I will never forget the feeling of emancipation I experienced after my decision—forced as it was—to resign. To be out from under the weight of all the denomination hassle I had been through over the past months lifted my spirit and my feet. When I arrived home from my final trip to the conference office, I began mowing our front lawn. As I pushed the mower around the yard, I would literally jump and say, “I’m free! I’m free!” I did this over and over again. This was not something I planned or forced myself to do; it was just a spontaneous reaction to being out from under the load of restrictions and false guilt.
Even though I faced many uncertainties ahead, there was a secure feeling of trust. My conscience was clear. Carolyn and I were united in our decision. Whatever the future held, we would face it together with God.
My mind went back to my near-death experience when I had given my life fully to God. At that time, I made a commitment to live each day as a new gift from Him. I had determined to do His will. My covenant with God—or was it His with me?—was that if He made His will clear, I would do it. I remembered telling the Lord that I was not always good at determining His will, and He would need to be patient with me.
Now that both Carolyn and I were no longer employed by the denomination, what were we going to do? Every spare dollar we had was invested in our new home. We had no savings to get us through. A number of our friends at the Watsonville church suggested that I start a gospel fellowship. Others, however, were just as persuasive in trying to do everything they could to keep us from starting a new church, knowing it would cause a split in the Watsonville SDA church.
Carolyn and I spent much time praying and seeking God for direction. What should we do? We had not turned our back on God, ministry, His Word, or truth. We studied Acts and realized that by teaching truth, Paul had split many Jewish synagogues. Should we start a new church? We needed some kind of confirmation.
The first Sabbath after our decision, we were invited to attend a potluck dinner at the home of Dr. Haskins. On the way there, we picked up our mail and found a letter from the conference office mailed out before I had resigned. It provided a way for both of us to remain in conference employment. Carolyn was to stay in Watsonville as a Bible Worker. I was to be “placed on probationary status for a period of one year as an associate pastor under the watchful, trusted and respected senior pastor” in a church about 100 miles away. My performance in ministry was to be based on “loyalty to church doctrine and policy, to peers and church members…Integrity regarding all that is involved in the vows of ordination and be amenable to counsel from Conference Administration and Conference Executive Committee.” When we read this letter with its stipulations and apparent desire to separate us, we knew we had made the right decision.
When we read this letter with its stipulations and apparent desire to separate us, we knew we had made the right decision.
When we arrived at the Haskin home, many of our friends were there. At this gathering, it was suggested to have a meeting at our home Sunday evening to discuss the situation and evaluate several possibilities. About 50 people showed up. Enthusiasm was high. We discussed the idea of starting a new church. At the conclusion of this meeting, someone suggested that an offering be taken, and when it was counted, there was about $7,000.87 We had our confirmation.
The next Sabbath, we had church at our home. About 70 people came. In the following weeks, we elected a board, formed a non-profit church corporation, and started looking for a place to worship. We called ourselves the “BAC” which stood for the “Biblical Adventist Church.” We soon rented the Aptos Assembly church building on Saturday.
Some of our friends from Monterey Bay Academy visited our church. We found out that people from the Watsonville SDA church had parked nearby, followed our friends back to MBA, and then reported them to the conference. One MBA couple was asked not to attend our church anymore, or their jobs would be in jeopardy.
Someone in the Watsonville church said that Carolyn and I had built our home with tithe money stolen from the church. Of course, this was untrue. A conference auditor checked all the donation receipts and church books and proved there was no truth to this claim.
Shortly after that, someone stole the public address system from the Watsonville SDA church. Some of the members accused our son, Bruce, saying he did it to get even. Of course, this also was untrue. Some months later, the real thieves were found.
I don’t recall getting any letters or calls of apology, but we did get one letter addressed “To the Church of Satan” from a member of the Watsonville SDA church.
We understood these accusations were coming from people who were seeking security in their own “truth paradigm.” We sent letters offering our forgiveness to several of them, including the Bunkers, who had led out in trying to get us fired. We carry no bitterness toward anyone. We feel very much like Joseph when he said to his brothers,
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result (Gen. 50:20).
Hardly a day goes by that we do not thank God for freeing us from Adventism.
Hardly a day goes by that we do not thank God for freeing us from Adventism.
I include these facts here not to cast aspersion on anyone but for the sake of history to demonstrate once again88 the end result of believing the exclusive, toxic doctrines of Adventism.
Many of the Adventists were telling the people attending the BAC, that we would soon leave the Sabbath and turn our backs on Christ. Not long after we started the BAC I gave a four-part sermon series showing why we still believed the Sabbath truth.
With freedom comes responsibility. Yes, we were free to believe what we wanted and to teach what we wanted. We had left Adventism; now the question I had to answer was, what would we teach? What would we cherish, and what would we reject from our former training? I knew from my study that the Adventist claim to be the remnant church of Bible prophecy was unfounded.89 I also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the 1844 sanctuary, investigative judgment doctrine was not only unbiblical but contrary to the gospel. These facts, along with my knowledge of Ellen White’s plagiarism and denial thereof, undermined her writings as a trustworthy source of truth.
