The David Asscherick
Letter
to
General Conference President
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----- Original
Message -----
From: Kevin Straub
To: Kevin Straub
Sent: Sunday, May 17,
2009 11:32 PM
Subject: FW: Asscherick letter
I
have seen the original Asscherik Letter, to which the
following note from Mr. Asscherik refers, in my inbox
about eight times. I never passed on that original letter, which I am
sure most of you have seen, thinking that it is really a non-news event that
our system of higher education is quite corrupt – and not only in the
science department, I might add.
Anyway,
here is a followup note from Asscherik,
which should be circulated.
Personally,
I think it is good that his original letter has gone far and wide. Things
like this should be brought into the daylight. This kind of stuff is like
fungus and mold in the basement, thriving in the dark, dank environments where
few care to venture in for a closer look.
There
is a whole lot more that needs to be said about the apostate condition in which
the church finds itself today, as is evident when one gets into some good
independent research into the specific histories of this movement in the
various areas of health care, education, church organization, doctrine,
etc. Some call this research and sharing a “ministry of criticism,” but I
generally find that those who get excited about the assertions of the more
vocal of the independent brethren are institutionalized minds
that haven’t really ventured “out of the box,” i.e., they haven’t really taken
to heart and soul the great Adventist claim that OUR education system stands
head and shoulders above the rest because we teach men and women to think and
study for themselves and not be followers of men. Anyone with an
Adventist degree will surely have heard this during the course of their
education.
I
used to be oh-so-proud of my “higher” education, until I got the time to
continue it independently.
I was
recently thinking about how difficult it is for students in our colleges and
universities to actually undertake a thorough investigation of the barrage of
information fed to them in articles, texts, and lectures, in the
Are
these words too close? Ask the Lord to show you if it isn’t so.
~KS
è
Original Letter (Not submitted by Kevin)
April 30, 2009
Pastors Jan Paulsen, Don C. Schneider, Ricardo Graham
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Dear Pastors Paulsen, Schneider, and Graham,
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. Like each of you, I am an ordained
pastor of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. I write these words with
my heart on full display--from pastor to pastor. This letter concerns the
teaching of evolution at La Sierra University. While I am not a formally
trained scientist, I am, however, familiar with many of the apologetic, philosophical,
and theological issues surrounding the theories of naturalistic evolution. I
have made this an area of special study in my life and ministry. So, I feel
both comfortable and qualified to speak to the issue, especially in its
ecclesiastical ramifications.
It is a matter of incontestable fact that naturalistic evolution is being
taught at La Sierra University. This is not in and of itself a bad thing.
Evolution should be taught at our denominational universities. But it should be
taught as a competing and inimical worldview to the biblical worldview. We need
our young people to know what it is they are up against, yes, but when
naturalistic evolution is taught as fact or as the preferred and normative
worldview, then we can be sure that the enemy has breached our lines.
There is no point in equivocating. I have seen the class materials with my own
eyes. Frankly, I think every Seventh-day Adventist deserves to see them. Our
people need to know what is happening. Many of them have heard various rumblings,
but being the conscientious, confiding, and hopeful people they are, they have
generally assumed the very best. We are making capital of their trust.
In 2003 I preached a two-week evangelistic meeting on the Loma Linda University
campus. The event was student-led and university-sponsored. Many students from
La Sierra University attended those meetings, and I personally visited with
many of them. They told me what was being taught in some of their science
classes. I shall never forget the looks and questions of unadorned incredulity
that I witnessed among those students. I have talked to many more since. What
should I do? Should I say something? Should I just
attend a non-SDA school? Do our leaders know about
this? How come these people are allowed to teach at a
Seventh-day Adventist University? These young people, and many
others like them, are justifiably nonplussed. Frankly, I share their confusion!
What deeply concerns me is that the faith of many students, who look up to
their Adventist professors as more than just academic instructors, but also as
spiritual leaders, is being undermined. Jesus' words in Luke 17:1, 2 about
causing one of these little ones to stumble carry inestimable weight, and they should be reason enough to propel us to responsible action.
Brethren, what are we doing and allowing? Will not God hold us accountable in
our respective spheres for what happens on our watch?
I am aware, of course, that the church's governmental structure gives
institutions like La Sierra University a necessary degree of administrative
freedom. This is a good and wise arrangement. But this freedom, surely, is not
synonymous with virtually unaccountable autonomy. La Sierra University is,
after all, a denominational university. If the board has not yet adequately
addressed this matter, then doesn't that evince a kind of complicity, if not
outright mismanagement and denominational disloyalty? I genuinely ask, at what
point is La Sierra University's board accountable and answerable to you men and
the levels of church government that you represent? When, if ever, can someone
step in and save our children and the institutions they attend?
Governing and administrative structures are not the church. The people are the
church. The governing and administrative structures are the scaffolding of the
church. Scaffolds are for building and strengthening a thing; they are not the
thing itself. But what if some are using the scaffolding to tear down the very
church they were commissioned and created to build up? What then? I genuinely
want to know.. Where does the buck stop?
