What would a post-Mubarak government in Egypt look like? If it is indeed a democracy, would that provide freedom of religion, or would it institutionalize oppressive Islamic “Sharia” law?

We might get some idea from the respected Pew Research Center, a non-partisan group that recently surveyed religious and political attitudes in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Among its results: Egyptians prefer democracy to any other kind of government (by nearly 3 to 1). This might seem to offer hope that moderation will prevail in a new government by the people and for the people. But Pew Research reports: “In nearly all of the [Islamic Middle] countries surveyed, support for harsh punishments such as stoning people who commit adultery, whippings and cutting off of hands for crimes like theft and robbery and the death penalty for those who leave the Muslim religion coexists with support for democratic governance.”

Specifically in Egypt, 82% favor stoning for people who commit adultery, 77% want robbers to be whipped or have their hands cut off, and (ominously) 84% want the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim religion. This would seem to portend trouble in Egypt. Despite being suppressed by President Hosni Mubarak, I think the Muslim Brotherhood (an ultra-conservative Muslim political party) is positioned to muster the organization, leadership and vision to rally the overwhelmingly conservative Islamic populace of Egypt into forming a Sharia-based government. This might follow a weak interim coalition headed by Mohammed ElBaradei–who seems to be more of a dialoguing diplomat than a streetwise strategist.

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French historian/political thinker who, two centuries ago, was so fascinated by the new American political system that he crossed the Atlantic and toured this nation. Among his astute perceptions, I believe, was the statement that democracy can be good only as long as the people are good.

We may then conclude that if the majority has an extremist mindset, then democracy (government of the people and by the people) simply establishes and legitimizes oppression of the minority. Then woe be to those who violate Sharia in an Islamic fundamentalist democracy.

Big changes seem about to happen not only in Egypt but a number of other majority Islamic nations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The showdown with fundamentalist Islam that I fear most is in Nigeria (for the sake of its own people, not for its international implications other than its oil production). Surveys show that Nigeria has by far the most oppressive mindset among its Muslim population (specifically the men), and there is also a large Christian population to the south—potential persecution victims. Only a Sudanese-type split could save that nation from Uganda-style carnage to come, but such a political solution seems highly unlikely. There have been sporadic outbreaks of violence in Nigeria, but nothing like the meltdown I fear will happen there.

Just my thinking. I could be wrong about all of this—and in fact I hope that I am. But Bible prophecy leaves little doubt that there will be end-time chaos just before Jesus comes. For more on a potential showdown between political Islam and the West, click here.

 

 

For the past three winters, my garage door wouldn’t open in extremely cold weather. One or two days each week this would happen. To remedy the situation, I had to keep clicking the garage door opener, making the door bounce up and down for the little bit of room it was willing to move. Finally after much hoping, praying and clicking, the stubborn door would raise itself all the way.

Desperate for a more scientific method, I discovered a second option: stooping down and—keeping my back straight to avoid a visit to the chiropractor—boosting the door upward as it started moving in that direction. This worked every time, but it also wasted time.

Meanwhile, I tested an array of solutions within the narrow range of my mechanical expertise. I lubricated the drive chain, but that didn’t help. I realigned the sensors with the same non-result. I asked a mechanically gifted friend about it, but he didn’t know what to do.

Finally I concluded that the garage door motor itself needed replacing. Last week I started scanning Home Depot ads for sales, and this week my wife and I started praying about it during our worship time.

The elusive solution finally showed up. It happened the afternoon before yesterday while we were out for our usual walk around the block. A neighbor was unloading a pickup truck with his son. On impulse, I ventured over and asked if they knew what to do with reluctant garage doors. Both of them immediately suggested the same solution, talking at the same time. I needed to give a little twist on the dial that was on the garage door motor, they explained—the one that has an “up” arrow. This would lessen the resistance that kept the door from opening whenever the system got cold.

Upon arriving home, I set up my ladder under the garage door motor and looked for the “up” dial. Ah, there it was. I gave it a twist, and the job was done.

Mission accomplished. But would it work?

Last night the weather got cold (in case you hadn’t noticed). This morning came the big test. You guessed it—the door went up without a hitch. (Otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog post.) No muss, no fuss.

Gleefully I kept raising the door up and down, like a little kid playing with a light switch. I could hardly believe it—a problem that had stymied me for the past three winters had been solved in three seconds.

So where am I going with this story?

