ADvindicate's top five posts for 2012

ADvindicate is nearing its one year anniversary (Feb. 2, 2013), but as the current calendar year comes to a close, we would like to share the five most viewed posts for 2012. 5. Thoughts on the Columbia Union vote August (4,662 pageviews) - While this article came in at number five, it was the most talked about with over 700 comments.

4. La Sierra University professors prohibited from teaching creation April (4,869 pageviews) - Bond document discovered that appears to restrict La Sierra University from using their new science complex for sectarian instruction, devotional activities, religious worship or to be connected with any programs of any school or department of divinity.

3. Seventh-Gay Adventist film gives new meaning to ‘truth and freedom’ September (5,229 pageviews) - Film critique by Wayne Blakely.

2. An empty victory for the PUC majority, a feminine perspective August (9,723 pageviews) - ADvindicate writer reflects on the Pacific Union Conference vote regarding ordination of women to the gospel ministry.

1. Rape allegations surface in the Samuel Pipim kerfuffle June (11,201 pageviews) - The beginning of the end for Samuel Pipim's ministry as news surfaces about his affairs with at least four other young women.

We would like to hear what you enjoyed reading the most from ADvindicate, and what you would like to read more of in 2013.

A Christmas greeting from Ted Wilson

President of the world wide Seventh-day Adventist Church Ted Wilson asks his audience to consider the greatest gift ever given--Jesus Christ. The video begins with a short sermonette from Wilson, then a cello and guitar rendition of "What Child is This," followed by Nancy Wilson walking us through the nativity scene. Ted Wilson picks up again and the feature finally ends with more culture savvy Christmas music.

Ted Wilson // Christmas Greeting (Full) from The Adventist Church (Official) on Vimeo.

Reviving the health message

When I watch or read the news, I sometimes feel as if I am seeing the opening line of Charles Dickens' The Tale of Two Cities come to life. You know, the one that goes: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” Lately, I have become concerned with the dichotomy of childhood health. At the same time that there are hungry children fighting for mere scraps in war-torn Syria and skeletal little ones with bloated bellies dying of starvation in famine-affected regions of the world, there is a frightening increase in cases of childhood obesity in more affluent, politically stable, urban areas of the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last thirty years in the United States alone has seen a tripling of childhood obesity rates. “In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.”

Both extremes have something in common: the children suffer from malnutrition. Put another way, in both extremes children are malnourished due to a lack of proper quantity and quality of nourishing foods. One side is dying of starvation, the absence of calories, vitamins, and other important nutrients, and the other is dying of over-indulgence on foods lacking nutrients coupled with a lack of adequate exercise. While the two sides are going about it differently, the victims end up at the same place: premature and preventable death.

This is no way to live life, and this is not the life that our Lord and Creator intended for His children. Christ, in John 10:10, proclaimed: “I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.” (Complete Jewish Bible) Each person is special in the eyes of God, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Luke 12:7 states that the very hairs on our head have been numbered, and in Psalm 56:8, King David shares the illustration that the Lord bottles our tears. The Lord cares for us so much that He desires to dwell with us, in our hearts. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (New King James Version)

The contrast of the starving and obese children can be startling and sad, but the problem of malnutrition and poor health is not limited to children. They are often the silent victims of circumstances beyond their control. There is a growing number of people—adults—around the world who knowingly or unknowingly cause their own health problems. Here in the United States, we are in the middle of the longest holiday season of the year, a time of feasting and cheating on diets that often ends with half-hearted and easily forgotten resolutions to make wiser, healthier choices in the New Year. Certainly, there are plenty of people who are content with the status quo and have no genuine desire to change their habits and lifestyle; however, there is a growing number of individuals who are waking up to the importance of living a healthier life. They are tired of battling poor health and are seeking help. With the raise in childhood obesity and its corresponding health risks, many parents are desperate for guidance in making healthier choices for their families.

Are we ready? In Testimonies for the Church, Volume 6, page 370, Ellen White wrote: “There is a message regarding health reform to be borne in every church.” Yet how many of our churches are sharing the health message with its community? How many church members practice what we may preach in our own lives? How many of us are ready and willing to share the principles of a healthful lifestyle with those around us who may be seeking relief from their suffering?

I am not talking about browbeating everyone around us to conform to one specific diet and condemning anyone who does not subscribe to an extremely narrow view. I have seen dietary fanaticism create schisms in local congregations and even drive members and visitors alike out the doors. In south Georgia, I witnessed the battle between vegetarians and those who followed Leviticus 11's guidelines of clean and unclean meats. In Virginia, I experienced the unpleasantness of being caught in the middle of a vegetarian and vegan war at one particular church. In fact, after having a family member called “the devil” for not being vegan, my family and I promptly decided to stop attending that specific Adventist church. We need to be cautious that in our zeal to share the message, we do not cross the line into fanaticism. The enemy celebrates when internal turmoil distracts the children of God from our purpose, our mission.

A two-fold ministry has long characterized the Adventist church: evangelism for Christ and health reform. In Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, page 112, we are admonished: “As a people we have been given the work of making known the principles of health reform. There are some who think that the question of diet is not of sufficient importance to be included in their evangelistic work. But such make a great mistake. God's Word declares, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” The subject of temperance, in all its bearings, has an important place in the work of salvation.”

In some Adventist churches, and for different reasons, talking about healthful living is no longer welcomed. But brothers and sisters, we cannot keep silent in regard to the health message, not when there are people all around us slowly dying for the lack of knowledge and encouragement. The principles of a healthful lifestyle are deeply rooted in the Word of God. “It is the Lord's design that the restoring influence of health reform shall be a part of the last great efforts to proclaim the gospel message” (Medical Ministry, 259).

Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord spoke to the scattered children of Israel: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”(Jeremiah 29:11). This promise still holds true to the children of God today. The Lord wants all of His children to have a future, to have hope, and it is clear from the Scriptures that the Lord also desires for His creation to be free from illnesses and poor health. A significant portion of Christ's earthly ministry was focused on physical healing.

Fortunately, the year 2012 has seen the sparks of a revival of the health message. Many churches that may have avoided this area in the recent past have begun supporting conference-wide and division-wide initiatives, such as Adventists In Step for Life, or ministries, such as CREATION Health. This year Hope Channel has launched a new series, Go Healthy… for Good!, for educational purposes and encouragement. Some churches, like the church my parents attend, whose health ministry had all but died due to over-zealousness and in-fighting a handful of years ago, are recognizing their responsibility to meet the needs of their local communities and reviving their health ministries. One of the local churches near where I live recently completed The Daniel Challenge with a great response from young adults and young families.

It is vital to remember that before we can minister effectively to the needs of those around us, we first need to tune our own hearts and lives to the Master's plan. Hypocrisy does not bring glory to the Lord. So let each of us humbly strive to improve our own health, not forsaking nutritious foods, moderate exercise, fresh air, rest, and the other basics of healthful living. When we are healthy, our bodies free of preventable illness and our minds clear, we are better able to serve the Lord and our neighbors.

This holiday season, a time we often pause to reflect on the blessings the Lord has bestowed on us, let us share these blessings by giving for those aid and relief organizations such as ADRA that are able to go to areas of the world we cannot sharing the message of hope and love through meeting very real needs: food, clean water, education, and more. And let us not forget to be generous with our time by sharing with those among our family, friends, and co-workers who are open to hearing how to make improvements for their health.

In the words of the disciple John, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2).

The most offended person in the room

Ok.I detest political correctness. I love straight talk. Partly because the Good book says “Let your yea be yea.” Check. I also like straight talk because I don’t like the bewildered way I feel after listening to political-correct stuff. Double-check.

Political correctness usually causes one of two responses—I walk away mumbling as I scratch my significantly graying head, or I break into hearty laughter. But lately I‘ve been doing a lot of both, and it’s not easy to walk, mumble, and laugh at the same time.

Let’s face it. We live in a world where spin doctors abound. In this strange world of political correctness, yea doesn't mean yea, no doesn't mean no, and words are twisted into an alphabetic teething ring to pacify the most offended person in the room. Kind of a pedantic pacifier. Here are a couple examples. Cue Paul in Romans 1, “Thinking themselves to be wise they became fool...."

Portland Oregon, September 2012. In her zeal to conquer racism, Verenice Gutierrez (principal of Harvey Scott School in Portland) declared war on a vile offender of racial harmony. Sounds good, I guess. In fact, Verenice was determined to ferret out racism even if it is “sandwiched” between students’ kitchens and the school cafeteria. Her target? Peanut butter and jelly. “Huh!??!!” “HOW CAN PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY BE Raci……!??!!” Because she says it is…

According to Verenice, PB&J “is a subtle form of racism.” She added that Somali and Hispanic students might not eat such sandwiches so she initiated training exercises among staff members to fight against this “white privilege.” Sorry Skippy, your racially charged sandwich spread is expelled from school until further notice! Had Verenice done some actual research, she might have discovered that peanut butter was partially invented by George Washington Carver. Diagnosis? Absurd political correctness. Conclusion: People like Verenice are not very nice.

