2013 1505

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February 21, 2013
Adventists Plan NYC Outreach Feel the Power Further Testing
8 14 30
CARLTON BYRD
BREATH OF LIFE SPEAKER/ DIRECTOR TAKES NEW YORK BY STORM
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.
16
COVER FEATURE 16 Carlton Byrd Takes
CELESTE RYAN BLYDEN
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ARTICLES 14 Feel the Power
HOMEr TrEcArTIN
10
DEPARTMENTS 4 Letters 7 Page 7 8 World News &
Perspectives
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EDITORIALS 6 GErALD A. KLINgbEIL 7
CArLOS MEDLEY
New York by Storm The talented ministry of Carlton Byrd and his dreams for the future
Back to the Future Living Examples
Are we connected? Or do we need a charge?
22 iDols
VINcENT MAcISAAc
When do the devices meant to serve us become our masters?
13 Give & Take 21 Cliffs Edge 27 Back to Basics 30 The Life of Faith 31 Reections
NeXt WeeK
A Journey of Faith and Healing The White Memorial Medical Center is celebrating 100 years of serving its community.
24 At the Well
GALINA STELE
Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman was no accident.
ON THE COVER
Carlton Byrd, speaker/director of the Breath of Life television ministry, uses his talents to honor God and spread the good news. Cover photo by Dawin Rodriguez
28 The Eternal Chapter

LILIAN HAN IM
Thank God He knows us better than we know ourselves.
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, 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 0161-1119), published since 1849, is the general paper of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is published by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and is printed 36 times a year on the second, third, and fourth Thursdays of each month by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Periodical postage paid at Hagerstown, MD 21740. Copyright 2013, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Vol. 190, No. 5 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 | February 21, 2013 | ( 1 3 1 )
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Vol. 190, No.
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24, 2013
JANU 13 4, 20 ARY 2
I appreciated the thought-
LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

3
www.ad ventistreview.or
January
Let Me Serve
You
Listening
Budget 2013 World Mission Focuses on to Atheists
7 11 14
a Whats Do? Body to

TO PANIC HOW NOT DOCTOR WHEN THE CANCER. SAYS, ITS
speak volumes for good or evil!

Pam Cross
Altamont, Tennessee
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
Wow! What an inspiring
Inspirational Review
Review! Im referring to the January 24, 2013, edition. First, Listening to Atheists, by Grenville Kent, is an excellent article. Never before have I seen printed the reasons atheists have for their beliefs (eternal hell, etc.). This article offers good ways to approach atheists. In KidsView C. D. Brooks Who Finished the Building? is an excellent illustration of Gods miracles. Two articles, Gina Wahlens Whats a Body to Do? and Allan R. Handysides Coping With Cancer, were enlightening in regard to cancer options. I am sure many families have been ravaged by someone close having cancer. These articles showed alternatives to what we normally do. Excellent!
Art Miles
s Religiou in Freedom d the Unite States
IS ONE OF THE MOST ENTAL FUNDAM S FREEDOM TACK? UNDER AT
Apison, Tennessee
Im writing to thank
Taking the Hint
Andrew McChesney for reminding us that God wants Christians to avoid the ways of the world (see Taking the Hint, Jan. 24). The way we talk, act, and dress
With more than a little skepticism I began reading Religious Freedom in America, by Nicholas P. Miller (Jan. 17, 2013). But into the second page Miller began putting it all together with an impeccable discussion of moral philosophy and the dissenting (free church) position (in opposition to both right-wing Christian conservatives and left-wing liberals). Miller gives a nuanced discussion of a rational approach to current football issuesa rationale more Adventists should study. It places these issues within a framework of weighted factors, resulting in a ne-tuned balance. It avoids extremes and protects against future suppression of the minority religious view. If understood, Millers approach would minimize much of the polarization we nd on many issues within our church and nation.
Connie DahlKe
Religious Freedom in America
provoking article Religious Freedom in America. In it Nicholas P. Miller writes: This approach would also recognize the moral value of protecting the goals and ends of the child-raising unit of a mother and a father, and reserve its full approval for such relationships. Such an approach may allow for civil unions for tax and insurance purposes, but it would limit marriage and the right to raise children to heterosexual couples based on moral arguments about the purposes of procreation and the rights of children to benet from the special care provided by a mother and a father. This statement seems inconsistent with the issues or realities faced by single parents (who may or may not have previously been married) or by single persons who wish to adopt children. I know of singles who adopted. I also know of one single woman who raised a child conceived by articial insemination. In these and other similar situations a sole person of either gender (both never married and previously divorced) has most assuredly successfully raised a child/children. There is no natural moral argument to allow the state to enforce or legislate the right to raise children to heterosexual couples and exclude everyone else. How unfortunate it would be for many children not to have the privilege or the right to be raised by a loving single person who is
capable and desires to be a parent. In an ideal world every child would have the opportunity to be raised with two loving parents of both genders. . . . The most urgent attention is needed for repeal of the law prohibiting a counselor/ preacher/physician/etc. from advising any person under 18 who desires such counseling to modify or alter samesex attractions. This is dangerously foreboding and totally outside the realm of the state to legislate such (morality).
Denise
Location Withheld
Vol. 190, No.
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10, 2013
JANU 13 0, 20 ARY 1
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ventistreview.o
January
Study Ordination Named Committee Be Led Willing to Gods Peddler
8 15 27
W Mystic?
WITH CHR
hat Is a
SEEKING IONSHIP COMPANIST
It was with great disap-
What Is a Mystic?
pointment that I read the article What Is a Mystic? by Eric Anderson (Jan. 10, 2013). Anderson has chosen to subtly guide the reader through a maze of semantic twists and turns in an unbiblical effort to justify the acceptance of mystics and mysticism into the Seventh-day Adventist spiritual life. Anderson rst supports his thesis by quoting two early-twentieth-century writer/poetsKathleen Norris, a Benedictine-trained Catholic, and Evelyn Underhill, who, going against her own spiritual mentor, was ultimately drawn into mysticism and Catholicism. It is concerning that the author advocates for the beliefs of
Walla Walla, Washington
( 1 3 2 ) | www.AdventistReview.org | February 21, 2013
such writers and suggests their counsel should guide an Adventists spiritual walk with God. An even greater concern is his implication that mysticism is afrmed by Ellen White. Numerous quotes from the Spirit of Prophecy warn strongly against mystics and any form of mysticismcalling it satanic and spiritualism. To suggest that White afrms the beliefs that she emphatically warns against disparages her as a prophet of God and blatantly afrms error. Anderson concludes by urging Christian mysticism as a remedy for Adventists today. Despite the clever semantics of the author, Christian mysticism is truly an oxymoron. The combination of the sacred (Christian) and the profane (mysticism) cannot be justied.
Janet C. Neumann
attempt to put a positive sheen on them? Mysticism could prepare the way for spirit guides that are not the Holy Spirit. We draw close to Jesus not just by mountain retreats, quiet places, and prayer retreats, but also by active service for Him. The way White put it, Christ spent His life between the mountain and the multitude. Is it not possible to promote quality time with Christ without going down the same road as the Catholic mystics who retired from society to be close to Jesus?
CindY Tutsch
Silver Spring, Maryland
Walla Walla, Washington
The author of What Is a
Mystic? distorts the writings of Ellen White by implying that she was describing mysticism as the term is commonly understood. A footnote acknowledges that for White the terms mystical and mysticism were usually negative terms. Why, then, does Eric Anderson
Former U.S. surgeon gen-
Pediatric Obesity
eral Richard Carmona once said, The greatest threat to our national security is pediatric obesity. Why? Because the kids and teens of today are our future; our tomor-
row. Their health status now will impact our health-care system, military, labor force, economy, Social Security, etc. Thats why I was glad to see Allan R. Handysides and Peter N. Landless broach this topic in their December 27, 2012, Ask the Doctors column. While they gave a lot of great statistics and facts outlining the problem, the doctors spent only the last two paragraphs talking about solutions for grandparents and parents to consider. Here are a few more resources that we recommend in our Family Fit program held at Loma Linda Universitys Drayson Center: Super Sized Kids, by Walt Larimore, M.D., and Sherri Flynt, M.P.H., R.D., L.D. Disease-proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. Gods Design for the Highly Healthy Child, by Walt Larimore, M.D. Kid Shape Caf (150+ kidtested recipes), by Naomi Neufeld, M.D. www.superkidsnutrition. comone of the best nutrition Web sites, packed with resources for kids and parents, by Melissa Halas-Liang, M.A., R.D., C.D.E. http://circle.adventist.org/ download/PI-KidsExercise. pdfan excellent kid tness article for parents, by Chris-
tine Wallace, for CIRCLE, a resource for Adventist educators.

