spreading 3 angels' messages
Someone has painted a huge new mural of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here is a 4minute little video of it:
Jesus’ resurrection painting
Please notice that i do not approve of the idea the painter has that somehow the dead “saints” were physically watching Jesus’ resurrection. They looked forward by faith, and in a somewhat similar way, we look back by faith.
Yesterday morning i went to a Sunday church called “Kohitsuji Chapel” in Nakamozu. A Seventh-day Adventist Sister had met the pastor last summer, and had given the 1858gc i had translated 10 years ago to him. After the service the pastor talked with me about a minute, very nicely, and i showed him the book etc. and asked him about keeping the sabbath. He said “If you take the Bible as it reads, Saturday is the Sabbath”. He looked down, changed the subject, and moved away soon after. May God work on that seed!!
That’s where i am now.
The flight from Nashville to Minneapolis was cancelled, so they put me on the flight to Atlanta, getting into Seattle about the same time as the other flight would have.
This is the first itme for internet above 30,000 feet – sweet 🙂 Then across the big pond.
There is always anxiety about change, and it gets more pronounced as one gets older. To have something stable, a place to put your stuff, familiar faces, familiar foods, familiar languages. God is so good to us, and knows just what each of us needs, and what we should do to further the advancement of his kingdom. I hope to stay in Japan up to 2 years, and save some funds to help start a little Bible school somewhere in SE Asia, and also to of course keep spreading the 1858 Great Controversy. Your prayers are desired.
Reading Jeremiah this morning, these 2 places really stood out:
Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
May all of you reading this be in good health, and may your path be right in the way of the Lord always until he comes and we have no more temptations and battles to face
Keep your eyes on Jesus,
Daniel
AZERBAIJAN: “You don’t need a licence to talk about chess or football, but you do about religion”
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
More than 15 police officers, as well as journalists with a video camera and a state religious affairs official raided the Saturday morning worship service of the Seventh-day Adventist congregation. Police questioned the ten church members present how much they were paid to be Christians, and two were given heavy fines, Protestants complained to Forum 18 News Service. Police insisted to Forum 18 the meeting had been illegal as the congregation is waiting for registration: “You don’t need a licence to talk about chess or football, but you do about religion.” Protestants complained about an Interior Ministry press release on the raid which said Adventists represent “a faith prohibited by law”. “Adventists have lived in Azerbaijan for more than 100 years and have never been banned,” Protestants told Forum 18. Fines for religious activity seem set to rise sharply if proposed amendments are approved in Parliament on 21 December. And a Muslim’s legal attempt to recover books confiscated by the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations has been dismissed – despite the confiscations being against the Constitution and law.
After initially denying that police from his department had raided a Saturday morning Seventh-day Adventist worship service on 11 December, an officer of the 4th Department of Sumgait police told Forum 18 News Service that the service was raided because church members did not have state permission to meet. “They weren’t praying – they were holding lectures,” the officer – who would not give his name – told Forum 18 from Sumgait on 16 December. “That’s propaganda of a religion.” Asked whether police officers would have raided and the court would have handed down heavy fines if the meeting had been about football or chess, the officer responded: “You don’t need a licence to talk about chess or football, but you do about religion.”
…………..
No doubt similar things will be seen in the land of the free, and home of the brave before long.
This link will take you to the whole story: SDA church raided in Azerbaijan.
I subscribe to Charles Tidwell’s newsletters that come out once a week, talking about missionaries to the FED and SUD etc. There are lots of interesting stories, and of course a lot of just telling what is going on with the families of former missionaries and obituaries etc. If you are interested, i can get anyone interested on the list. Anyway, just this morning i read a response by some man who is pastoring in western Nepal now. He said he had worked 2 years in the Himalayan hills spreading the 1858 Great Controversy with my pastor friend in northern India from 2002-2004.
