Ordination

A short history of Ordination in the Christian Faith–Dr. Darius Jankiewicz

What the Bible Really Says about Women Spiritual Leaders–Dwight Nelson

God’s Compassion through and for Humanity

In a recent interview for Adventist Today, Carl Wilkens shared how he sees God acting in the world to care for his kids. “When you stop and ask, ‘How did God provide for me? How did God protect me? How was God with me?’ you start to see this truth that we’ve known all along: God’s primary way of intervening on this planet is through people.”

Shortly after that conversation, I came across an example of this in the life of Paul. In a letter to the community in Corinth, Paul shares his troubled emotions. “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more” (2 Cor. 7:5-7; emphasis added). God could have comforted Paul by sending angels or by supernaturally giving him deep peace within; however, God chose a fellow human—Titus and the friends who sent word via Titus—to support Paul.

God certainly does act directly at times, but it is generally when humans have failed to play their part, or are simply unable for whatever reason. Carl shared how Jesus’ experience in Gethsemane is an example of this last resort. Jesus wanted his friends to be with him in his dark hour, but only when they failed to support him did God send angels to do the job.

This methodology of providing comfort and compassion through fellow humans was also highlighted by Ellen White. She wrote: “God designs that the sick, the unfortunate, those possessed of evil spirits, shall hear His voice through us. Through His human agents He desires to be a comforter, such as the world has never before seen. His words are to be voiced by His followers: ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me’” (Welfare Ministry, p. 22).

Who has God used to encourage me? Who might God want to comfort through me today?

Carl Wilkens Interview (AToday)

Carl Wilkens is the focus of the 7th installment of the Viewpoints interview series at Adventist Today. Carl stayed in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994, and he now travels with his wife speaking on issues of human rights and peacemaking. An excerpt from the interview:

Jeff: You have said that when faced with evil and tragedies, we should not ask, “Where is God?” but instead ask, “Where are those who claim the name of Christ?” Why is this reorientation of the question important?

Carl: As I travel around and speak with what are considered secular audiences, I’m constantly looking for a vocabulary to communicate the truths that I believe Jesus came to make plain to us. It’s often pretty meaningless to use phrases like “God was with me,” “God protected me,” “God provided for me.” When you stop and ask, “How did God provide for me? How did God protect me? How was God with me?” you start to see this truth that we’ve known all along: God’s primary way of intervening on this planet is through people.

[complete interview]

Previously, I wrote about Carl at the Summit on Social Consciousness at Andrews University.

Adventists in Politics: Healers of the Nations?

The Center for Christian Bioethics at Loma Linda University is hosting an event featuring five Adventists in politics. From the description it looks like significant questions could be in play, though 90 minutes seems too short to cover multiple perspective to much depth:

“Adventists in the United States have not sought public office as often as have Baptists and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Should more Adventists run for public office? Or are there good reasons not to? With this election year upon us, several speakers with an Adventist background will recount why they plunged into politics–local, state, national.”

Details:

• Saturday, May 12, 2012
• 3:00-4:30pm
• Centennial Complex, Damazo Amphitheater
• Loma Linda University

Videos — ADRA & ACSDR

ADRA: “Thanks to a “Goats for Widows” project in the 2008 edition of ADRA’s Really Useful Gift Catalog, these Rwandan widows received goats. The goats provide fertilizer for their gardens, and will be bred and sold to generate income.”

ACS Disaster Response: “Adventist Community Services in Oklahoma give us the ability to touch and bless our community in a way seldom offered. In the darkest times we can be the light with the help of our God. Give to support Disaster Relief and Community Services.”

Prayer and Social Action — George Müller

When I started my Lent series on social justice at Spectrum a couple years ago, I started with the topic of prayer. Here’s a quote from that article:

In preparing for social action, there is one element that should be prioritized—prayer. Because of its importance, this week’s practical step is to pray. Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove remind us that “prayer and action can go together; in fact they must. Otherwise we have little more than a bunch of inactive believers or worn-out activists, and neither do much good for the world” (Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals, 2008, p. 12).

That article also included part of the story of when Rick McKinley, Donald Miller and others started praying for the needs of Portland as they started a church plant (you can read more of their accounts in this PDF, and a bit of context for that document here). Prayer is powerful.

