Adventist Pastor dismissed after posting Sabbath chicken wings pic

 

The offending pic...
The offending pic…
HOLLAND, Mich. — “It all happened so fast,” said former Oak Lane Associate Pastor, Charlie Nix. Last weekend, the relatively new arrival to Michigan Conference, posted a picture of a plate of perfectly fried Sabbath lunch chicken wings with the caption “a foretaste of heaven.”

Much to Nix’s subsequent dismay, the picture, which he had innocently intended as a joke among friends, went viral. In a dramatic display of misplaced Sabbath afternoon social media prowess, Adventists across the Michigan Conference shared the picture thousands of times, hashtagged #busted.

“Before I had gotten to dessert I received a call from the conference saying I was being dismissed from my post at Oak Lane, that I would be transferred,” said a confused Nix to friends and family who had flocked to his house upon hearing the news.

Many tried to comfort Nix and help him to put the setback in perspective. “You’re lucky you are getting transferred and not fired,” said Oak Lane deaconess, Martha Bidding. “Imagine if you had posted a picture of your wife’s Sabbath ribeye steak. That would have been a totally different kind of phone call.“

Nix, who had only been at Oak Lane for three months, admits to feeling more than a little sheepish about his rookie blunder. “If I’d known the conference was that sensitive, I would have posted a picture of carrot sticks instead,” he said. “Maybe then I could have avoided getting demoted to ABC cashier in Lansing.”

Special thanks to Michael Vance for the story idea


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54 Comments

    1. C. S. Lawson

      Yes, I grew up in the SDA church, too. It’s “pharisee” stunts like reassigning this pastor that made me leave the church. Vegetarian lifestyle is a choice and no where does the church refute eating meat according to Leviticus 11. No other church has ever made me feel so reviled and abandoned as the Seventh Day Adventists. Their main shortcoming; they never told me about the Cross and what Jesus did for us all. Instead, they nit pick any flaw they can find in a person.

  1. Margret

    Are you serious, Michigan Conference???? He didn’t post shrimp or pig’s feet, he posted chicken wings. EGW did not say that we must be vegetarian, just that it is preferred for health!

  2. Jim

    While this is satire and meat eating is NOT a test of fellowship, preferred is not a strong enough word.

    715. While we do not make the use of flesh meat a test, while we do not want to force any one to give up its use, yet it is our duty to request that no minister of the conference shall make light of or oppose the message of reform on this point. If, in the face of the light God has given concerning the effect of meat eating on the system, you will still continue to eat meat, you must bear the consequences. But do not take a position before the people that will permit them to think that it is not necessary to call for a reform in regard to meat eating; because the Lord is calling for a reform. The Lord has given us the work of proclaiming the message of health reform, and if you cannot step forward in the ranks of those who are giving this message you are not to make this prominent. In counterworking the efforts of your fellow laborers, who are teaching health reform, you are out of order, working on the wrong side.—Letter 48, 1902 – {CD 401.2}

    1. Ray Kraft

      Of course, there is no experiential or scientific evidence that eating meat is harmful, per se, to anyone’s health.

      Eating a bad diet is, but meat, fish, and fowl, is a perfectly good part of a good healthy diet that also includes plenty of veggies, fruits, grains, legumes.

      Growing up vegetarian I always had frequent colds and lots of allergies. When I quit being vegetarian, my colds and allergies nearly disappeared. Cause and effect? Coincidence?

      As a born again carnivore, I haven’t taken a sick day in 20 years.

      I once had two friends, married to each other, who were vegans long before anybody invented the word vegan. And devout SDAs. Never smoked, never drank, never ate “animal foods,” no meat, fish, poultry, no eggs, milk, cheese. Both got cancer and died in their sixties anyway.

      I once had a grandmother who ate anything and everything, didn’t smoke, she drank a little, and her shadow never darkened the door of a gym. She lived to 99, and was perfectly lucid and taking care of herself until the last few months.

