Milton Paredes, Edelmira Paredes and their daughter Diana Miled were in their second floor room, welcoming the Sabbath when the cruise ship crashed off the western Italian coast on Friday, January 13.

Edelmira suffered three fractured ribs and is recovering.

Milton and Diana were interviewed on Peruvian television where they were introduced by the reporter as Seventh-day Adventists. Milton and Diana got to share how their Seventh-day Adventist faith put things in proper perspective even in a frantic life-or-death situation.

They also gave a fascinating behind-the-scenes look of the entire ordeal. They talked about what it was like inside the cruise ship, how they got to shore despite the freezing cold waters, and how one gets back home to Peru when everything you brought on the trip is stuck on the ship.

On live TV, they gave the reporter a read more

The elders and the outreach leadership team immediately began planning. We developed a mail-out and made arrangements to have them delivered to 15,000 homes in the area. I began putting together my fifteen night series wanting to present everything in the context of the war between Christ and Satan. We called it War Talk.

On opening night we were happy to find about fifteen people or more attending, who were not members of our church. Most of them were from the Bible Worker contacts just a few were from the mail out. This just affirmed what has always been my experience and that is that soul winning takes personal contact of church members with non members. In this case it was our Bible Worker and the members that had been helping him with Bible studies.

As the meetings continued people continued to come and even the attendance of our members was impressive. I was very pleased to see church members talking to people and showing a genuine interest in them, drawing them into the fellowship.

As with any series there were people who started and dropped out. Some came in the middle for a few meetings then disappeared. Some attended right on through. At the end of the meetings we planned to turn our weekly prayer meeting into a continuation of our series and just moved right ahead sharing our distinctive beliefs as they are in Jesus. We are sure that there will be some who take their stand for present truth as it is in Jesus for this time.

• To sign up, click HERE.
• For more information about the 2012 trip, click HERE.
• To learn about purchasing your plane tickets, fundraising, and more, click HERE.
• To learn about past projects, click HERE.

We hope to see you there!

Officials of the Seventh Day Adventist church explain their position in relation to the time zone change during a press conference

When Samoa wokes up on the morning of Saturday 31st December, it found itself sharing the same day of the week, Saturday 31 December with the countries such as NZ and Australia the majority of other Pacific island countries.

Samoa time moved forward by a whole 24 hours having skipped Friday 30th December entirely.

The change is the result of government’s plans to change the positioning of the International Date Line in relation to Samoa.

In doing so, Samoa is now in the eastern hemisphere in terms of reckoning of time, together with it’s near neighbours and trading partners. For most purposes, the change will have no practical effect on people’s everyday lives.

But by sharing the same time zones with these countries, the conduct of business and other relations with Samoa’s closest partners and neighbours, not to mention travel will be more convenient and less disruptive, reasons given for the change.

For the Christian community, however, the change has implications for the two recognized weekly days of worship, Sunday on the first day of the week, and the Biblical Sabbath on the seventh.

Sunday worship will continue uninterrupted for the majority even though Sunday will have moved from the first day of the week to the seventh and last day. For those like Seventh Day Adventists, who observe the Biblical Sabbath however, the change will present challenges because of the read more

I had to put together a quick and easy assessment tool for practical use while I was in a year of CPE for the US Army Chaplaincy. We had to come up with a way to get to the heart of the Spiritual Matter in 10 minutes of less in a hospital visit. This assessment tool forced me to really have some focused direction with a patient and I wish I would have had this while I was pastoring in TX. I use it all the time with people and they are not aware of it, but it helps me to keep on track and keep them on track. I offer it as a tool for any one of you pastors (elders or ministry workers) and hope it can benefit you in your ministry counseling.

THE FIVE F’s

1. Facts- Can you tell me a little of the story that brought you here?
2. Family- Can you tell me a little about your family. ( You want to know do they have family or a friend support system)
3. Feeling- Can you tell me how you are feeling? (What is their primary emotion, anger, depression, grief, frustration, etc?)
4. Faith- How does your faith help you or hurt you in times like this? ( You want to assess where their faith is, or do they practice their faith, Bible Reading, Prayer, Worship, where is their walk with God?)
5. Future- Can you tell me what the future looks like down the road? ( You want to know do they have a future in site or does it look bleak and dark)

The meetings are open to the public without charge. Conference and the North Pacific Union pastors and staff are welcome to attend. Conference and Union officials may wish to designate the meetings as Continuing Ministerial Education.

More information about the program and travel arrangements are available at the Adventist Theological Society website here.

To view the program for the Spring Symposium click here

But what do these words really mean for someone who promotes and defends religious freedom? What will 2012 bring for the families of those killed in Northern Nigeria as bombs ripped through churches where Christmas services were in progress? Or for the young lady in Pakistan who was raped, and then given the choice between marrying her attacker or being stoned for adultery?

What would be an appropriate New Year’s wish for the many millions of people around the world today who experience discrimination, persecution, or even execution, just because of their religious convictions?

