Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

19 Jan

Make the Church Accessible and Safe for Children and Their Families

By Daron Pratt — Our children are in crisis. They are constantly bombarded by a wide range of technology and impacted by cultural change, much of it negative. Modern affluent societies overflow with a range of goods produced for the entertainment, pleasure, convenience, and education of our children. Children are firmly in the sights of corporations with a barrage of marketing and advertising designed to capture this multibillion-dollar market, yet something is wrong.

The current generation of children is more stressed; less content; and less healthy physically, socially, and mentally than any other generation. Sharon Beder writes that “the consequence of this corporate capture of childhood has been a generation of children who have been manipulated, shaped, and exploited as never before in history. Not only have they lost the opportunity to play and develop at their own pace, their psyches have been damaged and their view of the world distorted. Children have never been under such pressure to ‘succeed, conform and look good.’” The stresses that children and families are under today interfere with their discipleship journey, and the church needs to respond in creative and relevant ways to reach this generation.

Our churches are in crisis. Researchers suggest that between 60 percent and, in some cases, 90 percent of the children who currently attend your church will leave it. Many will decide to do this before they reach their teenage years.

These statistics are juxtaposed against the words of Jesus, who instructs us to let the children come to Him and do not hinder them. The task for churches, schools, and families to disciple and retain our children is huge. When are we going to wake up and take the words of Jesus seriously? We need to aim lower, much lower than we previously have, if we are going to reach children and their families.

Children and their families must be prioritized everywhere—in our pro- grams, our budgets, our service activities, our mentoring, and our mission! Loving the children in the 4–14 window is the key. Do we know them by name, both in and outside the church? Do we affirm them? Do we include them in our worship services? Do they feel like they belong? Are our programs and initiatives truly intergenerational? Dead men’s tales just do not cut it when it comes to our children.

Equipping parents is also essential. Children are likely to be as faithful as their parents are. This means that we need to equip our parents to be the best spiritual “disciplers” they can be. How are we, as a church, prioritizing parents in our discipleship ministries? Are children and families our great commission or great omission?

We must also learn to make every effort to welcome, tolerate, and include children in our corporate worship. If I do not hear a baby crying in a church service, then I know that the church is dying. Children are a sign—when we welcome children into worship, we welcome the very presence of Jesus. What would happen if we dared to assume that children have the same rights to the sights, sounds, touches, tastes, and smells of worship as adults? What would happen if we intentionally welcomed children into worship? As we begin to think about what it means to welcome children to worship, here are some important aspects to consider.

Excellence in ministry to the 4–14 window

We know that children are more likely to make a lifelong decision to follow Jesus sometime during what is known as the 4–14 window. This window is an age bracket, and it is indeed one of the largest unreached people groups on the planet.

It is interesting to note that most church congregations devote 80 percent of their budget dollars to adult ministries, while only 10–20 percent goes to children and family ministries.³ More dedicated and consistent investment in children and families could well be the first step to reversing the alarming statistics of loss found in almost all our churches.

Eighty percent of all who find Christ do so by the age of fourteen; 90 percent by age twenty-five. This has been labeled the 4–14 window of opportunity. Children are also more likely than adults to evangelize their friends. The church has often targeted adults with evangelistic outreach. However, research indicates that reversing the current funding is likely to result not only in our children making lifelong decisions for Christ but also in evangelistic kingdom growth.

It thus makes sense that if children are more likely to respond to the gospel than adults, children’s facilities should be the best that we can offer. Rather than being a gloomy, run-down room or building at the back of the church, our children’s facilities should be large and well lit, have appropriate amenities, and be creatively decorated. These types of facilities are more likely to be full of children, along with their families. In my ministry, I have found from trial and error that the larger the room and the more cared for and equipped that room is, the higher the number of children and their parents who attend will be. I have seen churches revolutionized and revitalized just because they chose to prioritize children and families. On the other hand, among the biggest factors inhibiting church growth are poorly maintained children’s facilities and inadequate parking.

Children’s Ministries research revealed that families place a premium on the children’s ministry experience of their kids. The majority (66 percent) said the children’s ministry program was “very important” in their overall consideration when they chose their current church. Parents ranked “the Children’s Ministry” as the third most important reason they joined their current church—only marginally behind “the church’s emphasis” and “preaching.” “Your children’s ministry is a growth engine for church growth.”

Excellence in children’s programming is also important. We can run all the “cute” programs we like and entertain to our heart’s content. We can use all of the latest technology and gadgets. However, we must remember that the aim of all programs and ministries is to change lives and help our children along the discipleship journey. Children need adult mentors in their lives who are committed to the long haul with these children rather than just a passing phase. Churches need to staff their children’s ministries first, and with their most talented members, rather than just plugging holes. Our children need staff who have a big heart for God and a big heart for children. Children identify with the significant mentors in their lives and hang on their every word. If we want eternal values to be in our children’s hearts, then they have to be in ours first. Staff mentors must be authentic and committed. Children can spot hypocrisy a mile off, and it is one of the biggest disrupters to their discipleship journey.

These are key performance indicators of 4–14 window churches:

Invest significantly in the 4–14 window
Prioritize children and families everywhere
Renovate and refurbish their children and family spaces
Activate the church

In our modern culture, children frequently find themselves disconnected from the community around them for various reasons. Family breakups and/or busy parents often mean our children find themselves home alone for extended periods. The myriad of modern technologies, including social media, the internet, gaming, iPods, and laptops, means that children can now access most things from their bedrooms at home with little need to venture to a library, shopping center, or other public space. The resulting individuation and loss of connection and mentors mean that now, more than ever, the church needs to see itself as an interactive community that connects the people in its congregation in intergenerational activities and programs. Adventurer and Pathfinder clubs are two of the best mentoring, intergenerational, and evangelistic programs that the church offers, and we would do well to connect every family to these groups intentionally.

We also must make sure that every church program is intergenerational because this is where the faith of our children develops best. Reggie Joiner, author of Think Orange, says, “The Church has a unique opportunity to connect kids with Christian adults who will value them enough to help them interpret life, support them in times of tragedy, and carry them through life transitions.” Benjamin Lundquist believes that “withing” is key to faith transmission. “Mentoring is deeper ‘withing.’” “We don’t need to teach them, just hang out together on the curb, give them authority to make decisions, give them clarity of purpose, and give them intergenerational consistency.”

Jerome Berryman says that what children experience in church is what they associate with Christianity. This means that what we expose our children to in church is crucial to faith transmission and long-term commitment to the church, its ministry, and mission.

