| Author | Message | ||
| Patti |
I was curious as to just how the threads on this forum were falling according to subject matter. For anyone who is interested, here is some trivia about this forum: There are 173 open threads on the Discussion Forum. Of these 173, judging from the titles alone: 35 (or 20%) are devoted to pointing out the error of the SDA church. 22 (or 13%) are focused on the work of the believer 9 (5%) are on the sabbath 7 (4%) deal with Gospel or salvation 6 (3.5%) target Ellen White 6 (3.5%) discuss Law Here is the one that I find a bit troubling: Only 7 (4%) even mention Christ, and of these 7, One is in reference to the second coming, one asks if Jesus is Michael, one speaks of Jesus in terms of being a sabbath-breaker, one mentions Jesus only in terms of who we are when we believe in Him. That leaves only 3 threads (2%) that specifically present the historical Christ, our dead and risen Savior. Granted, this is based only upon the titles of the threads. Neither the content nor the number of posts under each thread cannot necessarily be discerned from the title alone. But this is what people see when they log on to this forum. (This is not a reflection on Colleen and Richard in any way, shape, or form. They are running this forum exactly the way it should be run: Let people talk about what they choose.) But what kind of message are we giving to visitors in our choice of thread names? If one were to judge from the numbers above, then one might logically label this as an anti-SDA site. Not that I argue in the least about sharing our common (often debilitating) experiences at being raised SDA; it is just that at some point we need to rise above being merely former SDAs and offer SDAs and others who are interested more than merely all the reasons for not being an SDA. (Again, I am not saying that this is not being done; I just wonder if it is being done with clarity and power.) I would like to relate it to my experience with Al-Anon. I was married to an alcholic. Being raised SDA and a non-drinker, I was totally ignorant on the ramifications of alcholism. I will not go into detail, because that is not my purpose for writing, but it was not pretty. Anyway, on the advice of a friend, I started attending Al-Anon meetings. At first I was impressed, astounded by the love and caring that was given, felt accepted and part of a loving family. But after some time, I began to notice something. The same people had the same stories week after week after week. They showed no sign of strengthening. In fact, for some of them, Al-Anon had taken the place in their codependent minds of the love and acceptance they wish they got at home. This is not an indictment of Al-Anon; it is a great program. But it is not where people should LIVE. The purpose of Al-Anon is for people to gain enough strength to live in the real world. I feel somewhat that this is happening on this forum in a sense. That many of us, myself included, are very comfortable living in the shelter and security of our identity as a former SDA, and are using this identity as a deterrent for going out and living in the world. I, for one, am tired of having the religious affiliation of "Former SDA." (I know what you are going to say: Then leave!) Certainly there is more good we can do in the world than to proclaim that SDAism is a spiritually dead system! Again, this is not an indictment on anyone but myself, because I started many of those anti-SDA, believer-centered threads. But I intend to live as a former no longer. The former things have passed away; should we not live as if we believe this? Thank God! I am a present and future citizen of the kingdom of heaven thanks to the saving work of Jesus Christ. Knowing that SDAism is wrong will not save a single soul. People can come out of SDAism by the droves, but that should not be our goal. (In fact, I am happily amazed and astounded to hear more and more active SDAs preaching the Gospel on various SDA forums!) The only reason to leave SDAism is the Gospel. People who come out for any other reason generally carry the same legalistic tendencies, manifest in one of three ways: 1. still bearing the burden of having to produce enough good works in order to be acceptable to God 2. discouragement with Christianity as a whole and a slip into agnosticism 3. delusions that they are indeed producing a work that is acceptable to God, and rejecting the SDA "truth" is just a manifestation of one's "rightness" with God. Our goal should be the same as any Christian forum: to present the Gospel of salvation by the grace of God alone to a hungering and thirsting world, SDA, former, or neither. It is OK to need the help and the support of those who can tell you that SDAism is wrong, but at some point, if we are accomplishing our goal, we will send people out strong and confident in the knowledge that Jesus Christ is indeed sufficient, that He has saved those who believe in Him to the uttermost. We need to leave the safety of the familiar and go out and preach the Gospel to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. And we need to reflect on here that we are not merely a support group for wounded formers, but that we indeed have a message for all people, all walks of life: Jesus Christ is our righteousness! My opinion only. Feel free to delete this thread, Colleen, if I have offended you in the least. It was not my intention. | ||
| Jtree |
