Happy 2009!

Here's a New Year's prayer for 2009
by W.R. Hunt:


Dear Lord, please give me...
A few friends who understand me
and yet remain my friends.
A work to do which has real value,
without which the world
would feel the poorer...
A mind unafraid to travel,
even though the trail be not blazed.
An understanding heart...
A sense of humor.
Time for quiet, silent meditation.
A feeling of the presence of God.
And the patience to wait
for the coming of these things,
with the wisdom to know them
when they come.
~W.R. Hunt~


For other New Year prayers in verse, with some magnificent photography and decent musical accompaniment, go to inspiringthots.net.

Cindi Thomas Memorial set

This comes from the Thomas family. (Please see the previous blog about Cynthia Thomas' passing.)

There will be a Memorial Celebration on Friday, January 2, at Wakefield Baptist Church, 236 Main Street, Wakefield, RI, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, we are asking that donations "In Memory" be made to Pancreatic Cancer research at www.lustgartencommunity.org/cindi.

Research is needed to more quickly diagnose and find the cure for this devastating disease. Thank you.

Religion in Presidential race tops Baptist stories in 2008

By Bob Allen of the Associated Baptist Press
(Photo of Rick Warren and Barack Obama by Scott Tokar, PiCS Saddleback Church)


Baptist journalists and observers ranked Religion in the 2008 Presidential election the year's biggest story for Baptists. Faith in politics played a major role in the year's news cycle, according to an annual ranking of top stories compiled by Associated Baptist Press.

Religion stories ranged from the surprising emergence of Southern Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee as a contender for the GOP nomination, to questions about whether Mitt Romney's Mormon faith would be a turnoff to evangelical voters, to problems for John McCain over comments by his supporter John Hagee, and to the Jeremiah Wright controversy that prompted President-elect Barack Obama to divorce himself from both his former pastor and home church.

Respondents to an annual informal survey by the independent news service based in Jacksonville, Fla., ranked religion in the 2008 presidential election the year's top story.

The rest of the top five were as follows:

2. The New Baptist Covenant Celebration. The historic gathering held Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Alanta drew 15,000 participants from 30 Baptist conventions and organizations.

3. Election of African-American President suggests shift in religious voters.

4. Saddleback Civil Forum features Presidential candidates. Southern Baptist mega-church pastor and Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren made headlines in August when he invited both major Presidential candidates to a Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency at his church in Lake Forest, Calif.

5. The Economy. One writer predicted a faltering economy would top next year's ranking, but effects are already being felt in Baptist life.

For the remaining Top 10 stories and more details on the first five, go to Associated Baptist Press.

Cynthia Thomas, 1954-2008, Rest in Peace

A member of our extended SDB Center family is home with the Lord.

Kate Shepard, wife of our Conference Treasurer and Memorial Fund Manager Morgan Shepard, said goodbye to her mother, Cynthia Thomas, on Christmas afternoon. Cindi, of Charlestown, Rhode Island (shown in the photo with grandson Ben), succumbed to pancreatic cancer.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Thomas family. May we look to the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corin. 1:3-4).

Christmas Eve from Space

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968.
That evening, the astronauts--Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders--did a live TV broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the earth and moon seen from Apollo 8.

Lovell said, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis.

William Anders:
"For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you"--

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

Jim Lovell:
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Frank Borman:
"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

Borman then added, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."

'We Glorify Thy Name' now as pdf

Jim Skaggs, lifelong SDB and frequent parliamentarian for our General Conference sessions (over which he served as President in 1993), has an always-interesting blog called "One Eternal Day." He has posted an entry that should be of interest to many Seventh Day Baptists.

Jim has converted the 1946 SDB hymnbook "We Glorify Thy Name" into a pdf. You can find that pdf (and some historical information about the hymn collection) at the One Eternal Day blog by clicking here.

After you download the book, why not thank Jim for providing this valuable resource?

New COM Newsletter Posted

This year the Council on Ministry (COM) has published a newsletter three times.

The first was in April and was sent to the Sabbath Recorder mailing list along with the annual prayer card in the annual COM mailing. The second was in August and was available at Conference at the COM display. The third has just been published and is viewable at the COM website www.sdbministry.org along with the others. At the website click on the Newsletter button in the left margin or go directly to http://www.sdbministry.org/Newsletters.html Each can be viewed as a pdf file by using Adobe Reader which, if you don't have it, can be downloaded from the button on the newsletter page.