This is why it is important that we intentionally make our worship services intergenerational, welcoming, and accessible for children and families. I believe that something is seriously wrong when a family that has been separated and busy during the week arrives in church only to separate for their age-related activity, then meet up again after church for the trip home. While age-targeted activities are beneficial and necessary, corporate intergenerational worship on a regular basis is a must. Intergenerational worship is a strong formative agent for everyone, so we need to ensure that what we do in worship is relevant and nurtures the kind of people we want our children and ourselves to be.

John Westerhoff writes, “If our children are to have faith, they must have opportunities to worship with the adults of the church. Worship is not only a time when the content of faith is delivered, but also a time when our churches communicate the feelings, subtle nuances, and transcendent meanings of faith.”

When families attend worship services together, children see their parents identifying with the church family and prioritizing their faith. Children watch their parents and others sing, pray, and give of their resources. Observing these rituals has a positive effect on the long-term discipleship of children.

Kara Powell and Chap Clark found in their Sticky Faith research that our children and teens flourish when we surround them with a minimum of five significant adults who can speak into their lives. These are adults whom we trust, who know them by name and stand for the same ideals and values that we as parents stand for. Further, Powell and Clark discovered that there is a strong correlation between children attending all-age intergenerational worship and sticky faith. This finding is as close as their research came to finding the “silver bullet” in developing a faith that sticks for our children and teens.

A church that welcomes children will make an effort to structure its worship space and liturgy to include children in the worship event as a matter of routine, not as an occasional, special-event, cute factor. It is not easy to create these sorts of worship services, but when we are creative and considerate, we can create worship services that nurture the faith of every church member.

David Csinos and Ivy Beckwith say that discipleship is about “walking alongside children on the path of discipleship, apprenticing them into the way that Jesus laid out for all of us. We who work with children are disciples, just like those young people in our midst. We are formed as disciples even as we form others. Children and adults walk the path together as equals on a common journey of discipleship.”

Intentional intergenerational churches will also create intergenerational play-and-pray areas in their worship spaces where children can quietly do activities as they listen and interact with what is happening in worship. Often these activities are based on the themes for the day, and this allows the children to create, reflect on, and internalize the themes.

Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, said, “Teens are looking for more from a youth ministry than a holding tank with pizza. They look for a church that teaches them how to live life. As they enter young adulthood, church involvement that has made a difference in their lives gives them a powerful reason to keep attending.” We, the church, need to make sure that we give our children and families a myriad of reasons to keep attending church. This means being friendly, relevant, welcoming, and inclusive of children and families everywhere.

–Daron Pratt, BA, MA in theology, has been a children’s pastor for the past twenty-six years and is currently the Family and Children’s Ministries director for the North New South Wales Conference in Australia. Pratt’s passion for children’s ministry and evangelism is contagious, and he travels the world to gain resources in this area. Photo supply

This article is an excerpt from the newly available book Multiply.

This article was originally published on the NAD Ministerial website.

19 Jan

CORNDOGS, COTTON CANDY, AND MAZES HIGHLIGHT CASPER WINTERFEST

RMCNews with Gabriela Vincent – Casper, Wyoming … Reflecting on the Winterfest program held by Casper Adventist Church on January 15, Gabriela, wife of Casper district lead pastor Shayne Vincent said, “Some of my favorite childhood memories were when my parents would take the kids to a winter or summer festivals in Romania. The excitement of the carnival rides and the delicious food were always happy family memories.” This inspiration helped guide Lyla McDonald, Casper Church home and school leader, in planning the Winterfest evening.

The church and Mountain Road Christian Academy advertised and invited the community to the free event. With a crew of hard-working volunteers to run the booths, the evening was filled with games, face painting, a gigantic maze, a photo booth, cotton candy, snow cones, arts and crafts, and more.

“Doing the photo booth and seeing happy little kids making funny faces was my favorite part about the Winterfest,” Cecelia Gage, Casper member, said.

Attendees could purchase concessions, helping with the profits which assisted MRCA. The wide range of foods included nachos, corn dogs, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, cookies, snow cones, and cotton candy, a delight to the appetite.

“My favorite thing about the Winter Wonderland was the food, especially the corn dogs,” Lacey Evert, Casper young adult member, commented.

When asked about his favorite food at the event, Weldon Treat said he enjoyed the onion rings. He also commented that he was blessed by fellowshipping with individuals he hadn’t seen in awhile.

The instructional booth on making cotton candy was one of the favorites among attendees.

“I loved learning how to make cotton candy! It was definitely a learning experience,” said Emily, Casper young adult member.

For others, the maze was the best part of the event. “I liked the maze the most because its pitch-black twists and turns (made from cardboard boxes) reminded me of the Alien movies,” Tim Pike, Casper young adult member, said.

Eight-year-old Olivia summed up the evening perfectly. “The whole festival was so much fun!”

For McDonald, seeing all the kids running around happy made the hard work of making the evening a reality rewarding enough. By the end of the evening, more than $600 had been raised to support Mountain Road Christian Academy.

The Casper Church would like to thank Lyla and Tom McDonald and the many volunteers for their hard work and for making it a safe and fun event for the Casper community.

–RMCNews with Gabriela Vincent; photos by Gabriela Vincent and Cecelia Gage

13 Jan

AREA CHURCHES UNITE TO ASSIST AVISTA ADVENTIST HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES

By Jon Roberts – Denver, Colorado … Days after the worst wildfire in Colorado history that destroyed close to a thousand homes and damaged many others, area churches were asking how they can best serve and show love to a community that has lost so much.

Avista Adventist Hospital reached out to three churches –Boulder, Campion, and Littleton, and asking if they would be willing to host a donation drive to assist associates with the basic hygiene items needed days after they lost everything in the Marshall fire. The donation drive, though, wasn’t a normal one with planning and several weeks to bring in items; instead, employees needed the items immediately. The turnaround time was two days, which left leaders wondering if this could be pulled off.

“Stephanie Lind, director of AdventHealth, contacted me about asking Littleton to gather supplies to assist the fire loss victims associated with Avista hospital,” explained Chris Morris, interim lead pastor at Littleton. “This was on Sunday, January 2. She stated she needed to pick up the items Tuesday, January 4. I remember my initial thoughts being, ‘Sure, I’ll put the word out, but I don’t know that a lot of items will come in with only three days’ notice. Boy was I wrong!’”

Morris explains that the church gave generously in a very short time. “In those three days, enough items were brought in to fill a mid-size car, plus some. It was awesome seeing the immediate and compassionate response of the Littleton church family.”