Here’s his whole response:
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Pastor P. K. Tamsang, what a joy it is for my wife and me to learn of the seminar that you were able to conduct on those hills of Sikkim where we did most of the walking back in 2002 to 2004 with your translated book, “The Great Controversy” in Nepali language. I can see what could have happen with the impact that made such a great impact back in those days when we went door to door with health messages to begin our conversations and introduce ourselves as a witnesses of Jesus. Our hearts also delight learning that the those souls are till getting fed with the Word of God that we had to leave them after having stayed with them for 2 yrs before my call to the Western Nepal. Sikkim is filled with such a lovely and warm people I love them and would like to let you know that we often pray for them as we ventured a lot on those hills on foot. We want to thank you for caring for them and being amongst them and happy to know that you still have the GC in Nepali left for them….that is a great book that can serve as a great tool in that area as I myself have discovered that and was able to make impact on those hills.
Thank you and good to hear of the news that it is grown up to receive the Daniel and Revelation seminar. This indicates that the group that we left is getting stronger to be able to receive higher level of understanding of the scripture and the prophesy. Thank you. — Pastor Rajendra Gautam- Western Regions Nepal.
When i was around 6 years old, i remember going to the drug store with a nickel in hand, and buying a pack of happiness — baseball cards. It kind of turned into a hobby pretty soon, and my brother and i would often eagerly await dad coming home to see if he had bot us a new pack of cards. Sometimes he would make a treasure hunt out of it, making directions running all over the farm to the pine tree in the corner by the fence, read the next directions to walk west 100 paces, find another paper saying to turn north and walk 75 paces, etc. until finally the resting place was found. What excitement!
There was a game included with the 1968 cards, and we played, and played and played that game forever it seemed. We collected more of the 1969 cards, and lots of 1970, 1971, and 1972 also. By 1972 my brother was 17 years old, too old for this stuff. He was still extremely kind, and made up a whole season schedule of games for me for the “year”, but without him playing with me, it just wasn’t so much fun. That proved to be the last year for the cards, with only a pack or two bot in the years up to 1981.
In 1981, in college, one of my best friends was a card collector, and the bug hit me again, but this time – to make lots of money. I bot full sets of cards straight from Topps, Donruss, and Fleer for years 1981 and 1982. To keep the condition nice, i bot some plastic holders, and put most of the “stars” in them, and almost completed whole sets for 1970-1972. Then i graduated from college in 1983, and never collected cards again.
I moved to Japan in 1989, but the cards stayed at my folks’ house in Tennessee. After they died and we sold the property in 1998, i packed up all the cards and took them to my sister’s, who graciously allowed me to store them in the shed for awhile until i got anxious about the mildew, so they were kept in the basement until just last week when i took them out to sell them off. Somewhere along the way, within the last 12 years, many of the nice cards “developed legs”. I know i had 6 rookie Nolan Ryan cards, which at one time in the early ’90s were selling for over 600usd/each. And there were around 300 1968 cards, and more 1969 cards. They probably all developed the same legs, as they are all gone. What was left was just about 10 stars each from 1968 and 1969, then the 3 almost complete sets from 1970-1972 (without any duplicates), and a whole bunch of cards (1000?) from 1982.
In looking on ebay, i could see where asking price for a 1972 set was 1,800, and some of the other cards were quite high too. So i was hoping for at least some offers when i went to the Atlanta baseball card show today, but i did know already that the big companies i had contacted on the internet were not interested in anything after 1969…ut oh.
The first dealer i approached said “How much you want?” when i proffered the 1971 set and the box of left-over stars. I told him what i had, and about how much i was hoping to get out of everything, and he handed the set back quickly. The second dealer at least pointed me to someone who might be interested. You can kind of tell by what they are selling if they would be interested in cards from this era or not, and there were probably less than 10 dealers even in the running. Finally the 4th man says he is interested, but doesn’t have that much money on him, but would be interested in the unopened wax packs. I go clockwise around the room, and the last booth happens to be the dealer on highway 58 in Chattanooga that i had scoped out on the internet, and was thinking about visiting his shop on Monday if nothing turned up today – sweet! not. I knew this was not sounding good when he said there was one-too-many card shops in Chattanooga (there are 2 total). He asked me how much i’m looking for, and after about a 10-second cursory look, started telling me i’m basically crazy because the guy across the way is advertising whole sets for those years for about the total i’m hoping for, so i’m asking him to pay retail. I assured him i wasn’t, and saw that we were getting nowhere, and took the cards to the table across the way, actually the first table from a clockwise postion there, but i had somehow skipped the first time thru. I go over there, and immediately the man is interested. He is retired, and seems to be having fun doing this card business. He spends over 30 minutes just going thru my 1971 set and stars, which is a good sign, and then quotes a price just for that which is encouraging, so i go back to the truck to get all the cards and bring them back in. Well, the 1981 and 1982 cards are not interesting for him, but tells me that there is a Cal Ripken card in 1982 that is worth some money. So i sit down on some chairs in the hall of the Holiday Inn hotel, and listen to the Spanish chatter of the people coming out of the HerbalLife rally, and go thru about a 1000 cards looking for one certain “Cal Ripken”.
