Showing posts with label GOD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOD. Show all posts
Saturday, September 05, 2026
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Speaker Mike Johnson: God Is Not Done With America After 250 Years | ADF Summit 2026
Alliance Defending Freedom
Jul 19, 2026
Mike Johnson is the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a Republican member of Congress serving Louisiana's Fourth District. ADF Summit 2026 was a gathering of leaders from many different spheres, including law, public policy, media, business, education, and Christian leadership. The inspiring annual event focuses on advancing the right to live and speak the truth for all people, while offering a compelling vision of freedom and human flourishing. This year’s event, which celebrated the historic 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, explored why our founders held certain truths to be self-evident and what we must do to reclaim the spirit of 1776 today. It was organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the world’s largest legal organization advancing every person’s God-given right to live and speak the truth.
Monday, February 23, 2026
No Respecter of Persons, February 23
God’s Character and Providences
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. Acts 10:34, 35.
God is no respecter of persons.... Those who have the light and do not follow it, but disregard the requirements of God, will find that their blessings will be changed into curses and their mercies into judgments.
110Testimonies for the Church 3:172.
God does not regard all sins as of equal magnitude; there are degrees of guilt in His estimation, as well as in that of man; but however trifling this or that wrong act may seem in the eyes of men, no sin is small in the sight of God. Man’s judgment is partial, imperfect; but God estimates all things as they really are. The drunkard is despised, and is told that his sin will exclude him from heaven; while pride, selfishness, and covetousness too often go unrebuked. But these are sins that are especially offensive to God; for they are contrary to the benevolence of His character, to that unselfish love which is the very atmosphere of the unfallen universe.111Steps to Christ, 30.
The exceeding sinfulness of sin can be estimated only in the light of the cross. When men urge that God is too good to cast off the sinner, let them look to Calvary. It was because there was no other way in which man could be saved, because without this sacrifice it was impossible for the human race to escape from the defiling power of sin, and be restored to communion with holy beings—impossible for them again to become partakers of spiritual life—it was because of this that Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the disobedient, and suffered in the sinner’s stead. The love and suffering and death of the Son of God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin, and declare that there is no escape from its power, no hope of the higher life, but through the submission of the soul to Christ.112Steps to Christ, 31, 32.
Let the soul be uplifted from the lowlands of sin to contemplate the God of all goodness, mercy, and love, but who will in no wise clear the guilty.113The Review and Herald, March 19, 1889.
God does not regard all sins as of equal magnitude; there are degrees of guilt in His estimation, as well as in that of man; but however trifling this or that wrong act may seem in the eyes of men, no sin is small in the sight of God. Man’s judgment is partial, imperfect; but God estimates all things as they really are. The drunkard is despised, and is told that his sin will exclude him from heaven; while pride, selfishness, and covetousness too often go unrebuked. But these are sins that are especially offensive to God; for they are contrary to the benevolence of His character, to that unselfish love which is the very atmosphere of the unfallen universe.111Steps to Christ, 30.
The exceeding sinfulness of sin can be estimated only in the light of the cross. When men urge that God is too good to cast off the sinner, let them look to Calvary. It was because there was no other way in which man could be saved, because without this sacrifice it was impossible for the human race to escape from the defiling power of sin, and be restored to communion with holy beings—impossible for them again to become partakers of spiritual life—it was because of this that Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the disobedient, and suffered in the sinner’s stead. The love and suffering and death of the Son of God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin, and declare that there is no escape from its power, no hope of the higher life, but through the submission of the soul to Christ.112Steps to Christ, 31, 32.
Let the soul be uplifted from the lowlands of sin to contemplate the God of all goodness, mercy, and love, but who will in no wise clear the guilty.113The Review and Herald, March 19, 1889.
The Faith I Live By, p.60.
Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Saturday, July 12, 2025
President Trump Credits the ‘Hand of God’ for His Miraculous Survival
President Trump Credits the ‘Hand of God’ for His Miraculous Survival
Abby Trivett 11:13AM July 11, 2025
President Trump is giving all glory to God for protecting him after last year’s assassination attempt.
Journalist Salena Zito told Fox News about what she witnessed at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally last year, and how the president credited the Lord for his survival afterward.
“I see him grab his ear. I see the blood streak across his face,” Zito said during the Brian Kilmeade Show.
Zito, who was supposed to interview Trump following the rally, said he called her the following day to see how she and her family were doing. In total, Zito says he called her “seven times that day.”
