Proclamation Magazine

[Silver Surfer]

Ever heard of the proclamation mag ?

I have an ex-Baptist minister who sends me this on a subscription basis, which he's done.

It has articles in it about ex-SDA's, who have broken away from the SDA church.
And, most of those people claim, to be 3rd & 4th generation SDA's.

 

[TrustAndObey]

You'll find "ex's" in every faith. I'm ex-Baptist as well.

Most of my family members that are NOW Baptist are ex-Pentecostal.

I'm surprised there's a magazine about it though...actually no I'm not...look at all the hate websites out there. LOL

 

[orpinams]

Ever heard of the proclamation mag ?

I have an ex-Baptist minister who sends me this on a subscription basis, which he's done.

It has articles in it about ex-SDA's, who have broken away from the SDA church.
And, most of those people claim, to be 3rd & 4th generation SDA's.

All my exes live in Texas.

 

[SassySDA]

It's really unfortunate that they couldn't leave the church quietly.

I'm an ex-Baptist as well, you don't see either Trust or myself posting horror stories, or even doctrine we now know was false, etc.

If you take issue with your church, if there comes a time when you feel that what they are teaching you is wrong, no matter WHAT denomination it is, then by all means, LEAVE. I would just ask that people be mature enough to do it, as I have said about 50 times on these forums....QUIETLY.

You will always have fanatics, I don't care where you go or what you are "in to". I'm sure our church is no different. I have heard stories of parents being so strict with their Seventh-day Adventist offspring, that the children feel that they can't move, let alone breathe. Fanatics are those who take one point and obsess on it, go overboard with it. Our organization is not immune. I feel that that is where a LOT of the horror stories are coming from. I can't say for certain, because I am not personally involved, nor have I seen such fanatisism in my particular church. But because I don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I am sorry for the pain that they feel, but bashing the entire Seventh-day Adventist church for what ONE church, or even just ONE set of parents did is not only unfair, it's blatantly errant.

The reason this upsets me, this publicly and loudly leaving one's church, is because we all know that people tend to believe that the whole church is what they are describing. The whole organization is bad. Instead of doing some research to find out what our church is truly like, what we believe, etc., some people hear these horror stories, and that's it. We're a cult, we're awful horrid people...etc. They tend to forget that there is always 2 sides to every story.

A magazine....now I've heard everything.

 

[tall73]

I don't think he meant the whole magazine was dedicated to that. But interesting. Perhaps they have an online edition.

 

[honorthesabbath]

Well--I'm an ex-Methodist, an ex-luthern and ex=pentecostal!! lol I wonder what that "ex-baptist" preacher is now??? lol Oh--let me guess---"Non-denominational"??? There seems to be a trend by many, who--unlearned about the scriptures, when confronted by others of different beliefs, just simply then bash their former beliefs and become "non-denominational". But here's the kicker--after I have spoken with several "non's"--I find that their belief is essentially, baptist. They just don't want to be called baptist.

So here's my point--those SDA's who are loudly leaving the church, simply have never really understood the Advent message. Perhaps it's too deep for them, who knows. But this we do know--EGW PROPHECISED that they would do this. So REJOICE in the knowledge that God has placed us in a church with a God given prophet who forewarned us of this. If we would have been blind sided by these ppl--then great would have been our discouragement. But instead, because we were prepared for it--we can be happy and peaceful that this church IS the Remnant of God. He raised it up-irrespective of the frailty of the people--to be a light in the end times.

So as Jesus told Peter--"what is that to thee?? Follow me!!

 

[tall73]

In going through the former SDA forum my wife noted that

a. we knew a lot of them from the area we went to college at
b. Most of them were raised legalist, and when they realized that the law didn't save them they thought that the church must be wrong.


As a church we pay a high price for the impressions we give of what we believe.

 

[StormyOne]

In going through the former SDA forum my wife noted that

a. we knew a lot of them from the area we went to college at
b. Most of them were raised legalist, and when they realized that the law didn't save them they thought that the church must be wrong.


As a church we pay a high price for the impressions we give of what we believe.

Some would suggest that the church should not be blamed for the impressions given.... to them you would say?

 

[SassySDA]

I don't think he meant the whole magazine was dedicated to that. But interesting. Perhaps they have an online edition.

No, I just meant articles in a magazine. Hate websites weren't enough I guess.

I suppose I should reserve "judgment" though, since I haven't read these articles.

Everything I have heard or read from ex's has been extremely negative, and I just wouldn't expect this to be any different. I'm awfully glad I didn't run into "ex-SDA's" while I was studying and preparing to join the church...who knows how it might have affected me. I would like to think that I would have continued on with my studies and discussed any misgivings with the pastor or the elders of my church.

 

[StormyOne]

There are approximately 10 million ex-sda's. In an average month, 34,000 people join the adventist church, and 17,000 people leave the adventist church....

The question is why? I guess there are multiple answers so there is no one reason why people leave....

 

[StormyOne]

The Quinquennium of 5 Million Gains and Almost 1.5 Million Losses

For the first time in our history Seventh-day Adventists received into membership more than 5 million new believers within a five-year period. During that same period, however, more than 1.4 million left our community. During this quinquennium we grew from a membership of 10,939,182 at the beginning of 2000 to 13,936,932 at the end of 2004. Yet, not since the period 1960 to 1964 has our growth rate of 4.9 percent been as low.

http://www.adventistreview.org/2005bulletin/bulletin8-4.html

 

[tall73]

How could we not be responsible for the impression given? The problem is not with impressions, the problem is that many Adventists still do think we are saved by the law. Of course, Uriah Smith would agree!

 

[StormyOne]

How could we not be responsible for the impression given? The problem is not with impressions, the problem is that many Adventists still do think we are saved by the law. Of course, Uriah Smith would agree!

Exactly Tall... perception is reality... whether we choose to subscribe to that school of thought or not... how we are perceived by people (right or wrong) translates into the ongoing impression they have of us....