Social Justice

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The Sabbath Pulpit is proud to be invovled in the Camp Meeting 2.0 series. Here is our submission to the community on Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief #7

Head on over to the Intersections Blog where Pastor Ryan Bell has a report of the Urban Ministry seminar given by Pastor Monte Sahlin. Interestingly, Sahlin's research shows that public evangelism doesn't necessarily translate into church growth. Churches that are growing use it, as well as some churches that don't.

The Reinventing the Adventist Wheel blog has a poll question up, Does Gender discrimination exist in the Adventist church. I think on the face of it it is an obvious answer. One might ask the next question does racial discrimination exist. The answer to both questions, in my opinion, is of course.

As the preacher, congregation, and the Spirit interact to create the preaching event the core beliefs of the Christian community are reaffirmed.

Dr. Ciro Sepulveda, chair of the History department at Oakwood College, wrote an article entitled "Reinventing Adventist History." You can find the abridged version of the article at Adventist Today. The full article can be found at the Oakwod College Website.

That is the question that Oakwood College Student Theresa Francis asks in her Adventist Review Article. I would encourage you to read her article. In it she attempts to demonstrate how the Adventist Church has substantial work in providing for the survival needs, well-being needs, identity needs, and freedom needs. It is a blessing to see the work done by ADRA and other Adventist organizations for the good of humanity.

This brings us to the primary question. Why is passivity not possible? The answer is that the current work of the Spirit is to mature us and this maturity happens as we seek to live in God?s intention. For our purposes this is a call to active support of equality. Christ has not finished God?s current intention on humanity. God does not simply institute God?s intention in humanity without any work on our part. God is doing a work inside of humanity. That work is moving humanity to a maturation which will be the acceptance of God?s current intention.

Someone on the Just Pastor's Blog asks this interesting question. The answer was also interesting:

?He would definitely be a cutting-edge postmodern pastor,? I thought right away. ?I bet he would surprise many church goers and administrators. He would most likely read the Scriptures on his PDA and would probably preach his sermons from it. He would keep a blog, dress business casual, grow a weird goatee, listen to alternative Christian music on his iPod and meet with his friends at Starbucks.?

The Heavenly Temple ministry symbol provides a vehicle for understanding God?s current intention for the world. The heavenly temple ministry symbol reminds us that the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are actively involved in human pursuits. In fact, both the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ have humanity as the emphasis of their ongoing work. They are working for humanities good within history. This understanding can also be derived from African American ?popular?