The Holy Scriptures, together with the Spirit of Prophecy, speak with unmistakable clarity concerning the prohibition against believers taking their brethren to court. This principle—long upheld by the Seventh-day Adventist faith—is firmly rooted in the Word of God. The apostle Paul expressed it plainly:
“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? … But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:1, 6, 7).
The counsel of inspiration given through Ellen G. White affirms this same sentiment. She wrote:
“Contentions, strife, and lawsuits between brethren are a disgrace to the cause of truth. Those who take such a course expose the church to the ridicule of her enemies and cause the powers of darkness to triumph. They are piercing the wounds of Christ afresh and putting Him to an open shame” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 242).
God repeatedly appeals that wrongs among believers be settled privately or within the church family, not aired before unbelievers. Such actions not only weakens the faith but also bring reproach upon the cause of Christ. It is within these divine mandates that the unfolding legal conflict involving Steps to Life Ministries must be understood.
According to publicly available legal documents, Steps to Life Ministries, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, has started a lawsuit in the Second Civil Court of the First Judicial District of the State of Jalisco, Mexico. The case reportedly involves a dispute with the Free Adventist Association of Mexico over property and alleged rent obligations. [1]
On October 15, 2025, Maria del Carmen Valdivia Vallejo—one of the twenty-two attorneys officially registered with the court as part of the legal team representing Steps to Life Ministries—filed a petition requesting certified copies of the formal response to the lawsuit submitted by Jadiel Rosales Aguilar, the defendant and leader of the Free Adventist Association of Mexico. [2]
This latest legal filing by Steps to Life’s attorneys, seeking certified copies of the defendant’s response, indicates that the lawsuit is progressing toward the next procedural stages—motions, hearings, evidence presentation, and ultimately, trial. It demonstrates that Steps to Life Ministries remains determined to pursue its case against fellow Seventh-day Adventists, despite appeals from those who have urged the ministry to withdraw its litigation and seek reconciliation outside of the courts.
What makes this matter especially troubling is the contrast between Steps to Life’s current actions and its previously declared position. For many years, this ministry has strongly condemned the practice of Christians suing one another, citing both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as their authority. [3] Their own publications once insisted that resorting to secular courts was a betrayal of Christian brotherhood and a violation of God’s explicit commands. Yet today, those very principles seem to have been set aside, as the ministry now turns to the power of the state to settle its disputes with fellow believers once united in the gospel work.
Steps to Life, having chosen to take their fellow brethren to court, must now rely on attorneys to make motions and petitions on their behalf, for God—according to divine inspiration—will no longer be answering their prayers.
“When troubles arise in the church we should not go for help to lawyers not of our faith. God does not desire us to open church difficulties before those who do not fear Him. He would not have us depend for help on those who do not obey His requirements. Those who trust in such counselors show that they have not faith in God. By their lack of faith the Lord is greatly dishonored, and their course works great injury to themselves. In appealing to unbelievers to settle difficulties in the church they are biting and devouring one another, to be “consumed one of another” (Galatians 5:15). These men cast aside the counsel God has given, and do the very things He has bidden them not to do. They show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and in heaven their names are registered as one with unbelievers. Christ is crucified afresh, and put to open shame. Let these men know that God does not hear their prayers. They insult His holy name, and He will leave them to the buffetings of Satan until they shall see their folly and seek the Lord by confession of their sin” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 299).
Pay close attention to the dire consequences that will surely follow when we take our fellow believers to court. No other sin mentioned in the Spirit of Prophecy carries as many divine displeasures in a single statement, that we are aware of.
1 – They have no faith in God.
2 – They greatly dishonor our Lord.
3 – They greatly injure themselves.
4 – They are biting and devouring one another.
5 – They cast aside the counsel of God.
6 – They do the very things He has forbidden.
7 – They choose the world as their judge.
8 – In heaven their names are registered as unbelievers.
9 – They crucify Christ afresh.
10 – They put Christ to an open shame.
11 – God no longer hears their prayers.
12 – They insult God’s holy name.
13 – They are left to the buffetings of Satan.
