May 27, 2004

AnchorPoints

View
ds
: Ki
side
In

Debating Doctrine
Roy Adams’ editorial “Don’t Knock It”
(Mar. 25, 2004) reminded me of the
famous quotation from Shakespeare:
“That which we call a rose by any
other name would smell as sweet.” The
editorial subtly changed that to “If it is
called a rose, it must be a rose.” The
latter we know is not true.
When someone says, “People need
to hear Christ preached to them, not
doctrines,” the individual is not
launching a blanket bombing raid
against doctrinal teaching, but is
expressing frustration at the tendency
to establish litmus tests based on
unique teachings that may or may not
have anything to do with allegiance to
Jesus Christ.
At one time we held to the doc-
trine of the shut door, discarding it
when its flaws surfaced. The appendage
of the name “doctrine” to a teaching
does not automatically reflect its valid-
ity, and a defense of doctrinal teaching
does not mean we have successfully
defended the “doctrine” in question. If
that were the case, we would have no
authority to challenge anything taught
as doctrine by any community of faith,
nor would we have been justified in
jettisoning the shut-door doctrine.
—Darius A. Lecointe
LEESBURG, VIRGINIA
In response to the question “Why do
we want people to explain the 2300
days before they can become Seventh-
day Adventists?” Roy Adams goes to
great lengths to miss the point of the
question.
2 (786) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W,
LETTERS
Does the church really require us to
explain the 2300 days before we can
become Seventh-day Adventists?
My mother has been a faithful
Seventh-day Adventist since the
1930s. She can never explain the 2300
days. Does that mean that she cannot
claim to be a Seventh-day Adventist?
I have studied the 2300 days and
fully believe the point of the prophecy.
But I cannot, without a written copy of
the details, “explain” the 2300 days.
Although I cannot remember many
of the details and cannot clearly
explain them, I am still impressed by
the whole picture. Jesus said, “I have
told you now before it happens, so that
when it does happen you will believe”
(John 14:29, NIV).
Our best approach is to remember
that prophecy is not intended to
enable us to predict the future; it is to
lead us to believe in the God who
prophesied. That’s the big picture.
Don’t answer a bad question with a
bad answer.
—Caesar Nawalkowski
P O N O K A , A L B E R TA
I just read Roy Adams’ editorial about
preaching doctrine versus Jesus. What
some may not understand is that doc-
trine makes us unique in the Christian
world. If it weren’t for our doctrines,
we would be like some other churches
that know Saturday is the Sabbath and
that death is a sleep.
The 2300-days doctrine has the
message that Jesus was exactly on time
and that the heavenly sanctuary has to
be cleansed; it’s the point I want to
communicate to other born-again
M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
Christians. The Baptists preach Christ,
but they don’t know about the judg-
ment or the heavenly sanctuary. They
don’t know that God requires us to
keep His Sabbath holy or that it’s
important to know where our dead
ones are. It’s also important for us to
have the “lesser light” and the insight
God gave her on the “greater light.”
I’m surprised that what Adams said
about this bothered our family mem-
bers. It sounds like they don’t under-
stand why it’s important to be
Adventists.
—B. J. Gheen
VIA E-MAIL
I am comforted by reading Roy Adams’
rebuttal to the attack against doctrine
within our ranks.
What this movement needs today
more than ever is more “meat” and less
“milk,” more solid doctrinal teaching
and less sentimentalism.
Since doctrine means teachings,
can anyone truly identify and accept
the true Christ without embracing His
marvelous teachings throughout
Scripture?
I joined and remain in the Seventh-
day Adventist movement only because
of Jesus and His beautiful doctrines. I
remain confident that Jesus is the
Messiah because He came on time. He
uniquely and perfectly fulfilled the
time prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9.
It’s powerful, saving, life-changing,
and loving doctrine the world is wait-
ing to hear.
—Ron Myers
ARCHAMPS, FRANCE
More of the Rest of the Story
“The Rest of the Story,” by James
Coffin (Mar. 25, 2004), touched my
heart deeply. I was baptized into the
Forest Lake Academy church in June
1968. Harold Roll was the Florida
Conference secretary/treasurer. While
I never knew him personally, I cer-
tainly knew he was a conference
leader. It was moving to read of his
direct orders and tutelage of our
Commander in chief, there is not time
or place for culture. His theater is too
vastly varied, His dealings with His
soldiers too individualized. His meth-
ods always lack convention. COVER STORY
8 Churches Observed
—Susan Scoggins What does the visitor who drops in on
Sabbath morning notice about your
HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND church?
BY ROY ADAMS

family background and the profound In the column “Quashed by Culture,”

circumstances that formed the charac-
ter of this man who has given a life-
time of service to God and the church.
The Adventist Review has been one
of the most stabilizing factors in my
by my esteemed colleague Clifford ARTICLES
Goldstein, the name of the American
12 In Partnership With Angels
poet Anne Sexton appeared as “Ann” Rarely seen, they’re always on
Sexton in each of the three instances the job.
in which it was cited. BY ELLEN G. WHITE

life as a Christian. I have belonged Thanks for taking note of this. 14 The Presence
mostly to small churches, and things In times of deep trauma some have
do not always go right in these small — S o r a y a L . P a r i s h , P U B L I C AT I O N reported experiencing something
mysterious.
congregations. A number of years ago M A N A G E R , A D U LT S A B B AT H S C H O O L
BY JOHN D. BUTLER, SR.
I was so discouraged that I stopped BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
22 Young Adventist Pioneers
going to church for several months. S I LV E R S P R I N G , M A R Y L A N D Wouldn’t it be great to go back to a time
During these months the Sabbath when all the church’s leaders were under
school quarterly and the Adventist 30 years old?
Review stabilized my faith. I saw that Another Side of BY LY N E T T E F R A N T Z E N

there’s far more than the local church “The Inside Story” 24 The Restoration of Nell
Depression had forced her into
with all its confusion. I was able to see William Johnsson’s editorial “The seclusion.
the bigger picture and was reminded Inside Story” (Feb. 26, 2004) made me BY GLORIA HARBISON

that I am part of a worldwide mission-
oriented church.
Thank you for the Review.
want to respond. 28 How to Endure to the End
It’s been my experience that Remember, life’s not a race;
denominational workers think they are it’s a journey.
THURMAN C. PETTY, JR.
underpaid and do a lot of grumbling BY

—Estelle Kohler about how hard up they are. If they

CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE feel that way, they need to get out and DEPARTMENTS
see what it’s like in the working world. 2 Letters
All one needs to do is look around and 7 Give & Take
Goldstein and Culture see where denominational employees 13 On the Home Front
It appears that Clifford Goldstein has live and what kinds of cars they drive, 18 World News & Perspectives
laid his finger on the very pulse of a and that will surely tell the story. They
27 Clifford Goldstein
good portion of God’s church today take trips and tours all over the world.
31 Reflections
(“Quashed by Culture,” Mar. 25, I don’t believe “the church pay scale is
2004). His column lays out the senti- heavily compressed,” as was stated.
ment of many who consider them- EDITORIALS
selves Seventh-day Adventists but —Thelma G. Woolever 5 Wake-up Call
have, in many ways, distanced them- ZEPHYRHILLS, FLORIDA 6 The Foolishness of God
selves from the church proper in a and Youth
phenomenon dreaded by leaders the
world over: individualism. It is not NEXT WEEK
K U R T F AT T I C

possible to discard culture—one can Love Under Fire

only escape it. The Adventist Development and Relief
Perhaps this is not as bad as it seems Agency (ADRA) is always around to pick
up after natural disasters. What happens when
PHOTO BY

though. We need nurturers to provide the crises are caused by war and political
the milk of the Word to the young instability?
ones, but when we let them, these
COVER

babies grow up in Christ. Under the

A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (787) 3
 “Behold, I come quickly . . .”
Our mission is to uplift Jesus Christ through stories of
His matchless love, news of His present workings, help
for knowing Him better, and hope in His soon return.

Publisher General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Executive Publisher William G. Johnsson

Publishing Board: Jan Paulsen, chair; Ted N. C. Wilson,

vice chair; William G. Johnsson, secretary; Armando
Miranda, Steven Rose, Charles C. Sandefur, Don C.
Schneider, Robert S. Smith, Ardis Stenbakken; Robert
W. Nixon, legal advisor

Editor William G. Johnsson

Associate Editors Roy Adams, Bill Knott
Managing Editor Stephen Chavez
Online Editor Carlos Medley
Assistant Editors Sandra Blackmer, Kimberly Luste
Maran, Bonita Joyner Shields
Technology Projects Coordinator Merle Poirier
Project Coordinator Chitra Barnabas
Administrative Secretary Ruth Wright
Marketing Director Jackie Ordelheide Smith
Art Direction and Design Bill Kirstein, Bill Tymeson
Desktop Technician Fred Wuerstlin
Ad Sales Genia Blumenberg
Subscriber Services Steve Hanson

Consulting Editors: Jan Paulsen, Matthew Bediako,

Lowell C. Cooper, Gerry D. Karst, Armando Miranda,
Robert E. Lemon, Michael L. Ryan, Don C. Schneider,
Ted N. C. Wilson, Eugene King Yi Hsu
Special Contributors: Luka T. Daniel, Laurie J. Evans,
Ulrich Frikart, Alberto C. Gulfan, Jr., Jairyong Lee, Israel
Leito, Geoffrey Mbwana, Pardon Mwansa, Ruy H. Nagel,
Artur A. Stele, D. Ronald Watts, Bertil Wiklander
To Writers: We welcome unsolicited manuscripts. (Please
query before submitting long articles.) Include address,
telephone number, and Social Security number, where
available. Address all editorial correspondence to 12501
Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600.
Editorial office fax number: (301) 680-6638.
E-mail: Internet: letters@adventistreview.org
Web site: www.adventistreview.org
Subscriptions: Twelve monthly issues: US$18.95 plus
US$12.00 postage outside North America; 40 issues of the
weekly Adventist Review, US$42.95 plus US$12.00 postage
outside North America; full 52 issues (weekly and monthly),
US$61.90 plus US$24.00 postage outside North America.
Single copy US$3.25. To order, send your name, address,
and payment to your local Adventist Book Center or
Adventist Review Subscription Desk, Box 1119, Hagerstown,
MD 21741-1119. Prices subject to change.
For changes of address: Call l-800-456-3991, or
301-393-3257. or e-mail addresschanges@rhpa.org
For subscription queries: Call l-800-456-3991, or
301-393-3257. or e-mail shanson@rhpa.org
Postmaster: Send address changes to Adventist Review,
55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740-7301.

Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New

International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984,
International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Bible Publishers. Texts credited to NKJV are
from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979,
1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
All rights reserved. Bible texts credited to NRSV are from
the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright
© 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A. Used by permission.
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 40 times a year each Thursday
except the first Thursday of each month by the Review and
Herald® Publishing Association. Periodicals postage paid at
Hagerstown, MD 21740. Copyright © 2004, General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Vol. 181, No. 22

4 (788) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 E D
Wake-up Call
“After a long time in Africa, and a lot of time elsewhere in the
Southern parts of the world, I am convinced that there is such a
mighty fissure growing within Christianity that will cause such
huge mutations that our liberal Northern version of the faith will
simply disappear.”
T
he date was April 20;
the setting, a hotel in
downtown Toronto, site
The entire global
of the 2004 annual
convention of the ground is shifting.
Associated Church Press, a society
that brings together editors and
other communication professionals from a wide range of
Christian denominations. And the luncheon keynoter utter-
ing those startling words was Hugh McCullum, a journalist
recently returned to Canada after 13 years in Africa.
Perhaps, like all the others gathered for the occasion, I’d
been expecting the typical after-dinner address—educated,
informative, but nothing to write home about.
Instead, a bombshell.
We are living at a time “as epochal as the Reformation of
500 years ago,” McCullum declared. The whole of
Christendom is changing, “growing and mutating in ways
that Northern observers have failed to see.” In the coming
years it will be Christianity (and not Islam) that will be the
force to reckon with in the world. But it will be a new
Christianity—Southern Christianity.
It wasn’t as if we’d never heard sentiments like those
before. But there was a starkness about the way McCullum
presented them—an urgency. There’s a crisis coming, he
seemed to say—a spiritual showdown, if you please, in which
Southern Christianity comes into its own, no longer taking
its marching orders from its older, worldly sibling in the
North. The belief among liberal Christians in the North, he
said, is that much of the current tension in the church
“derives from archaic and primitive beliefs about homosexu-
ality, women and a more generalized fear of sexuality. [But]
anyone should be able to see [the liberals argue] that the idea
that God, the Creator and Lord of the universe, is concerned
about sexuality is on its way out.”
It’s not easy in 750 words to give a proper feel for the
actual situation of McCullum’s 35-minute speech, but the
following extended quote gets to the heart of his message:
“If we look beyond the liberal West . . . , largely still
without the saving grace of technology, we find . . . [a] very
I T O R I A L
ROY ADAMS
different Christianity from that one called for in affluent
suburbs and upscale urban parishes. We find a church that is
highly supernatural, ultraorthodox and inclined to see Jesus
as the embodiment of divine power who overcomes the evil
forces that inflict calamity and sick-
ness on the human race. In the
global South—the part we used to
call the Third World—there are
huge and growing Christian popula-
tions—more than 500 million in
Latin America, nearly 400 million
in Africa and nearly 325 million in
Asia, compared with a rapidly
declining 215 million in North America. Some scholars are
beginning to call it the Third Church, a form of Christianity
far more distinct than Roman Catholicism is from
Protestantism or Orthodox. The revolution . . . taking place
in Africa, Asia and Latin America is far more sweeping than
any current liberal shifts in North America, be they
Catholic, Anglican or Protestant. No matter what the ter-
minology, however, an enormous rift seems inevitable, far
greater than the first reformation which changed forever the
face of Europe in the sixteenth century.”
I don’t have to agree to everything, but I pay attention to
people from the front lines. “The changes that liberal
reformers are trying to inspire today in North America and
Europe,” McCullum said—changes they see as “essential if
Christianity is to be preserved as a modern relevant force”—
such changes “run utterly contrary to the dominant cultural
movements in the rest of the Christian world.”
Not many of us knew exactly what to make of the
speech; and in conversation after conversation following the
presentation, everyone I talked to seemed keen on beating
me to the first question: “What did you think?” Like me,
they were struggling to know what all
McCullum meant, the implications of
what he said, and where we go from
here.
This much seems clear: the entire
global ground is shifting; something big is
happening in our times; and we must
grapple with whether or not God’s
behind it. If we conclude He is,
then we must use our theological
conservatism and the church’s
global reach to seize the moment.
A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (789) 5
 E D
The Foolishness
of God and Youth
I
f my first story seems like foolishness to you, keep read-
ing. It will make sense by the end of the editorial—
hopefully.
My husband, Roy, and I were visiting my mother
recently in Virginia. We all decided to eat at a restau-
rant that Sunday before Roy and I
left for our four-hour drive home.
After our meal I went to the
restroom, armed with toothbrush
and toothpaste so I could also brush
Why is that
my teeth while there before making
the trip home. Since the restroom
man coming into
stall was occupied, I brushed my
teeth first. As I was standing over the women’s
the sink, I thought to myself, I’ve
never seen a women’s restroom in an
Olive Garden restaurant this small—
restroom?
only one stall. And you’d think they
could make the restrooms brighter, too.
I pulled a paper towel from the dispenser, continuing the
internal monologue: Why is this woman in the stall taking so
long?
It was then that something happened to interrupt my
thoughts: a man walked into the restroom. I think he was as
surprised to see me as I was to see him. Why is that man com-
ing into the women’s restroom? I was barely able to process
that thought before the truth confronted me head-on. I
looked behind me to verify my suspicion. Yes, hanging in
the shadows on the wall directly behind me were those
“porcelain necessities” seen only in men’s restrooms. No
wonder that woman’s not coming out of the stall—she’s not a
woman! (Would you have come out if you were that man?)
I ran for the door. I opened the door, looked around hop-
ing that no one would see me running out. I then burst
through the correct women’s restroom door, stood inside for a
moment, and caught my breath. The young woman standing
at the sink looked at me quizzically. I commented, “I mistak-
enly went into the men’s restroom. I just need to catch my
breath.” She smiled reassuringly and said, “It’s not the worst
that could happen.” True. But then again, she wasn’t the
one who had to face the man coming through the door!
I joined my family, who were waiting for me in the park-
ing lot. When I told them the story, Roy said teasingly, “I
think you planned it so you’d have something to write
about!” I wish I could claim such a creative idea, but no, I
hadn’t planned it.
6 (790) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
I T O R I A L
BONITA JOYNER SHIELDS
Several weeks later I was sitting in a restaurant talking to
Christopher, who was treating me to dinner.1 Christopher is
13 years old. I baptized Christopher when he was 11, but he
and I have had a special friendship since he was a small boy.
As he and I ate dinner that evening, I shared my story
with him and said half-jokingly,
“You know, it’s such a great story. I
hate to waste it. There’s got to be a
lesson in there somewhere.” After
thinking about it for a whole of five
seconds, he said, “Here’s the lesson:
In life, be careful that you watch for
the signs. If you miss them, you
might end up somewhere that you
shouldn’t be, or where you don’t
want to be.”
I had been thinking about that
story for weeks, trying to focus on
what could be learned from it.
Christopher figured it out in five seconds.
As I continued eating my dinner, I began thinking of
how often we as a church don’t even think of asking our
kids for their ideas on how to fulfill our mission. Sure,
they’re young and don’t have the life experience we older
people do. But we lose a lot when we don’t acknowledge
that God grants wisdom and discernment to whomever He
wills—and that includes children and youth.
While pastoring, I and my colleagues attempted to place
youth in various ministry positions of the church. Some
older church members countered, “But [teenagers] are unde-
pendable and irresponsible.” My response: “I’ll show you just
as many adults that are undependable and irresponsible.”
We seem to forget that our church was founded by
teenagers.2 And by human standards it may seem foolish to
have youth lead a great movement—then or
now. But since when has God been
bound by our rules?
1
I really don’t spend my life in restaurants!
2
See Lynette Frantzen’s article on page 22.

GIVE
&
TAKE
PHOTO
REMEMBERING: Two
years ago the Review printed
a special feature on
Adventists killed in
Vietnam (“All the Names
Written There,” by Bill
Knott, May 23, 2002). A
reader put that issue along
the wall of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in
Washington, D.C. It is
shown in this photo with
other memorabilia and
thoughtful gestures.
—Submitted by Harry J. Funk,
Reading, Pennsylvania
ADVENTIST LIFE
A short time ago I was
driving to church with my 4-
year-old grandson and my 7-
year-old granddaughter in the
back seat. My grandson was
TERRY CREWS
doing something with the seat
belt in the middle of the back
seat, and when I asked him
BY
what he was doing, he told
I L L U S T R AT I O N
me, “I’m buckling in Jesus.”
—Arda Blevins, Walla Walla,
Washington
Coming home from work
one summer afternoon, I saw the most beautiful cloud formation. The sun was
behind the clouds, sending brilliant rays all around. I said to my 3-year-old grand-
daughter, “Look, Madison, at the beautiful cloud!”
Madison was quiet, then very seriously replied, “Nana, is Jesus coming?”
Sabbath school pays!
—Paula Hansen, Ardmore, Oklahoma
We were in the car listening to a CD of traditional hymns when “Just a Closer
Walk With Thee” came on. The second verse had gotten as far as “Through this
world of toil and snares” when 3-year-old Matthew piped up
and asked, “Toys and snails?”
Six-year-old Ann Elise
promptly corrected him by say-
ing, “No, it’s toilet
snares!” Now whenever
we hear this lovely hymn, it will always make us
laugh.
—Andrew and Eileen Kuninobu, Escondido, California
HERALD’S TRUMPET
Hi, Kids! Herald is back,
and the trumpet is once again
hidden somewhere in this mag-
azine. If you find it, send a post-
card telling us where (grown-ups are
allowed to help). Be sure to include your name
and address! Then we’ll randomly choose three winning postcards.
In our last contest (March 18 Cutting Edge Edition) we had 12 entries. Our
three winners were: Ceiliah Johnson, from Collegedale, Tennessee; Ashley Taylor
from Johnstown, Colorado; and Gamaliel Honore, from Randolph, Massachusetts.
Ceiliah, Ashley and Gamaliel each received a book from Pacific Press. Where was
the trumpet? On page 29.
If you can find the trumpet this time, send your postcard to Herald’s Trumpet,
Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600. The
prize is . . . a surprise! After a lo-o-o-ong summer break, Herald will be back in the
November NAD Edition. Look for the three winners’ names then. Have fun
searching—and keep trumpeting Jesus’ love!
A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (791) 7
 C O V E
Some things may surprise you—others won’t.
BY ROY ADAMS
I
WALKED INTO A HOME IMPROVEMENT
store recently in search of a couple of those hard-to-
find little items needed around the house. Unlike my
experience on previous visits, that day I found the
attendants just where I needed them, just when I
needed them, each one courteous and helpful. The checkout
line moved briskly, the cashier had a sense of humor, and
within minutes I was out the door, mission accomplished. I
walked away with a good taste in my mouth, and had a feel-
ing I wouldn’t mind shopping there again.
When visitors come to our churches, what do they find?
What taste does the experience leave in their mouths?
For quite some time now, I’ve been making notes about
things I observe while attending Adventist worship services.
And in what follows, I share a few of these observations
publicly for the first time. These are real incidents, and it’s
possible some readers may recognize themselves or their
church in one or another of the particulars I include. In
some cases the church was not even aware I was in the con-
gregation. In other cases I was the visiting speaker. In still
other cases I might have been a member of the particular
8 (792) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
R S T O R Y
church. When the observation is positive, I sometimes name
the church in question. When it’s negative, I take care to
ensure no one is able to say for sure that I’m talking about
their particular church.
Case 1
Two little girls (one 4, the other about 4 or 5) are sitting
in the row in front of my wife and me in this church of
about 200. Bored as the service proceeds, they begin leafing
through the church hymnal (of all things) for “entertain-
ment.” I sit there wishing with all my heart I had a Bible
storybook with pictures to place before those little eyes,
hungry for something to read, something uplifting to look at.
I keep watching them as they just sit there for minutes on
end, turning those dull black-and-white pages full of text
and nothing else. Maybe their parents are up front serving; I
couldn’t tell, but on their left is a young lad (of about 11 or
12), probably big brother. Suddenly noticing how much fun
they are having with the hymnal, he orders them to close it
at once, and they obey. But with nothing else to occupy
their time, it isn’t long before they open up the exciting
 book again, causing the youthful vigi- in. During offering time! I had to a group like that? Contrast that with
lante on their left to terminate the shake my head in sheer disbelief. the backslapping, song-chanting wel-
delinquent activity once and for all. Who’d given these youngsters their orders? come they’d receive down at the local
He confiscates the offending volume I wondered. How could it possibly have pub if they should ever backslide!
and slams it shut. made sense to anyone to keep members And it’s not much different for bap-
How sad! I thought. and guests waiting outside closed tism. In church after church I’ve wit-
And sadder yet if that doors when they could well nessed the sidelining of the event. We
boy’s behavior have been let in to help place it at the start, sometimes while
reflected the way swell the offering bag? congregants are still gathering. Almost
he himself had as if it were an inconvenience to be rid
been treated Case 2 of before moving on to the more
when he Here’s how important items on the program. The
was the the “welcome service ends with no further mention
girls’ age. into fellow- or fuss about these “new babes in
There are ship” went in Christ.”
all kinds one church: I’ve noticed in others of our
of mate- The leader churches, however, that a baptism
rials out called atten- occupies center stage. Placed toward
there to tion to the the end, it becomes the climax of the
help par- names of the entire service. Songs precede and fol-
ents transferees low every baptism (“Lord, I’m Coming
make printed in Home,” “Take Me to the Water,” “O
SW PRODUCTIONS

church the bulletin. Now I See the Crimson Wave”). Years

attractive Then with no later—decades—those songs will
and fun for effort to intro- remind these new members of that
the younger duce the people sacred milestone in their lives. At the
R I G H T:

members of behind the names, end of the service they stand in front
God’s family. If I, the leader called for of the church as elders, friends, and
© PHOTODISC;

a casual visitor, was a vote that they be other church members line up to wel-
able to pick up on accepted into fellowship: come them into the fellowship. It’s a
these kids’ need during a “It’s been moved . . . Seconded big deal and these new members never
T O P R I G H T:

single appearance, why shouldn’t car- . . . All in favor, say Amen . . . It’s car- forget. Why should they? It’s a second
ing members of that church have ried . . . Welcome to all those who are birthday—the day they formally
caught it over a period of weeks or joining.” entered the spiritual family of God!
K U R T F AT T I C ;

months? (This first observation is so And that was it! No calling on

important that we’ve included a side- these new folks to stand, or to raise Case 3
bar on it. See page 12.) their hands, or to give some other sig- If I’ve seen this once, I’ve seen it
T O P L E F T:

During that same visit I watched nal that they were real human beings 100 times. It’s about the microphone!
young ushers dutifully standing guard joining a new fellowship. Nothing! It Why so many of our churches neglect
PHOTOS,

at the doors during offering time, with was cold, impersonal, proforma. How to invest in a good sound system, I will
people on the outside waiting to come could anyone be excited about joining never understand. After all, about the

A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (793) 9
most important piece of equipment
needed for corporate worship is a good
sound system. What good is coming
together if worshippers can’t hear—or
are missing 35 percent, 50 percent, of
what’s being communicated?
And have you noticed (and this is
so freaky) how often microphones
behave as if they consciously were out
to sabotage the sermon—even in
places where the sound system’s fine? I
mean, why does everything seem to
work just fine during the song service,
the Sabbath school, the personal min-
istries period, the announcements, the
children’s story, and the special music,
but then go absolutely haywire as soon
as the preacher gets up? Has anyone
else seen that? Suddenly microphones
need changing, adjusting, readjusting.
In one gathering I actually saw a sound
technician go to the front ten minutes
into the speaker’s message.
Replacement mike in his hand, he
ascends the rostrum (the speaker
meanwhile holding forth with the
defective mike); taps the new mike to
test it; and hearing nothing, actually
speaks into the instrument (now live):
“Testing, one, two.” All this, while the
preacher struggles to hold the atten-
tion of the 700 people in front of him,
their eyes riveted on a technician test-
ing a microphone beside him. My seat-
mate (another pastor) and I roll our
eyes at each other in complete bewil-
derment.
Once the preacher commences the
delivery, it seems to me, that’s sacred
time, to be intruded on with the
utmost of care and only when
absolutely necessary. Awkward and
unnecessary interruptions can cause a
speaker to lose their stride and never
get it back. This means that stringent
testing of the sound system should
come before the speaker takes the
podium.
Case 4
The last hot meal I’d had, as I
arrived in this particular country, was
Friday midday. For supper Friday
evening and for breakfast Sabbath
morning, I’d eaten from stuff in the
refrigerator at the apartment pro-
10 (794) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W,
vided. I’d spoken Friday evening, it down): “Stewardship is the art of
early Sabbath morning at one church organizing our life so that God can
(where they’d rearranged the program spend it.” The audience was impressed
for that day to have the preaching almost to applause. The man sat down,
service first), then gone on to and the offering plate immediately
another spot where several churches came to him in full view of the congre-
gathered for the 11:00 service. gation that had just heard him; he
I’d been looking forward to a good passed it on empty to the next person.
lunch before I’d have to preach again Now we must not judge. It could be
in the afternoon. But as I plunged into that his wife out in the audience was
the dish set down before me, I discov- giving for the family that day; that he
ered the food was beastly cold. was practicing systematic giving and
Evidently, in that place they were car- had just given his monthly quota the
rying out the injunction to the letter previous Sabbath (or would give the
not to kindle a coming
fire on the Sabbath);
Sabbath. They whatever. But
may well have you just don’t
been more make an offer-
righteous than ing call like
I was, but one that without
thing was sure: setting the
the hunger I’d example or
been feeling else explain-
suddenly disap- ing your per-
peared. I had to sonal situa-
face the after- tion that day,
noon meetings because peo-
on an empty ple are watch-
stomach (even ing.
if, perhaps,
with a clearer Here and
head). There
But the Now for a
question is: few miscella-
Regardless of neous obser-
our own local vations, here
ways of doing and there:
things, how do 1. Every
we finesse the time I see
situation when we’re entertaining deacons or ushers serving from the
guests from another culture, even from back, I remember working with the
another part of the world, perhaps? I late George Vandeman at evangelistic
don’t have the answer, but I throw out meetings, and how he drilled into us,
the question. students, the need to serve from the
front—especially when we’re handing
Case 5 out stuff (cards, pencils, or whatever).
In one church someone made what This way, people can see you coming,
I considered one of the most brilliant and those holding up hands can readily
offering calls I’d ever heard during a know whether you’ve seen them or
divine service. Speaking about what he they’ve been missed—without the dis-
called “deep vein” giving (giving that comfort of having to keep looking
comes from inside), he said, “You can back to know where the ushers are.
give without love, but you can’t love 2. At the Dupont Park Adventist
without giving.” Coming to his daz- Church in southeast Washington,
zling conclusion, he said (and I wrote D.C., I ran into a posse of junior dea-
M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 cons in action. The Sabbath I was the three or four long-winders still and the harmony was so rich, so com-
there for a speaking appointment, standing, who, at last bowing to the pelling, that the congregation sat on
there was a potluck in recognition of inevitable, bring their presentations to the edges of their seats, amens and
these young leaders (all of them abrupt, untidy endings. applause at the ready. It reminded me
between 9 and 14 years of age). In one It all seems so undisciplined. How that it isn’t how old or how contempo-
of the after-dinner speeches a mother easy—and how much more elegant— rary the particular piece; but the tal-
told how on those Sabbath mornings to have a firm preagreed understanding ent, the competence, and the personal
when her son is on deacon duty, the with all teachers that as a five-minute surrender we bring to it.
entire dynamics of the family changes. warning, a chime will sound, or a few Those whom God has gifted in the
As soon as the young man gets on his notes will play on the organ or piano, musical field bless our congregations in
suit—deacon’s badge bearing his name or a dinner bell will ring, or (as in the ways they will never know. Some time
pinned on—he transforms into a dif- local church I attend) a horn will ago as I listened to the youth choir of
ferent person, and everybody had bet- blow, or some other unobtrusive signal the Dupont Park Adventist Church
ter be ready and on time. He takes the will be given. What’s so hard about render the piece “Because He Is God”
responsibility with utter
seriousness, she said.
On hand at the
potluck was an
Adventist officer from
the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan police,
himself a (senior) dea-
con. Apart from the
respect and confidence
created in developing
minds by having a real
officer of the law up
close and personal,
these youngsters
received words of
encouragement from
him, a graphic portrayal
of some of the chal-
lenges and perils of liv-
ing in a huge metropoli-
tan area like
Washington, and advice
about becoming role
models in their church,
their school, and their
community. Can anyone think of a that? But for decades now, Sabbath (and that’s all I know about the piece),
more uplifting and farsighted thing to after Sabbath—in altogether too many I could close my eyes and think that
do for the youngsters of our church? I places—we continue the same bad I’d accidentally strayed too close to the
left the place thinking, Wow! habit. gates of heaven, and was hearing the
3. The way we announce the end of 4. At the Community Praise Center angels’ voices from within that sacred
Sabbath school classes in most of our Adventist Church in Alexandria, place. I had a similar feeling in Berlin,
churches has always left me cold. In Virginia, earlier this year, I heard “In back in June of 2002. Many churches
church after church, the superinten- His Image,” a visiting quartet from the in the city had come together for an
dent goes to the microphone and Capitol Hill Adventist Church in event at Adventhaus Berlin—
interrupts the entire class exercise to Washington, D.C. They sang a beauti- Wilhemnsdorf; and a group of young
PHOTOS: SW PRODUCTIONS

announce: “Teachers, you have five
minutes to bring your lesson to an
end.” Four minutes later the micro-
phone is engaged again: “Teachers, you
have one more minute.” Finally the
closing remarks begin, drowning out
ful Negro spiritual, followed by a pow-
erful, powerful rendition of the well-
known hymn “O Love That Wilt Not
Let Me Go.” I would travel far just to
hear them sing those two pieces again!
The audience could hear every word,
adults, all White, came forward to
sing, African-American style, some-
thing entitled “Walking in the Light,
We Will Be Free.” You couldn’t get
closer to heaven than that and still
remain on earth.

A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (795) 11
 OK, I’m getting carried away—per-
Giving Church a Friendly Feel haps. What I want to say is this: When
BY NOELENE JOHNSSON, DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES,
done well, music brings a power to
N O RT H A M E R I C A N D I V I S I O N worship that we’ll never fully compre-
Ephesians 2:14-18 tells us that through the cross, Jesus is drawing us hend this side of heaven.
together into one community of peace. Because we believe this, we want to
be inclusive when we gather at the foot of the cross each Sabbath morning Not as a Critic
at 11:00. We exclude children when we ignore them or speak over their I don’t go to church “to observe.”
heads. I go to worship. But even the person
The following are suggestions for deliberately including children: who has no intention to eavesdrop

Plan memorable experiences that help them understand a sermon’s hears things, and that’s what’s hap-
abstract concepts. Making a massive ice-cream sundae or a humongous pened here. I share these snippets (and
baked potato with generous toppings can demonstrate the extravagance of I have more), collected over a period
God’s love. Making and waving a heart can draw their attention to grace and of years, with the hope that they might
connect it to His love. bring encouragement to many and lead

Tell stories to illustrate points being made throughout the sermon. to change where needed. We want
Adults will also appreciate these windows that let in the light. people to leave with the feeling

When quoting Scripture, let children stand as soon as they I had that day as I left that
have found it. If they all use the same modern version, they home improvement store.
could read the text together. Otherwise, choose one child to The more we
read at a roving microphone. improve our worship ser-

Use a version of Scripture that people today under- vices and our participa-
stand. tion in it, the

At the beginning of church, ask the children to write more they
their definition for a key word you will use later. Collect the will inspire
definitions and read some of them at the appropriate time those who
in the service. This not only injects a little humor into the come, and the
service; it draws everyone’s attention to the concept. less they will

Involve children in the service. Have a children’s story attract negative
and a children’s offering every week. Have Pathfinders notice. Our goal
help the deacons. should be to struc-

Use drama. For instance, while the scripture is read, ture these times of cor-
have teens pantomime a skit that parallels the scripture in porate devotion in such
meaning. Teens might dramatize the children’s story or an a way as to direct atten-
object lesson. tion from ourselves to the

Have a group come up to do part of the pastoral prayer. Include a One to whom it all belongs.
child. In the words of C. S. Lewis, “A good
PHOTO: RUBBERBALL

Have families come up as a family to do part of the service. shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. . . .

Honor families by reporting a witness opportunity they were involved in. The perfect church service would be

Offer a church nursery in which parents can hear the service while chil- one we were almost unaware of; our
dren age 2 and younger can play quietly. attention would have been on God.” *

Provide children’s church for ages 3-10 once a month or at least once a
* C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on
quarter. The pastor can save his deepest thoughts for these Sabbaths! Prayer (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich).

Use children’s tithe envelopes. The pastor can read off the names of

children who tithe, honoring their faithfulness. When a kindergarten child

tithes for the first time, mention it as a grace note in church. Research the
source of the money being tithed so you can tell where it came from (birth-
day, allowance, etc.). Honor the receipts for just pennies and nickels.
Someday the same child will be faithful with thousands of dollars because
their stewardship is affirmed today.
For more child-friendly ideas, see: Through Children’s Eyes, by Ben F.
Freudenburg (Concordia); Family Friendly Ideas Your Church Can Do (Group); Roy Adams is an associate
also www.family-friendlychurch.net. editor of the Adventist
Review.

