Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The blessing of friends...
I feel truly blessed to have such great friends here at school that I can hang out with, chat with, spend time with, and do photo shoots with. Today all the single staff got together so we could take pictures for the yearbook. We tried all kinds of crazy shots in crazy places... So here is a smattering of the whole bunch.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
More thoughts on Revelation
I have thoroughly been enjoying my studies on Revelation as I have been preparing for Bible class. Let me just share some more of the amazing things I am learning. We are in chapter 7 right now on the 144000. Vs. 3 says that it is the "servants" of God who are sealed. I had my students look up four passages that give insights into a qualification of a servant. Romans 6:22 says that a servant is "free from sin." But how are we free from sin? Romans 6:7 says that those who are dead are free from sin. So then, what needs to die? Romans 6:6 says that our old man needs to die. How does he die? Do we drown him? shoot him? strangle him? chop him? beat him? Galatians 2:20 says that we must crucify him. It is only through the power of the cross that the old man will be forever laid to rest. I then had the students string all the verses together to create one thought. Here was an example: "We must start at the foot of the cross. Seeing Christ on the cross helps us realize what our sins did to him. his love helps us crucify that old man of sin. Once the old man is crucified and is dead, then we are free from sin. When you are free from sin, we are a servant of God. When we are a servant of God, we can receive the seal of the living God. Then we will be able to stand when Jesus comes back the second time."
This thought that God will only seal his servants who are free from sin has really made me think. Right after the servants are sealed, we know probation closes. This means that Christ steps down from his meditorial work. There is no longer any forgiveness of sin because our intercessor has set aside his robes and stepped out of the sanctuary. The case of every person has been decided. God's sealed servants must go through this time of probation with no intercessor. Yesterday in class, we had an incredible discussion of what this really means. I asked the class that if Christ is no longer mediating for his people, then what does this mean about the lives of the 144000 after the close of probation? It means that their lives must be perfect before God during that time otherwise there is no forgiveness of sin after Jesus steps down. But then I asked the class if it is that they "cannot" sin or they "will not" sin. We talked about how God never takes away free choice, so it must not be that they cannot sin. But how is it then that they will not sin. One student asked how God can guarantee that after he seals them, they will not sin. It is not like God can deduct numbers from the 144000 if someone slips after they were sealed. In response, I asked how they were even sealed in the beginning. The only way they were sealed is that they had already shown in their lives prior to the sealing that they were living a life free from sin. They had already purposed in their hearts long before the sealing time that they would not sin against the God they loved. It was only because of this that God knew he could seal them and this is the guarantee he has that they will not sin after he has sealed them. (It is interesting that although God views them as sinless, they have such a distrust of themselves that they go through the time of Jacob's trouble pleading with God that their hearts are right before him.)
Then we talked about Satan's accusation that nobody can obey God's law and be sinless before God. He tried to prove his point when he tempted Adam and Eve and they fell into sin. God sought to disprove this by sending his Son with fallen nature. Satan hit hard on Christ to try to make him sin, but Jesus didn’t. So God said that it was possible for someone to obey the law even in human flesh if they trust in God.
This thought that God will only seal his servants who are free from sin has really made me think. Right after the servants are sealed, we know probation closes. This means that Christ steps down from his meditorial work. There is no longer any forgiveness of sin because our intercessor has set aside his robes and stepped out of the sanctuary. The case of every person has been decided. God's sealed servants must go through this time of probation with no intercessor. Yesterday in class, we had an incredible discussion of what this really means. I asked the class that if Christ is no longer mediating for his people, then what does this mean about the lives of the 144000 after the close of probation? It means that their lives must be perfect before God during that time otherwise there is no forgiveness of sin after Jesus steps down. But then I asked the class if it is that they "cannot" sin or they "will not" sin. We talked about how God never takes away free choice, so it must not be that they cannot sin. But how is it then that they will not sin. One student asked how God can guarantee that after he seals them, they will not sin. It is not like God can deduct numbers from the 144000 if someone slips after they were sealed. In response, I asked how they were even sealed in the beginning. The only way they were sealed is that they had already shown in their lives prior to the sealing that they were living a life free from sin. They had already purposed in their hearts long before the sealing time that they would not sin against the God they loved. It was only because of this that God knew he could seal them and this is the guarantee he has that they will not sin after he has sealed them. (It is interesting that although God views them as sinless, they have such a distrust of themselves that they go through the time of Jacob's trouble pleading with God that their hearts are right before him.)
