| Author | Message | ||
| Windmotion Registered user Username: Windmotion Post Number: 132 Registered: 6-2001 |
"I have a dream that my little daughter will one day go to a church where she will not be judged by the day she worships but by the One she worships. I have this dream today." Pretty awesome!! Love the testimony!! Praise God!! Feeling tingly, Hannah | ||
| Freeatlast Registered user Username: Freeatlast Post Number: 371 Registered: 5-2002 |
Thank you Hannah. God bless you. | ||
| Windmotion Registered user Username: Windmotion Post Number: 133 Registered: 6-2001 |
Ha! I should have guessed it was you. Your name gives it all away! | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 283 Registered: 3-2005 |
Brian, Now we know who it was that gave us all those tremendously stimulating discussions on R/S. What a story! Also, I thinf it was you who said you went to Agoura Christian Fellowship. Did you happen to know the Chagalls(under Sunshine Road thread), or were you there during that time. You had mentioned Dave Gudgel, and that is why I was curious. Stan | ||
| Freeatlast Registered user Username: Freeatlast Post Number: 372 Registered: 5-2002 |
Stan, no I didn't know the Chagalls. I only attended ABF for about 6 months during a transitionary period. I'd be willing to bet that my friends who still go to ABF do though. I'll ask them and refer the book to them. They know all about my struggle to escape SDAism, and they would certainly be interested in the book! | ||
| Dennis Registered user Username: Dennis Post Number: 382 Registered: 4-2000  |
Brian, thank you for sharing your inspiring testimony. When God calls us he remains patient yet unmistakably insistent. Praise God! His grace still amazes me, Dennis J. Fischer | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 1482 Registered: 3-2004  |
Brian, I just read your testimony and am so thankful you are here. God knows how to reach us where ever we are and in what ever state, physically & mentally we are in. He is so awesome. Diana | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 1806 Registered: 11-2002 |
Where is Brian's story? | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 1955 Registered: 12-2003  |
On the "stories" page. Go to the homepage (or the opening page of the forum) and click on "Stories". Colleen | ||
| Dt Registered user Username: Dt Post Number: 36 Registered: 4-2005 |
Brian, I just read your story. I felt like it was me writing it part of the time. The feelings of not ever being good enough, always just knowing that all the other people just had to be more perfect and sinless than me etc. Then the conundrum of seeing people judging and being judged while still realizating that we are all sinners. Even though I am still in the church and probably will be for a long time, I can't describe the pure joy of being free of those heavy shackles and the dark blinders. Jesus just shines through and those hindrances just fall away. Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Freeatlast Registered user Username: Freeatlast Post Number: 376 Registered: 5-2002 |
Dt, I have to ask, why are you still in the church, and why do you think you probably will be for a long time? Just curious... | ||
| Dt Registered user Username: Dt Post Number: 37 Registered: 4-2005 |
Well...... I don't have any illusions about changing the church from within. On the other hand, I just don't have those huge, insulting issues that others have described. I know God has definitely been leading in my search for truth (real truth, not the SDA TRUTH). I have such great relationships with so many in the church and so much of my life, and my family's, revolve around those friendships. The only time I ask myself that question (why am I sitting here?) is when the sanctuary discussions come up. For someone that does not believe in the IJ they are about as pointless and boring as anything I can imagine sitting through. Our pastor gives very Bible-based sermons with very little EGW thrown in. He spends a lot of time in the Gospels. I still thoroughly enjoy the Sabbath. When you drop the IJ, the old fear of transgressing the LAW on the Sabbath is gone. That makes a day dedicated to our family enjoying things together and having most discussions revolve around Scripture even better than before. I have not felt any call to get up and leave. If God points me in that direction, I will go. I don't hide my beliefs when questioned, but I don't shout from the rooftops what a fraud EGW was and is. In fact, some of the best theological discussions I have had with fellow members has been since I started researching EGW. I have found that on of the most effective rebuttals one can give to many SDA's about EGW is "You have simply not done your homework on this issue. You should research it for yourself and then I would be glad to discuss it." I have a great life. | ||
| Lindylou Registered user Username: Lindylou Post Number: 54 Registered: 1-2005 |
I have to say that I understand Dt's reasoning because I was in her place for about 10 years. I was able be different in my thinking - question traditionally accepted beliefs and so on within the confines of the SDA church. And we too, had a pastor who rarely used EGW - but instead seemed to have a handle on what Grace was. I felt that I was there for a purpose - to help people start thinking outside the box. For the most part I was loved and accepted despite my continual questioning. I knew that some were weary of it. But I figured that as long as they put up with me - I was where I should be. Besides - the culture fit. After 40 plus years of taking Saturday off for forgetting the stress of the work week and spending some down time with family - it just seemed comfortable and the best fit for all of us. It wasn't until recently that I have left the SDA church completely. It was brought about because of my sister-in-laws regression into a fanatical aspect of her religion - as well as a day in sabbath school class when the leader told us that he didn't want us to digress to discussing any new ideas about the IJ because we had new converts in the class. For some reason something clicked within me that told me that "now was the time" to divorce myself from the SDA faith. Whether or not a person continues in the SDA faith has to truly be a heartfelt decision. The aspect that I like about this forum is that there are so many of us at different points in our journey - and yet we can respect each other and have healthy dialogue. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 1966 Registered: 12-2003 |
I also understand your feelings regarding staying, Dt. Like Lindylou, I was there for about 10 years. God will clarify His leading of you as you follow Him. It was ultimately clear that we could not stay and retain integrity and model it to our children if we stayed in a church with which we did not agree. But God is in charge of timing. He uses us wherever we are as long as we're saying "yes" to Him as he leads us. Colleen | ||
