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So true today as well as over 100 years ago when the above was written. Present truth is ever unfolding. Revelation didn't end when EGW died.

Talk about an impenetrable breastplate! Oh, I don't know about that last part. "This will be our opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. (Luke 21:13-15) This sounds more like the work of the Holy Spirit to me. I totally agree that we need to study and pray constantly. I also believe the Holy Spirit can put truth in our heads any time it feels like it. Moses and other Bible writers didn't know what to write down; and apostles didn't know what to say until they were moved by God's Spirit. If it was true then, it can be true now. God doesn't change.

It was an early morning at the Glass Blowing studio, "Design With Fire," and 55 YO Patrick Mullen was practicing his art. A young male walked in, holding a penknife and said: "Give me your money, Old Man." Patrick responded: "My blowpipe is 4.5 feet long. The glass at the end is heated to 2,000 degrees. You should be asking your self if you can run faster than this old man.." NOTE: The man made a rapid exit. With thanks to: A. J. Baime. "West Sacramento," AARP Bulletin, December 2019, Page 16.

When almost everyone backs away from you because you don't agree with their (flavor of) "orthodox" Christian doctrine, the sense of isolation can be very draining at times. I'm not trying to sound like a martyr here, but there honestly IS no "church" in my small town where I would be welcome, unless I kept my mouth shut about what I believe. But too many folks know about my website, so it's hard to remain anonymous - doctrinally speaking. Not that there aren't a few folks around the larger area who actually like what I believe. But we have not organized into any fellowship or body, so people are spread out. Most still attend their own Sunday churches, (mostly because of social or family pressures). Just saying. . . When we can discuss things in a kind polite loving manner, it goes along way towards filling that fellowship need.

THE ENEMY Ephesians 6: 10-19 "For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly (spirit) realm. THE OBJECTIVE To resist (the attacks of the Evil Ones) To still be "standing". 13 So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be standing. The 144,000 are described as those who "will be able to stand" at the "great day of the LORD" (Rev 6:7). Paul said of himself, "I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." When Satan attacks, he is seeking to crush our faith - to drive us to give up. DEFENSIVE EQUIPMENT 14 the belt of truth around your waist righteousness for a breastplate, (To understand our righteousness "in Christ". We have put on His righteousness.) the shield of trust/faith (to quench all the flaming arrows of the Evil One) We BELIEVE the LORD will defend us. KJV says "above all taking the shield of faith". So this is THE most important piece of equipment. And v.13 says that "God provides" this equipment. Faith is a gift of the Spirit. A measure of faith is given to everyone. the helmet of salvation/deliverance - Our mind is protected from Satan's lies. OFFENSIVE EQUIPMENT the sword given by the Spirit, that is, the Word of God; (Christ through the Spirit will bring to our memory everything that He has said, including those things He has said through His prophets and Apostles. He will bring it to our minds just when it is needed. But He cannot bring something to our memory, that we have not heard or read first. To READ or HEAR "the Word of God" is to take up "the sword". ) feet shod with Gospel of Peace: Is this a reminder that we are to "go therefore" to "all nations". Certainly would rule out conquering lands for the Pope. That wouldn't be a "Gospel of Peace". BATTLE PLAN 18 Pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, vigilantly and persistently, for all God's people. Mark 9:29 He answered, 'This is the kind that can be driven out only by prayer.' (NJB) You see Joe, how I'm very visual. I like to see it diagrammed.

5 Things You May Not Know About The Bush-Gore Election On December 13, 2000, Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency 36 days after Election Day when a recount of ballots in Florida was halted. Here are 5 things you may not know about this hotly contested presidential election... The Vote Was Incredibly Close Viewers on election night in the presidential race between Republican George Bush and Democrat Al Gore realized it was a tight race as the lead seesawed between both candidates throughout the night. The winner hinged on which candidate took Florida and its 29 electoral votes. When the results came in the following morning, it was apparent that both candidates had taken 49 percent out of the six million votes cast in Florida. However, the margin was so small, with Bush leading by less than 1,500 votes, the election would turn into a battle for the presidency. The First Recount Was by Machine Florida state law required a machine recount if the victory margin by a candidate was less than 0.5 percent, so a recount was conducted. It took about 2 ½ days. In the recount, Bush’s lead had shrunk to 327 votes. This ended up in the call for an additional recount. A Hand Recount Was Requested by Gore Since the margin of victory had narrowed even more, Florida law allowed Gore to request a manual recount – and he did. Gore requested that a manual recount be conducted in four traditionally blue-leaning Florida counties – three in South Florida and one in Central Florida.The counties began to fulfill his request, but when concerns grew over whether election officials would be able to meet deadlines and whether late filings from some of those counties should be accepted, then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris said she could not find reason as to why they should. Harris then declared Bush the winner in Florida. But the fight still wasn’t over. Balloting Methods Made the Situation Worse The Florida Supreme Court granted a recount of about 70,000 of the ballots that were considered questionable after it was requested by Gore. The problem was the methods of balloting where some counties used a hole punch where the machine wouldn’t count the ballot if it wasn’t properly punched. About 29,000 voter ballots had been discarded in Broward County alone; however, the United States Supreme Court stopped the recount, which angered Gore supporters because the Supreme Court vote was split along party lines. The Election Results Might Have Been Different But for Hanging Chads A flaw in the design of some ballots that were perforated made it hard for machines to read because the holes were incomplete, resulting in hanging chads. However, the ruling by the Supreme Court denied making a hand count of these ballots. There were arguments among legal authorities that the Supreme Court had overstepped its jurisdiction by ruling on election voting, while others pointed out that it showed needed election reform in Florida.

I've never encountered anyone who was fully in agreement with himself.

B/M, I don't need any references; I totally agree with everything you just said (for a change)! The big thing you said that we all must recognize is that there will never be unity in this age in doctrine - IMHO even between two individuals much less two denominations. My wife and I can't even agree on every point of doctrine. But agreeing on absolutely everything is uniformity - not unity. Unity has to do with the heart just as much as the mind. By my read of the NT, the most important characteristic of the church is love. We are to be unified in our love of our Savior and each other. See 1 Cor. 13. There are people on this forum with whom I have big doctrinal differences. That being said, I still care for them deeply because their care for me comes through even though we disagree on some (usually "trivial") piece of so-called doctrine. I hope my care for them comes through in my posts.

I watch/read a lot of non-SDA spiritual stuff. It amazes me that certain otherwise very good preachers and commentators still consider SDA's to be a "cult". I was listening to John MacArthur last week; and he said that SDA's were a cult because they put the writings of EGW above scripture (a lie); and because the early church did away with the requirement to keep the 7th day holy (a misreading of Acts 15). Another pastor called SDAs heretics because of they don't believe in the unconditional immortality of the soul (a misreading of the entire Bible). If people would only study scripture instead of swallowing what they hear from the pulpit generation after generation and in their classes at the "semitary" (where the truth dies), maybe we could come into better Christian unity.

In our little church, nobody is quiet; even during the sermon (more like a directed discussion). There are praises, there are prayer requests; and they are usually meaningful. Then, during the sermon, people are encouraged to ask questions and make comments. People respect one another, so there has never been a problem at the service. I'm sure there have been some animated discussions afterwards.