Closer To Heaven
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Benjamin Baker, PhD | 20 February 2019 | There is something about the combination of being black and Adventist that leads to awesomeness.
Read more at the source: 30 Awesome Things that Black Adventists Did
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Adventist Today.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 1 Corinthians 11:26. The salvation of men depends upon a continual application to their hearts of the cleansing blood of Christ. Therefore, the Lord’s Supper was not to be observed only occasionally or yearly, but more frequently than the annual Passover. This solemn ordinance commemorates a far greater event than the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt.
Read more at the source: As Oft as ye Eat and Drink
Article posted on en.intercer.net from Rose’s Devotional.
Rose’s Devotionals are prepared by Rose Hartwell, one of the Intercer founders. Since 1999, Rose sends out a daily devotional newsletter that includes a commentary on a Bible passage, a list of prayer requests for the current week and an illustration from daily life that applies to the Bible passage in study.
Her delivery of the poem slammed my thoughts into an emotive wall. My daughter was preparing to participate in a Poetry Out Loud 
event at her high school, and as she read The Mask, by Paul Laurance Dunbar, it resonated with me as powerfully as it had during my senior year.
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
–Paul Laurance Dunbar (1872 – !906)
More than 100 years have passed since the ink flowed to write this amazing poem, and yet its meaning for humanity is as fresh and real for us as the day it was written.
Perhaps none wear “the mask” as well (or as poorly) as people who call themselves Christians, and yet have no relationship with the One they claim to love. They smile, they laugh, they say all the “correct” things, and yet inside they feel spiritually hollow. They live day to day, wondering how (and if) they will ever be able to truly be the person on the inside that matches the one that they attempt on the outside. It’s a lonely and desperate struggle.
I wore “the mask” for years, and admittedly (from time to time), I attempt to see if it still fits. I find myself trying it back on when life gets too busy, when I don’t spend quality time with my God, or I attempt to make my relationship with my Creator more complicated than it needs to be. Loving relationships take investment, and when my priorities get tangled, the mask comes back out of the closet, and I begin making excuses to myself as to why I should start wearing it again.
Living “mask free” is sometimes a frightening proposition, but wearing it spiritually suffocates and stifles me. The only real freedom that I have found, happens when I stay connected to the One who wants me to be who I was designed to become…and who I was designed to be, doesn’t require a mask at all.
Michael Temple writes from North Dakota.
The post The Mask appeared first on Answers for Me.
Read more at the source: The Mask
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.
I grew up in a loving Christian home. We went to church every week. I loved the pastor—he was my Dad. If something was happening at church, we were there. We had family worship every morning and evening and my Mom would sing songs about Jesus through the day. We learned the great stories of the Bible. I have loved Jesus as long as I can remember.
When I was five years old my mother had brain cancer surgery (this was in the dark ages—decades before MRIs or even CT scans!). The pathology report revealed a high grade cancer. She should have been dead in weeks to months, but in answer to prayer, she lived another 48 years before dying in her late seventies. I remember other answers to prayer—our lost dog being found and another time when our car got stuck in the mud out in the middle of no where. These incidents strengthened my trust in God.
I always had a heart that was tender for the Lord. When I was 7 or 8 I asked to be baptized, but was told by the pastor (my dad) that I was too young. I was a good kid, but I remember wondering if I was good enough because sometimes I would tease my little brother and talk back to my Mom. I hadn’t read the Bible text that says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). As I matured, I gradually learned through prayer, Bible study and conversations with others that it was not my goodness that counted, but what Jesus had done for me. As John 3:16 makes clear, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus was good enough. He gave his life for me.
As a young teenager I developed a strong devotional life and got involved in activities to tell others about Jesus. I even considered studying to become a minister, but that was not really an option in those days. So I went to college and then became a physician.
In my practice of medicine I tried to share Jesus with my patients when it was appropriate. I remember thinking that the office was my parish and I was truly a minister to my patients. As my children started growing, I got involved in children’s ministry at the church. Later I had opportunity to minister in other areas. But always my greatest joy was seeing people come to know the Lord and mature in their faith. When I retired early from medicine in 2002, I joined the pastoral staff as a volunteer staff pastor. What a joy!
We all have struggles in our lives, some more than others. But I cannot imagine living in the world of today without the security of knowing that Jesus is my friend and that he cares for me. When problems come, I don’t have to handle them by myself. I can share my problems with God and trust him to lead in my life. Even when bad things happen I know that is not the whole story. God is love and he hurts when I hurt. My favorite text is probably John 14:1-3, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. Jesus promises we don’t have to have troubled hearts. He has gone to heaven, but he will surely return. THAT is the rest of the story. I can’t wait to experience the end of that story and be with my friend Jesus forevermore.
Marcia Stone writes from the Pacific Northwest.
The post When Problems Come appeared first on Answers for Me.
Read more at the source: When Problems Come
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.
Downey Adventist Church Worship Service Living as a Christian in Today’s World Young Adults 09 February 2019 downeychurch.org Cast: Downey Church Tags: Church , worship , sermon , Adventist , Downey , SDA , God , seventh-day , Sabbath , Bible , christian and religion
Read more at the source: Living as a Christian in Today’s World
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Vimeo / Downey Church’s videos.
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