samuele bacchiocchi passes to the grave – rejoice!

Leave a Comment / sigh and cry / January 2, 2009


Proverbs 11:10
When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

Psalms 58:6-11 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. (7) Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. (8) As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. (9) Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. (10) The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. (11) So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

I believe that Samuele Bacchiocchi was one of the 10 most effective agents for Satan to ever name the name “Seventh-day Adventist”. I base that on his disdain for the Word of God – claiming that parts of the Bible are inspired and parts are not. In fact, that is precisely why i have quoted Psalms chapter 58 above, because that was one place in our email exchanges where he said was “just David speaking his own words”. Well sir, you are now dead, yet the words live on. And they will live on forever, because they are God’s words.

How could anyone have hired you to teach theology in our premier SDA seminary is beyond me, but shows the terrible results of desiring to be like the world and laud the degrees the world lauds. May everyone desiring to get a Bible-based education avoid Andrews University, and as far as i know, all other SDA seminaries like the plague. May we repent as a people, and never hire unconsecrated teachers ever again.

miss you

Leave a Comment / daily rambliniscings / December 31, 2008


T! Thanks to you and your mommy and daddy for letting me be so close to you for much of this past year. God has given me a very precious experience to be with you, and help you come closer to Jesus, and to learn the difference between right and wrong. It is so fun to see you grow up, and deciding for yourself what you want to believe, what you want to do, what you want to read and see. Probably i will never be a physical daddy to anyone, but i got quite a deep experience by taking care of you.

I hope you will gain a love for reading more than goofing off with drawing or playing games. Those things will lead to nothing, they are gone with the doing, but in reading, you will gain a lifelong friend, and of course, you will gain a love for the words of God, words of eternal life, that you will never have to be ashamed of.

I already miss going to the garden with you, seeing how close you can throw the coin to the wall, your monkey climbing, getting water, teaching you typing and reading, your simple laugh, your quick smile, your quick way you forgive others etc. I’m glad to see you not telling so many lies. I really want to see you in heaven, and since the Bible says that no liars enter heaven, i know you want to stop too, as you want to enter heaven.

Please learn more and more to try and help your mommy and daddy. Remember to always think about Jesus, and do what he would do. If you do that, you will always be safe. And then when you see Jesus coming in the clouds, you will be able to say “This is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us”.

Rejoice always
Pray without ceasing
In everything give thanks
Amen

super detailed great controversy proofreading

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / December 31, 2008


Arriving back in Bangkok on December 5th in one of the first planes to land at the newly-opened after the sitdown airport is very different from usual in one respect – usually there is a line of people to go thru the few immigration booths that are open. But this time there are more officers open to accept immigrators than there are immigrators coming into Thailand – ha!

Some poor taxi driver comes up to me outside and tells me that it is “only” 600baht to downtown. I tell him it is only 35baht by bus. He looks at me and says i’ve been here a long time, then looks down, dejected. I tell him i hope he can get some business soon, and he brightens up and walks away. Thai people are a very “maipenrai” people, not lingering long over things. One security man is playing games on his cell phone, and the other one is walking around smoking a cigarette with an absent look on his face.

My friends are ready at their 14th floor apt., working on the 1858 Great Controversy in Thai and Romanian. After the intense time in Myanmar with several hours each day spent in a complete detailed proofreading of this book, i’m in full-aware mode, and hit the ground running. It is so nice to see especially the Thai translator really giving this translation priority in her life. Up to now it has seemed like just about everything little thing has been an excuse to lay off work on this book, but now it the attitude is opposite – she’s got fire!

The days flow nicely, with at least part of nearly every day spent with this 1858 Great Controversy book. Even at the Bangkok Chinese Seventh-day Adventist Church, the studies i’ve held with around 7,8 people go well. The first Sabbath back is the last one with my only Thai church friends, and we part, encouraging each other to stay true to Jesus. The next week we finish the book, and all of us are quite moved at how God has planned to save us in a beautiful home forever and ever. I’m quite moved too at what the two sisters who’ve been the mainstay of our study group do for me. May God especially bless you two, and may you stay strong for him.
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myanmar musings

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / December 31, 2008


The first few days in Yangon were spent working diligently on the proofreading of the 1858 Great Controversy. I didn’t know how much time the translator could allot to this task, but he is very eager and willing to do this work and is giving pretty much his full attention to this work – praise God. On just one day we cover 6 chapters! He shows a few symptoms of catching a cold, so we break early the next 2 days. Still tho, we have finished the first 11 chapters in basically just 3 days. Ummmmm, at this rate we will almost finish the whole book before i’m scheduled to leave. Sure hope we can both stay in good health.