We hope that this information is helpful and encouraging.

Listening is Important

In Chapel today, Nick Kersten read from a devotional titled “Behold!” by Amy Orr-Ewing, a training director at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in the United Kingdom. She told of
a man named Chris who had gone out from the UK to smuggle Bibles into China. She related,

“Every three seconds someone in China becomes a Christian, but there’s a real lack of the Word of God there. This is what happened to Chris: he and his team stood at the pickup point in China where they were to meet their contact, who would utter a password, and they would deliver their Bibles. They arrived with only minutes to spare, but the contact didn’t show up. Knowing they were being watched, the team started walking towards the edge of town as though leaving. Hot and tired, they stopped at a nearby park for a drink of water, rest, and prayer. It was hard to understand why after all the difficulties God had brought them through that something had gone so wrong. They had looked to Him for provision and direction, and yet their mission had seemingly failed.
“Soon the team became aware of three very ragged and dirty men under a tree behind them. Chris felt the Lord leading him to go over with some water. When he offered it, one of the men suddenly spoke the password very clearly in English. The rest of the team hurried over in amazement and pieced together the men’s story from the little Chinese that they knew. Two years earlier, God had given a word to these Chinese men in one of their services that they should plan for this trip. He would lead them to this park, on this date, and have Bibles ready for them, which would be brought by white men from far away. Since they were all poor farmers, it had taken a long time for them to save the money for food and shoes for the trip. The men had walked for two and a half months, mostly at night to keep from being arrested. Coming from the far north of China near Mongolia, they had climbed a range of snowcapped mountains, traveled through the desert, and crossed several rivers without a compass or any knowledge of the country. All they could explain was that God had shown them where to go.

“How did they know the password? How could they speak it in English when they knew no English? How did they survive the heat and the snow without protective clothing? It could only be God.

“When the men saw the Bibles, they cried and praised the Lord for a long time. They had brought cloth bags with them to carry the Bibles home, and inside each one was a small watermelon that they had carried all those miles as a gift of appreciation. Even though they had been without food for several days, they didn’t eat a single watermelon. The team exchanged clothes with them and Chris explained what an honor it was to put on those dirty rags. The shoes were completely worn out, but the team chose to go barefoot and give up their own shoes, which fit the others perfectly. Apparently God had chosen each group member based in part on their shoe size. Many tears were shed as the team prayed for the Chinese and sent them back home with food and money for their journey.”

The author’s point was, “Jesus is the God of abundance. He is the one within whom this provision, this abundance, is located. Look to him, behold him, and you will be amazed.”
Copyright © 2008 Ravi Zacharias International Ministeries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission.

I began to think about these Chinese farmers as modern day wise-men. Certainly they were not kings or magicians, but they were wise, and listened when God spoke, just like those magi so long ago.

This year it has come strongly to me that, Joseph too was a man who listened to God, and obeyed. Joseph was confused by God’s actions in Mary’s life, and yet he obeyed. (Matt 1:18ff) Joseph was listening, possibly two years after the birth of Jesus, when he was told to get out of town fast. (Matt 2:13ff) And then after Herod died again he followed directions and moved back to Nazareth. (Matt 2:19ff). We hear only in passing of Joseph after these accounts. He is one of the parents in the account of Jesus at age 12 (not quite a man yet) in the temple. (Luke 2:41ff). I am confident that there are many like Joseph who through the centuries have listened to God, obeyed and influenced many and whose stories we will not hear this side of heaven.

At this time of the year when most believers celebrate Jesus’ birth, let’s keep our eyes and ears and hearts open for the messages God is sending our way. For we rejoice in Immanuel, He who is God with us.

Week of Prayer booklets ready

January 4-10 are the dates for the 2009 Week of Prayer, sponsored once again by the SDB World Federation.

The meditations for this year’s booklet were written by Jan and Ruth Lek from the Netherlands. Jan is the Federation’s new General Secretary. Their theme is "Prayer that Connects."

Most of our churches (stateside) have received the booklets to hand out to their congregations. If you would like an electronic version of the Week of Prayer writings, click on the “Ministries” tab above, choose “World Federation,” and you can download a Word version or a pdf of the complete booklet. Then, you can either read it on your computer or print it out for your daily prayer time.

Let's unite in 2009 with a “Prayer that Connects” us as Seventh Day Baptists around the world.

