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It is our duty to preach the Gospel. That word of course means "Good News". For a world that may doubt or have been terribly mislead about God, finding out that God does in fact love them is pretty good news, I would say. Since you wish to rely on EGW for direction, search for what she says the 3rd angel's message is all about. Here is a starting hint - And then there is this -

Reading the criticisms of TOP tends to confirm the ages old suspicion/criticism of Adventists by our fellow Christians that Adventism is a cult and not really Christian. It is as if Adventists take the Christ out of Christian. Maybe that is why we so much need TOP to reverse that. We have so easily lost sight of being Christ centered in all that we do and teach. Adventists really do need to put Christ back into their religion - first, last, and always. Green and Jackson, widen your search of EGW's writings to see what she says about making Christ first, the center of our faith and life.

Thanks, a worthwhile recommendation. Always worth seeking out the 'disconfirming evidence' to challenge our own views. Having said that, it looks as though Dr Carson's campaign is over for practical purposes. He has withdrawn from this week's debate and will be making a further announcement Thursday. FWIW, in some ways he may be better off returning to a smaller stage to enact his beliefs and plans.

I am guilty of poor multi-tasking. One day some time ago, my mobile phone rang while I was driving my kids to school. I took my eyes off the road for the briefest moment—a moment that is now burned into my mind—and smashed into the back end of a BMW. I've been told many times that men can't multi-task. But that doesn't mean I can't try, right? My wife, research has shown, is three times more likely to successfully multi-task than I am. We have three children, all of whom she has carried, birthed and nursed. Due to child in triplicate she has received three doses of various oestrogen strains to her brain that I have not received. I feel compelled to cry out with my kids, “That's not fair!” I'll tell you how unfair it is. Just staring at the face of her own baby gives a mother a rush of endorphins. How's that for unfair? I have to climb a mountain or build a rocket-ship to get the same buzz she gets from playing goo-goo. Not fair! Skills that were beneficial in hunt-and-gather societies of the past are still useful to mothers in the modern family. Propelling herself out of bed at the slightest whimper, exiting deep sleep and entering the darkness of night, today's mum weaves her way through unlit hallways, deftly missing couches, tables and random toys underfoot, and arrives at the source of that whimper in record time. But, if you think that's fast—just watch a mum when their inquisitive toddler picks up a bug from the ground and prepares to eat it. Five times faster than your average virgin, mum saves the day! She vaults fences and knocks aside grown men in her single-minded goal to kill the enemy. The bug is unceremoniously squashed. The child is startled for a moment and then all returns to normal. That is until the next time the world needs Supermum. While many mothers may feel their kids are killing them, having children has been shown to slow the ageing process. A combination of the hormones of pregnancy and the busy life of raising children floods the brain with all it needs to stay young! Because of the hormonal gifts given to them through child birth and breast-feeding mums have better memory skills, learning abilities and longevity. So, Mums, because of your choice to have a raise great kids you will live longer, wiser and more interesting lives. You deserve it! Thanks Mum, for all you do. Keep up the great work! ----- ----- ----- ----- For more parenting pondering, see the "Parently" section of this blog. View the full article

However sincere and well-meaning such an approach may be, it is misguided. First, Mrs. White tells us that the minister has a responsibility to teach his new converts about God's requirements, including that of tithing. Secondly, we are living in a time when our message is that of the third angel. What is the third angel's message? We find it in Revelation 14, starting at verse 9. The "commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus": We are living in a time when virtually everyone should understand that God is love. The lack in our society is in the behavior modification department. God tasks His people with the duty of sounding a warning to those who do not keep His commandments. That is the message of the third angel in verity: commandment-keeping. Blessings, Green Cochoa.

Thomas the Doubter: Good points that you brought up. The issue is that the Bible does give us a groundwork, a basic scheme. You can find a good summery of it in "The Role of Israel in Old Testament Prophecy" and in Deuteronomy 4. Then you find chapters that refer to coming close to this outline and from these you can see more of what could have happened and less speculation. I do see the issues in radical Islam as part of the beast, but as for the heads, we have to remember that like the 5th head the 7th head will look very Christian, enough to if it were possible to deceive the very elect. I do not see Islam fitting this condition. We also don't find Radical Islam controlling everyone's life and finances. And we are finding the great corporations and banks fulfilling these prophecies. A few years ago already the Council of Foreign relations had an article on a post radical Islam world. The banks and corporations run them too and will get them to start dancing to their tune.