      Her son, my dad, was a vegetarian, and got cancer and died at 77 anyway.

      I once sat across from three Adventists in a McDonalds, they appeared to be two brothers and the son of one. They were all obese. They made a show of ordering, rather loudly, “Egg McMuffins, with no meat, we’re vegetarians.”

      Each had two Egg McMuffins with no meat, two bags of supersize fries, and two large milkshakes.

      But no meat!

      1. Ray Powell

        As to your comment about no studies scientific or otherwise, I hope you were just continuing the original satire. If not you might want to look up the China Study. It was a 20 year study on the effects of animal products in the diet of thousands of subjects. Deep reading but well worth the education if you don’t mind your personal assumptions taking a beating. Bon apetit!

    2. Montina E Pyndell

      Once again Ellen White has trumped God’s word on this subject. You hypocrites know that 97 percent of you members eat flesh, but your insist on making meat eating a big issue. You say it’s not a test of fellowship, but you demoted a man because he posted a picture? This is why the Adventist are always getting sued. I hope Pastor sues you because he will win. Oh this is the same way the Pharisees treated Jesus, but they didn’t demote him, they killed him, remember?

  3. Ugo

    Its a pity to say all of you living in the US ia a great mess to what is called Adventism, the glory of God is totally lost in US with all these so called ‘THEOLOGIAN PASTORS”, unbaked Pastors– who are given post they know nothing about.
    Not even that a so called “Pastor” took to the social media, which is a total distraction, from GOD, but doing it to distract many on Sabbath afternoon, and all of you here are saying its wrong to fire him. I wonder how many of Adventist leaving in the US, will ever make heaven. You all need to be taught about, yo do not know God all at.

    1. Montina E Pyndell

      Amen. That’s why I left this organization. I know too much about their higher ups to follow them anywhere. This is why you’re losing your young people, the hypocrisy they see.

      1. Sandra

        Don’t blame the church for what one person did, even if it was to be the president of the General conference. I am a very proud Adventist because our believes are biblically based. If you want to talk about hypocrites, they are everywhere! they are in catholic churches, baptist churches, your job, your friend circle, even in your family!….but don’t blame God or His bride for what people do to you.

    2. Eziaku

      Ms perfect and heaven bound Ugo ,
      Read your bible, Galatians 2: 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

    1. Ugo

      oook its a satire right. I guess its still on the point of what am saying, I guess the fellow who posted this knows he/she is in a risk of heaven now. What glory does this post gives to God. And when you ask now, you will notice he/she is either a born adventist or student of an Adventist institution. Guess its a shame to have products who will not project God but perfectly project satire. Being perfectly part of darkness, than being a light to brighten his/her corner???? Not happy with al these!!

      1. Jay

        Sorry you are having such a difficult time with this. You keep referring to US Adventist, do mind telling us what country you are from? Also. I do not believe it is Biblical to challenge someone else’s salvation. That is a private matter between them and God. Finally, the only mention in the Bible between diet and salvation is over gluttony.

      2. Eziaku

        Colossians 2: 16- 19. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

  4. Richard Mills

    Hey, everybody-we are here at my table eating a Wham sandwich on a Little Debbie Whole Wheat roll. Next, is a Tuno salad with tomatoes & lettuce& hummus. For breakfast, we ate fried Saucettes in Canola Oil.. Downed it all with a gigantic mug of hot Roma sweetened with non-GMO sugar. My guest today is the Pastor. Pastor Nix shoulda brought that stuff to the pot luck-BAM!! dish empty!!Woe is me!!

  5. Shauna

    Satans influence is in every church.. Seventh day Adventists aren’t excluded… Smh. I feel sorry for that Pastor but God must have something better for him! Good luck pastor 🙂

  6. Shana

    It’s satire people lol. Satire=joke/fiction. Just because we are SDA doesn’t mean we have to lose our humor and make this article out to something that it’s not. Some of yall need to lighten up.,

  7. Ray

    I gJess this is a joke. What is the charge? Eating chicken is not a sin. I want to know the charge. Those who are on face book during the Sabbath hours should be demoted too. Having your own pleasure”.lol

  8. Martha Washington

    My mind is blown every time I read these comments due to the number of people who 1) don’t notice that they are satirical and/or 2) can’t tolerate jokes. Honestly, why do you visit this website if you find it so offensive? Your comments look “worse” than the posts, which are thought-provoking conversation starters.

