Some Advice?

[Untamed Fire]

Take a look at this thread http://foru.ms/t5965141-the-exorcism-of-emily-rose.html

I'm reading it now. But I'm a little uncertain what your point of focus is here. Could you be more specific? Is it because you argued with Moriah_Conquering_Wind or because NightEternal raised the subject of demons and exorcism, or what? I'm having difficulty seeing how the individuals posting here all fit into a picture of being somehow a result of the progressive -versus- traditional split in the forum. Is it because these are all progressives and you are a traditional? Are you objecting to the subject itself or to the presence here of someone afflicted with demons? Please explain. Sorry, I don't get it! I'm dense.

 

[Untamed Fire]

However, we should show no sign of tolerance for blasphemy, and ideas that are an affront to God and His church.

I don't see this being expressed anywhere in that thread, so now I am doubly confused. I see a few souls who seem to be in trouble, and you strike me as one of them (no offense intended, I mean that compassionately, like you seem to be upset and angry over things that have little to do with the subjects at hand). Sometimes hurting people have a hard time with other hurting people, and misread things which causes further hurt for them both. All I know is that God has called me to love, not to judge, and to never give up, because love never does. He sends both rain and sun on the just and the unjust alike. I kind of take that as my divine mandate. Admittedly I do not always live up to it, but it is the standard I hold.

 

[woobadooba]

I don't see this being expressed anywhere in that thread, so now I am doubly confused. I see a few souls who seem to be in trouble, and you strike me as one of them (no offense intended, I mean that compassionately, like you seem to be upset and angry over things that have little to do with the subjects at hand). Sometimes hurting people have a hard time with other hurting people, and misread things which causes further hurt for them both. All I know is that God has called me to love, not to judge, and to never give up, because love never does. He sends both rain and sun on the just and the unjust alike. I kind of take that as my divine mandate. Admittedly I do not always live up to it, but it is the standard I hold.

If God hasn't called you to judge, then why do you judge me?

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(Heb 5:13-14)

 

[Jimlarmore]

I think we have a divine calling to witness the truth of the Bible and specifically the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world including those on this forum. Some of the posters on the sda forum seems to be very troubled and confused as to what the truth is. I see satan's work here all the time, he's hard at work on this forum.

I have heard things from some of the so called progressives that blow my mind. For instance a preportedly SDA brother who does not take the Biblical account of fiat creation or the global flood as literal events. Many of the progressives on this forum are basically putting down the SOP, Sabbath observance and the ten commandment law of God. They essentially say that behavior is irrelevant that the grace of Christ covers all and that no one can be lost in the end.

These are the controverted issues I see discussed here that stand at odds with the truth found in the Bible. What more can I say other than we need to pray brother's and sisters like we never have before. Progressive is not an appropriate label for these folks. Digressive is more like it. How can you be "progressive" in our faith when you reject the very truths of God found in the Bible? How can you be progressive in the faith when you put down Sabbath observance?

God Bless
Jim Larmore

 

[DarylFawcett]

Jim,

If that is what those labelled here as Progressives are doing, then I must agree with you.

Where did these labels (Traditionals, Progressives, Moderates, etc.) come from in the first place?

 

[Jimlarmore]

Jim,

If that is what those labelled here as Progressives are doing, then I must agree with you.

Where did these labels (Traditionals, Progressives, Moderates, etc.) come from in the first place?

Who knows? I didn't know this kind of rift existed in our faith/denomination until I came to these forums and started to dialog with them. It started on Carm and has moved to this modality.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

Who knows? I didn't know this kind of rift existed in our faith/denomination until I came to these forums and started to dialog with them. It started on Carm and has moved to this modality.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

Same here. I had no idea there was any SDAs that even really questioned the fundamenals. In a way..I wish I hadn't found out.

 

[reddogs]

Same here. I had no idea there was any SDAs that even really questioned the fundamenals. In a way..I wish I hadn't found out.

The issue here is a 'satanic spirit' having nothing to do with any issue with Traditionals, Progressives, Moderates and any other label, that is just a misdirection, distraction, ruse.. We need to pray on those affected and if it gets stronger, we most bring it up to the those in charge of overseeing our forum....

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

The issue here is a 'satanic spirit' having nothing to do with any issue with Traditionals, Progressives, Moderates and any other label, that is just a misdirection, distraction, ruse.. We need to pray on those affected and if it gets stronger, we most bring it up to the those in charge of overseeing our forum....

Maybe it's because I haven't been around much in the past few days, but other than the arguing I haven't seen any influence from Satan. I feel like I'm missing something...

 

[reddogs]

Maybe it's because I haven't been around much in the past few days, but other than the arguing I haven't seen any influence from Satan. I feel like I'm missing something...

Yes you did, so look around a bit and you'll find it....

 

[Telaquapacky]

There are a lot of people here who have baggage from the past and present that makes them very touchy, take offense easily and draw others into personal confrontations. I am beginning to understand some of the members here and include their situations in my prayers.

A person can really flame you merely because they burned their toast that morning, or someone cut them off on the freeway. Can you shrug it off and be warm and friendly with them anyway, and help them forget about it and lighten up?