“You need to be quiet during prayer,” chided the women’s ministry leader seated next to me. As I swallowed hard and met her eyes with a look of surprise, she continued, “…because people end up hearing you instead of [the pastor].” We proceeded to chat back and forth for another few minutes, her about being quiet in church, me about the unlikelihood of stifling the praise God’s worthy of because professed Christians are uncomfortable, her genuinely amazed at the concept of being so filled on the inside that it overflows to the outside, me genuinely frustrated at the concept of being told to be quiet in church. Despite having a pretty loud voice when kicking back with friends, I used to be a rather quiet churchgoer, never really understanding why others would shout aloud and certainly never shouting aloud myself. However, my elevated “outside voice,” masked my internal voice and the internal joy that was silenced for over a decade of my life by sexual abuse. Over a decade more was spent in silent shame about some of the worst experiences and worst decisions of my life. More than 20 years…gone…stolen by silence. Silent in public worship. Silent in private. Silently hating God. Silently broken. I silently bumped around through life, silently bumping in and out of church each week, silently coming in broken, silently leaving bound. But one sweet day, in the midst of my silence, the God of the universe spoke loudly and unbound me from the shame that once prevented me from praising Him. The God I had once only heard of, once only read of, and once only seen others worship freely allowed me to see Him for myself and filled my mouth with worship. I wept as this well-meaning lady walked away from me in church. I just tend to believe that church should be safe enough for us to exchange our silenced sorrows for shouts of joy as we worship our Deliverer. I initially figured she’d better understand if she only knew the hell from which I’ve been redeemed. Maybe then she’d join the next person she saw worshiping instead of quieting the praise God is oh so worthy of. But then I wiped my tears, remembering we all have been ransomed; we all have a story of redemption. And more important than her knowing others’ stories is her knowing her own and that we all have a similar story – that the wages of sin is death, yet we’re alive, and for that, we ought to join each other in blessing our faithful God. The important part of each of our stories revolves around the story of a God who speaks into our silence and sets us free to worship Him (Psalm 119:134; Luke 1:74; Isaiah 43:21). We need no other reason to worship a God who was worthy before speaking a single word. So, what should you do when others are very visibly or audibly expressing their praise to God? Well, if you’re not joining in, if you’re not echoing that He is holy (Isaiah 6:3), maybe that is when you should be quiet in church. If you’re not giving glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne and lives forever, that is when you should be quiet in church (Revelation 4:8). If you’re only opening your mouth to dictate how others should worship God, that is when you should be quiet in church. As for me, I’m committed to blessing the Lord at all times – when He stuns me into silence and when His praises pour forth from my lips (Psalm 34:1). Resources: Kimberly Bulgin’s FREE ebook: Wild Worship Bob Kauflin’s Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God Myles Munroe’s Rediscovering Kingdom Worship Marnie C. Ferree’s No Stones: Women Redeemed from Sexual Shame View the full article

