9141525

www.adventistreview.
org
September 11, 2014
46,000 Pathfinders
Descend on Oshkosh
Ready to Be Real
Gods Foursome
8
20
24
Head
subhead
God was ready

when creation had
to be redeemed.
Behold, I come quickly . . .

Our mission is to uplift Jesus Christ by presenting stories of His
matchless love, news of His present workings, help for knowing
Him better, and hope in His soon return.
Were afraid.
Some Adventists refrain from sharing
their problems because they fear the
reactions of their church family.
They say, Im an elder in the church.
Ill lose prestige among the church if
they knew what was really happening,
Bauer said.
We see no point.
The church is not always therapeutic
toward the hurting. We have many
divorced couples in our congregations,
but we do very little to help them. We
pretend we dont have divorce while the
divorced suffer silently. Why would anyone want to ask for help?
Why Should We
Talk About It?
16
COVER FEATURE
16 First Points From
Genesis
Lael Caesar
Sin altered, but did not

ruin, Gods perfect creation.
20
ARTICLES
20 Ready to Be Real
Ron Matthews
Divorce is real. Why

cant we discuss it?
We often think were protecting the

church by keeping our issues to ourselves, but in reality were hurting it.
There are two reasons we should talk
about marital problems that are more
important than any others, because they
determine the future of our church.
To save our marriages
Darlene Karst, a licensed counselor
with her own practice in Tennessee,
hears the same worry from couples
again and again: Were having conflict,
so we must be doomed.
When people have unrealistic expectations, they go into the relationship
thinking that its going to be easy and
that they wont have to do a lot of
work, Karst said. It sets them up for
disaster.
Many couples fall into this trap
because they have never seen a real relationship in action, and sadly, our
churches do not always provide the best
examples.
In the Adventist Church we put up
this front on Sabbath that we are well
put together and everything is fine,
Karst said. We look nice, we sit in our
pews, but it doesnt actually portray an
accurate picture. So someone who is
really struggling looks at that picture
and thinks they dont have enough faith
or are not good enough.
Because we refuse to talk about marital problems, young couples dont know
DEPARTMENTS
4 Letters
7 Page 7
8 World News &
www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014 | ( 8 2 1 )
24 Gods Foursome
Sylvia Scholtus
Getting acquainted
with some of Revelations symbols
28 What Goes Around
21
Perspectives
6
EDITORIALS
6 Bill Knott
St. George and the Dragon
Wilona Karimabadi
How Not to Fall Off

a Paddleboard
13 Give & Take

15 Searching the Obvious
23 Introducing the Why
Hiram Rester
27 GLOW Stories
Maybe the traffic accident was no accident.
31 Reflections
ON THE COVER
Next Week
When Gods creation needed

to be redeemed, He had
the perfect solution.
End-time Hope
It isnt passive; its a
call to action.
Publisher General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Executive Publisher Bill Knott, Associate Publisher Claude Richli, Publishing Board: Ted N. C. Wilson, chair; Benjamin D. Schoun,
vice chair; Bill Knott, secretary; Lisa Beardsley-Hardy; Daniel R. Jackson; Robert Lemon; Geoffrey Mbwana; G. T. Ng; Daisy Orion; Juan Prestol; Michael Ryan; Ella Simmons; Mark Thomas; Karnik
Doukmetzian, legal adviser. Editor Bill Knott, Associate Editors Lael Caesar, Gerald A. Klingbeil, News Editor Andrew McChesney, Coordinating Editor Stephen Chavez, Online Editor Carlos
Medley, Features Editor Sandra Blackmer, Young Adult Editor Kimberly Luste Maran, KidsView Editor Wilona Karimabadi, Operations Manager Merle Poirier, Financial Manager Rachel
Child, Editorial Assistant Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste, Marketing Director Claude Richli, Editors-at-Large Mark A. Finley, John M. Fowler, Senior Advisor E. Edward Zinke, Art Director Bryan
Gray, Desktop Technician Fred Wuerstlin, Ad Sales Glen Gohlke, Subscriber Services Steve Hanson. To Writers: Writers guidelines are available at the Adventist Review Web site: www.adventistreview.org and click About the Review. For a printed copy, send a self-addressed envelope to: Writers Guidelines, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600.
E-mail: revieweditor@gc.adventist.org. Web site: www.adventistreview.org. Postmaster: Send address changes to Adventist Review, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740-7301. Unless
otherwise noted, Bible texts in this issue are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Unless
otherwise noted, all prominent photos are Thinkstock 2014. The Adventist Review (ISSN 0161-1119), published since 1849, is the general paper of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. It is published by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and is printed 36 times a year on the second, third, and fourth Thursdays of each month by the
Review and Herald Publishing Association, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Periodical postage paid at Hagerstown, MD 21740. Copyright 2014, General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Vol. 191, No. 25.
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inbox
Letters From Our Readers

Augu
, 2014
st 14
Vol. 191, No.
www.ad
ventistreview.or
August
Unveils
University
Expansion
Loma Linda
$1.2 Billion
Luther Lets
ASI ISSUE
22
14, 2014
Youre Being
Go
Watched
10
24
28
Stories
of Grace
AmAzemeN
w
t will follo
Outstanding Issue
Thank you for printing the
August 14, 2014, Adventist

Review. It was an outstanding
issue! I was inspired by the
commitment of Marianne
Thieme, leader of the Party
for the Animals in the Netherlands (see Andrew
McChesneys Pioneering
Dutch Politican Finds Success in Practicing What She
Preaches). Shes like a Daniel in Babylon, who will not
bow down to the modern
statutes of liberalism.
I also enjoyed the beautiful stories of grace that were
compiled into the cover
story.
I have a comment on Bill
Knotts interview with
Shawn and Jean Boonstra,
the husband-and-wife team
of the Voice of Prophecy. This
ministry, given by God to
H.M.S. Richards, has made a
difference in the world today.
My father-in-law, R. M.
Rabello, was 44 years old
when he finished his B.A. at
Pacific Union College. In 1943
Richards called him to Glendale, California, where his
voice was tested and he
started the first religious
program in Brazil. Only in

heaven will we know how
many souls have come to the
Lord as a result of the vision
given to Richards.
Even though we live in the
world of the Internet, TV, etc.,
Im amazed how I use and
listen to my radio, especially
when I am driving. Radio is
still very viable, and there are
millions listening. Boonstra
says that in spite of his ministry on TV hes really a radio
person. Hes absolutely right.
Millions of people are listening in their cars, or while
working in their garage,
yard, etc. Boonstra said that
he does not have the ability
to tune you in, but God
does. Let us use all media
available to reach souls for
Christ!
and validate their loyalty?

I am only a teen, and
sometimes feel very held
back by my age and lack of
experience. The fire burns in
my heart for French ministries. I see the hand of God
directing my passion. Ive
been told, Eh, the French are
a hopeless case; leave them
alone and find something
better, but my response is
No way! I encourage anyone in ministry to continue
in Gods guidance and not to
give up. Its difficult and discouraging, but the only
approval we need is from
God. He said long ago that
He is God and will make a
way in the wilderness and
streams in the desert (Isa.
43:19). Bon courage!
HANNAH PEEK
Benton, Illinois
that someone expressed in

print what I have been feeling for a long time. In his
August 14, 2014, editorial
The Visit of the Magi Bill
Knott said, How is it that we
have subtly constructed a
church culture across the
face of Adventism in which
new ministries must wait for
approvalmust hold their
tongues and cool their fires
until they get permission?
Why does the onus lie on
those in whom the Spirit
burns to justify their plans
College Place, Washington
Another (False)
Argument
I really enjoyed Cliff Gold-
steins article Another

(False) Argument Against a
Six-Day Creation (July 24,
2014). While Goldstein made
a compelling argument for a
six-day creation, I wish he
would have given some ideas
as to the source of light on
our earth before the sun and
moon were created on the
fourth day. There must be
hundreds of readers who
would like to know the
possibilities.
Lafayette, Colorado
While I was reading Cliff
Estero, Florida
I was so delighted to see
HELEN HEAVIRLAND
WALTER S. HAMERSLOUGH
Leo Ranzolin, Sr.
The Visit of the Magi
pregnant with meaning

thoughts that, meditated on
along with Scripture, could
turn our lives and our
upside-down world right
side up.
A Savor of Life
Unto Life
Thank you for selecting the

Ellen G. White passage A
Savor of Life Unto Life (Aug.
14, 2014). Each sentence is
Goldsteins article Another

(False) Argument Against
Six-Day Creation, a question
came to my mind. If we have
no clues to find out the
nature of the origin of the
light that separated the light
from the darkness in Genesis
1:3-5, is not this a confession
that our adversaries have an
irrefutable false argument
I encourage anyone in ministry to
continue in Gods guidance and not to
give up.
( 8 0 4 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014
HANNAH PEEK, Benton, Illinois
against a six-day creation?