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南米での宣教師たちの実話。 パイロット、大学生、普通の社会人などはすべてを犠牲にして、イエス・キリストの福音を広めるため海外に行く。 皆ボランティアだからこそ、話しには説得力がある。 出る人は皆セブンス・デー・アドベンチストです。 収入なしで他国に行って、良い証しを見せてあげませんか。
このビデオはデビド・ゲイツが率いる団体「ゴスペル・ミニストリズ・インタナショナル」の作品で、僕が日本語に訳して、字幕を付けた。
After 4 weeks with still no contact at all from David Gates, the man who personally invited me to come volunteer at Gospel Ministries International, i sent him a email requesting information. He said i could call him, which i did just a little over an hour ago.
We talked for around 10 minutes, and the first half was cordial. His problem with what i had done was said to be with the posting of his replies to my emails which can be seen on the “Converging Crises Review” blog post. He believes they should be confidential, like this telephone call today, while i do not. Also, i do not believe his problem is really with his replies being posted, but with the content of my review pointing out problems in his sermon, as that is what Jon Wood was writing against in his first email to me about this.
When we are offended personally, or someone has done something bad just to ourselves, then of course, we follow the Matthew 18 counsel, and take it to them privately. However, the errors espoused in the Converging Crises sermon are open to the whole world. They have been spread by dvd, by youtube, by all the methods commonly available. So, to meet the error, the warning against it must be just as wide.
Written by Ellen White, in Notebook Leaflets:
When men endanger the work and cause of God by their own wrong course of action, shall they hear no voice of reproof? If the wrongdoer only were concerned, and the work reached no farther than him, he alone should have the words of warning; but when his course of action is doing positive harm to the cause of truth, and souls are imperiled, God requires that the warning be as broad as the injury done.
I read this paragraph to him, but there was no direct response.
Does my personal expulsion from GMI fit into this? – only as it shows that there are serious spiritual problems there with the leaders. About 7 minutes into the call, it was obvious that there was no hint of admitting of wrong-doing, and i said: “Please repent”. This created quite a firestorm, with a flurry of words explaining to me what a great work he is doing, and how you cannot condemn someone who has done 90% or more good things, and how many orphanages are being run, and how i cannot be the Holy Spirit for someone else (?!), how i’ve hurt other men of God (probably referring to Jeff Reich) and and and. Over the last 3 minutes of the call i probably repeated these 2 words 10 times, and then closed with a “good bye”.
This showed clearly the main reason why God led me here – to lift up my voice against sin. In the 5 months i’ve been back in America (longest in 12 years) i’m struck again and again by the arrogance of us Seventh-day Adventists, and the refusal to call sin by its right name. I believe this is why the Lord is allowing us to go off into all these errors, like conspiracy theories, unconditional love, don’t judge, etc. We don’t like it when we are told we have sin. Believe me, it isn’t pleasant for the reprover either! I would much rather just smile and say “that’s good, that’s nice” rather than do such an unpleasant task, but then, i wouldn’t be faithful to God, would i? Why should the stones get the glory of doing the work that God gave me to do, because he says even the stones will cry out if we don’t cry out against sin?
Testimonies to the Church #21:
But, as an ambassador of Christ, you are required to be faithful, to correct wrong in love, and meekness, and your efforts will not prove unavailing.
