daily rambliniscings

Important Facts of Faith, in Connection with the History of Holy Men of Old (SG3)

Before the flood there were immense forests. The trees were many times larger than any trees which we now see. They were of great durability. They would know nothing of decay for hundreds of years. At the time of the flood these forests were torn up or broken down and buried in the earth. In some places large quantities of these immense
trees were thrown together and covered with stones and earth by the commotions of the flood. They have since petrified and become coal, which accounts for the large coal beds which are now found. This coal has produced oil. God causes large quantities of coal and oil to ignite and burn. Rocks are intensely heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. Water and fire under the surface of the earth meet. The action of water upon the limestone adds fury to the intense heat, and causes earthquakes, volcanoes and fiery issues. The action of fire and water upon the ledges of rocks and ore, causes loud explosions which sound like muffled thunder. These wonderful exhibitions will be more numerous and terrible just before the coming of Christ and the end of the world,
as signs of its speedy destruction.

Coal and oil are generally to be found where there are no burning mountains or fiery issues. When fire and water under the surface of the earth meet, the fiery issues cannot give sufficient vent to the heated elements beneath. The earth is convulsed–the ground trembles, heaves, and rises into swells or waves, and there are heavy sounds like thunder underground. The air is heated and suffocating. The earth quickly
opens, and I saw villages, cities and burning mountains carried down together into the earth.

“Nine yeas ago, in January 2003, while serving as a missionary in Beijing, China, Han began copying out these texts, a process he calls ‘transcriptions.’ As of October 2011 he had copied he text of the Bible seven times, as well as a series of the Conflict of the Ages books, and ‘Testimonies for the Church. Han said the hours he spends transcribing are the most joyful moments in his life.”

http://www.savethestorks.com/

The pics are mostly in chronological order, with one pic taken in 2005 stuck in the middle, and several taken by someone else at the Kobe Seventh-day Adventist church (where i volunteer teach English on Tuesdays) stuck at the end. There are few from Korea and Hong Kong in the mix too.

It would be unbelievable if not laid out so clearly. This video today has struck me, showing how God is definitely at work today in the world, working openly. May we repent individually and as a nation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcsv4t9SzTg

This exchange showed nearly all the things adults in Japan think about God: He doesn’t exist, if he does exist, he is just one of many which are good or bad, Jesus was just a good man, you go to heaven when you die, etc. The whole thing only took around 4 minutes, and i quickly went into the English lesson/games, but i was singing in my heart the rest of the day that God provided this opportunity for me.

From the web: Wieland obituary … Robert J. Wieland passed away on July 13, 2011. Elder Wieland was a true Seventh-day Adventist who lived a long life of service and sacrifice to further the gospel. To his ministry the Seventh-day Adventist church is deeply indebted. The current and strengthening interest in the messages of Jones and Waggoner and deepening study into the message of Christ’s righteousness is to no small extent a result of the courageous work of Elder Wieland.

In 1950, Elder Wieland and Elder Donald K. Short served as missionaries in Africa. At that time they both stood as delegates to the General Conference held in San Francisco. When a call was given for delegates to communicate their concerns or advice to the elected leadership, Robert Wieland had something to say. With a deep soul burden of the work of God, he wrote a letter of concern about misunderstandings of the gospel that were infiltrating the church. His colleague, Donald Short, assisted him with advice and much prayer. Elder Short decided that he would also sign the letter, so Elder Wieland changed the pronouns and added the second name.

The two missionaries were asked to stay in America for further review of their document and of their position in the church. In the meantime, they prepared a more complete disclosure of their concern in a manuscript for church leadership that would be known as 1888 Re-Examined. Ultimately, church leadership discerned that Elders Wieland and Short were being faithful to
their calling as Seventh-day Adventist pastors and missionaries. The men were sent back to Africa to continue in service. From that point on, the names Wieland and Short became inextricably linked together. They were leaders in calling for the Seventh-day Adventist church to gain all the blessings God intended when He sent us the “most precious message” which was presented at the Minneapolis General Conference in 1888.

In the providence of God, the 1888 Re-Examined manuscript passed from one person to another, stirring many minds. Conscientious Seventh-day Adventists began to understand that the reason why Christ’s coming had been so long delayed was to be found in our failure to appropriate the blessings that were contained in messages God sent through Jones at Waggoner at Minneapolis. Many church leaders, who felt good about the status quo in the denomination, worked to quell
and stifle the concerns. Numerous books and responses to the 1888 Re-examined manuscript were written asserting that the “1888 Message” of Christ’s righteousness had already been widely accepted in the years since Minneapolis. These claims rang hollow as the denomination descended into deeper division and controversy concerning the nature of the gospel itself.

