Preparing for the Harvest meetings discuss righteousness by faith

On Friday, April 17, Sacramento Central SDA church will begin hosting a weekend of presentations on righteousness by faith. The presentations begin 7 p.m. Friday and continue all day Sabbath until 7:30 PM. Presenters include Dennis Priebe, Mike Lambert, Larry Kirkpatrick, Christian Berdahl, Allen Davis, and others. Bring something to share for fellowship lunch. Children’s program Sabbath afternoon. Book, CD, and DVD sale after Sabbath. For more information call the church office at (916) 457-6511.

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Mars Hill Christian

The first time I talked with somebody who didn’t agree with me about who Jesus was, hands-down, I was right and they were wrong! But in my “rightness,” I was obnoxious—and wrong. I won the argument but lost an opportunity to make a friend, and more important, lost an opportunity to use apologetics in order to have a continuing discussion with that person about what Jesus wanted to do in their life.

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Can America's Religious Freedom be Restored?

This is a very revealing moment in our national life. The intolerance of the “gay rights movement” has been laid bare, and it is ugly. If gay activists were interested in mutual toleration, in “live and let live,” there are plenty of bakers, florists and photographers who would be thrilled to take their money. Instead gay activists are seeking out people with moral objections to same-sex marriage, to punish them, to publicly ruin them, and thus to make them an example for anyone else who might step out of line.

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NAD defends racially separated conferences

In a March 25 statement the North American Division (NAD) defended the need for regional conferences, despite concerns this structure promotes racial separation. The statement responded to requests made March 7 by the Andrews University chapter of the Adventist Peace Fellowship, in collaboration with the Andrews University Student Association and Black Student Christian Forum and 10 other student campus groups, asking the NAD to explain the separation of church conferences along racial lines.

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Love necessary for spiritual health

One the most powerful books I read in my life was Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning.  Within the narrative Frankl chronicles his struggles to survive in Nazi prison camps. Despite horrific treatment by the concentration camp system directed at him and other prisoners, Frankl manages not to succumb to hatred towards his guards and internment staff. As he observed life taking place inside the death camps, he came to many insightful conclusions concerning what motivates individuals under extremes of emotional, physical and psychological trauma.

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What might have been, what can be, and what definitely cannot be

In the past few days, a short video titled “What Might Have Been,” which contains an enactment of one of Ellen White’s dreams from the early 1900s, has surfaced. At the close of the acted segment, at least four appeals are made by church leaders calling for the church to fulfill its mission by submitting to God and experiencing the revival that God wanted to bring at the 1901 General Conference Session.

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Incomplete church film leaked

An unauthorized version of Adventist Church-produced film “What Might Have Been” was leaked online last week before its orgionally planned release date of May 16. The film portrays the moments at the 1901 General Conference Session and Ellen White’s 1903 vision regarding that session. It was produced by the General Conference Ministerial Association as a call for the church to finally be part of hastening the second coming through revival and reformation.

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Sanctuary message vs. Ballenger

Do you suppose that careful Bible study will preserve you from doctrinal apostasy? Albion F. Ballenger did. He was having doubts about the harmony between the Adventist message he had been preaching and the book of Hebrews. To be particular, he thought he found abundant evidence in Hebrews 6-10 to show that Jesus had entered the Most Holy Place when he ascended to heaven two thousand years ago.

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The Great Hope

The tall, elegant immigration officer stooped down and picked up a book from Reuben’s hand. We were sitting in the immigration office, waiting for our residence visas to be completed, and Reuben was holding a small stack of The Great Hope, which we were planning to hand out to workers in the office.

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Missionary finance: boon or bane?

The history of Seventh-day Adventism places Jesus’ Great Commission at the very heartbeat of its existence. Today the church has planted its logo in 215 of the 237 countries and areas of the world that are recognized by the United Nations. Hundreds of missionaries have left the comfort of their homes to take Christ to the nations of the world. We are one of the most dedicated and active Christian missionary agencies on the planet.

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Survey: Muut or Disqus?

ADvindicate has switched to Disqus for its comment platform. We had been using Muut for a long time, but about a week ago there was a glitch that reset the path for each dynamically created thread. That means the little bit of code that is placed at the end of each article that automatically generates the path where the comments are stored on the server was reset, causing all the comments to disappear from each article; however, all these comments are still viewable in the forum. 

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Financial troubles spur Texas conference to close Valley Grande Academy

Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventist’s executive committee voted Feb. 26 to close Valley Grande Adventist Academy, a 100-year-old boarding school in Weslaco, Texas. This seems to be the final chapter for an institution founded in 1911 that has long been a feeder school for Southwestern Adventist University. This decision was taken despite a 39 percent increase in enrollment at the K-12 educational facility, from 121 students last year to 168 students in the current school year.

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The god of Ekron and a prosthetic right arm

The right arm of the gospel—a phrase commonly heard in Adventist circles—is a work that has been too long neglected and underestimated. In a talk given by Mrs. White in the sanitarium at St. Helena’s chapel, she plainly stated, “There is to be no division between the medical missionary work and the gospel ministry. Medical missionary work is to be to the third angel's message as the right arm to the body. Both are to work in harmony. Then the salvation of the Lord will be revealed” (Sermons and Talks, Volume Two141-2). Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we, as Seventh-day Adventists, understand what “medical missionary” work refers to, and what it does not.

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Adventists are proud little spiritual ants

Adventists have two things to offer the world: the health message and the Sabbath. What we have neglected to illustrate to this global culture is Jesus, front and center. Our movement has been mired down in finger pointing and polarized camps of liberals and traditionalists. Everyone is posturing their own spiritual agenda, while we forget what we as Christians are supposed to be doing in the first place, reflecting God’s love. How dense and immature we have become, and yet we strut around in our theological glitter all hyped up on self-absorbed egotism.

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