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Vol No I
Between the
Porch
and the
Altar
Secrets of the
Rapture
The
Power of
Music
What Does it
Prove?
Keeping
the Heart
January 987
Ellen White Member
of
the Board
see page
8
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d i tor i l
A
s
YOU read
your
January
edition of
Our
irm
Founda
tion
it
will be 1987 Ho w swiftly
the years
fl y
by t seems such a
short
s tep f ro m
th e
cradle
to ol d
age.
In f
youth we
impatiently
reach Qut fo r maturi ty and adu lt -
hood Then, suddenly, we r c
there. As au r s tar strca ks across
life we
can
h ard ly c at ch Ou r
breath
before we
arc
holding our
f i rst g r an d ch i ld . While we blink
our eyes in amazement they grow
into youth ,
they marry.
and
then
come
great-grandchildren.
Before
we know it
we
f ind ourse lv es
with canes and
content with
our
rocking
chair. Such is life on
planet
earth.
But now we have come
to
a
different era
Hundreds
of
gen-
erations
have
gone
before us,
al l
struggling
with l i fe an d
it s
varied problems. Now wc
face
the
last generation-and we arc that
generation.
The evidence
is over-
whelming
that
the human race is
facing
its D-Day.
T he w or ld
cries
for
peace, but
on the horizon
looms the
horrible
prospect
of
human
annihilation.
Nagasaki
and
Hiroshima
arc
ugly reminders
of
man s
capacity
to destroy.
But Jesus has
prom ised that He will come
before man destroys the earth.
See
Revelation
11:18)
He
must
then, come
soon,
for man s
destruction of our world is
in-
evitable
jf God does not inter-
pose.
Our Firm Foundation January 987
Th e
prophecies of Matthew
24
and Luke 17, an d 2 ar e
no w
unmistakably being fulfilled
daily
before
our
eyes through
the
media of th e
world.
Th e
tragedy
is
that
the
church
is
not
alarmed.
Very few
sermons are
preached
from our pulpits to prepare our
people for the emergency that
will come
as an overwhelming
surprise. See testimonies
voL 8
28, 37)
Ol d
ag e
an d disease ar e
plac-
ing thousands
in
the grave dai ly .
And yet the r em na nt c hu rc h has
t he c ur e
fo r
it all.
God
gave it to
us
We
can put old
age
out
of
business.
Soon,
if we 3re
faithful,
by t he p ow er of the Holy S piri t
the
character
of
Christ
will
be
perfectly
reproduced
in us. See
Chris/ s Object Lessons 69) Th e
Holy Spirit will
come
to
His
church,
Pentecost Tw o will be
greater in
power
than
Pentecost
One the
Latter Rain
will
fall
th e
Loud
Cr y will
sound.
Le t us
pray that it will happen now, this
year 1987.
This
is
th e prayer
of
the
s ta ff o f
Our Firm FOllndation
Recently
I
was with John
Osborne
in Bonita Springs ,
F lo r id a p u ttin g my
weekend
series-Preparing for Eternity-on
video tape.
We now
have eight
hours recorded on two fourhour
cassettes available fo r 49. We
believe
that
these messages ca n be
shown
in homes Or in
prayer
meetings. They
present
the
mes-
sage
of righteousness
by
faith
and v ic tory over
sin
in
the set-
ting
of
rhe three angels messages.
The e ight one -hou f
sections
arc
as
follows:
J. Th e
Gift
of
Prophecy
in th e
Remnant
Church
2
Th e
Message
to Laodicea
3 Th e Three Angels Messages
4
Job
th e
Perfect
Ma n
Closing Events
6 T h e
C l e a n s i
ng o f th e
Sanctuary
7 The Seven E sse ntia ls of
Holy
Living
8 A
Conversation
with John
Osborne on the Final
Crisis
These presentations
have been
a help to
many
over
the years .
I
have
no
doubt
that these
same
messages
of
historic
Adventism
can now
reach where I cannot go
personally,
and will continue
to
bless many souls.
Also,
we now
have available
A
Syllabus
01 oly
Living
Th is
book
of
pages by Eld er
lul ius Gilbert White,
gives
a
beautiful
presentation of
many
practical aspects
of
righteousness
by f ai th. T he suggested
donation
is just 2.50.
Th e Lord has
blessed
us in tlie
preparing
of
these materials ; now
we pray that He will bless
in
their use in the field. There
arC
souls to be saved. We
cannot
af-
ford to n eg le ct t he
opportunities
t he L or d places before us.
RON
SPE R EDITOR
7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_01
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Table of Contents
What
Does It
Prove?
And more-What docs
it
say?
is the mission
of
Hope Interna
tional and the editors
of Our Firm
Foundation
to give the s traight testi-
mony and to present Christ and Him
crucified. The days that yet remain
of this world arc few and what we
do we must do quickly.
We
must
boldly
proclaim
the truths that place
us on so firm a foundation in the
midst of this troubled world.-THE
EDITORS
Vol.
2 No.1
ARTICLES
January
1987
KC\ in
D.
Paulson
4
DEPARTMENTS
Edi tarial
2
i e
Upon Line
21
Melange
13
Berea 8
Letters 14
Religious Liberty
Update
30
Food fo r Thought 15
Keeping the Heart
Ellen G. White
12
Eternal
interests
deserve protection
Between th e
Porch
and the Altar
Ron
Spear
16
Sin cannot be taken l ight ly
Co-opera tion Ellen G. White 22
The seCret
of success
Secrets
of the
Rapture
Ralph
Larson
The s tory beh ind
a
fallacy
The
Sin
of
Licentiousness
Ellen
G.
White 6
Way back then . . .
and now
Editor Ron Spear
Managing
Editor
Dave Fiedler
Associate Editor Vern Jennings
Copy
Editor
Lila
Rae
Frederick
Editorial
Secretary
Clarissa
Fiedler
Contributing Editors Colin Standish
Ralph Larson,
John Osborne
Art
Director
Bob
Bresnahan
Layout Shari lyn
Kendall
Typography Arnct Mathers
Circulation
Joseph
Leatherman
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The Power
of
Music H. Lloyd Leno
Psychological
and
physiological
effects
of music
Ellen White-Member
of
the
Board Dal c Fiedler
Only
one
organization could make the claim
Invitation
to Writers
6
8
u rm FOllndalion
Editorial Office:
P.O. Box 940
Eatonville, WA 98328
206) 832-6602
Copyright
1986
Hope International
We
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rm Foundatioll
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rm Foundatiol
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January
987
Ollr Firm Foul datio
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4/32
HE VERY
mention
of th e
wedding ring produces
resentment with some people. The
recent deluge of
teredness
and anti legalism cru-
sading
tends
to
provoke
a
Who
cares? response
whenever .Issues
of conduct
arise. But because
of
my conviction that any subje ct
address ed by Inspiration deserves
attention,
that
th e B ib le
nowhere
is t inguish s man s s pi ri tu al
SUCCess from the
Lord s
well-
reasoned
guides fo r behavior, I
believe
a
few tho ugh ts a rc
in
der.
Historical ly, Seventh-day Ad-
ventists
have
taken seriously the
Bible s
statements on outward
ado rnment. P au l w ro te to Timo
thy, uIn
like
manner
also,
that
women adorn
themselves
in mod-
est 3pparcl, with shamefacedness
and sobrie ty ;
no t
with -braided
hair, or gold, or pea rl s, Or costly
array;
but which
becometh
wo-
men
professing godliness
with
good
works.
1 Timothy 2:9 10
Peter l ikewise declared
concern-
in g Christian women, Whose
adorning, le t it
no t be that
out-
Kevin D Paulson
ward ad orn in g
of plaiting the
hair, and of wearing of gold, or
of
putting
on of
apparel;
bu t le t
it be th e hidden man of the
heart.
