“We have rarely witnessed such brutality erupt into public view like it has in Chicago. For me, this is a spiritual emergency, and it means putting our bodies on the line in order to stop deportations. The Trump administration has said that ICE is only deporting the “worst of the worst,” but this is a lie. Agents disrupt children’s Halloween parades, terrorize our communities, and racially profile our neighborhoods in order to arrest as many people as possible.

“What weapons do we have? Our bodies, our commitment to peace, and our refusal to let dehumanization pass unchallenged. With those, we are told, amazing things can happen. — from Sojo.net: “I’m One Clergy ICE Assaulted. The Treat Immigrants Worse.”

CARMELA MONK CRAWFORD, Esq., is Editor of Message Magazine

“When we’re talking about the Bible as foundation, we must ask ourselves, how are we using the Bible? Are we using the Bible as a tool of control, or are we using it as God’s instrument for human liberation? If I go with the gospel preached by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus of Nazareth, I will go with the Bible as an instrument of human liberation.”

Unlike the way Bible-toting Christian Nationalists who cite biblical values, authentic biblical interpretation is not a human invention imposed upon the text. It is a necessary response to the nature of Scripture itself—it is divinely inspired, internally consistent, and understood in community and truth. In considering II Timothy 3:16-17, a faithful hermeneutic emerges not from partisan persuasion or self-interests, but from reverence for God’s Word and a desire to hear it rightly, as inspired by God.

A foundational passage for biblical hermeneutics is found in Nehemiah 8:8, which states:

“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (ESV).

This verse reveals three key components of biblical interpretation: reading the text, explaining it, and ensuring understanding. This approach demonstrates that interpretation was necessary even in the earliest stages of Israel’s post-exilic worship and community life.

Jesus Himself models a biblical hermeneutic in Luke 24:27, where, following His resurrection, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Here, Jesus affirmed the unity and Christocentric nature of the Old Testament, showing that Scripture should be interpreted considering its fulfillment in Him.

Paul also endorses a spiritually guided approach to Scripture in 1 Corinthians 2:12–13: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

Here, the apostle emphasizes that true understanding of Scripture comes not merely through human intellect, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Biblical hermeneutics is not merely academic; it is moral and spiritual.

Further, II Timothy 2:15 urges believers to “present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” This “right handling” implies that there is a correct and incorrect way to interpret Scripture—one that honors the text’s meaning, context, and divine origin.

“The question of what Scripture means has taken a back seat to the issue of what it means ‘to me.’ The difference may seem insignificant at first,” stated noted theologian, John MacArthur. “We have adopted practicality as the ultimate judge of the worth of God’s Word.”

The article failed to mention the heavily redacted “Slave Bible,” however. The “Slave Bible,” as described in History Magazine’s “Why Bibles Given to Slaves Omitted Most of the Old Testament,” was altered and used by enslavers to hide the evils of slavery, and remove from it stories and themes of liberation and personhood. They removed anything they thought “might incite them to rebel.”

But, unredacted, we see the Bible in its revelation of God’s character and goodness to the disadvantaged, vulnerable, and oppressed: to rebuke classism, we refer to James 2:1-4. In addressing ageism, we can reference Leviticus 19:32 or I Timothy 5:1-2. To support people with disabilities, we see purpose in John 9:23. To refute sexism, we can cite Galatians 3:28, I Corinthians 11:11, or Genesis 1:27.

This underscores the sacred nature of Scripture and the responsibility to interpret it without prejudice.

“There are a lot of things in the Bible that are not liberating,” said Hemmings. “And Jesus showed us how to point that out, how to see those or to recognize those. That’s why I say the hermeneutic of Jesus was the hermeneutic of liberation.”

“The Seventh-day Adventists, SDAs, it’s an end-time faith,” Toure’ says in the post, and claimed that apocalyptic forecasting in “Let’s Go Crazy,” “1999,” and other songs stemmed from Prince’s childhood experiences with the faith. Toure’ wasn’t the first or last to sleuth some sort of connection.

