And here's Richard Rohr talking about politics and spirituality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeF7V6PYFqE

The Chattanoogan reports:

For the ninth consecutive year, Southern Adventist University's enrollment numbers increased at fall registration. Southern opened its doors to 2,777 students for the 2008-2009 academic year 137 students more than Fall, 2007. This marks Southern's 13th successive year of continuous growth.

h/t Adventist Caricaturist and flickr user sergei1971.

I would not want to be the guy administering the Mark of Beast to this mensch. . .

In an interview with Club Adventist (h/t Religious Liberty), Mitch Tyner - recently retired Associate General Counsel for the General Conference and former Associate Director of PARL - takes on the argument that legalizing same-gender marriage would disenfranchise pastors and local churches.

Conscientious Objection & the Seventh-day Adventist Church Symposium
November 6-9, 2008
Kingsway College, Oshawa, ON

The PARL Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada is sponsoring a Symposium on Conscientious Objection in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Symposium is planned for November 6 - 9, 2008 in Oshawa, Ontario.

The Jamaica Observer reports:

Police Inspector Edgar Brown was having one of his normal days in June. He had picked up one of his daughters from school and was driving home to Montego Bay, St James, apparently looking forward to a relaxing evening with his family.

It's sometimes interesting to read random blog posts that include perceptions of Seventh-day Adventists. These aren't about the Church or a 3ABN celebrity, but are written by real folks talking about the Adventists they know from work or school or next door.

The following post, from a blog called Prior Perceptions, shows how Bible Study can be perceived from the other side and how practices can point away from deeper truths.

Happy Sabbath!

I've been in seven airports in the last five days so I didn't get a chance to create this liturgy in time for Sabbath. I spent a few days at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival in Idaho and so the theme this week is inspired by some of the films and talks I heard, particularly Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, who delivers our homily.

Opening Meditation/Prayer

Sigur Rós "Untitled #1 (A.K.A Vaka)"

Interview with Dr. Mary K. Barnhart, head of breast cancer surgery at Adventist Health.

• ADRA assists Texan victims of Hurricane Ike, just days after Hurricane Gustav struck Louisiana;