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Pam: I would have to think about that. I guess the following would qualify. would qualify: Story # 1 Background: I was not yet ordained and I was working under the supervision of an older pastor. * Ingathering time had come, and I despised it. My assignment was to accompany the older pastor while he solicited funds from local business places. * It was the morning of our first visits. Noon time came and the older pastor pulled out his sack lunch and asked me where mine was. * I informed him that I had not planned to waste time by eating when there was work to be done. But , he should feel free to eat his lunch is he needed to do, while I waited for him to finish. * That repeated for a couple of days, after which he refused to bring his lunch and we worked through. * Interestingly enough, by about 1 PM, he was so hungry that he could not work any longer, so he announced that it was time to quit and we went home. * That repeated itself for the rest of the Ingathering season. * He reported to the Conference President that he had never seen a young Intern who loved Ingathering as much as I did! Story # 2: [NOTE: Same pastor.] * The pastor and I would out visiting one day when he needed to stop and purchase something. He asked if I would lend him the money and he seemingly was without funds. He promised to pay me back in a few days when pay-day came. * Pay-day came and went and he did not pay me. * So, one day I reminded him. He apologized and stated that he would get the money form this wife and I would be paid. * Then he lectured me on my apparent attitude about money being more important to me than doing the Lord's work. * I promptly replied that he had nothing to talk about as I was not investing my limited funds in purchasing property hoping to make large profits. * He immediately got defensive and told me that he had a right to purchase property to prepare for the time when he would retire. * I had no idea that he was purchasing property. Story # 3: Background: As a congregational pastor for 7.5 years, I served under five (5) Conference presidents. * This Conference President decided that all of his Intern pastors (not-yet ordained), which included me, should be fired as he did not want any of them to continue to be pastors. * He succeeded in firing his first intern. At that time he was told to wait on the others of us to see if he was elected for another term. So, he did. * At that election, it was recommended that he not be retained as President. He gave an impassioned speech in which he stated that he believed that God would intervene to keep him in office. At 10:30 the evening, the vote came in by a 2:1 majority to remove him from office. * All of the rest of us Interns were retained and later ordained. Pam, this may not be a funny story, but, it is one that I remember to this day. It is all part of the background of my decision to leave congregational ministry, which I loved, and to become an Army chaplain, which is where I believed God was leading me.

MY ADVENTURE INTO THE ADVENTIST FAITH was quite the journey. Often, when I was instructed about various matters, I smiled and nodded in agreement because the position being argued seemed logical and was presented in a compelling way. Often the thoughts being shared with me started with the phrase, “Sister White said . . . .” But in the back of my youthful mind, some of it simply made no sense and, at times, seemed to contradict the very gospel commission given to us by Christ Himself. One such position people felt strongly about was the injunction to get out of the cities and move to the country. Some of the statements were made so strongly that they still echo in my head. I wondered, however, how could the people in the cities be reached if no one lived there? If our message had become to tell people to move out of the cities, where was the gospel message in that? Turns out Ellen G. White’s message to people that they should move out of the cities had good reasons. At the time she wrote, many cities where horrid places to live. Lifespan in the cities was significantly shorter than in the country. It has been pointed out that at the time Ellen White would have written those statements, people who dwelled in the country lived, on average, into their 50s, whereas the average lifespan in the cites was early 40s. Why? Raw sewage, epidemics, and diseases like cholera ran rampart. In one major port city, the dreaded plague had 12 epidemics in one year! Sanitation and health care was nowhere near what it is today. Recently, it was stated that people in the cities have a longer lifespan, on average, than those who live in the country now. Why? Easier and better access to health care. Her last statement I could find about cities was this: “If God gives me strength now, at nearly eighty-two years old, I shall be in the cities. . . . . Now where are the people that will be ready to go out into the city?”1 In another place, she talks about people who use her statements to proof-text and follow them as absolute laws with no context. “‘Why, Sister White has said so and so, and Sister White has said so and so; and therefore we are going right up to it.’ God wants us all to have common sense, and he wants us to reason from common sense. Circumstances alter conditions. Circumstances change the relation of things.”2 So, is the direction to move out of the cities relevant today? I would argue that it isn’t; it was specific for a time and place that has come and gone, and yet some people view these counsels as if they were marching orders. On the other hand, can we live unguarded if we live in the cities? That, too, would be silly.

