Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach
Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach
Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach
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DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT<br />
“true church.” This attitude can unfortunately be found in<br />
many church systems. This is not just an SDA phenomenon.<br />
I have had to take a hard look at my own attitudes over <strong>the</strong><br />
years. We believe that <strong>the</strong> time has come for us to lay aside<br />
<strong>the</strong> exclusivism that has crippled <strong>the</strong> Christian church for<br />
centuries (see Gal. 4:17) and get on with <strong>the</strong> Gospel<br />
Commission (Mt. 28:18-20). We are convinced that this is<br />
Jesus’ dream for His church in <strong>the</strong>se last days. We believe<br />
that <strong>the</strong> highest form of worship, <strong>the</strong> most God-honoring<br />
path we can choose is to follow Jesus as He leads us. We<br />
believe that His remnant are those who obey His<br />
commandments to love Him fully, love o<strong>the</strong>rs as <strong>the</strong>mselves,<br />
and are totally sold out to telling <strong>the</strong> world about Him.<br />
As I write this, I do not know what <strong>the</strong> future will hold. I<br />
do not know what will happen to us financially. I must say<br />
that <strong>the</strong>re was a real sense in which I had to face a dark part<br />
of my own personality in this struggle. I valued being a<br />
respected SDA pastor and having people think well of me.<br />
To think that o<strong>the</strong>rs whom I had known and served in<br />
Adventism might lose respect for me was incredibly difficult<br />
for me to accept. I had to, in a very real sense, repent for<br />
having loved <strong>the</strong> praise of men more than <strong>the</strong> praise of God.<br />
Now I am resolved that “as for me and my house, we will<br />
serve <strong>the</strong> Lord.” We will find our rest and security in Him.<br />
And we will look forward to seeing how God leads us and<br />
how he leads all of you in <strong>the</strong> months and years that follow.<br />
Our prayers are with you, and we solicit your prayers for us.<br />
We hope that someday <strong>the</strong> Adventist church will face<br />
some of <strong>the</strong>se issues. We pray that one day soon <strong>the</strong>re will be<br />
a courageous move made on <strong>the</strong> part of <strong>the</strong> leadership to<br />
reexamine <strong>the</strong> “pillars of <strong>the</strong> faith” and ask God to give <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>the</strong> courage to study openly, without risk, <strong>the</strong> fundamental<br />
teachings and see what <strong>the</strong> scriptures teach without worrying<br />
what will happen if <strong>the</strong>re is a discovery that <strong>the</strong>re have been<br />
some mistakes along <strong>the</strong> way. It takes courage to face<br />
difficult issues. But courage is one of <strong>the</strong> qualities that<br />
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