The 13 problems with "The Record Keeper" by the Biblical Research Institute

"The Record Keeper," the Seventh-day Adventist Church's highly anticipated series was suspended due to theological innaccuracies, according to Adventist News Network.

The series was based on "The Great Controversy" by Ellen White. It was analyzed by the Church's Biblical Research Institute, which found several "problematic and theologically inaccurate matters raised in the Web series," ANN reported.

However, according to the series' director, Jason Satterlund, the scripts had been approved by multiple committees and the Ellen G. White Estate before production began.

"We got the stamp of approval from those committees AND the stamp of approval from the White estate," Satterlund wrote. "They agreed with everything we had. Not only that, but representatives from the GC were on set every day of production"

Adventist News Network updated its news article to include a link to the Biblical Research Institute's concerns about "The Record Keeper." Here is the list of concerns:

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The Record Keeper's release suspended by Adventist Church leadership

Seventh-day Adventist world church leadership today announced their decision to suspend the release of the 11-episode series called “The Record Keeper,” but agreed to explore the possibility of supporting similar creative outreach projects.

The decision came after carefully reviewing the Web series, which dramatizes the epic struggle between good and evil. Seventh-day Adventist church leaders from different parts of the world and the world headquarters evaluated the series, participated in the discussions and the decision-making process.

“Seventh-day Adventist world church leadership is committed to using and developing creative methods of outreach that are faithful to Scripture and Seventh-day Adventist ideals to reach segments of the population that will never be impacted by traditional evangelism,” said world church president, Ted N. C. Wilson.

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"The Record Keeper" will continue, announces General Conference

"The Record Keeper" has been saved, but you may have to wait a bit longer before you can see it.

The General Conference announced Friday night that work will continue on the church's highly anticipated web series.

The Record Keeper, an upcoming dramatic show based on The Great Controversy, was believed to be in danger of not being released.

Adventist college students began a campaign to save the steampunk web series. They created a Facebook page and began releasing videos featuring young people explaining why the series should continue. (You can watch those videos below.)

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Southern Adventist University goes under lockdown, police have a suspect in custody

[Image via: @MCHadley/Twitter]

Southern Adventist University went under a campus wide lockdown Thursday afternoon in response to a "percieved threat" by a former student.

The lockdown lasted approximately 2 hours as police flooded the administration building and men's dormitory. The Greater Collegedale School System also went under lockdown, according to the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

After the lockdown was lifted, the university released a statement saying that a former Southern student made a threat over delayed paperwork. The university was alerted to this threat by Chattanooga State Community College officials, the statement said.

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Adventist Church's official statement regarding Angus T. Jones from "Two and a Half Men"

UPDATE: Angus T. Jones responds about his comments. Read it here.
Read the Adventist Church's official statement on Angus T. Jones here.

What happens when a famous TV star decides to follow Jesus and become a Seventh-day Adventist? We're all finding out right now.

Angus T. Jones, 19, is one of the stars from the popular CBS comedy "Two and Half Men." He recently got baptized and became a member of a Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Los Angeles area.

Angus T. Jones' interview at the Adventist Media Center

On Oct. 8, Jones taped an interview at the Adventist Media Center for a new program called Turning Point.

In the interview, Jones talks about how he accepted Jesus in his life and how he ended up getting baptized at small Adventist church in southern California.

You can watch the full interview here:

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2020 General Conference Session will be in Indianapolis, Ind.

Indianapolis, Ind. has been chosen to host the 2020 Adventist Church World Session, according to Adventist News Network (ANN). This is the second time the city has hosted the session.

The Adventist Church World Session, also known as the General Conference Session, is the Seventh-day Adventist Church's highest governing body. Delegates from around the world meet every five years to vote on important issues facing the world church.

Indianapolis last hosted the session in 1990. It will be the first time since 1962, that a city has hosted a GC Session twice.

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Committed wins 'The Sing-Off'

NEW: A Sabbath Blog's interview with Committed

Committed is the new champion of "The Sing-Off," winning the grandprize: $100,000 and a Sony Music recording contract. They were announced the winners during the show's live season finale on Dec. 20.

