Iron sharpened on the radio

According to our Facebook fans, we did okay yesterday!

The live radio interview (via the phone) on radio station WNYG on Long Island allowed local listeners, and who-knows-how-many more on the web, gain a basic introduction to Seventh Day Baptists. Chris Arnzen, host of the program “Iron Sharpens Iron” interviewed Nick Kersten and myself, giving us a chance to discuss our history and beliefs.

Arnzen and several callers posed some questions that led to a good, overall discussion. While we were off the air, Chris said he appreciated the upbeat spirit of the program. I pray that the Lord was pleased as well.

This interview served as a prelude to a special four-day series coming up May 10-13. Our own Rod Henry will participate in a Sabbath-or-Sunday debate on this same venue. Please be in prayer for Rod as he prepares, that the Lord will give him the right words and that He would open up new opportunities for ministry. Those programs will run from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. eastern time.


If you want to hear Wednesday’s program, go to "www.sharpens.org." Under the listing for Wednesday, April 28, you’ll see our names and the show’s title, Seventh Day Baptists: Their History and Beliefs. As soon as you stop laughing at my picture (taken about 10 years ago), right above it you can click on the “MP3 Available Here” link. If you have the proper media player, you’ll be able to listen to the entire program. (You’ll hear about 3 minutes of Spanish music and talk at the beginning, followed by about 9 minutes of introductions and commercials. Then comes the grand introduction of a couple of nail-biting SDBs, wondering when we’d have the chance to talk!)

Enjoy! You can send your feedback to our Facebook pages at Nicholas Kersten or Sabbath Recorder.

May SR: Time to register!!

The latest issue of The Sabbath Recorder is available on-line here. Our features include the “Top Ten Reasons Why I Keep the Sabbath” by Pastor Steve Osborn of Boulder, Colorado, and a Sabbath testimony from Joan Holder of the Paint Rock, Alabama church.

Our usual department pages are filled with helpful information, and this month marks the return of something we ran over 20 years ago: the “Pastor Profile.” Steve Graffius is “Mr. May.” (Sorry, Steve. And even sorrier, Emily. At least it’s a good picture of Emily. Oh, and the kids. Steve’s in there, too.)

Traditionally, the May Recorder means that the Conference registration forms are out—and this year is no different. You can print out those forms and mail them in, or you can register on-line by clicking here. There is an on-line discount if you register on-line by June 30. Remember, you don’t have to pay until you get to the campus.

General Conference will be here before we know it, July 25-31 at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. Join us as “Servants Together in God’s Ministry.”

SDBs to hit the airwaves

Librarian-Historian Nick Kersten and I have the opportunity to talk about Seventh Day Baptists during a live call-in radio interview this coming Wednesday (April 28).

The program is called “Iron Sharpens Iron,” hosted by Chris Arnzen in New York City. Chris broadcasts the only English-speaking program on WNYG, a station that’s part of the “Radio Cantico Nuevo” Spanish network.

If you’re in the New York City area, tune in from 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Wednesday to station WNYG, 1440 on the AM dial.
The broadcast will also be live-streamed from their station. Here’s how you can listen:

Go to www.sharpens.org. A box near the top of the page will invite you to “Click Here to Listen Live.” When you get to the radio network’s site (www.rcnam.com), you’ll see four options of radio stations. Make sure you click on the circle that says “Long Island, 1440AM.”

You may hear some Spanish if you tune in early, but Lord willing, Nick, Chris and I will be on at 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time).


This is all a prelude to an on-air informational debate about the Sabbath between Rev. Rodney Henry (from our church in Thornton, Colo.) and Dr. Sam Woldren. That series of programs will air May 10-13. (More details to follow.) Please be in prayer for these great opportunities!

Obama opposes prayer ruling

From Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- The U.S. Justice Department announced April 22 it would appeal a federal court ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.

White House attorneys filed a notice of appeal in U.S. District Court for western Wisconsin challenging District Judge Barbara Crabb's April 15 ruling that in mandating a National Day of Prayer Congress violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause.

Advocates of the separation of church and state hailed the ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, while those who read the First Amendment more narrowly decried it as an attack on religion. Richard Land of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention called it an "egregious and revealing decision" that he said "shows the brooding hostility toward religion that exists at some levels of federal, state and local government in this country."

The White House said previously that despite the ruling President Obama intends to recognize a National Day of Prayer, as every president has done since 1952, on May 6.

Baptist leaders applaud Advisory Council

From Jeff Huett of the BJC.

WASHINGTON — Religious leaders representing the Baptist denominations and groups that comprise the Baptist Joint Committee have joined to applaud the work of a 25-member advisory council created by the President to help the administration partner more effectively with private groups — including religious ones— that provide social services.

