Jon Roberts Page 87

28 Jun

EVANGELISM NORMS, OLD AND NEW

In

By Zach Payne

Over the past few months, I’ve been having a lot of discussions about the much anticipated “new normal” that will undoubtedly arise from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some folks are scared of what a new normal could bring to the church experience, while others relish the idea of an opportunity to try a fresh new direction. Personally, over the past few months of online church, I’ve watched as people have tried old methods as well as new ones, and I’m excited for what the new normal of local church evangelism could look like.

A state of mind

Before I dive into the new normal, let me set the stage. Evangelism isn’t meant to be an event, but rather a state of mind. If evangelism is to be attended or consumed, then I’m doing my part just by showing up and sitting in a pew. This is the mindset that is killing churches today. However, true evangelism is found in everyday actions, habits and mindsets. It’s also important to note that, though public events can be cancelled due to crises, states of mind cannot. Especially when it comes to personal evangelistic activities—calling people on the phone to check in with them, praying with and for people, sharing interests with others, studying through people’s questions about the Bible, and so on and so forth.

The evangelistic state of mind is also all about building community. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been invited to dozens of social media groups since the crisis began. I’ve been on dozens of group phone calls and Zoom video chats. Community has persisted during the pandemic, and because we’ve been lacking casual everyday community, intentional community-building has thrived. Evangelism is the building of community, the sharing of life through hard times, the talking, studying, crying, and laughing together that ultimately brings both the confidence for a church member to invite a friend to come to a church event, as well as the comfort for that friend to accept the invitation. Evangelistic events can go on all year round, but true evangelism is nothing without these daily life prerequisites.

I’m compelled to ask the question, in light of all of this: For those who are so focused on rallying outrage against the government and demanding we be given the freedom to assemble for physical church events once again—are the same people also focusing that kind of energy on making sure that they’re building up a community of people to bring to those events? Or are the events just for their own consumption and nothing else?

Try something new

This brings me to another aspect of what I hope to see in the new normal of evangelism: updated methodologies and shifted priorities.

On March 16, my friends Sheldon Bryan, Myoung Kwon, and I put our heads together and came up with the Greater Milwaukee Adventist Fellowship group on Facebook. This ended up being kind of like an online megachurch that combined our three districts into one place online where we could hold services and host devotional thoughts and recreate local church community online. One Saturday afternoon, one of my members mentioned that since we were online maybe everything didn’t need to be the same as it was before—maybe we could try doing church a little differently.

This got my creative juices going and I recorded myself preaching on my wife’s iPhoneX as an Animoji, a customized animated emoji that uses the user’s own voice and facial expressions. I sent my wife the clips and she edited them together into a full sermon, which I shared the next Sabbath. Somehow, by doing something a little different, this sermon reached people during the crisis in a very significant way. I watched in amazement as hundreds of people shared it and thousands of people watched it. I’ve preached a number of sermons during the quarantine, but this is the one that stands out because it was unique. By taking my church member’s advice and trying something a little different, the success of my efforts was exponential compared to doing things the same old way. If we keep planning the same evangelistic series over and over and people routinely don’t come and are not baptized… maybe the new normal is demanding that we get creative and try something different.

Hope vs fear

As my colleagues and I were planning our crisis ministry, we decided that we wanted everything we did to be focused on bringing our church community hope, peace, and trust that Christ would carry them through the pandemic. Should that not be the goal of all evangelism? Here is where the new normal comes clashing hard against the old. We’ve been spending so much time trying to prepare people for the terrors of a foretold end-time crisis—but the truth is, the best preparation is a strong relationship with Jesus.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the bottom line in a traditional evangelistic series. I have members in my own churches who, as a result of our crisis ministry, are encountering grace and peace in Christ like they’ve not experienced before—and these are people who have been coming to church their whole lives. If those are the messages that are transforming lukewarm Christians into strong and involved church leaders— right now during this present crisis—then maybe that’s where our focus should be in general. I think we’ve proven that the scare tactics of beasts and conspiracy theories are actually doing more harm than good. The new normal needs to focus more on the lamb and less on the dragon.

Finally: focus on teamwork

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t speak to the element that I think will be the most crucial in our new normal: team- work. Over the past few months, I’ve witnessed what it looks like for three pastors of three districts, as well as the local leadership and the membership of those districts to work together to do something great for Jesus. If it was just me and my local church leadership alone, we would not have been able to accomplish nearly as much during the pandemic. Truly the Body of Christ cannot accomplish the work that needs to be done if we’re spending our time working separately or (heaven forbid) against each other, which, unfortunately, is a characteristic I’ve found often in the old normal. The new normal of evangelism needs to rely heavily on teamwork: between pastors, between members, between churches, and even between districts. While this may seem like a lot of work, technology has made it much more possible in our context and has shown that we can unite in significant ways on the Internet and social media that we likely could not before.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a scare for everyone. People are asking the question: has this been a sign that we’re closer to the end? Whether Jesus comes back next week or in fifty years, it is clear that we are playing with limited time. Time is precious and we have to be good stewards. So, let us not waste any time on the folly of under- mining fellow Adventists, or even other Christians. Let us come together and realize we’re all on the same team and that when we act like it, we can accomplish victories for Christ much larger than we ever could hope for on our own.

