| Author | Message | ||
| Chris Registered user Username: Chris Post Number: 660 Registered: 7-2003  |
Greg, I have a friend from college married to a SDA doctor named "Greg" who went through SDA schools. There are probably lots and lots of SDA doctors named Greg from SDA schools so it's a long shot, but I had to ask: Are your wife's initials H.H.? (would be the same initials maiden or married last name) Chris | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 1485 Registered: 12-2003  |
Greg, Ric, Tom, Diana, Jan--I find myself really moved by your stories and by the way God has been leading you just in the past several months. I've said this often, but I just have to say it again--whatever happens, whoever shuns you, whoever is embarrassed or cold or even indifferent to you as you leave or come to terms with your lives, remember that "God wastes nothing, and He redeems everything we submit to him." Jan, you mentioned the leaving process being reminiscent of what Martin Luther experienced. We just this afternoon watched "Luther", the movie released last November, with some of our Friday night FAF friends. I learned some history I had never known, but I was also struck by the fact that while what he did reminded me of what it felt like to leave Adventism, his stand and his consequences were so much more severe, far-reaching, and intense than anything I have had to experience. He was one man that God raised up at just the right time. He was part of God's plan from eternity. Yet God leads each of us to Himself by completely personal means, and even when we have a spouse to walk the road with us, it's still a personal experience between us and God. Although leaving with Richard was a blessing I've often thanked God for, still my experience was in many ways unique. My emotions were different from his, and I had to deal with Jesus personally for my own sadness and depression and fear. Its true; a person does not know until he or she begins to leave the church exactly how much he or she will lose or suffer. It means leaving everything we are and have and know--except Jesus. And that's when we discover that He is faithful, and He is enough--not before. I think one of the things that makes leaving Adventism so hard is that the Christian community in general does not rejoice with us and welcome us as we expect because they have no idea what we're really leaving--and all this as WE are giving up everything we love for the sake of being true to Jesus. I am in awe at how God brings us the support and love we need at exactly the right times and in ways that we understand. I am so grateful for all of you here who continue to encourage me with your own faith and honesty. It's such a miracle (although it shouldn't be surprising!) that God creates "family" among those of us who may never personally meet in this life, and yet our experiences will be eternally interconnected. Isn't He amazing?! Colleen | ||
| Greg Registered user Username: Greg Post Number: 25 Registered: 2-2005 |
Colleen, Thanks for that inspiring message. You articulated something that has been gnawing on me--why do I feel this sense of excitement in finding the pure truth about Jesus while others in Adventism and on the mainstream Christianity side are yawning? Only those who have made the transition out of Adventism can understand the joy a "former" has in finally finding Jesus. In that sense, we truly are family here, because we understand and support each other. To answer your question--yes, He is amazing! Chris, I'm afraid your friend Greg is someone else. It's possible I may know that person, so if you want to talk more about this, email me here: entole@gmail.com Greg | ||
| Freeatlast Registered user Username: Freeatlast Post Number: 296 Registered: 5-2002 |
Susan_2, the prayer reference is from Ellen's (in)famous DELETED Camden vision. Here it is in all its splendor: Camden, N. Y. June 29, 1851 "The Lord shewed that he had, in answer to prayer, removed his frown from this band, and that they could have the smiles of Jesus, if they would live very humble, and walk carefully before the Lord, and know that in every step that they took that God was guiding them, and the band would be strong and would be a terror to their enemies; and the band must press together. Then I saw Bro. Wing and Bro. Hyattóthat the enemy had been trying to destroy themóthat they were praying for light upon a few texts of Scripture, and the more they prayed the darker they grew, and the enemy was shutting down a network of darkness over them; and just about as they were getting entirely shut in, they were deliveredóthe net was broken, and they escaped. I saw the true light on these texts &c. I saw that this rebuke was given by Jesus to the Pharisees and Jews, who were filled with self-righteousness, and would only speak to or greet those who