Faith versus scepticism

According to Jesus' words what would be the situation of human society before His returning to the earth?

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

“For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:38, 39).

“Emboldened in their wickedness they mocked the messenger of God, made light of his entreaties, and even accused him of presumption. How dare one man stand up against all the great men of the earth? If Noah's message were true, why did not all the world see it and believe it? One man's assertion against the wisdom of thousands! They would not credit the warning, nor would they seek shelter in the ark. Scoffers pointed to the things of nature,- to the unvarying succession of the seasons, to the blue skies that had never poured out rain, to the green fields refreshed by the soft dews of night,- and they cried out: "Doth he not speak parables?" In contempt they declared the preacher of righteousness to be a wild enthusiast; and they went on, more eager in their pursuit of pleasure, more intent upon their evil ways, than before.... Christ declares that there will exist similar unbelief concerning His second coming. As the people of Noah's day "knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so," in the words of our Saviour, "shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:39” ( Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pg. 338).

“All Christian world will be involved in the great controversy between faith and
scepticism”( Ellen G. White, Final Events, pg. 120).

Being the World of God reliable why many people do not accept it?

“Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say….He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (John 8:43, 49).

"There is a large class by whom the word of God is looked upon with distrust for the same reason as was its Author - because it reproves and condemns sin. Those who are unwilling to obey its requirements endeavor to overthrow its authority"
(The Great Controversy, pg. 526).

How can that happen?

“While God has given ample evidence for faith, He will never remove all excuse for unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon will find them. And those who refuse to accept and obey God"s word until every objection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportunity for doubt, will never come to the light” (The Great Controversy, pg. 527).

Why does not God reveal Himself to this world in a undoubtful way eliminating thus the possibility to scepticism?

In the book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, pg. 31, written by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, we can read that God, wanting to assure that our choice is totally free, put us in a full of proof of His existence place, but without His direct presence - a so powerful one which could go over our liberty and, that way, deny our possibility to reject it. In other words, God gave us enough proof in this life to convince anyone who wants to believe Him, but He also left some doubts, because He cannot compel the one who is not inclined to believe.


What if the sceptics could read the best books on apologetic which are favorable to Christian faith?

“Unbelief is seldom overcome by controversy. It is rather put upon self-defense, and finds new support and excuse. But let Jesus, in His love and mercy, be revealed as the crucified Saviour, and from many once unwilling lips will be heard the acknowledgment of Thomas, "My Lord and my God." John 20:28" (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pg. 808).

What should be the Christian attitude toward the sceptics?

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

“We must expect to meet unbelief and opposition. The truth has always had to contend with these elements. But though you should meet the bitterest opposition, do not denounce your opponents. They may think, as did Paul, that they are doing God service; and to such we must manifest patience, meekness, and long-suffering...” (Ellen G. White, Evangelism, pg. 305).

Is it possible to the sceptic mind to be changed?

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27).

What should the unbeliever do?

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).

“And without faith it is impossible to please God..." (Hebrews 11:6).

"Distrust of God is the natural outgrowth of the unrenewed heart, which is at enmity with Him. But faith is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it will flourish only as it is cherished" (The Great Controversy, pg. 527).

Invitation: What about answering God with the words below?

"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24).

(Blog Minuto Profético)

To every nation, tribe, and people

The Brazilian Ethnic Adventist Churches prove that the gospel can cross over cultural barriers and can be successfully preached within the context.

Professor and writer David Conrad Sabbag, descendant of Syrian-Lebanese Arabs, did not imagine that in seeking to improve his knowledge of the Arab language at the Sao Paulo Adventist Arab Community, he would have his life completely changed. Conrad has graduated in Administration and Economy, and has authored six English-Portuguese dictionaries, among them the famous Conrad Mini-Dictionary, with over six million copies sold. It happened that at that time the community had no teacher, and Conrad, who wanted to be a student, ended up teaching there. Little by little, the professor became interested in the Adventist message and accepted invitation to attend the Sabbath meetings. “The worships spoke to my heart, and the friendship with members of the community was a determining factor for my decision,” he says. One year of Bible studies compared to the Koran, with Pastor João Chaguri, leader of the community, and brother Marcelo Nassif, Personal Ministries Director, brought Conrad to a decision for baptism, which took place on March 25, 2006.

