By: Rob Peralta
For several years there has been a catchy slogan "You go girl" describing women who got their stuff together or are doing something noteworthy. Nowhere in the history of mankind, or in this case womankind, has that phrase ever been more fitting than describing one Ellen G. White. God took a very weak and frail girl and turned her into the "summation" of all the prophets. He would even the score, as before He typically used "men," but now it was time to show what a lady could do!
If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. God, being the righteous and fair God, would wait till the last days of earth's history to bring out His best. His word says (2 Cor. 12:9) "...My strength is made perfect in weakness". For this young girl would go on to surpass ALL the prior Prophets in spreading God's truths. Her two best sellers "The Great Controversy" and "The Desire of Ages" stand out as two of the greatest works of all time. I can honestly say, apart from the Bible, her truths can sometimes "wear me out" lol.
One of the most fascinating things about her life was her "supernatural" abilities. Her ability to go into her visions WITHOUT BREATHING was captivating! It is well known that SEVERAL certified doctors (who were non-believers) witnessed this and each could NOT deny it! In fact, one was so amazed that he started visibly shaking and bolted for the door saying, "Get me out of here!" So we must then ask-- Could this have been from the devil? Of course not. He could never have used a "Commandment Keeper" for they would only go about spreading God's truth!
God's word was directly shown in her life (John 14:21) "He (or she) that has My Commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me and shall be loved by the Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him." Her many signs, dreams and visions all attest to this "revealing." Like I say SO MANY TIMES: Commandment keeping is THE KEY to Him revealing Himself to you. We must do as Ellen did, learn them completely and keep them in our hearts, so that our daily walk is guided by them as we ponder them in what we do and say. Ellen's walk experienced HIS LOVE AND POWER. Her life SHOWED that He is alive. Our Lord is just waiting to show us things (dreams, signs, visions) if we'll only believe and walk righteously according to His Commandments.
Her writings are so packed with truths! For example, let's look at a snippet of Ellen's work in regard to prayer. You businessmen can really relate to the this! (Christ's object lessons P.143)
"Those who bring their petitions to God, claiming His promise while they do not comply with the conditions, insult Jehovah. They bring the name of Christ as their authority for the fulfillment of the promise but they do not those things that would show faith in Christ and love for Him. Many are forfeiting the condition of acceptance with the Father. We need to examine closely the deed of trust wherewith we approach God. If we are disobedient, we bring to the Lord a note to be cashed when we have not fulfilled the condition that would make it payable to us."
As inspiring as Ellen was, we must never do what a friend of mine recently told me. She said an elder in her church got one of the brothers kicked out of church because the brother said he didn't want to put Ellen's writings before the Bible! As the old saying goes, Ellen would have turned over in her grave if she'd heard that. A Prophet or Prophetess should never be viewed as exalted above God's first and foremost word-- The Holy Scriptures.
In summary, let's thank God for giving us a truly wonderful and inspiring lady. One who was faithful and solid to the end! You GO GIRL!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Regarding the Resignation of Four La Sierra University Employees Over a Recorded Conversation
If you came to listen to the recordings, I'm sorry but I have not posted them yet. I'm not sure it's right or even legal. I obtained them from Educate Truth, but they have taken down the article from which they were made available.
Below are some thoughts about this whole controversy that I posted over at Spectrum.
"Those who have listened to the recording and see nothing wrong with it only demonstrate the heart of the problem that the Adventist church is facing. Please understand that the larger problem is not the sin displayed but our blindness to it. We cannot see the sinfulness of sin anymore.
Those who salivate for this matter to be taken to the courts would gain such a blessing from meditating on 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 and Romans 12:14-21.
To Pierre who said 'there goes 90% of French Adventists...' and that 'alcohol prohibition seems to be particularly American...' Please understand that it is not an American prohibition, but a biblical one. It is God, not man, that declares the destructive nature of alcohol. Sadly, those Adventists who willfully neglect the word of God by drinking alcohol or insisting to dismiss God's account of creation...are not truly Adventists at all.
The Adventist church is defined by the doctrines it holds, as is any church. If one falls outside the doctrines, he also falls outside the church.
The remnant church is not here to form a nice 'community' or 'culture'...it is here to deliver a message to the last generation. The message is the truth. It can be found so plainly in scripture and in the spirit of prophecy, if we would only surrender ourselves to God and say, 'not my will, but Thy will be done.'"
"I'll try...
I have downloaded the recordings but have not yet listened to them so I am speaking generally, although I did read selected portions of the transcript. The behavior recorded was far from benign...these attitudes of the heart that we are increasingly prone to seeing as 'no big deal' are ripping us away from God, whether we know it or not.
We have become so incredibly removed from the example that Christ gave us when He walked on earth as a human and that His disciples displayed in the early church after He left.
