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I had noticed that Paul often starts and/or ends his letters giving honor to God, Jesus, and sometimes the Holy Spirit, so I went through them to check. Here is my report, using the ESV. New Testament books greetings and closings (G = God, J = Jesus, S = Son, H = Holy Spirit) G JS H Romans 1:1-8 G J Romans 16:25-27 G J 1 Corinthians 1:1-4 J 1 Corinthians 16:23 G J 2 Corinthians 1:1-2 G J H 2 Corinthians 13:14 G J Galatians 1:1-3 J Galatians 6:18 G J H Ephesians 1:3, 13 G J Ephesians 6:23 G J Philippians 1:2 J Philippians 4:21, 23 G J Colossians 1:1-2 G JS H 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 10 J 1 Thessalonians 5:28 G J 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 J 2 Thessalonians 3:18 G J 1 Timothy 1:1-2 G J 1 Timothy 6:11-16 G J 2 Timothy 1:1-2 G J Titus 1:1-4 J H Titus 3:5-6 G J Philemon 3 J Philemon 23 (Jesus G JS Hebrews 1:1-2 G J Hebrews 13:20-21 G J James 1:1 G J H 1 Peter 1:2-3 G J 1 Peter 5:14 (Jesus) G J 2 Peter 1:1-2 G JS 1 John 1:3-4 G J 1 John 5:20 G JS 2 John 1 G JS 2 John 9 G JS Jude 1 G J H Jude 20, 25 G J Revelation 1:1-2 G J ? Revelation 22:17-21

Intellectual integrity in Adventist scholarship is examined in the following article by a Seminary scholar: https://spectrummagazine.org/views/columns/what-of-intellectual-integrity/

Have you ever thought what your life would be like if you could no longer drive an automobile? For the past 6-months, I have been involved in an extensive conversation with the State of California, as to whether or not I would be allowed to drive an automobile. * This has involved examinations and reports from two eye doctors. * it has involved multiple trips to a local DMV office to resolve/respond to issues. * Yesterday it came to an end with a 30-minute driving test, on the highway, and in local residential areas, under close supervision. * Any failure on a list of critical issues would immediately result in a total failure to pass the examination. * I would be tested multiple times on minor issues, regardless of whether or not I failed on any of them. * A passing score of no more than 20 minor failures was required. * In addition, I was questioned on my knowledge of how to operate the vehicle that I was driving. Note: The DMV person knew more about how my vehicle operated than I did. * My physicians had recommended that i be restricted to only driving during daylight hours and to only a 2-year extension of my license. NOTE: It could be more restrictive. I PASSED WITH ONLY 10 MINOR FAILURES! THE RECOMMENDED RESTRICTIONS WERE ACCEPTED. I AM SO THNKFULE. I do not know how I would have survived with a total loss. Although, in most months I do not drive more than 10 miles. My wife is more restrictive.

I would have to lean towards that, and going about and am telling everyone we are near...

There are only two movements in Christianity today with spiritual force behind it, Adventism and the church of Rome. The others are letting go of their foundations and drifting towards Rome or worse..

On a personal basis, I believe that we have much more to fear from a sub-set of Protestants than we do from Catholics.

Many years ago, I reported to the police an old acquaintance who was involved in the heroin trade. I felt a bit guilty for betraying him, so I told him what I had done. One evening, I was walking along a dark street and a carload of guys. with him in the car, drove by real slow, taking a look at me. I reached into the pocket of the oversize coat I was wearing; they drove away. Bluffing might be option when dealing with potential or actual drive by shooters. I was lucky that night.

Why should I believe in the validity of the New Testament? Why should I believe that Christ rose from the dead? Powerful preachers exist in Adventism, whom I never mention in comments that I post in this forum. A new one has arisen on the Adventist scene who cannot be ignored and demands my recognition. That person is Shane Anderson, the senior pastor at Andrews University. The following is an exceptional series of sermons. # 1: https://www.pmchurch.org/service/2026/03/07/part-1-sahara-surprise # 2: https://www.pmchurch.org/service/2026/03/28/part-2-when-knowing-truth-not-enough # 3: https://www.pmchurch.org/service/2026/04/04/part-3-tomb-raider

Wow. Wow, Wow, wow

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? Hebrews 2 New International Version We are warned not to drift away. Over the years, I have seen many people drift away. Studying the word of God every day, keeps us from drifting away. I have never seen someone drift away who was studying the bible every day.

