From the north, south, east and west the pastors of Taiwan gathered in Taichung for the Bible Conference.They greeted each other and then settled into their seats for a wonderful blessing of learning more from God’s Word.They were excited to be a part of a Bible Conference that only happens about every five years. They were ready for the messages God would share with them.
March 5-7, 2013 all the pastors and many other workers for the church gathered to listen to presentations from speakers from the General ConferenceBiblical Research Institute. The speakers were, Dr. Artur Stele, Dr. Angel Rodriguez, Dr. Clinton Wahlen, and Dr. Elias Brasil de Souza. Dr. Stele is the director of the Biblical Research Institute, and Drs’ Rodriguez, Wahlen, and Brasil de Sousa are associate directors. The Taiwan Conference office leaders and staff worked very hard to make a very well organized program.
Each day began with a worship time. First we joined insinging, and special music. One group that provided ministry in music was made of the lady pastors in the conference. Another was a group of the male pastors sharing with their singing voices. The Taichung Central Church provided the setting for the meeting and gave us a worship atmosphere.
Dr. Stele shared from Acts chapter 2 and the book of Ruth. His messageswere focused on the importance of our mission. He invited the pastors to remember how critical their work is even in difficult times and circumstances. We should never give up! We should speak boldly! We should be optimistic about the power of God to be with us.
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Dr. Rodriguez shared about Adventist Theology, Adventist standards, and the remnant. As church theologians it is important the pastors to understand rightly how to interpret Scripture. As Adventists we do have standards that make us different. We will look different, sound different and act differently. He also cautioned the pastors to remind their members to be careful not to impose standards of their own devising on others. He also reminded us that we are the remnant of Revelation.
Dr. de Sousa led us through the sanctuary doctrine and shared the importance of this message for us today. We were reminded that the earthly sanctuary teaches us a great deal of what is happening in heaven today and the great work of Christ on our behalf.
Dr. Wahlen shared about principles for Bible study and how to exegete the Word of God. He reminded the pastors that how we approach the Scriptures will greatly determine our understanding of Scripture. He also shared about how to approach the writings of Ellen White and how they are to relate to the inspired writings of the Bible.
There were several goals of the Bible Conference. One goal was to strengthen the ministry of our pastoral leaders in Taiwan and encourage them in their day-to-day ministry efforts. Another goal was to strengthen the faith and understanding of our Seventh-day Adventist message. Still another goal was the refreshing of the pastors on how to understand the Bible and the prophecies that include prophecies of the end times of earth’s history; this time in which we now live. Also a goal was to remind pastors of the importance of sharing the essential messages we as Adventists have for our world.
The pastors were encouraged to not only share with the world themselves, but to share the messages given at the Bible Conference with their church members who should be invited to be a part of the ministry to Taiwan.
As the pastors were leaving we were told how much the pastors appreciated the meetings and how they desired to share these important topics with their congregations. We believe this Bible conference will bless the ministry of the pastors for many years to come.