GYC Conference 2022: Break Forth

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Religious Liberty

Mark Howard

Adventists, Politics and the Final Crisis

I'm glad to see you in here this morning.

I just want to clarify, Andy, what's our overarching title?

It's the overarching title is Religious Liberty something or the other.

Anyway, if you're not looking for a Religious Liberty seminar, you came into the wrong room.

And this is going to be our first presentation in the series on Religious Liberty.

I'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment.

Our title this morning is Adventists, Politics, and the Final Crisis.

And before I go any further this morning, I want to ask the Lord to bless our time.

I'm going to invite you to bow your heads with me as I kneel and pray.

Gracious Father in heaven, we are so thankful and privileged to be here, still having the freedom in this country to come together and discuss religious things, spiritual things, and be guided by your Holy Spirit and your word.

We ask this morning that the Spirit of Truth would give us a clearer understanding of our role in this world in these last days.

We thank you for hearing and answering for we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.

Now a brief introduction, very brief of myself If you don't know who I am, my name is Mark Howard.

I am a pastor, currently serving as the associate in the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

I also am the director of the lay training program that we've run there since 2009 called the Emanuel Institute So you do a lot of evangelistic training and that kind of thing?

Actually this this is not in my wheelhouse the idea of religious liberty in 1 sense as I said I'm in Sabbath school and evangelism and yet in another sense it better be in every Seventh-day Adventist wheelhouse.

The idea of religious liberty is something that is the major theme in the last crisis, the final crisis.

Now earlier this year, Pastor Andy Im, who is our communications director, he's also our religious liberty director, had asked me to speak on this topic right in the height of a lot of the controversy over masking and vaccines and questions abounded and I think still do on those topics, which I'll touch on in a minute.

And so my presentation was called Revelation 13 and the establishment clause.

I'll draw some of the points in my presentation today from what I shared there.

But I will tell you there's no way that either me or anybody else on this committee is going to exhaust this topic in a three-part series, even with our question and answer, which I'll tell you about in a minute.

In review for this, in preparation for this, I reviewed a number of inspired articles and other good articles which I will refer you to.

In fact I'm going to go forward on my slides here.

I have included those articles, the things that I did preparing for this, because I would encourage that you would read through them, on our website.

It's Michigan SSPM for Sabbath School Personal Ministries.

You go to that website, michigansspm.org, go to the resources page, and if you scroll to the bottom there's a link called digital files and if you go there you can find the documents that I used to prepare this.

There's a chapter, an excellent chapter out of Fundamentals of Education.

There's an excellent chapter in Councils for the Church in regard to our role in politics.

There's an excellent article from the Liberty magazine That I referred to there's an excellent compilation by Paul, notice they're all excellent, by Paul Gordon on whether or not we should vote.

All of these are things that I can only scratch the surface of.

And when I say scratch the surface of, I still, we are going to be plowing through a lot of information in this first session, because we're laying some groundwork here.

Now having said that, oh, 1 other thing that I want you to know is that we are going to have 2 sessions of question and answer.

Now I don't know that you're going to memorize that link on the screen, but that just is a link to that GYC portal online where when you go to the seminars and you find this particular seminar in the description, if you scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll find it there, you'll find a place to submit questions.

We're going to be answering those questions in 2 of our breakouts, but you can't submit them later than 8 p.m.

Tonight, because after that we've got so many...

We've got to have some time to look at the questions, because a lot of times you get the same question or similar questions and we try to compile so we can answer as much as possible.

That's I think our fourth and fifth sessions of this seminar.

Okay, having said that, I'll go to this slide in a minute.

When I spoke in that Religious Liberty conference earlier in the year that I was referring to, it was in the spring.

As I mentioned, there was, I mean, We were having a lot of controversy in Michigan, and from what I understand, this has been the same at least across the U.S., if not way beyond, with contentions in our churches.

When I say contentions, folks, I work in conference administration.

Our churches were splitting over these issues and many are still having issues.

So even though we may not be facing mask mandates to the extent that we were before, the underlying issues are still the same and that's what I'm attempting by God's grace to address in today's presentation.

So in this presentation there are 3 things I want to look at.

The second is the role of the church member.

And you understand that the role of the church member is different from the role of the other citizen because we are citizens of another country.

The role of the church member and then finally the fulfillment of prophecy in the final conflict, how it all boils down to what our role is specifically.

