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Hobie, I understand EGW in light of what the Bible plainly says. I don't try to interpret Scripture in light of what EGW says. It is not unusual for people to do that, hence the confusion over issues such as this. If you read and thought about the Biblical evidence I presented in the above post and still prefer what you think Sr. White said, I'm sorry for that. The Bible is much easier to understand than what she said on this topic. I wish you well in your journey.

I had noticed that Paul often starts and/or ends his letters giving honor to God, Jesus, and sometimes the Holy Spirit, so I went through them to check. Here is my report, using the ESV. New Testament books greetings and closings (G = God, J = Jesus, S = Son, H = Holy Spirit) G JS H Romans 1:1-8 G J Romans 16:25-27 G J 1 Corinthians 1:1-4 J 1 Corinthians 16:23 G J 2 Corinthians 1:1-2 G J H 2 Corinthians 13:14 G J Galatians 1:1-3 J Galatians 6:18 G J H Ephesians 1:3, 13 G J Ephesians 6:23 G J Philippians 1:2 J Philippians 4:21, 23 G J Colossians 1:1-2 G JS H 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 10 J 1 Thessalonians 5:28 G J 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 J 2 Thessalonians 3:18 G J 1 Timothy 1:1-2 G J 1 Timothy 6:11-16 G J 2 Timothy 1:1-2 G J Titus 1:1-4 J H Titus 3:5-6 G J Philemon 3 J Philemon 23 (Jesus G JS Hebrews 1:1-2 G J Hebrews 13:20-21 G J James 1:1 G J H 1 Peter 1:2-3 G J 1 Peter 5:14 (Jesus) G J 2 Peter 1:1-2 G JS 1 John 1:3-4 G J 1 John 5:20 G JS 2 John 1 G JS 2 John 9 G JS Jude 1 G J H Jude 20, 25 G J Revelation 1:1-2 G J ? Revelation 22:17-21

i suppose it is easy to think that since we may consider Luther to be the Father of the Reformation that he rejected all of his Catholic background. I think that such would be false. I would suspect that he maintained some of his Catholic background. In my experience, I find that converts to Adventism from a Catholic background maintain some of their Catholic faith and practices. In short, I suspect that Luther probably maintained his Catholic understanding of the Ten Commandments. I suspect that this is what scholars from the Lutheran church would say. NOTE": Catholics and Adventists do not disagree on every aspect of the Christian faith.

Keep in mind that the central purpose of Club Adventist is to provide a place for people of differing views to discuss them in a civil manner. This generally involves a comparison of differing views. So, yes, we do address LGBTQ issues. However, we do ask that such discussion do not use adverse language in reference to such people. God loves all persons including LGBTQ people. On a personal basis, I am probably a bit more conservative than you might think. I welcome civil discussion here on all issues.

"God has withheld His blessings because His people have not worked in harmony with His directions. Test 7 P18. " I know its not a popular message, but he is right. In the fastest growing division of the church, SSD, we have 1 pastor to every 7-9 churches. That district produces at least 100 baptisms per year. Often a new church plant. It is amazing.

I have often wondered, if Ellen White was alive today, what would her opinion be about how people have treated her writings. I think she would be shocked.

The New Testament has one God who's name is: Father, Son and Holy Sprit. The Old Testament has one God in three pictures: El or God as the great unapproachable power ruling the entire universe. YHWH, The Angel of the Lord who turns out to be the Lord, Michael the Prince, Messiah the Prince, the Fire that burned but did not consume the bush, The Captain of the Lord's Host, etc. which is God as personal and approachable. Then there is the Spirit of the Lord where we do not see an objective revelation as we do in the first two, but God working on the heart and leading the life through the subjective, existential situations. We have all of these as one God, and united in the term "Elohim" the singular plural. Yes, The God of the Old Testament who's name is El, YHWH, The Spirit of God; and the one God of the New Testament who's name is God the Father, God The Son, and God the Holy Spirit is the creator of the entire universe.