“Escalating gun violence, street crime, and drug use are all interpreted as signs of growing Satanic influence,” wrote Jonathan Downing in an African American Music Month feature for U.S. Studies Online in 2016.

“Prince pleads with his listeners, ‘don’t kiss the Beast, be superior at least,’ invoking the vision of the seductive beast deceiving Earth’s population in Revelation 13. In light of Christ’s impending return, Prince takes the opportunity to urge his listeners to pick the correct side in this ‘great controversy’.”

While it may be true that Seventh-day Adventism was conceived in the womb of apocalypticism and last-day prophetic understanding, the question for us all today is how to approach these significant and prophetic biblical passages in light of contemporary events? Adventism emerged in the reality that the message must always be relevant, that it is “present truth.”

What is true for Revelation 1-3 should also be true for Revelation 13. The beast is not only a symbol of a fallen, corrupt historical church and system; but it can and should be interpreted as a symbol of anything that is corrupt and falls short of God’s ideal.

Let’s take, for example, the number 666. In apocalyptic symbolism, six is one short of the perfect number, seven. Thus, the basic understanding of 666 should be triple imperfection, very short of the absolute triple perfection, 777.

To contemporize this, we must look at the evils in our society that are beast-like.

Their pioneers such as Joseph Bates, Ellen and James White, Uriah Smith and others were, for example, vociferous in their attack on racism and supported the abolitionism movement. Bates made it clear that as a good Christian he could not stand with oppressors and verbally condemned the USA as a “slave-holding…murdering country.”

Uriah Smith, in 1853, wrote a 35,000-word poem published in one of the church’s main papers, “Review and Herald,” titled, “The Warning Voice of Time and Prophecy.” In it he called for justice, liberty and equal rights. He further used the pages of the official paper of the church to chastise President Lincoln for “following this present conservative, not to say suicidal, policy” in his attempt to win the war without working to free the slaves.

In 1869, James White, as editor of the “Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,” allowed the following to be published:

“it is the Anglo-Saxon race which boasts of being the great apostle of the principles of righteousness and just government, and yet poisons millions of the Chinese annually, enforcing the infliction with armed fleets; takes America from the Indians, and the Scinde from its lawful possessors, by robbery and murder; kills races of men to get territory to which it has no claim… The Anglo-Saxon race gives itself out as the missionary of heaven, and the evangelizer of mankind; yet it is earth’s most successful propagandist of atheism, infidelity, and resistance to lawful authority; the educator of nations in rebellion and supreme selfishness….”

Ellen White was also vociferous in her condemnation of slavery. She called it a national sin, and dubbed it “a sin of the darkest dye.” She made it clear that “God is punishing this nation for the high crime of slavery…He will punish the South for the sin of slavery and the North for so long suffering its overreaching and overbearing influence.”

White made it very clear that those laws and rulings must not be obeyed.

“The law of our land requiring us to deliver a slave to his master, we are not to obey; and we must abide the consequences of violating this law.”

That law clearly stated that anyone who disobeyed it would be fined $1,000 and spend six months in jail. And when some of the Congressmen were issuing proclamations for national days of fasting and prayer that God would bring the war to an end, she proclaimed something else.

“I saw that these national fasts were an insult to Jehovah. He accepts no such fasts. . .. Oh, what an insult to Jehovah!”

White used Isaiah 58 to strengthen her position attacking those who have the yoke of slavery on the neck of the slaves, and she called upon the nation to let the oppressed go free.

To limit the proclamation and interpretation of Revelation and the beastly power to the past and the unfulfilled future is to commit an existential mistake. Many avoid social issues, putting them in, and compartmentalizing them into a box called “politics.” Another Seventh-day Adventist pioneer, J. N. Andrews, addressed this when a similar debate was at its height in 1864:

“How do such men expect to escape the fate of the oppressor when God shall bring him into judgment? By one of the most ingenious devices imaginable. This sin is snugly stowed away in a certain package which is labeled ‘Politics.’ They deny the right of their fellow men to condemn any of the favorite sins which they have placed in this bundle; and they evidently expect that any parcel bearing this label, will pass the final custom-house, i. e., the judgment of the great day-without being examined.”

