September 2008 Archives

This Sabbath is a special education Sabbath featuring our students at Spring Creek Adventist School. 

It is hard to believe that seven years ago today I received a phone call from my Dad, "Son, turn on the news, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center." I was sleepy after a late night working on a paper at Seminary. I drifted back to sleep for a few minutes. Then it hit me, a plane, what kind of plane? I went to check the news and then I realized the gravity of the situation. I was shocked. I reached for the phone to call my Dad back. The phone didn't ring. My father worked in One Liberty Plaza so I later found out he saw the plane crash from across the street. My mother was on an American Airlines flight that morning. She wasn't answering her phone either. I was scared wondering if both my parents had perished separately on this horrific day.

Later I received a phone call from a relative that both my parents were OK. My Mom's plane had gotten grounded on the runway and had never taken off; my Dad had been safely evacuated before the second plane hit the twin towers and blew out my Dad's office windows (he would work from home for the next year). My Dad was evacuated to an emergency evacuation site on Wall Street and made it out of the city in the company limousine that afternoon. I'm so thankful that both of my parents' lives were spared. God is so good. Let's continue to pray for the families of the victims.

This past week I've re-read the biography of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden. I'm encouraged as I look back at his life. He is considered the most-famous preacher in American history--his sermon "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" still resonates through time. Edwards was caught between the old and the new. In a Puritan world that was rapidly changing Edwards saw the hand of God in what is now known as the Great Awakening. He saw the hand of God in these revivals. It also split ministers between the "old lights" (those against revival) and the "new lights" (those ministers who saw God's hand in this movement"). I was also intrigued by the 18th-century debate over whether hymns should be sung in church. While Edwards saw his world rapidly changing, it was changing in a way he could have never anticipated and led to the rise of the evangelical tidal wave that reached its peak during the mid-19th century. It is interesting to me because in many ways Edwards set the stage for the rise of Adventism a century later.

Last weekend we took 30 Pathfinders and about 10 adults up to Colorado National Monument. We had a fantastic time going on hikes, learning about the stars, and just having fun. One highlight for me was taking our Pathfinders on Sabbath afternoon through the "squeezers." The kids loved going through the cracks. You begin to realize how much larger you are than our young people when you try to follow them! Needless to say we wore them out.

This Sabbath we begin our fall series on 1 John entitled "That you may know." This first week's message is entitled "See, Hear, Touch, and Smell." The writer of 1 John wants you to know something special about Jesus, and we're going to learn about it as we study God's Word this week. 

On Sunday, Sept. 7, we are going to have a work bee at the church. Many of you participated in the work bee this spring where we cleaned inside our church, but now it is time to do some work on the outside as well. With thanks to W. D. Hess, Joan Cooper, and Tammi Brown we are going to prune back hedges, trim trees, and even remove a few overgrown specimens that need to just be gone. This is a team effort as we seek to beautify our church grounds.

Have you enjoyed watching the political conventions? I am thankful that we will not have politics in heaven. As Adventists we believe in the importance of religious liberty so I just want to encourage each church member that as a church we are careful not to become involved in politics. Please don't pass out political literature at church, post signs on church property, etc. I think this goes without saying but I just want to remind our church members that it is important as a denomination that we not do this, and we have a rich heritage of religious liberty upon which we build upon.

After church on Sabbath we went up to the Maestas's home for lunch and spent Sunday through Tuesday up in Arrowhead on a family retreat for the holiday weekend. I was able to get lots of writing done. I was able to get a start on my new book on Adventism and Fundamentalism. Plus I was able to get a couple of additional articles and book reviews written. Some times we all need an opportunity to have some down time--especially when it is in nature where we can fellowship with our Creator. It actually has been quite interesting because we have been skipping around in our family worship each morning as we read Uncle Arthur. Right now we are reading the Creation story for our family worship. What a magnificent God we have who created such an incredible world for us to enjoy.

Yesterday I had our monthly chaplain's meeting at the hospital. I'm thankful that several of my pastoral colleagues are coming to my ordination on Sept. 20. I also discovered my name accidently bumped off the list, but that this was unintentional so after a summer hiatus I am back on track to volunteer each month at the hospital.

A quick word about the Sept. 20 worship service. This will be a join worship service with all three of my churches so we will have something a little different than normal from Sabbath School through the rest of the day. Stay tuned for more details.