• 97-63 GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

September 2, 1997, 11:00 a.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT

Robert S Folkenberg (Ch), Larry R Colburn (Sec), Harold W Baptiste, Maurice T Battle, Matthew A Bediako, R William Cash, Bjarne Christensen, Lowell C Cooper, James A Cress, Ronald M Flowers, Philip S Follett, John Graz, Joseph E Gurubatham, Gerry D Karst, Dennis C Keith Sr, Benjamin C Maxson, Alfred C McClure, Gary B Patterson, Jan Paulsen, Leo Ranzolin, Humberto M Rasi, Robert L Rawson, Calvin B Rock, Michael L Ryan, Virginia L Smith, G Ralph Thompson, Mario Veloso, Juan Carlos Viera, Dorothy Eaton Watts, F Martin Ytreberg.

PRAYER Dorothy Eaton Watts

SEC/ADCOM/GCC to AHT

GENERAL CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (GCC-S)— . MEMBERSHIP ADJUSTMENT

VOTED, To adjust the membership of the General Conference Executive Committee (GCC-S), under the provision for thirty elective members, as follows:

Add Christensen, Bjarne

SEC/ADCOM/GCC to AHT

COMMITTEE ON SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION (GCC S)—MEMBERSHIP ADJUSTMENT

VOTED, To adjust the membership of the Committee on Seventh-day Adventist Theological Education (GCC-S), as follows:

Delete Cherian, M E Johnston, Bruce Lee, Jairyong • Wilson, Ted N C 97-64 September 2, 1997 - GCC • Add Bocala, Violeto Castrejon, Jaime Huff, C Lee Ng, G T Patzer, Jere Watts, D Ronald

SEC/ADCOM/GCC to AHT

EAST ZAIRE UNION MISSION AND WEST ZAIRE UNION MISSION—CHANGE OF NAMES

VOTED, 1. To record the change of name of the East Zaire Union Mission to the East Congo Union Mission.

2. To record the change of name of the West Zaire Union Mission to the West Congo Union Mission.

TRE/ADCOM/GCC to GRT • KIM, JONG MOON—NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC DIVISION TREASURY REPRESENTATIVE TO ANNUAL COUNCIL AND PREMEETINGS

VOTED, To invite Jong Moon Kim, Associate Treasurer of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, to attend the 1997 Annual Council and premeetings with voice and vote.

TRE/ADCOM/GCC to RLR

MOORES, R MARTIN—TREASURER, NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC DIVISION - ELECTION

VOTED, To elect R Martin Moores as Treasurer of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division.

Robert S Folkenberg, Chairman Larry R Colburn, Secretary Carol E Rasmussen, Recording Secretary • 97-65

ANNUAL COUNCIL

Silver Spring, Maryland, September 29 to October 6, 1997

ANNUAL COUNCIL OF THE

GENERAL CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

September 29, 1997, 6:40 p.m.

PRESENT

Milton Soldani Afonso, Mahavir Agarwal, Frantz Agis, Christian Aliddeki, Eliel Almonte, Erich Amelung, Niels-Erik Andreasen, Garth Anthony, Radisa Antic, Ronald E Appenzeller, Delbert W Baker, Bryan W Ball, M S Baluku, Harold W Baptiste, Graham M Barham, Maurice T Battle, Herman Bauman, Bert B Beach, Matthew A Bediako, B Lyn Behrens, Tsefaye Bekalo, Bekele Biri, David Birkenstock, Elifas Bisanda, Violeto F Bocala, Adrian Bocaneanu, Per Bolling, Emmanuel Boma, James L Brauer, Herbert H Broeckel, Stennett H • Brooks, Gloria Brown, Roy R Brown, Reinder Bruinsma,

James M Campbell, Dennis N Carlson, Joseph Carlson, G Tom Carter, R William Cash, Sergio Celis, Selma Chaij, Dowell W Chow, Bjarne Christensen, P D Chun, Larry R Colburn, Lowell C Cooper, Jose Orlando Correia, James A Cress, George H Crumley, A David C Currie, Alipio Bernardo da Rosa, Rajmund Dabrowski, Chakravarthy Daniel, Luka T Daniel, Mart De Groot, Gary B DeBoer, Sandy Dee, Graciela Di Prinzio, Paterno M Diaz,

Laurie J Evans, Ronald M Flowers, Robert S Folkenberg, Philip S Follett, Louise Fomuso, Daniel Fontaine, Ulrich Frikart, Agustin Galicia, Don Leo Garilva, L James Gibson, Raul Gomez, V E Gorbul, Malcolm D Gordon, Rodolpho Gorski, Gordon R Gray, John Graz, Eugene W Grosser, Patrick Guenin, Alberto Gulfan, Roberto Gullon, Stenio Gungadoo, Joseph E Gurubatham, Patricia Gustin, H G Harker, Alex Hendriks, Sein Han Hla, Eugene Hsu, C Lee Huff, Stelian Iacob,

