Saturday, June 02, 2007

MAYHEM AT GW BRIDGE






MAYHEM ON THE BRIDGE







Traffic snarled for two hours as cops try to rescue a man trying to jump off the George Washington Bridge










BY JOHN VALENTI.john.valenti@newsday.com

June 2, 2007

A level of the George Washington Bridge as shut down for more than two hours Friday morning after a man armed with a box-cutter razor climbed a bridge cable, slashed his arms and wrists repeatedly and threatened to jump.

The standoff lasted more than an hour before emergency services officers from the New York Police Department and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey finally talked the man down and captured him at 8:30 a.m.

And motorists seeking information on the traffic problems from a multi-million-dollar New York State Department of Transportation Web site designed to inform travelers about delays were out of luck. Word of the large metro-area traffic jam went unreported on www.travelinfony.com - until Newsday called the agency.

Law enforcement agents closed the upper level of the bridge at 7:06 a.m. Friday after the man climbed a cable on the north side of the span and threatened to jump. The lower level remained open to cars, though trucks were banned.

After emergency services officers captured the man, who authorities did not identify, he was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, N.J., for observation and evaluation, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said.

The closure caused massive traffic jams that backed up the New Jersey Turnpike, Palisades Parkway, Route 46, Cross Bronx Expressway, Major Deegan and other roads leading to the George Washington for miles. Even after the upper level was re-opened at 9:30 a.m., the ensuing traffic snarl took hours to clear.

But it wasn't until the bridge was re-opened that the state DOT Web site began reporting the closure and delays.

"Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication and we didn't realize it [the information] wasn't up until you called this morning," state DOT spokeswoman Carol Breen said. "Normally, we would have had a traveler's advisory posted."

Breen said the glitch occurred because computer links between the metro-area traffic information system and the state Web site have not been completed. Instead, she said, state DOT staff still have to input information about the city's roadways by hand. The system, called "Real-Time Transportation Status," features maps of all major roads in the state and is supposed to alert Web users to all delays, closures and so-called "critical incidents" on those roads.

"That's what the system is there for," Breen said. "For incidents like this ... if that's not being reported there, that's a problem." She said the computer links are scheduled to be finalized later this year.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

RELIGION AT U.S. COLLEGES





International Herald Tribune



Religion gets an 'A' at U.S. colleges






Wednesday, May 2, 2007



Peter Gomes has been at Harvard University for 37 years and says he remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege. To be seen as religious often meant being dismissed as not very bright, he said.




No longer. At Harvard these days, said Gomes, the university preacher, "There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years."




Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember.




More students are enrolling in religion courses, even majoring in religion; more are living in dormitories or houses where matters of faith and spirituality are a part of daily conversation; and discussion groups are being created for students to grapple with such questions as what happens after death, dozens of university officials said in interviews.




A survey of the spiritual lives of college students, the first of its kind, showed in 2004 that more than two-thirds of 112,000 freshmen surveyed said they prayed and that almost 80 percent believed in God.




Nearly half of the freshmen said they were seeking opportunities to grow spiritually, according to the survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.




Compared with 10 or 15 years ago, "There is a greater interest in religion on campus, both intellectually and spiritually," said Charles Cohen, a professor of history and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who for a number of years ran an interdisciplinary major in religious studies. The program was created seven years ago and has 70 to 75 majors each year.




University officials explained the surge of interest in religion as partly a result of the rise of the religious right in politics, which they said has made questions of faith more talked about generally. In addition, they said, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, by Islamic zealots underscored for many the influence of religion on world affairs.




And an influx of evangelical students at secular universities, along with an increasing number of international students, has meant that students arrive with a broader array of religious experiences.




Gomes said a more diverse student body at Harvard had meant that "the place is more representative of mainstream America."




"That provides a group of people who don't leave their religion at home," he said.




At Berkeley, a vast number of undergraduates are Asian-American, with many coming from observant Christian homes, said the Reverend Randy Bare, the Presbyterian campus pastor. "That's new, and it's a remarkable shift," Bare said.




There are 50 to 60 Christian groups on campus, and student attendance at Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches near campus has picked up significantly, he said. On many other campuses, though, the renewed interest in faith and spirituality has not necessarily translated into increased attendance at religious services.