Well, Peyton Manning finally got his ring as over 111.9 million people put their best plans aside and tuned in to the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago. It’s the largest television event of our American year. So large in fact that advertisers paid seemingly nonsensical amounts to have their message broadcast to that Super Bowl crowd. How much exactly did these “prime” slots cost? This year: up to $5 million dollars – for 30 seconds! That’s up from the $4.5 million last year and up 75% since 2005 (according to Fortune magazine). In fact, I know people who watched the Super Bowl just for these ads – they’re supposed to be that good! And hey, if I was an advertiser paying $5 million for those few seconds, I’d certain as anything make sure they were good too. And now the Super Bowl is done, over, and old news. Yet in the aftermath, a question still nags my mind: how would I live if one minute of my life was worth $10 million? The more I look around our world today, the more I realize that we are living in a much greater, much more epic prime time than the Super Bowl. We live at the most critical time in earth’s history – with an entire universe as an audience. So what does this mean? How would we live if we valued our life as much as the advertisers value a slot during the Super Bowl? How do I get in the game and play like it’s Super Bowl time? I’m sure there are hundreds of answers to these questions. But below are six that I can personally recommend. 1. Train. You’re not going to play well if you don’t train well – I’m reasonably certain any NFL player will agree with that. And any advertiser will tell you they didn’t throw together their $5 ad the night before! So what are you doing to become better trained to live for God? What are you doing to prepare? Maybe it’s time for your personal devotions to come up a notch. Try committing to it for one month. Maybe it’s finally time to do those Bible studies you’ve been wanting to finish so that you know how to answer your friend the next time he asks you what happens when we die or how to get to know Jesus personally. I’ve even had the privilege of working with several amazing evangelism training schools that offer both shorter intensives and longer training programs especially focused on how to grow in your faith and share it with others! The opportunities are there. But big step or small step, training happens now. 2. Use what you have. I used to complain that I had “half talents.” There were a number of things I could do a little bit of, but there wasn’t much I felt I could do well. There were always people who could do better! So I did little. But then I heard David Asscherick preach a sermon called “Stir What You Got.” And the basic premise was, “If I don’t use what I have now, how can I expect God to give me more?” I know many who don’t want to share the gospel because they feel they don’t know enough about the Bible. But I’ve found witnessing to be kind of like learning a language – you can study it in the textbooks for years on end, but if you don’t go out and start trying to speak it, rough as it may be, you’ll never really learn the language. To him who uses what he has, more will be given (see Matthew 25:14-29). 3, Don’t wait. Later…. There’s always later… But we all know later never comes. Like the room you’re going to clean “later,” the home improvement project you’re going to get to “later”… We know all too well how that one goes. If you’re waiting to do something for God until after you finish school, you’re waiting far too long. If you’re waiting till you have a different job, the kids are older, or whatever else, you’ll always be waiting. Yes, there are times that we have differing capacities due to our circumstances. But I guarantee you there’s something you can do now. Find it. Do it. Don’t wait. 4. Get rid of the leaches. There are things that, while maybe not inherently “wrong,” will prevent you from playing the game well. When I was growing up for instance, I was addicted to television. I say “addicted” because I killed tons of time with it (watching stuff that many times was not beneficial to my connection with God), and I couldn’t seem to limit it and reign it in. Watching one half-hour show somehow became four hours every time… But in college I came to a point where God was working in my life and I wanted to grow with Him. So I decided to give up TV. And it wasn’t because I heard a sermon on the evils of drama or the entertainment industry – in fact I’d heard those and not been moved. I gave it up because something else was more important to me now. I wanted my growth with God more. I wanted my time more. Prime time TV was eating up my life’s prime time. And it needed to go. Now for you it may be something totally different! I’m not here to bash TV. But I challenge you, ask God what might be holding you back from going all-out with Him. Ask Him to show you the leaches – whether they’re overtly sinful and you know it, or seemingly benign yet distracting. Then ask Him for both the desire and strength to make a change. You may just find a beautiful freedom you’ve never before experienced (Hebrews 12:1). 