| Author | Message | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 303 Registered: 8-2004  |
As Violet mentioned on another thread, "The Lord can use anything to get a person to start searching in His word." She noted that it was Beer that got her started studying. In my case it was Firstfruits & Tithe - I was concerned about whether we were still supposed to give the firstfruits offering as well as tithe, or whether they were the same thing, or what the deal was. I was amazed at what I found out and the side issues that led me to as well! What was it for you? | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 1910 Registered: 3-2004  |
There were two things that got me started on my road away from adventism. The first was the SDA pastor at the church I attended. He challenged our class to read the NT without any other books to help us interpret it. He did this Christmas 2003. Then right after that I found a website I had book marked and did not remember what it was about. It was about EGW, her plagiarism, having others write for her and then saying she was inspired by God. After reading the website and going to its links and reading them, I wrote to Ratzlaff and Fisher and received very encouraging letters/e-mail from them. I wrote to some of the others also. Then I found this web site. God has been awesome in the way He lead me out and I am so very thankful. That is what it was for me. Diana | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 1983 Registered: 11-2002 |
To be completely honest I always knew from the time I was a little girl that I would not be SDA when I grew up. I was very fortunate as a child in that I was exposed to many different Sabbath-keeping Christians. I have relatives who are SDA, Seventh Day Baptist, Worldwide Church of God (Back in the Herbert W. Armstrong days.), and Church of God (Seventh-day). So, Sabbath afternoons I'd get an earful. All my non-SDA Sabbath-keeping kin would let my SDA kin know all the distortions EGW presented in her writings. The SDA's would be backed into a corner. My favorite Sabbaths were when I'd get to go to the Seventh Day Baptist church with my cousins. My family went to the SDA mostly because there were not a lot of Sabbath-keeping churches in our area to choose from and their attitude was and still is that by having church on Saturday and not on Sunday then the SDA church for that reason only is the most right demonination around. Never mind that a lot of churches in my area hold Saturday services and that these same kin are glued to church tv programs on Sunday mornings. There's no rhyme or reason to this but then that's my kin. | ||
| Taybie Registered user Username: Taybie Post Number: 75 Registered: 4-2005 |
Hmmm...I believe that the Lord had to pull Ellen down off the pedestal she was on in my mind. So, that is where the Holy Spirit began my trek...with exposing Ellen...the truth, the lies and the deception. Looking back, it really was so wonderfully perfect! God's timing was/IS impeccable! Great question! | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 901 Registered: 3-2005 |
I am like Susan. As a young chile I would sit in church during the sermon and stare at Romans 13 and 14, and realized something was dreadfully wrong with this religion. Stan | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 1990 Registered: 11-2002 |
Stan, Didn't you attend Fresno Central SDA? Did you attend Fresno Academy or Monterey Bay Academy? | ||
| Heretic Registered user Username: Heretic Post Number: 198 Registered: 2-2005 |
For me, it all started with having theological discussions with my Mormon classmate while at Andrews. He informed me of Joseph Smith being a prophet and I told him that we had Ellen White. He asked why I believed that she was a prophet and I didn't have a very convincing reply, I'm sure, something about her being "ahead of her time". Up until then I'd been sheltered in "liberal" Adventism, not being beaten over the head with EGW yet living by her directives just because that's the way it was always done. That was my culture. Those talks with my Mormon friend planted the seed. After graduation, when we moved to a more conservative part of the country to a church with an ultra-conservative pastor who preached nothing but EGW and prophecy, the wheels began to turn again. Some of what I was being told I'd never heard before and was downright shocked by many of the EGW quotes. Sermons were also chocked full of relevant and important issues like making sure ALL cooking was done before Sabbath, that women weren't wearing sleeveless dresses which would distract the menfolk during sermons, etc, and how if any of these rules were violated Jesus would frown upon us and our salvation would be in jeopardy. This is what got me questioning and pushed over the edge to look into SDAism for the first time. I left feeling bad about myself just about every Sabbath and really the only reasons I kept going were because of our son, my marriage and our friends/subculture. There was little joy in being a Christian and I didn't understand why. So I think that moving to a more conservative/traditional SDA environment was a major factor and I think it's likely that if we'd stayed in Southern Cal, we'd still be in the church today. Heretic | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 907 Registered: 3-2005 |
