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Dljc
Registered user
Username: Dljc
Post Number: 99
Registered: 7-2010
| | Posted on Sunday, September 05, 2010 - 7:38 am: |     |
I'm curious what the SDA church teaches on spiritual warfare or if they teach it at all?
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20)
You ask most Christians and they will point you to these verses along with others, but these would be in the first part referenced. It's an important part of our walk, understanding how things play out and why. These verses in Ephesians explain so much about this particular topic.
Honestly, you'd be surprised at how easy it is for the enemy to get in. I read a quote one time that said "Give satan an inch and he'll be a ruler". The SDA church (from what I see on this board) teaches a lot about certain topics but I don't see this one being brought up too much. Is it not taught?
Thanks,
Cliff |
Psalm107v2
Registered user
Username: Psalm107v2
Post Number: 737
Registered: 10-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 10:42 am: | |
I have no memory of this ever being a topic either as a child or as an adult. My guess is that they would see all of the above as a "mindset". It would be ready to explain: the sda gospel (of peace), have knowledge of and ready arguments of the SDA truth, have the SDA faith, the Sabbath righteousness and a helmet-mindset that salvation comes after the IJ. |
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady
Post Number: 8512
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 11:47 am: | |
The only "spiritual warfare" I remember being taught, as an sda, was that of the "Great Controversy between Christ and Satan". That is when they talked about putting on the whole armour of God.
I thank our awesome God I do not even have to think about that any longer.
Diana L |
Skeeter
Registered user
Username: Skeeter
Post Number: 1004
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 12:20 pm: | |
I remember talk and audio cassette tapes being passed around talking about the Illuminate(sp) and how they were going to take over the worlds monetary systems and help to bring about the Sunday laws.
Also about Spiritual warfare in in the SDA schools... my husband attended Monterey Bay Academy for a while in High School and he was told stories while there about previous students supposedly playing with a weegee board and them putting it away and when they would come back into their dorm room it would always be set back up waiting for them to use it again,, they got scared and took it and hid it up in the attic (this is all hearsay mind you) but supposedly the dorm caught on fire and the fire started in the attic. There were some other strange tales also, but I dont know if any of them were true or not.
There was a period of time in the 70's that a LOT of cassette tapes were being passed around.
One of my brother inlaws and his wife were students of Agatha Thrash at Uchee Pines in Alabama (I think it is Alabama) and they heard some pretty strange stuff there also. |
Skeeter
Registered user
Username: Skeeter
Post Number: 1005
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 12:24 pm: | |
I just looked up Uchee Pines and it is near Seale Alabama, they are still operating as a non profit business with training programs for natural health, stop smoking, etc,, I just scanned over it quickly but didnt see anything affiliating them with SDA. Typical  |
Helovesme2
Registered user
Username: Helovesme2
Post Number: 2551
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 1:01 pm: | |
Yep, it is in the country near Seale, Alabama. My first datable memories are from when we lived there in the late 1970s. That's where I heard Margaret Davies preaching perfectionism, lots of sermons about the health message and prophecy, lots of discussions about whether it was ok to wear pants under your skirt or not, and lots of explanations about which foods can be/cannot be mixed with other foods, and why vegan, non-spicy foods were the way to go, and why two meals a day are better than three (I hated that one - it meant I went to bed hungry while my mother did the best she could to explain why this was best. She really believed she was doing the right thing to have us all skip suppers).
I also have good memories: of the person in charge of the gardens, orchards, and greenhouse letting me follow him around and pester him with questions, of being the 'Guinea pig' for massage therapy sessions, of Chapel meetings when I felt a part of something bigger than me, of long Sabbath afternoon hikes when 'the big folks' would walk ahead and hold the briers out of the way so us little'uns could get through with only minor scratches . . . . |
Hec
Registered user
Username: Hec
Post Number: 1341
Registered: 3-2009
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 2:54 pm: | |
Agatha Trash! I remember those days. Her last name says it all.
Hec |
Angelcat
Registered user
Username: Angelcat
Post Number: 222
Registered: 11-2008
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 3:44 pm: | |
I grew up hearing stories of devil posession, and my parents knew people who were into exorcism.(mispelled, I know) i was taught to be scared of anything like that and stay far far way. Basiclly, I was taught if you got into that, even God might notbe able to help you. I grew up living in fear of anything paranormal.
NO idea then that someday, I'd be walking thru a friend's house with olive oil commanding evil spirits to leave in the name of Jesus, but...God is that powerful!