I
Peler
3:3 4
There
seems to be
evidence
that
the
ear ly church v iewed the
marriage
ring as
in this category.
Says one scholar: Neither the
Bible
no r
th e
Talmud
speaks of
th e
ring
as
symbolic of
marriage.
As a matter
of fact,
ear ly Chr is -
t ians frowned upon
the
ring as an
outward
adornment. James Rem-
ington McCarthy, Rings
Through
the ges
To my knowledge,
no
biblieal
scholar ha s
provided
evidence
th:H
the
bove
Scriptures
h:3d a
culturally confined application
with
which
modern Christ ians
need not
be
concerned (similar,
say, to
Paul s command
that wo-
men be
silent
in
church). J can
recall one person
remotcly
sug-
gest ing this poss ibil ity,
bu t he
of-
fered
no
proof.
What
amazes me
is that
of th e many believers
I
know
who
quest ion t he Adven ti st
standard
on jewelry,
none hJve
seriously attempted
to
deal
with
these
passages. J m afraid that
many thoughtlessly
conclude
that
this is an Ellen White p roblem.
and do not
look at the
biblieal
evidence.
Ellen White plainly connects
th e aforementioned
biblical coun-
sel to
the wedding ring. After
citing the passage from I Timo-
thy,
she declares: Here
th e
Lord,
through His apo stle, speaks
ex-
pressly against the
wearing of
gold. Let those
who
have had ex-
perience
see to
it
that
they
do not
lead
others
astray on this
point
by their example. That ring en-
c ir cl ing you r f inge r may
be
very
plain, bu t it
is
useless; an d
the
wearing o f it
has
a wrong
influ-
en ce upon
others. Testimonies
vol . 4
630
E ls ewhe re sh e writes:
Some
have had a burden in
regard
to
t he wear in g of a marriage ring,
feeling
that
the
wives
of ou r
ministers
should conform to this
custom.
Al l this is unneceSS3ry.
. . .
We
need no t
wea
r the sign
fo r
we
ar c no t untrue
to
the
mar-
riage vow, an d
th e
wearing
of
it
would
be no
evi denc e th at
we
were t rue. I feel deeply over
this
leavening
process which seems to
be going on
among
us in the con-
formity
to
custom
and
fashion.
Not one penny
should
be spent
fo r
a
circlet of
gold to
testify
that
we ar c
married.
However , she qualifies the in-
struction
with
reference to be-
lievers
in
lands
where customs
differ from those of North
Amer-
ica:
UIn
countr ies where th e
cus-
tom
is
imperative,
we
have
no
burden to condemn those who
have
th ei r m ar ri ag e
ring;
le t
them wear it if they can do so
conscientiously.
Testimonies
Mil islers 180 181
At
th e
1972
Fall
Council
the
issue was discussed by the Gen-
eral
Conference
officers, relative
to
th e claim
that
American cus-
tom
had
s ignif icant ly
changed
since
Ellen
White s instruction,
thus render ing
acceptable
th e
use
of
th e
wedding
band.
While
the
brethren
agreed that
one
consci-
entiously
p ersuaded o f
a
ring s
necessity
should
no t be denied
Prove?
t
oes
hat
Oll r F i rm
Foul dorion
January
1987
7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_01
5/32
baptism,
they
maintained
that
because, in ou r judgment, the
wearing of the wedding band still
is
not regarded as
obliga
tory or
an
impcrativc
custom in
North
America,
we discourage the use
of the wedding band,
and
in-
struct
our
ministers
no t to per-
form r ing ce remonies . General
Conference Officers, Counsel
Regarding the Wedding Band in
North America, October 2, 1972,
2
I am unaware
of any
study
showing
clearly those changes in
American soc ie ty which demand
that the
marr iage ri ng
now
be
worn. s with t he bi bl ical state
ments, it doesn t appear that any
precise
cultural
shift can be doc-
umented.
In
my
expcrience with
friends, both in and
ou t
of th e
church,
[ have seen fa r too many
girls
with
rings on thc finger
designatcd fo r marriage,
whom
I
know were
neither
married nor
engaged. Others I m
sure can
tes-
tify
to the
same
fact. [
cannot
bu t
find
the claim of
cultural
sity less than convinc ing, espe-
cially
when so
many
Adventists
who
work outside th e church
have yet
to be
embarrassed
due
to
the absence of a ring.
The issue
of cul tu ra l
cxpccta-
tion in the
United
States looks
even more suspect
in view of
the
following
statement
made
a num-
ber
of
yea rs ago:
I n the U.S., where the mar-
riage rate now stands at 1,669,934
couples a year, having receded
from the
a l l - t ime peak of
2,291,045 in 1946, wedding r ings
are
manufacturcd at
a rate
of
about 850,000 a month.
If
all of
these
rings were
to be used by
brides
in
genuine
weddings,
every
adult Ame ric an f emal e
would have
a
ring
finger
deeo
rated like the neck of an
Ubangi
and would have
to
contr ct
shocking as it
may
seern-a new
marriage
every five
years.
Ob-
viously most of the rings arc used
merely
for immoral
purposes.
The
big ten-ccnt stores
do
a rc.mark-
able business in cheap
wedding
rings,
sel ling six
or
seven
million
a year to bo th occas iona l
and
steady customers.
The rings
are
well made, neatly
polished
and
cannot be distinguished
from
the
genuine a rticl e a t a
distance
of
two
feet,
which is as close as
the
manager s tands to th e hotel
reg-
ister.
Robert
Wallace,
With
This
Ring. . Life June 18,
1951
This is
not
to say,
of
course,
that t he p re sence
of a
wedding
band
instantly raises
moral ques-
tions. It does, however , dampen
assumptions
as
to
a ring s respec-
tabiliry.
Occasionally
people
will tell
me
of
persons they
know
who
have dec ided
to
wear a ring be-
cause they ve grown w eary of
Has the increased
popularity of
wedding bands
decreased the
divorce rate?
romantic
a dva nce s. T he logic
here escapes me. How
difficult
is
it
to say, I m
married ?
More-
ove r, my guess is
that
anyone
not
decent enough
to back off
under
such
circumstances
would prob-
ab ly no t
be
stopped
by a
ring.
One
question I have is why we
seem embarrassed to tell others
what we believe and
why
arc we
afraid to tell people
what
the
Bible
says on this point?
Has
the
wedding
ring,
in a cur ious way ,
become a subst itute for witness
ing?
It is time we asked, What is
the true basis fo r the recent surge
in the
populari ty
of w edding
rings
in
North
American Adven-
tism? The
average
bel iever who
wears a ring will doubt less an-
swer,
Becausc I
wish to show
that I m
marricd.
In response,
we inquire: Arc we then
to
as-
sume that th e
church
now has a
deeper regard fo r the sacredness
of
marriage than
in the past?
Are
wc wearing more rings today be-
cause we wish more t ha n
ever
to
be faithful
to
the
marriage
vow?
Has the
increased popul ar it y of
wedding bands been paralleled by
a decrease in th e rate of
divorce
and
infidelity? I m almost
afraid
to ask.
The disturbing truth is tha
the per iod during which wedding
rings
have
grown
popular in th
church
has
witnessed
an
ingly critical
attitude
toward
th
writ ings
of
Ellen White, the
emergence
of
a
misguided
percep
tion of legalism
which
reduce
emphasis on s tandards of behav
ior,
and the
fiercest
attack
ou
message has suffered
since
it
beginning.
Church
members from
throughout Nor th
America could
testify
that in the recent conflic
the a bscnce r
presence
of a wed
ding band
has become one al
though certainly not the only
indication
of
a
person s
theologi
cal stand. A reccnt
newspaper
ar
ticle
covering
one pa stor s theo
logically
related
dismissal
spok
of how,
ou t
of c Ia ted liberation
from Ellen White,
this
ministc
went out and bought his
wife
o
twelve year s
he r
first
wedding
band.
