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White blames her failed prophecy on the members of the Seventh-day Adventist church! "Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history." SELECTED MESSAGES, Book 1, p. 299
I have studied what they believe, what I am trying to figure out is why I really care and why would I judge or put down what they believe? [/quote][quote="By Grace, post: 852895, member: 3163"
Therefore without any hint of anger or pique, I submit that you really do not know enough about the SDAs to make that sort of statement as you did in your post
SDA got Jesus right, at least they know that. Muslims don't even know that, and Mormons wrote a whole other book they follow saying Jesus is some angel or something, the half brother of Satan, whatever.................
Can you not see the difference here between every other Evangelical church?.Whites biggest problem was pride. If something she copied or something she said did not come to pass, it was someone else's fault. It could not have possibly have been God never said what she claimed God said
I don't find the SDA any more goofy than a Methodist, Baptist, Word of Faith, Pentecostal, Nazarene, Apostolic, whatever. They all have helped people and they all come up with some goofy stuff.
... then you will never see them. What is most frustrating in this case is that instead of looking at any of those heretical doctrines, which they hold dear, you are making statements that are not supported by the facts. Instead they are based on your feelings, and are indeed contrary to your OP.Would posting some of the major things make a difference? I ask in advance because I am not sure about the things that they hold dear, such as theBrother Mike said: ↑
I am trying to find something bad about SDA's but I seem to be falling short here.
veneration of Ellen White and ALL of her writings (through which they make the Bible secondary),
the Investigative Judgment,
The Remnant church
the Sanctuary,
1844 and the 2300 Days
Sabbath observance as the "proof of salvation"
there are others...
Can you imagine anything like what you posted in your own OP in a Bible-believing church
I sort of felt chased away.
They were pushing Ellen White books on me and telling me I should be giving 20% of my income to the church.
And this was on my one and only visit.
By Grace
I still was able to work with him though, because I don't judge and let it go in one ear and out the other.
Mike.
These are not small items Mike, and every group from the Masons to the Mormons and to the Muslims have charitable works but ALL of the SDA Fundamental Beliefs I enumerated trample the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and therein is their evil.
the rcc has the charismatic catholics, they are basically pentacostals. I have attended such a mass. its been years but it was no different then my home pentacostal church at the time.By Grace:
I fully understand what your saying. It's not far off from the Four Square Church who are fixated on Aimee Semple Mcpherson. One service I attended we watched a video the whole service about the Awesomeness of this women. Nothing about Jesus or the Word that day, just a video how great Aimee is. It was really hard for me to keep my mouth shut, but I did. I was there to help, not cause issues with what they believed.
I don't want to put down Aimee, they put a crippled person from birth on her stage and she prayed in front of 3,000 people and the Lord healed them. It's verified medical proof and no fraud was found in any healing services.
She was investigated by the Baptist church and the medical community for the authenticity of these healing and 6% had medical evidence of completely healed of even terminal cases and 85% were partial healed and getting stronger. 1% claimed nothing happened at all.
That is pretty awesome, Jesus said if you believe on his name you shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover........ Recover means getting better over time. James said the prayer of faith will save the sick and God shall "Rise" them up. Once again a position of getting better and better. Of course instant healing is possible when the Holy Spirit is involved with the Gift's of healings but standing on the word which is Health to all flesh also does just fine.
So if the Baptist are trying to find fraud and can't find it when it comes to this "Word of Faith" stuff, you know God is involved.
However................................
Aimee was fearful that she could not get everyone healed. She become focused on her image instead of letting God use her and drew away from all Healing ministry despite what God had done before. She got involved with other men, a big kidnapping scandal and was found dead of a drug overdose.
How can you follow that example? Lot's of Foursquare churches believe you should.
Truth is, Foursquare Churches don't even have many healing miracles. I got kicked out of the Church because the Pastor's wife Had cancer and I told her she can be healed!!! That got me kicked out...........
What I am saying is there are lots of goofy things going in lots of churches. With Catholics I remind some that even Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues so you might as well get what she had since she is so important to your faith. I try to find something positive to help and putting down these folks or speaking against their belief's is not the best way to reach anyone.
Lot's of people come out of these goofy things if we are a light for them to find their way out. We can be that light, and not the guy in the corner point out all the bad.
If we criticize what people believe, they shut us out. We want to be let in to show them the way out.
Mike.
