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 MoreIs the fleur-de-lis a suitable decoration for an Adventist church?
A couple of friends recently approached me, four days apart, complaining of decorations recently added to the Keene Church sanctuary. Someone had placed two fleur-de-lis, separated by an arrangement of candles, on the organ console in the main sanctuary of the church. Both of my friends separately insisted that the fleur-de-lis is completely inappropriate for use as a church decoration in a Seventh-day Adventist Church. Both were very upset.
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 MoreThe human race
I knew my dad would have been proud of me, as I raced through our town. Timing the traffic lights perfectly and squealing the tires around every turn bore frantic evidence to the desperation of my charge. Was it a matter of life and death, with each passing second ticking away someone’s life? Was it the extreme anxiety of a million dollars hanging in the balance that drove me to such reckless speeds? No, it was much more important than that. I was late for church.
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