It’s New Year’s Eve. Like a good Adventist, I’m home with my wife and the cats instead of out partying somewhere. Along with everybody else who’s not getting drunk right now, I’m thinking about the past year and how I can become a better person in 2011. And I’m wondering whether the garage door principle can also work for character development. Is it possible that stuff we’ve struggled with for years might be solved with a simple adjustment in our attitude? Specifically, our attitude toward Jesus?

Maybe that solution sounds simplistic. I realize there are complex spiritual, social and psychological reasons for the stupid things we keep doing to ourselves and to others. But perhaps the solution to our dysfunctions/addictions/habits is not as complex as the analysis is. Consider this Scripture:

“The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy” (Rom. 13:11-13, ESV).

So instead of indulging in drunkenness of one kind or another (like food binges), we put aside our deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. That instruction may sound appropriate and eloquent, but what does it mean in practical terms? The next verse explains:

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (verse 14).

We have here a simple formula for success with New Year’s resolutions: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” That is, we invite His presence over every part of our lives—not just forgiving our sins as our Savior; we welcome Him as our Lord, expressing through us His purpose and His power through His presence. For this to happen we’ve got to stop making excuses and allowances for indulging the flesh (e.g., “So what if I just messed up? Nobody’s perfect—give me a break!”)

Sorry, that reaction is too superficial to satisfy the needs of the soul. We don’t need a break—we need Jesus instead of anything and everything that keeps us from being covered by His purpose and power, through His presence.

This sounds simple, and I think it genuinely is. But just because it’s simple doesn’t make it easy. Let’s be honest with ourselves: it’s hard doing the right thing, since we live in sinful flesh that wants to do its own thing. As the old hymn laments: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it! Prone to leave the God I love.”

We may find ourselves paralyzed in merely good intentions, like the man Jesus approached one Sabbath morning. This man had been a human doormat in the dust of old Jerusalem for 38 years. Jesus had one simple question for him: “Do you want to be made whole?” (John 5:6).

That seems sort of a silly question. Of course he would!

Well, maybe not. The fact is that humanity all around us (and within us) is allergic to trustful obedience. Jesus doesn’t force Himself through our stop signs. He invites and then He patiently waits.

“Whom are you seeking?” He asked the mob wanting to arrest Him (John 18:4, NKJV).

“Jesus of Nazareth!” they shouted.

He responded quietly yet firmly: “If you seek Me, let these go their way” (verse 8).

If you are open to a creative application of that passage, I can’t tell you what it could mean for your life—but God is able and willing to do that. He has ways of making His will obvious, after we get desperate enough to honestly ask Him about it.

Just like my neighbor the other day. He explained the simple solution for getting my garage door to rise up so my car could be released for service to God. Then I had to act on his instructions. And I’m so glad I did.

The virgin Mary was asking for trouble when she submitted to God’s calling for her life. When she told the angel Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38), it was quite a brave commitment. Who was going to believe that her baby was not conceived illegitimately?

Not even her husband-to-be thought she was telling the truth. I can hear her pleading with Joseph, “I wasn’t unfaithful to you or to God-please believe me!” He didn’t. He decided to get rid of her, according to Matthew 1:19: “Joesph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” He didn’t want to humiliate her publicly, being  basically a good man; he just wanted to end their relationship, so he “resolved” to abandon Mary to suffer the minimum consequences of adultery. It took a dramatic visit from an angel to convince Joseph that Mary was telling him the truth. Gabriel argued on Mary’s behalf: “That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (verse 20b).

We don’t know how long Mary was in limbo with Joseph. The Bible doesn’t leave us a definite timeline. It just says, “as he considered these things” (verse 20a)–that is, as he considered how to implement his resolution to put her away.

Perhaps with nobody in Nazareth believing that Mary was telling the truth about her pregnancy,  she may have fled the town in humiliation.  We read: “In those days Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country, to a town in Judah” (Luke 1:39). This was no leisurely visit to chat with relatives about the coming baby. For a pregnant young woman to get out of town “with haste” and journey 80 miles under primitive travel circumstances, apparently alone, it must have been an extraordinary situation.  She must have been desperate to fellowship with–and possibly find shelter with–the only people in Israel who knew from personal experience about angel visits announcing miracle pregnancies.

Imagine how Mary felt when she walked into the home of Elizabeth and heard a Spirit-inspired affirmation: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (verse 42). So this young mother was blessed, not worthy of being put away by the man she loved. And her baby was blessed too, not the son of shame.