Susan, I went to the Tulare SDA church. That is where Ron Torrano was our pastor. I liked him, and it is ironic that while he was preaching in church, my mind would be wandering and I would be studying portions of the Bible that would lead me out of SDA. Well, that pastor also is out of SDA now also. Stan | ||
| Patrickfoy Registered user Username: Patrickfoy Post Number: 41 Registered: 3-2004  |
It was the Holy Spirit that woke me up. The pastor at my church had such a bad attitude. It seemed that the people in the church couldn't wait for the sun to go down on Saturday evening. I was doing a vespers one evening and had about 20 minutes left in my program and people just started looking out the window and turning back and looking at the clock on the back wall, then they just started getting up and leaving, one by one before I was even finished with my program( which was on the Spirit of God) The sun had retired for the day and they were free. I remember thinking to myself that these people really hate being here. I thought that to be sad. And I knew in my heart that there was no Spirit in this place. I started searching scripture to find out how to get the Spirit going in our church and soon I came to the realization that the there was a Spirit there, but not the one of my savior, Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God is in the heart and most of those hearts were harded over. I stopped going to church altogether, until I found this site  Praise God! I pray that the Lord will help me reach and free those trapped in these situations. | ||
| Another_carol Registered user Username: Another_carol Post Number: 274 Registered: 12-2002 |
SDA got me started. As I have shared many times, and some other places,I was presented with the need to study my Bible by God some 15 years ago. I thought this was due to the fact I was hearing of the possiblity that one day we might not have access to the Bible and because of that we should know it. Well, Carol did not obey and consequently when my son-in-law introduced this to us in 1998 I did not know enough to dispell the error he was hearing, not that I could have since he allowed himself to be indoctinated into it before ever saying anything to even his wife. I then started a 6 month intensive study of the Bible. At that time I was only working about 5 hours a day and had considerable time to do so, much different than now when I work 10-12. In those first 6 months I thought there was nothing more I could learn and still God kept leading me to other places of the Bible and I was like a sponge for the knowledge that He was guiding me to. Then about 2 years later we got a computer and my whole world changed. I then saw how so many people have been so duped into this false religion. I spent much time here and greatly enjoyed fellowship with many of you; Colleen and Pheeki in particular. I have since moved over to CARM not because I fell so good there but because I feel a need to witness of what has happened to me and therefore hopefully keep someone who is just surfing for answers from tripping into something that my son-in-law did in the vise of "It is truth" And then about 3 years ago I found a Bible thru in a year and this time I said Yes Lord I will read it thru. I read it thru twice the next 2 years. The biggest revelation was the fact that God hardened the heart of Pharoah and I could just not understand. But there it was in words that I could not deny. I did not ask anyone for understanding but rather kept reading and in the next few chapters found that He hardened his heart so that others could see how He works. I then began to see how God had worked thru what happened to my son-in-law to bring my daughter to a place of total trust in Him. And thru it all I claim Romans 8:28, not because everything is wonderful, quite the contrary, but I can see the hand of God just like many others have thru much heartache. My Bible is my Book of choice, Carol | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 2701 Registered: 12-2003  |
Carol, thanks for sharing your experience in reading the Bible through and in God's revealing how He works through even the hardened hearts of some. There's so much we can't explain, but we can trust our sovereign God! Patrick, I'm just rejoicing that you have found Jesus and are actively worshiping and living in Him. Colleen | ||
| Marcell Registered user Username: Marcell Post Number: 66 Registered: 4-2004 |
