2013 1509

www.adventistreview.
org
March 28, 2013
Moskala Named Seminary Dean A Joyful End The Other Side of Answered Prayer
9 24 28
A POEM IN PROGRESS ReFLeCtInG on CHrIsts Words From tHe Cross
Behold, I come quickly . . .

Our mission is to uplift Jesus Christ by presenting stories of His matchless love, news of His present workings, help for knowing Him better, and hope in His soon return.
...
18
COVER FEATURE 18 A Poem in Progress
MarCOS PaSEGGi
24
ARTICLES 14 Joshua: Son of Nun
GiLbErT VEGa
9
DEPARTMENTS 4 Letters 7 Page 7 8 World News &
Perspectives
6
EDITORIALS 6 GEraLD A. KLinGbEiL 7
SanDra BLaCKmEr
Going beyond My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?
He was unsung, average; until God tapped Him to lead His people.
Watch the Hands Chloe the Cat
22 The Enduring Treasure

ELLEn G. WhiTE
God wants us to be happy, now and forever.
13 Give & Take 17 Transformation Tips 25 Dateline Moscow 30 Etc. 31 Reections
24 A Joyful End
JESSiCa L. PErrOnE
Looking toward a glorious future
26 For Love or Obligation?

JEan-LUC LZEaU
It isnt gratitude until its expressed.
ON THE COVER
Jesus death on the cross was only the beginning.
28 The Other Side of

Answered Prayer
HOpaL GranT-MCCLinTOCK
NEXt W EEK IN ADvENTIST WOrLD

Creation on Display Our world is not the result of chance.
Being part of Gods answer
Publisher General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Executive Publisher Bill Knott, Associate Publisher Claude Richli, Publishing Board: Ted N. C. Wilson, chair; Benjamin D. Schoun, vice chair; Bill Knott, secretary; Lisa Beardsley-Hardy; Daniel R. Jackson; Robert Lemon; Geoffrey Mbwana; G. T. Ng; Daisy Orion; Juan Prestol; Michael Ryan; Ella Simmons; Mark Thomas; Karnik Doukmetzian, legal adviser. Editor Bill Knott, Associate Editors Lael Caesar, Gerald A. Klingbeil, Coordinating Editor Stephen Chavez, Online Editor Carlos Medley, Features Editor Sandra Blackmer, Young Adult Editor Kimberly Luste Maran, KidsView Editor Wilona Karimabadi, News Editor Mark A. Kellner, Operations Manager Merle Poirier, Financial Manager Rachel Child, Editorial Assistant Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste, Assistant to the Editor Gina Wahlen, Quality Assurance/Social Media Coordinator Jean Boonstra, Marketing Director Claude Richli, Editor-at-Large Mark A. Finley, Senior Advisor E. Edward Zinke, Art Director Bryan Gray, Design Daniel Aez, Desktop Technician Fred Wuerstlin, Ad Sales Glen Gohlke, Subscriber Services Steve Hanson. To Writers: Writers guidelines are available at the Adventist Review Web site: www.adventistreview.org and click About the Review. For a printed copy, send a self-addressed envelope to: Writers Guidelines, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600. E-mail: revieweditor@gc.adventist.org. Web site: www.adventistreview.org. Postmaster: Send address changes to Adventist Review, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740-7301. Unless otherwise noted, Bible texts in this issue are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are Thinkstock 2013. The Adventist Review (ISSN 01611119), published since 1849, is the general paper of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is published by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and is printed 36 times a year on the second, third, and fourth Thursdays of each month by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Periodical postage paid at Hagerstown, MD 21740. Copyright 2013, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Vol. 190, No. 9 Subscriptions: Thirty-six issues of the weekly Adventist Review, US$36.95 plus US$28.50 postage outside North America. Single copy US$3.00. To order, send your name, address, and payment to Adventist Review subscription desk, Box 1119, Hagerstown, MD 21741-1119. Orders can also be placed at Adventist Book Centers. Prices subject to change. Address changes: addresschanges@rhpa.org. OR call 1-800-456-3991, or 301-393-3257. Subscription queries: shanson@rhpa.org. OR call 1-800-456-3991, or 301-393-3257.
www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 5 9)
in box
Im writing in regard to
iDols
Vol. 190, No.

rg
ry 14, 2013
FEBRU
13 4, 20 ARY 1
www.ad
ventistreview.o
Februa
d Cities Launche Mission toin South England the Same Moving in Direction Testimo Rogelios ny
10 14 23
LETTERS FROm OUR READERS

est sense. I well remember visiting the Wallace home high in the mountains of Rwanda where he was the president of our college, Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA). Review readers may recall that on December 27, 1985, Dian Fossey was murdered in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Her claim to fame was her 18-year study of the mountain gorilla in Rwanda. Wallace had become Dians friend because of his interest in monkeys. Wallace had a pet chimpanzee named Elizabeth that he had raised from a baby. (That is another story in itself.) Wallace was called upon to perform the funeral for Fossey. In the movie Gorillas in the Mist, Fosseys last request was that she be buried in the gorilla graveyard beside her most favorite gorilla, Digit. In one of the nal scenes of the movie a voice is heard reading from Scripture as the camera pans over the gravesite. It was Wallaces voice as he read from the Bible. Wallace was an enthusiastic follower of God, ministering to anyone in his sphere of inuence. Who knows? Maybe it was his visit to the oating church on Lake Titicaca that broadened his view as to what constitutes being a missionary.
KeitH HeinricH
S AND CHRISTIAN E DATING
ONLIN
Thanks for printing Kim-
Must Love God
Vincent MacIsaacs article iDols (Feb. 21, 2013). Im thankful for the technology that carries the third angels message everywhere, but dont wish to be snowed under by the blizzard of information overload all about us today. Offers of 150 or 250 channels nd me answering that I have only one pair of eyes, one mind, and it needs to be kept open heavenward, not drowned by the enemys tug-of-war for our souls. MacIsaac has put his nger on a very important avenue for the wily foes attack. Satans deceptions come with the ood of so many gadgets and entertainments that eternal interests are lost among the thorns, threatening to leave us unprepared for the testing time ahead. My thanks to MacIsaac.
RicHard Burns
berly Luste MaransMust Love God article (Feb. 14, 2013). I met my wife through an online dating site. We knew each other casually before, but that was it. We were matched on the site! Weve now been married for six months, and she is denitely the one God had for me. The article was very well written, and Ill share it with my single friends.
Ricardo BaccHus
Silver Spring, Maryland

Vol. 190, No.
eview.org
17, 2013
JANUA , 2013 RY 17
www.adventistr
January
a Greeting A Wave and Unafliated Religiously Worldwide Swell n? Divine Assassi
7 8 26
s Religiou in Freedom d the Unite es at St
IS ONE OF THE MOST ENTAL FUNDAM S FREEDOM TACK? UNDER AT
I enjoyed reading the Janu-
Recent Readings
Cleveland, Tennessee
Thank you for printing Lake Titicaca Tour, by Elton Wallace (Feb. 14, 2013). He was a missionary in the tru-
Lake Titicaca Tour
ary 17, 2013, Adventist Review. You had not one buttwoarticles that I absolutelyhadto archive: Martin Proebstles Divine Assassin?(excellent researchIve always wondered about that story!and clever artwork with the sights on sin) and Nicholas P. MillersReligious Freedom in the United States. I also enjoyed readingMust Love God (Feb. 14). The article was helpful
in that it gave a sidebar with tips for navigating online dating sites. I urge the Review to do a much more comprehensive treatment of this topicperhaps even a series. The brevity and missing elements in the story could be highly misleading. I know. Id been searching for the right person for 29 years and found her on an Adventist dating sitenot one of those that you mention. Kimberly Luste Marans article, whileinterestingfrom a psychological/sociological perspective, wouldnothave been helpful for me as a single man looking for a godly Adventist wife. It would be helpful for the Review to do a realreviewof sites with Adventistin their name, or who cater to Seventh-day Adventists, with pros and cons for each site. Tell readers how many subscribers are Adventists and how easy it is to screen out people with problems and compare the match philosophies of the different sites. Make sure that christian singlesdating.com is included. This is a labor-of-love site run by a dedicated Adventist woman who, with her husband, is highly involved in their local Adventist church.
Marlan Knittel
Bakerseld, California
I enjoyed reading Gerhard
Moving in the Same Direction
Hutchinson, Minnesota
Pfandls article Moving in the Same Direction (Feb. 14), for he touched on the core problems with disunity in our midst: (1) the pressure of culture; (2) independent
(2 6 0) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013
critical ministries; and (3) congregational and ecumenical tendencies. Let me add a fourth: politicskeep politics out of the church. Here is my dilemma with this article. Pfandl writes: The election of Israel was an election not for salvation but for service. Similarly, the Adventist Church has been chosen to serve humanity in the time of the end by proclaiming Gods message to a dying world. We are saved as individuals, not by belonging to a particular race or church. I may be reading him incorrectly, but from my studies of Israel, to me there is no question that Israel was elected for the purpose of salvation of the world. Ellen White writes in The Desire of Ages: Yet God had chosen Israel. He called them to preserve among men the knowledge of the law, and of the symbols and prophecies that pointed to the Savior. He desired them to be as wells of salvation to the world (p. 27).
Wilfred Nagao
May we never grow stagnant with the belief
that we have all of the answers.
brooke Hendriksen, Salt Lake City, Utah
012 13, 2
a refreshing and strengthening exercise in faith. May we never grow stagnant with the belief that we have all of the answers. May we be true to a heritage that values discussion around Scripture rather than the recitation of a church creed.
Brooke Henriksen
34 Vol. 189, No.

