CSC Calendar
WEST COAST YOUTH CONGRESS
San Diego Town and Country Resort
Date: April 9-12
Religious Liberty Seminars on Thursday and Sabbath
Time: 9:00 am
IMMIGRATION RIGHTS SEMINAR
San Diego Spanish Church
4222 Eta Street
Date: April 12
Time: 4:00 pm
Speaker: Alan Reinach
PASSOVER SEDER
Canoga Park Church
Date: April 19
Time: 6:00pm
Cost: $25.00
Call to Register!
805-413-7396
LOMA LINDA, CA
Loma Linda Filipino Church
Date: May 2
Time: 7:30pm
Speaker: Alan Reinach
LOMA LINDA, CA
Campus Hill Church
Date: May 3
Time: 11:00am
Speaker: Alan Reinach
LOMA LINDA, CA
Loma Linda Thai Church
Date: May 3
Time: 2:00pm
Speaker: Alan Reinach
COSTA MESA, CA
Costa Mesa Church
Date: May 31
Time: 1:30pm
Speaker: Alan Reinach
HONOLULU, HAWAII
Hawaii Festival of Religious Freedom
Date: July 12 & 13, 2008
Honolulu Central SDA Church
Special Guest Speakers include:
- Ted Wilson, General Conference Vice President
- John Graz, Executive Director, International Religious Liberty Association
- J. Brent Walker, Executive Director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
LIBERTY CRUISE
December 3-7 2008
Freedom’s Ring
Radio Broadcast
Schedule
FDA Regulation of Tobacco
Vinny Demarco, National Coordinator, Faith United Against Tobacco,
discusses bills in
Congress to regulate tobacco, HR 1108,
S 625.
Broadcast Date:
April 5, 2008
Workplace Religious Freedom Act
James Standish, Executive Director of the North American Religious
Liberty Association, giving an update on the most critically important
religious liberty issue of the day – religion in the workplace.
Broadcast Date:
April 12, 2008
Human Trafficking Bill
Barrett Duke, Vice
President for Research
and Director of the Research Institute of The Ethics & Religious
Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention, discusses HR
3887, to reauthorize a congressional act to deal with human trafficking
Broadcast Date:
April 19, 2008
Pacific Union College Protects Property Rights
Attorney Kevin Block discusses how the Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 proved instrumental in helping a
Christian college avoid a prolonged conflict with Napa County over its
development
Broadcast date:
April 26, 2008
Churches and Politics in an Election Year
J. Brent Walker, Executive Director, Baptist Joint Committee for
Religious Liberty, discussing the do’s and don’ts of churches
Broadcast date:
May 3, 2008
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Volume 1, no. 3, April 2008
In This Issue...
ACTION NEEDED:
Momentum Building for Workplace Religious Freedom Act!
Keep Those E.mails Coming to Congress!
Congress held hearings in February on the Workplace Religious Freedom
Act. With only a week’s notice, the North American Religious Liberty
Association generated some 40,000 e.mails in support. As a result, some
in Congress who had never even been actively lobbied began to sign on
in support! Read more...
WrittenInTheHeart.org Launches New Blog
Help Wanted! Bloggers Need Apply!
www.WrittenInTheHeart.org
has launched a new blog, dealing with issues of God’s law in the news
and in our society, and volunteer bloggers are definitely welcome! Read more...
TOP NEWS STORIES:
California Appellate Court Vacates Decision Outlawing Homeschooling
Will Rehear Issues After Receiving Friend-of-the-Court Briefs.
In February, a California Court of Appeals ruled that parents have no
constitutional right to homeschool, and that parents who wanted to
teach their children were required to obtain state teaching credentials.
Read more...
CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS:
NARLA West President, Alan J. Reinach, to Conduct Passover Seder.
What does Passover have to do with religious liberty? Everything,
really! Passover is THE Festival of Freedom, a celebration of God’s
miraculous act of deliverance of a nation of slaves out of bondage into
glorious liberty. Although most Christians are ignorant of this
marvelous biblical celebration, our NARLA West president draws on his
Jewish heritage in hosting this spiritual feast. Read More...
