Reaching Special People

1. Reaching Special People Techniques and Understandings

2. B.C. Churches

3. Anglican, United Church, Presbyterian Pentecostals, Methodists B. C. Churches

4. World Religions, Churches, Sects, Cults, • A convenient way of describing general characteristics. • World religions • Christianity • Islam • Judaism • Buddhism • Hinduism • Churches – Hereditary • Sects – Mission • Cults – Non-Christian elements

5. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Hereditary, part of a person’s social environment. • Often State churches. • “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

6. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Roman Catholic • Anglican • Lutheran • Presbyterian • Orthodox • United Methodist • Congregational • Disciples of Christ

7. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Worship services are formal. • Ritual and liturgy. • The altar is the center of worship.

8. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Great deal of liberty in theology. • Creeds are important and often form the basis of communion.

9. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Often focus more on social issues that biblical beliefs. • Often very “liberal” in theology.

10. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Key question: “What will my family say?” • Key comment: “I was born a . . . . My parents were born . . . . My grandparents were . . . . And I will die a . . . .”

11. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Clergy are often called “priests” and “Reverend”

12. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Roman Catholic theology is “sacerdotal” • Salvation is tied to the priestly office.

13. The Non-Adventist Landscape: “Churches” • Seventh-day Adventist theology is an automatic answer to Roman Catholic theology. • The Book of Hebrews and the sanctuary.

14. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Evangelical Churches • Evangelical churches are more focused on theology and biblical teachings. • “Evangelical” refers primarily to five beliefs: • Inspiration of the Bible • The atonement on the cross • The literal resurrection of Jesus • Immortality of the soul • Second coming

15. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Evangelical Churches • Primarily two types: • Fundamentalists • Neo-evangelicals

16. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Evangelical Churches • Evangelicals are found in all churches: • Baptist • Nazarene • Independent congregations • Pentecostals

17. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Sects • “Sects” in a technical sense are groups built around a mission. • The mission takes precedence in the life of the sect. • People belong because they believe in the mission and dedicate their lives to its propagation. • Often have a “remnant” perspective as the ultimate faithful and true believers.

18. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Sects • “God has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth. . . .” —Ellen White, Last Day Events, p. 44

19. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Sects • Two major types: • First generation mission driven sects • “Established” sects. Built around a mission, but highly organized. • Established sects struggle not to lose their mission and convert themselves into “churches.”

20. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Cults • Cults, in technical terms, are religions that : • Contain non-biblical teachings accepted as authoritative. • Usually have a charismatic leader who is the ultimate authority, overriding the Bible.

21. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Charismatic Movement • The charismatic movement is not a church. • It is a movement that focuses on the gift of tongues as an evidence of God’s presence and power. • It functions within various denominations.

22. The Non-Adventist Landscape: New Age • New Age groups and the new spirituality. • A wide-spread rebirth of spiritualism. • Based mostly on Hinduism, but culturally adapted to Western society.

23. The Non-Adventist Landscape: Post Modernism and Secularism • Post-modernism or “Secularism” is the concept that religion is irrelevant to life. • The scientific method takes precedence and “faith” is the same as superstition. • Secularism breeds indifference to all religious thinking.

24. Hinduism Judaism Buddhism Islam The Non-Adventist Landscape: World religions other than Christianity

25. Common and Unique Adventist Doctrines The links between Adventism and other religions

26. Common doctrines • Authority of the Bible • Plan of salvation • Literal second coming • Trinitarianism

27. Unique Features and Doctrines • Seventh-day Sabbath • Non-immortality of the soul • The sanctuary and high priestly ministry of Jesus • Historicism- Prophetic interpretation • Purpose and timing of the judgment

28. Confusion with Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses • Mostly due to door-to-door visitation.

29. Sources of Misunderstandings About Adventist Doctrines • Caused by Adventists themselves • Unintentional off the wall statements. • Use of Seventh-day Adventist vocabulary unintelligible to others. • Focus on certain unique doctrines as opposed to points of common belief • Presentation of the law/Sabbath/Sunday issues as the basis of Adventism without placing them within the context of salvation by grace. • Overemphasis on lifestyle concerns as the embodiment of Adventism.

