Adventist in the News

[Gregory Matthews]

See:

https://atoday.org/bloomberg-values-adventist-investor-at-2-2-billion/

 

[dgrimm60]

GREGORY

thank  you for posting this small  article  ===== it was  interesting

dgrimm60

[Outta Here]

Can a person be considered a devout Seventh-day Adventist while making money on Sabbath (by allowing, maybe even insisting that others work Sabbath hours)? Maybe this question should be in a different sub-forum, but the question was *sparked* here.

[Gregory Matthews]

As I recall, the Church Manual does have a category that lists requirements for baptism and membership.  But, I do not see it as having a category for becoming a "devout" SDA.  From this perspective, that question is subjective and without an objective basis.

As I have stated before,  the SDA denomination does not require that people refrain from all work on the  Sabbath.  Case in point;  SDA pastors may work harder on the Sabbath than they do on some other days.  Further, the SDA denomination does not require that people who work on the Sabbath do it for free.  There is nothing in the Bible that says:  Remember to refrain from working on the Sabbath day if you are paid for that work, but if you work for free, give praise to God and rejoice in your lawful work."

The  SDA denomination does not insist that its members be perfect in all of their ways.  It does not do this for its members and it certainly does not do it for "devout members."   On this basis, one might truthfully say that a devout member is wrong in some part of their life and belief.  

I can think of some SDA members who I call devout, but differ is some respects from most SDAs.  You may not know, but we have some members who are devout members, but do not begin and end the Sabbath day in what it the standard SDA time period.  

In one geographic area of the world some SDA congregations worship on a day named Sunday while other SDA congregations, in the same geographic area worship on a day named Saturday.  Both are devout. Yet, they worship on two different days.

I guess that the issue is a personal one.  I need to decide what I understand God to want of me, and I need to be careful about how I relate to another who sees it differently.

 

 

 

[Outta Here]

OK. Gee, I've learned quite a lot from these forums lately!

[Gregory Matthews]

NOTE:  As to my mention of SDA congregations worshiping on Saturday and Sunday in a geographic area:

*  The group worshiping on the day named Sunday does so because they believe that the day named Sunday is the 7th day of the week, and the day commanded to be worshiped by the Bible.

* The group worshiping on the day named Sunday does so because it believes that the day that they should worship on is the day immediately prior to the day (Sunday) on which the rest of the Protestants and Catholics worship.

My personal position:  The Bible requires the Sabbath day to be the 7th day of the week regardless of the name given to that day.  In this specific situation, I believe that 7th day to be the day that is named Sunday.

If you all know that background of this issue, you will know why I believe that the day named Sunday is the Biblical 7th day of the week.

NOTE:  The official position of the local SDA Conference is that the day named Sunday is actually the 7th day of the week.  But, devout Adventists exist on both sides of this issue.

 

 

[Jeannieb43]

That's because they live near the International Date Line,  right??

 

Many people become confused as to what day of the week it is, when they cross the International Date Line.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Yes, the International Date Line is involved in this.

[LifeHiscost]

On 10/9/2017 at 10:10 AM, Gregory Matthews said:

NOTE:  As to my mention of SDA congregations worshiping on Saturday and Sunday in a geographic area:

*  The group worshiping on the day named Sunday does so because they believe that the day named Sunday is the 7th day of the week, and the day commanded to be worshiped by the Bible.

* The group worshiping on the day named Sunday does so because it believes that the day that they should worship on is the day immediately prior to the day (Sunday) on which the rest of the Protestants and Catholics worship.

My personal position:  The Bible requires the Sabbath day to be the 7th day of the week regardless of the name given to that day.  In this specific situation, I believe that 7th day to be the day that is named Sunday.

If you all know that background of this issue, you will know why I believe that the day named Sunday is the Biblical 7th day of the week.

NOTE:  The official position of the local SDA Conference is that the day named Sunday is actually the 7th day of the week.  But, devout Adventists exist on both sides of this issue.

 

 

The King James Holy Bible speaks, from God as the Seventh day, My holy day, and elsewhere, I change not, as well as, remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy. I'm sure He's not confused. Even one of the popes said they changed the solemnity from the seventh day to the 1st day and if one  wished  to keep the seventh day, they should become a SDA.

God is Love!~Jesus saves! 

[Gregory Matthews]

As has been ;pointed out, for some the question is:  Which day is the 7th day?

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Wanderer, as to working on the Sabbath:

Certainly, in local situations, there have been variations as to what was considered essential work and necessary to do on the Sabbath.

I would think that in all places the official position would be that physicians and nurses perform essential work on the Sabbath and therefore it was  O.K. for SDAs to do such work.

Yes, I know of individual people who have decided that they would not do such as in there situation there were others willing to work on the Sabbath.  Well, that was their choice, but it never reflected a official denominational position.

As most SDAs today have lived the 1900s and/or the 2000s technology and society has expanded the definition of what is essential work that may be required to do on the Sabbath.   I know of a number of SDAs who are police and work  on the Sabbath in the multiple congregation in which they are members.  I know of fire persons.  

What about the person who provides emergency repair services to electrical service in a remote village of Alaska where such may be necessary to preserve human life? 

That denomination may not have a specific statement on some of the issues that one can think of.  The bottom line is that God has not asked for it to issue such rules.  Rather, God has simply left it up to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Wanderer, as to getting paid for working on the Sabbath:

 I am aware of some people have said that if you work on the Sabbath, you should give the money earned to the church.  I will grant you that probably there is some past who has said such.

But, such a statement reflects a lack of knowledge of what the Bible says.  Let me illustrate from the 4th Commandment.  It says:

*  There is work that should not be done on the Sabbath.

*  You should not do such on the Sabbath.

*  You should not hire your servant to do such work (not your servant).

*  You should not ask your non adventist. friend to do it (the alien within your gate who is willing to do it).

*  You should not ask your relative to do it (your son).

 *  The bottom line is:  If the work is wrong to do on the Sabbath, it is wrong for everyone and you are not to have anytling to do with anyone doing such on the Sabbath.

There is nothing in the commandment that says that you may do such work on the Sabbatah if you are not paid for doing it.  If work is O.K. to be done on the  Sabbath, it is O.K. to be paid for doing it.  

Yes, if you decide to give   what you have earned by working on the Sabbath it is O.K. for you to give it to the Church, but that should never be a justification for performing work on the Sabbath that is forbidden.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Wanderer, as to which day is the 7th day of the week:

This issue involves the International Date Line.  An extensive discussion of this issue may be found at the following to include mention of the issue in Adventism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line

To briefly state it from the SDA viewpoint:  In 2011 the government of American Somoa removed Friday, December 30 from the weekly cycle.  On that one week the days of the week became;  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.   With this change, the day now named Sunday became the 7th day of the week.

The organized SDA church continued to hold their services on this 7thd day of the week, which was now named Sunday.

A splinter group rejected this and continued to hold their services on the day now named Saturday, which had previously been named Friday.

This is the background for my saying that the fundamental issue is what is the 7th day of the week.  While I have not developed this, the splinter group argues that   the day now named Saturday is actually the 7th day of the Bible. But, I can not develop that in this short space as that argument is much more complex.

It should be noted that in some other places in the world, due to the International Date Line the same situation exists as is developed in the link I have given above.