Three Kings, Three Roads - Pastor Al Fletcher

Oakwood Live 2024 - Chapel

 

Message by Dr. MyRon Edmonds at "No Diddy", at 50:00 Mins. Timestamp.

Lil Wayne To Perform At Adventist Health Arena, A Sabbath-Breaking, Alco...

Praising God with Breakdancing in the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Pastor Saša Gunjević First Adventist Pastor to Maintain Credentials After Coming Out

25MARCH2023

Pastor Saša Gunjević First Adventist Pastor to Maintain Credentials After Coming Out

NEWS HAMBURG-GRINDELBERG ADVENTIST CHURCH, HANSE CONFERENCE, NORTHERN GERMANY, SAŠA GUNJEVIĆ


24 March 2023 |

At the Hamburg-Grindelberg Adventist Church, in Northern Germany’s Hanse Conference, Pastor Saša Gunjević began his first sermon of the New Year on January 7, 2023. The title of his sermon paralleled the new motto chosen by Hanse Conference for 2023: “You Are a God Who Sees Me.” In his sermon (translated here into English), Gunjević tells the story of Hagar and her struggle as she is spurned from society and flees as a minority, only to have God stop her and ask her deep questions about her journey and her identity. God asks her to go back to an uncomfortable and untenable social environment, but promises her blessings and His support. She replies by saying “I have seen the One who sees me!”

Gunjević continued. “Hagar needed a safe place. Without this Advocate….without the God who sees her, she probably wouldn’t have returned. I also need a safe place and don’t know if I have one. ‘You are a God who sees me.’ I could always be open with Him. Now I want to entrust you with something very important to me. I’m bisexual. That means I can fall in love with both women and men. I have known this since I was 14 years old. I knew this when I was 16 years old and was baptized… It was clear to me from the start that if I wanted to become or remain a pastor, I couldn’t talk about it. That that would be impossible. So I studied theology without being able to talk about it with other Christians. I became a pastor and kept it to myself for 13 years.”

Throughout his sermon, Gunjević shares that he is grateful for the support of his friends and family, that he has understood that his “being is not a sin, because we cannot choose our sexual orientation and identity,” and that the Grindel church community will be afforded some time to study and discuss the issue together for those who have questions or theological concerns. He ends the sermon with an appeal:

I would like to continue working at Grindel to ensure that we too see people as God sees us. That we are a safe place for people with all kinds of challenges. For people who don’t share everything because they are afraid of being judged, rejected or sent into the desert. I believe in a God who is different from what we think He is. He can see differently than we do, love differently than we do, hope differently than we do, and also believe differently than we do. That is exactly why it is good if we learn from HIM. Get a new outlook from HIM, for each other, knowing that we belong together and don’t “have to” be against each other. Even if we see and believe things differently.

The Show Must Go On: Adventist-owned NCU Held its 2023 Xaymaca Cultural ...

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him

 
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1 John 2:15-17

Ban of gay clergy divides congregants of United Methodist Church

The vote last month by the church's General Conference has pitted some traditionalists against progressives, sparking fears that the denomination itself could splinter.

The Rev. Roy Grubbs at the Centerport United Methodist Church has heard a range of views from church members. He has had to persuade some to stay to see what comes of the debate. Photo Credit: Heather Walsh 

By Bart Jones bart.jones@newsday.com Updated March 16, 2019 6:00 AM



A new, tougher ban on gay clergy and same-sex marriage has divided the United Methodist Church so sharply that the denomination is in danger of splintering, something that could tear apart dozens of congregations across Long Island.

The vote by the General Conference is evoking strong feelings on both sides: Traditionalists argue the ban aligns with historical church teaching and values, while progressives see the policy as clearly out of step with the times.

On the Island, there are about 80 Methodist churches attended by several thousand members, the church's New York Conference estimates.

A sampling of local Methodists show they, too, are at odds: Some are sorely disappointed in the church, the nation's third largest with 7 million members, and are struggling with whether to join another denomination or to form a new one. Others are determined to stay and fight the policy, put in place nearly 50 years ago but strengthened just weeks ago by the church's international governing body. Still others support the ban.

“It’s almost like the American Civil War, where brother fought against brother,” said the Rev. Charles Ferrera of the United Methodist Church of Patchogue.

“If I didn’t abide by this, it would be like me going into Yankee Stadium in the Yankee dugout wearing a Boston Red Sox shirt," said Ferrera, who considers himself a traditionalist. “Having said that, I am also very much aware of people who are hurting as a result of that vote. Nobody is excluded in this congregation … regardless of who they are.”

