| Author | Message | ||
| Markmartin Registered user Username: Markmartin Post Number: 22 Registered: 8-2007 |
Hi precious saints, When a person leaves Adventism they embark on a spiritual journey that leads them out of a carefully boxed system of beliefs, excluding all other Christians to a whole new world! We must rest assured that the same Lord who leads His true children out of Adventism will lead them into good places of fellowship. We must not think, though, that everyone who leaves Adventism will end up in the same church, or believing the same things. There is liberty, in Christ, to disagree on issues that are not matters of salvation. Core Christian beliefs such as the Trinity, salvation by grace through faith alone, the inspiration of the Scriptures, the return of Jesus Christ, virgin birth(etc.) are not negotiable. But there ARE issues where Christians may disagree and we are called to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace (Eph. 4). One of the things we must get over is the idea that there is one "true" denomination. Any real believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is part of the only true church. It is the Church universal. You become a member of that church the moment you are born again. I have observed that some people who leave Adventism leave one remnant mentality for another. There is nothing within Christianity that fills the place of thinking that you are better than everyone else because you have discovered "the Truth." These people are just as quick to judge those who do not have the "light" that they have since they left Adventism, as they were in judging all those "Sunday keepers" during Sabbath School class pontifications. Maybe there is some kind of a psychological need for them to be the "alpha" Christian! (Ha!). We must trust that the God who led His children out of darkness is still leading them as they now walk in the light. Some of the doctrinal issues and controversies that Christians are involved in generate much more heat than light. They involve issues that are not clearly or specifically addressed in the Bible. Some think they have found "the answer" in certain theological systems such as Calvinism. I have found that a biblical, Jesus-centered theology is best. I look at Acts 2:42 as a New Testament guide for a church: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." NASU 1). BIBLE STUDY (authority of the Bible) Look for a pastor who teaches verse by verse through the Bible and upholds the teachings in the Bible. Watch out for guys who follow new 'apostles' or 'prophets,' –you've already been burned on that one! 2). FELLOWSHIP – Look for a church where there are faith-filled believers who will help you grow strong in your walk and keep you accountable, and where you see the Holy Spirit working. 3). THE BREAKING OF BREAD, refers to the regular observance of the New Covenant sign of the Lord's Supper, which, of course points to the Gospel of grace. 4). PRAYER, - this is the secret power of the church. The church is supposed to go forward on its knees. Notice the simplicity of the New Testament Church, it did not grow because believers were arguing over Calvinism verses Arminianism or over speaking in tongues. They had one purpose --they saw a lost world that needed the Gospel. If you saw a building on fire and knew that it was filled with people, you would know that was no time to argue over the color of your fire suit and over your helmet style. You wouldn't argue over who had the purest water, --you'd put out the fire and save lives.... Let's keep perspective and see as many people saved from the flames as possible. God bless, Pastor Mark | ||
| Bmorgan Registered user Username: Bmorgan Post Number: 159 Registered: 7-2000 |
Thank you, Pastor Mark. The gospel is simple, simply live life in Christ. Erma | ||
| Reb Registered user Username: Reb Post Number: 661 Registered: 5-2007 |
Pastor Mark, you make an excellent point. Christ and the Gospel are what is really important. | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 1422 Registered: 9-2006  |
Mark says : “There is liberty, in Christ, to disagree on issues that are not matters of salvation. Core Christian beliefs such as the Trinity, salvation by grace through faith alone, the inspiration of the Scriptures, the return of Jesus Christ, virgin birth(etc.) are not negotiable. But there ARE issues where Christians may disagree and we are called to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace (Eph. 4).” Yes, we are called to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the Bonds of peace, to maintain the “unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace” is saying a rather big mouthful. There are areas in religion where the Spirit is not present to keep the bonds of peace in because of taking the Word of God and making it of none effect and replacing it with tradition, have replaced the Spirit of God with the spirit of tradition while at the same time confessing these non-negotiable/s. I think it is entirely possible to come out of Adventism and replace one dead system with another all the while confessing these non-negotiable/s and further more I believe it happens. There is no difference in practicing a form of Godliness and denying his power in Adventism or than any other ism. To keep the bond of peace in the Spirit there has to be Spirit to keep the bond of peace in. The Holy Spirit does not change faces from one person to the next or from one place to the next, he is always the same and he is always identifiable in a person or the body corporately, if you know him then you recognize him when you encounter him. If he is not there to keep the bond of peace in then there is no bond of peace. He is peace and he is power. Yes Jesus is the Word and the Holy Spirit of God living in you if so be it that he is, there is no distinction of power between the three forms of the trinity. In Thessalonians I 5:19 Quench not the Spirit., if it wasn’t possible for him to be quenched then we would have received no such command and I think we can quench him with tradition, very much so. So you can very well cling to these non-negotiable/s and quench the Holy Spirit at the same time. So it is as I said, when you say keep the bond of peace in the Spirit it’s a real mouthful the way I see it. Is keeping the bond of peace assenting to certain non-negotiable/s and ignoring the rest so as to avoid argument or just so we can negotiate? Or is it when we agree “in” the Spirit of the bond of peace? We cannot quench the Spirit of God and keep the bond of his peace at the same time. Surely freedom in Christ does not allow us to do that. We surely must not negotiate Gods Holy Spirit to the back row in our courts of legalisms and say “here, you set back there” when he is first and foremost on the witness bench of the Lord Jesus. But if you regulate him to the back of the rows of your churches and say “here, you sit back there while I sit here and argue for the non-negotiable/s and continue to quench his Spirit, be aware of this, it is the Spirit that gives life to the written Word. If anyone insist that I must deny the Holy Spirit’s power in my life and become dead as they have from quenching his Spirit just to avoid argument, thanks but no thanks. This in not written to argue with Mark, I have heard word of the Holy Spirit power down there in Phoenix and Mark knows about dead. I simply want to point out that there are other non-negotiable/s beside the non-negotiable/s.  there, theres your smiley face just to let you know I am not going on the war path. River | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 203 Registered: 7-2007 |
River, you do have a point. I think it's summed up in Romans 8:9 where it says "...if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." It seems too that a lot - if not all - false religions claim to be the "one-true-church." Dianne | ||
| Pastor2move Registered user Username: Pastor2move Post Number: 8 Registered: 8-2007 |
If you focus exclusively on Jesus you will have the Spirit in the fullest measure. 2move | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 1423 Registered: 9-2006 |
I am not sure I understand your meaning Pastor, but we will never have the Spirit in the fullest measure while we inhabit these Hides we live in, he has given us a measure of the Spirit, the earnest of the Spirit, but never the fullest measure. You would not be able to survive that kind of thing. I suppose you might be saying that we have the Spirit in the measure that he intended if we focus on him exclusively, but I don't know anyone that does that, so I guess there is a lot of us that could stand a little more, I know I could. Dianne, there are a lot of not so false religions that go around yelling there is only one gospel and I,m pretty sure they mean theirs is it. River (Message edited by river on September 05, 2007) |