Dayton, Ohio, November 23, 2012. JCrane Inc. was lifting new HVAC units onto the roof of Sinclair Community College. Since the college remained open during the project, JCrane took great care to install fencing, barricades, and warning signs to ensure that the public would not be endangered by the heavy-equipment work going on above their heads. All went well until the second morning of the project, when a Sinclair employee called the foreman of the crane company. The foreman was told that they needed to stop all work immediately until the “sexist” sign they had set up on the sidewalk was replaced. The offensive sign in question? “Men working” (I’m not making this up). Initially the foreman thought it was a prank and the workers (seven guys) kept working, chuckling at the sublime joke. They stopped laughing when a college construction department guy showed up in person and demanded that they stop all work immediately! His said his “boss” was having a fit. His boss was Elizabeth Verzi (who works at the college) and she was the most offended person in the room! Maybe in the whole city…

The crane company foreman and the union pipefitter foreman met with the disgruntled feminist (Verzi) to resolve the issue. The meeting didn’t go well, unless you enjoy being yelled at, told you are a sexist, and berated for having a “Men Working” warning sign out by the sidewalk to alert pedestrians. After the “meeting” the two foremen walked away thoughtfully. One said, “I’ve never seen a woman talk like that. She just seemed evil.” The other one said, “We are working with the devil him(her)self here.”

Faced with the prospect of working with this woman for another few months, the pipefitter foreman drove back to his office, turned in his keys and truck and quit. On the spot. A man in his late fifties with over twenty years in the Pipefitters Union, this woman was the end of his career.

Diagnosis Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media and academia, which stubbornly clings to the belief that it is possible to pick up fresh excrement by the clean end.

On the surface, political correctness sounds ludicrous. And it is. In this strange muddled world the homeless are called under-housed and pirates are called seafaring entrepreneurs, the bald are folically–challenged and the fat are horizontally gifted. But at a deeper level, it is an ideology at war with the Biblical principle of honesty. For many, it becomes their religion and "evangelism" is accomplished by force and control (see Great Controversy chapter 35, a wonderfully straightforward book).

We see shameful situations created in our schools and universities in America that have fallen prey to Political Correctness. Some professors, students and publications are being attacked for expressing a point of view that differs from that imposed by a fanatical far left, under the guise of Political Correctness. Furthermore, in schools and workplaces we see that "diversity" has degenerated into reverse discrimination, where often the less qualified are admitted and the incompetent or unethical cannot be fired (see La Sierra for details).

Lamentation I've heard via teachers that some schools are doing away with GT (gifted/talented) classes. This would, of course be so kids in the regular classes don't start crying every day. At that age, most students are either too cool or too lazy to want to be in the egghead classes. And the nerd kids that actually want to learn should be given every opportunity to excel, even if that means segregating them from the students who would rather start fights or put pencils in their noses.

Sports are the same way. When I was a kid, you actually had to try out for sports teams (though you didn't necessarily have to be good, since I made the little league baseball team). Apparently nowadays, to avoid hurting kids' feelings, some sports leagues make the teams take anybody. While this may lead to some awesome videos on the FAIL blog, I don't think it's the best thing for the kids. That goofy kid may actually be good at something, but if we keep telling him he's good at everything when he's not, he'll never figure out what his talents are until it's too late. Then we'll just have one more hobo (er, I mean "Under-housed person") out there walking around with his knapsack full of cornbread. And food-stamps.

Conclusion Political Correctness (PC) originally flowered in academia and spread like a virus through the government and corporate worlds. It has devolved into a tyranny of the most offended person in the room.  It now stands at the door of the church and knocks, and will be invited in by a liberal academia who often say “We want a place at the world’s table.” If we go down that road, we will lose the core of our message and mission—a message that is based on hard but essential truth.

As illustrated above, PC complaints now range from the sublime to the ridiculous, and they are stifling the honest assessment and debate of issues in our world. I’ve tried to play nice, but I genuinely don’t care if you’re offended by this article, my men working signs, the Great Controversy, or my Bible.  And, please don’t worry about offending me in the comments section.

UPDATE REPORT: Walter Veith responds to EUD and is banned in German churches by European Adventist leaders

An inquiry is currently underway in Germany concerning Walter Veith and anti-semitism charges. In our previously published report, the circumstances and dialogue that took place in this incident are outlined. On December 4, 2012, the EUD made the decision 45 in favour, 1 opposed, and 4 undecided to ban Walter Veith from speaking in German SDA Churches for the second time. The previous ban took place in 2004 due to his lectures on Bible translations and what was termed as "conspiracy theories" which were highly disapproved of by German leaders. The ban was lifted in 2010, but now has been reinstated.The following letter was sent on December 5, 2012 by Walter Veith to Bruno Vertallier in response to his November 30, 2012, letter of disapproval and request to meet.

Dear Brother Vertallier

Thank you for your letter to which I would like to respond. Firstly, I never received any e-mails from you as you might have sent them to an old address and our telephone lines have been stolen so you would not have been able to reach me on the land line. Secondly, from the tone of your letter it is obvious that you did not accept my explanation of the ‘small yellow cloth’ phrase and I therefore assume that you suppose that it was intentionally derogatory towards the Jews as a people. It seems as though some people are bent on assuming evil intent because that is what they want to hear. The fact of the matter is that my lectures are too close to home for some and therefore every word is placed on the gold scale to find something objectionable and they refuse to accept my explanation that it was an issue of language barrier and nothing else.

Let me spell it out for you: In my home language (Afrikaans) all diminutives are endearing and express empathy and we even have double diminutives and triple diminutives to express feelings. In German diminutives are often deemed derogatory and since German and Afrikaans share phrases it is natural for me to use Afrikaans nuances when speaking German. In fact I got into trouble before in Germany for saying that someone had a ‘small heart’ (kleines Herz) as opposed to ‘large heart’ (groβes Herz). In Afrikaans someone with a small heart (klein hartjie –which by the way is a double diminutive) is kind, full of empathy, gentle, easily hurt, or endearing, but in German it means ‘hard-hearted’ or ‘stingy’. In Afrikaans one would use the phrase ‘small cloth’ to distinguish it from the opposite extreme such as a large cloth like a bed sheet and no one would even think to interpret it otherwise. I therefore reiterate that I did not mean it in a derogatory sense and that I harbor no anti-Semitic sentiments. Moreover, having grown up in Africa and not in Germany, I was never associated with discrimination against the Jews nor did I ever side with or share any sentiments with those who did. On the contrary, discriminatory ideologies are abhorrent to me.

My statements have been wrenched out of all proportions and since the actions of the SDA leadership in German-speaking Europe during the war were not exactly exemplary (as is clear from their apology in the 2005 declaration on anti-Semitism and also the recent reiteration of that declaration) I assume that you overreacted for fear that the past should haunt you. In line with that declaration, I too am against all forms of discrimination on the grounds of race or religion and stand firmly for religious liberty but I draw a clear line of distinction between the theological issues and the racial issues involved. It seems to me that some find it difficult to distinguish between the two because they carry this burden of guilt. The fact that the SDA church in Germany shares this guilt does, however, not give them the right to transfer this baggage onto me and to swing to the opposite extreme of discriminating against the ‘antitypical Jews’ who preach the Three Angels’ Messages. If they do this, then their confession becomes a repentance of King Saul without the change of heart, because they demonstrate by their action that they are just as willing now to repeat their folly as they were then.

As Seventh-day Adventists we have been called to present a particular message – the Three Angels’ Messages - which will end in the clarion call to all who are trapped in Babylon to ‘Come out of her, My people’. The false ideologies must be laid bare and Babylon will be exposed or else no one will know what they are to come out of. The trumpet must give a certain sound so the people can rally under the Lord’s banner. This is the aim of my lectures and this should be the aim of every SDA evangelist as we are admonished ‘not to let anything else occupy our minds’. Modern Babylonian ideologies are closely associated with a literal state of Israel and must therefore be exposed as false and this alone is the aim of my lectures. The preaching of the Three Angels’ Messages is uncomfortable to those within our ranks who wish to be so politically correct that they are willing to sacrifice truth for worldly acceptance.

The German leaders never consulted me before issuing a public statement to the churches and thereby did not follow the Biblical process as outlined in Matthew 18:15-20, thereby aligning themselves with the accusers. Furthermore, the legal procedures that have been initiated against me are also out of harmony with Scripture and since the leadership has not distanced itself from this process, they too are in breach of the Biblical admonition in this regard. Your letter to me clearly shows that the EUD position is no different from the above and therefore I now have no choice other than to place this response and some concerns of my own in the public domain as well.

