Stories & Commentaries

As the calendar has turned the page from December to January, the light has effectively turned green for Pentecost 2025, a comprehensive, all-hands-on-deck revival and evangelism initiative of the North American Division. Winston Taylor, pastor of the Cedar Grove Seventh-day Adventist Church, with a core team of about 15 members, has already established significant connections with the community through multiple outreach efforts. A first fruit of this goal is scheduled for March 9–29 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Around 5:30 a.m. on January 8, 2025, the alert sounded on John Cress’s phone. He and his wife would have to evacuate their home in the Glen Oaks neighborhood of Glendale as the Eaton Fire charred a path toward them. The sky was black with smoke and tinged with red and orange.

Many people turn to social media to cope with feelings of loneliness, but there is ongoing debate on the health impacts. Some find that the digital space helps to connect with family and friends, while others experience greater feelings of loneliness the more time they spend in the digital world. How can both be true?

"To all of our family: To our brothers and sisters in Canada, our brothers and sisters in Bermuda, our brothers and sisters in Guam-Micronesia, and certainly our brothers and sisters here in the United States. We would like to say to you, on behalf of our North American Division office and leadership team, we thank God for your faithfulness for another year, for how you have served your communities, how you have engaged your communities, and how you have spread the love of Jesus Christ abroad," says NAD president G. Alexander Bryant, in the 2024 holiday message he shares with wife, Desiree Bryant, who is the NAD Ministerial Spouses director.

Dawson Stephens hasn’t always felt the passion for ministry that he has today. It took strong action from God to change the trajectory of the life of this senior theology major in the School of Religion at Southern Adventist University, and he uses his testimony to inspire other believers who are struggling with faith.

Have you ever hit rock bottom and found hope from an unexpected source? For a 16-year-old girl from California, that hope came in the form of a pocket-sized Signs of the Times given to her by a stranger on an Amtrak train. Hers is one of countless stories of a tract sparking transformation. Take advantage of the holidays, and a limited sale, to spread the love of God organically with these life-changing materials.

It’s easy to express gratitude when the outcome is favorable, when the struggle has passed, and when we can see the fruit of our perseverance. But what if we could learn to give thanks not just at the end of the journey but “in the middle of it”? What if we could cultivate the kind of gratitude that doesn’t wait for the resolution, but chooses to acknowledge God’s faithfulness even while the outcome is still unknown?

For attendees at the North American Division (NAD) Year-End Meeting, the Sabbath arrived as a welcome sacred pause, offering divine rest amid the intensive days of church business. All who gathered enjoyed worship, praise, and fellowship through three avenues: Sabbath School, worship service, and afternoon concert.

After a whirlwind five years, including a pandemic and transition from Ontario Conference communication director to NAD news writer/news producer, I returned to camporee, this time in Gillette, Wyoming, in 2024. Return speaker Damian Chandler’s messages and the production powerfully depicted the story of Moses, my favorite Bible character. The most lasting lessons came, however, from the storms that impacted the “Believe the Promise” camporee.

God has promised a special gift to His church and to His people living in the last days. This promise is illustrated in a very familiar passage found in Joel 2:28, 29: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” (KJV). This promise is for us today. For all people.