Mary found refuge in the safety of that friendly home for several months before she had to return to Nazareth with its suspicions and gossip. Ultimately Joseph believed her, thanks to the angel’s persuasive visit, and he married Mary before baby Jesus was born.

Lessons in Mary’s experience for us? Several pop out of the story. The main one I get is that faithfulness to God can disrupt our lives, perhaps plunging us into seemingly dire circumstances. It may even alienate close loved ones, as persecuted converts today in many parts of the world can testify. Ultimately it will be worth it, though, Paul said: “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

So let us say with faithful Mary, “Behold the servant of the Lord, do with my life whatever you will.”

Recent news reports carried a warning from radical militant Islamists boasting of plans to inflict multiple terrorism attacks upon America and its Western allies—bleeding us to death from a thousand wounds. I believe this contributes to fulfilling a prophecy in Daniel chapter 11 regarding a conflict between the “King of the South” (militant Islam and its leftover Communist allies) and the “King of the North” (which I believe is an alliance of western “Christian” nations which have spiritual affinity with Rome).

For the past 20 years I’ve been suggesting that end-time scenario, as in the following excerpts from my 1999 book Millennimania (published by the General Conference Ministerial Association).

What could motivate America to commit its power and influence for coercion and intolerance?  Perhaps some national emergency, like we’ve been discussing in this chapter.  Remember, history shows people in crisis willingly trade liberty for security. In reaction to terrorism, perhaps. …

Sooner or later—and probably sooner than later—it will happen.  A deadly bomb or biotoxin attack from those who are committed to bring “Death to America.”  And in such a holy war, anti-Islamic sentiment will inspire a firestorm of revenge on the part of NATO, led by the United States.

The Bible indicates that initially the King of the North is successful against the King of the South.  Then comes an unexpected setback.  A devastating terrorist attack?  Because of it, the Christian West will take action against those of its own who refuse to participate in its counterfeit Christianity.  It will be “enraged at the holy covenant and take action” (Daniel 11:30).  This is fierce persecution against those who honor God’s covenant of grace and “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).  But Hallelujah, despite being persecuted, “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11:32).  Amid all the opposition and satanic miracles, God will work His own wonders through His people in finishing His work on earth.

Let’s recap what we’ve seen so far in this chapter.  America will face a national crisis from radical religious enemies and will react with a holy war of its own.  There will be desperate and determined attempts to force the nation—and the entire Christian West—back to God.  In doing so America will revert to its original roots, Colonial intolerance.

Scenario of a possible terrorist attack

So you’re watching the Yankees game when suddenly the station breaks away to the newsroom.

You’re not thrilled about the intrusion.  Bases loaded, tying run on second.  How dare they interrupt my game!  Good grief, it’s the playoffs!

Then you notice the somber-faced newscaster with tousled hair announcing:

A tragedy has struck our nation’s capitol this evening.  At Union Station near the Capitol Building, a pressurized canister containing poison gas was set off on the Red Line subway platform during rush hour, spewing noxious fumes.  Scores of passengers are being taken to area hospitals.  Dozens are feared already dead.

Authorities are uncertain what type of poison gas is involved, though cyanide is suspected.  Unconfirmed reports are that one minute before the attack, a young man, perhaps of Middle Eastern descent, activated a timer connected to a spraying device.  He then ran out of the station northbound on North Capital Street and remains at large.

Police have sealed off the area.  Rescue workers and FBI agents equipped with gas masks are swarming the site.  “We’ll keep you updated throughout the evening as details of this tragedy become available.”

Wow.  This is bigger than a ball game.  What a calamity!

But the evening is still young.  People have hardly yet begun to die.

In Manhattan’s Broadway theater district, tuxedo-clad customers are running out of restaurants and writhing on sidewalks, vomiting violently.  Rumors are that the water supply is poisoned.  Speaking of water, the George Washington Bridge collapses into the Hudson River after a massive fiery explosion lights the night sky.

What a night!  What’s next?

Terrible beyond imagination but not beyond belief.  Jesus warned of devastating pestilence in various places (Matthew 24:7). . . .

 

[This is] is a religious attack. Panic turns to anger.  White hot rage burns against Muslims everywhere.  Innocent Arab taxi drivers waiting for customers at Washington’s Dulles Airport are yanked out of their vehicles and shot.

