Re: Steve Billiter:Can somebody please clue me in as to …

Comment on Are LSU professors breaking the 8th commandment? by Pastor Wendell Downs.

Re: Steve Billiter:Can somebody please clue me in as to what the chain of command is here? Somewhere in the SDA church’s authority structure must be leaders who do not have the courage to take action.

There is a chain of command. The Union is ultimately responsible for its own university(/ies). If the Union is recalcitrant, the North American Division may take the Union to task, and ultimately the General Conference needs to hold the NAD on track. With this type of structure, there really is no reason that the denomination cannot hold on to its universities, unlike in Battle Creek days, unless, of course, they no longer care enough to fight.
May God help us!

Recent Comments by Pastor Wendell Downs

Private: [Updated] Walter Veith visits La Sierra
Back to the subject – I have listened to many of Dr. Veith’s lectures both via the media and also in person. I have also had the privilege of visiting with him in person. I find him to be humble, quiet, but extremely articulate, and he (in my opinion) manifests the fruits of the Spirit. Just because he holds views that I might not agree with does not make him bad or dangerous. It does, however, cause me to re-examine my opinion view points especially noting the foundation on which I build my faith.


Ted Wilson: “We will not flinch. We will not be deterred.”
Re: Ken’s question
Why would God make it so complicated if He wanted his children to understand his meaning? Perhaps it was not God that made it complicated but fallible man.
So as an agnostic I ask, why is one interpretation of the Bible more correct than others? Is it simply a matter of faith, versus science that provides an objective lens to view the nature of reality?

Being an agnostic is not the same as being an atheist. “Agnostic” simply means “one cannot know”. But there is hope that someday one may know.

Atheism, of course, denies the existence of either a good God or a bad devil. Judging from the pervasiveness and virulence of the evil which has (presumably) evolved along with humanity, how any Darwinist could possibly think that humanity could survive its own evil nature for millions of years is beyond my comprehension. Holocausts, pogroms, and genocides, as well as world conflicts, seem to be the rule rather than the exception when it comes to the known human history of just the last 4,000 years. It also seems to my mind that only the Bible presents humanity with any hope at all for the future, with a decisive judgment day promised which will end all evil and restore what was lost in the fall of man.

Now to your question, perhaps it would help us if we would consider that the Bible has been written and preserved under less than ideal conditions by any count. God (assuming for the moment, that there is a loving and all powerful Heavenly Father) has had to reach past not only the individually rebellious heart, but He has also had to circumvent spiritual wickedness in high places, i.e. a literal devil, who was/is determined to squelch any divine intrusion into the human fallen condition.

As an example of God’s reaching in, honing in on the contextual area you mentioned (2300 days) just a few chapters later the angel instructs Daniel to “Shut up the words and seal the book,” and that “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (NKJV) If indeed the Bible, or at least the prophetic part of it, was written in coded language in such a way that would cause “the wicked” to not understand, it is important that every inquiring person come with a heart desiring to believe rather than a distrusting presupposition. Otherwise, he or she may indeed miss the true import of what is being studied. Just as I am dependent on believing my parents’ version of my birth story, God places humanity in a dependent role when it comes to origins. He could just as easily have made man on the first day rather than the sixth so that there would be no possible questions. But He did not.


Dr. Geraty clarifies his “Challenge” to literal 6-day creationism
“Hold fast the pattern of sound words…” 2 Tim. 1:13
“This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away…” 2 Tim. 1:15
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 2:1
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” 2 Tim. 2:3
“…the word of God is not chained.” 2 Tim. 2:9
“Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.” 2 Tim. 2:14
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings,for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like a cancer…” 2 Tim. 2:15-17
“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2 Tim. 2:19
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Tim. 2:20, 21

The battle for truth is not new, and is not over.
The foundation is this: “for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” This foundation has never changed.
(All texts quoted from NKJV)

The question that must be settled is, “Who, among Seventh-day Adventist teachers–(and pastors too, eventually, if this same history of the battle over creation which was fought in other denominations in the past is any indication of the future of that same battle in the Seventh-day Adventist Church)–who, will be allowed to build on that foundation, and with what kind of material will they be allowed to build?”

We must also remember Paul’s analogy of kinds of vessels used “in a great house”, realizing that some vessels will inevitably be used, by God, for unpleasant yet necessary purposes. Perhaps this will be God’s way of demonstrating, to the world and to the onlooking universe, which people are on which side of the Great Controversy.

The answer, first of all, is still P-r-a-y-e-r! But it is a prayer like Nehemiah’s prayer which also produced plans and actions which accomplished the building of the wall in extremely difficult times.

Keep at the work, Sean.

Pastor Wendell Downs


Video show LSU undermining church doctrine

Pastor Paulsen,…Why are there not hundreds or even thousands of other SDA pastors contributing to this website?[edit]I would appreciate your opinion.  

We pastors who live farther away from the centers of education must rely on those more closely connected to research and verify the truth, in this case, the truth of what is happening at LSU. That is why the work of EDUCATE TRUTH has been so crucial and helpful. It is dangerous and wrong for me as a pastor to hurry off and report things to my congregations that have not yet been verified. When substantial evidence is forthcoming (which it now has begun to be), I can then move forward with my part. It has never been my position to expect others to somehow accept my comments just because I am a pastor.

The La Sierra Board of Trustees are the most accountable for what is happening and they have it in their power to put a stop to this immediately. Tomorrow is not too soon. Did they vote to stop it immediately?

By the way, how DID the vote turn out? I was praying for the Board of Trustees all that day. I believe that while it is important to do the work of exposing error, it is also equally important to ask the Lord for His help in this battle.