When asked about why he took certain actions while in survival mode, Zito says that he: “[Trump] comes to the conclusion, several times, that it was the hand of God.”
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Can You Hear God Now?
Can You Hear God Now?
Written by R. Herbert
God
May 1, 2024
In the iconic Verizon TV Commercial that aired in the US for nine years between 2002–2011, the actor playing the Verizon cellular phone service technician repeatedly asks “Can you hear me now?” It was an effective commercial that made its point through the continued repetition of its tagline.
The repetition of “Can you hear me now?” in this commercial always reminded me of Psalm 136 – a unique psalm of twenty-six verses, each of which ends with the same statement: “His love endures forever!” That’s a lot of repetition. The only other psalm that comes close to it is Psalm 118 which repeats the same expression four times; but with twenty-six repetitions, Psalm 136 is truly the “Can you hear God now?” psalm!
But psalm 136 is more than just the simple repetition of a phrase. Its repeated “tagline” ties into an important lesson that the psalm teaches. The psalm carefully catalogs the many different areas in which God’s love may be seen – some of which we may not often think about. The composition begins with a statement about God’s goodness (vs. 1) and continues through its first section with expressions of God’s powerful nature and creative deeds (vss. 2–9). These are things we may usually think of as being the reason for praise, but not aspects of God’s love. The Psalmist clearly saw the connections, however, and we can also if we think about them. For example, can we see that God’s refusal to misuse his great power is based entirely on his love? That is only a single instance of how God’s love continually determines every other aspect of his nature.
Written by R. Herbert
God
May 1, 2024
In the iconic Verizon TV Commercial that aired in the US for nine years between 2002–2011, the actor playing the Verizon cellular phone service technician repeatedly asks “Can you hear me now?” It was an effective commercial that made its point through the continued repetition of its tagline.
The repetition of “Can you hear me now?” in this commercial always reminded me of Psalm 136 – a unique psalm of twenty-six verses, each of which ends with the same statement: “His love endures forever!” That’s a lot of repetition. The only other psalm that comes close to it is Psalm 118 which repeats the same expression four times; but with twenty-six repetitions, Psalm 136 is truly the “Can you hear God now?” psalm!
But psalm 136 is more than just the simple repetition of a phrase. Its repeated “tagline” ties into an important lesson that the psalm teaches. The psalm carefully catalogs the many different areas in which God’s love may be seen – some of which we may not often think about. The composition begins with a statement about God’s goodness (vs. 1) and continues through its first section with expressions of God’s powerful nature and creative deeds (vss. 2–9). These are things we may usually think of as being the reason for praise, but not aspects of God’s love. The Psalmist clearly saw the connections, however, and we can also if we think about them. For example, can we see that God’s refusal to misuse his great power is based entirely on his love? That is only a single instance of how God’s love continually determines every other aspect of his nature.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Psychological bias links good deeds to a belief in God, research says
News Release 8-Aug-2024
Psychological bias links good deeds to a belief in God, research says
New Zealand, where 49% of respondents in the 2018 census indicated no religious belief.
Participants read a description of a man who took a path of increasing benevolence, from helping stray animals as a child to, as an adult, giving food and clothes to homeless people. Sometimes, during bitingly cold weather, he offered a spare room to homeless families.
Half of the participants were asked which is more probable: The man is a teacher or the man is a teacher and believes in God. The other half were asked the same question, but the options were “the man is a teacher” or “the man is a teacher and does not believe in God.”
The most logical response would be to guess the man is a teacher, a group that would include both teachers who believe and teachers who are atheists. But people have been found to pick the less likely option to this type of question if it matches a strong social stereotype in their minds.
The results were striking. U.S. respondents were nearly 20 times more likely to guess that the helpful man believed in God than that the man was an atheist. In New Zealand, respondents were 12 times more likely to guess that the helpful man was religious.
The bias intuitively connecting religious belief to socially uplifting behavior was significantly stronger than that found with the study’s inverse, “dark side” conditions, which looked for stereotypes of atheists as antisocial. The bias was there, but far less powerful.
“So instead of a stereotype of atheists as immoral driving the effect, the stereotype of the moral person of faith may be the more important force,” Holbrook said. “We replicated the findings of the earlier studies linking evil with atheism, but we found that the effects linking prosociality with faith were remarkably larger.”