12 (796) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 O N T H E H
A Deep
but Dazzling
Darkness
W
hile it might amaze him were he to some-
how become posthumously aware of it,
Dr. Spock has been giving me fits. Not
that I’ve ever read his seminal Common
Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, sales
of which have been second only to the Bible.1 Yet its princi-
ples, or at least their popular interpretations, have been so
widely disseminated throughout the culture that I’ve
absorbed them by osmosis—which explains how I unwit-
tingly imbibed the now-conventional wisdom, novel when it
was introduced some 50 years ago, that parents should be
their children’s friends.2
My mother tells me that the idea seemed like such a god-
send when it was first trumpeted from the glossy pages of
women’s magazines. What a relief to be given per-
mission to jettison the stern discipline and
stoicism that she and her contemporaries
felt had been foisted on them by their
parents, who in their turn had been
admonished in the 1928 bestseller
Psychological Care of the Infant and Child:
never “hug and kiss [your children],
never let them sit on your lap. If you
must, kiss them once on the fore-
head when they say goodnight.
Shake hands with them in the
morning. Give them a pat on the
head if they have made an extraor-
dinarily good job of a difficult task.” 3
Understandably, all that somber
handshaking and head patting helped
to produce a generation of young par-
ents eager to become their kids’ best
friends. Yet it was an experiment that,
in my mother’s opinion, turned into a
“disaster.” How to be both the Official
Best Buddy and Supreme Domestic
Authority of the demanding little ego-
tists in your charge? She finally gave up
on the juggling act and just hoped my sisters
and brother and I would stumble into adulthood
relatively intact.
O M E F R O N T
It’s a bit of unfinished business—this ambivalence toward
authority—that my generation has inherited and, for the
most part, passed on to our progeny. Conversely, it seems to
have plunged us into a spiritual crisis we’ve not yet been
able to resolve: what about God—is He our Best Friend or
our Divine Disciplinarian? It would seem that our natural
and cultivated distaste for the latter has predisposed us
toward a preference for the former.
The objective truth behind our subjective perceptions is
that God is, of course, the best friend we’ve ever had. He
loves us more than life itself; He’s redeemed us at His infi-
nite expense. Yet this doesn’t mean that He has the luxury
of always appearing friendly in our eyes. As every parent
knows, “friend” is the last thing you’re called when a rebel-
lious child forces you to play the heavy. We treat our heav-
enly parent no better. When His perfect will clashes with
our perverse wishes, we glare into His paternal eyes and
believe we see the dark, grudging heart of an enemy. At such
times our thoughts are well described by poet Henry
Vaughan:
“There is in God, some say,
A deep, but dazzling darkness; as men here
Say it is late and dusky, because they
See not all clear.” 4
Yet the “darkness” of God’s discipline is precisely what
teaches us to “see” the otherwise dazzling light of His friend-
ship. Our innate “gravitation away from God,” our continual
“sliding, slipping, falling away” 5 from Him, often compels
Him to hide His warm embrace behind an authoritative call
to repentance. Surely He wishes it could be otherwise, as
“no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful”—to
both the disciplined and the disciplinarian (Heb. 12:11,
NIV). But He loves us too much to be less than thorough in
teaching us to value the deep but dazzling privilege of His
fellowship.
I suspect that we human parents would do well to
emulate His example.
1
More than 50 million copies, translated into 39 languages,
according to The Dr. Spock Company.
2
It’s been observed that it’s not necessarily what a
seminal writer actually said, but what he or she is
thought to have said, that has the greater
impact on public thought and behavior.
3
From John B. Watson’s Psychological
Care of the Infant and Child, as quoted in
Duane P. Schultz and Sydney Ellen Schultz,
A History of Modern Psychology (Orlando, Fla.:
Harcourt Brace and Company, 1996), p. 257.
4
Henry Vaughan, “The Night” from Silex
Scintillans, Part II, 1655.
5
C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New
York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001), p.
71.
Leslie Kay writes from Kingman,
Arizona, where she and her husband raise
two daughters.
A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (797) 13
 D E V O
Those who’ve experienced times of extreme crisis have sometimes felt a
mysterious Attendant close to them.
BY JOHN D. BUTLER, SR.
I
N AN EARLIER ARTICLE I WROTE FOR THE
Adventist Review,1 I told about picking up a woman I’d
met on the street, distraught and disheveled, who’d
just been raped. I indicated that the encounter had
called to my mind an earlier article in the Adventist
Review of January 22, 1998, by Sandra Doran. Doran had
related the story of a rape victim who’d told her how she’d
“felt comfort in the midst of the horror, a Presence in the
midst of her outcries that went unheeded by cars passing on
the distant road.” It was an idea I had trouble understanding
at the time.
In this article I wish to explore the concept of God’s pres-
ence not as a general given, but as a suprahuman, invisible,
nonpalpable persona that appears—usually unbidden, if not
indeed unexpectedly—to comfort and sustain us during
times of severe personal ordeal.
In Times of Unusual Stress
As a Christian I believe unequivocally in the immanence
of God, that no matter where we may go, we cannot escape
His presence (see Ps. 139:7-12). But it’s obvious to me that
there are occasions when, under unusual stress, the presence
of divinity is so arresting, so personal, so concentrated, so
awesomely influential and inspiring, as to cause the victim
to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, invisibility and imma-
teriality notwithstanding, that a member of the Trinity (or
another celestial representative) is present—not necessarily
to remove the ordeal, but expressly to give courage, strength,
and sustaining power to enable us to endure it.
When Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane bearing
the weight of the consequences of sin and guilt for the
14 (798) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
T I O N A L
human race, He prayed for removal of the cup that His
Father and He had decided before the foundation of the
world would be His to drink. Three times He sought human
comfort, sympathy, and encouragement from His compan-
ions, and three times He was sorely disappointed by His
sleeping friends. But Ellen G. White says that in response to
His prayers to His Father, “when the mysterious cup trem-
bled in the hand of the sufferer, . . . a light shone forth . . .
and the mighty angel who stands in God’s presence . . .
came to the side of Christ. The angel came not to take the
cup from Christ’s hand,” but “to give power to the divine-
human suppliant.” 2 Thus Christ could come forth from the
experience, she said, “calm and serene.” 3
To Give Faith in God and His Sustaining Power.
In my article of April 2000 I alluded to a piece written by
Pat Nordman in a brief treatise on 2 Timothy 4:17, in which
Paul said, “The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength”
(NIV). Nordman had related the experience of her husband
and herself in the wake of their son’s suicide: “My husband
and I heard our oldest son, Chuck, scream and then shoot
himself to death. It was 7:10 p.m. on a dark night, physically
and spiritually, in December. But I want to share with you
something that even to this day I believe is remarkable: the
Lord stood at my side and gave me strength! . . . I consider
what happened that lightless and desperate night one of the
greatest sensations of my life. . . . I actually felt a Presence
beside me as the various thoughts raced through my horrified
mind. I can’t explain it, but I know I felt it.” 4
This brings me to the story of a young woman named
Kristen, whom I met not long ago.
 Formerly a devout Catholic, sity in our lives so that we may grow
Kristen, when I came to know her, was spiritually and develop stronger faith
attending the Reaching Hearts in Him.
International Seventh-day Adventist With this new realization Kristen
Mission Church in Spencerville, now knew she could stand and fight
Maryland, and studying for baptism. again. She would and could do any-
Her protracted ordeal, running for a thing for God. Now it was time for her
period of three years or more, had only sibling, an older brother, to have
begun in June of 2000. After she expe- his tissue type tested so she could get
rienced about six weeks of extreme the transplant, the only treatment left
allergy-like symptoms, a chest X-ray for her.
had revealed a large mass in her chest, The results showed a perfect match.
diagnosed as non-Hodgkin’s lym- She’d received her miracle and was
phoma. referred to the National Cancer
Because of the aggressive nature of Institute for the transplant. By this
the disease Kristen began chemother- time the cancer had spread to her
apy immediately. The doctors believed chest, both kidneys, and her lungs.
that with six treatments of chemo In preparation for the transplant,
she’d be cured. But when, between the she would receive three rounds of
fifth and sixth round, the cancer began chemo to lower her immune system
growing again in her chest, they and allow doctors to introduce her
labeled her condition chemoresistant brother’s cells into her body.
and sent her to Johns Hopkins for a In this time period before her trans-
stem cell transplant. plant, scheduled for January of 2002,
With a chemoresistant disease dra- she’d been sick from the cumulative
matic action had to be taken. In effects of the chemo and was fright-
January of 2001, after she’d received ened, weak, tired, and terrified to face
the transplant (from her own blood), death once again with another risky
the doctors assured her this would be procedure. Many people have had
her cure. A month of radiation fol- trouble surviving a single transplant.
lowed. Now she was facing her second.
Kristen was feeling great when her
six-month checkup came around that
Suddenly A Presence in the Room
June, but the news was not good. One November morning her friend
There was a recurrence in her kidney, I sensed and felt a came over to console her. She wanted
and she was utterly devastated. Her Kristen to know that if she didn’t feel
faith that God would heal her had
been 100 percent. How could this be?
Presence in the like fighting anymore, that was OK—
she didn’t have to do it. Hearing that
The terror of the unknown returned.
How could she continue this fight that
room, a fullness was such a relief to her, since everyone
else had kept saying she had to be
now seemed so hopeless? strong and hang in there, without hav-
As she faced radiation to control that filled the room. ing any understanding of just how diffi-
the growth, she was told she would cult that was.
need another transplant. This time,
however, it would have to be a donor
I knew God was Kristen told me, “I was crying, and
my friend, attempting to comfort me,
transplant. It also had to be a sibling
donor and a perfect match. The
there! I could sense was also weeping. Suddenly I sensed
and felt a Presence in the room, a full-
D I G I T A L LY M O D I F I E D

chances of this happening were slim to ness that filled the room. I knew God
none. She clearly needed a miracle, His arm around was there! I could sense His arm
and felt quite depressed hearing this around us, and He was weeping too,
news. us, and He was not from sadness or despair as we were,
PHOTO © PHOTODISC /

but from compassion, love, and sympa-

A Bend in the Road
Shortly after this a friend gave her a
weeping too. thy because we could not see the big
picture as He could—that everything
book entitled A Bend in the Road, in was going to work out for the best. The
which she read that God allows adver- Presence filled the room like an invisi-

A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (799) 15
ble bubble, and we were lovingly unexpected, a spiritual, heavenly con- they exclaimed, ‘The Lord is here!’
enveloped by it. My friend did not soler-sustainer—not to raise from Not a word had been uttered, but the
sense the Presence, but I shared my death or effect an immediate or mirac- blessed influence of God’s holy pres-
experience with her. The intensity of ulous cure, but to give strength, ence was sensibly felt. The joy that
the experience lasted just a few min- courage, peace. comes from Jesus Christ was there; and
utes and left me feeling strengthened, 4. He comes with a profound sense in this sense the Lord had been in the
comforted, and at peace.” After this of “It’s going to be all right! It’s going room just as verily as He walked
experience Kristen was no longer to be all right!” through the streets of Jerusalem, or
afraid of the approaching transplant or There have been occasions when appeared to the disciples when they
of what the disease could do to her. I’ve sensed God’s presence and felt His were in the upper chamber, and said,
Kristen received the transplant in peace more than at other times. But I ‘Peace be unto you.’” 5
January 2002, and it was a great suc- have never experienced the kind of in
cess, with recovery continuing over extremis ordeal that, apparently, is pre-
1
John D. Butler, Sr., “The Power That
Sustains,” Adventist Review, Apr. 13, 2000, p. 24.
the next several months. By June she requisite for such a dramatic visit of 2
Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 693.
was feeling fantastic once again and the Presence as occurred in these cases 3
Ibid., p. 694.
confident as she went for her checkup I’ve mentioned. I do not covet hard-
4
Cited in Jan Kuzma, Kay Kuzma, and
DeWitt Williams, comp., Energized!
that this time was it, that God had ship, loss, tragedy, or pain, but I’ve had (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub.
healed her for sure. But again she saw the blessing to experience the kind of Assn., 1997), p. 140.
the look of sadness on her doctor’s joy described by Ellen G. White when
5
White, My Life Today, p. 51.
face, and she knew what he was going she wrote:
to say. The cancer was back—again! “There have been times when the John D. Butler, Sr., is a
Though sorely disappointed, Kristen blessing of God has been bestowed in retired university professor
was not crippled with sadness, as she answer to prayer, so that when others and administrator. He
had been each time before. Because of have come into the room, no sooner writes from his home in
the Presence—the presence of God, did they step over the threshold than Washington, D.C.
nothing could touch her. Nothing
could ever hurt her, not even cancer.
She received additional chemother-
apy treatment that July (of 2002). She
would come to prayer meeting and
church on Sabbaths wearing a baseball
cap to cover her head, bald for the
fourth time from chemo treatments.
But whether or not she was cured of
the disease, she said she knew that
she’d been spiritually healed.
In August Kristen was given more
of her brother’s cells, and suffice it to
say, in the spring of 2003 Kristen was
finally declared cancer-free!
Kristen is one of the most ardent
young Christians I have ever met. I’m
inspired and spiritually fascinated
whenever I talk with her. And I’m
reminded of the words of the Negro
spiritual: “Talk about a chile that do
love Jesus, here is one!”
Here’s what I find common to these
(and other) accounts of personal expe-
rience with the Presence.
1. He comes in times of extreme
emotional or physical pain or stress.
2. He comes when we’re helpless,
totally hopeless, and bereft of will to
survive or carry on.
3. He comes unannounced and