So,, now the question becmes: What shouold a Christian ckongregation do when a single women in the congration g ives birth? [Note: In my professional experience, I have come to believe that such often hapens due to "lDate Rape."] Recenty he senior pastor of the SDA lcongregation that I attend, brought two young, single women to the front. He introduced them as having recently given birth. He called upon the congreation to support them in theier decision to raise the children. I fully agree with his call for support without judgment.

There is no "slipping away" from stealing, which is what you described. Forgiving them is a totally separate issue from their paying back what they took. You have a responsibility to protect other people from thieves, people that you don't even know.

In my personal opinion, i believe that one goal of Kinship was to provide spiritual care to a group of people who were not thought to be getting it in Adventism, without asking them to change their sexuality.

Christ had to do as we must do or there was no point in His coming. Here is more on this .. Christ's perfect humanity is the same that man may have through connection with Christ. As God, Christ could not be tempted any more than He was not tempted from His allegiance in heaven. But as Christ humbled Himself to the nature of man, He could be tempted. He had not taken on Him even the nature of the angels, but humanity, perfectly identical with our own nature, except without the taint of sin. A human body, a human mind, with all the peculiar properties, He was bone, brain, and muscle. A man of our flesh, He was compassed with the weakness of humanity. The circumstances of His life were of that character that He was exposed to all the inconveniences that belong to men, not in wealth, not in ease, but in poverty and want and humiliation. He breathed the very air man must breathe. He trod our earth as man. He had reason, conscience, memory, will, and affections of the human soul which was united with His divine nature. Our Lord was tempted as man is tempted. He was capable of yielding to temptations, as are human beings. His finite nature was pure and spotless, but the divine nature that led Him to say to Philip, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" also, was not humanized; neither was humanity deified by the blending or union of the two natures; each retained its essential character and properties. But here we must not become in our ideas common and earthly, and in our perverted ideas we must not think that the liability of Christ to yield to Satan's temptations degraded His humanity and He possessed the same sinful, corrupt propensities as man. The divine nature, combined with the human, made Him capable of yielding to Satan's temptations. Here the test to Christ was far greater than that of Adam and Eve, for Christ took our nature, fallen but not corrupted, and would not be corrupted unless He received the words of Satan in the place of the words of God. To suppose He was not capable of yielding to temptation places Him where He cannot be a perfect example for man, and the force and the power of this part of Christ's humiliation, which is the most eventful, is no instruction or help to human beings. But the facts of this history are not fable, but a living, acting, experience. [To deny this] would rob Jesus of His greatest glory--allegiance to God--which enshrouded Him as a garment in this world on the field of battle with the relentless foe, and He is not reckoned with the transgressor. He descended in His humiliation to be tempted as man would be tempted, and His nature was that of man, capable of yielding to temptation. His very purity and holiness were assailed by a fallen foe, the very one that became corrupted and then was ejected from heaven. How deeply and keenly must Christ have felt this humiliation."

Need to see what it teaches and the real issue here. Here is a good summary..: Here’s the conundrum: to suggest Jesus, as the God-Man, is unable to sin seems to denigrate His true humanity. This position seems to make the incarnation a farce – a foregone conclusion. It implies Jesus never felt the true force of the temptations. This position is known as impeccability. but, to suggest Jesus could sin seems to denigrate His deity. This position is known as peccability. So, what to do? The solution seems to be a qualified form of peccability, as follows:12 Jesus was genuinely tempted to sin, not like us, but like the original Adam and Eve (morally neutral), so, it was theoretically possible for Him to sin, but He chose not to sin

I have no doubt there love of the Torah and the Tehillim! Mr. Goldberg, my teacher, also loved to study the book of Esther. Daniel was new to him. He was enthralled by the story of the fiery furnace. When the Hebrews said "~ Whether God saves us or not, there is no way we are going to bow to your image," Mr. Goldberg was deeply moved by that statement, as we all should be.