The study’s results fit with a theory about the historical development of major world religions that emphasizes cooperation. Belief that a powerful being or spiritual force rewards positive moral behavior – and punishes immoral behavior – is shared by all major religions. This kind of belief might help members of religious groups trust one another, cooperate and grow.
“Strangers with little in common beyond their shared spiritual beliefs in moralizing gods might be more inclined to trust and less inclined to exploit one another,” Holbrook said.
Of course, the UC Merced experiments and similar research measure only what stereotypes people project onto others – how they think someone would act based on what they believe.
“Our evidence indicates that people stereotype believers as more likely to care about and help others. But this theoretical model suggests that the stereotype might actually have had merit in the past as major religions grew or may possibly be true even now — people who believe in God might actually be more likely to help others,” Holbrook said. “The evidence that believers are more prosocial is currently mixed, and it’s a question that calls for more research.”
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Intuitive Moral Bias Favors the Faithful
Article Publication Date
7-Aug-2024
COI Statement
None.
Psychological bias links good deeds to a belief in God, research says
Peer-Reviewed Publication
University of California - Merced
Experiments conducted by UC Merced researchers find that people who perform good deeds are far more likely to be thought of as religious believers than atheists. Moreover, the psychological bias linking kindness and helpfulness with faith appears to be global in scale.
Research on the mental link between moral behavior and religious belief goes back more than a decade. Prior research, however, emphasized the dark side of this equation, with participants asked whether they assumed it was more probable that a serial killer believed in God or was an atheist (people in nations all over the planet thought the latter was more likely).
The UC Merced studies, conceptualized by cognitive science graduate student Alex Dayer and published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, flipped the switch to the bright side: What if someone was a “serial helper,” prone to extraordinary benevolence?
The research found that the stereotype of an extraordinarily good person being religious was dramatically stronger that of an extraordinarily cruel person being an atheist, said co-author Colin Holbrook, a professor in the university’s Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences .
“Though we also found that people intuitively link atheism with immoral behavior, people appear to associate believing in God with being generous, helpful and caring to a much greater extent,” Holbrook said.
The research consisted of experiments conducted in two nations with disparate levels of religious belief:
University of California - Merced
Experiments conducted by UC Merced researchers find that people who perform good deeds are far more likely to be thought of as religious believers than atheists. Moreover, the psychological bias linking kindness and helpfulness with faith appears to be global in scale.
Research on the mental link between moral behavior and religious belief goes back more than a decade. Prior research, however, emphasized the dark side of this equation, with participants asked whether they assumed it was more probable that a serial killer believed in God or was an atheist (people in nations all over the planet thought the latter was more likely).
The UC Merced studies, conceptualized by cognitive science graduate student Alex Dayer and published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, flipped the switch to the bright side: What if someone was a “serial helper,” prone to extraordinary benevolence?
The research found that the stereotype of an extraordinarily good person being religious was dramatically stronger that of an extraordinarily cruel person being an atheist, said co-author Colin Holbrook, a professor in the university’s Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences .
“Though we also found that people intuitively link atheism with immoral behavior, people appear to associate believing in God with being generous, helpful and caring to a much greater extent,” Holbrook said.
The research consisted of experiments conducted in two nations with disparate levels of religious belief:
The United States, where 47% of the population describes itself as religious, according to a recent Gallup poll.
New Zealand, where 49% of respondents in the 2018 census indicated no religious belief.
Participants read a description of a man who took a path of increasing benevolence, from helping stray animals as a child to, as an adult, giving food and clothes to homeless people. Sometimes, during bitingly cold weather, he offered a spare room to homeless families.
Half of the participants were asked which is more probable: The man is a teacher or the man is a teacher and believes in God. The other half were asked the same question, but the options were “the man is a teacher” or “the man is a teacher and does not believe in God.”
The most logical response would be to guess the man is a teacher, a group that would include both teachers who believe and teachers who are atheists. But people have been found to pick the less likely option to this type of question if it matches a strong social stereotype in their minds.
The results were striking. U.S. respondents were nearly 20 times more likely to guess that the helpful man believed in God than that the man was an atheist. In New Zealand, respondents were 12 times more likely to guess that the helpful man was religious.
The bias intuitively connecting religious belief to socially uplifting behavior was significantly stronger than that found with the study’s inverse, “dark side” conditions, which looked for stereotypes of atheists as antisocial. The bias was there, but far less powerful.
“So instead of a stereotype of atheists as immoral driving the effect, the stereotype of the moral person of faith may be the more important force,” Holbrook said. “We replicated the findings of the earlier studies linking evil with atheism, but we found that the effects linking prosociality with faith were remarkably larger.”
