book and video review

A Call to the Churches in America, by Boris Sorokovsky – Review

“A Call to the Churches in America” by Boris Sorokovsky
Review A-

I just finished reading this 35 page booklet.
I split it up into 3 time slots, and finished it all in about 45 minutes.
During my supper break, I watched a YouTube video where a pastor in a church somewhere covered “A Call to the Churches in America”.

A Call to the Churches

https://youtu.be/EchJHxf3ZsQ
The middle half of the book was very interesting, and the first 1/4 and last 1/4 seemed to have a true message, except for one thing, and one other thing that gave me pause, perhaps some historical fudging, and then the thing about the Sabbath.

I really want something like this to happen. I would like to see the Holy Spirit working openly like in apostolic and Millerite days. It would be great to be part of something where one can be sure that God is directly leading. So I read with great wonder and happiness of the miraculous way God led this people. I like to watch videos of the “Old Believers”, many of whom are from Ukraine and Russia, and either still live in Russia, or else in Canada or America and even one group that went down to South America not long ago. Most of them are Mennonites and or Amish type people, and while I understand that they are somewhat different, I lump them pretty much all together in my mind. Just 2 weeks or so ago I watched a documentary on Old Believers in Siberia. It was quite fascinating.

Anyway, Boris Sorokovsky seems to be telling the truth about his parents’ and his personal experiences. I see no reason to doubt it.

God DOES raise up denominations

The one thing that is definitely not true is that he puts down denominations, saying that they are all man-made. We know from inspired writings that is not true at all. While it is true that just having your name on the church books does not guarantee that you will enter the marriage supper of the Lamb, we know that God personally raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church, blessed it, and considers it as the “apple of his eye”. There is no greater object on this earth that God holds in higher regard than the SDA Church. It is in a Laodicean condition, but it is still one of the 7 churches of God, and is not part of Babylon.

New The Great Controversy animated movie by Hope Romania

Hope Romania, a Seventh-day Adventist organization, has created a nearly hour-long animated film called “The Great Controversy”.

Having wanted to create a film on this book by Ellen White for around 25 years, I was very interested in this, and watched the whole thing at one sitting.

I don’t want to give away too much, but will say that the movie does NOT do justice to the book, as it is completely contrary to it in several places. For two examples, it implies strongly that Adam and Eve weren’t told by God the reason for sacrificing animals, and it also explictly says that the angels didn’t know about the plan of salvation until Jesus came to this earth.

But there are some good points to this film, and while I don’t encourage anyone to watch it, I will link to it here in the hope that someone may get inspired to want to make a movie faithful to The Great Controversy book in the future.
https://youtu.be/QLF_VrxbFwo

福音の解体新書 (ジャック・セクエイラ著。辻好文訳) の批評

「福音の解体新書」(ジャック・セクエイラ著。辻好文訳)の批評
F

部分的に見ればこの本は素晴らしい。 でも全体的に見れば、この本はサタンを喜ばすような本である。
この本の中で、そして今SDA教会の中で一番流行ってる過ちはこうである→

「神のアガペーは無条件の愛である」・・・「神が提供なさる救いも無条件のグッドニュースとなる」(p.16)。

違います。 これは真っ赤なウソです。
「彼らのすべての悪はギルガルにある。わたしはかしこで彼らを憎んだ。彼らのおこないの悪しきがゆえに、彼らをわが家から追いだし、重ねて愛することをしない。その君たちはみな、反逆者である。」ホセア 9:15。 「高ぶる者はあなたの目の前に立つことはできない。あなたはすべて悪を行う者を憎まれる。」詩篇 5:5。 過ちが人気であっても、神様の言葉が違う事を言うなら、どちらを信ずべきでしょうか。

批評を全部読みたいならこちらへどうぞ→
www.earlysda.com/nihongo/benkyo/fukuin-kaitai.html

神様の愛は素晴らしい。我々がそれを何かの行為で得られるんじゃなく、一方的に神様からまだ我々が離れてた時愛してくださった。 ハレルヤ! でも無条件ではない。 

サタンの過ちがどんどん狡猾になってきてるから、聖書に精通して、イエス・キリストに従っていきましょう!

2003年に書いたものです。

Under the Southern Cross – A Tale of the New World book review

B-
Deborah Alcock spins a novel that is quite plausible, of a Spanish monk who somehow winds up in South America to become a somewhat unwilling priest to Indian and Negro slaves along with a few Spanish overseers working in an extremely remote mining town. He finds joy in taking care of a young Indian of royal blood, and the story is woven around their interactions.

The writing style is pedantic, but that can be forgiven when remembering that this book is 120 years old, as long as Noah preached! What cannot be so easily dismissed however, is when the scene cuts to England, and the story of the Spaniard basically becomes the story of the Englishman. Of course there is eventually a connection, but the whole first half of the book’s building on the young, royal, Child of the Sun is mostly wasted as the ending leaves the reader wondering why he was even brought into the story, if he was just to be an afterthought at the end.