| Pheeki Registered user Username: Pheeki Post Number: 570 Registered: 1-2003 |
My mother went to the Cowboy Campmeeting put on by the SDA experiment in pseudo-Grace "Cowboy Church" where everyone is accepted (yes, the outcasts from the perfect ones in Keene...those caught in scandal, etc.) and they almost preach straight R by F, exept they still cling to the Sabbath. It was there I heard the pastor say that without Sabbath we would self-destruct. Anyhoo...their mission is to get former SDA's to "come try them, they are different, not your Mom and Dad's old SDA church"...they put adds in the paper, etc. promoting this. So at this campmeeting, the preacher said there are one hundred thousand former SDA's in the Metroplex and they want to bring them back. I told my mom, "Why are they so sure they aren't in a church now? They just assume they aren't Christians." And then I thought, "The reason is,it doesn't count if you aren't SDA"...and the ones not in a chruch are probably not in a church because they are so brainwashed by their SDA upbringing about the Sabbath...they cannot bring themselves to worship with the heathens on Sunday, so they go nowhere. Another note: I attend a Southern Baptist church and I love it. This last Sunday my whole family went (My husband made the comment that if his mother knew she would absolutely freak out...I said, "Yet it's ok to hold campmeeting on Sunday!" I also said, "I would come here on Monday if they had church then instead of Sunday!") The song service was so refreshing because one of the songs talked about how Jesus has won the victory, and the devil is defeated! So different from SDA thinking, that it all still hangs in the balance! I just love it there! | ||
| Tisha Registered user Username: Tisha Post Number: 57 Registered: 3-2005 |
I stayed in the SDA denomination for quite awhile after I knew I didn't believe in all the doctrines. I thougth maybe the SDA Church was changing and I wanted to help from inside. Several things prompted me to finally leave, and they came at about the same time. One was the open re-entrenchment of the SDA Denominational leaders in EGW's status as a true prophet for the SDA Church, and the call for going back to their "distinctives". I then realized that the SDA Church wasn't really changing at all, they were just getting better at packaging thier lies. Another things was this. We felt quite comfortable with our small SDA Church. We could bring up any subject, voice our concerns and differences, etc., and the other members were OK with this. We had dear friends there. It made it a "safe" place to stay. But little by little, more "conservative" and "Historical" SDA's began to attend our Church. They started bringing disharmony into the group. The Conference got wind of this, and began to make threats of closure if we didn't come into line. We tried to continue on, but it became too contentious. At the same time I was learning just how insidious the teachings of EGW are, and also how the SDA Denomination purposefully covered up known errors in EGW's teaching. So it finally came to a point when we KNEW we had to leave. We felt our own Christian walk was being jeapordized. We would come home from church and cry. We would be so depressed each Sabbath! We finally coundn't keep "one foot in - one foot out" anymore. Leaving was just the best thing we could have done! We found a great Bible-based Church and are growing in Christ every day. It is such a JOY now to go to church! Our SDA Church was about 5 minutes away, our new Church is almost an hour away! But even the drive is fun, and so worth it! We never knew what true Christian fellowship was really about. We know now what the Family of God really means. Praise the Lord for this! -tisha | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 1969 Registered: 12-2003 |
That joy is the telling thing, Tisha. Joy is only present when the Spirit of God is present. As far as "comfort" with divergent ideas goes, our Adventist church in So. Cal. was "comfortable"--in fact, people could hold just about any variation of Adventism they wished and find others to support them. Joy? No, I can't remember finding joy there. Familiarity, a level of comfort, yes. Joy? True worship, tears of praise and thanks, men singing as heartily as the women? No. Pheeki, the "cowboy church's" hold on the Sabbath reveals their deep lack of understanding of the new covenant. I discovered that people can preach grace quite convincingly without dealing with the bottom line: Jesus nailed the law to the cross and gave us something better: Himself. Many Adventists who appear to be preaching grace and "Jesus" actually are now preaching a form of universalism which denies the wrath of God, de-emphaiszes man's innate sinfulness and the need for repentance, and promotes the idea that Jesus came to save ALL humanity; Jesus is not the only way, because such "exclusivity" would make God unfair. Yes, Tishaóin God's time, we also found that leaving was the best thing we could have done. I completely relate to your discovery of true Christian fellowship. Even in the most comfortable Adventist settings, I never experienced that "body of Christ" fellowship we experience at church now. It's completely different attending church with people who revolve around their knowing Jesus and honoring Scripture instead of revolving around shared beliefs and culture. Praise God for the reality of His presence! Colleen | ||
| Dt Registered user Username: Dt Post Number: 38 Registered: 4-2005 |
Thanks for all the great support and comments. I can't help thinking that if this were an SDA forum, I would have been flogged multiple times. We are all saved by the Grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When you totally internalize that, it is amazing how clear everything is. That is the most frustrating thing about having discussions with SDA, they view everything thru EGW lenses that are all discolored, distorted and scratched. So when you are discussing a point that should be a no-brainer, they muddle along in all of this garbage. Tisha, You are very right about the GC getting everybody to be more in tune with EGW. This type of push will most likely drive many like me away. If you read the Review or other conference publications you will notice that a lot of the campmeeting speakers are from the White Estate. In addition to that, they are going around to all the cities giving Friday and Saturday presentations on EGW. If I had to sit in a church that was mostly EGW, I would have to leave to keep my soul from being poisoned and my brain from being fried. | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 1500 Registered: 3-2004 |
God Bless you Dt. Just keep on following Jesus where ever He takes you and you will never go wrong. God is awesome. Diana |
