September 2015

Volume 12

Issue 11

To reach London with the distinctive, Christ-centered, Seventh-day Adventist message of Hope and Wholeness.

NEWSLETTER

London, Ontario

In This Issue
Conspiracy theory alert?......1
Ted N.C. Wilson joins Facebook and twitter..3
An adventist is named president elect of
Fiji..4
First international training for deaf
interpreters...5
Church accounts for lost members...9
Everyone a sower..10
Apologetics seminar....15
Celebrating cultural diversity......16
Living in anticipation, week of pray......17
Western District schedule of speakers,
September 2015..18

Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Sharing

Prophecy
The last few weeks have been pretty intense in the religio-political world.
The arrival of Pope Francis in America has elicited all kinds of responses. For
some, he is a breath of fresh air. For others, he is no different from any other
pope apart from his terrific PR.
Regardless of which position you may take, one thing is certain Pope
Francis is a historic pope. He is the first Latin-American pope and the first Jesuit pope. In addition [h]is tour [in America] marked several firsts for the papacy:
Francis was the first pope to address a joint sitting of US Congress.
He also [conducted the] first canonization to occur on US soil. And if that
werent enough, Christianity Today recently published an article titled From
Antichrist to Brother in Christ: How Protestant Pastors View the Pope which
reveals the results of a Life Way Research project which discovered that [m]
ore than half of evangelical pastors say Pope Francis is their brother in Christ.
This is a long shot from Luther, the father of Protestantism, who emphatically
declared I am entirely of the opinion that the papacy is the Antichrist.

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TED N.C. WILSON

JOINS FACEBOOK
AND TWITTER
On October 1, 2015 Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, launched his own
Twitter and Facebook accounts in an
effort to better communicate the
churchs activities directly to members
and other people.

Continue on page 6

London Seventh Day Adventist Church, 805 Shelborne Street, London, Ontario N5Z 5C6 Canada, 519.680.1965

Continued from page 1.

Those who share the apocalyptic
consciousness that Luther and the reformers proclaimed continue to view the
papacy (not necessarily the pope) as
the Antichrist. This consciousness or
state of awareness is arrived at
through the historicist reading of apocalyptic literature.
. In the Bible, this interpretation
chronicles an unfolding of end-time
events in which spiritual fraud forms the
overlying strategy of scriptures protagonist Satan. At the center of this strategy lies the Roman Papal system and
the story that this system tells. A philosophy which, taken as a whole, forms a
counter-narrative to the story that Jesus
came to tell.
As a result, those who share this
consciousness feel a responsibility to
warn the world. Thus, while the masses
may engage in ardent adulation of
Romes pontiff, this group finds itself
swimming against that stream. As a
historicist I find myself in that very position and wonder, how can I effectively
share this story with those who do not
share my worldview? And while I have
yet to arrive at a complete answer, the
last few weeks have taught me 3 things
I certainly do not want to do.
False Accusations
The first item on my list is false accusations. I cannot tell you how many
Facebook posts I have seen that level
false accusations against Pope Francis.
The worst of all would have to be a recent article accusing the Pope of declaring Jesus work on the cross a failure. If this were true, it would be very
significant. But it turns out, thats not
what Francis actually said. His exact
words were:
The cross shows us a different way
of measuring success. Ours is to plant
the seeds. God sees to the fruits of our
labors. And if at times our efforts and
works seem to fail and not produce
fruit, we need to remember that we are
followers of Jesus Christ and his life,
humanly speaking, ended in failure, the
failure of the cross.
The relatively unbiased and careful

reader would note that the interpretation of this passage rests on the phrase
humanly speaking. In other words, we
are not to measure success by way of
human standards because humanly
speaking Jesus life ended in failure.
To say the Pope was actually saying
that Jesus was a failure is clearly a
false accusation. While such an accusation may convince the sensational
and overtly biased it fails to bear the
test of scrutiny.
Antichrist or not, Christians do not
have the right to label false accusations
against Pope Francis. Exodus 20:16
clearly states You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor. And
last I checked, Pope Francis is my
neighbor. While I may not agree with
his meta-narrative he is still a child of
God. And while I may fully embrace the
apocalyptic warning concerning final
events that does not give me licence to
break the commandments in the name
of Im just warning people. If we are
going to warn people against deception,
lets not resort to deception. If we are
going to proclaim truth, lets do so in the
Spirit of truth and not vindictiveness
and hatred. Our words and discourses
regarding this matter should stand the
test of scrutiny. As Ellen White said,

It is important that in defending the

doctrines which we consider fundamental articles of faith, we should never allow ourselves to employ arguments that
are not wholly sound. These may avail
to silence an opposer, but they do not
honor the truth. We should present
sound arguments, that will not only silence our opponents, but will bear the
closest and most searching scrutiny.
(Evangelism, 166)
Hateful Rhetoric
Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures
of speech and other compositional
techniques. Combine that with
hateful and you have got yourself one
nasty piece of literature. Paul tells us in
Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always
be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that
you may know how you ought to answer each person. With such a clear
command one would expect Christians
to exercise caution when it comes to
the kinds of rhetoric that they engage in

regarding any topic including the

Pope. And yet, it is from Christians that
I have witnessed some of the most
hateful rhetoric around. From sarcastic
memes to outright insulting statements,
the internet is crawling with the greatest
exhibition of Christian hate that I have
seen in a long time. Sadly, most of what
I have seen is being promulgated by my
Adventist kin. In many ways some (not
all, of course) of my own brothers and
sisters in faith have become, in the
words of Adventist evangelist Roger
Hernandez, the kind of Christian other
Christians have to apologize for.
Examples of hateful rhetoric can
include articles and memes insulting
the Pope with phrases such as
Marxist, idolater, blasphemer, or
man of sin. Now some may argue but
thats what the Bible calls him! To
which I would say, No. Thats what we
call him while borrowing Scriptures language. Truth is, we dont know who the
Antichrist is. While I share the conviction that the Antichrist is certainly the
papacy, that does not automatically
mean that a particular pope is the Antichrist. But even if Francis were, what
have we accomplished by promulgating
this? By calling someone Antichrist
outside of Revelations narrative does
nothing but offend those who do not
share our worldview. Letting people
know who the Antichrist is is not
about slapping Antichrist on a picture of
Francis and sharing it all over social
media.
Its about inviting people into the
story of Daniel and Revelation and lovingly helping them to see the entire tale
unfold a tale which has Jesus, not the
Pope, as its central theme. If we skip
this and instead opt for the shallow
meme or the anti-Catholic propaganda,
what have we really accomplished?
Have we led people to see the beauty of Jesus? Have we drawn people to
the truth of the cross? Or have we attempted to simply convince them of the
papacys evils through our own brand of
evil our hateful words?

This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church

Continued from page 2.

