Signs of the Times July 2026

KADE DAVEY life in the fast lane Celebrating 140 years of Hope

In this issue July 2026

WHAT IN THE WORLD 04 LOST IN THE UPSIDE DOWN 12 From alternate realities explored in film, TV and videogames to the Bible’s vision for how life could be.

GROWING THROUGH ADVERSITY 26 When the world feels like it’s against you, your biggest barrier may be your own mindset.

GOING FAST AND GOING FAR 32 For Kade Davey, being the best isn’t enough—he wants to go the distance.

THE SACRED SCENT OF SANDALWOOD

For Clinton Farmer, farming sandalwood is about honouring God, Country and the next generation.

PAGE 06

GOD’S SPIRIT AND SOFT POWER 38 God is often seen as cruel and smiting—but what if that picture is far from the truth?

WHY WE SHOULD SAY SORRY TO OUR KIDS 44 Why apologising is vital.

LONG BEFORE THE BIBLE CAME 46 Aunty Clara taught me more about God than I thought possible..

RECONNECTING TO THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 52 What Indigenous peoples have long understood about our relationship with the natural world.

HOW CAN YOU HATE ME IF YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME? The unlikely friendship between an African American man and a KKK leader.

PAGE 18

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2

SIGNSMAG.COM • JULY 2026

FREDRICK DOUGLASS: THE SLAVEE WHO CHANGED A NATION 54 Two slaves. Two world-changing influences.

HOW TO BUILD THE PERFECT SMOOTHIE 60 SUDOKU AND CROSSWORD PUZZLE 62

@SIGNSMAG

Honour in action Honour isn’t a word that comes up much in everyday conversation, yet we recognise it in familiar places: in the medieval chivalric codes popular in books, TV and film, in academia, in the role of a bridesmaid and when we address a courtroom judge as “Your Honour”.

Most dictionaries list around five major definitions of honour, with up to 20 sub-definitions spanning religion, warfare, morality and ethics. Yet across them all run common threads of respect, integrity and action.

Typically, we picture honour as something reserved for kings, queens, soldiers and officials. Yet the Bible offers a broader vision—one where we recognise and affirm the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of their status. We’re told to honour our parents, our children, the elderly, God, our wife (or husband) and our brother (or sister). Ultimately, “honour everyone” (1 Peter 2:17).

Bill Johnson, pastor of California’s Bethel Church, describes honour as the atmosphere in which people become their best. “A culture of honour celebrates a person for who they are without stumbling over who they are not.”

The idea of honour runs throughout this issue, extending to God, ourselves and the world around us. It shapes whether we respond to God with reverence or indifference, whether we meet ourselves with contempt or compassion and whether we treat the earth as something to use or something to care for, including how we engage with the histories and stories that shape my country—brought into focus during NAIDOC Week.

As you move through these pages, may your understanding of honour be broadened, so that you can extend it more freely to God, to others and to the world itself.

ZANITA FLETCHER Assistant Editor

VOL 140 NO 6

ISSN 1038-9733 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brad Kemp EDITOR Jarrod Stackelroth ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jesse Herford ASSISTANT EDITOR Zanita Fletcher COPYEDITORS Melody Tan Tracey Bridcutt GRAPHIC DESIGN Theodora Pau’u Talia Valderrama PHONE +61 2 9847 2222 EMAIL info@signsmag.com WEBSITE signsmag.com ADDRESS Adventist Media PO Box 1115, Wahroonga New South Wales 2076 SUBSCRIPTIONS Kelli Geelan PHONE +61 3 5965 6300 Australia/New Zealand, $A28/$NZ30; South Pacific countries, $A41; Other countries $A51 Published since 1886, Signs of the Times is printed 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical.

Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ABN 59 093 117 689 NOTE The inclusion of a person or their image within does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs.

Unless otherwise stated, Bible verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Anglicised.

Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton. All rights reserved worldwide.

COVER IMAGE: Racing Together

WHAT IN THE WORLD

Temple under the trees The San Francisco-based Makom Shalom has begun meeting together under a grove of redwoods. It’s a new initiative of the “earth-based Judaism movement”, where Jews find spiritual connection outside of a traditional synagogue setting.

Though unusual, worship outdoors is part of most practising Jews’ spiritual lives. The holiday of Lag BaOmer involves lighting bonfires, signifying the light of the Torah. Likewise, during the festival of Sukkot, many eat and sleep in huts, as a way of remembering the Israelites wandering in the wilderness (as described in the Old Testament book of Numbers).

“The Jewish soul comes alive when we’re in the natural world,” says Rabbi Zelig Golden.—Religion News 4

SIGNSMAG.COM • JULY 2026

CASH MACANAYA, DAN MEYERS, NICK CASTELLI—UNSPLASH

UNITED STATES

New scholarship questions apostle Paul’s existence WORLD

A new book by a prominent Pauline scholar has called into question the church planter’s very existence. In The Letters of Paul in Their Roman Literary Context, Nina E Livesey argues that Paul’s letters are better understood as being a result of second-century concerns and that they make more sense as having been penned by the heretic Marcion.

While compelling, her argument has been rebuffed by fellow scholars, many of whom point out that Paul’s letters read like letters, and that Paul’s apocalyptic tone in many portions make more sense in a firstcentury context. Livesey’s view is a marginal one, as abundant evidence for the life of the prominent apostle exists in both primary and secondary sources.—The New Yorker

AI finds God UNITED KINGDOM

Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are looking to religious leaders for guidance on their AI development. Baroness Joanna Shields, a former Google and Facebook executive and now British politician, said, “Regulation can’t keep up with this.” But the leaders of the world’s religions, with billions of followers globally, have the “expertise of shepherding people’s moral safety”.

However, detractors think it’s a distraction. “I think a very naive take that Silicon Valley has had for a couple of years related to generative AI was that we could arrive at some sort of universal principles of ethics,” said Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of the nonprofit Humane Intelligence.

“They have very quickly realised that that’s just not true. So now they’re looking at maybe religion as a way of dealing with the ambiguity of ethically grey situations.”

—Associated Press JULY 2026 • SIGNSMAG.COM

5

6

SIGNSMAG.COM • JULY 2026

The sacred SCENT OF

sandalwood For Clinton Farmer, farming sandalwood is more than business— it is about honouring God, Country and the next generation.

LORRAINE ATCHIA

IMAGE SUPPLIED

S

andalwood has long been prized for its rich fragrance and therapeutic benefits, finding its place in aromatherapy, perfumes, skincare and traditional medicine. Valued for its calming, antiseptic and antiinflammatory properties, demand for this precious wood has steadily grown. Leaders in the sandalwood industry, such as Clinton Farmer, coowner of Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils, are reshaping the industry by using more sustainable and ethical approaches, educating other harvesters and ensuring sandalwood can be protected for generations to come.

Clinton credits the success of his family business to their love for God and for the country he grew up on.

Clinton came from very humble beginnings, with his grandparents living a traditional, nomadic lifestyle.

They are from the Muntjiltjarra

people, part of the Martu Nation, who reside where four deserts meet: the Gibson Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Little Sandy Desert and Great Victoria Desert—the heart of Western Australia. His family grew up in some of the harshest conditions and learned to find water in the desert and use natural medicines, such as sandalwood, to help them survive.

The older generations passed down knowledge of Country, allowing his tribe to continue living in such harsh conditions.

In the late 1940s, the old people moved south-west and lived and worked on stations until they settled in Wiluna, where the Seventh-day Adventist Church had set up a mission. It was here that the family learned about the Bible. The number three is very special to Indigenous people. Clinton explained: “Our JULY 2026 • SIGNSMAG.COM

7