The definition we have for
day in Scripture is a regular period of evening and
morning separated or ruled
by the sun. If any of the six
days of creation cannot fit
into this category (ruled by
the sun), then the first week
of creation could no longer
be a perfect model for the
successive weeks.
But Ellen White affirms
that it is, saying:
God Himself measured
off the first week as a sample
for the successive weeks to
the close of time. Like every
other, it consisted of seven
literal days. Six days were
employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God
rested, and He then blessed
this day (Patriarchs and
Prophets, p. 111).
This gives us total assurance that when God pointed
out the reason for the Sabbath, For in six days the
Lord made the heavens and
the earth, the sea, and all that
is in them, but he rested on
the seventh day. Therefore
the Lord blessed the Sabbath
day and made it holy (Ex.
20:11), He meant what He
said. Holding fast to this
position, the six-day creation
is vindicated.
ARTUR A. OLIVEIRA
Palm Coast, Florida
Friendship and Other

Kinds of Evangelism
I appreciated the compre-
hensive and interesting article Friendship Evangelism:

Is There Any Other Kind? by
Joseph Kidder and David
Penno (June 19, 2014). When
it comes to soul winning, I
agree that usually evangelism is not one single

approach or event; evangelism is many influences creating the right atmosphere
that gradually moves people
toward God. But I feel that
the article overlooked one
sure and easy way for winning souls: enrolling people
in the Voice of Prophecy
(VOP) Discover Bible course.
These Discover Bible
guides have proved to be
very effective in soul winning, not only here in the
U.S. but also around the
world, having been translated into hundreds of languages. Those who complete
the Discover course are
asked to fill out a questionnaire. Of all of those who
complete the course and
answer the questions, 90-95
percent of answers are positive toward the question
How do you feel about
keeping the seventh-day
Sabbath?
June
14
19, 20
Vol. 191, No.
www.ad
ventistreview.or
June 19,
17
2014
I,
World War
Later
100 Years
Got Rocks?
The Church
Boys
11
14
26
Friendansgehip
lism
Ev
Making
s
connection
for christ
It is very exciting to read

the answer to this and the
other questions and to know
that people everywhere are
searching for the truth. We
have it. We need to spread
the good news. Contact the
VOP for enrollment cards
and if interested in knowing
how to get enrollments to
the course, just e-mail me at
lrguild@aol.com.
The issues in the great contro-
versy, which include the character of

God and the end of sin and sinners,
need to be clearly understood.
JOANNE RECTOR, Battle Creek, Michigan
14
5, 20
M ay 1
Vol. 191, No.
www.ad
ventistreview.or
May 15,
14
2014
Remembered
Missing Doctorin Washington
ful and
A Wonder Truth
Terrible
Whats in
a Name?
9
21
26
foR
SeARchiNg
ceD
A bAlAN
iNg
uNDeRSTAND
of Gods
character
God Is . . . ?
I feel uncomfortable with
Joseph Olstads perspective

in the Adventist Review cover
feature God Is . . . ? (May 15,
2014). As with some of the
reader responses printed in
the Review, my picture of God
has also been profoundly
changed because of Graham
Maxwell and Jack Provonshas understanding of
Gods character. I believe that
a closer look at Scripture and
the messages of Ellen White
bears out the conclusions of
Maxwell and Provonsha.
Concerning models and
metaphors of God, the question to ask is: What is Gods
model of Himself? God uses
relational metaphors to
describe what He desires
from His children and what
He gives to His children.
The issues in the great
controversy, which include
the character of God and the
end of sin and sinners, need
to be clearly understood. If
love is the foundation of
Gods character, He wouldnt

have one standard of love for
us and another standard of
love for Himself. Ellen White
asserts that the last message of mercy to be given to
the world is a revelation of
His character of love
(Christs Object Lessons, p. 415).
If any of Gods children
refuse to accept His gift of
eternal life, will He kill them?
Or does a choice to live apart
from the Lifegiver mean we
will refuse to have life? Cancer kills; the doctor doesnt.
JOANNE RECTOR
Battle Creek, Michigan
We welcome your letters, noting,

as always, that inclusion of a letter
in this section does not imply that
the ideas expressed are endorsed by
either the editors of the Adventist
Review or the General Conference.
Short, specific, timely letters have
the best chance at being published
(please include your complete
address and phone numbereven
with e-mail messages). Letters will
be edited for space and clarity only.
Send correspondence to Letters to
the Editor, Adventist Review, 12501
Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD
20904-6600; Internet: letters@
adventistreview.org.
LILLIAN R. GUILD
Loma Linda, California
Editorials
St. George and the Dragon

Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil
has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time (Rev. 12:12, NKJV).*
Bill
Knott
The dragon is not amused. Suffice it to say that he never laughsnot real laughter anyway
the gentle, unforced mirth that rises in all who are secure within themselves, with God, and
with His universe.
And while the dragon has been plenty busy of lateinstigating brutalities in Syria and
Ukraine; manufacturing yet more Ebola in West Africait is no stretch to surmise that he was
particularly unhappy with one small Utah city at the end of August, and with a midsized gathering of scientists and theologians who collectively determined to stem the progress of his
kingdom. According to the ancient Christian legend, the dragon has always hated St. George.
All of this may seem an overly cosmic reading of the circumstances surrounding the International Conference on the Bible and Science that gathered in St. George, Utah, August 15-24.
Hosted by the Faith and Science Council of the General Conference, and coordinated by the Education Department and Geoscience Research Institute (GRI), the event drew more than 400 of the
Adventist Churchs leading theologians and scientists together for 10 days of conversation, lectures, field trips, and inspiration. The conferences clearly stated purposes included a goal to
demonstrate the biblical worldview as a lens through which to view science and reality, as supported by examples from history, theology, biology, and geology, and another to equip teachers to develop an informed
faith in the biblical view of earth history and to share that view with their students in a faith-affirming way.
But when we bring these goals down to the level of what actually happens in hundreds of Adventist secondary, collegiate, and graduate classrooms around the globe, the cosmic nature of
what occurred in St. George begins to be apparent. It is no mystery that one of the devils most
important targets at this moment is the generation of young Seventh-day Adventists now moving through the churchs worldwide educational system. If they can be intimidated by intense
cultural propaganda and lukewarm enthusiasm among some who teach in Adventist classrooms into going quiet on the significance of faith in the Bibles account of origins, the broad,
smooth path that leads to theological disintegration and disorientation will tempt many of
them beyond which they are able. They will move out into professions, trades, servicesand
even ministryunsteady, uncertain, and unsure at just the moment when exactly opposite
convictions are needed.
The decisive question of the moment is whether this generation of Adventist parents, grandparents, teachers, and leaders can successfully communicate our biblically derived faithwithout lossto the generations that follow us. Nothing in the churchs arsenal of holy weaponry
is so potent against the dragon as a thoughtful, honest, and faith-affirming Adventist classroom. Which is precisely why our classrooms are, for all their seeming tranquility, the focus of a
cosmic battle more fierce than we imagine. Unseen forces gather there for combat, with eternal
consequences at least as real as any we glimpse in dry Iraqi deserts.
This is just the time that Adventist believers, like Elisha the prophet, ought to be praying with
all the focus holy faith is granted: Lord, we pray, open their eyes that they may see (see 2 Kings 6:17).
We pray for teachersof Bible and biology, geometry and geology, education and environmental science, nursing and nutrition, social science and sola scripturathat they will be reminded,
and if necessary, chastened, by the horses and chariots of fire arrayed upon the mountainside.
And we pray for studentsof every kind, in every classroomthat they will feel the brush of
wings about their desks. We pray that they will discover the confidence of learning what has
always beenand will always be truein this great and cosmic controversy: Those who are with
us are more than those who are with them (verse 16). n
* Texts credited to NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
( 8 0 6) | www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014
How Not to Fall Off

a Paddleboard
Stand-up paddleboarding is a popular water sport. Its
basically the fusion of kayaking and surfing and can be done by pretty much anyone. The board
looks like a surfing longboard but thicker, with a foam or neoprene footing area on top. To do it,
you start by sitting cross-legged, then progress to kneeling and finally to standing fully upright,
using a single oar to propel yourself forward and help you turn.
I learned how to do it last summer on a quiet sound in North Carolinas Outer Banks. The
water was still, warm, and, most important, shallow. Sitting and kneeling on the board are the
easiest ways to start, and I was very comfortable that way. When I braved the standing-up portion, however, I wobbled, and wobbled some more, until I tumbled into the (shallow) sea. This
happened several times throughout my first session.
What I kept forgetting was the instructors very simple and effective direction: When you
wobble, he said, dont look down. Instead, keep your eyes on the horizon, and your body will
establish equilibrium. But of course every time I wobbled, Id immediately look down at my
feet to see what was happening to the board and water beneath me and fall right in. Finally I
wised up. At the next wobble I looked up and focused on the line where the ocean meets the
sky, and suddenly I was steady.
Looking down at the struggle and focusing on the source of the turbulence wont keep you
upright. You have to look up and focus on the horizon, where the earth meets the sky and where
the sky leads to a heaven lovingly prepared by the King. Because who
wants to be pitched into the abyss when a steady ride to eternity
with our Savior awaits? n
esus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, just as a king would

enter a city. He was surrounded by joyful, enthusiastic
people waving branches and shouting praise. The rulers then
asked a question that would echo down through the ages:
Wilona
Karimabadi
Who Is This?
ADAM will tell you, It is the womans seed that shall bruise the serpents head (Gen. 3:15).
ABRAHAM will tell you, It is Melchizedek, King of Salem, King of peace (Gen. 14:18).
JACOB will tell you, He is Shiloh of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10).
ISAIAH will tell you, Immanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace (Isa. 7:14; 9:6).
JEREMIAH will tell you, He is the Branch of David, The Lord Our Righteous Savior (Jer. 23:6).
DANIEL will tell you, He is the Messiah (Dan. 9:25, NKJV).*
HOSEA will tell you, He is the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable name (Hosea 12:5, NKJV).
JOHN THE BAPTIST will tell you, He is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world (John 1:29, KJV).
Adapted from The Desire of Ages, pp. 58, 59.

*Texts credit to NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
photos: Rich Herard/ NA D
World News & Perspectives
CELEBRATING JESUS: Newly baptized Pathfinders releasing balloons during the Sabbath service on August 16, 2014, at the Pathfinder
Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin
More than 600 Pathfinders

Baptized at Oshkosh Camporee
Some 46,000 campers spend five days studying
Daniels life, engaging in community service, and
learning what it means to be forever faithful.
By ANSEL OLIVER, ANN, and ANDREW MCCHESNEY,
news editor, Adventist Review
Hundreds of children ages 10 to 15
accepted the challenge to be forever
faithful and got baptized at a campout
attended by tens of thousands of Pathfinders in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
The campout, held at an airfield in the
city of Oshkosh every five years, brought
together an estimated 44,000 people
from North America and another 2,000
from 50 other countries on August
11-16.
The event, themed Forever Faithful,
focused on the biblical prophet Daniel,
with evening programs offering theatrical performances from the life of the
hero who rose from the lowly post of
captured slave to Babylons prime min-
ister thanks to his trust in God.