The worst part of engaging in hateful rhetoric is that ultimately we are the ones who suffer, not our target. By engaging in hateful rhetoric against the Pope we are sending
a message to our friends and neighbors that we are intolerant, unloving, unhealthy, and fanatical. While Pope Francis
pours his energy into relieving the suffering of illegal immigrants we raise our hate-speech banners all over Facebook to let everyone know where we stand. In the end, we
accomplish nothing of value. Instead, we make ourselves
look like fools and damage to the cause of Christ.
Thirst for More
The final point is our seemingly insatiable thirst for more
beast and more Antichrist. I recently came across an article
which, while rejecting the Catholic worldview, attempted to
highlight the areas of Pope Francis philosophy that all
Christians especially Adventists can embrace. The author focused exclusively on Francis appeal to social action,
acts of charity, and stewardship of the earth. In the end he
concluded that, in relation to these positive and necessary
pursuits, we were in full agreement with Francis. I enjoyed
the article and found it to be both balanced and thoughtprovoking. What I found alarming where the comments that
followed. Beginning with the very fist comment all the way
down the page was one complaint after another on how the
author had failed to mention how the Pope is the Antichrist,
the beast of Revelation 13, and how he is using social justice as his mask for the Sunday law.
As soon as I read those comments all I could do was
ask, Havent you read enough of that already? Do we really need another article on the Antichrist agenda? Do we
really need to be told again and again?
The article did not deal with the apocalyptic narrative of
Revelation 13. Instead, it approached the issue from the
angle of common ground and called Adventists to recognize the value in social action. In my estimation, this is an
angle that is painfully overlooked. Revelation 13 has been
expounded in countless sermons, articles, documentaries,
and books. Do we really need another article repeating the
same stuff? And here I discovered one of the greatest dangers to avoid in this whole discussion the thirst for more.
Some, it seems, are constantly craving more anti-Catholic
and anti-pope ideologies. Its like we cant get enough of it.
Like addicts, we freak out when someone writes an article
about the Pope that is not anti-Pope. I want more antiPope! is the cry of our itching ears11. And the more we
go down this path the more susceptible we are to fanatical
conspiracy theories, an imbalanced apocalypticconsciousness, apocalyptic paranoia, and an unhealthy
witness.12
In summary, I wholeheartedly embrace the Reformers
historicist interpretation of Daniel and Revelation. I am all
for giving the warning. I am all for preaching final events.
But it can never be done via false accusations, hateful rhetoric, or a continual thirst for more anti-papacy discourses
which leave the avenues of our souls wide open to the

dangers of apocalyptic paranoia. When discussing Revelations narrative we must remember that it is the
Revelation of Jesus, that our words should always be
seasoned with salt, that we are never to bear false witness,
and that if there is one thing that we should thirst for more
and more it is Jesus and Jesus only. Psalm 42:1 says As
the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for
you, my God. May this prayer be ours.

TED N.C. WILSON

JOINS FACEBOOK AND
TWITTER
On October 1, 2015

TED N.C. W ILSON

Wilson said he would use his Twitter account
@pastortedwilson and his Facebook page
facebook.com/pastortedwilson to share his personal
prayers, favorite Bible and Spirit of Prophecy materials,
information about his current outreach activities, and photos and news from his travels.
"I want to better communicate to church members some
of the exciting activities of the church, such as Revival and
Reformation, Mission to the Cities, Comprehensive Health
Ministry, and Total Member Involvement, Wilson told
the Adventist Review. He said church members would be
directed back to their pastor, local church, and local conference for more information about those initiatives.
Revival and Reformation refers to a broad world church
program that includes the Believe His Prophets online daily
Bible study readings and the United in Prayer weekly email readings and prayers.
Mission to the Cities is an effort to share Jesus in the
biggest cities of the world, and Comprehensive Health Ministry includes projects such as community health centers
that seek to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people in local communities.

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Continued from page 3

Total Member Involvement is one of the newest programs to emerge from the world church. Introduced at the
General Conference session in San Antonio, Texas, last
July, it seeks to encourage each of the more than 18.5 million Adventist believers worldwide to find ways to share Jesus actively with others.
What a privilege to proclaim the three angels messages
as we approach Christs soon coming, Wilson said.
Wilson will have a small team of people working with him
on social media. But all posts will come through his office.
Wilson, a lifelong pastor and church administrator who
was elected to a second, five-year term as president in San
Antonio, said he decided to join social media now because
he wanted to engage with members more directly.
It is an important way to share spiritual and outreach
information in a direct manner, allowing church members to
become acquainted with the many outreach and evangelistic
methods available and being used, he said.

AN ADVENTIST IS NAMED
PRESIDENTELECT OF FIJI
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A MEMBER OF THE SEVENTH
-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH HAS BEEN NOMINATED TO
SERVE AS THE NATION'S PRESIDENT.

October 20, 2015 | Suva, Fiji | Kent Kingston/Record

For the first time, a Seventh-day Adventist has been
nominated president of the
south pacific nation of Fiji.

Among other things, Wilson will use his Facebook page

to answer questions about his vision for the church, his spiritual life, and his activities. People can submit questions to
the e-mail:askpastorwilson@adventist.org. Wilson will post
answers to three questions every Friday.
It is unclear how many Adventists are on Twitter and Facebook. The Adventist Churchs South Am erican Division has the largest number of likes of any churchmanaged Facebook page, with more than 877,000 likes. No
one knows, however, how many of those likes are from Adventist members.
The Adventist Churchs official Twitter account,
@AdventistChurch, has more than 50,300 followers, making
it one of the most popular church-owned Twitter account.
Wilson said he sees social media as an ever-increasing
factor in shaping the outreach and interchange of church
members and an effective way to potentially reach millions
of other people.
It is important to use social media to not only share important church information, but also to reach out to the millions using social media and thus pointing them to Christ,
His Word, His righteousness, His sanctuary service, His
saving power in the great controversy, His three angels
messages, His health message, His last-day mission to the
world, and His soon second coming, Wilson said.

Major General Jioji Konusi K.

countries.

Major General Jioji Konusi

Konrote has most recently
been serving as Minister
for Employment, Labour
Relations and Productivity
but will need to leave this
position in order to take up
the presidency, a mostly
ceremonial role analogous
to that of governor-general
in other Commonwealth

In an official announcement of the nomination, Fiji Prime

Minister Frank Bainimarama described Major General
Konrote as a paragon of loyalty, courage and devotion to
duty in his performance as a military commander, honesty
and dedication as a senior civil servant and minister, and
tact and perseverance as a diplomat." President-elect
Konrotes nomination is historic not just because of his Adventist faith but also because of his minority Rotuman ethnicity and his lack of chiefly ancestry. His nomination is according to Fijis 2013 constitution, which, somewhat controversially, dispenses with the Council of Chiefs and opens
the position of president up to non-chiefs.

Given Fijis delicate political situation, Adventist Church

leaders have been cautious in their public response. Major
General Konrote is a church elder and a respected member
of the Rotuman congregation in Suva. Major General
Konrotes appointment is a bit of a surprise but not entirely
unexpectedright now there are Adventists in many key
government positionsthe Seventh-day Adventist Church is
widely respected in Fiji.
The presidential inauguration ceremony will be held in
early November.

This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church

ADVENTIST
CHURCH IN INTEREUROPE HOSTS THE
DENOMINATIONS
FIRST INTERNATIONAL TRAINING FOR
DEAF INTERPRETERS

territory, there are now at least 4 official By Ganoune Diop, director, public affairs
organizations for the deaf, Signes d'esper- and religious liberty department, General
Conference
ance in
France,Gehrlosengemeinschaft in Germany, ASAE in Spain, and Raise and
Walk in Romania. All of the organizations
use their own local sign language.
Noemi Faria, sign language interpreter, played an important role in the training
of the participants. Faria insisted on giving special care to the physical training of
the interpreter. Signing is physically chal- Adventists Christian unity
lenging, and proper training helps interSeventh-day Adventist believers
preters avoid any negative effects on the
shower
me with questions when they
body.

