Willmore D. Eva

The question of the role and standing of women in the Christian church is almost as old as the church itself. Sporadic yet lively discussion has characterized the issue from the time of Paul, through the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation,…

The other day as I was talking to a friend and colleague about a relatively minor aspect of Seventh-day Adventist culture/tradition he said, "If I were to find that this aspect of truth is not as I and others have…

Is this a day of trouble for you? Are you about ready to quit? Has your heart grown hard and cynical? Have you made mistakes that cause you to think you cannot survive? Are the armies of hell at your door? The Lord…

You may pastor a church in which majesty pours from the organ, and the choir's voice soars through the soul of the congregation. You may minister in simpler surroundings where a few songs are sung with imperfect harmony,…

We are usually unconscious of the fact that we are asking the question. We may feel it a sign of weakness even to confess that we have it. However, the fact is that the most secure among us are deeply concerned about…

Have you thought seriously about writing for Ministry? What keeps you from doing it? You may feel that you would like to write, but can't find the time to do something that is not crucial to all you are called…

I had just given myself the easy out of not editorializing on this month's sensitive theme, pastoring in a multicultural setting. Then it struck me soundly that if editing Ministry is not a thoroughly multicultural…

As I write my first words as editor of Ministry, I find my self under an unrelated yet familiar deadline. I have not yet left my church in Kettering, Ohio, to join the Ministry staff. I must still have a sermon ready for…

Last July, along with thousands of others, I attended the Fifty-sixth General Conference session in Utrecht, Netherlands. It was a great gathering of all kinds of expectant people. Few leave such meetings, however,…

For a half hour Pastor Jones had been trying to get out of his Claremont church office. Telephone calls, drop-in visitors, and office business had kept him. At last he was ready to leave. Just as he pushed the door…

Fifteen minutes into the lesson study I surrendered, without realizing it, to the haziness that settles over a class during a rather average presentation. I was sitting next to a young woman whom I have known for…

Ministry is looking for articles written by pastors and other readers in countries outside the North American continent. Appreciative as we continue to be of the traditional and highly meaningful role played…

How are you feeling about your ministry? When it comes to your day-to-day function as a pastor, how would you describe the undercurrents of your thoughts and moods during recent months? What is going on in the private…

These days, theology is done in the church on a number of fronts.

There is what I would call ecclesiastical theology; that which is done on the corporate stage of the church, such as at the General…

One of the most crippling incapacities to strike the leader of any group or organization is the loss of a clear sense of vision. With the loss of one's vision to be someone, and to actually do something consistent…

The arrival of a letter the other day created a host of conflicting emotions in me. It came from a woman whose husband had recently died. Here is a piece of the letter expressing the heart of this church member's…

Every preacher covets it. It is what people in the pew look for in their pastor when he or she preaches. It is one of those few characteristics indispensable to great preaching. When you hear it you immediately recognize…

Recently I visited three inspiring World Ministers' Councils representing nine union conferences and fields in Africa and Inter-America. In total, these councils hosted about 1,500 Adventist ministers and their spouses. At all three venues…

Recently a friend asked me which issues had stirred the most controversy in Ministry since I became editor some two and a half years ago. This was a question that needed little reflection on my part. By far…

In the fireplace of life, Spangler is pure cedar. Cedar catches fire quickly and burns brightly. And so does Bob. His creative genius and burning enthusiasm will be greatly missed by all of us as he enters retirement." So wrote Robert Spangler's…

Recently I have been repeatedly challenged by a rather penetrating question. At first the question seems elementary, but the more one allows it to probe not only the mind but the heart, the more meaningful and fundamental one finds it to…

The world is thirsty for a Word. It seems to me that in their hearts people want an earthy, guileless, unaffected word. We are thoroughly disillusioned with pretentious words, whether they be commercial, political,…

January 12. Another meeting at the office.... I was spoken of very sharply.... Uriah Smith was spoken of some."

"January 20. Meetings today by the ministers for the crooked.... Votes of censure passed on 'several.'"

