Friends,

The name ‘church’ is full of meaning. Many  people love it, and many people hate it. As Christians we want to preserve the identity of the church, but we may also want to change it. Some say that the church is where the saints worship, but those who attend know that it is also full of sinners like themselves. This is the paradox we have when we talk about the church.

Mike Lewis, a member of the Crieff church, recently conducted and analyzed a survey of members’ views on different issues relating to the church. The results showed that the members of our church have a broad range of beliefs and opinions about our teachings and practices. Never-the-less, there is a widespread consensus that our beliefs in Christ and the Bible unite us more than our different views on biblical interpretation divide us. The outcomes of the survey were fascinating and gave us a full colour snapshot of where we are as a church in all our glorious diversity!

The Bible says that God has given us the church for a purpose. According to Eph 4:12,13 one of the main reasons that the church exists is to help God’s children grow up into His love and design for their lives. If we don’t relate to each another within a church context, we deny ourselves God’s chosen method for helping us to become mature in Him.
God needs us to help Him grow the church into a relationally healthy place. Research and experience show there are physical, social, economic and spiritual benefits when we are closely connected with God’s people. If you’re isolated, and you want to make regular contact with the Body of Christ, please let me know. We want to help you find the best way for you to be connected to the rest of His body, so that we can all grow to become more like Him.

Pastor Bernie Holford

Dear Friends,

Have you ever heard someone say – ‘I don’t like change.’ ‘It seems most change round here is just for the sake of change!’ We have a coalition government that was voted in largely on a mandate for change. Already the new political party has proposed significant changes in our system of government, as well as major cut backs in public spending, and many people will lose their jobs.

Some changes bring personal pain, but there are also good changes. A few weeks ago I managed to fix the door on our kitchen oven so that it would close properly. For months it hadn’t quite closed for the last few degrees, so it was constantly ajar, and the inner glass panel would slide out and hit you on the shins whenever you opened the oven.  I was so pleased that it was working better as I like trying to fix appliances and keep old cars going.  Repairing rather than buying new does not help the economy much, but I like to feel I’m doing something to reduce waste in the environment.

Unfortunately, within a couple of weeks, despite my best efforts to fix the problem, the door mechanism failed again.  This week the hinges broke completely and the door fell with an almighty crash, right down to the kitchen floor, where it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces! As I write this there are no more roasts, cakes or fresh baked bread in our home. There’s something about human nature. Many of us are quite happy to tinker with something to try and keep it going, instead of admitting that it’s totally kaput and it needs a radical change!

We now have a gaping space in our kitchen cupboards and a door-less and useless oven. We have ordered a new oven – and, God willing, it will arrive soon. I realised that tinkering around and making small changes might have made things last a little while longer, but what we really needed was a brand new oven!

Are you frustrated with just tinkering and trying to improve a spiritual life that needs a radical change? Don’t wait for a crash! Anticipate the future and ask God to help you make the best change. As the Apostle Paul says; ‘I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.’ Phil 3:8 NIV. We really have to desire a change with our whole heart, and the good news is that it won’t cost as much as a new oven! The new spiritual life will produce real food that nourishes your soul and the lives of others. If you want to discover how to experience the changes that God wants to make in your life, pray, listen to God through the Word and the Spirit or talk to your pastor and look for what God wants to do in your life.

Pastor Bernie

Dear Friends,

We were marooned in Slovenia when the flight ban was imposed following the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption. Karen and I had been invited there to teach on the Trans European Division’s Certified Family Life Educators’ course. We were booked to fly on Friday morning from Zagreb, in Croatia, so that I could preach in Crieff the next day. Despite frantic efforts exploring all options, there was nothing we could do to get home in time. We felt powerless. We prayed that the Lord would show us what to do and eventually discovered the best way home for us would be to take the Monday evening ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium that would take us across the North Sea arriving in Rosyth on Tuesday afternoon. Eventually we were able to book train journeys across the continent to Belgium and the ferry home to Scotland. We enjoyed what is becoming known as ‘slow travel’ – the green alternative to flying! We were so blessed to have a way to get home, while many others were still stranded in distant countries.