Plan Now to Attend Hawaii Festival of Religious Freedom!
Religious Liberty Leadership Training Program Included
Religious Freedom Festivals are spreading like wildfire around the
world, as there will be at least half a dozen in 2008 alone. The first
Festival ever to be conducted in North America will be coming to
Hawaii, July 12 and 13. In addition, a very special Religious Liberty
Leadership Training Program will be conducted on July 14 – 16, from
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. nightly.
Read More...
Liberty Cruise
We are nearing the end of our favorite time of year: the Religious
Liberty Campaign season. As you know, this is the time when we travel
across North America, visiting local churches, spreading the message of
religious freedom, and interacting with faithful religious liberty
supporters. Very frequently on these trips church members say, “We wish
we heard about religious liberty more often! Why do we only talk about
it once a year?”.
Read More...
RESOURCES YOU CAN USE:
Politics & Prophecy:
The Battle for Religious Liberty and the Authentic Gospel
Seventh-day Adventists have a unique contribution to make in the field
of religious freedom. True, we stand on the shoulders of the Protestant
tradition that established the separation of church and state in
America, and that cherished liberty of conscience as an unalienable,
God-given right. But we have also been given unique insight into the
outworking of religious freedom in the final events before the coming
of Christ, hence, the title of a new book published by Pacific Press
relates the battle for religious liberty to “Politics and Prophecy.” Read More...
Crying Wolf in Jesus’ Name
Is the title of a sermon recently preached by Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick, www.GreatControversy.org.
In this sermon, Pastor Kirkpatrick discusses how Adventists should
approach rumors regarding the imminent fulfillment of prophecy, such as
the recent Sunday law rumor. Read More...
Liberty Magazine
It has become a running joke in the Liberty editorial office that
inevitably at some point during the compilation process, Editor Lincoln
E. Steed will exclaim, "I think this is going to be our best issue
yet!" He's not often wrong. Liberty has a strong tradition of
featuring top-notch writers covering cutting edge topics, and the
March/April 2008 issue is no exception. Read More...
NARLA NEWS:
NARLA West Says Goodbye to Executive Director
Michael D. Peabody, Esq.
NARLA West Executive Director, Michael D. Peabody, Esq. has
left to return to the full time practice of law. Peabody served for
three years as Associate Director of the Pacific Union Conference
Department of Public Affairs & Religious Liberty, heading up the
legislative affairs work in Sacramento, while also providing leadership
to NARLA West at a formative time in this organization. Read More...
Momentum Building for Workplace Religious Freedom Act! Keep Those E.mails Coming to Congress
Congress held hearings in February on the Workplace Religious Freedom
Act. With only a week’s notice, the North American Religious Liberty
Association generated some 40,000 e.mails in support. As a result, some
in Congress who had never even been actively lobbied began to sign on
in support! Now imagine what will happen when we continue to send
hundreds of e.mails to each member of Congress, and couple that with
effective visits! Keep those e.mails coming.
The recommended strategy is simple: plan now to have one or more
computers at church where people can send their e.mails after the
service, especially on potluck Sabbaths. Instead of just reminding
people to send their e.mails, help them do it. In addition, create your
own e.mail distribution list, and forward these newsletters, with your
own note to family and friends urging them to send their e.mails, etc. (back to top)
WrittenInTheHeart.org Launches New Blog
Help Wanted! Bloggers Need Apply!
www.WrittenInTheHeart.org
has launched a new blog, dealing with issues of God’s law in the news
and in our society, and volunteer bloggers are definitely welcome! If
you have something to say about God’s law, please submit your blog for
possible publication to mrliberty@churchstate.org.
This website is designed to project the unique wisdom and insight of
Adventism on issues regarding law and grace, faith and obedience, and
the importance of keeping all of God’s commandments. Check out the site
for articles about the Ten Commandments in the news today, and for some
great resources on God’s law. (back to top)
California
Appellate Court Vacates Decision Outlawing Homeschooling Will Rehear
Issues After Receiving Friend-of-the-Court Briefs.
