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We sat around a giant stone slab table in the cool, dark room. I could hardly believe that my college-aged sons, Jacob and Dustin, and I were here in the Waldensian Valleys of Italy. In the dim light we took turns reading The Great Controversy chapter 4 titled The Waldenses from my PDA.

For centuries Waldensian youth had copied large portions of the Bible by hand in this very room on this very table before the printing press was invented. They had been trained here at the College of the Barbs [uncles, elders, church leaders] to go throughout Europe as merchants or college students to keep Bible truth alive during the spiritual darkness of the Dark Ages.

It was late summer 1993 and I was working with Pastor Vladimir Krupskyi and a team of Ukrainian pastors to plant the second Seventh-day Adventist church in the city of Nikolayev, Ukraine. Communism had collapsed only a few years before but its effects were still evident in many parts of society, including the school system.

Recently I met with the Idaho Conference pastors the Sunday morning after Campmeeting. Pastor Brian Yarborough, who led out in the Junior Division, handed out over a dozen cards of young people who had made decisions that week to follow Jesus and be baptized. These are “hot” interests and need a quick response.

Lots of kids are already at summer camp, and many of them will make decisions to follow Jesus and be baptized. These are also “hot” interests. We

“Pastor, we have a difficult situation.” The first elder and I were out making visits during my first few weeks in the district. “One of our church members brings different men home to go to bed with her and she has her passive husband sleep on the floor at the foot of the bed. What do you think we should do?”

He obviously had my attention. I thought of the verse in 1 Corinthians 5:1 that says the church at Corinth had a case of sexual immorality that

One of the most difficult things a Seventh-day Adventist pastor or church can do is to change the schedule or order of worship on Sabbath mornings. Somehow many people think there is something sacred about which part of the service comes first, second or third.

With this in mind, I am still going to suggest that you talk with your church board(s) about adding a “Local & Global Mission” time to your Sabbath morning schedule. You see, in the early Adventist church the Sabbath School program had a World Mission segment and emphasis.

Whenever God has given His people a huge blessing, we can be sure that Satan will always try to distort the meaning and devalue the experience of the blessing. This is true of the Sabbath. This is also true of baptism. 

The world is full of substitutes for true Bible baptism, such as sprinkling, pouring, rose petals, multiple re-baptisms without renewal and reformation, baptisms for dead people and the idea that water baptism is only the first step toward so-called “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” In recent times there have been more subtle substitutes for true Bible baptism, such as being baptized into Jesus but not joining the church, being baptized without an understanding of the cost of discipleship, and being baptized without being ready to participate actively in the Gospel Commission.

Much of our life is lived between our two ears. That is why our self-talk and our attitudes have such a profound impact on everything we do, including preaching.

Next time you are getting ready to stand before the people and share God’s word, why not do a quick self-check on your attitude about God, the Bible, the audience and the invitation you will make.

         Attitude toward God- Hugh Latimer, one of the leading English Reformers who lived in the early 1500s, stood up to preach before King Henry VIII. The King had divorced his wife so he could marry another woman. Latimer had been convicted that he should speak to the situation

A pastor’s life can be non-stop. There is that sermon to write, that visit to make, that committee to attend, those reaping meetings to plan for, those new members to introduce to other members, and those church leaders to train. Sometimes our own families can be squeezed out.

            But what if you just dropped everything for an hour and spent some time with your children having fun? An hour is long enough to pull together a game of family football, play catch with a softball or kick the soccer ball back and forth. It’s long enough to play a game of Encore,

        I have often had church members say to me, “Pastor, don’t you think we ought to start this ministry or that ministry in the church?” When I first began pastoring, I thought I had to take all the good ideas and do something about them. I was headed for rapid burnout! One day it dawned on me that if God gave a good idea to one of my members, maybe He wanted them to do something about it. But what should I do to encourage them to get started?