Interesting about monteray bay academy...my dad & his father, (and their father & and uncles before them) attended Oshawa Missionary College (now Kingsway College) and htere were stories it was haunted..I belive it was/is actually. Now, someof it was pranks hte students pulled, I know that as my dad was in on some of those. But, I think some were real...I think it was either my grandfather or one of his brothers who was walking up the steps of the ad buildng, and turned and saw a pair of boots walking up behind him...
It seems some Adventists also like to try to get info from the devils they are casting out...info which always confirms what EGW says....
I decided if i ever experienced anything paranormal where i lived, and moving wasn't an option, I'd call in a Catholic priest.
As for Agatha Thrash...*shudder* my mom almost worsipped her. She was right up there with EGW. between hte 2 of them,my mother ended up feeding me such a deficient diet, I'd eat i couldfind between meals...soap, paper, dried...when I was really little, and animal food up until i was in my early teens, and she let up a little. And I felt SOOOO guilty over that. I was sure i was a horrible bad person for sneaking food between meals, unclean meat, no less! My mom did the 2 meals thing until she caught me eating dog food. So, she let us eat supper after that, and had no idea i was still sneaking animal food.
I think Agatha Thrash is where she got her ideas on low protein diets, and that calcium wasn't important, but I'm not sure on that.
There were a lot of strange ideas in some adventist circles in the 70's & 80's. My family was involved with a self-supporting institute for while in the 70's. Some strange memories from that,for sure. |
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 11666
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 10:08 pm: | |
Angelcat, I am so sorry. Those commands to eat only twice a day and to reduce one's food--and people would do those things even when they were losing weight and unhealthy...Oh, I am so sorry.
Yes, fascination with the occult seems to run rampant among Adventists, especially in places like boarding schools.
It's all part of the legacy...
Colleen |
Dljc
Registered user
Username: Dljc
Post Number: 100
Registered: 7-2010
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 8:11 am: | |
Thank you all for your input. I've never heard of Agatha Thrash, but then again, I'm one of the never beens around here. 
I've been studying the subject for some time now myself. It's interesting that the subject seems to be one of curiosity among Adventists, but they don't seem to teach about the subject. How odd.
If you look at verse 12 it reads, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
What Paul wrote in that one verse is who we are dealing with, and who they work for. If you look back at John 8:44 Jesus told the pharisees and those that didn't believe Him, who their father was,
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
Jesus was telling them who they worked for in John 8:44. We know that whomever the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36) Praise the Lord that He set us free!
But we can't forget that satan still has a hold on some people. They haven't been set free. Those are the flesh and blood person we are dealing with. I believe that is why Paul wrote "we wrestle not against flesh and blood" to remind us that the person we are looking at or dealing with isn't the one we're really dealing with, it's who they work for that we are dealing with.
quote:It seems some Adventists also like to try to get info from the devils they are casting out...info which always confirms what EGW says....
That is a scary thought. Not the part about the info but where they get the confirmation. If you look back in the OT you will find that God didn't want the Israelites going to sooth sayers and what not. It's an abomination! So to be asking a demon for a confirmation is interesting since they work for satan, they aren't going to tell the truth anyway.
Every demonic possession Jesus encountered the first thing He did was told the demon to shut up! (paraphrased by me) He didn't want them revealing who He was, but it was also to show His power over them. Many people think the first thing Jesus did was ask the demon who they are. But if you look closer, He told them to shut up. The demons knew who Jesus was. Look at the account in Acts where they tried to cast out the demon and the demon said "Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?"
Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.(Act 19:13-17)
It has been said that the greatest trick satan has ever pulled on mankind was to convince man that he doesn't exist. How hard would it be for him to convince the world that God doesn't exist?
The Pastor of the church I go to commented yesterday that there are 3 kinds of people in this world. 1) are true believers, 2) are unbelievers, and 3) are "make believers". I never thought about it that way but it's true. Jesus Himself even warned us that there would be false prophets. They are the make believers. It's because of the make believers that we have many in the pews fooled into thinking they are saved. They just don't know.
Thank you all again for this insight. I would like to give you something to think about with spiritual warfare in mind. In WWII there was a Japanese soldier that was so well hid out that no one could find him. Hiroo Onoda, if you google the name, you'll find him. He fought WWII until the 70's because he didn't know the war was over.
