Lost Episodes

No, I'm not talking about the TV show "Lost." Breath in, then out... Ok, regroup... Ah, good, the shock is over - now we can talk about the lost random thoughts of Caroline :)

There is one entry I did not post before, and another one that's so short it doesn't deserve it's own page, which is from tonight. The first is titled "What if there were no hell?" I was going to write this the other night, but a rather stupid demon paid me a visit and freaked me out so bad I forgot to write the blog entry. Yes, I prayed and asked for God's Protection. No, this unnamed demon didn't "do" or even "say" anything at first, though later I heard it pawing through some boxes in the other room for a couple of minutes before it left as quickly and quietly as it came. Why would a demon pay me a visit? Long story. Email me and ask me about the details if you wish. Yeah, I believe in cliff-hangers. Did you really think I'd miss out on this lovely little opportunity to keep you on the edge of your seat? Why didn't I write any of you about it before? I've spent a good almost 2 days "cozying up" to the idea that I've actually seen a demon. It's no small thing, believe me. I'm doing alright though. Oh, and the truth is that for the first 12 or more hours after this happened, I actually forgot that it HAD happened. It was while I was chatting with Erik that I even remembered it. That was God's Mercy on my brain, believe me.

Anyway, now to get on to writing the blog entry I was going to write when I was so dumbly interupted...

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"What if there were no hell?"

So, what if there weren't a hell? What if there were only God's Love to drive people rather than people loving Him and each other out of fear of the threat of eternal death? Now, I'm not even going to deal with all the theology of whether or not Lucifer became satan, nor with the theology of eternal death (this is what I believe in) vs. flames burning forever (this is commonly taught today) in this scenario: I'm going to establish that in this question, there is a satan, there is sin, and there is a choice of whether to sin or not.

So, in this scenario, without the threat of eternal death, my question is this: would you choose God or the consequences of sin in this lifetime (hurting others, hurting yourself, etc.)? Would you WANT to live in Heaven with God? Would you want the benefits of people learning to forgive each other out of Love for each other and God, simply because He said so? Would you want to party down with God? To Sing and Dance with Him? Would you give yourself completely to Him, even if He had not been required by His own Law to die for you to keep you out of hell? Would you TRULY Love Him?

John 8:11 "...Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

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I Praise God that I have been Allowed by Him to finally write that entry. Now, for the other one.

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"Would you give up the love of your life for Heaven?"

That is the question God put in my heart tonight. This came after a tumultuous day. I've been all over the place, basically emotionally tortured by this thing of needing to be with my human husband. Laura and I emailed quite a bit about it, and then when I really felt like I had just broken, I saw Erik's IM screenname and it rivetted my attention to the most important focus of my life, my Husband. While the post mentioned within the post Wow helped somewhat, I still was loosing Focus. I do not believe that it's wrong to be honest about a very real need in my life and the struggle I have to continue trusting God to fill that need. And I don't believe it's wrong to ask all of you to pray that He'll fill that need very soon. But it is true that I was loosing focus on my Husband.

What was Erik's screenname? You'll laugh and he'll snort when he reads the rest of this: "Apparently Mr. Hunter was good enough to die for our sins... - but not quite up to the task of seducing green women." I had NO idea what this meant (though it is true that my first thought was the venetian green painted woman from the "lost" first episode of Star Trek TOS). I even asked Erik at first who Mr. Hunter was, because I was genuinely confused. But I walked away from my Delly (Dell Notebook - that's her name: "Delly") and then God tapped me on the shoulder and told me what I was supposed to get out of this. Who's the Great Hunter of the sky? Where is it that I was raised to look for Jesus in the sky? What did Jesus do for me? And what did I start out being today? (It's true that at first I was jealous of many, many women I know who are married or engaged and getting on with their lives, though it's also true that I worked past that and got to the heart of my hurt feelings, which was just simply missing my honey, whoever and whereever he is). And why was I struggling so hard with all of this? Where should my focus be and why wasn't it on Him???? It was as if Erik was mocking me for somehow not feeling God trying to Seduce me...

Now I'll explain here that NO, Erik was not making fun of me. As it turns out, he had NO clue what was going on with me, and this had to do with the actor who's last name is Hunter, who played both Captain Pike (in Star Trek) and Jesus (in some Christian film). And this wasn't even Erik's quote! He heard it on "Family Guy." But I HAD to ask myself "Why, of ALL days, did Erik put that up there and WHY did God point this out to me when I had kind of given up trying to figure out what in the WORLD Erik could mean by this?"

Then tonight, God asked me if I would give up my human husband for Him. He did NOT tell me to do that, nor was He trying to bargain with me! He was making a point: my heart needs to be only in tune with HIS Seducing me towards Him, as He so desires to do so.

