By Daniel Mora The financial situation of the Inter-American Division (IAD) is being challenged by the economic crisis caused by the COVDI-19 pandemic. While part of problem is how this health emergency has impacted the world economy, it is also revealing other weaknesses of the denominational model. The main one is a centralized leadership structure […] Source: https://atoday.org/how-centralized-leadership-weakened-the-inter-american-division/
The good old days
My father didn’t cope well with changes to Aussie rules football. I did, but this meant watching a game together would end with both of us sitting in stony silence. As we emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown, I fear many of us will experience the same frustrations as my father. So, rather than lamenting over what was, let’s look forward to what is. Source: https://wp.avondale.edu.au/news/2020/06/04/the-good-old-days/
Does God Still Expect The Sabbath Day to be Remembered? 🤔
This masterclass will cover The Sabbath Day as found in the fourth commandment. It will trace it’s history all the way from creation and then through the history of Israel into New Testament times. It will also look at the benefits for Christians today. The world has increasingly forgotten about God and His ways. How is that possible? The answer is found in a day, which is The Authentic Seal. #theSabbathDay This is the fifth episode in the AWR Masterclass series called Unlocking Bible Prophecies. You can follow the series and interact LIVE at: http://awr.org/bible Ten years ago, Cami Oetman had a real encounter with God that would change her life forever. She was a successful entrepreneur at the time, and the transition wasn’t easy. However, the truth Cami will share in this series was so compelling that she knew every human being in the world should experience the love of Jesus as she had. Within three years, she had preached 350 Bible presentations. Today, as a vice president for Adventist World Radio, Cami travels the world documenting the miracles that take place when people give their hearts to Jesus. It may seem difficult to imagine yourself understanding Bible prophecy. Cami couldn’t either. She had spent two decades in the modeling world — in front of and behind the camera. She had also used her master’s degree in social work to care for hospice patients. She then started a successful retail business. But no one can predict how they will react when they have a real experience with God! THE AUTHENTIC SEAL
Have you ever wondered why people would put a seal on a letter or document? What does it stand for? A seal bears the name, title and territory of its owner and conveys authority and ownership to the receiver of the message. In ancient times, wax seals were often used on contracts or treaties as an identifying mark of authority and authenticity. Did you know God uses a ‘seal’ to identify his followers and mark them for redemption? Surely, humans won’t receive a wax seal on their foreheads—so what is this seal? The Sabbath is a seal of commitment and relationship. By observing the Sabbath, God’s followers show they belong to Him. So, how do you observe the Sabbath and when is it? Humans are the only created beings that can discern right from wrong and the part of our brain that makes those choices is our prefrontal cortex which sits behind our foreheads. When we choose to “remember the Sabbath day” as it states in the fourth of ten commandments, we are choosing to be ‘sealed’ by God. The Sabbath exists to remind us who God is. He is Creator of Heaven and Earth. God said through the prophet Ezekiel “I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy” (Ezekiel 20:12). God wants us to remember that He is our Creator and Redeemer. God created humans on the sixth day of creation–Friday. The very next day–Sabbath; He rested, blessed it and made it holy. God wants to spend valuable time with the creation He made in His image. This means He wants to spend time with you. Did you know the Sabbath has existed since the very first week of creation and it was not intended for only a select group of people? God created the Sabbath with the intention of spending time with all people. The Sabbath existed long before God gave the commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai; Paul and the Christian Gentiles were still keeping the Sabbath holy long after Jesus died on the cross. When God created the days of the week, each 24-hour period was marked by the rotation of the earth. The night portion preceded the day portion, which means that sunset is the first part of a new day. Each day of the week begins with the evening portion at sunset. So it makes sense that the Sabbath would begin Friday evening at sunset and continue until Saturday evening at sunset. What more can God do to emphasize the permanence and importance of His holy Sabbath day? He spoke it with His voice, wrote it with His finger, and sent His own beloved Son Jesus as our example to live by. The disciples taught it and God’s believers will keep it on the New Earth throughout all of eternity. When the Creator of the universe asks you to do something, it makes sense to follow His direction. Don’t you think? Especially when His motive for spending time with us is love. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNoIqJLJxF8
Adventist Church Brings Counseling Center to Washington, D.C.