Then we talked about Satan's accusation that nobody can obey God's law and be sinless before God. He tried to prove his point when he tempted Adam and Eve and they fell into sin. God sought to disprove this by sending his Son with fallen nature. Satan hit hard on Christ to try to make him sin, but Jesus didn’t. So God said that it was possible for someone to obey the law even in human flesh if they trust in God.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Four Horses...
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately...thinking about how to make Revelation more practical to my students and helping them see the significance of what the prophecies mean to us as SDAs. We just finished covering the seven seals of Revelation and the first four seals are the horses of Revelation. We spoke of the rapid decline of God's church from his pure church (the white horse) to a church in persecution (red horse) to a church in apostasy (black horse) to a church that was dead (pale horse). We spoke about God's viewpoint of his church and how he had to do some drastic measures to raise the church out of apostasy and restore it to the condition of his first church. He did this through each of the Reformers that presented a message that got the church back on track. Just as someone being in pitch darkness has to slowly be brought back into the light, God slowly brought his church out of error by introducing new messages through various people. Each message that the reformers preached was significant in both the message that was given and the order in which it was given. This is the sequence.
Waldenses -- The Bible and Bible Alone
Huss -- Obedience
Luther -- Righteousness by Faith/Grace
Calvin -- Spiritual Growth
Anabaptists -- Baptism
Wesley -- Holiness
Miller -- 2nd coming
God's Last Day church -- Sabbath, Sanctuary, Health, 2nd coming (deeper knowledge)
On a Bible test this week, I asked my students to string these messages together and show why the order in which they came was significant for God's church. Here is one student's response.
"The 1st message was the Bible and the Bible only. The Bible had to be the foundation of the church otherwise it could not grow. The 2nd message was obedience. You must obey what God says in His word. The 3rd message was salvation through faith. By having God's word you can see the sacrifice of Christ and that you do not have to earn your salvation but Christ paid for it. The 4th message is Christian growth. Once we have faith in Christ, we must continually walk with Him and we will grow close to Him. The 5th message was baptism. As we grow closer to Christ, we must make a public stand to show your allegiance to God. The 6th message is holiness. Once we make a stand for Christ and we continually grow, we will become like Christ. The 7th message is the second coming. Once God's people have become like Him, then He will come and take us home to live with Him forever. The 8th message is health, sanctuary, Sabbath, second coming, etc. This is the last truth. Now Christ can come as soon as His people are ready."
Another student concluded the last part by saying "...As it gets closer to the time when He will come, times will become harder and we need to have clear minds. Having a good diet will help with this. We have also been given a time of rest every week to focus on Jesus. We also have light as to how things will work and how things are going in the sanctuary. This progression helps paint a picture of a Christian walk. And shows how their messages, working together, help us to become the true church."
I love her last statement. All these work together to create God's last day church. God is so good to have used each of these Reformers and movements to bring His church around to the true message. One other question I asked on the test was why we see so many different denominations rising out of the Reformation period and what challenge this is to the SDA church. This was another student's response.
"What happened during the Reformation was that only so much light was given at a particular time to God's people. And what happened to many is that they would follow a new truth and go no farther. If later more truth was presented, they chose not to follow it. As was and is the case with the Lutherans. To Luther was revealed the truth of righteousness by faith and grace, not by works. This was revealed to Luther for him and for that time to reform the church as God saw fit in that period of time. Luther still kept to Sunday and many other Catholic beliefs only because at the time, light was not given to show those things were wrong. But when new light did come, the Lutherans decided it unnecessary I suppose to hold to that new light. This same type of thing happened with the sects that came out of John Calvin, Menno Simmons, and John & Charles Wesley's movements, which is how we ended up with so many different denominations. It's like the sun, if you stop moving with the light, you'll find yourself in darkness."
Another student concluded, "This can be a challenge for us today. God is still giving light to this world. His knowledge is unending. If we are not searching for his truths, the light will pass us by and we will only be pew warmers, not part of the remnant."
