And Herald Of Christs Kingdom: Fill & Download for Free

Seventh-day Adventists have often been stereotyped as “legalists” with strange requirements such as “eat no meat, wear no jewelry, drink no alcohol,” giving many the idea that this denomination is a somber and strict cult.But my experience of growing up in this church has been happy and meaningful, and I am thankful to my parents for teaching me the church doctrines and the character of the God we serve in such a solidly loving way. I believe that the doctrines / commandments are practical expressions of a relationship with God, a benevolent and loving God.An example of this was “Sabbath keeping.” To many of my friends, “keeping the Sabbath holy” meant no television, no playing, no secular music. It was a day of church and drudgery. For me, Sabbath was something to look forward to. We would see our friends and cousins at church, eat a big lunch all together, prepared by my grandmother. And as often as possible, my parents would take us to the beach or the mountains to hike, teaching us that Sabbath was a time to spend with God, and being out in nature was one of the best ways to do that. The observance for many was all about what they couldn’t do on the day. For us, it was a special day.The denomination name “Seventh-day Adventist” pronounces two of the beliefs that are at the forefront of our doctrines: 1. The Seventh day (Saturday / Sabbath) is God’s holy day. This is derived from the 4th of the 10 commandments (Exodus 20). 2. Advent - Jesus is coming back to receive all those who have had a relationship with Him, to live eternally with Him in Heaven. The world as we know it now will be destroyed. All sin and suffering will no longer exist.There are 28 fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist church. They are listed in detail at the official website: The Official Site of the Seventh-day Adventist world church They are:1. Holy Scriptures: The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, are the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.2. Trinity: There is One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons.3–5. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each described6. Creation: God is the Creator of all things, and “in six days, He made heavens and earth.”7. Nature of Man: Man and woman were made in the image of God with individuality, the power and freedom to think and to do.8. Great Controversy: All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe.9. Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ: In Christ's life of perfect obedience to God's will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement for human sin, so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life, and the whole creation may better understand the infinite and holy love of the Creator.10. Experience of Salvation: In infinite love and mercy God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God.11. Growing in Christ: By His death on the cross Jesus triumphed over the forces of evil. He who subjugated the demonic spirits during His earthly ministry has broken their power and made certain their ultimate doom. Jesus' victory gives us victory over the evil forces that still seek to control us, as we walk with Him in peace, joy, and assurance of His love. Now the Holy Spirit dwells within us and empowers us.12. Church: The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The church is the body of Christ, a community of faith of which Christ Himself is the Head.13. Remnant and Its Mission: The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent. This proclamation is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14; it coincides with the work of judgment in heaven and results in a work of repentance and reform on earth. Every believer is called to have a personal part in this worldwide witness. (Rev. 12:17; 14:6-12; 18:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:10; Jude 3, 14; 1 Peter 1:16-19; 2 Peter 3:10-14; Rev. 21:1-14.)14. Unity in the Body of Christ: The church is one body with many members, called from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. In Christ we are a new creation; distinctions of race, culture, learning, and nationality, and differences between high and low, rich and poor, male and female, must not be divisive among us. We are all equal in Christ.15. Baptism: By baptism we confess our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and testify of our death to sin and of our purpose to walk in newness of life. It is by immersion in water and is contingent on an affirmation of faith in Jesus and evidence of repentance of sin.16. Lord's Supper: The Lord's Supper is a participation in the emblems of the body and blood of Jesus as an expression of faith in Him, our Lord and Saviour.17. Spiritual Gifts and Ministries: God bestows upon all members of His church in every age spiritual gifts which each member is to employ in loving ministry for the common good of the church and of humanity.18. The Gift of Prophecy: One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen. G. White . As the Lord's messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. (Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:14-21; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 12:17; 19:10.)19. Law of God: The great principles of God's law are embodied in the Ten Commandments and exemplified in the life of Christ. They express God's love, will, and purposes concerning human conduct and relationships and are binding upon all people in every age.20. Sabbath: The beneficent Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath.21. Stewardship: We are God's stewards, entrusted by Him with time and opportunities, abilities and possessions, and the blessings of the earth and its resources. We are responsible to Him for their proper use. We acknowledge God's ownership by faithful service to Him and our fellow men, and by returning tithes and giving offerings for the proclamation of His gospel and the support and growth of His church.22. Christian Behavior: We are called to be a godly people who think, feel, and act in harmony with the principles of heaven.23. Marriage and the Family: Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.24. Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary: There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent. (Heb. 8:1-5; 4:14-16; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; 1:3; 2:16, 17; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14; 9:24-27; Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6; Lev. 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:12.)25. Second Coming of Christ: The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the church, the grand climax of the gospel. The Saviour's coming will be literal, personal, visible, and worldwide. When He returns, the righteous dead will be resurrected, and together with the righteous living will be glorified and taken to heaven, but the unrighteous will die. The almost complete fulfillment of most lines of prophecy, together with the present condition of the world, indicates that Christ's coming is imminent. The time of that event has not been revealed, and we are therefore exhorted to be ready at all times.26. Death and Resurrection: The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people. When Christ, who is our life, appears, the resurrected righteous and the living righteous will be glorified and caught up to meet their Lord. The second resurrection, the resurrection of the unrighteous, will take place a thousand years later.27. Millennium and the End of Sin: The millennium is the thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints in heaven between the first and second resurrections. During this time the wicked dead will be judged; the earth will be utterly desolate, without living human inhabitants, but occupied by Satan and his angels. At its close Christ with His saints and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth. The unrighteous dead will then be resurrected, and with Satan and his angels will surround the city; but fire from God will consume them and cleanse the earth. The universe will thus be freed of sin and sinners forever.28. New Earth: On the new earth, in which righteousness dwells, God will provide an eternal home for the redeemed and a perfect environment for everlasting life, love, joy, and learning in His presence. For here God Himself will dwell with His people, and suffering and death will have passed away. The great controversy will be ended, and sin will be no more. All things, animate and inanimate, will declare that God is love; and He shall reign forever. Amen.

Less Strobel, born January 25, 1952, was an award-winning investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Daily Herald. He received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Yale Law School. Strobel was an atheist who approached all his investigative stories as a lawyer would, relying completely on evidence, documented testimony, and proof. He won an editor’s award for his coverage of the Ford Motors Pinto crash case. He also was awarded the United Press International award for Public Service in Journalism. In and around 1979 Strobel’s wife announced that she had accepted Jesus Christ as her saviour and was attending church as a saved Christian. Strobel took it upon himself to debunk his wife’s belief, and commenced investigating the life of Christ with the intent of disproving the Resurrection. He hoped that this would convince his wife to discontinue her faith.As part of this investigation, Strobel interviewed and challenged thirteen evangelical scholars. Through the entire investigation Strobel looked at the facts through a tainted lens with an agenda to prove that the resurrection of Christ was a fraud. Through the process of examining the views of the evangelical Christian scholars who defended the reliability of the New Testament, Strobel further examined the lives of the Apostles after Christ’s ascension into Heaven, and how they martyred themselves for Christ. The investigation resulted in Strobel becoming a born-again Christian on November 8, 1981, stating that he could not deny what his investigation uncovered.My lady love once whispered the following into the ear of a dying relative, “Jesus Christ loves you and is ready for you to receive Him as your Lord and Saviour. You just need to reach out to Him with your heart.”We receive in faith what God has revealed. Lee Strobel received Jesus Christ as the Messiah.Strobel left journalism to become a theologian, and has since written several award-winning books on faith, hosts a Christian television program, and is regularly interviewed by CNN, ABC, 20/20, and FOX News. Strobel incorporated his notes in his first book, The Case for Christ, in which he presents compelling evidence about the authenticity and reliability of the New Testament. The book was made into a movie. In A Case for Christ, Strobel challenges the reader with the question, if the 12 Apostles of Christ did not see the signs and miracles of Christ, which they documented in the Gospels, why would they spend their lives placing themselves in constant danger of horrific Roman torture and execution and eventually martyr themselves?I was raised in a Roman Catholic family attending a Roman Catholic Church and a Roman Catholic School. I entered adulthood with a basic knowledge of Christian Theology. However, I