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I am certain of one thing that will continue to happen after the GC session: women will continue to serve as Pastors and be ordained to the ministry in the SDA church regardless of the outcome of the session vote.

This is a really interesting article that I came across re response to a gay male who wrote to the Senior Minister at Ashland Baptist and asked if he would be accepted there as a gay man. I would like to put it up for critical review by the group here. --------------------------------------------------------------- “Will I be fully accepted at your church as a gay man?” Below is my response to an email I received that asked the following question: “I believe church should be for all of God’s children. No exceptions. I am a gay man. My question is, would I be fully accepted with no judgment and fully welcome and able to serve at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church?” I have changed all of the identifying information, but other than that, my response is in full below. I hope that it will be helpful to others facing similar questions. Dear D, Welcome home to the beautiful Bluegrass. It is great to hear from you and to hear of your previous connection with Ashland. What a ministry this church has had for almost 100 years. As to your question, it depends on what you mean by “I am a gay man” and what you mean by “accepted completely with no judgment and fully welcome and able to serve at Ashland Avenue?” If by “I am a gay man” you mean that you struggle with same-sex attraction, recognizing any sexual activity outside of a covenant marriage between a man and a woman is sinful and that you desire Christian discipleship to walk in line with the Gospel as you struggle with this temptation, then we would rejoice at your honesty and openness and receive you gladly at Ashland. We have faithful and accountable members right now in that very situation and attempting to live celibate lives to the glory of Christ. Of course, this is really no different than a man who struggles with heterosexual sexually immoral desires or any of the myriads of sinful desires we all struggle with as disciples of Christ. Sin is an equal opportunity offender and something that every Christian struggles with in unique ways. If by “I am a gay man” you mean that you embrace a lifestyle of homosexual activity and you refuse recognize it as sin no matter what the Scripture says and you are looking for a church that will affirm homosexual activity and/or same-sex marriage that would be a different matter entirely. But there is no uniqueness to homosexual sin in regard to this approach. The same would be true if a man came to us and said “I am a ‘name the sin’ man” and by that he meant he planned to keep on sinning in that way and embracing it as a lifestyle no matter what the Scripture says. There is a world of difference between struggling with a sin and embracing a sin. God saves us where we are, but loves us too much too leave us where we are. He is at work conforming his people into the image of Christ. As far as whether or not you would “be accepted completely with no judgment and fully welcome and able to serve at Ashland Avenue” that would depend on what you mean as well. We welcome all to attend our public worship services. Consider this your invitation to worship with us. We would love to have you in attendance. If you mean that you desire help in an accountable community of faith to struggle against sin then I would say that we are a community of believers whose hope is in the finished work of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins—not our goodness. We are all struggling sinners attempting to follow our Lord and Savior and encouraging one another to do so. On the other hand, if you mean that you want a church where any behavior you participate in will be affirmed and accepted in the membership of the church then the answer would be “no.” I do not think you would want to be a part of a congregation would tolerate any behavior or action among its members. We are all broken in our sin and are in great need of acceptance by God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We are all guilty sinners who have rebelled against a holy God and who desperately need to respond to Christ in repentant faith. It is the awareness of our sin that reveals our need for redemption in Christ. Self-acceptance must not replace repentance and the liberating love of Christ that delivers us from bondage to our sins. Faith, sin and repentance are Christ-directed. Self-justification is man-directed and fashions God as a sort of divine therapist who helps us to accept ourselves. You are right that God’s gospel is about his “love, acceptance, non-judging, and forgiveness for all” but such is the fruit of believers who trust God and agree with God about their sin in repentant faith. The comfortable and convenient thing would be to do away with the notion of sin altogether but such an approach would abandon the biblical gospel and would not be a demonstration of Christian love. The apostle Paul told the church at Corinth, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:9-11). Paul paints a beautiful picture of love, acceptance, and forgiveness for those who come to Christ in faith and repentance of sin. If we lose Paul’s grammar, we lose his gospel. If we shift his words to the present tense and say, “And such are some of you,” we are left with no one washed, no one sanctified, and no one justified. I hope this response provides you respectful and direct answers to your honest questions. I struggle with my own sins so I could easily remove “homosexuality” from this letter and put my sins in those spaces and apply this letter to myself. The good news is that I do not have to be defined by my sins and neither do you. We can be forgiven of our sins and have our identity rooted in Christ and his grace. I am thankful for the dialogue and your interest in my thoughts. I hope to see you soon at Ashland. Blessings in Christ, David E. Prince

Photographed 5/31/2015,

But today we hear some in our remnant church teaching that men are to be "heads" in the church. Is it consistent? Does that mean all men are heads (mini-popes), or just some are considered heads (mini-popes) over other men?

Keylines Invented to prevent drought I wonder if it would be useful to offset the effects of flooding.

Soil examination after use of woodchips. "It seemed the roots did best in soil that was about one-half wood chips! Quite a surprise. As another experiment, I had planted a couple seedlings above some wood-chip-only clumps in the soil that were about 3" deep and 5" diameter. The plant roots did not like growing into only wood chips and these plants didn't do as well. Seeing how well roots did in "wood chip soil", has given me confidence to really go all out when digging in chips. I had wondered what would be too much. But it seems even 1/2 chips, 1/2 dirt is great for the plants. If I had seen this before I prepared my 4 new hugel beds, I would have dug in even more wood chips."

​ IMHO, a very well written response. Would we all very carefully consider it. I really like the quoted sentence. We do not have to be defined by what we struggle with. We can be sons and daughters of God today! The only definition we need. Satan will continue to attempt to define us by our sins and some even chose to be defined by them.