There are many in our church who believe that we have the truth, and that only people who fit a certain mold will be in heaven. Philippines is about 80% catholic. Probably more in my area. There are MANY devoted catholics here. I have had the opportunity to visit, get to know and observe. The faith and dedication to God that some of these people have is humbling. They don't have the truth we have, but they have the faith the bible talks about. Complete trust in God. Sometimes, we are not so smart as we think we are.

Gustave, I agree. Let's step back a moment and survey the damage done in the Middle East recently. As I watch smuggled videos about Israel, it appears the area above ground is 90% destroyed. Gaza is destroyed, Lebanon is pretty much destroyed. Syria is pretty much destroyed. Iran has been damaged, but it is hard to tell how much. However, things are not over, and I think it is likely to be destroyed like the others. In our lifetime, or the last 250 years, we have never seen war and destruction like this in the Middle East. The destruction is almost as complete as Europe in the 1940s. This is very historic. The Middle East will not recover economically for another 20-30 or 40 years, if the pattern of post-war Europe is followed. What does this mean? Many people are focusing on the trees and not seeing the forest or the future.

Well we had a eye opening enforcement during the Covid19 spread. During the COVID-19 "zero-Covid" lockdowns in China , residents in cities like Wuhan, Xi'an, and Guiyang were put under severe restrictions that prevented them from buying food, medicine, and necessities, or selling goods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China implemented a nationwide system of color-coded health apps on citizens' mobile phones to control movement and restrict any purchase or selling by the person or persons. These systems functioned as a digital "good citizen certificate" which determined whether an individual could buy goods, use transportation, or enter buildings, so it was a complete social enforcement. Here is some background.. "Wang Yu, hailed by the U.S. as an International Woman of Courage, has already been arrested, imprisoned and harassed by the Chinese Communist Party for her work as a human rights lawyer representing activists, Uyghur scholars and Falun Gong practitioners. Now, her movements within her home country have been restricted by a color-coded app on her phone that’s supposed to protect people from COVID-19. The app and its color codes have become ubiquitous in China as the country has struggled to contain the coronavirus, pushing the public to a breaking point that resulted in protests over COVID restrictions late last month. The government announced last week that it would discontinue the national color-coded health app, but cities and provinces have their own versions, which have been more dominant. In Beijing last week, restaurants, offices, hotels and gyms were still requiring approved color codes to enter. Drawing on telecommunications network data and PCR test results, the app is relatively simple. Everyone is assigned a QR code on their phone that switches between green, yellow and red, depending on factors such as whether they’ve been in the same spot as someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (yellow) or if they themselves have tested positive (red). Only people with green codes can go about normal daily life." https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-12-20/china-covid-health-apps-tool-social-political-control

Real problem with the denominational set up is that church administrators hold the purse strings. Scholars are not free to do what they are paid to do, i.e., search/teach the Scriptures. Graham Maxwell was at LLU at the same time as Elder Heppenstall. According to an oral history recited by Dr. Maxwell at an AAF meeting, both he and Dr. Heppenstall were frequently called into administration to answer criticisms of what they were teaching. This was largely because of students complaints. They had no appetite for something new or different from what they already believed. True scholars do more than simply affirm what their students already believe. The parameters of their teaching were defined by the administration, i.e.,don't rock the boat. Both Maxwell and Heppenstall learned who their "masters" were at Loma Linda; consequently, they had to craft their teaching to fit boundaries marked by the administration. Recently, a young pastor left the work over the seal of God. This is not even a fundamental belief. From what I learned of the problem, he was correct. His emphasis differed from SDA tradition, which identifies the Sabbath as the seal of God. The evidence for this is extremely thin. The testimony regarding the Holy Spirit as the seal is quite clear. Scholars know this, if they deserve to be called scholars. Dr. Fortin stated the matter clearly "The preamble to the Adventist Fundamental Beliefs document states that these beliefs may be revised as the Holy Spirit guides the church, but in reality, professors sense that honest discussions about revising any belief are perceived as contrary to the faith" i.e., their salary, benefits, career will be jeopardized.