"This is something which we [who do

hear] don't automatically think of," said
Corrado Cozzi, EUD deaf liaison. "For
any speaker the training that is mostly
The Inter-European Division (EUD) of needed is in homiletics, but for an interthe Seventh-day Adventist Church orga- preter or even for a deaf person to express
himself, it is very important to be in good
nized the first international course for
physical shape.
interpreters for the deaf. The three-day
course began September 18 and was held
Presenters included, Larry Evans, deaf
in the beautiful city of Seville, Spain.
liaison of the General Conference, who
Nearly 35 Deaf interpreters, translators discussed the benefits of remaining faithful to the divine principles; Javier Molinand local deaf liaison participated in the
er, director of Sabbath School and Personcourse. They came from Germany,
al Ministries for the Adventist Church in
France, Portugal, Mexico, the United
Spain, who developed a Sabbath School
States and Spain.
for an exclusively deaf audience; Taida
Riveiro, who raised awareness of the need
"I'm excited the way it all worked
out," says Taida Rivero, deaf interpreter, to create a strong team spirit among the
interpreters; and Pedro Torres, communiand project manager for Adventist deaf
cations director of the Seventh-day Administries in Spain. "It is a dream come
true, and I'm very happy to have been able ventist Church in Spain, who translated
the entire course.
to contribute to its realization."
Organizers for the training said some
of the goals included emphasizing the
ethical code of an interpreter, analyzing
the issues of the deaf community, learning
the system of International Sign Language
(ISL) understanding the physical, mental
and emotional health of an interpreter,
planning the logistics for the 2016 Deaf
Congress, and fostering friendships
among the attendees.
There are more than 400 sign languages in the world. ISL was taught during the training to help facilitate communication among interpreters, especially in
light of the upcoming International Congress for the deaf and deaf-blind that will
be held in Seville on May 13-16, 2016.
Within the Adventist Church in the EUD

In preparation for next years International Congress of the Deaf and Deafblind, organizers led participants to consider how to facilitate visits to local monuments and attractions.

Why Adventists Participate in UN and

Ecumenical Meetings
All the services and activities of the
church seek to promote life and
life in abundance.

learn that I have represented the Adventist Church in the United Nations
and at meetings of Christian ecumenical
organizations.
How exactly do Adventists view
Christian unity, interfaith relations, and
ecumenism? they ask. Why do Adventists choose to accept and maintain
only observer status and not membership among Christian ecumenical organizations? Why do Adventists choose
to mingle with other Christians and nonChristians while abstaining from becoming members of organized Christian and
religious ecumenical bodies?
My answer is simple: It is legitimate
for all people of goodwill to unite to save
lives, to protect lives, and to affirm the
importance and sacredness of life. It is
even urgent for all people to partner to
make this world a better place for all
human beings, contributing to better
health, education, and humanitarian
work in all dignity, freedom, justice,
peace, and fraternity.
All the services and activities of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church seek to
promote life and life in abundance. In
the fulfillment of the churchs mission,
Adventists mingle with other Christian
organizations. In reference to its position in global Christian organizations,
the Adventist Church has held observer
status at meetings and been open to
partnering with other churches in areas
that do not compromise its identity, mission, and message. The rule of thumb is
to not hold membership in any ecumenical body that eradicates or erases the
distinctive Adventist voice in reference
to the sovereignty of God the Creator,
the Sabbath, and the Second Coming.

Continued on page 6.

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Continue from page 5

In principle, Adventists choose not to be involved in doctrinal
alliances with other churches because of the Adventist adherence
to a holistic and integrated approach to biblical doctrines and because of the upholding of doctrines that Adventists consider have
been sidelined, changed, or forgotten in the course of church history.
That said, unity is not a bad word. Adventists value unity just
as God does. Unity is grounded in the existence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Adventists promote
unity for the sake of mission, to make Christ known to all people
groups, languages, tribes and nations. Christians can also unite to
make the world a better place through the promotion of health,
education, humanitarian work, and the promotion and protection
of human rights.

Today, unity is understood differently among various Christian churches. For Catholics, for example, unity includes the concept of the communion of saints, meaning both those who are
alive and those who are dead.
In the Catholic Encyclopedia, the communion of saints is described as the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the
organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head.
The participants in that solidarity are called saints by reason of
their destination [heaven] and of their partaking of the fruits of the
Redemption.
With this example in mind, global church unity could only be
a reality if all Christians adopted the Catholic worldview or understanding of reality or if all Catholics gave up their deeply held
beliefs.

But Christians must keep in mind that they will miss their primary calling if they do not unite to uphold and model spiritual
values grounded on the everlasting gospel. The theological virtues
of faith, hope, and love are paramount in the Christian mandate
and gift to the world. These virtues can best flourish when religious liberty is a reality. Religious liberty for Adventists is the
antidote to syncretistic ecumenism and a call to embrace truth
with the inalienable freedom of conscience, freedom of religion or
belief, freedom to express publicly ones beliefs, freedom to invite others to share ones convictions or to join ones community
of faith.

Nevertheless, there is much that unites Christians, beginning

with the foundation of unity itself.

A Closer Look at Ecumenism

Seventh-day Adventist Church cofounder Ellen G. White offers

practical advice in the art and science of relating to Christians
from other denominations. Here are three pieces of advice.

A subtle cluster of interrelated topics in the arena of interchurch and interfaith relations that needs much clarity is the issue
of unity, visible unity, and ecumenism. Other words are sometimes brought into the conversation as if they mean the same
thing. They are collaboration, partnership, and interchurch or interfaith dialogue.
The word ecumenism is used differently in various contexts.
The word can refer to unity among the worlds Christian churches, but people usually use it to describe a general sense of cordial
relations, dialogue, or partnership for a project.
Historically, the first church councils were called ecumenical
in the sense that many churches interacted to define orthodoxy.
This is not the sense it is given today. Some denominations, such
as Catholic and Orthodox churches, use it in this sense because
they believe they are the guarantors of orthodoxy. But to label any
partnership among Christians as doctrinal ecumenism may be
uninformed, uneducated, and farfetched. Spiritual honesty is also
needed in identifying and evaluating the real content of interchurch relations.

Defining Unity
The concept of unity has a solid biblical and theological foundation.
The blessing God intended to spread through Abraham and through his
descendants was destined to all the families of the earth. God wants all
His people to experience doctrinal unity.
This never materialized among His covenant people, Israel. The belief in the resurrection of the dead, for example, was not shared by all
Israelites. The New Testament mentions that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Unity is dear to the heart of God. The whole plan of salvation

demonstrates Gods determination to unite His divided and dispersed family, which He created in His image. Unity is grounded
in the being of God who is Trinity: a unity in Trinity.

How to Relate to Others

Do not denounce other denominations. When some who lack

the Spirit and power of God enter a new field, they commence denouncing other denominations, thinking that they
can convince the people of the truth by presenting the inconsistencies of the popular churches. It may seem necessary on some occasions to speak of these things, but in general it only creates prejudice against our work and closes
the ears of many who might otherwise have listened to the
truth. If these teachers were connected closely with Christ,
they would have divine wisdom to know how to approach
the people (Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 535).
We should not, upon entering a place, build up unnecessary
barriers between us and other denominations, especially
the Catholics, so that they think we are their avowed enemies. We should not create a prejudice in their minds unnecessarily, by making a raid upon them. There are many
among the Catholics who live up to the light they have far
better than many who claim to believe present truth, and
God will just as surely test and prove them as He has tested
and proved us (Manuscript 14, 1887; Evangelism, p. 144).
We profess to have more truth than other denominations; yet
if this does not lead to greater consecration, to purer, holier lives, of what benefit is it to us? It would be better for us
never to have seen the light of truth than to profess to accept it and not be sanctified through it (Testimonies, Vol.
5, p. 620).