We must reject the view that social evils are not a part of the gospel message. Social evils were national sins – beast-like behaviors. Sins and evils entrenched in the institutions and the social structures of society were beasts that needed to be preached against then; and so it must be now.

he Bible warns us that the misuse of power always comes at the expense of the vulnerable. From Pharaoh’s enslavement of Israel, to Nebuchadnezzar’s demands for worship in Babylon, to the Roman Empire’s persecution of the early church, Scripture shows us that when governments and rulers exalt themselves, freedom is threatened.

We are seeing echoes of that same story today. Across our nation and the world, there is a rising tide of nationalism. Nationalism is defined simply as a loyalty to country or culture that elevates one group above others. While love for one’s nation can be healthy, nationalism narrows belonging, defining “true citizens” in terms of race, religion, or ideology. Those who don’t fit, be they immigrants, minority faith groups, individuals who are LGBTQIA, or other marginalized people are bound to be left vulnerable and ultimately as targets.

Our nation was actually founded on this practice. The U.S. Constitution delineated that citizenship (and thus the full rights) only applied if you were a white, Christian, heterosexual, male, who owned land. And thus, it excluded women, blacks, poor whites, and native Americans. This is made manifest with the vicious brutalization of the native people, the scourge of chattel slavery, and innumerable injustices against women.

It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

The prophet Amos thundered against Israel’s injustice, declaring that God despised religious ritual divorced from righteousness:

“Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24, NIV).

Justice is not optional in God’s eyes. It is central to His kingdom. Nationalism and government overreach are dangerous because they erode justice piece by piece. History teaches us that oppression never stops with the first group targeted.

Nazi Germany didn’t begin with the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, or even the invasion of Poland in 1939. It actually began with the suspension of constitutional rights and targeted exclusion of Jews in 1933.

Once the highest level leaders begin to manipulate the levers of power to decide whose rights matter, no one’s rights are secure.

Gerrymandering shouldn’t decide whose votes count. Then there are the other methods of rigging the legal process. Filing frivolous or baseless lawsuits that have no legal or factual merit, simply to harass an opponent or drain their resources. Then there are the endless motions appeals, discovery requests, petitions, and more to complicate the process and overwhelm those who lack resources.

And here is the sobering reality: freedom is not lost all at once. It erodes gradually, one compromise at a time. That means the responsibility rests with us. In our communities, our churches, and our homes, we must insist that justice and mercy remain at the center of our public life. We have to speak up when vulnerable people are being mistreated because when we protect the liberty of others, we are also protecting our own. And when we embody love for the least of these, we reflect the heart of Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40).

Pharaoh started with a misinformation campaign against the children of Israel long before he started throwing baby boys in the Nile. This is why Christians must be vigilant. If laws limit the rights of immigrants, silence dissenters, or restrict freedom of conscience, we cannot shrug and say, “That’s not my issue.”

Paul reminds us that when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers (1 Cor. 12:26). To turn away from injustice against our neighbor is ultimately to endanger our own freedom as well.

The pattern is painfully clear:

Societal pressure builds against minority groups.

Government enforces conformity in the name of unity or security.

Freedom erodes, and those who resist are punished or excluded.

But Scripture also calls us to courage. Revelation 12:17 tells us that Satan’s efforts in Chapter 13 were being launched against the remnant—“the rest of her (the church’s) offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

Also it says in 12:11 that, “They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

So what did they do? They spoke up!

As followers of Jesus, our calling is clear. We must defend the vulnerable, stand for liberty of conscience, and resist systems that crush the least of these. Our loyalty is not first to a political party or nation, but to the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is not built by restricting the access of any undesirable group, but rather with love, justice, and truth.

