News
The Newbold Sisterhood Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary - The UK-based ‘Our Story, Our Song’ conference, which started 10 years ago, is now the annual Sisterhood conference attended by 150 – 200 women from all over the United Kingdom (UK). This conference led to the Newbold Sisterhood, which is focused on women in Newbold Church, encouraging them to lean in, connect and flourish within […]
Fire Does $150,000 Worth of Damage to Oregon Church Facility - 1 December 2020 | A fire in a building belonging to Coos Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Coos Bay, Oregon, caused $150,000 damage last Saturday night. The fire took place in a building next to the main church structure, which housed a clothing pantry. According to a news report from KVAL 13, the cause of […]
What Makes a Healthy Church? • December 5, 1:30 PM Eastern (1730 GMT) - 30 November 2020 | What Makes a Healthy Church? Article to read for this week. Excerpt: The term “health” here is used in a metaphorical sense; namely, that of general wellbeing. In the past, health used to be defined mostly in terms of the absence of sickness. But today the description given by the World […]
Chilean Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Transsexual Student at Adventist School - 1 December 2020 | Chilean media outlets have reported on a November 22 judicial decision of the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court regarding a transsexual student at an Adventist school in the country. The decision upheld a contested ruling issued by the Court of Appeals of Copiapó, which upheld an appeal for protection filed […]
North Pacific Union Conference Religious Liberty Officer Comments as U.S. Supreme Court Blocks NY Virus Limits on Houses of Worship - 29 November 2020 | The US Supreme Court has barred the state of New York from enforcing church attendance restrictions in areas especially affected by the coronavirus. Recently confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett was on the side of the majority of the 5-4 vote Wednesday. The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court, as well […]
Platform Creates Networking Space for Employers and Job Seekers - From ANN – 27 November 2020 | In Brazil, more than 1.5 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of the pandemic—and Seventh-day Adventists in the southeastern portion of the nation are helping unemployed people, regardless of affiliation, to find work. Data from the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged) reveal the state […]
LLU Psychiatrist Shares How to Avoid Friendship Pitfalls in a Pandemic - Social media is a poor substitute for in-person meetups that can safely take place outside. Nurture existing friendships, as it is hard to develop new ones due to the pandemic. Avoid the temptation to step back from friendships. 27 November 2020 | From Loma Linda University Health / Janelle Ringer: David Puder, MD, a psychiatrist […]
Anticipating AT1–November 27, 2020 - Have you noticed that you are at your best when you know you’re really loved? That’s the way God oriented the universe. Transparency, then, is the birthplace of love. We’re so delighted you’ve found Anticipating AT1. From our inspirational message, to our thought-provoking AT Trending News, to our melodic moment of music, we trust […]
Female Adventist Leaders Recognized - The Association of Adventist Women (AAW) awarded 8 distinguished women and men on November 15. Ginger Hanks Harwood, PhD, Chico, CA, received the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award. Woman of the Year awards went to Dynnette Hart and Nyslie Guerrier—Community Life award, Dina Salas Montoya and Hilde Thorkildsen Huru—Spiritual Life award. Champion of Justice Award recipients […]
News Briefs for November 25, 2020 - News reports from Adventist Community Services, Decolonizing The Black Mind (a virtual summit), the Columbia Union Conference, Washington Adventist University and ADRA in Serbia: Offering – December 12, 2020 – Adventist Community Services (ACS) provides you with opportunities to serve communities in Christ’s name. Therefore, we must become leading servants as Christian disciples, who order […]
Indian Members, Donors, Ask to Forestall SUD 13th Sabbath Offering Until Management Ethics Addressed - 24 November 2020 | Reports over the last several years have suggested that the Southern Asia Division (SUD), once the darling of church builders and Share Him evangelists, is in trouble. Donations have dropped, according to reliable sources, even before COVID-19. Recently the division removed around half a million names from the church rolls. Meanwhile, […]
Planned Adventist Church in Cayman Islands Deemed Unnecessary by Authorities, Denied Construction Permission - 23 November 2020 | Planning Authorities in the Cayman Islands have denied the Adventist Church permission to build a new USD $2.4 million church in the West Bay area of the multi-island nation. The application for the new church has now been rejected by the nation’s Central Planning Authority and the Planning Appeals Tribunal (PAT), […]
Commentary
Seek and You Will Find - by Smuts van Rooyen | 2 December 2020 | The anthropologist and concentration camp survivor, Laurens van der Post, wrote this short fable, Feather Fall, to describe the human quest for truth and meaning. In the heat of the day a young hunter came to a clearing in the Forest of the Night and there knelt down […]
Us vs. Them: A Critical Reflection on Enemies - by Gary Chartier | 30 November 2020 | “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!” Isaiah […]
What Is a Healthy Church? - by Reinder Bruinsma | 27 November 2020 | The church is a voluntary social organization, but it is a social organization of a very special kind, as membership will often have a much greater impact on one’s total life than other memberships usually have. Most Christians would also argue that it is different because of its […]