Today, most mainline Protestant denominations such as the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church allow gay ministers and same-sex marriage. And there are Methodist churches more liberal on social issues that defy what the church calls its "Traditional Plan." The policy states homosexuality is incompatible with Christianity.

At a special General Conference last month in St. Louis, progressives lobbied to replace the old policy with one that would have let pastors and regional conferences decide whether to allow gay ministers and same-sex marriage. Conservatives stood their ground, building a coalition of delegates from the southern United States and delegates from Africa, where homosexuality is illegal in many countries.

Raising Children Without the Concept of Sin

My religious fundamentalist childhood was built around the fear of sin. My daughters don’t even know the word.

Credit

Yvetta Fedorova


By Julia Scheeres
Jan. 25, 2019


We were standing in line for meat pies at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. The indoor arena south of San Francisco had been transformed into Victorian London; actors wearing top hats and crinolines roamed about wishing fairgoers “Happy Christmas.” As we contemplated the menu — haggis or shepherd’s pie? — a noisy band of temperance advocates marched by hoisting signs that stated, “Gin is Sin!”

As my 9-year-old daughter watched them pass, her forehead knitted, and then she looked up at me with solemn hazel eyes.

“Mama, what is sin?” she asked.

The merriment of the fair receded and I stared at her, my brain spinning with the magnitude of her question. By failing to teach my child the meaning of the word sin, had I somehow failed to give her a moral foundation?

Sin. That tiny word still makes me cringe with residual fear. Fear of being judged unworthy. Fear of the eternal torture of hell. Fear of my father’s belt.

The notion of sin dominated my girlhood. Raised in Indiana by fundamentalist parents, sin was the inflexible yardstick by which I was measured. Actions, words, even thoughts weren’t safe from scrutiny. The list of sinful offenses seemed infinite: listening to secular music or watching secular television, saying “gosh” or “darn” or “jeez,” questioning authorities, envying a friend’s rainbow array of Izod shirts. God was a megaphone bleating in my head: “You’re bad, you’re bad, you’re bad!” I had recurring nightmares of malevolent winds tornado-ing through my bedroom — a metaphor, I now realize, for an invisible and vindictive god.

Love of the World

42. Love of the World 

The temptation that was presented by Satan to our Saviour upon the exceeding high mountain is one of the leading temptations which humanity must meet. The kingdoms of the world in their glory were offered to Christ by Satan as a gift upon condition that Christ would yield to him the honor due to a superior. Our Saviour felt the strength of this temptation, but He met it in our behalf and conquered. He would not have been tested upon this point if man were not to be tried with the same temptation. In His resistance, He gave us an example of the course that we should pursue when Satan should come to us individually to lead us from our integrity.

No man can be a follower of Christ and yet place his affections upon the things of the world. John in his first epistle writes: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Our Redeemer, who met this temptation of Satan in its fullest power, is acquainted with man's danger of yielding to the temptation to love the world.

Christ identified Himself with humanity by bearing the test upon this point and overcoming in man's behalf. He has guarded with warnings those very points where Satan would best succeed in his temptations to man. He knew that Satan would gain the victory over man unless he was especially guarded upon the points of appetite and the love of worldly riches and honor. He says: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Here Christ has brought before us two masters, God and the world, and has plainly presented the fact that it is simply impossible for us to serve both. If our interest in, and love for, this world predominate, we shall not appreciate the things, which, above all others, are worthy of our attention. The love of the world will exclude the love of God and make our highest interests subordinate to worldly considerations. Thus God will not hold so exalted a place in our affections and devotions as do the things of the world.

Our works will show the exact extent to which earthly treasures have our affections. The greatest care, anxiety, and labor are devoted to worldly interests, while eternal considerations are made secondary. Here Satan receives of man that homage which he claimed of Christ but failed to obtain. It is the selfish love of the world which corrupts the faith of the professed followers of Christ and makes them weak in moral power. The more they love their earthly riches, the further they depart from God, and the less do they partake of His divine nature that would give them a sense of the corrupting influences in the world and the dangers to which they are exposed. 

Hood mixes mass for techno and God in Berlin church

10 November 2018 - 14H53 

 

© AFP | Mixing it up for believers in God and thumping techno, US electronic music producer, DJ, and ordained pastor Robert Hood wowed hundreds who attended his "Techno Mass" in Berlin's Saint Thomas church

BERLIN (AFP) -

Twin decks perched on a candlelit altar, Robert Hood mixed trademark minimalist techno with God as the charismatic producer and ordained priest wowed a packed Berlin church Friday night.