We cannot participate or support any action that God has explicitly forbidden:
“I call upon you in the name of Christ to withdraw the suit that you have begun and never bring another into court. God forbids you thus to dishonor His name” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 304).
When God has said, “I forbid you to do this,” no amount of prayer can convert disobedience into righteousness. For Steps to Life Ministries to pray to God for His aid while publicly and openly walking contrary to His counsel is to invite Him to be their partner in wrongdoing. We cannot ask God to bless disobedience. The Lord cannot and will not hear such prayers. Instead, He calls His people to repentance and reconciliation—to turn from the forbidden path and make peace with their brethren before offering any petition at His altar (Matthew 5:23-24).
Those who persist in defying divine instruction and correction must, therefore, rely upon human wisdom—attorneys, legal motions, courts, judges, and petitions—because divine help cannot attend them in an enterprise that heaven condemns. God will not lend His Spirit to strengthen the hand that seeks to wound a fellow Sabbath-keeping brother. His blessing will never rest upon the work of strife, no matter how noble our justifications may sound.
By taking fellow Seventh-day Adventists to court, Steps to Life Ministries is repeating the very pattern that will lead to the enforcement of the Mark of the Beast. In seeking civil authority to settle a religious dispute, Steps to Life is aligning with the same principle of church–state union that prophecy condemns:
“In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own end” (Great Controversy, p. 443).
In light of this, the ongoing actions of Steps to Life constitute a solemn contradiction to divine revelation. Their case filings and continued petitions before the court represent a deliberate continuation of a process that both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy explicitly forbid and condemn. To follow the world’s methods in resolving differences is to exalt human wisdom above the word of God—the very apostasy that characterizes both Protestantism and Romanism.
This situation serves as a solemn reminder of how easily even long-standing institutions of faith can drift from divine principles when conflicts arise. The true test of loyalty to Christ is to surrender to God’s will for the sake of unity, peace, love, and the reputation of the gospel. The path forward for any ministry involved in such disputes should be the path of humility and reconciliation. The Lord calls His people to suffer wrong rather than to wrong others. He calls His servants to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3), even when mistreated. No earthly court can restore what only grace can heal. It is far better to lose property, prestige, or perceived justice than to lose the approval of Heaven.
The recent court motions made by Steps to Life Ministries stands as an appeal to every Christian organization that claims to uphold the Advent message: let us practice the principles we preach. Let us resolve our disputes as brethren, through prayer, counsel, and forgiveness, not through the tribunals of the world. Only then can we say, with clean hands and pure hearts, that we are indeed preparing a people for the soon return of Jesus Christ.
Note: This is the second part in a continuing series of articles on this subject. Further updates will be provided as the situation develops. Please reach out to Steps to Life and urge them to immediately withdraw this lawsuit against fellow believers. Remind them that taking brothers and sisters in Christ to court is a direct violation of Scripture, a betrayal of the Spirit of Prophecy, and a reproach to the name of Christ. This legal action must end now—before it deepens division, brings further dishonor to God, and destroys the very message that Steps to Life once sought to uphold.
Steps to Life Ministries
PO Box 782828
Wichita, KS 67278
1-800-843-8788
orders@stepstolife.org
Sources
[2] https://adventmessenger.org/wp-content/uploads/Case-352-25-October-2025-Update.pdf
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I just had to say something:
What a BAD witness this is to the world wherein SDAs are suing SDAs. Worse yet, and I’m somewhat surprised “Advent Messenger” missed this, the SDA church and all their pastors already created an image to the beast years ago when they signed those 501c3 (or 501c4) contracts with the second beast. (USA) And what just happened on July 08, 2025 wherein the IRS actually announced nationwide the pastors “sanctioned” right to “SPEAK & CAUSE” religious laws into the books; it’s a done deal just as prophesied by the very God the “remnant of her seed” worships, who BTW are not SDA as prophesied in Matthew 20:1-7 and then confirmed quite boldly in Revelation 12:17. But because all these apostate leaders bowed to the almighty dollar, NONE OF THEM know anything about the image they just gave life to. For the biblical reality is, the only way to understand prophecy is to OBEY THE GOD THAT WROTE IT. And as Sister White said so eloquently in her day, the SDA leaders stopped obeying the Lord long ago!