Scripture is to be the supreme authority for Seventh-day Adventists. We reject the idea of elevating the teachings of fallible man to the same level as God’s word. Whenever Protestants and Catholics added to the Bible, misinterpreted God’s word, or exalted man-made traditions, we used to disagree with them. However, it appears that we are equally guilty of doing the same, thanks to sixty years of ecumenism.
#Lent, which begins today, is an occasion for conversion and internal renewal through listening to the Word of God, caring for brothers and sisters who need our help, and prayer, especially to obtain the grace of peace in the world.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) February 14, 2024
Ash Wednesday fell on February 14, 2024, which was also the first day of Lent. La Sierra University Church’s female pastor of discipleship and nurture, Raewyn Orlich, announced on the church’s website on February 14 that they would be observing the 40 Days of Lent, including Ash Wednesday.
The Adventist university church published the following:
• “This Valentine’s Day is also Ash Wednesday. It’s a day when many Christians from different traditions around the world will attend a service and receive ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. The person administering the ashes may say, ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,’ or ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel’.” [1]
• “Today reminds us of our inherent mortality. We are dust.” [1]
• “Today reminds us of our brokenness. We are in need of repenting, or literally, ‘turning’.” [1]
• “Today reminds us that we are in need of some good news, a life-giving word from God.” [1]
• “Over the next 40 days, during Lent, leading us through to four days with Jesus, community members will be sharing personal stories of when a word from God helped them go on.” [1]
• “This may have come in the form of a Scripture. But God also speaks through the lyrics of songs, poems, the words that come from a friend or mentor. And sometimes, we hear a word or a phrase in our heart that feels like it comes as a gift from outside of ourselves.” [1]
• “The Church landed on fasting for 40 days before Easter because of the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism.” [1]
We are loved with eternal love. We are ashes onto which God has breathed His life, earth shaped by His hands, dust from which we shall rise for an everlasting life. #AshWednesday https://t.co/1aM47ff5iJ
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) February 14, 2024
Regrettably, Adventists are commemorating Ash Wednesday, a Roman Catholic feast day and a man-made festival. [2] There isn’t a single word or hint concerning Ash Wednesday in the entire Bible. These celebrations are on an equal level with Sunday keeping, the immortality of the soul, and papal supremacy because Ash Wednesday is associated with Easter Sunday in Roman Catholic tradition.
Ash Wednesday, according to Catholic theology, is the first day that marks the beginning of Lent and takes place six and a half weeks before Easter Sunday. It is a celebration to prepare people for Easter Sunday. [2] Seventh-day Adventist churches are now submitting to these human traditions. We call out the other churches that teach Sunday sacredness and accuse them of embracing tradition. However, we are doing the same while claiming to defend the Holy Scriptures. We say we are the “People of the Book.” Which book? The Holy Bible or the Catholic Catechism?
Rome’s propaganda is being celebrated and pushed upon our people while far too many of our pastors and other leaders are sound asleep or remain silent. Roman Catholicism has no place in any of our churches. We cannot tell churches to stop keeping Sunday holy when our own people observe Ash Wednesday and Lent. Promoting Romanism only helps to heal her deadly wound.
We should be horrified when Catholic doctrine is introduced into Adventism. Why is this allowed to go on unchecked? Human teachings are a distraction from God’s true mission for us at this time in history, which is to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages to the entire world. Ultimately, the Holy Scriptures are being replaced by Catholic traditions.
“But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines, and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority,—not one or all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord’ in its support’.” (Great Controversy, p. 595).
Sources
[1] https://lasierra.church/40day1/
[2] https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent
0
0
0
“La Sierra University Church’s female pastor of discipleship and nurture, Raewyn Orlich”.
1) According to scripture, there is no such thing as a “female pastor”. This is a counterfeit, a deception, which is the first thing Christ warned his disciples about in Mat 24.
2) Any practice originating from Rome is guaranteed to be a decption. Whenever Rome takes a position on any practice, topic, doctrine, or belief, you can rest assured it will be on the wrong side of scripture.