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Continue from page 6

Jesus death was purposed to gather people into one. In John
17, Jesus prayed for unity for the sake of mission so that the
world might believe. The Holy Spirit was given to seal the unity
in mission.

Adventist Contributions to Unity

Adventists join God in all that God is doing in the world for
its salvation. God evangelizes (Galations 3:8), so do we. God is
committed to unite the whole world under the lordship of the
Savior Jesus Christ. We join God to fulfill His purposes to lift up
God the Son so that the world might be saved.
Adventists are committed to call all peoples to fix their eyes
on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1). They remind all Christians of what constitutes a core confession since Apostolic times and is also present in the earliest Christian creed: the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ.
The principle that informs Adventists relations to other
Christians has two inseparable aspects: truth and religious freedom. Adventist Church cofounder Ellen G. White underscored
this in The Acts of the Apostles, writing: The banner of truth and
religious liberty held aloft by the founders of the gospel church
and by Gods witnesses during the centuries that have passed
since then, has, in this last conflict, been committed to our hands.
The responsibility for this great gift rests with those whom God
has blessed with a knowledge of His Word. We are to receive this
Word as a supreme authority. We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment, and teach obedience
to it as a sacred duty, within its legitimate sphere. But when its
claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather
than men. (pages 68, 69).
More fundamentally, Adventists understand their mission as
their name intimates, that of highlighting the truth of the Second
Coming as the hope of the world to finally embrace freedom from
death and from evil, bringing with it justice and peace. These
convictions are the reasons that Adventists emphasize the Second
Coming and on a message of healing.
Adventists understand the words of Jesus calling His disciples
salt and light (Matthew 5) to also apply to them.
Every aspect of Adventist engagement with any institution,
agency or organization, whether ecclesiastical or political, is
predicated primarily upon the reason for the existence of the
church: bringing hope to humankind entangled in all kinds of
evil. To fulfill this mission, Adventists participate in Jesus method: Christs method alone will give true success in reaching the
people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their
good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their
needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them to follow
Him ( Ministry of Healing, page 143.)
Jesus served people, healed them, and fed them with no
strings attached. He made them know and feel they were free to
choose their future with or without Him. Freedom of conscience
matters to Him. Without this freedom no covenant is genuine.
This is because love cannot be forced.

Adventists and Interchurch Relations

Adventists recognize other Christians as genuine members of
the body of Christ. But Adventists do not hold formal structural
membership in ecumenical organizations primarily for freedom
of religion purposes. Membership in an ecumenical body would
limit the freedom to share ones convictions with everyone else
and thereby jeopardize a universal end-time mission, as Adventists understand it.
Adventists are not part of the ecumenical organizations that
require membership, but they do enjoy guest or observer status at
meetings.
Partnership with other Christian denominations is in accordance with the Adventist Churchs view of other Christians.
White, writing about temperance, said this about leaders in other
denominations: In other churches there are Christians who are
standing in defense of the principles of temperance. We should
seek to come near to these workers, and make a way for them to
stand shoulder to shoulder with us. We should call upon great and
good men to second our efforts to save that which is
lost ( Testimonies, Vol. 6, page 110).
In reference to prayer, White said: Pray for and with ministers of other denominations. Our ministers should seek to come
near to the ministers of other denominations. Pray for and with
these men, for whom Christ is interceding. A solemn responsibility is theirs. As Christs messengers, we should manifest a deep,
earnest interest in these shepherds of the flock. (Testimonies,
Vol. 6, p 78).
In accordance with the above counsel, the General Conference, the administrative body of the Adventist world church, has
inscribed in the General Conference Working Policy that
church leaders recognize every agency that lifts up Christ before
men as a part of the divine plan for the evangelization of the
world, and hold in high esteem the Christian men and women
in other communions who are engaged in winning souls to
Christ.

Rationale for Rejecting Ecumenism

Unity, though clearly willed by God, is not the supreme value.
Loyalty to Gods truth takes precedence.
The Adventist Church and several other denominations that
have not joined organized ecumenical bodies object to ecumenism as doctrine or as an objective to fuse Christian churches into
one world church, leading to loss of distinctive denominational
identity. Also, Adventists and other believers do not adhere to
syncretistic alliances that would diminish the importance and
weight of truth, especially when beliefs in some churches may
not be in harmony with revealed biblical truth.
The main concern of Adventists is that they will be restricted
from sharing their convictions with every person regardless of
religious or philosophical persuasion. This is fundamentally an
issue of religious freedom. Christians cannot question the right to
freedom of religion or belief while even the secular world has
accepted this fundamental human right and value.

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Conclusion
While considering other Christians
as brothers and sisters in Christ, the
principle that prevents the Adventist
world church from being a member of
an organized union of churches such
as the World Council of Churches is
that of religious freedom. Religious
freedom implies the unrestricted right
to share ones religious convictions
and the right to invite others to join
ones own Christian tradition without
being accused or labeled as a proselytizer.

Seventh-day Adventists support

Christian unity as they join the Triune
God who is determined to gather people He created in His image. The purpose of the whole plan of salvation is
the restoration of Gods image and the
gathering of those He saves. Unity is
grounded in God. It was for this purpose Jesus Christ came to earth to
unite all the families of the earth.
Doctrinal unity among Christian
churches is elusive and unreachable
unless churches lose their distinctive
beliefs and join one of the church traditions, be it Catholic, Orthodox,
Protestant, Anglican, Reformed, Evangelical, Pentecostal or Adventist.
Freedom of religion or belief is a
non-negotiable gift of God that should
characterize the freedom of every
Christian person or community to
share his or her convictions with others, to invite others to join his or her
Christian tradition. Obviously, for the
sake of mission Christians can join to
witness to Christ to a world that needs
Him most urgently.

27 Ways Adventists Can

Encourage Christian Unity
1. Unity in the confidence of the
Christian vision of God, a Supreme Being who is well disposed
towards human beings, a God who
is love and who loves the human
persons He created in His image.
Unity in the conviction of being
loved by God.

2. Unity in the necessity of having the

mind of Christ.

3. United in shared identity: A new

humanity recreated in the image of
Jesus Christ, to the glory of God
the Father, through the Holy Spirit. Theological unity about fully
embracing Gods identity revealed
in Scripture as Trinity.
4. Unity in one baptism in the name of
the Father of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.
5. United in bearing the fruit of the
Holy Spirit (Galatians 5).
6. United in the joy of Jesus, the one
Jesus makes complete in all His
disciples of yesterday and of today.
7. Unity in understanding that our primary calling is to love God with
our whole being and our neighbors
as ourselves.
8. United in participating in Gods
mission, which consists of witnessing to Christ as Lord and Savior. Unity of purpose in Gods
Mission.

9. United in understanding metaphysical reality and the spiritual controversy between good and evil,
Christ and Satan.
10. United in resisting evil and in abstaining from harming others.
11. United in the experience of the
tribulation, the kingdom, and the
patient endurance that are in Jesus
(Rev 1:9).
12. Unity for humanitarian work or
unity to help improve the living
condition of our neighbors is an
expression of solidarity with our
brothers and sisters in humanity.
13. Unity to promote temperance has
been highly recommended by the
founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
14. Unity in the promotion of freedom,
equality, and fraternity is part of
the international mandate ratified

by the United Nations.

