Leaderboard

In the old days, we had large amounts of people actively discussing many topics. That was way before Facebook, Reddit or even Youtube(?) . I came here after Compuserve. There have been many software updates since then. This version works well. CA was the place to be back then. CA is a safe place. I suspect that many who used to post here have died or lost interest due to old age. That is the problem with getting old. Your friends all die. Keep up the good work, Stan.

We are living in a time when it is important not to be misunderstood. The bottom line is that the murder of Charlie Kirk was a terrible crime. He was not a perfect person, but that does not negate the fact that it was a terrible crime. In an effort to prevent misunderstanding, I am asking that we refrain from commenting on any imperfections that we may think are related to him, regardless of whether they are true or not. Violations of my request will be considered for removal. NOTE: I have discussed this with Stan who is aware of my decision.

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.

Friend Please have a conversation without being insulting. Stan

I believe the earth is around 6000 years old. I believe the creation of this planet happened in 6 days. I believe God created man from the dust of the earth.

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.

There are many in our church who believe that we have the truth, and that only people who fit a certain mold will be in heaven. Philippines is about 80% catholic. Probably more in my area. There are MANY devoted catholics here. I have had the opportunity to visit, get to know and observe. The faith and dedication to God that some of these people have is humbling. They don't have the truth we have, but they have the faith the bible talks about. Complete trust in God. Sometimes, we are not so smart as we think we are.

I was talking to a friend in Michigan this week. He was at Dr Weavers church about 6 months ago. The Doc was teaching his regular Sabbath school. At 102 years old. They had a birthday party for him at the church when he turned 100. I bet it was well attended. He held stop smoking clinics all over the Detroit area for many years. Some of those former smokers are members of that church.

Another man with whom he had issues was one who borrowed one of his books and did not return it. Elder Richards retrieved it from his widow. He told me a story about a historical figure who had secured a firearm, something new at the time. When the king paraded through his town, he took aim and fired from a rooftop, knocking the king off his horse. HMS thought that was quite amusing. Not sure why he told me that story. I enjoyed reading the VOP book[let] of the month. I retrieved a bag full of them from the VOP headquarters. One was called "The Occult Explosion." It had a purple and black cover with appropriate illustrations. We had some Hell's Angels in our town at that time. I offered the booklet to one of them. He not only accepted it but thanked me for giving it to him.

I have not heard that before. I know many Adventist who believe it was in the first week. Very interesting. How do we know that? I believe they did have sex before sin, and that is partially why Adam sinned. He understood Eve had sinned and that the serpent was the one they were warned about, but he did not want to lose Eve, so he ate the fruit too. But I could be wrong. The bible is not specific about when.

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.

Revelation 14:12 tells us: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

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.

But two years later, on July 4, at the 2025 GC Session in St. Louis, Missouri, out of the almost 2,000 session delegates who had just heard Wilson’s official “President’s Report”—a telling of everything the church accomplished under his 15-year-long leadership—only 188 of the floor delegates voted for him. The vast majority clearly decided that the church can, in fact, survive without him. Wilson was not reelected president, and Erton Köhler succeeded him with over 90 percent approval. In the first 6 months, it appears he is doing what he said he would. More focus on humanitarian efforts and programs. He appears to be reduced intensity. So far he is doing a great job.

I recommend the book by HMS Richards, "Feed My Sheep" . It changed my preaching. It was compiled from his training for pastors.

Nailed it!

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.

For those interested in knowing how I am related to the above: He is the head of a household related to me. He regularly posts on Facebook.

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).

If you check out the "Jain" religion, they claim that the world is managed by 24 elders. It is one of the oldest religions with documentation of that. They are considered by those who consider things to be the most intellectual groups that have ever existed. uch ofmany of the sciences came from them. I have found them fascinating. Stan

Kevin, I have no ideal as to how long it took you to prepare and write you post above. I thank you for it. It serves a real purpose.