A similar situation unfolded at Boulder Adventist Church. “In the midst of tragedy, it is so heartening to be part of a group that includes Avista hospital and Boulder Adventist Church. Soon after the devastating fires that surrounded, but didn’t consume, the hospital, Suzie Sendros, wife of Isaac Sendros, CEO of Avista Hospital, sent out a message saying they could use toiletries for the Avista employees affected by the fire—and soon! In less than 24-hours, our members responded, bringing bag after bag of supplies. These are the kind of people whose hearts long to respond when there is a loss. Thank you, Susie, for giving us an outlet,” said Alicia Patterson, wife of Geoff Patterson, senior pastor at Boulder.

A Zoom meeting was held a week after the destructive wildfires in which pastors gathered to strategize the next steps as they continue to look for ways to assist the community. In the meeting, Steve Hamilton, former RMC youth director, who three years ago experienced a similar situation when a wildfire destroyed his town in Paradise, California, said that the process of helping would be a long commitment, explaining that in the first two months, the community needs everyday items. Then, for the next four months, the focus needs to shift to mental health wellbeing and temporary housing. Afterward, the church needs to be prepared to help with housing and find ways to bring back what the community lost in terms of area-wide gatherings.

Churches are already planning other community outreach events. One event scheduled for the end of January is an area-wide youth outreach led by Boulder Church associate pastor Jay Murdoch.

Suzie Sendros reflected on social media on the donation drive, saying, “Thank your members. Big virtual hugs from us! You are the hands and feet of Jesus–the items spilling out of the car is unbelievable.”

To learn how to help the communities of Louisville and Superior, please visit https://www.rmcsda.org/marshall-fire-relief-and-support/

–Jon Roberts is RMC communication/media assistant, photo courtesy of Littleton Adventist Church Facebook page.

13 Jan

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BLESSINGS

By Doug Inglish — I went to a public university for my graduate degree, which is not to say that I was surrounded by a crowd of atheistic, evolution-spewing hedonists whose every thought, word, and action was bent toward evil. That may describe a subsection of both students and professors I knew there, but far from all of them. Many were active in their churches, and overwhelmingly, they respected my beliefs. I am happy that I went to an Adventist college during a more formative period of my life, and I recognize that my deep involvement in the local church while in graduate school kept me grounded, but spending time with people of other faiths, as well as people of no faith, was a learning opportunity.

We who were serious about our faith recognized that same quality in others around us. We shared mutual academic interests with partyers, so we got along well with them, but we didn’t spend much extracurricular time with them.

Of course, one thing we all shared was relative poverty. Some had full-time jobs and only took a class or two at a time, but most of us were full-time students, mostly on graduate fellowships. The fellowship had minimal work requirements, so it was a great way to pay for your education. It just wasn’t a great way to pay the rent, which meant many grad students had side jobs.

One of the students I got along with best was a fellow Christian who worked as a waiter to help make ends meet. We were talking over an assignment one day and fell into a common topic; namely, how can you live on the $400 a month without either a working spouse, extra job, or trust fund? He told me how much he typically brought in waiting tables for an evening, then, almost as an afterthought, added, “Of course, that’s before tithe and taxes.”

Now, with my upbringing, tithing was normal. It’s not just what my family did; it’s what most active members did, what we heard in sermons and read about in church publication (yes, like this one), and learned about in Bible class at church school. I knew all about tithe, including the fact that Seventh-day Adventists are a minority among churches not just because we understand what it means, but because we even use the word at all. Most churches, despite the fact they depend on giving from their members for the overwhelming majority of their financial support, don’t talk about, let alone practice, true tithing. So, when my friend used the word, it caught my attention.

“Tithe? I didn’t know that Catholics tithed.” I realize now that there was very little tact in my observation, but in my defense, he had caught me completely off guard.

He smiled and declared, “We don’t. But I do.”

It was one of those moments when you know that someone else gets you. Really, really gets you. Both of us were struggling, but that didn’t keep either of us from tithing.

But digging deeper into the three sentences that I have here reported from the larger conversation, there is something else that strikes me about his faithfulness. He mentioned two things that took a bite out of his income. One of them, taxes, was something over which he had no control. The other, tithe, was entirely within his power to ignore. But he spoke of those reductions in income as if they were beyond question. In his mind, obviously, they were.

But why was tithe beyond question for him? I had a lifetime of exposure to cheerful givers who taught by word and deed that tithing is an expression of trust that brings peace and security. I had seen the blessings in my family growing up and had experienced them firsthand since establishing my own household. But his church, which has never been shy to impress upon its members their sacred duties, did not require tithing. How did he end up with the same attitude I had, in which robbing God was as unthinkable as living on Saturn?

I’m just going to have to live with not knowing the answer to how tithing became a way of life for him. I didn’t ask because it was enough for me at the time to enjoy the fact that here, in this secular environment, was somebody who got me on a really personal level. It was one more thing we had in common, and when you are as outnumbered as we were, that’s a pretty special thing to discover.

I don’t regret that Adventists teach stewardship. To do otherwise is, as Ellen White pointed out, to ignore “. . . a matter which involves a blessing or a curse…” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 106). But I also know that there is a danger that our faithful stewardship might be less about enjoying the blessings and more about avoiding the curses.

My Catholic friend from graduate school, whose education on the matter was almost certainly not as thorough as mine, didn’t grow up with his church teaching him anything about tithing, but somewhere along the way, he picked up an understanding of the blessings. And it was clear from the way he spoke those simple words, “But I do,” that the fear of a curse had nothing to do with his choice.

My prayer is that somewhere along the way, you, too, learn of the blessings and that your choice isn’t motivated by the fear of a curse. We, of all people, should know these things.

–Doug Inglish is RMC stewardship director; photo by iStock

13 Jan

New Year’s Resolution and COVID-19

By Dr. Tim Arnott — As we enter a new year, it is a time we begin to think about our life and what changes we would like to make. According to Statista’s Global Consumer Survey, 39 percent of U.S. adults will make a New Year’s resolution for 2022.[i] The top three this year in descending order are to exercise more, eat healthier, and lose weight.[ii] Given the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, these three are well-advised. Patients significantly overweight are at higher risk of mortality from COVID-19 infection.[iii] This higher risk may stem from a fundamental mechanism of infection.[iv] COVID utilizes the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-2 receptor for entry into our cells.

Therefore, too much of this receptor in the body can facilitate COVID entry, increasing severity. The COVID virus has a particular attraction for lung cells. Besides the lung cells, this specialized receptor is expressed in many cell types, including fat cells, kidney cells, and heart cells.