In
February, a California Court of Appeals ruled that parents have no
constitutional right to homeschool, and that parents who wanted to
teach their children were required to obtain state teaching
credentials. See Alan J. Reinach, Esq.s blog at www.religiousliberty.info.
The decision created such a firestorm of public criticism, that the
court vacated the ruling and granted a request for rehearing. So the
court has solicited briefs from interested parties, and will revisit
the legal status of homeschooling. Please pray for the outcome! This is
a critically important case for the future of parental rights,
religious freedom, and indeed, for a government of limited, delegated
powers. If the state assumes exclusive power over education, then the
whole notion of a republican form of government with power deriving
from the people is effectively ended.
(back to top)
NARLA West President, Alan J. Reinach, Esq. to Conduct Passover Seder
The Seder, or traditional Passover meal and religious service, will be
conducted at the Canoga Park Seventh-day Adventist Church on April 19,
Saturday evening, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Pre-registration is required. The cost is $25 per adult. To register, contact Loritha McDuffie at: parl@puconline.org;
or call 805-413-7396. If you have never attended a Passover Seder, you
will be richly blessed as you gain new spiritual insight, and enjoy a
great meal.
What does Passover have to do with
religious liberty? Everything, really! Passover is THE Festival of
Freedom, a celebration of God’s miraculous act of deliverance of a
nation of slaves out of bondage into glorious liberty. Although most
Christians are ignorant of this marvelous biblical celebration, our
NARLA West president draws on his Jewish heritage in hosting this
spiritual feast. (back to top)
Plan Now to Attend Hawaii Festival of Religious Freedom! Religious Liberty Leadership Training Program Included
Religious Freedom Festivals are spreading like wildfire around the
world, as there will be at least half a dozen in 2008 alone. The first
Festival ever to be conducted in North America will be coming to
Hawaii, July 12 and 13. In addition, a very special Religious Liberty
Leadership Training Program will be conducted on July 14 – 16, from
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. nightly. Many of the church’s leading religious
liberty professionals will be participating in this training event,
including Lincoln Steed, Dr. John Graz, Barry Bussey, Nicholas Miller,
Melissa Reid and Alan Reinach, representing the General Conference,
Liberty Magazine, Andrews University, Canada and the Pacific Union.
If you wish to attend, you should make your travel reservations now.
Special hotel rates have been obtained at the Pacific Beach Hotel, call
800- 367-6060, and ask for the rate for the Hawaii Festival of
Religious Freedom or visit their website at: pacificbeachhotel.com
While there is no cost to attend either the Hawaii Festival or the
Leadership Training Program, advance registration is required for the
Leadership Training Event, since there will be supper provided. Please
call
Pat Silvia at 805-413-7126 or e.mail to Pat@churchstate.org.
The basic idea of these Festivals is to express gratitude for religious
freedom to God, to our nation’s founding fathers, and to our elected
officials who preserve our freedom. In addition, we need to shine a
spotlight on the urgency of learning to live together in peace, despite
our deepest differences. (back to top)
Liberty Cruise
We are nearing the end of our favorite time of year: the Religious
Liberty Campaign season. As you know, this is the time when we travel
across North America, visiting local churches, spreading the message of
religious freedom, and interacting with faithful religious liberty
supporters. Very frequently on these trips church members say, “We wish
we heard about religious liberty more often! Why do we only talk about
it once a year?”
We couldn’t agree more, and that’s why we are so eager to tell you
about our upcoming Religious Liberty Cruise, December 3-7, 2008. We’ve
planned this 4-day combination of warm weather, beautiful landscape and
spiritual rejuvenation because like you, we feel that our religious
freedoms are too precious to highlight just once a year.
The Celebrity cruise liner “Infinity” leaves from Fort Lauderdale,
Florida on Wednesday afternoon, December 3, for a tour of the Western
Caribbean, and returns Sunday morning, December 7th. Thursday and
Friday are your days to explore Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico.