(What this has
to
do with
marriage we arc
permitted to
guess.)
Cou ld it be
that in Adventi sm
th e wedding ri ng
has come
to sig
nify remarkably
little
in the way
of marriage or
its obligations
Has it become, instead, a tool in
the hands
of
church critics,
ages
ture
of defiance against histori
Adventism?
How
well I
remembe
one
c ri ti c s a rt ic le which
cited
the recen t p ro lifera tio n of wed
ding bands
as
proof that
th
church s historic bel ie fs a rc fall
ing by
the
wayside, and
tha
s t raight-laced, old-fashioned
conservatives
had
better get on
the bandwagon
of change.
Loya
believers will want no.
part
in
writing speeches fo r the church
foes.
Without wishing
to
be
judg
mental,
I have
found t ha t
church
members
who shake
off
thei
Laodicean
s lumb er, de ciding
without reserve
to
follow thei
Lord,
tend to leave wedding
ring
behind. By
contrast,
the apathet
ic, the cynical, and the uncar in
tend to keep them.
The day North
American
Adventism
finds a
new
commitment to
Jesus Christ wil
be the day
wedding
rings pas
from
the scene. i
hnu ry
1987 Our Fil m
oundation
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6/32
The Power
Music
Part One
loy Lena
A
GAINST the backdrop of
the spread of
Rock 'n
Roll
and campus unrest nationwide
dming the
late 60s
the
Seventh-
day Adven ti st Chu rch
was
ex-
periencing a troublesome change
in
atti tude
toward
worship in
general
and r el ig ious mus ic in
particular. Among those who
ad -
vocated the use of the
vernacular
popular
music were sincere
Chris-
tians who were looking
for
new
ways to witness
for Chr is t.
Also,
among the
advocates
of th e us e
of
popular
dance styles
fo r
wor-
ship, were those who,
in my
opinion,
were
motivated to
a
large
extent
by the prevail ing
philo so phy o f ch nge for
change' s s ake. Tills
philosophy
assumes th t
s ince previous
methods
did
no t
solve
or
cure
the
world's
problems
or
evangelize
the wodd, they mus t
be
replaced
with
new,
even t hough
radical,
methods. The
end
justifies
the
means
seemed to be almost a
credo.
Most c hu rc h musicia ns a nd
church
leaders
alike
found
them-
selves grop ing
fo r
answers .
However , some musicians
and
a'
few chu rc h l ea de rs
were Dot
surprised at the development of
th e problem , because
in
th e ab-
sence of
strong
leadership and/or
a unified
philosophy
of music,
the
church
was in fact
vulnerable
Ollr
irm
oul dalion
Janu:lrY 1987
on this issue. In the summer of
J972, the G enera I Conference
convened a special
task
force
committee to study the problem
that had developed in music. A
number of paper s were commis-
sioned and cap abl e persons
pu t
forth a tremendous ef fo r t to
se arch for
and apply
guiding
principles.
Sensing
th e
need
for some
scientific
information
that could
complement
that
from the
Bible
and the
writings
of E. G.
White,
I
suggested to th e
chairman
of
the
committee
that a paper dea ling
with the psychological
aspect
of
music
be prepared
fo r
study
by
the committee. The r epl y was a
request tha t
I undertake
this
as
signment. The resul t was a paper
which was subsequently rev ised
fo r
the Review and erald and
in
which f orm it is here reproduced.
Since writing these articles, ]
have
continued
my study
in this
area with
the hope
of
developing
a larger
and
more
complete
perspective. The
information
dis-
covered,
and
the
resulting in -
sights gained,
will
be the subject
of an a rt ic le which
will
follow
this
series.
Dr.
H.
Lloyd
Lena, Director
Music Department, Antil l ian
Col-
lege Puerto Rico
D
URING RECENT years a
gre t
de l
of
concern
among Adventists
has
developed over
the sub ject
of
th e
ethics
of music.
There
has
always been an awareness that
some
types of ent er ta inmen t and
amusement s wer e harmful to th e
Christian,
and
it was
more
or less
understood that music closely as
sociated
with
these amusements
WJS
also
unsaf e for Christian use.
However, until about
the
1960s.
discussions on the
subject.
writ-
ten
or verbal,
by
ministry or
laity,
seem to have been
infre-
qu ent, causing lit tle recognition
or
comment out si de
of th e local
situation.
Today we sec a dirferen pic
turc.
There
is
widespread
inter-
est,
conce rn , a nd
discussion,
ancl
some definite
polarization
among
the
church members. Some be
lieve that music
amoral, th at
its meaning and influence are
what the
individual
wishes i[ to
be. Others have strong
convic-
tions as to the inf luence of music.
A
few have
studied
and wri tt cn
on
th e
s ub je ct . S ur pr is in gl y
enough. there .are thosc who fail
to see
any issue
at
all.
Rather than relying on major-
ity
opinion, personal tastcs, or
even th e
opinion
of professionals
in the field of music,
it
seems
logical that we should
develop
a
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ph ilo sophy of m usic
based on
what
effect
music
has upon peo-
ple.
I believe this can
be
deter-
mined
from
three sources.
First,
the Bible, giving us the basic
p ri nc ip le s o f
Christian l iving.
Second,
th e
wri ti ngs o f
the
Spirit
of
Prophecy to enlarge upon the
b ib li ea l t ea chi ng s.
And th i rd ,
God s
other
book,
nature
and
science, which can furnish us
with
added
i ns ight s i nto the
na-
ture
of man s response
to various
stimuli
in
hi s environment.
Addressing a meeting of the
American Psychiatr ic Associa-
tion,
Howard Hanson,
a national-
ly
prominent composer , declared:
is
a
curiously
subtle
art
with i nnumerab le , varying
emo-
t ional connotations. t is made
up
of many ingredients and ,
accord-
ing to
th e
p ropo rti on s o f
these
component s, i t
ca n
be
soothing
or
i nv igorat ing, ennob li ng
or
vul-
gar izing, phi losophical
o r o rg ia s-
tic.
l t has powers
f or evil,
as well
as fo r good.
we
ar c to usc it
as
a
soci al or therapeutic
fo rc e, the
first essenti al i s that we find
out
something about it. l
It is obvious that
we
Seventh-
day
Adventists use mus ic a great
deal.
But Our tastes an d
conse-
quently Our practices ar e subject
to
the i nf lu en ce o f r ad io , te levi -
sion,
and
the recording industry
as
are
those
of other s. Can
we af-
ford
to be
less
concerned
about
To remazn
uninformed
is to
surrender our
power
o f
choice to
others
the power
and
influence
of mu-
sic? there
ar c
eternal
conse-
quences involved, we indeed must
guard
well t he a venues
of
th e
soul. 2
To
do this we must
be
in -
formed. To remain
uninformed
is
to
sur render ou r power of
choice
to other s, for no
on e
can
live
in
a
mus ic al v ac uum. First,
le t
us
review b ri ef ly c er ta in s ci en ti fi c
invest igations into the psycholog-
ical
an d
physiological
responses
to
music.
Next
we will
consider
how th es e findings
compare wit h
th c w ri ti ng s
of Ellen G. White.
Then we will examine th e mora l
and
sp ir i tua l impl icat ions,
an d
how
t hese rel at e
to contemporary
moral
issues.
Tn
this
f ir st p ar t
we
There
lS
scarcely a
function the
ody
which
m y
not be ffected by
mUSl
shall exp lo re th e ways in which
sound,
musical
sounds
in
particu-
lar, affects the human organism.
Without an attempt
to
exhaust
th e
subject,
we
w il l look at some
of
the information provided by
psychologists ,
physiologists
and
other
scientists who have
con-
d uc te d r es ea rc h
in
this
field.