The programs, staged in an outdoor
amphitheater with five large video
screens, also featured a video summary
of the day, puppet acts, Pathfinder talent showcases, worship songs, and a
10-minute talk by keynote speaker Sam
Leonor, chaplain of La Sierra University
in Riverside, California.
Each evening Leonor summarized a
lesson from the latest installment of the
Daniel performance and added a personal anecdote before urging the children to accept Jesus the main goal of
the event. Jesus is forever faithful,
Leonor told the crowd on the evening of
August 14.
More than 600 Pathfinders were baptized on the evenings of August 13, 14,
and 15, and the morning of the final
day, Sabbath, August 16, Daniel Weber,
communication director for the
churchs North American Division, said
Tuesday.
This was the fourth time that the
North American Division Pathfinder
Camporee, hosted by the Andrews University-based Center for Youth Evangelism, was held in Oshkosh, a gathering
that increased the citys population by
about 70 percent.
Ive never been so physically
exhausted, but Ive never been happier
to be this tired, Ron Whitehead, camp
organizer and director of the Center for
Youth Evangelism, said at the start of
the event, which he said took four years
to plan. We really care about and value
our young people.
Daily activities included such community service projects as making arts
and crafts with children at a local public
library, cleaning up the Winneconne
lakeshore, and pulling weeds, cleaning
windows, and loading trucks at a Salva-
photo : R ich H erard/ N AD
FOREVER FAITHFUL: A young Pathfinder

getting baptized on Sabbath, August 16,
2014, the last day of a camporee themed
Forever Faithful and attended by
46,000 people in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
finder Club at Hope Adventist Church in

Toronto, Canada. He spoke as he waited
for the airfields hangars to open so he
could play basketball, go zip-lining, and
try out an obstacle course inside.
I came because I heard it was fun,
Rhooms said of the camp. Everyone
said it was a good experience, good
memories, and you draw closer to God.
Tiffany Fronda, 27, deputy director of

the Challengers Pathfinder Club at the
Filipino-American Adventist Church in
Hinsdale, Illinois, said the weather
wasnt great, but it could have been
worse.
The Lord always comes through,
she said, adding, At least we dont have
to worry about a sandstorm, which
occurred at the 1994 campout in
Colorado.
Honestly, the atmosphere here is
amazing and powerful, said Angelica
Chan, a three-time Oshkosh attendee
and a member of the Pleasant Hill Pathfinder Club in California. She shared her
impressions in an eyewitness report
published at spectrummagazine.org.
Its incredible to have so many Adventist youth gathered together to worship God together. n
photo: ann
tion Army community center. The children also earned Honor patches and
participated in various learning
activities.
Some Pathfinders deserve an Honor
patch for just reaching Oshkosh. Eleven
Pathfinders from the Adventist Churchs
Carolina Conference made the 830-mile
trip by bicycle in nearly three weeks.
Other Pathfinder clubs spent years organizing car washes and bake sales to earn
the entrance fee of $195 per person, plus
money for travel expenses and supplies.
Unexpected wind and rain offered the
campers a surprise shortly after the
camp opened, turning the 500-acre
campground into a muddy field. But
few Pathfinders complained.
Its been kind of challenging. Our
kitchen tent flew away, said Terell
Rhooms, 15, from the Frontiers Path-
BIG CAMPOUT: Some 46,000 campers attending an evening program at the amphitheater of the Forever Faithful Pathfinder
Camporee on August 13, 2014, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014 | ( 8 0 9)
prompted, in part, a decision by the

Adventist Church to start organizing
Bible and science conferences in 2002.
In his speech Wilson quoted from
Whites book Testimonies to Ministers and
Gospel Workers: When the Lord declares
that He made the world in six days and
rested on the seventh day, He means the
day of twenty-four hours, which He has
marked off by the rising and setting of
the sun (p. 135).
How much plainer could it get?
Wilson asked.
He said that the very name SeventhNATURAL BEAUTY: This stunning photograph of the Delicate Arch near Moab, Utah, was
day
Adventist pointed to a literal sixpictured on the delegate materials at the Bible and science conference held in St. George,
day creation because it would make
Utah, on August 14-25, 2014.
little sense to commemorate a seventhday Sabbath if the original Sabbath had
Utah
lasted for years instead of 24 hours.
If one does not accept the recent sixday creation understanding, then that
person is actually not a Seventh-day
Adventist Church leader makes case for a young earth
Adventist, since the seventh-day Sabbath would become absolutely meanat a major Bible and science conference in Utah.
ingless historically and theologically
By ANDREW MCCHESNEY, news editor, Adventist Review
and most of our biblically based doctrines centered in Christ and His
Wilson said in his keynote speech. I call
World church president Ted N. C.
on you to be champions of creation based authoritative voice would become
Wilson forcefully asserted that life has
meaningless as well, Wilson said.
on the biblical account and reinforced so
existed on the earth for only a few thouHe cautioned against associating
explicitly by the Spirit of Prophecy.
sand years, not millions of years, as he
with scientists, humanists, and some
He pointed to such Bible passages as
opened an educators conference on
who claim to be Seventh-day AdventGenesis 1 and 2 and Psalm 33:6, 9 and
August 15, 2014, and he said teachers
ists who have embraced an evolutionthe writings of Adventist Church
who believe otherwise should not call
based creation theory.
cofounder Ellen G. White to reject a
themselves Seventh-day Adventists or
Do not believe them or participate in
popular teaching that each day in the
work in church-operated schools.
this manipulation of
biblical creation week
Wilson spoke to a crowd of mainly
biblical truth regarding
might have lasted milteachers at the start of the 10-day Intercreation and the visible
lions of years, thereby
national Conference on the Bible and
commemoration of cremaking the world
Science in Las Vegas, Nevada. Later that
ationthe Sabbath, he
much older than the
day the conferences 443 participants
told conference partici6,000-odd years that
traveled to St. George, Utah, a location
pants. In essence, evocreationists believe
chosen for its easy access to three geolution is not a science.
have passed since the
logical sites that they planned to
He said educators
earth was formed.
explore between more than a week of
should support creThe popular teachsessions on archaeology, geology, paleationism from the heart
ing, which mixes the
ontology, and biology.
or do the honorable
biblical story with
As teachers on the campuses of
thing and resign.
Darwins theory of
Seventh-day Adventist academies, colA CALL FOR CHAMPIONS:
It is that important
evolution, has
leges, and universities, and leaders in
Adventist Church president Ted
to
Gods ultimate misappeared in some
Gods church, . . . hold firmly to a literal
N. C. Wilson addresses the Bible
sion,
he said.
Adventist schools in
recent creation and absolutely reject theand science conference on August
Ed Zinke, an Adrecent years and
istic and general evolutionary theory,
15, 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
photo : Larry Blackmer
Wilson Says No Room for Evolutionists in Adventist Schools
10
photo : Larry Blackmer
ventist theologian, businessman, and

member of the conferences planning
committee, explained in an interview
that the implications of misinterpreting the Bible could run deep and seriously harm a persons relationship
with God.
A scriptural understanding of God
makes it possible for us to have a closer
relationship with Him than if we have a
false concept of God, Zinke said.
His remarks mirrored Whites writings about Cain and Abel, the first offspring in the Bible. White said that Cain
and Abel both thought they were worshipping the same God with their sacrifices, but God rejected Cains sacrifice
because Cain did not worship the true
God.
While the Utah conference was rooted
in the Bible, it was also about science
and was to include presentations on
fossils, rock formations, and recent
archaeological findings that confirm the
Bible record. One recent discovery
found that King Davids name was
carved on the entrance to city gates,
offering scientific evidence that the Israelite king is more than a Bible story.
It seemed impossible to prove even
50 years ago, but now they are finding
that the Bible can be relied upon to
guide you in archaeology, Zinke said.
Conference participants, who
included representatives of Adventist
schools around the world as well as
church leaders, scientists, and a few
doctoral students, were to go on three
field trips for a close-up look at evidence supporting the belief that the
earth is relatively young: to Virgin River
Gorge, a long canyon located between
St. George, Utah, and Littlefield, Arizona;
the Grand Canyon in Arizona; and
Utahs Zion National Park, which has a
15-mile canyon plunging up to a half
mile deep at some points.
Arthur V. Chadwick, a geologist and
professor at Southwestern Adventist
University, said scientists have to rely
on faith no matter whether they support creation or evolution.
EXAMINING CREATION: Conference coorganizer Ed Zinke opens up dialogue during the Bible and science conference,
which started in Las Vegas, Nevada, on
August 15, 2014.
As we evaluate the data, we see

things that are problems for creationists and we see things that are problems
for evolutionists, he said by phone
ahead of the conference. No one can
claim that they believe one more than
the other, because it is not transparent;
it leaves the possibility of choice.
Chadwick has devoted his entire
career to finding scientific evidence that
supports creationism and has pub-
lished more than 50 research articles in

mainstream journals. He was to present
some of his latest findings at the
conference.
Zinke, who also was presenting at the
conference, said he hoped that educators would take the latest scientific
research supporting the young earth
viewpoint from the conference and use
it to strengthen their own faith and that
of their students.
Were hoping to enrich teachers so
that theyll be well informed in the
classroom and that theyll understand
the importance of portraying a biblical
worldview to their students, helping
them understand how that impacts various disciplines, including science, and
how it impacts their personal lives and
their commitment to God, he said. n
Read President Wilsons entire speech at
www.adventistreview.org/affirmingcreation/gods-authoritative-voice.
Maryland
Ellen G. White Estate Closes

for Eight-Month Revamp
The renovation aims to provide visitors
with an enhanced museum experience,
estate director James Nix says.
By Ansel Oliver, ANN
The Ellen G. White Estate, located on
the lower level at the Adventist Churchs

world headquarters in Silver Spring,
Maryland, has closed for tours and
research until April 2015 amid a major
remodeling aimed at improving the visitor experience.
The Ellen G. White Estate, a popular
draw for visitors, features a research
library, many of Whites original manuscripts, memorabilia, and artwork specifically created for the estate. The
redesigned premises are to offer an
enhanced visitor center with more
interactive displays and exhibits.
We want people to have an enhanced
museum experience and come away
from it knowing something they didnt

already know about Ellen White, White
Estate director James Nix said. We also
hope it will motivate people to read
more of her writings.
Since the estates closure in midAugust, its employees have been working in other areas of the churchs
headquarters.
Regularly scheduled tours of the
churchs headquarters are not affected
by the closure, and research scholars
and other people can visit one of the
estates 23 regional centers located
throughout the world.
Upon reopening, the estate will offer
a tour that teaches visitors about the
11
Photo : A nsel O liver /AN N
IN THE VAULT: Raquel Garcia-Marenko, a tour guide for the Ellen G. White Estate, showing tourist Diane Bauer some of Whites original typed manuscripts in a fireproof vault
and research center at the world churchs headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, on
Aug. 23, 2012.
beginnings of the Adventist Church,

exhibits that feature a time line of Ellen
Whites life, information about her
overseas missionary experiences in
Europe and Australia, and a mural with

narration in five languages.
One exhibit will highlight Whites
ministry as a writer. Nix said the display
would include copies of Whites book

Steps to Christ in more than 100
languages.
Also, a room will be re-created to
demonstrate how Adventists in former
Communist countries translated her
books in secret to avoid detection by
police, who often listened for the sound
of typewriters.
The renovation project has been contracted to Flip TV, a production company based in Laurel, Maryland.
Were very honored to be involved in
this because we know the meaning of
what this visitor center will be to the
world church, said Clayton Nunes, Flip
TVs creative director.
The final stop on the tour will feature
a small chapel with a video that challenges visitors to join Whites mission
in spreading the gospel.
Were also hoping people see themselves as part of this movement that
God sent a messenger to, Nix said. She
was a real blessing to this church. n
World Church
Adventist Church Recommends

Travel Ban Amid Ebola Outbreak
Epidemic kills at least one Adventist member in West Africa.
By Ansel Oliver, ANN
The Seventh-day Adventist Churchs top health official
has urged church employees and members to avoid traveling

to and from countries in West Africa affected by the Ebola epidemic, a recommendation that came as the World Health
Organization declared the outbreak an international health
emergency.
Health Ministries Department director Peter Landless
also said officials at the churchs world headquarters were
working with two Adventist hospitals in West Africa to protect staff and patients from the virus.
The outbreak across three West African countries has
killed more than 960 people during the past six months,
including an Adventist Church member.
Church member Joenpu Loweal, a 27-year-old nurse, died
after contracting the Ebola virus while working in her job at
Phebe Hospital in Liberias Bong County, said James Golay,
12
president of the denominations West African Union Mission.

