APRIL 16 2016 ISSN 0819-5633 ADVENTIST STUDENT MEETS THE QUEEN page 7 A TIME FOR WAR page 5 LIGHT ON THE TRACK page 10 To find out more about our courses or to apply online, visitwww.avondale.edu.au , phone +61 2 4980 2377 or email [email protected] Avondale College Ltd trading as Avondale College of Higher Education CRICOS Provider No: 02731D | TEQSA: PRV12015 | ABN: 53 108 186 401 infocus RECOUCHED Life, health, hope Revisit inspiring interviews and helpful lifestyle tips from the InFocus archives. InFocus Recouched has a fresh new look. Check it out now. Watch on infocus.org.au NEWS Melburnians march for Jesus at Easter Melbourne, Victoria The Orchard Melbourne Central City church hosted a thumbs up. We multidenominational rally and walk through Melbourne’s handed out 120 CBD on March 20 to remind Melburnians that the reason [copies of] Steps for Easter is what Jesus did on the cross. to Christ with the The march began at Federation Square, finishing oppo- Orchard’s contact site the State Library where Pastor Rod Anderson delivered details inside.” The a short Easter message. During the march, participants group did a walk sang hymns and spiritual songs and held banners proclaim- last Christmas ing Jesus is still alive in the hearts of Melbourne Christians. and are planning Participants proclaimed Jesus with a banner. “Our singing and banner was to draw attention to us, another one on so people would read the placards from John 3:16 and Ro- December 18. “We find the CBD an incredible challenge to mans 1:16,” Pastor Anderson said. “Many people stopped grow a church, however this is just one way in which we and took photos of us; others smiled and gave us the are letting our light shine.”—Rod Anderson/Record staff Administrators graduate together Madang, Papua New Guinea The Papua New Guinea Union Mission’s policy of equip- graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management. ping and training administrators The two joined 936 others who graduated from the Di- bore fruit for Madang Manus vine Word University in Madang on March 13. Mission (MM) as two of its lead- “A very big thank you to the Papua New Guinea Union ers graduated together. Mission Advanced Study Committee who have supported Pastor Gamu Digara, the me in financing my tuition fees to do my bachelor’s degree MM Personal Ministry, Sabbath since 2014,” Pastor Laukei said. “The PNGUM has invested School and Stewardship direc- in human resources and I believe this is the way forward L-R, Anton Wampia with tor, graduated with a diploma as we prepare leaders for tomorrow’s leadership. I am also pastors Garry Laukei and in human resources while MM pleased to see one of my directors graduating with the Gamu Digara. president Pastor Garry Laukei diploma in human resources.”—Garry Laukei/Record staff Avondale study: Adventist teachers avoiding advancement Cooranbong, New South Wales Fewer teachers are willing to accept or even apply for ship positions. The results are leadership positions in Seventh-day Adventist schools, new consistent with those of similar research by Avondale Business School shows. studies within Australia and other The “Future Leadership of Schools in Australia: Em- industrialised nations. However, ployee Perceptions of Taking on the Challenge” study in contrast, this study showed explores the views of more than 400 individuals employed Adventist Schools Australia by Adventist Schools Australia. Responses to the study, employees become less likely conducted by Peter Williams and Dr Peter Morey, reveal to apply for leadership positions that 64.5 per cent of Adventist Schools Australia employ- with age. ees have never applied for a leadership position and can- The majority of respondents not see themselves applying in the future. Only one in four indicated that internal rewards— teachers would consider applying for a leadership position. creating positive change for students and staff—were the Only 1.8 per cent are seeking a leadership position. most influential incentives to apply for leadership positions. The most strongly identified factors influencing employ- “We’re encouraged that many seeking leadership are ees in their decisions not to apply for leadership positions: not doing so for personal gain but rather to use their God- the perceived negative impact on personal and family life, given talents to serve,” said Dr Daryl Murdoch, national and, female teachers highlighted, the gender bias of cur- director for Adventist Schools Australia. rent leadership. This factor was largely dismissed by male Adventist Schools Australia conducts an Aspiring Lead- teachers who were twice as likely (31.9 per cent) as their ers Program for teachers with three to eight years of female colleagues (14.9 per cent) to apply for leader- experience.