| Author | Message | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 236 Registered: 8-2006 |
It's likely. And, that site is managed by Amazon.com. Must be they sell the products through Amazon and pay them a percentage of the prophet, er I mean profit.  | ||
| Ikilgore Registered user Username: Ikilgore Post Number: 7 Registered: 11-2006 |
Aloha guys! Back with another installment. Its so long I have to break it up in parts, but it must be told: That help was in the form of Greg Leavitt. He was the finance guy at GLAA and he had gotten me the job at QFF. I went to him and told him the situation. He saw it as a witnessing opportunity and handed me the best thing he could find to use as a witnessing toolÖwait for itÖSteps to Christ!!! Yes, the one and only. Greg even told me, ìIf he asks about it you can tell him that even the pope got it as a birthday gift.î (Whatever myth that they had going at the time.) I was excited! I showed up to work the next day and handed it to him. Frank looked at me and said, ìYouíve got to be kidding me? I already have a book of Mormon!î Then he smiled and said he already had a copy and that he just wasnít impressed by it. Said you couldnít save anyone with it. If you wanted to do some real witnessing just use the Bible and God will work out the rest of the deal. I was stunned. He got me to start thinking about if I really knew God or was following something that was just a fake. I told Mr. Leavitt this and he was a little offended. He said that I should pray for them as they were lost. I though about it for a few days. I prayed that I would make a difference in their lives and that God would do the rest. I was alone at GLAA. Of course I had all the people that I went to school with, but I just wasnít feeling like I was doing what was really right. I did have some people that I knew that lived in Berrien Springs, MI who would come up and see me every once and a while. They were and are still a great blessing in my life. Joe and Wendy Nelson. They are awesome people. They too are on the path of freedom. At the time they showed up one weekend towards middle of the year and invited me to live with them for my senior year and go to Andrews Academy in Berrien. I said that I would think about it. Then it happenedÖ One Sabbath afternoon I was walking back from Margoís house and found a wallet in the parking lot of the dorm. I opened it on the way back inside found the ID saw that it was a friend of mine. I took it to the front desk person and he put it into the guys mailbox. I didnít think anything of it until dorm chapel that night. The head boys dean was Skip Hann. I will never forget this as long as I live. He gets up in front of the group and says that a wallet has been returned and that a large amount of money was stolen and that we would be here all night until it was returned. He then left to his office. We all looked around and of course the rumors started. Then one of his people came and got me later to meet with the dean. I go up there and he asks my story about the whole deal. I explain and then he says that he doesnít believe me and that I was the one who stole the money. I told him no and that I was not the one. He then says, ìWould you be willing to take a lie detector test?î I told him you better believe it as I had nothing to hide! He sends me back down stairs and of course everyone thinks I was the one who did it. He comes back down and says that everyone is to go to their dorm rooms and stay there. I go upstairs and get on the phone to my parents and tell them what happened. They said to donít say anything and they would call me back. They called me back a little while later and said that if anything happened that they had a lawyer and would sue the school. I was pretty happy about that! Long story short the guy who had the wallet stolen didnít think it was me and the money was returned in the morning by someone else. After that experience I said that I would never return to the school. I never talked to the dean again. The only time I did was when I left after the school year was done and handed my key in. He said, ìI hope that we will see you again here.î I looked at him and said, ìNot a chance. I am going to Andrews.î With that I walked out. I have never been back. The only time was when I drove by once while going to Margoís house to visit their family some years later. | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 3121 Registered: 3-2004  |
Ikilgore, You know just when to stop and leave us hanging!!! Finish this story!! Diana | ||
| Ikilgore Registered user Username: Ikilgore Post Number: 8 Registered: 11-2006 |
I am posting another part. I have to leave for work now. More to come... My parents said that I was never to attend another academy after that. I talked them into Andrews and they knew Joe and Wendy and they said that I could go. Andrews academy wasnít a boarding school. You didnít have hardly any rules as the other place did. I could come and go and be good with it. I had a blast. I loved the teachers and all the classmates. They were in shock about the stories I would tell them about GLAA. The history teacher at Andrews was in total shock. He said, ìWow, they ran the place like NAZIís!