Here I stand
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When Martin Luther dared to disagree with the known church at the time, he said plainly: "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." Following convictions can be hard to do, "with Christ, all things are possible". I pray that I'm standing today.
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Consider, then, three reasons given for Sabbath observance and how they are related. We observe the Sabbath on the seventh day in recognition of the fact that God created in six days and rested on the seventh. We also observe the Sabbath on the seventh day because God is the one who redeemed us, saved us in Christ. And also He is the One who sanctifies us, which comes only from the creative power of God, as well.
Theories, therefore, that deny the six-day Creation tend to diminish God’s grace and magnify the value of our own efforts to be good enough in order to be saved. The Creation story reminds us of our total dependence on grace and the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ in our place.SDA Adult Sabbath School Study Guide, Jan,Feb,Mar 2013. See also Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Ezekiel 20:12, Exodus 31:13, Isaiah 58, Isaiah 66:22-24, and Hebrews 4. -
If those who profess to be Christ’s followers, and to have the light of truth, are not careful to present that truth to others in a proper manner, those who are in the darkness of error will see no beauty in it. In carrying a lantern on a dark night, to light the way for one who is following, the bearer sometimes becomes careless, and permits his person to interpose between the light and the one whom he is guiding, and the darkness of the way is rendered more intense to him from the temporary light that has been shed upon it. So with many who essay to present the truth of God to others; they hide the precious light with their own defective characters, which stand out darkly conspicuous in their deformity, and turn many from the truth. The characters of the professed followers of Christ should be so admirable, and their deeds so exemplary, that the world will be attracted toward a religion that bears such fruits of righteousness. They will thus be led to investigate and embrace its principles from the fact that the lives of its representatives shine forth with such holiness that they are the beacon lights of the world.2SP 215.1
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Bedtime in the City
At the end of the day, always tired from the race-
Did I see truth beat darkness, or just keep pace?
You said Your word is light, to cast out the night
But its time for bed, and I wonder, was my path bright?
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden,
You see this island too, I know its no Eden,
But Your people here - do we (lamp)stand out,
Or are we hiding under baskets of our own little lives?
Lord, today was I filled with Your flavour?
Walking home all that salt was under my feet.
I wonder now - that salt was on the ground to melt the snow,
We should not be underfoot, we should be on the go.
Just not tonight, because I came home thirsty and now its time for bed.
Please keep me safe, then wake me up, and in the morning fill my cup.
Make me light, and make me salt, they will see me- and You they’ll exalt.
(inspired by Matthew 5:13-16)
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Bon Sabbat, Feliz Sabado, and Happy Sabbath. Find rest in the day that is blessed, and be satisfied in the One who sanctifies.
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Wow. This is pretty interesting stuff about Adventist literature being changed/edited to convey a different message altogether in China. Especially 13:30-15:00 about Martin Luther! What?! It poses the question, why Adventist literature specifically? Is it because we keep carrying on the Protestant reformation, even after other churches decided they had come far enough from catholic doctrine and would move no farther?
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Make a difference…Tuesday (sorry I’m a day late). Recently, a group of members at my new church (inbox me if you are from or visiting Montreal and want to know about the church) started praying at 6:00 a.m. every morning. Noticing that many people drive by and walk by in the mornings, it occurred to me that if everyone knew we were praying, some people might just get curious and join us. So today, I made a difference by making this sign, so that passersby have a better idea of what exactly they are passing by. Have a wonderful Tuesday! Would you like to share how you’ve made a difference this past week?
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On Friday, I had a student who was told by his doctor that there was an 80% chance that he would not see out of his left eye again. Now, by God’s grace, and after ALOT of prayer, he was told he WILL see again. How great is our God?! Restoring sight to the blind, even in 2012. If you were one who sent up a prayer, thank you.
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Quote reblogged from crushed glass in your cerealThis doctrine [of natural immortality] can be traced through the muddy channels of a corrupted Christianity, a perverted Judaism, and pagan philosophy, and a superstitious idolatry, to the great instigator of mischief in the garden of Eden. The Protestants borrowed it from the Catholics, the Catholics from the Pharisees, the Pharisees from the pagans, and the pagans from the old serpent who first preached the doctrine amid the lowly bowels of Paradise to an audience all too willing to hear and heed the new and fascinating theology: ‘Ye shall not surely die.’
Dr. Amos Phelps, (1805-1874), a Methodist-Congregationalist clergyman and professor of Yale University.
(via polishedmud)
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One semi-cold morning about a year and a half ago, a small group of friends met to pray on the roof of a building under construction in the wee hours of the morning. To pray for God’s Spirit to be poured out in their small church in their small town, to pray for unity, and mostly to pray specifically for the store that would soon be opening under that roof, that it would be a light and a witness in the community. There was a moment during a song they were singing when they all looked up, smiling. The sun was rising, and was casting direct rays of light across the little group, it was beautiful. The words they had just sung? “we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground, We’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground, To fairer worlds on high, To fairer worlds on high, We’re marching to Zion….”. That was beautiful.