By Grace:
I fully understand what your saying. It's not far off from the Four Square Church who are fixated on Aimee Semple Mcpherson. One service I attended we watched a video the whole service about the Awesomeness of this women. Nothing about Jesus or the Word that day, just a video how great Aimee is. It was really hard for me to keep my mouth shut, but I did. I was there to help, not cause issues with what they believed.
That is pretty awesome, Jesus said if you believe on his name you shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover........ Recover means getting better over time. James said the prayer of faith will save the sick and God shall "Rise" them up. Once again a position of getting better and better. Of course instant healing is possible when the Holy Spirit is involved with the Gift's of healings but standing on the word which is Health to all flesh also does just fine.
What I am saying is there are lots of goofy things going in lots of churches. ...
Lot's of people come out of these goofy things if we are a light for them to find their way out
I am not criticizing people, rather I am pointing to the Bible, saying, "this is truth"If we criticize what people believe, they shut us out. We want to be let in to show them the way out.
... I still was able to work with him though, because I don't judge and let it go in one ear and out the other.
... spiritual maturity, and allowing God to keep showing just how much love God is.
Where's my double thumbs up emoticon? Hmmmm?Of course, as a guest in their house, you are under constraints of civility. On a public forum we are to remain civil, but we are not "guests in the house" of any particular church.
Actually, it was James:
Respectfully, I submit that what the SDAs believe is NOT the faith once delivered to the saints, and it is my belief that exposing the truth to them is what they need. The reason for that is because once they see the truth, they are responsible to respond. Elsewhere in Scripture, we are admonished to do as Jude stated:
Of course, as a guest in their house, you are under constraints of civility. On a public forum we are to remain civil, but we are not "guests in the house" of any particular church.
I don't believe any church runs things 100% as God would want it run though. I think we find out later what we thought was all God, was really just us doing things and making extra work for nothing. Some make it a whole lot of extra work.
I suspect that you may not understand their "code words" which stand for obedience to Ellen White, always, and yes at the expense of clearly contradictory Scriptures taken in whole from their immediate context. The SDAs cannot do that.Now this sounds a whole lot better. I certainly do not believe in what the SDA does either. I still love them and I do see many good things they have done. I have heard good sermons by them on eating right of all things and taking care of the body. (That can't be all bad)
Any other Evangelical church will honor another Evangelical church. We do not agree in all matters, but that is about 1 to 2%. The SDA church cannot let that happen, it is all or nothing, and I am surprised that you do not see that.I had a so called "Faith" Church tell someone that since they don't speak in tongues they are not yet saved. That person also came to my church to sit under me as Pastor and how do you respond to that? (Duh, stay out of those other churches!!)
Another Church told me that I was not saved because I was not baptized correctly though I spoke in tongues which they said is needed to be saved. Go figure that one out. I asked the Pastor How I could not be saved and still speak in tongues and he said he does not understand everything................................. That was obvious.
We have a plumb line, and that is Scripture. If something that someone teaches does not align with Scripture, that is heresy. It is that simple, Mike.I don't believe any church runs things 100% as God would want it run though. I think we find out later what we thought was all God, was really just us doing things and making extra work for nothing. Some make it a whole lot of extra work. Mike.
Can you as a pastor tell your sheep that these are "insignificant"?Here is a small explanation of some of the heretical beliefs:
Salvation is an "experience"
Led by the Holy Spirit we sense our need, acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our transgressions, and exercise faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, as Substitute and Example...
Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgment
But the word "savior" is not included in that entire Fundamental belief it is ALL pf works, nothing of grace
Veneration of Ellen White and ALL of her writings (through which they make the Bible secondary)
18. The Gift of Prophecy:
One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen. G. White . As the Lord's messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction.
You cannot miss the parallel to 2 Timothy 3:16 at the end of that statement. Then as an afterthought, they add this at the end : They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. However by tacking that on the end, instead of making ir primary, they make Ellen first
the Investigative Judgment,
Jesus Christ will judge people on how well they kept Ellen's rules
The Remnant church
"The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."
They are the only church where salvation is possible, and are the only perfect church. all others are condemned
Sanctuary,
"He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement."
1844 and the 2300 Days
No one born before 1844 has been saved
Sabbath observance as the "proof of salvation"
The Sabbath is God's perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. No way!
Any other Evangelical church will honor another Evangelical church. We do not agree in all matters, but that is about 1 to 2%. The SDA church cannot let that happen, it is all or nothing, and I am surprised that you do not see that.
