Thoughts and stories from members of The Place community.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Community Services
SAVE THE DATE - May 31 and June 1. The Place in partnership with 50+ area churches will be spending the weekend "serving our community." We'll be actively sharing God's love by reaching out in service to area schools, senior facilities and community service agencies.
The SCC Evangelism Training Seminar has just started but there is still room and time for more to sign up. The seminar is designed to help members participate in the evangelism planned for our conference by giving the tools needed for doing Bible studies. Don’t miss this excellent instruction and your opportunity to have a part in SCC evangelism!
Seminar description :
Now thru Feb. 28 – SCC Evangelism Training Seminar for lay persons, in preparation for the conference-wide 09 evangelism. Learn how to effectively give a Bible study and lead an individual to Christ. Presenter, Michael Johnson. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mondays & Thursdays (with one Tues. evening, due to a January holiday), on the following dates : Jan. 7, 10, 14, 17, 22, 24, 28, 31; Feb. 4, 7, 11, 14 and 28. Location, Committee room, SCC office. Seating capacity : 50. Cost, $50/person. You must RSVP by calling 818-546-8405. Make checks payable to SCC, 1535 E. Chevy Chase Drive , Glendale , Att : James Lee. Info : 818-546-8405; www.endtimeslikethese.com
It's way after the fact, but we thought we'd mention that Bill Werner recently led out a Sabbath morning class on helping people discover their place in the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts classes are a mainstay of all churches, but how many of us really earnestly and honestly follow through? Knowing your spiritual gifts is one thing, using your spiritual gifts is a whole other thing.
The group worked together on the following topics, ones we should ask ourselves regularly whether we're thinking about getting more involved or are deeply involved with several ministries:
Discovering our spiritual gifts--what gifts, talents, abilities has God given to me that can be used to honor Him and help others? Spiritual gifts answers the "What" question--what should I be doing in the body of Christ?
Discovering our personal style--what is the personal style that God has "wired" me up with? Am I people-oriented or task-oriented? Do I prefer to work within a well-defined structure or do I prefer an unstructured environment? Personal style answers the "How" question--how should I be working in the body of Christ, in harmony with my personal style.
Discovering our passion--what is my God-given passion in life? What do I get excited about, what motivates me. Our passion answers the "Where" question--where should I be serving in the body of Christ?
If you want to know more about how you can use your gifts at The Place, talk to Bill Werner at church or email us at jeremyabemail-bwerner@yahoo.com.
Reliable polls indicate Americans are interested in spirituality but not in the traditions, teachings and commitments of denominations. Church growth specialists have suggested that a strong denominational identity may actually retard the growth of a congregation. So why bother with the Adventist denomination? Why not simply focus all our attention on our own local congregations and ignore the denomination? What are the benefits of participation in a local church which is part of the Seventh-day Adventist denominational structure?
Adventism and Diversity
Among the regulars at my church on Sabbath morning, you'll find contented life-long Adventists, recent converts excited about Adventist doctrine and life, and returning Adventists back in church after years away who still have major questions about aspects of Adventist doctrine or culture.
Then there are the "non-Adventist members," people who have found a home in our congregation but have no intention of formally joining the Adventist church, refugees from the breakup of the World Wide Church of God, individuals from the Church of God Seventh-day and the Shepherd's Rod movement, Messianic Jews, a couple of "off-brand" Sabbatarians with ministerial training but no congregation to pastor.
What holds us together? Adventism. Given the diversity of our congregation, if we tried to develop our own detailed statement of doctrine we'd either splinter into a dozen or so factions or we would have a theology so vague and generic, it would be impossible to give significant instruction to new converts.
By embracing Adventism as our doctrinal center, we are able to be passionate about theology without self-destructing in the collisions of personal viewpoints. We are able to welcome a very wide diversity of theological perspectives without losing the definition that is essential for effective outreach to non-Christians.
