Here’s a PDF Yearly Bible/COTA Reading Plan to read through all of the Bible and the five books of the Conflict of the Ages Series to act as a Bible commentary help.

Feel free to distribute!

Two patriarchs were rich with crops and livestock galore.

Two patriarchs lived in the same region and in the same period of earth’s history.

Two patriarchs had deep, profound relationships with the Divine and heard His very voice.

Yet one was the father of many, who eventually became alone.  Another was a father of one, who would eventually become many.  One had a whole book ascribed to him.  The other was mentioned relatively shortly, but his descendants become the main characters of the Bible.  One was called perfect and made an example in front of the universe.  The other was called a friend of God and made a blessing before all the nations.

But in the end, both were asked to sacrifice and suffer.

Job

Job was a man that feared God, perfect, upright, and eschewed evil.  Yet when his children, household, goods, and health were taken away, he grieves and mourns for two chapters, seeking death.  His three friends come to argue incorrectly that Job had done something wrong, making false metaphysical and ethical statements about good and evil.  After rebuking each friend in a cycle of three debates, God finally spoke to him.

Between chapters 38 and 39, God conclusively proved that man could not understand everything and sought obedience from humanity.  There is no personal advantage in obedience.  There is no understandable rationale in obedience.  Reason and rationale have limitations.  Obedience does not.

Abraham

Abraham was a man that also feared God and called the friend of God.  He was to be the father of God’s people, protecting and guarding of the sacred law.  To him were promised more descendants that the night stars and the sands of the sea.  But in chapter 22 of Genesis, God also asked to take his child away.

Though one child, the wages were more circumstantial than the situation of Job.  Though Job had seven sons, three daughters, 7000 sheep, 300 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, and a large staff, more promises were encapsulated in the person of Isaac.  Isaac was the child of promise, the child of impossibilities, the progenitor of a people numbering more than the night stars and sands of the sea.  This child was birthed from his parents’ laughter, prematurely caused the birth of a rival nation, and the object of anxiety and hope for more than 20 tired and elderly years.

Taking the life of this child should have caused more mourning than Job’s loss.  This was an action that was highly un-understandable.  Abraham should have been asking questions, grieving, mourning, seeking death, escape, alternatives, and answers.

Silence

Yet what is so disturbing about chapter 22 is that there is no indication of these signs.  Whereas Job has more than thirty chapters devoted to complaining and discussion, there is not even one verse attributed for this avenue.  Rather, we see a methodical step-by-step journey to the top of Moriah, only to worship.  We hear a silent hike up the mountain.  We only smell the fire burning on top of the altar.  We do not see any rationalization, cursing God, hint of bitterness, seeking of alternatives, discussions, questionings of misunderstanding.  We see obedience.  This unrational (not irrational) obedience is so disturbing that the violence of a son’s murder by his father does not phase us.  Maybe Abraham knew something about faith that Job did not.

You see, Christians do not sacrifice and suffer.  We serve a Lord that owns all and does not know material loss.  Christians do not sacrifice and suffer; Christians merely obey.  We may either mourn for 30+ chapters or walk silently up a mountain, but the outcome is the same.  Obedience never needs to be understood, just done.  The world calls this foolishness, but there is no personal advantage in obedience.  Even though we may not understand ourselves, we must keep walking and say, “I will follow thee, my Savior.”  This is what Jesus did every hour of His life.

You see, there is a secret that every Christ-follower knows:  Christ Himself.  And when you know Him, you’ll love Him.  And when you love Him, you don’t think about obeying Him…you just do.

Original Post:  http://www.englishcompass.org/articles/the_secret_of_silence/

(A favorite poem of Audrey Hepburn)

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone…

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed…

Never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands.
One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
because that is the doorway to her heart,
the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives,
the passion that she shows,
and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

A church split usually involves two (or sometimes more) groups emerging from one congregation.  Politicization occurs when each one of the groups has a vested interest at the expense of the other.  Sometimes this occurs out of cultural miscommunication within one generation; at other times, this occurs trans-generationally.  Other variants include socio-economic differences, geographic convenience issues, financial accountability dilemmas, and a myriad of hybrid breakouts.  Occasionally, loud shouting matches, mild violence, passive aggression, and/or walkouts can occur.

Now while I have been fortunate to have never witnessed one of these incidents in any of the churches I was attending, I have observed neighboring churches that split or have been part of a church that hosted the exodus of a nearby congregation.  While the adult congregation often resolves and seeks different forms of restitution, the collateral damage is primarily seen in the younger generations.  Spirituality is injured and bitterness, cynicism, and suspicion arise.  Once congenial youth fellowships become torn into half, often forcing children to choose friends based on “which side their family is on.”  While the adults learn to shrug off the “necessary nuisances” and continue with worship, witnessing, and fellowship, the youth are left in a daze without an explanation of their eroded religious world and community.

