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To those who do not understand what Gay said above: The SDA practice of Communion begins with the washing of the feet of another. Note: The Pope also does this in a yearly ceremony. In SDA practice, this foot washing occurs prior to partaking of the elements. This occurs in separate locations. Historically men have washed the feet of men and women have washed the feet of women. In the present day married people and engaged couples are welcome to wash each other's feet. It should be noted that SDAs do not require that one participate in the washing of another's feet in order to receive the elements of Communion.

? 1 fun thing: Cookies we love Data: Google Trends, based on searches from Dec. 10-17. Map: Google This year's most popular Christmas cookies are a mix of classic and festive varieties, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes from Google Trends data. Italian Christmas cookies ranked as top for seven states. Bûche de Noël, snowball, Christmas crack and pistachio were newcomers for searchers this year. More trends.

As to the SDA position on Communion: At an earlier time in SDA life, Communion was restricted to baptized members of the SDA Church. With the passage of time, it was thought that Christians from other backgrounds should not be refused Communion. So, Gustave, you would likely to be allowed to take Communion in a SDA Church today. The end result is that probably many SDA congregations allow anyone who wishes to take Communion. I cannot say that such is 100%.

I feel sorry for you and other same sex attracted people - While you would be welcomed in the Catholic Church (to attend Mass) communion would be out of the question - it sounds as if you are also welcome to attend an SDA Church but likely not welcomed to take communion (my guess). I know its easy for me to say but if you have no intention of living celibate and obviously your personal theology differs from SDAism theology about the gay issues what would be the problem for you to worship at a Church that celebrates same sex unions?

Just to review the official SDA position: * All are welcome to worship with us who intend to worship in peace. I was once a member of a SDA congregation that had a homosexual couple who regularly attended, but were never members. The congregation welcomed them, and they accepted their status of not being able to become members. * Homosexuals who wish to join a SDA congregation must live a celibate life in order to be a member * SDA clergy who perform a homosexual marriage are likely to be expelled from SDA ministry, and it is likely that their ordination will be revoked.

The 7-Churches and more: A fundamental principle of understanding the Bible requires us to consider how the Biblical passage was understood by the people living in the time that the passage was written. The following AT article suggests how the people of the 7-church congregations would have understood the message addressed to that congregation. The article then expands to consider other passages in Revelation. https://atoday.org/what-did-revelation-mean-to-its-first-hearers/ NOTE: I have posted the following comment in response to that article: I have often preached on Revelation 14:6-12 in Protestant congregations on Sunday as well as in Adventist congregations. In those sermons, I have not felt a need to mention the Catholic churches. Rather, I have simply stated that the message of the first angel proclaimed that God had a gospel that remained the same from the time of Christ to the Second Advent. The second angel simply informed that in End Time, a lot would be proclaimed that was in error. The third angel informed that time was short. The Second Advent was near. All who proclaimed Christ were called upon to determine and follow truth. I have not felt it needed to mention so-called apostate groups.

I agree, God sees each of His Children as individuals & while my particular sins may be abhorrent to others they may have sins abhorrent to me - which is why every day in Church the following prayer is said by everyone present and in unison. "I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I've done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through MY most grievous fault; therefore I ask the blessed Mary ever-virgin, all the angels and saints, and YOU my brothers and sisters, to pray FOR ME to the Lord our God."

Gayatfootofcross, I harbor no ill will towards you or any alternative people. I've often felt compassion for folks such as yourself simply by contemplating my own life. When I was in the military the extent of my Christianity was what was printed on my dog tags. I slept around with countless women, married and single - I was basically on a sexual safari. Years later I realized how wrong I was and settled down, started going to Church regularly. A gay person in Christianity isn't afforded much of an off ramp like heterosexuals are - I recognize this and have thought how would I react to this situation if I were gay - you have my sincere sympathies for this. Because I'm convinced that my own Faith Tradition holds the fullness of the truth ( IF I were gay ) I would be prevented by conscience from just joining a Church that condones and celebrates gay marriage (like the Anglicans). I acknowledge you may feel the same way and may be prevented by your conscience from just joining another Church that has no issues with a gay lifestyle. I don't know what to say about this to you other than I'm sorry. The conservative Christians I've talked with feel the same way that I do - it's likely the reason I've had zero issues with maintaining friendships with gay folks I've gotten to know. I'm just saying all this because I don't want you or other people who may be gay and read my posts thinking that I'm salivating with anticipation about how all the fags will be rounded up and exterminated. That's not where I'm coming from at all. I do believe that God loves every person infinity more than I love my own Son and Wife - this means that God's Grace and charity extends beyond my capacity to understand. My main beef with the LGBT movement was how far the ideology was pushed - this I believe is the evil part of it and as I said before its the death of that part of it that I look forward to.

