| Author | Message | ||
| Praisegod Registered user Username: Praisegod Post Number: 2 Registered: 3-2004 |
After looking over many of the archives, Iíve decided to jump into the water and ask a question. How did each of you choose a new congregation? For me, Iíve been really burned by ědoctrinal distinctivesî and would much prefer a church that is strongly grace centered with a statement of faith that is very, very basic. Iíve been processing out of the SDA church for over three years now and last summer had my named removed from the books. It seems Iím still processing because Iíve yet to find a real home where I feel I belong. Iíve gone from a point in my life where I knew everythingóall the ětruthîóto a point where Iím excited to see the next thing God is going to be teaching me. Much of my belief system is still in process because it just doesnít seem to matter any more. For instance, I remain firmly ěpanî millennial (meaning Jesus is coming back and it will all pan out in the end) and refuse to engage in all the brouhaha over pre-millennial, post-millennial, a-millennial, pretrib, midtrib, posttribÖ..you understand Iím sure. So in light of my skittishness, yet wanting a church that is passionately on fire with a relationship with Jesus, I would love to hear how each of you checked out where to land after leaving the SDA denomination. Praise | ||
| Lydell Registered user Username: Lydell Post Number: 571 Registered: 7-2000 |
Praisegod, my hubby and I and a friend made the HUGE mistake of meeting as a home church for like 8 years. So stupid! It let us stay at home still nursing the SDA ingrained mindset that we are the ones who are right. gag Finally we literally got sick of ourselves. Admitted to the Lord that it was pretty arrogant to assume we were the only ones who were right. Looked around and saw all these other Christians who were really happy, and all these churches that seemed really alive. We admitted to Him that we were clueless and told Him we would go ANYWHERE....all we asked was that He make it clear what He wanted us to do and then confirm that we were headed in the right direction. Then agreed to finally shut up and LISTEN! We heard about a community Bible study and decided to go. On the way there for the first meeting, we had prayed that if this was not where He wanted us to go, that we really needed Him to send someone to us to give us a direct invitation to a church. That evening 4 people invited us to the same church! The next evening we attended...it's a church that is part of the Association of Vineyard churches(we were still refusing to go on a Sunday, so this was a Wednesday night.) We felt the presense of the Lord as soon as we stepped through the doors. We watched and listened carefully and, I'd have to say, rather critically. Couldn't come up with anything that was off base. Oh, once or twice we thought we had. But we shut up and listened to what they had to say. Took it home, ran through the word studying it for ourselves, with the Spirit's help. And would end up having to admit they were right and we had been way wrong. We've been there now for 7 years and have continued to be blessed. And "blessed" is too small a word for it. | ||
| Lydell Registered user Username: Lydell Post Number: 572 Registered: 7-2000 |
Oh, and PraiseGod, I like your "pan"millennialist label! Once a person grasps the point of understanding that we Christians have been living in the "last days" since the time of Christ, he can let go of the concern over the details of the final events and just enjoy the Lord. | ||
| Jeannette Registered user Username: Jeannette Post Number: 13 Registered: 3-2003 |
Praisegod, thanks for asking this question. I've been wanting to ask the same thing. I've been looking for a church here in Orlando but I guess I still have some hangups from my sda upbringing. If any of you know of a Christ centered church in the Orlando area, please let me know. I have a cousin in Michigan and my mom in a prayer war over me. My cousin is praying for me to find a nondenominational church and my mom is praying for me to go back to the SDA church and I am praying for God to lead me to wherever he wants me to be. | ||
| Terryk Registered user Username: Terryk Post Number: 19 Registered: 11-2002 |
Do not fret we all have been where you are and some are still trying to find a good church. I have felt the way you have too. I think you should just go and try some different churches and see which one fits you. We did the nondenminational not all but a few and from my husbands and my back ground we did not want to have to do the really casual thing and some other things that are not wrong for many people but we were not comfortable. We settled in a very active and pretty hip Baptist church. I will have to tell you to look back at some of my posts and I say over and over I feel like I will never belong anywhere I feel like there are so many things that I feel different about now. I as you thought I knew everything and then went to knowing nothing and not really caring about things that were so important at one time. This never really seems to get to your point on e-mail sometimes it comes across the wrong way. I hope I can give you some hope. I just want to let you know you may never have that feeling like we did in the SDA church. I just want you to know that you are okay and to keep trying to find what you feel the most comfortable for yourself. Find someone who is preaching truth and grace you will know. Just know that no church is the perfect church. We have at this point decided not to join we have been attending now for almost two years. I just do not know if I want to join anything after the SDA experience. It seems many people here have found good churches and none of us have picked the same kind of church. You now know signs to look for that you may be be ing lead astry from what you have studied. I think that God will help lead you to what you need. I attend the Baoptuist church but can not say I believe just like all Baptists. I am not sure if this makes sense to you or it is just rambling. If you ever want to write my e-mail is tbawgus@hotmail.com | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 108 Registered: 12-2003 |