Little flags are everywhere in the discussion of these events...from the notion that any 'context' will somehow lessen the sinfulness of drinking alcohol, or that those crying out are somehow 'puritans' because they choose to deny self and to follow God's will for His children.
I don't understand why so many people feel the need to preface alcohol with 'a small cup' or 'just a little'...as if moderation is what's lacking.
All our sins are symptoms...our disease is 'self'. The only cure is complete surrender to Christ, and yet every fiber of our being is violently opposed to the thought.
Yes yes and yes to showing forgiveness and being 'redemptive'...but does God forgive us the sins which we don't repent of? He longs to forgive us, to pour out His grace all over us...but His righteousness will not allow it unless we first confess and repent. He is a just God.
I hope with all my soul that these four guys are sorrowful and repentant. I hope with all my soul that they don't harden their hearts and continue to follow their own inclinations and reasonings. We need God's guidance...we are absolutely incapable of leading ourselves. There MUST be something absolute with which to judge ourselves. It is God's word. God's plain word."
Please pray for Lenny Darnell, Jeff Kaatz, Jim Beach and Gary Bradley...God loves them each so dearly and none of them can ever be replaced. Pray fervently that they, and we, all surrender fully to Christ.
Below are some thoughts about this whole controversy that I posted over at Spectrum.
"Those who have listened to the recording and see nothing wrong with it only demonstrate the heart of the problem that the Adventist church is facing. Please understand that the larger problem is not the sin displayed but our blindness to it. We cannot see the sinfulness of sin anymore.
Those who salivate for this matter to be taken to the courts would gain such a blessing from meditating on 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 and Romans 12:14-21.
To Pierre who said 'there goes 90% of French Adventists...' and that 'alcohol prohibition seems to be particularly American...' Please understand that it is not an American prohibition, but a biblical one. It is God, not man, that declares the destructive nature of alcohol. Sadly, those Adventists who willfully neglect the word of God by drinking alcohol or insisting to dismiss God's account of creation...are not truly Adventists at all.
The Adventist church is defined by the doctrines it holds, as is any church. If one falls outside the doctrines, he also falls outside the church.
The remnant church is not here to form a nice 'community' or 'culture'...it is here to deliver a message to the last generation. The message is the truth. It can be found so plainly in scripture and in the spirit of prophecy, if we would only surrender ourselves to God and say, 'not my will, but Thy will be done.'"
"I'll try...
I have downloaded the recordings but have not yet listened to them so I am speaking generally, although I did read selected portions of the transcript. The behavior recorded was far from benign...these attitudes of the heart that we are increasingly prone to seeing as 'no big deal' are ripping us away from God, whether we know it or not.
We have become so incredibly removed from the example that Christ gave us when He walked on earth as a human and that His disciples displayed in the early church after He left.
Little flags are everywhere in the discussion of these events...from the notion that any 'context' will somehow lessen the sinfulness of drinking alcohol, or that those crying out are somehow 'puritans' because they choose to deny self and to follow God's will for His children.
I don't understand why so many people feel the need to preface alcohol with 'a small cup' or 'just a little'...as if moderation is what's lacking.
All our sins are symptoms...our disease is 'self'. The only cure is complete surrender to Christ, and yet every fiber of our being is violently opposed to the thought.
Yes yes and yes to showing forgiveness and being 'redemptive'...but does God forgive us the sins which we don't repent of? He longs to forgive us, to pour out His grace all over us...but His righteousness will not allow it unless we first confess and repent. He is a just God.
I hope with all my soul that these four guys are sorrowful and repentant. I hope with all my soul that they don't harden their hearts and continue to follow their own inclinations and reasonings. We need God's guidance...we are absolutely incapable of leading ourselves. There MUST be something absolute with which to judge ourselves. It is God's word. God's plain word."
Please pray for Lenny Darnell, Jeff Kaatz, Jim Beach and Gary Bradley...God loves them each so dearly and none of them can ever be replaced. Pray fervently that they, and we, all surrender fully to Christ.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Mankind's Whole Duty
By: Rob Peralta
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon describes many of the trials and pleasures of life. He wrote of his experiences, as many as there were. He unmistakably let's us know "this life" will not fulfill us in our carnal pursuits. Then he finishes his insightful writings with a great summary of what really matters in this life. (Ecc:12:13) " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, FEAR GOD, and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man". As I have written quite a lot about keeping His Commandments, I thought it was time to talk about our OTHER duty- Fear God. You'll notice God's inspired word said we just have TWO duties, nothing more and nothing less. God does not change neither does His word. These two duties REMAIN our duties. As Solomon also wrote ( Prov. 1:7) " Fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom...)
I can certainly understand how this second duty can be misunderstood. After all "fear" is usually not associated with God. When we think of our Lord, we think love, understanding, compassion and those "good" things. Fear just doesn't come to our mind for many of us when we think of God. BUT that is exactly what the adversary wants you to think! God had a reason why he put "Fear Him" as a duty of ours.
