Adventist Review is the official magazine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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Adventist Review Adventist World Podcasts
GraceNotes is a weekly publication of Bill Knott, former Editor/Executive Publisher of Adventist Review/Adventist World magazines. Take the opportunity to share a favorite GraceNote from this page with someone you’re praying for, or someone who simply needs to hear the good news of God’s unfailing love.
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An in-depth look at the people, cultures, and countries where Maranatha is working. Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, rate and review, and share!
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“Forgive me,” we say flippantly, painting on a shallow smile, when we discover we are misaligned with someone greater or more powerful—someone who might make us hurt. We view our error lightly—just a minor inconvenience—and we hope the one offended will quickly do the same. Why do the humbling work of owning all that happened and acknowledging its …
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“Forgive me,” we say flippantly, painting on a shallow smile, when we discover we are misaligned with someone greater or more powerful—someone who might make us hurt. We view our error lightly—just a minor inconvenience—and we hope the one offended will quickly do the same. Why do the humbling work of owning all that happened and acknowledging its …
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Wherever grace is welcomed and received, joy follows, just as daylight follows dawn. And so we can read backwards from so many grayed-out, joyless souls to learn how few have heard and loved and lived the gospel. All fearful, anxious following of Jesus—all dim preoccupation with the things we've done or left undone—reveals that we are still in dark…
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Wherever grace is welcomed and received, joy follows, just as daylight follows dawn. And so we can read backwards from so many grayed-out, joyless souls to learn how few have heard and loved and lived the gospel. All fearful, anxious following of Jesus—all dim preoccupation with the things we've done or left undone—reveals that we are still in dark…
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In every soul who has ever been healed, conviction rises that they must tell the story of how God’s goodness rebuilt a broken body or a wounded spirit. Bones got mended; diseases conquered; mobility advanced; relationships renewed. When grace restores what pain has taken, “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; …
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In every soul who has ever been healed, conviction rises that they must tell the story of how God’s goodness rebuilt a broken body or a wounded spirit. Bones got mended; diseases conquered; mobility advanced; relationships renewed. When grace restores what pain has taken, “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; …
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Episode 29 - Elmer Barbosa - Jungle church construction, starting from scratch in a new country, and leading a large mission trip for teens
1:08:43
1:08:43
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Our country director for Peru and Paraguay returns as the show’s first repeat guest after an abbreviated first appearance in Episode 5. Elmer shares how the work in the Amazon jungle region of Peru progressed since then, and talks about his new responsibility in also overseeing Maranatha’s work in Paraguay, including the anticipation of leading Mar…
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My pride is stung. My spirit’s wounded. The untrue, unjust thing that someone said, that someone wrote, went viral with unheard-of speed, fanned on by evil angels. And rising with the bitter righteousness of bile, the fantasy of sweet revenge becomes more urgent every hour. “Strike back!” say Truth and Justice. “Set the twisted record straight. Unm…
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My pride is stung. My spirit’s wounded. The untrue, unjust thing that someone said, that someone wrote, went viral with unheard-of speed, fanned on by evil angels. And rising with the bitter righteousness of bile, the fantasy of sweet revenge becomes more urgent every hour. “Strike back!” say Truth and Justice. “Set the twisted record straight. Unm…
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If you revisit all the beaches where you built sandcastles in the sun, chances are, you’ll never even find a one. The constant pull of wash and wave reduces all the outposts where we once asserted sovereignty. Our turrets and our towers, our moats and battlements have long since lost the struggle to insist on what was never really ours. And so it i…
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If you revisit all the beaches where you built sandcastles in the sun, chances are, you’ll never even find a one. The constant pull of wash and wave reduces all the outposts where we once asserted sovereignty. Our turrets and our towers, our moats and battlements have long since lost the struggle to insist on what was never really ours. And so it i…
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It’s the most famous line ever written about grace by an author not recorded in God’s Word: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Every week, around the globe, it’s sung and said uncounted times, bringing joy and certainty to billions of believers. Whole lives are built on this. But the lived reality of grace requires t…
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It’s the most famous line ever written about grace by an author not recorded in God’s Word: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Every week, around the globe, it’s sung and said uncounted times, bringing joy and certainty to billions of believers. Whole lives are built on this. But the lived reality of grace requires t…
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Episode 28 - Eddie Heinrich - Breaking his neck on a mission trip and why he keeps taking youth on projects
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As Youth and Pathfinder Director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Northern California, Eddie has decades of experience taking youth on mission trips around the world. He recounts his first experiences with Maranatha, talks about the importance of doing a pre-trip site visit, and explains how he broke his neck in Costa Rica. He shares how he …
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Savoring the creamy richness of delectable milk chocolate. Settling into the plush leather of a luxury car. Dangling your feet in the stunningly blue water of a South Pacific lagoon. What do these very different life experiences have in common? Each is richly imaged for us by adroit advertisers who correctly sense how desperately we seek relief fro…
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Savoring the creamy richness of delectable milk chocolate. Settling into the plush leather of a luxury car. Dangling your feet in the stunningly blue water of a South Pacific lagoon. What do these very different life experiences have in common? Each is richly imaged for us by adroit advertisers who correctly sense how desperately we seek relief fro…