In an April 7 letter to President Barack Obama, BJC Executive Director J. Brent Walker explained that the BJC has long affirmed both of the First Amendment’s religion clauses — no establishment and free exercise. He then acknowledged the propriety “of government and religious organizations carefully cooperating in non-financial ways and, even financially, through a separately incorporated religiously affiliated organization, which does not proselytize, require religious worship or discriminate on the basis or religion in hiring.”

“All of this background is to suggest we think the Advisory Council has done a remarkable job in balancing these considerations, exercising a lot of common sense, and upholding constitutional principles that are so important to protecting religious liberty,” Walker wrote.

The Advisory Council approved 12 specific recommendations made by a task force charged with reforming the faith-based office to strengthen the constitutional and legal footing of public-private partnerships. Specifically, it urged clarifying the prohibited uses of direct financial assistance, providing guidance on the protection of religious identity while providing social services and assuring the religious liberty rights of clients and beneficiaries of federal social service funds.

Among the 15 Baptist executives endorsing the letter was Robert Appel, Executive Director of the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference.

Apollo 13 and the Gospel

An opinion piece by David Wilkinson, Executive Director of Associated Baptist Press

April 17 marks the 40th anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 13. It was a happy ending to a nearly disastrous and tragic mission. It was also a tribute to the bravery of the three-member crew and the ingenuity and teamwork of the crew, flight controllers and support personnel who brought the crippled spacecraft home.

Twenty-five years later, the events of the "successful failure" of Apollo 13 were dramatized in the movie by the same title. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, the movie has ranked among my favorites since the first time I saw it. Film critic Roger Ebert praised the movie as "a powerful story ... told with great clarity and remarkable technical detail, and acted without pumped-up histrionics." I have always been amazed by the creative genius of director Ron Howard and his ability to create tension and suspense in retelling a story to an audience that already knew the outcome.

Howard's remarkable ability as a storyteller has also provided a spiritual lesson for me. It is a reminder of the challenge that confronts every preacher, Sunday-school teacher, Bible-study leader or spiritual formation small-group facilitator: How does one take the well-worn stories of Scripture and retell and recast them in ways that are interesting and compelling? How do we, living this side of Easter and the empty tomb, retell the story of Jesus in fresh and imaginative ways to an audience that already knows the outcome?

Click here for the rest of the story.

Conference workshops planned

Conference President Paul Andries has lined up a number of workshops for this year’s annual gathering (July 25-31 in Springfield, Missouri).

• “Healthy Choices for Abundant Living”
Barb Green

• “Finding Waldo” (God’s call)
Gordon Lawton

• “Finding the Sandbox [Career] God Designed You to Play In”
Jane Mackintosh

• “Discovering the Marriage of Your Dreams”
Perry Cain

• “What Makes a Christian Marriage Work? (and How Does the World Interfere?)”
Rod Noel

More details about each workshop will be featured in the May Sabbath Recorder. Conference registration forms will be in there as well! Conference is coming!!

Sabbath Renewal Day-- May 15

Some folks have asked us when this year's Sabbath Renewal Day is. Our suggested date is May 15, and the emphasis this year is "The Sabbath that Jesus Kept."

Many of our local churches participate on that date (usually the third Sabbath in May), but it is up to their schedule and preference. This year there will not be any special bulletin covers, but the packets going to each church will include a Sabbath sermon, the Conference President's Sabbath testimony, worship helps, a children's sermon and an "archive" sermon.

While each Sabbath should be a day of renewal for us all, we do take this one Sabbath to emphasize God's gift in our lives. Let's celebrate together "the Sabbath that Jesus kept."

Landmark Registry trumps automony?

Thanks to Associated Baptist Press

Preservationist cites need to protect structure
By Barbara O’Brien, The Buffalo News

Congregation members have told a Hamburg (N.Y.) village commission exactly why First Baptist Church should not be named a local landmark. The action, they said, violates their property rights and feels like government interference in running the church at 116 Main St.

But the Historic Preservation Commission has designated the building, which dates to 1836, a village landmark.

“That building is extremely important, both architecturally and from a historical [background],” said Damon Ayer, commission chairman, adding that the building, one of the oldest in the village, remains largely intact and similar to the original structure.
The designation “also provides some level of protection in the future to make sure that building remains,” Ayer said.

The state has listed buildings that might qualify for landmark designation, and the preservation commission has targeted the top five, Ayer said, including sites in the village business district and village neighborhoods. The local designation can be the first step toward state and federal designations, and structures receiving the federal designation are eligible for a number of grants, he said.