The prosecutions piled up. The voters revolted. The constitutional bill is already written. What happens next will define a generation of free expression in the English-speaking world. The post A First Amendment for Britain: The Bill, the Ballot, and the Crackdown appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

A Georgia ministry alleges that Vidalia City Schools canceled its long-standing religious education program to punish its director for criticizing school spending on social media. The post ADF Lawsuit: Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center Sues Vidalia Schools Over Canceled Bible Program appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

Not sure how you got to that..

In my travels as a military chaplain, I have witnessed many SDA Congregations that struggled to exist. Often, they lacked essential resources for ministry in their community. They may have operated without a clear sensis of what the intended goal of the program was and never were evaluated to determine whether or not they were effective. As a military chaplain, a major commander once called my supervisor in and asked him to give the Commander, a document outlining how chaplains would contribute to the overall success of the organization. My boss gave me that task to me, and I wrote a 110-page document which he presented to the Commander. Unfortunately, he did not read which I had written prior to presenting it to the Commander. NOTE: The Commander read every word it. To illustrate my thinking on this, I have decided to illustrate with a a common SDA ministry of providing food to the needy in a community. * Mission is probably the first aspect of the congregation ministry that should be determined. In our example, that mission could be simply to provide food to the needy, or it could have the addition aspect of increasing congregational membership. This is a critical difference that impacts on every other aspect of the ministry. * Resources needed: An obvious response is that a source of food is needed. Will it be a free source, such as a food bank, or will food have to be purchased. Sometimes some food will need to be purchased. If so, are the finances needed available. People will be needed to operate the distribution. When the mission is simply to distribute food, the workers can come from outside the congregation. If the mission includes increasing the membership, whether the congregation can supply the needed member to operate the distribution is critically important. Will the congregation e able to supply any needed funding is also critical. NOTE: In my thinking the Church Board has the overall responsibility to provide all needed resources, not the person in charge. * Evaluation: Are the objectives being accomplished? If not, what is the needed correction that must be made to accomplish the objectives? In our example, if it is desired to increase membership and that is not happening, what needs to be done to correct that? Note: On a personal basis, I think that many struggling congregations have reached the point where they are unable to survive and accomplish ministry outside of help for a higher level such as the Conference. I also believe that in order to survive and do ministry each viable congregation must have the following, not listed in priority: * The finances needed to run a successful program. * A sufficient congregational size, which has been estimated by some to be abut 200. Yes, I believe that the Conference can be of help in this aspect. * Sufficient capable leadership. Let us face it, individual members are not capable of filling every needed position in the congregational life. Yes, I believe that the 'Conference will often be able to help in this. * Be a welcoming congregation. A congregation which holds high standards that few can meet, is not going to retain members. I have seen such. NOTE: Some reading this may wonder if I have any specific congregation/Conference in mind. I will simply say: If the shoe fits, put it on. My desire is to stimulate thought.

Haym Solomon died penniless in January 1785, having spent the last years of his life bankrolling a revolution that could not afford to pay him back. The post Who Was Haym Solomon? The Jewish Financier Who Saved the American Revolution appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

I recommend this thread started by Gregory Mathews

He calls the alliance a ‘paper tiger.’ But before we burn it down, let’s fix what’s actually broken. President Trump has declared he is “beyond reconsideration” on NATO, calling the… The post IF TRUMP EXITS NATO, THE WORLD’S PERSECUTED FAITHFUL PAY THE PRICE appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

The administration is months into an unpopular war and needs a distraction. The UFOs and aliens are the distraction. The pastors are the war game. The post Perry Stone, Larry Ragland, and the Closed-Door UFO Briefing Nobody Will Name appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