5. Build a team. I would never have stepped out to do ministry for the Lord had it not been for some godly friends and mentors that encouraged me. These were the people that said, “Michelle, I think you can do more than this.” They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. And now, as a teacher, I consider it one of my greatest opportunities to give the gift of belief to others. I’ve heard that we all need three groups of people in our lives: people who minister to us, people we minister with, and people we minister to. We need community. We need not only to help people, we also need people who help us – who are in it with us. If you are privileged enough to have some of these people in your life, start investing in them and strengthening that community. If you don’t, pray for it. The Lord knows what you need, and He can provide – sometimes in unexpected ways. 6. Consider doing something crazy. Here’s where I go a little 1 Corinthians 7:25 where Paul essentially says, “I have no commandment from the Lord, but in my opinion…” So here’s my opinion: I personally believe that many of us stop short of what God’s calling us to. Maybe we see the traditional path for life and stop there: Go to school, get a job, make money, have a family, try to help people and support my local church. Don’t get me wrong, these things are wonderful and good! But some of you may be called to giving your life to service in unconventional ways. When God was working in my life during college and I began doing the little that I could for Him, He started expanding my burden to do more. Suddenly I wasn’t content with the traditional career path I’d been pursuing. For the first time I began to contemplate different missionary and ministry possibilities that both scared me and scared my family! I remember being told, “Well, follow God, but make sure to think about your future!” And there was wisdom in that statement. But also danger. I sometimes see young people, on fire and desiring to do something for God, putting it off or never doing it because of well meaning friends and family who told them they should really finish college first, get a job first, go to graduate school first… And sometimes this may be good advice – don’t just disregard reason and sound counsel. But I will testify one thing from personal experience: Time that you take for God is never wasted. And in His time, He will take care of your future. For me, my decision to risk for God led to a very different career path than the accountant I was trained to be. I make less money than most of my peers. I have less stuff than they do. Yet I don’t regret it in the least. I’ve traveled, I’ve grown, I’ve gotten to become a better leader, I’ve had some of the hardest yet most fulfilling experiences, and it’s changed who I am and how I see the world in ways I would never trade. Your path will be different than mine. You may have family and financial obligations that don’t allow such radical abandon at this point in time! But some of you are called to much more than a traditional path during this “prime time” era. I believe there are future missionaries, evangelists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders who will be reading this. Doing something radical for God doesn’t mean you necessarily need drop everything and become a pastor. It doesn’t mean you won’t work in the secular world (there’s a huge mission field there). It doesn’t mean you won’t get an education (for those wondering what happened to mine, the Lord provided ways to finish both a bachelor’s and master’s degree along the way – without debt). But it may mean you put your future on the line and ask God what living in “prime time” might mean for you. It might mean considering doing something a little “crazy” as He leads the way. It could look different than the world’s definition of “success.” It could change your life for a season (like maximizing your young and single years), or it may change your life permanently. Again, this is Michelle speaking. But I challenge you to pray about it. And however it applies to you, take it for what it’s worth In Romans 13:11 Paul challenges us to live “knowing the time.” I don’t know how long this prime time will last. Our political, finical, and social world is changing rapidly (don’t start me on politics right now…). All you have to do is look around to realize things can’t stay as “business as usual” for too much longer. But whether we have one year or 90, I hope you live your life like it’s worth $10 dollars per minute. Don’t wait for the next Super Bowl. Prime time is now. View the full article