Soon after the telephone call ended, my thots were:
1. Luke 12:3 “Because whatever you said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you spoke to the ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
2. The pope is probably around 90% right too, and he is in charge of thousands of orphanages, so should we stop pointing out his sins?
After sleeping on this overnite, i have this to add:
SPTA12, A Message to Our Physicians:
A man standing in the high position of a leader, and yet setting an example of wrong-doing, advancing principles that God repudiates, will be taken in the snare of Satan. He may say wonderful things. He may visit the sick, help the poor, and go through the entire list of activities, and yet never bring honor to God.
When the ambitious leader empties himself of self-glory, when he repents and confesses his sins, when he brings himself into subordination, then there will be hope of him. Until he gains this experience, the Lord has no use for him. Self must die. The character that he has been forming for years must be changed; for his own purpose has been to gain his own way and carry out his own purposes.
Brother David, there is hope for you – please repent.
Just put up some pics of the lovely time spent in Japan in 2010. Thanks to all the lovely people and cherry blossoms and mountains and bicycle and …. that made it such a nice time to recharge my batteries 🙂
Japan pics here and at top left corner of this page
The Jericho Code by Juan Surroca (2010)
B-
This book, originally written in Spanish, deserves at least a “A” for content, but the very poor English precludes it from being recommended more highly. Read with a heart to know truth, it would cause us to have an “entirely different religious experience”.
The purpose of this book is to help especially Seventh-day Adventists understand more about Revelation, showing specifically that the 7 Trumpets have a final fulfillment in the future. This is something i have believed for many years too, and am fascinated to see others coming to the same conclusion from different angles, with additional insights.
The main focus is on the 7 Trumpets, so the author looks to the Bible itself to see if there are any other references to 7 trumpets. The connection with the fall of Jericho, and the trumpets, and the 7 times around the city is brought forth forcefully. Actually, the author makes an intriguing observation by writing “7+7=13”. Yes, the Israelites walked around Jericho 7 days, and 7 times on the last day, and yet, if you count up all the times together, there are 13. A re-reading of Joshua chapter 6 would be helpful in understanding this book. Just as the 7 trumpets in Joshua’s day immediately preceded the destruction of Jericho, so the 7 trumpets at the end time will immediately precede the destruction of the world.
He agrees, like i do, that: “The historical interpretation of the 7 Trumpets is correct”. He says he is trying to give a “second interpretation”, that i usually refer to as “final fulfillment”. Either way, the historical interpretation that the 7 Trumpets represents the Vandals and Goths and Muslims etc. is seen as God’s leading for the people in the 1844 movement, but with the increased light today, we see that not everything written concerning the trumpets has been fulfilled yet, here in 2010.
The book in Rev. 5 is shown to be the “Book of Life”, and he says the Book of Life is used to judge (Rev. 20:12), showing that we have been in the judging process since 1844 (See Dan. 7).
The first 4 of the 7 Seals are shown to be specifically for the people of God. A convincing case is made for this, as the words “sword, hunger, and death (sword, famine, and pestilence)” are said to occur in Scripture 25 times, and ALL 25 times refer to punishment for the people of God! So we see that AFTER the start of the Investigative Judgment in 1844, the Seals are broken, and we see the judgments on the people of God first. The 2nd seal’s parallel is found in Rev 12:17, the balance of the 3rd seal with Rev. 13:17, and the death of the 4th seal with Rev. 13:15. The 5th seal shows that the dead in Christ have been forgiven of their sins because of the Investigative Judgment.
What happens after the righteous dead are judged? The righteous living are judged – Rev. 7:1-3. Rev. 6:11 and 7:14 are compared, showing how the dead group is “given”, and the living group washes, and is “made”. This amazing connection, and in order as written, is explained in a beautiful way to make one praise God for making it so clear, and also making one scratch their head wondering why we SDAs have been so dull to comprehend this truth!
The 6th seal describes the lost, and the 7th seal describes the saved. Rev. 6:17 asks who will stand? and then Rev. 7 shows who will stand – the 144,000.
