November 1, 2007
Articles
ADVENTIST NEWS Round up
Posted November 1st, 2007 by Marcel Schwantes
Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference: Comments and Commentaries
Reports by Ervin Taylor (Adventist Today), Arthur Patrick (Avondale College), and Robert Johnston (Andrews University)
The chapel of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus of Andrews University was the venue for the 50th Anniversary of the publication in 1957 of Seventh-day Adventists Answers Questions on Doctrine, a work generally referred to as just 
Questions on Doctrine, or QOD.
The following reports from the conference are available on our website:
[1] Ervin Taylor, Adventist Today Executive Editor writes "Maintaining Church Unity in a Post Modern Era: Many Right Ways to Think."
[2] Arthur Patrick, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Avondale College writes "The Questions on Doctrine Conference: An Overview for the Busy Adventist."
[3] Robert M. Johnston, Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Emeritus, SDA Theological Seminary, Andrews University writes "Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference: A Personal Reaction." Read all the conference reports and highlights.
AT Staffer Wins SAC Student of the Year
Adventist Today editorial assistant, Melanie Eddlemon, was named Communications Student of the Year at the Society of Adventist Communicators’ Conference Oct. 13 in Nashville , Tennessee .
Eddlemon, a senior at Southern Adventist University, was cited for her innovative work as producer of a multimedia show, Strawberry Festival, her performance as a student, and her work with Adventist Today Magazine. “I feel honored to have received this award,” said Eddlemon, 23.
Eddlemon has been helping develop the new format of Adventist Today. “It's rewarding to work in an environment where my opinion matters—where my insight is expected and taken seriously,” she said.
“Melanie Eddlemon represents our twin commitments to excellence and to Adventist young adults,” said Andy Nash, editor-elect of Adventist Today. “She’s very gifted and has done significant work in developing our new format.”
The new-look Adventist Today debuts in January. Subscriptions are being taken at the AToday website or by calling (800) 236- 3641.
Pastor Returns to Adventist Employment After Five Years
Adventist Today will have more coverage of this story in our January print edition. To subscribe, click here.
Alex Bryan has been named the new associate pastor for the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bryan led an evangelistic initiative in Atlanta in 1996, the New Community Fellowship, aimed at reaching secular young adults with the Gospel. Bryan resigned from denominational employment in 2002 to pursue this evangelistic passion, and not without success. Earlier this year, however, Bryan and his wife, Nicole, came under increasing conviction to reconnect with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Read the whole story.
Guidelines anticipate potential tension of church mission, social legislation
excerpted from Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders took action October 15 by voting new guidelines during the Annual Council session of the General Conference. Guidelines will be used for instances when the church's beliefs are at odds with social legislation. Expressed in the document, “Safeguarding Mission in Changing Social Environments,” these guidelines intently express the church's stance against same sex marriage, homosexual practices or advocacy for homosexual rights. Read the news release or read the document itself.
The Invisible Majority
by Jimmy Phillips, Adventist Review
A 1997 survey of church members found that 67 percent of Adventist college students attended a university or college not affiliated with the Adventist Church. Approximately 20,000 students attend 14 Adventist schools across North America each year. That means that somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 North American Adventist students attend one of approximately 6,4004 non-Adventist colleges and universities. Read the article in The Review.
Quads: Family's instant Brady Bunch on the way
Coleman Babb in the Tucson Citizen
Women pregnant with multiples have the option of reducing embryos. Increased risk of premature birth is the main reason moms opt for the procedure, but it was not an option for Gomez. Religious convictions persuaded the Seventh-day Adventist to go against doctors' advice. Read the article.
The Primary School That Could Be the First All-Black State School
from This Is London UK Entertainment Guide
The successful primary school, which is run by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, has 118 pupils - all of whom are black. Only one of its 15 teachers is white. Headmaster Solomon Senessie, 50, said: "We still have to find what makes black children achieve. Here we identify with the children. It makes a difference in the minds of the children." Research shows that black children are three times more likely to be excluded from mainstream schools than their white peers. Read the article and reader comments.
