October 17, 2013 Vol. 190, No. 29

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October 17, 2013

Adventists Lauded by Humane Society 8 Building Bridges 14 Willing Hearts 26

“Behold, I come quickly . . .” Our mission is to uplift Jesus Christ by presenting stories of His matchless love, news of His present workings, help for knowing Him better, and hope in His soon return.

16 14 9 6 COVER FEATURES ARTICLES DEPARTMENTS EDITORIALS 16 What on Earth 14 Building Bridges 4 Letters 6 Mark A. Finley Happened in 1844? Steve Cinzio From Disappointment Arthur Chadwick and to Triumph We know what we 7 Page 7 Ingo Sorke want others to think When disappointment of us, but how do we 8 World News & 7 Mark A. Kellner turned into a spotlight on make sure they do? Perspectives Go and Make . . . Jesus and His ministry Just Friends? 2 6 Willing Hearts 13 Give & Take 2 0 The Prophetic Denise Cheshire Rendezvous of 1844 2 3 Journeys With Jesus It’s all God wants. Elijah Mvundura 2 5 Back to Basics If Christ’s ministry in the seems 2 8 Etc. overlooked, consider what it competes against. 2 9 The Life of Faith

31 Reflections ON THE COVER Next Week On October 22, 1844, some Happy Birthday, Guide Millerites awaited Christ’s return on For 60 years Guide magazine “Ascension Rock” on the William has been reaching and keep- Miller farm near Hampton, New ing our preteens interested and York. Photo by Betty Knickerbocker. engaged in Christ’s church.

Publisher General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists®, Executive Publisher Bill Knott, Associate Publisher Claude Richli, Publishing Board: Ted N. C. Wilson, chair; Benjamin D. Schoun, vice chair; Bill Knott, secretary; Lisa Beardsley-Hardy; Daniel R. Jackson; Robert Lemon; Geoffrey Mbwana; G. T. Ng; Daisy Orion; Juan Prestol; Michael Ryan; ; Mark Thomas; Karnik Doukmetzian, legal adviser. Editor Bill Knott, Associate Editors Lael Caesar, Gerald A. Klingbeil, Coordinating Editor Stephen Chavez, Online Editor Carlos Medley, Features Editor Sandra Blackmer, Young Adult Editor Kimberly Luste Maran, KidsView Editor Wilona Karimabadi, News Editor Mark A. Kellner, Operations Manager Merle Poirier, Financial Manager Rachel Child, Editorial Assistant Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste, Marketing Director Claude Richli, Editor-at-Large Mark A. Finley, Senior Advisor E. Edward Zinke, Art Director Bryan Gray, Design Daniel Añez, Desktop Technician Fred Wuerstlin, Ad Sales Glen Gohlke, Subscriber Services Steve Hanson. To Writers: Writer’s guidelines are available at the Adventist Review Web site: www.ad- ventistreview.org and click “About the Review.” For a printed copy, send a self-addressed envelope to: Writer’s Guidelines,Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.adventistreview.org. Postmaster: Send address changes to Adventist Review, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740-7301. Unless otherwise noted, Bible texts in this issue are from theH oly Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are © Thinkstock 2013. The Adventist Review (ISSN 0161-1119), published since 1849, is the general paper of the Seventh-day Adventist® Church. It is published by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists® and is printed 36 times a year on the second, third, and fourth Thursdays of each month by the Review and Herald® Publishing Association, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Periodical postage paid at Hagerstown, MD 21740. Copyright © 2013, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists®. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Vol. 190, No. 29

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www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (931) 3 that works do matter, but not a source of salvation, nei- because they do not save, ther are they a memorial to they do not matter that much it; they are the result of liv- inbox when it comes to salvation. ing, walking, and working Letters From Our Readers They are more of a memorial according to the faith we we observe to celebrate have in the One who is the

September 19, 2013 Vol. 190, No. 26 God’s saving grace and love source of our salvation.

treview.org September 19, 2013 www.adventis

Theological Seminary 10 Installs New Dean 14 Unleashing the Word pause frequently to contem- for us. Ray Hickman, Sr. 17 The God of the Gap plate and pray. Ellen White writes, “Our Midlothian, Virginia The virtues in this article I good works alone will not hold dear, but I never could save any of us, but we cannot No One Close articulate to such meaning- be saved without good »»In his September 19 article ful extent their importance works” (God’s Amazing Grace, titled “No One Close: The to my life as a Christian. How Finest Adventist Author,” I praise God for this Andy Nash writes that “Ellen Two Great Articles encounter! White’s work is not Scrip- »»I’m just sending a note of As I read each thought, ture. She grew in her under- thanks for two great articles each sentence, many people, standing of the grace and that were printed in the Sep- including the entire congre- love of God. It’s OK to dis- tember 19, 2013, Adventist gation at the church I attend, agree with her, to point out Review. I was saying “Right raced to the forefront of my her mistakes. It’s OK to limit on!” to myself all the way mind. Surely, given the p. 309). If we cannot be saved her counsel.” through Andrew Kerbs’ “A opportunity to read this arti- without good works, they I agree with Nash’s first Memorial to Salvation” and cle, they too will long for must matter very much to and second statement, but I Bill Knott’s “Habits of the such solitude, certitude, and our salvation. question his statement Heart.” gratitude to be their very Kerbs writes, “The Lord about it being appropriate to In regard to Kerbs’ piece, own experience. saved them not by works, but disagree with White and I’m glad to know the under- So I shall share, as is my by faith in the blood of the point out her “mistakes.” If 40 generation is hearing the custom, as widely as possible Passover Lamb.” If they had he is referring to grammar or gospel the way Christ this particular article, reiter- not killed the lamb, put the syntax or spelling, that’s one intended it. And to put ating again the richness and blood on the doorposts and thing; but I don’t think he thoughts together from both worth of the readings in the stayed in the house, works meant error in the content of articles, indeed, when in the Review. all done in answer to belief what she wrote in her pub- solitude of the study of As for me, I plan to revisit and faith in the God who had lished writings. God’s Word we become cer- this reading with great fre- instructed them, salvation John Blake tain of our redemption, we quency so that I never forget would not have been theirs. Lacombe, Alberta, Canada can relax (rest? feel why solitude, certitude, and The author continues, “We “strangely warmed”?) in gratitude are, and ought to live holy, consecrated lives »»I would like to elaborate on gratitude for so great a be, the habits of my heart. not so that we may be saved, Andy Nash’s article. We Ad- salvation. May God continue to work but because we are saved!” It ventists, of course, must Ed Karlow through your editorship to might be better said, “We can believe the Bible—it indi- Walla Walla, Washington bless you and your readers. live holy, consecrated lives cates there will be prophets Althea White and will do good works, in the last days. And we must Habits of the Heart via e-mail because we are saved!” use the Bible to test the »»Bill Knott’s “Habits of the Works, good works, are prophets as to whether they Heart” (Sept. 19): What an A Memorial to enlightening and soul-stir- Salvation ring article he has shared »»Regarding the article by It’s time we prepare for the with the Adventist Review Andrew Kerbs, “A Memorial readership! I have taken an to Salvation: Do Works Mat- unthinkable! unusually long time to read ter?” (Sept. 19): “—lorRaine hudgins-olson, Fletcher, North Carolina it because of the need to I came from reading the article with the perception ”

4 (932) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 are true prophets: “Beloved, Thinking the believe not every spirit, but Unthinkable try the spirits whether they »»Kudos to Arthur F. Blinci Works, good works, are not a are of God: because many and Adventist Risk Manage- source of salvation. false prophets are gone out ment for the well-thought- into the world” (1 John 4:1, through article “Thinking “ —ray hickman. sr., Midlothian, Virginia KJV). What we mean by “true the Unthinkable” (Sept. 12, prophets” is that they get 2013). I am a fourth-genera- ” messages straight from God. tion Adventist and have been In Ellen White’s case, there a faithful churchgoer the Comfort and Trust ence in my life. In learning were “supernatural experi- entire 92 years of my life, and »»The Adventist Review is so the deep meaning of His ences” witnessed by others. only once during those years nice to read! Words, my faith and under- “Supernatural experiences” I was raised as an standing grow immensely. only prove that the person’s Adventist, but went the other Thank you for the [New messages, which are attrib- way when my parents Believer] subscription to uted as coming from God, divorced. I was 13 years old. Adventist Review. I did not are either from God or from I am now 45 years old and even know such a publica- Satan. Understanding this, it in prison. I just about cried tion existed. is important to “test” the the other day when I got It is always beneficial in prophets by the Bible, and hold of a mirror after a few the violent prison setting, come to the conclusion that months without looking at ruled by gang members, that our church was either myself. What I saw was an His Word is able to shine founded by God or founded have I ever experienced a fire older man with tattoos, scars through; and I have the by Satan. drill in church. from fights and IV drug use, strength to share. Without Once we determine that a Our family lived in Okla- missing and broken teeth, Him in my life I would be prophet (or messenger) is homa City during the 1960s, etc. I also saw mental, physi- devastatingly afraid of my from God, we then have to and we experienced frequent cal, and spiritual pain. Since environment. He gives me believe that the messages, tornadoes. I especially then, I’ve been praying strength and soothes my which are attributed as com- remember one ripping more—and reading the fears. ing from God, are from God. through our city and the sur- Adventist Review and The Great The Review is such a help! If they are from God, then rounding area on Sabbath Controversy. You are in my prayers. they cannot be of less impor- morning. Before going home God has been sending me Thanks again. tance than those of the for- after church, we toured the little signs here and there. Scott Smith mer prophets. God doesn’t devastation. We drove by a One sign that came to me Walla Walla, Washington deliver two different levels of church (not ours) where the was in the August 15, 2013, messages. Ellen White’s roof was completely gone Review, in a poem on the Give major work was to explain and seats were piled and & Take page entitled “Trust We welcome your letters, noting, portions of the Bible that scattered everywhere. We Me,” by Erin Burke. God as always, that inclusion of a letter have been abused in the past. spotted the church roof, talked to me through this in this section does not imply that Jesus said to the scribes intact, a block away. I wonder poem—I cried. the ideas expressed are endorsed by and Pharisees, as recorded in what would have happened Thank you! either the editors of the Adventist Luke 11:50: “That the blood to the members of that Sun- Saulo Hernandez Review or the General Conference. of all the prophets, which daykeeping church if they California Short, specific, timely letters have was shed from the founda- had been worshipping on the best chance at being published tion of the world, may be that Sabbath morning. Thank You (please include your complete required of this generation” It’s time we internalize »»After being baptized in address and phone number—even (KJV). He said this because of this article and prepare for prison, my entire life with e-mail messages). Letters will their unbelief in the proph- the unthinkable! changed. It changed at such a be edited for space and clarity only. ets. We do not want to Lorraine Hudgins- fast clip that the speed itself Send correspondence to Letters to receive the same Olson was a miracle. Every day my the Editor, Adventist Review, 12501 condemnation. Fletcher, North Carolina day is blessed by His pres- Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD Fred Ellis 20904-6600; Internet: letters@ Vale, Oregon adventistreview.org.