1. The modern ecumenical tendencies in our midst becloud the presentation of the Three Angels’ Messages and it seems that our representatives in Europe (as published recently in a German SDA journal) cannot even give a reason as to why we believe that the papacy is the antichrist or why we as a church deem it necessary to hand out the ‘Great Controversy’. Are we not admonished against ecumenical associations and will this not be a stumbling block to the propagation of our message?

2. Why is it that not a word of remonstrance is heard when false practices are brought into the church? Most of leadership seems unconcerned when Spiritual Formation comes into our ranks like a flood in spite of the fact that it has its roots in Jesuitical spirituality (as dealt with extensively in my lecture ‘The Jesuits and the Counterreformation’). We go even further and advertise books with these sentiments in official church publications. Why was there no public rebuke when a speaker at one of our institutes in Europe advocated blessings by Wiccan witches and why was this speaker even permitted to speak at other SDA institutes? Were those involved ever given letters of rebuke? I am aware that this is not only a European problem and that other institutes have permitted Jesuits and other such speakers to speak at Adventist forums.

3. Why is it that our youth is led astray at official gatherings with music and performances that have no semblance of heaven? I have watched shocking videos of youth and church leaders in Europe engaging in events that would even make other denominations blush. Are we so bent on apostasy that concerned brethren are driven to cry between the porch and the altar for all the evil that is done in Israel? Even Conference Presidents have expressed their deep sadness with regard to this issue to me personally. Again, I acknowledge that this is a worldwide problem, but that the leadership should lead the way in this apostasy, is indeed astounding.

4. Why is it that we willingly adopt the practices of non-SDA mega churches and emerging church theologies that change our message and our outreach to one of ‘correction of social injustices’ rather than a message of salvation? It seems this is the new wave. Did those who teach these things ever receive letters of rebuke? Is it right that these new methods should be drummed into our students and that we should embrace these practices when we are not only admonished by the Spirit of Prophecy that we should steer clear of such things but are even warned that they would come in like a flood. Do we really want to be part of this fulfillment of prophecy or should we do all in our power to stop it?

5. Why is it that there was no official letter of rebuke from Europe when most of the delegates of that territory voted against the clarification of our position regarding the literal Six-day Creation? Why are evolutionary ideologies not only embraced in our ranks, but the ‘princes of Israel’, who are supposed to lead the flock in the ancient paths align themselves publicly with this apostasy? When the testimonies that were once believed are marginalized and relegated to the ‘trash heap of nineteenth century literature’, then the road to perdition is sure to follow. Why are leading figures allowed to slight and ridicule the testimonies and no action is taken against them? Does the Spirit of Prophecy not form part of our fundamental beliefs?

6. Where does Europe stand when it comes to the ordination issue? Irrespective of where we stand on the issue personally, why are there rumblings of secession from the ranks because pet theories are placed above church unity? Did Christ pray in vain for unity? Is it necessary to print an additional watered-down evangelically-minded Sabbath School lesson book just to avoid the sentiments expressed in the Spirit of Prophecy and hereby cause divisions in the church in Europe and indeed in the world?

The list could go on and on but I will leave it there. There are many voices of concern regarding these issues, not least of which is that of Elder Ted Wilson who stands out like a beacon of hope and I believe that God has placed him there for a time like this. It is shameful how he was and still is treated by some in our ranks. We can no longer remain silent in the face of these things or else we will be found wanting. We will have to meet these challenges head on (“Iceberg ahead – meet it!”) and may God be gracious to us during the shaking which must come.

Regarding the issue of Freemasonry and the Jesuits, these matters are clearly outlined in the Spirit of Prophecy and I feel that further discussions would not be fruitful. If we disregard the Spirit of Prophecy, how will we ever understand our SDA mission? Therefore nothing that I could say would change your perceptions. I have stated my case in the past and up to date have never received any reply regarding these documents and I append them again for your clarification.

I wish to assure you that I love Christ and His truth, as given to our pioneers, with all my heart. I believe that this church will go through to the Kingdom and I will continue to do all in my power to call people into its ranks and it is my prayer that the church will unify on the true Advent message as it was preached from 1842 to 1846 {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 35; 1 MR 52.2}. I thank God for the pioneers and godly Adventists who as late as 1952 published our first declaration of fundamental beliefs under the official auspices of the General Conference in the book “Principles of Life”. I stand by this Adventism and by the grace of God will not be moved.

I wish to make an appeal to you in the words of the Spirit of prophecy:

Seventh-day Adventists are now to stand forth separate and distinct, a people denominated by the Lord as His own. Until they do this, He cannot be glorified in them. Truth and error cannot stand in copartnership. Let us now place ourselves where God has said that we should stand.... We are to strive for unity but not on the low level of conformity to worldly policy and union with the popular churches.--Lt 113, 1903. {2MCP 559.2}

Your Brother in Christ Walter Veith

Appended Documents: Walter Veith's response to BRI (May 2004) – no response ever received.

"Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying." ~ Martin Luther

Source: Amazing Discoveries

Walter Veith's statements: judge for yourself

Walter Veith has received a lot of attention regarding comments made in a presentation he gave Oct. 20 in Nurnburg, Germany, at the Marienberg Seventh-day Adventist Church. The original presentation was given in German, but we're posting the English version for everyone to watch for themselves. So we invite you to watch the presentation for yourself and judge whether or not his comments were antisemitic. We've also included EANN's article disputing some of Veith's statements below the video.

Veith's dangerous game with the Jewish question--a disturbing fact-check

Walter Veith has done for years with his interpretation of the world a name. His presentations on DVDs and Internet video as widespread. He sees the world in a "war of ideologies". For centuries, the Pope fighting as the biblical Antichrist true Christians. For this, the Jesuits developed profound strategies. The Masons spread the insidious ideology all over the world. Political, business, church and society are penetrated by the Jesuit-Masonic conspiracy. Your goal is to confuse the "biblical ideology" of the true, other Christians.

Veith shares with many other conspiracy theorists, the same enemy: Jesuits, Freemasons, Illuminati. But a group that is at most other No. 1 on the list of dangerous enemies found at Veith been little attention: the Jews.

But that's different now. His latest series of lectures called "storm from the north." The private Missions "Amazing discoveries" recorded lectures onto a Nuremberg community center and transferred it live on the Internet. Later they will be sold as DVDs. In a lecture ("The King of the North, 2"), held on 20 October 2012, Veith is devoted extensively to the Jewish people. He drew extensively from the murky waters of Anti-Semitism. According to the organizer the Internet broadcast to over 700 units is viewed. (Read more)

This article was translated with Google Translator.

Theology of Ordination study committee membership complete, names released

Following the assignment of representatives from the 13 global divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the names of the 100-member Theology of Ordination Study Committee were announced November 29, 2012 by committee chairman Artur A. Stele, a general vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The 100 individuals – see table for the complete list – span a range of viewpoints and roles within the movement. Membership includes Tara VinCross, an Adventist pastor in Philadelphia, Pa.; former U.S. Ambassador to Malta Kathryn L. Proffitt; Gerard Damsteegt, a professor of church history at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary; Doug Batchelor, senior pastor of Sacramento Central Church in California and president of Amazing Facts; and Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, education director for the General Conference. Adventist Review and Adventist World editor and executive publisher Bill Knott is also a member of the committee.

The top three officers of the General Conference are ex-officio members of the committee, but neither Pastors Ted N.C. Wilson, president; G.T. Ng, secretary; nor Robert E. Lemon, treasurer, have a voice or vote on the panel.

“The main reason for releasing the names is to kindly invite every member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to pray for these names,” Stele said in a statement. “We are in need of God’s guidance and leading in this study process.”

The statement also summarized the main tasks confronting the panel:

1. Review the history of the study of ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
2. Develop a Seventh-day Adventist theology of ordination.
3. Study the subject of ordination of women to the gospel ministry.
4. In areas of disagreement, focus on potential solutions that support the message, mission, and unity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

According to Stele, “The Theology of Ordination Study Committee will prayerfully study the issues presented above trying to reach a consensus on each assignment. In the areas where consensus will not be reached, the TOSC will present several reports and will also work on potential solutions. These steps will ensure that the process will be open, fare, and transparent.”

Stele said the steering committee has already met twice, and “we are suggesting that the first meeting of the TOSC in January 2013 will be totally dedicated to the study of the first step. A group of scholars has been given the assignment to work on the first draft of the Theology of Ordination document.”

