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A Movement Towards Compassion When Jesus looked upon the lost people in first-century Palestine, “He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). And then He proclaimed something remarkable: these lost souls were a “plentiful harvest” that only lacked harvesters. Therefore, it is tragic when Christians look at Muslims, not with compassion, but with a default to fear, anger, and rejection. If Christians were to be highly intentional about approaching Islam in a way that is inviting and attractive, without compromise, staying as consistently biblical as possible, here are some of the characteristics that we should expect to see: Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/How-Thousands-of-Muslims-Are-Falling-in-Love-with-Jesus.aspx#SDRqVq7HgmQf9f3R.99

Heard on the news tonight that Lesley Gore died. She sang songs like "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." In 1988 went to a fire works show for the 4th of July in a town near Andrews and she was there singing.

On Saturday, January 24, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica spearheaded the first ever Festival of Religious Freedom held in Jamaica. The festival, held under the theme 'Our Right ... Our Freedom ... Let's Celebrate' was a tremendous success. View the full article

Firefighter's Prayer When I am called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage, give me strength to save a life, whatever be its age. Help me embrace a little child before it is too late, or save an older person from the horror of that fate. Enable me to be alert, and hear the weakest shout, quickly and efficiently to put the fire out. I want to fill my calling, to give the best in me, to guard my friend and neighbor, and protect his property. And if according to Your will I must answer death's call, bless with your protecting hand, my family one and all.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/berlin-lionsgate-final-talks-mel-770857 For the Story behind the Story of Desmond Doss view this http://www.make-believeentertainment.com/producer.html

I have been thinking of how the recent beheadings of the Egyptian Christians by those terrorists reminded me of the souls under the altar in Revelation. Like the threat of the mark of the beast to those in slavery (bond or free), I thought those phenomena were stuck in our world's history. Apparently not.

There's been some debate here regarding the need for "men's" groups -- and I think it's a valid need. The issue I have with some of the groups, especially those like the "AVoiceForMen" website, is that there is SO much rhetoric (dare I say, "whining"?) against women. But that's not what this thread is about. A long-time friend who is also a Baptist pastor recently shared the concept of one of his favorite men's study groups, "The Knight's Code." The group is strictly for men and has a very God-centered, Christian focus. It's not a group for the commiserating on a war against the perceived threat of "feminism"; rather, the group uses the four tenets of "The Knight's Code" to address secular issues facing Christian men. Here's the explanation of the Knight's Code from the website http://theknightscode.com/ : While I'm not a man, and I've only read excerpts from "The Knight's Code" book, it certainly seems like a great alternative for men, compared to waging war on the feminist movement.

Lots of articles on the internet aren't necessarily accurate. For example, here's a quote from some sort of blurb regarding the SDA church: "The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, 7 Among its founders was Ellen G.Rapid growth..." http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9G7I7LnBykMJ:usfbap.org/profit/live-sda-church-service-online.html+&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