So do I. The office of the Papacy played a large role in the 5th head of the beast of Revelation 13, this was focused upon in the Protestant Reformation but who continued the same beastly principles of the 5th head, but which lead to events in the Americas that moved us from the 5th head to the 6th head. Mrs. White started on this information but moved beyond it and used it as an example to point us towards what is coming up in the 7th head. Sadly, most Adventists hold back to the 5th head, and don't just see the office of the papacy that had a large role in the 5th head, but see the papacy as the entire beast, and expect the future to not move on to the 7th head but to simply return to the 5th head and the Pope playing the central role. As a review of the 7 heads based on the research of George McCready Price, and the 1976 Southern New England Campmeeting, and I understand these to be combatable to ignored insights that Stephen Haskell and Perri Windandi (spelling?) points out abut the 7 parts of the image in Daniel 2: 1. Babylon 2. Medio-Persia 3. Greece 4. Rome 5. Feet of Iron and Clay: Clay in the Bible represents what God molds and works with. However in this 5th period we find the clay not being molded by God but being molded by the iron, the state; thus indicates a church/state situation. We find historically after the Roman Empire we find church/state enforced religion over the empire. In the Middle East it became Islam (Mohammad could well have had a true conversion, wanted to go to the God of the Bible from polytheism. Was living in harsh desert conditions, saw that Judaism was incomplete without Jesus, but Christians had such veneration to not only the trinity, but also to Mary and the saints, and did not see much of a difference between all this veneration and polytheism. He fought defensive wars. After he died his followers formed two major divisions with several minor subdivisions within the two major divisions. They also became agressive conversion by sword. ) A bit farther west it was Eastern Orthodox, then Western Orthodox or Roman Catholism. Eventually there were reformed Roman Catholics i.e. Protestantism, then small communities of Judaism. Each of these had their own areas of geographic rule in union of church state. Your religion was where you lived. If you wanted a different faith you were subject to persecution and death. 6. Toes of Iron and Clay: Much of the imagration to the Americas were people wanting to get a piece of land for their specific religion. This started some changes in thinking. The state of Maryland was a Roman Catholic state for refuge of Roman Catholics from persecution from the Church of England. They did something amazing in their first settlement which grew out of how the pain from the choices of the oneness of church/state affected them in England: On one side of town they built all the public buildings. Then came the homes, then on the OTHER SIDE of town they built their church. Roger Williams had the crazy idea of liberty of conscience. There is debate between whether William Penn also believed in liberty of conscience, or did he try to make Pennsylvania a piece of property for the church state for Quakers and did not find enough Quakers to come, but either way Penn also went for liberty of conscience. As the United States formed, they did not have a one government church state, but they had many local church states even by communities. Around this time was also the French Revolution where they changed their church/state from Roman Catholic to Atheistic Humanism. When Thomas Jefferson became President he wantes all of America to become like Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. People wondered if this would turn America into the same secular Atheistic Humanism as France. People hid their Bibles and expected persecution like back in Europe. Churches worried that they could not exist without the tax dollars. However, Jefferson's wall of separation between church and state ended up giving the church more freedom than she ever had. America became an open marketplace for ideas, including religious ideas. People would hear different ideas and incorporate in their lives what made