In walking around the city, it seems like even more shops are closed than when i came almost 3 years ago, and that there are more little stalls on the streets. Has the economy worsened? One morning in a group, one man says that the global economic difficulties don’t have much impact on Burma, because they’ve been in difficulties for 40 years! – ouch! But in an interesting way, he is very right. That interesting point, is when i think about why God allows this to happen. One possible reason that comes to mind, is that if everybody was plugged into the same economic system and thinking, it would be easier for Satan to get his one-world government going. But with some countries totally “out of the loop”, it is harder. Also, some very good qualities such as helpfulness and modesty are still practiced here, which are rapidly disappearing from richer-freer countries. It is so nice to walk around and not be greeted with belly buttons or vertical smiles.

The food for lunch every day is amazing. I’m pretty much used to rice with one cooked vegetable and one or two raw vegetables, but here it is like a full-course non-stop array of cooked veggies coming – eggplant with tomato sauce in oil, okra, some kind of curry, bean sprouts, little fried gluten pieces, etc. etc. I’m sure i’m going to gain at least one kilo from this 🙂

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arrival in yangon

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / December 10, 2008


Leaving my friend’s apt. around 10:40pm i caught a bus to Victory Monument, the biggest transportation hub in Bangkok to catch bus 551 which goes all nite to the airport. I walk all around the huge circle looking for that number on any bus signs without success, when i see a yellow bus coming with darkened numbers – 551 – yea! Butttttt, i cannot tell where it will stop in the huge circle, and i wait where i think it will come out of the circle, and sure enough, here it comes – vroooooom! I wave my hand, and the driver waves too as he drives right by – arghhhhhh!

What to do? I walk a bit down the same way, thinking that i will go to the closest bus stop and catch the next bus. I ask the lady in the VCD shop if bus 551 stops in front of her store, and she and several others have a fun time trying to communicate with me (at least the one lady smiled a lot). I gave her a pamphlet when i see the next bus going to the circle, and sure enough, in a minute it comes to pick me up 🙂

In around 10 minutes i see one of the most horrible sights in my life. 4 police cars with their lights on – OK, must be a drunk-driving test seeing it is 12:20 midnite – wrong. There is a form with a white sheet covering it and a slightly bruised motorbike already put up in a pickup nearby. Oh no!!! God, please comfort his family…….. All his hopes and dreams and family’s hopes and dreams for him, wiped out in an instant……. Next thing he knows, he’ll see Jesus…… Hope he is in the 1st Resurrection!

With a touch of dread i make it to the airport around 1:00 and try to curl up on a chair in front of the check-in counter as many others are doing. It is cold. After sipping a bit of cough syrup i drift in and out, not being able to drift anymore when two people on the chairs on the back side of me tell about their experiences in Thailand. After they get up, i rub my eyes and put on my glasses. Within one minute a visibly agitated youngish white man comes up to me, and tells me his story of how he was robbed the day before, and he has overstayed his visa and needs 2,000baht. My self-preservation indicator is pinging pretty solidly in the yellow area, but i think what i would want him to do if the situation was reversed, and after showing him that i only have 800baht on me, i gave him 600 and prayed with him. Later i saw some other man walking with him to the entrance of the immigration area, so i guess he was able to get the rest of the needed funds. Lord, please bless him and myself too.

Finally i check-in around 5:40, and go to the even colder boarding area where i get on the AirAsia flight to Yangon. I don’t have any bags, but notice on my boarding pass the RGN code, causing me a smile at how place names may get changed, but some things remain the same 🙂 The flight is around 90% full, amazing. I eat some bananas and gluten steak sandwich my friend made for me, and leave the starfruit alone as i spilled it out on the dirty pavement once, and forgot to wash it. Sorry to waste the one banana that went out to the sea via a grate to the sewer in Bangkok – ha!

My friend greets me at the airport, and things are very well, but hazy, now 🙂 Pray everything will go well.

upset tummy, short trip, dream

2 Comments / daily rambliniscings / December 14, 2008


Recent events….Sunday last week i made a great soup, and then went to bed. The husband of the place here and i were the only ones to eat it, and both of us had a spewing party all nite. With some charcoal and grape juice and raw eggs, we mostly overcame it, but still had a fever and nausea until Thursday, when, thankfully, just a day before taking a trip, we both got well.