The terrorists claiming responsibility for the attack declare a jihad, or holy war.  It will continue until America, the Great Satan and source of the world’s worst wickedness, submits to the will of Allah.  Meaning what, specifically?  For the terror to stop we must cease all support for Israel and withdraw American armed forces stationed in Muslim countries. …

Naturally, America can’t meet those demands.  We are irrevocably bonded with Israel.  And there’s no way we can abandon our military presence in strategic areas. …

So the terror escalates.  A bombing here, a poison outbreak there.  Some of it high tech, some of it low tech.  All of it chaos.  The FBI is helpless to stop it.  Every time they arrest the members of one jihad cell, others eagerly spring into action.  Death to them means nothing as long as they can take a few Americans with them out of this world.

A different kind of war

The United States becomes a cultural and economic wasteland.  Museums and schools are shut.  So is the New York Stock Exchange after a bomb threat on Wall Street.  Stores are barricaded.  Mobs forage for bread and milk.  The World Series is canceled—nobody would come and risk getting nuked.  America is no longer land of the free and home of the brave.

Overseas, London is bombed daily, just as it was in 1940.  Brussels, Bonn, Milan, all of them are under attack.  Paris too.  And, of course, Jerusalem.  Oh, Jerusalem!

The entire Christian West is held hostage by shadowy religious fanatics.  We’re terrified of those wiry young men with fierce dark eyes and white skullcaps.  Thanks to them, prosperity is past.  The party’s over.  This is war.

For more information on this, visit the website www.sda4me.com and click on the “Issues” tab, then “Final Events.”

More and more Adventist churches, schools and hospitals are taking members, students or employees on brief overseas mission trips. It’s a worthy endeavor to forsake one’s comfort zone for a week or two of getting “out there”— not just to lay bricks but to interact with people for their health and salvation. There is just one danger in this: compartmentalizing our mission.

Here’s what I mean. Outreach activity ought not be disconnected from everyday life, as something extra we do once a year or so. This is apparent in what some might find as a surprising insight in Christ’s Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them” and “teaching them” (Matt. 28:19-20).

So our Lord commands us there to “Go,” doesn’t He? Actually, that’s not exactly what Jesus is saying here. You see, in the entire Gospel Commission there is only one explicit imperative verb—to “make disciples,” or literally, “disciplize.”* The other three verbal words are in participle form. So “Go!” should be translated “going,” just as “baptizing” and “teaching” are.

You may be wondering, What’s your point? What’s the big deal here?

It’s this: Jesus is not asking us to “go” and do discipleship as a separate function of our lives, different from what usually keeps us busy. He wants discipling to be a habitual, lifestyle activity. As we are “going” about our lives, we make discipleship an integrated part of daily activities.

The difference here is subtle but significant. Do you see it? Christ expects us to make discipling a normal function of everyday life, not some separate, disjointed activity done once in a while when we muster up energy, courage or resources.

When we grasp and implement what Jesus is commanding us to do, it will transform how we do both outreach and nurture. It will regenerate the church from being Laodicean part-timers into whole-life discipleship participants, like the Pentecost-inspired early Christians.

So the purpose of short-term mission trips is not to fulfill our evangelistic quota for the year but to inspire us to adopt a different lifestyle when we get home: full-time disciples and disciple-makers.

I’m connecting here with what we read on page two from our new Mid-America Union president, Elder Tom Lemon. He challenges us to be incarnational—that is, to interact within our everyday world as ambassadors of heaven. To be fully engaged and engulfed in discipleship within our own environment as a whole life experience.

Here’s the bottom line: The Great Commission is not about cold contacts but about warm relationships. It means more than to “go” and knock on the doors of strangers, interrupting their ballgames in hopes of persuading them to enroll in a depersonalized Bible correspondence course. (Although there is a place for self-study lessons online and by mail—augmented by local fellowship, if desired.) As we are “going” about our daily lives, we make friendships for God with the people He has entrusted to our witness in the workplace, marketplace and classroom. Remember, people do not care how much we know until they know how much we care.

When our colleagues and neighbors are weary of life, they find us ready to speak a word in season. When they wonder what makes us different, we are ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us—not arrogantly but respectfully.

Of course we still need public evangelism events, to reap the harvest of disciple-making that continually occurs (both strategically and spontaneously) in a loving and prayerful church. People will come to our meetings when they have experienced our unselfishness, compassion, joyfulness and integrity. They will entrust us with their questions about the meaning of life and death, pardon and power, the past and the future. And they will be ready for the answers that Seventh-day Adventists have been entrusted with to share.