Some
of
these
findings
will sug-
gest
moral
and
spiritual implica-
tions;
o ther s may
not. In any case,
we
sha ll postpone unti l
later
the
discussion of these implicat ions .
The
Perception
of Music
A major i nt er es t
that
led
to
t he s tudy
of
the effects
of
music
on man
was that of
music
ther-
apy. Activity in this field in -
c re ased when
during
the Second
Wor ld War it was
recognized
that
many she ll shocked servicemen
were
in desperate
need of psychi-
atric treatment. In 1944 upon
a ut ho ri za ti on o f
th e S urgeon
General ,
the
Music Research
Foundat ion
was
established
at
Walter
Reed
General
Hospital, in
Washington, D.C. ro r the purpose
of discovering
and
developing
new
methods
of con trol li ng hu -
man
emoti ons and behav io r.
Prob ab ly the most important
developmen t in th e scientific
in -
vestigation of music
was the dis-
covery
that
music is perceived
t hr ough t ha t
portion
of the brain
rece iv ing the s timul i
of
emotions,
sensations, and feelings, without
bcing
first subjected to the
brain
cente rs involv ing reason a nd
in -
telligence. This
discovery,
con-
firmed
a numbe r o f scientists,
gave
grea t impetus
to
th e field
of
music therapy,
as
one c an r eadil y
understand
from this statement:
HMusic,
which
does no t
depend
upon
th e
master brain to gain en-
trance
into
the
organism, can
still
arouse by way
of
the
thalamus-
the relay s ta tion of
al l emotions-
sensations
and feelings. Once a
stimulus has been able to reach
t he tha lamus,
th e master
brain
is
utom tic lly in iaded and if
the
stimulus is continued fo r
some
time, a closer
contact
between
the
maste r b rain
and
the world
of
reality ca n
be
thus
established.,,3
(Emphasis supplied)
Thus,
music
became the tool
by which commun icat ion could
be
r e-e sta b li sh ed w ith
certain
mentally
il l
patients
who, because
of
their
condition, could
n l
be
reached through verbal communi-
cat ion, which requi re s the usc
of
th e
cerebral
cortex.
Music,
Moods,
Body Chemist ry
Even
without
giving
the sub-
ject a great deal of thought,
most
people wou ld agr ee
that
music
af -
fects their
moods.
Thi s i dea is
not
only accepted by the
general
pub-
li c
and
used by industries,
it is
also supported by scientific
vestigation. One of
th e
earliest
studies
was
conducted in 1920
J923 by
th c
Carnegic
Institute of
Technology. The stu dy involving
a nationwide investigation
dem-
onstrated
that
music affects the
moods
of
people of varied
g rounds in
a remarkably similar
way.4
Lat er , t he p sy ch ia tr is t Ed -
ward P od ols ky r ep or te d:
searchers
on
th e
auditory
nerves
i nd jc at e t ha t
there is scarcely
function
of
the body
which
may
no t
be
affected by
th e
pulsations
and ha rmonic combina tions
of
musica l tones . s
He sta ted fu rther tila t
moods
are d irect ly
related
to
physiology,
that t he y d epend a
great
deal on
the activity
of
the brain and
blood
and body
chemistry
continued
on
19
January
1987 Ollr
irm
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Ellen
White-
Menlber of
the Board
HE OLD adage says well:
N o o rgan i z a t i on is
stronger
than
i ts Board
of
Direc-
tors.
The chances
of
any
or -
ganizat ion or
inst i tut ion actually
succeeding in its work can be
measured in th e experience,
stabil i ty,
and wisdom of it s
board. Of course, that is much
easier to S:lY than it is to do Who
after all, can accurately weigh
the inner workings of any
per-
son s heart and
mind? Who
can
see
the
future
to know
how
Our irm oundation
January
1987
qu ick ly
exper ience
will be
gained Who can measure
the
ability
of
an indomitable faith
and will to overcome t he dif-
ficulties brought
on by
a
lack
of
experience? And who would deny
tha t the Lord can confound
th e
wisdom of the world with the
foolishness of
His wil l?
But still, no DO could intel-
ligently
doubt
t he value of godly,
experienced counselors
to
serve as
a
Board of Directors. Ellen White
knew this well She knew, too, the
Dave Fiedler
heartache
that
could be caused
by
unconsecrated directors, men who
placed
their wisdom above
the
Lord s in st ruc t ion . And as no
one
else in
he r
day-she knew
that instruction. Ellen White
would
be a natural choice as a
board
member.
How often she
was asked
to
serve in such
a
capacity is not known.
How
often
she
did,
and for
what
enterprise,
is-exactly
once,
fo r th e Nashville
Agricultural
an d Norm al lnst
itute.
Surrounding
this
isolated piece
o f h is to ri c
trivia
is a
tale
deserv
ing a
retelling,
for in it we find
lessons needed today . After all
th e e xp erie nce of othe rs
is
a
much less costly way to
learn
than to
repea t the ir mistakes.
The
turn of the century held
ou t prospects of new beginnings,
progress ,
advancement .
To
Scventhday Adventists ,
there
was the expectation of the ul
timate new beg inning . but
only
after the
end
of all things then
existing.
sense of restrained,
sometimes
confused,
excitement
pervaded the denomination. ani)
a
few
years before, th e Lord had
indicated
that closing events had
begun with a clearer proclama-
tion
of
Christ s righteousness
than had been heard fo r years
The second com ing was at hand,
surely.
But for
some on
the
inside:
the
issu es were
not nearly so
clcaT Whilc
th e
avcrage
church
member
remained more or less
ublissfully
ignorant,
those marc
closely connected to the great
heart
of
the
work struggled
to
deal with mounting
problems.
The
Gene ra l Conf er en ce i ts el f
was
marred by
a
seeming ina
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From the time he had persuaded them
to adopt a vegetarian diet years before
Sutherland and Magan
had
looked up
to
r Kellogg; it was only too natural for
them to continue
to
do so
bility to find it s way through the
maze
o f c onf li ct in g
in
tcrests.
Then
again, perhaps
it
was
the
tendency to find it s
own
way,
and an
inability
to
find
God s
way that
was
th e
problem.
The
situation
reached undeniable
crisis
p ropo rtio ns when E llen
White
wrote
from
Australia:
Th e
sacred character
of this [General
Conference] Association is fast
disappearing.
What
will
then be
respected
as
pure,
holy,
and
un-
defiled? Will
there
be
any
voice
that
God s
people can regard as a
voice they
can
respect?
There
certainly
is
nothing
now
that
bears the divine credentials.
As things now exist
in
Battlc
Creek,
the work
of
God
cannot
be
car ri ed f orward on
a orrect
basis Who
can
now feci sure
that they arc
safe
in
respecting
the voice of the General Con-
ference
Association? If the
people
in OUf churches understood the
management
of
th e men
who
walk in the
light
of
the sparks of
their own
kindling,
would they
respect
theiT
decisions?
I
answer,
No ,
not for
a moment. I have
been shown
that
the
people at
large
do not know that the heart
of the work
is
being diseased and
corrupted at
Battle Creek. l
In
late
1900 she returned to
the
United States
to
find
reports
of
strange doings
in
lndiana, but
not till April of 1901 did she
directly
deal with the
Holy
Flesh teaching of Elders Davis
and
Donnel l. More
than a
year
before, she had been shown that
ju st such
fanaticism
wou ld come
into f camprneetings shortly
before th e
close
o f p ro ba ti on .
