News
Scandinavian Unions Publish Open Letter to the GC Regarding Compliance Proposals - 24 September 2018 | The Adventist denomination’s Norwegian Union Conference, the Danish Union of Churches Conference and the Swedish Union of Churches Conference have joined forces to publish an open letter to the General Conference. The letter addresses concerns about the controversial compliance proposals that are due to be discussed and voted upon in next […]- Fall Fundraising Update, Monday, September 24 - Monday Interview from Adventist Today on Vimeo.
- Adventist Summit on Abuse to Live-stream Tuesday afternoon, September 25 - 24 September 2018 | Religious groups around the world are having serious issues with sexual abuse by clergy, and the Adventist denomination is taking a major step toward prevention tomorrow (Tuesday, September 25) with a Summit on Abuse. The event will be live-streamed on line and accessible to anyone who wants to listen in. Scheduled […]
- Adventist Health Doctors To Conduct Medical Mission In Violent Area of Azerbaijan - 23 September 2018 | Physicians from Adventist Health Southern California, teaming up with the NGO Armenia Fund, will be expanding an Armenia-based medical mission this month to a contested area of Azerbaijan. The violent region of Artsakh, is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, leading to conflict […]
- How to Make a Remnant - by Larry Downing | 21 September 2018 | Successful organizations share in common certain characteristics that lead toward excellence. These characteristics include, but are not limited to, the following: The organizations practice high ethical and moral behavior, cultivate mutual trust, hold to a commitment to integrity, develop a diverse work force, demonstrate an openness to […]
- Columbia Union Conference Committee Invites Members to Pray about “Compliance” - 23 September 2018 | After reviewing several reports of good news about the mission of the church in their territory, the members of the executive committee of the Adventist denomination’s Columbia Union Conference at its most recent meeting turned to the “noncompliance” proposal to be discussed at the Annual Council of the General Conference executive […]
- Scope and Role of Adventist Today -
- GC “Compliance” Procedures Ignite Worldwide Concern - 21 September 2018 | Across the denomination right now we are seeing strong reactions to the continuing effort by General Conference leaders to police and enforce “noncompliance”. Church sociologist Monte Sahlin, who has spent most of his career in church administration, told Adventist Today, “In five decades of ministry, I cannot remember any issue that […]
- News Briefs for September 21, 2018 - News reports from Andrews University, Southern Adventist University, Puerto Rico, Bakersfield, California and Australia. Andrews University has improved enrollment this year, with an overall 2% increase in credit hours. According to an AU Facebook post, the 3,407 Fall 2018 student enrollment on the school’s Berrien Springs campus represents the highest headcount in four years, and […]
- Oakwood University President Dispels “Unfounded Rumors” Surrounding Fatal Shooting of Student - 20 September 2018 | Oakwood University President Dr. Leslie Pollard has rejected “unfounded rumors” regarding the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Oakwood student, Carvell Goodlow, whose body was discovered in a local, off-campus apartment on Sunday night, September 16. Huntsville police are investigating a suspected homicide as Goodlow appeared to have been killed by a gunshot. […]
- ADCOM Alters Compliance Committee Rhetoric, “Regrets” Misunderstandings - 19 September 2018 | Following a meeting of the General Conference Administrative Committee (ADCOM) on Sept 18, 2018, the body has admitted a mistake in the framing of the reporting relationship of recently formed compliance committees. Although ADCOM had originally signalled that the compliance committees would be established by the General Conference Executive Committee, and that […]
- German Responses to Expanded “Unity” Procedure - 19 September 2018 | Elder Reinhard Rupp, retired president of the North German Union and an elder statesman of the church in Germany, has drafted a personal response to the expanded “unity” procedure proposed by the General Conference leaders. “Sometimes,” writes Elder Rupp “it is no longer the original problem which causes troubles, but the […]
Commentary
- Judge Kavanaugh in the #MeToo Era - by Lindsey Abston Painter | 25 September 2018 | My phone’s news notifications are all a-buzz this week about .Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Will he be confirmed as a Supreme Court Judge? Are the accusations against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford (and maybe others) true? And if they are, will it stop him from being […]
- Who Speaks for the Hoi Polloi? - by Loren Seibold | 14 September 2018 | I’m a bit of a curmudgeon about anniversaries, birthdays, bicentennials—that whole set of activities that goes into marking the amount of existence that someone or something has experienced, and that quietly implies how much of its existence has been used up. Rather than saying, as they’re supposed […]
