You Cannot Drink from the Holy Communion Cup of God on the Lord’s Sabbath and from the Unholy Ecumenical Communion Cup of Babylon on Sunday

Who gets to sit in the stage seats facing the audience during this Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service? Regular guests or VIP leaders? Make no mistake, a person’s role in these ecumenical worship services determines where they sit and why. Pastor William Lee, the “keynote” speaker for this Sunday morning ecumenical worship service, had finished preaching his sermon when he held up his “Holy Communion” cup in the air for all to see. He is a pastor of the First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Huntsville, AL, and in addition to serving as the event’s leading speaker, he was also leading by his example.

On September 16, 2022, we published an article titled “An Adventist Pastor from Huntsville, Alabama, Led a Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service.” On that same day, we received an email from Pastor William Lee from Alabama. Instead of attempting to explain what he wrote to me, we will publish his entire message. Basically, Pastor William Lee was asking us to retract the article because he said that it was “inaccurate and misleading.” Here is the email he sent us:

From: William Lee leewjl@hotmail.com
To: “adventmessengers@gmail.com” <adventmessengers@gmail.com>
Date: Sep 16, 2022, 3:24 PM
Subject: Advent Messenger Article

Good afternoon, Bro. Roman,

I reach out to you in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. I was forwarded an article from Advent Messenger which stated I led a Holy Communion Ecumenical Service Sunday Morning Worship Service. My brother in Christ this is not true. I did not lead a Communion Service. In fact, I had nothing at all to do with the planning of the communion service or any of the events for the Black Nurses Convention. I was asked to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a group of nurses at their national convention. I preached Christ, quoted Spirit of Prophecy all throughout my sermon, and made an appeal to follow Jesus in His truth and way.

Your article, title, and information are misleading and inaccurate. I urge you as a brother in Christ to retract the entire article. This does not represent Christ and the truth we hold dearly as Seventh-day Adventist Christians. Jesus is Coming back soon and we should use our influence and ministry to uplift the 3 angels’ messages.

Bro. Roman I urge you in the Spirit of Christ to use your influence to press together. Ellen White writes, “We are com­ing to a time when, more than ever before, we shall need to press together, to labor unitedly. In union there is strength. In discord and disunion there is only weakness. … In our separation from one another we are separated from Christ. Oh, how many times, when I have seemed to be in the presence of God and holy angels, I have heard the angel voice saying, ‘Press together, press together, press together. Do not let Satan cast his hellish shadow be­tween brethren. Press together; in unity there is strength’.” 2SM 374.

Bro. Roman, if you would like to contact me via phone, I am more than happy to speak with you. If you are looking to put out an accurate article, then please call me. Reply to this email and let’s talk as brothers in Christ so that the Truth of God’s Word may go forth.

Humbly Submitted,
William Lee

The following day, I replied to him with the following:

From: Andy Roman <adventmessengers@gmail.com>
To: William Lee <leewjl@hotmail.com>
Date: Sep 17, 2022, 6:32 AM
Subject: Re: Advent Messenger Article

Dear Dr. Pastor Lee,

Thank you for reaching out. First of all, and most importantly, let me just very briefly address the “article, title and information” which you say is “misleading and inaccurate.”

1- You served as the NBNA’s keynote speaker. In your email, you neglect to mention that. To quote your Facebook post, you described yourself as “the keynote speaker for the National Black Nurses Convention ecumenical service.” But in your email to me, you simply state that you were “asked” to present the gospel. That is a bit misleading and inaccurate. I believe this discrepancy is creating a misunderstanding that shouldn’t exist. I pray it is not intentional, but perhaps there is a difference between your definition of a guest speaker and the NBNA’s definition of a keynote speaker.

Oxford Dictionary: “Keynote speaker: a person who delivers a speech that sets out the central theme of a conference.”

Champion Speakers Agency: “Keynote speaker: A speaker who sets out the central theme of a conference.”

Wikipedia: “A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme.”

So yes, there is a huge difference between a keynote speaker and that of a regular guest speaker (more on this further below).

2 – The term “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service” was used to describe the underlying theme of the event that took place on July 31, 2022, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., an event in which you were the keynote speaker. If you look at the official program flyer for the Sunday, July 31, 2022 ecumenical service, it highlights all those terms. Yes, there was a service. What kind of service? It was a “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service.” That is a fact because those were the central themes of the ecumenical event that started at 8:00 a.m. and finished at 9:30 a.m., and that is how we described it in summary. There is nothing untruthful about summarizing an event that is in accordance with all the available literature from the NBNA.

