book and video review

Figures, Characters, and Avatars by Les Pardew

Figures, Characters, and Avatars. The Official Guide to Using DAZ Studio to Create Beautiful Art by Les Pardew (2009)
B

reviewed September 27, 2009

This book does accomplish what the stated goal is: “to unlock the 3D artist in you using the incredible power of DAZ Studio….You will learn how to build sets, and populate them with amazing characters…create movies…improve drawing skills, make you a better artist..” But probably most of the purchasers of this book are hoping to learn specifically how to use the Daz Studio software, and seeing that there is much more theory than actual software practice, they (and a little bit myself too) are a bit disappointed. Having said that tho, the book, as a whole, fulfills what i wanted it to do. The main reason i bot it anyway, was for the super software bundled with the book – Carrara Pro 6, Hexagon 2.5, and Daz Studio 2.3, plus a lot of content.

The book helps explain artistic theory for total graphic idiots like myself. So explaining the “whys” of posing a figure, instead of the “hows” is very useful, and will hopefully help to keep down amateurish mistakes, which can be seen all over the internet. Theory about composition, posing, lighting, animating reactions is given in a very simple manner, which is what i need. There are also examples of actually using the software to do certain tasks like using Puppeteer to do animations, or how to use the various tools to do the poses, Mimic Pro to lip sync etc.

One somewhat odd thing, is that some parts of the book seem to be advertisements for various software programs. The oddest example, is a large section of one chapter is given to what Bryce is all about with even an actual example, but then Bryce is not included on the DVD that comes with the book. On the opposite side of the coin, Hexagon is not mentioned in the book at all, but IS on the DVD. Keeping with what i’ve noticed of the Daz company in the few months i’ve been following them – they are just not coordinated well.

For minor gripes, mostly of a grammatical nature:
p.59 shows how to put clothes on a figure and fit it, but no clothing comes with the base program. p.64 explains what to do with a opacity map, but there is no example of how to make the map. p.82 says “next chapter”, but the chapter referred to is the “next next chapter”. p.157 called “drop shadow” on the pic, but “cast shadow” in the explanation. p.170 and 191 right and left are mixed up. Again, Bryce is highlighted in the book, but not included on the DVD. However, you can download version 5.5 for free on cnet.

Carrara Pro 6 alone is worth far more than the cost of this book. So while the coordination between Daz and the author seems to have been shaky at best, the DVD itself contains programs and 3d figures and characters worth many hundreds of dollars, so i’m very happy with my purchase 🙂

Hopefully i can use this to give glory to God, and be a good representative of what a dedicated Christian can do with just a little mammon and modern technology availabe today.

“Behold Your God” by Fred Wright review

“Behold Your God” by Fred Wright (1979)

F

I first heard about this author and book from a fake missionary in Brunei in 2005, but was not proffered the book. In 2006, while staying in India, i was told to read the book by the lady of the house where i was staying, so, to please her, i did decide to read the book.

This book has many quotes from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy (Ellen White’s writings), and has a very attractive tone, but with a fatal conclusion — that God does not destroy. How anyone can read their Bibles or SOP and come to this conclusion is beyond me, but like i say, it sounds attractive to itching ears, ears which don’t want to hear that there will be a judge we have to meet at the last day to whom we must answer for all the deeds in this life, and who has power to “destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28)

Fred Wright is deceased now, but he formed a church organization claiming about 2,000 members. He claimed to be the “4th Angel’s Messenger”, similar to the way in which Mrs. White was the “3rd Angel’s Messenger”. Just this equating himself with someone who was inspired of God should give a serious pause to anyone considering whether this man is true or false.

So what is the main theme of the book? — that God does not kill. Beings who choose to rebel against God just put themselves outside of the “lifeforce” of love that is God, and they destroy themselves.

Starting in the preface to the book, we see a sentence that gives cause for pause: “He (Jesus) loved the Romans as much as he loved the Jews, neither was it his way to use force to accomplish any desired objective.” There are many places in the Bible showing that God specially chose and loved the Israelites, and did not love some other nations, even destroying them, as written in many places such as Isaiah 43:3-4 “For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” If he loved Israel the same as the other nations, what was the whole point of separating them out from Egypt, driving out the nations from Canaan, bringing them back again from Babylon and Assyria etc.?

p.13 (Regarding Satan) “he worked at deceiving them into believing that God was a liar and destroyer”. This is just speculation on Mr. Wright’s part. We know from the 1858 Great Controversy that “Satan was insinuating against the government of God, ambitious to exalt himself, and unwilling to submit to the authority of Jesus.” There is nothing about him trying to show God as a “destroyer”.

p.15 Lucifer made progress “….until he became the brightest of all the creatures.” Pure speculation.

p.23 “… those who have made the fatal mistake will die, not because God will strike them down, but because they have placed themselves where life is impossible.” This is the heart of the false doctrine of this book. But what does inspired word say? Isaiah 14:30 “And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. ” Some may say, “Oh, that is the Old Testament God”. OK, Revelation 2:23 “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” The 1858 Great Controversy says regarding the final destruction of the wicked: “But fire from God out of heaven is rained upon them, and the great men, and the mighty men, and the noble, and poor and miserable men, are all consumed together”

The Great Controversy Between God and Man. Its Origin, Progress, and End by H. L. Hastings (1861)

“The Great Controversy Between God and Man. Its Origin, Progress, and End” H. L. Hastings (1861)

B

As a book, this work, while clearly showing the biblical truth that God will take vengeance on the earth, is not an extraordinary work. What makes this book so extraordinary, is the title itself.