See the website link below for additional details on the cruise ship,
itinerary, time table and the port locations where we’ll go ashore.
We will begin the Sabbath and our time worshipping together with an
inspirational Friday evening vespers talk by Dr. Bill Knott, editor of
the Adventist Review. Dr. Knott will be our Sabbath morning presenter
as well, and then Sabbath afternoon you will be blessed by a panel
discussion by the Liberty editorial team and the Southern Union
Religious Liberty department.
We have brokered a great deal, and as before, offer it to you with no
additional fees or overhead costs. Even with taxes the prices begin at
$429 per passenger. That’s for accommodation, food, and a Religious
Liberty event to remember! Prices vary slightly based on deck/category
level and occupancy, so please give our travel agents a call at
(301)977-4141 or e-mail travelfourless2002@yahoo.com for additional information.
But don’t wait! The initial $200/cabin deposit is due April 21, so call now to guarantee you are ‘on board’. (back to top)
Politics & Prophecy: The Battle for Religious Liberty and the Authentic Gospel
By Alan J. Reinach, Esq.
 Seventh-day
Adventists have a unique contribution to make in the field of religious
freedom. True, we stand on the shoulders of the Protestant tradition
that established the separation of church and state in America, and
that cherished liberty of conscience as an unalienable, God-given
right. But we have also been given unique insight into the outworking
of religious freedom in the final events before the coming of Christ,
hence, the title of a new book published by Pacific Press relates the
battle for religious liberty to “Politics and Prophecy.”
The battle is not only about religious liberty, but a battle to recover
an authentic gospel. In a culture where moral and spiritual life is
disintegrating, either we will recover our moral and spiritual bearings
through the working of the spirit in the inner man — the gospel, or the
majority will rise up and enforce tighter and tighter moral and
spiritual rules by force of law. Ultimately such coercion becomes the
mark of the beast.
Nine Seventh-day Adventist leaders in religious liberty ministry have
submitted their best insights for this compilation. Each author brings
a wealth of scholarship and practical experience to their topics. But
the book is not primarily FOR Adventists. Instead, it is an offering to
the entire community who care about religious freedom.
The book is divided into two sections: the first section deals with the
Foundations of Freedom, and the second section addresses distinct
issues. Although there have been some valuable contributions by
individual authors in recent years, this book promises to become the
most authoritative expression of the Adventist approach to religious
freedom, for at least two reasons. First, it includes contributions
from so many active leaders in religious liberty work; but perhaps even
more important is the depth and breadth of the book. It covers a wide
range of topics and issues with profound insight and clarity.
Perhaps the most significant contribution of the book is to recover and
re emphasize the gospel implications of the battle for religious
liberty. Frankly, in the many books published about religious freedom,
the most glaring omission is an adequate treatment of the theological
and gospel foundations of freedom.
For those of us who are Christian attorneys, and who struggled through
legal theory courses in law school, we know how important this is.
Modern legal theorists struggle in vain to put human rights and
liberties on a sound philosophical footing. Starting with a secular
worldview, it becomes difficult, if not impossible to establish freedom
on any other basis than naked power.
Of course, for Christians, we invoke the Declaration of Independence,
and build our philosophy of human rights, civil and religious
liberties, on the basic concept that these rights are “inalienable” and
“God-given.” Nicholas Miller, fellow blogger and director of the
Andrews University International Religious Liberty Institute, explores
this foundation in his chapter, “Render Unto God.” The government does
not grant us our rights, but is charged with protecting them.
The heart of liberty is found in the gospel. Dr. John Graz, General
Secretary of the International Religious Liberty Association, and
director of Public Affairs & Religious Liberty for the General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, has given us a wonderful
treatment of the gospel principles of liberty in his chapter: “Liberty
and the Gospel.” It is because love must be free that God created us as
free moral agents – so that we may learn to love God. Christ paid the
ultimate price with His own life because God would not force Himself
upon us. So freedom is at the heart of the gospel.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher, Deputy Secretary General of the International
Religious Liberty Association, points out that this principle of a
loving God extending freedom is not universal. In his chapter, “An
American Ayatollah,” Gallagher explores the theology of Dominionism,
and compares it to the fundamentalist Islamic ideology of the Iranian
Ayatollah Khomeini. Dominionism is an aggressive form of Reformed
Christian theology that distorts God’s promise to Adam that he should
exercise dominion over the earth.
