Stories & Commentaries

More than 750 Adventists converged in Tucson, Arizona, on Jan. 8-11, to worship, learn, share their talents, and network at the 2017 North American Division Adventist Ministries Convention (NAD AMC).

Pastor Mark Johnson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada (SDACC), and Pastor Mansfield Edwards, Ontario Conference president, joined the 25 charter members and other guests for the inaugural service held at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Scarborough, a district in eastern Toronto.

The more I meander around through the environs of the early church the more I stand in awe. Just to join up with that troop was truly transformational.

The Adventist Health System (AHS) board of directors has appointed Terry Shaw as the organization’s new president/CEO.

Eight recommendations geared toward bringing the ecclesiastical and educational sides of the Adventist Church together for mission are voted at the 2016 NAD Year-End Meeting.

Every year I receive letters or phone calls asking whether it is correct for Adventists to celebrate Christmas. The uncertainty is usually based on the absence of any biblical information about the date of Christ’s birth, and on the conviction that December 25 has been associated with a pagan festival.

Did you ever meet Johnny Barnes? He died a few months ago where he lived all his life, on the beautiful island of Bermuda. Ruthie and I met him just a few months before his death.

Last week, I was reminded about being involved in a major nation-wide public health program in Poland in the early 1980s, when the then Five-Day Stop Smoking Plan.[1] attracted literally thousands of smokers who flooded Adventist churches and public venues.

“The science of cooking is not a small matter. The skillful preparation of food is one of the most essential arts, . . . This art should be regarded as the most valuable of all the arts, because it is so closely connected with life” (Counsels on Diets and Foods, p. 263).

Many years ago I was beginning my teaching career at Battle Creek Academy in Michigan. We were living on campus and my wife and I hosted a Friday evening vespers in our home for students. There was a faithful group of six to eight students that worshiped with us week after week. We would have a meal, to which the students contributed, before we worshiped. Tears were often shed as trust grew and we all learned to be open and real.