- Compliant? It Didn’t Even Cross Our Minds - By John McLarty | 21 September 2018 | I spent a couple of hours last night doing church. The people I was sitting with organize worship, coordinate children’s Sabbath School, manage the maintenance of our large, old building, take food to our senior members when they are sick, feed the homeless, provide the money and […]
- The General Conference Compliance Committees and Africa - by Alvin Masarira | 18 September 2018 | The Executive Committee of the General Conference is having its Annual Council 2018 in October. This meeting of the most senior leaders of the world church will have to deal with some unfinished business from the 2017 Annual Council. The 2017 meeting rejected and sent back a […]
- Will Magda Goebbels’ Children Be in Heaven? - By Stephen Ferguson | 14 September 2018 | Some readers may find this article distressing. Nevertheless, I do believe it is a worthy topic, as it raises fundamental questions about the plan of salvation. Introduction – Downfall Will Magda Goebbels’ children be in heaven? That was the question my dad, Ashely S.D. Ferguson, recently […]
- Our Turn to Fundamentalism, and How It Led to the Current Crisis - by Reinder Bruinsma | 12 September 2018 | Recent developments in the Seventh-day Adventist Church have brought great concern to many church members around the world. The controversy about the ordination of women has sadly deteriorated into an ugly fight about authority and power. Whether or not there is a biblical basis for ordaining women […]
- How I Lost Two Families At the Same Time - by Misty Watson | 10 September 2018 | For 10 years after I found out the truth about my husband, I stood by his side. I tried harder. And I was still failing miserably at my marriage. Eventually I was past the point of crying every night. I was numb—a walking, talking, high-functioning shell of […]
- Jesus and the Sabbath - by Steven Siciliano | 9 September 2018 | All four New Testament gospels include stories in which the religious leaders of Jesus’ day accused Him of breaking the Sabbath. By analyzing these stories, Seventh-day Adventists build up their theology of proper Sabbath observance, often relying heavily on Jesus’ statement that “it is lawful to do […]
- A Question of Power - by Larry Downing | 9 September 2018 | Former Vice-president Joe Biden, in his tribute to Senator John McCain, said, “He [John] could not stand the abuse of power. Wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever country, it was always about basic value, fairness honesty, dignity, respect, giving hate no safe harbor, leaving […]
- Does Withholding Your Tithe Pressure Church Leaders? - By Loren Seibold | 7 September 2018 | Here’s a notion I keep hearing from friends who are unhappy with the decisions of the top leaders in our denomination. “The only way to get influence is with your money. If everyone quit paying their tithe, and instead gave their money to [the local church, the […]
- What Forgiveness Isn’t - by Elle Berry | 4 September 2018 | I am a proud member of the Mister Rogers generation. As a barely Millennial my childhood consisted of a sparse collection of tolerably-staticy television stations, which occasionally included PBS (at least, when my family’s rabbit ears would actually pick it up.) During this time, like most anyone […]
- Adventist Tomorrow #8: Transfiguration—Seeing the Real Jesus Brings His Kingdom - by Jack Hoehn | 2 September 2018 | There is a confluence of ideas coming from within and without the Seventh-day Adventist church, that suggest places this church can go with its theology and mission. Jack wants to talk with you about the need for a new understanding of Jesus necessary even for apostles. And […]
Features
- The Power of Proximity - by S.M. Chen | 24 September 2018 | “I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.” —‘Amazing Grace’ by John Newton (1725-1807) In early morn I approach the multilevel parking structure adjacent to my workplace. I turn off the FM classical musical station, lower the driver side window and […]
- Autumn - by Carolyn Shultz | 24 September 2018 | The trees go gaudy into that good night. Like rivals at a costume ball, They flaunt their reds and golds Till. . . Drunk with beauty We can bear to watch them die. Carolyn Shultz is Professor Emerita of English at Walla Walla University, where she taught […]
- Do Adventists Understand Urban Ministries? - by Zach Payne | 21 September 2018 | The lights were dimmed and the room was packed—standing room only—as I sneaked into the auditorium of the Howard Performing Arts Center. It was the first night of the Urban Mission and Ministries Congress and Elder Dan Jackson was fielding questions. I heard a voice from somewhere […]
- Hypocrisy - To comment, click here.
- Following the Teachings - To comment, click here.
- God’s Peculiar People: Origins - To comment, click here.