rg
ber 13, 2012
DECE
MBER
www.ad
ventistreview.o
Decem
Church Grows AdventistNorth America in Mercy Street Crocs and Prison Garb
8 15 24
Salt Lake City, Utah
I am catching up on read-
Catching Up
While in the midst of read-
Clear Thinking
Honolulu, Hawaii
In the article Moving in
the Same Direction, Gerhard Pfandl asks, Can church members work effectively together if they do not agree on what they believe? Yes, they can! There can be unity in the church without uniformity. When was the last time that you participated in a discussion with someone who you loved deeply but disagreed with strongly? This is
ing Gerhard Pfandls excellent, well-balanced, and articulate article Moving in the Same Direction, I just had to check my list of members of the Theology of Ordination Committee (see the list in the Jan. 10, 2013, Review), and was glad to see that he is on it. This kind of clear thinking is exactly what is needed on the committee. The most compassionate, understanding, balanced, and Christlike voices come from people who have lived, worked, and/or traveled in multiple countries. By the way, following the example of a fellow Adventist who we read about, my husband and I have committed to praying for every member of the committee by name over the next few weeks. We hope more of our NAD church family will join us.
NancY Wolcott
ing accumulated over the holidays. Carolyn Stuyvesants A Christmas Banquet and Bernie Andersons Bringing the Fire (Dec. 20, 2012) were great! I always love reading Dixil Rodrguezs column. Mercy Street (Dec. 13, 2012) was no exception. I have had times like Michael Oxentenko describes and was blessed by his December 13 Operation ELF story and its ending. I think a Grinch stole a paragraph out of it, though. The section Liquidating the Messiah should have contained an additional paragraphsomething along the lines of John saying that Satan was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). Satan has tried to liquidate children since the beginning book of Genesis, in the days of Pharaoh and the baby Moses. Not just at Christmas, but today, Satan offers to some the present of peace
by killing children. Deuteronomy 19:10 reminds against shedding innocent blood, and Proverbs 6:16, 17 reminds us again in a list of things God hates the most. We are urged to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, whose lives are doomed/appointed to be crushed/appointed for destruction, etc. (Prov. 31:8), and commanded to walk justly.
Gennifer Anderson
Oakdale, California
We welcome your letters, noting,

as always, that inclusion of a letter in this section does not imply that the ideas expressed are endorsed by either the editors of the Adventist Review or the General Conference. Short, specic, timely letters have the best chance at being published (please include your complete address and phone numbereven with e-mail messages). Letters will be edited for space and clarity only. Send correspondence to Letters to the Editor, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600; Internet: letters@ adventistreview.org.
Palm Coast, Florida
www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 6 1 )
Editorials
Watch the Hands

Hands are avid and capable communicators.
Hands talk often more than words can ever say. Hands can turn into tight sts or touch lightly as a father cuddles his baby daughter. Hands can say stopno more or come on, you can do it. The Gospels highlight Jesus hands repeatedly. As a carpenter they represented His most valued tools. They cut and planed and held the chisel and the hammer. But they didnt just handle woodthey touched people. Jesus touched lepers (Matt. 8:3) and those struggling with disease (Matt. 8:15; 9:29; 20:34; Mark 7:33). He touched His disciples when they were afraid (Matt. 17:7) and His enemies as they tried to ensnare Him (Luke 22:51). He even touched death (Luke 7:14), something no well-respected Jew would have ever done. Hands communicate nonverbally. Hands were also an integral part of the Resurrection morn. The disciples had gathered in Jerusalemthey longed for a safe and quiet place where they could make sense of the unthinkable. They were discouraged; they felt perturbed. They had heard strange rumorsbut were they true? Jesus appears in the midst of their committee meeting, in which they were discussing the evidence of the Resurrection, and shows them rst His hands and feet (Luke 24:36-43). They see the wounds; they touch the Master, tentatively at rst, then more condently. Hope turns to assuranceHe lives! Have you ever noticed that Jesus hands were always open, always ready to give, to touch, to encourage, and to share? Somehow I cannot see Jesus holding on to something tightly in His st. He gives, and givesand gives more. His opponent in the great controversy prefers a different gesture. Satans favorite posture seems to be the tightly clenched st, shaking it against the authority of God, demanding equal opportunities, and pulling those who listen to the sirens beguiling melody into complete destruction: the nail-printed hands versus the tightly clenched st; seless service versus a disproportionally sized ego; boundless grace versus selsh wants. Recognition on Resurrection morning is linked to hands. As Adventists (and particularly those of us living in North America) we have tended to ignore Easter. Association with bunnies, colorful eggs, candy, and heathenism has resulted in a disregard for Resurrection morning. Orthodox Christians may greet each other with The Lord is risen, expecting the answer He is risen indeed!but Adventists? In many parts of the world the Easter weekend is one of the most important evangelistic opportunities for Adventists. Adventist churches preach the resurrected and returning Christ over a long weekend. Neighbors and friends, attuned by their culture to this important moment, are ready and willing to join their Adventist friends. What would happen if we would spend, as a community, an entire weekend (or even week) thinking about and admiring the nail-printed hands of Jesus? What would happen if we were confronted anew by the paradox and the power of the Resurrection? My point is simple: in order to truly understand the message of Resurrection morning, we must come close to Jesus and look at His hands. We must run into His arms and feel the touch of His scarred hands embracing our hungry beings. Revival and reformation begin with the hands of Jesus. The hands of Jesus speak about righteousness by faith and gracewe need a Savior willing to bear our sins. The hands of Jesus speak about unity and communitywe are one in Him, notwithstanding our different backgrounds, opinions, or even expectations. The hands of Jesus speak about the futurewe are waiting to share with Him a meal, glorious, everlasting, and marked by gratefulness. And nally, the hands of Jesus speak about giving and servicewe are called to bless others as we have experienced Gods immense blessing of salvation. Right now, think about the resurrected Lord, and allow His hands to touch you today. n
Gerald A.
Klingbeil
(2 6 2 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013
Chloe the Cat

MY friend Lori Has been battling life-tHreatening HealtH
issues for quite some time. She has bad days and not-quite-so-bad days, but in the face of daunting challenges her humor, optimism, and faith in God never seem to waver. She nds courage in the Lords blessingsboth big and smalland her heart is open to the many evidences of Gods love. One of those evidences, she says, is her 11-year-old cat, Chloe. Lori has been nding emotional and spiritual comfort in playing hymns alone on her piano, sometimes humming along with the music. She soon began to notice, though, that Chloe enjoys the music too. As I start to play, Chloe will come and sit on the recliner next to the piano, then lie down and close her eyes for the whole time Im playing, Lori says. Its almost as if the tone of the music strikes a chord deep within even animals in a way that is their own connection to the Creator. Chloe, it seems, is never far away when Lori is feeling particularly ill, always hovering nearby as if to be close to her. She loves to sleep upstairs in her bed by the heater, but lately she stays close by, as if to be sure Im OK, Lori says. Shes such a comfort and blessing to me. Im looking forward to Jesus explaining to us just how intelligent and intuitive His precious animals really are. God shows His love and care for us in countless ways. He assures us that His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and that nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice.* Lets always be open to the messages He sends us, perhaps even through an 11-year-old cat. n
* Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1956), p. 100.
Sandra
Blackmer
The Tract That Launched a Church

homas Preble was a Free Will Baptist pastor living in Nashua, New Hampshire. William Millers message prompted him to study Bible prophecy, and he soon became an avid student. Preble was excommunicated in 1842 by the Nashua church because of his Advent preaching. In 1844 he became a believer in the seventh-day Sabbath. He was the first Adventist to support the Sabbath in print. His article of support first appeared in the Hope of Israel on February 28, 1845, and was later reprinted in tract form in March 1845 (see right). This tract led to the conversion of seven families in Paris, Maine, including Edward Andrews (father of J. N. Andrews), and the Cyprian Stevens family (whose two daughters later became Mrs. J. N. Andrews and Mrs. Uriah Smith). This tract also convinced Joseph Bates, who later shared it with Ellen and James White, all becoming Sabbath-keepers and eventual founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Interestingly, Preble observed the Sabbath only through 1847. Later he wrote against the Sabbath, Ellen White, and Seventh-day Adventists, eventually publishing a book in 1867 favoring Sunday called First-Day Sabbath.
PHOTO AND TRACT COURTESY OF ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE
World News & Perspectives

idents who left as the mob headed for their community. In his haste [the Adventist pastor] left behind his cell phone and ID card, a church representative said, adding that a protestor yanked the glasses off his face as he ed. The pastor and his wife returned the morning after the riots to comfort and pray with affected community members. Later the family began the process of rebuilding their lives by purchasing necessities for work, study, and ministry. The Punjab state government pledged to compensate each affected family with the equivalent of US$2,000. Since then, the federal government of Pakistan has promised an additional US$5,000 per family. The Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Pakistan are assessing the situation and assisting members of the affected Christian community. Less than 5 percent of Pakistanis are Christian, and blasphemy against the Koran or the prophet Muhammad can carry the death penalty. Religious liberty experts have observed that blasphemy laws are often used to repress religious minorities or settle personal disputes. In 2011 Salmaan Taseer, a Pakistani businessman and politician, and Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in Pakistans cabinet, were assassinated for their opposition to legislation against blasphemy. Religious freedom advocates have long urged Pakistan to ease its harsh controls on defamation of religion. We have always strongly opposed Pakistans blasphemy laws, which are the source of so much injustice in the country, especially for religious minorities and Muslim dissidents, said John Graz, secretary-general of the International Religious Liberty Association. All religious liberty advocates should express solidarity with the affected families and encourage the government to reform this legislation, he added. n
photo : ReX Features via A P I mages
daMaGES: Pakistani Christians survey damage to their homes the morning after Muslim demonstrators set re to a majority-Christian neighborhood of Lahore on March 9. Religious liberty advocates are blaming Pakistans severe blasphemy laws for enabling the protest.
PAKISTAN
In Pakistan, Mob Burns Homes in Anti-Christian Violence