15. Unity in the determination to uphold the dignity of every person,
unity of values, is mandatory for
those who believe that human beings are created in the image of
God according to His likeness.
16. Unity in being committed to nonviolence is part of the refusal to
violate peoples right to peace and
to the integrity of all the dimensions of their personhood.
17. Unity in working for peace, justice, and reconciliation is a mandate Jesus gave to all His disciples
in His famous discourse in the
Sermon on the Mount. Unity in
peace making.
18. Unity in serving communities to
better the living conditions of
neighbors. Unity in the solidarity
with the human family is an incontrovertible part of the Christian
gospel. Love of God and love of
neighbor express itself in tangible
or concrete ways in assisting people who are economically challenged.
19. Unity in alleviating human suffering and restoring people to comprehensive health is the gospel in
action. It was part of Jesus ministry as He not only proclaimed the
good news but also made the good
news a reality by healing people.
Unity in working for comprehensive health care and for the upholding of human dignity is part of
the restoration ministry that is the
goal of salvation.
20.Unity in promoting temperance is
part of the education to responsibility.
21. Unity in promoting life. This type
of unity can draw a broad consensus and bring people of goodwill
and compassion from various philosophical and religious backgrounds.
22. Unity in upholding the sacredness
of each person.

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23. Unity of the churches in mission for the sake of uplifting Jesus Christ before the world seems to find consensus among Christians of various denominations. The
miracle of partnership in mission has already a solid
foundation among historic and more recent denominations. This unity for the purpose of witnessing to Christ
should not lead to downplay of doctrinal differences.
24. Unity in practicing and preaching the teachings of Jesus
Christ (Beatitudes).

ecclesiastical ecumenism not based on truth and freedom.

Adventists cherish the fundamental freedom of religious
liberty, which includes the freedom to promote and propagate ones own faith to everyone else, anywhere and at any
time, without coercion, intimidation, or manipulation.

CHURCH ACCOUNTS FOR

LOST MEMBERS

25. Unity in being protected and cared for by God (The

Lords Prayer).
26. Unity in the rejection of the practice of partiality (James
2).
27. Unity in being submitted to God and against conflicts,
violence and wars (James 4)

6 Danger Zones for Unity

Compromise for the sake of unity would mean loss of
identity in these six areas. Adventists are resolved not to
sacrifice their fundamental convictions for the sake of
unity.
1. United in being grounded on Scripture, as revelation of
Gods character and absolute will. Epistemological unity. The centrality of the Bible as a source of revelation
of Gods character, will, and purposes is paramount for
Seventh-day Adventists.
2. United in our allegiance to biblical truth as the sole
source of doctrines: Doctrinal Unity.
3. United in living and proclaiming the three angels messages: To fear God, to give Him glory, and to worship Him
with uncompromising allegiance (eschatological prophetic unity).
4.United in fellowship with the Heavenly High Priest. Adventists have been particularly entrusted with the truth
of the high priestly function of Jesus Christ.
5. United in the blessed hope of the Second Coming and the
expectation of the King of kings and Lord of lords who
will bring with Him complete healing, justice, peace,
and everlasting fellowship.
6. United in being part of the end-time resistance movement, people determined to worship God alone regardless of what this stand might cost them. This is where
religious

David Trim, director of the Office of Archives Statistics & Research.

The Seventh-day Adventist World Church is growing

steadily. But while membership jumped 1. 6 percent in a recent six-month period, potential growth continues to suffer
because of substantial membership loss over the past 50 years.
David Trim, director of the Office of Archives, Statistics,
and Research for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, shared
rising Church numbers and his latest retention and reclamation report during Sundays Annual Council business session.
As of June 30, 2015, membership was close to 18.8 million, up from almost 18.5 million on December 31, 2014, Trim
said. In these six months, congregations, which include both
churches and companies, also increased to 149,850 from
148,023. Churches are emerging at an extraordinary rate, Trim
said. We praise God for church planters around the world
who are largely responsible for the increase in number of
church members.
A lack of member retention, though, remains a serious concern. The losses undercut the many, many accessions we
have, Trim said. From 1965 to the end of 2014, the number of
baptized members totaled over 33 million. Of those, over 13
million left the church--virtually four of every 10 members, he
said.
This loss doubly impacts church growth. Potential numbers
are not only cut by those who leave, but also by those who
were never won, Trim said. If they had remained, these 13.2
million members could have helped bring in an additional 1.2
million to join them.

liberty plays a key role. Religious liberty is an antidote to

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In two global research studies, former members reported several
factors that prompted their leave.
Some members drifted away, while
others noticed a lack of compassion,
experienced a personal moral failure or
felt they didnt fit in. Many people
experienced a stressful life event-moving to a different state, marriage,
divorce or a death in the family--in the
year before they stopped attending.
Forty percent of those surveyed said
no one from church contacted them
after they left.
The figures show local churches
may not have been friendly , loving or
supportive enough, Trim said. The
most cited event that triggered former
member decisions to leave is perceived hypocrisy by church members,
he said. The majority of all who were
surveyed, 63 percent, said they were
young adults when they stopped attending.
Very few former members, though,
are hostile toward the church. A total
of 58 percent say that under certain
circumstances, they would be open to
reconnecting with Adventism, Trim
said. Retention is a recurring topic at
church meetings, said Michael Ryan,
former general vice president of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, who
spoke on the floor. Somehow or another we need to come together and
become a different type of church that
reaches out to people and lets them
know that they belong to us! he said.
After an open discussion on this
issue, where church leaders shared
ideas and methods, Ted Wilson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist
World Church, closed Sundays business session reminding delegates of
small steps all can take. If we learned
more names of the young people in
our churches and just said hello to
them on Sabbath morning by name,
they might feel more wanted, Wilson
said. If we simply extended an encouraging note or a hand to someone
whos discouraged, we would keep
more people.

EVERYONE
A SOWER
Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the
Seventh-day Adventist church, speaks
to attendees at the 2015 Annual Council and encourages Total Member Involvement on Sabbath, October 10,
2015
Transcript of president Ted N.C.
Wilsons sermon at the 2015 Annual
Council in Silver Spring, Maryland,
USA on October 10, 2015.
We are living in a time of unprecedented change. God has asked His
remnant people, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to prepare the way of
the Lord, to lean completely on Him
and receive the power of the latter rain
of the Holy Spirit. It is time for the final,
loud cry the proclamation of the
first, second and especially the third
angels messages. Christ has called
us to be sowers of His Word. He has
called us to follow His example in service to others by proclaiming His truth
and righteousness to the world and
announcing the His second coming.
Members in this worldwide church of
almost 19 million are called to partner
with the Heavenly Sower, Jesus
Christ, in proclaiming His final message of love, righteousness, redemption, and last-day prophetic warning
heralding Christs soon return. Everyone a sower! Lets look at Gods instructions practical evangelistic outreach based on the Bible and the Spirit
of Prophecy with plenty of references
to both. This sermon will resemble
more of a learning symposium for all of
us regarding Total Member Involvement rather than a normal sermon per
se.
Lets learn together Turn to Mark
4:3-9. In this passage, Jesus was
speaking to thousands by the Sea of
Galilee near the beautiful plain of
Gennesaret. The listeners could see
on that plain and on the hillsides beyond the sowers and reapers who
were busily casting seed and harvesting the early grain. Jesus identified the
truths of heaven using parables with
simple references to what was happening. He shared the following parable with those in that vast Sea of Gali-

lee audience and with us today,

October 10, 2015, in this comfortable
General Conference auditorium or
wherever you may be watching.
Mark 4:3-9 says, Listen! Behold, a
sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed
fell by the wayside; and the birds of
the air came and devoured it. Some
fell on stony ground, where it did not
have much earth; and immediately it
sprang up because it had no depth of
earth. But when the sun was up it was
scorched, and because it had no root it
withered away. And some seed fell
among thorns; and the thorns grew up
and choked it, and it yielded no
crop. But other seed fell on good
ground and yielded a crop that sprang
up, increased and produced: some
thirty fold, some sixty, and some a
hundred. And He said to them, He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.
What a privilege to hear the Word
of God to listen to its instruction
to understand its directives for living
the victorious life through Christs justifying and sanctifying power. The Word
of God is being ignored more and
more. It is becoming fashionable to
misinterpret and misapply what is
plainly indicated in Scripture. It is being reinterpreted by those who participate in the higher criticism or historical
-critical approach to Scripture by
those who place themselves above
Scripture as they interpret according to
their own standards and approaches.
We are to faithfully follow and promote
the historical-biblical method of interpreting Scripture allowing the Bible to
interpret itself line upon line and precept upon precept.