On Friday morning we got up and left at 4:30 to walk 20 minutes to bus #77 to the northern bus terminal – Mo Chit. We caught the 6:30 bus and arrived in Tak around 1:15pm. Our friend met us, and we enjoyed a nice weekend in the countryside with the cows and chickens and birds and grass etc. My friend seemed so happy to have someone to be with him, as he is the only Seventh-day Adventist there, and he talked and talked and talked with the Thai speaker in our group from Bangkok.

I was able to have a 2-hour talk with the owner of the place (Avoda) on Sunday nite, going over some of the Bible texts showing that once-saved-always-saved is not correct. With some of the places he commented that it was “Old Testament”, and even eliciting smiles from me twice, once when he said Judas was not in the dispensation of the church, so he was lost, and also by saying that even people who hate God totally and would be miserable in heaven will have to go there if they ever once in their lives accepted Jesus as their Saviour. I didn’t tell him then, but it is putting the attributes of Satan onto Jesus, to say that no matter what you wish, once you do one thing you can never repent of it – in this case – once you accept Jesus, you must go to heaven even if later you regret your decision. Of course i believe that if your works do not live up to your profession, you will be found “wanting” in the scales when Jesus weighs your heart. But to think that there is no way to escape salvation if you once name the name of Jesus, even if you are like Satan who believes, you must go heaven – really strange doctrine!!!

But the stories this man has are really interesting, and i can see how the Lord has led him very far. He doesn’t want to just follow man’s ideas. He has started to believe that the Sabbath is a rest day, but still worships on Sunday. He doesn’t allow Christmas or Easter celebrations on his property either, angering many of his fellow Christians. I sure hope and pray he can come up to follow all the 3 Angels, and not just the 3rd.

Monday we had another 2 hour meeting, and i was bowled over to receive an envelope with money in it before i left – wow! even very few SDAs treat me this well! Please Lord, watch over him, and may he fully, completely, take hold of the truth. In my human understanding, it looks to me like his place could be a great center for training young people from all over Thailand to be strong Christians, and this country could really change. His dream is for 1,000 kids, and centers also to help the displaced Burmese people living in Thailand. It would be wonderful if we could join forces somehow. Lord, please work it all out to your glory. Break Satan’s power, and open up this man’s understanding to follow you completely.

On Saturday nite there i had a dream. I dreamt i was sleeping – sleeping in a big room with a high, long window, and my brother sleeping in a bed just a few feet away. There was a horrible, suffocating, dark, oppressive feeling over me. I could only choke out the sound “Jeeee”. Then a litte freer “Jesus!” Then i felt freer, and said “Jesus, save me!” Instantly i was totally free. What a great dream 🙂 Thank you Jesus, and always be near me. Thank you for hearing me when i call. And keep me from the attacks of Satan.

The bus back to Bangkok was uneventful, but travelling 6 hours without a stop is not much fun. I ate bread and raisins and fruit and peanuts on the bus for lunch, and then after changing to #77 at Mo Chit, ate basically the same thing again. Thai food stalls serve stuff that only looks like crap to me. I mean really, most of it doesn’t even resemble food to me – little fried somethings or round shape somethings in some unintelligible broth that looks more like something already digested and going to the waste treatment plant, rather than something about to be processed by a human.

Now i’m back in the high-rise apt. looking out on the 14th floor over the high-rises of Bangkok, reading about the Tower of Babel to the little girl who lives here. Seems a bit surreal. Still helping on the translation of the Thai and Romanian 1858gc books. Next week, Lord willing, i will be going to Myanmar to print this precious book there. Your prayers are requested.

God is love, Love is not God

Leave a Comment / christian study / November 4, 2008


This was the conclusion of a seminar last Sabbath at the Bangkok Chinese Adventist Church about “Unconditional Love”. Around a month ago, the pastor preached a sermon in which he mentioned this phrase, and one church member told him that was not Biblical. The pastor was quite interested in this, and invited two professors at the SDA seminary in Thailand (Mission College), to come and hold a seminar on this topic. He related how he had not believed in unconditional love when he first became a pastor, but after training at the SDA seminary in Singapore, he became a believer.

