Leaderboard

I'd be willing to donate some research time and do a family tree if someone's interested in their ancestry... (info is kept confidential)

That does not matter. Laws change all the time. The oath was not to uphold the laws only as they might have existed at one point in time, but rather the laws as they would exist throughout the term of her office. The implication of your question would essentially create chaos and inconsistent application of the laws of the land if every government official only applied the laws as they might exist at the time they took office. You would have differrent officials applying different laws depending on when they took office. Changing a law would become meaningless if its effective date was dependent on the time the civil servant enforcing it started working for the government.

OK, this must explain why O have been getting crazy spam saying the world is going to end that day, or the Pope will do this or that evil that day.

How could we do one, what prize could we have? We should do this every month...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/uaWA2GbcnJU

I found something that is similar to this:

why are you posting this garbage?

this should be interesting to see if the skies are clear that night where you live...

I have in the last week, started studying Theology at Avondale in Australia- by distance. I am very scared about doing the essays, and getting the referencing right, but I know God will help me through it. After all, i had so many signs and confirmations within a 10 minute period the morning after i asked, what else can it be?? My major is Biblical Studies.

I can't think of a better thing to introduce to the penitentiaries. I have seen other stories of this and it makes me feel so hopeful for the inmates.

Certainly can't fault you on any of your editorials, short and to the point. It is not a subject I have strong feelings about any more. But your conclusion that we are to set examples for our children I am in full agreement with.

Perhaps a new kind of smaller independent facility can be started not officially part of the church and not for complex surgery but for lifestyle change, one that can adhere more closely to principle and focus more on prevention.... Of course we had these before, the sanitariums which are similar to the lifestyle centers some supporting ministries have today. Perhaps we need more of them, staffed not just by a few but as a vision more in our church embrace.

I agree totally with that, and similar, some person will take an isolated case of something and post it like it is something important to discuss.

My personal belief is that a government official is obligated to fulfill their duties and if they feel compelled to not then they should willingly step down. It is not appropriate to make a stand by not performing the duties required by the job.

Obviously caught my interest The prize could be those elusive CA points we used to have...I did not see this had already been suggested when I made the post I belong to a FB group called The Worst Bird Photographs Ever and it certainly produces some hilarious results and comments. I presume each month could have a different category, sometimes serious and sometimes less so.

I believe that's been the exact consideration that some of us here have been trying to point out. It's good to see it coming from a Christian denomination's official statement.

From Focus on the Family: Are Your Religious Freedoms Limited by Your Zip Code? Your zip code is a useful tool in delivering your mail; but it may also determine your religious freedom. The courts continue to have a huge impact on our freedoms, so stay informed and engaged with our popular, free resource, "Cultural Issues in the Courts." Each issue highlights the latest legal rulings across the nation where the courts are impacting marriage, free speech, life and religious freedom. Case in point: Richland, WA, florist Barronelle Stutzman was sued by both the State of Washington and the ACLU when she declined to use her creative floral skills to celebrate a same-sex marriage ceremony. Stutzman's religious and free-speech rights came under legal fire—even before June's U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling declaring same-sex marriage the law of the land. If Stutzman had a different zip code and had lived, for example, in Texas, Arizona or Florida, she might not face more than $100,000 in fines and the possible loss of her home, savings and business. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis found herself in legal hot water for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses in the wake of the Obergefell decision. She was ordered to violate her religious beliefs by the governor, was subsequently sued in federal court and lost, and still refused to violate her conscience. She was even sent to jail this past Thursday by a federal judge for refusing to compromise her beliefs. If Davis had lived in North Carolina or Utah, where officials have passed laws to protect the religious conscience rights of county clerks, she might not be facing possible contempt-of-court penalties, including fines and even jail time. In this rapidly changing cultural environment, do you know your religious rights as a business owner, as a parent or as a church member? http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/christian-engagement/cultural-issues-in-the-courts-2015/cultural-issues-in-the-courts-september-2015-update