A lot of discussion has taken place in this forum that has been related to whether or not SDAs should be involved in having services on Sunday, especially in the morning. I would like to place this issue in another perspective: Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries (ACM) is a Department in the General Conference and is now leading toward the formation of a Department in the North American Division. As such it supervises SDA Clergy who are serving as chaplains, some of which are in SDA institutions, but many are in governmental and private, non-SDA positions. In the United States, all chaplains who work for the Federal government can only be hired with the permission of the endorsing denomination, which for us is ACM. In addition, once hired, they can remain employed by the Federal government only as long as the endorsing denomination (ACM) agrees. ACM, as required, only endorses SDA Clergy who are fully qualified by the denomination to act as SDA clergy. Presently, ACM, in the NAD, has female as well as male chaplains serving in Federal and other positions. IOW, we have female military chaplains. On the world-wide level, ACM currently endorses more than 500 SDA Clergy for service as chaplains. In the 50 years of service that I have given to the United States and to the SDA Church, during the 40 years or so that I have been a SDA Chaplain, my credentials have either come from the General Conference of from the North American Division. How does this relate to the question of Sunday services? To put it in a brief statement: On any Sunday, probably several hundred SDA Chaplains are conducting a worship service, most of which will be in the morning. They are doing this with the full knowledge and permission of the General Conference/NAD. During the majority of the time that I was a U. S. Army Chaplain I conducted Sunday morning services either on a rotating basis with a couple of other chaplains, or on an every Sunday morning. On Saturday mornings, when I had soldiers who were without their own transportation, I picked them up, took them to a SDA Church and brought them back to my home to spend a quiet Sabbath afternoon. Did I preach distinctive SDA doctrines? In every assignment, where I had a responsibility to preach, I spoke on the 3-angels messages of Revelation 14. Once, in Seoul, Korea, my assignment was to a Protestant congregation. That is all that I did. As congregational members said to me after a sermon I preached on the 7th day of the week being the Biblical Sabbath, You really challenged us today. Don't tell me that one can not preach distinctive SDA doctrines in a Protestant congregation on Sunday morning. I have done it. No, I could not in a congregational sermon tell the people that Protestants were going to go to hell because they worshiped on Sunday. But, that is not the core of our message. One can preach the truth of the Sabbath without telling other groups that they are going to hell. Folks, the SDA Denomination does not object to its pastors conducting services on Sunday. The Biblical position is a positive one for a 7th day Sabbath. There is nothing new in SDA Clergy conducting a Sunday service. That in itself is not in violation of the Biblical position. When I once preached, on Sunday morning, to a Methodist congregation, I preached on the primacy of the Word, the Bible and Christ's call to submit ourselves to whatever the Bible said and wherever it and the Holy Spirit led. I have been asked to come to other congregations, of other denominations and speak to their members about the beliefs and practices of Seventh-day Adventists. You can come here to CA and debate whether or not SDA Clergy should conduct services on Sunday. But, be aware that this is already being done and with the approval of ACM in the General Conference.

"Does this mean that God only wants to be worshipped on the Sabbath?" - TheCodeMonk "And what is different between worship on the two days?" - Gail Great questions! My personal answer to Gail is "Hopefully; nothing!" By being as SDA, I don't feel like I "must" worship on Sabbath; or that I "must" take time off of my daily routine. I am thankful that someone turned me on to the Sabbath; so now I "get to" worship on Sabbath; and "get to" take time off of my daily routine. I am "encouraged" to kick back and enjoy life and love.

"Is it wrong to go to church in Sunday?" Absolutely not - no more than it would be wrong to go to Wednesday night prayer meeting. It is also not wrong to nap on Sabbath afternoons - not for me at least. What is wrong is treating the Sabbath like any other day. It's a special day - whether you go to church, sleep in late and go to the mountains, or go on a bike ride. The point is, instead of "enjoying" your job and the associated commute, enjoy God, your family, and your brothers and sisters. If that involves church, so be it!

As a convert to SDA, I would probably go to a Sunday worship service. It's not because it's what I'm used to, but because what has become of our Sabbath routine. I work 50 to 75 hours a week (5 days) and to be honest, getting up on Sabbath is hard. By the time we get the kids ready, breakfast, cleaned up, and in the car, I've been made to feel like it's just another work day. What's the running joke among adventist on Sabbath afternoon? "it's time for my lay activities!" So what's the point of a holy day if it's slept through? I try my best to study, read, and watch the Sabbath school lessons, but frankly I'm so exhausted I end up even nodding off at potluck. I'd much rather wake up a little later and spend the entire day studying and visiting others with a renewed vigor than sleeping the rest of the day away just so I don't feel like a bad adventist for not going to church.. Is it wrong to go to church in Sunday? I don't think it is any more than sleeping away the entire Sabbath afternoon.

