Archive through June 16, 2005 Log Out | Topics | Search
Moderators | Edit Profile

Former Adventist Fellowship Forum » ARCHIVED DISCUSSIONS 4 » SDA New Word for Witnessing » Archive through June 16, 2005 « Previous Next »

Author Message
Belvalew
Registered user
Username: Belvalew

Post Number: 501
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Tuesday, June 07, 2005 - 11:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi, I was in the process this afternoon of responding to Jeremy's post about Satan being a demon, and not much to be feared. Anyway, my computer website crashed, and I had to copy what I'd written to a file. Hopefully this will make some sense even though the discussion has moved on...

In response to Jeremy's post above about Lucifer being a mere demon, I seem to recall that he was referred to as a covering or guardian cherubim. The golden angels portrayed on top of the ark were covering cherubim. I've forgotten my angelology, but I do know there was a ranking to the angels, cherubim, and seraphim, but either way, Lucifer, even if he was a high ranking cherubim, (described in Eze. 28:11-28) he was not an archangel like Michael or Gabriel. When Michael or Gabriel goes to do battle with him today, it is for sure that Michael/Gabriel will win.

Belva
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady

Post Number: 1600
Registered: 3-2004


Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2005 - 7:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Satan was beat at the cross, no matter what he does now. Praise God. Thank you Jesus.
You are so awesome.
Diana
Dennis
Registered user
Username: Dennis

Post Number: 402
Registered: 4-2000


Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2005 - 7:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A hearty AMEN to Diana's post!
Redhorsewoman
Registered user
Username: Redhorsewoman

Post Number: 13
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 11:33 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hmmm...another interesting correlation to the JW religion.

JWs, also, seem to be totally preoccupied with demons and the fear of demon possession. If a JW is having unusual problems at home, one of the first things that they will be advised to look for is some item that they might have purchased at a garage or yard sale that might be demon-possessed (for some reason, demons seem to absolutely LOVE old couches being sold at yard sales) or gifts from "worldly" relatives, or possibly any religious books or pictures that might be in the house. Yes, it's true (tongue in cheek here) that any non-JW religious literature or symbols will almost invariably be loaded with demons.

I don't know about the experiences of individual SDAs, but JWs seem to have many supernatural experiences (some imagined, I'm sure, but some seem pretty real.) I've often wondered if Satan might not be using reverse psychology with groups such as JWs and SDAs. In other words, attacking them more than others--not because these groups are the only true ones (after all, they can't ALL be the one true religion, can they?)--but because he already has control over them and wants them to think that the only place of safety is within the group over which he already maintains control.
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady

Post Number: 1607
Registered: 3-2004


Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 5:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I do not want to start a new thread for this, so I decided to put it here.
Last summer I got news that the SDA church was going to start a new church in my city, Henderson, NV. I did not know where and have prayed about it. Well, Saturday morning I drove by the big intersection near me where there is a Community Church. There was a hand printed sign near the marquee that said "Living Water Fellowship" and there were people all dressed up, as SDAs do for church, standing at the door. I could not stop as I was going into Las Vegas to meet an FAF member who was visiting Vegas. So next Saturday, I am getting up and going to see if that is sponsored by the SDA church. Please pray with me and for me, that if it is the SDAs, God will give me the words to say.
I told my FAF friend about it when I met her.
I almost hope it is not SDA, but I do not know of any one else who would be meeting on Sat morning. If it was SD Baptists or any other 7th day keeping church, I would think they would say so. I know the SDAs can be deceptive and use any ruse to pull people in. But right now that is just speculation. So I will be praying about it and am asking your prayers also.
Diana
Jerry
Registered user
Username: Jerry

Post Number: 458
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 7:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I believe that the church you mentioned is truly SDA.

Look at this link.

It gives the street address and phone number.

