A warm
welcome to all my Seventh-day Adventist brothers and
sisters! This site was made just for you! Is there a call to
leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church?
Download a Printable PDF Version of this entire site
CLICK HERE
"Separate or not to separate... That is the Question!"
At least that is the question we will be examining for
the next few minutes. Most can read through this entire site
rather quickly. It was my desire to keep this website
concise and to the point, and yet thorough enough to cover
all the important topics. I hope all would feel comfortable
committing to reading through everything posted on this site
since to do so does NOT involve vast amounts of time. This
site is only 15 pages long. I think you will agree that this
website covers it all pretty well and should leave no doubt
as to what the Spirit of Prophecy really teaches about
separation from the Seventh-day Adventist church.
BLESSINGS IN THE LORD!!!
David
M. Curtis
www.loudcry.org
Solomon
said it well, “there is nothing new under the sun!” Through
out her ministry, Ellen White was confronted with one
movement after another crying out for separation from the
Adventist church. Many of today's issues are not at all that
different from the ones that she faced during the 19th
century. In fact modern movements urge upon us the exact
same quotes which people used over a century ago. All of
which Ellen White warned were being misused and misapplied
and altogether taken out of context.
Among
Seventh-day Adventist the modern questions regarding
separation dates back to the publishing of a book named,
“Questions on Doctrine” in 1957. Many schisms (if not all)
have their roots in this controversial volume. In that book
our churches leadership conformed to the Evangelical
churches and compromised our churches teaching on certain
doctrines such as the Nature of Christ in order to avoid
being labeled a cult by Walter Martin. Needless to say this
upset a number of Adventist back then and still causes quite
a stir even today. Then just under 30 years ago another
earthquake split our dear church with the rise of Desmond
Ford and his teachings. Since that time we have had various
separatist movements fracture our denomination.
Although it is true that some leave because they have a
"chip on their shoulder," most who leave the church are
sincere and desire to remain true to “Historic Adventism,”
upholding the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as their rule
for life. These people sincerely believe separation is God's
will for their lives.
Some who have separated
from the church are crying out that we need reform in our
schools, our publishing houses, and our hospitals. Others
call for reform of doctrine, and even a purging among our
conference leadership. While still others call out for a
reform of the entire economic structure itself.
A side by side comparison
of our institutions and the writings of Ellen White have
left many feeling as the reformers of the 16th century must
have felt when they began to search the Bible and compare it
with the Roman Church. Feeling the two simply do not line
up!
Here is a brief overview
of separatist history amongst God’s people.
-
First Abraham was called out of the land of his fathers,
-
Later Lot was called out of Sodom.
-
Then through Moses the Hebrews were called out of Egypt.
-
Nehemiah and Ezra called the Jews out of Babylon.
-
In
the time of Christ and the Apostles a movement to come
out of Israel occurred which formed the Christian
church.
-
Early on, the Waldensian's separated from Rome.
-
Later during the Reformation the call sounded throughout
Europe to separate from Rome, and those who heeded their
message became the various Protestant Churches.
-
The
midnight cry of the 1830’s and 40’s led many to forsake
membership in the Protestant churches and several of
those people later formed the Seventh-day Adventist
church in 1863.
You could say that
separation is an age old tradition amongst God’s people.
With all this history, this pattern leaves some with the
impression that there must be another movement to separate
from the Seventh-day Adventist “structure” as some call it.
I want you to know that
for the most part I am well acquainted with the issues. I
will briefly share a few of them. If I do not, some one
might squirm in their seats as they read this web page and
say to themselves, "Yes, but what about such and such a
problem in the church?" For those persons allow me to list
some of these problems in the church. Some new controversies
which add fuel to the flames, among separatists are
“celebration churches" and "Christian Rock Music,” N.L.P.
Neuro Linguistic Programming, misuse of the tithe. As well
as a concern that a Jesuit lurks within every administration
building in the conference, etc.
It doesn’t help that many
Adventist hospitals have stopped functioning as sanitariums
as Madison did all those years ago. It seems too many people
that our hospitals are no different from the hospitals of
the world, and that our hospitals have forgotten our mission
and purpose for existing; which is to share health reform
and the three angels messages with every person admitted.
And what of the abortions being performed in many of the
Adventist hospitals? All of this is wrong! No question about
it. The more one learns about the problems in the church the
easier it is to become upset, and the easier it is to lose
faith with our dear church.
We can not pass by
problems in the church without mentioning the Trademarked
name, "Seventh-day Adventist," and the lawsuits surrounding
it. The General Conference has sued several groups in a
court of law for using the churches official name. Both the
Apostle Paul and the writings of Ellen White clearly condemn
such court proceedings.
And how Burt Beech
presented a medallion to the pope nearly 30 years ago!
The Adventist church has
problems, and in some cases there is flat out apostasy
against the Testimonies. I concede all of this, however I
would like to ask, "does any of this justify leaving the
church?" Some would say it does and they have separated from
the denomination forming home churches or small groups.
What is the standard to
decide whether or not we are to separate? Are problems in
the church the standard? Are they like a thermometer, "the
hotter it gets the more evident it becomes that we should
leave?" Is that how we are to decide such matters? Many have
done just this. They look to all the problems and say, all
of this is proof we must separate. To our shame there are
entire websites devoted to exposing every detail of our
churches dirty laundry to the entire world. I pity the
person who actually believes that this sort of thing is
God's will.