…

There is Jacob, alone, crying out in his storm of anguish, "0 God of my father Abraham... I am unworthy of all the kindness... you have shown your servant.... Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come…

This issue of Ministry con firms the conviction, foundational to Seventh-day Adventist faith and identity, that God is calling His creation to "worship Him who made the heaven and the earth" (Rev. 14:7, NASB). Among other things…

"Emmaus is not only the name of a town in the Gospel of Luke; it is also a state of mind."¹ In the Gospel story, two anguished disciples walk first by themselves and then with a Stranger who joins them, puzzling over the calamity…

To be disillusioned is a positive experience. It is! Although the experience is usually seen as a negative one, nobody would claim that living under an illusion is beneficial. True, illusions may be temporarily helpful…

Every significant movement has been sired and then sustained by a vision that inspired people at the core of their spirit and the fountainhead of their imagination. Such visions have had the capacity to probe the most mystifying riddles of…

Is there in all this world a more complex and diverse work than that of the contemporary pastor? I'm sure there is, but I'd still contend that the pastoral role, especially in certain settings, vies with the most…

It seems to me that the crowing of the rooster was still ringing in Peter's ears and the guilt and sorrow was still hardening into depression when after some days of trying to relieve his demoralizing sense of failure…

A couple of days ago I received an all but ordinary email from an Adventist chaplain. When I say "all but ordinary" I am thinking especially of its uncompromising yet thoughtful ardor, its exasperation and frustration. Even as I re-read it…

If there were such a thing and perhaps there is as a survey designed to measure which specific aspects of pastoral practice produce the most stress in the pastor, what feature of ministry would your answers identify?

Looking back…

There are those who say that after serving 21 years as General Conference president, A. G. Daniells needed to be replaced. It is also said that finessing his replacement required the creation of something graceful…

The first of this two-part series began by asking the question, Why continue to hold the seventh-day Sabbath sacred as a day of worship, if a new order has been established with the advent of Jesus Christ Himself. If Jesus brought with Him…

George Knight's book, A Search for Identity: The Development of Seventh-day Adventist Beliefs¹ is an extremely valuable book for Adventists in general and the Adventist pastor particularly. Perhaps…

Will Eva: John, why is there a Report on Religious Freedom in the first place? What is its significance?

John Graz: There are two major reports on the state of religious freedom…

Why the seventh day (Saturday) above any other as a day of rest and worship? Why attach ongoing, definitive, importance to that day, instead of any other day? In the light of the arrival of Jesus and the rest He brought, indeed the rest He…

Toward the end of his life, Napoleon is supposed to have said of Elba, "Able was I ere I saw Elba." Elba is the Mediterranean island to which Napoleon was exiled in 1814 after a life of achievement and conquest. Aside from the fact that this…

A friend of mine who does not think that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews once said that if officially asked to recant his belief, he would do so ... immediately. "And if you asked me," says my friend, "why I'd recanted,…

He's just a liberal." 'She is so conservative." I don't know about you, but lately I have felt the inadequacy and destructiveness of describing positions taken, philosophies propounded, theologies advocated, and groups or individuals being…

What are the meanings that lie hidden in the troubles of the church? Where is God when in one way or another the church is knocked to her knees by some confounding situation, as often enough she has been? In the discomfiture and chagrin that…

Not long ago I tumbled into one of those disputes that seem so hard for some of us ministers to avoid (or is it resist?). In an email to my counterpart I emphasized a couple of relevant Ellen White quotes that I believed…

Throughout the Christian world questions about the nature, inspiration, and authorship of the Bible are receiving serious consideration. A long period of sustained and escalating analytical scrutiny has threatened the soul of scripture. Brilliant…

It was a stimulating privilege to sit with colleagues in Toronto working through proposed changes to the Church Manual when it comes to how members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church should be cared for…

Ellen White has a way of expressing profound realities with such a quality of simplicity that her insights tend to be concealed from over-intellectualized minds. The well-educated reader, committed to estimating the…

when I did my doctoral work in the early 1980s, the matter of local church organization and management was at the head of the list of what was in vogue in the world of ministerial education. There is little question that such an emphasis…

June29-July8 marks the assembling of the fifty-seventh General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Toronto, Canada. In celebration of this landmark event, Ministry has prepared this…

These days more than ever, it seems that the problems confronting us as leaders are increasingly complex and difficult to preside over. This is especially so when it comes to the interpersonal tensions that develop…

Why exactly do we have a magazine such as Ministry? What is its value? What is it designed to accomplish?

