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Ror a challenging view see: https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2019/spatial-theology-sabbath-time-over-space-part-1 NOTE: This is just the first article in a series.

Part I: Introduction. I have decided that it might be well to review the development of SDA beliefs from our pre-organization beginning in the 1840s to the present day. In the interest of brevity, I am dividing my post into short segments. The early founders of what became the SDA denomination came from several Christian backgrounds. Ellen White came from a Methodist background. James White, along with others, came from what is sometimes called the Christian Connection. This background had some Arian roots. There were those who came from a Baptist background. Depending somewhat on the time involved, there were others who came from other Christian backgrounds. In the developing days of the SDA denomination, our early leaders were typically young and also lacking training in Theology. It may be seen that they did not speak and write from the perspective of a theologian. In addition they probably did not have a well founded understanding of theological issues. An example of this may be found in their understanding of the Trinity. Many of them who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity did so, in part, from a faulty understanding as to what the Trinity doctrine actually taught. In those early days, the people who eventually became the SDA denomination were united on only one teaching. That was the teaching of the Baptist, William Miller, that Christ was going to return to Earth during a one-year period of time that began in 1843 and ended in 1844. It was believed that with the Second Advent so near, no other doctrine mattered. However, there was a common belief that has remained to some degree to the present day. That belief was a rejection of the idea that Christianity should have a Creed. Those early people believed in a dynamic state in which under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, growth in understanding doctrine was progressive. The understood the Christian Creeds to lock people into a set of beliefs that limited the Holy Spirit's ability to further inform people. Further, it must be understood that the followers of William Miller were typically committed Christians from within other Christian denominations. They were not typically secular people who had no Christian background.

Lou: We’ve explored talking to God as with a friend. Yet I can still remember the shock I felt when in a public prayer, a seminary student spoke to God with a familiar “You.” I wondered at the time if this young man had lost his way. But really, when we come to church, we […] The post Questions and Answers (15:7) appeared first on Jon Paulien's Blog. View the full article

Part II: The Sabbath Conferences. With the passage of time, those early believers decided that they needed to come up with a minimal set of beliefs that distinguished them from other Christians. At this point, it must be understood that while some differences existed, all were united as committed Christians. Therefore, the focus was not on basic Christian beliefs. In actual fact as the distinguishing beliefs were developed, t here was no mention of the core beliefs of Christianity. This might result in some people calling the SDA Church cultish. But, that is not entirely fair as the basics of Christianity were simply assumed to be present. These distinguishing beliefs were developed in a series of five (5) conferences that are typically called the Sabbath Conferences by people who study SDA history. The reason was that they all began on a Sabbath. In no specific order of priority, those five (5) doctrines were: * The State of the Dead: The fundamental idea here is that the soul is asleep and not conscious until awakened at the Second Advent. It should be noted that while SDAs have generally understood to mean that there is no such thing as an independent soul, this is not required by SDA belief. Therefore, a minority of SDAs are fully accepted to believe in an independent soul, that is simply unconscious in the grave until awakened at the 2nd Advent. * The Second Advent: This was a belief that there will be a literal 2nd Advent, at some time in the future, known only to God. SDAs are not into time-setting. * The Sabbath: This is a belief that God established a 7th day Sabbath that has value and meaning for us today. However, there are wide differences that exist within the SDA Church as to how to apply this to our lives today. As an example, differences exist between SDAs in Europe and in the United States. * The Sanctuary Service: The core of this belief related to the 2nd Advent. That core simply states that there is an End Time,, Christ will return to Earth and all humanity must make a decision as to whether or not they want to spend eternity with God. Yes, it should be noted that differences exist within Adventism on this doctrine. * The Spirit of Prophecy: The fundamental core of this belief is that prophecy is one of the Biblical spiritual gifts that may exist in the Church. This is the fundamental teaching of the SDA Church today. While the SDA Church teaches that Ellen White had this gift, one is not required to believe that she had it. In addition, there is often a fundamental misunderstanding as to what this means as applied to Ellen White. In brief, the official teaching of both the SDA Church and of Ellen White is that the Bible is the authority in doctrine and therefore, the writings of Ellen White are subject to the authority of the Bible.