Not a difficult problem to solve. Check numerous versions. Compare them. Look at the context. Unless you have knowledge of Greek to the point of being a textual critic, you are wading into waters way over your head. Even those who are fluent in the original languages can't agree on what the best translation is; consequently, we have so many versions. No Christian doctrine is dependent upon a single text. Some versions, such as the KJV, were intended for public reading; therefore, the translators sometimes chose different English words to translate the same Greek word because it sounded better. This is problematic for serious Bible study. Benjamin Wilkinson created a lot of confusion in SDA land. Jim Arrabito, a great artist and a gracious individual popularized Wilkinson's work in more modern times. The NT writers, including Jesus, quoted almost exclusively from the Greek Old Testament, which is mostly preserved in the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. There are passages you can read in English translations of the Greek Old Testament which are very different from other English versions. Make things easy for yourselves. Use a KJV and compare it with the NRSV, NASB, ESV, and whatever other translations you like. Depend on the Holy Spirit to lead you into the truth after you have done your best.

See: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-06-03/lawsuit-virginia-state-tuition-religious-studies-21865305.html

I agree that God's eternity is essential. Thanks for adding it.

Sadly our current administration is going full speed at developing ways of making it difficult if not impossible for people to buy or sell. We are living in a time where you don't need much imagination to see the idea of enforced religion (we tend to limit out eyesight to the specific application of Sunday Laws in and of themselves, and miss the big picture of what Mrs. White predicted: However, today even the idea of the application of Sunday Laws does not seem far fetched, but we still need to look at the larger picture. I'm sure that Satan has a way to sneek past us if we limit ourselves to the application and example instead of the larger principle.)

My father was a Adventist minister, so I grew up listening to innumerable sermons and Daniel and Revelation prophecy series, and my mother did the various church and health messages, think '5 day plan to stop smoking', and I knew what was coming for each night. But, come to the present as we are getting to the final days, and I sometimes seem to struggle in what sermon to bring before the brethren, as I volunteer for the sermon as a elder. I thought I was the only one, that some weeks I had no idea what sermon for this time to preach about, till almost the day of the sermon. But I have become aware that others also struggle to find what they should preach especially after hitting all the major points and beliefs, especially for the last days and prophecy. It might be that some are between ideas for what the brethren need or just struggling for ideas. If we who preach as lay preachers were all honest, we’ve come across this, or come to the point of asking, ”What do the people need?” So how do you find a message, especially for these last days, from God’s Word that your church needs and you are excited about?

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? Hebrews 2 New International Version We are warned not to drift away. Over the years, I have seen many people drift away. Studying the word of God every day, keeps us from drifting away. I have never seen someone drift away who was studying the bible every day.

Seventh-day Adventists worship on a day dedicated to a pagan god. But, our worship is not dedicated to that pagan god. By the way, it is not a sin to worship on Sunday. It is not a sin to worship with other Christians on Sonday. The Biblical Sabbath, is much more than a day of worship. The Bible, as I understand it, established a Sabbath on the 7th day of the week. It does not forbid worship on any day of the week. I have worshiped with fellow Christians on Sunday many times. Sometimes I have even preached to congregations of other denominations on Sunday.

Recently the Federal Centers for Disease Control published an 8-page report on the dangers of the natural herb Kratom. It is widely used, and freely sold in most of the united States by people who consider it to be a healthful way to address some of the common concerns of daily life. What is often not understood is how addictive and dangerous it can be, especially in some of the forms in which it is sold. Withdrawal will often require medical supervision. The following article will explain this in more detail. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/75/wr/mm7511a1.htm?s_cid=OS_mm7511a1_w My assumption is that as it is becoming popular in our society in the U.S, it is also being used by Adventists who see it as a safe natural product,and have no understanding as to how lethal it can be. If we as a Church decry the use of tobacco and alcoholic drinks, I suggest we need to warn our members as to the dangers of Kratom. The above CDC publication provides enough information for several articles for authors to use. On a personal basis, my second son ended his life in 2024 while attempting to withdraw from Kratom usage that was not medically supervised. His story is told in the following article which will inform to a greater degree. https://atoday.org/the-day-my-son-took-his-own-life/ NOTE: I have an agreement with the above publisher that permission will be granted free of charge for the article to be republished. Gregory Matthews