There were several passages of Scripture and lessons that came to mind as we were travelling back. I was particularly struck by what Iceland’s president, Olafur Grimsson, said. “In modern societies like Britain and Europe, there has been a disengagement between people and nature. There has been a belief that the forces of nature can’t impact the functioning of technologically advanced societies. But in Iceland we learn from childhood that forces of nature are stronger than ourselves and they remind us who are the masters of the universe.”

It takes an event like this to remind us of our vulnerability to nature. It is so easy to forget that our so called ‘civilised’ society, and all of its blessings, are so easily disrupted. In the last few weeks, we have had a tiny taste of the type of chaos and apprehension that the Bible predicts for the last days. Jesus and Paul said that this time will come on us ‘like a thief in the night’ (Matt 24:43 and 1 Thess 5:2) – when we least expect it.

Christ’s coming is closer than it has ever been. Let’s take some extra time to think about this last and most important journey. Now is the time to check we’ve booked a ticket on the most reliable form of intergalactic transportation that will carry us into the very presence of God forever!

Pastor Bernie

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Auchtermuchty, (pop. 2000), in Fife where I live with Karen and my son Joel. ‘Muchty,’ as the locals call it, is one of 100s of similar burghs across Scotland. If you go to the local web site http://www.auchtermuchty.co.uk you will see that its inhabitants are proud of its unique history and identity.

We have recently discovered that a couple of Seventh-day Adventist pastors have had strong links to Auchtermuchty.  The father of Pastor Bob Smart (a retired minister living in Crieff) lived here and worked as head engineer at John White and Sons Weighing Machines around the 1930s. Pastor Edgar Hulbert (1920-2003, father of BUC Communications director Victor Hulbert) was born in a small rented cottage in Auchtermuchty. At the time, Edgar’s father was a colporteur supporting an evangelistic team in Perth.

We are wondering if God has a plan for the residents of Auchtermuchty. I believe it is not random coincidence that has brought us here. If God has a plan for a relatively obscure place like ‘Muchty, then you can be sure he has a plan for every area of Scotland?

As you read this, think about the place where you live.  Are you the only Adventist in your district? Who else has lived there before you? What is God’s vision for your city or burgh?

Some think history is a dead subject, but I am increasingly fascinated by how others have changed our lives today. The past commitment of Adventists has made our current communities alive with committed and witnessing members. We praise God for the faithfulness of past and present members.

God gives us a distinct identity as Seventh-day Adventist Christians and if we follow his leading he places us in the area where he wants us to be. You are who you are, and where you are, because of Gods calling (Eph 1:11-14)!

What contribution are you making to the story of God’s working in your city, town or burgh? Please let your pastor or myself know the vision God is giving you to make the difference, wherever you live for Him.

Pastor Bernie

Dear Friends,

Spring, Resurrection and Eternal Life
Yesterday morning, outside the Crieff church, I saw the first spring daffodil opening to the sunshine. It was revealing fresh new life after the barrenness of winter. Then, after church, I had a conversation with a young man who has been coming to our church for a few months. ‘I would like to be baptised’ he said. I was so excited. He told me that he was not an Adventist and had been struggling with issues about why God allows suffering. ‘Then God revealed to me his love and I just accepted it.’ He is no longer spiritually dead, but alive and fresh in Christ.
On my way home from church I visited Pastor John Arthur in hospital. It was 7 days since he had suffered a severe stroke. The doctors had warned the family to be prepared for the worst! Yet John has experienced remarkable improvement. He now thanks God for the wonderful care he is receiving. The prayers of many people around the world are being answered. His broken body is being healed!
On Good Friday, the Christian world remembers in a special way how Christ died for our sins. With sadness we reflect on our failures that made it necessary for Him to die on our behalf. Experiencing the implications of our spiritual brokenness can be like a dark winter in our lives. Whether we feel it or not, during this black time in our lives, Christ’s love sustains us.
Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Today and every day we experience the joy of his resurrection. The winter of separation from God is over. We too are raised from the dead and the promise of eternal life is ours – forever!
I thank God for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and continue to rejoice as I see the new life his passion now brings into the world.
What signs of new life are you seeing in nature, in those around you and in yourself?