The study’s results fit with a theory about the historical development of major world religions that emphasizes cooperation. Belief that a powerful being or spiritual force rewards positive moral behavior – and punishes immoral behavior – is shared by all major religions. This kind of belief might help members of religious groups trust one another, cooperate and grow.
“Strangers with little in common beyond their shared spiritual beliefs in moralizing gods might be more inclined to trust and less inclined to exploit one another,” Holbrook said.
Of course, the UC Merced experiments and similar research measure only what stereotypes people project onto others – how they think someone would act based on what they believe.
“Our evidence indicates that people stereotype believers as more likely to care about and help others. But this theoretical model suggests that the stereotype might actually have had merit in the past as major religions grew or may possibly be true even now — people who believe in God might actually be more likely to help others,” Holbrook said. “The evidence that believers are more prosocial is currently mixed, and it’s a question that calls for more research.”
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Intuitive Moral Bias Favors the Faithful
Article Publication Date
7-Aug-2024
COI Statement
None.
Wednesday, December 04, 2019
Saturday, July 27, 2019
The Teacher Sent From God
Chapter 8: The Teacher Sent From God
He who had stood in the councils of the Most High,.
who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal,
was the One chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of God
"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6.
In the Teacher sent from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest. He who had stood in the councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, was the One chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of God.
Through Christ had been communicated every ray of divine light that had ever reached our fallen world. It was He who had spoken through everyone that throughout the ages had declared God's word to man. Of Him all the excellences manifest in the earth's greatest and noblest souls were reflections. The purity and beneficence of Joseph, the faith and meekness and long-suffering of Moses, the steadfastness of Elisha, the noble integrity and firmness of Daniel, the ardor and self-sacrifice of Paul, the mental and spiritual power manifest in all these men, and in all others who had ever dwelt on the earth, were but gleams from the shining of His glory. In Him was found the perfect ideal.
To reveal this ideal as the only true standard for attainment; [74] to show what every human being might become; what, through the indwelling of humanity by divinity, all who received Him would become—for this, Christ came to the world. He came to show how men are to be trained as befits the sons of God; how on earth they are to practice the principles and to live the life of heaven.
God's greatest gift was bestowed to meet man's greatest need. The Light appeared when the world's darkness was deepest. Through false teaching the minds of men had long been turned away from God. In the prevailing systems of education, human philosophy had taken the place of divine revelation. Instead of the heaven-given standard of truth, men had accepted a standard of their own devising. From the Light of life they had turned aside to walk in the sparks of the fire which they had kindled.
Having separated from God, their only dependence being the power of humanity, their strength was but weakness. Even the standard set up by themselves they were incapable of reaching. The want of true excellence was supplied by appearance and profession. Semblance took the place of reality.
From time to time, teachers arose who pointed men to the Source of truth. Right principles were enunciated, and human lives witnessed to their power. But these efforts made no lasting impression. There was a brief check in the current of evil, but its downward course was not stayed. The reformers were as lights that shone in the darkness; but they could not dispel it. The world "loved darkness rather than light." John 3:19.
In the Teacher sent from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest. He who had stood in the councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, was the One chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of God.
Through Christ had been communicated every ray of divine light that had ever reached our fallen world. It was He who had spoken through everyone that throughout the ages had declared God's word to man. Of Him all the excellences manifest in the earth's greatest and noblest souls were reflections. The purity and beneficence of Joseph, the faith and meekness and long-suffering of Moses, the steadfastness of Elisha, the noble integrity and firmness of Daniel, the ardor and self-sacrifice of Paul, the mental and spiritual power manifest in all these men, and in all others who had ever dwelt on the earth, were but gleams from the shining of His glory. In Him was found the perfect ideal.
To reveal this ideal as the only true standard for attainment; [74] to show what every human being might become; what, through the indwelling of humanity by divinity, all who received Him would become—for this, Christ came to the world. He came to show how men are to be trained as befits the sons of God; how on earth they are to practice the principles and to live the life of heaven.
God's greatest gift was bestowed to meet man's greatest need. The Light appeared when the world's darkness was deepest. Through false teaching the minds of men had long been turned away from God. In the prevailing systems of education, human philosophy had taken the place of divine revelation. Instead of the heaven-given standard of truth, men had accepted a standard of their own devising. From the Light of life they had turned aside to walk in the sparks of the fire which they had kindled.
