Conference clasps hands with the Papacy
"It is a backsliding church that lessens
the distance between itself and the Papacy." ST vol 3, 99
"Beach's encounter with the Roman Pontiff came as a member
of the Christian World Communions, and following a special
luncheon at the Vatican." Review Nov. 8, 2001 [Note: The
Seventh-day Adventist church is the member, not Beach
individually. Beach was representing the Adventist church.]
General conference representative Bert B. Beach, was sent as a representative of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the "world church," to meet with the pope. Instead of preaching the three angels' messages around the world, the conference chooses to be partners with the man of sin.
Our duty friend, is to follow the Lord and warn the world of the coming crisis.
"When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near." --5T 451 (1885)
The leaders of the SDA conference seek ecumenical approval, instead of standing for the truth. They are not willing to be labeled "peculiar" by the world, but rather seek to fit in with Babylon. In the end they will be rejected by God.
The laity are asleep while the conference is hijacked by apostate, non-Adventist leaders.
Adventists and Papacy Sign Pact
“Adventist Church Cannot be Treated as a Sect,” Warsaw, Poland ... [ANN Feb 15, 2000]
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church cannot be treated either as a ‘new religious movement,’ or as a sect,” declares a joint statement drawn by the Roman Catholic Church and the Adventist Church in Poland.
Recognizing each other’s autonomy and independence, the document was issued following 15 years of dialogue aimed at better understanding of the teachings and practice of the Catholic and the Adventist Churches, as well as improving relations without compromising each other’s identity.
The document cites the fact that “relations between Catholics and Adventists have not been best in the past.” The statement was signed by representatives of the Churches, including Pastor Wladyslaw Polok, president of the Adventist Church in Poland, and Archbishop Alfons Nossol, chairman of the Polish Episcopate’s Commission for Ecumenical Affairs.
“With regret we recognize cases when the different religious and civic circles have denied the ecclesiastical status of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, even refering to it as a ‘sect.’ Such an approach is unacceptable and, we believe, it is highly detrimental for the mutual relations,” the document states.
“This document affirms religious liberty. We are regarding it as an important development not only for our Church in Poland. Religious minorities are too often regarded as less than what they are,” said Pastor Polok.
The statement recognizes that though the Churches can refer to similarities, they also see difference between each other’s “doctrine, practice and church policies.” However, both sides affirm a need to cultivate respect for each other and learn to understand each other. The dialogue was “conducted on the basis of partnership, care to uphold a full identity of both sides, as well as their autonomy and independence, in the spirit of mutual respect and Christian love, and in recognition of the ideals of tolerance and religious freedom.”
“This is an important turn of events for our Church,” says Prof. Zachariasz Lyko, who for many years was responsible for the Polish Adventist Church’s public affairs. “This development is not a result of criticism, public attacks or confrontation, but Christian kindness toward each other and respect for dignity of a human person.”
“Many of us can recall how we have been labeled with different names. We have been misunderstood and often ridiculed. As for us, we wanted to sit down together and recognize that Christian love requires a different kind of relation in the society we are a part of. As Seventh-day Adventists we seek to take a positive approach to other faiths. We have stated this publicly and this document affirms our attiutude [sic],” he added.
The document does not deal with doctrinal and theological issues. During the years of meetings, both sides presented their theological views and doctrinal positions in the interest of better understanding between both confessions. “Our Church recognizes that such dialogue cannot be a dialogue of compromise, but one of cooperative spirit and common understanding,” Lyko explained. “We are doing nothing different except what the early pioneers of our Church supported and advocated. It is always better to engage in a respectful conversation than in a confrontation that often prevents achieving desired changes,” he said.
Lyko commented that “as a Church, our side was not interested in compromising any of our fundamental beliefs.”
“Over the years, however, as the exchange of information between us took place, we noted many confessional similarities but also differences. The Catholic side recognizes in the document the Christocentric character of our beliefs, and especially our belief in the Trinity, as well as ecclesiological identity of the Church, a status affirmed by an act of the Polish Parliament. On our part, we spoke of a need to change attitudes toward our denomination and recognized the openness of the Catholic Church, especially in recent times, toward the Bible,” Lyko explained.
How can the Adventist church identify the papacy as the beast if it is partners with them? The conference is not spreading the three angel's messages to the world, as they would rather follow the papacy over their duty to God.
THE POPE INVITES CLOSE FRIENDS TO ASSISI
General Conference of SDA's on short list to meet pope The following news release comes to us courtesy of Domus Enterprises, which calls itself "an international news organization, staffed by lay Catholic journalists, dedicated to providing accurate world news, written from a distinctly Catholic perspective."
VATICAN, Jan 17, 2002 (CWNews.com)- The Italian daily newspaper Avvenire has published a list of the religious leaders expected to participate in the January 24 inter-religious observance at Assisi.
