HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2015 / SPRING / LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

S P R I N G • 2 0 1 5
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1

 

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D E P A R T M E N T S

LETTERS to the Editor
 

 

 

Confirming McKenzie’s casualties of Adventism

I praise God for your work with Proclamation! magazine and your love for the former Adventist community. I was raised in a home that professed Christ; I accepted Him as my Savior as a young girl and was baptized into the family of God.

My dream was to be a dental hygienist, so I sought out Loma Linda University School of Dentistry because it had been proclaimed a “Christian university”. I began my sophomore year at Las Sierra and was told I would be required to take the Adventist beliefs class since I was not Adventist.

I sat through the class in naive amazement; there was no arguing with the professor as he had an answer for every concern (worship on Saturday, soul-sleep, the investigative judgment, Satan as the scapegoat)—all backed up by Ellen White (EGW). She was the authority; the Bible was infrequently quoted or read. I ultimately concluded that they were probably saved, but they had the day of worship wrong.

A few years ago I married a great man who was a former Adventist. In the years we’ve been married, I’ve seen the “casualties of Adventism” that Rolaant McKenzie addressed in his story (Vol. 15, Issue 4). Through prayer and study in God’s word with people we loved dearly, I now have a husband who believes God is sovereign and that Jesus knows and loves him personally. There is no Plan B, as Chris Lee wrote.

I would encourage any Adventist to read Galatians without the filter of EGW. Hear what the Holy Spirit says to you about the law.

Thank you from the deepest part of my soul for continuing to be faithful to your calling to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are free indeed!

Redlands, CA

 

Learn from Joel Osteen

You have been sending me your sorry magazine. The are no perfect institutions on earth, so look in your own camp if you feel you need to point out fakes. My dear old dad once said if someone has an issue with the church and its teachings, 99% of the time it’s over money. The other 1% are confused. I’m sorry that if you want something different—you can’t find what makes you happy. Instead you have to bellyache about the Adventist Church.

If your misery is so bad, I’d encourage the whole bunch of you to turn your support to something positive. Listen to Joel Osteen, then give the Adventist message with that kind of preaching. Then maybe we could GO somewhere and fill stadiums with people that want Adventism instead of folks like you with such a twisted, sick message. Your whole theme is so sorry. If you don’t want Adventism, then move on.

This is your day, break loose from the attitudes that have you bound. Return to the Only True Message for this Grand Day and have a part in giving it in a new, positive way. Let’s live in a New Way in a New Day!

White Cloud, MI

 

Breaking free from Adventism

I was born and raised Adventist. In the past three years I have done a lot of soul searching. I even gave up on God. In the past few weeks I have decided to begin leaving the Adventist church, not because I am bitter or have been mistreated, because I am not and have not, but because of the cult-like doctrines they hold.

To leave the church in which I’ve grown up is most difficult. My husband became Adventist in 2008 and has always felt EGW was not important to his salvation. As for me, I have felt guilty for even daring to question her. To question our doctrines is a fast track to hell. Does that sound like a cult? It is!

My Bible tells me that if I am in Christ, I am Abraham’s seed, and an heir according to the promise (Gal. 3:29). Praise the Lord!

It seems that as Adventists we separate ourselves from those “fallen churches”. Cults do that. There is no proof that Daniel 8:14 describes the investigative judgment. John 5:24 tells us that if we believe in Christ, we do not enter into judgment.

My decision to leave feels so freeing. I feel I can have a relationship with Jesus. My life is no longer controlled by a prophet telling me what to eat, drink, wear, how to worship, or what music to choose. Did any biblical prophet control his people like she’s controlled so many Adventists? No—and that’s another mark of a cult. Frankly, she’s dangerous, as are many Adventist beliefs.

Jesus is my Savior, and in him alone I put my trust. It’s the Bible and the Bible only for me. So I have decided to leave this church and break free from 50-plus years of Adventism. I’m free at last! This decision has caused problems among friends and family; they think I’m going to lose salvation. I love them dearly, but I know who saves, and it’s Jesus, not an institution.

Via email

 

Shame on you

I will pray for you. We are not a cult; shame on you. Do not send me any more magazines. At judgment Day you will be responsible for all those you have led astray.

Gowen, MI

 

Appreciation for your labor

My dear friends and fellow laborers in God’s vineyard, this is a small love offering in appreciation of your labor of love. I trust that, with the gifts of others, it will be sufficient for the need.