AR On The Air
The Adventist Review has published a page with an extensive list of links to Adventist audio and video programming (radio, television and internet stations) from a wide variety of ministries. Click here for the list.
THE BLOGOSPHERE ~ In the trenches with the best of Adventist blogging
Posted November 1st, 2007 by Marcel Schwantes
Adventist Defense League Has EGW's Back
The "Adventist Defense League" is a blog associated with the Jesus is the Solution Bilingual Ministry - a ministry dedicated to proclaiming the Three Angels message of Revelation 14:6-12. Blog editor Edwin M. Cotto describes Adventist Defense League as "dedicated to defending and responding to alleged 'arguments' that critics believe can successfully destroy our Adventist positions." Presenting both sides of the issue objectively, they claim to let their readers decide the truth. There are various sections where readers can comment in response to arguments against Ellen White. Visit Adventist Defense League.
Selmanovic Interviews Brian McLaren
Samir Selmanovic of the Faith House Manhattan project and emerging church leader Brian McLaren met in 1999 as pastors on the East Coast and have remained friends since. In this candid interview, Samir asks poignant questions about McLaren's new book Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. (Thomas Nelson, 2007). McLaren also weighs in on the need for inter-religious / interfaith dialogue as well as opinions on Samir's Faith House Manhattan ministry. Read the interview on FaithHouse Manhattan
AToday Interviews Pastor Danny Chan
interview by Marcel Schwantes, AToday Online Editor
Your Renovatus worship service is unlike any other, at least in Southern California. It's self-described as "an ongoing journey where we gather weekly to chase after the mystery of God." Explain the chase.
Danny: Our goal at Renovatus is to experience His mystery through the use of contemplation, hands on interaction, prayer, silence, multi-media, etc. all in our effort to make worship a multi-sensory encounter. For example, we don't just talk about life as a journey, we actually have people walk through a road cutting right through our worship space as we meditate on passages of scripture. And we don't just talk about Jesus as the "light" of the world, or read bible stories, but we help people experience complete darkness, then ask them to ignite a flame that instantly swallows up the dark. People walk through these stories exploring it for themselves, and yes participating in the story often for the very first time.
Danny: Probably the fact that it's an "enhanced" podcast. There are three kinds of podcasts: audiocasts, videocasts and a mix of the two, which are called "enhanced" podcasts. In enhanced podcasts images are displayed that play in time with the audio, along with chapter markers and weblinks which gives the podcast a fuller and more interactive experience. The Renovatus Ministry podcast was one of the first Christian enhanced podcasts, and probably the first young adult enhanced podcast available.
Danny: On that particular week we experienced what it means to be the "bride" of Christ. Our intention was to not just talk about being the "bride" but to have people experience committing to a marriage arrangement. So when we took the cup of juice [during the Agape Feast], we reflected about when Christ asked his disciples to take the cup at the last supper, and how he was really asking his followers to be his "bride."
Danny: We see Renovatus as not just another worship venue, but as a new approach to the worship itself that's responsive to postmodern trends in culture. This postmodern multi-sensory approach to worship largely came out of the postmodern movement in the UK, but it is deeply
rooted in a worship approach typical of first century Christianity.
Danny: Renovatus was created primarily for young adults ages 18-35 who are seeking a fresh approach to church. Although many who attend are either younger or older than that, the average age is about 27 years old.
Danny: One of the primary ways we explore the bible truth is through releasing the depth and insight found in stories and metaphors. When we experience these stories first hand they have a life changing quality that is relevant and applicable to both churched and unchurched people. Response to our worship has been very positive from both of those groups.
During your sermons, you use a lot of graphics and images that are looped and splashed on two large screens. Some have complained that it's distracting. Explain the tactic and its importance.
Danny: I chose to produce a film about seeking because that's the road so many travel on. The film is the first in a series of films about a young man on a quest for a true spiritual experience. The plot takes a life-changing twist when the young man meets a wise figure who gives him more than he bargained for. The film not only helps to draw people to our site called areyouseeking.com, but it's an insightful story that speaks about our quest for something more.