After being baptized, these endeared souls will endure to the end with us—not only as disciples but disciple-makers, winning new souls to the incarnate body of Christ. Only thus will the Great Commission be fulfilled, and finally the work of God will be finished in the world and in the Mid-America Union.

*This morphology in the original New Testament Greek is picked up by some astute Bible versions such as Young’s Literal Translation and the International Standard Version.

This is an editorial for the upcoming issue of Outlook magazine for January 2011

“Would you mind if we had a little fun at your expense?” Paul, a Christian, teased his atheist brother Ron.

“As long as you know I’ll get you back,” Ron replied, relishing one of their frequent friendly arguments. “What is it this time?”

“Okay, you asked for it. Would you believe I can show that your origin as a human being is rooted in the life of Jesus Christ? And I’ll use your own words to prove it—your answer to one simple question.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Ron scoffed.

“We’ll see,” Paul smiled. “Now, if I do use your own testimony to establish your origins and identity in Jesus, would you promise to read through the New Testament?”

“You’ll never prove anything like that, so sure, you have a deal. Now, what’s your stupid question?”

“All right: What year were you born?”

“Nineteen hundred and seventy. Of course. So what?

“Here’s what: You say you were born in 1970 . . . That would be AD 1970. And AD is the Latin abbreviation for ‘year of our Lord,’ as you know. So there we have it! You just defined your own origins in relation to the year of our Lord—Jesus Christ!”

“That’s cute—and clever too, I’ll admit,” Ron said. “But it means nothing because enlightened scholars don’t go by AD or BC anymore. That’s just medieval religious chronology. I was born in 1970 CE, which means ‘common era.’”

Paul grinned, undeterred. “Fair enough, but tell me how your so-called ‘common era’ got started. Something pretty important must have happened to divide the history of the world into two parts, before and after. So what in the world was that time-splitting event?”

Ron hesitated, looking pained as Paul gleefully pressed his advantage. “Tell me! This time-defining event in which you derive your own existence—was it 1,970 years since the birth of Charles Darwin? Sigmund Freud? Dow Jones? How about Mozart or Buddha or Plato?”

Ron winced awhile before finally speaking. “I know you’re trying to get me to say ‘Jesus Christ.’ But historians say he was actually born somewhere around 4 BCE.”

Paul said: “Well thank you for acknowledging that Jesus actually existed, as attested by serious historical sources. And whatever exact year he was born makes no difference. The fact is, you and your atheist buddies anchor your own stories in the context of his story. Even the United Nations chronicles world affairs in relation to the birth of Jesus. And since his birth has such universal significance, we can assume that his death is important as well. So when Jesus died on the cross, he must have been more than a very good man having a very bad day.”

“Well, that remains to be seen,” Ron shot back.

“And I hope you do see Jesus in a new way as you read this New Testament.” Paul pulled the small paperback out of his pocket and earnestly offered it to his brother.

Paul prays that reading the Bible will do more for his brother than his own inconsistent example has accomplished and will also make up for the dysfunctions and hypocrisies of the church he wishes his brother would attend.

From a 2007 DMin paper by Martin Weber

What began as a public relations disappointment for Seventh-day Adventists was turned into a media bonanza for the denomination in the city of Lincoln.

After Parade magazine neglected to even mention the name “Adventist” in reporting on an Adventist-founded and operated ministry to Muslim immigrants, local Lincoln media filled the void by promoting our Church.

A partial summary:

• The two local network TV stations, channel 8 and 10/11, gave Adventists positive coverage by promoting the work of Sheila Schlisner at Good Neighbor Community Center (GNCC).
• Lincoln’s daily newspaper, the Journal Star, ran a favorable feature story that clearly identified Adventists as being involved with this outreach.
• Both of the leading radio talk shows in town featured Sheila, one of them running her interview multiple times.

So there was blanket coverage of the local market entirely favorable to Seventh-day Adventists. This was due to the diligence and availability of Sheila and the media expertise of Jacque Smith, who assisted me by lining up stories and interviews.

Providentially, this was the week that GNCC had its annual fund-raising dinner. The event last night which netted $1,000 through its auction. Schlisner e-mailed me on behalf of all her brothers and sisters across Mid-America who remembered her in prayer: “Thank you all for your support and prayers.  That is what got me through the entire week.”