Pastor Bernie

Hard Wired for Power
Yesterday was my ‘first day’ off for months. Besides taking and making a few church related calls, I spent most of the day feeding an electrical cable through the studwork of our bathroom walls.* The proposed new shower in the bathroom needs power. After hours of drilling holes in very awkward places I needed to ask my son Joel to help me feed the cable through the holes and round the corner as I couldn’t push and pull at the same time. Eventually the wires were connected and I was so pleased when the neon light on the fused switch came on showing that I had not made any dramatic mistakes so far! Yet after hours of work, there is hardly anything to show for what I have done. The cables are all buried and the holes I made are covered up. Only an inconspicuous switch on a wall labelled ‘shower’ indicates that there is a hidden source of power running through the walls.
On the street on a winter’s day it is very difficult to tell the difference between an Adventist Christian and a person who does not believe in God. On the outside all humans look similar. Inside, I believe we are all ‘hard wired’ to connect with God. We are all created in the image of God with the capacity to relate to Him and one another. To extend this analogy, the essential difference between those who decide to follow God and those who have not, is that they have chosen to switch on the button that connects them to the Holy Spirit, the source of infinite power to live and love.
It will only be possible to have hot showers in our bathroom because the invisible cables are drawing on the electrical power supply. I needed help to put the cables in place. I couldn’t do this by myself. Christians must work together to create networks of positive relationships. When we are ‘switched on’ to God, we experience the privilege of showering His grace, love, joy and peace in our communities. Allowing the power and presence of God in our lives will change the multiple worlds in which we live. Let us pray that all of us will choose to switch on to the Source of infinite power each day and then be energised to bring the warmth of God’s presence into a cold world that needs us to reveal Him and make a difference!

Pastor Bernie
*(For those who are wondering about my competence to do this job, I should mention that I don’t compromise on safety issues, so followed all the instructions and will be calling an electrician to sign off my work.)

Dear friends,
It’s been snowing for a few days in Auchtermuchty, but we have a warm dry house, thanks to the good insulation in our newly renovated home and a useful connection to the national power grid. Fortunately our family is protected from the winter elements. Five decades ago life would have been much colder and damper in our old whinstone home. In 2004 we visited a reconstructed Scottish black house (taigh dubh) in the highlands. These single storey, stone-and-thatch buildings were the homes of rural Scots for hundreds of years. In the winter, the open peat fire burned around the clock to keep the home from freezing. There was no chimney, so the acrid smoke drifted up to the rafters and eventually through the straw of the thatched roof. There was a peat fire burning when we visited and I found myself bending down to avoid the thickest smoke. When it was cold, the cattle where brought into the byre or barn in the lowest part of the house and their body heat provided an early and very eco-friendly form of central heating! Their manure added another potent smell to the heavy, stifling atmosphere, and a degree or two of extra heat as a bonus.
The byre where Jesus was born was possibly as dark and smelly as an old black house. Can you begin to imagine what it was like for Jesus, the Son of God, to take his first breath in a place like this? Can you imagine what it was like for Mary to give birth in an animal shed? It is unlikely that Jesus was born in December, as the sheep were still in Bethlehem’s fields, but the barn could well have been chilly and damp.
Jesus chose to come and experience the normal hardships of traditional rural societies. Our Lord could have chosen a more comfortable and attractive birthplace, but he wanted to identify with needy, homeless and deprived people, throughout the world and down through the centuries.
The poor matter to God. At this time of year we are reminded of God’s generosity in giving up so much to save our world.  Living in a time and place where we experience relative riches and comfort, it is our responsibility and privilege to reach out and share what we have with those who have less than us. When we connect with God’s heart for hurting, hungry and homeless people, he gives us compassion, and inspires our creative generosity. Through his love, we are called to give our money to the poor, our time to the lonely and our worship to the Saviour of the world. Paul says, ‘As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’ Col 3:12
When we sit in our warm houses with our plates of food and water in the tap, we can thank God for all the blessings he has provided for us. List them all. Count them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done, and what he will continue to do.
May God be with you as you enter into a very blessed new year!