All salvation comes from God's gracious attitude towards us through what Jesus did for us. At the end of time God will treat everyone the same. God will show up in all his beauty, love, glory, and overwhelming event. Some will find this event to be heaven, others will find this event to be hell. Like when the divinity flashed through Jesus when cleaning the temple (at least at the second cleaning.) People ran in two directions. The money changers were running away, while the children, poor and lame were running to him (and remember Jesus had a whip. How often do you find children running with joy to someone holding a whip? Yet, this is what happened when Jesus showed his "wrath".) Only this time there is no place to flee as God's glory fills the whole world. Everyone is born with a few things: Different levels of intelligence, cultures, environments, points in history. We all have in us two attitudes fighting. One is our deepest desire, to want to love the world on an honest basic, to be fair, to love the world as Jesus has loved it. Fighting this is a weaker, but often placed in power in our lives, a disposition to think we are for ourselves by making less of the outside world. A disposition to esteem ourselves more highly than others, to serve self, to seek the highest place, to manipulate or try to manipulate others especially through things such as criticizing, complaining, blaming, nagging, threatening, punishing, rewarding to control. We also seem to have been born with our temperaments, two out of five possible love languages, two out of five possible apology languages, and our attachment styles. The Holy Spirit works with every person, pointing them to the character ("name") of God as our personal friend (God the Son). All religions have varying amounts of truth and superstitions. People make choices of reaching out to or rejecting the character of God as our personal friend, through the two principles of somehow reaching out to what or whoever may be out there and from this to love their neighbors as themselves. The three monotheistic religions have available WITHIN their framework a looking beyond the forces of nature to the creator. The two based on the Bible have even more truth available to them, with of course the Christians open to study the Bible with the insight that God the Son came and lived among us, and additional insights from records of his life and insights from those who directly witnessed seeing him, including seeing him after the resurrection, or records of people who had direct connection to these witnesses. Protestantism has a mindset of reading the Bible and making the Bible the final authority. And Seventh-day Adventists have the great controversy philosophy (which archaeology has pointed out was a big issue for the ancient world where the Bible was written, but which we have lost sight of in culture.) Now, just because we have more information available to us does not mean that we are allowing them to affect our lives and thinking. People with less information may cherish what they understand while people with more information may ignore it. All may be drawn away by traditions and superstitions. From this I cannot say that all religions lead to God; but God and Satan both have people in all religions. The big issue is HIS CHARACTER, Who HE is, What he did for us. The Holy Spirit working on our hearts to point us in the direction of the character of God as personal friend, and from this to God being the great power and ultimate authority. Sadly, too many Christians turn the salvation through God's gracious character and who HE is, to salvation through being a Christian, salvation through the religion. The false thinking that a Jew, Muslim or other cannot be saved because they are not "Christians" That they have not said the right things about Jesus and give the history lesson about what Jesus did for us. Anwar Sadat was raised by his mother and grandmother with a simple faith of trusting in Allah. In college he got into a more complex nationalistic political form of Islam. Yet, he still had a love for God. He spent so many hours in prayer that a callus formed on his forehead. When he lost the 1973 war, he felt responsible for all the deaths. He turned his back on the more complicated political version of Islam and turned to the simple faith of his mother and grandmother. He realized that he needed to forge a peace with Israel. At Camp David, there were three men of faith and prayer, a Muslim, a Jew and a Christian. They stopped their work at prayer times and were able to work out a solution. In Psalm 23:5 it says that the Lord prepares a table in the presence of enemies. To the ancient world this means forgiveness and reconciliation. After Camp David was arranged, a table for the enemies of Egypt and Israel meet for the reconciliation meal. Now, people wondered about a