FREE COMMEMORATIVE POSTER
WEEKLY NEWS AND INSPIRATION FOP NTH-DAY ADVENTISTS 150-YEAR AN IVERSAHI ISSU ow do you capture gathering a few funds. He writes—every word—for a little paper: 150 years of mira- his "library" consists of a pocket Bible, Cruden's Condensed cles in 64 pages? Concordance, and an abridged dictionary with one of its covers off. HHow do you distill By the summer of 1849 he has the copy ready. He seeks for a BY WILLIAM G. JOHNSSON the spirit of a people drawn printer who will take the job on speculation—no pay until the from every race under God's paper goes out and readers respond with contributions. And sun, from palaces and the hov- James fmds such a printer, a man not an Adventist brother but els of ricksha pullers, from one prepared to take a chance on the earnest young preacher. among the world's finest musi- At last the paper is ready, 1,000 copies of The Present Truth. cians and surgeons and also The little band kneels around the tracts, with supplication and from illiterate peasants? How tears entreating the Lord to guide each one to a receptive heart. do you catch the dynamic of a Then James puts the papers in a carpetbag and carries them movement of expectation and eight miles to the nearest post office. disappointment, of courage and That was our first major endeavor as Seventh-day Adventists. heartache, of rugged individuals We didn't yet have our name—that would come 11 years later, and blood and sweat and tears? in 1860—but James and Ellen and Joseph Bates and the others How do you tell the story of of that small group were already Sabbathkeeping Adventists. the Seventh-day Adventist Analyze that early endeavor, and you will see that it contains the Church in this year, a century germ of a movement. That venture, seemingly so rash, has been and a half since 1844? repeated again and again, transforming the small band into a vigor- You cannot, but you can ous and growing church of some 8 million members in nearly 200 make a beginning. So let us go countries. We are people of a dream, the impossible dream. back to the beginning, or The elements are there—in that faith venture and ever since. almost the beginning. In order of importance they are the Dreamer, the dream, and The year is 1848, and a the dreamers. small group of Adventists, a tiny remnant left from 1844 The Dreamer but the kernel of a new move- Back of all, before all, in all, and for all stands the Dreamer, ment, are gathered in Dor- Jesus Christ. He is the center of the Seventh-day Adventist chester, Massachusetts. A movement—He alone. To Him alone belong all praise and young woman is there, only honor, all glory and thanksgiving. 20 years old—Ellen Harmon "There is no one like you, 0 Lord, and there is no God but White. During the course of you, as we have heard with our own ears," sang King David. the meeting she is taken off in "And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth vision and regains conscious- whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to ness with a startling message: make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome James White, her husband, is wonders . . . ?" (1 Chron. 17:20, 21, MV). to start a paper. It will be And we sing with David as we exult at the Lord's wonders in small at first, but, says Ellen, our day. There is no God like our God, the one who came down it will grow and expand under from His throne to walk among us—Jesus, who suffered and bled the Lord's blessing until it and died in our place, who rose again, who as our great high stretches around the world priest welcomes us into the heavenly temple and who is coming like streams of light. back to earth. And who is like this people on whom You have William G. The group is stunned, James lavished such kindness—not because we deserve it, but because Johnsson is especially. He has no money, no of Your love; and for whom You have done such great things— editor of the home, no financial backers. not because of our efforts, but rather in spite of our efforts? Adventist Still, he believes the divine I call Jesus the Dreamer because that is what He was and is. Review. word. He labors with his hands, He dreamed of a people saved from off this planet in rebellion, 2 (1026) ADVENTIST REVIEW Dream 1844 -1994
A PEOPLE OF HOPE and left heaven to make it happen. He dreamed of a last-day North American continent. A message going to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and dream of it going beyond, to people," telling the good news about God and His offer of eter- earth's remotest bounds. A nal life (Rev. 14:6-12). He dreamed of a work for Ellen and dream of a medical work to The Impossible Dream James, and Joseph Bates. And He dreams of a place on this earth make people whole. Of educa- for you and me, and a place in heaven at His side. tion after God's design. Of the In this anniversary year some people have wondered if there's message flying via print, radio, October 22, 1844 anything to be glad about. "Why are we celebrating a disap- television, satellite, cybernetics. pointment?" they ask. "This ought to be a year of sorrowing that Dreams, dreams, dreams. A People of Prophecy we are still here after such a long time." Impossible. The impossible They miss the point. We're not celebrating a disappointment, dream. and certainly not the achievements of this worldwide movement. From So Small a Dream We celebrate the wonder and majesty of God, of Jesus our The Dreamers Saviour, Lord, and head of the church. They were dreamers all, "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall those people led of God who Ellen White, Gift to the Church forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past shaped and struggled, and built history," wrote Ellen White (Life Sketches, p. 196). We don't the Seventh-day Adventist want to forget! We want to rehearse His deeds! We want to Church. Small Organization, Big Impact shout for joy in worship of the One who loves the word "impos- And thank God, He still has sible." When God has done such great things for us, we would dreamers! You'll read about be the worst of ingrates to keep silent. them in this special issue. As Confessions of a Bible Teacher you read you will notice that, The Dream while the articles in a general The Dreamer puts impossible dreams into the minds of men sense move from 1844 to God's Rainbow Family and women. He always has—throughout the Bible, from 1994 and beyond, the past, Abram leaving Ur of the Chaldees to the young man Saul present, and future constantly Why Are We Still Here? struck blind on the road to Damascus so that the Lord might intersect and interact. We open his eyes to a new mission. praise God for the past and we He put a dream into the heart of James and Ellen and the others build upon the past, but He The Land That Remains as they knelt by those little papers. He put a dream into the heart calls us to think big, to dream of J. N. Loughborough, who began to preach the Advent message His dreams today. at age 20; and into Uriah Smith's heart, who joined the Review at For we know how it will How Then Should We Live? 21; and into Stephen Haskell's heart, who preached his first ser- all end. We know what the mon on the Second Advent at 19; and into the hearts of other ultimate dream is: "I looked, young people who formed the nucleus of the new movement. and there before me was a The Future Shape of the Church Some think of Adventists as children of disappointment, but white cloud, and seated on they were not, and we are not. They were rather children of the cloud was one 'like a son hope—a hope refined and deepened by the dashed expectations of man' with a crown of gold Possibilities Unlimited of October 22, but a hope that refused to waver or turn back, a on his head and a sharp hope built on the promise of Jesus Himself. sickle in his hand" (Rev. That hope gave birth to a dream, as the Dreamer, the object of 14:14, NIV). The Power of Hope their love and desires, gradually opened the world before their That's why we're a people view. A dream of the everlasting gospel going to the complete of hope.
The North American Edition of the Adventist Review (ISSN 0160-1119) is published 12 times a year on the first Thursday of each month. Copyright ©1994 Review and Herald° Publishing Association, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, Maryland 21740. Third-class postage paid at Hagerstown, Maryland 21740. Postmaster send address changes to Adventist Review, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740, Published October 6,1994, Vol. 171, No. 40. Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Texts credited to NKJV are from The New King James Version. Copyright @ 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright ©1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission. Bible texts credited to RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1946, 1952, 1971, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. Design inside and out by Steve Trauma; Cover illustration by Eltred Lee