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I live across the road from a mosque. I love it. My neighbours are quiet, friendly and mutually respectful. I've attended a wedding in the mosque, and they have an international food fair welcoming the community each year. The worshippers are from a huge range of countries, so the cuisine is equally varied, and it's a friendly occasion when our community comes together. Pretty much all of the fear of Muslims and mosques is based in ignorance, and the best way to dispel that is to go and talk with, eat with and live with other human beings.

Excellent. My personal relation to the Bible and Theology: 1) The Bible teaches truth, but to a limited extent, in part due to my humanity and inability to fully understand the issues. 2) My understanding of what the Bible teaches may be faulty and therefore should be subject to correction.

my home is on the highest section of the street... the water would need to rise at least an additional 6 ft before it would get to me.. I feel badly for some of the folks whose homes got inundated...

Please provide the reference for where EGW said what you have stated above. I realize that what you have quoted may sound reasonable and true. But, that fact does not mean that she actually said it. In addition, an actual reference provides context that will help us to understand the circumstances in which she said. I ask in part because often people attribute sayings to her that she did not actually say.

 Do Not Be Afraid The time and culture of Jesus' birth was not unlike the world in which we live today. For that matter, it was just like any generation or era in history. The specific people, land and culture to which Jesus came was a world permeated with fear at almost every level. The Jews were an occupied people. They suffered under grinding poverty and heavy taxation. There was a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Life expectancy, particularly among the poor, is estimated to have been in the mid-30s to early-40s. Fear is a part of what it means to be human. It's a common and normal emotional reaction. • We have fears that we will live so long that our money will expire before we do. • We have fears that we will die and be unable to take care of our family. • We have fears that we will be unemployed and our family will suffer. • We have fears that we, or someone we love, will be a victim of crime. • We fear this world, with its hatred and terrorism, with its warfare and violence. • We fear diseases—we fear the announcement of a terminal disease in our lives and that of our loved ones. • We fear that those we love will not love us in return. • We fear getting old and lonely. • We fear the dark places of this world—and there are many of them. • And of course we fear death—the final enemy. As Luke begins the story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus we are told not to be afraid. Do Not Be Afraid begins as a comforting message before Jesus' birth and continues with the events surrounding his birth. As Matthew records, the Gospels end with an angel saying to the women at the tomb, after Jesus was raised, Do Not Be Afraid…he is not here, he is risen (Matthew 28:5-6, my emphasis). In Luke 1:13 Zechariah, who would become the father of John the Baptist, is told not to be afraid. In effect the angel said: "You and your wife Elizabeth are past it—you are old, but so were Abraham and Sarah. Even though you are humanly incapable of birthing a child, by his grace, God will give you a child. Do Not Be Afraid. Nothing is impossible with God." In Luke 1:30 Mary, a young teenage girl, one of the most unlikely candidates to be the mother of the Son of God, is told not to be afraid. In effect the angel said: "Mary—you have found favor with God. God is giving you his grace in the midst of your fear. He is changing your life forever. He is rearranging your priorities, so that new life will miraculously be given to you. Do Not Be Afraid. Nothing is impossible with God." In Luke 2:10 the shepherds were told not to be afraid, as they watched a staggering display of the glory of God. In Luke 2:14 we read that a great company of the heavenly host sang, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." In effect, the angel said to the shepherds: "I'm bringing you incredible news! Your lives are going to be changed, so Do Not Be Afraid. No one would ever think that you deserve to hear this news, and no one would ever imagine that you deserve exclusive, front row, VIP tickets to this heavenly choir singing about this earthshaking event of Jesus' birth—but that's the way God has chosen to orchestrate all of this. You don't deserve it, and that's just the point. God is giving you his peace, and his favor—his grace—rests on you. It's all completely undeserved." Why did God choose to make this announcement to these shepherds? Shepherds were among the lowest of the low in that society and culture. Because they continuously moved their sheep and therefore lived for months at a time apart from any human contact, with no supervision, shepherds were often accused of stealing. Religious Jews didn't buy milk, wool or sheep directly from shepherds because they assumed it could be stolen property. Shepherds were not allowed, by Jewish law, to hold a judicial office or to give testimony in a court of law. Society at that time felt that shepherds could not be trusted. Shepherds