Are Seventh-Day Adventists a better Church to belong to than being a JW (page 3)

Mulan

Very funny question................my husband's family were 7th Day Adventists before becoming JW's. They found the similarities amazing, except Adventists really encourage higher education.

I think the main attraction to the witnesses for my mother in law, was that she could drink coffee again, and eat bacon.

They used to not celebrate holidays, but have gotten more mainstream the past 50 years and now do it openly.

But.............they are a high control religion..........maybe not a cult, but close to it. Mom had a young neighbor who was in the SDA and she felt horribly guilty for talking with Mom so much about religion, unless she was preaching her own religion. Hahhaa. They kept that young woman extremely busy.

barry

Gday Mulan the SDAs have allways celebrated holidays from the 18oos one leader Ellen White reccomends placing a xmas tree inside the church over the holiday time. SDAs are strict about not drinking 99% would be t totalers.

jwfacts

Hi Barry, I haven't heard from you for a while, good to have an expert answering the thread.

99% would be t totalers

I guess that rules me out. No steak and beer, life hardly seems worth living.

I had a SDA preaching at my door last year. He was overlly strict and into all the SDA prophetic interpretation, seemed very much like a JW. However, he was young and new to the Church, and seemed to be an extremist. Just as with anything, there are the hardcore ones and the liberal ones.

Because SDA's do not disfellowship or shun, it allows more flexibility, and I think this is key to it not being a cult.

Chalam

Hi,
I don't know much about the SDA but for sure the LDS/Mormons are another cult.

As most ex JWs are really hurt by the organization I would avoid seeking another too quickly.

Instead I would seek God. He is around, He is interested in you and He does want to talk.

So throw away the NWT (only the JWs use it), get any other copy of the Bible that takes your fancy and have a read.

You can even read online. I would start at John but take your choice. For sure don't start at Revelation of Leviticus ;)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=50&chapter=1&version=31

Move right on to Acts and stuff or wherever takes your fancy.

Most of all ask God (He knows you are talking to Him and has many names so you don't need to use 'Jehovah') to send the Holy Spirit to enable you to understand the Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Try reading and praying for a week or two and see if God doesn't respond.

Regards,
Stephen

Rabbit

Hi Barry, I haven't heard from you for a while, good to have an expert answering the thread.
99% would be t totalers
I guess that rules me out. No steak and beer, life hardly seems worth living

Well, my Texas county has one of their 'headquarters?' called a "conference" and a college and a hospital. They wield a tremendous amount of power and have been the main mover n' shaker that keeps this county DRY ! All the counties around enjoy the very good tax monies from those sales. There are a lot of good stores, restaurants, etc that won't move here, because of this.

They do 'good deeds' with their hospital. However, a very poor friend of ours broke their leg and was treated at the hospital. They were turned over to some real nasty bill collectors who harass them twice daily for several months, despite knowing their financial condition. Not very 'Christ-like', imo.

SDA are related to JW's with their 'end-of-the-world' doctrines which makes me 'throw-up-a-little-in-my-mouth' these days.

And...

I like beer, too And Jesus, reportedly liked -- wine. So, what's their problem ?

jwfacts

And Jesus, reportedly liked -- wine. So, what's their problem ?

It is quite obvious from the Bible that alcohol is acceptable. I can not understand the stance of SDA's, mormons, inglesi de Christi against it. It is a bit like JW's and gambling. The Bible discusses it and never condemns it, yet it is a d/f offense.

seven006

Chalam

Hi,
The problem with all these false religions is that it turns into a set of rule following. This is clearly against Paul's teachings.

Maybe The Message will help.

Galatians 5 (The Message)

The Life of Freedom

1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
2-3I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. 4-6I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

13-15It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

16-18My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

22-23But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

25-26Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

For more of The Message see here

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=51&chapter=2&version=65

Regards,
Stephen

Cautious Dove

I've not spoken with many SDAs but every one I have chatted with has been very polite and alot more reasonable than most of the JWs I have known over the years. What struck me was that they are quite open to acknowledge that others are good, spiritual people even if they are not SDAs. Having said that, they do feel that they are the only true religion and that any good people will ultimately join them (much like the JWs). They also get hung up on dates and chronology, although one I spoke to was quite a free thinker and admitted that there were ones among the SDAs that wanted to see certain things reformed. Ironically, of the 28 (?) principle teachings that SDAs hold, I believe pretty much all of them. But would I join their church ? No, because JWs have put me completely off the idea of "belonging" to any organisation other than the body of Christ.

jgnat

Chalam, you are preaching too loud. I can't hear you.

Are Seventh-Day Adventists a better Church to belong to than being a JW

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