î He was so right. I just plain loved Andrews Academy. I had such a good time. I looked forward to graduating from the school. I also had a slight problem. I stopped believing in God. I would go to the Bible classes and think about what kinda mess I had learned at GLAA and just ignore everything. I started to just go with the flow. Not really care about spiritual things. I mean after all its only a grade, right? I just did what I was suppose to. Not that I had to attend or anything but I went to church every Sabbath morning at Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. I heard all the sermons from Dwight Nelson. Didnít really care. I listened to Christian music but it was only an act. I just really didnít care. I was starting to get sick of Adventism and of God. I graduated with all the nice awards. I just graduated without God. I left Berrien Springs empty. I went home to Peoria to start my life after high school. God was waiting. I returned home in the spring of 2001. I was ready to start working! I got a job at the dental lab that was operated downstairs in the building that my parents worked at. I worked downstairs and they worked upstairsÖit was interesting. The kicker was we worked for the pastor and his wife. He was the owner of the practice and the lab. He is also a dentist. It was a family thing. I still listened to Christian music all the time. I didnít go to any church, just really didnít care to. My parents were sad that I wouldnít go to church with them at all. I told them that I didnít want to have anything to do with Adventists or any of their junk. They accepted that but not easily. They said that I would have to decide for myself. I respected their ways on the Sabbath and that was fine. The music thing is was started to change me. I was listening to a song by the group Avalon. They had this song called ìCanít Live a Day.î It talks about how you couldnít live a day with out Godís love. I stopped and started to think about it. What am I doing? What am I here for? I left it at that. Went on about my job. What I didnít know was God was laying the foundation to something really cool! I worked with this lady Cindy. She sat in the same room and listened to the music I would play. She would ask me some spiritual things every once in a while. I would answer them in the typical Adventist fashion. When you are programmed in Adventism you ìknowî all the answers. Except one. About a year or so later she pulled me to the side and said she had something to tell me. I was thinking what did I do now! We sat down and she told me this story. She said that she never really thought much about God until I joined them at work. She said that my example and my music that I listened to made her start to have some questions about God. She started to attend Northwoods Community Church in Peoria. (Side note: I had gone there a few times before with some friends and thought it was nice, but didnítí have the ìtruthî. That was the Adventist in me.) She then explained that she was going to be baptized the next week at the churchís mid week celebration service. She then asked if I would come and see her there as she wanted to have me join her in the celebration. I told her sure I would go. | ||
| Mwh Registered user Username: Mwh Post Number: 378 Registered: 4-2006  |
yahoo!!! this is so much fun and quite a thrill to read your story | ||
| Pheeki Registered user Username: Pheeki Post Number: 843 Registered: 1-2003 |
I too was falsly accused of something I didn't do at a SDA academy. A boy I used to go to the store with for candy and soda before school passed out in his first period class. We had been seen walking up to the school together that morning and I had a tube of Sprees that I had broken in two and handed him half. This turned into drugs I was seen handing him. It was all over school that I was a drug dealer, had given him drugs and he had passed out. When he came to his senses later, he cleared me. He had stolen Xanex or some such stuff from his mothers medicine cabinet and taken it that morning. Still, the damage was done. People wanted to believe I was a drug dealer. The bible teacher (the same one who was so dramatic and scared us all the time) had already been telling the classes that a major drug dealer had been apprehended that day...my brother was sitting in one of the classes and from the clues the teacher gave, surmized it was me. My parents demanded a public apology, which I never got. There were only a few weeks of school left so I finished there and never returned again. I went to pulic high school and loved it! | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 237 Registered: 8-2006 |
So many mean things happen to our children in SDA schools!  I'm not saying it's ONLY in SDA schools, but my son had a bad experience and he went to independent Christian schools, the SDA junior academy, and public school for his last 2 years and the ONLY trouble he ever had was in the SDA school. My son was school pastor one year and was well liked by most everyone at the church and the school, with the exception of one teacher. This teacher looked down on our family because we needed some assistance with the tuition (I was in nursing school and working part time, my ex husband was retired but cleaned the school for part of the tuition, and we also got some worthy student money.) He was very snotty to us, and acted like he was better. Of course, that's common in many churches unless you are a professional and well-off. My son was pretty good friends with this teacher's son, but the teacher didn't like that. The school was going to have a missionary trip that year to Brazil, but you couldn't go unless your grades were good. My son was not the best student (although at the Christian school he went to before he was an excellent student and was tested way above his grade level) and he had some work to make up for this teacher, which we agreed to have him do. My son did all the work (I made sure) and he did it to the specifications, but the teacher, in a VERY snide way, said to my ex: "Well, your son won't be going on the mission trip, because I gave him an F". My son was devastated and so were we. I let him finish out the school year, but I took him out and enrolled him in the independent Christian school he went to before we put him in the SDA school. In the 3 years he was in the SDA school, he lost ALL of his academic levels and then some. It was hard for him to catch up again, but he finally did. As an aside note, this teacher was way too friendly with the girls at the school and was seen coming out of unoccupied rooms and from behind the school with one of the 9/10 grade girls. He transferred to another school, and I heard that he was caught doing things to girls he shouldn't have, and was fired. Susan | ||