Fortunately
the
immediate
prob-
lem was
quickly
resolved
as
the
leaders
of
the
divergent
move-
ment
accep ted the counsel of
the
Spirit
of
Prophecy
and
renounced
the ir fau lty concept of
the
nature
of Christ
Other
challenges at the Gen-
eral
Conference of 1901 did
not
go away so quick ly . Though
it
was voted
on
April
12
to
move
Battle
Creek College out of Battle
Creek, when
it came
to accom-
plishing th e task, a lingering
sense
of
shock
remained to
hinder the work. Reorganization
seemed
a
settled
rna ttcr a
t the
conference
close,
but
cropped up
again two years later in
divisive
contention
over th e revising
(others said urcvcrs ing ) of
what
was
done in 1901
3
And through
it all was the widening spl it
be-
twecn the ministry and the large
corps o f medical
missionaries
controlled by
John
Kellogg.
In
May
of
1904 the
last
strong
effort was made
to
bring the
two
factions together in
harmony.
At
a sess ion
of
th e
Lake
Union Con-
ference, ten sion s reached the
snapping point , and never again
would there be such
an oppor-
tunity for reconciliation. Dr .
Kellogg s
depressing drift from
hi s former
brethren
continued
until
he
finally
lost his
church
membership in 1907
4
Was
it all
his fault? Perhaps
not; humanity is humanity still
on both sides of any di sagree -
ment, but another s failings are
poor
reasons for
the los s of
one s
own soul. What is
certain is that
many
influential
people
t ou t
he
was
right.
Loyalties
then,
as
now, too
often
went
to
the per-
son, and
to o
o ft en int er fe red
with
th e
task of finding
th e
truth.
Many
of
the
medical
and
educational
personnel of
th e
denomin t ion
sided
to
some
degree with
Kellogg in
h is t each -
ing of pantheism as well 3S in hi s
objecting to
what
he saw as
wronfs in denominational poli-
cies. One
of
th e overlooked
miracles of the
era is
the
simple
fact that so many
recovered
from
their
confusion
in this regard.
Among those
thus res to red t
valuable service for th e Lord
were
two
ardent
men-Edward
Alexander Sutherland
and
Perc
Tilden Magan. The
tw o
had
worked together for several year
at Wal la Wal la
College
befor
being
called
to
Battle
Creek
Col
lege
in
1897.
Their
immediat
desire
was
to move the school ou
of town, bu t
Ellen
White coun
seled
delay. In
1901 when sh
told them that the moment had
come,
it was
their determination
that
packed the college into
freight cars and moved it 90
miles
away
to Berrien Springs.
6
These
men
were
reformers
first and foremost,
and
as such
they felt
strong ties to the
on
who had made the challenge o
reform seem worthwhile.
From
the
time
he had persuaded them
to adopt
a vegetarian
diet year
before, Sutherland and
Magan
had looked up
to
Dr. Kellogg; i
was
only
too natural for them
t
continue to do so. Unfortunately
their support,
and
that of others
played a large
role in steeling
him in his
defiance
at the Lak
Union Confe rence. Only
la ter
did
the
two men shake free from hi
influence.
That p ivotal con ference
ses
sion
in May
of
1904
was mad
especially tense by the death o
Ida
Magan,
Percy s wife, on th
second day
of
meetings. He
health
had given way under th
strain of unjust crit icism. Afte
nearly a year s i l lness he
troubles
on
earth were over. No
so fo r her
husband. In t he hea t
o
anuary
98
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irm
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Brother Sutherland and Brother Magan
do not go out from this place as men
who have made a failure,
but
as men
who have made a success
th e debate-which centered on
Kellogg s
pantheism,
bu t
ineluded
a
host
of other
matters-he
and
Suthe rl and tende red thei r
resig-
nat ions f rom
the college,
saying
that they
could no longer work
with the Gener al Con fe rence
leadership.
They p lanned ins tead
to
disappear
into
the
South
where
they could operate
a
school on
their own without interfcrence.
7
EIIen Whi te s response to this
plan is an amazing
example
of
her wil lingness to work
with her
brethren. She
did
not ost ra ci ze
them,
as
she might easily have
done;
neither did
she
condone
their
rashness.
Just
hours
after
their
resigna-
tion she defended them publicly:
Hl n moving th e College
from
Bat tl e Crcek
and establishing
it
in
Ber ri cn Spr in gs , Brethren
Magan
and
Sutherland
have acted
in harmony with
the
light that
God gave. They hav e worked
un -
de r
great
difficulties.
But
who
has
appreciated the
work
that
has been done
in this
place? Many
have taken an at -
titude of opposition, and have
s poken words that have caus ed
sadness
After
th e [1903J General
Conference in Oakland, a report
was
circulated
that
Sister
White
had turned aga ins t Brother
Magan.
There was
not
a
word of
truth
in this statement. But hi s
poor wife, who had toiled and
sacr if ic ed and p ray ed
with
him,
was informed that Sister
White
had taken
a stand
against her
husband. Oh, why did
ever
any-
one say such
a thing?
Sister
White
never tu rn ed a ga in st
Brother
Magan or
Brother Sutherland.
But
Sister Magan
was
so weighted
down
with
sorrow
that
she
lost
her
reason.
I
ask,
Who in the day
of
judgment will
be
held responsible
fo r
putting
out the light of that
mind that
should
be shining
today?
She suf fe red for months, and
the husband
suffered
with
her.
And now the
poor
woman has
gone,
leaving
two moth er le ss
children.
All
t hi s because of
the
work
done by unsanc t i f icd
tongues
Brother Suther l and and
Brother Magan
do not
go ou t
from
this
place
as
men who have
made a f ai lu re , but as
men who
have
made a success. They have
taught the
students
from the
Bible,
according
to the light
given through th e Testimonies.
The studcnts
th at h av e
been with
them
need not
be
ashamed of the
education
they
have
received
To
the students]
would
say,
You
are
to
let your
teachers go
willingly. They have had
a
hard
battle here, but they have made
a
success
IIThey think they
can
better
glorify God by going
to
a
more
needy
field.
This
is their own
choice;
1
have not
persuaded
them. They did not know but
what Sister
White
would stand
in
their
way.
Whcn
they
laid
thc
matter before
me
this morning,
1
told
them I would
not
hinder
them
fo r
onc moment.
us
The two
educa tors
sorely
needed her public s upport and
encouragement,
but they
also
needed her rebuke. True
to
duty,
she supplied
it:
I have words
of
counsel
for
you.
There
must
be
harmony
be-
twecn
you
and the
men
in respon-
s ib le posi tions in th e General
Conference.
You
catch at straws
in mat te rs c on ce rn in g
Elder
Daniells
and E ld er
Prescott. Why?
Because thcy
have
not
harmo-
n ized with
you in
al l
your plans,
and
have
not
givcn
you t he c red i
t
that you
deserved. But when the
Lord
eorrccted
errors, and
spoke
encouraging
words concern ing
your
efforts,
why did
you not
thank Him, and show you r grati-
tude
by
manifesting
forgiveness,
and
showing an appreciat ion of
the
burdens
borne
by these
fellow
workers?
HYour
feelings
in
regard
to
Elder Daniells and Elder
Prescott
arc
not c or rec t.
you expect
them
to
harmonize
with you, you
must harmonize
with
them. The
Lord
has
dec la red tha t
He will
harmonize wit h E ld er Daniells
and Elder Prescott.
1
know
of
what
am speaking; for
these
things
hove
been
represented to
me
My
brethren, let us
now
do
ou r
best,
not to discovcr wrong
in
Elder Daniell s, but to help
him.
He has
shown
himself
to
be the
man
fo r
the
place.
At this timc
there
arc
needed men
who dare to
differ
with
those who
are coun-
terworking t he pla ns of the
Lord
fo r His peopl e. You have not
dis-
c ern ed th e
true condition of the
leaders
of
the
medical
missionary
work at
Ba ttle
Creek
[Dr.
Kellogg
and his sympathizers]. You have
not placed
a
correct estimate
upon
their
actions.
