I’m glad you’re here. God has a special plan for your life and mine, and the way we understand ourselves will determine how that plan works out.
This is our Adventist Christian identity. Who are we, where have we come from, and where are we going? More than anything, we need God’s mercy and truth. Remember that.
Some Testimonies
Message: “Elders Wagoner & Read - the value of your website cannot be measured. I come, read, and sometimes comment. So many of us readers live in sold out, ugly, vindictive conferences that discouragement could easily overtake us except that we still have the ability to verify - through F7 and like sites - a large swath of NAD is still faithful. Thank you both for consistently bearing the torch. Your sister and fellow comrade” - Sybil
Message: “You can KEEP your pathetic little website to yourself and the low lives that moderate it. You are all going to hell, anyway.”
Message: “Just a quick note of thanks and encouragement. I have really enjoyed this website and the articles written. Thank you so much for you work and commitment to the Lord Jesus and His timeless truth and His truth for the times as it is found in the Holy Scriptures. This site is a real encouragement. This site has brought to light that there really are many faithful Seventh Day Adventists left in our ranks, thank you for giving them a voice against the rising tide of hollow, politically correct liberalism growing in our dear church. May we be always ready and watching until our Savior returns, Sincerely, Jeff, MD”
Crockpot People in a Microwave World.
There used to be a time when a handshake was all that was needed to buy a house, a car, a horse or a farm. The hand wasn’t always clean, but it was backed by something that most people kept unsoiled—their word. Do you ever miss those days?
In the quiet reflection of our thoughts, or on the tightrope of busyness that stretches over our lives, many people pause to look back a moment. “How did we get here, and why is the world so different from the way it used to be?”
How Did We Get Here?
We were called here—each one of us. God placed the Advent mantle on the ground, and we picked it up.
Certainly the Adventist 'church' is no ordinary body. It is a Movement, called of God to prepare a dying world for the soon return of the Lord Jesus. In His providence, God gave us an understanding of the prophecies of Daniel & The Revelation. That led to the formation of this last "message bearer" to Earth. The Adventist church has an understanding of prophecy that is far beyond anything I've ever seen. The Adventist people also possess a knowledge of Jesus and His Life & Ministry that is thrilling. Yet along with that insight comes a responsibility. Should we prove unworthy of the task He has given us, He could easily give it to others.
So we are not boasting tonight. May I say that the church is full of people who struggle and sometimes fail, just as I do. The good news is: Jesus accepts sinners, and invites us to grow in Him as a perfect body. In the words of Paul: "this is a mystery," but it is also a reality. God is calling together a people who want to know Him, and will walk where He walks. It’s that simple and that profound. But there are challenges in our way.
Liberalism in the Church
Every church, every person, every community or organization will ultimately be liberalized, save for a conscious decision to resist it. The history of national Israel teaches us this. I believe that is why the Bible says the spirit within us tends towards envy. Default is always down—I call it magnetic south.
Generational Adventism
It is with interest that we notice a curious but predictable phenomenon. The problem that I am describing exerts a particular and peculiar impact on those reared in the internal culture of our church. It has been often observed that the Adventists most like to be involved and disturbed by the unrest of the 1980’s, centering around the work of Walter Rea, the Brinsmead brothers, and Desmond ford were multiple generation members. Seldom first or even second generation Adventists. Evidently, having a generational heritage subjects believers to certain hazards of the faith.
Many people in the church have absorbed the world around them, and that creates three potential problems.
They become evangelists for the culture. Dan Jackson and numerous others since him have taken this approach. They import the culture into the church, without bothering to ask—“Is this compatible with the solemn message that God has given us?”
On the other side of the coin, we have individuals who exchange a relationship with Jesus for politics. They worship at the altar of a stagnant pool. Their redemption is believing a specific political outcome is necessary for their well-being or the salvation of the nation. They demonize their political opponents. Authentic Christian worship includes loving enemies and praying for those with whom you disagree. They assume the worst about those on the other side of the political aisle, forgetting the commandment to love one another, and blind to the beams in their own eyes. The biblical command is for Christians to find their identity in Christ (Philippians 1:21), not in a political party. For the political idolater, the opposite is true: their partisan identity becomes their worldview, shaping their interpretation of Scripture and their understanding of reality. This leaves them empty and miserable, unable to be used by God for His mighty purposes.
Both of these coins lead to the abandonment of our task. We stop doing the job we are called to.
Our world is becoming more spiritual. It is pagan spirituality and it is moving rather rapidly into the Church. Spiritual formation, homosexuality, feminism, and radical environmentalism are being imported into the Church under the guise of doing good (they call it social justice or cultural Marxism). None of it is compatible with the Advent Message, and a simple test reveal will it. Of any of the above items, ask “Will this please the devil or God?” If it will please the devil, then don’t do it.
2025
The Advent movement is confronted now by a situation unknown to its past. We are reminded of the notable statement published in 1909 in the testimonies volume nine, “great changes are soon to take place in our world and the final movements will be rapid ones.” I submit to you, this prophecy is fulfilled. Not until this century have we been required to cope with change so rapid, leading to ends so alien to Christian values, yet marketed in such alluring format. While a racing change appears especially threatening to our movement that treasures what God has given us in the past, we face a particularly difficult problem created by assigning to eschatology the central place of our Message
The three great pillars of biblical teaching, creation, salvation, and redemption all rest upon the Person of Christ. We can’t improve on that folk—that’s the way the Scripture has laid it out. Christ is the center of our faith. The Adventist faith took shape around the central proposition the same Jesus who made us and saved us is coming back soon. We cannot quietly sideline a teaching so central to both our message and mission. Sociologists of religion would see this doctrine as an asset near its beginning, but increasingly as an albatross—for the passage of time makes it ever less defensible.
