Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

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DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT
in using the evangelistic gifts God had given me. This was
a time of deep soul-searching. I knew something was
blocking God’s plan for using this gift in my life, but I
didn’t know what it was. We explored a few calls, but did
not sense the Lord leading us away at that time. I would go
away for spiritual retreats of fasting and prayer to ask God
for direction. I claimed Luke 11:11-13 for the presence of
the Holy Spirit and for clear direction from God.
About this time a friend in a similar ministry invited
Carl George, an outreach and church growth specialist, to
come and assess his church because its growth had also
plateaued. Carl George’s assessment of this church was that
it could not break into the unchurched community because
of the Sabbath issues, which posed too great a barrier for
most people unfamiliar with Adventism. For pastors called
to reach unchurched people for Jesus, this seemed an
insurmountable problem. We must reach the world, yet we
are encountering a barrier that is a part of the very structure
of Adventism. At this point, I decided to trust God and
accept that if He wanted to use us to reach people outside
the system, He would make it happen.
Meanwhile, two of my friends, Richard Fredericks and
Clay Peck, who had been pastoring in similar ministries,
left Adventism to start non-denominational churches. Their
initial separation from the SDA Church was a result of
financial issues between themselves and the conferences
they served. They were struggling to support a full church
ministry while at the same time sending 100% of their tithe
away to the conference. This issue is one that every
Adventist pastor faces. Adventist Churches are required to
send all tithe monies to the parent organization, which in
turn provides pastoral salaries through the organization. All
the local ministry expenses must be met from monies
donated beyond tithe. Because of this, a significant
administrative hierarchy has developed, leaving many local
churches in the Adventist system financially crippled. The
local church is often lost sight of in the denominational