Interesting article I came across on violence!! What Does the Bible Say About Violence? Mel Lawrenz, the author of Spiritual Leadership Today and Minister at Large of Elmbrook Church, shares several ways to biblically approach and respond to the reality of violence in the world around us. He’s made an audio version of this post available at The Brook Network. https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2018/02/what-does-the-bible-say-about-violence-2/?utm

According to Catholic tradition there was a pope. If there was a Pope, it would have been Pope James - Jesus' brother as he appeared to make many of the decisions. and He was in Jerusalem - not Rome. There is no biblical record of Peter ever being in Rome. If he were, why didn't Paul tell Peter "hello" in his epistle to the Romans? He extends greetings to about 20 people in Romans 16; and Pope Peter I is not among them. Seems pretty rude for an apostle not to extend a greeting to his boss.

5 Facts About The Bombing on Nagasaki & Hiroshima On August 9, 1945, the United States detonated a nuclear device over Nagasaki effectively bringing the war with Japan to an end. Here are 5 things you didn't know about an attack that ended the Pacific portion of World War II. The Original Target Was Not Nagasaki A target committee was established to organize and execute the bombings. The Japanese cities that were included on the list of potential targets were Hiroshima, Yokahama, Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto. The list was changed slightly by Henry L. Stimson, the secretary of war, because he and his wife had honeymooned at Kyoto. He was insistent that it be removed from the list of potential targets. Instead, the city of Nagasaki took its place. The Movie, The Maltese Falcon, Was the Inspiration for the Code Names The nicknames given to the atomic bombs were Little Boy, dropped at Hiroshima, and Fat Man, dropped at Nagasaki. Many people don’t know how these names were chosen. The shapes of the bombs and characters in The Maltese Falcon influenced the names. Fat Man was named after Casper Gutman, played by Sydney Greenstreet; and Little Boy was named after Wilmer Cook, who was played by Elisha Cook, Jr. The Japanese Knew About the Bombers Japanese radar picked up on American planes just before midnight of the day the Hiroshima bomb was dropped. Air raid sirens sent local residents under cover but nothing happened, so an all-clear warning was sounded. A second warning was issued about an hour before the attack, but the all-clear was given once more. An hour later, Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay. One Man Survived the Bombings of Both Nagasaki and Hiroshima One Japanese businessman, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, managed to survive both the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had gone to Hiroshima on business and was leaving August 6, but had to return for a travel stamp, and ended up being badly burned by the blast of the atomic bomb. He returned to Nagasaki shortly afterward, and he survived that bombing and lived to age 93. Nagasaki Police Were Saved by Duck and Cover Following the Hiroshima bombing, some of the survivors went to Nagasaki, a neighboring city. One survivor, a policeman, had seen how those who ducked following the atomic flash had suffered fewer and less serious injuries by the shockwave that followed. It was he who taught the police in Nagasaki how to duck and cover, and no Nagasaki policemen lost their lives when Hiroshima was hit by Fat Man.

I disagree with that. I don't ever see a record of God punishing a group of people just because they weren't circumcised. I see plenty of examples of Him punishing people who didn't keep the Sabbath. As far as circumcision goes: "Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." (Gal. 5:2-4) I think that the Bible gives us a choice - to be under the Law (striving to earn our salvation through total compliance to the terms and conditions spelled out in the Bible), or to be under grace - living under the cover of Christ's righteousness, forgiveness and grace. "For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. "(Romans 6:14) I am not saying the law of grace is a license to sin; rather grace is not only the forgiveness of sin, it is the power to be free from the slavery of sin.