I was deeply moved by the story of an elderly woman in Orissa, India, who bravely confronted a group of religious fanatics. They saw her as an apostate and believed themselves to be defenders of the “true faith.” They gave her a choice: “Give up your religion or die.” The woman chose a violent death rather than to betray her conscience.

Did she make the right choice? No magazine or newspaper has published the story of her courage; her face has never appeared on cable news. Soon, the memory of her heroism will fade.

When we realize that this woman’s story is just one of countless others—many of which will never be known or told—we may be tempted to ask, “Is the struggle and the pain worthwhile? Wouldn’t it be wiser for these men and women to surrender; to give in to the will of the majority? Wouldn’t it be better for them to just accept the reality of intolerance and fanaticism? To put aside their quest for freedom and to aim simply for survival?”

Yet ordinary people around the world continue to choose the path of faithfulness, no matter what the cost.

Is choosing to die for your faith an act of read more

Although a single serving of plain oatmeal has one gramme of sugar, one serving (253 grammes) of McDonald’s fruit and maple oatmeal with brown sugar contains 32 grammes of sugar. One serving of the same oatmeal, without brown sugar, contains 18 grammes of sugar, according to the company’s nutrition facts.

“Why would McDonald’s… take a venerable ingredient like oatmeal and turn it into expensive junk food?” lamented New York Times columnist Mark Bittman in February 2011.

McDonald’s oatmeal, he pointed out, “contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and (is) only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin”.

But critics say McDonald’s uncanny ability to turn an inherently healthy food into an unnaturally processed product (the oatmeal itself contains seven ingredients, including “natural flavour”, according to Bittman) is not even the most egregious of the stunts that large food corporations manage to pull.

A Nestle supermarket that set sail in the form of a barge on the Amazon River in Brazil in June 2011 could be one of the more outlandish efforts by the food industry to offer an expanding range of customers a plethora of processed and packaged foods.

Even though processed food is inexpensive, noted Bittman, “the costs aren’t seen at the cash register but in the form of high health care bills and environmental degradation”.

In the United States, food activists who are highly critical of read more

John McVay announced this week his plan to resign as Walla Walla University president effective July 1, 2012, so that he can return to the classroom. McVay and his family will continue to reside in College Place, Wash., where he will serve as WWU professor of theology, specializing in New Testament studies. McVay became the university’s 23rd president in 2006. “The opportunity to join the excellent team of professors in the School of Theology is energizing for me,” he says. “I look forward to serving WWU students as teacher, mentor and friend.” Read more at gleaneronline.org HERE.

Jay Wintermeyer, Upper Columbia Conference spokesperson, reports that the Upper Columbia Academy board has invited John Winslow (pictured here) to assume the role of principal for the coming school year. Winslow, who previously worked at UCA as vice-principal, currently serves as the principal for Campion Adventist Academy in Loveland, Colo. He will take up his new duties this summer for the 2012–2013 school year, replacing Troy Patzer who plans to begin work as an UCC trust officer. UCA, in Spangle, Wash., is the largest Adventist boarding academy in North America.

Back then I had big plans for my life. I had tried pastoring early in my career, but found it stifling. (I was also pretty bad at it.) So after working in public relations for a few years, I earned an MBA and went to work in high-tech product marketing. I worked for a Fortune 500 company, as well as some little Internet startups with big plans. My goal was to hit a home run, retire young, and go start a church plant.

God had other ideas. And ten years ago, almost to the day, instead of just letting me pursue my own plans, he drew me into a job where I got to serve pastors and local church leaders. I loved it. And out of that experience, SermonView was born.

As I reflect on these last ten years of serving local churches, here are some things I’ve learned:

1. Effective is more important than innovative.

There are always better ways to do something. The world around us is constantly changing, so we have to continue to innovate in order to keep up.

Personally, I enjoy innovation, and in the beginning I pushed churches to do things in more innovative ways. But I came to realize that the ultimate goal is not innovation for its own sake; the goal is effectiveness. Just because it’s a new way, doesn’t mean it’s a better way. Maybe I’m turning into an old fuddy-duddy, but I now believe that if something is working, don’t change it. Especially when you’re dealing with volunteers running ministries on a weekly basis, there had better be a good reason to make a change. If it’s going to make you more effective, then make the change. Otherwise, leave well enough alone.

Similarly, I had some ideas for marketing evangelism meetings that were really innovative. But we tested some of them, and they didn’t work as well. I never in a million years thought I would ever say this, but if the beasts of Daniel and Revelation on the cover of a mailer are effective (and for some prophecy seminars, they really are), then use them.

That said, you must continue to innovate, or your effectiveness will drop over time. But I no longer innovate for its own sake; the goal of innovation is effectiveness.

2. Problems are God’s, not mine.

God is a whole lot smarter than me. It took me a while to figure it out, but when I let God work through me to do His work, things get a whole lot easier.

