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I'd like to see the critters I grew up to know and love would be in Heaven also, and I have some speculations on this topic, too, but never mind it. I've considered both possibilities. We can only speculate what God will do, and our speculations cannot change the result. The real question is: Can you still love God if He doesn't bring your precious pets to Heaven for you? For me, I know I can. I think, though I don't know for sure, that He will recycle the animals that we grew up to know and love, rather than making brand new animals, because animals are living breathing creatures and He cares about them, too, and you're right that humans haven't retained their original perfection, either, and we humans must also be made new, but we will still be ourselves. God will make all things new. If He chooses to discard the pets that we've had on this Earth and give us new pets, I'm sure I'll grow attached to them, too, and be able to love them, also. No, by using the words "recycle" and "discard", I'm not trying to put pets into the same category as inanimate, inorganic objects such as plastic toys or teddy bears, but am thinking in terms of creation, filling the new Earth with perfected, new versions using the old to build them, or completely starting over. I don't know what God will do, but will trust in His wisdom. But we know from the Bible, which was written for people (not for animals), that God has a plan to recycle/restore us to perfection and to fill Heaven and the new Earth with people who have existed on this planet, though not all can be restored, because they resist God and trust in their own judgement and the opinions of others that are against God, and will not allow Him to restore them. I think not all animals, if God chooses to restore them, that have existed will be in Heaven. It's not for us to know whether God will save them, nor how He will do it, and/or whether or not there is a judgement for them. Otherwise, I believe He would have written it in His word, unless His statement that He will "make all things new" in Revelation 21, is the indicator that they will not be there, but that new animals will.

Maybe - ESV | ‎Jdg 2:10 "And all that generation [first] also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel."

Many insurances would cover... As A child, we lost our house to fire when i was 4. I remember that so well to this day. The community rallied together, I received a bunch of broken toys etc, I threw them away. It was just an excuse to clear out there junk. I do not give junk to people in need.

I was made for pleasure We were not made for disappointments or lies. We were not made for pain or tears of sadness. We were not created to worry or to be anxious for anything. We were not created to be abandoned or neglected. We were not meant for extreme adulation or ripped to shreds by media masses. We are not built to take betrayal or any emotional, sexual, or physical abuse. We were not built for accusations or insults.We were not designed for Violence or Violation. We we made to be loved. Protected and secured. Understood and understanding. Every Single Being with deep affections and connection. Trusted and safe and we esteeming higher by each other. ...................... God created the Garden of Eden. The well thought understanding of the original language basically suggests... the Garden of Pleasure! Every night going to sleep under the very loud bright explicit milky way. Pleasure! The eyes open up every morning looking at blue sky? Pleasure. The music of birds and fragrance of the flowers all the day long. Umm pleasure? Every where you turn there is delight and fancy and curiosity.. o yes ...... PLEASURE! God insured all of creation will get pleasure thru art or science or passion or challenge. I am going by my understanding of what God is like. What looks like GOD if study 1 Cor 13 and Calvary He is the Servant and the Selfless. It was never about GOD getting praises or kudos for anything. It was all about GOD/LOVE THEIR SELVES (the GOD Family) always multiplying always giving always sharing always creating HE did not create us to love HIM ..... but to be Loved by HIM. HE gives us HIMSELF and in that we love and delight in HIM P L E A S U R E!

This is truly a national emergency for Canada. A threat not only to forests and towns, but to one of the largest oil reserves on the planet. <<Praying for rain or snow.>>

1 Timothy 6:2-6, HCSB: I love First Timothy! Look what Paul says happens when people get caught up in teaching other than that which leads to godliness. All kinds of relational problems are the result. I would venture to call these sins, even though they are not part of the 10 Commandments (unless you can lump them in with the Thou shalt not murder one).

Very cool story!!! It will be interesting to see if after it does fly off to find a mate if it will return to visit and bring its mate along. I remember that happening with a crow that we raised and had for a pet one summer when I was a kid. It was an entertaining pet that followed us around and even sounded at times like it was trying to talk to us. He walked with a limp so we named him Chester, after the character on the old popular TV show, Gunsmoke, that was the Marshall's sidekick/deputy that walked with a limp. In the fall Chester the crow flew off with a flock of crows heading south. The next few summers there was a pair of crows that would come unusually close to the house and hang around unlike most other crows. I always believed it was Chester bringing his mate back to try to introduce her to his human benefactors. They never let us get close enough to touch, but would stick around in the yard for awhile before flying off. Any other crows would fly away as soon as we came outside while this pair would stay on the ground hopping around.

