Today, as in James and Ellen White’s day, political sentiments threaten to divide the church just as they threaten to divide the nation. We stand on the brink of a crisis, the likes of which we have not seen in over 160 years.
Read MoreCREATIONS OLD AND NEW
One key difference between the first and second creations is the role of the Holy Spirit. In the beginning, the Spirit is shown hovering over the surface of the water as if beginning the imposition of order on a chaotic, formless Earth. Each of the messages to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 is from Jesus, but Jesus points to the Holy Spirit at the conclusion of each message.
Read MoreJESUS AND DOCTRINE: INSEPARABLY LINKED
Let’s face it: “Doctrine” is not a very popular word today. There are movements that want to minimize doctrine and emphasize Jesus only. For some, doctrine conjures up the idea of cold church creeds, stale traditions, boring discourses, and “proof-texting.”
Read MoreThe Poison of Extremism
In a time where the digital age makes information available at the speed of light, we will expect more and more of these deceptions to take hold upon God’s professed people. They may boast that they will not be deceived by the world and its trappings, but then the Devil will ensnare them with false piety and erroneous sentiments.
Read MoreWhen Did it Become Acceptable?
The church of today is not the church I grew up in. In some cases that is a good thing, in other cases it is definitely not good. The following is a list outlining symptoms of the current condition of the church. Symptoms may be either positive or negative. Symptoms are, by definition, an indication of a cause, in this case, a spiritual one.
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The Red Herring, Climate Change and Adventist Eschatology
There have been a myriad of attempts recently, by well-intentioned watchmen on the walls of Zion, to sound the alarm over what they perceive to be the growing hysteria on Climate Change.
Read MoreWe Have This Hope
Sadness grips me as I trace these lines. For the second time in a week, the world of fashion and television has been struck by the tragedy of a self-inflicted death. Earlier this week, Kate Spade—fashion designer, businesswoman, and founder of Kate Spade New York—was found dead in her Manhattan apartment by her housekeeper, hanged by her own hand.
Read MoreHealing the Nations Podcast (w/ Lemuel Sapian)
What role does the church have upon the government and what role does the government have in the church? Should the church be involved in legislating morality? In this episode, Pastor Lemuel Sapian shares his thoughts on the recent culture wars between secularists and Christians, the Johnson Amendment, and the principles of the Separation of Church and State, and why Seventh-day Adventists break from evangelical Christians in regards to partisan politics.
Read MoreThe Waco Tragedy: 25 Years Later
This spring will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the siege and destruction of the Mount Carmel Center (sometimes called Ranch Apocalypse) in Waco, Texas, headquarters of the so-called Branch Davidians and their leader, one David Koresh. For those who aren’t aware or may not remember, the Branch Davidians were a splinter sect of the Shepherd’s Rod (or Davidian Seventh-day Adventist) movement, an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist Church since 1930.
Read MoreThis is an Apple!
Recently on CNN, a commercial has been running with various wording, with an apple in focus. It speaks of how whether the apple is viewed from the right or from the left, whether one insists with loud screams or capital letters that this is a banana instead, the fact still remains that “this is an apple.” The commercial ends with the simple phrase, FACTS FIRST.
Read MoreEvangelical Theology, Unconditional Forgiveness, and Public Scandal
During the U.S. presidential scandal of the late 1990s, Kenneth Woodward, religion editor of Newsweek magazine, wrote a column titled, “Sex, sin, and salvation”, in which he declared that understanding President Clinton’s moral foibles required an understanding of “Bill the Baptist”.
Read MoreConfused About the Reformation
As Bible students and historians recount the events of half a millennium ago, when the hammer blows of a German monk on a church door sparked the movement that would split Christendom in two, it is imperative that we understand correctly what the issues were, and were not, in that rending conflict whose implications would prove so dramatic for Western civilization and for the world.
Read MoreWill the Real Protestants Please Stand Up?
The ever-growing threat of a joint union between the two largest sects of Christendom looms before us, five hundred years after an erstwhile Augustinian monk nailed a copy of his letter to the Archbishop of Mainz on the All Saint’s Church door in Wittenburg, Germany.
Read MoreThe Protest Continues: Applying the Reformation to Our Day
Tomorrow, the Bible-believing world will remember the pivotal courage of Martin Luther as he nailed the 95 Theses to the cathedral door in Wittenberg, Germany, thus igniting the Protestant Reformation.
Read MoreSurprising Authorship of "The Great Want of This Age"
A thought gem that has been repeated and adapted in many publications from 1866 until the present has interest for Seventh-day Adventists in that the Adventist prophet, Ellen G. White, made her own adaptation of it.
Read MoreHuman Freewill and the Pace of Reform
Years ago I remember a pastor saying that when Jesus raises the dead at His coming, it will be one of the easiest things He ever did. The same could be said, to be sure, of the many physical miracles recounted in the Bible story.
Read MoreNo Other Evidence
One could hardly imagine if Satan could ever be honest. As the father of deception and one who will hold this title until his final destruction (John 8:44, Rev 20:7-10), to be consciously honest even for once would seem impossible.
Read MoreGeneral Conference Executive Committee Answerable
The Seventh-day Adventist Church operates as a representative democracy. The Church’s final authority is the assembly of duly-elected delegates from all parts of the world field in its General Conference Session.
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