Your Custom Text Here
A smile lit Dr. Alan Parker's face but his tone of voice carried a more serious edge. "We have to make sure people feel welcomed. On opening night, it's important that you don't speak in Adventist lingo and that you make it as comfortable as possible for visitors. Tell the church members—specially the greeters and/or hosts."
He's chuckling now as he gets away from his slides and closer to us. "Please. Avoid 'Happy Sabbath' as the generic hello. Visitors have no idea what that means."
Read more
My upbringing is very mixed. Equal parts liberal and equal parts conservative, I have a confusing and at times contradictory worldview that is all too millennial in nature.
Something that I can't quite figure out at the moment is how to appreciate things as they are while pursuing greater degrees of wholesomeness. It is a Christian thing to be grateful; the Father gives good gifts and I live a fantastic life.
But it is also a Christian thing to do to strive for more wholesomeness
Read more
I am seated in the front seat of a car that stands out as luxurious in the midst of the carcachitas and motocicletas of Cartagena, Colombia. My friends, Sasha Andrade and Edgar de Leon sit in the back; my pastor, Libardo Cuesta, makes small talk and explains to us where we are at in the evangelistic process.
I smile and try to sneak a photo through the car window. I can't believe I'm in Cartagena. I silently thank Jacqueline whose spot I replaced. I had forgotten how much I loved evangelism. I had forgotten how much I missed the grunt work of interpersonal ministry and preaching.
Read more
My name is Bryant Rodriguez. I am a freshman. I am a Theology major. I study at Southern Adventist University. These facts you read are straightforward and simple to track. However, the way these facts came to be is neither straightforward nor simple. My story begins in Germany where I began working in March of 2013 with no expectation to attend college within the year.
Read more
Jesus loved a woman. Jesus purposed in His heart that He would marry this woman He desired. He spoke to the Father, got things arranged, and left home to meet the woman He loved where she lived.
“But when the fullness of time had come” Gal. 4:4
Before He could drop the question, though, He needed to negotiate the mohar, the price, He would need to pay for His wife. The price was steep, but He loved her so much that He was willing to go forward with it. Like Jacob laboring 14 years for the woman he wanted so much, counting it as nothing, Jesus would count as nothing the price He’d pay. Already, in His heart He despised the shame, agreed to the terms, and moved toward that young woman, beautiful like a costly pearl.
Read more