The Adventist Church is made-up with a variety of believers. I respect the fact that liberals in the church want to voice their opinions in the “Adventist Today” magazine. What I don’t understand and respect is seeing an “Adventist” media source publishing anti-Adventist material that belittles our denomination and invites people to leave our Church. You can read Ron Gladden’s Open Letter to the Adventist Church on their website. [Read More]
FYI – Mission Catalyst is a new denomination created and populated by ex-Adventists. Mission Catalyst members treat the Adventist faith like a theological buffet. In an effort to be culturally relevant, they pick and choose what they want to believe and disregard the rest.
“Adventist Today” has gone a little too far this time. Even though Mission Catalyst has some good mission ideas and educational material, they should never be allowed to publish their anti-Adventist views in an “Adventist” publication. Publishing the Open Letter by Ron Gladden is like stabbing your brother in the back.
Think about it… “Adventist Today” is endorsing Mission Catalyst’s invitation to leave the Adventist denomination by publishing the Open Letter. Ron Gladden says, “If your frustration tempts you to walk away from your church, please don’t give up on the message. Pray about launching a Mission Catalyst church in your city. Help us with your giving.” Read the letter for yourself.
In other words… “If you are not happy about the ultra conservatives that have taken the Adventist Church hostage, you can leave that church and join ours.”
I’m sorry to say, but the answer is not walking away from the Church God has created for these last days. If you are a member of a dysfunctional church that will not seek to be visitor-friendly, family-focused, spiritually-balanced, and mission-driven… then go out with a group of like-minded people and plant a new church in the same town. We need a lot more churches in the Adventist denomination and you might as well be the agent of change in your circle of influence.
As for the so-called “Adventist” publication – “Adventist Toady” – I invite you to write the GC Conference and ask them to review the current work of the publication.
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!
Sit down at your computer and type a “kind/loving” letter to be sent to the General Conference of SDA. Let our leaders know that this problem needs to be addressed.
Address:
General Conference of SDA
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Or… Fax it… 301-680-6090
Kameille Scarlett
December 2, 2010
Hello, thank you for your posting! I have been trying to find some info on this ‘Atoday’ NOT SDA quandary. I have been having concerns as to how so-called Adventists would speak such unwarranted and negative things about their church. Even if their aim is to “report on contemporary issues of importance to Adventist church members”, why can’t it be constructive rather than belittling. I’m sorry to say this but the first time I read their articles I felt as though I was reading a tabloid magazine.
True SDAs who have differences on various principles, traditional, biblical or otherwise do not fend it in such a way. They do as scripture says “come let us reason together.” Ironically I have yet to read an article based on Biblical evidence which would give them an authoritative basis for their dissent.
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2 Corinthians 11:12-15 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 IT IS NOT SURPRISING, THEN, IF HIS SERVANTS ALSO MASQUERADE AS SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. THEIR END WILL BE WHAT THEIR ACTIONS DESERVE.
pookito
January 15, 2011
Thanks for your post. I just had a thought. Could it be that, Adventist Today is not part of the Organised Seventh Day Adventist church?
Chuck Davidson
March 3, 2012
I am actively involved in both my local Adventist church, and in the flagship church for Mission Catalyst, called Epikos. Simply put, God will get his work done somehow, and both are tools in His hands.
My Adventist church is making a significant impact in the local community, which is very exciting to see and which I actively support. Epikos was built with some of the finest young Adventist preachers who have a passion to reach lost people with the message of Jesus’ love. Epikos is doing just that – about half of the roughly 150 that attend each week have no Adventist background at all, but are learning about Jesus and His grace, the Sabbath, and what happens when we die. Others are Adventists like myself who simply want to serve – no axe to grind. It is definitely not a place where Adventists are bashed – just a parallel ministry serving communities and people that no Adventist church is. This is a war – but let’s not shoot our allies. There is far too much work to do!
If you are in an Adventist church, go out and make a difference in someone’s life with the gospel. If God for some reason calls you to be a part of Mission Catalyst, the call from Jesus is still the same – preach the gospel, and love your neighbor. Ellen White is quite clear that Adventists will not finish the work on their own – we all find it too easy to be comfortable. Don’t spend your energy squabbling – just get going. When your King comes back, what will He find you doing? He is the judge!
SILINCHAH NYANTORY
September 27, 2013
I feel so bad when our church worldwide baptize so many new soul but these soul last for while in the church,it is like a finance manager mobilize fund but there is an no accountant to account for.
