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Since the survey was international, the above percentages not really surprising. If the 1000+ respondents were all from North America, I would venture to guess that those raised in the SDA church would represent a MUCH higher percentage. At least 3/4 of my academy graduating class have left the SDA church. Life is a jigsaw puzzle. When the church doesn't "fit" any of the openings — when it doesn't fill any gaps or felt needs — why waste your time trying to fit into *your* life a puzzle piece that belongs to someone else?

GREGORY and JOE MO well about 25 years ago i and my at the time was studying with a family----the husband never was interested but the wife --3 daughters --1 son did the study and joined the church-----but 1st the son then the mom and daughters all left the reason we made them good S.D.A. members but not followers of JESUS ------that was an eye opener for me so what we need to do in our studies is to get them to understand to how to follower JESUS then the rest will follow dgrimm60

Riddle Joke Q: What's always on the way, but never arrives? A: The future!

Very interesting, thank you so much for looking that up.

AVOIDING THE SINS OF SODOM AT CHRISTMAS The statement "sins of Sodom" often makes quiet people very vocal, and vocal people even more so. Memories of TV evangelists speaking of the evil come back to life when these words are heard. But before we go much further, what is the biblical definition of the sins of Sodom? "Sodom's sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door" (Ezek. 16:49, NLT). I hear religious groups state that we need to "put Christ back in Christmas," calls to protest stores that say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," and even read about boycotts of entire shopping centres. But I believe that if we want to put Christ back in Christmas, we must avoid the sins of Sodom — by practising sincere Christianity. James 1:27, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you" (NLT). We can help struggling single mothers by providing gifts for their children and tasty food for a Christmas dinner. We can help the widows who face spending the holidays alone by inviting them to our family table. That is putting the Christ back in Christmas. I know a group of people that sends gifts to children with a tag that reads, "Love, Mom." The kicker is that they send these gifts on behalf of mothers who are in prison. I remember the story of a police officer that came to arrest a single mom who was caught shoplifting presents for her children. The officer told the store manager that he would personally cover the cost of the goods. There are students at our Adventist boarding academies who cannot go home at Christmastime, so staff and community welcome them in to their own homes. We can avoid the sins of Sodom by doing things to give folks a helping hand and strengthen their families and lives. Show them love and let them talk about love. Let's all put Christ back in Christmas. Stan

just as an aside, posts on social media that request the reader to "like" and/or "share" are nothing more than click bait, generally for phony pages that gather a bunch of followers, then the pages are sold. And the folks who "liked and shared" end up getting spammed. **back to topic**

The only "holy PLACE" is the area of the Temple and court, on the Mount in Jerusalem. Daniel 11:31 "And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place THERE the abomination of desolation." (NKJ) Matthew 24:15 "Therefore when you see the`abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place " (whoever reads, let him understand), The AOD is something or someone, that can been SEEN. The AOD is set up in the Temple area on the Mount. The only thing NOT authorized by God, currently standing on that PLACE - is the Dome of the Rock - a Muslim shrine. I personally believe "the image of the Beast" will be "set up" in a rebuilt TEMPLE, on the Mount. It has nothing to do with the USA.

Mississippi Joke Q: Why does the Mississippi river see so well? A: Because it has four eyes!

Tomato Joke Q: What did the late tomato say to the early tomato? A: "I'll ketch up!"

Tomato Joke Q: What did the late tomato say to the early tomato? A: "I'll ketch up!"

Tree Joke Q: What kind of tree do fingers grow on? A: A palm tree!

Fork Joke Q: What did the fork say to the knife? A: "You're looking sharp!"