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (933) 5 Editorials From Disappointment to Triumph Their hearts were heavy. Their thoughts were troubled. How could so many prophecies be wrong? They had spent two long, sleepless nights. Cowering in fear, these weary, confused believers huddled in a crowded room in Jerusalem. The cross had dashed their hopes, crushing their dreams. Suddenly the resurrected Christ appeared. Everything changed. Hope revived; faith was renewed. Christ explained that He was returning to the Father, but that He would send His Holy Spirit to empower His fledgling church to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. Following Christ’s ascension, the disciples waited, prayed, believed, and received the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Filled with the Spirit, the disciples unashamedly pro- claimed everywhere the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Lord. These early believers had misinterpreted the Old Testament prophecies and misunderstood Mark A. the nature of Christ’s first advent. They confused His kingdom of grace with His kingdom of Finley glory. They thought the Messiah would vanquish their enemies and set up an earthly kingdom. But once they understood the true meaning of His mission their lives were transformed. Jesus led them from disappointment to triumph. Fast-forward 1,800 years. Listen to the sobs of another small group of disciples. Imagine their deep disappointment. They too enthusiastically studied the prophecies of the Messiah’s return. They too believed He would soon set up His kingdom. They too were bitterly disappointed. This was not A.D. 31 and the disappointment of Christ’s first-century church. It was A.D. 1844 and the disappointment of His last-day church. They looked to their ascended Lord in heaven’s sanctuary to discover the meaning of their disappointment. There they discovered that the hour of their disappointment was an hour of divine appointment. No longer business as usual, the longest time prophecy in the Bible—2300 years—had run out. They were living in the judgment hour. They believed that Christ was coming soon, and they had an urgent, end-time message that the world must hear. Some see the disappointment of 1844 as an embarrassing chapter in Seventh-day Adventist history. One evangelical scholar went so far as to call the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary and pre-Advent judgment “a colossal face-saving device.” Seventh-day Adventists understand it totally differently. We see our prophetic rise chronicled in Revelation 10. Here the apostle John, exiled on the Isle of Patmos, saw in vision “another mighty angel coming down from heaven” with “a little scroll, which lay open in his hand”; a universal message for all humanity. With a solemn oath the angel cries out that there should be “no more delay” and that “the mystery of God will be accomplished” (Rev. 10:1, 6, 7). The angel was obviously not talking about literal time. His message was declaring that pro- phetic time would run out at the conclusion of Daniel’s longest time prophecy, the 2300 days or 2300 years. According to the angel, the study of the “scroll” in his hand that had been closed would be “sweet” in the mouth but “sour” in the stomach (Rev. 10:9, 10). The only book in the Bible declared to be closed was the book of Daniel (Dan. 12:4, 9, 13). As those early Adventists pored over Daniel’s prophecies, they were elated with what they had discovered. Daniel’s revelations were sweet in their mouth. They believed the cleansing of the sanctuary was the cleansing of the earth by fire. Jesus was coming. And when Christ did not come on that October morning in 1844, they were bitterly disappointed. What would happen to these disappointed, faithful Advent believers? Would they simply die out in insignificance? The angel declares, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings” (Rev. 10:11). This prophecy has been powerfully fulfilled. Today Seventh-day Adventists work in more than 200 countries, with nearly 25 million attending Adventist churches. With an urgency borne of a divine mandate, Seventh-day Adventists are totally committed to fulfilling the mission of Christ and carrying the message of a crucified, resurrected, soon-coming Savior to the world. Once again God has carved a divine movement of destiny out of disappointment. n

6 (934) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 Go and Make . . . Just Friends? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”—Matthew 28:19, 20. The imperative for the Christian is clear, if we are to believe what Jesus said at the end of Mat- thew’s gospel: we’re to “make disciples” from “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and peo- ple,” as the King James Version renders Revelation 14:6. There are some who assert our job is done, or at least well begun, if we merely sidle up to folks and become friends with them. Friendship is important, to be sure; we as Christians are to live peaceably with others, and Seventh-day Adventists have an obligation, based on our his- tory and understanding of prophecy, to support religious liberty, which includes respecting others’ views and beliefs. But what kind of friend would I be to someone obviously ailing if I withheld the only guaran- Mark A. teed cure? Every person we encounter is suffering from an “incurable disease,” namely sin and Kellner its consequences: “For the wages of sin is death,” we’re warned in Romans 6:23, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ezekiel records a solemn charge: “When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood” (Eze. 3:18). A true friend would warn me if I were about to walk off a cliff. Shouldn’t we be faithful friends in a sick and dying world? n World News & Perspectives

■■WORLD CHURCH Unlikely Source Gives Kudos to GC Stewardship Humane group lauds Adventist message of creation care. By SANDRA BLACKMER, features editor

The recent April-June 2013 edition Church information page on the HSUS ship associate director Larry Evans, also of Dynamic Steward,1 the quarterly jour- Web site.3 Dynamic Steward editor. “Unfortunately, nal produced by the General Conference The magazine issue titled “Our much of the world’s focus is on con- Stewardship Department, brought high Dominion: God’s Domain” focuses on suming rather than enhancing and pro- praise from an unlikely source: The “the privilege and accountability of tecting what God has made, whether it Humane Society of the our stewardship for all of God’s cre- be plant, animal, or the environment. As (HSUS).2 HSUS Faith Outreach associate ation.” Writers include Washington Seventh-day Adventists we have an director Karen L. Allanach described the Adventist University Christian ethics important role to play in raising global issue as “beautifully [capturing] the professor Zdravko Plantak, Geoscience awareness of these issues.” importance of caring for God’s cre- Research Institute director James Gib- He added, “We’re very appreciative of ation—including the animals,” and son, and author and retired church the work of HSUS and their sharing of requested 200 copies to distribute to administrator Reinder Bruinsma. It our mutual interests with their sub- other faith organizations and volun- also features an interview with Sev- scribers. Together our voices can teers interested in promoting humane enth-day Adventist Theological Semi- become a megaphone to a world that at treatment of God’s nonhuman crea- nary professor Jo Ann Davidson, times appears to be insensitive to God’s tures. They’re also noting the publica- articles for children and youth, and a creation.” n tion in their Humane Steward list of applicable resources. 1 www.adventiststewardship.com/ e-newsletter, which is distributed to “Our role as stewards of the earth 2 www.humanesociety.org 3 www.humanesociety.org/about/departments/ about 17,000 subscribers; and including came both as a gift and as a responsibil- faith/facts/statements/seventh_day_adventist_church. a link on the Seventh-day Adventist ity from our Creator,” says GC Steward- html

■■World Church “Enter Cities” for Mission, Ng Urges at Urban Mission Conference t R eview Necessity of urban work clear from need, Ellen White’s counsel

By MARK A. KELLNER, news editor s K ellner / Adventi M ark A. VOICES RAISED:The award-winning Aeolians from Oak- wood University in Huntsville, Alabama, an institution of As scores of world leaders of the Sev- extensively from the writ- the General Conference, praise the Lord in song during enth-day Adventist Church gathered in ings and addresses of the Friday evening, Sept. 27, 2013, opening of the Urban the General Conference headquarters in White, a cofounder of the Mission Conference. Silver Spring, Maryland, on Sabbath, Sep- Seventh-day Adventist tember 28, the executive secretary of the movement, to illustrate his points. ship and laity to enter urban areas in General Conference urged increased min- Ng urged that the church needs to order to perform evangelistic work. istry in the world’s cities. resolve its “love/hate” relationship with He quoted White: “We are far behind “While Ellen White is emphatic about cities and with urban ministry. Many in following the light God has given the evils of city living, she is equally Seventh-day Adventists point to Ellen regarding the working of our large cit- emphatic about the critical need for White’s statements about the perils of ies.”1 “When I think of the many cities yet urban missions,” G. T. Ng said in a ple- urban environments, but Ng reminded unwarned, I cannot rest. It is distressing nary address to delegates at the church’s the audience of 200 leaders that White to think that they have been neglected so Urban Mission Conference. He drew spent urging Adventist leader- long. For many, many years the cities of

8 (936) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 America, including the cities in the we go fishing as Jesus told us to, we rendition of “How Great Thou Art.” South, have been set before our people as have to use many types of methods.”​ The Urban Mission Conference contin- places needing special attention.”2 The four-day Urban Mission Confer- ued through October 1, 2013, and fea- Noting that White also called for a ence was designed to raise and address tured several Seventh-day Adventist great diversity of methods to reach issues of entering cities for evangelism, Church leaders, including General Con- urban dwellers with the gospel— said Mike Ryan, a general vice president ference president Ted N. C. Wilson, health ministry, vegetarian restau- of the world church, who greeted church education director Lisa Beardsley- rants, home visitation, and small- attendees at the meeting’s start. Hardy, general vice president Ella Sim- group Bible studies, among others— “We have come to this conference to mons, longtime evangelist and Adventist Ng smiled and observed to a room look at this issue and to see what we can Review editor-at-large , Wash- filled with preachers, “I have a feeling do to reach the cities,” Ryan said. ington Adventist University urban minis- we preach too much!” While most After Ng spoke, the award-winning tries professor Gaspar Colon, and Ministry efforts to launch city ministries have Aeolian choir of Oakwood University, a magazine editor Derek Morris. n focused on large public evangelistic General Conference institution in 1 Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.C.: events, Ng urged his hearers to plan Huntsville, Alabama, presented several Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1946), p. 33. numerous lower-key activities. “When worship songs, including a dramatic 2 Ibid.