personal event in this feast. Sadat and Golda Mier had totally hated each other on a personal level. They had never mentioned the other by name. Sadat would only call her "That Old Lady" and she would only call him "That Egyptian." Yes, there was the table of forgiveness for the politics of the two governments, but what about these two individuals? In the receiving line, as these two bitter enemies came face to face, Mier said "Mr. President, what took you so long? At these words Sadat just started laughing, and Mier just started laughing. The hatred they had for each other melted. (I don't remember for sure but I believe that I read/heard that they made a joke about the names they gave each other.) The table of forgiveness became not only political between states, but was also personal between these two individuals who remained friends for the rest of their lives. These actions were accepting and reflecting the character of God the Son, and coming to the power of God the Father through God as personal friend. They are saved through how they accepted the character of God the Son. (and as you look at Sadat, the impact of God upon his life, and how he decided to stand for the right even though it lead to his martyrdom, indicates that he could have well have reached what Ellen White describes as last generation perfection.) Dr. Chan was a Buddhist dentist living in Cambodia. When he heard that the Khmer Rouge came to power, he threw his glasses off his face and stomped on them on the floor, ran home got his family and moved to a part of Cambodia where no one knew who they were and they pretended to be ignorant illiterates. Eventually they were able to go to a refugee camp in Thailand. There were Baptists working in the camps to help the refugees and shared the story about Jesus. The Chan family converted from Buddhism to Christianity. Later they came to southern California where there were Seventh-day Adventists helping the refugees, and they decided to learn more about Seventh-day Adventism and decided to become Seventh-day Adventists. One Sabbath at church, one of the women who were helping the refugees noticed that Dr. Chan's body tightened and went pale. He started shaking and ran out of the church. She went after him to find out what was wrong. She found him on the lawn of the church just shaking and repeating the words "It's him! It's him..." As he was asked what was wrong, Dr. Chan replied "You may find this crazy, but as a child I knew that I had a special friend. Now, I could not see him nor hear him, yet he has always been just as real to me at my friends who I could see and hear. I believe that he helped me to remove and trample on my glasses. I believe that he lead me and my family as we looked for someplace we were unknown, and that he lead to Thailand and finally to the United States. Even though I became a Christian in Thailand, today, for the first time in my life I realize that this special, life long friend of mine is Jesus!" Religions can be a help or a hindrance, but from all religious beliefs (even secularism and so called atheism -- I have not come over this document's words anyplace else for me to absolutely say that it was by Ellen White, but I came across it in the EGW vault at Andrews, and I believe that it was written by Sister White, but this document placed "atheists" into two different groups. One was labeled, infidels. But the author also gave a second group of atheists labeled "Honest Doubters" and that heaven has room for the "Honest Doubters." Whether the writer was Mrs. White or not, I agree with that document. There is the issue of faith that transcends religions. When you read about the Norwegian revivalist Hans Nielsen Hague, or the character of World War I German ace Oswald Boelcke, and how World War I ace Manfred von Richthofen responded to Boelcke's Christlikeness. The Roman Catholic actor Bob Newheart and Jewish comedian Don Rickels were both men of faith, and they felt a special friendship based on their shared love and devotion to their family and to God. They would join each other in worshiping in both Church and Synagogue and recognizing both Christian and Jewish holidays. Herman's Hermit's lead singer Peter Noone had been a devote Catholic. He met a lady who was a devote Jew. They fell in love, and felt that a large part of their relationship was their shared love for God. They have had one of show business longest and happiest marriages. When they decided to marry, instead of just running off, Peter petitioned and received permission from the Church to marry her without her converting to Catholicism (One article I read said that he asked the Pope for permission, but I have not seen that since, only his getting permission from the church.) and they worship in both the Church and Synagogue, and they have a daughter they raised in both the church and synagogue.

