Why I’m Leaving Seventh-day Adventism

Here's why I will no longer participate in Christianity as a Seventh-day Adventist.

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Introduction

By most Adventist terms, the title of this article makes me an apostate, someone who has rejected the Holy Spirit, and has broken faith. This is to say, I would be prevented from entering heaven under these terms if God sees it the same way. 

To the contrary, I am about to share how we should do as the Adventists say, but not as they do. Be careful of the leaven of Seventh-day Adventism.

… they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:11-12

We are told by the SDA church to follow the bible and use the bible to interpret everything, and I am with them when it comes to the commandments and testimony of Jesus. We should be. The problem is that the same rule is not consistently applied to her own self.

How I Found Out

Back in 2023 when I first found a failed prophecy of Ellen G White (EGW), it happened while studying her writings in a project to help a church in Colombia answer questions their youth had written down anonymously. I was shocked. I didn’t want it to be a failed prophecy, but it was.

Years earlier, an Adventist pastor had told me that quite frankly that he didn’t trust EGW. I hadn’t asked questions, but instead –went the way we are supposed to as Adventists– and started wondering how this man ended up rejecting the Holy Spirit. 

I didn’t even need to think about it:

“Satan is … constantly pressing in the spurious—to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.” —Letter 12, 1890.[1]

EGW, Selected Messages, Book 1 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 48.

”There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them (her writings), for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.” —Letter 40, 1890.[2]

 EGW, Selected Messages, Book 1 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 48.

Looking back, I feel I had been primed for this moment, psychologically manipulated, held captive by the teachings that would obligate me have me this view of my pastor the moment he said it. 

The day I found the particular passages, I began to think about what my pastor had said many years before. And, I also began to think about the sermon on 3-Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) that had convinced me to become a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) again after returning to Christ. The pastor on 3ABN focused on other people who some have believed to be a prophet, like Nostradamus, and then contrasted EGW as a prophet with verified 100% accuracy about the future. 

My Honest Adventist Background

I grew up in a household where I was home schooled. My step-grandmother read EGW books to us up to 4 hours a day between the ages of 9 and 12. She felt there was no better education for children. I knew the writings well, and had a conservative family. 

We lived a 5 minute drive from Auburn Adventist Academy, an Adventist boarding school, surrounded by an Adventist utopia of sorts. Things were pretty awkward in an Adventist utopia considering my mother was born due to my grandmother cheating on her husband with the Adventist conference treasurer.

**My grandmother, God bless her soul, returned to Christ shortly before she died. 

Women in the church had sought to prove there was cheating involved, and in the 1960’s, tape recorders were cutting edge technology. They placed one behind the couch and talked to her, seeking for her to tell the truth. She ended up confiding in them, and they showed everyone the recording afterwards. 

My mother was still living that moment when she attended the Auburn Adventist Schools, since the children knew her father wasn’t her daddy more than a decade later. The effects of that were hard for her, having not even known about it yet. Her father, the man who had been cheated on, he took her under his wing, and even helped raise her after the divorce when she was around 6.

Skip ahead to when I was about 7 years old. There was a court battle over custody of my little sister, and an abuse case that reached the front page of the Settle times. The mans parents were elders at the home church of Auburn Adventist Academy, so no matter how one looked at it, everybody kept on knowing about us. 

We belonged to the downtown city church, as did many of those those living around the academy. I remember my mothers conversations with us about even if we went further, people would still know. 

I never wanted to be an outsider, I was born an outsider. The children in my class wouldn’t even speak to me for the most part, and especially those who’s now grandmothers had been involved in the tape recording scandal –which constituted most of them.

But there we were, reading through Ellen White on an almost daily basis, eating vegan, going to church, and fitting the image of a loving honest Adventist life. I had a hard time processing how the two worlds made sense. 

My step-grandmother explained to me how Ellen White wrote about how many within the church are not saved, and that they were going to behave accordingly. She re-assured me that we were part of that group who was saved. 

It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner.—

Ellen G. White – Christian Service, 41 (1893). – {LDE 172.1}

Lost and Found

By my late teens I couldn’t take how much people argued or pointed fingers at each other in the church and in some parts of my family. I didn’t know it yet but my step-grandmother had schizophrenia running in their family. She was the most reasonable, but there was a problem with her son, and her sister –a medical practitioner with her own clinic– was always telling us she was a prophet like Ellen White. 