View the Air Film
How does Renovatus inform and reflect Adventist beliefs, or does it?
Danny: Renovatus is a new approach to an old message. Our goal is not to create something new to share, but to help young generations approach and connect to the same Gospel story and Adventism. In fact, we are currently doing a series called "Revelation for a New Generation:
Releasing the Metaphors of Worship." And one of our contentions (and I'm paraphrasing Eugene Peterson), is that Revelation doesn't so much share new information, it simply helps us to experience what we've already read throughout the scriptures. And that is precisely what we
attempt to do weekly.
Who are your spiritual influences? And what are you currently reading?
Danny: My father the pastor/evangelist and always the progressive thinker. Buenaventura Garcia III, Dan Smith, Tony Campolo, Martin Luther King, Jr. [I'm reading] "Stand Against the Wind" by Erwin McManus, "Reversed Thunder" by Eugene Peterson and anything by Philip Yancey.
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RELIGION NEWS Round up
Posted November 1st, 2007 by Marcel SchwantesPROVOCATIVE DOCUMENTARY RELEASE: FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival, For The Bible Tells Me So has been released nationally. This film is described on its website as "a provocative, entertaining documentary that brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible." Director Daniel Karslake depicts the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt as they discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Ultimately, the movies tries to answer the question: Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross?
~ Read a review of the film.
Bureau of Prisons changes course on banning religious texts
By Adelle M. Banks, The Christian Index
After receiving criticism from religious leaders and Capitol Hill, the Federal Bureau of Prisons says it will scale back its effort to ban religious texts from prison libraries. Read the article.
What Does Christian Feminism Look Like?
by Geoff Matheson in Amateur Theology
So the question is out there: what does it mean to be a feminist in 2007? How about a Christian feminist? How does your faith interplay with your thinking around these issues? Read the posting.
Everything Must Change: Brian McLaren Releases New Book
Brian McLaren’s new book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope was released on October 2nd. He promotes the already controversial book with a few preview videos that explains the book, including this one. (YouTube)
Churches uneasy on question of transgender clergy
By Daniel Burke, Religious News Service
The United Methodist Church has no rules on the books for transsexual pastors. So when the Rev. Ann Gordon changed sex from female to male and became the Rev. Drew Phoenix, he didn't technically break any laws. READ THE ARTICLE.
Museum stirs up debate between science, religion
By Andrew McGinn, Springfield News-Sun
PETERSBURG, Ky. — One of the first things to greet visitors to the Creation Museum is an animatronic display of a sweet little girl frolicking in nature. She's frolicking right next to what appears to be a pair of velociraptors. At the biblical history museum near the Cincinnati airport in northern Kentucky, you either believe or suspend your disbelief. Read the article.
Ann Coulter on CNBC Show: Jews Need 'Perfecting'
by Editor & Publisher staff
Appearing on Donny Deutsch’s CNBC show, “The Big Idea,” columnist/author Ann Coulter suggested that the U.S. would be a better place if there weren’t any Jewish people and that they needed to “perfect” themselves into — Christians. Read the article.
Southern Baptists Seek Laws Making 'Will Of Christ' Supreme
excerpted from American United
Religious right leader Richard Land is working to turn America's 16 million Southern Baptists into a disciplined political machine. Land then insists that all he seeks is "a level playing field." "Does that mean," asks Land, "that false religions have the same rights to express their opinions and their beliefs as we do? Sure. Let them come. I never saw Elijah backing away from a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. He just showed them the power of the One True God!" Read the article.
EVENTS
Posted November 1st, 2007 by Marcel SchwantesINNOVATIVE IMPACT 2007, November 6,7 Baltimore, MD.
Geared for pastors and church leadership teams to grow together over two days sitting under some of the most insightful leaders in the “frontline” church today. Sponsored by the NAD Church Resource Center. Website: www.innovativeimpact.org.