And still, God woos me... Beautiful.
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Sacrifice

I read Laura's post regarding Sacrifice, and thought I'd leave a comment. Unfortunately, what I have to say is a bit long, so I'm posting it here instead. Enjoy :)
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When you think about it, when lambs were sacrificed, there was no real "sacrifice" on the parts of the men who offered them up in place of their sins. Yes, sheep were the livelihood of many Israelites, but their flocks were huge in many cases because God blessed them as such. So the loss of one little lamb here or there in the end didn't really hurt anybody, financially anyway. But if you look at Passover, the command was to keep a lamb in the household as a pet for 4 days before slaughtering it. It was to be coddled, cared for, and loved. I'm sure that over the thousands of years, many a Passover lamb was given a name by the children who cared for it. There was a bond that was formed between that lamb and the members of the household it would be killed for. It trusted them implicitly, and that trust was ultimately to be broken. That is the sacrifice of the lamb. It's trust in sinful people had to be broken, and they had to bear the knowledge that it was their slavery to sin which had caused it's death. Or they should have realized this - though many Israeli’s never really did "get it."

When God chose to send Jesus to this earth, both trusted in one thing more than anything else: that we would indeed choose Life over death, if given the chance. Jesus trusted all of humanity with this, especially Israel. Israelis have had every clue they've needed to understand what Jesus did for everyone including them. Yet because of rabbinical teachings which mask this, they don't get it -- and so the trust Jesus placed in them has often been broken. I thank God for those Jews who do accept Jesus as their Messiah! In them, the trust has not been broken, but rather has been fulfilled. This is true with every Believer who calls on His Name, true. In fact, you could say that conversely even more trust was placed in non-Israelis because we have not had the benefit of the cultural understanding of God that Israelis have always had! We are fortunate, by all accounts, to even grasp at all what it means to be saved from our sins! We have so many philosophies to choose from in this world - we are fortunate that we too have been "grafted in" to God's olive tree. And so in us, the trust has not been broken either, but rather in us it is fulfilled as well. The difference is that back in the days when lambs were sacrificed, they trusted that they would -not- be killed. Jesus trusted that He -would- be killed, but also that -we- (Jews and gentiles alike) would choose Salvation through His Blood.

I agree that God gained more than He lost, and in the end, He didn't really lose anything. I was recently reminded of the stupidity of satan (who's so dumb that he would try to kill the only source of his life, and that source of course is God), as well as how satan does not play a fair game, and also how he can't be trusted. Think about it: who do you trust more, God or satan? Who delivers on promises, God or satan? The whole thing of Jesus' death is a paradox: God went through with His promise to kill His Son - satan was unable to keep his promise to kill God forever.

Yet God has lost all those who would rather trust in their own "goodness" or their own ways/understanding, than trust in Him. I find it interesting the way the Bible words some things about who chooses God vs. who rejects God. It isn't just in the choosing of God that we are Saved, but it's also in not rejecting God that we are Saved. If you think about it, those who have neither chosen nor rejected God, for lack of hearing about Him, are never said to be unSavable! Also, I've come to believe that those who are not given a choice now will be given that choice later. Who in their right mind would choose against Living a great Life for Eternity in His Love, if they really, truly understood what the options were? Also, how could I Love and serve a God who wouldn't, in the end, give that clear-cut, non-fuzzy choice to EVERY human being??? I suspect that it is OUR fuzzy understanding of the judgement day which has clouded our minds and caused us to think that some will be lost because they were never given the clear-cut choice to begin with. So what's the point in sharing the gospel? The point is to "set the captives free" from their bondage to the effects of sin in this lifetime. To do this is a true labor of love. It can mean letting Jesus work through us in secret to aid those around us, without us ever preaching at them. It takes real sacrifice to do this (I just watched "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" and learned what that really means.)

To sacrifice one's self, one's desires, one's way of life, even one's ideas and ideals, for the sake of bringing a better life to someone who may continually reject Life in return, is what it means to give up one's life for his or her friends. The personal cost is high, but Laura, I agree with you: the payoff is more than worth it, and so the sacrifice that seemed so big at first is greatly diminished later by that payoff.
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SDA Beliefs I Agree With

Hmm... I've probably come off sounding like I am anti-SDA in some ways, or ignorant in others. I'd like to point out that there ARE things that SDAs believe that I also believe. Here is a list, so far:

1. 7th day is a day of rest (Shabbat). I will clarify here that I don't think there's anything that says people have to go to churches in order to be with the believers in the Messiah, or which day that has to take place on. Shabbat = rest, not church.
2. Jesus will visibly and audibly return. I believe at this time, everyone who has NOT rejected Him who's still alive will be caught up to meet Him along with those who've not rejected Him who have died, who will be resurected at that time.
3. There will be a hell someday, after the 1,000 years (Millenium). I believe that only those who HAVE openly rejected Salvation through Jesus' Blood on the cross AFTER fully understanding just what in the world it is they are rejecting, and after fully choosing hell over Heaven, are those who would be burned in the hell fire that will cover the surface of the earth and burn itself out before the world is made New.
4. We will spend that 1,000 years in Heaven, and come back in the New Jerusalem, which will carry God the Father in His Temple and God the Son. I'm unclear of the role of the Holy Spirit at this point. There will be no need for the sun or moon or stars, as God will be the Light that causes all of Eternity to be one long day, yet there will be a calendar that He will Guide us to keep, from "one New Moon to another, one Shabbat to another." I also believe we will keep the Feast of Passover (where Jesus will drink the Passover grape-juice and eat the Matza again) and we will also keep the Feast of Sukkot (Zechariah 14).
5. Kosher is ok, but vegetarian is more healthy. Jesus DID eat fish, or at least made them into breakfast at one point, as well as served them to thousands of people.
6. Kids need a right of passage. (I think that's what Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are for. Bar = son, Bat = daughter, Mitzvah = commandments. Son of the commandments. Daughter of the commandments.)

Hmm... At the moment, those are the main things I can think of that I do agree with. Two things I was taught growing up that I heavily dissagree with:

1. You have to be good to keep your Salvation, or else you'll lose your crown and can't get it back. If that were true, none of us could ever go to Heaven. We all make mistakes, even after being Saved. Therefore, I believe that while the choice is available to reject one's own Salvation, I can't imagine that anyone would really WANT to reject it after receiving such an Awsome thing, and really understanding both what they are rejecting as well as how they would feel about it later, after rejecting it.
   
2. Girls in Pathfinders can't wear pants or real feminine colors. What kind of message is that? On the one hand, you can't look like a guy, and on the other hand, you have to??? Gah!

Ok, well, enough of the complaints. My purpose was to find common ground with you, my SDA friends, who in truth I Love deeply. (I'm still learning what it means to put that Love into action, heh. Thanks for your patience with me.)

So, have a great evening, all. I guess I'd better get ready for me Messianic Jewish dancing class - it starts at 8 :)

Isaiah's Shabbat

Amidst the theology madness in my mind lately, I recalled an old Word document I had once written up after studying Isaiah 58:13 with a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and my Hebrew-English Tanakh. Since I just told "Sal" from About.com that Shabbat is not only for Jews, and then posted that here, I thought I'd include this little ditty as a second side note. Anyway, here's what I found. Honestly, I LOVE this passage! I'll put the word definitions, in order, first, then put the paragraph that expresses what I got from it when I read these and put them together.

The Words

Isaiah 58:13

return
foot
Sabbath
create
delight
separateness
day
proclaim
Sabbath
exquisite delight
set apart
God
be honorable
be glorious
produce
journey
to find
delight
declare
case

The Paragraph

Return your foot to the Sabbath, and create delight in being separate during that day. Proclaim the Sabbath an exquisite delight, set apart for God, be He honorable and glorious! Make your journey to find delight and declare your case.

Isn't that BEAUTIFUL? My Husband is so Awsome!

Um, ok???

I honestly have been trying to get a grasp on just WHAT the teaching itself IS of the Investigative Judgement (IJ). I found it odd that when I Googled it, I found only critisisms of the SDA church for having this doctrine, yet even in those critisisms, only a few clues about the actual teaching itself were scattered throughout those pages. So far, I've discovered that, according to the experts and lay people alike, as well as anti-Adventists:

1. The Adventist church is not to be considered reliable.
2. I'm a cultist.
3. Nobody seems to have a clear understanding of just what this IJ thing really is anyway.

What do you have to say about it? Can you explain the actual teaching itself in less than 500 words?

Side Note: I did view the whole About.com page about it. I found it to be interesting, but was rather surprised by the last line or two of that page. Here is the response I sent the author:

"Re: your comment about the Sabbath being an OT Jewish custom only...

Would you seriousely ask a Jew to give up the Feast of the Lord, Shabbat (Lev. 23, Coll. 2:14-17, HEBREWS [that's Jews] 4) in order to believe in the Messiah who called Himself the Lord of Shabbat, who is the Son of Adonai, who gave weekly Shabbat vacations to mankind for his own good? Do you not know that Jesus is still a Jew? He said "Salvation is of the Jews" meaning "Salvation is Jewish!" The men who were on the road to Ammaus mistook Him to be a Jew coming from Jerusalem after He had died and rose again! He still had the same nail-scarred Jewish hands and feet! The disciples all recognised Him, and only Thomas had to be convinced that He wasn't a Jewish ghost! Paul recognised Him when He appeared to Him from Heaven on the road to Damascus! Please study this one out more carefully, thanks. Otherwise, I'll think you don't Believe in the Jewish Messiah who died for the sins of the Jews and the gentiles alike."

