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To the Warrimoo Seventh-day Adventist church, the Pastor and Elders
From Ferdinand Rajcany
Letter of resignation from the SDA denomination
30th December 2004
Dear friends,
For the last seven years I was troubled by some teachings of the SDA church, which I now know are unbiblical.
I have decided to study the Bible for myself, without the biased influence of E.G. White's writings, with which I had lot of problems. I have studied the Bible, books and works of other Christian writers; I have corresponded with the E G White Estate, read "SOP" books and prayed hard for guidance by Holy Spirit to show me the Truth. After careful and prayerful study of all above sources I came to the conclusion that I no longer believe the majority of Adventist beliefs.
In particular:
1. The Law is no longer our tutor, and has no authority over us since Christ has come. Now we live in the New Testament times of Grace, the Law is faded away, being nailed to the cross. (Read Galatians2 to 6).
2. The Sabbath is NOT the Seal of God neither is Sunday the Mark of the Beast. None of this can be proven from the Bible. The Seventh day Sabbath is NOT an issue for Salvation.
3. The identifying Mark of remnant (Christians) is NOT Sabbath but LOVE. Jesus said: "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples- if you have LOVE for each other". And again, "This is My Commandment, that you LOVE one another as I have LOVED you". "A new Commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you" Love as a Commandment in the Gospels is mentioned more than 50 times and in the New Testament over 200 times. In contrast, Sabbath as a Commandment is NEVER mentioned! Jesus never said, "By this shall people know that you are my disciples- if you honor, teach or promote the Sabbath."
4. Ellen G White is NOT a prophetess of God. She has made many mistakes, contradicted herself, the Bible more than fifty times, contradicted science many times and wrote many statements contrary to human conscience. She plagiarized most of her writings and she did not live what she was preaching. Her many "prophecies" are unfulfilled. Her "Testimonies" promote a judgmental attitude, are harsh and often unforgiving and condemning. She never mentions Love as a driving force behind Christian works and character, neither in a practical nor even platonic way. All of her writings completely lack an interpersonal relationship based on Love as taught by Jesus- in practical way. (Read her "Testimonies") She portrayed Jesus as a frowning angry God being displeased with His people. She even talked to the dead, which was punishable by stoning in the OT!
5. As a Registered Nurse also a member of the Health Science Institute of America and the Men's Health Institute, specializing in nutrition, herbal remedies and natural, healthy living. I totally refute the SDA`s so called "Health message" which is unscientific, more than 150 years old, contrary to proper nutrition and dangerous to ones health. (Remember the New Zealand couple in 2003? They were dedicated followers of her "Health message"). As a result of E.G. White's "Health message" SDA's built the Sanitarium Health Food Company. These products are not fit for human consumption as they are highly refined, processed beyond recognition and use many artificial ingredients and is often full of highly concentrated carbohydrates. (Dick Smith's products). This is also contrary to the teachings of E.G. White the founder who wrote that food must have least preparation to be most nutritious; otherwise it is "injurious to your health".
6. Meat- eating is not forbidden for New Covenant Christians. Nowhere in the Bible is meat eating forbidden. Jesus ate meat and fish, even after His resurrection, so if it was good for Him it must be good for me too. Even "unclean" meats can be eaten when they are received with thanks, See 1Tim 4, Rom 14. Meat eating is NOT an issue of Salvation. It is a NON-issue!
7. Dancing is NOT forbidden in the Bible but on the contrary, it is encouraged especially in worship of our God. Dancing IS good for your health, contrary to E.G.W teachings.
8. The SDA "State of the dead" doctrine is dogmatic and also contradicts the Bible teachings. The teaching in the Bible about the state of the dead is inconclusive and thus it cannot be the last deception to confuse people out of Salvation as E.G. White proclaimed. Why did she converse with her dead husband then? Was she not deceived by making a promise to him that she would do everything he tells her to do?
9. The doctrine of "Investigative judgement" cannot be supported by the Bible in any way.
10. The "Sanctuary" doctrine of the SDA's is also faulty, as Christ entered the Heavenly Sanctuary at His ascension, not in 1844 as proclaimed by SDA. More than 80% of pastors do not believe this doctrine. I will NEVER stand before God the Father without a Mediator at the end of time as E.G. White teaches. (What a horrible, depressing and blasphemous teaching!). Jesus lives forever and mediates on our behalf ceaselessly. HALLELUJAH!!! (Read Hebrews). There are NO two compartments in the Heavenly Sanctuary as these were united at the death of Christ when the curtain was torn in two. E G Whites "door" is a product of her imagination.