If we desire to understand the determined cruelty of Satan, manifested for hundreds of years, not among those who never heard of God, but in the very heart and throughout the extent of Christendom, we have only to look at the history of Romanism. Through this mammoth system of deception the prince of evil achieves his purpose of bringing dishonor to God and wretchedness to man. {GC 570}
During the 1980 General Conference session, the SDA church made the Trinity a fundamental belief, and by that act, abandoned the firm foundation laid by the SDA Pioners. The Trinity is a Roman Catholic doctrine that, like LENT, has NO PLACE. in Scripture. There’s no SDA Trinity and RCC Trinity. There’s one Trinity, no matter how many ex-Protestants denominations, to include the SDA church, want to give that pagan doctrine different flavors. It is a child of the papacy, so really, those that worship such a pagan monstrosity are sadly, in no better shape than the “pastor” of La Sierra University. How very sad!!!
KJV Psalms 119:126
126 It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
KJV Psalms 119:126-136
126 It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.
129 Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
131 I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.
135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.
136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
David was greatly tried in his day in seeing men pouring contempt upon God’s law. Men threw off restraint, and depravity was the result. The law of God had become a dead letter to those whom God had created. Men refused to receive the holy precepts as the rule of their life. Wickedness was so great that David feared lest God’s forbearance should cease, and he sent up a heart-felt prayer to heaven, saying, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” 3BC 1152.8
If David thought in his day that men had exceeded the limits of God’s mercy, and that God would work to vindicate the honor of His law, and bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end, then what influence should the widespread iniquity of our day have upon those who love and fear God? When there is widespread disobedience, when iniquity is increasing to a swelling tide, will the professed Christian world be evil with the evil, unrighteous with the unrighteous? Shall we place our influence on the side of the great apostate, and shall universal scorn be heaped upon God’s law, the great standard of righteousness? Shall we be swept away by the strong tide of transgression and apostasy? Or shall the righteous search the Scriptures, and know for themselves the conditions upon which the salvation of their souls depend? Those who make the Word of God the man of their counsel will esteem the law of God, and their appreciation of it will rise in proportion as it is set aside and despised. Loyal subjects of Christ’s kingdom will re-echo the words of David and say, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” This is the position those will occupy who love God sincerely and their neighbors as themselves. They will exalt the commandments in proportion as contempt increases (Undated Manuscript 145). 3BC 1152.9
When David in his day saw the departing from the law of God, he expected that a manifestation of divine displeasure would be seen. He looked for the Lord to show forth His righteous indignation. “It is time for thee, Lord, to work,” he exclaimed, “for they have made void thy law.” He supposed that in their lawlessness men had exceeded the bounds of God’s forbearance, and that the Lord would not longer restrain Himself (MS 15, 1906). 3BC 1153.1
Where Will the Church Stand?—It is possible for men to go so far in wickedness, under continual remonstrance, that God sees that He must arise and vindicate His honor. Thus it is at the present period of this earth’s history. Crime of every degree is becoming more and more strikingly manifest. The earth is filled with violence of men against their fellow-men. 3BC 1153.2
What position will the church take? Will those who in the past have had respect for the law of God, be drawn into the current of evil? Will the almost universal transgression and contempt of the law of God, darken the spiritual atmosphere of the souls of all alike? Will the disrespect of the law of God sweep away the protecting barriers? Because wickedness and lawlessness prevail, is the law of God to be less highly esteemed? Because it is made void by the great majority of those living on the earth, shall the few loyal ones become like all the disloyal, and act as the wicked act? Shall they not rather offer up the prayer of David, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law” (Manuscript 15, 1906)? 3BC 1153.3
130. See EGW comment on Psalm 19. 3BC 1153.4
165. In Harmony With Heaven—There is no peace in unrighteousness; the wicked are at war with God. But he who receives the righteousness of the law in Christ, is in harmony with heaven (Letter 96, 1896). 3BC 1153.5
