Question: "What are the reasons which prevent you at World's Last Chance from becoming Orthodox Christians?"
Answer:We firmly believe that our loving Father has genuine children in every church, denomination, and religion today. These faithful souls if given the right opportunity to understand the truth as it is in Yahushua will not hesitate to head His call and will be eager to take their stand on the side of truth, no matter what. We feel a great burden at World's Last Chance for these souls as we try to reach out to them with His last call of mercy. In out attempt to reach out in love to these souls, it becomes incumbent upon us to share why it is essential for His people today to sever links with the established churches and denominations. We aim by outlining some of the reasons for not joining these churches that the essential elements of His truth will become clearer in the minds of His people.
Here are some of the reasons which prevent us at World's Last Chance, for example, from becoming Orthodox Christians:
Apostolic Succession: We find no basis for it in the Bible. What ought to be emphasized instead is continuity of teaching with that of the apostles, rather than a direct line of succession. They hold this in common with the Roman Catholic Church.
We refuse to accept the Deuterocanonicals as a second canon of scripture. These books were not recognized by Yahushua or any of His disciples. The Orthodox Church recognizes these books along with the Roman Catholic Church.
We refuse the celibacy of the priest as non-biblical.
We refuse as non-biblical the sacrificial nature of the Divine Liturgy (A.K.A. Mystic Supper). Thus, we reject the Orthodox belief that the bread and wine change substance upon the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the priest. This again they hold in common with the Roman Catholic Church.
We reject the Assumption of Mary, as non-biblical. This is a dogma which again they hold in common with the Roman Catholic Church.
We reject the Purgatory belief of the Orthodox Church. They teach that it is an intermediate state between earth and heaven. We find no Bible support for this doctrine, which again they hold in common with the Roman Catholic Church.
We reject the veneration of saints, who like the Roman Catholics belief, can act as intercessors between Yahuwah and Man and may be invoked in prayer. We find this to be unbiblical.
Although the Orthodox Church does not deny the Sabbath and has a clear distinction between it and Sunday, and regards the Sabbath as the "Lord's Day," they nevertheless do not indoctrinate their members about the importance of the Sabbath. The Orthodox Church leaves its members believing that the Sabbath has been replaced by Sunday. One can only guess why this is so. However, for a church to leave its members in the dark to a sacred duty as important as the Sabbath means that they have in effect forfeited their teaching obligations before their Creator. Hence, when Universal Sunday Laws will be imposed in the very near future, Orthodox Christians will find them selves unprepared to stand faithful to Yahuwah's Sabbath, and thus will be unable to refuse the Mark of the Beast. It will be seen then as an abject failure on the part of the church to prepare the members to stand firm for Yahuwah's law.
The Orthodox Church gives very little regard to the Book of Revelation. It took the passage of centuries before it was accepted as part of the Cannon, and until today their liturgy does not use this important book. Hence, the Orthodox Church has deprived its members of the promised blessings on those who read and study this important book of the New Testament. Another example of the church failing its members in its sacred duties.
