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  1. Gregory Matthews

    Personal--Gregory Matthews

    I am in my 80's and in reasonably good health. My brain is still active, even if it is somewhat diminished. I have reasonably good physical health. However, I am having problems with my vision. I receive regular eye injections, which were not on my list of things that I wanted do in life. I am aware that my published posts may contain typos that I have not seen. I work on it, but I have not resolved the issue. I have decided that I will not let that stop me from posting. God does not require perfection. If there is anything of value in my posts, God will use them despite my imperfections. Gregory Matthews
    6 points
  2. Gregory Matthews

    Death of My Son

    David–Eulogy R: ‘090624b David Milton Matthews began life in 1972. His Father, Gregory was a Seventh-day Adventist congregational pastor, and his mother, Sharon, would later become a Licensed California Marriage and Family Therapist. His middle name honored his maternal Grandfather who spent his life working for the California Department of Corrections, as a Correctional Officer. At birth, David joined his older brother, Gregory # 4. As was typical for the denomination of his parents, David moved several times in Virginia during his early years as his Father began to pastor larger congregations. A major change in David’s life came as his Father moved from congregational ministry to becoming a full-time U. S. Army Chaplain. That change resulted in a move to Ft. Ord, in Central California. This resulted in the family living near maternal relatives in the Sacramento area and other relatives living in the Modesto area. That was a positive change which was enjoyed by all. While David was living at Ft. Ord, a major change came in his life. His parents decided to separate. His mother moved to Sacramento to be near her relatives and to begin graduate schooling. His Father continued on as an Army Chaplain. Both parents shared joint custody of David and his brother. Over the next years David traveled between locations in the United States, Asia and Panama as visits ranged from short periods of two weeks to longer periods of thirteen-months. After several years as a single parent, his Father married a woman, also named Sharon, who gave David and his brother freely of her love. Christopher later joined this family as David’s younger brother. It was characteristic of David for him to want to earn money. In one visit with his Father, David began working for the apartment manager on the first day of his visit. On another visit with his Father in New Jersey, he made the acquaintance of the son of a Colonel. One Halloween evening they went out to have some fun. It ended with the Military Police escorting him back to his Father with a full report of his fun activities, which had included smashing pumpkins sitting by people's front doors. Later in life David decided to follow in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather and he applied to the California Department of Corrections to train at the Academy. He was accepted in 1996, graduated and was assigned to The California State Prison, Sacramento, located in Folsom, California. He retired in 2022. In the year 2000, David married Denice, the love of his life. She brought a daughter, Tiffany, into the marriage. David came to deeply love her as a daughter. With the passage of time, Alayna was born, and David had two daughters whom he deeply loved. He felt good about the accomplishments that both daughters had made in their lives. In our society today, every family has stress points. David and Denice were united and met them together. As David, shortly before his death said to his Father, there is no daylight between Denice and I as to how to handle issues as they arise. As a Correctional Officer, David held high ethical standards. On one occasion he witnessed a prisoner being mistreated. It was investigated and David told the truth. Administrative and criminal convictions were obtained and the Governor of California awarded David the third highest Department of Corrections medal, for his cooperation in this matter. On another occasion, while driving to work, David noticed a fire in a nearby apartment building. He stopped, entered the building and began to awaken and evacuate the people living there. In 2017, the Department of Corrections awarded him the Gold Star, it’s second highest award, for heroic deeds under extraordinary circumstances in saving the lives of those people. David enjoyed frequent trips going exploring, camping and fishing with family, friends and cousin Jeff. In brief, David lived a full life of giving himself to others, and loving all of his family. He both loved and was loved. His life was cut short well before his time. He is deeply missed by the many who knew him.
    4 points
  3. Gustave

    Death of My Son

    Like bonnie1962 I can't fathom the heartache and pain either. My brain scampers for words to put together for you Pastor Matthews but I know anything I could say would fall infinitely short. Your Family and your Son will be in my wife and I's prayers.
    4 points
  4. Joe Knapp

    We can now see the change in people.