Praisegod, welcome! Like Lydell, we met in a home church for two years, but God graciously moved us out of that as only He can do. We had begun praying that God would guide us to a church where he wanted us to be; we had not only ourselves but also our sons (then 11 and 15) to think about. One Sunday evening inn November our older son received a phone call from a classmate at the Christian high school he had started attending that fall. The boy invited our son to attend a youth praise service at the Evangelical Free Church about three miles from our home. We took him, dropped him off, and decided that we needed to see what he would be experiencing. We slipped into the back of the church, and we were overwhelmed to see a large group of teenagers literally worshiping God. The praise team as well as the audience were clearly worshiping, not performing or singing as an excuse to "see and be seen". Richard and I were nearly in shock. Never--and I do mean never--had we seen teeangers worship God corporately. In all our years in Adventist schools and churches including my years of teaching Academy we had never seen teenagers meeting for the purpose of simply worshiping God, and it was overwhelming. We decided we needed to go back and visit the church. We found consistent, deep Bible teaching, a Biblical statement of faith, and the presence of God. That was five-and-a-half years ago, and we have been blessed in ways we could never have imagined. Initially we felt REALLY shy about joining anything. We found, though, that we did not have to join a denomination in order to join the congregation. We finally decided that since we wanted to worship regularly at this church and hoped eventually to become a part of it and to contribute, we would join the congregation. Membership required that we attend a one-evening class that gave the history of the EV Free Church and looked in detail at the doctrinal statement. Later we had an interview with one of the elders; we had to do two things: tell on what basis we believed we had salvation, and tell our story of accepting Jesus. We are now members of our church, but we are Christians, not denominationalists. We've found that in the Christian community much less emphasis is placed on being a certain denomination, and much more is placed on being a Christ-follower. In some place, denominational churches (such as Baptist, etc.) have great Bible preaching and healthy congregations. Attending does not require you to identify yourself as Baptist (or whatever). Congregational or non-denominational churches also often have great preaching. Ask God to guide you. He is faithful to complete the work he begins in us! Colleen | ||
| Lindaflugel Registered user Username: Lindaflugel Post Number: 1 Registered: 3-2004 |
Leaving the SDA church has been a journey filled with angst and awe, but never have I felt so close to God as I do in the Coptic Orthodox Church which is one of the early apostolic churches. I left the SDA church depressed and suicidal, but now can't find enough hours in the day to pray and praise God for his amazing love. | ||
| Qweary Registered user Username: Qweary Post Number: 1 Registered: 3-2004 |
Have been reading the FAF postings for quite some time and you've just been special for me/us! I'm a 6th generation SDA (my great-great-great-grandmother was SDA,one son [was the 1st or 2nd president of 6 different conferences] had a daughter that taught her daughter [my grandmother]the"TRUTH" who taught my mother who sent me to "our schools" and was so happy when I taught over 25 years in SDA schools)(The paternal line is almost as SDA.) Believe me this is not to BRAG, just to show how "Bred to the Bone" one can be, and the Lord can still reach out and shock one to pieces!! We were blessed to attend in 1980s an SDA church where the pastor heard D. Ford give his PUC Forum presentation. He also heard Rea's presentation to the GC and shared it with a few of us. We were visiting different churches as a singing mission group and found other Christians were also devout and friendly. We also attended the Monterey Mtg. which had Ford as main speaker. I saw Elder Henry F Brown there who was my father's good friend, so I knew it was all right. While teaching at my last SDA school we attended an EVFree church with which we traded programs. The pastor was so open and friendly we began to attend services on Sunday with two other SDA couples. Then we read Dale Ratzlaff's books, and God sent us to another state to retire. We went to two SDA churches that left us Icey cold. We went to Disciples of Christ,friendly and OLD. We were going to try the Church of God, but in the driveway, I remembered seeing a large simple bldg. just a few blocks further on. GOD leads you where to go. We found the most friendly, loving and open offshoot of the Church of Christ. In the 10 years we've been there women now have the freedom to speak up and even pray and lead music in public, musical intruments are used on occasion and we're ALL one big FAMILY. Non-judgmental and caring, we've reached out into the community, loving the unloved and welcoming the lonely. We're teaching ESL and tutoring the illiterate and semi-literate and enjoying the fellowship of dear people of ALL sorts of denominations. What FREEDOM in JESUS! Am thankful for this fellowship because my blood family--those who KNOW!--think I'm/we're apostate, except for a couple cousins. I see why Jesus said of His apostles and followers, "These are my mother, my brothers and sisters." Go where you feel you are welcomed and accepted as you are, then do the same for others. We study only the Bible. We found out that we had been brainwashed all those years with EGW and listening to and reading only SDA material. Have discovered wonderful TRUTHS and blessings from reading the WORD for myself | ||