As Seventh-day Adventists, we
should carefully adhere to the document
voted on October 12, 1986, at the Annual Council held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This document, Methods of Bible
Study, carefully outlines how to study
Gods Holy Word. We are to follow the
historicist view of prophecy and Biblical
understanding. Pastors, teachers, administrators, church elders, leaders. members dont let anyone turn you from
the historicist understanding and the
historical-biblical interpretation of
Scripture. Stand firm for Gods Word.

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Note the following instructions about accepting the Bible
as it reads: Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, page 171
God requires more of His followers than many realize. If we
would not build our hopes of heaven upon a false foundation
we must accept the Bible as it reads and believe that the Lord
means what He says.
Evangelism, page 239 Many become decided transgressors of Gods holy law as the result of union, concord, and
cooperation with companions who are instruments of Satan.
God sends them light to undeceive them, but they refuse to
take the Word of God as it reads.
Counsels to Teachers, page 353--He is seeking to teach
them that the Lords way is always to be closely followed, that
His word is to be taken as it reads, and that men are not to devise and plan according to their own judgment, irrespective of
His counsel.
Prophets and Kings, page 185 Many do not hesitate to
sneer at the word of God. Those who believe that word just as
it reads are held up to ridicule.
Let us have ears that hear the Word of God minds that
will accept the Word of God in its plainest forms as it reads.
What did Jesus want the disciples and us to understand about
everyone being a sower of this precious truth in the Word of
God? He went on to explain the parable of the sower in Mark
4:14-20 as was read in our Scripture reading. Verse 14, the
sower sows the word. Matthew 13:37 indicates that the
Sower of good seed was the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. He
came not as a king but as a sower pointing to a great harvest
that would result after challenging difficulties. Jesus left His
heavenly home to sow the Word of God on this earth. We are
to partner with Him as sowers of the truth. Christs Object Lessons, pages 36-37, says His servants in like manner must go
forth to sow So those who are called to unite with Christ
must leave all, in order to follow Him In toil and tears, in
solitude, and through sacrifice, must the seed be sown. Everyone a sower! Total Member Involvement in the last great proclamation of this Advent message.
Luke 8:11 says the seed to be sown is the Word of God.
Seeds have germinating capability. There is life in Gods
Word. Christs Object Lessons, page 38, indicates, In every
command and in every promise of the Word of God is the
power, the very life of God, by which the command may be
fulfilled and the promise realized. On page 37 Those who
study the word of God with hearts open to the enlightenment
of the Holy Spirit, will not remain in darkness as to the meaning of the word. On page 39 In the days of Christ the rabbis put a forced, mystical construction upon many portions of
Scripture. Because the plain teaching of Gods word condemned their practices, they tried to destroy its force. The
same thing is done today. The word of God is made to appear
mysterious and obscure in order to excuse transgression of His
law. Christ rebuked these practices in His day. He taught that
the word of God was to be understood by all. He pointed to the
Scriptures as of unquestionable authority, and we should do
the same. Every pastor, every teacher, every member is to

participate in helping all to become ardent students of the

Word of God and then to share it.
Verse 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where
the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately
and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. The
precious Word of God falls on inattentive hearers like a hard
pathway that has no depth. People hear but dont understand.
Satan stands ready to snatch the truth from those who are not
attentive and to neutralize the effects of Gods Word.
Verses 16-17 These likewise are the ones sown on stony
ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it
with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so
endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises fro the words sake, immediately, they stumble.
This seed cannot find deep soil to grow. Selfishness in the
heart takes control and the heart is not humbled under an understanding of guilt for sin. Self is trusted more than connection with Christ. Since the roots do not go deep into the soil of
communion with Christ every day, persecution and temptation
take their toll. Christs Object Lessons, pages 48-50, indicates
Many feel a sense of estrangement from God, a realization of
their bondage to self and sin; they make efforts for reform; but
they do not crucify self True holiness is wholeness in the
service of God. This is the condition of true Christian living
He who lives to himself is not a Christian. Love must be the
principle of action And love will be revealed in sacrifice
For His sake we shall covet pain and toil and sacrifice We
shall feel the same tender craving for souls that He has felt.
This is the religion of Christ No mere theory of truth or
profession of discipleship will save any soul. We do not belong to Christ unless we are His wholly. It is by halfheartedness in the Christian life that men become feeble in purpose
and changeable in desire. The effort to serve both self and
Christ makes one a stony-ground hearer, and he will not endure when the test comes upon him. Stay close to God and
resist being a stony-ground hearer.
Verses 18-19 Now these are the ones sown among
thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of
this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other
things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
This is why revival and reformation are so important in our
lives. If we are not preparing the soil for the reception of the
seeds of truth, weeds and thorns can choke out the precious
Word of God. The cares of this world can take such prominence in our lives that we scarcely comprehend Gods great
messages to us. Christs Object Lessons, page 50, says Grace
can thrive only in the heart that is being constantly prepared
for the precious seeds of truth. The thorns of sin will grow in
any soil; they need no cultivation; but grace must be carefully
cultivated. It is so important that we stay close to the Lord
through Bible study, study of the Spirit of Prophecy and constant prayer. That is why Believe His Prophets is so important reading a chapter a day in the Bible and reading portions of the Spirit of Prophecy as part of our daily growth. Be
part of the worldwide initiative of United in Prayer. Dont
allow the Word of God to be choked out with thorns.

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Verse 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground,
those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit; some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. What a privilege to
allow the Word of God to penetrate our hearts and then to
share it with others who in turn will grow and share it with
others. Everyone a sower! Those who are represented by the
good ground are those who have a believing heart and faith in
the Word of God. Christs Object Lessons, pages 59 and 61,
indicate A knowledge of the truth depends not so much upon
strength of intellect as upon pureness of purpose, the simplicity of an earnest, dependent faith. To those who in humility of
heart seek for divine guidance, angels of God draw near. The
Holy Spirit is given to open to them the rich treasures of the
truth. The good-ground hearers, having heard the word, keep
it. Satan with all his agencies of evil is not able to catch it
away .Our part is to receive Gods word and to hold it fast,
yielding ourselves fully to its control, and its purpose in us
will be accomplished.
God intends that all of us will be good-ground hearers.
People who trust so implicitly in the righteousness of Christ to
make us more and more like Him. He intends for us to be understudies to Him in being sowers of truth. We are to be encouraged that there will be many who will listen as we sow
and will receive the Word of God as good-ground hearers.
This is our great privilege. We are all to be sowers of the
Word everyone a sower Total Member Involvement in
the last great proclamation of this message.
This past 2015 General Conference Session theme, Arise.
Shine. Jesus Is Coming, must be the foundation of all we do
as we move forward into this new quinquennium that is filled
with uncertainty. However, it is filled even more with Gods
abiding presence and leading. God is calling the Seventh-day
Adventist Church for a unique last-day purpose and mission as
participants with the Heavenly Sower. This church was initiated by God Himself at the right time, in the right place and for
the right reason to fulfill Revelation 12:17 a people who
keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ.
It is with quiet respect and humility that all are to be sowers for God as we lean completely on Him for His leading.
Lets commit ourselves to following Gods instructions in
His precious Word and His Spirit of Prophecy, to daily walking with Him in Bible study and prayer as we allow Him to
work in us for revival and reformation. During this new quinquennium, under the direction of the Revival and Reformation
Committee, we will focus on a very personal approach to this
vital subject shown throughout Scripture and the Spirit of
Prophecy Revival and Reformation You, Your Family,
Your Church, Your Community! We are at the edge of eternity. God wants to work in and through us as sowers of His
Word.
Take this call from God very personally and seriously. Revival and reformation is a constant foundation for all that the
Lord wants to do through His remnant church in proclaiming
the three angels messages and turning people back to the true
worship of God.