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Apparently, according to the risk management policy of the SDACC, large parties traveling together are booked in several different flights. Why? Because if the plane for GAA goes down with all the staff on board, we not only lost staff, but we lost a school. Now, That is a dire thought….
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It should go without saying that if an Adventist school is not first and foremost seeking to establish their students in a personal, saving relationship with Christ, the blessing that those schools receive from God will be less then it otherwise would.How to kill Adventist Education (and how to give it a fighting chance) by Shane Anderson
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Good morning, new followers on Tumblr,
My name is Tammy and I love food (the apple) and food (the Bible). To see many of the other things I love, feel free to take a look through my blog. You can also check out the short but somewhat more detailed autobiography I wrote for my new followers last month here.
Blessings, and I’m very glad you found my blog.
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Sometimes it’s easy to get so caught up in our own ideas of what we should be doing, and how we should spend our time, that we forget those around us. As Christians, we must remember that we are not our own, but we were bought with a price.
Tonight, as I was getting ready for bed, early (8:30) I received a call from a friend who needed to talk. By the end of our conversation, I realized that letting Jesus use you to love those around you is as much a blessing to you as it is to others.
Did your life make a difference today? It’s never to late…
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A song for Sunday, and its appropriate to the theme of New Years Resolutions too, I believe. ”Goodbye Old Man” by Melissa Otto.
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Good morning, Johnny.
So, I was going to simply go about my day doing some of the planning and organizing I had really hoped to accomplish before the onset of the weekend, however alas, my mind keeps going to 1 Peter 3:15 “But Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” I know this is very long. I am sorry, and I thank you for taking the time to read it.
I am not always good at meekness (the ‘on her tongue is the law of kindness’ bit convicts me every time I read it), but judging from what I have read of your blog, I think it may be something both of us have struggled with in the past. There’s hope, and with that, please pray before you continue reading, as I prayed before I started writing.
Lets start with what a Christian is. According to Dictionary.com (we gotta start somewhere) a Christian is “ A person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent to Christianity; A person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ”. Based on the first definition, I can call myself a Christian. Based on the second definition I can pray that Christ in His mercy, with the Holy Spirit, will transform me into a Christian.
Now, you said “Since we don’t believe in the same Jesus, you cannot be a Christian - at least, not in the same way that I am.” You would be right, if we believed in different Jesuses (I have never seen that name written in the plural form, and I have a feeling that the capitalization on a plural form of that word just seems strange). So let me tell you first about the Jesus I believe in. As to not reinvent the wheel, I am taking this straight off of the SDA fundamental belief website:
“Trinity:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)”“ Son:
God the eternal Son became incarnate in Jesus Christ. Through Him all things were created, the character of God is revealed, the salvation of humanity is accomplished, and the world is judged. Forever truly God, He became also truly man, Jesus the Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived and experienced temptation as a human being, but perfectly exemplified the righteousness and love of God. By His miracles He manifested God’s power and was attested as God’s promised Messiah. He suffered and died voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, was raised from the dead, and ascended to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf. He will come again in glory for the final deliverance of His people and the restoration of all things. (John 1:1-3, 14; Col. 1:15-19; John 10:30; 14:9; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; John 5:22; Luke 1:35; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:9-18; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4; Heb. 8:1, 2; John 14:1-3.)”“Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ:
In Christ’s life of perfect obedience to God’s will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement for human sin, so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life, and the whole creation may better understand the infinite and holy love of the Creator. This perfect atonement vindicates the righteousness of God’s law and the graciousness of His character; for it both condemns our sin and provides for our forgiveness. The death of Christ is substitutionary and expiatory, reconciling and transforming. The resurrection of Christ proclaims God’s triumph over the forces of evil, and for those who accept the atonement assures their final victory over sin and death. It declares the Lordship of Jesus Christ, before whom every knee in heaven and on earth will bow. (John 3:16; Isa. 53; 1 Peter 2:21, 22; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4, 20-22; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15, 19-21; Rom. 1:4; 3:25; 4:25; 8:3, 4; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Col. 2:15; Phil. 2:6-11.)”In all of this, I see nothing that presents a problem to what I think you believe in other than the “and ascended to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf” bit; to which I will say 1) Does that Change who we believe Jesus Christ is, or is it superfluous when compared to the principles of salvation by grace through faith in Christ? and 2) Hebrews 8 and 9 (Christ is our high priest and our sacrifice, entering into “the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man”, the ultimate and perfect sacrifice to bridge the separation between us and God caused by our sins, once and for all and forever our mediator of the new covenant).
