If you had told me eight years ago, when I graduated from high school, that I would be hanging out with people from all over the world and be afforded the opportunity to share the gospel with them, I would have laughed at you. I was unconverted; definitely not a preacher or speaker, and I didn’t know very many people outside of Southern Illinois, let alone North America. Then, if you had told me that I would be doing it 15 miles away from where I was currently living, I would have said that you were absolutely insane.

Yet that’s exactly where I find myself, surrounded by beautiful people from other countries who don’t know the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Or even worse yet, they’ve been given a horrible depiction of Him by the media, and other poor messengers as we’ll see here in a few moments as depicted in the book of Ezekiel. But God works in mysterious ways, and upon returning to my home area for a funeral, after being gone for a couple years, …
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Placing an order in a café recently, the server said, “You don’t eat meat? That’s weird.” I responded, with a smile of course, “Yeah, it’s way less weird to catch a beautiful creature, look into its frightened eyes, cut its throat as it struggles to get free, dismember its body, slice it in pieces, fry it up in a pan and eat it with laughter around a table with your friends as you look into one another’s eyes and give no thought at all to the whole brutal affair.”

Too much said, I know, but sometimes the words just fall out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Once a man came to my house to make a repair. He commented: “It’s weird to come into a house that doesn’t have a TV on in the background that I have to talk over. It seems oddly quiet in here.” I thought to myself, “Huh. Are we at a place where it’s just ‘normal’ to live with a constant backdrop of TV murder, lust, profanity and deceit, and it’s weird …
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The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse behind the scenes of the great controversy between good and evil:

“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Revelation 12:12)

God lifts the curtain and gives us the perspective of the other side. The devil has “great wrath.” It’s not that he’s a bit upset. The Greek word for wrath means “passion, as if breathing hard.” He’s in a state of panic, a state of passionate anger.

But why?

The answer is right in the text: “because he knows that he has a short time.” So there it is. It’s a time factor. Satan is well aware of the times in which we live. He’s familiar with the news. In fact, the effects of his work is what too often makes the news. He’s acquainted with the prophecies that are being fulfilled. So his reaction is appropriate. Is he more convinced …
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Sometimes we hear people say things like, “I need more of the Holy Spirit in my life” or “I want the fullness of the Spirit.” There is nothing direly wrong with this language, and yet it may evince a subtle danger in our thinking about the Holy Spirit. Sentiments like those above communicate, at some level, that we use the Spirit. If the Spirit were, as some suppose, merely a force, a power or some kind of divine energy, then perhaps this language and the underlying sentiments would be more acceptable, but this is not at all the case.

The Spirit is “the Third Person of the Godhead” (Desire of Ages, p. 671). This is manifestly clear language. Here is the statement in its larger context:

“The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the …
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God exists, and He loves you. How long will it take before we open our eyes and dare to answer His tender voice? In this world where we are living there is so much stress and pressure all around us every single day. The time seems to disappear before it has arrived, and so too, with life itself. With time crunches that make life feel a little too cramped, it is important to realize that the truths that make life richer are valuable and important truths. One of the most useful, beautiful, and dear truths life has to offer is found in Exodus 31:13-17 in a short, intimate paragraph. Here God Himself is speaking. Take a few minutes, and hear what He has to say to you:

“Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13).

God starts off by reminding us that the Sabbath that was instituted on the seventh and last day of the creation …
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A lot has happened since Part Two was written and posted, not the least of which is that ARISE has moved to Jasper, Oregon to merge with Light Bearers . (At least most of us have. Pastor Nathan Renner remains with his beloved church in Sonora, California but will continue to be a part of the ARISE team in important ways; Jeffrey Rosario has not yet made the trek, but will early next year after his wife, Marianna, finishes nursing school.)

