January 8, 2016

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Counting Our Blessings | Letter to Alexander | Conscientious Objectors | Watching the Changes | Great Story

Various

Counting Our Blessings

I enjoyed Christelle Agboka’s article “My List” (November 2015) on the importance of remembering, or counting, our blessings. The point was similar to one of my favorite quotes from Ellen White: “Nothing tends more to promote the health of body and soul than does a spirit of gratitude and praise” (The Ministry of Healing, p. 251).

Doug Abbott,
Union City, California


Letter to Alexander

Regarding Clifford Goldstein’s “Letter to Alexander” (November 2015), I can only assume that Goldstein wrote tongue-in-cheek, but I suspect he may get a lot of flack because of the suggestion in the last paragraph that Sunday worship is the future of God’s church rather than the seventh-day Sabbath. This is not new, of course; I have read a similar message in a letter from Ignatius to the churches of his day, about the same period as Goldstein seems to be addressing in his article. May God preserve us from repeating the mistakes of the past.

Kathleen King
Queensland, Australia

I need an explanation regarding “Letter to Alexander” by Clifford Goldstein. Does the last paragraph really say that keeping the Sabbath is not important? Please give me an answer. I am very troubled.

Anna Jo Clithero
Via e-mail

Editor’s note: We recognize that Cliff’s Edge can be edgy. In his “Letter to Alexander,” Goldstein used the arguments of some second-century A.D. Christian authors, based on their current cultural trends, that helped move the Christian church from Sabbath to Sunday worship. Far from advocating a move away from Sabbath, he was seeking to show how Christians today are still in danger of allowing culture to change their faith.


Conscientious Objectors

[Responding to “A Prisoner of Conscience,” November 2015.] In 1953 my father, Manuel Rosado, was a Seventh-day Adventist minister at the Spanish church in San Fernando Valley, California. After he passed away I discovered two letters among his documents. They were written around Veteran’s Day 62 years ago, when [some] Adventists were still conscientious objectors. This belief on the part of Seventh-day Adventists was still in effect well into my 20s and 30s. Although I am no longer an Adventist, I have been surprised and lately shocked because of the increasingly strident pro-gun tone of many of the postings by Adventists on Facebook and in other communications.

I offer these letters as a glimpse back to some of the beliefs with which I was raised. I remember my dad talking about a young church member who was distraught because he was being asked to carry a weapon. Most Adventists at that time served in the Armed Forces as medics or worked in other nondirect combat positions.

Irma Rosado Turner
Redwood Valley, California


Watching the Changes

As an avid reader of the Review for over 60 years, I have seen many changes, and I am definitely enjoying the new format.

The section on sleep in the October 2015 issue was most informative. Wes Youngberg’s article certainly makes one realize the importance of adequate sleep. Bill Knott’s perspective in regards to loss of sleep to maintain our devotional life gives one something to contemplate.

Many thanks for an excellent magazine.

Luana Harlan
Nampa, Idaho


Great Story

Loved it! Please print more articles like Larre Kostenko’s “Witness is a Chain” (October 2015).

Bill Krick
Fresno, California


Tribute to Heroism

I found the article written by Stephen Chavez, “Serving Christ and Caesar” (November 2015), a fitting tribute to the heroism of Desmond Doss, and to the dedication of those young Adventists who were part of Operation Whitecoat.

Two corrections need to be made in this article: At the conclusion of the article the following quote appears, “You have no idea what a horrible sight a field of battle is . . .” Chavez attributes this statement to “U.S. Civil War general Robert E. Lee.” Robert E. Lee was indeed a general but not for the United States. He fought for the Confederate States of America. The second correction is that Desmond T. Doss [technically] received the Medal of Honor, not the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Noel H. Shanko
Orlando, Florida


Your Turn

We welcome your letters, noting, as always, that inclusion of a letter in this section does not imply that the ideas expressed are endorsed by either the editors of the Adventist Review or the General Conference. Short, specific, timely letters have the best chance at being published (please include your complete address and phone number—even with e-mail messages). Letters will be edited for space and clarity only. Send correspondence to Letters to the Editor, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600; Internet: [email protected].


Official Notice
Meeting of the Members 
Andrews University

Please take notice that a quinquennial meeting of the members of the Andrews University Corporation (commonly known as a “constituency meeting”) will take place on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, beginning at 3:00 p.m., in the Garber Auditorium of Chan Shun Hall on the campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. At the meeting, the members will receive reports from Andrews University administration, elect a portion of the Andrews University Board of Trustees, and consider minor amendments to the bylaws.

Theresa C. Popp
Secretary of the Corporation

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