Jon Roberts Page 115

01 Jun

Taking our schools’ safety seriously

In

By Carol Bolden

“Experience our beautiful, safe Christian campus” touts one Adventist school in another conference. It’s a beguiling picture, but safety in school is not a given for anyone these days. “Violence . . . [can] strike at any minute,” says Genevieve LeFranc in her 2013 article, “Social Unrest is Here to Stay.” That violence extends to schools where shootings are occurring almost daily. One school massacre inspires another, which inspires another, ad infinitum.

It would be a mistake to think that Seventh-day Adventist schools will never be affected, when, in fact, they have been, as in the murder by a student of the principal at a Seventh-day Adventist school in Tennessee.*

What are Rocky Mountain Conference schools doing to protect our children?

Through talking to several RMC schools in Wyoming and Colorado, including a four-year academy, a junior academy, and a grade school, I discovered what is being done in the name of safety and found a variety of readiness levels.

Out of the three schools, two have a safety point person and a safety committee. All hold monthly drills for fires and tornados, while two also practice what to do in case of an intruder.

To keep strangers out of its buildings, Mile High Academy (MHA) keeps its doors locked during school hours and monitors common entrances by camera. All visitors are checked in at the office and are required to wear a visitor badge. Staff members stop and question anyone they don’t know who isn’t wearing a badge. Using the Raptor Visitor Management System, which screens everyone who enters the building against a registered sex offender database for all 50 states, MHA screens visitors and maintains accurate records.

Vista Ridge Academy has front-entry cameras and is addressing other areas that might need cameras. Outdoor activity on and around the campus is monitored by camera, giving the school the opportunity to ward off problems. Visitors must sign in when entering the building.

In a small, two-teacher school like Mountain Road Christian Academy in Casper, Wyoming, having a committee made up of school staff is not feasible, but awareness and training do take place. For instance, the school doors are locked during the day and students are taught not to open them for anyone they don’t know.

In the midst of this preparation and practice, it’s important to help the students feel safe. This is what these schools are doing to insure that feeling of security:

Vista Ridge Academy keeps outside doors and class- room doors locked during the school day. Principal Sandy Hodgson is at the front entrance as students arrive in the morning, giving them a sense of security, knowing that someone is in charge and watching out for them. This scene is repeated at the end of the day when Hodgson calls students as their rides arrive. Teachers also stay with their students until they are picked up or sent to extended care. There is little opportunity for anything unusual to happen.

Mile High Academy reviews safety guidelines at the beginning of each school year and schedules regular drills for practice. These guidelines are reviewed whenever there is occasion for a lock-out. Posters around the school remind students of these guidelines and staff talk to students about the Safe2Tell program which provides the opportunity for students to anonymously report threats.

Out of the tragedy that took place at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, in September 2006, when an intruder killed Emily Keyes, came the “I Love U Guys” safety protocol. MHA uses the guidance this protocol offers to enhance its existing safety plans. It uses action-based responses for any given situation, so when the terms lockout, lockdown, evacuate, or shelter are used during a threat, they hold specific meanings for staff, students, teachers, and first responders.

As part of their preparation, MHA maintains a plastic container with student medications, which can be grabbed at a moment’s notice and often has a bus and driver available to move students away from the campus. Someone on campus knows the location of gas shut-offs, how thick the sheetrock is, whether wooden or metal studs were used in construction, and whether a gas line runs through a wall that they might need to blow a hole through. They also have available sketches of the school’s layout, updated after any remodeling, that responders can use, along with passkeys.

“We have drills regularly at our school for fires, tornados, and lock-out and lock-down drills so that we can be as prepared as possible,” says Brenda Rodie, VP of operations at MHA. “We have done a lockdown drill with Douglas County Sheriff Department and will hold future drills as well.” VRA principal, Sandy Hodgson, says, “We are prepared for various scenarios, but also realize that adaptability is key with any disaster.” Their point person for safety is their maintenance director who “works closely with administration and local safety authorities.”

Preparation for an emergency at VRA includes practice drills with the local police school resource officers who participate and provide recommendations as they continue to improve their plans. “Our resource officers from the Erie Police Department are on campus a minimum of twice a month, conducting walk-throughs and checking in with administration and teachers,” Hodgson explains. “They are part of our safety training and the local fire department also participates in our drills and provides feedback to improve safety.”