The Reverend Lloyd Steffen, the chaplain at Lehigh University, is among those who think the war in Iraq has contributed to the interest in religion among students. "I suspect a lot of that has to do with uncertainty over the war," Steffen said. "My theory is that the baby boomers decided they weren't going to impose their religious life on their children the way their parents imposed it on them," Steffen continued. "The idea was to let them come to it themselves.




"And then they get to campus and things happen; someone dies, a suicide occurs. Real issues arise for them, and they sometimes feel that they don't have resources to deal with them. And sometimes they turn to religion and courses in religion."




Increased participation in community service may also reflect spiritual yearning of students. "We don't use that kind of spiritual language anymore," said Rebecca Chopp, the Colgate president. "But if you look at the students, they do."




Some sociologists who study religion are skeptical that students' attitudes have changed significantly, citing a lack of data to compare current students with those of previous generations. But even some of those concerned about the data say something has shifted.




"All I hear from everybody is yes, there is growing interest in religion and spirituality and an openness on college campuses," said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame. "Everybody who is talking about it says something seems to be going on."




David Burhans, who retired after 33 years as chaplain at the University of Richmond, said many students "are really exploring, they are really interested in trying things out, in attending one another's services."




Lesleigh Cushing, an assistant professor of religion and Jewish studies at Colgate, said: "I can fill basically any class on the Bible. I wasn't expecting that."




When Benjamin Wright, chairman of the department of religion studies at Lehigh, arrived 17 years ago, two students chose to major in religion. This year there are 18 religion majors and there were 30 two and three years ago.




At Harvard, more students are enrolling in religion courses and regularly attending religious services, Gomes said.




Presbyterian ministries at Berkeley and Wisconsin have built dormitories to offer spiritual services to students and encourage discussion among different faiths. The seven-story building on the Wisconsin campus, which will house 280 students, is to open in August.




The number of student religious organizations at Colgate has grown to 11 from 5 in recent years. The university's Catholic, Protestant and Jewish chaplains oversee an array of programs and events. Many involve providing food to students, a phenomenon that the university chaplain, Mark Shiner, jokingly calls "gastro-evangelism."




Among the new clubs is one established last year to encourage students to hold wide-ranging dialogues about spirituality and faith. Meeting over lunch on Thursdays, the students talk about what happens after life or the nature of Catholic spirituality.




Gabe Conant, a junior, said he wanted to contemplate personal questions about his own faith. He described them this way: "What are these things I was raised in and do I want to keep them?"

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/02/news/college.php

BALAAM AND BALAK





Numbers 23


1And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

4And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

5And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

9For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

11And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

13And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

14And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

16And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

17And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

18And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

21He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

23Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward jeshimon.

29And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.



STRANGE GODS



Strange Gods Among Us?


Do we "All Worship the SAME GOD?"


Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. Josh.24.23


In this strange "post Christian" era in which we live, we often hear the cry "there is no difference; we all worship the same God." and "All the different religions worship the same God- they just call Him by different names." or "There is only one God- some of us just see Him differently that’s all." and "All religions are the same; just different paths to the same destination."


A few years back I was stumped when confronted by some of these common statements- I, who had been raised an SDA was having trouble providing an authoritative answer as to how my beliefs differed from so called "heathen" religions- after all- they all were ways of trying to be saved- they all taught we should be "good." They all seemed to believe in a supreme being. -


One day a friend not of the Christian faith asked me- "Just what is a Christian?" This stumped me at the time- Oh, I knew all the usual clichés, but I seemed to lack a basic, deep understanding. I started from that day forth to earnestly seek to learn what makes real Christianity different and what it means to be a Christian. I prayed earnestly that God would show me what a real Christian is and little by little I learned some amazing things.


First off, I wish to inquire, if there is only one God and all religions, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, Taoists, North American natives, Hindus etc. all worship the same god, Why does the Bible mention, for example, Strange gods- 12 different places and other gods 71 different places? Look at a few of these-


Deut.32.16


They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.


Exo.20.3


Thou shalt have no other gods before me.


Exo.23.13


And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.


Deut.18.20


But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.


Jer.35.15


I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.


It is very clear that there ARE other gods and we don’t all worship the same God.


2Cor.4.4


In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.


There is a god of this world, who is this god of the world?-


Deut.32.17


They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.


1Cor.10.20,21


But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.


Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.


Yes, all other gods are devils- Satan and his host who seek to deceive in ever way possible- He knows that if he keeps man from the true worship of the true god in any way, he keeps man helpless, powerless to overcome sin and lost!