Hundreds of hip Berliners, most of whom had come to dance rather than pray, were swept along by Hood as priest-cum-DJ, as well as an amateur gospel choir and two female priests at St Thomas church in the cool if dilapidated district of Kreuzberg.

The thumping bass bass beat did its best to make the walls of the 19th century Protestant neo-gothic style church -- one of the city's largest -- shake as a black-clad Hood led the proceedings and professed himself much moved by the occasion.

"It?s a beautiful sanctuary, I didn't know it will lift up so much energy. I am so glad to be here, I've been dreaming of this night for so many years," enthused Hood, a renowned producer of Detroit techno but who was also ordained a priest in 2009.

"This is the first time I ever had the opportunity to do something like this, to witness fellow believers. You'll be swinging from all over your body," said the 53-year-old known for his Detroit politically-infused collective "Underground Resistance" label performances.

So-called minimal techno and its hypnotic repetitive beat emerged in The Motor City -- the home of Motown -- and Berlin in the early 1990s.

The variant's now virtually vintage status has also inspired countless Euro clubbers.

Friday's gig-as-mass gave a sizeable tonal nod to the religious setting as the DJ pastor produced a set blending house music with gospel, notably with his 2011 chef d'oeuvre "We magnify his name" which entranced both young clubbers in the audience as well as some among the church's more regular congregation.

Hood, an Afro-American now based in the Alabama countryside, still produces music despite taking the cloth and has brought out a stream of work both eponymously and as Floorplan, the Vision, Underground Resistance and via a range of collaborations.

Referring to the religious side of his persona and taking holy orders, Hood explained: "I was living my live outside of God, as a stepchild, but not his child. I had to be born again.

"The Lord is good, he is the source of my strength, my creativity."

Hood spent the latter part of the evening not at church but in Berlin's high techno temple Tresor, known for its clammy basements and 48-hour megafests.

Source

Where churches have become temples of cheese, fitness and eroticism

Posted 8:45 p.m. yesterday
Updated 9:17 a.m. today



By Dan Bilefsky, New York Times

MONTREAL — For generations, parishioners whispered their sins in the dark wooden confessional booths of Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours, an imposing Roman Catholic church in Montreal. 7

But on a recent day, the edgy Quebec comedian Sugar Sammy was being filmed inside one of the booths, the latest intimate celebrity confessional on the talk show “Y’a du monde à messe,” or “The Church Is Packed.” 16

“I made a sex tape in order to be famous, because I thought it was the path to glory,” Sammy said with mock seriousness, as the camera zoomed in on his face, seen from behind a grill. “It didn’t work because no one watched it,” he continued. “I was the only person on the tape.” 21

A large audience gathered in the church roared with laughter. 5



The once-hallowed space, now illuminated with a giant pink chandelier, has been reinvented as the Théâtre Paradoxe at a cost of nearly $3 million in renovations. It is now host to, among other events, Led Zeppelin cover bands, Zumba lessons and fetish parties, as well as the talk show that Sammy appeared on. 13

And it is one of dozens of churches across Quebec that have been transformed — into university reading rooms, luxury condominiums, cheese emporiums and upmarket fitness centers. 6

At another event at the church, devoted to freewheeling dance, dozens of barefoot amateur dancers filled the space and undulated in a trancelike state in front of its former altar amid drums and chanting. Two men in tank tops clasped hands and twirled each other. A woman in blue juggled three white balls, putting one on her head. 4

There can be no harmony between the people of God and the world

Like Israel, Christians too often yield to the influence of the world and conform to its principles and customs, in order to secure the friendship of the ungodly; but in the end it will be found that these professed friends are the most dangerous of foes. The Bible plainly teaches that there can be no harmony between the people of God and the world. “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” 1 John 3:13. Our Saviour says, “Ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.” John 15:18. Satan works through the ungodly, under cover of a pretended friendship, to allure God’s people into sin, that he may separate them from Him; and when their defense is removed, then he will lead his agents to turn against them and seek to accomplish their destruction.

Patriarchs and Prophets, p.559. 

Pope urges Christians to watch out against worldliness

Pope Francis \ Homilies



Pope Francis celebrating Mass at the Vatican's Santa Marta residence, 13 October, 2017.