| Pheeki Registered user Username: Pheeki Post Number: 844 Registered: 1-2003 |
Oh yes. The "Worthy" student fund. What makes you "worthy"? It is the most humiliating thing you will ever endure...all so you can keep your kids in a sub-standard education. You have to supply your income tax returns, your monthly income and outgo...they wanted to know what you spent on everything! And this was tossed around a table for all your peers to peruse at their leisure and then went in some file for posterity so all will know in the future that you once were deemed "worthy" to have your tuition discounted. When my husband was in CRNA school, he couldn't work. We had to apply for this two years in a row. The humiliation was not worth it. Its supposed to be confidential...but all those board members have wives, and friends, they tell. Believe me, they tell. Then when something happens that a parent would normally complain about, you feel you must keep your mouth shut and just take it b/c you take their assistance. Why oh why didn't we just put them in public school? | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 238 Registered: 8-2006 |
I don't know, Pheeki, I went to public school and I turned out pretty good! I wanted my son to go to a church school because he had started in K-3 while I worked. It was much better than the day cares he had been in, and the person who kept him in her home along with her children recommended the school when she returned to work. My son was taught to read by phonics in that school and memorized much Scripture. It really was a good, even though strict, school. When we moved, I had him in the other independent Christian school. This was in the time where I had left the church because of not being able to live up to what I thought was "the truth", not because of finding out what the Bible really said! So, when I returned to the SDA church and dove in headfirst into the 'historic Adventism', EGW and all that entailed, I wanted my son to be in the SDA school, because of course you didn't want him out there in Babylon! When I look back now, I can see what a terrible mistake that was. My son really did receive a substandard education there. When he was in the 5th grade at the Christian school, he scored in the 7th grade level for almost everything. When he went to the SDA school, he never brought home any homework. He was never held accountable for his homework until I met with his teacher at the end of the first semester. Then I found out my son had not turned anything in! My son found the lack of discipline and (I think now)poor quality of the curriculum to be something he didn't have to worry about. Of course, the ENTIRE Christmas vacation I had to work with him every day to turn in all the work the teacher had let him by with the whole first semester. Later, when he returned to the school in the 9th grade, he had a terrible time keeping up! I'm sure I share some fault in this for not asking the teacher about his work. But I really had no reason to, and it was so new for us in the SDA school system that I didn't realize when my son said they had no homework, it was if they got all their work done in school they wouldn't have homework. His teacher pretty much allowed the kids to do what they wanted and didn't say anything. You are right about feeling unsure of saying anything because everyone knows that you can't afford to pay tuition. And, of course, every board member does know. Looking back, I wish I had never put him there. *sigh* He's still confused, because he feels the SDA church is right on the Sabbath. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 5052 Registered: 12-2003  |
Isaiah, what a great story! How amazing that God used your music not only to soften your own heart but Cindy's as well! He truly is sovereign! Thank you for sharing your story...can't wait for the next installment! Colleen | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 239 Registered: 8-2006 |
Yes, Isaiah, I'm waiting too! I didn't mean to hijack your thread! Your story is thrilling! Susan | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 3122 Registered: 3-2004 |
All my sisters and my self had our tuition pain by the church. Then when the two eldest were in high school they went to work as "maids" for doctors in the congregation. They worked for the doctors and the doctor paid their tuition to the academy. Thank God I did not work for an adventist. I worked for a Christian couple and lived with them for two years while I finished academy and my first year of college, which was my only year in a non SDA school. I asked our youngest sister if Mom tried to get her to live with and work for an SDA so she could go to academy. Mom tried and this dear younger sister told Mom, "NO!!!" Mom took our brothers out of SDA school when the oldest was in 6th grade, I think. They finished their schooling in public schools. I did not have the strength of character to tell Mom no, but at least it was not with an SDA family. It was not fun for my sisters. I was lucky as the non SDA family treated me like a daughter. But, God uses everything we experience in our lives and so I can be thankful now. He is always awesome. Diana | ||
| Pheeki Registered user Username: Pheeki Post Number: 845 Registered: 1-2003 |