11. Jesus commissioned His Disciples to preach the Gospel, not to promote the Sabbath or an individual denomination. Neither did He commission his disciples to teach the doctrines of the Old Testament. SDA's teach a unique doctrine based on the Old Covenant, promoting themselves, instead of preaching the simple Gospel of Salvation.
12. The Biblical order of bringing people to God is: a) To preach the simple Gospel of Salvation. b) Baptize sinners first, as they are. c) Only then teach them the New Testament, not the other way round. Man can not clean himself first and then go to God, as professed by SDA`s, it is the work of God to clean a repentant sinner.
13. More than two levels of any church organization is non Biblical and is directly against the authority of the Holy Spirit. Christ is to be the head of the Church.
14. The General Conference is NOT the highest authority of God on the Earth as E G White leads us to believe. Christ is who deputized our Comforter- Holy Spirit to be Highest Authority. The Bible and the Bible only is God's written will for humanity.
15. I cannot and will not submit my "personal opinion" to authority of General Conference as E.G. White teaches, for my Salvation depends on God, not through the General Conference.
16. Tithing is NOT a requirement for NT Christians, otherwise Paul would have demanded tithe from the churches he established when drought ravaged the land. Instead he begged for donations.
17. It is a blasphemy to say that the Ten Commandments are reflecting character of GOD, as it puts the Almighty God on the level of man. The Ten Commandments are the absolute minimum the Jews were required to live by, and they all failed miserably. The Character of God is LOVE, as it says in Scripture GOD IS LOVE. The Ten Commandments are to condemn man; Love is here to give life. Putting on Christ enables us to do HIS Commandments.
18. The Remnant are Christians of all ages from all around the world and from all denominations. They are NOT an exclusive club of Sabathkeepers organized under the umbrella of the General Conference. There is no description of the Remnant "Church" as such, in the Bible.
19. The Spirit of Prophecy is another name for Holy Spirit- it is NOT the writings of any prophet/ess.
20. Sabbath worship is NOT three hymns, sermon and departure, all rigid and orchestrated by few, to exercise authority. Sermon preaching is NOT worship.
21. The Sabbath day is what it says - a REST day, not exclusive, and the only worship day. Sabbath for the Jews was always a rest day, NOT a worship day. There is no difference between Saturday or Sunday worship, or any other day. All days are acceptable to God if He is worshiped in Spirit and in Truth, none of which SDA's have. The Adventist Sabbath-Sunday controversy is NOT a Salvation issue, the day is not important; it is the object of our worship- who you worship, our God or His adversary.
22. The Bible is the only written authority for God's people. There is no other written authority except the Bible, not even the writings of Ellen White. I totally reject the writings of Ellen White as being inspired from God, which is one of the SDA fundamental beliefs. It is a sin to add to the Word of God and Ellen White added some 100,000 pages (25 million words) to the Bible as she says. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible, not E.G. White's "Testimonies",
23. The "Clear Word Bible" is a terrible twisting of the word of God and "authors" and peddlers of it will be punished as is written in the Bible itself, by receiving plagues with the other unrepentant sinners. All cults produce they own "bible" to control their members.
24. If the reader of this letter is an HONEST Christian s/he will study above points either to prove or disprove all controversies, I can prove all I have put before you today. Be HONEST for your own sake. We are commanded by Paul to "test the prophets", hold on to which is good and discard the rubbish.
"If the Testimonies speak not according to this word of God, reject them. Christ and Belial cannot be united. -- Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 691. I find her "Testimonies" do not speak according to the Word of God, so I took her advice and totally reject them. I am no more a disciple of E G White but of Christ only.
As you can see, the differences in understanding the Bible are too many and too deep for me to remain in the SDA denomination and for that reason I humbly request my name to be removed from all SDA membership books. I honestly cannot call myself a Seventh-day Adventist. I would rather call myself a seven day Adventist, worshiping God daily, not only on the Sabbath. I will ever praise Jesus for giving me freedom to worship Him in New Covenant life, apart from the Law, and looking for His coming.
It is not easy to leave the church, which was part of my life for the last twenty-four years, while most of my family still remain, but it must be done as our beliefs differ widely. I love you all and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you and comfort you in your personal journey to the kingdom prepared for His people. I hope we will remain friends as before.
Please do not worry about me, my name is firmly written in the Book of Life, for I love Jesus and He loves me. He is my Savior forever.
There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. [Rom. 8]
Kindest Christian regards,
Ferdinand Rajcany
PS: Let this be your motto: "Truth needs no other foundation than honest Bible investigation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and a willingness to follow the truth when it is revealed".
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FERDINAND RAJCANY