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For some reason, the "system won't let me "like" this. But I do; and agree with it 100%. The primary condition for salvation is an intimate relationship with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit convicts us of Truth. "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." (John 16:13) Our job is to witness about the goodness of God and what He has done for us; not to corner others into believing our version of the Law. How many of us really "keep" the Sabbath the way ancient Israel did (if they even did it well enough)? How many of us that "keep" the Sabbath impeccably keep the other 9 Commandments and those remnants of the Mosaic Law which SDA's have chosen to enforce on each other? My guess - none of us. That makes us just as "lost" as anyone else. Sabbath is not the sole saving truth. Galatians 5:4 says "You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." When we fall from grace, where to we fall? Right into the Law. The OT symbol for this is the mercy seat covering the tablets of stone within the Ark of the Covenant. Could it be that even then, God wanted us to see His mercy rather than His Law?

I would venture farther than that and say that God's love is the means of coming to purity and holiness for anyone who sins. Why? Because it transforms the heart. There is power in the love of God. I don't know how we can expect change from anyone otherwise. But changes are secondary. The miracle that God's love accomplishes is a vision of His character to the soul. His love brings peace and acceptance which heals and transforms. It has a drawing power that counteracts the emptiness of the World.

You like proof texts, here's one - "Above all love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) Could the love God has for LGBT's and the love (don't twist the meaning of this word to suit a rebuke) these souls have for each other and God override the consequences of their sin?

In the interest of getting back to the actual topic I would like to respond to a couple earlier posts that i believe misrepresent aspects of this whole topic. First this: First of all, the 1990 and 1995 votes were not precisely and definitely "voting down women's ordination." Both times the request was as it will be next summer, whether there will be permitted divergence among the Divisions on the practice of ordaining women to the goes ministry. Will each Division be permitted to decide for its own designated territory on the issue. Neither time, 1990 and 1995, in this matter was there a definitive vote on the theology of the ordination of women to the gospel ministry. Both views for and against were recognized, acknowledged and explained. The reality of each vote was that the majority of the world was not ready. And once again the question next summer will be the same, again prefaced by reports of the divergent conclusions of TOSC that there is no definitive consensus among those tasked to give thorough study to the WO question. Will the world church see fit this time to permit each Divison to decide within its own territory whether to ordain women to the gospel ministry? That is the question. But I do think it is important to note that there was more support for allowing each Division to decide for its own territory indicated in 1995 than in 1990. And the most recent indications in this whole process, by the Division reports given to TOSC that there is now even more support now. There are also more Divisions that are in full support and ready to ordain women within there territory. In 1990 and 1995 it was mainly a request of NAD, with some support from a couple other Divisions. Now there there are clearly 5 Divisions ready to move forward to ordain women. And a clear majority of the Divsions report a willingness, based on their TOSC reports, to allow each Division to decide for themselves, even if their own Divison is not ready. Only 3 are firmly opposed to WO in any Division. I am not aware of widespread declarations that "all hell will break loose." And certainly not from those in favor of WO. Sure there may be a few. But realize in the face of more than 40 years of pressing for this change, that has not happened. Those against seem to be more likely to be making such predictions of splitting the church, disunity, and all manner of fearful things happening if the door is opned to WO. But history has shown that such dire predictions are very unlikely. Those fears are unfounded. And it is no surprise that those fearful predictions from those opposed are also combined with the plea to once and for all accept the results of the vote, hoping for of course a denial of WO. Why else would they not! But in the face of growing support, why should the movement stop? If progress is being made in turning the tide against WO, why give up now? But more to the heart of the matter, for many of us this is not just some novelty or modern trend. It is a matter of conscientious conviction that it is the right thing to do. Should consciences be denied, and stifled?

I would suggest that humans to not have original ideas, thought, etc., is a slap in the face of the Creator.

Seems we all have been. Served up wih great sanctimonious condescension at that.

Not having been involved in much archaeology myself, it's a bit difficult to give evidence without referencing the work of others. One example of the Bible being confirmed by archaeology is the evidence regarding the Hittites. There was a time a century or two ago when some people who wished to discredit the Bible would point to what the Bible says about the Hittites and claim that the Bible must be unreliable because there was no historical or archaelogical record of the existence of the Hittite civilization. They claimed that if the Hittite civilization was as great as the Bible says it was, there would surely be archaeological evidence. Today, nobody questions the existence of the Hittite civilization as recorded in the Bible because there is now plenty of archaeological evidence about the Hittites. If you spend some time in Israel, you would see abundant archaeological evidence that confirms the New Testament record of the Jews living under Roman occupation in Judea, Samaria and the Galilee.

Spanish word of the day: Ebola. My friend went bowling and Ebola perfect game.

Johann .... the church has officially stated that there is no theological basis on which to withhold ordination from women. Those who say there is .... are in open rebellion against God's church in this the last hour of Earth's history. A sad place to be.

Its to bad that John no longer posts here. I would definitely like his expert opinion on this subject.

Hi Okieracing God writes the 10 Commandments in our hearts in the New Covenant. Some of the laws of the Old Testament are principles because love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Other things we can learn from but are symbolic. The ceremonial law of ritual sacrifices is no longer binding on us, although we can learn from the symbopls and ceremonies, especially the Sanctuary and the day of Atonement in the light of the time prophecies of Daniel. Hope this helps. Maybhe your friends would like some SDA web sites like some of our tv or radio sites, or to study about the prophecies in Daniel at a site online. http://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/2057/t/the-millennial-man.aspx