    Some of the old timers here, like me, can remember a time when their grandparents were alive. Mine lived with our family when I was about 6-10 years old for my mother's side, and from around 19-23 for my father's side. My mother's parents were amazing by today's standard. He was a former supervisor at GM, throughout the great depression. He taught me things and was very smart. His vocabulary was extensive. Using words I never heard of. He was born around 1890 I believe. He was alert right up to his death in his 80's. I never saw him drink or smoke. My fathers, father, was interested in baseball. Every week he would receive a small publication of the game from the previous weeks. He knew the statistics of every player. His children would test him, and he always had the answer. He knew the "at bats", RBI's, everything. On hundreds of players. This was in the 60's and 70's. This was before television. He lived to be 94. Smoked occasional cigars until in his eighty's. I never saw him drink. I don't remember any of them taking any medicine. There was no Alzheimer's then. But today, we have videos converted from film, of life in the 1960's and 1970's . There are not many candid interviews of ordinary people back then, but enough that we can understand the culture. Ordinary people from this time were smarter and more knowledgeable than people in their age group today. Few ordinary people went to college in the 60's and 70's . Yet they had a great understanding of social dynamic, life skills and very different values. People were thin back then. The people have changed so much in my lifetime. They have changed so much in the last 50 years. There is even a big change in the last 10 years.
    3 points
  5. Gregory Matthews

    "How should the church respond to new interpretations of prophecy?

    * The word of God is always true. Sometime, it is partial and incomplete. In addition, we may not correctly understand it. * God used Ellen White in the development of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. * God used Ellene White to urge people to turn to what we commonly call the Bible as the source of ultimate authority as to what God wanted us to know. * Ellen White, in her humanity was imperfect. Her spirituality grew, and changed, over the years of her life. She probably never fully understood what God was communicating to her. * It is clear to me that that modern Adventists of today, often misunderstand what she said, and often mis-use her writings. * Her writings were often sensitive to the time, culture and the circumstances of the person to whom she was writing. With that in mind, one cannot always apply what she said to one person in that same manner to someone today. None of this detracts from her leadership and the value of her ministry to us in our development.
    3 points
  6. Gregory Matthews

    Desmond T. Doss

    Biden signed several bills to rename federal buildings. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) community clinic in Lynchburg, Va., will now be known as the Private First Class Desmond T. Doss VA Clinic. NOTE: For those who do not know, Doss was a Seventh-day Adventist conscientious objector medic during WW II, who was awarded the Medal of Honor. He has also been the subject of some movies, such as Hacksaw Ridge.
    3 points
  7. Gregory Matthews

    Death of My Son

    November 4, 2024 One aspect of David's personality was to play down the issues when he did something that was right. As I have stated, he was awarded the 2nd and 3rd highest medals from the Department of Corrections. He typically dismissed those as simply doing what was right. In regard to the evacuation of the burning building, he sometimes dismissed that by stating that people had left the building prior to his arrival. I will point out that the Department of Corrections would never award the 2nd and 3rd highest awards without fully investigating the incidents and discovering the truth. David told me that when he arrived, some people had already left the building. But, he then entered the burning building to discover others who may have been sleeping and needed to be wakened and evacuated. Yes, he did not do it all. In addition, another Correctional Officer also stopped and assisted in the evacuation of the burning building. That person also was recognized with an award. NOTE: A decision has been made to have services for David, by his wife, on February 2025, at a local SDA Church, but conducted by a pastor of the church that she attends. It is expected that the Department of Corrections will provide full honors.
    3 points
  8. Gregory Matthews

    SDA Video Services

    SDA Video Services: Many SDA Congregations are providing video services for people unable to attend. One such is the Gracepoint SDA Church in Northern California. It uses "youtube" to host its services and it keeps its services available for about 6-months. It also broadcasts live each Saturday at 11:10 AM. To access its services, click on the link below. Then click on one of the following links: * Home: This i sthe home of the Gracepoint congregation. It contains links to videos and other information related to the congregation. * Video: This is the home of videos for the past six months. * Live: This is the location of a current live service. * Playlist: Videos are listed here that are not listed elsewhere. https://www.youtube.com/@GracepointAdventistChurch/streams NOTE: All people are welcome to view the videos. They are watched by people as far away as Iceland, as well as in other nations.
    3 points
  9. Joe Knapp

    Philippines

    The Adventist church is growing very strong here in the Philippines. The Division head is here. There have been major changes in leadership in the last 5 years. We had a new div president who only lasted a couple of years before moving up to the GC. He made many changes in personnel. The new div president is focused on growth. He has promoted splitting Conferences in half. Some were over 40,000 members. He promoted splitting some unions. All of these splits have been very beneficial to grow and leadership.
    3 points
  10. Gregory Matthews

