Best Practices
| May 5, 2010
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Elder Paulsen Webinar Tomorrow!
Thursday, May 20, 2010 2:00 PM -
3:15 PM EDT
 Spend an hour with the President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Jan Paulsen. Listen to his heart as he encourages the pastors of the NAD. With the GC Session just around the corner here is your chance to ask whatever question is pressing on your mind. This Best Practices webinar is limited to the first 1,000 people who register - so reserve your place now!
Reserve your webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/216950289
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Ministry
|  If Not in the Church, Where Will the World Find Grace?
By Roger Hernandez, Hispanic Ministries Coordinator, Oregon Conference
We don't live in a grace-filled world. Think about it: -
Sports: You play well, you get paid. Endorsements, applause and
recognition go to the winner.
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Work: You work well, you get the bonus, promotions, accolades, the
corner office and a raise.
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School: Those who study hard get on the dean's list, receive
scholarships, and graduate summa cum laude with a parchment paper to
hang on the wall that says to everyone "I earned this".
Our world is ruled by works. From the supermarket to the information
superhighway, the principle is the same. It's impossible to buy a car by
grace, or a house, or a computer. You get what you work for -
sometimes less.
So where can we find grace?
In the church.
I contend that church is the hope of the world. It's the only place
people can see love for the sinner, hate for the sin. It's the only
place a person can come just as they are and leave better. With all its
imperfections, church, rightly done, can be the vehicle that God uses to
help us learn about grace.
The problem is, when people get there, will they find grace?
As a lifelong church member, I can remember being taught that if you
want to be a good Christian (and by implication, attain eternal life)
then you:
Must not cut hair, if you are a woman. Must not leave hair long, if
you are a man.
Must always kneel when you pray.
Must not celebrate Christmas. Or Valentines Day, Mother's Day, Father's
Day or any day. You must not celebrate, period.
Must not wear pants or sing praise songs.
Must not move the chairs from the platform, unless you are an ordained
elder or deacon.
Must have the doxology before the invocation. Always!
Must not go up front if you have your period. (Really? Yes. Really.)
Must watch out for Catholics, evangelicals and Jesuits teaching in our
colleges.
Must watch out for Pentecostal influences.
Must be ready for persecution.
I was 22 years old, a theology student, a 3rd generation Adventist
Christian and did not know Jesus! As long as I behaved well and looked
the part, everything was OK. I do not remember even once having a
conversation with an adult who inquired whether I knew Jesus as my
personal Savior.
The wonderful thing about knowing Jesus is that with Him in the picture,
the Adventist message makes the Christian experience deeper, and makes
the walk with God a delight, not chore. Church can be enjoyed, not
endured. It's you want to, not you ought to Christianity.
And it's all because of grace. Discuss this article on the Best Practices Facebook page 
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Reading For Pastors
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Seth Godin on how to find good ideas. Quote: The best ideas come out of the corner of our eye, the edge of our
consciousness, in a flash. They are the result of misdirection and
random collisions, not a grinding corporate onslaught.
Words effective leaders use - like "you can do it!"
We rate restaurants. Why not churches? A Chicago group sets up a church-rating website.
How to burn out in ministry, in 5 easy steps. Quote: "Someone hurt you lately? Cool. Here's what you do:
Hold a grudge. That's right. Don't give in to the temptation to be the
weaker one. Better yet, give them the silent treatment.
Yeah! It will teach them a lesson and you'll be well on your way to
burning out."
Video: How does your church handle staff transitions?
John Calvin was missional? A reflection on John Calvin's quote that we can learn from "profane authors". Quote: "We don't take God to the culture we go to, God is already there."
Is The Watchtower really the most widely-read magazine in the world? The New York Review of Magazines thinks so. Quote: "While some magazines have religious followings, few have actually
started religions. The Watchtower did just that. Back then, it
was Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, so
named by its founder, the writer and preacher Charles T. Russell. A
former assistant editor of the Second Adventist magazine The Herald
of the Morning, Russell released the first edition of Zion's
Watch Tower on July 1, 1879."
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| Featured Media | With today's i installment of the Stained Glass Documentary Series we introduce chapter one of the Oakland Grand Ave Church. Despite an exciting revival at Oakland Grand, the congregation has grown increasingly out of touch with the surrounding community. In a city where 1 in every 100 persons are homeless, how can the church go beyond preaching the gospel and start living it in ways that make a difference to the city's residents? In this gritty documentary, watch the most unlikely cast of believers tackle this problem head on, and encounter more problem with in themselves than on the streets of Oakland. Watch future editions of Best Practices as new chapters of Grand Avenue are released. However if you simply have to see the entire Grand Ave documentary series ASAP you can order it on DVD from AdventSour ce.
Tom Bandy is a consultant, conference speaker, and leadership coach for Christian organizations. He is also the president of Thriving Church Consulting, LLC. Watch his presentation entitled Basic Growth which was given recently to Seventh-day Adventist Pastors.
 One of the most powerful videos you can show in your church is a video produced in your church featuring your church members. Here's a video produced at New Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church for Mother's Day. Feel free to use it next Mother's Day, or better yet, create one of your own!
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| To the Point
| There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.
- Robert Orben
Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?
- Edgar Bergen
It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.
- Mark Twain
Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger.
- Franklin P. Jones
What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our eyes!
- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell.
- George Bernard Shaw
It is the wretchedness of being rich that you have to live with rich people.
- Logan Pearsall Smith
Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.
- Heywood Broun
You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there.
- George Burns
All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse.
- Benjamin Franklin
When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.
- Rodney Dangerfield
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News, Ideas & Reminders
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- Worries about the new Arizona law concerning illegal immigrants:
- Miguel Valdivia explains in an email the implications of the new law: "[The new law] defines 'smuggling of human beings' as the 'transportation by a person or an entity that knows or has reason to
know that the person is not lawfully in this state.' This means that a
church that picks up an undocumented immigrant to bring him to a Sabbath
service could be charged with a misdemeanor. If a church member picks up a
group of undocumented immigrants, he or she can be charged as a felon
and fined $1,000 for each person in the vehicle. The law says that it is
unlawful to 'conceal, harbor or shield an alien from detection in any
place in Arizona, including any building or means of transportation,'
which in a real sense means
that all our Hispanic churches in Arizona will be engaged in an
unlawful activity, starting on July 3, 2010."
- IMPACT Atlanta [iATL], June 23 through July 3, 2010 at the
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia. "Converging Seventh-day
Adventist young adults from around the world to sharpen leadership and
compassion skills through training and community service to the
neighborhoods of greater Atlanta."
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Best Practices is a Vervent publication of NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER. Editor: Loren Seibold, Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church. E-mail:
Best Practices. You are free to republish pieces from Best Practices in your own
newsletter or blog, with attribution to the Best Practices newsletter and the
author of the piece. |
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