I first learned of the existence of this book a couple of years ago on the internet, by some people who were disaffected with the Seventh-day Adventist church, and who were trying to show how Ellen White copies her greatest work from someone else (Hastings). What is so striking, is that Hastings came out with his book in the spring of 1858, dating his Preface “January, 1858”, from Rochester N.Y. Ellen White had her “Great Controversy” vision at Lovett’s Grove, Ohio in May of the same year, giving credence to the view that perhaps she copied the title or even the contents when producing her own book.

But the contents of this book are very different from “The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels”. This book is focused on only one thing – showing how mankind has often rebelled against God, and how God has shown mercy in giving warnings to repent, and then, when the warnings go unheeded, how God destroys the rebellious. This one, single point is similar to Ellen White’s book, but her book is so much more comprehensive, showing the total view of sin in the universe before it started to after it is eliminated, that it is difficult to even compare the two. How anyone could believe that somehow Ellen White “copied” anything from this book is beyond rational thot.

The book reviewed here was downloaded and printed for me by a friend who found it in Google Books. It carries a published date of “1861”, and says “third thousand” on the cover, making me think that perhaps this is the third edition. It says it was “Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by H. L. Hastings” which makes me wonder then if the book was first printed in 1860, as it is unusual for a second or third edition to be entered. Currently, i do not know. I do know that this book has been reprinted and bound together with Ellen White’s book by the above-mentioned disaffected parties, and is available on Amazon.com.

The title itself clearly shows the theme — there is a “controversy” between God and man. Rightly so, even the Bible mentions a controversy God has with the nations in Jeremiah 25:31. And the book stays true to its theme thruout – showing how mankind must repent and turn to God, or God will destroy him – that these are the only two possible outcomes of the great controversy.

The book seems to be written to combat the prevailing error among Christians of his day, that the world was getting better and better and then would naturally usher in a millenium of peace here on this earth. Writing this in 2009, i really doubt that hardly any Christians believe in this error today. It is just too clear that things are not generally getting better morally, but worse. So while the message contained is still correct, the object of writing an entire book showing that, yes, God will destroy this earth one day, is a foregone conclusion among nearly all Christians now.

On the other hand, Ellen White’s book is so much more comprehensive, that it is almost impossible to compare the two. She writes first of Satan in heaven before his fall, the fall of Adam and Eve, how the plan of salvation was devised, Christ’s life, the disciples, the Christian church thru the centuries, the Advent movement, the particulars of the Sanctuary and the 3 Angel’s Messages, Satan’s plans for the end time in making his angels appear before us, the Shaking, how important the Sabbath is, the Loud Cry, the death decree, God delivering his people, the saints going to heaven, returning to this earth after the 1000 years, the last struggle by Satan and his followers, the lake of fire, and the never-ending enjoyment of the righteous in a universe completely free from sin. I’ve read Ellen White’s book 250 times or more, and wish to read more as i find something new just about every time i go thru it, but Hastings’ book is enough with just one reading.

National Sunday Law by Jan Marcussen

National Sunday Law by Jan Marcussen (sometime after Sep.11, 2001)
C

This book has an original copyright date of 1983, but when searching on the internet, i only find two versions – one starts with the Iraqi tanks “exploding” into Kuwait, so is obviously the Gulf War timeframe of 1991 or so. But the version on the official web site of Jan Marcussen starts with “The nation trembles. Passenger jets explode into buildings”, so obviously must be after September 11, 2001. This review will be of the updated, after-2001 version.

I remember reading this book back in the ’80s while still living in America. If my memory serves me right, the basic truths of the day of worship being changed by the Catholic Church from the 7th day to the 1st day were presented, all of which i am in agreement. However, the hysterical tone, and the very poor writing style and grammar made me cringe. Perhaps some people will have the scales fall off from their eyes thru reading this book, but many more may reject the entire Three Angels’ Messages because the manner in which they were presented was so un-Christlike – meaning in the sense of poor quality and questionable reasoning. But i will read it again today (2009-05-25) to see if my previous impression was correct or not, or see if perhaps the book has been modified to produce a different impression.

Hmmm, the word “shock” is used 25 times. This isn’t a good omen, even before i start reading the book. “Will terrorism, like some giant octopus engulf the world?” Ut-oh, in just the second paragraph we already have “National Enquirer” type language being used. The phrase “take a shocking glimpse” is seen twice on my computer screen, and i’ve only scrolled once… “What John sees protends events ” Oh no, it looks to be the same or worse now….. What in the world is “protends”? Even if he means “portends”, the usage is incorrect. He writes that those dying from AIDS are “in ever greater numbers”, but in America, which is the focus for his book, the numbers for death from AIDS are less than half now than in the early 1990s.

“Crime doubles every ten years”. This is just hogwash. A 10-second search on the internet will show this to be false. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/ viort.htm “Since 1994 violent crime rates have declined, reaching the lowest level ever in 2005.”

He says “The country is broke”. Please tell that to all our creditors. This is just not true. It may become true very soon tho if we keep borrowing like there is no tomorrow. He quotes a Jesuit priest as saying “‘Americun Constitushun”, but there is no reference given, and a search on the internet only reveals this phrase as being used in this very book! “It is the responsibility of government to decree the establishment of the national observance of Sunday”. He quotes someone, but again, there is no reference given. Who is saying this? If “nation-wide papers” and “media plea to the masses” for this, it should be all over the internet. But again, as before, the only results displayed are the ones pointing to this book.