An important section of the above document is the following:

1) Homosexuals were stoned in the OT: A homosexual can be celibate, just as an alcoholic can be dry and abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages. Those stoned in the O.T. were stoned for conduct. 2) Duties in church organizations: The 1st Amendment protections apply very narrowly and largely to churches and individuals. Those protections may extend to church operated schools, but not always. SDA hospitals, in the U.S., are largely are governed by civil laws in a manner that does not apply to other denominational organizations. The reality is that SDA hospitals do not generally have the protections that the 1st Amendment gives to churches. One of the reasons is that a hospital is not a church. Therefore, a SDA hospital does not have the protections that a church has. 3) But, there are additional factors that apply to hospitals: a) With very few exceptions, hospitals today are funded by government tax money. The government establishes rates of reimbursement for services provided. The government provides hospitals with research money. The government funds much patient care. The extent of government support of hospitals is so large that with a few exceptions (largely for hospitals that are not public and only take very wealth patients) hospitals could not exist without the support of the government. As such, our hospitals must comply with anti-discrimination policies and laws that apply to them. 'b) As has been stated before, the SDA health-care system is so large that there are not enough SDAs to totally staff SDA hospitals.

God is Love! Jesus saves!

Never said I felt like the only one And yes God's church will go to the end after the terrible shaking.

there was snow coming down over the Canyon Creek wildfire in eastern Oregon today! YAY!!!

I think that we need to take a break.

The law in question that this woman took an oath of office to uphold was men's laws.

The government is using their might to force gay marriage down the throats of many Christians. The government claims it's a moral issue, one of fairness and equality. So excuse me if I find Evans' view hypocritical.....

It appears that her biggest sin is not in refusing to perform her responsibility,but that she believes gay/marriage to be biblically wrong. If it was just failure to do her job she would not be so vilified for her unsavory past she has left behind. There is amazing support among certain christian groups and SDA is one for gay/lesbian marriage

False. She did not try to force or use the government to force her religious beliefs. Made no attempt to change their homosexual lifestyle. She believes it to be wrong and that is a concept that cannot be tolerated. If by refusing she was forcing her religious belief on them,then they of course were trying to force theirs on her his!

From Romans 1: 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

This women knows what she is talking about if you knew deeply her past in Politics and Church then her conclusions in her walk of Faith I found this! She Nailed it. Christians do not want to be persecuted for their Faith. We as Christians so get that Some get it mixed up. In this Climate as of 2015 it makes sense for her... but not the persecution that went on Since the Great Controversy shares. at all #or tons of annuls in Earth or in Heaven

>>>>We are judged according to the light we have received. While it may be true... is there any biblical backing?

@JoeMo: We are judged according to the light we have received. I don't believe that people who never heard about Jesus automatically are lost, God wouldn't be fair if that was the case. "For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them, on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus." - Romans 2:14-16 I don't believe that small children are morally accountable before they are able to distinguish between right and wrong. I believe that God is more merciful than we believe. Of course he will punish genuine rebellion, but God isn't an arbitrary person who condemns individuals to damnation “just because”. I think we'll be surprised when we reach heaven, people who we wouldn't have considered to be candidates for heaven could certainly end up there. God is the judge, only he knows our hearts! That said, the big finale of human history is different... Every morally accountable person will hear the gospel and will be tested… Are we going to receive the seal of God or the Mark of the Beast, that will be the question.

I find it exhausting... and then dealing with the hate and rumour mongers here.. adds up to a bad day

LOL I've been getting stuff like that too...

That should be awesome, thanks for the post

I agree.... thank you... and I know there are real victims out there, both male and female.

I was somewhat distraught about some comments about her past of marriages and unwed children even though she has been converted in Christ -- I see here a modern woman at the well or even the woman caught in sin and the way Jesus handled that in a righteous way. Anyone that would publish an opinion that promotes judgment and lack of compassion and even condemnation should spend some time on their knees. This lady has held Scripture high in our country that has abandoned even the simplest of moral aptitude -- God bless her and may she have a legion of angels surrounding her.