It's kind of an extension of the role of the church member.

Now let me start with the role of government.

Government according to the dictionary is the system by which a nation, state, or community is governed.

According to the same dictionary, to conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of, that's what it means to govern something, a state, organization, or people.

So I want you to understand something about government.

In fact, if you take your Bibles, go with me to Romans chapter 13.

This is 1 of the clearest passages on the role of the Christian toward government and the role of government.

Romans 13, we're going to begin in verse 1.

Romans 13, verse 1, I'm reading from the New King James Version here today.

The Apostle Paul says, "'Let every soul be subject to'—who?—'the governing authorities, For there is no authority except from God.

We know from the prophecy of Daniel that it's God who sets up kings and removes kings.

As puzzling as that may seem sometimes, There is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God.

And those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.

Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?

Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same." Now this doesn't factor in corruption, but you got the principle there.

Notice verse 4, "'For he is God's minister to you for good.

Speaking of the authority, the government.

But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.

What was the sword used for in that context?

Paul was writing in that in the context of his day what was the sword used for?

He is God's minister to you for good, but if you do evil, be afraid.

He does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." So what the Bible lays out from that scriptural perspective, the role of Government is to reward good behavior and punish evil behavior and by so doing bring order to society.

Governments therefore must make laws to govern by And to enforce those laws for the good of society, the societies they govern.

It is not only right for governments to do this, it's a responsibility for a government to do this.

And to neglect to make such laws would be a dereliction of their duty.

Thus, listen to me carefully, when a government makes laws that require certain behaviors from its citizens, such as wearing masks or getting vaccinated, if the motivation for making such laws is truly the happiness and welfare of the people.

Now, I may disagree that it's for the welfare of the people, but if that's the motivation of the government, they're just doing their job.

If I'm working for the betterment of society, And I think that A is for the betterment of society, then I better put A into practice and put it into law if I'm in government.

Amy Ratsara

A Breach in the Wall? The Separation of Church and State Today

I am an attorney who practices in local government in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

I live in that town with my husband as well as our kids.

When I'm not at work, I am involved with a project on Instagram with some friends called Some Adventist Women, where we discuss some of the topics that we are talking about here in this seminar, as well as other things as well.

So today, the presentation that I'm going to be talking about is looking more at things from a constitutional angle.

There will be a couple quotes that are repeated from Pastor Mark's talk earlier this morning if you were here for that, but if not, it's okay.

If you were, repetition deepens impression, so it's important things for us to remember.

The title of my talk is A Breach in the Wall, the Separation of Church and State Today.

So before we get started, I'm gonna ask that you all bow your heads with me and let's have a word of prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, I wanna thank you so much once again for bringing us together to think and talk about the things that you have forewarned us about in the Bible and also to just look at the world that we live in today for us to better understand where we are in Earth's history.

We thank you so much for the blessings you've bestowed on us thus far, and we pray for us to be able to cling close to you so we're prepared for the trials to come.

But ultimately, we pray that no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we can be that light who shows your character to the world while also speaking up for the principles that you have established both for us here and in preparation for our soon to be home in heaven.

So, to start with, before we get to the First Amendment, I want you to do a little thought experiment with me.

I want you to imagine that you live in a society, in a culture, where every aspect of your life is governed by religious leaders.

How you walk down the street, the clothes that you wear, everything that you do.

That as you're doing this, they have the opportunity to come and tell you you're doing things wrong.

That if even in your own efforts to dress the way that you think is appropriate, they say, nope, you violated our rules.

The police can come, they can arrest you, they can beat you, even if that means that you die as a result of that beating.

To American ears, sometimes this sounds like a very foreign concept and something that like, oh, maybe, can these things really happen?

But it does in fact happen and that exact scenario happened just a few months ago in the country of Iran.

There was a young woman named Masa Amini and the allegations against her was that she was not wearing a religious headscarf properly to cover her hair.

The allegations continue that the religious police in the country of Iran, a totalitarian religious state, took her into custody, that they beat her.

As a result of her death, they ended up sparking protests across the country.

And they're protesting, you can see, this has kind of been the slogan of their protests, women, life, and freedom.

So you could say, like, okay, they're protesting for civil reforms, standing up against violence against women.

They're trying to have a more just society.

They're trying to get rid of a regime that is not receptive to the rights of the people who live in their country.

But at the heart of it is, these protests are against a form of government that took religion and is imposing it upon the entirety of its society.