He added, “We are planning to present the first draft to the TOSC in January, discuss it, and based on the contributions of the whole committee, to prepare a second draft and send it out to all Division [Biblical Research Committees, or BRC]. We will ask each Division BRC to send in their suggestions, contributions, agreements, and disagreements. Based on the discussions involving all BRCs, a third draft will be prepared and we hope to come to a final draft that could be ‘hopefully’ accepted by the TOSC the first day of our meetings in July, 2013.”

Stele said, “after concluding the study on Theology of Ordination, we will start working on the issue of women’s ordination.”

He concluded, “The TOSC starts its work in total reliance on God’s guidance. Please, pray for the right spirit and openness for God’s leadership.”

Although women have functioned in various ministry roles from the beginnings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, ordination has come up as an issue before church leaders several times in the recent past. At present, the Church does not ordain women to ministry, following votes at General Conference sessions in 1990 and 1995 on the question, where the issue was a major focus of the international deliberations.

By Mark Kellner Source: Adventist Review

THEOLOGY OF ORDINATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Report on antisemitism allegations against Walter Veith

Amazing Discoveries reports on antisemitism allegations made against Walter Veith, an ordained evangelist in South Africa who is one of its main speakers. "It is probable that the people who lodged the complaint are the group from EANN (the German equivalent of SPECTRUM MAGAZINE) because they propagated such action immediately after the lecture," Veith said in a letter dated Nov. 28, 2012, to the Transvaal Conference. While EANN was originally involved in a complaint against Veith to the German Union, it has declined responsibility for the inquiry "lodged at the public prosecutor’s office in Nuremberg to investigate whether Walter Veith in the said presentation had commited [sic] sedition," according to Amazing Discoveries. It is still unknown who made the inquiry.

Below is the beginning of Amazing Discoveries' full report regarding Veith's situation, along with correspondence between Veith and church leaders:

On October 20, 2012, Walter Veith preached the lecture “King of the North (Part 2)” from the new series Repairing the Breach in German [German title Sturm aus dem Norden] in Marienberg SDA Church in Nurnberg, Germany, to an audience of approximately 350 people. The lecture was also live-streamed to approximately 1500 people. Almost immediately after the presentation, Walter Veith received violent opposition by way of an article by EANN about his claims of Freemason/Jesuit involvement in the creation of the State in Israel after WWII and the way he expressed himself in regards to the Jews during Hitler’s regime. Although EANN is run by a few Adventist individuals, it is not an official institution of the SDA church in Germany but a privately funded online news magazine that designates itself as an “Independent Journal for Religion, Church and Society”. Three points specifically were brought up as points of contention:

• The usage of the words “little yellow cloth” [German “gelbes Tüchlein”] in reference to the markings the Jewish people had to wear during the post Napoleonic era and during Hitler’s regime.
• The usage of the word “herded” when referring to the situation of the Jews after the end of the war as a result of Hitler’s persecution and their transference to the newly formed State of Israel, as well as the lack of compassion on the part of many countries, including Canada, the UK, and others who refused entrance to Jews that had escaped the Nazi totalitarian regime.
• The use of quotes from the book Facts are Facts by the Jewish author Benjamin Freedman, as evidence that most Jews aren’t really of Jewish descent, because Freedman is considered an anti-Semitic.

The writer of the EANN article felt these comments were derogatory towards the Jews and as a result raised severe opposition towards Walter Veith, accusing him of anti-Semitism and a “relativization of the holocaust” because Walter connected it to secret plans to create a modern Jewish State in Palestine.

When the SDA leadership of the two German unions was confronted with these allegations, including a personal letter of the EANN author to the two union presidents, it attempted to make contact with Veith without success. Since they felt that the situation was potentially explosive in nature the German Union (including the SDA administrators of Austria and Switzerland) decided to take immediate action by publishing a statement which condemned in very strong terms Veith’s usage of “herding” and “little yellow cloth”, his manner of dealing with other religions as well as his supposed “conspiracy theories” about the involvement of secret societies in history and in general. They requested that local churches not provide a platform for “events like this”. The statement was to be circulated via email to all pastors and elders, via Adventist press agencies, and printed in the monthly church organ “Adventisten Heute”. Furthermore, the document was styled as a reiteration of an official 2005 statement of the German speaking SDA church where it confessed its shortcomings during the time of the Nazi regime thus lending momentous significance to the statement against Walter Veith.

As soon as Walter returned to South Africa, he wrote the following letter to the German brethren explaining that he did not mean anything derogatory in his remarks, and that the expression “little yellow cloth” was due to German being his second language. (Read full report)

Bridging the gap

God Speaks

I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people who are full of sin and not thankful. Luke 6:35

My Response

“I do not want to do it! I cannot do it! But help me do it anyway.”

Bridging The Gap

I am ashamed of it, but I must confess its truth. I have read this verse numerous times without ever really considering what it means. Recently, I have had to consider it more closely.

Law school is not a safe place. God is not mentioned there. It is a place where religion is a byword. Needless to say, my trip to law school significantly challenged to my way of thinking. Life is no longer neat and clean.

The difficulties I faced in school did not come from wicked unbelievers who assaulted my faith by spewing forth heresies. Rather, my troubles arose from my reading of Scripture. My challenges materialized when I realized that Jesus was not merely calling me to be “pure,” but to be and do something entirely new. He was asking me to “love my enemies.”

Now, you say, “What is the problem? You seem like a nice chap, and therefore probably did not have any enemies in school. And, even if you did, why could you not love them?”

I Do Not Want To! I cannot do it!

Well, there were two reasons why I could not love them. Ready?

First, my classmates were really bad people. I mean it! I will not list my reasons for saying this, as I am sure that you can imagine some gross sins without my assistance (and your imagination would probably be right in this case).

As a “good” person, I had nothing in common with these people--nothing! As a result, I was neither universally liked nor appreciated. I would even say that I had some enemies. I came to terms with this reality. I was even content with leaving them alone. “At least I will remain pure,” I thought.

But then everything changed. I read Luke 6:35: “I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people who are full of sin and not thankful.”

Wow!

I told God that I could not do it. I said, “They are awful! They do not like me! I do not like them! I simply cannot love them!” I really struggled with the idea of loving my enemies.

Despite my resistance, Luke 6:35 did not change. I really wanted it to change, but it did not budge. Finally, I gave in and told God that I was willing to do it--to love those scofflaws.

This brought me to the second hurdle, which was twice as challenging as the first. This obstacle was more difficult because Jesus had something specific in mind when He said, “love your enemies.” He did not mean for the command to merely be aspirational. Rather, the text was to be applied practically. This troubled me because I wanted to love my classmates inwardly. You know, I expected to think happy thoughts about my enemies and maybe, if they were lucky, I would smile at them once in a while.

Well that is not what Jesus had in mind.

Right there in Luke 6:35, I read that we are to “do good” to our enemies. To give, expecting nothing in return. Then I read that we are to “forgive” our enemies (verse 37). And, finally, I went to Matthew’s rendition of the passage and found that I was to “pray” for my enemies (Matthew 5: 44). Jesus wanted me to do three things to love those “evil” people. I was to: serve; forgive; and pray for them.

When I realized what God wanted me to do, I seriously considered returning to what I fondly refer to as my “purity theology” because I recognized that it was a lot easier to keep myself clean by avoiding flawed people than to actually practice Bible religion.

I again had a choice.

After much deliberation, I surrendered to God. I attempted to put His words into practice. Although my efforts were by no means perfect, I worked to fulfill Christ’s calling to serve, forgive, and pray for my enemies.

Results?

I do not know if my efforts changed my classmates. I can honestly say, however, that applying God’s word to my life changed me. It helped me realize that I was not so good after all--that I, like my classmates, was in need of grace (I highly recommend the word “grace”; if you have not done so already, add it to your lexicon, for it is grace that helps us do the impossible--to be aligned with God).

Grace bridges the gap

I graduated in May of this year. Just prior to commencement, some of the younger students at the law school formed a Christian organization. This organization is still going strong today. I like to think that God’s realignment of my thinking may have helped establish this group and ultimately changed my school for Christ’s sake.

Now, think what God can do if we continue to take Him at His word! Blessings!

Child TV star Angus T. Jones is baptized into SDA Church

Actor Angus T. Jones, best known for his role as “Jake Harper” on the hit television show “Two and a Half Men,” has become a Seventh-day Adventist. Jones plays the son of “Alan Harper” (played by actor Jon Cryer) and the nephew of “Charlie Harper” (played by Charlie Sheen before he left the show and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher). Jones was born in Austin, Texas. His family moved to California when he was four years old, when his father took a job working for a relative who lived about an hour west of Los Angeles. Jones' parents decided to see if he could become a child actor, and he met with rare early success, appearing in several television commercials. At the age of eight, Jones auditioned for “Two and a Half Men,” a show created by producer and “show runner” Chuck Lorre. After three meetings, the last of which was a reading with Sheen, Jones was given the role. The show became a ratings winner, and has run for ten seasons (notwithstanding that star Charlie Sheen was fired during the eighth season after making disparaging personal comments about Lorre).