Ernie Medina, Jr.
Loma Linda, California
Please pass on our deepest
John Lello
sympathy to Pam Lello and her children (see Accident Kills John Lello in Papua New Guinea, Dec. 27, 2012). Papua New Guinea has a special place in the hearts of everyone of the Knopper family. My brother-in-law, Peter Knopper, died at the Homu Bible School in 1988 as the result of being shot. Any loss in our South Pacic Division is a reminder of the great sacrice being made in spreading the love of Jesus to this dying world. May God be close to this little family that has been left to face the world without a husband and daddy.
Corinne Knopper
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
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.
We draw close to Jesusnot just by
mountain retreats, quiet places, and prayer retreats, but also by active service for Him.
cindY tutsch, Silver Spring, Maryland
Editorials
Back to the Future

Around New Years, BloGGers, columnists, editors, and
pundits often dare a look into the proverbial looking glass. Whats the outlook for the economy? How will the political shadowboxing in Washington, D.C., play out? What will be the social phenomenon of the year? What surprises will we get from Cupertinoor any other small or big gadget company? You wondered about 2013 as you stepped into January 1. I didand so did billions of others. With two teenagers and a preadolescent roaming the space of our home, change and action has become the Leitmotiv of our lives. What will happen in their lives in 2013? What will happen in the church we love and cherish in 2013? Every December The Economist publishes a special issue looking at the big picture of the coming year. 2013 was no exception. An issue, full of best guesses and (at times) thoughtful comments, also included a look by Edward Lucas, an international editor of The Economist, at what he thought 2013 would bring for Christianity.* I was intrigued. Lucas sees secularism gaining ground (not really too difcult to discern) and bleak times for Christianity in Europe and the Middle East (we knew about that, but its good to remember that missionaries are needed to reach the crib of Protestantism and the region where most of the biblical stories happened). He forecasts tremendous tension within the worldwide Anglican Church and more splintering over gay issues, theological liberalism, and the role of Scripture for the practice of the church. He thinks that Catholicism will decline even further in Europe and North Americaalbeit not in Asia and Africa. Finally, Lucas suggests that Christianity as a whole will boom in eastern Asia, including also South Korea, China, and Taiwan. As I read this take on 2013 I found myself at times nodding or shaking my head. Lucas did not write about the Seventh-day Adventist Churchyet in my mind I compared his comments with our reality. Yes, Europe, Australia, and increasingly North America are becoming more secular by the dayincluding Protestant U.S.A. Yes, we are currently facing hot theological issues (think ordination of women) that will test our ability to study and stand together to the utmost. Yes, we are delighted to see tremendous church growth in Africa, Central and South America, and some other parts of the world. Yet this church is not like any other church. It is not just another denomination. At the risk of being severely chastised by some of our readers for being arrogant and conceitedthis is Gods end-time remnant, a visible part of the larger universal church of people who are ready to follow the Lamb wherever He leads. This claim is not based on sociological or historical realitiesit is based on Scripture and detailed further in the prophetic word. It translates into a call to mission and transformation, sharing a special message in a special timein 2013. I feel overwhelmed by the numbers. How can 17 million Adventists make a difference in a world of 7 billion? How can .24 percent reach the remaining 99.76 percent? Jesus used the imagery of yeast leavening dough. In His time everybody had seen this at home. I am sure they could not explain too well the involved chemical processesbut they saw it work. I cannot see exactly how we will do it, but we will, because Gods Spirit guides this movement. I cannot really tell how we will resolve our theological questionsbut we will, if we keep following the Lamb. I cannot even project what will happen in the lives of my family in 2013but I want to walk condently holding my Saviors hand. So, just for a moment, set aside the numbers, threats, issues, and to-do lists. Lift up your eyes and know that your salvation is near. n
* Edward Lucas, Christianity at Bay, The Economist, December 2012, p. 29.
Gerald A.
Klingbeil
How can 17 million Adventists make a difference in a world of 7 billion?
Living Examples
In JanuarY I had the rare opportunitY to spend a few winter
days in FloridaMiami, to be exact. The weather was sunny, and the temperatures reached more than 80 degrees in the daytime. The chance to wear summer clothes in the middle of winter was pure delight. The climate was in stark contrast to the freezing temperatures at home in Maryland. But despite wonderful weather, the occasion was a solemn one. Our family came together to honor the life of my mother-in-law, Elizabeth Krigger, who passed away in December at age 92. More than 200 friends and family members packed the modest-sized church to celebrate her life. She was remembered with music, the spoken word, acknowledgments, and reections from friends, children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. The impact of her life was evident by the stories they shared, as well as the expressions of love that lled the service. As I reected on the memorial, I couldnt help realizing that the many acts of kindness my mother-in-law performed were a living example of what Christians everywhere should be about. By reaching out to neighbors, praying for a hurting coworker, or encouraging a young student or senior citizen, we are spreading the warm sunshine of Christs love and compassion in a cold, sinful world. Through acts of kindness we reect the character of Christ to those around us. The apostle Paul said it well: Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote itnot with ink, but with Gods living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives (2 Cor. 3:2, 3, Message).* As God looks into our lives He wants to see Himself. If we are willing, He will. n
* Texts credited to Message are from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Carlos
Medley
Say It Again!
This month we remember the words from some Adventist African-Americans.
FRANK HALE If the General Conference, the union conferences, the local conferences, the publishing houses, the evangelists, the ministers, the missionaries, and the educational and medical institutions would all combine their powers to erase the smudge of racial segregation and discrimination among us, the whole system would crack and crumble overnight. Such a challenge is for us the living! I have no other plans but to accept this challenge.
Former President of Oakwood College (1966-1971) to F. L. Peterson, May 3, 1961
THE AEOLIANS The Aeolians could sing passages from the phone book and still make you feel the presence of the Divine.
Huntsville Times, November 1997. The Oakwood College (now University) choir, the Aeolians, have ministered through music since their organization in 1946.
CHARLES BRADFORD We need to recapture the word movement and all that it implies.
Former President of the North American Division (1979-1990), 1975
Photos and quotes are courtesy of www.blacksdahistory.org. Visit the site for more information on African-American Adventists.
World News & Perspectives

eral Conference president Ted N. C. Wilson preach an evangelistic series there. Wilson began his pastoral work as a ministerial intern at the Greenwich Village church. Along with the lay training events, more than 1,400 youth gathered in two locations sponsored by the Greater New York and Northeastern conferences. These young people were challenged to be part of something great for God and use their inuence to touch their friends with the gosMEMBERS IN TRAINING: Seventh-day Adventists from around the New York City metropolitan area lispel during NY13. ten to Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the General Conference, as part of a lay training series held throughout the region preparing for the NY13 evangelistic outreach. Don King, president of the Atlantic Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, NORTH AMERICa declared, NY13 is a united approach bringing us all together to focus on reaching people in this great metropolitan area for Jesus. Training spans multiple sites; participants During NY13 approximately 400 evangelistic meetings will be conducted eager to reach neighbors for Christ. in the metropolitan New York area. BY ADVENTIST REVIEW staff Hundreds of churches and thousands of church members will be involved, lus, a banker from Dodge Center, MinHundreds of Seventh-day Adventists Adventist leaders said. nesota, who represented the Adventistfrom the metropolitan New York area The massive evangelistic outreach in laymens Services and Industries orgawhere the overall population is estiNew York City is part of the Seventhnization along with Robert Costa, Genmated at 19 million, more than 50 eral Conference evangelism coordinator, day Adventist Churchs Mission to the percent above that of metro Los AngeCities initiative. Church leaders at every present a New Beginnings seminar to lesgathered at a series of January level of church organization have identrain lay preachers. 18-20, 2013, meetings to prepare for a tied 630 major cities worldwide to Commenting on the attendees major evangelistic outreach called NY13. focus their evangelistic energies and enthusiasm, McNeilus said, I am conThe numbers, throughout the region, resources on in the next three years. vinced that there are thousands of laywere impressive: 2,000 gathered at an This comprehensive evangelistic people waiting to be challenged to do auditorium at Hunter College in Manapproach blends biblical principles something signicant for the Lord. They hattan for worship and training, and with the practical, divinely inspired just need to be trained and equipped. 560 packed the Linden Seventh-day counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy to Noted Seventh-day Adventist evangeAdventist Church in Queens to attend reach people living in these urban cenlist Mark Finley taught a class on how to Ernestine Finleys Light Your World for ters with Jesus end-time message of organize home Bible study groups God seminar on how to become an hope for our time. focusing on the book of Daniel. His effective lay Bible instructor. More information about the New seminar was attended by more than 170 More than 300 peopledouble the York City outreach is available online at people and was held in Manhattans expected numberocked to Harlems www.ny13.org. n Greenwich Village Seventh-day AdventFort Washington Spanish Seventh-day ist Church, which in June will see GenAdventist Church to hear Denzil McNeiwith information from Mark Finley
Photo : Rohann D. W ellington /G N YC
Adventists Prepare for New York City Outreach
( 1 3 6) | www.AdventistReview.org | February 21, 2013
SOUTH AMERICA
Brazilian Adventists Help in Healing After Santa Maria Inferno

photos courtesy ASN
In wake of nightclub fire that killed hundreds, blood drive, first aid given.
By Felipe Lemos, ASN, reporting from Brasilia, Brazil
Seventh-daY Adventist young
adults in Brazil rallied to donate blood in the wake of the worlds deadliest nightclub re in more than a decade. At least 231 partygoers died, and some 200 were injured, on January 27, 2013, when a bands pyrotechnics display ignited ceiling insulation at a club in downtown Santa Maria, about 200 miles west of Porto Alegre in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. The re released ames and toxic smoke into the panicked crowd, and a stampede broke out, media reports indicate. As victims ooded local hospitals, medical staff urgently appealed to the
site of tragedy: A re at a nightclub in downtown Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, killed at least 231 people on January 27, 2013, and left hundreds injured, leaving area hospitals scrambling to restock blood banks.
Adventist-run Vida por Vidas (Life for Lives) blood-donation organization in South America. The denomination is known for handling large-scale blood donation drives, especially in Brazil, where health ofcials estimate the project annually contributes 3.5 million units of blood. Blood donors gathered early on Sunday, January 27, at the Central Adventist Church in Santa Maria and immediately headed to the citys Blood Donation
ready to donate: Young donors participated in the Vida por Vidas blood drive.
Center, said Vida por Vidas coordinator Adriano Luz. Meanwhile, Adventist medical staff volunteered at local hospitals, among them Dr. Jocemara Fernandes, who received an emergency call to aid victims early Sunday morning. The scene of horror and despair I witnessed was unprecedented in my experience, Fernandes said. She has worked in a local emergency room for more than a decade. Fernandes treated at least 15 victims between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. Most people had problems related to smoke inhalation, she said. Another young victim suffered second-degree burns and had difculty breathing, Fernandes said. Most victims were under the age of 30. What we can do now is pray, for the injured and the bereaved families, that God will help them, Fernandes said. Santa Maria mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and local authorities continue to investigate the cause of the blaze, according to media reports. Vida por Vidas was launched in 2006 and is overseen by young Brazilian Seventh-day Adventists. n
9
GREATER MIDDLE EAST UNION MISSION
Lichtenwalter to Lead Islamic Studies, Theology Faculty at Middle East University

M eu photos
Veteran Adventist theologian has taught at Andrews University for 12 years.

