Signs of the Times - January-February 2012

ISSN 1038-9733 1-2/2012

apocalypse: What happens

next?

God

The queen and the King

6 time-saving steps for a

healthy family

9/11: An interview with the last survivor

editor’s note

Contents

with Lee Dunstan

Signs of the Times—January-February 2012

cover

the royal bandwagon

8

13 Meeting Royalty

A brush with the Queen at her golden jubilee.

32 The Last Survivor

A

lmost 60 years ago, I stood on the upstairs verandah of our residence and watched HRH Queen Elizabeth pass by in her immaculate black limousine.

I was only just old enough to know that something important was happening in our sleepy little north-west Tasmanian town, but not quite of an age to appreciate the significance. The visit probably marks my earliest living memory, so it’s important to me. Now the Queen is celebrating the diamond jubilee of her ascension and as her recent trip to Australia testifies, she still draws a crowd, testament to her charisma, grace and charm.

So against this milestone, this month’s SIGNS follows the regal theme: in “Meeting Royalty” (page 13), Nyree Tomkins tells of her encounter with the Queen and “A Right Royal” (page 62), by Adele Nash, takes a look at our royal aspirations and how one day they might be realised.

The royal visit, as it would, re-ignited the debate about whether or not the Queen should be the Australian and New Zealand head of state. But it was a discussion as to whether the crown should remain as head of the Anglican faith that got my attention.

Clifford Goldstein, in “These Changin’ Times” (page 5), uses mooted (and muffled) changes to British Acts of Parliament, ones dating from Henry VIII and Reformation times, as the starting point for an insightful peak at what the Bible reveals about these times in which we live. ½ Published since 1886 Signs of the Times is printed and published 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical.

Executive Publisher: Neale Schofield

2 | Signs of the Times

Copyeditor: Tracey Bridcutt

Marketing: Lee Dunstan Website Manager: Melody Tan Email: signsmag@signspublishing.com.au Website: www.signsofthetimes.org.au

Graphic Design: Shane Winfield, Loopeck Lim

Publisher: Signs Publishing Company Warburton, Victoria 3799

Subscriptions: Jacinta Knight Phone: +61 3 5965 6300 Fax: +61 3 5966 9019

The inclusion of a personality or their image in Signs of the Times does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs.

Managing Editor/Editor: Lee Dunstan Associate Editor: Melody Tan

18

6 Time-Saving Strategies for Healthy Family Meals

Genelle Guzman-McMillan is lucky to be alive.

38 The Next Thousand Years

W hat happens after Armageddon?

features

5 These Changin’ Times

nce enemies, two religious traditions O are now healing their differences.

18 Honour Your Father and Your Mother

A n unexpectedly hair-raising and musical experiment gives new meaning to God’s command.

24

Drink Deeply

D evoting time to God requires more intention than first thought.

28 The Heart of the Matter

The story of a woman’s unwavering faith in the face of tragedy.

45

Where the Heart Is I s your home sometimes more like a hotel?

50 The Art Capital of the World A look at the history of Florence.

Subscription Rates: Australia, $A25.00; New Zealand, $NZ30.00; South Pacific countries, $A40.00 ($NZ50.00); other countries $A45.00 ($NZ54.00).

For change of address: Please notify us four weeks in advance. Attach your old mailing label and send both your old and new addresses to Signs of the Times, Subscription Department, PO Box 201, Warburton, Victoria 3799 or in New Zealand, PO Box 97019, Manukau City, Manukau 2240.

56

Understanding the Angry God of the Bible

62 A Right Royal

columns 12 Our Times 17 Food Matters

ow to Lose Weight Permanently H

23 Medical Hotline 43 Living with Children oving Trauma?

M

46

Bible Discovery

T he Importance of Marriage and Family

55 Food Matters Recipe Real Banana Ice-cream

Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ACN 093 117 689 Cover Photo: Jerzyworks—Masterfile

VOL 127 NO 1-2

Unless indicated, biblical quotations in this magazine are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society.

Signs of the Times | 3

these

changin’ times

Let’s explore

T

If you are 8-12 years old and have an enquiring mind, then let’s explore the Bible together! It is not just an old book, but like an ancient text message from a friend. You will discover some amazing things, and make a new friend at the same time.

Mail this coupon to receive the first two booklets in the series. You can also email, call, fax or visit www.signsofthetimes.org.au/offers applications@discoverycourses.com.au

Name

Australia

Discovery Courses, PO Box 1115 Wahroonga NSW 2076 Fax: 02 9847 2200 Ph: 1300 300 389

Street New Zealand

Town/Suburb Postcode

Discovery Courses, PO Box 76 281 Manukau City 2241 Fax: 09 262 5621 Ph: 0800 55 1844 This offer is available only in Australia & New Zealand.

Brought to you by the Discovery Centre in conjunction with your local Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Oxford—istockphoto

Yes, please mail the first two of these FREE Let’s Explore course booklets to my home.

he times,” wrote Bob Dylan, “they are a-changin’.” And around the time that he penned those words about society half a century ago, the times also began “a-changin’ ” in the religious world, especially in respect to adversaries, the Reformation Protestants and Roman Catholics. Once foes, even to the point of violence, both sides of the Reformation have been seeking unity over the past 50 years in ways that would have made their fore-fathers weep and despair.

On the one hand, considering that Jesus wants Christians to be unified (see John 17:20–23), this sounds like a good idea; on the other hand, the moves are also a striking fulfilment of Bible prophecy concerning events in the religious world in the days just prior to Jesus’ return.

Protestants and Catholics living in harmony? Clifford Goldstein finds out what this really means.

Signs of the Times | 5

n Over

the past half century, and accelerating during the reign of Pope John Paul II, Catholics and Protestants have been moving closer together—various churches uniting, and Catholics and Protestants signing documents proclaiming theological harmony in what used to be contentious areas.

For example, the Roman Catholic Church has made it easier for Anglicans, including Anglican priests, to join the Roman church. What is interesting is that Rome will allow married Anglican priests to join their ranks, a move that’s left some wondering if Rome is about to cede its position regarding married priests.

On the other side of the religious divide is another example, highlighted by this month’s diamond jubilee of Elizabeth II. England is home to the Church of England, the head of which is the British monarch. After some 300 years, it might soon be possible for the monarch to marry a Roman Catholic—previously banned—a powerful symbol of the radical changes in attitudes between Protestants and Catholics.

As recently as 25 years ago, something like this would never even have been open for debate. Today, such bans are seen as holdovers belonging to a bygone era.

“Over the centuries,” said an article in the New York Times about England, “legal discrimination against Catholics has been dismantled one brick at a time. Laws that

6 | Signs of the Times

forbade Catholics to serve in the army, own or inherit land, vote, hold public office or join one of the ‘learned professions’ have been scrapped, leaving the provision forbidding the monarch to marry a Catholic exposed, as most Catholics have seen it, as a relic of the past.”

From today’s perspective, this marriage thing hardly sounds like a big deal. Marrying a Roman Catholic?

So what? However, given the bitter and violent history behind the ban, this represents a radical change. n If you remember your history, King Henry VIII, in a vicious dispute with Rome, broke away from the Roman Church and started another faith safe on his island kingdom: the Church of England. What followed were centuries of violence between Rome and the Anglicans.

Kings and queens, some Anglican, some Catholic, fought for control of the crown and (hence) the country itself, throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These religious and political squabbles left thousands dead and the nation bitterly divided.

In the end, the Church of England won out. And though the violence has long stopped (although vestigial in Northern Ireland, perhaps), Catholics endured marginalisation in Britain, at least until recently. Even now, residual dislike of Rome continue to exist.

Though in the scheme of things, this proposed change seems small,

conditions for months. it nevertheless is representative of n The book of Revelation talks a trend to bring a practical unity between Protestants and Cathoabout various religio-political entilics, despite their vast theological ties (symbolised by beast powers) differences. n Protestantism . . . a unity between various arose as a literal “protest” against massive religio-political not just the abuspowers that will persecute es of Rome, but eventually as a God’s faithful people in the protest against time just before Jesus returns. the church itself.

The Protestants, though also involved in internecine which, toward the end of time, will fighting themselves, were nevertheunite to persecute God’s people. In less united in their opposition to Revelation, the apostle John said Rome, which had persecuted all dis- that one of these beast powers will sidents for hundreds of years. Many “make war against the saints and . . . died at the stake, and thousands conquer them” (verse 7) and another more perished in wars of oppression, beast power will kill all those who as history so unflatteringly attests. do not worship in the politically Though their history is much short- acceptable manner (verse 15). er, for two or three centuries, ProtesThough much still isn’t undertants also persecuted those who disstood, Revelation’s description porsented from their teachings. Today tends a unity between various masall of this has been largely forgotten. sive religio-political powers that will Then there’s the persecution of persecute God’s faithful people in Christians in various Muslim counthe time just before Jesus returns. tries of the world that is occurring in It’s impossible to know exactly how our own day. Christian churches are or when all of this will develop, but destroyed, Christians themselves are events in today’s world tell us that attacked and many have been killed Bible prophecy is being fulfilled. for their faith.

Jesus Himself predicted that His Christians are even being persecut- people “will be handed over to be ed by Hindus in some parts of India. persecuted and put to death, and you Some have been killed and many will be hated by all nations because have had to flee for their lives and of me.” However, He added that “he hide in the jungles, where they have who stands firm to the end will be had to live under the most primitive saved” (Matthew 24:9, 12). ½ Signs of the Times | 7

Karen Fischer offers busy mums some tips on meal preparation that will give them more time with their families.

6

whip up a meal before your child began begging to play? Well, you can.

Here are six tips that will help you to prepare healthy meals and keep your kids happy too.

1

be shopping-savvy

If you stand in front of the fridge for just two minutes, three times a day, figuring out what to cook, you’re wasting more than 36 hours every year! And if you make two trips to the supermarket each week instead of one, you squander a whole working week of time.

Now think of this: If you live to age 65, that’s more than five months of your adult life wasted on unorganised food preparation! And it could be costing you a bundle at the

Masterfile

I

t’s time to cook dinner, but your six-year-old and your eight-year-old are begging you to play with them. “We’re bored, Mummy,” they wail as you cut open the packet of spaghetti. They block your path to the stove and say, “Play with us now!”

Kids just don’t understand the concept of cooking or why you need to be in the kitchen for an hour every evening. They think “fun” is on the menu and now is the time to have it. But neither you nor they can live on fun alone. We all need to eat at least twice a day.

What if you arrived home after work and half of tonight’s dinner was already prepared? Or the shopping was done and you knew you could

check-out as well.

Have you noticed how often you throw out wasted food? The packets of out-ofdate flour in the back of your pantry and the rotting veggies in the bottom of your fridge? And did you lose the inspiration to use the last three-quarters of that bunch of spinach in the drawer of your refrigerator, or did you plan to leave it to rot?