- Respect for Tradition - To comment, click here.
- Dr. Ron Numbers on Writing Prophetess of Health - Adventist Today editor Loren Seibold talked with Dr. Ron Numbers, whose article on once-Adventist, later media and sports mogul, John Fetzer will appear in the autumn edition of Adventist Today magazine. You have a distinguished pedigree with the Seventh-day Adventist church. According to family lore my great-grandmother, Mary Anne Dicky Branson, then living in southern […]
- You Can’t Win, Can You? - To comment, click here.
- Adventists and HIV-AIDS - By Ronald Lawson | 21 June 2018 | To what extent should Adventists be concerned about people with HIV-AIDS? In the 1950s America suffered a polio epidemic. This was right down our alley as Adventists: we loved giving water treatments, massages, etc. Those affected were usually innocent young children, and our hearts went out to […]
- Baptismal Vows - To comment, click here.
- When the Adventist Church Sponsored an Ex-gay Ministry - by Ronald Lawson | 15 June 2018 | “The Troubled Career of an ‘Ex-Gay’ Healer: Colin Cook, Seventh-day Adventists, and the Christian Right.” Seventh-day Adventists had long assumed that they had no gay or lesbian members, even though there was a history of gay pastors, some in key posts, being discovered and fired, and gay […]
Poetry & Arts
- Somewhere: Spiritual Lessons from West Side Story - by S.M. Chen | 26 April 2018 | “There’s a place for us…” —from “Somewhere,” song in 1957 Broadway musical “West Side Story” One of the finer achievements of the late musician (conductor and composer) Leonard Bernstein was the music he composed for “West Side Story.” In collaboration with Stephen Sondheim, lyricist, he created for […]
- Revelation 2:17: A Poem - by Carolyn Shultz | 13 April 2018 | A smooth white stone. Mystery-white like Melville’ s whale? Alabaster— Or perhaps a new-made onyx Forged in the last prolific fires That purge and permute the once clean earth To Earth again. Inscribed, John says. Ur-Hebrew? Apocalyptic Greek? I think I’d fancy Strange new shapes and lines […]
- Lest We Forget - “Love is so short; forgetting is so long.” ~Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet (1904-1973), Nobel laureate (1971) in literature “… before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” ~Isaiah 65:24 I take a number of pills daily. These include a multivitamin formulation, chewable megavitamin C, vitamin D, L-lysine, and […]
- Something for the POTUS - by S.M. Chen | 23 February 2018 | I don’t know if Donald Trump reads USA TODAY. The back page of the first section of the 2/13/18 issue caught my attention. Someone named Tom Blair took out a full page ad entitled “Mr. President,” with the subheading: “In anticipation of Presidents’ Day (February 19) consider […]
- Ken Lauren: An Appreciation - by S.M. Chen | 12 February 2018 | Dr. Ken Lauren died not long ago of an injury sustained in Costa Rica, while he was working as a volunteer on the construction of a church. A report was posted here at Adventist Today. I visited Peru in 2005 at the invitation of my brother, taking […]
- Jesus’ Response to Nationalism & Racism - by Lars Justinen | 2 February 2018 | There was an immigration problem back in Jesus’ day. It seems the culture then was steeped in nationalism and racism. Especially hated in Israel were the “Muslims” of their day: the Samaritans. While sharing the same roots in Father Abraham, the Jews viewed the Samaritans as […]
- Doing Nothing Because You Can Do Only a Little? - by S.M. Chen | 22 January 2018 | “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” —Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Irish statesman and philosopher The story is told of an old man who walks the beach. He is in the habit of doing this before he begins […]
- Sunrise, Kapaa 1/11/18 - by S.M. Chen | 12 January 2018 | Some ancients bent a knee to sun. With outstretched arms they welcomed it And turned their face to catch its light And heat that warmed them to the bone, That took away the chill within. We, too, have shared the wonder of A rising sun in flaming […]
- More Rain - By S.M. Chen | 21 December 2017 | “The rain falls on the just And also on the unjust fella But mainly on the just Because the unjust steals the just’s umbrella.” —Heywood Broun, 20th century American journalist When, a few months ago, I wrote an essay, “Rain”, little could […]
- A Light to Lead Us Home - by Sharan Bennett | 20 December 2017 | Christmas, 2017 enters a chaotic and gloomy world that seems unprepared to receive it. But has our world every been much different? Ellen White says of the first Christmas: “The earth was dark through misapprehension of God.” (The Desire of Ages, p.22) And “While the light of […]
- On Learning from Bad Decisions - By S.M. Chen “There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite.” – Abraham Lincoln “Every why hath a […]