There is no separation between church and or between religion and state in the country of Iran.

As I said, these protests have gone over for a hundred days.

500 protesters have been killed by best estimates, including 69 children, and 2 protesters so far have been executed, with 26 others facing the death penalty, to the best information that news organizations can try to gather, because Iran doesn't let outside news organizations into the country to report on what's going on.

Again, this just seems a little foreign to the minds of us who live in Western countries, the United States, elsewhere in North America, Europe.

Could we live in a country where the way that we live every aspect of our life is dictated by 1 religious sect's ideas?

Now, you know, maybe for some people, recent statements made by a Supreme Court justice would bring them some calm, would bring them some reassurance.

Justice Samuel Alito was speaking at the Religious Liberty Summit.

It was hosted by Notre Dame University, and it was hosted in the city of Rome.

While there, he said, therefore, we cannot lightly assume that religious liberty enjoyed today in the United States, in Europe, and in many places will always endure.

Religious liberty is fragile and religious intolerance and persecution have been recurring futures of human history.

So Justice Alito does recognize that religious liberty is fragile, that the history of mankind shows a history of religious oppression, and seems to be saying, I'm going to do everything that I can to protect religious freedom.

To be sure, when you read some of the opinions that Justice DeLito has authored or signed onto, he believes very strongly in free exercise.

But while speaking loudly about the importance of free exercise of religion, there's not much being said about what's happening to the establishment of religion in the United States at the Supreme Court level.

So that's what we're going to talk about a little bit.

Again, a current day Supreme Court Justice, he's sitting on the Supreme Court today as we speak here in the United States, is saying that we have nothing to, not that we don't have anything to worry about, but we're gonna hold religious liberty and we're gonna protect it.

But as Pastor Mark mentioned in the last presentation, that's not what we know from prophecy and from the book Great Controversy is going to be the case in the days right before Jesus returns to earth.

Starting with page 592 of Great Controversy, Ellen White writes, those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth.

Those who honor, oops, sorry, in legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment keepers will be misrepresented and condemned.

A false collaring will be given to their words.

The worst construction will be put upon their motives.

Now, in the previous presentation, we were talking a little bit about that importance of not entangling ourselves in political ideas and political parties and aligning ourselves with 1 or another and sticking to those issues because look what can happen and will happen if we do get ourselves involved in the wrong way.

Things that we said will be given a worst construction, false coloring will be misrepresented and condemned in the legislative halls, your local legislatures, in Congress, and in the courts of justice.

And keep this quote in mind when we get towards the end because we're going to be talking about a little bit of misrepresentation that happened in a recent Supreme Court decision.

Moving on, the dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, and compel all classes to honor the Sunday.

The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments.

Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth.

And even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand of law-enforcing Sabbath observance.

Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected.

In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophets' words.

The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Again, that's on pages 592 to 593 in the Great Controversy.

So what Ellen White is warning us sounds a whole lot more like what we see a little bit going on with this young woman in Iran and the response to her death than the assurances that we have that we're watching out for the importance of religious liberty to keep people safe.

So what is it that we should be keeping in mind as this?

Why is it that we think that we can be safe to worship as we do here?

Now for some people, I would say mostly not people who traditionally follow the Seventh Day Adventist line of thinking and reasoning, think that, well, I'm safe here because I'm a Christian and this is a nation where Christianity is recognized and it's worshipped by a lot of other people.

And as a result, I don't have anything to worry about.

I'm part of the majority here, you know, I'm safe here.

I don't have to worry about being outside the norm.

But that's not why we enjoy the freedom that we do here in this country.

The reason that we enjoy the freedom that we have here in this country is we have a constitutionally protected right for the separation of church and state.

We're going to get into where that term comes from in a second, but let's first look at the constitution.

So the First amendment of the United States Constitution.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

That's what we call the first clause or the establishment clause.

Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

The first 1 says no government sponsored church.

And the second 1 is that there's freedom of worship in this country.

Now, why an amendment to the Constitution?

I'm gonna take you back, Maybe some of you here did not grow up in the United States, so didn't get US history.

Maybe some are rusty, and maybe some just don't care about history.

So just in case we're all on the same page, let's get it back together.

So in the 1780s, when we decided that, you know what, this whole kind of loose-knit group of 13 different states isn't really working well following the American Revolution.

