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April 23, 2008

 

 

 



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Best Practices Sermon
Ravenhill
To the Point:

I believe that nothing that happens to me is meaningless, and that it is good for us all that it should be so, even if it runs counter to our own wishes. As I see it, I'm here for some purpose, and I only hope I may fulfill it. In the light of the great purpose all our privations and disappointments are trivial.
 - Dietrich Bonhoefer

Many things--such as loving, going to sleep, or behaving unaffectedly--are done worst when we try hardest to do them.
 - C.S. Lewis

Recommend your religion to [your children] by its pleasantness. Let the law of kindness be on your lips.
 - EGW, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p.98

Lemon pie should not be forbidden.
 - EGW, Counsels on Diet and Foods, p.334

God wants us all to have common sense, and He wants us to reason from common sense. Circumstances alter conditions. Circumstances change the relation of things.
 - EGW, Selected Messages 3, p.217

Got a favorite quote? Send it to [email protected]
Kenneth LytleEffective Outreach:
Kenneth Lytle, Suburban Philadelphia
At Easter my racquetball partner invited my family to his Episcopal church for a special program. When we arrived, they were just finishing the foot washing segment. Then the minister broke the bread and distributed both the bread and the wine. We took a piece of the bread and gracefully passed the wine on to the next person. There was singing, readings, candlelight, and friendship. Then they had a simple meal of soup, bread, and fruits.

As I sat there soaking up what I saw, I realized (once again) that we cannot expect thousands of people to walk away from their churches and embrace the Adventist faith just because we share a little truth with them. Yes, we need to share the truth God has given us, but distributing a flyer and Bible study interest card is just scratching the surface. Thousands of people are happy where they are. They have family, friends, traditions, and habits that were ingrained into them from childhood. As we evangelize those around us, we need to know that changing one's church is not an easy endeavor. It seems to me we must be very sensitive to the mental, emotional, social, and spirit needs that others have as they consider our faith.

A friend recently gave us a fish tank. We placed the blue rocks at the bottom of the tank, inserted the fake foliage, and situated the bubble-producing shipwreck. We purchased some tropical fish at the pet store. We also learned we couldn't just dump fish in the new tank and expect them to live. Twice we took our water for testing. Then and only then was the tank a safe home for our new fish.

We are to fish for men and women. But, before we can bring new fish into our tanks, we must prayerfully and intentionally prepare the water. If the church is unhealthy, the new fish (visitors/members) will leave. I want to do whatever it takes to make our churches visitor-friendly, family-focused, and mission-driven without lowering our Biblical principles and standards.

Contact Kenneth at [email protected].
Reading for Pastors
by Best Practices Editor, Loren Seibold


Book Review
The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor
by John Stott (IVP Books, 2007)

Reflecting on his more than sixty years of service as rector at All Souls Church, London, Stott addresses a global church that is in transition to the marks of a church that is living.  Through his characteristic blend of rigorous biblical exposition and great wisdom, Stott identifies eight essentials of a living church.  The appendix has the text of his 1974 "I Have a Dream" sermon:  "I have a dream of . . . a biblical church . . . a worshiping church . . . a caring church . . . a serving church . . . an expectant church."  
- Raj Attiken
Resources and Ideas
by Best Practices Editor, Loren Seibold

  • Just for fun: An engineer's guide to cats.
  • From Pete Resz about the AU worship conference: "I think you nailed it. Worship is all about God and nothing about performance. Oh, that we could understand 1 John, where he tells us we are to talk about what we have Seen, Heard, and Felt; that like David we could taste and see that God is good, rightly to be praised."
  • Jerald Whitehouse of the Global Center for Adventist Muslim Relations at the GC took exception to our linking the article about Father Zakaria Botros' hardball evangelism of Muslims. Jerald points out that Butros has made the work of ex-Muslim Christians much more difficult, and damaged the fragile relationships between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East. He asks, "Is the good news really the bad news about the other? Is this really the 'gospel' that we want to endorse?" He cites this passage from The Desire of Ages, and concludes, "I would hope that we are not upholding un-Christ like methods as examples of best practices."
  • Our video this week is a bit longer than usual (about 18 minutes). Don't be put off by the intellectual-sounding description: it is good stuff for us SDA's. We Adventists will appreciate Ms. Nussbaum's caution about the junction of religion and government. Bill Moyers mentions Seventh-day Adventists in passing.
  • If you've found an especially thoughtful sermon online, please share it with us.
  • From Nick Bejarano at Guide magazine: Guide magazine has launched Screen Smart, a section of its Web site (www.guidemagazine.org) featuring reviews of current movies, video games, and other media targeted to ages 10-14. Randy Fishell (Guide Editor) noted that a recent poll on the Guide Web site showed that nearly half of the kids who responded had watched a movie in the theater during the past year. Smart Screen provides Bible-based guidance from an Adventist perspective to help young people and their parents make informed choices about entertainment. 
    Find Screen Smart, the Creation/Evolution Info Center, and other features at www.guidemagazine.org.
Got a tool, resource, site, article, idea or seminar that you like a lot? Share it with us at [email protected].
NAD Events
Do you have an SDA-sponsored event that you'd like to invite NAD pastors to? Tell us about it at [email protected].
NAD Church RESOURCE Center
Best Practices is an e-publication of Vervent
NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER
Editor: Loren Seibold
Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church