Welcome to the new normal. It is my hope that for the sake of Christ, we can come together as a team and, through the use of current technology, create a new evangelistic state of mind for the church—one that seeks to creatively reach out and deliver grace, peace, and hope not just within the church walls, but out into our communities. The pandemic has shown us that it is possible and that it works. Let us not fall back into stale old methods and mindsets but learn from this and use it as we carry the cause of Christ into the future.

–Zack Payne is the senior pastor at WISEN, a network of small churches between Milwaukee and Chicago (www.wisensda.org). Email him at: [email protected]

25 Jun

06.21.2004 – REFLECTION

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By Rajmund Dabrowski … Time flies and detailed memory fades.* It was on June 21, 2004 when a procedure at the Holy Cross Hospital put a stop to a developing life challenge with prostate cancer. This exact date was scribbled on a receipt copy that I put into a valuables envelope before being wheeled out and delivered into the hands of two physicians who administered the implantation of small radio-active seeds around the prostate, known as brachytherapy.

Until recently, I didn’t consider writing about my experience. It was my experience, and a private one at that. Who would want to read about it? A little nudge from a friend going through a very serious trauma in her life, pushed me to share my story.

Dianna is a friend from our university days in 1970-71. She made me do it! So, I brought out a my file from 2003-4 with dates and facts on the serious life challenge I once traversed. She continues to receive my digital hugs and love.

What follows is a story of a human who does not give up on life, a story of being surrounded by people who care, who love, and who know what to do.

Th early Monday morning of June 21, 2004 became quite memorable for years. Today, I recall a few details of that morning nor of the procedure and how I was primed for it by two amazing doctors, Jonathan White, urologist, and Frank Sullivan, oncologist. The experience made me aware then of a valuable lesson that continues to this day, concerning the fragility of life, and the choices expressed in the famed Shakesperanean phrase, To be, or not to be…

The whole ordeal with my cancer situation was laced with moments of bewilderment, awe, and joy. Most of the joy was expressed in my own thoughts and in conversations I had with God and my loved-ones. There were exchanges of what to do, how to arrange the immediacy of days to come, and basically making a change in my lifestyle, creating a slower pace of life.

It all started with chest pain in mid-December 2003. I ended up on a hospital bed at the Washington Adventist Hospital (WAH). Having a few days to undergo tests and rest, the conclusion was that unless I slowed down in my daily pursuits, I might end up with consequential grief and tears on the faces of family and friends.

The specific trigger moment that precipitated a hick-up on an EKG read-out became a reminder from a few decades back that I had practiced how to do it my way, testing my authenticity and vulnerability, being at ease with my own life decisions, exercising courage, pushing the borders in life, rejecting conformity, and daring to be who I am. Not easy to do it, believe me. It is stressful to face being told what to do and live a life according to someone else.

In short, there was a meeting at work, someone in a high position pointed a finger at me, shook it, and said: “Ray, you shall do THAT!” I knew that I would not do what I was forcefully being fed, satisfying a decision someone else was making for me. I could not do it, knowing that participation in a non-professional corporate charade was against my better judgment. Stress boiled up to its pinnacle in my body. It allowed me, for a brief enduring moment, to be polite and mum, until the meeting ended. I picked up my toys from the office and went home.

The next morning, my chest communicated a message: Ray, get yourself checked out. A couple of hours later, I drove myself to the hospital.

The heart-event was woven with the wise and patient words of Dr. Radhey S. Murarka, a consultant cardiologist at WAH. He simply said, “You can go home now. My advice? Slow down or stress will kill you. Your heart is fine now, but I recommend a review of your lifestyle. It’s not worth fighting someone’s battles. May your own imagination pave the alley of your life’s journey. And rest a little.”

He probably said more, but that’s all I remember today. Returning home, I was wondering, what does he know about me, my work, my lifestyle, apart from what I shared with him, but with rather skimpy details?

A few weeks later, in mid-January 2004, I found myself having a general health check-up at Loma Linda University’s Center for Health Promotion. Tests revealed a satisfactory wellness score. Two or three days later, the phone rang one afternoon. It was the consulting physician from LLU, Dr. David Z. Hall. He reported on the PSA score, and suggested that we double check the result locally. “What I see suggests that you have prostate cancer,” I recall him saying. He recommended that I see a urologist locally and have another PSA test done.

What? Such was the first thought which raced though my head.

He was right. The LLU lab test revealed a 9.4 PSA reading. The LabCorp in Maryland showed a 7.3. A visit with Dr. White, subsequent biopsies (showing a very significant spread of cancer), a half a dozen tests (x-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, etc) confirmed the seriousness of my situation, and called for a review of options on where to go.

In front of me I had the following options: do nothing (this is not what crossed my mind), surgery, chemotherapy, proton treatment at LLU, radiation (to start with at Maryland Regional Cancer Center), or the brachytherapy.