This is why I believe God has told us to fear Him. "Fear" in this duty really means "Holy reverence". That means we look upon God in His real place - Almighty, Powerful, and Righteous, willing to love mankind yet NOT willing to have His Holy Laws trampled upon. These represent His character, His whole essence of being, in other words --- His core! When we fear Him, we really "respect" Him. We hold Him in Holy reverence, we OBEY our duty. He then says " My Son (or Daughter) you have listened to my words, I am well pleased".
On the other hand we should not think of fear as God just waiting and watching to condemn us. This kind of thinking is from the evil one as he tries to twist God's words "Fear Him" into something completely different. A destructive and useless fear is certainly not God's intention.
Let's look at a great example of this "fear" shown one of God's great servants - Job. In (Job 1:5) we read "And when it was, the days of feasting were going on, that Job sent and sanctified them, offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all: For Job said 'It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did this continually."
Look at this. Job was "afraid" that his sons were not doing righteously before God. He was fearful that God would be upset, so he prepared in advance an "apology" of sorts in their behalf. Here we can see Job performing his duty spectacularly! In fact look how impressed our Lord was ( Job 1:8) "And the Lord said unto Satan, 'has thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in all the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that FEARETH God and hateth evil?". We should all have such holy reverence as this!
This is why we should NEVER take our walk with God for granted. Thinking foolishly that we can bypass our duties and be safe because we know God will excuse us from our duties and make an exception for us. Jesus' sacrifice was tremendous and it cleaned our slate but IT DID NOT relieve us of our duties. We now do them with JOY! We say "your will is our command my Lord, we shall be pleased to do them as you said."
I believe there are 3 things the Lord especially loves in His people 1) The humble 2) The courageous 3) Those that fear Him in Holy reverence. It has been said that the definition of a saint is this--- One who looks upon sin in horror. How true this is. So let us strive to rise as far as we can in our walk, and if possible to arrive where saints come--that place where we look at sin in horror and we FEAR God in holy reverence. In Christ's love, Rob
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon describes many of the trials and pleasures of life. He wrote of his experiences, as many as there were. He unmistakably let's us know "this life" will not fulfill us in our carnal pursuits. Then he finishes his insightful writings with a great summary of what really matters in this life. (Ecc:12:13) " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, FEAR GOD, and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man". As I have written quite a lot about keeping His Commandments, I thought it was time to talk about our OTHER duty- Fear God. You'll notice God's inspired word said we just have TWO duties, nothing more and nothing less. God does not change neither does His word. These two duties REMAIN our duties. As Solomon also wrote ( Prov. 1:7) " Fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom...)
I can certainly understand how this second duty can be misunderstood. After all "fear" is usually not associated with God. When we think of our Lord, we think love, understanding, compassion and those "good" things. Fear just doesn't come to our mind for many of us when we think of God. BUT that is exactly what the adversary wants you to think! God had a reason why he put "Fear Him" as a duty of ours.
This is why I believe God has told us to fear Him. "Fear" in this duty really means "Holy reverence". That means we look upon God in His real place - Almighty, Powerful, and Righteous, willing to love mankind yet NOT willing to have His Holy Laws trampled upon. These represent His character, His whole essence of being, in other words --- His core! When we fear Him, we really "respect" Him. We hold Him in Holy reverence, we OBEY our duty. He then says " My Son (or Daughter) you have listened to my words, I am well pleased".
On the other hand we should not think of fear as God just waiting and watching to condemn us. This kind of thinking is from the evil one as he tries to twist God's words "Fear Him" into something completely different. A destructive and useless fear is certainly not God's intention.
Let's look at a great example of this "fear" shown one of God's great servants - Job. In (Job 1:5) we read "And when it was, the days of feasting were going on, that Job sent and sanctified them, offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all: For Job said 'It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did this continually."
Look at this. Job was "afraid" that his sons were not doing righteously before God. He was fearful that God would be upset, so he prepared in advance an "apology" of sorts in their behalf. Here we can see Job performing his duty spectacularly! In fact look how impressed our Lord was ( Job 1:8) "And the Lord said unto Satan, 'has thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in all the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that FEARETH God and hateth evil?". We should all have such holy reverence as this!
This is why we should NEVER take our walk with God for granted. Thinking foolishly that we can bypass our duties and be safe because we know God will excuse us from our duties and make an exception for us. Jesus' sacrifice was tremendous and it cleaned our slate but IT DID NOT relieve us of our duties. We now do them with JOY! We say "your will is our command my Lord, we shall be pleased to do them as you said."
