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The so=called lSabbth l School Qluaterly ils the published recommendation for SDA congregations to use in their Sabbath Schoool clases.. SDA Congregations are free to use other mteriL. Many do use other material, including non=SDA material.

As to other related ilssues: * All people who wish to worshilpl in a lSDA congregation in peace, are welcomed to attend. I p[ersonally know of some homosexuals who attend SDA Congregatios but are not members. * Homosexuals who remain celebate are welcomed to be baptized and become mebbers. 8 There are a few ccases where a non-celebate homosexual has been baptized and allowed to become a SDA member. Such is rare and a viiolation of policy.

That's the way it works in my Church as well.

As to the policy related to homosexual SDA Clergy, it is simply this: Homosexuals may be ordained as SDA Clerlgy only as long as they remain celebate. If they do not remain celebate their ordination will be revocked. We do have some who do remain celebate. We have revoked the ordination of some others who did not remain celebate.

The varioius levels of the SDAChruch operte under a Constitution whilch also has w set of Bylaws. The Consstsilltion is seldom changed, bult may be changed. The Bylaws are often changed. In the Unilted States, the SDA Church has registered wlith the governlment, in order tko be covered by the protections of law that apply to religious organilzations. That process has included the ConstilltulIn the United kStates, In the Unlited States, t he authority to authorize the ordination of SDA clegy has generally lbeen given to the Union Conferences by their Constiltution. In short, the Local Conference recommends ordination and the Union Conference aplproves. As an example, my credentials cOme frkom teh Pacific Union kl coknference aftere the Northern kCalifornia conference recommended such. Under the procedure listed above, the General Conference is considered by many, including me, to not have the authority to tell the Union Ckonferences whom they can ordain.

🌾 Parting shot: Windswept wonder Photo: Marcia Kneisel Reader Marcia Kneisel of Littleton, N.C., captured this morning scene along North Carolina's Outer Banks — in the town of Kill Devil Hills during a brief fall getaway.

A central issue in Stendahl's position is the understanding of Galatians 3: 24,25: 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. KJV 24 So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; RSV As evinced by the different translations above, one view is that the purpose of the law was to bring people to Christ, presumably by convincing individuals of sin and driving them to Christ for forgiveness. The KJV reflects this view. The RSV translation says that the law was to keep us [safe] until Christ came. I agree with Stendahl on this point. Verse 25 says that we are no longer under a schoolmaster. That is what the RSV translation indicates. The law's purpose was to safeguard us until Christ arrived. Once Jesus came, the law ceased to have an active roll in our life. Luther held to a continuing roll for the law. This was his "second use" of the law. The NPP relinquishes the second use to the work of the Holy Spirit. The traditional SDA interpretation of the law aligns with that articulated by Thomas Aquinas. He divided the law into different sections, as do SDA: "Wherefore to worship God, since it is an act of virtue, belongs to a moral precept; but the determination of this precept, namely that He is to be worshipped by such and such sacrifices, and such and such offerings, belongs to the ceremonial precepts. Consequently the ceremonial precepts are distinct from the moral precepts." "Therefore besides the moral, judicial and ceremonial precepts, the Law contains others which are called "commandments." [The "commandments" (mandata) spoken of here and in the body of this article are not to be confused with the Commandments (praecepta) in the ordinary acceptance of the word.]" "Furthermore the commandments may be distinguished from the precepts, so that those things be called "precepts" which God Himself prescribed; and those things "commandments" which He enjoined [mandavit] through others, as the very word seems to denote. From this it is clear that all the precepts of the Law are either moral, ceremonial, or judicial; and that other ordinances have not the character of a precept, but are directed to the observance of the precepts, as stated above." Question 99, articles 1-6 SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The precepts of the old law (Prima Secundae Partis, Q. 99)

One Voice 27 is in full swing in Asia. We have meetings going on now in our district. Over 100 attending nightly. Every church (9) in the district involved.