My visit with Dr. White and Dr. Sullivan three months before, primed me for what was to happen on June 21. The five-week radiation treatment at Maryland Regional Cancer Center, before the Holy Cross Hospital surgery left me somewhat fatigued and closer to an understanding of what the Millennials refer to as whatever.

Frankly, my initial thoughts did not register the news of having cancer as being at the edge of a cliff. I tried to fog the potential consequences of the situation with thoughts of … and this too shall pass. But rather quickly, together with Grazyna and Michal, as well as David Brillhart, my close friend, I began a rather serious review of what it was that needed to happen, what needed to be reformed, what changes were important to be ignited. It became obvious that there was no time to waste.

Soon after receiving the phone call from LLU, a memorable moment, one that etched itself in my memory was a visit with my boss at the General Conference. I shared with him my predicament. His answer was in a question he asked: What are you planning to do about this dangerous situation? How can I help?

My answer was reflective of the way I often approach problem solving. I will take care of it, I recall saying. He replied: Good. Take as much time as you need. Your office work will still be here. Your colleagues will fill in.

We prayed. My family and friends prayed. The greatest treasure in this experience was to be surrounded by loving, caring people. Grazyna became a relentless pusher of quality nutrition (always organic!), drinking lots of water, and engaging in regular exercise. She laughs, as she reminds me about slowing down and considering to unwinding my clock and speed!

Sharing my situation with a few friends helped. At first I was invited to consider what they did, what worked for them. Mitch Tyner, a former colleague shared with me literature on prostate. Reinder Bruinsma, also a colleague from the Netherlands wrote that “if caught in time, it appears that a very large percentage of those who have cancer fully recover.” Both Mitch and Reinder poured lots of hope into me. I will be forever grateful. Cancer survivors are a close-knit fraternity, I discovered. Later, I did the same – gave support to those who were going through such traumatic, serious health issues. Living in a post-treatment phase has its challenges, but they don’t compare with the news of having a cancer situation.

The assurance of one’s faith and a life of hope made me aware that my life is more than my temporary pursuits. The cancer experience made me more aware of the people around me, especially those who are in situations which beckon me to be responsive. And moreover, such an experience creates friendships you will never forget.

But these days, when we are witnessing a see-saw situation with COVID-19 pandemic, when direct relationships are put on hold, we can’t wait to embrace each other again and refer to ourselves as … pandemic survivors.

My take away from the whole experience is this–living in and with the embrace of God is intertwined with gratitude for living one day at a time, and to the fullest. There is nothing more satisfying than being a purveyor of hope.

June 21 will always be an anniversary of becoming a cancer survivor. Today, it’s sixteen years on.

To life and love!

—Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director (pictured in Strasbourg, France)

*This memoir was initially written in 2017. Today, the story becomes an evergreen for my geography of time, worth recalling and repeating. Being a cancer survivor is both humbling and a story of victory, as well as a lesson to celebrate one’s God-given health.

25 Jun

COLORADO SPRINGS HONORS CONNIE COATES

In

By Michelle Velbis – Colorado Springs, Colorado . . . School secretary, cook, event planner, pathfinder leader, sabbath school leader, and janitor – a small army of volunteers? No, all of these positions and more were held by one person, Connie Coates.

Coates, who has been in Colorado Springs since 2001, will be moving to New Mexico to be closer to family.

“Connie has served Springs Adventist Academy (SAA) with distinction and honor. She labored tirelessly to improve the school and interacted with each student with love and care,” Pastor Mike Maldonado of the Colorado Springs Seventh-day Adventist Central church stated.  “She will be greatly missed and impossible to replace.”

Adventist education is extremely important to Coates, as all three of her children attended SAA. Consequently, she felt led to devote much of her time and talents to the school.

“I was very blessed by God to volunteer and work at SAA. It brought much joy and fulfillment in my life and the satisfaction of knowing I could make a difference in the lives of staff, students, and their families,” said Coates. “I will never forget the experience and will continue to build on the things I learned during my time at SAA.”

“After working with Connie this year, I can say that she is one of the most generous and loving people I know,” SAA principal stated. “Her dedication to the students, parents, and staff of SAA has been inspiring to witness. She will be greatly missed in so many ways.”

–Michelle Velbis is principal at Springs Adventist Academy; photo supplied

24 Jun

GUIDELINES FOR OPENING RMC SCHOOLS

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Denver, Colorado . . . Guidelines for safe reopening of schools for 2020–2021 school year were released June 17 by a special ad hoc committee established by the Rocky Mountain Conference.

Working closely with the CDC, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico health departments, and Centura Health, these guidelines were designed to keep every student, teacher, and parent safe as in-person instruction resumes.

