http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:04:37 -0400 MyBB http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2710 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:17:00 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2710
HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY TO ALL

even though Columbus discovered the islands off
of AMERICA on OCT 12. THE holiday is celebrated
on the 2nd Monday of OCT which this year is OCT 13.
SO all Federal and state offices will be closed.
also some schools will be closed. the post office will
be closed. and I am guessing country and cities offices
will be closed.

so for all those that have the day off hip hip horray
and yippie yippie

::) :P ;)


dgrimm60]]>
HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY TO ALL

even though Columbus discovered the islands off
of AMERICA on OCT 12. THE holiday is celebrated
on the 2nd Monday of OCT which this year is OCT 13.
SO all Federal and state offices will be closed.
also some schools will be closed. the post office will
be closed. and I am guessing country and cities offices
will be closed.

so for all those that have the day off hip hip horray
and yippie yippie

::) :P ;)


dgrimm60]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2709 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:34:08 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2709 October 7, 2008

In This Issue:
------------------------------------------------------------------
ADRA: Food, supplies help Georgian refugees survive winter
Displaced face extreme temperatures, illness
October 7 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

Innovators meeting to help reinvent worship, outreach
Adventism needs 'culture of innovation,' church leader says
October 3 Mount Vernon, Ohio, United States

------------------------------------------------------------------

ADRA: Food, supplies help Georgian refugees survive winter
October 7, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Nadia McGill/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is continuing to assist internally displaced Georgian refugees who are facing severe conditions with the onset of winter and temperatures that could dip to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius). The South Ossetia conflict in August left 192,000 individuals homeless, reported the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

ADRA is distributing survival kits for at least 2,400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in temporary shelters in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. The kits include mattresses, heating stoves and fuel, bed linens, wool blankets, fire extinguishers, and cooking and eating utensils. The project began October 1 and will last for three-months. The project is valued at $388,000, with funding provided by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.

ADRA is coordinating with United Nations agencies, other non-governmental organizations, and the Georgian Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation in order to deliver the assistance to the displaced persons.

"One of our greatest groups of concern is women, children and the elderly," said Raymond Chevalier, assistant director for emergency management at ADRA International. "They are at the greatest risk of illness due to the cold rooms and floors of the collective centers where they are currently living. Unfortunately, there are not enough cooking facilities for all of the families. It is essential that they are able to eat warm meals and drink boiled water, in order to reduce the risk of illness while they are living in these centers."

ADRA began distributing food, hygiene items, kitchen and laundry sets to more than 3,000 internally displaced persons in affected areas in Georgia soon after fighting broke out. At least 22,000 people will be displaced during the upcoming winter and possibly longer, the UNHCR reported.

For more information, visit adra.org.


Innovators meeting to help reinvent worship, outreach
October 3, 2008 Mount Vernon, Ohio, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------
Raj Attiken wants ideas. The more unconventional, the better.

The Seventh-day Adventist leader in Ohio is calling for a "culture of innovation" within the church that encourages and applauds relevant and effective ways to worship and do outreach. Attiken worries that when members become "so self-absorbed in preserving tradition and protecting truth," they can easily "slip further and further into inaction and irrelevancy."

Attiken and the church in Ohio head up Partners in Innovation, a group of people and organizations -- including the church in North America's Church Resource Center -- that provide support and resources for innovators. The group's 4th Annual National Conference on Innovation from October 5 to 7 is expected to draw pastors, church administrators, lay leaders, educators, students and business people to Dublin, Ohio this weekend.

Attiken says innovators "often end up leaving the Adventist Church because they don't feel they can take risks." When the church isn't a "safe place to take risks for God," it becomes "stale and stagnant," he says, something he hopes the conference will help change. "You shouldn't feel you need to go outside the church to try something bold for God."

The conference targets "members willing to stick their necks out" who represent less than 2.5 percent of the church, Attiken says, nodding to the Diffusion of Innovations theory. With subgroups ranging from "innovators" to "laggards," theorists use the model to explain how everything from blue jeans to democracy finds wide acceptance over time.

"We don't expect everyone to jump on board right away, and that's OK," he says. "But we cannot afford to only do what we've always done."

That's what members of the once insular Madison Adventist Church in Tennessee concluded in 2006 when they decided to keep their doors open seven days a week, not just for a few hours on Saturday. They began offering the Madison community health support, English as a Second Language classes, an Adopt-A-Grandparent program and birthday parties for local foster children, among other projects.

Madison is one of nine finalists vying for Innovative Church of the Year, an award announced at the conference by the Church Resource Center (CRC).

"It seems that there is something contagious about serving," says Julie Vega, pastor for Outreach Ministries at Madison. "Our church is rediscovering the truth that it is better to give than to receive."

That's exactly the broader purpose Attiken says all innovation must serve.

"We have to realize that we do not exist for ourselves. We must turn our face outward, beyond our church walls and toward the community," he says.

Attiken isn't pushing for an unrecognizable form of Adventism, nor does he want to alienate more traditional members. "Adventism is big and strong and dynamic enough for everyone. We don't all have to be innovators, but we shouldn't stifle our innovators, either."

"We need to remember that every traditional idea was once an innovation," says Dave Gemmell, CRC associate director. "A lot of churches are doing things that have worked great for generations, but are just not working as consistently now."

Attiken says the change is due in part to shifting attitudes toward religion, especially in North America. "We felt we needed to provide a forum that stimulates new thinking about ways the church can reposition itself -- reinvent itself -- and stay relevant," he says.

Conference keynote speakers include Robert Wuthnow, author and chair of the Department of Sociology at Princeton University; Leonard Sweet, the E. Stanley Jones professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School; Kelly Monroe Kullberg, founder and director of project development at The Veritas Forum; James Tucker, professor of educational psychology at the University of Tennessee; and Julius Nam, associate professor of religion at the Loma Linda University School of Religion.

To learn more or register for the Conference on Innovation, visit sdapartnersininno vation.org.

------------------------------------------------------------------
news.adventist.org]]> October 7, 2008

In This Issue:
------------------------------------------------------------------
ADRA: Food, supplies help Georgian refugees survive winter
Displaced face extreme temperatures, illness
October 7 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

Innovators meeting to help reinvent worship, outreach
Adventism needs 'culture of innovation,' church leader says
October 3 Mount Vernon, Ohio, United States

------------------------------------------------------------------

ADRA: Food, supplies help Georgian refugees survive winter
October 7, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Nadia McGill/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is continuing to assist internally displaced Georgian refugees who are facing severe conditions with the onset of winter and temperatures that could dip to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius). The South Ossetia conflict in August left 192,000 individuals homeless, reported the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

ADRA is distributing survival kits for at least 2,400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in temporary shelters in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. The kits include mattresses, heating stoves and fuel, bed linens, wool blankets, fire extinguishers, and cooking and eating utensils. The project began October 1 and will last for three-months. The project is valued at $388,000, with funding provided by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.

ADRA is coordinating with United Nations agencies, other non-governmental organizations, and the Georgian Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation in order to deliver the assistance to the displaced persons.

"One of our greatest groups of concern is women, children and the elderly," said Raymond Chevalier, assistant director for emergency management at ADRA International. "They are at the greatest risk of illness due to the cold rooms and floors of the collective centers where they are currently living. Unfortunately, there are not enough cooking facilities for all of the families. It is essential that they are able to eat warm meals and drink boiled water, in order to reduce the risk of illness while they are living in these centers."

ADRA began distributing food, hygiene items, kitchen and laundry sets to more than 3,000 internally displaced persons in affected areas in Georgia soon after fighting broke out. At least 22,000 people will be displaced during the upcoming winter and possibly longer, the UNHCR reported.

For more information, visit adra.org.


Innovators meeting to help reinvent worship, outreach
October 3, 2008 Mount Vernon, Ohio, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------
Raj Attiken wants ideas. The more unconventional, the better.

The Seventh-day Adventist leader in Ohio is calling for a "culture of innovation" within the church that encourages and applauds relevant and effective ways to worship and do outreach. Attiken worries that when members become "so self-absorbed in preserving tradition and protecting truth," they can easily "slip further and further into inaction and irrelevancy."

Attiken and the church in Ohio head up Partners in Innovation, a group of people and organizations -- including the church in North America's Church Resource Center -- that provide support and resources for innovators. The group's 4th Annual National Conference on Innovation from October 5 to 7 is expected to draw pastors, church administrators, lay leaders, educators, students and business people to Dublin, Ohio this weekend.

Attiken says innovators "often end up leaving the Adventist Church because they don't feel they can take risks." When the church isn't a "safe place to take risks for God," it becomes "stale and stagnant," he says, something he hopes the conference will help change. "You shouldn't feel you need to go outside the church to try something bold for God."

The conference targets "members willing to stick their necks out" who represent less than 2.5 percent of the church, Attiken says, nodding to the Diffusion of Innovations theory. With subgroups ranging from "innovators" to "laggards," theorists use the model to explain how everything from blue jeans to democracy finds wide acceptance over time.

"We don't expect everyone to jump on board right away, and that's OK," he says. "But we cannot afford to only do what we've always done."

That's what members of the once insular Madison Adventist Church in Tennessee concluded in 2006 when they decided to keep their doors open seven days a week, not just for a few hours on Saturday. They began offering the Madison community health support, English as a Second Language classes, an Adopt-A-Grandparent program and birthday parties for local foster children, among other projects.

Madison is one of nine finalists vying for Innovative Church of the Year, an award announced at the conference by the Church Resource Center (CRC).

"It seems that there is something contagious about serving," says Julie Vega, pastor for Outreach Ministries at Madison. "Our church is rediscovering the truth that it is better to give than to receive."

That's exactly the broader purpose Attiken says all innovation must serve.

