Bible and Science: Design vs. Chance
I read most of Bible and Science yesterday, and it is very good. I am hoping my eldest son will read it as he has a problem believing the “strict literal view” of creation. He grew up in an ecclesia that believes this view and raises this belief to the level of first principle. Bro. John Bilello explains another five theories which accommodate the earth being very old and reconcile both the sound scientific evidence with the scriptural record which is the only sensible way to go.
A sister in Australia
University students
Regarding the February letter: I agree with Sis. Bartle that members of ecclesias in university towns should invite our young university students to their homes, contact them by phone or e-mail, etc., to make them feel we care how they are doing, and to make sure they have rides to all events. However, we have lived in university towns on and off for over 23 years, and it is our experience that many of these students, baptized or not, do NOT respond to phone calls, e-mails or personal invitations. Perhaps, the first year they are away from home, many do not want anyone checking up on them; they have their freedom and don’t want to be kept track of. There are exceptions, of course.
One suggestion would be to start teaching our children at a young age that our older brothers and sisters are our family and that they want what’s best for us. Secondly, they could be taught the good manners of answering phone messages, e-mails, etc.
We understand that sometimes there are legitimate reasons of being bogged down with classes and home work.
Another problem we have encountered is that parents think their children are attending our meeting, while we think they have gone home to attend their own meeting. One of our sons lived in a university town for two years before we moved here and was taken care of to our satisfaction, but we made sure he was. The responsibility is on the parents to contact the ecclesia and work together with them. The last thing we would want is to offend the parents by seeming to take over their responsibility.
Love in our One Hope, Sis. Patty Robinson, Kitchener, Ontario
A related question to consider: Where does the young baptized brother or sister have ecclesial membership? When membership is maintained in the original home ecclesia, but the young person is far from home for an extended period, then the university-town ecclesia (that the young person is more likely to attend) has no “authority” and seemingly no “responsibility” in the matter. In such situations, it might be a good idea for all involved to considering formally transferring the young person’s membership — or, at least, for the “home ecclesia” to continue ongoing contact with the student.
George
My “fire alarm” experience
Regarding the “fire alarm” editorial, here’s a quick story of my own experience with being ready for the call:
About nine years ago I made it a matter of prayer that I would be strong enough to respond immediately to the call without worrying about my children. Of all that I had, I was worried that my girls (five and nine at the time) would be the one thing that would get me to look back and fail to answer the call. We went to Menucha and, on the very first night, I had a kidney stone attack. Whatever you’ve heard about kidney stones is true — worse than giving birth. I went from looking forward to a week of Bible school to spending two nights in the hospital and the rest of the week off my feet recovering and I had absolutely no time to prepare.
Of course, God took care of everything. That year, for the first time ever, we had a sister sharing our room and she got our girls up and ready in the morning and made them feel safe and loved. A couple from our ecclesia took over the class I was to teach, and another sister finished the week for me. My girls couldn’t take six steps without someone giving them a hug or patting their heads or somehow making contact with them, and every day several people stopped by our room to see if I needed anything. I was wondering whether they could survive without me, and God went and replaced little old me with literally hundreds of aunts and uncles who loved and looked out for my girls — they were being cared for by saints, just as they will be when Christ returns. With God in charge, I learned that indeed I was not indispensable — and it was exactly the lesson I needed to learn.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One