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The demons don't care whether your soul withers on the liberal or on the conservative end of the spiritual spectrum.

No problem. If you think of Billy Graham as a Pope, that would probably be no more off target than some stuff that is posted in CA.

There are things I like and things I don't like about "conservatives" and "liberals". As CoA pointed out, they all center around "they don't agree with my interpretation of scripture". My issue is the lack of balance at either end of the spectrum. I love to go someplace where I am free to get emotionally involved during Praise Time; and where the unconditional love, grace, and mercy of Jesus is preached. I believe that these free gifts and the power therein from Christ that draw us into compliance; not the threat of condemnation and punishment. But there is another dimension to the Word. A third of the Bible is dedicated to prophecy. I don't know about you, but I truly believe we are living in a time that, unless we die untimely deaths, we will see King Jesus coming in clouds of glory. Prophecy tells us how to discern the signs of the times and how to respond to them. This dimension is sadly lacking in most (not all) "liberal" congregations. So at least twice a month, I attend a "conservative" church; and sometimes put up with a distasteful message reinforcing the deceiver's lie of my unworthiness. I am willing to put up with stuff I don't agree with in order to obtain this balance between learning to trust everything to Jesus and feeding my passion for study of prophecy. Does that make sense? Good topic, Sojourner.

Liberal=They don't agree with my interpretation of the Bible Conservative=They don't agree with my interpretation of the Bible The words obviously have different meanings, but.......the above is how they are most often used in religious circles.

just checked my calendars, and they have holidays listed for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Americans, Canadians, Africans, British, Mexicans, and just about every Catholic "saint" day. I guess Hallmark wanted to be all-inclusive... By the way, since when have schools closed for Easter (which is always on a Sunday) or Yom Kippur? The only religious holiday listed that always falls during a scheduled school break is Christmas. An interesting note on Islamic holidays: "The exact dates of Islamic holidays cannot be determined in advance, due to the nature of the Islamic lunar calendar. Estimates are based on expected visibility of the hilal (waxing crescent moon following a new moon) and may vary according to location." How are schools supposed to calculate and print the school calendars when the Imams themselves have no idea of the dates? Deleting the names of all religious holidays from public school calendars is rather petty. It's not like the schools are forcing anyone to observe them. When I went to school in Austria, all the Catholic holidays were listed on the SDA school calendar. It didn't ruin anyone's psyche.

The original purpose and sole reason for creating the Sabbath, according to Genesis 2:1-3, was as a memorial of the creation week. This is stated very directly outside the ten commandments. It, along with creation, is the foundation of the 7 day weekly cycle, without which there is no reason to have a 7-day weekly cycle. And without that, there would be no other reason for Sabbath observance becaus it would not have been there later, available to attach other meanings to it in addition to its function as a memorial of creation. Believing in the Sabbath for reasons other than its original purpose appears doable by some people, but does that make it valid to keep it that way? I think not. But I am not the judge of all the earth, so I'll probably have to wait for God's judgment on this issue. However, I can say this. Those who believe in evolution as the way in which God created life on this earth have demoted God to a far lessor status than the Bible gives to him. Its a fact that according to the Bible and Ellen White, at the creation of man he was given the basic knowledge of the way the world worked. But strength of character, life habits, and and other such things awaited development through experience. Man was not created with memories of his past because there was no past for him. Now, when God resurrects someone, he has to not only create a body for that person, but he also has to put back in the character of the person AND his memories of his life. If you think about that you should realize that it is much more difficult to resurrect someone than to create man in the Garden of Eden. All of the wiring in the brain has to be set and that requires that trillions of cells have to be set to the right pattern to create character and memories that once existed for the person. That is a whole lot harder than just creating a blank slate with trillions of cells waiting to begin their work for the first time. But along come those who say that we should believe science as it exists today and they come up with this idea of theistic evolutiton where they essentially have evolution guided along by God. IF that really is the truth of how we got here, then this means that God's word of the creation in Genesis cannot be trusted, which implies that he cannot be trusted to tell the truth. But if you want to just gloss the Genesis story over as an easy way to explain things to people so that it does not seem as though God really lied to us, you still have a problem. You see, if this is the trurth of how we came to be, then this clearly implies that God's power is extremely limited. He had to create us without divine intervention as we are told in Genesis, but rather he had to use evolution to create us - and it took billions of years for us to come to be. And that is a very big problem. You see, if he could not create us as he said in Genesis, then he certainly cannot resurrect us. It takes more power to resurrect than it does to create in the first place, so if God could not have created us as he said he did in Genesis, then there is never going to be a resurrection for it would take millions or billions of years to accomplish and he would have to go through the whole process all over again since his power is so obviously limited. If that is the case, then why on earth bother with God? Since God had to know this to be the case, then why would he bother with coming to this earth to die for our sins? I do not think he would do that, which means that if the Genesis story is just a cover for guided evolution, then there really is no salvation, with or without Jesus. It would be impossible. Those who teach guided evolution effectively neuter God. Oh, but there are those who say that resurrection is real, but God did create us through guided evolution. Fine, but you cannot have it both ways because either he had the power to create us as Genesis says, which implies that he can resurrect us, or he had to go through guided evolution, which clearly implies that he has not the power to resurrect us. We can pretend that we believe him that he can resurrect us, but we refuse to believe him when he says that he created us and we limit his power. You cannot have it both ways even if you pretend you can. Sincerely believing the pretense is not going to work. You either beileve God or you do not. That is what it boils down to for every person. We may never be able in this present world to prove creation or the flood. BUT, we have plenty of evidence in the Bible that God does NOT lie. Oh, its not in the statements that "it is impossible for God to lie" or statements of that kind in the Bible, but rather its better evidence than that. We have the Bible prophecies which clearly show that God knew thousands of years ahead of time what the future will be. God said he took counsel of what the future would be and then he made it happen. And he told us ahead of time what it would be, so we can see that he does not lie. He is no liar and can be trusted. Based on this we can know that his creation story is the truth even if we cannot at present prove it scientifically. All of us will be brought forward for judgment by God. I for one do not want to be found saying that God's story of creation is false, an allergory to teach us a lesson, and that he creation really is guided evolution. And, oh yes, I keep the Sabbath, but I keep it for reasons having nothing to do with the creation story. And yes, I believe in the resurrection, nevere mind that I am saying that he could not have created us in the beginning but he sure can later! Hey, I want into heaven! I can ignore some of what God said and very sincerely KNOW that I am doing right! Do you honestly think God will be fooled by this? Do we believe God or not? That will be the question. Or do we do as this verse says: Isa 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens following one in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, says the LORD.