This is one of the many examples of people who were attracted to Jesus Christ through the so called Ethnic Adventist Churches. Most of them are concentrated in the city of São Paulo, but there are communities in other Brazilian cities as well, like Belem, Blumenau, Curitiba, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro.

The Open Arab Community (as it’s called the church where Professor Conrad came to know the Adventist message), located at the Vila Mariana district of Sao Paulo City, started seven years ago, and its founder was Pastor Assad Bechara with the support of the Paulistana Conference of SDA. When it first started, at the Conference headquarters, it had only 10 members. Today it has 102 members.

The main activity of the community, according to its director, Jean Karim Boukarim, is to make known the Arab culture, and to promote respect for the Muslems. On Fridays, there is a specific worship meeting for the Islam followers, and on Sabbaths, worship and Sabbath School according to Adventist patterns, but closely following the Islamic rituals. “Our purpose is to approach Muslem and Christian Arabs, in order to present Christ to them,” explains Jean Boukarim. At the house that shelters the community there is in fact an adapted restroom for the ablutions (ritual of purification with water that precedes prayers), and a prayer chamber, both open to the community.

According to Pastor Chaguri, in the studies they first try to point out the similarities between the Bible and the Koran, such as the judgment, the return of Jesus, the principle day-ear in prophecy, the importance of a healthful diet, and the abstinence of alcoholic beverages, among others. “We try to build bridges,” he explains. “When Muslems find out that there are Christians who do not drink alcohol, do not smoke, and do not eat pork, they are surprised.”

Adventist Jews

Another group that explores belief similarities with the Adventists is the Jewish-Adventist Community, better known as Bet B’nei Tsion, which is also located at Vila Mariana, about a block from the Arab Community. This group began its activities in 1997, at the São Paulo Adventist Hospital, until, with the support of the Paulistana Conference of SDA, a house was bought to shelter the community. Presently it has about 56 members.

Pastor Edson Nunes Junior, leader of the Bet B’nei Tsion of São Paulo, explains that the Jews need only a few steps further to become Adventists, adding to their Jewish faith the belief in Jesus the Messiah. “We show to the Jews that the New Testament is a sequence of the Old Testament, not a rupture,” says Pastor Edson Nunes Junior, who is of Jewish descent, on his mother’s side of the family.

At the Bet B’nei Tsion communities (there are four more in Brazil: in Campinas, Curitiba, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro), the worship services are based on the Jewish liturgy, which contributes to the approach with the Jews. Songs are sung in Hebrew, there is the reading of the Torah (the Pentateuch parchment roll), in Hebrew also, and then the preacher makes the connection with the New Testament. Throughout a one-year period, the entire roll containing the five books is read and commented on.

The Jewish feasts (like the Pessach) are also celebrated, but taking advantage of the occasion to straiten the friendship connections, and to show them the Messianic meaning of such celebrations. The main worship meetings are the Kabalat Shabat, which is held to receive the Sabbath; the Sharrarit, which is held on Sabbath morning; and the Havdala, after sundown, to dismiss the Sabbath.

According to Mario Feller, one of the leaders at the Bet B’nei Tsion in Recife, Pernambuco, the goal of the Jewish-Adventist Communities includes the awareness about the Holy Bible principles, particularly the Sabbath doctrine, of non-Jews in any denomination, Christian or non-Christian. And Pastor Rogel Maio Nogueira Tavares, whose in charge of the Jewish-Adventist Community in Curitiba, Parana, emphasizes that “the ethnic congregations break off the cultural barriers so that our philosophy may penetrate. We should not aim to introduce a culture among people, but an ideal, a belief.”

In the book Evangelism, pages 578 and 579, Ellen White writes specifically about the work with the Jews.

Work with the Asians

It can be said that the Adventist University Center (UNASP/Brazil College), São Paulo campus, has been the cradle of Adventism among the Japanese people in Brazil. But the story gains a new direction in 1931, with the arrival of the immigrant Tossaku Kanada, 19 years old. In 1932, Kanada decided to enroll at UNASP (back then, CAB), where he was baptized, becoming the second in the Nipponese-Brazilian Community to accept the Adventist message (the first one was Saburo Kitajima, in 1925). In 1935, Kanada graduated in Theology, becoming the first Japanese Adventist pastor in Brazil.