Bonnie and a host of others. This is how it is going to be. Am not turning this into a discussion. If you are going to continue to posts the quality of poison posts you have, then just go away. That is how it is going to be.

Gotta love those who cheer more biblical morals like marriage. She clearly needs our support as she believe in Marriage, and to prove that she has been married 4 times. She also believes in children, she even had them when she was not married.

That brings up the fact that Jesus will be carrying the signs of His sacrifice throughout eternity, a strong reminder to those who know they would never have been enabled to enter the Kingdom were it not for the fact that Jesus was willing to die for the ungodly. 6For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.…Romans 5 Praise God, for His inexhaustable compassion. OTOH we have a choice to make. …2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. 3The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way,...Nahum 1 God is Love! Jesus saves!

i also missed this post- my heart also aches, but i also take comfort in that Jesus will be the first thing she sees!!! You absolutely did the right thing. Rest easy , and know that she was supportive of you, and that your family here on CA will hold you in their hearts, and prayers. *hugs from across the miles in Australia*

I have also, and I believe it was on this forum??

I am well aware of the arguments for and against the use of the VFD term. I am simply saying that we should not use an argument that is not carefully based upon documented evidence Whether true or not, the VFD argument has its problems.. Here is just one of the arguments made against it by the SDA Scholar, Dr. Bacchiocchi. NOTE: I copied it form the URL provided by Gene Fortner. THE NUMERICAL INTERPRETATION OF VICARIUS FILII DEI IS NEGATED 1) EXEGETICALLY; by the fact that Revelation 13:18, speak of a HUMAN NUMBER, not the number of a personal name. Moreover the number is not on the forehead of the beast, but of his followers. Nowhere the Bible uses GEMATRIA to interpret numbers. 2) HISTORICALLY, VICARIUS FILII DEI was NOT the most common name of the pope. the common name is VICARIUS CHRISTI - VICAR OF CHRIST. In the history of our Adventist church our early pioneers, including Ellen White, believed that 666 was the number of Protestant sects influenced by Rome. It was Uriah Smith that introduced VICARIUS FILII DEI on the basis of stories he heard about the pope's title on the tiara. 3) ORIGINAL READERS are urged to understand the mark, name, and number. They could have never understood a Latin name that was coined eight centuries later. 4) FINAL CONFLICT over false worship enforced by the false trinity, encompasses far more than the papacy. Michael, if you are blinded by tradition and do not wish to open your mind, please do not contact me anymore. There is no reason why I should waste my time for a person who want to argue, without first doing the home work or reading the research of competent and dedicated scholars. PLEASE STOP WASTING MY TIME.

I wish they would do this everywhere.

Gerry, My heart goes out to you for your loss. Take at least a little comfort in the fact that your beloved is no longer in pain; and sleeps with Jesus - unconsiously awaiting her reunion with you in the Kingdom. May God flood you with His compassion, comfort and peace. He will bring you through this.

As a physician, I have removed tubes and disconnected ventilators on terminal cases upon family request. I had also stopped IV fluids and withheld further treatments, again on terminal cases. I had no problem with that. It was much harder to do to my wife of 47 years. When the RN saw her condition, she asked me if I had ever thought of withholding the water (by this time she's had only one can of Ensure in two weeks because she has lost her appetite). I had thought of withholding fluids many times, overdosing her many times. Just putting a pillow over her face even crossed my mind. I did not have the heart to do them. I had been praying and expecting God to be the one to turn off the switch of life. It did not happen. Maybe I was waiting for someone to give me permission/affirmation to do what I have thought of before. I had already been carrying out her Living Will wishes, i.e. no antibiotics, no iv's, no O2, no ventilators. l discussed it with my son to withhold water. In fact, my son said he would have done it weeks ago. I also explained to my wife what I was about to do, and she agreed. So I started withholding water 2 weeks ago except for just enough water for her to swallow her pain and anti-anxiety pills. She finally went to her rest yesterday. Yes, it is so much easier to give advice when it's about someone else. It becomes a different problem when it involves your own family. Is it possible that in His wish for us to participate in His divine nature, God is perhaps wanting us to gain an insight into the anguish that He must go through when He decides to finally turn off the switch permanently on those who refused His mercy? Thank you all for your input and for your prayers.

