Sunday, January 10, 2010

Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased


1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

2As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

3The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

4John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

5And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

6And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

7And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

8I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

9And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

10And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

11And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

12And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

13And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.



Mark 1:1-13.

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Saturday, January 09, 2010

6.5 earthquake strikes off California coast

January 9, 2010 10:38 p.m. EST




The quake ran about 10 miles deep in northern California, near Eureka.


(CNN) -- A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck off the shore of Northern California, leaving thousands of households without power.

The quake, which ran about 13.5 miles deep, hit offshore at 4:27 p.m. (7:27 p.m. ET) Saturday, about 33 miles from the coastal city of Eureka, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

About 25,000 customers, most of them in Humboldt County, were left without power Saturday evening, said Jeff Smith, spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. One gas leak in the county was also reported.

He said utility crews were patrolling the area to restore power.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage, according to local authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard in Humboldt County. A half a dozen aftershocks followed, the strongest at 4.5 magnitude.

Calls from concerned citizens were pouring into police and fire departments. Gary Bird, spokesman for the 28,000-population Eureka, said 25 responders were surveying the scene.

See iReports from areas affected by earthquake


"We've got isolated water line breaks, power lines down, broken windows, unreinforced buildings that had some bricks fall off into the street," he said, adding that residents have been asked to stay inside.

RELATED TOPICS

U.S. Geological Survey

Eureka

Chris Durant, a reporter for the Times-Standard of Eureka, said he was working on the second floor of the newspaper's concrete building when he and his colleagues felt the quake.

"We are used to feeling small ones," he said, "but after the first few seconds, we looked at each other and said this is not a small one."

He said small chunks of plaster peppered the floor. Still, he said reports from the area indicate minor damage.

"[There's] not as much as you might think with a 6.5," he added, describing much of the damage as broken glass on storefronts and tiles on floors and ceilings popping.

"People are standing outside and talking with their neighbors, and, kind of like letting their nerves calm down," he said.

Eureka resident Cole Machado told CNN he was talking on the phone when he felt the ground shake.

"I thought my TV was going to fall over."

Ferndale resident Jessica Stephens Tucker described the movement from the temblor: "It rolled and rolled and then it slammed."

There was no tsunami warning issued.

A 6.5-magnitude quake is considered a "strong" temblor, according to CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras, who noted that about 120 are recorded worldwide each year.

Dave Magni, owner of the Ivanhoe Hotel in Ferndale, said, "We are sitting in a sea of booze" after the quake. He felt an aftershock while talking with CNN. "My employees are out in the parking lot right now," he added.

CNN's Nick Valencia, Samira Simone and Greg Morrison contributed to this report.
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Source:http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/09/california.earthquake/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
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Central Florida Gets Snow Flurries, Cold Blast


Saturday, January 09, 2010

MIAMI — Florida is getting ready for another cold blast and chilly rain.


Residents in the central part of the state reported seeing snow flurries and sleet early Saturday morning. Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Melbourne say sleet was reported in Brevard and Volusia counties, along with a mixture of rain. Naples had a few snow flurries.

Bob Wimmer called it an "unusual weather event." Temperatures will reach the mid 40s Saturday, with the wind chill making it feel like the lower 30s.

Wimmer says cloudy skies will continue to bring in the cold.

Further south, the forecast called for rain with temperatures in the afternoon in the 50s and mid 30s in the night.
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NONE DARE CALL IT APOSTASY


NONE DARE CALL IT APOSTASY

Part one: Dr. John J. Grosboll
Part two: Dr. Ralph Larson

Part One
Introduction

“Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of the wicked, represented by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel” 3T 267.

Part one LAODICEA- the term signifying serious spiritual maladies which is so often applied to the Seventh- day Adventist Church. We have heard it numerous times before and will undoubtedly hear it again. But is it really true that the church is spiritually ill? Some deny it Others acknowledge that fact, but ask, “Why does it have to be discussed all the time?”

Friend, the most serious problem of the Laodicean church is not her condition of being lukewarm, spiritually blind, destitute of the righteousness of Christ and unfaithful and unloving as described in Revelation 3: 14- 22. The more serious problem of Laodicea is that she does not know this is her condition. The reason Laodicea does not know this is not because the information concerning her condition is not available. This information has been available for decades. The problem is that a large part of Adventists are living in a state of denial of plain facts. They dare not acknowledge and act on these facts because to do so would involve discomfort (maybe pain) and necessitate earthshaking changes in their lives. It is like when a person is told by his physician that he has cancer— that is a terrible fact to hear, and a common way to respond to it, initially, is to live in a state of denial, especially if one feels good at the moment. To acknowledge the facts would involve a total revision of ones life, future objectives and plans because cancer will shorten one's life if it is not eradicated or conquered.

In the same way, if Laodicea's problem is not solved she will be vomited out of the mouth of the Lord. Is it being critical for a physician to tell a patient that he or she has cancer? It could be construed that way, but telling the facts is absolutely necessary if the patient is to be motivated to take the steps necessary for recovery. In the same way, the spiritual problems of God's professed people today must be addressed plainly if they are going to be motivated to make the necessary changes so they are not weighed in the balances during the judgment and found wanting.

Friend, as long as God has a church that is in apostasy, He will send messengers to it. These messengers must warn, rebuke and plead with God's professed people to repent, confess and reform or the curse of God will be upon them. Isaiah, one of His messengers, was told to “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” Isaiah 58: 1. Today we are told, “In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God's faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne by John the Baptist. A responsible, important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as His shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them” lT 321. Everything concerning our future destiny hangs on our accepting God's diagnosis of our problem. The longer we experience a problem, the more used to it we become until finally it becomes difficult to realize how serious the problem really is. This happened in Christ's day. ‘Through familiarity with evil, man had become blinded to its [sin's] enormity” DA 752,753. This is one of the main reasons Laodicea is so complacent and there is such a lack of the spirit of Protestantism — all of us today have grown up in the midst of apostasy so we are used to it.

What is apostasy?

Paul describes apostasy as being characterized by 1) sin or breaking God's law (2 Thessalonians 2: 3- 8), 2) believing a lie (2: 11), and 3) not believing the truth (2: 12). The Holy Spirit says that in the latter days some shall apostatize from the faith. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” 1 Timothy 4: 1. For over one hundred years this condition has existed in Adventism. We have had a departure from the historic faith God delivered to us and have been breaking His law, believing lies and not believing the truth, as will now be documented from the Spirit of Prophecy and the historical facts.