Mountain Road Christian Academy principal Traci Pike recently attended active shooter training and is pursuing a plan for the next school year by getting in touch with local law enforcement to ask for staff training and recommendations for emergency protocol. Moving their small student body during an event means loading up teacher vehicles and driving them off campus.

According to Patricia Allison, co-author of a study on private school security, the largest factors in creating a safe environment are school size and low student-to-teacher ratios. “Most private schools are much smaller so you can oversee everything going on within the school at all times,” she says. “It’s harder for safety to be a problem in a small school.”

While this is reassuring, our schools can’t rest on this declaration. It’s encouraging to see that RMC schools are taking the safety of their students seriously.

–Carol Bolden provides editorial support for the RMC communication department. Email her at: [email protected]

*https://abcnews.go.com/US/memphis-teen-charged-principals-murder-seventh- day-adventist/story?id=14283216

01 Jun

Children Are To Be Loved!

In

By Rajmund Dabrowski

A few years ago, I listened to parents of school kids at Sligo Adventist School in Takoma Park, MD, talk about how much their children’s lives were impacted by caring teachers who demonstrated Christian values in the way they interacted with the kids. This conversation made me reflect on a few individuals who have taken Jesus’ command to “suffer the little children” seriously.

One such example is Dr. Janusz Korczak, a pedagogue and guardian of homeless, neglected, and often abandoned children during World War II in Poland. Korczak refused to leave the Warsaw Ghetto because of these “adopted” children and met his fate in the gas chambers of Treblinka. His forte was “ethical sensitivity” in education—a belief that one should place the emotional development of a child on the same level as his or her physical development.

A journal entry on sparrows gives some insight into his approach: “During the summer, the windows were usually open and they would come into the room and sit on a flowerpot. If I was also sitting still, they were not afraid. But once, when I entered the room unexpectedly, a sparrow flew away and being scared off, it could not find a way out and hit the window glass. It was stunned. Maybe hurt, even. After that, before I entered my room, I would knock on the door.”

“But now, it’s wintertime and I have once again asked the glass-fitter to come and cut out a small [corner] piece of the window, so that sparrows can come in and eat. It’s warmer for them inside.”

When Korczak received psychologically crippled children into his homes for orphans, he treated them as he would the sparrows—aiming to make them feel secure.

Irena Sendler, a “saint” to many and a hero to others, is yet another example of one who “suffered” the little children. A nurse and social worker, Sendler organized the rescue of 2,500 kids from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of the city. She took great risks to help Polish Jews held by the Nazis—an act that was punishable by death. Once, she was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo but refused to give up the names of the children who had been smuggled out of the ghetto by ambulance, through the sewers, and, once, under her skirt. She declared, “Saving even a single life was worth taking a risk. We are responsible for every life that comes across our lives.”

These days, like in the days of Jesus, His followers should ask themselves how to actively embrace the example of Jesus. His attitude toward the vulnerable was the opposite of that displayed by His disciples. His rebuke, and an example for His followers, is recorded in Matthew 19:13-14: “One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so He could lay His hands on them and pray for them. The disciples scolded the parents for bothering Him. But Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.’”

Life offers us reminders. How would we act if such reminders propelled us into helping someone by being present in their lives? It could be enough at times to just keep them company and cast away the fear.

–Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director and editor of Mountain Views. Email him at: [email protected].

01 Jun

Moving In

In

By Jessyka Albert

For the past six years, I have had the opportunity to make many dorm rooms, houses, apartments, and even offices my home. The space I have been inhabiting for the longest amount of time since college has been my office at Boulder Church.

Over the years, walls have been painted and carpet ripped out (bit by painful bit), but it has always felt like my own. It feels like home even when it’s filled to the brim with Vacation Bible School decorations and craft supplies. It feels like home when it’s filled with kids studying the Bible for baptism. It feels like home when commentaries are spread out on my desk. It feels like home when it’s perfectly clean and organized and when it’s dusted with glitter and chaotic.

