ReConnectingc the Pacifico Union Adventistr Familyder April 2011 MBA Student Donates Hair to 6Locks of Love 7 Turning Tragedy into Triumph 16 April is Christian Education Month in SECC 21-24 ChurchApplied Newsletter 26 Winning Las Vegas CONTENTS RePACIFICco UNIONrder Inside www.pacifi cunionrecorder.com LOCAL CONFERENCE NEWS Recorder Staff 28 Arizona Editor / Layout & Design 4-7 Central California Alicia Adams 26-27 Nevada-Utah [email protected] Publisher 9-11 Northern California Gerry Chudleigh [email protected] 16-20 Southeastern California Printing Pacific Press Publishing Association 12-15 Southern California www.pacificpress.com 8 The Recorder is a monthly publication reaching nearly 80,000 Seventh-day Adventist homes in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. KEEPING YOU INFORMED Our mission is to inform, educate and inspire our readers to action in all areas of ministry. 32-33 Adventist Health 47 Advertising Policy Editorial Correspondents 39-48 Classified Advertising Arizona 480-991-6777 38 La Sierra University Phil Draper, [email protected] Central California 559-347-3000 34-35 Loma Linda Caron Oswald, [email protected] 11 Hawaii 808-595-7591 25 Pacific Union College Teryl Loeffler, [email protected] Nevada-Utah 775-322-6929 30-31 Public Affairs & Religious Liberty Denny Krause, [email protected] Northern California 925-685-4300 47 Sunset Calendar Stephanie Leal, [email protected] 36-37 Union News Southeastern California 951-509-2200 Jocelyn Fay, [email protected] Southern California 818-546-8400 Betty Cooney, [email protected] Adventist Health Brittany Russell, [email protected] La Sierra University 951-785-2000 Larry Becker, [email protected] 28 Loma Linda 909-558-4526 Dustin Jones, [email protected] Pacific Union College 707-965-6303 Julie Z. Lee, [email protected] ABOUT THE COVER Postal Regs: The Pacific Union Recorder (ISSN 0744- Monterey Bay Academy student Emily 6381), Volume 111, Number 4, is the official journal of the Burriss shaves her head in front of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and is published monthly. Editorial office is at 2686 Townsgate whole school after exceeding her $1,000 Rd., Westlake Village, CA 91361: 805-497-9457. Periodical postage paid at Thousand Oaks, CA, and additional mailing goal for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital offices. Subscription rate: No charge to Pacific Union Adventist cancer research. She donated her tresses church members; $12 per year in U.S.; $16 foreign (U.S. funds); single copy. $0.85. POSTMASTER: Send address to Locks of Love, an organization that changes to: Circulation Department, Pacific Union Recorder, provides wigs to cancer patients who Box 5005, Westlake Village, CA 91359. have lost their hair. 2 Index www.pacifi cunionrecorder.com ONE to ONE PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE Loving Jesus More Ricardo Graham n his view of the end times, the Apostle John saw and are not all that God wants us to be, due to selfi shness. wrote of the sources of victory over the enemy, Satan. But ego and pride cannot save us. I“And they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. Th e truth of self-denial is so powerful that it is sym- 12:11). John refers to the martyrs for Christ who, in bolized by the death on the cross. Designed to be a cruel, unselfi shness, would rather die than deny Jesus Christ. lingering punishment to the vilest criminals, Jesus Christ Th e selfi shness of Satan is well chronicled (Isaiah underwent this torturous death preceded by an unjust 14:12). It’s fi tting that he can be defeated in the context trial and inhumane beating at the hands of Roman of self-denial, as that is where the Great Controversy soldiers. Dying on the cross was a particularly barbaric began. execution. But Jesus endured this as the epitome of un- Th e rejection of the authority of God and the en- selfi sh obedience. “And being found in fashion as a man, shrinement of self is the source of all sin. Every manifes- he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, tation of evil, sin and unrighteousness can be traced to even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). human selfi shness. And that began with Satan. Jesus taught the abandonment of selfi sh desire and “All sin is selfi shness. Satan’s fi rst sin was selfi shness. demonstrated it throughout His ministry, but it reached … And the temptation which led Adam to sin, was the the zenith on the cross, when the innocent died for the false statement of Satan that it was possible for him to guilty, the