This book also has the very unfortunate distinction of being what was probably in the vanguard of the currently wildly popular: “White man bad, native Indians good” narrative. To be more precise, everything regarding the Spanish is looked down on, and the native Indians along with the English are depicted as honest, upright, trustworthy people.

I’ve read somewhere on the net that this is a series with “Walter Grey”, so will look more to see if there is a sequel that does justice to the introduction of the royal Indian – Viracocha.

“The Travels of Sir John Mandeville” book review

“The Travels of Sir John Mandeville” book review B

This book is said to be written by someone who was probably of some rank as a knight in France, but who lived in England a long time. It starts out with his voyage in the year 1322. How much of the book is based on his eye-witness accounts, and how much is based on what others told him (probably when drunk), is anyone’s guess. But in reading the book, it becomes obvious that no single person could have possibly seen all the places of even those places that are not obviously science fiction.

The English in the version I read was quite old, and I learned a new word (to me): “housel” while reading this book. Some people say that this book had, after the Bible, the biggest impact on the development of the English language in its time frame, up to about the time of Shakespeare. It is very interesting (but difficult) to read, as it has many fantastic stories, and is said to have had a great impact on later European, especially English thinking about the rest of the world. There is no doubt some truth in it, but there are so many ridiculous things, that one is tempted to lump it all together as the trash of a superstituous period in the Dark Ages, but if one reads with a mind to understand the people of that era, one can see that there is a desire for adventure and incredible things that matches our current society’s desire to be entertained with science fiction movies and TV shows. So how much of this book was treated as fact back then, and how much was treated as fiction, I don’t know.

Personally, I read the book because I was searching for travelogues written by people who visited Jerusalem before 1800. I’ve read several now written by people in the mid 1800s, but wanted to get something before that, so I could compare. This volume didn’t really meet my expectation in that line, as there is very little regarding Jerusalem itself, and it is mostly from a Catholic viewpoint, as the writer obviously is a died-in-the-wool Roman Catholic. Irritatingly, he even quotes Bible in Latin, as if that were some kind of holy tongue. And yes, in his day, it no doubt was seen as a holy tongue by the RCC. He says he wrote the book all in Latin, translated it into French, and then into English.

Here are some interesting quotes that also give a flavor for what kind of book it is:

” In that city (Alexandria) was Saint Catherine beheaded: and there was Saint Mark the evangelist martyred and buried, but the Emperor Leo made his bones to be brought to Venice.”
This is information, whether true or not, but gives an idea of what people 600 years ago probably believed about Mark’s end.

“in that chapel sing priests, Indians, that is to say, priests of Ind, not after our law, but after theirs; and alway they make their sacrament of the altar, saying, Pater Noster and other prayers therewith; with the which prayers they say the words that the sacrament is made of, for they ne know not the additions that many popes have made; but they sing with good devotion.”
He is talking about how there were a couple Christian groups from India in Jerusalem at that time! Of course “India” back then was much larger than it is today, probably stretching all the way including most of modern-day Saudi Arabia, but still it is interesting, and lends more force to the idea that Thomas went to India and evangelized the people there before he was martyred.

“And nigh that altar is a place under earth forty-two degrees of deepness, where the holy cross was found, by the wit of Saint Helen, under a rock where the Jews had hid it. And that was the very cross assayed; for they found three crosses, one of our Lord, and two of the two thieves; and Saint Helen proved them by a dead body that arose from death to life, when that it was laid on it, that our Lord died on. And thereby in the wall is the place where the four nails of our Lord were hid: for he had two in his hands and two in his feet. And, of one of these, the Emperor of Constantinople made a bridle to his horse to bear him in battle; and, through virtue thereof, he overcame his enemies,”
The parts about what later people did is probably true, showing some of the extreme superstition existing then, and also showing at least one reason why God hid the true crucifixion and other spots in Jesus’ life, because humans would idolize the physical, to the neglect of the spiritual.

“And there beside is the place where our Lady appeared to Saint Thomas the apostle after her assumption, and gave him her girdle. And right nigh is the stone where our Lord often-time sat upon when he preached; and upon that same he shall sit at the day of doom, right as himself said.”
There are many places where he shows his devotion to the Virgin Mary.

“Also a seven mile from Nazareth is the Mount Cain, and under that is a well; and beside that well Lamech, Noah’s father, slew Cain with an arrow. For this Cain went through briars and bushes as a wild beast; and he had lived from the time of Adam his father unto the time of Noah, and so he lived nigh to 2000 year.”
Really weird!