were just as full of self-righteousness and hypocrisy as they themselves were; and they entirely neglect and pass by those who; did not make quite as much, and who did not receive greeting in the market as they did. I saw that it did not in any way apply to this timeóthat we are now living in. Then I saw that Jesus prayed for his enemies; but that should not cause US or lead US to pray for the wicked world, whom God had rejectedówhen he prayed for his enemies, there was hope for them, and they could be benefitted and saved by his prayers, and also after he was a mediator in the outer apartment for the whole world; but now his spirit and sympathy were withdrawn from the world; and our sympathy must be with Jesus, and must be withdrawn from the ungodly. I saw that God loved his peopleóand in answer to prayers, would send rain upon the just and the unjustóI saw that now, in this time, that he watered the earth and caused the sun to shine for the saints and the wicked by our prayers, by our Father sending rain upon the unjust, while he sent it upon the just. I saw that the wicked could not be benefitted by our prayers nowóand although he sent it upon the unjust, yet their day was coming. Then I saw that scripture did not mean the wicked whom God had rejected that we must love, but he meant our neighbors in the household, and did not extend beyond the household; yet I saw that we should not do the wicked around us any injustice; óBut, our neighbors whom we were to love, were those who loved god and were serving him." | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 1493 Registered: 12-2003 |
Oh, my goodness. And she is revered as a prophet. It's really shocking how she besmirched God's reputation, and people said those very words were from Him. I pray God will keep us faithful and honest. Colleen | ||
| Belvalew Registered user Username: Belvalew Post Number: 160 Registered: 7-2004 |
Just came back from "lurking." I noticed that one of Greg's messages got sanitized, again! He had offered to give information on EGW's not-so-SDA eating habits, and gave them an email button they could push to get to him--it got stripped!. Someone else over there said that the oyster story had been a figment of Fannie Bolton's imagination, and then reminded everybody that Fanny Bolton spent several months in an insane assylum. I suppose being around someone who was of one mind one day and another mind the next would drive a person crazy! | ||
| Weimarred Registered user Username: Weimarred Post Number: 31 Registered: 1-2005 |
Susan_2, I'm not attending school right now, but would like to get back to. Wish I'd gone during the normal time, but I took a 13+ year hiatus to go to hell in a handbasket in the Army. Now that I'm done sowing my wild oats, settled down and married and all, I really would like to get back to my edumecashun. Tom | ||
| Weimarred Registered user Username: Weimarred Post Number: 32 Registered: 1-2005 |
Freeatlast, I just got through reading that EGW quote. I'd forgotten how round-the-round she was! I'm left saying "What the heck did she just say?" Are you a "Monty Python"er? EGW reminds me of that Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch skit MP did in The Search for the Holy Grail! "And thine count shall be 4, and 4 shalt thou count..." etc Tom | ||
| Greg Registered user Username: Greg Post Number: 29 Registered: 2-2005 |
Hey everyone, My account at RevivalSermons.org was finally terminated. I can no longer post under my name, but I may make a guest appearance or two  I understand why they did it and frankly don't know why it took this long. Greg | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 1109 Registered: 3-2004  |
Greg, I am really surprised it did not happen to me when I said I considered EGW a false prophet. I said that in my first post on the Bucky site. I have to remember how closed minded I was as an SDA when I do post there. They are acting as I used to act. Now that I know what the Bible really says, I am amazed that others do not see it also. Praise God for opening my mind and taking off the EGW filters. Diana | ||
| Greg Registered user Username: Greg Post Number: 30 Registered: 2-2005 |
Diana, You make a good point. Most of us were very openly anti-Ellen much earlier in the discussion. Maybe some of those posts got lost in the shuffle or maybe Pastor O'Ffill was too far away in Australia to police things. I do think that as time passed, the division between sincere believers and dogmatic attackers became more clear. It's easy to demonize someone who is openly hostile about Ellen White but it's much harder to discredit someone who speaks softly and relies on the Bible. The straw that broke the camel's back was my patient insistence that someone show me how Ellen White passes the Biblical tests of a prophet. This was intolerable. Greg | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 1601 Registered: 11-2002 |