So my friends, are we as guilty as each of these different denominations that formed in the past? They became satisfied with the light they had and stopped progressing. But the light moved on and they were left in darkness. Jesus challenged his disciples in John 12:35, 36 "Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light."
I ran across a startling statement by Mrs. White while I was going over this topic with the seniors in the Philippines. She says:
"We shall not be held accountable for the light that has not reached our perception, but for that which we have resisted and refused. A man could not apprehend the truth which had never been presented to him, and therefore could not be condemned for light he had never had. But if he had opportunity to hear the message, and to become acquainted with the truth, and yet refused to improve his opportunity, he will be among the number of whom Christ said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Those who deliberately place themselves where they will not have an opportunity of hearing the truth, will be reckoned among those who have heard the truth, and persistently resisted its evidences" (RH April 25, 1893). (emphasis supplied)
This is a solemn thought. Many choose not to place themselves where they will hear the truth because then that will require them to change. They say that ignorance is bliss--as long as they didn't know, God couldn't hold them accountable. But this statement says that if we had the opportunity to know the truth and chose not to, then it will be as if we persistently refused the truth. So my friends, my challenge to you is twofold: 1) are you walking in the light and 2) have you placed yourself where you will have the opportunity to be acquainted with truth? My prayer is that you will.
Waldenses -- The Bible and Bible Alone
Huss -- Obedience
Luther -- Righteousness by Faith/Grace
Calvin -- Spiritual Growth
Anabaptists -- Baptism
Wesley -- Holiness
Miller -- 2nd coming
God's Last Day church -- Sabbath, Sanctuary, Health, 2nd coming (deeper knowledge)
On a Bible test this week, I asked my students to string these messages together and show why the order in which they came was significant for God's church. Here is one student's response.
"The 1st message was the Bible and the Bible only. The Bible had to be the foundation of the church otherwise it could not grow. The 2nd message was obedience. You must obey what God says in His word. The 3rd message was salvation through faith. By having God's word you can see the sacrifice of Christ and that you do not have to earn your salvation but Christ paid for it. The 4th message is Christian growth. Once we have faith in Christ, we must continually walk with Him and we will grow close to Him. The 5th message was baptism. As we grow closer to Christ, we must make a public stand to show your allegiance to God. The 6th message is holiness. Once we make a stand for Christ and we continually grow, we will become like Christ. The 7th message is the second coming. Once God's people have become like Him, then He will come and take us home to live with Him forever. The 8th message is health, sanctuary, Sabbath, second coming, etc. This is the last truth. Now Christ can come as soon as His people are ready."
Another student concluded the last part by saying "...As it gets closer to the time when He will come, times will become harder and we need to have clear minds. Having a good diet will help with this. We have also been given a time of rest every week to focus on Jesus. We also have light as to how things will work and how things are going in the sanctuary. This progression helps paint a picture of a Christian walk. And shows how their messages, working together, help us to become the true church."
I love her last statement. All these work together to create God's last day church. God is so good to have used each of these Reformers and movements to bring His church around to the true message. One other question I asked on the test was why we see so many different denominations rising out of the Reformation period and what challenge this is to the SDA church. This was another student's response.
"What happened during the Reformation was that only so much light was given at a particular time to God's people. And what happened to many is that they would follow a new truth and go no farther. If later more truth was presented, they chose not to follow it. As was and is the case with the Lutherans. To Luther was revealed the truth of righteousness by faith and grace, not by works. This was revealed to Luther for him and for that time to reform the church as God saw fit in that period of time. Luther still kept to Sunday and many other Catholic beliefs only because at the time, light was not given to show those things were wrong. But when new light did come, the Lutherans decided it unnecessary I suppose to hold to that new light. This same type of thing happened with the sects that came out of John Calvin, Menno Simmons, and John & Charles Wesley's movements, which is how we ended up with so many different denominations. It's like the sun, if you stop moving with the light, you'll find yourself in darkness."
Another student concluded, "This can be a challenge for us today. God is still giving light to this world. His knowledge is unending. If we are not searching for his truths, the light will pass us by and we will only be pew warmers, not part of the remnant."
So my friends, are we as guilty as each of these different denominations that formed in the past? They became satisfied with the light they had and stopped progressing. But the light moved on and they were left in darkness. Jesus challenged his disciples in John 12:35, 36 "Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light."