"We have to realize that we do not exist for ourselves. We must turn our face outward, beyond our church walls and toward the community," he says.

Attiken isn't pushing for an unrecognizable form of Adventism, nor does he want to alienate more traditional members. "Adventism is big and strong and dynamic enough for everyone. We don't all have to be innovators, but we shouldn't stifle our innovators, either."

"We need to remember that every traditional idea was once an innovation," says Dave Gemmell, CRC associate director. "A lot of churches are doing things that have worked great for generations, but are just not working as consistently now."

Attiken says the change is due in part to shifting attitudes toward religion, especially in North America. "We felt we needed to provide a forum that stimulates new thinking about ways the church can reposition itself -- reinvent itself -- and stay relevant," he says.

Conference keynote speakers include Robert Wuthnow, author and chair of the Department of Sociology at Princeton University; Leonard Sweet, the E. Stanley Jones professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School; Kelly Monroe Kullberg, founder and director of project development at The Veritas Forum; James Tucker, professor of educational psychology at the University of Tennessee; and Julius Nam, associate professor of religion at the Loma Linda University School of Religion.

To learn more or register for the Conference on Innovation, visit sdapartnersininno vation.org.

------------------------------------------------------------------
news.adventist.org]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2708 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:31:17 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2708 September 30, 2008

In This Issue:
------------------------------------------------------------------
India: Aftermath of violence leaves scars on Orissa
Thousands still homeless, some remain in hiding
September 29 Orissa, India

Religious liberty making headway, challenges remain, world report says
Adventist experience cited as good indicator of country's freedom
September 30 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

Church Chat: Loki on repairing human rights in Kenya's Masai land
Educational center offers fear-free atmosphere for girls
September 30 Kajiado, Rift Valley, Kenya


------------------------------------------------------------------
India: Aftermath of violence leaves scars on Orissa
September 29, 2008
Orissa, India ... [ Megan Brauner/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in India have reported at least 27 Adventists dead from anti-Christian brutality that developed in the eastern India region of Orissa in late August. Church leaders said there are still violent outbreaks in the area despite India's Central Reserve Police forces patrolling the state.

Choudampalli John, president of the Adventist Church in east India, reported that he was not allowed to enter the areas where extremist violence occurred. John also said some Adventists are still hiding in the jungles because they fear retribution from other refugees at government-run aid camps.

Other church leaders commented on the severity of the situation.

Paka Jesurathnam, Adventist church leader for Orissa, reported thousands of houses and three dozen Adventist churches were likely destroyed and looted.

"To evaluate the actual loss of lives, property, people ... dwelling places and worship centers is impossible right now," said Jesurathnam. "To hear ... personal stories [makes] our nerves ache and blood dry."

The Prime Minister of India has condemned the violence, calling it a "national disgrace," according to published reports.

Possibly as many as 50,000 Christians from the Kandhamal region of Orissa are scattered throughout the seven government-run refugee camps and the surrounding jungle, Ecumenical News International reported.

Hindu extremists are blamed for beheading an Adventist pastor in August. Samuel Naik, pastor of the Phulwani Adventist Church, and his mother were killed during anti-Christian violence sweeping the region of India. Church leaders reported that Naik's wife, who was previously reported to have committed suicide, is still alive.

The outbreak came after unidentified attackers killed a Hindu religious leader and four other individuals. Hindus are blaming Christians for the deaths, while the Indian government cited Maoist rebels.


Religious liberty making headway, challenges remain, world report says September 30, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------

Church freedom of belief advocate John Graz at a religious liberty meeting in Mongolia earlier this year. In a religious freedom report released by the Adventist Church last week, the country receives a Category 3 status -- its constitution allows for broad freedoms, but religious extremists and some government authorities make full practice of faith difficult. [photo: courtesy NSD]

While religious liberty remains tenuous in many countries and nonexistent in others, religious liberty proponents worldwide continue to protect religious minorities and secure increased freedom of belief, a report released by the Seventh-day Adventist world church last week indicates.

Compiled jointly by the world church's department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) and the International Religious Liberty Institute of Adventist-owned Andrews University, the Religious Freedom World Report 2006-07 ranks countries on the basis of religious freedom.

Categories 1 through 3 represent countries whose constitutions guarantee religious freedom, but to varying degrees. Members of religious communities in 'Category 4' countries routinely face restrictive laws and attitudes that curtail the practice of their faith. A 'Category 5' rating indicates a "total negation" of religious freedom.

Of the 217 countries listed in the report, 38 rank as a Category 4 or 5.

The report includes a summary of each country's legal, political and social climate, as well as details of the Adventist experience.

"The treatment of Adventists can signal the general state of religious freedom in a country," says Nicholas Miller, managing editor for the report.

Earlier this month, the government of Turkmenistan granted an Adventist Church leader a work visa after an eight-year wait, a move religious liberty officials say signals the country's progress toward increased religious freedom. Both Turkmenistan and Vietnam are making "significant improvements" in the area of religious liberty, says John Graz, PARL director for the world church.

Promoting religious freedom, however, remains "challenging," something Graz attributes in part to emerging countries' attitudes toward human rights.

"Some think the concept of human rights is being used by Western countries as propaganda, to push forward this agenda," he explains. "So we have a backlash against human rights, and religious liberty is often one of the first to go."

Two major factors typically determine the level of religious freedom a country enjoys: its majority religion and political system, Graz says. Largely Christian countries -- both Catholic and Protestant -- typically safeguard religious liberty, whereas countries with Orthodox leadership are more restrictive. In most Islamic countries, Graz says, "the concept of religious freedom is not even understood."

While democracies and near-democracies encourage religious freedom, they by no means "guarantee" full practice of faith, he says, citing Protestant villagers who were expelled in Mexico and a recent outbrea k of anti-Christian violence in India. Violations of workplace religious freedom drop even the United States to Category 2 status.

In many cases, the government is "slow to react" to the ingrained attitudes of its citizens toward religious minorities, sometimes even ignoring the persecution and violence that can ensue, Graz says. In other situations, legal loopholes make laws allowing religious liberty difficult to enforce, he adds.

Graz is also concerned that in countries with marginal restrictions to religious liberty, both government leaders and citizens will feel less compelled to defend freedom of belief on an international level.

"People in the U.S, or Brazil, or Australia may say, 'Oh, we have religious freedom, we don't need to worry about this,' but one day they may have to if we stop pushing for universal freedom of belief," Graz says.

He also worries that many violations of religious liberty not only go unreported, but unnoticed. "Say you have a religious minority that represents 1 percent of the population. If they are persecuted, that hardly registers. People will either not care or not notice," he says, adding that those who live in countries where freedom of belief is protected must be unswerving proponents of religious liberty worldwide.

That doesn't mean religious minorities should wholly depend on outside support, Graz says. "They have a responsibility -- as much as the state -- in how they treat other religious minorities." Singling out public evangelism, Graz said church members must be "prudent" and "avoid saying anything that can be interpreted as an attack, or labeled as hate speech."

The Adventist Church is the only denomination that compiles a report on religious liberty, Graz says. The report has been sent to the United Nations and the U.S. State Department, as well as government leaders, international organizations and religious liberty advocates worldwide since 2000.

The full report is available for viewing at parl.gc.adventist.org.

Church Chat: Loki on repairing human rights in Kenya's Masai land
September 30, 2008 Kajiado, Rift Valley, Kenya ... [ Ray Dabrowski/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------

Jacinta Loki, center director, in front of the Kajiado Adventist Rehabilitation and Education Center. The center provides education for Masai girls, offering an alternative to the traditional early marriages of their tribe. [photo: Rajmund Dabrowski]

A goal of Christian women in Nairobi, Kenya to help girls in the rural Masai tribe is turning into a success story in the heart of Masai land, some 75 miles from the country's capitol. From its early days in 2001, ANN has watched the progress of the Kajiado Adventist Rehabilitation and Education Center.

During a recent visit to Nairobi, ANN once again visited Kajiado and talked with the center's director, Jacinta Loki. The interview, which follows, connects the center's mission to provide fear-free Christian education with the acute need to repair basic human rights, which are often overshadowed by traditional Masai beliefs and practices that leave scores of Masai girls without education and force them into early marriages.

In 2003, Jacinta Loki revealed the dire background of her young boarders: "When they come here, some of them have never even seen a bed." They came scared, afraid of their own shadow, she said. Now, one wants to become Kenya's president.

Adventist News Network: The Kajiado Center opened in the year 2000 with a group of 14 Masai girls. It looks like you've expanded all around?

Jacinta Loki: Yes. We have 160 girls in both primary and secondary level. The first group graduated in 2006, they are the ones who are in form two, right now in high school. The second group graduated in 2007, and now we will have quite a good number that are supposed to graduate by the end of this year. God willing. What I like with these girls is that they are ready to learn, and despite their age and background they are focused. They have a vision.

ANN: Vision. Can you explain what it means for young Masai girls?

Loki: It means that they know what they want in life. When you talk to some of them they will tell you that they would like to be doctors, some of them would like to be pilots, like Nancy Nipinevoy, who is now in grade eight. I was talking with Sombet, another girl, and she was like, "I would like to be a president of this country." So, you see that they are very ambitious. And if I tell you that when she came here, she was married to an 80-year old man.

ANN: Are all of the girls staying here on the compound or do some of them walk from nearby villages?

Loki: The 160 girls that I am talking about, those are the boarders. In 2002, we wanted to start a day section whereby we have those children from around the community who will come to school. There is a small group that comes in the morning, and then they go back to their homes in the evening. This [helps them learn to] count and write, but also to mingle with others.

ANN: As you are now well established in the community, what are people saying about your center?