13/10/2017 13:38

(Vatican Radio) Only Christ crucified will save us from the demons that make us "slide slowly into worldliness", saving us also from the "stupidity" that St. Paul talks about to the Galatians, and from seduction. This was central message of the homily of Pope Francis at his Mass, Friday morning, at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. He was reflecting on the episode in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus casts out a demon, which some people interpret as through power of the devil.

Watchfulness against Devil's stealth

The Pope said the Lord asks us be watchful in order not to enter into temptation. This is why a Christians have to be awake, watchful and careful like a sentinel. Jesus was not narrating a parable but was stating a truth, i.e when the unclean spirit comes out of a man, he roams about in abandoned places looking for refuge and not finding any, decides to return to where he came from, where the freed man lives. Hence the demon decides to bring in "seven other spirits worse than him.” Pope Francis emphasized the word “worse”, saying it has much force in the passage because the demons enter quietly.

Worldliness

The demons thus start being part of the man's life. With their ideas and inspirations, they help the man to live better and entering his life and heart and start changing him from within, but quietly without making any noise. This method is different from the earlier diabolic possession which was strong, the Pope explained, adding this time it a diabolic possession, something like in a “living room”. The devil slowly changes our criteria to lead us to worldliness. It camouflages our way of acting, which we hardly notice. And so, the man, freed from the demon, becomes a bad man, a man burdened by worldliness. And that's exactly what the devil wants – worldliness, the Pope stressed.

Worldliness, Pope Francis explained, is a spell, a seduction, because the devil is the "father of seduction". When the devil enters "so sweetly, politely and takes possession of our attitudes," the Pope said, our values pass from the service of God to worldliness. Thus we become "lukewarm Christians, worldly Christians", a mixture, something that the Pope described as a “fruit salad” of the spirit of the world and the spirit of God. All this distances us from the Lord, the Pope said and stressed that the way to avoid it by being vigilant and calm without alarm.

Christ crucified who saves

Watchful means understanding what goes on in my heart, the Pope said, adding, “ It means stopping for a while to examine my life, whether I a Christian, whether I educate my children, whether my life is Christian or worldly?” And one understands this, as Paul points out, by looking at Christ crucified. One understands where worldliness lies and is destroyed before the Lord's cross. The Crucifix saves us from the charms and seductions that lead us to worldliness.

The Holy Father exhorted Christians to examine themselves whether they look up to Christ crucified, whether they pray the Way of the Cross in order to understand the price of salvation, not just from sins but also from worldliness. The examination of conscience, the Pope said, is done always before Christ crucified, with prayer, after which one has to break loose from one’s comfortable attitudes, through works of charity, visiting the sick, helping someone in need and so on. This breaks the harmony and the spiritual worldliness that the demon together with seven others tries to create in us, the Pope added.

Source

GREAT DECEPTIONS ARE UPON US - Please Seek the TRUTH!

 
End-Times-Prophecy

Published on Feb 3, 2017

A tidal wave of deception is sweeping across the world today. Please seek the truth, before you are swept up in the final deception.


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Rhonda - Transgender Elder @ Hollywood Adventist Church

Hollywood Life - December 12, 2015

Hollywood Adventist Church

Published on Dec 15, 2015


Come worship with us!
1711 Van Ness Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90028

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Catholic priest forced to repent after using hoverboard in church

news USA

Published on Dec 29, 2015


A Catholic priest in the Philippines has apologised after riding a hoverboard during Christmas Eve mass.

The unnamed 'holy roller' was filmed riding up and down the nave of his Laguna church with a microphone singing, "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" to applause from the congregation.

The video was posted by religious organisation NOVUS ORDO Insider on its Facebook page on Sunday with the caption, "This calls for a reparation! Instead, pray a rosary for this priest and attend a Traditional Latin Mass."

Church officials at the Diocese of San Pablo were not pleased.

"That was wrong," the diocese declared in a statement posted online. "The Eucharist is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of people."

The priest said the controversy was "a wake-up call", according to church officials.

"He acknowledged that his action was not right and promised that it will not happen again," the diocese said.

"He will be out of the parish and will spend some time to reflect on this past event."

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Adventists Represented at G20 Interfaith Summit in Turkey

ADVENTISTS REPRESENTED AT G20 INTERFAITH SUMMIT IN TURKEY




Ganoune Diop among international religious liberty leaders at the G20 Interfaith Summit in Turkey. [Photo courtesy of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty]

ADVENTISTS HAVE UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAKE WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, SAYS THE CHURCH’S PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY LEADER.