December 3, 2025 The current issue(December 2025) of the Adventist Journey, contained ain interesting article by Paul Douglas, titled "Mission Emphasis Informs Treasurer's Report at Annual Council, beginning on page 6. * It reported that on a worldwide basis 35.7% of the tithe was used for pastoral support, and 29.2% was used for operational expenses. * on a basis of a worldwide median calculation, 30.7% was used for operational support and 36.4% for pastoral support. My understanding of the above leads me to conclude that we need to restructure our use of tithe, reduce our operational expenses and increase our support of pastoral ministry. I would want to work to reduce our operational expenses to no more than 50% of that provided to pastoral support . In other words, 2/3 of tithe to pastoral ministry and 1/3 to operational, at the most. It would be a good start. I do not believe that we need to have every aspect of our organizational structure on every level of the organized Church. AAs an example, I can agree that we need to have ACM and Religious Liberty represented on the Division level. But, I do not think it is needed on the GC level. Yes, I know that people can always fine "busy work" to do. Further, think that we may need to re-think exactly what is needed at the levels that we establish organizational support. IOWs, we may, at some levels, be spinning our wheels in not providing exactly the support that is needed. But, that is for another time and discussion.

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?

In recent yars, the U.S. military has failed to meet it/s enlistment goals. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/the-military-s-recruiting-surge/ar-AA1QhJcb?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=DCTS&cvid=6914e24354594c9f84d681b68dcb3fb2&ei=24 This ended in fiscal year 2025, when most enlistment goals were met.

I served as an Army Chaplain during the time when women first began to enter the military. In many ways, I think that the foundational issues that were faced by the military are also the ones faced by us in the SDA Church. While that may not become clear in what I post here, on this Veteran's Day I thought that I might post some of my thinking on this subject from both the military and SDA aspect. * I became an Active-Duty Army Chaplain at the same time as the second female Army chaplain. To this day, I am angry at how the Army as an institution, allowed her to be treated. The following link takes you to my somewhat angry comment published at the time of her death. https://www.mykeeper.com/ChaplainMajorRetBettyWPace * I served a 3-year tour on the teaching faculty of the Army Chaplain School. Generally, the students were qualified to serve as Chaplains. A Few were not. During my time there, a SDA student left the Army as it became apparent that such was not for him. We should expect the same for our females and not attribute the lack of success of one to the gender/denomination as a whole. * I was the first Army Chaplain to serve in combat in a COED unit. [NOTE: This is not the place to get into a discussion as to what you may think you have heard about World War II, and what you may think to be exceptions.] In general, the females worked harder to perform because they knew that they had more that they had to prove, than did the males. * As a result of my combat experience and my position on the Chaplain school faculty I became involved in other experiences intend to educate people as to female military members. * At an earlier time in Adventist history, I was involved in helping women who alleged to have been abused by SDA clergy to have their allegations properly heard by competent authority. * I have provided pastoral care to such women. As a result of the above, I will be the first to say that women in Adventism today have achieved a measure of success. But an engrained bias against them still exists. This is true even in the Conferences that employ female clergy. In one aspect of this problem, I see Adventist women as seemingly accepting it. I do not see it changing until some woman finds herself in a position to do something about it.

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.

Hello friends, it's been a while since I've posted and a lot has happened but I want to share what's happened since I've last posted. In 2017, my wife, Denise read me a quote from a devotional called "The faith that I live by." I was searching for answers because I was tired of being a failing Christian. I had been studying the Bible and SOP for years and yet when I honestly looked at my life, there was no victory no satisfaction, just emptiness. I'm sure you all have felt that at some time or another. What I understood and experienced was righteousness by faith. I had studied and even preach on this subject in the past but I was simply passing on information without it making a change in my heart. This video is a testimony (sort of) and it captures what I was learning. It was recorded in 2023. The battery on my camera went dead so the entire sermon wasn't recorded but there's enough to understand what I was saying. it's about 29 minutes long. I do hope you are blessed and encouraged.

Its flying under the radar for most Adventist, but if you look at the news you see it coming in with the new leaders. We know the “Image of the Beast” is a political power that begins to compelling observance of or compliance with a law, or obligation.of a religious nature, We know what the words “Christain Nationlism” mean by now and how its surging. We do not need to look far to see the implementation of the image in the news, with leaders in Cabinet position, Supreme Court, of the Senate and Congress being filled by followers of the original Beast. So the image of the Beast, has been readied, I don’t think I need to say more as we watch it rise.

