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I wish that the church would give up on the apocalyptic hysteria and the pope-watching, but I won't hold my breath. So much emotional capital has been invested in the Pope=Beast paradigm that I'm not sure the church will ever be able to move on. Amen. Not only do these beast-based evangelistic series not work, but the sorts of people who are drawn in by them often are mentally unstable and tend to have a propensity to fall for conspiracy theories of all sorts. Of course our church should be welcoming and open to all, including the conspiracy-theory types, but we aren't really helping them by feeding their obsessions.

I would go further and simply state that we are not Jesus fixated. I totally agree; EGW is careful to write about 'the system" rather than one individual.

Part of the problem is that we are "pope fixated." The pope is not the beast, it is the whole papal system. The pope is not this wicked person sitting on top of this righteous church. He does little that everyone below him in the hierarchy does not agree with him, this is down to all the orders, even to the priests in the parishes. EGW does not write as much on the pope as she writes on the papacy

You have many good points. We are Adventists, so we need some amount of apocalyptic hysteria. With the "Pope-watching" many of our doctrines was developed over the centuries by the Franciscans, and they were often critical of the Pope, and then there were the issues between the Pope and the Reformers. The Pope was the Antichrist of the dark ages. And historically, with few exceptions, the popes tens to side with the wrong side. The pope is the main example we have to look at to see what is coming. But we need to remember that the pope is NOT the whole beast, but only a major player in the 5th head, and has been influential in the 6th head, and will be the moral voice of the 7th head. But as we make the pope EVERYTHING, we are going to be looking for a return to the 5th head instead of moving on to the 7th head. This is where the importance of your post fits. Satan has done a divide and conquer by either leading us into seeing everything being the Pope being the complete and total fulfillment and Sunday laws imposed on everyone, or he leads us into a camp that ignores the fact that the pope will play a role, and issues over Sabbath and Sunday will be playing a role among Christians, but the big issue is liberty of conscious and other issues will play a role outside of the Christian world. If we can focus on where Mrs. White grew to instead of where she started out with the ideas that the Franciscans and Reformers were facing we can avoid feeding into the obsessions.

5 Things You Didn't Know About William Shakespeare_3 April 23, 1564, is considered to be William Shakespeare's birthday. Often called England's national poet, Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest dramatist of all time. Here are 5 things you didn't know about William Shakespeare. Shakespeare Likely Died on His Birthday According to tradition, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. Shakespeare’s date of death is conclusively known, however: it was April 23, 1616. That would make his birth and death days the same. We Probably Don’t Spell His Name Correctly—But, Then Neither Did He. Sources from William Shakespeare’s lifetime spell his last name in more than 80 different ways, ranging from “Shappere” to “Shaxberd.” Only six signatures exist, and they are found on legal documents. Shakespeare spelled his name differently on each one, and on two, he neglected to write his entire last name, abbreviating it instead. However it’s spelled, Shakespeare is thought to derive from the Old English words “schakken” (“to brandish”) and “speer” (“spear”), and probably referred to a confrontational or argumentative person. Shakespeare Wore an Earring. Only one portrait of the many painted of William Shakespeare can be traced as being done during his lifetime. In the painting, believed to have been done by John Taylor, Shakespeare is bearded and has a receding hairline, but he is also wearing a gold hoop earring in his left ear. During this period of the English Renaissance, both courtiers and sailors wore an earring, although those worn by sailors were intended to pay for their funeral expenses if they died. He Made up Words. Are you feeling lonely as a result of social distancing? Has your productivity dwindled? Are your attempts at work producing lackluster results? If so, you can thank Shakespeare for your ability to describe what's going on. Shakespeare was known to have created many words for his plays, but the list is more extensive -- and common -- than a lot of people realize. Lonely, lackluster, dwindle, critic, uncomfortable, and surprisingly, skim milk, are among the many words that Shakespeare pulled out of thin air. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Shakespeare with adding nearly 3,000 new words to the language. The Moons of Uranus Are Named After Shakespearean Characters While most of the satellites orbiting other planets take their names from various mythologies, Uranus' moons are unique in being named for Shakespearean characters, along with a couple of the moons being named for characters from the works of Alexander Pope. To date 27 moons have been discovered around Uranus, those named after characters from Shakespeare include Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Oberon (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Ariel (The Tempest), Miranda (The Tempest) and Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream).