If you were to walk into Boulder Church, you would be able to tell my office from all the other offices in the building. If the pink heels displayed at the bottom of my bookshelf didn’t give me away, the photos, decorations, and overwhelming amount of craft supplies surely would. You can see someone’s personality shine through the spaces they inhabit whether these be at home or at the office. Maybe even a locker or a car. Who we are oozes out into every corner of every space. What is most important to you on the inside is evident on the outside as well.

The same is true of our churches. What they look like, smell like, are decorated like, and sound like is a reflection of who we are. For example, our church has a ton of young families with kids. This means our church looks like a church that has a lot of kids. We have a check-in station for kids’ Connect Groups. You might hear a few crying babies. Fellowship lunches include games and forts outside after dessert. Oh, and we have balloons for almost everything. Our church looks like a welcoming church for families and it has attracted more and more of them.

Here’s where it gets sticky. Many churches want young people to attend and even feel at home in their churches, but aren’t willing to redecorate. I have a similar reality coming to life for me in a personal way in October. I’m going to be  getting married and, you guessed it, living with a boy! Because we have both begun our professional lives, we have already established how our apartments are decorated, along with a cleaning schedule, protocols for meal preparations, you name it. But come October, we will be building a home together. This means compromise, growth, and something new. For example: Kiefer is not a fan of my velvet tufted headboard and I am not a fan of his giant Razorbacks rug. Both of us will be giving up some things that were “home.” Both of us will be gaining some things that will become “home.” But most importantly, we will be creating a home together.

I hope you’re understanding the metaphor. When I say “redecorate the church,” I don’t just mean changing out the shag carpet. What I mean is being open to a new way of doing church. To make young people, any people, feel at home anywhere, you have to open up space for them. It could mean clearing out some drawers or letting some picture frames go on the walls. It could mean a new worship song or a different order of service. If we don’t create that space, we are simply offering a hotel-like church to people. Hotels are nice, but they aren’t where you live, where you create memories, where you grow.

It wouldn’t seem right if I told Kiefer that when we move in together he had to get rid of all of his stuff and we would only have my furniture and decorations. At that point, we wouldn’t be moving in together.

Take some inventory of your church. Not just the physical look of it, although that might be part of the journey. Ask, “Is there even space here for someone who is incredibly different to feel at home?”

If there is not space for someone to make your church their home, they will treat it like a hotel. Both your church and newcomers will be missing out on creating a community. On creating a home together.

–Jessyka Albert is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church. Email her at: [email protected]

01 Jun

When the church is healthy

In

By Mickey Mallory

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).

According to this text, God wants His people to be healthy. While we have traditionally applied this counsel to an individual person, one can argue that the same wish would also be applicable to a church congregation. In other words, God wants every congregation to be healthy. While that sounds good, what does it really mean? What does a healthy congregation really look like?

At the last RMC Ministerial Retreat, the pastors of our conference were asked that same question and below are their top ten characteristics of a healthy church:

1. Praying Church
2. Holy Spirit-Driven
3. Biblically-Based/Relevant
4. Welcoming
5. Theologically Sound
6. Community-Focused
7. Healthy Leadership/Pastor
8. Evangelistic
9. Intergenerational
10. Loving

If you use this list as an indicator of the current health of your church, how would you rate your church? Healthy or not so healthy? What might a visitor say?

A number of years ago I became acquainted with what I considered to be a very healthy church. They met all the above criteria of what the RMC pastors said a healthy church should be. I was especially impressed by how well they treated a rebellious teenager who demonstrated no real interest in being at church on Sabbath morning. The only reason he attended was to please his mother.

The members of this church began to reach out to this young man. They would go out of their way to make him feel welcomed. You could tell they genuinely loved this young man even with all of his baggage. They even went to the point of inviting him to help with the service. Wow! They had no problem with a young person helping.

The pastor of the church was theologically sound. He would preach Spirit-filled, biblically-based, relevant sermons. One Sabbath he was preaching on the love of Christ and this really touched the young man’s heart—so much that he wanted to surrender his life to Jesus. Eventually, the pastor found out about this and prepared the young man for baptism. The day of his baptism was a special day. Many of the church members were there to show their support. They had prayed for this young man and for this day and now it was time to celebrate.