I learned early, that just because someone says something that seems prophetic, doesn’t mean they actually are a prophet. But before that even happened, at just 16 years old I fell sick-with-disdain for the EGW quotes being used by Adventists during moments of strife and correction.

I had a thirst to know the bible and didn’t feel like I was getting it from the church –often openly commenting that, “if only people would throw in a bible quote instead of, ‘EGW said..'”  She had become the lens by which I learned about the Bible, including about Christ. 

It was the strife that I couldn’t understand, and perhaps that’s the reason I left. I stayed away for almost 20 years, and stopped believing in God about half way through it. It didn’t make sense that my experience was from God, let alone others who’ve had it worse –praise be to God for bringing me back. 

I returned to Christianity in 2014, and resolved to read the entire bible for myself before making any decisions, and in the next 8 years I would read it through more than 12 times over. By the time my first pass was about 80% complete I knew I was going to continue as in my youth –I was going to be a Sabbath keeper. God willing, I will always be a Sabbath keeper. After all, so was Jesus. 

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.

1 John 2:3-6

I returned to the Seventh-day Adventist church in late 2014 because that pastor on 3ABN had convinced me that the SDA culture had thoroughly tested EGWs writings. I remember the day clearly. I resolved to humble myself and accept without question anything she said –and I learned a lot of good things during those years. She has a lot of profitable teachings. 

But then, there I was in 2023 facing a new found reality — the pastor on TV had been a bit of a salesman. I’d kind of knew it beforehand –my step-grandmother had pushed on me a particular scientific teaching of EGW when I was 14 years of age. It was scientifically unsound –but I had been willing to overlook it when I decided to accept EGWs writings again. 

Mind you even doctors from Loma Linda (an Adventist university) teach classes where they show how statistically sound EGWs scientific statements are –scoring very high in the “what”, but much lower when she explains the “how”. Dr. Seheult also gives a statement of faith, saying that without a formal education, he believes her high “what” score is a sign of divine influence.

The passage that was pushed on me when I was younger was a “how” statement, the king Dr Seheult says she get’s wrong, and I stand by my assessment confidently. It will be in the book I have been writing on this.  

Remember My Step-Auntie

I had reached a crossroads in 2023. I have hundreds of bookmarks in EGW books, even had in that moment. For example I have around 80 folders containing bookmark collections I have amassed through study in the Ellen White book collection Android app.

Regardless of anything I had read about not questioning her for a second, and regardless of what I had been taught in church, I knew that I needed to go and look at what EGWs critics had to say. I could do this with an honest heart after growing up around my confirmed schizophrenic step0-uncle that was deeply effected by EGWs experiences. My step-auntie too, who secretly within the family was often trying to tell her thoughts as actual future. I needed to know for the right reasons. 

One day I dove in and started sorting through her critics articles. There was a lot, a lot of dross –things I found trivial, and every now and then some shockers, perhaps bigger than what I had found on my own. 

I can tell you that doing the research on EGWs critics was not a fun experience. It was negative. It felt like a curse, and usually I didn’t agree with the theology behind what the EGW critics were saying; but I did find some additional starting points that I needed to assess for myself. I studied the issues biblically for two years, on this specifically almost every day –both equally looking for releif in the scriptures, and testing EGW by the scriptures on these matters. In fact Hispattern.com had almost no activity during that period while I figured out what I did and didn’t know. 

Reaffirmation

The result was my dissertation through seven separate threads, four currently public, and three more additions for my book. While the assessments are completely original, with insights that I’m surprised have not been shared yet, not all of the points of contention were originally found by me. I’ve just developed new scripturally relevant points that have not surfaced through others yet. 

The three unreleased threads are mostly related to my original finds without researching something someone else didn’t like, including the one I found on my own when this whole ordeal began.

The result is that I believe at least part of the Adventist church is flirting with disaster if they try to cover it up. This isn’t to say the Adventism isn’t trying, both one way, and some the other. To their credit, there are scholarly articles coming out of places like Andrews University, and more casual ones shared by the Adventists through Spectrum Magazine –but these are self assessments, and I think they could go further in identifying what has been falsified. 