Both of the professors have doctorates, i think from Andrews University, the flagship seminary of Seventh-day Adventists. One of them was Dr. Kai, and the other Dr. Fanwar. My only prior exposure to these two men is that one time i listened in a Sabbath school to Dr. Kai’s good lesson, and one sermon at RAIS by Dr. Fanwar in which he said that “We have been told that David was a small boy when he fought Goliath, that he used a little sling, and that he won because of his faith in God. Nothing could be farther from the truth.” I asked him to repent when i left that meeting place.

The introduction by the pastor during church service in the morning was quite “pro unconditional love”, so i was expecting a multitude of words about how this doctrine is true and good, and the PhDs to add some scholarly remarks. Maybe i should say i was “hoping”.

Br. Kai led off with remarks that the SDA church has no official position on this matter. Then he mentioned that it is probably OK for each person to consider themselves as the most loved of God, but it can become a problem if we start to think we are more loved or favored of God than other people. All very well and good.

Br. Fanwar talked next about marrying and having a daughter. He unwittingly made the strongest remark i heard all day about how love is not unconditional. He mentioned how when he saw his newborn daughter, he knew that here was someone he loved so much he could give his life for, and also he would kill anyone who tried to kill her. It seemed to go completely over his head, and over most of the listeners’, that he had just given a strong statement that he doesn’t believe in unconditional love. Of course with his mouth he was quite adamant that he DOES believe in unconditional love.

Pastor Songrit, who called the seminar together, next got up and thanked them, asked for questions from the audience, and after one question, asked his own question, which was quite appropriate. He read Psalms 5:5-6 about how God hates the workers of iniquity. Wow. That is not dodging the issue at all. Br. Kai gave a comment mostly how some things in the Bible are hard to understand. Br. Fanwar gave a convoluted response, asserting that the translation was at fault, and that this text does not negate the idea of unconditional love.

I’m not sure if i was next to get up, or two later, but after one elder who asked a very strange question about how to tell if people really love their country or not, i got the courage to go up front. I agreed that God’s love is very big, and that the Bible talks much more about the love of God than his wrath, but i wanted to introduce some texts that show that God’s love is not unconditional. We read 2Chronicles 19:1,2, Hosea 9:15, John 14:21-23, and then i read a quote from 5RH 06-22-97 about Judas passing the barrier of God’s love. I thank the Lord that i was able to overcome the butterflies in my stomach, and give a straight testimony.

Br. Kai answered first, saying how he had once gone thru the Concordance and counted all the entries related to God’s wrath, and then those related to God’s love, and found that the “wrath” ones were around 100, and the “love” ones were around 80. Then he noticed that the “wrath” ones were usually against some specific object, and the “love” ones were universal in scope.

Br. Fanwar then got up and read something from the Testimonies to the Church, about how God’s love is like the air we breathe, abiding around us. “God’s wrath is his love as experienced by the lost.” What?! I thot God’s wrath was fire at the end time, and has been floods, hail, fire, stones, angels etc. in the past. He tried to make some connection between the air around us is unconditional so God’s love is too, and he can’t believe God would not do something good for the 97% of his fellow Asians who do not know him, etc. Totally unrelated. He closed with something about how God’s love is unconditional, but that doesn’t mean that he looks on the actions all the same. Of course this is to try and cover any questions about him believing that God will save everyone at last. But in this seminar, no one asked such a question.

The pastor ended the seminar with a nice statement about everyone learning things, and that perhaps more time could be devoted to this subject in the future. Then he said that he still believed in unconditional love.

Does it really matter what we believe? Is it really OK for some of God’s people to believe in unconditional love and some not to? I don’t think so. I see the ultimate end of believing this doctrine, and that is that all will at last be saved. Because how can God possibly burn anyone in the lake of fire, and keep other out of the lake of fire, if his love is actually unconditional? How can he love you or i or even his son Jesus any more than Satan himself, because, after all, “unconditional” naturally means that God would have to love everyone exactly equally.

What struck me most about this seminar, is the shallowness of the thinking of most of our church leaders and members. No one dug down to the meaning of the term, or the natural consequences of believing such a doctrine. And when strong texts were quoted showing that God’s love is not unconditional, they were mostly ignored, or assigned the status of “misunderstood”

May we study the inspired words to “show ourselves approved unto God.”

stock market “blessings” for sda church?