Joe Thanks brother! Its always great to receive kind words of support. I very much appreciate it. I also like and believe in your point about the holy days with the first coming applying to the second coming. It makes total sense! After all, he didn't just plant festivals for no apparent reason. I'm working on another post about the identity of the Beast (if I can get any time to do it! Even just now took ages to write a simple post and its past my bedtime!). You might want to watch out for it. Take care my brother! Thomas

Hi Kevin H. Sure I understand the general points you are making right now - fundamentalism, exegesis, the prophetic applications to immediate and later times, etc. I don't have a problem with that general discussion. But the issues I raised in my last post were only really addressing many of the specific points that you made. I understand its hard to say everything into a short post (I have trouble myself doing that), but I merely want to get our historical facts correct, thoughts coherent and logical not contradictory, and speculations presented as speculations not facts - like saying one could know that Jesus would have arrived in the past. Of course we do know that he will arrive, of course we know he will likely arrive soon given the nature of events on the planet in general and the correspondence with Biblical prophecies. But to say that one could know that Jesus would have arrived at a particular point in the past in a kind of omnipotent way, and repeatedly so, is much more than saying that - it is saying one is privy to God's mind more than others. And anyway, all of this was and is beside the point, because in my first post I was really wanting to answer the question of this discussion - who are the seven heads of Revelation - but more specifically I wanted to identify who the Seventh Head was. And that question, I believe, I had answered with as much historical references as I could, demonstrating that the Roman Empire (6th Head) lived on in the East, with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul in Turkey), only to be conquered by the Ottoman Islamic Empire in 1453 (a revisionist movie was even made in recent years in Turkey which turned out to be its biggest blockbuster that depicted the event, called Fetih 1453 (see trailer here)), which in turn demonstrated that it was the 7th Head. I was a Adventist Fundamentalist. I am no longer. I didn't receive a college or seminary education like yourself. I had to self-educate through purchasing hundreds of books. I spent time reading and listening to a wide range of topics since mid to early 2000s - apologetics, Islam, Atheism, Historical Jesus studies, philosophy, science, history and salvation. I had to learn the fine art of effective communication and debate, engaging with many colleagues at the House of Commons where I worked as a receptionist for five years, encountering all sorts of Atheist, Islamist, cult challenges. Ultimately, the point is, out of all of this I wanted to know the truth, and exposed myself to difficult challenges to get there. And that's why I shared with you and others those 7 simple but key principles: Verification (1 Th. 5.21) – to verify and prove things rather than just accept immediately as true; Impartiality (1 Tim. 5.21) – to be open to new conclusions other than the ones we have bias towards; Evidence (2 Pet. 1.16) – to base conclusions on evidence, not have pre-determined conclusions that try to misrepresent evidence. Argument (1 Pet. 3.15; Act 17.2-4; Act 18.24-28) – to make a case based on strong arguments. Reason (Act 17.2-4) – to have good reasoning/logic behind the arguments. Sensibility – to not entertain speculations (1 Tim. 1.4), cleverly invented but baseless theories/myths (2 Pet. 1.16), or superstitions (1 Tim. 4.7) as facts, which lead to turning away from truth (2 Tim. 4.4). Source Credibility (Lk. 1.1-3) – ensure that your information comes from accurate, reliable, authoritative, credibly established sources. There are many other principles that I've learnt from a wide range of my "teachers" (as I call those I read and learn from). But these are enough to give an excellent start. And if you find yourself breaking them then something needs to be rethought. And like I alluded to in my first post, it appals me that Adventist leaders/pastors/teachers don't teach, or simply don't know, these principles after all that time studying. We have a responsibility to ourselves, to others and to the God that died for us, to get it right, to get the truth right. Not what we want the truth to be, not what we've been taught the truth to be, but what the objective, unadulterated, impartial truth actually is in reality. This is not easy to do since for many it challenges our very fundamental view of the world that has been handed down to us. But really, so what? Is Jesus not worth breaking our own dogmas for? Islam is now upon the world, whether we will choose to ignore it at our peril or not. It doesn't have to be killing you for it to be winning (although for many Christians in the world it is killing them, torturing them, raping them). It can simply be making us more Islam-compliant, that is to say, unable to criticise Islam itself, which is absolutely rife here in Britain and Europe (although many ordinary people are beginning to wake up and stand up to it despite the political and media elite's propaganda in favour of Islam). But to be sure it is an existential threat, whether ideologically (many educated or disaffected young people here find affinity with it and are attracted to ISIS in particular - I have had many Muslim friends who although were once moderate now more fundamentalist), demographically (the Times of London did an article a few years back, along the Pew Research Center on the alarming Muslim demographic growth rate of Britain in years to come - this has been totally accelerated by the unanticipated overwhelming migrant crisis), politically, religiously (they are the most dominant religious force in Britain and Europe), financially (most of the oil reserves in the world are in the possession of Islamic countries, most notoriously Saudi Arabia and Iran), militarily (with acquirement of nuclear weapons, not to mention terror armies like ISIS, and the fourth biggest army in the world being Turkey who is a NATO member), prisons, schools, universities, sharia courts (for marriages), you name it, they are doing it. And the only force to stop it is and will ultimately be Jesus Himself. But we will not have the choice to be bystanders. This is Satan's Empire. And he is bringing it closer to everyone. In the East Christians have already found out, Israel is already fighting against it. Europe is fractured, political leaders totally deluded, inept to the task and possess no solutions or willingness to tackle it, Christian leaders drowned out, silent or simply irrelevant. France, Britain, Germany, Greece, Holland, and more are all struggling. Eastern and Central European states are now building borders to cope with the influx of migrants from the Middle East. Now we wrestle with the prospect of a referendum to take Britain out of the EU at a time when the world is at its most chaotic. It is quite bleak people. Perhaps it doesn't feel that way in our individual worlds, but geopolitically it is a total nightmare, and for many individuals in the world it is sharply felt. It is no wonder that the Doomsday Clock of atomic scientists is now 3 minutes to midnight/armaggeddon (I highlighted many of these portents of doom with references to news articles in another discussion "Do Adventists even care about events in Paris"). Islam is encroaching on every issue in world society. Does that not sound like a resurgent 7th empire / 8th and final empire? If it doesn't then I can't see how any other candidate (the Pope for example) will be able to.

Your words can either be an influence for good or bad. We have clearly seen the effects of the negative influence of words in our world today. Family Feuds, Divorces, Ended Friendships, Wars, Political Scandals…; all stem back to one... View the rest of this great article

Hard times come and go in life, but believe it or not, these moments have their purpose. In the world, suffering comes to be seen as something to be avoided, but we find in the Bible that the Lord so... View the rest of this great article

How many of you would expect a drinking fountain to pour out Pepsi? That would be kind of strange, right? Or say you were dying of thirst? Which beverage would be more preferable? Pop or water? In Jeremiah 2, we... View the rest of this great article

We are living in a time where independence is often cherished. Due to this, expressing a need can often be seen as a sign of weakness. Some of the hardest words to say nowadays are: “I need help”. Thus, the... View the rest of this great article

