Do you think becoming an adventist...

[tofu]

Is possible without personal experience of God or Jesus? I could have posted this on many different subforums but I admire some of the contributors here and as a seeker I can tell you, Adventist doctrine is very appealling from an outsider looking in.

I'm at this stage now; the first five books of the Old Testament are done. It has not exactly decreased or increased my chances of converting but in all honesty it is the wisdome Literature I am looking forward to most, having read stuff like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs before hand. I like the idea of an objective moral code and do not like the way my country is going, with it's obsession of non judgements and secularism. But as I said previously, how can I convert without direct experience of god? Even if I believe in him.

 

[OntheDL]

Is possible without personal experience of God or Jesus? I could have posted this on many different subforums but I admire some of the contributors here and as a seeker I can tell you, Adventist doctrine is very appealling from an outsider looking in.

I'm at this stage now; the first five books of the Old Testament are done. It has not exactly decreased or increased my chances of converting but in all honesty it is the wisdome Literature I am looking forward to most, having read stuff like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs before hand. I like the idea of an objective moral code and do not like the way my country is going, with it's obsession of non judgements and secularism. But as I said previously, how can I convert without direct experience of god? Even if I believe in him.

Hi welcome to the adventist forum!

You said you believe in Him but have not experienced a personal encounter.

My question is how can you believe in Him without having a personal encounter? Do you believe in Him knowing He exists or do you believe in Him knowing what He did for you and there is a desire in your heart to want to follow Him?

If the latter is the case, then I'd say you have had a personal encounter with God.

Now to answer your question...it's impossible to become an Adventist (a true one) without having a personal experience. But having an encounter is not enough. We need to have Jesus live in us and direct our steps: having a daily experience of Christ in you is the essence of being a true Christian.

 

[tofu]

How do you know when it's an experience though friend? I feel a calling to God, whether this is just a gut feeling or the Holy Spirit is another thing.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

If your calling from God is to glorify Him and to benefit others, then you can be assured it is from God. If what you feel God has called you to do does not harmonize with His teachings then it is not...

As an example, I know a fellow that professes to be a Christian that is a award winning tattoo artist... he got into the 'craft' already being a Christian because he felt it was his calling (he's a gifted artist and this pays really well).... he says he gets to witness to those that might not otherwise hear the good news but he's doing it while marking them with demons and all manner of evil symbols.

 

[E.T.Elijah]

Is possible without personal experience of God or Jesus? I could have posted this on many different subforums but I admire some of the contributors here and as a seeker I can tell you, Adventist doctrine is very appealling from an outsider looking in.

I'm at this stage now; the first five books of the Old Testament are done. It has not exactly decreased or increased my chances of converting but in all honesty it is the wisdome Literature I am looking forward to most, having read stuff like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs before hand. I like the idea of an objective moral code and do not like the way my country is going, with it's obsession of non judgements and secularism. But as I said previously, how can I convert without direct experience of god? Even if I believe in him.

tofu, if you believe in God, you have already had an experience with Him. The very fact that you are searching for Him is a testament to the Holy Spirit moving in your life. He is bringing you into an relationship with Jesus. Jesus says "seek and ye will find." Might I suggest reading the first 4 books of the New Testament. Jesus is the Lord and Savior in which those 5 OT books point. God speaks to each of us in different ways. Some get a face to face (Adam, Cain), some get a voice (Moses, Abraham), some got dreams (Daniel, John), and some through others or scripture. The point though is that He is speaking to us (having an experience with us).

Now, to answer your question about becoming an adventist. That may be a little more tricky to explain. If you believe in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then the next logical step would be to identify with those that similar doctrinal beliefs as yourself. But, let me reiterate, a certain church or denomination, is not what saves us; it is Chrsit who saves. Again with that said, there should be some points of faith that we can identify with. When we have those settled in our miind we tend to then seek out others with those same beliefs. It seems that you have found those in the Adventist church, at least in part. If that is in fact the case, I would encourage you to find a group of adventist in your area.

I hope this helps.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

Great answer ET! It's nice having another fellow believer on the forum....