Having separated from God, their only dependence being the power of humanity, their strength was but weakness. Even the standard set up by themselves they were incapable of reaching. The want of true excellence was supplied by appearance and profession. Semblance took the place of reality.
From time to time, teachers arose who pointed men to the Source of truth. Right principles were enunciated, and human lives witnessed to their power. But these efforts made no lasting impression. There was a brief check in the current of evil, but its downward course was not stayed. The reformers were as lights that shone in the darkness; but they could not dispel it. The world "loved darkness rather than light." John 3:19.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Sarah Sanders tells Christian Broadcasting Network: God wanted Trump to be president
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Christian Broadcasting Network that she believes God "wanted Donald Trump to become president." (CBN News)
January 30 at 6:28 PM
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told a Christian television station Wednesday that God “wanted Donald Trump to become president” so he could support “a lot of the things that people of faith really care about.”
The early, abbreviated transcript provided by the conservative evangelical station CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network, didn’t include specifics from Sanders. However, many in a devoted segment of Trump’s base have said they consider any drawbacks of his presidency worth it, considering the president regularly speaks about their priorities and picked two Supreme Court justices believed to oppose abortion. On Monday, Trump lauded proposed state-level legislation meant to bring more teaching of the Bible in public schools.
[Trump just tweeted support for Bible courses, but it's already legal to teach about the Bible in public schools]
“Does it kind of blow your mind that someone like Donald Trump, who is sitting in the Oval Office, I know you can list the accomplishments, but at the same time just from a spiritual perspective there are a lot of Christians who believe that for such a time as this --” said David Brody of CBN, trailing off, according to the transcript.
Sanders replied: “I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president and that’s why he’s there. And I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things that people of faith really care about.”
The interview, which was to air later Wednesday, was on CBN’s show “Faith Nation.”
Much of CBN’s audience is composed of white evangelicals, Trump’s most fervent supporters. In a new Washington Post-ABC poll, Republicans and white evangelical Protestants were the only segments of the U.S. population in which a majority said they would “definitely” support the president in 2020. Fifty-six percent of all Americans said they would definitely not support Trump if he were the GOP nominee again, the poll found.
Friday, October 26, 2018
"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it"
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Genesis 2:1-3.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Under God's Discipline
September 15
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. Job 5:17, 18.
Our heavenly Father does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. He has His purpose in the whirlwind and in the storm, in the fire and in the flood. The Lord permits calamities to come to His people to save them from greater dangers. He desires everyone to examine his own heart closely and carefully, and then draw near to God, that God may draw near to him.
Our life is in the hands of God. He sees dangers threatening us that we cannot see. He is the giver of all our blessings; the provider of all our mercies; the orderer of all our experiences. He sees the perils that we cannot see. He may permit to come upon His people that which fills their hearts with sadness, because He sees that they need to make straight paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. He knows our frame, and remembers that we are dust. Even the very hairs of our head are numbered. He works through natural causes to lead His people to remember that He has not forgotten them, but that He desires them to forsake the way which, if they were permitted to follow unchecked and unreproved, would lead them into great peril. Trials come to us all to lead us to investigate our hearts, to see if they are purified from all that defiles. Constantly the Lord is working to our present and eternal good....
Every soul that is saved must be a partaker with Christ of His sufferings, that he may be a partaker with Him of His glory. How few understand why God subjects them to trial. It is by the trial of our faith that we gain spiritual strength. The Lord seeks to educate His people to lean wholly upon Him....
Let everyone examine his own course of action. Let everyone ask himself whether he is meeting the standard that God has placed before him. Can we say from the heart, I lay aside my own will? “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart”? Do we ask daily, “Lord, what is thy will concerning me?”
In Heavenly Places, p.265.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
‘I’m not afraid:’ What Stephen Hawking said about God, his atheism and his own death
By Lori Johnston
March 14 at 11:02 AM
1:48
World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking dies at 76
Theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking died on March 14 at age 76. Hawking was considered to have one of the greatest minds of this generation. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)
British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking schmoozed with popes during his lifetime, even though he was an avowed atheist. The famous scientist, who died Wednesday in England at 76, was often asked to explain his views on faith and God. During interviews, he explained his belief that there was no need for a creator.
He said during an interview with El Mundo in 2014: “Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist.”
That followed comments made to Reuters in 2007 in which Hawking, who had a condition much like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS) since 1963, described himself as “not religious in the normal sense.”