Daniel R Jackson, Donald G Jacobsen, Asser Jean-Pierre, Sven Hagen Jensen, William G Johnsson, Theodore T Jones, Sabrina Kalliokoski, Michael F Kaminsky, Gerry D Karst, Dennis C Keith Sr, Reinhold Kesaulya, Ivan F Khiminets, Alvin M Kibble, Eun Bae Kim, Jong Moon Kim, Robert J Kloosterhuis, Dale R Kongorski, Henk Koning, G W Kore, Eric A Koff, P D Kujur, Robert E Kyte, Harold Lance, Paulo Leitao, Israel Leito, Lionel Leitzke, Robert E Lemon, Willie J Lewis, Bruno Liske, Robert L Lister, Richard Liu, Jose R Lizard°, • Espoir Lukumbi, 97-66 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council •

P Machamire, S G Mahapure, Fitzroy Maitland, Elmer L Malcolm, Benford E Malopa, Lily Mandalas, Famara Mansal, J Lynn Martell, Ralph W Martin, Reuben Matiko, Ramon H Maury, Benjamin C Maxson, Carlos R Mayer, Siegfried G Mayr, Vincenzo Mazza, Alfred C McClure, Joseph W McCoy, Jose Ribamar P Menezes, Peter 0 Mensah, Norman K Miles, Marcel Millaud, Armando Miranda, Kenneth J Mittleider, Eric Monnier, Charles Montille, J David Moorehead, R Martin Moores, Thomas J Mostert Jr, Edward D Motschiedler, Girimoio Muchanga, Baraka G Muganda, W Mukoma, Miguel Munoz, M M Murga, Randall L Murphy, L Mwamukonda, Moses Mwenya,

Ruy H Nagel, Daegeuk Nam, Marcio Nastrini, Wai Chun (Stanley) Ng, Jacques G Ngororano, Karel Nowak, Joseph A Ola, Dionisio Olivo, Ivan Omana, Stephen Orian, Moses I Ostrovsky, J Othoo, Jerry N Page, Maxine Pape, Orville D Parchment, Ruth E Parish, Vernon B Parmenter, Gary B Patterson, Jere D Patzer, Douglas Paulsen, Jan Paulsen, Robert G Peck, David Javier Perez, Juan 0 Perla, Pablo Perla, Cecil R Perry, Olga Pervanchuk, C Pheirim, Adamor Lopes Pimenta, Larry J Pitcher, Pekka Pohjola, Wiadyslaw Polok, Haynes Posala, Peter J Prime, Donald G Pursley, Carlos Puyol,

L D Raelly, Ted L Ramirez, Alex Ranting, Leo Ranzolin, I Nagabhushana Rao, Humberto M Rasi, Paul S Ratsara, Robert L Rawson, Nils Rechter, George W Reid, Rick • Remmers, Hilda N Rendon, Samuel Brito Ribeiro, Alvin Ringer, Sylvia Nanette Rivera, Roger Robertsen, Donald E Robinson, Robert L Robinson, Calvin B Rock, Bernardo Rodriguez, Guy Roger, Denis Rosat, Steven G Rose, Anion Rugelinyange, Reinhardt Rupp, Michael L Ryan,

Charles C Sandefur Jr, Paul Tercio Sarli, Don C Schneider, Makvala Shavlikadze, Marion Shields, Takashi Shiraishi, A F Shvarts, Roger C Silva, Dolores Slikkers, Virginia L Smith, Richard 0 Stenbakken, Wilson Stephen, Warwick H Stokes, V D Stolyar, Robert L Sweezey, Jozsef Szilvasi, John Tan, Mack Tennyson, John Moreless Thangkhiew, Valesius Thomas, G Ralph Thompson, Elias Tinoco, Virginia Tlhabiwe, Tinsae Tolessa, Athal H Tolhurst, C A Townend, Max A Trevino, Yuliya Ephimovna Utkina,

Andre van Rensburg, Mario Veloso, Juan Carlos Viera, Daniel B Villoso, V S Wakaba, Yefesi Walugembe, D Ronald Watts, Dorothy Eaton Watts, Ralph S Watts Jr, Leon Wellington, Albert S Whiting, Bertil Wiklander, Measapogu Wilson, Neal C Wilson, Ted N C Wilson, Edward E Wines, Harald Wollan, Han Sang Woo, Kenneth H Wood, Naomi A Yamashiro, Ayako Yokoyama, F Martin Ytreberg, James W Zackrison, Maurice Zehnacker, Valdis A Zilgalvis. • 97-67 September 29, 1997, evening • GCC Annual Council

OPENING

Benjamin C Maxson, Director of the Stewardship Department, led the song service.