The solution? Be shopping-savvy.

time-saving strategies

for healthy family meals 8 | Signs of the Times

Signs of the Times | 9

Have a weekly meal plan and stick to it. You’ll save cash and time. Take just a few minutes to plan and make one trip to the grocery store each week, and you’ll be on the way to restoring balance to your life.

2

become a p.m. planner

For a smooth and struggle-free morning, prepare some lunch box items for the kids the night before: ◗ Pop non-perishable food items straight into the lunch box. Anything that will not get soggy or spoil can actually be placed in your child’s lunch box the night before. These include homemade muffins, washed and uncut fruit such as grapes, orange segments, a whole apple or a banana. ◗ You can also prepare the perishable lunch box items the night before. Place child-sized portions into containers—yoghurt, baked beans, leftover dinner items such as pasta—and keep them fresh in the refrigerator till morning. ◗ Be sure to include suitable utensils such as a spoon or fork for the more perishable items you’ll put in their lunch boxes the next morning.

Another time-saver is to cook larger batches when you prepare dinner, so the next meal is quicker to make.

Cook a larger batch of rice than you’ll need that evening, and freeze the extra in meal-sized portions in plastic zip-lock bags. These won’t take up much room in your freezer and they’ll reheat in minutes.

10 | Signs of the Times

3

do some morning preparation for the evening

By planning ahead for the evening meal, you can do some of the preparation in the morning. Wake up 15 minutes earlier and look at the menu you’re planning to prepare that evening, and see how much you can prepare while the porridge is cooking. Suggestions include: ◗ Wash leafy greens and make part of a salad. ◗ Mix up a salad dressing and store it in a jar. ◗ Wash and chop up veggies ready for a stir-fry. ◗ Make some mashed sweet potato.

These can all be stored in the fridge for later use. Morning preparation (or even early afternoon preparation) is a wonderful way to ensure that you have a more relaxed evening meal. Do this at least once a week. This can save you a bundle of time and take away the temptation to order that greasy pizza.

4

hide the leftovers

Now that you’ve prepared food ahead of time, it may be necessary to hide the leftovers from your family or limit them to one helping.

Leftovers are fantastic for nextday lunches and snacks. You can also freeze them in small containers, ready for a night when you’re too tired to cook. Meals that can be refrigerated for two days and used for lunches or dinners include most

pasta and rice dishes, roast vegetables, certain salads and desserts.

5

delegate, delegate, delegate

If you are the care provider in your family, you are probably a very busy person. You might make the beds and prepare breakfast, clean up the mealtime mess, drop the kids off at school, race home (or to work) to do your daily activities, and then pick up the kids, go home and serve dinner, clean up, and collapse after everyone is in bed. This sounds a bit like modern-day slavery, albeit voluntary.

While this may not be the exact scenario at your home, it does represent what many primary care providers do daily. However, you are not part of a family simply to take care of everyone else. You do not have to clean up their mess, take out their garbage, make their beds, organise their lunches and sort their washing once they have passed the age of four.

Being the primary care provider means you are actually the family’s team leader. It’s your job to organise, delegate and motivate your family to work together. This is what it means to be a family. Working together teaches a child how to be a positive contributor to society. This is essential for their future happiness and mental wellbeing.

So when your child or spouse makes a mess, be patient but let

them know it’s their job to clean up. Don’t give up after 10 minutes and do it yourself, since this will only teach them to wait 15 minutes to avoid having to do it. Wait, and wait some more if you have to and encourage the other family members to be contributors to the success of your family unit.

Being the team leader instead of chief slave will keep you from feeling so busy and stressed. You may also feel more appreciated and loved, and that’s great for your health too.

6

let them help

What do you do when your children want your attention at the same time you need to prepare the evening meal? You can scream for hubby to intervene, but it’s more productive to get them involved in the meal preparation. Children as young as three or four can do simple things in the kitchen. It will probably take them longer and you may have to help them do some things, but you’re teaching them how to help and enjoy it.

You can also teach your children the strategies you use for saving time in the kitchen. You’ll be teaching them—both boys and girls—to be time savers when they grow up and have kitchens of their own.

As your children learn to help in the kitchen, they will save you more and more time as the years go by. ½ Adapted, with permission, from Healthy Family, Happy Family, written by Karen Fischer, Exisle Publishing, 2010.

Signs of the Times | 11

our times

An international health survey has revealed that Australians are world leaders in self-deception when it comes to being fat. While one-third of the

diminishing faith Over the past 20 years, American Christians

are reading the Bible less, not taking up volunteer positions within their church as often and are attending church less regularly. The survey, by Christian research company Barna Group, tracked how America’s faith has shifted in the past 20 years on 14 religious variables. Other findings include the fact that there are now more “unchurched” people than before and that young adults are less prone to believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches.

meeting

royalty

bobbieo—Istockphoto

▲ fat, sad and drunk

1200 Australians surveyed admitted being too fat, BMI (body mass index) measurements revealed their perception was far from reality, with 60 per cent actually overweight.

Australians are also among the world’s biggest drinkers, coming in just behind their British cousins. And one-fifth of the Australians surveyed said they suffered from depression, the highest result for any country. China, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia had the next highest levels of depression (16 per cent).

Sources: Sydney Morning Herald; www.barna.org

63 years ago in Signs

T he Bible says that the current world as we know it will end one day. However, it is not something which we need to look at with foreboding. Garth Bainbridge explains what happens after the apocalypse in “The Next Thousand Years” (page 38).

12 | Signs of the Times

A

THEPALMER—Istockphoto

“Still stumbling over the rubble and ruin left by two world wars, fearful that another worse catastrophe may soon consume the last vestiges of civilised life upon the globe, they enter the New Year with a paralysing sense of present frustration and impending doom,” writes A S Maxwell in the January 10, 1949 issue of SIGNS.

pound a flag, a pound a flag,” chanted a hawker in an eastLondon accent as he strode past us waving cheap little plastic Union Jacks. My friend and I bought one apiece. We couldn’t line up in the hope of seeing the Queen without sporting a Union Jack!

The day of her golden jubilee in 2002 had been declared a public holiday. Some men climbed onto the roof of a bus stop for a better view. Down on the ground, my friend and I had had a good view first

With the Queen of England celebrating her diamond jubilee this month, Nyree Tomkins was reminded of a close encounter with HRH, which brought her to recall God’s love for us.

Signs of the Times | 13

thing in the morning, but as the time for the Queen to leave St Paul’s Cathedral approached, the crowd had become more dense and pushy and we lost our privileged spot.

I took a lot of photos of the crowd, but when the Queen’s limousine finally came into view, I didn’t want to block my personal view with a camera. Being vertically challenged, I found myself peering between elbows and over shoulders and then watched in awe as the car in which the Queen rode drove slowly by. I was part of history being made!

In true Elizabeth II style, she smiled and waved her gloved hand at me. At least I thought she was waving at me. And I was very happy to have seen the Queen so close up.

on to Buckingham Palace The London Underground offered free rides to celebrate the day, so after seeing the Queen near St Paul’s Cathedral, we caught a ride on the Tube, hoping to arrive in time to see Her Royal Highness when she arrived home at Buckingham Palace.

The Mall—the tree-lined boulevard that leads to the main gates of Buckingham Palace—was fenced off and lined with spectators. As Her Majesty rode past again, I had what I thought was an excellent view of her. And imagine my elation when, recognising me from the bus stop, she waved at me—again!

Once the Queen had made her 14 | Signs of the Times

entry into Buckingham Palace, London’s officials opened the Mall, and we—an estimated one million of us—flooded onto it and surged toward the palace, where we watched the proceedings on large screens as we waited for the Queen to appear on the palace balcony. When she did, we all cheered and my companion and I waved our Union Jacks in a show of British patriotism.

Overhead, British aircraft showed off their capabilities. We heard a loud roar from behind and turned to see a Concorde flying toward the palace. It was flanked by nine fighter jets that were trailing red, white and blue jet streams. To say that the crowd cheered is an understatement.

The atmosphere was electric. Neither before nor since have I been in such a multitude of people.

It’s hard to believe that the Queen is celebrating her diamond jubilee this year, mainly because it doesn’t seem that long ago when I helped her celebrate her golden. I wonder how these jubilee celebrations compare with the celebrations on the day of the Queen’s coronation.

I am sure many people still remember their experiences from that day too. And it probably isn’t so much what the Queen or her officials did and said that they remember as it is their individual experiences. My two clearest memories from the golden jubilee weekend are, first, being part of an expectant crowd and second, the times when

the Queen waved at me.

But truthfully, I’m certain that Her Royal Highness doesn’t recall her encounter with me. If she saw me on the street tomorrow or the next day, I seriously doubt she’d say, “Oh, I remember you! You were standing outside St Paul’s Cathedral on the day of my golden jubilee and then I saw you again outside Buckingham Palace!”

The reality is that I was just another face in the many crowds she’s encountered during her reign.

Though she’s the Queen of England, she’s also human and obviously can’t have an intimate knowledge of everyone and everything in all parts of her realm.

But there is a King who does know and remember us all. The Bible describes Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. King David wrote, “For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.

God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. . . . The kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted” (Psalm 47:7–9).

Zacchaeus My experience of waiting for the Queen reminds me of the Bible story of Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector who was also vertically challenged. Zacchaeus had earned a reputation as greedy, overzealous and fraudulent in his business dealings.

A crowd was approaching and Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was

making His way through the town of Jericho. Like the men sitting on top of the bus stop outside St Paul’s Cathedral, Zacchaeus saw the density of the crowd and knew he had little chance of seeing Jesus unless he could get to a higher vantage point.

He ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree to get a better view. The crowd moved slowly forward and Zacchaeus watched Jesus approach. Suddenly, Jesus stopped at the foot of the tree where Zacchaeus was sitting and He looked up and addressed Zacchaeus by name: “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5).

Overjoyed, the wealthy tax collector scrambled to the ground. The Bible says, “So he came down at once and welcomed [Jesus] gladly” (verse 6).

The people who saw what Jesus did began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner’ ” (verse 7), but Jesus had a good reason for going with Zacchaeus. He wasn’t afraid of the criticism, because He knew Zacchaeus’s heart.

The effect of this encounter with Jesus was life changing for Zacchaeus. He acknowledged his past wrongs. Conscious of his sins and genuinely repentant at the effects of his actions on others, he said, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (verse 8).

Signs of the Times | 15

Doug Batchelor

Jesus then declared, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (verse 9).

the people

Many people don’t know who they are.

Selfishness and pride camouflage the real person. This dynamic book written by Doug Batchelor, will help fan away the chaff and expose the essence of who you really are—and more important, who you can really become in Christ! To receive your free copy of Who Do You Think You Are? fill out the coupon below and mail it to the appropriate address.