Seventh-day Adventists among those targeted.
By ELIZABETH LECHLEITNER, Adventist News Network
Residents of a Christian community
in eastern Pakistan, including Seventhday Adventists, are reeling after a mob torched their homes and businesses in response to alleged insults against Islams prophet Muhammad. The unrest began the week of March 4, 2013, after a report circulated that a young Christian man had committed blasphemy against the prophet. By March 9 the situation had escalated, and thousands of protestors began setting re to property owned by Christians in a Lahore neighborhood. While some residents sustained injuries, there was no loss of life. Most Christians had earlier ed under threats of violence and police warnings to leave, a representative of the
8
Adventist Church in Pakistan said. Church property and the homes of Adventist members, however, sustained tremendous damage, church leaders said. The rented home of the local Adventist pastor and his family was destroyed along with the homes and belongings of at least 40 Seventh-day Adventists. Songbooks, Bibles, and sound equipment at the local Adventist church were burned, but the building itself suffered only minor water damage as reghters worked to control nearby blazes, an Adventist survey team reported. At least 170 homes and businesses were torched, according to wire service reports. Bhatti and his family were among res-
WORLD CHURCH
Ji r Moskala Named Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Dean

Veteran professor currently chairs Old Testament Department.
By MARK A. KELLNER, news editor
Ji r Moskala, a veteran Seventh-day Adventist theologian and seminary professor, will become the new dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He will assume the position on July 1, 2013, after current dean Denis Fortin returns to full-time teaching in the Department of Theology and Christian Philosophy at the seminary beginning fall 2013. The Andrews University board of trustees announced his appointment on March 5, 2013, a university statement reported. Moskala is professor of Old Testament exegesis and theology and chair of the Department of Old Testament at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, the agship theological training institution for the movement, which has more than 17 million members worldwide. The seminary dean is a member of the General Conference Executive Committee, the International Board of Education, and the Board of Ministerial and Theological Education, to name a few. Additionally, the dean of the seminary works closely with leadership from both the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. My vision for the theological seminary is to be the light for the world and the theological resource for the church, Moskala said in a statement. We are here to serve the worldwide church in various capacities to prepare future church leaders to work and deal with different challenges in order to proclaim the eternal gospel with conviction, urgency, and passion, make a difference for good, and prepare people
NEW DEAN: Ji r Moskala, a veteran pastor, administrator, and educator, will be the new dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, beginning July 1, 2013. He is currently professor of Old Testament exegesis and theology and chair of the Department of Old Testament at the institution.
for the soon second coming of Jesus. Born in Cesk Ten, Czech Republic, Moskala received a Master of Theology in 1979 and a Doctor of Theology in 1990, all from the Comenius Faculty of Protestant Theology (now Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University), Czech Republic. In 1998 he completed his Doctor of Philosophy from Andrews University. Moskala began his ministry as a pastor for the Czecho-Slovakian Union, serving in this capacity until 1989. When the Communist regime fell after the Velvet Revolution, he established and served as the rst principal of the theological seminary in Prague for training pastors. Moskala also served in various other capacities including director of the Life and Health Society,
Education Department, and Health Department for the Czecho-Slovakian Union. Moskala has served as a speaker for many Bible conferences and theological symposia in all 13 divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has lectured at Adventist universities and colleges around the world. He is a member of various theological societies including the Adventist Society for Religious Studies, Adventist Theological Society, Chicago Society of Biblical Research, Society of Biblical Literature, and Society of Christian Ethics. Moskala has authored or edited a number of articles and books in both Czech and English. In addition, he has participated in several archaeological expeditions in Tell Jalul, Jordan. Moskala and his wife, Eva Moskalova, have ve grown children and three grandchildren. Dr. Moskala also has a strong mission and evangelistic focus, Ted N. C. Wilson, General Conference president, told Adventist Review. He understands the tremendous task entrusted to Seventh-day Adventists, Gods remnant church, to proclaim the three angels messages, lifting up Christ, His righteousness, His sanctuary service, His ministry in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, and His soon coming.Out of Dr. Moskalas personal and academic experience grows his passion for the mission of church as it relates to the Christian education process. By Gods grace, Dr. Moskala, as the head of the seminary, will keep in front of seminary students not only the academic side, which is very important, but also the practical mission side of their training and work. Lisa Beardsley-Hardy, a former dean
9
Photo : Darren Heslop/A ndrews University
at church-owned Loma Linda University and director of the General Conferences Education Department, noted the new seminary deans extensive background. His balance of global perspective, scholarship, teaching, and administrative experience make Dr. Moskala eminently well qualied to be the new dean, she said. Beyond this, he has an energetic, cheerful personality, and the soul of a pastor. Colleague JoAnn Davidson, a professor of theology at the seminary, said Moskalas love of Hebrew and his insight into the Hebrew Bible are marvelous. His insights into the biblical text are very rich. Hes an able scholar, a strong statesman, a beloved teacher here, and a strong choice. He has a vision for the seminary. I think he will be excellent. Ben Schoun, a general vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church and chair of the Andrews Univer-
sity board, said of Moskala, It was evident during the search process that his colleagues have high regard for him, both for his professional credentials and his friendly and gentle personality.Being a product of the formerly Communist Czech Republic, he does not take for granted the blessings of freedom that we enjoy to value our faith and live according to the dictates of our conscience. I believe that he will lead the seminary well. Said Lael Caesar, a research professor of Hebrew Bible at Andrews who is also an associate editor of Adventist Review magazine, In his new responsibilities Moskala should enjoy wide support Jir among the many to whom he has already proved a great blessing. And Adventist Review associate editor Gerald Klingbeil praised Moskalas global perspective: Anybody who has ever traveled with Dr. Moskala has known him as somebody who is com-
fortable transitioning between different cultures. His familiarity with the larger world church outside of North America will undoubtedly be a blessing for the seminary; his love and passion for this church is contagious and inspiring. The primary mission of the Seventhday Adventist Theological Seminary is to prepare ministersand teachersfor the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It offers a Master of Divinity; Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry, Religion,Religious Education,and Youth and Young Adult Ministry; dual degrees in Master of Arts in Youth and Young Adult Ministry/ Master of Social Work and Master of Divinity/Master of Social Work; and ve doctoral programs: Doctor of Ministry; Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology, Religion, and Religious Education; and Doctor of Theology. n with reporting from Keri Suarez, Andrews University
POLAND
Hope Channel Launches in Poland, Expansion Planned

Launch of television service cements growing media ministry.
By ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK staff
SeventH-daY Adventist Church leaders in Poland say the March 2013 launch of Hope Channel Poland signals the continued growth of media ministry in the central European nation. Hope Channel Poland offers 24/7 Internet television, and plans are in place to enter local cable and satellite networks in the coming months. The network broadcasts original Polish programming, as well as translated media produced by tedMEDIA Productions from the churchs Trans-European Division, headquartered in England. This is a signicant move for the church in Poland, said Pawel Lazar, president of Hope Channel Poland and
photo courtesy tedM EDIA
POLISH LAUNCH: The Seventh-day Adventist Church is producing 24/7 Internet television from the newly launched Hope Channel Poland at the Voice of Hope Media Center in Warsaw. Church leaders have identied media as an ideal method of ministry in the European country.
10
the churchs Polish Union Conference. When I started church work many years ago, we had good success with public meetings, but now we are nding that media is the best way to connect with our society, especially young people, Lazar added. Church ofcials in the country say
Hope Channel Poland will help lay the groundwork for urban outreach planned for Warsaw in 2014. Currently church leaders are designing billboards advertising Adventist television to install in major cities. Close to 6,000 Adventists worship in 118 churches in Poland. The church also
operates a college, publishing house, and the Voice of Hope Media Center in Warsaw. Warsaw is among dozens of cities worldwide where Adventists will host coordinated evangelism efforts in the coming years as part of the Mission to the Cities initiative. n
UNITED STATES
La Sierra University Receives Presidential Service Award

Adventist school one of five honored by Corporation for National and Community Service.
By ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK staff
La Sierra University was one of ve educational instituphoto courtesy La S ierra
tions named a Presidential Awardee in the 2013 Presidents Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest honor a college or university in the United States can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. La Sierra, a Seventh-day Adventist university located in Riverside, California, received the award for its efforts to improve educational and developmental outcomes for children in distressed areas. At a March 4, 2013, ceremony in Washington, D.C., La Sierra president Randal Wisbey received the 2013 Presidential Award from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) during the annual meeting of the American Council on Education. Service to others is a key part of La Sierras mission and indicative of the Christian ethos that drives our work as a learning community, Wisbey said. I am humbled by the way in which students, faculty, and staff daily live out this value through formal and informal outreach efforts to help people in local and global communities. Jonathan Greenblatt, special assistant to President Barack Obama, and Wendy Spencer, CNCS CEO, presented the award. Projects in La Sierras Promise Neighborhoods initiative included tutoring and mentoring elementary students, fund-raising for after-school programs in the surrounding public school district, and interactive learning experiences
SERVICE AWARD: La Sierra University president Randal Wisbey, center, received the 2013 Presidential Award from Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and Jonathan Greenblatt, special assistant to U.S. president Barack Obama at a March 4, 2013, ceremony.
created by biology and communication students in the universitys natural history museum. Total service hours, including all campus service and overseas missions, culminated in nearly 1,900 students fullling almost 85,000 hours. For academic service-learning classes alone, about 900 La Sierra students provided more than 14,000 hours of service. The four other 2013 Presidential Award winners were Georgia Perimeter College in Georgia, Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, the University of Connecticut, and Nazareth College in New York. A total of 690 higher educational institutions were named this year to the organizations honor roll. CNCS, an independent federal agency, has administered the award since 2006 and manages the program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the American Council on Education and Campus Compact. n
www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 67 )
11
NORTH AMERICA
Retired Executive Secretary Clyde Franz turns 100