Loki: Looking back, it was not easy because you are talking about the Masai community. I remember a year after we started there was this rumor going around that this church is a cult, some of them spread bad messages that their children will be eaten or something like that ? but afterward when we started interacting with them they in fact started slowly changing that notion. Right now, many parents would like their children to come here. We are pleased, very happy about that. They are very positive and they are very proud of the center, [due in part] to their good performance. [People] are very positive about the center.

ANN: The Kajiado Center was established as a home of refuge because of the abuse that the girls encounter in their own homes or villages. Is this still the primary reason for operating the center?

Loki: Oh yes, we still rescue the young Masai girls who are subjected to female genital mutilation and those ones who were supposed to be married off. FGM and forced marriages are interlinked. In this community before a girl is married off she must undergo FGM. I think the [most recent] case that we have dealt with is this eight-year-old who is married off to an 80-year-old man.

ANN: Eight years old?

Loki: Yes. It is very sad. I remember when we handled the case -- and we normally work together with the [government] children's department -- together with a police we went to her village. This situation was very sad because she was still such a baby. I remember the children's officer holding her on her lap and after a few minutes the child was deep asleep. Now she is in grade eight and she is one of the girls who will be graduating to high school next year.

ANN: The community, as you say, is accepting the center, but on the other hand there must also be anger when those girls are removed from their homes. How do you deal with the anger? How do the girls deal with the anger of the village when they return home for a holiday?

Loki: I like that question. When you talk of a Masai marriage there is exchange of dowry. Dowry in this community comes in the form of cows and cows are highly valued. After you have rescued these girls, if any of their husbands had taken cows then it means that these old men have to return back all the cows that they had taken. That one is not easy. This reminds me of instances when some of these parents have come here to fetch back their girl. I remember one Sabbath afternoon when we had rescued two of them, this old lady comes abusing every one. She wanted to fight with me. When she realized that I was not moving she went to the next step of stripping naked. Stripping naked in the African setting is like a curse. So, she stripped naked abusing everybody and eventually she went away with the girls so we were forced to go back with the police and bring back the children. Some girls stay on the compound because they fear of abusive treatment in the village.

ANN: Are the men equally angry?

Loki: We have also had some old Masai men come here and -- unfortunately or fortunately I happen to come from this community -- you know, somehow if they realize that my father is the same age they are, that they believe that they can also curse me because they believe that I am going against their culture. I am one of them so why am I doing all this to them? They don't see the other side; they don't see it as an abuse. To them it is their way of life. "So why are you interfering and after all you are one of us and you know everything, you know it is our culture, there isn't anything wrong," they argue. So, it has not been easy. Our prayer is that God should help us so that at least these girls that are in high school may even go up to the university, or to colleges and we know after that, obviously, when they start working, this notion that women are not only to be seen but they can also be very important players in their community will reach the villages. That is our prayer and we believe it is possible.

ANN: As you look at your present needs, what is the biggest challenge here at Kajiado?

Loki: The major challenge we are facing right now is that I have talked of the vast group that graduated in 2006 and as you can see our school ends at eighth grade, so these girls need to transfer to a high school. School fees are hard to cover. We need to feed the girls that are in primary [education] and also pay school fees for those girls now in high school. The most urgent need right now is to have our own secondary school. That would be great, because it means that after they have graduated at least the burden of taking them outside will come to an end.

ANN: When you say taking them outside to a high school, are you referring to a neighborhood Adventist school?

Loki: All of them are going to our schools.

ANN: How is the Adventist Church in Kenya responsive to your challenges?

Loki: Our schools have been very supportive. It is a big advantage that we have our own schools. But even so, as we took [our graduates] to high school, the principals accepted them but their school fees are not yet settled. Considering what happened in Kenya after elections, everything here has changed -- the cost of food and everything. So as much as [the schools] would like to help we are not talking of a single girl here, we are talking of quite a number of children. The schools have been very supportive, but the school fees still need to be paid.

ANN: As you look back at your eight years at the center, what images offset the challenges you face today?

Loki: Despite the challenges, despite everything that the teachers and the children face, I would like to thank God for this center. Before, these girls didn't have a place to run to. A good example is a girl named Eda, who is in form two right now. This girl walked for [about 30 miles] carrying her four month-old baby until she arrived here. She is a very bright girl. In fact, she is university material and she'd like to be a lawyer. There also is a 13-year-old Tempolee, who is very angry with her parents and she would also like to be a lawyer so she may protect the other Masai girls who are being abused. We have another one who is also in grade three right now. When she came here she was only 12 and already pregnant. I thank God because later on she gave birth and we returned the baby back home and she is still in school. We also have four or five girls who are less than 15 years old and they have babies but we keep encouraging them that despite the difficulties that they have on their own at least they will have a bright future. As we talk, we have quite a good number who are already baptized in the Adventist Church and most of their parents are coming to church through the witness of their girls.

------------------------------------------------------------------

news.adventist.org]]> September 30, 2008

In This Issue:
------------------------------------------------------------------
India: Aftermath of violence leaves scars on Orissa
Thousands still homeless, some remain in hiding
September 29 Orissa, India

Religious liberty making headway, challenges remain, world report says
Adventist experience cited as good indicator of country's freedom
September 30 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

Church Chat: Loki on repairing human rights in Kenya's Masai land
Educational center offers fear-free atmosphere for girls
September 30 Kajiado, Rift Valley, Kenya


------------------------------------------------------------------
India: Aftermath of violence leaves scars on Orissa
September 29, 2008
Orissa, India ... [ Megan Brauner/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in India have reported at least 27 Adventists dead from anti-Christian brutality that developed in the eastern India region of Orissa in late August. Church leaders said there are still violent outbreaks in the area despite India's Central Reserve Police forces patrolling the state.

Choudampalli John, president of the Adventist Church in east India, reported that he was not allowed to enter the areas where extremist violence occurred. John also said some Adventists are still hiding in the jungles because they fear retribution from other refugees at government-run aid camps.

Other church leaders commented on the severity of the situation.

Paka Jesurathnam, Adventist church leader for Orissa, reported thousands of houses and three dozen Adventist churches were likely destroyed and looted.

"To evaluate the actual loss of lives, property, people ... dwelling places and worship centers is impossible right now," said Jesurathnam. "To hear ... personal stories [makes] our nerves ache and blood dry."

The Prime Minister of India has condemned the violence, calling it a "national disgrace," according to published reports.

Possibly as many as 50,000 Christians from the Kandhamal region of Orissa are scattered throughout the seven government-run refugee camps and the surrounding jungle, Ecumenical News International reported.

Hindu extremists are blamed for beheading an Adventist pastor in August. Samuel Naik, pastor of the Phulwani Adventist Church, and his mother were killed during anti-Christian violence sweeping the region of India. Church leaders reported that Naik's wife, who was previously reported to have committed suicide, is still alive.

The outbreak came after unidentified attackers killed a Hindu religious leader and four other individuals. Hindus are blaming Christians for the deaths, while the Indian government cited Maoist rebels.


Religious liberty making headway, challenges remain, world report says September 30, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------

Church freedom of belief advocate John Graz at a religious liberty meeting in Mongolia earlier this year. In a religious freedom report released by the Adventist Church last week, the country receives a Category 3 status -- its constitution allows for broad freedoms, but religious extremists and some government authorities make full practice of faith difficult. [photo: courtesy NSD]

While religious liberty remains tenuous in many countries and nonexistent in others, religious liberty proponents worldwide continue to protect religious minorities and secure increased freedom of belief, a report released by the Seventh-day Adventist world church last week indicates.

Compiled jointly by the world church's department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) and the International Religious Liberty Institute of Adventist-owned Andrews University, the Religious Freedom World Report 2006-07 ranks countries on the basis of religious freedom.

Categories 1 through 3 represent countries whose constitutions guarantee religious freedom, but to varying degrees. Members of religious communities in 'Category 4' countries routinely face restrictive laws and attitudes that curtail the practice of their faith. A 'Category 5' rating indicates a "total negation" of religious freedom.

Of the 217 countries listed in the report, 38 rank as a Category 4 or 5.

The report includes a summary of each country's legal, political and social climate, as well as details of the Adventist experience.

"The treatment of Adventists can signal the general state of religious freedom in a country," says Nicholas Miller, managing editor for the report.

Earlier this month, the government of Turkmenistan granted an Adventist Church leader a work visa after an eight-year wait, a move religious liberty officials say signals the country's progress toward increased religious freedom. Both Turkmenistan and Vietnam are making "significant improvements" in the area of religious liberty, says John Graz, PARL director for the world church.

Promoting religious freedom, however, remains "challenging," something Graz attributes in part to emerging countries' attitudes toward human rights.

"Some think the concept of human rights is being used by Western countries as propaganda, to push forward this agenda," he explains. "So we have a backlash against human rights, and religious liberty is often one of the first to go."

Two major factors typically determine the level of religious freedom a country enjoys: its majority religion and political system, Graz says. Largely Christian countries -- both Catholic and Protestant -- typically safeguard religious liberty, whereas countries with Orthodox leadership are more restrictive. In most Islamic countries, Graz says, "the concept of religious freedom is not even understood."

While democracies and near-democracies encourage religious freedom, they by no means "guarantee" full practice of faith, he says, citing Protestant villagers who were expelled in Mexico and a recent outbrea k of anti-Christian violence in India. Violations of workplace religious freedom drop even the United States to Category 2 status.

In many cases, the government is "slow to react" to the ingrained attitudes of its citizens toward religious minorities, sometimes even ignoring the persecution and violence that can ensue, Graz says. In other situations, legal loopholes make laws allowing religious liberty difficult to enforce, he adds.

Graz is also concerned that in countries with marginal restrictions to religious liberty, both government leaders and citizens will feel less compelled to defend freedom of belief on an international level.