    SDA Challenges

    Gustave: I have never heard a SDA suggest that the reason for Mary not to touch him was because He might not be worthy of worship, or that He was uncertain as to whether or not His sacrifice had been accepted by the Father. I will not suggest that there is a clear Biblical picture as to why Christ may have wanted to return to the Father at that time. All is probably speculative and your opinion is as likely to be correct is my opinion on that issue. In any case, in my thinking the 1st Advent was completed in those few days prior to the report in Acts 1, as Christ guided in the beginning of the organization and functioning of the Christian church. From this perspective, I see a 1sst advent that has occurred in the past, and a 2nd Advent that will occur in the future.
    3 points
  11. Gregory Matthews

    Sister Bertken

    Sister Bertken was a devout Roman Catholic, born in 1457. The following article suggests that her life has something to contribute to us today. https://atoday.org/the-two-windows-of-sister-bertken/
    3 points
  12. Gregory Matthews

    The People of God

    The People of God: In the following article, Loren Seibold challenges us to think beyond what he calls the norms. https://atoday.org/gods-many-many-people/
    3 points
  13. Gregory Matthews

    Sabbath Potlucks:

    Gustave: That is why I made my post telling all that it was a joke. I realized that some might not understand.
    3 points
  14. Theophilus

    Alexey Navalny

    Surprised he lived this long.
    3 points
  15. Gregory Matthews

    The "last supper" was NOT a Passover Seder.

    Rachell, the various denominations are divided as to the nature of the bread that Christ used for the Last Supper. * I note that in one post you say: " I told you that "artos" is unleavened." and is a second post, you say: "Artos" is WITH leaven>" I assume that one is a typo. However, let us look at the actual definition of the Greek words. * Artos is the common bread of a family meal. It is considered by many scholars to always be leavened bread. Thiis word tells us that Christ celebrated the Passover with the common bread served at a family meal. * Azumos is a term that references unleavened bread. https://www.onthewing.org/user/BS_Last Supper - Unleavened Bread.pdf#:~:text=The Greek for what we read as "unleavened,and not on bread%2C e.g.%2C I Corinthians 5%3A8. Rachel, I do not know where you got your definitions of the Greek words. But, I will tell you: Never use either Strong or Young to define the meaning of a Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek Biblical word. They are used to tell us how such a word has been translated, which is quite different from telling us what that word means. For the Greek, your best source of the Greek is the so-called Arndt & Gingrich. Always use a lexicon.
    3 points
  16. Wow. I never thought about that. The way you expressed it is an eye opener. All of the Dispensationalists I have read on forums are elated that they will not have to pass through any tribulation.
    3 points
  17. Gregory Matthews

    Bald Males

    Consider: As I followed up on a reference to a SDA leader, I noted that he had a nicely trimmed beard, cut to a short length. As I reflected on this, I realized that he was also bald. I wondered if there is any relationship between bald males who also like to demonstrate that they are able to grow facial hair?
    3 points
  18. B/W Photodude

    Stephen Bohr

    Unfortunately, I do not believe we will be able to have an open discussion on this topic. Prior links to other websites regarding the actions of the Potomac conference have been deleted and apparently only acceptable politically correct websites (ie, those supporting the progressive agenda in the church) will be referred to. Spectrum, as usual, is engaged in another character assassination of someone who does not toe the progressive line. They are doing it to Bohr and have done it to others. This quote from the Spectrum article was concerning: The most recent example is in the Gaithersburg (Maryland) Hispanic church in the Potomac Conference, where Bohr joined church members in defying not only the conference and the pastor, but the standard procedures for inviting speakers into churches. The statement above reminded me of something I saw in a Greek orthodox church one time. The priest told the congregation that the "fathers" had decided and it was their duty to obey. The members of the church in question wanted to hear Stephen Bohr, however, the conference seems to think that they should determine who the members have speak in their church. Never mind that the Potomac conference says nothing to the pride festivities in other conference churches. Never mind that some of these churches were funded by the sacrifice of the members. (This is what happens when you let the conference hold the title to the church that the local members have struggled and sacrificed for to bring about.) Stephen Bohr is a properly credentialed SDA pastor with "no demerits" on his record. There was no valid reason for this kerfluffle to be happening. The Potomac conference is doing to Bohr what the Florida conference did to Doug Batchelor. Bottom line: Stephen Bohr does not support the ordination of women. The Potomac conference is in full on rebellion against the greater church over this matter. So they will cancel him in the Potomac conference.
    3 points
  19. Hanseng