“And he said me, “Truly nay! For ye Christian ne reck right nought, how untruly to serve God! Ye should give ensample to the lewd people for to do well, and ye give them ensample to do evil. For the commons, upon festival days, when they should go to church to serve God, then go they to taverns, and be there in gluttony all the day and all night, and eat and drink as beasts that have no reason, and wit not when they have enough. And also the Christian men enforce themselves in all manners that they may, for to fight and for to deceive that one that other. And therewithal they be so proud, that they know not how to be clothed; now long, now short, now strait, now large, now sworded, now daggered, and in all manner guises. They should be simple, meek and true, and full of alms-deeds, as Jesu was, in whom they trow; but they be all the contrary, and ever inclined to the evil, and to do evil. And they be so covetous, that, for a little silver, they sell their daughters, their sisters and their own wives to put them to lechery. And one withdraweth the wife of another, and none of them holdeth faith to another; but they defoul their law that Jesu Christ betook them to keep for their salvation. And thus, for their sins, have they lost all this land that we hold. For, for their sins, their God hath taken them into our hands, not only by strength of ourself, but for their sins. For we know well, in very sooth, that when ye serve God, God will help you; and when he is with you, no man may be against you. And that know we well by our prophecies, that Christian men shall win again this land out of our hands, when they serve God more devoutly; but as long as they be of foul and of unclean living (as they be now) we have no dread of them in no kind, for their God will not help them in no wise.”…

“Alas! that it is great slander to our faith and to our law, when folk that be without law shall reprove us and undernim us of our sins, and they that should be converted to Christ and to the law of Jesu by our good ensamples and by our acceptable life to God, and so converted to the law of Jesu Christ, be, through our wickedness and evil living, far from us and strangers from the holy and very belief, shall thus appeal us and hold us for wicked livers and cursed.”
Here he is quoting what probably a Mongol leader told him. He tells how simply those people lived, and shows admiration for many aspects of their lives.

He often mentions the “Great Chan”, which no doubt is the emperor of China then, who was fabulously wealthy. Reading the account, even taking into consideration his penchant for exaggeration, it is clear that whoever told him about the Chan’s court and manner of living, saw it as much more advanced in everything than the Europeans’ of the day, except that only a few of his court were Christian.

“And some men say, that in the isle of Lango is yet the daughter of Ypocras, in form and likeness of a great dragon, that is a hundred fathom of length, as men say, for I have not seen her. And they of the isles call her Lady of the Land. And she lieth in an old castle, in a cave, and sheweth twice or thrice in the year, and she doth no harm to no man, but if men do her harm. And she was thus changed and transformed, from a fair damosel, into likeness of a dragon, by a goddess that was clept Diana. And men say, that she shall so endure in that form of a dragon, unto [the] time that a knight come, that is so hardy, that dare come to her and kiss her on the mouth; and then shall she turn again to her own kind, and be a woman again, but after that she shall not live long.”

“In one of these isles be folk of great stature, as giants. And they be hideous for to look upon. And they have but one eye, and that is in the middle of the front. And they eat nothing but raw flesh and raw fish.

“And in another isle toward the south dwell folk of foul p. 134stature and of cursed kind that have no heads. And their eyen be in their shoulders.

“And in another isle be folk that have the face all flat, all plain, without nose and without mouth. But they have two small holes, all round, instead of their eyes, and their mouth is plat also without lips.

“And in another isle be folk of foul fashion and shape that have the lip above the mouth so great, that when they sleep in the sun they cover all the face with that lip.

“And in another isle there be little folk, as dwarfs. And they be two so much as the pigmies. And they have no mouth; but instead of their mouth they have a little round hole, and when they shall eat or drink, they take through a pipe or a pen or such a thing, and suck it in, for they have no tongue; and therefore they speak not, but they make a manner of hissing as an adder doth, and they make signs one to another as monks do, by the which every of them understandeth other.

“And in another isle be folk that have great ears and long, that hang down to their knees.”
These are several examples of “science fiction”, meant, I believe, to amuse and titillate his readers with ridiculous stories.

According to Mandeville, Amazonia was a kingdom next to Chaldea, an island nation that only allowed females in it.

He tries to explain how worshiping images is different from worshiping idols (because idols are of imaginary things, he says!)

“And so say they of the sun, because that he changeth the time, and giveth heat, and nourisheth all things upon earth; and for it is of so great profit, they know well that that might not be, but that God loveth it more than any other thing, and, for that skill, God hath given it more great virtue in the world. Therefore, it is good reason, as they say, to do it worship and reverence.”
Here he’s making excuses for sun worship…….

I learned quite a bit about old English, old thinking (Prester John etc.), some probable facts about various places, and old tales in this book. It is very clear how superstitious Roman Catholic believers were. Yet in all that, there is quite a bit of tasty information to mull over, making this book worth the time to read.

黙示録 動画 きれいなスライドショーで字幕読みながら理解しやすい

黙示録は遠い昔の出来事とか遠い未来の預言とか言われて来たけど、映像をみながら聖霊の導きで自分で判断するのは神様が望んでる事ではないでしょうか。口語訳の黙示録をそのまま丸ごと載せて、適切な映像で新しい発見もあるかも知れない。

This is the entire Book of Revelation with Japanese subtitles, in a slide show.