Roger Metzger
January 28, 2014
I have not followed the legal arguments/decisions regarding the Seventh-day Adventist registered trademark but if it were up to me the question would hinge on capitalization, not the words used. There were seventh-day adventists (in the sense of being seventh-day Sabbath keepers who promoted the doctrine that the second advent of Jesus will be PRE – MILLENNIAL) before there were Seventh-day Adventists (members of an incorporated denomination the proper name of which is capitalized).
The preamble of the “official” list of Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Doctrines notwithstanding, the creation of such a list and especially an “offical” vote by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to adopt such a list has promoted the (inevitable?) use of the list, not only as a creed but the (inevitable?) corollary s of dogmatism and the perception that a song “central” authority needs to enforce the dogmatism. These are the very things the pioneers of the advent movement wanted to avoid. The perception that the Seventh-day Adventist denomination is not dogmatic enough has led to the creation of “offshoot” organizations AND some people have stopped supporting the Seventh-day Adventist organization because they can’t abide the creedalism.
Are there people who don’t mind the creedalism and who wish to support the Seventh-day Adventist organization, maybe even insist that a person is not truly Adventist in the capital A sense of the word, but who can concede that people who decry the creedalism and dogmatism or/and who don”t support the Seventh-day Adventist organization are, nonetheless, adventists or even seventh-day adventists in the lowercase sense?
Abraham
December 14, 2014
Hi
I’ve attended the SDA church in Ravensmead,Cape Town for the past 2 months as a visitor.I love their doctrine and they taught me things in this period I never experienced in my own church(Calvynist).However,I saw a dvd exposing the SDA in a magazine called Adventist Today January 4,2010 ” Letting roman catholics off the hook” by Loren Seibold.I’ve left my church in search of truth and its rather disturbing watching this this dvd now.Please assure me it does not come from the SDA or their leadership.If so, I will rather serve GOD from my home.I was told that the leaders can’t make decisions without the congregation on the ground.
Regards
Abraham Harmse
Roger Metzger
December 14, 2014
I attended Seventh-day Adventist schools for 12 years plus two quarters. I am indebted to Seventh-day Adventists for much of what comprises my personal religion but my religion is personal, not institutional. I never took when I was taught in Adventist schools at face value. I’m a Christian first and a protestant second. I think I would be a seventh-day sabbath keeping adventist (in the lowercase sense) ), even if there were no Seventh-day Adventist organization.
There are people today who consider themselves the “real” Seventh-day Adventists because they think of themselves as subscribing to the same beliefs (and explaining those beliefs in the same ways) as the pioneers of the advent movement.
In reality, there were several differences among the pioneers. I think some of the people who write articles for Adventist Today are objecting to the premise that the Seventh-day Adventist organization is (or is perceived as) hirearchical, creedal and dogmatic.
I think it would be better to focus on those aspects of organizational structure that contribute to that perception than to disagree “publicly” with statements and decisions by conference officers. But until the problems with the organizational structure is remodeled to provide an appropriate venue for discussion within the organization, it is appropriate to have a separate venue for that purpose.
In the meantime, let’s encourage an appropriate level of civility in all such discussions.
john edward
January 8, 2015
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Roger Metzger
January 8, 2015
I haven’t found a dictionary definition of “adventist”. Only “Adventist” with a capital “A”. “The” dictionary defines Adventist as a member of or pertaining to the Seventh-day Adventist organization.
Given that the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has registered the word, “Adventist” as a trade mark, I’m willing to concede that an individual or an incorporated entity is Adventist (with a capital A) if the General Conference “in session” states that he/it is not. I’m willing to make that concession, however, only if the General Conference in session is willing to concede that there were adventists in the lowercase sense of the word before there was any incorporated Seventh-day Adventist organization and that, therefore, a person or organization can be truly adventist in the lowercase sense of the word in the twenty-first century.
The pioneers of the advent movement were not only non-creedal, they were anti-creedal. The lowercase use of the word, “adventist” can properly be applied to an individual or incorporated entity who/that does not employ a list of doctrines for the purpose of evaluating orthodoxy.
Do the officers or the laity of the Seventh-day Adventist organization employ a list of doctrines for that purpose? If so, how many of the officers or laity have to employ a list of doctrines for the purpose of determining orthodoxy before it is appropriate to ask whether the organization is adventist?
The pioneers of the advent movement were not only not hirearchical, they were opposed to hierarchy. How many of the officers of the Seventh-day Adventist organization need to promote hierarchy or how many of the laity have to be content with hierarchy before it is appropriate to ask whether the organization is adventist?
