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             Many Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs) like to imagine and pretend that they believe in keeping the Ten Commandments mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. They specialize, or at least once did, in thinking that they keep the fourth commandment, the commandment to "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Exodus 20:8, NIV). However, their observance of the Sabbath commandment seems to be on the decline these days, not to mention the decline in their observance of the commandments against such things as committing adultery and bearing false witness against others.

             SDAs have tried to get others to see the importance of obeying the fourth commandment, the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). Unfortunately, others are usually unable to see how it matters which day they observe. When others just don’t want to think about it logically, they like to pretend that it just doesn’t matter. They say that "it’s not important" and that "it’s not an issue," and want to think that they are good, righteous people no matter what they do. The Fourth Commandment is reproduced below.

             Amazingly, while trying to teach the Sabbath commandment, SDAs ignore and break the second commandment, the commandment against idolatry (Exodus 20:4-6). Unfortunately, SDAs are usually unable to see how it matters what sort of pictures they make up, or adopt from others, to represent their God. When SDAs just don’t want to think about it logically, they like to pretend that it just doesn’t matter. They say that "it’s not important" and that "it’s not an issue," and want to think that they are good, righteous people no matter what they do. The Second Commandment is reproduced below.

             Over recent decades, the SDA church has become full of what could be called hippie pictures. These hippie pictures are in many SDA books, magazines, bulletins, calendars, and even framed and hung on the walls of people’s homes and offices. This indoctrination has caused a whole generation in the SDA church to grow up thinking that Jesus was a hippie, not unlike the hippies of Catholic idolatry, only in two-dimensional painting format, rather than the standard three-dimensional idol format.

             Some ministers in the SDA church, when talking about the commandment against idolatry, like to say that one’s car could be one’s idol. They seem to think that anything could become an idol. Anything, that is, except the hippie pictures that they have spread everywhere. These hippie pictures that somehow creep in without thought, and show up everywhere unquestioned, might resemble a false Christ, or even a demon, for all they know. Yet somehow these pictures proliferate in spite of what the SDA Bible Commentary says about making images that supposedly represent God.

             One minister in the SDA church, when asked about all the hippie pictures that everyone in the SDA church has seen throughout their lives, went into a strange and fake denial and said that he had never seen any hippie pictures! Another man in the SDA church had made it his self-appointed duty to spread hippie pictures in poor, foreign lands because he said there were many people who "hadn’t seen what their Savior looked like." He did not seem to realize that the people he shows his hippie pictures to still won't know what Jesus looked like.

             Many spiritual leader wannabes like to put hippie pictures in their writings, and have larger than life images at their seminars. By such shameful and sinful behavior they hope to fool people into thinking that they are holy, righteous men of God. Ministers want people to take religion seriously enough to hand over their money in the form of tithes and offerings. Yet, these leaders themselves won’t take it seriously enough to tell the truth and get rid of senseless idols. People are expected to keep the Sabbath in spite of any difficulties it might cause them at work, yet religious leaders can’t even refrain from spreading their detestable hippie idols everywhere they go, quite unnecessarily.

             It seems likely that everyone will deny any responsibility for bringing these things in. They might say it is not an "official" SDA portrait. But these things must have come from somewhere. Someone must have done it. Even though it supposedly "doesn’t matter" and "isn’t any big deal," they just can’t stop doing it. They behave as though they are possessed by a spirit of whoredom that just won’t let them stop doing such things. The result is that many minds have been so warped by these false images that they have been exposed to throughout their stay in the SDA church that they might equate getting rid of hippie idols with trying to put Jesus out of the church.

             Some people, in total ignorance of history and the Bible, don’t know that razors existed in the distant past and that people had haircuts. It is strange that Jesus is almost always portrayed as a hippie. The Bible says, "Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice--nor do the churches of God" (1 Corinthians 11:14-16, NIV). Still, some do want to be contentious about this. As the Bible says, "the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8, NIV). Some men in the SDA church like to have very long hair. Some women in the SDA church like to have very short hair. And almost everyone seems to be clinging to their hippie pictures. Controlled by the sinful nature, they refuse to please God.