Wieland and Short, for their part, worked vigorously to bring to light the hundreds of testimonies Ellen White wrote with regard to the 1888 message. They also worked to make the message available through publishing Jones’ and Waggoner’s books and sermons. In addition, they demonstrated clearly how this message is supported throughout the Bible.

What have i made of this life God has given me? What’s the point of it? I’ve used some of it to hurt my creator. I’ve used some of it to help people. Why have i wasted most of it? Will Jesus come back before i return to dust? Am i going to be able to live thru the Time of Trouble, and be one of the 144,000 who will never die? Will the gates of eternal life be opened for me, or do i have sins that need to be burned up in the lake of fire?

I’ve collected 5 pics, each representative of a 10-year period of my life.

sucker born every minute
Life was fun, as i remember it. Yes, there were awful times of parents screaming at each other, and i remember a Seventh-day Adventist pastor from the Madison, Tennessee church come our house when i was 3, and yell at my mother for studying the “Awakening”, after which my father tried to kill her and i, but life had many fun things – playing plastic ball, riding bicycles, then heading into the countryside at age 7 – oh, what a great time in nature! It was “normal” to me, but now i realize, it was a very special thing my parents did to help me develop a good character out of the city. My mother loved to study the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, and i will always, always thank her for instilling a love of the truth in me.

super cool
After around 2nd grade, i was always the runt, so had to make up for my shortness by being a clown. I loved to read, and made excellent grades in class, but i was also a cutup, having to write “I will be good in school” 500 times. Even there i “improvised”, by making the “L”s just 2 lines down the page. Growing up in the countryside, i had few friends come to play, so i became good friends with the chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, rabbits, cows etc. Yes, i had good friends, and see now how this period really set the stage for the rest of my life. Generally i prefer to be alone and study, make good friends (but no girl friends) have a problem following orders from other people when i don’t agree with them, like to keep on the move, enjoy pinching pennies, like writing better than talking, slow to catch on to new things, hopelessly lost when it comes to understanding emotions, clueless on how the world really works from man’s point of view with “tit-for-tat” and “backscratching” etc., and enjoy tackling difficult things. I remember, even now, that the ages of 10-12 or so were the best of my life – free without big responsibilities, and yet starting to get a brain that could think things thru. Lots of days were spent playing in the creeks, building houses, feeding chickens, playing baseball and football and card games etc.

official winters clan 1984
The 20s was the decade of the biggest changes in my life. I graduated from the university with good grades, and got a job in Atlanta as a computer programmer. True to form, after 3 months i decided paying rent was a waste, and so, with the help of my brother and sister, i bot a house. Sure, my car was a heap as all the other college graduates who went out and bot new cars, but after 5 years, their new cars were heaps, and i had a worse heap, and a house that had appreciated in value. I was crazy to make money, spending lots of time poring over stock markets and futures, working nites and Sundays delivering pizza, and even buying a lawnmower to cut yards for extra income. Fortunately, the Lord led me to consider what to really do with my life, and i chucked it all to go to Japan to work in Country Life Restaurant Osaka, with a reduction in income of 90%. It was scary, without much income, and not knowing much of the language, even tho i had studied for over a year before going. It really drove me to the Bible.

Bible study with homeless friends in osaka
I started picking up English students, studied Japanese hard, made lots of friends who were nearly all of the women variety, and learned a bit about emotions, especially when my mother and father died. I moved back to America a couple of months before my dad died, and then stayed around a year, and when i worked at a translation company, was, for the 1st time that i can remember, praised effusively for my work. Even tho i had been a “missionary”, it was hard to distinguish me from the world with my choice of music, and watching movies. During this time tho, slowly, the Lord was leading me to better things, and both the bad music and movie love was cut during this time. Spending 4 months in India really opened my eyes to how Christ and Satan are battling it out in this world, showing me many important things about how this world really works from God’s point of view, instead of man’s. Loving Japan, i moved back and had one of the biggest experiences of my life – working for the SDA church, and getting “parted” when i brought homeless people to church.