By Rachel Lemons, deputy director of communications, Middle East University, writing from Beirut, Lebanon
The reliGion of Islam and the Middle
URBAN OASIS: Larry Lichtenwalter praised the Middle East University campus as an oasis in the middle of Beirut.
East region are rmly situated within the global spotlight of modern society. With such prominence it is vital that the Seventh-day Adventist Church develop a solid understanding of the region and its dominant religion in order to effectively minister to, and interact with, its diverse inhabitants and adherents. Within the Adventist community, Middle East University (MEU) envisions itself as the knowledge center on topics that relate to, or intersect with, the Middle Eastern region, its religions, its cultures, and its languages. Central to this vision is the development and expansion of the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies, along with the Faculty of Theology, to be headedas of March 2013by veteran Seventh-day Adventist pastor and teacher Larry Lichtenwalter, whose appointment was recently announced. Lichtenwalters breadth of experience promises to bring a unique perspective to the expansion and maturation of the programs, school ofcials believe. Lichtenwalter has served as pastor of Village Seventh-day Adventist Church in Berrien Springs, Michigan, for the past 27 years. During this time he saw his pastoral ministry evolve to include academic roles as well. He recounts that over the past 12 years he has taught a class almost every semester at the Sev10
serve. Our world has enth-day Adventist become more and more Theological Seminary multicultural in its perat Andrews University. spective. I believe this He is the author of campus can provide eight books and has some diversity in the published articles in theological realm that various publications, some other schools including Adventist would not be able to. Review and Dialogue, a MEU aims to provide Seventh-day Adventist a theology program journal for college that complements students. those of its sister uniIn Lichtenwalters versities around the estimation the MEU world by providing a campus is a little semester abroad, which haven amid all the concentrated city thats NEW DEAN: Larry Lichtenwalter, complements the theoa veteran Seventh-day Adventist logical curriculum they around it. Its a lovely pastor and instructor at Andrews are studying at their campus, and it has University, will head the Institute home universities. In potential and room for of Islamic and Arabic Studies, charting out MEUs the addition of more along with the Faculty of Theolniche in the space of buildings. ogy, at Middle East University in Beirut, Lebanon. theological education, In addition to the Lichtenwalter potential of the camdescribed a curriculum, a program pus, Lichtenwalter believes that the Facwhere you have your Islamic and Arabic ulty of Theology and the Institute of component. That is what MEU is seekIslamic and Arabic Studies have the ing to serve. potential to ourish as well. When Lichtenwalter completed his asked about his vision for the programs, undergraduate studies at Southern he said, I think we have some very Adventist University and his Master exciting possibilities. Theres no doubt of Divinity and Ph.D. at Andrews Unithat the multicultural and contextual versity. He is married to Kathie, and setting of MEU has a lot to offer to any they have ve sons and two daughtersyoung person thinking about what to in-law. n do with their spiritual life or how to
NORTH AMERICA
By Cassie Milnes MartschinG, communication director, AdventSource, writing from Lincoln, Nebraska
EXplorinG the Bibles rst book, Genesis, and learning fundamental truths about where the earth came from and Gods plan for their lives are activities provided for kids during Investigation Station: The Genesis Factor, the 2013 Seventh-day Adventist Vacation Bible School program now available through AdventSource in Lincoln, Nebraska. Investigation Station: The Genesis Factor is an interactive VBS that teaches kids about Genesis and the God of creation. The kids, who act as junior investigators, will receive daily assignments related to the theme. As they travel through the daily learning stations, they will gather clues that will help them answer the question of the day. Each day the kids will dig into a Bible story found in Genesis, and they will learn that:
God created the universe. God blessed the seventh day. God made rules that were broken. God is ready to save us. God helps us start over. Kids will also learn how science and nature support the Bible by watching interactive video segments featuring Rich Aguilera, Guide magazine creation columnist. A team of Seventh-day Adventist pastors, childrens ministry professionals, and VBS leaders developed the lessons with a passion for sharing the real creation story and Gods plan of redemption. Investigation Station contains Seventh-day Adventist beliefs including God as the Creator, the seventh-day Sabbath, baptism, and heaven. Each lesson is specically designed to connect with commun ity children while engaging
Adventist children in learning biblical truths. VBS is one of the most effective outreach programs a church can offer, AdventSource said in a statement. Provide the families in your church and community with a fun and uplifting experience they will not forget by conducting the Investigation Station VBS at your church, the group added. This program is available from AdventSource, at www.adventsource.org or 402-486-8800, or the Adventist Book Center, at 800-765-6955, or www.advent istbookcenter.com. The Investigation Station is available in English and Spanish. Investigation Station VBS was created by the Childrens Ministries Department of the North American Division in partnership with the Review and Herald Publishing Association and AdventSource. n
GERMANY
ADRA Germany Gains New Leader

Molke follows Lischek, who started group 27 years ago
P hotos: Copyright A DRA Germany
By Adventist Press Service, Switzerland

The Seventh-daY Adventist pastor
who founded and led the German branch of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA, has retired after more than a quarter century in that role. It is not difcult for me to retire from the management of ADRA Germany, because I know that my successor,
LEADERSHIP CHANGE: Erich Lischek, left, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, retired recently as ADRA Germany country director. At right, Christian Molke, who is the new country director.
www.AdventistReview.org | February 21, 2013 | ( 1 3 9)
11
Photo : adventsource
Genesis Is Theme of 2013 VBS Program From AdventSource
GENESIS THEME: The Bibles rst book, Genesis, is the theme of Investigation Station, the 2013 Vacation Bible School kit from AdventSource.
Christian, will meet the challenges of the international ADRA network, declared Erich Lischek. He is leaving after organizing and developing ADRA since 1986. As relief agencies we have learned to join forces in major disasters. I am grateful that I was able to support these efforts. Lischek established ADRA Germany in Darmstadt in 1987, starting with only one part-time secretary. ADRA now has 28 employees and 10 volunteers in the headquarters in Weiterstadt, close to Darmstadt. The charity also offers an apprenticeship in ofce communication. Gnther Machel, chair of the ADRA
Germany board, thanked Erich Lischek: From a humble beginning ADRA has become a major relief agency. Lischek has shaped ADRA Germany, and he will continue to cooperate as managing director of the ADRA Foundation. Christian Molke, also a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, is the new ADRA director, having begun his work in January 2013. Previously he led the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the federal states of Hessen, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland, with 65 churches, 4,600 members, and 34 pastors. Molke transitioned to his new task in the summer of 2012. ADRA Germany is part of the global
ADRA network, with 120 country ofces. It is also a member of the countrys Joint Welfare Association (Parittischer Wohlfahrtsverband) and cofounder of the Association of German Development NGOs (VENRO), Relief Germany, and Together 4 Africa. In cooperation with the Weltwrts project of the German state, ADRA Germany sends approximately 15 volunteers per year to support projects in Albania, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, and Tanzania. For additional information about ADRA Germany, visit the English-language section of the groups Web site at www.adra.de/en/english.html. n
NORTH PACIFIC UNION
Hoover to Lead Upper Columbia Conference, Succeeding Folkenberg, Jr.