had never given myself to Christ. I loved God, and I loved Jesus. But I felt that it could not be so simple as one religion revealing the mysteries of God. I investigated Eastern philosophies, I read the Quran, the Hindu Bhagavat Gita, the writings of Buddha, Taoism, the Kabbalah, the Torah, I’ Ching, etc., etc. I researched various religious texts and did comparisons. I studied an assortment of unverified videos online having to do with the “true” origins of the Christian myth.I began my days with prayer to God, but not in Jesus’s name. Yes, Jesus was a saviour, but so, I believed, was Buddha, so was Mohammed, so were all the prophets from various faiths. I had cobbled together my own religion. I was a pagan.After my daily prayers, I would do lengthy meditation and visualization. I was searching for God in a manner that pleased the Enemy. I thought I was pretty smart. That I knew a thing or two. I intellectualized scripture. I believed that the answers were not found in one faith but in many. It was as though I was blending multiple styles of martial arts to come up with the superior fighting system.During this time, I was tormented by the Enemy with depression, paranoia, and obsession. I was in Hell on Earth. I lost all hope. I felt that my children would be better off with me dead than alive. Each day was full of despair and perversity.One fateful evening when I had hit rock bottom, I fell on my knees with tears in my eyes, and I clasped my hands and I confessed to God:“Lord Jesus Christ, I can’t do this anymore. I cannot do this on my own. I need You, Lord. You are the way, the truth, and the life. There is salvation in only You. I accept You; I give myself unconditionally to You. I will believe everything in The Word, out of faith. I will stop investigating false religions and choose to believe out of faith. I choose to receive Your salvation. I give myself to You. Deliver me, Lord! Take me, I am all Yours! Save me, Jesus!”I was immediately transformed by the healing power of The Holy Spirit. My depression, anxiety, paranoia, and obsession were replaced by an unquenchable thirst to know God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I did this through daily devotions, prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, and church service. Shortly thereafter, I was called by the Holy Spirit to ministry, and I enrolled in seminary. I began walking out my faith.Lee Strobel’s investigation resulted in his coming to Christ. As did mine. My misguided quest to know God, while no doubt pleasing momentarily to the Enemy, became my own qualifications which The Lord now uses in me for evangelism, apologetics, and His ministry.I was ordained in May of 2019 at the age of 48. A truly blessed and wonderful day. A servant of Christ.The Holy Spirit tells us in the word:And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Ephesian 2:8)Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)Lee Strobel began his investigation with the intent of proving the Resurrection a hoax. A myth. A falsity. But the Lord had him earmarked to further His Kingdom. By the will and grace of God, Lee Strobel went from a heavily armed atheist to a heavily armed disciple of Jesus Christ. In his own words:“For me, apologetics proved to be the turning point of my life and eternity. I’m thankful for the scholars who so passionately and effectively defend the truth of Christianity – and today my life’s goal is to do my part in helping others get answers to the questions that are blocking them in their spiritual journey toward Christ.”“When we help seekers diagnose which path they’re treading, assist them in avoiding its pitfalls, and expose them to the logic and evidence that uniquely support the Christian faith, we’re introducing them to the only spiritual option that truly qualifies to be called the way, the truth, and the life.”“If Jesus sets the divine standard for mortality, I could now have an unwavering foundation for my choices and decisions, rather than basing them on the ever-shifting sands of expediency and self-centeredness.”“Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist.”“In short, I didn’t become a Christian because God promised I would have an even happier life than I had as an atheist. He never promised any such thing. Indeed, following Him would inevitably bring divine demotions in the eyes of the world. Rather, I became a Christian because the evidence was so compelling that Jesus really is the one-and-only Son of God who proved His divinity by rising from the dead. That meant following Him was the most rational and logical step I could possibly take.”“To be honest, I didn’t want to believe that Christianity could radically transform someone’s character and values. It was much easier to raise doubts and manufacture outrageous objections than consider the possibility that God actually could trigger a revolutionary turn-around in such a depraved and degenerate life.”“In the end, I came to the conclusion that the gospels were reliable eyewitness accounts that delivered accurate information about Jesus, including His crucifixion and Resurrection. But that created a problem for me. If Jesus really was who He said He was, then Jesus was God Himself. If Jesus truly did what the gospel eyewitnesses recorded, then Jesus is still God Himself. As someone who used to reject anything supernatural, I had to make a decision about my naturalistic presuppositions”Praise God in all His glory for each of our journeys, which we travelled to come to Him. Be grateful, thankful, and joyous for the trials, experiences, and people, who were part of that journey. It all went according to plan. God’s plan. Let us have supreme confidence in His plan for us moving forward.