1:48
World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking dies at 76
Theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking died on March 14 at age 76. Hawking was considered to have one of the greatest minds of this generation. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)
British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking schmoozed with popes during his lifetime, even though he was an avowed atheist. The famous scientist, who died Wednesday in England at 76, was often asked to explain his views on faith and God. During interviews, he explained his belief that there was no need for a creator.
He said during an interview with El Mundo in 2014: “Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist.”
That followed comments made to Reuters in 2007 in which Hawking, who had a condition much like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS) since 1963, described himself as “not religious in the normal sense.”
Saturday, January 06, 2018
Saturday, October 07, 2017
The beauty that clothes the earth is (a) token of God’s Love
God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven, that he might more fully contemplate the works of God and meditate upon His power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath to remind him more vividly of God and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator.
God designs that the Sabbath shall direct the minds of men to the contemplation of His created works. Nature speaks to their senses, declaring that there is a living God, the Creator, the Supreme Ruler of all. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” Psalm 19:1, 2. The beauty that clothes the earth is token of God’s love. We may behold it in the everlasting hills, in the lofty trees, in the opening buds and the delicate flowers. All speak to us of God. The Sabbath, ever pointing to Him who made them all, bids men open the great book of nature and trace therein the wisdom, the power, and the love of the Creator.
Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 48.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
But without faith it is impossible to please God
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11
King James Version (KJV)
Monday, March 21, 2016
Americans Skeptical Of God But Think Heaven Is Real, Somehow
Since 1980, the number of Americans who believe in God has decreased by half and the number who pray has declined five-fold. Has America lost its faith?
By Joshua A. Krisch on Mar 21, 2016 at 11:37 AM
Bernie Sanders still prays. Many of his constituents? Probably not. (REUTERS)
The United States formally separates Church and State, but it’s hard to deny that America is inundated with religious innuendo, from its controversial pledge of allegiance all the way down to its Judeo-Christian courthouse displays and faith-espousing legal tender. Yet fewer Americans pray or believe in God than ever before, according to a new study in the journal Sage Open.
Researchers found that the percentage of Americans who claim they never pray reached an all-time high in 2014, up five-fold since the 1980s. Over the same time period, belief in God and interest in spirituality appears to have similarly declined, especially among young adults.
The findings suggest that, “millennials are the least religious generation in memory, and possibly in American history,” says Jean M. Twenge, psychology professor at San Diego State University and coauthor on the study, in a press statement. “Most previous studies concluded that fewer Americans were publicly affiliating with a religion, but that Americans were just as religious in private ways. That’s no longer the case, especially in the last few years.”
More Vote, Pray, Love: Does Religion Matter In The Presidential Election?
The notion that the U.S. is inching away from organized religion is nothing new. Throughout the 2000s, studies repeatedly found that many Americans had lost faith in religious institutions. But scientists suspected the shift was from organized religion, rather than spirituality—that Americans had stopped attending formal services, but that they still prayed and believed in private.
And it made sense. The Catholic Church’s highly publicized sexual abuse scandals had shaken America’s faith in religious leadership right around the same time that our faith in non-religious institutions was beginning to wane. One 2014 study found that Americans had grown skeptical of Church power in much the same way that they had grown suspicious of all major institutions, including the media, the medical establishment and Congress.
But this new study suggests that Americans have a problem with God—and that our spiritual issues run deeper than paltry mistrust of religious institutions.
For the study, researchers pulled 58,893 entries from the GSS, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults. The results suggest a steep decline in the number of Americans who pray, believe in God, take the Bible literally, attend religious services or identified as religious—all factors that should have relatively little to do with America’s skepticism of large institutions.
As of 2014, nearly one third of thirty-somethings who matured in the 2000s said they were “secular” and one fifth reported that they were not even “spiritual”, suggesting a decline not only in religious affiliated but also in the core beliefs of Generation Y. “Decline in religious affiliation and participation has now extended to private practices and beliefs,” the authors write.
The next generation, often referred to as iGen, is even more secular. By 2014, the number of 18 to 22-year-olds who reported no religious affiliation rose from 11 percent in the 1970s to 36 percent; the percentage who said they never pray rose from 4 percent to 28 percent. Belief in God and attendance at religious serviced declined by half while self-reported spirituality declined five-fold. “This suggests that iGen will continue the decrease in religious orientation rather than reversing it, even in spirituality,” the authors write.