16 (800) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 W O R L D N
Adventist Pastor, Christian Publisher,
Respond to Left Behind’s Claims
B Y M A R K A . K E L L N E R , A S S I S TA N T
C O M M U N I C AT I O N D E P A R T M E N T
T
he announcement flashed
across wires in newsrooms
across the country: Barnes
& Noble’s Web site
announced that Glorious
Appearing, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B.
Jenkins, the last book in the Left
Behind series, recently was the number
one fiction best seller overall at
Barnes&Noble.com. Barnes & Noble
retail stores and Barnes&Noble.com
sold more than 48,000 copies of
Glorious Appearing in just the first week
of its release on March 30.
Such news is apparent justification
for this claim: “Barnes & Noble
expects Glorious Appearing to be
among the top ten books of 2004.”
In the face of such an onslaught—
2 million copies of the last Left Behind
book have already been printed, pub-
lisher Tyndale House says—it’s possible
for many to believe that there is one,
and only one, way to look at Bible
prophecies, and that is LaHaye and
Jenkins’ dispensationalist theory that
says Christians will vanish from the
earth in a “secret rapture” before a
multiyear period of tribulation.
However, Steve Wohlberg, an
Adventist pastor in Templeton,
California, and Destiny Image, a major
Christian publisher near Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, have teamed up to offer
a contrasting view. His book End Time
Delusions was released on March 31.
“I’ve been a Christian for 24 years,
and not only am I interested in the
first coming of Jesus, which is when He
came and died for my sins, but in His
second coming, when He will come to
take us home,” Wohlberg, senior pastor
of Templeton Hills Seventh-day
Adventist Church, said in a telephone
interview.
18 (802) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W,
E W S & P E
D I R E C T O R F O R N E W S A N D I N F O R M AT I O N ,
“I felt compelled by the Lord to
write a book that will deal with these
issues of the Second Coming, the tim-
ing of the Second Coming, and misin-
terpretations about the rapture. I see
the release of the last Left Behind book,
and the interest being generated right
now about this, as an opportunity to
speak to this generation about the sub-
ject of Bible truth and Bible prophecy
at this particular time.”
Two million
copies of the last
Left Behind
book have
already been
printed.
Critical Timing
The much-touted “appearing” of
the last Left Behind book hits North
American culture at a time when Mel
Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has
captivated the general public. Millions
have flocked to the motion picture
depicting the suffering and death of
Jesus; television networks have revived
old miniseries about Christ’s life; and
NBC television is reported to have
commissioned Revelation, a miniseries
focusing on a scientist and a nun each
M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
R S P E C T I V E S
GENERAL CONFERENCE
confronting the end of the world.
All this media interest in Christian
topics, along with a genuine concern
about what the Bible really says about
Jesus’ return, motivated the new book,
Wohlberg said. However, the volume
isn’t designed merely as a critique of
the LaHaye/Jenkins mega best sellers.
The book “doesn’t just point out
error; it clarifies truth,” Wohlberg said.
“It’s also a book that is centered in
Jesus Christ, so its goal is to bring peo-
ple to Christ, to reveal God’s love, to
lift up the cross, and to help people be
ready for the Second Coming. One of
the big problems with the Left Behind
series is that, according to their view,
the second coming of Jesus is not
something that we should be waiting
for; we’re supposed to wait for the rap-
ture, which gets us out of here.
Therefore, the whole message of
Revelation concerning the beast and
the mark of the beast and the Second
Coming, according to Left Behind, does
not apply to us.”
But Seventh-day Adventists and
other Christians who take the histori-
cist view of Bible prophecy know that
this message is applicable. End Time
Delusions helps explain these concepts
in clear, unambiguous language.
“When compared with solid biblical
facts, has truth been ‘left behind’ as
well?” asks Wohlberg. “The entire Left
Behind scenario is built upon the con-
cept of a nightmarish ‘seven-year tribu-
lation’ supposedly predicted to follow a
‘secret rapture,’ or the vanishing of
Christians worldwide. The fact is,
there is no passage anywhere in the
Bible that specifically mentions ‘seven
years of tribulation.’ The entire con-
cept is based on the speculative inter-
pretation of one verse—Daniel 9:27.”
 W O R L D N E W S & P E R S P E C T I V E S

A Willing Dissenter
While Wohlberg’s book is finding
an audience—the Washington Times
newspaper quoted him as a dissenter
from the LaHaye/Jenkins hypothesis in
its front-page story on Glorious
Appearing—the fact that the last Left
Behind book became an immediate best
seller means that people are looking
for something, according to Angel
Manuel Rodríguez, director of the
Biblical Research Institute, based at
the General Conference in Silver
Spring, Maryland.
Concern About the Future
“There’s no doubt that there is in
Western society serious concern about
the future. We enjoy the present, but
we really are creatures of the future,”
Rodríguez explained in an interview.
However, such an interest “could be
exploited and misused,” as in the case
of the Left Behind books, he added. accepted ‘sand’ or ‘fluff.’ When the
“The study of Bible prophecy has storm hits, those who are fast-food,
shown this to be the case. This dispen- junk-food Christians will be blown
sationalist view provides hope to many, away. Those studying deeply Christ’s
many people, and they find it mean- real words are getting the right diet.
ingful. But feelings are not enough to They’re eating pure truth and building
determine a commitment to a particu- their characters so they’ll be able to
lar vision of the future,” he said. stand in the crisis and not be blown
Of Left Behind, Rodríguez says, “You away.”
have to say it’s a distorted vision of
what God is going to provide, and it
distracts [readers] from properly prepar-
ing for what is really coming. It’s more
than a distortion; it’s a substitute for
the real Christian hope that takes us
victoriously through the tribulation.”
Author and pastor Steve Wohlberg
hopes his book will help Christians Read More Online
rightly understand the future. “In a You can read chapter 1of End
sense Left Behind is spiritual fast food,” Time Delusions on the Review
he said. “To build on the rock means Web site at www.adventistreview.org.
to receive Christ and build deeply
upon His words rather than simply

N E W S B R E A K

Tornado Devastates
Northern Bangladesh
sudden tornado touched down April 14 in the
A Mymensingh and Netrokona districts of northern
Bangladesh. In ten minutes’ time the tornado left hun-
campus of the Adventist church and school in the village
of Gazirvita to control looting.
Mayr says there are only about 20,000 Adventists in
Bangladesh among a population of 146 million. The
majority are Muslims (88 percent), followed by Hindus
(11 percent).

dreds homeless, with 51 people dead and 1,200 injured,
according to Siegfried G. Mayr, president of the
Bangladesh Union Mission.
Mayr said no church members have died, though some
were injured, and many are homeless. “Suffering of the
people, especially the poor, elderly, children, and women,
is immense,” he said. “More than 500 houses are totally
broken, thousands of trees broken or uprooted, standing
crop—rice, wheat, vegetables—damaged [nearly harvest-
ing time].” The three area Adventist chapels were all
spared.
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
acting country director Dwight Taylor, along with other
employees, arrived the next day to assess the situation.
Working with the World Food Program, ADRA provided
food for nearly 7,000 persons for four days.
The prime minister and government minister of
health also flew in by helicopter to assess the damage.
Local police established an operational center on the
Noted Korean Leader and Author Dies
Kei-hoon Shin, 63, well-known Korean pastor, author,
and administrator, died February 13 at Loma Linda,
California, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Born November 18, 1940, in Yangyang, South Korea,
Shin took ministerial training at what is now Sahmyook
University in Korea. During his third year of studies he
was drafted into the army and spent two years in a mili-
tary prison, with beatings, for refusal to bear arms or do
routine work on the Sabbath.
From 1963-1969 he served as a pastor in Korea. He
received his M.A. degree from Philippine Union College
(now Adventist University of the Philippines) in 1970
and for 11 years was a theology professor at Sahmyook
University. Moving to Michigan to attend the theologi-
cal seminary, he pastored the Andrews University Korean
Adventist Church from 1981-1988. Shin then taught at
the seminary, where he completed his D.Min. He also