Individuals with obesity (i.e., BMI >30) have more of these “COVID access” receptors present, which may support greater virus replication and infection. This may be one reason for worse outcomes of COVID infection in people with obesity.[v] Thus, losing weight is a reasonable approach to avoid the common severe outcomes of COVID infection.

At least one key factor distinguishes individuals who are significantly overweight and/or have diabetes from individuals without such conditions; namely, greater circulating levels of glucose (higher blood sugar levels)[vi]. This factor increases the ACE (COVID-friendly) receptor expression or activity, which in turn, may worsen the severity of COVID infection. Again, high blood glucose alone can increase the expression and enzymatic activity of ACE receptors in cells.[vii] As a result, a resolution to achieve weight loss, which will lower blood sugar, makes perfect sense at the start of 2022. The question is, how? It’s a simple math formula–calories eaten must be fewer than calories burned. Therefore, moving muscles more is part of the solution. Consider prayer walking first thing each morning. If you walk at a brisk pace, depending upon your weight, you could burn off 100-200 calories.[viii] That’s 500 to 1000 calories a week, assuming you walk five days a week, or 2000 to 4000 calories burned every month. Thus, your weight would drop one pound a month, 12 pounds a year. If you want to double that, simply walk one hour at a brisk pace five days a week. Then, you’d be down 25 pounds a year. That is enough weight loss to reverse diabetes in a majority of patients who are still able to make insulin, and if 25 pounds didn’t quite reverse it, losing 50 pounds likely would.[ix] Considering that overweight and/or diabetes are associated with severe COVID disease, hospitalization, and death, this kind of weight loss could be lifesaving.

Another very powerful way to reduce blood glucose levels is to walk after every meal. Every minute walked immediately after a meal reduces your blood glucose 1-3 points. Decreasing the amount of circulating insulin and going a long way to lose significant weight could make a lifesaving difference.

Now, having said the above, you could easily wipe out any calories burned walking just by eating more. Thus, adjusting the diet is also key to successful long-term weight loss. It’s actually a simple exercise to take in fewer calories. Cooked whole grains, beans, and legumes, and fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables are 80 percent water and about 10 percent fiber.[x] Thus, they are very low in calories, and you can actually eat more volume and still lose weight by choosing these foods.[xi] The foods rich in calories are easy to spot. They are found in packages (i.e., boxes, bags, cans) with a long list of ingredients. You don’t have to read the list–just put back on the shelf any food with more than one ingredient. Further, the only other category of food rich in calories is animal products, including meat, poultry, milk, eggs, yogurt, butter, ice cream, and cheese. Limiting such foods to 10 percent of total calories or less is money in the bank toward long-term weight loss and greater protection against COVID. Fortunately, there are great unsweetened dairy substitutes to fill in the gaps, and choosing savory beans poured over well-cooked, soft, moist whole grains with a plant-based, oil-free sauce is a great low-calorie entrée.

So, go ahead. Make those New Year’s resolutions and enjoy better protection against COVID at the same time, not to mention a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer. Now, we understand the above changes are not easy and because of that, many fail to make lasting lifestyle changes. Understanding the increased protection against COVID and improved quality of life will help keep one motivated. Further, having outside help also makes a difference. Rocky Mountain Lifestyle Center was established to support anyone wanting to improve health through lifestyle change, so take advantage of our MD consultations, cooking school, coaching, or health classes by calling (303) 282-3676 anytime.

In summary, God’s health remedies are so wise, they improve multiple conditions at the same time. His whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet has transformed the health of thousands. No wonder He pronounced His fuel of choice for man, “Very Good”.[xii]

—Tim Arnott MD is a Board-Certified Lifestyle Medicine physician and is the medical director of Rocky Mountain Lifestyle Center; photo by iStock

[i] http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/AASFCfW?ocid=se

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Nutr Diabetes. 2020; 10: 30.

[iv] ibid

[v] ibid

[vi] Nutr Diabetes. 2020; 10: 30.

[vii] ibid

[viii] https://caloriesburnedhq.com/

[ix] Kelly J. Foundations of Lifestyle Medicine Board Review Manual, 3rd Edition.

[x] Analysis based Food Processor software (https://esha.com/products/food-processor/)

[xii] Genesis 1:31. The Holy Bible. NKJV.

12 Jan

CAMPION ACADEMY MOURNS DEATH OF STUDENT

Loveland, Colorado — The Campion Academy family is mourning the loss of a student. Timothy Dien passed away from unexpected and unknown causes on Friday, January 7, 2022.

Campion Academy is in contact with the family as we seek to support them through their tremendous loss. The family is working with Campion on plans for a memorial service. A GoFundMe account has been established to help support the family through the unexpected funeral costs and can be found at gofund.me/bf2b8663.

Campion students and staff spent Sabbath School class on Saturday, as well as additional time in the afternoon, coming together to pray with each other and for the Dien family. Counselors were made available to students during these times. Special prayer times have been scheduled throughout the week, as well as continued access to counselors, to help the students and staff process this loss.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened by this loss,” shares principal Donavan Reeder. “Timothy was a beloved member of our student body. His loss leaves a big hole in our hearts. We ask for your prayers as we seek to support the Dien family and our Campion students and staff.”

The cause of death remains unknown. Timothy was found unresponsive in his bed in the men’s residence hall. Emergency life-saving procedures were immediately attempted by the dean on duty. However, when paramedics arrived on the scene, he was pronounced deceased.

On Friday morning, he attended breakfast, where he was greeted by fellow students. He did not report any illness to staff. An accountability room check was administered in the evening due to his absence. However, when he was checked on at bedtime, he was found unresponsive. There was no apparent sign of self-harm or foul play. The autopsy report is pending, though it typically takes up to six weeks to process.

Timothy, who was in his eleventh year of school, is remembered by his teachers and fellow students as kind and tender-hearted, with a willingness to encourage others. He was a gifted student, exhibiting dedication towards his studies. His sister, Tiffany, graduated from Campion in 2021.

“Our hearts break for the sudden loss of Timothy,” shares Rocky Mountain Conference education department superintendent Diane Harris. “We pray that his family and friends are enveloped by the comfort of God’s presence.”

Details on a memorial service will be shared on Campion’s website and social media as the information becomes available.

–photo supplied

11 Jan

New Documentary Shows How a Plant-based Diet Can Solve Some Chronic Health Conditions

By AdventHealth — She grew up in the country living a vegetarian lifestyle and only rarely eating meat. As a substitute, she ate a lot of cheese, eggs and processed foods. Shortly after getting married, however, she started having health issues that eventually escalated with her first pregnancy.

