We got mail…

Feeling Angry

Thank you again to you and Nikki for those awesome podcasts. I can’t tell you how healing it is for me to go through them.

I am finally starting to get so angry at both that Church of God and the Seventh-day Adventists. Both had pretended to be something they were not, and both became increasingly manipulative and constraining, demanding certain actions, laying on the guilt trips etc. I know you understand perfectly what I am saying. So, I am having a welling up of some sort of anger—perhaps a good thing, since I have not been angry before. 

I am sad for the human beings I encountered, and most probably they meant well in their dealings with me and had convinced themselves that they were living according to how God wanted them to live. At least I am hoping this to be the case. In Adventism, there seems to be an increasing accent on the preparation for and seeking of the latter rain, including perfecting oneself. 

I pray daily that everyone in those places be drawn away from those deceptions and increasingly rooted into the truth of God. 

Did I tell you that the second in charge of the entire Church of God to which I had belonged for a while gave me the parting shot that Jesus would no longer be hearing my prayers? 

I am getting so angry, but perhaps this is a good part of my mourning and processing. And I have heard no peep from any of the Adventist people. I suspect they have also cut me off. 

Fortunately for me, in neither case am I leaving behind any of my biological family, but this transition hasn’t been great for my home life, either. I can’t believe I was so gullible.

Now I have a huge fear of being deceived again. At least now I am listening to and watching what I call more “main stream evangelical” Christianity.

—VIA EMAIL

Response: I completely understand your anger. It is normal. In fact, as we leave Adventism (and, in your case, the Church of God as well), we experience the classic five stages of grief, with anger being one of them. As I look back at my experience leaving Adventism, I remember that one of the two things that helped me process the disorienting mood swings between fear and doubt, anger and loss, depression and bargaining, and so forth, was to return to the clear promises in Scripture that state what Jesus has done and who we are in Christ when we believe. Verses such as John 5:24; John 3:18; John 6:29; Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:13, Romans 5, Romans 8:1–4, and so forth would stabilize me. I KNEW those words were believable. God cannot lie, and He will not trick us. The words of Scripture mean exactly what they say, and we can trust them implicitly. In fact, Scripture is the only thing God has given us in this physical world that is unchanging and trustworthy and timeless. His word is alive, and He is faithful!

The second thing that helped me was to play praise and worship music that was doctrinally sound and rich. Hearing the truth about God in music would chase away the doubts and fears as I listened while I did my housework. 

That fear of being deceived is also universal for us. When we finally see how we have been lied to, it seems we can’t trust anybody. God has given us His word, though, to protect us from exactly this problem, and He has placed us in His body exactly where He wants us so that we can be encouraging and truth-telling to one another. His Spirit teaches us as we immerse ourselves in His word, and He gives us growing discernment and His ability to recognize gospel truth as opposed to diluted versions of it or just plain deceptions.

I would like to suggest that you do some Scripture copying just for the purpose of filling your mind with God’s truth—which will change your view of reality. Get a notebook and begin copying, a few verses a day, the book of John, asking God to teach you what He wants you to know from it. After John, copy Hebrews…and so on. There is nothing that substitutes for getting His eternal, living truth into your head.

As for your own self-flagellation—please know that you are finding yourself in the same “place” in which all of us found ourselves as we left. The fact that you landed in a cult is not a statement against your own intelligence or maturity. These things happen to people often through no clear choice of their own. Now, however, as you trust and believe in the Lord Jesus and His finished work, He will make you new. He will give you a new heart and a new spirit, and He will place His own Spirit in you (Eph. 1:13-14). He Himself will keep you and guard your heart. He will teach you to love your family for Him. And here’s what you have to remember: God will not waste your years in Adventism and the Church of God. He will redeem those years. As you submit your shame and anger and depression and pain to Him, He will redeem it. He will replace those lies with His truth as you immerse yourself in His word. 

You can pray and ask the Lord to protect you from deception and to keep you firmly planted in truth and reality. Ask Him to transform you with His word. He is absolutely faithful, and He will complete what He has begun in you (Phil 1:6). 