Centenarian served church in U.S., British West Indies, and Cuba
By ANSEL OLIVER, Adventist News Network
ClYde Franz, a retired Seventh-day
Adventist Church executive who oversaw membership statistics and missionary recruitment for international outposts, turned 100 on March 1, 2013. Franz served as executive secretary of the denomination from 1970 to 1980. He celebrated his centennial with his two children, relatives, and friends visiting from several states. Theyre making a big deal out of this when all Ive really done was get up 36,000 times, more or less, and Im here, he quipped during a phone interview from his home at a retirement facility in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He pauses and more solemnly says, I should add that Im thankful to the Lord for all those times. His daughter, 72-year-old Sue Smith, said her father has always embraced humor. He loves to tell little jokes. His mind is really sharp. . . . Dads had an interesting life. Hes been a wonderful father. Franz walks a mile or two each day and participates in his facilitys exercise club. Hes the oldest in the group. The youngest is 70. You would never guess hes going to be 100, said fellow resident Karl Bahr, who served with Franz at the Adventist Church headquarters as controller. Franz also still drives, mostly to take his 98-year-old retired missionary doctor friend to visit his 101-year-old wife in a nearby nursing home twice a day. Franz passed a state driving exam two months ago, which gives him a license for another ve years. He said hell likely not drive that long, though. Franz married three times, and each time he outlived his vow of till death do
12
us part. He says he enjoyed each marriage, but that hell remain a bachelor. He doesnt have any secrets to longevity, he said, other than being a vegetarian and living as a Seventh-day Adventist. He believes observing the Sabbathtaking a day off each weekhas helped. Its healthful, but it goes further than that. When we take the Sabbath off,
CONTENTED CENTENARIAN: Clyde Franz served as secretary of the Adventist world church from 1970 to 1980. March 1, 2013, marked his 100th birthday.
were serving God. As secretary in the 1970s, he ran the department charged with lling mission posts, still in an era before national leaders took most leadership roles. In those days, unlike today, our number one job was nding missionary recruits for divisions. Nowadays divisions pretty much nd their own personnel, he said. Don Yost, who worked for Franz as the founder of what is now the Ofce of Archives, Statistics, and Research, said
Franz was very well organized, very congenial, efcient in doing the things that needed to be done. Just a very ne person to work with. Franz was born on March 1, 1913, to self-supporting missionaries in Camagey, Cuba. In 1932 he earned an accounting degree at Southern Missionary Collegenow Southern Adventist University. He went on to serve as secretary-treasurer of several Adventist conferences, including Alabama-Mississippi, Kentucky-Tennessee, Iowa, and the British West Indies Union. In the 1950s he served in the Antillean Union, based in Cuba, for two years as president. He also served as secretary of the Inter-American Division, based in Miami, Florida, from 1954 to 1961, and then as the divisions treasurer until 1966. It was at the 1966 General Conference session in Detroit, Michigan, that Franzs college classmate Robert Pierson was elected president of the Adventist world church. Hey, Bob, he remembered joking at a chance meeting in Cobo Hall, if you ever need a janitor there someday, remember me. Within a week Franz was there, having just hours after the encounter been appointed an associate executive secretary of the denomination. Four years later he was appointed secretary. But Franz is still a treasurer at heart. His top hobby is managing his own nances in a spare bedroom hes converted into a study, complete with computer and copier. In anticipation of his milestone birthday, he said, I just cant ignore the way the Lord has directed and led through all these years. Ive been blessed beyond measure. n
Photo courtesy Sue Franz S mith
ADV E N T IST L I F E
S HA RE WITH US
We are looking for brief submissions in these categories: Sound Bites (quotes, profound or spontaneous) Adventist Life (short anecdotes, especially from the world of adults) Camp Meeting Memories (short, humorous and/or profound anecdotes) Favorite (Church) Family Photos (must be high resolution min. 1000 px JPEGs) Please send your submissions to Give & Take, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600; fax: 301-680-6638; e-mail: marank@gc. adventist.org. Please include phone number, and city and state from which you are writing.
The earthquake in Haiti was all over the news. My husband and I were discussing how much we could give to help the relief. We asked our boys if they would like to give anything to help the children in Haiti. Our youngest son disappeared. A while later he reappeared holding his bank. Did you decide to give something? we asked. Yes, he responded. Can I please give it all? I often think of how different our church and our world would be if instead of calculating what to give we just gave our all.
LEANN AuStIN, PiTTSbUrGh, PEnnSYLvania
At church one Sabbath my 3-year-old niece, Keira, asked Grandma for some juice. After she drank her apple juice, she snuggled next to Grandma and asked, Can I have some disciple juice? Water? Grandma guessed. No, disciple juice, insisted Keira. Then Grandma remembered that Communion had been held the previous Sabbath and that she had explained to Keira how Jesus and the disciples ate bread and drank grape juice together. Oh, you want grape juice? said Grandma. Yes, grape juice, Keira afrmed.
MElaNIE BEaulIEu, BErriEn SprinGS, MiChiGan
SOUN D B I TE
DI D YOU K NOW?
What is your favorite? Here are the top ve Bible translations (based on both dollar sales and unit sales): New International Version King James Version New Living Translation New King James Version English Standard Version
ThiS inFOrmaTiOn, FrOm ChriSTian BOOKSELLErS ASSOCiaTiOn (CBA; www.CbaOnLinE.OrG/nm/ DOCUmEnTS/BSLS/BibLE_TranSLaTiOnS.pDF), iS baSED On a LiST OF aCTUaL SaLES in ChriSTian rETaiL STOrES in ThE UniTED STaTES ThrOUGh DECEmbEr 29, 2012.
Jesus gives more than the breath that gives us life.

DavId WaddINGtON, in rEGarD TO JOhn 3:16, 17, DUrinG hiS OCTObEr 13, 2012, SErmOn aT ThE ChErrY HiLL SEvEnTh-DaY ADvEnTiST ChUrCh in NEw JErSEY
photo by Carly Mitzelfelt
13
terry crews
Devotional
bY GILBERT VEGA
lagues and promises have interplayed in dramatic fashion in Israels liberation from Egypt. Exodus events are fresh on every Israelite mind. And now, after Yahwehs miraculous interventions, the former slaves are well on their way to the Promised Land. Nevertheless, Amalek, a local warlord, stands in their way, poised to destroy Israels dream of nationhood. As his military commander to confront the Amalekite army, Moses chooses a youth named Hoshea, renaming him Joshua (Num. 13:16).
P
Nuns Son
practice, Joshuas case seems to communicate more than simple genealogical information. Rather, it seems to highlight Nun as the man who reared this noble son. Perhaps, then, we should consider what compelled Moses to design his servants business card to read Joshua, son of Nun.
Slavery
Nun, like his son after him and his father before him, was born into servitude. Egyptian slavery was a cruel and abusive system, utterly dehumanizing, and lacking any redeeming features. Though they toiled and struggled under increasingly harsh conditions, slaves never reaped any benets for their labor.
Joshuas identity seems inseparably linked to his father. Thirty references, from Exodus to Nehemiah, identify him as son of Nun. By way of contrast, Moses, his mentor, is never labeled son of Amram. Although referring to a son by his fathers name was then common
Mr. Nun
I imagine that one day Nun crawls home showing signs of physical abuse. An Egyptian whip has left its mark on
MaKINg jUNIOR pROud Of daddY

14
(27 0) | www.AdventistReview.org
his back. His young lad, Joshua, is horried. He asks questions; Nun tries to ignore him, but Joshua is persistent. Who beat his daddy, and why? He comes to comprehend what slavery is and what it is doing to his father. Daddy, he says, when I grow up Im going to ght them. I will never be a slave! Nun detects the boiling anger building within Joshuas adolescent heart. It would have been the ideal time for him to foster hostility. He could have reasoned: If I bring him up heartless, he will suffer less in this abusive system. I will teach him to ght, to lie, cheat, and bribe so he can take every opportunity to deal with injustice. Nun could have instilled in his child a beat the system mind-set that would collect payback for yesterdays abuses upon his race.
But he didnt. He would not let circumstances derail his paternal responsibility. He would not allow present realities to control the script of his life or that of his son. Nun selected another optionto raise his boy to be a man of
of integrity and a God-fearing person. Though he was going against conventional wisdom, he would not give in. And that is precisely what he did. By doing that, Nun raised more than a manhe raised a historical gure.
WE SHOULD CONSIDER wHAT COmPELLED MOSES TO DESIGN HIS SERVANTS BUSINESS CARD AS JOSHUA, SON Of NUN
integrity; a man governed by sound moral principles. And so without a 66-book revelation, or some child-rearing manual for slaves, he set out to raise a man. Yes, Joshua would be such a man. Integrity would be the goaleven as a foreigner in the midst of an abusive society. Joshua would learn to be a man of high moral standards, an individual
Molding
The dominant society under whose shadow we grow will mold us into its image. Its spell will shape us, either by choice or unwittingly. Most individuals follow the path of least resistance. People do not want to face opposition while executing the casual drudgeries of life. It has always been so. Hence, to dare to be different and to break established
15
parameters is a heroic undertaking. It is never easy to step away from the huddle and to think and act outside of it. Towing the line is so much more natural. And it was profoundly so for a family of slaves whose instinctive priority in life was survival. But that was not what Nun inculcated into Joshuas DNA. Joshuas lesson one was to be true to himself in spite of external forces. He learned and lived that lesson in Egypt and in the desert. Standing by his principles anywhere, regardless, became a lifestyle.
The Test
Fast-forward to the border of the Promised Land. Moses sends a scouting party of 12 men, including Nuns son Joshua, to bring back an eyewitness report of Canaans bounty. I picture him returning to the Israelite camp excited about the land that he and the 11 others have surveyed. He is upbeat and optimistic. But his passion makes him odd. For of the 12 men who give their report, only one other voice shares his position. Still, when it is his turn, Joshua speaks his heart and goes on record on the side of the minority report. Undaunted by numbers, he speaks his conscience. Nuns son, and Caleb, his friend, stand their ground in spite of the hostile environment. Hurled abuse does not bend or crack them. It only tests and proves the character that father Nun has instilled in Joshua, his son. These sterling qualities, demonstrated under pressure, do not materialize out of a vacuum. They are the by-product of his mentorship under Nun. The lessons learned in captivity are now elevating him into a bold and visionary leader of men.
30). Those two, Joshua and Caleb, were indeed a very special class. Sadly, the camp of Israel did not have the steely resolve that Joshua possessed. He stood out because he had been raised to boldly live out his undergirding principles regardless of immediate rewards or dangers. As a father, Nun simply wanted his son to be a man of integrity. Thus he wove into his character the traits that would make him such an individual. In time, those traits set Joshua apart from among the host of Israel. Moses spotted those personal traits and chose him as his protg from among the thousands of Israel. Years later there was yet another promotion. On that occasion God specically named Joshua to replace Moses. Needless to say, God was also profoundly impressed by the son of Nun.
to practice principles of nobility even as a slave in a land of servitude. But God used those principles to make him the conqueror of the Promised Land. A traveler watched as a gritty farmer tilled the earth in a stony, rugged, and unpromising landscape. Tell me, sir, what does the land yield? The rugged farmer replied: This land produces men. It is often the arduous circumstances of life that mold and stamp lives of distinction. Egypts grueling servitude and a slaves nobility produced for Israel, and for history, one of Gods ablest men, Joshua son of Nun. God give us more Nuns.
GIlbERt VEGa, Ph.D.,an eXperienced church leader, currently pastors the Loma Linda Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church, Loma Linda, California.
Conclusion
Nun probably did not raise his boy with any eyes for the spotlight. But God picked and placed him in a path of glory. Nun may not have educated his son to think of leadership. But God molded him to lead the throngs of Israel. What Nun did accomplish, was raising Joshua
Uniqueness
Of all the men of Israel who left Egypt old enough to ght, only two individuals entered the Promised Land (Num. 14:26-
16
(27 2 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013
Transformation Tips
Dealing With Disappointment