The guidelines that are in place as of June 18 at all RMC schools are:

  1. Promote healthy hygiene practices. – All RMC teachers will need to teach, reinforce, and model proper hand-washing, know how to cover coughs and sneezes, and reinforce avoiding contact with one’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
  2. All staff will be required to use masks. – This is the recommendation of the CDC and CDE. It is highly recommended that students use masks.  Masks may be removed when in the classroom.
  3. Social distancing in the classroom and throughout the day. – Students should remain in the same space in groups as small as possible (For the multi-teacher schools, consider ways to keep teachers with one group of students as much as possible).
  4. Maximize space between seating and desks. – There should be six feet between desks and markings on the floor, so students recognize the assigned space.
  5. Classes should be held outside as much as possible.
  6. Lunch breaks in classroom. – Meals should be served in the classroom or outdoors. Cafeterias should be avoided whenever possible.
  7. Recesses should be staggered to limit large groups or if a staggered recess is not possible, designate areas of the gym or field for each class.
  8. Health checks and temperatures required. All students and staff will be required to have their temperature checked prior to being allowed to enter the building in the morning. All students and staff will be asked several COVID-19 health questions prior to the school day.
  9. Extracurricular activities and after-school sports. – These programs are currently suspended. This may change as the school year starts. Colorado High School Activities Association is currently looking at all options.
  10. Sanitization of the school. – The school must be deep cleaned and sanitized every day after school. The conference is in the process of acquiring certain products to sanitize our schools each day.

“I can see where some parents, students, as well as faculty are concerned about the restrictions, but the alternative is not good,” Don Reeder, Campion Academy principal stated.  “We want to have in-person education happening here so we can build community, family, and spiritual life that we treasure at Campion Academy. Having a few restrictions is necessary, but still allows us to meet together which is precious to us.”

“I think they (the guidelines) will change before school starts,” Traci Pike, Mountain Road Christian Academy head teacher stated. “What I am hoping is that we will be able to have school as normal.  I think a small one room-school is probably going to be to our benefit. I think that is something that was always looked as a negative, but has suddenly turned positive.”

“I think it will be impossible to social distance with elementary students,” Pike added.

Depending on the location, your school may have additional guidelines. Please contact your local health authorities and the RMC education department with any questions you might have.

Any confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the schools, or community outbreaks, may require the schools to implement additional requirements, even including switching to remote learning applications without any advance notice.

Many RMC schools are considering operating on modified schedules.  RMC schools will be starting on different dates. The first schools will be opening on August 9. Some RMC schools are currently exploring a 4-day school week.

Schools wishing to receive any modifications from the RMC guidelines must submit a variance request to the local county health department. The RMC education staff are available to assist in that process.

The guidelines will continue to be adjusted as we move closer to the actual opening date and as more guidance becomes available from the authorities.

Concerning the guidelines affecting enrollment, Reeder added “We are budgeting, and planning for lower enrollment, but we are not conceding the point that we might have more students as our constituency evaluates the importance of Christian education in [light of] the events of these last days. I can see a scenario where our enrollment increases because parents and students want the Christian environment and the spiritual programming.”

“Last year, we ended the school with 14 students. Right now, it is looking like I will have 18  to 20 students. Parents want their children in school,” Pike concluded.

“Our very clear and deep desire and our intention is for every school to be prepared and ready to accept students on the first day of this next school year. That is our hope and our prayer. As much as I wish it were the case; however, that is not a promise. There are just too many variables to try to see with any certainty what our world will look like in the next two months,” said Lonnie Hetterle, RMC education superintendent.  “The only thing I can promise you is that there will be school in the Rocky Mountain Conference beginning in August.”

“Rest assured, however, that every possible avenue is being thoroughly explored and we are carefully investigating all possible scenarios to provide the best and safest education for the wonderful children and young people God has given to us. If there ever was a time for deep prayer and strengthening our personal walk with Jesus, I do believe this is that time and that place,” Hetterle concluded.

It is vital that the schools work closely with their county health departments as they plan to resume their program in August, RMC educators advised.

–RMCNews

24 Jun

An Attitude Adjustment

In

By Sandy Hodgson . . . Whenever someone in our family has an “I can’t do this” approach to something, whether a physical or mental task or even just playing a game, my daughter’s response to our lamentations is usually, “Not with that attitude!”

One of my favorite books to read with my students is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen about a young boy stranded in the wilderness who must fend for himself. He quickly learns that the first rule of survival is not feeling sorry for yourself. But I love a good pity party! I also know it gets me nowhere. It’s my “not with that attitude” moment and I, embarrassingly, can have a few too many.

Did young Joseph have an “I can’t do this” attitude as he was sold by his brothers and again when he landed in prison? Or did he know that in order to survive, he couldn’t feel sorry for himself?  How about David as he faced the giant? Or Queen Esther as she questions her ability to save her people? Job was certainly dealt a bad hand and deserving of playing the pity party card. A man of great wealth, health, and happiness, Job receives in the course of one day, not one but four messages that his children, livestock, and wealth are gone. While Job doesn’t adopt a Pollyanna approach to his loss and suffering, he does continue his quest for wisdom. He asks a lot of Why? Why? Why? questions and is still able to praise God from whom all blessings flow.

I’m reminded of the tale of the king that had a boulder placed on the road to see if anyone would remove it. Merchants and courtiers came by and walked around it, blaming the king for not keeping the roads clear. A peasant comes along and puts down his load and pushes and strains until he succeeds in getting the boulder to the side of the road. It was then that he notices a bag of coins in the road and a note from the king gifting the coins to whoever moved the stone away. The peasant learned that every obstacle is an opportunity to improve his condition.