Pastor Bernie

Dear friends,

I do get frustrated when journalists use words like ‘unprecedented’ to describe unusual weather conditions. It wonder if they think that just because they can’t remember a similar situation then this is a sign that things are far worse than ever! As a teenager, I remember hearing preachers using examples from the news to illustrate that life on earth is about to come to an end.

As many young people, I was a sceptic and an optimist. So much of life was getting better than it was when my parents were children during World War II. Are things really getting worse?

Just because the floods in Cumbria knocked out some bridges, does this really mean that the rainfall is much worse than on other occasions? Scientists are talking about the potentially disastrous effects of global warming. Perhaps they can be treated with the same scepticism that we have for reporters using exaggerated language to try to wake us up inevitable trajectory for our society.

Film makers are cashing in on our current uncertainty. ‘2012’ is a new film that predicts the end of the world in 2012 and worried teenagers are reported to be contemplating suicide as there is no point in living.
Christians have some great news at this time. First, Christmas is about commemorating the centre of earthly history, the coming of Jesus Christ, the love gift from God, to save the world and give us hope. When Jesus died and rose again, he proved that there is a God who can make meaning out of our life on earth. This same Jesus promised to return to save us all from the impending disaster.

So ~ was the rainfall last week really unprecedented? Philip Eden, the author of ‘Great British Weather Disasters’ says “The rains which hit the Cumbrian mountains last week were most certainly without precedent in the instrumental record, and that goes back to 1844 in this particular part of the UK.”

Global warming is pointing to a cataclysmic end for our civilisation. Am I overstating the case? We as Seventh-day Adventist Christians can say without reservation, that we are living in unprecedented times. And we can have hope that God will intervene as he has promised – just in time for us to be saved by his second coming. Let’s pray that this great day will come soon and all the suffering will be over.

May God bless you as you celebrate the first advent and look forward to the certainty of God’s unprecedented second coming.

Pastor Bernie

Dear friends,

We all know that words are so important, and understanding them can be the key to experiencing the true meaning of a passage. Last week I became very curious when I was reading Psalm 91 and came across two words that I had frequently heard, but was not sure what they meant. In verse 4 God says that ‘he will cover you with his pinions … and that his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.’ What are ‘pinions’ and ‘bucklers?’

The pinion is the equivalent of the wrist joint in a bird’s wing. It enables a strutting bird of pray to bring its wings forward and create a circle of protection. You may have seen this on nature programmes when birds protect food from being stolen by other birds. Ps 91:4 gives us a picture of a God who covers us so that we are totally surrounded by his protection like eagle’s wings that can surround and protect their young.

A buckler is not a buckle for the armour as I thought, but a small shield that can be used both to defend and even attack someone attacking the user. Being lighter and more manoeuvrable, the soldier would have an advantage in certain combat situations over someone with a large and heavy shield. If God is like a shield and buckler this text is saying that God wants to protect us, whatever situation we are in.

As the Psalmist put it:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:1-4 RSV

It is my prayer that we will all experience the presence of our wonderful God who will protect and defend you in all the challenges of this month ahead.

Pastor Bernie

Dear fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Last week at the end of Sabbath School, I sat as a visitor in a small Adventist church in England. (My Sabbath plans had been unexpectedly changed!) There is a stereotype that ‘Southerners’ are not friendly so I expected there would be a time of quiet as the congregation waited for the beginning of the service. To my surprise, as I looked around, almost everyone was quietly talking to their neighbour. Old people were smiling in conversation with the young. Trendily dressed professionals were listening and engaged to those without work. A child was happily drawing on a work sheet lovingly supervised by a parent. Nobody was being ignored. I experienced a beautiful moment of wonder – holy awe.