    Hans Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, FACN

    Dr. Diehl did more to improve the lot of the sick and suffering in his 77 years than most people would do in several lifetimes. It's not always the length of life that matters. Quality is important!
    3 points
  20. Gustave

    Ellen White & Eastern Orthodoxy

    Thanks for that Kevin! Based on your comments I re-read Life Sketches where those quotes came from and then re-read LOCRP-01. I've got some other files in a folder I put together some years ago I also need to read. I'll definitely respond again but not until I review what you've said against the materials I've collected.
    3 points
  21. Gregory Matthews

    Guinea Worm Disease

    Guinea Worm Disease is a tropical disease caused by drinking unfiltered water in Africa. In 1986 3,500.000 people were affected by it. In 2022, a total of 13 people in the entire world are known to have been affected by it. This is due to the work of organizations such as The Carter Center, and others. For more information see: https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/guineaworm/index.html NOTE: Currently The Carter Center is working on River Blindness.
    3 points
  22. Gregory Matthews

    Does Scripture Condone Female Leadership in the Church?

    Yes, perhaps, but a problem is that Ellen G. White was a female leader in the SDA denomination. One can debate whether or not she was ordained. But, it is unlikely that any informed person would argue that she was neither female nor a leader in this denomination. Some might say that she never held an elected office. But, it is clear that she was given, the same credentials, over a period of several years, that we give SDA pastors. If we consider SDA male clergy to be SDA leaders we must consider EGW to be a SDA female leader.
    3 points
  23. Hanseng

    Bag with occult symbols in daughter’s possession

    Don't know much about parenting but I guess you are going to have a major problem with your daughter if you sneak into her room and remove her property. OTOH, it is your house. You can ask your daughter to take her bag with her and move out or get rid of it if she wants to stay. Or you could change your own mind and develop a closer relationship with your daughter. This is a matter of conscience for you but not for her. I doubt she is a satanist or will become one because of a pentagram. Matters of conscience are important ones, however. You need to realize the problem is not with the symbols but with your conscience. While I respect your disdain, even fear, of things related to the enemy of mankind it is you who are giving those things the power to interrupt your family's harmony. Intrinsically, they are nothing, as Paul said, "An idol is nothing in this world." They have no power, vibration, energy. They are nothing, unless you make them into something.
    3 points
  24. Gregory Matthews

    Leroy Leiske

    Leroy Leiske died in 2016, But he should not be forgotten as a SDA leader who helped make the SDA denomination what it is today. See: https://adventistreview.org/news/leiske-remembrance/
    3 points
  25. Gregory Matthews

    Ellen White Today

    Thank you for the time and effort that you put into writing the above.
    2 points
  26. Rahab

    3 word devotional

    2 points
  27. Gregory Matthews

    The EGW Writings

    In a study of the writings of Ellen White, it must be remembered that she did not say or write everything that it is claimed that she said or wrote. The following is a listing of a few statements that cannot be proven to have been said or written by her. https://ellenwhite.org/faq/151
    2 points
  28. Gregory Matthews

    SDA Easter

    Have you ever wondered how Seventh-day Adventists consider Easter. Well, I invite your to attend/view the Easter services (April 18, 2025) at the Gracepoint SDA Church. Their services are televised live and posted on the Internet for viewing at your pleasure later. The following link will inform you as to their services and provide a link to view the service live. All people are welcomed at their services. The main worship service begins at 11:10 AM. Individual classes, like the Sunday School you may be used to, precede the main worship service. You would be welcomed at any of those services. NOTE: This service is on Saturday morning, not on Sunday. https://graceisthepoint.org/ Gracepoint SDA Chur Wech 3500 Sunset Blvd. Rocklin, CA 95677 916-624-4877
    2 points
  29. Gregory Matthews

    SDA Clerical Collar

    Luther Warren is an interesting early SDA leader. He was born in 1864 and died in 1940. The following article is taken from the SDA Encyclopedia, and the photograph in that article shows him wearing a clerical collar. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=7AD1
    2 points
  30. Gregory Matthews

