News Briefs for February 9, 2023
9 February 2023 | ADRA Mobilizes to Assist Victims of Deadly Earthquake in Turkey and Syria More than 20,000 people were injured and at least 11,000 killed in Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake affecting regions of Turkey and Syria. ADRA has begun “collaborating with local governments and trusted partners” to provide aid such as “multipurpose cash assistance, […]
Is Masturbation a Sin? The Curious History Behind a Long-Held Religious Prohibition.
by Thandazani Mhlanga | 9 February 2023 | The Message Bible eloquently reminds us that “every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful in one way or another” (2 Timothy 3:16). Or, in the words of the KJV, it’s “profitable.” Thus, I am curious: what can we possibly gain from the story of Onan in […]
Guardian: U.S. Churches Are on the Decline
8 February 2023 | According to a new report in The Guardian, “even as faith continues to dominate American politics, … churches are closing at rapid numbers in the US. Congregations are declining, and younger generations are abandoning Christianity.” As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year […]
ATSS: Maury Jackson, “Notes for a Sacred Conversation on Race”
25 January 2023 | by Maury Jackson Paul wrote to Timothy, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” But many Seventh-day Adventists struggle with fear: fear of end-time events, fear of not being saved, fear of rejection by God. Maury Jackson […]
The Honest (Progressive) Truth
by Jim Walters | 7 February 2023 | Are Adventists as honest about our religious lives as some newspaper columnists and movie-directors are about their lives? This question jelled in my consciousness, prompted by three incidents within 24 hours two weekends ago—viewing the movie The Fabelmans, reading a column in the Los Angeles Times (LAT) […]
Recogiendo la cosecha: ¿Nos importa quién se va?
Al mudarme al noroeste del Pacífico conocí una realidad agrícola diferente. Nuestra península está rodeada de bosques, campos de arándanos y pesca. La cosecha aquí implica motosierras, grúas y estruendosos camiones madereros. En vez de trillar cebada o cortar heno para secarlo y empacarlo, los cultivadores de arándanos costeros abren tuberías y sistemas de riego […]
SATIRE: General Conference formally apologizes for banishing Ellen White to Australia
SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, over 120 years after sending Ellen G. White to Australia, the General Conference (GC) has issued a formal statement apologizing for “what was unequivocally a low move.” White was sent as a missionary to Australia after she clashed with GC leaders in the early 1890s while advocating for a number […]
My Day with Kinship
by Loren Seibold | 6 February 2023 | I’ve covered many Adventist meetings through the years—conference executive committees, union conferences events, General Conference executive committee meetings. A meeting I attended recently, though, gave me a greater feeling of accomplishment, because unlike denominational meetings, which are all focused entirely on promoting the institution, this one was […]
NAD Hosts Fourth Religious Freedom Prayer Breakfast with Interfaith Leaders
6 February 2023 | On January 17, 2023, approximately 100 people from diverse faith traditions gathered for the fourth annual Religious Freedom Prayer Breakfast. The event, held in person for the second year in a row, recognized January 16 as National Religious Freedom Day in the United States, and included prayer for the blessing of […]
Matthew Korpman: Doug Batchelor’s Fake History
6 February 2023 | Did Pastor Doug Batchelor, the Amazing Facts evangelist, mistakenly spread a doctored quotation from the Jewish historian Josephus? Did he ignore biblical scholarship and the advice of other Adventist experts? Join Professor Korpman as he addresses Doug Batchelor’s amazing fact from history that turns out to be not so factual. Explore […]