Disappointment. NobodY likes it; but everYbodY eXperiences it.
Weve all had those dreams and desires that, as weve matured, weve had to readjust and slide into our mental background. They didnt t with reality, so we just smiled at them and moved on. However, some disappointments are not so easy to deal with. Our relationships, children, marriage, careers, and health are areas in which dealing with disappointment isnt quite so simple. When we think about how to deal with disappointment, its helpful to dene the word. The root of disappointment is appoint, meaning to decide on or ordain. Disappointment happens when we dont get something we believe would be best. Its simply an expectation that we wanted, expected, even felt was due us that didnt come to pass or happen the way we thought it should. Therefore we are unhappy, discontented, disappointed. But if we dont handle disappointment in a positive way, it will react upon us negatively. Our Christian maturity and practical success are reected by how we deal with disappointment. The apostle Paul provides us with advice about how to deal with disappointment and illustrates how he dealt with it in his own ministry. His approach for dealing with disappointment was learned contentedness. He wrote, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength (Phil. 4:11-13). Acts 20 records Pauls nal trip to Jerusalem as he faced the danger and disappointment of being accused and imprisoned. We can learn from Paul ve principles about dealing with disappointment: 1. Act on Your Duty: Paul wrote, I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house (verse 20). No matter how disappointed you may feel, stay focused on your known duties and responsibilities. Dont let disappointment derail you. 2. Adapt to the Facts: And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there (verse 22). Every disappointment has realities that we may want to avoid or deny. Resist that temptation. In the might of Christ, face the truth and move on. 3. Adhere to Your Partnership: I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me (verse 23). One of the most comforting and empowering aspects of our walk with Christ is knowing that we are not alone. Christ is with us. Believe it (you dont have to feel it), then act on it. 4. Assume a Resolute Attitude: But none of these things move me (verse 24, KJV). I absolutely love this principle. I accept it as a personal challenge: to reach a place in my experience where disappointments and trials dont bother me. Thats true growth! 5. Accomplish With Condence: I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to nish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given methe task of testifying to the good news of Gods grace (verse 24). This is rich. Paul says God has given me my race to run, my ministry to accomplish, and I will not only do it, but I will do it with joy and with a positive testimony. Finally, the big perspective: While we may get stuck focusing on the here and now, our present situation isnt the end of the story. Paul encouraged his fellow believers to see the big picture. He wrote, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Cor. 4:16, 17). n
DElbERt W. BaKER is a general vice president of the General Conference.
Delbert W. Baker
17
Cover
Poemin Progress
A
IT Is OUR PRIVILEgE TO pursue to tHe end ThE REcITINg JEsUs LEFT UNFINIshEd
18
(274 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013
BY MARCOS PASEGGI
he Rabbi is dying. He is not any rabbi. He is the Rabbi, the one who left people astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority (Matt. 7:28, 29).1 But He is dying. He implored to be spared the bitter cup (Luke 22:42). He was not. Now He hangs from the cross. Most of His followers have deserted Him. The same acolytes who were acclaiming Him mere hours before now pretend they do not know Him. He feels alone and rejected by all (Matt. 26:56; see also Isa. 53:3). Agonizing, He resorts to the same comfort tool He has used throughout His 33 years of joys, trials, and tribulations: He goes to the Scriptures for support. In His most trying hour, Jesus makes Davids experience His own. He begins to recite one of the great song prayers in the Psalms. With a loud voice, He cries, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matt. 27:46, citing Ps. 22:1). In the tradition of the time, citing the rst words of a text was . . . a way of identifying an entire passage.2 But it is too late for further developments. It is the ninth hour. The sacrice is almost perfect. There is no more time, not even for reciting the Scriptures. While it is very likely He had memorized the entire psalm, Jesus never makes it past the rst line of Davids poem.3 The Rabbi dies well before His reciting is nished. Though He might have fast-forwarded in His mind to the glorious ending of the poem, it would be for others to complete what He had begun.4 The chief priests, scribes, and elders had mocked Him a few hours before saying, He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now (Matt. 27:43; cf. Ps. 22:7, 8). In their blindness they did not see that they were fullling the prophecy, writes Ellen White.5 But their ridiculing act led men to search the Scriptures as they had never done before. . . . [Those men] never rested until . . . they saw the meaning of Christs mission.6 At the same time, the light began to shine on those who heard Christs words on the cross.7 They started to connect the dots, to move from isolated lines to the poem as a whole and the big picture it represents. Because if there is something signicant about Psalm 22, it is that there isinterlaced along the continuum of human suffering and seeming dejectiona golden thread connecting humanitys personal and corporative past to a thankful present and a glorious future. Davids strange song contains the message of the Bible in a nutshell; in its few lines the highs and lows of our existence nd their place within the all-encompassing story of redemption. It is for us then to make them ours, proclaiming to the world those lines Jesus did not happen to recite.
DAVIDS STRANGE SONG CONTAINS THE mESSAGE Of THE BIBLE IN A NUTSHELL.
Enforcing the Blueprint: Creation

You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mothers breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mothers womb You have been My God (Ps. 22:9, 10). After perusing at least a dozen scholarly commentaries on Psalm 22, I nd the limited space devoted to discuss the
From Lines to Poem

Jesus, however, was not the rst to repeat some of Davids lines in Psalm 22 on that fateful afternoon at Golgotha.
19
The dying Rabbi never made it beyond the rst line of the poem. But it is for His followers to carry on the task He left unnished.
above verses quite striking. Often minimized, even overlooked altogether, these and other creation passages are foundational for understanding the timely unfolding of the plan of salvation. Many Bible commentators, however, seem to miss the extent to which the belief in humanity as Gods supreme act of creation brings home the meaning of the whole process of redemption (which is, in fact, to bring humans back to the perfection in which [they were] created).8 But while some sons of the kingdom seem to be dozing off, others are coming to sit at the creation table (see Matt. 8:11, 12). A. J. Jacobs is an agnostic journalist who, as a personal experiment, set out to follow the Bible injunctions as literally as possible for one whole year. While he found a few of the commands were rather easy to follow, others presented various cognitive challenges. Specically, in his mind he found it hard to accept the six-day Creation story as it is told in Genesis. One night, however, Jacobs decided to convince himself about the possibility of a recent creation. While he never managed to dispel his doubts completely, he writes that he found the prospect fascinating. He started to think of the implications of accepting God as Creator. Suddenly he felt more connected to other human beings; everyone had become his brother or sister. But he also realized that creation belief made his life more signicant. He was important because he was created by God, and God made humanity the pinnacle of creation, vastly superior to the beasts and nature (see Ps. 8:5-8).9 Even for this agnostic, the possibility of believing the Bible account as true made a huge difference.
20
Believing in God as our Creator makes a huge difference, indeed. According to David, God started to work in him before he was even born (Ps. 22:10). Indeed, he writes, I was thrust into your arms at my birth (NLT).10 Since the very beginning, God fashioned David and made him part of His people for the glory of His name (see Isa. 43:21). Moreover, it is the Lord who takes David out of the womb and teaches him to trust when he is still on his mothers breasts (Ps. 22:9). This ability to trust is the basis of any meaningful relationship with our human parents, and in turn with God.11 God formed us an intricate unity (Job 10:8), and out of this realization a natural connection develops: His work as the Creator is an entitlement on Himself, as attested by one of the throne room scenes witnessed by John the revelator: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created (Rev. 4:11). It is a motivation to praise Him that cannot but grow exponentially once we realize He does not only create. He also hears. And He saves.
Applying the Contingency Plan: Salvation