. . . yet another "cloak and dagger" story . . .
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 2114
Registered: 12-2003


Posted on Monday, June 13, 2005 - 10:58 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Diana, I'd be very interested to hear your impressions if you visit this church. This is not the first Sunday, "bait and switch" church the SDA denomination has started in Nevada. I'd be interested to hear their rationalization for starting a church on Sunday, how they plan to take people from Sunday to a regular SDA church, within how many months they plan to help attendees make this transition, etc.

Of course, if you can't get that much info, that's OK too!

Just curious.

Colleen
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady

Post Number: 1608
Registered: 3-2004


Posted on Monday, June 13, 2005 - 5:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Jerry, That is the address. It is SDA as I thought.
Colleen, I guess I did not explain myself very well. I was driving past the church an Saturday morning about 10:30 AM when when I saw it. So they are meeting on Saturday. I almost wish an SDA would come by my place with literature or an invitation to their church. I am about 1 & 1/2 miles from them.
Now, I do not have to visit them to find out if it is SDA or not.
God is so wonderful and so awesome.
Diana
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady

Post Number: 1611
Registered: 3-2004


Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 8:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I sent the NV/Utah conference an e-mail asking why the meeting is called "living water fellowship", when it is a part of the SDA church. I told them, in my opinion, it was deceptive.
I will let you all know what they answer, if they answer.
Diana
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 2123
Registered: 12-2003


Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 9:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Got it, Diana. Sorry--I think I assumed Sunday. I know there actually WAS an SDA church in Nevada that met on Sunday and had a plan to transition attenders into the SDA church within six months.

I'll look forward to hearing their answer--if they send one.

Colleen
Dennis
Registered user
Username: Dennis

Post Number: 407
Registered: 4-2000


Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 10:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mass transference from Saturday to Sunday doesn't work very well (i.e., Worldwide Church of God). Here in Lincoln, Nebraska, for example, the WCG attendance has plummeted to less than ten at times. They had a church of 150 members before doctrinal changes were imposed on the membership in 1995. Our salvation is a very personal matter.
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker

Post Number: 2124
Registered: 12-2003


Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 10:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Great point, Dennis. I don't know how successful that Sunday Adventist church was, but I haven't heard about it in some time. (It was inaugurated in the late 90's.)

Also, the situation of the WWCG is similar to that experienced at a congregational level by Clay Peck and Richard Fredericks. Clay lost half his members when he transitioned to Sunday. I don't know percentages for Fredericks, but he fought a difficult, uphill battle for quite some time when he transitioned.

I think there are the seeds of some interesting sociological and theological studies here...

Praise God that He is sovereign even over such things as our personal worship!

Colleen
Chris
Registered user
Username: Chris

Post Number: 844
Registered: 7-2003


Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 6:42 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm curious if Celebration Center (SDA) in Redlands, CA is still doing a Sunday "outreach" service or if that was a short lived experiment. Richard?

Chris
Jeremy
Registered user
Username: Jeremy

Post Number: 750
Registered: 10-2004


Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 12:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow, wow, WOW!! I am absolutely shocked. Out of curiosity, I looked up the Celebration Center's web site (http://www.celebrationcenter.net/).

And I was shocked at their blatant false gospel that they have posted on their web site! (At the link "Wondering about God?") I can't believe that they actually publicly and openly admit to teaching such a "gospel," which is totally different from the Gospel of the Bible.

I know Stan has talked about the liberal SDA gospel and universalism, etc. But to see it on their public web site, and worded the way it is--it surprised me.

They say that everyone is already saved--and that you will go to heaven unless you "opt-out" of your salvation! They totally deny the doctrine of being born again.

Here are some excerpts:


quote:

Wake up to the fact that you have eternal life right now! Adam and Eve?s rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden condemned all humanity to eternal separation from God, the source of all life. But before this world was even created, God foresaw your need for salvation and gave it to you.

[...]