the most sense. This gave America her greatness and made her Lamblike. But some things, such as how she treated the natives and slavery was a way of speaking like the dragon. From Thomas Jefferson through Jimmy Carter, liberty of conscience rulled the day. Even John Kennedy understood the difference between being the Roman Catholic candadate and being an American candadate who happens to worship in the Roman Catholic Church. The "beast" has a deadly wound as there is not one great empire rulling over most of God's people, but a bunch of independent nations. The American and French revolutions influenced the divisions. Some offering more freedom, others more control. The crowns are on the horns rather than a head. (Unlike our art work, the 10 horns are only on the deadly wound or 6th head, then shared with the 7th head.) 7. The Deadly Wound beng healed, the toes attempting to join together: In a lot of ways, the dragon and beast are opposites. The dragon is direct demonic activity based on the first deception of Lucifer that God really is not God but only a higher life form using the claim to be God to place a law over us to keep us from evolving to that high life form. That we should be a law unto ourselves. Do your own thing. You have your truth and I have mine. Your subjective existential experience is your source of truth and the final authority. (You end up becoming a slave to your feelings.) The beast is any organization that we allow to control our life. The beast tells us what to believe and what to do and we obey. The organization becomes the final authority. Starting with Ronald Reagan there was a preference shown to Evangelical Christianity. In reaction the far left began to show preference for the religion of secular humanism. The one more beast like, the other more dragon like. The second beast of Revelation 13, which we apply to the United States will get to where it is doing more speaking like the dragon, or more of a lean towards secularism, and in reaction, feeling that the freedoms in America are going too far, especially for unwanted people and thus it forms an image to the beast. Some will agree (and thus taking the mark in their foreheads) others who dissagree will find it to their advantage to simply go along with it (and thus taking the mark in their right hand). Revelation teaches that the 7th head is different from the first six. They were formed by warfare, conquest or revolution. The 7th head is the horns uniting under economic cooperation. Ellen White seems to expect the Pope to play a role, and we see it as growing more to the role the moral voice of this great economic state. With in receint weeks of this posting the Pope warned about war and kindness to strangers within our gates, and the President and Vice President (with the Vice President being a Roman Catholic) is telling the pope to submit to his place in the pecking order. The "merchants of the earth" or corporations will play the major part, and their agreement with the dragon that the final truth is what they feel like doing; but they appear to stand up as the hero for a section of Protestants, not realizing how this will backfire on them, and I fear that too many Seventh-day Adventists are so focused on the Pope being the center of everything and so focused on specifically Sunday Laws, that Satan will offer us his deceptions in a way where enforced religion seems to be on our side so that, as long as it is not directly Sunday laws, it is acceptable, and thus numb us for whenever what ever role the Sabbath/Sunday issue will show up. (What if there is debate, where in the Christian world there is a focus on Sabbath and Sunday, maybe chance for Sunday laws, but it does not fully make it into law?) I'm afraid of all who support this developmenting of the 7th head. Give me Roman Catholics who set up that first community in Maryland of the public buildings on the one side of town, then the homes, then the church on the otherside of town. Give me a Roman Catholic with the views of Church and State that President Kennedy held, and I will feel safe. Give us a sub-set of Protestants who do not see this and I am scared, but looking for the blessed hope.

