Advent Messenger: You once said in a public meeting that Seventh-day Adventists could be the greatest argument for atheism. What were the circumstances, and what did you mean when you said that?
Jim Hohnberger: I was invited to speak to all the pastors of a particular union in a foreign country. In our morning session, I was 2 1/2 hours into a 3-hour presentation. And there was barely any response. I had challenged them on many issues, yet they seemed lifeless, indifferent and non-responsive. I didn’t know it at the time, but in that country it was not safe to express a divergent viewpoint from what is considered politically correct. In my discourse, I shared with them that the condition of our marriages and families were not much different than the world or other Protestant denominations. Yes, we were in the right orchard, but our fruit was not good. I shared my concerns about the low-grade of piety that I was witnessing in our churches worldwide. That our retention of believers was very poor. That character needed to be our measure of success and not numbers. Yet, they remained deadpan.
So, just before the question and answer session, I decided to wake them up! To stir their blood! That’s when I said, “The present condition of the individual lives, marriages and families of our denomination is perhaps the greatest argument on behalf of atheism I know – NO POWER! Yes, we have the greatest doctrinal beliefs in all of Protestantism, but no power. John 4:23-24 clearly states that the True Worshipers must worship in SPIRIT and TRUTH. Yes, we have the Truth but are greatly lacking the POWER. Unless we find that power and bring it into our daily lives, marriages and families, we are merely foolish virgins, and foolish virgins are not saved in the end.”
I still stand by those statements today. We must find ONENESS with God and not merely live in our distinctiveness as a church.
Advent Messenger: Health regulations and pandemics have gotten a lot of attention. You told me that there is a way to tell whether or not a movement is from God. What criteria do we use to judge the fruit? What is the mark of Cain, and how does this connect to what we’re seeing?
Jim Hohnberger: Many individuals today are confused over the vaccination versus non-vaccination debate. While I have studied the arguments on both sides, many individuals don’t have the time to accomplish this. So there is another way, a biblical way, of analyzing which side you want to align with. We are told in the Bible that the mark of Cain is that of force, compelling and domination. The devil is a control freak!
On the other hand, God is the author of LIBERTY. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY.” 2 Corinthians 3:17. We are also admonished that, “By their FRUIT you shall know them.” Matthew 7:16, 20. If you do a FRUIT inspection on both sides of this argument, you will find that the one side is riddled with force, domination, control, demands and compelling with no individual liberty.
On the opposite side, it is extremely evident that everyone is given individual liberty, the right to personal choice, and freedom of conscience. This comes from God; the other comes from the powers of darkness.
“Choose you this day whom you will serve.” Joshua 24:15.
Advent Messenger: What are your thoughts about the book the Great Controversy? Is this book a safe and sure template for the future? Or is it time to revise our views about the end-times, as some voices have expressed?
Jim Hohnberger: God always gives fair warning to His people. I personally believe that God has worked in and through His servant E. G. White for our admonition in these last days. I would not be who I am today without the further magnifying glass that God blessed us with through these writings. I encourage all to read all her original books and apply them on a daily basis. Not just the Great Controversy, which I have read four times, but also the Desire of Ages, which I have read six times, but all her other writings as well. Her original works carry the fingerprint of God and will enhance your understanding of Biblical truth, which is the source of all sources and by which we judge everything.
Advent Messenger: Why is there not a single Protestant on the United States Supreme Court? Is this a coincidence, or is this by design? Also, if the government’s institutions have been tampered with and manipulated, would the same forces leave our Adventist institutions alone?
Jim Hohnberger: The Supreme Court today consists of six Roman Catholics and three Jews. The odds that NO PROTESTANT, in a Protestant nation, sits on our Supreme Court is no coincidence! In my opinion, this is by design; it is purposeful and with a deliberate intent.
Perhaps the greatest Protestant historian who has ever lived is J.A. Wylie. In volume 2 of his 3 volume set on the “History of Protestantism,” there are 11 chapters that deal with the infiltration of the Jesuits into every aspect of our lives, including all governments worldwide, worldly corporations and denominations in order to destroy absolute truth and bring us into subjection to a distorted belief system and lifestyle. This is all complete today.
