We got mail…

With the Lord In Death Is Satan’s Deception

 Colleen, I just read several articles of yours online concerning the Sabbath and death. Wow! Someone who has been Adventist no doubt has lived and knows everything about Adventism. I realize you are educated and make it sound like the rest of us just don’t have the light like you do. We study, but fortunately we don’t have to tear into every word to get the meaning of what the Lord means. 

Take the subject of death. Body and breath make a SOUL. Period. At death the breath of life goes back to God, and the body gets buried. WHY IS THAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND? The Bible plainly says The Dead Know Nothing. All thoughts have perished. What else can a person get from that Statement? 

Soul is only when body and breath of life combine. I believe you really don’t understand what the soul is and what it means. You being a Adventist in the past should realize that everything that you knew and taught at that time was sound. Death is one of the easiest subjects to understand.

Simply put: take a few boards (being the body). Take some nails (being the breath). Put them together, and you can make a box (soul). Then and only then will it become a box. Take the nails out; there is no box. I don’t think (but I might be wrong) that you will find something not correct with my thoughts. I believe what I have studied is sound.

I’m sure you have heard about spiritualism. This danger is the reason your thoughts and beliefs are exactly what the Lord has warned us about. Talking to your loved ones or anyone you know who has died is not biblical. You know it as well as I do. Satan, I’m sure, loves the fact that people believe when you die, you are in heaven. This idea is his great deception!

How do you feel now that you have been so-called totally enlightened and know all the answers and definitions and can make the Adventist church sound so stupid? The Adventist church is not perfect. Never has been.

Relationship—relationship with the Lord is what it’s all about. Let the Lord show us what it’s about. Keep it simple. Tearing into every (and, the, but, period, question mark) is not what the Lord had in mind. We’re all trying to get to the same place.

I believe what I have written concerning this subject. The Bible is clear, and the Adventist doctrine is sound. Sorry.

I don’t expect an answer from you.  I’m just a common Adventist person.

—VIA EMAIL

 

What About Camp Meeting?

I’m trying my best to study my way out of Adventism. I haven’t listened to all your podcasts yet, but I’m about done with half of them. I can’t stop searching the Bible. The more I listen to y’all and the more I read, the madder and more hurt I feel at how deceived and how manipulated my family is and was. My question is, how do I find a church, and how do I replace camp meeting? My kids love camp meeting, but I don’t want to take them. I don’t know how to replace it??

—VIA EMAIL

Response: I understand so well. It’s hard to know how to recommend a church except to say, research their doctrinal statements online and just plan to visit several. When looking for a good church, you want to look for one that preaches straight from the Bible. Sometimes there are local, non-denominational Bible churches that are good. Sometimes you might find some denominational churches with pastors committed to preaching straight from Scripture. 

You might try Baptist churches, (research is essential because they are not all equally good), possibly even a local Calvary Chapel if they are preaching through the Scriptures. The Presbyterian Church of America may also be good, and you might even find a Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, with good preaching. You want to look for a church committed to the gospel of the Lord Jesus that upholds the Trinity, the inerrancy of the Scriptures, the centrality of the cross of Christ/the gospel, and which preaches expository sermons through Scripture. You’ll want to avoid charismatic churches that emphasize the Holy Spirit and the manifestations of gifts because churches that focus on the Holy Spirit tend to eclipse the gospel. In fact, the Holy Spirit indwells all those who have been born again and is faithful to teach us and to gift us for service in the body of Christ.

While you’re looking, you might want to check out Redeemer Fellowship on Sunday mornings at 9:30 Pacific Time. You can watch online and sing along with us and listen to Gary preach. Here is the link to the live streams each Sunday.

We go live at 9:00 AM Pacific Time. 

Here is the link to the Redeemer Fellowship YouTube channel where you can listen to Gary’s past sermons.

Regarding camp meeting: I do not have a good church-related suggestion. I can say that some Christian churches have some excellent children’s summer day camp programs, and in some locations there are even family camps at Christian retreat centers. Examples of family camps include those at Hume Lake and Forest Falls Christian Camp, both in California. 

 

EGW’s Wonderful Writings

I just have to share the brief conversation I just had with my Adventist friend who shared with me how wonderful Ellen White’s prophetic writings were and how frustrated she was about the church making her equal to or better than Christ. Not only did she not know the whole premise of her background, but she still cherishes EGW’s writings, even though she hasn’t read the books for years. 

I was a little blunt about my research about EGW and how I would not trust anything she wrote. I also shared what I knew about the history/origins of the group. 

She was a little taken aback, and I didn’t mean to be harsh, but she needed to hear me. Please pray for her. She’s a multi-generational Adventist. I feel like ordering a case of Proclamation! magazines to strew around town….

Thank you so much for what you do by the grace of God and for His glory.

—VIA EMAIL

Response: I so understand your reaction! I’m so thankful that you were able to speak plainly your friend. I will pray. I know the entrenchment of generational Adventism. I realize on this side of it that those generations really do make a difference. Inside, it’s a point of pride to have many generations in the organization. Outside, I realize that the impact is deep spiritual bondage. It’s almost harder to “see” and harder to ask questions the more entrenched one’s family is. 

And…if you do want a box of Proclamation! magazines, we can most definitely send you one! 🙂