One hundred and four years ago the General Conference president, the editor of the Review and Herald and many others in Adventism, rejected the truth God was trying to bring to His people at the Minneapolis General Conference. Although some later repented, the damage which this 1888 apostasy caused is felt even today. One of the principle areas of apostasy in 1888 was the unwillingness to accept the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy — one of the two identifying marks of God's people in the last days. But we were not willing to face the facts of this apostasy. We covered it up. Adventism published books showing that we had really accepted the message of 1888 and we were going on to victory. (Examples of such books are Movement of Destiny, Perfect in Christ, Hot Potatoes and Myths of Adventism.) None dared call it apostasy.

But over one hundred years have gone by and we are still here. A few years after the 1888 Conference, Ellen White said that if we had accepted the message God was trying to send us we would have been in the kingdom ere this. There has been an apostasy.

When it was brought to our attention by brethren Wieland and Short that we had not accepted the message in them and none dared call it apostasy. It was not until the 1888 E. G. W. Materials were published that the average Adventist had available overwhelming proof from many testimonies that the 1888 message had been rejected, that our leaders and many others had gone into apostasy.

But that was only the beginning. Another facet of the apostasy m 1888 was authority. Over and over again Ellen White warned against “kingly power.” There was a power that belonged to God alone and those at the head of the work were not to seek to take some of this power to themselves. In 1888 and onward, testimony after testimony was given in this regard. The words of Jesus in Matthew 20: 25- 28 were to be followed: “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” ' (See also Matthew 23: 8.) Ellen White continued her admonition after the 1888 conference. In 1896 she wrote the following instruction: “That which makes me feel to the very depths of my being~ and makes me know that their works are not the works of God, is that they suppose they have authority to rule their fellowmen. The Lord has given them no more right to rule others than He has given others to rule them. Those who assume the control of their fellow men take into their finite hands a work that devolves upon God alone.

“That men should keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis is an offense to God. All heaven is indignant at the spirit that for years has been revealed in our publishing institution at Battle Creek. Unrighteousness is practiced that God will not tolerate. He will visit for these things. A voice has been heard pointing out the errors and, in the name of the Lord, pleading for a decided change. But who have followed the instruction given? Who have humbled their hearts to put from them every vestige of their wicked, oppressive spirit? I have been greatly burdened to set these matters before the people as they are. I know they will see them. I know that those who read this matter will be convicted” TM 76.

At the General Conference Session in l90l, Ellen White delivered a plea for “a reorganization” GCB 1901, page 25. A decentralization of power, a humbling of self, and a looking to the Lord instead of to man was the call of the hour.

A reorganization was made, one with the approval of Sister White: “I am thankful that there is to be a time when the mists will be cleared away. I hope that this time has begun here. We want the mists here to be cleared away. I want to say that from the light given tome by God, there should have been years ago organizations such as are now proposed. When we first met in conference, it was thought that the General Conference should extend over the whole world. But this is not in God's order” Ibid. 68. Unfortunately, the plan of reorganization worked out in the 1901 General Conference was not implemented. This caused great sorrow to the heart of the messenger of God.

‘The result of the last General Conference has been the greatest, the most terrible sorrow of my life. No change was made. The spirit that should have been brought into the whole work as the result of that meeting was not brought in because men did not receive the testimonies of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of labor, they did not walk in the light that the Lord had flashed upon their pathway, but carried into their work the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work at Battle Creek” (Letter to Judge Jesse Arthur from Ellen White, Elmshaven, January 15, 1903).

By the 1903 General Conference, the state of affairs was such (because God's plan failed to be implemented) that the centralization of power gave way in the formation of a General Conference with world- wide dominion, despite protest from a minority. Percy T. Magan who was part of this minority stated that the new plan swept away the organizational principles that had been followed in the 1897 and 1901 conferences and introduced principles that opened the way for a papal form of church government.

In 1901, the Spirit of Prophecy was officially accepted and endorsed. but not carried out in practice. This, my friend. will eventually bring about the same results as an open rejection.

The unwillingness to accept the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy affected not only our ministry, conferences and General Conference, it also affected our educational work.

In 1953, A. W. Spalding pointed out to our educators that we were in transgression of the Word of God in five areas: 1) type of motivation prevalent, 2) type of literature studied. 3) type of recreation, 4) lack of nature study and occupation, and 5) lack of proper parent education. In not a single one of these areas have our denominational schools reformed since 1953, rather we have apostatized even worse than then. In 1953 we were not, for example, engaging in competitive sports with the world as our schools are doing today.

Ellen White herself gave Elder Spalding and Dr. Magan permission to publish the selected testimonies that are now called the Spalding- Magan‘ s Collection. It is in these testimonies that explicit instruction is given in regard to tithe and other matters that is entirely contrary to what we have been taught in the professed Seventh- day Adventist Church. In the late 1950's, when after more than thirty years had gone by and these testimonies still had not been published. a man attempted to print these testimonies and the General Conference threatened a lawsuit

The unwillingness to accept the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy resulted in a large departing from the counsels of God concerning health reform. This fact has been thoroughly researched and documented by Julius Gilbert White in his books. Are our ministers following this counsel in regard to health reform: “Let not any of our ministers set an evil example in the eating of fleshmeat”? MM 281.

Unwillingness to accept the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy has resulted in theological heresies so subtle that only those led by the Spirit of God and a careful study of the inspired writings detected what was happening.

How bad would it have to get before we would recognize there Is an apostasy?

Item: If we started to hypnotize Seventh- day Adventists in churches, would we then recognize that there was an apostasy?

[The tape of Dr. Bill Loveless is available for those who need evidence that hypnotic techniques are being taught to our pastors to be used on their congregations.]

Item: If we took fellow Adventists to court and put people in jail who were keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, would anyone recognize an apostasy?

[In 1989 John Marik was put in prison for using the name Seventh- day Adventist in his church in Hawaii, which was not under conference control]

NOTE: “When troubles arise in the church we should not go for help to lawyers not of our faith. God does not desire us to open church difficulties before those who don’t fear Him. He would not have us depend for help on those who do not obey His requirements. Those who trust in such counselors show that they have not faith in God. By their lack of faith the Lord is greatly dishonored. and their course works great injury to . . . .

‘These men cast aside the counsel God has given, and do the very things He has bidden them not to do. They show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and in heaven their names are registered as one with unbelievers. Christ is crucified afresh, and put to open shame. Let these men know that God does not hear their prayers. They insult His holy name, and He will leave them to the buffetings of Satan until they shall see their folly and seek the Lord by confession of their sin” 3SM 299.