I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. . . . For he has not despised nor abhorred the afiction of the aficted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard (Ps. 22:22-24).
Sometime ago I was shopping for groceries in my local supermarket, which boasts a large section of certied kosher foods. It was a few days before Passover, and I could not help noticing a buzz of excitement in the kosher quarters. Jewish matrons of every age and bearing walked around chatting animatedly, discussing the prices and alleged properties of the goods offered. Children in skullcaps were running to and fro, making a joyful noiseand a folkloric mess. Bearded and beardless men in suits and ties, seemingly professionals, discussed over their cell phones in loud voicessupposedly with their exacting wivesabout the right amount or brand name of a specic product to be purchased. As I walked amazed among them, I could not help wondering what the fuss was all about (which is, incidentally, what practicing Jewish people all around the world ask every year at Passover: Why is this night different from all other nights?). Traditionally, as Christians we have stressed the differences between celebrating the memory of a physical liberation (from the bondage in Egypt) and a reminder of a spiritual liberation (from the bondage of sin). But as I paced through the kosher aisles apprehending the scene of joyous anticipation, an all-encompassing similitude dawned on me: For all our differences, the celebration of Passover implies enacting mementos of Gods intervention in human affairs. Both Jews and Christians believe God is not one of the gods of the ancient Greeks, forever detached, forever unreachable in an unchangeable cosmos. He is not the impervious, immutable deity, the eternal continuum who is beyond even the possi-
(276) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013
bility of interacting with humans on earth. On the contrary, He is the God who comes down, who reveals Himself, who gets involved, and who has power to guide and even alter the course of circumstances (see, for instance, Dan. 2:28). Be it in ancient Egypt or in our hearts, we believe God changes things. And He answers prayer (Ps. 22:21), for He has a long record of doing so (verses 4, 5). This awareness is the reason we declare and praise His name (verse 22). It is what motivates not only a personal expression of worship, but a corporate one. As individuals and also as a group, we yearn to give glory to His name, for He has not despised nor abhorred the afiction of the aficted (verse 24). Every time God intervenes in the life of His people, His redeeming actions elicit a response of praise and witnessing. It was the case of Moses on the seashore of the Red Sea (He has become my salvation [Ex. 15:2]). It was also the response of Hannah when she saw her prayer answered (I rejoice in Your salvation [1 Sam. 2:1]). It was the experience of Mary before the birth of Jesus (He who is mighty has done great things for me [Luke 1:49]). Even Jesus breaks in a song of praise and thanksgiving to the Father when He Himself witnesses men . . . convicted and converted to the truth (see Matt. 11:25).12 The author of Hebrews applies the words of Psalm 22:22 to Jesus Himself, as He extols the God of salvation among His human brethren (Heb. 2:12). The process of Gods act of redemption, and its corresponding human response of gratitude, is straightforward. Ellen G. White writes, All who . . . desire to know the truth will see the power of God when it is revealed, and will acknowledge it (see Ps. 50:14, 15).13 It is the natural response of those who, based on the rm ground of knowing where they come from, now rejoice in Gods supreme act of intervention (see Isa. 43:1). Moreover, Gods act of salvation now guarantees each one of us a privileged spot as we move to the third major stage of the story of redemption (see 2 Cor. 4:14).
Projecting the Outcome: Re-creation

All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lords, And He rules over the nations (Ps. 22:27, 28). Psalm 22 connects our present thanksgiving for the reality of salvation to the worship to be bestowed by all the families of the nations (verse 27). Gods rule over the nations (verse 28) makes all the ends of the world . . . remember and turn to the Lord (verse 27).14 It is the moment Gods imprint on us, rst applied at Creation, later mangled by sin but repurchased at the cross, now becomes perfect once again. The Lord restores a kingdom which shall never be destroyed because it shall stand forever (Dan. 2:44). Within this context, the sufferings described in Psalm 22the groaning and the crying, the siege by the forces of evil, and even the feeling of Gods desertionare nothing more than a light afiction, which is but for a moment; in fact, they are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17). We might be encircled by bulls (Ps. 22:12). We might be surrounded by dogs (verse 16).15 We might feel as if the Lord has brought us to the dust of death (verse 15). But even in our seemingly darkest hour, we do not lose heart (2 Cor. 4:16), because the ending is a foregone conclusion. Which nevertheless is not supposed to be a safe conduct for remaining on the sidelines.
part of the great controversy, dispatched to open the eyes obscured and the hearts puzzled with the enlightenment of Gods revelation. We are the ones to proclaim that even though now we see in a mirror, dimly, then we will see face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). The reciting must go on, because the story has to be retold to the next generation (Ps. 22:30; see also Ps. 102:18). Everyone needs to hear that He has done this (Ps. 22:31). His past actions are the best guarantee that He will fulll what is left until the day dawns and the morning star rises in [our] hearts (2 Peter 1:19). Feeling forsaken? unheard? beleaguered? bedeviled? Look at the big pictureand nish the poem! From now on, it only gets better. n
1 Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible texts are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2 James L. Mays, Prayer and Christology: Psalm 22 as Perspective on the Passion, Theology Today 42 (1985): 322. 3 See James Howell, Commentary on Psalm, retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org/preaching. aspx?lect_date=5/10/2009&tab=5. 4 Ibid. 5 Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacic Press Pub. Assn., 1898), p. 749. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacic Press Pub. Assn., 1903), p. 16. 9 A. J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), p. 107. 10 Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 11 See Cintia Paseggi, Born to Connect, Adventist World, NAD Edition, January 2012, pp. 28, 29. 12 Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases (Silver Spring, Md.: E. G. White Estate, 1993), vol. 16, p. 231. 13 Ibid., p. 232. (Italics supplied.) 14 For the connection between God as a deliverer and His rule over the nations, see also Psalm 72:11, 12. 15 For the use of animal metaphors in Psalm 22, see G. Eidevall, Images of God, Self, and the Enemy in the Psalms: On the Role of Metaphor in Identity Construction, in P. Van Hecke, ed., Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible (Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press, 2005), pp. 55-66.
Reciting the Poem

The dying Rabbi never made it beyond the rst line of the poem. But it is for His followers to carry on the task He left unnished. We are the ones who must keep connecting the dots that link Gods creation with His salvation and future new creation. We are the ones sent to make sense of the besieging
MaRcOS PaSEGGI, married to Cintia and proud father of two energetic sons, is a translator, Bible researcher, and author from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
21
Spirit of Prophecy
The Enduring
BY ELLEN G. WHITE
Treasure
ible, and undeled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We may have high anticipations in regard to the things of this life, but we shall meet with disappointment. We shall nd that they fade away. But here is an inheritance incorruptible, and undeled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. We want our thoughts to be xed on the things that will abide, not upon those that pass away with the using. If we x our hopes on the future, immortal world, we shall not be disappointed. When Christ came into this world, He saw that men had left the future, eternal life out of their reckoning. He came to present that life before us, that by beholding it we might be led to change our relation to the things of this life, that our affections might be placed upon the things above, and not upon the things of the earth, so soon to pass away. The shadow that Satan has caused
lessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorrupt-
22
(27 8 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013
to intervene between our souls and God, Christ seeks to roll back, that the view of God and eternity may become clear. While He does not despise this world, He places it in its proper position of subordination. And then He places the things of eternity in their relative importance before us, that we may x the eye of faith upon the unseen. The things of temporal interest have power to engross the thoughts and affections, and it is important that we should be constantly educating and training our minds to dwell upon things of eternal interest. Will this make us unhappy? Will it cause us to have a hard time here? No, indeed. Receiving the gift of God will make everything in life easy. The more of the Spirit of God, the more of His grace, is brought into our daily experience, the less friction there will be, the more happiness we shall have, and the more we shall impart to others. We read in the Bible about the resurrection of Christ from the dead; but do we act as though we believed it? Do we believe that Jesus is a living Savior, that He is not in Josephs new tomb, with the great stone rolled before it, but that He has risen from the dead, and ascended on high, to lead captivity captive, and to
give good gifts unto men? He is there to plead our cases in the courts of heaven. He is there because we need a friend in the heavenly court, one who is to be our advocate and intercessor. Then let us rejoice in this. . . . Many judge of their religious state by their emotions; but these are not a safe criterion. Our Christian life does not depend upon our feelings, but upon our having a right hold from above. We must believe the words of God just as He has spoken them; we must take Christ at His word, believe that He came to represent the Father, and that the Father, as is represented in Christ, is our friend, and that He desires not that we should perish, or He would never have given His Son to die our sacrice. The cross of Calvary is an eternal pledge to every one of us, that God wants us to be happy, not only in the future life, but in this life. . . . We should not cast ourselves away, saying, I am a sinner, and when I become good enough, I will come to Christ; then I can believe and pray. You will never be good enough of yourselves to merit the favor and help of God. You must come just as you are. Christ meets you as you draw nigh to Him. Place your hand in the hand of Jesus, and He will direct you. Believe that He keeps you, and then it will be found that in the trial of your faith you will come off more than conqueror through Him that loved you. We gain the victory through faith in Christs power to save us. Then the trial of our faith will be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Christ. You will praise God that you have found in Christ a present help in every time of need. . . . What is it to be a Christian? It is to be Christlike. To be a Christian is to act as Christ acts, to have His spirit at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. When we are brought into adverse circumstances, when our natural feelings are stirred, and we want to give vent to them, then our faith is tried; then we are to manifest the meekness and gentleness of Christ. . . . If any man
offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole bodythe whole man. What we want is to be under the control of Jesus. We do not want our own way. I have heard some plead as an excuse for their wrong course, You know that it is my temperament, it is my disposition, transmitted to me from my parents. Yes; and they have cultivated it, and educated themselves in it, and thus excused all their wrongdoing. Instead of yielding to temptation, they should lay hold upon the arm of Innite Power, saying, I will come to God just as I am, and plead with Christ to give me the victory. I shall be more than conqueror through him that loved me. In order to understand how great the love of Jesus is for you, look to Calvary. You can then know something of the depth, the breadth, and the height of that love, and you can see something of the condescension of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, as step by step the Savior descended into the valley of humiliation. He did not stoop to sin, to delement, but He stood on this atom of a world to battle with Satan and his host, and here to win for us an immortal inheritance, an inheritance which is incorruptible, and undeled, and which fadeth not away. When He ascended on high, and led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men, He left the battle in our hands, but we are not to ght in our own strength; we should certainly fail if we attempted it. Christ is there present with the Father, to bring to our help the unseen intelligences, the angels of God. What we need is the simplicity of faith, the meekness and humility of Christ. Then we shall trust wholly in the Lord of heaven, and He will be at our right hand to help us. n
This article was first published in the REviEw anD HEraLD, March 8, 1892. EllEN G. WhItE, its author, was one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her life and work testified to the special guidance of the Holy Spirit.
23
Poem
A Joyful End
BY JESSICA L. PERRONE
The Dove ies soft and swift, Frail wings against the burdened air. Below His circles Sleepless malice surges from the depths. The Bird knows what will follow: The thunder from the deep, Declaring ownership of earths humanity; the rhythm of the drums declaring death forever. The Dove knows what will follow, And knowing it, He hurtles toward the earth Against the mist that masks the mighty serpent, For He is undeterred. He swoops like eagles, Streaking light against the stretching darkness. The pebble in His claw is smooth and giant-slaying. It strikes the serpents head. The drums fall silent. Sun breaks through, and trumpets rent the air. The joyful end has come. n
JESSICA L. PERRONE wrote this when she lived in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
24
Dateline Moscow
The Power of Water