The obstacles we face today appear overwhelming. We feel imprisoned like Joseph or facing giants we’re sure we can’t defeat. There is no way we can stand up alone to the injustices of our neighbor. Well, at least not with that attitude.

But what if we remembered that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (1 Timothy 1:7) Let’s ask important questions, search for wisdom, remove obstacles to improve conditions for humanity, and always praise God from whom all blessings flow.

—Sandy Hodgson is a teaching principal at Vista Ridge Academy.

24 Jun

LOOKING BACK TO EMBRACE THE FUTURE

In

By Lisa Clark Diller

It was clear that the world was coming to an end. The prophecies were being fulfilled. The Four Horsemen of the Book of Revelation were to kill a fourth of the earth by famine, plague, and sword. In some places, more than one third of the population had already died. War had become constant, with civilian deaths outnumbering those killed in battle. Climate change had resulted in poor agricultural outcomes, with little food and increasing famine. Plagues had come in waves, every generation dealing with its own disease outbreak, weeding out the young people who had not developed antibodies during the previous epidemic. Now there was class revolt, and post-traumatic psychological damage resulted in masses of hysteria, violence against foreigners, and twisted religious practices.

This was Europe in the fourteenth century, a 120-year period called “calamitous” for centuries afterward.

In fact, the fourteenth century was a difficult time for the entire Eastern Hemisphere. Throughout the Afro-Eurasian landmass, there was the collapse of states and empires as they had been known. Cities with centuries-old universities were wiped out by Mongol invasions, emptied out by deaths, turned in bandit-ridden sites of poverty. China, which had overseen the height of world culture in the previous centuries, was governed by raiders and collapsed into civil wars. Nukhet Varlik describes the impact of these challenging times in her book Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience, 1347–1600. One of the great tragedies she lays out was the depopulation of the Nile Valley, which was the breadbasket of the world. The mass death caused by war and disease led to disrepair of the irrigation systems, which took centuries to build up again.

Historians assess the apocalyptic movements in India, China, the Islamic world and within Christianity that these challenging medieval times provoked. But of course, they did not stop with the fourteenth century. We can move for- ward in time to the potato famine of the nineteenth century in Ireland, the cholera outbreaks in the Caribbean that made death traps out of what are currently vacation destinations and, of course, the 1918 influenza pandemic that ravaged the globe from East Africa to Central America and East Asia. None of these events was short-lived. They all lasted for years, with permanent changes in the societies they impacted. As a Christian historian, I am deeply interested in the conclusion scholars can come to about the long-term effects of these traumatic global events in the past.

The first effects we can see are the short-term responses. As the plagues, famines and natural disasters occurred, many reacted with compassion to address the needs around them. Within Christian and Islamic lands, we have well-documented charity efforts—hospitals that accepted plague patients, religious folk like nuns and priests who risked their lives to take care of the weak. These were both systematic institutional responses and individual activities. Apocalyptic times call out the best in humans to take care of each other. Research on responses to disasters by Marinelle Payton, MD, PhD, MPH, and her team, reveals that while the media likes to tell stories of rioting, looting or selfishness, most people respond to hard times with generosity and a spirit of helpfulness.

Another immediate response has to do with cultural and religious understandings of what caused the trouble. In the Ottoman world, as the society and its leaders dealt with successive waves of plague over the centuries, explanations for it moved from the idea that God was punishing His community for sin to more earth-based mechanisms such as sanitation and quarantine. Quarantine was invented as a term in the Christian world during the fourteenth century for shutting up groups of people who might bring the plague to towns and cities. (In fact, the plague was caused by bites from fleas that lived on rodents and was rarely carried by people on their own bodies.) Often, communities were trying to deal with the disaster through sanitation and civic planning even as they blamed outsiders or religious “deviants” for causing the epidemic or famine.

Of course, the most tragic response to disease (whether plague, typhoid, cholera, or influenza) was the blaming of foreigners and the violence that frequently accompanied this. In Europe, pogroms against Jews resulted from accusations that they had caused the plague. In the nineteenth century, the Irish were blamed for cholera and typhoid fever, and in the early twentieth century, immigrants of all kinds, but especially the Chinese in the United States were associated with many diseases whose cause/treatment was un- known. However, in all of these situations there were people who were attempting to find out the direct mechanisms of the problem, who were working to alleviate pain and take care of the victims, no matter what their social or ethnic status. It is clear that we have always had a choice as to how we respond to the apocalyptic circumstances in which we find ourselves.

In the long-run, economic and political changes have the longest-term effects. Structures within society, its laws and practices, are permanently impacted. By the eighteenth century, the Ottoman government was making laws to regulate sanitation—implementing street cleaning systems, regulating burials and the handling of death, assuming that the state had a role to play in limiting the impact of disease. Over and over, this is part of what successful handling of the tragic and widespread devastation of a natural disaster like disease or famine appears to require: wider state policy in handling sanitation, movement of people and transportation of charity efforts. Many times, disasters allow people who have had less say in government to require more of their political leaders. Serfs in the fourteenth century were able to require more freedom and bigger salaries, the Irish were able to protest British colonization and neglect, immigrant communities could demand equal sanitation and regulation of tenement housing in the early twentieth century within the U.S.

