HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2014 / WINTER / FORMER ADVENTIST CONFERENCE
The Michigan FAF Conference convened this year on Friday, September 26, for two full days of meetings and worship at The Chapel in St. Joseph. Dale Ratzlaff was the keynote speaker, and the title of the weekend was No Shame, a study of Romans 1 through 8. He taught powerfully on the gospel, explaining our depravity as outlined in the first three-and-a-half chapters, and he delved deeply into Romans 4 and 5 as he taught the faith of Abraham and the new Adam who brought righteousness to us through His act of obedience: death on the cross.
Corey Kugle, assistant pastor of The Chapel, presented one session on Friday covering Romans 2:1-16 on the justice of God’s righteous judgment, and Colleen Tinker presented a study on Psalm 73, a psalm of Asaph that reveals the danger in turning one’s frustrations inward instead of openly lamenting to God. Asaph regained his stability when he went to the house of God and the fellowship of God’s people and stopped isolating.
Jim Valentine gave an interesting talk entitled “Spiritualism and Ellen G. White”. He reviewed Ellen White’s (EGW) letter in which she recounted meeting her dead husband James in a dream and getting advice from him. Jim also read what Scripture says about communicating with the dead and taking direction from them; the conclusion about EGW’s status was clear: she cannot be a prophet of God.
Mary Seeley-Stockler gave her faith story, and George Schultz from The Chapel presented one session on Romans 4. Friday ended with communion led by senior pastor Phil Bubar.
Saturday began with worship followed by Dale Ratzlaff teaching from Romans 5 to 6:14, “Freed from Sin and the Blessings of Justification”, and after lunch from Romans 6:15-17 and 7:1-14: “Freedom from Bondage to God’s Law”.
Chapel member John Castady presented two talks on Saturday, one in the morning and one after lunch. They were entitled “Understanding Abuse” and “No Shame”. Because of the spiritual abuse implicit in the false gospel of Adventism, weekend coordinator Carolyn Macomber asked John to talk to us about these common problems we face: our shame-based reactions to the events in our lives and the abuse — spiritual or otherwise — that helped shape these automatic reactions.
Carolyn Macomber presented talks on Romans 7:14-25, “Struggles Between Two Natures”, and on “Life in the Spirit” from Romans 8:1-13. Colleen Tinker concluded the afternoon sessions with a talk on adoption from Romans 8:14-30.
Saturday evening the Chapel members were invited to a meeting entitled “Equipped To Speak Truth To Adventists”. The evening’s speaker was Dale Ratzlaff who delivered a compelling talk entitled “The Big 3 of Adventism”. He explained the seduction and necessity of the three cardinal Adventist doctrines: Ellen White’s authority, the Sabbath, and the investigative judgment. Without any one of these, the entire structure of Adventism collapses. Nevertheless, the Adventist organization clings to these doctrines even though they clearly oppose biblical authority and teaching, thus revealing Adventism’s underlying foundation.
During the evening Esther Aust gave her faith story, and four people, Richard Tinker, Carolyn Macomber, Rolaant McKenzie, and Colleen Tinker, delivered five-minute vignettes explaining what caused their dissonance that resulted in questioning Adventism and discovering the gospel, leaving their childhood culture behind. Carolyn and Chapel member Elfie Stadelmayer did a skit beautifully portraying the ways Adventists talk to Christians without revealing their real meanings, and the evening ended with a Question and Answer session including panel members Phil Bubar, Dale Ratzlaff, Carolyn Macomber, Colleen Tinker, and Richard Tinker moderating.
The entire weekend was live-streamed, and some of the sessions yielded lively chat among the viewers online. Videos of the meetings will be posted on YouTube.
There were about 30 people present during the conference from places as far away from each other as Connecticut and Georgia, Ohio and Manitoba. Several of those participating came from painful family situations in which one spouse knew Jesus and had left Adventism, and the other was still staunchly Adventist.
Worship for the weekend was led by Chapel worship leader Kent Wade and his team, and the meals were prepared and served by a Chapel member who volunteered her time. We thoroughly enjoyed her amazing squash soup as well as the lasagna, pizza, and sandwiches which she provided.
The weather was lovely, and even the fall colors put on a show. When we arrived in Michigan on Wednesday afternoon, all the trees were green. When we arose on Thursday morning to prepare centerpieces and set up equipment, the tops of trees had turned red overnight, and each day the red and yellow spread, painting the branches with brilliant color variegated with green.
Sunday after church we convened at Silver Beach Pizza on the shore of Lake Michigan. We ate together, sharing pizza and conversation, wishing the good-byes could be postponed.
We thank Carolyn Macomber, Phil Bubar, Corey Kugle, and the entire Chapel staff and the members for supporting this conference and for providing a wonderful venue for the meetings. †
Copyright 2015 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Camp Verde, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised January 3, 2015. Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
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VOLUME 15, ISSUE 4