—Sara Bolst record.net.au • APRIL 16, 2016 3 EDITORIAL Knowledge James Standish Richard Dawkins calls the story of Abraham’s attempt to ing to earth and dying for our sins. In literature, it would be sacrifice Isaac “disgraceful”. He has a point. The God of the a narrative of enormous sophistication. But when one-half Bible repeatedly calls human sacrifice “detestable”.1 And of the story was written centuries before the second half yet here is the “father of the faith” attempting to sacrifice by unconnected authors? It transcends sophistication and his son—and at the behest of that same God! enters the realm of inspiration. And this story is just one of thousands of examples of The story of Abraham and Isaac is just one example incoherence in the Bible. At least that’s what I’m hearing of the compelling evidence that Christ is who He says He from some of my friends. Kenny, a long-time close friend, is. Everything from the precise time of His public ministry puts it this way: “I don’t care about the Bible . anybody (Daniel 9), through to the exact amount for which He would can make anything out of that confusing, self-contradictory be betrayed (Zechariah 11:12,13), to where He’d be born text. It’s a big nothing.” Is the story of Abraham and Isaac (Micah 5:2), that he’d be a Baby but simultaneously He’d be the perfect example of what Dawkins, Kenny and millions the “mighty God, the Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6), and of others sharing their views, are talking about? that He’d be rejected (Isaiah 53), was foretold by strangers No. Rather it’s a perfect example of oversimplification hundreds of years before He arrived. Indeed, every aspect resulting in misreading the Bible, leading to shallow con- of the Old Testament’s sanctuary service foreshadows clusions that then feed strident pronouncements—generally precisely Christ’s ministry—from His baptism and death to transferred to a meme at the first opportunity and shared His priestly ministry. And the end of the Jewish sacrificial enthusiastically by those whose understanding is even system soon after Christ’s death? That, too, was foretold more trite than the meme’s creator. by Daniel. Yes, in isolation, the story of Abraham and Isaac is a It’s common to flippantly dismiss the story of Christ as perplexing paradox. But in context, it’s a most astonish- a fairytale for simpletons. Critics imagine they’ve found ing confirmation of the Bible’s authenticity. Even the flaws missed by intellectual Christian giants such as Sir most cynical of scholars acknowledges that it was written Isaac Newton, Martin Luther King Jr, C S Lewis and Dietrich centuries before Jesus, by people who had no connec- Bonhoeffer. They haven’t. Their superficial reading and lack tion to Him. So, no collusion. And yet the story is the most of spiritual depth blinds them to the incredibly intricate intricate and elegant literary foreshadowing found in any interweaving of the biblical narrative formed over centuries writing at any time. by scores of unrelated authors. Both Isaac and Jesus arrive via impossible births an- My friend Jennifer, a distinguished lawyer, put it this way nounced by angels. Like Jesus, Isaac is the long-awaited recently: “We’ve spent our lives honing our skills analysing promised son who—just when all hope is lost—makes his facts and compiling evidence. Maybe that’s why Jesus is so entrance. Both are only sons. When Abraham is stopped compellingly obvious to us.” Maybe. I certainly know a lot from his action, a sheep is substituted; thereby making of lawyers who find the evidence for Christ overwhelming. clear that the spotless sacrificial sheep is a symbol for the But then again, I also know doctors and gardeners, plumb- life of the long promised only Son. Thus the story connects ers and scientists, teachers and architects who do too. And not just Isaac to Christ but every spotless sheep sacrificed— I know people from all walks of life who reject Him. But from Abel to the end of the Jewish sacrificial system soon then again, it has never been about the evidence; it’s about after Christ’s death—to the death of the spotless Son of the willingness. It’s easy to see. But you have to be willing God. to search seriously. For everyone else, there are always With the 20/20 vision of hindsight, the story of Abraham internet memes and simplistic polemics. and Isaac is the perfect metaphor for God’s only Son com- 1. See, e.g., Deuteronomy 12:31 and Psalms 106:38. Glenn Townend Senior consulting editor Letters [email protected] Subscriptions Official news magazine of the South Pacific James Standish Communication director News & Photos [email protected] Mailed within Australia and NZ Division Seventh-day Adventist Church $A43.80 $NZ73.00 Jarrod Stackelroth Associate editor Noticeboard