1 Comment / sigh and cry / October 31, 2008


Recently the Seventh-day Adventist church of which i am a member, held its annual council. Yes, i know the church has invested in stocks, even in hamburger companies etc., things that make a total mockery of God, but here is fresh information that we must repent, from our GC president down, if we wish again to have the favor of God. Oh Lord, please don’t punish us according to our sins, or there would be none of us left.
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“Our budgets are not built on the dollars we have,” Lemon noted, “but on the blessings we anticipate.” This means “we don’t know what effect the markets will have” on future income, he said.
….
A major portion of the Oct. 13 Annual Council discussion surrounded the world church’s operational funds equity investments. Some of these have taken a 30 to 40 percent “hit” in recent days, but they represent a very small portion of overall operating funds for the world church. Associate treasurer Roy Ryan said the purpose of most equity investments is to generate sufficient returns to compensate for inflation and to preserve purchasing power. Ryan said it is not prudent to attempt to “time the market.”

World church president Jan Paulsen agreed, saying the church “is as conservative as possible” with its investments.

what kind of land should God’s school or sanitarium be on?

Leave a Comment / christian study / October 31, 2008


Mothers should let little ones play in open air. Teach them from nature. Books may be used later. Let them also learn, even in their earliest years, to be useful.

The love of pleasure is one of the most dangerous, because it is one of the most subtle of the many temptations that assail the children and youth in the cities.

There is a refining, subduing influence in nature that should be taken into account in selecting the locality for a school.

While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance.

The most effective way to teach the heathen who know not God, is through his works.

…cultivation of the soil is good work for children and youth. It brings them into direct contact with nature and nature’s God.

Never can the proper education be given to the youth…unless they are separated a wide distance from the cities.

The natural and the spiritual are to be combined in the studies of our schools.

Testomonies for the Church vlume 6:
This land is not to be occupied with buildings except to provide the facilities essential for the teachers and students of the school. This land about the school is to be reserved as the school farm. It is to become a living parable to the students. The students are not to regard the school land as a common thing, but are to look upon it as a lessonbook open before them which the Lord would have them study.
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R&H 09-01-1904
A small building should be put up, in which the students can be taught how to care for one another in times of sickness.
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Pacific Union Recorder 09-23-1909
It will be a great advantage to raise on our own school land a large part at least of the fruits, grains, and vegetables that will be necessary for those in the institution…..At Angwin’s there are great advantages for us healthwise. The place is elevated, but is not too high. I found that the air was bracing, and that I could breathe freely. There is an abundance of clear, pure water, sufficient for all purposes.
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Talks and Sermons:
As soon as possible a printing press should be connected with our school, in order to educate in this line. Tent making also should be taken hold of. Buildings should be erected, and masonry should be learned. There are also many things which the lady students may be engaged in. There is cooking, dressmaking, and gardening to be done. Strawberries should be planted, plants and flowers cultivated. This the lady students may be called out of doors to do. Thus they may be educated to useful labor. Thoughtful, necessary work is essential for all to have to prepare them to be missionaries.
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SPTB17B (about Loma Linda)
“There is danger of our becoming too narrow. These many little houses close together across the railroad do not look well. If we can get land, and have room, so as not to build any more in that way, it will be better.
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10 OM
I have seen representations of several locations in high altitudes that should be secured for sanitarium purposes.
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11 OM
All through the mountains there were little valleys where families might locate and have a few acres of land for a garden or orchard.
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Madison was about 400 acres. Avondale was about 1,500 acres. Loma Linda was 76 acres, and later 87 acres then later 47 acres adjoining it were purchased. New England Sanitarium had 40 acres, but was in the middle of a state park of 3,500 acres. Paradise Valley Sanitarium had 20 acres. Huntsville (Oakwood College) had more than 300 acres. Sydney Sanitarium 70 acres. Pacific Union College 1,600 acres. San Fernando 10 acres. Berrien Springs (Andrews Univ.) 112 acres.

NOTE: It is often best to connect a school with sanitarium together, and to be away from the cities, but close enough to be able to evangelize there. The place should have a bit of a high elevation if possible, as that is good for health. Many of the properties purchased already had buildings, that with a little work, could be used for school buiildings or sanitarium buildings. Ellen White actually refused gifts of 100 nice, flat acres of land, saying that it was not suited for a school as there were no trees, and near a heavily travelled road.

“To Separate or not to Separate? That is the Question!”

