Glow Tracts and Other Seventh-day Adventist Tracts
There is some enthusiasm among some members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for handing out tracts and giving "Bible studies." This is ironic because most Seventh-day Adventists don't know what their tracts really say and few of them know how to identify a fake bible. Many of them don't know there is such a thing as a fake bible except maybe a "Catholic" bible and most church members couldn't even name a Catholic bible. What follows is a brief review of some Seventh-day Adventist tracts.
Glow Tracts
In the church I attend there is a large display of what are called Glow Tracts. Some of pockets on the display rack are empty meaning some are being distributed. On the web site of the publisher, I counted forty-nine different tracts on various subjects. In my opinion, having that many different tracts promotes wasted energy. If you're going to distribute a tract, use one that explains one of the most important Seventh-day Adventist messages. The tract titled "Diabetes Undone" provides useful information but would not be my preferred tract for giving the message of what is coming in the last days. I think they could get the most important messages out by printing only five different tracts. One should be about the Sabbath, one about the state of the dead, one on the three angels messages, one on evolution and one on counterfeit bibles. A tract on the Sabbath doctrine is the most important one because ALL of the other doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church hang on it. If the Sabbath isn't accepted, it won't matter if the others are accepted. We also know, or should know, that the fourth commandment will be the final test for this rebellious world.
I have a Glow Tract titled "Myths About Hell." I might pass a few out if it weren't for a few problems. It says, "Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc." Is that true? No. On the second page Matthew 13:49 is quoted with nothing to indicate it's taken from anything other than the New King James Version (NKJV). It says:
Allegedly Matthew 13:49 from the 1982 edition of the NKJV: "So it shall be at the end of this world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 13:49 from the NKJV I have on my shelf with copyright dates of 1979, 1980 and 1982: "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just."
Search your NKJV from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 and you will not find a single place where it says "end of the world." All verses that said that in the King James Bible have been changed to "end of the age," a reading that promotes New Age doctrine. I think the authors of this tract made up the reading "end of this world" since that is not quite the King James Bible reading nor the reading in other bibles I've reviewed. The paragraph following the Matthew 13:49 quotation says Peter was speaking "of the end of the world." No, their favored bible NEVER says "end of the world."
The author says that 2 Peter 3:10 proves hell isn't "flames in the center of the earth." I have never heard or read anywhere that someone in current times thought hell was in the center of the earth any more than they think heaven is here on earth. I'll give partial credit for this verse since it does say "both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." It doesn't say where hell is though.
Zephaniah 1:18 is used to "prove" that hell will be located on this earth because it says "the whole land" will be "devoured by the fire of his jealousy." It doesn't prove that since in Mark 15:33 regarding Christ's crucifixion it says in the NKJV, "Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour." That would mean just the place around Jerusalem would be "devoured by the fire of his jealously."
On the third page it says the "famous" John 3:16 will help to understand about hell. It is quoted as, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." "Whosoever" does not appear ANYWHERE in the NKJV so this appears to be more personal bible editing by the author of this tract.
John 3:16 doesn't tell anyone where hell is. It does imply there can be an end to life. Here is the big problem with this tract. You can't effectively teach about hell if you don't understand the state of the dead. If you do understand the state of the dead, there will be no trouble understanding where hell is or what hell is. This tract is not one I would use.
White Horse Media Tracts by Steve Wohlberg
The church I attend also has a large display of tracts published by White Horse Media. White Horse Media calls them pocketbooks. I call them tracts because at 32 pages and measuring 3.5 by 5.5 they're small enough and cheap enough to use as tracts. When I was more ignorant than I am now, I bought a hundred of them and distributed the majority of them. I've chosen to review the tract titled "Solving the Mystery of Death." A notice appears in the tract reviewed that says, "Unless otherwise noted, Scripture references are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc."
On page 3, the NKJV has to be abandoned in favor of the King James Bible (the tract calls it the KJV). Steve wishes to make the point that "man doesn't have a separate soul but rather he is a soul."
"This view holds that when God first created Adam in Paradise, He 'breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul' (Genesis 2:7; KJV, emphasis added)."
The NKJV in this verse says, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
The NKJV doesn't work too well to prove man doesn't have a separate soul, does it? His further discussion on "the breath of life" would have failed miserably without the King James Bible reading of "soul" in Genesis 2:7.
On page 7, brother Wohlberg returns to the King James Bible for other verses that discuss a soul or souls. Those verses are Exodus 1:5, Leviticus 23:30, Joshua 10:28, 30, 32 and 35 and 1 Peter 3:20. Guess what, of those verses in the NKJV, only 1 Peter 3:20 has either of those words.
On page 9 Steve uses another favorite Seventh-day Adventist verse to show there is no consciousness in death. For this he chooses the King James Bible again.
Psalms 146:4 from the King James Bible - "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
Pslams 146:4 from the NKJV - "His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish."
"Plans perish" can mean that the plans for what to do on this earth ended but doesn't exclude the possibility that the departed "spirit" continues to have different plans in Paradise. Steve does use Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 from the NKJV with no problem. I've looked at these verses in multiple bibles and they all have the same meaning. The difficulty is that it is taught by some that Ecclesiastes wasn't meant for doctrine so those verses can be ignored. For those people you need additional texts.
On page 21 there is the usual Seventh-day Adventist dance about the "error" of where the comma is in Luke 23:42-43. As explained elsewhere on this site, the position of the comma is NOT AN ERROR in the King James Bible. The position of the comma IS AN ERROR in the NKJV and other new bible versions.
This would have been a better tract if Brother Wohlberg had only used the King James Bible. It is still possible to teach soul sleep from the NKJV but it's more difficult. If you believe as some do that you should compare multiple bible versions to know what God said, things get even more confusing.
Randy Fishell Tract
I received one tract in the mail from someone (don't remember who) called "Birthday Switcheroo" by Randy Fishell. It's a cartoon tract on the Sabbath. I think it's fairly good. It's short, simple and something even kids can read and understand. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a current source from which to buy any.
"Bible Studies"
At the end of a church service recently the speaker asked those to stand who were willing to give "Bible studies." Out of a fairly large congregation you could count on two hands those who stood. It is a sad fact that many of that congregation have attended Sabbath School and church for many years and still don't feel able to give a Bible study. They rely on what someone else has told them by word of mouth or by a publication without studying the real Bible for themselves. Many of them don't know which Bible is the real Bible.
I distribute tracts but now they're mostly ones I've composed and printed for myself as I need them. One of the tracts is titled "Is Your Bible a Counterfeit? How to Tell." That is my Bible study for Seventh-day Adventists and a tract most Seventh-day Adventists need right now.
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© Martin J. Lohne 2019. Written 12/17/19.