There is a war going on between God and Satan. It is real and I see it in everyday politics on both sides, social media, and, heaven help us, the Supreme Court rulings, as well as, so sad to say, the Christian churches of today, including our own. May everybody be a Berean, as the apostle Paul admonishes, and compare everything with the absolute truth of God’s Word, guided by His Spirit, lest we be caught with our heads in the sand like an ostrich.
Lord bless us with Your optics! Your wisdom and Your courage!!!
Advent Messenger: You once said that Jesus was the loneliest man who walked the face of the earth. Could you explain why this was the case?
Jim Hohnberger: Jesus lived according to God’s Word and God’s Word alone. He sought only to do the will of his Father and always asked the question, “Lord, what would Thou have need to do.” Acts 9:6 (KJV). This challenged the religiosity and religious culture of His day. It is very important to understand that it is “very dangerous” to be right when the majority is wrong. If you don’t believe this, just study the life of Jesus Christ. They didn’t merely hate him because he had the Truth, but because he LIVED it. His life became a rebuke to the nominal religiosity of His day.
Thus, He was misunderstood by His parents, His siblings, His church and all 12 disciples. It is written of Him, “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me.” Isaiah 63:3. Now that’s lonely! So it will be with every true follower of Christ. Just ask Enoch, Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Joseph, Daniel, John the Baptist, Wycliff, Huss, Jerome, Luther, Wesley, and all those who have truly lived for God and God alone.
But I take solace in the fact that we are “Complete IN Him.” Colossians 2:10 If we truly follow Him, we can have and experience empowered contentment, true peace, lasting joy and a life of honest fulfillment, in and through Jesus Christ, our only hope and salvation.
Advent Messenger: What are your feelings on the current ecumenical movement, which teaches us not to focus on truth and to forget about the past while bringing everyone together? What should our perspective be on this movement?
Jim Hohnberger: Oneness with each other can ONLY come from each and every person finding oneness with God first, in and through God’s Word and God’s Spirit. “The TRUE worshipers will worship the Father in SPIRIT and TRUTH.” John 4:23. Please notice how Christ defines a TRUE worshiper, then by inference, there must be false worshipers.
The telltale sign of a true worshiper is a combination of Spirit and Truth. The Spirit is the power of the indwelling Christ that enables us, every moment of every day, to live out God’s Truth. There can be no true unity or oneness without the combination of God’s spirit living in each person, according to His absolute truth. Negate either one and you have a counterfeit movement of pretentious Christianity.
How do I judge? Their lives must give a demonstration of Power and Truth. It will be evident in their individual lives; they will have irresistible marriages and possess well-ordered, well-disciplined and Christ-centered families. That is the First Angel’s Message, a DEMONSTRATION of the power of God that gives glory back to God and God only. Then follows the Second Angel experience, a PROCLAMATION of the absolute truths of God’s infallible and unchangeable truths. This will culminate in a worldwide Third Angel experience of a WARNING of what is soon to come upon the earth. “To the law and to the testimony, If they speak not according to THIS, there is NO light in them.” Isaiah 8:20.
If they don’t measure up to the litmus test, BEWARE of the COUNTERFEIT!
Advent Messenger: Finally, the apostle Peter had this to say concerning the signs of the times: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” 2 Peter 3:11, 12. What relationship is there between the end-times and personal godliness?
Jim Hohnberger: “WHEN the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, THEN He will come to claim them as His” (Christ Object Lessons, p. 69).
“When the fruit is brought forth, immediately He putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Mark 4:29
Upon reading these two statements, God’s Spirit whispers to me that I can either hasten His second coming or prolong it. The “ISSUE” is character! So many people are looking for last-day events.
They are essentially waiting on God, when God is patiently waiting on them. When, then! The issue, the central issue, is character; it always has been and always will be. So start looking in the mirror, then say, “Speak Lord for thy servant heareth.” Surrender all to God, depend fully and completely upon Him and Him alone, and let His love motivate you, rather than reward. If enough of us will cooperate and follow after, we can go home!