    Ordination

    Do you understand why they are being ordained? They are being ordained because the Constitution of the Union Conferences gives the Unions the right to determine who should be ordained. IOW, in those Conferences the General Conference does not have the right to tell them that they cannot ordain women. From that perspective, they are not in rebellion. Rather it is the General Conference that is in rebellion.
    2 points
  31. Gregory Matthews

    Speaking Well

    For those who may not be aware of current SDA practices: We generally have a period during our services when all ages meet in discussion classes. Free discussions are encouraged. At an earlier time, all such classes generally followed a set format that included the topic. That format was adjusted for age an as children differ from adults. Presently, in the US, many such classes do not follow the material provided by the Church. In actual fact, many classes discuss material provided outside of the SDA Church.
    2 points
  32. Stan

    If UFO's or zombies land and attack, the new plan A

    If zombies or aliens land and go after us, we should all head to Costco. It has big walls, cheap food, and bathrooms. Additionally, zombies cannot get in without a membership. Our new Plan A should be to go there if they land close to us. Make sense? I hope you have a membership.
    2 points
  33. Gregory Matthews

    Sin after death

    In short: The so-called investigative judgment is a judgment of God, and not of you and I. It comes from a perspective that there is a universe of created beings who have not sinned against God and are aware of the rebellion of Satan and what has happened on Earth. The questions that need to be resolved are these: Has sin been removed from those on Earth who have been granted the right to spend an eternity with God? Is there a danger that sin might arise again in the person of one of those people whom God had granted the right to live in eternity with God? Is God just in saving some and not others? Properly understood, the investigative judgment presents God as righteous and just to all intelligent created beings, including us.
    2 points
  34. Gregory Matthews

    Women in Adventism

    Women in Adventism: The following article honors 24-International women who have contributed much to the mission and ministry of the SDA Chruch. https://adventistreview.org/news/association-of-adventist-women-recognize-leaders-around-the-world/
    2 points
  35. Gregory Matthews

    Who Are God's People

    My personal position: * The Holy Spirit is in charge of our spiritual development. * God only holds me responsible for what the Holy Spirit has convicted me on.
    2 points
  36. Gregory Matthews

    17,500.000 Judgment

    The following is an interesting judgment in a religious liberty case. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nyc-to-pay-17-5m-after-police-forced-women-to-remove-hijab-for-mug-shots/ar-BB1laYIp
    2 points
  37. Gregory Matthews

    Christian Nationalism #2

    Christian Nationalism: I have posted before, on this important subject. The following article suggests some additional ways for Adventists to respond to this subject. This article has been distributed by the Rocky Mountain Conference. https://www.rmcsda.org/commentary-an-adventist-response-to-christian-nationalism/
    2 points
  38. Gregory Matthews

    SDA Female Membership

    The above table informs us that in every Division of the SDA Church, for which we have numbers, females outnumber the number of males. What does this tell us in regard to leadership and the number of female SDA leaders? For the source of this table, see: https://spectrummagazine.org/the-current/ NOTE: You will need to page down past several other items to ge to the table of membership.
    2 points
  39. Gregory Matthews

    EGW and the Historians

    As a possible point of interest, I will give my personal position on the so-called deuterocanonical books. * I do not consider any to be canonical, but I consider there to be of some value, in some of them. * First Maccabees is the best history that we have of that period of time. * Second Maccabees has some value as history, but not as much as the First. * Third and Forth Maccabees are rightfully excluded from consideration. * The Book of Judith is an example of a nice devotional work, even if it is not accurate historically. * The Gospel of Thomas, exists in so-many versions that it can be considered to be no more than an interesting work of fiction. * The additions to the book of Daniel are interesting but cannot be considered to be canonical. * Tobit is interesting, but cannot be considered to be doctrinally accurate. NOTE: In my listing above, I have included some works that from a strict sense may not be considered to be deuterocanonical. In addition, I have not commented on every such book.
    2 points
  40. Gregory Matthews

    Science & the Bible

    Dr. Brand has written a valued article, which the Review has published. If you access the article from the link below, page down to the comments that have been made. https://adventistreview.org/magazine-article/faith-inspired-scientific-inquiry/#comment-6377846884
    2 points
  41. Gregory Matthews

    Faith & Politics

    Faith & Politics is a regular, 30-minute program that is broadcast on the SDA Hope TV. In each program, a moderator and 4-experts discuss issues related to how governmental rules may impact on religious expression. The people expressing their views come from a variety of backgrounds and often include people who are not SDA members. I like the program. In common with the typical practice of Hope TV, schedules and subjects of discussion are not published in a form that is available to the general public.
    2 points
  42. Kevin H