You preached at a “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service.” And when we described the role you specifically had we expressed the following truthfully:

“Pastor Dr. William J. Lee, Sr. of the First Seventh-day Adventist Church of Huntsville, Alabama, delivered the sermon at this ecumenical worship service on Sunday morning that also included a ‘Holy Communion’ service.”

So in our description of your role, we simply stated the truth. The service you spoke at included as part of its program a Holy Communion service. It’s in the program schedule. Whatever is in the schedule was part of the program, that is, unless you have some documentation that says the Holy Communion took place in the afternoon or on some other day. But you just can’t isolate the Holy Communion from the rest of the ecumenical service and say it wasn’t part of the program. Indeed, you spoke during a “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service.”

You are a preacher, so you of all people know that the word “led” or “lead” in context to a church service can also mean preach. But here is why I didn’t use the word “preach.” I based this on the following:

3 – In the official program for the entire NBNA conference that highlights all the events for the 6-days, on page 5, your name and the church you are pastoring are the only ones listed for the event on Sunday, July 31, 2022, with the time schedule saying 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Nobody else appears there but you. This was the general program that everyone received at registration and was posted online.

4 – On the NBNA’s Facebook post, they describe their ecumenical service, and once again, only your name and the name of your church are listed for this “event.” No one else but you.

There were other speakers and/or preachers, but none of them were listed in the above two official references. Why? Why was the keynote speaker the only one listed in the general program and in the official Facebook post? Why were you the only one, my brother? Because you were the “lead speaker” above everyone else in that ecumenical worship service.

Speakerflow.com states: “What exactly is a keynote speaker? Simply put, a keynote speaker is the lead speaker for an event or a conference.”

You were the leader, and you led, and we simply reported the truth. You may not agree, and that is your right, but it doesn’t change the facts. You may see things differently, but I can assure you, the NBNA and their many affiliates and members, who are posting things online, love their “lead speaker.” And I believe that their Keynote speaker’s feelings are mutual, too.

Blessings and Happy Sabbath
Andy Roman

Pastor William Lee wrote me back, asking for a literal conversation via his Zoom platform. We set up a time for Tuesday evening, September 20, 2022. During the Zoom conversation, Pastor Lee told me that he didn’t have anything to do with the planning or organizing of the event. He said that he agreed with me that the ecumenical movement is dangerous and that we must call people out of Babylon and not participate in these engagements. He also said that he didn’t know what was on the program; he wasn’t aware that there was a Holy Communion service and that he didn’t have anything to do with that or the candlelight prayers for the dead. He simply flew into Chicago, preached the gospel, and then left for home.

I tried to explain to him that one cannot “compartmentalize” or divide into different sections an ecumenical worship service and say that one part is not connected to the other. I told him that the 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. service was one service, not different individual services. I told Pastor William Lee that we as Seventh-day Adventists celebrate “Communion Sabbath,” not “Communion Hour,” which means that the entire program is part of Communion Sabbath. I explained that “Communion Sabbath” doesn’t begin when I take my shoes off and do the foot washing and end when we are done eating the communion supper. No, “Communion Sabbath” encompasses the entire program and includes the Sabbath sermon, the foot washing, the Lord’s Supper, and the fellowship lunch that comes afterward. That is when I told him that he was the keynote speaker for a Holy Communion, ecumenical, Sunday morning worship service, because those were the underlying themes of the event.

Pastor Lee respectfully disagreed and said that he loved the Three Angels’ Messages and that he defends our message and that he will continue calling people out of Babylon. He repeated over and over again that he had nothing to do with selecting the programming, organizing the events, or even knowing what was on the schedule. Pastor Lee told me that he simply attended that conference to preach the gospel and that I needed to “retract the entire article.” He ended the Zoom meeting with prayer, and I told him that I would be reaching out to him in a day or two.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, we exchanged a couple of short emails as I was seeking clarification on some of the points we discussed in our Zoom meeting. During those exchanges, Pastor Lee, for the third time, asked me to “retract” that article titled: “An Adventist Pastor from Huntsville, Alabama, Led a Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service.”