Item: If we started playing intercollegiate and inter- city sports with non- Adventist colleges, would anyone recognize an apostasy? [Intercollegiate sports are happening in more than one of our colleges and the Review and Herald has its own team in an inter- city softball league.]

Item: If fiction became required reading in our denominational colleges, which led to the dramatization of a Greek myth that contained false doctrine of the undying soul, would someone credit it to apostasy?

[‘ The Mask Man will be presented at Southern College during an assembly program October. . . . The Mask Man is a solo performance that demonstrates the power and magic of transformation. It will be presented by its producer, Robert Faust. The cast of characters includes a guru, a nerd. a hippie, a nun, a turtle, an android and many more.” From a tabloid shopper that was sent free to every resident of greater Chattanooga, Tennessee.]

Item: If our college young people were encouraged to “do good” on the Sabbath by helping non- SDA neighbors by scraping and painting houses, preparing for the foundations of low- cost homes to be poured. etc., would anyone recognize an apostasy?

[See Insight magazine, August 3, 1991, page 6, “Holy Heresy,” where author Steve Daily reports these and other activities which were performed by 800 students and 50 staff at La Sierra College.]

Item: If the music that has its origin in spiritualism and which is condemned by the Spirit of Prophecy found its place, not only in the homes but also in the churches of professed Seventh- day Adventist people, would someone begin to comprehend something of an apostasy?

[A few years ago we condemned the activities of the Pentecostals as being of the devil— another spirit. We recognized their music as being of the devil, their speaking in unknown gibberish as being of the devil and especially pointed out the fact that any spirit that does not speak according to the law and to the testimony has no light in it (Isaiah 8: 20). Now we are doing the same things, some of our pastors having gone to the Pentecostals and brought the same style of worship into Adventism! Does anyone recognize an apostasy'?] [A church youth group in California was taken to a “Christian” hard- rock concert performed by Petra.] Item: If movie going and worldly entertainment became the “norm” at our high schools and colleges and reviews of these vile movies were published in some of the college newspapers, would anyone dare credit it to an apostasy?

[At Walla Walla College, reviews of the local showing movies are published in the student papers. (For counsel on theatrical performances from the Spirit of Prophecy on this, see 4T, 652- 653 or RH 2- 20- 66.]

Item: If fornication, pre- marital pregnancies and pornography became almost common occurrence in our schools, would someone begin to question the possibility of an apostasy?

Item: If our leaders maintained fellowship with other leaders who were living in sin and persecuting the true and the faithful, if the sinners were retained in the professed church while the true and faithful were disfellowshipped, ostracized. persecuted and forcibly separated from all connection with the General Conference, would anyone recognize there was an apostasy?

[During the first World War, Seventh- day Adventists who would not serve in armed forces on Sabbath or bear arms were not supported by the Seventh- day Adventist leadership. As a result, many went to prison and some were executed. After the war, an appeal was made to the General Conference to correct this error. The appeal was rejected and to our present knowledge the guilt of this blood has not yet been purged by repentance and confession. Yet, none dare call it apostasy.]

[In 1982, theologians met in Lima, Peru, to discuss unity of doctrine regarding baptism, the eucharist and ministry. They unanimously recommended a statement on these three doctrines for the official response of the churches. On the “Faith and Order Paper #11,” they state Adventists as one of the churches who agreed to this recommendation.]

Item: If people who are living in open sin are retained in churches and true and faithful Seventh- day Adventists are stripped of their offices and sometimes disfellowshipped. would anyone recognize an apostasy?

[After approximately 1,400 Hungarians were disfellowshipped for protesting the Church's membership in the Council of Free Churches, there was an attempt to bring them under the control of the very organization that had been persecuting them— or else ruin them. They were told to stop all gatherings, not hold religious meetings, not receive offerings or early on their religious duties. When the true and faithful Seventh- day Adventists are disfellowshipped, if none dare call it apostasy the curse of God will be on us all (See Pilgrims Rest Tract WM- 140, July 1986; also Our Finn Foundalion article by Marshall Grosboll, 11/ 88)]

Item: If Seventh- day Adventist college alumni associations began sponsoring Easter sunrise services at one of our denominational college chapels, would you think someone would acknowledge an apostasy?

[In 1992, Atlantic Union College's Alumni Association invited the alumni to an Easter sunrise service.] Item: When administrators attempt to cover up sin in the ministiy or the sins of the wealthy and prominent, instead of calling for repentance, confession and reformation of life, would anyone recognize apostasy?

Item: If ministers who teach the people they can live on in sin until Jesus comes and still be saved are retained, but true and faithful ministers who preach the three angels' messages are fired or dismissed. does anyone recognize an apostasy? [List: Ken Knutson, Marshall Grosboll, David Bauer] Item: If a hierarchical church government were developed among those who professed to be the remnant church, would someone recognize an apostasy?

[The apostasy was made evident in the 1970's in the Merikay Silver case (The U. S. vs the SDA Church in EEOC vs PPPA). It was clearly proclaimed in this case that the SDA Church is hierarchical. It was also claimed in this case that the General Conference of the church is the only body having authority to alter the structure of the church, either in doctrine or organization! (No church has the authority to modify doctrine — that is a prerogative of Deity alone and to make such a claim is blasphemous.)]

Item: If leaders began to say that Jesus did not come m fallen, human nature, and therefore, was different from you and me in that we cannot hope to overcome sin as He did, would anyone admit to apostasy?

[The Questions on Doctrine apostasy was first pointed out by Elder M. L. Andreasen. He wrote, “We have reached a crisis in this denomination when leaders are attempting to enforce false doctrine and threaten those who object” (Letters to the Churches, #3, by M. L. Andreason, page 8). “A Saviour who has never been tempted, never has had to battle with passions, who has never ‘offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death, 'who though he were a son' never learned obedience by the things he suffered, but was ‘exempt' from the very things that a true Saviour must experience: such a Saviour is what this NEW THEOLOGY as given in Questions on Doctrine offers us. It is not the kind of Saviour I need, nor the World” Ibid. 7.]

Item: If a majority of Seventh- day Adventist pastors and teachers began to teach that we can be saved in sin, which is to teach a different gospel than has been historically taught in the Seventh- day Adventist Church, would anyone begin to realize an apostasy? [A main tactic for thousands of years by a church that is in apostasy is to attempt to keep the truth from being examined by the people. The leaders in Adventism have repeatedly done this: “Included in such discussions have been related theological concepts such as the nature of Christ, the nature of man, the nature of sin, perfection and the question as to whether it is possible for a Christian to live a sinless life.... We are requesting that we refrain from involving ourselves in public presentations [about these matters].