In Australia: Who Do You Think You Are? Offer Signs of the Times Locked Bag 1115 Wahroonga NSW 2076

New Zealand: Who Do You Think You Are? Offer Signs of the Times PO Box 76281, Manukau City Manukau 2241

YES! Please send me free personal copy of Who Do You Think You Are? I understand I will receive it FREE and without obligation.* Name Address Town/Suburb State Postcode Please print clearly to avoid mail difficulties.

* Restrictions: Personal copies only. Postal requests only (no email).

Offer available in Australia and New Zealand only. S1-2/12

The story of Zacchaeus shows us a King who is in touch with every part of His realm. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus wanted to see Him in a way that others in the crowd didn’t.

He knew the longings of Zacchaeus’s heart, his need of repentance and his desire for forgiveness and peace with God and his fellow man. The purpose of Jesus’ mission on earth was not to rule with an iron fist but to reconcile people to God. God is the Creator of the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28) and His kingdom has no end (Daniel 4:3).

Yet He knows each of us individually. He knows our background, the family we grew up in, our griefs and hurts, the joys and cares and disappointments we have experienced. He knows the very circumstances that have shaped our lives. The Bible says that He even knows the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7) and He knows every word you are about to speak even before you say them (Psalm 139:4).

Knowing that God is all powerful and the Creator of all things and yet knows me so intimately causes me, along with the psalmist David, to declare, “You are my King and my God!” (Psalm 44:4). ½

Food Matters

with Culinary Nutritionist Sue Radd

how to lose weight permanently Many people think it’s impossible to lose weight and keep it off. But research shows that at least 20 per cent of overweight people are successful in losing the flab for the long term. You can be one of them!

why lapses become relapses Lapses in healthy eating and exercise habits are common after weight loss.

However, they will only lead to significant weight re-gain if you view them as a total loss of control—if you don’t do anything to undo them and allow them to accumulate. While weight management is never easy, it’s easier to correct small lapses and prevent them from turning into major relapses, than starting all over.

A key for permanent weight loss is to monitor your lifestyle habits regularly.

The following suggestions will help you keep a vigilant eye on your performance so that you know when to take action.

how to self-monitor ◗◗ Weigh yourself at the same time each day. You can compare the results and catch yourself when your weight starts creeping up. ◗◗ Keep a food diary. Maintaining a record of everything you put in your mouth will impact how much and what you choose to consume, because you need to write it down.

It will also allow you to see the whole picture. For some people, snacks can add up to a quarter or even a third of their daily kilojoules!

Write it down as it happens and track the fat grams, the kilojoules or simply the food you eat and drink. ◗◗ Maintain an exercise log. This will help to make physical movement a priority. Use a pedometer, noting steps, time and distance covered. ◗◗ Do a weekly forecast. At the beginning of each week set one or two eating and/or exercise goals to focus on. Anticipate obstacles and plan solutions ahead of time so that you don’t get caught off guard. ◗◗ Get professional help. If you’re still struggling to keep weight off, stay in regular contact with your doctor or dietitian, whether in person, by telephone or email. Research shows professionals can improve your success with weight loss. ◗◗ And keep trying! Maintaining weight loss gets easier after two to five years. So don’t give up!

See page 55 for a waist-friendly recipe.

Nutritionist Sue Radd is the award-winning author of The Breakfast Book and co-author of Eat To Live, internationally acclaimed for showing how savvy eating can combat cancer and heart disease and improve wellbeing. See www.sueradd.com for more nutrition information.

honour your father

and your mother Scott Wegener gets a hair-raising experience while trying to obey God’s fifth commandment.

I

t was quite evident that neither of us wanted to be around the other. But if I didn’t change his light bulb, he’d probably die that night. I use the term he loosely, because it isn’t that easy to tell whether a snake is male or female. He was coiled around a burnedout light bulb, which usually kept him warm, and now he was striking at me every time I got near his cage to change it.

Looking after creepy-crawlies isn’t the kind of thing that thrills me, but I found myself in this position as part of a challenge to honour my father and mother for 28 days.

Have you ever thought about how you actually honour your parents?

It’s actually one of the Ten Commandments of God. You’ll find it in Exodus 20:12: “Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Being a part of God’s law, it must be an important request from Him. The way I chose to honour my parents was to take up their professions for 28 days. My career of making websites doesn’t dovetail with either of my parents’ careers, which no doubt disappoints them I believe, even if only to a small degree.

Having a turn at their careers would have been a lot easier had my parents been reviewers of say, roller coasters. But alas, no. My father was into wildlife, my mother taught piano and here’s what happened.

honouring my father My dad started his own business as a wildlife lecturer. That involves taking live animals to schools and teaching kids about them. He was going to South Africa to shoot some lions and elephants (with his camera) and needed someone to feed his critters while he was away.

This was a chance for me to step up and be zookeeper for a month, just like Dad. How hard could that be, right?

28 days: an experiment in living by God’s commands

Being winter meant that I needed to make sure the snakes kept warm or they could die. Hence the snake and the defunct light bulb.

In addition to changing light bulbs, the other reason I had to open each snake’s cage was to fill the container that held their drinking water.

Dad had put signs on each cage stating how likely I was to be bitten (and die). The codes were: “safe snake,” “shouldn’t bite” and “may bite.”

What do these really mean? If I point a gun at you and said it “shouldn’t shoot,” that doesn’t instil much confidence! After all, if it did shoot, it would kill you. As for “safe snake,” well, this happened to

skynesher—Istockphoto

the snakes

Signs of the Times | 19

be the sign on the cage of the snake that was striking at me while hanging from the light fitting.

Fortunately, Striker, as I named him (or her), had moved when I went back an hour later, so I could change the bulb without acquiring a hundred or so tooth holes in my hand.

istockphoto

the cockroaches Then there were the animals that required me to feed them live cockroaches for lunch.

Dad had devised an ingenious method for catching the critters from his breeding box without having to touch them. He had placed old toilet roll tubes in the box under some cardboard sheets. When he (and I) lifted the cardboard and they all scurried for darkness, some of them would invariably end up inside the toilet roll tubes.

I simply had to pick up the loaded toilet rolls and shake them into a jar, which was the transportation to their various dinner dates.

This worked most of the time, but occasionally they decided that up my arm was a better direction to crawl than being dropped into the jar. This helped me learn that it isn’t a good idea to drop a toilet roll full of cockroaches on the floor. I did catch most of them before the last two crawled under some cupboards.

(Sorry, Mum!)

20 | Signs of the Times

the spiders Dad also had a collection of spiders that needed feeding, which I had three main issues with. For the bigger spiders, I had to get the container opened and food in and closed before the spider ran up my arm.

The smaller, slower and poisonous redbacks had attached their webs to the lid, so when I opened it, the spiders came out of the container with it.

Finally, there were containers that had hundreds of babies hatched inside them and trying to keep them all in the container at once was a challenge. I hoped that any spiders which did escape could go hunt down the cockroaches that got away.

(Sorry again, Mum!)

the grasshoppers There was also a cage of large grasshoppers. The tricky part of servicing these bouncy creatures was opening the cage, which was at face height, and replacing the little tree branches they fed on, without all of them hopping out of the cage while it was open. I kept my mouth closed tight for that task.

By the end of my zoo-keeping stint, I still had all my fingers and had survived relatively slime free. All in all, I can’t say I enjoyed the experience, but I know my dad really appreciated my help. And, I guess,

things could have been worse. He could have had leeches that needed to be fed!

honouring my mother Next it was time to have a go at Mum’s profession. She was an afterschool piano teacher. She taught me piano when I was a child, but when I got to the part where I needed two hands, I threw in the towel.

So to honour my mother, I decided to start taking piano lessons from her again—some 25 years after quitting. And one of the requirements involved performing in public, regardless of the outcome at the end.

I was never that good at music practise. I would get very frustrated if I couldn’t get something right within four or five attempts, and having a mild case of dyslexia probably didn’t help my music reading, then or now. After a few lessons, which I thought I finished quite well, things started to get hard!

Have you ever seriously thought about how amazing piano players are? They’re not reading and playing just one note at a time, but two, four or more notes. These notes are displayed on two different bars, one for each hand, and you have to allocate the correct fingers as you go.

Furthermore, the note for one finger may need to be held down longer than the others and each one needs its own length of time and emphasis.

All this I could cope with if I didn’t have to play two or more sets of the notes every second! It’s a huge credit to the skilled pianist how they achieve this multi-tasking wonder!

But the worst part was that after 28 days I had to give a public performance! The hour finally arrived, and believe it or not, I got a standing ovation from the audience.

Admittedly, I was playing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” in the zero-to-four-year-old class at my church. But I took it as affirmation.

ten ways to honour your parents: 1. Call them, write to them or send them an email or SMS. 2. Visit them in their home or invite them to yours.

3. Take them out to dinner or on a day trip.

4. Take holiday trips with them.

5. Reminisce with them over old photos.

6. Forgive or apologise for a past incident.

7. Care for them in their times of need.

8. Get involved in their hobbies.

9. Ask them to move in with you.

10. Discover a new bug and name it after them.

Signs of the Times | 21

In Hebrew, the root idea of the word “honour” means to be heavy, weighty, respected, mighty. This honour starts in childhood and grows as we mature. According to the apostle Paul, children honour their parents by being obedient “in the Lord” (see Ephesians 6:1–3).

As we become adults, we recognise the “weight” or significance of our parents by giving them respect. For example, if our parents are aged or ill, to honour them is to meet their needs for care and support.

Love is always at the centre of such relationships—indeed, “love is the fulfilment of the law” (Romans 13:10).

The Bible advises responsible parenthood too: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Repeated in Deuteronomy 5, the commandment promised two outcomes: “so that you may live long and that it may go well with you” (verse 16). No wonder God’s people are instructed to “teach [the commandments] to your children and to their children after them” (Deuteronomy 4:9).

—Arthur Patrick

22 | Signs of the Times

Now the 28 days are up and I’m continuing with my piano lessons. Monday has turned into “Mum-day.” As for looking after the creepy-crawlies again, maybe if I buy a thick pair of elbowlength gloves and a full face mask, I’ll be more relaxed.

The whole process has probably raised more questions than answers for me.

Like, Why do the Ten Commandments ask you to honour your parents but not your partner or your kids? Is it enough to just be nice to your parents, refraining from cursing their name or publicly humiliating them, or is there more to it?

And is it fair that people who’ve buried their parents have only nine commandments to keep?

Some people probably think that honouring their parents means taking the time, money and effort to care for them in their old age. That certainly is one way to honour one’s parents. However, I believe that honouring one’s parents has as much to do with the little things in life as it does the big things.

When I send my parents a birthday card, I’m honouring them. When I call them on the phone for a chat once a week, I’m honouring them. I believe I honoured my father when I helped him by caring for his exotic pets. My mother really enjoyed giving me some piano lessons and I honoured her by spending that time with her.