"People in the U.S, or Brazil, or Australia may say, 'Oh, we have religious freedom, we don't need to worry about this,' but one day they may have to if we stop pushing for universal freedom of belief," Graz says.

He also worries that many violations of religious liberty not only go unreported, but unnoticed. "Say you have a religious minority that represents 1 percent of the population. If they are persecuted, that hardly registers. People will either not care or not notice," he says, adding that those who live in countries where freedom of belief is protected must be unswerving proponents of religious liberty worldwide.

That doesn't mean religious minorities should wholly depend on outside support, Graz says. "They have a responsibility -- as much as the state -- in how they treat other religious minorities." Singling out public evangelism, Graz said church members must be "prudent" and "avoid saying anything that can be interpreted as an attack, or labeled as hate speech."

The Adventist Church is the only denomination that compiles a report on religious liberty, Graz says. The report has been sent to the United Nations and the U.S. State Department, as well as government leaders, international organizations and religious liberty advocates worldwide since 2000.

The full report is available for viewing at parl.gc.adventist.org.

Church Chat: Loki on repairing human rights in Kenya's Masai land
September 30, 2008 Kajiado, Rift Valley, Kenya ... [ Ray Dabrowski/ANN ]

------------------------------------------------------------------

Jacinta Loki, center director, in front of the Kajiado Adventist Rehabilitation and Education Center. The center provides education for Masai girls, offering an alternative to the traditional early marriages of their tribe. [photo: Rajmund Dabrowski]

A goal of Christian women in Nairobi, Kenya to help girls in the rural Masai tribe is turning into a success story in the heart of Masai land, some 75 miles from the country's capitol. From its early days in 2001, ANN has watched the progress of the Kajiado Adventist Rehabilitation and Education Center.

During a recent visit to Nairobi, ANN once again visited Kajiado and talked with the center's director, Jacinta Loki. The interview, which follows, connects the center's mission to provide fear-free Christian education with the acute need to repair basic human rights, which are often overshadowed by traditional Masai beliefs and practices that leave scores of Masai girls without education and force them into early marriages.

In 2003, Jacinta Loki revealed the dire background of her young boarders: "When they come here, some of them have never even seen a bed." They came scared, afraid of their own shadow, she said. Now, one wants to become Kenya's president.

Adventist News Network: The Kajiado Center opened in the year 2000 with a group of 14 Masai girls. It looks like you've expanded all around?

Jacinta Loki: Yes. We have 160 girls in both primary and secondary level. The first group graduated in 2006, they are the ones who are in form two, right now in high school. The second group graduated in 2007, and now we will have quite a good number that are supposed to graduate by the end of this year. God willing. What I like with these girls is that they are ready to learn, and despite their age and background they are focused. They have a vision.

ANN: Vision. Can you explain what it means for young Masai girls?

Loki: It means that they know what they want in life. When you talk to some of them they will tell you that they would like to be doctors, some of them would like to be pilots, like Nancy Nipinevoy, who is now in grade eight. I was talking with Sombet, another girl, and she was like, "I would like to be a president of this country." So, you see that they are very ambitious. And if I tell you that when she came here, she was married to an 80-year old man.

ANN: Are all of the girls staying here on the compound or do some of them walk from nearby villages?

Loki: The 160 girls that I am talking about, those are the boarders. In 2002, we wanted to start a day section whereby we have those children from around the community who will come to school. There is a small group that comes in the morning, and then they go back to their homes in the evening. This [helps them learn to] count and write, but also to mingle with others.

ANN: As you are now well established in the community, what are people saying about your center?

Loki: Looking back, it was not easy because you are talking about the Masai community. I remember a year after we started there was this rumor going around that this church is a cult, some of them spread bad messages that their children will be eaten or something like that ? but afterward when we started interacting with them they in fact started slowly changing that notion. Right now, many parents would like their children to come here. We are pleased, very happy about that. They are very positive and they are very proud of the center, [due in part] to their good performance. [People] are very positive about the center.

ANN: The Kajiado Center was established as a home of refuge because of the abuse that the girls encounter in their own homes or villages. Is this still the primary reason for operating the center?

Loki: Oh yes, we still rescue the young Masai girls who are subjected to female genital mutilation and those ones who were supposed to be married off. FGM and forced marriages are interlinked. In this community before a girl is married off she must undergo FGM. I think the [most recent] case that we have dealt with is this eight-year-old who is married off to an 80-year-old man.

ANN: Eight years old?

Loki: Yes. It is very sad. I remember when we handled the case -- and we normally work together with the [government] children's department -- together with a police we went to her village. This situation was very sad because she was still such a baby. I remember the children's officer holding her on her lap and after a few minutes the child was deep asleep. Now she is in grade eight and she is one of the girls who will be graduating to high school next year.

ANN: The community, as you say, is accepting the center, but on the other hand there must also be anger when those girls are removed from their homes. How do you deal with the anger? How do the girls deal with the anger of the village when they return home for a holiday?

Loki: I like that question. When you talk of a Masai marriage there is exchange of dowry. Dowry in this community comes in the form of cows and cows are highly valued. After you have rescued these girls, if any of their husbands had taken cows then it means that these old men have to return back all the cows that they had taken. That one is not easy. This reminds me of instances when some of these parents have come here to fetch back their girl. I remember one Sabbath afternoon when we had rescued two of them, this old lady comes abusing every one. She wanted to fight with me. When she realized that I was not moving she went to the next step of stripping naked. Stripping naked in the African setting is like a curse. So, she stripped naked abusing everybody and eventually she went away with the girls so we were forced to go back with the police and bring back the children. Some girls stay on the compound because they fear of abusive treatment in the village.

ANN: Are the men equally angry?

Loki: We have also had some old Masai men come here and -- unfortunately or fortunately I happen to come from this community -- you know, somehow if they realize that my father is the same age they are, that they believe that they can also curse me because they believe that I am going against their culture. I am one of them so why am I doing all this to them? They don't see the other side; they don't see it as an abuse. To them it is their way of life. "So why are you interfering and after all you are one of us and you know everything, you know it is our culture, there isn't anything wrong," they argue. So, it has not been easy. Our prayer is that God should help us so that at least these girls that are in high school may even go up to the university, or to colleges and we know after that, obviously, when they start working, this notion that women are not only to be seen but they can also be very important players in their community will reach the villages. That is our prayer and we believe it is possible.

ANN: As you look at your present needs, what is the biggest challenge here at Kajiado?

Loki: The major challenge we are facing right now is that I have talked of the vast group that graduated in 2006 and as you can see our school ends at eighth grade, so these girls need to transfer to a high school. School fees are hard to cover. We need to feed the girls that are in primary [education] and also pay school fees for those girls now in high school. The most urgent need right now is to have our own secondary school. That would be great, because it means that after they have graduated at least the burden of taking them outside will come to an end.

ANN: When you say taking them outside to a high school, are you referring to a neighborhood Adventist school?

Loki: All of them are going to our schools.

ANN: How is the Adventist Church in Kenya responsive to your challenges?

Loki: Our schools have been very supportive. It is a big advantage that we have our own schools. But even so, as we took [our graduates] to high school, the principals accepted them but their school fees are not yet settled. Considering what happened in Kenya after elections, everything here has changed -- the cost of food and everything. So as much as [the schools] would like to help we are not talking of a single girl here, we are talking of quite a number of children. The schools have been very supportive, but the school fees still need to be paid.

ANN: As you look back at your eight years at the center, what images offset the challenges you face today?

Loki: Despite the challenges, despite everything that the teachers and the children face, I would like to thank God for this center. Before, these girls didn't have a place to run to. A good example is a girl named Eda, who is in form two right now. This girl walked for [about 30 miles] carrying her four month-old baby until she arrived here. She is a very bright girl. In fact, she is university material and she'd like to be a lawyer. There also is a 13-year-old Tempolee, who is very angry with her parents and she would also like to be a lawyer so she may protect the other Masai girls who are being abused. We have another one who is also in grade three right now. When she came here she was only 12 and already pregnant. I thank God because later on she gave birth and we returned the baby back home and she is still in school. We also have four or five girls who are less than 15 years old and they have babies but we keep encouraging them that despite the difficulties that they have on their own at least they will have a bright future. As we talk, we have quite a good number who are already baptized in the Adventist Church and most of their parents are coming to church through the witness of their girls.

------------------------------------------------------------------

news.adventist.org]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2707 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:42:07 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2707 October 7, 2008
A News and Information Service for Leaders in North America


From the editor - This is a letter that was written by Marti Schneider, from her and Don Schneider, to tell about her husband, President Schneider's recent surgery.


Update on NAD President Don Schneider
By Marti Schneider - Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dear friends,

We were preparing to leave for Annual Council in Manila, plus an itinerary in Thailand and Cambodia . . . to be gone a full month. But Don sensed that his vision was slightly blurred.

"Let's go to the ophthalmologist, even though we got the 'all clear for a year' word only two months before," I urged him. "Perhaps it is a cataract . . . maybe you need new lenses . . ." But tiny changes in the field of vision test sent Don to get a new MRI.

We had a regular 6-month visit with the surgeon within days. After Dr. Aulisi viewed the films, he told Don that the cyst had re-filled and was larger than ever. "But you're not having symptoms!"

"Like what?" we wondered.

"Like terrible headaches. Like weakness on the left side of your body. Like major loss of vision. How can I operate on a man without symptoms? Would you get a second opinion? Would you go to the surgeon with whom I trained? He's at Harvard . . . at Boston," proposed Aulisi.

Of course, we would.

So after walking out of Aulisi's office on Friday, we made the appointment. On Monday we were in Boston . . . and got the same opinion . . . "Although you don't have symptoms now, you will never know when they might hit you. You will have to have surgery. Don't leave the country."