Background note: Last Sunday Parade magazine, largest circulated magazine in the nation, featured a cover story about the Muslim community services outreach of Good Neighbor Community Center. Despite urgent appeals, the magazine did not even mention the word “Adventist.” It spun the story as moderate Muslims finding a home in heartland America—when the real point should have been that the Lincoln Christian community, led by Adventists, have opened their hearts to serve Muslim immigrants by supporting an initiative to help them acclimatize to their new homeland.

 

 

Following is part of a presentation I’m making next week at Andrews University’s “180 Symposium” about how to keep youth and young adults in the church:

Practical Priesthood: A Field Experience

One example of incarnational ministry for youth and by youth, to which I can personally attest, happened in 2002 at camp meeting in the Canadian province of British Columbia. I was there as evening speaker for the young adults. Early in the week, a call went out at the morning pastors’ meeting for volunteers to mentor youth and accompany them in a day-long evangelistic outreach to the city of Vancouver.

Youth leaders invited all teens who wished to participate to skip recreation events and get trained for the evangelistic adventure. Scores responded to the challenge, including teens who had not previously been interested in religious activities.

Leaders laid a foundation with several days of insightful instruction about living for God missionally and unselfishly, also fortifying them through fervent worship and interaction with one another.

Participants forsook summer fun at one of the most beautiful campgrounds in the NAD—swimming, tubing and canoeing—for a high stakes outreach adventure on East Vancouver’s Hastings Street, a dysfunctional and depressing hotbed of ugliness and evil within an otherwise beautiful city. What an opportunity for missional youth!

After morning worship, big yellow school buses loaded up with kids and their adult mentors to head downtown. Adults throughout the campground offered prayer support; pastors and some parents came along as trainers and chaperones.

Since Hastings Street is one of Canada’s worst crime districts, vigorous safeguards were in place. No groups had fewer than four members, as I recall, and each had at least one male teen. Each group had to stay within sight of an adult mentor. They could not share contact information with people on the street. If a street person was obviously drunk, stoned or angry, they should avoid engaging him.

Despite all the cautions taken, there remained considerable risk in this outreach project. But the teens seemed energized by the challenge and thrilled with the joy of connecting directly with souls for Christ.

It was a wonderful experience! Inspired and energized youth returned to Hastings Street day after day during camp meeting week, ignoring the recreational activities they had been looking forward to all year. Many who just came to camp meeting for the summer fun discovered the deeper satisfaction of serving in Christ’s priesthood. And they became heroes among many supportive adults at the camp ground. Not surprisingly, (to my knowledge) the usual teenage behavior problems at camp meeting were greatly reduced.

The Vancouver outreach story exemplifies several vital missional events:

1)  Incarnational mentoring

Adult who mentored the youth were more than babysitters—they were discipleship mentors who modeled within the group the incarnational outreach they were teaching. For example, in my group I invited the teens to first observe me engage a person on the street. I told them to just jump in and take over the conversation if they felt so impressed. And they did! At first they just offered prayer, but soon they were leading people to accept Christ. Words can’t explain their excitement at seeing souls saved through outreach.

2) Nurturing fellowship

Not only did the teens receive discipleship mentoring from experienced leaders, they also nurtured each other. There was a total lack of rivalry or showmanship. Instead, they watched out for and supported one another, behaving with maturity far beyond their years. Leaders among them emerged, suddenly confident in the Spirit to become mentors themselves. Teens still too timid to interact with street people maintained the refreshment tables at a concert in the neighborhood park that the musically talented ones presented.

3) Incarnate with local community

Local street people and the cops who monitored them couldn’t believe all the love that unloaded from the yellow buses onto Hastings Street. Many had prayers offered for them by teenage intercessor priests. Clearly, that neighborhood hadn’t experienced such a community outreach event in a long time.

Conclusion: Are We Ready to be Radical?

The Vancouver youth evangelism project is one more story that confirms what youth and young adult leaders are increasingly reporting: YYAs are eager and capable in the Spirit to become a priesthood of incarnational service. They are learning the Adventist fundamental belief about the sanctuary in practical terms—not just as doctrine but as a living experience.

Heaven’s great high priest has commissioned His church to be that kind of holy priesthood, as seen on Hastings Street: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Yes, we must be wise—prudent to take all appropriate cautions to preserve our mission, message and morals. But we must also be courageous in the Spirit.