Gerry D Karst, Administrative Assistant to the General Conference President, opened the meeting with prayer and welcomed the attendees to the 1997 Annual Council. Then he introduced the platform participants, as follows:

Benjamin C Maxson, Leo Ranzolin, G Ralph Thompson, Robert S Folkenberg, Robert L Rawson, Daegeuk Nam, Virginia L Smith, Matthew A Bediako, Philip S Follett, Robert J Kloosterhuis, Jan Paulsen, Calvin B Rock, Luka T Daniel, L D Raelly, Ulrich Frikart, C Lee Huff, Israel Leito, Alfred C McClure, P D Chun, Ruy H Nagel, D Ronald Watts, V F Bocala, Bertil Wildander.

Robert S Folkenberg, President of the General Conference, introduced Bryan W Ball, President of the South Pacific Division, and announced that he is planning to retire on January 1, 1998. Ball has accepted the invitation of Oxford University to do research and write another book. Folkenberg expressed appreciation for the leadership Bryan Ball has given in the South • Pacific Division. The responsive scripture reading, taken from Deuteronomy 29, 2 Peter 1, 2 Timothy 3, John 5, Hebrews 4, and Jeremiah 15, was led by Virginia L Smith, Director of the Children's Ministries Department.

The congregation sang "Wonderful Words of Life," followed by the pastoral prayer given by Robert L Rawson, Treasurer of the General Conference.

CALL TO ORDER

G Ralph Thompson, Secretary of the General Conference, read Article XIII, Section 2-a, and Article XIII, Section 4, of the General Conference Bylaws which state the constitutional provision for convening the Annual Council. All conditions had been met.

Leo Ranzolin, General Vice President of the General Conference, declared the 1997 Annual Council open for the consideration of business. • 97-68 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council •

AGENDA NOTEBOOK DISTRIBUTION

Notebooks containing the program and agenda items for the 1997 Annual Council were distributed in the lobby prior to the meeting. They will also be available following the evening meeting and again in the morning.

96AC to GRT

DAILY PROGRAM

VOTED, To adopt the daily program for the 1997 Annual Council, as follows:

DAILY PROGRAM October 2 to October 7, except Sabbath

Morning 6:45 to 7:45 Steering Committee 8:00 to 9:00 Devotional Meeting 9:00 to 10:30 Council 10:30 to 10:45 Recess • 10:45 to 12:30 Council

LUNCH

Afternoon 1:30 to 2:30 Special Committees 2:30 to 3:45 Council 3:45 to 4:00 Recess 4:00 to 5:30 Council

SEC/ADCOM/97AC to LCC

ANNUAL COUNCIL - 1997—STANDING COMMITTEES

VOTED, To approve standing committees for the 1997 Annual Council, as follows:

ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO STANDING COMMIllEES

Matthew A Bediako, Chairperson Lowell C Cooper, Secretary • 97-69 September 29, 1997, evening • GCC Annual Council

Harold W Baptiste, Gary B DeBoer, Gerry D Karst.

NOMINATING

Robert S Folkenberg, Chairperson G Ralph Thompson, Secretary

Members: Christian Aliddeki, Niels-Erik Andreasen, Ronald E Appenzeller, Delbert W Baker, Bryan W Ball, Harold W Baptiste, Maurice T Battle, Matthew A Bediako, B Lyn Behrens, Violeto F Bocala, G Tom Carter, R William Cash, P D Chun, Larry R Colburn, Lowell C Cooper, James A Cress, George H Crumley, Rajmund Dabrowski, Luka T Daniel, Gary B DeBoer, Mart de Groot, Paterno M Diaz,

Ronald M Flowers, Philip S Follett, Ulrich Frikart, John Graz, C Lee Huff, Donald G Jacobsen, William G Johnsson, Dennis C Keith Sr, Eun Bae Kim, Robert J Kloosterhuis, Eric A Korff, Robert E Kyte, Israel Leito, Lionel Leitzke, Robert E Lemon, S G Mahapure, Benjamin C Maxson, Alfred C McClure, Thomas J Mostert Jr, Baratta G Muganda, M M Murga, • Moses Mwenya, Ruy H Nagel, Karel Nowak, Vernon B Parmenter, Gary B Patterson, Jan Paulsen, Cecil R Perry, Larry J Pitcher, L D Raelly, Ely B Ramos, Leo Ranzolin, Humberto M Rasi, Paul S Ratsara, Robert L Rawson, George W Reid, Samuel Brito Ribeiro, Alvin Ringer, Donald E Robinson, Calvin B Rock, Guy Roger, Michael L Ryan,

Tercio Sarli, Marion Shields, Takashi Shiraishi, Virginia L Smith, Richard 0 Stenbakken, John M Thangkhiew, Valesius Thomas, Elias Tinoco, Athal H Tolhurst, C A Townend, Yuliya Ephimovna Utkina, Mario Veloso, V S Wakaba, D Ronald Watts, Dorothy Eaton Watts, Ralph S Watts Jr, Albert S Whiting, Bertil Wiklander, Ted N C Wilson, F Martin Ytreberg, James W Zackrison.