What a waste of time! I guess these women in LLU have nothing better to do. Did God incorporate transgender operation in His creation plan in the beginning or is this the Satan's interference with God's grand plan?

Men are on very shaky ground when one of the arguments they use against WO is inappropriate or "wrong" sermons by women. Men are very good at delivering those kind of sermons.

Celebrating World Changers They changed the way we live our lives today. Whether it was setting up internet protocols, educating people, inventing syringes, or creating birth control for women, technology for caller ID’s, these women remain pioneers. Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Galleries/Thank-a-Woman.aspx#2viOF2b6K94vbdVM.99

On behalf of women everywhere, you're welcome.

Used to drive my kids to school a half hour from home...it meant at least an hour with them alone in the car. Great time for bonding with one another and keeping up with their lives. I miss that part of the commute. On the hour I was alone without them in the car everyday I listened to the radio and got "caught up" on the local news, weather and trending topics. Sometimes I would pray, sometimes sing, sometimes cry, sometimes shout out my frustrations. Nothing quite like being alone in the car! In 5 years I logged over 150,000 miles of "drive time". Now those days are over and I find it difficult to get that uninterrupted time alone.

very difficult to comment on what someone else deems "inappropriate" in a sermon... context is important, but isn't included very often in discussions by the sermon gestapo...

When I had to commute an hour both ways, I would make up stories, I would have a whole cast of characters and situations. Sometimes they were so good, that later I would try and find the "book" that a story was in only to remember that I had made that one up.

Betsy Palmer, age 88, died today, according to Yahoo News. She used to be on TV game shows a lot, years ago. I never saw any of her movies, though I guess she was in several movies in the '40s and '50s and '60s.

I struggled with the issue of the inspiration of Ellen G. White, for many years. I used to read her writings avidly. In 1996, after much research thru her writings (I bought the disc.), i realized that she changed in her beliefs concerning just WHO God is. For 50 years she ONLY mentioned the Father and the Son, as worthy of praise, thanks, or worship. Then words like "the three living beings of the heavenly trio" began to appear. Some explained it as "growth". One Sabbath morning I sat in the pew as the teacher read a passage from Leviticus 16. The study was on the Day of Atonement. On one page of the SS quarterly was printed that passage from Leviticus. On the facing page was printed Mrs. White's vision of Christ in the Most Holy Place. I realized that Jesus was in the WRONG CLOTHING for the MHP. The clothing commanded for the MHP was plain white linen garments - no ephod, no breastplate, no bells, no pomegranates. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I searched and searched through her writings for clues. Finally I realized that I just could NOT KNOW, whether she was inspired or NOT. I had to give up my struggle, and so I turned to the Bible ONLY as my study. At first, I would read a Scripture passage and immediately remember HER interpretation. But gradually, I began to let the Bible interpret itself, comparing Scripture with Scripture. I realize that most here at this forum like to use proof quotes from Mrs. White. I want to focus on Bible. People from other denominations, or religions will NOT be won to any truths by hearing quotes from EGW. We MUST be prepared to argue from the Bible. What I'm saying is that I set her aside. I just DO NOT KNOW if she received visions from God, or not. Concerning the judgment, and the "lake of fire", and "the rest of the dead" - I cannot accept what was published under her name. Much of what was published in GR. Cont. was written by Uriah Smith. The view I present here at this forum, is my own - gleaned from Scripture study. What I want, is for folks here to argue against my view - using Bible ONLY. If I find answers for their objections, then my teaching is strengthened. If not, then I must revise my own view.

​When I read the Church Manual and 28 Fundamental Beliefs, I am satisfied that this is the truth which accords with the Word of God, and that the SDA Church is the remnant church of Bible prophecy.

I'm sure that many believers prayed for escape from death or torture at the hands of the Romans. But they had to be ready to suffer for Christ's sake. Today, we're not put into burning oil, or stretched on the rack, or burned alive, or crucified. Here in the West, we have life pretty good - compared with the rest of the world. But we are tormented in OTHER WAYS. I wonder if we can think of our sufferings, as a testing. I was born without a C1. It's called Chiari Malformation. I've had chronic headaches and neck and shoulder pain for 37 years. When I get to feeling too sorry for myself, I try to think of others who have it worse off. I'm not in a wheelchair. I'm not living in a mud hut, or forced into marriage to a Muslim who beats me 4 times a day with a switch. I wasn't born with one of the terrible disfiguring birth defects, you see on the ad's for children's hospital. I have access to medical care and medications. My Mom had Alzheimer's. We finally had to put her into assisted living. She could not be left alone, and my husband and I both worked. (She microwaved a muffin for 30 minutes. Next thing the fire department was calling me from my house.) Anyway, I prayed and prayed that the LORD would just take her before she disintegrated further. My husband believed, but wasn't fully "settled" into it. One weekend he came over to see me, where I was covering at a hospital 2 hours away. He said the prayer before he left to go home. He told the LORD that if it was OK with HIM, and if HE would let Momma go, that he would continue to go over to the Sterling House to visit the folks there. The NEXT MORNING Mom had a massive stroke. She died 4 days later. My husband STILL visits the Sterling House to serve breakfast coffee every weekday morning on his way to work. Since 2002. He has to let them know if he's going to be gone for a few days. The ladies will worry. TALK ABOUT A WITNESS!! The night Momma died, two of the staff sat with us. One of them began asking questions about death and the afterlife. After 5 hours of Bible study by Momma's bedside, it was midnight and the staff suggested we needed rest. I kissed Momma, and whispered, "Your work is done Momma." "It's OK to go now." We barely made it to the car, and they came out to say she had passed. She will be very happy to learn about her last Bible study.

Similar to polyculture are forest, or food, gardens. Forest Garden 9 Layers Food Forest Stages