Nothing might seem more risky than sending out our YYAs to do radical warfare against the devil’s wolves. And there is greater spiritual risk in not sending them out at all, as attrition studies have shown. The most vulnerable YYAs are those who lack a compelling mission in which they can lose their own lives for the sake of experiencing and sharing the life of Jesus. If they fail to find meaningful mission in the church, the world has no shortage of counterfeits.

Is Stephen Hawking’s theory of something out of nothing based on science or supposition?

He relates “the tale of how the primordial universe of hydrogen, helium and a little bit of lithium evolved to a universe harboring at least one world with intelligent life like us.”

Let’s use some of that intelligence to evaluate Hawking’s belief that primordial nothingness managed to evolve into material somethingness. Also to ponder: what is it about the nothingness of a “little bit of lithium” that differentiates it from the nothingness of helium and the nothingness of hydrogen?

One need not be a scientist to conclude that three nameable chemical elements, each distinguishable from the other, can’t qualify as mere nothingness.

Another inconvenient question lurks in Hawking’s primordial universe with its threefold nothingness: What action or condition triggered and then coordinated the interaction of those chemical elements? Hawking points to the laws of gravity and quantum theory—but their existence only adds to his difficulties: What (or who) designed these laws to exist in a universe of nothingness?

To resolve skepticism that our exquisitely calibrated, inhabited world is the product of happenstance, Hawking would persuade us about a “multiverse” of parallel universes. The multiverse notion is not merely speculation on steroids, it is demonstrably impossible mathematically—when computing the timeframe (used by scientists themselves) required for random selection to meander its way through the process of materializing Hawking’s imagined multiverse (or even the observable universe, for that matter).

The impossibilities of Hawking’s multiverse evolving from nothingness are compounded by the miracle of DNA—not only its complexity but the fact that it comes frontloaded with coded genetic information. Complex coding, by definition, comes not by undirected happenstance but by intelligent design. How could one argue otherwise from science rather than supposition?

All told, Hawking’s theory of cosmology cannot be demonstrated by the scientific method—nor be explained by logic, which has as a foundational principle: ex nihilo nihil fit: “out of nothing, nothing comes.” So nothing can logically prevent a librarian from classifying Hawking’s “tale of many chapters” as science fiction.

Martin Weber

Lincoln, Nebraska

Barry Mosier from Minnesota is a front-line missionary with his family in the Congo, Africa. It’s thrilling to read their stories of God’s amazing victories and deliverances. (To subscribe to his newsletter by e-mail, click here.)

Here is the lead story of his latest newsletter:

The year 2010 started with great challenges for one of our church planters. After his evangelism training at Congo Frontline Missions, Zabilema and his family accepted a call to plant a new church about 15 miles from Kisangani. The family members were very excited to move to this un-entered area. However, on arriving at their new post of duty, the villagers did not welcome them as they had expected. After some time, they realized that some villagers were practicing strong witchcraft and did not want Christians to live in their village. It was not easy for the witches to force this new family to leave because they had the permission they needed from the government to stay at this village.

One evening, Zabilema and his family were enjoying the cool evening breeze outside their house. Suddenly, they saw fire inside the house. They quickly raced inside to put it out before much destruction happened. It was a strange fire in that there seemed to be nothing to cause it. The next morning some people explained to them that the witches had started the fire to scare them away. Nevertheless, this man of God trusted the Lord and was not ready to give up. A few weeks later, a more serious threat came. Early one morning, Zabilema’s wife unlocked the door to cook breakfast. She was shocked to discover a trail of blood encircling the ground around their house.

When they asked the villagers to explain what this meant, they said, “Your home has been cursed. There is no escape. Someone in this house will die.”  They further discovered that the witches had given them one week to leave the village or else the destroying spirit would come to kill part or all of the family.

This was a big test to the man of God. Instead of leaving his post of duty allotted to him by the King of Kings, he prayed earnestly and decided to stay. When the mercy period ended, the destroying spirit came to accomplish his evil mission of death. However, instead of destroying the Zabilema family, one of the family members of the head witch died.

The people of village were shocked. They were sure the missionaries would die because the witches had always done whatever they wanted before. This miracle of the Zabilema family opened a new page in this village, which was a demon headquarters. Now, Zabilema has six people worshiping the true God with him and three have already been baptized.

“Satan’s armies are many, and God’s people must spread over all the world, planting the standard of truth in the dark places of the earth and doing their utmost to destroy Satan’s kingdom” {Evangelism, p. 18.2}

Please pray for the thousands of church planters all over the world, that they may have protection from God against the spirits of Satan.