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 God's Grief
Preaching the State of the Dead
by John Mclarty
The state of the dead is one of Seventh-day Adventists' most important contributions to Christian theology, but it can be a dark theme. I used to approach it from the direction of correcting the erroneous doctrine held by others. The way I preach it now gives it a sweeter and more encouraging face.
The common view of death as the doorway to heaven is correct from the point of view of the person who dies. In the experience of the person dying, death is trivial. Blink your eyes closed in this world and blink them open in the next. An instant. A twinkling of an eye. No big deal - for the person who dies. But for those who are left alive, death is a devastating loss, a sometimes decades-long grief.
The Adventist doctrine of death addresses this reality, the pain of those who live.
In the conventional view of death as the doorway to heaven, when someone dies, God delightedly welcomes his child home. Meanwhile, back on earth, humans grieve. In this view, human grief is the cost of divine pleasure. But Adventists see a deeper truth, one that brings God close to those facing life in a world touched by death. Our grief is, in fact, a reflection of the grief of our Maker. God participates fully with us in the pain of separation. God, too, is grieved. Just as our communion with our beloved has been interrupted, so, too, with God. God no longer hears their voices in prayer and worship. He no longer experiences the joy of cooperating in ministry, of sharing together in the beauty and wonder of Creation. Human grief is a mirror of divine grief. Grief is the cost of love. So God, the greatest lover, bears the sharpest grief. He genuinely keeps company with us in our loss.
When we understand God's grief, our own grief becomes a severe mercy, a piercing testimony to the love of God. Like a mother whose grief is undiminished by time, so God's grief never goes away. It remains a perpetual longing for the reunion of resurrection, God's own reason to hasten the day when love again will be awake and alive. The day when God's grief over the sleep of his children is swallowed up in the joy of eternal morning.
Discuss this topic on our Best Practices Facebook page. 
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News from NAD Ministerial
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NAD Ministerial Team Adds Two New Members!
by Ivan Williams, Director NAD Ministerial
 On July 1, 2011 Dave Gemmell and Shawn Boonstra joined the NAD Ministerial team. Dave Gemmell serves as an Associate Ministerial Director transferring from NAD Church Resource Center. He will continue to to discover, develop, and distribute resources for the pastors of the NAD just as he did at CRC. He also serves as a volunteer Associate Pastor for New Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fulton, Maryland. He brings a wealth of passion, experience, and creativity to serving pastors for the Lord. Welcome Dave! 
Shawn Boonstra will serve as an Associate Ministerial Director. His role at Ministerial is to inspire, train, and equip pastors and churches for evangelism. As the former speaker/director of It Is Written television program, he brings a vast experience of soul winning and evangelistic initiatives to the NAD team. Pray for Shawn as he moves from the sunny beaches of San Diego to the fickle east coast weather of Washington DC!
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| Media |
 The Paradise Seventh-day Adventist church has developed a unique series of dramatic sessions that feature stories about Jesus. Through video, drama and creative dialogue, Pastor Ben Maxson, David Vixie and others share the gospel in compelling ways. ChurchApplied traveled to Paradise in February to capture the essence of what took place.  Our apologies. The link was broken in our last issue of Best Practices, but I think we've got it working again. NAD Communication Department is launching a new show entitled Tech Talk. Listen to Pastor Bryant Taylor and Chip Dizard share some of their excitement about the potential that the iPad has for ministry.
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| Reading for Pastors | Another film stirring controversy in the Christian community. "Salvation Boulevard" is about a hypocritical megachurch pastor - and Christian groups are suing to prevent its release into theaters.
Can they do that? Judge blocks megachurch pastor from taking up offerings because of conflict between congregational leadership factions.
Three pieces about electronic communication:More evidence that "membership" is increasingly a useless metric: 80% of members are inactive.
Gay in the church? When is it time to quit your job? Four signs that it's time to start looking elsewhere.
