There used to be a page on the SDA general conference website that said something to the effect of “There are generally about 25 officers of the executive committee” (Not actually a quote, just from memory). I can no longer find such a statement, so let’s just look at the officers list:

Erton C. Köhler: President, General Conference (took office July 4, 2025)
Thomas L. Lemon: General Vice President
Audrey E. Andersson: General Vice President
Pierre E. Omeler: General Vice President
Artur A. Stele: General Vice President
Saw Samuel: General Vice President
Leonard A. Johnson: General Vice President
Robert Osei-Bonsu: General Vice President
Richard E. McEdward: Secretary
Hensley M. Moorooven: Undersecretary
Gerson P. Santos: Associate Secretary
Selom Kwasi Sessou: Associate Secretary
Alexander Ott: Associate Secretary
Gary D. Krause: Associate Secretary, Adventist Mission
Elbert Kuhn: Associate Secretary, Adventist Volunteer Service
Karen J. Porter: Associate Secretary, IPRS
Paul H. Douglas: Treasurer
J. Raymond Wahlen II: Undertreasurer
Sabrina C. DeSouza: Associate Treasurer
Josue Pierre: Associate Treasurer
Timothy H. Aka: Associate Treasurer
German A. Lust: Associate Treasurer
Richard T. Stephenson: Associate Treasurer
Gideon M. Mutero: Associate Treasurer

Go ahead, count them… 24, which is “about 25.”

Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were **ABOUT** five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

Amen brother.
“Wherefore Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch not the unclean thing; And I will receive you,”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬
Question: why do you say 40 women weeping for Tammuz?
“Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭8‬:‭14‬ ‭KJV‬‬
About the 25 elders prophecy, please share your views, thx.

If you want to oppose the ecumenical behavior, then you must confront the root of the problem – The points of doctrine held in common. This was quoted in the article:

“There has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed—however important they might be from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived” (Great Controversy, p. 444).

Did anyone else notice that the growing ecumenical sentiment is BASED UPON COMMON POINTS OF DOCTRINE? In this yearly display of interfaith union in which SDA’s so heartily engage, what is the common point of doctrine? How can such an obvious point be overlooked, if not because of a desire to at least partially shield the beloved christmas holy day.

If you’re tired of burning your pinky toe every year, then put away the toxic Band-Aids, and simply stop walking on hot coals! As my brother in Christ, Pete W. articulated above, it’s time to realize that if you speak like a Babylonian (“Merry christmas everyone”), eat the dainties of the Babylonians, and partake of Babylonian celebrations, then you are, without controversy, a Babylonian in the eyes of God. Don’t miss out on heaven for the sake of your favorite feel-good un-holy-day.

HOWEVER, the issue doesn’t stop with simply forsaking the Babylonian Christ-mass holiday. Holidays are all an invention of Satan which were designed to fill a need that God knows we have – to pause and celebrate as his separate, peculiar people. Satan doesn’t want us to celebrate as children of the living God, so he fabricated replacement times for celebration which only serve to satisfy the appetite. This system of fabricated holidays rooted in paganism was already in place when God gave his law to his servant Moses.

God’s specified times of celebration are of the opposite character. They are times where He commands his people to come together for the purpose of looking forward (in the past) or remembering (in the present) the first coming of the Redeemer. They are also designed to remind God’s people of the second coming of the Redeemer when he will reward each according to their deeds. They also show forth the plan of salvation in type. Think carefully about this… because your eternal life depends upon it: When Christ returns, do you want him to find you and your loved ones gathered around the phallic symbol in your living room (the christmas tree… look it up), trimming it with ornaments and lights which at best represent the worship of the celestial bodies? Would it not rather be more desirable to be found observing the direct commandment of God to honor his holy days and consecrating your life to his service by your obedience?

Brother Samuel commented above referencing Leviticus 23:3 where the Sabbath is identified as an Holy Convocation. But please be careful not to ignore the context found in the rest of the chapter where not only is the seventh-day Sabbath referenced as a holy convocation, but other times are also identified with specificity. Levitcus 23:2 says:

“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.”

The statement from the mouth of Jehovah is clear. He has feasts that belong to Him (feasts is plural). He commands his people to proclaim them as holy convocations (holy convocations is plural). The first is the seventh-day Sabbath, then He proceeds to describe each of the remaining holy convocations that his people are to keep and proclaim – for ever.

This is a rich subject that fills the mind with a deeper appreciation for the beauty of holiness. I have been studying it for many years and continually find more and more profound truths connected to God’s holy feast days.

If you are interested in learning more about this subject and many others, consider visiting http://www.theremnantherald.com where you will find a series of simple papers produced by our small home church group. We are Seventh-day Adventists that adhere to the historical pillars of our faith, while still recognizing that God’s system of truth, much of which has been forgotten by his people, is presently in process of being revealed in preparation for the last days. We pray it will be a blessing to you.

Amen, Amen, & AMEN! Well said brother. There are others who share in your sighing and crying for the sins done in the church.

The response I should have given at the time: “We know what we came out of. My parents were Catholic since birth. God brought them out of Babylon and into the truth. We have no interest in going back into Babylon and its practices.”

And in todays time, those who, 20 years ago were skeptical about these celebrations, holidays, and what they signified, most of them have fully embraced the growing and popular view that keeping Christmas and Easter(both being intimately connected) is just one’s choice, yay or nay, it not being a salvational issue. This seems to have been the pattern of all congregations as of late. My question is, Do you not hear yourselves??? How can any one of you call people out of Babylon when you have gone back to it and practice the same rituals and “holy days” as Babylon does? If none of you believe Jesus was born on Dec 25th, then why do you celebrate this day in which in ancient Babylon would sacrifice infant babies by throwing them in the fire on Dec 25th to the Sun-god?