Jones attended a Christian school when not on the set; when he was shooting, studio tutors kept him up to date with the classwork at his school. Midway through his senior year in high school, Jones began to be strongly drawn to God. During a conversation with a school friend, Jones felt what he later described as a “baptism of the Holy Spirit;” he felt that God was using his friend to prompt him to change his life and take his religion seriously. Jones visited a variety of Sunday churches, often several in one day, but did not find one that seemed a good fit for him.

Through a friend who “could never go out with us on Friday Night,” Jones learned of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and began attending the Valley Crossroads Church, a predominantly black SDA church in Pacoima, in the northeastern San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles. The first time he attended, the pastor's message spoke to him personally in a powerful way. After attending Valley Crossroads for several weeks, Jones was approached by the church's Bible worker, Nelson Jones, and asked if he wanted to study the Bible. Angus was impressed by what he was shown and eventually made a decision to be baptized. He was baptized on the Friday evening before he graduated from high school, with several relatives and family members present. He continues to learn and grow in the faith, and currently attends meetings on Monday and Thursday nights.

Jones' interview with Connie Vandeman Jeffery at the Adventist Channel can be seen here:

Jones has also given an interview to Christianity Today, which can be read here:

Although baptizing a celebrity presents the Seventh-day Adventist Church with opportunities for publicity, in this instance it has caused our Church more headaches than benefits. Unfortunately, Jones gave a video interview--subsequently uploaded to YouTube--to an independent interviewer, not affiliated with the official church, who holds a number of eccentric and conspiracy-oriented views. Tabloids and celebrity gossip sites in the United States and even Great Britain have wrongly characterized the interviewer as Jones' “spiritual advisor” and, worse, have attributed the interviewer's eccentric personal views to the larger Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Jones' public testimony has created a professional conflict in his own life, as well. “Two and a Half Men” glorifies the Charlie Sheen character's playboy lifestyle, depicting him in numerous casual encounters with numerous women--obviously, the show did not call for Sheen to play anyone other than himself--while depicting the Jon Cryer character, who pines for the ex-wife who divorced him, as a hapless loser. In the interview uploaded to YouTube, Jones called the show “filth” and urged viewers of the interview not to watch the show. Naturally, a highly-paid actor (Jones reportedly earns upward of $300,000 per episode) telling people not to watch his show created a buzz on celebrity gossip and showbiz sites. On November 27th, Jones' publicist issued a statement that affirmed Jones' gratefulness to the producers, writers, cast and crew of the show, but pointedly did not retract Jones' stated view that the show is not appropriate viewing for a Christian believer:

“I am grateful to and have the highest regard and respect for all of the wonderful people on Two and Half Men with whom I have worked over the past ten years and who have become an extension of my family. . . . I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that.”

The problems created by one rogue interview demonstrate how careful and discreet the church needs to be with regard to celebrity members. It would have been good idea to assign Jones a church publicist shortly after his baptism to advise him on public statements and interviews. Such a procedure might have spared Jones and the Church the considerable embarrassment the bad interview has caused both. It is to be hoped that this incident will prompt the church to develop a policy for future such situations, even though they will be very rare.

The falling mantle: from Anabaptist to Advent believer

My mantle was a black, broad-brimmed hat and pants that buttoned

And then a new mantle fell. It was called

"the Advent Movement."

American religious history is filled with churches you’ll never find on 5th Avenue or, for that matter, on main street in Paducah, Kentucky. Hundreds are listed in any comprehensive handbook of denominations. Just for a sampling, you’ll encounter such oddities as the Dunkards and Shakers, the Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists, Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association, Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, and, if that isn’t enough, the Old German Baptist Brethren.

That was my church, as it had been for seven generations of my family.

It’s not anymore, and that’s the reason for this story.

Most of you’ve probably never heard of an Old German Baptist congregation and surely have not attended one--though recently Perspective Digest printed an Adventist pastor’s report of visiting one in Washington State. Old German Baptists originated in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708. A blend of Mennonite, Anabaptist, and Pietism, they moved to American in 1729, where they found freedom to worship God in peace. Today they number only about 5,200, and are generally viewed as either Amish or Mennonites. Think of them as Amish in Chrysler Minivans.

Certainly nothing in my childhood motivated me to leave my church. Boyhood memories overflow with scenes of sincere worship and fellowship. That 80 percent of German Baptist youth remain in the church is testimony to the attraction of the German Brethren way of life. My people have ever valued hard work; thus the skill to start one’s own business is treasured more than an academic degree. So it was with me. I had 25 years of construction experience under my belt when I turned 40 last year. I also had a solid, TV-free education in the ABCs and enough of the rest of the alphabet to know the difference between good and evil.

Elijah’s Mantle

As you might expect of a church with direct ties to the Anabaptist Reformers, membership doesn’t come like royal birth; you make the choice for believer’s baptism when you’re ready, not before. For me, this choice came in 1984, two years after marriage. I was baptized in the chilly spring that flowed through my Uncle Carl’s farm in Covington, Ohio. I witnessed no heavenly phenomenon as I brushed the water from my eyes--just the quiet realization that I was carrying the torch for another generation. My fellow members expected this of me, and I determined to fulfill my twentieth-century Anabaptist role as best I could.

An ancient story stoked my determination. In my mind’s eye I saw Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan. They stood for a moment, the hand of the elder resting gently on the shoulder of the younger. A request is made, a conditional promise given, and they move on. Then, a celestial chariot swoops down, and Elijah steps on board. Behind he leaves only the emblem of a fulfilled promise. Nothing on earth is so precious to Elijah as that old piece of cloth. . . that old piece of Elijah’s mantle. Twelve years ago the Lord led me back to this story and left me with the conviction that I too had been given a mantle. My mantle was a black broad-brimmed hat and pants that buttoned. (No genuine mantle would have a zipper.) And it came with a question every believer must answer: Did your mantle fall from heaven or from men?  Little did I know at that moment the answer I must give....

My Better Half

My wife’s name is Nancy [Nancy Riley]. (She has no middle name, Roland. There were 12-children and they evidently ran out..). She grew up in Scottville, Michigan, with her eleven siblings in a barn converted into a house. Like me, she completed a total of eleven grades of education. Unfortunately she received her diploma through a GED program 2-years ago. Now she’s a lot smarter than me, a little fact that comes up occasionally.

How did we meet? At church of course. Nancy and I saw each other across crowded rooms from 1977-1980. Instantly we knew. That it was too crowded-I mean. We finally met after church one night in Maple Grove, Ohio (October 25, 1981). I was 21 years old, and Nancy was 18. My older sister was so excited that we were finally meeting, that she stood faithfully by my side and answered every question that Nancy asked me. My sister  meant well. As Nancy and I stood outside under the shadow of those beautiful fall-colored maple trees for which the place was named, the trees were almost ugly by comparison.

As a baptized member of the church, Nancy wore a dress made according to pattern. Her modest dresses differed only in pattern and color from that of other German Baptist women. She also wore a lace "prayer covering" --symbolic of the head covering (veil) Paul advocates in his letter to Corinth. She was now living in Ohio with close friends of her family. Unable to erase the memory of her from my mind, I phoned her two nights later. She said yes.

Our first date consisted of attending a baptizing together. I picked her up and we went to church that night, joining 150 other German Baptists to witness the immersion of four young people into the church. I had attended a hundred of these events throughout my childhood, but this was a magic evening. Not yet a member of the church, I was already feeling the clarion call to commit my life to the way of my fathers. I knew that I would walk down into that water someday soon. What was I waiting on? I was waiting until I was completely ready, because I wanted to give the Lord my all. However, I must confess that the young woman at my side consumed most of my attention that evening.

Our second date (courtship) consisted in going to church together again at a communion time for the Stillwater congregation of German Baptists (near Dayton Ohio). People had journeyed a few hundred miles to convene in this annual communion service. Nancy and I were excited to be together again. After seven months of dating (on Mother’s day 1982), I asked Nancy another question. She said yes, and we were married in the fall of 1982-almost a year after we began being sweethearts.

We were united on October 2, 1982 in Brookville, Ohio. It is not the custom of my people to conduct weddings inside their church buildings--thus we were married in a community center owned by my Uncle Glen Miller. Another uncle of mine performed the ceremony--the same one in whose creek I was baptized (Carl Bowman). He did a good job--like always.

Probably 200 guests were present. Decorations were very modest (maybe a few flowers and some candles). Nancy wore a white dress made in the uniform pattern of the church and I (because I wasn’t yet a member of the church) wore a rented tuxedo. Pretty snazzy stuff.

