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Connect the mind with the head

Quesnel's Seventh Day Adventist Church member Peggy Corbett says what's on her mind

I’m sorry.  We’d like you to teach in some other area, because some feel that while your basic theology is okay, your advanced theology is not right.

The young woman was stunned, but happily accepted the alternate Sunday School job offered by the church committee.  After I heard this story, I started to wonder – just what constitutes “advanced theology?”

Most people are aware that matters regarding both religion and politics are notoriously fraught with more heat than light.

But I do not believe that God has left us to merely guess at how He would have us live.  And one of the most complicating points in determining what God would have us do is that we disconnect what we think from how we act.

Ideally, these two points should match up in a life. So in looking for guidance, I am drawn to the poignant and succinct teachings that appear throughout Scripture that explain how these points can and should connect in my daily living.

Over the centuries, the instruction in Micah 6:8 has stood out:  . . .the LORD has told you what is good [would that be advanced?]. . .to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  And if we desire even more detail, James 1:27 offers this:  Pure and genuine religion [would that be advanced?] in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

While God may have much more and ongoing advice for all of us regarding our day to day living, He does seem very clear on the framework.

Peggy Corbett is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church congregation.