Perhaps it's a bit harsh, but so was some of what "Sal" wrote on that page about Adventists as well as that comment about the Jewish Sabbath being old. Anywho, just figured I'd share my response to what he said about that.

As for my reaction to what Sal said about the SDA doctrines in question, other than how I think he was a tad harsh in some cases, I am still researching how this doctrine came about, and honestly, don't feel that I'm any closer to understanding it, so I'm still taking comments about the teaching itself. Thanks.

Messianic Jewish Links

Recently, Laura asked me how the whole researching Messianic Judaism had been going for me in the last 3 years. I answered her with a list of things I believe that are different from SDA doctrines, and in a recent post, I went into a bit more detail about that. I figured that if I showed what's different about what I believe, based on the Bible, then it would be assumed that I agree with SDA doctrines in all other points. So, first, I'll post that list I emailed her here, and then give some Messianic Jewish links that I personally like.

I write these as if they were facts, because to me, they ARE my reality, but please understand that I never ever think that anyone else has to believe what I believe or practice about anything. This is just my set of beliefs, currently, based on tons of Bible verses and historical research:

1) Jesus is still a Jew. The "last trump" will likely be a shofar.

2) God cares about everyone, but Israelis all over the world are on His heart more than ever, because He gave them the keys to so many things that we as gentiles struggle to understand about Him.

3) The Feasts of the Lord are not done away with, but the sacrifices are done away with. The Feasts are God's parties, and we are invited! I keep the Feasts, and since my mom tried to prove me wrong, she now keeps them as well and has started a web site about it: www.adventistmessianicfellowship.com. Shabbat is the Great Feast (Lev. 23, Collosians 2:14, Hebrews 4). Shabbat means "rest" not "church" (which can be very UNRESTFUL indeed).

4) God MADE precious metals and gemstones, and He didn't intend for them to just remain on the ground. It's only through paganism that jewelry has ever been a bad thing, and jewelry that has not been touched by paganism (through it's making or through "prayer") is not wrong to wear, as it celebrates God's creative mind and power.

5) Jesus danced at the Jewish wedding at Cana. I don't see how dancing for God to celebrate the good Gifts He gives us is somehow wrong.

6) Theatres can be used for good or evil - it's up to the individual viewer to decide what they want to see/hear. I personally don't go because my ears are too sensitive to the loudness of the speakers, but that's pretty much it. I still buy the cheap DVDs at Wal-Mart once in awhile.

7) Like hell are women not "ordainable" by the Holy Spirit!

8) Baptism in and of itself doesn't "wash" anybody clean, and it shouldn't be done for the remission of sins. Rather, a person ought to be able to find themselves in a Loving, Accepting environment where it's OK to admit the things they've done that God convicts them of, and where people will be there to Love and support them through the trauma of being Spiritually Reborn, rather than just throwing a set of doctrines and proof texts at them and saying "there you go, now take a 'bath' and have a nice life." After a person is Spiritually Reborn, hmm... I kinda like the hot tub approach! But I guess I'm partial to that. And I don't think it should happen at all until they've been brought by God to a place where they are SURE that it's what He wants, not just what some pastor wants for them. Also, baptism IS a Wedding. I also believe that it relates directly to Passover, though it need not be done during Passover. And it's NOT a person's commitment to God! What, are we THAT conceited, to think we are able to keep Holy commitments? No, it's God's commitment to a person, just as a Jewish groom signs his life away to his bride at the betrothal ceremony and then does it again at their wedding. She never has to commit to him, and she is always protected by him (which in turn protects her heart from wanting to stray from his).

9) God is One. He takes on different personalities, even all at the same time, and can be in more than one place at a time, but He's still just Himself! He's omnipotent: He can do that if He very well wants to!

10) God is Love is the Rock. I am a little flower. He's also in charge of my happiness - I am not.

OK, here are the links:

Jewish Jewels (MJ Free Internet Hebrew Lesson Videos & Cultural Videos)
IsraelNet.TV (MJ Free Internet TV)
WSTW.fm (MJ Free Internet Radio)
HebCal.com (Hebrew Calendar)
Adventist Messianic Fellowship (mom's site, half completed/live)
Passover Haggadah (MJ Passover Guide)

Re: FormerAdventism.com

(Word of explanation: I'm still SDA, on the books, but only partly in the heart. The rest of my "relgion" heart [the part where you choose a religion/denomination, not the part where you choose God] belongs essentially to Messianic Judaism, though I'm not a Zionist at all.)

