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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40<br />
DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT<br />
<strong>the</strong> closest to teaching Bible truth of any church I had ever<br />
encountered. In this respect, I was solidly Adventist <strong>by</strong><br />
conviction, in spite of my concerns regarding Ellen White,<br />
<strong>the</strong> investigative judgment and <strong>the</strong> remnant church<br />
teachings. I was convinced that Sabbath was God’s special<br />
day. My sermons during this time were clearly direct on<br />
this issue. I also taught new believers that while Adventism<br />
was not a perfect church, it was <strong>the</strong> closest to biblical truth<br />
as I understood it. Therefore, I had no problem calling<br />
people to make a commitment to become members of <strong>the</strong><br />
Adventist Church. I would often continue <strong>by</strong> stating that if<br />
I ever discovered greater truth in <strong>the</strong> Bible I would follow<br />
it. I felt that <strong>the</strong> Sabbath was so solidly biblical that it made<br />
<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r problems of less concern.<br />
I studied <strong>the</strong> materials that my friends Richard and<br />
Clay, who had left <strong>the</strong> denomination, recommended. I also<br />
poured over materials written <strong>by</strong> Adventist <strong>the</strong>ologians,<br />
including Samuel Bacchiocchi, <strong>the</strong> Church’s foremost<br />
authority on <strong>the</strong> Sabbath. In addition, I consulted two of <strong>the</strong><br />
denomination’s most respected professors and writers. My<br />
passion was to prove where my friends were wrong. I read,<br />
studied and convinced myself that <strong>the</strong> Adventists have <strong>the</strong><br />
truth on <strong>the</strong> Sabbath. I also believed Ellen G. White had <strong>the</strong><br />
spiritual gift of prophecy even though she was not reliable<br />
as an interpreter of Scripture. I saw Adventists as having a<br />
remnant message, although not exclusively. The 1844<br />
investigative judgment, though complicated, could be made<br />
to agree with Ellen White’s position, with some creative<br />
imagination and proof-texts. But <strong>the</strong> kingpin for me was <strong>the</strong><br />
seventh-day Sabbath, for with no seventh-day Sabbath<br />
<strong>the</strong>re can be no Seventh-day Adventist Church.<br />
About this time my family and I were preparing to start<br />
on a Sabbatical. We had planned to travel around <strong>the</strong> USA<br />
and see national parks and on <strong>the</strong> weekends visit churches.<br />
That is just what we did. We had a wonderful trip. All<br />
along <strong>the</strong> way we asked <strong>the</strong> Lord to show us what He<br />
wanted us to do with our lives. We wanted to be open to
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