| Author | Message | ||
| 33ad Registered user Username: 33ad Post Number: 109 Registered: 10-2004 |
Thanks Dd; Well said Dennis. | ||
| 33ad Registered user Username: 33ad Post Number: 112 Registered: 10-2004 |
You know Dd, you really lifted my spirit yesterday. I had been thinking during the day whether I really should continue to post on this fourum. My reasoning was as follows: 1. I've left the SDA's, and I don't have any more queries about them. 2. I don't like to argue. I don't mind being the apologist and defending what I believe, but I don't like to argue with those who do not see things my way, and I'm not going to change their opinion. 3. I'm on fire for Jesus and I want to serve Him fully in the environment that I now worship Him in. But maybe some of the posters think I'm trying to 'convert' them. I'm not. I'm just giving my opinions from the viewpoint of where I now find myself. 4. I like to share what I've found to be wonderful to me, but Orthodox and Evangelicals don't speak the same language. So it will just lead to arguments again, and that's not why I joined up here. 5. I joined here to help SDA's who were looking for a better way to follow our Savior, and to help them with doctrinal issues. But am I right in thinking we're mostly 'preaching to the chior'? There are not many SDA's here, 'cause they're afraid of us. But your post really picked me up and I felt that somewhere else in this world there was somebody who did notice and care. Thanks again. Yours in Christ Loren | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 930 Registered: 12-2003 |
Loren, your reasons for being here are wonderful. You know, there are MANY people who lurk on this forum and never post--many are Adventist. Some are staunch, but many are questioning. Your love for Jesus is very evident, and your encouragement and observations are really helpful. We haven't looked up the forum statistics in over a year, (partly on purpose!), but a few years ago when there was much less activity on this board and many fewer forum members, there were still hundreds of different ISP addresses that logged onto this website every week. Those addresses far outnumbered the forum members. All this is to say, we're here for each other primarily, but secondarily, we are speaking to an unkown audience about our individual experiences with Jesus and how He transcends our geography and church membership. He continues to teach us and to grow us in Him. Living with Jesus is not a static condition. I remember hearing someone say once, "If your view of God is the same today as it was a year ago, you're worshiping a graven image." We are growing in Him, and we sharpen each other like iron sharpens iron. But we are united by His Spirit, and we are all members of Christ's body. We belong to Him, and we love and support each other because of Him! The amazing thing is--we have all been associated either personally or by relationship to one of the most subtle (and sinsiter, I might add!) cults in existence, and we are here to tell the truth about what we once knew and what we now know. We all have something to say about this that others without our experience cannot know. Praise God! Colleen | ||
| 33ad Registered user Username: 33ad Post Number: 113 Registered: 10-2004 |
Thanks Colleen. I'm still part of the 'team'. God Bless | ||
| Dane Registered user Username: Dane Post Number: 67 Registered: 4-2004 |
Hi Loren, I'm glad you're staying on the forum. Dane | ||
| Carol_2 Registered user Username: Carol_2 Post Number: 180 Registered: 2-2002 |
Me too Loren!! Carol | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 733 Registered: 3-2004 |
Loren, God has you here for a purpose so I am glad you are staying. Do not leave until He works His miracle with you and others He wants you to influence. Diana | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 1096 Registered: 11-2002 |
Loren, Sometimes I, too, get to suffering burn-out on this forum. Generally, tho I find the posts to be encouraging and uplifting and the people uderstanding and having empathy especially for those of us who have to deal with our SDA loved ones. The only time I really get upset on here is when people state that they like attending Saturday go-to-meeting churches and the gung-ho "we can worship any day we want" crowd on here gets to putting the Saturday go-to-church people down because they choose to attend church on Saturdays an not on Sundays. It just gets my blood boiling! Think about it-if they really believe the line that we are free to worshp any day we want then how come they have an issue with the ones who honestly choose to make Saturday their main day of worship? That's the only time I get really frustrated with this forum. I choose to make Sunday my main day of worship. However, when we still a a Seventh Day Baptist church in driving distance to my house I chose to make Saturdays my day to attend formal worship services. I guess tho it's all cool. What I appricate most about this forum is the empathy. | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 737 Registered: 3-2004 |
Susan-2, It is not the day, it is the One we worship. The day does not matter and from what I read on your above post, that seems to be what you are saying. For me I am so thankful, I can worship God every day and each day is a day resting in Him. He is so awesome. Diana | ||