Who led David to number Israel? One Perspective The anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel and He (God) moved David . . . to . . . number Israel and Judah (2 Sam. 24:2). Another Perspective Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel (1 Chron. 21:1) We know from Scripture that God punished David for this action (1 Chronicles 21:14), strongly suggesting that, as humans would express it, He had nothing to do with David's decision to initiate a census in Israel. But if God did not move David to "number Israel," why does He say He did?

Come on, LifeHiscost! If God created evil then God is to blame for sin. That would make Him the author of sin & death. Here's the quote: Is 45:7 "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things" KJV God states that He killed King Saul, but Saul committed suicide. Here are those quotes too: One Perspective So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance, but he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore, He [God] killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse (1 Chron. 10:13, 14). Another Perspective Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it” . . . But his armorbearer would not. . . . Therefore, Saul took a sword and fell on it. . . . So Saul . . . died (1 Chron. 10:4, 6).

from a blog I follow here : 1) Criticize the pastor’s family. Few things are as painful to pastors as criticizing their families, especially if the criticisms are related to issues in the church. 2) Tell the pastor he is overpaid. Very few pastors really make much money. But there are a number of church members who would like to make the pastor feel badly about his pay. 3) Don’t defend the pastor. Critics can be hurtful. But even more hurtful are those who remain silent while their pastor is verbally attacked. Silence is not golden in this case. 4) Tell your pastor what an easy job he has. It can really sting when someone suggests that the pastor really only works about ten hours a week. Some actually believe that pastors have several days a week off. 5) Be a constant naysayer. Pastors can usually handle the occasional critic. But the truly painful relationships are with church members who are constantly negative. How do you know you’ve succeeded in this regard? The pastor runs the other way when he sees you. 6) Make comments about the pastor’s expenditures. I heard it from a pastor this past week. A church member asked, “How can you afford to go to Disney World?” Wow. 7) Compare your pastor’s preaching and ministry unfavorably to that of another pastor. Many times the member wants you to know how much he or she likes that pastor on the podcast compared to you. If you really want to hurt your pastor, you can make certain he knows how inferior he is.

Robert says, "Hence God assumes the blame until the "Day of Atonement". I've been thinking about that; and I retract my previous statement. After prayerfully considering it, I think you may have something there. Isaiah 45:6-7 KJV says "at they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." Other translations are similar. In this verse, I think God does take responsibility for all that ever happens - good or bad. Thanks for that tidbit of wisdom, Robert!

I apologise for that, I edited the post with the incorrect link, - give this one a go! https://www.facebook.com/paravistasda/photos/a.428756177263199.1073741827.428748890597261/472203299585153/?type=1&theater

I would suggest that it is not 'indifference to learning", but rather indifference to all of the 'end time prophets' that continue to come and go. What continues to puzzle me is that the main thrust of all the rhetoric is about that individuals interpretation and others ignoring of what they think is important. No on is saved by having correct interpretations of anything. If one is relying on end time events, I would suggest all is lost. We are to be ready at all times. If that is true, than what happens in the future will not impact that persons future life. When events take place we are not to be afraid or concerned but rather reassured that Gods word is true. They are not to scare anyone. I firmly believe that prophecies have been misunderstood as to their purpose and used as whip to instill fear. It also tells us what our view point of God is.

Yentyl, These are beautiful thoughts for meditation - thanks for posting. I look forward to an ability to travel and explore all corners of the universe - from the largest and most distant galaxy to the smallest sub-atomic particle. I look forward to personally hanging out with Jesus "in person" rather than just experiencing Him through my mind's eye. Even though I can't imagine what it would be like, I look forward to a world with no more striving, hatred, wars, politics, jealousy, revenge or "scarcity" economics. I look forward to eternal peak health rather than the increasing ills of old age.

The best way for me to be "my brother's keeper" is first to take care of my family so I don't have to rely on a "brother" to do it for me. Nor is there any biblical mandate to be my brother's keeper by force of government.

Joeb,liberals are exempt. They simply cannot be racist and if they find any fault with Dr. Carson it is because it is warranted

I also believe we have a lot of common ground to offer Jewish people. We believe in the Sabbath and that the dead are asleep, not to eat unclean foods, and that the Jewish Torah, what we know as the Old Testament, was divinely inspired. I have friends who pastor 2 congregations in Florida for Jews who are coming to accept Jesus, or Yeshua as they say in a closer pronunciation of the Hebrew. Our study of the Sanctuary throws additional light on it. For Jews who are open, we have much in common, and the Adventist congregations functioning chiefly as outreach to the Jews approach things in a way to make them more understandable to them in terms of their culture and understanding of the Torah. They include certain cultural traditions that are not salvational but do not deny the Lord Jesus such as prayer shawls, the order of worship, and sesign of the building in a way to make them more familiar.

I would have issue with your characterization. In some areas it is fine to be conservative. In other areas .... it is best to be liberal.