Adventist Review, May24, 1979, “Open Letter to the Church,” by Neal C. Wilson.] Item: If an SDA minister who has preached the historic Adventist message for approximately fifty years, has pastured some of our largest churches and taught theology in Adventist colleges and seminaries and never been shown to be preaching heresies denied credentials without due process and is not even allowed a hearing~ would anyone recognize an apostasy? This, friend, is a very basic transgression of God's law. But, none dare call it apostasy! Laodicea does not want to hear about this apostasy. Either it is denied or others say, “Yes we know there is apostasy in the church, but why do you want to talk about it all the time?” Friend, as long as God has a church that is in apostasy, He will send messengers to it (Isaiah 58: 1). These messengers must warn, rebuke and plead with God’s professed people to repent, confess and reform or the curse of God will be upon them. “The curse causeless shall not come” Proverbs 26: 2.

NONE DARE CALL IT APOSTASY


Part one: Dr. John J. Grosboll

Part two: Dr. Ralph Larson
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The Study of Conspiracy Theories


by Roland Temple


I will start by humbly confessing that for many years I have been caught up in certain
conspiracy theories. I believe these theories have hindered my studies of God’s true
prophetic word. In other words, I have spent precious hours studying radical theories
instead of learning the truth from the Bible, and I have gained nothing except a pile of
counterfeit pieces for a precious puzzle that are not the pieces God gave me.

Who are the conspiracy theorists exposing? Usually it is the members of the Bilderberg
Group, the Illuminati, government leaders, the Rothschild’s, the Masons, and generally
anyone else who has power or money. It’s hard to group these people under one
banner; they are made up of a diverse range of people from various backgrounds. I
would like to submit to you that the real common ground they share is control, greed,
money and an unnamed powerful organization that directs these conspiracy groups like
a puppet master controls a puppet.

The people that try to expose conspiracies usually make conclusions on events that they
do not have a clear understanding about. They have limited views, and are not given
anymore light than what they have been allowed to see. As Adventists, we are called
away from the infidel “Christian” authors of the world who reject the 1844 sanctuary
message and worship the image of the beast (Sunday worship). I believe we must as
Adventists, turn away from those who try to explain the world we live in without an
understanding of the true prophecy message. We have been given much greater light
than any other group in the world, and we must by faith, look to this information first
and last as our source of clarity. None of these self styled “freedom fighting” conspiracy
theorists expose the real power behind all the conspiracies at work. But we as Seventhday
Adventists are given the complete, precious truth in our understanding of the Three
Angel’s Messages, if we are willing to study it.

The conspiracy theorists actually tend to point the finger away from the Babylon of the
Three Angel’s Messages – Rome. Alex Jones for one has been confronted with the fact
that Rome is behind these conspiracies, but he adamantly fights against this view. You’d
think by his reaction that you are a complete idiot to consider that the Vatican is the
mastermind behind anything evil at all. Meanwhile, it is revealed to the diligent reader
of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that the final conflict will be between the church of
God and the church of Satan.

Since the infliction of the deadly wound in 1798, many conflicts have been brought
about through Rome’s schemes to regain the civil authority over the whole world as she
used to enjoy. Her servants are making sure she is well hidden behind the façade of
conspiracies, deflecting our attentions away from her, and the development of the three
fold union, by the use of these little white rabbits. These conspiracies that they want us
to follow are simple and carelessly covered, it takes little concentration to see them,
and the TV generations are lapping it up.

Genesis 3:5 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” By knowing about
conspiracies, or evil, one can think they have gained great insight into something that
makes them more enlightened than the general public. If you really want to be more
enlightened than the general public study Revelation 18:3: “For all nations have drunk of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies.” When was the last time you heard a conspiracy theorist
mention that? There is nothing we can gain in wasting the precious minutes of our lives
studying sensational conspiracy theories and not the detailed warnings in God’s inspired
word because the true knowledge we need to know is in there.

50,000 people joined the Millerite movement before the Great Disappointment of
October 22nd, 1844. They believed that Jesus’ second coming was going to happen on
that date which would put an end to this world. Some wanted to go home to be free
from sin and be with Jesus while others were more concerned with the fear of loss.
After that date only 50 true believers were still holding fast to their Redeemer. These
were the ones that were driven not by the fear of loss, but the genuine fear, love and
adoration of God. What is your motivation?

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord.” I submit that if you behold evil, you will be changed by that spirit too. Look away
from the ugliness of this world to the face of your Redeemer, and use this God given
time to allow Him to make the heart changes needed in your life. Matthew 10:28 “And
fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Stop watching videos on FEMA
camps and coffins; there is no way you can prevent yourself from being in one without
the strong guiding hand of the LORD. You are not smarter than Satan; you are not
stronger than Rome’s armies – so why study evil?

When you study conspiracies, your heart is being groomed by Satan for his church.
Rome is Satan’s church and he has a master plan set up to demand that the world obey,
or else! He wants what God has, and he will take it by deception. Don’t think for a
minute that what’s happening in the governments is just random acts of open stupidity
and personal greed. Every democratic government in the world is being openly and
purposefully mismanaged. Why is that? It is the same reason the world as a whole is
being panicked about radical Islam. It is the same reason that every conspiracy theory
possible is being thrown up in your face. Think about it – why is the general pubic being
exposed to the conspiracies of corrupt governments on so many mainstream TV
networks? The world is being duped – sold out by subtlety. The general populous is
being led like sheep to feel that their country can no longer be trusted to run its own
affairs. Soon the world is going to start looking for a solution; a hero that will appear
not to be morally corrupt, someone that will put prosperity back into the lives of the
world’s citizens, someone the world has been trained to trust. Right now borders are
beings dissolved, constitutions are being torn up and thrown away. Treason is
happening world wide, as every country is being prepared to be run from the Vatican.

“God's word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the
Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late
to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their
influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up
her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions
will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further
her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage
ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the
purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will
thereby incur reproach and persecution.” Great Controversy page 581.

I have seen many fellow Adventists over the last few years sending around e-mails,
sharing YouTube videos, having meetings and hanging around after potluck relating the
latest conspiracy out there. “I saw a video that proves that President George W. Bush
was in on the fall of the twin towers! We got to expose this crime!” “In three months
there is going to be a nuclear bomb dropped on the USA so we must prepare for that”
“Such and such a town is under police state lock down and it is going to spread, we’d
better get a food supply ready” “In six months the world’s economy is going to totally
collapse! Quick! Sell everything now while you can and get out into the bush!”