By now, any reader who is truly searching for truth will see that there are falsehoods being passed off here as truth.

“and get this”, this type of prose is low-class. “Let’s take a close look at this thing” sigh….

He is not correct in saying in many places “God loves all”, as the Bible clearly shows that God hates some people (Psalms 5:5-6 for example).

“Those who are keeping Sunday and breaking God’s fourth commandment ignorantly are not under condemnation. It’s only those who know what God commands and willfully disobey who are committing sin.”. So if we are all ignorant in everything, we can all go to heaven? He says that by starting to keep the Sabbath: “You know that now you’re not violating any of His loving commands”. Well, no. We may be breaking God’s commands in other areas…

“Obedience becomes a joy when you’re walking with Jesus!” – Amen 🙂

In talking about the ceremonial law he writes: “All of this pointed forward to the death of the Saviour on the cross and is of no value to us now.” But, if this is true, then the Millerites never would have been able to calculate the correct date for Jesus to go into the Most Holy Place – October 22, 1844, which was the Day of Atonement according to the Karaite Calendar.

“That’s heavy!” Ouch, 1970s’ funkadelic language. Same with “Man!” used as an interjection….

A Brief History of Seventh-day Adventists by George Knight (2004)

A Brief History of Seventh-day Adventists by George Knight (2004)
F (Special note: except for one large error, this book would rate a “B“)

George Knight has brought together in one short, easy-to-understand volume, the entire history of the Seventh-day Adventist church, with a focus on the early development. The layout is logical and very informative, and except for the one large error near the end of the book, could be recommended to everyone with an interest in the hows and whats of Seventh-day Adventist history.

Personally, i have typed in several William Miller books, and have read all the early Adventist material that i know of available, so have a pretty good picture of the history of our church, but was pleasantly surprised to find things mentioned that are not only important, but in the correct framework, without too much “philosophising” that is so prevalent in most written works of today.

The “Millerite Roots” section deals with of course William Miller, but also details Joshua Himes, who was the great promoter for the Advent message. “More important, however, Himes also had a forceful role in developing the Adventist camp meeting.” He then goes on to show how the camp meeting was prominent in pulling together the early Adventists.

Charles Fitch started preaching the Fall of Babylon in the summer of 1843, placing the 2nd Angel’s Message to having started by at least 1843. Josiah Litch’s prediction of the fall of the Ottoman empire is not mentioned, and the electrifying influence of the fall of the stars in 1833 etc. is not mentioned, but all in all, the high points are covered very well, showing how God has been leading this one little band of the 3 that originally carried on the Adventist faith after the Great Disappointment in 1844.

Beyond Belief by Jack Sequeira

Beyond Belief by Jack Sequeira (1993)
Response to Robert Wieland’s “Is Beyond Belief Beyond Belief?”
F
Reviewed 2003/09/25

“Beyond Belief” by Jack Sequeira passed mostly under my radar screen from the publishing date of 1993 until the translation into Japanese came out in Spring, 2003. There are many different voices proclaiming different things, and being in Japan places me largely out of the loop of new developments in our Seventh-day Adventist church. When the translation came out in Japanese i eagerly began to read the book. There is such a dearth of good material in Japanese for SDAs, and the level of spirituality of members here is so low, any book that offers advice for God’s remnant people is a valued prize. Unfortunately, this book is not a prize to lead to heaven.

I wrote an article in Japanese regarding this book on June 29, 2003, and placed it on the web on my former web site. There may be some minor things lost in the translation, but receiving this critique book in English prepared by Robert Wieland and the Editorial Committee of the 1888 Message Study Committee, shows that the main points were translated faithfully. So here i will deal mostly with Wieland’s critique book.

While many excellent things are written in Jack Sequeira’s book, there are 2 major problems with it:
1. Is God’s love really “unconditional”? – No
2. Are humans really born “right with God”? – No
These 2 major problems need to be kept in mind as we review “Is Beyond Belief Beyond Belief?”

The first doctrinal error we find in this book is on page 15: “…in His incarnation Christ took the fallen, sinful nature which we all share…”. Signs of the Times 04/04/1895: “It is impossible for man in his own unaided strength to overcome the natural propensities to evil.” 1RED p.9: “God made man perfect and upright, and after his transgression there could be no sacrifice acceptable to God for him, unless the offering made should in value be superior to man as he was while in his state of perfection and innocency.” 1RED p.10 (talking of Jesus): “He was of as much more value than man, as his noble, spotless character, and exalted office, as commander of all the heavenly host, were above the work of man. He was in the express image of his Father, not in features alone, but in perfection of character. As he was without blemish, he alone could become an acceptable offering for man.” Testimonies to the Church #17 p.2: “He is a brother in our infirmities, but not possessing like passions. As the sinless One his nature recoiled from evil. He endured struggles, and torture of soul. in a world of sin. His humanity made prayer a necessity, and privilege. He required all the stronger divine support and comfort which his Father was ready to impart to his Son, who had left the joys of Heaven, chose his home, for the benefit of man, in a cold and thankless world.”

It is plain that while Jesus condescended to become a man to save us, he did not partake of sin in the least. Those who want to have Jesus become a man with inborn sinful desires and wishes, are perhaps unknowingly placing themselves as a “possible Saviour”. The fact is, is that no matter how good any of us are, even if we never commit any known sin our whole lives, we still need a Saviour – Jesus Christ. Only he can redeem us. He is the union of divinity and humanity, something none of us will ever be able to claim. Only God can know the full pain of giving up immortality, and suffering the second death for a race of rebels. What love!