That’s strike one as far as the church is concerned. The Baptist church does not believe in taking taxpayer money, said the Rev. Kevin M. Leary, pastor of First Baptist.
“We believe in a strong separation of church and state. That’s in our history,” he said. “There’s absolutely no benefit for us.”

The designation also brings oversight by the commission, Ayer said.
“We are just concerned with the exterior of the building,” he said. “We’re not going to come in and tell you you have to paint your bathroom blue.”

But village code does allow the commission to determine the color on the exterior.


Click here for the complete story.

4 in 10 Unchurched Hurt by Church

From Bob Allen of the Associated Baptist Press

(Ventura, Calif.) Nearly four of every 10 "unchurched" Americans avoid worship because of negative past experiences in churches or with church people, according to new research by The Barna Group.

The research firm that tracks the role of faith in America and provides ministry resources said that while many churches place high value on attracting people who do not participate in the life of a church, the unchurched may be different than they expect.

Rather than being "lost," or without faith, 61 percent of non-attending adults label themselves as "Christian." That's lower than the 83 percent of all Americans who self-identify as Christians, but it still outnumbers by a 3-2 margin the 39 percent of unchurched who do not embrace Christianity.

Instead of being foreigners to church culture, a majority of the unchurched (53 percent) have distanced themselves from being Protestant or Catholic but at one time were associated with one of those groups. Thirty-seven percent said they stopped going because of painful experiences in a church setting.

Barna's data indicates that 28 percent of adults have not attended any church services or activities within the last six months. That translates to nearly 65 million adults. Adding children under 18 who may be living with them, the number swells to 100 million. If the unchurched population of the United States were a nation of its own, it would be the 12th most-populous nation on Earth.

Barna says the demographics of the group also defy common assumptions. There are more unchurched women than men. Boomers and their elders outnumber the young. Conservatives are more likely than liberals to be unchurched, and whites outnumber minorities nearly 3-1.

Click here for the full story.

Documentary warns: "Beware of Christians"

From the Associated Baptist Press

Will Bakke, director and executive producer of Beware of Christians, recognizes the provocative title of his new documentary will raise some eyebrows. He hopes it also will raise consciousness about what radical commitment to Christ really means.

"The idea is to beware of Christians like us who never really have known what it means to follow Christ,” said Bakke, a senior film major at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Beware of Christians marks Bakke’s second major documentary. The first, One Nation Under God, chronicled his five-week journey through the United States with three friends, asking people they encountered questions like, “Who do you think Jesus Christ is?” and, “What do you think happens when you die?”

The new production follows a similar format, with Bakke and three friends making a journey of discovery, this time through Europe.

But in Beware of Christians, the story centers primarily on self-discovery -- the story of four college guys who grew up in Texas seeking answers to their own questions about what being a Christian means.

For the full story, click here.

'Baptist World' E-zine online

The April-June 2010 issue of Baptist World, the quarterly magazine of the Baptist World Alliance, is available online at www.bwanet.org.

Included in the "32 pages of news and information about the Baptist family around the world" is coverage of BWAid workers helping victims of the Haiti earthquake.

The Folded Napkin

Interesting story for this post-Resurrection season. Source unknown.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.
She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him." Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.
He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side. (John 20:1-7)

Is that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done."
But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because....

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is Coming Back!

2010 Directory is here!

The latest SDB Directory is back from the printer--with an eye-catching goldenrod cover! The Directory lists all of our Conference churches and contact information, our Conference-elected officers, Statement of Belief, By-Laws, and much more.

The 2010 Directory is still just $7.50, plus $1.50 for shipping and handling. If you need multiple copies, please e-mail us or call the SDB Center at 608-752-5055.

April Foolishness

Happy April Fool's Day!
I did a search on April Fool's devotionals and found some good ones. Here's how today's entry ends from the on-line ministry Laced with Grace:

Sweet friend, God wants to pour out His wisdom on us (James 1). He doesn’t want us to be foolish, but wise. He wants to lead us in the way of wisdom. God wants us to search for His Wisdom, His ways... trusting Him. He wants us to be surrendered to HIS WAY. He wants our hearts to be soft and pliable... teachable. And, oh the pain I could have spared myself if I just would have ASKED God and followed Him, instead of foolishly going my own way.

Father God, I love You! Thank You that You so generously pour out Your Wisdom on me. Thank You that You “give Wisdom to anyone who asks and that You give it generously.” Lord, I see that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Lord, grow in me the “fear of the Lord!” Lord, make my heart soft and teachable... pliable. Lord, give me such a DESIRE for Your Wisdom! Father, I confess the foolishness of my heart! And, God, I thank You for Your forgiveness for the times when I have been so foolish. Your grace is amazing. I love You, Lord! In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.