The economic changes that come after widespread disaster are not evenly applied. Some sectors are decimated, while others thrive. The agricultural sector in Egypt was devastated, while serfs in Europe improved their lives dramatically. Sometimes what is a huge upheaval for one group, causing great trauma (such as the potato blight and famine in Ireland), can be seen later on to have been helpful in making needed economic or political changes. But that’s only in the long term. Maybe scholars can conclude that a population decline was helpful for the environment or the overall economy. But we also can never forget the personal and absolute devastation to those who lost their jobs or land or family. Endemic diseases continue to make it hard to participate in industrialized capitalism to this day: places with high percentages of their population living with tuberculosis (almost 25 percent of the globe’s population, according to some estimates), malaria or “sleeping sickness” struggle in ways that places without these chronic diseases do not.

What can the study of apocalyptic times provide for those of us today who look to our Scripture and see natural and man-made disasters as signs of the soon coming of Jesus? How should we respond? One of the conclusions a Christian historian might come to is that there’s no way to be totally safe from any of this. Running away, attempting to seclude from the rest of society, might make me feel better and help delay my children or loved ones from being ex- posed to “contagion” (whether moral or biological), but it cannot actually guarantee safety.

More importantly, it does not allow me to share the gospel or live into the Kingdom of God. Christians who have followed Jesus during these times have worried more about protecting others than protecting themselves. They have spent more time identifying with those at risk than sorting out who was to “blame” for bringing the disease to them.

We are an apocalyptic people. We expect the world to be dangerous. We are asked to praise God anyway, and to work for the flourishing of those who are hurting. We know there is going to be disease and death, but we work, as Jesus did, in the midst of the death, in the middle of the famine, to alleviate loneliness and suffering and to bring what healing we can.

Historical analysis of these pandemic eras reveals that we will live through economic devastation and through the expansion of state power. Believing in the (upside down) Kingdom of God, in the riches of the Spirit, and in the hope of the New Earth should help us embrace a new economy. Are we, a people who look for the Coming of Jesus and the New Jerusalem, going to work for and commit to our own economic expansion and well-being? The Christian historian expects downward mobility and embraces the opportunity of these social traumas as a chance to expend our wealth on behalf of others rather than hoarding our pennies for what will hopefully be better times.

I struggle with this. I look at my economic peers and I want the goodies that they have. I want them for my children and for my old age. I want to climb the economic ladder. When it looks like I might lose my job, I allow fear to get in the way of love. I confess that I do not embrace a theology of abundance, that I don’t really look for and live into the Kingdom of God. Instead, I’m primarily identifying with the city of this world with its lovely vacations to beautiful places and its nicer patio furniture and pricier clothing and early retirement. The reality of sudden death due to disease, or the collapse of my economic dreams because of a Great Depression should alert me to the folly of all this. I’m a historian. I know how this goes. I’m also a Christian whose Hope is both here and not yet, and is definitely not tied to my financial portfolio.

I’m a historian, so I’m trained to look at the past. And yet, we notice that looking back can help us as we plan for the future. I can see that some choices that were made in reaction to natural disasters resulted in a better community, cultivating grace and love. Believing in the Second Coming as the re-making of all things can give us courage to engage in some of that re-making now, when the world we know seems to be dissolving around us. One thing my scholarship of pandemics past makes very clear is that acting in ways that lead to love and charity will always benefit us collectively. Selfishness and economic aggrandizement will give us a reward here, perhaps, but not in the annals of history or the Kingdom of God.

The lessons of pandemics and plagues and famines in the past teach us that we must plan for the world beyond our own lifetime. Ironically, for a denomination that looks for the soon return of Jesus, Seventh-day Adventists have tradition- ally been quite good at planning for the future of this world— building universities and hospitals and engaging in development and aid work and research that will last generations. And this is exactly as it should be. Apocalyptic times should call for responses that reflect the world that the Book of Revelation describes—one where “death is no more . . . for the former things have passed away.”

We must work so that the society that comes out of these painful upheavals is one that will be sustainable and will allow the Kingdom to flourish. We will speak truth and practice justice and charity even as we plan for the ultimate World Made New, the one that is not made with earthly hands, where “the wolf lies down with the lamb and . . . they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.”

–Lisa Clark Diller, PhD, is chair of the history and political studies department at Southern Adventist University. Email her at: [email protected]

24 Jun

CENTURA-LITTLETON ADVENTIST HOSPITAL ASSOCIATES MARK JUNETEENTH IN HEALING GARDEN

In

Littleton, Colorado … Friday on Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the US, a group of our leaders and associates at Centura-Littleton Adventist Hospital gathered to reflect on the meaning of the day amid these difficult times.

They kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd and the many others whose lives have been impacted for too long by racial injustice.

“We don’t want this just to be a thing that we did once and doesn’t go any further,” said Lead Chaplain Dany Hernandez. “The hope is that this gathering will lead to life-changing conversations and dialogue. This is about humanity, love, respect, and unity.”

