Pastors' Blog

Malcolm Gladwell, the celebrated young (at the time) writer whose first book, The Tipping Point, was a tour de force across the land, pushed his theory hard and well: social change behaves like an epidemic. “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do” (7). Think geometric progression—1 doubles to 2, 2 doubles to 4, 4 doubles to 8, and so on. “We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that sometimes big changes follow from small events, and that sometimes these changes can happen very quickly” (11).

I am very concerned we may be rapidly escalating to one such tipping point. The stunning sequence now of innocent strangers being gunned down by jittery homeowners—a black young teen mistakenly shot on a doorstep in Kansas City, a white young coed in a driveway mistakenly killed in upstate New York—tragic as these two incidents within the week are, I wonder at what point does proliferation of gun violence snowball into copy-cat, virus-like multiplication . . . until it reaches epidemic proportions?

Add to these two stories the recent string of mass killings within days of each other across the country. The backlash from a public that eventually refuses to stomach this heartbreaking cycle of gun violence could be swift and severe. And it wouldn’t take politicians long to do the political calculus and join them—no matter which side of the 2nd Amendment debate they may be on.

My humble point is that America is fast becoming a tipping point on a myriad of seemingly disparate and disconnected points. But connect the dots (as somebody will) and sound a rallying cry (as they do)—it isn’t rocket science (or even political science) to foresee draconian measures—swift and liberty-crushing—instituted as a reaction.

Through the years my Fourth Watch blog (the Roman fourth watch being the darkest part of the night before daybreak) has tracked public trends and paradigm-shifting events for those who call themselves “Adventists.” Jesus’ unvarnished command to disciples living in a period of immense upheaval is stark: “‘Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen’” (Luke 21:36).

“We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that sometimes big changes follow from small events, and that sometimes these changes can happen very quickly”—Malcolm Gladwell’s counsel almost seems prescient, doesn’t it?

The trick about geometric progression is that it always appears to go slowly. But give it enough time, the killer virus will explode into an epidemic humanity is ill-prepared to meet. (We barely survived the pandemic, after all.) So watch and pray. I’ll be doing so all the more after our last Sabbath together, May 20, comes and goes. And I will find a way to connect you with a new website and podcast that will enable my personal (unretiring) mission to continue. In the meantime, watch and pray.

Because as you and I well know—the best is yet to come. With Jesus.

Imagine the police in our small village/township parking their flashing-lighted squad cars at every main entry point to Berrien Springs, stopping all traffic, and only allowing residents to proceed into our village limits. Hard to believe? Yet that’s what transpired earlier this week in the small town of Wilmore, Kentucky (population 6,461). All because in that small town is a small Christian university called Asbury, on whose campus a revival broke out at the end of the Wednesday morning chapel two weeks ago right now—a revival of worship and praise, confessions and repentances, singing and praying, with the name of Jesus on the lips of nearly everyone coming and going in that packed auditorium—a non-stop student-led revival that is still continuing around the clock to this very moment.

The Christian world and much of this non-Christian nation have now heard of the Asbury University revival, thanks to the headlines of major news outlets. Twenty thousand visitors showed up this last Sunday, leading to the town’s decision to bar any further outside traffic, so congested has the town become over flocking visitors (from all points on the compass) who want to experience or at least witness this much-heralded revival.

And here we are a few hundred miles to the north, another small Christian university in another small town. What if we’re next on the Holy Spirit’s timetable?

“Oh, but we’re praying for a genuine revival at Andrews!” Who would dare suggest that the #AsburyRevival is anything less than the real deal? Jesus Himself was confronted with that challenge, when the Pharisees sallied up to Him on that Palm Sunday donkey ride through the jumping, whooping, and hollering, hosannaing praise-raisers who lined the palm-branch strewn road down Olivet and toward the Holy City: “‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you,’ He replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out’” (Luke 19:39-40). And when some of the youth of that crowds apparently went overboard the very next morning when Jesus entered the temple, and the same grumpy clerics accosted Him over all this ruckus, Jesus’ terse reply is worth remembering: “‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants You, Lord, have called forth your praise”?’” (Matthew 20:16). Apparently exuberant praise and loud exclamations of worship from the young are not antithetical to our Lord’s definition of revival, now are they?

A couple of Mondays ago I had five undergrad college students sitting in my office, earnestly appealing to me: “We are greatly concerned with the declining spiritual condition of the students at Andrews University.” That's the opening line of a three-page paper these young Adventist students articulately crafted and shared with me. An unfair charge? I don’t think so. Oh yes, there are many young disciples of Jesus who are unabashed in their public and private loyalty to Him on this campus. But over the recent months, I have sensed a deepening chasm between the sold-out-for-Jesus students and those who seem (at least to outward appearances) to be overtly detached from spiritual life on this campus. (The next time you attend chapel, note the decorum in the back half of the sanctuary—or drop by any spiritual gathering and wonder where the students are.)  

Shall we despair? Not at all! But we cannot sit by and assume a Christian Adventist campus is immune to bold, frontal efforts by the enemy of our souls to turn this safe haven for Jesus into a battleground for Satan’s dark offensive strategy, a deadly modus operandi crafted to snare an entire generation into his camp. Rather than wringing our hands or complaining to each other, we must unitedly join forces in what Timothy Keller calls “extraordinary prayer.” In a February 5, 2023, piece he wrote for Atlantic magazine, “American Christianity Is Due for a Revival,” Keller notes: “All religions promote and call for prayer. But historically, during times of fast growth and renewal, Christian movements have been marked by an extraordinary amount of communal prayer. . . . Unions of believers for prayer—both large and small gatherings—have an empowering effect. The renewed growth of the Church in the U.S. will not happen without it” (www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/christianity-secularization-america-renewal-modernity/672948/). 

