“Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.” Jeremiah 7:27.                                                          

I have two simple two part questions that cut to the heart, get right to the bottom of the separation controversy. But first these words. The separation movement started to gain momentum, to the best of my knowledge and experience, sometime around the early to middle 80’s. At that time such men as William Grotheer, David Bauer, John Nicolici, Russell and Colin Standish, Ron Spear, Ralph Larsen, Vance Ferrell, Willard Santee, and later John Osborne were raising their voices, warning the people and exposing the apostasy being promoted by the leadership of the corporate, Seventh-day Adventist Church. Unfortunately, the majority of these once faithful champions of truth have, like the Protestant churches that came out of the Reformation, failed to advance with the light and have now become “unfaithful watchmen,” more interested in preaching denominationalism than in preaching Adventism! [“No salvation outside of the church!” A papal concept]

A small group of us, who were members of the Bakersfield, CA Central SDA church, under Pastor Wellesley Muir, soon found ourselves under censure and eventually disfellowshipped for sharing this material with the assembly of believers and standing against the deliberate attack on our fundamental pillars through such means as the Sabbath School Lesson quarterlies and other official publications of the church. We were stunned and shocked, not only because we were cast out of a church for standing up for the very truths that that church had taught us, but by the failure of the majority of the laity to rise up in defense of that truth––especially those who were literally born into the church and could see the issues clearly––particularly the older ministers. But one example will clearly illustrate where their priorities lie––unfortunately. One evening, in our home, pastor Muir admitted that what we were sharing WAS the truth, but too controversial, and we asked him. “But don’t you want your people to wake up?” To our total shock and surprise he stated “No!” We felt as if we had been punched in the stomach because this was the last answer we expected from someone who had spent decades in the mission field bringing others to the truth, and when we finally gathered our wits about us we asked him “Why not?” He then stated––and I will never forget his words for as long as I live, he stated, “They’ll get excited and upset and STOP PAYING THEIR TITHES!!” What was far more important to him than souls apparently, was the security of his denominational paycheck.

Eventually, after attending only the Sabbath School portions of the various churches we visited in the area, we decided, after NLP became a well known practice, that it was dangerous to attend even Sabbath School and limited our gatherings on Sabbath to home meetings, nevermore to attend a structure church on a regular basis.

Since that time, the separation movement has grown into a worldwide phenomenon, not because of any one individual or ministry, but because God has people everywhere that hold the truth dearer than loyalty to any apostate denominational entity. While at the same time there are those voices that are loudly proclaiming “No, don’t leave the church until the Sunday Law is enforced [despite the fact that they can produce not one inspired statement to support this]––wait until the angel does the separating [believing that God is going to use some supernatural event to “purify” the church], despite the verse that clearly tells us “A wicked [sinful, apostate] and adulterous [unfaithful harlot] generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall NO SIGN  be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Matthew 12:39 [also 16:4].      So today, just as in the time of Jesus, the false prophets are leading the people to look for certain events to happen before they are to separate from the apostate, corporate, SDA church, which leads to the questions alluded to in the opening statements.

As stated before, these are very simple, elementary questions that do not require books, pages, or even paragraphs to answer. In fact all they require is a simple “yes” or “no” answer for the Bible states “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” Matthew 5:37.

The two questions are these: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse does anyone have for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in their power to induce others to resist it?

I personally ask you, Colin Standish: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a  people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Russell Standish: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Lawrence Nelson: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Ralph Larsen: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Jan Marcussen: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Ron Spear: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Vance Ferrell: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Mr. & Mrs. Rosenvold: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, Willard Santee: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask you, John Osborne: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

I personally ask any and all of you within the reach and range of this little paper who hold the same views regarding separation as the above named: Is the separation movement of God, or is it of Satan? If it is of Satan, then what possible benefit would it be to Satan to have a people who are determined to stand on the eternal platform of truth, to separate from personal and corporate sin, and to lead others to do so also? And if it is of God, then what excuse will you have when you stand at the judgment bar for opposing it, preaching against it, and doing all in your power to induce others to resist it? Are you honest and forthright enough to answer? What say ye?

Dear readers and correspondents, I will make all efforts in my power to get this message to those named above, but I do not have all the email or snail mail addresses of each party, so I solicit your help if you believe this message should go out. If you have the ability to reach any of these individuals, please send them a copy of this letter. I assure you I will pass on to you any responses I may receive in answer to there two simple questions.

THIS, THEN, IS THE ISSUE!

Clarence Settle

February 2003