| Author | Message | ||
| Joyfulheart Registered user Username: Joyfulheart Post Number: 129 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hi Everyone, I have an urgent prayer request. Two of my good friends just sent me an e-mail. They are thinking about going back to the SDA church. They know Ellen White is a false prophet, but believe most of the doctrine is correct and can be proven from the Bible alone. They have been gone from the SDA church for slightly more than a year. They never joined officially, but came in about the same time I did. They are thinking of going back just because they've been disappointed in the churches they've been visiting. They've been put off by the jeans, total rock - out worship and irreverance in the sanctuary. Quite honestly, I've seen much off the same thing in some of the churches and know what they're talking about. They want a church family and miss what they had at the SDA church. The wife wanted to go back last week, but the husband said no. The husband jsut e-mailed me asking my opinion. (I gave it.) Would you please pray that these precious friends will find the truth they are seeking and a strong church family that will love them out of Adventism. They really don't know much about the Bible except what they were taught in the Bible studies. Please ask the Holy Spirit to protect them from error, guide them into all truth and lead them to a church grounded in truth. These two are at a crossroads, hurting and confused. They are seeking truth and need a church family that will love them through some stuff that's going on in their lives. We are in desperate need of a former adventist fellowship group in Michigan. One was going to be started a while ago, but never officially happened. Thanks so much! Joyfulheart | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 8020 Registered: 12-2003  |
Joyfulheart, I'm praying now. Invite them to join the forum. They will find fellowship and be able to ask questions, etc. And of course, we'll pray for them. Colleen | ||
| Toria Registered user Username: Toria Post Number: 328 Registered: 2-2006  |
Joyfulheart, I am praying now for your friends. Blessings, Toria | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 5175 Registered: 3-2004  |
Joyfulheart, Praying for your friends. Yes, tell them about FAF and invite them to join. Diana | ||
| Joyfulheart Registered user Username: Joyfulheart Post Number: 130 Registered: 10-2006 |
Thanks so much Colleen, Toria and Diana! I just talked with them tonight. They are in desperate need of corporate worship. I'm asking God to lead them supernaturally to the perfect place for them. The need a place where they can heal, hear the truth of the Word of God and become involved in a strong church family. (As do all of us.) I invited them here, but in spite of everything, they don't trust the internet. We were warned repeatedly not to visit anti-EGW sites. They may lurk for a while. I cut and pasted a few choice threads for them to read. Hopefully, it will woo them over here gently. Thanks again for praying! | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 8027 Registered: 12-2003 |
Praying for truth to be known...for them to trust God. I understand their fear. Colleen | ||
| Mommamayi Registered user Username: Mommamayi Post Number: 344 Registered: 12-2007  |
I understand that not everyone is comfortable with a relaxed dress code or contemporary praise band. It might help them "cut to the chase" to call the various churches asking about the style of their worship service, and if it does not sound like a good fit, explain that they are looking for something a bit more traditional and ask for recommendations. I know there are people that settled into the Adventist church here, even though they have some doctrinal disagreements, just because they perceive the somber tone to be more respectful and reverent than the other churches they had visited. Perhaps they could join a womens bible study group from another church, to gain some fellowship and accountability, without the chaotic feel they get from some of the services? I will be praying that if they do revisit the SDA church, that their eyes will be further opened from what they experience there. There is no perfect church. Bless your heart, joyful,  You are a good friend to them. Love, Diana | ||
| 8thday Registered user Username: 8thday Post Number: 149 Registered: 11-2007 |
Oh, that sounds SO familiar. They are so vulnerable. My husband and I didn't make it through that stage without regressing again, but thankfully, we did eventually recover. We found Christian culture to be very "me" centered in many churches (a reflection of the United States as a whole), and we still have not found any place that had close community like the SDA's do. If the doctrines are still floating around in their head, they really need deliverance. I will definitely pray for them. | ||
| Snowboardingmom Registered user Username: Snowboardingmom Post Number: 445 Registered: 11-2005 |