    Little Light Studios

    I have a few LLS DVDs and have heard them on 3ABN. I appreciate what I've seen. Now one thing that I've noticed and worry about is they are doing an excellent job in going after the philosophy and methods of the Dragon in Revelation 12, but I worry that they end up running towards the beast in Revelation 13 for protection. I wonder if this is why LLS treated you this way Dr. Shane. Revelation 12 and 13 have a counterfeit trinity. The 3 aspects of the trinity are God the Father = God as power, God as final authority, God as greatness that the angels need to veil their faces. God the Sun = God as personal friend, God as relationship. These are two objective revelations of God. Then there is God the Holy Spirit = God revealing God's self and working with and guiding our subjective existential experience, and we are all at different stages of growth and the Holy Spirit works with us where we are to point closer and closer to Christ. These three need to be held in tension yet unison with each other in our minds. The counterfeit trinity focuses on the 3 aspects of God but where they are independent of the others and only cooperate to their own selfish purposes. The dragon represents Satan and demonic work directly, with Satan's first deception: that God is not God and therefore has no right to place a law over us. We are to be a law unto ourselves. We have our own truths and you have your own truths. You search for truth inside yourself. You are your own final authority. At best this is some form of Eastern Religion and at worst it is Spiritualism. This was the spirit behind the French Revolution and all that has come from it influencing the world. It is a counterfeit Holy Spirit. All truth is in your subjective experience. In a lot of ways the beast is the opposite of the dragon. While the dragon is all me and my subjective experience; the beast is some organization outside of our selves that we allow to rule over us. A fantastic example has been the Papacy over the ages (Yes, there have been good and faithful Godly people as popes or elsewhere in the system here and there. I have tremendous respect for Pope John XXIII. Thousands if not millions of more Catholics will be in heaven because of him.) But good or bad, the Papacy still wants to be the papacy, telling us what to do and we submit to it's authority. Sadly, too many Seventh-day Adventists are only worried about this attitude and spirit ONLY if it comes from the Vatican. It it comes from a different direction, especially from Adventist fringe groups who complain that we are not faithful for not toeing the line of what they see as important, or even people more central to our church with this same spirit, we tend to welcome them. The beast is a counterfeit God the Father. The lamb like beast, the false prophet, is a counterfeit Christ, a counter fit personal friend helping us to compromise and excuse ourselves, especially in the final crisis. Everyone will find things in the final crisis that goes against our conscience, and the lamb like beast tells us that it is best for our existential experience to go along with the system. I am finding many so called "conservatives" who are falling into this trap. I don't remember the details, but decades ago I heard a non-Adventist radio, I want to say evangelist, but I think he was a guest for the radio program. He gave an excellent critique on how people were coming to being very individual's experience and thus leaving traditional values. If I recall correctly, he pushed for churches to really push the traditional values and to vote for people who will make laws for and enforcement of traditional values. I have not gotten very far into it, but from the liner notes it looks interesting and hopefully useful, but I got a book looking at the French Revolution and how it has been influencing the world today. But the author keeps pointing to enforcing traditional values, and having little room for where people are in their spiritual growth, seeing everything she sees as "liberal" as horribly and totally wrong and we have to purge this our of our society. And in my LLP DVDs they keep pointing out where films have people looking inside to their feelings and to choose to go in that "follow your heart" direction. This is a danger we need to be aware of; and I am frankly surprised as to how many of these so called "family" entertainment movies are pushing this spiritualistic deception. But again they seem to support a "enforce the truth" solution. The American revolution was for freedom through good laws and to protect people's liberty of conscience. The Europe we broke away from had a spirit of telling people what to do. Your religion was pretty much where you were born, and you had your state church and you better toe the line. The French Revolution was based upon the idea that freedom is an absence of law, just looking inside your self for reason and what is right for you, and coming to the conclusion that most people cannot handle freedom so you need to enforce it until you create a generation that can handle it, but for now only the elite are able to handle it. I think you can say that while the demons prefer the spirit of the French Revolution, of the law has been done away with. But this would have been a headache for the demons. They needed to know everyone to design a temptation for each person. The demons hate us too much to want to spend time customizing temptations to us It was a lot easier when they had a Pope to tell people what to do, To just have only one or a handful of deceptions that has mass appeal. They double checked the results of this experiment with Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. When they were done with him they treated him like a lab rat when done with their experiment. They are now figuring out how to again make a mass appeal temptation, but how to make people such as Bonhoeffer or Churchill go along with it. They don't care if this temptation really has captured your heart, or for you to think it's for your best interest to simply go along with it. To have the mark in either your forehead or right hand. In Rome, there were times where the local community was to come and bow before the emperors image and pray to him. Jews (including Christians) were allowed to skip this as long as they prayed for the emperor in synagogue. But not showing up and bowing could make your neighbors wonder about you and your commitment. So rabbis discussed that they had members who would walk past the image, and not bow and pray, but just notice that their sandal needed adjusting so they bow to fix their sandal, but look committed. This is where we get the idea of the mark in the forehead (those who bow and pray to the emperor) or in the right hand (those who bow to fix their sandal.) We are at different stages in our religious and life experience. In the truth about the trinity we know that there is an ultimate truth that we are heading towards; but we can apply truth to our likes, dislikes, and subjective experiences. It is to become a oneness of applying Godly principles to the type of unique individual God has made each and everyone of us. God is willing to work with us as we learn and work with our needs assessment, fight against having contempt, work with our temperaments, love languages, apology languages and attachment styles. Both the objective truth and our subjective experience can work together.
    2 points
  43. Gregory Matthews