■■NEW MEXICO Adventists Sue Over Church “Registration” Measure mocks First Amendment, attorney says. By ELIZABETH LECHLEITNER, Adventist News Network

The Seventh-day Adventist Church than clergy-led are not subject to the has filed a lawsuit against the city of Las requirements, lawyers said. ue H inkle Cruces in the U.S. state of New Mexico According to a complaint filed by the over an ordinance church lawyers say church in the U.S. District Court of New : S photo violates religious expression and Mexico, there is no time frame for an CHURCH REGISTRATION OPPOSED: The unfairly targets pastor-led faith groups, approval and no avenue for appeal if the Seventh-day Adventist Church has sued the city of Las Cruses, New Mexico, over an especially Latino churches. city denies an application. ordinance that requires pastor-led churches Earlier this year, city officials threat- “I’ve never seen anything like this. It to register and pay fees. Church lawyers say ened to take legal action if the Las Cru- blatantly goes against the First Amend- the ordinance violates the First Amend- ces Spanish Seventh-day Adventist ment of the U.S. Constitution,” said ment of the U.S. Constitution. The Texico Church failed to comply with the Todd McFarland, an associate general Conference headquarters, shown here, is located in Corrales, New Mexico. requirements of the business registra- counsel for the Seventh-day Adventist tion ordinance. world church. Las Cruces Ordinance No. 16-131 Further troubling church lawyers, the any advance notice,” the complaint defines a business as “any profession, ordinance requires separate registra- stated. “It is impossible for an applicant trade or occupation and all and every tions for each location that business is subject to the ordinance to provide kind of calling,” including the work of conducted. Lawyers said this stipula- accurate information because many pastors, priests, rabbis, bishops, imams, tion could require pastors to obtain pastoral activities are a response to and other religious leaders. special permission before visiting sick unpredictable events.” The ordinance ostensibly requires all members, providing off-site counseling, Church lawyers also said the ordi- pastor-led churches within city limits to or conducting evangelism. nance is “impermissibly vague” because register with the city, pay a registration “Such religious speech and activities it fails to specify what actions fall under fee, and pass a discretionary review pro- frequently occur in private homes, pub- the definition of “calling,” thus requir- cess before gaining approval to conduct lic meeting places, hospitals, and ing separate advance approval. worship services or provide pastoral funeral homes as a result of regularly A list of exemptions to the require- care. Faith groups that are lay-led rather occurring life events with very little if ments, including certain athletic

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (937) 9 World News & Perspectives

officials and artists, “favor nonreligious obligations to provide its citizens with with the requirements or face “court speech over religious speech,” the com- fire and police protection and comply action,” according to a letter from the plaint stated, noting that the ordinance with the Constitution,” William Babing- city’s Codes Enforcement Department. “overturns” protections provided by ton, Jr., deputy city attorney for Las Cru- However, the Las Cruces Central Sev- Article II, section 11, of the New Mexico ces, said by e-mail. enth-day Adventist Church, a majority Constitution. “The city trusts that the courts will non-Latino congregation, received no According to the complaint, “these agree with its position,” Babington such notice. protections were intended to provide added. “This problem came to us; we didn’t religious speech with more, not less, There are more than 100 churches go looking for it,” said McFarland, who protection than speech related to a ball within Las Cruces city limits, but the is representing the Las Cruces Spanish game or a portrait of a family pet or ordinance, Adventist lawyers said, has Adventist Church and the Texico other ‘art’ product.” been applied to only a small percent- Conference. Meanwhile, Las Cruces city officials age of these churches and, according to The U.S. District Court of New Mexico maintain that the ordinance is meant to the complaint, “disparately applied to has not yet set a trial date. benefit citizens. single out Hispanic and Latino The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “The City of Las Cruces believes that churches.” Texico Conference oversees church oper- its requirements to have businesses, In June the Las Cruces Spanish Sev- ations in west Texas and New Mexico, including churches, within city limits enth-day Adventist Church was first where it maintains 80 churches and have a business license meets the city’s notified that it had seven days to comply supports a membership of 12,000. n

■■GEORGIA Adventist “Home Church” Destroyed by Fire Building declared a total loss; congregation to weigh options By MARK A. KELLNER, news editor

A small Seventh-day Adventist church, the Griffin spreading, accord- Hilltop Seventh-day Adventist Church, had its building ing to media destroyed in an early-morning fire on Sunday, September reports. 22, 2013, the Georgia-Cumberland Conference reports. Dan Hall, pastor : GCSDA P hoto The building is “a total loss,” officials there said. of the Griffin SCENE OF DESTRUCTION: Ruins of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Griffin, The church, once church, said the Georgia, after a fire destroyed the for- a physician’s home, congregation mer residence turned into a church. had been located in is now left to the former resi- decide where to go from here. In the meantime, neighbors dence since 2008. in the community have offered assistance. The building was “Three local congregations have offered us the use of on the top of a their facilities,” Hall said. “All three offers were very gener- small hill, several ous, and we will have a board meeting to decide on which hundred feet from location.” a roadway, making Conference officials offered their condolences to the it a challenge for members. firefighters to get “Any time there is pain, we hurt as well,” said Ed Wright, water to the struc- conference president. “And we pray for God’s healing to ture. It took several touch those in pain at this difficult time.” n : GCSDA P hoto hours to bring the TREMENDOUS LOSS: The house, set back several hundred feet from a main blaze under control —with information from Tamara Wolcott Fisher, communica- road, sustained heavy damage. and to keep it from tion director, Georgia-Cumberland Conference

10 (938) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 ■■North America Christian Record Creates Solar- powered Player for Vision-impaired Vets Audio books feature Bible, Ben Carson, , other authors. By RAJMUND DABROWSKI and DORIS BURDICK, Christian Record Services for the Blind

InSight4Vets, a unique thank- ‘new normal,’ ” Pitcher said. “The you gift initiative for blinded vet- audio player’s filled with stories; erans, was introduced on Tuesday, stories about overcoming during September 17, 2013, by an organi- the worst possible circum- zation building on a century-plus stances, stories of survival, sto- of innovative service to individuals ries of hope, and stories of who can’t see. transformation.” “Together we saw a need. It con- “When I received the player, nected perfectly with what we do my first reaction was this: Such a best. Now it’s our privilege to small device but so much good- share this gift with those coming ness in it!” says George Haley, home from military service with- blind veteran from Dowagiac, out sight,” Larry Pitcher, presi- Michigan, and a consultant for dent of Christian Record Services the project. “In a small package I for the Blind (CRSB), told the can carry with me a great amount CRSB board of directors at their of material that’s encouraging, recent meeting. entertaining, educational, and Sparked by news reports of the inspiring.” The audio player, prevalence of eye wounds from smaller than an iPhone, is packed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with seven complete audio the initiative caps months of books, about 100 hours of listen- : CRSBå P hoto research, collaboration, audio SENATORIAL INSIGHT: U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. ing. It can be charged by the sun production, and planning. Eye Black, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and retired Chief of or other light source, through trauma—from penetrating Naval Chaplains, receives an inSIGHT4VETS audio player USB cable, or with the plug-in wounds and traumatic brain from Rajmund Dabrowski, at the time communication charger provided. advisor to Christian Record Services for the Blind, an injury (TBI)—has been identified Adventist ministry. “As grateful as we are, and as as the second most common much as we would like to, we injury among active military. Seri- cannot restore sight to veterans ous eye wounds have accumulated at moral injuries that inSight4Vets was who have lost it. But we can give them almost twice the rate as wounds requir- developed. Including noncombat vision insight and hope as rays of inner light ing amputations. Traumatic eye injuries loss or loss in earlier conflicts, about through this ‘library in your pocket’ have accounted for upwards of 16 per- 157,000 blind veterans and 1 million player,” comments Dick Stenbakken, a cent of all injuries in Operation Endur- partially sighted vets are spread across retired U.S. Army chaplain whose best- ing Freedom and Operation Iraqi our country, and we care about every selling book, The Centurion, is included Freedom. single one of them.” in the player. “This unique initiative will “What could we do about it? . . . Available exclusively to these blinded change lives,” he adds. Something to show we care? . . . Some- veterans, at the heart of inSight4Vets is The “contents list” for the inSight- thing to encourage?” asked Pitcher, a pocket-size solar audio player pre- 4Vets player also includes Take the Risk, then elaborated, “Unfortunately, an loaded with a special collection of by Ben Carson; Unbroken, by Laura Hill- unseen wound of war—the inner books. “The books were chosen for their enbrand; The Blessings of Adversity, by U.S. anguish of sight loss—often becomes interest and inspiration. It’s a mix of Senate chaplain Barry Black; Hope greater than the physical injury itself.” lighter and heavier reading, to see veter- Unseen, by Captain Scott Smiley; The Book Then he explained, “It’s to address ans through perhaps the most difficult of Job: When Bad Things Happen to a Good these emotional, social, spiritual, and season of their lives, adjusting to their Person, by Rabbi Harold Kushner; and

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (939) 11 World News & Perspectives

No Greater Glory, by Dan Kurzman, as the strength, courage, and talent of Austin Wilson, a blind man in his early well as offering portions of Scripture— those who invested in military service. 20s, took a hand-cranked clothes the four Gospels, Psalms, and Proverbs. Many did so at great sacrifice. As an wringer like his mother used on wash- “By providing such an important ser- inSight4Vets digital player reaches a days, then fed through it a hand- vice, Christian Record is contributing to blinded veteran, we hope it will bring embossed metal plate and a sheet of mending a hole in a social safety net by with it our love, appreciation, and heavy paper to produce the first page of reaching out to a small—yet so very encouragement.” a braille magazine he titled The Christian important—group of people,” com- Initial start-up support for the Record. Today as one of 10 braille, large- mented retired U.S. Army chaplain Gary inSight4Vets project came from individ- print, and audio magazines produced by Councell. Christian Record envisions ual donors and a Versacare grant. Christian Record for blind and partially cooperation with a number of organiza- Among cosponsors of inSight4Vets is sighted readers, it holds the record as tions whose mission is to serve blind the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries the longest continuously produced veterans. (ACM) in Silver Spring, Maryland. Inno- braille magazine in the world. Summing up Christian Record’s vation to meet specific needs has been a To access more information about inSight- motivation for developing inSight4Vets, hallmark of Christian Record Services 4Vets, including how to donate to the project, Pitcher states: “All of us benefit from for the Blind since 1899. That same year go to: www.insight4vets.org. n

■■North America President, CEO, to Retire Robert Carmen to end 44-year career in 2014

Robert G. Carmen, president oversaw the operations of five hospi- and CEO of Adventist Health, has tals and a medical foundation. Simul- announced his retirement, according to taneously Carmen was the president of Ricardo Graham, chairman of the board. White Memorial Medical Center and On April 1, 2014, Carmen will conclude Glendale Adventist Medical Center, a 44-year career with the health system, both in the Los Angeles area. Prior to which spans the states of California, that he was vice president of Region I, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. which encompassed Adventist The board of directors for Adventist Health’s Central California hospitals. Health regretfully accepted Carmen’s He also served as president of Castle decision and has initiated a process to Medical Center in Kailua, Hawaii. An select his successor. That decision is occupational therapist by training, he expected before the end of the year. began his career in rehabilitation “Bob is a leader who has successfully services. navigated many challenges and shifts Carmen has played a direct role in

within this industry. Adventist Health photo H ealth A dventist many organizational milestones. Dur- has proved itself a dynamic organiza- ADVENTIST HEALTH RETIREMENT: ing his six-year tenure as president, Robert G. Carmen, president and CEO of tion, which has benefited from Bob’s Adventist Health, has announced his Carmen has championed rural health lengthy tenure. He has made tremen- retirement, effective April 2014. clinics, innovation, quality, and dous contributions to Adventist growth. However, the most visible leg- Health and to his credit has assembled an accomplished acy of Carmen’s leadership is the shift toward ambulatory senior leadership team to continue this legacy of service,” services. This includes the formation of Adventist Health states Graham. Physician Services and the clinics, as well as outpatient ser- Carmen assumed his current position October 2007, after vices. These sites, which are now in excess of 180, bring serving as executive vice president/COO for the Roseville, health-care and preventive services to hundreds of commu- California-based system since 1999. Previously he was pres- nities across four states. n ident of Adventist Health/Southern California, where he —Reported by Adventist Health

