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2004 GreatControversy.org Publishing Project:
General Conference 1973 and 1974 Annual Conference Appeals
Announced October 12, 2004
Dear friends of GreatControversy.org,
The year 2004 has been a very busy one for us. Much energy has gone into carefully developing this ministry, redesigning the website, and defining more closely and carefully our purpose and mission. We have also managed to complete a considerable portion of the total work towards our next book which we plan to publish in 2005. These things take an enormous fund of thought and energy.
We have recruited from among serious students of the Third Angel’s Message those who counsel together to guide this ministry. In comparison with other ministries, in many ways GCO is unique. Heaven has granted us an influence in the flow of events, in the encouragement of God’s people, and in the work of assisting those interested in living and giving the message entrusted to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The world, in these intensifying hours of decision, hangs in the balance. The future may be determined by what God’s people do next.
Last year, because of the generosity and interest in the truth of Jesus held by so many who are, in a very real way, a part of this ministry, we saw published our book Real Grace for Real People. This year is rapidly moving toward conclusion, but we do have some projects we are now able to share with you and to seek your assistance in bringing to fruition. We would like to acquaint you at this time with one of those current projects of this ministry.
We are looking to republish the 1973 and 1974 Annual Conference Appeals in booklet form. Time passes. Many today have lost sight of, or never known about the powerful, stirring, dynamic calls made by the top leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in those years. We believe that many are simply unaware of the potency and crucial nature of those cutting-edge messages. The best way to show you how important these are, is to share some excerpts. Have you read anything like this lately?
We believe that the return of Jesus has been long delayed, that the reasons for the delay are not wrapped in mysteries, and that the primary consideration before the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to reorder its priorities individually and corporately so that our Lord’s return may be hastened….
Becoming like Jesus in word and deed is the goal of the process called ‘righteousness by faith’: ‘The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling principles of heaven’ (The Desire of Ages, pp. 555, 556)….
As delegates to this Annual Council we believe that this is the heart of the church’s need—understanding and experiencing all that is meant by the phrase, ‘righteousness by faith.’ Such righteousness is God’s will lived out by continual faith in His power. God is waiting for a generation of Adventists who will demonstrate that His way of life can truly be lived on earth, that Jesus did not set an example beyond the reach of His followers, that His grace ‘is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish’ (Jude 24 RSV)….
As delegates to this Annual Council we are much aware of one factor that delays the coming of Christ: the unfinished task of carrying the three angel’s messages to the entire world (Revelation 14 and 18). We believe that Mrs. White made clear that Christ cannot come until the entire world has had a fair opportunity to hear God’s saving message. For example, she wrote: ‘Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come’ (Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 450)….
God was willing to bring His work to a swift triumph following 1844, in 1888, and again in 1901 (among other times). Why then the delay? What can be done now? ….
That moment of final decision for mankind the world over, often called the close of probation, is long overdue. God has wanted to complete His work on earth at several significant moments since 1844, but many of His people have failed to understand what He waits for; others have been unwilling to cooperate. In 1879 Ellen White wrote: ‘Because the time is apparently extended, many have become careless and indifferent in regard to their words and actions. They do not realize their danger and do not see and understand the mercy of our God in lengthening their probation, that they may have time to form characters for the future, immortal life. Every moment is of the highest value. Time is granted them, not to be employed in studying their own ease and becoming dwellers on the earth, but to be used in the work of overcoming every defect in their own characters and in helping others, by example and personal effort, to see the beauty of holiness. God has a people upon the earth who in faith and holy hope are tracing down the roll of fast-fulfilling prophecy and are seeking to purify their souls by obeying the truth, that they may not be found without the wedding garment when Christ shall appear’ (Testimonies, vol. 4, pp. 306, 307)….
We solemnly appeal to our church leaders and members everywhere, to think carefully as to whether they are hindering or hastening the return of Jesus. Our Lord is waiting to intervene in behalf of His church in ways beyond human comprehension, to open doors that will remain closed to human effort—both in the personal lives of dedicated church members and in the breakthrough of public evangelism that will one day startle the world with its clearness and power….
The question Why do we keep Him waiting? should hover over every Adventist home, over every church meeting, large or small. We believe that God is willing to do through this generation what He has wanted to do for many decades. We believe that He ought to be given the opportunity to show through His people today that His grace is sufficient to keep men from falling (See Jude 24), that men and women living amidst temptation and sin can conquer even as Jesus conquered (see Revelation 3:21), and that His way of life produces the happiest, kindest, most trustworthy people on earth….
We have recently come to understand that these ideas are, by some, more and more becoming regarded as merely the aberrant views of a few. Many are entirely unaware that three decades ago, Robert H. Pierson, the General Conference President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was pleading with our people to embrace these mighty calls for revival and reform. These clarion calls have never been recinded and are, if it were possible, more timely today than when the Annual Council delegates voted to broadcast them around the world. You want the cutting-edge? This is still it. But our people need to be informed.
We want to publish the 1973 and 1974 Appeals in booklet form, rather like the Amazing Facts Library of Sermons booklets written by Pastors Joe Crews and Doug Batchelor. The status of the project is that the final text is complete. We would like to print 1500 or 2000. We do not have bids back yet, but we anticipate needing a total of at least $1200.00 [UPDATE: We have learned that our original estimates were dramaticlaly less than needed. In order to get cost to a dollar or less per booklet (these are 40+ pages each), we need to print 3000. So we need $3000 total. But we are thankful that as of today (Oct. 29) we have already received over $1000.00 toward this project].
If you, as we do, feel that the new generation of Seventh-day Adventist young people need to hear this message, then consider whether you might be able to assist in providing a portion of the funding necessary to publish. Our goal is to have the finished material off the press and in our hands by December 4, 2004. The Third Angel’s Message is still alive. More than this, it is thriving. But we need to feed it with proper food. With your help we can do this.
Send any checks to donate to this special project to:
GreatControversy.org
PO Box 1228
Highland, CA 92346-1228
Please make your checks payable to GreatControversy.org. Please indicate “Special Publishing Project Fund.” Thank you for considering this special project among your giving options. GCO