I was interested in learning just what in the world, in plain English, is the SDA church's position on Investigative Judgement (I was planning to figure out the "Sanctuary" teaching later). I googled it and tripped onto FormerAdventism.com and found a most interesting story there of a former SDA pastor and his wife. I'll say here that I have to admit, some things he has to say I do agree with, other things I agree with but with a twist, and some things I don't agree with at all. I want to give my reaction to what he had to say, based on the Walk that God has led me on. Not that everyone has the same Walk, obviousely, but I think that what I have to say at least counts as much as what this pastor had to say about the same topics, right? So, here's what I have to say ;)

Mainly, I wanted to write here first of all, the reasons he had for leaving the church, and secondly, what my personal take is on those things, as a common lay person. I will say here too that I did kinda lost interest in the story somewhere near the upper third of page 7. Call it ADD or whatever, but I just can't seem to last longer than that all in one shot. Too many issues to take in, I guess. So, my reaction is based on what I read up to that point. You are welcome of course to read the ENTIRE thing if you have a greater attention span than me :)

Reasons Greg and Paula Taylor left SDAism (whether I agree or not)

1. 100% of tithe goes to the conference.
2. Adventists are too busy trying to do everything right to be happy people who Love and Accept each other.
3. The SDA church covers up any wrong-doing on E.G.W.'s part regarding copied works in her manuscripts by using legal wrangling to say that either it didn't happen or it wasn't wrong.
4. E.G.W. is not the Spirit of Prophecy
5. The commandments that will be kept by the remnant church are not limited to the Ten Commandments.
6. The Seventh-day Sabbath shoud not be a requirement for new believers who are just coming to know Jesus.
7. SDAs generally do not spend much time teaching or understanding the basics of the Gospel of Salvation.

Ok, so that is a nutshell list of the reasons the Taylors left SDAism. I will say here that on their web site, they mention that they have been sincerely searching the Bible and God's heart for the answers to their questions. They also encourage everyone to study things out for themselves and come to their own conclusions. And they have said that they LOVE their Adventist friends and family, and they knew that upon questioning certain core doctrines of the SDA church, if they were to find that SDAism is somehow skewed, then they would risk losing those relationships. They did the best they could and chose to follow Jesus wherever He lead them. I personally agree with them in principle on all of these points. We should work out our own Salvation as Jesus leads us personally, we should LOVE those who we don't agree with (because they are important people in God's eyes and our own eyes), and we should be willing to risk losing all that we have if Jesus leads us down a path where we would loose everything or even just some people in our lives.

Ok, so here's my reaction to the nutshell points above. No, I'm not going to sit here and do a lot of ecstalogical (sp) research. You know, when a person can't even SPELL a word because no one ever uses it in common social interactions anymore, I think that ought to be a CLUE that we need to find some other modern word for it!!! Ok, anywho, so here's my reaction to the points that the Taylors made.

100% of tithe goes to the conference.

Good grief. If only Christians understood that the "storehouse" is really a barn in the backyard of a farmer who takes 10% of the increase of the last 3 years crops over the total of the previous 3 years, stores 1/3 of it separetly for the local Levite, who in turn gives 1o% of that 1/3 to the Preists in the Temple, who get 10% of that 10% of the 1/3 for their own personal use and the rest is used for God as He directs! What hapens to the other 2/3 of the original 10%? Half of the remaining 2/3 goes towards the annual feasts, and half goes towards the local poor and needy.

Wow folks - we are SO off base in teaching that 10% of one's income is a tithe, and that we ought to give weekly love-offerings on top of it to an overly bloated confernce system where administrators are making at times a minimum of $21 whopping dollars an hour PLUS overtime!!! That's just disgusting to me, no offense intended. I'd be THRILLED right now just to have a min. wage job, whether it was in or out of the SDA church. Same goes for a LOT of other poor Adventists who, as far as I'm concerned, are being robbed in order to feed the financially bloated admins who sit at their desks doing paperwork, making calls, and arranging people's air-fair. *tries to remember to forgive - groans*

Adventists are too busy trying to do everything right to be happy people who Love and Accept each other.

Well, that has been my experience as well, for the most part, especially when I was younger. I was heavily influenced by some woman who's been dead for over a hundred years though! (see my last blog post - it's sort of a joke, but it's also serious business), and so I wonder, which came first, the perfectionistic church that attracted perfectionists, or the perfectionists who created a perfectionistic church? I love paradoxis (sp). I will say here that, after having experienced certain trials at a church plant I've been to a few times in the last year, and after watching them humble themselves and admit their personal shortcomings regarding the issue of Love/Acceptance of each other and others, that I don't think that this HAS to be a legitimate reason for leaving the church. It is however a good reason to pray for those people and do one's part in setting a better example when prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so.