3 June 2020 | Pastor Emil Peeler couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Too many people, especially in the African American community, were being ignored and needed their voices to be heard–to be understood and met with empathy. Recognizing the lack of available assistance for mental health in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., Peeler, the […] Source: https://atoday.org/adventist-church-brings-counseling-center-to-washington-d-c/
Balanced Christian Development
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Psalm 37:6.
Humility is greatly needed. If cherished, it would be an ornament of great value in the sight of God. It is essential in the work. But there is no virtue in thinking that humility consists in cheap inefficiency. While humility is always essential in the service of God, while it must always be cultivated, be careful that it does not degenerate into the timidity which leads men to waver when circumstances require them to stand stiffly for the truth. There must be no half-and-half service offered to God. To every man the Lord has given his work. Everyone is to be a channel through which the Lord can work to communicate the will of Heaven….
Arduous and unpleasant duties have to be performed. None are to place themselves where they will sanction wrong by silence. They aid and abet the schemes of the enemy by keeping their lips closed when they should speak decidedly, though not in a boasting, self-sufficient manner. They are to speak the truth in love….
God in His great mercy will give to all His believing people efficiency and power for His work and service, even as He gave power to Joseph, Samuel, Daniel, Timothy, and scores of others who availed themselves of His promises. They believed Him and relied upon Him, and this was their righteousness. Men and women have to move by faith. They have to press their way through the cloud of objections which Satan brings up to hinder their progress. When God sees that they will trust Him as their helper and their efficiency, they may pass safely through the great darkness of men’s unconsecration….
Without the constant help which comes only from God, even those who are looked upon as the most eminent believers are in danger of falling into the sins which Satan has prepared to dishonor God. Bear in mind, all who claim to be believers, that it is only when you have that faith which works by love and purifies the soul, only when you have the joy of Christ’s salvation in the heart, that you are qualified to guide sinners to repentance and reformation. It is the genuine believer, who not only assents to the truth, but believes and practices the truth, who is not satisfied unless he has with him the presence of God, that is a power for good in the world….
Christ, the One who gave His life for the life of the world, that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life, is the true Watchman of the house…. We are kept by the power of God. The presence and grace of Christ is the secret of all life and light.—Letter 79, July 11, 1901, to A. G. Daniells.
The Upward Look p. 206
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Prayer Request
—-Please pray for Linda and her family as they grieve the loss of her husband, Ken. Also please pray for Allyson who had back surgery yesterday. Rose
—-Today is the Day, going to have 2 teeth removed at 9:30 please pray. Connie
—-Please pray for a missing homeless young lady who has mental problems. She has been missing for about 5 days now and those who love her are so worried about her safety. Also please pray that she might not only be found, but that she might come to understand salvation. Her name is Jihan. Louise
—-Please keep my friend and her family in prayer. Her special needs child Maya is having multiple surgeries today. Due to the virus, the surgeries have been pushed back several months and her quality of life has diminished from this. There are several surgeries all being done back to back or overlapping if they can. They have to drive several hours to get to the nearest children’s hospital. The surgeries will last at least 30 hours. Let us pray for little Maya and her family. Let’s pray for wisdom for the doctors and peace for her family as they wait. These surgeries were originally supposed to be in Jan and Feb. Jennifer
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Dear Friends,
Often, Esther sits down at the piano and plays one of the songs that she wrote, something classical, or some of the old hymns. I often harmonize with her no matter where I am in the house. As we harmonizd on some of the old hymns, I can’t help thinking forward to the time when we would join all the saved from all the ages around the throne of the Great King of the Universe. What a grand and glorious time that will be! “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.” Ps 92:1-5; 95:1-6
Zephaniah tells us that not only will we sing praises to God, but “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” Zeph 3:17 Think of it! He, Whose voice is as many waters, as a great multitude, as the sound of thunder will be so happy to finally have us together with Himself, that He will sing for joy! Oh! How much He loves us!
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Col 3:16, 17 May we “be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Eph 5:18-20
Rose
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/PPpJblRly6I/balanced-christian-development.html