One odd quirk, however—Americans have become slightly more likely to believe in an afterlife, even as they are abandoning prayer, belief in God and rituals. This, too, is perhaps a telling sign of America’s newfound relationship with old-time religion. “It might be part of a growing entitlement mentality,” Twenge said. “Thinking you can get something for nothing.”
Source
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
KICKING GOD OUT OF SCHOOL
ROBERT KNIGHT on 12 January, 2016 at 11:00
Glenview Elementary School in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, was already far along the safe road to political correctness.
The suburban Philadelphia-area school’s annual Christmas concert, held on December 23, was called the Holiday Concert, and Christmas break had become Winter Break.
Its website has a link to the 79-page, state-issued, anti-bullying guidelines. So far, so good. But the school had not bent entirely to PC fashion. After each recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the pupils recited the words, “God bless America.”
Although this was not a required action, the school had been doing it to honor fallen first responders and victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The school is less than 100 miles from lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center was leveled by jets hijacked by Islamic jihadists.
All was well for 14 years until someone tipped off the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU swooped down in late December to make sure that the schoolkids were spared the common phrase uttered routinely by most public officials and all U.S. presidents up to and including Barack Obama.
In a December 30 letter, Ed Barocas, legal director of the ACLU’s New Jersey chapter, called the practice of reciting “God bless you” in a public school “unconstitutional.” He did stop short of calling it “diabolical.”
Fearing a costly legal battle, Principal Sam Sassano explained in a letter to parents that the school will discontinue the adult-led recitation and “explore alternative methods of honoring the victims and first responders of the 9/11 tragedy.”
Children at the 265-student school will be permitted to say the phrase on their own after the Pledge, he noted. So the ACLU has not managed to enforce official atheism during every moment that the children are in school. But that’s the ultimate goal — to make religion irrelevant outside homes, churches and in the public square and thus create a de facto establishment of atheism as America’s official religion.
Since 1963, when Madalyn Murray O’Hair won a Supreme Court decision to bar Bible reading in government schools, millions of schoolchildren have grown up utterly ignorant of the most influential text in world history. It might help to explain why we find ourselves drowning in a surging sea of personal and institutional lawlessness that threatens the very foundations of American liberty.
Mr. Barocas letter to the school attorney included this tutorial: “The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government not only from favoring one religion over another, but also from promoting religion over non-religion.”
That would have been news to Benjamin Franklin, whose invocation of prayer turned around the stalled constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Here’s an excerpt of Franklin’s words, as recorded in his own handwriting and found in James Madison’s journal:
“In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel.”
In the biblical account of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), God rendered the arrogant men building the tower confused and helpless, babbling in numerous languages.
It would be nice if the ACLU learned how to babble in a language that was not relentlessly hostile to public expressions of faith.
First published at The Washington Times
Source
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Thursday, January 07, 2016
End of the world: God NOT climate change will cause apocalypse, says Express.co.uk poll
NEARLY a third of people believe God - not natural disasters, nuclear war or climate change - will cause the end of the world, according to the results of an Express.co.uk poll.
PUBLISHED: 15:52, Thu, Jan 7, 2016 | UPDATED: 16:39, Thu, Jan 7, 2016
Our survey asked for readers' views on what would bring about the demise of mankind, after we reported yesterday how scientists said there was a very real chance of a catastrophic super volcano eruption in the next 80 years.
Out of those who voted by today, 31 per cent (2,457) said God would be responsible for finishing off mankind.
But those thinking it would be severe storms and floods caused by climate change came in at an incredible ZERO per cent.
According to the Bible and devout Christians after the Second Coming of Christ, the Rapture will unfold, when all true believers in God will be resurrected to join those who are still alive to meet God in the heavens.
For anyone else it will be "the end of days," it is claimed.
Readers were given ten possible options of what would bring about the end of the human race.
Second highest was the super volcanoes category - the subject of the original story - which 17 per cent of people went for.
Closely behind this at 15 per cent were the optimists who said nothing would kills off humans as "we always find a way".
While 11 per cent of respondents thought overpopulation would bring about the end and 10 per cent thought nuclear war would be the cause.
Only seven per cent of people believe an asteroid or comet would be responsible for the end of mankind, with six per cent going for a viral pandemic.
By JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 15:52, Thu, Jan 7, 2016 | UPDATED: 16:39, Thu, Jan 7, 2016
GETTY
We asked Express.co.uk what would bring about the end of mankind
Our survey asked for readers' views on what would bring about the demise of mankind, after we reported yesterday how scientists said there was a very real chance of a catastrophic super volcano eruption in the next 80 years.