I am prone to making mistakes. These past couple of months, I have made many that have cost me dearly, and no doubt I regret them. This just calls attention to the fact that I am human, and therefore susceptible... View the rest of this great article

There is a story of a man who lived his entire life homeless, only for it to be discovered shortly after his death that he stood to inherit a $19 million fortune. Apparently, he was a long-lost relative of a... View the rest of this great article

The parting of the Red Sea; a whale that consumes a man whole; handwriting on the wall; a talking donkey…you name it. No matter the dramatic effect, there was God intervening in the lives of His people so that His... View the rest of this great article

Whoever said “sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you” must have underestimated just how powerful words can be. The apostle James says that with such a small member of the body, many deadly horrors... View the rest of this great article

In Exodus 33, Moses makes a simple request to the Lord: …”if [your] presence does not go with us, do not carry us there…” Moses ‘ first concern was that the spirit of Christ would be with his people. Before... View the rest of this great article

View the rest of this great article

Hey, maybe that's why mine still works! I drink a blend of almond/coconut milk.

Once I told some students I was tutoring that I was Christian and they responded by listing off a bunch of hip-hop artists who had claimed they were Christian. I cringed. Still, they had a point. In a world where... View the rest of this great article

Mrs. White recommended John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." In it, many tried to take shortcuts to get into The Way. People still presumptuously try this today. If they can believe that "Jesus" did everything, leaving nothing for them to do, and if they can believe that "love" without "obedience" saves everyone, they have accepted one of the most specious lies of the devil. The story of Pilgrim's Progress shows how things worked out for one of those who arrived at the heavenly gates having come another way. Things did not end well for him. He was cast out. His name was not found in the Book of Life. Those who are saved take joy in keeping God's commandments. They do not try to find some "easier" or more agreeable way apart from that which God has prescribed. They do not look for self-pleasing entertainments, but seek to bless others with their time and talents in the most efficient manner possible, knowing that the time is short. I have found the Pilgrim's Progress to be very helpful in my own spiritual walk, and would like to recommend it as did Mrs. White. John Bunyan's books can be freely read online. A particular character in his Pilgrim's Progress reminds me of those who have founded the One Project. Blessings, Green Cochoa.

DAVID EDGREN this is a very good thought i LIKE the get up----kill--eat as things every follower of CHRIST needs to do dgrimm60

Since I follow up on followed contacts just before closing up shop for the day, I can only apologize for not getting here earlier and will make another effort earlier tomorrow. Keep looking up! God is Love!~Jesus saves!

I have trouble believing that we humans have anything to do with the timing of the Second Coming. So many times in prophecy we are told of the "fullness of time" or "at the appointed time". If God indeed knows all from the beginning to the end, He knows exactly when "the Fullness of time" or the "appointed time is; and we have no influence over it whatsoever. If the prophecies of the second coming are fulfilled in the same way as the prophecies of the 1st coming, they will be fulfilled in real-time oner a holy day season (spring feasts or fall feasts). What year? Only God knows; but I personally believe and hope that it is sooner rather than later.

I think what is interesting is how this fits in actual Biblical prophecy. In Revelation 13 and 17 it talks about a sequence of Heads or Empires, traditionally seen as (1) Egypt, (2) Assyria, (3) Babylon, (4) Persia, (5) Greece, (6) Roman, (7) Papal followed by Papal "Mortal Wound," and (8) Papal Resurgence. But there is a massive problem with this sequence if you look at history: the Papacy never succeeded the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was divided into two parts East and West, and whilst the Western part fell, the Eastern part continued for another thousand years. It only fell in 1453 at the Siege of Constantinople and the one to destroy the final remnants of the Roman Empire was the Islamic Empire under the Ottoman dynasty. And the Papacy never received an alleged "mortal wound" in 1798. A mortal wound is actually a wound that leads to death. The Papacy did not die in 1798. Obviously, or else why is it still here. We have had Papal succession all the way. However, if you take the Islamic Caliphate as Empire (7) the Caliph and thus the Caliphate did die - in 1924 it was officially abolished. Much more fitting to the prophetic succession. And is it returning? Oh yes. With a vengeance. Just last year, after almost a century of its annulment, there was a New Caliphate - The Islamic State. This is the powerful significance of ISIS. I believe it is time to wake up to the actual reality that is playing out in front of us. Yes, this challenges the traditional Adventist interpretation. But If that is what reality is speaking, so be it.