Let's come together and let's have a new constitutional convention and come up with a constitution for the country.

The Constitution was a little bit of a surprise for everybody.

They didn't think they were going to completely reform the entire government, but they did.

And overall, a fantastic government, a federal government that only has power if it's delineated within the Constitution itself.

All other powers are reserved to the states or to the citizens.

But there were people who were concerned and said, you know what?

John Shin

Science, Vaccines, and Religious Liberty: Thinking Critically in the Pursuit of Truth

It's always hard to do a post-lunch seminar, I think.

I think the forces are arrayed against me.

And if you happen to nod off, I won't get offended because I know I've done that a lot of times in post-lunch seminars.

I'm hearing, I'm seeing some ears back there.

Everyone can hear me in the back as well?

Okay, what if I switch to a handheld because I think...

Or I'll try to move this as close to my mouth as I can.

Okay, it'll be nice if I had my hands free so it'll be nice if I didn't have to hold a handheld I'm not gonna put my chin down the whole time here okay so everyone is okay back there all right I'm seeing a lot of nodding heads okay well in the interest of time we have a lot to cover and I want to get through as much as I can but not at the expense of covering things poorly.

So let's just let's begin and let's open with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father Lord I just pray that you will be in this room and that you will anoint my lips so that anything that is said here or discussed here will glorify you.

Lord, you know that these issues have been dividing the church and ultimately heavenly Father, regardless of what side we choose on a matter of debate, if our love for our brother or sister in Christ grows cold, then the devil wins.

And so may your spirit counteract that process, help us to have an honest discussion about these complex issues, And at the end of the day, may your name be glorified and may our faith in you strengthen.

All these things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

So with a title like this, obviously this is just a run of the mill type of seminar, right?

This kind of a talk can go very bad very easily and I'm very well aware of that.

So it is with a lot of humility and a sense of inadequacy that I propose to stand before you today to tackle this topic.

And I don't purport to be the final word on any of these things.

I don't purport to be the greatest expert on any of these issues.

But I hope that you would consider me a friend with whom you can have an honest and open dialogue about these these issues.

To say that the issues of vaccination mandates religious liberties, to say that these issues have been controversial in our church would be an understatement because they're very emotionally charged for a lot of people.

And let's be honest, because of the emotions that are involved in a lot of these discussions, it actually gets in the way of honest dialogue.

And churches and families have been split apart because of the controversy among the people who engage in debate.

And it's been sad to see how divided our church has become because of these issues.

And as I mentioned in my prayer, regardless of what position you hold, if ultimately the church is divided, if ultimately your love for your brother and sister in Christ grows cold, then the devil has won, and he couldn't care less what side of the debate you fall on.

So the goal of this talk, then, is to try and help us think more critically through these issues in a way that preserves and even restores our love and our respect for 1 another.

So along the way I want to give you some tools that you can use to become more well-informed, tools that you can use to guide your own research as you analyze data and evidence for yourself and principles to guide your thinking based on what scripture and the spirit of prophecy has to say.

The first thing I want to talk about is the importance of adopting the right spirit This is by large the most important part of my talk this afternoon Because unless you are an honest seeker of truth, no good can come of any effort you put towards this debate.

Your ultimate goal should not be to win an argument or to prove a point.

Your ultimate goal should be to arrive at truth no matter where that takes you.

Series

Religious Liberty

Adventists, Politics and the Final Crisis

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Discerning the Times

1h 9m

Religious Liberty

A Breach in the Wall? The Separation of Church and State Today

54m

Total Member Involvement

2. Ask the President! (Q & A with Elder Ted Wilson)

1h

Clifford Goldstein: Unashamed to be an Adventist

The Resurrection of Jesus

59m

Norman McNulty Weekend

01 Prophetic Peril in America

48m

Total Member Involvement

6. Moving The Ship

1h

GYC 2012 Seminar: Streams of Light

The “In” of the “In and Out”: The Shaking, Literature, and Eschatology

52m

Breakouts

Why I Don’t get the Gospel

1h 2m

The Three Angels' Message

07 The Fourth Angel’s Message

1h

ASI 2014 Plenary Sessions

Living and Sharing the Three Angels’ Message

1h 58m

Prepare to Meet thy God

1- What Is the Church?

1h 36m

Let My Pastors Go: 1844 to Heaven, Why So Long?

01 A God Ordained Truth: A Man-Made Method

50m

Sound Doctrine