The stereotype of southern coldness was shattered by the love of God showing in the members’ interactions. It did not take a degree in psychology to realise that these people really liked each other and enjoy being together. The pianist stopped playing, the worship leaders walked in, and conversations were replaced by a moment of silence as the worship time started. During the service there was a focus on teaching from the Bible and prayer. After the service ended, almost everyone stayed and talked together over drinks and snacks.

In Acts 2:42 it says after the Holy Spirit was poured out, the early church ‘Devoted themselves to:
1. The apostles teaching. 2. The fellowship. 3. The breaking of bread and 4. To prayer.

I came away from that service having experienced great teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer and I was truly blessed. How is your experience of church on Sabbath morning? What can you do to ensure that everyone leaves church on Sabbath having experienced the presence of God and the love of His family? Even though there are many different approaches to meeting together, let’s ensure that we do what the early church members did. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and following the practices of the early church, I believe that God will really bless and grow all our churches.

Let us pray for the Spirit and love one another and trust that God will perform miracles of love among us.

Pastor Bernie

Dear fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ,

It has been a very eventful week for the Holford family.  The move to Scotland has taken us a frustratingly long time, partly due to an unusual boundary issue over the drive of our ‘new’ home. So it was a wonderful answer to prayer, and a great relief, when we finally received the green light from the solicitor. Everything was set for a final sale on the 21st August. We confirmed the moving date with the removal company and Karen took a train to Scotland to collect the keys.  Joel and I drove up on Monday the following week after tidying up our old home in Hemel Hempstead.  Now we are unpacking boxes in our new home in Auchtermuchty, Fife. We thank God for bringing us safely to Scotland, in time for our son Joel to start school and finally to be with you all after such a long time apart.

I am writing this letter sitting in the car by St Andrews castle ruins. There is a GW inscribed in the road next to my parking place where the protestant preacher George Wishart (a mentor for John Knox) was burnt at the stake in 1546. In the country where we live, many lives have been sacrificed to ensure that the gospel of grace could grow in this beautiful land.

Today, our church has been commissioned to continue the reformation work in Scotland. This is an enormous challenge and I am both daunted and excited as I am looking forward to seeing how God is going to use us all for this task. As I review God’s leading in bringing us to Scotland and providing us with a home and a mission I am reminded of the temporary nature of all we do in our own strength. The ruined castle at St Andrews, with its tragic stories contrasts with the Psalmist’s words; ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.’ Ps 18:2. ‘To the faithful you show yourself to be faithful.’ Ps 18:25.

I am deeply grateful to God who has shown that he is faithful to those who try to follow him. This may involve sacrifice, but our faithful Lord will be with us. We can thank God for our homes and his answers to all our prayers. At the same time I am looking forward to meeting you and hearing and seeing how God is working in your life as you serve Him. I am also really looking forward to hearing the vision that he has given you for your future. If I don’t see you in person, I hope that you will get in touch with me and let me hear about God’s direction for your life and the mission he has given you.

Blessings and grace,

Pastor Bernie

Dear Friends

For those who were not at the recent SM Day of Fellowship, let me introduce myself in a ‘back to front’ way by telling you about me. I am Karen’s husband and Bethany, Nathan and Joel’s father as well as Tim’s father-in-law. I am Alison, Graham, Colin and Robert’s brother as well as being Alec and Hedy’s son. My nephews and nieces from Australia, Denmark and London call me Uncle Bernie. To many I am defined by my familial relationships. Beyond that, many other people call me a friend, ‘pastor’, or colleague. However, the most important identity that I have been given is that of a ‘son’ by my Father in heaven.

I am passionate about the vision of the church in Scotland and the enthusiasm I am finding in the Scottish Mission to move forward in the strength of our Saviour Jesus Christ. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is in all his children, to reveal his purpose and hopes.

I believe we are living in the time of the end when old and young will have visions and dreams. (Joel 2:28) I am excited about hearing these dreams and visions that the Spirit has given to adults, youth and children as I will be meeting with many of you over the next few months.