30. Sources of Misunderstandings About Adventist Doctrines • Intellectual level misunderstandings and opposition • People who have read and studied anti-Adventist literature. • Pastors who have some level of knowledge about Adventists. • Former Adventists and avowed enemies of Adventism.

31. Sources of Misunderstandings About Adventist Doctrines • Non-Adventists local church member’s misunderstandings • What they hear from others • Prophetic interpretation • Sabbath and the law • Conditional immortality

32. The Continuing Influence of D. M. Canright • “The inspiration for 90 percent of the destructive personal criticisms leveled against White is found in the writing of Dudley M. Canright, . . . In these two volumes D. M. Canright laid the foundation for all future destructive criticism of Seventh-day Adventism, and careful research has confirmed that the impression that nearly all subsequent similar publications are little more than repetitions of the destructive areas of Canright’s writings, buttressed by standard theological arguments”. —Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Revised edition, pp. 551, 552.

33. The Continuing Influence of D. M. Canright • “Adventism is founded on time, and time will kill it. It began by setting a definite time, 1844, for the end of the world, and failed. Now they hold that it must come in this generation beginning in 1844. This is only another way of time setting. In time all this will fail and overthrow their system.Then will come doubt, discouragement, divisions, apostasies, infidelity, and ruin to souls. This end is inevitable. The wider their influence now, the more terrible the disaster then. These wild, enthusiastic, fanatical moves which end in failure are the delight of Satan, as they bring disgrace upon the cause of Christ and end in infidelity. That such will be the end of Adventism I have not a doubt.” From Seventh-Day Adventism Renounced, Chapter 1.

34. Calvinism and Arminianism • Calvinism (Reformed) • Once saved – always saved. Also known as “eternal security.” • Predestination and the providence of God.

35. Calvinism and Arminianism • Arminianism • Free will • All are predestined to be saved. The choose is ours

36. Power Evangelism, Faith Healing and Demon Possession • Power evangelism is the idea of including healing and casting out demons, etc. • It is common in many TV ministries and Pentecostal venues. • In its non-Pentecostal variety it is seen as the use of the “power” spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible. • In its Pentecostal variety it is believed that all illnesses are cause by the devil and outside the will of God • Therefore certain people with supposed gifts of healing are seen as direct instruments of God to heal supernaturally.

37. How to Work with Various Religions

38. Roman Catholic • Get them to read the Bible • Get them to ask questions • Establish the authority of the Scriptures • Establish the authority of Jesus • Lead them to a study of Hebrews • Lead them to an understanding of the true church • Lead them to an understanding of the role of the pastorate

39. Roman Catholic • Establish the authority of the Scriptures • Roman Catholics also accept the apocrypha (means “false) of the Old Testament. • They call these books “deutero-canonical” which means “extra”canonical. • Easiest way: read the books.

40. Roman Catholic • Establish the authority of the Scriptures • The easiest way is to use the Old Testament prophecies about the first coming of Jesus. • Then show the prophecies about the second coming.

41. Roman Catholic • Establish the true church from Daniel 8:9-14 1844 Truth restored Truth cast down

42. Roman Catholic “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matt. 16:18,19.

43. Roman Catholic “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16.

44. Evangelical - Dispensational • Secret rapture • Salvation of Israel • Second chance during the millennium • Dispensations, law not in effect

45. Daniel 7 – 1 week Daniel 7 – 69 Weeks Evangelical - Dispensational Dispensations God works in different ways

46. Second work of grace Pentecostal • The issue is the virtue of speaking in tongues and sanctification Sanctification

47. New Age and the Occult • New age – Spiritism reborn • “New” spirituality. • Based on westernized Hinduism.

48. New Age and the Occult • Bring people back to a basic understanding of the core of Christianity • The life of Jesus