In February 1965, after a trip to Japan to improve his skills in Japanese evangelism, Pastor Kanada organized the Japanese Company at the Youth Room in the Central Paulistana Adventist Church, with 16 members. It was the first Adventist Japanese Company organized in Brazil. With the arrival of Pastors Yuji Eida and Kiwao Mori, the group grew rapidly, reaching 42 members, still in the 60s.

Today the Central Japanese SDA Church in Capao Redondo, São Paulo, has 80 members. It belongs to the South Paulista Conference (APS) and is directed by Pastor Emerson Iamamoto Madalena. It was the first organized Japanese Adventist Church in Brazil, but it is not the only one. There are two others: the Nipponese Adventist Center, in Belem, State of Para, established in 1979, and the Nippo-Brazilian Church, at the Mirandopolis district of São Paulo City, organized in 1981.

According to Guenji Imayuki, elder of the Japanese Church in Capao Redondo, “the Asians, being more reserved, generally take a considerably longer time to accept the Adventism.” In a research among the members themselves, it was found that 80 per cent of them came to know the Adventist message through family and friendship connections. Direct approach with pamphlets or Bible conferences normally have little success among Asians. So, the church promotes social events like the Undokai and the Motitsuki, in order to break off the barrier of prejudice.

The Nipponese-Brazilian Adventist Churches try to maintain the Japanese tradition, holding peculiarities like the Sabbath School class in Japanese, sermons translated simultaneously, vocal groups singing in Japanese, monthly Japanese language classes, and the traditional “potluck lunch” each Sabbath, featuring typical food. The Adventist Japanese people give out Signs of the Times magazines and other missionary publications in the Japanese language.

Pastor Kiwao Mori, who has worked in the ministry for 38 years, and has helped establish the Nipponese-Brazilian SDA Churches in Parana and São Paulo, says the Japanese are usually related to Buddhism and Shintoism, but not familiarized with the God of the Bible, so the “best way to bring them to Jesus is really becoming friends. Promoting a healthful diet, life style and education also helps a lot.”

Another group which requires a specific approach much like the one used with the Japanese, is the Korean. Forty years ago, two Adventist Korean families immigrated to São Paulo and transformed a regular house into a church, in the Ipiranga district. More families arrived, and so the first Adventist Korean-Brazilian Community began.

Pastor Byeong Suk Kim calculates there are 40 thousand Koreans in São Paulo, which gives an idea of the missionary challenge the Adventist community faces. “Our evangelistic focus is in the area of health, a topic that helps to break off the natural barrier existing among Koreans, and other small groups. To gather in the homes makes it easier and helps the natural need of socialization that immigrants have,” explains Pastor Kim.

Los hermanos

The activities of the Adventist Hispanic Community (which has two groups in São Paulo) began more recently. However, the group is a growth phenomenon. The larger of the two communities meets at a rented floor of a small building about 150 feet from the Armenia Metro Station, at the Ponte Pequena district.

The leader of the group, Porfirio Pinto, a Bolivian micro-entrepreneur who lives in Brazil for over 23 years, informs that in two years the number of members went from 35 to 104. The secret, Porfirio Pinto explains, is that “we work intensely with small groups. We have adopted this method a year ago, when we had only three small groups. Today we have 15 small groups, and the number of converts is growing, and growing.” The informality of the meeting, and the easy access to those who live close by the house where the meetings take place, are advantages mentioned by their leader.

In the Ponte Pequena Hispanic Community, most of the members are from Bolivia. At the Santo Amaro district though, most of the 70 baptized members are from Peru, but there are some from Paraguay, and Chile also. And there are some Brazilians who attend the community meetings because they like the Hispanic language and culture.

What really draws the attention in both of these communities is the unity of their members. Every Sabbath they hold “potluck” or community lunch. “We spend the entire Sabbath day in Church, as a family,” says brother Porfirio. The leader of the Santo Amaro group, Jorge Vidal Carrasco Garnita, tells that in his community, besides having lunch together, they celebrate the birthdays of the week. “People who visit us like very much this good fellowship. As we receive them, we show that we care, and they just love it.”