Normally, a member of the church is not encouraged to marry a non-member, but in this case, people knew that it was just a matter of time before I made my commitment to God. The Lord soon gave us two sons, Dylan and Nathan. They are 16 and 13 as I write this.

By late 1986, I had been a baptized member of the Old German Baptist Brethren church for almost three years. It was a good life; I felt comfortable in the approval of my peers.

In October of 1986 Nan served me our usual breakfast of bacon and eggs. I drank my usual cup of orange juice, carried my breakfast dishes as usual, kissed Nancy on the cheek as usual, and headed out to my business workshop--again, as usual. Little did I know that the Lord was planning something most unusual for me. He was about to deliver a mantle, a mantle that constituted a potentially life-changing question--Had it come from God or from man?

Nights of the Burning Heart

Next month (November), Nancy and I shared a Saturday evening meal in the home of a business partner (Eric and Shirley Rich, the couple who Nancy had lived with here in Ohio). As we ate, Eric showed me a colorful brochure that had been put into his mailbox advertising something called a Daniel and Revelation seminar. Eric and I discussed it at length, and we finally decided to attend the opening meeting that very night. Knowing the suspicion with which our church colleagues regarded anything our church had not originated, we didn’t advertise our decision and determined that if it wasn’t "good," we wouldn’t go back. Though I can’t speak for the rest of the audience that night, I can tell you that two German Baptist listeners were bit between the ears with something powerful, something not of this earth! There was indeed a revelation of Jesus Christ, and I found myself irresistibly drawn to him.

On the following Monday night Eric and I gathered up our families and returned. Early! Got a good seat. Night after night the Holy Spirit opened my mind to hitherto unseen Bible truths. Like the disciples of old on the Emmaus Road, we said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us as he opened the Scriptures to us?" I attended all twenty-one of the remaining meetings, even after circumstances prevented Eric from returning. By the close of the seminar I had learned three compelling truths:

The Bible is held together by extraordinary power. That power is a Person. That person is Jesus, the Christ!

A Complete Nitwit

The evangelist preacher was Dr. Pieter Barkhuizen. A powerful preacher from South Africa, he was the Ohio Conference Evangelist for a while. About 45 years old, he and his wife Yvonne made a good team for truth. To these great foundational truths, Pieter had added others: the conditional immortality of the soul, the impending judgment all must face, the everlasting gospel, the Sabbath rest, and the panoramic view of redemptive history (Great Controversy). These wonderful revelations were like water from a deep well, all pointing to Jesus and his unbelievable love. Now I had a problem! Where had these truths been for seven generations? "Where were you, Jesus? Why have these plain truths been hidden from me?" I was shaken to the core. Revelation seminar indeed!

I did the only thing I could think of. I got out my Bible and began to study it carefully. Maybe I’d missed something. Seven generations can’t be wrong! So I resolved to disprove this new message. During the next two years of intensive study, I learned that if a pillar of faith topples, it is a false pillar, without biblical foundation.

At the end of two years of research, I had earned the suspicion of my wife, who silently observed her well-respected husband confirm a message he had sought to refute. Her fears were realized: I was about to go from well-respected husband and church member to complete nitwit in the eyes of my family and erstwhile friends. Had I mistaken the strictures of conviction that bound me for a mantle? I was sorely torn between the pull of my heritage and the power of the Advent message. One night in the spring of 1988, I fell to my knees and prayed with the intensity of one faced with loss of home and heritage. "Father, please help me! You alone know and understand the struggle within me. Take it out of my hands. May your will be done."

That did it. When morning broke, a startling series of events revealed the guidance of a heavenly hand. God had heard. Now he was guiding. I had passed through my Gethsemane. My feet were directed step by step in the path of the Advent movement. And, believe me, not one step went unreported! Rumors spread from Ohio to California and back again, embellished several times over. In two weeks I became a social and spiritual pariah. Through it all I clung to the revelation of Jesus Christ that had challenged and then transformed my heart. I recall thinking that it should really bother me to walk away from the heritage of my forefathers, but it hadn’t. Nothing mattered to me but doing the will of my heavenly Father. Nothing. The Advent mantle had fallen in my path. I picked it up and made it mine. Jesus is coming soon, and I wanted to be ready!

Walking Together

Walking away from seven centuries of tradition--particularly in such a close-knit distinctive body as that of the Old German Baptist Brethren--is never easy nor casually done. But for me it was the only road to peace. I surrendered to God in late 1988, and the peace he brought still warms my heart. On January 7th of 1989, I was baptized into the Advent Movement without Nancy’s support. Only a husband or wife can know the trauma and tension when only one is baptized into a new faith, particularly when one continues to live with neighbors of the old tradition. You can imagine my joy when, on August 19, 1989, Nancy ended her own spiritual struggle and joined me in the fellowship of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Once again, no divine presence appeared over the Wagoner household to signal God’s approval to the community. Nor did a heavenly being make itself visible in our kitchen or workshop. However, the Scriptures I had loved as a boy blossomed into living truths, foremost that one who said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6 NW). And that presence is indeed a heavenly phenomenon.

Reflections

Now, as a defender of the Advent heritage, I find myself asking whether Adventists can learn anything from the descendants of the Anabaptists. You bet!  Let’s start with............

Simplicity

Funny how modesty and simplicity often keep company. Take clothing, for example. My wife and I occasionally find ourselves missing the simplicity of our Anabaptist days. We share a longing sharpened by the world’s fascination with seduction. We see attire (or the lack of it) in Adventist pews--seductive attire-that would not have made it up the aisle of our former church. There. Got that off my chest! Simplicity has other dimensions, like never feeling any pressure to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. We can cultivate a virtue treasured by my family from my boyhood--the virtue of gratefulness stripped of material competition. (However, I do suspect that some of my grandfather’s friends may have occasionally coveted their neighbor’s new buggy or horse-drawn plow. On this point, the Lord may have some sanctification to develop in both pastures.)

Manual skills

Good craftsmanship is a receding shoreline in America. I know this as a contractor. People are slowly losing the desire and ability to work skillfully with their hands. The Anabaptists have moved into this vacuum, surprised at first to learn that the skills they take for granted are highly prized. My Amish cousin Abe once hung his head when he showed me a beautiful handmade bureau chest he had made for a daughter. "I’m not really a craftsman like the man down the road," he apologized. I almost laughed out loud. In New York City they would fight each other for a chance to own one of his oak and walnut bureaus. No cheap plastic in this masterpiece.

Sure, it could be argued that Amish technology is sub par; after all, they use air saws and hand tools to get the job done. But in this setting, skill is an easy master over the electrical cord. Hands can be trained, as were the Lord’s in his youth. Most Anabaptist daughters are taught at minimum the invaluable skills of cooking and sewing, well fitting them to be homemakers.

Historically, Adventists have placed a premium upon academics linked to vocational skills. I’ve learned that until a few decades ago, one could not graduate from an Adventist college without having acquired aptitude in some vocation. Perhaps it was inevitable that in an increasingly urban-oriented age exploding with new discoveries, that church members would gravitate to population centers. I’m happy, of course, for the Adventist church’s medical ministry, though teaching how to live and alter lifestyles, emphasized in the early sanitariums, seems to have been substantially diminished in America. As for education, I’m all for it, when it’s the right kind. Some types close more doors than they open. Somehow, I think I’d be even happier if Adventist youth were being taught quality manual skills. This was good enough for the Lord, it should be good enough for his church. May he grant each of us a degree in wisdom.

Family Togetherness.

I read much today about parents spending quality time with their children. The term seems to excuse a minimum of time with them if one shouts love instead of whispering it. Quality time doesn’t come during a 70-mile-per-hour day; it comes in quiet times when time itself slows down and love blossoms. It begins when we learn it’s okay to say no for the sake of the family. We need to ask whether it’s really necessary for both father and mother to work. Or is it made necessary only by our desire for the things of a world that is passing away? Most Anabaptists have avoided this pitfall. They also take the marriage vow seriously and look for ways to strengthen the union rather than for loopholes to put asunder what the Lord has joined. I’m grateful for their example.

I must also reflect for a moment on the harmonious alliance between the genders of my former people. Men and women gratefully accept their own roles and live in peace. The lines are clear and without friction between them. I am grateful for this example too.

Entertainment

Most Anabaptists grow up without a television set, as Nancy and I did. After we became Adventists, we tried havine a TV for two months, the time it took for us to see what television is made of and that it "ain’t gittin any better" (as Grandma would say). So we threw the set out, along with its sinister influence. When people ask why we don’t have one, we just say, "We can’t afford it." And that surely is true.