We must prepare, no truer statement can be made. But please do not listen to a
message that stimulates you into a panic. Avoid messages where as soon as it is over,
you run to the phone to call a real estate agent while your spouse packs the suitcases.
God wants to use you, He has a plan for you, and He does not want you to run around
directionless, guessing at what His will might be.

We must truly desire for God’s will to be done in our lives, and wait for Him to guide us.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” You
may know that your car needs a new transmission, but you can’t expect to do anything
about it yourself without the tools and training. We must have a real Enoch relationship
with Jesus our Saviour first, and then He will tell you softly, without the panic and fear,
when it is time to pack and where He wants you to go. God can work in ways you can
not fathom, but until you totally surrender your will to His control, you’re going to make
error after error by running here and there trying to figure out what God’s will really is
for you and your family.

For many years there has been a conspiracy afoot right in our midst, yet few pay
attention to it. Compromise has been coming in among us like a flood. We are told that
we should not cause a scene, we are told to promote unity in love. Accepting this
position makes us powerless to stand for truth. Remember, opposition is not hate! For
years spiritualism and ecumenicalism has gained ground among us; it comes in subtlety
but the effects are wide reaching. Many have cast aside our true heritage and have
accepted erroneous views on victory over sin, the importance of our job as the repairer
of the breach and many other such errors. These errors weaken the stance we are
required by God to take against the false doctrines of the Beast.

These are grave times we live in, and it is most important for us to realize the
empowerment available to those seeking Jesus and the truth since 9-11. The Latter Rain
has started to sprinkle again since that time. If we wish to be a part of the 144,000 we
must prepare ourselves and give the message to anyone who seeks the truth. The
Three Angel’s Messages must be fully and loudly proclaimed. If you want to be safe, if
you want to prepare, study Jesus with all your heart. He knows the end from the
beginning; He has already revealed the truth to you – now it’s up to you. Revelation
3:14 “… These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the
creation of God;”





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Prophecy shows a National Sunday Law


Prophecy Shows that the VERY NEXT major event scheduled to happen in our world, is the passing of a National Sunday Law!! What is it? What is its purpose? What will it initiate?


Here is a selection of Free PDF eBooks you can read to see the whole picture. Each item has valuable information for those who care enough to become knowledgeable about the event that all history has been moving towards.


Are You Ready?? Are you SURE??


You need to know the prophetic warnings and get Ready to meet your God in Peace:








Protestants are now joining with Papists to seek legislation to enforce Sunday Worship. They think thus to win favor from God and weld the Christian world together. But no where has God sanctioned Sunday as a day of rest! The Seventh Day is God's Holy Rest Day and He has never changed it! Man has no right to tamper with God's Holy Law! And much less to seek to force all to disobey it and exalt a false sabbath!

"The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty of conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX., in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said: 'The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience, are a most pestilential error--a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a State.' The same pope, in his Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized 'those who assert the liberty of conscience and of religious worship,' also 'all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.'

While Rome claims the right to use force to compel the conscience, God has forbidden any such thing! God does not force the will of His creatures. He can not accept an homage that is not willingly and intelligently given. The blood of honest, Bible believing Christians flowed like a river through the history of the Dark Ages and the most heart-sickening atrocities took place when the church held controlling power over the civil governments! America was built on the principle of separation of church and state as the founding fathers had fled from cruel persecution to build a nation on the principles of liberty of conscience.

Prophecy describes the use of civil force by the church as spiritual adultery and refers to churches who seek this as harlots! Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world. And when his disciples wanted to bring fire down from heave to punish the people who rejected Jesus, He warned them: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 9:55, 56

It was the separation of church and state--Freedom to worship according to the dictate of conscience, that made America the mighty nation she became; the 'Glorious Country' of prophecy. When she repudiates these principles--she will pull the foundation out from under herself!

With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.

When the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions of the church--then will Protestant America have formed an Image to the Papacy, and there will be national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.

There is a prophetic warning--the most terrible--in the Bible that refers to this very situation. When our loving Heavenly Father makes such a warning as this--all of us need to understand this issues behind it so as not to be found on the wrong side!

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Revelation 14:9-11

Everyone owes it to himself to KNOW the FACTS involved in these plans now afoot, so as not to be swept along with something that will sound good; even necessary; but yet is the very plan of Hell!




The Only Safe Place to Be!

Psalm 91



1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.


AMEN!
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Friday, January 08, 2010

Looking at the 14 Countries with New Travel Restrictions


Jan. 4 2010 - 10:46 am


Effective today, the Transportation Security Administration is imposing new security rules on passengers flying to the United States from 14 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

“TSA is maintaining that every individual flying into the US from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening,” they said in a directive. “The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on US bound international flights.”
So, why those countries?

Well, four of them — Iran, Syria, Cuba and Sudan — are considered “state sponsors of terrorism” by the United States Department of State.

The other ten are “countries of interest” where terrorism and instability are problems.

Looking at the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism for 2008, which came out in 2009, you can see a variety of reasons why countries may have made that list.

In Lebanon, there is Hizballah, “completely replenished” and having “moved arms back into southern Lebanon” where it was “providing training to HAMAS operatives from Gaza.”

There’s Sudan where “Al Qaida-inspired terrorist elements, and elements of both Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and HAMAS remain.”

I’ve reported on Nigeria and Yemen. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq — where the United States is actively involved in fighting — are, hopefully, a little obvious.

Libya, the State Department says, appears “to have curtailed its support for international terrorism, although it may have retained residual contacts with some of its former terrorist clients.”

Meanwhile, all the screening rules in the world won’t make a difference if people are allowed to walk the wrong way through an exit lane in a supposedly secure area, causing an airport — like Newark — to be shut down for hours.


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Thursday, January 07, 2010

Disney movie has Loyola music connections

Disney movie has Loyola music connections
By


Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, December 16, 2009

(AP Photo/Disney, file)
In this film publicity image released by Disney, Princess Tiana, voiced by Anika Noni Rose, right, is shown with frog Prince Naveen, voiced by Bruno Campos, in a scene from the animated film, "The Princess and the Frog." The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best animated feature film, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. The Golden Globe awards will be held Jan. 17 in Beverly Hills, Calif.



NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The latest release from Walt Disney Animation studios — the Princess and the Frog — isn't just set in New Orleans. It also features music by a choir organized by a staffer from Loyola University in New Orleans.

The Pinnacle Gospel Choir, organized by Loyola staffer Lyle E. Henderson, provides background vocals for a song in the film.

Loyola notes in a news release that the film also features Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at Loyola.

The Princess and the Frog opened in theaters on Dec. 11.