So stop and think about little ways you can honour your parents. Think of something you can do to honour them today. ½

with Dr James Wright www.docwright.com.au

like the back of my hand

Antagain—Istockphoto

Bible says

medical hotline

the future

Our skin is covered with a natural anti-bacterial film, which tends to kill germs, offering a degree of ongoing protection.

But it will not stop a major assault, such as touching infected sores, coughing into the hand or handling kids’ toys that abound with threadworm eggs. So always wash your hands after visiting the toilet and before handling food, ideally with soap and warm water.

prevent, not cure no pills?

When it comes to certain illnesses, there are some medicos who will try and treat the entire body and not just symptoms. Others will treat the presenting symptom and hope nature will do the rest.

Today, better health is possible with a few simple lifestyle modifications, requiring less medical intervention. However, always seek professional medical advice when it comes to your health.

The pancreas is a large gland that produces insulin, vital in the prevention of diabetes.

Over-consuming alcohol can gradually destroy the pancreas, which can be painful. There is no specific treatment for pancreatitis and cancer can occur, which is very difficult to manage successfully. A healthful lifestyle has a major impact in preventing pancreatitis.

Family Medical Care This five-volume, fully illustrated set by Dr James Wright includes topics on partners, treatment of diseases, medical emergencies, as well as hundreds of lifestyle hints.

New Zealand address: Dr Wright’s books PO Box 97019 Manukau City Manukau 2240

To purchase these or any of the Family Lifestyles Series of books by Dr Wright, contact:

(Australia only)

In Australia phone:

1800 643 346

website: www.hhes.com.au Email: hhes@signspublishing.com.au Signs of the Times | 23

One hot day, Blake Penland discovered how to spend more meaningful time with God.

T

Thinkstock

drink deeply 24 | Signs of the Times

he heat was exhausting just to think about. After almost five hours of work, my sweat had stopped dripping. It was now pouring out of my entire body!

Working in a shop under a non-insulated roof made the 45-degree temperature outside look comfortable. Wearing protective gear, I was grinding galvanised steel pipes by hand in a room that, under the sun’s rays, had turned into a furnace. My body was crying out for water.

I had to stop for a drink, for I knew my body simply could not keep going much longer. My throat was completely parched as I walked over to the ice chest that held my water bottle. I grabbed the bottle and took a quick swig of cool, refreshing water.

I could feel the water coat the inside of my throat like a soothing medicine. It was the best water I had ever tasted! I took another mouthful,

savouring every drop. Being closer to the ice, the second mouthful was even colder than the first and it was also more satisfying, because I took the time to appreciate it. I felt even more refreshed than I had with my first quick swig, because I spent the time to drink deeply.

a to-do list As the water cooled my body, my mind turned to my spiritual life. I have been trying to spend more time with God each day and had decided to get up early enough to spend some devotional time with Him before starting the rest of my day—a resolve that proved somewhat difficult, since I had to start work at 6.30 AM and getting there required a 30-minute commute.

In addition to feeling physically drained, my spiritual life was spiralling down. When I took that second drink of cool, refreshing water, I realised that I had been treating my time with God like that first quick swig. Instead of savouring the minutes spent with my Creator, I was treating my devotional time like a checklist: Spent my time with God in Psalms 118. Check. Now that I got Signs of the Times | 25

intentionally doing Sometimes I feel as though no 26 | Signs of the Times

matter how much I try in the morning, I just can’t find the time to spend with God. I’m beginning to realise that this is because I haven’t been intentional with my time. If I’m trying to find time for God, I’m already fighting against myself and will more than likely fail to have a quality experience. I now intentionally set my Bible aside in a specific place the night before so I won’t have to hunt for it the next morning.

Because my relationship with God is continual, my morning worship should start the night before. I have to intentionally devote a certain period of time to God. Perhaps that’s why it’s called devotions. Just as I can’t just “hope” to spend time with the ones I love, just so I have to be intentional about how and when I devote time to God.

to drink and live There is no pivotal moment of complete knowledge and understanding that one arrives at in the spiritual journey with Jesus. Rather, there is a continual relationship through which we grow in our love for Him. The Bible tells us to “remain in the Son and in the Father” (1 John 2:24). Daily devotional life is not to become all-knowing but to get to know the All-knowing One personally. I should spend more time getting to know Christ well than trying to know more about Him.

juanestey—Istockphoto

that out of the way, I can go about my business for the rest of the day.

Then there was another issue: I realised that I was looking for more meaningful devotional time so that I could feel better about myself and the state of my spirituality. I reasoned that if I read my Bible and prayed, I would obviously become a better Christian. I was, after all, having “devotional” time with God. Simply put, I was wrong! There is actually nothing I can do to be a better Christian. Being a Christian means that I believe in Jesus, who has already done everything for a sinner like me.

Having a good devotional life doesn’t improve my standing with God. My time with God is not a moral obligation or requirement.

It’s simply a response to the love and forgiveness that He gave me even before I was reconciled to Him (Romans 5:8–10). I realised that I needed to change what I got to do into what I get to do.

I don’t got to read the Bible every day so that I can defend my faith, understand the Word or live righteously. I get to read the Bible because Jesus Christ has given me the free gift of salvation and I want to have a better relationship with Him. Reading the Bible each day is simply my daily response to the God who saved me from my sins.

One of the primary purposes of daily devotional reading is for our daily life applications.

We need to constantly search for ways to apply what we learn from our daily devotions to all areas of our life.

In her book The Desire of Ages, devotional author Ellen White, says, “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit.”

When speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13, 14).

So take the time to drink in the water of life through daily devotions with God. And drink deeply, because the water at the bottom of the esky is so much more refreshing than just a quick swig off the top. ½

how to have meaningful time with God ◗◗ Expect to have a good time of fellowship with God and expect to receive a blessing from your time together. ◗◗ Don’t rush into God’s presence. Instead, be still and let the quietness clear away all the thoughts of everything else you need to do. ◗◗ Come to your devotional times thoroughly rested and alert, preferably early morning. God deserves your full attention. ◗◗ Be willing to obey. Don’t come to your quiet time to choose what you will do or not do but with the purpose of doing whatever God wants you to do. ◗◗ Select a specific time for your quiet time.

Decide ahead of time how long it will last.

Don’t try for a whole hour at first, because you’ll likely become discouraged. Start small. Choose quality time over quantity time. ◗◗ Don’t watch the clock while you’re in your quiet time. ◗◗ Choose a special place that is secluded so you won’t get distracted or disturb others.

Source: www.purposedrivenlife.com

N

icole Watson was 20 weeks pregnant when it all began. She went for a routine scan and was told that something was wrong with her baby’s heart. After visiting with a number of specialists, including a cardiologist, she learned that her baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome (where the left side of the heart is underdeveloped). The cardiologist suggested she consider terminating the pregnancy.

Nicole had two other options. The first was to proceed with the pregnancy, allowing the baby to die after birth from the complications of his defective heart. The second was to perform surgery on the baby within 72 hours of birth. The surgery was dangerous for a newborn, but it was the option Nicole and her husband Don chose, believing that God the Life-giver had special plans for their baby, Sam.

wombat books

walking through fire When I spoke with Nicole, I found her passion and enthusiasm for God infectious. “Twelve months before I was pregnant with Sam, God had been drawing us in,” says Nicole. “We had a lukewarm faith . . . accepting Him on our own terms, not His. However, at the time, we weren’t actually aware of this. We were not actively seeking Him with every decision we made.”

God continued to reach out to Nicole, who started reading her

28 | Signs of the Times

Bible more often. Sensing His conviction, she decided to be baptised.

Following this, her relationship with God began to grow and change.

While Nicole and Don weren’t aware of what was about to happen in their lives, she is convinced that God knew and was preparing them for it. Nicole has a favourite text from Jeremiah 29:11: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” And this promise was about to be tested.

Before Sam was diagnosed with the rare disease, Nicole had a dream, and from it she was convinced God was showing her that through the tough times ahead He would be there to help. The dream involved her family walking through fire, which, while terrifying, had a specific message: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2).

Some people

When Nicole Watson gave her heart to Jesus at the age of 16, she could never have dreamed of the journey she would travel. Rochelle Fraser tells the story.

heart of the matter the

The Watson family: Sam, who suffers from the rare hypoplastic left heart syndrome, Don, Jack and Nicole.

Signs of the Times | 29

storming heaven As the nearest children’s hospital that could perform the surgery was some 1500 kilometres away, the family relocated for five months.

The move required them to continue payments on their mortgage, on top of the funds needed for travel and accommodation near the hospital. Don then took unpaid leave from his workplace, and they packed and went, leaving behind their support network of family and friends and the familiar surroundings of their home. And God provided for everything, answering all their prayers, including financial aid and generous help from others.

Sam was delivered by C-section and had his first operation less than 48 hours later. Because he lacked even the strength to drink, he was tube-fed for the first four months 30 | Signs of the Times

of his life. At four months, he had a second heart operation, shortly after which the family returned home, with Sam gaining enough strength to drink from a bottle a few days later. All was progressing well.

Then, at the age of one, Sam had a stroke that was caused by a blood clot in his brain and he couldn’t use his left arm. Nicole stormed heaven with her prayers. Within three hours Sam was again able to use his arm.

Scans revealed no clot and the doctors marvelled at Sam’s recovery.

Nicole says she and her husband had “this overwhelming sense of peace” while going through the experience. “There was nothing left of us; all we had was God. At times I was just too despondent to pray, but there were others upholding us in prayer. I cried—I had plenty of bad days—I just hung onto the hem of His garment.”

For Nicole, God’s glory shines the brightest when we are at our weakest and are broken. She sees no shame in showing our humanness and our emotions, including being honest with God, even if that means expressing our anger or frustration to Him. “God and I had very frank discussions,” she says. “It always ended with me crying and asking Him to take it all and to forgive me. He is big enough to take all that anger and hurt.”

During the difficult times, Nicole’s faith and trust in God did

Don, with Sam, after his first surgery, which he had less than 48 hours after his birth.

not waver. If anything, it grew.

Any trust she had in herself was destroyed and the things that once bothered her seemed much less important.

Now that she has experienced being totally reliant on God, she no longer wants to go back. So she and Don have made a concerted effort to keep seeking God daily.

a family promise

Nicole Watson

say that faith in God requires believing and waiting for God to act.

But for Nicole, James 2:14 and 17 explain it best: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? . . . Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Nicole was very careful not to limit God. During her pregnancy, she at first believed God would heal Sam’s heart. When and where, she still did not know, but she acted on this in faith and was careful to only speak positively about Sam.

After three years, life for the Watson family has returned to normal. Sam is three and his brother Jack is five. Sam has reviews with his cardiologist every six months and is still on medication. His heart is functioning better than ever, despite being at the age where it might be expected to need further surgery.

“Raising Sam is an absolute delight,” Nicole says. “He has a very quiet but independent spirit. He talks a lot and has taught us so much. Jesus is very real to him.”

