Tonight we culminate five days of renewal and revival for Seventh-day Adventists gathered here in New Providence in Convention 2002. Meeting under the theme: United in Worship of God our hearts have been fed by the soul stirring singing, the inspiring reports, and the powerful preaching of God’s anointed leaders from our headquarters of West Indies Union Conference.

Our meetings in this convention, have occurred against the backdrop of a world that has gone through drastic changes.

Last year was a very challenging and trying year for the Bahamas. But through it all, Our God has sustained and strengthened us as a people and nation. We praise God for the fact that the Tourists are returning to our shores. Many people dislocated by tragedy and hurricane are getting back on their feet again. And there is hope that this year will be a better year.

I believe that we have a lot to be thankful for as a nation and I hope we would learn some valuable lessons from our recent experiences. For those of us who tend to place our affections on things, business and jobs, I hope that we now understand that all of them can be taken away in a moment.

Recent experiences, I’m sure, have underscored in the minds of many the great value of tourism to the economy of the Bahamas and the need for our people to go the extra mile in treating kindly those who spend their hard earned money to visit our beautiful shores.

And for those of us who tend to believe that we are so powerful, walking around haughty like we own the world, or feel like we are so invincible because of some position or status in life, Sept. 11 should rivet in our minds the transitory nature of life and give us that consciousness that only "In God we move and have our being." He is the one who keeps the blood running warm in our veins. He is our creator and redeemer and the only one worthy to be worship.

Before we go into our message tonight, I would like to share with our brothers and sisters in the family islands and our Christian friends who are joining us by way of radio, a few thoughts on some of the current national issues.

Now even though we share much common ground with our brothers and sisters in the wider Christian community this is one area where are views greatly differ. We do differ on the desire to worship the Lord or the quest to spend quality time with our families but we disagree on that portion of the premise of the argument that says shops should be closed on Sunday because it’s the Lord’s day. First of all we do not believe, based on Holy Scripture that there is any sacredness prescribe by God to Sunday as a Holy day. It cannot be proven in scripture that Sunday is the Lord’s Day. On the other hand we find innumerable passages that speak to the sacredness of the 7^th Day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord and the importance of keeping this day Holy. Because of this clear directive from the LORD, Adventists, notwithstanding, the huge amount business that is transacted on Saturday, close down our shops, businesses and leave our jobs to worship our heavenly Father on His day of rest. And, we believe in keeping the whole day Holy and not just a part of it; A whole day for communion with God and family and friends.

We don’t need any government legislation to force our members to go to church. They come to church because they love him and want to be obedient to his will. And many times they do it against the threats of employers who don’t want to give them the Sabbath off for worship.

The worship that God accepts, is not one that legislated but worship offered in voluntary surrender to his will and Lordship.

Constitutional Amendments:

As you know a number of constitutional amendments have been passed by parliament with some of them being put to the people in a referendum within six weeks.

While I believe that the substantive nature of these bills represents a step forward for our nation, I am deeply concern about the process that was used to amend this most sacred and fundamental document that governs the rights of citizens in this country.

In 1997, the prime Minister had indicated to the nation that he intended to set up a constitutional reform commission, which would in the course of its work effect a process of wide consultation and education among the people of the Bahamas before proposals of amendments were brought to parliament. It was envisage that such a process mitigate to a large degree the usual partisan politics that accompany such matters of governance.

Notwithstanding all those things that might have prevented this from happening, we regret that such an important exercise as constitutional amendments had to be carried out in such a hurried manner. We hope that this will not form the precedent for future exercises.

However, we applaud the efforts of parliament to deepen democracy by removing from political control certain organs and agencies of government that relate directly to fundamental rights of the citizens of this country; we applaud the decision of parliament to remove elements of the constitution that may be interpreted to support discrimination against women and children in our beloved land.

However we are concern about elements of the inheritance bill that was recently passed relating to the rights of children born outside a marriage. While we accept the fact that all minor children (whether they are born inside or outside of marriage) have the right to be maintained by their natural parents until they are adults, we do not support the provision of the new inheritance bill which gives all children, whether inside or outside the marriage, the right to share equally in the assets of a deceased parent, especially when those assets might have been built up by both partners in the marital relationship. I believe that this goes against the sanctity of marriage and is destabilizing to the family unit.

We therefore support the amendment which was proposed by the honorable minister of foreign Affairs in parliament that seeks to address this concern and hope that the government would see the wisdom in correcting what I see has the potential of causing a great deal if distress and worry among our people.

The right to vote should not be taken lightly and we encourage all of our eligible members to register so that they can exercise this right according to the dictates of the their consciences and convictions.

Having said this, I need to underscore that the Seventh-day church has historically taken the position that it does not endorse or support any political party publicly from its pulpits or other forums within its organization.

Our ministers are also sensitized to the principle that public statements of support of any political parties have the potential of bringing division in body of Christ.

We pray earnestly for those of our members who have chosen to be actively involved in politics by offering themselves as a candidate in one party or the other. Even though we are praying for you we would like to remind you of the many pitfalls and challenges that accompany partisan politics within the context of the Westminster system. You need to be mindful that you will be challenged to uphold your Christian principles as never before and do hope that almighty God will give strength to stand for what you believe when called upon to do so.

Our prayer is also that the upcoming election will be characterized by a mature discussion of the issues without the usual character assassinations and mudslinging. Finally it is essential that the election process be conducted in a manner reflective of the great democracy we are seeking to build.