Which brings us to the next big problem with this book, and is in fact the biggest problem – love. Is God’s love unconditional as Jack Sequeira and Robert Wieland say?

Waymarks of Adventism by Ron Spear (1986)

Waymarks of Adventism by Ron Spear (1986)
B-
Reviewed 2008-07-01

Ron Spears is the controversal head of Hope International. “Controversial” because he is unrelenting in his criticism of the organized Seventh-day Adventist church. His organization was singled out by the General Conference, along with Steps to Life and Hartland for being “critical of the church”. His star probably did not rise any higher among SDA leadership circles with this book, as he writes: “Our greatest danger then, is not Catholicism or Apostate Protestantism, but Apostate Adventism.” Exactly right.

My heart is generally in favor with those who point out the errors and sins of the people who are carrying God’s name, as that is the work given us to do. We must “sigh and cry for all the abominations” done in the camp, or else we will fall in the general destruction of the wicked. John the Baptist is our example. And yet, we must do it in love, and never call people out of the SDA church.

But whatever the author’s beliefs and actions, this book is mostly on solid ground, with one strange thing, one unfortunate thing, and one thing that nearly all “prophecy seminar” speakers do.

He covers the landmarks, showing correctly that the Sabbath truth, Sanctuary, and State of the Dead are the 3 major doctrines that separate us SDAs from other Protestant denominations. He goes into detail on the Sanctuary message, showing clearly that yes, perfection is not just required, it IS possible. Of course it is possible in Jesus Christ alone, so we must be fully in Jesus at all times. He is very correct in stating that there is among our people a “misunderstanding the difference between perfection and perfectionism”.

The only new thot that i got from the book was that: “when the saints were defiled, the sanctuary was defiled.” This statement makes me think a new angle on the “abomination of desolation”.

The one strange thing is: “He progressively took our fallen nature from infancy to the cross.” He is adamant that Jesus took our FALLEN nature. Just when i was ready to skip to the next part, consigning him to the same “conservative SDA” heap that conveniently ignores inspired passages about Jesus being also born divine, he gives the extremely correct view that: “He was born with the nature that becomes ours when we are born again…” Then why the “progressively” stuff? Does it matter? Yes. Because we can and MUST live without sin, and Jesus is our perfect example. He then goes and tries to show that Jesus had “tendencies” to sin, but no “propensities”. Sorry sir, no semantic funny business allowed.

“Mission Pilot – the David Gates Story” by Eileen Lantry

“Mission Pilot – the David Gates Story” by Eileen Lantry (2002)
B
Reviewed 2006/2/26

Starting off with a bang – the main character gets blindfolded and taken to jail for something he didn’t do – the book rivets the attention for the first half. It seems to be written to help encourage young people to take up some kind of mission work, and so is written at about a 6th grade level. Unfortunately, the predictable grammar (interspersed with a couple of errors) gets boring quickly, and the story plot loses its intensity after David is released from prison.

The first half of the book is written in flash-back fashion, with David reviewing events in his life leading up to his current predicament in prison. He was born to missionary parents and lived in Bolivia for a while when young. Being young didn’t stop the valentino in him, and he grew fond of another missionary’s daughter. But they parted ways, and lost contact. He went to America and received most of his education in Kentucky and Tennessee, the same sticks where i come from, so the place names even are quite interesting to me. By mysterious providences he was able to hook up again with his childhood sweetheart, and won her heart all over again. Ahhhh, sniff sniff. 🙂

After his encounter with the prison in Mexico, he went further south into Guyana, and worked many years there with the Indians, setting up a school and clinics, and of course flying in supplies and patients out etc. Actually, considering the title of the book, there aren’t very many stories related to actually piloting a plane.

I have been on David Gates’ email list for over a year, and have been blessed. I believe his organization is called GAMAS and they are putting most all of their resources into the TV work in South America now with a network called Advenir.

Here is a man who is obviously giving his all for God. Sure, he has had doubts and burnouts, all is not some superhero-type of Christian who experiences no spiritual valleys in life – here is the story of a mostly-regular guy who wishes to live all his life for God, and describes some amazing personal events which should be inspiring to any aspiring missionary – Bravo! May God bless you David, and may many readers be impressed with how God has led you enough to want to trust him in faith, and work 100% for him.

The Secret Terrorists by Bill Hughes

The Secret Terrorists by Bill Hughes
F

reviewed 2002/8/12

This type of book will come back to be used by the enemies of God against those who stand for the truth. My impression was that it’s basically a compilation of conspiracy theories, trying to tie them all to the Jesuits. There may in fact be some truth to it. But is this what those giving the 3rd angel’s message should be involved in? Unfortunately, this kind of book will prejudice many intelligent minds (those who bother to browse it), and prove a stumbling block even for those few who do join the truth because of it. Why? Because they will have to unlearn conspiracy-theory-type thinking before they can find the straight and narrow path.

I used to subscribe to conspiracy theories too. No doubt most of them have some grains of truth in them. But it became especially clear to me in reading Bob Trefz’s material, that i was not be uplifted, not be changed into the likeness of Jesus by reading that. Instead, i was becoming suspicious of everyone, and talking evil of rulers. Fortunately his call to arms was such a departure from the Word that i could see clear enough to break clean away from it. If you notice, Bill Hughes is making a not-so-subtle call to arms in his book also. He who lives by the sword….