The Adventist Review, under its various names, dates back to the earliest days of the founding of our Chruch. It has a history that ties today with our earliest beginnings. Yet, today it is often seen as of little value to us today. The following article examines its history and use today. https://spectrummagazine.org/views/a-review-of-the-adventist-review/

The following article by Richard Coffen presents five passages in the Bible that have bee misunderstood. They are interesting. https://atoday.org/six-famous-bible-misinterpretations/

For the story of a woman who saved the lives of some 2,000 - 2.500 children during WW II, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler and https://www.holocaustmatters.org/irena-sendler/ The Internet is full of stories about her.

The following article reports on an interesting example of Interfaith cooperation that includes a SDA aspect. https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/06/28/interfaith-support-lds-church-ethiopian-orthodox-church-utah-community/

Thank you for the time and effort that you put into writing the above.

The agenda for the upcoming GC Session runs for some 94 pages. The link below takes you to an artice on the agenda and also includes a link to the actual agenda. https://atoday.org/exploring-the-2025-general-conference-session-agenda/

SDA Baptisms are normally public. They are not required to be public. it is the call of the pastor doing the baptism. The SDA Church accepts baptism by immersion, performed by clergy of other Christian faiths. Such people are not required to be re-baptized in order to join the SDA Church. Sometimes such people will request to be re-baptized, when such happens, they will often be re-baptized. But, it is not required. Page 50 of my Church Manual (Revised 2000) contains two sentences related to baptism. Neither requires re-baptism of converts from other Christian groups. Again, yes, we do uphold baptism by immersion for all.

On Saturday, May 10, 2025, Adventist Today will host a Zoom Conference on the use that EGW made of the writings of other people. The following link will take you to an article that will inform you of this conference and provide you with the codes that will allow you to join and participate in that conference. The Conference will begin at 10:30 AM Pacific time, 1:30 PM Eastern time. Donald McAdams has a strong background in early SDA research on this subject. https://atoday.org/atss-donald-mcadams-a-review-of-the-ellen-white-revisionist-history-since-1970/

Today, May 26, 2025, is Memorial Day that reminds us of those who have fought in war. The following book informs on a number of people who served in battle as Conscientious Objectors. Several of the mentioned people were Seventh-day Adventist. https://www.amazon.com/Conscientious-Objectors-War-Vietnam-Forgotten/dp/1682832600

Those who wish to purchase this from Amazon may do so at; https://www.amazon.com/Glory-Exploring-Ellen-Whites-Visions/dp/1479618152/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1V11FAF5MO95&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U3EgVpa8-lQVmO0kXzIhiw-5dLkh2vhoRNWKyKkX2XKhN3oBtqoJZ2tVHV5mN3j0V-8syCZ9Qs8Vbd2XdmJ0XMAqY-RGPC7U1ydh1b57ZigOmT3Ys-9r1xnn_DkV3pgxWa02Obc1MJSvCDhs-byEoZgpU7kWLjXfnEq0vy6JqAIxPMe3tz2VPhG_cH4WMpCTBoPDa1dOGOfiuAu1DjHxNjKKYzwRvIfRnaQR-WLk6Io.6ZXOKMY4PJcnYpta0w7dhE-o4HMViTRWi-dIFBwhGuc&dib_tag=se&keywords=Glory+Glory+Glory+Ellen+White+book&qid=1748262780&sprefix=glory+glory+glory+ellen+white+book%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-1 Amazon sells it for $34. I am unable to find our much about it. However, it does seem to have some academic credentials.

On Sunday’s lesson in the Sabbath School quarterly titled “Images from Marriage” (April 12-18), it ends with, “Here are three principles for marriage. First, forgive your spouse, however undeserving, just as Christ forgives us, however undeserving. Second, accept your spouse, faults and all. Third, just as Christ put us before Himself, put your spouse before yourself. How could all three of these gospel-based principles help us not only to understand how God relates to us but also to help any marriage?” See: https://atoday.org/rare-disclaimer-from-sabbath-school-quarterly-addresses-domestic-violence/ For comments on the above see: https://www.facebook.com/AToday.org/posts/pfbid02tMHATRmm9LMaFXTiZchoa9LC66YXnipbr3EwfkkPXHdFTE5jiFViwKhMjwK5whPjl