On September 27, 2026, California enacted Assembly Bill 1803, expanding the state’s mandatory workplace harassment training requirements to include practical guidance on identifying, reporting, and confronting workplace hate speech. The post California AB 1803: What Churches and Ministries Need to Know About the New ‘Anti-Hate Speech’ Training Mandate <label class="rltv-edition-check-wrap" onclick="event.stopPropagation();" title="Add to 5-Story Mini-Newspaper"><input type="checkbox" class="rltv-story-checkbox" data-id="170511542" data-title="California AB 1803: What Churches and Ministries Need to Know About the New ‘Anti-Hate Speech’ Training Mandate" /><span>+ Edition</span></label> appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

She was in her day starting to meet this and was fighting this. She had different issues she had to deal with and put forth different amounts of effort on what was pressing at the time. The last issues was a tie about things that were starting to grow out of the first world war, and the proper use of her writings. This was her last great battle. She fought this battle as she was old and frail. Sadly, this is a battle she lost. Stephen Haskell was a very close friend of hers, so close that when they were both widowed that he proposed to her. Yet, they had one big, on going argument; how prophecy works. He had a much more fundamentalist view and insisted that Mrs. White's experience fit the view of the Fundamentalists. She held a much more liberal view of inspiration and what visions did and DID NOT do for her. Both were frustrated that they could not convince the other to their understanding, but remained close friends. After she died, he continued the same argument with Willie, where Willie gave the same ideas as his mother, but Haskell was far less cordial to Willie than he was to Mrs. White. I see the wisdom for her turning down his proposal (and finding another woman for him.) Marriage can change attitudes, especially with the role of men in the 1800s. Would he have remained cordial with their different views of inspiration? Could their differences on how inspiration worked ripped the church apart? There were less friendly correspondence between the Whites and the pastors who's thought developed into what is called "Historic Adventism." Among their followers (I did not find this in their writings directly) there were people saying that Mrs. White no longer believed that she was a prophet. No, she did not give up believing that she was a prophet, she just had a different view of what a prophet was than what they insisted a prophet should be. Sadly, I'm not sure how "shocked" she would be since she really had to face these issues, but she would be greatly disappointed that she lost the battle.

This is the point!!!!!!! Can God, even as a weakened creature, the the weakest point possible, facing true temptations, choose not sin. If he can, then it would prove that God is who God claims to be. If this did not happen, then it would mean that God wouldn't be God. The entire universe would be thrown into chaos. Creatures needed to know whether God really is God, or just some sort of higher evolved creature of the same essence as we are. If God is God, is God all that He claims to be, especially in relation to his law of self sacrificing love/self renouncing love; and in the question in how he will treat sinners with the apparent contradiction of being both just and merciful. If he's just, sin needs to meet it's results. That would kill all sinners and that would not be merciful. For God to be merciful, he needs to be able to forgive and if he's forgiving and merciful then doesn't this go against his claim to be just. Gustave, what is say is what indeed the `issue is and why Jesus had to have the free choice to truly face temptation and the sin issue with the real risk of failure answers the question: is God truly God? If Jesus failed, then God wouldn't be God.

October 9, 2026 Tlhis w eek, an estimated 20,000,000 people who are on Medilcare, began recieving $90 deposilts to their bank account, as direted by President Trump. His stated reason: This is to reduce the cost of Medicare this coming year.

CORRECTION: An estimated 60-million people are on Medicare. The $90 will go to an estimated 20- million people. Those who have Medicare Advantage are excluded from teh fefulnd.

Christa Pike, a convicted murderer condemned to death, has become a cause celebre. She is more or less a hero to some people. According to the Word of God, she has no right to be alive. By preserving her life, even celebrating it, her supporters are incurring blood guilt. This is true of the State itself, Tennessee. According to Scripture, if a body was found, it would be determined which city the corpse was nearest to. The elders of that city would then be responsible to atone for the death. The guilt of innocent blood would be reckoned to the city if they failed to do this. Unatoned innocent blood incurred the curse of God. Jeremiah 19: 1-10 states that the shedding of innocent blood brought destruction upon Jerusalem. 2 Kings 21 says that Manasseh shed innocent blood, bringing the wrath of God upon Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Kings 24 explicitly states that the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was a consequence of the innocent blood Manasseh had shed in Jerusalem. Proverbs 6: 16, 17 lists the shedding of innocent blood as one of the things God hates. I Kings 2 describes the fear Solomon had of innocent blood. Having a murdered put to death was one of his first acts as king.