In an e-mail to presidents of each of the denominations
13 world divisions and two attached fields, Landless
recommended:
Avoidance of travel from the affected countries Liberia,
Sierra Leone, and Guinea to conferences elsewhere until there
is clear evidence that the epidemic is abating and under control.
In the most severely affected areas, avoidance of attendance at public gatherings.
When meeting and greeting, avoid hugging and other
public displays of affection.
These recommendations are stringent but necessary, and
reminiscent of those suggested during the SARS outbreak a
few years ago, Landless said.
Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids and tissues of an infected person. n
terry crews
Soun d B ite
lets pray
Have a prayer need? Have

a few free minutes? Each
Wednesday morning at 8:15
EDT the Adventist Review staff
meets to pray for people
children, parents, friends,
coworkers. Send your prayer
requests and, if possible, pray
with us on Wednesday mornings. Send requests to: Lets
Pray, Adventist Review, 12501
Old Columbia Pike, Silver
Spring, MD 20904-6600; fax:
301-680-6638; e-mail: prayer
@adventistreview.org.
God put the brains

on top to control
everything under it.
Paul Volk, Mountain View Conference Camp
Meeting, West Virginia
God fed Elijah

twice a day, not
round the clock!
Student Olatunde Fagboyegun, summarizing
lifestyle changes for Ingo Sorkes Life and
Teachings of Jesus class, Southwestern
Adventist University, Texas
a dve n tist l i f e
During the sermon on graduation Sabbath for our

churchs Vacation Bible School, the pastor was telling a
story about his younger days. He was riding his motorcycle through a field when he hit a rock. The motorcycle
made an abrupt stop when it hit the rock, but his inertia kept him going through the air. The pastor asked
the children, What law came into operation then?
A little boy blurted out, That you couldnt fly!
Philip A. Lewis, Seaman, Ohio
CA M P M EETI N G M E M ORI ES
Circa 2007, Mark Finley was speaking at camp meeting. It was miraculous! I had just returned to church
after years of being a prodigal, and I wanted to understand the Holy Spirits work. I bought The Coming of
the Comforter, but could not grasp it.
Finley started speaking the first night, and I was
excited, because his topic was the Holy Spirit! Imagine
my surprise when halfway through, and while enjoying
it extremely, I noticed that he quoted the book I was
reading! It was that book!
That night I went home, dug out the book, and read
a full third of it that very night! That week Finley covered the entire book, but the Holy Spirit worked a miracle in opening wide my understanding. It was my first
camp meeting back, and God was on full display!
Debbie Chennault, Michigan
My best camp meeting was at Uyo, Akwa-Ibom,

Nigeria, in April 2014. It was for the Nigeria Association
of Adventist Students (NAAS), in the Eastern Nigeria
Union Conference. Before then, I had underestimated
the Adventist youth, and this camp meeting taught me
that the Adventist Church is alive and growing. There
were no complaints of theft and other vices. I was glad
I attended; and I made new friends. It was my first
NAAS camp meeting ever.
The truth is marching on!
Vilawa Kezia, Nigeria
September 11, 2014 | ( 8 1 3 )
13
Searching the Obvious
Silence
I sit on the floor surrounded by Bible commentaries, devotional
books, Bibles, and several e-mails from my friend Carolyn, who always reminds me that she is praying for
me. I am trying to understand why my prayer has not been answered, trying to understand heavens silence.
***
A daily task engrained by my parents since childhood: start your day with prayer. I kneel and lay out my
day to my heavenly Father. I present the challenges I am facing: working with difficult people, constant
awareness, and prayer for grace to be an example.
But I am troubled. My chaplaincy work has reminded me of how fragile we are. In the past two weeks
four hospice children under the age of 10 have succumbed to death. I dont understand it. My teaching job reminds me of both the good and evil in the world, as I see young people who know
nothing of God try to make ethical decisions in their lives while suffering unspeakable tragedies and difficulties.
Volunteering with Meals on Wheels two days ago broke my heart, as I helped deliver food
and found out that elderly individuals care more for sustenance of the soul (company and
conversation) than sustenance of the body. But there were so many meals to deliver. I feel at a
loss. So I pray: Dear God, be my light; lead me to where You want me to be.
I pause. Its not there. The peace; the overwhelming peace I often feel when I pray. I am
praying for hope to give to others, and hope to sustain me in what appears to be, at the
moment, a dark world. I am praying for guidance. Holy Spirit, where are You?
With nothing left to say, I wonder, Did He hear me?

***
At the campus library I reach for the etymology dictionary. Silence. I have the promise: Because
I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:12-14). I
feel that I have more to give to this mission of faith. Where am I supposed to be?
I find the entry: Silence. Silere; to be quiet or to be still; absence of sound; avoidance of speaking of something; a state of standing still.1 I keep reading through the definitions, the era, how the word became; then I
see it: silence (silence) to enhance vision by offering no sound.2 To observe?
I walk out of the library. The beautiful water fountain and benches perfectly placed in shaded areas
beckon me. I have to think. I have to pray.
My desire for solitude is interrupted. Students walk by, sit, and chat. One of them is getting married and
shows me a picture of her wedding dress. Another student walks by, and I end up seeing birthday pictures
from his sons first birthday. Twenty students stop by for pleasant conversation, laughter, and
camaraderie.
To enhance vision by offering no sound, said the dictionary. Its a simple, obvious definition, a new
definition, my definition: Silence: to open your eyes and truly see what is in front of you, to do the best you
can to the glory of God, to stand still with no fear of the quiet.
***
End of day; I gather my office mail. Just one little envelope has my name written on the front in beautiful
handwriting. Inside is a notecard with the inscription: Isaiah 43:1-3.
I remember my prayer: Lead me where You want me to be. No silence, just a reminder of an answer, a
promise.
Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord
thy God (KJV). n
Dixil
Rodrquez
Oxford Etymology Dictionary.

Ibid.
1
2
Dixil Rodrguez is a college professor and volunteer hospital chaplain who lives in Texas.
15
Cover Feature
BY LAEL CAESAR
16
t pays to know where you are from:

My Guyana, El Dorado, best of all
the world to me! they taught my
infant voice to sing. And while I
sang that unattributed song, Valerie Rodway was writing her own moving music to Walter Mac Andrew
Lawrences inspired poetry that her husband, my English teacher, and Lynette
Dolphin, my music teacher, made sure I
sang: O beautiful Guyana, O my lovely
native land, more dear to me than all the
world, thy sea-washed, sun-kissed
strand!
Those were important songs. My
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elders taught me to stand for hours

under the equatorial sun with hundreds of other dozen-year-old Guyanese striplings so we could sing them
to British royalty touring their endless
realms on which the sun never set.
Were the songs for me, then? Or were
they for the princess Margaret? When
the strains of our singing, and the days
of our childhood, and the memories of
British Empire would have sunk away
to sunset and silence and yesterdays
mysterious history, would it then be
settled where we all were from? Or
would there still be questions? It pays
Questions
God answers
in Genesis
to know where you are from. And there

are even better ways to know than the
earnest sentiment, or the stirring Sousa
rhythms of patriotic music.
Another Answer
There is a book named Genesis, a book
on belonging that begins before Sir Walter Raleigh called gold-rich South American land El Dorado; and before there
was British royalty who could grant him
knighthood; and before there were
nights, and before there were days. Genesis begins at the beginning. In the
beginning, the sacred book informs,
elevated, authoritative, inspiring and

dignified. In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1).1
Now, Genesis is not the only ancient
Near Eastern story of beginnings:
When of the gods none had been
called into being,
And none bore a name, and no destinies were ordained;
Then were created the gods in the
midst of heaven,
Lahmu and Lahamu were called into
being.2
Ancient Babylons creation story,
Enuma Elish, explains more than Gene-
sis does. It exposes the very gods beginnings, and thus betrays its earthbound
source. For in Enuma Elish everything,
gods included, must be bounded by
beginnings. Enuma Elish speaks as it
does and not otherwise because the
mortals who conceive it know no
grander sphere. Their source of creative
genius is now controlled by the stretching and straining of human mind. And
the humans of that mind begin and end,
bury and give birth, learn and forget,
start and finish, discover and are displaced, and are born to die. So Enuma
Elish explains the circular little world
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17
where beginnings include the gods who,