Veteran pastor, administrator moves from Georgia-Cumberland Conference.
Photo: Upper Columbia Conference
By JaY WintermeYer, Upper Columbia Conference communication director, reporting from Spokane, Washington
Paul Hoover accepted the call to serve as president for
the Upper Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He will serve as president following Bob Folkenberg, Jr.s recent move to the China Union Mission. Hoover says, On behalf of Patti and myself, we want you to know we are deeply honored and humbled to accept the opportunity to serve with so many dedicated wonderful people. We look forward to following Gods leading and becoming a part of the Upper Columbia Conference family. Hoover, currently vice president for administration for the Georgia-Cumberland Conference, grew up in several places around the world, as his father was in the military. He was baptized into the Adventist Church in 1977 in Tampa, Florida. Hoover attended Southern Adventist University, where he graduated in 1980 with a bachelors degree in theology, and then from Andrews University in 1983 with a Master of Divinity degree.
CONFERENCE LEADER: Paul Hoover, left, a veteran Seventhday Adventist pastor and administrator, is the new president of the Upper Columbia Conference, headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Patti, at right, is his wife and a registered nurse.
He served as pastor in the Kentucky-Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Georgia-Cumberland conferences. In 1991 he accepted a call to the Georgia-Cumberland Conference and pastored the Smyrna-King Springs church and Calhoun, Georgia, church. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Andrews University in 2001. Hoover enjoys running, golf, road biking, and spending time with his family. His wife, Patti, is a registered nurse. They have two grown sons. n
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shA RE wITh Us
I llustration: Phil M cKay/good salt.com
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) Jots and Tittles (church-related tips) Camp Meeting Memories (short, humorous and/or profound anecdotes) 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.
ADV E N T IsT L I F E
Me: Chloe, guess what? You get to have lunch with your favorite guy in the world! Chloe: I get to have lunch with God? I explained to my young daughter that she would be having lunch with her secondfavorite guy in the worldDaddy.
Heather Cross Young, NAShvILLE, TENNESSEE
Morning conversation with 2-year-old Noah: Do you know what today is? I asked with a big smile on my face. Noah: Sabbath! No, Noah, todays only Monday. Today is another special day. Your birthday! For him, the only special day is Sabbath!
Wendy Engelmann, GErMANY
SOUN D B IT E
h E RA L D s TRU M P E T
When no one else would be caught dead with us, He was not ashamed to call us brothers.
Pastor Jim Howard, DUrINg hIS DEcEMbEr 22, 2012, ChrISTMAS SErMON.
Hi, kids! Heralds trumpet is once again hidden somewhere in this magazine. If you nd it, send a postcard telling us where. Be sure to include your name and address! Then well randomly choose three winning postcards. In our last contest (November 15, 2012) we stumped almost everyone! We had 4 entries. Who were the winners? Micah Garcia, from Albuquerque, New Mexico; Alex Meier, from Beltsville, Maryland; and Ilcias Vargas, Jr., from Ringgold, Georgia. Each received a book from Pacic Press and a KidsView beach ball. Where was the trumpet? On page 29. If you can nd the trumpet this time, send your postcard to Heralds Trumpet, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600. The prize will be . . . a surprise! Look for the three winners names in the May 9, 2013, edition of the Adventist Review. Have fun searching, and keep trumpeting Jesus loveand His second coming!
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terry crews
Devotional
Power
ComparinG Peter aT PENTEcOST and Saul aT RaMah
BY HOMER TRECARTIN
FEEL
C
lick, click, click, click, click. With a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach you get out and look under the hood, whether or not you know what to look for. You text a friend, call AAA, or just stand there gazing longingly at any approaching vehicle. Jumper cables? You ail them at passersby. At last some angel arrives, hooks up the cables, and signals you to stick the key in the ignition and turn. Vrrrrrooooommmm! Ah, power! We may not understand our cars, but we understand the need for power. We purchase gadgets that plug into our phones or computers to provide a boost of power. Our heat pumps and cars often have a setting that gives us a quick blast of heat or cold. Advertising bombards us every day, promising us a sudden rush of energy if we will just eat, drink, or swallow this or that. Oh, yes. We believe in power. There were no cars, power adapters,
the
or energy drinks in Bible times. And many of us do not understand the Bibles farming language about early and latter rains. But we do get the talk about powerHoly Spirit power, latterrain power. We get the power talk. We want to hook up jumper cables!
Power for What?

We love to talk about the promise in Joel 2:28, 29: sons and daughters prophesying, old men dreaming, servants Spirit-anointed. But whats the power for? Why do we pray for latter-rain power? What do we think it will accomplish? A ripened harvest? Not primarily. The harvest is already ripe, Jesus declared; we should pray for laborers. Stirred-up laborers then, His sleeping church? Now, that sounds good! Like hooking up to heavens jumper cables for one nal jolt of power! Like latterrain energy propelling us from rocking chairs out into the world with the nal message! Perhaps.
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Before we settle back in those rockers to wait for the rain, let us ask ourselves: Could not God pour out His Spirit on a sleeping church? Could He not suddenly and powerfully speak through dozing saints to call the world to repentance? He spoke through Balaams donkey. He can make stones cry out. But is that the planets need? Talking animals, crying stones, sleep-talking saints? Remember, the talking donkey didnt convert Balaam, and the promise of shouting stones didnt convert the Jewish leaders. Besides, might it be that our nodding and dozing actually robs us of the rain? Too late we may discover that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was taking place all around us, and we didnt even notice.
we have been going, either. Its power simply pushes us farther and faster to wherever we were already headed. To come back to our jumper cable illustration, if my tires are at and my radiator punctured, the power surging through the cables will do nothing to get me where I am going. Connecting red to positive and black to negative and getting ignition will not suddenly transform my car. The power surge will not even send me in a new direction. Temporary bursts of power, even those from heaven, do not force us to change direction; they only push us on
King Saul
In 1 Samuel 19:19-24 Saul learns that David is with the prophet Samuel in Ramah. He sends contingent after contingent of soldiers to capture him, but the Holy Spirit overpowers them all, and they begin to prophesy. Finally, completely frustrated, Saul sets out to seize David himself. The Spirit overwhelms him too, and, prostrated naked before Samuel, he prophesies all that day and night. But though these soldiers all prophesied, they were not changed. Nor was anyone converted who listened to King Saul. People simply mocked: Did you see that? Looks like Saul has become one of the prophets! What makes the difference between Peter at Pentecost and Saul at Ramah? Nothing good came of Sauls overpowering. He simply made a fool of himself. For in reality the Holy Spirits power is effective only if our lives match the message. Sauls life did not match the message he was giving while under the power of the Holy Spirit. He had not let the Spirit mold, shape, and change him all along. When the power came over him, the temporary contrast was so great that it just made people laugh. The power he experienced didnt last, and it didnt change him, or anyone else, one single iota. The nal, mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit doesnt change the direction
NOTHInG GOOD CAME Of SAULS OVERPOWERInG. HE SIMPLY MADE A fOOL Of HIMSELf.

in the direction we are already heading. And they are effective only if the rest of the system is in proper operating order. This is why we so desperately need revival and reformation. Our hearts must know the gentle working of the Holy Spirit now, not just a power surge sometime tomorrow.
Is the Soil Ready?

Joels promise of rain and a full threshing oor (Joel 2:23, 24) will never be fullled if nothing is planted before the rains come. The vats will overow with juice and oil only if vineyards and olive groves have been planted and tended. The latter rain does not change the crop, it only enhances what is already planted in the soil. When I plant and fertilize, everything is ready. The rains then make it grow. What comes up is what is there already. The same is true when the latter rain ripens the harvest. It brings wheat and weeds to maturity. It does not change what is in the eld. My wife, Barbara, and I were on our way to the airport in Delhi, India. The
night clerk from the hotel was riding along in the hotel taxi with us. His eyes were heavy from being up all night, and his head was nodding. He was going home to rest. Suddenly, unexpectedly, a few big drops of rain splattered on the windshield. Almost instantly his eyes perked up. Softly, excitedly, he looked back and said, Look, sir, the rain has come. Then he turned back to watch. Gone were the tired lines around his eyes. His back was straight; his lips curved in a slight smile. This was no downpour, just a couple of stray drops of water on a dusty road. To the young hotel clerk those drops were lled with hope and promise. Rain was coming at last. I, too, have seen the rain beginning to fall. Jesus is about to return. Seeds are being planted. People are praying together, pleading with God to soften the soil of their minds, asking the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers, praying for the outpouring of the latter rain. This will not be merely a burst of temporary power. When this power comes, it wont be for just a day, and it wont embarrass us. It will nish the work that we have allowed Gods Spirit to begin in our hearts and lives today. Look, sir, look, madam, the rain has come! n
Homer Trecartin is president of the Greater Middle East Union Mission.
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Cover Story
CARLTON BYRD TAKES NEW YORK BY STORM