LeRoy Edwin Froom, the first editor of Ministry, said in the magazine's 1928 inaugural editorial that…

We have finally come to that point in time which for decades we thought of as a distant mystical location in our future: the year 2000.

No one from the human race has ever surveyed the hinterland of this…

Sometimes I just want to go back to the bush! By "the bush" I mean the wilderness of Africa, where I was born. When I feel enclosed, a captive of the artificial sophistication of silicon-chips and materialistic mazes,…

There's a strange, almost collective reserve among Christians ("conservatives" especially) when it comes to championing the health of God's creation, particularly that of earth itself and its collective environment.

There…

Whatever you do," said Ralph Waldo Emerson, "you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe…

We all remember the childish chant, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me!"

The truth is, of course, that words can hurt us. Words have power, and we know it. In fact, harsh,…

What causes fights and quarrels among you?" asks James. Quite a question, and a perceptive answer follows: "Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" (James 4:1, NIV).

A dispute in the early…

The Bible opens with a dramatic portrayal of direct communication between God and humanity. God is described as essentially speaking face-to-face with the first humans. In language they understand He says, "Be fruitful…

Calling or career? Prophet or professional? Priest or pundit? Conviction or compliance? Bottom line, why are we ministers? Why are you and I doing what we're doing? What actually got us doing it in the first place?…

It's Sabbath morning; you're ten minutes into your sermon. The congregation is with you, but as you transition to your next point, eyes that had been fixed in your direction shift away. Fingers fidget. Feet shuffle.

You've…

For the last 25 years or so, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been tussling over "righteousness by faith." This is not an unusual happening, either in terms of the Adventist Church or Christianity as a whole.…

Viewpoint articles are designed to stimulate thought and do not necessarily reflect the position of our editorial staff or of Ministry." This statement has appeared on the title page of Viewpoint articles,…

New plans for Ministry are on the production line and beyond. The first and most obvious innovation is a new look for the magazine, inaugurated in this issue.

While we have attempted to retain a dignified…

The other day I was confronted by a provocative thought. It formed itself into a question: In recent times, has there been a slow but traceable shift in Christian outlook and emphasis, where Christians, especially…

It's out of fashion these days to talk about "conscience," at least in its traditional role as an authoritative inner moral voice. At one time, the voice of conscience was virtually equated with the voice of God.…

The traditional emphasis upon the doctrinal uniqueness of each Christian denomination has waned and given way to an opposite trend: the pressure to de-emphasize theological and behavioral denominational distinctives.…

Is there anything more distressing to a pastor's soul than to be overwhelmed by a sense of having lost hold of the hand of God? Perhaps there is, when it appears that no matter what you do, your reaching fingers can't…

No matter the activity, if it's worth doing it's always worth the time and energy it takes to make sure we're operating according to that which is basic to it. Whether such an appraisal of the basics has to do with…

Let's be honest: the behavior behind the latest clergy sex abuse scandals are not limited to just one denomination. Clerical sexual improprieties, moderate or extreme contaminate every Christian community.

Clergy…

I was in the United Kingdom in March 2002, when the Queen Mother died at 101.

Along with the outpouring of sorrow so obvious in that nation as it faced the loss of the "Queen Mum" herself, there was a further…

There's a telling story of the day John Wesley walked through London's fish market with a young fellow aspiring to be a minister. When Wesley's friend winced at the crass language of the market and plainly wanted…

Brandy was our female Dachshund. Baffy, our neighbor's male Pekingese. Between our properties was a chain-link fence which among other things kept Brandy away from the amorous advances of the likes of Baffy.