Even more so now. The division has never been greater in North America. We cannot forget the division of Vax vs Non-Vax Now we have a divide about illegal immigrants and ICE. In Lake Union this has become a problem. My friends tell me that church attendance is down in many white churches, and people are watching on the internet. I can see a correlation to the controversial issues. The next dividing topic will be the war in Iran. It seems like lots of shaking in North America. Let us not forget, the NAD makes up less than 10% of the Adventist Church.

Gustave, yes, there once was an SDA Church in San Francisco that was more liberal than the typical SDA church. I do not know that it ever allowed such marriages. In any case, that experiment ended some years ago. I once was a member of a large SDA congregation that had a homosexual couple who attended. But, they were not members. I am aware of another SDA congregation that accepted a homosexual couple into membership. The pastor was expelled from ministry. Other action resulted related to another clergy person. But, the couple remained members.

God intends for His church to be comprised of people growing in faith and understanding. From this perspective you can expect to have people who are members who believe to some extent false doctrine.

Reading Ellen white: How to understand and apply her writings, written by George Knight, is probably the best book that has been published on this subject. It can be purchased form Amazon.

The following lengthy article describes the years of Ted Wilson's reign and suggests how Kohler's time in office may differ from Wilson's. https://spectrummagazine.org/views/analysis/is-the-wilson-era-over/

As many of you know I spent 20 years as a Denver VA Chaplain, and also as a chaplain for other hospitals. In part, due to my background, I was appointed to join a special group of area hospital people to work with HIV infected people. So, as a chaplain to that group, I spent one day a week working with HIV infected people for 13-months. Each week I shared a meal with such. * These included, men, women & children. * Some were former Adventists. * Some were present Adventists. * Just about all of the adults acknowledged that they were homosexual. * Some were celibate. * As they got to know me, they shared their journey with me. * I shared God's love for each of them in return. * No, I did not tell them that homosexuality was part of 'God's plan for humans. But, I could tell them of God's personal love for them. How many reading this have ever sat next to a HIV infected person at a shared meal?

Nailed it!