Hi, Everyone-- I'd like to ask for prayer for a close aunt of mine. She is young (in her 50s), but her severe and deforming rheumatoid arthritis, which she's had for 20+ years, has weakened her bones and her joints. Two weeks ago, she broke her leg. She had surgery to put a pin in her leg, and the pin failed. Because of the location of the break, the failed pin, and her compromised bones and joints, she has to have a hip replacement. She has been told that the surgery is more complicated than a routine hip replacement surgery. She has a small frame, so they have to custom order her "part", and because of her bad arthritis, they don't know how the recovery will be. My aunt is in a lot of pain as she waits for them to decide what to do. She is completely immobilized which makes her arthritis worst, and also makes her at increased risk for blood clots. She is a Buddhist, and keeps attributing this "bad luck" to being a result of something bad she did in her "previous life". It is quite sad because she is at the mercy of fate, with no way to control it except to live her life better now so her next life won't be so bad. In the past week, both my mom and I have been praying with her and sharing with her about "our God". She has been very open to it, and acknowledges that God has been actively working in our lives, and at times undeniably miraculously (like with my mom's cancer this past fall). When I talked with her yesterday, I told her that God was in control of this situation and that she can trust Him in it. In a pretty emotional state, she said, "I believe you." I believe with all of my heart that God is using this opportunity to glorify Himself in some way or another. So, I'm asking for prayer not just for her physical healing and recovery (which is definitely a concern right now), but also for her salvation. I want her to come to know Jesus as her personal Savior and recognize that He can be Lord over her, and she doesn't have to be a slave to "fate". Thanks for the prayers! Grace | ||
| Toria Registered user Username: Toria Post Number: 329 Registered: 2-2006 |
Grace, I am praying, and will continue to pray in the days to come for your aunt. Also for you and your mom. Blessings, Toria | ||
| Mommamayi Registered user Username: Mommamayi Post Number: 350 Registered: 12-2007 |
Thanks for sharing Grace. I have a favorite auntie, that I am close to, and I'm trying to put myself in your place here. I will be praying for God to speak through you as you share with her. ~Diana | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 5199 Registered: 3-2004 |
Grace, She is in my prayers, every day. Because she cannot move around a lot with a hip like that, talk to the nurses and her doctor about an air mattress so she will not get bed sores. She is small, probably does not have much meat on her bones and has many boney spots she lays on. Get that Mattress!! I am an occupational therapist. I have just semi retired and work per diem at a long term acute care facility. That is how I know about these things. Diana | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 8036 Registered: 12-2003 |
Grace, I'm praying, too. Colleen | ||
| Peperpat Registered user Username: Peperpat Post Number: 54 Registered: 7-2006 |
I am praying also - Patti | ||
| Snowboardingmom Registered user Username: Snowboardingmom Post Number: 448 Registered: 11-2005 |
Thank you so much, everyone, for praying! I talked with my aunt, and told her that you guys were praying for her. For someone who is not used to being "prayed over", I think that meant a lot to her. I think it especially touched her that "strangers" would care enough to pray! It looks like they tentatively have her scheduled for surgery next Wednesday. I guess it takes a pretty specialized orthopedic surgeon to do this procedure. It's a long time between now and then when you're in a lot of pain, but I'm thankful that they have a "game plan" now. I'll keep you posted. Grace | ||
| Randyg Registered user Username: Randyg Post Number: 1012 Registered: 12-2004  |
Praying Grace, that all goes well. | ||
| Clyderp Registered user Username: Clyderp Post Number: 5 Registered: 7-2007 |
I want to thank everyone for their prayers. This truly is a wonderful place to come and ask for your prayers, and to know there are so many of you sharing a difficult situation with you. Were there any thounderous replies from God in regard to my situation? Well no but.. I often feel like Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, when he was talking to God about the situation in his life and he ask God if He couldn't come up with just a small miracle, nothing big, just a small one, would that be too much to ask? Reading the responses to my prayer request, I was reminded by Olga, and Joyfulheart of promises in Psalms. Although I have read the Psalms a number of times I'm sure, I began reading them again. I had forgotten what great promises and what hope they give. In regard to hoping for "just a small miracle" It seemed as if God said "just stop and think for a minute. What do you think I've been doing all these years? Watching out for you and keeping you from killing yourself was no small task, it's been one long miracle." He's absolutely right. It has been a miracle. I was surprised at the number of times in the Psalms at the reference to being under God's wings. I was reminded of that wonderful old hymn, Under His Wings. "Under His wings I am safely abiding, though the night deepens and tempests are wild, still I can trust Him, I know He will keep me, He has redeemed me and I am His Child. Under His wings, under His wings, who from His love can sever, under His wings my soul shall abide, safely abide for ever" Thank you for your prayers which reminded me, I'm under His wings. Clyderp | ||
| Mommamayi Registered user Username: Mommamayi Post Number: 360 Registered: 12-2007 |
Good to have you check in with us. I was wondering how you were doing. You just keep taking shelter under those wings! ~Mommamayi | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 8047 Registered: 12-2003 |
Clyderp, thank you for updating us! I've also been wondering about you. Praise God for re-giving you the Psalms! Colleen | ||
| Joyfulheart Registered user Username: Joyfulheart Post Number: 136 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hi Clyderp, It's so good to hear you're resting in Jesus. Praise God that we can rest under His wings. I've needed to go there lots lately too and just let Him love me. You are still in my thoughts and prayers. Joyfulheart |