StretcHing mY legs in tHe roomY eXit row of tHe Boeing 767, I looked
around to see a window seat beside me and a jumper seat for a ight attendant across from me. Both were empty. I prayed for the person who would sit beside me for the 10-hour ight from Moscow to New York. Then someone plopped down into the seat. His ample frame extended over the armrest. Worse, he carried the sweaty odor of someone unacquainted with the cleansing power of water. Speechless, I frantically prayed, What do You want me to do? Opening my eyes, I glanced over at my seatmate. He was asleep. At that moment a ight attendant strapped herself into the seat facing me. She appeared to be in her early 50s, and sadness seemed to cling to her eyes. I blurted out, Why are you sad? The woman looked surprised. Im not sad. Then wheres your smile? That broke the ice, and we started talking. Within minutes we established that we had a mutual friend in Moscow, my former boss. The ight attendant and my former boss had met a decade earlier at a Moscow riding club. Ten hours later, as we descended into New York, Brenda* and I exchanged e-mail addresses and agreed to arrange a dinner with our mutual friend. We made several attempts to arrange the dinner. But nothing worked out. Then the e-mails stopped. Last September, 10 months later, I felt impressed to contact Brenda. She wrote back that she would arrive in Moscow the following week. We agreed to meet. Over dinner I quickly learned that Brenda was standing at a crossroads in her life. From my own experience I knew that a crossroads is the best place to grasp Jesus hand. But how could I share that? I did not nd the words, and I ended up listening. Brenda raised a lot of questions. She wanted to know why I didnt order a glass of red wine with the meal. She asked why I didnt want to join her for a cup of coffee afterward. She asked what I drank if I avoided alcohol and coffee, and, at my reply, she gasped, Just water? I felt like a failure. I had not shared my love for Jesus. We kept in contact by e-mail, and a month later my new friend wrote that she was returning to Moscow and invited me to dinner. It seemed like a second chance. I prayed extra-hard. But once more the words evaded me. So again I just listened. Brenda wept as she described a series of broken relationships. She acknowledged having an addiction to alcohol. Then she startled me. Looking me straight in the eye, she asked, Do you have such nice skin because you dont drink alcohol or caffeine? As we nished eating, Brenda made a promise. Saying she wanted a better complexion, she said, I promise that I will not drink any alcohol or caffeine for two months. I was shocked. I hadnt said a single word about the harmful effects of alcohol or caffeine. As Brendas words sank in over the next few days, I began to rejoice. Freed of the inuence of those mindnumbing drugs, her mind would become more clear and receptive to the Holy Spirit. So when is the right time to witness? Only on Sabbath? Certain times of the week? Of course not! The right time to share our faithto do goodis always. This principle is conrmed by Paul, who wrote: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9). It took a year from the unexpected meeting on a 767 jet until Brenda quit alcohol and caffeine. I dont know whats going to happen next. The last I heard, her two-month commitment had stretched into four months. In fact, Brenda now drinks only water. She says her complexion is improving. Im excited to see where Jesus will lead. n
* not her real name ANdREw McChESNEy is a journalist in Russia.
Andrew McChesney
25
As I See It
For Love or
PROS AND CONS
Of a
FLaT TaX
BY JEAN-LUC LZEAU
n the particularly hot debate about cutting the United States budget decit, members of congregational delegations face each other, each side wrapped in their own ideologies. One wants to make sure that programs for the poor are not going to be cut while the wealthy get tax breaks. The other sticks to its ideological purity, which is an anaphylactic allergy to tax increases.1 The search for the secret formula that will reduce the decit and please everybody is still on, but will likely never be found. Could the reason for this stalemate be a lack of love? Will OBrien contrasted biblical love and political ideologies with the follow-
ing words: When we truly discover love, capitalism will not be possible and Marxism will not be necessary. Gandhi went to the heart of the question when he said, There is enough for everyones need, but there is not enough for everyones greed.
A Fair System?
While members of Congress argue the pros and cons of different tax rates, some of the candidates from last years presidential election oated the idea of doing away with the current system completely and introducing a at tax. One candidate printed bumper stickers that read: If 10 percent is good enough for God, then 9 percent should be just ne for the federal government!2
Another candidate trying to outbid the 9 percent at tax suggested 0 percent.3 Arguments against a at tax are numerous. Alan Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, says it would be a folly,4 demonstrating that in fact the rich would pay less and the poor more. Whether we are in a craze for a at tax, or that it would be a folly or plain beautiful5 to adopt, it is not the rst time in history that it was thought to be the panacea for all scal problems. At the turn of the twenty-rst century governments in Eastern Europe such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Georgia, and Romania all adopted a at tax, although their rates differ, from 12 to 33 percent.6 Probably inuenced by their decades of Communist rule, they felt that tax should be equal for all. Interestingly, four of themAlbania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Kazakhstanchose to set their at rate tax at 10 percent.7
26
Political parties in England, Germany, and Spain are toying with the same idea. Going further back into history, we see that Sbastian Vauban in France (1633-
if the ideologies and convictions that drive this debate were found in Christian behavior. God declared tithe holy (Lev. 27:30-32), and that special bless-
Obligation?
1707) and Charlemagne (742-814) favored a common tax rate of 10 percent for everybody. This shouldnt surprise us, since God Himself warned the Israelites when they asked for a king: He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his ofcials and attendants (1 Sam. 8:15). Even before tithe was mentioned in the Bible, (Gen. 14:20), traces of evidence seem to show that a pre-Mosaic tithe system was practiced in Egypt and Babylonia. Tithe receipts in hieroglyphs and on cuneiform tablets can be seen at the British Museum8 and show that it was commonly practiced among civilized nations at the time. What is remarkable is that not a single document shows when this practice started, who decided on the amount, nor people complaining about tithe being a burden. We may wonder how such a practice came about so early. Ellen White wrote: The tithing system reaches back beyond the days of Moses. . . . Even as far back as the days of Adam. . . . This was continued through successive generations, and was carried out by Abraham, who gave tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God.9 It seems that the initial principle from God was expressed as an oral tradition that was gradually adopted by neighboring nations before Moses rst mentioned it in Genesis. Gods principle evolved into a system by people who worshipped heathen gods, then into a common tax system. ings are attached to those who practice it (2 Chron. 31:5-12; Mal. 3:10). Then how can we explain that fewer than 30 percent of Seventh-day Adventists return tithe?10 Is the remaining 70 percent so saturated with Gods blessings that they dont need more? I recently heard the expression faithfulness ratio used in the context of tithe, a term used by fund-raisers to
OUR CHURCH USES THE RESOURCES IT RECEIVES; BUT IT IS NOT DEPENDENT ON THEm.
explain that we cant expect more than 30 percent of our members to be faithful in returning Gods tithe. It was the rst time Id heard the term in the context of tithe. I shudder as I try to understand what it means. According to that concept, the widow who gave her two mitesall she had, and she was sorry to give so littlemade a mistake. She could have argued that she had been saturated with bills, taxes, etc. We often forget in this materialistic world that giving in the New Testament went beyond percentages. We read about the early church that no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. There were no needy persons among them (Acts 4:32, 34). They could have rightly claimed saturation as well. Did God make a mistake in deciding unilaterally that tithe would be 10 percent? Shouldnt He have decided on a regressive tithe for the poor and a higher tithe bracket for the rich? With our Carte-
sian minds, thats how we would engage God on this topic today. Some treasurer may even wish to increase tithe, just as governments raise taxes, to 12 or 13 percent to fund all their projects. In His wisdom God decided that a at tithe of 10 percent was fair. Who are we to argue with our Creator? The difference between churches and governments is that the latter rely on taxes to survive. Not so in Gods church. Our church uses the resources it receives; but it is not dependent on them. God has provided for His church in the past, and He will continue to do so in the future. We have an immense privilege to participate in His mission. If all believers returned Gods tithe, there would be plenty in His treasure house. So Tax Universalis at 10 percent? Who cares? I want to be faithful to Gods command. Brennan Manning once said, The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world nds unbelievable. Its time to put our money where our mouths are. n
1 Ruth Marcus, No New Taxes? Not So Fast, in Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2011. 2 zazzle.com/if_10_is_good_enough_for_god_ bumper_sticker-128806512163986401. 3 Rick Santorum, quoted in The Craze for Flat Taxes, The Economist, Oct. 29, 2011. 4 Alan Blinder, The Folly of the Flat Tax, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 14, 2011. 5 Flat Is Beautiful, The Economist, Mar. 3, 2005. 6 The Case for Flat Taxes, The Economist, Apr. 14, 2005. 7 taxrates.cc/html/albania-tax-rates.html. 8 Henry Landsdell, The Sacred Tenth (1985). 9 Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1940), p. 69. 10 The Global Tithe Index, www.aiias.edu/gti/ instrument.html.
JEaN-Luc LZEau has served as a missionary, administrator, and departmental director. He directs special projects for ADvEnTiST WOrLD magazine.
The Spiritual Dimension

Todays situation could be improved
27
Story
The Other Side of Answered Prayer

WERE ALL
BY HOPAL GRANT-MCCLINTOCK
didnt know what was taking place on the other side of the world, but God knew; and He had His hand in the events.
My Side of the Story