Believe it or not, shortly after his baptism, the young man went off to school to study to be a pastor. And today he is helping others find the Jesus that he found.

Sound too good to be true? Think again. I know this story very well. That young man was me. God used a healthy church family to help me find spiritual health. Isn’t that the way it is supposed to work? You reproduce who you are.

—Mickey Mallory is RMC ministerial director. Email him at: [email protected]

01 Jun

So what makes a church healthy? Hint: it isn’t necessarily numerical growth

In

By Mic Thurber

Most folks don’t think about their health—until they lose it. It’s easy to think of good health as the absence of health problems. But we know better. Good health requires active choices and habits on our part. Good health isn’t an accident.

Church health is not an accident either. Healthy churches require proactive choices and habits to become vibrant and stay that way. While there is no biblical outline, description, or prescription for what constitutes a healthy church, it seems to me that Scripture does describe an environment in the church that received God’s blessing.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Every- one was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs per- formed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47 NIV).

Four Foundational Factors

Of course, 2018 is a different time and place than first-century Palestine, but even so, there are principles we can glean from this passage that might be helpful:

They were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. They listened to those who had been with Jesus and knew Him firsthand. A lot of voices clamor for attention these days, including many who claim to be speaking the real truth, but who are really campaigning for acceptance of their version of truth. When churches listen to the wrong voices, they get off track theologically and health immediately suffers.

They were devoted to fellowship. They loved being together! They went out of their way to be together, and especially seemed to enjoy opening their homes to one another and eating together. They were unselfish and giving. They did more than just say they loved each other —they proved it by giving tangible gifts.

They were devoted to the breaking of bread together. Some only see an allusion here to a simple meal, but many see in these words a description of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper right in their homes. So precious was the celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that this special meal became a staple part of every meal. I see in this a special focus on the life, person, and work of Jesus. He was central to their way of life.

They were devoted to prayer. Prayer was as natural to them as breathing and, evidently, they were praying a lot. So important was it to them to stay close to the heart of God that they devoted themselves to these frequent conversations with the Almighty.

What I like most about this passage is the blessing found in the last sentence: “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Because the early church was about the business of staying devoted to true teaching, fellowship, celebration of Jesus, and prayer, the Lord deemed it to be a safe place where He could bring new people.

Could it be that the Lord is willing to be our evangelist if we will model the healthy choices and habits of the early church? That could just turn our world upside down!

–Mic Thurber is ministerial director for the Mid-America Union Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska. Reprinted with permission from OUTLOOK, June 2018.

01 Apr

Denver Life-Changing Stories

In

By Carol Bolden

Like the American Revolution, the Revelation Speaks Peace (RSP) seminar, held at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House during the month of January in downtown Denver, is history. There’s no more preparation, no more organization. The long months of groundwork and execution are past, yet there is still work to do.

According to Eric Nelson, RMC vice president for administration, each Denver-metro church has as many as 600 interests to disciple which involves continued Bible studies, building friendships, invitations to church and other events; in other words, continued evangelism. The 200 requests for baptism made during the series are expected to rise as more are mentored.

Looking back at 2017, we see Denver-metro churches reaching out to community members by dozens of church members sharing Bible truths, fanning out across the Denver-metro area making contact, making friends, studying and praying with the hundreds who responded to the Voice of Prophecy mailings offering Bible studies. Lives were changed and baptisms took place even before the seminar began.

The harvest continued during the event and, by its end, it was evident the series would persist in impacting lives as members maintain Bible studies and connect with RSP visitors.

Numerous guests came to the Revelation Speaks Peace meetings for varied reasons and needs. One found an RSP handbill in a trashcan. Another came after being released from prison. Some were battling disease, gang involvement, alcohol, drug use, and homelessness. Many were searching for a deeper understanding of Scripture. Not every story is known, but the cross-section of those who shared their stories point to a populace hungry for meaning.

The first night of the month-long meetings, January 5, saw 1,340 attendees which swelled to 1,672 one Sabbath later in the month. Some weeknights saw as few as 500, yet week- ends always brought the crowds again. As the seminar continued through the month of January, the numbers shifted from a majority of guests to a majority of church members.