at that time ere viewed omewhat like our society might view a homeless person—or an illegal alien, felon or ex-convict. Shepherds were the lowest of the low and the poorest of the poor. Needless to say, no one would have thought that the very first people (outside of Joseph and Mary) who would receive the announcement of the birth of Jesus would be shepherds. How did they deserve such an honor? Well, of course they didn't. And that's just the point. The message to Zechariah, Mary and the shepherds was Do Not Be Afraid. Do Not Be Afraid is a part of the central proclamation of the birth of Jesus, because the birth of Jesus changed everything. The birth of Jesus (and his life, teachings, death and resurrection) turned society and religion upside down. So in the context of the massive upheaval that Jesus' birth introduced, the message was Do Not Be Afraid. And that's still the message for you and me today. Christmas is a reminder that God made peace for us by making waves in the world into which he was born. God favors us with his peace, but Christmas reminds us that his peace disturbs our culture's status quo. The birth of Jesus changes everything! Christmas is a symbol of our lives being turned upside down, so that they can be right-side-up. Births change lives, don't they? When a couple is first married, they typically begin their married lives alone, without a child. If and when they are blessed to be able to bring a child into their home, they often say "what did we do with our time and our lives before this child? What were our interests? What did we think about and talk about?" A birth has a way of completely re-orienting, re-ordering and transforming our lives. Births signify an upheaval of the status quo. But even though Jesus' birth is a life-changing event for us, we are told not to be afraid. We are told not to be afraid because Jesus will change our lives for the better—forever—he will take us from this earthly world of fear and frustration to God's heavenly eternity of grace and peace. So, Do Not Be Afraid, for, as the shepherds were told in Luke 2:11: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Do Not Be Afraid. Jesus was born so that we might be spiritually reborn. Because of him our lives can be completely transformed. This birth we celebrate was the time when heaven touched our earth in the person of Jesus—the Savior—the healer. Do Not Be Afraid. Christmas means that in one bold cosmic stroke, one breathtaking act of love, God blessed this earth with his presence. In the incredible miracle of the incarnation, God in the person of Jesus becoming one of us, God brought his heaven and his earth together, welding them together in the person of Jesus. Do Not Be Afraid. God has determined not to remain safe and secure in the heavens, but to descend to his creation, out of his love, becoming a human being. God is stepping out of his own safety and security to bring us his rest and peace. Do Not Be Afraid. God has come, in the person of Jesus, to exalt you. God has come not so that we might serve him, but so that he might serve us. In the person of Jesus God has come, becoming poor so that we might become rich. Do Not Be Afraid. In the person of Jesus God has come to you, filling this world with his love, so that humans might see and know of his love, so that in Jesus his love might be fully revealed and known and so that humans in turn might be drawn to him. Do Not Be Afraid. "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born…" —Luke 2:11 Today. Not tomorrow. Not next year. Right now! Do Not Be Afraid. Help is not just on the way in the person of Jesus—help is here. Jesus has arrived. He is here —NOW. He will never leave. As Jesus told his disciples, in the last words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"—Matthew 28:20 Do Not Be Afraid of your earthly circumstances. God's grace, exemplified by the birth of Jesus is not simply a one-time heavenly bail-out. God's grace is not merely a temporary spiritual loan to help us get on our feet. The birth of Jesus is not a one-time stimulus package. Jesus brought an entirely different kind of spiritual economy—an economy based on God's grace. We have found favor with God. God's peace rests on us, because of his everlasting love. We have not earned his favor. We do not deserve his grace. God's favor is the ultimate no-strings-attached gift—a gift which, like any other, must be accepted and opened—a gift which may also, by our choice, be rejected and ignored. Do Not Be Afraid if the world around you is crumbling. Do Not Be Afraid because of consumerism and greed. Do Not Be Afraid even though you face uncertain human conditions—having to do with your welfare, your health, and your family and loved ones. Do Not Be Afraid. When we live in fear we can be manipulated—by government and by religion. We can make huge mistakes because of fear. We can completely misunderstand who God is as we hear the pronouncements of fear religion. Fear leads to injustice and pain. Fear leads to spiritual slavery and bondage. As we read in 1 John 4:18, there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear… God's love has come to this world and is still here— NOW—in this world in the person of our risen Lord and Savior. God's love and his grace is here NOW—and gives you freedom in Christ. That's the Christmas message for us—today—right NOW! Do Not Be Afraid. http://www.ptm.org/