A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (803) 19
 W O R L D N E W
Everybody Wants My Body
BY DICK DUERKSEN, A S S I S T A N T V I C E P R E S I D E N T F O R M I S S I O N D E V E L O P M E N T AT
INORLANDO, FLORIDA
E
verybody wants my body. Some, so they can fill me
with beer. Others, so they can adjust my appearance to
match their definition of “beautiful.” Still others
harangue and wheedle about how I must reduce my choles-
terol, increase my carbs, reduce my carbs, drink flax seed tea, want my body.
or purchase new running shoes from only their company.
Everybody wants my body. If I drink this, they say, I’ll “have desiring, deciding, and handing over the MasterCard.
more fun.” If I apply that, I’m more “kiss-
able.” If I watch this, I’ll be “more N E W S C O M M E N TA R Y
relaxed.” From the privacy of my speed-
ing auto, I am accosted by the makers of houses, cars, beer,
shoes, mortgages, graduate education, the world’s finest
candy, dental implants, and three more brands of beer. All
seem to know exactly what I need, and why I need it. “Right
Now!”
Newsweek, Time, People, Utne Reader, Mother Jones,
Adventist Review, and World have each dedicated scores of
pages to telling me about my body. Although many have
authored a doctrinal book in Korean that has sold
150,000 copies.
After serving only a few months as pastor of the Napa,
California, Korean church, Shin returned to his home-
land in 1992 to chair the Theology Department at
Sahmyook University. From 1996-2000 he served as pres-
ident of the university, then became president of the
Korean Union Conference until illness forced his retire-
ment in 2003.
Survivors include his wife, Oh Myung Joo; a son,
Seung Won; a daughter, Chung Eun (Christina) Im; and
two grandchildren.
Adventist Religious Liberty Experts
Speak at the U.N.
In a March 25 meeting held at the United Nations
(U.N.) Church Center, International Religious Liberty
Association (IRLA) secretary-general John Graz and
Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department special-
ist Viola Hughes discussed current religious liberty con-
cerns in Europe and Asia.
Jonathan Gallagher, deputy secretary-general of the
IRLA, moderated the meeting, which was sponsored by
the U.N. NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or
Belief.
20 (804) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY
S & P E R S P E C T I V E S
F L O R I D A H O S P I TA L
included ads convincing me to ask my doctor for certain
prescription medications that will “fix me,” I’ve noticed that
the fine print warns that their solutions may also cause my
body to break down in disgusting ways. Regardless, they
It’s all offered so attractively that I hear myself agreeing,
Sometimes I go through the process
alone, captivated by the ad design and
copy. Sometimes I argue it through with
my wife or another friend. Sometimes I listen to counsel.
Sometimes I don’t. The dealers are all hoping I won’t, that
I’ll just get in line and give them my body so they can drape
me, fill me, medicate me, and sell me their stuff.
Then God shows up, saying that He would like to have
my body for His temple. Seems He’d like to live there so
other folks can visit Him wherever I am.
That could call for some significant redecorating!
N E W S B R E A K
Graz addressed the recent banning by the French gov-
ernment of all religious symbols in public. “Religious free-
dom to [the French] means freedom from religion,” he
said. He fears that the new law will alienate Muslims and
other religious groups.
Hughes spoke about the current religious climate in
countries such as China, Tibet, North Korea, Myanmar,
Laos, and Indonesia. “If a child is not taught tolerance,”
she said, “they will grow up to be an adult who is intoler-
ant. . . . Advancing free speech, freedom of religion, and
freedom to receive information represents not only core
American values, but international standards of human
rights.”
James H. Zachary Dies
James. H. Zachary, Jr., 75, former
associate secretary of the General
Conference Ministerial Association,
died April 22 in Redlands,
California.
Born January 28, 1929, in
Erickson, Manitoba, Canada,
Zachary completed a bachelor’s
degree and two master’s degrees at
James. H. Zachary, Jr. Emmanuel Missionary College (now
2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 W O R L D N E W S &
Did You Know?
IRS Issues Election-Year Warning to Churches
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned churches
and other houses of worship in North America that they risk
losing their tax-exempt status if they engage in partisan elec-
tion-year politics.
The IRS, in a routine advisory issued every four years
since 1992, said religious groups are “prohibited from partici-
pating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of,
or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.”
Churches, charities and schools known as 501(c)(3)
groups (because that’s the section of the tax code dealing
with them) may hold nonpartisan voter education forums or
voter registration drives, but may not endorse any candidate.
Nonprofit groups may not make donations to campaigns,
raise funds for candidates, distribute campaign literature, or
“become involved in any other activities that may be benefi-
cial or detrimental to any candidate,” the IRS said in an
April 26 notice.
Rep. Walter Jones, of North Carolina, however, is spon-
soring a new bill, the Houses of Worship Political Speech
Protection Act, that would allow clergy endorsements with-
out the threat of losing tax-exempt status.—Religion News
Service
N E W S
Andrews University). He married Jeane Rowe in 1949.
He taught Bible classes at Broadview, Lynwood, and
Monterey Bay academies, then taught at Mountain View
College and at the Adventist Seminary of the Far East in
the Philippines. He then became ministerial secretary of
the Far Eastern Division in Singapore.
After returning to the United States, Zachary worked
with The Quiet Hour in evangelism. In 1990 he was
elected associate secretary of the GC Ministerial
Association and served until his retirement in 1995. He
then rejoined The Quiet Hour as director of interna-
tional evangelism and also acted as North American
Division coordinator of Adventist/Jewish Relations and
Adventist/Muslim Relations until his death.
He is survived by his mother, Viva Zachary; his wife,
Jeane; a son, James Hudson III; a daughter, Vicki King;
and three grandchildren.
News Notes
 The Euro-Africa Division’s first conference on
faith and science, IFSC-EUD2004, brought scientists,
theologians, and church leaders together at Friedensau
Adventist University in Germany March 26-30. It was
noted that reconsideration or revision of Adventist
teaching regarding creation was not the focus or purpose
P E R S P E C T I V E S
For Your Good Health
Your “Big Fat Greek” Diet
Want to live longer? Move to Greece. Or, if you’re
happy where you are, you can simply adopt that country’s
traditional Mediterranean diet.
A recent study focusing on the eating habits of 22,000
Greek people between the ages of 20 and 86 showed that
using olive oil and consuming copious amounts of vegeta-
bles, fruits, legumes, and whole grains, lower the possibility
of dying from heart disease or cancer.
Even with fat-rich olive oil included in the mix, people
living on the Greek island of Crete live longer than their
European and American neighbors.
According to Dr. George L. Blackburn, editor of
HealthNews, no single type of food was responsible for the
diet’s life-preserving power. “Instead,” he reports, “it
appears that all of the point-worthy foods help a little bit,
and together they have a large, positive effect.”
—HealthNews
For Your Good Health is compiled by Charles Mills, editor of
Vibrant Life, the church’s health outreach journal. To sub-
scribe, call 1-800-765-6955.
B R E A K
of the meeting. The conference provided the foundation
for a dialogue on questions of both theology and science.
 Seminars for more than 200 pastors’ children
were included in a recent ministerial retreat held in
Argentina. Libny H. Dubreuze, Sr., a pastor from the
Florida Conference in the United States, spoke to older
teens; his wife, Sara, spoke to ages 11-14; and their son
Libny junior, age 9, spoke to ages 6-10. The Dubreuzes
also produce a magazine for pastors’ children (PKs) called
Increase.
 Maranatha Volunteers International has launched
a monthly television series, Maranatha Mission Stories, on
Hope TV. The half-hour show, hosted by Dick Duerksen,
features mission news and stories from around the world.
 More than 10,000 clergy around the world partici-
pated in the Ministry Professional Growth Seminar
sponsored by the General Conference (GC) Ministerial
Association via satellite on March 30. Broadcast from the
Howard University School of Divinity in Washington,
D.C., the seminar’s theme was “Bridge Building: Clergy as
Designers of Reconciliation.” Nikolaus Satelmajer, associ-
ate secretary for continuing education in the GC
Ministerial Association, reported that about 30 percent
of participants were Adventist pastors, the rest clergy of
other denominations.
A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (805) 21
 H E R I T A G E

Young Adventist Pioneers

Emphasis on the young!

BY LYNETTE FRANTZEN

A
DVENTIST PIONEERS. YOU’VE her tell others. But God didn’t excuse her, and she related
probably seen pictures of them in magazines, her vision at a prayer meeting where the message was gladly
books, or even on the Internet. Their pictures received. That was just the beginning of what God had in
almost all look alike: old men with solemn store for her. She was young, she was sick, and she was
faces and long beards, women with stiff dresses female, but God used her as His
and no expressions on their faces. It’s easy to look at these prophet.
pictures of the early Adventist pioneers and wonder what John Loughborough was bap-
they were like. Many times we think of the early Adventist tized as a first-day Adventist
pioneers as we see their pictures, old and solemn. But they when he was 16 years old, then
weren’t! joined the Seventh-day Adventist
Many of the Adventist pioneers first began their work movement three years later. When
when they were teenagers. Pioneers such as Ellen Harmon he turned 17 years old, he became an
White, John Loughborough, J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, itinerant preacher. Of his own
and John Harvey Kellogg were teenagers and young adults accord he gathered together tracts,
when they began making an impact in the Seventh-day walked many miles handing them
Adventist Church. They were young, vibrant, and on out, and studied the Bible from
fire for God! Yet despite the impact those young house to house. That same year he
Adventist pioneers had, many Adventist churches began preaching, and before his
today are afraid to give young adults opportunities, eighteenth birthday he toured
and many young adults are afraid to step out boldly with an evangelist, helping to
to take opportunities and to make an impact on hold evangelistic seminars
their local churches. Many churches are stuck in a and winning many to
generation gap between older members holding Christ.
church offices and younger members waiting to John Nevins
hold church offices. As with the pioneers of Andrews, or J. N.
our church, however, the generation gap Andrews, was a major leader and evangelist
needs to be closed, with both young and in the Adventist Church, and he worked
old holding positions together for the closely with James and Ellen White. By the
growth of the entire church. time Andrews was 26 years old, he discov-
ered, as a theologian, that the two-horned
The Young Roots of Adventism beast of Revelation was the United States
When the Seventh-day Adventist of America. He also helped Adventists to
Church was newly formed, it was teenagers understand the Sabbath as reaching from
and young adults who held many leadership sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Andrews
positions and helped to transform the helped organize the Adventist Church as a
church into the organization it is today. legal organization so the church could obtain
Ellen Harmon was just 17 years old legal possession of property. Between the ages
when she received a vision from God. of 31 and 35 Andrews chaired the committee
When she received the vision, she was that suggested a plan of organization for the
afraid that no one would listen to her. She church’s publishing house in Battle
even prayed all day that God wouldn’t make Creek, Michigan, and lobbied during

