Today I have a very heavy heart for a number of reason. As I was getting ready for work this afternoon, my wife came to me and was telling me about a conversation she had with a friend of ours on facebook. They had recently not been attending church, but we had associated it with just having a baby a few months ago and there had been some medical problems. But, it seems that had not been the case. She had confided in my wife that they had not been attending because a few of the members had approached them about some of the activities that they were involved with outside of the church. I will go into those in a moment. She then had also mentioned that she has had questions about SDA and christianity as a whole since she was 13; she is now in her mid 20's. She says that no one she has asked has been able to answer them. Now, I do not know who she has gone to or what they have said to her. But I do know her parents and they were very active members in the church until they fell into a group of Shepherd's Rod believers and over the course of their involvement with that group it really destroyed their faith. I am not totally sure if she became involved with the group when her parents did as she was out on her own and had her own family. But they all left the church and she has recently came back. I have heard from another member that also got involved and has come back over the last month or so how his experience with the group sent him way off the end and is just now getting centered in Christ again. So one thing that is waying on me is how I can help them pick up the pieces from that experience and build their faith in Jesus again.
Now, I mentioned earlier that some members of the church (some involved in leadership I am assuming) had come to her and her husband about the activities they are engaged in. There are two things that I have observed that could be the cause of contention. The first may or may not be main reason. They have 3 children and their oldest is 5-6. They have her involved in the child beauty pagants. I personally do not agree with this, however I do not see it as any type of sin. I do think that it teaches little girls the wrong lessons in life, but to each their own. That I don't think is a big deal, but we are also a very conservative membership, so it may play a part.
The second, which I think may be the underlying reason, is their involvement with freemasonry. She posts on Facebook many different symbols and saying from her participation with the Order of the Eastern Star or something similar to that. A lot of these symbols are Kabballah related. Now I don't know exactly what was said to her, but my wife relayed to me that it was something along the lines of their involvement in Satanic activities. Now, in essense, those that approached her are right in their understanding of these things, however, I'm sure the approach was not what it could have been. Now my quandry, if this is one of the questions she is searching for an answer to, where should I start? I have done much research over the last few years about these such societies and the hidden meanings and symbolisms used. My step-father was a freemason early in my life, but has since let his membership fall by the wayside. So I do have a little first hand knowledge.
I should also say, that I believe I know how and why they became involved in this. I know that this is a very sensitive subject that I am about to start. But know that this has nothing to do with racism but more to do with cultural aspects of their lives. This is a black family that is very involved in their black heritage. They are both educated and intelligent people. They are both on the board for our local black chamber of commerce. And I can reasonably assume that through their involvement on that committee they have gotten involved with freemasonry. Maybe as a means of gaining business status and connections or as a means of becoming more involved in enhancing the black community. I don't know. If anyone out there has any advice or information that can help, please feel free to chime in. As a white male in my late 30's, I am out of the loop where this is concerned. But my heart is going out for them as I see them struggling with their identities within christianity.
Now, for the last thing that is on my heart. Our church over the last year has lost 8-10 members to another church. It would not bother me so much except it is to a sunday-keeping mega church. My problem does not lie in the fact that they left. But these people were staple members until a falling out over business. Not church business, but our lay pastors personal business. He is a dentist and owned one of the largest dental offices in our area. He decided to sell the business, stay on for 4 years, and then retire so he could devote more time to the church. During this sale, he promised one of the members that their job would be safe as he made sure the new owners would keep him on. About a month or so after the sale they let him go. His wife blamed our pastor and accused him of lying about the agreement. The pastor denied it and even offered to help this man establish his own business, but the wife would not let it go. I should mention, that this couple has 4-5 adult kids who all attend this other church. So they of course went their to be with their children. No problem there I suppose. They attended the Saturday night services and kept the Sabbath during the day, although we now see facebook statuses of secular activities being done during Sabbath hours. The wife, who loves singing, became involved with the choir, and loves it. I am happy for her, it was always her way to express her love for Christ. However, over the course of the next few months, 2-3 other couples started to attend this church with them. I am sure it is because of the things that this lady had been saying about our pastor. Of course there are two sides to every story, and she was only telling one side. She had approached my wife about it at the time, knowing that she was a newly baptized member. Of course my wife would confide in me and we would talk about these things. Again, we have remained friends with all these couples throughout this time and speak to them frequently. But now, over the last few weeks, we are seeing gravitate away from the three angel's messages more and more. One of these couples still attend our church regularly and remain Adventists They go to fellowship with them and because they like the music service. We are a small church of maybe 100 so we really don't have the resources for all-out chior and such. Speaking with them they also see changes in beliefs of the others. More and more of their postings and comments seem to be less in line with the adventist message. Although they all still consider themselves adventist, there is a more of a derogatory conotation in their tone when speaking of our beliefs. Now I love these people and have spent most of the last 12 years fellowshipping with them. Now again, I am not perfect and am always looking to God to change me into what he would have me to be. I stumble and fall with the best of them. But, again, my heart aches over the course they have chosen to take.