12 (940) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 Sound Bite crews © terry poem “There are griefs Jericho Road/ adventist life Anywhere Street and pains that My 3-year-old granddaughter, Charlotte, recently I saw you— asked her mother, “Mommy, where are your mommy lying there, tossed aside like rubbish; and daddy?” Her mother, my daughter-in-law, hesi- abandoned, wounded— seemingly we tated in answering. While she was thinking of the best Everything you had was gone way to explain that her parents are deceased, Char- except your life—just hanging on. cannot sustain, lotte replied, “That’s OK, Mommy, you’ll see them again when Jesus comes.” Others passed— —Joan Apigian Gebhard, California I saw their hurried footprints yet our true to the other side—away from you. share with u s A man shorn of his possessions— What if you’d ask for some of theirs? strength is the We are looking for brief submissions in these categories: What if— Lord our God so Sound Bites (quotes, profound or spontaneous) You asked for water or a morsel of Adventist Life (short anecdotes, especially from their food? the world of adults) They dared not risk the time, that, until the Camp Meeting Memories (150 words or less) the stigma, the means to help— Jots and Tittles (church-related tips) They did not dare to care. Please send your submissions to Give & Take, end, we can Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver And I? Spring, MD 20904-6600; fax: 301-680-6638; e-mail: I looked at you and saw myself— carry on.” [email protected]. Please include phone num- Saw my father, my brother, my child. ber, and city and state from which you are writing. You were some mother’s treasure— —Larry R. Valorozo, a Some other father’s son. self-supporting missionary, during a Bible study in Penang I understood the risk, City, Malaysia I knew the cost was great, yet before you even saw me I had named you— Brother; Friend. —Lois Pecce, Centerville, Ohio

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (941) 13 Story BUILDING Bridges

had just parked my car at a local tics, and when I saw Jim at the mall I was BY STEVE CINZIO shopping mall. Moments before ready with a warm handshake, saying, hopping on the travelator I spotted “Hi, James, I’m a born-again Adventist.” my friend Jim. He was with some- James’ broad widened even Knowing one I had not met. more, and the way he shook my hand I“G’day, Jim,” I said cheerily. told me that he enthusiastically what to “Hello, Steve. Great to see you!” he replied accepted me as a fellow Christian. warmly. “This is my friend Barry. He’s with As I have continued to brand myself say, and the Pentecostals,” Jim volunteered, putting as a born-again Christian I have discov- his hand on Barry’s shoulder. ered that doors of acceptance and h o w t o Now it seemed my turn to disclose understanding have opened, leading to my denominational affiliation. What some insightful and productive experi- say it should I say? ences during which I had the opportu- In the past, as a brand-new Christian, nity to share the gospel with others. when asked what church I attended I used to say I was a Seventh-day Reaching Out Adventist. Before I completed the sen- My wife, Judy, and I printed about 100 tence I often recognized a look of unease copies of a letter to our neighbors that on the face of individuals. Not that I was we placed in their mailboxes during our not proud of what I believed—it was morning walk with our border collie, just that the long title seemed to Bug. The letter was an invitation to have the effect of downsizing the study the Bible together. We waited smile that had been there a expectantly, praying that the Lord moment before. would move the hearts of the people on Later in my Christian our street. journey I began to under- Judy took the first call, and the caller stand that Seventh-day was a woman who asked one question: Adventists are generally “What religion are you?” not well known. And When she learned we are Seventh-day what was understood, or Adventists, she hung up rather abruptly. misunderstood, about us I answered the second inquiry and was that we don’t believe immediately began to engage the caller in blood transfusions. by asking if she was a Christian, and Then I modified my how long ago she became a follower of response by saying that I Jesus. We had quite a lengthy conversa- was Christian Seventh-day tion, but I purposely stayed away from Adventist, only to realize that mentioning any religious affiliation. perhaps I was intimating that Some people see such a move as some Seventh-day Adventists are almost denying the faith, or at least not not Christians. being honest with others. Some say that The next step in my attempt to get it right not mentioning the name of our church came when I presented myself as a Seventh- means that we are embarrassed about day Adventist Christian, identifying the fact who we are. Nothing could be further that my church belonged to the greater from the truth. Christian community. For a time I became Ellen White gave some wise counsel quite comfortable with that approach. in this area: “Do not wise generals keep Then some years ago I had changed tac- their movements strictly secret, lest the

14 (942) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 enemy shall learn their plans, and work I stayed away from telling her that I that she trusted us. Then I knew that to counteract them?”1 was a member of the Adventist Church. with God’s help she had gained confi- “You need not feel that all the truth is If she had asked me, I would have told dence in us and that confidence had, to be spoken to unbelievers on any and her; emphasizing that the idea of meet- over time, developed into trust. every occasion. You should plan carefully ing together was not to share the teach- About two weeks after our first meet- what to say and what to leave unsaid. This ing of my church per se, but rather our ing she brought her boarder with her, is not practicing deception; it is to work intention to search out truth from the and this young man has been with us as Paul worked. He says, ‘Being crafty, I Bible and compare these teachings with ever since. Then another two people caught you with guile [2 Cor. 12:16].’ You what was being taught in a range of joined us. What a joy it is to be together must vary your labor, and not have one Christian churches. week to week with an open Bible teach- way which you think must be followed at I didn’t want to dominate our time ing us God’s message of truth. all times and in all places.”2 together, so I invited her to share from May the Lord help us to be vigilant The “wise as serpents” approach may the Bible things she had learned from and keenly aware of the opportunities help open doors shut by the hand of her personal study. I did not want her to the Spirit opens to us, and may He help prejudice. Working under the power think I was the “fount of all knowl- us learn and develop the skills we need and influence of the Spirit, God will edge,” and I encouraged her to share in our approach to help others along help us to reach those who are open to what she had learned with us. the road to the kingdom. n genuine friendship. After about two months she men- 1 Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.C.: tioned in passing that she knew we were Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1946), p. 125. Pilgrims on a Journey Seventh-day Adventists. She seemed to 2 Ibid., pp. 125, 126. The week following her call we met be learning that Adventists were good for the first time in our home. We got people, and she was happy to fellowship A clinical counselor, Steve acquainted with each other, shared our and learn from us and with us. Cinzio lives in Logan Village, journey about how we came to know Imagine our joy when during our Queensland, Australia. Christ, and from that day on we have study together she made a comment been exploring common truths that that warmed our hearts. She told us serve to strengthen our faith in God and in the Scriptures. Our weekly group has now been going for four months, and during that time I felt impressed to take the “discov- ery” approach to the Bible. I shared with her how the Lord called me through an industrial accident that almost killed me more than 40 years ago. I told how I was in a hospital in a prone position for two months with a crush fracture in the lower lumbar region. I told her that it was in the hospital that I felt the need for spiritual direc- tion and that while I was there the Lord had spoken to me. I related how I had been visited by two young Mormons, and how after six months of study I told them I couldn’t believe some of their teachings. I men- tioned that I also studied with Jehovah’s Witnesses, only to find that many of their beliefs were unbiblical. I told her that I had also had studies with the Roman Catholic Church via a correspon- dence course. This method allowed her to accompany me on my search for Bible truth, illustrating the importance allow- ing the Scriptures to speak to us.

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (943) 15 Cover

Ascension Rock: On this spot near William Miller’s farm near Hampton, New York, Millerite Adventists waited for Jesus to return on October 22, 1844.

(944) BY ARTHUR CHADWICK AND INGO SORKE

he Seventh-day Adventist It was to this great event that Daniel’s pioneer Ellen White confirms this: “In Church emerged in the mid- prophecy pointed, an event centered on the Revelation all the books of the Bible nineteenth century from a the beginning of the act of judgment meet and end. Here is the complement of series of highly significant depicted in Daniel 7:9, 10 and elsewhere the book of Daniel. One is a prophecy; events. Millennial hopes in Scripture as taking place before the the other a revelation. The book that was Tculminated in the fervent expectation of return of Christ for His people. The sealed is not the Revelation, but that por- Christ’s return on October 22, 1844. realization that the final act of judg- tion of the prophecy of Daniel relating to Similar to the experience of the early ment was underway gave urgency to the the last days.”3 Additionally she wrote, disciples after the cross (cf. Luke 24:21), message of this fledgling group of “The words of the angel to Daniel relat- the disappointment was bitter when He Advent believers; they remained faithful ing to the last days were to be under- failed to return as the Millerites had to the vision in spite of their stood in the time of the end.”4 hoped. Careful retrospection focused disappointment. Such parallels between Daniel and Rev- not on the date, which had been so elation are difficult to miss. Note the meticulously vetted, but on the mean- Sweet, Yet Bitter nearly identical language describing the ing of the phrase “then the sanctuary In retracing their steps, the pioneers oath in Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 10:6. shall be cleansed” (Dan. 8:14).1 Early realized a particular aspect they had Furthermore, Millerites saw the culmina- Advent pioneers understood this “sanc- missed. Revelation 10 discloses that tion of the Bible’s longest prophecy, the tuary” to be the earth; “cleansing,” then, God had known all along that the study 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14, as par- would refer to the cleansing of the earth of Daniel’s prophecies would lead to allel with Revelation 10:6 (“there should by Christ’s return. great enlightenment. Conversely, be delay no longer”). Intensive Bible study by these pio- its misapplication This brings us to neers—and an inspired moment in a spelled agony and dis- October 22, 1844, the field—revealed the nature of their mis- appointment. This Great Disappoint- understanding. The “sanctuary” chapter opens ment. John is told referred not to the earth itself (which is with a mighty to take the book of never so designated in Scripture), but to angel standing on Daniel from the the only structure in which the services the sea and the hand of the angel associated with salvation and atone- land with a little and to “eat it.” The ment were to take place, designated in book in his hand angel warns John Scripture as tabernacle, temple, or sanc- (Rev. 10:1, 2). This that “it will make tuary. However, in the case of Daniel little book, now open, your stomach bitter,” 8:14, the reference is not to the earthly is the book of Daniel. but that it would also tabernacle originally built according to After all, it was Daniel who was “be as sweet as honey in your the plans God gave to Moses (and later told to seal up his little book until the mouth” (Rev. 10:9). John obeys and finds replaced by other buildings), but to the “time of the end” (Dan. 12:4, 9). Advent the angel’s words fulfilled. Puzzled, he sanctuary in heaven. Thus the earthly pioneers pinpointed this prophetic looks to the angel for understanding and model was but a type or shadow (Ex. milestone as the end of the 1260 days/ is told: “You must prophesy again about 25:8, 40; Heb. 8:1-5; 9:23). years (given in various forms in Daniel many peoples, nations, tongues, and As Christ was our high priest in the 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; kings” (verse 11)—the prophetic mandate heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:1, 2), it fol- 13:5), pointing to the end of the French par excellence of the Advent movement. lowed that the yearly services of the Revolution in 1798. The messenger offers no hint of the con- earthly sanctuary must mirror greater, Daniel 12:4 adds that when this book tent of that message, and with that solemn one-time services in the heavenly sanc- is opened, “many shall run to and fro announcement, John’s vision in chapter tuary (Heb. 9:24-26). The pioneers dis- and search anxiously [through the 10 ends. It is not until we reach Revelation covered that the annual service of the Book], and knowledge [of God’s pur- 14 that we learn the rest of the story, the Day of Atonement involved the cleans- poses as revealed by His prophets] shall reason for the that ing of the earthly sanctuary. Here the be increased and become great” (Ampli- John experienced in vision. sins of the penitent were transferred fied).2 However, the Second Great Awak- In Revelation 14:6 we pick up the trail from the physical building to the scape- ening was not only a North American of chapter 10 with a clearly identifiable goat (Azazel; cf. Lev. 16:10), representing phenomenon. All around the world repetition. Both Revelation 10:11 and Satan. They reasoned that a parallel God’s Word and the prophecies of Daniel 14:6 are directed to a global audience.5 event must have been initiated in the were being proclaimed during the early The three angels’ messages that follow