This is an exciting time for me as I am looking forward to getting to know as many of you as soon as possible. I have a problem with remembering names and would appreciate it if you could help me out in any way you can!

May God bless us all as we dream His dreams for us all.

Pastor Bernie

Dear Friends

Introducing Pastor Bernie and Mrs. Karen Holford

Pastor Bernie Holford has been called to take up the role of President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Scotland, following Karin’s and my departure. He will also be the Pastor of our faith community in Crieff. He and his wife Karen have three children; Bethany (Married to Tim Craggs in 2008), Nathan (Studying physics in London) and Joel (16)

Bernie’s initial call came out of an evangelistic campaign and that, coupled with God’s direction in his life led him into ministry in the church. In recent years he has been the Family Life Director of the South England Conference. Before coming to work at the SEC, he worked in various positions in his service for God – as a Pastor, a Coach and a Therapist. His aim has been to help individuals set and reach the goals they are looking for and encourage them to realise that God wants them to achieve these goals too!

Karen has been working as the Assistant to Bernie Holford in the Family Ministries Department. She handles a lot of the writing element in their work for families and her role as assistant includes preparation for campaigns, seminars and events such as the Lone Parent or Family Camps held in Cornwall each year. Karen is thrilled to be able to plan and participate in children’s work, calling it ‘exciting’ because of the amazing levels of creativity that children allow themselves to express. She enjoys working with themes and crafts in many ways, using ‘fun things to increase children’s spirituality’.

Karen holds an MA in Education and Development Psychology and has authored a number of books including ‘100 Creative ideas for Sabbath’, ‘The Family Book: Creative Ideas for Families’ and ‘Muddy Fingers and Sticky Feet: Help for Mums Under Pressure’. Bernie is currently studying for his Phd. Unfortunately Bernie’s commitments, including some weeks at Andrews University in the USA working on his doctorial studies, mean he will not be in Scotland until toward the end of August.
They clearly bring great talent to their role as President and Pastor. I believe they will be a huge blessing to the church in Scotland and it is my prayer that the church family here in Scotland will embrace them and treat them with even more love than we have been privileged to enjoy.

Bernie will take over the role of President on the weekend of the Session, 21 June 2009. Plans are that Karin and I will leave for Egypt at the beginning of September.

Llewellyn Edwards

Dear Friends

Are you Jesus?

Most will know the story of the man running to catch a train who bumps into a small boy playing with his swap cards. The cards are scattered about the platform and the man has to choose between catching his train or helping the boy. He decides to help the boy and misses his train. After they have found and picked up all the cards the man apologises and is about to walk off to find out when his next train is when the boy asks him “Mister, are you Jesus?”

A similar story is told of a down and out shelter where a Christian [let’s call him Peter] over some time has been lovingly helping a tramp. One day a service is held at the centre and the trump who is a little intoxicated goes along for something to do. Not being familiar with the person of Jesus the tramp gets bored by the preacher going on about Jesus and begins to get a bit troublesome. He is asked to leave which only makes him belligerent until the speaker has to stop and comes up to him and says “You need to change and become like Jesus!” To this the tramp replies “I don’t want to be like Jesus – I want to be like Peter!”

Both stories illustrate the same concept. Being like Jesus or mistaken for Him must surely be the greatest compliment one could be paid.

I’d like to challenge our membership in Scotland to take a careful look at Jesus – how he treated prostitutes and ‘sinners’, related to children, respected the outsider and those of other faiths, cared for the poor and the lonely, and then ask ourselves if the way we treat others could possibly lead others to mistakenly ask “Are you Jesus?”

What greater tool for evangelism and witness might our presence in Scotland be if we thoughtfully sought to measure our lives not by what we think is right but simply by the meekness and disinterested love of Jesus.

