I live fifteen minutes from the highway to hell.

I’m talking about Interstate 5. Many of us know it simply as “I-5,” or the Pacific Highway. It runs like a vein up and down the west coast connecting Seattle and Los Angeles. That stretch yields some beautiful scenery. But it’s also a major hub for one of the most wicked evils imaginable: sex trafficking.

As a global enterprise, it’s the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and the fastest growing.

Approximately 80 percent of victims are girls and women, and up to 50 percent are minors.

The total revenue for human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion.

Today there are 28 million slaves in the world. That’s more than any other time in history. More than the entire 400-year course of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Something deep within wants to cry out for justice. Somehow, someway.

But all this sounds like the kind of stuff that happens in India or Africa or Southeast Asia. Not fifteen minutes from my house. But the reality is …
read more »

Several of my young adult friends have messaged me recently with comments like, “I consider myself a Creationist because I believe that God created the earth. Why does it matter if He created it in seven literal contiguous 24-hour periods, or over millions of years? Either way, He created.”

It’s a good question, and deserves a thoughtful answer.

1. The character of God

My first point has to do with the character of the God we worship. Sometime ago, someone dear to me said she thought “severe” and” stern” were characteristics of God. I said to her, “I could never worship such a God. My God, though combining the attributes of justice and mercy, is never severe and stern.” And I could have added, “is never cruel.” What kind of a god would create through means of predation over millions of years? Surely not the God who notes the falling of a sparrow!

Romans 5:12 says that death entered our world through sin. The entrance of sin into Planet Earth is described in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God …
read more »

Rushing out of the revolving door, we made our way home to Tennessee after staying two days in our hotel to be sure Luke was well enough to travel. The next five months was a game of wait and see; waiting to see if he would meet his normal milestones, or if he would be delayed. The former proved to be the case. In February, we had an MRI done at our local hospital as a check up, and had the reading overnighted to Dr. Berenstein, Luke’s surgeon. He called us upon reviewing it, and said we should make plans for a return visit as soon as feasible, as Luke would need another surgery. We also made appointments with the neurologist and neuro-ophthalmologist in New York since we had concerns about Luke’s vision as well as some funny movements he would make from time to time.

The surgery was a success, and would be his last, praise God!, but his next two appointments were not so encouraging. The neuro-ophthalmologist told us that Luke was cortically blind, and only time would …
read more »

We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. – Romans 8:37

Whoever you are, whatever your struggles and temptations may be, sweet victory is yours for the taking.

Right now!

All you need do is appreciate, appropriate and act upon what already belongs to you in the person of Jesus Christ. You are guaranteed success in whatever battle you may be fighting, not because you are sufficient for the battle—you are not!—but because there are massively powerful provisions at your fingertips, in Christ.

Here are three simple steps that will release you from the grip of even the most besetting sin.

1. Name the Thing

Honesty is the precursor to victory.

Before God, and in your own conscience, call your sin exactly what it is. Cease all explanations and excuses. Just get on your knees and confess that this thing is absolutely opposed to God’s character, that it is hurting others and destroying you. Verbalizing the truth of the matter is vitally necessary. Doing so awakens a deeper sensitivity and places your heart in an honest position before God …
read more »

The great Hellen Keller is noted as having said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” A little over two years ago my wife and I had a most unexpected door slam shut just as we were walking through it. It smashed us in the face, knocking us to the ground. Then it came off its hinges, fell on top of us, sprouted arms, and began to poke us in the eyes.

At least that’s how I remember it.

It was hard for us to take our eyes off this heavy door since it was flattening our noses with its closeness. However, rather divinely, we realized almost immediately that if we did not get out from underneath this evil door, it would quickly crush us out. God intervened upon hearing our cries for deliverance. He picked us up, dusted us off, and gave us a shove in the direction of the doors opening all around us.

Listen to Ty Gibson, James Rafferty and David Asscherick discuss the details and events leading up to the merger between Light Bearers and ARISE.

You can download this video to share with others (right-click, save linked file as).

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. – 1 Corinthians 9:25, NIV

In their excellent book, The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz suggest that, “Managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance.” We all have the same amount of time each day, but all of us do not bring the same amount and quality of energy to that time. Some people get more and better work done than others because they are alive with physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy that allows them to give focused and sustained attention to their goals, while others simply trudge through their days lacking usable energy. The goal should be to maintain habits that yield maximum energy rather than frantically trying to get as much as possible done with an eye on the clock.

There are four extremely effective habits we should form in order to maintain high energy.

1. Good Eating

In order that the work may go forward in all its branches, God calls for youthful vigor, zeal and courage. He has chosen the youth to aid in the advancement of His cause. To plan with clear mind and execute with courageous hand demands fresh, uncrippled energies. . . that through the exercise of their powers, through keen thought and vigorous action, they may bring glory to Him and salvation to their fellow-men – Gospel Workers, p. 67.

I’ve had an unshakable burden for Europe for over a decade now. I’ve just never been able to accept the sad and ironic reality that the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation is now so tragically spiritually dormant. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe is not exempt from the desperate need for revival. The church in France, I would say, is high on the “needy” list.

Thankfully, God is privy to this need. Though few in number, there is a new wave of on fire Adventist young people there, and they are beginning to make some noise. A group of nine young adults …
read more »

As a child I remember looking once at the clear night sky and feeling the deep awe it inspires. It wasn’t just a sense that the Universe is big that gripped me, though it certainly is. It was the whole experience of being in the dark with my senses half deprived, which enhanced the profound feeling of wonder as I gazed up into the immensity of space. I believe that every child has this kind of experience at least once, realizing just how small we are and how much there is to discover. It may last just a few minutes or the whole life! But it always happens, because, as every child knows, one of the deepest pleasures a human being can experience is the pleasure of finding things out. It is not by accident that this expression is actually a quote from a physicist, Richard Feynman. Physicists (and other scientists too) are just grown up kids that haven’t forgotten about the guiltless pleasure of being curious about everything!

Being a Christian, though, there is another layer on the matter.

The ninth four-month Cornerstone class has come and gone. It’s hard to believe we’ve been at this for nearly a decade! Every class is special, I’ll be the first to insist on that. What made 2011’s class so special? I think it was a combination of several things, but two in particular come to mind. Let me share them with you.

First of all, the 2011 class is the first class we’ve ever conducted at our very own facility! Over the years, we’ve rented furnished corporate housing or summer camp facilities from other denominations, but not this year. This year we were in the new ARISE campus located in Jasper, Oregon. The facility, a former boarding academy, is absolutely perfect for our needs and the needs of our students. To be sure, we were saddened to hear of the academy’s closure; there can be no rejoicing when a Seventh-day Adventist institution closes its doors. The academy board, however, was persuaded that the time was right. We did not encourage their decision, but we did support it once it was made.

You …
read more »