Comments on: Michigan Conference takes substantial action in LSU conflict

By: EMK

EMK — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 07:01:18 +0000

I am just getting into this discussion for a variety of reasons.

However, as someone who has attended Michigan Conference campmeetings the past 6 years or so and had questions regarding their stance on Adventist issues I am greatly relieved to see this response from the Michigan Conference Executive Committee.

The only problem is that we aren’t losing our youth in college. Too many of them are attending college already uncertain or unsure of what they believe or what we as a church believes.

We cannot afford to make this a “Christian” issue. We are Seventh-day Adventist Christians. The belief in Christ is supposed to be understood. We don’t need anyone to tell us to believe in Jesus or we’re not Adventist. The issue here is those doctrines which make us uniquely Adventist.

Evolution is taught in our schools from elementary through college. The elementary and middle school textbooks introduce it as a world concept. They discuss Pangea and a world-wide flood and give scientific evidence coupled with scriptural support to the topic of creationism vs. evolutionism.

The reality of the situation is that too many of our instructors are unwilling to simply teach the subject matter. We all have opinions and agendas and will push both at all cost – even the salvation of the students we are teaching.

We can no longer afford to claim that “the law is unimportant and all we need is love.” It is time for us to stand for what we believe. The placating of people with “peace and love” is no longer enough, and we are starting lose members and become Laodecia.

If only more conference leadership would take the stand that Gallimore and the Michigan Conference Executive Committee took we might actually look and act like a united denomination rather than splintered, fractured, broken pieces pulling against one another. It’s rather like a ship fighting against itself. At some point all the pieces will break apart and the entire manifest will drowned.

We have a choice to make. Either we’re right and God’s a liar OR God’s right and we’ve made some grave errors in interpretation, understanding and yielding our will to Him. It’s a pretty simple thing. It’s all about our loyalty!!

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By: krissmith777

krissmith777 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:04:31 +0000

@krissmith777: Great liberal minds always think the same, they can judge the outcome. Outcome based decisions ignore principled decisions. Christ on the cross could not see through the grave, a great example of a principled decision!Thank you Michigan for standing on principle. (Quote)

I am not a liberal.

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By: MLB

MLB — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:25:17 +0000

@krissmith777:

Great liberal minds always think the same, they can judge the outcome. Outcome based decisions ignore principled decisions. Christ on the cross could not see through the grave, a great example of a principled decision!
Thank you Michigan for standing on principle.

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By: Bill Weber

Bill Weber — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:35:12 +0000

Kris,

Teaching about evolution is very different from espousing it. That’s what one or more La Sierra professors reportedly are doing, and that’s the crux of the whole discussion here. Theistic evolution is being taught, and La Sierra is permitting it.

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By: krissmith777

krissmith777 — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:59:15 +0000

Great! Removing La Sierra from the list for subsidy will only make a martyr out of the school administration. And that tends to make a cause stronger. The SDA Michican conference is doing more harm to itself than good.

Now, should La Sierra teach Evolution? You bet! Not teaching evolution from an evolutionary perspective leaves many Christians ignorant of what Evolutionary theory is. — And let’s face it! Most SDAs don’t even understand Evolution!

As a SDA (in name only), I think the teaching of Evolution (from the evolutionary perspective, and NOT a Creationist perspective) is actually a good thing because it will show the students WHAT the theory and fact of Evolution say. Not allowing them to learn it is only going to leave them ignorant.

Punishing La Sierra is not a good idea, in short.

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By: Edith Herb

Edith Herb — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:16:41 +0000

Why is it that La Sierra would base their science on the minds of men-(Evolution) and not on the mind of our Creator God? Why believe in God at all? God rules all because He is our Creator. The only reason men are so desparate to believe in Evolution is because they do not want to answer to anyone but themselves. The other thing that disturbs me in the teachings at La Sierra is their teaching on how to interpret the Bible. By allowing as much leeway as possible in interpretation we can become our own authority on truth. Do they think that they are so much more intelligent than our Creator? Just because we don’t have intelligence as high as God and therefore do not understand how God could create our Universe in seven days does not mean that he did not do it. I have seen better arguments for Intelligent Design on websites such as answersingenesis.com than I have ever heard from Evolution. I would never allow my child to attend such an institution-you might as well attend a secular school. In an attempt to undermine our Creator and His Bible, La Sierra is upholding humanism and is no better than a secular college.

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By: Tony Rigden

Tony Rigden — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:52:08 +0000

I praise the Michigan Conference for taking some sort of stand on this issue but ask the question why can they not simply close the college if those running it will not conform to church beliefs. I know with modern labour laws that sacking them could be difficult. However, I wonder why this could not be got around by just closing it?

Looking at the bigger picture, I am sure this sort of thing has been pending for some time since the decision in 1931 (or about) to go for accreditation with Catholic/wordly universities.

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By: Shane Hilde

Shane Hilde — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:29:39 +0000

@Marissa Channer: I don’t think you understand the Michigan Conference action. It doesn’t effect you at all unless your parents are employees of the Michigan Conference, but since your dad is employed at LSU, you have nothing to be concerned about.

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By: Marissa Channer

Marissa Channer — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:19:20 +0000

This is devastating to me and my family. My dad has worked at La Sierra for nearly 20 years. The employee tuition benefits are a benefit that makes up for the low pay the employees receive. We have planned on those benefits to get through college, since my dadâ€™s pay was insufficient for college savings over the years, and now that me and by 2 siblings are finally in college are benefits are to be taken away as a result of the Michigan Committee action.

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By: BobRyan

BobRyan — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 03:37:58 +0000

@David Smith:

If the theory of evolution is true, then the bible is a book of fairy tales. How could anyone trust anything it says?

The bible states that God cannot lie.

no wonder then that 3SG 90-91 calls theistic evolutionism the worst form of infidelity.

in Christ,

Bob

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