Bryan in AIIAS

Miguel Angel Cerna in his book The Power of Small Groups in the Church  used this powerful contrast to show the differences between a LIVE church and a DEAD one. In page 39 he writes: 1. Live churches always have parking problems --Dead ones never do 2. Live churches are constantly changing methodology --Dead ones don't have to 3. Live churches have lots of noisy youth --Dead ones are very quiet 4. Live churches have expenses that exceed their income --Dead ones are so unchanging that everybody knows everyone's name 5. Live churches support missions enthusiastically --Dead ones keep all their money at home 6. Live churches focus on people --Dead ones focus on problems 7. Live churches are filled with tithers --Dead ones are filled with tippers 8. Live churches move out in faith --Dead ones operate totally by sight 9. Live churches evangelize! --Dead ones fossilize! I wonder which category your church is in, LIVE or DEAD?

The Taskers as Mr&Mrs Santa During the last two days, two families left AIIAS. The first family was our neighbor, Dr. Lim Bong and the second one is our Seminary Dean, Drs. David and Carol Tasker. It is always sad to part with friends. But this is life in AIIAS. People come, people go. The Taskers are on their way to for a new post in South Pacific Division in Australia as the Field Secretary for the Division, while The Lims are back to Korean Union Conference since he's finished with his studies. Well goodbyes are not forever! But they will surely be missed.

Pendeta, bagaimana pentingkah nama seseorang di dalam Alkitab? Bolehkan Pendeta berikan daftar nama-nama yang dimulai dengan huruf Z di dalam Alkitab? Selamat berjumpa kembali di ruang tanya jawab. Pertanyaan kali ini merupakan pertanyaan yang bersifat “trivial” tetapi juga penting. Bagian pertama akan kami jawab dengan melihat beberapa tanggapan mengenai pentingnya genealogy atau daftar silsilah keturunan di dalam Alkitab. Kemudian pertanyaan kedua akan kami jawab dengan member daftar nama yang kami ambil dari buku  All the Men of the Bible , karya Herbert Lockyer, D.D., D.Litt. Banyak pembaca Alkitab jika tiba di bagian-bagian yang mencatat daftar silsilah menganggap itu sebagai bagian Alkitab yang tidak penting, dan bertanya-tanya mengapa para penulis Alkitab mengikutsertakan itu sebagai bagian dari wahyu ilahi. Sekilas, tampaknya tidak ada titik atau keuntungan dalam pencacahan nama-nama orang yang telah meninggal ribuan tahun yang lalu. Namun, karena Alkitab adalah Fi...

Tidak peduli jika anda seorang hakim, seorang istri, atau orangtua yang sangat berperhatian, berbohong adalah salah satu hal yang paling umum dilakukan oleh seorang individu di dalam masyarakat. Berbohong tidak hanya terjadi dalam keluarga, tetapi antara pemerintah, bisnis untuk pelanggan, dan lain-lain. Menurut seorang psikolog dari University of Massachusetts, Robert Feldman bahwa dusta “berhubungan dengan harga-diri. Kita mendapati bahwa ketika seseorang merasa harga diri mereka terancam, mereka langsung mulai berdusta di tingkatan dusta yang lebih tinggi lagi.” [ 1 ] Karena itu, Robin Lloyd katakan “Tidak semua kebohongan berbahaya. Bahkan, kadang-kadang berbohong adalah pendekatan yang terbaik untuk melindungi diri kita dan orang lain dari kejahatan, beberapa peneliti mengatakan.” [2] Leonard Saxe, Ph.D., seorang ahli poligraf dan professor psikologi di Brandeis University, mengatakan, "Berbohong sejak dahulu telah merupakan bagian dari kehidupan sehari-hari. Kita tidak bisa...

I have spent quite a number of hours figuring out how to tweak the template of this blog. Finally, I am satisfied. My taste would be quite different from everyone else, but I hope this design will stay for a while. Thanks to ourblogtemplates.com.