“At the 27-week mark in the pregnancy, the doctor ordered a glucose tolerance test. I failed the test quite significantly,” said Karene Bejarano, a registered nurse who works for a west coast hospital. “They told me I had gestational diabetes and I was going to have to see an endocrinologist and do food counseling. They said, ‘But don’t worry; it will go away. You’ll just have to be careful. If you exercise and keep yourself healthy, you’ll be just fine.’”

But after giving birth, Bejarano experienced terrible muscle weakness, intermittent blurred vision and high blood sugar levels, leading to a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.

“It was very disheartening, and I went through a lot of denial,” she said. “I was truly grieving a loss. I was losing my health, which is part of what all of us have the right to enjoy in life.”

Bejarano is one of six individuals who share their health transformation stories in the recently released film “PlantWise.” In the documentary, the six showcase their struggles with debilitating health conditions often caused by unhealthy food choices.

The turning point for each of them is the decision to change what they put on their plate by embracing a whole-food, plant-based diet. For Bejarano, while she couldn’t completely eliminate her medication for Type 1 diabetes (an irreversible condition), her improved lifestyle allowed her to lower the amount she needed to take.

“When I made the switch to a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle, I started experiencing significant changes rather quickly,” Bejarano recounted. “Within six months, I had lost 40 pounds. My doctor said my blood pressure was quite low and that they were going to take me off my blood pressure medication. My cholesterol was dropping too, so he said I wouldn’t need my cholesterol medication anymore. In fact, I was able to get off the majority of my medications.”

Nearly half of all Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, which is responsible for 1.7 million deaths every year, according to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. National lifestyle medicine experts believe that exposing the results of unhealthy food choices and revealing the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle could significantly help to slow this trend.

“A plant-based diet is the best diet available for humans. When minimally processed plant food is consumed, it can be incredibly health-promoting and even therapeutic, to the point of reversing disease,” noted George Guthrie, MD, MPH, a lifestyle medicine physician at AdventHealth who is also the author of “Eat Plants, Feel Whole,” a health transformation book. “The average American is deficient in potassium, magnesium and fiber. Those eating a whole-food, plant-based diet do not have this problem.”

“I thought I was free, but I didn’t really understand what freedom was until I changed my lifestyle,” she said.

Bejarano recalled how adopting this healthy eating approach made her feel so much more alive.

“I thought I was free, but I didn’t really understand what freedom was until I changed my lifestyle,” she said. “You have more energy, you’re more vibrant and you’re happier. When you really decide you’re going to change your lifestyle and you stand firm with that decision, it radically changes your life for the better, and you’ll never want to go back.”

The film “PlantWise” stems from AdventHealth’s desire to explore using documentary films in inpatient and outpatient settings as a catalyst to inspire patients to make lifestyle changes. It is a powerful motivational tool that can give viewers a new vision and fresh hope for their condition, and help them experience vibrant wellness through embracing a healthy lifestyle.

Speaking on the vision of the film, Todd Chobotar, editor-in-chief at AdventHealth Press and executive producer of “PlantWise,” said the film was created not only to share transformative patient stories, but also detail solutions to chronic health conditions and support physician-patient engagement.

“It is our hope that ‘PlantWise’ will positively impact people’s health when it is viewed by many audiences across the globe, including health care employees, inpatients, outpatients, medical providers, consumers, churches and other community organizations,” Chobotar noted.

“PlantWise” is a 48-minute film with subtitles available in 18 languages. Sponsored by AdventHealth, Ardmore Institute of Health, American College of Lifestyle Medicine and EatingYouAlive.org, the film features 18 leading lifestyle medicine experts from 14 specialties and disciplines.

Hans Diehl, DHSc, MPH, founder of CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program), calls “PlantWise” “the best plant-based film out there.” And T. Colin Campbell, PhD, co-author of “The China Study,” said it’s “inspiring and meaningful. Exactly what people should see!”

To view the film as well as additional resources for free, visit PlantWiseFilm.com.

–Photo supplied.

This article was originally published on the AdventHealth website

10 Jan

WHAT IS TRUTH FOR?

By Mic Thurber — One of the most often quoted questions from Scripture came from pagan lips: “What is truth?” Pilate really wanted to know, but when confronted with the truth as embodied in Jesus as He stood before him, he wasn’t willing to let truth change him.

As Seventh-day Adventists, we highly value truth. We even speak of those who join our fellowship as those “who come into the truth.” And if someone asks a long-time church member how long they’ve belonged, they might say some- thing like: “I’ve been in the truth for 45 years…”

We esteem truth because, well, we want to be right—right about important things. But I wonder sometimes if our emphasis on “the truth” makes us forget what Jesus said about Himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

After all, we don’t believe in righteousness by information— we believe in righteousness through faith in Jesus and His marvelous grace.

Truth’s best advantage comes in helping us understand our great God and His plan for our lives. It is not a tool for us to wield on someone who has less truth than we might have. It’s not to be used to show superiority, or draw battle lines, but to draw us ever closer to the heart of a great God that invites us to get to know Him.

I’ve been thinking about a way to describe how careful we need to be in handling truth, both within our fellowship and when we interface with people not of our belief system.

In western North Carolina near where I went to academy is a mountain after which our school was named. Mt Pisgah could be seen from various spots on campus. It could also be seen for miles around in virtually every direction in that part of the state.

The thing that struck me is this: though the mountain was always the same, its shape and profile varied—sometimes quite a bit—depending on the vantage point of the viewer.

So, if you tried to explain what it looked like to someone from a given spot, the description would only match the mountain if the two of you were standing at the same spot. It would not match the view of another person just a few miles down the road. Same mountain. Different views. It depends on the ground upon which the viewer stands.

Over my life and ministry, I’ve noticed that while truth never changed, my perspective on it would often change and grow according to where I was at the time. Some things that I was once very sure about would take on different shades of meaning once I reached other places in my life or spiritual journey. Sort of like driving on a road for miles with Mt. Pisgah in view. Same truth. Different views. It depended on where I was standing at the time.

That’s one very important reason why we need to be more respectful of truth than we sometimes are.

Truth is much bigger than we are. And we should be loath to pronounce that we have, hold, and know the full truth. We need to be willing to admit that we have more to learn. And we should allow for the reality that each of us are in different places in our spiritual journey. So, things could well look different to each of us depending on where we are at any given moment.

Perhaps it’s less important to “win” in an argument over truth than it is to encourage one another on our journey toward the Kingdom. This allows the truth we do see at any given moment to spur us on toward Jesus. That might help us answer a question Pilate didn’t ask but perhaps should have: “What is truth for?”