To add insult to injury, the Toyota I purchased was a stick shift! I foolishly assumed that if I attempted to drive 100 miles to my home in Alabama, I would become a skilled driver. Fortunately, I not only arrived home alive but also arrived having learned how to get and keep my car in gear.

Too many of us live our lives as I did with my new car experience. We live with insufficient knowledge about living our best lives. We haven’t learned to get and keep our lives in gear. One of the primary reasons why we fail in this endeavor is because we make excuses for doing nothing. We’re like the person in our opening proverb, refusing to plow in the right season (Proverbs 20:4).

Edmond Burke, a British statesman, once declared:

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

Why should we get our lives in gear? The Bible tells us that after death, each of us will face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). In the judgment, God will bring every work we have done under His scrutiny, even our secret actions (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). This accountability to the One from whom we borrow our heartbeats should make us eager to get and keep our lives in gear.

How can we get our lives in gear? I recommend we implement the following principles:

• Remember the present is intimately related to the future.
• Understand life’s plowing time is the season of preparation.
• Suspect the easy road is generally the wrong one.

First, remember the present is intimately related to the future. The Bible challenges us to remember that now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Scripture also challenges us to not harden our hearts on the day God prompts us to obey (Hebrews 3:15). One inference to be drawn from these two biblical observations is to live in day-tight compartments (Matthew 6:34), remembering the close connection between our now and then.

Second, you can get your life in gear by understanding life’s plowing time is the season of preparation. We cannot reap before we plant. We can also miss the harvest if we plow at the wrong time. We are told that the harvest can pass, the summer can end and we have missed salvation (Jeremiah 8:20). This season of plowing is best in life’s morning; hence, we are admonished to remember God in our youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Third, to get our life in gear, suspect the easy road is generally the wrong one. The Bible speaks of a man who built his house on sand and lost it when the storm came. Another man built his house on rock, and the home withstood the storm (Matthew 7:24-27). It is easier to build one’s house on sand than on rock, but the easy way is rarely the correct one. The Bible tells us that the road to destruction is broad and well populated, but that the way to life is narrow. Few people walk on that narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14).

To be honest, there’s nothing about dawn that’s more spiritually sacred than any other time of day. In fact, I have creative friends who boast that midnight to 3 a.m. is the best time to interact with Him. I have other pastoral colleagues who find peace in midday. It truly depends on the person.

One thing I notice about these varying times is that they all share a commonality. In the mornings, before the world seems to wake up, I’m less likely to get interrupted by phone calls and notifications. My midnight friends appreciate a time after their surroundings have wound down, that they can talk to God about their day. Even my midday colleagues appreciate the afternoon pause that takes place before the second half of the day begins. All of these moments happen in the absence of distractions.

As I write this, Breath of Life is diligently preparing for our 2nd annual Vision and Dreamers’ Conference. This three-day event is designed to pour into and encourage individuals to bring their God-inspired visions to fruition. Breakout sessions provide attendees with the tools needed to cultivate the ideas that God has placed within them. But last year, during many of the workshops and main sessions, a common question kept arising: “When is the best time to hear from God?”

Distractions are part of our everyday life. They can come from our phones, our loved ones, our jobs, and even our thoughts. And while the source of it may not be innately evil, when they begin to interrupt the time to talk with our Father, we may start to lack the necessary clarity needed to execute what God wants for us. It’s up to us to find when that time is.

I don’t know when your time is. Perhaps God wants to speak with you in the middle of the night, like Samuel (1 Samuel 1:3), but He can’t do that if you’re doomscrolling on your phone until 3 a.m. Perhaps he wants to talk to you on your commute, like Paul (Acts 9), but He can’t because you insist on occupying your car with unnecessary noise, afraid of silence. Or maybe He wants to speak to you in dreams like Jacob (Genesis 31:11) or Joseph (Genesis 37 – 44), but your subconscious is interrupted by the TV you left on.