As for online preachers, they are not all equal. There are some whom I would consider more orthodox and safe to listen to. I would avoid any who teach that God wants to make you healthy and wealthy and promises that if you speak and believe certain ways, you will experience deliverance and success. Some names that I trust to teach true Christianity include Gary Inrig (our pastor), Steve Lawson, John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Voddie Baucham, even the Lutheran Christian apologist Chris Rosebrough. I do not always agree on every point with all of these men, but they do clearly teach the gospel and preach expositorily from Scripture. And always test what you hear with the Bible. As you copy Scripture and hide it in your heart, truthful teaching will resonate when you hear it more and more. 

 

Twisting Scripture

I have been listening to your podcasts on the fundamental beliefs, and I am so thankful for them. The last two weeks we have been studying Acts 18 and 19 in our Bible study group. We specifically spent a lot of time on how Apollos only knew of the baptism of John and had not received the Holy Spirit. Your podcast on baptism came at the perfect time! It actually made me think that it seems as though Adventists are living in the baptism of John (a repentance, although by their own works) and they, too, have no idea of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This week I began reading the chapter on baptism in the fundamental beliefs, and I am just so angered as I read it because they are twisting the Scripture so much! It’s hard not to be angry. I don’t know how you read this book from week to week to prepare for these podcasts, but I am so grateful for you!

Keep up the good work! You are very appreciated!

—VIA EMAIL

 

Attend Adventist Baptism?

Hello, dearly loved Former Adventists at Proclamation!

I’m a “Gospel Christian”—some of you know me. I have been a believer from the time I first heard about God, Adam and Eve, sin, Hell, Heaven, and salvation through Jesus. At age 5 I believed that God could take me to Heaven. I would ask Him, if I died during the night (never worried about it in the daytime) to “Please, take me to Heaven.” I also was very aware that I was bad!

Right before my eighth birthday, I learned that it was JESUS who took my sin away and made it possible for me to go to Heaven, and I believed!

That was 57 years ago.

Now, the reason I’m writing is to ask for your advice/opinion in a family matter. Part of my close family is Adventist. My niece and her husband, both Adventists, have four young children. Their ages are 10, 9, 8, and 7. I had not thought about Adventist baptism until I read that the church likes to start baptizing kids in the 5th and 6th grades. 

So far, my husband and I haven’t received an invitation for witnessing the baptism of any of the kids, but I know it’s coming. I’m torn because I love these kids and want to support them in life (I pray and pray they escape Adventism!), but I really feel uncomfortable with the thought of attending an Adventist baptism, especially for one of these kids. It’s possible my niece and her husband would not even want a couple of Sunday worshippers present at a baptism and would just proceed without ever notifying us, but I kind of think they would want to include us for the sake of their kids who really enjoy our company. We’re sort of like grandparents. I don’t want to make a big deal about it, yet I don’t want to participate in or lend my endorsement to this cult! What are your thoughts?

—VIA EMAIL

Response: You ask an important question. I have two concurrent reactions as I read your question. First, I would wait and see if the family invites you. It is possible they will not. Adventist baptisms are usually (although not always) held in a regular church service, and Adventists don’t necessarily invite non-SDAs to witness those baptisms. Baptism isn’t the sort of new life celebration for Adventists that is it for Christians. 

Second, I personally would not attend. I know others have also made that decision and have refused to attend the baptisms of Adventist nephews and neices. When one knows that Adventism is a dark cult based on a false Jesus and a false gospel, becoming a member is not something we as Christians can celebrate. Ultimately, Adventist baptisms are a membership rite, not a baptism into Christ—although some people have Jesus in their minds as part of their baptism commitment. 

Bottom line: I would ask the Lord to make it clear how to proceed. Adventist baptisms just are not Christian celebrations of new life in Jesus.

I’m sorry to be so negative; I just know that Adventism is very subtle, deceptive, and dark. †