And for those of us who feel trapped in feelings that we barely understand, there is hope tonight. Our character can be changed. We can cling to the good and let go of the bad. Jesus is still coming back.
Nancy and I traveled to Ireland a couple years ago; we also spent some time in London.
Ireland was a delightful place in the countrysides—almost a land where time forgot. In the cities (like Dublin) it was way more liberal, and way more permissive. It is this way in the Church too, have you noticed?
England was a delightful place, but more progressive, especially London. They were a strange blend of melodramatic fixation on the past and an unquenchable passion for change. How does this relate to the Adventist Experience?
Our pioneers, while honored, are— I must say— fading into faces etched into a Victorian daguerreotype. A kind of antiquarian interest is beginning to develop forerunner of the variety that so possesses the Church of England, that the national psyche virtually lives under the aura of antiquity. We call it heritage, and its watchword is Ellen White’s oft-cited reminder, one variant of which reads “We have nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget how the lord has led us in the past.” Lest we misunderstand, there is high virtue in recalling our past. Very often the Lord urged the Hebrews to recount the stories of His deliverance, and in fact, a major festival, the Passover, carried exactly this assignment. It is in the purpose of God that we remember what He has done for us in the past, but it is not in his purpose (I would submit, dear friends) that we become antiquarians, cultivating as curators the things that come from our past. In fact, I would maintain that the central focus of the Adventist mission relates directly to the task yet to come. To get there safely, we must know where we have come from.
You see, in an age where progressive and traditional preferences tend to war against each other, people view the past differently. Even in the Body of Christ, the church. Here’s a simple test.
A liberal person glances back at the past and says “Is that all the progress we’ve made?” To them, the past looks too close, and they try hard to increase the gap. Pushing with all their might, they make every effort to increase the distance between now and the past. Their mantra? “Hey the times are changing, man” and, “We need to get with the times. Be relevant.” They cite studies which claim that our culture is changing every 3-5 years, and they promote renovation of every aspect of our lives to keep pace with this world. I’ll agree that there are, no doubt, some well-meaning people who feel this way, but there is a problem. What if the culture is synonymous with the “world” that we are cautioned not to love? The world that is passing away? “All we need is love” Adventist Millennials cry. Ok. Demas had love. What did he love? He loved this present world, forsaking Paul in the process (2 Timothy 4:10). Love is not enough, friend. Unless it’s the right kind.
A more traditional (or conservative) person often looks back at the past and says “There’s a lot of good stuff back there that we’ve lost.” And they try to close the gap. Littering the highway behind us are some good parts that have fallen off of the Advent automobile. The conservative person reaches back and lays hold of the past and labors to pull them together. Their mantra might be: “This younger generation will barely amount to anything” or “The church is going to pot.” There are some genuine people who feel this way. But we would be wise to avoid the fascination with the past that so possesses the Church of England.
The Christ who is Creator is also the Savior as well as the coming king. This means our faith is radically Christocentric, not alone in the abstract sense so common to theology but also in a literal form actually measurable against time. Jesus is coming back !! Nothing could be more Christocentric than that.
People who make this world their kingdom, will not be part of God’s kingdom. Say it with me, you who lament over the problems in the world “My kingdom is not of this world.” To you who wish violence on globalists, Marxists, leftists, say it again “My kingdom is not of this world.” Say it 100 times, until it begins to sink in. Or be prepared to forfeit your place in Christ’s kingdom.
Over the last 40-years the Adventist Church in North America has been taken hostage by a self-pronounced liberal wing of the Church that has infiltrated all levels of organized leadership. Even some in the GC have been affected.
Liberals now control Adventist Education, Advent Health, our Division, all unions in the NAD, ADRA, 98% of youth pastors across the Division, our major publications, our legal department, almost all of our religious liberty department, essentially all of our universities, and they seek control of GYC and ASI.
Because of this, some say it’s not a good time to be a conservative in North America. I say just the opposite—it’s a great time to stand up for God’s mercy and Truth. These two faithful servants stand by the throne of God awaiting His bidding. He will send them to us if we ask Him (Psalm 57).
Matthew 23
He fearlessly denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity, but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes.—The Desire of Ages, 353.
Tears in His voice.
I don’t know how you say Matthew 23 with tears. I can say it with gravel in my voice, but tears...?
In the days of Jesus they had a Memorial Day in Jerusalem. No evidence of a 500-mile chariot race, but they had graveyards. On their Memorial Day they would go out to the tombs of the prophets with buckets of paint. And the Jews would cry and weep and mourn and say “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would never have treated these prophets like they did. Then, they would dip their brushes in the whitewash and splash it on the tombs. Decoration day, in the days of Christ. And when they had emptied their buckets of paint they would head back to Jerusalem and plan the Crucifixion of their Messiah.
Jesus said “That’s your problem. On the outside you look good like those sepulchures, but on the inside you’re full of dead men’s bones.” “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” Let me humbly suggest that we allow Jesus to clean the heart, and the heart will change the outside.”
What was their problem? They were good at saying, but not doing. Revelation 3:14-20 What is Lukewarm? It is hot on the outside, but cold on the inside. What is needed? We need the straight counsel of the true witness to the laodiceans. God is the great Heavenly Counselor kind of counselor we need.
Look around you. People are going hot or cold. Lines are being drawn through churches, families, communities. People are going hot or cold. It is the greatest sign that Jesus is coming soon.
Joy
What is needed is Joy. Joy will help us through every trial. Joy led Jesus to the cross. Joy is the measure of your Christian maturity. Without it, you are the servant of depression and bitterness. I leave you with this delightful verse.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.
I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.
He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.
God shall send forth His mercy and His truth (Psalm 57:1-3).
****