Greg, I guess I shouldn't go on that site and say, The devil made me do it". LOL! I think I'm being funny. | ||
| Belvalew Registered user Username: Belvalew Post Number: 162 Registered: 7-2004 |
Dear R/S friends, This has been an amazing journey for me. I've been out of contact with practicing SDA's for some time so going over there to speak up for Jesus (you do know that is what we've been doing) has been an eye opener. I still stand by the name of this thread because it is obvious that their tactics are just that--cut and run. Greg, was it you who recognized Wicklund who is now posting as Not A Pharasee Am I? I was suspicious because NAPAI appeared just as Wicklund went away. His insults and sentence forms give him away. Susan, if you went on there and said "The devil made me do it," you would be validating what they are thinking anyway. I will continue to pray for these people, but it seems they are so willfully blind. How did things ever get this bad anyway? Clear, unarguable scripture, if it doesn't fit into an EGW framework, is simply ignored. If they touch it at all they do a cut-and-paste job on it until it says what they think it says. It's almost like the old joke about people who take a short quote from the scriptures, and paste it to another from somewhere else. I'd end up with something like this -- "Jesus wept. Go thou and do likewise." I'm not trying to be funny. It is almost, no it is tragic what they are willing to believe in order to keep their precious prophet in place. They will accept the murder of the innocent unborn, and spend their time arguing over whether a woman should wear a red dress to church. I'm not exagerating because I've been reading through several of the threads on Pastor O'Ffills site. Pastor O'Ffill did say that abortion is wrong, I will give him that. However, that does not change the official church stand on the procedure. I'm still horrified that a so-called Christian denomination has come down on the pro-choice side of things. I would have thought that all faiths would have sided with the unborn. I would prefer to leave that discussion to the legislative bodies in the government. Greg, you are a might warrior. You keep pulling on those reins and turning that horse around. They are a willful bunch. They have been so focussed on Sabbath, Sabbath, Sabbath, that they can no longer see that the true Sabbath is knocking at the door of their hearts. Did you notice the post where Pastor O'Ffill acknowledged the "former invasion?" I'll have to go back over there and find it for you if you haven't seen it. Up until we jumped in to defend his grandson he had this happy little SDA site where all were in accord. Each discussion went maybe one or two pages because everybody saw things the same way anyway. Then we jumped in and things started getting interesting. I don't know if you noticed it, but on the Temple Curtain thread, when you and I took a hiatis, after them calling us devil worshipers they had nothing more to say, so it went quiet all weekend. Then I posted my scolding for their name calling, and things heated up again. Diana, you are definitely more patient that I. I've never seen you correct Wicklund/NAPIA for calling you Flylady. He did it several times, and it was clear he was baiting you. You never bit, you just came back and lovingly told them who you worship, and why. Good work! They do love their prophet, they just can't stick up for her from scripture. That is the direction we need to keep them looking. That is where they will hopefully discover "the great and powerful Oz." Belva | ||
| Greg Registered user Username: Greg Post Number: 31 Registered: 2-2005 |
Belva, Diana, and anyone else reading this, Now is the time to pray for God's leading on Pastor O'Ffill's site. I have had email contact with several individuals who are searching for truth as a result of what they have read there. I'm praying they find the truth in His word, led by the Holy Spirit. Greg | ||
| Dd Registered user Username: Dd Post Number: 350 Registered: 7-2004 |
Greg, Belva, Diana...hang tough in the love God is sharing to many others through you. You all are very special people to pursue this difficult ministry. You are in my prayers. | ||
| Praisegod Registered user Username: Praisegod Post Number: 259 Registered: 3-2004  |
Your witnesses have been powerful and with the number of views that site is getting, it can impact many, many people. I like what Justin said in that when Bush and Kerry debated they well knew they were not going to change the other's views. But they were giving their message for all the onlookers so it could be compared. Obviously, with them trying to shut us out and remove posts etc, they are very threatened by the message. Otherwise they would be willing to take an open, honest look at anything we are willing to say. (Within reason, I might add--after hanging around on some forums with really far out views.) I'm sensing that for now, my season posting on the other forums will need to take a backseat to some other things I've got going. But God raises each of us up for times and seasons. Praise God... | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 1113 Registered: 3-2004 |