Isa.43.10,11


Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.


I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.


Why does God tell us that there is really no other gods after warning us not to worship other gods? Because these lying beings and false philosophies and vain theories are all lies and if we give our worship to any of them we will be lost because-


Acts.4.12


Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.


What is the only name that we can be saved by?


Matt.1.21


And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.


Even many Protestants believe that people were saved in a different way in the Old Testament (Testament also means Covenant) days than they are in the New Testament days. This is false- there is only one true religion! In the Old Testament they looked in faith for salvation and victory over sin to the promised deliverer who was to come; In the New testament, we look by faith for salvation and victory over sin to the promised deliverer who has come.


Now I will shock you- The statement "All religions are the same" is almost all true. All religions are the same- they are all ways in which man tries to save himself by "lifting himself by his own bootstraps" as it were. It is true in this way- all false religions are basically the same. But there is a TRUE WAY that is different as day from night.


Isa.55.8,9


For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.


For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.


In the true plan of salvation there "Is not one thread of human devising." That is why the carnal heart finds it hard to understand and accept though even a child can grasp it - it is so simple and yet so profound.


Let us look briefly at some of the religions that people often claim worship the same God as a true Christian- Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this claim.


Lets take the Muslims. They worship Allah and many people think this is just another name for God. Who was Allah really? Allah was the name of one of the idols worshipped by Mohammed's tribe of Bedouin people. It was a type of the moon god. (That’s where the crescent moon comes from in Muslim symbolism.)


They claim to believe in Jesus but say He is just another prophet of which Mohammed is the greatest.


Mohammed claimed to be the "Comforter" who Jesus predicted would come.


What do the Muslims say about the Son of God?


Mohammed said; "Allah is but one god. Far be it from him that he should have a son." Instead Mohammed deified the Koran as "eternal. uncreated, subsisting in the very essence of God."


What does the Bible say?


1 John.2.22.23


Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.


Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.


John.14.6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.


It is quite clear that they cannot be worshipping the same God as the true Christian because it is only through Jesus that we can know and worship the Father !


What about the Sikhs? The same thing applies. There are many world religions that claim to worship the Father but deny the Son - What does the Bible say?


Acts.4.12


Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.


Any belief that states that Jesus is just "one among many" is "denying the Father AND the Son." There fore the god they are worshipping is not the True God!


What did Jesus say to the Jews?


John.8.24


I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.


Now let’s get closer home; many so-called Christian religions are actually worshipping false gods. Catholicism says that many people who have lived on this earth and followed ascetic practices and suffered much and "earned much merit" can apply this merit to save others- this is where we get saint worship and relic worship. What does the Bible say?


Acts.4.12


Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.


What about the nature worship of the North American Natives? Although there seems to be some among these people who believed in the Great Spirit; most believed in a multitude of spirits and demons and thought even rocks and trees to have spirits.


Rom.1.23


And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.


Rom.1.25


Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.


It is being claimed now that these people had a better relationship to the natural world because they had this fear or respect to all animals and things of nature believing them all to be spirits. People now are glorifying this idea as it seems an answer to the environmental problems we are faced with these days. In fact the attitude is to blame these problems on the Christian belief system.


This is a great injustice as anyone who truly worships his Creator also has respect for His creation. It is greed that has caused the environmental destruction- not Christianity!


It is a fact that any religion that claims to exalt an animal to the status of a man, really lowers a man to the level of an animal. We see evidence of this in the terrible cruelty often practiced by the native tribes on other tribes.


It is said that it was because of their cultural beliefs that they did not waste any animal that they killed and only killed what they required.


History seems to show that this was more of necessity than a belief system because once rifles were given to the native people and there was a market for the products the native people showed little hesitancy in mass slaughter - for example - of caribou to sell their tongues etc. The not wasting was more of necessity than moral standards also as those who work among the native people do not find thriftiness and industry to be a common virtue.


It is true that the world needs to have more respect for the created world of nature but the worship of spirits and animals and teaching that a man is no better than a beast is not the answer to the problem. Again this is Satan’s lie and a false and strange god.


This brings us to other strange gods that have even made inroads into the ranks of true Christians. This is brought to light in this text:


1John.4.3


And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.


Some people think this means to deny that Jesus has come to the earth but that would be futile, as it is a historical fact that He came - so what is meant here?


There is some further light on this in the following-


Heb.2.16,17


For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.


Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.


Rom.8.3


For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.


There are those that claim that Jesus came with the flesh of unfallen Adam. Not the same flesh as us . Therefore we cannot obey God’s law as we are not born with this unfallen flesh . This belief is false and very far reaching in its implications. In fact it backs up Satan’s claim that man cannot obey God’s laws - it claims that Jesus could obey the law because He was born of different flesh than us. But the Bible clearly states that Jesus live His sinless life by depending completely upon His Father just as we are to overcome by depending completely on Jesus. Those who teach this falsehood are declared by the Word to be of the spirit of antichrist. Those who teach such a false idea are truly worshipping strange gods.


Also the ‘Calvinistic’ theologians worship a god that creates some people to be saved and some to be lost. The lost ones he causes to sin and then tortures them eternally in hell to punish them for what they had no choice in doing! This is indeed a strange god- this is a Satanic god.


In conclusion I wish to point out the grave error in being deceived by the false idea that all religions are the same and all worship the same God. If we say to others- "it is all the same, we all believe in the same God." Then how can we hope to show them a better way?? We have made them secure in their lost condition and how can we later seek to show them the truth??


Eze.3.18-21


When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.


Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.


Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.


Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.


In this climate of ecumenism when the pope and the Hindu and Buddhist and other heathen priests all get together to "pray", it is not easy to hold up the Word and claim there is only ONE WAY- but if we truly love God, the true God as revealed in the Holy Word - we will say as did Luther- "Here I stand and I can do no other!" It is not being kind to leave those who worship "strange gods" unwarned and assured that there is no difference in what they believe and what we find in the Word of God! Better not to associate with them at all if it has to be done under such false premises!!


temcat


Source: http://www.temcat.com/TC%20Letters/Letters-S.htm#Will_the_Structure_Fall_

Friday, June 01, 2007

IS JESUS REALLY COMING SOON?




IS JESUS REALLY COMING SOON?


Dennis Priebe



Do you believe that Jesus is coming soon? Was this exact question asked of Seventh-day Adventists in 1950? In 1910? In 1890? Of Millerites in 1844? Yet we are still here, asking the same question a century and a half later. Hasn't something gone tragically wrong? Could our sons and grandsons be asking the same question of future Adventists fifty years down the line? What is to prevent that from happening? What guarantee do we have that Jesus is really coming soon? The shocking reality is that we have no guarantee. Jesus may not be coming soon. I am unable to say unequivocally that Jesus will return within the next ten or even twenty years.



Revelation 7:1-3 describes the period of time in which we live. “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”



The four angels have been holding the winds of destruction for a long time now. They have been specifically ordered to keep holding the winds until God's final sealing work could be finished. This tells us two things. First, the sealing work is not yet finished. Second, we will not see an end to this world's suffering until the sealing work is finished, even if that should he decades in the future. Do you see why we have no guarantee that Jesus' coming will be soon?



God's Will for Adventism



Having said that we have no guarantee that Jesus is coming soon, may I hasten to add that I believe that the possibility is that Jesus may come very, very soon. it seems that there are certain periods when God moves events in the world and the church toward an impending climax, and then waits to see if His people are ready to move with Him.



In 1844 He moved mightily through the Millerite movement, and if His people would have hung together in faith after the great disappointment, the sealing work could have been finished rather quickly. But the great Millerite movement fractured apart after the disappointment, and God could not finish His sealing work.



Then things went into a sort of plateau for forty years until God began to move things in the world and the church toward another climax point in 1888. Once again God watched hopefully to see if His people would catch the vision and get serious about going home. Gut once again God's desires were thwarted, this time by selfish, fault-finding, power seeking Seventh-day Adventist men and women.



So we went into another plateau of ninety years. It is my considered judgment that we are moving toward another of those rare climax points in history, when God is moving events once again into a final countdown. And once again He is hoping that His people will catch the vision of eternity and join with Him in bringing an end to the sin problem. Will they do it this time? Will we do it this time? If we decide that we are ready to get serious about our chosen name--Seventh-day Adventists--then the history of sin could be over in a very short time. On the other hand, if we keep sleeping along, and congratulating ourselves about our beautiful churches and our fine organs and the surging number of baptisms in parts of the world other than North America, then this climax point will pass just like others have done, and this tired old world will go on struggling for survival, while you and I will go to our graves in disappointment.