K nickerbocker B etty by P hoto heavenly sanctuary on October 22, 1844. part of the nineteenth century. Adventist are the global commission to the rem-

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (945) 17 nant of those who experienced the dis- to our origin as a church. The angel tation of the text recorded in 2 Peter 3:4. appointment of 1844 and later went on admonishes to “worship Him who “Where is the promise of His coming to found the Seventh-day Adventist made heaven and earth, the sea and [“no prospect of an end”]? For since the Church. The message begins with a loud springs of water” (Rev. 14:7). This state- fathers fell asleep, all things continue as voice saying, “Fear God and give glory to ment, a call to worship the Creator with they were from the beginning of creation Him, for the hour of His judgment has language reflective of the Sabbath com- [“no vestige of a beginning”].” Peter pre- come” (Rev. 14:7), the judgment that mandment, is the reason for the first cisely sets the time frame for this event heralds the soon return of Christ and part of our name, Seventh-day. when he explains that “there shall come gives rise to the Adventist part of our How does this connect with the proph- in the last days scoffers, walking after their name. So an event beginning in mid- ecies of Daniel? Did anything happen on own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3, KJV). October 1844 in heaven is a vital part of earth in 1844? Modern geology and evo- Thus the time frame of 2 Peter 3:3-6 is the “everlasting gospel” we are char- lutionary thought traces its roots to a identical with the time frame of Revela- tered to proclaim loudly on the Scottish physician, James Hutton, who tion 10, the “time of the end.” The pas- earth today! Thus, we can trace became deeply engrossed in the study of sage goes on to identify the willing the ending of a prophetic the earth. Hutton wrote a three-volume ignorance of people who will choose not period, make sense of the work entitled Theory of the Earth, com- to believe in a fiat creation by God or in pioneers’ misunderstand- pleted in 1795. Its 2,100 pages were a worldwide flood. While this is intrigu- ing of the event that termi- hardly read in his lifetime, but before ing as a fulfilled prophecy—what does nates this period, detect long the data was taken up and popular- it have to do with 1844? God’s foreknowledge of those ized by others. His first volume ends with Revelation 10:6, the key verse relating events, and apply them to our mission the following significant passage: “But if to the 1844 date in that chapter, con- and message today. the succession of worlds is established in tains an element not present in the par- the system of nature, it is in vain to look allel passage in Daniel 12:7. The biblical Worship the Creator for anything higher in the origin of the text describing the angel, who speaks However, one final aspect of the first earth. The result, therefore, of our pres- now to the remnant of God’s followers angel’s message in Revelation 14 cannot ent enquiry is that we find no vestige of a living on earth in the time of the end, be tied to an event in heaven in mid- beginning—no prospect of an end.”6 includes the following important addi- October 1844, but it is just as important This passage reflects strikingly a quo- tion: “[The angel] swore by Him who

(946) lives forever and ever, who created recently wrote a treatise on Chambers’ tors of the most commonly used Greek heaven and the things that are in it, the book. He spells out his sense of the New Testament included Exodus 20:11 earth and the things that are in it, and importance of this work in changing as a cross-reference for Revelation the sea and the things that are in it, that people’s minds about evolution: “How 14:7—a reasonable inference based on a there should be delay no longer.” did evolution gain this pivotal role in the simple comparison of the terminology Creation as an eschatologically critical public arena? The answer turns out to used in both references. theme is introduced as a new element in have little to do with Darwinian biology God has given the Seventh-day the same verse that proclaims the fulfill- or big bang astronomy. Instead, the criti- Adventist Church the mission and privi- ment of the longest Bible time prophecy cal period is the first half of the nine- lege of proclaiming the good news to and the beginning of judgment. It there- teenth century, and the turning point is the whole world. It is the news that fore promises to play an important role the response of readers to Vestiges.”8 Christ, the Creator-God, is coming soon in the subsequent history of the Advent The insidious seeds of evolution cast for His people. He originally created the movement. But was there a significant by Hutton at the beginning of the “time world in six days, and is ready to re- event that took place on earth in mid- of the end” took root, and sprang forth His saved people and this earth October 1844 that would justify includ- in the writings of Robert Chambers, following His second coming. What a ing this most significant reference to published in mid-October 1844. They privilege it is to participate in this great God’s creatorship in the same verse? subsequently sprouted in the writings mission! Surely Satan will do anything of Charles Darwin, ripening a harvest of in his power to prevent the spread of Evolution and 1844 seed that has infested the entire world the truth about the Creator-God. Yet, In mid-October 1844 a Scottish book- with the spawn of Lucifer’s rebellion in there is comfort: “Here is the patience of seller, Robert Chambers, published heaven: “I will be like the Most High” the saints; here are those who keep the anonymously a book with the title Ves- (Isa. 14:14). In the absence of the ability commandments of God and the faith of tiges of the Natural History of Creation. to create life itself, Lucifer’s desire to Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). n Chambers offered a comprehensive supplant God and have creatures wor- 1 Unless otherwise noted, Bible texts in this account of the origin of the universe, ship him could be realized only if he article are from the New King James Version. life, and even the origin of humans made God’s creatures think that God Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, within a completely naturalistic frame- was not the Creator (cf. Isa. 29:16). None Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2 Bible texts credited to Amplified are from The work (i.e., without God’s involvement). can doubt that he has been successful. Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright © 1965, The book was an instant success, sell- Paul spells out the consequences of 1987 by Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New ing more than 20,000 copies in 10 edi- rejecting God as Creator in Romans Testament copyright © 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. tions during its first 10 years. It was 1:22-25: “Professing to be wise, they 3 Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Moun- widely distributed on the continent as became fools, and changed the glory of tain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), p. well as abroad and was read by major the incorruptible God into an image 585. 4 Ellen G. White, (Mountain poets, statesmen, scientists, and philos- made like corruptible man—and birds View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1940), p. 234. ophers on both sides of the Atlantic. and four-footed animals and creeping 5 Revelation 10:11 refers to “many peoples, Lincoln and Queen Victoria read the things. Therefore God also gave them nations, tongues, and kings” while Revelation 14:6 employs a different sequence and points to “every book. Physicist Sir David Brewster up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their nation, tribe, tongue, and people.” warned that Vestiges stood a “fair hearts, to dishonor their bodies among 6 James Hutton, Theory of the Earth (transactions chance of poisoning the themselves, who exchanged the truth of of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1788), p. 166. 7 David Brewster, “Review of the Vestiges (4th fountains of sci- God for the lie, and worshiped and ed.),” North British Review 3 (May-August 1845): 471. ence, and sapping served the creature rather than the Cre- 8 James A. Secord, Victorian Sensation: The Extraor- the foundations of ator, who is blessed forever.” dinary Publication, Reception, and Secret Authorship of 7 Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (Chicago: religion.” Darwin, University of Chicago Press, 2000), p. 2. who himself in July Sabbath and Creation of 1844 had included This brings us right back to the second Arthur Chadwick, Ph.D., is provisions in his will half of the first angel’s message, and the research professor in the to have his then 230- first part of our church’s name, Seventh- biology and geology depart- page manuscript on ori- day—“and worship Him who made ment at Southwestern gins published, was heaven and earth, the sea and springs of Adventist University, Keene, devastated by Vestiges, think- water” (Rev. 14:7). The Sabbath is the Texas. Ingo Sorke, Ph.D., is an ing he had lost his chance to get memorial of Creation, and God is calling associate professor of religion the credit he thought he deserved us back to true worship, an act due only at the same institution. for ideas he presumed to be his own! to the Creator (cf. Rev. 4:11). Modern historian James Secord It is interesting to note that the edi-

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (947) 19 Theology BY ELIJAH MVUNDURA dventism was born in the mid-nineteenth century— the same century that saw the birth of movements and ideologies that have Ashaped the modern world: Romanticism, Karl Marx German idealism, French positivism, nationalism, Darwinism, Marxism, and Nietzscheanism. This shared chronologi- cal origin was not accidental but provi- dential. The call to fear and worship the Creator-God (see Rev. 14:7) diametrically counters the self-deifying, heaven- storming passions, ideas, and themes at the heart of these radical ideologies. In interpreting Daniel 8:9-14 and Rev- elation 14:6-12 we have often restricted ourselves to the activities of the little horn and Babylon. But we have not tried to apply the “present truth” to modern radical ideologies. Yet, if today the world is ignorant of Christ’s high- priestly ministry and despises the gos- pel, it is because nineteenth-century radical thinkers invented secular reli- gions in which celebrity artists, intellec- tuals, scientists, and politicians are modern types of ancient pagan priests and gods. Indeed, we cannot appreciate the bewitching grip of radical ideologies on modern thought and consciousness and their challenge to the gospel unless we grasp their distinctively religious Charles Darwin essence. Again, if they displaced God and in Western culture, elicited religious-like devotion, it is because they were deliberately fabricated as substitute religions, to replace Christianity. As Lud- wig Feuerbach, one of Karl Marx’s intel- lectual godfathers, declared: “We must start to be religious once again; politics must become our religion.”1 But a politi- cal religion recalls primitive society, its con-fusion of politics and religion, the divine and the human.