Jim Hohnberger is the co-founder of Empowered Living Ministries alongside his wife, Sally Hohnberger, and you can email him at: jim@empoweredlivingministries.org
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Very little discussion was on Ellen G. White. Question: “Do you believe Mrs. White was a prophet?” Perhaps this question could have been presented to Jim Hohnberger. Then perhaps another statement could have been presented to him. Like: “In the time of the end every divine institution is to be restored.” What institution? Which ones are missing? She also mentioned “that there was to be special light for God’s people as they neared the closing scenes of this earth’s history.” And that these new truth will “be old truth in new frame-work.” Something is missing!!! Are we studying Scripture for answers to these questions Ellen White presented to the future laity??? Who’s head in the sand? “We must not for a moment think that there is no more light, no more truth, to be given us.” But E. G. White warned when “old light…in a new frame-work” has come, “Our greatest danger lies in our tendency to refuse increased light…” Guess what, we have!!! Who’s got who’s head in the sand???
“For his church in every generation God has a SPECIAL TRUTH and a SPECIAL WORK” Christ object lessons page 78
Hi Paul. Tell me if I’m wrong but you’re implying that in addition to the Sabbath, the Hebrew feasts will be restored, and that Ellen White is implying that by her statement as well. In Prophets and Kings, page 678 paragraph 2 where she makes that statement you quoted she’s clear she’s referring to the Sabbath. There is no hint in it that she’s referring to the feasts.
The two institution God gave to us in the garden of Eden were the Sabbath and marriage. The two given to us by Christ at his first advent were Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both of these latter institutions were corrupted by the Roman Catholic church but partially restored by the Protestant Reformation. The commission of Adventism is to carry forward these four restorations to completion, for example in teaching the observance of the full Lord’s Supper that includes washing the feet of the brethren, and in upholding the sexual morality of scripture and the sanctity of marriage.
One thing I can say for Hohnberger is that he’s spent much of his life seeking to restore the institution of marriage. That’s in harmony with our commission to carry forward the Protestant Reformation to completion.
Hohnberger is absolutely right that the only way we can become effective channels of the Spirit to do this is by the sanctification of the character by the Spirit.
Brother Mark – It’s interesting, perhaps even telling, that Paul didn’t speak to any particular subject in his comment – simply statements of inspired fact that Sister White made – yet, in your response, you applied his statements to a particular subject which you then proceeded to refute. Perhaps you have a prior knowledge of Brother Paul’s interests and have inferred his intent? Or perhaps you have a keen distaste for the subject of the feasts? Either way, take heed, brother, when refuting a subject matter that God does not call “Hebrew feasts,” but rather “MY feasts” (Lev 23). At a minimum, the council of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin in this matter is advisable.
Sister White did make it clear that she did not have all the light. She quoted her “Guide” (Christ) as stating: “There is much light yet to shine forth from the law of God and the gospel of righteousness. This message, understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the Spirit, will lighten the earth with its glory. The great decisive question is to be brought before all nations, tongues, and peoples. The closing work of the third angel’s message will be attended with a power that will send the rays of the Sun of Righteousness into all the highways and byways of life, and decisions will be made for God.”—Manuscript 15, 1888.
In 1888, the Sabbath issue was well established and understood. Thus, we should be looking, as Brother Paul suggested, for what this “much light” (not a little light) that shines forth from the law and the gospel of righteousness could be. Righteousness is simply doing that which is righteous – this is definable as obedience to God. Again, I advise caution as you consider the following questions, as you may be found fighting against God. Does God give any direct instruction to his people in scripture to keep HIS feasts? Please look it up to confirm. Peruse Exodus 23, Exodus 24, Deuteronomy 16. Note that God’s feasts are statutes (Leviticus 23) and then count how many times He asks his people to keep his statutes, commandments and judgments in Deuteronomy. Remember that Sister White stated clearly that “These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon men in every age as long as time should last.” Consider again what you stated in your position regarding God’s feasts – does your position require you to take a plain statement from scripture that says “Thou shalt keep the feast of…” and interpret it to say “Thou shalt NOT keep the feast of…”?
May we all be praying for wisdom and understanding from heaven.
Thank you Brother Hohnberger for sharing those important points.
Great interview
So was Ellen White a prophet? I though she had been largely discredited?
Bonjour,
Nous lisons dans le livre-Ellen g.white le don de prophétie-chapitre 22,à la question posé,au Tabernacle de Battle-Creek le 2 Octobre 1903 ELLEN white déclara(je ne prétends pas être prophétesse.Alors pourquoi nous arrêter sur ce sujet,seulement tout ce qu’elle à écrit,dit et vu en vision venait de DIEU POINT.
EGWhie is a gift fr Yahweh. Her inspired writings still help us. By beholding we are changed. Lord, lead me to behold thy testimonies.