pure died for the impure, the just died for the attain to something more than he already enjoyed — unjust. He fulfi lled the prophecy in Isaiah 53:5: “But he possible for him to be as was wounded for our trans- God Himself. Th us seeds gressions, he was bruised of selfi shness were sown in It is only in the total abandonment of for our iniquities: the the human heart” (E. G. chastisement of our peace White, 3MR 331; Letter self that we make room for the working was upon him; and with his 165, 1901). stripes we are healed.” “Under the general head- of God to re-shape our characters, We receive this unself- ing of selfi shness came every which have been so distorted by sin. ishness by recognizing the other sin” (E. G. White, 4T power of the will, choos- 384). ing a position of surrender and humbly bowing before Th at’s why Jesus stated the importance of self-denial as God in admission of our selfi shness. Adelaide A. Pollard a pillar of His kingdom. “If any man will come after me, wrote, “Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way! let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and Th ou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make follow me” (Luke 9:23). me after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.” To deny self and to cling to Christ is the ultimate Humbly kneeling in the presence of God and confess- source of victory that Christ gives us. It is only in the ing our selfi shness, our hearts are transformed in love, total abandonment of self that we make room for the making us like Jesus. He gives us the victory over self working of God to re-shape our characters, which have and Satan He secured for us on the Cross. As our love been so distorted by sin. for Christ grows deeper, we allow Him to change us To write these words or to read them is easy. To talk from what we are to what He wants us to be. Loving about being unselfi sh takes little eff ort. But to grow in Jesus more than our own lives is the result. unselfi shness is painful, for it cuts against the grain of “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory self. It hurts our ego and humbles our pride to admit we through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). April 2011 Recorder News 3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA MBA Student Donates Hair to Locks of Love Charlotte Henderson magine this announcement in Her decision was two-fold: Cut morning worship at Monterey Bay her long hair and donate it to the IAcademy in January by a beautiful Locks of Love organization to sophomore girl: “I will be cutting off benefi t a cancer patient in need of a my hair and shaving my head.” wig, and raise money to benefi t the At an age when your outward St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. appearance — particularly your hair Emily exceeded her goal of rais- — is of great importance to most ing $1,000 by Feb. 14, Valentines teen girls, sophomore Emily Burriss Day, plus a few other students and had everyone’s attention. at least one female staff member cut It turned out that there was much their hair and donated it to Locks more to this announcement than of Love. at fi rst one might think. Emily’s Th is Emily Burriss, from So- 19-year-old cousin had just been nora, Calif., is not the same Emily diagnosed with a brain tumor and that arrived at MBA last fall. Her MBA sophomore Emily Burriss shows off her locks before donating given a 50/50 chance of survival. mother had become acquainted them to Locks of Love. “My fi rst thought was, ‘What can with Pastor Nathan Renner of the I do to help?’” Emily shares. Her Sonora church. Her mother began cousin’s family didn’t need fi nancial attending church and also enrolled I didn’t know God at all. Pastor assistance. However, she knew of in the Coronary Health Improve- PJ and Chaplain Sammi have had neighbors and friends of her family ment Project sponsored by the a great spiritual infl uence on me. who were also struggling with can- church. Charmaine Daniels, CHIP I love having Bible studies with cer, not to mention the unknown leader, began talking to Mrs. Burriss Sammi, and I carry my Bible every- thousands of people battling the about the possibility of Emily at- where I go. I can’t imagine myself disease every day. “I just felt strong- tending MBA. going back to the public schools I ly that I should be doing something When the academy was men- have always known.” to help this cause,” she says. tioned to Emily, her immediate Emily’s home life has greatly response was to go — but improved since last fall.