What happens between the prohibition to harm the trees and then allowing the trees to be harmed? – the sealing of the servants of God. This unequivocally places the 7 trumpets in the future. The first 6 trumpets will come, and then during the 7th, the 7 vials of the 7 last plagues will be poured out. Leviticus 16:12-13 is shown to correlate with Rev. 8:3-5, showing that this is Most Holy Place symbolic language, inferring the judgment of the living righteous in the Day of Atonement. The fire from the altar in Rev. 8 and from under the cherubim in Ezekiel 10 represents forgiveness and sanctification. Eze. 9 and Rev. 7 show the sealing, then Eze. 10 and Rev. 8 show the purification!
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The Heavenly Man, autobiography of Liu Zhenying, co-written by Paul Hattaway
A-
This Christian book of the year in 2003 is a gripping autobiography of a living, Chinese house-church leader and encourages and causes introspection for all those interested in knowing what it is like to be persecuted in the world today for being a Christian. Hard to believe for those of us living in free countries where you can worship anything or nothing at all, but this is a reality for many Christians around the world today.
Captivated by this book for approximately 6 hours one Sabbath afternoon, i followed down the life story of “Brother Yun”. Born into a poor family, where his mother had once been a Christian before Mao took over China, then fell away, then came back to Jesus, Yun started to hunger and thirst for the Word of God. A teenager, he was so anxious to have a Bible of his own, that he fasted and prayed many days for one, so much so, that his family became concerned for his health. Then, one nite, he had a dream of someone coming to his house bringing a loaf of bread. The next morning, an elderly man came and deposited a Bible with him! Stories like this, how God miraculously provided things and dreams and brought him into contact with just the right people at just the right time — this gives encouragement that Gid indeed is alive and working actively in the affairs of mankind today.
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Great balls of fire over Canada: NASA investigates
Ellen White wrote in a couple of places about “balls of fire”:
Other Manuscripts Volume Eleven
Cities Destroyed by Balls of Fire
In the night I was, I thought, in a room but not in my own house. I was in a city, where I knew not, and I heard expression after expression. I rose up quickly in bed, and saw from my window large balls of fire. Jetting out were sparks, in the form of arrows, and buildings were being consumed, and in a very few minutes the entire block of buildings was falling and the screeching and mournful groans came distinctly to my ears. I cried out, in my raised position, to learn what was happening: Where am I? And where are our family circle? Then I awoke. But I could not tell where I was for I was in another place than home. I said, Oh Lord, where am I and what shall I do? It was a voice that spoke, “Be not afraid. Nothing shall harm you.”
I was instructed that destruction hath gone forth upon cities. The word of the Lord will be fulfilled. Isaiah 29:19-24 was repeated. I dared not move, not knowing where I was. I cried unto the Lord, What does it mean? These representations of destruction were repeated. Where am I? “In scenes I have represented that which will be; but warn My people to cease from putting their trust in men who are not obedient to my warnings and who despise My reproof, for the day of the Lord is right upon the world when evidence shall be made sure. Those who have followed the voices that would turn things upside down will themselves be turned where they cannot see, but will be as blind men.
These words were given me from Isaiah 30: “Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” (Isaiah 30:8-15 quoted.) . . . .
I was instructed that light had been given me and that I had written under special light the Lord had imparted.–Ms. 126, 1906. (Diary, August 23, 27, 1906.)
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Review and Herald Vol.8 11-24-1904:
An Impressive Scene.–Not long ago a very impressive scene passed before me. I saw an immense ball of fire falling among some beautiful mansions, causing their instant destruction. I heard some one say, “We knew that the judgments of God were coming upon the earth, but we did not know that they would come so soon.” Others said, “You knew? Why then did you not tell us. We did not know.” On every side I heard such words spoken.
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Manuscript 102, 1904, p. 9. (Untitled Manuscript, a sermon preached in Nashville, Tennessee, July 2, 1904.)
Last night a scene was presented before me. I may never feel free to reveal all of it, but I will reveal a little. It seemed that an immense ball of fire came down upon the world and crushed large houses. From place to place the cry arose, “The Lord has come! The Lord has come!” Many were unprepared to meet Him, but a few were saying, “Praise
the Lord!”
“Why are you praising the Lord?” inquired those upon whom was coming sudden destruction.
“Because we now see what we have been looking for.”
