I had been a member of the SDA Assembly for many years, and even re-confirmed my membership about a year ago, during that time I had been studying the true Names of our Father and Ha’Mashiach, as well as the Scripturally based calendar, or method to count the days to find the Appointed Times of Yahuwah.
During this time of my studies over the last year, I had also been revealing these newer understandings to the head deacon of the local SDA Assembly, and him fighting me tooth and nail all the time making claims that I was being deceived and even still makes claims I am deceived to this very day (9-15-2015 according to the Gregorian calendar).
The head deacon does seem to agree on the Names as he had begun using them in the Assembly, but with some confusion, interjecting the names of Yahweh and cross-referencing Yahuwah or Yahushua as the Father, and so on. He even now understands the meaning of Halleluyah, so I consider the witness I have presented to him has taken some root, and may grow, but may also get strangled out by the SDA roots he seems to be so firmly planted in.
I had chosen to remain with the local SDA Assembly until I felt led to leave as compelled by the Ruach of Yah based on my attempt of spreading the information I was finding out about the things previously mentioned, the Names and Scriptural calendar. It was approximately three to four weeks ago when I had informed the head deacon of my intentions to leave after being led to do so by the Ruach, with the timing coinciding with the final Sabbath of the 6th month, which was followed by the New Moon and Feast of Trumpets the following day.
Ironically, the pastor and the head deacon was not present that day. I had requested from the head deacon the right to speak and inform the congregation as to my resignation and why I was resigning, to which I had gotten no answer. Prior to the start of the service that day, I asked them if I would be allowed to speak without giving them any explanation of what I would say, and they agreed that I could speak after the closing song of the service.
The following is what happened and the results following me making my announcement of resigning as a member of the SDA Assembly.
After the service, I came to the front of the church pews on the floor, never stepping foot on any of the stairs leading up to the pulpit or otherwise, and then proceeded by first asking if anyone had heard of Froom, and the discovery of the Scriptural based calendar in between 1938-1940. No one seemed to know about that, so I then asked if anyone was familiar with the Millerite Time Problem of 1940, and saw some acknowledge this by the affirmative shaking of two or three heads.
I then explained what the Millerite Time Problem was, and the apparent attempt to keep it suppressed from knowledge within the rest of the SDA Assembly since that time. I then gave a brief explanation about the Scriptures giving an account of determining the count to the Appointed Times as opposed to the Gregorian calendar and also read from the Scriptures; Isaiah 1:13-14 “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.”
After doing this I took both my SDA baptismal certificate from 1990, and my re-dedication certificate from last year, both of which I had never signed, and tore them in two while announcing my resignation from the SDA Assembly to the entire congregation. I then gave the microphone back to the person who had given me the microphone, and made my exit from the building after a brief stop and speaking with a couple of members.
After this, when I got back home, I sent an email to both the pastor and head deacon informing them of my resignation announcement and attached three PDF documents relevant to my reasons for my resignation. The following is that email with names removed or replaced;
“As of today, the 4th Sabbath of the 6th month according to the new moon, I am no longer a member of the SDA denomination. This is a direct result of my studies as well as finding out about the "skeleton in the SDA closet". Please remove me from any and all listings of membership with the SDA Church.
The documents of my original and re-joining confirmation, of which neither did I sign my name to, are torn in two, and left with the original Revelation Seminar Bible given to me at the beginning, and the smaller Bible and study aid given to me by (Pastor) are in the secondary study room or study hall of the main church building.
(Pastor), if you are one of the over 600 plus SDA Pastors and other officials that were notified of the 1844 Millerite Time Problem and cover-up, you have a responsibility to those you are an acting shepherd of. If not, then you will find the actual document and some additional documents relevant to the issue attached.
(Head Deacon) already knows about this, and still insists on the Gregorian being correct with a consecutive and uninterrupted 6 days of work and seventh day rest, not allowing for the new moon day.
The discovery of the Millerite Time Problem and the fact that it was determined by the Biblical Calendar established by Yahuwah and not the Julian or Gregorian calendar established by Pope Gregory XIII shows that the SDA knew about, and chose to ignore the true Sabbath in place of the Gregorian seventh day.