Isaiah 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD." (NKJ) I do NOT see an end to the Sabbath of "the 7th day". Jerusalem will remain in the "new earth", and the Sabbaths, and New Moon celebrations will remain too. Here's link to my studies on the Sabbath: https://www.prophecyviewpoint.com/htdocs/41a-Sabbath-12 REASONS.htm https://www.prophecyviewpoint.com/htdocs/40b-SABBATH-25 OBJECTIONS.htm We can start another thread on this topic if you wish.

By this definition, it seems you would put the Sabbath of the 7th Day, into the "ceremonial (temporary)" category. I don't. I believe the Sabbath will be a day to worship and celebrate the LORD for eternity. Same with the other prophetic Feasts. We will all "go up" to the New Jerusalem, on those days to worship the LORD, and remember His work of salvation. The only thing I see "changed" in "the law" was "the priesthood" (Hebrews 7). And if you change "the priesthood", the animal sacrifices go with it. That is what I see "changed".

Jesus "commanded" His followers to do what their Jewish leaders told them to do. Wasn't THAT one of His commands - part of what He commanded? After His resurrection, He did NOT say, "You to obey only the commands I give you from now on. All the past is erased."

Key word is "seemed". The writer of Acts does not say that an angel appeared to prescribe their policy. Rather they prayed and debated and then voted. There was no pope back then. What is it you think I would reject about the statement put out by the Acts 15 Jerusalem Council?

We had a guest at our home about a year ago. In the course of conversation my husband mentioned something about my 38. What in the world does Rachel need with a 38! - she asked loudly. I told her how I came out to the living room one morning, to find a old, chewed up, intact pit-bull on my back porch. Both my dogs were cowering in the corner. (Normally they are very friendly.) We have a problem here in the country with dog fighting rings just dumping "worn out" dogs. There IS no animal control out here. Last time I called the sheriff about a dog pack, they asked if I had a gun, then told me to "shoot the leader". "The rest will scatter." Anyway, I got my 38, put the bead on him and shot him. He ran about 30 feet before he fell over dead. "Oh," said my guest. "I hadn't thought of that possibility."

? Good to see you back, B/W. You have been missed.

Jesus said He would not speak of Himself. However, even without an explicit text stating He is God, you can see from the many activities that He is a sentient Being and not a mindless force. Continuing to invade what we have not been given specific information is an invitation to being led away by our own understandings which may have nothing to do with truth. However, as the following quotes note, we are of such limited capabilities that we cannot really define Him: It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, “the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father.” It is plainly declared regarding the Holy Spirit that, in His work of guiding men into all truth, “He shall not speak of Himself.” John 15:26; 16:13. – {AA 51.3} The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden. – {AA 52.1}

Lou: It seems to me that this topic comes under the heading of what we could call “Practical Godliness.” You have been talking about our daily walk with God and practical Christianity. And people have a lot of questions about such things. These questions are not theoretical. They really address how we go about living […] The post Questions and Answers (15:6) appeared first on Jon Paulien's Blog. View the full article

Spirit of life Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

And, most would say that the ceremonial law involved the entire Jewish sacrificial system that pointed forward to the coming life and death of Christ with the salvation that was accomplished at the cross. The discussion generally involves the role and function of the so-called 10-commandments. I will suggest that there is general agreement that the 10 commandments list elements that will continue on through today and into eternity. In eternity, we will worship one God, as described by the Trinity, we will not rob banks, we will not fornicate, we will not take the name of God lightly and we will not make images of God to worship. I will suggest that we can agree that in this life those are principles that guide us into a better life. From this perspective, I will suggest that we can say that the ten commandments constitute a part of the moral law exists beyond the time of Israel. This does not have to suggest that nothing changed in relation to the 10 commandments with the death of Christ. It simply tells us that there is an aspect of the 10 that continues on into eternity. From this perspective, the only question that remains is related to what the Protestants call the 4th commandment. {Catholics call it the 3rd commandment.) That question is this: Does the moral aspect of the Sabbath commandment require a 7th day Sabbath, or does it allow for a Sabbath on another day chosen by people who want to follow Christ? The different responses to this question are represented by people writing in this forum.