To hilite a few problems with this book:
1. “The blood of the Civil War can be traced back to the Jesuit, John C. Calhoun”. But Ellen White writes in original Testimony volume 9: “”Satan was the first great leader in rebellion. God is punishing the North, that they have so long suffered to exist the accursed sin of slavery; for in the sight of heaven it is a sin of the darkest dye. God is not with the South, and he will punish them dreadfully in the end. Satan is at the bottom of all rebellion.”

So you see that the sin of slavery brought about God’s wrath on America, and that Satan, not John Calhoun, was at the bottom of it all. Sure, Satan may have inspired John Calhoun to promote the war, but laying the blame on him for the fundamental reason – slavery – is not correct.

2. There are several factual mistakes regarding how money is created. I too believe the current method is inherently wrong, and a great evil, but is it true that: “the interest on its debt must increase beyond its income, making payoff impossible”? No, not true. Is it true how he says money comes into being, that “the Federal Reserve takes the bond and writes an order to the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing to print the billion dollars’ worth of bills”? haha. This is entirely laughable, and any informed, intelligent person would throw away the book here if not sooner. There is approx. 810 billion US dollars’ worth of currency existing today (source: The Treasury). The national debt of America is approx. 6.1 trillion dollars (source: Bureau of the Public Debt). As you see, there is almost 8 times as much debt as currency!

3. “Down through history, people’s worst enemy has been their own government.” Yet it is God who sets up and takes down kings (Dan. 2:21, 4:17). Are we supposed to speak evil of our own rulers? “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” (Jude 8-10).

Receiving the Word by Samuel Koranteng-Pipim

Receiving the Word by Samuel Koranteng-Pipim (1996)
B-

Brother Pipim hits the nail squarely on the head in determining the cause of the problem of divisions within the Seventh-day Adventist church today. The problem lies with how we view the Bible. Is the Bible to be trusted in its entirety? Or is it to be trusted in matters of salvation but not in some “minor” things? Or is it mostly a good book, but a product of its times?

The book is 368 pages long, and in my 2 hours of perusing it, i probably read about 1/4, and skimmed the rest, so this book review may not accurately reflect all that is in the book. My impression tho, is that while identifying the root problem of divisions within the church, Br. Pipim has not accurately identified what should be done to cure the problem.

Brother Pipim is considered a staunch conservative in the SDA church by almost anyone’s standards, and his views about the subject matter express the “conservative” position very ably. He goes into detail why there are disagreements in the church over many things. “Likewise, in the current debate over such issues as creation, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, abortion, women’s ordination, homosexuality, polygamy, etc., the issue is really over how to interpret the Bible. Thus, whether they are aware of it or not, church members may have shaped their views on the above issues at least in part by their alignment in the ongoing battle of interpretative approaches between the two opposing factions of Adventist scholarship – those who read Scripture through the lenses of liberalism’s historical-critical method and those who reject this methodology.”

He describes “The Three Major Theological Factions” as:
Liberals: Bible Rejecters
Conservatives: Bible Believers
Moderates or Accommodationists: Bible-Doubters

The “liberal” mindset is fundamentally different from the “conservative” mindset, and that all boils down to how one views the Bible. With the “liberal” camp believing that the Bible has some errors, it becomes easy to see how this group of people are always changing opinions and ideas to fit in with the culture and times they are personally living in. In other words, this group determines what is right and wrong by what they want to, not by what is written in the Bible. This group has no foundation upon which to stand, and is always sliding from error to error. In general tho, they have a “loving” attitude towards anyone except fundamentalists, which makes them appear close to the truth.

The “moderate” mindset says that while there are some very minor errors or discrepancies in the Bible such as whether or not 1 or 2 demoniacs met Jesus in the Gadarenes, everything that pertains to salvation is absolutely true. “Moderates tend to occupy high positions in the church where their neo-liberal influence is felt in the classrooms, in the pulpits, and in administrative decision-making positions.” This has been this reviewer’s personal experience too, seeing little outright rejection of the Bible as truth, but some accommodation of the idea that there are small mistakes in the original autographs of the Bible. Many of them are very sincere, dedicated people, and i have even met one who is seen as a very “conservative” pastor who does excellent work in spreading the gospel in China. But he told me there are errors in the Bible such as the OT saying that 70 people went with Jacob to Egypt, while Stephen says 75 went. Unknowingly, he is building his house on the sand, just as the “liberals” are. This is the most dangerous mindset, because the holder of it actually believes they are “upholding” the Bible, where in actuality, they are judging the Bible by their worldly education.

The “conservative” mindset accepts the “full reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible in matters of salvation as well as on any other subject the Bible touches upon.” Thus, everything in the Bible is seen to be absolutely true, and superseding everything else anyone outside of the biblical canon writes or says. We are to take everything to “the law and the testimony” and if there are discrepancies between the Bible and what someone says or writes, we are to follow the Bible and reject the other as error.

David Gates “Converging Crisis” review

David Gates “Converging Crises” (actual name is “Converging Crises”)
F

David Gates is one of my personal heroes of faith and action ever since i learned about him from the book “Mission Pilot” which i was handed to read in Cambodia in 2006. Many of his sermons have inspired me and strengthened my faith and prodded me to do more for my Master.

In August 2007 in Bangkok, he was a speaker at the ASI convention which i attended. His dynamism was contagious, and he really exemplified the pattern of Jesus – giving your all to save souls. He did make a few comments which concerned me – comments denigrating the leaders of the United States government, and a few odd conspiracy theories. I politely warned him about this in a couple of emails, to which there has never been a reply.

