To Praise or Not to Praise Part II Music: The War Department of the Church Music: The War Department of the ChurchLast month we looked at the historical battle over music century by century as each new style was brought into the church. We noted one prominent American pastor who criticized a new form of music as “too new... Read more
Next Month Youth who are not positively connected with the church's mission have no reason to stay as they graduate and move into the mainstream of society. Next month we'll dialog on how we can integrate our teens and young adults into the life and mission ... Read more
Perfectly Off-key The Dave Matthews Band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991 when vocalist/guitarist Dave Matthews decided to put some songs he had written on tape. The band immediately attracted a strong word-of-mouth following by touring the country cons... Read more
To Praise or Not to Praise Part I Music: The War Department of the Church Music: The War Department of the ChurchAn evangelical pastor once quipped, “If I were to change my theology, I’d lose 10 percent of my members. If I changed the music style in my church, I’d lose 50 percent.”Why is this topic such a lightning rod ... Read more
It's Not Just About Money On any given Sabbath around the Northwest, offering plates are passed just as they have been for decades. Whatever drops in, from tithe envelopes to loose change, begins its journey through an Adventist system that has garnered grudging praise fro... Read more
March Discussion Topic Sabbath School classes which feature a mission emphasis or follow the established lesson quarterly are on the decline in some NW churches. What do you think about this trend? Should we work to reverse it, or is this an appropriate change of church... Read more
What I Learned at Nordstrom University The telephone startled me awake. “Huh, um, hello?” I croaked. Read more
Wanderings I stood on the cliff watching the thunderstorm approach, with tendrils of rain feathered from the clouds ahead of me and the soughing of the pines growing louder at my back. In the national forest, my vista was hundreds of acres of dark-green tree... Read more
The Council of Trent, Adventists, and Hewlett Packard, Part VI It was the midst of the Reformation. Men like John Knox, Martin Luther and John Wesley had shaken the Roman Catholic Church to its foundation. But a sincere group of cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests determined that if the church were to... Read more