| Praisegod Registered user Username: Praisegod Post Number: 4 Registered: 3-2004 |
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your journeys here. I can see where the ěhome churchî would not be a good idea and Iíve not gone that route. My leaving the SDA church started with God impressing me to study the book of Acts without any EGW commentary and just by reading the Bible. WellÖ..that started quite the journey. You canít just study the Acts like that and not end up changed in some mighty ways. So after that, I was having lots of questions. Then my pastor asked me to do some research on the New Covenant for him. I was really reluctant at first because I recognized I couldnít do the New until I truly understood the Old, the Abrahamic etc. And not far into studying that, I let him know we were in real theological trouble. J I kept away from all the ěnegativeî SDA sites, not wanting to be influenced by anything but the Bible. So Iíve ended up being Spirit-filled (not Pentecostal, however) and later cut all ties formally. Unlike most people, I had a pastor who knew every step of my journey, although I wasnít particularly sharing it with other church members. God was so good, in that he allowed me to make other Christian friends through a ministry I was involved with. So by the time God clearly said, ěget out,î I had made friends from many different churches. For about the first year after ěfading outî I attended many different churches. But then I got so very busy with various conferences, trainings etc that Iíve never settled down. The other ministry is now gone from my life, so Iím again feeling the need to ěbelong.î I do see that looking at the ěbig pictureî of Christianity that people in all denominations are becoming on fire for a real relationship with Jesus. Many of them are in their own ědeadî churches and where you really meet some awesome fellow Christians is at non-denominational, parachurch types of conferences. Lydell, I like your idea about the Vineyard. Iíve visited one a couple of times and really enjoyed it. Of course, I quickly found that 99.9% of the churches I have visited had totally awesome praise and worship music compared to the local SDA church. However, on the other hand, the local SDA pastor only preached the gospel and was actually much better than most of the other pastors so it was hard not to compare. (Thatís another story in itself.) Jeannette, Iíve got an idea for you for a church in the Orlando area. Contact me privately at formerSDAdventist@yahoo.com. And, as far as your mom goes, perhaps you could ask her to pray for Godís will to be done in your life instead of to return to the SDA church? For me, Iíve stopped and corrected people who want to pray what they think is Godís will for me. Terryk, I can understand your reluctance toward ějoiningî even though you attend. A town about an hour away from me has some pretty moving and shaking Baptist churches. And I know many pastors who are on-fire for the Lord (most of whom retain their Baptist credentials but are nondenom now). Colleen, isnít it neat to find a church that truly ěworships.î I have to say, that there were many things I understood only cognitively in the SDA church: the Holy Spirit, worship, praise etc. Even the true Gospel. I looked it up online, having never heard of your church. I find there is one about 20 minutes away, but Iím suspecting it is probably very small since I do pass by that area occasionally and donít remember having seen it. Linda, Iím so pleased youíve found a church filled with Godís love. I, too, am looking for a church that is known for that. Oweary, I attended a Bible study group for awhile that I came to find out everyone except me was Church of Christ or interested in becoming one. Most likely similar to yours as they did use instrumental music. Some great people who were very accepting. Part of my problem for moving forward is that my husband is still attending the local SDA church. Iím quite sure that he now knows that much of what they teach is ěerrorî but he doesnít want to leave his friends and his helping ministry. Perhaps after the current pastor is moved he will view things differently. Iím sure Iím not the only one who had it very, very difficult to be processing out with a spouse who was convinced you were crazy, wrong, deluded, etc. Many blessings, PraiseGod | ||
| Loneviking Registered user Username: Loneviking Post Number: 224 Registered: 7-2000 |
