Newsletter 5/8/2025

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers…"

Malachi 4:5–6

While I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a room full of school principals. They are faithfully serving on various Adventist campuses throughout the Conference. They are servants, missionaries, pastors of sorts. They work long hours, could easily get paid more in the public system, and navigate choppy waters full of frustrated parents, energetic kids, hormonal teens, and high expectations. They are expected to be saviors and growers of schools. All too often they likely feel unappreciated and overworked. 

But principals and teachers are not the only ones who sacrifice and dedicate time and effort to the wellbeing of this generation of young people. There are parents. Mothers and fathers who daily devote themselves to providing for their children. They cook meals, solve problems large and small, pray for them, worry about them, educate them in the things of life, and anxiously hope they reach their lofty potential. And let me not forget the grandparents, aunts and uncles, church leaders, and more who also make their incalculable contributions to the lives of kids. 

We know that young people are important. We know that parents and teachers are important. But I do not think we have any idea just how important. Consider the key text in this Newsletter. God indicates that He will send “Elijah” before the second advent of Christ. Elijah was a prophet sent to Israel to reform and restore true religion. Jesus intimates that John the Baptist was an Elijah figure. John was also sent to bring revival and reform to the religion of his day. Could it be that once again the Lord will raise up a spirit of reawakened faith and institutional reformation? Look deeper. The renewal movement is centered around the connection between the generations. It will reattach the hearts of the parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents. It will center around the spiritual discipleship and education of young people. The rest of the verse (which I did not include) asserts that if this does not happen, the land will be struck with total destruction. That’s how significant and urgent this is in God’s mind. 

A number of years ago, the Adventist historian and educator George Knight spoke at our Camp Meeting. In his presentation he said something like this, “Adventist Education is the center of the Great Controversy”. I never forgot that. I can’t say I even comprehended what he meant. But the more I see the disengagement of parents, the formality in the educational system, the onslaught of the young through social media and mass communication, the more prophetic and keen Knight’s comment seems to be. And maybe the reason God wants this reformation so badly is because He sees that the hearts of adults have been turned away from children to other distractions, and the hearts of children are turned from the older generation too. This displeases the heart of Christ. And the final movement in the church may not only be a message against the Beast, but a restoration of homes and educational systems. Because guess what, if we lose the up and coming generation, what hope does the church even have?

If you are a parent, a principal, a teacher (even Sabbath School), a grandparent, etc, you are one of God’s Elijah’s. I know that’s probably not the typical interpretation for this verse, but it hits. You are so needed. You may be under-appreciated and overworked. You might be expected to work miracles and expectations are unrealistically high. You may feel like a failure. But you are God’s reformer. Own it. But stop merely looking to the clouds, stop zoning out on negative news cycles, put down your phones, quit recklessly pursuing material things, get rid of that secret sin, take your mind off all your problems, and let your heart be turned towards your children and their redemption. For that is where the heart of Jesus is turned. 

Pastor Dean