I start out with the idea that "Hell Fire" is God present in person in all God's love, beauty and glory that purifies and calls out the best in everyone. Some people will find this heaven, but others who have not wanted the best in them to be in control will find it very, very uncomfortable to be with him. Jesus is their deepest desire, they long to run into his loving arms; but they don't know him. They are unforgiving people and thus cannot comprehend forgiveness. They picture what they would do to someone like themselves if they were God. They want to run to him but refuse to yield to this deepest desire. They want to but won't. In the end God treats everyone the same, but our choices depend on how we respond. While this comes from Ellen White, I believe that it's Biblical. She pictures us seeing Jesus coming in the clouds and we are overwhelmed and ask "Who shall be able to stand?" There is a moment of horrible silence, then Jesus says [sings?] "My grace is sufficient for you!" To these words we find two responses. Some realize "Yes, this is my friend Jesus and his grace is sufficient for me! This is my God and He will save me!" Jesus does not say "My grace is sufficient for you Stan and for you Matthew, but sorry Kevin, it's not sufficient for you." Jesus says to each and every one of us "My grace is sufficient for you." Some believe him, others have just had their ear drums vibrate to the sweetest sound it ever heard telling them that his grace is sufficient for them, but they do not believe him. They think he is lying and they run to the rocks... Heaven is total reality. In a lot of ways hell is the rejection of reality as they become slaves to the figment of their imagination. Building on this are the three aspects of the trinity, the issues of the great controversy which creatures need to ask if God is who God claims to be or not, and the mystery of how Lucifer instead of looking for the answers to this question, turned the question into three deceptions one against each member of the trinity. The Holy Spirit works with every heart. Every group/religion has a mixture of truth, error, misunderstandings and superstitions. The monotheistic religions have more truth available to them, especially as they accept the Bible and aspects of the Bible, but many with much truth available don't take advantage of this gift, while many with less available treasure what they have. The Holy Spirit has, and we should have "Listening Love" where we want to understand the other person, encourage them in the truth that they have and encourage them to grow. Being saved "in the name of Jesus" is not righteousness by vocabulary, but the character of Jesus, even if they are in religions that don't understand the word "J-E-S-U-S". or where he has been misrepresented over the centuries where the word becomes a sore spot and we expect them to just give up centuries of pain and that they are lost because they are uncomfortable saying that word. But they may know HIM, Who he is. Praying in Jesus name means to pray for the same types of things Jesus would pray for. Our Jewish and Muslim friends have an amazing amount of truth, but may not see it, and instead of helping them to see what they already have, we want them to give the correct vocabulary. Jesus cries at this. Historians said that it is not clear how pious Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron) was, but his hero was Oswald Boelcke who was very pious and a devote follower of the Lord. Paul said to imitate him as he imitated Christ. Von Richthofen tried to imitate Boelcke's Christlikeness. Very different from others who admired Boelcke's prowess in shooting down enemy planes but not his character. Von Richthofen was more impressed by Boelcke's character than he was by Boelcke's ability to shoot down enemy planes. Von Richthofen was impressed by the way the character of Jesus was reflected in Boelcke. Is this not accepting Jesus? When I was at Andrews, going through the White Estate vault, I came across a document that I believe that Mrs. White wrote. Since I cannot go back and confirm this I will not say "Mrs. White said..." but I was going through her writings and as far as I know she said this. The document talked about "atheists" and the writer but them into two groups. The one group were "infidels" who were in rebellion against God. The second group was called "Honest doubters" who questioned how God can exist with different issues we face in the world, but they develop caring, kind characters. This writer saw heaven as having room for these "honest doubters." It's late, so this is a place to start.

I wonder if they told their clergy to expend as much energy, money, and man hours into as a group trying to change the laws that are responsible for the mess and loss of life. Then all want to be seen as the righteous ones, those that care ready to lay down their lives, not those nasty unchristian conservatives. The mess we have going in MPLS is manufactured according to many, .Those constantly fanning the flames are not from MN, they are professionally trained agitators . .It is a deflection from some of the most corrupt administrations in the U. It did as was intended ,drawing attention away fromthe fraud and theft They know exactly what they are doing attention away from our governor, AG and our Somali congress woman. The tide has turned in a rapid way to support of this corruption when it had been building against the democratic administration. Families are being encouraged publically to rid the landscape of conservatives. "Sadly it will be necessary to take a harsh stand against family,even your own children or your parents" The leaders of this mess do not give a fig for the poor "illegals". They are simply useful idiots. Democrats and republicans have had ample time to correct that border mess with common sense laws. laws that would eliminate the need to come illegal,would stop that hideous practise of trafficking children. I know what the dems get in return for this,for the life of me I cant understand the republicans for this to remain as it does. Everyone has to gain something or when one party basically has the rule this would change. There have been times when both parties have had control and we have not made any headway.

Animals have such personalities. A couple of years ago a stray cat showed up, first at my sisters, but then two days later she walked right in my door as I opened it and she made herself at home. She only lets me stay there as long as I'm a faithful hired help.

My understanding of the SAbbath, is focused on what God established at creation and not what the Jews practiced. That Sabbath did not begin with the Jews. It did not end with the coming of Christ's birth over 2,000 years ago.

