The Columbia Union Conference, established in 1907 to coordinate the Seventh-day Adventist Church's work in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, is part of the worldwide Protestant denomination of 23 million members in more than 212 countries. At the union level, we connect and provide administrative leadership, governance and support services to our conferences, schools, health care networks and ministries. Each year, our organizations sponsor programs and projects that address human needs, improve quality of life and introduce people to Jesus. Read our Mission, Values and Priorities.
God is love, power, and splendor—and God is a mystery. His ways are far beyond us, but He still reaches out to us. God is infinite yet intimate, three yet one,
all-knowing yet all-forgiving.
“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4, KJV).
On Sunday, March 29, 2020, I received a call from my daughter Andrea, a nurse, telling me that she had a temperature of over 101 degrees, was being sent home from work and was going to be tested for COVID-19. I prayed with my daughter and claimed God’s promises over her.
“This I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion ... therefore I have hope in Him” (Lam. 3:22–24, RSV, adapted).
My first recollection of Jeremiah’s words came as a 19-year-old. It opened my eyes to the many mercies God brings into my life on a daily basis. That was true when I studied abroad as a college sophomore, and true four years later when my father died at 59. It’s been true throughout my life.
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3:17, NIV).
During the quarantine, God is with us and He is mighty to save us from COVID-19 by protecting us from evil. We can take great delight in God by reading His Word and by praying every night. We have to pray from our hearts, and we have to pray for everyone not to get COVID-19 and for the sick ones to get better from it.
“But His hand is stretched out still” (Isa. 9:12, NKJV).
This verse in the Bible caught my attention. I wondered if I was reading it correctly. I looked at it in several versions, each showing a different picture than the New King James Version. I decided to see what Ellen White wrote about it:
Welcome to the Columbia Union Conference Year of the Bible. Throughout 2021, we will place special emphasis on the primacy of the Word of God and how it informs and impacts our mission, ministries and lives. During this special year, we invite you to join us in spending more time reading the Bible, digging deeper for knowledge and understanding, and meditating on its precepts, promises and prophecies.
At a time when many of Christ’s followers turned away, Jesus asked His disciples, “'Do you also want to go away?' But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” (John 6:67–68, NKJV).