“Some people might not be very comfortable with what we are doing today because everybody attaches it to something else,” Dany said. “This is not about law enforcement, this is not about politics, this is about a group of people that for too long have experienced racism in a way that a lot of us will never be able to relate to.”

Centura has stated that our healing ministry, rooted in a commitment to the sanctity of life, is on a mission to positively change the world, and this includes advocating against racial inequity and injustice.

Added Dany: “We’re going to stand up for racial equality and against racism and stand up for every marginalized community.”

He also thanked the administrators and physicians who supported Friday’s event.

–Courtesy of Littleton E-Update Newsletter.

23 Jun

Commentary – Gavrilo Princip did not start World War I

In

By Joel Reyes — I keep hearing people, including journalists, refer to the riots that are literally consuming our country as the “George Floyd” riots. There are many things wrong with this term and its implications. We would almost have to assume that things were well in our country until looters poured out into the streets after the murder of George Floyd.

To credit the murder of George Floyd as the cause of the 2020 riots is like assuming that Gavrilo Princip started World War I. History books tell us that on June 28, 1914, Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophia, as they drove through the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia. Princip was a member of a Serbian secret nationalist society known as the Black Hand, who sought to stop Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkan region. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the murder and one month later, declared war on Serbia starting what we know today as World War I. Some still claim that if Princip had not assassinated Ferdinand, perhaps Austria-Hungary would not have invaded Serbia and we would not have had World War I.

What is happening across our country today, is only a glimpse of a greater problem, a problem we as a country have been sweeping under the bed for centuries: tribalism. Our society is sick and has been sick for a very long time. What we are experiencing now did not start with a video showing graphic images of the murder of George Floyd. The illness is much older, and we have been carrying it for centuries. The disease is not terminal, but for so long we have refused to seek treatment or even acknowledge that we carry it.

I was born in Central America and I am one of those refugees who left my home country in my youth when that country boiled in civil war. Like many other Latin American countries, El Salvador had been ruled by military dictatorships for centuries. By law, citizens were made to vote. No, it was not a right to vote; it was a crime not to vote. Citizens went to the polls and voted against the dictators, but they knew quite well that their vote had no voice. They knew who their next president would be, and it would not be the one they were voting for. It would be the general in military regalia and shiny boots. People did the only thing they could: protest.

But the generals did not like that. It made them look bad, especially when foreign visitors were around. Many of these dictatorships were sponsored and advised by the CIA, and they could not afford to look weak, or they would lose the lucrative US funding they received. If the municipal police could not handle the situation and the protesters did not go home, the generals would send the tanks, and the streets would be cleared quickly. People tried to voice their discontent every way they could, but to no avail. On one occasion, a general by the name Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez, removed Indians from lands they had owned as an ancestral inheritance since before colonial times. The Indians had held and used their properties following ancestral customs of communal ownership, never registering them, as the Martinez government mandated. Martinez saw the Indians as lazy, ungovernable, and ignorant, and used “Land Reform” as an excuse to take their land away and “redistribute” it to large coffee planters. His actions provoked political unrest and massive demonstrations by the peasant population. The general declared martial law and sent the army into the streets. In the space of six days, tens of thousands of peasants were killed, imprisoned, or disappeared. The year was 1932.

There comes a time in the life experience of people when frustration overrides reason. We saw it during the 2016 election, which spawned “Never Hillary” and “Never Trump” movements. These were people who could not find much good in the candidate they were endorsing, yet they were willing to tolerate causes they really opposed to see the other candidate defeated. This happens when people are driven to the point of hopelessness. They have tried, they have waited, they have endured for generations, and seen no results. They grow so hopeless, they no longer care. This is also a time when people stop talking, and tribalism takes over. Tribalism is exclusive and self-serving. It blurs commonalities and magnifies difference. It fertilizes distrust, suspicion and hate, and vilifies compassion, tolerance and cooperation. It instills a culture of “survivalism,” making it easier to throw rocks at those outside the tribe. People see no point in stepping over the aisle, going instead into their own corner for protection from perceived adversaries. And the only thing they want from there on is to see “them” defeated, or even killed. There is no need to talk. There is no need to cooperate. There is no need to care about “them.”

Eventually, people in El Salvador stopped demonstrating peacefully, and began taking up arms. Such a move did not help them much, as the army had better weapons, and lots of money to spend. This frustrated people even further. It was then that the voices came, the agitators, the opportunists, the pied pipers and people listened. They heard words they had never heard before – insurrection of the masses, revolution, political oppression, proletariat, Marxism, and many others. People did not know what all those things meant, but they did not care. They embraced the promise of seeing the generals defeated, dead. “Nothing can be worse than what we have,” they would say. Had these people been given a chance for peace, they would have taken it. Had they been given a fair chance to dialogue, they would have taken it. Had their electoral choices been respected, they would not have listened to the other voices. But it was too late. Many like to measure the civil war in El Salvador as a twelve-year conflict that started in 1979 after the deposition of General Carlos Romero. Many would even argue that this was not more than a struggle against communism, as if everything had been fine and well until 1979. Just a month before the peasant revolt of 1932, US Major, A.R. Harris, had written a letter to the US War Department stating the following. “I imagine the situation in El Salvador today is very much like France was before its revolution, like Russia was before its revolution. The situation is ripe for communism, and the communists seem to have found that out.” (Report of military attaché A.R Harris, to the War Department, December 22, 1931)

I believe that most civil conflicts could be prevented if it wasn’t for pride and selfishness. We want to be right. We always want to win, and spit on the loser’s face. We see it as a virtue. We are strong, and nobody messes with us.

