New Hospital Wing at Warburton
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July 9, 1994 CO CO CID CD z 0U) a) N O cc No n REC R tio a lic b u t—p Pos lia tra Aus by d re te is Reg GC President Visits New Zealand 12 Profiling a New Hospital Wing at Warburton Woman With a ttending the Open Day at the Warburton Hospital, Victoria, on June 8 was Evelyn Lee of Mission —6 ACoronella Retirement Village, Nunawading. Mrs Lee, the daughter of Pastor Charles Head, was born at Warburton on June 5, 1915, and is one of the 4000 babies delivered by Warburton Hospital's first medical superintendent, Dr Howard James. Dr James served the area from the early 1900s until 1932. Making Your Mrs Lee said she was delighted to visit the institution again to see the dramatic development that Declaration of had taken place during her lifetime. The opening of the new wing of the Warburton Hospital is featured on page 11. Dependence-4 emphasis includes an erroneous under- standing of the biblical teaching of sin, a A Time to Speak perfectionist theology of salvation, and a certain understanding about the "And so it was gradually and subtly that nature of Christ, which, to them, is very here is, people were turned away from God's important since it undergirds their Taccording truth to other men's private opinions." eschatological doctrine of salvation. to the wise man 4. On account of these dissident In addition, of course, they have a of the Old teachers, the church and the gospel deep conviction that the church at large Testament, a were brought into disrepute. has fallen into apostasy. time at which it The history of the Christian church It is an incontrovertible fact that an is appropriate to reveals that there have been similar situ- erroneous understanding of sin speak. It follows ations at various times in the past. inevitably leads to an erroneous doc- the time when Satan, the arch deceiver, knows well trine of salvation. This is perhaps the Solomon says it is better to keep silence. what strategies to use and how to imple- saddest aspect of the whole matter. Having followed this latter course for ment them in his determination to People are being deceived regarding the nearly three years, I have reluctantly weaken the church and detract it from most important thing of all—the gospel come to the conclusion that something its Heaven-appointed mission. and the plan of salvation. And the now has to be said about the claims and Some of the reasons for my concern church is judged to be in apostasy, in activities of certain groups and individu- are as follows: part at least, by these very criteria which als among us whose critical spirit and 1. The establishment, in the past year themselves are erroneous. independence of action are proving divi- or two, of a number of independent While we do not for one moment sive and detrimental to the church. groups under several leaders who have question anyone's right to believe and In the interests of tolerance and broken away from the church and teach what they are convinced is neces- patience and in the hope that things sary, it needs to be clearly understood might change, I have previously It has not been a pleasure that these particular theological views refrained from comment. It seems to me for me to write this editorial. do not represent the teaching of the that there is wisdom in allowing the fruit church at large. Neither do they repre- to ripen so that its true character may be sent the teachings of "historic evident to all. formed their own congregations. Adventism," regardless of what their The past two years or so have seen an 2. Teachers from Australia and else- proponents claim. Neither do they rep- escalation of independent activities and where, some of them retired or former resent historic, biblical Christianity. hardening of attitudes to the corporate ministers, others laypeople, who have Were the church as a whole to follow church on the part of those concerned. held meetings in various places, includ- these particular views, we would with- Of course, not all "independent" activi- ing the island territories of our division, out doubt end up on the fringes of ties are of this kind, and we thank God sometimes openly attacking the church, authentic Christianity, rather than being for those that are loyal and supportive. preaching their own particular theology, the end-time proclaimers of the "ever- However, the church has been severely and in general causing confusion and lasting gospel" in its fullness as God has embarrassed on a number of occasions consternation. called us to be. by a small minority who feel no loyalty 3. The continuing existence of several Those who espouse these ideas usual- to the organised church and who seem independent publications, all highly crit- ly quote the writings of Ellen White constrained to pursue their own ends ical of the church and all dealing in extensively. They frequently do so, how- without reference to the body as a deceptive half-truths or manifest ever, selectively or by quoting out of whole. untruths, aimed at undermining the context to suit their argument. This is an Before proceeding further, I urge that church and its leadership and creating unacceptable way in which to use the those reading these words will also read division and doubt. writings of God's messenger. carefully the following passages of scrip- 4. The baptism of followers of these She also has something to say about ture: Acts 20:28-30; 2 Corinthians 11:2-4, self-appointed leaders, including the the very attitudes and activities we are 13-15; 1 Timothy 4:1, 2; Romans 16:17, rebaptism of some previously baptised here discussing: "We are not to hurl 18; 2 Peter 2:1-3. There are many and received into the fellowship of the thunderbolts against the church of lessons to be drawn from these inspired church, contrary to the accepted proce- Christ militant; for Satan is doing all he words, among them the following: dures of the church. possibly can in this line, and you who 1. There were divisive elements in the 5. The diversion of funds, including claim to be the remnant of the people of early Christian church, self-appointed tithe, from the mission of the church to God had better not be found helping teachers who had arisen from within the privately sponsored activities, some of him, denouncing, accusing, and con- community of believers claiming the them unrepresentative and contentious. demning. Seek to restore, not tear rank of apostles or inspired teachers. Something also needs to be said down, discourage, and destroy" (E G 2. These false teachers used "feigned about the theology underlying much of White, Manuscript 21, 1893). words," that is, deceptive or fabricated this independent activity. In general, It is wise and appropriate counsel for words. They were deceivers. many of these divisive "right wing" ele- us all. 3. They succeeded in drawing after ments have a particular theological As a result of the attitudes and activi- them some followers. Barclay says, emphasis that motivates them. This ties I have briefly outlined, the body of 2 RECORD July 9,1994 Statement of Affirmation n recent times the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been accused of falling into widespread apostasy. The charges I have been made by a small minority within the church who appear to believe that they are the only true defenders of the faith and hence the real remnant. It is further alleged that church leaders have all apostatised and are responsible for the current apostate state of the church. These are serious charges, which can no longer go unanswered. The matter of critical and divisive elements within the church was discussed recently at the South Pacific Division Presidents Council. Those present—the division officers, union presidents and conference presidents, unanimously sub- scribed to the following statement of affirmation. We commend it to the membership of the church in the South Pacific Division as an honest and earnest declaration of our individual and collective convictions. We further solicit the prayers and support of the church for those who have been deceived by these unfounded allega- tions and for those of our ministers called to labour in areas where critical and divisive voices are frequently heard. e, the undersigned leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia and New Zealand, division offi- Wcers and union and conference presidents, gladly affirm without reservation our loyalty to and support of the message and mission of the church as set forth in the Bible and summarised in the 27 Fundamentals, and our commitment to the proclamation of the three angels' messages. We further affirm our joyous belief in the everlasting gospel of our risen Lord, and our fervent wish is that it be fully understood and unreservedly accepted by all claiming the name Seventh-day Adventist. We recognise with sorrow our humanness and our ability to make mistakes, but categorically deny allegations that we have, either collectively or individually, departed from the teachings of the church into a state of apostasy. We call upon those who have made such charges to withdraw them as being unfounded and untrue. We further call for an end to the divisive activities of those involved in certain private organisations currently operating in this division and that lead to confusion, distrust, disunity and in some cases loss of personal faith. We also call upon the membership of the church to distinguish between authentic ministries in the church and those organisations that are personally or privately motivated, testing them by Scripture and by their fruits.