Do you believe in that Jesus? I truly, with all my heart, hope so, because that Jesus has saved my life, and without that Jesus, I have no reason to continue living.
Now, while we are on the subject of what Adventists believe that may or may not make them heretical Christians, there are two places I would like to go with this. The first is simply to clarify, in your blog, you have a “Statement of Faith”, in which you say “If you deny the doctrines below, you deny Historical Christianity, and are not a Christian”. Biblical Christianity, my friend (solo scriptura) is not necessarily Historical Christianity, and when choosing between the two, I will choose Biblical Christianity(which is why I liked the way you answered my questions on Catholicism). And I believe that you agree with that statement. As for these things, I agree with your statements of faith A-E. When it comes to point F, I agree that Jesus is the judge, and I agree that His saved people will have eternal life. I also believe in a resurrection of the dead in the last days into a glorified body, which logically defies the idea that these same individuals were already in heaven prior to the end days. It also ties into a lengthy Bible study on the state of the dead and Hell. Both of which Adventists have interesting views on, both of which we get from our Bibles, And both of which do not determine whether or not we are true believers in Jesus Christ. How do you see these views as a) Salvation issues or B) contrary to who Christ is? So I will move on.
The second is to go to a book written in the 1950’s by the ‘main stream’ Christians of their time called “Questions on Doctrines” in which many church leaders sat down with leaders of the Adventist church to see if they could consider them Christians or not. Again, I will not reinvent the wheel. I will use this book to some degree to address your concerns, and, just to skip to the end, they decided we are Christians.
1. What is the actual teaching of Seventh-day Adventists regarding the “scapegoat” in the sanctuary service? Do you hold that the sins of the righteous are rolled back on Satan, so that in the end he becomes your sin bearer?
We take our stand without qualification on the gospel platform that the death of Jesus Christ provides the sole propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10); that there is salvation through no other means or medium, and no other name by which we may be saved (Acts 4:12); and that the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone brings remission for our sins (Matt. 26: 28). That is foundational…
2. It has been charged that Seventh-day Adventists hold the same belief as do the Jehovah’s Witnesses concerning Michael—that Michael the archangel was Jesus Christ prior to His incarnation, and that he was a created being. Is this accusation valid? If Michael is Christ, how do you explain Jude 9?
“We emphatically reject the idea set forth in this question, and the position held by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. We do not believe that Christ is a created being. We, as a people, have not considered the identification of Michael of sufficient prominence to dwell upon it at length either in our literature or in our preaching. But we do have clear views on the subject, and are prepared to set them forth. And our views concerning Michael, it might be added, have been held by various eminent scholars through the centuries. We are therefore not alone in our understanding…”
3.Sorry to be so generic with this one, but aside from the fact that I don’t believe you can call my faith heretical for having a conviction that God has a specific Sabbath day in mind when He laid the principal of Sabbath, this question can take awhile to answer. Because it is not central to the question of what Christianity is, I will simply link you to the question from the book which I think will most thoroughly explain our beliefs on the subject. : The Christian world generally holds (1) that the moral law is eternal and has not been abolished; (2) that the Sabbath principle, anchored to the creation week, especially in the distinction between the six-and-one days—marking them off by divine authority for different purposes—is likewise permanent and eternal; (3) that the specific seventh-day time element is but ceremonial and typical, and therefore temporary—being fulfilled and abrogated by Christ at the cross; and (4) that there is a clear continuity between the Sabbath of Old Testament times, based on creation, and the Lord’s day of the New Testament, based on redemption, with the redemption rest greater than the creation rest. What is the position of Seventh-day Adventists on these four points?
4. I am going to put this one on hold due to my own personal studies on this subject (and to some degree the lack of enough of them) and because the answer is going to be a lot bigger than 12 words and a specific date in a sentence.
5,6,7, and 9. Again, I will say that I do not believe these issues are issues which would constitute defining a set of beliefs as Christian or not Christian, and because they are all interconnected, and I’m on 3 pages now, I will not address those at this moment.
As for number 8, have you heard of Akiane, the child prodigy who (as most believe) gets her inspiration from God? If God will give such an amazing and inspiring gift to this child, is it so strange that God would still give the gift of prophecy? Its true, I do believe that Ellen White was gifted with the gift of prophecy, and my prayer is that as the Holy Spirit is poured out on Christians in the end days, she will not (and probably is already not) the only person since John the Revelator to receive this gift. The gift of prophecy is a gift of the spirit, and also is a very Biblical principal.
So this is long, I’m curious what you will think of it, and I think I will have to just post it as a blog entry, because I doubt it will fit into your ask box.
In Christ,
Tammy