Funny how we make assumptions about people not based on reality then judge them for the fantasy in our own mind! How many times I've seen it! Only certain people show up regularly for "prayer" meeting then condemn those who don't come. God forbid they should spend some time in prayer to see why people aren't coming. Betcha anything God isn't there cause the regulars aren't seeking Him anymore than the Pharisees wanted Christ. Then there is the assumption everyone who steps foot in church has the intimate relationship with Christ the disciples did! People often come looking for Him and are repelled. Real Christlike that! And the assumption that people should endure persecution in the church! I've never seen it in my bible! In fact, the bible is very clear! Very clear! Quote: If they persecute you in one place, GET UP AND LEAVE unquote. Jesus practiced that til it was time for Him to die. Isaac practiced that as told in the OT. I'm sure we'd find more stories if we were inclined to follow scripture rather than traditions. Traditions where we are the ones who look good based on the criteria we invented and can follow. smh Oh, and Jesus was persecuted by the church of His day. The right church keeping the right day, but was also, strangely, in love with the wrong god, the one that loves to judge, condemn and persecute!

____________________________A good way to for a president to place America's wealth in the hands of other nations. Can he place his oath of office paramount under the constitution and still accomplish what he's already done?

http://clocktower.ucollege.edu/adventisms/2015/10/19/adventisms AdventismsOctober 19, 2015Sarah Ventura SACRED SLANT Last April, I thought about leaving the Adventist church. I was listening to a report from a summit held in South Africa where I learned that I still officially disagreed with my church’s official standing on LGBTQ+ relationships.* “As Seventh-day Adventists, we are opposed to homosexual relationships and practices.” “As a church, we will not officiate same-sex marriages, support gay-straight alliances in our schools or participate in any action that could condone same-sex relations.” I kept hearing this reference to “we:” “We believe … we decided … ” and I felt sick because I didn’t believe this. I didn’t decide this. The report left me with two questions slamming around in my head: Can I still be a part of the Adventist church if I don’t believe everything the church officially believes? Do I even want to be? This past summer, many members of my church were heartbroken over the “no” in regards to women’s ordination. Many of us wondered, can we still be Adventists if we don’t agree with this? Do we even want to be? I can’t answer this question for everyone, but I’ve answered it for myself. After listening to the aforementioned report, I poured my heart out to a teacher who listened and then completely changed my perspective. “Sarah,” he said. “You get to decide what Adventism is.” Before that moment, I viewed Adventism as something someone else decided and controlled. There was one Adventism, one way of doing and believing, and I either fit into that or I didn’t. But in reality, there are as many different ways of being Adventist as there are people in the Adventist church. In a sense, millions of Adventisms exist in our world. If someone asks what books Adventist read, both “The Great Controversy” and “Harry Potter” are viable answers. If someone asks what Adventists do on Sabbath, both “attend church” and “eat at Olive Garden” are accurate. When people ask what Adventists believe, they often receive a standard answer: Adventists believe in the Sabbath and that Jesus is coming soon. In reality, Adventist belief differs widely. There are Adventists who believe in the sanctity of same-sex marriage, and there are those who don’t. There are Adventists who don’t believe women should be ordained pastors, and those who do. There are Adventists who believe Jesus is coming really soon, like next Tuesday; Adventists who believe “soon” means in their grandchild’s lifetime; Adventists who believe “soon” might mean the year 3015. Adventist beliefs are as diverse as the members that make up the church. If Adventism was only one thing, only one way of believing, perceiving and living in the world, I would have to leave because there wouldn’t be room for me. But I’m staying, because there’s room for me and there’s room for you, even if we believe differently in a lot of different areas. I’m staying because Adventism is mine, and I decide what it looks like. I’m staying because if I left, I would forfeit my ability to grow, shape and shift my church. I’m staying because I’m positively influenced by other Adventists, both similar to and different from me. I’m staying. Will you? .......yes

