EDITOR’S CORNER

It is the cry of Enoch, the seventh from Adam. It is the news the angels carry to the open-mouthed, upwardlooking disciples. It is the cause of Paul's triumphant shout. It is the theme of the last prayer in the Bible. It is the hope of Christians down through the ages. And it is part of the identity of every Seventh-day Adventist. What is it? I am referring, of course, to the second coming of Jesus.

To those who love the Savior, the hope of His soon return grows stronger and glows brighter with the passing of time. The days going by do not herald the jeering message that He is never coming back, but the cheering message that His coming is one day nearer.

We had family and friends over recently for a holiday meal. Because we were expecting them, we made preparations: food bought and prepared, stray items picked up, the floors swept, the table set, guest towels in the bathroom, and so on. When you are expecting someone special, if's not just business as usual—you make preparations.

So with the coming of Jesus. If we are truly expecting His return, we will put our efforts into preparing for it.

Preparation for the coming of Jesus is the theme that underlies and unites the articles in this issue. I will return to these in a moment, but I must also bring you up to date briefly on the subject of our last issue. In that issue we touched on matters relating to the North American Division's request that divisions be allowed to determine for themselves whether to ordain women to the gospel ministry for their own fields.

We believe the Bible supports the participation of women in the ministry of the church but that it commits the headship role of the elder or pastor to men. It calls on men and women to engage in a cooperative effort to extend the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. In keeping with this belief, we published not only our Spring 1995 issue, devoted to this subject, but also the book Searching the Scriptures.

More than two-thirds of the delegates to the General Conference Session at Utrecht this summer voted not to let part of the church "do its own thing" on this matter. As Dr. Damsteegt demonstrated in his address to the delegates, passage of the proposal would have affected other doctrines we hold. We praise God that the outcome was so decisive.

When the results of the vote were announced, I felt relief but also a sense of sadness, for I knew that many fine people who love the Lord no less than I were deeply disappointed and hurting. Subsequent events have shown that supporters of women's ordination are not prepared to let the matter rest. ADVENTISTS AFFIRM will continue to provide serious, balanced, helpful material on this subject in keeping with our church's historic stance on this matter and the understanding of Scripture reflected by more than two thirds of our church world-wide.

Why? Because Jesus is coming! As we look for Him, we must be faithful to His Word, finding the harmony between the passages that call us to recognize equality and those that call us to honor differences. We believe this is what Jesus did, and we want to be like Him.

In This Issue. We can only be prepared for Jesus' coming if we have not given up on it! Doug Batchelor of Amazing Facts and pastor of the Sacramento Central Seventh-day Adventist Church helps us keep the right perspective in "Dealing With Delay."

In "Who Needs Doctrines? Jesus Is Coming!" P. Gerard Damsteegt shows the relevance of each of our doctrines to the second coming of Jesus. Dr. Damsteegt was the principal author of Seventh-day Adventists Believe..., the widely-distributed book expounding our 27 fundamental beliefs.

C. Mervyn Maxwell reflects on why Jesus hasn't come before now, providing answers both challenging and encouraging in "Why Did You Wait So Long?"

Kenneth Oster, a lifetime missionary to the people of the Middle East, is still evangelizing Moslems in his retirement because the gospel must go to them, too, before the end comes. "The Harvest and the Scarecrow" is adapted from the final chapter of his book, Mission to Moslems, which is awaiting a publisher.

Samuel Koranteng-Pipim challenges us to live out the principles of the three angels' messages in "The Triumph of Grace Over Race."

Samuele Bacchiocchi presents a thought-provoking object lesson for our church in the last days in "A Church in Crisis: Causes and Lessons."

Melissa Wallace speaks especially to parents in "Preparing Our Children for the Second Coming."

Finally, Terri Saelee makes a stirring appeal to women in the Lord's service in "Women of the Spirit." Mrs. Saelee's organization, SEARCH, is planting churches for Asian refugees in the Sacramento area. Her article here, calling for faithful service in expectation of Christ's coming, is developed from a similar appeal she made to the North American Division delegates at a caucus in Utrecht the day after the General Conference vote.

So let all ADVENTISTS AFFIRM the message of preparation: "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him"!