November 24, 2015 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Bettina Krause, communication director for the International Religious Liberty Association |

As the world’s political and economic leaders met for the G20 Economic Forum in Turkey earlier this month, religious leaders also gathered in Turkey to highlight the major role that faith plays on the global stage. The G20 Interfaith Summit, held November 16 to 18 in Istanbul, was the second time religious leaders had gathered on the sidelines of the main G20 meetings. The event brought together academics, public leaders, and representatives from a broad range of faith groups, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus to explore the role of religion and religious values in driving positive economic development.

Ganoune Diop, director of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department at the General Conference, represented the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the event and delivered a plenary address on the final day of the summit. His paper, “Moral Foundations for the Sustainable Development Goals: On Dignity, Freedom and Solidarity,” explored, among other things, the importance of promoting freedom of religion or belief. Diop developed the argument that religious freedom is a pivotal human right—one that is central to all other freedoms, and which is essential in tackling the root causes of poverty, and nurturing sustainable development.

“Political and economic strategies are, of course, important in addressing issues of sustainable development,” says Diop. “But faith and faith values play a tremendous, and often unrecognized, role in many different facets of human interaction. For this reason, religions should bring their best values to the world’s economic challenges, and people of faith need to work together to alleviate suffering and promote the well-being of all.”

Other speakers at the G20 Interfaith Summit included David Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the United States Department of State; Rahmi Yaran, the Grand Mufti of Istanbul; and, Heiner Bielefeldt, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief at the United Nations. The terrorist attacks in Paris, coming just days prior to the start of the Summit, lent a particular urgency to discussions, says Diop, especially those related to building more harmonious relations between people of faith.

According to Diop, it’s vital that Adventists be a part of the conversation at an international level. “When Jesus was on Earth, He mingled with people,” he explains. “He engaged with their problems and concerns in practical, compassionate ways.”

"As Jesus’ followers, Adventists cannot exist in isolation,” says Diop. “We’re connected with humanity, and we stand in solidarity with a world that aches with injustice and suffering of many different kinds.” He adds that Adventists have unique contributions to make to any discussion about how religion can boost quality of life.

The International Religious Liberty Association, a non-sectarian NGO originally chartered by the Adventist Church in 1893 and still supported by Adventists, was one of 25 organizations, faith groups, and universities that sponsored the G20 Interfaith Summit. For more information about the Summit program and goals, visit G20interfaith.org.

Source: "Adventist News Network"

Source

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The Church’s Great Need

[Article appearing in appendix to first edition of Christ Our Righteousness, but omitted for mechanical reasons from the second reset edition.]

Compilers.

A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it. Our heavenly Father is more willing to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. But it is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing. A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer. While the people are so destitute of God’s Holy spirit, they cannot appreciate the preaching of the Word; but when the Spirit’s power touches their hearts, then the discourses given will not be without effect. Guided by the teachings of God’s Word, with the manifestation of His Spirit, in the exercise of sound discretion, those who attend our meetings will gain a precious experience, and returning home, will be prepared to exert a healthful influence.

The old standard bearers knew what it was to wrestle with God in prayer, and to enjoy the outpouring of His Spirit. But these are passing off from the stage of action; and who are coming up to fill their places? How is it with the rising generation? Are they converted to God? Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping to see the whole church revived? That time will never come.

There are persons in the church who are not converted, and who will not unite in earnest, prevailing prayer. We must enter upon the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less. Iniquity abounds, and the people must be taught not to be satisfied with a form of godliness without the spirit and power. If we are intent upon searching our own hearts, putting away our sins, and correcting our evil tendencies, our souls will not be lifted up unto vanity; we shall be distrustful of ourselves, having an abiding sense that our sufficiency is of God.

We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world. Unbelievers have a right to expect that those who profess to be keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, will do more than any other class to promote and honor, by their consistent lives, by their godly example and their active influence, the cause which they represent. But how often have the professed advocates of the truth proved the greatest obstacle to its advancement! The unbelief indulged, the doubts expressed, the darkness cherished, encourage the presence of evil angels, and open the way for the accomplishment of Satan’s devices.

Selected Messages Book 1, p.121,122.

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What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

From left, Ganoune Diop, Ted N.C. Wilson, Ban Ki-moon, Joseph Verner Reed, and John Graz. Photo: Evan Schneider / UN

Monday, April 6, 2015

Photo (Courtesy) http://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/story2513-adventist-church-president-holds-first-meeting-with-un-chief

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.


2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

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