God's Chosen People



Back in the time of Christ, the Jews had some treasured statements which they loved to quote when things looked dark for them. One was Jeremiah 31:35-37. "Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus saith the Lord;" If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." Speaking of Jerusalem in verse 40, the Lord said, "It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever."



God told the Jews that as long as the sun and moon and stars remained in the sky, Israel would remain as His chosen nation. He promised that, just as surely as no one could ever measure the heavens or the depth of the earth, He would never cast off Israel as His chosen people. Ellen White comments, "These words the Jews applied to themselves; and because God had shown them so great favor and mercy, they flattered themselves that, notwithstanding their sins and iniquity, He would still retain them as His favored people. and shower especial blessings upon them. This has been the danger of the people of God in all ages; and especially is this the danger of those living near the close of time... If they shut their eyes, as did the Jews, to their own corruption, and choose their own ways, the Lord will give them up to the blindness of mind and hardness of heart, that they cannot discern the things of the Spirit of God." (Redemption, vol. 1, pp. 38-39)



But doesn't the promise we just read sound absolute, and weren't the Jews justified in believing that Israel would stand forever as God's chosen people? Are we not likewise justified in believing that our church will go through when we read that, though it appears to fall, it will not fall? Or have they and we both forgotten another crucial principle found in the same book? "And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." (Jeremiah 18:9,10)



Any promise which God ever makes to an individual or a people concerning their relationship to Him and their future is always conditional on their response to His declared will. Moses laid it all out in Deuteronomy 28. "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessing shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God." (vs. 1,2) "The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways." (vs. 9) "And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not he beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them." (vs. 13)



"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee." (vs. 15) "The Lord shall sent upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me." (vs. 20) "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and h-is statutes which He commanded thee." (vs. 45)



Moses clearly warned Israel that they faced the possibility of total destruction if they proved to he intransigently disobedient to God's commandments. Ellen White says very succinctly, "It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional." (Ev 695) Do you know that we are in danger of forgetting this principle just as the Jews were in the time of Christ?



Warnings For Us



Perhaps we need to look at some inspired statements which are not read very often in Seventh-day Adventist circles. "I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people... our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God… And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders. The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt." (5T 217) "The whole body is sick because of mismanagement and miscalculation." (TM 397) "Some power has cut the cable.. .and (we) are drifting away to sea without chart or compass." (RH July 24, 1888) "You are following the same path as did ancient Israel. Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a more unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe." (5T 75-76)



"Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself." (8T 250) "It pains me to say, my brethren, that your sinful neglect to walk in the light, has enshrouded you in darkness. You may now be honest in not recognizing and obeying the light; the doubt you have entertained, your neglect to heed the requirements of God, have blinded your perceptions so that darkness -is now to you light, and light is darkness." (5T 71)



"Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not His people that He loved because they refused to walk in the light, how can He spare the people whom He has blessed with the light of heaven in having opened to them the most exalted truth ever intrusted to mortal man to give to the world?… Internal corruption will bring the denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem... My brethren, we know not what is before us... God will work with us and for us if the sins which brought His wrath upon the old world, upon Sodom and Gomorrah and upon ancient Jerusalem, do not become our crime." (Letter to Butler and Haskell, Dec. 8, 1886)



"What would the Saviour do if He should come to us now as He did to the Jews? He would have to do a similar work." (RH, vol. 2, p. 308) "Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it refuses to receive and walk in the light that God has given... These are no idle tales, but truth." (8T 67, 68) "If we imitate their (Israel's) example of transgression, and depart from God, we shall fall as surely as did they." (1T 608, 609) "Let a church become proud and boastful, not depending on God, not exalting His power, and that church will surely be left by the Lord, to be brought down to the ground. Let a people glory in wealth, intellect, knowledge, or in anything but Christ, and they will soon he brought to confusion." (8T 127)



These are extremely sobering statements from inspiration. They should make us aware that the principle of conditional prophecy applies to us just as much as it did to Israel of old. We are also on trial, to see what we will do with the commandments of God. Will we obey and receive all the blessings of the covenant, or will we by disobedience place ourselves outside the boundaries of God's covenant promises?



The ship that will go through is you and I, not some entity outside of us which will carry us through if we just hang on to it. And the ship of Adventism will go through only if you and I dedicate our entire energies to learning and living God's will for this crisis time. In other words, it is our decisions that will determine what happens to this church.