It is time for those who can hear the call to come out of the spiritual confusion known as Babylon.
Tomorrow is the Feast of Trumpets, let the warning call be heard!
Terry W. Avery
(included three PDF attachments, The Millerite Time Problem, Exposing_the_Skeleton_in_the_SDA_Closet_of_1888, and my own writing, Reproving the Biblical Calendar)”
As a result of this, I had gotten both emails and cell phone text replies from the Pastor, the text replies were asking about if the head deacon had requested me not to speak of these things and so on, later making a verbal threat to call the police and have me removed if I ever set foot on the church property again. This you will see in the following.
Attempt of ban by Pastor via cell phone text message:
Pastor
This is your only verbal warning; You are not to step foot on to church's premises again. If you do, I will call the authorities & have you escorted off the premises immediately. Do you understand?
After this there were other comments in email from the Pastor, and I feel the need to include those comments from the pastor of this specific SDA congregation in regards to my resignation in a public manner considering what this is implying, in that is seems as if they were trying to control what I was allowed to study or speak of with anyone within the congregation. (There are some corrections and comments to what actually took place in parenthesis made by me.) Now keep in mind, the names and specific SDA church this is associated with have been removed for their protection...
"...
1. You publicly resigned from the church from the pulpit
(Correction - I spoke from the floor, not the pulpit)
2. You publicly spoke against fundamental beliefs from the pulpit
(Correction - I spoke from the floor, not the pulpit)
3. SDA Church Manual, 2010 edition, pgs. 114-116 "Pulpit Not A Forum"
(For the third time, Correction - does not apply to this situation, as I did not use the pulpit, and asked to speak and was allowed)
4. You were also warned by the Head Elder, xxx xxxx, not to speak on these issues
(I was not allowed to speak of the calendar as described from the Scriptures?)
5. In several discussions with the pastor, xxx xxxx, head elder, xxx xxxx, you were told that what you were studying was contrary to SDA Church Fundamental beliefs. You chose to continue anyway
(Again, the calendar as described from the Scriptures is not part of the fundamental beliefs? If it's not the calendar from Scriptures then it's the Gregorian calendar that was established and ordered to be observed by Pope Gregory XIII which is their fundamental beliefs? I was taught the SDA did not follow after the Roman Catholic Church.)
6. According to scripture (Matthew 18), the head elder spoke to you about your misconduct & beliefs, as well as the pastor
(Misconduct based on what? The by-laws of a congregation that do not apply to telling the truth as revealed in Scripture?
Maybe it's misconduct in the sense of me not doing as I was told to do according to the commandments and traditions of men?
Spoke to me about my faith or beliefs as revealed to me according to Scripture and study of specific topics they did not want me to study?)
...
They said you denounced your membership yourself, you publicly humiliated the church & it's members, so they have no problems with your own request to resign."
In the above statements it is very clear that they were trying to control what I was studying and what I told others about.
This does not sound like a church that is honestly seeking the truth if they all agree with the pastor’s statements as provided.
If I'm not mistaken, it is not up to the church to have the final say as to what the Word of Yahuwah is supposed to be saying or teaching, that belongs to Yahuwah and Yahushua alone. We are supposed to be finding out what it says and following what it teaches. We are supposed to be studying together in order to find the answers, not dictated to about what we can or cannot study from the Scriptures and who we can or cannot tell.
I think this sounds very familiar to being a church that is trying to preach another Gospel and another Messiah instead of the Truth as revealed by the Word of Yahuwah. If not, then the pastor should be dealt with properly, because all I was trying to do was speak the truth about the Scriptural calendar as described from the Word of Yahuwah which was attempted at being suppressed by specific members of this church. I had actually found a document originating from within the SDA Church proving that the SDA Church knew about the Scriptural calendar over 75 years ago and did nothing to follow after the teaching, and this is what I had spoke about. Perhaps it was this that they did not like, in being exposed as being re-proved according to the Scriptures. This might explain the "humiliation" that was referenced to in the statements above.