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Daily Devotional, Year 4 – July 13

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Noble Bereans?

Part 62:

“Did Ellen G. White Plagiarize?”

To read Part 1 of this series, click here…Today’s Devotional – September 2nd (Noble Bereans? Part 1)

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“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica,

in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,

and searched the scriptures daily,

whether those things were so.”

Acts 17:11

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So, in this little series, the subject of those noble Bereans has been introduced. And today, it is still worthy of a little more exploration into another area of concern.

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Let’s review the key Bible passage… “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming there, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:10, 11

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St Paul Preaching (Raphael, 1515) – Wikipedia – US public domain

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AN OPEN-MINDED SPIRIT IN BEREA

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Okay, so those in Berea were more noble, because they:

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1. “Received the Word with all readiness of mind.”

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2. “And searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

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And because of this excellent, open-minded Spirit, the Bereans were ready to receive new teachings, which no doubt, conflicted with the supposed, “orthodox” teachings of that day.

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Thus, there was an open-minded love for truth which permeated their hearts, and a willingness to search the Scriptures daily, in hopes that these seemingly new teachings were indeed true!

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La Bible, Notre-Dame – cropped – Wikimedia – Share-Alike License

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A recent phenomenon we witness today, is what has become tagged as “Cancel Culture”. And this seemingly new phenomenon is the act of attempting to weaponize some misdeed or sin as a way to discount or even destroy some individual.

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But as most us realize, this so-called “Cancel Culture” has been a favorite means of cancelling out some individual even as far back as the Garden of Eden, when Lucifer, speaking through a serpent, tried to cancel out the Creator God, by accusing Him of selfishness…”For God doth know that in the day in which you shall eat of it, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil!” Genesis, Chapter 3.

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Yes, so many humans have been “cancelled” over the past millenniums, because of some accusation, either a true one but also many false accusations.

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And a very troubling aspect to today’s Cancel-Culture is to find fault with some person because of something they might have done or said in past decades. But one of the problems which critics of the cancel-culture point concerning this current practice is that the morals of society are changing so rapidly that what some accused individual said or did years previous, were acceptable back in those decades.

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One example of this is how today’s cancel-culture fanatics have tried to cancel the founders of this nation because of some words or deeds they supposedly did, which were in sync with the commonly acceptable morals of those times.

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Now, many of us oin the Christian community gaze out on our society and look with disgust at today’s cancel-culture for their dishonesty and hypocrisy.

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And yet, sadly, the Church has engaged in the exact same practice, many times!

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For example, one of the most common criticisms which her detractors make is that Ellen G. White stole or plagiarized some of her writings.

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Well, what today’s church-leaders ignore is that back in the 1800’s, it was a commonly acceptable practice to borrow the writings of other Christian authors.

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As a matter of fact, Christian authors were mostly delighted to have their written thoughts shared by other authors! They viewed this practice as a glory to God, to think that their writings were shared!

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And let’s not forget, that we now live in a day in which there are strict copyright laws, and very jealous attempt to prevent others from borrowing from another Christian author. But it wasn’t like this back in previous generations.

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For example, Ellen White was asked by various people to condense a rather large volume on the Book of Acts, written by another author. She made no effort to cover this up, as if she was some sort of plagiarist. No, she freely made clear that her simplifying that author’s work, was merely done to make the book more easily readable.

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But her critics today ignore that the laws and common practices in the 1800’s were vastly different from today’s stringent standards!

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And so, as already declared, the cancel-culture was alive and well, even from the original Garden, and to the day in which they cancelled Jesus, and to the apostles also being cancelled, and even the various Christian martyrs, who were cancelled.

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Yes, there’s be a whole lot of cancelling going on throughout the ages. And even the Bible prophesied that in these last moments, faithful Christians will likewise be cancelled, many forfeiting their jobs, livelihood, and even their very own lives simply because they boldly proclaim the true, unvarnished Gospel.

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So, dear Christian, let’s get ourselves ready for the coming “time of trouble”, which is now already here!

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But praise be to God our Savior, who will bring us into that long-awaited Promised Land, in the earth-made-new. And in that wonderful and happy place, there will absolutely be no more cancelling!

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Ellen White often made use of literary sources in communicating her messages. In the Introduction to one of her most popular books she wrote:

“In some cases where a historian has so grouped together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner, his words have been quoted; but in some instances no specific credit has been given, since the quotations are not given for the purpose of citing that writer as authority, but because his statement affords a ready and forcible presentation of the subject. In narrating the experience and views of those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time, similar use has been made of their published works” (The Great Controversy, p. xii).

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me the heart of the Noble Berean as I search for truth. Give me a love for truth even though I may have to eventually stand alone from general consensus of the “group-think” mentality…

Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read…May 25th (What’s An Aristaphagist?)“ or you may also read…July 29 (What’s An Aristaphagist!? Part 2: “Eat For Strength!”), or you may also read…September 6 (Nature’s Witnesses, Part 12: “The Health of Creation!”)

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

 

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

 

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HEAVENLY OBJECT LESSON

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“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” Isaiah 24:23

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When God created the Moon and the stars, He ordained them to “rule the night” (Gen. 1:16). The Moon, especially when it is full, can light your pathway through the night, as it reflects the light of the Sun.

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So too, the Christian is to be a light to the world: to this sin-darkened world. But as the Moon must reflect the light of the Sun, in order to be a light to the world, so also must the Christian reflect the light of Jesus, to be a spiritual light to this planet in rebellion. Listen…

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“Ye are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

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However, during an eclipse, the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, preventing that sunlight from shining on the Moon’s face. This is an incredible object-lesson about when the child of God allows the world to come between him and his Lord. Like the eclipse, that person no longer reflects the light of Jesus, because his or her love of this dark world of sin has eclipsed the light from the “Sun of Righteousness” (see Malachi 4:2).

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And so, this is just one of the many poetic truths seen in the Moon. (For more on this subject of an eclipse, you may link to the article… “Lunar Eclipse & Spiritual Eclipse”)

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Dutch Painting: Um_moinho_dominando_a_baía_à_luz_lunar wikimedia US public domain

This is a drawing of a winter-time total lunar eclipse, first published in Bilder- (Picture Atlas of the Stemenwelt) in 1888

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Moon Into Blood Trilogy: 1st Face: The Night Watchman”

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TOMORROW:

June 15 (What’s An Aristaphagist!? Part 3: “What Did Jesus Eat?”)

Question Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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MINISTRY OF HEALING, BY ELLEN G. WHITE

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this sampler of the audio book about the practical aspects of everyday living, such as diet and child rearing…

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Chapter 23 – “Diet and Health”

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Christ and the blind Pauper – Mironov – cropped image – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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EXCERPTS FROM THE OPEN FORUM QUESTION/ANSWER RADIO TALK-SHOW…

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this recording #215, a small 30 minute sampling of the late Harold Camping’s 90 minute nightly talk shows. This particular program aired in the last few years of his 50 year radio ministry, and includes caller’s questions regarding his teachings on “the end of the church age”…

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ABOVE PICTURE: Holy bible – cropped – Wikimedia – Creative Commons 

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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on provided link below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing details & tags, and all other necessary information on any particular photo. Most tall, narrow photos have been cropped or reduced by this website to make them a better fit on phone screens.