A word of caution may be in order here. I am not suggesting that we can best do God's will by separating ourselves from the organized church. In fact, I am afraid that if all God's faithful ones would separate from the church, then the church would surely be doomed to destruction, and we might indeed miss the magnificent opportunity we have to usher in the second coming quickly. We might even face the unpleasant prospect of going to our graves in disappointment. What I am saying is that we dare not be too complacent in our belief that the church is going through automatically, and we will make it too if we just hang on. Hanging on is just not good enough. Our only hope lies in study and prayer such as none of us has ever experienced before.



What is the Remedy?



How can we be sure that we will not make the mistakes of the Jews and lose our position as God's remnant? How can we go through ourselves and make it possible for Jesus to end this planet's suffering in the very near future? May I suggest that we are never so blind as when we ignore the past and assume that past failures can never happen to us. We have had a dramatic demonstration of God's will and man's ability to thwart that will within our church. If we have the slightest chance to be God's final remnant today, we must understand as completely as is humanly possible what happened between 1888 and 1900. That was our most recent opportunity to go home, and we must know why it never happened. May I urge you to make that subject a top priority on your list of topics for study and prayer.



What is the divine analysis of the 1888 message? The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones." (TM 91) This message, understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the Spirit, will lighten the earth with its glory. (Ms. 15, 1888) That is the language of the loud cry of the third angel's message. We can conclude that God was intending to prepare His people and to give a final warning to the world through the 1888 message. But what happened?



By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them... The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world. (1SM 234, 235) In other words, by quibbling and jealousy and open opposition, men succeeded in delaying the second coming of Christ for one hundred years.



"God has given Brother Jones and Brother Waggoner a message for the people... When you reject the message borne by these men, you reject Christ, the giver of the message." (Letter 51-A. 1895) During the presentations at Minneapolis in 1888 Ellen White sat on the front row and was heard to say over and over, "Amen, there is much light here." On one occasion she said that Dr. Waggoner was able to present righteousness by faith in a way that she could not.



In recent years there has been a major attempt to prove that, while some of the leading brethren rejected the message in 1888, most accepted it, and even the opposers later repented and came into line. As a result, we have been told, our church eventually accepted the 1888 message of righteousness by faith, and we have been teaching it ever since. This attempt is seriously flawed. First, if we had accepted the message, we would have been in the kingdom long before now. Our presence on this earth shows that there is still a problem. Second, the historical evidence shows continued rejection of the message well after 1888. I will go one step farther. I don't believe that we, as a church, have understood, taught, or lived the 1888 message from that time to this. We have either been trapped in legalism or the gospel of unrighteousness by presumption.



In 1926 Elder A. G. Daniells, former General Conference President, wrote, "The message has never been received, nor proclaimed, nor given free course as it should have been in order to convey to the church the measureless blessings that were wrapped within it.' (Christ Our Righteousness, p. 47) In 1898 Ellen White was still speaking of stubborn defiance, disunion, and rejection of light. In 1902 she said, "I have been instructed that the terrible experience at the Minneapolis Conference is one of the saddest chapters in the history of the believers in present truth." (Letter 179, 1902) W. C. White, her son, wrote, "But the most serious feature of the disaffection was the fact that, because Sister White urged the importance of the message of righteousness by faith, and because thereby she seemed to be upholding these brethren (Waggoner and Jones), contrary to their judgment, it grew into a spirit of rejection of the testimonies of Sister White." (A. V. Olson, Thirteen Crisis Years, p. 332) Could our present plague of attacking or ignoring her writings have its roots in the years following 1888?



Perhaps the heart of the whole problem is found in these comments by Ellen White in 1901. "Enough has been said over and over and over again, but it does not make any difference; they go right on just the same, professedly accepting it; but they do not make any change." (Talk in Battle Creek College library, April 1, 1901) Professedly accepting but making no changes will never finish God's work, even in a thousand years. Could this be what has confused certain historians into assuming that lip service meant heart acceptance? Could the same thing be our problem today?



Inspiration tells us that the leaders of the 1901 General Conference "closed and bolted the door' against the Spirit's entrance... The doors were barred against the heavenly current that would have swept away all evil." (Letter from Elmshaven, Aug. 5, 1902) "The result of the last General Conference has been the greatest, the most terrible sorrow of my life. No change was made." (Letter from Elmshaven, Jan. 15, 1903)



What is the 1888 Message?