    The Authority of Ellen White?

    What authority should be given to Ellen White, is a very real and critical question. The following article contributes to that question. https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2023/ellen-white-and-prophetic-authority
    2 points
  44. Dr. Shane

    Abortion

    I feel very comfortable with the official Seventh-day Adventist position on abortion. I also feel very comfortable distinguishing between my religious beliefs and my political beliefs. Some think my religious beliefs contradict my political beliefs but I feel comfortable with both and feel I am being consistent. Statement on the Biblical View of Unborn Life and Its Implications for Abortion
    2 points
  45. Gregory Matthews

    Image of God

    Hanseng: So, you are telling us that God has sexual organs, as well as a digestive tract?
    2 points
  46. Hanseng

    Stephen Bohr

    For what it's worth, I agree with this policy. Those who have issues with Spectrum, AToday, or Fulcrum 7, Advindicate, and others should discuss those issues on those boards. Unfortunately, those boards are known to ban people who don't subscribe to, for example, the "queering" of Adventism or extreme views in other directions. Definitely a "my way or the highway" attitude. What I don't understand is why links on this website often lead to Spectrum or AToday but not to Fulcrum7. Obviously that is perceived as an endorsement of the "woke" perspective and disapproval of the conservative one. Whatever the reasons, I still respect the decisions made here.
    2 points
  47. Gregory Matthews

    Stephen Bohr

    One can respect a person and disagree with aspects of that person's life.
    2 points
  48. Gregory Matthews

    $350,000,000

    In my opening post, I listed a link to a website that had a complex listing o the legal actions that were going on. As few people have probably read that in detail. I will summarize what is listed as happening. Everything happening is normal for litigation of this type. 1) Each party to this case is entitled to be represented by an attorney. So, every time a new attorney is hired to represent a party, a formal notice is filed to give all parties notice that this new person is actively involved in the litigation. 2) Everyone has to be notified as to who is the plaintiff in this litigation along with the attorneys who are representing a plaintiff. 3) The alleged defendants and the attorneys representing them have to be identified to all. 4) Each defendant has a right to ask to be dismissed as a defendant from the litigation, and the plaintiffs have the right to object to that dismissal. It is normal to have some dismissed while others remain.
    2 points
  49. Gregory Matthews

    Adventists Divided On Issue

    Religious Liberty: The following article discusses some recent Supreme Court decision that affect religious liberty. As a point of interest it comments on a brief filed with the court in which Spectrum opposed the position taken by the General Conference. https://spectrummagazine.org/news/2023/report-two-us-supreme-court-cases-impacting-adventists
    2 points
  50. phkrause

    Anything Sports

    Nuggets take home 1st NBA title in rugged 94-89 win over Heat DENVER (AP) — Confetti flying in Denver. The Nuggets sharing hugs while passing around the NBA championship trophy. https://apnews.com/article/nuggets-heat-nba-finals-jokic-99c0f25e6e468a97f8c86330f988933d? Congrats to the Denver Nuggets and there fans 👍👍👍👍👍
    2 points
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