Another reason: We are having too much fun without one. We have a woodworking shop out behind the house, where the whole family can get excited about a project. We have a designated welding area also. We also have a dirt bike track back in the woods, where you could often find Dylan-16, Nathan-13, and me. We have a softball field in our four-acre yard. We’re just too busy for Hollywood. Yes, we’ve got enough money for a TV. But, as I said, we just can’t afford it. I hope you can’t either.

Wearing the Mantle

Isn’t there something the Anabaptists can learn from us? Yes. Much! So much. Just look at the precious truths that the Lord has given us, truths that were lost sight of throughout the Middle Ages. Truths that were trampled during the long age of apostasy and persecution. The Anabaptists, their tree planted firmly on the Reformation waterside, often paid the supreme price as they sought to pass on the doctrine of Believer’s baptism. But like the other Reformers, they laid down their spiritual weapons too early, and spent their remaining energy holding onto the truths they had rather than continuing their search. Thus it remained for the Lord to raise up a small band in the 1800s who were willing to challenge the world with the news that Jesus is coming again.

Today my Anabaptist friends desperately need many of the Scriptural insights that we Adventists have. Too few have a desire to look deeper into Bible teachings. Too often they simply set their feet in the path to truths grandpa walked. “If it was good enough for Grandpa ........". Knowing the power of the truth that laid hold of me, I am persuaded that many of my former brethren will stand with me when they discover what I discovered in the Scriptures--not simply academic truths intellectually presented and absorbed. Rather, the truth as it is in Jesus. Powerful! Living! Convicting!

Look! There’s a mantle on the ground in front of you. Old. Worn. Threadbare. Lacking the luster of discovery. A mantle that symbolizes how some who have been long in the way--years, decades, centuries--regard truth. Yes, them, descendants of the Anabaptists. But also us, descendants of the Adventist pioneers.

No parent can put that mantle on our shoulders. No grandparent. It doesn’t work that way. It works the way it did with me. A Bible in hand. Knees bent in prayer. Conviction pressed home on the heart by the Holy Spirit.

There’s a mantle in front of you! Pick it up, my friend. Look at it. Ask yourself: Did your mantle fall from heaven or from men?

A musician’s perspective on contemporary christian music

It is not my purpose in this article to cast moral judgment on contemporary Christian music. What I hope to show, rather, is a musician’s perspective on how a trend toward contemporary Christian music affects a church and its worship service. The last two times I’ve been to Loma Linda University Church, the worship service has been led by younger people, and all of the songs that they chose would fit into the contemporary Christian genus. Up until very recently, LLUC sung primarily hymns during church. (They might go back to hymns next week—two Sabbaths is not a statistically significant sample.) I believe that the atmosphere of the worship service and the reaction of the church to the songs and the song leaders are instructive, particularly because the congregation was not used to such worship services. (Only the style was unfamiliar. The songs chosen were known by all, young and old, and the words were on the screen.) Just to clarify, the music was not loud, nor was it accompanied by drums.

The most obvious change from previous Sabbaths was that the congregation barely sang. There were people quietly mumbling along, but very few people engaged in any of the songs, and many of the people politely did nothing. There are various reasons for this, having to do with both the song leaders and the music.

First, the musicians almost always treat this type of song service as a performance. The people that wrote many of these songs wrote them for the purpose of performing them at their Christian Rock concerts, and the song leaders have carried on the tradition of performing on stage. The problem with this is that performance is diametrically opposed to congregational worship. When one has the attitude of a performer, he or she seeks to become the center of the audience’s attention, rather than leading the congregation to focus its attention on God. The difference can be quite subtle. It is possible to be a humble and soft-spoken performer, and still fail to focus the audience’s attention on God.

The music itself has characteristics that inhibit people from engaging in worship as well. The first has to do with the intellectual level of the music. When I teach a child to play the piano, the first thing they learn is to play a single melody line. A short while later, they learn to add simple chords to the melody line. In a few more days or weeks (if they practice), they are playing songs that contain simultaneous melodic lines in both hands (think of simple works by J. S. Bach). Eventually, the students move on to three- and four-part works of ever increasing complexity (think of “O Sacred Head” or “Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light”). These songs actually have four simultaneous lines of music. Each line has a melodic beauty of its own, and together they form a work of sublime harmonic beauty and interest. When a person has grown up singing hymns, they have been educated in an art form that calls forth the higher levels of intellectual appreciation and aesthetic response. The bulk of contemporary Christian music is stuck at the second stage of music education that I listed above—simple melodies accompanied by simple chords. I think that one of the main reasons hymn-singing congregations feel uncomfortable with contemporary Christian music is that it pulls them back to their second month of childhood music lessons. As an analogy, think how a congregation would feel if a visiting pastor got up to preach a sermon, and started acting out the cradle roll lesson with a perfectly straight face.

A related problem is that the song leaders often pick keys that are too high or too low for some of the people in the congregation. This can be a problem with hymns, too, but when a church sings hymns out of the hymnal, there is a ready solution: sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses each have their own part written out for them. One might think I’m asking too much of congregations here, but I know from much experience that there are very few people in the world who cannot learn to sing well, and most people who do not think they have much musical talent can actually learn to sing in parts with a few years of practice. (It really can take a few years.)

This brings me to an educational consideration. At the academy I attended, we sang hymns and choral songs for several hours a week. Choir was mandatory, and we performed regularly. After a year or two (or occasionally three or four) at the school, most of the students had the capacity to sing well as part of a group and had learned to enjoy singing. Every time we sang, the church rang with rich four-part harmony. When it came to learning new songs, there were enough good readers in the church to carry most any hymn on the first or second run through. All of this was accomplished mostly by mere exposure to the music, rather than dedicated attempts by the faculty to educate us in music.

On the contrary, I’ve noticed that the trappings of contemporary Christian music generally correlate with an overall decline in the musical ability of congregations. The first problematic characteristic of the contemporary style of worship is the movement away from hymnals and written music, which is related to the educational problems mentioned above. This virtually guarantees complete musical illiteracy in all the members of the congregation that do not actively seek out a musical education elsewhere. The second such characteristic is the move away from traditional instruments like the piano and the organ, which are more conducive to a higher level of musical education than guitars or drums, and are much better for leading congregations in four-part harmony. These factors combine to make learning new music cumbersome and limit the complexity of the new songs that are introduced.

Finally, I have noticed that there is an inverse relationship between the volume coming from the stage and the volume of the audience’s singing. The obvious reason is that most full-fledged contemporary Christian praise services are so loud that they do not allow anyone to really hear his or her own voice. In this setting, people feel that they are not contributing to the worship service by singing. The result is that very few people even try to compete with the sound system. On many occasions, I’ve witnessed the congregation spontaneously start singing when the band cut out for a few bars, only to stop and settle back into audience mode when the band came back in.

Supporters of contemporary worship often object that young people will not come to church or get involved with the worship service if we do not play contemporary Christian music. Music appreciation, however, is primarily an issue of education. I have, at various times in my life, appreciated nearly every musical style invented since the dawn of Western musical notation back in the Dark Ages, including modern classical music that very few people can tolerate for more than a few seconds. (In fact, I wrote a thesis on such music.) As I mentioned above, contemporary Christian music is more accessible to those with a very limited musical education, but the fact that it does not seek to improve the musical education of the congregation is a fatal flaw. Singing beautifully as a congregation requires some education and effort. We should, as congregations, strive to make beautiful singing a reality, and in so doing, we will bring up our children to appreciate music of the highest quality.

Adventist president calls for December 1 Day of Prayer, fasting to support falsely accused members

Seventh-day Adventist world church President Ted N. C. Wilson today called for an International Day of Prayer and Fasting on December 1 to rally support for the release of two Adventists currently imprisoned in the West African country of Togo. Wilson and top church executives who voted the emphasis day at a November 20 morning business meeting said the event will raise awareness of the plight of Antonio dos Anjos Monteiro, Sabbath School and Personal Ministries director for the church’s Sahel Union Mission, headquartered in Lome; and Bruno Amah, an Adventist lay member and businessman in Lome.

Adventist lawyers and human rights activists have called for both men’s release since they were detained in March for conspiracy to commit murder. A Togolese man implicated Monteiro and Amah as conspirators in an alleged blood trafficking network, but a police search of Monteiro’s home and local church headquarters did not produce evidence. Since then, local authorities have recognized both men’s innocence.

Diplomatic efforts to secure both men’s release are expected to continue. Today church leaders established a working group to oversee efforts led by John Graz, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Adventist world church. Church leaders are enlisting the support of members worldwide to raise further awareness through a social media campaign to promote the December 1 Day of Prayer.

“We are asking the entire world Seventh-day Adventist Church to join in prayer and fasting on December 1,” Wilson said. The world church leader met with both men in prison earlier this month during a tour of West Africa.

“These are falsely accused, innocent church members and we are pleading with the Lord for his intervention so that they can be reunited with their families and continue their work,” he said.

