It is common knowledge among Adventist church-goers that next to the Sabbath afternoon programs, the Sabbath School is one of the least attended service of the whole-day worship experience during Saturdays. There are many reasons to be had when it comes to a dwindling Sabbath School attendance. A lot of churches try to solve this…
Author: Irene Bennett
Have you ever come across the ‘Early Advent’ or ‘Watchfulness’ section of the SDA Hymnal, and just leafed through it saying, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know that…, I don’t know that…, I don’t know that…’? Well, this hymn is one of those least known songs — rarely announced in Sabbath School song service, much less Divine…
The history of the Seventh-day Adventist church is abundant with stories of great men who after making indelible contributions to the Advent movement, left the church. A few prominent names come to mind — T.M. Preble who was instrument in introducing the Sabbath truth to Joseph Bates; O.R.L. Crosier who wrote concerning the sanctuary; D.M.…
You’re going to probably think, “What a weird title for a post.” But it is what it is. Recently, I had to travel to the US on a tourist visa and was denied entry. I was also banned to re-enter for the next 10 years. More details on that here, but this particular post is…
A girl comes on stage with a small ukelele, says hello to the five music judges in front of her and tells them the song she’s about to sing. On cue, she belts out a ballad. The camera pans out and the screen shows certain faces from the audience. Some are teary-eyed, some smiling. As…
Today’s congregational singing scene in many Protestant churches is a far cry from what it had been a couple hundred years ago. Aside from the simplicity with which their song servece were carried on, their hymnals then were also very different in that it did not contain written notes. At best, it contained words, with…
It was a time of great religious revival in America, or widely known as the Second Great Awakening. People were generally enthusiastic and emotional over religion, while Deistic ideas and rationalism brought on by Enlightenment were rejected. William Miller, a New England farmer, former colonel and a staunch Deist decided to prove God by the study…
Tis Almost Time for the Lord to Come is one of those hymns I used to sing a lot in my childhood. It has a catchy tune and a nice driving rhythm to it. I remember my friends and I would always look forward to sing that pause “Oh…” at the beginning of the refrain,…
This week’s lesson quarterly touches the theme of the three angels messages. When was the last time you sang precisely about this topic? One of the great things about the early advent hymns is that the pioneers sang hymns that were distinctly ‘Adventist’ in nature. The actual Bible studies they did were largely embodied and reflected…