Shortly after the move and the annual Light Bearers‘ Convocation (which was excellent, by the way!), my family and I fulfilled a lifelong dream by driving 2600 miles north to Alaska. This is where we are now. We’ll spend the next several weeks hiking, backpacking, canoeing, bird watching, fishing, and swatting mosquitoes. This is my last shot to finish this article before I disappear into the woods where there’s no internet access, so here we go with numbers 11-15…

11. REMEMBER THE CHURCH, THOUGH GOD’S, IS MADE UP OF PEOPLE

Fifteen years ago, when I joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I, like many others, held numerous …
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The original plan was one blog with all fifteen points. Plan B was fifteen points in two blogs. Now we’re on Plan C: fifteen points in, you guessed it, three blogs. Life has a way of suddenly rearranging our otherwise perfect and precise plans. I’m sitting here surrounded by boxes on boxes. The packing is in full swing. Moving is neither easy nor pleasant. God willing, this will be our last move for a long, long time. With any luck all of our stuff will be either stolen, destroyed, or lost in transit to Oregon.

So back to the celebratory list for numbers 6 to 10…

6. GOD’S PROVIDENCE WILL NEVER LEAD YOU WHERE HIS GRACE WILL NOT SUSTAIN YOU

The plan was never for me to be an evangelist. I was simply taking a year off school to better understand and appreciate my newfound faith. Here I am fifteen years later, still on that “year” off of school. I preached my first full-length evangelistic crusade less than two years after my baptism. My victims were the kind and wonderful …
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One of the great things about working in ministry is the privilege of meeting so many people from different backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life. Over time, weekly Bible studies grow into close friendships which is probably the most rewarding aspect of working as a Bible instructor.

Another bonus is that friends like to share the things that are important to them so, besides the weekly studies, we are often invited to join in recreational events like fishing, mountain biking, sailing, etc. Whenever we have a chance, we join our friends in activities like these that are, without exception, enjoyable and rich experiences.

A few weeks ago, after our weekly Bible study, Godofredo told us that he is an aviation mechanic working at the Christchurch Engine Center. He is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of jet engines for commercial jets. After we expressed an interest in what he was doing, we were invited to visit him at his work for a personal tour of the factory.

This was an invitation we could not turn down. How often do …
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Pastor Torres, complete with wetsuit, baptizing me in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Best day of my life.

It was June 6, 1996.

Five days ago was June 6, 2011.

Fifteen years.

Fifteen years ago, right now, seems like a long time. But time being the funny thing it is, it somehow, simultaneously and yet not contradictorily, seems like just yesterday. Fifteen years ago I was baptized. I remember it perfectly.

I remember what I wore. I remember the temperature of the water. I remember the smooth rocks on the river bottom and the mud squishing between my toes. I remember the singing of the assembled saints. I remember Mary’s smile. I remember the pastor wore a wetsuit. I remember thinking that was weird. I remember being afraid yet deeply satisfied, anxious and yet at peace.

I distinctly remember thinking more about the future than the past.

And, really, that’s how a baptism should be. It’s about what will be more than what was. Because though every …
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Matt: “Hey Sherise, paddle out. Paddle. Paddle out!”

Sherise: Puzzled, frightened, and confused. Doing her best impersonation of a deer in the headlights.

Unidentified Surfer: Rides by just missing Sherise.

Matt: “Sherise, when we’re surfing, you do exactly what I say, when I say it! You do not try to make sense out of what I say, just do it!”

Matt: Catches a wave. Rips, slashes, tears it up. Throws buckets of spray with every turn he does on his trusty surfboard.

Sherise: Sitting a little too close to shore with a set wave racing toward her.

Matt: Paddles toward Sherise yelling: “Paddle further out! Paddle out!”

Sherise: Not listening. Decides to paddle in. That is to say, toward the shore. Thinks to herself, “if I cannot see the wave, then perhaps I’m safe.”

Matt: Waving and flailing his arms wildly trying to get her to stop paddling into the danger zone.

Sherise: Gets picked up by the cresting wave and tossed over the falls. Disappears underwater.

Matt: Exasperated. Thinking about how he will chastise his wife for not listening to …
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