Perhaps you feel that your hands are tied by policy and protocol. But surely
they cannot be tied completely. What should I, as a church pastor, do if
someone is teaching doctrine that undermines the church's biblical positions in
one of my Sabbath School classes? Wouldn't it be expected of me, the
pastor--shepherd- -of the flock, to address it? To ask this question is to
answer it. Of course, I would work through the Sabbath School council and the church
board, but you can be sure that I would deal with the problem. My conference
president, to say nothing of my Lord, would surely hold me in contempt
if I told him lamely
that my hands were tied, no?
Furthermore, the greater the errancy, the greater the
urgency. As even a cursory analysis plainly reveals, few doctrines are at
greater philosophical odds with Seventh-day Adventism than naturalistic
evolution, the arguments of well-meaning theistic evolutionists
notwithstanding. Our Magna Carta is Revelation
14:6-12. If naturalistic evolution is true, Creation is cremated, the Sabbath
is sabotaged, and our very name is neutered. What becomes of Scripture? And of
our unique eschatology? We are not talking about bongo drums, wedding bands,
and Christmas trees here.
If our hands are tied, then surely we must let an unfaltering love for God, for
His Word, and for His young people dash these fetters into so many deserved
pieces! We must do something. You must do something.
Who knows but that you have come to your positions for such a time as this. My
ministry places me in somewhat of a unique situation in the world church. In
partnership with the Central California Conference, I run ARISE, a mission
training school that has seen hundreds of young people over the last seven
years. I also have the privilege of preaching regularly on 3ABN
and the Hope Channel. Too, I travel all over the world holding evangelistic
meetings and preaching at camp meetings, youth conferences, weeks of prayer,
etc. I genuinely feel that I have my finger on the pulse of the average lay
person
in the Seventh-day Adventist church the world over. Especially the
young people ages 15 to 30. I can say with unblinking confidence that God is
working in His church! Praise Him!
I just arrived home from the Youth Mission Congress in Frankfurt, Germany. Over
1600 young people attended the meetings. Night after night I preached the
Adventist message--I preached Christ! The theme chosen for the congress was
Follow the Bible, and what an indescribable joy it was to see, at the end of my
last sermon, hundreds and hundreds of young people streaming forward. All of
them had personal decision cards in their hands. A beautiful, five-foot-tall
wooden Bible had been constructed for just this moment. On the side of the
Bible was a slot designed to receive the decision cards the young people
clutched in their surrendered hands. One by one, each placed his or her card in
the Bible. The symbolism was rich and thrillingly profound. It was impossible
to not be moved at a fundamental level as each eager young person placed their
decision, and thus their life in that wooden Bible. My translator openly wept
at the sight. We will follow the Bible, they were each saying. All over the world, God's people--and in particular, it seems, His young
people--are saying We will follow the Word--the Living Word, Jesus, and the
Written Word, the Bible.
God has entrusted us with these young people. They are His. He has given us His
wise counsel to raise up institutions of learning to educate, equip, and
empower them. To build them up.
But what do we do when one of our institutions turns from this inestimably
important responsibility, a responsibility that is fraught with eternal
significance and involves the souls of those Jesus died to save? This is what I
want to know.
And so do many, many others.
I thank each of you for your time, and, in advance, for your thoughtful
responses.
Sincerely,
David Asscherick
Director, ARISE
From: David Asscherick [mailto:davidasscherick@mac.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2009 4:34 PM
To: SB
Subject: Asscherick letter
Dear Friends (5.17.2009),
I have received a great many e-mails regarding a letter I wrote to
Pastors Jan Paulsen, Don Schneider, and Ricardo Graham. The letter addressed
the teaching of Darwinian evolution as scientific fact at a Seventh-day
Adventist university. While I did write the letter it was not originally
written or sent as an open, public letter. I sent it to a few colleagues for
review. From there it was passed on to a few others, and the rest is history.
Bad news travels fast. If only we could get our people this excited about
sharing the Good News…
I have mixed feelings about the wide circulation my letter has received.
I am happy to see this serious issue receive the attention it needs and
deserves, but I could wish that it wouldn’t have happened with a personal
letter being made exceedingly public. I have already been in touch with one of
the individuals to whom the letter was written. I explained to him that it was
not my intent to undercut him by broadcasting a private letter. He was very
gracious and understanding. I would’ve expected nothing less, after all he is a
fine Christian and a friend.
I’ve also made efforts to be in contact with the other two individuals
to whom the letter was originally sent, but as yet have been unable to reach
them.
I want to thank all of you who have written letters of encouragement and
gratitude. We are living in perilous times. Public faithfulness is good;
private faithfulness is even better. Both is best. Let’s strive for both, by
God’s enabling grace! I would encourage each of you who have contacted me to do
the following:
1. Pray for our
leadership.
2. Pray for our
institutions.
3. Write your own
courteous, concerned, and concise letters to our church and institutional
leaders.
Please feel free to pass this e-mail on.
Warm regards,
David C. Asscherick
Speaker/
Director, ARISE
"The glory of God is man fully alive."
-Sara Groves
"A faith that cannot survive collision with the
truth is not worth many regrets." -A.C.
Clarke
"A feeble mind looking upon fair scenes with a
languid eye will not feel the joy of them, and it is with nature as it is with
friendship--we cannot take all and bring nothing." -Sir