Combine these incidents with the natural sarcasm that materializes during adolescence, and one can produce a potent arrangement for misguided thinking and poisoned souls that potentially could have repercussions in their eternal destiny.  Some resort to some satirical theology (“well, we’re all sinners, right?  I guess we’ll just keep splitting churches until Jesus comes”).  Others might blame the Adventist denomination as being too myopic, strict, fundamentalist in interpretation, small, or provincial.  But the most common explanation is that church splits occur because of our Koreanness.

Blame it on the adrenaline effect of the Kimchee-laden capsaicin, the dramaholics addicted to watching all the emotional 23,098-part series (in one weekend), or the military training that all of our fathers have been brainwashed with (and their incessant stories).  When talking with our Presbyterian and Methodist brothers and sisters, we find that church splitting is insanely common in Korean congregations.  So this transcends Adventist congregations.

But take this one step further and you’ll find commonalities in Chinese and Japanese Protestant congregations.  The only reason one doesn’t hear more about them in America is because Japanese Protestants (let alone Christians) are quite rare and Christianity hasn’t taken root in the political atmosphere of mainland China yet.  So this transcends Korean congregations.

Take it one step further and you’ll find the same pattern in Romanian, Indian, Hispanic, Caribbean, and continental African churches.  This phenomenon is not an Asian problem, but a minority issue.  Being in a culture where you are not the majority lends itself to some sociological wonders.  So this transcends Asian congregations.

Extend the parameters throughout history and one will find that this is not just limited to minorities.  In American history, when the European nations immigrated to the United States, one witnessed numerous church splits, regardless of language, culture, or denomination.  So these church splits transcend minority congregations.

If the phenomenon were just limited to minorities, Asians, Koreans, or Adventists, then one would find the same activity happening back in the “mother lands” or throughout Adventism.  One does not.  But one does see them throughout immigrant congregations, even outside Christianity.  What is it about immigrants that result in these conflicts?  And what is the connection between the immigrant experience and the second-generation Korean-American Seventh-day Adventist living in North America?  This discussion and their corollary issues will be in part two.

While some stories were familiar, there were plenty that were not.  Pending on your denominational background, some may be more recognizable that others.  The temptation was to keep reading, only to face the annoyance that the account is only a page long.  The easy English was a first a nuisance, but eventually it retained a practical attribute, good for family worships, sermon illustrations, or other religious anecdotes.  The book is convenient, well put-together, and recommended for busy armchair church historians.

What was particularly valuable was the creative brain-storms that spin off while reading it.  It is amazing how truly, there is nothing new under the sun.  Historical problems of the Christian church administration are the same problems of today.  The issues within a variety of denominations then are the same issues today.  And the Biblical virtues, Christian values, and the resolute commitment to morality and truth that inspired then, still inspires the same human heart today.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

O when shall they be heard?
Two men crying,
With calls so eloquent,
Cutting consciences deep
With images of sigh and salience,
Resonating with fullest of alacrity.

O what shall they hearken?
One voice full of brisk and years,
Brimming with sapience and blood,
Accounts of death absent of life,
With blood blotted not backward,
Binding life within belief of a death.

O have their hearts already hardened,
To the voice of youthful vigor,
In complement to his elder,
Decreeing virtue and victory,
In envy of none other than
Verisimilitude itself?

O what shall they hearken?
Though humanity’s cure they proclaim,
Two cease not to concede,
Continuing to convert and persevere,
By crowish night or crystal day,
Until the coming of their elder cousin.

O when shall they be heard?
Belated will it have been
When joined by other bound brothers:
Books of vestige, books ab aeterno
By life, by remembrance, and by death
For final arbitration to them is brought.

O when shall they be heeded?
For he the elder shall take seat,
And the junior halt his homage,
Only to witness the regenesis
Of siblings myriads uncountable,
For then shall they themselves hear and heed.

One has to create a new system, or program a new OS if you will, if you start with the premise that death can exist before sin.  Death becomes a means of life, creativity, progress, advancement, hope, and optimism.  It then has to have no bearing on morality, theology, ethics, or anything related to salvation.  This OS creates a background where mutations are hoped for (whether theistically evolved or by chance is another issue) and the hope for bettering life.  It is the harshness of failure that cancels out anything otherwise.  It is the breakdown of the genetic transcription or replication process that gives life its next step to perfection, albeit weeding out the other astronomical number of errors that are imperfect.  If death existed before sin, then one cannot make judgments on the process of death, the means of death, the experience of death, or anything remotely related to death.  One has to ask the question, if one cannot address death, then how can one even address life?  Take this to the larger perspective and one is forced to be mute in the fields of ethics, morality, liberty, politics, ontology, theological anthropology, any social science, and any biological life science.  Furthermore, the denial of user access to religion and theology are obvious.  If anything, academia shifts on focusing on how one should reach death faster and quicker; if not, discover methods to induce mutations and using intelligent processes of eliminating inferior humans for the larger survival of the human race.  Alas, doesn’t this electrifying version inspire the human drive for hope and salvation?  The sad reality is the twentieth century already gave multiple examples of this perversion.