You have
en-
couraged
their
i deas and p lans
al-
together
too much. ,9
The firs t years of thc
new cen-
tury, so b righ t w ith promise, had
been hard
ones for Ed Sutherland
and Percy Magan.
In
the Spr ing
of 1904 they
were
ba ttered,
bruised, saddened-but
somewhat
wiser
than
before.
Experience
had
proved
a hard taskmaster,
bu t
they wou
Id need every bi
of
th e wisdom their
experience
ur
rm
oulldation
nu ry
1987
7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_01
11/32
This organization was different; unlike
any
that went before it it strove to be
both independent
from
and loyal to
the
denomination
would afford
as
the Lord
charted
a course
for
them into
completely
new an d
untested
waters.
On th e Rocks
With
this
thumbnail skctch
of
the intricacies
of
t he ir r ecen t
ex-
periences. it is easy to sec why
Sutherland
and
M agan w ould
want
to
relocate in a place of
seclusion. As
fa r as
Adventists
were
concerned,
the South had
an
abundance
of seclusion
to offer.
Despite twenty years of urging
from
Ellen White, relat ivcly l i tt lc
work
had
been begun
in
th e
region.
To
csta
blish themscl
ves j
n
3 retired location and begin their
work
in a
quiet , s imple manner
with
a
few
young s tuden t s
seemed the
prudent and des ir ab le
thing
for the two
men
to do.
Ellen White d id n ot agree.
Although
t hcse men
ha d
made
serious errors, she
had
no inclina-
tion to let them retire from
th e
fo re fr on t o f
th c
battle and
le t
their talents go
awasting.
The
church necded schools in thc
South-why
should t he se
mcn of
considerable experience
be
tied
to
only a
small
field
of
labor
when
by
teaching teachers their
in -
fluence might
extend many
times
as
far? And so
it was
that Ellcn
White
took considerable
pains
to
involve herself in the
in i t ia l
decision
making for
the
new
project.
In
early June
of 1904 Suther-
land
and
Magan decided
to
spend
some
time
in the Umounta inous
dist rict of East Tennessee
and
th e
Carolinas,
to select
a site
fo r
th e
proposed schoo l.
Magan
writes
that H upon rcaching
Nashville,
we were
invited
by SiSler
White
an d others to spend a s hor t time
with them
in considering
impor-
tan t interes ts
connected
with
the
development
of
the work center-
ing there.
l i lt was while we
were engaged
in
th e study
of
these quest ions
th at our
attention
was directed to
a large fa rm ncar Madison, about
nine
miles
from
Nashvi lle. Sister
White advised
us
to give careful
consideration
to the
favorable
features
of this
place,
which
made it a suitable locat ion for a
school
such
as we desired to
start. l0
Magan concedes that they
shrank f rom locating so ncar
to
Nashville.
They
had
planned
on
a
more remote
site.
Ellen
White
did
not
press
th e
point-not
yet.
Soon it was agreed
to
take a
trip up the Cumberland River on
board Edson Whi te's
missionary
river boat,
th e
orning Star The
goal,
aside from a l it tl e r el axa-
tion
from the
strain
of
recent
events, was to find a suitable
location for the establ ishment of
thc
proposed
school. Sister White
wrote, sha ll enjoy the t ri p, f or
I
have much to say
to
our
party-
especially to Brethren
Sutherland
an d Magan , upon
the
school
prob-
lem. This opportunity I
must
improve. u
As the trip progressed, Ellen
White b ecame more and
more de-
cided
that
an
isolated
location
fo r the
school
was not wise. She
stressed
th e desirability
of
th e
workers
at
the school
bcing
close
enough to Nashville
that
the
could, at times, unite th eir ef
for ts with those of
the workers i
th e
city.
Eventually
it became eviden
that the ehcap
land they
ha
heard of north
o f N ash vill
didn't
exist.
The } forlling
Sta
turned about
and began
th
return journey. More
and
marc
Sister
White
favored the purchas
of
th e
Ferguscn-Nelson place,
which
she had adv is ed them t
cons ider before. The
asking
pric
was just under 13,000,
an d
in
cluded a house , l ive sto ck, car
riages,
farming
implements, an
th e
crops in
th e
fields. Not
adver
tised, but very
evident, was
more than
adequate
supply o
deep
gulches, barren
hillsides
and
rocks.
As
Sister
Whi te became mor
direct in he r counsel, the
tw
men
faced an uncomfortable
situ
ation.
They did
l Iol
want to u
the place;
it
was altogether to
large, too expensive, and
involve
too
much
work. But the Spirit
o
P rophecy s ajd their plans
wer
too
narrow.
What would
they do?
When the meaning
of
it al
came crashing
down
upon them
they sat on 3 pile of rocks an
wept. They had
always
advocate
following
th e
Lord's
counseL
I
fact
they
had
bcen
critical o
others for no t doing so. How
cou ld they turn
back now?12
By
th c
Fall
of
th e
year,
newly formed organiza tion hel
sway
over the uM3dison School
more
properly
known as th
Nashv i l l e gricu l tu ra l
nd
Normal Insti tute. From th
beginning,
Ellen
White served a
a member
of
th e Board
of
Direc
tors. It is
wcll
that she did, for
despite
her presence-this
or
ganization
was
different
Unlik
an y that wen t b ef or e it , it strov
to
be
both independent from and
loyal
to
th e denomination.
It
wasn't an easy rolc. Ellen
White never said it would be. Bu
Sutherland
and
Magan
knew
from experience that the Lord
sometimes asks
hard
things
of Hi
children.
They
had
bccn
through
the
furnace of
misrepresentation
continued
on 29
J::lnU:lry
98
01 1
irm
Ollllda ion
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Keeping
the
Heart
Ellen G.
White
K P
THE heart with all
diligence;
fo r
out of
it
arc
the
issues
o f l if e. [Proverbs 4:23]
Diligent
heart-keeping is essen-
tial to
a
healthy
growth in
grace.
The heart in its natura l s ta te
is a
hab ita tion fo r
unholy thoughts
and
s n ul
passions.
When
brought into
subjection
to Christ,
it must
be
cleansed by the
Spirit
from all
defi lement . This
cannot
be done w it hou t the consent of
the individual.
When
the soul
has
been
cleansed, it is the duty
of
the
Christian
to keep
it u nde filed .
Many
seem
to
think
that the re-
ligion of Christ does not call fo r
the
abandonment
of
daily
sins,
the breaking
loose from habits
which have held the
soul in
bondage.
They
renounce
some
things eondemned
by the
con-
science, but they fail to
represent
Chr is t i n the daily life. They do
not
bring Christlikeness
into the
home.
They
do
not
show a
thoughtful
care in
their
ehoice of
words. Too often,
fretful,
im-
patient
words 3rc spoken,
words
which
stir
th e worst passions of
the human
heart.
Such oncs n eed
the
abiding
presence of Christ in
the soul.
Only
in His s trength can
they keep
guard over
the words
and act ions.
u
irm
oul dation
hnu3ry 1987
Pray
Without
Ceasing
In
the work of heart -keeping
we
must
be instant in prayer,
un-
wearied
in petitioning
the
throne
of
grace for assistancc.
Those
who take the
name
of Christian
should come to
God
in earnest-
ness and humility, pleading for
help.
The Saviour
has
told
us
to
pray without
ceasing.
The
Chris-
tian
cannot always be in
the
posi
tion of prayer, but his thoughts
and desires can
always be
up-
ward.
Our
self-confidence would
vanish did
we
talk
less and
pray
morc.
give
evidence
of the sin-
cer it y o f
our prayers
by t he ear-
nestness
o f our endeavor s to an-
swcr them. to overcome
the sins
which strivc
for
a place in
the
life. Our prayers
will
be ineffec-
tual
unless
we
continually
strive
to correct that
which
is wrong
and unlovely
in
ou r
lives.
we
ask
God
to
work fo r
us.
and
then
make
no
effort
to
conquer
self.
our p rayer s
will rise no
higher
than our heads.