I believe there are 3 things the Lord especially loves in His people 1) The humble 2) The courageous 3) Those that fear Him in Holy reverence. It has been said that the definition of a saint is this--- One who looks upon sin in horror. How true this is. So let us strive to rise as far as we can in our walk, and if possible to arrive where saints come--that place where we look at sin in horror and we FEAR God in holy reverence. In Christ's love, Rob
Friday, May 20, 2011
Apostle John -- The Beloved Apostle
By: Rob Peralta
I believe John's relationship with the Lord transcended a "normal" follower relationship. It was an elevated spiritual "at one with Jesus" relationship. As we will look into this relationship we will see John "got it"! He was the closet to Jesus during His 3 years mission work. He understood Salvation above and beyond all the Apostles. A truly "beloved" of the Lord.
As we will shortly see John had a COMPLETE knowledge of the "basics essentials" of Salvation. - How to LOVE the Lord, how to KNOW the Lord, and he perfectly described the thing we need to avoid and can seperate us for our Lord---SIN. This was DIVINE work entrusted to this Apostle and perfectly written as planned by him.
We know the Bible is God's book to humanity. His holy words written to guide us towards Him. But His LAST book was "special". Kinda like when someone is going away for a long long time and decides to write their final words to their "loved ones". They know this special message must have impact and heartfelt love and caring. Look who our Lord entrusted to write His LAST message in His book to humanity ( Revelation) --- John!
John was one of the 3 Apostles to witness the transfiguration. We find Jesus entrusting him to watch His earthly mother. He is believed to be the ONLY Apostle to be standing at Jesus' cross. So we know Jesus had great trust and faith in John. And John would not let Jesus down. He heard Him well both during Jesus' life and AFTER, hence the Lord trusting him to write Revelation.
But let's now look at what John wrote concerning HOW TO LOVE JESUS.
(1 John 5:3) " For this is the LOVE of God, that we KEEP His Commandments, and His Commandments are not burdensome". Many times I am in debates with Sunday keepers and they frequently say "We can't keep His Commandments, we're human, we are prone to sin". Well if we "can't" keep His Commandments they ARE BURDENSOME! They are too difficult to keep, this word of God is lying, make sense? Ofcourse not. If something is not a burden, it is not difficult to do, right? Now add to the fact that by keeping them , we show we LOVE Him, then it is totally doable!
(John 14:15) " If you love me, KEEP My Commandments". There it is! The most simple straight forward instructions FROM OUR LORD on how to LOVE Him. John made sure not to miss making sure he wrote this! Notice Jesus did not say " If you love me keep some of My Commandments".
(John 14:21) "He that has My Commandments and KEEPS them, he it is that LOVES me, and shall be loved by the Father, and I will love him, and will REVEAL Myself to him". What I find very interesting here is that our Lord connects keeping His Commandments with Him SHOWING Himself to us. Amazing and quite a PROMISE! I personally can fully attest to this being true.
So we can see John clearly wrote that "love" is showing we obey His word, and specifically HIS COMMANDMENTS.But the most pointed and also dangerous (for non-believers in keeping His Commandments) scripture John wrote was ( 1 John 2:3-4) " This is how we KNOW we know Him, if we KEEP His Commandments, he that says 'I know Him' and does not keep His Commandments , is a liar, and the truth is not in Him". Now that begs the question - If we don't know Him, can we be saved by Him? Jesus answered this question ( Matt 7:22) " Many will say 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name , and cast out demons, and done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, I NEVER KNEW YOU, depart from Me, you who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS "(transgressing His Law).
John understands just what "salvation" truly is and tries to say in the most simple and understandable way just what we must DO to know and keep this Salvation. He carefully says what sin is in the following words ( 1 John 3:4) " ...SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW".
The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was because we were sinners (transgressing His and His Father's Law). So now that Jesus paid our price with His great sacrifice, do we go on continuing to "sin" (transgress His Law)?? Or do we say " Thank you SO MUCH my Lord for what you did for me, now I want to LOVE you and know you and be with you". If this is our attitude we read John's word and know EXACTLY what to do , right?
You see I have a choice, I can "love" Jesus my way or His way. Which would you do? Would you do things that go against His word (transgress His Law) and PRESUME you are loving Him? Or would you trust in HIS WORD and love Him as he said to do? I think it is a no-brainer. Let us be like His beloved Apostle and understand this powerful truth--- Commandment keeping equals an eternal LOVE relationship with our Lord.
I will leave you with this truth. In God's last book (Revelation) He leaves us a LAST INSTRUCTION on how to make it to heaven, here it is--- (Rev 22:14) " Blessed are they that DO His Commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city". Don't make things complicated. Be like John and have this simple and true understanding. The Lord loved John greatly and He will love you just the same if you obey Him and keep His Commandments, amen.
I believe John's relationship with the Lord transcended a "normal" follower relationship. It was an elevated spiritual "at one with Jesus" relationship. As we will look into this relationship we will see John "got it"! He was the closet to Jesus during His 3 years mission work. He understood Salvation above and beyond all the Apostles. A truly "beloved" of the Lord.