You will be so surprised by the way God can pour out visions and dreams to you directly when you rid yourself of distractions.

Friends, I challenge you to make time for our Heavenly Father, so that you may move forward on the path He has for you.

• When was a time when your anger caused you to do something you’ve regretted?
• What are warning signs that show you that your anger is boiling up?
• Where in your body do you feel anger?

It is important that we properly manage our stress levels and reduce toxic stress as much as possible. Toxic stress may cause us anger, driving us to act in ways we would later regret. For this reason, the Bible advises that it is O.K. to be angry, angry at injustice, angry at oppression, angry when evil has been done. However, while we may have the right to be angry, we should not use our anger as fuel for vengeance.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again” John 14:2, 3.

This is not wishful thinking; it is the pledge of the Crucified-and-Risen One, anchoring our hope and shaping our lives while we wait.

Even the heavens seem to lean toward that promise. With the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists are discerning the breath of distant worlds, methane and carbon dioxide in K2-18 b, hints of nitrogen around TRAPPIST-1e. If our instruments can read the breath of distant planets, how much more can our Savior prepare a home for us. Discovery stirs our wonder; promise secures our future.

Scripture gives us a palette of color and sound for that future. John sees foundation stones aglow: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald… a city where streets glint like glass and gates shine like single pearls (Revelation 21:19-27, NIV). Around the throne arcs a rainbow “like an emerald,” and before it lies a “sea of glass, clear as crystal.” The Prophet Ezekiel speaks of a throne like lapis lazuli, (Ezekiel 10:1, NIV), and Sinai’s pavement gleams sapphire-blue under God’s feet. Heaven is not gray austerity; it is saturated glory, the hues of covenant and holiness, refracting grace.

We believe there is a real sanctuary in heaven where Christ ministers now as our High Priest, applying the once-for-all victory of the cross and carrying our names on His heart. That ministry orients our present and points to our promised future when He returns. The sections that follow: Christ’s Heavenly Ministry, His Second Coming, Death and Resurrection, The Millennium, and The New Earth, are not isolated teachings; they are one symphony of hope.

Some folks have really tasted this hope. Author Ellen White wrote in “Early Writings” of fields of “living green,” of flowers that never fade, of the redeemed crossing the sea of glass to the city as Jesus opens the pearly gate.

“Heaven is a school,” she wrote. “[I]ts field of study, the universe; its teacher, the Infinite One.” We will learn forever because Love is infinite, and His world is inexhaustibly new.

So, it’s time to let science awaken wonder without stealing our worship. Time to let prophecy ignite courage without fueling fear. Time to step into these beliefs not as arguments to win but as an invitation to dwell in the lapis-blue light of the King, in the emerald-ringed mercy of the throne, and in the certain promise:

“You must not let yourselves be distressed, you must hold on to your faith in God and to your faith in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s House. If there were not, should I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? It is true that I am going away to prepare a place for you, but it is just as true that I am coming again to welcome you into my own home, so that you may be where I am. You know where I am going and you know the road I am going to take” (John 14:3, Philips).

The Bible tells us that there is Someone who loves us deeply and is coming back to receive us, and that Someone is Jesus. He promised in John 14:3:

“I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

For Christians, this promise is not wishful thinking, it is the essence of our faith and the foundation of our hope! Look around our world today, and it’s clear we are in need of hope. There is suffering, natural disasters, political division, sickness, and death; the list goes on and on. The Second Coming of Jesus is our assurance that God has not forgotten us. He will return, and He will make all things right. This hope is not only for Christians, it’s for all who choose to believe.

Imagine a world with no more sickness, no more violence, no more death or sorrow. Imagine a world where God’s love reigns, and every person is valued as His child. The return of Jesus marks the beginning of this promise, the end of pain and the beginning of eternal joy. Truly, His coming is worth the wait! So, what do we do while we wait? We live with purpose. We treat others with kindness. We strive for peace and justice. We keep studying His Word, and we keep our eyes lifted in hope, because one day soon, the waiting will end, and the greatest reunion of all time will begin: the reunion with our Lord and Savior.