“If you believed that these things were coming, why did you not tell us?” was the terrible response. “We did not know about these things. Why did you leave us in ignorance? Again and again you have seen us; why did you not become acquainted with us and tell us of the judgment to come, and that we must serve God, lest we perish? Now we are lost!”….
May God help us to stand, like Daniel, in our lot and place during the days of probation that remain. Parents, teach your children regarding the things that are coming upon the earth and lead them to prepare to meet their Lord in peace.–
Well, the time spent with Gospel Ministries International was a little over 3 months. It has now been 10 days since i was told to vacate the place, and as there seems to be no more news forthcoming about this, i guess this will be a wrap-up, at least from my perspective.
David Gates kindly asked me to join GMI at the General Conference Session last June, and i went to volunteer my service there in July. I helped with odds and ends, and learned video editing, went on a couple of trips to run a video camera, and spent most of the time with media.
A little over 2 weeks ago now, i received a email from one of the leaders “J” with a very angry tone about what i had written concerning Br. Gates’ sermon “Converging Crises” in March of 2009. I had emailed the review of that sermon to Br. Gates before posting it, and am glad to say that several people have seen this review on my blog, and were benefited by it. But this leader did not know about it (as he was not even involved with GMI then i don’t think).
It seems like probably that email went to several other people at GMI, and one person talked to me about the mocking tone in my post. While not agreeing to having done anything wrong, i did see after our talk that i had used two words that were wrong, and repented, and deleted them the next morning.
Then on Sunday evening, exactly 10 days ago, the manager of personnel (J) talked with me. About 3 or 4 minutes into his talk, he said that if i write anything slanderous on my blog concerning him, that he would sue me. I could hardly believe my ears, and asked if this was the spirit of Christ. After that, not much else even registered, as the spirit of the dragon was abundantly evident. Near the end of his 45-minute talk, he asked me if i know what happened to “tattlers” in his elementary school. I told him i didn’t, and he said they got beat up. Of all the people who have threatened me with bodily harm in the last 20 years, why is it that they are ALL fellow-believers???
He asked if i had followed Matthew 18 in pursuing problems i have with Br. Gates’ sermon. I told him i did follow the first part, but not the second part. I did mention during his talk that we should rebuke public sins publicly, but i did not push that point. That was my mistake. When error is propagated publicly, Matthew 18 does not apply, as it is not between “he and you alone”. Of course it is best not to show dissension among God’s remnant people, so we should try to settle differences without going public, but as the response from Br. Gates in March 2009 was showed no sign of even discussing the problems in his sermon, i published the review, hoping it would help others of God’s flock who have questions regarding the message.
I’m thankful that i did not raise my voice during the “talk”, something which i no doubt would have been eager to do if this had occured 25 years ago. So i thank God for working on my emotions. I mean, how can we get too excited about ourselves when we think of what our dear Saviour went thru – and at the hands of his own people?!
One of the strange things is, is that Br. Gates, the man who originally asked me to join, has not contacted me at all on this…. Two of the other leaders had a problem with what i had written, and i’m cast out. Is this the way a Christ-centered, Faith-based ministry should be run? The personnel director gave me two days to find a new place to stay, and i’m very thankful that a couple did take me in quickly.
My brother is glad that i’ve left a “cult” (in his estimation) (altho i agree “yes” men are the most welcome there), but i can definitely see the hand of God in leading me to GMI, and also in leading me out of GMI. The experience of living closely with like-minded believers is something that my growth in the graces of Christ needed. I hope i was able to be of benefit to them also. My prayer goes out for the leaders that are mixing error with truth, and more so for the torn sheep there who, like me, are desperately wanting to know the will of God for their lives. Praise God there are some who will follow the Lamb wherever he goes 🙂
Testimony for the Church Number 19 (1868) by Ellen White is now available on the internet over at http://earlysda.com/testimony/testimony-19.html It can be downloaded in RTF format by going to the Downloads page.