As we will shortly see John had a COMPLETE knowledge of the "basics essentials" of Salvation. - How to LOVE the Lord, how to KNOW the Lord, and he perfectly described the thing we need to avoid and can seperate us for our Lord---SIN. This was DIVINE work entrusted to this Apostle and perfectly written as planned by him.
We know the Bible is God's book to humanity. His holy words written to guide us towards Him. But His LAST book was "special". Kinda like when someone is going away for a long long time and decides to write their final words to their "loved ones". They know this special message must have impact and heartfelt love and caring. Look who our Lord entrusted to write His LAST message in His book to humanity ( Revelation) --- John!
John was one of the 3 Apostles to witness the transfiguration. We find Jesus entrusting him to watch His earthly mother. He is believed to be the ONLY Apostle to be standing at Jesus' cross. So we know Jesus had great trust and faith in John. And John would not let Jesus down. He heard Him well both during Jesus' life and AFTER, hence the Lord trusting him to write Revelation.
But let's now look at what John wrote concerning HOW TO LOVE JESUS.
(1 John 5:3) " For this is the LOVE of God, that we KEEP His Commandments, and His Commandments are not burdensome". Many times I am in debates with Sunday keepers and they frequently say "We can't keep His Commandments, we're human, we are prone to sin". Well if we "can't" keep His Commandments they ARE BURDENSOME! They are too difficult to keep, this word of God is lying, make sense? Ofcourse not. If something is not a burden, it is not difficult to do, right? Now add to the fact that by keeping them , we show we LOVE Him, then it is totally doable!
(John 14:15) " If you love me, KEEP My Commandments". There it is! The most simple straight forward instructions FROM OUR LORD on how to LOVE Him. John made sure not to miss making sure he wrote this! Notice Jesus did not say " If you love me keep some of My Commandments".
(John 14:21) "He that has My Commandments and KEEPS them, he it is that LOVES me, and shall be loved by the Father, and I will love him, and will REVEAL Myself to him". What I find very interesting here is that our Lord connects keeping His Commandments with Him SHOWING Himself to us. Amazing and quite a PROMISE! I personally can fully attest to this being true.
So we can see John clearly wrote that "love" is showing we obey His word, and specifically HIS COMMANDMENTS.But the most pointed and also dangerous (for non-believers in keeping His Commandments) scripture John wrote was ( 1 John 2:3-4) " This is how we KNOW we know Him, if we KEEP His Commandments, he that says 'I know Him' and does not keep His Commandments , is a liar, and the truth is not in Him". Now that begs the question - If we don't know Him, can we be saved by Him? Jesus answered this question ( Matt 7:22) " Many will say 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name , and cast out demons, and done many wonderful works? And I will say to them, I NEVER KNEW YOU, depart from Me, you who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS "(transgressing His Law).
John understands just what "salvation" truly is and tries to say in the most simple and understandable way just what we must DO to know and keep this Salvation. He carefully says what sin is in the following words ( 1 John 3:4) " ...SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW".
The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was because we were sinners (transgressing His and His Father's Law). So now that Jesus paid our price with His great sacrifice, do we go on continuing to "sin" (transgress His Law)?? Or do we say " Thank you SO MUCH my Lord for what you did for me, now I want to LOVE you and know you and be with you". If this is our attitude we read John's word and know EXACTLY what to do , right?
You see I have a choice, I can "love" Jesus my way or His way. Which would you do? Would you do things that go against His word (transgress His Law) and PRESUME you are loving Him? Or would you trust in HIS WORD and love Him as he said to do? I think it is a no-brainer. Let us be like His beloved Apostle and understand this powerful truth--- Commandment keeping equals an eternal LOVE relationship with our Lord.
I will leave you with this truth. In God's last book (Revelation) He leaves us a LAST INSTRUCTION on how to make it to heaven, here it is--- (Rev 22:14) " Blessed are they that DO His Commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city". Don't make things complicated. Be like John and have this simple and true understanding. The Lord loved John greatly and He will love you just the same if you obey Him and keep His Commandments, amen.
Friday, May 6, 2011
SDA -- Fastest Growing Church in US
By: Rob Peralta
In the USA Today article dated 3/17/2011 written by G.Jeffrey MacDonald we learn some surprising statistics.http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-18-Adventists_17_ST_N.htm Some good some not so good. The good--we are the fastest growing denomination in North America. The bad--the "growth" is too small (as compared to overseas).
Started in the mid 1800's the SDA church was kind of an off-shoot from the Anabaptists. The Europe based believers from the 1700's and 1800's. The Anabaptists were also Sabbath keepers until Satan and crew got a hold of them and brought them into compliance--hence today's 'Baptist" churches(Sunday keepers). But the SDA has remained firm in it's core doctrines, particularly the keeping of the Sabbath.
The article states the SDA is growing at a 2.5% growth rate. Sounds rather small in the general scheme of things but I guess it's because it's against the "Babylon" false teaching churches so prevalent in US today.