Although some young people attended, it became obvious that the timing of the event was not convenient for the younger crowd who face nightly homework. The offering of music at the event would not necessarily appeal to today’s young crowd. “I thought the music fit very well into the opera setting,” commented Vivien Vasquez, a volunteer greeter at the meetings. But, while the music may have been somewhat old-fashioned, there were many who appreciated the music style and the message expressed in its lyrics.

Denver-metro pastors from 30 churches, involved from the beginning, continued throughout the meetings connecting Bible study interests with Bible study teachers, meeting with VOP leaders for planning sessions, opening the meetings with and making themselves available for prayer, and filling volunteer positions as greeters, Discover Bible Study Guide coordinators, ushers, and prayer warriors. During their final wrap-up meeting following the series, pastors expressed a desire to continue evangelism as a team each year, or at least every other year.

Many members, and even pastors, who no longer believe in the efficacy of public evangelism were moved by the response they saw to messages given from the platform during Revelation Speaks Peace.

Ushers who work for the Ellie Caulkins Opera House facility were frequently seen inside the auditorium listening to the messages, some even requesting prayer from pastors. These ushers expressed their appreciation for the meetings and wanted them to be a yearly event, one even saying, “I’m going to cry when you leave.”

The Newday Parker church plant in downtown Denver, which opened just before RSP began, had hoped to attract people from the meetings and give them a place to worship. They were disappointed that this hope did not prove true. Even so, they are involved in numerous outreach ventures aimed at blessing marginalized people in their area.

Myriad stories could be told of those in attendance. Christian Martin, pastor of Denver South Church, shared the story of Angel who is in his early 20s and paralyzed from the waist down. It was while Angel was hospitalized and waiting for an ultrasound that he prayed asking God why this had happened to him. In the middle of the prayer, Denver South Church member and ultrasound technician, Kevin, entered. There followed a spiritual conversation, which ended with prayer and a promise to stay in touch. The following week when the Discover Bible School initiative was launched, Kevin offered to study with Angel who was definitely interested, as were his mother, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend. When the Revelation Speaks Peace seminar neared, Angel asked Kevin to take him to the meetings. This is just one story among many that could be shared.

“Some of the stories developing moved me deeply,” said RSP speaker Shawn Boonstra. “Based on past experience, I expect we may see as many as two or three hundred decisions when the dust settles.”

–Carol Bolden provides editorial support for the RMC communication department. Email her at: [email protected]

01 Apr

Infectious Authenticity!

In

By Rajmund Dabrowski

Making a pledge is an obvious step to take. We do this before January 1 each year, or on a birthday. We do this looking into a mirror, limiting our gaze only to our face. We then create a list of promises to work on, and the usual journey takes us downhill. As they say, promises are easily broken.

Admittedly, my promises are created to transform into feelings of guilt when the good intentions falter. My guilt, and not the fulfillment of promises, has an easier start and finish in my daily life. One day, a week, or a month quickly turns into another, and so on, with promises cast aside.

An experience from a few years ago comes to mind.

We had a good friend who lived in Sedona, Arizona. Mary Schnack passed away a few years ago, but apart from professional interests and collaborations, what remains in Grazyna’s and my memories are many a moment we spent trekking the red-rock trails of “God’s country” as Mary called it.

She lived just under the Coffee Pot Rock landmark, and a short distance from St. John Vianney Church. By chance, I observed an after-Christmas service there once.

What’s vivid in my memory is the sound of a nearly empty church, its silence broken by the hard-hitting steps of a minister walking from the back of the church nave. The sound meant he knew his destination.

My eyes were drawn to the space associated with the language of the steps, revealing well-worn cowboy boots with a hint of jeans showing slightly below his vestments.

It was not so much what I saw, but what this short, bearded man in his forties shared in his equally short homily that made a difference. Later, I learned that many Sedonians referred to him as J.C., and his presence was felt outside the walls of his church. He was something of a fixture in the local lore.

A memory of what I heard that morning jumped at me on that chilly morning. J.C. told a story about a good-for- nothing seminary mate of his who phoned him wondering if J.C. lives by what he preaches. All of a sudden I was confronted by a lot of stuff the preacher told the congregation. “What pillow do you have under your head? It’s soft, isn’t it? And what’s your duvet like? Warm, right?”