like states and empires and royalty and
commoner, come, then go.
Not so in Genesis. For the God of Genesis is not the product of finitude. I
AM is who He is (Ex. 3:14). And so has
He been and so will He be from everlasting to everlasting (Ps. 90:2). He
inhabits eternity (Isa. 57:15). It is His
house, and one that nobody built or
could have built for Him. He is before
our concept of it since He is before
everything. Only because of Him does
time or forever hold together (Col.
1:17). Genesis does not explain God,
because the God of Genesis is inexplicable, beyond the boundaries and finitudes of human mind at its fullest
stretch. If we stretched to bursting, we
would not find Him out (see Job 11:7).
And after our exhaustion we would
know that our will to explain His ways
past finding out (Rom. 11:33) is but the
revelation of our inadequacy.
ways of making corruption and corruptibility a divine and original blessedness when He would have us know
them as the curse that has blighted that
blessedness (Gen. 3:14-24), a curse He
removes by bearing it Himself (John
1:29, 36; Gal. 3:13).
Sophisticated conversations on macroevolution notwithstanding, we know
our beginnings, we know where we are
from, we know the height and dignity of
our origins because we know our God.
Our God is the God of Genesis.
By His revelation we know that in six
days He created a flawless, uncorrupted
world of birds and bees, mountains and
trees, fishes and seas, yous and mes
and instituted Creations celebratory
rest on the following seventh day (Gen.
1:31-2:3; Ex. 20:8-11).
Purposeful Living
It pays to know where you are from. It
pays, too, to have a purpose for being, a
Eternity is His
house that
nobody built
for Him.
Explanations Versus
Revelation
There have been explanations proposedintriguing ways to explain His
ways past finding out that incorporate
destruction, decay, and death as part of
His process when His own revealed
record shows death as diametrically
opposite to the life He gives (see Gen.
2:16, 17); ingenuous and awkward little
18
reason for living. What was the point of

humanitys being, in the beginning? If
your God is the God of Genesis, then
there is an answer to that question too,
with insight into the mind of God
expressed before He creates the man
and the woman: Let Us make man in
Our image, according to Our likeness;
and let them rule over . . . all the earth,
and over every . . . thing (Gen. 1:26).
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Your Genesis God created you for a

purpose and according to a pattern.
Your purpose is rulership, and your
pattern is the image and likeness of
God. And as He proposed, so He accomplished: God created man in His own
image, in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them.
God blessed them; and God said to
them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill
the earth, and subdue it; and rule over
every . . . thing (verses 27, 28).
Humanitys oneness-in-plurality
would reflect the divine oneness-inplurality. But it would not be a trinity,
lest the creatures should be tempted to
the blasphemy of proposing an equivalency of Father, Son, and Spirit among
us. Still, Genesis 1 shows God not only
as the author of life in general, but also
as the originator of consultative life,
life where intelligent communication,
sharing, and interchange are fundamental to being.
And what of the dominion that God
assigns? Its exercise is after the manner
of Himself, the God who is the pattern.
The twin blights of our sin-deprived
imagination and our continuing experience of the difficulties of coexistence
combine to deny todays humans any
proper appreciation for that original
ideal of dominion. By creating humanity in His image, after His likeness, the
God who from all eternity has ruled in
community granted to intelligent creatures the supraphysical privilege of
authority in mutuality.
It is a concept that stood unassailable
for ages before the vicious prescriptions
of the jungle law of evolution. It is the
offense that those who crave ascendancy
must ever rail against in all their idealized, hierarchical one-upmanship of
heads and tails. Lucifers articulations
are but the sum of rebellion against this
caring, sharing ruling: I will ascend . . . , I
will exalt . . . , I will sit . . . , I will sit . . . , I
will be . . . , he goes on ad nauseam. Singularly and on his own, he will ascend
and go and sit where no creature has
ascended, and gone and sat before. He
will reconfigure the role of the most high

God (see Isa. 14:12-14). He will dispense
with trinity and rule alone. Over against
him, divineand originaldominion
naturally includes caring involvement
with the other who is my equal, whose
judgment counts equivalently with
mine, and to whom I am parallel in
authority over all. It is an alien concept in
which the Trinity has coexisted in eternally inviolable Lordship and unity, in
the bliss of untarnished fellowship, and
the passion of unfading love.
Applying the Rule

But how would humans apply the
rule of dominion after the pattern of the
triune God? How would they work? If
your God is the God of Genesis, then He
also answers this question for you: The
Lord God planted a garden toward the
east, in Eden; and He took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden to
cultivate it and keep it (Gen. 2:8, 15).
The man and the wife whom God created to complete him and to complete
the expression of unity in plurality were
to work the garden. According to this
truth, Gods creation gives a purpose to
nature as well as to humans, and declares the mutuality of those purposes.
Human care for nature, as here
assigned, establishes care for nature as
an original element of the divine nature.
It is because God is faithful in providence that young lions find food (Ps.
104:21); it is because He feeds the birds
that they eat (Matt. 6:26; Luke 12:24); it
is because He paints the blades of grass
in the field that they have color (Matt.
6:30; Luke 12:28); it is because He is
strong in power that stars and galaxies
do not fail (Isa. 40:26). Imploding stars
and withering grass, falling birds and
deer-hunting lionesses, do not dispute
or disprove this truth. They only show
more compellingly the accuracy of the
revelation in Genesis on sins violation
of Gods spotless first canvas. And they
show the incompatibility of death
and evolutions stories with the
original perfections of Genesis 1-2.
In those days before sins tragedy the

walls of the idyllic garden that was our
original home were hung with the
most magnificent adorningsthe
handiwork of the great Master Artist.3
Among its trees, laden with fragrant
and delicious fruit,4 and lovely, graceful, strong, and upright vines drooping
under their load of tempting fruit of the
richest and most varied hues,5 the first
man and woman enjoyed open communion with God,6 as He led them into
mind-boggling studies of the mysteries of the visible universe, and the
laws and operations of nature.7 They
were, after all, created in the image and
likeness of the genius of eternity, capable of converse with leaf and flower
and tree, gathering lifes secrets from
every living creature, from the mighty
leviathan that playeth among the waters
to the insect mote that floats in the
sunbeam.8
The sun in the blue dome above them
knew only kindly smiles in those days.
Now, because of sins disruption, it
bears down fiercely upon little children
standing to sing for the princess, so that
some even faint. But in the beginning,
Genesis instructs, lifes perfection was
perfection.
Genesis and Now

The God of Genesis has not left Himself without witness, nor left us without
answers to our queries. And His
answers are not merely for yesterday.
The nobility of our origins and purposes, the means to pay for being, or for
being from somewhere, are not
exhausted because millennia have
passed.
It may be to the good that we are not
all British royalty or Guyanese choirboys. For now the sun has set on an
empire, and choirboys lose their voices.
Not so with our godly reasons for pride
in our origins and purpose. Of these we
may still learn from Genesis today. For
though much is changed in creation, the
purpose of our creation has not
changed. The changes did not catch the
Creator by surprise. He knew what the

consequences of disregarding the
guidelines for living in perfections
bliss would be. He warned of the tragedy that would follow any choice to disrupt the wondrous order He instituted
in Eden. You will surely die was His
warning (Gen. 2:17). It was the clearest,
most unequivocal, most comprehensible warning He could give.
But beyond and before His warning
was His preparation for it. For the God
whose house is eternity knows all that
transpires in His house. He knows and
is prepared. And even as He urged His
children not to spoil their joy He was
taking the full responsibility for restoring that joy to them when they would
ruin it. As they did. Before the foundation of the world He ordained that His
creative genius would reinvest in creation; He would repair the damage to
nature; He would restore the perfect
work that sin would ruin; He would
redeem His children lost to sin (Hosea
13:14; Gal. 3:13): For sin can rob us of
our origins and purpose only if it can
rob us of our God, the God of Genesis.
And neither sin nor anything conceivable can (Rom. 8:38, 39). And because of
the God of Genesis we may still claim
the highest of origins; and we still have
our Genesis purpose. Our God is the
God of Genesis. n
1
Scripture quotations are from the New American
Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman
Foundation. Used by permission.
2
www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sumer_anunnaki/
esp_sumer_annunaki01.htm.
3
Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain
View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1890), p. 49.
4
Ibid., p. 47.
5
Ibid.
6
Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain
View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), p. v.
7
Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 50, 51.
8
Ibid., p. 51.
Lael Caesar is a descendant of

Adam, and a son of the God of
Genesis.
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19
Feature
he sound of glass shattering

startled me from my sleep.
Mommy and Daddy were
fighting again.
I tucked my knees under
my chin and closed my eyes. This was
nothing new. In a few minutes it would
all be over. My father would yell something to assert his final authority, then
slam a few doors, and I would hear his
tires screech as his car pulled out of the
driveway.
No one would ever believe that just a
few hours earlier he had stood at the
Ready to
BeReal
BY RON MATTHEWS
pulpit to thank the entire church for an

award of commemoration while my
mother beamed proudly from the pews.
Forbidden Topics
Opening up the
discussion
about divorce
in the church
20
Growing up with what felt like two

sets of parents was confusing. At home
they were the brawling couple I was
once forced to call 9-1-1 on, but at
church they clung to each other like a
pair of newlyweds. When I tried to ask
about this transformation in front of
saintly company, my mother dug her
fingernails into the skin on my forearm
and twisted. The pain was enough to
stifle my curiosity, but not enough to
teach me the lesson.
So if I told someone that Daddy slept
on the dining room floor last night, I got
pinched. If I mentioned that he just
bought a new apartment in New Jersey,
I got pinched. If I insinuated that I
hadnt seen or heard from him in three
years, I got pinched.
It wasnt until I outgrew my mothers
punishment that I finally understood
what she was trying to communicate:
This is church. Marital problems are
more than taboo. They are not allowed.
Looking at the Facts

Its no secret that marital problems
exist in the church. A 2010 study by the
General Conference Family Ministries
Department revealed that 25 percent of
Adventist marriages end in divorce.
While these numbers are not as staggering as the divorce rate in the rest of
the world, it does not mean that we are
shielded from the pain caused by the
end of a marriage.
Why Dont We Talk About It?

Stephen Bauer, a former district pastor in two conferences in the United
States, discovered the hard way the
reason martial problems are not discussed in church. During one of his
sermons he took two minutes to point
out that as he spoke, there were probably, in the congregation, a number of
sexual offenders who hadnt been
caught.
Three families with kids got up and
walked out, Bauer said. They didnt
like hearing matters of sexuality from
the pulpit.
Some people believe we dont talk
about marital problems in the Adventist
Church simply because we dont want
to hear about them. But the issue goes
deeper. Bauer addresses several reasons
we dont want to hear or talk about the
problems in our marriages.
Were embarrassed
Admitting we have problems could
mean opening our families, churches,
and religion to the ridicule of others.
Some people are afraid of the embarrassment factor of bad press, Bauer
said. Its bad publicity. It gives the
church a black eye.
Were in denial
Many times we are so embarrassed to
admit there is a problem that we pretend its not there. If we dont see it,
then we dont have to feel bad about it.
People dont like to feel bad, Bauer
said. Were addicted to feeling good. If
we admit it, itll make us feel bad, and
that would be negative. Were in a fantasy world.
Were afraid
Some Adventists refrain from sharing
their problems because they fear the
reactions of their church family.