I got started because of the segregation of the "Central States" and that the SDA church would not ordain women. That seemed wrong and troubled my spirit very much. I just couldn't buy into the system anymore, no matter what my extended family thought. I found another church and actually was working here when a pastor here started their own ministry that was very charismatic (VERY). They were big into being slain in the spirit, etc. I started researching that phenonmenon, and lo and behold, EGW came up in that context, that she used to hold meetings where this was happening all the time. Given the current SDA churches' aversion to the Holy Spirit and anything at all that smacks of the charismatic movement, that seemed odd that EGW was so totally into it at the beginning of her ministry. I smelled a rat. Sure enough, the more I studied, the more convinced I was that the SDA church knew a lot of things about EGW that they weren't 'tellin'! It just seemed more and more like a conspiracy that the enemy was part of. Eventually that pastor left this church (not that being slain in the spirit is necessarily bad, but there was a lot of wierd teaching that was going on too - and the church actually DEALT with it, imagine that!) Well, a few years later and much study, I still have to look back and shake my head at how I could have been in so much denial about the SDA beliefs. God is good! | ||
| Violet Registered user Username: Violet Post Number: 279 Registered: 2-2001 |
Marcell, What is "slain in the spirit"? | ||
| Insearchof Registered user Username: Insearchof Post Number: 3 Registered: 8-2005 |
Well, the journey has started but has not ended (am am 'leaving' but have not 'left'...). I travel a lot and spend quite a bit of time sitting in hotel rooms. One night I decided to read the book of Hebrews rather than get frustrated watching TV. That was the beginning of the end of Adventism for me....Paul leaves no way out about where Jesuss went after His ascension - the Most Holy Place. There went 1844. Once I realized that 1844 was a non-event, I began doing so research on EGW. After several hours over several days, I realized that she had to go. After reading what the Bible says about the Judgement (John 5 - if we are believers we do not enter into judgement), I knew that the IJ had to go. Now that those three doctrines are gone, I am just sort of drifting and don't really know what to do with myself. After 30 years as an SDA, I am not sure where I will end up. I find it hard to go to SS because I am starting to cause problems (not intentionally, either!) because I am quietly rattling cages and bring in new ideas. Oddly enough, the pastor knows that I have problems with doctrine and has suggested that we study together but I don't see what purpose it would serve. I mean how can you accept 1844 and Hebrews? They cannot both be true! Anyway, that's the short of it for me. I find that I am drawn to Calvinism like a moth to a flame, so I am currently studying the issues of free will, predestination and election. There seems to be no shortage of 'new' things to study and discover! | ||
| Marcell Registered user Username: Marcell Post Number: 67 Registered: 4-2004 |
Violet, Slain in the spirit is when someone suddenly falls down, sometimes after or during prayer, and lays there. Sometimes they report having a vision, sometimes they report having a sense of peace. I think that this is something that CAN happen for real, but often happens in a highly charged emotional setting. Something that looks and sounds EXACTLY like it is called 'the descent of the Shaktipat' in eastern mysticism - a spirit will enter someone's body and they will fall down, their eyes roll back, etc. | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 912 Registered: 3-2005 |
Insearchof, I appreciate your story, as it resembles mine with regard to doctrinal study and the faulty foundation of Adventism. I am also happy to hear that you are studying Reformed theology, and that is where a my doctrinal pilgrimage has led. I find that many SDAs eventually discover that the Wesleyan foundation of Adventism is fatally flawed, and you will find a similar works orientation in many other churches that is very similar to Adventism. God bless you in your study. Stan | ||
| Violet Registered user Username: Violet Post Number: 280 Registered: 2-2001 |
Insearchof Praise Jesus for your study and guidance by the Holy Spirit! You never know what you might bring to the table in Bible study with the pastor. I will keep you in my prayers Marcell, That is interesting, do you think it is brought on by suggestion? | ||
| Violet Registered user Username: Violet Post Number: 281 Registered: 2-2001 |
Helovesme: what other issues were brought up from your studies? | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 306 Registered: 8-2004 |
It brought up broader issues of Stewardship, Meat-eating, Alcohol, the place of the Old testament in my life as a Christian, the confusion that arises if you try to harmonise the Bible and EGW. I studied Jewelry and clothing trends thru the Bible as well, though not so directly connected. It was eye-opening to me! Mary | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 2705 Registered: 12-2003 |
Insearchof--God is leading you. What an amazing thing; he prompted you to read Hebrews that night! With prayers for you, Colleen |