In "community churches," the theology and spiritual life of the church either narrows to reflect the pastor or has very little definition. Many of these churches train their own pastoral staff in-house so there is very little theological cross-fertilization. There is no real connection with the larger stream of Christian history. Being part of a denomination works to increase the theological and spiritual diversity in Adventist congregations.
While Adventists have done poorly in race relations, being in the same denomination with congregations with differing racial identities pushes us to recognize our failures and to address them. Denominational connections can also assist congregations bridge generational gaps.
Adventism and Pastors
The pastors in the local clergy association I belong to have a very high view of the privileges and authority of the clergy and a correspondingly low view of the competence and trustworthiness of the laity.
Their perspective is not atypical. Recently, along with other Adventist pastors in my region, I attended a leadership seminar based on the work of John Maxwell, a prominent speaker among evangelicals. According to the presenter, pastoral leadership is the ability to get church members to accept and support the pastor's vision of where the church should be headed and how it should get there. The laity do not play any significant role in determining the direction of the church. Their job is to support and implement their pastor's vision. This approach to leadership is evident in all of the large community churches I'm acquainted with. The pastor has almost unlimited authority.
The Adventist system does not assign pastors that kind of authority. While our structure often limits the effectiveness of creative, innovative pastors, it also limits the impact of incompetent or misguided pastors. American Adventist culture sees an essential parity in the authority of laity and clergy.
Parity of spiritual authority does not come from some formal vote by the General Conference; it comes from the broader Adventist culture. If you've gone to Adventist schools, been a member of different Adventist congregations and have friends and relatives in other Seventh-day Adventist congregations, you have an almost instinctive yardstick with which to measure your pastor and congregation. If the pastor gets out of line, you know it. The greatest check on the abuse of pastoral power is the sense of history and tradition that lives in the minds of long-time Adventists, people who have enough history and breadth of contact with Adventism to resist (and correct) an erring but charismatic pastor (or administrator).
Adventist Institutions
It's easy to see the effect of local congregations. It's more difficult to gauge the value of other Adventist institutions such as schools, summer camps, and media. We could tell personal stories of how a particular teacher touched us, how summer camp scarred or charmed us, how a media program was our first contact with the Adventist Church. These individual stories are compelling, but the principle value of these institutions is in their function as the connective tissue of the body of Adventism. These institutions create the mental and social linkage among Adventist congregations. They connect the three kids in a twenty-member church in Kansas with the thousands of Seventh-day Adventist youth across the country (and world). They give meaning and hope to "church" when a local congregation or pastor is dysfunctional. Potentially, they limit the impact of the failure of a particular congregation. (And congregations do fail.)
Adventist Identity
Some would argue that we should be content to see ourselves as Christians and not give much emphasis to our Adventist identity. But "Christian," in America, for many people means belief in the god of eternal torment. In the minds of many non-Christians, Christians are people who hate homosexuals and bomb abortion clinics. In the South I grew up in, "Christian" meant "separate but equal." And not a few Americans are aware that regions of the country with the most pronounced "Christian identity" are the places with the highest incidence of child abuse.
Given this misunderstanding of the real meaning of "Christian," I gladly embrace my Adventist identity. My secular neighbors are much less prejudiced against Adventism than against Christianity. So calling myself an Adventist or an Adventist Christian actually helps me in my evangelistic efforts among those who are not already born-again Christians.
Being an Adventist connects me with believers in New Guinea and Botswana. It connects me with Urdu and Korean-speaking believers here in the U. S. It connects me with the evil in Rwanda, where my people were both killers and victims. The denomination is not the same as the Body of Christ, but it reminds me of my spiritual connections with believers who are very different and very distant.
(On a practical note: While early evidence found that a strong denominational identity could hinder the growth of a congregation, later research reversed those findings. A strong denominational identity may well facilitate the growth of congregations.)
