In the News:

 
Should These Men Go To Jail Because of a Church Name? - The leaders of the Creation SDAs, Walter “Chick” McGill and Lucan Chartier, have been ordered by Federal Judge J. Daniel Breen to stop using the name, fined $500 each and required to pay attorney costs to the GC....Do church members and pastors think that this is an appropriate way for the Church to deal with splinter groups? Do they believe that this is a good use of denominational resources? Is there a Bible basis for enforcement efforts that go so far as to put people in jail? Protecting the denomination’s name is a good idea, but how far is too far in accomplishing this goal?...
 
New Ellen White Compilation on Urban Ministry Published - Entitled Ministry to the Cities, a 224-page compilation of material written by Ellen G. White throughout her lengthy career as a cofounder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has recently been published. It includes some material that has been released for the first time with this publication...This latest compilation has some improvements over previous, similar publications. For one thing, the original source of each passage is noted. When additional citations are given for an item, it is clearly visible as a subsequent publication and appears to be included primarily in those cases where the original may be difficult to access. It also does a better job at noting the dates of the original materials....
 
Dismissal of Board Members at La Sierra University Reported by Riverside Newspaper - More than six months after the fact, The Press-Enterprise, the daily newspaper in Riverside, California, published a story Thursday (May 10) announcing the dismissal of three members of the board of trustees at La Sierra University (LSU). Why a respected newspaper is publishing the story now is unclear because these facts were publicly announced in October last year. The story makes no reference to the significant interval of time....
 
Weekend Feature: Activist Dreams of Tangible Help for Tanzania - Many small organizations have appeared in recent years within the Adventist movement that reach across the globe. Tanzania Missions and Development is a good example of this kind of international effort which sprang from the dreams of two men who traveled half way around the world to find each other...“We are an independent Sabbath-keeping Christian mission outreach, whose aim is to work with Christians of all faiths, Muslims, and all those who seek to make the world a better place,” states the organization’s web site. Its purpose is to “address the physical, educational, and spiritual needs of the Tanzanian people and foster projects that will assist local communities in raising their standard of living.”...
 
Noted Adventist Physician Challenged at Emory University on His Belief in Creation - Dr. Ben Carson is the commencement speaker at Emory University in the suburbs of Atlanta this weekend. More than 150 faculty members have signed a letter published in the campus newspaper objecting to Carson’s belief in creation as stated in an interview in the Adventist Review....
 

 


40 Ways My Labyrinth
Is Like My Life, #40
 
 
 
 
Bible quotations in Carousel are
used by permission from:
The Message (NavPress)
New Living Translation (Tyndale)
 
 


Newest Blogs
   
Education is Overrated - Stephen Foster
Perhaps we can all agree that the purpose of education and of scientific discovery is to gain an understanding of why things are as they are; and/or why some things are not as they appear to be. Understanding ourselves, our world, and our universe is the goal.  Information without understanding is not intelligence and knowledge without understanding is not wisdom....
   
   
Max Lucado Unveiled - Herbert Douglass
I have been watching something happen to Max's world view in the last six years or so. I find him connecting with other brilliant authors and preachers as they turn their interests in a trajectory that leads them away from solid biblical foundations into the lure of  the “journey” and the thrill of the “conversation.”...
   
   
Fleecing the Flock - Lawrence Downing
Hundreds of millions of dollars are stolen from well-meaning people who are scammed by skilled con artists who pose as sincere church members. I have witnessed the results when church members have lost their savings to these frauds. They have the key words and phrases down pat and they dump their piety upon unsuspecting church members, bleed them dry and take off with bags of cash. Some of these charlatans can pray like an angel, give testimonies like one of the apostles, and rip people off like a professional bandit....
   
   
Response to Comments - Harry Banks
I really hope that in the conversation in this blog it will be safe for any reader or commenter to express honestly where they are in the hostile, untrusting, wistful, timid, growing, intimate relationship between person and God continuum....
   
   
Is Your Local Church Healthy or Dying? - Monte Sahlin
It is really a simple question. It was asked of pastors and lay leaders in a random sample of more than 11,000 congregations of all faiths across America. “Would you agree? Our congregation is spiritually vital and alive.”...Overall, just 28 percent gave the most positive response. And among Seventh-day Adventist churches it was only 16 percent....
   