If they are sore and sporting for a fight with everyone because of a heavy burden and a lot of anxiety in life that nobody but them understands, maybe you ought to not react to them until you get to know them, then you'll learn how to be a comfort and encouragement, without probing too deeply (beyond what they have revealed in other posts) into their personal life. Just be a friend.

You know, the bottom line is, any post that vexes you or gets your dander up- you're just looking at print on a screen. We all need to give people some slack and not take things so personally.

And so what if they're "Traditional" or "Progressive" or "Liberal" or believe in theistic evolution. If they are SDA's, the things we have in common are more important than what is different. We come here to fellowship and have fun, not to fight or try to change anyone.

I know who and what you're talking about. It's something none of us understand. Pray about it. And try not to provoke or act superior or be unsympathetic. If you don't understand someone, leave them alone until you do, and then, love them like Jesus. The problem is way too big for any of us, but no problem is too big for Him.

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

Hm. I'll try to look through some of the threads, then. Unless this is all in responce to the post about the excorsism movies?

There are a lot of people here who have baggage from the past and present that makes them very touchy, take offense easily and draw others into personal confrontations. I am beginning to understand some of the members here and include their situations in my prayers.

A person can really flame you merely because they burned their toast that morning, or someone cut them off on the freeway. Can you shrug it off and be warm and friendly with them anyway, and help them forget about it and lighten up?

If they are sore and sporting for a fight with everyone because of a heavy burden and a lot of anxiety in life that nobody but them understands, maybe you ought to not react to them until you get to know them, then you'll learn how to be a comfort and encouragement, without probing too deeply (beyond what they have revealed in other posts) into their personal life. Just be a friend.

You know, the bottom line is, any post that vexes you or gets your dander up- you're just looking at print on a screen. We all need to give people some slack and not take things so personally.

And so what if they're "Traditional" or "Progressive" or "Liberal" or believe in theistic evolution. If they are SDA's, the things we have in common are more important than what is different. We come here to fellowship and have fun, not to fight or try to change anyone.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Did not Jesus say to give them the other cheek?

 

[reddogs]

Hm. I'll try to look through some of the threads, then. Unless this is all in responce to the post about the excorsism movies?



I couldn't have said it better myself.

Did not Jesus say to give them the other cheek?

You must look closely at the words and content and its clear where it comes from.....

 

[woobadooba]

The issue here is a 'satanic spirit' having nothing to do with any issue with Traditionals, Progressives, Moderates and any other label, that is just a misdirection, distraction, ruse.. We need to pray on those affected and if it gets stronger, we most bring it up to the those in charge of overseeing our forum....

just a misdirection???

Don't you understand that the same spirit that is inhabiting the person that we are speaking of is the same lying spirit that is bringing all of these false ideas into this forum, and the same spirit that is trying to divide God's church?

Think, man!

 

[reddogs]

just a misdirection???

Don't you understand that the same spirit that is inhabiting the person that we are speaking of is the same lying spirit that is bringing all of these false ideas into this forum, and the same spirit that is trying to divide God's church?

Think, man!

Set it aside woob as it is a specific problem not the overall issue that we are talking about.....

 

[TrustAndObey]

I think we have a divine calling to witness the truth of the Bible and specifically the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world including those on this forum. Some of the posters on the sda forum seems to be very troubled and confused as to what the truth is. I see satan's work here all the time, he's hard at work on this forum.

I have heard things from some of the so called progressives that blow my mind. For instance a preportedly SDA brother who does not take the Biblical account of fiat creation or the global flood as literal events. Many of the progressives on this forum are basically putting down the SOP, Sabbath observance and the ten commandment law of God. They essentially say that behavior is irrelevant that the grace of Christ covers all and that no one can be lost in the end.

These are the controverted issues I see discussed here that stand at odds with the truth found in the Bible. What more can I say other than we need to pray brother's and sisters like we never have before. Progressive is not an appropriate label for these folks. Digressive is more like it. How can you be "progressive" in our faith when you reject the very truths of God found in the Bible? How can you be progressive in the faith when you put down Sabbath observance?

God Bless
Jim Larmore

Amen Jim. I couldn't have said this better myself.

Honor and I ask each other all the time, "What are they progressing TOWARD? It sounds like they're already like 99.9% of the other churches/believers out there!"

And it's the plain, simple truth. They want to be like everyone else and not stand out.

I, for one, CHOSE the Adventist church for the doctrine. Why would I want to change it?

And why does it bother some people that we're very HAPPY in the Adventist church?

There is something SERIOUSLY wrong when you can't say a word without someone stalking your posts to find some kind of "error" in it, to comment on how "wrong" you are. And it's just as serious that some people on here would side with someone aligning with Satan -OR- ex-Adventists more than they do their brothers and sisters in Christ within the same church.

I am praying for this board.

 

[TrustAndObey]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Did not Jesus say to give them the other cheek?

Sarah, what I'm about to say is said out of love for you my little sister, and I hope that's how you take it.

I have never once seen you be the brunt of the ridicule or sarcasm that is so dominant in our main forum. If you had been the subject of said abuse....you'd be more understanding of where some of us are coming from.