Last night I was reading through the blog and comments of Cindy Tutsch at Adventist Today , in particular her blog about Emerging Church entitled "DANGERS OF EMERGING/EMERGENT TRENDS TO THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MOVEMENT AND MISSION" She started with sweeping generalization that Emergents do not have a solid Biblical foundation for their faith, because worship is all about how they experience it. She says: For Emergents, experience and subjective revelation trump Scripture. Absolute truth does not exist; all truth is relative to each person's experience. Thus, no moral judgments can be made about evil. Where there is no evil, there can be no call to repentance and no freedom from guilt through the blood of Jesus because there is no sin. Furthermore, she says "emergent worship is highly individualistic in the sense of placing greater value on one's personal story and personal interpretations than on worshiping God through the biblical model of repentance....

John Mathews, CSPG, CSP Planned Giving & Trust Services Director, Southwestern Union Conference of Seventy-day Adventists Another article taken from GC Stewardship Department In the US only 9 percent of born-again adults report they give 10 percent of their income to charity.1 Is stewardship skating on thin ice in our postmodern culture? Does it really make a difference anymore? The following facts provide a startling glimpse of the economic landscape of postmodern America. The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world.2 If you earn $1,500.00 per year, you earn more than 75% of the world’s population.3 Americans save very little. The savings rate of most Americans is negative, and for those who do save, it’s a little over four percent.4 There were over one million bankruptcy filings in 2008.5 Stress has a negative influence on the personal and professional lives of half of all Americans.6 The number one reason for divorce is money or the handling of it.7...

A good article taken from GC Stewardship Dept Website . Vol-12 No 1 Empowering Servant Leadership Ray S. Anderson, PhD Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry Fuller Theological Seminary Summary: In this article we learn that God’s servant leader does not stand between the people and God, but stands with the people as the faithful steward, to provide discipline and correction, and to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. When we received a call to Christian ministry most of us thought that in becoming pastors we were assuming the role of being a shepherd of the sheep. After all, the shepherd’s crook is one of the most common symbols of pastoral ministry. What we had not counted on was that instead of feeding docile sheep we often ended up fighting wolves, sometimes in sheep’s clothing! Very quickly we also discovered that serving as a pastor of a church was more like managing a small business whose employees were unpaid volunteers and a board of directors who each had their ...

Growing up as a pastor’s kid has influenced me to become a pastor. However, I have observed that the times have changed between the time I was growing up and today. More and more pastors are becoming unbiblical in their approach to leadership. Many exhibit the traits of the government style of leading. Statement of Need I come from the Minahasa tribe which has been influenced by the secular government model in terms of leadership. Indonesia is rampant with corruption and misuse of power among government agents and agencies. It is all due to a long history of dictatorship and cronyism. Soeharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years. He considered himself as the “Father of Indonesian Development.” This self-proclaimed title has proven his right for because of the accomplishments he achieved. People thought he would bring “Orde Baru” (New Order) in Indonesia, alas, he became a dictator. During his reign a phrase became popular among Indonesians was “asal bapak senang” (as long as the boss is ha...

Math triangle sums stumper all sides equal the same number using numbers 1 - 9 only once each? 4 2........3 9..................7 5........1........8.........6 Math square sums all sides equal the same number using numbers 1 - 9 only once each? top row: 4,3,8 2nd row: 9,5,1 bottom: 2,7,6 How can you make a math square sums all sides equal the same number using numbers 1-9 only once? 2 7 6 9 5 1 4 3 8 Use each number once 12345678 to equal 15? One answer to this is: (8 + 7) x ((6 - 5) x (4 - 3) x (2 - 1)) = 15 I got all of this is from Wiki Answers. Another interesting one is about numbers. I just cut and pasted this from this link . What's Special About This Number? If you know a distinctive fact about a number not listed here, please e-mail me. primes graphs digits sums of powers bases combinatorics powers/polygonal Fibonacci geometry repdigits algebra perfect/amicable pandigital matrices divisors games/puzzles 0 is the additive identity. 1 is the multipl...