Day of Atonement

I have been watching as our church more closely defines its creed and seeks to enforce it. Before my eyes it is becoming a persecuting power. Yet some say, “We can’t just let every wind of doctrine blow freely within our church. We must ‘cry aloud and spare not’ to show our brethren their sin.” To that I ask, “How can we show our brethren the speck of sawdust in their eye and pay no attention to the plank in our own?” We have one of two choices: giving our brethren the freedom to disagree with us on doctrine or persecuting them.

What Is Wrong With A Creed?

• Exalting A Creed Results In Persecution

For some time I have been impressed by the statement, made by J.N. Loughborough in the Seventh-day Adventist Review and

Reason #1: Our Church Structure 

The biggest problem with what is happening now with women’s ordination is that our people are ignorant about our church structure. We are not structured from the top down like the papacy, receiving papal edicts from the top with helpless obedience.

The power in Adventism is in the hands of you and me. God is not the god of the multitude so much as he is the god of the individual. The authority of constituent groups in the rising ranks of organization in the Seventh-day Adventist church is divided to protect the individual from dictatorship and assure that organization continues to support individuals in the meaningful ministry of the gospel.

In our church structure, non-fundamental issues are split up and dealt with by different constituent groups. It is not the General Conference that has the authority to deal with most non-fundamental beliefs. In the mix of responsibilities, our constitution