I lift weight, but i allow more rest days because of my age. There is a Psychical Therapist for UK called Will Harlow on YouTube. He has great exercise tips too. I saw one therapist who recommended Seniors use lighter weights and longer reps to avoid injuries.

🌴 California dreaming Photo: Natalie Daher I snapped this view of the Pacific and Santa Monica Mountains on a cloudless morning yesterday from Santa Monica, Calif. I'm on the ground producing an upcoming Axios Show interview with longevity entrepreneur Bryan Johnson.

My wife and I will be watching at home.

Parting shot! Photo: Joe Capraro Finish Line readers and newlyweds Madi and Joe Capraro honeymooned through national parks last month. Here's one of their stunning captures: an elk at Mammoth Hot Springs inside Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

Gabie Ntaate

Lot easier to lie than to remain celibate. A mother posting about her gay son claimed that, even though he was living with another gay boy, they were celibate. Anybody believeing that two gay young men living together are celibate doesn't understand the gay community or the nature of sin. Sin is not something people can control. Homosexuals usually can't just turn off their libido. Neither are they capable of being truthful about their activities. They may repress their desire, which can lead to other uncontrollable abominations. People can be delivered from homosexuality in the same way alcoholics and junkies are delivered from their addictions. Some may" hibernate" for awhile. In their hearts, they remain alcoholics, junkies whatever. Synanon operated a very successful live in treatment center, for various addictive behaviors, e.g., alcoholics, substance abusers, gamblers. Some stayed in the program for years, clean and sober. Even so, when they left the program, even after a decade or more "inside," many returned to their addictive habits. Some homosexuals "get the cure" marry, have children and still return to homosexuality. Read the book "Mindhunters" for insight on the workings of sociopathic minds.

🌈 Rainbow hour Photo: Jackie Rick Finish Liner Jackie Rick captured this colorful calm over the Atlantic from Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island last week, ahead of the weekend storms.

EGW was not a pastor. As far as I know, she never functioned as a pastor, i.e., served as the overseer of a congregation. It is quite a stretch to compare her work to the work women want to do in the church today. Some may remember Dan Collins. He worked with Amazing Facts in the days of Joe Crews. Dan was hired because he was an effective soul winner. He was noticed when he brought a dozen people to an AF crusade, ready for baptism, schooled in SDA doctrine. How many SDA pastors. male or female, meet that criteria? Some people want a female pastor. Some want a homosexual. A person who wants a straight male pastor can go to a congregation which has one. If one is not available, connect with 7th day Baptists or the Church of Christ, 7th day. The statement of faith 7th day Baptists hold is one with which most SDA could agree. A home church might be an option. Those who are opposed to woman pastors should keep in mind that your tithe may be used to pay them.

What EGW did or did not do is not necessarily the right thing to do. Same goes for the pioneers. The denomination was essentially a legalistic cult for the first 40 years of its existence, according to EGW. Paul outlined the qualifications for pastoral office: 1 ¶ This [is] a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. There is a direct correlation between his role as husband and head of household and his ability to "rule" a church. Similar qualities are described in Titus: 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

Detwiler v. Mid-Columbia Medical Center The post The Outer Limits of Religious Accommodation: Nasal Swab Test Refusing Hospital Worker Asks Supreme Court to Decide appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

In the western territories people such as Elder Loughborough ordained women. The New York Conference wanted to ordain women and the Atlantic Union approved the ordination of women. The General Conference said that while they were free to ordain the women, they requested that the women get the paperwork without the word "Ordained" until more of our members were ordained that it is Biblical to ordain women. From this history, which part would you say they understood to be only a temporary measure? If they did not want to ordain women they would have simply told Loughborough and the others and the conferences and unions that wanted to ordain women to simply not to, instead of setting up a system where we have always for all practical purposes ordained women only avoiding the word. Ellen White could have taken the paperwork without the word "Ordained" She could have written testimonies to Loughborough, the New York Conference, the Atlantic Union telling them that women's ordination was wrong and to send Daniels and General Conference leaders before him that we simply should not ordain women instead of setting up this way of ordaining women and avoiding the word. While some religions may argue over ordaining women, the issue in the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been whether we should be honest and open that we ordain women, or to ordain them in a round-about way avoiding the word but in fact doing the task? The purpose for hiding what we were doing was, according to Daniels, to allow to educate our members that it is Biblical to ordain women. The church has never decided to make ignorance, that our pioneers wanted to educate away from, to be a rule to be enforced on to the church.