Now that I was no longer a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, I decided I would teach and preach from the Bible alone. But what about my personal study? I loved the writings of EGW. I would seldom prepare a Sabbath school class lesson or sermon without surveying what she had to say on the subject. But now, knowing that she was wrong on a number of points, I decided I would also make a commitment not to look at her writings, even in my study, for six months. I boxed up all her books—and I had all or nearly all of her then published books—and put them in the garage for a final assessment at the end of six months. I prepared study guides for our “Searching the Word” hour (Sabbath School) and home Bible studies, and I preached contextually through books of the Bible. Often, while preparing for these studies and presentations, I would remember what EGW said in some of her “golden quotations,” of which there are many, and I wanted to quote them and look for her comments. I had a strong desire to do this. However, I had determined that for the first six months I would not allow myself this “luxury.” For the first time in my ministry, I was forced to go directly to the Bible alone and seek to discover what it said and meant today, without looking at it through the Adventist, EGW filter.
As the weeks went by, I began to see a new beauty and harmony in the Word. I began to see that much of what I had thought was real Bible study before, was nothing more than trying to prove from the Bible the Adventist doctrines I already believed.
As the weeks went by, I began to see a new beauty and harmony in the Word. I began to see that much of what I had thought was real Bible study before, was nothing more than trying to prove from the Bible the Adventist doctrines I already believed. I began to see that the Bible ought to be studied book by book, and not a text here and a text there.
When the end of the six-month period came, the Bible had become a new book. I now realized the writings of EGW, which I had previously held in high esteem, were more of a hindrance to understanding the Bible, than a help. I view this conclusion as one of the most important post-Adventist ministry conclusions I have ever made. Through the years, my ministry to Adventists and former Adventists has only reinforced its importance time and again. In fact, while some may consider the following statement offensive, I believe it is nevertheless patently true. One cannot understand the Bible correctly while continuing to study the writings of Ellen White. It is easier for Adventists to accept this principle when it is applied to other organizations such as the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses. A Mormon will never understand the Bible correctly as long as he studies it through the filter of Joseph Smith. A Jehovah’s Witness will never understand the Bible as long as he continually reads the Watchtower. Both of these groups, like Adventists, consider themselves devoted students of Scripture, and vehemently argue that they are correctly understanding what the Bible teaches, not knowing that the veil of a modern “prophet,” or religious system, lies over their eyes, and keeps them from seeing the real, biblical truth.
I made another equally important discovery, which has also deepened over the years. I still had many associations with SDAs after leaving the Adventist ministry. Knowing that I had rejected the sanctuary and remnant teaching of Adventism, they would often quiz me on the interpretation of some passage in Daniel or Revelation. I was at first quite embarrassed to say that I was not sure what these passages meant. My discovery was that I did not have to have all the answers, especially to questions dealing with the interpretation of apocalyptic prophecies. Rather, I came to the conclusion that where the Bible is clear, I could and should be certain. Where the Bible is unclear, I must be tentative.
To be dogmatic in the interpretation of Scriptures that are unclear or are honestly open to more than one interpretation is the foundation of the disunity within the Christian church and the recipe for cultic teaching. As the years have gone by I, have seen this principle played out over and over again, not only with reference to Adventism, but Evangelicalism as well. Remember the book, Eighty-eight Reasons the Rapture Will Be in 1988? I also recall listening to the Bible teacher on Family Radio state emphatically that the rapture was going to take place on a certain date in 1994. To prove his point, he had amassed many linking proof texts, most of which were nothing but assumptions, much like early Adventists had done with Daniel 8:14 and 1844. Now I am no longer embarrassed to say that I do not know exactly what many of the passages in Revelation mean. Those who say they do know the correct interpretation are usually building on many linking and questionable assumptions.
When I was a Seventh-day Adventist, I read mostly Adventist periodicals, with the exception of Verdict, by Robert Brinsmead and occasionally Christianity Today. After leaving Adventism, I ordered several new-to-me Christian publications. One of these publications had an advertisement for a large set of tapes by John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, on healing, which I ordered. Right after they arrived, I had a ministry appointment in Mt. Shasta, and we listened to these tapes all the way there and back. We came to the conclusion that either Wimber was really being used by God, or he was a very deceptive fake. We discussed driving down to Yorba Linda and seeing for ourselves. One Saturday night, our church had rented a school gym for a church volleyball game. I love volleyball and played hard. That night on the way home, we discussed the possibility of driving down to see Wimber the next morning. We calculated that if we were to get there in time for the church service, we would have to leave about 2:00 a.m. So we prayed, “Lord if you want us to drive down to see Wimber, wake us up at 2:00 a.m., and if not, let us sleep.” In those days, I rarely woke up at night, especially after playing hard. However, exactly at 2:00 a.m. we both woke up and were wide awake, hopped in the car, and started for our next discovery.
It was nearly time for the service to start, and we did not even know where we were going. As we were stopped at a red light, Carolyn rolled down her window and asked the people in the car stopped next to ours if they knew where the Yorba Linda High School was. Their answer was, “Yes, just follow us; that’s where we are going.” Worship was just beginning when we arrived. This was the first time we had ever experienced Vineyard-style worship. People were standing, many with arms out-stretched, deeply involved in worship. We sensed an intimacy with God—a presence of the Holy Spirit—we had never experienced before.