Can Sabbath School Teach Us All We Need to Know About the Bible? - by Mark Gutman | 23 November 2020 | In a Sabbath School class recently, someone brought up the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11). I remembered that there is a question as to whether the story even belongs in the Bible. Most modern translations include it, but point out that it is not in the […]
Adventist Women & Catholic Women: What We’re Fighting For - by Hannele Ottschofski | 20 November 2020 | Recently I came across a short story by L.M. Montgomery (1874-1942) called “The Strike at Putney.”[1] The Women’s Foreign Mission Auxiliary of the Putney Presbyterian congregation invited Mrs. Cottrell, a returned missionary, to give an address on mission work before their society. As the classroom would be […]
A Thanksgiving Sermon - By Loren Seibold | 18 November 2020 | William Law was an English clergyman who wrote in the early 18th century. His most famous book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, is one of the classics of the Christian faith—a book you can put on the same shelf with Mere Christianity and Steps […]
The Church Under Scrutiny: Will the Centre Hold? - by Alvin Masarira | 17 November 2020 | The COVID-19 pandemic is posing serious and unprecedented challenges to everyone. As people face serious personal challenges that reduce the resources at their disposal, they begin to ask themselves questions about what is critical and core to their lives, and what is optional or peripheral. These resources are […]
Pascal’s Wager Revisited - by S.M. Chen | 15 November 2020 | “Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” —Blaise […]
Homosexuality in the African Church & Culture - by Arthur Sibanda | 12 November 2020 | “If anything happens to me, please tell my grandmother I love her.” I sensed desperation in Thomas’s text message. It is a significant crisis to be a Seventh-day Adventist and have same-sex attractions: the conflict between one’s sexual desires and one’s Christian beliefs make it easier to […]
Life Is Not a Game - by Andrew Hanson | 11 November 2020 | In his book The Games People Play, Dr. Eric Berne offers this definition of game. A game is a series of complementary transactions progressing to a well-defined, predictable outcome. Descriptively it is a recurring set of transactions, often repetitious, superficially plausible, with a concealed motivation; or, more […]
Will God Forgive Us for Our Theology? - A Book Review by Jack Hoehn | 9 November 2020 | Dr. Richard Rice is a theology professor well known at Loma Linda University and before that at La Sierra University but likely better known outside Adventism than inside it. Perhaps this book can help change that.[1] The title of this review comes from the […]
The Commenting Problem - By Loren Seibold | 8 November 2020 | Now and then I’ll receive a note from someone who is angry because they made a comment on an article on our Facebook page, and received a “gentle reader” warning from one of our moderators. Our commenting guidelines are clearly posted on our Adventist Today Facebook page, […]
Features
Sharing Scripture for November 29 – December 5 - This is a tool for you to use if you lead a Sabbath School (SS) class or small group. It is keyed to the Bible texts used in the current week’s Adult SS lesson and includes a brief story from current news you can use to introduce the discussion and then a series of discussion […]
Aunty, is our church really “pro-life”? - 27 November 2020 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Why is it that Adventists make it so difficult for young people who have unwanted pregnancies to choose life? Our church is pro-life on paper, but in reality, members who choose to keep a baby that is, for example, out of wedlock may be ostracized or even removed […]- Anticipating AT1–November 27, 2020 - Have you noticed that you are at your best when you know you’re really loved? That’s the way God oriented the universe. Transparency, then, is the birthplace of love. We’re so delighted you’ve found Anticipating AT1. From our inspirational message, to our thought-provoking AT Trending News, to our melodic moment of music, we trust […]
Sharing Scripture for November 22 – 28 - This is a tool for you to use if you lead a Sabbath School (SS) class or small group. It is keyed to the Bible texts used in the current week’s Adult SS lesson and includes a brief story from current news you can use to introduce the discussion and then a series of discussion […]
Anticipating AT1–November 20, 2020 - Why is it when we feel threatened, that we retreat to our tribes to avoid thoughtful discourse? Why is it that we foster fear, rather than faith? Challenging questions as we face uncertain times yet again in an unusual year. We’re so delighted you’ve found Anticipating AT1. From our inspirational message, to our thought-provoking […]- Sharing Scripture for November 15 – 21, 2020 - This is a tool for you to use if you lead a Sabbath School (SS) class or small group. It is keyed to the Bible texts used in the current week’s Adult SS lesson and includes a brief story from current news you can use to introduce the discussion and then a series of discussion […]
Aunty, people criticize me for my graffiti art! - Dear Aunt Sevvy, I’m a professional artist and a letterer. I have been doing graffiti legally for six years. I think of it as a way to witness. But I still have people telling me that it’s the wrong medium to share God through. What should I do? Public Art for Jesus Dear Public Art, […]
Anticipating AT1–November 13, 2020 - If we’ve learned anything in 2020, it’s that we’ve been challenged by what we cannot control. The global pandemic is surging again, and we would be totally exasperated because of it if it weren’t for the sustaining hand of God in our lives. We’re so delighted you’ve found Anticipating AT1. From our inspirational message, […]- Sharing Scripture for November 8 – 14, 2020 - This is a tool for you to use if you lead a Sabbath School (SS) class or small group. It is keyed to the Bible texts used in the current week’s Adult SS lesson and includes a brief story from current news you can use to introduce the discussion and then a series of discussion […]