March 2018 Signs of the Times Email Newsletter The Signs of the Times newsletter is a collection of stories and quotes from past issues ofSigns and These Times. *************************** Once upon a time there lived in a city a blacksmith. He was a frugal and an orderly man. He kept a neat shop, and every tool was in its place. On frosty mornings the merry ring of his hammer would sing out happily, as at each blow he thought of the tidy little home and the wife and children that made his life so cheery. When he lustily blew the bellows, a cloud of sparks would fly whirling upward from the forge. One morning there wandered in from the desert a broken-down old camel. He was a poor camel, with no stable or home of any kind. He had failed to find any supper or breakfast, and had spent the night out on the sand. The wind, chilled by northern snows, had whistled around him. Though his thick skin and toughened feet had not felt it, his poor nose—that nose that had guided him through many a blinding sandstorm over trackless waste to an oasis to save the lives of thankless masters—was cold. He wandered forlornly through the unfriendly village until he heard the ring of the smithy’s hammer and through the partly open door saw the sparks flying from the forge. He made his way to the shop, and paused to look in. All was so cheery and inviting within! The smithy was hard at work, singing of a little home where the children prattled and a wife looked longingly for her husband’s return. He could be harsh to no one while in this mood, so he nodded kindly to Sir Camel. Emboldened by this reception, the camel whined, “My nose is cold! Oh, let me warm it by thy side.” The blacksmith’s kind heart was touched by this appeal, so he opened the door a little wider; and the camel, thrusting his long, scrawny head and neck through the opening, warmed his nose before the open blaze in the forge. The man was so gracious, the heat so comforting, the shop so neat and inviting, that soon an ugly leg followed the neck, and then came another and another and another, till the whole ungainly beast was in the tiny shop. Finding it to his liking and realizing that there was not enough room for both of them, he coolly bade the smith to leave. Thus the blacksmith was ruined. His creditors took his home, and sold his possession. So runs the parable of the East, and true to life indeed it is.—By Walter H. Bradley, Signs of the Times, October 11, 1921. Quote: “Never play tag with the devil. He’ll beat you every time.”—By Charles G. Bellah,Signs of the Times, November 19, 1929. *************************** Don't miss the ­­­­­­­­April 2018 issue of Signs of the Times: To order Signs, call: 1-800-765-6955 or CLICK to order online. *************************** Her friends who had been there testified to an unusual physical feature of the place. Grandmother had knelt there so regularly that her knees had dug out two little hollows in the sand by the log! Everyone called it “grandma’s praying place.” One day some men were out hunting in the area. They happened to pass while grandmother was praying. One of the men was an unregenerate fellow who cared nothing for God or the church. When he saw the aged woman kneeling in prayer, he was deeply moved. The scene was unforgettable, and he continued to think about it later. As a result, he came under conviction of his own sin, sought spiritual help, and was converted to the Christian faith! “Grandma’s praying place” became a radiation point from which spiritual influences went out to touch the whole community. Today, in our own hurried twentieth-century life, it is to be wondered how many of us have a “praying place.” Is there any spot in our homes, or in the world of nature about us, where we daily seek God’s presence? It is said that Dr. Harry Denman, the great evangelist, asked this question rather searchingly one day in the home of a sophisticated modern woman. She had been showing him through her house, acquainting him with the various rooms and their furnishings and decorations. She said to Dr. Denman, “Next, I would like to show you my mother’s prayer room.” He replied, “Thank you, but I am much more interested in seeing your prayer room!” The dedicated devotional habits of Christians who have gone before us in other generations cannot be a substitute for our own devotion to God! It would help each of us to have a special place set aside for daily prayer.—By James R. Webb, These Times, July 1966. Quote: “Any man will command respect if he takes a stand and backs it up with his life.”—By Bobby Richardson, These Times, June 1966. *************************** NEW from Pacific Press—Longing for God by Dr. Frank Hasel is a prayer journal, and Bible reading plan. Powerful devotional plan! CLICK to read the first chapter of this book online free. CLICK HERE to order online or from your local Adventist Book Center--1-800-765-6955. *************************** As a little boy was hurrying along the street one bright morning, a bystander accosted him with the words, “Bob, what is your hurry? Where are you going?” To this the boy replied, “I am going to see my missionary ship launched.” “Your ship! You have no ship,” exclaimed the man in surprise. “I put ten cents into the ship,” hurriedly replied the boy, “and I must be off to see it launched.” The boy had put his dime into the ship, and therefore had an interest in it. Our interest in the work of God is measured by the amount of energy or means we put into it. Hence, would we have our interest in the work of God increased, we must give of our best for its advancement.—By N. P. Neilson, Signs of the Times, April 17, 1917. Quote: “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the rider was lost; for want of the rider, the battle was lost; and all for the want of a nail.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, November 27, 1917. *************************** Place this in your church bulletin or newsletter: Want to connect with your neighbor? Maybe a loved one far away? Each monthly issue of Signs of the Times® offers a colorful and interesting presentation of the full gospel message. The result is changed lives! Send a subscription today. Order from your Adventist Book Center. To order call: 1-800-765-6955 or online at: http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/signs-of-the-times-magazine-yearly-us-subscription.html *************************** A certain pastor on hearing that his daughter had decided to volunteer, asked in astonishment, “How did you come to think of going abroad as a missionary?” She replied, “Why, father, I do not count it strange. All my life I have heard you pray for foreign missions, and now I am going to answer your prayers.” Is it not time for us to begin to answer our unanswered prayers?