どうか神様の言葉が理解され、世の終わりのために準備して、イエス・キリストの輝く顔の中でずっと永遠に暮らせるように祈っています。
「これらのことをあかしするかたが仰せになる、「しかり、わたしはすぐに来る」。アァメン、主イエスよ、きたりませ。」

David Gates explains “Even at the Doors” video (links to my video!)

David Gates has a video explaining his recent “Even at the Doors” video which has created quite a stir among fellow Seventh-day Adventists for its time-setting excitement that the Vatican will attack America in Spring 2019, and that the SDA Church will start persecuting church members in Spring 2019 also. As you might imagine, his main points are forbidden by what God has given us in Ellen White’s writings: “The times and the seasons God has put in his own power, and why has not God given us this knowledge?–Because we would not make a right use of it if he did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the great day that is to come. We are not to live upon time excitement. We are not to be engrossed with speculations in regard to the times and the seasons which God has not revealed.” 1888 Materials.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/yEFuPSEd-_4

10:40 Br. Gates, you are doubling down on your lie about a Sunday Law being hidden in the “Law of the Environment”. God has already told us thru Ellen White that the Sunday Law will come about – because the people will demand their legislators to enact a Sunday Law, thinking to get right with God.

13:00 He makes the ridiculous assertion that the SDA church is just one sentence away from “getting rid of the Spirit of Prophecy”.

15:10 His 83 year old father says he prayed and “the Lord has convicted me that what you have presented is correct”. But God’s words say that raising a time excitement will “greatly retard the work of God”.

17:04 “There are no time prophecies which can forecast dates. Even most of Ellen G. White’s comments regarding time prophecies were regarding the setting of a date for Jesus’ second coming. October 22 was – now there’s another date. And there’s no more prophecies. No more tests. Time will no longer be a test for God’s people as it was in 1844.” I have no idea what Br. Gates is trying to say here.

18:30 – A long hearsay story where supposedly some Vatican people gave a message about their real intentions to a group of Adventist missionaries.

21:00 He decries the fact that almost no SDAs pointed out the problems of the pope coming to America in 2015, but checking his channel and writings, there is nothing there either…

Dr. Ruhling (SDA) says huge earthquake to hit spring 2019, signalling start of end

I just made a post last week on Richard Ruhling’s video last week which had some good truth about the 42 months in the future, but lots of error too, where he predicted that the Abomination of Desolation happened on Sep. 23, 2015, so we should expect something of huge importance to happen in Spring (specifically – the 2nd Passover) of 2019. His video has gone “viral” by SDA standards, getting over 16K views in just 2 weeks. Now he has a new video called: “Lie or Death Issues Next Spring; Matthew 24 & 25 Revisited”: https://youtu.be/v1o8hjwbsB8 . Please understand that I’m reviewing his videos, as I see some truth about interpreting prophetic things for the future, not in the past as is standard SDA practice, and also see truth in the Feast Days, but hate to see him mix error – very bad error of time setting and wild, anti-govt. conspiracy theories, into the truth, thus making a more poisonous mixture. Here is my review:
———————-
3:10 “We saw this abomination standing where it ought not, in the U.S. Congress just 3 years ago. Hey, heads up! And 3 1/2 years would bring us to next spring.”
Matthew 24:15-16 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Since zero people fled into the mountains on September 23, 2015, we can know for certain that his interpretation is completely false.

6:10 He believes a huge earthquake will happen next spring, and this will be the signal.

6:35 He tries to pit what Christ’s said about no one knowing the day or the hour against Amos’ writing that God won’t do anything without revealing it.

7:55 He talks about the goodman’s house being “broken” and tries to make that mean by an earthquake.
Luke 12:39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
So we see that his interpretation here too, is false.

11:10 He tries to tie Numbers 9:11 to something important about the 9/11 attacks on America!

13:39 Here is the main point of his video, but it isn’t emphasized – He says to watch and see if Jerusalem is encompassed by armies next spring, then that is our sign to give the message “The Bridegroom comes”.

15:07 “It could be martial law. It could be the end of our freedom” (in talking about what might happen next spring.

15:33-
He goes off into wild conspiracy theories, saying that the Paradise, California fires were deliberately caused by the govt. using lasers.

17:00 He goes into the “Truther” conspiracy theory, saying that airplanes on 9/11 couldn’t have taken down the towers.