They say, Im an elder in the church.
Id lose prestige among the church if
they knew what was really happening,
Bauer said.
We see no point
The church is not always therapeutic
toward the hurting. We have many
divorced couples in our congregations,
but we do very little to help them. We
pretend we dont have divorce while the
divorced suffer silently. Why would
anyone want to ask
for help?
Why Should We
Talk About It?
We often think were protecting the
church by keeping our issues to ourselves, but in reality were hurting it.
There are two reasons we should talk
about marital problemsreasons that
are more important than any others,
because they determine the future of
our church.
To save our marriages
Darlene Karst, a licensed counselor
with her own practice in
Tennessee, hears the same
worry from couples again
and again: Were having
conflict, so we must be
doomed.
When people have unrealistic expectations, they go
into the relationship thinking
that its going to be easy and
that they wont have to do a lot
of work, Karst said. It sets
them up for disaster.
Many couples fall into this
trap because they have never
seen a real relationship in action,
and sadly, our churches do not
always provide the best examples.
In the Adventist Church we put
up this front on Sabbath that we
are well put together and everything is fine, Karst said. We look
nice, we sit in our pews, but it
doesnt actually portray an accurate
picture. So someone who is really
struggling looks at that picture and
thinks they dont have enough faith or
are not good enough.
Because we refuse to talk about marital problems, young couples dont
know where to go when they have
issues. They think that no one else is
having problems in their relationships
and are embarrassed to mention even
small disagreements with their
spouses. Theyve been taught that only
sinners have these problems, so they do
what the older couples are doing: they
put up a front while their marriages
disintegrate in secret.
To save our children
While preaching at the Collegedale
church, Pastor John Nixon met with
September 11, 2014 | ( 8 2 1 )
21
middle school- to high school-aged kids

and young adults to ask them why their
friends and relatives were leaving the
church.
One of the things they said was that
the church was inauthentic, Nixon
said. Its not real. It doesnt talk about
real issues; the things they talk about
dont help them in real life, and the relationships arent genuine. It doesnt
really fit for real life, so its not helping
them deal with real life.
responsibility to talk about the taboo.

Youre going to have to talk about it
if youre a spiritual leader, Nixon said.
People are going to get upset, people
are going to get angry at you, but thats
the price of leadership. Youre going to
be unpopular, but youre going to help
people who are ready to be real. Youve
got to think about them.
While pastors have an obligation to
discuss controversial topics, the responsibility should not rest on their shoul-
Because we refuse to talk about

marital problems, young couples
dont know where to go when
they have issues.
We do the youth a disservice by sheltering them from real-world problemsespecially marital problems. Not
only do we risk ruining their future
relationships with unrealistic expectationswe also leave them confused.
When they see the difference between
the ways their parents interact with
each other at church and at home, they
realize that church is not fostering longterm change. And if the church cant
help with the small disputes, how can
they trust the church with the bigger
issues?
How Can We Start

the Discussion?
Bringing up controversial topics is
hard, and it hasnt gotten any easier for
Nixon, pastor of 34 years who has
counseled thousands of couples while
doing marital seminars all over the
country. One Sabbath Nixon decided to
talk about divorce at the Collegedale
church.
It was one of the quietest sermons
hed ever preached.
After the service a woman stopped
Nixon at the door. Why would you talk
about that? she asked him. Now Ive
got to explain to my son why his father
and I are getting a divorce!
In spite of this challenge Nixon
believes his position gives him a
22
ders alone. There are several ways we

can help those who are ready to be real
about marital problems in the church.
Start small groups
The whole church may not be ready to
discuss the hardships of marriage, but
there are always a few people who are.
Get a group of interested couples
together, make a list of specific things
you want to talk about, invite an expert
or someone who knows about the topic,
and do biblical research. Create authentic relationships with the members of
your group by being open and vulnerable, and act as accountability partners
to one another.
Offer seminars
Organize seminars that teach willing
couples what to expect after marriage
and skills to help resolve conflict. Focus
on opening the conversation for topics
that would not be discussed otherwise.
Treat each other like family
When we are not genuine in our relationships with each other, it becomes
easy to hide our problems. If we were
truly intimate with our church family,
we would be able to tell when someone
is hurting.
If Im having marital problems, its
impossible for me to hide it from my
familytheyre gonna know, Nixon
said. I want them to share in it so we
can get help. Of course its shameful,
but Im not going to be ashamed in

front of my own family. If Im ashamed
in my church family, then thats a sign
that our relationship isnt as close as it
should be.
Know how much to share
While we should be open with our
marital relationships, disclosing specific problems can be counterproductive, as they create prejudices against
the opposing spouse. We should try to
be open about needing help instead of
forcing people to pick sides.
I might be able to say to you, Listen,
I need some prayer right now. I dont
need to tell you all my details, but my
wife and I are having some struggles,
and we can use your help, Nixon said.
It doesnt need to go any further than
that.
Karst believes that sharing is also
helpful because it reduces the need to
put on a church face.
Sharing with the people you feel you
can trust and youre closest to is very
beneficial, because then you dont have
to use energy that is needed to resolve
the conflict in trying to put up this front
that everything is OK, Karst said.
Talking about marital problems in
the Seventh-day Adventist Church is
important because they are becoming
more and more frequent. The divorce
rate rises each year, yet we continue to
turn a blind eye because we dont want
to believe horrible things happen in the
Adventist home. Unfortunately, religion
will not shield us from the problems in
our relationshipseven one of Christs
disciples divorced Him, and there is no
better partner than Jesus. Instead of
hiding behind denial and shame, we
need to help each other and teach the
younger generation how to avoid the
same marital mistakes. We need to open
the discussion, and we need to do it
soon.
Because my mom is going to kill me
when she finds out I wrote this article. n
For more information, go to the General
Conference Family Ministries Department
Web site at family.adventist.org.
Ron Matthews is a pseudonym.
Introducing the Why
For God So Loved

Well, I have to be in the room; someone has to catch Jimmy when he
passes out!
For nine months the jokes and comments flowed freely, particularly from my unrelenting sisters-in-law.
Although I never quite confirmed it, sources tell me that there was an is-Jimmy-going-to-pass-out option
alongside the baby pool (for the record, I had August 6 and no).
If you havent figured it out yet, my wife and I have been preparing for the birth of our first baby
throughout the first months of 2014. My squeamish reputation for blood and bodily fluids preceded
me, hence the good-natured ribbing. My wife lovingly (I think) commented that she didnt think it was
a good idea for me to be in the delivery room.
I was fairly confident that I wasnt going to pass out, but Id never had a front-row seat to a childbirth
before, so I honestly had no idea how Id react.
Ill remember the moment the rest of my life. On August 7 I was in our morning leadership huddle
at the hospital. Suddenly my phone buzzed with the text Id been waiting for.
Jimmy, I need you to come get me. Im having regular contractions.
I not so subtly rushed out of the meeting room and zipped home to my ready-to-burst wife.
The next eight hours were a bit of a blur, to say the least. I remember doing a lot of pacing, texting,
hand-holding, and encouraging. At 8:14 p.m. the healthy baby boyLincoln James Phillipsmade
his debut, weighing in at a solid eight pounds eight ounces.
Theres so much I could say about the experience and subsequent first week of being a dad. But
one thing stands out above all else: at no point in the process was I anything close to disgusted or
grossed out. The blood, the dirty diapers, the undetermined substances on my neatly pressed shirt
none of it affected, irritated, or otherwise bothered me.
What seemed a bit unpleasant when it came to other peoples kids didnt translate to my own
experience. When I look at Lincoln, I dont see the imperfections and messes. Overwhelming love for
my son supersedes all else.
Jimmy
Phillips
How God Sees Us

There are terms, concepts, and verses in the Christian experience that have been overused. In fact,
probably the most well-known verse in the Bible has been so infused into mainstream culture that
most people, Christians and non-Christians alike, have become desensitized to its true significance.
I mean, have you actually stopped to read John 3:16 lately? Or do you just gloss over it, knowing you have
it committed to memory and can whip it out at any time?
Do me a favor. Stop and read it slowly, without skipping ahead. For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Think about that. God loves us so much that He voluntarily watched His only Son go through excruciating pain in total isolation and darkness. At the heart of this sacrifice is Gods role as heavenly Fatherour
Father.
If you have kids, reflect on how much you love them. Theres probably nothing you wouldnt do for them,
even sacrificing your own life if you had to. But God loves us infinitely more than we love our own children.
In fact, our minds cant comprehend the all-encompassing, never-ending, comprehensive love of God.
As a new father who loves his son more than anything, Im finding that that hits home in a fresh way.
We may have made all sorts of messes in our lives: the adult equivalent of dirty diapers and tainted bodily
fluids. But when God sees us, thats not what He sees (note: thats not an excuse to stay that way; see Rom.
6:1, 2).
He sees His beloved son or daughter; His child for whom He would dodid doanything. God is our
Father. We cant outrun or out-sin His love; its the very foundation of His character (1 John 4:8).
Think about that today and every day. n
Jimmy Phillips (jimmyphillips15@gmail.com) is director of marketing and communications for San Joaquin Community
Hospital.
23
Heart and Soul:

Theology
BY SILVIA SCHOLTUS
dont like Revelation because there

are many monsters, a friend
recently told me. Why is Gods
throne surrounded by monsters?
Monsters? I thought to myself. I
never saw Revelation that way. Why did she
have that impression?
The existence of mythical creatures
and legendary beasts has always been a
part of the fantastic stories told by different cultures. The latest television
series and Hollywood movies are full of
mythical monsters extracted from the
imagination of writers, most of whom
were inspired by the stories from these
ancient cultures.
God illustrates His prophetic message with symbols or language familiar
Gods Foursome
The Living Creatures
of Revelation
Revelation 4:7
Revelation 6 (Seals)
And the
first one
was like a
lion
24
Revelation 8 (Trumpets)
Verse 1 And I saw when the Lamb

opened one of the seals, and I heard, as
it were the noise of thunder, one of the
four living creatures saying, Come and
see.
and the
second
living
creature
[was] like a
calf
Verse 3 And when he opened the second

seal, I heard the second living creature,
saying, Come.
and the
third living
creature
had a face
as a man
Verse 5 And when the third seal was

opened, I heard the third living
creature, saying, Come.
and the
fourth
living
creature
[was] like a
flying eagle
Verse 7 And when he opened the fourth

seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature, saying, Come.
( 8 24 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014
Verse 13 As I watched, I heard a

flying eagle in midair call out in a
loud voice: Woe! Woe! Woe . . .
to those He is addressing, particularly

in the books of Daniel and Revelation,
where the descriptions of beasts and
monsters mainly appear. But do monsters really surround Gods throne?
Creatures, Not Monsters

