HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2008 / MARCH/APRIL / MINISTRY NEWS

MARCH / APRIL 2008
VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2

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D E P A R T M E N T S

MINISTRY News

Weekend event a place for healing and equipping
Editor

 

The third annual Former Adventist Fellowship (FAF) Weekend, For the Gory of God, has impacted us deeply. Eighty-three registered attendees from across the USA and Canada—and even Australia—convened at Trinity Church on Friday and Saturday, February 15-16, for teaching, inspiration, and fellowship.

The opening meeting on Friday night was open to the public. We had invited over 450 local Christian pastors to hear Dale Ratzlaff speak on the subject The Truth about Adventist "Truth"—the title of his newly-revised book by the same name. Over 200 people attended the meeting including representatives from 13 local Christian churches. The meeting opened with worship led by Sharon Strum. Next Bill Ziprick from Spokane, Washington, formerly the West Coast legal council for the General Conference and for Loma Linda University Medical Center, shared his faith story.

Paul Carden, executive director for the Centers for Apologetics Research, introduced Dale. Paul, who used to work for Walter Martin at Christian Research Institute and who co-hosted the Bible Answer Man radio show for six years, also wrote the forward to Dale's book. Among other things Paul wrote this in his forward:

The time for a reassessment among evangelicals is long overdue, because for too many inattentive Christians, Adventism represents a profound danger hidden in plain sight. As Dale Ratzlaff amply demonstrates in the following pages, the movement is founded not on the infallible Word of God, but on such an extraordinary mass of error and calculated deception that it must be seen to be believed. The differences between Adventism and biblical Christianity cannot be ignored, for they strike at the very heart of the gospel. The disciples of Ellen G. White do not merely offer an alternative view of secondary Christian doctrines, as many suppose; instead, they encourage millions to place their trust in a false prophet who sets obstacles in the path of anyone who would trust in Christ alone for their salvation and "adds" nothing to the written Word of God except her convoluted and contradictory speculations.

The evidence presented herein compels evangelicals to make an informed choice. Pastors, missionaries, relief agencies, and others need to face the potential problems of collaborating, on an organizational level, with a movement that affirms and promotes such error. Many of us who have served as missionaries in the Third World recognize the two faces of Adventism: indulging in cozy ecumenism in English-speaking cultures while engaging in bare-knuckle proselytizing nearly everywhere else. The Seventh-day Adventist Church cannot have it both ways.

Dale's talk listed the 10 problems of Adventism and five "gospels" found within it: historic, Messianic (keeping all the feast days), Great Controversy model (no forensic atonement and Christ is our example), progressive-pluralistic (wide variety of beliefs tolerated; sees Adventism as potentially a "world religion"), and evangelical.

Near the end of his talk, Dale made this statement:

Based upon these practices [the disfellowshipping or defrocking of those who refuse to teach unbiblical doctrines and the damning to hell of those who leave unless they return], the continued promotion of The Clear Word and the errors of Adventism as officially taught and practiced as outlined in this book, it is with deep regret and sorrow that I now feel compelled to include the Adventist church in the kingdom of the cults.

I recognize that the term "cult" does not fit every Seventh-day Adventist. However, the fact that the Seventh-day Adventist church officially continues to refuse to renounce past errors and continues to hold to a mixture of truth and error puts it, I feel, outside the realm of evangelical Christianity. Mixing truth with error—error which compromises the gospel—only make the embedded error more dangerous because it is less apparent.

Following Dale's talk, Jonathan Bilima from the pastoral staff of Calvary Community Church in Phoenix, AZ, moderated a Q & A session with a panel comprised of Paul Carden, Dale Ratzlaff, Colleen Tinker, and Greg Taylor.

Saturday began with group prayer at 6:00 followed by breakfast prepared by local church members. Next, a devotional on 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 was delivered by Dr. Gary Inrig, pastor of Trinity Church. Shirley Burton of Winnipeg, Manitoba, gave her faith story.

"Christianity EDU" sessions through the day included biblical hermeneutics by Dr. John Shoup, understanding the emergent church movement by Dr. Rick Langer, the nature of Christ by Jon Rittenhouse, and a class on recognizing and protecting Christians against the cults by Paul Carden. Smaller breakout sessions featured Dale Ratzlaff entertaining questions on Adventist theology, Greg Taylor teaching on the human soul/spirit, Martin Carey exploring the great controversy idea of "watching worlds", and Joan Yorba-Gray and Colleen Tinker discussing healing from shame.

After a dinner of chicken in pesto sauce, portabello mushroom ravioli, pasta primavera, salad, and garlic bread catered by Napoli's Italian restaurant, the evening ended with a communion service led by Greg Taylor, and Jonathan Bilima gave his faith story to launch a time of testimonies. The weekend ended with a potluck at Richard and Colleen Tinker's home after church on Sunday. A highlight of the afternoon was an impromptu Bible study led by Dale Ratzlaff on the lawn after lunch.

Audio files of the weekend are online at FormerAdventist.com.

Several people said, "This is the best weekend we've had yet." One attendee from British Columbia summed up the weekend with these words: "While most of the attendees were former Adventists, the focus was more on where we are going in Christ than where we had been in Adventism. I applaud the organizers for choosing speakers whose main emphasis was on understanding Scripture and continuing growth through grace."

We thank God for orchestrating a profound weekend, and we praise Him for dying to forgive us, for rising to give us life, and for glorifying Himself in our midst. †

 

A–Sharon Strum led worship. B–Bill Ziprick of Spokane, WA, gave his faith story on Friday evening. C–Paul Carden led a seminar on protecting people from the cults. D–Sara Perkins from Missouri, Della Grabow from Lake Arrowhead, California, and Grace Brunelle from Grand Terrace, California, enjoyed dinner together. E–Gary Inrig gave the Saturday morning devotional. F–Marina Lovell, Pennsylvania, and July Boney from Perris, California, chatted over Sunday lunch. G–Paul Carden, Dale Ratzlaff, Colleen Tinker, Greg Taylor, and moderator Jonathan Bilima answered questions during the Friday evening Q & A. H–Clifton Lovell, Pennsylvania, and Richard Tinker visited at Sunday lunch. I–Paula and Greg Taylor attended from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. J–The Saturday evening communion service was a highlight of the weekend. K–Dale Ratzlaff led an impromptu Bible study after lunch on Sunday. L–Joan Yorba-Gray assisted by Colleen Tinker led a break-out session on healing from shame. M–Jon Rittenhouse, a Campus Crusade staff member and president of Pursue Your Passion Ministries, conducted a class on the nature of Christ. N–Dale Ratzlaff answered questions about Adventist theology. O–Rick Langer taught a session on understanding the emergent church.

 

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