17:28 He goes into the conspiracy theory that “dark forces” are wanting to have U.N. troops taking over security in the U.S.
——————————
“The times and the seasons God has put in his own power, and why has not God given us this knowledge?–Because we would not make a right use of it if he did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the great day that is to come. We are not to live upon time excitement. We are not to be engrossed with speculations in regard to the times and the seasons which God has not revealed.” 1888 Materials.
.
Dr. Ruhling, by preaching against God’s words, is leading people away from God.
.
1888 Messages: Let none feel it his duty to make speeches in the presence of our own people, or of our enemies, that will arouse their combativeness and they take your words and construe them in such a way that you are charged with being rebellious to the government, for this will close the door of access to the people.
.
The Southern Missionary 1904-03-01: They (God’s people) are to purify themselves even as Christ is pure. When they understand fully the meaning of the prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, they will be so closely united with Christ that there will be no place in their minds for the speculative theories that spring out of nothingness and end in nothingness.
.
May we each read John 17 contemplatively today, and reflect deeply on what it means to be one with Christ, and one with each other, and leave all conspiracy theories behind.

Richard Ruhling’s prophetic interpretation says Loma Linda to be destroyed on Passover 2019

I first heard the name “Richard Ruhling” many years ago, as he was a doctor at Wildwood. Now he has a video response to Mark Finley’s rebuttal of David Gates “Even at the Door” video. Richard Ruhling’s response to Mark Finley’s video on David Gates

Here is my takeaway from his video:

2:43 He says David Gates moved to the jungle and cut off every support from the U.S. Then he comments on how large Br. Gates’ ministry is, saying that God has blessed him.
But just as I reminded Br. Gates when I called on him to repent in 2010 for saying the money in America would fail (it didn’t of course), he came back with how many orphanages and schools he was running, and I told him by that standard, the pope was really blessed of God!

5:20 “(Prophecy) can also be future”. Amen and amen!

6:00 He rightly shows that Mark Finley twisted the order of Revelation 13, trying to make it appear the 42 months occurs BEFORE the deadly wound is healed, when it is actually AFTER.

6:45 Unfortunately he goes into conspiracy nonsense with “New World Order” being written on our money means that those who “handle the money” know where things are going. I’ve studied this out, and that “New World Order” slogan was put there to show that we in America are under God and have a Republic, and not under the old papal monarchy system in Europe.

7:09 “I believe David Gates’ timing is correct too”. No it isn’t. September 23, 2015 was NOT the true Day of Atonement. Plus, this begs the biggest problem with Br. Gates’ sermon – he is getting up a time-excitement, which we are expressly forbidden to do.

7:43 He shows correctly that the Two Witnesses will have a future, final fulfillment.

8:15 He shows he believes that the 7 Trumpets are literal, future events – praise God!

8:35 “Those are early statements by Ellen White”. Here he makes an unfortunate error in trying to justify time-excitement now, by saying God’s commands to not do that were “early statements”.

11:04 He gives a very good explanation showing how we look to the experience of Israel coming out of Egypt to see what we are going to experience at the end time.

11:24 He talks against abortion, which is wonderful, but doesn’t touch on the fact that our SDA Church officially supports abortion.

14:42 “The evidence supports David Gates’ impression that next spring will be huge”. No, Br. Ruhling. You’ve just ruined your entire video by stating here that you are in favor of raising a time-excitement. Please repent.

David Gates says Rome to attack America, and SDA Church to persecute members starting in Spring 2019! (“Even at the Door” Error!

David Gates recently recorded a sermon titled “Even at the Door”. While he preaches many good things about the need to get ready for the end-times, and to get closer to God, his comments about Rome that “By Spring of 2019, it will begin its final assault on God’s law and people”, that the Judgment of the Living for the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began on September 23, 2015, and that basically the Holy Spirit has already been withdrawn from SDA leaders because they are persecuting members they don’t like — are all egregious errors that I am pointing out publicly, and calling on Br. Gates to repent of.

I admit that Br. Gates does much good, and preaches the straight truth most of the time, and has helped a lot in waking up sleepy Laodicean Adventists to seek a closer walk with Jesus. I even volunteered at his headquarters in Tennessee for 3 months in 2010, until kicked out for pointing out some errors in his teaching.

In 2008, he was preaching about the 7 years of plenty and famine in Joseph’s time, applying it to 2001-2015. Well, shortly after I left, something happened, and he quit talking publicly about these time-setting things that he’d previously taught with vigor. Of course nothing happened, so time itself proved him wrong. And yes, just as the Holy Spirit has told us thru Ellen White, when every time-setting date passes, it leaves God’s people in a lower condition that before.

I praised God that Br. Gates seemed to have repented of his time-setting ways, and his sermons from 2011-2018 that I saw anyway, were more Christ-centered than before. Of course, they weren’t “exciting” so didn’t stir up the donors much either I guess.

But then on October 17, 2018, he uploaded this new sermon, doubling down on his time-setting, conspiracy theory ways. Again, while there are many good things in it, I will be focusing only on the errors, to warn others of the dangers involved in his straying from the holy, inspired words of God.

First, let’s hear what God has told us regarding preaching time after 1844:
“There were many proclaiming a new time after this (1844), but I was shown that we should not have another definite time to proclaim to the people. …

I have been shown that our disappointment in 1844 was not because of failure in the reckoning of prophetic periods, but in the events to take place. The earth was believed to be the sanctuary. But the sanctuary which was to be cleansed at the end of the prophetic periods was the heavenly sanctuary and not the earth as we all supposed. The Saviour did enter the most holy place in 1844 to cleanse the sanctuary, and the investigative judgment had commenced for the dead.

