Question 1: What is your supreme satisfaction in this age and the age to come?
Answer: To know and be known by God now and forevermore in the new heaven and new earth.
I first want to say, “Thank You.” I know this is not how most book reviews begin, but I must say it.
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We’re just through the Christmas season (and our fellow Anglican and Orthodox Christians celebrate a bit longer than the rest of us do). Winter break is over for schools. Most of us are trying to get back to normal and deal with holiday debt. Congregations begin to look ahead to Easter, which comes a bit later on the calendar this year.
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In the midst of doing the research for my eventual essay, "Recollecting an Advent Christian Political Theology: A Retrieval of Advent Christian Thought on the Relationship Between Church and State”, I had the good fortune of uncovering a digitized version of I.C. Wellcome’s pamphlet, “Should Christians Fight?”.
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When studying the Advent Christian tradition, one is hard-pressed to find any self-conscious attempts at political theology. In larger treatments found in pamphlets and books, implicit political theologies might emerge in the midst of discourses on world events, the Kingdom of God, and of course pacifism, but there are very few (and by my count no) books consciously dedicated to the subject. In smaller treatments found in various Advent Christian periodicals, one does find some forthright consideration of the relation between the church and politics, but as is the case with most of the books above, it is difficult to measure the influence of these writings. The lone exception when it comes to measuring influence may be I.C. Wellcome’s popularly received pamphlet Should Christians Fight?
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Last summer, the murder of eleven Jewish people while at worship in a Pittsburgh synagogue stunned so many of us, not just because it represented an assault on religious freedom in the United States, but because it served as an ugly reminder that Antisemitism still lurks in the shadows of American life. In the last ten years, we have seen horrible Antisemitism manifested in Europe and the Middle East, but beginning with Charlottesville and the alt-right “tiki-torch” march through the campus of the University of Virginia in the summer of 2017 we were shocked to see it expressed in such hateful ways in our own country.
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What practical application does the incarnation of Jesus Christ have for your daily living? There is tremendous application but not in terms of some kind of immediate self-help, make your life better and more fulfilling kind of application.
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I have recently transitioned to a new ministry. In so doing, I have taken some time for reflection. After spending about four years in church ministry and eight years in the United States Army, I’d like to share with you some reflections on what I believe to be transferable leadership principles that guided me while serving in the world’s premiere fighting force. I could have made the list twice as long, there are things that are important that have been left out. However, these ten could help you as a leader of God’s people (I hope). Some you will see echo biblical principles, others are simply anecdotal and come purely from my experiences.
As I’ve concluded nine years in pastoral ministry and transitioned to a new season of ministry at the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies I’ve taken some time to reflect on my experience as a shepherd of God’s flock – the ups, the downs, and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’m not at all claiming to have enlightened reflections, superior wisdom, or the keys to ministry success – and it didn’t take me nine years to figure that out. Nevertheless, by God’s grace and mostly through error, I have learned a lot. So I humbly offer these reflections as an expression of my gratitude for God’s sustaining grace and for the seemingly limitless patience of my Faith Church family.
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What is the difference between the previous three soils and the final one? The difference is consistent fruit bearing – there are enduring yields. But what is the difference in the nature of this soil from the other three? It is receptive of the seed. The seed is able to germinate and grow with depth and without thorns crowding it out and taking over the ground. The difference is in the soil. This soil is receptive of the seed. But what does this mean?
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Throughout the 1830s and early 1840s, a frenetic movement raged across the American landscape spawned by William Miller’s conclusions regarding the time and manner of Christ’s return. His study of the Bible led him to believe in the personal return of Christ in 1843, a belief that quickly won wide approbation among those who would come to make up the Second-Advent/Millerite movement. Despite the earnest expectation of these Millerites, Christ was not to appear in 1843, nor was he to appear in the eagerly embraced subsequent year of 1844. The accumulation of these failed expectations became known as “The Great Disappointment.” The Second Advent movement was in ruins.
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Advent Christians make the right conclusions concerning the state of the dead in the intermediate state, so we humbly believe, though they are at times less concerned about the path they take to get there. One text in particular that has been ignored, swept away, minimized or mistreated time and again is Luke 23:43, Jesus’ iconic words to the thief on the cross, “And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”(ESV). If there is in fact a rise of the spirit of historic adventism, then its adherents will no doubt be eager fill in the potholes of past mishandlings of the Word of God and set the record straight.
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One of the challenges at Community Church of Westfield is developing leadership within the church. When Jean and I came to Westfield, there was one person that was holding things together. She is a dear lady and was doing everything in the church. But I knew that was not enough; to build a church, it would take developing leaders.
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Now we meet the crowded ground hearer. To the crowded ground hearer, the Gospel matters, but it does not matter enough – the crowded ground hearer is preoccupied, but not with the Gospel, but rather with many other things.
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Leading up to the 2018 Eastern Regional Annual Convention, Advent Christian Voices will be featuring a series of articles highlighting the central topic for this year’s convention, which invites us to consider what means to establish believers, leaders, and churches. This feature has been submitted by the Eastern Regional office and is intended to encourage conversation heading into the convention. The following is a set of helpful resources from BILD meant to inform and give context to the Region’s discourse at the convention. Articles from Advent Christian authors on pertinent topics will be forthcoming.
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In this post we meet the shallow ground hearer. The shallow ground hearer and the crowded ground hearer (next post) are both professing believers but their faith is at best meager and superficial and not genuine and saving. What kind of soil are you?
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The seed is the word of God that is proclaimed or taught. It is the Scripture with its life giving message. The seed is always sown on the heart. The heart is the center of your person. It is the unique combination of what one believes/thinks and what one wants/desires. One who is hardened ground is one whose heart is not receptive to the seed that is sown and this primarily means that one does not understand the meaning or import of the Word that was spoken or heard.
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