March 18, 1999 Cutting Edge LETTERS Creation have my new church family.” this addiction, but many other Kudos to Nathan Brown, winner of Instantly the entire congregation Adventist families as well. It is just as the AnchorPoints stood to their feet and began to clap destructive as going to the casinos or essay contest (see and cheer! The standing ovation other forms of gambling. “The Whole continued as the pastor lowered Universe Mary into the water. The energy in —Name Withheld Dancing,” Jan. 21 the room was electrifying. It’s a won- Cutting Edge derful thing to join the celebration Edition). It was when it’s party time in heaven! A Sabbath Honeymoon brilliant, buoyant, I much appreciated Allan and like a breath of —Glenda Medford Sutherland Deirdre’s January 21 X-Change col- fresh air. Especially inspiring was the AUSTELL, GEORGIA umn (“Jesus Christ, MVP”). I believe quotation “At the heart of the uni- Jesus would be pleased with this pic- verse is a smile, a pulse of joy passed ture of the Sabbath as “honeymoon” down from the moment of creation.” I have a dream of a congregation so in time with Him. In order to absorb its beauty, I had to love with their Saviour that the read the essay several times. applause of the world will not be —Virginia Collier brought into the church. What would SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA —Daniel Kubrock be the next thing to be applauded? ELMSHAVEN, CALIFORNIA Songs? Music? Sermons? What does applause do to the one 11 Million Murdered being applauded? Would it plant the What happened to the other 5 mil- Cheering a Baptism tiny seed of self-exaltation? Would lion? I refer to Jeffrey K. Thompson’s I enjoyed reading every one of the that seed grow into rebellion against reference to “the extermination of Cutting Edge Meditations (Jan. 21), God? Will God hold us responsible more than 6 million Jews” (Jan. 14 but one statement drew me up short. for what we do to another? Since we World Edition). More than 11 mil- Please let Bonita Shields know that cannot know what applause will lion people of all races and national- her “dream” can be realized if she cause in another, we should be very ities were murdered in the Nazi would visit the Lakeview church in careful that we do not cause the loss death camps, but all we ever read Powder Springs, Georgia, during a of a soul. about are the 6 million Jews. The 6 baptism. Every new believer is wel- million Jews comprised about half of comed with cheering, clapping, and —Edna Berriman the Jewish population of the entire loud amens as they emerge from the GRASS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA world, and it is understandable that water. We are not an ethnic congrega- they refer to this as “the Holocaust.” tion, but a very cosmopolitan church But it is sad that the other 5 million, in the suburbs of Atlanta. Gambling’s Many Forms which included some American and Following our most recent evan- Jonathan Gallagher’s “Betting Their Allied prisoners of war, have almost gelistic effort, 10 persons were bap- Lives” (Jan. 21) was excellent, but he completely disappeared from history. tized at one service. When Elder stopped short of touching on an addic- Cavins asked one of them, Mary, if tion within the confines of the —Walt Cason she had any family present, she said Adventist community—multilevel ANGWIN, CALIFORNIA no. But then she turned toward the marketing “get rich” schemes. I have congregation and said, “But I do seen not only my family impacted by 2 (330) ADVENTIST REVIEW, MARCH 18, 1999 Health Care and the Adventist did. The pastor and members could Name have found out her correct address if Regarding Bill Knott’s “A Bridge So they had asked us for it. Unlike Don Near” (Jan. 14 World Edition). As a Pierson’s sister and daughter, our registered nurse who has worked for daughter died of a rare disease in 1980 Florida Hospital for 25 years, I feel the and never had a chance to rejoin our COVER STORY hospital does indeed do an important church. I have always felt bad that service in bringing the Seventh-day she was never given the opportunity 8 Letters to God An intimate look into what some Adventist name to the general public, to say if she wanted her membership young adults really want in a usually in a very positive way. As the continued. relationship with God. mother of a critically ill young adult BY DICK DUERKSEN who spent seven months in and out of —Name