Never in My Lifetime This February's black history celebration will be a heightened one of joy and pride as a defining time in history for African Americans and people of color in the United States.On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in on the steps of the U.S... Read more
Certainty in Uncertain Times EDITOR'S NOTE: Max Torkelsen II was elected president on November 19, 2008, to replace Jere D. Patzer, who died on October 26, 2008. Read more about Torkelsen in the FYI section of this issue.Even a cursory look at the landscape of our lives and t... Read more
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas The year was 1944. World War II was raging, and the prospect of a Merry Christmas for many Americans was bleak.Hugh Martin, not yet 30 years old, was collaborating on the music for Meet Me in St. Louis, Judy Garland's classic film. Hugh wrote a fe... Read more
Editor's Note Throughout his battle with lymphoma, Jere Patzer, NPUC president, continued to write GLEANER editorials. This is the story he submitted just a few weeks before his death. This is what he wanted to leave with you as we enter the Christmas season of... Read more
Reclaiming the Lord's Day A few days ago someone shared an article with me from the Catholic newsletter, Our Sunday Visitor. The title captured my attention— "Reclaiming the Lord's Day." In it our Catholic brother stated: "There was a time when Sunday was a special day. It... Read more
Being Extraordinary for God God calls us to be the best we can be—faithful, honest, charitable and kind. But what does "the best" mean today?Often we measure our success by our work. Yet, being the best to God doesn't mean we have to be rich and famous or wildly successful b... Read more
Political Overload For what seems like an eternity we Americans have been inundated by political advertising. Radio and TV ads, flyers and pre-recorded phone messages. Talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage have had a heyday digging themselves into their o... Read more
Don't Forget, We Pay Your Salary A few days ago we had what was thankfully an unusual occurrence at our North Pacific Union office. One of our "saints" came into the lobby and asked for a certain service. Our receptionist graciously responded that because we were an administrativ... Read more
What's the Difference? Our Personal Response My wife, Sue, was not raised in an Adventist home; but as a young girl her mother did on occasion take her to the local Adventist church. It was enough to whet her spiritual appetite.The fall after she was baptized she begged her father to allow h... Read more