God
helps those
who co-operate with
Him.
can
obtain
forgiveness only through
the blood
of Chri st . H is atoning
sacrifice
is all-powerful.
But
in
t he s tr uggl e for immor ta li ty
we
have
a
part
to
act. Christ
will
help those who pray
and
then
watch unto
prayer.
He calls upon
us
to
use
every power
He has
given
us in
the
warfare
against
sin. can never be s aved i n
in -
activity
and
idleness. might as
In the
struggle
for
immortality we
have
a
part to
act
well
look fo r
a
harvest f rom seed
which
we
have not sown. and for
knowledge whe re
we
have not
studied,
as
to expect salvation
without making an effort.
is
our
part
to
wrestle
against
the
evil
tendencies
of th e natural
heart.
Results
of
Disobedience
Certain
Contrast
man s physical, men
tal,
and
moral feebleness
with
Adam s ,perfection before he
t ransgressed God s
law. Among
the waving
trees of Paradise
the
holy
pair
stood
in their sinless
beauty
before God , and
the
privi-
lege
of
unrestrained
intercourse
with H im was the ir s. Adam
was a
noble being,
with
a
powerful
mind,
a
will
in harmony
with
the
will of God, and affections that
centered
upon
Heaven. He pos
sessed a
body
heir
to no
disease
and
a
soul
bearing the impress
of
Deity.
But
al l this rich inheri-
tance,
the
gift of his
Maker, d id
not save
him
from the result
of
disobedience.
God
did not spare Adam,
though his sin may
seem to us a
small
one.
Neither
will
He
spare
us
if we continue to disregard
His
requirements. He divorced
Is
rael
fr om Him because
her
people
walked not in
His
ways.
Never
was
a
people more
beloved. Never
had
a
nat ion greater evidence of
d iv ine favor .
Ye t
only two of the
adults who left Egypt entered the
Promised
Land.
Th e rest died
in
th e
wilderness,
having proved
unworthy to enter Canaan. Pride
and self- indulgence
were
their
ruin.
Their
history
has
been
traced
by
the
pen
of
Inspiration, thot by
t he ir exper ience
we may take
warning.
t
is written for
our
ad
monition,
upon
whom the
ends of
the world
are come. God will call
us
to
account
if
we
retain wrong
traits of character, refusing
to
call to
our aid the power of the
Word and in
the name of
Jesus
correct
ou r
faults
and subdue
the
passions of the natural
heart,
Many
enthrone Satan
in th e
heart, to
triumph
over Chr is t by
the i ndul ge nc e o f
evil
inclinn-
tions. Sin
reigns where Christ
s ho ul d r eig n.
Those
who
thus
continue to cherish sin can never
be saved as they are. Unless they
change,
they will never
enter
heaven
themselves,
and they
make very
difficult
the
path of
those
who are t rying to overcome.
Thei r faulty,
unconsecrated
lives
place them on
the side of
the
power of da.rkness while
they a rc
7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_01
13/32
pro fe ssed ly on the
side
of Christ.
Jesus makes them t he obj ec ts of
His tender solicitude
and unwear-
ied
labor, until, notwithstanding
al l His
efforts, they
become
fixed
in
sin. Then those
over
whom He
has wept and yearned
in love
and
compassion ar e left to pursue
their own course. The
Saviour
turns from them, saying
sadly.
They
are joined
to
their
i dols ; l et
them
alone.
God forbid
that
this
should be said of us.
E. ery Man That Hath This Hope
The sins of fre tfulness , impa-
tience love
of
the world are
grievous
in
God s
sight.
Some who
cheri sh these defects confess th:lt
Every
day mne
tenths
of
us
excuse
ourselves from this
work
they
arc
doing wrong;
but year
after year passes and
finds
them
still in bondage to these sins.
Each
year the same
acknowledg-
ment
is
made, but
no
change
ap-
pears in the life. They confess,
but they do not r epen t.
They
do
not
realize how grievous their
sins
arc
in th e sigh t of God. If
t hey were really one with Chris t,
if His Spirit were
dwelling in
them, they would sec the
sinful-
ness of sin. Not only would they
confess; but they would a lso
for-
sake
that
which God abhors.
Those who remain in trans-
gression, who
do
not strive
for
self-control,
arc
ignorant of God.
However
high
their
claims
of
god li ne ss , t he ir
spirituality
is
weak,
their faith
sma ll , the ir love
imperfect,
their hopes and
expe-
rience arc governed by circum-
s tances . But those who resolutely
try to
obtain the Yictory over
temptat ion,
who
promptly and
decisively resist the
attacks of
Satan, will become
rooted and
grounded in the
truth. Their
ex -
perience will
not be dwarfed and
sickly, bu t
will bear
rich
fruit to
th e glory of God.
HBeloved, now arc
we
the sons
of God, and it
doth
not
yet
ap -
pear what we shall be:
but
we
know that
when he shall appear,
we shall
be
like
him; fo r we
shall
sec
him
as he is
And every man
that hath this hope
in
him
purifi-
eth himself, even as
he
is
pure.
[I John 3:2 ]
This
is
our work. is
not
enough to profess to be a child of
God.
He
who
has in him this hope
will
purify
h imse lf f rom all de-
filement. But this
is
the
work
fr om which eve ry day nine tenths
of
us excuse ourselves. e seem
to
think that
it
does
not matter if
we get angry now and then, if we
cheat now and then, if
we
are
selfish and uncourteous.
Dear
young friends ,
le t
us not
spare ourselves .
Let
us
with
self-
renunciation l t
the
o
Christ, and
follow in
His foot-
steps. Let us begin in
earnest
the
work of
reformation.
Let us
cru
cify the
flesh.
Unholy habits
will
clamor
fiercely
for the victory,
bu t
in
the
name and through the
power of Jesus
we
may conquer
them. To him who seeks
daily
to
ke ep h is heart with all diligence,
to
be a
t ru e ch il d
of
God, th e
promise
is
sure,
uIn
all these
things we
are
more
than
conquer-
ors through
him
that loved us
Fo r I
am
persuaded t ha t nei ther
death,
nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities,
nor powers, nor
t hi ng s p re sent ,
no r things to
come,
nor
height,
nor
depth, nor
any o ther c reatu re, shall b e able
to separate us
from
the
love of
God,
which is
in
Christ Jesus
our
Lord.
[Romans 8:37 39]
Living the life
of
Him
who
went about doing good,
overcom-
in g self-IoYe
and every
other
species of selfishness, fulfi l l ing
bravely and ch ee rf ul ly our duty
to God
and
to those
around
us-
this makes
us
more than conquer-
ors
This prepares
us to
stand be-
fore the great white throne, frce
from
spot or wrinkle or any such
th in g, h av in g washed our robes
of
character and made them
white
in the
blood of the Lamb.
h
Youlh s Instructor March
5
1903
elange
ob
V
un Kallllon
Subject:
Psychotherapy
In
Science ews fo r
March 29
1986
on
page 202
an a rti cle o
psychotherapy npens
with
Ther
is
a
growing chorus of scientifi
criticism
tha t brands
psychother
apy rese arch as
inadequate
be
cause, unlike
behav ior therap
and
drug t reatments , the benef it
o f psychotherapy ha ve not bee
compared with
those of
inactive
placebo
treatments. In
othe
words, psychother py tre tment
h ve never een scientific ll
lesled for belleficial reslills
As any grammar school scienc
student should be able
to
tell
you
the modus operandi
of
science i
observation , hypothes is , experi
ment, theory_ That is , you observ
a
possible
cause
and
effect rela
tion,
formulate
a hypothesis, the
test
that
hypothesis
by
experi
ment, and,
if
al l goes
well,
you
have
a
theory. Wbat is
bein
reported
here
is
that psychother
a py ski pp ed
th e cr uc ia l th ir d
step: therefore
psychotherapy
must be c lassed as
wishful think
ing not science.