I had the same experience at the SDA school my kids went to. We got to nearly Christmas and I get a call and find out my son is failing because he hasn't turned anything in. I go to school and his desk is full of unfinished papers. The teacher hadn't made him finish them, nor had she alerted me he didn't have any grades the entire semester. I had to sit there and help him do his papers for the entire sememster. Amazingly, when he turned them in, he had like a A average. She didn't even count off for him not turning them in. (I was grateful for that...but was that teaching him anything?) | ||
| Ikilgore Registered user Username: Ikilgore Post Number: 9 Registered: 11-2006 |
I show up on the Wednesday that Cindy was to be baptized. All her family was there to watch. The church was packed. Almost all the 1200 or so seats were full. It was standing room only. There were about 40 people getting baptized along with the induction of 20 or more people becoming members. It was a great evening! I wonít forget it. Northwoods does something that I really think is cool when it comes to baptizing. They start the service with an opening prayer and then a few announcements. They then start worship with songs of praise to God our Father. Then the people going to be baptized come on stage. The band is cranking the praise and worship music out. Then they start baptizing people while the singing continues. It is a really cool service. It is totally about rejoicing in Godís amazing presence. Itís a very moving experience. Back to my story on CindyÖ She gets into the water and goes down. The pastor pulls her up and you could see all the weight of the world leave her in that second. I just stood there amazed at how someone who I just worked with could want to follow Jesus because of something that I might have done or said or for that matter did with just the music I listened to. Itís a very interesting feeling. I walked away from that night wanting to find out what to do next. When you are in Adventism for so many years you just start going with the motions when it comes to spiritual things. I was doing the same for years. Cindy saw me at work the next morning and invited me to attend the Easter service in a few weeks. I was told her that I would go. She said that she was going on Sunday morning. I told her that I would go Saturday night. (They have three identical serviceís each weekend.) I didnít want to go alone so I asked my mother if she wanted to go. My mom agreed although she was hesitant as it wasnít an Adventist church. Easter weekend 2004. The weekend that changed my life forever! This is my favorite part!!! My mom and I show up for the Saturday evening service. We get our seats and the service begins. The music was great. The singing was great. The people were great to be with. The service was just awesome and then came the message. Pastor Cal Rychener, who is the head pastor, delivered a message of redemption in such a way that I never heard before. He stood up there said that it doesnít matter who you are that God has a plan for you! He went on and said that accepting Christ into your life is the most important thing you can do. I sat there in silence listening to every word. I started to get a thirst for God. It was like when you know that you need something to drink and you take a sip of water. It tastes pretty good and then you want more. Then you finish one glass and then get another and another. It was just like that. Pastor Cal went on to say that it doesnít matter who you are that God will accept you right now and all you have to do is ask. He then said that most important thing that I have ever heard: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved! I could feel God moving in me. It was really strange at first, I hadnít felt God move in years. I rededicated my life that night. I asked Jesus for forgiveness for my sins and that he would live in my life. I knew that the road might be tough from now on but it would be worth it! I started to attend church every Saturday night. I started to study the Bible again. I was still trying to live two different lives. I went to Northwoods each weekend. I was eating everything that was taught. I started to see that Jesus is more than what the Adventists confined him to be. They put all the boundaries up and didnít let Him work his power on people. Jesus transforms people and doesnít force people to follow laws that were nailed to the Cross. If that was the case then what was the point of the Cross? I started to pay attention to Christian music. I had always listened to the music, but never really ìlistenedî to it. God uses music in the most powerful of ways. At Northwoods they sing this song called ìFields of Graceî. In the song it talks about dancing in the fields of grace of my Father God. There is this line in it where it says, ìI am in a place where religion finally dies!î It is one of the best lines in the song. I took that to heart in 2004-2005. I decided to shed all the Adventist teachings as they didnít make any sense and didnít line up with the Bible. God has used Northwoods to help lead me back to Him. I canít thank God enough for his love and his knowledge that I would need some reprogramming! We truly serve a really amazing God and I thank him for that. I started to take these classes at Northwoods for Christians who wanted to grow even more. They have these classes that are really cool. They call them Northwoods 101, 201, 301, 401. The first deals with what it means to be a Christian and be a member of the church. The rest deal with discovering your spiritual gifts, how to impact others for the cause of Christ and how to mature in Christ. The best part is that these classes do nothing but put focus on Christ and Christ alone. Show me one Adventist