Finally, on Thursday, September 22, 2022 I sent the following letter to Pastor William Lee outlining why the article would not be retracted. The letter stated the following:

Dear Pastor Dr. William J. Lee, Sr.,

I pray you are well upon receiving this communication. You have asked me three times to retract the article we published that says that you “led a Holy Communion ecumenical Sunday morning worship service.” Let me refer you back to your own July 31, 2022 Facebook post that says:

https://www.facebook.com/leewjl/posts/pfbid02iPtnomMQnztR3K1Hhv4RGNxzUFajAo2NyqLkQ5hJsygzugCEaxU5JE7NyZtS3yWcl?__cft__[0]=AZWgqJu4-UOF-JulBng0qBWGsp8_sdP2r8olAN1Qh0V-U3B7QEgXCVBfb1_h4xxdayJD_GQM__BKwuO1yfKcFWhOGPvMWDIaBSdplOHl9UUOKoM2ovcz3GkjUZkEIbg1AGs3cEkw20qh0b4b0J0Mwfzs7tB2t9t3yrhU5To74o5M3ljS3hwZjAQ01fTr-vAS3oE&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

“So today I was the keynote speaker for the National Black Nurses Convention ecumenical service in Chicago, IL! I had a wonderful time! I’m going to miss ya.”

A screenshot of the post before it was removed, immediately following my last communication to Pastor Lee.

As documented in my September 17, 2022 email to you, “a keynote speaker is the lead speaker for an event.” According to your own words, you were the lead speaker at this “ecumenical service in Chicago.” In the same Facebook post, you included pictures of the entire program schedule, that detailed the entire event, including the Holy Communion service. That is what your Facebook post expressed, and that is also the same message that we conveyed on AdventMessenger.org

A screenshot of the Sunday Worship Ecumenical Service program before it was removed, immediately following my last communication to Pastor Lee.

It was you, Pastor William Lee, who used the phrase “keynote speaker” in your Facebook post. It was you who insisted on being identified this way. You had no problem identifying yourself as the lead speaker for this “ecumenical service” on social media. You made certain that you received that credit. You made sure to make it clear that you were the main speaker and not just a guest or a regular speaker, like everyone else who spoke at the event. You did that. Furthermore, that message is still visible on your Facebook page. You haven’t retracted anything.

Then you actively took part in the entire service. As they prayed for the dead and lit candles, you closed your eyes in prayer.

During the Holy Communion service, you held up your communion cup high in front of everyone while seated on the stage. Who occupies the stage seats facing the congregation during the Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service? Guests or leaders? Make no mistake, a person’s role in these ecumenical worship services determines where they sit and why.

And right before Holy Communion, you delivered the “keynote” sermon. That’s why you were seated up on the stage. You say you were completely unaware of the events or activities that were planned for this ecumenical service, but given that you witnessed the “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service” taking shape right in front of your eyes, at some point you had to be made aware of what was happening.

But regardless of what you knew or when you knew it, you still had a choice to make. You still had a decision to perform. You still could have refused. You still could have walked away, or you still could have excused yourself, but you didn’t. Instead, you participated and then posted on your Facebook page the entire “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service” program and expressed that you had a “wonderful time!”

A screenshot of the Sunday Worship Ecumenical Service program before it was removed, immediately following my last communication to Pastor Lee.

Pastor William Lee, I never said or published that you organized this ecumenical service, planned this event, or even approved the final program schedule. You are the one who is raising those points, not me. Furthermore, I’m not disputing what you knew or didn’t know. You expressed to me that you didn’t have a clue about what was going to take place Sunday morning; but surely, after partaking in the Holy Communion Supper – that is, the eating and drinking during that “Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service,” you certainly did know. And you published your approval of the event on Facebook after the Holy Communion service, not before.

The heart of the matter falls entirely on this one point: “Did Pastor William Lee lead in this event that took place on July 31, 2022 in Chicago, or not?”

Either you led or you didn’t. There can be no middle ground. I will let you answer that question. According to your own statement on Facebook, you published that you were the “keynote speaker” (leading speaker) at the “ecumenical service” along with images of the official program schedule that detailed the entire event, including the Holy Communion service. You spoke those words yourself back on July 31, 2022, not me. If you don’t like your own words, then you shouldn’t state them publicly for the whole world to see. But you did like your words. You did enjoy this event, because you ended your Facebook post by saying that you had a “wonderful time!”

A screenshot of the Sunday Worship Ecumenical Service program before it was removed, immediately following my last communication to Pastor Lee.

Therefore, for the reasons stated above, and more specifically, for all the reasons that were outlined, point-by-point, in my first email that I sent to you on September 17, 2022, there is nothing for me to retract. We simply repeated those same underlying themes that you posted on your Facebook page. There is a lot more I could say, but I urge you to read the email I sent you on September 17, 2022, once more.

Respectfully,
Andy Roman

Conclusion

For several years, we have been documenting the global interfaith movement. We follow ecumenism and report on what we see, not what we choose to report. Many times when covering ecumenical activities, we observe Seventh-day Adventist participation. Many times, we do not. However, we report on all important events. And as is obvious, we don’t ignore or turn a blind eye when Seventh-day Adventists participate in these events as well. We merely report what is happening. We don’t single anyone out. In both Bible prophecy and in the Spirit of Prophecy, the ecumenical movement is mentioned, making it an important topic.