How believing in the Bible can get you canned in today's America By David and Jason Benham Published February 10, 2015 If you want to get fired, sued or lose your business in today's America, stand with Biblical convictions. In Oregon, our friends Aaron and Melissa Klein were found guilty of discrimination by the state just this week, and could face up to $150,000 in fines for not baking a cake for a same-sex wedding. In Wisconsin, a 15-year-old boy was reprimanded and reportedly punished by his school for backing traditional family in adoption cases. In New Jersey, a high school teacher was suspended for stating her Biblical beliefs about homosexuality on her personal Facebook page (while at home, off the clock).When we were fired by HGTV for standing by our Biblical beliefs about marriage and life, countless men and women in the LGBTQ community reached out to us in support. We had, and continue to have, healthy conversations, even though we disagree. And isn’t that the point? In Illinois, a university professor was fired for saying that homosexual acts are “morally wrong.” The list goes on, yet we can’t forget the grandmotherly florist in Washington Statebeing sued by the Attorney General of Washington for refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding (to a man, who by the way, she had faithfully served and befriended for over a decade). Grandma (70-year-old Baronelle Stutzman) summed it all up when she said,"Little by little, they are stripping us of any thought we might have, or any difference of opinion. This is our religious freedom at stake." You know what—Grandma is right. Our religious freedoms are at stake here. The “tyranny of tolerance” claims that the sexual rights of some are more important than the religious rights of others. First of all, we must draw a distinction between those that identify as LGBTQ and militant gay activists. When we were fired by HGTV for standing by our Biblical beliefs about marriage and life, countless men and women in the LGBTQ community reached out to us in support. We had, and continue to have, healthy conversations, even though we disagree. And isn’t that the point? We’re Americans—we can disagree and still get along. We don’t steal the rights of dissenters. That’s when all intellectual, spiritual, and civil progress stops. Yet this remnant of militant activists refuses to tolerate dissenters to their lifestyle choices. And unfortunately, they have the United States Government in their back pockets (not to mention the media and Hollywood). At first, homosexual activists wanted acceptance. Then they wanted appreciation. Now they demand celebration. It's not enough to live and let live, these activists are now forcing their lifestyle choices on everyone, even if it means bullying a 70-year-old florist. We’ve shifted from religious freedom to forced acceptance in America. The idea of forced acceptance infringes on our constitutional rights as Americans. As Alliance Defending Freedom succinctly states, the First Amendment guarantees that the government cannot tell its citizens what they can and can’t say or force them to express a positive message about something they believe is morally wrong. My brother and I are perfectly okay with a gay owned t-shirt company refusing to make t-shirts that say, “Homosexuality is sin.” And we’re fine with a Jewish baker refusing to cater an event on the Sabbath. And we’d certainly agree with the gun range owner refusing to let self-identifying ISIS members practice shooting at his facility. These are their Constitutional rights as Americans. Thank God! But what activists are asking is to flip the coin and make Christian companies that are asked to do something against their convictions, like support same-sex marriage or abortion, comply with whole-hearted enthusiasm. Isn’t there a double standard here? The question is not should we as Americans be involved in the battle for freedom, the question is: are you willing to stand with courage at any cost if and when the battle comes knocking on your door? So before it comes to you, here are a few simple things you can do to prepare: 1. Make up your mind. Decide that whatever the cost you will stand for freedom. 2. Prepare yourself. Get informed—don’t be ignorant of the issues and your rights. 3. Join the conversation. Speak up. Don’t be silent. 4. Separate ideas from individuals. You can disagree with someone’s idea and not dislike them as a person. 5. Be kind. Love triumphs over evil; don’t demonize others. 6. Stand strong. Don’t back down. Our children are depending on us! Thomas Jefferson once said, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God?” Our liberties are God-given. And, as such, we must be willing to defend these freedoms no matter the cost. Now is the time for all Americans – regardless of our differences – to join hands in the greatest battle for liberty in our generation! It’s time to take a stand. David and Jason Benham are twin brothers, nationally acclaimed real estate entrepreneurs, and the authors of the forthcoming book, "Whatever the Cost: Facing Your Fears, Dying to Your Dreams, and Living Powerfully" (Thomas Nelson, February 2015).