And LoS AngElES, ATlanTa, NaShvillE, HunTSvillE . . .
Image digitally altered from a photograph by Dawin Rodriguez.
BY Celeste RYan BlYden
arlton Byrd always felt that he was born to pastor, born to preach, born to be an evangelist. He grew up in the ministry, grew up wanting to be a pastor, and loves to speak. Now he speaks many times a week and sometimes twice a
Sabbath. On this particular night hes in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, preparing to speak for the NY13 kickoff rally at the North Bronx Seventh-day Adventist Church. And he can hardly wait to preach, to re up the base and get members here excited about the 2013 major city evangelism campaign set to blanket the city that never sleeps.
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Its the rst of hundreds being organized by the worldwide Adventist Church, but for Byrd, its another opportunity to further Christs mission: I love the Lord, I love people, I want to go to heaven, and I want to take as many people with me as I can, he states, ashing the signature smile he wears above his signature bow tie. God called us to take this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone, everywhere, and Im just glad I get to do it full-time.
I Ran to Ministry
Full-time, Byrd is a pastor, evangelist, and the newest speaker/director for Breath of Life (BOL), the television ministry founded 39 years ago by Walter Arties to bring hope and guidance to the African-American community. Thousands have accepted Christ through its evangelism efforts, often held in stadiums and major venues in cities across North America and other parts of the world. Byrd, whose nickname is Buddy, took the helm just two years ago at age 38 and was glad to get the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the revered God callEd uS To TakE C. D. Brooks and Walter ThiS wondERful goSpEl of Pearson, Jr., his predecesJESuS ChRiST To EvERyonE, sors. Though it has been EvERywhERE, and Im juST only a short time, hes hoping his message will glad I gET To do iT full-TimE. penetrate the noise that convolutes todays urban FAITHFUL VIEWERS: During the NY13 event this past fall, Carlton Byrd poses with Orley and Alecia Anderson. community. Byrd didnt run from Gods call. He ran new church plant and baptized 300 peoIts getting through in Long Island, to it. I arrived at Oakwood [College, now ple in four years. Thats where Byrd New York, where Alecia Anderson University] knowing what I needed to believes he really became an evangelist. watches Breath of Life on Friday evedo, he recounted with surety. Some pasIts also where he started doing what he nings. Can I take a photo with you? tors told me to run [away], but I didnt. dubbed tract attacks, which involve asked the 20-year-old member of Long Hes been running ever since, trying identifying a community, going door to Islands Riverhead church soon after to follow a path paved by the renowned door, soliciting Bible studies, and prayByrd arrived at North Bronx. The ash Adventist pastors and evangelists who ing with people. Byrd tries to recruit the of Byrds smile prompted the ash of inuenced his lifehis dad, E. C. Ward, entire church to participate. On Sabher fathers camera, and then it was on. Pearson, Brooks, Benjamin Reaves, and bath, right after worship and before After her father, Orley Anderson, got a E. E. Cleveland. lunch, members take to the streets and turn, others jumped up. take communities for Christ. Hes my favorite preacher, said Orley, The method also worked in Houston, who identied himself as the rst elder of Path to Success Texas, where Byrd baptized 500 people the Riverhead church. Orley arrived two His rst assignment out of Oakwood in three years and then in Atlanta, Georhours before the announced NY13 prowas to pastor the South Central Confergia, where he baptized 1,800 in ve gram time to secure a seat. He makes the ences Laurel, Columbia, and Soso, Misyears and grew the church to include message so clear and simple. Hes a powsissippi, congregations, which probably
Photo : C eleste Ryan Blyden
erful [speaker], sure of what hes saying. Alecia, who relished meeting Byrd, agreed. Hes inspiring, and I understand what hes saying. That may be because Byrd understandshis calling, his purpose, and what it takes to do ministry. Ministry is service, he told me afterward as we sat in the tiny, white-walled media room in the attic of the church overlooking the sprawling two-story sanctuary of the North Bronx church. Byrd is constantly engaged in ministry. And surrounded by it. His dad, William Byrd, is a pastor in West Palm Beach, Florida, and his mom, Carol Byrd, is superintendent of education for the Southeastern Conference, headquartered in an Orlando suburb. His father-in-law, too, is a pastor. In early years Byrd memorized the conference directory, read and led letters for his dad, and attended many weeks of prayer and tent meetings, all because, as he put it, I wanted to be there. And he adds, I was born to do this.
could have met in his car. The Laurel church, for example, had two members. I didnt worry about that because I knew it was going to grow, he mused. I worked hard, cut the grass at the church, paintedanything that was needed, I did it. He also conducted a series that yielded three baptisms. This increased the membership by 150 percent, making Byrd the top evangelist per capita in the conference that year. At summers end the conference sent him to the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, to complete his Master of Divinity degree. Later he earned an M.B.A. at Tennessee State University in Nashville, and a Doctor of Ministry with an emphasis in African-American religious studies at Andrews. After graduating, Byrd was sent to pastor in Tuscaloosa and Eutaw, Alabama, where he ran his rst tent effort and baptized 19 people. This was followed by Nashville, where he pastored a
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photo : Dawin Rodriguez
Photo courtesy of the Byrd family
ThE RESponSibiliTy of lEading Such a laRgE chuRch and BREaTh of LifE SimulTanEouSly haSnT SlowEd [ByRd] down. If anyThing, iT haS SpuRREd [him] To wanT moRE, do moRE, dREam moRE.
day, they would take her off the respirator. The Byrds prayed and prayed. We just knew she was going to make it. I knew she was going to make it. But she died in my arms, he said. I was mad at God. I said, I labor for You as a minister; why would You allow this to happen to me? I dont smoke, I dont drink, I got married and then had kids. My life had been FAMILY TIME: Carlton Byrd, with wife, Danielle, and daughters Caileigh (10, on left) and Christyn (12). very ordered, he explained. I did things the way they were 4,000 members, two services, a supposed to be done funeral at his home church in Hunts50-apartment senior citizen housing ordered. Yet here was a real tragedy that ville, on Monday and Tuesday hell hold complex, barbershop, beauty salon, happened to [us]. I didnt read it in the BOL board and executive committee health tness center, food pantry, clothpaper, it didnt happen to somebody else, meetings at the North American Diviing distribution center, youth activity it happened to us. sion (NAD) ofces in Silver Spring, center, vegetarian sub shop and juice How did you get through it? I asked. Maryland, and then head home to conbar, and a womens shelter. Prayer, came the answer, a whole duct Wednesday night prayer meeting. Byrd has just completed his rst year heap of prayer. Afterward hell reunite with Danielle, in Huntsville, Alabama, as senior pastor I tell people, God wouldnt take you his wife of 15 years, and their 12- and of the Oakwood University church, to it if He couldnt bring you through it. 10-year-old daughters, Christyn and where hes currently based. Sure Even though you cant see it and you Caileigh. enough, not long after he arrived, he was dont understand it, and it doesnt make Listening to his itinerary I wondered in the pulpit promoting tract attack sense . . . God will bring you through the aloud if anything had ever slowed him Sabbath. About 1,500 of his 2,000 memstorm. He will, He will, He will, He will, down. Challenged him, stopped him. bers joined him, and after just eight he repeated until his voice trailed off. My daughter, he said, suddenly getmonths and one meeting theyd bapA few weeks later, Byrd, 27 at the ting quiet. She was 4-and-a-half tized about 200 new believers. time, came across, as if for the rst months old. The responsibility of leading such a large church and Breath of Life simultaStopped in His Tracks neously hasnt slowed him down. If The story unfolds: It was September anything, it has spurred Byrd to want 25th, 1999. We left the north side of more, do more, dream more. Im Nashville en route to Tuscaloosa to excited, invigorated, on re for the speak for an event at the church Id pasLord, he beams. tored early on. We had been having car And still running. Byrd dashed from trouble; our car wasnt sounding right. our interview to another with Hope On the south side of town, we stopped Channel cohost David Franklin in the at our head elders home. He switched sanctuary of the North Bronx church. cars with us and we took his SUV. FourIts Friday night in the Bronx, but last teen miles from our destination, the car Sabbath Byrd was in Atlanta. Tuesday he started doing ips. We were all knocked traveled here to New York, Wednesday unconscious. When I came to, I was he held a BOL rally at the Linden church lying in the median. We all were. My in Queens, followed by another at wife started screaming. Our daughter Elmont Temple in Long Island Thursday was not moving. The ambulance came night. Tomorrow hell preach the 11:00 and took our daughter to one hospital, service at the Ephesus church in Harus to another. When I got to where she lem. Then hell make his way to the was, she was on a respirator. The next Brooklyn-based Hanson Place church day the physician told me that if she for a 6:00 event. Sunday hell ofciate a didnt wake up by noon of the following AUDIENCE APPEAL: During Carlton Byrds sermon
time, 1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (NKJV). God spared my life, Byrd now concludes, because I wasnt ready; or perhaps He still had a work for me to do; or maybe it was all of the above. I surmised that its all of the above. As a result Byrd is more passionate about the mission. Im not just talking, Ive lived it, he says, Ive lived [through] tragedy and survived. . . . My sense of urgency for the second coming has grown tremendously.
Needs and Next Steps

Since December 2010, when he took over the storied, albeit nancially strapped, media ministry, Byrd has traveled extensively to raise awareness, raise funds, and conduct evangelism initiatives. The eld services arm, directed by Danielle, is reaching out to donors with personal letters and updates. BOL manager Linda Walter, based at the Adventist Media Center in Simi Valley, California, keeps the broad-
at NY13, congregants raise their hands to an appeal.
casts airing on Hope Channel, which also airs on DirecTV 368; Three Angels Broadcasting Network; the Word Network; and local subsidiaries in Atlanta and Huntsville. And John Huynh, an intern also based at the media center, helped Byrd develop a presence on Facebook and Twitter, an online store, and a mobile app to allow smartphone users easy access to sermon archives. He also e-mails three-minute Breath of Fresh Air devotional videos that contain edited snippets of Byrds sermons and serve as spiritual appetizers for recipients. In the pastors study at the North Bronx church, the driven and choleric Byrd also wants to share some needs. We need to get Breath of Life on some mainstream television networks, and, even there, I will continue to preach [Adventist] doctrine because people need to know what we believe and that were a Christian community that celebrates Christ by keeping His commandments, he said. In addition, Byrd sees a need to book the half-hour preaching program on subsidiary networks in major metropolitan areas so when he prepares to conduct a series of meetings, the church can promote it and locals can view it before the evangelistic meeting begins in the community. This brought him to the need for usable, televisionquality programs. Though there are churches that bear our name, we also need to establish some televisionready, satellite BOL churches, he said. These churches should be seekersensitive, missionoriented, and in a nice facility, because they will be the face of Adventism to viewers. Finally, Byrd believes BOL needs an outreach compo-
nent, so that when a natural disaster occurs theyll have people on the ground ready to help. We need to be actively engaged in community ministry and service, he concluded before heading to the platform to share a sermon from Acts 21 titled Prison Break.
Fired Up
Then, just as Alecia Anderson from Long Island and her dad, Orley, expected, Byrd presented a simple and clear message punctuated by Bible reading, storytelling, and his trademark doxology. As good people of the Book, the Friday night worshippers of various hues and cultures didnt miss a beat. The church that prays together, Byrd started, testing the waters. Stays together! they nished in unison. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, he quoted Psalm 91:11 (KJV) . . . To keep thee in all thy ways! they rejoiced. No weapon formed against thee, he began, citing Isaiah 54:17 (KJV) . . . Shall prosper, they cheered. Some were now on their feet, and when Byrd moved from texts to songs, they quickly chimed in: If it had not been for the Lord on my side, he crooned in melodious tenor, Where would I be? they chorused. With the hour spent, the sweat pouring, and his mission of ring up the base accomplished, Byrd brought the message home: Lets take New York by storm! he shouted to thunderous applause. Lets take New York by storm! Lets take (pause) New York (pause) by storm! He did. And they will. n
Celeste Ryan Blyden enjoys telling stories about what God is doing in and through His people in the Columbia Union, where she serves as communication director.
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Cliffs Edge
A Self-refuting Phrase
FunnY how You can read a teXt for Years, then read it aGain
expecting nothing new but nding something new. And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7, KJV). The Hebrew reads that God formed the man, as in one person. The words his nostrils reects the singular again, as does the phrase and the man became a living being (NIV). The relevant verbs and nouns and possessive pronouns in Genesis 2:7 show that one man, the man, was created. In contrast, Genesis 1:26 reads: Then God said, Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the sh of the sea, over the birds of the air (NKJV). In this verse man comes without the denite article the. The word man refers here to humanity, plural, as revealed in the clause that immediately follows: and let them [plural] have dominion over the sh of the sea. In Genesis 2:7 the man, this one man, is created rst; then afterward God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and that man became a living being. Now, what good are nostrils without lungs? And human lungs are useless without blood. And human blood demands a heart. And a heart needs (among many things) a sophisticated nervous system, which in a human means a brain. If the man had nostrils, he had a face, and if he had a face, he had a head, which means a skull, and so forth. Everything about that text implies that the man was created as a whole entity rst, but a lifeless one. Only after having a complete human body did he become a living being. Thus, if I take at face value my theistic evolutionary friends claims to revere the Scriptures, I ask them in all sincerity, How can evolution be harmonized with this text? Cant you see an irreconcilable contradiction between it and even the broadest evolutionary scheme? Why would the Lord have inspired the writing of this creation model when, in fact, He used an entirely different one? What good is the text if the opposite of what it teaches is true? Because science points to the evolutionary model, we have no choice but to meld the two. Yet evolutionary science is at bestwhat? Twenty percent of hard-core empirical evidence stretched and extrapolated into 80 percent speculation shaped by metaphysical assumptions constructed around culture, peer pressure, psychology, philosophy, and other variables that have little to do with immediate science. Why pit such subjectivity against an explicit biblical text? Also, evolutionary theory is based on natural selection and random mutation. Thats natural, as opposed to supernatural, selection. And random mutation? How random could that be if God was guiding it along? The names of these processes themselves rule out divine intervention, making the phrase theistic evolution self-refuting. Richard DeWitt, in Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science, writes: So if one adds a supernatural involvement into the account of evolution by natural selection, say by allowing a God to meddle in the evolutionary process, then it is no longer natural selection. One is no longer taking natural science, and evolutionary theory, seriously. In short, taking natural science seriously means that an account of evolutionary development that is importantly inuenced by a supernatural being is not an intellectually honest option (p. 313, Kindle edition). He said it, not me. Usually at this point I begin to snort, chortle, and rail. I dont want to now. Instead, I humbly ask someone to explain to me how you can, with a straight face, meld Genesis 2:7 with an evolutionary model of origins. We all have to put our faith in something. What I dont understand is how those who claim to believe in the Bible can put their faith in what is, in light of Genesis 2:7, so contradictory to it. n
Clifford Goldstein is editor of the ADULT SAbbATh SchOOL BIbLE STUDY GUIDE. His latest book, ShADOW MEN, is available from Signs Publishing in Australia.
Cliff Goldstein
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As I See It
SMarTphONES, SMarT appS, SmaRT SpiRiTualiTy BY

