Monday 30 July 2007

To all Biblical Language Scholars


I know that I certainly wished that I had access to recordings of my Hebrew lectures so that I could go over those pesky rules that seem so hard at the beginning of the semester and which pale into insignificance when I started to learn verb weaknesses. Well, now that the semester is over I have finally located the universities pages on iTunes with a video podcast of Hebrew lessons at Concordia University. If you don't have iTunes, you can download them from the web


iTunes or podcasts of lessons at Adventists seminaries would be its own publicity and would certainly be welcomed by me. I hope that now we have started getting a presence on iTunes that our institutions take another small step.

Oh, so that I don’t leave Greek scholars out, there are also podcasts of elementary Greek available on the web and on iTunes.

I wish this had been there earlier but hope that it will be of help to others starting Hebrew in the Autumn.

Carole Williams

Monday 16 July 2007

Quoting EG White

In the Review and Herald published on July 9, 1895 EG White made the following statement:

Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. They should be set apart to this work by prayer and laying on of hands. In some cases they will need to counsel with the [local] church officers or the [conference] minister; but if they are devoted women, maintaining a vital connection with God, they will be a power for good in the church. This is another means of strengthening and building up the church. We need to branch out more in our methods of labor. Not a hand should be bound, not a soul discouraged, not a voice should be hushed; let every individual labor; privately or publicly, to help forward this grand work.

Following this statement that three women were ordained in the early Adventist church.

Saturday 14 July 2007

Friday 13 July 2007

Team Hoyt

Lying in bed recovering from mistreating your own body gives you plenty of food for thought – how I would do things differently next time, if only my body were made strong like other people’s, I’m sick of being ill all the time. You know the self pitying kind of thoughts we all have when feeling under the weather?

Despite hearing about Team Hoyt before, I found that taking the time to look at this video made me stop and think again. It made me think that even if my body can’t hold onto the nutrients I need or if I get exhausted just looking at someone exercising, I shouldn't’t allow that to stop me.





Running a triathlon may not be the best idea of testing that theory and believe me, it ain’t mine either! It may not even be a big deal in some people’s book to run at the age of 65. Many wouldn’t blink twice a running with their son either. Running with your son who has cerebral palsy is a completely different thing however. Trekking over 3000 miles with him takes discipline that I can only dream of from my sick bed.

Dick and his wife were determined to give their son a normal a life as possible despite his disability. And there began the dream.





Watching the videos of Team Hoyt that are available all over the internet brings tear to my eye and an awe inspiring vision of the love and determination that God has for my life, to get me through my race, the carry me across my mountains, to swim the oceans with me, to be by my side no matter what. Seeing the quote in the video of their dependence on one another to get through makes me even more acutely aware of my dependence on God.

See for yourself and let me know the emotions it evokes in you.

“Rick couldn’t run without Dick. Together they run, together has power, don’t run alone”

Carole Williams

Oops Sorry

The summer has meant that there has been little activity on this blog and readership has really fallen. Oops.

Eveyone's minds should be getting ready to gear up for a new semester and I certainly hope to read of the interesting time that you have all had, the activities you have taken part in and the things you have learned.

As for me, I have time on my hands after falling ill so hopefully there will be one or two more posts in me yet!

Being Used by God

Like all other ministerial students I ask myself what my ministry is going to be like, where it is going to be and how God is going to have me work with. Despite the opportunities which I have in my current work, I am acutely aware that God can stop me in my tracks and take me in a direction which I hadn’t been planning so I know that I have be prepared for anything.

Despite that head knowledge, despite my experience working in the mission field on both long and short term trips, I was surprised and elated to read the blog by James Appel, medical director of Béré Adventist Hospital, in Tchad, Africa and more surprised at to see the video they have on google. It’s a little long but its worth viewing to experience the emotional roller coaster the nurses and doctors go through when a lack of electricity nearly causes the death of a small baby. It certainly puts into persepective being ill here in the west and gives pause for thought.

The story also makes me remember that God can and will use us in all sorts of ways, in all kinds of places and in ways we both expect and do not expect.




Carole Williams

Tuesday 10 July 2007

Taking Responsibility

Reading blogs like this one here makes me realise just how much I have to learn and the responsiblity I have to this church.