Leaderboard

One of our members has begun a thread that was titled The Time Allocated for the Judgment. . . . I have moved that entire thread from public view. In the opening post, it attacked a denomination and associated it with Satan. In this forum, we want people of differing views to be able to come here and find it to be a safe place to discuss their differing views. To openly associate a major Christian denomination with Satan does not make this forum a safe place for members of that denomination to come and talk with us. Further, it is so far outside of SDA views that it is likely to confuse people as to actually what the SDA church teaches. We allow considerable latitude as to what is presented in this forum. But, that post was so far outside of what the SDA church teaches that I have felt compelled to act. Yes, we in the U.S. have freedom of speech. That member is able to establish his own forum and publish there his views. But, we do not have to allow him to come to this forum and associate that Christian denomination with Satan.

I’m so saddened by this story. We graduated together from Southern, but had little interaction because we had different majors. It seems he has followed the steps that comes to mind outlined by the same inspired.person he has disavowed - doubts about the SOP and end up doubting Scripture itself. If absolute assurance is what he craved for, I’m surprised he didn’t join the Baptists. I also wonder how he could have assurance knowing he is breaking one of the 10, assuming he has embraced the full the teachings of the Disciples of Christ.

The belief that "Sons of God" (either fallen angels or created beings from other worlds) had sex with human women who bore offspring, and were then shut up in "the pit", comes mainly from The First Book of Enoch, an Apocryphal book. A very small portion of 1Enoch was quoted by Jude, and Peter alluded to it (or both were using an as yet unnamed source). I very recently read through that book. I prayed earnestly first. Interesting read, to be sure. The Nephillim were 300 cubits tall (450 feet). Really! How could they possibly have sex with women? In First Enoch, (and excuse me for being gross here) The Watchers = fallen Angels = Stars = Sons of God (used interchangeably) , "had penises like horses". (Wonder how large horses were back then.) How could human women possibly give birth to such large babies. The Nephilim would live 500 years? Guess this was their lifespan - or the lifespan of their flesh. Then their spirits leave their bodies, and are confined in the place of conscious torment, until the judgment. The "stars" which disobeyed the Lord are bound in the place "under the earth" "until ten thousand years, the time of their crimes, have come to pass". If they "lived" only 500 years, how did they commit crimes for 10K years? Doesn't make sense. Another place says the spirits of wicked HUMANS go to a place of torment "whose souls are punished and bound there forever. Thus has it been from the beginning of the world." Does not agree with my understanding that the dead are unconscious. No wonder the Catholics teach unending conscious torment in HELL. They include the Apocryphal books in their Bible. Angels are presenting the prayers of the saints before God. I thought we have "one Mediator". Writing with pen and ink was introduced by a fallen watcher named Penemue. This caused many to go astray. Really? Writing with pen and ink was evil? Personally, I believe that God introduced writing to preserve a record of history, of His law, and of His dealings with men. In 60:1, Enoch is 500 years, 7 months, and 14 days old when he has a vision about judgment and sea monsters, etc. etc. Genesis says Enoch was 300 when the LORD "took him" away, and he was never found afterwards. Does Enoch receive this vision after he is in the heavenly realm? Enoch says the year is 364 days. Wrong. It's 365.25 days. If Enoch is passing on what he was "told" by the "angel" named Uriel, who "guides all the seasons and the heavenly luminaries of the sky" then Uriel was wrong. More likely, Enoch was actually written some time after 800 BC. That is the time when the extra days were incorporated into calendars around the world. Most probably a near earth fly by that pulled the earth into an elongated orbit. I believe another one will pull the earth back into a 360day orbit, so the end time prophecies can be fulfilled. If the Book of Enoch was actually written after 800BC, then it was NOT the vision of the original Enoch. 12 "portals of heaven" - the sun is directed through a new one of those 12 "portals" each month. Doesn't fit with science. 81:1 "Enoch, look at the heavenly tablets" This one sounds like Joseph Smith. Sorry. 83:1-11 is Enoch's first vision. He writes about "the abyss". Seems he had heard of it. Wonder where? From demons. 86:1-6, 87:1-4, 88:1-3 The first fallen angel was named Azazel. Raphael cast him into the abyss. Really? I thought Satan was the first fallen angel, and Christ will cast him into the Abyss. There are four archangels. There names are Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Phanuel. In my Bible there is ONE Archangel (chief or head of angels). His name is Michael - the Son of God. I will stop here. So many things seemed inconsistent with the rest of Scripture, or at least with my understanding of the Scriptures.

Several concepts and beliefs in there. My comments are in red.

So few people in those days compared to today and they couldn't find unused" names?! Kinda confusing sometimes.

On the Pentecost which followed Christ's resurrection, Peter quoted Joel 2, and then said: "Repent, and let ever one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 'For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.'" Peter was speaking by inspiration. Peter believed that it WAS "the latter days", and that this WAS "the latter rain upon the earth". Was Peter wrong? Why would people living just before Christ's return need LESS of the Spirit's power, than the early disciples of Christ, then those being burned alive or thrown to wild beasts in the Roman arena? Why would they need LESS of the Spirit's power than Elijah, who stood against the Prophets of Baal. Today there IS a flood of false teaching - a media blitz, and pressure from all directions. Why would we today need LESS of the Spirit's guidance and inspiration? Satan has found that peer pressure and a more subtle attack, can be more effective than overt physical persecution - with some people groups. The point is: "When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him" (Isa 59:19 NKJ). The LORD will lift up this standard through His faithful. This happened in the past, and it will happen in the future - all the way to the return.

See Great Controversy, Chapter 39 - The Time of Trouble. pg 614 "When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time, the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God's long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace. they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. " I do not believe the redeemed (I don't call them "the righteous") will be without a Mediator/intercessor at any time. The Son of God was appointed "a priest forever" - not just until probation closes. I do not believe the redeemed will be supernaturally instantaneously transformed into literally "perfect" people. That is what the 1000 years are for - a period of rehabilitation and education, before we receive a new earth. So we won't mess it up the next time. Who really knows their own heart? We are committing sins every day, that we are not even aware of. Instant "perfection" - bypassing our own awareness and conscious repentance is manipulation. It is "the wicked" who have persistently resisted the Spirit of God, and refused to confess/repent, who will be "without an intercessor" - not the redeemed. Mrs White seems to equate "without an intercessor" - and Spirit withdrawn - and "unsheltered by divine grace". The redeemed with NOT be without grace. The Spirit will NOT be withdrawn from them. So why would we think they will be "without an intercessor" ??

We are living in a time when people expect churches to take stands on social justice. The following article is the first in a 2-part series on social justice as found in the writings of Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the SDA denomination. See: https://spectrummagazine.org/article/2018/04/19/ellen-white-and-social-justice-activism-part-1

Pure in heart

The U.S. military has a program in which non-citizen people may enlist in the military and receive expedited citizenship. In one aspect of this program, non-citizens with critical skills essential to the military mission are allowed to enlist and begin training. But, they must undergo a final clearance before being assigned to their duty station. This soldier enlisted under the provisions of this program due to the fact that he was judged to have skills critical to the mission. However, with the current climate, his processing to clear him for assignment to his duty station was taking a long time. As a matter of fact, on the day of his death he had waited for 336 days to be cleared. NOTE: He died while undergoing physical training. See: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/04/19/immigrant-soldier-dies-waiting-for-us-military-to-clear-him-to-serve/