| 33ad Registered user Username: 33ad Post Number: 115 Registered: 10-2004 |
Thanks All of you. You've treated me in such a Christian Spirit of love. I'm also happy I can worship God every day! BTW, I took my first communion in my new church on a Thursday. God Bless Loren | ||
| Hrobinsonw Registered user Username: Hrobinsonw Post Number: 86 Registered: 7-2004 |
33ad, Mattew 25:14-30. I have never been and Adventist. I joined this site to understand my fiance more. But as she and I relate on spiritual level, I understand more and more that I have certain gifts. Since I have been here in Huntsville, Al, the african american SDA capital, I have been surrounded by nothing but adventists. I am now seeing reason for that. I have to be a beacon to others. The more that I speak to yall the more that I understand where Adventists come from, and understand the Unification of Christs people. But like the scripture says, don't hide your talent. 33ad, from you posts I can see that you are armed with a massive amount of spiritual weaponry. Use it. Be a beacon. Your life is a reflection that others will see. Keep your purpose. I myself am not a big church orginization person. But you can have church with two people. Church is for refreshing. And you all here on this site are my Church. I have service with you all everyday. I hope that you see this forum as a refreshing, because you seem like one of the ones with five talents. I don't know if I have a talent yet so I like hearing of you using yours. | ||
| Dd Registered user Username: Dd Post Number: 204 Registered: 7-2004 |
Untrue, Hrob...you are a beacon yourself. God uses your talents and I praise Him for all the beacons on this forum! | ||
| Tdf Registered user Username: Tdf Post Number: 6 Registered: 11-2004 |
I must agree with Susan. Because my wife and I are still attending an SDA church, I'm sensitive to comments that suggest that one must share the views of the "formers" in order to be saved. Admittedly, I am not yet convicted that the Sabbath was instituted during Moses' life, and I see evidence that it was established during Creation, and I am puzzled by those who insist that the Sabbath was nailed to the cross with the law of Moses. I DEFINITELY DO NOT BELIEVE that the Sabbath is the big "test" that SDAs teach it is, I don't believe that it has any value above any other doctrine that a Christian might hold and I don't believe that keeping Friday, Saturday, Sunday or any other day will save anyone. I am not cocky enough to believe that I am right about this and everyone else is wrong; rather I am searching with an open mind and I am willing to be led by the Holy Spirit. Although I firmly believe in salvation by faith alone, I sense that some would believe that my Sabbath keeping is a sign I have rejected the New Covenant and that I am condemned to hell. This makes me sad. It seems that some have begun to view the SDA church the way that the SDA church (sadly) views the Catholic Church. At times, it almost seems that some "formers" are a bit like the puritans who came to America to escape religious intolerance and, upon arriving, immediately started practicing religious intolerance. Lets' not do that! As each of us study scripture and when that study leads us to distance ourselves from teachings of the SDA church, let's find ourselves moved with love and compassion toward those SDAs who are still confused about salvation by faith. Let's engage in open-minded discussions about how amazing our incredible God is, and let's be humbled by the reality that we were once very misled ourselves, that we are still human and that we are still suseptible to error. | ||
| Jeremy Registered user Username: Jeremy Post Number: 87 Registered: 10-2004 |
I don't think any of us on here think that you have to believe that we are not under the Law in order to be saved! I absolutely do not believe that. Lots of Christians, who are definitely saved, believe in keeping the Law and keeping a "sabbath day" (Saturday or Sunday). The most important thing is that one believes in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection alone! Jeremy | ||
| Jeremy Registered user Username: Jeremy Post Number: 88 Registered: 10-2004 |
I noticed that my second sentence in my above post could be misinterpretd. I meant I don't believe that you have to believe we aren't under the Law in order to be saved. I do believe that we are not under the Law. Sorry for the confusing post--hope that makes it a little clearer. Jeremy | ||
| Ric_b Registered user Username: Ric_b Post Number: 79 Registered: 7-2004 |
TDF, I am fully convinced that Rom 14 applies to this subject. If those of us who no longer keep the Sabbath insist that this verse applies, then it applies both directions. None should judge another's choice regarding the keeping of a day. For some the day had become a symbol of bondage. Sometimes in our effort to pull people from bondage, we assume that they have all the same issues and symbols that we do. That isn't always the case. Let us also be humbled that as mistaken and misled as we may have been, God was wooing us with His grace and love. And as mistaken as we remain, so does His wooing. Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. v10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. | ||