Nicole encourages other families going through tough times to seek God and search their Bible for that special promise for them.

She has found that when she believes the Bible’s promises and invokes them for her family, there comes a peace that allows God to intervene.

And she is certain that this faith will carry any of us through the trials God allows in our lives. ½ Nicole has written a book, Sam’s Heart, about her experiences. Published by Wombat Books, 2011.

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) HLHS is a rare congenital heart disease in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped, making it impossible for the heart to send enough blood to the body. This forces the right side of the heart to maintain the circulation for both the lungs and the body, which it can do for awhile. But the extra work eventually causes the right side of the heart to fail.

The only possibility for survival is a connection between the right and the left sides of the heart. Patients with HLHS have the hole between their atria opened, either with surgery or using heart catheterisation.

If left untreated, HLHS is fatal.

Survival rates for the staged repair continue to rise as surgical techniques and postoperative management improve. Survival after the first stage is now more than 75 per cent.

Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine

Signs of the Times | 31

September 11, 2001 is a day most of the world will never forget. Melody Tan speaks to a lady who experienced it first-hand.

the last survivor

32 | Signs of the Times

recognition for her talents. Instead, she will always be known as the last survivor found beneath the World Trade Center rubble after the terrorist attacks in New York City.

“Having the moniker ‘The Last Survivor’ has always been bittersweet for me. Every time I hear those words, they are a stark reminder that nobody after me was found alive.”

Those are the words in the prologue of her book, Angel in the Rubble, published to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The book tells of her experience the day the planes crashed into the buildings, her ordeal of being buried under the rubble for 27 hours and a lifechanging experience, with whom she believes was an angel, in the moments before she was miraculously rescued.

much to thank for As she started to relax during the conversation, Guzman-McMillan became more effusive, possessing a generous dose of laughter which first bubbled forth when I asked her if this was her first visit to Australia.

“It is, most definitely!” she says,

Sigrid Estrada | Wikipedia

T

here was a misting spring rain the day I met Genelle Guzman-McMillan at a busy Sydney café. I was running a little late for our appointment and caught sight of her from across the road, standing near the cafe entrance in a smart charcoal dress and heels, her short bob neatly parted down the side.

When I introduced myself, Guzman-McMillan flashed me a tentative smile, as if somewhat shy to meet someone new. It came as a surprise, considering she had admitted that as a child in Trinidad, she loved performing in talent competitions and wanted to “perform in the limelight and make it big.”

One would think the amount of media attention that had been focused on her this past 10 years would have also seasoned her somewhat. But perhaps it was why she was thrust into the limelight a few days after September 11, 2001 that made her unprepared for the attention. GuzmanMcMillan had wanted

Signs of the Times | 33

eyes sparkling. “And it’s such a long way!”

Hers was a laughter that belonged to someone filled with joy and love in her heart. Guzman-McMillan is not someone who, after losing close friends and work colleagues to a hideous act of terror, was going to let it mar her outlook on life. In fact, it probably strengthened her.

“To be found after so long was truly miraculous, the result of the effort and self-sacrifice of countless strangers with a goodness in their hearts far superior to the evil acts that prompted them to respond. . . .

Because of them, and because of the grace of God, I have the opportunity to share my story with the world today,” she wrote.

Pinned on her side after the collapse of the World Trade Center, her head jammed between heavy blocks of concrete and only able to move her left hand, Guzman-McMillan had turned to the God that she grew up with, but chose to reject in adulthood, for help.

During the 27 hours when she was involuntarily paralysed with only her thoughts and regrets about her life to keep her company, GuzmanMcMillan found herself praying to God for the first time in a long while. She “found God” while buried under the World Trade Center and true to the promise she made to Him, changed her life around after her rescue, began Bible studies and was baptised a few months later.

34 | Signs of the Times

“If I’d gotten out of there unhurt, I know I would have been the same old Genelle I was,” she says in a unique American-Caribbean accent.

“This tragedy was a wake-up call for me because it transformed me into a much better, caring person and I’m just forever grateful to be part of this new life. I begged for it, I asked God, I begged and I pleaded with Him to give me that second chance, because I wanted to make that change, and I knew genuinely that I was going to make that change and I did.”

a transformation of life Nobody, not even al-Qaeda, who claimed responsibility for the attacks, expected such devastation when they planned for the planes to hit the World Trade Center 10 years ago. The collapse of both the towers came as a surprise and it was that which claimed the many lives.

“I wish it’d never happened,” Guzman-McMillan says when asked what she wished she could forget about that day. “It’s something I will have to live with for the rest of my life. At one point, it happened and somehow it happened for a reason.

It changed me, it changed my life and so that’s the positive side to look at it but knowing that my friends are not here, that’s why I wish it had never happened.”

Guzman-McMillan has an amazing ability to see the silver lining in every dark cloud. It isn’t that she

is thankful for the September 11 attacks. She is simply thankful to God for giving her a second chance and recognises that her life is much better with Him in it.

“The life I was living before [the attack], I wouldn’t consider myself to be a positive leader back then,” Guzman-McMillan says. “It was just about me; it was just about what I wanted to do—selfish ways—the cheating, the lying, the trying to get ahead and, today, since my life has changed, I think I’ve been such a positive influence to other people’s lives and that I hold dearly. I thank God for transforming me from the inside out. . . . I think the reason I’m [alive today] is to encourage people to step out in faith and live that life according to how God wants us to live our life and for us to know that we can’t do it alone. It’s not our strength, it’s always from a higher strength, and this is what I believe.”

It’s this belief that drives GuzmanMcMillan’s life and made her to be the warm and joyous lady that she is. “People think that I’m going to be in total depression, remembering everything each year that comes by, but I want people to know that my faith has become stronger.”

answering the questions Writing her account, however, was not easy, Guzman-McMillan admits.

“To relive that whole experience, to put it into writing, in detail, wordby-word, it was very emotional. It

was heart-wrenching for me,” she says. “But it feels like it’s therapy for me as well, a healing process. Knowing that the book is out there— and someone who might be going through a similar situation—I feel like I’m giving therapy to that person as well.”

You get a sense that GuzmanMcMillan serves a higher purpose outside of herself. The thing that matters is not about her but the kind of impact she can have on others. “[Angel in the Rubble] is not about me. It’s about other people and encouraging them to use their faith as well in overcoming adversity.”

With many predicting a global financial meltdown soon, with people nervous that another major terrorist attack will occur in their city and with many concerned the end of the world is near, as suggested by the Mayan calendar, Guzman-McMillan wants people to know that there is no need to live life in fear.

“Some people go through tragedy in their life and they choose not to go outside, not to go anywhere, they’re so scared. I choose faith over fear. I look at it as this: if it were my time to leave this earth, I would have gone, just like that. But it has to be a bigger plan, a bigger reason for me to be here, so I’ve got to have faith somehow to move forward in this life. It’s scary when you think about it, it’s scary out there.

But if we don’t have faith at all to do Signs of the Times | 35

anything, what good is our life?”

about bin Laden . . .

Ten years on, the American war against terror is drawing to a close.

When asked if she feels a sense of vindication, a feeling that justice has somewhat been served with the death of Osama bin Laden, leader of al Qaeda and believed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Guzman-McMillan takes a moment to pause and reflect.

“I’m not going to lie. It feels like a relief because of the families who have been grieving so long, their loved ones gone. I’m sure it brought some kind of closure to the families . . . but I’m not the person to go and celebrate death. . . . I just sit quietly and say, ‘Thank God, it’s all over.’ ” Again, it’s about those who have been impacted by the events. With a laugh, Guzman-McMillan says

that if it had been about her, she would’ve tracked bin Laden down herself for “messing up” her leg.

“I suffered injury, but you know, I’m in a different place. I’m still here and I’m grateful,” she says. “God is my life, my Rock, He’s my biggest support. I know that He’s my Angel and He’s looking out for me, and you know, it’s impossible to do anything without Him. I thank God for 9/11. Despite everything, I got to know Him and I get to be in a deeper, closer relationship with Him and that to me is, that’s all I live for.”

Terrorism may continue to exist, there may soon rise another evil mind like Osama bin Laden, but Guzman-McMillan’s message to the world is simple: pain and suffering will always be around, but God can grant us a peace that surpasses all understanding. Faith will overcome any and all adversity. ½

9/11: a day to remember The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 claimed over 2600 victims, including office and emergency rescue workers, and have been deemed the worst terrorist attack on American soil in history.

It was part of a coordinated attack involving 19 terrorists who hijacked four passenger jets, flying two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. The fourth never made it to its intended target of Washington DC thanks to the intervention of passengers.

There were no survivors from the planes. Close to 3000 people lost their lives that day.

36 | Signs of the Times

book ad

It’s true: the world is going to end.

Garth Bainbridge explains what’s in store for us when that happens.

the next

thousand years

38 | Signs of the Times

Alain Lacroix—Dreamstime

R

emember the hype that surged as we approached the year 2000? Y2K was the object of some dramatic predictions by amateur prophets, psychics and computer programmers. Most people feared that the world was heading for a crash one way or another. There was a universal sigh of relief when January 1, 2000, dawned and we discovered that apocalyptic catastrophe had been averted (even though we didn’t officially enter the new millennium until January 1, 2001).

It’s been more than 10 years since all of that happened, but predictions about the end of the world continue to proliferate. Last year, American televangelist Harold Camping declared May 21, 2011, as the day for the rapture. When that date came and went and no-one disappeared, he revised his prediction to October 21, 2011.

Camping has since acknowledged that he was wrong.

The world, however, has now turned its attention to this year—2012—which gained widespread attention in 2009 with the movie 2012. End-time beliefs are proliferating, based on the idea that Something Big will occur on December 21, 2012, the end date of the Mayan calendar. Beyond that date is supposed to be the literal end of days—oblivion.

Signs of the Times | 39

the Bible’s millennium The prophet John, in one of the last chapters of the Bible, also wrote about a future 1000 years, which Bible scholars refer to as “the millennium.” In Revelation 19, John described the return of Jesus to planet Earth in symbolic language, picturing Jesus riding from heaven to earth on a white horse. He followed this up in chapter 20 with an outline of the next 1000 years.

According to John, a resurrection will mark the start of the millennium and another resurrection 40 | Signs of the Times

will occur at its end. The resurrection at the beginning will be of those who “came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (verse 4). These will be the people who believed in Christ in this life. The resurrection at the end of the millennium will be for “the rest of the dead” (verse 5); that is, those who sided with the opposition.

Jesus spoke of these two groups when He said that “a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done [what is] good will rise to live, and those who have done [what is] evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28, 29).

Revelation simply helps us to understand that these two resurrections will be 1000 years apart.

during the millennium The millennium will play out in two locations, two places in the universe.

