Observing the Sabbath (qideas.org) from Matthew Sleeth on Vimeo.

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Excerpts from this quote made me think of our poor, lonely blog. Ellen was away at camp meetings while James was with the children in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains (EGW Estate).

MANUSCRIPT RELEASES/9MR – Manuscript Releases – Volume Nine [Nos. 664-770]
(1990)/MR No. 755 – The Whites in Colorado

Father [Ellen writing to James], our writing can be done in the winter. Lay it aside now. Throw off every burden, and be a carefree boy again. Will and Mary, if they stay in the mountains a few weeks longer, should neither study nor write. They should be made happy for this season, that they may be able to look back to this time as a season of unalloyed pleasure. Willie will soon be plunged into caretaking and burden bearing again. Let him now be as free as the birds of the air.

Mary has never had a childhood any more than Willie has had a boyhood. The few days you now have together, improve. Roam about, camp out, fish, hunt, go to places that you have not seen, rest as you go, and enjoy everything. Then come back to your work fresh and vigorous. {9MR 317.2}

Emma, dear child–may God bless our daughter Emma; and may this little season, when you can be with sister and brother and father, be full of pleasure, and devoid of one dark chapter. I should have loved to remain with you, but I am content, because I believe that I am where the Lord would have me. {9MR 317.3}

Now I entreat you to make the most of the few weeks left you. Let nothing keep you confined to the house. Forget that there is anything to be written. There is enough already written for our people to digest. Then, when new matter does come out, it will come from minds that are fresh, because they have been strengthened and invigorated by rest and change. {9MR 318.1}

Father needs to be a boy again. Roam all around. Climb the mountain steeps. Ride horseback. Find something new each day to see and enjoy. This will be for Father’s health. Do not spend any anxious thought on me. You will see how well I will appear after the camp meetings are over. God lives, and because He lives, I hope to live also. I am debilitated just now, but this does not discourage me one bit. I shall lean heavily upon the divine arm, and I shall not faint nor fall. And I assure you that you will be gainers, if you will all determine to be free as boys and girls again. Strive to make each other happy. Then angels will look on and smile, and they will write for you a record that you will not be ashamed to read. {9MR 318.2}

Now, Father, you are with your dear children. You may never have this privilege again. I repeat once more, Make the most of it. Do not think that so much writing is necessary. This will keep. Lay all such work aside. I know you will all please God much better by seeking to build up your strength, and laying in a good stock of vitality that you can
draw upon in time of need. I should feel sad to see this precious opportunity spoiled by your doing unnecessary things in the line of writing.

–Letter 1, 1878, pp. 2-4. (To “Dear Husband and Children Three,” Aug. 24, 1878.)

Here’s a review I wrote of a great film — 180 South.

A new video on the Adventists About Life YouTube channel offers motivation from a Seventh-day Adventist health expert for combating pollution.

The video comes during the week concerned citizens, corporations and governments in 190 countries worldwide observe Earth Day 2010, the 40th since a United States senator first launched the day of emphasis in 1970.

[full article]

Dear environment,

You are losing.

[full article]

Christians in North America who are concerned about responsible stewardship of the earth note that Adventists appear to be relative latecomers to the conversation. Awareness, though, is growing within the church of the escalating problem of bacteria resistance to antibiotics because of their use as growth enhancers in farm animals as well as the inhumane treatment of animals on factory farms—in part because of Sigve K. Tonstad, a professor at Loma Linda University (LLU). Tonstad contests these contemporary trends with biblical principles and a call for Adventist Christians to gain a fuller understanding of the seventh-day Sabbath’s endorsement of responsible stewardship of all creation. In his most recent book, The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day, published by Andrews University Press, Tonstad—as one reviewer wrote—“beckons readers to understand the seventh day as a celebration of God’s gracious work of creation and God’s faithful intent to restore and heal all that is broken.” Tonstad is an associate professor of religion and an assistant professor of medicine at Loma Linda University and also has the distinction of being a specialist in internal medicine. Adventist Review features editor Sandra Blackmer recently talked with Tonstad in his LLU office about his fresh perspectives on these issues.—Editors.

Books to Read (Compiled by Sigve Tonstad)

• Vegetarianism
• Environmentalism
• Full Series

Bonus: Celtic Christian Theology – The Goodness of Creation

Articles include:

• An Ecological Ideal (Editorial)
• Interviews with Lewis Regenstein, Jo Ann Davidson & Peter Sinclair
• Fun Facts on Ecology (Jo Ann Davidson)
• Hebrew Concept of the World (Jacques B. Doukhan)
• Ecology & Ecotherapy in Revelation (Sigve Tonstad, M.D., Ph.D.)
• Sabbath: An Ecological Spiritual Delight (Patricia Guthmann Haresch, M.Div.)
• I Contemplate a Tree… & the Environment (Jimmy Ha M.Div., Ph.D. Candidate)
• Tending the Earth Together: A Levinassian Perspective on Environmental Ethics (Abigail Doukhan, Ph.D.)
• Recent Books–The Way into Judaism and the Environment (Benstein), Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics and Christian Theology (Jenkins), Green Witness: Ecology, Ethics, and the Kingdom of God (Yordy), and The Green Earth Challenge: Integrating Faith & the Environment (Williams).

(Victor Hulbert, ANN, 14 Dec. 2009)

Should Christians be concerned about caring for the environment? The president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, Jan Paulsen, says “yes,” in a video released on YouTube, coinciding with the Copenhagen Summit.