22 (806) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4

At the age of
23 Uriah Smith
became editor
of the Review
and Herald
magazine.
the Civil War for Adventist draftees to
be able to receive noncombatant desig-
nation. Later in life he also became one
of the church’s first missionaries.
At the age of 23 Uriah Smith
became editor of the Review and Herald
(now the Adventist Review) magazine.
He faced many financial problems
when he started, but managed so well
that in a short time the Review and
Herald began to flourish and grow. In
this job Smith was not only editor, but
proofreader, business manager, and
bookkeeper, as well. Smith was editor
for almost 35 years (not continuously).
/ PHOTO © PHOTODISC
At the age of 31 he patented an artifi-
cial leg with fully flexible knee and
ankle joints. He was considered a
handsome and charming man. Even
though he at one point opposed the
FILES)
idea of righteousness by faith, he never
left the church. He later admitted his
H E R A L D P U B L I S H I N G A S S O C I AT I O N
wrong attitude, and Ellen White never
thought of him as unfit for his office. In
fact, Ellen White held him and his
work in high esteem.
One more example: Dr. John
Harvey Kellogg. Although Kellogg
would later leave the Adventist
Church, James and Ellen White met
AND
him as a teenager, saw his potential,
MEL CRAIR (REVIEW
and encouraged him to go to medical
school, even lending him $1,000 for
expenses. Kellogg was 23 years old
when he graduated from medical
BY
school. Kellog turned 23 one day after
I L L U S T R AT I O N
he graduated from medical school, and
immediately began working at the
Adventist health institute at Battle
Creek, becoming medical superinten-
dent in 1876. He held that position for
67 years. In later years he never took
payment for his work at the sanitarium
or for any of his surgeries. Kellogg
coined the term sanitarium; advocated
low-calorie diets; developed peanut
butter, granola, and toasted flakes;
warned that smoking caused lung can-
cer; and was an early advocate of exer-
cise. And those were just a few of his
accomplishments—all started as a
teenager and young adult.
Despite the awesome faith and work
of Adventist pioneers such as Ellen
Harmon White, John Loughborough,
J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, and John
Harvey Kellogg, they are too often
thought of as old and solemn instead of
young and on fire for God, as they
were. And if these individuals could be
such incredible pioneers at such a
young age, why do many think only
older people can be workers in the
church now? When young people
want to help with responsibilities in
the church, they should be
trained and allowed to.
Once Upon a Time . . .
A young man of 22
had been an Adventist
for many years and was
out on his own. He
attended his local church
and wanted to help out. The
young man was always early
to Sabbath school, church,
and church meetings. At
first he attempted to help
out with jobs that no one was
doing, such as operating the PA
system and videotaping church
services. He was criticized. So he
tried helping out leaders by decorat-
ing the church, teaching a Sabbath
school lesson every once in a while,
and giving the scripture up front for
church. He wasn’t appreciated. Finally
he was offered a church position:
junior deacon. He felt it an insult to be
a junior deacon, considering his age.
But he wanted to be involved, so he
accepted the position along with three
other juniors: two 14-year-olds and a
12-year-old. He was ignored. The only
A D V E N T I S T
responsibility he was given was to pick
up the offering every third Sabbath.
After three years of trying to fit into his
church, this young man rarely attends
services and meetings anymore. When
he does, he arrives late and leaves early.
If young adults want to be involved
in the church, they should not give up.
They should get involved. They should
ask to be involved if they are not being
asked. Young adults need to let church
leaders know they are ready to be
trained for church responsibilities. God
has a great work for them.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “Let no man
despise thy youth; but be thou an
example of the believers, in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in
faith, in purity. Till I come, give atten-
dance to reading, to exhortation, to
doctrine. Neglect not the gift
that is in thee”
(1 Tim. 4:12-14).
Conversely, church
leaders and officers need
to train the young people
of their churches and
allow them to hold
church offices.
Remember, no one can
become experienced in
church offices unless they
are allowed the experi-
ence. Young adults want
to be involved, and
they may be able to do
a great work for God
in an area that an
older member could
not. God wants to use
all of us—young adults,
too!
Lynette
Frantzen is a
wife, mother,
and graduate
student writing
from Silver City, New
Mexico.
R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (807) 23
 S T
After a public humiliation,
depression held her captive.
BY GLORIA HARBISON
IGH SCHOOL HAD JUST LET
H out in Alto,* Texas. Shrill out-
bursts of freedom pealed into the
lazy atmosphere of our town, popula-
tion 600. Teens dressed in bobby socks
and penny loafers danced the stroll to their cars in an effort
to be first to burn rubber, leaving Alto High behind in a
cloud of smoke.
Walking home, I kicked pebbles along my pathway as I
relished memories of the past four years. Graduation caps
flew in the air. Braggadocio bore evidence of our age. Our
final meeting together in the auditorium had ended. As we
walked through the double doors to go our separate paths,
the sight was like watching students jump off a cliff, disap-
pearing from view.
I wouldn’t be going to college; my parents couldn’t afford
it. And I felt I needed to contribute to my dad’s income if I
was to remain at home. Having parents in their late 50s
gave me a sense of caution. Compared to larger cities, Alto
had very few work opportunities.
I soon found a ride, with other Alto workers, to a nearby
town where I joined other women on an assembly line. The
older women and I became friends. One day a woman said
boldly, “Gloria, there’s a job open at the clinic in town.
Why don’t you apply?”
“I don’t have training,” I objected.
“That’s OK,” she urged. “Go up there and apply. If you
play your cards right, you can get the job.” She added, “You
don’t belong here.”
I laughed, answering, “No one belongs here.”
One word of encouragement was all it took. “Dr. Riker
hired me!” I shouted with glee to my friends on the assembly
line. “Can you believe it?” I exclaimed, struggling to believe
it myself.
24 (808) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
O R Y
Saying goodbye to everyone was easy as I glanced over
the filth and trash that littered the factory floor. There was
envy in a few of my friends’ expressions; I was leaving and
they were staying. “Thank you for your tip, Karen,” I shared
with appreciation.
“That’s what friends are for, kid,” she replied.
Seeking Shelter
My new job was located 25 miles from Alto, requiring me
to live in the city where the job was. Without a car, I had to
find a room close to the clinic and general hospital, which
were located across the street from each other.
“Lord Jesus, please direct my path,” I prayed as I began
looking for a place to live. “Send me to a house where I can
rent a room. I want to encourage someone in need. In Jesus’
name, amen.”
As I walked from door to door, I rehearsed my speech,
striving not to sound corny. “Hello, ma’am, my name is
Gloria Dickey. I have a new job at the clinic, and I’m look-
ing for a room to rent.”
Some residents didn’t waste any time showing their disin-
terest; they closed their doors while I was still talking. The
last house on the street was particularly lovely. It was a huge
colonial with a wraparound porch located right next to the
hospital. I felt intimidated by the home’s massive pillars and
second-story beams. As I stood there, an elderly woman
stepped outside the front door wearing a gingham dress from
the 1940s. She raised her eyebrows, smiled at my request,
and asked me to return the next day, when she would have
PHOTO © PHOTODISC
an answer.
The next day I moved into the front bedroom in the
most beautiful home on the block. I had a great view of
the street and the clinic where I would work. God had
answered my prayer.
A Room With a Catch
But behind the walls of my new
home lay a dark, foreboding secret that
did not unfold right away. The elderly
woman, whom I later nicknamed Mom,
had an only daughter named Nell, age
55. The first time I greeted Nell, she
sounded intoxicated. All too soon I
became aware that Mom wanted me to
live there for reasons that had nothing
to do with the rent I paid.
Nell’s room was unkempt and
smelled of dust and mold. Her blinds
were shut and drapes were closed,
keeping out fresh air and sunlight. Nell
suffered from migraine headaches and
appeared to be a prisoner in a world
almost beyond reach. One day Mom
caught me alone. In tears she shared
her grief and concern about Nell, and
pleaded, “Glo, we needed you here! I
thought it would help Nell to snap out
of it if a lively girl like you moved into
our home.”
Her comment made me feel help-
less. She continued, “Five years ago
Nell was a beautiful woman, a well-
known socialite with respect and dig-
nity. Her life in the community was
active and fulfilling.” I learned that
Nell was the wife of a distinguished
physician, a respected leader in the
community. “Dr. Trevis wasn’t just a
physician; he founded this hospital and
clinic,” she announced.
I was living in the home of the
head of this multiple-wing hospital and
clinic, a clinic bearing the name of its
founder. Mom’s story turned gloomy as
she described Nell’s walk down a gang-
plank that led to depression.
“Nell was a happy, well-adjusted
woman of beauty; then she became a
fearful homebound recluse, and her
laughter became a memory in a
dwelling resembling a tomb.”
“What happened?”
“Nell came home from shopping
one day to find her beloved husband
with another woman, right in their
own bedroom.” Mom’s eyes veered
toward me with hatred and bitterness.
“Can you believe a man of such calling
and prominence in the community
could act with such offensive inde-
cency?”
Ever since, brokenhearted by her
husband’s betrayal, Nell lived a life of
disgrace and shame. She hadn’t left her
home in five years except to be hospi-
talized for her illness—not even to go
to the grocery store or to church. A
web of gossip and deceit had entangled
Nell, as well as the busybodies of the
town. Nell found herself an object of
rejection; every waking moment
reminded her of her once-envied
“ivory tower” prominence in society.
Dr. Trevis’s unexpected death a year
before my arrival was the final blow.
Nell suffered a complete nervous
breakdown.
An Urgent Request
Weeks passed as I pondered Mom’s
conversation with me. Night after
night I prayed that God would remove
Nell’s burdens and heal her broken
heart. Although I was very young, this
terrible crisis made me aware of the
fragile cords of happiness held together
by sheer hope, a hope so easily severed
by sin. I looked for signs of answered
prayer, but witnessed only disparage-
ment.
When the front door closed behind
me each evening, the sound would
bring Mom scurrying down the hall in
my direction, as if to share her misery
with someone who cared.
After a year with no change I
decided to move. My conversations
with Nell seemed to have no outward
effect. I had been subtle in asking Nell
whether she ever read the Bible that
lay near her bed. My questions con-
fused her—not surprising considering
the medication her psychiatrist had
prescribed.
Suddenly I said with conviction and
boldness, “Nell, you may have a physi-
cian who prescribes medication to
keep you sleepy, but I know the Great
Physician who can make you want to
live again.
“Nell?” I called so she could hear
me through her drowsiness. “Will you
please pray with me before I leave
today? I believe God can heal you if
you believe it too.”
Nell muttered something I could
not translate. Then in slow motion she
A D V E N T I S T
crawled onto the floor from her couch,
where her weight had left an imprint
of her form pressed into it.
I prayed: “Dear Jesus, Nell is hurt-
ing. Please send the sunshine of Your
love through these walls into this room
and into Nell’s heart. Please, Lord, fill
her with Your Holy Spirit, for we
believe in Your healing power to break
these chains that hold Nell in despair.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Suddenly Nell threw her arms
around my neck and wept like a child.
Her tears were released like the flood-
gates of a broken dam. I hugged Nell
and encouraged her to take a refresh-
ing shower. Then I affirmed, “Nell, I
believe that God has healed you.”
Two days later I made a final trip to
get some remaining items. Moving was
easy. I was moving only a few houses
from Mom and Nell. The clinic’s back
door was closer than before. As I
knocked on Mom’s front door, to my
astonishment Nell greeted me. It was
the first time she had greeted anyone
Q
Questions for
Reflection
or for Use in Your
Small Group
1. When has God brought
you into contact with someone
who needed emotional healing?
What was the result?
2. When have you felt emo-
tionally detached from reality?
What Bible promises helped
bring you back?
3. Is prayer alone sufficient
for emotional healing? Or does
God also use physician-
prescribed medications to help
someone’s emotional state?
4. What are your favorite
natural remedies for staying
emotionally balanced (walking,
gardening, reading, listening to
music, etc.)?
R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (809) 25
at her front door in five years. She
wore a radiant smile; her healing was
undeniable.
I thought, Is this the same bedridden
woman I’ve known during this past year?
I took a second look and smiled. She
wasn’t the same; Jesus had given Nell a
brand-new heart. Her cheeks glowed
and her wide smile bore evidence that
her depression had disappeared.
Like a news reporter, I wanted to
interview her, but she was in a rush.
“Hi, Gloria!” she smiled enthusiasti-
cally. “Come on in! I can’t talk now;
I’m on my way to church.” The yellow
dress she wore was a choice color to
mirror her lightheartedness and reflect
the sunshine on so perfect a day.
Doubtless, angels sang with Nell in
church as she basked in the kindness
and love of Jesus.
The day we prayed together, beams
of Christ’s healing righteousness fil-
tered down through the spellbinding
walls of gloom and released Nell from
her prison. The kind of experience I’d
only read about suddenly became my
own, an experience unequal to any-
thing else I’d witnessed in my young
life.
When we Christians believe, not
doubting, we can become partners
with God for others. How do we know
this? Jesus’ promises are steadfast.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who
believes in Me, the works that I do he
will do also; and greater works than
these he will do, because I go to My
Father. And whatever you ask in My
name, that I will do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. If you ask
anything in My name, I will do it”
(John 14:12-14, NKJV).

*Names of people and places in this story

have been changed.

Gloria Harbison is a
freelance writer and
Christian soloist. She and
her husband, Wes, conduct
Amazing Facts seminars in
their home.

