HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2009 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY / EDITOR'S COMMENTS

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2009
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 1

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D E P A R T M E N T S

Editor's COMMENTS

Putting God's truth into my mind
Colleen Tinker

 

The moment is vividly imprinted on my memory: I was sitting in a psychologist's office about three-and-a-half years ago with a young woman who was in treatment for a serious eating disorder. The counselor had requested that she bring me with her to a session because I was a spiritual mentor to her, but my role that day was primarily that of observer.

Within the first few minutes the psychologist looked at his client and asked, "So, how's your Scripture memorizing going?"

Startled to hear that question from a counselor, I looked from him to the girl and back again. She looked down, and he said words to her that changed my life: "Truth is not in your head; it is in the word of God. If you are not ready to put the truth of God's word into your head, you are not ready to get well." Then he assigned her three chapters from Romans and two from Psalms.

I remember driving home that day deeply convicted. For a year or so I had been avoiding an intensifying nudge to memorize Scripture. Elizabeth Inrig, our women's Bible study leader, often challenged us and gave us weekly verses to learn. I had never made a point, however, to really learn those verses in a serious way. My brain was too old, I rationalized; I would have to be content simply to study, not to memorize.

I knew that day, however, that God was asking me to memorize. I couldn't imagine why—I was already studying consistently—but I knew I could no longer ignore my conviction. The next morning I began Romans 8.

Since that day I have nibbled, one verse at a time, at long passages from the Bible, and as I have struggled to revive my memorizing skills by focusing on details like prepositions and grammatical patterns, I have learned why God didn't let me ignore His nudge. Truth, as that psychologist said, is in Scripture. Reality becomes more and more clear as I methodically internalize the word of God.

I cannot explain adequately how Scripture has changed me, but I can say this: no other book has ever had this effect on me. God literally reveals Himself to me as I ponder each individual word He inspired. There is no lingering doubt in my mind as to the reliability of this Book.

Truth and error are more distinct. God's faithfulness, mercy, and justice are real. The fact of God as my true Father has become tangible, and the all-powerful, all-sufficient, eternally-mediating Jesus fills my heart with awe and gratitude. The ever-present, personally-guarding and teaching Holy Spirit disciplines, convicts, and comforts me. The Triune God reveals Himself through His word, and without the truth of that word in my own head, I could not know Him as deeply.

As I have learned to know our Triune God through His own word, I am profoundly disturbed by perversions of the text many groups have created to support their own doctrines. Included in this group of perverted Scriptures is The Clear Word, a paraphrase written by Jack Blanco but whose copyright is owned by the Adventist Review and Herald Publishing Association.

To imply that Ellen White's ideas and unique Adventist doctrines are expressed in God's words is to deceive those who don't know what the Bible really says, and I am horrified by this transgression against the unsuspecting. I am offended by this perversion of God's own word—the word He gave us so we could be washed clean and made new.

In this issue Steve Pitcher takes a close look at some of the problems in The Clear Word. Jeremy Graham and I examine a sampling of Ellen White's later works that show she never had a clear biblical understanding of salvation. Adrian Bury tells his story of discovering Adventism, and Berit Fischer shares how she came to faith in Jesus. Finally, Elizabeth Inrig challenges us to live for eternity as we face a new year.

We pray the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of Jesus and the power of His word as you read this issue. "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust" (2 Peter 1:4). †

 

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