Adventist Theology
This is the real reason why I'm a booster of Adventism. For all its flaws (i.e. humanness) Adventist theology is the form of Christianity best suited to reach the modern, educated mind. In conversations with Buddhists, Jews, agnostics and garden variety non-religious Americans I have found repeatedly that the Adventist understanding of God and humanity elicits their respect if not their agreement.
The Adventist understanding of how "inspiration" works makes sense to modern people. We believe God inspired the writers; he did not dictate the words. Properly understood, this view encourages both scholarship and the meekness of classic Christian spirituality.
Adventists (even the fundamentalists among us) believe in the intelligibility of God. We are driven to interpret what the Bible says in a way that does not violate human intelligence and sense of justice. God himself, we believe, is a being of law. He is not capricious or arbitrary.
This idea of God's intelligibility and lawfulness underlies our doctrines of judgment (decisions are made in the open, not in the secret heart of God), the fate of the wicked and the salvation of individuals in pre-Christian societies. It undergirds the Adventist educational enterprise.
The other pole of Adventist thought is the essential goodness of creation. We are obligated to show respect for God's artistry through the way we treat our bodies. Nature is valued among us as a resource for spiritual life. Sabbath afternoon walks in the out-of-doors are a common feature of our life.
You will find some of these things in other systems of Christian theology, but no denomination has a theology that is as holistic and respectful of humanity as Adventism. No other theological culture does a better job of balancing reverence for the Bible and God's transcendence and majesty on the one hand with a high regard for creation and humanity on the other.
Do we have problems? Of course. But when you consider the strengths of Adventist theology and culture, I believe you will be impressed with its usefulness for building a healthy life here and now and preparing for eternal life with Christ.
The Place's own Alan Reinach has helped start a new congregational ministry, Congregation Beth Ohavey Torah, "The house of those who love Torah."
The purpose of this new ministry is
To provide an authentic worship experience for those Jewish people who have come to embrace Yeshua ha Mashiach, commonly known by Christians as Jesus.
To provide an opportunity for interfaith couples to worship together without compromise - a Jewish and Christian spouse can worship together in a respectful context that honors both traditions, without either party feeling pressured to convert.
The new congregation's leaders hope a variety of both Jews and Christians will participate in these services and extend a very warm welcome to all who wish to join together in a worship service that combines authentic Jewish liturgical elements with wisdom and instruction derived from both the Jewish and Seventh-day Adventist theological traditions.
Alan hopes that Jews and Christians can learn from one another and find their own spiritual lives greatly blessed. For example, Christians have much to learn about their own "new testament," a Jewish book, by learning more about Jewish culture, traditions and religion. Jews may find themselves both surprised and pleased to learn that what the Christian New Testament emphasizes is authentically Jewish and consistent with the Hebrew Scriptures.
Alan says many Jews already worship in Seventh-day Adventist churches throughout the Los Angeles area; he would like to develop a sense of community and mishpochah with these brothers and sisters.
The congregation meets on a monthly basis, on Sabbath afternoons, to celebrate the close of Sabbath, the Havdalah service, and to enjoy a social time together, with food, of course.
The meetings are held at the Canoga Park Community Seventh-day Adventist Church , 20550 Roscoe Blvd, Canoga Park , CA.
Next Sabbath, November 17, special guest, Alexander Bolotnikov, director, Shalom Learning Center will be there. And on December 8th there will be Hanukkah celebrations.
If you'd like more information, call Loritha McDuffie at (805) 413-7396 or email Alan Reinach at mrliberty@churchstate.org.
While the fires came within about 15 miles of The Place and much closer to the homes of some of our church family, the worst most of us suffered was from the incredibly smoky air, which has kept most of us indoors over the past week.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a long history of effective disaster response and community service. Below is yesterday's memo from Adventist Community Services:
Southern California Fire Update October 25, 2007
Since the fires began in Southern California, Adventist Community Services volunteers have been hard at work providing shelters and food in several Seventh-day Adventist churches. Some volunteers were themselves evacuees and were unsure they would have a house to go home to after the fires subsided.
