Monday WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO SAY? Different people, different opinions. Some of the quotations below represent the views of true kingdom citizens; others may not. Can you tell the difference? How do these statements compare with what God is saying in His Word? After reviewing the texts in the God Says . . . section of the lesson, write a statement that cap- tures your belief. Be prepared to quote yourself at Sabbath School. “Lost in a windswept land / in a world of shifting sand / a fragile flower stands apart / and there in that barren ground / you feel like you’re the only one / trying to serve Him with all your heart / and you wonder, won- der can you last much longer / this cloud you are under / will it cover you.” CHORUS: “Desert rose, desert rose / don’t you worry, don’t be lonely / heaven knows, heaven knows / in a dry and weary land / a flower grows / His desert rose / desert rose.”—Desert Rose, written by Mark Gersmehl, Billy Smiley, and Rick Florian. Good Morning America interviewed former MTV video jockeys about their willingness to let their kids watch MTV. Mark Goodman said, “My kids are not allowed to watch MTV. . . . Have you seen what they put on that channel?” Martha Quinn agreed with Goodman’s no-MTV household rule: “Yeah, my kid doesn’t watch it.”—WORLD (8-11-01), p. 12. “More than a hundred years ago, Søren Kierkegaard warned that the age of the crowd was upon us. In such an age, said Kierkegaard, people would not think of deciding for themselves. They would follow the ad- vice given to children going off to a party: ‘Look and see what the others are doing and then behave like them.’”—Cited by Kenneth Hamilton, “The Irrelevance of Relevance,” Christianity Today, March 1972. Kingdom of the Narrow-minded April 4, 2015 Sunday HERE’S WHAT I THINK Kelsey feels alone. It doesn’t feel right, nor does it seem fair that stand- ing up for what is right could turn out to be such a disaster. Kelsey wit- nessed two boys physically hurting another boy at school. While many students witnessed the incident, no one was willing to say what hap- pened, because the two boys were quite popular. Kelsey couldn’t remain quiet. She told the principal. The students were disciplined. Students called her names that made her feel horrible. How could doing the right thing feel so wrong? What do you think she should have done? What do you think Christ would have done? Why does being a child of God sometimes require us to be misunderstood by the major- ity? What should people like Kelsey do in those times? Log on to www.guidemagazine.org/rtf to post your responses. Be up- front and honest. Say what you think. DRIVERS WANTED (What connection do you think the following illustration has with the Bible texts in Wednesday’s section?) The story is told of a man who lived at the top of a mountain. The road from his house to the valley was a winding, narrow route. On one side of the road there were no guardrails, in spite of a steep drop-off at the edge of the road. His search for a new chauffeur brought several potential drivers to the residence for an interview. His only interview instruction was, “Drive me down the mountain, and see how close you can come to the edge without going over the cliff.” The first candidate took the challenge bravely and drove down the mountain about eight inches from the edge, demonstrating tremendous skills as a driver. A few times, the tires squealed slightly, but the car stayed firmly on the road the whole way down. The man who lived on the mountain thanked him politely and dismissed him, saying, “I will call you if I need to speak with you further.” The second candidate boldly responded to the same challenge and skillfully drove the car six inches from the edge of the cliff the whole way down. The driver spoke of his experience racing cars and could describe exactly what the car was doing as it swerved at each turn. His confidence and ability as a driver were well noted, but he too was dis- missed and informed that he would be called if necessary. When the third candidate heard the challenge, he looked at the mountain road that went to the valley and then looked back at his in- terviewer and said, “Are you sure?” The man replied “Yes.” But the owner noticed as they made their way down the mountain that the driver stayed a healthy distance away from the edge of the mountain the whole way down. He thought that the driver must have misunder- stood his instructions. When questioned, the driver said, “I understood perfectly. There are many ways to get down the mountain, but I just thought I would choose the best way. I’m not one to test the limits of my skills when it comes to someone else’s life.” He was hired. Copyright © 2015 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Write your own quotation. What I say is . . . _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Key Text: Choose one of the texts from Wednesday’s section of the lesson. Write it here and memorize it this week. __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________