             It also never seems to dawn on some people how strange it is to just make up any sort of picture, regardless of hair length, to hang on the wall and say it represents your God. Nevertheless, such things do happen. Even Aaron, God’s own priest, got carried away and made an idol (Exodus 32:1-35). God was not amused, and said that the people had "become corrupt" (Exodus 32:7-8, NIV), even though they tried to say that their idol represented the God that had brought them out of Egypt (Exodus 32:4; 32:8), the God of the Bible. If God's own chosen and appointed priest could do such a thing, it is not at all surprising to find unchosen, self-appointed religious leaders today who will do whatever they think they can get away with. Later, to teach everyone that God wouldn’t accept them worshipping Him in just any way they pleased, God actually burned up two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10)!

             Some wicked characters might like to think that there is safety in numbers, and that if everyone else is sinning too, God can’t do anything about it. Well, the flood in Noah’s time should have dispelled such nonsense. When all but Noah were wicked, all but Noah and his family got drowned (Genesis 6-8). And when all the Israelites except Caleb and Joshua grumbled in the wilderness, all the Israelites except Caleb and Joshua died in the wilderness without entering the promised land (Numbers 13-14). All the Christian professing world can keep Sunday, and it is still a sin. Hippie pictures could be in every SDA church and home, and it would still be downright weird--and sinful! You can be sure that God will have His true followers, but they will not be those who deliberately ignore His laws.

             No doubt the Pharisees of the first century thought that they were the good guys and that they were obeying God. Yet, they ended up being the bad guys in the Biblical stories. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and said that they had set aside the commandments of God in order to observe their own traditions. He gave as an example one of the Ten Commandments that said, "Honor your father and mother" (Mathew 15:4, NIV), and pointed out how the Pharisees had circumvented this commandment. Jesus said, "Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditions" (Matthew 15:6, NIV). He called the people hypocrites, and said, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Matthew 15:8, NIV).

             Just like the Pharisees of old, most churches today set aside God's commandments in order to observe their own traditions. Most churches today set aside God's commandment to "Remember the Sabbath day" in order to observe their own, unbiblical, pagan-based traditions like Sunday keeping. They, like the Pharisees, pretend that they are obeying God. Some argue that they are keeping the Sabbath commandment when they observe "one day in seven." Of course, the day they observe is not the day that God commanded them to, and that has been preserved by the Jews. They utterly refuse to observe God's Sabbath day. But, they are eager to observe a day chosen by ancient pagans, even though Jesus warned that such behavior would not be acceptable to him when he said, "They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men" (Matthew 15:9, NIV).

             The behavior of many SDAs is the same as the behavior of the Pharisees of old and the Sunday keepers of the present. Many SDAs set aside the commandment against idolatry in order to cling to their hippie pictures. The SDA Bible Commentary, Volume 1, says that, "Idols are not only not to be worshipped, they are not even to be made." Yet, some SDAs like to argue that they aren't breaking the commandment against idolatry unless they actually bow down to their hippie pictures. As Jesus said, "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions" (Mark 7:9, NIV)!

             Many people never seem to question what they believe or why they do the things they do. There are probably many Sunday keepers who think they are doing what is right, even though they may never have read the Bible. No doubt there are many SDAs who think they are doing what is right, even though they might never have read the Bible either. Many people, including ministers, seem to think that it is righteous to buy a hippie picture and hang it on the wall. But, a good general guideline to remember if you see a big, framed hippie picture in some so-called minister’s home or office is simply this: The bigger the hippie picture, the bigger the hypocrite.

             Ahhh, money! Acts 19:23-41 tells the story of a silversmith named Demetrius who made shrines and "brought in no little business for the craftsmen" (Acts 19:24, NIV). He called together the craftsmen along with the other workmen in related trades and pointed out that, "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business" (Acts 19:25, NIV). He told them that large numbers of people had been "led astray" by the apostle Paul. "He says that man-made gods are no gods at all" (Acts 19:26, NIV). Demetrius warned them of the danger that "our trade will lose its good name" (Acts 19:28, NIV).

             No doubt there are people today who make a lot of money by making up and selling pictures that they pass off as representations of Jesus. They, too, will not like to see their "trade" lose its "good name." Their pictures that are adored, and even worshiped, throughout the world could lose their "divine majesty." Perhaps these modern painters and peddlers, too, will become furious, and try to create an uproar. Maybe they, too, could get everyone to all shout in unison for about two hours: "Great are the hippie pictures of the SDAs!"

             How serious is this topic? Your eternal life is at stake! Revelation 21:8 warns that, "the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." The SDA church needs to think seriously about this topic. From top to bottom, it is time for SDAs to repent and reform. If all SDAs who are serious about obeying God will raise this matter, perhaps something can be done about it. If not, a fire awaits.