News
News Briefs for October 17, 2019 - News reports from Loma Linda University Health; Southern Adventist University; ADRA International; Adventist Health and the Tui Ridge Pathfinder Camp in New Zealand: From a Loma Linda University Health news release: Loma Linda University Health researchers have been recognized by the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) for their outstanding research on vancomycin, an antibiotic […]
Female SDA Pastors’ Facebook Group Thanks Supportive Church Leaders - 17 October 2019 | The Facebook group for female Seventh-day Adventist pastors of nearly 400 members across the world divisions yesterday issued this statement: We express our gratitude to union leaders supporting women anointed by the Holy Spirit to pastoral ministry. We are a diverse group, representing many nations and backgrounds, all obeying the calling […]
Lawsuit Claims Adventist Guard in Los Angeles Forced to Work on Sabbath - 16 October 2019 | An Adventist security guard has filed a lawsuit against his former employer in Los Angeles, claiming he was forced to work on Sabbath. According to MyNewsLA, Luis Lomel’s lawsuit claims unspecified damages and accuses Universal Protection Service LP of religious discrimination, failure to prevent religious discrimination and harassment, and wrongful constructive […]
The Adventist Church and ADRA Make Public Appeal to Help School Children Worldwide - From ADRA – 15 October 2019 | The Seventh-day Adventist Church and its international humanitarian agency, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), announced on October 14 a new global campaign, “Every Child. Everywhere. In School.” The joint campaign is an urgent call to leaders around the world that all children, regardless of race, age, […]- Graham, Weigley, Nominated for Public Reprimand for Supporting Women’s Ordination - 14 October 2019 | Adventist Today learned late today that two North American Division Union Conference Presidents, Dave Weigley of the Columbia Union Conference and Ricardo Graham of the Pacific Union Conference, have been nominated for the first ever “Public Reprimand” from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, for services rendered on behalf of women’s […]
- GC Annual Council Considers Revised Statement on Abortion - 14 October 2019 | One item on the agenda this week during the Adventist denomination’s General Conference (GC) executive committee annual meeting is a “Statement on the Biblical View of Unborn Life and Its Implications for Abortion.” A committee related to the denomination’s Biblical Research Institute (BRI) has been working on this document for some […]
Woman Allegedly Sets Fire to Adventist Church, Tries to Stab Law Enforcement Officers with Pen - 13 October 2019 | A woman in Hall County, Georgia, allegedly set fire to the Gainesville Seventh-day Adventist Church on October 6 after being caught breaking into a nearby shed. Atlanta news site AJC reported that Dana Elaine Lawton was found lying on the floor of the church by deputies. She was carried out of […]- Adventist Denomination Governing Body Annual Meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland - 13 October 2019 | Thursday evening (10 October) the Annual Council of the executive committee of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination’s General Conference (GC) began at the GC headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC. This is the governing body of the denomination and consists of about 300 people, most of them denominational […]
ADRA Takes Initiative to Minimize Onset Disasters - From ADRA – 11 October 2019 | Disasters take a toll on people’s lives. Millions lose their homes and jobs because of extreme weather, and countries are impacted heavily by economic losses and potential environmental hazards. In recognition of the United Nation’s Sendai Framework, a 15-year global initiative to reduce disaster risks, the Adventist Development […]- News Briefs for October 10, 2019 - News reports from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Germany, Switzerland, Lansdale, Pennsylvania and Sacramento, California: More than 12,000 Adventists took to the streets of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to commemorate the 69th anniversary of World Pathfinder Day on 21 September. The young people and church leaders wore their uniforms, scarves and sashes and held banners stating […]
Reflections on the AT1 Gathering - Over 200 people from 15 states, two Canadian territories and as far away as Guam and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attended the inaugural AT1 gathering held last weekend in Portland, Oregon. About a year in the planning, the event kicked off Friday evening, October 4, at the Embassy Suites hotel in the Washington Square area of […]
Is Red Meat No Longer a Dietary Problem? - Recent headlines and television news commentary have focused on a new study which reported that eating red meat may not be the cause of health problems. Because of their historic support of a vegetarian diet and considerable scientific and educational effort against eating red meat, this has raised questions among Adventists. Dr. Gary Fraser, a […]
Commentary
- Science and Authority - by David Geelan | 17 October 2019 | If my name and qualification list is written out in full, it is Associate Professor David Geelan, FACE SFHEA, BEd (Chem), M.Ed, PhD, GCertSci(Phys), GCHE, and I’m currently President and Managing Director of the Australasian Science Education Research Association. I suppose I could, but I never do, […]
- The Adventist Church: A Global Family or a Eurocentric-American Project? - by Alvin Masarira, PhD | 10 October 2019 | The 61st General Conference (GC) Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a few months away. The session will be held in Indianapolis (Indiana in the United States) from June 25 to July 4, 2020, under the theme “Jesus is Coming! Get Involved.” This is in […]
