Reasoning from Scripture
In a few days, voters in the United States of America—if they haven’t voted already—will choose a new President and Vice-President, together with countless officials at varying levels of government. Once again it becomes us as Seventh-day Adventist Christians to assess our responsibility as citizens of this present world even as we prepare for citizenship in the world to come.
One hundred and eighty years ago today, in fulfillment of the Bible’s longest time prophecy (Dan. 8:14), heaven’s tribunal assembled to commence review of the life records of those within the human family who have professed to be followers of the God of Scripture (Dan. 7:9-14; 12:1; Rev. 3:5).
Why would it take the Lord this long to finish the judgment of the righteous dead?
As with so many other perversions of God’s truth that have at times tarnished the witness of God’s people, we can’t deny that inordinate fear of the final crisis has been a problem with certain ones among us. But we have to remember it was Christ Himself who encouraged His disciples to follow the signs betokening His return.
This week our site is publishing two articles in response to the recent renunciation of the Sabbath doctrine by a now-former Adventist pastor. As the final crisis nears, it is imperative that truths many have perhaps taken for granted be repetitively reinforced, objections old and new repetitively answered.
The doctrine of the Sabbath as the end-time seal of God follows the same pattern of theological deduction as doctrines like the Trinity, which are built on the harmony of biblical teachings rather than on a single explicit statement. The Sabbath, as a sign of God’s authority and a mark of His creative power, holds a central place in the final test of loyalty between God's law and human tradition.
When God’s people exhaust their energies fighting over culture and politics, labeling each other with nasty epithets arising from agendas unknown to the Sacred Writings, they and those around them could easily find themselves growing so tired of controversy that the craving for peace at any price will gain increasing traction in the weary minds of spent believers.
In the shifting terrain of 1880s America, the National Reform Association (NRA) emerged as a voice determined to shape the nation's core values. Founded in 1864, the NRA's bod mission was to embed the recognition of God's sovereignty directly into the United States Constitution.
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.
A recent online report illustrates yet again how lies regarding the construct known as Last Generation Theology continue to proliferate in various circles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is important that these falsehoods be answered.
The suggestion has lately been voiced that lay Seventh-day Adventists consider establishing a parachurch organization for the purpose of withholding financial support from certain entities within the denominational structure and channeling such support to other, presumably more worthy entities. Is such a practice in harmony with inspired counsel?
The Seventh-day Adventist movement, from its beginning, took Scripture as its foundation and guiding light.
In the words of the psalmist, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” (Psalm 118:9). The message of Daniel 4:17 is still in the Bible—that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.” The clash of freedom lovers and would-be tyrants is ever subject to the jurisdiction of the King of Kings.