STEERING

Robert S Folkenberg, Chairperson Athal H Tolhurst, Secretary

Members: Harold W Baptiste, Maurice T Battle, Matthew A Bediako, Larry R Colburn, Lowell C Cooper, James A Cress, George H Crumley, Rajmund Dabrowski, Linda M de Leon, • Gary B DeBoer, Philip S Follett, Donald G Jacobsen, William G Johnsson, Gerry D Karst, 97-70 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council •

Dennis C Keith Sr, Robert J Kloosterhuis, Robert E Lemon, Alfred C McClure, Ruth E Parish, Vernon B Parmenter, Gary B Patterson, Jan Paulsen, Leo Ram-olin, Robert L Rawson, George W Reid, Donald E Robinson, Calvin B Rock, Michael L Ryan, Melvin L Seard, G Ralph Thompson, Mario Veloso, Dorothy Eaton Watts, Ralph S Watts Jr, F Martin Ytreberg.

96AC to GRT

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

VOTED, To adopt the agenda as listed in the agenda notebook.

WORSHIP IN MUSIC

Paul St Villiers, Stewardship and Trust Services Director for the Chesapeake Conference, sang "Watch the Lamb."

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS •

Robert S Follcenberg, President of the General Conference, presented the keynote address entitled, "We Still Believe . . . The Bible."

Recently, MCI ran an amusing television advertisement for their long-distance telephone service. The ad was particularly aimed at the quality of their competitors. The scene begins with the Space Shuttle sitting on the pad while the camera slowly pans in. The voice of the launch director is heard over an intercom counting down to liftoff.

Approximately 10 .. . 9—give or take . . Somewhere in the vicinity of 8 . . . About 7 . . . 6 or so . . . 5—plus or minus . . . 4—I think . . Uh, 3 . 2-ish . . . 1. Lift off! [The Shuttle sits there] • 97-71 September 29, 1997, evening • GCC Annual Council

Any moment now [Still no action] Here it comes . . . [Still waiting]

The words "PRECISION IS IMPORTANT" flash over the earth-bound shuttle, and it is not hard to get the point. The commercial works because everyone knows that there can be no margin for error when it comes to getting something as technologically sophisticated as the Space Shuttle off the ground and into the heavens.

There is no guesswork, no flying by the seat of the pants, no approximations, or best estimates, or instincts. Every moment of the launch sequence is planned, timed, and accounted for.

The lives of astronauts depend on their following detailed flight plans. We Christians are travelers, too. We who believe in Jesus are traveling to a "city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb 11:10, RSV). We too have a detailed flight plan called the Bible. And our eternal lives depend on following that plan.

Strangely, while most of the world applauds the precision and accuracy of watches, S computers, and the space program, more and more people seem to be content to view God's flight plan to heaven with sloppiness, human speculation, guesswork, and distrust.

Even some professed Christians openly question whether there are true absolutes in the world. They often treat the Bible with doubt and, in the worst cases, outright contempt.

Is the Bible still relevant for today? Does it still speak to the needs of the college student? The troubled administrator? The teenage run-away? The cashier at the supermarket? The business executive? The computer programmer? The cancer patient? The busy homemaker?

Does it speak with the authority of the Creator God, providing humankind with a fully trustworthy map through the wilderness of life here on Earth to the promised land of Heaven? Or is it like the flawed shuttle countdown in the TV commercial—uncertain and untrustworthy— filled with fables and myths and subject to the whims and opinions of fickle society?

Doubt is in vogue today. It is cool to disregard authority. Tim "The-Tool-Man" Taylor, of TV's "Home Improvement" has turned ineptitude and disregard of instructions into an art form.

Ellen Degeneres, the first openly gay actress in a lead role on a television sitcom, has caused millions to view the moral guidelines of the Bible as hopelessly outdated, narrow, and 97-72 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council • politically incorrect. Everywhere we turn today, we are told to "color outside the lines," 'The rules have changed," and "question everything."

Sadly, the Bible predicts a time when trust in the Bible would erode:

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."-2 Tim 4:3, 4, NW

And though there are more Bibles available than ever before, our lives seem to be less impacted by the words in those Bibles. Pastor Jesse Wilson noted this trend in the May/June, 1997 issue of Message magazine:

"The research of George Barna and George Gallup, in 'The Day America Told the Truth,' has revealed some embarrassing facts: the actions of many Christians do not line up with their words. In fact, recent surveys seem to indicate that Christians lie, cheat on their taxes, fornicate, divorce, and generally sin at roughly the same rate as non-Christians."—Test of Discipleship, p 6 • We are a people who love good preaching—to hear the Word proclaimed with power and authority. But more and more our response to preaching imitates our response to secular entertainment. We sit. We watch. We applaud, laugh or cry, talk about the good time we had—AND GO HOME. We seem to react like those who listened to Ezekiel preach:

"As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice."—Ezek 33:30-32, NW

And the prophet Amos added: "'The days are coming,' declares the Sovereign Lord, `when I will send a famine throughout the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord' (Amos 8:11, NIV).