Further reason fo r doubt con
cerning
the e ffi cacy o f psycho
therapy is
given in
the same ar
t icle , where
it
is revealed that o
2400 patients
studied in
a
30-yea
research program,
15 per cen
reported
fecling markedly
bette
before
attending their first ther
apy
session.
seems clear to me
that
we
may be watching a downfall o
science exactly
analogous
to th
downfall of the Reforma tion
church. Heavy credence
is
given
to
man s
theories (Jung and
Freud withollt testing, just as th
church accepted man s theorie
w ith out testing them ag ainst th
Word
of
God.
Janu:ny 987 011 Firm Foulldation
7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_01
14/32
LEITERS TO THE EDITOR
g
-1 --
.'
:::?
-
I want to tell
you
that th e Oc-
tober
number
of
111
Firm
Foun
dation was splendid. I
g3ve
it
away
Sabbath, to another church
membe r, h op in g she will sub-
scribe
fo r
it . ]
e sp ec ia ll y ap-
precia ted
the article
by F.
D.
Nichol
in the November
number.
I t
is almost prophetic , considering
other things I
have read
about
our hospitals in the Review and
Herald
and
perhaps elsewhere.
How it must
grieve
OUf
loving
heavenly Father, to see all
of
us
failing
at
times, and so many
of
us just downright disobedient to
the instruction He has given us
Mary E. Strickland
Chesnee,
South Carolina
Publ ica t ion
is good.
Don' t
agree
with every
jotcrprctation-
bu t then if there were more open
disagreement among
us as
a
people
there
would be
more
study. more
prayer,
more agr ee -
ment, a people prepared
fo r
the
ou tpour ing o f
the latter rain.
S
E.
Payton
Lorna Linda, California
Someone
has
scnt
me
your
January
J986
issue of Our Firm
Foundation.
What a
blessing
I was
most deligh te d
to
se e Sister
White's art ic les covering
about a
fourth of this pub li ca ti on . I' ve
had a burden
that
we have not
held
up
s u f f i i e n t l y
th e l ight
which God ha s
given
us through
her in
OUf major
publications. 1t
is a
blessing that someone
is
fced-
ing us the truth we
thirst
fo r
an d
need to
revive
us
at
this time.
1t
brings a deeper impression
to the
mind
when
set
before us
in
refreshing
tones
in newsprint.
Barbara D. Meyers
Ann Arbor, Michigan
14 Ollr
Firm FOlllldatioll
January 1987
A few mon th s ago] pick ed up
tw o early
issues
of Our Firm
Foundalioll in
the l i terature
rack
here
Dt
Sunnydale.
J took
them
home
and
read them
an d
was
quite impressed w ith the
quality
of your
paper
and the lack of
c ri ti ci sm of t he l eade rs
which
so
many p ap er s c on ta in .
A
few
weeks ago ,
the
January
1986 issue
came
to my home
addressed
to me
personally. I have finally been
able to finish
r eading eve ry
ar -
tiele. As I progressed, I sa id of
each, Thjs is the
best
yet. . ]
don't know who sent it but I
real ly
appreciate
it .
I wish I
could
pay
fo r a year's
subscrip-
tion but a t p re sent I am unable
to
do so. I do appreciate the quality
of your ar ticles .
Mrs. Reuben
Erickson
Sturgeon,
\1issouri
We
701 e
been
sending Ollt
back
issues
as
samples
to people whose
names
alld
addresses
we recei l e.
/IfallY
hare
r ece iv ed the
January
issue o
Our Firm
Founda
tion
il/
the l ast
few
mOlllhs
by
this
means.
yOIl
halle
names
and addresses
o anyone
whom yOIl
would
like
10
r ecei ve a
sample
issue send
them
10 IS and
we
will
be
happy
to in-
c ll /de Ihem ill a
future mailillg
oj
back issues.
Another opt ion
is
10
give a
gift
slIbscription.
For those who wOllld
like
a per-
sOflal
subscriplion
but
CGll/lOt
af-
ford
it.
Ollr
policy
is Ihat
if
YOllr
finances canJlot meel Ihe requested
dOHalion
y l may just send
whalel er
yOIl
call.
We
walll one
to be
unable
to receil e Ihis
material
becallse 01 lack 01 IlIlIds. Olher
people
C011lribllLe to Subscription
Ass is tance f rom t ime
to
time
to
help cover the cost
oj
the magazine
for
those who CQnllot afford il.
Such
dOllations
are
ta x deductible
and great ly
appreciated. -EDITORS
Thank
you fo r
put t ing out
such a
great
magazine. can't tel
you how much of
a
blessing
it
h3s been
in this
home.
M:J ny
times God
answers
prayers and
questions
through an article in
your magazine.
Beverly
J. Ventura
South Wales, New York
I want the
Lord
to return so
vcry
much and r ea liz e
He
is
wait-
ing
fo r
His
people
to
ge t
rcndy;
and
some
think there
ar e
signs
ye t to be fulfilled;
then
He will
come. That may be
true but if I
unders tand cor rect ly , He is wait-
in g fo r His image
to be
perfectly
reproduced in
His
pcop(c
before
He will
return.
If eve r t he re was
a time
when His
people
should
open their
eyes,
I th in k jt is now.
I
am
thankful th:lt
there
are
fo lk s lik e
you
who
ar e
stepping
out
in faith
to get
things moving
in
th e
right
direction.
May
God
truly bless you r e ve ry effort and
may many p re cious
souls be saved
because someone was no t afraid
to cal l si n
by it s right name.
Grace Gangaway
Denver , Pennsylvania
We have enjoyed the tapes of
the 1986
campmeeting so
much.
We keep playing
them
over and
over and each t imc gc.t
more f rom
them.
May God
continue
to bless you
in your m i n i s t r y in
g i v i n g
present-day truths.
Oren and Ellen Downs
College Place, WaShington
Tapes Irom Ihe
1986
Campmeel-
illg
are
nolV t1I ailable from Hope
International. See ad
on
page
31.
-EDITORS
7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_01
15/32
oo r
Thought
I
HAD
A
view
of the
disastrous batt le at Manas-
sas, Virginia. t was a mOst exciting,
distressing
scene.
The Southern army
had everything
in their
fovor ond
were
prepored for a dreadful contest. The
Northern
:Hmy was
moving on with triumph, no t
doubting but
that
they would
be
victorious.
Mony
were reck le ss an d
marched forward boastingly, as
though viclory were
already
theirs.
As
they neared
the battlefield, many were almost fainting through
weariness and w ant
of
refreshment.
They
di d not ex-
peel
so fierce an encounter.
They
rushed
into
battle
ond fought brave ly , despera te ly . The deod and dyi ng
were
on
every side. Both the North and th e South
suffered severely. The Sou thern men felt the
battle,
and in
a
little while wou ld have been
driven
back
still f ur th er . The Nor th er n men were rushing on , a l-
though
their
destruction
was vcry
great.
Just
th en an
ongel
descended an d waved
his hond bockword. In-
stantly
there
was confusion in t he r anks . t appeared
to the Northern men that their
troops
were retreat
M
iog, when it was not so in reality,
an d
a
precipitate
retrcat
commenced.
This seemed wonderful to mc.
HThcn
it wns explained thnt God had this na t
jon
in His own hand,
an d would
not suffer
vicrories
to
be gained fns te r t han He ordained,
an d would
permit
no more losscs to the
Northern
men than in His wis-
dom
He
saw fit, to punish them fo
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