In this context of revival and reformation -you, your

family, your church, your community, we will expand the
vital outreach of Mission to the Cities accompanied by Comprehensive Health Ministry, massive publication and media
outreach and so many other departmental and institutional initiatives. Within the Reach the World strategic and evangelistic outreach of sowing Gods Word, let me expand the following three areas of focus shared at the General Conference
Session:
Christ and His Righteousness Recognize the centrality of Christs grace and sacrifice for us -His grace
and righteousness that provides us with eternal life. Christ
said in John 12:32, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all peoples to Myself. Let us commit ourselves
at this end time setting to lift up Christ, His love, His
Word, His righteousness, His sanctuary service, His saving power in the great controversy, His seventh-day Sabbath, His prophetic messages, His Spirit of Prophecy instruction, His three angels messages, His health message,
His last-day mission to the world and His soon second
coming.
Christ and His righteousness must permeate our lives and
everything we do. We are totally dependent on our relationship with Him and His ability to provide eternal life.
Seventh-day Adventists must be the greatest proclaimers
of Christ, our righteousness.
Faithfulness to God God is faithful to us, through His power, lets respond in faithfulness to Him. He calls us to be faithful in our personal relationship with Him, faithful to His
Word, faithful in daily Bible study, faithful in the study of the
Spirit of Prophecy and faithful in our constant prayer life. In a
world filled with ever-increasing violence, bombing, shootings
and tragic death all over this globe, let us be faithful to Gods
plan of restoration at His soon second coming. Revelation
2:10 tells us, ..Be faithful until death, and I will give you
the crown of life. Let us be faithful in understanding our
unique role in proclaiming the three angels messages and participating in the loud cry of the third angel, faithful in sharing
the unique role given to the Advent movement, faithful in our
family relationships according to Bible standards and truth,
faithful in our Christian stewardship, faithful in Sabbath
School and church attendance and faithful in sharing Christ
with others. The world is awash in existential behavior people think everything is relative. It is not! There are absolutes and they are found in the Word of God and our faithful
adherence to the Word. Revelation 3:11 shares with us,
Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that
no one may take your crown. Seventh-day Adventists, be
faithful to God!
Total Member Involvement in Witnessing and Evangelism Matthew 9:37-38challenges us with the truth that,
The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His
harvest. James 1:25 admonishes us to be a doer of the
work John 9:4 shares the urgency of what we are to do, I
must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the
night is coming when no one can work.

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Lay members, I challenge you to become involved in the

daily mission of the church far more than you ever have before. Everyone a sower! The current Seventh-day Adventist
strategic plan challenges us with the objective To engage all
church members, pastors, and leaders in full partnership. Pastors and lay members, young and old, are to work together in
soul winning. We are counting on you! God is counting on
you! Evangelism is the lifeblood of the church. All of us are to
be in involved in it -either through personal witnessing,
small group evangelism or public evangelism in its various
forms even if you think it wont work in your area. Adapt your
methods, but reach out. Do something for Jesus! Every effort,
under Gods guidance, to reach the hearts of people will bear
fruit. Evangelism is not dead! It is alive more than ever before! God is in it! Its His plan. He will bless it!
Church leaders and church members are to work hand in
hand for mission outreach. The following instruction is absolutely critical in everyone being a sower of Gods Word. Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, page 116 says, The leaders in Gods cause, as wise generals, are to lay plans for advance moves all along the line. In their planning they are to
give special study to the work that can be done by the laity for
their friends and neighbors. The work of God in this earth can
never be finished until the men and women comprising our
church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts
with those ministers and church officers.
Church members, let the Holy Spirit revolutionize your
thinking. Take the churchs mission of outreach into your
hands on a daily basis working closely with church leaders
and pastors. Let it be total participation no one left out
everyone a missionary do something for Jesus and for others dont just look inward and criticize your local church
and its activities reach out to others for Christ dont let
anyone say you are not needed the Holy Spirit will empower you as heavens messenger to your neighborhood work
closely with your pastor, local church and conference revival and reformation will become something personal and
real.
That marvelous volume, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, tells about our special work in Total Member Involvement a few key thoughts from various pages: The most
solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to
proclaim to the world (p 19) Let us remember that a Christlike life is the most powerful argument that can be advanced
in favor of Christianity..Men will believe, not what the minister preaches, but what the church lives (p 21) Christs
work is to be our example His life was one of unselfish
service, and it is to be our lesson book (p 31) .Wherever we
see work waiting to be done we are to take it up and do it, constantly looking until Jesus If every church member were a
living missionary, the gospel would speedily be proclaimed in
all countries, to all peoples, nations, and tongues. (p 32)
Gods people are to be so earnest and faithful in their work for
Him that all selfishness will be separated from their lives. His
workers will then see eye to eye, and the arm of the Lord, the
power of which was seen in the life of Christ, will be revealed.
Confidence will be restored, and there will be unity in the
churches throughout our ranks. (p 33)..It is not learned, elo-

quent speakers that are needed now, but humble, Christ-like

men and women, who have learned from Jesus of Nazareth to
be meek and lowly, and who trusting in His strength, will go
forth into the highways and hedges to give the invitation:
Come; for all things are now ready. (p 36) Those who
have the spiritual oversight of the church should devise ways
and means by which an opportunity may be given to every
member of the church to act some part in Gods work (p
116). Jesus is coming soon! Lift that banner high and share it
in practical ways pointing those around you to the One who
has given us salvation and who has promised to take us home
soon!
We need a total empowerment of lay people and pastors
carrying the burden of the churchs evangelistic and mission
outreach to the cities and to the rural areas. This is our work of
sowing entrusted to us from heaven itself..all of us working together in Total Member Involvement under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit.

Testimonies, Vol 7, pages 9-10 The transforming

power of Christs grace molds the one who gives himself to
Gods service. Imbued with the Spirit of the Redeemer, he is
ready to deny self, ready to take up the cross, ready to make
any sacrifice for the Master The Christian has no desire to
live for self. He delights to consecrate all that he has and is to
the Masters service. He is moved by an inexpressible desire
to win souls to Christ. Those who have nothing of this desire
might better be concerned for their own salvation. Let them
pray for the spirit of service. Total Member Involvement
Every member a missionary.
Let everyone get involved in soul winning. All can share personally and many including lay members can preach the Word
of God in public meetings. It is time to challenge all of us to a
renewed emphasis on evangelistic outreach telling pastors to
go into new fields to evangelize and that lay people will take
care the churches and assist the pastor in outreach.
Listen to Gods instruction from Evangelism, page 381383, As I traveled through the South on my way to the conference, I saw city after city that was unworked. What is the
matter? The ministers are hovering over churches which know
the truth while thousands are perishing out of Christ.
If the proper instruction were given, if the proper methods were followed, every church member would do his work
as a member of the body. He would do Christian missionary
work. But the churches are dying, and they want a minister to
preach to them Instead of keeping the ministers at work for
the churches that already know the truth, let the members of
the churches say to these laborers: Go work for souls that are
perishing in darkness. We ourselves will carry forward the
services of the church. We will keep up the meetings, and, by
abiding in Christ, will maintain spiritual life.
We will work for souls that are about us, and we will
send our prayers and our gifts to sustain the laborers in more
needy and destitute fields Our ministers should plan wisely, as faithful stewards.