class that does this! I have attended them all. The cool thing is that when they hold them, they hold them on Saturday mornings! Here is the catch to this. My mom attended each of the classes with me as well. She had to give up going to the SDA church on those days. She thought that I was just trying to get her to stay away from the SDA church on the days we went to the classes. I told her that wasnít the case and that she didnít have to go if she didnít want to. She went to the first one and was hooked. She was ready to go to each one. We went to all of them. We learned so much. I have never seen Jesus in such a clearer light! My mom would get home and my dad would ask her about the classes. She would tell him that it was some great teaching and that he should go to them. He wasnít really up with that but he did agree to go to one of the weekend services. He went one timeÖand hasnít stopped going since then! He loves it. My parents and I would go to the Saturday night service. They still would go to the SDA service in the morning at their church and then would go to the evening service at Northwoods. I find it strange that you can go and listen to teaching about law in the morning and then listen to Godís love at night. Just doesnít sound fun or inspiring but they still do it. Pray for them!!! This is what a typical Saturday at the Kilgore house hold is like. They leave for church in the morning. They return from church around 1 or 2 oíclock. They get home and they look miserable. They look like they are dead to the world. I ask them how church was and they just reply, ìOh, it was ok.î Then they go to the evening service at Northwoods. They are energized and awake and ready to set the world on fire for Christ! This happens each week. You can ask them what the sermon was at the SDA church and they couldnít tell you. Ask them what the sermon was about three weeks ago at Northwoods and they can tell you what it was including what worship songs were sung! I kid you not. God truly does some amazing stuff when he is unleashed!!! More to come. Almost done! | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 5060 Registered: 12-2003 |
Amazing story, Isaiah! I'm praying now for your parents. Colleen | ||
| Mwh Registered user Username: Mwh Post Number: 383 Registered: 4-2006 |
cool and amazing! Jesus you are truly working out miracles! | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 3126 Registered: 3-2004 |
Ikilgore, It is awesome how God has worked in your life and is getting into the lives of your Mother and Father. I will pray for them as I eagerly look forward to your last chapter. Diana | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 241 Registered: 8-2006 |
Isaiah, WOW! is all I can say about now. I wil pray for your parents and praise God for how He led you back to Him and now is wooing your parents. Thank you so much for telling your story as like Diana, I'm eagerly awaiting the "rest of the story". Susan | ||
| Ikilgore Registered user Username: Ikilgore Post Number: 10 Registered: 11-2006 |
Guys here is the last part of my story. Well, I should say the beginning of the sequel that will take some time to see unfold... In October 2005 my parents helped their church do an evangelistic series with Russel Burrel. I donít know if anyone here knows him or not but he was some big SDA guy. He is now retired. They were totally ready to do it. They had all the typical scary beasty pamphlets you know the typical SDA revelation propaganda. I had nothing to do with them on this ìcrusadeî but did have one question for them: what are you trying to do? Scare them into church??? They just laughed and said that it was proven that people would go if you had scary beasty things on your flyers and most people wouldnít come if you didnít. I told them, ìYeah, no kidding! Youíre scaring them into your meetings!î Then the SDA tactics came into playÖ About a week before the meetings started my dad was at the dental office setting stuff up. I get there as we were to go and have dinner together. I told him it was time to go and he kept on stalling. I knew something was up. I could sense a trap in the making. I had been expecting on for a few weeks. My dad said that the pastor of the SDA church they go to wanted to talk with me really quick. I was ready for it and said ok. So the pastor comes along and pulls me into another room. He shuts the door and then starts in. He says, ìI have known you for years. You donít attend an Adventist church and thatís fine. I know that some of the people that are Adventists have hurt you. I am sorry for that and you should put it behind you. These meetings are really important as we try to win souls. I believe that you should come to them as truth will be preached there.î I cut him off and said, ìI am really not interested and I already go to a church.î He then continues, ìI know you go to Northwoods and that is ok, but they donít have the complete message. They put emphasis on grace and not on hard biblical truths. You have to be careful with seeker churches as they donít teach the full Bible just what is feel good. I know that they might go and have better speakers than I, but I think that you need to hear the message that these meetings are going to be sending.î I stood there for a second and then replied, ìRod, I have a lot of respect for you, but this is the same song and dance that Adventists have been doing for years. I am not interested as I already have a church that I love to go to. They preach the Gospel and nothing else. Thanks, but no thanks.î He just looked at me and had that look of youíre lost on his face. He then opens the door and says, ìWell, youíre more than welcome to come if you get bored. Just remember what you have been taught.