    I just can’t.

  9. Since when do Seventh Day Adventist even think to promote satire on subjects that are already sensitive to some. I don’t think the Denomination can afford to waste precious time on frivolous activities. There are so many who have left the church Because of the pompous, hypocritical attitudes and lifestyles most Seventh Day Adventist portray. I know, I was one of them but, I thank God for Jesus everyday.dellottap5@gmail.com de

  10. Jennifer

    This could totally happen in Michigan! There the SDA’s are obsessed with the traditions of men, not just the laws of God. For example, the bible is very clear about being kind to strangers. I once spent 3 months in MI. I was alone in my grandmothers home sorting out her affairs after death. My husband was over 2 thousand miles away, I didn’t know a soul, didn’t have internet in the house and lost electricity due to storms on a regular basis.

    I went to the Hartford SDA church almost Sabbath. This was the church where my grandparents had attended for decades, serving in various roles but especially as Pathfinder leaders. People were friendly…at church. But in three looooong, lonely months not one person invited me over for a meal!!! Not one asked what I was doing there or about how I was faring on my own. Perhaps it’s because I break the man-made tradition by wearing jewelry?

    Figuring out my gma’s complex & messy estate was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Thank God for all the friendly Catholics in the area who invited me over for meals, parties, out to dinner and helped when I lost power!

    1. Nikolas

      I address this very issue with my SDA relatives and friends whenever I can, Christ said to Simon, Do You love me? More than all the others? He said Yes Lord, Christ said, Feed MY SHEEP.

      From my experience, growing up in the SDA church and even now as an adult visiting, I find the friendliness of SDA members lies in their propensity to be PIOUS and aloof and unable or unwilling to connect with strangers in general, as if their religion will get something on it by associating with those they don’t know.

      I am invited to sing at SDA churches from time to time and find that MOST of the Members are so caught up in their Social Club Circles they barely notice anyone who WASN’T up on the Podium. I have returned to visit to these churches on occasion when I was NOT on the program and was barely noticed. A huge difference from when I was up there giving them their special music, so sadly, I can Identify with Jennifer’s experience. As a Former SDA member, I can vouch for the fact that the thing that drove me away was the idea that these people are so “religious” they forget to be human.

  11. Richard Mills

    Jennifer-I find that SDA’s are only friendly at church on Sabbath. Only friendly to select members. Visitors & non members must fend for themselves. Outside of that event, SDA’s have a difficult time being friendly. We tend to stick together as a clique. Sorry to hear about your negative experience.

  12. Ellen

    Have you ever been to the Potluck on Sabbath when you were trampled by your fellow worshipers going to the desert table before they got there food and going back for thirds…..or having there I phones on all during church service…..?

  13. If you visit this website to preach about the dangers of whatever your platform is, you are on the wrong website. Too many people are sucking the life out of some of these stories. Satire sends a message, in an appropriate way to the appropriate audience. If you are offended, either you don’t get it, or something needs to be fixed. We are all sinners. Satire sends a message that we all need to hear and to fix. Some of us need to hear a message in a non-traditional way. Jesus used brilliant satirical messages to the Pharisees. I love this website, and with the exception of a couple of stories, the messages have been spot on. I hope that you appreciate the hypocrisies and quirks in all of us that the stories point to.