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What is it in our restless hearts that cannot graciously receive a gift? A friend invites us to a grand, delightful meal, and even before dessert is served, we’re busy evening the score. We fail to taste the kindly moment because we’re painfully obsessed with making certain our account with one we call a friend is “balanced”—even though it is a din…
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What is it in our restless hearts that cannot graciously receive a gift? A friend invites us to a grand, delightful meal, and even before dessert is served, we’re busy evening the score. We fail to taste the kindly moment because we’re painfully obsessed with making certain our account with one we call a friend is “balanced”—even though it is a din…
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What makes the light of Easter last long past the hymns and lilies? The ground beneath our feet has moved. The grim, unshaken certainties of loss and grief and toil and death have finally succumbed—and to such stunningly good news: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor.15.22). Our muddied tale of violence and pa…
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What makes the light of Easter last long past the hymns and lilies? The ground beneath our feet has moved. The grim, unshaken certainties of loss and grief and toil and death have finally succumbed—and to such stunningly good news: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor.15.22). Our muddied tale of violence and pa…
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In the blackness of Sunday morning, the prodigal opened His eyes and murmured softly, “I will arise and go to my Father, and will say to Him, ‘Father, I have borne the sins of every human who has ever lived. I am worthy to be called your Son.’” And a reunion postponed for 33 years split the midnight of our world. Out of wretchedness came joy. Out o…
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In the blackness of Sunday morning, the prodigal opened His eyes and murmured softly, “I will arise and go to my Father, and will say to Him, ‘Father, I have borne the sins of every human who has ever lived. I am worthy to be called your Son.’” And a reunion postponed for 33 years split the midnight of our world. Out of wretchedness came joy. Out o…
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Left to ourselves, what we know of forgiveness would soon disappear. Left to ourselves, acts of mercy would soon drown in the ocean of self-centeredness. Left to ourselves, what light and warmth still shines in our communities would soon go dark. Why help a neighbor, when he is just one more competitor for dwindling resources? But the good news is …
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Left to ourselves, what we know of forgiveness would soon disappear. Left to ourselves, acts of mercy would soon drown in the ocean of self-centeredness. Left to ourselves, what light and warmth still shines in our communities would soon go dark. Why help a neighbor, when he is just one more competitor for dwindling resources? But the good news is …
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A gospel song from long ago gathered the hope of millions into a yearning vision of peace: “Someday, a bright new wave Will break upon the shore; And there'll be no sickness No more sorrow, no more war; And little children Never will go hungry any more . . .” That bright new world hasn’t yet arrived. The headlines rage. The nations totter. Famished…
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A gospel song from long ago gathered the hope of millions into a yearning vision of peace: “Someday, a bright new wave Will break upon the shore; And there'll be no sickness No more sorrow, no more war; And little children Never will go hungry any more . . .” That bright new world hasn’t yet arrived. The headlines rage. The nations totter. Famished…
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Episode 27 - Marcos Paseggi - Adventist Review’s senior news correspondent on reporting on the mission around the world
38:00
38:00
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As Adventist Review’s senior news correspondent, Marcos has traveled the world covering stories for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and has the unique experience of coming to the mission of Maranatha via journalism. Early in his time at Adventist Review, he was asked to cover the dedication of a Maranatha-built sanctuary in Cuba. He went, and was…
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It never was a straight-line thing, this love we call the grace of God. It circles and surrounds, embraces and includes, until the throngs that praise God’s name are far too vast to count. In grace, Jesus forgives me. With gratitude, I offer you forgiveness. Because you have been liberated, you pass that grace to one who has offended you. And he in…
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It never was a straight-line thing, this love we call the grace of God. It circles and surrounds, embraces and includes, until the throngs that praise God’s name are far too vast to count. In grace, Jesus forgives me. With gratitude, I offer you forgiveness. Because you have been liberated, you pass that grace to one who has offended you. And he in…
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Those the world calls saints weren’t typically the brittle, stained-glass figures of our pious imagination. The reason their stories are still told is that they trusted God more fully, accepted His freely-offered love, and opened their lives profoundly to His grace. Their story can be yours as well, for the Bible calls every believer in Christ a “s…
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Those the world calls saints weren’t typically the brittle, stained-glass figures of our pious imagination. The reason their stories are still told is that they trusted God more fully, accepted His freely-offered love, and opened their lives profoundly to His grace. Their story can be yours as well, for the Bible calls every believer in Christ a “s…
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Episode 26 - Leo Macias and Sidney Needles - Debriefing a TV production trip to India
52:31
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What is it like to produce a television program in another country? Maranatha’s media production manager Leo Macias and communication specialist Sidney Needles debrief their recent trip to India. Come behind the scenes and learn how TV is produced in the field, and hear about specific challenges these two faced while filming across multiple states …
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We can’t make ourselves more loveable to God by years of good behavior. And yet, because of grace, we seek to do what pleases Him. We can’t earn even half an hour in heaven by acts of sympathy or kindness. And yet, because of grace, we spend unnumbered hours caring for the least of all His little ones. Those shining moments when we sometimes rise t…