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Source:http://www.loyolamaroon.com/ap-wire/disney-movie-has-loyola-music-connections-1.2125282

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C-SPAN Calls for More Transparent Health Care Talks

January 5, 2010 2:25 PM

Posted by Stephanie Condon


(AP)




As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama called for completely transparent health care deliberations and even promised to hold all negotiations on C-SPAN. Now, as the health care debate reaches its final stages, the nonprofit cable company is asking Washington leaders to follow through on that promise.

C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb sent a letter to congressional leaders last week, asking that they "open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage."

"Many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation's editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation's health care system," , Lamb said in the letter, which was sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American."

As Lamb notes, "literall hundreds of hours" of committee hearings, debate and meetings have been broadcast on C-SPAN through the health care debate, allowing journalists, bloggers, watchdog groups and citizens to follow the process. Other significant parts of the health care debate, however, have remained behind closed doors, such as Mr. Obama's negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry which resulted in a deal committing the industry to a specific contribution to reform.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

Now that Democrats have passed a health care bill in both the House and the Senate, they will need to reconcile the two bills. That process could take place through the formal "conference committee" process, or it could happen informally. Either way, there are sure to be important negotiations and meetings taking place among Democratic leaders that remain private.

Lamb said the C-SPAN networks are willing to commit all of the resources necessary to comprehensively cover the upcoming conference committee sessions live.

"We are most willing to employ the latest digital technology to make the cameras, lights and microphones as unobtrusive as possible," he added.

When asked last week about the level of transparency so far in the health care debate, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the legislative process has played out clearly in the hearings and debates that have been aired on C-SPAN.

"I think, quite frankly, people have a pretty good sense of who is battling on behalf of thousands of lobbyists that are trying to protect drugs profits and insurance profits, and who's fighting on behalf of middle-class Americans," he said.

Pressed on the issue again today, Gibbs said he has not seen the C-SPAN letter but that he doesn't think "the American people have lacked for information on what's in these bills," or "the political and policy arguments around people's position."
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1907-2007 Sligo Celebrates 100 Years

SligoWomenPastors.j
972 x 719 - 103k - jpg
sligochurch.org
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1907-2007 Sligo Celebrates 100 Years (page 2)
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A Note to Our Web Visitors: We hope you enjoy this brief outline of activities and events over the span of 100 years as Sligo continues serving God in its local community and the world. Although the information on this web page is far from complete, more story items will be added throughout this centennial year. So check it out from time to time. The Sligo Family asks for your prayers and support as we reach out to share the "Good News" of Jesus. If you wish to share a comment about our web ministry, please send email to sligo@sligochurch.org or if you wish to contribute to Sligo's ministries, click Support Sligo.

1975-1980 Creative Evangelism


1976 - Sligo holds an evangelistic experiment by hosting a vegetarian banquet/dinner theater with actors from Atlantic Union College in the play "A Man for All Seasons"
1976 - Two-day evangelism workshop with Jack Provonsha
1976 - Adult Education drew high percentage of non-SDA's. The Nutrition Class concluded with a vegetarian dinner with the pastors at Sligo School
1976 - Eight thought-provoking advertisements in major area newspaper for James Londis' Freedom Series (later published in book form)
1977 - Plans were laid to build a Community Service Center as a collaborative effort of several area Adventist churches
June 22, 1978 - Sligo purchased Girl Scout Camp in Boonsboro, Maryland (Camp Boonsboro)
1978 - Josephine Benton plans weekly Radio Interview Talk Show to probe religious and current issues
1978 - First Women ordained as Local Elders after an all member vote (Vera Capman, Florence Dorn, Betty Holbrook)
1978 - Nursery services offered during second service for families with babies; Parent Education Program was co-sponsored with Columbia Union College
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1981-1985 Providing For and Supporting Our Youth


1981-1985 Camp Boonsboro hosted Outdoor School for Sligo School middle school students
May 15, 1983 - Community Services Center Opened
March 30, 1985 - Grand Opening of the Youth Building addition to Sligo Church

1986-1990 Focusing on Family

1986 - The Forum Sabbath School Class (aka Branson/Ortner class) moved from the third floor of Richards Hall to the Fellowship Room in the church building so more people could attend
1986 - First African-American pastor, Hyveth Williams, joined the pastoral staff*
1987 - "Tent" meetings with 2,000 seats under the canvas, was held on the CUC Commons: guest evangelist, John Brunt
1987 - First full-time pastor for children's ministry, Norma Osborn, joined the pastoral staff

1991-1995

1991 - Addition of Parents Room to the Sligo Sanctuary
1991 - Sligo Child Development Center for 3 and 4 year-olds opened
June 29, 1991 - Loan note for Youth Building paid off - note burning ceremony
1992 - Church board first considers major sanctuary renovation; architects envision natural light flooding the platform
1994 - Wedding Window - Couples renewed the wedding vows in a special weekend program
1994 - Sligo Seniors start the 55+ Club
1995 - Computer lab added to Sligo Adventist School
1995 - Ordination of Women Pastors - Kendra Haloviak, Penny Shell, Norma Osborn

1996-2000 Pain and Progress


Four senior pastors in four years
Sligo youth take the lead
Revived emphasis on prayer
Walter Scragg comes to Sligo
Campaign for organ restoration launched

2001-2005

100 Years of SDA's in Takoma Park (1903-2003)
2001 - Peter Bath comes as Senior Pastor
2002 - Sligo launches a website
2003 - Organ Sanctuary Renovation (OSR) begins (more photos)
2003-2004 - Sligo meets in Takoma Academy gymnasium during renovation of sanctuary
May 22, 2004 - Congregation meets in newly renovated sanctuary for the first time
2004 - New Community Fellowship (NCF) begins
September 2004 - Sligo website design is updated to add new features such as live streaming.
November 12-14, 2004 - Grand Opening weekend celebration of renovated sanctuary and new organ More...
January 2005 - Peter Bath accepts a position in Kansas; Terry Johnsson appointed Interim Senior Pastor
2005 - Kids Church meets periodically
July 2005 - Youth Mission Trip to Baja, Mexico
September 2005 - Ron Halvorsen, Jr. comes as Senior Pastor

2006-2008

July 2006 - Youth Mission Trip to Louisiana for Hurricane Katrina Relief
September 2006 - Sligo website is redesigned to improve navigation and add more new features such as podcasting
July 2007 - Youth Mission Trip to mining town in West Virginia
2007 - Young Adult Ministry for ages 18-30 begins
October 12, 2007 - Happy 100th Anniversary, Sligo Church!
September 12-14 - Centennial Celebration Weekend
more information to be added... so come back and visit

page 3 - Family photo

back to page 1




P.S.*Hyveth Williams is not only African-American; she's also a woman.
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Pastors in Conversation


September 14, 2007

Simi Valley, California, United States .... [Ansel Oliver/ANN]


watch video

Pastors play an important role in including young adults in church life and encouraging women employed in ministry, Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, said in a live September 13 telecast.