So If the SDA church is the fastest growing of the bunch, we must ask--why? I believe it's because God has put in motion His 3 Angels message and it going out right now in a BIG WAY. With 3abn (http://www.3abn.org/) Hope channel (http://www.hopetv.org/)
and Amazing facts (http://www.amazingfacts.com/) the message is being "shouted" to the world right now. The FINAL WARNING to God's people is taking place RIGHT NOW. People are being drawn to God's truth and His Holy Sabbath is being illuminated. God has opened many minds and hearts and those who truly SEEK the truth, now find it and see it clearly.
But whatever we do let us NOT sit upon our merits and fail to reach out to win souls. The Lord said to our church (SDA) "...Be zealous therefore and repent"(Rev.3:19) Zealous and repent, that is an interesting combination(?) We all can understand the "zealous" part but what about the "repent" part? Let me give you some good examples of why repentance is needed in our churches!
We as God's representatives of His church have a great responsibility. How we act and what we say and how good we keep our word is OMNI-IMPORTANT. Recently I found out an SDA church in my area owns a large plot of land next door to it. There is a business that rents from it. THAT BUSINESS IS OPEN ON SATURDAY!! What part of "within your gates" do they not understand? How can they be forgiven of this if they don't repent of it? Most likely they don't even THINK about their wrong doing--amazing! I will do my part to warn them-you can count on it and so too, I need your prayers.
Another example is my OWN CHURCH. The leaders have accepted a female associate pastor. God's word comes second to their decisions.
These are just a "few" of the things the SDA is in need of repenting for. While our "growth" beats the other churches, we need to pray that we can right the ship and continue to spread His last day message but also get the "logs" out of our eyes as well.
Please consider donating to those wonderful above mentioned ministries. Thank you.
In the USA Today article dated 3/17/2011 written by G.Jeffrey MacDonald we learn some surprising statistics.http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-18-Adventists_17_ST_N.htm Some good some not so good. The good--we are the fastest growing denomination in North America. The bad--the "growth" is too small (as compared to overseas).
Started in the mid 1800's the SDA church was kind of an off-shoot from the Anabaptists. The Europe based believers from the 1700's and 1800's. The Anabaptists were also Sabbath keepers until Satan and crew got a hold of them and brought them into compliance--hence today's 'Baptist" churches(Sunday keepers). But the SDA has remained firm in it's core doctrines, particularly the keeping of the Sabbath.
The article states the SDA is growing at a 2.5% growth rate. Sounds rather small in the general scheme of things but I guess it's because it's against the "Babylon" false teaching churches so prevalent in US today.
So If the SDA church is the fastest growing of the bunch, we must ask--why? I believe it's because God has put in motion His 3 Angels message and it going out right now in a BIG WAY. With 3abn (http://www.3abn.org/) Hope channel (http://www.hopetv.org/)
and Amazing facts (http://www.amazingfacts.com/) the message is being "shouted" to the world right now. The FINAL WARNING to God's people is taking place RIGHT NOW. People are being drawn to God's truth and His Holy Sabbath is being illuminated. God has opened many minds and hearts and those who truly SEEK the truth, now find it and see it clearly.
But whatever we do let us NOT sit upon our merits and fail to reach out to win souls. The Lord said to our church (SDA) "...Be zealous therefore and repent"(Rev.3:19) Zealous and repent, that is an interesting combination(?) We all can understand the "zealous" part but what about the "repent" part? Let me give you some good examples of why repentance is needed in our churches!
We as God's representatives of His church have a great responsibility. How we act and what we say and how good we keep our word is OMNI-IMPORTANT. Recently I found out an SDA church in my area owns a large plot of land next door to it. There is a business that rents from it. THAT BUSINESS IS OPEN ON SATURDAY!! What part of "within your gates" do they not understand? How can they be forgiven of this if they don't repent of it? Most likely they don't even THINK about their wrong doing--amazing! I will do my part to warn them-you can count on it and so too, I need your prayers.
Another example is my OWN CHURCH. The leaders have accepted a female associate pastor. God's word comes second to their decisions.
These are just a "few" of the things the SDA is in need of repenting for. While our "growth" beats the other churches, we need to pray that we can right the ship and continue to spread His last day message but also get the "logs" out of our eyes as well.
Please consider donating to those wonderful above mentioned ministries. Thank you.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Don't Look Back
By: Rob Peralta
Recently I posted on our sister site http://www.godsloveandlaw.wordpress.com/ a post called "God sends a hummingbird" about how God sent a sign to me to quit paying homage (even occasional) to a past idol of mine- carnal music. In His infinite wisdom I would like to share further truth from these recent events. In our Christian walk we are ever learning, adjusting and hopefully growing. ALL of us are in need of growing and walking closer to God. We must humble ourselves and say "Dear Lord, show me my wrong ways, that I may correct them and walk more uprightly before you". With that hummingbird, prayer was definitely answered.