I suspect the main reason for you not getting lambasted like some of us have been, is that you don't really stick your theological neck out there and express how you feel about a certain doctrine, etc. (because WHAM...once you do, I promise they won't take it easy on you anymore).

There are certain things that we are called as Christians to speak out about, and it's easy to provide scripture that speaks out about it. If we get to the tolerant stage where we say "hey, you know what, the bible talks out against it, but we should be more accepting", I don't think we're doing the will of God.

Now true, there are definitely WAYS to say things that make it not so offensive, but the bottom line is that a Christian can compromise their own standards, but they CANNOT compromise the Word of God in order to be PC.

I believe anything and anyone can be forgiven when they ASK our Lord to forgive it/them. What I have trouble with is people on here telling people they don't even have to ASK.

That is sooooooo against scripture it's not even funny.

And how in the world do we know WHAT to ask forgiveness for? Scripture. Yet we have people in here telling our visitors that the bible is "full of men's writings that had good intentions".

Oh...or my favorite...."dead letters". Dead men wrote all this stuff many years after the fact, so they were wrong! And Sarah, when people try to tell you they have figured out WHICH PARTS of it are wrong that really should get your dander up.

I choose to believe in the authority of scripture and that it is something to be defended.

How are we to get past this very serious problem when some of us don't have the same FOUNDATION for our faith?

Christ obviously isn't here in human form anymore, so how are we to know Him? Study the Word. Know the REAL thing so you can avoid the counterfeit.

Think about this for a minute....Jesus talks about the flood and I have literally had people tell me that He was just going by what He had READ in scripture! That the ark experience (the flood) didn't really happen, even though our Lord and Savior reiterates that it was LITERAL.

After you read the bible for yourself, you'll instantly know when someone is trying to teach something that goes against what it says. Trust me on this one.

There is never a time to be tolerant of that, in my opinion. If someone says "is this wrong?" you can point them to scripture and say "according to God's Word, yes, it's wrong."

Take the Word completely out of the picture and it's "ANYTHING GOES" and that is NOT how I choose to live my life. I did it before and I saw the consequences for that.

Anyway, in summation, study the genuine to recognize the counterfeit. It's the only way to truly defend God's Word.

 

[mva1985]

I choose to believe in the authority of scripture and that it is something to be defended.

Preach it Sister!!!

 

[TrustAndObey]

I haven't even begun to "preach it" yet.

When my oldest sister called me one day, she asked me about the Adventist message. I started with the Sabbath, and what a wonderful blessing it has been for my family. I told her that scripture always refers to the weekly Sabbath as "My holy day", "My Sabbath" etc.

She proceeded to tell me how the bible was written by men thousands of years ago and how it is a good "guideline" but not to be taken as fact.

Later, during a different conversation, my sister told me that Christians need to be more humble and wash each other's feet.

I asked her how she would even know about foot washing if it wasn't for scripture. Her response? "Well, SOME of it is true."

My sister has never read the entire bible, yet she already seems to know too, which parts of it are worth following and which parts aren't.

Jehoiakim comes to mind.

Half of the mess we're in these days is because we have been conditioned to be more accepting, more tolerant. At what price though?

Is it seriously okay to EVER compromise the Word of God? Does scripture tell us to love one another? Absolutely. To pray for each other? Absolutely.

But scripture also tells us to remain faithful to the one true God and not to compromise.

It's a WHOLE book, it isn't just pieces that we like or make us "feel" good. It's parts that make us look at our lives and say "oh Father, I have sinned against You and I am soooo sorry!"

The things of this earth are NOTHING compared to what we can have for all of eternity, and when we're standing there on Judgment Day, I think the biggest hell that anyone will face is knowing that they could've had it ALL if they had known the original and hadn't chased after the counterfeit.

God's people are a peculiar people. Indeed. We stand out because we DON'T conform or go with every wave of doctrine. With that decision comes lots of criticism and lots of ridicule.

We better get used to it....but should we WELCOME it?

I won't.

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

I've only got a few minutes, but I felt a need to address a bit of your post to me, Lainie.

I'll try and give a more full responce when I have the time, too. So keep in mind this is just what I feel impressed to write this minute.

One very important thing that tends to shape how I relate to other Christians, and how very very hard it is for me to be offended or get upset..is because of my mom.

Don't get be wrong. I love her, and she loves Jesus and God, and she's read the Bible a lot. But she comes from the area you mentioned. That it is written in error and by man, and even to the point she will profess there is evil within it.

I tried to argue this, and it never got anywhere. So I learned to accept it as her view and love her for it as her free will. It in no way relates to how I think of the Bible, right?

I don't fight anymore. Not even blasphemy, instead I approach it with love and acceptance and with trust that God will help me to help them see the Truth because I allow myself to not build a wall between myself and them.

Is this wrong? Maybe. A lot of Christians don't practice this, and I'm aware of that. Heck, my mom will stand up and fight me as if I was Satan himself at times because I blaspheme her.

Anyway, I must go to sleep. I hope this clears up a bit how I react to things..

Happy Sabbath everyone!

Blessings and love