "It's All About People" connecting with people.
LIVING AUTHENTICALLY IN A PHONEY WORLD by Ricardo Graham is the cover story. The subject is an important one, and Graham's call for integrity is timely. The writing starts out well, and Jesus' and Ellen White's condemnation of the practice and why it is particularly harmful is effectively presented. After that, however, the writing begins to lose focus and becomes preachy. This is where editors have a responsibility to the author and readers. With editorial help, Graham could have condensed this piece by one third and strengthened its impact.
In contrast to the Graham article, the words of Ellen White on the same subject are thoughtfully conceived and editorially polished. YOU—GENUINE, AUTHENTIC, REAL is an excellent example of effective communication between author, editor, and reader.
WITH WINGS AS EAGLES by Leo Van Dolson is just plain confusing and badly in need of editorial help. A transition statement linking Ronald Pinkerton's hang gliding adventure and Isaiah 40 is nonexistent. An explanation "of receiving double for your sins" in Isaiah 40:2 occurs out of context and without reference.
Under the subhead, "Filled to the Brim" Van Dolson recounts the story of Jesus and the wedding in Cana without further reference to Isaiah 40. He then asserts that, "Fermentation in the Bible is a symbol of sin. Sin sparkles for a while, but soon the sparkle goes and the fizz becomes flat. The unfermented wine that Jesus provided was symbolic of the true joy that He alone can give." Unfermented grape juice then becomes a symbol for God's blessings; a cup the symbol of our lives. The development of this analogy takes up the last half of the article. It is only in his last sentence that the author once again mentions soaring with the wings of eagles. (Van Dolson provides no references for his assertions that "fermentation" is a biblical symbol of sin or that Jesus created unfermented wine.)
KIDS VIEW by Marcia Mollenkopf might have made Black History Month come alive. Instead, children are provided with a jumble of unrelated pictures, stories, a quiz, news items, and a confusing March calendar of four leaf clovers. Once again, editorial assistance was needed.
HOMAGE TO A STORK by Clifford Goldstein is a sarcastic rational defense of creationism, along with the assertion that it was God who said our world came into existence "as a six-day preplanned creation, nothing left to chance, and no death." By implication, he argues, only a fool could believe in evolution. "We might as well pay homage to the stork."
Cliff, God said lots of things in the Old Testament that even you don't believe to be true. God told people in the Old Testament to do things that you would not do if threatened with death. There are two distinct stories of creation in Genesis. You seem to believe the first one. What about the second? I am not a neo-Darwinian, but a geologic column does exist along with dinosaur bones and plate tectonics. I'm waiting for you to make a case for creationism that takes these matters into account.
WORLD CHURCH
300 young adults from all over the world went on a seven-day "Cruise With a Mission". It was a "combination spiritual retreat, mission trip, and vacation. . . Participants disembarked the ship in Belize and Guatemala to conduct medical and dental clinics, lead a Vacation Bible School programs, and help renovate several parks and schools." A second Cruise With a Mission is scheduled for the December 14-21, 2008.
Weimar College in Northern California closes after 30 Years because of declining enrollment.
David Penner resigns as the Principle of Newbold College.
Jan Paulsen “appeared as a guest on the February 11 edition of Night talk with Mike Schneider, a one-hour program airing on Bloomberg TV”. “When asked about the church’s future goals, Paulsen said, ‘My goal for the church is that we become more effective in communicating not only ideas but care for people, so that they may discover that Seventh-day Adventists are good people to get to know.’”
Doctors Handysides and Landless discuss BARIATRIC SURGERY and HUMAN PAPILLOMA VACCINE in their usual informative and thorough way.
MESSAGES TO YOUNG PEOPLE has two authors, Julia Vernon and Jane Smith. In her article, ”Don’t Hinder Them”, Vernon suggests that adolescents, if loved and supported by their families and church groups, will “come to Jesus, not on our terms, but on His”. In other words young people can learn important life lessons in the secular world without being damaged spiritually by critical adults.
Jane Smith, a pseudonym, isn't so sure. “Positive Reinforcement” is her take on the secularization of Adventist young people within the Church. Her essay raises important questions about adult standards of behavior and their impact on adolescent Adventists. “In a youth group I led, it became almost a joke that we couldn't maintain a spiritual conversation for five minutes without someone mentioning a movie he had seen. I suggested a one-week moratorium from talking about movies. The kids voted it down as impossible.”
GROWING A PERSONAL MINISTRY by Valerie N. Phillips is a gentle but powerful reminder that a gift given in love, even to someone you have never met, is a blessing to both the one that gives one the one that receives. “Little is much when God is in it.”
Marcia Mollenkopf bakes bread, and when her loaves don’t turn out perfectly, even the crumbs of her failures are put to good use. CRUMBS OF FAITH is a lovely testimony to a beautiful Christian life. “If cooks can be creative with crumbs of bread, think what God can do with the crumbs of what we call our failures.”
Vol. 185, No. 6
GENERAL COMMENTS: This issue could have earned another gold star from this reviewer if the editors had insisted that major authors communicate with sharper focus and fewer words.
LETTERS: In general readers make thoughtful comments that reference articles and editorials, most recent of which are two months old. This makes it next to impossible to re-evaluate the author's original message.
EDITORIALS
Roy Adams challenges Christians to be "Brave People", even though most of us are spectators on the sidelines of history.
Sandra Blackmer reminds us not to be so involved with the important business of church affairs that we forget "It's All About People" connecting with people.
LIVING AUTHENTICALLY IN A PHONEY WORLD by Ricardo Graham is the cover story. The subject is an important one, and Graham's call for integrity is timely. The writing starts out well, and Jesus' and Ellen White's condemnation of the practice and why it is particularly harmful is effectively presented. After that, however, the writing begins to lose focus and becomes preachy. This is where editors have a responsibility to the author and readers. With editorial help, Graham could have condensed this piece by one third and strengthened its impact.
In contrast to the Graham article, the words of Ellen White on the same subject are thoughtfully conceived and editorially polished. YOU—GENUINE, AUTHENTIC, REAL is an excellent example of effective communication between author, editor, and reader.
WITH WINGS AS EAGLES by Leo Van Dolson is just plain confusing and badly in need of editorial help. A transition statement linking Ronald Pinkerton's hang gliding adventure and Isaiah 40 is nonexistent. An explanation "of receiving double for your sins" in Isaiah 40:2 occurs out of context and without reference.
Under the subhead, "Filled to the Brim" Van Dolson recounts the story of Jesus and the wedding in Cana without further reference to Isaiah 40. He then asserts that, "Fermentation in the Bible is a symbol of sin. Sin sparkles for a while, but soon the sparkle goes and the fizz becomes flat. The unfermented wine that Jesus provided was symbolic of the true joy that He alone can give." Unfermented grape juice then becomes a symbol for God's blessings; a cup the symbol of our lives. The development of this analogy takes up the last half of the article. It is only in his last sentence that the author once again mentions soaring with the wings of eagles. (Van Dolson provides no references for his assertions that "fermentation" is a biblical symbol of sin or that Jesus created unfermented wine.)
KIDS VIEW by Marcia Mollenkopf might have made Black History Month come alive. Instead, children are provided with a jumble of unrelated pictures, stories, a quiz, news items, and a confusing March calendar of four leaf clovers. Once again, editorial assistance was needed.
HOMAGE TO A STORK by Clifford Goldstein is a sarcastic rational defense of creationism, along with the assertion that it was God who said our world came into existence "as a six-day preplanned creation, nothing left to chance, and no death." By implication, he argues, only a fool could believe in evolution. "We might as well pay homage to the stork."
Cliff, God said lots of things in the Old Testament that even you don't believe to be true. God told people in the Old Testament to do things that you would not do if threatened with death. There are two distinct stories of creation in Genesis. You seem to believe the first one. What about the second? I am not a neo-Darwinian, but a geologic column does exist along with dinosaur bones and plate tectonics. I'm waiting for you to make a case for creationism that takes these matters into account.
WORLD CHURCH
300 young adults from all over the world went on a seven-day "Cruise With a Mission". It was a "combination spiritual retreat, mission trip, and vacation. . . Participants disembarked the ship in Belize and Guatemala to conduct medical and dental clinics, lead a Vacation Bible School programs, and help renovate several parks and schools." A second Cruise With a Mission is scheduled for the December 14-21, 2008.
Weimar College in Northern California closes after 30 Years because of declining enrollment.
David Penner resigns as the Principle of Newbold College.
Jan Paulsen “appeared as a guest on the February 11 edition of Night talk with Mike Schneider, a one-hour program airing on Bloomberg TV”. “When asked about the church’s future goals, Paulsen said, ‘My goal for the church is that we become more effective in communicating not only ideas but care for people, so that they may discover that Seventh-day Adventists are good people to get to know.’”
Doctors Handysides and Landless discuss BARIATRIC SURGERY and HUMAN PAPILLOMA VACCINE in their usual informative and thorough way.
MESSAGES TO YOUNG PEOPLE has two authors, Julia Vernon and Jane Smith. In her article, ”Don’t Hinder Them”, Vernon suggests that adolescents, if loved and supported by their families and church groups, will “come to Jesus, not on our terms, but on His”. In other words young people can learn important life lessons in the secular world without being damaged spiritually by critical adults.
Jane Smith, a pseudonym, isn't so sure. “Positive Reinforcement” is her take on the secularization of Adventist young people within the Church. Her essay raises important questions about adult standards of behavior and their impact on adolescent Adventists. “In a youth group I led, it became almost a joke that we couldn't maintain a spiritual conversation for five minutes without someone mentioning a movie he had seen. I suggested a one-week moratorium from talking about movies. The kids voted it down as impossible.”
GROWING A PERSONAL MINISTRY by Valerie N. Phillips is a gentle but powerful reminder that a gift given in love, even to someone you have never met, is a blessing to both the one that gives one the one that receives. “Little is much when God is in it.”
Marcia Mollenkopf bakes bread, and when her loaves don’t turn out perfectly, even the crumbs of her failures are put to good use. CRUMBS OF FAITH is a lovely testimony to a beautiful Christian life. “If cooks can be creative with crumbs of bread, think what God can do with the crumbs of what we call our failures.”
Friday, March 14, 2008
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