We got mail…

Glenn Coon and the ABC’s Of Prayer

I’m not Adventist, but for the past 15 years I’ve been reading Uncle Arthur Bedtime Stories, the 10 volumes of Bible Stories, and other Review & Herald books to my child. These books got me interested in Adventism. 

Being a long-time vegetarian, having visited people in the Loma Linda hospital and area, and seeing how well-kept the church buildings are, I was drawn to Adventism when my husband made us leave our long-term church. Thankfully I checked the internet before I went to an Adventist church and found out the truth about Ellen G. White. 

Years ago I found several Glenn Coon books at a thrift store and greatly enjoyed them. When I searched for him online, I discovered he was Adventist as well, and his sermons are online from his TV show.

I’ve been listening to him for over a year now, and he seems very biblical to me. I understand that some would think his ABCs of prayer are name it and claim it, but he describes in his book very clearly that they are not—that you can only claim a promise that is in the Bible (promises like salvation, not a new car).

He’s so uplifting and always points to Jesus, the need to repent, and Jesus being the only way to salvation, unlike other TV people including all those women preachers.

I understand that he either left the Adventist church, or was forced out.

I recently found your website and have read so much on it, and have been listening to your videos every week. Thank you for them.

My question to you is—is there anything I should be wary of with Glenn Coon? 

I know you’ve said to flee from all that is Adventist, but I’ve also heard your speakers say that on the surface—the websites and many books…Adventism looks like “normal” Christianity, but when you get in the churches, that is where it is presented differently, and that is why people unfamiliar with Adventism, when they look into it on the surface, don’t think it is a cult.

So, should I flee from Glenn Coon? I really enjoy listening to him, and he has helped me so much in how to change how I speak to my husband, and he reminds me to pray and praise God more. I always feel so uplifted after I’ve heard him preach. He reminds me of my old southern childhood preacher. He’s the only preacher I’ve enjoyed listening to online, and I’ve tried quite a few.

Also, I’ve read Your Bible and You, and it seemed fine to me. I was raised in a Bible-believing church and read my Bible almost every day. I was going to read this book with my teenager after we finish reading through the Bible. But, should I flee from this book, too?

Thank you! I do value your input; that is why I am asking.

—VIA EMAIL

Response: He is, like all Adventist preachers, not “safe”. I am so sorry to say this, but he shared [he died in 1996] the same Adventist worldview that all other Adventists have: he believed man is just physical with no immaterial spirit that leaves the body upon death. He believed the the human “spirit” is merely breath, the air we breathe, and when we cease to breathe, we literally cease to exist except in God’s memory. The resurrection, then, will be God recreating a body for us and essentially “downloading” His memories of us into our new bodies, so the person who is recreated is not actually ontologically connected to the one who died; he or she just won’t know the difference. 

This physicalism means that Jesus’ nature is compromised as well. Coon believed (as Adventism teaches) that Jesus gave up His omnipresence because He took a body, and this supposition was why God sent the Holy Spirit: because Jesus couldn’t be everywhere at once. Adventism (including Glenn Coon) denies that the Father, Son, and Spirit share substance, and they do not believe in the classic Christian Trinity. Thus he believes that humans have “inherited sin” that comes in the gene pool as “propensities” to sin, but Adventists deny depravity because they have no understanding AT ALL of being literally born spiritually dead and an object of wrath (Eph. 2:3). Thus Jesus, whom their prophet Ellen White says had no advantage we don’t have, had to overcome temptation and sin just as we do, and his life was our example of how to avoid sin. They do not teach (nor does Glenn Coon) that one is literally saved by believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus and thus being born again. “Born again” for an Adventist usually just means baptism into Adventism. They do not experience or understand the new birth because they do not understand the true gospel.

Finally, Coon believed that Ellen White was God’s messenger to the Adventist church to prepare it for the end times, and he also believed that Satan is the scapegoat who will ultimately carry the sins of the saved into the lake of fire (after Jesus finishes his ongoing investigative judgment begun in 1844). Thus Satan will play a part in the process of atonement which is not finished yet.

Adventists including Coon learn how to preach so “outsiders” do not understand that they are speaking of something completely different from what a Christian believes. They use the same words, but they have private definitions. Once they lure an “outsider” to love their preaching or prophecy or lifestyle messages, they then move that person to be baptized Adventist, and then the discovery of the true cultic doctrines becomes more clear. 

Have you been listening to our Former Adventist Podcasts? If not, I think you might enjoy our current series on the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists. You can find the podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/former-adventist/id1482887969 The Fundamental Belief series begins with #99. 

Also, here is an article that explains the Adventist worldview that all Adventists of every stripe hold. It’s not just a set of beliefs; it’s their view of reality: What Is Seventh-day Adventism? 

All to say, I’m so sorry, but Glenn Coon IS dangerous. His teaching became very popular, and he led reportedly thousands of people into Adventism through his meetings. 

I am so sorry to have to tell you this! Please feel free to email anytime.

 

Adventist Baggage

I just want to say how I praise God for you and your ministry, and I do pray for you! You have such a marvelous way of presenting Jesus Christ and the true gospel.

Even after a long time receiving Proclamation!, the articles and also your answers to questions continue to be very helpful. Even though I left the church and became born again 50 years ago, still I carried too much Adventist baggage that affected my growth without my realizing why. Now I know after seeing how “bad” (deceptive) those teachings are!

It’s so encouraging to read about those who have come out and are rejoicing in Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

—ELK GROVE, CA

 

Purposes of Old and New Testaments?

Just wanted to say thank you via FAF email to Colleen and Nikki for doing the podcasts! They are so eye-opening and freeing! 

So the Bible seems to be structured simply in two parts. The first part is Old Testament which explains “the shadows”. The second part is New Testament which explains “the reality”. What do you think?

—VIA EMAIL

Response: In terms of the law, in a big picture way, I think you are right. There are some parts of the Old Testament, though, that are not only shadows. The book of Genesis, for example, is human history and the history of Israel, and those realities are fixed. Also, many of the Old Testament prophecies for Israel have not yet been fulfilled, but God’s promises cannot fail.

Nevertheless, when it comes to the Law and when we consider the prophecies, they were witnesses of the righteousness apart from the law, the reality of which is Christ (see Rom. 3:20, 21). I guess I’m being a little detailed in my answer because some people dismiss the Old Testament and say the New Testament really has all we need now—but the entire Bible is for us. We just see the prophetic parts and the shadows in the law from a different perspective now that Jesus has come. Plus—Jesus’ appearance the first time gives us the confidence to believe He will come the second time as He says He will, and that fact also gives us the confidence to believe that the Old Testament promises to Israel will yet come true.