Let me explain what happened AFTER I got that sign. It was quite a dramatic sign and it did affect me. The Lord had REACHED me. I can be quite stubborn but He knows me and that did the job! So I decided once and for all to stop listening to pop and rock music. Although it was occasional, that was not right before the Lord. He expects a lot more out of me. A week went by with out me even listening ONCE to carnal music. First time in probably decades! But something occurred to me (no doubt His spirit telling me this). "Hey Rob, you have quit this long time sin but what about all those CDs, tapes, albums YOU STILL HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE?" Wow!! That was a powerful thought. Yes, I thought--- what am I doing?? Am I still holding on to them for some reason? Do I plan on listening again someday? Was the Lord's sign meaningless? Something just for now, then later I can return later? All these thoughts swirled in my head. I KNEW what I had to do!
Not wasting much time I grabbed a large trash can and started throwing EVERYTHING carnal out. The thought occurred that my collection was worth some good money, how about taking them to the record shop and cashing in? Oh no, that would be terrible. I would be in effect saying "hey give me my money, and you can go ahead and sin in this way, not me." Terrible idea, in the trash they went! 30 years of collecting the WRONG music down the drain--all for the Lord, amen I said as I did it! (Heb. 10:39) Comes to mind "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them who believe to the saving of the soul" and our Lord's own words (Luke 9:62) "..No man who starts to plow and LOOKS BACK is fit for the kingdom of God". God only knows the depths that carnal music had on my soul, now it was over! I am free to listen to our Lord without such diversions.
So we must take a good look at ourselves. Are we still holding on to a sin in our life? Each must search their own situation. We CANNOT expect growth in our walk if we are not willing to forsake known sins we continue to cherish. If you've had a problem with lust, do you still have old playboys or x-rated DVDs in the house? If you've had a alcohol problem, do you still have old booze bottles stashed away? Maybe even the same carnal music problem? When we "let go" of our sins, we must do so ALL the way, not holding on and looking back. Our sanctification is God given process, let us not hold Him back. In Christs love, amen.
Recently I posted on our sister site http://www.godsloveandlaw.wordpress.com/ a post called "God sends a hummingbird" about how God sent a sign to me to quit paying homage (even occasional) to a past idol of mine- carnal music. In His infinite wisdom I would like to share further truth from these recent events. In our Christian walk we are ever learning, adjusting and hopefully growing. ALL of us are in need of growing and walking closer to God. We must humble ourselves and say "Dear Lord, show me my wrong ways, that I may correct them and walk more uprightly before you". With that hummingbird, prayer was definitely answered.
Let me explain what happened AFTER I got that sign. It was quite a dramatic sign and it did affect me. The Lord had REACHED me. I can be quite stubborn but He knows me and that did the job! So I decided once and for all to stop listening to pop and rock music. Although it was occasional, that was not right before the Lord. He expects a lot more out of me. A week went by with out me even listening ONCE to carnal music. First time in probably decades! But something occurred to me (no doubt His spirit telling me this). "Hey Rob, you have quit this long time sin but what about all those CDs, tapes, albums YOU STILL HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE?" Wow!! That was a powerful thought. Yes, I thought--- what am I doing?? Am I still holding on to them for some reason? Do I plan on listening again someday? Was the Lord's sign meaningless? Something just for now, then later I can return later? All these thoughts swirled in my head. I KNEW what I had to do!
Not wasting much time I grabbed a large trash can and started throwing EVERYTHING carnal out. The thought occurred that my collection was worth some good money, how about taking them to the record shop and cashing in? Oh no, that would be terrible. I would be in effect saying "hey give me my money, and you can go ahead and sin in this way, not me." Terrible idea, in the trash they went! 30 years of collecting the WRONG music down the drain--all for the Lord, amen I said as I did it! (Heb. 10:39) Comes to mind "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them who believe to the saving of the soul" and our Lord's own words (Luke 9:62) "..No man who starts to plow and LOOKS BACK is fit for the kingdom of God". God only knows the depths that carnal music had on my soul, now it was over! I am free to listen to our Lord without such diversions.
So we must take a good look at ourselves. Are we still holding on to a sin in our life? Each must search their own situation. We CANNOT expect growth in our walk if we are not willing to forsake known sins we continue to cherish. If you've had a problem with lust, do you still have old playboys or x-rated DVDs in the house? If you've had a alcohol problem, do you still have old booze bottles stashed away? Maybe even the same carnal music problem? When we "let go" of our sins, we must do so ALL the way, not holding on and looking back. Our sanctification is God given process, let us not hold Him back. In Christs love, amen.