Leave a Comment / book and video review / October 23, 2008

“To Separate or not to Separate? That is the Question!” by David M. Curtis.
Review: C-

This book’s purpose is to refute those who believe that we must separate from the Seventh-day Adventist church.

I support the major purpose of this book strongly.
My mother had her name removed from the SDA church in the 1970s, citing the medal to the pope as the last straw in an organization that is “no longer going down the same path as the organization i joined”. In my own life i’ve seriously considered twice the possibility that my duty to God may be to separate from the church. One time was over the tithe and trademarks, and the other time was over what my local church did to me. Both times after much study of the inspired word and prayer, i came to the same conclusion – i must stay with the church at this time. To separate because of what some local church does to me is just a personal “tit for tat” that cannot be of God, and to quit because of the tithe and trademark problem where the GC is not following God’s revealed will (and doctrinal errors that have come in), is not God’s will either. God’s leaders in Israel’s time even killed some of the prophets, yet Israel was still God’s people until they killed Jesus.

The Bible passage that helped me most in deciding whether to separate from the SDA church or not was Ezekiel 9. I definitely want to receive the seal of God in my forehead, and to get that mark, i must not only be sighing and crying for the abominations done in Jerusalem, i must physically be IN it.

Having said that, i do not know but that maybe there will be a message in the future to leave the church. That is my biggest problem with this book. In my heart i wish to give it a “A”, because the conclusion is correct – we should not leave the SDA church here in 2008.

The poor proofreading precludes that tho, and the use of very selective inspired texts pushes it down more. But the stated purpose of the book “To Separate or not to Separate?” is never fully come to grips with. The logic-killers to the author’s whole purpose are shown below in numbers 4 & 13. Truth is progressive, and if God gives the order in the future to leave the SDA church, we must follow. And the clearest example of “separation” in the Bible – the rejection of Israel – is strangely ignored….

So this book (actually small enough to justify calling it a “booklet”), is basically just a Ellen White CD run of quotes on limited topics.

Below are some quotes from the book with selected comments:

1. “The Midnight Cry of the 1830’s and 1840’s…”. Actually, the Midnight Cry lasted from around the middle of August 1844 to October 22, 1844. Ellen White writes in the 1858 Great Controversy regarding the Loud Cry: “This message seemed to be an addition to the third message, and joined it, as the midnight cry joined the second angel’s message in 1844.”

2. “To our shame there are entire web sites devoted to exposing every detail of our churches dirty laundry to the entire world. I pity the person who actually believes that this sort of thing pleases the Lord.”

True that we should not air private sins, but we should, and must, air leader-type denominational sins. As noted above, that is the only way to receive the seal of God in the forehead.
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regenerate northern thailand trip

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / October 23, 2008

One of my young SDA Brothers recently fell back into the world, so feeling compassion for him, and the knowing a bit of the strength of sin myself (!), went up to Mission College to ascertain his current state. and help him come back to Jesus. While there i had many good talks with students, finding that while most of the students are very worldly, some are deeply desirous of a closer walk with Jesus. The nicest thing, was that my friend has already repented, and is trying to keep that close connection with Jesus.

While on the campus i met the daughter of a good friend from Sabah. She had been handed over 5 English 1858gcs that i had printed there in 2005, and being down to only 4 copies myself, it was good to get replenished – thank you!!

The following evening, my friends came up with a pickup from Bangkok, and with several of us riding in the back with the computers and books, 4 of us sprawled spaghetti-like in the back, and endured over 12 hours of bouncing around. Actually, it was quite nice at first, with the rising moon providing a soft light for the rice fields and rows of shoplots that we passed. As the nite progressed tho, it got a bit chilly. As usual, i envied all the others who seemed to have little problem dozing off to sleep. How can anyone sleep when you are moving is beyond me, but i admit that it is within the realm of possibility. I finally got some sleep in the morning when we stopped at a relative’s house, and i drank some cough syrup 🙂

We arrived in Phrao around noon. One church member runs a fried-banana shop, and i ran over there to say “konnichiwa” to her. She and her husband lived in Japan for several years, so we usually speak in Japanese. She graciously presented me with some yummy fried-bananas, which i took back to everyone who were already starting to eat in the little vegetarian restaurant.