as a Christian first, and following the principles of the Bible, Acts 2:42, and holding many of the doctrines given, I am a "BRANDED" believer of the Baptist faith. I am simply saying I was given the doctrine of salvation, and it became apparent that I was definatley in need of a Savior, THANK YOU JESUS FOR SAVING MY DIRTY ROTTEN LIFE. My observation of the SDA MOVEMENT: An organization over 150 years old known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church has attracted my attention to make a study into her claims. I say kindly, yet with conviction, this church exists without any authority whatsoever from the Lord, was established without Him and His blessings, is not described or even mentioned anywhere in the pages of Inspiration, and therefore exists contrary to the expressed desires of the Savior. The Lord shed His blood in purchase of His church, and thus bought it and it alone. The saved He adds to it -- there are saved persons in none other. Of the Lord's church one can read in the pages of the divine record. There one finds its origin, name, doctrine, faith, and practise. (Matthew 16:18, John 17:20-23, Acts 20:28, Ephesians 4:4, 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18, Acts 2:47, Romans 16:16) The Seventh-day Adventist Church was established too late, at the wrong place, and by the wrong person to be the church of Christ. Its foundation is essentially a lie that was espoused by a false prophet. Before the sabbath doctrine was accepted into the advent theory, the embryo body was known as Adventist, which name the Seventh-day branch still carries. William Miller espoused a theory relative to the advent of Christ predicting His coming in the spring of 1844 and again in the fall of the same year. Both predictions ended in failure. Deuteronomy 18:22, God said, "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken." Thus Miller is proved to be a false prophet and the movement arising from his prophecies is of necessity based on a lie. Immediately after the failure of 1844 Adventists split up into numerous parties, each contradicting and denouncing the other. Instead of renouncing the whole theory, as sane men, each set about trying to explain the failure. The particular Adventists now known as the Seventh-day Adventists explain that God was the author of the failure, the reason being to "prove" the people. Ellen G. White, in The Great Controversy, states, They had done the will of God . . . Yet they could not understand His purpose in their past experience. Seventh-Dayism is connected with the movement of 1844. Ellen G. White endorses William Miller and his prophetic failure. Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of 1844. God said that if the prophecy does not come to pass, "this is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken." Adventism teaches that God lied! Let God be true, but every man a liar. (Rom 3:4) Ellen G. White stamps herself along with the entire Adventist movement FRAUD. You folks, on the other hand, have removed yourself from that system. PRAISE YAH! In support of their practice of keeping the sabbath as they do, they resort to an abolished law, wrest the scriptures to fit the theory, and assume the proof in nearly every argument they make. I say they keep the sabbath in a "fashion" because they do not "keep" it as God commanded the Jews, but as it pleases them. | ||
| Jtree |
more RESEARH from this sight. ATTENTION..under the heading UTILITIES on the side bar,the "KEYWORD SEARCH" is NOT working. HELP! MAINTENANCE iS MUCH NEEDED! | ||
| Richardtinker |
We are aware that Keyword Search is not working. This feature has been temporarily diasabled because of bandwith problems. | ||
| Jimm |
Hi Patti. Good observation and thanks for the interesting statistics. I think you put your finger right on a very important point. Anyone steeped in Adventism is immersed in the the God of the old testament-the ten commandments, the food laws, the state of the dead, etc. I think that with the bias of the old testament the emphasis is on trying to please an awesome, austere, fearsome God. The blood sacrifice Jesus Christ paid for our sins is pushed into the background and we find ourselves on a never-ending treadmill that is punctuated every seven days by the sabbath of the old testament. | ||
| Maryann |
Oops!, Now I will put this in the right thread! Hi All, As stated by Colleentinker: "The act of salvation ends at the cross and resurrection of Christ. But our walk with Christ doesn't end the moment we receive our salvation. That is only the beginning! But what comes after is NOT part of being saved. As far as salvation is concerned, that issue is absolutely settled when we accept Jesus' atoning work for us. Period." In our glee of finding an all sufficient Savior who purchased every humans salvation COMPLETELY 2000 years ago, let us NOT for get the walk that is the joy of our new life! When a couple gets married, they don't stand at the alter for 50 years! They walk together and get to know each other. In a "healthy" marriage, what do people do? They honor each other, they attempt to never dis-please each other. Not to get married but BECAUSE THEY ARE MARRIED!! Hmmmm, maybe Christ uses the marriage/bride/groom stories because our little human pea brains can comprehend that? As to the thread titles. I really think the Lord leads in the titles! The titles may not be perfect for me, but they are perfect for someone! That "odd ball" thread title might just be the title that peaked their interest into being exposed to the Grace of God and the FREE salvation offered to each and every person on the earth that truly believes in Him. And the bulk of the post's DO point to Christ;-) Maryann | ||