Mystigogia Runs Deep There was a time where I would have agreed completely with this comment. It happens to be exactly what The Pope is talking about now. As he puts it "win them by attraction." BUT in his case, attraction to what? You can likely Google that and find a couple of articles about it pretty quick. And Im not saying that that, in and of itself makes it "bad," but I am saying that there is more to it than meets the eye. Now, when I hear someone talk like that; I just think that, for the most part, the "one on one" thing gets just as abusive and dysfunctional as the things mentioned above re "public evangelism." There is nothing worse than talking to someone, one on one, and getting the distinct, express feeling that you are being circled by a religious vulture, out to pounce on you as soon as you say anything that could be remotely construed as "an opening" or "entering wedge" . "Apologetics Specialists" go immediately into religious rapture and take great joy in said "witnessing." I recall a number of people from the past saying "I sure told that JW or Church dude, or whatever, they didn't know what to say back to me." Lets not kid ourselves, we have all heard of or seen with our own eyes such Buffalo Club Antics. The problem happens when we try to prescribe just one method, all-too-often simply the one we "prefer" at the expense of other methods, equally valid in the right settings. Scripture and many Christian commentators, to include EGW are clear that it's Christ's method alone, that will pass inspection. Case in point. A funeral director my family and I have had to use recently has become a good friend. We have "coffee" together. [someone is bound to ask 'was it real coffee?'] He has said that he is not "particularly religious," and yet, it seems that many of our conversations end up talking about "religion." A comment he made to me recently was that "if its true religion, then we should be able to question it." Anyone who knows me would recall a while back how I have talked about how Jesus had a method that most of us ignore. Jesus asked 308 questions in the four gospels alone, and every one of those questions are geared to promote people to express whatever level of faith they had; and believe me, there were many different levels and layers in the people Jesus had asked all those questions to! And Jesus visibly showed acceptance, not always of the express beliefs therein, but ALWAYS of the person who was replying to one of those questions. Just start going through the questions in Mathew for yourself, I think you will soon see what I mean. So, of course, when my funeral director friend said that comment about questions, it was easy for me to reply with a big yes. And now we have something that we are both really interested in to discuss and build upon. I did assure him that I wouldn't preach too much to him until I paid the funeral bill. I'm really thinking a lot about Jer 12:5 as I write these words. For me, there is NEVER just "nothing to say" about Jesus, no matter who is in the room. While it's true that sometimes we have to just "be present" for someone; accepting the person, identifying with them, (we are never better than them), and showing unfeigned interest in them as fellow human beings; we can be equally assured that this was a method Jesus used often. But we are also admonished that Jesus gave His witness to both individuals and crowds. As well as house to house, out in the country in a lake, and even on the open highway to places such as Emmaus. In fact, it is interesting to note that when those dudes were walking to Emmaus, they started talking about Jesus, and THAT was what made "Jesus Himself drew near." When people start talking about Him; Jesus Himself draws near. Throwing out "the mark of the beast" switch-bait or the religious pariahship of papal mystigogia, and dictated ecumenism and the like simply ignores Christ's method and replaces it with our "special list." How we adore our religious lists. Peppered with the venom of snake preachers and churchianity doctrinal carrots. The greatest emphasis in our "end time message" should be, has to be, Jesus, and until that happens, the journey is just going to get worse by the day. Let us note carefully, the following: In a future post, I will talk more, especially about verse 11.

5 Facts You Didn't Know About Earth Day April 22 is Earth Day, when people from all corners of the world unite to support environmental reform. Earth Day is intended as a moment to reflect on and help preserve the health of the planet – but here are 5 things that you might not have known about the annual event. Senator Gaylord Nelson Was The Founder of Earth Day In 1970, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson was looking for a way to promote the environmental movement. He proposed the idea of "Earth Day." His plan included classes and projects that would help the public understand what they could do to protect the environment. The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. The holiday has been celebrated on this day every year since. April 22 Was Chosen as Earth Day Because It Was Also Arbor Day April 22 is Earth Day not because that's when college students are most likely to be on campus, despite some claims. April 22, 1970, was Arbor Day, the day celebrating trees and planting trees. It seemed like an appropriate day to spotlight how the planet was doing. Granted, April 22 is usually too late for spring break and too early for finals, so it is a good day if you want to involve college students. But Earth Day itself was given that date just because of the connection to Arbor Day. Earth Day Went Global in 1990 Earth Day may have originated in the U.S., but today it is a global phenomenon celebrated in almost every country around the world.Earth Day's international status owes its thanks to Denis Hayes. He is the national organizer of Earth Day events in the U.S. In 1990, he coordinated similar Earth Day events in 141 countries. More than 200 million people around the world took part in these events. A Number of Trees Have an Astronomical Link to Earth Day Back in 1971, an astronaut on the Apollo 14 mission brought some tree seeds with him as he orbited the moon. The point was partly to see how lowered gravity would affect the seeds and partly to pay tribute to the Forest Service, for which the astronaut used to work. The container holding the seeds broke open prematurely, making the gravity experiment pointless, but many of the seeds were still planted around national monuments, and they still grew normally, forming a select group of trees that have been called "Moon Trees." Earth Day Has Its Own Flag The Earth Day flag is fairly obvious: it’s an image of the planet (the famous “Blue Marble” picture that was taken by the Apollo 17 spacecraft as they travelled towards the Moon) placed on a dark blue background. It was created by John McConnell and has caught on perhaps because it is such a neat way of realizing what Earth is about: the entire planet, and its health.

I agree that in some countries (3rd world and developing countries), mass evangelism may still be somewhat effective but in industrialized, secular leaning countries like the USA and Canada, not so much. In all countries, friendship evangelism - "discipling" people (teaching them by word and example over time) - works much better than a few weeks of evangelism and then vanishing. I also agree that putting the focus on the love, grace, and sacrifice of Jesus (teaching people to love and obey Him) is much more effective that teaching them to fear Jesus because "Jesus is coming soon; and boy is he MAD!"

The Self-sufficient Go On in Supposed Strength.--Many today stand where Peter stood when in self-confidence he declared that he would not deny his Lord. And because of their self-sufficiency, they fall an easy prey to Satan's devices. Those who realize their weakness trust in a power higher than self. And while they look to God, Satan has no power against them. But those who trust in self are easily defeated. Let us remember that if we do not heed the cautions that God gives us, a fall is before us. Christ will not save from wounds the one who places himself unbidden on the enemy's ground. He lets the self-sufficient one, who acts as if he knew more than his Lord, go on in his supposed strength. Then comes suffering and a crippled life, or perhaps defeat and death (MS 115, 1902). {5BC 1102.7}

Thanks, Kevin. I wish I could have said it that well.