Go and Speed No More

Let me tell you about one of my least favorite Australian realities: speed cameras. Ugh, just saying those two words makes me feel ill. You see, in the US, where I’m from, you receive a speeding ticket by being pulled over by an actual officer and given an actual ticket. It’s still no fun, but it is decidedly more, well, human.

Perhaps like you, I’ve been pulled over by a police officer when I’ve been guilty of speeding. There’s always that feeling of your heart dropping when you see the flashing lights in the mirror. Then there’s the embarrassment of being on the side of the road while everyone drives by thinking the same thing you think when you see someone on the side of the road with a police officer. Then there’s the fine.

Or maybe not.

Perhaps like me, you’ve been given a mere warning. What a feeling that is! I should know, it’s happened to me several times. In fact, it used to happen to me pretty …
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The Theological Identity of the Remnant

When the “remnant” is brought to view in Revelation, our attention is directed to God’s intent that the movement be defined by a specific theological construct:

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17, KJV).

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12, KJV).

The “and” here describes not so much a balancing act between faith and obedience, but rather a powerful relational dynamic between the two. The point of the gospel is not faith and works, but rather faith that works. The good news is not that God will save you if you obey His law, but rather that the free gift of salvation is itself so transformative that it creates in the believer a returning current of love to God, and that love manifests itself in obedience. …
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The Solidarity Project

The Solidarity Project took place on the University of Oregon’s campus from April 18th – 22nd, 2016. From the beginning of the ARISE internship, we intentionally set the goal to plan an event that would minister to the U of O community. The month of April is nationally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Once we learned of SAAM, and that the U of O had a SAAM planning committee for events all throughout April, we saw this as a wonderful opportunity get on board and to share God’s love with the U of O student body and community.

The Solidarity Project was a wall that stood 8 feet tall and 12 feet long in the middle of the Memorial Quad on campus. The Memorial Quad is a central location on campus many students pass on their way to class. We painted the wall a matte gray and bought an array of acrylic paint-filled markers for the community to use to write upon the surface. The function of the …
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Remember Your Mom

My wife was often asked what she did while mothering our two children.

“I am a mother,” was her natural response.

“Yes,” was the reply, “but what do you do for work; what are you”? (As if being a mother were not a full time job!).

Even the dictionary definition for mother, “a female parent,” seems stunted. Just the bland second half of the human production equation. Is that how you describe the love, care, courage, strength, beauty, hope, help, heart, joy, pain, tears, work, commitment of what it means to be a mother?

Eventually my wife found a more sophisticated way to describe who she was:

I am a “domestic engineer, household CEO and director of child development.”

Boom!

Moms juggle so many daily tasks that Insure.com estimates that if moms were monetarily compensated they’d earn up to $138K a year.

No wonder the word mom when turned upside down spells wow!

The negative connotation of mothers hasn’t changed much over the years. There are even some places in …
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Covenant Kingdom = 2016 Convocation

I can only imagine what it was like to be the prophet Daniel in the 7th century B.C., in a foreign land, with God’s people captive by an antagonistic kingdom, the mightiest empire of his day. With Jerusalem still reeling from the destruction inflicted by the Babylonians, where could Daniel go to cling to any glimmer of hope that the God of Israel had not abandoned His people? Daniel testifies that in spite of the bleak circumstances all around him, he went to “the books” (Daniel 9:2), specifically the prophetic writings of Jeremiah, to anchor his hope in the promises of God.

Daniel received a series of epic prophetic visions that foretold several millennia of world history. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall, ruling the world with coercion, brutality, and selfishness. Yet through all the apparent hopelessness, Daniel celebrates, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others…. He reveals deep and hidden …
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In Contact with Others

We are a society that admires independence. The methodology of our educational system is established on this premise Parenting is conducted in such a way as to develop independence in our children.  We even construct our theology around ‘me, myself, & I’. There is some validity to our approach, however, evidence is mounting that we profoundly need each other.

Social relationships, friendship, and community depict a life of interconnectedness, mutuality, “in-tune-ment” with others. As beautiful as the concept is theoretically, we all know the challenge and the work involved in developing, maintaining, and living in touch with one another in our society. The effort, time, commitment, and giving of one’s self to social relationships however has the potential of radically impacting your risk of disease and premature death. Research is crying out that this dimension of our lives has a larger impact than we may have realized.

Three decades ago researchers sought to establish that, “Social relationships, or the relative lack thereof, constitute a major risk factor for health—rivaling the …
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How Long?

“How long?” is the ultimate time query in the great controversy between good and evil—how long will it last?

From eternity past to eternity future the principle of selfless, self-giving love has been the law of life for the universe. It flows from the heart of the unselfish Ones who created and support all things. It is continual—the love flows continually.

At some point in past time, the opposite principle of selfishness originated in the heart of the highest created being. Since that time, this root of what we call sin has also manifested a continuity as well, in conflict with the eternal principle.

A significant number of God’s intelligent, ministering angels adopted this self-focus. The principle of receiving only to give was abandoned for receiving and even taking to keep. Suffering came into existence.

After humans chose selfishness, God revealed the interface between these two continual principles in the sacrificial system, involving blood, fire, and ashes—daily death, in the giving of life, and the taking of life. These ceremonies …
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