So after walking out of the Boston doctor's office we called back to Washington to Dr. Aulisi's office again. "Yes," his assistant said, "we've expected your call. Your surgery is set for Friday morning."

Don's surgery took place just last Friday, two days ago. Don rested in the hospital on Sabbath. And today, Sunday, he came home.

The exciting thing is . . . he is feeling good. He has no pain. He is really alert and full of life! In fact, I think he is doing better than before he went for surgery.

So what happened? Did God not hear us when we prayed before? Everybody that was ever healed by Jesus, like Lazarus who was even raised from the dead, has died. I do not serve God to keep from getting a brain tumor. I serve God because Jesus created me, and He died for me. I was healed, I truly believe. However, the cyst came again. And by God's power and His working through Dr. Aulisi, I will soon be back to work!

Thank you for your prayers and concern. We appreciate you as part of our family!

Our love, Marti (and Don)]]> October 7, 2008
A News and Information Service for Leaders in North America


From the editor - This is a letter that was written by Marti Schneider, from her and Don Schneider, to tell about her husband, President Schneider's recent surgery.


Update on NAD President Don Schneider
By Marti Schneider - Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dear friends,

We were preparing to leave for Annual Council in Manila, plus an itinerary in Thailand and Cambodia . . . to be gone a full month. But Don sensed that his vision was slightly blurred.

"Let's go to the ophthalmologist, even though we got the 'all clear for a year' word only two months before," I urged him. "Perhaps it is a cataract . . . maybe you need new lenses . . ." But tiny changes in the field of vision test sent Don to get a new MRI.

We had a regular 6-month visit with the surgeon within days. After Dr. Aulisi viewed the films, he told Don that the cyst had re-filled and was larger than ever. "But you're not having symptoms!"

"Like what?" we wondered.

"Like terrible headaches. Like weakness on the left side of your body. Like major loss of vision. How can I operate on a man without symptoms? Would you get a second opinion? Would you go to the surgeon with whom I trained? He's at Harvard . . . at Boston," proposed Aulisi.

Of course, we would.

So after walking out of Aulisi's office on Friday, we made the appointment. On Monday we were in Boston . . . and got the same opinion . . . "Although you don't have symptoms now, you will never know when they might hit you. You will have to have surgery. Don't leave the country."

So after walking out of the Boston doctor's office we called back to Washington to Dr. Aulisi's office again. "Yes," his assistant said, "we've expected your call. Your surgery is set for Friday morning."

Don's surgery took place just last Friday, two days ago. Don rested in the hospital on Sabbath. And today, Sunday, he came home.

The exciting thing is . . . he is feeling good. He has no pain. He is really alert and full of life! In fact, I think he is doing better than before he went for surgery.

So what happened? Did God not hear us when we prayed before? Everybody that was ever healed by Jesus, like Lazarus who was even raised from the dead, has died. I do not serve God to keep from getting a brain tumor. I serve God because Jesus created me, and He died for me. I was healed, I truly believe. However, the cyst came again. And by God's power and His working through Dr. Aulisi, I will soon be back to work!

Thank you for your prayers and concern. We appreciate you as part of our family!

Our love, Marti (and Don)]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2706 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:23:24 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2706
Today two of our committee members and I travelled down the Skagit Valley from Hope to the U.S. border to set up our African Safari. It's a great place but the road is a gravel road so a little rough. Great fun though!

Pray that we have a very good retreat and that those who come will be very blessed by the messages and have a great time of fellowship and Christian friendship. Afterall that's what singles is all about, isn't it?!]]>
Today two of our committee members and I travelled down the Skagit Valley from Hope to the U.S. border to set up our African Safari. It's a great place but the road is a gravel road so a little rough. Great fun though!

Pray that we have a very good retreat and that those who come will be very blessed by the messages and have a great time of fellowship and Christian friendship. Afterall that's what singles is all about, isn't it?!]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2705 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:16:53 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2705
“There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures. Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, ‘son of the morning,’ was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. He stood in the presence of the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the eternal God rested upon him.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 35.

Made a Final Choice: “Lucifer in heaven had sinned in the light of God's glory. To him as to no other created being was given a revelation of God's love. Understanding the character of God, knowing His goodness, Satan chose to follow his own selfish, independent will. This choice was final. There was no more that God could do to save him.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 761, 762.

Discussion Questions:

Think about the fact that Lucifer was a “perfect” being and yet iniquity was found in him. What does that tell us about the kind of freedom God has given to His intelligent creatures? What kind of moral responsibility does this freedom place on each of us?

Keeping the idea of our freedom in mind, discuss the role of the law. Why would law be so important for free beings? If we were not free, why would there be no need for law? That is, what’s the purpose of a law for beings who don’t have moral choices to begin with?

Go back to the question at the end of Tuesday’s lesson. What are the various ways Satan seeks to manifest his character in us, both individually and as a church? What are the things we do that show, at times, just how successful he has been?

Summary:

Lucifer, a free being, abused the freedom that God gave him, and he cherished evil thoughts until those thoughts turned into action, action against God’s government and against God Himself. The result was a disruption of heaven’s established order. Truly the issues of sin and rebellion have consequences beyond our mere earth.]]>
“There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures. Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, ‘son of the morning,’ was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. He stood in the presence of the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the eternal God rested upon him.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 35.

Made a Final Choice: “Lucifer in heaven had sinned in the light of God's glory. To him as to no other created being was given a revelation of God's love. Understanding the character of God, knowing His goodness, Satan chose to follow his own selfish, independent will. This choice was final. There was no more that God could do to save him.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 761, 762.

Discussion Questions:

Think about the fact that Lucifer was a “perfect” being and yet iniquity was found in him. What does that tell us about the kind of freedom God has given to His intelligent creatures? What kind of moral responsibility does this freedom place on each of us?

Keeping the idea of our freedom in mind, discuss the role of the law. Why would law be so important for free beings? If we were not free, why would there be no need for law? That is, what’s the purpose of a law for beings who don’t have moral choices to begin with?

Go back to the question at the end of Tuesday’s lesson. What are the various ways Satan seeks to manifest his character in us, both individually and as a church? What are the things we do that show, at times, just how successful he has been?

Summary:

Lucifer, a free being, abused the freedom that God gave him, and he cherished evil thoughts until those thoughts turned into action, action against God’s government and against God Himself. The result was a disruption of heaven’s established order. Truly the issues of sin and rebellion have consequences beyond our mere earth.]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2704 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:14:57 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2704
There are two words used by Ezekiel that could help us understand the strategy of Lucifer’s attack against God.

The first one is trade (“your widespread trade” [Ezek. 28:16, NIV]); he was involved in “widespread trade.” The word translated “trade” also could be rendered “slander,” suggesting that in heaven Lucifer was involved in raising false accusations against God and probably other heavenly beings. “Slander” is evil speech intended to damage the reputation of others, and it can describe the behavior of a person who has chosen to ignore the will of God and who stands under divine judgment (Lev. 19:16, Jer. 6:28–30). It results in division and disorder (2 Cor. 12:20). Satan is described in the Bible as the accuser or slanderer of God's people, the adversary (Zech. 3:1, Rev. 12:10). Satan did not hold “ ‘to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies’ ” (John 8:44, NIV).

Ezekiel 28:16 "16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.

Leviticus 19:16 "16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD."

Jeremiah 6:28-30 "28 They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers.
They are bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
30 People will call them rejected silver,
Because the LORD has rejected them.”

2 Corinthians 12:20 "20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;"

Zechariah 3:1 "Vision of the High Priest
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him."

Revelations 12:10 "10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down."

John 8:44 "44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."

This slander led Satan to violence, the second important word (Ezek. 28:16). Violence designates an antisocial behavior that violates God's established order. It is motivated by hate or egotism and could lead to physical and social attacks. In some cases it results in murder or in the exploitation of others for personal benefit (Gen. 49:5, Micah 6:12). Satan was a “ ‘murderer from the beginning’ ” in that he introduced violence and death into God's creation (John 8:44).

Ezekial 28:16 "16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones."

Genesis 49:5 "5 “ Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place."

Micah 6:12 "12 For her rich men are full of violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth."

John 8:44 "44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."

What was the final result of the anti-God behavior of Lucifer in heaven?

Revelations 12:7-9 "Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Slowly and mysteriously Satan's selfish feelings were transformed into a behavior that was an open attack against God and His Son. What was at first hidden soon became visible, creating confusion and disorder. There was war in heaven. This was the beginning of the cosmic conflict in which we all are involved. Satan and his supporters were defeated in heaven, on the cross, and will be extinguished from the universe at the appropriate time. The resolution of the sin problem not only restores the fallen human race to perfect and permanent union with God but will reestablish a perfect moral harmony throughout all of God’s creation.

First there are bad thoughts, which lead to bad words, which lead to bad actions. This happened to Satan, and unless we’re careful, it will happen to us. What’s our best defense (see Phil. 4:8 )?

Philipians 4:8 "Meditate on These Things
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."]]>
There are two words used by Ezekiel that could help us understand the strategy of Lucifer’s attack against God.

The first one is trade (“your widespread trade” [Ezek. 28:16, NIV]); he was involved in “widespread trade.” The word translated “trade” also could be rendered “slander,” suggesting that in heaven Lucifer was involved in raising false accusations against God and probably other heavenly beings. “Slander” is evil speech intended to damage the reputation of others, and it can describe the behavior of a person who has chosen to ignore the will of God and who stands under divine judgment (Lev. 19:16, Jer. 6:28–30). It results in division and disorder (2 Cor. 12:20). Satan is described in the Bible as the accuser or slanderer of God's people, the adversary (Zech. 3:1, Rev. 12:10). Satan did not hold “ ‘to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies’ ” (John 8:44, NIV).

