Message from the Chair

     One of the most important topics within the discipline of communication is that of the ‘message’. Andrews functions around a core message which provides an eschatological framework for its activities. So what is this message that we live to share? For one thing it is in tension with the messages of the media and mainstream thinking. It questions the idea of happiness as instant gratification. And yet it offers ultimate happiness in the peace and joy that Jesus promised which is not of this world.
     Iris Murdock, prolific fiction writer, defines happiness as ‘a matter of one’s most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy and unconcerned with self’. On the other hand we are the children of the ‘Century of Self’ and individualism reigns supreme. The theme of the marathon episode of ‘What not to wear’, 3 July ‘08 was; ‘my life has changed’. A close look at this conversion experience highlights the importance of money, expensive clothes, an altered appearance and a rejection of ‘me’ as in the past. We are the consumer society and it is difficult to withstand the norm and that which seems so normal.
     A village in China that was devastated by the earthquake is challenged by the fact that the hot water springs that contributed to the disaster are also a source of rebuilding as they now pursue a long-standing goal of developing a resort on the ruins. 
     Aligning the story of the 3 Hebrews in Daniel 3 with Revelation 14:6-12 the topic is that of whom should we worship. Worship is an important theme in the Great Controversy. Many gods present themselves with the so-called right to be worshipped. But the Creator of the Universe who calls us out of false ideas of who to worship is the one to whom glory should be given. This is the message that we must bear to the world.
     Hopefully, this year will bring all of us to a sense of reality, where we are in earth’s history, what God’s will is for each of us and what we need to study and what is of importance right now.

Have a blessed year with us,

Dr. D. Steyn