Revelation 4:1-8:1 describes activities
in the heavenly sanctuary before the
throne of God, with all the agents of
good involved in the salvation of
humanity. Between these agents of good
we find those described as the four living creatures.
This scene is not to be confused with
the one found from Revelation 11:18 to
Revelation 14:20, which also begins with
a description of the sanctuary activities
Revelation 12 (Signs)
but identifies completely different

beings. The beings described are two of
the three signs. The first one, a woman
clothed with the sun, is introduced in
Revelation 12:1, 2, and the second one, a
seven-headed dragon, is introduced in
Revelation 12:3, 4. After these two signs
interact, the agents of evil arrive as terrible symbolic beasts that are against
God and cause the ruin of humanity.
While the beasts in Revelation 11-14
are described as the enemies of God, the
four living creatures are seen surrounding His throne (Rev. 4:6-8). They
are Gods allies, and a deeper look
reveals that they are not monsters at all.
In some old translations the word
beast is used to describe these beings,
Revelation 15:7
And one of the four living creatures
gave unto the seven angels . . .
but in the original Greek they are called

living creatures. This means they do
not have the terrible appearance that
the word beast implies. That term is
reserved for the agents of evil in Revelation 13 and 14, who are not privileged to
stand by the Fathers throne.
The four living creatures, though
unusual in appearance, should not be
viewed as monstrous or ugly. The apostle John found that he could not adequately describe these majestic new
creatures, the likes of which he had
never seen before. His vocabulary was
limited by human intelligence, and even
if he understood the language of
heaven, it would still be incomprehensible to his readers.
In order to communicate, John relied
on metaphors, resulting in the abundance of the phrase like a in his
descriptions. It was not Johns intention
to create fear through the mention of
these creatureshe wanted only to
describe other beings that serve God
and His creation. These beings make us
more aware of the diversity of creatures
created by God.
The portrait of these four living creatures is interesting, but their purpose
is more important. A brief search in
Revelation will reveal more about what
they do.
The Meaning Behind

the Creatures
Verse 14 And two wings of the large

eagle were given to the woman, so that
she would fly to the wilderness to her
place to be fed there [for] a time, times,
and half of a time, from before the face
of the serpent.
The meaning of these four living creatures has been an object of great discussion. Some people suggest that the first
creature symbolizes the redeemed
church and the last one represents all
the animated creation that surrounds
the throne, praising the Almighty. Others argue that these creatures are the
same as those described in Ezekiel 1,
with some minor differences.1 The latter
argument holds more weight, as John
and Ezekiel use similar features to
describe the creatures they saw.2
The group expression four living
creatures appears in many chapters of
Revelation,3 but these creatures are also
recorded acting individually. The table
shows the individual references to each
25
creature and the names they receive in

other parts of Revelation. I have translated from the original Greek text to
highlight details not always perceived in
some English translations.
Terms That Feature

the Living creatures
of Revelation 4:7
The First Living Creature
This first living creature is like a lion

and has a voice like thunder (Rev. 6:1).
This creature takes part in the opening
of the first seal (verse 1). Although the
creature is classified as one of the living creatures, instead of the first creature, it is easy to see that it is the first in
the sequence. The same expression is
used to describe the angel that gives
bowls filled with the wrath of God to
the seven angels (Rev. 15:7).
This creature begins two sequences:
(1) the description of the events in the
scene of the seals that set off the judgment of God; and (2) the initiation of
26
the execution of judgment in the scene

of the bowls of the wrath of God.
The Second and Third

Living Creatures
The second and third living creatures

only appear in the opening of the second and third seals. There are no other
likenesses that describe these creatures
in the rest of the book of Revelation.
The Fourth Living Creature
The fourth living creature is

described as a flying eagle (Rev. 4:7). It
is mentioned fourth in order of appearance, and it announces the opening of
the fourth seal (Rev. 6:7). In the scene of
the trumpets, it appears before the
sound of the last three trumpets, and it
is identified as an eagle instead of by its
numerical placement (Rev. 8:13). The
expression in the original Greek is the
same used to describe this creature in
Revelation 4:7.
Because of the variety of interpretations in Greek manuscripts, English
Bibles have different translations of

Revelation 8:13. For this reason it was
not possible to identify the fourth living
creature as an eagle in previous translations because later manuscripts say an
angel flying instead of an eagle flying. The latest versions of the Bible better reflect the translation that
corresponds with earlier manuscripts.
This reference to a flying eagle in Revelation 8:13 allows us to relate this creature with the fourth living creature of
Revelation 4:7.
It is interesting that John mentions
the fourth living creature in a more formal manner, using its appearance
instead of its number. In the vision God
emphasizes the appearance of this living creature to differentiate it from the
other creatures. Why? One good reason
is that the eagle is one of the natural
enemies of the serpent.
The eagle is a gift from God. The
woman receives two wings of the great
eagle. God gave the woman the powerful service of the fourth living creature
The eagle is
one of the
natural enemies
of the serpent.
in order to help the remnant protect the
Word of God. This reference is to the
fourth living creature, not God. Some
believe it refers to God and relate the
passage to Exodus 19:4. But it seems
more like a creature created by God
such as the fourth living creaturethat
serves God in the plan of salvation.
Divine Purpose
The living creatures surrounding the
throne of God are agents of good
directly involved in divine government.
They are not monsters or beasts, but living creatures created by God who cooperate with Him in His plan for the
saving of humanity.
The four living creatures are near
GLOW Stories
Giving light to our world
GLOWis an outreach
initiative in numerous North
American Division conferences
based on the concept of
church members carrying
Adventist literature with them
wherever they go and handing
it outfree of chargeat every
opportunity. Here are two
short stories of lives touched
by GLOW:
Gods throne and act as messengers in

the fight between good and evil. They
are responsible for warning humanity
about the dreadful events that will take
place, and in some cases they even go so
far as to guard us from danger.
The fourth living creature appears in
the three scenes of Revelation (the seals,
the trumpets, and the signs), all of which
have a close connection to terrible
events. They are moments of extreme
persecution against Gods faithful people. From the last scene in which the
fourth creature appears (Rev. 12:14) we
can deduce that its duties extend beyond
announcing or describing events. It protects the faithful during moments of
great persecution.
Revelation shows that God uses every

possible resource at His disposal in His
quest to rescue humanity. He Himself
takes part through His Son and through
the Holy Spirit, but He also involves
many other special beings created by
Him to play an active role in the
redemption of His earthly children. The
four living creatures should therefore
never be seen as monsters, because they
are symbols of Gods undying love and
devotion toward humanity. n
1
B. W. Johnson, The Peoples New Testament (St. Louis:
Christian Pub. Co., 1891). It can be found at www.
biblestudytools.com/commentaries/peoples-newtestament/revelation/4.html?p=3.
2
Cf. Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews Univ. Press, 2002), p. 186;
Alberto R. Treiyer, El Da de la Expiacin: Y la Purificacin
del Santuario (Buenos Aires: ACES, 1988), pp. 480, 481.
3
See Rev. 4:6, 8; 5:6, 8, 14; 6:1, 6; 7:11; 14:3; 19:4.
Silvia Scholtus is professor

of New Testament at River Plate
Adventist University and senior
editor of the universitys
publications.
Giving Light to Our World

a young man named George was shopping at a
Story 1 Recently
supermarket with his sister, who had never before distributed GLOW tracts. George asked his sister if she would like to try giving
a tract to the cashier. She responded, No, she wont want it. So after
paying for their groceries, George instead handed the cashier a tract
titled A Gift for You. The cashier looked at it and said, Thank you!
This is exactly what I need right now. I havent been attending church
recently, but Ive been wanting to go. So this is just what I need today!
Georges sister was surprised by the womans reaction and said she
hadnt realized how blessed people truly are by GLOW tracts.
flying to Fresno one day, Nelson, GLOW director, began a spiritual converStory2 While
sation with a man named Landon seated next to him. Landon eventually asked
Nelson what he did for a living, and Nelson explained that he develops and distributes tracts
called GLOW. Landon then asked, Did you make the one calledTwilightIs It Just a Story? Ive
read that one. Nelson was amazed. At the end of the flight Nelson gave him the GLOW tract
titledMyths About Hell.
Imagine how many others could learn about Jesus if all His people started handing out
GLOW tracts and other literature! It makes a difference in peoples lives.
Stories compiled by Pacific Union Conference GLOW director Nelson Ernst. To learn more about GLOW, go to
sdaglow.org. To watch video GLOW testimonies, go to vimeo.com/user13970741.
27
Story
What Goes Around