The abyss. First, there is an “abyss,” from the Greek word abussos, to which Satan will be imprisoned during that time. Revelation does not describe this abyss, but the Greek Old Testament uses the same word to describe the state of our planet before God formed it into a habitable place. Thus, the abyss is simply our own planet in its pre-Creation state.

Satan and his evil angels will be confined in this abyss for the duration of the millennium. They will

enjoynz—Istockphoto

Then there is the ancient notion rooted in Jewish apocalyptic and Persian Zoroastrian beliefs that the seven days of the Creation week have something to tell us about the life cycle of the earth. Some Christians have kept this idea alive by a literal interpretation of 2 Peter 3:8: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Applying this to the Creation week, they believe each day of Creation represents a thousand years.

According to this calculation, because God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, this planet will have a 6000-year life span before entering a 1000-year rest period. So, assuming that Creation took place about 6000 years ago, we are about to begin the seventh period of a thousand years, which will be a kind of “sabbath rest” for Earth.

essentially be on heaven’s death row, contemplating the consequences of their crimes against the universe.

Think, too, of what happened before the creation of our world. Satan, once a highly placed angel in heaven, decided he wanted to climb even higher. He wanted to be God. So now, with the world returned to its preCreation state, God will be saying to him, in effect, “Okay, Satan, you wanted to play God. Here’s your chance. I’m handing this planet over to you in its raw state, just as it was in the beginning. See if you can make it into a paradise the way I did—and all in just six days. But I’ll be generous. I’ll give you a thousand years to complete your job.”

If there is any question about Satan’s ambition to be God, his long exile on this dead planet should clear that up.

Our heavenly home. The second location the Bible speaks of during the millennium will be heaven, where Jesus’ resurrected followers will reign with Him. The Bible says they will sit on thrones with “authority to judge” (Revelation 20:4). These people will have the privilege of understanding God’s decisions about why some of us made it to heaven and why others of us didn’t. Imagine the questions they’ll be asking, “How come my dad is missing? I thought he was such a saint!” or, “Look, here’s the guy who raped our neighbour’s daughter!”

There will be tears as parents weep for their missing children, husbands mourn for their missing wives and wives for their missing husbands. But as God allows them to look into the heavenly records upon which His decisions were based, they will agree that He did the right thing. For God’s people, the millennium will be a time of healing as they

a forever burning hell?

Many people believe in the concept of an everlasting, burning hell. This is derived from the Bible’s account of the judgment of Satan at the end of the thousand years, where he will be “thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.

They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

But can you imagine a loving God who constantly inflicts pain and suffering on His creation, even after they have chosen to reject Him? In Jude 7, the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah are said to “serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire” (emphasis added). However, these cities are no longer burning and haven’t been burning for centuries.

So when the Bible talks about an “eternal fire” or of people being “tormented day and night for ever and ever,” it is referring to the consequences of the event. Forever doesn’t always mean without end.

Signs of the Times | 41

in the end The millennium will close with another great event: “Satan will be released from his prison,” and he “will go out to deceive the nations”—the wicked who have been resurrected—and “gather them for battle” (Revelation 20:7, 8).

Picture the scene: The evil general has on his side kings and military leaders who impacted the course of history. Behind them will stand an immense army, “in number they are like the sand on the seashore” (verse 8). They gather against “the camp of God’s people, the city he loves” (verse 9)—the Holy City, New Jerusalem, that has descended from heaven to this earth.

Satan will be energised by the numbers on his side, certain that he can defeat his enemies. But his advance and that of his vast army, will come to a halt as God, the Judge of all the earth, rises above the city on His throne. He will then judge the wicked and condemn them for their evil deeds. Suddenly and dramatically, fire will come down from heaven and devour Satan 42 | Signs of the Times

living with children

and all of his host of evil angels and human allies. This will be what is popularly referred to as hell, but it won’t last forever. It’s called “the second death” (verse 14) and its job will be to burn to ashes those who have rejected God’s heart of love (see Malachi 4:1).

This will be the most merciful thing God can do for them. He desperately wanted them to be with Him on the inside of the city for eternity, but they chose otherwise, and He will honour their choice.

God won’t revel in this moment, though; He has no desire to prolong the agony of the wicked. After all, their real agony will be the knowledge of what might have been, what they spurned in favour of what will end up being less than worthless. So He will destroy them, along with Satan and his team of demons.

with Family Psychologist John Rosemond

the good news But out of the ashes of our planet, God will make “a new heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13), for “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).

There will also be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Then there will be just one pulse of love, life and harmony throbbing throughout the universe. And at the centre of it all will be “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1) who died to make it happen and so you and I could be there. ½

Moving trauma? monkeybusinessimages—istockphoto

come to terms with the loss of loved ones. Many will also deal with the psychological scars that have resulted from physical hardship and persecution for their faith.

But the good news is that the Bible promises that eventually “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17).

Q:

About a year ago, my husband and I underwent a major move with our three-year-old. Six months later, I gave birth to twins. Needless to say, our first-born is feeling deprived of attention and has become painful to live with. She has become very disruptive and disobedient. Do transitions of this sort require changes in one’s parenting approach?

A:

F irst, you’re making the very common mistake of superimposing a psychological interpretation on your daughter’s behaviour. Because the psychological point of view—which, by

the way, can never be verified—induces self-doubt and confusion, it paralyses a parent’s ability to respond to a child’s misbehaviour authoritatively, with calm purpose.

Signs of the Times | 43

living with children with Family Psychologist John Rosemond

44 | Signs of the Times

your difficulty is shared by your child. In all likelihood, the move bears no significance to the issue at all.

The first step toward solving the problem is for you to stop analysing your daughter’s misbehaviour and assigning it unverifiable causes. Isolate the behaviour problem in your thinking and deal with it. Begin by choosing one misbehaviour that can be clearly defined. For example, your daughter responds with “No!” when you tell her to do something.

Using a magnetic clip, affix three “tickets” (5cm x 12cm pieces of coloured construction paper) to the refrigerator door. Every time your daughter refuses to obey an instruction, say, “Telling me ‘no!’ means you lose a ticket and have to sit in time-out for 10 minutes.”

If she refuses to sit, simply take another ticket and move on. Begin every day with three tickets (or no more than five). When they are all gone, little Miss Too Big for Her Britches must spend the rest of the day in her room and go to bed early. And no, this is not too “severe” for a child who is approaching her fourth birthday.

If you are dispassionately consistent, I predict that she will spend most of several days in her room, at which time you will begin seeing a slow but sure change for the better in her ability to fit into her britches. ½ Family psychologist John Rosemond is the director of the Center for Affirmative Parenting in Gastonia, North Carolina. For information about his talks and workshops, contact Tracy Owens-Jahn at tracyjahn@sbcglobal.net

where the heart is Seth Pierce says that home is more than a place to sleep and relax. It’s a place to know God and experience love.

O MASTERFILE

If your daughter is simply being disruptive (the objective, verifiable point of view), that’s one thing. But if her disruptions are an attempt to compensate for having been displaced by the sudden, inexplicable arrival of two siblings (the psychological point of view), that’s quite another. Disruptive behaviour in a child this age merits firm discipline; but if her behaviour is the result of psychological turmoil, what do you do? Is she a perpetrator or a victim? Should you punish or sympathise?

The fact is, you don’t know whether she would be behaving this way, or even worse, if the twins had not come along when they did. Infants require a lot of attention, relatively speaking.

Beginning from around a child’s second birthday, parents need to slowly withdraw attention and transfer responsibility from parent to child for such things as getting snacks and solving minor problems. That’s when the process of helping a child learn to stand on her own two feet begins.

If a child continues to bask in parental attention past their third birthday, they can very easily become addicted to being the centre of attention. Disruptive (attention-seeking) behaviour will most certainly be the result.

As for a major move thrown into the mix, the word “transition” has generated much ado over relatively little. Children are very flexible. They adapt to major life changes far more easily than do adults.

Perhaps the family move has been difficult for you and you assume that

ver the years, my list of things to do continues to multiply as new responsibilities emerge in the various aspects of my life. There are lists for my job (I’m a preacher), for writing assignments, for books to read, for videos to watch and a honey-do list of household jobs. And somewhere in

all these competing voices are the cries of my wife, my two daughters (especially Chloe, who is finally learning to sleep in her crib) and my often cuddle-deprived dog. They all need my help with their list of tasks to accomplish (well, the dog’s list isn’t too long!).

I’m discovering that amid the increasing busyness of life, I need to Signs of the Times | 45

find time for family in between my church responsibilities, soccer practice and making it home in time for my favourite TV show.

Some people solve the problem by scheduling a specific “family night,” but I think it’s sad that we actually have to plan our families into our lives. What do we call it when it isn’t family night? Just a group of people busily working in separate bedrooms with separate lives, occasionally getting together for a “family meeting” to plan “family night” or “family vacation” or check the “family budget”?

More often than not, our homes are more like hotels and our families function more like

a business than as a group of loved ones sharing life and love together.

spiritual family Do families worship together anymore? Going to church is a great time to connect with the family of God, but there are other times when we need to connect on a deep spiritual level with our families at home.

In his book Somewhere More Holy, Tony Woodlief says, “We have outsourced sacredness to our churches, and in so doing we have relinquished the sanctifying power of the home.” In other words, the frenetic pace of our lives and the loss of intimate relationships at home is due to neglecting the central spiritual

component of what a home is.

Woodlief points out that “it is in our homes where we make love and pray, where we make children and try to raise them, where—if we are blessed—we one day are allowed to die. If God is not in such a place, in the muck of our daily existence, in our beginnings and endings, then He is nowhere.”

God needs to be central within our homes and not just in formal family worship activities like singing, studying and praying together, but in everything we do.

God’s family At Creation, God not only formed man and woman from the

earth, He also gave them their first objective in a short command: “Be fruitful and increase in number” (Genesis 1:28).

God designed for us to have families, so it’s only fitting that His character and a deep, loving relationship with Him should influence how we structure our families and schedules. Our objective within the family is not to grab as much earthly wealth as possible or to see how many awards we can get through various artistic, athletic and academic achievements. Those things are great, but not when they begin to create disconnections between mums and dads, parents and children, humans and their Creator.

Bible discovery with Errol Webster

the importance of marriage and family Eight-year-old Danny Dutton’s teacher assigned her class to “explain God.” Danny wrote, “One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make grown-ups, just babies, I think because they are smaller and easier to make.

That way, He doesn’t have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk; He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.” The innocence of a child highlights the importance of the family.

46 | Signs of the Times

A recent Pew survey revealed that, while nearly 40 per cent of Americans think marriage is obsolete, more than three-quarters say it’s best that children be reared by parents who are married.