Ideologies and Religion A whole primitive religiosity reap- pears in modern ideologies. The central figure in this reappearance was Jean- and modern Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Fore- most among his ideas was that in the “state of nature” humans were natu- ideologies rally good, but had been corrupted by

20 (948) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 The Prophetic Rendezvous of modern civilization. If this denial of human sinfulness swept away the truth of the Fall and the need of a Savior, it supplied the rationale for social sci- ences and the belief that education and social engineering can make us moral and whole. By shifting the source of sin from the self to society, Rousseau also shifted the theater of the great war between good and evil from the human 1844good, with the devil depicted as a hero mediatorial ministry, and Romantics heart to one between corrupt society and God as “an evil tyrant.”6 knew it. “It’s only prejudice and pre- and nature. In this new theater, salva- These deformations are rooted in sumption,” declared their literary jour- tion was in nature. And to restore cor- occultism—a mix of Gnostic, Neopla- nal the Athenaeum, “that maintains there rupt society to pristine nature, he tonic, hermetic, and Cabalistic ele- is only a single mediator [namely, proposed the creation of a civil religion ments—all of which originated in late Christ] between God and man.”10 Artists and a social contract, in which each per- antiquity and transmitted to the mod- due to their creative genius could also son puts “all his powers under the ern period by medieval mystics. German be mediators and prophets of God. They supreme direction of the general will,” idealistic philosophy flowed to form “an indivisible whole.”2 directly from German mysticism The adjectives he used to describe the of the Middle Ages.7 Hence, it All nineteenth- social contract—indestructible, infallible, was mythological at heart. “We century radical absolute, and sacred—evoked divinity. must have a new mythology,” ideologies were, As Albert Camus acutely observed: “The wrote Hegel, “but this mythology will of the people [was] substituted for must be in the service of the in different ways, God himself.”3 In this substitution Ideas, it must be a mythology of parodies of the Rousseau set a precedent later pursued reason.”8 Besides rationalizing by radical nineteenth-century thinkers, mythology, German thinkers sec- gospel, monstrous especially in Germany. As Robert Tucker ularized biblical themes, espe- spiritual pointed out: “The movement of thought cially from the book of deformations. from Kant to Hegel revolved . . . around Revelation, and spiced the mix the idea of man’s self-realization as a with science, so as to create “a godlike being, or alternatively, as God.”4 new mythology,” forged, as Schlegel were gods “in human form,” intoned Indeed, the German poet Novalis said, “out of the uttermost depth of the Lavater, or “dramatic God,” said bluntly declared, “Now on earth Men Spirit.”9 Herder.11 Again, proclaiming himself a must become Gods.”5 And Goethe’s lit- poet-prophet for his age with “an inter- erary figure Faust, recalling the devil’s Syncretism Galore nal brightness” that is “shared by lie to our first parents, “dreams of god- The driving passion behind the syn- none,”12 Wordsworth daringly declared, like knowledge.” To realize these cretism, this mixing of mythology and “I have no need of a Redeemer.”13 dreams, he resorts to magic in order to theology, was to create metaphysical Behind this denial of a redeemer and conjure the power of demons that rule systems that would restore primal unity, the self-deification was pantheism, the the world. Then again, in Romanticism, a con-fusion of humans and nature, of religion that everything in nature, a literary and artistic movement that the natural and the supernatural, of the including humans, is divine. In a major amplified Rousseau’s ideas, demonic individual and society. This endeavor for innovation radical thinkers extended symbols were shifted away from evil to primal unity directly struck at Christ’s this pantheism to their artistic works,

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (949) 21 philosophical systems, and abstract Judgment and Hubris Reflecting on the twentieth-first-century ideas. If Romantics deified art, nature, If this self-deification reached its apex in global tensions and challenges and the and the nation, Hegel deified history the nineteenth century, crowned by lack of solutions, John Lukacs, a distin- and the state, while French positivists Nietzsche’s blasphemous declaration that guished historian, recently wrote: “We deified science; and Nietzsche, in spite “God is dead,” then the prophetic rendez- are at the end of an age: but how few of clearly discerning the lust for power vous of 1844, the beginning of judgment, people know this! The sense of this has behind these impious projects, deified as the Adventist pioneers proclaimed, begun to appear in the hearts of many; “the will to power” itself. Again, with makes perfect divine sense. Doom had but it has not yet swum up to the sur- his typical candor he revealed the real burst forth, the rod had budded, and arro- face of their consciousness.”20 force behind nineteenth-century radi- gance had blossomed (Eze. 7:10). What comes after the Great Reces- calism. “The world,” he wrote, “has Again, the explicit ambition by sion? Only God knows. But in the mid- become skilled at giving new names to Romantic poets and artists to install nineteenth century He raised the things and even baptizing the devil. It is themselves as “priests of the new dis- Advent movement to tell the world: truly an hour of pensation”18 puts in sharp relief the “There will be no more delay!” (Rev. great danger. . . . divine imperative of highlighting the 10:6). “Look, I am coming soon!” (Rev. Yet they [men] heavenly high-priestly ministry of Jesus. 22:12). Is it not time for us to awake, are in no way The crux of Daniel 8:14 and Revelation time to trim our lamps and give the disturbed by the 14:6, 7, as put succinctly in Colossians trumpet a distinct sound? n

discovery, but 1:17, is that “he [Christ] is before all 1 In Emilio Gentile, Politics as Religion, trans. George Staunton proclaim that things, and in him all things hold (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996), p. 30. ‘egoism shall be together.” Paul continues in verses 19, 2 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, trans. 14 Maurice Cranston (London: Penguin Books, 1968), p. 61. our god.’ ” 20: “For God was pleased to have all his 3 Albert Camus, The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt, trans. In the last fullness dwell in him, and through him Anthony Bower (New York: Vintage Books, 1991), p. 115. sentence of his to reconcile to himself all things, 4 Robert Tucker, Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961), p. 31. last work before whether things on earth or things in 5 In Nicholas V. Riasanovsky, The Emergence of Roman- going insane, heaven, by making peace through his ticism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 80. Nietzsche blood, shed on the cross.” 6 Jeffrey Burton Russell, Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, declared, “Have I The essence of “the eternal gospel” is 1986), pp. 173-213. been under- the complete and matchless reconcilia- 7 Ernst Benz, The Mystical Sources of German Romantic stood? Dionysus tion achieved by Jesus, a reconciliation Philosophy, trans. Blair R. Reynolds and Eunice M. Paul (Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick Publications, 1983), pp. 23-25. against the Cruci- that radical ideologies impersonated. If 8 In Glenn Alexander Magee, Hegel and the Hermetic Tradi- fied.”15 In a note- Marxism was the most seductive, it is tion (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2001), pp. 87, 88. worthy work on because it impersonated best. Its idea of 9 In M. H. Abrams, Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition and Revolution in Romantic Literature (New York: W. W. modern philosophy from Descartes primitive communism negatively mir- Norton, 1971), p. 67. (1596-1650) to Nietzsche (1844-1900), rors the Garden of Eden; its communist 10 In Liah Greenfeld, Nationalism: Five Roads to Michael Allen Gillespie argued that utopia the New Jerusalem; its class con- Modernity (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), p. 328. Nietzsche’s nihilism has been misunder- flict the great controversy between good 11 In ibid., p. 336. stood. Far from pronouncing the “death and evil; and its mass killing of ideologi- 12 In Abrams, p. 21. of God,” it proclaimed the advent of the cal enemies God’s end-time destruction 13 In ibid., p. 120. 14 16 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Use and Abuse of History, Greek God—Dionysus. This all-too- of the wicked. All nineteenth-century trans. Adrian Collins (New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., pagan trajectory of modern philosophy, radical ideologies were, in different 1957), pp. 62, 63. “the metaphysical demand for unity, the ways, parodies of the gospel, monstrous 15 Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo, trans. R. J. Holling- dale (London: Penguin Books, 1979), p. 104. impossibility of capturing it, and the spiritual deformations. Significantly, as 16 Michael Allen Gillespie, Nihilism Before Nietzsche construction of a substitute universe,”17 Tony Judt, one of the twentieth centu- (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995). has all the hubris and demonic delusion ry’s preeminent historians, pointed out, 17 Camus, p. 255. 18 Riasanovsky, p. 54. of the archrebel, the devil, including his “the building blocks of the twentieth- 19 Tony Judt, Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten ambition to displace God as the sover- century political world” “were all nine- Twentieth Century (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), p. 3. eign of the universe. To be sure, there is teenth-century artifacts.”19 20 John Lukacs, At the End of the Age (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002), p. 42. a scarlet thread that runs from primitive These “artifacts” are crumbling before paganism through medieval Christen- our eyes. Communism was the first to Elijah Mvundura is a former dom and mushrooms in modern radical collapse in 1989 under the weight of its history and sociology lecturer ideologies. That thread is self-deification, own contradictions; and today capital- at in Zimbabwe. humans displacing God, arrogating to ism is tottering on the precipice, with He now lives in Calgary, Alberta, themselves powers and prerogatives dwindling policy remedies and political Canada, and is a member of the that belong to Him alone. paralysis on both sides of the Atlantic. Garden Road Seventh-day Adventist Church.