I don't really know what I am in need of. Whether it is advice, encouragement, a good smack upside the head, being told to butt out. But I do know that the Holy Spirit is really impressing this upon me.
I've thought about approaching this younger couple and maybe offering to study with them. Nothing indepth but maybe some studies that are pertinent to modern life, say like, parenthood, marriage, etc. Stuff that can help grow a relationship with Jesus without all the theological doctrine. Something that will make that relationship relevant to our lives. Because my feeling is that if we have no relationship with Christ then the doctrine means nothing. Does anyone have any good suggestions for any type of studies like that?
Now, I mentioned earlier that some members of the church (some involved in leadership I am assuming) had come to her and her husband about the activities they are engaged in. There are two things that I have observed that could be the cause of contention. The first may or may not be main reason. They have 3 children and their oldest is 5-6. They have her involved in the child beauty pagants. I personally do not agree with this, however I do not see it as any type of sin. I do think that it teaches little girls the wrong lessons in life, but to each their own. That I don't think is a big deal, but we are also a very conservative membership, so it may play a part.
The second, which I think may be the underlying reason, is their involvement with freemasonry. She posts on Facebook many different symbols and saying from her participation with the Order of the Eastern Star or something similar to that. A lot of these symbols are Kabballah related. Now I don't know exactly what was said to her, but my wife relayed to me that it was something along the lines of their involvement in Satanic activities. Now, in essense, those that approached her are right in their understanding of these things, however, I'm sure the approach was not what it could have been. Now my quandry, if this is one of the questions she is searching for an answer to, where should I start? I have done much research over the last few years about these such societies and the hidden meanings and symbolisms used. My step-father was a freemason early in my life, but has since let his membership fall by the wayside. So I do have a little first hand knowledge.
I should also say, that I believe I know how and why they became involved in this. I know that this is a very sensitive subject that I am about to start. But know that this has nothing to do with racism but more to do with cultural aspects of their lives. This is a black family that is very involved in their black heritage. They are both educated and intelligent people. They are both on the board for our local black chamber of commerce. And I can reasonably assume that through their involvement on that committee they have gotten involved with freemasonry. Maybe as a means of gaining business status and connections or as a means of becoming more involved in enhancing the black community. I don't know. If anyone out there has any advice or information that can help, please feel free to chime in. As a white male in my late 30's, I am out of the loop where this is concerned. But my heart is going out for them as I see them struggling with their identities within christianity.
Now, for the last thing that is on my heart. Our church over the last year has lost 8-10 members to another church. It would not bother me so much except it is to a sunday-keeping mega church. My problem does not lie in the fact that they left. But these people were staple members until a falling out over business. Not church business, but our lay pastors personal business. He is a dentist and owned one of the largest dental offices in our area. He decided to sell the business, stay on for 4 years, and then retire so he could devote more time to the church. During this sale, he promised one of the members that their job would be safe as he made sure the new owners would keep him on. About a month or so after the sale they let him go. His wife blamed our pastor and accused him of lying about the agreement. The pastor denied it and even offered to help this man establish his own business, but the wife would not let it go. I should mention, that this couple has 4-5 adult kids who all attend this other church. So they of course went their to be with their children. No problem there I suppose. They attended the Saturday night services and kept the Sabbath during the day, although we now see facebook statuses of secular activities being done during Sabbath hours. The wife, who loves singing, became involved with the choir, and loves it. I am happy for her, it was always her way to express her love for Christ. However, over the course of the next few months, 2-3 other couples started to attend this church with them. I am sure it is because of the things that this lady had been saying about our pastor. Of course there are two sides to every story, and she was only telling one side. She had approached my wife about it at the time, knowing that she was a newly baptized member. Of course my wife would confide in me and we would talk about these things. Again, we have remained friends with all these couples throughout this time and speak to them frequently. But now, over the last few weeks, we are seeing gravitate away from the three angel's messages more and more. One of these couples still attend our church regularly and remain Adventists They go to fellowship with them and because they like the music service. We are a small church of maybe 100 so we really don't have the resources for all-out chior and such. Speaking with them they also see changes in beliefs of the others. More and more of their postings and comments seem to be less in line with the adventist message. Although they all still consider themselves adventist, there is a more of a derogatory conotation in their tone when speaking of our beliefs. Now I love these people and have spent most of the last 12 years fellowshipping with them. Now again, I am not perfect and am always looking to God to change me into what he would have me to be. I stumble and fall with the best of them. But, again, my heart aches over the course they have chosen to take.
I don't really know what I am in need of. Whether it is advice, encouragement, a good smack upside the head, being told to butt out. But I do know that the Holy Spirit is really impressing this upon me.
I've thought about approaching this younger couple and maybe offering to study with them. Nothing indepth but maybe some studies that are pertinent to modern life, say like, parenthood, marriage, etc. Stuff that can help grow a relationship with Jesus without all the theological doctrine. Something that will make that relationship relevant to our lives. Because my feeling is that if we have no relationship with Christ then the doctrine means nothing. Does anyone have any good suggestions for any type of studies like that?
