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By Ed Barnett

Throughout my life I have made many resolutions. Some I have stood by and others, like dieting, I slipped away from over time, returning back into former eating routines. This is the time of year when many of us are once again thinking about making a few changes, and that’s when New Year’s resolutions flood in. What new activities should we take on, which attitudes require a change, and what may we want to creatively challenge ourselves with over the coming year?

This reminds me of Isaiah 43:18,19: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

God speaks about changes, starting new things! Why don’t we let God help each of us find a new thing that we can resolve to do in 2017? Can we rekindle our God-given creativity and allow Him to surprise us with a new journey this year?

As 2017 is ushered in, I’ve found myself thinking about this time of perennial resolutions. Ideas started appearing in my mind, ideas that would make a difference in our conference if we were to adapt them as our own.

strong> Church members of the Rocky Mountain Conference. Jesus will be my number one priority. I will spend time with Him every day. Family is my second biggest concern. I will faithfully take care of them. I will also be faithful in my employment. Through my daily work, I will allow Jesus to shine. And more—I will become a good neighbor and citizen.

Pastors and teachers of the Rocky Mountain Conference. Following Jesus will be my top priority every day. I will spend daily devotional time with Him. Secondly, I will look after my family and will spend the quality time I need with them. I will make sure they know I love them and that they will be taken care of. My church and school will be my next priority. Each week, I will give my district and school 40-50 hours of my devoted attention. To make a difference, I will help train and encourage my fellow church members and students to be the faithful ministers God wants them to be.

Conference office employees. Each day I am going to make Jesus first in everything I do. He will be front and center in my life and work. My family will be my second biggest concern. I will give each family member the love and time they deserve. Thirdly, I will be faithful in my office work and service. I am going to let Jesus shine through me as I partner with our church family throughout our entire conference.

Consider the impact we would make if this happened across our Conference. We would inspire others to join our faith community. God will partner with us as we follow our mission to make ourselves available to Him. Through us, He will finish His mission in our beautiful territory.

May we remind ourselves of the Bible verse that loudly addresses God’s promise for each of us: “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

Whatever new godly resolution you may make, if God put it in your heart, He will help you to fulfill it until Jesus comes.

–Ed Barnett is RMC president.

By Nigel Abrahams

Two people face each other with a number written on the ground between them. One yells: “Six!” while the other shouts: “Nine!” If they would only take a moment to consider the other’s perspective they might both learn something.

We’ve heard about God giving us two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak, but how can we hold back from speaking out when the issues are as important as they are? If only our greatest concern were the orientation of the numbers six or nine—that notion is rather inconsequential. Today’s concerns are much larger and people are very passionate about their views.

In Isaiah 1:18, God invites us to “reason” with Him.

Surely, then, we can also reason with each other. Now in all fairness, reasoning isn’t completely dead. When the discussion pertains to who has the best defense in the NFL or which is the best brunch spot in the area, reason still stands tall. Opinions are shared and received in a friendly manner and all parties walk away thinking they just may have to check out the other side sometime. Things change a bit when economic policy or religious liberty or women’s ordination come up. Reason takes a vacation when respectful discussions are replaced by mean-spirited, passive-aggressive Facebook posts, and opportunities to understand a different perspective are lost.

Perhaps society, and the church, finds this acceptable because they’ve set aside the value of understanding different perspectives. Why try to understand something that’s not needed? This is similar to the logic with which many approach ninth-grade algebra. And years later, many likely regret not having paid better attention to polynomial equations. Perhaps this can serve as a warning against not paying due attention to the perspectives of others.

A refresher from I Corinthians 12 may be helpful. As Paul writes to the Corinthian church, the immediate context is spiritual gifts with the underlying principle of the power of diversity. It’s simple to apply such a principle to spiritual gifts but can it also be applied to opinions and perspectives concerning the “gray” issues facing humanity today? Absolutely yes!