The union conferences were given the ability to choose ordination back in the 1800s. Some, back then, choose to ordain women, however, the General Conference did make a request for a temporary differentiation between male and female ordination. That men get the papers that include the word "Ordination" while women's papers get the same pay, with their husbands getting the same stipend as given to the wives of the ordained men, but that the women's papers omit the word "Ordained." That the women get ordination in the local church, but are allowed the same responsibilities as ordained pastors (although there tended to be an exception for certain administrative offices in the hagiarchy of the church). In other words, since the 1800s, our church has been ordaining women, but in a round about way. According to General Conference President A. G. Daniels (who came into office long after this practice was started) this round-about ordination was only to be temporary so that our members can become educated, but agreed that the unions had the right to ordain who they wish. Ellen White did NOT take this round about ordination option, but took the same papers as the men that included the word "Ordained." (Now, there is one copy, out of several copies over the years) where someone crossed out the word "Ordained." Now, when Mrs. White crossed out something, she would place her initials over the cross out. However, this cross out does not contain her initials. Critics of women's ordination argue that Mrs. White needed the paper with the word "Ordination" to get paid. However, other women who carried the papers that did not include the word "Ordained" got paid, got the same pay as the men who carried papers that carried the word "Ordained." Mrs. White could have carried the papers that did not use the word "Ordained" and still have gotten the same pay, so this argument does not fit the facts. The votes taken in the General Conference sessions has never changed this policy, but has been described as "kicking the can" further down the road while maintaining the same round-about ordaining women with paperwork that does not include the word "ordained." What these "rebellious" conferences are doing is deciding to just be open and above board about the language of the paperwork, taking advantage of the powers the church gave them in the 1800s, and choosing to no longer fulfill a temporary REQUEST by the General Conference leadership. Why do so many of our members show a neurotic need to prove that we are good Baptists, and if we are not going to ordain women, then why didn't our leadership prevent the ordination of women from the start? Why did our pioneers and leadership set up a way of ordaining women without using the word "Ordained" which they said was only to be temporary?

This was an interesting post! I had no idea of this lol!!!

Truth is not always what we expect it to be. Our prejudice is the set of preconceived ideas we have about something. When we encounter new information, we process that information using this set of preconceived ideas. We see that play out in this episode in both John the Baptist and Simon Zee. Both have preconceived idea about the mission of the Messiah. When the light shines on them, it is difficult for them to adjust their thinking. The creators of The Chosen decided to contrast the teachings of Jesus with the teachings of John the Baptist. This is consistent with the Desire of Ages. John did not grasp the nature of Christ's mission. He felt that part of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40 would be that powerful rulers would be brought low. To him, that is how God would lower mountains and hills. Those were his preconceived ideas that served as a filter when he read Isaiah 40. The words of Jesus did not lead him to that conclusion but rather it was his prejudice. The Chosen did a nice job of capturing that. Simon Zee, in contrast to John the Baptist, accepts that his preconceived ideas are wrong. He listens to Jesus and does not run into the river to retrieve his tossed dagger. Later, he is introduced to the others by Simon the fisherman. They discover that Mary has left the group, which is a topic for another thread - best discussed with the Season 2 Episode 6 discussion. You can watch The Chosen for free here -> Angel

In this episode, John made reference to himself as a type of Elijah. Elijah passed his ministry on to Elisha by tossing him his mantle. John the Baptist passed his ministry to Jesus by baptizing him. Jesus later passed His ministry onto the Apostles at Pentecost. Both Elijah and Elisha raised the dead. Elisha even raised a dead man posthumously. When the dead man's body touched Elisha's bones he came to life. Jesus raised the dead as did both Peter and Paul. The ministry of Elijah and Elisha were were a type. It foreshadowed the ministry of John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostles. This provides evidence for us to accept both the New Testament and the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God. Types and antitypes tie the two cannons of the Bible together.

I have often wondered, if Ellen White was alive today, what would her opinion be about how people have treated her writings. I think she would be shocked.

