When the seventh angel sounds, Christ receives the "kingdoms of this world," in Revelation 11:15. What is the mystery? It’s "Christ in you." Paul wrote, “To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The mystery is having Christ in His people, but it seems strange that in Revelation just before the seventh trumpet we would begin to have Jesus living in us.
Read MoreDrumming for the Lord?
The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.
Read MoreAre Adventists Coalescing into Opposing Parties? Part II
I am not using the term “liberal” according to the narrow, technical definition it has acquired in theology; a truly liberal theologian rejects any supernatural influence on Scripture and proceeds as though Scripture and religion are purely human and non-supernatural phenomena. A liberal theologian approaches Scripture just as a mainstream scientist approaches origins: needing to explain it strictly and solely on the basis of natural phenomena, with no appeal to the existence and activity of God. Very few Adventists—perhaps none in positions of authority in the church or in church-related institutions—would admit to a pure liberal theology. So, in this discussion, I will be using “liberal” in a looser sense.
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Read MoreAre Adventists coalescing into opposing parties? (Part I)
Sociologist and political scientists have long understood that when people take positions on issues, they tend to do so not randomly but in predictable clusters or groups, corresponding to an intellectual system, ideology, or way of seeing and evaluating the world (“worldview,” Ger. = Weltanschauung). In the realm of secular politics and government, this phenomenon has often caused political parties to be organized based upon shared ideology.
Read MoreCouchsurfing is postmodern “witnessing” at its best
I was in Nashville, Tennessee, this last November filming an online success course for young women. It was late Friday, nearing sundown, and I had a decision to make. I would either be spending the night ( miserably cold) in my compact car, or be feeling guilty about putting $64.99 plus tax on my mom’s credit card for a night at the Motel 6. I had been there a week already, staying at a friend’s house. Now there was a bit of a snag--the sleeper sofa was double-booked! My friend’s roommate had also promised the space to his brother and sister-in-law, so rather than creating any friction between two fantastically tenacious Vanderbilt Law students, I packed up my clothes Friday morning and, during breaks from work, I looked at various free/cheap options for the night.
Read More'IN GOD’S IMAGE' SUMMIT ON SEXUALITY OPENS IN CAPE TOWN
Nearly 350 Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders, pastors, academics, and human services experts have gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, for a four-day summit intended to help the worldwide Church better address the experiences of homosexuality and alternative sexualities.
Read MoreToo much too hard too fast too quick
As I walked out into the hallway of the ocean-front condo this morning, I saw a USA Today paper lying by the door of our neighbor’s room. Like a downbeat doormat it sat there, its loud headlines easily summed up in two words: Bad, and News. I was reminded of this quote: “The final movements will be rapid ones.”
Those of us who are looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to earth are probably aware of this ominous warning about the end. Not only is it gonna happen soon, it’s gonna happen fast!
Read MoreKinship, IAGC and Seventh-Gay Adventist sponsor new website
A new website sponsored by Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International, Intercollegiate Adventist GSA Coalition and Seventh-Gay Adventists Documentary claims lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) Adventists are being prevented from sharing their stories at the 'In God's Image:' Scripture, Sexuality, and Society Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, this month. The summit will discuss the challenges the church faces with issues surrounding alternative sexualities.
Read More'Mean' conservatives
A prominent leader in North American Adventism recently stated, during a discussion in which I participated, that the term “nice conservative” has “almost become an oxymoron” in the contemporary church. I countered by acknowledging that while at times needless severity and harshness have certainly attended efforts to defend beliefs and practices peculiar to classic Adventism, one must beware of defining “niceness” pursuant to an agenda of pleasing as many and offending as few as possible. Few if any of God’s heroes through the ages, including Jesus Himself, would qualify as “nice” under such a definition.
Read MoreOne Project: present or emergent truth?
I had made no plans to attend the One Project scheduled for February 10 and 11 in Seattle, but a mid-morning phone call stirred me from my intended Sunday morning sleep-in. A friend on the phone urged, "I've been given two tickets to the One Project. They’re free! Do you want to go? Let's go! Free tickets!" That got me up and going.
Read MoreDavid danced
In this article we will look at 2 Samuel 6:14-16 and 1 Chron. 15:29. In 2 Samuel 6:14-16 the Hebrew word most often rendered “dance” in English versions for is Karar (pronounced kah-rar) and is only used these two times. In 1 Chron. 15:29, the Hebrew word is Raqad (pronounced raw-kad) and is used nine times in the Old Testament. In order to understand what David was doing in these passages, we must understand what these Hebrew words signify. We cannot impose contemporary meanings onto ancient words which have changed definitions over the centuries. The truism is still applicable: biblical words must be understood and interpreted based on the actual meaning of the terms, and in the contexts in which they are used.
Read MoreHow postmodern Adventists can engage in personal evangelism
I have been working for a few months now on a set of diaries written by a certain Mr. Dortch in the mid-1880's. The diaries are part of the original manuscript collection in the Southwestern Adventist University Library. In this lecture, I focus particularly on Dortch's relations with his rural neighbors in Tennessee; a relatively new convert to the SDA Church, Dortch, and a farmer, regularly socialized and met with his fellow farmers and frequently shared with them the SDA doctrine of the Seventh-Day Sabbath (Saturday) and other doctrines peculiar to Adventists (such as the 'Nature of Man' as in the rejection of the standard Christian belief in the immortality of the human soul).
Read MoreReactions to 'The Record Keeper' world premiere
The General Conference's new web series "The Record Keeper" had its world premiere October 4, 2013 during the Brighter Hope meetings at Emmanuel-Brinklow Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ashton, Md. The series is scheduled to be released Feb. 13, 2014. The first two episodes will be released at the same time online, and then one per week after that, according to director Jason Satterland.
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 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 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 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!
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