Story by Elizabeth Long
IBM Watson Health™ has named Kettering Adventist HealthCare's Kettering Medical Center and Sycamore Medical Center as two of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals. Formerly known as Truven Health Analytics® 100 Top Hospitals, this study spotlights the top-performing hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics and data.
Editorial by Frank Bondurant
I opened my Bible this morning to Luke 2:49. These are the first recorded public words spoken by Jesus: “‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’” (NKJV). He said these words when He was 12 years old, and then, 21 years later, in one of His last prayers, He said in John 17:4: “‘I have finished the work You gave me to do’” (NKJV). Like bookends, these statements frame a well-lived, purpose-driven life. Jesus clearly understood and completed the mission the Father gave Him.
Story by Jerry Woods
WGTS 91.9 listeners recently answered the call to help children in poverty with the station’s recent “Days of Compassion” event. WGTS, a Christian radio station based on the campus of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., teamed up with a team from ShareMedia representing Compassion to encourage listeners to sponsor Compassion kids from countries around the world. When it was all said and done, listeners had taken care of over 860 children.
Story by Michele Joseph
The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting churches,” says Rubén Ramos, the Columbia Union’s vice president for Multilingual Ministries, quoting from C. Peter Wagner’s book Church Planting for a Greater Harvest: A Comprehensive Guide. Here are some tips Ramos and Peter Casillas, who most recently served as associate director for pastoral ministries in evangelism and church planting and volunteer lay pastors in Potomac Conference, say any leader can use in their ministries:
Story by Michele Joseph
The Bible gives a specifc command: multiply, says Peter Casillas, most recently the associate director for pastoral ministries in evangelism and church planting and volunteer lay pastors in Potomac Conference.
However, as a church gets bigger, it is easy to go into institutional mode.
“Church planting reminds us to come back to the movement and not stick with the institution,” he says. “Church planting is ... like blood to the body. It’s the moving dynamic action of the body. If you kill church planting, you kill the movement.”
For that reason, he believes every church should get “pregnant.”
Story by Michele Joseph
When Juliana Marson received a call from a woman so depressed she was unable to leave her home, Marson did what she knew would work best—she prayed. Then she invited the woman to her two-week-old church plant, the New Jersey Conference’s Grace Place, in Lakewood.
Jacqueline Lewis didn’t come to church, but she arrived during fellowship dinner.
“I stopped what I was doing, ran and hugged her,” Marson says. But Lewis replied, “You can’t hug me. I’m ugly.”
Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photos by Jorge Pillco
For years Tony Liriano had the dream of starting and leading a new church. Tony and his wife, Maria, were excited for the opportunity to plant a church and spread the gospel in Garfield, N.J. Since starting the project more than a year ago, Tony, who leads the New Jersey Conference church plant as a lay pastor, reports a membership growth from 10 to 60 people. Members faithfully invite friends to attend, gather for a weekly prayer session and help to reach those who don’t know Jesus. A family of six started attending the church after Tony greeted them on the street and invited them to attend. Maria says the key to their growth is the family environment and members who “act like Jesus and don’t judge.”
The United States House and Senate passed, and the President is expected to sign into law, H.R. 1 formerly known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which makes certain changes to the United States Internal Revenue Code. Below is a summary of some of the changes that particularly impact the Adventist Church and its employees. It also addresses changes that were proposed but not ultimately passed.
Editorial by Andre Ascalon
On any given day, we are bombarded with information from a multitude of sources—email, text messages, television and social media sites. Sadly, too many times this barrage of information is more negative than positive. Between the increasingly common natural disasters, mass shootings, sexual misconduct of those in public office, the opioid epidemic, accidents and disturbing social and political issues, it seems like every day is a struggle to survive. Even for the most committed Christian, it can be a challenge to remain hopeful in a world that seems hopeless. But the good news is that we can.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photo by Pieter Damsteegt, NAD Communication
This week church leaders, local pastors and institutional leaders from across the Seventh-day Adventist church in North America gathered to discuss ways to collaborate to reach, retain and reclaim the people of North America with Jesus’ message and mission.
Topics covered included church revitalization, the trend of aging churches, ministering to large people groups (such as single mothers and their families) and how to reach missing Adventist members.