I gather from what I hear and read that some Seventh-day Adventists might be uncomfortable with panentheism, the idea that “everything is ’in’ God and that “God is ‘in’ everything.

What follows is pretty heavy stuff (after all, it’s Paul!), so some recommendations before you proceed:

1) Read Romans 2:1-4:25 first – straight through. What follows makes more sense if you do.
2) Keep your Bible handy for reference.
3) Take breaks if needed.
4) Take two aspirin (my wife’s recommendation after editing!).

All humor aside, I hope this will enrich your study of this week’s lesson.

To ease the struggle, here is the bulleted version:

• Paul is talking about the law – at least two “versions."

This spring I received an invitation in the mail which read “you have been selected to join a private gathering of community leaders, thinkers and doers who desire to protect the legacy of Adventist Education.” Wow, I was being asked to be a part of a select group!

The new Andrews Study Bible was released last month at the 59th General Conference Session in Atlanta, Georgia. Featuring a wide range of study tools and classic NKJV text, the new Bible was produced by an international team of Adventist scholars in cooperation with denominational leadership.

These days the word ‘interpret’ is a red flag to some people, who fear it is a license to distort the ‘plain reading’ of scripture down some slippery slope toward heresy.

But I’m trying to use it in a much less threatening way. We each have to interpret and apply this collection of writings we call the Bible personally, so our lives might be changed for the better. So we are (first of all) happier, and our words and actions will reach out to, and bless, others.

Even as I type, a blasted hole in the floor of the Gulf of Mexico is pouring out millions of gallons of oil, threatening to destroy the animals, livelihood, and ecology of at least four U.S. states. The destruction is beyond my rather fertile imagination. The scenes of the suffering break my heart. However, even as vignettes from Louisiana pour through my mind, I am reminded that this disaster pales in comparison to the devastation wreaked in the Garden of Eden.

Another General Conference session has passed, and again our leadership has declined to take action extending ordination to female clergy.

My purpose in this brief article is to outline Paul’s understanding of justification, at the same time pointing out some of the weaknesses in this quarter’s Adventist Bible Study Guide (BSG).

Chubby legs encased in tights, (how I hated those itchy things, sagging unbearably at the crotch), I waddled down the gravel road. My equally chubby hands clutched a pretend nurse’s bag, and my blonde Dutch haircut bouncing over my blue eyes.

As I said in my column last month, I am a founding member of the Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church in Berrien Springs. That is, I have been a richly blessed member since 1973.