Have we as Seventh-day Adventists entered that time of famine? Are we, in the words of A W Tozer, "starving while actually seated at the Father's table?" (The Pursuit of God, p 9). • 97-73 September 29, 1997, evening • GCC Annual Council

As we prepare to cross the threshold of a new millennium, we will need greater grace and wisdom to be able to articulate the everlasting gospel and the revelation of His imminent return in glory to a global family living in the 21st century. If our message is to remain relevant and bear the divine credentials of Holy Spirit power and authority . . .

• We must reaffirm out commitment to proclaiming and living present truth as it is revealed in Christ Jesus through the Word of God.

• We must draw near to God and resist the temptation to mix the water of human wisdom and doctrinal compromise with the precious blood of Christ, thus giving thirsting humanity a polluted concoction that has the appearance of the water of life while in reality it is the wine of Babylon.

1. Our message will remain relevant if we remember that the Bible, not human opinion about the Bible, is the foundation of the Seventh-day Adventist message. Despite what some individual Seventh-day Adventists have been teaching, we still believe in a literal creation and a literal seven-day creation week, of which the Sabbath is a memorial.

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His • mouth. . . . For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm" (Ps 33:6, 9, NIV).

Not only does the Bible exclude a multi-million-year evolutionary process, it simply states, God spoke and it was so. Even some modem, secular, scientists acknowledge that the evolutionary model of origins requires as much faith (if not more) as does accepting the Word of God.

Why, then, do so many find godless evolution attractive? Ah, simply because it is godless.

"The higher critics put themselves in the place of God, and review the Word of God, revising or endorsing it. . These higher critics have fixed things to suit the popular heresies of these last days. If they cannot subvert and misapply the Word of God, if they cannot bend it to human practices, they break it."—UL 35

• The Bible still teaches, and we still believe, that Jesus is coming soon, that death is a sleep, that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, that the Sabbath is God's sign of Salvation, and that Jesus' ministry in the heavenly sanctuary is cleansing our lives • right now.

97-74 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council •

2. Our message will remain relevant if we remember that the Bible, not pop psychology, provides power for character change and Christlike living.

"For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."—Heb 4:12, NW

It was the power of the living Christ through the Word of God that:

• Transformed Mary Magdalene from prostitute into a daughter of God.

• Transformed the thief on the cross into a citizen of heaven.

• Transformed the self-righteous Nicodemus into a humble disciple of Christ.

• Transformed Humberto Alvarez, the Cuban judge who was baptized during Net '96 by the same pastor he had once sentenced to jail.

• Transformed Ray Smart, a Mormon High Priest, and his wife Evelyn during the Net '96 meetings in Orlando, Florida. Evelyn quit teaching the Sunday School she had • taught for 23 years.

• Transformed a Romanian policeman who discovered the Sabbath by reading highlighted texts in an old Bible that had been given him years before by a Romanian Orthodox priest. The underlined texts directed his attention to God's commandments and to the biblical Sabbath (Touched By the Spirit: Stories from Net '96, p 9).

3. Our message will remain relevant if we remember that the Bible, not culture, is the essence of Seventh-day Adventist standards and always lifts us above our culture.

• Born-again believers have a new culture. The Bible describes it:

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" (Eph 5:8, NW).

"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all" (Col 3:11, NW).

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his •

97-75 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council

wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."-1 Peter 2:9, 10, NIV

We are citizens of heaven and we adopt the culture of our new home. We must remember that once we join Christ, this world is not our home and its culture is not ours.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom 12:2, NIV).

4. Our message will remain relevant if we remember that the Bible, not trends in contemporary society or even , is at the heart of all true Seventh-day Adventist worship. Worship of the true God—how we worship, why we worship, when we worship—is central to the Great Controversy and forms part of the first angel's message:

"He said in a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgement has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water!"—Rev 14:7, MV • Remove the Bible, and you have consumer-driven worship focusing on what people want and not on what God wants. This is not true worship, no matter how entertaining the show, how big the cathedral, or how large the crowd sitting in the pews.

A watered-down gospel will never save the lost. Ours is a message of revival and reformation. Our ability to respond to heaven's call, to return to true worship based on the Word of God and not the whim of man, will lighten the whole earth with the glory of God and prove Satan a liar!

How is Satan a liar?

a. Satan is a liar when he gets us to believe that the end justifies the means.

