For years, liberal American Christians have wondered aloud how American Protestant Christianity became what it is. How did believers in a religion that consistently warned against the perils of wealth, demanded charity for the poor, and taught forgiveness of sins become so identified with a political movement that celebrates wealth, demands that the poor help themselves, and relies on a carceral state to resolve social problems? How can so many Americans avow belief in a savior who spent time with social outcasts and lambasted the prejudice they face when they themselves glorify the powerful a ..read more

On the small island of Guam, 19 pathfinders and their supporters are washing cars, selling meal tickets, and collecting yard sale items to raise money for their 6,500 mile trip to Gillette, Wyoming, for the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee. Guam is a U.S. territory south of Japan and east of the Philippines with around 170,000 inhabitants situated on a 30 mile-long island that ranges from 4 to 12 miles wide. The Guam-Micronesia Mission, attached to the North American Division, has its headquarters here. Eight Adventist churches and one K-12 Adventist school share the island with bases fo ..read more

As the 2024 election seasons continues, I am spending some time in this space thinking about Christian issues related to the election. I find myself in this frame of mind again, this time spurred on by a video that has been making the rounds on social media. In the clip, Pastor Loran Livingston talks about a Christian’s role in secular society, while castigating those who support the “God Bless the USA” Bible that Trump was peddling last month. While I agree with the general point Pastor Livingston is making, there was something about the idea that undergirded his thoughts that bothered me. I ..read more

As I read this week’s Adult Bible Study Guide, I was reminded how different people like John Wycliffe played a part in sharing God, with a ripple effect we can still feel today. The lesson also focused on several elements of the great controversy such as the 1260 year prophecy, the history of Smyrna, and the Waldenses. Friday’s reading had a thought-provoking quote I’d like to share. “God permitted great light to shine upon the minds of these chosen men, . . .but they did not receive all the light that was to be given to the world. . . .He revealed it to the leaders little by little, as it cou ..read more

A couple of years ago, while attending a major meeting in Florida at Hindu University of America (HUA), I repeatedly heard something that really got me thinking. In fact, I’ve not quit thinking about it since. So I invite you to think about it with me. During my nearly 11 years as executive director of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida (2011 to 2022), I interacted extensively with individual Hindus and various Hindu institutions in our region. I got on HUA’s email list, and when the university invited faculty, donors, and friends to hear a report about a reworked vision and long-range ..read more

Butchering a freshly killed caribou was not part of my plan that fateful Alaskan morning. Thankfully, I had my pocket knife on me. The visual of clear membranes and placenta became imprinted in my memory; this was a pregnant caribou. The man with me (we’ll call him George) had shot the animal from a fixed location as I herded the beast on my snowmobile across the snow-swept tundra. We tied the gutted game to the trailer and brought it to George’s yard near his six dogs, where they would eat most of the caribou meat. Stories like this don’t typically make it into my Sabbath school lessons. But ..read more

When you enter Anne Valen Næss’ studio in Sandefjord, you are greeted by what she calls a bombardment of colors. The artist wants to say something about interpersonal relationships with her large-format, brightly-hued images. Title: WHEN the Swan flies Author: Norwegian painter Anne Valen Næss. Medium: Acrylic on canvass. Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm. Web: annevn.com “When we interact, it’s important that we see our differences as resources and constructive challenges that we should respect,” she says, giving us an important key to understanding the images she is otherwise reluctant to interpret f ..read more

Denis Fortin’s biography of George Ide Butler (1834-1918) is the fourteenth volume in the Adventist Pioneer Series and is thus far (sixteen more biographies are scheduled to follow) among the very best.  With John Loughborough, George Butler belongs to last of the generation of the pioneers. As a child he accompanied his parents to Millerite meetings. When he died in 1918, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was firmly established in many countries with a total membership of some 165.000 members. Denis Fortin, a professor of historical theology at Andrews University, devotes the first three ..read more

When religious conservatives defend their positions, the polemic too often turns combative. This adversarial posture is evident as far back as the 1263 Disputation of Barcelona, a formal debate between Friar Pablo Christiani, a Christian apologist, and the medieval Jewish scholar, Nachmanides, on the claims of their two religions. Superficially, the basic instruments of their “warfare” seemed to be just words, but the fierceness of their engagement suggested mortal combat. It is this pugnacious mindset which orthodoxy defenders too often adopt when facing their opponents. This thinking has al ..read more

This week’s Adult Bible Study Guide focused on several popular aspects of The Great Controversy. There was a warning in Monday’s lesson about false teachers and “savage wolves” within the church as well as a note to be aware of idols “introduced into Christian worship.” The final question of the lesson asked “what kind of compromises do we see entering the church today?” This is a fair question that invites readers to think further. Is it possible to make idols of our church leaders, agendas, policies, and fundamental beliefs? For a church founded on the belief of “no other creed but the Bible ..read more