Obedience Leads to Peace—Each law of God is an enactment of mercy, love, and saving power. These laws, obeyed, are our life, our salvation, our happiness, our peace [Psalm 119:165 quoted] (Letter 112, 1902). 3BC 1153.6
Satan is not asleep; he is wide awake to make of no effect the sure word of prophecy. With skill and deceptive power he is working to counterwork the expressed will of God, made plain in His word. For years Satan has been gaining control of human minds through subtle sophistries that he has devised to take the place of the truth. In this time of peril, rightdoers, in the fear of God, will glorify His name by repeating the words of David: “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.” Psalm 119:126.608 CCh 342.5
We as a people profess to have truth in advance of every other people upon the earth. Then our life and character should be in harmony with such a faith. The day is just upon us when the righteous shall be bound like precious grain in bundles for the heavenly garner, while the wicked are, like the tares, gathered for the fires of the last great day. But the wheat and tares “grow together until the harvest.” CCh 343.1
Satan Making his Last Effort for the Mastery—The world is in copartnership with the professed Christian churches in making void the law of Jehovah. God’s law is set aside, it is trampled underfoot; and from all the loyal people of God, the prayer will ascend to heaven, “It is time, for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law” (Psalm 119:126). Satan is making his last and most powerful effort for the mastery, his last conflict against the principles of God’s law. A defiant infidelity abounds. 3SM 424.3
Ministers and people need the converting power of grace before they will be able to stand in the day of the Lord. The world is fast approaching that point in iniquity and human depravity when God’s interference will become necessary. And at that time His professed followers should be more marked for their fidelity to His holy law. Their prayer will be as that of David: “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.” And by their conduct they will say: “Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” The very contempt that is shown to the law of God is sufficient reason why His commandment-keeping people should come to the front and show their esteem and reverence for His downtrodden law. 5T 135.4
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” The very atmosphere is polluted with sin. Soon God’s people will be tested by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal. Instead of being strengthened and confirmed by opposition, threats, and abuse, they will cowardly take the side of the opposers. The promise is: “Them that honor Me I will honor.” Shall we be less firmly attached to God’s law because the world at large have attempted to make it void? 5T 136.1
This subject is urging itself upon my mind. Consider it; for it is a matter of vast importance. With which of these two classes shall we identify our interest? We are now making our choice, and we shall soon discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Read the fourth chapter of Malachi, and think about it seriously. The day of God is right upon us. The world has converted the church. Both are in harmony, and are acting upon a short-sighted policy. Protestants will work upon the rulers of the land to make laws to restore the lost ascendency of the man of sin, who sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. The Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the State. This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin. The protest of Bible truth will be no longer tolerated by those who have made not the law of God their rule of life. Then will the voice be heard from the graves of martyrs, represented by the souls which John saw slain for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ which they held; then the prayer will ascend from every true child of God, “It is time, Lord, for thee to work: for they have made void thy law.” – GCB January 1, 1900
If David thus marked the depravity of his time, and attributed it to the neglect of keeping the law of God, may we not interpret the increasing depravity, and the prevalence of iniquity in our world today, to the universal scorn shown for God’s law? From generation to generation, from age to age, there has been a growing disrespect and contempt for the law of Jehovah. And when we come to our time, as we near the close of this world’s history, there is a depravity existing everywhere, which reveals the fact that the law of God is made void, and that there is not in the minds and hearts of the people a yearning desire that God should reveal himself. “It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law.”
What should be the attitude of the people of God at the present time? We see this growing contempt for the law of God revealed everywhere; and the outlook for the future is perilous for those who love that law, for they stand in marked contrast to those who are showing it such contempt. The secular and the Christian world seem to have joined hands in this matter, and all are trampling under foot the law of Jehovah.