–Mic Thurber is the RMC president. Email him at: [email protected]

10 Jan

THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH

By Gary Patterson — In an ironic twist of the legal process, one of Scripture’s most significant questions is asked by a man who did not comprehend the implications of his inquiry nor wait for the answer in the one place he might have found it. Jesus stands before Pilate who is struggling over a decision whether to punish a man he does not believe to be guilty or to free him and risk a riot among the people he is supposed to be able to rule. It is not an easy decision. Principle and pragmatism are often not easy bedfellows.

In response to Pilate’s interrogation, Jesus states, “I came into the world to testify to the truth” (John 18:37 NIV). Pilate, in his well-trained skepticism, is accustomed to hearing opposing testimonies both purporting to be the truth. And he asks, with somewhat of a sneer, I imagine, “What is truth?”

It is a good question, one we all too seldom ponder. What is truth? Is it my perception of the way things are? Is it the perception of the church? Is it the word of the teacher or the will of society? Is it the consensus of some authoritative group? Is there somewhere an absolute pure crystalline truth which we may reach—or at least reach out to? Is it the words of Scripture, or the words of Ellen White, or the words of the General Conference in session? And if it is any of these, whose ensuing interpretation of this truth is correct?

Christians share a common source of truth, the “Scriptures.” And prime among texts supporting this stance are the words of 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God.” How do we know that? This may seem to be an impertinent question, given our long-standing acceptance of the idea. But it is not impertinent. Indeed, it is an honest, even a needful, question to ask. Do we accept Scripture as truth on the basis of such claims in the text?

Or do we accept it as truth because someone told us it was the truth? When faced with the full reality of these questions, we often opt for a third declarative possibility. It is true because I believe it. Yet any of these three notions taken alone, and to extreme, is dangerous.

To accept the authenticity of a sacred text on the basis of its internal claim to Divine origin would force us to accept any document which purports such credentials, regardless of its content. Such would be an incredibly contradictory and polytheistic position. Yet accepting the authenticity of a sacred text on the word of another is to become a papist.

It matters not what “father” has told us—biological father, father church, or other father figures we might choose as our authority—for when we abandon individual responsibility for such decisions, we give ourselves over to papism.

Further, to accept or reject a sacred text on the basis of our own personal judgment—having checked it out by and for ourselves—is to become an existentialist. Accepting only what we perceive and experience on our own exposes us to limited horizons and helical reasoning. Before we go further, we should attempt a working definition of a “sacred text.” For the purpose of this investigation, let us say that a sacred text is a collection of documents, sayings, or instructions held in respect and taken as of Divine authority and origin within a community of believers or adherents.

With this definition, we recognize that there are many “sacred texts.” There are sayings of Confucius, the Book of Mormon, the Koran, the Pentateuch, the Holy Bible, the Testimonies—we could go on at length. These are taken as being of Divine origin and are given authority in a community of believers. They serve in varying degree as the source of authoritative principles for their adherents. It must be observed, however, that authority is not universally inherent in these texts by themselves. This is evident in the fact that one community does not accept the authority of another community’s sacred text. Rather, the authority of the text is a derivative, granted by a community of believers and adherents who accept them.

But how is this authority derived? There are two primary methods by which such authority is established. These are reason and force. Reason appeals to logic and truth. It invites rational examination of the facts. It calls for intelligent decisions. Force, on the other hand, resorts to strength over weakness, the granting of favors or the denial of needs. It seeks to buy allegiance through the manipulation of one’s response to pleasure or pain.

There is a tendency to assume that truth is the derivative of authority. But this is the case in the “force” model which is not acceptable as a Christian viewpoint. It does not present a valid image of God who appeals to reason among free-willed individuals. Authority is a derivative of truth. And when authority deviates from truth, it is no longer reliable as an authority. That is how we know not to trust it. The truths of the Bible are not true because the Bible is the authority. Rather, the Bible is the authority because it speaks the truth. God’s words are not authority because He spoke them. Rather, since He always speaks the truth, He is the authority. Indeed, He is the very source of truth.

In this setting, it is significant to contrast the rational approach of Jesus with the authoritative mentality of the priests. While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, they came to him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23 NIV). No appeal to reason or truth is in their words, only to power.

Jesus easily confounds this approach with a reasonable question regarding the work of John the Baptist. “Was his baptism of God or of man?” The priests are in a dilemma. If they say of God, they support both the work of John and Jesus; if they say of man, they risk the ire of the people. It is again the conundrum of principle and pragmatism. So, they refuse to answer. Instead, “they looked for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that He was a prophet” (Matthew 21:46 NIV). They sought to exercise authority not by reason, but by force.

As noted at the outset, it was His comment about truth and His purpose in life which occasioned the inquiry of Pilate. He said, “I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37 NIV). For Jesus, authority is established by a rational appeal to truth, not by force.

Merely to claim godly origin does not make a sacred text. If the claim alone were to establish the veracity of a given message, then we would be obliged to accept every self-appointed prophet who came along. In fact, Scripture warns us that many false “christs” and false prophets will come. It will be necessary for the Christian community to exercise a judgment factor in every claim to Divine authority. We are to “try the spirits.” It is to be done according to “the law and the testimony.” Reason and truth are to prevail.

Misuse of revelation takes many forms—the false prophet, the misguided charismatic, the individual who refuses to reason because, as they say, “I have prayed about this and God has shown me . . . .” There is no reasoning with such as these. When one assumes to have received the direct word of God on a given matter, it is no longer possible to enter into meaningful dialogue with them in which we attempt to test the validity of the revelation.

The charismatic no longer sees need to reason the Scriptures because their perception of the “truth” has been confirmed to them in supernatural manifestations. Even the impressions of the one who has “prayed” about their concerns become a blockade to Scriptural reasoning. Such spurious “revelations” result in the rejection of reason. Supernatural revelation cannot be the authority by which truth is judged. Rather, it is just the opposite. Truth is the authority by which revelation is judged. Indeed, our scriptural canon of sacred texts was determined by councils of the church. It came to its present accepted makeup about the end of the fourth century A.D. at the Third Council of Carthage (A.D. 397).

How were such decisions made? We can only guess, for no record of the process is extant. But one assumes that the process would not be significantly different than that which we would employ in similar circumstances. Not all the books if of the Bible are the message of “inspired prophets.” Some indeed are, such as Daniel and Isaiah, for example. Others are historical material. Some, such as Luke, even indicate that they are compilations of other recorded accounts. Still, other books are collections of songs, poems, or personal stories, and some are even private letters to individuals.