Did I miss something - I thought that the issue here was an individual applying to a organization that had a stated code of conduct expectations. I'm sure there are business that are owned and operated by members of the Anglican communion who celebrate men play acting as women and everything else in-between. In any event a person who works in the medical or law enforcement fields is likely going to have to work on any day of the week, security guards often are required to work on any day of the week. Also I.T. staff that support the aforementioned as well as retail businesses. Now that I think about it Pastors are required to work on any day of the week and off hours (deathbed and emergencies). A while back there was a bakery in Seattle that was owned by a Christian who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding. Not that I'm proud of it but years ago I played a practical joke on an unsavory friend of mine by getting him a birthday cake that had a farmer "helping a sheep over a fence", it was an elaborate cake made by a master baker and cake artist. The bakery was called "The erotic bakery" in the U-district and these folks would make a cake for anyone, period. Why would a gay person demand a known devout Christian make a queer cake when there is a bakery literally a couple miles away that can accommodate any request, a bakery that is known for making wedding cakes, prank cakes, etc? Pastor Matthews brings up solid points about schools and hospitals and I think that moving forward religious rights will have better protections.

I am going to chime in here: The issues involved here are complex, and speaking frankly, in some ways equally affect Catholics and Adventists. We both operate schools at all levels of education. Every employee in those schools has a potential impact on the students. From that perspective, all, to include janitors as well as teachers of history, my rightfully be required to be members of the sponsoring Church. I do not know if the Catholic Church has ever owned either a gasoline station or a supermarket. However, the SDA Church has owned such. Those were intended to serve the public at large. I am not certain that a reasonable case could be made for a requirement for all employees to be members of a specific denomination. The issue of hospitals is important to both Catholics and Adventists. Hospitals are owned by both Churches. Differences exist between how Adventists and Catholics want to run their hospitals. Yet, each may have a religious component to the services that they provide. The problem is that the government determines whether or not a hospital can be established in a specific location. So, if a hospital is allowed in a local area, that has religious restrictions as to some care, no other hospital may be allo0wed in that area and only limited clinical services will be provided. All I am saying is: Some issues of religious liberty do not have easy answers.

At the fall, humanity was at odds with their Maker. They were given Satan's nature. They were at enmity with God. There was nothing within them that could turn their heart back to God. I believe that capacity had died on that fateful day. Love was replaced by fear and fleshly desires. I had to ask myself, in this condition how could it be possible that the family of Adam could survive 4000 years before the savior came on the scene? The conclusion I had to come to is that the Son of God was given to humanity at that time to replace that which had perished because of rebellion. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world and the light that lights every man that came into the world. The provision was already in place and ready to be put into action. The Son would step down from.the throne and give His life to the fallen race, right then and there. He was the enmity against evil that God promised to the serpent, so that the seed of the woman would have something that could bring them back to God. EGW states, "As soon as there was sin, there was a Saviour. He who has given light to all, He who has followed the soul with tender entreaty, seeking to win it from sin to holiness, is in one its advocate and judge. He who through all the ages has been seeking to wrest the captives from the deceiver's grasp, is the one who will pass judgment on every soul. HLv 133.3 " I've come to believe that the Son, who has lived in every offspring of Adam, is that still small voice that is reaching out and pleading with the Father on each souls behalf. If the soul would feel the divinely supplied need for release from sin, it could accept that heart cry as it's own. If the soul would consent the Son would so identify with its thoughts and aims, so blend its heart and mind into conformity to His will that when obeying Him it would be but carrying out its own impulses. The soul would be thinking God's thoughts after Him. The Son brought with Him certain gifts. His own love for the Father, and an ability to hear the Father's personal instructions to each soul and a willingness to obey the Father. 4,000 years later the life of Mary's son, who was fully in submission to the Son of God within, would be a living parable to make clearer the plan for mankind to be fully restored to the image of God. When I considered the demoniac in Luke 8, it seemed that there was a full and complete possession. As I consider that this capacity of completely filling the soul temple to the point that the spirit and the human act as one, I realize that God must have made this capacity possible for His own use and the Devil had hijacked it. If this is the case then I understand in a better way how the Son of God has been bearing the sin of the world from Eden until this day. In each individual the Son feels distinctly the effects of sin and he bears it with us and for us or it with crush us. "As one with us, He must bear the burden of our guilt and woe. The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The peace lover must dwell with strife, the truth must abide with falsehood, purity with vileness. Every sin, every discord, every defiling lust that transgression had brought, was torture to His spirit. DA 111.4" He saw and felt it all. This sounds like a very intimate connection with each human agent. "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Matt. 8:17 Jesus never experienced the myriad of diseases that affect humanity, but the Son of God who is spirit, dwelling within all humanity could bear their iniquity and experience their sicknesses and infirmities in a very real and intimate way. These words above have given me reason to believe that the Son took up residence in everyone to attempt to save some. When I consider the story I grew up with that he suffered baring the sins of the world for a few hours on the cross, and what I have come to see, that He has suffered the burden of sin from the fall until this day, it is beyond comparison. This kind of sacrificial love cannot be measured.