The two dogs clearly liked…

Along with Christians since the first century, Seventh-day Adventists have had their struggles with the question of what kind of nature Jesus took when He, "the Word," became "flesh" (John 1:14). Our question has…

Since the moment it drew its first breath, the Christian Church has been challenged, and its way of life shaped by the climactic mandate of Jesus, "Go and make disciples" . . . not proselytes or even converts, but…

Hunters and farmers embracing? What in the world? Educational psychologist Thorn Hartmann has done some controversial work on "attention deficit disorder," or ADD. Instead of viewing this mental learning mode as a…

There's room for us all . . ." When applied to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is that assertion too inclusive, too unsuspecting of the subtleties of "creeping compromise"? Or does it voice a legitimate call for…

Modernism" and "postmodernism" are notoriously difficult to define, so here's a long standing "parable" that helps to express some of what they embody:

The late spring morning breaks pristine at the door…

There are two and a half times as many clergy of other denominations receiving Ministry as there are Seventh-day Adventists. To be more specific, according to recent figures there are over 47,000 clergy of other denominations…

It seems to me that God is more rigorous and even, at times, severe, in His dealings with us than we would like to admit or accept. What is even more disturbing to us is that God appears to us to be much less consistent…

Agatha was a ten-year-old girl attending a Seventh-day Adventist elementary school when she went on an all-day class trip. In the heat of the day, the school bus pulled up to a convenience store so the students could…

There is a strong element of mystery in love. And in hate. Hate may be easier to explain, especially when we feel it toward someone who has threatened, humiliated, or violated us. But it is more difficult to understand why we simply dislike…

Anyone glancing at this month's cover will know that 2003 is a milestone year of celebration for Ministry magazine. (Please notice the "75" logo on the cover, following the word Ministry.) Seventy-five…

Most Western Christians find it difficult to see the present conflict between America and her allies and certain radical religious fundamentalist groups as a religious war. But Andrew Sullivan, has said "this surely…

The world is reshaping—constantly. This has become an unrelenting reality for most of us. While we fervently wish that we could slow it down, it is likely instead to speed up. Change can be stimulating, exciting,…

There are times for every minister when nothing seems to be going as it should; when the major and minor trends of our experience seem pervasively and permanently stuck; when, worst of all, that which has for some time been quietly crumbling…

Some time ago I took a long auto mobile trip alone. Knowing that such journeys call for hours in which the only thing to do is listen to whatever radio programming might happen to come in and out of range, I decided…

A new generation from diverse backgrounds and complex situations challenges the church's traditional way of preaching."

This straightforward description of the thorny realities that confront us as preachers…

The song is controversial, but it is in Christian hymnals across the land, especially those more "traditional" in their content. It's controversial, but the orthodox sing it anyway, often; especially in its U.S. homeland.

Something,…

It is one thing for us to debate how parishioners should be treated when they are in violation of what is ac cepted as normative by the community of believers. We rightfully up the ante, however, when the offenders…

Last Sabbath in my home church we sang a striking hymn that I'd never noticed in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal. Here's its opening verse:

When the church of Jesus

By the time you read this editorial, I will have, a month or more ago, left the editorship of Ministry, having returned to pastoral work and my new assignment as associate pastor of the Spencerville Seventh-day…

What's been happening during the last few years that Christian ministers have become as involved as we have in sexual wrongdoing? Is it just that a less deferential culture has emerged leading to an unprecedented exposure of behaviors that…

With all we have to say about the "ideal" pastor, why do we say so little about Jesus as the unsurpassable declaration of that ideal?

When Jesus and other New Testament writers repeatedly refer to the Lord…

Most of us have had the experience of repeatedly wrestling with the biblical covenant theme and still being left with an itch that recurrently rouses our need to scratch for further clarity and a deeper understanding…

Most people would agree that good leadership is something like a brass ensemble gathered on the stage of life, playing beautiful music. Each instrument represents a feature or quality of leadership that stands out…

Through the preaching of Frank Gonzalez, at a recent General Conference week of prayer, the Spirit touched our souls, mine included This is not something that happens automatically, of course, especially among groups…

Like many who've been in ministry since the 1960s, I find myself repeating what I've heard similar aged colleagues say: that ministry these days is simply quite different from what it was three or four decades ago.

Though…

I recently came across an informal little compilation called The Faith, Wit and Wisdom of Gerald H. Minchin. Dr. Minchin served the Church as minister and educator from the 1920s to the 1960s. Many, I'm sure,…

In a compelling course taught by Gottfried Oosterwal at Andrews University in the late 1960s, we were required to read a potent little volume by Hendrik Kraemer titled, Why Christianity of All Religions?…

British philosopher, Oxford professor, and former leading apologist for atheism Anthony Flew probably regrets having announced his change of mind. I say this because the news that he has sacked his high-profile and…