Paulsen received comments and addressed questions from nine ministers in the United States and Canada during the unscripted show, Pastors: In Conversation, at the Adventist Media Center in Simi Valley, California. Topics included age differences in congregations, women's involvement in ministry, meeting the needs of several cultures in one church, and funding for local churches.

"You are a very trusted, very important part of our church's workforce," Paulsen said in his opening remarks to the ministers. "You represent some 22,000 pastors around the world who minister to 25 million Seventh-day Adventists and others who may come to our church on the Sabbath to worship."

Several times the world church president asked the ministers for each others' thoughts in response to questions during the boardroom-like discussion.

Responding to a question of age differences in church, Paulsen said that young professionals in their 20s and early 30s are a "vastly underused" segment in some churches.

"Look, if they don't take responsibility now, who's going to look after it [the church] tomorrow when you and I are gone?

"I could talk for the rest of this program on just this one issue," Paulsen said 27 minutes into the hour-long show.

"This is not something that can be regulated from an office such as mine," he said. "It happens in the local church."

Paulsen asked pastors to trust young men and women who show spiritual maturity, elect them as elders and not wait until they are 50 years old.

Carlton P. Byrd, a pastor from Atlanta, Georgia, brought up the challenge of conducting evangelism at local churches, sometimes with insufficient funds. "Salvation is free, but ministry takes money," he said.

Paulsen responded by describing the church's tithing commission, a group of more than 100 members from around the world meeting to examine the church's use of funds. He said he didn't want to guess what the commission was trying to do, but suggested the group was considering channeling more funds to local churches. Paulsen urged patience in waiting for their report which he said would be presented in October, 2009.

Three women joined the discussion, including host Bonita Shields, a former local Adventist church minister and current editor of youth bible study guides.

Ann Roda, a pastor from a Fulton, Maryland church, said when many young women tell her of their interest in ministry, they feel the church is "seemingly hostile," and ask why they aren't given the same recognition as men.

Paulsen acknowledged the frustration and said the question is often a "euphemism" for a more pointed one: "'Why don't we ordain women to the ministry in same way as we do men?'"

"You all know we've been around this one a few times," Paulsen said of the world church's history of discussing the topic beginning in 1990.

The world church, he said, has never taken the position that the "concept" of ordaining women is rejected by the Bible or the writings of church co-founder Ellen G. White.

"It's just a question of 'can we make this major change and still hold together as a global community?'"

Paulsen told Roda his response to women interested in ministry: "Respond to the call God has placed in your heart. Train for ministry, seek the profession, become engaged in it."

He pointed out that many women already effectively serve as pastors in local churches, including his niece.

He also called for women to be paid equally to men and acknowledged many women around the world are not asking to be ordained, but to function as a "legitimate minister."

"So many local churches are not open to receive them. ..."I think this is very, very unfortunate. They are part of our spiritual community."

"They are as trained and gifted and skilled as any man could possibly be. ...Please, use them," Paulsen said.

Several pastors, including Andre Flores from Provo, Utah, asked about methods for reaching many cultures within one church.

"You have many cultures that may be together in the same church, but they call each other 'brother' and 'sister,'" Paulsen said. "And when you really get down to it they share a common identity... I find it around the world."

Jim Hiner Jr., a pastor from Minneapolis, Minnesota, said he sought support from elders representing different cultures to help him understand the expectations of various communities in his church.

Paulsen responded to another pastor's question of training and resources available for intercultural ministry: "You need to find out, 'how can I make the Bible ... come alive to my particular culture, or my basket of cultures which I have to minister to in my church?'"

Many of his responses put the responsibility on pastors to make their own decisions regarding their ministry.

Several times, during a discussion of balancing work and family, Paulsen suggested scheduling family time in a weekly calendar. "The family will suffer if all you have for them is the leftover time," he said to questions on the subject from Eddie Polite from St. Louis, Missouri, and Franklin David from Silver Spring, Maryland.

Pastors were selected to represent the church in North America's diversity of cultures, gender and church size. There are about 3,500 ordained credentialed Adventist ministers in the U.S. and Canada.

The program was seen internationally on the church's Hope Channel. Similar discussions are planned for 2008 in Europe, Africa and South America.

"More of my colleagues in leadership need to be involved in this kind of thing. I can only reach so many," Paulsen said in his concluding remarks.

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Manhunt on for 3 Escaped Inmates in Illinois

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=963MG_3bAOY&feature=player_embeddedhttp://

What we have here is a failure to communicate


"What we have here is a failure to communicate"


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E.P.A. Announces Strict New Health Standards for Smog


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 7, 2010
Filed at 11:42 a.m. ET


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed stricter health standards for smog, replacing a Bush-era limit that ran counter to scientific recommendations.
The new limits -- which are presented as a range -- will likely put hundreds more counties nationwide in violation, a designation that will require them to find additional ways to clamp down on pollution or face government sanctions, most likely the loss of federal highway dollars.
The tighter standards will cost tens of billions of dollars to implement, but will ultimately save billions in avoided emergency room visits, premature deaths, and missed work and school days, the EPA said.
The proposed range was what scientists had recommended during the Bush administration. However, former President George W. Bush personally intervened and set the standard above what was advised after protests from electric utilities and other industries. The Bush standard was still stricter than the previous smog standard set in 1997.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement Thursday that science, this time around, had been followed.
''EPA is stepping up to protect Americans from one of the most persistent and widespread pollutants we face,'' Jackson said. ''Using the best science to strengthen these standards is long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier.''
The Obama administration last year had indicated it planned to scrap the Bush smog limits, when it asked a federal judge to stay a lawsuit challenging the March 2008 standards brought by 11 states and environmental groups.
Smog is a respiratory irritant that has been linked to asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. It is formed when emissions from burning gasoline, power and chemical plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight.
While smog has been a long-term problem in parts of Texas, California, and along the northeast Coast, the new standards could affect counties in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa for the first time based on EPA data.
Environmentalists immediately endorsed the decision. ''If EPA follows through, it will mean significantly cleaner air and better health protection,'' said Frank O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch.
Representatives of the oil and gas industry, which said they have already invested $175 billion toward environmental improvements, were quick to say the proposal lacked ''scientific justification.''
''There is absolutely no basis for EPA to propose changing the ozone standards promulgated by the EPA Administrator in 2008,'' the American Petroleum Institute said in a statement. ''To do so is an obvious politicization of the air quality standard setting process that could mean unnecessary energy cost increases, job losses and less domestic oil and natural gas development and energy security.''
The EPA proposal presents a range for the allowable concentration of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, from 60 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion. That's equivalent to 60 to 70 tennis balls in an Olympic-sized swimming pool full of a billion tennis balls. EPA will select a specific figure within that range later this year.
The Bush standard adopted in 2008 was 75 parts per billion. Since 1997, it had been 84 parts per billion.
The stricter limit comes with additional costs, from $19 billion up to $90 billion a year by 2020, according to EPA. The Bush administration had put the cost to industry and drivers to meet its standard at between $7.6 billion to $8.5 billion a year.
Counties and states will have up to 20 years to meet the new limits, depending on how severely they are out of compliance. They will have to submit plans for meeting the new limits by end of 2013 or early 2014.
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On the Net:
Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/
(This version CORRECTS Corrects timing in 7th graf to last year sted this year, ADDS details, reaction, Web link. Moving on general news and financial services.)