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Great 10
By: Rob Peralta
Before I begin with this post I want to let you know about an email I received recently. I was told that the SDA church in Japan was largely spared amazingly. It is being used as a sanctuary and shelter. How fitting is that? God's church protecting the people. Just like when Haiti's earthquake hit and the SDA church remained standing (where most buildings came crashing down around it) like a beacon for the world! May many around the world and in Japan look to the one who can save them, amen. In Christendom I would estimate that less than 10% know the 10 Commandments 1 to 10 and 10 to 1. Sure they are familiar with them but ask them to go from 1 to 10 and they are stumped. It truly amazes me how one can call themselves "Christian" and not know the ONLY part of the whole bible HE WROTE HIMSELF! And if He didn't want "anyone" else to write these Commandments, doesn't it stand to reason they are omni-important? Let us look at the "Big 10" and learn some truths.
Before I begin with this post I want to let you know about an email I received recently. I was told that the SDA church in Japan was largely spared amazingly. It is being used as a sanctuary and shelter. How fitting is that? God's church protecting the people. Just like when Haiti's earthquake hit and the SDA church remained standing (where most buildings came crashing down around it) like a beacon for the world! May many around the world and in Japan look to the one who can save them, amen. In Christendom I would estimate that less than 10% know the 10 Commandments 1 to 10 and 10 to 1. Sure they are familiar with them but ask them to go from 1 to 10 and they are stumped. It truly amazes me how one can call themselves "Christian" and not know the ONLY part of the whole bible HE WROTE HIMSELF! And if He didn't want "anyone" else to write these Commandments, doesn't it stand to reason they are omni-important? Let us look at the "Big 10" and learn some truths.
Number 1 " Thou shall love the Lord they God with all you heart, mind , and soul" Here in the number one spot is an often misunderstood Commandment. The accepted Hebrew belief is that when God began His vocal Commandments to the people He began with "I am the Lord your God"and wrote exactly this on the stone tablet. Here, the common belief was that God, being so pure and loving could not say for Himself "You must love Me with all your heart and mind and soul". For love cannot be forced or commanded. God guides in the first Commandment to come to that decision yourself. If we cannot acknowledge Him and love him first and foremost then all other Commandments cannot be followed.
Number 2 "Thou shall have no other God's before Me" Here in number two, again we have some mis-alignment with traditional understanding. Most put this in number one. But after explaining what number one is, this naturally falls to number two. Also the command to not make graven images and to bow down or serve them, only reinforces the words not to have God's before Him. Again that is what was wrote upon the stone tablet for number two.
Number 3 "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" Here is the first Commandment that has been correctly translated through out Christendom. The term "in vain" can actually mean carelessness also. And example would be "Oh my God" in an everyday useless way. While not as demeaning as using God's name in a vulgar or cuss way, it would still be a transgression of the Commandment from God's point of view.
Number 4 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" While it is believed to have that short version on the stone, it is the longest Commandment in the scripture as being "said" by Him. Only one to have "remember" in it. It pointed the people to the past in keeping it holy and it pointed to the future because GOD KNEW many would forget later in time.
The following 6 direct us to the love and respect our fellow human beings. Our Lord, the writer, described a perfect summary in (Matt 22:38-40) by consolidating the 10 into 2. Sadly though some mis-guided souls believe the 10 has been eliminated down to the 2. To use that logic, I guess adultery and stealing no longer apply, try comprehending that one!
Number 5 "Honor thy Father and Mother" Here is the first Commandment that breaks away from the people's responsibility to God.
Number 6 "Thou shall not murder" In this one there has been a subtle error passed on many generations. Many believe it is "Thou shall not kill". But that is not correct. First of all God told His people to kill several times in the Old testament. So if it was "kill" God was telling His people to go ahead and break one of His Commandments. Obviously this could not be. The Hebrew word used in this Commandment is "murder" not "kill". Murder being a killing of a human being without justifiable defense or cause.
Number 7 "Thou shall not commit adultery" Here is a very simple and easily understood Commandment. Perhaps the first "cut and dry" right to the point Commandment.
Number 8 "Thou shall not steal" Another right to the point Commandment. Stealing in ALL forms is meant here. Even when one breaks the Sabbath, in addition to breaking the 4th, he really is stealing God's day away for himself.
Number 9 "Thou shall not bear false witness against they neighbor" Here there is great debate about whether it is describing not to lie to our neighbor or not to bear false witness AGAINST our neighbor. Both sides make good arguments. I personally believe it means exactly as our Lord described "against" our neighbor. In other words actions such as making up a falsehood "against" someone, such as lying in court or to a police officer or such. But don't get the idea lying is ok (Prov. 12:22) "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.."
Number 10 "Thou shall not covet" This one I believe was the downfall of Satan. And it is SO prevalent in today's society it boggles the mind! Hopefully you've gained a more clearer understanding of the "great 10".
For more insight on the original Hebrew teachings go to http://www.levitt.com/ (Christianity through Jewish eyes) I cannot attest to ALL their beliefs, only their views on the 10 Commandments.
Yours in Christ, Rob.
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