That doesn't mean that it NEVER is a reason to leave the church, or an SDA church in particular, either. Sometimes it is. I know I've had to extracate myself from certain totally toxic SDA church environments at times, because they were hindering my own Spiritual growth. The people were control freaks, were taking over my personal life, and I lived in fear of them daily. When people become more important to a person through fear than God is to that person through Love, it's time to step back and have a nice little time out, or a long one, or a perminent one. While I've forgiven those people, and have chosen to Love them as individuals, that doesn't mean you'll EVER catch me darkening the doors of their churches. It would only happen if God Himself told me to. Their churches are often like mini-soap-operas. I hate soaps (sorry soap-fans), as they just go round and round until your head falls off via dilerium (sp).

The SDA church covers up any wrong-doing on E.G.W.'s part regarding copied works in her manuscripts by using legal wrangling to say that either it didn't happen or it wasn't wrong.

I've never seen proof of this for myself, but don't discount it as a possibility. After researching the Feasts of the Lord, and contacting the powers that be with my findings, and being sent "topically based" form-letters which inaccurately and quite out of Biblical/historical context "prove" the SDA stance on that issue, as well as which show that true research has not even been attempted by anyone other than S. Bachiochi... I've concluded that our denomination is not currently interested in studying out new topics which are foreign to them. Rather they would prefer to stay on the gentile-based bandwagon called the Christian calendar without even questioning it, and would prefer to chide anyone who dares to question it and still call themselves an Adventist. Am I right or wrong in my findings? I suggest that deep research, for those who care to research it, be done by those people. I do suggest learning proper use of the Exhaustive Strong's Concordance as well as grabbing a Greek New Testament, a Tanakh (Hebrew-to-English Old Testament that includes both languages), and a Jewish New Testament or a Complete Jewish Bible. And I suggest prayer for Guidance by the Holy Spirit, who will lead you into all personal truth. As for other resources, use whatever God Guides you to use.

In any case, I kinda look at it this way: any denomination who's leaders are more interested in hanging onto their current understanding of a topic that's foreign to them, than they are interested in really studying it out before responding in a genuine and personal way which would show that they honestly do care about that topic as well as the person writing them regarding it, is foulable. I could tell from the wording of the form letters I've recieved that the topic at hand which I wrote them about was not at all studied into further prior to their sending those letters. It was just painfully obviouse. While I've never seen proof that E.G.W. copied anything from anyone (though I've heard numberous complaints about this in the past), I will not discount the possibility of it, nor will I say that I am incapable of believing that the SDA denomination has used legal wrangling to cover such discretions up.

E.G.W. is not the Spirit of Prophecy

I have to admit that the points that Mr. Taylor brought up regarding this do make a LOT of sense. I also have to admit that much of what E.G.W. claims to have seen in vision regarding Jesus' ministry on earth does not AT ALL gell with what I've learned regarding the cultural customs of the Jews of that erra in Israel. She claims (holding to the perpetual virginity of "Mary" model) that Jesus' sibblings were older than He was, and that Joseph had been married prior to being married to Mary.

Ok, first off: "Mary" would have been named "Miryam" after Moses' sister. Secondly, Jesus' given name in the Temple records would have been "Yeshua" (Salvation) from the name "Yohoshua" (Joshua), after the Yohashua who knew Moses. Hope that blows a few holes into the paintings in everyone's minds of a European/caucasian Mary with a hallo (pagan symbol which refers back to sun-worship) over her head. Hope it brings to mind instead of an olive skinned probably average bodied woman about 5' tall who had long black curly hair and GORGIOUS richly browned eyes, who yes, probably DID serve coffee! Her age really isn't important here. The fact was that yes, she was a virgin when wedded, and yes, she had to give birth to a baby having never had sex to begin with. Yikes! I'd also like to point something out here: abortions were possible back then: where would we be today if she had freaked out at the possibility of giving birth like that and losing her social status as being seen as an adulterer by her friends and family/local synogogue community, and chosen to have an abortion? Abortion is SIMPLY WRONG under nearly all circumstances, and I personally have chosen that I could NOT commit it even to save my own life, but rather, I would choose to put my life in God's hands.

Secondly, to get back to the main point, I disagree with E.G.W.'s stance that Jesus' sibblings were all older than He and from a previous marriage. In those days, Jewish men married for life. While a woman could remarry the brothers of her first husband until those brothers were expended, there was NOTHING DOING as far as a man becoming remarried to other women. Note that it was not considered to be Acceptable in God's eyes or in the Jewish community either. Why? Because when a man wrote up his Ketubah (a list of everything he had to offer his future bride) and brought it to her father for inspection and approval, it included not only all of his posessions, but also promises to care for her even if she should leave him. She made no such commitments to him! Rather, it was only because of the hardness of men's hearts that Moses allowed a "get" to be drawn up by a husband for his wife. "In the Beginning though, it was not so." These are words from Jesus Himself! A "get" did not undo a Ketubah, however. It simply meant that they would no longer live together as husband and wife, and that she was free to go live as a single woman. She was STILL cared for and had rights to ALL of his posessions and promises. One of those promises was always "I will remain faithful to you" (paraphrase). He married her for life, and even if she died, he would not marry another.

