BY JULIA KRISTEVA
BERRIEN SPRINGS-The collective student body of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary gathered Friday night for a special service of praise and thanksgiving to God Almighty who was once again faithful to provide the latest Apple, RIM, or Android smartphones to his humble servants this year.
Hundreds of Seminarians, all proudly displaying their $400-500 ($200 after rebate with a 2-year-contract), hi-res, touchscreen, multi-megapixel, multimedia-and-web-capable answers to prayers, lifted their voices in song to the Lord God Provider who neglects not the needs of His children.
Brother Samuel Jacobs expounded 1 Kings 17 and Exodus 16 as other examples of God's sustenance in a rousing message that he preached from and cross-referenced to his brand new BlackBerry 9800 slider.
After the message, students were invited to share their personal stories of provision. Testimony after testimony of God's faithfulness rang out from the pulpit. Some students proudly brandished and raised their shining iPhone 4's high in the air in enthusiastic praise. Others took a more discreet approach, pulling their Droids out in a way that came across as less in your face, but that still showed off all the functions and flash.
"I had no idea how I was going to get my Droid R2D2," testified Mark Beggins, a second-year seminarian, "Especially since I still had one year left on my contract for my original Droid. But God is Good (All the Time), and All the Time (God is Good), and I don’t know how He’s doing it, but he made sure I got the phone as soon as it came out, early upgrade fee and $80/month plan and all.
“Praise Jesus!” concluded Beggins, as he quietly swished his fingers across the screen of his phone, before slowly slipping it 3/4 of the way into his pocket.
Other Seminarians echoed Beggins’s story, providing a remarkable display of common interest in such a diverse community.
“I had just got my Nexus 1 when the G2 came out,” said Andre Buswala. “The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I moped around all day before finally getting on my knees and saying, ‘Lord, you know I can’t afford a new phone. I can barely afford to feed my family. But I trust you to provide for me and reward any step I take in faith.’ Then I reached for my credit card, and now I have a powerful tool to aid my studies and my ministries. God is so awesome!”
Perhaps the most touching testimony came from Larry Birches, a self-sponsored student from the Lower Appalachian Conference.
“I used to get nervous every year around June thinking about the sheer financial impossibility of me getting the latest iPhone,” Birches said. “I’d lose sleep, follow tech blogs, talk incessantly about it. But then I learned how to pray and leave it up to God, and after seeing him faithfully provide me the original, 3g, 3gs, and now, the iPhone4, I no longer even think about it. I have learned to trust--to expect, even--that God will provide as Apple releases.”
“This year could have been a disaster for me, with the release of the iPad. But I didn’t even blink an eye, and God came through,” added Birches. “Now, added to my MacBook Pro, I have three devices on which I can surf the web in chapel, or play Street Fighter in class.”
Throughout the night, virtually every student expressed wonder at the magnitude of God’s generosity for taking care of their smartphone needs, even as they struggled to pay for food, clothes, books, tuition, and rent.
“Just yesterday, I was watching my wife count pennies for our family’s grocery run, and it hit me that I was still blessed enough to be able to afford a $100/month talk, text, and data plan,” testified Alan Sagger, who grew emotional and waved his Tilt2 as he talked. “The Lord is so good, so good.”
The worship service concluded with a group petition based on spoken prayer requests. Topics prayed for included family financial difficulties, future job prospects, fights with spouses, spouses who were considering leaving, and faithfulness to trust in God to provide during the next year’s refreshed smartphone lineup.