Sacramento has a new target, and it is not a criminal. It is a machine. By Michael Peabody, Esq A working Orrery 3D printed by my 12-year-old son California’s AB… The post My 12-Year-Old’s Orrery Would Be Illegal Under California’s New 3D Printer Bill – Stop AB 2047 appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

Just imagine if he had video as a tool.

He is walking less than two weeks after having a hip replacement. He certainly has a different doctor then me.

I don't believe people will change at that point. Their hearts are already hardened. I have a hard time with this. This assumes the evil angels are somehow contained then released. I do not believe that is the case. I believe evil spirits now roam the earth freely constrained only from God's people.

Laughable that they are concerned about this now. Not long ago, a top Chinese American AI professor at UCLA, simply packed his bags, gathered his family and moved to Beijing. Apparently he is not the only one: Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace - Beijing Post Who needs spying and espionage when key figures can simply "go back home"? No risk, no subterfuge, just learn everything you can in America and then move back to your home country, taking everything you know with you. No cloak and dagger stuff, just plain old American stupidity.

Nedra Talley Ross, the last surviving member of the legendary 1960s girls group The Ronettes, has died at the age of 80. Her death was announced on social media by her daughter. No cause of death was given. “At approximately 8:30 (Sunday) morning our mother Nedra Talley Ross went home to be with the Lord,” the post said. “She was safe in her own bed at home with her family close, knowing she was loved. Thank you, Lord.” A post on the group’s Facebook page called Ross “a light to those who knew and loved her.” “As a founding member of The Ronettes, along with her beloved cousins Ronnie (Spector) and Estelle (Bennett Vann), Nedra’s voice, style and spirit helped define a sound that would change music. Her contribution to the group’s story and their defining influence will live forever. “Rest peacefully dear Nedra. Thanks for the magic.” The Ronettes originated in New York City and were signed by Phil Spector‘s Philles Records in 1963. They went on to place nine singles in Billboard’s Hot 100. Their iconic hits include “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You,” “Walking in the Rain” and “I Can Hear Music.” Variety reports the group released only one studio album but were cited as an influence by multiple acts over decades, including the New York Dolls, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, the Ramones and Blondie. The Rolling Stones opened for The Ronettes during a tour of the United Kingdom in 1964, The Guardian reports. The Ronettes opened for the Beatles during a tour in 1966. The Ronettes broke up in 1967, The Guardian reports. “I hated the ‘dog-eat-dog’ side of show-business,” Talley Ross said. “I hated pushing for the next record and the feeling of failure if we didn’t get it. There was a continual demand on us to produce that I thought was unfair. My personality didn’t like that.” Talley Ross also cited her religious beliefs for leaving the group, saying she wanted to focus on her family. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she recorded several Christian songs after leaving The Ronettes. Bennett died in 2009, while Ronnie Spector died in 2022. The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a short order agreeing to review a significant free exercise case arising from Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program, granting certiorari in St. Mary Catholic Parish… The post Breaking: High Court Takes up Religious Exemption to Colorado Preschool Nondiscrimination Law appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

Note: Earlier today we sent out an article on this case that some readers complained was too difficult to get through on a Monday morning. I re-read it and agree.… The post Can Catholic Publicly-Funded Preschools Reject Kids Based on Their Parents? Supreme Court to Decide appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

A complaint filed in federal court in Utah raises hard questions about intellectual property rights, public confusion, and how religions protect their brands online. The Church of Jesus Christ of… The post Latter Day Saints Church Sues Independent Podcaster Over Branding appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

There is something quietly heartbreaking in a survey that should have been unremarkable. Someone asked American pastors whether they believed Adam and Eve were real people. It is the kind… The post When the Shepherd Doubts the Garden: Do American Pastors Truly Believe the Bible? appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

🎨 Parting shot: Nature imitates art Photo: Bob Schumacher Finish Liner Bob Schumacher snapped this shot of the majestic Pyrenees mountain range earlier this week in Aragnouet, France. Bonsoir, Bob!

Gustave found a reference to the personality of God as a landmark.

Note: Earlier today we sent out an article on this case that some readers complained was too difficult to get through on a Monday morning. The post Can Catholic Publicly-Funded Preschools Reject Kids Based on Their Parents? Supreme Court to Decide appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

When you find one who has studied Luther on Galatians and disputes that Luther said the law was abrogated for the Christian more than 40 times, let me know. Send me an email address and I will personally contact "your guy" or guys and ask the following questions: 1. Do you deny that, in his Galatians commentary, Luther used the term "abrogated" with regard to the law in the Christian's life, more than 40 times? 2. Is there a place in Luther's writings where he explicitly refers to the third use of law in a manner similar to Melanchthon and Calvin? "What constitutes a Lutheran pastor" Are you serious? That's like saying an SDA pastor's definition of Adventism accurately portrays what EGW wrote. That only shows how superficial your knowledge is. You understand neither Luther on Galatians or EGW and Adventism. I surveyed a small group of theology students at an SDA college. All but one had been in SDA schools their entire life. Aside from a few chapters in Desire of Ages, most of them had not read a single book of hers. One who had worked in healthcare had read Ministry of Healing or parts of it. The one fellow who had done any real reading of her work was a recent convert, an older student who never attended Adventist K-12. If you want to discuss Luther on Galatians, read it, study it, so you know what you are talking about. You obviously do not. If your "hired guns" agree with you, they don't either. Remarks like this do not merit a response.