Hobie, EGW wrote some good books, or had her name attached to them. Ministry of Healing, Education, Counsels on Diet and Foods [a compilation]. Great Controversy is good as an introduction to church history. Depending on how you count them, I've read 50-60+ of her book sin their entirety, made hundreds of note cards. If you want to read theology, try Cranfield's Shorter Commentary on Romans and Luther's commentary on Galatians. In some of her works, EGW apparently didn't know what she was talking about. You can learn similar rubbish from ministries like Amazing Facts. Her emphasis tended toward legalism. In some cases, she was a flaming legalist. Some have said her righteousness by faith writings, preserved in Selected Messages, volume 1, are peerless. Much of the confusion in Adventism has its origins in what Sr. White said. She gave good practical advice on ministry. Problem is that the denomination ignores much of her practical advice.

So then you face the dilemma of if Christ became fully man or not when it comes to fully man and fully God,...

While there's been a LOT of "discussion" and quotes from "authorities" on other C/A threads about homosexuality being "learned behavior" vs. genetic, I've noticed that nobody has brought up the new research about Epi-genetics as being the major contributing factor via "epi-markers" in producing homosexuality. It dispels the conclusions of identical twin studies, where based on the fact that one of the twins is gay, homosexuality *must* be a learned behavior because identical twins have identical DNA/genes. Not necessarily the case... Quote: The search for a "gay gene" may be off-target, new research finds. Another process called epigenetics that switches genes on and off may explain why homosexuality runs in families. Epigenetics are heritable changes caused by factors other than DNA. Instead of traits getting passed down through the genes, epigenetic change happens because of the way genes are regulated, or turned on and off. These genetic regulators may be the reason homosexuality persists in nature despite the fact that gay people are less likely to reproduce, suggests the new study published in the journal The Quarterly Review of Biology. "These things have evolved because they're good for the parents, but they sometimes, not [with] high frequency, but sometimes carry over" into offspring, study researcher William Rice, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told LiveScience. In a male fetus, Rice and his colleagues write, an epigenetic change that benefited the mother may lead to "feminization" of sexual preference — homo- or bisexuality. The same may be true for epigenetic changes passed down by dad to a female fetus. (The terms feminization and masculinization of sexual preference refer to sexual orientation only — not to physical or personality traits of the offspring.) *snip* Rice and his colleagues focused on epi-marks, which are molecular changes that act like temporary "switches" to turn genes on and off. If a gene is a blueprint, the epi-mark is the construction foreman who makes sure the product gets built. An epi-mark also determines when, where and how much a gene is expressed, according to the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. These molecular switches are usually erased very early in the developmental process, but they can be passed down from generation to generation, too, Rice said. Some epi-marks are particularly important during fetal development, when they promote normal physical development in the sexes despite natural variations in testosterone during pregnancy. Researchers know that fetal exposure to too much testosterone can masculinize the genitals, brain or behavior of a genetically female fetus. Likewise, too little testosterone can make a genetically male fetus more feminized. But here's the catch: There's lots of overlap between the levels of testosterone male and female fetuses get exposed to. That means there must be another side to the story, Rice and his colleagues wrote. That side appears to be epigenetics, Rice said. "Early in development, we think these epi-marks are laid down so that girl fetuses will be relatively insensitive to testosterone and male fetuses will be relatively sensitive to testosterone," Rice said. Biological behavior Thus, if an epi-mark that kept a mother from getting exposed to high testosterone in development gets passed on to her son — the opposite sex — it could desensitize him to testosterone, contributing to his sexual preference for men. Similarly, if a male-specific epi-mark from dad gets passed to a daughter, it could "masculinize" her sexual preference, making her more interested in women. These findings could explain why twin studies show that homosexuality runs in families, but no "gay gene" can be found, Rice said. In identical twins, there's about a 20 percent chance that if one twin is gay, the other will be too. If genetic change were responsible for homosexuality, you'd expect a much higher match, Rice said. Epigenetics, however, can explain the heritability without the need for a specific genetic change. source Quarterly Review of Biology Report, Vol 87, No. 4, December 2012

Because ww totally still have smallpox and polio and measles, mumps and rubella running wild and killing millions. Oh, wait...