I have been repeatedly urged to accept the different periods of time proclaimed for the Lord to come, [but] I have ever had one testimony to bear: the Lord will not come at that period, and you are weakening the faith even of Adventists, and fastening the world in their unbelief.
….
But their oft-repeated message of definite time was exactly what the enemy wanted, and it served his purpose well to unsettle the faith in the first proclamation of time, that was of heavenly origin.

The world placed all time proclamation on the same level and called it a delusion, fanaticism, and heresy. Ever since 1844 I have borne my testimony that we were now in a period of time in which we are to take heed to ourselves lest our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon us unawares. Our position has been one of waiting and watching, with no time proclamation to intervene between the close of the prophetic periods in 1844 and the time of the Lord’s coming. We do not know the day nor the hour, or when the definite time is, and yet the prophetic reckoning shows us that Christ is at the door.
Manuscript Releases p 178-180

Let’s keep the above in mind as we go thru the video.

17:58 “Many many shipments of guillotines have been shipped into this country and other countries.”
Well that’s pure conspiracy theory stuff.

20:28 “Rome and the United States…. they’ve already joined.”
No they haven’t.

31:09 “They (Catholics) have been controlling the economy (of America) already for a long time.”
This is just blatantly false.

33:36 “The Spirit of Prophecy…. is not considered inspired anymore….as far as the official church position.”
I’ve checked the 1872 Statement of Beliefs, the 1931 Statement, and 1980 Fundamentals. None of them say anything about the Spirit of Prophecy (Ellen White) being inspired. I believe she was, but our official “Fundamentals” have never said anything about that.

review of spy kitten’s video dissing sdas by saying they influenced charles taze russell of the jehovah’s witnesses

A review of a video by Spy Kitten TV, titled:
“A False Religion The Jehovah’s Witness Cult”. I’m not JW, but am Seventh-day Adventist, and as this video spends the first 7 minutes trying to tie in the false doctrines of the JWs with the true doctrines of the SDAs, this review is to show where the presenter made errors. Unfortunately, the video is so over-the-top, that it will not only work to establish JWs’ belief in their unbiblical doctrines, it also serves to make the non-religious look at all Christians as goof-balls (and I’m not saying JWs are Christians).

The following is where errors were found regarding Adventists:
1:05 The origins of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, along with the Seventh-day Adventists and both of their founders – Charles Taze Russell and Ellen G. White all go back to something called “the Millerite Movement”.
Actually, Russell was not born until 1852, so he could not “go back to” something that had finished 8 years before he was born! Fortunately, the video corrects this error at the 6:23 mark.

1:25 and that shortly after, Armegeddon would begin.
Actually, William Miller did not predict that Armegeddon would begin after Jesus came back in 1843 or 1844. He didn’t predict anything about Armageddon. This is just made up.

1:36 the date was further recalculated to March of 1844.
Actually, William Miller said from the first that the date was Jewish year 1843 – extending to March 21, 1844, based on the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14. He did not recalculate anything. An Advent believer, Samuel Snow, rightly calculated the Day of Atonement for October 22, 1844 as the correct day, since neither Miller, nor his detractors, thought to add one year for the zero year from BC to AD. That date correctly identified the end of the 2300 days in Daniel 8:14, but what was cleansed was the sanctuary in heaven, not this earth by fire.

3:07 her family (Ellen White’s) became involved in the Millerite Movement, the same as Russell would later.
Actually, Russel never, ever became “involved in” the Millerite movement. That movement finished long before he was born. Advent Christians and Seventh-day Adventists came out of the Millerite movement.

Lord of the World (recommended by pope Francis) review

Lord of the World by BY Robert Hugh Benson (1907) book review
C-
Since this book was recommended by Pope Francis, I thot maybe it would be worth reading to see if it would give any clues to what the papacy is thinking regarding the final events soon to take place. I think it does, but it is difficult to tell the reason that the pope considered this book important enough to warrant recommending to the world.

As a Seventh-day Adventist, I believe that the papal system is the great whore of Revelation who will rule the world for 3 1/2 years and severely persecute all those who go against her law to keep Sunday. So I was kind of looking for something on the Sabbath or something else about God’s commmandments. Instead, it was an entire upend on what the Bible has written about the Catholic Church’s role in end-time events.

Instead of the Little Flock being persecuted by the world-dominating Roman Catholic Church, it is the RCC which has become the Little Flock who is persecuted by a secular-humanist-socialist one-world government!

If you wish to read the book, you may wish to skip the rest of this review, as the entire plot is given away.