Belva, I learned long ago not to take a bait from anyone. It drives them up the wall when I do not, but that is not why I do not take the bait. One cannot discuss rationally if the bait is taken. So, I could care less what they called me, as long as I could witness for Christ. Let them call me what they want. I can honestly say, it does not bother me. It is sad that those folks have to resort to name calling when the Bible truths are being discussed. I get the feeling they do not want, at this time, to know the truth. I continue to pray for them. Diana | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 1114 Registered: 3-2004 |
For all concerned, please read the following. Pastor O'Fill wrote this on the R/S site today. Hmmm, I wonder why??? "Effective imediately those who participate in the Forum will need to be registered users. Guests may continue to read the topics. The forum has been growing. This arrangement will permit better organization." I could make all kinds of comments, but I will keep my mouth shut because I cannot get into his head. Interesting way to shut out what he does not want to hear. Diana | ||
| Jeremy Registered user Username: Jeremy Post Number: 372 Registered: 10-2004  |
Belva, If I remember correctly, the reason Fanny Bolton went crazy was because she could not handle the guilt from the coverup of EGW's plagiarism and writing for EGW and having it go out in EGW's name. It may have just been Marian Davis, but I think that both of them were not able to handle it. Marian Davis actually died because of it. Just one more of Ellen's many murders. Susan, Here are a couple more amazing EGW quotes about prayer:
I knew that eventually Richard O'Ffill would prevent guests from being able to post. He said he wanted to talk about something else, something we agreed on like pro-life!! So I posted the following:
He refused to respond to my post. I have seen some very shocking quotes from Richard O'Ffill recently. Here are a few of them:
He does not want people quoting the Bible verbatim! Amazing!! He did answer my question about what the SDA definition of being born again is:
Amazing. He says that the "Holy Spirit reformats the hard disk of our hearts so that that we delight to do his will"! So he obviously does not believe that being born again has anything to do with ACTUALLY being born again literally, becoming a new creature, having our spirits (which they don't believe in!) brought to eternal life by the Holy Spirit! So sad. And he posted something in an old thread, regarding the Holy Spirit. He posted it under the section entitled "The Holy Spirit How can we know that we have the Holy Spirit?" It sounds like they don't believe the Holy Spirit indwells believers all the time when we have been born again! "colporteur" even said on there, "Sister White states that we should pray earnestly for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. To my thinking this is far more important than trying to identify 'exactly' the relationship or position of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son." So sad. But O'Ffill started that thread with this!!!
Absolutely amazing. I've become convinced that Adventists just do not believe in the Holy Spirit in the Biblical sense. I'm tired of people saying, "SDAs are not a cult, because they believe in the Trinity, or Jesus' divinity, or the truth about the Godhead." But they simply do not. Jeremy | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 1500 Registered: 12-2003 |
Yes, Jeremy, I remember reading some documents years ago about Fanny Bolton's "instability" and its relationship to Ellen's crazy-making. She would want and need Fanny, travel with her, keep her close--then, when Fanny would ask to be given credit for her work, Ellen would turn on her and accuse her of all manner of character, moral, and mental flaws. To be honest, the document I read (and I regret that I cannot remember who wrote it--it was a contemporary of theirs, and it was in a box of old copies and documents given to me by a former librarian at LLU who had worked in the heritage room. I gave it to Dale Ratzlaff, and I can't immediately put my hands on the paper now--) at any rate, I truly received the impression from this particular paper that Ellen's relationship with Fanny was decidedly unhealthy. I can't even imagine working for Ellen. It would have made me feel trapped and crazy. Colleen |