I hadn’t listened to any of his sermons for about half a year, when, in October i think, i noticed that there was some bruha on audioverse.org about the removal of his “Converging Crisis” audio. Reading the reasons given, and knowing Brother David’s conspiracy comments before, i sent a email encouraging the webmaster at audioverse. But actually, i should have carefully listened to the content first before doing that.

What has prompted this review, is that last week a strong SDA friend in India said two of his closest church Brothers had stopped attending church because of this sermon, saying that “Jesus is going to come back before 2031 anyway, so what need is there to go to church now”? Fortunately my friend did not follow them.

The above is the background on this review. I hope everyone reading this understands that i do love and respect Brother David Gates very much. I also hope everyone understands that we must point out error wherever it raises its ugly head – because no error can stand with the truth. I have graded it “F” because it is mixing truth and error. The spiritual message in this sermon is so very powerful and straight, that it deserves a A+++. But Bible-contradicting error is also included – including dissing our government leaders, and setting dates for when Jesus has to return by. The economic information given also is laughably wrong, thus turning away many intelligent minds from the spiritual truths that are contained.

What are in very large quote marks below is exactly what he says in the sermon, or is a summary of what he says. Everything else is my response.

All of the forecasts they make are totally unpredictable, because the future is unpredictable.

Brother David, your “forecast” about their “forecasts” is totally wrong, and you know it. In looking at the median economic growth forecast for example taken from a large sample of economists, you usually get something quite close to the actual figure, with a few of the forecasters hitting the nail on the head. Weather forecasts have been getting more and more accurate, and with the increase of knowledge and use of computers etc., the accuracy of economic forecasting has been improving as well. This accusation is just false.

Nobody is making long-term plans anymore.

This statement is completely false as a 2-second search on the internet will prove.

Things are changing so fast, that there is no way you can possibly know. So people are trying to figure out what to do just for today and tomorrow, they aren’t worried about ten years from now anymore. People used to make ten-year plans. Very few companies today will have a ten-year strategic plan, it is very difficult.

Flat out wrong David. Why are you making such outrageous claims? What are you reading or watching to get to this bent shape of mind?

It is totally impossible to make an accurate ten-year plan.

No it isn’t.
Now it’s my word against David’s. Who is right?
That’s one of the points i’m trying to make in this whole exercise of making a review of this sermon – there are many things that are quite ridiculous, that cannot be proven, and that have absolutely nothing to do with the Three Angels’ Messages. They are “scare” phrases often used by speakers to get the audience to believe that everything they have been taught is wrong.

This is not a good way to reach normal, thinking people. This is what is usually done to reach people who are interested in theories such as aliens/illuminati/zionists/George Bush etc. etc. being behind every bad thing that happens, and that these groups are trying to take over the world. These conspiracy theories are driving away the true-in-heart, and attracting dross to the Little Flock. Enough! Just preach the straight truth, and let the truth cut to the heart without all this falsehood being mixed in with it.

Sin entered the world after 31 years, because Jesus died exactly 4,000 years later.

Not supported by inspired writings Brother. You are guilty of reading something into the text that is NOT there.

2031 is the outside limit of the period allocated, the maximum period allocated for this world’s great controversy….. Jesus will not come back after 2031…. This is absolutely, positively the last generation.

David Gates – you have sinned with these words. God’s messenger says in CEV p.25: “The Lord has shown me that the message of the third angel must go, and be proclaimed to the scattered children of the Lord, and that it should not be hung on time; for time never will be a test again. I saw that some were getting a false excitement arising from preaching time; that the third angel’s message was stronger than time can be. I saw that this message can stand on its own foundation, and that it needs not time to strengthen it, and that it will go in mighty power, and do its work, and will be cut short in righteousness.”

No doubt you did not intend to lead anyone astray by making this statement, Brother David. But by this statement, i know of 2 Brothers in India prone to fanaticism, who have stopped attending church because of what you have said here. They see no reason to go to a sleeping church, because Jesus will come back so soon anyway. You see, by mixing in lies with truth, your whole message becomes a corrupt mass, leading to things that none of us could possibly imagine. Whereas if we stay on the path of truth alone, these people may fall off at some point anyway, but at least their blood is not on our hands. Now will you repent and not repeat this error again? Please David, don’t create a “false excitement” on time again.

If you really believed Jesus was coming back soon, you would spend your time and money differently.

AMEN!

A Gift of Light (by Roger W. Coon 1983)


A Gift of Light (by Roger W. Coon 1983)
A-

This book is an apologetic for Ellen White being a true prophet of God. The author, an associate secretary for the Ellen G. White Estate, explains what a prophet does, how Ellen White was chosen, gives several direct examples from the life of Ellen White showing that she must have been inspired from God, and ends with several examples of non-SDAs who admitted that Ellen White had more than human inspiration to arrive at some of her writings.

It is interesting, and probably well-suited for someone who desires to learn about Ellen White to know if they can believe what she wrote is from God or not.

God’s first choice for choosing a prophet to carry his words in the 1840’s was not Ellen White. First was William Foy, then second was Hazen Foss. But both of these men refused to carry the message, having some idea it seems of the super-responsibility involved. So God chose the “weakest of the weak”, the better to display his mighty power.

