L. R. Van Dolson

At nine-thirty last night the bell out­side the wall rang, and when we opened the gate a petite Japanese girl was stand­ing there, suitcase in hand. It was Yoshiko-san, who had given us several years of faithful service in our Tokyo home.…

TWO recent experiments in applying discussion techniques to public evangelistic meetings have convinced us that certain suggestions in Ellen G. White's writings are workable both overseas and here in the United States. Two of the Spirit of…

MORE than 200 members have been added to churches in northern and central California in the past nine years as a result of student evangelistic activities at Pacific Union College. But this figure, encouraging as it is, is actually one of…

THE first time I saw the familiar placard was on the wall of the press-room at the Seventh-day Adventist Japan Publishing House at Hodogaya. Ever since, it has been called to mind when a particularly difficult task has confronted me. "The…

ONE day several years ago I was conversing with a missionary of the Brethren Church in Kobe, Japan. We were comparing our respective beliefs when suddenly he asked me a simple enough question but one I had never thought of and couldn't answer.…

THE BOOK of Nehemiah describes what was most likely the last great reformation among the people of Israel. As Nehemiah, with characteristic zeal, thought to purify the church from its wickedness, we are told that all Judah brought "the tithe…

THE BOOK of Zechariah deserves much more attention on the part of Christians than it is usually given. Not only is it the longest of the works produced by the minor prophets, being divided into fourteen chapters, but it is the most Messianic,…

THE JEWS were discouraged about rebuilding their temple. About 50,000 returned from exile and immediately set up a new altar on the site of the ancient altar of burnt offering in the courtyard of the temple grounds. Once again sacred services…

"A MYTH," Arnold Toynbee once re marked, "is a curious animal; for it feeds upon itself, and the more it eats, the larger it grows." Is there a growing body of mythology in the Adventist Church? Casual observation of organizations about us…

THE MESSAGE of coming judgment pronounced upon the people of Judah by the prophet Zephaniah must have come as quite a shock to those described as being as congealed in their minds as the dregs left after wine making. In this thick-headed…

ALTHOUGH the term appears only once, the book of Habakkuk essentially revolves around the theme of faith. Actually there can be two kinds of questioning in relationship to religious issues. There is the kind we ordinarily think of, those…

NEARLY TWO HUNDRED years after Jonah's spectacular revival campaign at Nineveh, the ax of judgment fell on the stiff neck of the rebellious Assyrians. The cob webs of evil habit finally became strong cables that bound them so firmly to wrongdoing…

ALTHOUGH he did not begin his ministry in the time of Uzziah, Micah was contemporary with Isaiah, exercising his prophetic office during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in Judah. It was a critical time for God's people, and the prophets…

A DRAMATIC shift of emphasis seems to be taking place in the religious life of America. Americans are turning to religion again, and young people are at the fore front of this thrust. Church attendance swelled by nearly three million in the…

BOTH THE higher critic and the scoffer zero in on the book of Jonah as their favorite target. The skeptic derides the Biblical account of the reluctant prophet as a "whopper of a fish story" while the critic who doesn't accept miracles has…

"THE IMPRESSIONS of the Holy Spirit if disregarded today, will not be as strong tomorrow. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of life, and of the great eternity beyond. Our condemnation…

THE JANUARY 3, 1975, issue of Christianity Today suggests that Christian churches begin to plan now for the bimillennial. Not the bicentennial but the bimillennial! This term, of course, refers to the two-thousandth anniversary of…

FIVE MILES south of Bethlehem, on the border of the wilderness of Judea, lies a small town, which was known as Tekoa in the time of the Old Testament prophets. Agricultural endeavors stop in this vicinity, which is quite dry and bare, a semi-desert…

THE TAUNT that Jesus anticipated from His home town congregation at Nazareth consisted of the familiar Jewish proverb, "Physician, heal thyself." Jesus, of course, was the only Man who never needed that kind of ad monition. It is, however,…

FACTS actually aren't as important as the way they're perceived. And it goes without saying that they're seldom perceived by any two individuals in exactly the same way. A case in point is when two witnesses give their version of an automobile…

DR. RICHARD HAMMILL'S concluding challenge in his expository study of Colossians at the recent Bible Conference conducted at Pacific Union College is especially directed toward the ministry of this church. His appeal centered around Paul's…

SINCE there is a growing recognition among Adventist health and ministerial professionals that there needs to be closer cooperation and unity on a denomination-wide basis, an attempt was made during the 1972-1973 school year at Loma Linda…

THE primitive church in the days of Christ and the apostles was organized for service. Without impressive structures, either in buildings or organization, it carried on a tremendous daily missionary contact program that effectively carried…

IN THE past few years antiques have become so valuable that a flourishing market has developed in their modern manufacture. The frequenter of Ye Olde Antique Shop has to be extremely careful and know his field or he is likely to be "stung"…

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, above all people, believe in charismatics. Where would we be as a church without the gift of prophecy? Here is a gift, expressly given for "building up the body of Christ" (Eph.4:12, R.S.V.). Here is a gift that has…

NOTHING seems to catch the attention and interest of an audience attending a health lecture more effectively than does a good demonstration. To be a truly good demonstration it must be simple to understand, easy to use, and clearly visible…

Dare to study Daniel.

Dare to study alone.

Dare to search for something new.

Then…

GOD DOESN'T give up. Even when His people have become as faithless and as seemingly worth less as shopworn Comer, He still eagerly pays the redemption price and lovingly pleads, "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God" (Hosea 14:1, R.S.V.).…

THE minor prophets aren't considered minor because of less effective ministries or messages than those of the major prophets. This designation is given because, generally, their writings were shorter in length. Sometimes they have…

HOW ridiculous it would be to hire an expensive architect to formulate plans and a design for a church building and then to follow the consensus of those doing the building and ignore the blueprints that have taken so much time, effort, and…

IN THE Jewish synagogue service of Christ's day it was the practice for the one who gave the "last lesson," or what we would call the "sermon," to read two or three verses from the prophets and then lecture or comment on them.

On…

THE SANITARIUM idea is definitely not outdated, although the term may be. This month's health section focuses on some of the current attempts being made by Adventist hospitals, medical groups, and individual practitioners in applying to modern…

WE HUMAN beings are strange creatures. We receive an unexpected "wind fall"  in money  or things,  and we're  not satisfied. We want more. We taste some delicious food and can hardly wait to get more.  But  when  we  receive  a  small measure…

ONE OF MY first summer jobs was in a shipyard in San Francisco. The job consisted of sitting on a cushioned seat arranged on the tool carriage of a large Niles Planer, and pushing the buttons that would keep the machine going back…

WHEN my twin brother and I were five years old he was run over by a car with faulty brakes, and as a result suffered a very severe fractured skull and was unconscious for several days. Because the doctor held out little hope for him, my parents,…