1. How did Jesus define marriage, its origin and permanence? Matthew 19:4–6 “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ . . . So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has

joined together, let man not separate.’ ” In defining marriage from Eden as a union between a man and a woman, Jesus ruled out other sexual arrangements as legitimate or beneficial. Seth Eisenberg, president of the PAIRS Foundation (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills), one of the biggest relationship-education organisations in America, says, “Marriage is like glue. You can build something with it. Living together is like Velcro. The commitment of marriage gives people the opportunity to grow and thrive in ways that other relationships do not.”

2. What is one of the purposes and privileges of marriage? Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them,

‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth.’ ” Research shows that children need quality care from both parents or with stable substitutes for parents. The most caring teacher cannot provide the loving attention of parents and other family members.

3. How did Paul explain the fifth commandment for children and parents? Ephesians 6:1–4 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord . . . which is the first commandment with a promise—‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’ Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

Signs of the Times | 47

In creating laws for His Israelite people, God went so far as to put formal military service for Him on hold. He said, “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married” (Deuteronomy 24:5).

God sees value in our being connected to each other—maybe even over and above “church work.”

special family We need to reclaim what God

intended the home to be, which is not the hotel model, but a place for experiencing the love of each other and God and discovering what He has called us to do. It’s a place to experience unconditional love and get a foretaste of heaven.

In the words of Dorothy Gale, there should be “no place like home.”

Home has no equals or likenesses.

The space is altogether unique.

In the Old Testament, God had a special collapsing sanctuary built so that He could live among His people. In the New Testament, we see Him coming even closer through

Bible discovery with Errol Webster (continued) 4. What had Timothy known from a child? 2 Timothy 3:15 “From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Sadly, children today often learn more from the TV than from their parents.

On average, kids spend more than six hours each day with media, which is more than they spend with their parents or in school. Katherine Ramsland reports a 1999 study which showed that by age 18, the average child had been exposed to more than 200,000 violent acts and 40,000 dramatised murders. They will see nearly three-quarters of a million commercials and girls will get 250,000 messages about what they’re supposed to look like.

Dr Michael Rich of Harvard University says that “paediatricians across the

48 | Signs of the Times

country are now seeing rising levels of aggression, obesity, substance use, eating disorders and unsafe sexual behaviour where media plays a key causal role.” Dr Sarah Coyne, a professor in the Family Life Department of Brigham Young University, found a correlation between hearing profanity in the media and aggressive behaviour among adolescents.

5. What should be our motivation to put God first in our lives and honour Him? John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

When we accept Jesus as Saviour, God lavishes us with His love, calling us His children (1 John 3:1). In the busyness of life, let’s make sure we make time for God in our families. The rewards are out of this world.

the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

God in a tent and God in the flesh—and ultimately God in Spirit dwelling in hearts and minds that believe. The Bible speaks of humans as “temple[s] of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

If we are “temples,” what do we call the structure where we dwell?

At the very least, our dwellings are a sort of super sanctuary, a place where God chooses to dwell. Knowing this should change the way we view our houses. It means that our homes are holy, because they are separate from any other place on earth. The home is already a sanctified or holy place, because God and His people are living there.

This sacredness should permeate the common things of life like sharing a meal, doing chores or enjoying a movie together. Busyness doesn’t equal holiness or happiness. Mostly it equals messiness.

The apostle Paul, writing to his disciple Timothy, counselled him to select leaders who could manage their homes (1 Timothy 3), making the point that if the home falls apart, so will the church.

shifting the family Churches sometimes think that investing in the best programs and asking for all of people’s time will benefit them spiritually. But I wonder if simply reinforcing the home as a holy place and a safe place to experience God would have an even

more tremendous impact on both individuals and churches.

The church can act as a hospital for hurting people, but only insofar as its members are being restored and rested in loving homes.

When marriages and families can operate with an awareness that God is present in all they do—even in the simple things—it may serve to take the edge off the need to fill up every extra square on the calendar with business. It may also serve to remind us to be kinder and gentler within the walls of our homes, which in turn will end up sending kinder and gentler people into the world.

Too often, family is an assumed value or responsibility. Too often, marriages just coast on the fumes of busy schedules that don’t allow the working out of deeper issues that would result in deeper connectedness.

There is an old phrase that many faith traditions have used to describe where mums and dads and kids gather to worship God together. It’s called the “family altar.” This expression doesn’t refer to a literal altar but rather to the act of meeting together to offer praise and glory to God. While altars are meant to be used as a meeting place for worship, they also require sacrifice.

If we sacrificed busyness and our incessant need to achieve every day, we would find there is more room in our homes for family. ½ Signs of the Times | 49

The Duomo watches over Florence and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering the city’s historic centre.

art capital of the world the

F

lorence is the capital city of that romanticised Italian region of Tuscany. Its 370,000 inhabitants make it Tuscany’s most populous city. It has the distinction of being the home of Michelangelo and numerous other great artists of the past. During the medieval period it was a centre of trade and finance.

Today its history and famous art collections attract millions of tourists each year.

Florence’s attractions Among Florence’s unique attractions is a brass pig with a nose that has been rubbed smooth by countless hordes of tourists seeking good 50 | Signs of the Times

luck. Then there is the world famous Ponte Vecchio—the only bridge over the River Arno that wasn’t destroyed at the time the Germans retreated in 1944.

If you proceed a little way over the Ponte Vecchio, you’ll come to the Pitti Palace, built by a banker to outrival the palace of the Medici family. But in an ironic twist, the palace became the main residence of the Medici family! The Pitti Palace is a great museum that displays the art collections of the Medici.

One sight not to be missed in Florence is the Baptistery, located just across from the Florence Cathedral (commonly called the Duomo), with its huge dome, built without Signs of the Times | 51

spooh—Istockphoto

Harold Harker takes us on a tour of the Italian city of Florence and gives us an overview of the life of one of its most famous citizens, Girolamo Savonarola.

52 | Signs of the Times

contains many of Michaelangelo’s other sculptures.

Florence is also noted for its leather, and in any group visiting this fascinating city there will be a number of visitors who want to buy leather goods either from the markets or from specialty shops.

Students of art flock to this city. Others come for a brief summer course to learn Italian and as a bonus to see the wonders of this great city. However, Florence has an equal attraction for students of history.

Top right: The cathedral and Giotto’s Tower.

Bottom left: The famous brass pig.

Bottom right: “David,” at Piazzale Michelangelo.

he called the Curia (the church leaders) “a false, proud archaic whore.”

Strong words, indeed.

In 1475 Savonarola became a Dominican friar and entered the order’s convent, San Domenico in Bologna, where he studied theology. In 1482 the Dominicans transferred him to Florence. At this time he was considered to be a poor orator and when he left Florence in 1487, few noticed his absence.

beginnings Of particular interest to historians is the story of Girolamo Savonarola.

As the prior of St Mark’s Convent, he virtually ruled the city of Florence in the 1490s. Even though he ruled only a short time, his legacy continues till today.

Savonarola was born at Occhiobello, about seven kilometres outside the town of Ferrara, on September 21, 1452, though some maintain he was born in Ferrara. As a youth he studied at the University of Ferrara. Even from that early age he was strongly opposed to the corruption he saw in the clergy and the church and at the age of 20 he wrote a poem titled, “On the Downfall of the World.”

He did not endear himself to the leadership of the church, three years later writing an essay titled, “On the Downfall of the Church,” in which

comeback preacher

Harold Harker

scaffolding between 1059 and 1128.

The east doors were commissioned in 1401 to celebrate Florence’s deliverance from the plague. The artist Lorenzo Ghiberti did such magnificent work on them that Michelangelo christened them the “Gates of Paradise.”

Another “must see” in Florence is Giotto’s tower beside the Duomo.

If you are in good health, you can climb the tower’s 414 steps for an awe-inspiring view of Florence’s dusty red roofs. And when you return to terra firma you can buy a huge gelato, some of which have cones 25 to 30 centimetres tall!

You’ll also find Dante’s house in Florence—the actual place of the famous poet’s birth. Not far from there is the Basilica of the Holy Cross—the largest Franciscan church in the world. Legend has it that the church was founded by Francis himself. Michelangelo is buried here, as are Galileo and Machiavelli. A monument to Dante is situated outside the church.

A copy of “David” by Michelangelo adorns the main square, the Piazza della Signoria, and another copy of the world famous statue is situated in the Piazzale Michelangelo overlooking the city from a vantage point on the hills across the River Arno. The original “David” is located across the square from St Mark’s Church in the Accademia di Belle Arti, an art academy that was founded in 1563. The Accademia also

However, Savonarola gained an ardent supporter in the Count Pico della Mirandola and under his patronage, returned to Florence in 1490. Claiming to have had visions from God and the saints, he began to preach about the last days of the world. This time his fiery preaching brought him favour and the attention of the citizens of Florence.

His church of St Marks now became crowded, with standing room only. He preached practical, biblical messages, urging his listeners to live good, sober lives and avoid pomp and display.

Lorenzo de’ Medici was one of Savonarola’s patrons. However, the Dominican friar also preached against the indulgence and extravagance of the ruling classes. This made Medici and his family the target of his preaching.

After Savonarola became the prior of St Marks church and convent, political events thrust him also into the leadership of the city. King Charles VIII of France had invaded Florence and in 1494 displaced the ruling Medici family.

From this point on, Savonarola tried to make Florence’s citizens live

by Christian rules. Homosexuality was outlawed, as were mirrors, cosmetics, immoral paintings and Signs of the Times | 53

Food Matters food matters

Details from Lorenzo Ghiberti’s famous “Gates of Paradise.”

The populace soon tired of the strict regimen imposed on them.

A Franciscan preacher challenged Savonarola to a trial by fire, but he declined and his following diminished almost overnight.

In 1497 Savonarola was excommunicated by the pope, who then demanded his arrest. On April 8 of that year a violent mob attacked his church and killed a number of his supporters. Savonarola and two of his closest associates surrendered, 54 | Signs of the Times

Preparation Time: 15 MINUTES + freezing cooking Time: 0 MINUTES Serves 4

Ingredients: ■■4 very ripe bananas ■■¼ tsp cinnamon,

nutmeg or wattleseed ■■¼ tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Slice the bananas into small chunks and place on a tray lined with freezer film and freeze overnight or until solid.

2. Remove from freezer and defrost for about 5-10 minutes. (If you crush the frozen banana as soon as you take it out of the freezer, it will resemble breadcrumbs until it thaws slightly.)

3. Transfer into a food processor, together with cinnamon and vanilla essence and puree until you have a smooth, ice-cream-like texture.

4. Serve immediately in bowls or re-freeze for later use.

TIP: For extra flavour, drizzle each banana ice-cream portion with passionfruit or maple syrup just before serving.

PER SERVE: 430 kJ (103 Cal). Protein 2 g. Total fat 0 g. Saturated fat 0 g.

Cholesterol 0 mg. Carbohydrate 24 g. Fibre 3 g. Calcium 6 mg. Iron 1 mg.