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Overhaul Overload?



Is this the "Change" they were talking about during the campaign?


01/07/2009:
1.Obama presses security overhaul, Nigerian indicted

2.Global financial regulation overhaul seen in 2010

3.Obama, Democrats forge ahead on health care overhaul - 2 days agoWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his top allies in the Congress worked Tuesday to map the way to enacting a sweeping overhaul of US health care by ...AFP - 2828 related articles »


@



As I view the news headlines, I wonder if the word 'overhaul' is being used by journalists as a description of the radical changes that the current administration is attempting to make in several areas of our economy?

Or, whether it's a sign of the times? Could "overhaul" be the new "pushing the envelope", or maybe the latest "stepping up"?

Is it part of 21 Century Newspeak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Newspeak_words)?

Will we soon be required to "RetroFit" all aspects our lives?

Six States Chosen for Building Efficiency Retrofit Academy:

I watch and wonder. It's getting creepier by the minute!

This is truly a transformational time. A kinetic epoch.


Arsenio.

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More Overhaul:

Dec 24, 2009 ... The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering wide-ranging revisions to the 1973 Endangered Species Act, the agency director s...www.nytimes.com/.../24greenwire-esa-overhaul-a-work-in-progress-for-obama-admi-21382.html

Obama blasts banks on financial overhaul - White House- msnbc.com
Dec 12, 2009 ... In his weekly Saturday address, President Barack Obama singles out financial institutions for causing much of the economic tailspin and ...www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34393630/ns/politics-white_house/ - Cached

Obama Applauds Wall Street Overhaul Bill - CBS News
Dec 12, 2009 ... Despite Partisan Wrangling, House Passes Restructuring of Finance Regulations, Increasing Oversight of Markets.www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/12/politics/main5971128.shtml - Cached

Immigration reform: 2010 could see overhaul Obama pledged to ...
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Obama presses security overhaul, Nigerian indicted


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is "not patient" and is demanding immediate changes in airline security, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday, as a grand jury indicted a Nigerian man for trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.

U.S. Barack Obama

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was concern that potential extremists could be inspired by the bombing attempt blamed on 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempt, one of the most serious U.S. security breaches and intelligence breakdowns since the September 11 attacks.

"Certainly there is the concern that this would bring more, generate more support from young males who might be on the fence about what to do with their lives," Mullen said.

A grand jury in Michigan indicted Abdulmutallab on six counts, including attempted murder of the other 289 passengers and crew on board the plane, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He faces life in prison, if convicted.

The bomb, which Abdulmutallab has told investigators was given to him by al Qaeda in Yemen, contained the highly explosive ingredients Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate, or PETN, and Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, the indictment said.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder held out the possibility of others being charged, saying, "Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool -- military or judicial -- available to our government."

Jitters have gripped the U.S. travel industry in the aftermath of the bombing attempt. In the latest security scare, an unruly passenger on a Hawaii-bound airliner on Wednesday prompted the pilot to return the plane to Portland, Oregon, escorted by two military fighter jets.

Obama called the Detroit incident a potentially disastrous "screw-up" by the intelligence community during a two-hour meeting with his national security team on Tuesday.

"The president -- he's not patient about this at all. These changes have to be made immediately," Mullen told university students at a seminar in Washington.

The Los Angeles Times, citing senior law enforcement officials, reported on Wednesday that U.S. border security officials learned of intelligence about Abdulmutallab's alleged extremist links as he was en route to Detroit and had decided to question him when he landed.

"The ... database had picked up the State Department concern about this guy, that this guy may have been involved with extremist elements in Yemen. ... They could have made a decision on whether to stop him from getting on the plane," the Times quoted a senior law enforcement official as saying.

Obama will address the issue again in a public statement on Thursday, when the White House will release a review that will make recommendations on plugging holes in security, including changes in passenger screening and terrorism watch lists.

"The review will simply identify and make recommendations as to what was lacking and what needs to be strengthened," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, adding it would be "comprehensive."

INTELLIGENCE SHARING

U.S. spy agencies and the State Department had information about Abdulmutallab but they never pieced it together to put him on a no-fly list. Instead, passengers and crew subdued the Nigerian bomb suspect as he tried to detonate the device.

Mullen said part of the problem was intelligence sharing and filtering through the extraordinary amount of data collected by U.S. spy agencies.

"It does have to do with sharing information and it does have to do with huge bureaucracies. And we collect an extraordinary amount of data," Mullen said.

Obama has been lambasted by Republicans who accuse his Democratic administration of being weak on terrorism and unable to fix intelligence gaps that have lingered since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States involving hijacked planes.

Senior Republican lawmakers on Wednesday called on Obama to take more concrete steps to improve security and challenged the decision to try Abdulmutallab in federal court.

"All jihadist attackers should be charged as enemy combatants, taken into military custody, interrogated for vital intelligence, and tried in military courts under the laws of armed conflict," they said in a letter to Obama.

Since the Christmas bombing attempt, there has been finger- pointing within the U.S. intelligence community, including at the National Counterterrorism Center, created in 2004 to serve as the main repository for counterterrorism intelligence.

Asked whether people might lose their jobs over the incident, Gibbs said, "I don't know what the final outcome in terms of hiring and firing will be."

"This is a failure that touches across the full waterfront of our intelligence agencies," he said.


Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Adam Entous and Susan Cornwell; Editing by David Alexander and Peter Cooney)

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