February 13, 2014

February 3, 2014

In Christ There Are No Labels

In “In Christ There is neither Conservative nor Liberal” (Jan. 16,
2014)Chris
Blake hit the nail squarely when he wrote, “we must repent and change our
ways.”

We have delayed Christ's return
long enough! The phrase “repentance and reformation” is cited 49 times on the
Ellen White CD Rom, whereas “revival and reformation” is cited eight times. We
have to repent and change in several areas, such as diet, dress, entertainment,
and worship. The standards have to be raised so we may indeed be the peculiar
people the Lord must have before He can return. . . .

“Repent” was the message of John
the Baptist, and it has to be called for today. When we truly repent we will
also reform and have a genuine revival that will be manifested in the latter
rain. As Ellen White wrote, “When we reach the standard that the Lord would
have us reach, worldlings will regard Seventh-day Adventists as odd, singular,
strait-laced extremists” (Fundamentals of
Christian Education
, p. 289). Love for God will motivate, self will be lost
sight of.

–Howard
Loewen
Berrien
Springs, Michigan

Regarding the article “In Christ There
Is Neither Conservative Nor Liberal”:

Blake
makes a number of good points, but the fact remains: no matter how one labels
them, some things are non-negotiable. Many of our doctrines, some of the
original “pillars of our faith” are being attacked from within the church.
There can be no compromise on these issues. If it was “present truth” 100 years
ago, it can’t be false today.

Some
things may have been more relevant at different times in our history, but new
truth does not negate or contradict old truth. There may indeed be neither Jew nor Greek, . . . neither bond nor free,
. . . neither male nor female, neither Black nor White, but there is
still truth and error. There can never be compromise between the two, whether
or not one wants to label any particular issue “conservative” or “liberal.”

–Walter
Sumner
Canaan,
Maine

I appreciate Chris Blake’s expressing our need to be loving
and Christ-like in being tolerant of other peoples view. That is a must. We
lose instead of gaining when we are intolerant and critical.

However, Blake missed the
real point. He is trying to compare bananas to marbles. What we have is two
opposing theologies. Both of which cannot be correct. Revelation 3 makes clear
that a large portion of the Church of Laodecia has a theology that gives it a
false assurance of salvation. Its theology in regard to salvation is flawed,
fatally flawed (Isa. 30:1). It’s a theology that has to be given up in exchange
for the remedy.

May God help us to make
our calling and election sure.

–Gary
Pyke
McEwen,
Tennessee

Jesus,
Only Jesus

The January 16, 2014 Adventist
Review
was another winner. Hyveth Williams’ article, “A Few Words About
Jesus,” was a masterpiece, a message worth sharing. Thank you.

–Velma
Beavon
Dayton,
Montana

Alone
on the Sabbath

Regarding “Married but Alone on the Sabbath (Nov. 21, 2013): After
marrying a person who is not a Seventh-day Adventist, I had similar experiences
about being alone on Sabbath. But our loving Father is so good and impressed me
early on that if I did not show that the Sabbath was important to me, it would
never be important so him.

For five years I tried to live by
that conviction. Praise the Lord, it worked. My husband was baptized five years
later, and this year he will have been a faithful, believing member for 50
years!

The moral of the story: Live your
convictions and let the Holy Spirit do His work.

–Bettigene
D. Reiswig
Via
E-mail

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