Whatever was said next, it was set against the importance of being rather than having, all seasoned with personal honesty. My nagging thought that morning was this: Make yourself useful in the lives of those who will cross your path today. That’s what Jesus will help you with.

An invitation ended that short reflection by J.C. “Look outside. The sun is shining brightly. Like the sun, I wish the love of Jesus Christ goes with you. Go, and be love to others. Live love,” he said.

This memory lingers on with a daily challenge: Instead of waiting for someone else to be love I am inviting myself to make the world better by getting out of my shell in order to become more responsive to the disenfranchised and the needy.

That’s the challenge I am throwing at myself again.

And if a wish is in order, may your authentic life be spiced with love. May it be infectious through the love of Jesus. Daily.

–Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director and editor of Mountain Views. Email him at [email protected].

01 Apr

How Leaders Lead

In

By Ed Barnett

Recently, I returned to a book that I have read many times over the last twenty years and decided to order a copy for each of our pastors and everyone working in our Conference office.

The Way of the Shepherd by Dr. Kevin Leman and Bill Pentak is a small volume, but it contains very practical recommendations, and is an easy read. Many Mountain Views readers, especially those who are involved with various local church positions, would benefit from the valuable lessons it contains.

The authors share seven “secrets” to managing productive people and illustrate practical, logical management approaches for those who are leading people. Whether in the business world or the church, the principles found in this book apply.

Biblical principles of dealing with people are timeless. I find many business principles have their roots in the Bible and Christianity. For instance, lying and manipulating people is wrong in business and especially in the work of the church. As we read in the Gospels, and subsequently the Book of Acts, we recognize a number of principles shared by our First Shepherd who gave us practical principles of leadership. Leaders in the early church could organize the church as they were sheep first, led by a Master Teacher, and the Master Teacher had modeled this. The Way of the Shepherd expresses the secrets of leadership, connecting them to the contemporary needs seen and experienced in our faith community.

It’s the sheep that the book uses to illustrate what one needs to know when leading people. The seven secrets or principles go like this:

Know the Condition of Your Flock. You must know the people you are working with and leading. You must know what they do for their specific job. As a leader, you have to engage with them regularly and consistently.

Discover the Shape of Your Sheep. The people you pull into work or service in different areas in a church, school, or business must be suited for the job. Be careful who you choose for different positions. Make sure that people are in the area they have a passion for.

Help Your Sheep Identify With You. Build trust by modeling honesty, authenticity, and compassion with your team. Communicate your values and goals and let people know the importance of the part they play. Remember leadership is personal.

Make Your Pasture a Safe Place. Keep your folks informed of what is going on. Change people out of positions who aren’t working. Let people know that they are critical in their area of expertise. Don’t let problems fester and get too big. Keep things fresh and safe.

The Staff of Direction. Know where you are going and stay in front as a leader to keep things moving. Set boundaries, but give people freedom to work in their area. When people get in trouble, be there to help them out of it. Let people know that mistakes happen.

The Rod of Correction. Stand in the gap and fight for your sheep. Correction needs to take place from time to time, but look at it as an opportunity for growth. Regularly check on your people and the projects moving forward.

The Heart of the Shepherd. Leadership is a lifestyle, not a technique. Be there for your people, and most of all, have a heart for your sheep.

Leadership is absolutely critical for our churches and schools to grow. Time after time, I have seen churches or schools that are falling apart and nothing is working to turn them around. Then, a new pastor or principal/lead teacher comes in and, in a short time, things are turned around and they are growing again. The Way of the Shepherd may just be a guidebook to turn things around wherever you are involved.

–Ed Barnett is RMC president. Email him at: [email protected]

01 Apr

On becoming truly changed

In

By Ron Price

When I was six years old, my mother started checking out of my life. As I recall, she would be gone for days, weeks, perhaps even months at a time for a period of two years. She would just come and go, and then one day she never returned. I have not seen my mother since I was eight years young.