Our flight from Moldova to Moscow was scheduled to take only two hours. But winter weather closed the Moscow airport and we flew to Siberia to wait and wait—and wait. During the many hours we sat in the cramped airliner, watching several inches of ice accumulate on the wings, I was impressed by a group of Orthodox Rabbis who were on the same flight. One was seated close by, so when his time for prayer arrived, I watched him carefully. Ignoring the plane filled with people, most of whom were undoubtedly atheists, he took out three little boxes, each with a strap attached. Each contained a portion of scripture. One of these he placed on his • forehead and wrapped the strap around his head to keep it in place. A second box he placed on 97-76 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council • his upper arm and the third he wrapped around his hand Then, wrapping a prayer shawl around his shoulders, he began to pray. I have to commend the rabbi for his dedication.

But his mechanical use of the Word caused my mind to flash back to the newscast with pictures of the assassination of Israel's Prime Minister Rabin. What affect did such mechanical use of Scripture have on the young zealot who rationalized his murderous act as the will of God? Are there parallels to this within the Remnant Movement? Some of the most unchristian, savage letters I get come from those who in effect declare themselves to be so holy that they can justify just about any imaginable sin.

b. Satan is a liar when he entices Christians to buy into a relativistic world view that excludes moral accountability.

Adventist Review editor, William C Johnsson, quotes George Barna when he says:

"America appears to be drowning in a sea of relativistic, nonbiblical theology. We are living amid the dilution of traditional, Bible-based Christian faith. Millions of Americans are comfortable calling themselves Christian even though their beliefs suggest otherwise. • "At the same time, our rejection of orthodox Christian beliefs, coupled with a relativistic culture, has led millions of adults to embrace a worldview totally at odds with the faith they allegedly embrace. The irony is that most of the individuals who are caught up in their own contradictions are completely unaware of those conflicts."—, NAD Edition, August 1997, p 5

This relativism is creeping into our Church also, because too many of us want the joy, peace, and grace that the Bible offers while ignoring the accountability, submission, and death-to-self that the same Bible commands. "We want," as the song Marshall Kelly used to sing, "the crown but [we] won't bear the cross, but it takes your everything to serve the Lord."

c. Satan is a liar when he convinces us that fellowship is superior to discipleship.

Recently I listened to a recorded sermon by a Seventh-day Adventist minister who basically said: "Look folks, you may not believe in the Sabbath, the second coming, our church organization, the sanctuary, tithing, or our lifestyle. That's OK. I don't believe some of those either. But still be part of our "community." We want you to come and fellowship with us." • 97-77 September 29, 1997, evening • GCC Annual Council

That is the message of modern society, which seems to say, "It is our determination to do something that gives it legitimacy and relevancy. Salvation, well, just don't worry about it."

What that pastor, or you or I think is irrelevant. Does God's Word or His will or the truth as it is in Jesus vanish at the command of this pastoral magician? Of course not. God's authority, as manifested through His Word, is unchanging. In spite of the pastor's invitation to create a "designer god" and "do-it-yourself-righteousness," the purpose of worship and fellowship is to bring together those who are searching for God's will, not those who search for justification to do their own will.

The church is not a place where we come to find mutual comfort and anesthesia to give us peace of mind. We have to define hope and assurance and peace in the context of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

We cannot claim to hold the Bible as the authoritative Word of the Sovereign of the Universe and then in our worship of Him:

S • Reduce the study of His Word to a brief homily,

• Limit the sermon to a few psalms, some cute stories, and "spiritual pablum,"

• Reject the transformational power of His Spirit, and

• Evaluate the service on whether or not it meets my "felt needs" (whatever that is—as if it is relevant) rather than whether it leads me to fall more deeply in love with God, to prayerfully search His Word to discover His will, and to submit my desires and opinions to the Creator of heaven and earth.

Seventh-day Adventist ministers must give heart-penetrating, soul-searching messages from the living Word of the Living God. Such preaching is what leads people to the foot of the cross.

5. And lastly, our message will remain relevant if we remember that the Bible, not sociology, motivates us for world mission. Making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only reason the Church exists. Our commission comes from the Master Himself:

"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 97-78 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council

commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."— Matt 28:19, 20, NW

Our mission has not changed.

"We [still] believe that God has given this church a unique end-time assignment: to proclaim the three angels' messages of Revelation 14, including 1) the arrival of the judgment in the context of the everlasting gospel, 2) the importance of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and 3) the imminent return of Jesus."— Robert S Folkenberg, We Still Believe, p 51

I call on you as leaders of the Seventh-thy Adventist Church to be faithful to the Christ of the Bible and global proclamation of the gospel. Perhaps the Bible is under attack today because we have not lived it. We have studied it, debated it, interpreted it, argued over it, preached from it, bludgeoned each other with it, quoted it, read it, memorized it—but we just have not lived it. I have not lived it as I should, either.

The Bible says we are to "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."—Phil 2:3, 4, NIV • What a high standard! We consider it natural to protect our regional, national, ethnic, organizational, institutional, or departmental interests. Could it be that this is a reason we expend almost all of our human and financial resources to care for our own needs instead of reaching out to those who have never heard the gospel message? Can we look our Saviour in the eyes and say that we are truly looking out for the interests of others?