The thought of what I did hit me suddenly. What was I thinking? Why did I promise to do that? I didnt want to give away that amount of money. Maybe I should just send $100, even $50. That seemed more reasonable than the $280 I had promised. I rang my husband to tell him what I had done and to get his opinion about how much I should send, if any at all. His reply was like a dash of cold water
in my face. Send all she asked for, he said, plus half again. That wasnt what I wanted to hear. I didnt want to send $280, much less $420. Just then God seemed to speak to me: Why couldnt I send $420? Id just spent more than that buying furniture that wasnt necessary. I could afford to send more than that. So before I could think of all kinds of excuses and convince myself not to send it, I went to Western Union Money Transfer online and sent $420 to Tracey.
Rewind
I occasionally send text messages back home to my friends and family,
28
just to keep in touch. Such was the case when I sent a text on Monday. By Tuesday Id heard back from almost everyone except my cousin Tracey. This was unusual, since she is usually one of the rst to reply. But I gured she was probably out of phone credit and would reply when she got some. On Wednesday I received a text message from her saying that she wasnt in the best of health, that she was out of a job, and that she was in debt up to her neck. In spite of all this, she was still giving God thanks and praise. When I received her message I was in the middle of reading an interesting book, and without giving it much thought I replied that Id send her some money, and that she should let me know how much she needed. She replied saying that she needed $280, if I could spare that much. If not, she said, any amount would help, until God provided the rest. Thats what led me to send $420 to
to purchase a household appliance I needed. Ken isnt a Christian. A few months later I found myself sick on my back and out of a job. We had absolutely no money, our bills were piling up, and we had two kids to feed and send to school. On top of that, Ken was down on his luck as well. Where was God when I needed Him? Just then I received a text message from my cousin Necola, in Australia. I wanted to reply but couldnt; I had no phone credit, and no money to buy credit with. The following day I contacted my parents and all my siblings and friends to implore their help, but no one was able to assist us by lending us money. There was now nothing more I could do. That night I lay awake. Lord, is this where You bring me? I have no job, no money, no one to help. Im sick and at on my back. Wheres Your help when I need it? Kens asking about the God who was going to help me. Where are
Ken how much I should ask for. He said I should ask for what my most pressing need was, which was what I did. When Necola told me how much she was sending, more than Id asked for, my tears wouldnt stop. I was so excited and amazed at how God had worked.
We Know How It Feels

Most of us know what it feels like to be the one praying for an answer, or to receive a seemingly big, fat no from God, or to see divine intervention unfold before our eyes, or feel what its like to anxiously wait for God to come through for us. The next time you feel impressed to contact or give to someone, do not hesitate. You just might be the answer theyve been praying for. What if your lack of response to Gods prompting prevents others prayers from being answered? n
HOpal GRaNt-McClINtOcK, a trained counselor, lives with her husband in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia.
CONNECTED.
Tracey. I let her know that the money was sent, and I asked her to let me know when she received it. I could almost feel her joy and ecstatic praise to God in her text reply a few minutes later.
My Own Experience
Youll see what my God can do. Your God? This is just plain foolishness; what if you cant make the payments? Dont worry about it. My God will provide for my needs. Well see. That was the conversation I had had with my husband, Ken, after Id decided
You, Lord? Ill wait for You, but please hurry. When I nished talking with God, I heard a message come in on my mobile phone. Out of the blue my friend had sent me a $30 phone credit. With this I decided to text a reply to Necola. When I received her reply asking how much I needed, I was so excited that I started praising and jumping up and down thanking God. I even forgot to text her back. Ken was skeptical, asking how I could celebrate when I hadnt received anything yet, and still might not. I wasnt sure how much to ask for, because my need was so great and I didnt want to burden Necola. So I asked
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. Can you remember a time you helped provide an answer to somebodys prayer? Recall it briey. 2. What are the theological implications of being used by God to answer someones prayer? Isnt that what angels are for? 3. What spiritual discipline is necessary to cultivate an attitude of openness to Gods generosity? How do you make it stronger? 4. Do you know someone who could use a little material help right now? What are you going to do about it?
29
At Rest
SHERRARD, Elwoodb. June 30, 1918, east Texas; d. July 30, 2012, Blue Ridge, Ga. He taught at Walla Walla College and served as principal of Malayan Union Seminary in Singapore and as business administrator of Philippine Union College and Manila Sanitarium and Hospital. He also served as an administrator of the Adventist Retirement Center in southern California. He is survived by his wife, Amy; two daughters, Dena Guthrie and Sherry Mills; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. WESTBROOK, Lynn B.b. June 24, 1934, Haileyville, Okla.; d. Sept. 20, 2012, Wichita, Kans. He served as a literature evangelist, publishing director, and pastor in the Mid-America Union and Kansas-Nebraska conferences. He is survived by his wife, Sally; three sons, Brant, Joel, and Thomas; one daughter, Karen McCarthy; one sister, Shirley McClure; 10 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
30
Reflections
Easter Mourning
It was supposed to be a daY to remember life, and resurrection.
Instead, Easter Sunday became a day for death. We all knew it was coming. Over the past several weeks Gladys,* the mother of my close friend, had grown weaker and weaker from the cancer that was claiming her body. She had borne her burden bravely, walking slower and slower until she was conned to a wheelchair, and then nally to a bed. Gladys always had a ready smile on her lips and warm words of greeting for her many visitors. Easter morning dawned bright and clear, but in Gladys room it was clear to everyone that the end was near. Throughout the day friends softly came and wentsome bringing with them the gift of music that seemed to lift the spirits of everyone in the room. The day slowly wore on until only the closest of friends and family remained. As the evening glow of the setting sun cast shadows around the room, Gladys took her nal breath. A few years later it was my own mother who was dying. One Tuesday morning I received a call informing me that she had suddenly become very ill and had been taken to the hospital. Separated by an entire continent, I had to say goodbye over the phone. How wonderful it was to know that this was not a nal goodbye! How wonderful to have the hope that only Jesus can give! But sometimes there seems to be no hope. As the casket is closed for the last time, or the ashes are scattered, those who are left sob with sorrow that cannot be consoled because the mourners do not know the Life-giver, or think that He doesnt exist, or that if He does exist He is not someone they would like very much. How can we bring hope to the hopeless? How can we introduce them to who Jesus really is? I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full, Jesus explained to the doubting Pharisees (John 10:10). Dont cry, He said to the sorrowing widow of Nain, before He turned to her dead son and commanded, Young man, I say to you, get up! (Luke 7:13, 14). Dont be afraid; just believe, Jesus assured Jairus after the ruler of the synagogue learned of the death of his daughter. Then taking the small limp hand in His, the Life-giver commanded, My child, get up! (8:50, 54). I am the resurrection and the life, He told Mary shortly before proclaiming, Lazarus, come out! (John 11:25, 43). Before carrying out this very public miracle, Jesus wept (verse 35). But He was not weeping for Lazarus, because He was about to raise him. The weight of the grief of ages was upon Him. He saw the terrible effects of the transgression of Gods law. He saw that in the history of the world, beginning with the death of Abel, the conict between good and evil had been unceasing. Looking down the years to come, He saw the suffering and sorrow, tears and death, that were to be the lot of men. His heart was pierced with the pain of the human family of all ages and in all lands. The woes of the sinful race were heavy upon His soul, and the fountain of His tears was broken up as He longed to relieve all their distress (The Desire of Ages, p. 534). Only God can bring life out of death, good out of bad. As I reect on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the more amazed I am at everything He did, and is doing, to give meand everyone who will accept Himreal life, abundant life, forever. I can hardly wait to spend eternity with Someone like that.
* not her real name GINA WAHLEN is Assistant to the editor of ADvEnTiST REviEw, AND LONGS TO SHARE THE HOPE THAT JESUS BRINGS WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.
31

2013 1509

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Judul Asli

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

2013 1509

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

www.adventistreview.

March 28, 2013

A POEM IN PROGRESS ReFLeCtInG on CHrIsts Words From tHe Cross

Behold, I come quickly . . .

Going beyond My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?

Watch the Hands Chloe the Cat

22 The Enduring Treasure

God wants us to be happy, now and forever.

13 Give & Take 17 Transformation Tips 25 Dateline Moscow 30 Etc. 31 Reections

Looking toward a glorious future

26 For Love or Obligation?

It isnt gratitude until its expressed.

28 The Other Side of

NEXt W  EEK IN ADvENTIST WOrLD

Being part of Gods answer

www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 5 9)

Vol. 190, No.

LETTERS FROm OUR READERS

S AND CHRISTIAN E DATING

Thanks for printing Kim-

Must Love God

Silver Spring, Maryland

a Greeting A Wave and Unafliated Religiously Worldwide Swell n? Divine Assassi

s Religiou in Freedom d the Unite es at St

IS ONE OF THE MOST ENTAL FUNDAM S FREEDOM TACK? UNDER AT

I enjoyed reading the Janu-

Lake Titicaca Tour

I enjoyed reading Gerhard

Moving in the Same Direction

(2 6 0) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013

May we never grow stagnant with the belief

that we have all of the answers.

brooke Hendriksen, Salt Lake City, Utah

34 Vol. 189, No.

Salt Lake City, Utah

While in the midst of read-

In the article Moving in

We welcome your letters, noting,

Palm Coast, Florida

www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 6 1 )

Watch the Hands

(2 6 2 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013

Chloe the Cat

The Tract That Launched a Church

PHOTO AND TRACT COURTESY OF ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE

World News & Perspectives

photo : ReX Features via A P I mages

In Pakistan, Mob Burns Homes in Anti-Christian Violence

(2 6 4 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013

Ji r Moskala Named Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Dean

Photo : Darren Heslop/A ndrews University

www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 6 5 )

World News & Perspectives

Hope Channel Launches in Poland, Expansion Planned

photo courtesy tedM EDIA

(2 6 6) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013

La Sierra University Receives Presidential Service Award

www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013 | ( 2 67 )

World News & Perspectives

Retired Executive Secretary Clyde Franz turns 100

(2 6 8 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | March 28, 2013

Photo courtesy Sue Franz S mith

Jesus gives more than the breath that gives us life.

NEXt W EEK IN ADvENTIST WOrLD