Less Strobel, born January 25, 1952, was an award-winning investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Daily Herald. He received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Yale Law School. Strobel was an atheist who approached all his investigative stories as a lawyer would, relying completely on evidence, documented testimony, and proof. He won an editor’s award for his coverage of the Ford Motors Pinto crash case. He also was awarded the United Press International award for Public Service in Journalism. In and around 1979 Strobel’s wife announced that she had accepted Jesus Christ as her saviour and was attending church as a saved Christian. Strobel took it upon himself to debunk his wife’s belief, and commenced investigating the life of Christ with the intent of disproving the Resurrection. He hoped that this would convince his wife to discontinue her faith.As part of this investigation, Strobel interviewed and challenged thirteen evangelical scholars. Through the entire investigation Strobel looked at the facts through a tainted lens with an agenda to prove that the resurrection of Christ was a fraud. Through the process of examining the views of the evangelical Christian scholars who defended the reliability of the New Testament, Strobel further examined the lives of the Apostles after Christ’s ascension into Heaven, and how they martyred themselves for Christ. The investigation resulted in Strobel becoming a born-again Christian on November 8, 1981, stating that he could not deny what his investigation uncovered.My lady love once whispered the following into the ear of a dying relative, “Jesus Christ loves you and is ready for you to receive Him as your Lord and Saviour. You just need to reach out to Him with your heart.”We receive in faith what God has revealed. Lee Strobel received Jesus Christ as the Messiah.Strobel left journalism to become a theologian, and has since written several award-winning books on faith, hosts a Christian television program, and is regularly interviewed by CNN, ABC, 20/20, and FOX News. Strobel incorporated his notes in his first book, The Case for Christ, in which he presents compelling evidence about the authenticity and reliability of the New Testament. The book was made into a movie. In A Case for Christ, Strobel challenges the reader with the question, if the 12 Apostles of Christ did not see the signs and miracles of Christ, which they documented in the Gospels, why would they spend their lives placing themselves in constant danger of horrific Roman torture and execution and eventually martyr themselves?I was raised in a Roman Catholic family attending a Roman Catholic Church and a Roman Catholic School. I entered adulthood with a basic knowledge of Christian Theology. However, I had never given myself to Christ. I loved God, and I loved Jesus. But I felt that it could not be so simple as one religion revealing the mysteries of God. I investigated Eastern philosophies, I read the Quran, the Hindu Bhagavat Gita, the writings of Buddha, Taoism, the Kabbalah, the Torah, I’ Ching, etc., etc. I researched various religious texts and did comparisons. I studied an assortment of unverified videos online having to do with the “true” origins of the Christian myth.I began my days with prayer to God, but not in Jesus’s name. Yes, Jesus was a saviour, but so, I believed, was Buddha, so was Mohammed, so were all the prophets from various faiths. I had cobbled together my own religion. I was a pagan.After my daily prayers, I would do lengthy meditation and visualization. I was searching for God in a manner that pleased the Enemy. I thought I was pretty smart. That I knew a thing or two. I intellectualized scripture. I believed that the answers were not found in one faith but in many. It was as though I was blending multiple styles of martial arts to come up with the superior fighting system.During this time, I was tormented by the Enemy with depression, paranoia, and obsession. I was in Hell on Earth. I lost all hope. I felt that my children would be better off with me dead than alive. Each day was full of despair and perversity.One fateful evening when I had hit rock bottom, I fell on my knees with tears in my eyes, and I clasped my hands and I