Out of those who voted by today, 31 per cent (2,457) said God would be responsible for finishing off mankind.
But those thinking it would be severe storms and floods caused by climate change came in at an incredible ZERO per cent.
According to the Bible and devout Christians after the Second Coming of Christ, the Rapture will unfold, when all true believers in God will be resurrected to join those who are still alive to meet God in the heavens.
For anyone else it will be "the end of days," it is claimed.
GETTY
Hand of God: Could the Rapture actually happen?
Readers were given ten possible options of what would bring about the end of the human race.
Second highest was the super volcanoes category - the subject of the original story - which 17 per cent of people went for.
Closely behind this at 15 per cent were the optimists who said nothing would kills off humans as "we always find a way".
While 11 per cent of respondents thought overpopulation would bring about the end and 10 per cent thought nuclear war would be the cause.
Only seven per cent of people believe an asteroid or comet would be responsible for the end of mankind, with six per cent going for a viral pandemic.
GETTY
The end has been nigh for as long as we can remember
He is the only one that foretold his plan for this world from the beginning and it has been 100 per cent accurate without fail.
Express reader ArthurSr
And two per cent felt solar winds from the sun would rob the Earth of it's atmosphere and just one per cent thinking massive earthquake and tsunamis would be enough to kill us all off.
Some 7,927 Express.co.uk readers took part in the poll.
One reader, calling himself ArthurSr, commented after our poll: "Why do people all freak out about the end of the world?
"Read the Bible. The End was already established from the beginning.
"That is how you can know and trust the word of God.
"He is the only one that foretold his plan for this world from the beginning and it has been 100 per cent accurate without fail.
He is the only one that foretold his plan for this world from the beginning and it has been 100 per cent accurate without fail.
Express reader ArthurSr
And two per cent felt solar winds from the sun would rob the Earth of it's atmosphere and just one per cent thinking massive earthquake and tsunamis would be enough to kill us all off.
Some 7,927 Express.co.uk readers took part in the poll.
One reader, calling himself ArthurSr, commented after our poll: "Why do people all freak out about the end of the world?
"Read the Bible. The End was already established from the beginning.
"That is how you can know and trust the word of God.
"He is the only one that foretold his plan for this world from the beginning and it has been 100 per cent accurate without fail.
GETTY
Space rocks were not the apocalypse inducer of choice
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Saturday, November 14, 2015
NO Church Organization IS The Bride of Jesus - Pastor Charles Mills
Evangelism # 53 NO Church Organization IS The Bride of Jesus
Published on Sep 21, 2015
Seventh-day Adventists worldwide are proclaiming that the General Conference Seventh-day Adventist duly organized is the Bride of Christ; Yet God's has declared HIS Present Truth that no church on earth is the Bride of HIS Son. Find out what God has declared as truth!
Reaching To The World With God's Way To Eden Restored — #53 — NO Church Organization IS the Bride of Christ — By Pastor Charles Mills — Port St Lucie FL At HIS Vine Free Seventh-day Adventist Church
It is our Prayer that all who want to hear Present Truth will watch our sermons here online. We post presently every week here on our Church Pastor's YouTube Channel the Sabbath Worship Service.
HIS Vine Free Seventh-day Adventist Church is preaching the Historic Message given by God to His people to proclaim to the world for a witness.
We are a Self-Supporting Seventh-day Adventist Church as a member of the International Association of Free Seventh-day Adventists.
Seventh-day Adventists worldwide are proclaiming that the General Conference Seventh-day Adventist duly organized is the Bride of Christ; Yet God's has declared HIS Present Truth that no church on earth is the Bride of HIS Son. Find out what God has declared as truth!
Reaching To The World With God's Way To Eden Restored — #53 — NO Church Organization IS the Bride of Christ — By Pastor Charles Mills — Port St Lucie FL At HIS Vine Free Seventh-day Adventist Church
It is our Prayer that all who want to hear Present Truth will watch our sermons here online. We post presently every week here on our Church Pastor's YouTube Channel the Sabbath Worship Service.
HIS Vine Free Seventh-day Adventist Church is preaching the Historic Message given by God to His people to proclaim to the world for a witness.
We are a Self-Supporting Seventh-day Adventist Church as a member of the International Association of Free Seventh-day Adventists.
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