- The Dangers of Demonization and Polarized Thinking - By Loren Seibold | 11 October 2019 | A few months ago, I received an article from someone comparing Elder Ted Wilson to President Donald Trump. The author saw in both of them an authoritarian streak (probably true) but then added numerous other less thoughtful comparisons. I admit that I was put off by it, even […]
- The Color Purple and Empowerment - by Dawnette Chambers & Christopher C. Thompson | 11 October 2019 | “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!” What do hopelessness and the pain of never feeling loved or appreciated do to a person? How does one […]
- The Monster Under the Bed: What We Should Be Thinking About on Halloween - by Vinnie MacIsaac | 9 October 2019 | The word “holiday” comes from the linguistic root “holy day”: originally all western holidays were church holy days. As western civilization evolved and multiple stages of development took place the meaning, for better or worse, got lost. Often at this time of year, Christians get worked up […]
- Why You Might Not Want to Go to Heaven - By Kris Coffin Stevenson | 7 October 2019 | Picture heaven. Soft mood music, a few traditional harp notes, then light, brilliant light, and out of the mist emerges the Celestial City (is that “It’s a Small World After All” playing in the background?). Your concierge appears at your elbow and asks, “What can I […]
- Cyrus’ or Artaxerxes’ Decree? Issues in Dating the 70-Week Prophecy - by André Reis, Ph.D. | 4 October 2019 | This commentary is occasioned by the introduction of a new Sabbath School quarterly about Ezra and Nehemiah. The first lesson in the quarterly deals with the events surrounding the completion of the reconstruction of Jerusalem and its temple after the Babylon exile under the leadership of […]
- Does Science Compel the Church to Accept Evolution? - by George Grames | 4 October 2019 | In the summer 2019 Adventist Today magazine April Maskiewicz Cordero authored a piece entitled “Dividing the Church Over Evolution.” The author’s position is that “Evolutionary creation is one of many ways Christians may reconcile mainstream scientific findings with their faith.” I argue that, on the contrary, evolutionary […]
- Adam, Death and the Age of the Earth - by Paul Priest | 27 September 2019 | I was born a third-generation Seventh-day Adventist. I grew up being taught the traditional Adventist creation paradigm, which is based to a large extent on Ellen White’s interpretation of Genesis. I taught this paradigm for 22 years in Adventist academies. Today I’m an evolutionary creationist. I’m an […]
- How Jesus Viewed Women - By Sonja DeWitt | 26 September 2019 | Today, many people see Jesus as a sort of fossilized embodiment of ideal virtue—a conservative trying to return the wayward to “traditional values.” But the people of first-century Judea would not recognize that portrait. In fact, they would probably have laughed incredulously at it, for the Jesus […]
- What Fear of LGBT+ People Does to Us - By Debbie Hooper Cosier | 22 September 2019 | The fourteen-year-old stayed back at the end of class and asked to speak privately with me. She picked at the rubber sole of her school shoe for a long time before she eventually spoke: “Miss, I’m gay.” Because this was an Adventist school, we both knew […]
- Why I’m Suspicious About the End of Compliance Committees - By Loren Seibold | 20 September 2019 | Elder Wilson’s first sermon to the world church in 2010 was predictive of the kind of leadership he would practice. Beyond a few manufactured trivialities (reading non-Adventist authors, meditation) he showed that his leadership style would involve enforcing upon the church his personal understanding of Adventist orthodoxy. This […]
Features
Sharing Scripture for Oct. 13 – 19 - 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 […]- Day 3: 2019 General Conference Executive Committee - by Loren Seibold | 15 October 2019 | There are some things that are hard to write about. This day was one of them. Right now I would prefer to go to bed and not tell you what happened at General Conference (GC) executive committee. But you support Adventist Today so you can hear reports […]
- Day 2: 2019 General Conference Executive Committee - by Loren Seibold | 14 October 2019 | As I said yesterday, a church business meeting like this one (and indeed, all the church governance meetings I’ve ever attended) isn’t just about decision-making. Yet this one, more than most, is about pageant, as much as about seeking collective wisdom. I hope you’ll forgive me for […]
- Day 1: 2019 General Conference Executive Committee - by Loren Seibold | 13 October 2019 | You may wonder when you hear that the theme for this year’s General Conference Executive Committee is “Faithfulness in Christian Lifestyle”: Why does a business meeting have a theme? And why this particular theme? Why, in a day and age when we’re trying to promote a more […]
- Sharing Scripture for Oct. 6 – 12 - 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 […]
Debunking Six Myths about Your Pastor - By Dave Gemmell, 30 September 2019 | Throughout the years I’ve heard several myths about pastors. With October (Pastoral Appreciation Month), I thought I’d do a little pastoral myth busting. Myth 1: Pastors only work one day a week: Most people only see their pastor on Sabbath. What they don’t realize is that pastors are […]- Sharing Scripture for Sept. 29 – Oct. 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 […]