ANN Staff

Try a non-GMO Thanksgiving

Try something different this year for Thanksgiving--go non-GMO!

In Togo, Cape Verdean Adventist pastor imprisoned on dubious charges

The Northern Asia-Pacific Division is asking members to prayer for the immediate release of Antonio dos Anjos Monteiro who was detained in March for conspiracy to commit murder. https://twitter.com/nsdadventist/status/270926119149133824

Seventh-day Adventist lawyers and human rights advocates are calling for the immediate release of an Adventist pastor imprisoned in Togo on what they say are spurious charges.

Antonio dos Anjos Monteiro was detained in March for conspiracy to commit murder after a Togolese man implicated him and two other Christians, one an Adventist, as conspirators in an alleged blood trafficking network.

The accuser had earlier confessed to the murder of some 20 young girls, claiming he worked for a criminal ring that trafficked human blood. The man had met Monteiro when the pastor previously ministered to him.

Monteiro, a native of Cape Verde, has served as the church’s Sabbath School and Personal Ministries director for the Sahel Union Mission, headquartered in Lome, Togo, since 2009.

Even though a police search of Monteiro’s home and local church headquarters failed to turn up evidence, local newspapers earlier this year published inflammatory photos depicting containers of blood alongside stories detailing the allegations against Monteiro.

“To say that Monteiro is innocent I think almost goes without saying,” said Todd McFarland, an associate general counsel in the Office of General Counsel at Adventist world church headquarters.

“The suggestion that an Adventist pastor would hire someone to murder young girls and then traffic their blood is bizarre, fanciful and false," he said.

Public pressure to solve last year’s string of murders, however, continues to thwart his release and exoneration, McFarland said. Prior to Monteiro’s arrest, human rights groups had accused Togolese police of not doing enough to solve the crimes.

In mid-September, church leaders met with government officials in Togo to expedite the case. The group included Gilbert Wari, president of the church’s West-Central Africa Division, which oversees Togo; John Graz, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Adventist world church; McFarland; and a lawyer from the church’s Sahel Union Mission.

“[The lawyer] is very hopeful. She said our visit created a strong impact on the government,” Wari said.

“At first we could see that the government thought they were just dealing with a small church in the corner, but now with this level of support and mobilization, they see that the Adventist Church is a worldwide church,” he said.

The Adventist Church's top international liaison is currently working with the ambassador of Togo to help secure Monterio’s release.

“The ambassador cordially welcomed me and promised to contact high level officials from the president’s cabinet to facilitate the release of Pastor Monteiro,” said Ganoune Diop, the church’s representative to the United Nations. Diop, who met with the ambassador in July, has since requested a follow-up meeting.

Graz said he wants governments to know that an innocent Seventh-day Adventist facing arbitrary detention is not alone.

“He has millions of brothers and sisters around the world ready to rally in support. We will do everything in our power to help get Monteiro released, and we are confident that justice will prevail.”

There are more than 5,300 Adventist church members in Togo, and close to 880,000 in the church’s West-Central Africa Division.

Monteiro, who was initially held in solitary confinement in jail for 14 days, has since been transferred to the Civil Prison of Lome, where pre-trial detainees such as himself are held together with convicted felons.

Despite deplorable prison conditions, Graz said Monteiro remains “optimistic and in good health.”

“We strongly believe that Monteiro is a modern-day Joseph,” Wari said, referencing a Biblical story in which an Old Testament figure is falsely imprisoned. “Everything seemed desperate and hopeless, but God was working and he was able to glorify his holy name through the crisis.”

By Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN

La Sierra rejects gay, lesbian club

The Press Enterprise, a newspaper covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties in Calif., covered a story about a group of gay and lesbian students trying to become an officially recognized club at La Sierra University.

A group of gay and lesbian students at La Sierra University is trying again to gain official recognition for their club, six months after the university denied it because of Seventh-day Adventist Church teachings on homosexuality.

The club, Prism, reapplied for recognition last month, hoping that attitudes of members of the 2,400-student Adventist university's Student Life Committee have changed, said Prism president Rebecca Kern. "It's also a way for us to say out loud that we're not going away," said Kern, 23, a fourth-year student who is lesbian and Adventist. Prism members are holding their first public event Saturday, Nov. 17, but the mix of workshops and entertainment is taking place at UC Riverside because La Sierra doesn't permit non-sanctioned clubs to hold events on campus.

Non-approved clubs cannot promote their events on campus with leaflets or postings in university buildings, and they cannot reserve campus meeting rooms.

La Sierra spokesman Larry Becker said organizations viewed as violating Adventist beliefs cannot gain recognition.

"The committee felt that while the university values all students and is against harassment in all forms, this group's mission does not align with Seventh-day Adventist beliefs on sexuality," he said. "La Sierra is a Seventh-day Adventist university, so we support the values of the SDA Church. That is why they were turned down." (Read more)

NPUC FAQ page on women's ordination issue

The following is taken from NPUC FAQ page: Why is the North Pacific Union Conference (NPUC) discussing the topic of women’s ordination?

Our Seventh-day Adventist Church, since the early pioneers and Ellen White’s own ministry, has stood for the priesthood of all believers not restricted to age, ethnicity or gender. Because this issue has been discussed for decades and recently brought to a head by recent decisions of other union conferences, many members and leaders have asked NPUC leadership to address it candidly and objectively. Although our current NPUC bylaws do not preclude the ordination of women, we feel it is important to examine biblical counsel and the good advice of our Northwest believers.

Does this place the NPUC in a position contrary to world church policy?

We do not believe so, and have not currently taken any position that would contradict our church’s official stance. We respect our world church leadership and understand the challenges they face in addressing diverse cultural norms around the world. Yet our church structure, with its geographical divisions, unions and local conferences, is uniquely set up to adapt the outreach of its mission and message to cultural differences. Since union conferences have been tasked with the responsibility of determining ordinations within their territories, the NPUC feels this topic is important and appropriate to address here.

What about the world church study on the theology of ordination? How will that impact any NPUC action?

That world church committee is tasked with bringing a report in 2014. It is possible but not certain that it will be an agenda item at the 2015 General Conference session. Some have actively wondered if perhaps our system of ordination is not even biblical, but rather, based on a tradition far removed from our own Protestant roots. Our NPUC Ad Hoc Committee received its own study on the topic of ordination in a paper by Dr. John McVay, incoming Walla Walla University president. A copy of that document, entitled “Reflections on the Theology and Practice of Ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” is available online. As the world church studies its theological stance on ordination, we will eagerly join in that discussion. In the meantime, our own discovery process will move forward.

What process has been put in place to pursue a NPUC-wide decision on this issue?

More than a year ago, the NPUC executive committee set up a smaller Ad Hoc Committee on Women in Leadership which met during 2012 and looked at the issue from the perspectives of history, mission, church policy and unity. It presented a recommendation to the November 14 executive committee meeting that favored a decision in favor of the ordination of women. Executive committee members felt that before any firm decision on the issue is finalized an intentional effort should be made to bring as many Northwest members into the discussion as possible. Because of this, the executive committee voted at the Nov. 14 meeting to inform and educate members about the issue of ordination without regard to gender, to invite them to add their voice to the discussion and to allow for a potential future special constituency session to bring any proposed action to a vote.

So no timeline has yet been set up for any firm decisions?

No … however, that will be determined as soon as possible and presented here and on the soon-to-be-created NPUC Women in Leadership website.

Has the NPUC leadership already made up their minds? Is this process just an empty exercise?

Many of our executive committee members and other leaders believe strongly in the value of equal inclusion of women in all facets of Adventist ministry and leadership. Many others are supportive of women in ministry, but very opposed to the idea of ordaining women. No decision has been made, or will be made, without a clear process of conversation, active listening, biblical study and prayer. Some of that has already happened, and now we are expanding the invitation to all Northwest members. Through the process we will also stay in touch with our world church and division leaders.

Will the NPUC share any documents or reports that were developed by the Ad Hoc Committee?

Yes, the paper by Dr. John McVay referred to above, “Reflections on the Theology and Practice of Ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” is currently online and others will be online and linked here shortly.

How do we share our personal feedback to NPUC leadership on this issue?

As soon as NPUC leadership has determined an active process and timeline for discussion, more information will be added to this FAQ to provide instructions on how and where you may respond in a structured way to this issue. In the meantime, you are welcome to email your response to talk@gleaneronline.org. We plan to set up an NPUC Women in Leadership blog that should be online the week after Thanksgiving, where you can join a more public conversation. We realize there are many strong feelings about this topic on all different sides of the issue. Remember that it’s very possible for good people to have very different perspectives, so keep respect in the center of your comments.

As questions and comments come in, this FAQ page will no doubt adapt and expand. Thanks for being a respectful part of this ongoing process.