Stewardship: Adventists were duped!

So you just finished a great series on "Stewardship." You are now pumped up for the cause. Adventists are feeling recharged and ready to open their pocketbooks. Well, at least that was the goal.

Back in 2015, the good people that run the Adventist Church, decided we needed a reboot. That giving was not up to snuff, and by golly, they were bound and determined to do something about it.

They created stewardship directors for each division. Thirteen in all. They were given salary, benefits, and travel to shepherd the masses. They wanted to teach every man, woman, and child in the church about stewardship. In other words, you gotta spend money to make money.


Of course it fell flat. Local churches and pastors were not really on board.

It was a perfect storm, really. The GC had troubles with the strong dollar, less tithe money coming in, and a few questionable business practices. Something had to be done.

We need to get people on board to start tithing!

In the Fall of 2017, the stewardship directors met and decided the faithful in the pews needed a swat on the behind to start giving.

So, a solid, three month study on stewardship was benevolently bestowed upon us.

Do you feel duped?

Now you know why the Sabbath School Quarterly had some biting things in it. Like how you cannot possibly be a good Christian unless you tithe. Maybe you are not even fully saved.

Did you feel a little shaken down? Well, now you know the rest of the story. https://news.adventist.org/en/all-news/news/go/2017-10-10/in-the-face-of-financial-challenges-the-adventist-church-refocuses-on-stewardship-and-systematic-gi/

We at the Undercover Adventist encourages people to give as freely as THEIR heart guided by God leads them to. Not to be under pressure.

Should Adventists Celebrate Easter

If by Easter, one means the death and resurrection of Jesus, most certainly we should observe and celebrate Easter. Celebrations were part of ancient Jewish life, even commanded by God. The celebration of Purim was started in the book of Esther.

Of course bunnies, eggs, chicks, and other things are not to be promoted in the church.

Easter does not really have pagan beginnings. It is called Pascha in both Greek and Latin. It is named after the month it occurs in.

Don't be caught up in the falsehoods that are generated each time during Easter. It is just a name. The name came from a book, and from the name of a month in that book. Nothing more, nothing less.

Easter is no more pagan than modern weddings. Yes modern weddings have their origin in pagan beliefs.

So you would sound quite foolish by telling people about the paganism they are doing when they celebrate Easter, as you condone wedding cakes, veils, dresses, flowers, rings, rice, and more. They all have pagan origins. In fact, many if not most, of our customs and everyday items, can be traced to paganism.

And anyone that knows this, will start schooling you on such pagan practices that you do.... as you berate them about Easter.

Easter is not about bunnies or any other such nonsense. But a person do such a thing can hardly be called pagan. The origins of those things do not exist today.

We seem to quote only half The Bible, and only things we like. Consider tattoos. We love to criticize people over those, all the while ignoring something in the same passage: Trimming your beard with round corners. Funny how we never talk about the pagan practice of rounding the edges of your beard.

Why not? Because it's not a good sound bite the way Easter is.

Easter, and Christmas, should be all about Jesus Christ. If it is, then go in peace.

Oh and one more thing. Do you use The King James version of The Bible? And hate Easter? Better get a new Bible. The word Easter is in there. Read little know Bible facts and trivia.

Being Good Stewards, Money, and the Parables of Jesus

This quarter the church is studying about being good stewards. The first thing we think about is money. We must indeed be good stewards with money. We are also being instructed to save your money, think about the future, and not waste things. We need to save and worry about retirement, kid's college, new car, etc.

But won't the Earth be destroyed, and everything in it?

Why does The Bible, Jesus, Bible Authors, and Apostles warn us to NOT think about the future? That is, our monetary future? We are not supposed to worry about such and such when we don't even know what will happen today.

Did Jesus tell us that the lily has no worries about its clothes and so should we be?

What then, does one make about the parables of Jesus about money. These parables apparently teach us about saving and investing money.

Or do they....

Jesus told parables about sheep. We readily agree the parables are NOT about sheep keeping.

Jesus tells us parables on sowing seeds. Of course this is not about farming.

He warns us about having oil in lamps. Most assuredly he is not talking about having lamps lighted.

A son returns to his father after squandering his inheritance. Family matters are not what that was about.

Whey then do we talk about the parables of money.....as if they were about money?

We cannot have it both ways. We cannot be told to worry about the future....but we must save our money just in case?

Jesus tells of a man who did just that. Saved huge amounts in his barns....and then was satisfied. But he died without ever enjoying it. No retirement for him.

Jesus' parables on money must be on something more. Just like all of His other parables.

Each and every one of these parables of money could have The Light substituted for money.

The people in these parables who hid the money were not rewarded.

Are we supposed to hide The Gospel?

The people who took the money and made it grow were rewarded.

Are we not required to spread The Gospel?

After further review, each and every parable that Jesus told was about spreading The Good News. Not saving and investing money.

Jesus had no money. The disciples had little money. Peter and John had no money to give the lame beggar. They have him Jesus.

We should not be saving money just for the sake of saving money. We should not be investing money because Jesus told a parable on it. Just like we would not be going out and taking care of one hundred sheep.

We must use our money, whenever we can, for spreading of The Gospel. We would be foolish and very un-Biblical to say to ourselves, "I'm putting my money in stocks, bonds, CDs, and annuities because I need retirement money to live until I'm 90."

Let's look at what Jesus says:

Matthew 6:34 

³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

James 4:13-16 
 
^"13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

Conclusions?

Of course we need to think about the future. If you spend your time worrying about your retirement, socking money away, and other worries, you are not listening to what The Bible says.

What if you die tomorrow? What good is your retirement savings? What good is your bank account? What good is your new car? What came of your worries and plannings?


A Biblical perspective on your future money worries, or non-worries, is what you should be concentrating on.

Are you using your money wisely to spread The Gospel, or filling your earthly storehouses?
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Work and The Sabbath

As Adventists, you have heard that having a medical job is sacred. That somehow you can work on The Sabbath because you are a healer. Ditto with other "emergency" jobs that someone else has deemed sacred. So, why is this?

If you happen to work at a department store, and called to work on Saturday, we become militant. We tell them in no uncertain terms that they MUST get off. That they must trust God to somehow come to their rescue.

However, if you have the privilege of being a doctor, we give you a pass. Or a nurse. We tell them they are doing some sort of God's work, so that is okay.

Of course this makes us look foolish.

Oh sure, some people say to give the money you earn on Sabbath back to the church, and you are pure. But you still worked your regular job!

Working on Sabbath seems to be okay so long as you :
A) Have a medical or emergency job.
And, perhaps....
B) Give the money back to the church.

Of course this violates Sabbath keeping, does it not?

Is one job sacred over another?

This is related to tithing and faith.

If someone says they have no money left over to pay tithe after bills, then you should pay God first, and God will miraculously make up the difference.

Doctors, nurses, and others, seem to live in a parallel Sabbath universe.

They are told no such thing. They are not told to make other arrangements. They are not told to trust God with their patients. (Or their employer.) They are not told to give their employer a threat of a lawsuit if they are forced to work on Sabbath.


Of course giving back the money you earn on Sabbath opens up a whole slew of problems. If your normal week is 5 days, then is it fair to only take the money you earn on 4 days, when someone else who is "lucky," takes home 5 days pay?

Do we really, really want to talk about faith?

Why do we try and force the little guy to have so much faith, and doctors a pass?

I imagine that most (yes this is a logical statement) doctors, at least in the United States, have quite a lot of wealth. As opposed to a department store employee.

Do we not tell people that God will supply all their needs? Oh...unless you are a doctor or nurse. Then somehow your faith is irrelevant. You must be available on The Sabbath.

Jesus never charged a mite on Sabbath for healing. He never took money on this day, then gave it to the church.

Jesus said to do good on The Sabbath. He certainly did not say do any work on The Sabbath, nor did He say get paid for your good works on The Sabbath.

So the conundrum is there. And we seem to have taken sides.

To some, we tell them to be harsh on their employers and demand to not work on The Sabbath.

To others we say, work in peace. You are doing "good" work, so you are okay.

There must be some other slant. We know this.

It is NOT about flat out working or not working on The Sabbath. There is a principle there. There is a pureness of heart. Jesus told them that they took their ox out of a ditch because it was the right thing to do. Jesus did not tell them to trust God that the ox will keep until sundown.

We do not know the motives or struggles of people who are trying to keep The Sabbath.

However, it seems to us here at The Undercover Adventist, that we tell some people to struggle, and others not to.

Shouldn't we tell everyone to not struggle and live by faith? Without judgement?

Very difficult to do if we take sides and deem some jobs sacred, others not.

In the very near future, we will address more of this. Stay tuned!

Adventist Questions (and accusations) From Other Denominations

Adventists have long been accused of many things.

How do you answer false accusations about Adventist beliefs?

First of all, be ready. If you have not already, you will be questioned. And probably in a hostile way. Be prepared to not get hostile in return.

Three major issues for Adventists

Ellen G. White. Many members of other denominations think that whatever this woman  said, did, published, or otherwise construed, is the basis of our salvation. It is not. And it never has been. We can blame this big one on ourselves. We have done a poor job of promoting our message and truths. If the first thing out of your mouth when evangelizing is Ellen White, you won't win many friends.

You must first be firm that our salvation is based on Jesus and The Bible. After that, you can begin to attempt to turn the conversation around. Ask them what authors they like. Have they read books by Rick Warren, like The Purpose Driven Life? Do they know and read Max Lucado? Does their pastor quote other authors? Do they like books such as The Prayer of Jabez? They now must fully admit that there are "modern day" prophets. There are authors, books, and literature that Christians can feel is inspired, and a way to expand and learn Biblical principles. (Yes, we know that Ellen White is not the same comparison here. That's not the point.) The point is to get them to think of good Christian books that they have read...love, and follow. Hand them a copy of Steps to Christ. Ask them to read it. Get them to actually read something she wrote as a Christian author. A logical, reasoning Christian cannot help but get the idea that perhaps, just perhaps, Ellen G. White has written some good things. They might even be inspired to read The Great Controversy.

The Sabbath. You will be accused of being a legalist because you preach The Sabbath. Again, if The Sabbath is the first thing out of your mouth, where was Jesus? Some other denominations just get the idea that we say you cannot be saved without The Sabbath. When answering such accusations, don't start with the 10 Commandments. You are doomed to lose. You must do this via the backdoor.

Offer up tithing. Is tithing Biblical and encouraged by God? Well,....yes. How about if you saw a twenty dollar bill that dropped out of a stranger's pocket. Would you pick it up and put it in yours? Well,....no. Would God want you to steal? Um...no. How about getting kids to obey their parents. Do you think it is Biblical that children should honor their parents? Yeah....sure. Politely tell them that you look at The Bible as a whole, and know that God said something special about The Sabbath. If we try and do other things that won't save us, but because it is pleasing to God, why would we not do all things pleasing? End it with getting them to rethink it. Pray about it. Don't tell them they are sinners for going to church on Sunday. You will lose every time. You don't even need a long, Biblical, seminary student-type study on this to turn minds. Remember, you are talking on their level in regard to the accusations. You should not be shoving The Sabbath down their throats with a jackhammer.


Vegetarian? Yup! Somehow they have the idea that you must be a vegetarian to be saved. We have muddled this up big time. Again, it is really the same dialogue you had with The Sabbath above. What does God want for us? The best? The worst? Is your body a temple? Can we smoke, get drunk, do drugs? (Even they will admit that smoking, drinking, is not great for your body, nor pleasing to God.) So then, why wouldn't you want to do good things with your body? Is it Biblical to take care of your body? Of course it is! What diet concerns should we have? The health message is one that many will actually take to. Many churches are promoting healthy lives. Many health organizations are promoting eating less and less red meat. Again, it is all about The Bible and God wanting us to live well...and be good stewards with our bodies. They cannot argue with that. Adventists sadly have been ever maligned with Veggie Links. Is that what defines you as an Adventist?


We cannot, and should not, tell people they are sinners that will burn in Hell for not believing Ellen White, not keeping The Sabbath, and eating meat. That is between them and God. We are doers of The Word, not condemners with The Word. It is a journey. If you are bent on arguing these issues for the sake of arguing, forget it. Your ministry will probably fail.

Once you take these issues off the table, their ammunition against you has ran out. You are saved by Jesus and Jesus alone. The Bible is the end all to end all on all issues.

Why would a true Christian NOT want to live the life that pleases God as much as humanly possible? And that is reason Seventh Day Adventists believe and worship as they do.

We here at the Undercover Adventist believe that the more you get people to attend an Adventist church, the more they will realize that there is nothing scary or cultish about being an Adventist. Adventist churches are an amazing place to learn Biblical truth. Let's all promote it!