An OS that determines that sin came before death would have to conclude that there are ethical and theological realities that have affected our human condition of life.  This would have biological, psychological, as well as existential and ontological repercussions that would not only give an appropriate and accurate explanation of the world and its follies, but our personal shortcomings as well as that one guy we can’t stand too.  Life would be the stable factor and sin the contingent repercussion.  Hence, isn’t it the doctrine of sin that needs no theological evidence for?  More thoughts on this later.

The geology, astronomy, cosmology, and physics of it all will need to work themselves out, as they once did when the first batch of intelligentsia were bona fide Christian theists.  But before we even enter that arena, shouldn’t we decide now, before-thinking these things through, that we need an appropriate OS to platform these thoughts to begin with?

Which came first:  sin or death?  You choose and divvy out the ramifications:  proper functionality and resonance with reality or self-destruction and delusional aberrance.

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death…

1 Corinthians 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

James 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

1 John 5:17  All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

No one wants to be that sole loner who looks around in anxiety and über-lostness. They look like broken GPS screens clawing for a signal. Other signs include nervous laughing, nursing a drink, or the proto-classic “huh?” look. This anti-spotlight can be a merciless source of “disconnect.” In order words, everyone wants to know the inside joke.

In order to appreciate the culinary delicacy of an inside joke, one needs context. One needs to be have been an active participant in a pre-contextual scenario. Secondly, there needs to have been a moment where this context was understood in its comic-dramatic glory. And thirdly, there needs to be a future encounter where one can exercise this understanding, either in the exercise of its re-storytelling or in a responsive emotional fit of hilarity.

This is the function of any social scenario. This is also the function of any Bible study. The biblical authors were scribbling letters to localized groups in precise times in history, namely around two thousand years before now (give or take a few days). These e-mails then became viral forwards and then posted and compiled as one of the greatest expositions of this whole Gospelizationology thing. The compilation was so potent that in a matter of time, the world’s greatest imperial systems of politics, economics, military, and society (and perhaps Apple someday) collapsed to it!

While any reader especially in our day of wi-fi, Twitter blogs, and 156,000,000 Google results in 0.10 seconds would rather have a micro-summarized, lite version, anyone seeking really to “get” an inside joke (or the fullest experience from Bible study – really connecting with the text) is to sit back, click the “video on full-screen,” watch it in high-definition Blu-Ray, and really try to understand a particular biblical book or letter by studying the context, for this topic is no inside joke, but your eternal status of salvation!

Before its economic success of the latter half of the twentieth century, the South Korean GDP was the equivalent of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ravaged by war, colonial conquest of the Russians, Chinese, Japanese, and Americans, the country was left to riots, assassinations, dictators, and robber baron economics.

Through reform and implementation of a certain “can-do” spirit, today South Korea has become the only nation in the world to increase 200% in its economy. It is currently the 4th largest economy in Asia and the 13th in the world. Life expectancy is higher than the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, while the average Korean has more financial opportunities than the French, Italians, and other Europeans.

As evidenced by Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, the mathematical ability of Koreans, second only to Japan, stems not from a genetic predisposition, but discipline and perseverance; in other words, the spirit of diligence. In the realm of scientific literacy, they are first in the world, resulting in being the most wired, most economically intelligent, most technologically cutting-edge, and with the most number of patents of technology (more than United States, Germany, and France combined).

South Korea is the world’s largest shipbuilder and has exported more goods than all of Central Asia and South American put together. The four top Korean companies make more than Apple, BMW, Coca-cola, Google, Intel, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nike, Sony, Starbucks, and Disney put together (LG itself is three times larger than Apple).

Korean Christianity

This same boom in the Korean economy is found also in realm of religion.

As of 2008, South Korea has become the country where the second most number of Christian missionaries are deployed throughout the world. Though it is second to the United States, it is closing the gap quickly. Just a couple years ago, South Korea was third, catching up to the United Kingdom. But now, there are 16,616 Korean full-time missionaries in 173 countries.

By 2030, missions strategists hope to dispatch a total of 100,000 missionaries.

It seems this burst of missionary activity stems from the same “can do” spirit found in South Koreans. The largest church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel church in Seoul, Korea with about 830,000 members. The senior pastor has 171 associate pastors and 356 lay pastors. Though they speak in tongues and have shamanistic elements in a Pentecostal framework, the church was started by 20 families years ago who practiced and implemented this certain spirit of not-giving up.

On a wider perspective, Korean Christianity is on the cutting edge of politics, entertainment, the arts, and educational systems. Church organizations are on the front-lines to provide repatriation for North Korean refugees. Talks are in the works for reunification with Korean Christianity providing private funding and resources. Intricate food networks have been created to allocate and distribute the donations given by the South to the North.

Currently pastors and administrators have been stragetizing for the evangelization of North Korea in multi-staged campaigns, planning for construction resources for intrastructure design and repair, the organization of districts and territories for ministry/evangelism, and even renting out large amount of storage space near the border for miscellaneous goods. The second the borders are released, personnel and plans have been pre-established so that every individual already knows what, how, when, and where to accomplish their duties.

Hebrews 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.