Gerry Wagoner interviews Filipe Reis, a fellow Seventh-day Adventist from Portugal.
Hello Filipe, thanks for giving us this interview. And thanks for your friendship.
Hello Gerry, it is a great joy to be talking to you and the Fulcrum7 readers.
Where do you live?
I live in the outskirts of Vila Nova de Gaia, a city located just south of Porto, Portugal’s second city, here in southwestern Europe.
Were you raised as an Adventist?
Yes, I was born in an Adventist family. My parents were married and baptized in 1974, I was born the next year. They were both Catholics, but all my life I was involved by a Seventh-day Adventist environment. I was baptized in March 18, 1989 at the age of 13. During my teenager time, I left the Church for about six years, a big mistake. Since returning, I have been involved in many church ministries; currently I am an Elder at my local church.
What does Jesus mean to you?
To answer that question, I remember William Miller’s words: “In Jesus, I found a friend”. We are never alone, we are never desperate because we have someone who cares and will always be there, not matter what happens. I trust Jesus will lead me all the way to our ultimate safe haven.
Amen. Do you have a family?
Yes. I married Sofia in 2005, weeks before I turned 30 years old. We have a son, Caleb, born in 2009. We all attend the Avintes Seventh-day Adventist Church, just minutes away from our place.
What kind of work do you do? Hobbies?
I work as a real estate agent with RE/MAX. This allows me to meet new people and have new challenges every day while helping others selling their proprieties or fulfilling one of most people’s biggest dream: to own a house.
What I really love is to take my family and friends and go walking for hours in the mountains of the upcountry or [other] isolated places.
I also spend time with my personal ministry online. I have a YouTube channel called O TEMPO FINAL – Portuguese for THE FINAL TIME. I produce my own videos commenting on prophecy, current issues and the Sabbath School lesson. It has now reached close to 7 million minutes watched. This has led me to preach in many churches in Portugal and other countries.
What do you like about your country?
Portugal is a very peaceful country where you can find a lot of sun, beaches and hot, but also snow and cold. Especially in the north and away from the major cities, people are as friendly as you can get. We have a History of more than 1.100 years; therefore you will find here hundreds of historical sites, monuments and stories to tell. We totally enjoy religious freedom, including worship and action.
Have you ever considered relocating to another country?
We never really thought of it. We have our family and friends very close and we are very much involved in the local church. I believe that for those reasons we have never considered it.
How is the SDA church doing in Portugal? And in Europe?
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Portugal and in Europe faces the challenges of a post-modern society, in which the Judeo-Christian tradition mostly struggles to survive. We are, by far, the SDA church’s smaller continent in terms of members.
Portugal has a population around 10 million people. The SDA church here registers close to 10 thousand members, but local churches and groups are attended each week by no more than 6 thousand people, including children and visitors. There is a large Adventist community from Brazil and the Portuguese speaking African countries that help our church with some numbers.
The SDA church in Portugal is very active and well-known for the work with ADRA and the schools. The local authorities throughout the country usually have the Church in high esteem. As for Public Relations and Religious Liberty, the SDA church is a leading figure in our country.
Have you traveled to America?
Yes, I was in the USA in the spring of 2017. I traveled with three other persons to attend an OCI retreat in Cohutta Springs, Georgia. I took the opportunity to preach for the Portuguese speaking group that used to gather in the facilities of Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee. I also visited Andrews University, Battle Creek and other historical Adventist sites in the northeast of the country. Those were three great weeks I spent in the USA.
Who are some of your favorite SDA speakers?
For sure, Stephen Bohr is my favorite – his deep thought on many issues, especially prophecy, are an absolute joy and delight, a source of great learning. My wife and I also like Doug Batchelor’s ministry. 3ABN presents great speakers within Adventism. I could also name some Brazilians who probably are not known in the USA.
How did Portugal deal with Covid-19?
As others, Portugal was deeply affected in 2020, but surely not as much as other European countries such as Spain and Italy. We had one total lockdown and other partial ones. The peak of daily deaths rose to more than 400. The introduction of vaccines in early 2021 proved to be a vital point; a military officer from the navy was in charge of the national vaccination plan. Portugal was one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate 80% of its population. Today, the country operates almost as usual, although some minor restrictions remain.
How did you become a reader of Fulcrum7?
I know Fulcrum7 from the first day; in fact, I knew about it before that, since I already was a reader of AdVindicate.
Since its inception, I think it occupies a very important place in current Adventist debates and discussions. I believe several of our publications are for a long time now leaning in a liberal one way direction and Fulcrum7 is part of an effort to present people with a much needed conservative voice.