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I grew up and Adventist and remain sympathetic to to the church. It has done a lot for a lot of people, including myself. But when a church demands, in effect, that its adherents believe something demonstrably false, such as special creation, it descends from the spiritual to the political. I could not in good faith tell my children that our world originated with Adam and Eve 6000 years ago: I would be telling them a lie. Thank goodness the question of the earth orbiting the sun instead of vice versa had been settled long before 1844, otherwise Adventists would be joining the Flat Earthers and declaring the results of space exploration to be a vast conspiracy of Satanic origin. The real question is not creation or evolution, that has to be regarded as settled. The real question is how to interpret Christianity and Salvation in a post-creationism environment. Unless that is done effectively, the movement is moribund.
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Roger Metzger
July 1, 2016
This thread started with the question, Is Adventist Today Adventist?
The following is a quote from the Adventist Today website: Adventist Today (AT) is an independent journalism ministry serving the global Adventist community and readers interested in a reliable source of information about the Adventist faith and institutions.”
“…the Adventist faith”?
If I were to speak to you about “the Catholic faith” or “the Mormon faith”, you would know I was talking to you about the religion of the adherents of one or the other of those two religious organizations–implicit trust in the organization, its hierarchy and its dogmas.
But what if I were to speak to you about the Christian faith? Would you understand me to mean the religion of Christians–implicit trust in the Messiah (aka the Christ)?
Who were the true believers before Jesus was born? Were they people with implicit trust in the Sanhedrin and the “traditions of the elders”? Or were the true believers people who had implicit faith in the God of Moses?
While Jesus was on Earth, there were people who continued to trust in the religious organization of the Hebrew nation. Others placed their trust in the Messiah who was walking among them.
After Jesus’ ascension, who were truly Christian? Those who placed their faith in a new organization and its officers? Or those whose faith was in the true Messiah?
Please understand. There is nothing wrong with organization per se. Organization can be a useful tool of the church. NO organization, however, IS the church. Believers constitute the true church. Believers is what? Or believers in whom?
Not believers in an organization. Not believers in the officers of an organization. Not believers in the creed of an organization. Technically, the dictionary definition includes any list of doctrines as a creed. When a list of doctrines is employed to determine a person’s orthodoxy, however, the list has become a creed in yet another sense. (Orthodoxy means “correct belief”.)Theoretically, if Seventh-day Adventists could have list of “Fundamental Beliefs” and NOT use that list to determine a person’s orthodoxy, it might be rightly said to be “not a creed” which is what the preamble of the current list of “Fundamental Beliefs” clearly states.
On the other hand, to the extent that such a list IS employed to determine a person’s orthodoxy, it is being employed as a creed–which is exactly what most of the pioneers of the advent movement wanted very much to avoid.
In the 16th century, did the protestant reformation reform the church?
Some people say the question of whether the Roman Church was reformed in the sixteenth century is an open question. But that isn’t what I asked, is it? Did the protestant reformation reformed BELIEVERS?
Here’s another question: Did the protestant reformation end in the sixteenth century?
The way I read the book, The Great Controversy, one of the main points of the book is that the reformation didn’t end in the sixteenth century–or the eighteenth century. The reformation is continuing, and will continue until Jesus returns.
In the early nineteenth century, it was commonly supposed that Jesus would return AFTER a thousand years of peace and increasing prosperity. In the 1930s, however, some Christians began to question that assumption. Those who began to teach that the second advent would occur at the BEGINNING of the millennium and that the purpose of the second advent was to resurrect the sleeping saints and take us with them to heaven were called “second adventists”.
In the twenty-first century, people who still teach those twin doctrines are still adventists, at least in the lowercase “a” sense of the word.
If someone thinks that Adventist Today was created for or functions to oppose those two doctrines, it would be appropriate to question whether it is truly adventist.
Or if Adventist Today is created for or functions to promote the doctrine that an organization IS the church, one could legitimately question whether Adventist Today is truly adventist. Referring to an “Adventist faith” COULD be construed that way.
In the twenty-first century, however, there is another definition of “Adventist”. When the word is capitalized, it CAN be considered a reference to the denomination that includes the word, “Adventist”, in its legal name. (The word, “denomination”, means “having a name.”) Is Adventist Today an organic part of the Seventh-day Adventist organization? No–as the words “independent journalism ministry” in the above quotation attest.
I’m not, nor have I ever been a part of Adventist Today staff. I have given much thought and prayer to the possibility of creating an evangelistic assoication the goal of which would be the promotion of the gospel WITHOUT teaching such doctrines as Sunday sacredness and the natural immortality of the soul but also WITHOUT promoting a religious organization as a church–and especially without promoting a religious organization as “the church”.
I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has ideas on that subject.
Roger Metzger
Milo, Maine
r.metzger44@gmail.com