Travel Assistance

Young Adult

Year End Retreat

Travel Assistance

The Seventh Day Baptist Memorial Fund Trustees have made funds available to young-adults who would like to attend the year-end retreat but who could not otherwise attend due to the cost of transportation. The Board of Christian Education administers this ­program.

This program offers financial assistance to help defray the cost of transportion on a first-come, first-served basis*. The limit of this assistance is described below.

In order to receive this assistance, the application form must be mailed to the Board of Christian Education office with a copy of the fare receipt no later than January 9, 2009. (We use the postmark to determine the date of mailing).

Assistance checks will be mailed January 16, 2009.

Travel Assistance Details

For Commercial Transportation

We will reimburse the documented cost of your ticket up to $150. Mail the travel assistance application and a copy of the fare receipt to the Board of Christian Education office.

For Private Transportation

For round trips greater than 300 miles, we will reimburse the documented cost of gasoline per vehicle up to $100. The map shows the zones and the associated amounts. Mail the travel assistance application, copies of gasoline reciepts, and names of people transported to the Board of Christian Education office.

---

*This assistance will be available until the funds are depleted. As of December 1, 2008, the remaining balance is just over $1,000. If you would like to help provide travel assistance to the year-end young adult retreats, funds may be sent to the Board of Christian Education for us to administer. Please indicate your designated use on the check and in any accompanying correspondence.

Assistance Information and Application

Young Adult Year-End Retreat

Here's news about the Young Adult Retreat from Jenna Wethington:

Attention SDB Young Adults!

The 2008-09 Year-End Retreat will be hosted by the All Nations SDB Young Adults in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The dates for the retreat are Tuesday Dec. 30th through Thursday Jan. 1st.

We will be staying at a hotel, and the check-in time on Tuesday is at 3:00pm. If you think you will be arriving earlier than this time, please contact Jenna Wethington (gods_girl52@hotmail.com) so we can make arrangements for you.

The Retreat will end Thursday afternoon around 1:00pm; however, we are also providing the option for those who may be interested to stay through Sabbath to join us in worship. All the arrangements for staying through the weekend will be taken care of by the All Nations Church.

Pastor Rod Henry will be leading the Retreat, teaching a series called "The Fortress of Lies." The cost of the Retreat is $40. We would appreciate if the registration forms could be turned in by Friday Dec. 26th. (There will be an additional $10 fee after that date.) An indoor pool, as well as outdoor activities, will be available during the Retreat so please be sure to pack accordingly.

Complete details, including contact information, can be found on the registration form. (Click on the "Young Adult Retreat" link on the front page of the SDB website.) We are looking forward to bringing in the New Year together in Christ!

Heading toward Financial Peace

From the Milton, Wis., SDB Church newsletter:


Congratulations to the Milton Church's first graduating class of Financial Peace University.

Seventeen people attended the 12-week course this fall. During that time, they paid off over $54,000 in debt, received (and said 'NO' to) over 3 million dollars in credit card offers (in junk mail), and cut up about 80 credit cards on their way to becoming debt-free. The class was a huge success for the church and community.

The church plans to start another class in January.

For more information on Financial Peace University, go to the Dave Ramsey website.

Center to Close Early Today

Greetings from the wintry tundra!

With southern Wisconsin under a heavy snowstorm, the Center will be closing at noon today, Tuesday. Lord willing (and "the snow don't rise" too much), we'll be open first thing tomorrow.

All the kids are hoping for another snow day!

Suggestions for “A Simple Christmas”

In Thursday’s news releases from the Associated Baptist Press, they shared a story called “Have Yourself a Simple Little Christmas” (see abpnews.com). Included was this “suggestion box” on how to reduce and reallocate Christmas spending habits:

-- Draw names instead of giving to everyone.
-- Let others help; tell them your intention to give less and ask them not to buy an expensive gift.
-- Give family gifts instead of individual gifts.
-- Give gifts only to children.
-- Don't give children money to give you a gift.
-- Design and make your own gifts.
-- Set a spending limit with spouse and family.
-- Don't buy a gift that simply will be returned.
-- Bake something.
-- Go caroling.
-- Create a homemade gift certificate for a favor or service.
-- Give to mission and benevolent projects in someone's honor.
-- Give and wrap gifts in a way that cares for the environment.
-- Give the gift of your time, talents and involvement: more presence, fewer presents!
-- Teach someone a skill you possess.
-- Make cards or postcards on your computer.
-- Send electronic cards; they're often free. [Like our own SDB E-cards to the left…]
-- Write a story or poem, make a song or create art as a gift.
-- Write a letter of love and/or appreciation.
-- Adopt a family in the community. Names are available through churches and community agencies.
-- Support church missions around the world.