The test on Scripture for each Seventh-day Adventist is simply this: Is the Bible going to be the authoritative means by which God communicates to me and through which I can find a saving relationship with Him that transforms my life?

Beware of several basic counterfeits:

• Some undermine trust in His Word by finding fault in its authenticity and historicity.

• Others accept the Bible in a self-serving manner, accepting that with which they agree and ignoring the rest. 97-79 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council

• For most, the most common counterfeit is pretending the Bible is relevant and authoritative but placing it on such a pedestal that it gathers dust on the shelf.

All these aberrations exist within our Church. Some believe and even teach or preach that the Bible is the Word of God only if you believe it is. In other words, I decide whether there is a God and if the Bible is His Word. If the teachings of Scripture conflict with what I want to believe or do, I decide that the Bible isn't relevant, much less authoritative. I do what I please.

The doubt and skepticism leveled at the Word of God is more often an unwillingness to do what we know God's Word says we ought to do. Ellen White put it this way:

"Disguise it as they may, the real cause of doubt and skepticism, in most cases, is the love of sin. The teachings and reshictions of God's word are not welcome to the proud, sin- loving heart, and those who are unwilling to obey its requirements are ready to doubt its authority. In order to arrive at truth, we must have a sincere desire to know the truth and a willingness of heart to obey it. And all who come in this spirit to the study of the Bible will find abundant evidence that it is God's word, and they may gain an understanding of its truths that will make them wise unto salvation."—SC 111

Jesus, the living Word of God, is coming again. If we plan to receive the Living Word when He comes, we must receive His written Word today.

At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, guides show visitors a printed copy of the Declaration of Independence and suggest they see the original at the National Archives in Washington DC because, as one explained, "The ink is fading and there is nothing anyone can do about it."

What about the church—you and me? Are the principles, values, and beliefs of the Word of God fading from our day-to-day experience?

There may be nothing scientists can do about the fading ink of the Declaration of Independence, except to try to retard the process, but there is still something Christians can do to get the Word of God out from between the covers of our Bibles and into our hearts.

We can ask the Holy Spirit to put His laws in our minds and write them on our hearts (Heb 8:10). • • God's Word is still a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Ps 119:105). 97-80 September 29, 1997, evening GCC Annual Council •

• God's Word is still profitable for reproof, for doctrine, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16).

• Despite the grass that withers and the flowers that fade, the Word of our God still stands forever (Isa 40:8).

• We still do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Matt 4:4).

• The Scriptures are still able to make us wise unto salvation (2 Tim 3:15).

• Those who love Jesus still keep His commandments (John 14:15, 21, 23).

As H L Hastings wrote:

"The hammers of the infidels have been pecking away at this book for ages, but the hammers are worn out, and the anvil still endures. If the book had not been the book of God, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and popes, kings and priests, princes and rulers have all tried their hand at it; they die and the book still lives."—H L Hastings, quoted in Receiving the Word, by Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, p 46 •

Robert S Folkenberg closed his message with prayer and then the benediction was offered by Daegeuk Nam, pastor from Korea, Northern Asia-Pacific Division.

Adjourned.

Leo Ran7olin, Chairman G Ralph Thompson, Secretary Mario Veloso, Editorial Secretary Carol E Rasmussen, Recording Secretary • 97-81

ANNUAL COUNCIL OF THE

GENERAL CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

September 30, 1997, 8:00 am.

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

The devotional message entitled "Postmodernity and the Authority/Relevance of the Scriptures" was presented by Raoul Dederen, Professor Emeritus at the Theological Seminary.

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."-2 Tim 4:1-4, NIV Seventh-day Adventists face a new set of challenges and opportunities as postmodemism • transpires in the West and slowly contaminates the rest of the world. A paradigm shift as significant as the one that marked the birth of modernity out of the decay of the Middle Ages will force the Church to reflect on the ways in which it will uphold the authority and relevance of the Scriptures and share the everlasting gospel with the emerging generation.

With the collapse of modernity and its confidence in the universal and necessary criteria of truth, relativism and pluralism have flourished. As a result, postmodernism argues that what we reach in our search for truth is not proper reality itself but a reflection of it on our own personal scale. There is no single, absolute, universal truth to be found, we are told, but merely differing viewpoints and interpretations of truth, equally valid or meaningless.

Seventh-day Adventists must stand against the postmodern rejection of objective truth. Focusing on the example of Christ and the apostles, they are called to proclaim the everlasting gospel intended for the whole of humanity and contained in the Old and New Testament Scriptures. That gospel alone, lived out in transformed lives, can meet the needs of a generation crying out for hope, relationship, and belonging. • 97-82 September 30, 1997, a.m. GCC Annual Council •

Jan Paulsen, Chairman Maurice T Battle, Secretary Lowell C Cooper, Editorial Secretary Carol E Rasmussen, Recording Secretary

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• 97-83

41) ANNUAL COUNCIL OF THE

GENERAL CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

September 30, 1997, 2:00 p.m.