The Vatican has not yet released an official list of the participants, explaining that the list will not be considered complete until all those invited have responded. An estimated 300 people are expected to be involved, representing 44 different religious bodies.
Avvenire reported that 33 cardinals are expected, led by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano; the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re; the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan; the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper; and Cardinal Etchegaray, who organized the original inter-religious ceremony in Assisi in 1986. Also present will be representatives of the Episcopal conferences of Algeria, Angola, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria. Rwanda, and Sudan-- countries where inter-religious dialogue is particularly important.
The Orthodox churches of the world will send 11 patriarchs to Assisi, led by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. But no representative of the Moscow patriarchate is expected. About 50 Islamic leaders will attend, coming from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, the Philippines, and Jordan. And Jewish rabbis will come from Jerusalem, France, and the United States-- along with Elio Toaff, the former chief rabbi of Rome. Protestant bodies will be represented by Konrad Kaiser, the secretary-general of the World council of Churches; Anglican Bishop Richard Garrard of Rome; Setri Nyomi of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches; George Freeman of the World Methodist Council; Cecil Robeck of the Pentecostal church; Alvin Jackson of the Disciples of Christ; Theodor Angelou of the European Baptist Federation and Bert Beach of the Seventh-Day Adventists.
The Vatican also expects representatives of Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and traditional African faiths. The Italian government will be represented in Assisi by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
All these participants are expected to be aboard a specially chartered train that will leave Rome for Assisi on the morning of January 24, returning that evening.
CW News DAILY NEWS BRIEF for JANUARY 17,2002 C>
Domus Enterprises, An international news organization, staffed by lay Catholic journalists, dedicated to providing accurate world news, written from a distinctly Catholic perspective
Ecumenical Gatherings
(The following report came from the Adventist News Network of March 7, 2000.)
The “Meeting of U.S. Church Leaders,” an annual gathering of heads of Christian churches from around the nation, has elected Seventh-day Adventist Dr. Bert B. Beach as the vice chair of the group’s steering committee. More than 30 church leaders participated in the February 23-25 meetings, including leaders from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Churches in the USA.
“This ongoing appointment is an indication of the growing esteem in which the Seventh-day Adventist Church is held by many of the titular heads of the churches in the United States,” says Beach, a past director of the Church’s Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department.
Beach, who has represented the Adventist Church at the meetings for the last 15 years, sees the annual gatherings as an invaluable way of connecting with national church leaders in an environment of informal fellowship.
“We pray together, enjoy devotional meetings, and form friendships,” says Beach, who adds that no substantive decisions are made at the annual meetings. “It’s simply an opportunity to meet, consult, and recharge; to put away hostilities and worship together as fellow Christians.”
The February meeting of the “U.S. Church Leaders” at Asheville, North Carolina, was a special millennial gathering where speakers explored the “Gift of the Holy Spirit.” A prayer, written by meeting participants, asks God to use United States Christians “In preparing Your Kingdom, That Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
Beach, Inter-Church Relations director for the Adventist Church, has been a Church administrator and religious liberty advocate for over 48 years. He currently also serves as vice president of the International Religious Liberty Association, and is the elected secretary of the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions–an office he has held for the past 29 years. [Bettina Krause]
Conference calls pope "your holiness"
St. Louis television broadcasts the SDA church calling the pope, "your holiness(!)" then meeting the "man of sin" and presenting him with a gift.
Sunday Worship Promoted
In the conference book Changing The World through Prayer, an ADRA prayer Journal, it states, "Prayer: Father, give our pastors boldness to proclaim the gospel on Sunday...." (emphasis supplied)
Easter and Sunday Worship Promoted
In 1997, Bert B. Beach was sent as a representative of the conference to meet with ten other churches at a World Council of Churches assembly, where they worked out an agreement for all churches around the world to celebrate Easter on specific SUNDAYS! "The churches need to address the renewal of …the recovery of the meaning of Sunday…" World Council of Churches, Faith and Order, Towards a Common Date for Easter, item 3. Read this internet document: www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/easter.html "World Council of Churches, Faith and Order, Towards a Common Date for Easter." This document was compiled through the WCC which comprise approximately ten "participants," including B. B. Beach and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. This document promotes Sunday worship! Item 3 says, "Besides the work already done on baptism, Eucharist and ministry, the churches need to address the renewal of preaching, the recovery of the meaning of Sunday and the search for a common celebration of Pascha as ecumenical theological concerns. This last is especially urgent, since an agreement on a common date for Easter—even an interim agreement—awaits further ecumenical developments." [Emphasis supplied]. Item 16, "This consultation also recommends that the churches now undertake a period of study and reflection towards the goal of establishing as soon as possible a common date for Easter/Pascha along the lines set forth above. In the year 2001 the paschal calculations now in use by our churches will coincide. Together, Christians will begin a new century, a new millennium, with new opportunities to witness to the resurrection of Christ and to proclaim their joy in his victory over sin, suffering and death. The unity that will be reflected as Christians celebrate Easter/Pascha on the same date will be for many a sign of hope and of witness to the world. This celebration of Easter/Pascha on the same date should not be the exception but the rule." [Emphasis supplied]. Every Historic Seventh-day Adventist should be aware of this paper so they can share it with conference supporters.
