Makeovers

The Today Show chooses a somewhat ordinary-looking woman who is sent off to another room and, a little later on the same two-hour show, is brought back with a whole new look: hairdo, makeup, clothes, and accessories.

Time magazine features an article describing the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It tells the story of Alive Harris of South Central Los Angeles.  She still remembers the day the good people from ABC volunteered to demolish her house.  In 2003, a flood had left the uninsured community activist and her family living in just one bedroom of their destroyed home.  Worst of all, the waters had ruined a stash of Christmas toys Harris had collected for underprivileged children.  Harris said, “I figured no one was going to come to Watts and help us.  No one had ever done that.”  But Extreme Makeover: Home Edition found her.  Its bullhorn-wielding host, Ty Pennington, shipped Harris and her family off for a week’s vacation in Carlsbad, California, while over 100 workers and neighbors tore their home down to the foundation and built a brand new and bigger one.  They replaced the Christmas toys and donated appliances, mattresses, and landscaping to her flood-stricken neighbors.  They even threw in a basketball court for the neighborhood kids.  Now that’s an extreme makeover.

So what does all this have to do with New Years?  Simply this—all of these extreme makeovers have something in common: an outsider comes in with a one-two-three program.  First, the outsider sees the possibilities the recipient couldn’t see.  Second, the outsider does what the recipient couldn’t possibly do. Third, the outsider pays for what the recipient could never afford to pay.

As you face 2015, remember that there’s an amazing God who is in the makeover business.  He’s in the business of transforming your life and mine.  He has a similar three-step program.  

One: He sees possibilities in you and me that we’re not apt to see in ourselves. 
Two: He is able to do for you and me what we simply cannot do for ourselves.  
Three: He’s able to pay the price for what He does.  We can’t afford the price so He paid it for us.  

However, God’s makeover is slightly different in one area.  The reality show makeover is an external job; God’s is an internal job.  He makes you and me a new person from the inside out.

As you face a new year, please, let Him do His work.  He’s really, really good at it.

Bill Crofton

There is Hope for the Seventh-day Adventist Church . . . If We Act Fast! by Andy McDonald

The Seventh-day Adventist denomination is the place of my spiritual heritage and current practice.  I am convinced that what our denomination brings to the table of the universal Body of Christ is of great value.  For instance, to name only two—what we call the “health message” and the doctrine of Sabbath offer revolutionary enriching value for every person on our globe.  We have so much in common with other Christians, all followers of Jesus, but our ego regarding our understanding of truth combined with our easy use of excluding language often block us from even getting a hearing.

To become the force for good that I believe God could use us to be—in order for there to be hope beyond the era of denominationalism—we must make some significant changes.

•  We must recognize ourselves as part of the universal body of Christ and not the whole body of Christ.  While we may teach that officially, too often, based on remnant theology, our orthopraxis is to act as if we alone make up the whole body.

•  We must restructure for efficiency because the use of resources is a moral issue. The simplest illustration is that, in 2011 in the world, the Seventh-day Adventist Statistical Report stated that there are:

26,859 Evangelistic and Pastoral Employees and

27,788 Administrative, Promotional, Office, and Miscellaneous Employees

These kinds of ratios are not sustainable.  These are astronomical administrative costs as part of our total giving.

•  We must remove inefficiency and duplication of services from our church governance structure.  We must see the local church as the top of the church structure and every other level of governance only existing at the local church’s will and for the local church’s benefit.  In the words of Charles Bradford, former President of the North American Division, “There is no church but the local church.” As a conference treasurer recently explained, all expenses are pushed to the end user (local church and school) while—although originally generated there—very limited resources (almost non-existent as discretionary dollars) find their way back to the local level.

•  We must adopt a new attitude: “The church is not to talk about itself.  It is to be lowly in mind, not proudly boasting of its power or seeking to advance its prestige. The church cannot save the world; but the Lord of the church can.  It is not the church for which Christians are to labor and spend their lives, but for the Lord of that church.  THE CHURCH CANNOT EXALT ITS LORD WHILE IT SEEKS TO EXALT ITSELF”- Ray Stedman, Body Life, p. 18. While we are part of an organization called the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we must not be about that organization.  We must be about lifting up Jesus and baptizing people in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit—another thing we have in common with all Christians.

Other reforms are needed, but this would be a great start. I love the church and want to see it thrive, and it can and will as we live with integrity and lift up Jesus.

Andy McDonald

Don't Wait Too Long by Todd Chobotar

A few years back I had a tooth filling fall out.  It didn’t hurt really—it just popped out.  The exposed tooth was a bit sensitive, but not too bad. I decided I didn’t have the time to get it fixed right then. Besides, I dislike going to dentists. I had a negative experience with a dentist during childhood and they’ve scared me ever since.

