Sean, we are of like mind in this respect. I …

Comment on The End of “Junk DNA”? by A Servant.

Sean, we are of like mind in this respect. I agree with what you’re saying.

Recent Comments by A Servant

What does it take to be a true Seventh-day Adventist?
Yes, I agree.

Luke 13:23-30 is sobering:

23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

Lord, please keep that from happening to me!


LSU Responds to Issues Regarding Dr. Diaz and WASC
This should lay to rest your suggestion that La Sierra has, during the last three years, not been teaching evolution as the origin of life. Many more witnesses are available to me beside these.


NCSE Report: Adventist Education in the Midst of a Sea of Science
Good evening Christina,

Since we do not know each other, and (as far as I know, have never met), I would like to believe that there is an underlying sincerity in your concern. You do raise an important question. When should wrongs be pointed out publicly, and when should they be addressed privately?

It seems to me that this question is well answered in the first verse of Scripture I shared. The replying post only quoted one verse, but I posted three verses in order to show the context.

Here is the first part of what I posted before:
——————————————-
1 Timothy 5:19-21 is appropriate here (emphasis addded):

“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”
——————————————-

The passage clearly says that we should not pay attention to criticisms of church leaders, with the exception that we should if two or three witnesses attest to the wrong. The following verse relates directly to the previous one; ***leaders who are at fault*** ought to be rebuked before all, in public, so that those who followed these leaders will not follow them to do wrong things.

I personally could present more than two or three witnesses to the major facts that Sean and company express concern about; thus, it is appropriate for concern to be publicly expressed.

In addition, Jesus followed this principle when He publicly rebuked Peter for unwittingly attempting to dissuade Him from His mission:

“But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men'” (Matthew 16:23).

“But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men'”(Mark 8:33).

Incidentally, let’s assume that Matthew 18 did apply here. Remember that private confrontation is only the first step of Matthew 18. I have first-hand knowledge that this first step has been taken *many* times over the last 10 years with LSU administrators. Read the ANN archives if you find this hard to believe. The second step is to take others with you to help solve the problem. This too has already been done. Now we are at the third step, in which case the matter must be told to the church. My observation is that Sean’s conduct in operating the website is fully consistent with phase 3 of Matthew 18, telling this problem to the church, where we currently are in the process. If the first phase and second phase are OK, is there something wrong with the third phase?

I’d sincerely like to hear your prayerful response.


NCSE Report: Adventist Education in the Midst of a Sea of Science
1 Timothy 5:19-21 is appropriate here (emphasis addded):

“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”

So is Ephesians 5:11,12:

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”


A “Christian Agnostic”?
Sean, I am only able to post occasionally, due to my rigorous schedule in medical school, but I want to affirm the last three postings you have made. This statement was especially meaningful: “In short, Biblical credibility, with regard to those claims that cannot be directly tested and potentially falsified, is dependent upon the credibility of those claims that can be directly tested and potentially falsified.” The main reason I still believe in God and the Bible as a SDA Christian is that I have directly tested and verified many of the Bible’s claims. This gives me reason to believe in the claims that cannot yet be verified.

In addition, you are not undermining faith in the slightest. Such an accusation is the product of mental gymnastics, which assume that faith in God must have no basis in evidence. It becomes a clever guise for saying, “We can teach anything we want in a Christian school, because our faith needs no connection in reality.”

If we applied this same principle to finance, we should all put our funds in Greek government bonds. Their government is failing, they may leave the euro, and they are not likely to pay back the money they borrow. But who cares? If our faith in God doesn’t need any supporting evidence, who says that our faith in each other needs evidence? What prevents us from having faith in Greece that we will be paid back, despite the evidence to the contrary? What prevents us from wasting our money in a worthless investment?