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Isaiah 58 says, my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts, as high as the heavens are above the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts that your thoughts. The heavens are lightyears above the earth. There is are limits on sin. However infinite our imagination can seem, and our ego can boast, we are puny things, and sin is contained and confined till it will be destroyed forever. I have thought, in the perfection and greatness of God, the one who calls all the stars by name and there are billions and billions of them... that perhaps God exists on 49 dimensions, 7 times 7 dimensions. The human experience of sin, confined to our three dimensions, was enough to allow the development of universal understanding the the principles of heaven versus the principles of selfishness. To consider that Jesus incarnated himself into a mere three dimensional existence to meet us in our need, in our sin, and break us free, is subduing to my heart. This clearly adds more to the picture of the great love, sacrifice and condescension of Christ.

Personally, I doubt that there will be a 'general' resurrection of the animals when Jesus returns. Bur Lazarus makes a good point, I think, when he talks about God making provision for the animals in the time of the flood. There is no shadow of turning [i.e. no inconsistency] with God, and so I do expect that there will be some provision made for them again. My suggestion is that there may be a selective resurrection of specific animals beloved by members of the Redeemed. Nothing is impossible with Him, and of course He encourages His children to ask for the fulfilment of their heart's desire. Those that ASK for a beloved animal to be restored to them, may have their desire met... (either in the city of God , during the 1000 years, or afterwards in the new earth)... I see no problem with this.

Recently I was party to a strange but interesting conversation. I have recently read Nikola Tesla's autobiography entitled, "My Inventions." Tesla had extraordinary powers of intuition and visualisation as well as an enhanced sense of hearing. He desired to use his inventions for the betterment of the world. Even his "death ray" device was intended as a defensive weapon in the light of the newly-formed and threatening Third Reich. His greatest idea was the transmission of wireless power. He foresaw back then wireless communication which would include images and dissolve the problem of distance that they faced back in his day. Occultism raged during his time. He mentions once nearly tossing out a delegation from Henry Ford for some occultic suggestion within a business proposal. He felt that occurrences deemed to be occultic would eventually be explained through science and did not believe them to be spiritual. This discussion morphed into one of dimensions. It brings to mind a talk by Rob Bell where he pictured that in a two-dimensional world if you stuck your 3-dimensional hand into the plane of existence of someone in a two-dimensional world, all that person would discern of your hand would be a line. Your fingers would appear to them as 5 lines. But you with your 3-dimensional existence know for certain the appearance of your hand. God inhabits a dimension that is beyond us, where time and matter are different and transcend what we are able to understand. He calls us just to believe and trust what He tells us in His word. It sounds spacey but scientifically-speaking, Why not?

yes yes it bears repeating yes to all of it

But you need 3 numbers...

"its OK if the mainline Christianity comes a huntin for the others as long as they dont come a huntin for us (Sabbath Keepers) is not reflecting Jesus" Yes, we need to be aware of that

Good post Debbym. If God does exist in 49 dimensions, we do not have either the math nor the theory to suggest/explain such. Such current theory depends both on string theory and math. If either is wrong (String theory is challenged by some.), then we do not even know that there are 11 - 13 dimensions. The real issue to me is: What is the meaning in all of this? What does it mean for me personally living in this life and dimension? One can extend current thinking to the idea of other universes, as has been postulated by some. The reality of that is that we will never know if others universes exist as information cannot pass from one to another, if they do exist. I guess that there may be more information to be gained than we can ever know in this life and that may be why we will have an eternity to study it all, in a future life. NOTE: Astrophysics and cosmology interests me even though much of it is beyond my ability to understand, partially because of my limited understanding of math.

blunder or speculate wildly? I would also be interested to know this information you have stated. I would also be interested in a much more honest conversation without the strawman comments please

Greetings all, This reminds me of a similiar story about children.Oh yes Luke 18;16-18. Jesus looked upon his time with children during His ministry as special time.He had strong words for critics. Though speaking about teaching Ellen White commented "It is the nicest work ever assumed by men and women to deal with youthful minds"

How about the recent bully who advised the nominating committee that they needed to make some revisions if they expected an amount of money for a large important project.?; Nuff Sed

Gay, you could always paraphrase the Bible verse you wanted to quote..

Bullying came up in a recent thread on ClubAdventist relative to pastors in the thread "How to Destroy Your Pastor." Pastor are one group of "victims" of bullying that have been studied and several books written about. I tend to be a bit behind in my SS lessons, but just yesterday came upon this from the April 16 lesson, "Ellen G. White wrote that these men, meaning Moses and Elijah, who had been “chosen above every angel around the throne, had come to commune with Jesus concerning the scenes of His suffering, and to comfort Him with the assurance of the sympathy of heaven. The hope of the world, the salvation of every human being, was the burden of their interview.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 425. Thus, even Jesus Himself, who had comforted so many others, sought solace and comfort for Himself. What should that tell us about how even the strongest spiritually among us, even our leaders, teachers, and guides, can at times need solace, encouragement, and help from others? In fact, whom do you know right now who could use solace, comfort, and encouragement?" Can you imagine the stress in the life of a pastor who endures this in a congregation to the point of just walking out on a congregation? Doesn't just happen in church or to the pastor. Unfortunately it is now one of the big topics in social issues.

