| Author | Message | ||
| Tfelmon Registered user Username: Tfelmon Post Number: 52 Registered: 7-2011 |
Interesting article about the SDA church being the fastest growing church in North America. http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-18-Adventists_17_ST_N.htm | ||
| Skeeter Registered user Username: Skeeter Post Number: 1667 Registered: 12-2007  |
I wonder if this journalist just took their word for it ? Also, it (might) be the fastest or ONE of the fastest growing..... but I betcha a box of Little Debbie's that they are one of, if not THE TOP on the list of LOSING members also  | ||
| Skeeter Registered user Username: Skeeter Post Number: 1668 Registered: 12-2007 |
Gettin em and KEEPIN em are two very different things. I believe that once they learn the "Truth about Adventist truth" many if not most leave even if they don't bother having their names removed from the books. | ||
| Chris Registered user Username: Chris Post Number: 1620 Registered: 7-2003  |
They might "keep" more than you think depending on the definition. Ever try to have your name removed? It took me months. My wife finally gave up and decided it wasn't a big enough deal to her to keep fighting with them about what should be a simple change on a piece of paper. You have to REALLY REALLY want to make it official for them not to "keep" your name. | ||
| Thegoldenway Registered user Username: Thegoldenway Post Number: 171 Registered: 5-2011 |
I just recently had my name removed. I actually requested it June 25th, 2011. They didn't get it done til September 23rd, 2011. I don't understand why it takes them so long to just delete your name from their membership records. lynn | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 1826 Registered: 3-2009 |
Lynn, is the process. The pastor cannot just delete you from the database or books. First he needs to make some effort to bring you back. (Most of the time they don't do it, but that is the procedure.) Then he has to present your request to the church board which in most churches only meets once a month; in some less often. After the board votes it, then he has to take it to the church in "business meeting", which in most churches only happens once every quarter; sometimes less often. So you see the process takes a long time of burocracy. Hec | ||
| Thegoldenway Registered user Username: Thegoldenway Post Number: 173 Registered: 5-2011 |
I know Hec isn't that just nuts tho? Cuz do you know of any other christian denomination that makes such a 'big' deal over someone asking to have their membership removed!! Wow! Crazy, huh? Actually, to be honest, I think that mine went pretty fast.....only 3 months hehe Pretty sad tho. It should only take a couple minutes. I just learned last night that several people in my former church were told not to contact me....but to just leave me alone. WOW! That explains why whenever I would run into a SDA at the store or wherever.... they would actually turn their back on me or look the opposite direction, like they didn't even see me. That really messed with my head. Sometimes I began to wonder if I wasn't really deceived and maybe something really is wrong with me. It really messed with me at times. Geez!!! lynn | ||
| Wiredog Registered user Username: Wiredog Post Number: 267 Registered: 8-2010  |
LOL "If you go strictly by the numbers then the Cults are winning" --Chuck Swindoll He says that every Sunday that we introduce the "New Member Class" graduates to the church. | ||
| Mjcmcook Registered user Username: Mjcmcook Post Number: 173 Registered: 2-2011 |
~LYNN~ Actually, what you are saying is that you were "shunned"?! I thought only the "Amish" people did this~ Either way~Shame on them~  ~*~mj~*~ | ||
| Thegoldenway Registered user Username: Thegoldenway Post Number: 174 Registered: 5-2011 |
MJ.....hehe you funny ya shunned LOL! Can you believe that? | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 13031 Registered: 12-2003  |
This quote really disturbed me:
For Daniel Shaw to say that he can't answer this mysterious question is to admit that he has NO understanding of cults and how they work. And he's the Fuller "expert" on missionary outreach. Hello? What is wrong with this picture? Colleen | ||
| Seekinglight Registered user Username: Seekinglight Post Number: 609 Registered: 3-2009 |
I hate to make this kind of judgment, but Colleen you said that David Shaw has
Could it be that he doesn't know the Bible very well either? A disturbing trend I'm seeing is that ppl are getting into very high positions of leadership in both ministry and academia that do not have a clue about basic Christian doctrine and teachings. ...And they're surrounded by ppl who are equally Biblically-illiterate, so there really is no accountability for them to know their stuff. | ||
