Taia Colaitiniyara

Before we dive into the issue of sporting games in Seventh Day Adventism, I would like to first address the salvation and grace issue raised by Allan York Duasavu. In addressing church issues, where and how does salvation and grace fit into the picture? I want to address this because it may seem like to a lot of people that I am making this issue a criterion for salvation. Let me break down Yeshuwah which is the Hebrew word for God is our Salvation and is also the name of the Messiah. The Spirit of God comes and convict your heart of the love of God, making you realize that you're in bondage and you fall short of that love through your sins. The result is repentance and need for the atoning blood of the Lamb. Our sins are taken away from us when we confess, transferred and laid on Jesus Christ at the altar of sacrifice. In exchange, the title of the righteousness of Christ becomes yours through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the witnesses of heaven declare you guiltless. You

  Adam and Eve yielded over their position as king and queen when they chose to disobey the command of God through the flattering deceptions of the Devil. The Bible says that the Devil has “...the power of death…” Paul in his letter to the Romans said, “...sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned…” Romans 5:12 . When you see death, decay or deterioration occur, you are now sure that you are stepping into the territory of the Devil.  Sin and death are twin siblings, and sin is the elder of the two. Death cannot be born if sin does not precede it. The Bible says that “...the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23 . In the above verse Paul said that by Adam, sin entered the world and death followed closely behind. God was dead serious when He told Adam, “...thou shalt surely die…” if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew of the power that Satan wields. Had Adam and Eve heeded God’s command

  A hesitant victim can be conquered by the art of baiting. Google dictionary defines bait as food placed on a hook or in a net, trap, or fishing area to entice fish or other animals as prey. The word “entice” means: to attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage. In his book The Art of War, Sun Tzu said, “Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.” The Prince of Darkness is a skilful general who plans and devices his baits with such mastery that countless men, women, youth and children throughout the ages fall victim to his attacks. He is no respecter of persons and does not have any mercy even on women and children. His mind is totally bent on the destruction of the human race. The benefits and advantages presented by him are dedicated to our destruction. In the previous chapter, we learned that the Devil reinforces his attacks against his enemies by presenting them with benefits. In the second chapter of this book, we identified the second enemy that w

  Sun Tzu said, “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”  The Art of war, pg. 3.  Such are the tactics used by the Devil against a human being who does not make the Word of God the basis of his life. God in His wisdom warned Adam and Eve of the foe they face. It would have been too obvious for the Devil to take his original angelic form and come to Eve, so he came up with the plan to take the form of the Serpent, “…the most subtil (beautiful, precise, wide, crafty and cunning) of the beast which the Lord God had made…”  Genesis 3:1 . The book of Revelation describes the Devil as “…the great dragon, that old serpent…”  Revelation 12:9 . The Greek word “drakonia” which is translated as “Serpent” or “Dragon” means – fabulous serpent. The creature that approached Eve that day was the

  Choosing to sin was the reason for the fall of Lucifer, and eventually, the fall of man. Sin is everything that is opposite to who God is. The Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die…”  Ezekiel 18:20  “For the wages of sin is death…”  Romans 6:23 . “…you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”  Romans 6:16 . “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”  Genesis 1:1-3 . The sun if the main source of light on planet earth, but it was created on the fourth day. What is the nature of this light that God unleashed on the first day?  The Bible answers, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things we

  In war, strategy and tactics are absolutely vital. Strategy is the planning, coordination, and general direction of military operations to meet overall political and military objectives. Tactics implement strategy by short-term decisions on the movement of troops and employment of weapons on the field of battle. The great military theorist Carl von Clausewitz said, "Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war." Battle strategies require careful designs and calculated decisions to ensure victory. The first thing we have to know about the devil is what Ezekiel mentions about him: “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…”  Ezekiel 28:12 . Lucifer stands at the pinnacle of perfection, especially in wisdom. We can only imagine what kind of brain he has and how he uses it to plan out his attacks against his enemies. The Bible uses the symbol of a “Serpent” to identify Satan (Revelation 12:9). The first v

  The Bible talks about the angelic being Lucifer who wanted to be God in Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:11-19. Sin was conceived by his heart in the form of pride. It took him to the extent of wanting to take over God’s position as Sovereign of the Universe. He was however, not alone in His rebellion against God. The Bible in Revelation 12:7, describes that the war that took place in heaven was between Michael and his angels, and the Dragon and his angels. We will now dig deeper into how Lucifer convinced a large number of the angelic beings of heaven to join his side of the rebellion. God never creates a defective, evil or bad creature. Everything He creates is for His good pleasure and for His glory (Genesis 1:31). The big question is: “How did Lucifer convince them?” The Bible does provide clear-cut answers that will give peace to our ever-questioning minds. We must bear in mind that we are talking about a mighty angelic being who is “…full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…”  Ezekie

  “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Somebody once said, “Knowing your enemy is half the battle won.” Knowledge about the enemy is crucial for victory. From the analysis of Sun Tzu’s quote, we can deduce that there are two enemies that we face in every battle we fight. The Bible clearly mentions the two enemies that we war against: The Rulers of Darkness “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wic

  What is an anomaly? Google Dictionary defines it as, “...something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected.” Sin was the anomaly that caused discord in the perfect universe of the Creator. It cannot be created on its own. It has to be conceived from the heart of a living creature that has an intelligent knowledge of the justice and mercy of God and has the power to choose between good and evil. The Bible defines sin as “…the transgression of the law.”  1 John 3:4 . Google dictionary says, “Laws are system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.” When God created the universe, he made laws to govern his creatures and keep perfect order. For example, on the third day of creation, God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.”  Genesis 1:9 . God placed a law separating the land

  Where did the Devil come from? If God is the Creator of all things, was it Him who created the Devil? Why is there a war between God and the Dragon? We can ask many more questions about the Devil, but let us dive into the Bible and piece together the fragments of his story which God has revealed.  First of all, there is no higher form of rebellion against God our King than to take over his throne, become king of the universe and rule over all creation. Bearing this in mind, let us filter out passages in the Bible that speak of this kind of rebellion. One such character was the king of Babylon called Tyrus during the time of Ezekiel the prophet. God said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.” Ezekiel 28:2 Moreover, the word of the Lord came again