One of the experiences quoted is a first-hand account. This young unbelieving man in Australia went to listen to Ellen White speak. She got up on the platform, and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She looked around the room, and then again the same thing happened. This time she looked intently at everyone, and then turned to look at those seated on the platform behind her. She saw one man and said “What is this man doing on the platform with me?” He hurriedly left. The young man in the audience later learned that the man who left had problems with money, spiritualism, and loose morals. The Holy Spirit had not allowed her to speak until this man’s presence was off the platform and out of the meeting place. The young man who went to listen was convicted forever of the truth that she was a prophet from God, and happy to say, the man who was rebuked also later repented.

The only problem with the book is the same as in nearly all works regarding inspiration: Almost nobody believes that the prophet gets the words from God. The author here lists 3 options to communicate the message (parentheses in original): “She could quote the divine messenger; she might use the writings of another author (the Bible writers often resorted to this method); or she might phrase the message of God in words of her own composition.” Perhaps i could suggest a 4th option? – that would be – The Holy Spirit so infilled her that the words she wrote were exactly the words that God had for her. This is why she can truthfully say (2SG): “I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing a vision, as in having the vision.”

What struck me most in reading this small book(let), is how greatly the example of the leaders affects the whole organization. With humble, self-denying leaders, the movement will be strong in the truth and God can work mightily for it. But when the leaders are self-serving and indulgent, you can expect the members to display similar traits. This is what has happened to the Seventh-day Adventist church – the pioneer leaders were very close with God, but more recent leaders are more and more like the world, until now (2009) we have a General Conference President who even got one of his degrees from the same university that pope Benedict XVI did! No wonder that the Spirit of God is mostly helpless to work in God’s own church now.

Let’s pray that God’s people will believe his prophets, so that we may prosper, and be prepared for the soon coming Latter Rain, when many of us shall dream dreams and have visions from the Lord.

Book of Enoch


Book of Enoch (said to have been written around 3,000 B.C.)
D-

I’ve known about this book for a long time, but only recently read it. It is purported to be written by Enoch, and in fact, fragrements of it were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, attesting to the age of the writing.

However, this book is not included in the Biblical canon for very good reasons – it is very strange. Probably i would not believe the Bible if this book was included. Listed below are just a few of the more egregious errors – angels impregnating humans, eternal punishing, astronomical foolishness like windows for the sun and moon to come out of and go into and punishment for certain stars who “transgressed”, winter before the flood, Noah blessing the Lord when just born etc. etc.

Yes, there are many good things written – about how righteousness will be rewarded in the future life, and unrighteousness will be punished in the great day of judgment. Also, there is a fascinating prophecy given around chapters 86-90. Here is one passage that is obviously a prophecy about the coming of Jesus: “All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Hosts. And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him, Before the creation of the world and for evermore.”

But for all this, the only reason not to give it a “F”, is because parts of this book were actually quoted in the Bible.

Quotes
Observe and see how (in the winter) all the trees seem as though they had withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old foliage from two to three years till the new comes.

And Enoch went and said: ‘Azazel, thou shalt have no peace: a severe sentence has gone forth against thee to put thee in bonds: And thou shalt not have toleration nor request granted to thee, because of the unrighteousness which thou hast taught, and because of all the works of godlessness and unrighteousness and sin which thou hast shown to men.’
Then I went and spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them.
And they besought me to draw up a petition for them that they might find forgiveness, and to read their petition in the presence of the Lord of heaven. For from thenceforward they could not speak(with Him) nor lift up their eyes to heaven for shame of their sins for which they had been condemned.
Then I wrote out their petition, and the prayer in regard to their spirits and their deeds individually and in regard to their requests that they should have forgiveness and length.

I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, The angel said: ‘This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times. And He was wroth with them, and bound them till the time when their guilt should be consummated (even) for ten thousand years.’

Also another phenomenon I saw in regard to the lightnings: how some of the stars arise and become lightnings and cannot part with their new form.

In the year 500, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the life of Enoch.

And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters. But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness named Duidain, on the east of the garden where the elect and righteous dwell, where my grandfather was taken up, the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of Hosts created.

And the spirit of the hoar-frost is his own angel, and the spirit of the hail is a good angel. And the spirit of the snow has forsaken his chambers on account of his strength -There is a special spirit therein, and that which ascends from it is like smoke, and its name is frost.

And now the angels are making a wooden {ark} (building),

And in proportion as the burning of their bodies becomes severe, a corresponding change shall take place in their spirit for ever and ever;

And those same waters will undergo a change in those days; for when those angels are punished in these waters, these water-springs shall change their temperature, and when the angels ascend, this water of the springs shall change and become cold.

For men were not created for such a purpose, to give confirmation to their good faith with pen and ink.

And the sun rises from that portal and sets in the west, and returns to the east and rises thirty mornings in the third portal and sets in the west in the third portal. And on that day the night becomes longer than the day, and night becomes longer than night, and day shorter than day till the thirtieth morning, and the night amounts exactly to ten parts and the day to eight parts.

(Regarding the sun) As he rises, so he sets and decreases not, and rests not, but runs day and night, and his light is sevenfold brighter than that of the moon; but as regards size they are both equal.

And at the ends of the earth I saw twelve portals open to all the quarters (of the heaven), from which the winds go forth and blow over the earth.

(Speaking of Noah’s birth) unto Lamech my son there hath been born a son, the like of whom there is none, and his nature is not like man’s nature, and the colour of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter than white wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun, and he opened his eyes and thereupon lighted up the whole house. And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven.

(Lamech asking his father to go talk with Enoch – who has already been translated) I am here to petition thee and implore thee that thou mayest go to Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling-place is amongst the angels.