The pastor’s house is just a couple of km out of town, but is very large and old. It sits on about 1/3 acre of land with some lychee trees and a vegetable garden. Actually, he is just renting it – for 1,000thb a month (30usd). Most of the houses there are grouped together, surrounding large rice fields. Sometimes we could hear the chanting of the monks in the large temple nearby, but overall, it was very quiet.
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in malaysia-2008

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / October 23, 2008

This post is long overdue, as i left this country in September, but the strangeness of it all has kept me wondering what, if anything, i should write about.

The main reason i went was to help get the 1858 Great Controversy book translated into Chinese. A Malaysian lady of Chinese descent invited me to come so we could work together in translating the book. We had many emails before arriving, and she kindly asked a church member to let me stay at their place which they graciously agreed to.

Malaysia is my 3rd favorite country in the world, after America and Japan, as it is quite safe, full of good food, mostly cheap, nice climate, and best of all (in Sabah anyway) there are many on-fire Seventh-day Adventists.

After arriving at the small Senai airport that serves Johor Bahru, i called my pastor friend who quickly came to pick me up. I spent the first 5 days of my stay with him, traveling 8 hours by car to Kuala Lumpur. We took the back roads to avoid the tolls, which was nice, as we could see the countryside. The talks in the car were very deep at times, among the most interesting i’ve ever had with any pastor anywhere.
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in malaysia-2008Read More »

in cambodia

3 Comments / travel spreading 1858gc / September 26, 2008


Came by bus on Wednesday morning to Poi Pet, and spent the obligatory one whole day in a hotel. Everything looked about the same from 16 months ago, but glad the road was dry this time so just got dust instead of mud 🙂 Interesting to see that at the border anyway, everything is in Thai baht now instead of partly usd and thb as in the past. One thing that really irritated me, was that the visa officers would not, absolutely would not process my visa application for the 20usd as required. There was one shop on the Thai side selling Cambodian “express visas” for 1,200thb (36usd) which of course i declined, but could not get around the official visa officers. I asked the immigration officers after they stamped my passport if the visa price was still $25, and they assured me it was. When i told them i was forced to pay $25, they put their eyes down and mumbled something about “probably needing money”. Cambodia, you will never get strong doing bad stuff like this.

The bus ride the next morning on Captial Tour was supposed to be from 6:30 – around 1:30, but was from 7 – 3:30. The super-bumpy road to Sisaphon has been asphalted, so is very smooth now, so smooth in fact that the bus can stop 3 times for food instead of the normal one or two….. I was hoping to arrive in Phnom Penh and get to the pastor’s house where i’m staying by 3:30, as a group was waiting for me to introduce the 1858 Great Controversy to them, but didn’t make it until 3:45, after i had to point the way to the moto-taxi driver who had assured me he knew the place…right.

But this morning was nice in going to the Mission. I met a pastor who says someone copied the Vietnamese 1858gc for him, and now he is using that with his Vietnamese contacts – 17 members. Then the Mission receptionist called me in her office, and showed me the list she has for the number of books left in storage, and talked a bit about how they are getting spread around a bit. Then i met the man who is acting as director. He was very supportive, and said i could have the Mission morning devotional next Wed, Thur, Fri – so of course – the Khmer 1858gc will be the studied object 🙂 Also i got permission from the main Mission church leader to give a 2 – 3 minute introduction to the book tomorrow morning during church service.

All your prayers are very much welcomed and needed.

great calendar controversy

16 Comments / book and video review / May 12, 2009

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Recently i received a email from a faithful SDA Brother in India with an article attached titled “The Great Calendar Controversy”. The authors are eLaine Vornholt & Laura Lee Vornholt-Jones , who seem to be related, faithful Seventh-day Adventists living in Oregon.

The very short summary of the book(let) is that they believe the calendar was changed in the past, so the 7th-day sabbath we observe now is NOT the one that God ordained. Basically, they try to make the case that every time a new moon is observed, a new month begins, with the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and maybe 29th days always being sabbaths. So for example, according to the Gregorian calendar, sabbath may fall on Tuesday this month, Thursday next month, and Sunday the following month.

This is very much mistaken. The idea that the Sabbath is not every 7th day since creation is serious error. In fact, the 7th day – sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (they also don’t believe the sabbath starts at sundown) – that we keep today is the same one that Jesus kept, the same one that Moses kept, the same one that Adam kept, and the same one that God kept after creating this world. We will keep this sabbath all thru eternity.

To read my entire review, check the “articles” section on the right side of this column.