La Sierra has not addressed the core issue – they …

Comment on Students and alumni sing LSU’s praises by Jonathan Taylor.

La Sierra has not addressed the core issue – they just want to say that they are “nice people.” That’s not the point, and I think they are missing it willfully.

Jonathan Taylor Also Commented

Students and alumni sing LSU’s praises
I have to say, I’ve been reading these threads and the ones on Spectrum over and over for the past few days trying to get my head around what’s going on. I can’t help but tremble for the church – I feel as if the university wants to destroy Adventism from its core and reduce all of Christianity to a heap of rubbish.

There is lots of appeal to charity or “science” but very little to the reality of the truth as it is found in Jesus Christ. Where is the cross in what we see coming out of LSU’s current and former president? Where is the cross in the inaction of the Pacific Union?

Where is the cross of Christ being lifted high at La Sierra? Thirteen baptisms out of 1,800+ students is okay, but what are they being baptized into? What is the message? Will LSU train future leaders of our church? If so, where are we going? What about our other universities – are they on a similar track?

It is time for the people of God to stand up and be counted. If we can’t do it now – when will we?


Students and alumni sing LSU’s praises
On a spiritual note, we as Seventh-day Adventists have been living in the drought of Laodicea for many years. We have been satisfied. But now as we see the world around us, we can sense that Jesus is coming soon and we long to get back to the root of that message of hope.

Could it be that the schism that is developing from this will drive students of God’s word back to the Bible and prepare them for the latter rain?

Those who have taken this stand for God are the forerunners – crying out the Three Angels’ messages with truth and power. “Worship Him who made heaven and earth!” That is really the core message of what EducateTruth.com is all about.

It is feeding water to the Riverside desert – giving life to a new generation who will stand up for God. I believe with all my heart that God’s patience is running out for those who will create a new “god” in their own view. God is calling on those whose hearts are being touched by this controversy to draw closer to Him and to prepare themselves and their families for the trials of the end days.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that this is just the beginning of the sorrows that will culminate in the Time of Trouble. We are going to see brother turn against brother, and even though words will be the weapons used, the effects are going to be drastic.

But we worship a God who is all-powerful. He created the world in one literal week through the power of His word. He will use that power to resurrect the dead and to build a new earth. There is no limit to Him.

He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Revelation 14:7

This is the object of our worship – not some being made in the image of man. God is God, and we are not. Let us worship Him together for His power, His mercy, and His love!


Recent Comments by Jonathan Taylor

Panda’s Thumb: ‘SDAs are split over evolution’
Belief in creation is a statement of faith. The main problem at LSU is not that they taught about evolution but that they have systematically through their religion and science departments torn away at the fundamental beliefs of the church by minimizing Creationism.

What we see here from Ervin Taylor, Professor Kent and a few others is essentially the same approach that has been used by professors in the Biology and Religion departments. They mock traditional Adventism and make it genuinely difficult for students who wish to hold to the beliefs of the church based on faith rather than secular science.


Panda’s Thumb: ‘SDAs are split over evolution’
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has long believed in a literal creation week as a fundamental belief. Ellen White discussed this extensively. It is supported throughout the Bible. While there is certainly room for freedom of belief in this arena, the church also has the freedom to make sure that those in its employ do not undermine this belief.

Why those who would seek to do so continue to insist on working within the Adventist Church is a mystery. Even if the belief is not supported, etc., it is the belief of the church. So why not go teach somewhere else?

There is a strange habit of those who lose their interest in the beliefs of the Adventist Church to hang around as detractors. Whereas in other churches, those who no longer practice the belief find more amicable climes.

If you do not like the teachings of the church, and the church remains unyielding to your protestations, then your alternative is to leave the church.


Panda’s Thumb: ‘SDAs are split over evolution’
I would like to hear a statement of faith in the second coming from one Adventist evolutionist.

So far it seems that they are cultural Christians who are actually agnostic or atheistic.

I get what Pitman is saying, and it’s not “Pitman’s Way or the Highway.” It’s what God has revealed through the Bible that Pitman supports. Do you believe that God can create something out of nothing and will do so in the future? Do you believe that God did create with the power of His Word?

If not, I respect your right to believe as you do, but do not see significant value to your theological positions.


Panda’s Thumb: ‘SDAs are split over evolution’
The following is from the book Christian Education. It is long so I’ve shortened it a bit but you can find the entire article at http://www.ellenwhite.org

I’ve posted this not for the purpose of trying to convince skeptics of literal creation for they will never be convinced unless the Holy Spirit works upon their hearts, but rather for the purpose of encouraging those who are on the narrow path to remain true to their faith and to their God.

——

God has permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world, in both science and art; but when professedly scientific men treat upon these subjects from a merely human point of view, they will assuredly come to wrong conclusions. It may be innocent to speculate beyond what God’s word has revealed, if our theories do not contradict facts found in the Scriptures; but those who leave the word of God, and seek to account for his created works upon scientific principles, are drifting, without chart or compass, upon an unknown ocean. The greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God in their research, become bewildered in their attempts to trace the relations of science and revelation. Because the Creator and his works are so far beyond their comprehension that they are unable to explain them by natural laws, they regard Bible history as unreliable. Those who doubt the reliability of the records of the Old and New Testaments, will be led to go a step farther, and doubt the existence of God; and then, having lost their anchor, they are left to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity. {CE 193.2}

These persons have lost the simplicity of faith. There should be a settled belief in the divine authority of God’s holy word. The Bible is not to be tested by men’s ideas of science. Human knowledge is an unreliable guide. Skeptics who read the Bible for the sake of caviling, may, through an imperfect comprehension of either science or revelation, claim to find contradictions between them; but rightly understood, they are in perfect harmony. Moses wrote under the guidance of the Spirit of God; and a correct theory of geology will never claim discoveries that cannot be reconciled with his statements. All truth, whether in nature or in revelation, is consistent with itself in all its manifestations. {CE 193.3}

[edited for length of quotes]


Panda’s Thumb: ‘SDAs are split over evolution’
“We are in the business of saving sinners, not proving creation!”

Professor Kent – The entire plan of salvation revolves around the concept of a paradise lost, with God redeeming His Creation. If He is not all powerful, then how does God have the power to save?

I fear that at the root of this Creation question is the question of who God in fact is. Does God have the power to save? Does God have the power to create a New Earth? Is Jesus coming again? Is the resurrection really possible? (Try proving resurrection from scientific literature – it’s not possible!)

I have yet to hear an Adventist evolutionist proclaim the mighty power of God, practice evangelism, or talk with conviction about the miracles of God. I have yet to hear them speak of the soon coming of Christ. Instead they speak in vague generalities about being “good people” who are “godly” but speak with very little conviction of any Biblical truths.

Those who promote evolution in our schools may be “good people” but they have little regard for assertions of Biblical truth. They cringe at the phrase, “Thus saith the Lord.” They call themselves “emergent” and want to be “relevant” but God has not called us to relevance – He called us to preach the Gospel.

We are a church that is based on the Three Angels Messages, and those who insist that our institutions preach contrary to these messages are ultimately going to be on the wrong side of history. They will either have to be shaken out or leave of their own accord.

Revelation 14:7 – Angel 1
“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Angel 2 –
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

Angel 3 – If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.”

It’s not “relevant” to most of the world, but it’s the truth.

Stand firm!!!!! Don’t give up the fight!!!!!