| Author | Message | ||
| Gary Mayo |
Hi again Pastor Alan: It has been some months since we last spoke. How have you been? The Gospel has a inherant factor of Love built right in. If you have noticed a lack of Love, maybe you are seeing the real problem: The lack of the Gospel. If you read the 27 F. B. of SDA's, you will find the word "Gospel" only 4 times, and the concept of "The Gospel" is never addressed. Do this, don't do that - but never "The Gospel". The whole book of Galatians is almost completely forgotten. The first thing I tell anyone wanting more "Gospel" is read the works (fruits) of Paul. | ||
| Caitlyn |
Yes, for heavens' sakes according to SDAs, NEVER SHOW EMOTION! Then you are branded as falling into the error of "emotionalism". The same disease rears its ugly head in discussions of faith versus feeling. What a crock! There IS no "versus" there; they are two distinct aspects of life and BOTH need to be dealt with in their proper sphere. Setting one against the other is asking to fall into the same schism that divided Lucifer's heart in the beginning!!! Personal honesty versus trust!! The two are meant to work together, not to be set one against the other, and the minute you teach one set against the other as DOCTRINE or DOGMA, you have a recipe for DISASTER. Personal honesty has to do with being true to yourself, to what you really feel, so as to deal with it if it is out of whack and celebrate it when it is good. Trust involves your confidence in someone. Scripture says "if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts." This doesn't mean you shove & stuff your feelings; it means you have something to hold onto while you work them through, but you STILL must work them through or they will eat you up inside and turn to sourness, bitterness and resentment! Trying to set faith and feelings at odds with each other as if one must destroy the other is a LIE. Each in its proper place, and each to be worked out inside a person according to that proper place. Enough of those lies! | ||
| Caitlyn [again] |
By the way, my oldest daughter (14) still talks about "when we used to be Christians" meaning my last stint with the SDAs when I used to take the kids with me to church, have worship, try to teach them to keep sabbath, etc. which was about 1991-1994. She apparently had some REALLY unpleasant experiences during that time, especially with the pastor's wife (why are pastor's wives always so smarmy and full of themselves???) who humiliated her in school and literally FORBADE her to play with her best (and almost ONLY) friend there just so she could FORCE my daughter to play with another kid she didn't want to play with (none of the other children got treated this way, either!) It's hard for me to handle because I'm not a Christian, but neither do I want her prejudiced against Christianity because of the experience of the SDAs, so I'm caught in this dicey situation of empathizing with her experiences while at the same time try to guide her to be open minded to the idea that SDA does NOT equal "Christian". I want her to make her choices about religion for the right reasons (personal conviction), not the wrong ones (bitterness and prejudice). She considers herself Wiccan right now. That's OK with me, but I still don't want her hating Christ or Christians because of the SDAs, because that really isn't fair. I feel weird defending someone else's religion to her just because I'm trying to stave off "guilt by association" from a previous bad experience!!! | ||
| Colleentinker |
CaitlynóóI want you and your daughter to know that we are praying in the name of Jesus that the Holy Spirit will convict you of Christ and of the sacrifice of his shed blood that has broken the power of Satan and has cleansed us from sin. He is alive; he reignsóPraise God that he has set us free from bondage and has saved us from ourselves. In him is all power in heaven and earth. | ||
| Bill Thompson |
Caitlyn, On another SDA forum I started a thread called "Vaccinated Against Christianity". The discussion did not go very far since most of the participants were current SDAs and the basic idea of the thread was an examination of why some former SDAs (and former members of other churhes as well) seem very hard to reach with the Gospel, harder than people with no prior religious background of any kind. When we vaccinate a person against a disease we give them small doses of the organism or a synthetic substitute for the real thing and the person develops antibodies in their blood which make it virtually impossible to contract the real thing. I often wonder if something similar happens when people have devoted themselves to something called "christianity", never REALLY grasping the Good News about the Grace of God but merely a lifestyle and rules...a synthetic substitute for the real thing. The person eventually assumes they have tried Christianity, it didn't work, the emptyness is still there. If I knew a univesral antidote for this vaccination I would spread it far and wide. For me the antidote was GRACE, God's unmeritted forgiveness for my sin, not based on anything I am able to do for myself but by what He has already done for me and you. After grasping and accepting God's Grace, a firm assurance of my own salvation revolutionized my life. It sounds like a cliche' but it was truly like being "born again" and that is what the Bible promises us will happen. Here are some Bible passages which turned on the light for me: Ephesians 2:8,9; Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:28; 1 John 5:13; Romans 3:20-24; Galatians 2:21; Galatians 1:6-8; Ephesians 1:13,14; 2 Corinthians 1:21,22; Ephesians 4:30; Romans 3:10; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10; Romans 6:23; Titus 3:5; Galatians 5:4; Romans 5:8; Acts 16:31; John 5:24; Acts 4:12; John 14:6; John 6:37; John 3:16 God Bless You! You are in my thoughts and prayers. | ||
| Susan |
Great analogy Bill! It's sad that so many former sda's (and other ex-cultists as well) find themselves in this predicament. My heart goes out to these people so much. I feel a deep concern for those who've been spiritually abused by unbiblical teachings. You know how a mother feels towards her children? I would lay down my life for my daughter and would defend her at any cost. It's similar to how I feel about the bible and Jesus. I want to defend and protect that which I hold dear and precious. This reaction also extends to other little "bear cubs" that need protection from evil. Those who aren't for Jesus are for evil. It's that simple. The spiritually abused need to feel loved and cared for. They need to know what genuine Christianity is. The essentials of Christianity must be the first focus for new Christians or seekers. Secondary issues can be sorted out later. You know the the example of the dollar bill? The way to learn about counterfeit bills is to study a real one so intensely that you never need to study fake ones. When you've experienced salvation in Christ and study His word, a counterfeit gospel(like adventism)will be obvious. I pray for Christ's healing love on all those who've been chased away from the gospel, by cultic teaching. | ||
| Allenette |
Susan: "Those who aren't for Jesus are for evil. It's that simple." Hmmm....I'll bet that makes Caitlyn feel better. Bill, sweetie, tell the people SOME MORE about the "Vaccinated Against Christianity" thread :-) I remember it going in a bit different direction :-) and for QUITE AWHILE. There WERE formers commenting on it myself included.Dont worry that's all I'll say about it; I dont want to steal your thunder. I just like TRUTH in all things, too :-) Allenette :-) |