A good story just keeps going and going and . . .
BY HIRAM RESTER
t was the first day of spring break. I

was 16, and my excitement about the
coming week was almost uncontainable. I had borrowed my dads car; I
had a new drivers license, and I had
places to go, things to do.
I didnt get far. About two miles from
our home I lost control of the car on a
curve. Hitting a ditch, I was launched
through the windshield. The accident
resulted in 147 stitches, plastic surgery,
and my family becoming Seventh-day
Adventists.
Life Change
We were dedicated Baptists, faithfully
supporting Liberty Hill Baptist Church.
I had no idea that on the first day of
spring break in 1993 a chain of providential circumstances would begin to
unravel life as we knew it.
As a result of the accident my dad had
to carpool to work with a coworker
while he shopped for another car. Dur28
ing the commute he heard one 30-second radio announcement about a Bible
prophecy seminar being held about 45
minutes from our home. He decided to
attend. Later we found out that no ads
for the seminar ran on the radio stations my dad listened to in his own car.
As a consequence of the accident I had
to take several days off from work at
Piggly Wiggly. So dad took me to a couple of the exciting meetings he was
attending. Within a few days I was back
going to school during the day and
working most nights.
Dad kept attending the prophecy
seminar. He shared with us what he had
learned. My initial impression was that
Adventists went to church on the wrong
day and didnt eat anything that tasted
good.
Dad began attending church on Sabbath mornings, as well as going with us
to the Baptist church on Sunday. Mom
wanted nothing to do with this weird
church (her words). When Dad invited

her to come along, she responded with
firmness that bordered on hostility:
No, Im not going to church tomorrow! I didnt like the conflict this created, so I started working Saturdays and
Sundays. Problem solved.
Eventually the Baptist pastor
preached a sermon directed at Dad: If
youre going to be Baptist, be a Baptist.
If youre going to be a Seventh-day Adventist, be a Seventh-day Adventist.
Dad never went back. My mom, also
offended, began attending another Baptist church.
Sometime later our family agreed to
attend a small group Bible study at the
home of an Adventist family in our
community. It took two and a half years,
but as the result of public evangelism
followed by small group meetings, my
entire immediate family became Adventist in September 1995.
We attended the Gulf Coast Seventh-
day Adventist Church, the nearest Adventist church to our home. I went away
to Union College and eventually into
ministry.
Ten Years Later

Our hometown of Wiggins, Mississippi, had been exploding in growth,
especially after Hurricane Katrina in
2005. As a result of the horrible damage
caused in the costal area, a lot of people
moved north into Wiggins and the
Stone County area. Wiggins needed an
Adventist church. God was about to
meet that need.
In 2006 a small group of Adventists
began a weekly Bible study at my parents home. My younger brother, Drew,
a teacher at Bass Memorial Academy, led
out. They studied through the book of
Acts as they prayerfully considered
planting a church. They couldnt plant a
church just for convenience and to eliminate the long drive every Sabbath
morning. They had to make sure their
goal was to reach people with the
gospel.
They invited non-Adventist friends
and family members to participate in
the weekly meetings. After a few
months they began to have afternoon
Sabbath worship at my parents home
every other Sabbath, while the Adventists continued to attend their churches
in other counties.
The service grew to a consistent 25 to
30 attendees. Most of them were not
Adventists.
In 2007, just a year and a half after
beginning to meet regularly, the group
couldnt grow any more while meeting
in a home; there just wasnt room. My
brother asked me to hold public evangelistic meetings in Wiggins. After I talked
and prayed with my wife, we decided to
approach Gulf States Conference about
this idea. We worked with limited funding, but we felt Gods leading.
In the weeks leading up to the series
the believers secured a meeting location
for church services and began construction to get it ready for the last two
weeks of the series. We rented the new
senior center in town and held a Christian Creation conference with about 60
visitors. The next weekend we began

our Revelations Puzzle of Prophecy
series in the same hall. More than 70
visitors attended.
At the time, I had conducted more
than 50 full-message evangelistic meetings, but this one was unique. In the
crowd were people with whom I had
grown up and gone to school. Friends
and family I had known my whole life
were opening their Bibles and listening
to Gods Word. Most of the faces were
familiar. My community college calculus
professor even attended. Of course,
non-Adventist participants in the
church group were there to help. Considering the visitors who were already
attending the Bible study and the
church plant, this series could be only a
success.
Evangelism is always thrilling, but
this was even more exhilarating than
normal. People were challenged with the
same truths that had challenged our
family years earlier. Night after night a
core group returned. We praise the Lord
that many positive decisions were made!
At the end of that series I stood in the
back of the churchs new location and
watched with joy as person after person
went down into the watery grave of
baptism and rose to walk in the truth as
it is in Jesus. This small church plant in
a small town had 17 new members.
These included all the adults in the
church plant who had not been baptized, every single one.
My best friend from middle school,
Bo, and his wife, April, were baptized.
My distant cousin, Elisabeth, and her
husband, Jacob, were part of that group
as well. Eddie, raised an Adventist, was
rebaptized along with his wife, Shelly.
They were all part of the core group.
Bos older brother, Troy, and his wife,
Chrystal, were baptized. Troy had been
hired to help get the church building
ready. He wasnt sure if Adventists were
a cult or not, but we needed help, and
he pitched in. We convinced him and his
wife to check out the series, and the
Word of God worked on their hearts.
The biggest surprise took me back to
Piggly Wiggly when I was 16. Dot, a dear
woman, had worked there with me
many years before. She actually remembered when I had had the car accident.
She attended every night, along with her
daughter, Gina, and several members of
the Baptist church. Even the Baptist
associate pastor was there most nights.
It caused quite a stir at the end of the
series when Dot and Gina resigned their
positions at the Baptist church. Other
members of their church tried to pull
them away, but they stood firm.
I went back about a year and a half
after the evangelistic series. I didnt
preach that daymy younger brother
did. He is serving as a lay pastor for the
church while teaching at Bass Memorial
Academy. I sat in the back and looked
around. It is still a relatively small
group. They are all like family to each
other.
Bo, April, and their three children
werent there; they were in Colorado,
where Bos job transfer had taken them.
But Elisabeth and Jacob and their son
were there. Eddie and Shelly and their
daughter were there. Dot and Gina were
there. Ginas three children were all
there. Troy and his two sons were there.
Chrystal couldnt make it that day, but
usually does.
Of the 17 people baptized, all but
three are regular in their attendance.
They are continuing to reach out into
the community.
Evangelism made this church plant
possible; the church plant made evangelism possible. And the cycle continues.
Each Seventh-day Adventist church
planted will result in more people in
the kingdom of heaven. The first Adventists were all church planters. Early
Adventist ministers were church planters. I am more convinced that the front
line of Adventist ministry should be
church planting.
Furthermore, I am convinced that
every Adventist would be thrilled to
look back from eternity and know they
were part of at least one church plant. n
Hiram Rester is pastor of the
Springfield, Missouri, Seventhday Adventist Church. He and
his wife, Libby, have three
precious children.
www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014 | ( 8 2 9)
29
Reflections
The Power of a Pick-me-up

I was leaving the sanctuary one Sabbath afternoon when
adolescent me tripped over my own toes. As I fell, I wondered how long it would take for me to regain my
nonexistent social standing after I ate carpet. As the ground neared, I suddenly felt a harsh wrenching pain
in my right shoulder as someone grabbed my arm.
Stand up, my youth director whispered in my ear as she hauled me to my feet before I could complete
my fall.
I faltered as I regained coordination of my lower extremities, but she held me up as we walked out of the
sanctuary and into the hallway. After she made eye contact to make sure I was OK, we continued on to our
destination. If the girls walking behind noticed my near-disastrous fall, they said nothing. I rolled my shoulder and winced, but I was happy for the physical pick-me-up that literally saved my face.
Several years later while I was attending Southern Adventist University I experienced another pick-meupalso from an adult mentor. One semester I was slogging through 16 credits, and my spiritual life was
slipping. As I was getting ready to leave work one day, my supervisor handed me a book and said, I saw this
and thought of you. The book, College Faith, contained stories from Christian leaders and educators about
their college days. Not only did my supervisors gentle gesture give me a spiritual lift that day, but the
books stories gave my devotional life a spiritual pick-me-up for the rest of the semester.
Jesus also knew the power of a properly placed pick-me-up. When He was alive, it was a high
honor for Jewish parents to apprentice their child to a rabbian apprenticeship reserved for
only the most intellectually promising children. James and John were not in this category.
Jesus found them excluded from the cool kids and slogging through the requirements of
life, but He didnt leave them there. He saw in them the ability to change the world. They
just needed a little assistance. When He offered them the opportunity to be His disciples, the brothers saw a chance to do something beyond their fathers trade, to bring
honor to their family, and to have a hand in the Messiahs mission. Instantly they
ditched their nets and followed Him. Jesus picked up James and John in the middle of everyday life, and they became the bookends of the apostles missionary
movement.
Just as Jesus and as the two women who picked me up did when I was on
my way down, Christians have the power to be a source of life in the lives
of those around us. Many people are falling or are in need of help. Some
could change the world if they just had a little assistance. Others may
be slogging through and appear just fine, but we may not know the
extent of the issues they are actually dealing with. One small gesture that shows them someone cares can change their lives for
the better. Ecclesiastes tells us that two are better than one,
because if one falls the other can pick that person up (Eccl. 4:10).
As a Christian I want to be the person there to pick up those who fall. Both my youth director and supervisor
took the opportunity to help me when they saw a need. Their example reminds me to be attentive to those
in my life who could use a pick-me-up.
Anna Bartlett is a graduate of Southern Adventist University and is one of the 2014 summer interns at the
Adventist Review.
31

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www.adventistreview.

September 11, 2014

God was ready

Behold, I come quickly . . .

Sin altered, but did not

Divorce is real. Why

We often think were protecting the

8 World News &

www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014 | ( 8 2 1 )

28 What Goes Around

St. George and the Dragon

How Not to Fall Off

13 Give & Take

Maybe the traffic accident was no accident.

When Gods creation needed

www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014 | ( 8 0 3 )

Letters From Our Readers

Vol. 191, No.

Thank you for printing the

August 14, 2014, Adventist

program in Brazil. Only in

and validate their loyalty?

that someone expressed in

College Place, Washington

I really enjoyed Cliff Gold-

steins article Another

While I was reading Cliff

I was so delighted to see

Leo Ranzolin, Sr.

The Visit of the Magi

pregnant with meaning

Thank you for selecting the

Goldsteins article Another

I encourage anyone in ministry to

continue in Gods guidance and not to

( 8 0 4 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014

HANNAH PEEK, Benton, Illinois

against a six-day creation?

Palm Coast, Florida

Friendship and Other

I appreciated the compre-

hensive and interesting article Friendship Evangelism:

agree that usually evangelism is not one single

Vol. 191, No.

It is very exciting to read

The issues in the great contro-

versy, which include the character of

need to be clearly understood.

JOANNE RECTOR, Battle Creek, Michigan

Vol. 191, No.

I feel uncomfortable with

Joseph Olstads perspective

Gods character, He wouldnt

Battle Creek, Michigan

We welcome your letters, noting,

Loma Linda, California

www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014 | ( 8 0 5 )

St. George and the Dragon

( 8 0 6) | www.AdventistReview.org | September 11, 2014

How Not to Fall Off

esus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, just as a king would

Adapted from The Desire of Ages, pp. 58, 59.

photos: Rich Herard/ NA D

World News & Perspectives