22 (950) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 Journeys With Jesus Growing Up I closed my eyes and began to count. One, two, three. Little stocking feet scampered away as boyish chatter receded. Four, five, six.The baby cried. I could hear my sister in the other room, as she soothed him. Seven, eight, nine. A childish voice broke into my count. “Caweb, here!” I smiled. Life was never dull at my sister’s house. I’d flown in for a week to help her just after the birth of her fourth son. The little guys ranged in ages from 6 all the way down to 3 days old. Hide-and-seek kept the older three busy for a while, so she could focus on the newest arrival. Ten! Ready or not, here I come! The older boys knew to stay quiet in order to remain hidden, but not Caleb. I opened the front closet door. “Caweb, here!” echoed down the hall. I peered behind the shower curtain. “Caweb, here!” drifted into the bathroom. I glanced beside the washing machine. “Caweb, here!” He was beginning to sound insistent. I stepped into a bedroom, and there he lay. Head tucked under the bed. Eyes screwed shut. Arms and legs and trunk sprawled out in plain view. Instead of walking toward him, I headed for the chair. “Maybe Caleb’s behind the chair.” Giggles erupted from under the bed. “No! Caleb’s not here. I wonder where he is.” More giggles. “Oh, I know. Caleb’s hiding in the closet.” I glanced his way. He beamed from under the bed. He was so proud of his hiding place, and the fact that Auntie Jill couldn’t find him. After checking every spot in the bedroom I could think of, I pounced on him. “Oh, there’s Caleb! Hiding under the bed!” He pulled his head out from under the bed, his little 2-year-old face wreathed in smiles. I grabbed him and squeezed him, but he soon wriggled free. Toddling off, he began to “hide” again. Sitting back, I pondered how often I had surrendered my all to Jesus, little realizing the greater part of my heart was still unconverted. Full of undiscovered sins sticking out into the room. And yet, Jesus had never scolded me. Not once. Not ever. He’d never said, “There’s a whole mess of you lying out here in full view. Don’t you think Jill you could realize that and grow up?” Instead, He’d shown me my heart, bit by bit. First, there Morikone was some jealousy stuck over here. Ouch! I hadn’t even realized it existed! Thankful, I asked Him to cleanse my heart, to grant me the spirit of contentment. Next, He showed me the bitterness that lurked just beneath the surface. I dug for a while alone before I realized that it was spreading and that I was powerless to control it. In desperation I turned to Him for forgiveness and peace. Later He showed me where pride had taken root and had already begun reseeding itself with amazing rapidity. In shame I turned to Him for cleansing, for grace, for victory. How much of me was still sticking out from under the bed? Just my toes or feet? Or—please God, no—my entire torso? Shaking my head, I stood to begin once again. One, two, three. “Oh, God, thank You for not condemning me when I was still a child.” Four, five, six. “Thank You for showing me those places that are still sticking out from under the bed.” Seven, eight, nine. “Caweb, here!” I smiled. The game was about to begin again. Ten. Ready or not, here I come! After all, I am still His little daughter. Cherished and beloved. Growing—and, most important—still growing up. n

Jill Morikone is administrative assistant to the president of 3ABN. She and her husband, Greg, live in southern Illinois and enjoy ministering together for Jesus.

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (951) 23 BRAND-NEW DOCUMENTARY! Travel to the very heart of the Bible’s most challenging book! This 90-minute documentary journeys from the birth of Christ, to the early Christian era, the rise of Babylon, the persecution of the bride, and reveals the identity of .

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Features compelling interviews with renowned theologians and historians, Susanna Elm, D.Phil. David Trim, Ph.D. Obery Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D. Hosted by Professor of History, Director of Archives, Statistics, Professor of Biblical Interpretation, including: UC Berkeley and Research, General Conference New York Theological Seminary Doug Batchelor

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(952) AFBOOKSTORE.COM Back to Basics BRAND-NEW Another Look at the Gospel “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right, and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go DOCUMENTARY! first—rock ’n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”* These controversial words were spoken in 1966 during an interview given by the late John Lennon, Brit- Travel to the very ish musician and popular member of the Beatles. They raised the hackles of thousands of American Chris- tians when they appeared in a teen magazine. Most believers were outraged and resented the sacrilegious heart of the Bible’s nature of Lennon’s remark. But they missed an important point that is as true today as it was then: Christianity is not making the gospel come alive in the hearts and minds of the young as is mind-rotting, most challenging popular music. It’s been 47 years since Lennon threw down a gauntlet to Christians, who protested and called for book! This 90-minute a ban-the-Beatles campaign that apparently went no further than a few local churches. Yet things documentary journeys seem unchanged or have gotten worse when it comes to making the gospel attractive to young people. from the birth of When Lennon’s words were made public, they seemed ridiculous to some, but in retrospect they were ominous. For today, according to presentations on YouTube that garner millions of hits, a Christ, to the early majority of children and young adults in America, where at least 56 percent attend a conventional church each week, know secular music and musings better than John 3:16. In fact, many churches Christian era, the have sold their gospel birthright (John 1:13) for the gospel according to the American dream in values rise of Babylon, the and ideas that not only are unbiblical, but contradict the biblical truths they claim to believe. We Adventists have to embody and proclaim an explicit commitment to the person of Jesus Christ persecution of the as the essence of our message, even before, beyond, and above all doctrinal directives. For as Brennan Manning noted in Souvenirs of Solitude: “Beautiful liturgies; mass regional, national, and international bride, and reveals the meetings; crusades against immorality are good and have their place, but none of them is an adequate substitute for dying to self” so that one may live exclusively for Christ. When Jesus isn’t explicitly the identity of the beast. center and circumference of our evangelism, people become confused about the commission of the church (Matt. 28:19, 20). My grandmother had a quip for every occasion. One immediately comes to mind. She warned, “To To learn more visit come see me and to come live with me are two different things.” In this context, I would say her words are a warning that people may be attracted by our powerful preaching and video illustrations when they come to “see us” in our evangelistic meetings. However, when they accept our unique brand of the “mes- Hyveth revelationmystery.com sage,” are baptized, and “come to live with us” and realize that what we preach is not always what we prac- Williams tice, they quickly move out of their new home. Because of this, we cannot continue with business as usual in our lives as Christians or as a church. We must deny demands that keep the saints shiny and happy based on standards defined by the culture around Features us rather than the principles of Him who said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and compelling take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34, 35). interviews Men and women around the world are risking their lives and fulfilling these powerful words to live and with renowned share the good news about Jesus. The Christian church in North America should, but we Adventists must avoid cheap caricatures of Christ and instead present Him as “the Alpha and the Omega . . . who is, and who theologians was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). and historians, Susanna Elm, D.Phil. David Trim, Ph.D. Obery Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D. Hosted by The time for talking is over. That’s why I pray continually that my beloved church will wake up from the Professor of History, Director of Archives, Statistics, Professor of Biblical Interpretation, stupor of the Americanized gospel of material acquisition to consistently preach and teach Christ, and including: UC Berkeley and Research, General Conference New York Theological Seminary Doug Batchelor Christ alone, in these desperate last days.

* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/more_popular_than_Jesus.

To order, call 1-800-538-7275. Available on DVD or for download at: Hyveth Williams teaches homiletics at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary.

AFBOOKSTORE.COM www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (953) 25 Adventist Life BY DENISE CHESHIRE Willing Heart s church congregation doesn’t have to be large in number to influence a Small community. Instead, it takes a heartfelt commitment to serve, as well church as faith in the Holy Spirit’s power. The approximately 50 attending members of the Okeechobee, Flor- makes huge ida, Adventist Church—my home church—have learned this first- Ahand. Although small in number, we currently are giving almost 270 Bible impact studies—more than five times our weekly church attendance. In November 2012 at local we conducted a baptism for 54 new believers! So how could this happen? prison “When we opened our eyes to the mission possibilities that God had before us, our F ernandez afael : R photo

INSTRUCTORS: Some of lives began to change in ways we never his visits. At this point the pastor the volunteer Bible study instructors grade lesson imagined,” says church pastor Rafael decided to recruit some help, so he sheets together: (from Fernandez. “We found people who were called me and asked if I would be inter- left) Mel Kohltfarber, literally waiting for an invitation to ested in assisting with a new project: Linda Winner, Connie study the Word of God—and they were offering prison inmates correspondence Rhoden, Vianney Fernan- all housed at our local prison.” Bible studies using the dez, Denise Cheshire, Brenda Bellizio, and Con- Bible Study Guides. Working with nie Davis. Getting Started prison ministries sparked my interest. Pastor Fernandez had been minister- After much prayer and discussion, we ing to the local Okeechobee prison by decided to move forward in faith, trust- leading out each month in a worship ing in the Lord’s leading. service at the prison’s chapel. What First we obtained a list of those who began as a program that only about a attended prison services each week, half dozen men attended, eventually which totaled about 240 of the almost grew to fill the facility’s capacity of 220. 1,800 inmates. Our goal was to offer the Several inmates began approaching Pas- inmates more than merely lessons to tor Fernandez, asking for more material grade and send back; we wanted them to read, more Bible studies, something to know there was someone on the to keep them fed spiritually in between other end of those lessons who cared for them, who was willing to share

26 (954) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 God’s Word with them and offer them the instructor will send the inmate a continue to look for new approaches to encouragement. We realized that would simple card, stating that we are praying reach out to even more of the inmates. take more volunteers than just me. for them and are looking forward to hearing from them. Follow-up Recruiting Instructors The response has been tremendous. Although our goal is to lead the Bible The following Sabbath Pastor Fernan- Throughout the 18 months we’ve been students to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, dez and I appealed to the church mem- involved in this ministry, inmates have we don’t want to leave them there. We bers to answer God’s call to minister to sent us scores of homemade cards and also desire to nurture them in the faith, those in prison (see Matt. 25:36). Fifteen letters thanking us for caring about them disciple them, and teach them to be spiri- people immediately agreed to serve as and being willing to minister to them. tual leaders in the prison and in their Bible study instructors. Two weeks later “This ministry has been a help to me homes and local communities when we offered an orientation for the from the beginning, and I pray it will they’re released. So we’re now instituting instructors, providing them with a never stop,” one inmate wrote. “We a discipleship program for the Bible study small kit that included answer sheets need the love that comes from you all, graduates using a curriculum that Florida for each lesson, extra stamps and enve- real love from men and women of God.” Conference has developed. This isn’t a cor- lopes, and a list of inmates with whom “You’ve shown me that God’s Word respondence program; rather, disciple- they would be working until the com- can be trusted,” another wrote. “God ship classes will be conducted for groups pletion of the program. loves everyone, good and bad. All people of inmates at the prison. Our church is Each instructor remains with the are His creation.” excited about this new endeavor. same inmates throughout the pro- These inmates are also spreading the Countless men and women in prison gram—this is a key point. The course is word to fellow inmates, rapidly increas- are searching for meaning to their exis- about more than Bible study; it’s about ing the number of Bible studies. tence, for hope, for something or some- making a connection, building a rela- one who can lift them above their tionship, offering the inmates assurance Blessed by Serving current circumstances. that there’s someone who cares about God is blessing not only the prison One of the individuals baptized last them and their walk with Christ. We are inmates but the instructors as well. Some November will soon be released. He served careful to keep our communications 20 church members are now enlisted in more than 10 years in prison, but his atti- focused on them—their spiritual this ministry—more than one third of tude is positive. He explained to me that growth and leading them to a knowl- our attending church body! Other mem- because in prison all distractions were edge of Jesus Christ. We also retain ano- bers have become prayer partners. Even taken away from him, he had an opportu- nymity for the instructors. more important, God has opened our nity to review and reevaluate his life, and to I then wrote a letter to each of the 240 eyes to see others as He sees them. He has develop a desire to search for something inmates, inviting them to study the Word given us a new perspective on those He better. He found Christ in prison, he said, of God with us through these lessons. died to save, which has changed our lives. and he would not change that for anything. Included were the first two study guides We’re now a church united in purpose, “All have sinned and fallen short of and a self-addressed, stamped envelope in focused on reaching out to these forgot- God’s glory—everyone,” Pastor Fernan- which to mail back the completed studies. ten people in our community. dez says. “Because of what Jesus is “The men have shown a true interest doing in our own lives every day, we are Remarkable Response! in learning about Jesus,” says volunteer sharing His love with those in prison. More than 100 inmates responded to Bible instructor Eric Cheshire. “It’s been And their reaction has been overwhelm- the first mailing! As director of the pro- an absolute joy to witness them being ing. This ministry has been blessed gram, the prison officials send all the baptized, even behind prison walls. Now beyond measure.” mail to me. I then disburse the letters they are truly free.” The Lord is the one who opens doors and answer sheets to the instructors at “This ministry is forward-reaching, so we can touch people’s lives and bring church on Sabbath and prayer meeting with unlimited growth potential,” adds healing and salvation. The only thing He during the week. After we grade the instructor Cindy Bestol. “These men requires is a willing heart. study sheets, we return them, along with want to grow in the Lord, and their For more information about Okeechobee the next two study guides and another eagerness has sparked my own desire church prison ministries, e-mail Pastor Fer- self-addressed, stamped envelope. We for spiritual steps forward.” nandez at [email protected]. n always write words of encouragement The ministry indeed continues to on their answer sheets, and often grow. We have prayed for financial Denise Cheshire writes from include a small note with a scripture. resources, and at each step the Lord has Okeechobee, Florida, where she I set up a database to keep track of provided. There was no master plan for resides with her husband, Eric, each student’s progress. If we don’t this outreach endeavor, yet the Lord has and their two children. receive answer sheets for a few weeks, guided us each step of the way. And we