Nope, you're not the only one with a spouse problem. I also have an oldest daughter problem and worse yet, live in the parsonage for an SDA church! But, the rent is cheap! Here's a quiz you folks might like to take that is fairly good at indicating which churches you might fit in. The web address is: www.selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php?client=christiandenom Qweary---I had to smile at your story. The first church I took membership in after leaving was a Church of Christ offshoot that my dad (who is orthodox CofC) said were a bunch of heretics. But what a great bunch of heretics! I still miss that church but I moved back to California. There, I discovered the E.V. Free and that is really where I think my heart will always be. I had to move again and there wasn't an E.V. Free closer than an hour away. So, I wound up making friends and being drawn into a tiny Four Square church. They are Spirit filled but don't speak in tongues----which I thought was an oxymoron! So, Praise God, I'd put the Foursquares on the list of groups to investigate. There's a lot of information on line on most church groups so that you have some idea of what they believe before you go there. May God lead you! Bill | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 110 Registered: 12-2003 |
No, PraiseGod, you are not the only one who has processed out with a spouse who is still SDA. In fact, some people have even lost their marriages when one spouse decided to leave. We will pray that God will continue to work with your husband. It's really amazing to discover that we're not alone as we work through and out of Adventism. So many people have echoed what I felt: it seems that I am the only one! It really is a personal decision between each of us and God, and I think God ordains the circumstances so we KNOW that we are personally dealing with him and not just responding to our loved ones' opinions. I pray that all of us will grow in Jesus and walk where he leads. Colleen | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 111 Registered: 12-2003 |
By the way, Qweary and Lindaflugel, it's good to see you here! Welcome! Colleen | ||
| Lydell Registered user Username: Lydell Post Number: 573 Registered: 7-2000 |
Praisegod, you can learn more about the Vineyard at vineyardusa.com. You are probably already familiar with alot of the worship songs you'll hear there. Vineyards fall somewhere between the traditional and charismatic labels (for instance, we don't make an issue of speaking in tongues). Vineyard churches tend to do alot of what we call "servant evangelism". We try to plant seeds widely by doing simple things in Jesus name, feeding the poor, handing out cold cokes and bottles of water, cleaning bathrooms, all kinds of stuff. I believe the Four Square and Calvary Chapels also fall somewhere in the middle? Ya'll can set me straight on that one? | ||
| Praisegod Registered user Username: Praisegod Post Number: 5 Registered: 3-2004 |
Lydell, I recently attended a City Reachers Conference where Steve Sjogren was one of the speakers. He's the main church planter expert for the Vineyard. He had some excellent thoughts on servant evangelism. I believe all of us could learn something from further study of servant leadership in the Bible. Not sure, but I've always thought that Four Square was Pentecostal? We have a huge, very active Calvary Chapel in our area. It seems that one of their trademarks is preaching through a book of the Bible chronologically. I've a good friend who is an Adventist who used to attend their small groups because it was the only way to keep her Christian experience alive and well and interact with fellow believers. Pretty sad indictment for the SDA Church her husband insisted that they attend. | ||
| Melissa Registered user Username: Melissa Post Number: 245 Registered: 7-2003 |
I hear more and more about lifestyle evangelism in our church as well than back in the old days of "witnessing". Now, we are taught about building relationships with people and letting them see Christ in our lives (huge responsibility). Hopefully as we develop relationships with people, we can introduce them to Christ without cramming him down their throats, so to say. We are taught to live genuine Christian lives so all can see, but the hardest thing, i think, is to get outside our comfort zones and mingle with the lost. I go to an independent Christian church that is loosely associated with other Christian churches, yet each church is autonomous in its board and teachings. So, it's a trend across many denominations, it seems. Far more realistic than screaming at someone on the street corner. | ||
| Lydell Registered user Username: Lydell Post Number: 574 Registered: 7-2000 |
Right Melissa. I remember something that happened at one of our outreaches. Some folks were handing out cold cokes at an intersection. A guy rolled up in a beer truck and gladly accepted the cold coke, then said, "so, if you guys are Christians I guess you hate me for the job I'm doing, huh." He was genuinely shocked when he was assured that he was loved and would be welcome at our church. It's how Christ operated. Love them, relate to them, lead them to the only One who can do the changing. And it's interesting isn't it? I was telling a friend some of our stories about servant evangelism and, tho she never said the words, you could read it clearly in her eyes, "oh...that's not witnessing." I believe it was in Sjogren's book that I saw the results of the study that gave the average number of significant contacts a person has with the gospel before they actually respond. It was impressive. One of the first contacts, for many people, is just to meet a Christian they don't immediately hate. What has impressed me in this whole thing of witnessing, and servant evangelism in particular, is that it is like what you are actually doing is holding up a huge "STOP" sign in front of them. They are going thru their routine day when suddenly, WHAM, there is someone in front of them reminding them that there is a God who knows they exist and loves them. It brings alot of people up short. Like the lady we gave quarters to at a laundromat, she was just left speechless, standing there with tears in her eyes. And who can truly know what God does with whatever seeds we sow. Praisegod, we visited a Four Square church in Colorado this summer. It was very similar to Vneyard. | ||
| Rey_cantu Registered user Username: Rey_cantu Post Number: 21 Registered: 2-2004 |
praisegod: I quit the sda church in september of 2003. I travel , visited other churches. I did not know where to go. I pray to God. I started searching in the Internet/ Web pages. around Ft. Worth/ Metroplex Area. I found a church that I liked, is Calvery Chapel. The pastor and I have become good friends.We study almost every monday afternoon, do i see every thing clear, sometimes I don't, but one thing that I have found now, and that is, as long I understand the plan of salvation and the rest will come, I just take one step at a time. I am still studing , I think I will never finish studing. I am always with an open mind. Is hard sometimes, because my back ground as a sda pastor. sometimes I have to check what I am saying, because I dont know if is in the bible or is Ellen White. What I done, is be nice to myself, don't be so hard with myself. I take one day at a time. Study one subject at a time. When I started in September, I started with ellen white. I concluded, she is false and I can prove it with the bible. second I started with the Investigation Judgement. One topic at a time. one step at a time. Be nice to yourself. The light will come. Be pacient and keep studing. We started a hispanic group,here in Arlington , Texas. We meet on saturday morning. Why saturday? because one of my missiones is, sda outreach. and it is easy for them to come on saturday then on sunday. we are people of habits, and they have the habit to come to church on saturday. plus it is much easy to borrow a church on a saturday then on sunday. our main focus, topics, sermons are: salvation, grace, freedom, happiness!!!!!! take care, god bless, Pray for me, this week end I am going to Montemorelos, Mexico (this is where de sda university is, is the Meca in mexico of the sda. ) I am going to there to present a program, called: "The gospel of Jesus compared to the gospel of Ellen White." three questions that are made: 1. Were you saved at the cross? Was salvation completed at the cross? 2.If you confess your sins, Will God forgive and forget, erase them completely? 3. Can you say, you are saved? We compared what the bible says and what Ellen White says. pray for, me that there are like 5 families converted to the gospel of Jesus. rey cantu | ||
| Praisegod Registered user Username: Praisegod Post Number: 6 Registered: 3-2004 |
Rey, love the three topics you're going to speak on. If SDAs get that, then the Holy Spirit is bound to start moving and shaking in their lives. An interesting story from back when I was still SDA. I must say I gradually learned the true gospel in the SDA church from my own studying and a Spirit-filled pastor. I tended to feel I was the one who had just been dense and not understood it right, but the Holy Spirit was showing me differently. Anyway, about that time my pastor was young and recently out of seminary. I challenged him that his congregation didn't know that they were saved at the cross and were unable to recognize their own salvation. We had a few discussions on this (he truly understood the Gospel) and finally he decided to run a poll during a church business meeting. You know, where the "real" saints actually come. It was just one question among other things he was trying to learn about his new church. Well.....guess what? He found out I was right. They were NOT secure in understanding the Gospel. He ended up having week after week preaching the gospel, but with the veils over the faces, I'm not sure that group understands it yet. Praise God.... | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 113 Registered: 12-2003 |
Rey, I am so happy to hear that you've found a church and a pastor with whom you can talk and study. It seems that the different beliefs really do come up one at a time, and often in similar sequences for so many of us. It's exciting to learn! With prayers for your trip to Montemorelos, Colleen | ||
| Praisegod Registered user Username: Praisegod Post Number: 7 Registered: 3-2004 |
After hearing Calvary Chapel mentioned again, I took a look at their beliefs and they deny being a denomination etc. It was sounding very positive until I got to the section called ěClarity on certain beliefsî The first one: ěAt Calvary Chapel, we are strongly pre-millennialists and pre-tribulation rapturists.î That threw me for a loop. What Iím looking for is a church tható a. Understands the New Covenant b. Understands walking in the Spirit c. Doesnít ěstronglyî emphasize beliefs that arenít related to our salvation. Iím guessing that most of us here who fell in love with Jesus one way or another and still are passionate about Christianity, have worked through the New Covenant. Iím also guessing that if you didnít, you wouldnít be able to break free from Adventism? Those of you who know way more ěformersî than I do, would you agree? Actually Iím thinking that there would be way fewer people hooked in by SDA evangelism if they didnít fall for the straw manís argument on the change of the Sabbath to Sunday. Have you found that very few Christians and/or churches really understand that Sunday isnít a holy day or the ěChristian Sabbathî? |