Next week, I thought.  I’ll get it taken care of then.  But next week came and went–as did many more.  Every few weeks my tooth would become a bit more sensitive to hot/cold stuff.  But I continued to procrastinate citing a lack of time (plus that nagging fear of dentists didn’t help).

Eventually, the tooth started hurting more frequently, though not unbearably.  After six months, I started to get a bit fearful.  What if I had waited too long already?  What if I went to the dentist and he told me the tooth needed a root canal?  Ouch!  Maybe the tooth would have to be painfully extracted?  Double ouch!  Or what if the dentist scolded me for not coming to him sooner?  Guilt trip!

But as much as I feared going, my logical mind told me I had to do something.  So, with a deep sense of resolve and a firm display of determination, I made the difficult decision.  Ignore logic and wait longer.

Seven months.  Eight months.  Nine months

Then it happened. One morning I woke up abruptly with my tooth aching and head pounding.  This was it.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  The pain had finally become so severe there was simply no avoiding it any longer. I called up my dentist for an emergency appointment.

Dr. Figueroa, a gentle lady and excellent dentist, was sympathetic.  She squeezed me into her schedule, fixed me up and was even kind enough to skip the guilt trip (she probably thought I’d suffered enough already).  Yes, the repair was painful.  Yes, it was my fault for delaying.  And yes, I could have saved myself a lot of sore days, uncomfortable nights and needless worrying if I had only gone to her sooner.  Lesson learned.

Let me ask you, is there any pain in your life you’ve been avoiding?  Perhaps a secret sorrow no one else knows about?  A heartbreaking situation.  An aching disappointment.  A distressing condition. Why not take it to God? Let Him deal with it.  He’s a pain specialist with vast experience and a gentle touch.

The Psalmist gives a glimpse of God’s heart for suffering when he says:

“Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me.” Psalm 30:2 CEB

“God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 CEB

Maybe like me you feel there’s no time in your frenzied schedule to stop for healing. Or perhaps you’re afraid to let God try. Would you be open to some advice from this admitted lily liver and seasoned pain procrastinator? Don’t wait until the pain becomes unbearable.  Take your troubles to the Great Healer.  Let his skillful hands do the delicate treatment.  You’ll feel so much better afterwards.

“God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.”  1 Peter 5:7 CEV

Question: When it comes to pain, do you ever find yourself (or someone you love) putting it off to deal with at a later time? Why do we do that?  (Share your thoughts in the comments)

Guest Blogger and Member of FHC, Todd Chobotar

BLOG | http://www.ToddChobotar.com

TWITTER | http://www.twitter.com/ToddChobotar

FACEBOOK | http://www.facebook.com/ToddChobotar 

Adjusting the Focus by Greg Creek

For the last few months I have been teaching a course at Adventist University of Health Sciences in Philosophy of Healthcare, an Interdisciplinary Humanities and Religion course.  We aim to help students develop their philosophy of healthcare for when they are in the workforce. It has been an incredible experience of learning, growing, and struggling to develop my own philosophy as the students and I journey through together.

One of our assignments is a Life Events Timeline. This assignment asks students to highlight ten memories of significance from their life. After identifying those events, the student then spends some time dissecting why they chose those memories, identifying any themes or patterns, and determining if or how those events have changed their philosophy of healthcare.

As this is the first time I have taught this class, I was unprepared for the level of authenticity paired with an almost greater level of pain that has been experienced by my students. They shared with me stories of parents, grandparents, siblings, children, cousins, and close friends that they have lost. They shared with me stories of losing everything they own to fire or finances. They shared with me stories of broken relationships, missed opportunities, and the roadblocks of life. After reading through the lives of over 30 students, I was struck by a few things.

The first is that my class showed up every morning – smiling, happy, and “normal.” (Although, I will say we meet at 8:00 am, so “smiling” and “happy” are relative terms.) If we had never done this assignment, I might not have been able to tell that many of them had experienced such brokenness. No one had a chip on his or her shoulder. No one used class time to rail against anything or anyone. It wasn’t until we took an opportunity to go deeper that the opportunity actually presented itself.

How many relationships are we in that lack a level of appropriate depth? It is so easy to just stroll through life and not acknowledge the brokenness. I have decided to challenge myself to engage with people’s story, to ask the questions that foster knowledge of the good and the bad.

The second thing that struck me is the balance of the events in my students’ lives. Many of my students have experienced some pretty tragic things, and yet those events only received a few spots in their top ten. The other events that practically dominated were the positive, life-changing events of births, graduations, travels, marriages, and so on. Despite all their brokenness and pain, their reasons to laugh and live far outweighed their reasons to be sad.

I tend at times to focus on my mistakes and the bad things. My goal is to work to not commit the same errors again. It ends up being a constant focus on the bad. If you are anything like me, I challenge you to focus on the events that make us laugh and live. Or maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “Living and laughing aren’t a problem for me!” If so, please help the rest of us to follow your lead!