Well, there's some Jewish history and culture for you. But what about Jesus' brothers and at least one sister? Yes, Jesus had sibblings, and I have concluded that they had to be younger, again, for reasons of Jewish culture durring that erra of Israili history. It was UNTHINKABLE for a Jewish man to remain in the home of his Jewish parents after the age of 30. It was even considered a bit weird after the age of 20. After the age of 30, not only was he expected to leave home, but to find a wife, settle down in his own home, and really, not have all that much to do with his parents on a daily basis.

I have NEVER found proof anywhere that the youngest male in a Jewish home was to care for the mother, and I do NOT believe that Jesus was fullfilling that Jewish custom when He was dying on the cross. First off: Jesus KNEW He would rise again. Why in the world would He "secure" His mother like that if He knew He'd be rising in 3 days, going to His Father, coming back, and hanging out for another 40 days? It seems more likely that He was simply telling John the one He Loved, who had reclined on His chest the night before, to emotionally care for His mother who simply did NOT really understand what was going on.

Also, to further rock the boat, I'll point one other thing out: if Jesus was 30 when Miryam and His brothers came to see Him as He was teaching and healing that paralytic (sp), then this means that those probably young adults HAD to have been younger. They would not have been willing to be seen with Miryam, their MOTHER!, if they had been older than 30, by anyone in the Jewish community! Especially not if they were the unloving, unclinging sort that E.G.W. paints them to be.

What all of this points out to me is that E.G.W. did not have all the visions about Jesus' ministry that she claimed to have had. She also did NOT speak of Him in an obviousely Jewish context, yet from what I've learned of Him myself as the Spirit has Guided me to study these things out for myself (and has lead others to do the same), Jesus was 100% Jewish, and Judaism in and of itself, though poluted with the doctrines of men, was and is at it's heart THE RELIGION that God started up in the first place both through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, and others.

Gentile ears don't like hearing that. It removes the pride that we so often have in ourselves that results from our mistaken belief that we have somehow "inherited" (stolen) the Jewish Messiah who died for the sins of the world, and dressed Him up in non-Jewish clothing, made Him out to look like a European Gentileman with long hair and a beard (because of course, He was also a hippy), and because He was rejected by the Jews of that erra, somehow He is inaccessable to the Jews of modern days, or if they do want to recieve Him, they must give up their prayer-books, their talits, their kippas, and their calendar, because don'tchaknow, Jesus started a new religion, right???! I beg you to re-read Ephesians 2, then specifically 2:15-16 and Collossians 2, then specifically 2:14-17, and compare them with Romans 10 and 11. Even if you don't agree with me in the end, I beg you to read them anyway. Please also note that in one place it says that the Feasts are "shadows of things yet to come." It doesn't say "shadows of things that already happened" (which really would NOT make sense at all). Please also note that the word Sabbaton is used in Collosians 2. In every other reference as well as in the Strong's definition of that word, it is used SOLELY as a reference to the Seventh Day Sabbath. You throw out the Feasts, you throw out the Sabbath. It's that simple.

I'll further hang myself by confessing that I should have been born to Jewish parents. I have, ever since I was a little girl, wanted to hang out with the Jews, do things Jewish, etc, because I've simply just KNOWN that Jesus was and still IS a Jew and that He NEVER stopped being Jewish. No, I was not raised in a Jewish community, nor did I know anything at all about Jews, excepting that I wanted to do things Jewish. God has since blessed me by leading me into some quasi version of Adventism that looks at everything from a Jewish perspective, and keeps those Jewish customs that point to Jesus, not only in history, but also in the future. Jesus may have taunted the rules of men that were added to the Bible, but He held the scriptures of His time (the OT), so very dear and close to His heart: all of it, including the part in Lev. 23, where Shabbat is the First Great Feast of the Lord, and where all the other Feasts that tell the story of Salvation and the Second Coming and life in the New Heaven and New Earth are given as Eternal commandments to be kept whereever Israelis may live. Am I of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David...? By Faith in their religion which was given to them by God, yes. Since this is true, the commands, including the Feast commands, that were encumbant upon all the Saved Israilites who had just passed through the Red Sea, their version of baptism (Mikvah), are also encumbant upon me, not as a burdon!, Hello?, but as a set of PARTIES that bring me closer to God's Love for me! And yes, Jesus kept the Feasts, taught His desciples how the Feasts point to both His first and second comings, and yes, even Paul taught the same, having no dissagreement at all with the teachings of the Israeli forfathers who taught these customs from God.