Was Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian assassin, a Christian? Although he self-identified as one, there's very little evidence that was his motivation. Quote: "'He was a flaky extremist who might as well have claimed to be fighting for the honor of Hogwarts as for the cause of Christ,' said Philip Jenkins, a Pennsylvania State University professor who studies global religion and politics, describing the suspected Norway attacker. 'He did not represent a religious movement. ... People should not follow that Christian fundamentalist red herring.'"
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| To the Point | These quotes are from mid-century self-help guru Dale Carnegie:
All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do. If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there and worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the loss of sleep. It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feelings. Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date. Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity. You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. |
| News, Ideas & Reminders |
- From Monte Sahlin: Last year a new group raised funds to re-start the publication of Christian History, a magazine that was published by Christianity Today for decades and went under a couple of years ago. They have rushed out a special issue on "The History of Hell" in response, I think, to the storm kicked up by Rob Bell's book that came out earlier in the spring.
Right up front it defines "three views of hell," including "conditional immortality or annihilationism." It includes a short article on Seventh-day Adventists on page 23. (All articles are short; the issue is only 32 pages.) In the annotated bibliography it includes Samuele Bacchiocchi (noting that his book has a forward by noted Evangelical theologian Clark Pinnock), Jonathan Butler, and L. E. Froom's The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, noting that Clark Pinnock called it "a classic defense of conditionalism." It also includes two books by Edward Fudge that we have made much use of in recent decades, although he is not an Adventist. All in all, it is a very even-handed and clear-headed, concise coverage of a much-controverted issue. It unblinkingly concedes that in recent decades the nontraditional view on this topic has gained much ground among conservative Protestants.
They have been selling extra copies of back issues, and you can also read the current issue online at www.christianhistorymagazine.org.
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| Upcoming NAD Events |
Do you have an event you'd like to invite NAD pastors to? Send details to BestPractices@Ameritech.net. Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day. Aug 27, 2011, World Wide. Order a FREE kit from AdventSource to help you plan an event for your church. If the fourth Sabbath in August is not a convenient date for your church to observe Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day, please work with your pastor to find another date. This year's resources will be available on the web site beginning in June. Phone: 800-328-0525. For more information, email: service@adventsource.org Pacific Union Ministerial Council. Aug 29, 2011 - Aug 31, 2011, Ontario Convention Center, 2000 E Convention Center Way, Ontario, CA 91764. Be enriched by outstanding preaching, practical workshops, inspirational music and refreshing fellowship with pastors from around the Pacific Union. Phone: 805-413-7254. For more information, email: vivienne@puconline.org Men's Ministries Day of Prayer. Sep 3, 2011, North American Division. Across the North American Division churches rally their men to pray for their families and churches. For more information, email: mlabrador@carolinasda.com Nurture Periodicals. Sep 4, 2011 - Sep 10, 2011, North American Division. Adventist Review, Insight, Guide, Primary Treasure, Our Little Friend. Festival of the Laity 2011. Sep 7, 2011 - Sep 10, 2011, Sheraton Dallas, 400 N Olive Street, Dallas, TX 75402. Come for training and strengthening your ministry capacity in the areas of: Bible Instructors, Children, Christian Education, Communication, Community Service, Deacons & Deaconess, Disabilities, Elder, Family & Singles, Greeters & Ushers, Health, Hospitality, Information Technology, Pastors, Pastors' Spouses, Personal, Prayer, Prison, Sabbath School, Stewardship, Women, Young Adult, Youth. Phone: 301-680-6430. For more information, email: carol.barron@nad.adventist.org. 7th Annual National Conference on Innovation: where provocative thinkers collide and engage in meaningful, unexpected conversations. October 2-4, 2011, Crowne Plaza - 33 East Fifth Street, Dayton, OH 45402. Presenters Include anna Lappe, Gabe Lyons, Ron Stout, Diana Fleming, Sid Lloyd. Online registration here. |
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