Why is Aunty’s most-responded-to column about piecrust lard? - 6 November 2020 | Dear Readers: Someone asked Aunt Sevvy recently, “Which of your letters and answers have garnered the most responses from readers?” Aunty would like to say that it was one of the many that had to do with improving family relationships, or showing mercy to others, or using spiritual principles to solve […]
Anticipating AT1–November 6, 2020 - There’s a good chance you’re angry about the election in the United States. The election results haven’t been finalized and we’re in a state of limbo. Jesus has some ideas for you about what to do with your anger. We’re so delighted you’ve found Anticipating AT1. From our inspirational message, to our thought-provoking AT […]- Sharing Scripture for November 1 – 7, 2020 - This is a tool for you to use if you lead a Sabbath School (SS) class or small group. It is keyed to the Bible texts used in the current week’s Adult SS Lesson and includes a brief story from current news you can use to introduce the discussion and then a series of discussion […]
All
- The Newbold Sisterhood Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary - The UK-based ‘Our Story, Our Song’ conference, which started 10 years ago, is now the annual Sisterhood conference attended by 150 – 200 women from all over the United Kingdom (UK). This conference led to the Newbold Sisterhood, which is focused on women in Newbold Church, encouraging them to lean in, connect and flourish within […]
- Seek and You Will Find - by Smuts van Rooyen | 2 December 2020 | The anthropologist and concentration camp survivor, Laurens van der Post, wrote this short fable, Feather Fall, to describe the human quest for truth and meaning. In the heat of the day a young hunter came to a clearing in the Forest of the Night and there knelt down […]
- Fire Does $150,000 Worth of Damage to Oregon Church Facility - 1 December 2020 | A fire in a building belonging to Coos Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Coos Bay, Oregon, caused $150,000 damage last Saturday night. The fire took place in a building next to the main church structure, which housed a clothing pantry. According to a news report from KVAL 13, the cause of […]
- Sharing Scripture for November 29 – December 5 - This is a tool for you to use if you lead a Sabbath School (SS) class or small group. It is keyed to the Bible texts used in the current week’s Adult SS lesson and includes a brief story from current news you can use to introduce the discussion and then a series of discussion […]
- What Makes a Healthy Church? • December 5, 1:30 PM Eastern (1730 GMT) - 30 November 2020 | What Makes a Healthy Church? Article to read for this week. Excerpt: The term “health” here is used in a metaphorical sense; namely, that of general wellbeing. In the past, health used to be defined mostly in terms of the absence of sickness. But today the description given by the World […]
- Chilean Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Transsexual Student at Adventist School - 1 December 2020 | Chilean media outlets have reported on a November 22 judicial decision of the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court regarding a transsexual student at an Adventist school in the country. The decision upheld a contested ruling issued by the Court of Appeals of Copiapó, which upheld an appeal for protection filed […]
- Us vs. Them: A Critical Reflection on Enemies - by Gary Chartier | 30 November 2020 | “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!” Isaiah […]
- North Pacific Union Conference Religious Liberty Officer Comments as U.S. Supreme Court Blocks NY Virus Limits on Houses of Worship - 29 November 2020 | The US Supreme Court has barred the state of New York from enforcing church attendance restrictions in areas especially affected by the coronavirus. Recently confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett was on the side of the majority of the 5-4 vote Wednesday. The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court, as well […]
- Aunty, is our church really “pro-life”? - 27 November 2020 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Why is it that Adventists make it so difficult for young people who have unwanted pregnancies to choose life? Our church is pro-life on paper, but in reality, members who choose to keep a baby that is, for example, out of wedlock may be ostracized or even removed […]
- What Is a Healthy Church? - by Reinder Bruinsma | 27 November 2020 | The church is a voluntary social organization, but it is a social organization of a very special kind, as membership will often have a much greater impact on one’s total life than other memberships usually have. Most Christians would also argue that it is different because of its […]
- Platform Creates Networking Space for Employers and Job Seekers - From ANN – 27 November 2020 | In Brazil, more than 1.5 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of the pandemic—and Seventh-day Adventists in the southeastern portion of the nation are helping unemployed people, regardless of affiliation, to find work. Data from the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged) reveal the state […]
- LLU Psychiatrist Shares How to Avoid Friendship Pitfalls in a Pandemic - Social media is a poor substitute for in-person meetups that can safely take place outside. Nurture existing friendships, as it is hard to develop new ones due to the pandemic. Avoid the temptation to step back from friendships. 27 November 2020 | From Loma Linda University Health / Janelle Ringer: David Puder, MD, a psychiatrist […]