For Pastor Alberto Duarte de Oliveira, who is responsible for the Santo Amaro group, the Hispanic community has a great evangelistic potential, especially among those who arrive daily in the country seeking to fulfill a dream. “As they arrive in Brazil, they find it very hard to relate to others, but the Church helps them by opening these communities where they feel bienvenidos, as part of the family.” Pastor Teodoro Ninahuaman Correa, who is from Peru, and is in charge of the Ponte Pequena group, agrees: “There is a great acceptance of the gospel in the Hispanic community because the Church is a refuge for the immigrants who are looking for socialization.”

With Jesus, alles gutt

Eduardo Gustavo Preuss is a dentist and the elder of the German Adventist Church in Blumenau, State of Santa Catarina. According to him, their Church, with worships held in the German language, began over a century ago, almost by the same time the first Adventist Church in Brazil was organized in Gaspar Alto. However, the German Church went through a slow down period, but resumed their activities at the Blumenau Central Church, where a small group insisted in having the religious services in the German language.

The specific evangelism work among Germans began with the arrival of Pastor Günther Gehann, from Germany, in 1990. Pastor Gehann started by presenting radio programs and writing in the local and national papers, aiming the German community.

Today, the Church has 48 members, the oldest one being brother Franz Krepsky, who turned 98 years old this year. The worships are still held in German, but at Sabbath School the Church separates in two groups, one class is in Portuguese and the other in German.

Carajás: an old friendship

Health services and respect for the cultural differences are the hallmark of the Adventist missionary performance among Carajá natives. The relationship of the Church with them is an old one–it has endured over 70 years. It started with Pastor Alvin Allen and his wife, Luella, in 1928, year when a Mission was established at the borders of the Araguaia River, in Piedade, State of Goias. There the Carajá natives received medical care and Bible studies. Other missionaries continued the work building health centers, classrooms, and a Temple.

The first native Pastor among the Carajá natives was João Werreriá, who in his youth left the Bananal Island in the Araguaia River, and went to São Paulo to finish his Elementary studies, High School, and graduated in Theology from UNASP (back then IAE, Brazil College). From there he returned to his people in order to communicate the knowledge of Jesus. Today, the grandson of Pastor Werreriá, Edmilson Habudiá Karajá, 16 years old, is attending IASP (São Paulo Adventist Academy), in Hortolândia, São Paulo, taking Data Processing Program at High School level. After finishing High School he plans to take Theology. His goal is to be an Adventist pastor, just like his grandpa.

Presently, through an educational convention established by UNASP, every year some graduating students go to the Bananal Island to hold teaching workshops, agricultural projects, and to offer health assistance. A caravan is coordinated by Pastor José Maria Barbosa, leader of University Student Pastoral Services (Pastoral Universitária).

Out of the 19 Indian settlements in the Island, five of them have an Adventist presence, under the coordination of Pastor Matson Santana. A total of 120 Carajá natives identify themselves as members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Pastor Santana’s goal is to strengthen the native leadership, and to provide subsidies that they may present the gospel in a manner that is within their context and appropriate to the local culture. One of the challenges he faces is to begin the translation of the Old Testament. Up to the present, only the New Testament is available in the Carajá language.

Lessons

In I Corinthians 9:20-22, Paul says: “to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews ... to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” Presenting the message within the context starts with humbleness. And that is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

“As you work in a new field,” says Ellen White, “do not think it is your duty to immediately declare to the people, ‘We are Seventh-day Adventists; we believe the Sabbath is the day of rest; we believe the soul is mortal.’ This would build huge barriers between you and those whom you want to reach. Speak to them, whenever you have an opportunity, about the points of doctrine on which you agree. Insist on the need of practical religion. Make it evident to them that you are Christians, wishing them peace, and loving them. May they see that you are conscientious. Thus you will win their confidence; there will be time enough for the doctrines. May the heart be won, the soil prepared, and then the seed sowed, presenting in love the truth as it is in Jesus” (Gospel Workers, pp. 119, 120).