Recently, my wife and I have been reading George Müller: Delighted in God (1981), which tells the moving story of how Müller cared for thousands of orphans by relying on prayer (and the God who hears our prayers) to supply his needs. His stories just amaze me–his trust in God, his dedication to prayer, his embrace of risk. And when I came across this paragraph where he reveals his motivation, I wanted to share it with you, A2 blog readers:*

Disagreeing Well

Yesterday we had a lively “debate” about women’s ordination in the A2 Facebook group. I appreciated two aspects of the conversation. First, there was diversity of opinion. Adventist “ethicists” have a wide range of views, interpretations and approaches. This is good. Groupthink is not helpful. No view, no matter how foundational to Adventism or Christianity is uncontested (God exists, God is love, Jesus is God, Jesus promoted peace and justice, I should promote peace and justice, etc.), and that is certainly true for all of the moral claims we are wrestling with here. So I hope people will continue to feel free to speak their minds on topics, knowing that the expression of alternate views is an important part of our ethical development.

The second thing I appreciated was the attitude between people. No one disfellowshipped anyone else. Everyone deserves respect. We are all trying to be true to the Bible and to God’s Spirit. Yet no one has all the data or is interpreting all the data objectively and accurately. We need each other. I need your information. I need your perspective. Jimi Hendrix said he never met a guitarist he didn’t learn from. I may not switch to your side of the argument, but I will at least have a better understanding of both sides of the issue. So I appreciated that both sides granted the other the benefit of the doubt regarding sincerity and their place as children of God.

Disagreeing must be done in the context of the affirmation that we are seekers of God, at least as honestly and faithfully as humanly possible. We may disagree about who (if anyone) should be ordained, about how to engage in the political sphere, about military ethics, or how to care for creation, but we are still part of one family–God’s family. We are part of a religious tradition that at its best has promoted “unity in diversity” rather than “conformity.” May this always be true of our conversations here. We’re all doing the best we can, and hopefully together we can figure more out and engage in more faithful action than we could alone.

At about the same time that the ordination conversation was occurring, I read a post by Shane Claiborne on the same topic–his disagreements with Chuck Colson. This line stood out to me: “Despite disagreeing on some important things, he left me wanting to talk more, rather than less. I’d say our world of mean politics and ugly theology could use more Chuck Colsons.”

This conversation also reminds me of the TED talk by Kathryn Schulz, On Being Wrong. “I can’t actually think of anything that I’m wrong about.” Let’s not fall back on the unfortunate assumptions about those who disagree with us.

Grace and peace my brothers and sisters in Christ,

Jeff

Daniel Buttry, Baptist Peacemaker

Tonight I had the privilege of attending a nearly two-hour presentation and meet-n-greet with peacemaking activist, theologian and missionary, Dan Buttry. In a Christian Peacemaking independent study I did last year, two of the books I used were by Dan–Christian Peacemaking (1994) and Peace Ministry: A Handbook for Local Churches (1995). I recommend both.

This evening I appreciated Dan’s story of transitioning from pastoral ministry to international mediation and conflict transformation. I also valued the roles that Mennonites John Howard Yoder and John Paul Lederach played in Dan’s journey and in the journey of Baptist peacemaking more generally. In addition to describing his own personal path, Dan also told stories from the field, such as this one from a trip to Liberia–I’m the Socks.

Dan’s current role is quite intriguing. He is the “American Baptist International Ministries’ Global Consultant for Peace and Justice. He works with [Baptist] missionaries and national church partners around the world to deal constructively with conflict situations. In addition, Dan trains church and community leaders in conflict transformation skills, utilizing experiential education methodologies and Bible study” (from a pamphlet for International Ministries). Carl Wilkens’ presentation at Andrews University earlier this month tells me that the Adventist church needs this kind of leadership as well. And what would it take for us to have a recurring global peace conference or convention like the Baptists do?

To learn more, visit Dan’s blog and website, or check out these books:

• Blessed are the Peacemakers (2011)
• Interfaith Heroes (2007)
• Interfaith Heroes 2 (2008)

Also related is Friendship and Faith: The Wisdom of Women Creating Alliances for Peace (2010), and there is talk of a project called Blessed are the Filmmakers as a follow-up to his book Blessed are the Peacemakers.

SDA Articles

It’s been quite a while since I put together a reading list. Here it is:

• Volunteers in Action: Mike Kontes (Maranatha video, N.D.)
• A Cinderella Story (NAPS, N.D.)
• Washington Church Reaches Out to Migrant Farm Workers & Immigrants (Adv Today, 21 Apr 2012)
• Adventist Students Protest Chinese Industrial Development in the Solomon Islands (Adv Today, 20 Apr 2012)
• 2012 Ellen White Issues Symposium: “Ellen G. White on Leadership and Power” (Memory, Meaning & Faith, 20 Apr 2012)
• Earth Day: ADRA Celebrates Commitment to Maintain a Healthy World (John Torres, ADRA, 19 Apr 2012)
• Retired GC President Jan Paulsen Addresses Women’s Ordination Issue at Spring Meeting (Adv Today, 18 Apr 2012)
• This is What He Said (Jan Paulsen, Spectrum, 17 Apr 2012)
• Fundamentalism, Women, and the Adventist Church (Ginger Hanks Harwood, Spectrum, 17 Apr 2012) 
• Mongolia: ADRA Improves Access to Education and Health Services for Children with Disabilities (John Torres, ADRA, 17 Apr 2012)
• Social Justice and Adventism (Charles Eaton, Adv Today, 16 Apr 2012)
• June is National Torture Awareness Month (ReligiousLiberty.TV,  16 Apr 2012)
• Interfaith Moral Action on Climate to Meet April 24 in Washington, DC (Karen Scott, ReligiousLiberty.TV, 15 Apr 2012)
• Saving ADRA (Bonnie Dwyer, Spectrum, 15 Apr 2012)
• In China, Adventist believers display spirit of service, sacrifice (Andre Brink, ANN, 13 Apr 2012)
• Weekend Feature: Green Technology Saves Pacific Union College Millions of Dollars (Adv Today, 13 Apr 2012)
• Justin Kim, Congressional Candidate, Speaks with Spectrum (Alexander Carpenter, Spectrum, 12 Apr 2012)
• Miracle Greenhouse (Sandra Blackmer, Adv Review, 12 Apr 2012)
• Adventist Peace Fellowship sponsors Torture Awareness Month in June (Adv Today, 11 Apr 2012)
• Church Chat: For Adventist blind ministry, cutbacks kindle new growth (Elizabeth Lechleitner, ANN, 11 Apr 2012)
• A Bend Toward Justice in the Trayvon Martin Story (Jason Hines, Spectrum, 11 Apr 2012)
• Resurrection: On Mission and Chavez (Geoffrey Nelson-Blake, Spectrum, 10 Apr 2012)
• World religious freedom congress to help advocates identify emerging threats (Bettina Krause, ANN, 10 Apr 2012)
• New Funding Achieved for Community Clinics Staffed by Loma Linda Volunteers (Adv Today, 10 Apr 2012)
• If He Is King, Where Is His Army? (Charles Scriven, Spectrum, 9 Apr 2012)
• Weeping with Jephthah’s Daughter (Kendra Haloviak Valentine, Spectrum, 6 Apr 2012)
• Trayvon Martin and the Adventist Imperative (Keith Burton, Spectrum, 5 Apr 2012)
• Adventist Congressman Re-nominated for Sixth District in Maryland (Adv Today, 4 Apr 2012)
• Announcement of Women’s Ordination Brings Tears, Cheers (Jared Wright, Spectrum, 4 Apr 2012)
• Urban Economic Development in Papua New Guinea empowers Women (South Pacific Record, Adv Today, 2 Apr 2012)
• Five Lessons on Loving Your Enemies (Jason Hines, ReligiousLiberty.TV, 1 Apr 2012)
• Dr. Leslie N. Pollard, Eleventh President of Oakwood University (Ramona L. Hyman, Message, Mar/Apr 2012)

Andrews Univ: Summit on Social Consciousness

Summit on Social Consciousness: Lessons from Rwanda

(April 11-14, 2012)

This past weekend, Andrews University hosted Carl Wilkens at the Summit on Social Consciousness.[i] Wilkens, who worked for ADRA at the time and is now the co-founder of World Outside My Shoes, was the only U.S. citizen who remained in Rwanda during the 100-day genocide in 1994.[ii] I was able to attend only the Saturday programs, and based on their quality I am sorry to have missed the bulk of the Summit. Christon Arthur, Dean of the AU School of Graduate Studies and Research, described the event as “the first annual.” I hope his off-hand comment will prove true because a number of important themes raised at the event deserve further attention, such as personal and institutional responses to violence, Christian involvement in the political sphere, and forgiveness and reconciliation.

Sabbath School

For Sabbath School Cassandre and Andreas Beccai interviewed both Carl and Teresa Wilkens. I was interested in three parts of their explanation for why Carl stayed in Rwanda when most other foreigners left. First, Teresa described their relationship with two Tutsis who worked for the Wilkens family. These individuals were deeply important to the Wilkens, and the family knew both would be murdered if Carl did not stay. Second, Carl mentioned the tendency to question authority. When ordered by the U.S. embassy and also SDA leaders to evacuate, Carl questioned these calls and chose to respond as he saw best. This theme—we always have a choice—came up a number of times in the presentations and workshops (especially Ann Gibson’s breakout session). Third, Carl explained that just because it was right for him to stay does not mean that the people who left were not right in leaving. In such a time of chaos and uncertainty, no one decision is necessarily right for each person given their various roles, responsibilities and extenuating circumstances. I appreciated this openness.