If you are like me and struggle with sin, here is a great clip that I pray will bless and encourage you. (Sorry for the shakiness of the picture)
I have been blogging on this site for almost a year now, I’ve posted 95 times. Out of those 95 I thought I would share with y’all the Top 10 based on viewings by y’all out there in the web-world:
The thing I find interesting about this list is that more than half of these would definitely not be in my top 10, but I guess folk fancy, what folk fancy.
Here is another top 10. The top 10 countries, yes folk in other countries (62, in fact, read this blog) that browse this blog. Guess which is #1?
Top 10 States:
6 out of the top 10 states I have lived in, I think I might have a readership that has a bias, but I am grateful for them none-the-less!
Top 10 Cities:
What I find intriguing about the cities list in regards to the states list, is that Florida is my third most viewing state, but the first Florida city on my analytics is ranked 41st. So I guess the Florida readership is well spread out.
So if you have made it this far. I am wondering is there a top ten things you would like me to blog about? Or maybe even a top 1 or 2. Comment on this post and I’ll see what I can do.
Oh and thanks for being a reader!
I recently received a new Andrews Study Bible. I actually have owned one for some time, but recently the Pacific Union Conference along with the assistance of some other generous donors provided the Andrews Study Bible w/ the Premium Leather cover to all the pastors in the Pacific Union (the one I purchased for myself is a bonded leather cover). I decided this would be the Bible that I am going to read out of and study out of for the next year at least.
I am excited about this…Why?
Well I have never read through the New King James Version of the Bible. In fact I kinda avoided doing much with the NKJV because I found it difficult to read, well for the past 2 plus months I have been preaching from the NKJV, and suddenly the reading of the New King James doesn’t seem so awkward to me. So now that I am comfortable with this version I am looking forward to reading through it.
I am also excited b/c I am looking forward to reading some of the study notes provided in this Bible. You see I am a Seventh-day Adventist, and the study notes in this Bible are written by Adventist scholars (9 of them that were professors of mine in either undergrad or graduate studies). I am not one that is typically a fan of study notes, in major part b/c I worry that they can cause folk to become lazy Bible students, but I recognize study Bibles are popular and here to stay and so if I am going to read a study Bible myself or if I am going to recommend a study Bible to folk, the one I want folk to read is the Andrews Study Bible!
I think the feature I like the most in this Bible is the themed reference section. It is like a Bible Marking done right in the Bible already. Quick and easy for a person if they are doing a Bible study on a specific topic with someone!
I would recommend to ALL that they purchase the Andrews Study Bible, or just get baptized at our church we’ll give you an engraved one for free!
Oh and even though I am quite comfortable now with the NKJV, I look forward to when Andrews releases an edition in the New International Version!
The local church is killing Adventist Education, but don’t get excited hard liners. It’s not because of a lack of support for Adventist Ed (we like to use this one). It’s not because a lack of willingness by parents to sacrifice (we like to use this one a lot). It’s not because so many parents are sending their Adventist Kids to non-Adventist schools (we like to use this one also). No the way in which the local church is killing Adventist Education centers around two numbers: 40 & 25.
Let me explain!
According to statistics coming out of the North American Division presented to the Pacific Union Conference Executive Committee by Educational Director Berit von Pohle the numbers 40 & 25 are painting a bleak picture for Adventist Education.
40 = the percentage of Adventist churches with NO school age children!
25 = the percentage of Adventist homes with children, in other words 75% of all Adventist homes have NO kids in them!
These numbers are frightening and even more frightening in light of the fact that the median age of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America is almost 60 years old.
Unless we have Abraham’s and Sarah’s out there our schools are in trouble!
You see local churches are not killing Adventist schools becuase they want to or because they don’t support them, they are killing Adventist Education simply because they have NO kids to send.
As I think about these numbers I believe the best way to save Adventist Ed is not by investing in the infrastructure, though this is good. It is not by asking churches to invest more money to bail the schools out (though at times this is needed). No the best way to save Adventist Ed is to invest in evangelising young families and working to keep every single young person that is currently in our churches, in our churches! Investment into the growth of the local church is an investment into Adventist Education!
Let me use the church I pastor as an example.
3 years ago we had roughly 35 individuals attending 3 different elementary or secondary Adventist schools (Sierra View Junior Academy, Armona Union Academy, & Monterey Bay Academy). We now have 52 individuals attending those same 3 schools. Normally that would seem like a very drastic jump, but when we look at the precentages it is not that drastic. 3 years ago we had around 60-70 school aged children in our church, that means roughly 50-58% of Adventist children attending our church were also attending an Adventist school.
Currently we sit at almost those exact same precentages. Almost 50% more students are in our schools from our church, but it is not because precentage wise more parents are supporting Adventist Ed, we’ve just increased the size of the pie.
Now while our church looks to be a great benefactor to our Sierra View Junior Academy and Armona Union Academy for many years to come, (we have 10 families off the top of my head with kids not yet of school age that will definitely send their children to Adventist schools in the years ahead) our larger schools were not built on the financial model of JUST ONE church supporting one school (the term supporting is not indicating financial, prayer, or physical assistance at the school which many churches with no kids continue to do. I am using the term here in reference to BOTTOMS IN SEATS). In other words we need to not just increase the size of the pie in one church, we must increase the size of the pie in all our churches!
Again another illustration from our current context. Over the last three years our local schools attendance has dropped from 110 to 96 students. The number of students from our church to that school has increased in that same time from 23 to 30.
40% of churches with no kids is not a sustainable growth model.
60 being the median age of the SDA church in North America is not a sustainable growth model.
75% of Adventist homes having NO children in them, is not a sustainable growth model.
What must change?
We must invest in evangelizing more young adults and young families, we must invest in retaining the children we do currently have in our churches, and we must stop thinking that this thing is going to turn around simply with more money and more current SDA parents sending their kids.
If we fail to get more NEW young families into our churches, then we will fail to be able to sustain MOST if not ALL our multi constituent schools.
There are days I remember in my life better than others. Days I remember because of events outside the context of my immediate life…
January 28th, 1986:
I was in the 1st Grade our day had just started at Angwin Elementary School. We were sitting in Mr. Crow’s Jr. High classroom and right before our eyes the Shuttle Challenger exploded. It took a second for me as a 1st Grader to register that all those people had just died. I remember the older kids in the room letting out sobs and gasps and our teacher Mrs. Bernard quickly gathered us up and rushed us out of the room. I also remember my parents watching all the news coverage. Magic changed the way we as a country looked at the AIDS virus and he changed the way I looked at athletes. I still cared a lot for the teams, but as far as the players went, if they were on my team I was a fan, if they weren’t, then I didn’t care.
So that is my jaunt down memory lane…if you came with me…well I hope you didn’t have more important things to do:)
Me I just wore jeans and a sweat shirt (I’m not really a joiner)…maybe if I agree to wear a brown robe next year we can celebrate The Reformation. I think my wife would still be the most beautiful woman in the world even in a burlap type robe!