Church Politics

[Solja247]

I am sorry I have not been posting much, I haveb been very busy the past week, I has to finish an assesment it was a huge one I ended wrighting 6000 words. Anyways my next questions is politics. Why do we call other people from denominations demons, mark of the beast. Why cant we agree to disagree and fight the battles TOGTHER (Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptsist etc.) Battle such as pornography which RUINING our churches Battle for the young people. Instead of firing the gun at other churches. Why do we have/need to hate people because the believe differently than us. I am not talking about the ecumentical movement but about getting over our little differences and striving to do the work of God?

Thanks Happy Sabbath God bless

Adam

[Kevin H]

First the Millerite movement went through many churches where some accepted others rejected, Seventh-day Adventists were kicked out of their churches and thought that this hostility to the second coming meant that they had close probaton and the doctrine of the shut door developed.

The shut door was useful as it ended up isolating our pioneers from the split in Protestantism into the modernist / preterists and the fundamentalists / futurists {dispensationalists}, but realized that this was a wrong doctrine. We tended to have a very good relationship with the Seventh-day Baptists; and eventually this grew to friendlier relationships with other religions. We would allow new formed churches to rent our churches on Sundays until they could build their own church. Mrs. White wrote Steps to Christ for the larger Christian world and published not with us but a popular interdenominational publishing company. She even became a popular speaker on Sunday mornings in Sunday keeping churches. The elderly Mrs. White was very busy preaching in our churches on Sabbath and a gues preacher in Sunday keeping churches on Sunday. Her sermons in the Sunday keeping churches tended to be on the love of Jesus and on health. Mrs. White's views of Sunday laws changed from couseling to break them, to giving Sunday to the Lord and cooperating with them by making it a day of missionary outreach and opening our churches for evangelistic meetings. (This change upset Elder Jones). When a group wanted to put up billboards calling the pope the beast, the church did not agree and had statements by Mrs. White where she expressed consern that while she wanted to tell the truth about the role of the papacy in the great controversy, that they may be sounding more anti-catholic than she was comfortable with.

Our pastors and teachers began attending interdenominational Bible conferences, and sadly with this many decided to attend the great Fundamentalist Bible conference the summer of 1919 in Philadelphia. Because so many of our pastors and teachers were going there, A. G. Daniels asked them to first stop off in Washington D. C. where he and W. W. Prescott put on a Bible conference to discuss some issues such as the eastern question (if Turkey fulfilled prophecy, WWI looked like it was fulfilling last day prophecys, and the events came and went and Turkey left the world stage) and the issue that was going to be the center of the Philadelphia Bible conference, Fundamentalism. Daniels, Prescott, Willie White, the elderly Ellen White were all accused of being heritics who no longer believed that Mrs. White was a prophet. Some said you needed to read the pre-1888 Ellen White only as they were when she was a prophet and the messages came from God, while the post 1888 Ellen White apostisised, first followed Jones and Wagner, then instead of her messages coming from God they were coming from Prescott and Willie claiming to be God, and the topic of the General conference leaders not believing in the inspriation of Ellen White and the issue of inspiration was addressed. Daniels believed that Fundamentalism would be the downfall of the church. Willie White was also suposed to assist in the Bible conference, but realized that it was going to cause an uproar, so he regrefully could not help as he had to be out of town those dates.

At the end of the conference it appeared that Daniels and Prescott made progress. However instead of returning to their schools and churches with the message of the 1919 Washington D.C. conference, they borded the train to Philadelphia, rejected what they just learned in Washington D.C. and took the Philadelphia message back home, and came across the statements in our history about the other churches readinging them through Fundamentalist glasses and suddenly they became the gospel truth and we started to isolate ourselves again.

[BobRyan]

I am sorry I have not been posting much, I haveb been very busy the past week, I has to finish an assesment it was a huge one I ended wrighting 6000 words. Anyways my next questions is politics. Why do we call other people from denominations demons, mark of the beast. Why cant we agree to disagree and fight the battles TOGTHER (Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptsist etc.) Battle such as pornography which RUINING our churches Battle for the young people. Instead of firing the gun at other churches. Why do we have/need to hate people because the believe differently than us. I am not talking about the ecumentical movement but about getting over our little differences and striving to do the work of God?

Thanks Happy Sabbath God bless

Adam

1. We should not hate anyone - be they Christians or non-Christians.

2. Martin Luther was a Catholic - but that did not stop him from pointing out where truth was drawing a straight line - and the Catholic church a crooked one.

We are simply doing the same thing.

3. Jesus Christ was a Jew aso also was Paul - but that did not stop them from pointing out where Bible truth was drawing a straight line - and Jewish tradition a crooked one.

4. Adventist HAVE been working with other non-SDA Christian groups on projects like slavery in the 19th century and alcoholism in the 19th century. Today many Adventists join with our non-SDA Christian brethren in taking bold stand against evolutionism, and in favor of pro-life legislation as well as in favor of sanctity of marriage legislation.

In addition Adventists actually started the movement for Creation Research opposing the atheist agenda in evolutionism. Another good example of a multi-denominational project.

5. But we have always opposed Sunday Legislation. We have always oppposed legislation that restricts the act of worship itself (Provided there is no taking of life or threat to life involved).

in Christ,

Bob

[Solja247]

Quote:

Well these are good questions

I am not sure if I can answer them

but here it goes maybe we are afraid

if we get to close to other denominations

that we might get contaminated

but then there are S.D.A. Christians that

do go out and show some type of unite

with other christian denomination on these issues

So instead we are going to have young people who cant even defend what they believe? If you dont water a tree much its roots will go deeper in. Let the young people have Biblical debates with other denominations, respecting everyone there.

Kevin H, that was amazing! I never knew that! Did Ellen White say she was ever a prophet?

Quote:

2. Martin Luther was a Catholic - but that did not stop him from pointing out where truth was drawing a straight line - and the Catholic church a crooked one.

Telling every they are going hell becasuse they dont keep the sabbath, I wouldnt really call that thte truth.

Quote:

4. Adventist HAVE been working with other non-SDA Christian groups on projects like slavery in the 19th century and alcoholism in the 19th century. Today many Adventists join with our non-SDA Christian brethren in taking bold stand against evolutionism, and in favor of pro-life legislation as well as in favor of sanctity of marriage legislation.

In addition Adventists actually started the movement for Creation Research opposing the atheist agenda in evolutionism. Another good example of a multi-denominational project.

This fails. The churches need to get into TOGETER INTO the schools spread comics, books, music etc. Evolutionists main battle front is the school all we are doing is attacking the flame, not the fire itself. That is what we need to do. The young people are the future of tomorrow. So far the world is 3-0. Church being 0.

I am not only talking about that, but also helping another out as brother and sister in Christ.

[Gerr]

I am sorry I have not been posting much, I haveb been very busy the past week, I has to finish an assesment it was a huge one I ended wrighting 6000 words. Anyways my next questions is politics. Why do we call other people from denominations demons, mark of the beast. Why cant we agree to disagree and fight the battles TOGTHER (Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptsist etc.) Battle such as pornography which RUINING our churches Battle for the young people. Instead of firing the gun at other churches. Why do we have/need to hate people because the believe differently than us. I am not talking about the ecumentical movement but about getting over our little differences and striving to do the work of God?

Thanks Happy Sabbath God bless

Adam

Calling people of other denominations "demons?" I am sorry to hear that if that is what you hear SDAs in your church are saying. I don't ever recall hearing that from an Adventist before. God has lots of people in other churches.

As for the "mark of the beast" and other unpopular SDA beliefs, are we to keep our mouths shut about the truth for the sake of getting along?