Last Sabbath, at Weimar, Neil Nedley spoke about understanding the times. Among other things in this interesting sermon, he acknowledges that Weimar was pressured in 2024 to adopt DEI. He also correctly identifies the woke movement and its goals.
Highlights From the Sermon
38:01 - America was basically formed on Protestantism.
38:35 - there has been a gradual dying of Protestantism in America
38:45 - after the death of George Floyd in 2020, violence and murder rates became higher than ever recorded. So we saw lots of sin abounding.
39:10 - a lot of politics is built on breaking the 10th commandment. And so if you can be jealous of someone that has more than you are, you can join a political party to try to take more away from them and give to you, etc.
39:40 - Christians were not only marginalized but openly attacked in public forums and on the floors of Congress.
39:52 - the educated, along with pop culture were preaching a code word of DEI. It was legalized discrimination. [DEI] was implemented in government, in the military, in corporations, and in educational institutions.
40:18 - Weimar University was told that we had to have all of our standards in October of 2024 when they came to review us for accreditation. All of our standards had to be tied in with DEI. The nice thing about it is though they let us define DEI and we did not define it like the woke groups. We defined the terms diversity, equity, inclusion the way the Bible defines it, and we showed that we were following all of the standards of DEI in regards to the biblical aspects. The reviewers thought it was brilliant. They had not seen anything like that before.
41:30 - Another big emphasis is the so-called sexual freedom aspect of politics. What is sexual freedom? Notice how it's defined by the organization that has the biggest influence in liberal politics today (Democrat party?)
42:40 - when did the sexual freedom movement start in this country? It started in the hippie generation. I grew up in the hippie generation. It was called the free love movement.
43:46 - America was not founded on sexual freedom. Every state in the union had laws against adultery. They had laws against sodomy. We were founded on religious freedom. We were founded on freedom of speech, but never sexual freedom.
44:13 - Here's a quote. Sexual freedom lies at the heart of human dignity, equality, and civil liberties embodied in both the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [United Nations]. This is what they state.
44:00—48:00 - when a country endorses sexual freedom, it is on the road to collapse within three generations. It leads to shacking up, illicit sexual activity, abuse, depression and many other consequences. Young people are introduced to sex before they are ready for it, this leads to depression, more doctor visits etc. They've had more sex partners and they're far more likely to be a voting member of the liberal progressive wing of the Democratic party as they believe that their welfare checks are directly dependent on politicians to stand up for their sexual freedom aspects of things and they are the base, one of the strong bases of one of the big political parties in America today. This political party was taking off with great speed uh in 2020 when the ideas of the French Revolution began to pervade America.
48:18 - Teaming up with atheism was Jesuit Catholicism. Those are the two strong bases of what we call the Democratic Party today. They're strongly atheistic on one side and they're strongly Jesuit Catholicism on the other. But Jesuit Catholicism is in charge of the educational institutions and they are pro-abortion. They are pro-sexual freedom. They are pro-LGBTQ. And they see things very much the same way the atheists do. The only difference is they say they believe in God. And along with it is hardcore socialism. Hardcore socialism was part of the French Revolution. What does socialism believe in? It doesn't believe in equal application of the laws. Socialism is about coerced equality and outcomes. And the only way you can have coerced equality in outcomes is to have unequal application of the laws. Read the great controversy chapter on the French Revolution that started communism.
50:45 - Egypt has been symbolized by atheism and Bible prophecy. And Sodom has been symbolized by the sexual freedom movement. Revelation 11:8 talks about these two coming together and producing the death of two witnesses in the street. This was actually a prophecy of the French Revolution. What were the two witnesses that died in France in the French Revolution? They were the Old and New Testament. Sodom and Egypt are a symbol of immorality and atheism. And this was the case all the way through 2024.
53:20 - the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind. He shall enter the countries and pass over. So this is talking about religion now actually rising up its head against immorality and atheism. Something I think all of us that are religious people and love the Bible would cheer to recognize that this is starting to happen. The election in 2024 shocked many in the world because those who were symbolized by atheism and immorality and politics were replaced by someone who was a convicted felon and had didn't have any major newspapers support him or any major news networks. It seemed like there was no way on God's green earth that someone like that [Trump] could get elected by the majority of Americans. For the first time since the hippie generation, young people, blacks, and hispanics, began to shift conservative.
55:20 - talks about Charlie Kirk debating young people on campus. A Christian man, he was killed by a male homosexual transgender sympathizer. And he thought the way of actually changing America was through the dialogue of ideas and debating. Nedley says Ellen White directs us to not debate.
Nedley goes on to talk about religious revival. He says that the Bible predicts a revival in the end time. Recommends reading Great Controversy (we do too). Says there will be true reform and false reform. He says spiritualism is a hallmark of the false revival. Says Erika was talking to Charlie during the memorial service. She did speak to his memory, apologizing to him for something during her remarks. I will say, she is in a very vulnerable position, due to the season of grief she is in. Without an understanding of the condition of man in death, you are vulnerable to deception. Speaking to the memory of a deceased person is different from trying to communicate with them. There is a scientific term for this. ADC is a bereavement experience where people feel they communicate with their deceased partner through dreams, sensory feelings, or even phone calls, often bringing significant comfort, reducing grief pain, and aiding in healing and acceptance. Big warning flag, especially if the deceased person begins speaking back. No evidence that ‘Charlie’ is doing that, yet. I will say I am watching the state of the dead issue in the aftermath of Charlie’s assassination, more than I am focusing on the Sabbath. This is a very big issue and most people aren’t aware of it.
He also says that Erika (Kirk) is pushing Sunday instead of the Seventh-day Sabbath that Charlie and her observed. It is true that she mentioned Sunday at the memorial service, and only made a veiled reference to the Sabbath in her remarks (Charlie used to write her special notes on the Sabbath). It is also true that she is in a season of grief, and while the Tammy Fay Baker vibe is a bit stale, we ought to be charitable to people during seasons of grief.
1:17:56 - Criticizes Charlie for debating with (young) people. Nedley says he turned down an offer 30 years ago to debate a pastor in Oklahoma on the issue of the Sabbath. I disagree with Nedley here. There is a place for discussion and dialogue with people with whom you may disagree. I agree that debate is not an end to itself, but discussion and dialogue can have positive results when done in the right spirit. Cherry-picking one abstract example of Charlie Kirk talking with a young person on a college campus, overlooks thousands of polite and persuasive discussions he conducted with other young people. Sitting front of me at the Charlie Kirk memorial was a young college-age man. After noticing the solitary tear that ran down the left side of his face during the bagpipes, I found out that he didn’t know Charlie personally but attended a 2024 event with Charlie on his college campus. He was inspired and motived by the discussion/debate to put away some things in his life that were bad for him. Turning point indeed. He moved from being a male to a (young) man. Nedley’s point is that you can’t speak loving or kind words during a debate.
Nedley closes by upholding medical missionary work as the best method to bring about true revival. He rightly calls for us to put away sins, cleanse our hands and purify our hearts (James 4:8). This is the work of God, and the hallmark of genuine revival.
Discuss.
****