What is the standard for
the Adventist? Our ability to identify and expose problems?
What is the standard? Is that an individual decision? Should
some stay and some go? NO! That is not how it works. There
is right and there is wrong, There is truth and there is
error. If the separation movement is the truth we ALL ought
to follow it. If it is error then we ALL should avoid it.
Let's be clear about what the standard is.
The Bible and the Spirit
of Prophecy are the standard! Period!
Of course, my dear
brothers and sisters in the various separatist movements
would respond, that this is their standard and that apostasy
against the Testimonies is why they left. I already conceded
the fact that there is apostasy against the testimonies in
the Adventist church, so please do not miss my point when I
state the fact that "the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy
are the standard." Never forget that...
"Problems all by themselves are not evidence that we ought
to leave the church."
This is an illogical way
of searching for God's will. The ONLY thing that matters is
what the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy have to say about
separation. Let me be clear. I do not care what the
conference says folks. I want to know what the testimonies
say about separation, and that's all! If they say leave, I
will leave. If they say stay I will stay. Do not email me
some website exposing a mountain of problems and say this is
why we should leave. All the evidence against the church in
the world, is not a substitute for a plain, "Thus saith the
Lord!" What I want to know in clear language is what God
instructed us to do through his messenger to the church;
Separate or not to Separate?
No doubt that there will
be some reading this website who will have the attitude that
no matter what the testimonies say, they will look at all
the problems and remain convinced they must separate. They
might as well come out and say that, "no matter what the
testimonies tell me to do, I have made up my mind to
separate" Will that be your attitude as you read these
pages? If so, reading this website will be a waste of your
time. It is only of value to those who are willing to lay
down their own understanding like a little child.
At the top of each page on
this site is the following verse.
The
dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with
the Remnant of her seed which
keep the commandments of God and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ
Revelation 12:17
It serves as a reminder
that anyone who fails to believe ALL that the SOP teaches,
also fails to "have the testimony of Jesus!" Either you have
the SOP backing your decision to separate or you do not. All
the evidence of problems in the church is worthless if your
decision to separate from the church is not supported in the
testimonies. If you feel you have support in the SOP, then
my friend you must reconcile each of these quotes in your
mind found on the following pages. You can not take the
quotes you like and discard the ones you do not like and
still "have the testimony of Jesus Christ!" Remember that as
you see Revelation 12:17 on the top of each page.
There is a time, and a
proper way to deal with the problems in the church. And yes
there is a desperate need for reform within our
institutions. However think carefully about this.
Since the Bible and the
SOP are the ONLY standard by which to make a decision we
must take all the evidence against the church and lay it
aside for the next few minutes. Imagine a scale sitting
before you. On one side we have a balance with the word
SEPARATION, and on the other balance it says DO NOT
SEPARATE. Now the ONLY thing you can place on to these
balances are Bible texts and Spirit of Prophecy Quotes. That
is the only thing with real weight for our special scale.
They must deal directly with the issues of separation from
the Adventist church. Look at the evidence in the
testimonies. We are going to do that during the next few
pages. In fact we are even going to look at many of the
popular quotes used to prove separation. We will examine
much of the major evidence dealing with this issue in the
next 14 pages. In the end, if we are all honest with
ourselves we will have to admit that 100% of the evidence
from the testimonies rests on one of the balances while the
other really has no "weight" or support in the testimonies
what so ever.
There is no middle ground
here. Either the separation message is truth or it is error.
If you feel you have the SOP backing your decision to
separate then my dear brother and sister, you must reconcile
each of these quotes on the following pages with that
belief. Before I close my opening comments, I would
like to open this discussion up for all who would desire to
share their thoughts on these things with me and with all
those who might visit this website. Since what I have
written on this page may appear "one sided," if you have a
different opinion, then I want to hear your views and
consider your evidence.
Click the following link
to read and post your quotes and thoughts on the LoudCry.org
message forum.
I have welcomed discussion
on this topic for years, and invited many separatist friends
to this forum. I hope one day someone will step up and
accept this invitation. It's always open to anyone.
Keep in mind the only thing
that will ever persuade me on this or any other topic is a
plain, "It is Written! Found in either the Bible or the
Spirit of Prophecy.
Other than those two sources, as far as I am concerned, you
can keep all your juicy gossip about the church to yourself.
Why? Because my focus is on sharing the three angels
messages, and I will let God deal with the church!
A word of caution,
"Seeking for an authentic quote in the testimonies urging
separation from the Seventh-day Adventist church, is
like looking for a text in the Bible proving Sunday
observance." It's simply not there!
Disagree? Join my forum
and prove me wrong! This invite is open for anyone. Folks
please feel free to extend this invite to any webmasters of
any separatist websites you may have come across on my
behalf. I have invited many of them to engage in these
discussions in the past myself. So far most have declined.
It has been my experience
over the last few years that very few in the separatist
movement are willing to step up and have their teachings
closely examined and questioned and held up next to
everything the testimonies have to say. They only care to
share their views with those who agree with them.
The
sources for our study in the remaining 14 pages will be taken from the
Authorized King James Version and
from the writings of Ellen. G. White.
With no further delay we will get right into our topic for
this hour.
Click the button below
that says ENTER.
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