About ten years ago, I related this story to a biblical, prayer-oriented counselor who prayed and asked God to show me anything I needed to know and understand about how that life circumstance had impacted me through the years. I vividly recall God giving me a clear picture of myself as an eight-year-old saying, “If my mother really loved me, she wouldn’t have left me.” Now that makes perfect sense until I tell you that shortly after my sixth birthday, Mom was diagnosed with cancer. She spent the next two years in and out of hospitals for various periods of time and then shortly after my eighth birthday she lost the fight and died.

Knowing this new information, does it make any sense that I would tell myself that if she really loved me, she would not have left me? Is death by cancer a suicide or an intentional act? The obvious answer is no, yet I believed it and subconsciously continued to believe it for decades until God showed up and revealed to me the truth of my situation. Stay with me on this just for a moment. If your own mother did not love you—or if you simply believed she did not love you—how lovable could you possibly be? And that, I’m sorry to say, was my reality. As I look back over my life, I can see how this horrible thought drove me to try to get people to love me in hopes that their love might help me to feel lovable.

As your brother in Christ, may I offer a challenge to you to reflect back on your life and consider what lies you have believed that have impacted you in negative ways? For the purposes of this article, I want to focus on one particular lie that I know is common to many of us. You have likely had a thought in your mind that goes something like, “Who do you think you are to be telling others about Christ when you are such a hypocrite?” Or perhaps, “A real Christian would never have a thought like that—who do you think you’re fooling?”

Do these sound familiar? If so, it is because they come from the same source—our common enemy known as the devil or satan (he does not deserve capitalization). He has become very adept at getting us to think so lowly of ourselves that we hesitate to reach out to others in love and acceptance.

At the beginning of this year, I embarked on a 21-day brain detox program developed by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a Christian neuroscientist. Over the course of the program, I countered the oft-occurring thought that I am not good enough or worthy to be called a Christian, and replaced it with the reality that I am at peace with God, therefore I can be at peace with myself, and since I am at peace with myself I can be at peace with others.

I have recently observed myself being so much more accepting of visitors who come to our church looking different, or acting in a manner other than how I think a “real Christian” should look or act. As I encounter people in the course of my day, I find myself showing more appreciation and understanding than I ever have before.

What I am saying here should not be misapplied. This is not about how wonderful I am or have become. Like you, I am very much a work in progress, but I wonder what our churches would be like if everyone adopted a similar positive perspective for themselves and others?.

Here are a few questions to consider:

Might our churches become more loving, warmer, and welcoming to all who enter our doors?

Would visitors and members alike feel a greater sense of belonging and connection?

Might newly converted members be less likely to quickly exit as is unfortunately far too often the case?

Please understand this is not another version of self- help philosophy. It is more like what we read in Rom. 12:2 (NLT): “. . . let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think,” or “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32), or 2 Cor. 10:5 where we are admonished to take “every thought captive to the mind of Christ.”

For me, the challenge is to focus on replacing a negative thought about who I am with a more accurate Christ-focused acceptance of who and Whose I truly am. Be advised, however, that despite our best efforts, we cannot change ourselves. Only Christ, living in us, can change you and me fully. Let Him be in charge. Invite Him to show you the erroneous thoughts that have hindered your Christian experience and witness over the years. Seek His help in overcoming them to become the person He intended you to be in the first place.

–Ron Price is a member of the RMC executive committee from Farmington, New Mexico, and is the author of Play Nice in Your Sandbox at Work. For further information or tips on how to move from negative to positive thinking, email him at: [email protected]

01 Apr

Reading the Bible – listening to God’s voice in 2018

In

By Reinder Bruinsma

How many Christian denominations are there in the world? Nobody knows exactly, but the number runs into the thousands. All have their peculiar beliefs and practices. How is this diversity to be explained, considering that they all take the Bible as their point of departure? And, looking at world-wide Adventism we cannot deny that there are differ- ent streams and different emphases. How can that be? Do we not all claim to follow the Bible?

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is currently struggling with the issue of women’s ordination. Those who feel that women pastors ought to be ordained base their view on the Bible. Likewise, those who oppose the ordination of female pastors are sure that the Bible supports their opinion.