We see what Jesus predicted would come between nations and would increase prior to the Second Coming. Matthew 24:7 King James Version (KJV) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. We don't have to look far today at the nations of the world or the events that are on the news. You may see leaders who say they are ending the conflicts and talk of peace and curtailing of war, but it just keeps going along with ethnic violence, ethnic cleansing, and worse as race conflict seems on everyone's lips. On the economic side, we see the instability of world markets and the value of commodities and goods evaporating, and distinctions between rich and poor is becoming horrendous, with billionaires pushing their agendas, and the monies being taken by their friends and allies. Economic woes and labour unrest are foretold for the last days, and we are seeing it with Unions having nurses and doctors go on strike, along with pilots and many others making unbelievable wages, while the poor can't find a job for minimum ones. We see the treasures being heaped high and the prophecies being fulfilled... James 5:3-4 King James Version (KJV) 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their poison will be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh as fire. You heaped treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. The Seven Last Plagues are sent by God from heaven, angels pour out vials of His wraith upon the face of the earth, and they are laid out.. Grievous sores Fresh water sources become like blood Oceans also become like blood The sun scorching men with great heat A great darkness The Euphrates River drying up and unclean spirits And a destructive earthquake and hail. The Bible doesn’t give us a specific date for these plagues, but it does say that just before the second coming of Jesus, they will befall on the earth. They are similar to the plagues that fell on Egypt and will happen in the last days. They came just before the Jews were freed from slavery much like the saints are going to be freed from the bondage of sin at the second coming. So lets look at the Seven Last Plagues... Daniel 12:1-2 King James Version (KJV) 1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. The plagues appear to fall after the close of probation as the saints are sealed during this time such as never was. Revelation 16:1-15 King James Version (KJV) 1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty We see where SOP also says the Great Time of Trouble begins after the close of probation, "When Christ shall cease His work as mediator in man's behalf, then this time of trouble will begin. Then the case of every soul will have been decided, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse from sin. When Jesus leaves His position as man's intercessor before God the solemn announcement is made, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still" (Rev. 22:11). Then the restraining Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth."--PP 201 (1890) Then we see the last climatic event which will be heard as well as felt across the nations and peoples... Revelation 16:15-21 King James Version (KJV) 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. Ellen White's writings give that the plagues will fall like the ones in Egypt, one right after the other, and then a final cataclysmic event as the saints look for deliverance.. Satan's host and wicked men will surround them and exult over them because there will seem to be no way of escape for them. But in the midst of their revelry and triumph there is heard peal upon peal of the loudest thunder. The heavens have gathered blackness, and are only illuminated by the blazing light and terrible glory from heaven, as God utters His voice from His holy habitation. The foundations of the earth shake, buildings totter and fall with a terrible crash. The sea boils like a pot and the whole earth is in terrible commotion. The captivity of the righteous is turned, and with sweet and solemn whisperings they say to one another: "We are delivered. It is the voice of God."--1T 353, 354 (1862). It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people. . . . In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying, "It is done" (Rev. 16:17). That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. . . . The proudest cities of the earth are laid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world's great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rent asunder, and God's people, who have been held in bondage for their faith, are set free.--GC 635-637 (1911).

In my opinion, none of this matters much. For over 100 years, the church has been preaching about the Judgment. This is the next big event that counts. The Judgment of the living. I talked about it here : If we don't get pardoned in the judgment, nothing else matters. I believe the judgment of the living is going on right now.

? Wild highway Photo: Colorado Department of Transportation Construction is complete on what Colorado officials call North America's largest wildlife crossing — passing over a busy stretch of Interstate 25. Why it matters: The Greenland wildlife overpass covers a major migration zone for elk, mule deer, pronghorn, bears and mountain lions, Axios Denver's Alayna Alvarez writes. For decades, the freeway sliced through their routes, raising the risk of collisions. The new system will cut wildlife-vehicle crashes by 90%, Colorado transportation director Shoshana Lew estimates. At 209 feet long and 200 feet wide, the overpass spans six lanes of interstate traffic.

NOTE: In the above "holy catholic church" does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church. It is a simple statement to the effect that the Church of God is a universal church, and SDAs agree with such.