Have you forgotten the clear command of the LORD in Deut 12:29-31? “When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”

How can you celebrate and observe these Catholic holidays and then have the audacity of calling onto Sunday keepers, telling them Sunday worship is a pagan day of worship, when You Are Doing the EXACT SAME THING???” We hear much about the ‘Christmas spirit’ and that its a good time to share Christ with others. Let me ask you, how many people have been brought into the 3 Angels Message’s faith through your Christmas/Easter keeping. You have not converted the world. The world has converted you and brought you back into itself, without you realizing this is so. Those that worship the Creator must worship Him in Spirit AND IN TRUTH.’

Mark these words with care: The issue of SDAs observing Catholic holidays such as Christmas, Easter, St Valentines Day, Halloween, etc, WILL BE the deciding factor for many Adventist here, at this present time. You may war against it in any way you wish, misconstrue it in any way you may be pressed to, but the Truth of the LORD will stand sure. The LORD knows them who are His. Is there still 7,000 left in Israel who can hold up high the banner of the Most High? Are there still watchmen on the walls of Zion??? Because it appears the sentries have abandoned their posts for cause of the feast of ease within, while the enemy has had no opposition and has walked within freely with no opposition from those who call themselves the ‘learned and experienced men of the church.” We have become nothing less, and even worse, than ancient Israel, just like the messenger warned us about.

And I will tell you all something that few know, because many here will run to Adventist Home and a couple other places to quote Sister White and what she wrote regarding the issue. I implore you to follow the messengers own advice when she said, “How can the Lord bless those who manifest a spirit of “I don’t care”—spirit which leads them to walk contrary to the light which the Lord has given them? But I do not ask you to take my words. Lay Sister White to one side. Do not quote my words again as long as you live until you can obey the Bible. When you make the Bible your food, your meat and your drink, when you make its principles the elements of your character, you will know better how to receive counsel from God. I exalt the precious Word before you today. Do not repeat what I have said, saying, “Sister White said this,” and “Sister White said that.” Find out what the Lord God of Israel says, and then do what He commands. Christ said, “I must work the works of Him that sent Me.” [John 9:4.] 16LtMs, Ms 43b, 1901, par. 24.

I will inform you that Sister White was not given the full light concerning the celebrations of Christmas and Easter. Just like in some visions the guiding angel told her that there are some things she saw that she will not be able to share with the church at large, FOR A REASON. THERE is a reason why the full light on this was not meant to be revealed until the very end. The issue of observing Christmas and Easter will be at the center of the Laodicean message, meant to rebuke anti-typical Israel, when it shall be preached in full power at the outpouring of the Latter Rain.

“I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God’s people.The testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance, and all that truly receive it will obey it and be purified.” 1T p181.

“Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God’s sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of the wicked, represented by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.” 3T, p267

Few of you, my fellow brothers and sisters recognize the gravity of this issue. Christmas and Easter traditions being adopted by Gods chose people at the end of time are outlined in Ezekiel, Chapter 8. This is a prophecy being fulfilled now before your very eyes, and few, very few, have held their ground. Please research and do your own studies of what the 2nd Worst abomination that Ezekiel was shown is about, regarding the 40 women weeping for Tammuz is about. If you love the truth, as it is in Jesus, this will not surprise you and this is what we have known for years would happen. At another time we will cover the issues of the 25 elders turning their backs toward the temple and worshipping the sun in the east…. 25 Elders… Israel never had 25 elders… And this prophecy concerns the very end… Who does it refer to?

“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’ If you are not in this group but promoting apostasy, whether knowingly or not, you will resist the 144,000 when the time comes.

The reason why God refused to reveal the exact date of Christ’s birth was to ensure that men do not revere the day than the Creator himself. The day was purely pagan festival and there are only two ordinances God ordered his followers to observe? Leviticus 23:3 and 1 Corinthians 11:27. The Sabbath and the Lord’s supper. Therefore Christmas is a man made tradition. Christmas was made officially as a christian celebration as the birth of Christ on fourth century in 336 A.D .by the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Leo I , wanted the Roman pagans to celebrate the birth of Christ on this day 25th December, inorder to distract their attention away from the Sunworship. In the book of Luke 1:26, we are told that in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent his Angel (Gabriel) to Nazareth a town in Galilee to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph. Remember ,John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were cousins and their birthdays were six months difference. So, the theory of Jesus being born on 25th , December is completely false? This is because the woman carries the foetus for nine months, and therefore Jesus himself could not have been born as a stillborn infant baby because in our modern world we have advanced technology he would have been put inside in the incubator.

So , December 25th ,is a day dedicated to the sun worship and Semiramis because herself was a sun worshipper , she lied to the people that his husband Nimrod was taken by the possession of sun. She said she was impregnated by the sunrays ,that’s hoe the sun worship came about in our modern world . Therefore December 25th ,is the birthday of Tammuz , and not Jesus Christ. The day was celebrated for a very long time even before christianity existed. This birth day of Tammuz is the part of Chaldeen mysteries. It’s the worship of the Trinity god and was associated to the trinity sun worship. In Egypt they worshipped the three gods Osiris, Isis, Horus. They were later subtituted into Nimrod , Semiramis, Tammuz. In many places, many builders of of tower of babel were sun worshippers they scattered in many places of the world such as Babylon, persia, Egypt, Rome. Sun worship became popular worlwide. Even among the Israelites the baal sun worship was very much popular and that’s why God forbid them the idolatory? (Jeremiah 7:8-15)