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Continue from page 13

They should feel that it is not their duty to hover over the
churches already raised up, but that they should be doing aggressive evangelistic work, preaching the Word and doing
house-to-house work in places that have not yet heard the
truth.... Let the whole earth be filled with His glory .The
responsibility rests upon every individual. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our
sufficiency is of God.
Manuscript 61, September 17, 1909, Words of Instruction,
The world is preparing for the closing work of the third
angels message. The truth is now to go forth with a power
that it has not known for years. The message of present truth is
to be proclaimed everywhere.
7T 18-24 We have a message from the Lord to bear to
the world, a message that is to be borne in the rich fullness of
the Spirits power The greatest help that can be given our
people is to teach them to work for God, and to depend on
Him, not on the ministers. Let them learn to work as Christ
worked. Let them join His army of workers and do faithful
service for Him.
The Lord has presented before me the work that must be
done in our cities. The believers in these cities can work for
God in the neighborhood of their homes It is not the Lords
purpose that ministers should be left to do the greatest part of
the work of sowing the seeds of truth Hundreds of men and
women now idle could do acceptable service. By carrying the
truth into the homes of their friends and neighbors, they could
do a great work for the Master. God is no respecter of persons.
He will use humble, devoted Christians, even if they have not
received so thorough an education as some others. Let such
ones engage in service for Him by doing house-to-house work.
Sitting by the fireside, they canif humble, discreet, and godlydo more to meet the real needs of families than could an
ordained minister.
The formation of small companies as a basis of Christian effort has been presented to me by One who cannot err. In
humble dependence upon God, families are to settle in the
waste places of His vineyard Self-supporting missionaries
are often very successful. Beginning in a small, humble way,
their work enlarges as they move forward under the guidance
of the Spirit of God Nothing is so successful as success. Let
this be secured by persevering effort, and the work will move
forward. New fields will be opened. Many souls will be
brought to a knowledge of the truth. What is needed is increased faith in God.
Christian Service, pages 22-23 The work which the disciples did, we also are to do. Every Christian is to be a missionary....... Gods faithful people have always been aggressive missionaries, consecrating their resources to the honor of
His name, and wisely using their talents in His service. To
every nation, kindred, tongue, and people the tidings of pardon
through Christ are to be carried. Not with tame, lifeless utterances is the message to be given, but with clear, decided, stirring utterances. Hundreds are waiting for the warning to escape for their lives. The world needs to see in Christians an
evidence of the power of Christianity. Not merely in a few

places, but throughout the world, messages of mercy are needed.

Lets hear about three young members from Brazil who
have made an impact in total involvement for the Lord. In reality they could be from any of the thirteen world divisions--all with powerful lay witnesses for the Lord. Andressa, a 13
year old young lady, became a mighty example of Total Member Involvement. Lets watch.
And time had run out. Sabbath March 22, 2008 at 7:15 am
Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, at the end of Easter week, while
Andressa was going to preach at her church, her car collided
with a truck. In this collision, four women died including Andressa, who was fourteen years old. She accomplished a lot in
her short life. More than one hundred people were baptized
because of her witness, and countless others were inspired by
her example.
One of those that Andressa inspired was Vitoria. Look at
what happened to Vitoria when she was engaged in Total
Member Involvement with young people in small group ministry.
Vitorias dedication and commitment is amazing. But let
me tell you about Mateus, a young boy that witnessed his parents become very active church members after their baptism as
they made friends and held Bible studies. He heard that in
heaven, everyone will get one star on their crown for each person they bring to Jesus. Mateus invited two of his friends to
find people to study the Bible with. Their first Bible study was
to a whole family and all decided to be baptized. Watch how
God has used Mateus in Total Member Involvement.
Mateus has lead approximately 979 people to the baptismal
waters. His goal is to reach 1000 people by the end of 2015.
Now that is Total Member Involvement!
As we see the end of time approaching, let us renew our
efforts to be involved in all that God intends for His remnant
church every member involved in lifting up and sharing
Christ, His Word, His righteousness, His sanctuary service,
His saving power in the great controversy, His three angels
messages, His health message, His last-day mission to the
world and His soon second coming. Soon, we will look up and
see Jesus appearing in the clouds of heaven as He said he
would. He will come to take us home. The culmination of His
redemptive work using every willing follower to Reach the
World. What a glorious result to His work of righteousness
through us in participating with heaven to share this saving
Advent message. I appeal to each of us, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, to be part of Total Member Involvement.
The latter rain of the Holy Spirit is approaching and with it
the great proclamation to every person on earth in anticipation
of Christs soon return. By Gods grace, lets be a part of it! If
you wish to commitment to Gods last-day proclamation of the
three angels messages using every possible means in Total
Member Involvement, would you join me in standing? Lets
be faithful to Gods great commission as we remain standing
and listen quietly to this powerful musical appeal from our trio
about Gods faithfulness to work through us to accomplish His
task entrusted to His church to Reach the World Great Is
Thy Faithfulness.

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This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department , Email: newsletter@adventistontario.ca

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This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department , Email: newsletter@adventistontario.ca

16

Sunday, November 8 - I Knew You Were Coming Kirmane Allen

Monday, November 9 - You Alone are Worthy Teresa Ferreira
Tuesday, November 10 - How then shall we wait? Cameron Munro
Wednesday, November 11 - Your Sons and Daughters will prophesy - Clara Baptiste & Simone
Biggs
Thursday, November 12 - Christ in You the Hope of Glory - Bob Reeve
Friday, November 13 - Greatest Terror - Greatest Hope - Gene Bernardo & pastor Alex
If you would like to host at your home, please invite friends and neighbors and join millions of Adventists in praying for the soon Coming of Jesus.
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Gene Bernardo

Lo Richards

18-Nov

25-Nov

Alex Golovenko

Sharmille
Reid
ADRA

Nov
28

SDA South London Church

George Perez

Elizabeth & Orlando Pule

Nov
21

Andres Perez

Alex Golovenko

Nov
14

Alex Golovenko

London
Living Truth
Company
970 Oxford Street W

Clara Baptiste

London South
Church
805 Shelborne
Street

Nov
7

DATE

Simone Biggs

11-Nov

519.680.1965

Fred Stele

Jun Cabulinas

Fred Stele

Week of Prayer

Sarnia Church
1620 Modeland
Road

Jacov Bibulovic

Dirk Zinner

Randy Saunders

Dirk Zinner

Chatham Church
20 Croydon
Street

www.adventistlondon.ca

Charles Shad

Claude Bastien

Dirk Zinner

Lew Keith

Leamington Church
220 Erie
Street N

Pulpit Speakers at Western Ontario District of Seventh-day Adventist Churches

Alex Golovenko

04-Nov

PRAYING MEETINGS

Western District schedule of speakers, September 2015

Junior Garcia

Scott Bastien

Dr. Puan Tan

18

Mansfield Edwards

Windsor Church
5350 Haig
Avenue