by VINCENT MACISAAC
WE
live in a world that not only craves but demands the next big gadget breakthrough promising to be a game changer. Even major international news services such as CNN are quick to stream keynotes from Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple, that promise to change our lives. We know the names of the CEOs of computer companies as if they were baseball, football, or music stars. It seems all that Tim Cook (and the late Steve Jobs), Eric Schmidt, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Ballmer are missing are trading cards with their quarterly earning stats on thembut then I bet there is already an app that can do that for us.
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We cant ght it. This world is changing, and those who dont keep up will be left behind. Even e-mail is currently scheduled to be a dead medium. It is literally yesterdays news. Instead Facebook, Google+, and a host of other instant social media platforms are giving us a taste of our immediate tomorrows. Its like the Verizon 4G LTE commercials say: That is so four seconds ago!
Church and Technology

I am glad to note that our church is not being left behind or showing up as Johnny came late to the party! Major Adventist media groups sport apps, churches are streaming services to a worldwide audience, church buildings are being equipped with Wi-Fi, and every day my Sabbath school app pops up on my Droid Bionic reminding me to study my Sabbath school lesson. Preachers regularly preach from iPads, Kindles, and a variety of electronic tablets. People who are traveling in this digital world Skype into board meetings, and conferences are held in Google+ hangouts all the time. Printed agendas are becoming a thing of the past as my church leaders prefer to show up to committee meetings with laptops and tablets instead. Most important, we see the gospel reach places where just ve or 10 years ago it would have been impossible to have a digital presence. I cannot help hearing the words of Jesus echo in my ear: And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14).1
Beware of the Technology Pit

So, is there a downside to all of this? I mean, what more can we want when the church is keeping relevant and the gospel is being preached? Is this not a dream come true for us? Yet I worry. I worry about the environment we are creating in which church members and, yes, even pastors openly chastise each other over our technology
choices. I worry about a world in which someone using an Apple, a Droid, or (dare I say it) a PC is like declaring yourself openly a Republican or Democrat, or, worse yet, a theological liberal or conservative. Wait, wasnt the whole point of technology to bring us together, not tear us apart? Can we afford to let it tear us apart? And what does it say about us as a society and as members of a worldwide community of faith when we only dream of the next latest and greatest gadgets? We toss out or Craigslist perfectly good technology rather than come to church and be seen with last years model smartphone or tablet. When I think of the counsel our forefathers were given about costly living and self-adornment I wonder if we just found a new way of doing the same old sins covered in those little red books written more than 100 years agoand, ironically, all available in an app on my tablet? Dont get me wrong. I am not antitechnology whatsoever. Rather, on the contrary, my church members have affectionately called me the technology pastor, and I have innovated new uses of interchurch services via Internet streaming in my conference. But as Jim Collins so poignantly said: When used right, technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it.2 I am reminded of the words of the old hymn: Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. Here is my point: Lets use current technology to transform the world, and at the same time, lets not be transformed by it. God surely is the ultimate Creator of technol-
LETS USE cUrrENT TEchNOlOgy TO TraNSFOrM ThE WOrlD, aND aT ThE SaME TIME, lets not Be transformed BY it.
ogy, and He has allowed it to surface right now for a purpose. We better not be like the Gentiles in Romans 1 who worshipped the creation and not the Creator. Lets not forget that there will come a time when it is all shut off. Lets not make iDols of our technology, engaging in the worlds newest form of false spirituality. When the next ber gadget does nally come, I dont want to forget it is all about the ultimate keynote Game ChangerJesus. Lets make sure we keep moving forward with Jesus and His cross at the center of all our innovations and technologies. n
1 Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2 Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York: Harper Collins, 2001), p. 152.
Vincent MacIsaac, Pastor Vinnie, serves the Arlington and FairfaX Seventh-day Adventist churches in the northern Virginia area just outside ofWashington,D.C. He is married to TinaLynn MacIsaac, and this year marks their twentieth weddinganniversary.
23
Heart and Soul: Biblical Studies

BY GALINA STELE
IllUSTraTION by STEVE CrEITZ
t noontime Jesus sat at Jacobs well. Jews did not usually pass through Samaria to get to Galilee from Jerusalem; they preferred to go around it. But Jesus actions have their own reasons.
tally killed; trust was betrayed; good intentions to join Gods people mocked and denied by the very ones who built an altar to the true God in this valley. His name was on their lips, but their lives cried out the opposite. What a disappointment to God! Descendants of Abraham, supposed blessing to the whole world, acting like terrorists. Instead of love, hope, and truth, they brought hatred and death to the city they were supposed to reach. Their altar stood outside, but no tabernacle was within their hearts where God could dwell. Someone says, You can ght the devil with such frantic zeal that in the long run you look like him. How sad it is when people around see such a discrepancy between our truth and our spirit, between our altarsplaces of worshipand our ways of life. The good news is that Jesus visits the places where we build our altars to Him. There He brings His living water. No wonder Jesus decided to go through Samaria! This place meant so much to Him! Now syncretism ruled in the land of His early altars. Samaritans did not deny God; they believed in Him, even worshipped Him. But as with us today, they believed and worshipped as they pleased. God was on their lips, but their lives were far from Him. Jesus came to Samaria because He had living water for them.
Jacobs well sat at the entrance of a valley with about 80 springs of water, a pearl of the Promised Land full of grass, owers, plums, nuts, gs, pomegranates, oranges, and grapesa valley of beauty, history, and theological signicance. Gerizim and Ebal rose from it, mountains that were the site of Israels covenant renewal after they crossed the Jordan river (Deut. 27:12, 13). Its cities of Sychar and Shechem were historic too. God appeared here to Abraham newly arrived at Shechem in response to Gods callpromising the land to him and his offspring. Abrahams response? An altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him (Gen. 12:7); his rst altar in the Promised Land. Jesus, the seed of Abraham, seated at the well, was God personally fullling His promise to make Abraham a blessing for all peoples on earth (verses 2, 3). There was sad history too: Years after Abraham, Jacob, his ocks, and his family came to this valley and its many springs did not belong to him. But for a hundred pieces of silver, he bought
a life of worship in spirit and truth. His stop at Jacobs well shows a different attitude toward those who thirst and do not know the well. Dinahs brothers justied their righteous indignation. Jesus could have been righteously indignant with the woman at the well. Five husbands is unusual, even for the twenty-rst century. Sadly, it was not unusual at all in the rst century. Dinahs brothers fought sin with swords and hatred; Jesus chose to solve it with love and living water. He could rebuke the woman,
At the
accuse her; but instead He was willing to share with her the power that would transform her life. Jesus request for water surprised her. Giving water to a tired stranger was a great privilege, even an obligation for people in the East. Water was considered a gift from the Lord. To ask a woman for water was not so surprising, since women were the ones who generally drew water. But she was surprised because He asked to drink from the vessel of a Samaritan woman. Jews could buy certain dry food from Samaritans that did not convey delement, and we know the disciples went to buy food. But water and wet food were different. Amazingly, Jesus is not afraid to use us as His vessels, imperfect as we are. In response to her questions, Jesus directed the womans attention toward something more important than physical thirstsoul thirst. He confronted her sin. He touched a delicate area of her private life and pushed her out of her comfort zone to awaken her thirst for righteousness. Unless we admit our sins, we wont
ArE yOU ThIrSTy?