The story is set around the beginning of the 21st century, it seems. That’s right, just the time we live in now. As a science-fiction work, the only “cool” thing is something slighly less impressive than airplanes. So as a work of “future cool things”, it is sadly lacking.

But what is the message of the book? It talks about the object of secular education finally giving rise to a secular antichrist-type figure. In describing the rise of this secularism, it talks about the dying of patriotism, rise of pantheism, school teachers replacing prophets, psychology and materialism merging, and thru it all, there is the Freemason menace. Anyone with knowledge of Roman Catholicism knows that Freemasons are their mortal enemies. This part of the story is actually quite true.

The story is told thru several characters’ viewpoints, a young, rising secular politician and his wife in the UK, a couple of priests in the UK, and the end by a Syrian Catholic. The UK priest describes how it is to be a priest and have doubts and fears like everyone when the world is turning against everything you believe in. His methods are what the RCC traditionally does – self-exclusion, ecstatic self-contemplation where he experiences the heart of Christ and Mary and becomes one with the dead saints, does the Mass, rosary, etc.

Interestingly, Democracy is put on the same plane as the hated Freemasonry. Does this show the hatred the RCC has towards freedom? I think so.

The world is split into the East, Europe, and the Americas. The East is thinking of war, but a senator from America goes and calms them down, and then his secular rhetoric sways Europe, but interestingly, he is held in most suspicion in his native country of America. This part certainly reminded me of a certain political leader we have now (2015) in America!

The author can’t have it that the secular triumph will allow people to just do away with all religious symbols and doctrine, so he has them making images and feasts, festivals, and beautiful speeches about free will etc., calling to my mind what actually happened in the French Revolution. Again, as a book of science fiction, there is little imagination displayed.

He goes over several things that he seems to find central to the Roman Catholic faith – the mass, the prayer, the rosary, and Jesus Christ. I was surprised to see Mary was not put on a tall pedestal, but she is honored quite a lot in the book. The secular govt. installs four new festivals of Maternity, Life, Sustenance and Paternity. Somehow here, to me, the author is showing the importance the RCC places on festivals/feasts/celebrations. Then, he writes something quite interesting, saying of this secular govt.: “Sunday worship was to be purely voluntary.”

Pantheistic worship is inaugurated, the antichrist embodies everything Christ is except the individual becomes subordinate to the group and nature itself. This is interesting, as actually it is the RCC that tries to force people to become subordinate to the group and nature.

Then Rome is destroyed by the secular govts of the world to destroy a cancer and make everybody of one mind and heart, Europe forsakes Christianity. The pope moves to Israel. The only Christians left are all RCC.

The final part of the book is quite mystical/spiritualistic. I got to where I just skimmed over several pages, as it is gobbledygook about feelings. It seemed like it was promoting spiritual contemplation – mystical nonsense.

It ends somehow. Reading it, I still couldn’t tell what happened.

My overall take is that it is a middlin’ book, not worthy of notice if the pope had not mentioned it. The main takeaway from it as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian who knows that the papal system is the first beast of Revelation 13, and the great whore who sits on many waters that has killed more Christians in history than any other single organization, and will rule the world for 3 1/2 years inflicting terrible persecution on God’s people again, is that it turns prophecy on its head by trying to make the RCC out to be the Little Flock, and the secular-humanistic-Freemason-Atheist world as the main persecuting power in the end. The fact that Protestants are never even mentioned in the book except once to say “Protestantism is dead” is highly significant to me. In the same paragraph it states: “There are a few faddists left, especially in America and here; but they are negligible.”

This is my main take on the book – the writer paints the Roman Catholic Church as the only Christian group, that “faddists in America” are neglibible, and that the RCC must take the fight to the secular-humanistic world to win all for Jesus.

Now that’s some science fiction for sure!
—————————————-
Let’s be “faddists” for Jesus, and keep the flame of the Protestant Reformation burning bright to the end when we see Jesus come in the clouds and take his little flock of those who keep his 7th day Sabbath (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday), and all his other Commandments, Statutes, and Judgments to heaven to live with him forever.

Jesus Christ, true Lord of the World and the whole Universe!

“Second Advent Waymarks and High Heaps…” by Joseph Bates

A+
Joseph Bates was one of the co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist church. He was the driving force not only in getting the fledgling movement to accept the 7th day Sabbath message, he was also the pioneer in getting the SDA church to follow the health message, perhaps to a fault.

I’ve just typed in his book called: “Second Advent Waymarks and High Heaps, or a Connected View, of the Fulfilment of Prophecy, by God’s Peculiar People, From the year 1840 to 1847” by Joseph Bates (1847), and put it up on the internet. link to book

The most striking things to me about it are the documentation of the arguments used against the SDA movement, the way that nearly all of the former Advent believers rejected their experience in the 1843/1844 movement, the study by Joseph Bates into the holy days of God, and the way of looking at world events and interpreting them to mean that the final end has come (something we SDAs still are prone to do).

May this book be a blessing to all, as we learn from our history, believe it, and move to higher planes as Jesus leads.