Ezekiel 28:16 "16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.

Leviticus 19:16 "16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD."

Jeremiah 6:28-30 "28 They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers.
They are bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
30 People will call them rejected silver,
Because the LORD has rejected them.”

2 Corinthians 12:20 "20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;"

Zechariah 3:1 "Vision of the High Priest
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him."

Revelations 12:10 "10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down."

John 8:44 "44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."

This slander led Satan to violence, the second important word (Ezek. 28:16). Violence designates an antisocial behavior that violates God's established order. It is motivated by hate or egotism and could lead to physical and social attacks. In some cases it results in murder or in the exploitation of others for personal benefit (Gen. 49:5, Micah 6:12). Satan was a “ ‘murderer from the beginning’ ” in that he introduced violence and death into God's creation (John 8:44).

Ezekial 28:16 "16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones."

Genesis 49:5 "5 “ Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place."

Micah 6:12 "12 For her rich men are full of violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth."

John 8:44 "44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."

What was the final result of the anti-God behavior of Lucifer in heaven?

Revelations 12:7-9 "Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Slowly and mysteriously Satan's selfish feelings were transformed into a behavior that was an open attack against God and His Son. What was at first hidden soon became visible, creating confusion and disorder. There was war in heaven. This was the beginning of the cosmic conflict in which we all are involved. Satan and his supporters were defeated in heaven, on the cross, and will be extinguished from the universe at the appropriate time. The resolution of the sin problem not only restores the fallen human race to perfect and permanent union with God but will reestablish a perfect moral harmony throughout all of God’s creation.

First there are bad thoughts, which lead to bad words, which lead to bad actions. This happened to Satan, and unless we’re careful, it will happen to us. What’s our best defense (see Phil. 4:8 )?

Philipians 4:8 "Meditate on These Things
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2703 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:04:40 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2703
How does Paul describe the cosmic role of Christ?

Colosians. 1:16, 17 "16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

That which integrates creation into a harmonious unity are not the laws of nature, important as they are, but the power of a loving God in the person of Christ. Love is not only the bond that keeps Christians united (Col. 3:14) but the bond that holds the universe together. It is not an impersonal force but the very essence of God Himself. An attack against God is an attack against the way He rules the universe and, therefore, is an attempt to upset the divine order of creation.

Colossians 3:14 "14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."

Read Job 1:8–11. Where do you see in these verses an attack on God Himself by Satan?

Job 1:8-11 "[color=#0000FF]8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

The charges Satan raised against both Job and God reflect the charges he raised against God in heaven. According to him, Job served God out of selfish concerns, not out of love. He served God in order to obtain things from Him, and God provided for Job in order to gain his service. Satan argued that God's government was characterized by selfishness—not by selfless love, as God claimed. According to him, the true nature of humans is revealed in the midst of chaos, and if given the chance, they would rebel against God.

“All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life.

“In heaven itself this law was broken. Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 21. How can you better fit in with this “circuit of beneficence”?

Comment]]>
How does Paul describe the cosmic role of Christ?

Colosians. 1:16, 17 "16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

That which integrates creation into a harmonious unity are not the laws of nature, important as they are, but the power of a loving God in the person of Christ. Love is not only the bond that keeps Christians united (Col. 3:14) but the bond that holds the universe together. It is not an impersonal force but the very essence of God Himself. An attack against God is an attack against the way He rules the universe and, therefore, is an attempt to upset the divine order of creation.

Colossians 3:14 "14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."

Read Job 1:8–11. Where do you see in these verses an attack on God Himself by Satan?

Job 1:8-11 "[color=#0000FF]8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

The charges Satan raised against both Job and God reflect the charges he raised against God in heaven. According to him, Job served God out of selfish concerns, not out of love. He served God in order to obtain things from Him, and God provided for Job in order to gain his service. Satan argued that God's government was characterized by selfishness—not by selfless love, as God claimed. According to him, the true nature of humans is revealed in the midst of chaos, and if given the chance, they would rebel against God.

“All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life.

“In heaven itself this law was broken. Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 21. How can you better fit in with this “circuit of beneficence”?

Comment]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2702 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:09:46 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2702
The law is an expression of the character and will of the Lawgiver. The psalmist wrote, “ ‘I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart’ ” (Ps. 40:8, NIV). Here the will of God has been internalized and has become part of the character of the psalmist. In other words, the character of God is being appropriated through submission to the divine will expressed in the law.

How do these texts help us understand the link between God’s love and His law?

Matthew 22:37–40 "37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

John 3:16; 14:15, 21 "16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Promises Another Helper
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

1 John 5:3 "3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome."

When John wrote, “The devil has been sinning from the beginning” (1 John 3:8, NIV), He was saying that Satan, in heaven, rebelled against the loving will of God.

In contrast to loving obedience, there is lawlessness (see 1 John 3:4). The word lawlessness (anomia) refers to a deep-seated attitude in the heart of rebellious human beings. It speaks of chaos and anarchy as the substitutes for the divine law and for what it stands for, the divine character. The cosmic conflict is against God and what He is in Himself. Paul describes the end-time eschatological antichrist as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3, NIV), and refers to the phenomenon of sin as the “mystery of anomia” (vs. 7).

1 John 3:4 "Sin and the Child of God
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is
lawlessness."

2 Thesselonians 2:3, 7 "3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way."

Review God’s command to Adam and Satan’s words to Eve (Gen. 2:17; 3:4, 5). What was going on here?

Genesis 2:17"17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:4,5 "4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” "

Genesis 2:17 was a clear expression of God's love for Adam and Eve and His intense desire to enjoy their fellowship forever. He clearly did not want them to experience death; otherwise, why alert them to the possibility of it? Created as free beings, Adam and Eve had to demonstrate their willingness to enjoy eternity with the Creator. Their obedience to the divine command would show that they were freely choosing to enjoy eternal life with Him. It is that clearly expressed divine will that Satan attacks and opposes, offering instead total “independence” from God. This was his basic agenda in heaven: independence from the divine command, being his own law without accountability to anyone.

In what subtle ways is Satan still trying to get us to declare our “independence” from God? How can we protect ourselves from this deadly deception?

Comment

I cannot understand who would want to be independent from God. It is He that keeps us going and gives us the strength to continue on. I need Him! I do not want to be independent from God.]]>
The law is an expression of the character and will of the Lawgiver. The psalmist wrote, “ ‘I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart’ ” (Ps. 40:8, NIV). Here the will of God has been internalized and has become part of the character of the psalmist. In other words, the character of God is being appropriated through submission to the divine will expressed in the law.

How do these texts help us understand the link between God’s love and His law?

Matthew 22:37–40 "37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

John 3:16; 14:15, 21 "16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Promises Another Helper
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

1 John 5:3 "3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome."

When John wrote, “The devil has been sinning from the beginning” (1 John 3:8, NIV), He was saying that Satan, in heaven, rebelled against the loving will of God.

In contrast to loving obedience, there is lawlessness (see 1 John 3:4). The word lawlessness (anomia) refers to a deep-seated attitude in the heart of rebellious human beings. It speaks of chaos and anarchy as the substitutes for the divine law and for what it stands for, the divine character. The cosmic conflict is against God and what He is in Himself. Paul describes the end-time eschatological antichrist as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3, NIV), and refers to the phenomenon of sin as the “mystery of anomia” (vs. 7).

1 John 3:4 "Sin and the Child of God
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is
lawlessness."

2 Thesselonians 2:3, 7 "3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way."

Review God’s command to Adam and Satan’s words to Eve (Gen. 2:17; 3:4, 5). What was going on here?

Genesis 2:17"17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:4,5 "4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” "

Genesis 2:17 was a clear expression of God's love for Adam and Eve and His intense desire to enjoy their fellowship forever. He clearly did not want them to experience death; otherwise, why alert them to the possibility of it? Created as free beings, Adam and Eve had to demonstrate their willingness to enjoy eternity with the Creator. Their obedience to the divine command would show that they were freely choosing to enjoy eternal life with Him. It is that clearly expressed divine will that Satan attacks and opposes, offering instead total “independence” from God. This was his basic agenda in heaven: independence from the divine command, being his own law without accountability to anyone.

In what subtle ways is Satan still trying to get us to declare our “independence” from God? How can we protect ourselves from this deadly deception?

Comment

I cannot understand who would want to be independent from God. It is He that keeps us going and gives us the strength to continue on. I need Him! I do not want to be independent from God.]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2701 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:54:39 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2701
Hope all you Canucks out there have a special day on Monday or whatever day you celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend. We do have soooo much to be thankful for! God is so good to us.]]>
Hope all you Canucks out there have a special day on Monday or whatever day you celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend. We do have soooo much to be thankful for! God is so good to us.]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2700 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:42:18 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2700
Every year the Assemblies of God sets aside the first Sunday of November to recognize and honor single adults for the contributions they have made to the church and its ministries. Many churches have single adults ministering in several, if not most areas of the church. They are helping in nursery care, pre-school classes, elementary classes, youth ministries, young adult ministries, single adult ministries, senior adult ministries, choir, praise and worship groups, ushers, greeters, the mission’s committee/board, the church board, and other committees, groups and ministry of many kinds.


Single Adults in the Bible

Did you know that many of the people in the Bible God used were SINGLE? Consider the following people:

---John the Baptist ---Naomi ---Isaac (till age 40)

---Isaiah ---Jeremiah ---Hosea

---Deborah (Rebecca’s nurse) ---The apostle Paul ---Anna

---Hagar ---Jesus ---Naomi

---Miriam ---Dinah ---Vashti

Paul’s Comments About Síngleness

Marriage was not a requirement for effective ministry, according to the apostle Paul. In fact, Paul states in I Corinthians 7: 8 that he himself was single! Did you know he was single for at least part of his ministry? In verses 26-35 he explains it is actually better for ministry to be single than married because of less care and anxiety that marriage brings, and because a single adult has greater flexibility of time and resources than a married adult..