from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar (Gen. 33:19, 20). Again the place of worship! He dug a well, more than 100 feet deep. Finding fresh water of the Spirit can demand as much! Everything was good in this beautiful valley until something ugly happened to Dinah, Jacobs daughter: a violation that sparked her brothers rage and a bloody massacre (Gen. 34:25). It was a terrible night for the people of Shechemall the male population bru24
From Form to Life

Jesus comes into the mess of our lives and transforms everything. He turns our places of worship into a way of life,
Well
25
WHATEVER WE BELIEVE ABOUT WORSHIP, WE HAVE TO SHARE JESUS VIEW On WORSHIP.

see our need for living water. Well always be thirsty. But whoever drinks what Jesus provides nds within themselves a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14). Only Jesus can give us this regenerating power of living water that will turn our hatred into love, our selshness into agape service. And He does it at the places of our personal altars, places symbolic of our temptations and falls, and, at the same time, the places of our victories because of Him. At those places He washes us with the transforming power of living water and turns our places of mere form and ritual into the way of vibrant life. the Greek word proskuneo 10 times in John 4:19-25. The word includes ideas such as to kiss the hand (of a superior), to prostrate oneself, to bend the knees, to bow down, to adore, to worship. This kind of worship can be expressed in song: Crown Him, for He is worthy! Crown Him! True worship admits His only and supreme authority. The primary purpose of worship is not just to share or read some thoughts for the day, to deliver or nd interesting information, to entertain our youth or newcomers, or to prepare a lecture. The primary center of true worship was, is, and should be God the Ruler of the universe, our Creator and Redeemer who should be adored, worshipped, and obeyed. civilization. Water runs in Laodicea, but because of inefcient ltrationso common with our spiritual lifeand distance from the source, the water becomes lukewarm and unpleasant. Second, like Laodicea, our woman of Samaria had a long-term sin problem to which she had become accustomed. Laodicea used to be famous for its textile industry, especially for its black woolen fabric. Impressive in jackets, skirts, suits, and positions, we forget how much all these covers contrast with the white robe we need, and that we look naked in Jesus eyes. But our third comparison brings good news. As Jesus at the well offered living water for free, so He offers Laodicea everything we need without money and without price (Rev. 3:18; Isa. 55:1). In a fourth comparison we meet Jesus at the well at noon, now standing at the door in the evening; an evening that speaks of historys approaching end, and of the importance of our daily communion, our evening (and morning) sacrice. He is outside and wants to come in. He was thirsty at the well. He is hungry now, not only for a drink, but to share a feast with us. Once He sat at the well, now He wants to sit at the table (Rev. 3:20). In the end Samaria is as much about us as it is about a woman at a well. Samarias well is a story about the true source of Living Water, and the power that can unite Spirit and truth in our hearts and transform our disastrous yesterdays into glorious tomorrows. It is a story about how our lives can become a blessing for the whole world. Lord, give us this water! n
Galina Stele serves as a research assistant in the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research of the General Conference.
Spirit and Truth

The Samaritans were waiting for a Messiah. They called Him Taheb and believed He would return and restore true worship. The woman called Jesus a prophet but ended up accepting Him as Messiah. Jesus conversation directed the womans attention to the issue of true worship, where spirit and truth are united. Only when we understand the true function of worshipto satisfy our spiritual thirst and transform us into the image of the One we worshipwill there be harmonic unity between Gods Word, His truth, our message, our spirit, and our attitude toward each other. Whatever we believe about worship, we have to share Jesus view about worship. The time has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (verse 23). This is what God is looking for (verses 19-24). Spirit and truth; living water and the bread of life. In our story Jesus gives the water, the disciples bring the bread. Bread and water were signicant features of the sanctuary ritual. Are they together in our lives? Are nourishment and refreshing united in our worship? Our discussion of worship uses forms of
26
The Outcome
Jesus decided to go through Samaria because the harvest was ripe, because He wanted to reach that city. How did He do it? The secret is thirst. He awoke the womans thirst; He targeted her thirst. And she, who wanted to escape the crowds, brought crowds to the well herself. When our place of formal worship becomes the way of vibrant life, then we worship in truth and in spirit. Not only are we revived, we are reformed as well. Jesus becomes visible in our lives, and we cannot hide Him any more than we can hide water in our pockets. The power of Jesus as the living water revives worshippers at the place of worship and leads them to the reformation of the life of true worship. Our lives become sermons, a revelation of living water. The change in us produces results. In my Bible is a letter to our church, entitled to the church in Laodicea. I wish it said: To the church called Victoria. Laodicea and Samaria bear striking similarities, and differences. First, like Samaria, Laodicea has water. Laodicea had a stone aqueduct, a sign of
Back to Basics
A Partnership With Jesus

While walKinG alonG 42nd street in New YorK CitY, a preacher saw a
well-dressed man sitting on the sidewalk, face buried in his hands. He thought the poor fellow had slipped, fallen, and hurt himself, so he quickly walked over to help him. As the preacher came closer, he thought he recognized the man. When he got to where the man sat, he realized he did know him. It was the devil himself. The preacher said, Devil, what are you doing, sitting here like this? Youre always busy breaking up marriages, corrupting governments, committing random acts of evil. To this the devil replied with a sigh, Hardly anyone is resisting me these days. Theyve left me nothing to do; everythings going my way. Everything seems to be going the devils way when we consider the news of the past 12 months here in the United States. During the hurricane seasonJune to Novembertornadoes and hurricanes took more than 330 lives, leveled towns, and cost billions of dollars in property damage. Fifty percent of marriages, both in the church and the world, ended in divorce, while 34 percent of unwed teens had at least one pregnancy before turning 20. Untold numbers of abortions were performed, as our nation ranked second behind Russia in this killing eld. Horric mass murders occurred in a Colorado theater (July), at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin (August), at a manufacturing plant in Minnesota (September), and in the unthinkable nightmare in Newtown, Connecticut (December); not to mention more than 500 killed in Chicago, mostly teens, in this diabolical culture of violence.* Everything is going Satans way, or so it seems. Are we going to sit in our comfortable congregations this year and sing, The Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him? Or are we going to stand up for Jesus as soldiers of the cross and cry out against the consuming evil and change the world? We have the authority of God embodied in the divine commission of Matthew 28:19, 20. This commission is also a co-mission, a partnership with Jesus in His mission to relentlessly seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). It is a co-mission that calls us to depend on Jesus to overcome evil with good as we make disciples of all people in our spheres of inuence. If we accept this co-mission, we must be willing to serve God regardless of the circumstances in which we nd ourselves. We must determine to nish what we start as ambassadors of Christ through whom He makes His appeal to the world (2 Cor. 5:20). If others try to persuade us that this co-mission is impossible, we must trust God, knowing that with Him all things are possible. If we feel as though our sacrice isnt producing the promised results and were getting bogged down in a blizzard of despair, we must dig deeper into the Word, such as Revelation 12:10-17. There we discover that we can and will overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb, by the testimony of Scripture, by keeping the commandments of God, and by holding to the testimony of Jesus. Remember, sometimes God allows His anointed ambassadors to share in Christs suffering (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Further, what Jesus said to Peter, He says to those of us who are devoted to Him: Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat, but I am praying for you, that your faith may not fail (Luke 22:31, 32). For a time Satan appears to win. That sifting rid Peter of his least-attractive qualities, such as a blustery self-condence, a chip on his shoulder, and a propensity to violence. Our time has come to be world-changers. If we encounter opposition, ridicule, or rejection, we shouldnt let them draw us off course. We must testify, knowing that as Jesus prayed for Peter, He is now at the right hand of God interceding for us. Lets testify, not under duress, but joyfully, according to the will of God; not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, for it is written: And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1 Peter 5:4).
* Statistics have been taken from a variety of Internet sites. Hyveth Williams teaches homiletics at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary.
Williams
Hyveth
27
Adventist Life
The Eternal
CaN WE FIND PEAcE aMID TragEDy?
BY LILIAN HAN IM
his past February marked the 10-year anniversary of one of my most life-changing events. It spiraled me into a decade-long whirlwind, lled with unanswered questions and unnished chapters. How my journey culminated with a simple realization is an astonishing testament to Gods unending story of hope. My brother, Brian, and I were very close growing up. Although Brian was 2 years younger than I, he seemed more like an older brother. He had a certain condence that enabled our relationship to ourish in that way. We became the closest during the semester I began graduate studies at Andrews University and he was accepted nearby into the esteemed Northwestern University honors medical program in Chicago. Our family and friends were ecstatic at his acceptance, yet somewhat surprised, because Brian had walked into his interview in unorthodox interview attire: maroon Dr. Martens boots, a plaid tie, and an antisuit blazer. He believed that he didnt need to change who he was (outside or inside) just to be accepted at a school, no matter how prestigious.
Life Changer for Brian