It would be difficult to take it any other way. Those claiming to be SDA's but then present half truths, innuendo, slander and misrepresentation are not in any way concerned with truth....of any kind!! The" truth is important crowd" has a very different view of truth. Almost from the beginning of this topic there has been EXTREME misrepresentation of what those of us that disagree have said. This same group has seemingly been disturbed at times by disrespectful posts towards others,yet note the sarcastic responses and from whom.I don't remember everything that Lyndon has posted,I know I don't always agree with him,but I have yet to read any post of his that comes close to the disrespectful posts by the "please be civil and truth is important group".He may have but I can't recall if he did. It comes across has having to demean those that disagree with you in order to feel you have the superior and right position.Those that disagree just couldn't possibly understand the more enlightened minds represented here. Having a service on Sunday that mimics the Sabbath service is the objection. I doubt that many Sunday worshiping churches would be to pleased with a regular church service on Sunday by SDA's. It isn't for the unchurched or for those that are lacking in services on Sunday to attend. It is simply to draw members from the Sunday worshiping churches. We have two churches within three blocks of us. The churches are active throughout the week. All are welcome and the meetings are varied with something for everyone. They manage a wonderful outreach without mimicing Sabbath services on the 7th day.

whbae asks: "I wonder [if] people are afraid of Muslims[?]" Answer: Yes they are; and with good reason. That being said; our Savior says, "Fear not! I have overcome the world." People would be wise to consider the feasibility of Islam as the beast/antichrist power. I'm not saying that the historical human villain of SDA eschotology should be thrown out the window - Catholicism has made some pretty "loving" overtures to Islam in recent years. But looking at current world conditions, Islam fits the antichrist bill much better than the Papacy. Those of you with an open mind to this may want to read "The Dragon and the Beast" by Faith Jones (a psuedo-name) - available through Barnes and Noble.

Scuba in post # 22 said: I find your statement that you "unpublished years ago" to be confusing. I went to a forum that seems to be yours, called the Brean Christian Fellowship (BCF)d. That forum seems to contain writings that you have posted here, and it appears to be current and up to date: That forum contains links that took me directly to an announcement of the 2015 General Conference of the Church of God (7th day) that is scheduled to be held in Denver, Colorado. If that is not current, I do not know what "Current" means. If your BCF forum was "unpublished years ago, why dose it have current links that take one to an announcement of an upcoming meeting in Denver, to the Church of God (7th day)? I should note that the BCF forum gave links to you, under your name, with a Rhode Island address and a telephone number beginning with the numbers 401. [For privacy purposes I have not listed the entire number although, it was listed on the BCF Forum.]

I'm satisfied to believe just what this says, accepting anything elsewhere in the Word that can be seen as not disagreeing. Since Jesus said I and the Father are One, I'm unsure that one can be safely grounded while believing something else. 1In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He existed in the beginning with God. 3God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4The Word gave life to everything that was created,a and his life brought light to everyone. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.b 6God sent a man, John the Baptist,c 7to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God....John 1 God is Love! Jesus saves!

And then there is the amazing fact that Ellen White herself regularly stood in the pulpit and preached. On Sunday. In Sunday keeping churches. For their Sunday worship service.

I was named Deputy Head of School (Learning and Teaching) in my current university, Griffith. I convened one large program for teaching high school teachers last year, and this is the next step up that ladder - I'm now responsible for managing all the learning and teaching in all of the 29 degree programs, both undergraduate and postgraduate, offered in our School to more than 4000 students. It's daunting but exciting, and I'm already enjoying it a lot. I'm off to the University Senior Leadership Conference this coming week. Or, as my beloved puts it, "hobnobbing with the bigwigs". (of course, I'm now the newest and tiniest tadpole in that particular pond!)

You ask for the source of this sort of nonsense. In my experience that often tracks back to independent "ministries". Now in the Internet age that is simply multiplied by a legion of rumor mongers, independent websites, bloggers and itinerant "preachers" that have little or no accountability to anyone but themselves. At least in the old days they had to drum up the means to buy paper and ink and postage and spend time and resources handing out person to person their photocopied pamphlets. But now with a click of a button they spam the world. And also in the old days you could quietly dump the paper in the garbage and help prevent its spread. But it now finds a permanent home accessible to all the search engines for uncritical minds to suck up as if it is reliable information.

In my opinion these are fear driven behaviors. 1 John 4:18 (NIV) 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.