This month marks the centenary, the hundredth anniversary, of the beginning of the First World War, which erupted in Europe in August, 1914. It was the most destructive war in history up to that point, with military deaths of about 9 to10 million and combined military and civilian deaths of about 16 to 17 million. The war also facilitated the rapid spread of an influenza epidemic in 1918 that killed an estimated 50 million people.
“Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other.”-- Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 17. (1909)
Read MoreAt the recent international ASI convention held in Grand Rapids, Mich., 3ABN broadcast a live program during which hosts Jim Gilley and Danny Shelton moderated an open study regarding women’s ordination. The panel featured Michigan conference president Jay Gallimore; Pastor Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts; and Don Mackintosh, chaplain of Weimar Center of Health & Education. All the panelists on the program supported the historic Adventist view.
Read MoreIndependent Adventist seminar speaker Herb Montgomery, who describes himself as “an author, internationally recognized speaker, and director of Renewed Heart Ministries,” has aligned with SDA Kinship, a homosexual organization that, among other activities, holds Kinship Kampmeeting each summer. Montgomery, who is married with three children and lives in West Virginia, was a featured speaker at last week's Kinship Kampmeeting.
Read MoreIt appears that Pope Francis may be rethinking the idea of clerical celibacy. In an interview with La Repubblica, an Italian daily newspaper, Pope Francis described the celibacy of the priesthood as "a problem" in need of a solution. “There definitely is a problem but it is not a major one. This needs time but there are solutions and I will find them,” Francis said, without elaborating further.
Read MoreHuman sexuality, along with a pleasing sexual imperative, is introduced at the very beginning of the Bible story. Mankind was created with gender. Gender was created with purpose. Compliantly, in the narrative, Adam “knew” his wife and she conceived a son, and then another, and then a third. And though we don’t have details about differing sexual orientations before the flood, it is certain that only heterosexuals were on the Ark.
Read MoreThroughout those regions where WO was permitted, would WO be optional or required? What would the policy be toward dissenters? For example: What should be the policy regarding a pro-BQ congregation (or pastor) in a pro-WO conference in a pro-BQ union in a pro-WO division? How could regions not become increasingly polarized in hiring and firing decisions?
Read MoreFour days after censuring Vellejo Drive member Elizabeth Iskander in a business meeting on April 15th for “making people uncomfortable” by discussing homosexuality in private conversations with other members, Senior Pastor Mike Kim had this to say in his sermon, “We do not want to be concerned about whether we have practicing homosexuals in our midst. Why? Because that's immorality of the flesh, and how important is immorality of the flesh? NOT VERY IMPORTANT AT ALL!”
Read MoreIn a nutshell, the moderate position accepts that the Bible reveals an organizational ideal for male leadership in the church. It also recognizes, however, that the Bible indicates that this kind of organizational ideal is one that can be modified and adapted in certain circumstances, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to further the salvational mission and purpose of the Church.
Read MoreUnless you're blind as a bat, surely you realize that the formerly 'taboo' topic of homosexuality is now being discussed on television, by media, in courts, schools, churches and in homes worldwide. Sometimes referred to as the LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender) controversy, it's hot, and won't go away. Over 18 countries have now legalized same-sex marriage, and that number will most likely increase.
Read MoreI wish to somehow send my voice to you, that you may know that I am one among many within the North American Division who do not agree with the consensus from the few at the top who are pushing women to be pastors and elders. I am a Seventh-day Adventist, 33 year-old woman, and it is clear to me from the Bible, our firm foundation, that God has not chosen women to be pastors or elders.
Read MorePerhaps the most significant development of the fourth and final meeting of the General Conference Theology of Ordination Study Committee (TOSC) was the development, by a recently-formed group within the Committee, of a “third way” or “moderate option."
Read MoreProbably nothing galls non-Christians, and many Christians also, quite so much as the hypocrisy of the pious—be it real, exaggerated, or imagined. If one were to take a survey of the average person on the street regarding what is least liked about religious people in general, this attribute would doubtless make the top of the list.
Read MoreThe word biker conjures wild images of long-haired men sporting weathered leather cuts with skulls and crossbones tattooed on every inch of their body. So imagine what some pastors think when approached about starting a biker ministry at their church. Some embrace the idea, but others can’t get past the image of the Hells Angels sitting in their pews, dropping cocaine in the offering plate and insisting the tattoo parlor move next door.
Read MoreOn March 5th, Rich McCune, counsel for the LSU-3 (Beach, Bradley, and Kaatz), had a bad day in court. Riverside County law & motion Judge Edward D. Webster not only threw out the plaintiffs' case, he made McCune stay after school so he could tell Mr. McCune what he really thought of his case and his clients, “I think this case is extraordinarily ill-advised for a lot of different reasons."
Read MoreLa Sierra University's student paper asked, “Are we the black sheep?” The theme of the 2013 holiday issue was identity--La Sierra's identity. Criterion editor Jonah Valdez kicked the issue off with a reference to David Read’s article “The failure of the Adventist Accrediting Association." After a brief summary of Read’s arguments, Valdez asked La Sierra students if Read’s critical remarks disturbed or angered them in some way.
Read MoreI am not using the term “liberal” according to the narrow, technical definition it has acquired in theology; a truly liberal theologian rejects any supernatural influence on Scripture and proceeds as though Scripture and religion are purely human and non-supernatural phenomena. A liberal theologian approaches Scripture just as a mainstream scientist approaches origins: needing to explain it strictly and solely on the basis of natural phenomena, with no appeal to the existence and activity of God. Very few Adventists—perhaps none in positions of authority in the church or in church-related institutions—would admit to a pure liberal theology. So, in this discussion, I will be using “liberal” in a looser sense.
Read MoreSociologist and political scientists have long understood that when people take positions on issues, they tend to do so not randomly but in predictable clusters or groups, corresponding to an intellectual system, ideology, or way of seeing and evaluating the world (“worldview,” Ger. = Weltanschauung). In the realm of secular politics and government, this phenomenon has often caused political parties to be organized based upon shared ideology.
Read MoreAs I walked out into the hallway of the ocean-front condo this morning, I saw a USA Today paper lying by the door of our neighbor’s room. Like a downbeat doormat it sat there, its loud headlines easily summed up in two words: Bad, and News. I was reminded of this quote: “The final movements will be rapid ones.”
Those of us who are looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to earth are probably aware of this ominous warning about the end. Not only is it gonna happen soon, it’s gonna happen fast!
Read MoreA prominent leader in North American Adventism recently stated, during a discussion in which I participated, that the term “nice conservative” has “almost become an oxymoron” in the contemporary church. I countered by acknowledging that while at times needless severity and harshness have certainly attended efforts to defend beliefs and practices peculiar to classic Adventism, one must beware of defining “niceness” pursuant to an agenda of pleasing as many and offending as few as possible. Few if any of God’s heroes through the ages, including Jesus Himself, would qualify as “nice” under such a definition.
Read MoreIn this article we will look at 2 Samuel 6:14-16 and 1 Chron. 15:29. In 2 Samuel 6:14-16 the Hebrew word most often rendered “dance” in English versions for is Karar (pronounced kah-rar) and is only used these two times. In 1 Chron. 15:29, the Hebrew word is Raqad (pronounced raw-kad) and is used nine times in the Old Testament. In order to understand what David was doing in these passages, we must understand what these Hebrew words signify. We cannot impose contemporary meanings onto ancient words which have changed definitions over the centuries. The truism is still applicable: biblical words must be understood and interpreted based on the actual meaning of the terms, and in the contexts in which they are used.
Read More