Thank u Jim n Sally!
A very good article, the points are made very clear, the character is more important than the mission of the church to the lost, Jesus spoke of such loving character with a worldwide effect, “…A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I love you and by this shall all know that you are my disciples when you love one another…” (John 13: 34 and 35)
The question we need to ask ourselves am I better known as a member of The Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) or am I known as Jesus expects me to be known first?
If we are known more as a SDA member than we are described as disciples of Christ, it shows that we do not love each other as Christ loved his disciples and we are indifferent to know how this should be done under The Spirit of God and the majority of the people in our neighbourhood to not know we are disciples of Christ and we have lost our missionary fervour and drive in seeking the lost, the potential repentant sinner. Christ did not say…Set up a public place of worship and invite others to its place…but rather…go into all the world and bring Christ before the people, that Christ can bring the potential repentant sinner to the place of conversion and to be a part of the fold of Christ and to dwell among the fellowship of the saints.
Finally there are two school of thoughts before us which goes like this when it comes to the types of leaders that are chosen to lead out in the church….
(1) Do as I say and not as I do, listen to me, even if I do not listen to you (such are not leaders by example or role models, but like lords over the laity)
(2) Do as I say and do as I do, listen to me, as I am prepared to listen to you (such Leaders are servant leaders, both as examples and role models)
Sadly the traditional church assembly meets the overwhelming amount of time whereby the believers are the greater majority and we meet generally once/week on Sabbaths in a face-to-back/back-face formation, with many people in fewer places and yet on a whole are further apart, most churches especially the larger ones are organised in this manner…1 Pastor/1 church/1 area… where the 1st minister is a member of the clergy and many are educated to the level of a doctorate and for all this manner of meeting and doing church, the net result is always less than 100% net growth of new converts closer to zero % than to 5% upwards and there is hardly the encouragement of the home church in most of our church areas around the world.
Let there be an heaven sent revival and the church shall go full circle and we shall see the restoration of the leadership style with more besides and spiritual good church history will repeat itself again, then the home church will be restored of the church meetings and such will meet on a regular basis of once/week in each others home, which is nearer to where one lives than the traditional public place of worship. many will meet together in addition to the Sabbath meeting and it will be seen that few people shall be in many places and yet on a whole be found closer together. the pastor/area/church ratio will change, pastors will function more like conference presidents and the local elders like the pastors of the church, that we have the following possibility…
…One Team of Pastoral personnel of a group of 2 minimum/3 maximum with a wider area of churches and no minister will be seen at least once/month, with an average of 4/5 churches per individual minister who functions more as the first Missionary in the area, while the elders run the local congregations. The church will not stop here, but delayer minister down even more, each local church will be divided up into areas of North, East West and South (N.E.W.S) to spread the membership out and each regional area will be divided yet further into 4 smaller groups, which will have home churches, where face to face warming socialisation will be the premium and will meet up to critical mass, then will divide the fully grown group into smaller groups and appoint new areas and homes to spread out the wider minister, no special trained clergy will be leading in these home churches, but those directly chosen by The Spirit of God through the meeting of the fellowship groups and much much more besides.
The net results of such meetings/organisations is that each group grows much faster as groups as they spread out, swell with potential converts, shrink when critical mass is reached, create more cell/seed like groups and will grow faster by groups than the individual church will grow by individual members, with the net result of all the churches operations and needed changes due to numerical growth as a minimum of 100% net growth of all losses and this is the positive effect of The Love of Christ manifested among the revived church who learn, remain and encourage the loving atmosphere of Jesus which he had with His disciples and they learned to live according to such a love after receiving the out pouring of The Spirit of God.
To conclude, may this vision of the church, if not better come to pass much sooner than a little later, may Seventh Day Adventist be the fore3most to lift up Christ before the world, knowing the following statement by our sister E G White…
” There is nothing that will help the spiritual life as the study of the life of Christ ”
(See The Review and Herald January 6, 1910 paragraph 4 (Ellen G. White) (39%)
Thanks Jim, I have just got my new book printed, It is free to download on http://www.brothertorben.com
tHe title is Kadesh- In the midst between pagan spiritualism and Christian fundamentalism. I believe you will inspired by the thoughts in that book. God Bless you
I’ve clicked on it but it won’t let me in!😢