The source of all godly inspiration is the same. Source is not the issue. The issue is the purpose of the message, and the breadth of the intended audience. Some inspired works are of a passing and transitory nature. Others are for a wider audience and longer duration. Thus, we ask the wrong question when we seek to establish authority on the basis of inspiration. It can only be judged by the people to whom it is addressed in the full light of truth and reason.

Canon is the work of the people of a given community. God may or may not be part of such work. We, as Christians, would agree that He was an active force in the establishment of our “Holy Bible”. But we would question that He was involved with the Koran, for example. Yet in the Muslim community, the Koran is taken as the word of God (Allah). Canon is the work of a community, and the option available to the individual is choosing or rejecting a community which adheres to a given canon, unless we wish to establish our own canon individually.

Peter observes that “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” (1 Peter 1:20). His reference is to the work of the Holy Spirit on the prophets of old. But the same principle may apply to the use of Scripture within the Christian community. It is not of private interpretation. That same Holy Spirit is operative within the community today, saving us from the folly of our own narrowness. This principal applies, not only to prophetic messages, but to scriptural interpretations as well.

Ultimate truth does exist in God, but individual perceptions of it are affected by the perceptual filters through which it is observed. All human instruments—including the writers and communicators of sacred texts—do their work in the setting of such perspectives and viewpoints.

Of this fact Ellen White observes, “The writers of the Bible had to express their ideas in human language…The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen… The words receive the impress of the individual mind… The mind is not cramped, as if forced into a certain mold.” (Excerpted from 1 SM pp. 19-22).

In the Seventh-day Adventist Church community, the Christian canon is set and accepted. And in this context, we have been fond of the Lutheresque phrase, sola scriptura, as a description of our attitude toward the Bible. Yet even Luther, with his fond protestations otherwise, did not practice such an extreme position. If indeed this were to be our position, then there would be no place for church and community authority. Every individual would be required to make all judgments privately without the aid of Christian community.

Rather, the church has practiced prima scriptura in its relation to the Bible and its communicants. Indeed, Scripture is the primary and first authority of the church, but it is not the only authority. All other authorities must be derived from and checked by Scripture.

But we do not recognize reality if we seek to deny that other authorities exist. If it were not for church authority, there would be no means of reaching consensus and no establishment of accepted doctrine. Anyone could believe and practice anything they chose. Such a situation would be chaotic. The community defines and interprets Scripture in such a way that individuals are either drawn together or separated by variant views. Thus, the individual chooses one given community of faith and rejects others.

There is a place for the church fathers and mothers, both past and present. They do not supersede the Scripture. They are not equal to it. They are judged by it. But again, it is the community which makes judgments which establish or discontinue such leadership and authority. It is not a given. It is a derivative.

It is in this setting that we must also evaluate the ministry of Ellen White whose writings have become a de facto sacred text of the Seventh-day Adventist community. Our fondness for the phrase sola scriptura has placed us in a bind. A strict interpretation of it either rules out her writings as a sacred text, or we are obliged to elevate her works to the level of scriptural canon–a move which places us squarely in the camp of the cults. Yet a broader understanding of sacred texts saves us from these two extreme positions.

Unfortunately, we have not always related to the works of Ellen White as properly as our doctrinal positions have stated. Our doctrinal statement has clearly defined the position for years. She does not supersede, supplant, or even equal the scriptural canon. But we have not always behaved in keeping with our correct statement of position. Thus, based on our own inconsistencies, we deserve some of the criticism we face.

Yet there is validity in the authority of the community to determine a sacred text. With the model of prima scriptura, such texts will always be tested by and subordinated to the Scripture. This was ever Ellen White’s wish and instruction as again and again she indicated that her works were to be a “lesser light” to lead to the “greater light.”

These writings are not a sacred text for the Adventist community because she said so or because anyone person said so. She is a sacred text of the Seventh-day Adventist Church because the appeal of truth in her works have made her so among our people. It is an authority derived among the people out of the appeal of truth in her works. This is frightening, I recognize. But it must be so, or our accep- tance of such writings are subject either to our own isolated judgment or to the judgment of someone to whom we have surrendered our judgment responsibility.

How then should we relate to our sacred texts? We must come to recognize the distinction between actual truth (what is) and perceived truth (what is knowable to myself). It is easy to forget the humanness of all we have and perceive. Not only is the Bible given to us through the “impress of the individual mind” but that which is perceived in the community, as well as the individual, also comes through the perceptual filters of human experience. Thus, we may be on the road to truth, but we must always recognize the humanness of our perceptions. The problem is not with our sacred texts, but with how we use and perceive them.

We need not fear to examine the truth; it will always lead us to God. A Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel once counseled his fellow leaders with words wise in our search for truth. If the “purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38, 39 NIV).

–Gary B. Patterson is a retired Seventh-day Adventist pastor and leader. Members of Boulder Adventist Church, Gary and his wife, Rachel, live in Loveland, Colorado. Email him at: [email protected]

10 Jan

KNOWING WHAT TO BELIEVE AND DO

By Ray Roennfeldt — How can we know what the will of God is for us; or, to put it more personally, how can I know what the will of God is for me? To sharpen the issue just a bit, what am I to do when I face a personal dilemma where both of the options are less than ideal? Not only have I found that there are no easy answers to discerning God’s will for my own life, but also in knowing the will of God for the church and church institutions. Having had the responsibility of leading a Christian higher education provider for more than a de- cade, I’ve not always found it easy to determine either the optimal strategic direction or how to deal with personnel issues from a Christian perspective.

I’ve observed that Christian believers have followed a number of strategies in order to find answers to these questions. The most common—especially for conservative Christians like Seventh-day Adventists—is to ask, “What does the Bible say?” This is a good place to start, but it can also be confusing. For instance, the Bible does not always speak with one voice on a particular issue. Why? The short answer is that while I very firmly believe that the Scriptures are God’s Word for all of us for all time, the Biblical writers are clearly speaking to particular circumstances at specific times.

Added to this is the fact that God, in his grace, appears to accommodate his revelation to the situation in which he finds his people.

The most extreme version of the “What does the Bible say?” approach involves the individual praying, opening the Bible randomly, and pointing to a particular text which will provide the necessary information. For me, the odds of getting the right information are probably less than my chances of winning with a single ticket in Australia’s $80 million Powerball lottery!

Just to underline the fact that the Bible is not always unambiguous in regard to the path that we should take, even in a church community sincere and well-meaning Christians do not see eye to eye on the interpretation of Scripture. A “simple” illustration of this is seen in well-educated Adventist church members, pastors, and theologians seemingly unable to agree on the matter of the ordination of women to gospel ministry. Even our church leaders are not able to agree. Why? It is probably partly because we all come to the text of Scripture from different backgrounds,¹ and also maybe because we have divergent views of what the Bible is and what it is designed to reveal to us.²Of course, there is also the inclination to be selective in regard to what we see in Scripture. For example, I have to confess that I am somewhat fascinated by the preaching of some televangelists who assure their followers that God wants them to prosper financially and all one has to do is to “claim” God’s promises. Have these preachers not read of Job’s troubles?