Once diversity in any form comes up, for many, the first thing that comes to mind is tolerance. Defined by Merriam- Webster, tolerance is a “willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own.” However, Paul’s “one body” metaphor to the Corinthians calls for much more than that. At the very least, tolerance must grow into respect for differing views. And while respect for a different view is great, respect for those who hold those differing views is even richer. It’s respect for the person that leads us into civil conversation and that’s where understanding of another view has its beginning. As good as respect is, something wonderful happens when respect grows into appreciation of those who hold differing opinions.

Once we start to appreciate the value of those who hold differing points of view, it becomes easier to listen twice as much as we speak. In fact, we then seek out opportunities to hear what those who think differently have to say. This may not cause us to change our minds, but we will start to recognize those with whom we disagree as people for whom Christ also died.

It’s no coincidence that a Biblical chapter about love immediately follows a chapter on diversity. It’s only through the liberal application of love that mere tolerance can grow into full appreciation. Only through love will snarky Face- book posts give way to meaningful discussion. Only in love will we recognize the enormous value of seeing an issue through someone else’s eyes.

Jesus asked Simon: “Do you see this woman?” (Luke 7:44). It may seem an almost silly question. Simon was not blind. After all, he had just commented on the woman’s behavior. But Jesus’ question was far deeper than that. Do you see the struggles and challenges she’s overcome? Do you see the challenges she has yet to face?

These questions are no less important today. We don’t have to see eye to eye, but Jesus is asking us to see each other. nevertheless.

Many of this world’s issues are not going away, but as we learn to see the person on the other side of the issue and appreciate their perspective, we have a chance to resolve at least a few of them.

–Nigel Abrahams is a member of LifeSource Adventist Fellowship. He works as an IT analyst in the financial services industry.

By Ron Price

Is it just me or does it seem we live in a society that is getting more and more violent with each passing day? Some might argue that this is more a function of nonstop, 24-hour news coverage than an actual uptick in violence, but I’m not so sure. I do believe ours has become a super-sensitive society, quick to see insult or attack when it might not have been intended. And when we feel threatened or attacked, we can far too easily resort to a violent reaction.

As I write in my book Play Nice in Your Sandbox at Work, jumping to conclusions has become America’s favorite exercise. While I say that with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek, it does seem that people today get really aggravated over seemingly trivial matters and take things the wrong way more often than not. It is certainly not my place to judge, but you have probably heard the expression “pick your hill to die on”—meaning “don’t give all your time, energy, effort and resources to matters that really aren’t all that significant in the overall scheme of life.” I regularly see people getting upset over hills that probably aren’t worth “dying on.”

Along with being super-sensitive, I believe people are resorting to violence more readily than they might have in years past—probably as the result of the seemingly non-stop diet of violent television and video games we are exposed to on a regular basis. We know that by beholding Christ, we become more like Him. Doesn’t it, therefore, make sense that by beholding violence, negativity, and un-Christlike behavior we become changed in that direction as well?

As Bible-believing Christians, none of this should surprise us. Paul wrote to Timothy: “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NLT). Doesn’t that sound eerily like what you might read in today’s newspaper?

Violence in our society has become an all-too-typical reaction to anger. Note I said reaction, not response. Reactions are instantaneous and devoid of forethought. Responses, on the other hand, are reasoned and calculated, which makes them more appropriate in most circumstances.

The late Dr. Gary Smalley said that all anger is the result of a blocked goal. We feel someone, or something, is standing between us and what we want. I first heard that statement over 20 years ago and have not yet found it to be wrong.

Unfortunately, when we feel we are being denied something we want, we too easily leave the thinking part of our brain and enter smack dab into the middle of our feeling brain. In his book Soar Above, Dr. Steven Stosny makes the distinction between the adult brain (thinking) and the toddler brain (feeling). Any of us, regardless of our age, can act like children when we don’t get our way. As children, all we knew to do in such situations was to throw a tantrum and hit somebody–perhaps even ourselves. It can be mighty embarrassing when we grownups act like spoiled little children, can’t it?

Dr. Larry Crabb says that at the root of all sin you find self-centeredness. I think he is absolutely correct. At the root of all violence is self-centeredness, and the only way I know to cure that is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and relinquish your rights to Him. I personally believe that we as a nation have turned too far from God and will not return en masse before Christ returns. But in the meantime, we can each do our part to remain in constant contact and communion with Him and let Him help us always respond with love—never with violence.