I really do have a hard time believing that E.G.W. had any real visions of any kind at all, to be completely honest. It's up to a person to decide that for themselves. That's all I have to say about it in the end. I just wanted to give my reasons here for not really buying into the line that some woman I never met, who died before I was born, who HAS TO BE VEHEMIANTLY defended or else she won't be believed in by intelligent individuals, is someone I ought to buy into, particularly after I've realized that she had no idea at all what kind of Jewish life Jesus really led while here in physical form on earth, yet she claimed to have seen Him in visions. I've heard all the stories about the light that came from Elmshaven and her not breathing and holding up some heavy Bible - that's all well and cute, but I wasn't there. I can't judge those things and I won't just mindlessly believe them as I've been expected for my whole life to do.

Finally, thank GOD that my Salvation does NOT rest on my believing one way or another on the matter! Far too much time is spent on worrying about E.G.W.'s prophetessness, and the relavance of the SDA church being the remnant church, and so LITTLE time get's spent on the weightier issues of Salvation, Grace, and Faith/Trust! My Salvation rests 100% on the Blood of the Lamb. I may have Faith in that, but if it hadn't happened at all, I would be... Well, I wouldn't exist, because my Husband and my Daddy Love me TOO MUCH not to do that for me! Ha! Gotcha ;) And I hope HE keeps ya ;) ;) *snickers*

The commandments that will be kept by the remnant church are not limited to the Ten Commandments.

I HAVE to agree with that. I definetely believe that the Commandments include the following (but may not be limited to):

1. The first commandment ever given (paraphrase): "Trust Me enough not to eat the fruit of the tree that I forbade you to eat." In other words: "Trust Me!"
2. Apparently, sacrifices were instituted just after the fall of Adam and Eve (Hebrew: Chavah - what a Beautiful name!). I can't help thinking that is an unrecorded commandment that God gave which looked forward to the cross. Yes, btw, the sacrifices of animals were done away with at the cross, of course! But the parties??? Are you KIDDING??? God LOVES TO PARTAAAAYYY! I can't wait to get to Heaven and really Party down with Him! Oh, and a note to Erik and April: thanks for coming to Passover at my house this year. Yes, there was some fun, but Erik, you were right, "Next year will be different." It will be: I REFUSE to let it be so filled with "readings" and whatnot. Mom insisted on them. While those have their place, I found them to be too long and drawn out, and they kind of slowed the party down a LOT. So, no worries. I intend for next year to be the real party that God meant it to be.
3. There was the minor command just to Abraham to sacrifice Issac, the son of the covenant, but that's not a general command, thank God! Yet it looked forward to the general wiping away of sins, guilt, etc. I like that :) Other minor commands that God gave were to Moses, who was led to lead Israel out of Egypt. Again, they were minor, but look at the story of Salvation that the Exodus tells! Beautiful :)
4. The Ten Commandments, in all their stoney glory, wherever they are at present.
5. The Mosaic Laws regarding good health and hygene, as well as the principles of good social and political laws. Really, I do believe that the only thing nailed to the cross was the Lamb of God who replaced animal sacrifices which looked forward to Him. That's all that was nailed. What "law" did I used to be under? The law that says "the wages of sin is death." That law was nailed to the cross from Adam to the end of time, first through animal sacrifices and then through Jesus' sacrifice, once and for all. Hehe - the Gospel just gotcha again ;)
6. Every command that Jesus gave.
7. The principles that He taught.
8. Every admonishment that Jesus gave to Paul (oh, don't get me started, but I'll say a little bit here: Paul never converted from Judaism to some other new fangled thingy called Christianity. He never changed his own name, either. Messianic Jews and gentile prostylites into the Messianic Judaism of his time were called "Christians" by the Greeks, and simply followers of The Way by the Jews. He was called Paul by the Greeks and Sh' aul by the Jews. Just wanted to clarify that point.)
9. Every command that Jesus gave to John (Hebrew: Yochanon) the Revelator.
10. Every personal command that the Holy Spirit writes on an individual's heart which can be discerned by hearing His Voice as He promised when He said that the sheep know the voice of the Shepherd.

The Seventh-day Sabbath shoud not be a requirement for new believers who are just coming to know Jesus.

Who are WE to require anything of anyone? Are WE God, to interpret HIS rules for other people???

That's my ONLY reaction to this one.

SDAs generally do not spend much time teaching or understanding the basics of the Gospel of Salvation.

Considering that the Gospel gotcha, I guess I need not say anything more.

My Daddy and Husband, I pray that I've not misspoken here, and I pray even more that You will Guide and Lead everyone who reads this in Your own way. Amen.