A few years back, I read about an encounter someone had with Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. As the story is told by his son, a reporter from a Christian magazine asked him, “Dr. Bright, share with us a problem from your life that READ MORE

In the past they have had the conference hold Share Him seminars, they have held Revelation Seminars but the pastor had not held a series. This year in January we decided I would hold a Share Him series. Before that happened though we started praying. We got involved in the community serving at the local food bank. We got involved with the City wide Christmas Stroll and had over 200 people walk through our door. We were able to visit and hand out literature. We also had people fill out cards for a drawing giving us contact names.

On opening night we had 15 people about double our normal attendance. Seeds were planted we pray they will germinate. We also had one member decide to be rebaptized and we were just able to celebrate that rebaptism. We also had 2 great grandchildren of a member decide for baptism and we are hoping to work that date out real soon.

Townsend also got involved with the Prophecies Decoded seminar. They haven’t seen any fruit from that series but again seeds were planted and I think a little watering went on. You never know what will happen in the future from what was done in faith.

Pastor John L. Clark

The following day my wife told me about the problems she had to face on her own. I felt like the Samaritan woman who felt rejected by all. My mother and my sister showed up. I was telling them how fed up I was of not having anything to believe in. I explained how life was meaningless without a light to guide me through the darkness and that God must give me a purpose. At the climax of my plea Ricardo Castro shows up out of nowhere. I was frozen on the spot. He had visited me once before and I had not seen him since.

I asked him “why are you here?”

He replied “I was on my way to another place, but for some reason I felt the urge to visit you.” This is what I had been waiting for the response to that hollow cry. I knew in my heart that our Lord had sent him. I told Ricardo that I am an imperfect lump of clay that has no shape or form, but if he’s willing to put the time and effort. that lump of clay can be transformed into a tool that may be put to use by our Father.

Since that day my life has changed. I no longer am a friend of drugs or violence, I am now a friend of knowledge and wisdom . The thirst of belonging is gone and my soul is now full, the darkness is now light and I walk hand and hand with my brothers knowing well that we walk over the dragons, like pastor Chazarreta explained at the Revelation Seminars at the Sunnyside Spanish SDA Church from November 26- December 4, 2011.

By God’s grace many of my doubts and questions where answered. On December 3, 2011 I was baptized by Pastor Gerizin De Pena. Now as I look forward with hope, I plan on getting my GED and becoming an instrument of the Lord to help others discover what I have discovered of a life away from violence, drugs and emptiness.

I used to feel like an eagle that thought it was a chicken, but now I feel like I was created to soar. When Jesus truly touches your life everything becomes clear and full of hope.

Remember, this was in the days when doctors were still blood-letting and performing surgery with unwashed hands. This was in an era of medical ignorance bordering on barbarism. Yet Ellen White wrote with such profound understanding on the subject of nutrition that all but two of the many principles she espoused have been scientifically established.

Professor of Nutrition, Dr. Clive McCay of Cornell said, How much better health the average American might enjoy if he but followed the teachings of Mrs. White.

Perhaps we should reread what she has taught: The oil, as eaten in the olive, is far preferable to animal oil or fat. Today we know about cholesterol.

She knew: Fine flour white bread is lacking in nutritive elements to be found in bread made from whole wheat. Today we have re-enriched our bread.

She wrote: Do not eat largely of salt. Now we know we should keep the sodium intake low.

She wrote whole articles on the importance of not overeating; of not becoming overweight; of eating at each meal two or three kinds of simple food; and eat not more than is required to satisfy hunger.

We have come to accept the wisdom of such advice so completely that it is difficult for us to realize how revolutionary her theories were almost a century ago. (Seventh-day Adventists consider her knowledge divinely inspired.)

A long time before we learned about TV snacks, Mrs. White wrote: After irregular eating, when children come to the table, they do not relish wholesome food; their appetites crave that which is hurtful to them.

She urged: Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise.

She wrote: Tobacco is a slow, insidious, but most malignant poison. It is all the more dangerous because its effects are slow and at first hardly perceptible. Divinely inspired or not, Ellen White was, indeed, ahead of her time.

Are there additional recommendations which this remarkable woman urged upon us which we have, so far, ignored?

Two of her teachings haunt the more progressive nutritionists because if she is right about these also, most of us are wrong and have yet to catch up to her advanced knowledge of nutrition.

Mrs. White wrote: All-wheat flour is not best for continuous diet. A mixture of wheat, oatmeal and rye would be more nutritious.

Also, Mrs. White was essentially a vegetarian. She wrote: The life that was in the grains and vegetables passes into the eater.

We receive it by eating the flesh of the animal. How much better to get it direct. Do you suppose we’ll discover she was right about these things, too?

Source: The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Students’ Source Book; The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9. 1962; 2002. Review and Herald Publishing Association

Read more from the Center for Youth Evangelism website HERE. A short video HERE about why young adults leave the Christian church explains one important reason why the One Project Conference is long overdue within the Adventist Church.