Nordic Adventist pastors meet for revival
Copenhagen, Denmark—One hundred and fifty workers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland met for three days of spiritual emphasis, study of the Word of God, and commitment to grow spiritually. They met January 5–7, 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark. All presentations and discussions, held under the title “Revival and Reformation,” were greatly appreciated by the participants who acknowledged this as the most urgent need of our time.
Pastor Ted Wilson, president of the world church, was one of the main speakers during the meetings. He stressed the importance of revival and reformation coming from a relationship with Jesus Christ. “It is the Cross and what happened at the Cross that makes us want to be with Jesus, and it is when we reflect on the life of Jesus that we are motivated to change,” said Wilson. Pastor Wilson reemphasized the beautiful gift we have in the writings of Ellen G. White that helps us understand the importance of revival and reformation.
Pastor Bertil Wiklander, president of the Trans-European Division (TED), stated in his keynote address that “we have recognized the importance of experiencing a genuine spiritual revival,” and he continued by saying that this will not happen unless “we become aware of our role that is rooted in the three angels’ messages.”
“Because God has a mission and His mission has a church— us, pastors, and members of the church—my vision is that God and His story will be known in Europe again through the actions of the church,” said Pastor Janos Kovacs-Biro, TED Ministerial Association secretary. He continued, “This way Adventism will become a positive, determining factor in Europe.”
Among the other speakers was Jon Dybdahl, retired lecturer from Walla Walla University and Andrews University, who brought the concept of revival and reformation right into the hearts of the pastors and taught of spirituality and the importance for pastors and leaders finding fresh ways to develop their relationship with the Savior. He presented a variety of ways that suit different people, emphasizing that it was not the specific method, but the reality of spending spiritual time that matters. Gunnar Peddersen, retired lecturer from Newbold College, helped the participants understand better possible distortions in our theological understanding. Daniel Duda, TED education director, cautioned the pastors not to go back to old baggage when someone speaks of revival and reformation; rather, to return to the Word of God and see it with fresh eyes, to “be naked before God and search for the truth.”
The participants left the meetings committed to renew their spiritual lives. They were inspired by the messages shared by highly qualified speakers, which included genuine and authentic personal life stories. [Miroslav Pujic; Thomas Muller, tedNEWS]
The Great Controversy Project
Ellen White challenged her readers to broadly distribute The Great Controversy. We would like to accept this challenge by launching The Great Controversy Project (GCP), an exciting opportunity for every Seventh-day Adventist believer to widely spread the good news of God’s plan of redemption. The goal is to ask every member to purchase copies of The Great Controversy at specially reduced prices and distribute them like the leaves of autumn.
During 2011, we are challenging every member to read or reread The Great Controversy, then during 2012 and 2013 to join in with the global Adventist family and give this precious book to friends, family members, work colleagues, and strangers. It can be given out publically, personally, anonymously, by mail, or any other way possible. Each copy will have a nice message in it and provide the reader with an opportunity to read more, take Bible lessons, visit one of our churches, or talk to a person. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will see souls influenced for good and join God’s last-day movement.
Every church leader at every level in the church can do three things: (1) promote and support this project with their personal and public influence and their resources; (2) creatively use every avenue at their disposal to distribute and actually get out into the highways and hedges hundreds and thousands of copies of The Great Controversy in their territories; and (3) pray for revival and reformation, for the power of the Holy Spirit to do something special with this project and in our personal lives.
We are living in the end time and I know God wants to do something special with our efforts. [Delbert Baker, general vice president, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists]