26 (810) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 C L I F F O R D
Twenty
Years . . .
and Counting
I
n 1980, after a passionate search for truth, I became a
Seventh-day Adventist, a radical paradigm shift for an
agnostic Jew who hated Christians—and vegetarians.
Three years later, when the North American
Division needed someone who was Jewish, an
Adventist, and a writer (they didn’t have much to choose
from, did they?), they approached me in their search for an
editor of The Israelite. First begun in the 1950s as an out-
reach to Jews, The Israelite (now Shabbat Shalom) had long
needed an overhaul (among its article titles were such clas-
sics as “What Does a Man Do While Dead?” or, my all-time
favorite, “Is the Grand Canyon Really Old?”).
After working on the magazine for a year, I was moved
to the General Conference headquarters. It was 1984; I
was 28. Within a few weeks, after someone canceled at
the last minute (how I still get most of my speaking
appointments), I was asked to do worship.
Afterward one of the secretaries, Ann
Troy, said to me quietly, “Cliff, you’re a
fine speaker, but don’t ever sing in pub-
lic again.” I took her at her word, and I
never sing anywhere, ever, in public or
private.
Not long afterward another secretary,
Pat Orange, called me. At the time
I would sit at my desk with my feet
outside the open window. Someone
complained because my shoes had
holes in them, which wouldn’t have
been so bad except my socks did too,
and I was asked to please take every-
thing, dirty feet and all, down.
My worst experience came at Annual
Council that first year. One of the guys
who led me into the church called; he
wanted to stay with me. He arrived,
with a couple of people whom I
didn’t know. The next day huge
boxes, filled with dissident tracts,
arrived at my door. Before I knew
it, these people—picket signs in
G O L D S T E I N
one hand, tracts in the other—traipsed out of my apartment
and went straight to the General Conference building,
where they stood outside picketing and haranguing dele-
gates. One guy actually shouted Ellen White quotes at them.
Done for the day, they would load up in their cars—and
come back to my place.
Almost catatonic with angst, I pleaded, “Lord, please,
please, if You don’t let anyone know about this, I’ll never
eat chocolate, or cheese, again.” The Lord kept up His end
of the deal better than I did mine, and the council ended
with my secret intact. My big fear, though, was, “Oh, no,
suppose they want to come next year?” Fortunately, I soon
got married, and the problem was solved, because my wife
had little tolerance for what she deemed “all your weird
friends.”
Things quieted down (amazing what a woman will do for
you), and besides editing Shabbat Shalom, I worked under
Liberty editor Roland Hegstad. It was an extraordinary privi-
lege, having him for 10 years pick apart everything I wrote. I
must have learned something, though, because when he
retired, they made me Liberty editor. Thus began six years of
constant haranguing, in which I was accused of being every-
thing from a Jesuit to a Communist and—worst of all—a
Republican! I then decided I needed something less contro-
versial, something everyone perfectly agreed upon,
something in which I would face no more criti-
cism, and what else could that be but to edit the
Sabbath school quarterly (i.e., the Adult Sabbath
School Bible Study Guide). After about half the
theologians and editors in the church turned
down the job (did they know something I
didn’t?), they gave it to me—and here I
am six years later, accused of, well, you
name it, I’ve been accused of it.
Outside of the constant sniping, the
endless complaints, the rude phone calls,
the nasty e-mails, and the thanklessness
of the job itself—I love it. Why? I don’t
know; maybe it’s subconscious penance
on my part.
Anyway, 20 years at the General
Conference, and I haven’t been
thrown out—yet. Talk about grace.
As I look back over these two
decades, my biggest regret is the
contrast between what I—in the
Lord—could have become and what
I still am. The Lord, I must assume,
isn’t done with me yet.
Thank God, eh?
Clifford Goldstein is editor of the Adult
Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.
A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (811) 27
 L I F E
How to Endure to the End
A vaccination for the soul
BY THURMAN C. PETTY, JR.
J
ESUS LOVES PEOPLE. HE CREATED US; WE
are His children. Even the thought of one of us suffer-
ing from physical, mental, or spiritual pain brings sor-
row to His heart. While on earth Jesus went through-
out Galilee and Judea healing the sick and demon-
possessed and teaching the gospel of the kingdom. He
realized that the crowds following Him admired Him, and
worshipped Him as the long-promised Messiah. He had
walked through the fields around Nazareth as a boy and
observed shepherds with their sheep. Now He looked upon
those who followed Him as His sheep.
Jesus, the divine shepherd, came from heaven to lead His
sheep into heavenly pastures. He was restricted by His
human body to one place at a time, so people had to be
within sight and the hearing of His voice to receive
benefit.
Jesus needed more shepherds, and He shared His
longing with His disciples: “The harvest is plentiful
but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the har-
vest, therefore, to send out workers into his har-
vest field” (Matt. 9:37, 38).*
Jesus equipped His disciples with the Holy Spirit
and taught them how to serve as His undershep-
herds. He commissioned them to work in a wider
field than He could do physically. And as His mod-
ern disciples we too have a part in this work.
But Christ warned of the dangers that would
come upon His followers. Some would be betrayed
by their family and hated by all who reject Jesus as
Christ. “And ye shall be hated of all men for my
name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be
saved” (Matt. 10:22, KJV).
Endurance is commendable. We cheer athletes
who strain every muscle to reach their goal. We
admire those who wait out the vicissitudes of the
stock market until they can make a profit. We
28 (812) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
S T Y L E
cherish those who endure the pain of disease, injuries, and
the loss of loved ones.
The most difficult thing to endure is age: faithfulness to
Christ through the years that will eventually end in death.
Those who attain advanced age suffer physical pain as their
bodies deteriorate, and emotional pain as their contempo-
rary friends and loved ones die. Life gets lonely. Though
they find joy in children, grandchildren, great-grandchil-
dren, it’s just not the same as the joys they knew in their
youth.
For all, the endurance of faith is often more difficult than
any other. Many lose the sharp edge of their spiritual values.
Others allow their minds to wander into for-
bidden areas, warping their beliefs. In these
and many other ways they lose hold of the
hand of Christ—and eternal life.
Instability in Biblical Times
There are many biblical characters who let
this happen to them. Some repented; others
did not.
Uzziah: King Uzziah loved the Lord, and
God blessed him. Coming to the throne at the
age of 16, Uzziah followed in the footsteps of
his father, Amaziah: he walked faithfully with
God (2 Chron. 26:3-5). Uzziah built strong
battlements in Jerusalem and equipped a large
army. He gained victory over his enemies and
acquired great wealth. But in later years his
heart departed from God (2 Chron. 26:16).
The king had received so many blessings from
God that he felt himself a divine favorite. So he
presumed he could offer incense upon the golden
altar. But his plan backfired. He became leprous and
fled the Temple, never to return. He lived out his life
shut up in an isolated house.
 Hezekiah: Hezekiah1 began his
reign as a man who loved his Lord. He
cleansed the Temple his father had
polluted, and reinstituted the Passover.
King Sennacherib of Assyria
besieged Judah and did horrific dam-
age. During this time Hezekiah became
sick and realized that he was near
death. The ailing monarch pleaded
with God for more time, and the Lord
heard his prayer: God destroyed the
Assyrian army and granted him 15
additional years.
The awesome delivery of Judah and
his own miraculous healing should
have cemented Hezekiah’s relationship
with God, but they didn’t. He
became proud and revealed Judah’s
confidential secrets and its wealth to
ambassadors from Babylon.
Because of Hezekiah’s vanity and
indiscretion God revealed to him
that Judah would eventually go into
captivity. Hezekiah repented, but
his descendants continued the
downward spiral he’d begun, until
they marched into exile.
Contemporary Instability
We can also find in our day exam-
ples of those who’ve lacked endurance.
Joe2 told me
that God had
anointed him to
carry the mes-
sage of Elisha to
the world. He
had no need of
the church—he
was the prophet
of a new, more
glorious
mission.
Alex, a
well-
known
evange-
list,
became
her to another city.
George, a college professor recog-
nized for his scholarship and piety,
became the chair of the religion
department of his institution and
trained scores of ministers. But as he
grew older, his concepts of doctrine
drifted, and he eventually had to step
down. Not long afterward he withdrew
from the church.
Jim, now 90, has questioned
Adventist doctrine for years. Though
a minister for four decades, and a mis-
sionary to three foreign fields, his
doubts have caused others to lose their
way.
The most
difficult thing to
endure is age.
A Spiritual Vaccination
Will we lose our faith in God and
His Word? Will we become discour-
aged by the ravages of old age? Will we
become embittered because the church
changes from our familiar ways? Will
we dwell too much on what we have
or have not done and feel it’s too late
to change?
Unless Jesus comes soon, we’ll all
age and eventually die. How will our
relationship with God endure as we
pass through this time? Will we, like
Uzziah, Hezekiah, and countless oth-
ers, drift from the heavenly path into
the unknown swamps of apostasy and
immorality? Or will we remain faithful
to Christ?
I would like to encourage you with
what I call God’s vaccination, and how
it can prevent the age-related cooling
life that gets the bulk of your time,
attention, and affection?

“Seek the Lord while he may be
found; call on him while he is near”
(Isa. 55:6).
Stay in constant communication with
God.

Jesus told His disciples that “they
should always pray and not give up”
(Luke 18:1).

“Be joyful always; pray continu-
ally” (1 Thess. 5:16, 17).
Take God into your innermost
thoughts. Invite Him to be there, to
listen in on all the babblings of your
mind. Include Him in all of your plans,
your shopping, your grief—every-
thing! Make Him your counselor to
guide you in every decision.
Do not let guilt for a single sin or
the repeated slipping on a habitual
“banana peel” destroy you.

“If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“No temptation has seized you
except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let
you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he
will also provide a way out so that you
can stand up under it”
(1 Cor. 10:13).
How will you
stand up to
temptations
and pressures
as you
advance in
age? Will you
allow dis-
agreeable
circum-
stances to
take you
into an off-
center
orbit of
RALPH BUTLER

involved of our spiritual fires. your own?

with a female Make the kingdom of heaven your top Or will
convert suffering priority. your tra-
BY

from spousal abuse.
Scripture tells us to “seek first his jectory

I L L U S T R AT I O N S

He felt it his mission kingdom and his righteousness, and all lead to a
to rescue her, and left these things will be given to you as harmo-
his family to go with well” (Matt. 6:33). What is it in your nious

A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (813) 29
orbit around Christ? Make sure that
your life is described by Christ’s beati-
tude: “He that endureth to the end
shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22, KJV).
We need to engage in continual
communion with Christ to endure to
the end. I’m determined to stand firm
to the end. Come, make a pledge to
God along with me: “By God’s grace
I will endure to the end!”

*Unless otherwise noted, scripture references

in this article are taken from the New Interna-
tional Version of the Holy Scriptures.
1
For the full story of Hezekiah’s remarkable
life and times, read my book Siege: The Story of
Hezekiah and Sennacherib. The entire text is
available on my Web site: www.PettyPress.com.
2
All contemporary names have been
changed.

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.,

writes from Burleson,
Texas.

30 (814) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4
 R E F L
Guardian Angels
in 3Com Park
A
few years ago my twin brother and I decided
to celebrate our birthday by attending a San
Francisco 49ers football game in 3Com Park
in San Francisco. However, there was one
problem: getting tick-
ets. Forty-niners games are sold out
well in advance. Then I remem-
bered that the parents of a student
I had tutored in algebra bought four
season tickets every year. Fortu-
The outcome
nately, I was able to purchase two of
them for that day. was uncertain
We set out early Sunday morning
from Sacramento for the 100-mile
drive in my 1998 Chevrolet Metro,
up to the
and arrived at the park at approxi-
mately 9:00 a.m. This gave us plenty
last moment.
of time to find a parking space and
relax before the game.
It was a beautiful, warm autumn
day with a bright cloudless sky and little wind. We enjoyed
watching all the people arrive, visiting with our neighbors,
and generally entering into the ambience of the festive
occasion along with some 60,000 other fans. After we fin-
ished our lunch, we entered the stadium.
It was an exciting game, and the outcome was uncertain
up to the last moment, when the 49ers scored to win the
game with only seconds left. It’s quite an emotional—and
weird!—experience to be yelling at the top of your voice,
yet because of the tremendous roar of the crowd not to be
able to hear your own voice.
We knew there would be a mad rush of people to the
exits, and we wanted to get a head start, so we left our seats
before the last play and headed down the ramps and into the
parking lot. But our hopes of an early exit were dashed.
When we returned to the car after the game and I turned
the ignition key to start the car, there was no response. I was
sure that the trouble wasn’t a dead battery. I guessed from
previous experience that the ignition wire under the dash
was probably loose again. Sure enough, when I checked with
a flashlight, there was a dangling wire. We tried our best to
find the proper connection but were unsuccessful. What were
we to do? It was Sunday afternoon, and all the garages were
E C T I O N S
JOHN MC CONNELL
closed. Even if we called AAA, where could they tow us?
I started looking around for help, and to my surprise I saw
a tow truck nearby. As it turned out, this was one of several
tow trucks stationed around the parking lot for emergencies
such as dead batteries or keys locked
in cars. I walked over to the truck
and spoke to the driver about my
problem. He told me that he had
limited mechanical ability, but he
was willing to try and help. I
returned to my car, and soon the
tow truck arrived and parked in
front of my car. The driver pro-
ceeded to look under my dash, but
couldn’t find where the wire con-
nected.
While we were talking, one of
the 60,000 persons in the parking
lot approached and informed the
truck driver that he had a dead bat-
tery and needed help. I happened to mention to the stranger
that I had a loose ignition wire and didn’t know where it
connected. To my great surprise and joy he responded
quickly with, “Hey, I think I can fix that.” He came over to
my car, dived under the dash, and in about two seconds
emerged with a smile. I turned the key, and the engine
roared to life. Wow! What a relief. No more visions of call-
ing AAA and facing the prospect of closed garages and a
long night in a sleazy hotel room. Naturally I was curious as
to how he knew where to connect the wire, so I asked him,
“How did you know where to connect that wire?”
“Oh,” he said. “I ought to know. I own a Chevrolet
garage.”
Imagine! Out of 60,000 strangers the one person who
could help me had a dead battery and came right to my car.
Perfect timing like that convinces me that my guardian
angel was on duty that day at 3Com Park.
John McConnell, a retired academy science
teacher, writes from Citrus Heights, California.
A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 (815) 31