More than 500,000 acres have burned and over 1,800 structures have been destroyed. 23 fires are still burning, but a favorable change in weather is giving fire fighters an opportunity to begin containing the blazes. Enough progress is being made that the largest shelter, Qualcomm Stadium, will be closing to evacuees Friday at noon. At this time, donations of goods and volunteers are not being requested.
Individuals who have been affected by this devastation should take advantage of assistance from state and federal sources. It is important to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as soon as possible. This can be done by calling 800-621-3362. The website for the California Office of Emergency Services, www.oes.ca.gov, is a very good resource for information. Individual Assistance is currently available at nine different sites.
No Seventh-day Adventist churches or schools have been damaged, but the homes of more than 20 church members have been destroyed. Plans are being made to assist any families that have needs after insurance, FEMA and the State have provided assistance.
So, what can you do if you are not affected?
Please pray for all of those who have suffered loss, find themselves evacuees, or are involved in responding to those in need.
Make a financial donation (designated for Adventist Community Services Disaster Response) through:
The Place is participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Our local event is being held October 13-14, 2007 at Newbury Park High School. Kevin Emmerson is our team leader and has participated in many Relay for Life events. Our team of 8-15 will walk continuously (one member at a time) for 24 hours to raise money for cancer research.
How You Can Get Involved - Place members can sign up to join our team, you can volunteer, create your own team, or sponsor The Placers team. All this can be done at the Relay for Life of Conejo Valley website under the "Get Involved" section.
More Easy Ways to Help The Place Share The Message
That's right, by shopping. While we at The Place do not condone unbridled materialism or laying your treasures in corruptible places, we still have to get things. And, if you're going to get things, it makes sense to get them at fair prices AND donate some portion of the proceeds to the church.
The Place's online store comes through Amazon, who donates amounts starting at 4% back to us. We use that money for funding evangelism efforts.
If you love The Place, we invite you to become active in our community. We are counting on you to get involved by spreading the Word. Here is an easy starting point - add a Place button to your site, blog, or MySpace page. To add the button above with a link to The Place on it, just copy the HTML below onto your site:
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17 NIV)
Jesus was willing to become one of us, to erase the differences between us and himself, and speak to us words of truth and grace. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be like him. We, too, must cast aside differences with others, get to know them, and speak to them in truth and grace, as Jesus did. We cannot offer truth and grace to others without a close relationship to them. Intimacy and discipleship are intertwined; we can't offer truth to others without understanding their life situation and how they'll relate to the truth. And we can't speak with others in grace without loving them.
Hear Pastor Simon Liversidge's complete sermon on this topic, entitled Before the Call.
Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"
"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him.
(John 1:38-39 TNIV)
"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip. (John 1:46 TNIV)
After the came and saw, they believed. That's it. Jesus does not say that to be with him you have to understand him first. He doesn't say you have to come to church first. He doesn't tell you to start doing this and stop doing that, then you'll see. It's not an invitation to become a religious fanatic or accept any particular doctrine.
It's an invitation to a relationship with God. Jesus invites us, saying, "Come and spend time with me."
If you are disciple of Jesus, it's not necessarily your job to try to convince others about complex theology or beliefs. Just invite someone to come and see what God is doing in your life, in the life of your friends, and in the church.
If you're not a follower of Jesus, just come. And see. No strings attached.
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28, TNIV)
All of us have heard those words of Jesus before, but there's a subtle point that's often overlooked--"DO good to those who hate you." To do good to someone means to continue to interact with them. Often, as Christians, we surround ourselves with the like-minded to avoid the company of those who can't stand us.
And, that absence might make us thing we've licked the "love your enemies" thing. Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Holocaust survivor, wrote and preached often of forgiveness. Here, she tells the story of her first actual encounter with one of her Nazi captors after the war:
It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face.
