In this week’s Adventist news round-up, Adventist worshippers in Nairobi engage in a fistfight, two nurses in Tennessee lead “diabetes reversal” seminars, and an accountant in New York gives financial literacy workshops to pre-teens.
"Fisticuffs For Jesus"
Totally shameful…what happens when power, greed, and politics combine. Hopefully there can be some way out of this whole mess before the SDA church there is damaged even more.
Wonderful Caption!!!
The problem is as old as Cain and Able. We are kinship under either Adam or Christ. If one is going to preach Sanctification then one must first establish Christ as the new Adam. Being born again Should eliminate tribal,differences.
Tom –
Apparently our training Universities which confer Masters of Divinity, and Doctors
of Divinity on our African church pastors and leaders fail in providing the
Real Good News of the Gospel. That there is no longer males, females,
tribal groups because ALL are one in Christ.
BUT, our SDA church continues with the “Subordination Doctrine” and this
Filters Down to the African Church and so we have the Divisions of the males
and females. We have the Divisions among Family-Tribal groups that one is
MORE IMPORTANT than another.
Then the SDA Church becomes culpable in the Genocide of one tribe over another.
And we have seen this not long ago.
**Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God
Working Definition:
God’s Response: Called children of God. They are his immediate family; the ones God feels proud of.
Imagine: Ambassadors from a galaxy 100 billion light years away are visiting God’s palace in the cosmos somewhere. I image that earth politics is a constant topic. God takes out his photo album to show to the ambassadors—Have you seen my children on planet Earth? Ones creating lights of peace and compassion in the midst of earth’s darkness. I am so proud of them…Speaking with his musical voice, extending his chest and his proud face upturned in deep approval. He says they are my children.
There is a lot at play than the article appreciates. The institutional church was taken to court by some Nairobi Central Church members who did not agree with the outcome of church nominations that had polarised the church. The pastor succeeded to polarise the church along tribal lines by poisoning one against another. at the Business meeting to adopt the names, the pastor who was chair, bulldozed the list and a large section of the church walked away leaving fewer members that vetoed the list. Thus the Nairobi Cosmopolitan Conference that draws its members across churches in Nairobi and Kajiado counties DID NOT TAKE THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH TO COURT. The court returned that it has no jurisdiction on ecclesiastical matters and ruled for internal mechanisms to be followed in addressing this matter all the way to the GC. surprisingly they are aware but no efforts at addressing it.
Nairobi Cosmopolitan Conference is a member driven initiative that seeks to carry out the adventist mission. The clamour for a Nairobi conference has been there since the 90’s but the institutional church has ignored its own advisory at creating one. The church is representative and members are not prohibitted to create a conference that is in line with adventist ideals.
Members feel church matters have been mismanaged for the benefit of those in position of church leadership and there is an apparent loss of trust in the process of election of church officials. The elections done by a delegate system largely unrepresentative as the incumbent gerrymanders his way.
The church in kenya is supported in law by the society act that recognises all faith based institutions, and we also have the companies act that forms a legal entity (SDA East African Union Ltd) to manage the affairs of the church. Nairobi Cosmopolitan Conference is recognised by the companies act like the SDA EAU Ltd. Their is no split from the church as the cosmopolitan conference is formed by members from churches as recognised by the society’s Law/ and the church manual.
Thank-you for giving more information on the situation there. So…if I am reading this correctly- the corporate SDA Church fell down in their duties to create a Union that would have elevated the current situation?
Exactly, failure to create a Nairobi conference for fear of losing the wealthiest station that is gerrymandered out at elections is at the heart of the matter.
Members moved and created one, that has members subscribing to it directly. Some churches I hear have joined.
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