When we, as a society, choose to go into our own corner and close our ears to anything that comes from the other side, we have started building the foundation for civil war. War happens when people stop talking, and there are no winners in a civil war. The riots of 2020 are showing us how easily things can get out of hand and how we all lose when people stop caring. The cocktail has been brewing for a long time, ready to explode, ready for a little spark. The murder of George Floyd provided that spark. No, the problem is not our politicians, or even the police. The problem lies deeper within each one of us. Until we realize the value of others and are willing to break away from our tribe and walk over the aisle and make the sincere effort to understand and respect the position and opinion of those we disagree with, things will only get worse. The pressure inside the keg will only continue to grow. Politicians are only a reflection of who we are. We elect them, and we elect them according to our values. They fight worse than cats and dogs, but isn’t that what we want them to do? In the process, they inspire us with anger, frustration, and hate. We don’t want them to compromise. There is no room for moderate voices. We call that weakness. We don’t want them to listen to the opinions of the other tribe. We praise them when they are mean and vicious toward the people we hate. We want them to be like us. Don’t blame them. They are us.

No, the death of George Floyd was no more the cause of the riots than was the murder of Archduke Ferdinand the cause of World War I, or the coup of General Romero the cause of the Salvadorian Civil War. It was the fruit of years of frustration, hopelessness, and eventually self-exile into tribalism. As Christians, we need to pause and measure our words and actions by the words of Jesus, not the behavior of political leaders. It’s not about being right. Self-righteousness leaves no room for dialogue. What we need the most today is Christians who can muster all the courage needed to look weak. We cannot continue measuring others by our own reality. We need to be willing to recognize and empathize with the struggles of others and be willing to listen and validate their reality. We need to stop telling people to “grow up and forget about it.” Let’s step out of our tribal strongholds and see those we don’t like as human beings, as fellow sojourners in this land, as citizens worthy of our respect. We also need to be humble and admit that we have gotten this whole thing wrong. There will be no solutions if we continue to do things the way we have been doing them. The solution is up to us.

–Joel Reyes is principal of Intermountain Adventist Academy in Grand Junction, Colorado; (pictured are Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife in Sarajevo June 28, 1914) Photo by Creative Commons.

22 Jun

FIRE DAMAGES COLORADO’S BRIGHTON CHURCH

In

By Jon Roberts — Brighton, Colorado . . . Within minutes of its outset, the Brighton Fire Rescue District responded to a fire at the Brighton church which engulfed its social annex shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 21.

Firefighters were on the scene within six minutes of the initial call.   When they arrived, the exterior of the annex side of the church was engulfed in flames and fire had spread to the attic. The initial responding crew placed a call for assistance from three additional units within Brighton Fire Rescue District, and two units from South Adams County Fire Department.

After a forced entry through a door in the back of the building, firefighters were able to gain access to the attic space. They extinguished the flames before the fire had a chance to spread to other areas of the building.

Immediately after putting out the fire, fire crews gave clearance for church personnel to enter the church and they began to clean up and assess the damages.

“This is quite extensive. The annex at this point is not useable,” said Rodney Kelly, head elder. “The food bank has been totally affected. We are not able to hold food bank this week as we were planning to,” he finished.

“This affects our community that were hoping to having appropriate resources coming into the holiday week, Kelly explained.  “This is a big concern [that], we are not able to provide what we had planned for our community.”

Working throughout the night, Kelly contacted an electrician in an attempt to save the refrigerators and freezers in the food bank. Electricians were able to run new circuits overnight to restore power to those vital components of the food bank. The rest of the building remains without power.

Fire investigators are conducting a full investigation, with initial findings revealing that the fire appeared “to have started as an outside fire in bushes and trees. It extended into the soffit and attic space. Crews were able to stop the fire in the attic and limit any further damage,” according to a Facebook update posted on Sunday evening by the Brighton Fire Rescue District.

Insurance has been notified and the conference is working closely to ensure that paperwork is submitted to Adventist Risk Management. The extent of the damage to the exterior and attic is yet to be determined.  No injuries occurred, and the building was empty at the time of the fire.

The church welcomes assistance as it plans to reopen a community food pantry and refurbish its facility, says Kelly. “We could use any help anyone wants to provide,” he adds “if you are able to assist, please contact the Brighton church via email at [email protected].”

“I’m glad nobody was hurt. There are material damages, [but] material things can be repaired and replaced,” Kelly concluded.

–Jon Roberts with additional reporting by Rajmund Dabrowski.  Photos by Rajmund Dabrowski and Brighton Fire Rescue District Facebook.

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