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I tend to agree with a statement of Ellen White's: "Not yet, however, can it be said that 'Babylon is fallen,... because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.' She has not yet made all nations do this." [Maranatha - Page 172] Babylon has not fallen. Yes, you can be a SDA and be in Babylon. I did not say that the SDA church is Babylon. The problem with spiritual Babylon (as opposed to Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon) is she brings glory to herself. The idea that men can merit salvation through his obedience is to glory* in oneself, period. To my understanding "the man of sin" is not a particular past Pope. That position is yet future. * "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Gal 6:14

I'm not a Bernie fan. He has some interesting ideas, obviously some have merit, others are really out there. Bernie in my opinion is a secular Jew not a religious Jew. I think I'd vote for Trump before Sanders.

The idea that the Pope was the man of sin is even older than the reformation. According to Wikipedia the first was The 10th-century Catholic bishop Arnulf of Orleans, and that Joachim of Floris gave the same interpretation in 1190, Joachim was accepted by many as a true prophet of God, especially by the Franciscan order. We are as much Joachimites as we are Millerites. So the Franciscans were saying that the Pope was the man of sin prior to the rise of Protestantism. Interestingly the Evangels/Dispensationalists are also based on Joachim being a true prophet. The difference is that we take Joachim's basic framework (not all the details) and it was developed by the Franciscans, came into Protestantism and the Advent movement in England in the 1700s (Sir Isaac Newton belonged to this movement), into a set of Bible Conferences (Don't remember for sure but I believe the Postdam conferences or something like that) in the late 1700s until about 1830 where their findings were picked up by William Miller.... The Evangels/Dispensationalists on the other hand Francisco Ribera took one specific part of Joachim's teaching and developed that into a whole new thing that Joachim would not recognize. Also we are more Franciscan in thought while they are more Augustinian in thought. (also interesting, in trying to avoid the Sabbath they make less of the law than any of their spiritual forefathers, and to avoid Mrs. White being a prophet they close prophecy out with the Bible and no longer recognize Joachim as a prophet, even though their whole theology would be like if we saw Mrs. White as a prophet but refused everything else she had to say except for her description of the shut door and base our whole theology on the shut door.) A thing that we need to be careful about is that the idea of the Pope being the man of sin was present truth in the Dark Ages, and while the Pope will still play a big role in the last days, that as we move from the 5th head, through the deadly wound while approaching the 7th head, there could well be a truth that is not yet present where if we don't hold the balance between seeing where God lead us in the past, we can become unbalanced and either not see where the Lord lead us in the past and thus miss the present truth when it comes, or be so focused on and clinging to present truth of the past that warnings of what is going to come can be welcomed in the back door.

It is amazing how many of my Facebook friends have met or spend time with Muhammed Ali. Part of it is because he lived next to the Seventh-day Adventist theological centre and often ate there. I believe he sent his kids to the Elementary School, and relatives of his are Adventists as well. I met him at the International Hotel in San Diego, where i mistakenly sat at his breakfast table when he was up for the buffet, I though the chair was occupied by another friend of mine. Surprised when he sat down to the table with his 2 body guards. He signed a tract for me that he wrote something about Jesus couldn't have been father by the God the father as sex was an animal instinct there for it could not happen, I did not know then that the Prophet Muhammed states Jesus was born of a virgin birth. Ran into him, which means I saw him from a short distance, when he was in Calgary doing some TV ads, for I think it was Renfrew furs.

Then I'll say Hawaii....but the globe I have supports Gail's answer.

So interesting! I am always fascinated by the many ways our different heritages impact our adult lives. Thanks for sharing.

GAIL I am sure he will be missed but family---friends---fans dgrimm60

I am tempted to say Alaska

Rachel: I have read the Quran, all of it, which is probably more than many here have done. Much that is said about what the Quran teaches is simply false or misunderstood. You tell me that the Quran teaches X. O.K. Cite the chapter and verse. [Yes, I know that the Arabic uses other terms of the English chapter and verse.] AS the Christian Bible, the Quran is divided into chapters and verses. You cite and we can discuss. As a matter of fact, the radical elements of Islam base some of the teachings that you cite on other religious writings that exist and are outside of the Quran. The Quran is the ultimate standard. Not t hose writings.

He seemed to become a pretty humble person in his latter years. I didn't really care for his antics, but he was definitely one of the best boxers. The thing that stood out for me, was the fact that he stood up for what he believed and than didn't run away like many others.

The Bible speaks about it and the Spirit of Prophecy confirms it, But have you heard? Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: " Testimony to Ministers and Gospel Workers pg. 475 "Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: “You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.” Matthew 17:11-12 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Note that by the time we reach Matthew 17 John the baptist had already died back in Matthew 14. So then why in verse 11 did Jesus use future tense, "Shall Come". We know verse 12 must be referring to John the baptist, but what about verse 11 why did Jesus use the future tense? Rev 14 speaks about the message that we carry as a Church, the Three Angels Messages, but what about the other angel in Rev 18, Who comes down with "great power"? Great Controversy pg.610 " The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel’s message is to lighten the whole earthwith his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The Advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel’s message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be far exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel. " The Bible speaks about it and the Spirit of Prophecy confirms it, But have you heard? Can you refute the more sure word?

There is already such a Bible. The Messianic Jewish Shared Heritage Bible and the One New Man Bible (Morford) are two that I have at hand. I suspect there are others.

Okay, this whole tithing issue is problematic. When I attended church I tithed, but I did it out of selfishness and/or fear. Selfishness because the more I gave, I was told, the more blessings I would receive in return. Fear because if I didn't tithe I would be "cursed with a curse". Both reasons seem very legalistic to me. So in 1997 - the year I stopped attending a local SDA church - I wrote on the tithe envelop: "Giving to get is not giving, it's being self-centered". In other words giving to get is sinning because, after all, sin is selfishness. Now don't get me wrong I think you should try to support your local church, but making it a salvation issue is very legalistic to me and belongs to the camp of salvation by works. My two cents