1888 Materials by Ellen White

1888 Materials by Ellen White
A+

After nearly 6 years, it is done.

I started reading the 1888 Materials while in Thailand in 2008, and reading on and off for 5 years, finally finished all 4820 paragraphs on New Year’s day 2014. I wanted to give expression to what I learned from that reading, so planned a video, which finally, this week, I finished. The video is around 1 1/2 hours, so I split it into 3 parts and put it up on Youtube.

Adventists who have studied anything about the 1888 experience, know that it was mainly about Jones and Waggoner coming with the message of Righteousness by Faith, which the leading men in the SDA church then did not fully accept at that time. Other than that, there are many conflicting reports on what actually happened, with some publications even going as far as to state that the General Conference accepted the message!

Here, from Ellen White’s writings, we see that not only did the SDA leaders not accept the message, most of them were also actively working against Ellen White. Interestingly enough, while Ellen White basically supported the message of Jones and Waggoner, she mentions most pointedly that the main issue here was NOT about the Law in Galatians, but about coming together in a spirit of humbleness to work together with our brethren to seek what the Lord would have us learn.

So in this video, I have highlighted the quotes that seem to show the main points of the 1888 Materials, and the lesser-known quotes, as well as some quotes that just struck me as interesting/unusual. Being that my focus is what it is, you will find a preponderance of quotes that show that the leaders in the General Conference were in the wrong then, because these types of quotes are rarely, if ever, quoted from our pulpits. Also, I show the many quotes where Uriah Smith was one of the two ringleaders in this debacle, as many of us SDAs tend to view Uriah Smith’s books as almost inspired.

If you like the videos please give them a “thumbs-up” on youtube, so they will display higher when people are searching for videos to watch.

May we not repeat the mistakes of those in 1888, and may we always be humble to accept light thru whatever channel God pleases to send it to us.

Part1 of 1888 Materials
Part2 of 1888 Materials
Part3 of 1888 Materials

“Feast Days & Sabbaths” by Joe Crews review

Feast Days & Sabbaths, Are they still Binding? Joe Crews 1980s

C

This is a booklet (originally 32 pages) on the subject of whether or not we should be keeping the feast days today by a man who is regarded as one of the straightest in his theology among conservative Seventh-day Adventists from around 1970 to his death in 1994. He is the founder of Amazing Facts, a biblically centered organization that is known for its “conservative” “solid” theology. I too respect Amazing Facts very much, and consider Joe Crews to be one of the greatest champions of truth in the latter part of the 20th century. His book “Creeping Compromise” is still the standard among SDA literature for showing how our church has become Laodicean, and calling on us to repent, lift the standards, and let Jesus come in.

I was challenged to study into the feast days/holy days of the Lord in summer of 2010 by my cousin’s husband. He wasn’t a keeper either, but said he couldn’t see where they were abolished in the Bible. I did some surfing on the net, and quickly found this booklet by Br. Crews. Respecting him highly, read thru it quickly, and it confirmed what i’d always been taught and believed – the ceremonial system was abolished at the cross. I told him the results of my study, capping it with Colossians 2: 14-17, and Ephesians 2:15, and told him that settled it for me.

The next year i decided to really study deeply into whether or not October 22, 1844 was the actual date for Jesus to go into the Most Holy Place in heaven. I believed so, but wanted to know exactly how to arrive at that date. My journey led me to the Grace Amadon collection of material. The General Conference had gotten her and several other people including top theologians Froom and Andreason into a group to calculate carefully the date in the late 1930s. They did a very thorough job.

In reading their material, and of course other material i could find on how the Millerites came to the conclusion that Oct. 22, 1844 would be THE day, i slowly came to the inescapable conclusion that it all hinged on the actual day for the Day of Atonement that year. It depended on:
1. When the new year starts
2. When the month starts
3. Everything by the Hebrew calendar

There are lots of detailed charts and explanations about conjunctions and translations etc., but it keeps going back to the point that everything hinges on whether or not new moons and such have any relevance at all today. Being taught that everything related to that ended at the cross, it was very discomforting to realize that our denomination’s deepest roots go back to the moon phases of the Hebrew calendar!

That realization made me study more into what the holy days were all about. It soon became clear that our current teaching that they ended all significance at the cross is totally mistaken. For example, the disciples did not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on just any old day, but exactly on the day of Pentecost. This is irrefutable evidence that the holy days had significance after the cross. Of course Oct. 22, 1844 had great significance too, and that is all tied into a holy day.

To the review:
He shows clearly that the 10 Commandments are not part of the Mosaic law. Good. But then he quickly turns on the Mosaic law and says that while the 10 Commandments were not done away, the “ceremonial law of statutes and ordinances came to an end when Jesus died”. He quotes 2Kings 21:8 to try and distinguish between “God’s law”, and “Moses’ law”. Inadvertently or not, he has now set up God against Moses.