Douglas Morgan, an historian who teaches at Columbia Union College,
provides a stirring warning about the abuse of American power in his
chapter: “Marching to the Call of History.” He reviews the Adventist
understanding of the role of the United States in prophecy, and
recovers the Adventist imperative to be patriotic critics of the
expansion of American power, and the erosion of republican principles.
Moving to practical issues, James Standish, director of the North
American Religious Liberty Association, and the Adventist Church’s
representative to the United States government, addresses the
principles of free exercise of religion in his chapter: “The Rise and
Fall of Religious Free Exercise.” If you don’t know how much freedom we
have already lost, this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
In the section on Issues, the book addresses the most critical issues
of the day: workplace religious freedom, public school prayer, the
conflict between gay rights and religious freedom; the battle for the
Supreme Court, the battle over Origins, and the Ten Commandments
controversy. While these are not the only significant issues today,
these chapters display remarkable depth and insight.
Politics and Prophecy
is available for purchase from your Adventist Book Center, or for a
donation to the North American Religious Liberty Association – West of
$25 or more, we will send you a free copy, www.churchstate.org. (back to top)
Crying Wolf in Jesus’ Name
Is the title of a sermon recently preached by Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick, www.GreatControversy.org.
In this sermon, Pastor Kirkpatrick discusses how Adventists should
approach rumors regarding the imminent fulfillment of prophecy, such as
the recent Sunday law rumor. It is filled with good counsel and
practical insights, as well as a summary of many now discredited
aspects of the Sunday law rumor of a secret Christian Coalition meeting
to plan for a national Sunday law. (back to top)
This month in Liberty Magazine...
It has become a running joke in the Liberty editorial office that
inevitably at some point during the compilation process, Editor Lincoln
E. Steed will exclaim, "I think this is going to be our best issue yet!
He's not often wrong. Liberty has a strong tradition of featuring
top-notch writers covering cutting edge topics, and the March/April
2008 issue is no exception. If you haven't already flipped through your
print copy, I encourage you to follow some of the links below. And if
you don't have a print copy, please visit our website and subscribe
today! You won't be disappointed.
A few of this month's Liberty gems:
NARLA West Says Goodbye to Executive Director Michael D. Peabody, Esq.
NARLA West Executive Director, Michael D. Peabody, Esq. has left
to return to the full time practice of law. Peabody served for three
years as Associate Director of the Pacific Union Conference Department
of Public Affairs & Religious Liberty, heading up the legislative
affairs work in Sacramento, while also providing leadership to NARLA
West at a formative time in this organization.
In a letter to NARLA West Board members, Peabody urges us to heed the
words of Ellen White that he often preached through the years:
"It
is our duty, as we see the signs of approaching peril, to arouse to
action. Let none sit in calm expectation of the evil, comforting
themselves with the belief that this work must go on because prophecy
has foretold it, and that the Lord will shelter His people. We are not
doing the will of God if we sit in quietude, doing nothing to preserve
liberty of conscience. Fervent, effectual prayer should be ascending to
heaven that this calamity may be deferred until we can accomplish the
work which has so long been neglected. Let there be most earnest
prayer, and then let us work in harmony with our prayers. It may appear
that Satan is triumphant and that truth is overborne with falsehood and
error; the people over whom God has spread His shield, and the country
which has been an asylum for the conscience-oppressed servants of God
and defenders of His truth, may be placed in jeopardy. But God would
have us recall His dealings with His people in the past to save them
from their enemies. He has always chosen extremities, when there seemed
no possible chance for deliverance from Satan's workings, for the
manifestation of His power. Man's necessity is God's opportunity." Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, page 713. We trust that Peabody’s love for religious liberty will continue to inspire his active involvement in ministry in the future. (back to top)
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