The ethnic Adventist Churches have been a blessing, and can teach many lessons to the world Church: the reverence of the Jews and Muslems for sacred things, the friendship and hospitality of the Hispanics, and the patience and steadiness at work of the Asians are good examples. But what’s most important, as the leaders of many of these communities point out, is that we as a Church must work to understand our brethren, and be enabled to live as a community (after all, Heaven awaits us), celebrating what we have in common and respecting the differences.

Michelson Borges is an associate editor of the Revista Adventista (Adventist Review, Brazilian Edition).

The Da Vinci Code

Constantine the Great made up the deity of Christ at the Council of Nicea. At Nicea it was decided which books should be included in the New Testament. Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had a daughter. A secret organization was in charge of keeping the “secret of the real Jesus.” Keep calm, keep calm! Before you think I am upholding heresies, let me explain that those absurdities are the background of a detective novel which has reached hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide. And it is not everyday that a book reaches the amount of 15 million copies sold. I am talking about the book The Da Vinci Code by the American author Dan Brown.

The plot, that will soon come to theaters in a movie based on Dan’s book is the following: Everything starts with the mysterious death of the Curator of Louvre Museum. Robert Langdon, a Harvard Professor and Specialist in esoteric symbols, is in Paris on business. The police asks him to decipher a code left near a dead body. That task guides all the plot and makes Langdom and the cryptologist Sophie Neveu go after the Holy Grail. The characters go into a secret word of mystery and conspiration, aiming to reveal the truth behind the mask of “ centuries of mistakes”. For that purpose they use secret codes and manuscripts church has putatively tried to hide, but that the historian Leigh Teabing wants to divulge at any cost. (It is important to remember that the central topic in the plot of Dan’s book has already existed for centuries.It can be found in esoteric and New Age Literature, such as in the The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, by Michael Baigent, which also was used as reference to his novel.)

It would be only another ordinary fiction book, as many others, if there was not the allegation that it is based on real facts. Brown, with base in gnostic apocryphal books, advocates that after Christ crucifixion, Mary and their daughter, Sarah, left Gaul, in France, where they hypothetically built the lineage of the Merovingians kings. The author also declares that dynasty lasts until today through the misterious organization known as the Prior of Zion, a secret entity which had the Knights Templar as army force. They even fancy that Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton and Victor Hugo may have been members of that organization.

According to Erwin Lutzer, author of the book The Da Vinci Deception, “The da Vinci Code is a direct attack on Jesus Christ, religion and those of us who follow Him and call Him Savior and Lord. According to the novel by Dan Brown, christianism was invented to subdue women and to keep people away from the ‘feminine holy’”. Brown even declares that in the Old Testament the jews worshiped the masculine God, Jehovah, through His “feminine equivalent” Shekinah. Centuries later, says the author, church, which “hates sex and women”, would have rebuked such worship to a goddess.

Carlos Alberto di Franco reminded in the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, from July 2004, some criticisms found in respectable foreign newspapers about Brown’s book: El Mundo names it an opportunist and puerile book”; The New York Times says it is an insult to intelligence”; To the Weekly Standard it is a mix up of the non-imaginable”; The New York Daily News declares the book contains “ crass mistakes which do not shock only the experienced reader”. The problems is that there are many of them . Million of such readers.

The Jornal do Brasil from December 16, 2004 published an article by Ives Gandra Martins. In a extract it is written: “How to admit one can reveal a secret which could not be revealed for two thousand years about a possible daughter of Christ in a world of proved information and of access to varied sources? Or that in the so highly explored lives of Boticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Boyle, Newton, Victor Hugo, Debussy and Cocteau their researchers could not discover they were masters in a fantastic secret society intitled the Prior of Zion, whose mission was to keep the secret about Jesus’ daughter? All historians of the world were not capable to find out a secret that the oportunist Dan Brown supposedly did through investigations whose sources he cannot even mention. History is despised by a person without scruple who barefaced lies about everything.”