The law of God, so defamed and trampled upon by transgressors, is declared by Paul to be holy, just, and good. David prayed, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law.” If David could make that prayer in his day, how much more should it be our prayer in our day! We see on every hand that the law is trampled under unholy feet. There was never a time when we needed to walk more carefully in the path of righteousness, nor to pray more earnestly, than at the present time. The same spirit of prejudice exists now against the commandments of God that existed when Christ was upon the earth; and if we think that we can keep the commandments without exciting the malice of Satan, we mistake; but we shall never have to suffer one-hundredth part of what our Redeemer suffered. – ST May 27, 1889
Rome never changes. Her principles have not altered in the least. She has not lessened the breach between herself and Protestants; they have done all the advancing. But what does this argue for the Protestantism of this day? It is the rejection of Bible truth which makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy. – ST February 19, 1894
Truly horrifying! It’s truly time for “sighing and crying” for the abominations done in the SDA Church!
Sure not the La Sierra College I attended.
La Sierra University church has been a big supporter of women pastors, the LGBTQI agenda and now Catholic doctrines. What is happening? This is not Adventism.
What does Pr. Ted Wilson does about this?
What we are witnessing today is the manifestation of Jesuit infiltration of the SDA Church by the Jesuits. Majority of Seventh day Adventists are still asleep while the enemy of souls is at work. We have witnessed the SDA leadership engaging and working closer in harmony with the Man of Sin, and participating in the major ecumenical meetings which will bring all the fallen churches under the banner of Rome. The General Conference leadership mainly led by Pastor Ted Wilson (President) and the Religious Liberty leader Ganoune Dioup are working together with Pope Francis and unfortunately many of our brethren are placing their hopes upon these leaders who have sold their souls to the enemy. ” It’s very sad?” In the book of selected messages vol .1, pg 204. Sister White writes about how the pioneers of Seventh Day Adventists spent nights reading and praying daily for God to reveal the truth about the scriptures they were noble to their course, she goes ahead and mentions the names of the pioneers such as James White, Joseph Bates, Elder pierson, Hiram Edson and others e.t.c. They spent sleepless nights to read and pray to God inorder for them to understand the divine scriptures and whenever they could not understand a certain verse the messenger of God was carried into the vision to reveal the truth. This is how our foundation of Seventh day Adventist was laid. Later on, she writes and says the foundation of our faith will be overthrown and pillars of our faith will be discarded which for the last 50 years stood as the firm cornerstone of our faith. She goes ahead and says the books of new order will be written and new organization will be formed and our pillars of faith will be disregarded.In 1903, the office of General conference was introduced and it was contrary to the inspiration , Ellen White had proposed for rotational chairmanship ,but the General conference leadership under Arthur G.Daniels (jesuit) established the office of the General conference and books of the new order were introduced such as the ”Living Temple” by John Harvey Kellog in 1903 the book contains alpha heresies and apostacies just like the way Mrs.White had predicted. Many Jesuits were introduced into the SDA Church and they were baptized and learnt the SDA theology this is after Ellen White predicted that great changes will occur after her death. Men who introduced SDA Church in the apostacy like A.G.Daniels, Charles H. Watson, M.E.Kern, F.M. Wilcox, E.M . Palmer and Le Roy Froom these men were Jesuits who introduced the trinity doctrine in the SDA church this was after the death of the last pioneer John Loughborough in 1924. Seven years after his death 1931, the trinity doctrine was introduced until uptodate our pillars of our faith were completely changed and published the book question on doctrines which was published in 1957 by Le Roy Froom in conjuction with evangelicals Donald Barnhouse,Walter Martin, T.E. Unruh. The book was published inorder to march the SDA church with protestant and Evangelical churches so that it cannot be labelled as a ”cult”. The same year 1957, the SDA church joined Christian World Council (CWC) Note cwc is sister to World Council of Churches (WCC).This is how apostacy crept into the church . From that moment the independent ministries churches seperated from apostate SDA Church and grew in large numbers. Sister White has adviced us to form independent ministries away from SDA Church.
Friend, you would do well to read the latest book by Dr Steve Daily on EG White – the psychobiography. It completely changed my view about her and all of her writings.