Adrian Davis: Vance & Jeff Need to Repent Before Passover!
Lonnie Hendrix
This past Sabbath (March 2), CGI Canada Pastor Adrian Davis preached a sermon titled “From the Beginning (Part 2).” Now, as with anything posted online by the Burlington congregation, the message appeared on the right-wing platform known as Rumble. Likewise, the Medina, Ohio congregation has adopted the same platform for their messaging. “Why have these two congregations adopted this particular forum?” you ask. Because of pushback they received from CGI headquarters about their right-wing political messaging and anti-public health stance during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, folks like Vance Stinson and Jeff Reed made clear to the folks in both places that they were endangering the larger church’s continued access to the YouTube platform to present their version of the Gospel message. “Why?” Because YouTube has a policy against posting false or misleading information on their platform!
In addition to their sermons, CGI Burlington has also posted a political discussion each week on Rumble. They call it “Keeping Watch,” and it usually consists of Pastors Adrian Davis, Murray Palmatier, and Deacon Jan Kowalczyk talking about current events from a conservative, Armstrongist perspective (especially events in the United States, Canada, and Europe). Folks who love Republicans, Capitalists, and isolationists and hate Democrats, Socialists, and Internationalists would probably appreciate this programming. Indeed, if you like Fox News, you’ll probably love this program.
Returning to the sermon, which is the focus of this post, Pastor Davis is not so subtly pushing back against those folks in CGI leadership who have “sowed the seeds of betrayal” by not supporting and appreciating their messaging. Indeed, Pastor Davis gives CGI a grade of a (C-) for their failure to proclaim the “truth” about things like vaccines and having the audacity to criticize their political messaging.
Pastor Davis main theme is that Jesus and Peter confronted strife and controversy by giving context to what was currently happening – telling the story “From the beginning.” For him, this means being faithful to the Torah and the Prophets. You see, unlike most Christians, Armstrongites believe that Christians are still bound by many of the tenets of the Old Covenant. Indeed, they don’t like the term “New Covenant” very much. They like to think of it as an updated or revised version of the old one! Instead of viewing the contents of Torah and the Prophets as pointing to Jesus Christ and his work, they believe that Christians should be actively applying those commandments, principles, and predictions to themselves in the here and now! For Davis, the prophets of the Old Testament and the covenant which God made with Israel and Judah were really intended for the Church and the English-speaking peoples of the world. In fact, he likens the Christian perspective on the Old Testament to a child discovering that things don’t disappear or cease to exist when they can’t see them (what’s known as object permanence). For Davis, the message is the same one that was delivered to the Israelites of old – all of that political stuff is part of the “true” Gospel.
In this way, Davis can be in a state of open defiance and rebellion against those traitors within CGI leadership while professing his allegiance to the truth of the Bible. In other words, Pastor Davis has a clear message for folks like Vance Stinson and Jeff Reed: Repent of your betrayal of folks like him, Murray Palmatier, Bill Watson, and their supporters. His real message is to the folks within CGI leadership who have opposed his messaging. Davis doesn’t see how these folks could partake of the Passover with a clear conscience. For him, John’s first epistle was meant for folks like Vance and Jeff! “How can you truly love your brother while you are opposing him at every turn?” he wonders. For Davis, these hateful/sinful folks need to get with the program and let go of their resentment of the folks like him who are standing in the light! If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking: “Man, is this guy full of himself or what?”