So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. Hebrews 2:11 NLT When I was a youth reading my Bible all the way through for the first time and came to the begats, such as in Matthew 1, I found them … [Click to read more …]
In several previous posts we noted that the Investigative Judgment builds on two other Adventist doctrines – Biblical Arminianism and Soul Sleep. Second, we saw that in the Sanctuary, Adventists have a solid basis for assurance. I also shared the rationale behind the Adventist perspective on the Close of Probation. In this article I want to describe a better approach for … [Click to read more …]
Jean just passed away at the age of 94. She lost her husband a couple years earlier, and then became ill with cancer. She was telling her daughter she did not even know why she was still living. She felt old and useless. But one day her young health care nurse came for a routine visit. She told … [Click to read more …]
If there is a judgment going on in heaven right now and if, when Jesus comes, His reward is with Him, it stands to reason that at some point before the second coming, those who are alive on earth will have to be judged as well. And, in developing this idea Adventists have come to … [Click to read more …]
You might think that, although Christians disagree on a lot of topics, they at least agree on the central theme of their religion: the gospel. But no such luck. You have Calvinism on the one side, Arminianism on the other, and an entire spectrum of options in between. And that’s just within Protestantism. The Catholic and … [Click to read more …]
The church was organized for service. The church is not a hospital for sinners (I know that goes against tradition). “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Matthew … [Click to read more …]
…Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. Ephesians 5:23 NLT When you pray and tell Jesus about the trials of your day, do you ever stop and ask Jesus how His day was? Remember, while you may have seen one person being abused, Jesus saw every … [Click to read more …]
When we allow the Bible to explain itself, God can use ordinary people to do great things. Years ago, when I worked on the sort isle at UPS, our supervisors would occasionally bring in food to eat, while we worked at four in the morning. One such time, my supervisor, who was also a Protestant … [Click to read more …]
After the great disappointment of 1844, a small band of Adventists, unable to deny the presence of God in the Millerite movement, came to the conclusion that, instead of the Second Coming, God had begun what they termed the “Investigative Judgment,” now also known as the Pre-Advent Judgment, as distinct from the Final Judgment. Throughout the … [Click to read more …]
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great … [Click to read more …]