spreading God’s words
My time in Japan was very nice, and i continued to teach English, getting up to around 60 students. My life became increasingly oriented around the 1858 edition of The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels, by Ellen White. This book woke me up more than any other to the realities of what is really happening from God’s point of view. Spending 2 years in on-n-off translation, i finally completed the Japanese version, and printed 5,000 copies. This would become the start of my life-work, spreading this book in the various languages. After leaving Japan, i travelled for 5 years, with nearly 1/2 that time spent in Thailand and India. It was hard travelling — In 2009, i spent the nite in 41 different beds, 10 nites on a bus, 4 nites on an airplane, 1 nite on a train, and even paid for 1 nite in a dormitory in Istanbul. When people hear i’ve been to around 35 countries, they usually say: “You’re rich, so you can do that”. But when i tell them the facts that i only spent a little over 6,000usd all year, and around 1,500 of that was to print the Romanian 1858gc book, they nearly always stay quiet… Looking back, i think how risky it was to just jump off, and also how audacious it was to think that others would be interested in helping spread this book too. But God’s ways are very mysterious, and he did provide people to help push this book forward. By God’s amazing providence, the book is in 27 languages now, with 3 more in the pipeline. While in Thailand, i had the fortunate opportunity to be a daytime “father/teacher” to a little girl. It was a precious experience, which taught me much about the love, patience, and forgiving heart of God, and also how much he loves it when we are humble, honest, simple, and quick to obey. Probably never getting married or having kids of my own, i believe God moved on my friends’ hearts to allow me that opportunity to get to understand God better 🙂

What does the future hold? I don’t know. Lord willing, i want to earn some money for a few years to help out others in the world who are spreading the inspired words of God in the 1858gc book, and then start or help with a Bible school probably in SE Asia, but trust God that he will do the best for me that i need, especially trials and tribulations to make me focus on him.

I love you Jesus. You’re everything i need, and the only thing i have. Jesus, please forgive me for all the pain and suffering i’ve caused you. I’ve strayed so many times. Yes, the outward appearances may look righteous, but you know my heart. All the evil that has found its way in, please purge it, and make me clean, whiter than snow. May my words and actions and thots all be focused on you, so your Holy Spirit can abide in me, and i in you, and we can be one.

UN document would give ‘Mother Earth’ same rights as humans

kill a mosquito, get death?

Bolivia’s president has already signed into law in his country this action for a false god, and is set to foist it upon the whole world.

In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, 10 “commandments” are set out as Bolivia’s plan to “save the planet” — beginning with the need “to end capitalism.”

Reflecting indigenous traditional beliefs, the proposed global treaty says humans have caused “severe destruction . . . that is offensive to the many faiths, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures for whom Mother Earth is sacred.”

It also says that “Mother Earth has the right to exist, to persist and to continue the vital cycles, structures, functions and processes that sustain all human beings.”

In indigenous Andean culture, the Earth deity known as Pachamama is the centre of all life, and humans are considered equal to all other entities.

These pics i took yesterday and today. If anyone wants to come and visit Japan at the most beautiful time of the year, please let me know! Also, if you want any of these pics bigger for a background or something, just leave a comment and i’ll try to put it up on the net somewhere, or email it to you 🙂

日本の美観を知りたいなら、桜だ！　この写真は神戸と大阪で撮ったものです。

white blossoms, blue sky ahhhhh

lunch box in japan

opened box lunch

getting an appetite

getting ready to eat

lunch under sakura

pretty day eating under sakura

sakura in big city of kobe

The tiny booklet, a little smaller than a modern credit card, is sealed on all sides and has a three-dimensional representation of a human head on both the front and the back. One appears to have a beard and the other is without. Even the maker’s fingerprint can be seen in the lead impression. Beneath both figures is a line of as-yet undeciphered text in an ancient Hebrew script.

Astonishingly, one of the booklets appears to bear the words ‘Saviour of Israel’ – one of the few phrases so far translated.

The owner of the cache is Bedouin trucker Hassan Saida who lives in the Arab village of Umm al-Ghanim, Shibli. He has refused to sell the booklets but two samples were sent to England and Switzerland for testing.

My mind is carried up through nature to nature’s God, and I adore him who has created such scenes of beauty; but I know that if I love God and keep his commandments there is “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” awaiting me in the kingdom of Heaven. Beautiful as are the landscapes of earth, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” God designs that we should contemplate heavenly things, and that we should dwell upon the attributes of his character, till we see matchless charms in our God, and become changed into the same image. When we are renewed in the spirit of our minds, we shall have no disposition to murmur at our lot; the praise of God will be welling up in our hearts continually. The solemn responsibilities that God has laid upon us for the salvation of souls will absorb our whole heart and mind, and we shall have no time to talk of our trials and sacrifices. Oh! we must wash our robes of character from every stain, in the blood of the Lamb, and prepare for the great day of God. We must not wait till the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven before we make our calling and election sure.

This Youtube movie shows the eery similarities between Nazi Germany and today’s Muslim world: Muslim-Nazi similarities