It is because of God?s sovereign will, not anything you do or don?t do, that you have eternal life. And that eternal life is in effect today ? right now. ?For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith ? and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God ? not by works, so that no one can boast.? Ephesians 2:8,9 Notice that you have been saved ? past tense. Through Christ?s death on the cross, God has already saved you. You can choose to opt out of salvation but you can?t opt in because you?re in already! God?s word regarding eternal salvation is not ?YES?, this person has it; ?NO?, this one doesn?t.? It is an accomplished fact ? a done deal for every human being.

You can say ?Amen!? to your eternal salvation and you can cooperate with God?s loving plan for your happiness and well being, not in order to be saved, but in grateful response to the fact that you already are.

[...]

No matter what you?ve done or how long you?ve blown God off, you are invited to begin experiencing heaven?s richest and most awesome blessings starting this very moment. If you would like to add your ?Amen? to God?s ?Yes? concerning your eternal salvation, you might like to say this simple prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life that You have already given to me
.




Wow, I don't which is worse--the conservative SDA gospel which says "you might be saved in the future if you work hard enough" or the liberal SDA gospel which says "you were already saved way in the past and don't need to be born again"!

Notice that they claim that Ephesians 2 says that you (an unregenerate sinner) are already saved ("through Christ's death on the cross") because it uses the past tense--when it clearly says "through FAITH"! It is clearly talking to those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

Jeremy

(Message edited by jeremy on June 15, 2005)
Riverfonz
Registered user
Username: Riverfonz

Post Number: 418
Registered: 3-2005
Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 1:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jeremy,
I say Wow! with you. Thanks for posting the false, apostate, and demonic doctrines of Dan Smith, Celebration Center, liberal Adventism, but unfortunately now catching on in some evangelical circles.
This is really blatant apostasy!

Stan
Bob
Registered user
Username: Bob

Post Number: 312
Registered: 7-2000


Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 2:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Celebration is Richard's church.

Richard, how do these comments by Jeremy and Riverfonze affect you?

Bob
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady

Post Number: 1613
Registered: 3-2004


Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 7:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That Celebration church is the one my brother, who now lives in Montana, attended when he lived in CA. He was even a Bible teacher while he was there. And he was not SDA, although he did study his Bible, but did not live the SDA lifestyle. What a convoluted doctrine!!!
Diana
Bob
Registered user
Username: Bob

Post Number: 313
Registered: 7-2000


Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 8:23 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think I need to clarify the intent of the question I posed above for my friend Richard.

If I were reading others' comments about my own church, and saw it labeled with such strong words as "totally deny" [the Gospel], "false, apostate, and demonic," and "blatant apostasy," I would feel hurt and very likely defensive.

I understand the importance of defending truth, but must we on this forum engage in such extremes of theological pugilism?

I know of at least six people, some who previously were posters and some lurkers, who have gone away from this forum precisely because of this kind of verbal battering.

Are name-calling and generalization good models of speaking the truth in love?

Bob


Seekr777
Registered user
Username: Seekr777

Post Number: 174
Registered: 1-2003


Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 9:58 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bob, thanks for your comments. I choose not to make any response at the moment.

I'm not here to defend or attack anyone here and It doesn't really feel like a safe place to me now.

richard

rtruitt@mac.com
Jeremy
Registered user
Username: Jeremy

Post Number: 752
Registered: 10-2004


Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 10:01 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I understand your concerns, Bob. I may have been too harsh in this instance in the wording of my post. I'm not saying that what I said wasn't true, but I probably could have found a way to be a little more loving in my tone. I apologize if it was offensive.

In other cases on this forum though, I do think that sometimes strong language does need to be used. The Apostle Paul could probably be accused of "name-calling" when he wrote, "You idiotic Galatians" (Gal. 3:1). (That's literally what he said!) I don't know if any of us have ever gone that far--but then again, he was being inspired by God to write that.

Jeremy

Topics | Last Day | Last Week | Tree View | Search | Help/Instructions | Program Credits Administration