"Go ye into all the world, teaching them to observe the things I have commanded you."





oG out

Just tagging on.

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in." Isa 58:6-12 ESV


"If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" Ja 2:15-16 ESV

Is it possible that our ministry for the soul might be much more effective if we also ministered to the body?

And it is precisely that message you quoted from Isaiah 58 that EGW proclaimed as the message for the end of time that should be proclaimed over and over again.

And that is connected directly to what Adventists recognize as the seal of God, the Sabbath.

I completely agree with you, but as long as we're going to try to follow what God revealed to us through Ellen White, we need to recognize that we should all individually and as a church follow everything that she said, and not simply pick out one teaching as important. Merely doing what Ellen White said in regard to this subject is not obeying what God has revealed if we reject God's messages on other subjects.

On this particular subject, she wrote a great deal in the book, Welfare Ministry, and among those statements is one where she says that the church should not devote its time, energy, and resources to helping the poor in a way that reduces its ability to proclaim the Three Angels' Messages. The SDA church was not raised up to assist the poor in getting jobs and money. The helping of the poor, just like the medical work, must go hand in hand with proclaiming the gospel. The preaching of the gospel cannot become a secondary work but must remain our primary purpose. When we look at how other churches have done in the past, we find that it's common to lay aside the gospel and concentrate on the "social gospel," but this isn't what the Lord wants the Seventh-day Adventist church to do. He raised up our church for the purpose of preparing a people and the world for the Second Coming.

I think the emphasis should be on us as individuals helping the poor by inviting them into our homes where we can help them physically at the same time that we help them learn the Three Angels' Messages. I've seen this done successfully so that it led people to turn to Christ and eventually choose to become members of God's church. My own parents often allowed people in need to live in their home.

But people must also be careful about who they invite into their homes because many have mental, emotional, drug and alcohol problems so that they can become violent or steal from the family they stay with. I've invited homeless people to restaurants for meals before, only to have them arrested there after they became irate at the restaurant and were arrested by the police for threatening the waitress. So when working with the poor-- as indeed at all times-- it's essential to remember Christ's instructions to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves.

I never quite understood why people are wary of the "social gospel". What are we supposed to have, an "anti-social gospel"? :\

"How then do we think of our message & mission? Very substantial conflicting currents now run through our church. At Biblical Research, we sit at the place where we see the transcendence and the confluence of these currents. The former zeal for sharing Bible truths, of working together in close community, of a world encompassing vision of a great task to be done in preparation for Christ’s return, today is diminishing.
True, a large body of believers continues to think of itself in these terms: To give sacrificially of time & funds; to rejoice over every new field entered with the gospel, to share the message with their neighbors. But increasingly, another group values more the social aspect of our worth. They find themselves embarrassed by direct evangelism, prefers humanitarian outreach to direct soul-winning, is uncomfortable with church organization, distrusts leadership, and prefers to give from its abundance rather than sacrificially to projects which they can control the use of their gift" (George Reid, past president of Biblical Research Institute, 1998).

It's because usually the "social gospel" comes to the point where there's no gospel. It's all social. In other words, they typically stop preaching the gospel, and concentrate solely on helping the poor. That is not the work that God raissed up the Seventh-day Adventist church to do.

Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Gospel

This is not to say that we're not to help the poor but we're not to think only or even primarily of satisfying their physical needs. A person's spiritual needs should always be uppermost in our minds. Great books to read on this subject are Ellen White's Christian Service, Ministry of Healing, and Welfare Ministry.

I don't think anyone here has argued for just satisfying physical needs. Clearly, Jesus did both. Ellen white clearly argues that we do both. The reason why we should meet the physical needs of people is not just to win them but because we have compassion.

May churches have only engaged the community when its time to hand out fliers for a Revelation seminar and wonders why no one comes. Many churches run a soup kitchen but never invite someone to give their heart to Jesus Christ. We need both.

In General, SDA churches focus simply on declaring the truth but do no give the "proof" by showing compassion to those in the community. Many SDA congregations are dying not because they don't try hard enough but because they are not using Jesus' method.

In reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, "Follow Me."
Min of healing p 86.


Both are necessary for effective evangelism, Jesus proved it, so did the apostles for that matter.

It's not either or, it's both and!

Good News and Good Works.