Beliefs Changed to Protect Papacy
The original 25 Fundamental Principles published in 1879 by the Seventh-day Adventist church, the man of sin, the papacy is identified in its own fundamental belief. But today, in the conference baptismal book In His Steps, which covers "the principles of faith," AND in the official conference Internet site Adventist.org, the conference omits this important biblical belief in its statement of beliefs. Friend, this is positive proof that the conference is part of a new organization.
WCC Close Ties
In 1968, the conference became a non-voting member of the World Council of Churches, World Confessional Families. Today the conference will tell you it is not a member, when in fact it is. The World Council of Churches produced the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement, 1991. In this book, the conference leader Bert B. Beach tells how the conference is part of the World Council of Churches, "The SDAC [Seventh-day Adventist Church] is regularly represented through observers or advisors at WCC and other church meetings. For many years, a SDA has been a member of the WCC Faith and Order commission in a personal capacity. The SDAC has participated in dialogues with the WCC and various religious bodies and since 1968 has been represented at the conference of secretaries of Christian World Communions. More recently, the SDAC has been represented at the annual conference of US church leaders. Christian World Communions and various churches have responded to the SDA invitation and sent observers to the quin-quennial general conference sessions." p 919
Please go to the WCC web site which lists the members of the Christian World Communions, including the conference: www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/links/church.html
Gift to Pope
The World Confessional Families met in Rome, with B. B. Beach the secretary of the Northern Europe-West Africa Division representing the conference, where he met with the Pope in a private ceremony. Why is the conference a member of the WCF? Beach presented the Pope with a conference-issued gold medal. There are several unusual features on it. The 8-11-77 Review said it was a "symbol of the Seventh-day Adventist church." Today, the conference is not ashamed of its presentation to the papacy, and is defending the gold medal presentation via a detailed description of the meeting. "It was felt that it was of interest to meet with the man who is the religious leader of some 700 million people....[Beach] gave him one of the medallions that...are given from time to time to statesmen...."
There are several items on this gold medal which are designed to please the pope. 1. Christ is in a Catholic stance, like the Vatican painting by Francis de Assisi, and idols. 2. He is standing on earth like Satan will when personating Christ. 3. There is a cloud with lightning bolts extending from it, just as mystery religions and the medieval papacy used. It was a symbol of Satan in the mysteries. 4. There are eight angels. Eight is the symbol of the sun day. 5. The Maltese cross is a Vatican symbol. 6. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT IS CHANGED TO READ THE SAME WAY THE PAPACY ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE IT!
"When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near." --5T 451 (1885)
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Mark Finley in the Net 95 and Net 96 evangelistic series, said the number 666 represents a human system of religion. The number three equals the Trinity. The number seven is perfection or completeness. The number six is imperfection, and a basis of Babylonian calculation. The number 666 represents the triumphant of error, a triple union of error, a union of the dragon beast and false prophet, a religion of man, not God. Pastor Finley never associated the papacy with this number.
In the November, 1994, "Adventist Review" a supplement titled "The Saints Victory in the End Time" states, "Any explanation of the cryptic number will have to be tentative." Our historic Adventist view of the number 666 tied to the inscription on the papal tiara is termed "flimsy". They believe the number is "The code for the name of the sea monster, which is blasphemy." In the same article, they doubt apostate Protestantism in the United States will become the image to the beast.
The pope's title on his tiara headdress basically says he is god on earth, and the numerical value of the letters add up to 666 in Greek, Hebrew and Latin. The Bible and Spirit of Prophecy both indicate 666 represents the pope: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" Rev. 13:18. "I saw that the number (666) of the Image Beast was made up; [Rev. 13:18] and that it was the Beast that changed the Sabbath, and the Image Beast had followed on after, and kept the Pope's, and not God's Sabbath." WLF 19
Dick Duerksen, director of creative ministries in the Columbia Union, was mocking those who were saying, "The pope's stand on abortion, his book lifting up the gift of God's grace, his words praising family values and all his travels are but a smokescreen behind which he is building a world-wide power base. He will be taking control of the world any day." Columbia Union Visitor
In the announcement of a new "Signs of the Times", the new editor, Marvin Moore, appears to be saying that the beast will not be identified: "These articles will avoid attacking people and churches that disagree with us, including the Catholics. We win by drawing, not by pushing people away....Signs keeps the three angel's messages front and center, but speaks the language of the 1990's, not the 1890's." Mr. Moore, like the conference, termed the identification of Babylon and the beast as "attacking".
Notice these statements in the conference publication Review, May 2, 1991, Roy Adams "The Eucharist, turning the communion bread into the literal body of Christ, fits into the circle of the three angels' messages." Review, September 19, 1993, Miriam Widmer "We praised the pope for sounding like an Adventist or protestant preacher, and suggested God was using this pope to bring the gospel to the Catholics."
At the 1990, General Conference Session in Indianapolis, a Catholic priest spoke and prayed from the pulpit. The conference communications director told a local newspaper that we no longer believe what we did a hundred years ago concerning comments in the Great Controversy about the papacy. A condensation of "The Great Controversy" was handed out in Indianapolis. "Shirley Burton, a spokesperson for the denomination, told the Indianapolis Star Daily newspaper the tract was 'trash.'...The main body of the Church has moved away from an anti-Catholic position. The new position of co-operation with the Catholic Church was exemplified by the invitation from the Seventh-day Adventists to the Vatican to send an official observer to the conference." Arkansas Catholic 7-29-90. The following are further comments found in The Indianapolis Star, July 14, 1990, "Though Adventist officials conceded the history of the denomination has an anti-Catholic bent, they said the modern church is trying to move from that stance. 'They (the dissidents) want us to be like we were 100 years ago.' said Herbert Ford, news director for the 6.2 million-member church. 'But, the church has to move not away from the eternal principles of God, but things do have to change. 'These people are a thorn in the flesh, but the church tolerates them. United States in Prophecy [Great Controversy] which was sponsored by Adventist Layworkers Affiliate of Tennessee, calls Catholicism a pagan religion and refers to the pope as a beast. Adventists who want to cling to the church's historic anti-Catholic beliefs represent only about 1,000 in the North American division of 750,000 members, Ford said."
The Vice President of the Conference, Neal C. Wilson, verbalized the conference position regarding the papacy, "Although it is true that there was a period in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist Church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint...that attitude on the church's part was nothing more than a manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative Protestant denominations in the early part of this century, and the latter part of the last, which has now been consigned to the historical trash heap as far as the Seventh-day Adventist Church is concerned." Merikay McLeod lawsuit, Docket entry #84: EEOC vs PPPA, c-74-2025-CBR. Feb. 6, 1976
The Ignored Prophet, Ellen White Speaks:
"The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure." Series B No. 2 54,55, or 1 SM 204, 205
"The sin of ancient Israel was in disregarding the expressed will of God and following their own way according to the leadings of unsanctified hearts. Modern Israel are fast following in their footsteps, and the displeasure of the Lord is as surely resting upon them." 5T 94
"If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, His providence will bring you over the ground again and again. You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness. The multitude of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so." RH 12/6/90
"We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird....I tell you the truth, Elder Butler, that unless there is a cleansing of the soul temple on the part of many who claim to believe and to preach the truth, God's judgments, long deferred, will come." Letter 51, 1886.
"We are not to spend our time in controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the differences between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors. A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out so strikingly, for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing success to our institutions....I saw some reaching out their hands to remove the banner, and obscure its significance." 2SM 385
"Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing and the people are sleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling; will you hear?" Letter 106, 1909
[Some Adventists believe the conference will repent eventually, so we should continue to support their apostasy until that happens. If the conference is to repent, then why does the Bible say in Ezekiel 9 there will be a slaughter of the leaders and laity where almost every Adventist will soon be killed by God's destroying angel after the close of probation? The slaughter is brought about because of the abominations of Israel or Adventists as noted in Ezekiel chapter eight. Mrs. White tells us the slaughter of Ezekiel chapter nine will be a literal slaughter of professed Adventists. Ezekiel sees the slaughter beginning with the leadership, and he frightfully watches the destruction and asks the destroying angel if all Israel or Adventists will be killed.]
"The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to the church, forming a bond of unity. Through this means the church will become indeed corrupt, and as stated in Revelation, 'a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.' Through association with the world our institutions will become unsubstantial, unreliable; because these worldly elements, introduced and placed in positions of trust, are looked up to as teachers to be respected in their educating, directing, and official position, and they are sure to be worked upon by the spirit and power of darkness; so that the demarcation becomes not distinguished between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, If the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: 'found wanting.' By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged." 8T 247
1901 "It is working upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the Conference is the Voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought that it was almost blasphemy....We have reached the time when the work cannot advance while wrong principles are cherished." Man. 37, 1901
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