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Signs to Life: Read- feeding of the multitude, the healing of authors—Carolyn Rickett, Daniel Reyn- ing and Responding to the man born blind, and the raising of aud, Jane Fernandez, and Nathan John’s Gospel Lazarus from the dead. Brown—respond to Valentine’s chap- But Valentine’s treatment of these ters in a section entitled “Abundant Signs to Life: Reading and Responding to stories isn’t just a retelling; don’t be Life: Readers Respond.” Each author is John’s Gospel, Kendra Haloviak associated with Avondale Col- Valentine, Signs Publishing Com- lege of Higher Education in pany, Victoria, Australia, 2013, Cooranbong, New South Wales, 151 pages, US$14.99. Reviewed by Australia; and they use Valen- Stephen Chavez, coordinating editor, tine’s chapters as a jumping-off Adventist Review. place to share their own reflec- tions about the effect of John’s are is the theologian who Gospel on their lives. Rcan effectively communi- The purpose, according to Val- cate the rich treasures of the entine, is to inspire “listening Bible in language simple with the heart”; recognizing that enough for everyone to under- whenever we read the Bible, we stand. Never mind that the New come at it with our own culture, Testament was originally writ- background, and prejudice. It’s ten in common Greek—too as important to listen to what many scholars seem so deter- others have learned as it is to mined to demonstrate their share our own insights. “scholarliness” that readers are A final bonus in Signs to Life is often left to muddle hip-deep in an interactive section entitled language and concepts they can “Continuing on the Journey to barely understand. Life.” It includes thought ques- Such is not the case with Ken- tions for each chapter, and an dra Haloviak Valentine’s book invitation to use the book’s Signs to Life: Reading and Respond- chapters and the readers’ ing to John’s Gospel. Valentine, an responses to investigate the Gos- associate professor and chair of pel of John with friends, fellow the H.M.S. Richards Divinity believers, and those with whom School at , is we study the Bible. a theologian, a preacher, and, it Included with this volume is a turns out, a perceptive author. compact disc of Valentine read- Signs to Life consists of Valentine’s surprised as you read them that it ing each of the seven “sermons.” They’re exploration of seven “signs,” or stories, seems as though you’re reading them not real sermons; it’s like listening to an recorded in the first half of John’s Gos- for the first time. Subconsciously we audiobook. The message is good, but pel, and sprang initially from a series of know how the stories end, but the the dynamic of public speaking is sermons preached at the world head- author skillfully ties these stories to the absent. quarters of the Seventh-day Adventist past, and links them to future events in Ever the professor, Valentine encour- Church in 2004. Christ’s ministry, such as His passion ages readers to explore the stories, The seven “signs” are familiar to and His promise to return. Like me, examine the great themes, and make the everyone: the wedding feast at Cana, you’ll often find yourself thinking, Why stories their own. “Our journey is never Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the haven’t I seen this before? done,” she writes. “Instead, it continues, well, the healing of the official’s son, the A real bonus of Signs to Life is in part inviting ever-deepening understand- healing at the Pool of Bethesda, the two of the book, in which four ings of Jesus, the focus of this gospel.” n

28 (956) | www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 The Life of Faith In This Together “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. . . . It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

Though we often hear 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, read to a beaming bride and nervous groom, Paul’s poetic words were originally written for a different kind of bride: the body of Christ, the church. The little Corinthian church was struggling. And Paul’s singular purpose—now “I will show you the most excellent way . . .”—was to encourage these fragile believers to stick together, to love each other in spite of their struggles. Like 1 Corinthians, most of Scripture was written not to individuals but to groups of believers: Romans in Rome, Ephesians in Ephesus, Philippians in Philippi. Being a church member, Paul explained, is like being the member of a body. A member can’t function alone any more than a hand or foot can function alone. Yet today many believers have gotten away from a commitment to the body. We (1) abandon the body, (2) judge the body, (3) avoid intimacy with the body, (4) harm the body. Why? Because we tend to treat others as we have been treated. If we’ve experienced abandonment, we’re quick to abandon. If we’ve experienced judgment, we’re quick to judge. If we’ve experienced bad forms of intimacy, we avoid true intimacy. If we’ve been harmed, we harm. But the power of Christ is much greater than the power of our past. We are made into new creations by the Spirit of Christ who calls us into healthy relationships with the body of Christ. He calls us to (1) commit to the body, (2) love the body, (3) welcome intimacy with the body, (4) heal the body. At my local church our members have prepared the following “Statement of Commitment,” as well as an accompanying video. (See www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutusQ4x8AY&feature=youtu.be.) Andy Perhaps your church would enjoy doing the same—a love letter not to a bride, but from her. “We’re committed to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to the teachings of Scripture. We’re also Nash committed to the following principles that shape us in this particular time and place in which we find ourselves together: “1. We’re committed to loving each other the way Christ loves us. We recognize that the church, the body of Christ, is fragile. When one part of the body is hurting, the whole body suffers. We will not tear down each other through criticism and gossip. Instead, we will build up the body of Christ, recognizing our need for what each other brings, gently restoring those who hurt to full ministry, and helping new members see and experience their place in the kingdom of God. “2. We’re committed to being here together as often as possible, the way a family should be. We recognize that we can’t effectively welcome new faces when we don’t even know who the regular faces are. Church is not a building but people, and we’re committed to being here for each other: all ages, all backgrounds, all stages of the life of faith. “3. We’re committed to communicating the Living Word in a language that people understand—through a variety of worship expressions and learning styles. But we will not let the language be the end in itself. We recognize that only through the Spirit of Christ can a heart be transformed. “4. We’re committed to serving others with the abilities God has given us: answering the distress calls of other believers and attending to the basic needs and deeper hurts of people in our local and global com- munity. We believe it is a nonnegotiable mandate of Christ to share His love and grace with those inside and outside our community. “5. We’re committed to the life of faith—not only on Sabbath mornings but all week long. We know that a worship service should not be the sole source of the life of faith, but should be the celebration of it. We commit ourselves to the life Christ calls us to, recognizing that despite our best efforts, we will fall short and continually rely on the love and grace of God.” n

Andy Nash is a professor and pastor. He’s leading two tours to Israel in June 2014. Contact him at [email protected].

www.AdventistReview.org | October 17, 2013 | (957) 29 (958) Reflections Please Pray for Me I received an odd letter many years ago. Petitions and prayer requests were anything but unusual to me back then. In fact, they were quite usual. I worked in a religious publishing house at the time, and my job involved reading and answering the assortment of letters that came every day from all sorts of people. But I never forgot a letter containing a poignant request. A total stranger—a man I’d never seen in my life—begged me to intercede on his behalf for for- giveness. It was this man’s hope that perhaps God would listen to me. I didn’t know what kind of person this man was, or what kind of life he led, but it was obvious that he desperately needed a Savior. He knew God was aware of the kind of life he was leading, but believed God would not hear him or could forgive him. He yearned for forgiveness and an opportunity to get right with God. He knew he needed to live a different life, but though he tried, he couldn’t change. The real- ity of his sinfulness crippled his faith and left him feeling completely alienated from God. He knew of nowhere to go to ask for help, no other way of reaching out to God than through this letter—what he believed was his last hope for salvation. I remember how my heart ached for this man as I read his feelings of worthlessness and despair. He wasn’t alone. Thousands, if not millions, wander the world today bearing the burden of condemnation. Their burden drains them of peace and reduces them to living in constant shame and fear. If they only knew the truth. If they only knew that the Son of God died for them and is ready to intercede for them before the Father. I could only imag- ine how different this man’s life would be if he could only hear the Son of God praying for him. I am humbled by the thought that Jesus prays for me; that He asks His Father that I might not fall short of His glory. I imagine Christ looking through the pages that cover the millen- nia of human history. I imagine Him looking through the names written in the book of life, tracing them with His finger, making plans for eternity. Then He comes upon my name, His mouth curves up in a smile, and He speaks my name out loud. Jesus says that even before I was formed in my mother’s womb, He knew me and wanted me to be saved. “In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me” (John 16:26, 27). Can you imagine Christ praying for you? If you find that hard to believe, take a look at John 17. There you will find the wonderful prayer He prayed for His people. Despite His agony in Gethsemane, Christ looked beyond the torture and death that awaited Him at Calvary. He fastened His thoughts on the destiny of humanity, and with a deep intensity of emo- tion, pleaded with the Father for our salvation. That prayer is saturated with the most pure form of love ever known. We don’t have to hesitate about coming to Christ, for He will never reject us. He intercedes for us as we are. As long as we can hear Him pleading for us, we need never fear that Christ will cast us out. n

Olga Valdivia writes from Boise, Idaho.

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