** GNOSTIC GOSPELS

One of the most polemical extract from The Da Vinci Code is the following: “And Jesus’ wife is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all his disciples and He frequently used to kiss her mouth.” That allegation probably had its origin in the Gospel by Philipe, one of the gnostic apocryphal books found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, and hid there in the IV Century, by an anonimous Egyptian. According to Darrell L. Bock, author of the book Breaking The Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone’s Asking, the original has blanks and brings only the initial ( in the copta alphabet) of the word “ mouth”. “The text is fragmented and says: ‘And the companion of (...) Mary Magdalene, (...) her more than (...) the disciples and (...) kiss her (...) in the m (...).’” Actually, Brown does a great imagination exercise.

Although Brown mantains that it would be weird and even dishonorable to a jew in Jesus time to be single, Amy Welborn, Master in History of Church by Vanderbilt University and author of De-coding Da Vinci affirms that in the first century many men who were devoted to God were single. The examples: from Prophet Jeremias to Paul the apostle. In one of his letters to the Corinthians, Paul refers to other apostles’ wives but not to Jesus’.

All the problem comes from the called gnostic “gospels”. They portray Jesus as a superior Spirit, but say He was a man like any other. And being like any man, what would be the problem if he had married and had children?

A quickly comparison between the four gospels from the Holy Bible and the gnostic apocryphals – results for instance that “that who did not know himself did not know anything, but that who knew himself came to know simultaneously the depth of all things.” It is also assured that salvation comes through self-knowing, or through wisdom, not by faith. Confounding the importance of self-knowing – in a freudian context – with salvation, more and more people have adopted such non-canonical books as their Bible. But the true knowledge which can be found in the real Word of God consists in knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, His Son. (John 17:3)

There is another aspect in the gnostic apocryphal books which is clearly perceived by those who know the Holy Bible and its message. The “gospels” by Thomas, Philip and Mary Magdalene do not contain any sentence about the meaning of the judgement and death of Jesus in the cross. That means the central event related to the Redemption History is totally lacking in those books which require a position as gospels. They present only charades which invite their readers to spiritual reflexions, but not to repentance – even though sin does not exist in them.

To intend that apocryphal “gospels” have the same weigh and credibility of the canonical gospels is not to know the Bible History. Besides the gnostic apocryphal “gospels” have been written after the four evangelhos, Mathews, Mark, Luke and John are the only accounts written by eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life, or corroborated by them. Luke did not live with Jesus but did his account under Paul’s supervision and had Peter’s approval. “The Holy Spirit first led Mathews, then Paul and his partner Luke, after that Peter and his partner Mark and lastly John, the apostle, to write the gospel which was given by Jesus to church during his life,”, wrote David Alan Black, in the instructive Why Four Gospels: The Historical Origins of the Gospels?

Moreover, “the most accepted sources about Jesus journey – the synoptic gospels, by Mathews, Luke* and Mark – are consistent with what is known about the Palestine from the first century, so that the chance that they are fruit of imagination of their readers is despicable” wrote Isabela Boscov, in the Brazilian magazine Veja from December 15, 2004. It is good to keep clear that primitive church had already recognized the divine inspiration of the four gospels long before the time Constantine convoked the Council of Nicea. Thanks to the historian Eusebius, it is known that twenty creeds were promulgated in Nicéia. None of them are related to the canon.

The apocryphal gospels, as well as the canonicals, were written by excited people, in a difficult and tumultuous time, in which old answers could not soothe the spirits anymore” declares Érica Montenegro, in the article “Another Jesus”, published in the Brazilian magazine Superinteressante from December 2004. “It is obvious that time today is very different. But once more a great part of humanity is unquiet and discontent with the existent answers. There are many people searching something which can make our existence more transcedent and worther. And those texts written by other men, in a similar search, can give us a clue of where to start to look for the answers.

Without knowing, Érica came close to the description the apostle Paul does of our days: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4: 3-4 (NIV)

(*) Sir Willian Ramsey, celebrated historian and archeologist from the 19th century made an effort to demonstrate that the account of Luke was full of mistakes. However, after a whole life of work and studies he wrote: “The history of Luke is unbeatable in its credibility.” (The Bearing of Recent Discoveries on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker], page 81)

By Michelson Borges, journalist and author of the book Nos Bastidores da Mídia (www.cpb.com.br

Translated by Maria Cristina Reis (reiscrism@hotmail.com)

True love

While I was presenting a Bible study to a group of people, a young man made a statement which left me thinking. He said, “Seventh-Day Adventist consider themselves doctors in Theology, but I think they still need to understand the real meaning of love.” Driving home I recalled other brothers’ words - unfortunatelly some of them are ex-Adventists - who likewise complained of a lack of love at church.