confessed to God:“Lord Jesus Christ, I can’t do this anymore. I cannot do this on my own. I need You, Lord. You are the way, the truth, and the life. There is salvation in only You. I accept You; I give myself unconditionally to You. I will believe everything in The Word, out of faith. I will stop investigating false religions and choose to believe out of faith. I choose to receive Your salvation. I give myself to You. Deliver me, Lord! Take me, I am all Yours! Save me, Jesus!”I was immediately transformed by the healing power of The Holy Spirit. My depression, anxiety, paranoia, and obsession were replaced by an unquenchable thirst to know God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I did this through daily devotions, prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, and church service. Shortly thereafter, I was called by the Holy Spirit to ministry, and I enrolled in seminary. I began walking out my faith.Lee Strobel’s investigation resulted in his coming to Christ. As did mine. My misguided quest to know God, while no doubt pleasing momentarily to the Enemy, became my own qualifications which The Lord now uses in me for evangelism, apologetics, and His ministry.I was ordained in May of 2019 at the age of 48. A truly blessed and wonderful day. A servant of Christ.The Holy Spirit tells us in the word:And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Ephesian 2:8)Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)Lee Strobel began his investigation with the intent of proving the Resurrection a hoax. A myth. A falsity. But the Lord had him earmarked to further His Kingdom. By the will and grace of God, Lee Strobel went from a heavily armed atheist to a heavily armed disciple of Jesus Christ. In his own words:“For me, apologetics proved to be the turning point of my life and eternity. I’m thankful for the scholars who so passionately and effectively defend the truth of Christianity – and today my life’s goal is to do my part in helping others get answers to the questions that are blocking them in their spiritual journey toward Christ.”“When we help seekers diagnose which path they’re treading, assist them in avoiding its pitfalls, and expose them to the logic and evidence that uniquely support the Christian faith, we’re introducing them to the only spiritual option that truly qualifies to be called the way, the truth, and the life.”“If Jesus sets the divine standard for mortality, I could now have an unwavering foundation for my choices and decisions, rather than basing them on the ever-shifting sands of expediency and self-centeredness.”“Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist.”“In short, I didn’t become a Christian because God promised I would have an even happier life than I had as an atheist. He never promised any such thing. Indeed, following Him would inevitably bring divine demotions in the eyes of the world. Rather, I became a Christian because the evidence was so compelling that Jesus really is the one-and-only Son of God who proved His divinity by rising from the dead. That meant following Him was the most rational and logical step I could possibly take.”“To be honest, I didn’t want to believe that Christianity could radically transform someone’s character and values. It was much easier to raise doubts and manufacture outrageous objections than consider the possibility that God actually could trigger a revolutionary turn-around in such a depraved and degenerate life.”“In the end, I came to the conclusion that the gospels were reliable eyewitness accounts that delivered accurate information about Jesus, including His crucifixion and Resurrection. But that created a problem for me. If Jesus really was who He said He was, then Jesus was God Himself. If Jesus truly did what the gospel eyewitnesses recorded, then Jesus is still God Himself. As someone who used to reject anything supernatural, I had to make a decision about my naturalistic presuppositions”Praise God in all His glory for each of our journeys, which we travelled to come to Him. Be grateful, thankful, and joyous for the trials, experiences, and people, who were part of that journey. It all went according to plan. God’s plan. Let us have supreme confidence in His plan for us moving forward.