http://brianzahnd.com/2015/10/god-is-not-a-monster/ God Is Not A Monster Brian Zahnd There are monsters in this world, but the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not one of them. Yes, Virginia, there are monsters. We have an imagination for monsters because we know of their existence. Venomous and vicious beasts were a daily peril for our earliest ancestors. Volcanoes and tsunamis can swallow whole cities. Hurricanes and tornados roar from the heavens, leaving hell in their wake. Epidemics of disease are lethal predators taking their pitiless toll. Worst of all, there are monstrosities of men — conquerors and warlords, tyrants and despots — galloping across history like ringwraiths bringing conquest, war, famine, and death. We can imagine monsters because we have met them. But the living God is not one of them. Not the God who Jesus called Abba. Oh, the gods are monstrous, of course they are. They are mercurial and merciless, petty and vengeful. They have to be mollified by a virgin flung into a volcano or a victim sacrificed on a stone altar. They always demand a violent and bloody appeasement…or else! But we know about these gods now, we know what they really are. They are personifications of those beasts and disasters and epidemics and wars and tyrants that frighten us so. They are deified projections of our own rage and fear. They are the desperate attempt to deal with our own sin and shame. The good news is that the God revealed in Christ does not belong to the category of Mars and Moloch, of Ares and Zeus. These are the false gods of our frightened and shame-laden imaginations. The Creator God, the One True God, is not vengeful and retributive like those gods of the primitive pantheon. In his triumph Jesus put these petty and vindictive gods out of business. It’s only their fading ghosts that haunt us today. In the dread of night we may be tempted to think that the true God shares the fearsome attributes of the vanquished monster gods. In our horror we imagine how Scripture confirms our nightmares. In our terror we may use the Bible as a pallet to paint a macabre and monstrous image of God. But then the day dawns and we hear Jesus say, “It is I. Be not afraid.” (John 6:20) With the dayspring of Christ the terrors of night fade away. Jesus is perfect theology. And Jesus saves us from our primeval nightmares about the divine. The hands of God are not hurling thunderbolts. The hands of God have scars — they were nailed to a tree as he forgave monstrous evil. “I no longer fear God, but I love him. For love casts out fear.” –Saint Anthony the Great (251–356) I agree with Saint Anthony. I am also well aware that some will vehemently protest Saint Anthony’s words and my agreement with them. (Beware the comment section!) Nevertheless, I agree with the great saint because this has been my experience as well. For many of us, a dread fear of God may be the only place we can begin our journey. It’s how we first take God seriously. But it’s only the starting point and we must not stay there. So, yes, I understand the Bible commends the fear of God, and I do too…but only as a preliminary beginning. God desires us to grow beyond the rudimentary beginning of fear. “God is love. And all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. … Such love has no fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” –The Apostle John (1 John 4:16–18) What I fear is not God, but the suffering my sin can inflict on myself and those around me. The malevolent consequences of sin are very real. But I’m not afraid of God. I used to be, but I am no longer. I am no longer afraid of God because I have come to know God as he is revealed in Christ. I have come to know that God’s single disposition toward me is one of unconditional, unwavering love. The knowledge of God’s love has made it impossible for me to be afraid of God. You may think such language is reckless. It is not. The peace of no longer being afraid of God has been hard won. It has come from relentlessly seeking to know God as he is revealed in Christ. It is not the result of a liberal, sloppy, pick-and-choose theology. Rather, it is the result of pushing through the dark outer courts of the fear of God into the holy of holies where the love of God shines eternally and dispels all darkness. After years of praying, meditating on the Gospels, and sitting with Jesus in contemplation, I am simply no longer afraid of God. Maturing love is driving out fear. God is not a monster. There are monster god theologies, but they are mistaken. Accusation and scapegoating, the ravages of war and the wages of sin, these are monsters. The cruel vagaries of chance — until they are tamed by Christ in the age to come — may fall upon us as monsters. But God is not a monster. God is love. Jesus reveals this to us. If we move against the grain of love we will suffer the shards of self-inflicted suffering — and we can call this the wrath of God if we like — but the deeper truth remains: God is love. So don’t sit in the dark with the tormenting idea that God somehow harbors malice and ill-will toward you. It’s all a cruel fiction. Turn on the light of Christ and realize that the monster you imagined does not exist. Who exists is Jesus. And he is the one who says to you, “It is I, be not afraid.” BZ (The artwork is The Torment of Saint Anthony by Michelangelo, 1488.)

yes there will be no homosexuality or even heterosexuality in heaven is my broad understanding in this (no sex) Now that's Purity! And i will be so happy when the weight of my masculine sexuality will be lifted. But still be a Man! meanwhile I hold onto God's scriptures " Who may ascend to the Hill of the LORD? Who may Stand in HIS Holy Place? He that hath Clean hands and a Pure heart!" Psalms 24 He gave that to me one wretched night of me crying on His Big Broad shoulders. And keeps reminding me.