—Unknown, Signs of the Times, December 15, 1909. Quote: “Don’t ring the bell of prayer and run away—wait.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, February 24, 1909. *************************** New at your Adventist Book Center: Make Your Voice Heard in Heaven by Chaplain Barry Black. In a time when more and more people are calling on those in power to listen and act, US Senate chaplain Barry Black challenges us—individually and collectively—to call on the one who has the ultimate power, the ruler of all creation. In Make Your Voice Heard in Heaven, Chaplain Black shows—through Scripture, personal stories, and practical insights—how your prayers can Unleash God’s power Increase your partnership with God’s will Deepen your intimacy with God Strengthen your desire to live a God-pleasing life Help you avoid missing God’s blessings…and more CLICK HERE to order, or call 1-800-765-6955. *************************** A few years ago, while Robert Steward was governor of Missouri, a steamboat man was brought in from the penitentiary as an applicant for pardon. He was a large, powerful fellow, and when the governor looked at him he seemed strangely affected. He scrutinized him long and closely. Finally he signed the document that restored the prisoner to liberty. Before he handed it to him he said, “You will commit some other crime, and be in the penitentiary again, I fear.” The man solemnly promised that he would not. The governor looked doubtful, mused a few minutes, and said, “You will go back on the river and be a mate again, I suppose?” The man replied that he would. “Well, I want you to promise me one thing,” resumed the governor. “I want you to pledge your word that when you are mate again you will never take a billet of wood in your hand and drive a sick boy out of a bunk to help you load your boat on a stormy night.” The steamboat man said he would not, and inquired what the governor meant by exacting of him such a promise. The governor replied: “Because, someday, that boy may become a governor, and you may want him to pardon you for a crime. One dark stormy night many years ago, you stopped your boat on the Mississippi River to take on a load of wood. There was a boy on board who was working his passage from New Orleans to St. Louis, but he was very sick of fever and was lying in a bunk. You had plenty of men to do the work, but you went to that boy with a stick of wood in your hand and drove him with blows and curses out into the wretched night, and kept him toiling like a slave until the load was completed. I was that boy. Here is your pardon. Never again be guilty of such brutality.” The man, cowering and hiding his face, went out without a word. What a noble revenge that was, and what a lesson to a bully!—From Brotherhood Star,Signs of the Times, August 6, 1902. Quote: “Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, August 13, 1902. *************************** Give Bible studies to a friend. All the tools you need can be found at www.ToolsForEvangelism.com. CLICK HERE to see these useful resources. *************************** A marble cutter, with chisel and hammer, was changing a stone into a statue. A preacher looking on said, “I wish I could deal such changing blows on stony hearts.” The workman made answer, “Maybe you could, if you worked like me, on your knees.” Prayer can melt the hardest heart.—By Mildred Grand, Signs of the Times, July 16, 1929. Quote: “Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.”—By Matthew Henry, Signs of the Times, September 22, 1909. *************************** The largest assortment of Adventist eBooks! CLICK HERE to see these fantastic eBooks. *************************** If I Were the Prince of Darkness If I were the Prince of Darkness, I would want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. I’d have a third of its real estate and four fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. So I would set about, however necessary, to take over the United States. I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” To the young I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.” I would convince them that man created God, instead of the other way around. I would whisper that “what is bad is good and what is good is nerdish.” In the ears of the young marrieds I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old I would teach to pray—to say after me—“Our father which art in Washington.” Then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull, uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d infiltrate unions and urge more loafing, less work. Idle hands usually work for me. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could; I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction; I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the Devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions; let those run wild. Then in God’s own churches I’d substitute psychology for religion and deify science. That way men would become smart enough to create super weapons but not wise enough to control them. If I were Satan, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle. I would embrace religion until it suffocates. If I were the Devil, I’d take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. I would demand “rights” for wrongdoers until the courts shackled lawmen. I’d let men hide behind a fig leaf of “privacy rights” while they misused their own children. In other words, if I were Satan I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.—By Paul Harvey, Signs of the Times, July 1988. *************************** Compiled by Dale Galusha. Please pass this newsletter on to others.

Stan, you have raised an important issue. The time, place and circumstances of the advice that EGW gave should always be considered. We not to take an arbitrary stand that everything that she said is applicable everywhere at all times. Just because she said that people should do X, does not mean that in our time, more than 100 years after her death, every person should do X. I am reminded that at one time EGW clearly stated that the women at Loma Linda should shorten their skirts. O.K. If they had continued to shorten their skirts each year until today, they would long ago have totally ceased to wear a skirt. That can not reasonably imagined as advice that EGW would support.

He reminds me of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.