The local conference isn't the only "storehouse" out there for God's tithe. If the tithe is supposed to be for the ministry of spreading the gospel and supporting gospel workers, there are plenty of mission organizations out there who are as deserving as the conference to receive tithe. I'd rather donate to a mission that is taking the gospel to people who have never heard of Christ than to a mission whose main purpose is to convert other already dedicated believers to a different denomination. People need Jesus more than they need a denomination. Unfortunately, a majority of tithe collected goes to support work in places where the majority of people are already Christians. I think this is a spiritual injustice to those who have never had the opportunity to even hear the name of Jesus.

Those who favor a literal reading of Genesis One have been plagued by the problem of what to do with the alleged creation of the stars on day four of creation week. How can we reconcile the recent creation recorded in Genesis One with the creation of the stars whose light takes millions of years to reach our planet earth? Most Adventists believe that the stars have been in existence for millions and billions of years, yet the official position of the church is that the creation story recorded in the book of Genesis is rather of recent history. How can Adventists reconcile an old universe with a relatively recent creation of life on earth? A possible solution seems to be in the proper understanding of two Hebrew words used in Genesis 1:1 and 1:16. Those two words are: “created” and “made” : In Gen. 1:1 the word used is “created” while in 1:16 the term “made” was used, and those two words are not exactly synonymous in the Hebrew language. Notice the following: Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on Genesis 1:16 “Both these lights may be said to be “made” on the fourth day—not created, indeed, for it is a different word that is here used, but constituted, appointed to the important and necessary office of serving as luminaries to the world, and regulating by their motions and their influence the progress and divisions of time.” Ref.: http://biblehub.com/genesis/1-16.htm When I checked the interlinear version of the Bible for those words, I discovered a confirmation of what Bible commentator Jamieson affirmed above: In fact in Gen. 1:1 the Hebrew term is “created” [בָּרָ֣א], while in verse 16 the word used is “made” [וַיַּ֣עַשׂ. This suggests that the sun, moon, and stars were not created in the fourth day, but rather assigned to act as luminaries for our planet. This seems to indicate that the sun, the moon, and the stars were probably already in existence when God assigned them the role of illuminating the sky for us. The same is true about Exodus 20:11. Here, again, the word “made” is used in reference to the six days of creation. This might be interpreted as follows: Our planet earth was likely in existence when God decided to make it suitable for life during the creation week. Perhaps this is why in the reference to the creation act in the book of Exodus the term used is not “created” but rather “made.” If this interpretation is correct, then the actual creative activity in genesis 1 began when the Lord said: “Let there be light.” in verse 3 of Gen. 1. This understanding of the story of creation may allow us to read the story of creation in a literal manner in spite of the reference to the creation of the stars in verse 16. What do you think?

Today what is on my list foremost are those who will be sitting around a table for supper on Sunday, and for the first time, Mom is no longer there. Perhaps because of death, dementia or alzheimer's. Some are not at the table because of a family split, or worse, some moms are in prison. I do not know who you are, but can say this, I am hurting for you.

Interesting issue. Thanks for posting it.

The "we" here is our new creation (i.e., new creature) in Christ Jesus. This is not referring to us as children of fallen Adam. It is referring to our glorified humanity that Christ took to heaven in Himself after the resurrection.

Jesus came to give us life more abundantly. We were made to THRIVE - not just survive.

Good thoughts!

Jessie, if it is true that it is not possible for our minds to conceive what God has in store for us we can be hopeful. There are many times when animals exhibit Godlike qualities that glorify Him better than we mortals do. Wait and see!

wow what an experience... thanks for sharing @Robert

The Syrian refugees have been amazing. We are grateful for the contribution they are making to Canada.

1. Do the requirements differ between the OC and the NC? 2. What promises are better under the NC? God's promises or man's?

I agree with most of that. If you try to earmark your tithe for a foreign field, it won't go there. But if you send it directly to that field, it will. Any of our church conferences or missions would be part of the "storehouse."

I like the story. It defiantly takes faith to tithe sometimes. Still I have to admit, some of the ways she was aided I don't think i would like, but I suppose that's where trusting in God comes into play. As for only paying it to the Adventist church...eh I'm not so sure.