After getting home I immediately got my Bible and read 1 Corinthians 13, “The Psalm of Love”, trying to find out an answer to the question, “What love is this, they say, we do not have?”

I read those so deep thirteen verses repeatedly. I read them carefully because some times we are at risk of passing by very important concepts by thinking we know enough about a text. Some truths were immediately highlighted:

- In verse 2 it is written that even though we possess any spiritual gift, great scientific knowlegde and faith enough to move mountains, if we do not have love, these will be worthless.

- In verse 3 Paul says that even if we give all our possess to the poor and surrender our bodies to the flames, and have not love, we will gain nothing.

- At the end of the chapter the apostle concludes saying that love is greater than faith and hope.

However, the verses 4 to 7 were the ones which called my attention better. There are many similarities between them and the verses that describe the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. Check them:

1 Corinthians 13: love
is kind,
it does not boast,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
rejoices with the truth,
bears, believes, endures and hopes all things.

Galatians 5:22: the fruit of the Spirit is
kindness,
self-control,
goodness,
patience/gentleness,
faithfulness,
peace.

Such great similarity is no mere coincidence. The very same word love is the virtue which is on top of the list of Galatians 5:22. And whether love is one of the “segments” of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, even if we struggle, we never will be able to accomplish it. There are no strategies or methods which can make us love our brothers.

Love comes from the Holy Spirit of God. Hence, there cannot be love without communion with God. The right thing is not to say, “The Church needs more love.” Actually, this is quite obvious. Nevertheless, our greatest need is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. A worship filled with words of command or commotion is worthless, as well this can be seen as forcing others to be friendly: “Let’s shake hands with the person who is by our side.” The joy of praise and the friendliness of people will only exist as each one seeks the Holy Spirit.

Many members leave church declaring a lack of love from brothers. Others say that church is very “slow”, “boring” and “lukewarm”. Could it be a lack of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives?

After my conversion, which was over 15 years ago, I realized that not everything was perfect (not including the doctrines) at the church I loved and still love. But I also realized that my love for Jesus and my conviction of the truth overcame all problems. If we love Jesus and if we are convinced of the truth, nothing, including a lack of love, can separate us from His Church. (Otherwise, where would we go?)

Love and happiness are part of the fruit of the Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit dwelling in the temple of our heart. However, how can that be? The “disciple of love” gives us the answer. In his third letter, John makes reference to Gaius, as a model of faithfulness and love for the members of the Church, a man who walked “in the truth” (verse 3). John also mentions Demetrius, who is “well spoken of by everyone — and even by the truth itself” (verse 12). In a letter which deals with the practical application of Christianity in the individual life, John relates love to the truth.

That is unquestionable evidence that there cannot be love in the forced submission to the principles of the Bible. Christ Himself said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). Consider this: love and obedience to the truth are, once more, hand in hand. Truth without love is cold and formal, right, but not cherished. Love without truth is bad conducted and dishonest. Therefore, as Ellen White wrote, “The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian” (Ministry of Healing, p. 470).

Obedience through comunion with Christ: that’s the secret. By keeping a living relationship with Jesus, we can take part in the divine nature (1 Peter 1:4). That can make us feel a true and disinterested love for each other. “If the divine harmony of truth and love exists in the heart, it will shine forth in words and actions...” (Adventist Home, p. 426).

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

In this text, the verb “look at” (Theomai) is different from the verb “see” (Horao) and it means an extensive experience to find something or someone. Thus, “the sinful thoughts are kept away, the bad actions resigned; love, humbleness, and peace replace anger, envy and disputes. Happiness replaces sadness, and the face reflects the divine light” (The Desire of the Ages, p. 173).

This is the secret of true love.

Written by Michelson Borges, journalist and writer from Brazil Publishing House

Translated by Maria Cristina Reis Goulart (reiscrismg@hotmail.com)