Taken from www.simplechristmas.org, including suggestions from Unplug the Christmas Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli.

Enter the E-Card Design Contest

Our SDB E-card site (linked from our main website) now allows you to send e-invitations, where you can include a map to your event, keep track of responses, and more!

To celebrate this addition, we are holding a CONTEST.

We invite you to design an electronic Postcard, Flash, or Invitation Card.
Submit your entry to webmaster@seventhdaybaptist.org.
Deadline is January 20, 2009. All of the voting will begin around January 23 and will be on-line. Voting will end February 15, 2009.

The winner will get a new SDB logo hoodie sweatshirt and the name will be announced in the March Sabbath Recorder. How can it get any more exciting??

Click on the animated “E-Card Contest” words on our main page for complete rules and ultra-technical submission requirements. Good luck!! Or, God Bless!! Or, BOTH!!

Free Historical Bulletin Inserts

From The Baptist History and Heritage Society:

Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Baptist Beginnings

Baptists worldwide will in 2009 celebrate the 400th anniversary of Baptist beginnings. To assist your church in its observance of this historic year, the Baptist History and Heritage Society and The Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University are pleased to announce that on December 15, 2008, they will jointly distribute the first of 12 complimentary Bulletin Inserts.

Available in PDF form and sent via e-mail, the Bulletin Inserts will feature stories of well-known Baptist founders and leaders as well as stories of some lesser-known Baptists. Each Insert will also focus briefly on a Baptist principle or development in Baptist life and will include illustrations.

The Bulletin Inserts measure 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches and will fit into the standard-size church bulletin. Churches may print out as many copies as needed.

The Baptist History and Heritage Society and The Center for Baptist Studies will distribute these PDFs via e-mail on the 15th of each month through November 15, 2009.

To sign up to receive the Bulletin Inserts, please e-mail Pam Durso at pamdurso@baptisthistory.org prior to December 12.

New Retirement Plan Ready

The Committee on Support and Retirement (COSAR) has been working hard at putting a new retirement plan in place. (The picture is of the voting members of COSAR at their June 2008 meeting.) This became necessary with the changing of federal law about how 403b plans would change beginning January 1, 2009.

A plan has been crafted in conjunction with a company in Altoona, PA, which will meet the new laws and allow for flexibility for investing. This company, Retirement Plan Solutions (RPS), has been appointed by COSAR as our Third Party Administrator (TPA) for the plan. RPS will keep track of and file required forms. The annual fee per participant for this service will be paid by COSAR.

Investments will be with Barry C. Clapper, LPL Branch Manager for Clapper & Associates Financial Services,726A Logan Blvd.Hollidaysburg, PA 16648 (814) 943-7647 with securities offered through LPL Financial. They are a member of FINRA/SIPC.

A letter has been sent to church treasurers and pastors about this new plan. Copies of the Plan Document and a description of the plan are posted at http://sdbministry.org/Pastors.html#nrp A password is required to read the documents there. It was sent in the letter to the pastors and treasurers and is available to pastors at the Pastor's Forum. The hope is that copies of the documents can be downloaded so we don't have to make lots of copies and send them through the mail. If you want to and are unable to print these documents, please let me know.

As you read the plan please remember that this was based on a generic document that meets requirements for the IRS. Some of the information in the plan may not apply to us but it still needs to be there.

This is the way we see it operating:

An SDB Church (the participating employer, see article VIII) will officially vote to adopt this plan. Once the plan has been adopted, the pastor (employee) will contact Barry Clapper to discuss what funds will be used. There are lots of them, and this is much more individual than the previous plan now administrated by Nationwide. Funds are sent by either the Pastor or the Church Treasurer to the appropriate address for the funds selected. Clapper and Associates notifies the TPA who then keeps track and files the appropriate paperwork.

The new laws make 403b accounts more like 401k accounts with stricter regulation on how the money can be accessed prior to retirement.

The advantage for Pastors and other ordained ministry individuals is that money that is in a 403b which was placed there as a consequence of ministry service can be designated as "parsonage allowance" in retirement for the minister. A minister's widow is not eligible for this designation.