THE WORD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT - MESSAGE AND MISSION PRESENTATION

Angel Manuel Rodriguez, Associate Director of the Biblical Research Institute, presented the message entitled "The Word and the Holy Spirit."

While reading Isaiah, the Ethiopian eunuch raised the question we want to address today: Who owns the right to interpret the Scriptures for us? The biblical answer is clear and simple: the Holy Spirit. In this task, the Spirit perpetuates the role of Jesus as the Interpreter of the Scriptures. Once He ascended to the Father, Jesus assigned the task of interpreting the Scriptures to the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God is in constant opposition to the spirit of the world. The spirit of the world leads individuals to deny the uniqueness of Scripture and look at it as a common book. • They study it the same way they study any other piece of literature. The Spirit of God enlightens the human mind and illumines the message of the Bible, making it clear and relevant to us. The Holy Spirit makes the Bible the living Word of God. The Spirit and the Scriptures should not be separated from each other.

In order to listen to the Holy Spirit, we must realize that reading the Bible is a spiritual experience; God speaks to us through the Scriptures. But reading the Bible is also an intellectually enriching experience. Our intellect is not neutralized by the Spirit. We must engage ourselves in the task of understanding the Bible and in using the proper principles of interpretation. Sola scriptura is also operative in the hermeneutical task.

Finally, in His work as the Interpreter of Scriptures, the Spirit does not bypass the community of Bible-based believers. Theology and doctrinal positions cannot be developed by individuals in isolation from that community. ". . . And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Eph 3:17-19, NIV).

The Scriptures, which were put together nearly 2,000 years ago, are still alive today. Through the power of the Spirit lives are being transformed. Under the guidance of the Spirit we not only comprehend the Scriptures better, but we are transformed by them. May we all spend • more time listening to the Spirit speaking to us through the Scriptures. 97-84 September 30, 1997, p.m. GCC Annual Council •

THE WORD AND SALVATION - MESSAGE AND MISSION PRESENTATION

Andrea T J Luxton, Principal of Newbold College in England, presented the message entitled, "The Word and Salvation."

The biblical theme of salvation is interwoven throughout the Bible in a rich tapestry of images, relationships, actions, and words. Genesis sets the scene, the Gospels see the working out of salvation, and the Epistles consider the theology of salvation. Continually, throughout the Bible, we become aware of the salvation story because of the way it touches individual lives, in full or in part.

Moses needed to discover that he could not bring salvation to the Israelites, whether from the Egyptians or from their own sins. Only God could do that. Job needed to discover that although he was a righteous man, he still could not stand in front of God's throne in his own righteousness. David discovered the power of guilt and the separation it brings from God. But he also experienced the joy of salvation that comes with forgiveness. Despite the lack of full understanding of the salvation story by the heroes of the Old Testament, they still came to know • their limitations and the awesome reality of the Lord's salvation.

Their experiences are not far removed from ours. We need to be reminded that what we do cannot bring salvation to either ourselves or others. As a Church, we need to recognize guilt, but accept the gift of forgiveness.

The story of salvation is about both the crucifixion and the resurrection. The death of Christ would have meant defeat, except for the resurrection which declares defeat is impossible. Christ's followers traveling to Emmaus felt the power of defeat. In their discouragement they could only sense loss and despair. Christ refocused their understanding and then revealed Himself. The day closed with optimism and hope.

It is the optimism that results from the salvation story that Paul emphasizes in the last few verses of Romans 8. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Rom 8:32, NIV). In this passage the past gives focus to the present, and the reality of the present sets directions and opens possibilities for the future. The past (God's sacrifice, Christ's death and resurrection) puts control firmly in the hands of the Lord. Because of Christ's salvation, nobody can speak against the believers in Rome, nobody can separate them from God. There is no lack of worthiness. Christ's salvation is sufficient and defeat is impossible. • 97-85 411 September 30, 1997, p.m. GCC Annual Council

The closing verses of Romans 8 reach into the future, for the effect of salvation is to make the future secure: it transforms believers. And surely it is that transforming power that becomes the greatest witness to our faith. It will allow us to reflect the character of God, who brought that salvation, and it will give us all our own story of salvation to tell to others. The last image of salvation in the Bible is the New Jerusalem, with the Spirit and the Bride saying "Come." When we respond to that call, what story will we have to tell of the transforming experience of salvation in our lives? Will there be those who can say, "I am here because of the way you reflected the beauty of God's salvation to me?"

Jan Paulsen, Chairman Mario Veloso, Secretary Harold W Baptiste, Editorial Secretary • Rowena J Moore, Recording Secretary

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