| Logophile Registered user Username: Logophile Post Number: 3 Registered: 11-2004 |
Ric_b said, "If those of us who no longer keep the Sabbath insist that this verse applies, then it applies both directions." Very true. Good observation. Tdf said, "I am not yet convicted that the Sabbath was instituted during Moses' life, and I see evidence that it was established during Creation, and I am puzzled by those who insist that the Sabbath was nailed to the cross with the law of Moses." I agree. It seems apparent to me that God made the seventh day holy on the first seventh day; and I have difficulty understanding how Colossians 2:14 could be construed to apply to the 10 Commandments, from which Paul himself quotes elsewhere as authoritative. (E.g., he cites the fifth commandment as his basis for admonishing children to obey their parents in the Lord.) As for the final test, we'll see how it plays out. It's not difficult to point to hints in Revelation of the Sabbath; however, regardless of what the "test" is, the important question is whether we have entered into the sabbath-rest spoken of in Hebrews 4. According to Hebrews, this is exactly the point on which Israel failed two years out of Egypt. God told them to march into the Promised Land; however, from their human perspective, that looked like a suicide mission. So instead of trusting God, they chose the route of self-preservation and self-trust. Salvation by faith alone... Absolutely. No question about that. But is there anything more difficult for human beings--more contrary to our natural inclinations--than to "live by faith"? ;-) logo | ||
| Belvalew Registered user Username: Belvalew Post Number: 52 Registered: 7-2004 |
Dear TDF, Unto thine own heart be true. I think that is what Romans 14 is saying too. If we, or anyone, try to tell another that they have to worship on a certain day, or not worship on a certain day, in order to be living by faith then we are putting a stumbling block in front of our brothers and sisters. I personally found Sabbaths to be both a cage and a blessing at various stages of my life. I sort of miss having a whole day to set aside for the Lord, but then I realize that I have been set aside by the Lord which feels infinitely better. God is Good! Jesus is awesome. Belva | ||
| Jeremy Registered user Username: Jeremy Post Number: 89 Registered: 10-2004 |
Tdf and Logophile, Please see my post about the Sabbath and Creation here, and tell me what you think. Also, Hebrews 4 says that the Sabbath rest which remains for the people of God is believing in Jesus and entering the rest of HIS finished work on the cross, not the seventh-day Sabbath. Here are a few more questions to ponder: Why would a false prophet's main doctrine (Sabbath) be correct? If the Sabbath is correct, why would the only church of any notable size which keeps the Sabbath be a cult founded by a false prophet? Would you disagree that Jesus is our Sabbath Rest? All of the things commanded to Israel pointed forward to JESUS, and were shadows of Him. Once we have the substance, we no longer need the shadow. Colossians 2:16-17. Exodus 31 and other passages say that the Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel. It did not include Gentiles. How could it be a sign between God and Israel to separate them from the Gentiles if the Gentiles were allowed to keep it??? And Exodus 31 says that the Sabbath is the sign of the Old Covenant. Why would I want to show that I'm under the Old Covenant by keeping the Sabbath, when I'm not under the Old Covenant? Logophile, If you think that Paul using one of the ten commandments in Ephesians proves that we are under the ten commandments, then does Paul using the so-called "ceremonial law" as authority in Corinthians prove that we are also under the so-called "ceremonial law"? Jeremy | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 1108 Registered: 11-2002 |
Yes, Jesus is our Sabbath rest. And, yes, if someone chooses to make his/her main day for corperate worship on Saturday then that is fine, too. I just flatout don't see the big deal over what day someone wants to be his or her main going to church day. I attemd church often on Monday through Friday, too. That's o.k. too. Having been SDA's we know the power that the organization gives to a day. The emphasis is not Jesus in the SDA but it rather is a time between Friday sunset and Saturday sunset each week and reading lables in the market so you don't get a dollop of lard in your mouth. About the only time one hears about Jesus He is almost always mentioned in the future. Such as, "When we see Jesus coming at the second coming", "When we will be in heaven with Jesus". Think about it. As SDA's did you EVER hear anything about Jesus in the present? Or even much about Jesus when He was on this earth for 33 years? If so, I'll wager it wasn't often. It's almost always in the future. That is what is so different for me between the Lutheran where I now attend and the SDA. In the Lutheran Jesus is referred to and spoken in the present. |