–Ron Price is a member of the RMC executive committee from Farmington, New Mexico. His new book is Play Nice in Your Sandbox at Work.

By Stefani Leeper

Jesus is coming soon.

This is something we believe as Adventists. In light of recent political and religious turmoil around the world, we could be worried about the future of this planet.

A question could be asked: Are you ready to stand by your convictions?

As a reward for remaining loyal to his religious and moral conscience, Sir Thomas More was beheaded, his head boiled and displayed on the London Bridge for a month, and then removed and kept by his daughter Margaret until her death. The sentence was delivered by friend King Henry VIII after More refused to recognize the king as the Supreme Head of the Church of England and to verify Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

“I die the king’s faithful servant,” More said to those who came to witness the execution, “but God’s first.”

The unfortunate tale is retold in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons, an adaptation of the play by Robert Bolt, an agnostic playwright concerned with the issue of conscience.

In the film, King Henry admits his sins to More, yet breaks from the Catholic Church as the pope would not grant the divorce. Only by naming himself Head of the Protestant Church of England was he able to divorce Catherine and secure a marriage to Anne Boleyn. More resigned as Chancellor of England in response, thereby pitting him against the king.

More was given multiple opportunities to save his life, but each offer met a refusal. At one point, his friend begged him to sign the petition as everyone else had done, a supplication echoed by the More family. “And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me?” retorted More.

Earlier, More asked his friend if he would keep a secret, even from Henry, and receiving the affirmative, More asked what became of his oath of obedience to England. “When a man takes an oath, he is holding his own self in his own hands, like water,” explained More, “And if he opens his fingers then, he needn’t hope to find himself again.” According to David Hagopian of the Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, “an oath or promise is simply an agreement entered into between one person and another whereby the one taking the oath (1) explicitly or implicitly appeals to God to witness and sanction what he has said or committed himself to, and (2) calls God to judge and avenge His name if what he said is false or what he committed to do never comes to pass” (So Help Me God: A Biblical View of Oaths).

In other words, by pledging oneself to an oath, one is entering a promise, or a covenant, with God. To further complicate matters, these oaths are based on our convictions, which each of us has an obligation to follow. This concept is beautifully explained by Paul in Romans 14.

Romans 14 discusses the weak and the strong in faith in terms of how fundamentally—rigidly—Christians follow the law. For example, some may eat meat and some may eat vegetables, but neither is wrong, per say, in the sight of the Lord, as long as they follow their convictions in regard to their understanding of the law.

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. . . . He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks” (Romans 14:6,7 KJV, emphasis added).

“God gives to every soul freedom to think, and to follow his own convictions,” echoes Ellen G. White in “The Law of the New Kingdom,” Desire of Ages, p. 550. We are to answer to God based on our own conviction, or what we feel is right and how we behaved according to that conviction.

What gives Paul the certainty of this claim? God’s revelation, of course, after the Spirit was found in recent converts not yet circumcised.

The Jews claimed Paul a heretic for denying the covenant of circumcision. Seventh-day Adventist pastor and founder of ARISE David Asscherick justifies Paul’s reasoning behind his claim in Acts 21 and 22. On July 16, Asscherick told the Mills Spring Ranch, Casper, Wyoming congregation that circumcision “was to create wounded genitals.” Abraham laughed at God, and was to be circumcised as a result. In effect, Abraham was to recognize that the promise of heirs did not rest on his own physical accomplishments and prowess, but on God’s divinity and goodness.

In essence, circumcision was to be a symbol of not trusting to the self, but trusting that God will deliver on His promises. However, by the time the New Testament was written, the purpose of circumcision diminished and, said Asscherick, “became a symbol of cultural elitism and disdain for Gentiles.”

In the words of Ellen G. White, “The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blind- ing the mind and hardening the heart” (“The Fullness of the Time,” The Desire of Ages, p. 36).

Paul and other early church leaders knew that when symbols cease to hold their meaning they become irrelevant.

