Two weeks ago at the first of the biannual talks I give on Religious Liberty at our local church I took a decidedly different approach on the topic. Instead of talking about the separation of church and state, which is the basic idea that the state has no business telling religious bodies how they should carry out their convictions, and more than this, how the state or government cannot pass a law that goes against a persons convictions. That last point was rather critical because it brought in the spotlight the question of what happens when a law of the state goes contrary to the religious convictions of a person, how is this conflict resolved? This question led us into an interesting discussion on how this problem is solved. According to the basic principles of religious liberty, the state has to let that person carry out their religious convictions even if it goes contrary to the laws of the land. However there is involved a process where the state has to determine if the religious practice that is under question is held as a preference or a conviction by the person and if it is the latter, the state will grant that person or body of people the liberty to carry out their religious practice even though it may be contrary to the law of the land. The study of this process is fruitful and sure to captivate anyone who is will give an ear to hear. Nevertheless this was not the topic of discussion two weeks ago. What was discussed two weeks ago was the idea of religious liberty inside the church, in short, I talked about how the creed we reverently refer to as the church manual is a violation of the principles of religious liberty within the church. This was an intensive study and will by no means seek to exhaust the topic here. Perhaps using the phrase intensive study gives the impression that this requires labourious thought and heavy use of text, however that is not at all. What I did was to merely recite the reasons why the Adventist church rejected the creed the first time. And what we found was that the predictions that they made as to the kind of people that such documents produce were true. Their reasoning was sound and still holds true today and it is a marvel as to how such profound reasoning that had almost supernatural foresight was conveniently set aside and the creed reintroduced. I encourage all to have a look at the reason why the Seventh-day Adventist church rejected the manual the first time and should you not know where to find this data, ask me and I shall be glad to show you where it is found. The reason why I am saying all of this is this: after the talk, the church was as it were, breathed a sigh of relief. It was as if a burden had been rolled away, and they awakened to the sense of individual duty. The knowledge that the church cannot and should not pass as law or policy the fine details of church organisation, ordinances and church officer duties what God has not made plain in scripture and left to individual judgement of each believer to decide as different circumstances should so dictate, was a relief to them. The second thing I want to bring up before I conclude on what all of this about is what happened today. I gave talk today for youth day. The message was not what one would typical youth day which would something that appeals to the youth. Rather what I talked about was the issue of womens ordination, I talked about it from a prophetic view point and demonstrated from scripture how it was satanic, it and along with feminism. Many other things were said which I would have to write a full article about but what was of interest to me was the reaction of the church. Instead of bitter feelings arising and animosity the church received the message warmly with high appreciation of the message. It gave rest to their souls, they welcomed it. And amongst the congregation was a man who I had to rebuke openly whilst we were discussing the issue of the ordination of women during lesson study. I had to rebuke him openly because in support of womens ordination he was introducing the idea that we have to determine which part of the writings of Paul were inspired and which were not and he encouraged us to take this approach even on the spirit of prophecy. Now there is a very clear statement in the spirit of prophecy on what we should do when we meet this subversive teaching, and that is to rebuke it right then and there, on the spot. Now this man, a father with a wife and children greeted me with great cheerfulness expressing appreciation at the clarity of the message saying that I should send him more information regarding the message. Though he expressed some reluctance when I offered him a pdf that helped clarify some of these issues for me, what he really wanted was the data from the message, the data on prophecy. He said that he is now convinced that the ordination of women is a fallacy. Then there were other conversations with some women who are against the practice of ordaining women as pastors and elders, they expressed some of their concerns, it was refreshing to listen to. Apparently at a womens ministry meeting one of their leaders once told them that as women, they should support the ordination women. This mother I was talking to said that she did not sympathise with such counsel and that this push by women to occupy the functions that God has reserved for men are leaving the important ministries like the Dorcas ministry languishing. We talked about other things that I will not divulge here about. This is what I want to say. This is my conclusion. Speak the truth. Preach the truth. Do not be afraid. Do not be a coward. Pray much before speaking and God will melt hearts before you and pray much during the sermon. If you have the correct knowledge regarding some of the issues and challenges that we are facing today, do not keep silent. Even if you are not given a platform to present before a congregation, wherever you are given an opportunity and wherever you create for yourself an opportunity, take your stand on an issue. Be plain, be simple, be vocal, settle the faith of the doubting. God needs this, the church needs it and this is the time. Speak the truth, Gods people are hungry for it. Speak.The.Truth.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 17:08:36 +0000
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