This brings me to an alternative approach that I’ve found helpful for both personal and Christian community life and theology.

The “Wesleyan Quadrilateral” of Scripture, tradition, reason, and Christian experience describes the approach³ that John Wesley took to religious authority. The term, although never used by Wesley himself, was coined by Wesleyan historians as they examined Wesley’s thought. The question that immediately comes to mind is in regard to how this relates to the classical Reformation formulation of sola scriptura (the Bible alone) which was espoused by no less that Martin Luther. The same Bible only ideology is found in Adventism’s affirmation in the preamble to our 28 Fundamental Beliefs: “Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed . . . .” ⁴It is instructive to ex- amine what sola scriptura meant for Martin Luther. While Luther wanted his theological framework to be based firmly in Scripture, he also highly valued the insights of the early church fathers, particularly those of Augustine (i.e., tradition) and the thinking of his Wittenberg colleagues (i.e., Christian experience and reason).⁵

The majority of our Adventist pioneers came from a Wesleyan/Methodist background, so what might the Wesleyan Quadrilateral look like for us today?

Scripture: For conservative Christians, it is obvious that the Bible holds the primary place in doctrinal and religious authority; perhaps best expressed as prima Scriptura. Passages such as 2 Timothy 3:15-17 immediately come to mind. “All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (v. 16).

Tradition: Adventists have generally been leery of allowing tradition any place of authority: however, we seem to have real difficulty in moving beyond Ellen White’s insights even in different times and situations.⁶ Surely, it would be beneficial to consider if we are “on our own” in terms of biblical interpretation.

Reason: It is certainly helpful for us to ask, “Does this actually make sense?” For example, does it really make sense that women can lead countries and corporations and yet their leadership cannot be acknowledged in the Christian community?⁷ Our reason cannot be the final arbiter of authority, but its voice is ignored to our detriment.

Experience: Place must be given to the leading of the Holy Spirit in both individual and corporate Christian life. Jesus promised that the Spirit would “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:12). To illustrate, surely the growth of the church in China through the ministry of ordained women pastors should cause us to think new thoughts regarding ordination!

The early church faced a huge dilemma as Barnabas and Paul began to take the good news of Jesus across the cultural and religious divide that separated Judaism from the Gentile world. Was it necessary for Gentile Christians to become Jews through circumcision before they could become Christians? This issue had the potential to divide the church or even to stall the spread of the Christian message and the solution could not be found in just a few selected OT passages or even in the explicit teachings of Jesus.

The fact is that the case for circumcision appeared to have more than adequate biblical warrant. After all, it had been declared by God to father Abraham as an “everlasting covenant” for both his natural descendants and foreigners entering his household (Gen 17:12-14). It is instructive to observe the interplay between Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience as the issue was argued out at the first church council in Jerusalem.

This is how it is narrated in Acts 15:

Experience: God has already made a choice to accept Gentiles into the Christian community by giving his Spirit to them (vv. 7-9)

Reason and Tradition: Why should the yoke of circumcision be placed on the necks of the Gentiles when even the ancestors could not bear it (v. 10)

Experience: The assembly were silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describe the “signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them” (v. 13).

Scripture: James assured the council attendees that the “words of the prophets are in agreement with this” (v. 15); citing Amos 9:11-12 as general support.

Reason: James concludes his speech with these words, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” (v. 19).

Tradition, Reason, Experience, and Scripture: The conclusions of the council were summed up in a letter to the Gentile Christians, explaining that ‘It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements” (v. 28). Why the specific prohibitions of vv. 20-21 and v. 29)? The reason offered in v. 21 is that the requirements are consistent with the Mosaic scriptural tradition.

In practice, we sometimes go to Scripture first, but often science or psychology prod us with difficult questions; life experiences push us to reflect on the leading of God through his Spirit; and society and religion challenge us to rethink our traditional perspectives. Some of the questions we face as individuals do not find explicit answers in Scripture. Questions like: What vocation should I choose for myself? Who should I marry? Should I have children? And, the contemporary one: should I get vaccinated? Perhaps even more complex, are some of the questions facing the church community today: How can we foster unity while also valuing diversity? How do we truly enfold the marginalized of society into our congregations? Must we define precisely every doctrinal position and lifestyle concern? Is our identity to be found in Jesus or in Adventism?

There are no simple biblical answers to questions such as these. However, we have the framework of inspired Scripture, the tradition of those who have gone before to guide, individual and collective reason to help us sort through the options, and the leading of the Spirit as we face the future creatively.

–Professor Ray Roennfeldt, PhD, has served the church in Australia and Papua New Guinea as a nurse, pastor, ministry educator, theologian, and university administrator. He recently retired as Vice-Chancellor and President of Avondale University College (now Avondale University). He and his wife, Carmel, live in Australia. Email him at: [email protected].

1. For details of what we bring to the reading of Scripture, see my chapter “Our Story as Text,” in R. Cole and P. Peterson, eds., Hermeneutics, Intertextuality and the Contemporary Meaning of Scripture (Hindmarsh, South Australia: ATF Press, 2014), 81-88. Note that my articles are available at [email protected].

2 For a brief portrayal of the character and purpose of Scripture, see my chapter “The Bible as Text,” in Cole and Peterson, 17-25.

3 For a convenient summary of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral see Robert K. McIver and Ray Roennfeldt, “Test and Interpretation: Christian Understandings of Authoritative Texts in the Light of Social Change,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 20/3 (2009): 268-71.

4 Available at www.adventist.org/beliefs/.

5 See Egil Grislis, “Martin Luther—Cause or Cure of the Problem of Authority,” Consensus: A Canadian Lutheran Journal of Theology 14 (1988): 37.

6 This, in spite of Ellen White’s counsel: “We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change and opinion, will be disappointed.” Ellen G. White, “Search the Scripture,” Review and Herald 69/30 (26 July 1892): 465.

7 For my perspective on the issue of women’s ordination and an application of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral to this topic, see my chapter “Women’s Ordination: Why Not!?”in G. J. Humble and R. K. McIver, eds., South Pacific Perspectives on Ordination: Biblical, Theological and Historical Studies in an Adventist Context (Cooranbong, NSW: Avondale Academic Press, 2015), 13-25.

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