In dealing with students over the years, there are several spiritual trends that I have observed that can be extrapolated to describe spiritual human nature in general which I have labeled in the terms of Students A, B1, B2 and C. While it is students that have shown these trends, it isn’t just teenagers that tend to demonstrate these characteristics, but adults, institutions, churches, schools and even the denomination as a whole.
Read MorePUC lawsuit lifts veil of secrecy
Documents in a lawsuit filed by Pacific Union College over a land sale that fell through reveal some secrets regarding the college's prospective land dealings. Save Rural Angwin (SRA), an anti-development group, helped put an initiative called Measure U on the ballot in 2012, which would downzone land south of the commercial center in Angwin to prevent it from being developed.
Read More2520 prophecy delusion targets conservatives
Thanks for taking time for this interview, Steve. I first encountered this theory last year when my wife and I were conducting a marriage & relationship seminar in the Northwest. I found it very puzzling. For starters, what is the 2520 theory?
Read MoreFlorida Hospital ends bacon ban with opening of Panera Bread
Florida Hospital, run by Adventist Health System, has banned a Wendy's restaurant on hospital property from serving bacon for more than a decade due to religious reasons, but a Panera Bread restaurant opened on the hospital's property across from the Wendy's is being allowed to serve bacon and other pork products, the Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday.
Read MoreRyan Bell shucks Adventism for atheism
For the next 12 months Bell will not pray, read the Bible for inspiration, refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change his circumstances. He says that if God does exist, that he hopes God will not be too bewildered with his foolish experiment. He will be blogging about his experience and writing a book over the next 12 months.
Read MoreNAD Adventist Intercollegiate Association statement: affirmation and concern
Throughout my years in school, from junior high to graduate study, student government was one of my persistent passions. I was honored to serve as Student Association President at Loma Linda University during the final year in which my Master’s degree in systematic theology was finished. Too often, unfortunately, this particular arena of campus life has been maligned both as the province of frivolous popularity seekers and as a soapbox for the allegedly “troublesome young” who—in the words of the late U.S. Vice-President Spiro Agnew---dare to meddle in the grown-up world.
Read MoreADvindicate traffic more than doubles in 2013
ADvindicate is growing and not just by a little. Its first year saw an average of 3,605 unique visitors per month, which isn't too shabby considering it started from scratch. Traffic more than doubled in 2013, with its monthly average for unique visitors jumping to 7,376.
Read MoreShall we dance?
One of the interesting subjects in Scripture is the topic of dance Most of the arguments in favor of Contemporary Christian Music rely on a few verses that supposedly give permission for Christians to dance during worship. The implication is, if dancing is acceptable, then the styles and genres of music that enable it are.
Read MoreGreen Spot Whiskey: drinking with the LSU-four
The lesson is clear: systematically attacking foundational Adventist beliefs will yield zero discipline—a gaping yawn—but personal slights to church officers or minor behavioral deviations will get you fired so quick your head will spin.
Read MoreBlessings in adversity
You might have heard the adage “That which does not kill me makes me stronger (1).” However, I imagine that for most of us, it isn’t difficult to think of instances in which this has not held true for us. Physically, we suffer many injuries that leave us weaker for life than we would have been otherwise, and as we age, many diseases threaten our mental capacities.
Read MoreThe Gospel: how to be saved and believing in Jesus
Too often Christians including many Seventh-day Adventists don’t know the gospel. When asked, “What is the gospel?”, I will hear a hesitant, “Believe in Jesus...?” In Revelation 14:6 & 7 the first angel preaches “the everlasting gospel to preach to every living creature” and that angel preaches, “for the hour of His judgment is come” and I ask, “How is the judgment a part of the everlasting gospel?” I get blank stares.
Read MoreBad tired, good tired
From playing with friends and relatives as a child, to working long hours in heavy construction, the inevitable bottom of our batteries still reads the same. “Dead” (tired, that is). But I have noticed that all weariness is not the same. In fact, there are two kinds.
Read MoreAdventists confused about church's position on abortion
The great majority of those present were shocked to learn that the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist’s was operating with two different sets of guidelines on abortion. The 1970 Abortion Guidelines, which were more restrictive, were the set made available to our own Adventist clergy and laity, as well as the general public. The 1971 Interruption of Pregnancy Guidelines superceded the 1970 Guidelines and opened the door to abortion on demand for any reason in our hospitals (16 months before Roe v. Wade). The liberalized 1971 guidelines were sent exclusively to our SDA medical institutions and never made known to our clergy and laity or the public.
Read MoreThe finest robe
For those who believe in Jesus, the robe of righteousness is the most valuable thing that we can possess. It is the only garment that the redeemed will wear inside the walls of the New Jerusalem. It is our ticket to paradise, the passport that allows members of the human family to pass from the kingdoms of this world to the Heavenly kingdom.
Read MoreA popular error in prophetic interpretation
Being a Seventh-day Adventist believer, with Adventist views on Bible prophecy and eschatology, I was oblivious to the latest mania of prophetic interpretation sweeping the evangelical Christian world. It seems that there are signs in the heavens. From spring of 2014 to autumn of 2015, there will be four “blood red moons,” plus one solar eclipse sandwiched in the middle of the four lunar eclipses. These signs portend something significant. No one knows what, but something is going to change!
Read MoreSelf and feeling take center in 'Seventh Gay Adventist' film
In the fall of 2009, the conference “Marriage, Homosexuality and The Church” took place at Andrews University. I was there as a speaker, and gave my testimony. Stephen Eyer and Daneen Akers, soon to be producers of the film Seventh Gay Adventists also attended this conference. After God’s transformation in my life, I was excited that at last a film would boldly proclaim that God redeems gays. I was in for a surprise.
Read MoreThe eternal flame: remembering a hinge of history
Fifty years ago this last Friday, on a sun-swept autumn Friday, unspeakable sorrow convulsed millions of hearts and drew the world together. On the campuses students stood weeping, in Berlin—on both sides of the infamous Wall—candles of remembrance flickered in countless windows, even in far-off New Guinea primitive tribesmen built rush mats in which to bury the leader whose inspiration had touched humanity everywhere.
Read MoreSouthern faculty release statement on the Emerging Church Movement
Southern Adventist University faculty from the religion department released a statement in October of this year denouncing the emerging church movement. The statement appears to also allude to Spectrum's Third Way conference that took place near Southern earlier in October. A student from the religion department shared her observations of the conference with ADvindicate. Southern's statement is a response to the growing impact of the Emerging Church in Seventh-day Adventist churches, colleges and universities, according to the religion department.
Read MoreA prophecy for parents
The Bible states that “children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward” (New American Standard Bible, Psalm 127:3). Indeed they are. From dirty diapers to dirty rooms, my son has been the Lord’s reward to me, a gift that has caused me to lie down on the carpet with him crafting cool Lego destroyer vehicles when he was about seven.
Read MoreBarley loaves and fishes
Late in the summer of 2005, I opened a letter from ADRA. It said that 25 cents would feed one child for one day in Bangladesh. I had just finished paying bills and didn’t really have any extra that month. I prayed, “Lord, I really do want to give, but I can’t this month.”
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