GREG teschner

fall from grace

REAL Banana ice-cream

Harold Harker

sculptures, fine dresses and even women’s hats. These items were collected and a public burning took place in the main square, the Piazza della Signoria. It became known as the Bonfire of the Vanities. This act also meant that many of Florence’s most treasured artworks were burned.

It is reported that Savonarola himself threw some of Botticelli’s great artworks into the fire. The great cathedral—the Duomo—was denuded of its artwork. Even today, the interior of the cathedral is fairly bare compared to many other great cathedrals in Europe.

and he faced charges of heresy and sedition.

With the people baying for his blood, he was tortured on the rack, but his torturers spared his right arm so that he could sign his confession!

On May 23, 1498, Savonarola was taken to the Piazza della Signoria, and on the very spot where he had burned the art objects and artefacts of decadent living, he and two of his friends were hung from chains on a cross and a huge fire was lit under them. The executioner is reported to have said, “The one who wanted to burn me is now himself put to the flames.” The ashes were then thrown into the River Arno near the Ponte Vecchio.

In the German city of Worms, where Martin Luther made his historic stand, declaring that his conscience was bound by the Word of God, there is a monument to Luther. It shows Luther in the centre, higher than several other figures. Among these other figures are a number who were part of the preReformation and the Reformation, one of whom is Savonarola.

It seems evident that Savonarola went to excess in his reforms, but he was a preacher of righteousness who blazed a trail that was followed by later reformers, who honed the message of salvation and godly living that God asks of us. ½

with Culinary Nutritionist Sue Radd waist-friendly recipe

There’s a common perception that all anger is bad, and therefore God cannot be angry.

Arthur Patrick challenges that idea.

understanding the

angry God of the Bible

daneger / Ig0rZh—ISTOCKPHOTO

M

56 | Signs of the Times

illions of children over many generations have been taught to pray to “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” Gentle? While the Bible symbolically calls Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” it also speaks bluntly about “the wrath of the Lamb” (John 1:29; Revelation 6:16).

The word wrath is a good synonym for “anger.” In Scripture, both terms have some tough relatives, such as indignation and fury.

So, an indignant, angry God? A furious, wrathful Jesus? How can those ideas coexist with the idea of a gentle Jesus?

gathering the evidence From Genesis, the first book of the Bible, it is apparent that God hates evil. The second book, Exodus, says plainly that “the Lord’s anger burned against Moses” for his hesitancy about bringing the Israelites out of their Egyptian bondage (Exodus 4:14). A little further on, the book of Numbers depicts Signs of the Times | 57

what about Jesus and His teachings?

It is essential to read the whole Bible and note carefully all of the teachings of Jesus. He was meek and mild, true, but He also demonstrated fearless moral strength.

When He saw the temple courtyard in Jerusalem crowded with 58 | Signs of the Times

people exchanging ordinary money into temple currency and others selling birds and animals for use in the daily sacrifices, He was incensed.

The Gospel of Matthew states that He “drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.”

Then He said, “It is written, . . .

My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:12, 13).

The Gospels of Mark and Luke recount the same event in vivid language (Mark 11:15–18; Luke 19:45–47).

When the temple area was cleared of the money-making rabble, a new crowd gathered quickly: “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14). The religious authorities did not take kindly to the threat Jesus posed to their trading system. What He said and did made them even more determined to kill Him. Thus, Jesus’ anger at sinful behaviour was one of the causes of Calvary.

The significance of Jesus’ actions is much more fully explained in His teachings. For instance, in His parable about a landowner who rented his vineyard out to some tenants, Jesus said that the tenants seized a landowner’s servants “beat one, killed another and stoned a third,” and finally they killed his son.

Jesus’ listeners declared that the

landowner would “bring those wretches to a wretched end” (Matthew 21:35, 41) and Jesus did not disagree with them. This is especially significant in view of the fact that the landowner represents God and His attitude and ultimate action

toward wicked people.

In fact, the best-known text of the Bible, John 3:16, says that we humans are challenged to choose between two stark alternatives— whether we will perish or will have eternal life.

the great controversy For centuries, authors have tried to express in the language of their times and places what the Bible promises so graphically about the end of the world.

Ellen White, a nineteenth-century author, wrote five large books on the age-long conflict between righteousness and sin. The first volume opens with the bold claim that “God is love” and “every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love.” She continues, “The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.”

The closing paragraph of her fifth volume graphically expresses the Christian expectation: “The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more.

The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space.

“From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.”

This love is strong enough to triumph in the war with evil, getting rid of sin and its effects, and redeeming “a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9).

B-C-Designs—Istockphoto

the Lord as becoming “exceedingly angry,” and later it speaks of the Lord’s “fierce anger” (Numbers 11:10; 25:4). Such references continue frequently throughout the Old Testament, even in the Psalms, where the Hebrew poet asks God, “Will you be angry with us forever?”

(Psalm 85:5).

Cambridge Bible scholar JC O’Neill observed that the nouns wrath and anger and the phrases “to be angry” and “to hate” are used in the Bible with God as the Doer of the actions, either expressed or implied (Deuteronomy 11:17; Hosea 9:15). God is also said to be “jealous,” that is, displeased with people for what they do (Exodus 20:5). The wrath of God is directed both at sinners and at their sins.

Such ideas are clearly present in the Old Testament and the New. There are actually scores and perhaps several hundred biblical references to the divine wrath. Psalm 7:11 says that God “expresses his wrath every day,” and Hebrews 12:29 says that “our God is a consuming fire.”

Signs of the Times | 59

dilemmas for Christians are real How nice it is to sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.” Such a comfort to hear the words. But we cringe when we hear the apostle Paul describe Christ returning to earth “in blazing fire with his powerful angels,” punishing all “those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel” with “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:7–9).

Imagine a God who was totally passive about evil, allowing it to continue without ever lifting a finger to help those who are injured by it. It’s important to understand that God’s moral character requires Him to abhor evil as well as to love good.

He is opposed to every form of evil; and the Bible writers express this by speaking of God’s wrath.

On the other hand, some Christians so emphasise God’s grace and Christ’s saving power that they claim all human beings, without exception, will eventually attain salvation.

Those who believe this doctrine are called “universalists.”

who wants an angry God? The unfortunate truth is that many people want an angry God. Where was God, they ask, when a drunk driver killed our child? Where was God when the earthquake and flood destroyed our home? Where was God when we came down with cancer? These people are angry about what happened to them and 60 | Signs of the Times

they want a God who is just as angry about it as they are.

A cat can be in the same room with a husband who beats his wife or a mother who whips her child mercilessly, and the cat will sleep through the whole affair. That’s because cats aren’t moral beings.

But the God of the Bible is a moral being. He Himself has given the human race laws to guide us in our moral behaviour.

God says that it’s wrong to kill, to commit adultery, to steal and to tell lies. Since God is a moral being, it’s impossible to fathom that He would not be angry at the evil in the world.

Who wants a God who will passively dismiss the atrocities of a Hitler, an Idi Amin, a Pol Pot? The anger that arises within us when we see people being harmed by evil is one of the best evidences that we are moral beings, created in the image of God. Our anger motivates us to intervene when we see people being harmed by evil. And this is as true for God as it is for us.

The Bible is explicit that God will banish evil from the world some day.

We call it hell, a place where evil and evil people will be forever destroyed.

In place of the evil that now grips our world, God promises “a new heaven and a new earth” where there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:1, 4).

It’s a world in which all of us can look forward to. ½

Subscribe today!

Signs of the Times is a lifestyle magazine with a Christian focus and has been published continuously in Australia and New Zealand for 126 years. Why not subscribe and have it delivered to your mailbox monthly?

Free call:

1800 035 542 (Australia)

0800 770 565 (New Zealand)

YES! I would like a year’s subscription (11 issues) to Signs of the Times for the low price of $A25 ($NZ30).* Name

Mon-Thu 9 am-5 pm AEST

Address Or Mail coupon to: Town/Suburb Postcode Australia: Signs, PO Box 201, Warburton Please print clearly to avoid mail difficulties.

Victoria 3799 Enclosed is a cheque/money order of $__________ payable to New Zealand: Signs, Signs Publishing Company, OR charge my MasterCard / VISA. PO Box 97-019, Manukau City Manukau 2240 Name on card Online at: www.

Signature signsofthetimes.org.au Expiry date S1-2/12 .

*Price for delivery in Australia and New Zealand only; please contact us for delivery to other countries.

Price includes postage and GST. Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ACN 093 117 689.

a right royal I

f you hadn’t realised, the Queen and I have a lot in common.

We’re both female. We both have endoskeletons. We both look good in hot pink. We were also both in Melbourne at the end of October 2011. Even more coincidentally, we were both in Fed Square at the same time on the same day 62 | Signs of the Times

while in Melbourne. We even both had the opportunity to ride on a tram that day!

But that’s where the similarities end. After all, she’s the Queen of England. I’m not. I had to pay for my tram ticket, while she had a whole Royal Tram to herself (and her husband and some others, but I

Floortje—Istockphoto

Adele Nash harbours blue-blooded aspirations.

doubt she ended up nose-to-armpit with anyone in a peak-hour crush, as it was for me). Her likeness appears on currencies in a number of countries around the world, while mine doesn’t. She also looks great in hats, whereas if I wear a hat, it looks like something from outer space has landed on my head and is attempting to devour my hair. In addition to that, I’m not actually royalty— hard as that may be to believe. n Not that I think I really would want to be so here on earth. It seems to be a fraught situation. Just look at the gruesome ways in which some monarchs exited stage-left in history.

Julius Caesar failed to beware the Ides of March and got stabbed 23 times. A popular theory about the murder of Edward II involves a redhot poker. There were beheadings in the French Revolution and being shot to death in a cellar in the Russian Revolution.

Then there’s Henry VIII, who is (in)famous for his divorced–beheaded–died–divorced–beheaded–survived approach to wives. So the risk wasn’t just in being king, but also in being married to one, or even being more closely related to royalty than someone who desperately wanted to be ruler. Roman emperor Nero was said to have favoured cyanide. But not for himself, obviously. n Mercifully, we live in more civilised times where, if you are royalty, you only have to live with the paparazzi photographing your every

move, the press critiquing your every outfit, and the endless stream of exceptionally dull duties you have to perform.

Yet, in spite of this, people still long to be royalty or for the lifestyle it affords, even though very few of us are going to ever attain it. But there is a chance to become part of a Royal Family and it doesn’t involve lucking out and marrying a Danish prince you met on a night out at Circular Quay, Sydney. n It involves embracing the free gift provided to us by Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for the sins of the world. By choosing to do this, we get to become children of the Heavenly King—God. In the Bible, Galatians 4:4-7 says, “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. . . . and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”

If we believe in Jesus, love Him and follow Him, we will be offered a “crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:4). If we choose to connect with Him, we become heirs of the King of kings—and, I’m assured, there are no hats involved with that! And no end to it, too. ½

Signs of the Times | 63