Did you know that in the U S?

• 44% of all adults age 18 and older are single or single-again
• 48 million adults are never married.
• The percentage of never-married men and women in their 20s and 30s has tripled along with a sharp 41% decline in the marriage rate.
• In 1970, 74% of adults were married. In 2000, 56% of adults were married.
• 20.2 million adults are divorced.
• 13.5 million adults are widowed.
• 36 % of all family types are single parent families.
• Unmarried couple households increased 71 % from 1990 - 2000 and 864% from 1960 – 2000 (from 439,000 couples to 5.5 million couples)

With demographics like these, we need to continue to reach, teach and utilize single adults. The singles population is TOO LARGE TO IGNORE and the abilities and talents of these people are TOO VALUABLE TO WASTE. The church today is blessed to have single and single-again people of all ages and backgrounds serving Christ by serving people.

The first Sunday in November (or another day that fits your church schedule) would be a good day to honor single adults and promote this needed ministry in your church.

Suggestions for Involving/Honoring Single Adults in a Service

• The pastor could preach about the fact that Jesus was a single adult!

• Single adults can be involved in any/every aspect of a church service including door greeters, worship, special music, drama, prayer, taking the offering, etc.

• Single adults could give testimonies concerning how the church and/or the Lord has helped them.

• Show the video, “Introduction to Single Adult Ministries” (4 ½ minutes). It can be viewed on the national AG single adult site at http://www.singles.ag.org (Leaders/Media Downloads/Videos). It can also be purchased in VHS format for $5.00 or C D format for $10)

• Show pictures or video of your church’s single adults serving in the church or community (visiting nursing homes, feeding the hungry, helping at the Victory Mission, Salvation Army etc)

• Show the power point concerning unmarried adults in the U.S. found on the national AG single adult site http://www.singles.ag.org (Leaders/Media Downloads/Power point…“Singleness in the Church”).

• Take the survey in the congregation on the power point which reveals the numbers of single and single-again people in your church It’s a great visual about how many unmarried adults there really are! It asks all to stand who:

--Are 18 years or older and are never married, formerly married, widowed, single-parent (all at the same time)

--Are now remarried but at one point were single-again due to death of a spouse or death of a marriage

--Have at least one person in their family who is single or single-again due to the death of a spouse or death of a marriage

• Have married adults pray for single adults and their needs. Then have the single adults pray for married adults and their needs.

• Highlight the fact that JESUS was the greatest single adult who ever lived!

• Be creative! Come up with other ideas to involve and honor single adults

Resources to Help You!

• A Powerful Power Point...Show This to Your Church!

“Single Adults In The Church” -- This power point shows various demographics of the 5 types of single adults in the United States and contains a survey you can use to reveal how many single adults, remarried adults, and families containing a single adult are in your congregation!

• Videos Promoting Single Adults and Showing Them in Ministry!

“The Time Is Now” (4 min 21 sec) - Use this video to promote what ministry to single adults is all about! This video shows single adults of all ages in ministry around the country and world using their talent and creativity to help build the kingdom of God. It presents a convincing case for targeted, effective ministry to single adults so that effective ministry to others will be the result. Now is the time to recognize, reach, restore, and release single adults into the harvest!

“In The News” (2 min 10 sec) Why is there a need for targeted ministry to single adults who are not married, formerly-married, widowed or single-parent? What is the Assemblies of God doing about this need? What do we have to help you establish or strengthen a ministry to single and single-again people? This short 2 minute video will you expose others to the need and resources for this ministry.

• View and download these videos online by clicking here. Or you may order "The Time is Now" by calling customer service at 1-800-641-4310. This video may be found on the following products:

Single Adult Ministries Promo Video (VHS) - $5 (item #724512)
Single Adult Day CD - $10 (item #724543)
Leadership Pack - $20 (item #724514)

Reaching Single America,

By Dennis Franck, Director]]>
Every year the Assemblies of God sets aside the first Sunday of November to recognize and honor single adults for the contributions they have made to the church and its ministries. Many churches have single adults ministering in several, if not most areas of the church. They are helping in nursery care, pre-school classes, elementary classes, youth ministries, young adult ministries, single adult ministries, senior adult ministries, choir, praise and worship groups, ushers, greeters, the mission’s committee/board, the church board, and other committees, groups and ministry of many kinds.


Single Adults in the Bible

Did you know that many of the people in the Bible God used were SINGLE? Consider the following people:

---John the Baptist ---Naomi ---Isaac (till age 40)

---Isaiah ---Jeremiah ---Hosea

---Deborah (Rebecca’s nurse) ---The apostle Paul ---Anna

---Hagar ---Jesus ---Naomi

---Miriam ---Dinah ---Vashti

Paul’s Comments About Síngleness

Marriage was not a requirement for effective ministry, according to the apostle Paul. In fact, Paul states in I Corinthians 7: 8 that he himself was single! Did you know he was single for at least part of his ministry? In verses 26-35 he explains it is actually better for ministry to be single than married because of less care and anxiety that marriage brings, and because a single adult has greater flexibility of time and resources than a married adult..

Did you know that in the U S?

• 44% of all adults age 18 and older are single or single-again
• 48 million adults are never married.
• The percentage of never-married men and women in their 20s and 30s has tripled along with a sharp 41% decline in the marriage rate.
• In 1970, 74% of adults were married. In 2000, 56% of adults were married.
• 20.2 million adults are divorced.
• 13.5 million adults are widowed.
• 36 % of all family types are single parent families.
• Unmarried couple households increased 71 % from 1990 - 2000 and 864% from 1960 – 2000 (from 439,000 couples to 5.5 million couples)

With demographics like these, we need to continue to reach, teach and utilize single adults. The singles population is TOO LARGE TO IGNORE and the abilities and talents of these people are TOO VALUABLE TO WASTE. The church today is blessed to have single and single-again people of all ages and backgrounds serving Christ by serving people.

The first Sunday in November (or another day that fits your church schedule) would be a good day to honor single adults and promote this needed ministry in your church.

Suggestions for Involving/Honoring Single Adults in a Service

• The pastor could preach about the fact that Jesus was a single adult!

• Single adults can be involved in any/every aspect of a church service including door greeters, worship, special music, drama, prayer, taking the offering, etc.

• Single adults could give testimonies concerning how the church and/or the Lord has helped them.

• Show the video, “Introduction to Single Adult Ministries” (4 ½ minutes). It can be viewed on the national AG single adult site at http://www.singles.ag.org (Leaders/Media Downloads/Videos). It can also be purchased in VHS format for $5.00 or C D format for $10)

• Show pictures or video of your church’s single adults serving in the church or community (visiting nursing homes, feeding the hungry, helping at the Victory Mission, Salvation Army etc)

• Show the power point concerning unmarried adults in the U.S. found on the national AG single adult site http://www.singles.ag.org (Leaders/Media Downloads/Power point…“Singleness in the Church”).

• Take the survey in the congregation on the power point which reveals the numbers of single and single-again people in your church It’s a great visual about how many unmarried adults there really are! It asks all to stand who:

--Are 18 years or older and are never married, formerly married, widowed, single-parent (all at the same time)

--Are now remarried but at one point were single-again due to death of a spouse or death of a marriage

--Have at least one person in their family who is single or single-again due to the death of a spouse or death of a marriage

• Have married adults pray for single adults and their needs. Then have the single adults pray for married adults and their needs.

• Highlight the fact that JESUS was the greatest single adult who ever lived!

• Be creative! Come up with other ideas to involve and honor single adults

Resources to Help You!

• A Powerful Power Point...Show This to Your Church!

“Single Adults In The Church” -- This power point shows various demographics of the 5 types of single adults in the United States and contains a survey you can use to reveal how many single adults, remarried adults, and families containing a single adult are in your congregation!

• Videos Promoting Single Adults and Showing Them in Ministry!

“The Time Is Now” (4 min 21 sec) - Use this video to promote what ministry to single adults is all about! This video shows single adults of all ages in ministry around the country and world using their talent and creativity to help build the kingdom of God. It presents a convincing case for targeted, effective ministry to single adults so that effective ministry to others will be the result. Now is the time to recognize, reach, restore, and release single adults into the harvest!

“In The News” (2 min 10 sec) Why is there a need for targeted ministry to single adults who are not married, formerly-married, widowed or single-parent? What is the Assemblies of God doing about this need? What do we have to help you establish or strengthen a ministry to single and single-again people? This short 2 minute video will you expose others to the need and resources for this ministry.

• View and download these videos online by clicking here. Or you may order "The Time is Now" by calling customer service at 1-800-641-4310. This video may be found on the following products:

Single Adult Ministries Promo Video (VHS) - $5 (item #724512)
Single Adult Day CD - $10 (item #724543)
Leadership Pack - $20 (item #724514)

Reaching Single America,

By Dennis Franck, Director]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2699 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:36:09 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2699
How did Isaiah describe the true intentions of the rebellious cherub? What was in his heart, his inner being? What was his real motive?

Isaiah 14:13, 14 "13 For you have said in your heart:

‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

As the strange, selfish feelings and emotions of the cherub gained ascendancy over his higher powers and reason, he became bolder. He perverted and misused the freedom that God had entrusted to him, even to the point where He wanted to usurp God’s own authority.

In Ezekiel 28:15 a contrast is made between the condition of the cherub as a good creature from the hand of his Creator and what he, the creature, had became. He was at first “blameless” (NIV), whole, lacking nothing, but something new was formed within him: The verse says that “iniquity,” or “wickedness” (NIV), was found in him. This term in the Old Testament can be used to mean duplicity, unholy ambition, lying, and apostasy.