Withheld the hospital receiving the best treat- ARTICLES ment available for cancer, I am grateful to them for being on the cutting edge It seems to me that often we could use 14 A Tale of Two Courtships of medicine. a different method for dealing with The congregation’s dilemma: how However, in the midst of one of his folk who just seem to disappear. to deal with a divorced couple BY SHERYL MOORE stays, we were disappointed to find Instead of voting them out, might we that 3ABN had been taken off our be able to define some category in 22 Is It Just an Ideal? viewing selection, although another which they would still be members but Unity is a word that gets a lot of Christian station was available (broad- not on any church list counting toward use these days. But does anyone casting nothing Adventist—only PTL, conference goals? know what it means? 700 Club, Benny Hinn, etc.). Upon BY JENNIFER WYNN addressing this, we were informed that —Stanley Murphy DEPARTMENTS the things being broadcast on 3ABN ZEPHYRHILLS, FLORIDA were too “strong” to be used as an 2 Letters introduction to our faith. 7 Give & Take They are working on programming Labor-saving Devices for a hospital station, but I find it In “Adventists and LSD” (Jan. NAD 13 The X-Change amazing that we should have to sugar- Edition), Robert Granger did an 17 Leaving the Comfort Zone coat or buffer the Bible truths seen on excellent job pointing out a subtle 18 World News & Perspectives 3ABN. People need our truths, espe- but pervasive risk factor in our cially when facing illness. society and church today. Since 25 Tuesday’s Child Adventists typically boast higher 26 Cutting Edge Conversations —Susan Danforth Jones education levels and socioeconomic 28 Bulletin Board DELTONA, FLORIDA status, we tend to gravitate toward the technological whizbang kind of 29 Book Mark gadgets and labor-saving devices that 30 Reflections Two Teens ISC he mentioned. D Don Pierson’s “A Tale of Two Teens” One study showed that something EDITORIALS HOTO (Jan. NAD Edition) really hit home. I as simple as walking to deliver a memo 5 One Lovely Evening © P was glad to see that the church policy instead of sending interoffice e-mail is not “to drop anyone without having could result in substantial health bene- 6 Don’t Read What Ellen a discussion with them.” Unfortunately, fits from the accumulated physical White Wrote Unless . this has not always been practiced. activity over the course of a year. In 1972 my 18-year-old daughter Hopefully this article will cause us to BACKGROUND PHOTO / was dropped from membership with- reflect on our own personal use of NEXT WEEK out anyone discussing it with her. She LSDs and start incorporating more UERKSEN wasn’t doing anything against church physical activity in our daily lives. Heaven Still Matters D rules, but she wasn’t attending, and Maybe we don’t think about it as much ICHARD her membership added to the —Ernie Medina, Jr., Dr.P.H. as we did. Maybe we should. R Ingathering goal. A letter was sent to LOMA LINDA, CALIFORNIA her, but since she had moved to another state, she learned of the dis- OVER PHOTOS BY fellowship after the fact, as we also C ADVENTIST REVIEW, MARCH 18, 1999 (331) 3 “Behold, I come quickly . .” Our mission is to uplift Jesus Christ through stories of His matchless love, news of His present workings, help for knowing Him better, and hope in His soon return. Publisher General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Executive Publisher William G. Johnsson Associate Publisher Charlotte McClure Publishing Board: Phil Follett, vice-chair; Lowell Cooper; William G. Johnsson; Robert E. Lemon; A. C. McClure; Ardis D. Stenbakken, Donald R. Sahly; Ted N. C. Wilson; Robert Nixon, legal advisor Editor William G. Johnsson Associate Editors Roy Adams, Bill Knott Managing Editor Myrna Tetz News Editor Carlos Medley Assistant Editors Stephen Chavez, Andy Nash Editorial Assistant Ella Rydzewski Administrative Secretary Chitra Barnabas Editorial Secretary Jean Sequeira Art Director Bill Kirstein Designer Bill Tymeson Design Assistant/Production Stephanie Kaping Ad Sales Genia Blumenberg Subscriber Services Steve Hanson Consulting Editors: G. Ralph Thompson, Matthew Bediako, Phil Follett, Robert J. Kloosterhuis, A. C. McClure, Jan Paulsen, Leo Ranzolin, R. L. Rawson, Calvin B. Rock Special Contributors: P. D. Chun, L. T. Daniel, L. J. 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