Here I will quickly summarize the four released articles that I have written, as my primary reasons for leaving the Adventist church. The first two of these are contrary to fundamental beliefs of the SDA church. 

  1. Ellen G White is an unfaithful prophet (willing to speak from herself):
    EGW asserted that Christ was to return within her lifetime, presenting details so specific that they could not later be reinterpreted or retracted. She claimed these revelations were communicated to her directly by an angel, and reaffirmed this statement through more than one vision.

    Scripture, however, is explicit that no one—not the angels in heaven or even the Son of God—knows the time of His return. Christ instructed believers to discern the signs of the times, not to rely on any individual claiming privileged revelation to determine divine timing. In my view, this contradiction strikes at the core of the issue and exemplifies the warning that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

    My dissertation demonstrates that, in this debate, Adventists are unwilling to apply biblical standards consistently or faithfully when those standards conflict with EGW’s claims.

    • The reason why this particular point is being incorrectly defended by the Adventist church has all been my own work. The point of contention however, has been around for a long time. The EGW Estate defends the failure by stating that many prophets reneged on potential prophetic events. But the SDA leaders who wrote the defense missed the point. The angel couldn’t have had this information in the first place. In the same chapter where Jesus tells us false prophets will have signs to convince others, he also specifies that neither angels nor the Son of God know about the time, but the Father only. Please go read the full article.
  2. There is rampant confirmation bias in 1844:
    While the year 1844 functions as a theological pillar that elevates the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a uniquely chosen group, the biblical text itself is far less esoteric when the relevant passages are read according to  their intended context and audience. The prophecy of Daniel 12—regardless of any shared symbolic or temporal patterns with Revelation  —most directly pertains to the period of the early disciples, beginning with the death of Christ and extending through the stoning of Stephen, the subsequent persecution of the church by (Daniel 12:7).

    This sequence continues with the setting up of the abomination of desolation when the gospel being officially passed to the Gentiles (Daniel 12:11), and culminates in the conversion of Paul (Daniel 12:12), forming a precise historical overlay with the narrative spanning the end of Acts 7 through the beginning of Acts 9. Interpreting Daniel 12 as first applying to the apostolic era is further reinforced by the testimony of Jesus Himself, particularly in Matthew 24:34, where He affirms that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” 

    While pointing out to us that the time of the Gentiles was coming –as spoken of by Jesus– the late part of the book of Daniel was framed as a prophecy regarding Daniels people. The time of the end was the transition of faith and the people who would carry it, and of the beauty in Gods plan about how a Jewish leader and oppressor of the testimony of Jesus would become one of the apostles. 

    Jesus prophecies of the abomination of desolation being the Romans, and later Johns prophecy in Revelation 12 ties in the horn that came out of Rome, so that the predominantly gentile Christian movement would have proof of who was identified in the book of Daniel, as early as 7:8. 

    Meanwhile, the SDA interpretation requires completely changing a word in the bible to have it make sense. This has never been necessary, as the prophecies climax with a promise of his second return, and proof surrounding the death of Jesus through the events that succeed it –may his name be glorified. 

    • This work is completely my own, and represents almost 10 years of research into the word “daily” representing daily sacrifice (ancient Hebrew was always very vague. I knew it meant the death of Christ and not Paganism as the SDA church believes as a support of a pillar of her faith. I could say nothing until I could explain Daniel chapter 12, since Daniel 12:10 has been used as to support Adventist superior interpretation. 
    • At some point I was told by one of it’s leaders this particular item should be shared with the wider church, but that people would probably stop and listen if I had a PHd.
      I think the Adventists would have seen this one before me if they had not settled on endorsement of EGW rather than a purely scriptural support structure. Franky, changing a word in the scriptures when it already makes sense is not biblically or logically sound. A PHd won’t be necessary to recognize that.
  3. Inconsistent testimony about experienced supernatural events:
    Ellen White’s testimony was so dissimilar to the Israel Dammon court case she was implicated in that one must ask themselves –if she told the truth, then why did not even the Millerite believers who testified have noting even close to what she said? and why did the prosecution not say anything? Both prosecution and defense could have been made out to be liars by the other side had EGWs testimony happened. **EGW was not present at the court case as she left town.