Now, if it is really true that God was going to finish His work on earth through the 1888 message, and if it is true that we have never really heard the message since that time, with isolated exceptions; what is the message that could have produced the latter rain and the loud cry then, and will produce it today if we will accept it? The message can be summed up in one Bible verse--Christ in you, the hope of glory. The 1888 message was focused on preparing God's people for translation; thus it had much to say about how to be perfect in Christ and thus ready for the close of probation. The message was not about personal assurance of salvation, but about vindicating and glorifying God's name.



Perhaps some brief excerpts from the messages of Jones and Waggoner might be helpful. "Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, hut of sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject." (Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, pp. 26, 27) "In all of our Christian experience we have left little loopholes along here and there for sin. We have never dared to come to that place where we would believe that the Christian life should be a sinless life. We have not dared to believe it or preach it. But in that case we cannot preach the law of God fully. Why not? Because we do not understand the power of justification by faith." (Waggoner, G. C. Bulletin, 1891, pp. 156, 159) Right here is the difference between justification as taught by Evangelicals and justification in the 1888 message. Only in the 1888 message do we hear about power to keep from sinning, and this victory over sin is always linked with the fallen nature of Christ.



"Christ is to be in us, just as God was in Him, and His character is to be in us, just as God was in Him... It is the cooperation of the divine and the human--the mystery of God in you and me--... that is the third angel's message." (Jones, G. C. Bulletin, 1893, p. 207) "In Jesus Christ as He was in sinful flesh, God has demonstrated before the universe that He can so take possession of sinful flesh as to manifest His own presence, His power, and His glory, instead of sin manifesting itself... Then God will so take us, and so use us, that our sinful selves shall not appear to influence or affect anybody; but God will manifest His righteous self, His glory, before men, in spite of all ourselves and our sinfulness... And that is the mystery of God, 'Christ in you, the hope of glory,'--God manifest in sinful flesh." (Jones, G. C. Bulletin, 1895, p. 303)



"Now the flesh of Jesus Christ was our flesh, and in it was all 'that is in our flesh,--all the tendencies to sin that are in our flesh were in His flesh, drawing upon Him to get Him to consent to sin." (Jones, G. C. Bulletin, 1895, p. 328) "Perfection, perfection of character, is the Christian goal--perfection attained in human flesh in this world. Christ attained it in human flesh in this world, and thus made and consecrated a way by which, in Him, every believer can attain it." (Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, p. 84) "But before probation ends, there will be a people so complete in Him that in spite of their sinful flesh, they will live sinless lives. They will live sinless lives in mortal flesh, because He who has demonstrated that He has power over all flesh lives in them lives a sinless life in sinful flesh." (Waggoner, G. C. Bulletin, 1901, p. 146)



Don't you agree that this is a rare message today? Instead of studying this message and learning how to live this message, we are very divided on whether Christ took our fallen or Adam's unfallen nature. We are even advising our people not to discuss it at all. We are pretty sure that perfection is a bad word, and that sinless living is a fanatical extreme. Satan has done a masterful job of closing our minds to the only message which can prepare us for the second coming. But Satan hasn't done his job well enough. In spite of his best efforts to destroy this message, it is alive and well, and more and more people are waking up to its importance.



I believe that God's people will not let this golden opportunity pass them by again. I see an awakening among church members, and I don't think that Satan will he able to put them all to sleep again. But mark one thing. This awakening is happening among a small minority of church members. The majority continue to sleep on in a death sleep, assuming that, as long as they keep coming to church, they are safe. What a tragic awakening it will he when, too late, most Seventh-day Adventists will realize that they have the mark of the beast. If you want to avoid this tragedy, and if you want to see Christ return to this earth very soon, then I plead with you to reorder your lives if necessary. Make the study of the 1888 message your top priority, and spend more time in study and prayer than ever before in your lives.



Listen to God's appeal to us through His inspired messenger. "Light is flashing from the throne of God. And what is this for--It is that a people may he prepared to stand in the day of God. You who have devoted time and money to the adornment of your apparel and to the decoration of your homes, I would ask you, 'Is Christ formed within you the hope of glory?' It's too late in the day to he taken up with the frivolous things of the world too late for any superficial work to be done. It is too late in the day to cry out against men for manifesting too much earnestness in the service of God; to say, 'You are excited; you are too intense, too positive.'" (RH March 4, 1890)


Source: http://www.dennispriebe.com/documents/Is%20Jesus%20Really%20Coming%20Soon.html

CHRISTIAN UNITY?