- After 500 Years, God’s Grace is Still Amazing - by Sam Millen, 4 November 2017 October 31st has come and gone. No, I’m not referring to Halloween in America, but All Hallows’ Eve (All Saint’s Eve) in Germany 500 years earlier. On October 31st, 1517, the German monk and theology professor Martin Luther decided to nail his 95 Theses against Indulgences on the Bulletin Board […]
All
- Judge Kavanaugh in the #MeToo Era - by Lindsey Abston Painter | 25 September 2018 | My phone’s news notifications are all a-buzz this week about .Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Will he be confirmed as a Supreme Court Judge? Are the accusations against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford (and maybe others) true? And if they are, will it stop him from being […]
- Scandinavian Unions Publish Open Letter to the GC Regarding Compliance Proposals - 24 September 2018 | The Adventist denomination’s Norwegian Union Conference, the Danish Union of Churches Conference and the Swedish Union of Churches Conference have joined forces to publish an open letter to the General Conference. The letter addresses concerns about the controversial compliance proposals that are due to be discussed and voted upon in next […]
- The Power of Proximity - by S.M. Chen | 24 September 2018 | “I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.” —‘Amazing Grace’ by John Newton (1725-1807) In early morn I approach the multilevel parking structure adjacent to my workplace. I turn off the FM classical musical station, lower the driver side window and […]
- Fall Fundraising Update, Monday, September 24 - Monday Interview from Adventist Today on Vimeo.
- Adventist Summit on Abuse to Live-stream Tuesday afternoon, September 25 - 24 September 2018 | Religious groups around the world are having serious issues with sexual abuse by clergy, and the Adventist denomination is taking a major step toward prevention tomorrow (Tuesday, September 25) with a Summit on Abuse. The event will be live-streamed on line and accessible to anyone who wants to listen in. Scheduled […]
- Responses to the GC Administrative Committee Actions - The September 14, 2018 Berlin-Central German Conference statement issued in response to the General Conference Unity Oversight Committee, compliance committee creation, and latest GC documents, concluded with the following statement: “As a consequence, we [the B-CGC] call the members of the General Conference Executive Committee, 1. to reject the documents of the Unity Oversight Committee […]
- Adventist Health Doctors To Conduct Medical Mission In Violent Area of Azerbaijan - 23 September 2018 | Physicians from Adventist Health Southern California, teaming up with the NGO Armenia Fund, will be expanding an Armenia-based medical mission this month to a contested area of Azerbaijan. The violent region of Artsakh, is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, leading to conflict […]
- How to Make a Remnant - by Larry Downing | 21 September 2018 | Successful organizations share in common certain characteristics that lead toward excellence. These characteristics include, but are not limited to, the following: The organizations practice high ethical and moral behavior, cultivate mutual trust, hold to a commitment to integrity, develop a diverse work force, demonstrate an openness to […]
- Autumn - by Carolyn Shultz | 24 September 2018 | The trees go gaudy into that good night. Like rivals at a costume ball, They flaunt their reds and golds Till. . . Drunk with beauty We can bear to watch them die. Carolyn Shultz is Professor Emerita of English at Walla Walla University, where she taught […]
- Columbia Union Conference Committee Invites Members to Pray about “Compliance” - 23 September 2018 | After reviewing several reports of good news about the mission of the church in their territory, the members of the executive committee of the Adventist denomination’s Columbia Union Conference at its most recent meeting turned to the “noncompliance” proposal to be discussed at the Annual Council of the General Conference executive […]
- Who Speaks for the Hoi Polloi? - by Loren Seibold | 14 September 2018 | I’m a bit of a curmudgeon about anniversaries, birthdays, bicentennials—that whole set of activities that goes into marking the amount of existence that someone or something has experienced, and that quietly implies how much of its existence has been used up. Rather than saying, as they’re supposed […]
- Compliant? It Didn’t Even Cross Our Minds - By John McLarty | 21 September 2018 | I spent a couple of hours last night doing church. The people I was sitting with organize worship, coordinate children’s Sabbath School, manage the maintenance of our large, old building, take food to our senior members when they are sick, feed the homeless, provide the money and […]