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We can’t make ourselves more loveable to God by years of good behavior. And yet, because of grace, we seek to do what pleases Him. We can’t earn even half an hour in heaven by acts of sympathy or kindness. And yet, because of grace, we spend unnumbered hours caring for the least of all His little ones. Those shining moments when we sometimes rise t…
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No one can grasp the grace of God unless God teaches him, embraces him, and holds him in an unexpected kindness. There’s no intellect so vast; there’s not a mystic so devout that he can plumb the depth of love by private contemplation. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagin…
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No one can grasp the grace of God unless God teaches him, embraces him, and holds him in an unexpected kindness. There’s no intellect so vast; there’s not a mystic so devout that he can plumb the depth of love by private contemplation. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagin…
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The gospel is only as good as the God who asks us to believe it. If He’s the disappointed, vengeful deity we have pictured in our frightened imaginations, then we do well to hide, to stay away: why would we risk ourselves with Him? But if Christ is, as His Word says, the Lord whose love for us survives even our worst choices and most defiant behavi…
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The gospel is only as good as the God who asks us to believe it. If He’s the disappointed, vengeful deity we have pictured in our frightened imaginations, then we do well to hide, to stay away: why would we risk ourselves with Him? But if Christ is, as His Word says, the Lord whose love for us survives even our worst choices and most defiant behavi…
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Episode 25 - Kenneth Weiss - The Mission in Communist Cuba
48:20
48:20
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Maranatha’s chief operating officer talks about his earliest impressions of Cuba from the mid-90’s, how Maranatha got involved, some of the challenges of the Seventh-day Adventist Church there back then, and how Maranatha worked to construct or renovate more than 200 churches on the island over the years. He shares what it’s been like to build rapp…
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A muscular young athlete, bench-pressing massive iron; stonemasons, deeply-focused, chiseling the capstone for a tall cathedral spire; a driven young executive, burning midnight oil as she assesses market data. What do these pictures have in common? All celebrate intense, prodigious effort, spent to take the doer to the top in sport, in craftsmansh…
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A muscular young athlete, bench-pressing massive iron; stonemasons, deeply-focused, chiseling the capstone for a tall cathedral spire; a driven young executive, burning midnight oil as she assesses market data. What do these pictures have in common? All celebrate intense, prodigious effort, spent to take the doer to the top in sport, in craftsmansh…
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Episode 24 - Loretta Spivey - “You’ll be in a wheelchair the rest of your life,” and leading thousands of teens on mission trips
56:25
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Long-time Maranatha mission trip leader, Loretta Spivey, shares her journey to the mission field, from becoming the first Seventh-day Adventist in her family as a result of a visit from a literature evangelist, to a year-long missionary assignment in Indonesia. She’s been heavily involved with Maranatha’s mission trip for high schoolers, Ultimate W…
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It’s not called “practicing” for nothing. On some great future day, the liberating, life-affirming grace we each receive from Jesus will also be the grace we give as freely to those who wound us, irritate our peace, or call out for our love and care. Between the “now” and “then” there’s a lot of practicing to do—a daily repetition of kind words, fo…
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It’s not called “practicing” for nothing. On some great future day, the liberating, life-affirming grace we each receive from Jesus will also be the grace we give as freely to those who wound us, irritate our peace, or call out for our love and care. Between the “now” and “then” there’s a lot of practicing to do—a daily repetition of kind words, fo…
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If you’ve ever been forgiven; if you’ve been held when you were wrong, or bitter, or confused—you know the grace that never can repay the giver. So we surrender to the goodness God implants in human hearts. “We know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love” (Rom 5:5). We come to understand Go…
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If you’ve ever been forgiven; if you’ve been held when you were wrong, or bitter, or confused—you know the grace that never can repay the giver. So we surrender to the goodness God implants in human hearts. “We know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love” (Rom 5:5). We come to understand Go…
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“When I’m deep in a hole, lower a rope, not a shovel.” The last thing we need when we’ve dug ourselves profoundly into pain or confusion or sin is more of the same. Our best efforts got us there: our best efforts won’t deliver us. The pit only gets deeper—and so does our frustration. As Scripture says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but …
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“When I’m deep in a hole, lower a rope, not a shovel.” The last thing we need when we’ve dug ourselves profoundly into pain or confusion or sin is more of the same. Our best efforts got us there: our best efforts won’t deliver us. The pit only gets deeper—and so does our frustration. As Scripture says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but …
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Episode 23 - Danny Poljak - Explosives, Escaping War, and Mission Field Construction
34:12
34:12
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After serving as a Maranatha volunteer for years, Danny now works for Maranatha to ensure our buildings are constructed soundly. But his journey to Maranatha starts as a child in the former Yugoslavia, the son of a Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor there. He remembers international Church leaders passing through, talking about what God was doing …
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It’s a scene played out 10 million times in the 30 days since Christmas: “You shouldn’t have . . .” “But I didn’t get you anything. . .” “I didn’t hear we were exchanging gifts . . .” A stranger from another planet might conclude that our annual Christmas gift-giving is actually an exquisite balancing act—designed to keep each party from feeling aw…
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