Christian Unity and the Ecumenical Movement

How can the ecumenical spirit be squared with the stand of the Reformation on the Papacy and the doctrines of the Catholic Church?

The reformation had based its separation from Rome on the Word of God, and had placed the gospel of Jesus Christ at the disposal of the common man. The striving of the reformers was to make the Word of God available to everyone seeking knowledge of the plan of salvation. The free availability of the Scriptures severely challenged the doctrines and supremacy of Rome, and restored truths that had been lost through centuries of suppression of religious liberty. It is not here the intention to repeat what has been said in the previous chapters on the question of papal dogmas, but a brief summary is necessary to set the stage for events pertaining to the restoration of lost “Christian unity.”

The reformation had restored many Biblical truths that had been lost or suppressed. The reformers had clearly identified the papal system with the antichrist system. In the twelfth century, the Waldenses gave clear witness of the Antichrist, who they claimed was reigning in the church. Joachim, however, was one of the first to interpret prophecy pertaining to the Antichrist. Wycliffe, Jerome, Luther, Knox, Calvin, Baxter and the other leaders of the reformation were united on the identity of the Antichrist. H. Grattan Guinness says:

Lost Truths Restored

1370 A.D.

John Wycliffe

Bible Restored

16th Cent.

Martin Luther

Faith

Lutheran

John Calvin

Free Grace

Presbyterian

God's Law, Bible Baptism

Anabaptists

17th Cent.

John Smyth

Bible Baptism

Baptists

John James

Sabbath

7th Day Baptists

18th Cent.

John Wesley

Law & Grace, Conversion, Sanctification

Methodist

19th Cent.

Bible Prophecy

Advent Movement

Mission Movement

And the views of the reformers were shared by thousands, by hundreds of thousands. They were adopted by princes and peoples. Under their influence, nations abjured their allegiance to the false priest of Rome. In the reaction that followed, all the powers of hell seemed to be let loose ...Yet the reformation stood undefeated and unconquerable. God’s word upheld it&ldots;[i]

Even the foreword of the old King James Bible refers to the Papacy as the man of sin, and warns against malignment from what it calls Popish persons.

Concerning the Antichrist (the Greek meaning of ‘anti’ being “in the place of”), the Bible says:

Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. II Thessalonians 2:3,4

Such claims have been made by the Papacy when Pope Boniface VIII, in his Bull Unam Sanctam, stated:

Pope The Roman Pontiff judges all men, but is judged by no one. We declare, assert, define and pronounce: To be subject to the Roman Pontiff is to every creature altogether necessary for salvation...that which was spoken of Christ ‘thou has subdued all things under his feet’, may well seem verified of me...I have the authority of the King of kings. I am all and above all, so that God Himself and I, the Vicar of God, have but one consistency, and I am able to do all that God can do. What therefore, can you make of me but God?

Pope Leo XIII also claimed he was God in his encyclical letters and it is interesting that Time Magazine, on the incidence of Pope John Paul II’s assassination attempt, wrote: “It’s like shooting God.”[ii]

Rome was not willing to compromise on issues of doctrine with the reformers, and Pope Paul III called the Council of Trent, which met in three sessions between 1545 and 1563. Protestants were present during the second meeting. The Council reaffirmed most of the doctrines disputed by the reformists, including:

1. Transubstantiation

2. Justification by faith and works

3. The medieval mass

4. The seven sacraments

5. Celibacy

6. The doctrine of Purgatory

7. Indulgences

8. Papal power increased by giving the Pope the authority to enforce the decrees of the Council, and requiring church officials to promise him obedience. [iii]

The Council of Trent (1545), which had been called by Pope Paul III to counter the reformation and to clarify the Roman Catholic doctrinal position had, instead of reforming the church, entrenched the Catholic doctrinal position and teaching so abhorrent to the reformers. The Council reaffirmed the Church’s position on the doctrines of transubstantiation, faith and works, the mass, the seven sacraments, celibacy, purgatory and indulgences, and increased the Papal power.[iv]

- Prof. Walter J. Veith


REFERENCES:

[i] Romanism and the Reformation

[ii] Time Magazine, May 25,1981, p. l2.

[iii] History of Christianity, p.410

[iv] The History of Christianity, p.410.