What are your thoughts on ADCOM (58 people) stating that the SDA Church is in favor of vaccines?
In my country, since many decades ago, there are two mandatory vaccines included in the national health plan. Besides that, almost the whole population takes several other vaccines during our lifetime, especially in the early years and youth. Therefore, we have no problem to see the SDA Church recommending vaccinations.
Some few of the Portuguese members have argued that covid-19 vaccines are not safe and showed themselves worried about it, even though our government has indicated that there would be no obligation to take this vaccine. Some of those same members have also expressed opinion that the General Conference and its committees have no authority to make such recommendations. However, this is not the opinion of our Union and the vast majority of our members, who recognize the Church’s duty to advise the brethren, since the Church has made it very clear that it is up to each person to decide for himself to take or not the vaccine.
This is also my opinion – it is very good that our Church and its departments should carefully inform us of the Church’s formal opinion and position, even if dealing with sensible matters, such as the case. I believe a lack of that could be proven as a mistake in the near future.
How do you feel about the current political situation in America? We have a figurehead president who isn’t capable of governing and people are pulling strings behind the scenes.
Gerry, I have to ask: do you have a president?! I find it more than amazing how the most important job in the greatest nation in the History of the world is occupied by a person who seems to be in dementia. Of course we understand that the press and the entertainment industry are motivated to defend whatever left-leaning person is in charge, while they will rudely attack any conservative voice; however, the current White House resident shows himself as maybe the worst president in History.
The dramatic numbers concerning the covid-19 pandemic mismanagement; the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal; the southern border growing crisis – although CNN and others try to cover it up, it’s obvious that this Administration has created a worst and more unsafe country.
The USA is the world defender of democracy, justice and peace; but Mr. Biden is no threat to the Putins and Jinpings of our age. I am sure the free world lovers are eager to see Mr. Trump back in charge.
America is experiencing a number of challenges these days. How do people in Portugal view America?
People in Portugal see America and the most important country in the world, of course. The US are the only country in the world to where everybody wants to go, running away from poorer conditions, lack of opportunities or even oppressive regimes, such as socialist nations. We import American culture from the entertainment industry [sadly].
The social issues in America are known, but from a one sided view – during Mr. Trump’s presidency, almost all the news about America were bad things, usually well exaggerated or misrepresented. Since Mr. Trump left office, that news almost ceased.
I believe America is facing a tremendous fight between two historical revolutions: the American, with its conservative and religious values, and the French, the secularist powers that fight against it. It seems to me that the French seem to be on the upper hand now.
What are your thoughts on the woke movement?
Talking to my friends about current trends, I like to call wokism the “good hate single-minded dictatorship” – you are entitled to your own opinion, as long as it agrees with the mob’s opinion; if not, you should be canceled, silenced, ostracized, declared an enemy of all people and accused of all the wrongdoings your accusers practice themselves.
This is not much different than what we see in totalitarian regimes – you only have two options: 1) agree, comply or 2) pay the price, sometimes a fatal cost. It is more of a Soviet tactic (very well disguised), than an American civil rights issue.
Wokism is just another tool in the hands of the French Revolution heirs, ideologues and philosophers to deceive, engage and use people by means of an attractive discourse that is never sustained in practice, but it doesn’t have to be as the only goal is to disrupt law and order.
In your opinion, is liberalism a good thing or a bad thing?
Liberalism is just a refined social term to define in an eloquent way the popular term “revolution”. This is what liberalism is supposed to achieve – while acting to destroy the Judeo-Christian tenets that built western civilization, it attempts to replace it by a modern version of “do what thou wilt”, as long as it challenges and fights against the Christian mindset.
Some say Christ was a revolutionary; therefore, he was a liberal because he defied established powers. This is a grotesque subversion of facts – Jesus was a restorer of former virtue, so he was even more than a conservative. Liberalism aims to be a counter power against restoration, so it surely is a very bad thing.
What advice do you have for Seventh-day Adventists in America?
Seventh-day Adventists are called for a specific and distinct task: to preach the Three Angel’s messages to the world, telling everyone about the soon coming of Jesus. We are not to engage ourselves in political and social disputes, even worst if we bring those issues to the Church.
We should concentrate more on our prophecy seminars, evangelistic preaching, Bible studies, etc. – to move away from that, following the socio-political agenda of our time will neutralize our own existence. We are a God-given movement that is supposed to prepare a people to the new earth, not to this land.
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Filipe Reis