An observation has been made that no weapon of warfare man has made has not eventually been used for its' intended purpose. Just as the holocaust of aborted babies has been perpetrated by Planned Parenthood to solve a societal problem, so this legislation has been proposed for a good purpose. However unregenerate human beings will misuse it for selfish interests, and if Jesus doesn't come first, just as Hitler used Dr. Mengele to aid "The Final Solution", so this has all the earmarks of unregenerate man's devising. Even so, come Lord Jesus! “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. 28For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality. ...Romans 9 God is Love!! Jesus saves

I think in a public hospital which is only trying to make people better physically it is of course appropriate to hire a variety of people. If we are in a facility whether school church or hospital that is Seventh day Adventist we should seek to hire those whose lives are in harmony with our message, message of the soon return of Jesus and of our duty to be ready to meet him without sin. Those who are knowingly and willfully continuing in flagrant open sin without any repentance or seeking to do better, are not those who should be first chosen to work in our facilities. Nor is it doing them any favors to do so. It is approving of their lifestyle, which God does not approve of. It is not preparing them to meet God. It is like telling someone who has cancer, they are fine. And I have had cancer, and the one thing worse to a cancer patient than having cancer and knowing it, is having cancer and not knowing it. We human beings are sinners. Life is about yielding ourselves to God and giving up our sins. Yes there are people who act like they have it all together and look down their noses at various sins. Yes we should avoid doing that. But if we have friends who are doing these things, we should be kind and pray for them, but we should not be so enamored of their friendship that we want to act like their lifestyle does not matter, because this will hurt them.

I think there are a lot of questions implied here. I do not think it is helping people who are gay to say they just see it differently because it is a salvational issue. I do not treat people harshly whether gay or otherwise but they know where I stand, often not by saying anything. I have a friend who is a recovering heroin addict and a former witch who has turned to me repeatedly for help. She knows I care and do not judge her, but I do not approve of her continuing to use heroin. I help her when she tries to get off and did not judge her when her ex boyfriend overdosed- she started him on heroin- and almost died and she turned to me for prayer. At the same time, I do not encourage her to continue to live the lifestyle. And she knows this. I have had friends who are gay now, whose orientation is changing, and who have changed their behavior so they are now in heterosexual marriage. I think we should be loving and supportive of people in the process, but not be forever mute that we see the process as unnecessary. In terms of who we employ in our facilities, in an ideal situation it would be those with decision making similarity about salvational issues because they can most effectively help others. I understand we should love and care for people where they are and yet while Jesus did this he bade them to follow him and told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. Many believe this to have been Mary Magdalene, who later became one of his closest followers. She followed Jesus, and sometimes lapsed, but at least she was making efforts to leave the lifestyle and praying to him for forgiveness when she fell. She was not openly and flagrantly continuing in prostitution while she served him. Same with Rahab. I think it is more loving to let people know the truth than to just act like it does not matter. Subtly. In the right time and way.

I see the problem as being conflicting with our mission. If we are seeking to lead people to a salvation relationship with the Lord and this is the purpose of our hospitals, and if we employ people who are living a lifestyle that conflicts with the Biblical one and with Judeo Christian religion which is based on it to the point where the Bible says clearly that people cannot practice this lifestyle and go to Heaven, they cannot function in the primary role of our mission statement. They cannot lead people to a salvational relationship with the Lord because they do not have one themselves. This is different than employing a Baptist or Methodist who sees this issue similarly to us and seeks to follow a Biblical lifestyle as they understand it.