We got mail…

Christian boyfriend “sent by Satan”

First of all I would like to thank you for the podcast that has been a huge blessing for me for the past few weeks. 

To introduce myself, I’m 24 years old and live in central Europe. I’m a fourth-generation Seventh-day Adventist. If someone had told me two months ago that I would be leaving Adventism, I would probably have laughed. I had never doubted the doctrine of the church—not until I met a guy who wanted to get to know me. 

I knew he was a Christian, and I also quickly recognized that he genuinely loved God. Initially we agreed on everything regarding our faith. After some time we got to the topic of Sabbath, and I told him that I keep the Sabbath, and if he ever wanted to be in a relationship with me, he would have to respect this decision of mine. He was very curious about the Sabbath and would ask me many questions—and I would gladly answer. I believed that my mission was to bring him to “the truth” (Adventism), but he wasn’t easily persuaded by my arguments. 

We decided that we both, on our own, would dive in deeper into this topic of Sabbath, and after a few days we would discuss it again. In the meantime, my friend was doing his research on Adventism and came across several videos including your YouTube channel. He found out that Adventism preaches false doctrine, and their prophet is a founder of many teachings that could not be found in the Bible. 

My friend started showing me the errors of Adventism, and at first it was not easy for me to accept what he showed me. Gradually I could see how E G White contradicted the Bible. 

As the time went by, God was revealing to me more and more, and although I was terrified to “go against my Adventist beliefs”, I was convinced of the truth, and I knew that God was calling me out from that place. I have never had a greater hunger for God’s Word than now. Your podcast, website, and videos are greatly helping me to see things in the Bible I never saw before. 

I tried to have home Bible studies with my mum so she could also be set free from the false teachings of Adventism; however, it is very difficult to even talk about certain topics with her. She knows about my friend, and she believes that he is sent by Satan to confuse me and to lead me away from the Adventist truth. I’m trying to point out that it is the Bible that led me out from Adventism but she only blames him.

I would like to pursue a serious relationship with him; however, this tension in my family is making it very difficult. I would like to ask you for advice: how can I navigate this situation? I understand that I only gave you very little information, but I have no non-SDA friends whom I could ask for help since I’m only coming out of Adventism, and I didn’t have the opportunity to build relationships with other believers. 

How can I deal with a family member who is currently not seeing the errors of Adventism? My friend and I have been praying for this situation; however, we would also appreciate any advice from you. 

Thank you very much for your help.

—VIA EMAIL

Response: Thank you for writing. I thank God that He is showing you the truth about Himself and the gospel and also the truth about Adventism. Your friend really is right: Adventism is very deceptive and teaches a false gospel. It is well-crafted deception; you have to dig to discover their true beliefs and assumptions. 

The situation with your mother is very hard. All of us who have left Adventism have had to face some sort of division and misunderstanding from our Adventist loved ones, and often that rift is not easily healed. Your mother’s response, that your friend is from the devil, is her “great controversy worldview” speaking. Ellen White made it clear that any deviation from Adventism would result in being lost, and she also said those who leave the Sabbath are the worst enemies of the Adventists. In fact, she when we left in 1998 my husband’s mother asked him if he was going to kill her now. 

I don’t have a good “formula” for what to say to your mom and family. I can say this: Jesus said that He would be a sword between family members. These are His words from Matthew 10:34–39:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Mark records Jesus’ words here:

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:29–31).

The unfortunate reality is that often, our Adventist family will not see the gospel. Sometimes they will eventually see, but very often they won’t. Ultimately we each have to decide to whom we will be loyal: will we be loyal to the Lord Jesus, or to our families and friends? It doesn’t work to argue with them, either. Sometimes persisting in trying to get them to see over a long period of time makes them more resistant. I have come to believe that this fact is why Jesus said not to cast one’s pearls before swine, for the swine would trample the pearls into the mud and then turn “and attack you” (Mt. 7:6). 

All that being said, praying for her is the most important thing you can do. If she is open at all, I would sit with her and ask if she would be willing to read through the book of Galatians together, no more than one chapter at a time. She would need to agree that all you both would use to study would be Scripture itself. Galatians is a powerful book for exposing the heresy of Adventism. Another great book to study with her would be the book of Hebrews. Most Adventists have never read Scripture in context without outside sources (like EGW) to help them understand it. Just submitting to the word in context is perhaps the most powerful thing to do. 

 

New significance of Easter

Thank you so very much for the Easter supplement. Easter was considered very Catholic when I was an Adventist. I didn’t really realize its significance until I left and got saved! I appreciate Proclamation! and have learned so much.

—VIA EMAIL

 

Adventism’s new insidious trick

A heads-up on Adventism’s latest new trick: it’s a book called Acts of Compassion and Faith. It’s a 64-page study guide, and Adventist members are to start small group “Bible studies” in their neighborhoods using the book as the text. It starts out benign, sort-of, and then it moves into sly EGW doctrines sneaked in with the acts of compassion the members are to do and are to encourage their small groups to do. 

They are to put the names of the people they help in the study guide and fill out a card with the name of the people prayed for. These names get turned in to the prayer ministry of the local Adventist church (which will now have lists of “contacts”). It’s insidious. 

Is there a small tract that can warn people of the three main EGW doctrines with Scriptures to refute them? If there are some, I would like to get some to pass out in my neighborhood. Anything you may have would be so appreciated. I’ve been trying to figure out a short, simple form to warn people to watch out for these small groups popping up. I guess the Revelation Seminars aren’t bringing enough people!

—Waynesboro, PA

Response: We can send you some copies of the pamphlet 10 Questions and Answers on Seventh-day Adventism published by The Centers for Apologetics Research. We also recommend the webpage “Is the Seventh-day Adventist Church a Cult?” It outlines the ways Adventism fulfills the four ways cults alter the gospel by adding to Scripture, by subtracting from the atonement and the person of Jesus, by multiplying the requirements for salvation, and by dividing the loyalty of Christian believers. It includes links to sources which show Ellen White’s false declarations.