by Loren Seibold | 2 December 2021 | So, once again, this happens: A man[1] in a position of influence and trust does or says something harmful. Something a Christian—much less someone people look up to—shouldn’t say or do. It shouldn’t surprise us anymore. This is a truth about human beings—all human beings: we do […] Source: https://atoday.org/forgiveness-with-consequences/
Inside Story: Japan ~ First-Time Visitor Knows All
First-Time Visitor Knows All
By Eliane Hosokawa Imayuki
Brazilian immigrant Sandra Sato drove straight to a Seventh-day Adventist church in Kakegawa, Japan, to thank God for her newly acquired driver’s license.
Image © Pacific Press
She had promised God that if she got her license, the first place she would go with the car would be the church.
That evening, Sandra joyfully told members of the Tokai Christian Center church that God had answered her prayers to obtain a driver’s license.
“And I’m also ready for baptism,” she announced.
The church members were surprised. They had never seen Sandra until that evening.
Their astonishment grew as Sandra turned to various members and addressed them by name.
“I know many of you,” she said. “I have been watching live church broadcasts on social media.”
Then she told her story. Sandra and her husband, a former Adventist, worked with thousands of other Brazilian immigrants in factories in central Japan.
While discussing religion, her husband had declared that if she ever wanted to worship, he would only accept her attending an Adventist church. She had belonged to another Christian denomination. Intrigued by her husband’s former faith, Sandra had watched live broadcasts from the Tokai Christian Center church. With her husband’s help, she had completed Bible studies provided by Hope Channel’s affiliate in Brazil. Then she had promised God that she would begin to attend church in person if she got her driver’s license.
After a review of the Bible with the Tokai Christian Center pastor, Sandra was baptized. No family members attended the baptism, not even her husband. But her faith has remained strong. At her initiative, a small Bible study group has been established in another city, Iwata, for people seeking to know Christ. God’s word is spreading in Japan.
Read next week about how God is using the small group in Iwata to bless other Brazilian immigrants. Sandra became familiar with the Tokai Christian Center church after watching its online services. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to a project to help many Japanese people, especially young people, learn about Jesus through the Internet. Thank you for planning a generous offering.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
Amen!
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-japan-first-time-visitor-knows-all/
Friday: Further Thought ~ Remember, Do Not Forget
Further Thought:
“How great the condescension of God and His compassion for His erring creatures in thus placing the beautiful rainbow in the clouds as a token of His covenant with men! The Lord declares that when He looks upon the bow, He will remember His covenant. This does not imply that He would ever forget; but He speaks to us in our own language, that we may better understand Him.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
It was God’s purpose that as the children of after generations should ask the meaning of the glorious arch which spans the heavens, their parents should repeat the story of the Flood, and tell them that the Most High had bended the bow and placed it in the clouds as an assurance that the waters should never again overflow the earth. Thus from generation to generation it would testify of divine love to man and would strengthen his confidence in God.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 106, 107.
Since the founding of Christianity, there has never been a church that has partaken of the wealth and creature comforts that the church in some countries of the world enjoys today. The question is, At what cost? Such affluence surely influences our spirituality — and not for the good either. How could it? Since when have wealth and material abundance fostered the Christian virtues of self-denial and self-sacrifice? In most cases, the opposite occurs: the more people have, the more self-sufficient they become, and the less they tend to depend upon God. Wealth and prosperity, however nice, do come with many dangerous spiritual traps.
Discussion Questions:
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Amen!(0)
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/friday-further-thought-remember-do-not-forget/
Peace Church or Self-Defense Church? Ellen White, the Church & Firearms
4 December 2021 | This Sabbath, we explore Seventh-day Adventism’s checkered relationship with war, peace, military service, weapons, and self-preservation. Although “noncombatancy” (service in the military unarmed at all times) is not one of the church’s fundamental beliefs, it remains the official position of the church on military service. In 1954 and 1972, the General […] Source: https://atoday.org/julius-nam-peace-church-or-self-defense-church-ellen-white-the-c-firearms/
Adventist Journey – Nicole and Victor Broushet
[vimeo 652203812 w=640 h=360]
Nicole and Victor Broushet consider themselves missionaries and entrepreneurs who serve the greater Worcester, Massachusetts area. Not only to they advocate for…Source: https://vimeo.com/652203812