    I have spoken to Adventists about this one, and most believe there was a conspiracy with the devil to cover up the truth in the several page report written in the courtroom by a Justice of the Peace –who himsel fwas reported as a meek Christian (The Portsmouth Inquirer (Portsmouth, Ohio) 20 May, 1850, Mon Obituary Notice) 

    While comparing the report on the court case to EGWs original testimony some years later might seem like circumstantial evidence, EGW did give another pass at the testimony more than 50 years later. Her second testimony during an interview about her life’s work was so dissimilar to her first written one that she obviously hadn’t told the truth the first time.

    I witnessed a supernatural miracle with others 40 years ago this year, and my testimony is exactly the same today as it was then. 

    1. This particular argument has not yet been defended (typically the EGW Estate officially defends the works rather than the SDA church directly). It is my own analysis, but I did learn about the second testimony of EGW from the pamphlet defending other debates arising from the court case, which was full of claims about scandalous behaviors. It’s available through the EGW Estate “Another Look at Israel Damman” by James R Nix.
  4. Caught in a lie while in vision:
    Not long after the Israel Dammon case, during one of EGWs early visions when she convinced other early Adventist leaders that she was a prophet, her vision exactly matched scientific details of her day. Her vision has what should be irrefutable evidence  that her dialogue was taken directly from scientific materials in print at that time, INCLUDING THEIR SCIENTIFIC INACCURACIES which would be proven to not be incorrect several months later. Even her accurate vision testimony about the Orion Nebula was directly from a widely distributed scientific press release, which uses the same words and phrases she did (IE: appearing to be an an opening in the sky, and a doorway to “a region more enlightened”).

    A witness and author, as well as life long friend of EGW, and Seventh-day Adventist, John Norton Loughborough, wrote about the vision in one of his earlier books. The Adventist printing house Review & Harald (R&H) changed his testimony in the book to match the scientific understanding of the time instead of what EGW really said. Loughborough complains about this in another later book.

    • Only the moon count discrepancy has been defended by the EGW estate, who’s stance is that EGW never explicitly said the planets were Jupiter and Saturn –so no harm, no foul. Meanwhile, those present expressed this interpretation in front of her as she spoke with them. Here’s why I see this as a coverup:
      • The whole basis of the amazement of Elder Bates (an ex ship captain and astronomy enthusiast) and Loughborough was because they were already aware of the scientific descriptions written about the Orion Nebula by Christiaan Huygens, as well as reports on the known planets and their moon counts by other astronomers.
        EGWs husband James White indicated they did not know who Christian Huygens was, while her testimony about Orion overlapped with his scientific description, even saying the same exact phrases, “opening in the sky” and “a region more enlightened”.
        I’m surprised not to have found public commentary on this simple logic. Why did the scientific descriptions match? I guess nobody else has ever looked.
      • If she was not seeing the planets of our solar system, then:
        1. Why did the moon counts and description of the planets match the exact known reports and moon counts currently known to science?
        2. What happened to the people including, Mrs. Truesdail who signed an affidavit stating she witnessed everything? Did EGW not tell them they were making a mistake in assuming it was Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn that she had just seen? All had access to EGW. She was not famous. They all spoke about these planets in front of EGW, even calling them out by name as EGW spoke. 
        3. Why did the R&H update the book text from Loughborough’s book “Rise in Progress” when it came out more than 40 years after the event happened? Perhaps the change in book text was a mistake, but why had EGW not clarified to her family friend that it wasn’t Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn yet? I mean, if people were still talking about it 40 years later?
        4. There was still one more chance for her to say something after Loughborough’s first book Rise In Progress was released in late 1892. The text was not correct, which Loughborough obviously took office to –having an explanation about it printed in the footer of his next book. 
          Was EGW not aware of this happening to a close family friend, and at the printing house her husband founded? Shall we accept that she was ignorant of the common belief that she was speaking of our own solar system?
          More than a decade would go by after the printing of Rise In Progress before Loughborough would release The Great Second Advent Movement where he makes known the truth around the update of the moon count. Why did EGW not take it upon herself as a servant of the Lord to lead Gods people to the truth concerning the identity of the planets if she had not actually indicated in private that they were? Seems she couldn’t try to fix on her own while witnesses were still alive.
  5. Several other failed prophecies: will be in my book, including what I found while reading her works faithfully in 2023.
  6. Other stark contradictions in prophetic visions about the same historical event across time.

Hispattern.com isn’t going to become an SDA correction site, we’ll be moving beyond this and actually try to help people who don’t understand or know about Jesus yet. For that, the book is what is necessary to finish my work on this. 

I’d like to remain a friend to Adventism, to see her like a faithful sister to the wider body of the Christian remnant –akin to the letters to other churches in 2nd and 3rd John. 

Perhaps Seventh-day Adventism has a thorn in her midst, one –that like Paul– could be unveiled through admission. I perceive that God is willing to even to say “my grace is sufficient for you too”, but make good and sure it’s not because it was permitted to stay though personal views of rejection of the rest of the body of Christ. Maybe you don’t understand what I’ve said, but a pastor will. 

The SDA church should not try to make or keep prisoners. She must remain loving to be found faithful. And for that, I believe she must be willing to accept that she is not “the remnant“, but rather “a part of the remnant”. 

It is the sectarian teachings that started with the Millerite movement that need to be abolished. I am a witness to them. I have sat in Sabbath school class while others talk about other churches being full of demons for rejecting the Seventh-day Adventist message. This was the doctrine of Millerite preachers, and inherited by the SDA faith. Look no further of evidence of this spiritual prejudice than the Israel Dammon case, or many other Millerite preachers. 

Should this spiritual elitism continue, then it’s going to be because those in SDA conservatism have been willing to let the ideas of spiritual superiority reign. I don’t think I need to explain to you how to identify when a racist speaks or acts during a time they can’t tell that you they’re a racist. If you don’t know what it looks like, I’ve added this PDF to show the parallels between people hiding racial prejudice and Christians who have spiritual prejudice. 

I do not bring this as some sort of new accusation, but rather a defense for others who willingly keep Gods commandments, and the Monopoly Adventists would have believed they had. I once thought it too, and I’ve had friends suggest the Seventh day Baptists denomination is part of Babylon. Who is who shouldn’t matter, being Godly and as faithful as we know how to be is where we should be with our dialogue about others. And please don’t resort to slight of hand, because saying, “I belong in the best seat at the wedding” also says something about others. 

In the second half of the PDF document, it only describes people who hide racial prejudice, so that the reader can think for themselves on the assessment should they choose to. There are real parallels between Adventist views about other Christians. Spiritually speaking, they go together. Meanwhile, God has already moved on many SDA congregations and individuals who would like to remain to have already rejected this form of subtle hatred –may the Holy Spirit remain with them. 

Having prophecy has never been enough on it’s own (Matthew 7:22–23, 1 Coe 13), nor keeping the commandments -lest we live by them (Galatians 3:11–12). The Pharisees had these, but they were preventing others from entering through their behaviors. Maybe, because they held private interpretation of scripture, similar to how I’ve found the Adventists doing with 1844

May Christs name be glorified in what I’ve shared in that article (John 16:14)

Prophecy doesn’t necessarily make a prophet, for even king Saul prophesied full of the Holy Sprint (1 Samuel 10:10–12). Deuteronomy 18:15-22 tells us that if a prophet is willing to speak from themselves and not God then the evidence will be that they will prophecy things that do not come to pass. We are safe from being obligated to fear them like a faithful prophet, but like the case of the Pharisees, we should be doing what they said to when it’s in line with the scriptures. 

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples. “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Matthew 23:1-3

I’ve read the SDA commentaries on the claims of failed prophecies, but they barely scratch the surface of where the scriptures go. They are cherry picked for keeping members rather than letting the reader choose for themselves –something they should have been trying to make an honest effort to do considering the evidence. 

If the Seventh-day Adventist church were to recognize these scriptures that defy their defense, then I would have no good reason to leave. Even Adventist leaders who know about the problem the church has have told me the church couldn’t bear the grief or internal struggle if it were to say she was wrong, because she already said she was the only one who was right. 

Praise God that there are people leading the Seventh-day Adventist church who are trying to avoid this sin, and may the Spirit continue to lead them. I admire their efforts. 

Laodicea

In the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, the hare told the tortoise that he was the going to be the winner. Did you know that the hare was a Laodicean? Its true. We can all learn a good lesson in the parallels. Laodicea as a sore winner, or well, an almost winner, but caught sleeping, assuming that he was rich and in need of nothing. 