I thank you for the much-needed guidance you have provided for me over the years in dealing with my Adventist friends. May God bless all of you and your ministry.

Coeur d’Alene, ID

 

Tired of the bashing

Please remove my name from your mailing list. I am tired of the bashing you do of another denomination. Good, bad or indifferent, it’s not very Christ-like. The Jesus I know from the Bible would not stoop so low. He would minister by being an example.

Belfield, ND

 

Editor’s response: We often receive mail saying that Jesus never spoke critically or harshly to people but that He set us an example of loving even those who disagreed with Him.

In fact, Jesus did not come to be an example showing us how to be saved or how to live moral lives. He came to be the Sacrifice that would propitiate for the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29; Rom. 3:19-30; Heb. 9:26). His role as an example is for those who have repented of their sin and trusted Him as their Savior and Lord. His dependence upon and obedience to His Father demonstrates to those who are born again and adopted by the Father (Jn. 3:3-6; Rom. 8:14-17) how to live in surrender to Him, trusting God’s word and submitting to it.

If Jesus were primarily an example for humanity, then all people would have to imitate Him in identifying sin and judging unbelief as He did in Matthew 23 when He called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones, serpents, and a brood of vipers, and as He spoke in John 8:44 when he told them they were “of their father the devil”. Ultimately, if Jesus were primarily our example, we would have to die in the place of others whose sins deserved a capital penalty.

The Jesus of Scripture is appointed Judge of the world (Jn. 5:22-24). He is the Lamb of God who became sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

When we believe in Him we are brought to life eternally (Jn. 5:24) and are commissioned to make disciples, to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach believers to “observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20).

The book of Acts demonstrates that preaching and teaching the gospel sometimes involves identifying sin and systems which defy the gospel, as did Paul and Barnabas when they told the magician Elymas he was deceitful, fraudulent, and opposed to the way of the Lord (Acts 13:8-11).

Our purpose is not to bash what once defined us. Rather, we want those who live in the system we knew so well to discover that “whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor. 3:15-16).

 

Thank you, Dale

Several weeks ago our home group started studying Romans, a chapter at a time. By the third chapter I wanted to ask, “What law are we talking about?” with the motive to prove the validity of the fourth commandment. But I didn’t say anything.

I looked up the Greek for “law”, trying unsuccessfully to prove it meant the Ten Commandments. I started pleading with the Holy Spirit, “Help! You are truth! Please lead me to truth!” I kept reading about the law in Romans and Galatians, not getting anywhere.

 Then one day I remembered your book Sabbath in Christ. I found it with little difficulty, gathering dust on a shelf.

From the first page, it immediately made sense. Once you convinced me the Ten Commandments were part of the old covenant, I was done. I didn’t need to read the rest of the book, but of course I did. I read most of it to my wife, who is in total agreement. What an old covenant load lifted off our shoulders! 

Like you and so many other “formers”, we have relatives who are still in the system. My wonderful father-in-law is a retired Adventist pastor, attending an ultra-conservative Adventist congregation comprised largely of historic Adventists who believe some of the whacky things the founders believed, including that Jesus was created.

I realized with astounding clarity that their loyalty to the seventh-day Sabbath means the entire Adventist denomination was founded on a false premise. “Seventh-day” is their first name! Not only are they wrong about the investigative judgment, Ellen White, wine, perfection, the Holy Spirit departing, and other things, but their basic foundation is sand. Whoa!

Thank you so much for standing true to the truth you discovered, and for writing Sabbath in Christ!

May the Father continue to bless you and your ministry!

 

You people

I am impressed to send you this. You may feel good about yourselves ridiculing God and His Church, but are we to trust our feelings? There is new light that God has revealed to us, and we are light years ahead of the nominal churches who are a fulfillment of the 25th chapter of Mathew. I know you don’t care. However, there is so much light coming upon His word that it is further proof Jesus is soon to come and those who are tares will soon be bundled up and burned. 

Saratoga, CA

 

Proclamation! played key role

I sure appreciate the Tinkers, the Ratzlaffs, and the whole LAM board and team. At some point, it would be great to meet you face-to-face. I can’t begin to tell you what a key role Proclamation! has played in my journey out of Adventism, and what a key role it continues to play.

As someone who works in full-time ministry, I know how rewarding Christian media can be, but I also know there are down days and days of discouragement, and so  I hope you are encouraged by my email, and know that what you are doing is worthwhile, despite any challenges. Thank you!

Kingwood, TX

 

 

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