This Testimony is largely directed at ministers in the Seventh-day Adventist church who are basically just working for their paycheck. They may bring souls to Christ, but if they don’t have the living connection with him, they will lose their own soul. Exercise and fresh air are recommended, and then there is a section regarding fanatics. This applies directly to me, and helped me to repent this last week of something I have done: “They have no care to discriminate and render honor to whom honor is due. They manifest a proud, rebellious, defiant spirit against those who differ from their opinions.” While we must point out error and lift up truth, we should not do it in the wrong manner. There is the usual epistle to someone speaking against masturbation, showing how common this sin is among God’s people, and against “castle building” (living in dreamland), and then closes with an exhortation to attend yearly church meetings.
This particular book was taken from a photo-copy of a photo-copy of a photo-copy…. and as such, the original spellings were left as in the original. There are several spelling/typesetting mistakes, listed at the end. There are many instances of what i deem to be “spelling variations”, so did not list them. If there are other spelling/typesetting mistakes in this book, please email me.
As i personally scanned/typed this in, there are no copyright violations, and i make this Testimony available to be copied or printed with no copyright restrictions.
May it be a help to all of those who are walking on the narrow way, with their eyes focused on Jesus 🙂
Well, it wasn’t quite in so many words like that, but that was the intent of the advice i received yesterday.
Yesterday, October 16, 2010, was quite an interesting Sabbath, one which makes me seriously wonder if God’s church has much of a future.
Now i stay near what is considered a bastion of conservative Seventh-day Adventism, (at least by North-American standards) Southern Adventist University. After riding my bicycle around 30 minutes in the chilly, pleasant sunshine to the Iles gymnasium, where Samuel Pipim was scheduled to give the main sermon, i sat and listened to a Brother Golden Lapani from Malawi give the Sabbath School lesson talk about some of his life experiences. Supposedly, he has led 32,000 Muslims to Jesus Christ. Being very interested in that, i went up to him after his talk, and asked him personally what he thinks of some pastors using the Qur’an to reach the Muslim people. He said it is a good book, and i said it is a satanic book, and he asked me if i have ever read Romans. When i assured him i have, he said: “Paul says that to reach a drunkard, you must become a drunkard”. I assured him that nothing of the sort was written in the Bible, and asked him if Christ ever used the book of Baal-worshippers to reach the Baal worshippers? He replied that as far as he knows, there was no book of Baal worship in Jesus’ time! This was my first clue that he was not interested in discussing what he was doing, just wanting to tell people what he was doing. Then he said what gave me the title for this blog post: “You must become a sinner to reach sinners.” Well, i could tell that he was not interested in following what the Bible has to say at all, and after listening to him say “How many souls have you brought to Christ? I’ve brought 32,000!” and replying that if we have pride we will not be in heaven at all, i took my leave. What a deception! What a fatal deception! And the seemingly highly-educated lady standing near him would just agree vigorously with anything he had to say. So sad.
So a couple of friends and i walked over to the large Campus Church where they were showing a video on forgiveness. Seems that some young lady had gone to South Africa to help the poor there and gotten murdered, but her parents had been able to forgive the murderers. That part was very well and nice, but then they started talking about the dead girl looking down on them from heaven and approving of what they are doing! I got up and walked out. About a minute later, my friends came out too, saying that after i left, the video had the dead girl being reincarnated into her parents! And nary a peep from all the hundreds of church-goers there?! Lord, wake us up! Send us fire to burn all our stuff down if necessary, just save your people! Don’t let them all be put to sleep by the enemy!
Then we walked down to the Collegedale Academy church, where Clifford Goldstein was going to preach. As we walked in, i heard music coming from the meeting place very similar to what elders in my church where i grew up, told me that i would go to hell for listening to. And here it is inside the church now!! A smiling man at the door erased his smile when we told him that this kind of music is not from God. He assured us that the “words are good”, and that there are drums in the Psalms. (i can’t find that). We told him that this rock music is not what God wants for us, and then he started smiling/(smirking?) again.
We waited in the library for the heavy metal noise to stop, and used the time wisely and studied chapter 36 of the 1858 Great Controversy. After being bounced around from here to there by error during the morning, it felt wonderful to have a quiet, safe, error-free environment. It hit me how if this is what it feels like in a “strong” SDA environment, what it must feel like when all the forces of hell are unleashed on us in the future.
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