î Yes, what I have been taughtÖ (Side note: Anybody notice how Jesus was nowhere mentioned by the pastor???) I went to dinner with my dad that night and didnít really say much. I got home that night and told my mom what a setup I had just been put through. She started to apologize and then she said that she wasnít really interested either in the meetings but that she wanted to go. I said well have fun. Opening night of the SDA meetings was on a Saturday night. My parents went to the meetings and me and a friend went to Northwoods. Pastor Cal got up on the stage and said that it was great to have everyone show up. He went on to preach a message on Godís love and grace for us. He then told about Daniel and Revelation and how they pointed to Christ as the one and only. It was like he knew what he was up against and that a lot of people may have gotten the flyers from the meetings down the street. The thing is that Northwoods is on Allen road and the dental office is on Knoxville Ave. They are about a mile or two apart!!! Pastor Cal went on to preach one of the best sermons I have heard. He hit everything. He showed how the Sabbath was fulfilled in Jesus and that it was only there to point to things to come. It was an inspiring message. It was like God was telling me that this was the place to be. I wasnít suppose to go back to Adventism. It was over. I get out of church and go and see my dad who was directing traffic at the meetings. I pulled up and told him I just heard a message on the Sabbath. He was shocked. He couldnít believe it. I told him everything about the message of the evening. He then had an Adventist moment and said that it was just them (Northwoods) trying to counter the meetings. I told him that it wasnít and that maybe he should come to Northwoods instead. He said no and went back to directing traffic. I left and went home. I knew that work needed to be done. My mom was starting to get back into SDA things again and well my dad would need some help. In the weeks following the SDA meeting my parents went on some type of Adventist kick. They were gung-ho about keeping the Sabbath and all the usual Adventist stuff. It started to drag. They would still go to Northwoods with me but didnít really seem to be ìthereî. It was more habit. At their church things were up. The attendance was up by like 10 people. The meetings had 10 baptisms. These meetings mind you were a joint effort by the Richland church, the Peoria church and I believe the South Side Peoria church. Not much of an impact on the community and I thank God for that. Everyone was on this post meeting high. It was freaky. My parents were sucked in by it. I still went to Northwoods with them each Saturday night and prayed for a change in them. Then it started to happen. We went each Saturday night to Northwoods. My parents enjoyed going with me and I with them. Each service the teaching was getting deeper. They started to realize that maybe there was something to Northwoods. I mean its not like they didnít notice the teaching before or anything but something was starting to work on them. God is amazing when it comes to changing people. My mom started to question how church was done at Richland as she saw how it was done at Northwoods. She started to try and change Richland to have more of a Northwoods approach. She hit a wall to all of her ideas. The church leadership at Richland wasnít interested. They had everything right and didnít want to change. So my mom started to put more time into Northwoods. She loved how they taught Jesus first and everthing else later. She started to see Jesus in His light and not in the light of Adventism. She never really put much stock into EGW and is now starting to reject some of her writings. My mom is also considering leaving the SDA church and joining Northwoods as I will be doing after the first of the year. I made a decision to reject all SDA teachings. It wasnít hard to give up SDA, but the hardest part is having to listen to people judge you because of it. My mom is totally for keeping the Sabbath. I am not. I made the choice about two months ago to quit attending the Saturday night services at Northwoods and only attend the Sunday morning 11:00 service. My parents were at first really sad that I was not going to church on the Sabbath but accepted my beliefs. I told them that it shouldnít matter what day I go to church on and that they should be happy that I even believe in God. My dad still has his objections but is ok with it for the most part. My mom is really starting to look at what the true meaning of being a Christ follower is. She is starting to see its not about keeping an old set of laws that are done away with. I praying for her that she will see Godís light in a new and fresh way. So that is where I stand. I am hoping that Jesus will be shown to them though Northwoods and that they may have a new beginning in Christ. Guys thanks for the time and for you guys reading this. It is so nice to be in such good company! To share this is really neat as it is so cool to be able to share it with people who know what I am talking about. Although it is kinda sad that we have a group to help others out of Adventism. Itís a long road ahead for me and my parents but it will be worth it. Please keep me and my parents in your prayers!!! To quote some one famous: Now you know the rest of the storyÖ.thanks guys. I will start a new thread deal about my weekend talks with my mom after each Sunday service. We usually have lunch and talk about life and God so it will be interesting. | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 3129 Registered: 3-2004 |
Ikilgore, Praise God for the changes in your Mother. Your Father will come along. I will continue to pray for your parents. God is so awesome. Diana |