* The Ten Commandments is not the primary reason that Seventh-day Adventists teach that Christians should keep the Sabbath. * The SDA teaching on the Sabbath is founded on their belief in the Creation story in early Genesis in which God set apart a 7th day to met with humanlity and grow us spiritualy.

There may not be a simple answer that applies to all congregations. The answer may lie in knowing the congregation. What are the individual needs of the people who attend? Congregations differ as people differ. Not all are the same. \

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a relatively young Protestant denomination that was first formally organized in 1863. It has five major areas of ministry: education, publishing, media, healthcare, and foreign missions. Today (2025) it has some 23- million baptized members. Fundamental to its understanding of the purpose of congregations is the thought that people are on a spiritual journey that implies growth over time. In other words, individual members will typically be at different stages of spiritual understanding and growth. From this perspective, individual SDA members exhibit a wider range of belief and practice than is commonly understood by the public. SDA congregations are both united in belief and also may have some differences in how spiritual belief is practiced in daily life. Officially SDA beliefs fall into two categories. Baptismal Vows are a subset of beliefs that are expected to be held by those who are baptized, and join the denomination. Fundamental Beliefs are officially the teachings that each pastor is expected to teach and individual congregations to hold. Yet, from a practical manner, the spectra of understanding those and how they are practiced in daily life is wider than most people understand.

The answers to your questions are mixed. Matthew Korpman: His work is not widely known and is just beginning to attract the attention of people. Yes , there has been some minimal knowledge. But he has expanded our knowledge beyond that and it is just beginning to become known beyond scholarly circles. EGWs use of sources: It has been well known for many years that she did make some use of sources. But, little attention was paid to this. Early people, whom I will not mention, were often dismissed. Thinking of one, I accepted his evidence and dismissed some of his conclusions as I did not consider the conclusions to be of scholarly value. Of another person, his work was generally of value, but for other reasons it was dismissed by some. The real turnabout in Adventist thinking came when individual scholars began to be able to publish their work outside of the standard Adventist publishing houses. Oak and Acorn was one such Adventist source of publishing. Avondale Press was another. When the individual authors began to be able to publish by using places like Amazon, a flood of new material became available to the Adventist membership in general. George Knight and Ron Graybill are two authors who have contributed much to making information available to the general Adventist membership. Others have made information available in areas related to EGW and also in other areas of spiritual importance. Adventism is changing as it is being challenged.

Do they not see that they are aligned with Apostate Protestants who are rapidly constructing an image to the Beast?

The number of military chaplains who have been killed in combat is probably little known by the American public. Arlington National Cemetery has a special section where such chaplains are buried. It currently lists 134 Protestant chaplains, 83 Catholic chaplains, 14 Jewish chaplains, and 23 chaplains who ae not listed as to religious background. This information was obtained from the following website: https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Monuments-and-Memorials/Chaplains-Hill NOTES: * Under the Geneva Convention military chaplains are not combatants and do not use weapons. * I am just one of several SDA chaplains who has served in combat. * There are some 81 Protestant and 3 Catholic chaplains who have been killed in combat but have not yet have their names entered in the memorial. * For more information see: https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/AmericanLegion/Campaigns/131063/Respond

The above video lasts for close to 2 hours. I am about 90 minutes into watching it. I will finish later. One point; It suggests that the White Estate was not the major player in banning the book, rather it was Pacific Press. The book and discussion clearly informed that the messages of Ellen White came from multiple sources, some of which were clearly human. I found it very helpful to understand that from this perspective that her use of the phrase "I was shown." should not be limited to divine sources but clearly include her human sources.

To what extent should SDAs be considered people who are attempting to be Jewish? That is the question explored in the following article. It is well worth reading and also has comparisons with Catholics and other Protestant groups. https://atoday.org/are-adventists-trying-to-be-jewish/

The best way to deal with homosexual friends and family is to treat them with respect, dignity, friendship - which includes minding your own business. One of the greatest evils of Christianity is its tendency to attract to its ranks busybodies who are obsessed with what other people do in private with their genitals.