Adventists clearly differ in the way they read the Bible. Some advocate a plain reading of Scripture and maintain that wherever possible the wording of the Bible must be taken literally. Many others reject that approach and believe that we must look for underlying principles as we read the Bible and look behind the historical and cultural back- ground to find the application for the twenty-first century.

The Paradox of God’s Word

The Christian faith confronts us with a number of paradoxes. A paradox is a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense, and yet is, somehow, true. The doctrine of the Trinity is a prime example. God is one and yet God is three. The doctrine of Christ presents us with another paradox: Christ is fully divine and at the same time fully human.

Similarly, the church is not only a community of saints, but also a school of sinners. In all these cases it is not one or the other. Two elements, though seemingly contradictory, must be held together, even though they seem to exclude each other. If one aspect is overemphasized or toned down, the result is imbalance or even heresy!

We do not only meet a paradox when we contemplate the Living Word—the person of Christ—but also when we come to the Written Word. The Bible is God’s Word, but at the same time it is also a human product, as two key texts tell us: “All Scripture is God-breathed!” (2 Tim. 3:16, NIV).

“Prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21, NIV).

If we only pay attention to the divine aspect of the Bible, we end up with a rigid concept of inspiration that creates all kinds of difficulties. On the other hand, if the human element is given too much emphasis at the expense of the divine origin, God’s Word loses it absolute authority.

Theologians have long debated the doctrine of inspiration. Two main theories stand out. Plenary or verbal inspiration is the view that every word in the Bible (in the original languages) was dictated by God to the Bible writers through His Spirit. Usually, those who defend this theory say that the Scriptures are inerrant (i.e., without any mistake or inconsistency).

This is not the official Seventh-day Adventist position. Adventists support the view of thought inspiration: God gave the thoughts to human authors, who then expressed these in their own words. Those Adventists who nonetheless adhere to the view of verbal inspiration would do well to remember that Ellen G. White disagreed with this and defended thought inspiration:

“The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression. It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Men will often say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers.

“It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man’s words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind.” (1 Selected Messages, p. 21)

So, Where Do We Go?

The main problem with the plain reading of the Bible is that it tends to be very selective in what is taken literally or not. I suggest that we avoid getting caught up in a fruitless debate about terminology, and that we leave the term plain reading aside. When we wonder which approach to the reading of the Bible is correct, we must always start with the basic premise that in the Bible we may hear the voice of God. The Bible is more than a collection of devotional messages from ancient times that may encourage us and uplift us. In the Bible God reveals truth about Himself and His dealings with the world. Every other piece of writing is to be evaluated in the light of His Word.

Yet, paradoxically enough, we must be just as serious about the manner in which God allowed His Word to come to us. He used human beings as the vehicles for His revelation, who each used their own vocabulary and style. They used images and metaphors they were familiar with, and wrote against the background of their time and culture. They wrote in a world in which customs were different from what they are today—a world in which slavery was common and women were, as a rule, subservient to men. And so, the perfect divine Word comes to us through imperfect human words, in the kind of language human beings can understand. Some forty different authors, with wide-ranging linguistic skills, put the message God inspired them with into Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. And through the centuries, faithful servants of God have done their utmost to faithfully translate the Bible from the original languages into English, French, German, and thousands of other languages.

Bible Reading Needs the Spirit

Just as “God’s penmen” were dependent on the Holy Spirit when they wrote sections of the Bible, we need the same Spirit when we read their words. The Spirit must guide us, so that we can discover the underlying principles of what we read and gain the insights to apply these principles in our twenty-first century lives.

But what if serious readers, who ask for the guidance of the Spirit, come to different interpretations? Well, let us remember that we are all at different points in our spiritual journeys. And let us never forget that as long as we are in this world “we see only a reflection as in a mirror” (1 Cor. 13:12, NIV). But let us also be mindful of the fact that we have the privilege of belonging to a community of believers, in which we can learn from one another.

We can only prosper spiritually in this community if we are tolerant with one another and accept that others may not interpret every text in the same way as we do, and if we are prepared to adjust our thinking from time to time as we “grow in faith and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18, NIV).

–Reinder Bruinsma is a theologian, writer, and former church administrator. He writes from the Netherlands. Email him at: [email protected]

1 … 113 114 115 116 117 … 132