A semester before he was due to celebrate the conquest of undergraduate studies, Brian began pondering whether
28
Chapter
highly rigorous academics. Not everyone gets into a program that gives you a straight acceptance to medical school without sitting for the MCAT,* so realizing what would be jeopardized by a change in plans, I blasted him with sisterly advice: Finish your last semester and then, maybe, think about seminary, I said. Dont make such a rash decision at a dusty crossroad; wait on the Lord. And my best one: Take time away from this academic surrounding by serving as a student missionary overseas. This last thought was not at all farfetched. Recently returned from Palau myself, I was preaching from my postmission high. I still remember his gentle, consistent reply: Sis, there is so much to do here in the U.S. I dont need to go overseas to nd a mission eld or a ministry; the person next to me is my mission eld. My brother lived his own life story. It didnt make any sense to me for him to switch paths at that point; but somehow, even with all the prodding, in my heart I knew it was the right thing for him. Brian had found peace in his decision and heeded the call to pastoral ministry. He immediately transferred to Andrews University to enroll in the seminary. the Adventist Volunteer Center at the General Conference ofce and had interacted with student missionaries and volunteers from all over the world. I was very enthusiastic about mission service overseasand now my own brother was nally going to experience it for himself. As the Science Department chair at Garden State Academy in New Jersey and pastor of a local church, Brian would be joining a conferenceorganized mission team going to El Salvador. The group included Garden State Academy students, with my brother serving as a chaperone. Then late one night during the mission trip the phone rang. I was six months pregnant and feeling very nauseated, so I couldnt answer it. Later I called my mom to nd out what was going on. My uncle answered the phone, and then I knew something was terribly wrong. It was about the El Salvador mission trip. After a week of building an orphanage, the students and chaperones decided to go wading in the water along the beautiful shores of a small town. A spontaneous, roaring riptide swept them up, and without hesitation my brother and a lifeguard rushed into the water to rescue them. One by one, each student was brought safely ashore. As the last student was pulled in, he turned to hear my brothers last cry, Help me, Jesus! He simply had run out of strength.
medicine was his true calling. He had been serving as the lay youth leader at the local Adventist church and found himself neck high in ministry rather than immersed in Northwesterns
on a mission trip overseas. I was so excited! I knew it would change his life, but I never anticipated that it would change mine. I was more excited than he was because I had recently worked for
an earnest plea? How much more earnest could such a plea be? Why would He allow the life of such a faithful and bold soldier for Christ to end at the age of 26? For someone so overowing with advice, at that moment I had no answers. My mind wrestled for reason and hope; despair overwhelmed me. I sank into a ood of anger. I hopelessly sought the peace that my brother had relentlessly lived by. I desperately scrambled to retract any credit for planting the idea of serving in an overseas mission. In the midst of my anguish, it took me a long time to realize that Christ had been gently tapping on my shoulder to tell me something that would give me a fragment of peace: My child, Lilian, Brian is not lost. I have not lost him; and you have not lost him either. His life is on pause. You did not send him to his death. He found a reason to live that was worth dying for. Besides, he is not gone from you forever. There are so many more pages to add to the chapters of his life.
Renewed Hope
Since that tragic time I have experienced a long and winding voyage, but I have now caught a glimpse of the waves of hope and peace in Him. In the words of a traveler on a similar journey, My life with my brother has been put on pause, . . . but it will be continued in a short while, . . . and this story has no end. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die (John 11:25, 26). n
* standardized multiple-choice exam taken by prospective medical students Born and raised in New York, Lilian Han Im grew up wanting to teach children. She and her husband are now homeschooling their own children, AleXis and Austin, in Richmond, California.
Life Changer for Me

A few years later, Brian and I had a surprise announcement for each other. My news was that he was going to be an uncle. His news was that he was going
Senseless Loss
How could a loving God ignore such
www.AdventistReview.org | February 21, 2013 | ( 1 57 )
29
The Life of Faith
Further Testing
I cant imaGine more polar emotions than the ones You eXperience
while waiting to nd out if youre going to die. On one hand, you really, really dont want to die. Your entire being strains against the thought, like when youre underwater trying to come up for air and you keep bumping your head against a oating dock. Wheres the surface? Bump. Wheres the surface? Bump. WHERES THE SURFACE? But as much as you hate the idea of death, you nd yourself feeling better than usual about your outlook on life. Suddenly the things that matter little do indeed matter littleand the things that matter most do indeed matter most. Later this morning Im going in for further testing. Its probably nothing, I was told at my last visit. And this reassures me; until I realize that probably nothing really doesnt mean anything if it turns out to be something. So until I hear someone say, Its benign, its very difcult for me to reenter that place where my mind is calm. I havent been myself the past few days; its hard to act natural around the girls when I havent told them how worried I am. Honestly, the one thing I cannot handle is the thought of sitting in the living room with Cindy this evening and telling the girls that Daddy has cancer. I simply cannot handle that right now. If it comes to that, Jesus Christ is going to have to handle it for me. Seeing my children hurting is at the very top of the things I hate. Ha! Im reminded of a list the girls once playfully made about the places they especially hated going. It went like this: 1. Home Depot/Lowes: where they have to stand in a very boring aisle of very boring materials 2. The Mens Wearhouse: where they have to stand among very boring clothes and shoes 3. The oil change place: where they have to sit in a very boring waiting area with scattered newspapers and a TV that perpetually seems to play The Peoples Court. We nally solved the problem by heading down the street to Salsaritas Cantina for burritos, chips, and salsa. One of our favorite memories is running through a heavy rain from the oil change place to Salsaritas laughing our heads off. Three years later, our youngest daughter, Summer, still talks about it. I love these girls so much and want nothing more than to watch them grow upalongside Cindy, the love of my life. Thats why my own list of things I would most hate goes like this: 1. Family members dying 2. Me dying Yet, even as I reect on this list, I realize how earth-centered it is. Its all about life now. Is this really and truly what I ought to dread mostthe loss of life on earth? I nd my answer by realizing what God most dreadsnot the loss of earthly life but the loss of eternal life. The things God most hates are: 1. Anyone losing eternal life 2. His Son dying If Im really a believer, then my list should at least go like this, shouldnt it? 1. Family members losing eternal life 2. Me losing eternal life 3. Anyone else losing eternal life 4. Family members dying 5. Me dying Even with its lingering selshness, this list still isnt easy for me to digest. My esh screams out against it. Though I may believe (and even teach) that one persons earthly death can result in anothers eternal life, I dont want to be that person. Not nowwith my girls so young. I dont want to sit down in the living room tonight. Again, if it comes to that, Jesus Christ is going to have to handle it for me. He said to me, My grace is sufcient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Postscript: It was benign. n
Andy Nash is a professor and pastor leading a family-friendly tour to Israel May 19-31. Contact him at andynash5@gmail.com.
Nash
Andy
30
Reflections
Let It Rain!
This morninG I went runninG in a verY liGht and soft rain. I wouldnt
have run outside if it had been pouring with rain; I dont like getting my running shoes squeaky wet and my clothes soaked. This felt more like a thick mist, and it was highly invigorating. It had been raining all night, and the air smelled wonderfully pine-fresh. The morning was hushed, and it was just me and the wide expanse of dark sky stretched above me with a hint of the dawn in the east. I lifted my face to the sky and suddenly had to smile. Why? Ever since I was a little girl of about 6 years old I can remember my mom telling me to lift my face to the sky when it rains, because rain makes your face beautiful. Or so she said. I guess that notion came in handy when she needed to lift my spirits on a rainy day when I couldnt go outside to play, or if we happened to get caught in the rain while walking somewhere. But I believed her and dutifully lifted my face for the rain to wash it whenever I had the opportunity. And more than 30 years later Im still doing it! Whats more, Im telling my children to do it as well. It has become some kind of family traditionsomething we do when it rains and were outside. It has been passed on from one generation to the next. What may have been one of those inspired moments when God gives a mother the right words for her children in a specic situation has turned into a wonderful lifelong memory and source of encouragement. Forget the dark clouds and hold your face into the rain. Turn the apparent obstacles into an opportunity. Lift your face to the sky, because rain makes it beautiful! Although science likely doesnt support this premise, the passing on of these positive and encouraging words has created long-lasting memories for me. These small words and traditions are woven into the fabric of our family histories, and when we hand them down from one generation to another, we might actually be doing something deeply spiritual: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise (Deut. 6:5-7, ESV).* Saying encouraging and positive words to our childrenwords that remind us and them of Gods continual love, even in the face of pelting rainstorms that will surely come our waymay create a small but lasting legacy that will ring all the way into eternity. I still dont like rainy days, because I relish being outdoors and playing with my boys or working in the yard and enjoying nature. But then I think of my mom and smile. I go outside and look up, holding my face high, as I invite my three boys to do the same. Let it rain; let it rain. n
* Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Thandi Klingbeil lives with her husband, Martin, and their three children in Collegedale, Tennessee.
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February 21, 2013

Adventists Plan NYC Outreach Feel the Power Further Testing

Behold, I come quickly . . .

Back to the Future Living Examples

Are we connected? Or do we need a charge?

When do the devices meant to serve us become our masters?

Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman was no accident.

28 The Eternal Chapter

Thank God He knows us better than we know ourselves.

www.AdventistReview.org | February 21, 2013 | ( 1 3 1 )

I appreciated the thought-

LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

Budget 2013 World Mission Focuses on to Atheists

a Whats Do? Body to

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

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s Religiou in Freedom d the Unite States

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

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SEEKING IONSHIP COMPANIST

It was with great disap-

Walla Walla, Washington

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Please pass on our deepest

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Back to the Future

How can 17 million Adventists make a difference in a world of 7 billion?

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This month we remember the words from some Adventist African-Americans.

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Adventists Prepare for New York City Outreach

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Brazilian Adventists Help in Healing After Santa Maria Inferno

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GREATER MIDDLE EAST UNION MISSION

Lichtenwalter to Lead Islamic Studies, Theology Faculty at Middle East University

Veteran Adventist theologian has taught at Andrews University for 12 years.

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ADRA Germany Gains New Leader

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NORTH PACIFIC UNION

Hoover to Lead Upper Columbia Conference, Succeeding Folkenberg, Jr.

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