  14. Herschel Johnson

    Have any of you thought about the treatment of the animals? Has anyone put in any thought or compassion to the chicken who spent it’s entire life inside of a cage where it could barely turn around. And when it was time for it to leave this earth spiritually, the pain it suffered before it’s death? And I ask, thus is what God planned for this creature? If we did to a dog what we do to pigs and chickens, we would be put in prison. If we did to a cat what we do to cows, we would be scorned by the masses of “animal lovers”. I am sickened by all of the righteous responses and christian retoric. Where is the god for this chicken? But since it is illegal to show the abuse of these animals, it makes it right? Because we can’t hear the cries of a cow as they drag it’s male calf away to slaughter for man’s salivary enjoyment, it’s cruelty doesn’t exist? SDA, Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, it doesn’t matter. Factory farming is a sin. And by enjoying these chicken wings is an accessory to that sin…

  15. Nikolas

    This particular story may be satire, It shouldn’t be a source of offense, True or Not for this satirical story isn’t the point. The point seemingly being made is that There is an overabundance of piety and keeping up of appearances in the SDA church that drives stories like this.

    The mere fact is that this type of story COULD be True and IS probably truer than is comfortable for a lot of people in many many other cases, That in itself is a red flag, and should be a wake up call for people to knock off the nit picking and get to the business of getting ready for Christ’s return.
    FOR ME, This Satire hits a little too close to home, I have seen and heard just this past week, a TRUE STORY in other threads in my social media circles where an SDA Church Pastor did something out of the ordinary and non traditional in order to reach those people NOT in the FOLD and left Members there and elsewhere running around like ants on an anthill after water has been poured on it……Not thinking of anything more than what this “LOOKS LIKE” , missing the point of the exercise entirely. Piety and Pride driving their religion instead of Faith and Love Driving Their Relationship with God.
    Worried as to whether the move would only confuse the new converts and not bring them into the SDA church “properly”. As If it is their job to do so in the first place… Instead of leaving that portion of it to the HOLY SPIRIT to handle it as they should.
    So as far as THIS STORY is Concerned, the satire and message is appreciated. But Just as ART Imitates LIFE, so this story Imitates Reality.

  16. Really Michigan Conference? I normally don’t post rants, but this is pretty ridiculous. Being a vegetarian is a personal choice, not a fundamental doctrine of the SDA and eating beef and/or chicken is not a sin either. I have very little tolerance for this type of behavior and bullying by any organization who thinks they can over-step their boundaries. Seeing as I have no interest in being “politically correct” maybe this Shabbat I will post a kosher and well done churrasco steak with chimi-churi sauce, in defense of this Pastor’s right to choose what he can and cannot eat. Michigan Conference, we should use the same energy used to throw a hissy-fit, to go into the world and preach the gospel.

    1. Anne B

      I think the fact that there is no Oak Lane church or Charlie Nix as a pastor in the Michigan Conference should be enough to inform you that MI Conference is not “Throwing a hissy-fit” or that any of this is true. Please review your facts first before claiming information on a site that has no credibility.

  17. James Speed

    Adventist are a cult.. sorry.. just the way it is. This whole story is absolutely outrageous, a pastor transferred because of some chicken wings? hog wash! What is WRONG with these people?

  18. Debbie Atinson

    To the pastor who posted the chicken,you should have posted a pig! I am an x Adventist and proud of it! I didn’t grow as a seventh day Adventist and I left because I was beat up all the time verbally over what I ate,and though I and my family done the best we could it has never been good enough! I as a young mother was baptized in a Methodist Church when I met the Adventist .and they told me that I was not save, and to be rebaptize. I now after leaving no that all of it is lie! Thank God my husband and daughter are not a member. I don’t understand why you are staying in such cult based control religion! Your walk is with God! No church,or day will save you! What will save you is how you treat one another. Oh by the way I have done a lot of research on your seventh day Adventist Church to know that if you don’t live according to their doctrine then God will turn his back on you.

  19. Laurence

    Hi Sevvy, I love your satire!!
    The only problem is that many of those that respond to your satire are proof that Seventh-day Adventism is a Cult. The extremely cultish defense of non-biblical “rules” our own Cult has supported and the extremely apparent lack of a sense of humor are proof.

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