For those who believe, the Second Coming is not a day to fear, it’s a day to long for with hope. Revelation 1:7 reminds us: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him…” The Second Coming will be the greatest day in history, and being reconciled with Jesus will be worth every moment of waiting!

There, justice and mercy kissed; there, the Victor broke death’s claim. Because of Calvary and the empty tomb, the promise is certain and the future already breaking in (Hebrews 13:14).

Lift your eyes again because it is time for us not to see a victim nailed to wood, but the Victor who conquered death, the Lamb who stands, worthy and reigning. “Heaven opened,” and we see the white horse; the Rider is Faithful and True, eyes like fire, many crowns upon His head, the Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11, MSG) He comes not to carry away lifeless remains, but to gather the living: the once-sleeping raised to life, and the faithful who still breathe transformed in an instant, (Revelation 7:9, KJV), tired bones infused with the Creator’s power and breath. This is the triumph of the cross applied to God’s people.

See the City: foundations jeweled with every precious stone, gates of pearl, streets bright as crystal. The throne is encircled by an emerald bow, and ancient visions speak of a lapis-blue radiance where holiness rests and mercy reigns. From that center flows the river of life, and the tree of life lifts healing for the nations (Revelation 22:1, 2). Creation finished. Justice fulfilled. Communion unbroken.

And hear the anthem appointed for that day: the song of Moses and the Lamb (Revelation 15:2-4 MSG) We will sing it as witnesses, not spectators, because we “overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony” (Revelation 12:11). The story of the ages will bear our voices in it; grace will have taught our tongues to tell how Love won us, Love kept us, and Love brought us home.

So, we go in the lapis light of His throne and the emerald certainty of His covenant. We live as citizens of that City, doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly, because our future is not fragile.

The Carpenter has gone ahead to prepare rooms; the High Priest intercedes until the trumpet sounds. And when it does, waiting will yield to welcome, faith to sight, and hope to home.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

For me, the storm felt personal. My daughter’s eighth-grade graduation was held the night before in a church that was damaged by the tornado. I couldn’t help but think—what if the tornado struck one day earlier? We were spared, yet I don’t think that God spared our lives for us to simply boast in our fortune.

The day after the tornado, several church members entered the disaster zone to clear fallen trees and debris, allowing trapped residents to leave their homes. Others distributed water, food, and essential supplies. In the weeks that followed, members continued delivering items like bottled water, sanitary products, snacks, non-perishable food, wipes, and toiletries. Seeing physically challenged individuals step up to serve deeply moved me.

Another support role that our church members volunteered for was at the central warehouse. We helped unload and distribute bulk donations from major retailers such as Target, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, and Walmart. These much needed supplies were then sent to local service providers.

The greatest reward in serving is seeing the joy on the faces of those we help—a smile over a bottle of water or a pack of toiletries makes every effort worthwhile.

The amount of natural disasters is increasing rapidly. The cost of natural disasters is skyrocketing. But this tornado showed me that disasters can happen anywhere. Every person should do their part to ensure that they are ready. We recently offered an emergency preparedness workshop to help our community get ready for any future disasters. Find one where you are.

You can see God working in the disasters in a few ways. First, I count it tragic that any life is lost, but if a tornado bulldozes through seven miles of a major city and claimed no more than five people, that is a miracle. That’s God’s mercy on display. The damage was bad, but it could have been significantly worse. I believe the eyes of faith can see God’s goodness even in the middle of this disaster. Secondly, God is present through his sons and daughters. The gracious response of churches, civic organizations and people demonstrate the love of God. God wraps people in the blankets that his children give each other. God feeds the vulnerable through the food that was distributed. God continues to support us through the generous donations that are given.