Kerry's paper--5

[True-believer]

The survival instinct is the most powerful motivator of all. A person will do almost anything to stay alive, and apparently human beings are nearly as protective of their cherished religious beliefs. Adventism is threatened with extinction by the TRUTH about the Sabbath. In a murder trial, the judge and jury are keenly interested in discovering if any likely motive. If a man returns alone from a yacht excursion he took with his wife, claiming that a giant wave washed her overboard, he looks much more likely to be guilty if he had just taken out a million dollar life insurance policy on her a few weeks or months before. Let us apply the principle of the survival instinct as a motivating factor to explain the reluctance of Church leaders to pursue the same drastic doctrinal reforms adopted by The Worldwide Church of God.

One revelation after another regarding the TRUTH about why Christians keep Sunday, rather than the Jewish Sabbath, has emerged over the last 120 years of Adventist history, only to be ignored, as if the facts did not exist, or to be defended by the most amazing theological maneuvering. Evidence from early church history, the linguistics of the Creation Story in Genesis, an understanding of what the Bible teaches about the connection between the Sabbath and circumcision conclusively demonstrates that the Sabbath concept is contrary to an entire set of biblical themes, principles, and facts. Adventist leaders, however, have chosen a completely different pathway than its sister church, The Worldwide Church of God. They have chosen to continue teaching others what they, themselves, know could not possibly be true.

This paper provides compelling evidence that the Church is unwilling to pursue major doctrinal reform because it is afraid of the drastic loss of tithe income that would result. It is said that money is the root of all evil. My research took me down a path that led to a discovery of Bible truth that was nearly as shocking to me as the revelation of the falseness of the Sabbatarianism theological model itself. Tithing for Christians is not biblical, although generous giving to God's cause is to be the natural result of opening one's heart to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Look at the evidence for yourself. Even under the Old Covenant, tithing was for agricultural products only, and all other occupations were exempt. Even if Old Covenant tithing requirements could be applied to New Covenant requirements for Christians (It can not be.), the tithing system of Adventism is contrary to the explicit teachings of the Scripture. For a rather surprising study of what the Bible really teaches about tithing, see the appendix for a brief study on what the Bible really teaches about tithing. At this point in reading my paper, I can only ask you to hold your judgment until you have seen the evidence for yourself. You will be shocked at how plain the Scriptures are in regard to tithing. You will be equally amazed at how the teachings of Ellen G. White about tithing are in complete opposition to what the Bible teaches about the subject. For now, however, let us focus on how the tithing problem is related to the Church's unwillingness to pursue radical doctrinal reform.

Any time a church chooses to teach something that is contrary to the plainest teachings of Scripture, there is bound to be trouble. The excess funds generated for the Adventist Church by tithing have placed so much money in the hands of Adventist leaders that they can not seem to resist the temptation to use the money to invest in illegal or highly risky investments that have squandered mega millions of dollars of tithe money. It is noteworthy that the investment of tithe money is contrary to the council of Ellen White, the Church's prophetess.

These scandals appear to have begun the 1960's and to have continued, unabated, through this present day. The first major scandal I stumbled upon was the Church's immersion in a Ponzi scheme operated by a Seventh-day Adventist physician by the name of Davenport which collapsed in the early 1980's. . Around 77 million dollars of mostly tithe money and the personal monies of privileged Adventist leaders and others were lost in this scheme that would even make Bernard Madoff proud. The Church was guilty of money laundering and other shenanigans, but not one single Adventist leader was ever punished.

[John317]

I'm still waiting for the "beaf." I thought by the way he talked on his first two pages, he must have something really big and new. There's nothing there. If there is, why hasn't he told it by now?

[John317]

Luke,

If you know Kerry, tell him from someone who studies this kind of material all the time that he is wasting his and the reader's time with his paper. It's all old stuff, poorly researched if at all, full of inaccuracies and half-truths, and not even that is well written.

[Gerr]

Yep. GIGO!!! Garbage in, garbage out!

No Biblical support for his position whatsoever!

[Stan]

I have found over the years that these folks are more upset because an elder/pastor/deacon said/did something they did not like, rather than really believing in the issues they are addressing..

If you follow Walter Rea's timeline, his White Lie, came out after his termination from the Southern Californian Conference. They had to do a massive layoff.

I used to buy Rae's books, (his supportive EGW books) and view him as not understanding inspiration, almost like he thought God downloaded info in the EGW brain, rather than her doing prayerful research, reading and study. Almost like being force fed.

[John317]

Isn't it amazing this person thinks he's writing something that would cause people to leave the church if they only knew what he's saying?!!!! I kept waiting for him to say something earthshaking but all he gave us was a tempest in a tea-cup.

[John317]

The first major scandal I stumbled upon was the Church's immersion in a Ponzi scheme operated by a Seventh-day Adventist physician by the name of Davenport which collapsed in the early 1980's. . Around 77 million dollars of mostly tithe money and the personal monies of privileged Adventist leaders and others were lost in this scheme ...

Yeah I remember Davenport.... I lived in Loma Linda at the time and recall that it ruined the life savings of some of the men there, such as Dr. Norskov (who's no longer with us).

But I don't recall that it resulted in anyone's leaving the church over it. It was not the "big scandal" that this writer is making it out to be. It was tragic, yes, but it didn't affect anyone's confidence in the church per se. People used some bad judgment in investing their money. But why would anyone think in 2009 that it was worth writing about as if it was an explosive issue?!

[Bravus]

I don't think Luke has posted all the parts yet - the writer is still busy 'fluffing' up how important and crucial his points are, and hasn't yet begun making the points. The writing is abysmal, but it will be interesting to see what the points in relation to the Sabbath are when they finally come out.

[John317]

Yes, I completely agree with you on all your points. I can only conclude that he has something big waiting in the wings.

It looks as if the writer is imitating the master of the feast at the wedding in Cana, who surprised everyone by giving their worst wine at the beginning and reserving the best for the last.

[Gerr]

I doubt he could come up with anything that other anti-Sabbatharians have not already brought up. The authors of the

JB Fausset commentary are far more knowledgeable theologians than this guy, and yet the best evidence for Sunday-keeping they could come up with is the incident where Paul preached on the first day of the week which in reality was actually a protracted Sabbath meeting that extended into Saturday night.

One of the things I often do when I'm driving alone is to go over in my own mind why I believe the things I believe in. Go over the evidences and arguments against it. I would be very

surprised if he came up with anything new.

[True-believer]

I doubt he could come up with anything that other anti-Sabbatharians have not already brought up. The authors of the

JB Fausset commentary are far more knowledgeable theologians than this guy, and yet the best evidence for Sunday-keeping they could come up with is the incident where Paul preached on the first day of the week which in reality was actually a protracted Sabbath meeting that extended into Saturday night.

One of the things I often do when I'm driving alone is to go over in my own mind why I believe the things I believe in. Go over the evidences and arguments against it. I would be very

surprised if he came up with anything new.

Yeah, it makes more biblical sense that it was a saturday night service that went till midnight and continued until dawn.

I am currently reviewing everything I believe in and why......