He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.” He said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggles to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I prayed, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
Corrie thought that she had forgiven her enemies until she actually met one who she couldn't bring herself to forgive. The only way she could overcome was to surrender her hate to Jesus. It's a humbling lesson for all of us when we consider all those who've wronged us in our lives.
Charles Blondin was one of the greatest tightrope walkers of all time. He first crossed Niagara Falls in 1859, then repeated it blindfolded, in a sack, pushing a wheelbarrow, on stilts, and sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelette.
He did it once, however, carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back. According to Colcord, the trip was terrifying. Blondin was only 5-5, 140 lbs. The ropes that keep the tightrope from swaying were broken. Blondin grew tired about 1/3 of the way across and made Colcord get off so Blondin could rest. Colcord then had to climb back up. Colcord had been warned not to look down, but he did and panicked.
But, what could Colcord do? Nothing. He was told to rest like a dead weight and NEVER try to balance if Blondin should seem to stumble or tilt.
They made it across.
What are the lessons for us? Trust. Surrender. Obedience. Colcord had complete faith in Blondin. When it really counted, Colcord realized he was powerless and trusted Blondin to get him across safely. How many of us, in our walk with Jesus, are more like the spectators in the crowd? We're on the sidelines watching and may even feel like we're part of the event. But, when it really matters, do you really trust God enough to risk everything? Would you ever lay it all on the line? That's the difference between believing and being a disciple of Jesus.
Yes, that's The Place's very own Ralph Figueroa stepping in as the Lord's stunt double for Oxygen Church Media, who provide Christian graphics. You can see Ralph in action as Jesus on many images on their site.
But, many, if not most of us have wondered what Jesus looked like. Here's a traditional depiction of Jesus in Ethiopian Christian art:
There a whole entry in Wikipedia speculating on the physical appearance of Jesus. In it, some scientists have created a portrait of Jesus based on the bones that have been uncovered in the area from that time period:
Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is speaking at UCLA on March 8. Rob is a provocative speaker, with whom you may not agree on everything, but he'll definitely challenge you in your apprenticeship with Jesus.
One of our small groups covered the issue of Christians and alcohol the other night. As many of you may know, the official Adventist denominational position is "Since alcoholic beverages . . .are harmful to our bodies, we are to abstain from them . . . ." The issue arose not from the perspective that alcohol use is good, but is the Adventist church overreaching Biblical truth, in order to reinforce the health and temperance message of Ellen White? After all there are many references to wine in the Bible and Jesus' first miracle described in the gospels was the turning of water into wine at the wedding at Cana.
Even more interestingly, it is the personal ministries of well-known Adventists that argue most strongly for an absolute position on all Biblical references. See Samuele Bacchiocchi and Doug Batchelor's Amazing Facts tract.
All argue, however, that the negative effects of alcohol in our lives are so great one wonders why some of us come so strongly to its defense.
Thursday, 2/22 at 7pm at Ventura Missionary Church (300 High Point Drive in Ventura). A free concert and a free will offering will be taken. For more info call the church's event hotline at 642-0550 x382. If like U2, you'll probably like the music of Tree63. Some of their hit songs include: "Blessed Be Your Name", "I Stand For You" , "Look What You've Done", "King", "Treasure", and "Joy". Check out their hits and a couple of their newer songs, "All Over the World" and "Lift" at their MySpace page.
Three members of The Place--Alicia Adams, Gerry Chudleigh, and Jeremy Bachmann--will be speaking this Sunday, February 11th, in Loma Linda at the Southern and Southeastern California Conferences 2007 Communication Workshop at the LLBN-TV Studios.
Two Sabbaths ago, Elder Rob Randall discussed the moving story of the Hoyts in his sermon on Romans. He showed a video at the end of the sermon, which many people have requested to see again.
Here, by popular demand, is more information on the Hoyts and a link to that video.
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