| Author | Message | ||
| Bruce H |
Roger I have to tell you Roger that leaving the Adventist Church was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It would have been a whole lot easier if I had just stayed in the church, and told myself, well I will make a change from the inside. But Paul says in Gal 6:12 "As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that T H E Y may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. It is we who are being persecuted by family and friends and church members (Mark of the Beast, 666, Babylon etc.etc,). who is it who is persecuting you. | ||
| Colleentinker |
My grandmother joined the Adventist church in Europe during the early part of the century (pre World War I). I believe God led her to Adventism in order to find the Bible. She wasn't allowed to read the Bible in the Orthodox church in her community. I also believe God leads people out of the Adventist church when they honestly allow him to continue to reveal truth to them. Roger, you needed the law to help you identify the parts of your life that were falling apart. But after we accept Jesus, the law is useless for us. The Holy Spirit replaces the law. We live in a personal relationship with the indwelling God, and he communicates with our spirits the truths he wants us to understand at each moment of our days. As Lynn pointed out, the law cannot keep us from internal sin. Only the Holy Spirit living in us can gradually transform us so we respond more and more to Him and less and less to our natural selves. I praise God for saving me, and I praise God for his grace towards us all! | ||
| Lynn W |
Roger, finding a church where "the members do not drink strong drinks... and the adulterer had to give up his mistress," is not hard. You could go to all but the most liberal churches & find these standards. But I'm curious about the other things, "I then had to find a church where the members do not... wear jewelry, and they had to dress right" Other than the obvious issue of modesty, what's up with the dress code? Someone else on this forum mentioned that his ex-wife who is living with someone out of wedlock, is accepted in the church, while he was rejected because he remarried. I have friends in the same situation. The man, who is living with his girlfriend, is not only the church sound-man, he is also a Sabbath school teacher. But that's OK, as long as he keeps the Sabbath. Whenever his ex-wife (who was living with her boyfriend before they married) would visit the church, people kept asking her when she was going to start keeping the Sabbath again. They all knew of her living situation, but that was OK, as long as she started keeping the Sabbath. I could tell of lots of situations like this & if you read the testimonies of others, you will find that this is common. For the longest time, I tried to figure out why sexual immorality is so common among Sabbath-keepers, then I realized it's what Jesus referred to as "straining at gnats & swallowing camels." Sabbath-keeping, dress codes, & dietary laws are a replacement for the important things such as sexual purity. I could tell of friends involved in adultery, incest, child molestation, homosexuality, etc., who routinely point fingers at me for Sabbath-breaking or meat-eating. Need I say, I'm not impressed? I know these things happen in other churches as well, but when they do, they're generally considered scandelous actions, & not simply winked at, excused, or ignored, except among the very liberal churches. | ||
| Linda |
I am very interested in what you have posted. This has been my experience also. After establishing a relationship with a brother in Christ and his sharing much about the Sabbath and showing me that I needed to come into the Truth, I tried to have an open mind and not be constrained by my southern baptist background. The result was a sad breakdown in morals and nearly the breakdown of a marriage. I am struggling to find the peace and Truth which I have known in the Lord for many years. I cant say what a relief it is to find this website. This is my first post and Im not sure if I am even doing it correctly. | ||
| Lynn W |
Linda, welcome, you're doing fine. | ||
| Linda |
Thank you, Lynn. My heart is pounding as I finally feel as if I am going to be able to sort through all this mess. My family is horrified that I could consider not worshipping on Sunday and have given up the pork and rejected Heaven and thought I had to be perfect and obey all the ten commandments. My mind is swimming in defeat and confusion. It is so good to finally be able to see the light of day. | ||
| Lynn W |
Let me get this straight - you don't want to be constrained by your Southern Babtist background, so you're joining Adventism!!???? Sorry, just a little humor. If you want to give up the Grace of God in exchange for an endless list of restrictions, Adventism is a good place to go. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5. |