| 1john2v27nlt Registered user Username: 1john2v27nlt Post Number: 354 Registered: 5-2009 |
All the more reason for us all to read the entire Word of God, from beginning to end, for ourselves. We don't have to worry whether we understand it all or not, just get it into our minds for God to work with. THEN when we hear or read anything, we have the Word IN CONTEXT, &/OR we can go back to it. We can JUST READ the bible through, over & over, & trust God to give us understanding. 1 John2:27NLT SAYS that very thing. Yes, & we can study the Word also. But the neglected, important part of our devotional life is just reading the entire Word of God. Research shows that 98% of people have NEVER read through the bible even ONE time. AND WORSE 90% of those in the pulpit, & leaders & teachers in Bible colleges have NOT either. As Colleen noted in another thread here, this year 2011 has been called the Year of the Bible because it is 400 years since the printing of the KJV. Let's make it PERSONAL! J9 | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 13034 Registered: 12-2003 |
Seekinglight, I agree. I have exactly the same reaction/concern. This trend is very upsetting to me...but I guess it shouldn't surprise us. Gary Inrig has been preaching through 2 Thessalonians, and in chapter 2 Paul talks about a great apostasy of people who have claimed to be Christians but who, when circumstances press them, truly apostatize, thus demonstrating that they never were truly born again. But we simply don't know who these people are from the outside...it's horrifying to me, actually, how easily some people slip away from the gospel and from making Jesus and His word the central focus of their lives. How do people live without trusting an Authority who actually knows us, sets protective boundaries, and provides everything we ever need? I believe the problem is that humans naturally cling to their own control. It scary to trust One we can't "see"...but He's more real than my own fears and limited vision. Colleen BTW, this last Sunday's sermon was one of the best sermons on the rapture that I've ever heard. (In other words, the details made sense with the words of Scripture...) Check it out here: http://www.truthcasting.com/player.aspx#showChannel=100000344 | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 2592 Registered: 5-2007  |
What I personally finding upsetting is that I had thought Fuller Theological Seminary was a place where you could get real biblical based gospel training. Phil | ||
| Bskillet Registered user Username: Bskillet Post Number: 878 Registered: 8-2008 |
Someone once said (Don't know who): "When the Greeks got the gospel, they turned it into a philosophy; when the Romans got it, they turned it into a government; when the Europeans got it, they turned it into a culture; and when the Americans got it, they turned it into a business." This kind of American view of Christianity as a business has been accelerating. I know of one church near me that has started to by business so they can man those businesses with their church members. And people thought this was a good idea. So if you're good at business (or better than all the other pastors and theologians, which isn't saying much), you can get into leadership positions in Christian institutions even if you don't know the Bible. This kind of thing finds itself in the church growth movement (get people to go to church, not to believe in Christ), the seeker-sensitive movement (get mush-minded post-modernists into church, not to believe in Christ), etc. Then you get more offerings, which means you can build bigger buildings. Then, all the other pastors talk about what a great pastor you are, and you can write best-sellers and become a millionaire. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 13036 Registered: 12-2003 |
Phil, it was upsetting to me as well, a few years ago, when I heard someone (I can't remember who) refer to Fuller as evangelical, but so liberal that one wondered if it could rightly be called "evangelical". It is considered evangelical, but it is known within Christian academic circles as being very liberal for an evangelical organization... Colleen | ||
| Bskillet Registered user Username: Bskillet Post Number: 880 Registered: 8-2008 |
Near me are Wheaton and Trinity International, which are both respected seminaries. However, IIRC, I seem to remember reading something to the effect that throughout Christian history a large number of heresies began with the "schoolmen," seminary professors, academic theologians, etc. This is as opposed to the lay people, who, even if they wanted to teach heresy, wouldn't have a platform to do so. |