These people need our prayers and help, God does love them, unconditionally.

Well, the idea that God will punish is well known from Scriptures. Consider the Flood, Sodom & Gomorrah, the promise to destroy Nineveh if it didn't repent, etc. Further, Mrs. White informs us regarding our modern "natural" disasters. We have a message to the world. Events like this remind us of it. Are we proclaiming the message as we should?

hi Jessie-Jess Im a huge believer in God giving back the precious relationships that are harmless (or can become harmless). I think of Christmas morning and the delight in the Parent's eyes. God is even beyond that in rejoicing over us and for eternity He delights and astound us every moment all showing love on us I believe all creation of the garden of pleasure .... and ....and all animals ever born or hatched (or whatever) on Earth) as the Bible Says ...for the earth is of the LOrd's! If not..it wont take one aota from God's Love... For ALL of us! ....... ... o sure im putting my imagination and fantasy that warms my heart into my understanding. I comes from a mentioned here past. My parents were extremely abusive for years (authorities were called in) and .blah blah But what i never talk about... my parents abuse of all our pets. I grew up in the country with acres separating our neighbors .in the 70's And they heard the the abuse of us children. But the animal rescue were not called. We were just kids. ..so yes! I believe this Powerful loving God will make it up to us. And all the maimed tortured neglected abandoned eaten animals is on that Promise I know... Cause God's love is like that. And more.

ESV | ‎Ps 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? ‎2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. ‎3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. ‎4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ‎5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. ‎6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. ‎7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. ‎8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Nothing can happen to you or me without God's permission.

now that was funny!!

Would have been funny if u said "stripper".

"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (Ps. 51.5)

How would you decide what to take and what to leave in evactuation. We will all have hard decisions like this in the future.

Hi Jess, What a thoughtful response! Thanks you for being so kind. You truly reflect the Spirit of your Savior - all encouragement; no condemnation. I can tell by the way you write that God's Spirit is all over you. I agree with almost everything you said below: I guess I wasnt too clear about what I wrote in my last post. I have not given up on sinlessness; I've just quit being so hard on myself when I realize I'm not there. God has the ability and my permission to do whatever He wants in my life. Sometimes, He just doesn't do it in my time frame. It used to be that when I sinned, I would beat myself up; and would hesitate going to God for forgiveness and strength to overcome until God "cooled off" a little bit. While God was "cooling off", I'd stay away and be more prone to fall into another sin - it was a death spiral. Not only in my own conscience but in the judgement and condemnation I recieved from those who were "saintlier" than me. It was a death spiral. Having left the independent ministry and RSDA culture, I have learned that God loves me unconditionally in spite of my fall; and I turn to Him immediately for forgiveness and grace. Sometimes i feel (or imagine that I feel) His cleansing blood washing over me and though me; and it amkes my feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I am not"embracing my sinfulness, but I embrace Phil. 4:13 in that it is the work of Christ and His Spirit that I can overcome; not by my own feeble efforts. I have more victory and have overcome more of my issues since "giving up" than I ever had as a legalist. Am I sinless? Absolutley not! Do I embrace my sinfulness? Absolutely not. Do I believe that Jesus can make me sinless before He comes? Yes. Do I believe He MUST make me sinless before He comes? No; as far as I'm concerned, I'm already covered by His righteousness because of what He did on the cross. Would I like to be sinless? OOHH wouldn't that be great? ... but it ain't happened yet. My own 7 kids aren't anywhere near perfect; but they love me and I love them; and I don't think I could ever turn them out because they didn't meet 100% of my standards. God is my Father, I'm not perfect; but I love Him and He loves me unconditionally; and He won't turn me out just because I'm not 100% perfect. When this corrupibly body puts on incorruptability - when I am changed in the twinkling of an eye - I will be perfect. In the mean time, when my Father looks at me, He still sees a favorite son covered in the righteousness of His oldest and only-begotten Son. AMEN! I'm not trying to debate with you here, Jess; I'm just being honest about my experience. I'm not saying I am right; and I'm not making excuses. I am a broken person. It took me 65 years to get this broken; so I don't expect Jesus to perfect me in an instant - although He could (and I wish He would). Bless you, Jess; and keep blessing us with your sweet spirit and encouragement.