Matthew Siliga is a Washington, DC-based administrator of a global development and relief agency. He’s also one of our Master of Business Administration students. We asked him six questions. Here are the answers he gave. Source: https://wp.avondale.edu.au/news/2022/07/26/meet-matthew-siliga/
God Uses Love and Tenderness
Monday’s section of this week’s lesson, reveals the relentless love of God. For me, here is the key verse.
But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there. Hosea 2:14 NLT
I am so thankful for parents who understand this. I wish all parents understood this is the way to win their children’s loyalty to God and to themselves
.
Several years ago I was preaching for Father’s Day, and I had a few people, young and old, tell us what they liked about their fathers. One young man, about 12 years old, gave a powerful, heartfelt tribute to his dad, even saying, “Nobody reminds me of Jesus more than my father.”
That same Sabbath morning, the son was offered some cookies in his Sabbath School class which he gladly took. His father saw him eating the cookie and starting publicly berating him and telling him how sinful it is to eat in church! (News to me!) The son could not hide his hurt and humiliation. The son definitely was not trying to be a hard-hearted rebel by taking a cookie just like everyone else. I know the father meant well too, but you don’t have to be a parent to know that publicly embarrassing and humiliating your child is not a good thing to do. Remember, Jesus worked His first miracle, turning water into wine for no other reason than to save the host from public embarrassment. It would not have killed them to just drink water, but Jesus is a Savior from public humiliation and embarrassment. Humiliation and embarrassment are not His tools.
Not long after this, the father called me up and wanted me to lecture his son because he was becoming defiant. I came to their home as requested, but the talk did not actually go the way the father expected. The father was accusing the son of being disrespectful. With father and son both present, I asked the son about the beautiful tribute he gave to his father. Both agreed that was very nice and respectful. I then asked the son how he felt when later, his father publicly berated him for eating a cookie just like everyone else. He said it was very hurtful and you could see the hurt in his eyes as he said that. I shared Hosea 2:14 with them both and asked the father if he thought he could be a little more tender when correcting his son. I was not asking him to change his standards, just his approach. But I did share with the father that I was unaware of any Bible teaching against eating a cookie in church.
Being a father is a very sacred calling, and I did not want to distract from that or appear to try to trump him. However I did encourage him to follow 2 Timothy 3:16 and be sure to correct his son according to Scripture.
Tears were in the son’s eyes by now as I explained to the father how much his son loved him, and how hurt he was, when publicly humiliated for doing something he thought was totally innocent, with no rebellious intentions. I assured the father that his son would not have written such a loving tribute if he did not deeply love and respect him. His son nodded in agreement with tears still in his eyes.
I thought the father was going to turn on me now for not ganging up with him on his side, but, instead, he actually thanked me! I know the father had a good heart and really cared about his children. Why else would his son write that no one reminded him more of Jesus than His father?
Parents, please be tender with your children. You may not think they love, appreciate and respect you, but at school and church I hear them say things you may never hear. I always tell kids, “Your parents love you more than you think they do,” and I say the same to parents. “Your children love you more than you think they do.” As a third party observer, I know this for a fact.
If you don’t want to take it from me, take it from God,
But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there. Hosea 2:14 NLT
Amen!
(3)
(3)The post God Uses Love and Tenderness appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/god-uses-love-and-tenderness/
Extreme Heat – Hit the Mark Sabbath School
Extreme Heat can produce extreme testimonies. Join the team as they discuss what it takes to make it through make-or-break situations.
Amen!(0)
(0)The post Extreme Heat – Hit the Mark Sabbath School appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/extreme-heat-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/
Aunty, which Old Testament laws still apply to us?
25 July 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, How do we decide which parts of Leviticus apply to the church today, and which parts were only for the ancient Israelites? Sincerely, Confused reader Dear Confused, That is an excellent question for Seventh-day Adventists—we who say so often that we take the entire Bible seriously. We do […] Source: https://atoday.org/80901-2/
Students Gifted to Be Witnesses
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15.
Let teachers and students watch for opportunities to confess Christ in their conversation. Such witness will be more effective than many sermons….
Students, make your school life as perfect as possible. You will pass over the way but once, and precious are the opportunities granted you. You are not only to learn but to practice the lessons of Christ. While obtaining your education, you have the opportunity to tell of the wonderful truths of God’s Word. Improve every such opportunity. God will bless every minute spent in this way. Maintain your simplicity and your love for souls, and the Lord will lead you in safe paths. The rich experience you gain will be of more value to you than gold or silver or precious stones.
You know not to what position you may be called in the future. God may use you as He used Daniel, to take the knowledge of the truth to the mighty of the earth. It rests with you to say whether you will have skill and knowledge to do this work. God can give you skill in all your learning. He can help you to adapt yourself to the line of study you take up. Make it your first interest to gather up right, noble, uplifting principles. God desires you to witness for Him. He does not want you to stand still; He wants you to run in the way of His commandments.
Christ desires to use every student as His agent. You are to cooperate with the One who gave His life for you. What rich blessings would come to our schools if teachers and students would consecrate themselves, heart, mind, soul, and strength, to God’s service as His helping hand! His helping hand—that is what you may be if you will yield yourselves to His keeping. He will lead you safely, and enable you to make straight paths for yourselves and for others. He will give you knowledge and wisdom, and a fitness for fuller service.—Counsels to Parents and Teachers, 554, 555.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 215
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Prayer Requests
—-Prayers for Marc and Kathy. Marks O2 was dropping as he has pneumonia, they’re doing a CT scan and they don’t have the results yet Kathy is asking for prayers that she tests negative for Covid tomorrow so she can see him in the hospital and that his CT scan will be negative. Becky
—-Please pray for my brother. He’s been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is in a lot of pain. Yolanda
—-Please continue to pray for E and children. R
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Dear Friends,
When I was a teenager, I loved to take long walks in about three miles from our house. I loved it because it was a section of town where the very rich lived. The houses were huge and the lawns expansive. Some were nestled in a stand of trees and others seemed to be on display. I used to imagine, as I walked by them, what it must be like to live in one of those mansions. It seemed to me like the occupants had no worries as to where the money would come for their next meal, no cares about how to pay the bills, an ideal life. In my imaginings the people there lived in constant happiness and bliss. Of course, those people had just as many problems as my mother and I did, they just had a different set of problems.
No matter what our station in life, we are filled with cares and perplexities. Each day brings its own set of trails and troubles, but we have the privilege, as did Abraham, of looking “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb 11:10 There “the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Isa 33:24 Our Dear Saviour promises, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3
Think of it! Our Loving Saviour is preparing a home for us that far surpasses any earthly dwelling! The mansions and castles of this world pale in comparison. The loving disciple, John, was given a glimpse of this glorious place, the New Jerusalem. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. . . He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. . . . And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. . . . And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. . . . And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones…. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. . . . And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. . . . And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. . . . And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true. . . . Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. . . . Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev 21:1-22:14
May we and our loved ones be there is my prayer.
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/students-gifted-to-be-witnesses.html