“And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:7-9 KJV).

And Paul stood for his belief, only to later meet the same fate as Sir Thomas More. Both men believed in the power of prayer over forsaking conscience.

We are called to do the same.

A day may come when we must “face the music” in our lives. Thomas More’s example may be helpful, allowing us to look in the eye of an executioner, and whisper, “I forgive you, right readily. Be not afraid of your office. You send me to God.”

Stefani Leeper was the RMC 2016 summer communication intern, and is a senior at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.

By Jessyka Albert

There’s a statistic floating around that nine out of ten people like chocolate. I took a poll of my circle of friends, family, and colleagues—and found this statistic to be incredibly accurate. I think it’s safe to say that we live in a world where the love of chocolate is a common denominator. The 90 percent of us who love chocolate (my apologies to the other 10 percent) may have enjoyed a dessert or two described as “death by chocolate.” What this means is that whatever dessert this may be, chocolate is the primary ingredient. Delicious right? And although it might be one of the best desserts known to man, you can only eat so much. This dessert is overpowering and rich.

Often we treat discipleship the way we treat chocolate. For the most part, churches and Christians genuinely love discipleship—I’d speculate at least 9 out of 10. The problem is that we love discipleship like we love chocolate. We bring it out for special occasions, and when we do, we overdo it. This creates a fear of discipleship. Discipleship is not a dessert where you can take it or leave it; it’s the seasoning that goes into every meal. It might best be viewed as the “salt” of the table, rather than the chocolate.

Without salt—without discipleship—we are left with bland food and bland Christians. Why are we afraid of discipleship? Because we don’t understand it. There is a reason that almost every table has a salt shaker on it. There is a reason Jesus called his followers to be the salt of the world and not the chocolate of the world. And there is a reason why discipleship is still important today. Salt enhances flavor, much like discipleship enhances God’s children.

So what makes it scary to many people? I believe there are four main reasons for this phenomenon:

1. Discipleship is scary when you have not been discipled yourself. Discipleship is really quite simple because it’s mostly about relationships. The ingredient that causes many to jump back in fear is their lack of experience with discipleship that is not just a two-way relationship, but a relationship that also involves Jesus. That takes any ordinary relationship and turns it into something intentional.

In other words, perhaps we are afraid to use the salt on the table because we have not tried it on our own food. How do we explain to someone else why they should put salt on their meal if we have not put it on our own?

2. We’re afraid others might not like it. Again, discipleship brings Jesus into the picture. And unfortunately many people are afraid of becoming vulnerable and sharing their own journey with God. Discipleship is raw and honest. Remember, discipling is like salt, not sugar. Although it may sting a wound, it is also healing. Discipleship can sometimes be painful. Because it involves Jesus, it is not a normal relationship. Jesus isn’t interested in our “I’m good” cliche answers; he searches the deepest parts of our hearts, and that can be painful.
3. We’re worried it’s useless. If you aren’t discipling because you think the time and energy isn’t worth it, I en- courage you to look at Jesus. Jesus discipled men he knew would deny him and betray him, but that did not stop him. We are not called to be judges; we are called to be fishers of men. To be salt and light to the whole world, not just part of it, and to disciple all people, not just some of them. This does not mean individually we have to disciple the whole world, but neither should we neglect those around us.
4. We don’t disciple enough to be comfortable with it. I cannot emphasize enough that discipleship is a lifestyle. It isn’t a single day event; it is a way of life. It involves both discipling and being discipled. An important part of my life is having a circle of discipleship. In college, we would go on “Jesus dates.” This was a time with close friends where we could reflect on our lives emotionally and spiritually and uplift one another. Jesus dates are still an important ingredient in my discipleship lifestyle.

Discipleship is not supposed to be overpowering or a burden. It is supposed to be the practice of carrying one another’s burdens, of guiding each other to the feet of Jesus, of loving and growing with one another. It is meant to be sprinkled throughout our everyday lives. Discipleship is not the rich death by chocolate dessert of which we can eat only a little, but the seasoning we use at every meal.

Jessyka Albert is discipleship pastor at Boulder Adventist Church.