Greg Creek

Not Leaving Fantasy to Chance by Tami Cinquemani

I have three Fantasy Football teams this year, and my first team’s draft was yesterday.  It is also my most challenging league because it’s an IDP league.  Those reading this who understand what that means are groaning.  If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it means that, along with individual offensive players and a team defense, you also draft and play Individual Defensive Players (IDP).  In this case, it means that I manage a 20-member team each week for this league – about twice the amount of players on each of my other leagues.

I’ve never been able to participate in the live draft for this league, and so I have left my team to chance, and the computer has automatically chosen for me.  It’s always been fun to play, but quite honestly, I knew I could do better.  During the season I’ve been able to manipulate things a bit so I actually win a game or two, but I’ve never had a hope of making it to the finals.  I have managed a mediocre team in a tough league.  In other words, I got out of my team about the same kind of effort that I put into it.

I was determined things would be different this year.  I had every intention of being available for the live draft and hand-picking a stellar team.  However, knowing that there is always a possibility that I could miss the draft, I did my homework.  Not only did I research the players, I researched strategies for drafting – specifically in an IDP league.  I made my list of the top 50 players I wanted on my team, and I took the time to create a pre-draft queue.

As it turned out, the live draft came and went before I was able to get to my computer.  I missed it again this year, but my expectations were high.  I had acted on my desire to take this seriously.  I had put the effort in.  I was intentional in my preparation.  And . . . I have a really killer team!  I still had some tweaking to do, but not the complete overhaul I faced in years past.  I am so excited!!

Ecclesiastes 9: 10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,” and Colossians 3: 23 states, “Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart.”  I think God has created us for something greater than mediocrity.  It’s pretty clear to me that I’m not satisfied with it in my Fantasy Football teams, so why do I so often settle for it in the things in my life that really matter?

How many times do I put all the work needed into my relationships, my health, or my spiritual maturity?  Sometimes when I think about the energy necessary or the intentional effort required, it seems so much more appealing to engage the auto pilot and leave things to chance – to go with the automatic draft and think I can get by with a mediocre team in a tough league.

We were created for so much more.  In John 10:10 Christ tells us, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  Other translations of this verse use words like “satisfying,” “rich,” “fullness,” “to the full, till it overflows,” “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” Nothing mediocre there.  

Relationships take effort.  A healthy life takes sacrifice.  Spiritual maturity takes intentionality.  If I want life that’s “full till it overflows,” I can’t leave it to chance.

Tami Cinquemani

Confessions of an SDA Meat Eater

My personal observance of a healthy lifestyle has had its ups and downs. As a member of a church that promotes a healthy vegetarian lifestyle, my youth was filled with vegetarian fare. My stay-at-home mother made us whole wheat tortillas from scratch for our burritos, an amazing lentil soup, and did her best to get us boys to eat what vegetables she could, although the fruit was no problem.

At some point, I took to heart the scriptural relevance of “not eating meat sacrificed to idols” and “one man eats only vegetables” as related to faith rather than diet in order to take advantage of the freedom to do as my conscience dictates. This decision may have been somewhat reactionary to the borderline overbearing dogma I was hearing at the time from some in the church. This issue of vegetarianism, among several others, was presented as being on the same importance as any other matter, rather than at a second or third tier importance verses a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I wonder how many others have had similar reactions?

Something has been happening across the western landscape in recent years. People have begun to realize that the American diet in the modern era has devastating consequences. Engaging Films such as Food Inc. and Forks over Knives have made a persuasive argument for whole foods and the vegetarian diet. Just this last week in the June 11, 2012, issue of Time magazine, a full article on health featured Rick Warren’s Saddleback church. The program they are using is called the Daniel Plan, based on Daniel 1:8,12.  Really? The Daniel Plan? I thought Adventists had the corner on that market of healthy living for the past hundred years. Why aren’t we featured in Time magazine?

In the past, Adventists have been sited in several venues such as “The Secrets of Long Life” published by National Geographic that highlighted the Loma Linda community, the Adventist Health Studies, and lately Creation Health by Monica Reed.  These have all contributed to an important conversation we are supposed to be having with our neighbors and friends.

So how can we continue to be a part of the global dialogue on health-related issues? We need to advocate and be published in our institutions on a continual basis. We need to be fresh and relevant.  Most of all, we need to keep the message in its proper place in the context of religion.  This may prevent many who, like myself, “threw the baby out with the bath water” because of the way this vital message was presented. The message is relevant.  The message extends the years of life.  The message extends the quality of life.  The message is a tool in the tool box that points to instructions our Creator has given us on how to take care of ourselves. The message is of secondary importance to the centrality of Christ, but it is important nonetheless.

So the next time I’m eyeing Four Rivers, I just might keep heading down the road and enjoy Ethos restaurant instead. It’s fresh, it’s relevant, and it’s important.

Richard Hickam