PDF A Call to Stand Apart e.org

[Pages:114]A

CALL

TO

STAND APART

Challenging Young Adults to Make an Eternal Difference

Selections From the Writings of ELLEN G. WHITE

A PARAPHRASE

Copyright ? 2002 by the Ellen G. White Estate International copyright secured

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible references are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ? 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright ? 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Texts credited to NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright ? 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Bible texts credited to RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ? 1946, 1952, 1971, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

This book was Edited by Jeannette R. Johnson Copyedited by James Cavil Cover designed by Trent Truman Interior designed by Tina Ivany Electronic makeup by Shirely M. Bolivar Typeset: Bembo 12.6/13.5

PRINTED IN U.S.A. 06 05 04 03 02

54321

R&H Cataloging Service White, Ellen Gould Harmon, 1827-1915.

A call to stand apart.

1. Christian life. 2. Religious life. I. Title. 248.4

ISBN 0-8280-1695-X

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

SECTION I:

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

JUST JESUS AND YOU

Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Jesus as a Child and Young Adult . . .16 Jesus' Ministry Begins With a Party . .19 You Can Come Home Any Time . .22 When Doing Everything Right

Isn't Enough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 The Answer Lies in the Soil . . . . . . .32 How to Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 How to Have Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Preparing to Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Cruel Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Grand Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 How to Handle Doubts and

Confusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

SECTION II:

Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Endnotes

JUST JESUS IN YOUR LIFE

Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 Social Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Authority of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . .104 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

INTRODUCTION

ACall to Stand Apart is a first. It is the first Ellen White book prepared by the White Estate especially for twentyfirst-century young adults. It also is the first book in which a variety of inspired counsels have been drawn together from various previously published Ellen White sources and the language adapted to reach contemporary youth.

A Call to Stand Apart makes available from selected Ellen White writings the core ideas that deal with important issues faced by youth and young adults today. To help communicate successfully with the potentially large audience of youthful readers, sentences and paragraphs have been condensed and language has been modernized. But every effort has been made to be faithful to the content, ideas, and principles set forth by Ellen White. In no case has the thought in the original been changed.

The 17 chapters of the book have been chosen to address issues faced by contemporary young adults in a twenty-firstcentury context. Each chapter is prefaced by the testimony of a young adult who has found in Ellen White's books the inspiration that he or she would like to have others share.

We believe that the principles penned more than 100 years ago under divine inspiration are more relevant than ever. It is our hope that thousands of readers will find A Call to Stand Apart so compelling, interesting, and inspiring that they will go on to explore the deep spiritual riches found in Ellen White's standard writings. May each reader "catch the vision."

--The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications

JUST

JESUS

AND

YOU

CHAPTER 1

BEGINNINGS

A YOUNG ADULT'S ENCOUNTER WITH ELLEN WHITE . . . ON SALVATION

Ellen White makes the topics of salvation and the love of Christ, who died for me, both simple and personal. When I open The Desire of Ages, He's right there. He's so real, so able to save.

When I read what Ellen White says about the topic of salvation, it's like no other author. What she writes has to do with me personally. It's my life she's talking about--my feelings and experiences. I recognize them. This is a salvation of experience, one I can touch, because it's about Jesus. I know she knew Jesus personally. Whatever any other writer knew, it doesn't compare with this.

Other writers may have something important to say, they may try to share the right ideas, but in the pages of The Desire of Ages Ellen White is trying to share salvation through Jesus. And the best thing is she makes me want it! I want it with all my heart.

In her writings she talks about salvation in the real world--my world. It's not about only ideas. It's not a beehive of rhetoric. The intellectual part has its place, but when I get up in the morning to face my day spiritually, what I want needs to be clear, vivid, and personal. I find that in her writings. My strength to save myself is like "ropes of sand," as she puts it. I know she's right because I've felt those ropes crumble in my hands. What she describes I can touch, for it's a theology of flesh and blood. It's about Jesus! Ellen

11

12

A Call to Stand Apart

White paints a picture of a Christ as someone who is real, who is able to save me from myself.

Most of all, I know she has written because she wanted me to be saved and not because she wanted me to believe her ideas. And I do want to be saved, with all my heart. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

--Laura, age 24

A YOUNG ADULT'S ENCOUNTER WITH ELLEN WHITE . . . ON SALVATION

"Christ, the heavenly merchantman seeking goodly pearls, saw in lost humanity the pearl of price. In men and women, defiled and ruined by sin, He saw the possibilities of redemption." 1

As a child I always fancied pearls. I loved their gentle curves and soft off-white luster.

I thought they were prettier than any diamond or ruby could ever be. So it didn't surprise me that Ellen White compared our beloved Savior to my favorite jewel. What I didn't expect was that she wrote that Christ saw in lost humanity "the pearl of price." How could He find something so beautiful in me? But when I read her eloquent illustrations further I understood what, for me, is the true essence of salvation. Christ doesn't seek me because I am lost. He doesn't long to save me because He feels obliged to. He gives me salvation because He loves me.

Mrs. White thoughtfully wrote of Christ, our heavenly merchantman. Reading what she writes makes me rejoice daily for humanity because He finds the precious pearls He is seeking in our old, marred earth--because He sees the pearl in me.

--Jennifer, age 22

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download