| Chyna |
i agree with Maryann :), the bulk of the posts do rejoice in our non legalistic, grace supported views of Salvation. I don't know about other people, but in my posts I find myself constantly searching through my bible (which is wonderful). maybe you are right, patti that this should be a stepping ground. but at the same time, I think that former adventists (and me) remain 'former adventists' for their testimonies. like, in a sense, someone will testify to being a former drug addict. not that they glory in the description of their previous lifestyle but to add more glory to Christ to His saving grace. former adventists get to point to their previous lives and say, look where I used to be, and look where God has put me now. also, there are newcomers and unseen visitors that haunt the site. when they appear on the scene, I think it's an awesome testimony when they ask their questions to be ministered to by people that understand them where they are coming from. yes, it's true, many of the same questions get asked over and over again, but we will never stop lovingly answering and praying and supporting those that are on shaky ground with adventism with a hand outstretched to help them out . love, Chyna | ||
| Denisegilmore |
Amen Chyna! This forum is essential for those like myself just learning how to let go of the chains that had me bound. Or to put it this way, understand that I'm not crazy in my questions afterall or my doubts regarding some of what was taught me. In finding out that what I had been questioning is validated, it really really really opened up the Gospel of Jesus Christ and brought it on home! Oh brother, I hope that made any sense... Company just came in the door.. God bless all, Denise (the Berean) :) | ||
| Maryann |
Hi Patti, You brought out some very good points in your above post. You said: "I feel somewhat that this is happening on this forum in a sense. That many of us, myself included, are very comfortable living in the shelter and security of our identity as a former SDA, and are using this identity as a deterrent for going out and living in the world. I, for one, am tired of having the religious affiliation of "Former SDA." (I know what you are going to say: Then leave!) Certainly there is more good we can do in the world than to proclaim that SDAism is a spiritually dead system!" Everyone grows at their own speed. For you, it appears that you feel this is a place of shelter and security for the identity of a former. It seems also that the identity of a "former" is deterring you from going out and sharing the the good news of "salvation" by believing and accepting the blood of Jesus and Jesus alone. You DO proclaim that soooooo well;-) I believe that a persons calling will become evident to them. For you, it seems that you have grown past the identity of a "former" and need to proclaim the truth to others in a different setting. You said: "Certainly there is more good we can do in the world than to proclaim that SDAism is a spiritually dead system!" There is such a thing as burn out too. How many years have you been proclaiming that SDAism is a spiritually dead system? 20+ years huh? It may be time for you to move on into a different ministry. You have left a mark in the spiritually dead SDA system that wont be soon forgotten!;-) Where is the burning in your heart leading you to minister? To the spiritually dead SDA's or the world? In this matter, I think you should follow your heart. For myself, I have a burn in my heart for SDA's. That is why I like it here. But then, I haven't been at it but a year compared to your 20+ years! As long as there is even one SDA left in the world, this is the place I want to be. I don't want to be here because of my being a former and needing shelter, I want to be here because every day there is a new wave of SDA's looking, searching, wondering, being disallusioned, angry, looking for understanding or just plain wanting to talk. There are many, many different threads to peak a persons interest, no matter if the are angry or searching. You did bring out all those stats and though it seems to look anti-sda, I think it simply brings up subjects and ideas that are VERY important to an SDA coming out or thinking about coming out. In line with your thoughts, I do think a few more threads that are more specific to Christ would be a great idea too. BTW, thank you so much for your part in George's understanding and believing in Christ. That was called, "letting your light shine through the Holy Spirit." Upard and onward......Maryann;-)) | ||
| Patti |
Thank you for your kind words, Maryann. Grace and peace always, Patti PS And greetings and Christian affection to the absent brother, also.  | ||
| Max |
Patti, Jtree, Richard T., Jimm, Maryann, Chyna, Denise, ... , and any I may have missed, God bless you all! It's been sheer delight trading Scriptures with you! Max of the Cross | ||
| Jay |
Patti, your thoughtful post gives us much to ponder. While many of the threads have been helpful to me, a relative new visitor on this forum since this summer, I think that you make a very valid suggestion: at some point each one of us would probably do well to begin to move beyond the past,i.e., basing our identity in being a former Adventist, and to start enjoying our present identity as the redeemed children of Christ for for all eternity! Grace of Christ to you all. Jay |