I ran across a startling statement by Mrs. White while I was going over this topic with the seniors in the Philippines. She says:
"We shall not be held accountable for the light that has not reached our perception, but for that which we have resisted and refused. A man could not apprehend the truth which had never been presented to him, and therefore could not be condemned for light he had never had. But if he had opportunity to hear the message, and to become acquainted with the truth, and yet refused to improve his opportunity, he will be among the number of whom Christ said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Those who deliberately place themselves where they will not have an opportunity of hearing the truth, will be reckoned among those who have heard the truth, and persistently resisted its evidences" (RH April 25, 1893). (emphasis supplied)
This is a solemn thought. Many choose not to place themselves where they will hear the truth because then that will require them to change. They say that ignorance is bliss--as long as they didn't know, God couldn't hold them accountable. But this statement says that if we had the opportunity to know the truth and chose not to, then it will be as if we persistently refused the truth. So my friends, my challenge to you is twofold: 1) are you walking in the light and 2) have you placed yourself where you will have the opportunity to be acquainted with truth? My prayer is that you will.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
I want spring!!
This winter seems like it has dragged on long enough! When I first came here to Canada, everyone assured me it does not snow in this valley or if it did, it would only be an inch or two and then it would melt right away. Ha! I am still trying to figure out if that was supposed to be a joke or not. Right from the start when I got stranded in the lower mainland for a week (read my archived post), I knew I was in for a long winter. From what I understand, they say this is one of the worst winters they have had in 30 years. We literally got dumped on this year and the snow stayed almost the entire winter.
It was such a welcomed relief to finally get away from it all and go to the Philippines for 3 1/2 weeks. When we returned, much of the snow was melted, but having tasted warmer weather, I was even more ready for spring. I wondered it it would ever come... Finally, last week, the weather spiked a warm streak and on Sabbath it was 77 degrees. It was amazing. I laid out in the sun with some friends, took a nice long walk, and enjoyed the taste of spring. All the fruit trees on campus began to bloom blanketing everything in white and pink blossoms. It was beautiful. Then on Thursday night, the wind started howling around my place. (It is so fitting that the place where I stay is called "Whistling Winds." Well, I guess it is not so fitting. It should be more like "Howling Winds." Anyway, I couldn't sleep much that night and wondered what was going on outside. When I woke up in the morning, there were nearly two inches of snow on the ground and it was coming down hard. Within an hour, there was another inch or so of snow on my car. Ugh... I only thought spring had come. It has been freezing the past two days and I don't foresee warmer weather any time soon...
I am starting to have an issue with this "global warming" business. Come to Canada and you will get "global freezing." Welcome to Canada everyone!! Doesn't it just make you want to come visit me in April? (Be sure to bring your ski pants... you may just need them!)
It was such a welcomed relief to finally get away from it all and go to the Philippines for 3 1/2 weeks. When we returned, much of the snow was melted, but having tasted warmer weather, I was even more ready for spring. I wondered it it would ever come... Finally, last week, the weather spiked a warm streak and on Sabbath it was 77 degrees. It was amazing. I laid out in the sun with some friends, took a nice long walk, and enjoyed the taste of spring. All the fruit trees on campus began to bloom blanketing everything in white and pink blossoms. It was beautiful. Then on Thursday night, the wind started howling around my place. (It is so fitting that the place where I stay is called "Whistling Winds." Well, I guess it is not so fitting. It should be more like "Howling Winds." Anyway, I couldn't sleep much that night and wondered what was going on outside. When I woke up in the morning, there were nearly two inches of snow on the ground and it was coming down hard. Within an hour, there was another inch or so of snow on my car. Ugh... I only thought spring had come. It has been freezing the past two days and I don't foresee warmer weather any time soon...
I am starting to have an issue with this "global warming" business. Come to Canada and you will get "global freezing." Welcome to Canada everyone!! Doesn't it just make you want to come visit me in April? (Be sure to bring your ski pants... you may just need them!)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
word confirmation...
hey everyone, I have been getting quite a number of spam comments on my blogsite, so for a while I am just having everyone enter in a confirmation password that will appear when you leave a comment. I am sorry I have to do this (please don't let this hinder you from leaving comments!), but I just want to see if it helps...
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