Q: What are your suggestions to church members who want to be loyal to the votes of the General Conference, to practice public evangelism, to share quotes of the Spirit of Prophecy, who do not question our 28 fundamental beliefs, and who want to attend their local congregation with the desire to be spiritually fed, but they have to face a church leadership and groups of church members who clearly give them a very hard time with all of these? — Erwan, from Finland
Q: I am a member of the ______________ Conference and have nowhere to go to church anymore. All of the pastors are straying far from the truth of God’s Word. Why can’t the General Conference do something to help us? — Gayle, from the United States
A: Dear friends, keeping in mind that God has given us a careful and helpful church system where voices can be heard regarding local concerns, I would like to suggest some specific steps that you can take:
1. Pray for God’s continued guidance for your local church and your conference leaders.
2. Prayerfully contact your pastor and local church elders to discuss concerns you have. If your concerns continue, you should contact the conference president or conference secretary to share with them your concerns.
3. If needed, you can share your concerns with the union president or union secretary.
4. Keep your courage very strong in the Lord, His Word, His Spirit of Prophecy, His worldwide remnant church, and the proclamation of the three angels’ messages entrusted into the hands of Seventh-day Adventists.
5. Remember that God’s church will go through in victory and He will lead each of us and His church to victory as we lean completely on His power.
6. Pray earnestly for the falling of the latter rain of the Holy Spirit when we will see divine intervention in our outreach to the world.
7. Ask the Lord to make you evangelistically active in Total Member Involvement. When you are working for the Lord and the salvation of souls through the Holy Spirit’s power, He will do amazing things to bring about unity of purpose and fulfillment of His will in our lives and the life of the church in general. To learn more about Total Member Involvement, visit: tmi.adventist.org/about.
May the Lord encourage you right now in your faith in His Word and God’s plans for His church.