Considering the story as anonymous, I find many people say that they are led by the Holy Spirit. I am not always convinced that that is the case. With the caveat that the word of God "divides asunder", you have to also consider what the results are of these actions by the person "led by the Holy Spirit". A new member to the faith cannot really come in with the feeling of being led by the Spirit and turn everything upside down. Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit out there that is leading people, even within God's church. Satan also can be as an "angel of light". And he leads people. How do you tell the difference? I would submit there is a spiritual war going on in the church for the hearts and minds of the people. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

We get a similar problem here from time to time "I have arrived, now I am going to run this, and take no advice from any one. After all, I have arrived." Yet I feel for the person, when I first came to the Adventist Church, I found it rather irritating that the Childrens' story was often more about having so much fun, but learned my lesson, and then became a Christian, and boy did I have a good time 'before I became a Christian' I was hoping and expecting to tell some Bible stories or Bible lessons. Just one opinion... others may differ. I have since heard some great children stories that were relevant life stories..

I think the story was very appropriate. Relationships between friends – and arguments that can injure the relationships – are very important to God. Not everyone is going to be touched in the same manner by the same story. Sometimes new [and old] members can be overzealous and critical. Probably the best way to deal with them is to thank them for their input.... smile, and continue with the guidelines that are in place for the children's stories..

[Read]Psalm 36:6 ... all creation groans..... The more I sit at His Feet, the more I see the care and love for what I care and love.

I know... Boggling

…4For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun....Ecclesiastes 9 There are the exceptions such as Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration as well as those who came from the grave at the time Jesus was resurrected. However I would suggest the vast majority of those who at last enjoy life everlasting will be included along with king David, defined as a man after God's own heart. God is Love! Jesus saves!

Interesting thoughts here Gail. Not wanting to distract from the theme, but there is perhaps a "simpler" dimensional quality to the things of God. that we, "being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height [of love]; And to know the love of Christ, which [sur]passeth knowledge..." (Eph 3:17-19) I suggest that the "breadth" of Divine love points to its inclusiveness. (In contrast to a "narrow", exclusive, love.) The "length" to its endurance. The "depth" to its depth, layer upon layer. (In contrast to "shallow" love, based on sentiment and circumstance.) The "height" to its quality, etc.

a field guide to pastoral facial hair... more here: https://bodafide.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/beards-of-ministry.jpg

Those were hilarious

I had wondered the same thing, but couldn't find one for the ladies... One could be done, though. There could be the "Hairstyle Field Guide for Female Clergy," and could include: 1) the Dolly Parton "big hair" – generally for those who preach on relationships and sad stories 2) the Whoopi Goldberg – for those who are blunt and have no qualms about what others think 3) the non-nonsense Matron – for those with a gimlet eye, who notice everything 4) the Nellie Oleson – for those who have ulterior motives 5) the pioneer aka Ellen White – for those who don't wish to cut their hair and like snoods 6) the 20's Flapper – for the unconventional clergy 7) the Eva Gabor – for the very feminine and those with an accent 8) the Goldilocks – where everything is just right

Pam: I have passed the URL on to clergy friends. They think it is a riot. Now, I am attempting to find a similar one for female clergy, but I have been unable to do so. Can you help me out in this? Thanks.

Well, what do you know, but now I am reading a book written by a physicist (the man who pioneered Holographic Ultrasound Technology) regarding his belief in... (drum roll) other dimensions! Principally the fifth dimension, which comes after the three we know on earth which are: length, height, breadth and time. His name is George Garlick, PhD and his doctorate is in electrical engineering and solid state physics. The book I am reading is entitled, The Journey to Truth, and it is his autobiography. It is his story on how through his study of science he became a Christian believer. I gave a copy of the book to the above-mentioned friend for review. When I explained what I had seen (and I am not a science scholar by any means) he understood immediately. I am interested in hearing his thoughts after he's finished reading.

I've often wondered about Jesus' comments here. Are these patriarchs alive and well in future time and another place? If so, does one have to die in order to reach that place?

If you are sufficiently curious, read "The Universe in a Nutshell" and/or "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. He postulates many dimensions (I think it is 23) based on the math of theoretical physics. I have considered AlienSanctuary's idea of G-d being a representative of a technology so far advanced to ours that it would appear "divine". Imagine taking a super , fully charged laptop loaded with videos, music, photos, business software, etc. back in time 150 - 200 years. There would be no internet (too bad), which is why you would need to have everything loaded on your hard drive. Many people would consider you a witch or a god, and your computer a way to talk to the gods or the demons. My spiritual experiences prevent me from considering it for too long. As far as Tesla is concerned, he was a genius; but he was also very socially challenged. Westinghouse's AC power solution won out against Tesla's wireless transmission of power mostly cuz George Westinghouse was a real charming and sociable guy; but Tesla was considered to be a word that rhymes with "mass mole". Nevertheless, some of Tesla's concepts are being revived. See: Nevertheless, Tesla's concepts are being revived. See http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/14/tech/innovation/wireless-electricity/and http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/wireless-power2.htm.

Interestingly Nicolas Tesla was a Pastors kid - his father was a minister in the Serbian Orthodox Church. I don't disagree with the suggestion re alternate dimensions. G-d transcends all time and space. I have also thought over the years that this is why there needs to be no real problem between Christians that believe in Soul Sleep of the dead and those who believe in immediate heaven, because when you remove our understanding of time from the discussion they become the same concept.

On the contrary. Where some see miracles, others see engineering on a scale far, far beyond human abilities to duplicate, e.g. atomic structure, light, DNA, human thought... One can only wonder what happened when God spoke and stars appeared, according to the scriptures. Maybe there was a transfer from one dimension to another. Too bad Tesla got the shaft, but despite his brilliance, he was quite eccentric. Maybe he suffered from mental illness in his later years, doing everything in "threes", not to mention the "sixes and nines". He really should get a medal, even if only posthumously. I consider him as an equal to Leonardo DaVinci after seeing his notes and drawings and photos in a TV program about him. He was a giant upon which today's technology depends. Physicists/mathematicians have postulated several other dimensions, but I think that they are very small. Maybe an entire universe can fit into one of those seemingly tiny dimensions.