So as a pastor is it not your responsibility to guard the sheep from the wolves at the door? When people came to me, I pulled out the facts, and let the facts speak for themselves. I did not want people to base their decisions on me as an "authority". Instead, I wanted them to see empirical data, and the Bible
I went to one of their services once.
I sort of felt chased away.
They were pushing Ellen White books on me and telling me I should be giving 20% of my income to the church.
And this was on my one and only visit.
They certainly do separate themselves from the rest of christianity.
I've met plenty of them but never once did they talk about Jesus unless I brought it up.
Are they a cult?
This seems to be the controversy.
If they believe you must be saved through Jesus, I guess they are okay.
Just a little different from the rest of us.
Indeed, that seemed to be the caseI think your mistaking my lack of care for being ignorant of their evils.
I believe you were once in CARM, on the KJVO threads. I remember your posts thereI had a kick long time ago against the Catholic church with their crazy views and I was a KJV only nut job. If you did not read the KJV, you had to be a devil.
To be effective, we must pick our battles. I choose to have a narrow field of war, in that regard.I could rail against Baptist, Methodist for allowing a gay vote, Word of Faith for purple hair and begging for money, Mormons for making Jesus out to be the brother of Satan, on and on.
That is a subjective view, how I view you it that you are describing. I prefer the objective view, or how this or that, which they say differs from what the Bible says. That way, I do not have to be emotionally attached to an issue.I have learned that what someone else believes is not my pass to judge or shed light on all the evils they have accumulated in my book of evils.
It is NOT subjective, instead it is objective. If one can demonstrate how inconsistent she was, or how she peddled medical quackery, and is "venerated as a prophet" by the SDA, then that leaves no ground for the follower of the SDA church to have confidence in their Fundamental Belief 18 about her.So you don't agree with them, or like Ellen. It's not the end of the World.
We are not talking about the light bulbs in our car's turning signals. At less than $1.00 per, they are expendable and easily replaced. What I consider pernicious is the fact that there are people who are lost in the SDA church, who mistakenly believe that the pseudo health message is going to get them the seats in the orchestra section in the theater of heaven, but other Bible-believing Christians will not be permitted to be in the upper balcony.I have come to find that if I yell at someone for not using their turn signal, then it's not long that mine also don't work.
I keep mine working. Mike.
Indeed so! I am glad to see that Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to see the truth.I am a member of a SDA church here but I do not subcribe to the EG White prophetess thing. This has been a cause of contention with me and some of the members. Some just do not recognise her as such. I believe Christianity is about a person and that Person is Jesus. I have repeatedly stated that when you adore anyone to that extent it is nothing but blatant IDOLATRY. whether he be the Pope or EG White or any other religious leader. I would not say it is a cult but I believe many do not want to challenge the church's teaching. They have a very good ministry for children. Each week when we have our Lesson Study and the teacher says, EG White says XYZ, I just tell him, give me scripture.
Each of us must be willing to think for ourselves and not allow ANY religious organisation to control our minds. We must be willing look to the bible and the bible alone. That is what I am doing.
On another point, I am not involved in what they call vegan eating. I eat meat, fish and chicken. They have this obsession with not eating meat. Another thing is the wearing of jewellry. I believe that they focus too much on the outward to the detriment of the inward. I wear jewellry and many think I am not a "true" member.
The reason for that is because our salvation is so precious and so secure! Many cults use that verse to place fear into the hearts of its adherents, but the real sense is to be full of awe about the uniqueness of a God who chose us before the foundations of the earth. (Ephesians 1:4)All of this is man-made tradition, and I will never allow anyone to dictate to me what is right or wrong, when they are using a human standard of measurement. God's word is my guide and this is what I tell them. Some may ask, why remain in a church when you disagree with some aspects of their belief. There is no perfect church and I believe as the Apostle Paul said, We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
Ah, yes! You are following your SDA teachings well! Just playing with you a bit, not being mean, OK?When you look at the millions who are deceived by the Roman Catholic church, if they were willing to take a look at the bible believe it, they would see the light. Most religious organisations use FEAR as their weapon. I know that fear is of the devil.
When I look at their doctrines and they do not compute with what the bible says, I dismiss it too. God's word say we are to PROVE all things.
I believe when Christ returns he will not ask us which church we were a member of.