The Historical Atlas of the Bible


The Historical Atlas of the Bible by Dr. Ian Barnes (2006)
D

This book is very hefty, with lots of beautiful color pictures. The graphs get a little old after a while, but there are plenty of nice pictures to keep the attention, and the mind stayed on ancient historical things related to those people and places in the times when the Bible was written.

Unfortunately, the author shows his disregard for the words contained in the Bible many times, giving the impression that he doesn’t care whatever God says in it, but thinks it is an interesting book, something to be dissected by modern-day scholars to prove how untrustworthy the Bible is. Laughingly, for all his doctorate and such, there are numerous English grammatical errors.

He writes: “When the Hebrews became farmers, after the occupation of Canaan, the Canaanite harvest festivals were celebrated as manifestations of the same power of God which had brought the people safely out of Egypt.”

“Some of the contradictory information (in the Bible about the Exodus) becomes much clearer if it is accepted that the biblical accounts of the journey combine traditions about several waves of Hebrew penetration into Canaan, with at least two distinct journeys.”

“… the Ten Commandments have no known parallels in the ancient Near East and could well go back to Moses himself.”

“(The spies were sent to Canaan and told of fierce people) But the lure of the land was irresistible.”

“However, extensive archaeological work on the site of Jericho reveals no walled city appropriate to the period of the Hebrew conquest. … Perhaps the Jericho stories were handed down and woven into the Biblical epic when the Hebrew conquest stories began to take shape.”

“The design of such temples (Canaanite) influenced the Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem and other cities.”

“(when the captured ark was returned) The Ark was then transported to Kiriath-jearim where it remained for 20 years, doubtless under watchful Philistine eyes.”

“… Zadok … marks a distinct movement towards the Canaanite expression of religious beliefs.”

“The influence of Greek dramatic traditions may be seen in the structure of the Old Testament Book of Job.”

All of the above examples shows how the author puts his thinking above the words in the Bible.

Some examples of sloppy English:
“In this mosaic from the Arian Baptistry in Ravenna dates from the 5th century A.D.”

“… Lazarus raised for death”

“… Herod conquered his kingdom”

“Under his successor, Nebuchadnezzar II who ruled from 605 to 562 B.C.”
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The book provides easy-to-understand timelines, and nice pictures, but the overall tone of deprecating the Bible, and the sloppy writing, makes it unacceptable.

The Ellen G. White Writings (by Arthur White 1973)


The Ellen G. White Writings (by Arthur White 1973)
F

The question for me has been settled a long time ago – Is the Bible the words of God and thus inerrant, or is it the words of humans with their tendency to make mistakes? This is the absolute most important question us humans will ever have to answer – and our answer will definitely determine our eternal destiny. Yes, i know that to know the only true God and Jesus Christ who he sent is eternal life, but how can we know that? – thru the Bible. And if the Bible has mistakes in some areas, how can we be sure it doesn’t have mistakes in this area too? If there are some mistakes/errors in the Bible, then it all becomes a great guessing game about what is true and what is not, and the end result will be a class of highly educated skeptics who will assert that they are the only ones to determine what in the Bible is true, and what is not. Sad to say, we as Seventh-day Adventists have been moving slowly down the latter path for several generations now, and it is getting harder and harder to find people who really believe all the Bible is from God and thus completely true.

For most all SDAs, and i’ve written on this before, the question of inerrancy arises when they find discrepancies or outright contradictions in the books that have Ellen White’s name on the cover. This is true. You can find many such places. The problem resolved itself for me a long time ago when i realized that almost no one, including her husband, really believed that what Ellen White wrote was from God himself. In 1883 the General Conference formed a committee with the express intention to “correct the imperfections in the books”. The year before that they came out with “Early Writings”. In comparing the part in that book that corresponds to the 1858 Great Controversy, i became alarmed because there were so many changes and additions and deletions. Also, on the official Ellen .G. White Estate web site, you can find an article regarding the changes made to the Great Controversy in 1911. Basically, they formed a committee and asked for opinions from many people and made the changes. Now wait a minute – God never gives his prophetic word by committee. Also, he never gives his words, and then a few years later takes them back and/or gives completely contradicting words. With this information, i knew that there was something rotten at the core of what has been done to the writings of Ellen White.

William (Willie) White was Ellen’s son, and entrusted with overseeing the book work. As far as i can tell, he was very unfaithful. Then Arthur White, Ellen’s grandson, became the White Estate director. He wrote the book reviewed here, showing that he was unfaithful also.

This book review is based on its reading in the Northern Luzon Adventist College’s (Philippines) library in early 2007. One reason i was interested in this book, is that the only person in Japan printing and actively promoting the printing of Ellen White’s books recently had this book translated and printed, trying to bolster his position of there being small mistakes in the Bible.
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Favorably quoting William White’s words in 1912:
“If it had been essential to the salvation of man that he should have a clear and harmonious understanding of the chronology of the world, the Lord would not have permitted the disagreements and discrepancies which we find in the writings of the Bible historians…” (p.37)

Page 26 quotes Henry Alford favorably: “the highly appreciated British theologian — admits of much variety in points of minor consequence.”.

Page 77 discusses Emmaus being about threescore furlongs from Jerusalem: “Did the Holy Spirit impart this detailed information on “the conventionally received distances” between the cities named, or did the prophetic writers draw this incidental and unimportant but descriptive information from the common source of knowledge available to anyone?”
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Admittedly, this is a very, very short review. But it gives the underlying assumptions that those entrusted with taking care of the writings of Ellen White hold. Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing!