| Author | Message | ||
| Jeremy Registered user Username: Jeremy Post Number: 8 Registered: 10-2004 |
Hello all, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am technically new to the forum, although I have been reading posts on here for months, so I feel like I already know a lot of you.  My name is Jeremy, I am 20 years old, and live in Arizona with my parents and sister. I grew up in the SDA cult (I just can't call it a "church"), although I was never officially a member. Our story is probably very unique. Our story is backwards from most. ;-) We left the church (ok, I'll use that term just to make this easier to understand ;-)) and then we gave up Ellen G. White and the SDA doctrines. We officially left the Seventh-day Adventist cult in 1997, because we believed the SDA church had apostatized, and was not teaching what the Bible taught or what we thought Ellen G. White taught. So now you're probably thinking that we were far right-wing, historical Adventists. Not exactly. Hehe. First of all, unlike most SDAs, we believed in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, and, believe it or not, the verbal inspiration of Ellen G. White! Humiliating to even think about that now (the part about EGW, not the Bible--we still believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and that helped us to see the truth eventually)! ;-) But, believing in the verbal inspiration of Ellen G. White (and that true prophets have to be verbally inspired) actually helped us to give her up later, as you can imagine--if one mistake makes her a false prophet, well, let's just say it shouldn't take very long at all to give her up once you see mistakes, contradictions, etc.! (Except for that very strong and powerful satanic/demonic stranglehold that you all know about, and all the brainwashing, fears, doubts, mental gymnastics, etc.) Second, we did not believe in EGW's false gospel of salvation by becoming perfect and sinless. Amazingly, we did not think that she taught this gospel. We thought she taught salvation by grace! So, we still believed in Adventism when we left the denomination, but we also had an understanding of the gospel, and believed the Bible was verbally inspired. We were not historical Adventists, in the sense of believing in salvation by works, etc. In fact, we even, anywhere from toyed with to believed in, once saved always saved! I don't know of any other SDAs or believers in EGW (especially in her verbal inspiration!) who have ever believed in once saved always saved! Pretty unique, huh? ;-) When we moved to where we are now, in 2000, my mother and sister attended the local SDA church for about 3 years--until the end of last year. Listening to Pastor J. Mark Martin's radio program had planted seeds of doubt for me, starting back in 1998. I eventually did not know whether or not Ellen G. White was a true prophet. But I did not investigate to see whether or not she was, either. I even called the SDA church a cult without knowing whether or not Ellen G. White was a true prophet (although I suppose I may have had a suspicion deep down that she was false). But I think it was mainly for other reasons besides EGW that I called them a cult. Then starting last year is when I began to see that she is a false prophet. The thing that got me started was the meat issue. I did not believe that eating meat was a sin. I then also became convinced that there was healthy meat around still. And I read the passage in 1 Timothy 4. So I knew that it could not be a sin to eat meat. And when I found some statements by EGW about meat-eating, I really started questioning her. I also went to ellenwhite.org (which I had seen before) and truthorfables.com and those sites really helped us. Anyway, to make a long story shorter, I eventually realized that Ellen G. White is a false prophet and so did my father, mother, and sister! So in October 2003 we all gave up EGW. Seeing how blasphemous and satanic EGW's scapegoat doctrine is helped us to fully give her up. We have then gradually given up all of the SDA doctrines over a period of months, because we have realized that they are unBiblical. We are now finally free of all that bondage!!! Praise God!!! Jeremy | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 22 Registered: 8-2004 |
Hi Jeremy! Thanks for the intro. God sure works in strange ways doesn't He! helovesme2 | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 771 Registered: 12-2003 |
Jeremy, welcome! What an interesting story--and how wonderful that God led you to Himself in the unique ways that made sense to you. He is awesome! (Sorry about pirating your trademark quote, Diana! But it's just so true...!) Colleen | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 626 Registered: 3-2004 |
Welcome Jeremy, God is awesome and good to not only bring you out, but your parents and siblings all at the same time. God gets to us in a way unique to each of us and in a way that is best for us. Colleen, use that phrase anytime. I love God and every time I read some story of how He has brought a person/family out of Adventism, I see how awesome He is. Diana | ||
| Cindy Registered user Username: Cindy Post Number: 687 Registered: 7-2000 |
Welcome also, Jeremy! What encouraging posts you've had! To see you open to God's leading at such a young (compared to me!) age. 20! I'm afraid I was clueless at that age, quite caught up with other concerns... I would have glimpses of Him, but never really made Him my first love. Yes, Diana, Our God is an Awesome God! grace always, cindy |