They are the second Seventh-day Adventist a cappella group in a row to win "The Sing-Off." Nota won the first season of "The Sing-Off" in December 2009.

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Former Adventist Church president Neal Wilson died

Former Adventist world church president Neal C. Wilson died Dec. 14, according to Adventist News Network. He was 90 years old.

Wilson was the president of the Adventist world church from 1979 to 1990. His son, Ted N.C. Wilson, is the current Adventist world church president.

Adventist News Network first broke the news on Twitter today at 2:52 p.m.

Meet the new speaker/director of It Is Written

Image credit: Adventist CHIP
OnlinePastor John Bradshaw has just accepted to be the new speaker/director of It Is Written, according to two Adventist conferences' social media pages.

Bradshaw is the senior pastor of the College Place Adventist Church (also known as the Village Church) in College Place, Wash.

He is replacing Shawn Boonstra, who said he is leaving It Is Written due to health problems.

The Florida and Washington Conferences posted the news on Twitter and Facebook, respectively. This confirms a report by A Sabbath Blog saying that Bradshaw was being considered for the job.

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Shawn Boonstra resigns from It Is Written

UPDATE: Shawn Boonstra returns to TV.
UPDATE: Here's the new speaker/director.

Shawn Boonstra is stepping down from his role as speaker and director of It Is Written due to personal health issues.

Boonstra posted both a letter and a video message about some apparent rumors that have been spreading by email forwards.

“I'm not dying, I don't have cancer, and I don't have a life-threatening disease,” Boonstra said. “I am, however, dealing with a serious health challenge, and it has gotten to a point where I must take a sabbatical to give my body time to rest.”

Though Boonstra expressed appreciation over the calls and emails he’s received, he said it’s not in his nature to be open about his personal health and asked to respect his privacy at this time.

According to the It Is Written website, a search committee is considering a number of evangelists to be the new speaker/director of the ministry.

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Did NBC copy Southern Adventist University's logo and colors?

NBC's Community used a logo and color scheme very similar to that of Southern Adventist University to represent the show's county museum.

Community is a television comedy series about a group of students attending a fictional community college called Greendale. On the other hand, Collegedale, TN is home to Southern Adventist University.

The logo is found in the show's Oct. 14 episode, "Basic Rocket Science."

Logo Comparisons and Screenshots:

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Dan Jackson is the new North American Division president

Dan Jackson was just elected the new president for the Adventist Church in North America. Jackson was previously the president for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada.

Ted Wilson is the new Seventh-day Adventist world church president

Ted N. C. Wilson, a vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the son of a former church president, was today elected to serve as president of the 16.3-million member global Protestant denomination.

Wilson was appointed by the church's 246-member Nominating Committee and confirmed by the General Conference Session delegation, which is an international body of 2,410 appointed members and the highest governing body in the church.

Wilson replaces Jan Paulsen, who has served as president since 1999.
The appointment took place at the church's 59th General Conference Session, being held at the Georgia Dome and adjacent World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

You can read the full article at Adventist News Network.

Source: Adventist News Network

SAU Student Missionary Murdered in Micronesia

Click here to jump to the latest update.

Kirsten Elisabeth Wolcott was murdered yesterday (Nov. 18, 2009) in Yap, Micronesia. Kirsten was a student missionary from Southern Adventist Univeristy, teaching at the Yap SDA School. The American went missing after reportedly going on an early morning jog before classes. She was found dead, away from the school’s campus.

Local police have now begun an investigation. Leaders from the church's regional administrative headquarters, the Guam-Micronesia Mission, took the one-hour commercial flight from Guam to Yap Wednesday evening to assess the tragedy affecting the school and provide grief support for other teachers.

Kirsten, 20, was a junior education major from Southern Adventist University. She had taken a year off to participate in the university’s student missions program. Ten other student missionaries are also serving in Yap, Micronesia.