     Recent Comments:


Tom commented on The Sabbath and Same-Sex Marriage
2012-05-16 8:56 PM

This has been a very engaging, and for me, a very difficult discussion on this blog.    It is less than a week old and it has generated over 300 responses.   I have felt challenged, but nonetheless repected, even by those who disagree...

Doctorf commented on Thank God for Ellen White
2012-05-16 8:48 PM

All4, Those texts you cite once again are mans words wrapped in the claim of being Gods words. The canonized bible was an act of human will. Books are included in the bible and many are left out. By what authority? The more you look into the history...

Kevin Riley commented on Education is Overrated
2012-05-16 8:43 PM

Denying authority to the Bible opens more cans of worms.  We are better off dealing with the hard questions about Biblical authority rather than simply denying it.

Kevin Riley commented on Noted Adventist Physician Challenged at Emory University on His Belief in Creation
2012-05-16 8:11 PM

So have we completely dismissed the 'aliens from another universe did it' theory?  I tend to have an aversion to random events making these huge differences.  Besides, it would be nice to discover there really are benevolent aliens...

Doctorf commented on Dismissal of Board Members at La Sierra University Reported by Riverside Newspaper
2012-05-16 7:24 PM

Darrel, Some people view the idea of creation by an all powerful God as being a topic that should be discussed side by side with naturalism that underpins science in the science classroom. Science assumes natural causes that can be investigated in...

All4Him commented on Southern California Conference Votes to Ordain Women in Pastoral Ministry
2012-05-16 5:41 AM

It is about what the Bible says I agree....thats why we as Advents don't observe Sunday as much of the World does.  The churchs that do ordain the LGBT first ordained women it's clear if you do not do what the Lord says it's hard to...

Kevin Riley commented on Fleecing the Flock
2012-05-15 11:31 PM

I believe your information on the Australian case may be inaccurate.  The deal did not expose the church to that sort of risk.  I believe the deal was entered into also on the advice of the financial professionals, not ministerial or...

Kevin Riley commented on Is Your Local Church Healthy or Dying?
2012-05-15 11:26 PM

I am surprised there is no independent auditing - at least by the GC auditors.  Any member can request the annual finacial report of conferences or unions, and if one is not forthcoming, it would be a good idea to ask the treasurer why not - at...

Kevin Riley commented on Max Lucado Unveiled
2012-05-15 9:48 PM

I suspect we all need both the Max Lucado's and Herb Douglass's in our life.  Most of us are unbalanced in some way, and it is good to have someone call us back toward the centre.  As someone who is in terms of personality and...

Jim Walters commented on Pacific Union Conference Calls Constituency Session to Vote Ordination for Women Pastors
2012-05-15 9:42 PM

I'd sure hope that AT would report on conferences/unions that vote down WO, and to consciously not do so would constitute negligent journalism--to say the least.


Newest Columns
   
The Sabbath, and Same Sex Marriage - Kendra Perry
Freedom of conscience for you and me means freedom of conscience for everyone.  The reason we can ask for Sabbath off in our workplaces is because we live in a country where a Muslim woman can ask to wear her hijab as part of her work uniform. And if we want to continue having our rights as a religious minority respected, we will continue to fight for the rights of other minorities, even if we disagree with them....
   
   
“The Ways of the Lord are Just” - Donna Haerich
No one reads in a vacuum. Everyone brings to the Bible their own bias and prejudice. I am no exception. As I read Hosea, I read it, first of all, as a woman....I read the story from my own frame of reference and my first impression of God wasn’t all that favorable. I found little sympathy for a deity who would use people as object lessons. Fortunately for God, the story does bear further reading and a closer look at the details. Even Hosea comes across more humane upon a closer investigation....
   
   
Know The Love of The Father - Don Watson
Every single one of us has our scars and pains and dark moments and skeletons that few if any one else knows, much less cares about – except God. God knows.  God cares, and He’s there.  I know many of you have felt God abandoned you.  But He hasn’t – He really is there....
   
   
Is Youth Ministry a Failure? - Ed Dickerson
Young adults are leaving the church, all churches, in droves.  By that measure, youth ministries have been and continue to be a failure.  But it seems to me that verdict is either mistaken or unfair -- take your pick -- on two counts...
   
   

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