Elitism is something athletes take very serious. Every Christians should take this very serious too, but always saving “sorry but it’s me on the winning side” for battles with the [spiritual] powers of the worlds darkness –and not for flesh and blood. 

I know what someone will say, “but, we battle with systems, corruption in belief”, but if corruption of forms of belief exist within our own system, then what have we accomplished by fixing it in others or by telling them if they aren’t with us that they have rejected our leading role? That’s an elitism mindset that causes it in the first place. Let’s face it, we both need the great Physician equally, and always will within denominations, being Revelation 14:4 points to individuals and not churches. 

Jesus said not to take the best seat at the wedding feast –essentially not to say “I’m going to come in, first place”. Maybe as a wise virgin we should be have our mind on oil for our lamps, preparing for what we have been invited to, and have little to do with what proof there is that we will take the best seat at the ceremony. 

May the SDA church achieve here dreams as a part of the body of Gods remanent. 

Ironing Out the Wrinkles

It will be necessary for Seventh-day Adventism to recognize something about itself—something I, too, had to come to terms with. She is not a uniquely chosen remnant in the sense of exclusive divine favor, but rather a community of believers who have earnestly sought to understand the Scriptures. This is evident in many of the progressive and insightful contributions the Adventist Church has made, particularly in the area of biblical prophecy.

However, with these advancements has come a confidence that, at times, has hardened into overconfidence. Error can and does exist within portions of Adventist teaching, even within certain fundamental beliefs. If the Church refrains from judging others for not accepting these matters—many of which are organizational or interpretive rather than salvific—then that same grace will be extended in return.

Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees selectively applied Scripture when it suited them. What I see today, in some of the defenses offered against the concerns I’ve raised, suggests a similar willingness to do the same.

Let me be clear about what I affirm without reservation:
We should follow the moral compass of Scripture.
We should believe in God as Creator.
We should believe that Jesus, the Son of God, came in the flesh, died for our sins, and rose again.
We should recognize that God is powerful enough to accomplish His purposes through history, through allegory, through symbol, and—had it been His will—through entirely literal means as well.

I cannot say these things from the heart and rightly be labeled the “washed-up rebel” warned against in 1 Timothy 3 or the book of Jude, unless personal interpretation is elevated above Scripture itself.

Have your faith as you are convicted to have it. But the way we once held certain things was not righteousness—it was sin that did not lead to death. All of humanity has the right to turn away from sin once it has been revealed in one’s life.

If something is not a sin to you, then I sincerely hope that what you keep proves profitable to both you and others. It should be—if it is used for correction and for love. Beyond the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, many matters remain open to those whom God has personally guided.

Paul said it well when he pointed out that God does not work only with meat-eaters or only with vegetarians. He notes simply that one is weaker….

Wait, I’m a vegetarian myself… 🤔 Guess that means I must be the one who is weaker.. 

We can all relate to this. Each of us has something that makes our faithful efforts feel polished, perhaps even respectable or fashionable. Yet within the wider body of Christ, what is sin to one is not sin to another. Ellen White herself was no exception to this human condition.

In your corner, do what you know to be right. May no one deceive you—whether toward unrighteousness or false righteousness. Do not attempt to game God; He responds shrewdly in return. And if God is truly with us, then we both know where that path ultimately leads.

God is not with us when we call others fools—Jesus warned that such a posture places us in danger of judgment—nor is He with us when we imply that others must ultimately conform to our way, as though salvation depends on our interpretation rather than on Christ Himself. We are called to let Jesus be the stumbling block, not our understanding of Him. Otherwise, we risk hindering others from entering the kingdom through a lack of humility and love, having first missed the heart of the gospel ourselves.

God is love. As I see it, we are still in the same ring together—spiritual athletes in our own right. May every saved soul someday be counted among God’s elect, having been called in love. Prophecy, languages, academic achievement, extraordinary faith, generosity, even martyrdom—all of it fails us without love. Without love, none of it has real value.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Christ and Him crucified is good medicine (1 Corinthians 2:1–2). Sometimes it will simply have to be enough.

May we both be led by the Spirit, corrected by the Scriptures, keep the commandments of God, and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And may we find love in the process—for without it, we have become nothing and gained nothing.

Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!

2 Thessalonians 3:16

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Don

I would rather do the Lords work than anything else.

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