Maurice Ashton is a retired lecturer who lives in Australia. He taught Science and Mathematics at high school level before taking a research interest in Computer Science. He lectured at Avondale College for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2012. He is married to Carmel and they have two adult children and two grand children. Currently Maurice is pursuing a keen interest in bird photography and spends much of his time sitting in swamps observing and photographing birds. He has been involved with Sabbath School Net since about 1997.
We are studying the book of Matthew this quarter. In my Bible, the Gospel of Matthew is twenty-eight pages long and I would like to issue a challenge to our readers to read the Gospel in a week. You could actually read it in a couple of hours on a wet Sabbath afternoon. We often … Continue reading –>
Some of you will remember Tyler, who was for many years the main moderator, and frequent commentor on the Sabbath School Net Blog. We learned with sadness that Tyler passed away in November last year. I have known Tyler through our work on Sabbath School Net for quite a few years. He had the ability … Continue reading –>
When I was a kid, grandmothers were very important because they told stories. No, they did not read them, they told them in their own words, often complete with actions. And we kids would sit at her feet in wonder as she told stories of the family back in the “Old Country” (England). We had … Continue reading –>
In July the Seventh-day Adventist Church General Conference Session will vote on the much-discussed contentious issue of whether individual divisions should ordain women pastors. Since enough has been written about women’s ordination to fill several terabytes of data space, we are not going to discuss the subject on Sabbath School Net. I am not a prophet … Continue reading –>
It is always good to ask at the end of a study session, “What have we learned?” In the case of this quarter’s lessons, which is essentially about wisdom, perhaps we could phrase the question, “Are we wiser now or just more knowledgeable?” We did discuss the difference between knowledge and wisdom at the beginning … Continue reading –>
When we read Prov 20: 1 we often get into “Adventist Thinking Mode” and write a “Theology for Teetotaling” to justify our position. I would like to take a different approach because there are an increasing number of people outside the church who are assessing their drinking habits and making lifestyle changes. These articles are … Continue reading –>
Proverbs is familiar territory for most of us, particularly if we grew up in the days of learning doctrinal texts and Sabbath School memory verses. I can still remember many of them: Prov 1: 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Prov 3: 5, 6 Trust … Continue reading –>
Shepherds and academics do not appear to have a lot in common, but I grew up on a small sheep farm and later became an academic. Both jobs can be quite lonely at times. I can remember as quite a young lad having to go around our small flock of about 200 sheep in the … Continue reading –>
We should extend the ideas of James 5:2-3 beyond the mere accumulation of money and look at our penchant for gaining social position, and maintaining control. My daughter sent me this article to shake me out of my complacency: “Volunteerism: More Harm Than Good,” by Heather Ruiz. It is worth reading because the issues she talks about … Continue reading –>
We were saddened to hear that our friend Jackie Locke passed away yesterday after battling illness for quite some time. Jackie did some moderating for SSNET until she was too ill to continue. Even then, she would send the moderators a prayer every week, thanking us for our work and asking the Lord to bless … Continue reading –>