Ezekiel also said: “ ‘ “Your heart became proud [Heb. gabah, ‘to be high,’ ‘to be exalted’]” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:17, NIV). To be proud can included perceiving oneself as being more than one really is, or to view oneself as superior to others. It also can lead to behavior that ignores God's will (Ps. 10:4, Jer. 13:15) and that opposes God Himself (Ezek. 28:2). One could easily conclude that the fallen cherub was being disloyal to God, attacking Him, speaking lies and acting deceptively.

How did the serpent misrepresent God to Eve?

Genesis 3:4, 5 "4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In order for Satan to persuade Eve to disobey God, he sought to attack the character of God. He said, basically, that God was fundamentally a selfish being who limits the development of His intelligent creatures, keeping them in a state of involuntary submission through a threat of death. He was not what He claimed to be, a God of love, but was camouflaging His true nature through the appearance of a loving attitude. Satan was projecting onto God His own deceitful nature and the real intentions of his corrupted heart. His attack in heaven against God and God’s loving nature was now being transferred to this planet.

“Had Lucifer really desired to be like the Most High, he would never have deserted his appointed place in heaven; for the spirit of the Most High is manifested in unselfish ministry. Lucifer desired God's power, but not His character.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 435.

How can we avoid falling into this same spiritual trap as these principles are played out around us more and more subtly?

Comment

There are men and women today just like Satan in that they desire power and control. Power and control are not necessarily bad but, when they become all consuming and a person does anything to get it then they become like Satan. Power and control corrupt. I have witnessed it in some people with whom I have worked and it is soon the beginning of the end for them. Very, very sad!]]>
How did Isaiah describe the true intentions of the rebellious cherub? What was in his heart, his inner being? What was his real motive?

Isaiah 14:13, 14 "13 For you have said in your heart:

‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

As the strange, selfish feelings and emotions of the cherub gained ascendancy over his higher powers and reason, he became bolder. He perverted and misused the freedom that God had entrusted to him, even to the point where He wanted to usurp God’s own authority.

In Ezekiel 28:15 a contrast is made between the condition of the cherub as a good creature from the hand of his Creator and what he, the creature, had became. He was at first “blameless” (NIV), whole, lacking nothing, but something new was formed within him: The verse says that “iniquity,” or “wickedness” (NIV), was found in him. This term in the Old Testament can be used to mean duplicity, unholy ambition, lying, and apostasy.

Ezekiel also said: “ ‘ “Your heart became proud [Heb. gabah, ‘to be high,’ ‘to be exalted’]” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:17, NIV). To be proud can included perceiving oneself as being more than one really is, or to view oneself as superior to others. It also can lead to behavior that ignores God's will (Ps. 10:4, Jer. 13:15) and that opposes God Himself (Ezek. 28:2). One could easily conclude that the fallen cherub was being disloyal to God, attacking Him, speaking lies and acting deceptively.

How did the serpent misrepresent God to Eve?

Genesis 3:4, 5 "4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In order for Satan to persuade Eve to disobey God, he sought to attack the character of God. He said, basically, that God was fundamentally a selfish being who limits the development of His intelligent creatures, keeping them in a state of involuntary submission through a threat of death. He was not what He claimed to be, a God of love, but was camouflaging His true nature through the appearance of a loving attitude. Satan was projecting onto God His own deceitful nature and the real intentions of his corrupted heart. His attack in heaven against God and God’s loving nature was now being transferred to this planet.

“Had Lucifer really desired to be like the Most High, he would never have deserted his appointed place in heaven; for the spirit of the Most High is manifested in unselfish ministry. Lucifer desired God's power, but not His character.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 435.

How can we avoid falling into this same spiritual trap as these principles are played out around us more and more subtly?

Comment

There are men and women today just like Satan in that they desire power and control. Power and control are not necessarily bad but, when they become all consuming and a person does anything to get it then they become like Satan. Power and control corrupt. I have witnessed it in some people with whom I have worked and it is soon the beginning of the end for them. Very, very sad!]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2698 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:58:53 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2698
Read Ezekiel 28:14-17. What does this tell us about the origin of sin? What was Lucifer like before he fell?

14 “ You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were
created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “ Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.

Unlike God, who is eternal, evil and sin had a beginning; that is, there was a time they didn’t exist. Because God is love and holy, and everything He created was good, sin did not originate in Him. Ezekiel makes it clear that sin mysteriously started in a creature that was created good: “ ‘ “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:15, NIV). “Blameless” (Heb. tamim, “complete”) designates the wholeness of this creature as he came from the hands of the Creator.

Notice, too, that sin began in a cherub, an exalted being. The cherubim were closer to God than any other angelic beings. Two were placed as guardians by the entrance of Eden (Gen. 3:24). A pair, made of gold, was placed on the ark of the covenant (Exod. 25:18–20). The position of the cherubim on the ark illustrates the high position of this cherub, who stood in the light of God's presence in God's dwelling (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 758). Sin originated, then, in a celestial being who was very close to the throne of God. The phrase “holy mountain of God” designates the heavenly temple, where God dwells among His creatures, the celestial center of government.

The self-corruption of this cherub, Lucifer, was rooted in a selfishness that misused the gifts of beauty and wisdom that God gave him. He mysteriously allowed his emotions and feelings to prevail over his reason, and consequently his wholeness was corrupted. “ ‘ “You corrupted your wisdom” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:17, NIV); God placed the blame squarely on Lucifer himself. Instead of holding to the divine order, according to which his gifts were to be used to enrich others, Lucifer perceived himself as superior to everyone else in beauty, splendor, and wisdom. “Little by little Satan came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation” and God's established order was disrupted.—Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 66.

How often has it been that no matter what you had, you still wanted more? Whose character are you manifesting? Why is that so opposite to the character of Christ?

Comment

My humaness places me lower than Lucifer was in heaven. How his selfishness took priority in his life, I can't understand. Being on a scale as lower than Lucifer places me at a disadvantage. I am born selfish. That makes me less able to resist sin. However, Jesus won that battle for me and it is through His strength in my life that I can overcome. No, I'm not perfect....I've a very long ways to go but, there is hope and I cling to that hope in Jesus.]]>
Read Ezekiel 28:14-17. What does this tell us about the origin of sin? What was Lucifer like before he fell?

14 “ You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were
created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “ Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.

Unlike God, who is eternal, evil and sin had a beginning; that is, there was a time they didn’t exist. Because God is love and holy, and everything He created was good, sin did not originate in Him. Ezekiel makes it clear that sin mysteriously started in a creature that was created good: “ ‘ “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:15, NIV). “Blameless” (Heb. tamim, “complete”) designates the wholeness of this creature as he came from the hands of the Creator.

Notice, too, that sin began in a cherub, an exalted being. The cherubim were closer to God than any other angelic beings. Two were placed as guardians by the entrance of Eden (Gen. 3:24). A pair, made of gold, was placed on the ark of the covenant (Exod. 25:18–20). The position of the cherubim on the ark illustrates the high position of this cherub, who stood in the light of God's presence in God's dwelling (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 758). Sin originated, then, in a celestial being who was very close to the throne of God. The phrase “holy mountain of God” designates the heavenly temple, where God dwells among His creatures, the celestial center of government.

The self-corruption of this cherub, Lucifer, was rooted in a selfishness that misused the gifts of beauty and wisdom that God gave him. He mysteriously allowed his emotions and feelings to prevail over his reason, and consequently his wholeness was corrupted. “ ‘ “You corrupted your wisdom” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:17, NIV); God placed the blame squarely on Lucifer himself. Instead of holding to the divine order, according to which his gifts were to be used to enrich others, Lucifer perceived himself as superior to everyone else in beauty, splendor, and wisdom. “Little by little Satan came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation” and God's established order was disrupted.—Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 66.

How often has it been that no matter what you had, you still wanted more? Whose character are you manifesting? Why is that so opposite to the character of Christ?

Comment

My humaness places me lower than Lucifer was in heaven. How his selfishness took priority in his life, I can't understand. Being on a scale as lower than Lucifer places me at a disadvantage. I am born selfish. That makes me less able to resist sin. However, Jesus won that battle for me and it is through His strength in my life that I can overcome. No, I'm not perfect....I've a very long ways to go but, there is hope and I cling to that hope in Jesus.]]> http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2696 Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:00:40 -0400 http://www.adventistsam.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2696
SABBATH AFTERNOON

Read for This Week's Study: Gen. 3:4, 5; Ezek. 28:14–17; Isa. 14:13, 14; Job 1:8–11; Rev. 12:7–9.

Memory Text: “He [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17, NIV).

Key Thought: To show the origins of Satan’s fall and how he brought the battle to earth.

No matter all that Lucifer had, no matter how exalted he was, it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Thus began the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thess. 2:7), the origin of sin in God’s universe.

2 Thesselonians 2:7 "7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way."

The origin of evil within this perfect being will remain a mystery, because there was no reason for it. If it could be explained, it could be justified. It began with the first small step that Lucifer took in cherishing a particular emotion and desire. The conflicting emotions within Lucifer, together with the misuse of his God-given freedom, resulted in a cosmic conflict, a full-fledged rebellion against God in which suffering and death have impacted innumerable creatures. Today each one of us is living with the results of this conflict.

But don’t despair. As we will see in future lessons, Christ came to bring a fair and just resolution to issues that caused this cosmic crisis.

Comment

Christ's purpose for coming to this earth was to put an end to the battle between God and Satan. Of course we know that Satan will loose and God will win. Satan has already lost but, he's a poor loser and wants to take as many of us with us with him as he can. Are we so blind as not to see this?! The way we become winners instead of loosers is to join God's side. Thankfully He will