Ellen White wrote, “Now that Jesus has ascended to heaven, His disciples are His representatives among men, and one of the most effective ways of winning souls to Him is in exemplifying His character in our daily life. Our influence upon others depends not so much upon what we say as upon what we are. Men may combat and defy our logic, they may resist our appeals; but a life of disinterested love is an argument they cannot gainsay. A consistent life, characterized by the meekness of Christ, is a power in the world.” DA141

Are you Jesus?

Llewellyn Edwards

Dear Friends

By the time you read this, I hope you will also have received sheets of paper to write your part of the “Adventist Church of Scotland’s Bible”. Each of our churches and companies are assigned sections of the Bible and we hope that the act of writing out the Word will be an opportunity for us all to renew our commitment to being people of the book. Our aim is to complete the project in time for our Day of Fellowship on Sabbath 20th June.
Please read below an article by Pastor Mark Finley. Also, if you have access to the internet, take a look at the sites about this world-wide project [www.followthebiblesda.com/] which is the General Conference website, or [www.adventistinfo.org.uk/followthebible] which is the British Union site, but above all renew your daily commitment to reading and understanding the Word.

Llewellyn Edwards
Historically the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been known as “a people of the Book,” although the terminology “people of the Book” originally came from the Qur’an, referring to the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. “Do not dispute with the People of the Book: say, we believe in what has been sent down to us and what has been sent down to you; our God and your God is one” (Sura 29.45). The term “people of the book” was often used in reference to Adventists because, in the past, they studied their Bibles. For more than 150 years Seventh-day Adventist families have begun their day by reading the Bible and used its teaching for inspiration, guidance and source of encouragement for their daily living. Seventh-day Adventists promote the Bible as the voice of truth in this sinful world. Sadly, an alarming picture emerges today.
The findings of the Barna Research Study of June 2001 should concern us. In comparing seven religious practices of 12 major denominations, the Barna Study concluded that Seventh-day Adventists ranked number seven in the frequency of Bible reading, and only number twelve in prayer practices. The Barna study correlates with a survey (3,646 surveys returned) by the Institute of Church Ministry at the theological seminary at Andrews University reveals that only 51% of the Seventh-day Adventist administrators, pastors, and lay people who responded have any form of daily devotions and family worship. These studies indicate that Seventh-day Adventists in some places are no longer the “People of the Book.”
We are reminded by the pen of inspiration that “no other Book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad enabling truths of the Bible” (SC 90), and that “none but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict” (GC 593). Therefore, there is an urgent need for all leaders at all church levels to do something to increase the number of Adventists spending time each day studying their Bibles and witnessing for their Lord.
Follow the Bible is part of a coordinated initiative by church leadership to lift the vision of Seventh-day Adventists worldwide in renewing their commitment to read and share the Bible. Church leadership envisions an international Bible Route with a Bible travelling the world between GC annual council, October 2008 and GC session, June 2010. The eyes of the entire Adventist community will follow this Bible as it journeys the world. As it is brought into cities, towns, and villages, large numbers of Adventists will gather to recommit their lives to following the Bible. Millions of Adventists worldwide will participate in Bible reading marathons as the Bible passes through their areas. Church leaders will speak to large and small groups gathered to rededicate themselves to the word of God as the Bible is brought to their church or school. Thousands of evangelistic meetings will be planned to encourage seeking men and women to “Follow the Bible.”
Therefore, Follow the Bible will have the following objectives:
•    To create worldwide community awareness that Seventh-day Adventists are people who believe and follow the Bible as the Word of God.
•    To revive and encourage Seventh-day Adventist members around the world to return to the Bible, to accept its authority, and determine to follow the Bible in their daily life.
•    To involve Seventh-day Adventists around the world in personal study, small-group study, and sharing the message of the Bible to others in the community.
This will possibly be the most travelled Bible in the history of the world as it makes its journey, and momentum will build within the Adventist community. This Bible will be preached from and read in more languages than any other book in the history of mankind. All of the media ministries of the Church will cover the story. The public media will feature its journey. This initiative will surely restore the image of the Church, that Seventh-day Adventists really are people of the Book. We are truly people who follow the Bible.

Pastor Mark Finley [Vice President, General Conference of SDA]