Southern Adventist University’s student missions program gives students the opportunity take a year off from school to be student missionary in either a foreign country or in the U.S. Job assignments are diverse such as teaching, doing construction work, working as a youth pastor, etc…

SAU has set up a memorial page about Kirsten. You can post messages of hope and memories of Kirsten on that page.

UPDATE (11/23/09): According to the university, the FBI has made an arrest in connection to the murder. Reports say that there is a lot of anger among the islanders at what happened and that they are supporting the Adventist school and the student missionaries. University administrators are on their way to Micronesia to comfort the other student missionaries.


Sources: Adventist News Network, Southern Adventist University

New Video! Forever Faithful Int'l Pathfinder Camporee Promo

There is a new promotional video out for the 2014 Forever Faithful International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Seriously, this video is amazing. It gives you a little bit of a taste of how awesome these camporees really are. Five days filled with hundreds of activities and honors, tens of thousands of other Pathfinders your age, and not to mention the powerful nightly programming! There were so many people there last time, imagine how many more there'll be next time!

This upcoming camporee's theme is "Forever Faithful" and will be centered around Daniel. You know Daniel: the dude from the Bible that chose to stick with God no matter what and lived to tell about his sleepover in the lion's den! Yeah, that Daniel... awesome guy!

You do not want to miss out! Tickets go on sale starting November 26, 2009. Remember, there are 36,000+ other people wanting to go; tickets sell pretty fast.

Click here to read more about the previous camporee (Courage to Stand) in 2009 and get a better idea of what these camporees are like!



Video from the Center for Youth Evangelism. www.adventistyouth.org

Visit the Forever Faithful Camporee's official website! www.adventistyouth.org/ff2014

Courage to Stand Camporee theme song contest winner

The winning entry for the camporee theme song contest is "Entry 1." The entry, actually titled "Courage to Stand" is written by Emily Beth Bond. Sounds familiar? You may remember seeing/hearing her at the 2004 Faith on Fire Camporee, in which her family and the Brueske family wrote that camporee's theme song.

(Quote: April 2009 edition of the Courage to Stand Camporee newsletter)
Listen to this year's theme song:



Update: Learn the new theme song:


Click above to learn the new camporee theme song.

----------------------------------------------------Legal note: A Sabbath Blog did not upload this music file. A Sabbath Blog is not and cannot be held responsible. This audio is streaming from Camporee.org.

"Virtual" Florida Conf. Camp Meeting

According to the Florida Conference, "there will be no meetings, seminars, etc. held on the Forest Lake Academy campus and no camping or accommodation facilities."¹ Instead, the 2009 Florida Conference Camp Meeting (May 22-23) will be a "satellite/internet-only event, not held at Forest Lake Academy."² This is in an "effort to address financial shortfalls" from the bad economy.

In the past, conference members would gather at Forest Lake Academy to attend the different events across the campus. But this year, the plan is for everyone to meet at local churches and watch the programs via satellite or Internet.

Florida Conf. has not yet said where this virtual camp meeting will be broadcast from or whether this arrangement will be permanent or just for this year. They did say, however, that "there's discussion that this format may possibly be well-suited as a long-term new effort."³

Looks like we'll have to wait and see how it'll turn out! For more info as it becomes available visit www.floridaconference.com/campmeeting/

¹Camp meeting page. ²Twitter reply. ³Twitter tweet

Frances Doss, widow of WWII hero Desmond Doss, died Tuesday

Frances May Doss, 87, died Tuesday in Piedmont Alabama. She was the wife of World War II hero and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Desmond Doss.

"Mrs. Doss was an Illinois native and had been a Piedmont resident for the past four years. She was the valedictorian of her high school class, was a retired accountant from the Wildwood, Ga., Hospital, was a charter member of Piedmont Seventh-day Adventist Church, was a published author, world traveler and ham radio operator." (Source) She and her husband were also involved in Pathfinders. You may remember seeing her onstage at the 2004 Faith on Fire International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Click here for more information...

Feel free to share your memories of her by posting a comment.