Henry VIII wanted a church that would bless his decisions. Trump appears to want the same arrangement, without the bureaucratic paperwork. Pope Leo XIV’s response was unambiguous: “I have no… The post The President Who Told the Pope to Shut Up (And the King Who Tried It 500 Years Ago) appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

As I understand it, God has always had a special people who have been open to a larger amount of the truth and have a job to help others increase their growth. We can call this "The Remanant Church." Now, this does NOT mean they are uniform. Sadly too many are looking for a type of church unity and perfection that the church had ONLY ONCE, Maybe TWICE in all of her history. The one time that we know of was Adam before he took a nap, and MAYBE Abram before he met Sari. Abraham and his followers (We think too much of him alone, but he was a tribal chief) were THE Remanant church, but did did not mean that he did not have room for Melchizedek, and we find others who had a good relationship with Abraham that could well have been salvational to them. (As well as a kindness where archaeology and word studies indicate that despite his helping those like the king of Sodom, that he did not see them as having a good relationship.) In the story of Jonah, we find that the Phoenician sailors (The Phoenicians would flirt with monotheism from time to time, even without becoming outright Yahwehists.) who had a special relationship with the Yahwehist nations were converted to Yahwehism, They joined the remanant church. But the people in Nineveh were converted to "God" and we find the entire Assyrian Empire becoming monothiests, but worshiping the god who the Assyrians believed to be the most high god. This made them better and kinder people until eventually that generation passed and an aposticy eventually occured. The Lord took this as worshiping of the one true God. (The story of Jonah and the Leviathan gives a wonderful study on the role of the Remanant Church and others.) We have Naaman the Lepper who joined the Remanant Church, and took some earth from Israel to kneel and pray, but asked for the one exception to kneel in helping his king in the king's worship. We would dissagree with Elisha, Elisha SHOULD have said that Naaman needs to tell his king that he is worshiping in the wrong religion, worshiping a demon and to bring enough dirt for his king to kneel to worship the God of Israel, otherwise he is lost... We don't like Elisha's message of allowing Naaman to support religions freedom. Another powerful lesson on the job of the Remanant Church. As we look at the old Yahwehist religion (Judaism came from Yahwehism just as Christianity came from Judaism.) there appears to be two denominations. One based more on the book of Leviticus and the priesthood of Aaron. The other based more on the book of the Law (which became Deuteronomy) and focused more on the priesthood of Moses through maybe one of Aaron's other sons. (and even among these two there appears to be a bit more northern and southern influences as well as various degrees of feelings for the royal houses.) Christianity seems to have variations between James and the ministry to Jews, and among the ministry to gentiles the more Peter views and the more Paul views, with John preventing those two views from breaking into two very different religions, but remaining aspects, maybe as far as denominations within one overall group. So we find in the Bible evidence for God having a "Remanant Church" with room for growth and differences. This church is how God is reaching out to others,

I don't know if he was good or not. But speaking ill of the dead, especially right after they die, is not a presidential thing to do.

Kevin I agree with everything you have said there. However, there is another possibility that may be at play. I have a friend who is working with American Muslims and occasionally with some American Iranians. They have both told him independently, that Christianity is badly suppressed in the Middle East. If the current governments were to fall, Christianity would flourish in the Middle East. Now, I am anti-war. However, as we read our bibles, we see God uses war to remove kingdoms. He uses war to shape events for His purpose. We don't know God's purpose in the Middle East, but considering the spiritual changes going on in other places, it is possible that God's hand is in this and that he will shape their future to His purposes.

The following blog is from Marcos Torres, who offers an apolitical analysis of the Iran war with a special focus on how followers of Jesus can and should look at these things. I thought it was worth sharing with my audience. Used with permission: I’m an Ordained SDA Minister. Here’s What I Think About the […] The post Some Spiritual Thoughts on the Iran War appeared first on Jon Paulien's Blog. View the full article

Amen to that!! He's definitely shaping the US into the image of the beast!!

Keep in mind that the central purpose of Club Adventist is to provide a place for people of differing views to discuss them in a civil manner. This generally involves a comparison of differing views. So, yes, we do address LGBTQ issues. However, we do ask that such discussion do not use adverse language in reference to such people. God loves all persons including LGBTQ people. On a personal basis, I am probably a bit more conservative than you might think. I welcome civil discussion here on all issues.