Here's a link to one source:
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-soldier-who-wouldnt-quit
Now keep that in mind with satan and those who haven't been set free. They don't know the war is over, they are still working for the enemy! |
Angelcat
Registered user
Username: Angelcat
Post Number: 224
Registered: 11-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 10:30 am: | |
Yeah, I don't understand trying to get info from the devil-he's the father of lies. I spent many saturday afternoons as a teenager (until i was old enough to get out of it) watching videos by fringe adventists revealing what they learned from an experience in the occoult or whatever, and what the devil told them of his plans for God's church, and people listen and act as though it is a message from God. Scary. |
Dljc
Registered user
Username: Dljc
Post Number: 101
Registered: 7-2010
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 12:08 pm: | |
Think about it for a minute Angelcat. Jesus Himself told us a house divided cannot stand. But He also told us: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
(Matthew 12:26)
If satan is the father of lies, and we know he is. Then why on earth would he tell them any different about EGW? A house divided cannot stand. And satan isn't going to destroy his own house.
If they only taught about spiritual warfare and the dangers of messing with the occult. Think of it like this, any door you open in that direction, stays open. Only Jesus can close it.
Here's the reference in the OT I mentioned earlier.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. (Deuteronomy 18:10-14)
This is what they were supposed to do with witches.
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. (Exodus 22:18)
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1 Samuel 15:23)
2 King 9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
Look who's in the list of witches! Jezebel herself!
Micah 5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
I think it's safe to say God doesn't want us "experimenting" with the occult. But we are to know about it and how to handle the situations. That's why we study spiritual warfare. Keeping in mind that the war is already won, and we fight these battles from victory, not for victory. If we are fighting for victory then we're like the Japanese soldier that doesn't know the war is over and has been won. |
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 11671
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 12:25 pm: | |
Dljc, very insightful posts.
I've known Adventists who were "into" spiritual warfare prayer. That is dangerous, because they themselves are under the influence of doctrines of demons and are compromised with the spirit of Adventism. They will not be able to accurately understand the biblical teaching on spiritual warfare, nor will they have the authority of the Holy Spirit to speak truth and declare freedom for the captives.
I believe that Adventists who tamper with spiritual warfare without realizing their own bondage actually can create more entanglement for their unsuspecting victims than help.
Ultimately, God meets and heals each person who approaches Him in faith...and that's true even for Adventists. God can meet them and begin to draw them into freedom and truth. But if a person clings to his beliefs without submitting them to the Lord Jesus, that person won't have the freedom and clarity and spiritual life to realize they're double-minded and are, inside themselves, a "house divided".
They are in spiritual danger and are perpetuating even more danger.
Colleen |
Dljc
Registered user
Username: Dljc
Post Number: 102
Registered: 7-2010
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 12:44 pm: | |
Thank you Colleen,
I was just reading the thread "A 'shocking' quote!" these two threads go hand in hand, and they are here for a reason. But I agree with you, they can end up like the guys in Acts 19:13-17 that I mentioned earlier or worse! Because without the power of the Holy Spirit you don't have nothing to fight with.
(Message edited by dljc on September 07, 2010) |
Angelcat
Registered user
Username: Angelcat
Post Number: 225
Registered: 11-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 4:44 pm: | |
I actually do think it is better that my family taught me to stay away from this stuff. They would listen to what others who had been into it would say, but not go near that kind of thing themselves.
I"m really newto spiritul warfare, but it is very differnt that what i was taught to fear as a child.
Dljc, so true about the victory being won...we aren't begging God or victory, we are claiming the victory.
I no longer live in fear of spiritual stuff...respect, yes. it's iportant no to do anything in this area without God's leading.
For example, a friend asked me to pray an annoint her house because there was some kind of presense in it. The adventist way would have been to pray and insist all the spirits leave, maybe try to talk with them, and pray for everyone in the house.
Well, sounds good, mostly, but altho my firnd's husband was ok coming with me coming there, he is't a beleiver, and he has games etc that do have spirits attached to them. And like it or not,they have the legal right to be there. That being said, I was directed to bind them from harming my friend and their kids. |
Sharon3
Registered user
Username: Sharon3
Post Number: 101
Registered: 2-2010
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 4:52 pm: | |
I went to a mid west academy in the 60's and there was talk of w boards and keys in Daniel 7 and strange happenings. I never tried it I was scared to. |
Surfy
Registered user
Username: Surfy
Post Number: 686
Registered: 11-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 - 10:13 pm: | |
I'm not so sure that a lot of "spiritual warfare" that goes on, in Christian churches, is actually Holy Spirit led anyway. I think people get a spiritual high when they get involved in deliverance, healing, prophetic or other similar types of ministries.
I don't remember the sda church getting involved in spiritual warfare....but that could be a good thing.
Surfy |
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