 “Satan determines to unite them in one body, and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of Spiritualism … Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world” (Great Controversy, p. 588).

Today, we are seeing an explosion in ecumenical activity and interfaith worship. Basically, the religious world is responding to Rome’s call for the reunification of all the churches issued during Vatican II. The problem is that this movement is telling us to forget the past and to ignore doctrine. Your beliefs are irrelevant because we are all a part of the same large, worldwide family. All the different religions are just different paths to heaven, and since we are all going to heaven anyways, we might as well be together here now.

We are warned in the Bible about Babylon, who will be a great unifying, ecumenical power. She is described as being the mother, signifying that she has daughters (Revelation 17:5). This is the same beast power that the whole world will be wondering after (Revelation 13:3). Also, of Babylon, we are told that all the nations, kings, and merchants of the earth have become drunk on her wine or doctrines. Incidentally, we have been told what doctrines would be used to unite the world:

“Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul, and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience” (Great Controversy, p. 588).

The major problem with what transpired in this ecumenical event in Chicago during the NBNA Conference with Pastor William Lee was that Sunday sacredness, candle-light prayers to the dead, and an interfaith Holy Communion service were on full display. It makes no difference what any of us thinks or feels about this. All that matters to us is what God says. With regards to a Holy Communion Ecumenical Sunday Morning Worship Service, God’s word clearly states:

“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” 1 Corinthians 10:21.

This prohibition has a direct application to the ecumenical movement that is so prevalent today because Babylon has become the dwelling place of “devils” (Revelation 18:2). And when we celebrate Holy Communion on the Lord’s Sabbath and then participate in the Unholy Communion with Babylon on Sunday, we are attempting to do what is morally and biblically impossible. We are demonstrating a divided allegiance and a betrayal of Christ, because it is impossible to be in communion with Christ and with the devil at the same time.

“We should never give sanction to sin by our words or our deeds, our silence or our presence” (Desire of Ages, p. 152).

By participating in these interfaith Sunday celebrations while remaining silent about what God says in His word, we give sanction to their errors. And a significant component of the Three Angels’ Messages is the obligation to demonstrate to the world that Babylon has fallen and that God disapproves of her sins. The sins of Babylon “have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities” (Revelation 18:5). In other words, God will never ignore what too many of our people do.

We are in the time when all the prophecies are reaching their final consummation. We are seeing before our eyes the final development of the Great Apostasy that the Bible warned about. Bowing in appeasement to Babylon is not the solution. It was God Himself who gave us the different depictions of the beast, the image of the beast, and the mark of the beast in the Book of Revelation. God placed them there to be interpreted, and unless the world is awakened and shaken by these powerful depictions of prophecy, nothing else can ever hope to awaken them. Ecumenical soft-pedaling with the beast and its image will not wake anyone up, and taking a gentler, non-threatening approach against Satan will not bring success to our efforts.

“Come out of her My people,” is God’s only and final solution, “that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4). That is the message of Jesus Christ. This is the call that will set men and women free. “Come out,” in order to follow Jesus. It is the devil himself who is afraid of this message. It is the devil who is desperate and nervous because he cannot allow this message to get out because he will lose the souls he has in darkness.

“When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test. At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason.” (Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 136).

What we must disavow and retract is the non-offensive, ecumenical, watered-down, wishy-washy, non-doctrinal, and downplaying of our distinctive Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. We must disavow and retract the popular practice of only focusing on the common points of faith that we have with all the other churches. This is part of Rome’s ecumenical strategy, and many of our pastors and leaders are endorsing this method. However, God instructs us to do the exact opposite. We are told in inspiration that when the world resists and opposes our preaching, this will be proof that we are giving the true message for our time:

“Most startling messages will be borne by men of God’s appointment, messages of a character to warn the people, to arouse them. And while some will be provoked by the warning and led to resist light and evidence, we are to see from this that we are giving the testing message for this time” (Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 137).

“The third angel is represented as flying in the midst of heaven, symbolizing the work of those who proclaim the first, second, and third angel’s messages; all are linked together. The evidences of the abiding, everliving truth of these grand messages that mean so much to us, that have awakened such intense opposition from the religious world, are not extinct. Satan is constantly seeking to cast his hellish shadow about these messages, so that the remnant people of God shall not clearly discern their import—their time and place—but they live, and are to exert their power upon our religious experience while time shall last” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 405).