- Little League More Important than Church? - Last spring I asked a friend at church to teach a children’s Sabbath School class a few weeks from then. She checked her calendar and said, “I can’t. That’s the day Noah starts his Little League Baseball.” When I grew up, Sabbath School and church took priority over everything. But now it’s common for families […]
- Sharing Scripture for September 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 […]
- My Husband Confessed an Affair—from Decades Ago - 20 Sept 2019 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, A couple of months ago I had a serious health scare—I thought I had cancer. (I didn’t, although the signs pointed to that at first.) My husband was broken up by it, and in a moment of panic he confessed to me that he’d had a brief affair […]
- Why I Stay in the Church - Reinder Bruinsma | 16 September 2019 | To be honest, I am at times rather frustrated with my church. Sometimes I feel the church is out of tune with the times and with the world in which we live. I get upset by the church’s bureaucratic procedures and by what I perceive as regrettable failures […]
- Sharing Scripture for September 15 – 21 - 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
- News Briefs for October 17, 2019 - News reports from Loma Linda University Health; Southern Adventist University; ADRA International; Adventist Health and the Tui Ridge Pathfinder Camp in New Zealand: From a Loma Linda University Health news release: Loma Linda University Health researchers have been recognized by the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) for their outstanding research on vancomycin, an antibiotic […]
- Science and Authority - by David Geelan | 17 October 2019 | If my name and qualification list is written out in full, it is Associate Professor David Geelan, FACE SFHEA, BEd (Chem), M.Ed, PhD, GCertSci(Phys), GCHE, and I’m currently President and Managing Director of the Australasian Science Education Research Association. I suppose I could, but I never do, […]
- Female SDA Pastors’ Facebook Group Thanks Supportive Church Leaders - 17 October 2019 | The Facebook group for female Seventh-day Adventist pastors of nearly 400 members across the world divisions yesterday issued this statement: We express our gratitude to union leaders supporting women anointed by the Holy Spirit to pastoral ministry. We are a diverse group, representing many nations and backgrounds, all obeying the calling […]
- Lawsuit Claims Adventist Guard in Los Angeles Forced to Work on Sabbath - 16 October 2019 | An Adventist security guard has filed a lawsuit against his former employer in Los Angeles, claiming he was forced to work on Sabbath. According to MyNewsLA, Luis Lomel’s lawsuit claims unspecified damages and accuses Universal Protection Service LP of religious discrimination, failure to prevent religious discrimination and harassment, and wrongful constructive […]
- Sharing Scripture for Oct. 13 – 19 - 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 […]
- The Adventist Church and ADRA Make Public Appeal to Help School Children Worldwide - From ADRA – 15 October 2019 | The Seventh-day Adventist Church and its international humanitarian agency, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), announced on October 14 a new global campaign, “Every Child. Everywhere. In School.” The joint campaign is an urgent call to leaders around the world that all children, regardless of race, age, […]
- Day 3: 2019 General Conference Executive Committee - by Loren Seibold | 15 October 2019 | There are some things that are hard to write about. This day was one of them. Right now I would prefer to go to bed and not tell you what happened at General Conference (GC) executive committee. But you support Adventist Today so you can hear reports […]
- The Adventist Church: A Global Family or a Eurocentric-American Project? - by Alvin Masarira, PhD | 10 October 2019 | The 61st General Conference (GC) Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a few months away. The session will be held in Indianapolis (Indiana in the United States) from June 25 to July 4, 2020, under the theme “Jesus is Coming! Get Involved.” This is in […]
- Graham, Weigley, Nominated for Public Reprimand for Supporting Women’s Ordination - 14 October 2019 | Adventist Today learned late today that two North American Division Union Conference Presidents, Dave Weigley of the Columbia Union Conference and Ricardo Graham of the Pacific Union Conference, have been nominated for the first ever “Public Reprimand” from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, for services rendered on behalf of women’s […]
- Day 2: 2019 General Conference Executive Committee - by Loren Seibold | 14 October 2019 | As I said yesterday, a church business meeting like this one (and indeed, all the church governance meetings I’ve ever attended) isn’t just about decision-making. Yet this one, more than most, is about pageant, as much as about seeking collective wisdom. I hope you’ll forgive me for […]
- GC Annual Council Considers Revised Statement on Abortion - 14 October 2019 | One item on the agenda this week during the Adventist denomination’s General Conference (GC) executive committee annual meeting is a “Statement on the Biblical View of Unborn Life and Its Implications for Abortion.” A committee related to the denomination’s Biblical Research Institute (BRI) has been working on this document for some […]
- Woman Allegedly Sets Fire to Adventist Church, Tries to Stab Law Enforcement Officers with Pen - 13 October 2019 | A woman in Hall County, Georgia, allegedly set fire to the Gainesville Seventh-day Adventist Church on October 6 after being caught breaking into a nearby shed. Atlanta news site AJC reported that Dana Elaine Lawton was found lying on the floor of the church by deputies. She was carried out of […]