Then is there no such thing as a “counterfeit revival?” Of course, counterfeits exist—but their very existence is proof enough of God’s abiding promise of the genuine Holy Spirit gift. My suggestion is simply that we refrain from attempting what only Almighty God can do—read the hearts of His children—and concentrate instead on what Almighty God can do on our own campuses if we will but call upon Him. “Ask the LORD for rain, in the time of the latter rain. . . . He will give [us] showers of rain . . . for everyone” (Zechariah 10:1 NKJV). God knows it surely is time for the “latter rain” outpouring of the Spirit of Christ upon us all! Look at the world we now inhabit, look at our own nation, look at our own church. No, it is truly the season of the “latter rain.”

So I hope you will join fellow believers across America tomorrow on the 200th anniversary of the Collegiate Day of Prayer (begun February 1823). Go to the website—collegiatedayofprayer.org—and click on “Adopt a Campus” and (1) note that all 4,196 college campuses in this nation have been adopted for prayer this year, and (2) enter “Andrews University” and add your name to the growing list of people who will be praying for our campus tomorrow. 

It is the time at Andrews for this “extraordinary amount of communal prayer.” Keller is right—a revival will come to us in no other manner than through such earnest collective praying. Ellen White is also right: “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. . . . [For] there is nothing Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation” (1SM 121, 124).

So pray for revival—because the best is yet to come. Amen.

Word has come that Andrea Luxton, President of Andrews University, is setting aside Wednesday, January 18, as a Day of Prayer for all three campuses (university, academy and elementary school). And certainly, Pioneer as the campus congregation will join in this collective calling on God.

The times could hardly be more needy of such intercession. Education across this nation still reels from the pandemic’s direct hit on the schools of America, and this campus’s schools are no exception. The inflationary ravaging our economy now experiences only exacerbates the financial challenge every institution now faces—from public education to national health care to church entities alike. Add to this the social-cultural-political-moral divide and decay that fester beneath the American surface—there is much reason for our faith community to band together in seeking the mind and heart of God through corporate and personal prayer.

“‘Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me’” (Psalm 50:15). Throughout sacred history, the faith community of God’s people has gathered in times of deep need to claim this divine promise. When Judah was faced with the impending threat of “a vast army” marching toward them, King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a nation-wide day of fasting and prayer, in which “all the [people] of Judah, with their [spouses] and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD” in an earnest appeal for deliverance (2 Chronicles 20:13).

In the midst of that prayer season, an obscure worshiper leaped to his feet and pronounced: “’Stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you—do not be afraid, do not be discouraged’” (v 17). And early the next morning sacred history chronicles the supernatural intervention God brought to this praying and desperate nation.

The Lord God of Israel is our God, too. And we can trust that He will not only hear the fervent prayers of our campuses, He will also intervene in ways that will bear His fingerprints.

So let us band together this coming Wednesday, January 18, for a day of prayer. Shall we fast as well? Judah did. The infant church of Acts did (see chapter 13). But fasting must be a personal decision, whether from food or from other normal activities. One reality is sure—God will honor our earnest offering to Him of our time and energy for praying next Wednesday. (Be watching here for further details regarding a campus prayer gathering in our sanctuary that evening.)

“‘Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:10-11). And a mighty fortress is He indeed!

Have you been following the Percy Pig row across the pond in the United Kingdom? The Marks and Spencer department store chain has been offering Percy Pig “sweets” (candy) for Christmas. But buyers aren’t happy! Here’s the headline: “Marks and Spencer's shoppers are disappointed with a new Christmas Percy Pig item, claiming £1.75 [$2.10] for the product is a ‘rip off.’ Shoppers took to social media to share their shock when opening up the box of sweets” (www.mylondon.news/whats-on/food-drink-news/ms-shoppers-feel-ripped-off-25362240?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target).

Inside the Percy Pig cardboard box of this popular jelly candy is a small palm size cellophane bag with (according to the photo posted in the My London news site) seven small heart-shaped candies. But the shoppers were obviously expecting more sweets than that, and clearly weren’t happy! The site My London commented: “To be fair to Mark's and Spencer, it does say a small bag and it does say 20g on the back of the box. It is still, however, a terrible deal” (ibid).

So we, too, are finding out on this side of the Atlantic. According to the goverment’s Bureau of Labor Statistics the latest Consumer Price Index (for the month of October) shows an overall (not seasonally adjusted) 7.7% increase over the previous year. But where we feel it the most is the increase in food prices (+10.9%) and energy (+17.6%). 

But a more subtle indicator of price hikes is what they’re calling “shrinkflation”—where the product size or quantity has been reduced but is still sold at the same price as before reduction. Even our venerated vegemeat Big Franks has dropped from eight sausages per can to six sausages (according to the food shopper analyst I live with). Now, there’s a crisis in the making!

But Percy Pig and Big Franks notwithstanding, there has been no reduction in the quality and quantity of the largess and blessings you and I have enjoyed from God: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).  No wonder David could exclaim: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” (Psalm 103:1-2).

In this glorious season when we remember God gave us His very best Gift of all, may our hearts be generous back to Him. Thank you for the faithful generosity you demonstrate in your support of our Pioneer Family offerings. And thank you for adding the new elevator (Renovate 2.0) to your tithe envelope giving. Our children bless you, our senior members bless you, but most of all God blesses you and me. No wonder we love Him back.