After the service, I introduced myself to John Wimber and told him of my experience in leaving the SDA church and listening to his tapes, and asked for a time to meet. He said he would be willing to meet with us but wanted us to come to the evening service, and after that, we could spend some time together.
That night we again experienced a new depth in worship. After a short time of teaching, John Wimber asked the Holy Spirit to come and minister. For us, this was all totally new. Little bands of people were praying for one another. Some appeared to be speaking in tongues very quietly; others seemed to be overcome with the Spirit.
After the service, we visited with John and his wife in a local restaurant. We told John we were ready to receive whatever the Lord had for us. He gave us some Bible passages to read and made an appointment for us to come by his office Monday morning for prayer.
In our motel, we read the passages John had assigned, prayed for guidance, and went to his office the next morning. There John and his assistant laid hands on us. We experienced deep emotion, spoke in tongues, and sensed a new filling of the Holy Spirit. As we went home, we were singing some of the new songs we had learned.
“Now, what have I done?” the thought hit me with a jolt. We had just left Adventism, and the people who comprised our new church were still very uncertain. Were they ready for this? No way! We decided we would tell no one. But they were soon to find out anyway. Carolyn had a ladies’ Bible study that week. At the study, one of the ladies, out of the blue, looked at Carolyn and said, “Carolyn, something is different, have you been filled with the Holy Spirit?”90
That same week, another lady from our church group was getting her hair done, and the beautician said to her, “You go to the new church where your pastor has just been filled with the Holy Spirit, don’t you?” At the time, our church member knew nothing of our experience, so she answered, “Well, I guess so, he preaches from the Bible.” When our church member told us of this incident, we then told her of our experience and asked her to go back to the beautician and inquire as to why she had made that state- ment. When our friend asked the beautician, her answer was, “While you were sitting in my chair, the Holy Spirit told me.”
Both Carolyn and I experienced a new hunger for personal Bible study. As we would read familiar sections of Scripture, new insights seemed to jump from the page as the Word became alive with meaning.
Sometime after our experience at the Vineyard with John Wimber, I prepared a series of lessons on the Holy Spirit so our group could study this together. Our Searching the Word hour on Sabbath morning had about 40 or so attending. I had them divide into four or five groups that met around small, round tables. Each group had the same inductive study guide. About five minutes or so before the end of the study time, I would ask some summary questions to see what each group had discovered.
…a lot of what Wimber taught is suspect. He seemed to be more interested in supernatural experiences than the presentation of the gospel.
Shortly after we started our study on the Holy Spirit, a lady started coming to our church and shared with me that she was “very experienced in the things of the Spirit.” She shared how she had prayed for people, and they had been healed and how heat would go through her hands when she prayed for others. I was happy to have someone who was more experienced than I in the things of the Spirit. However, each week I noticed that whatever study group she was in, there seemed to be arguments and bad feelings. I pondered this, and it bothered me. I thought perhaps she was going too fast in trying to initiate people into the things of the Spirit. But from week to week, the situation did not improve; now, I was troubled. One day at the conclusion of the service, I invited people to come to the front for prayer for any need. She spoke up and said that someone was there with a hearing problem and would be healed if they came to the front for prayer. Several came forward. I was just getting ready to pray for one of them when this lady said, “Dale, spit on your fingers and put them in her ears.” Something inside of me said, “No.” I sensed this “gifted lady” was seeking to control others, including me.
Not long after that incident, about nine o’clock one evening, I received a phone call from a lady whom I did not know. She said she had a problem with someone in our church and wanted me to come over right then. It was my practice to take Carolyn with me when I visited women, and I was not about to visit this unknown woman alone at night, so Carolyn went with me. When we got to her home, she explained how this “spiritually gifted” lady, referred to above who had been coming to our church, had run off with her lesbian lover and was, at that very time, honeymooning in Hawaii. She wanted me to intervene to get her lover back.
That night I did some re-evaluation. I said, “Lord if this is the spirit that is in our church, I don’t want any more of it! I backed off—fast. And in retrospect, a lot of what Wimber taught is suspect. He seemed to be more interested in supernatural experiences than the presentation of the gospel.
NEXT WEEK: “THE SABBATH REVISITED”
ENDNOTES
87. This money was given to Teresa Fann, who was present at this meeting. She was until then, the treasurer of the Watsonville SDA church. She immediately joined our new church and served as its treasurer.
88. Adventist history is riddled with similar tactics. It appears that Ellen White set this pattern by her scathing rebukes of those who disagreed with her. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p. 207, 313, 430; Review and Herald, 1864-01-19.011; Loma Linda Manuscript, No. 150; Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 135, 136, 139, 140, 144. See also Ford, Daniel 8:14, p. 44f.
89. See Ratzlaff, Sabbath in Christ, p. 372–381.
90. I believe a person receives the Holy Spirit the moment he believes in Christ. I also believe there are times when there is a special empowering of the Holy Spirit for ministry functions.
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