[NICOLE STEVENSON]
Sometimes it’s overwhelming to see all the emails and comments from formers or from critics of Life Assurance Ministries (LAM). The work of preparing podcasts and writing blogs is a job we at LAM don’t take lightly. We work as to the Lord, and we pray for Him to work in and through all of us (as fallible as we are) to clarify His good news offered to us all in the pages of Scripture. When we hear from those who read and listen we are moved deeply as we “meet” our brothers and sisters who are on this journey with us.
The amazing stories of God’s redemption in the lives of so many often set off a chain of texts or conversations bursting with joy over the report of one more amazing account of God’s intervention and redemption.
The amazing stories of God’s redemption in the lives of so many often set off a chain of texts or conversations bursting with joy over the report of one more amazing account of God’s intervention and redemption. The heartbreaking stories of families dividing, marriages fracturing, adult children or parents distancing, siblings estranged—all bring us to grieve along with you knowing full well the weight of these losses—however temporary they may be. The pleas for prayer for unsaved loved ones echo in our own hearts as we bring your loved ones and ours back to the Lord again and again. The anger and “correction” offered to us by those who want to “save us” from our “satanic deception” grow less and less shocking, though they are no less horrifying than they were the first time we read one. This road we collectively walk is very intense, isn’t it? The highs are so high, the lows are so low, and the mundane is a lot of waiting and learning to trust. We sit in all of that with you.
Thank You
As I sit in the earliest days of November, reflecting on another year gone by and looking ahead to the holiday season, I can’t help but thank God for all of you. Richard and Colleen, Dale and Carolyn, how can any of us express our gratitude adequately for what you’ve created among and for us? A place where we can go and be understood, encouraged, helped, and prayed for in the ways that are unique to those who deal with our same struggles. We love you all. Thank you for loving us well for the Lord.
To my fellow bloggers (guests and columnists), to the Sabbath school commentary writers, to the translators and transcript writers, to the proof readers, conference teachers and breakout leaders, to the tech team and conference volunteers, and to anyone else who works with LAM, I know the heart and soul you put into your work and that you do it for the Lord. I thank you for the encouragement you are to me as you give your time and share your heart and God’s truth with us all. The work is at times lonely, but it is not alone. Your love for our Lord fills your work and overflows into the lives of so many of us who need to remember again and again the gospel of our Lord Jesus, the trustworthiness of His word, and the hope to which we’ve been called to. Your service is not unseen or unused. Thank you.
To all who write to share their stories, and to those who don’t but who walk with us, thank you for sharing this path with us.
To all who write to share their stories, and to those who don’t but who walk with us, thank you for sharing this path with us. Whether you reach out or walk this road quietly, if you are in Christ, we are united in Him, and I praise God for the work He is doing in your lives and in ours. I know many of you have been out of Adventism longer than I have (13 years in February, 2023), and some are new on this road, but no matter how long we’ve been out, we never lose the need to be encouraged, because when you’ve been Adventist (especially generationally), your life is not left untouched by it—even in ongoing ways.
When we leave we often leave friends and family we love deeply still inside. That loss we feel and our concern for them doesn’t go away with time. So, we press on in prayer and in hope that the Lord will reach them. We trust Him with the outcome of their lives, and we remember that as lonely as we feel in the face of these losses, we are a part of a much larger movement; a family united in Christ who walks it all with us and who prays and works together to break down the strongholds of Adventism with the truth of God’s word.
We Are Not Alone
It was my very first conversation with Colleen Tinker when I heard these words for the first time:
“Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life’” (Mark 10:29-30, emphasis mine).
I wasn’t sure at the time why she shared that text. It felt ominous—like something was coming that I didn’t yet understand. Sitting on this side of that afternoon 12 1/2 years ago, I understand why she shared it with me. This verse is in many ways a life verse for those of us who leave Adventism—whether we know it or not.
There are parts of that text that the circumstances of life highlighted for me in different ways over the years that would follow. Isn’t it interesting how walking with the Lord deepens our understanding of His Word and His promises? I’d like to share with you some of the ways this verse helped me understand my own life this side of Adventism— and how it makes me grateful for each of you.
It is Not Sin to Leave Loved Ones to Follow Jesus
In the past when I heard this text in Mark, I thought it applied to people who were overtly persecuted away from life as they knew it, such as people who were shunned in the manner of the other cults (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientology, etc). However, as I walked with the Lord and sought to respond to Him in faith and obedience, I noticed the path I was on diverged away from the path of my loved ones, and I found myself inadvertently leaving behind so many things and people I loved for the sole purpose of following Christ and responding to Scripture.
Sometimes the distance came from them, sometimes it was necessitated by me as I sought to align my life with Scripture and old patterns of relating were being exposed to me by Scripture as sin.
To begin with, the covert (and sometimes overt) divisions I experienced between loved ones and me were surprising. Sometimes the distance came from them, sometimes it was necessitated by me as I sought to align my life with Scripture and old patterns of relating were being exposed to me by Scripture as sin. Then these words in Mark jumped off the page, “…there is no one who has left…for My sake and for the gospel…”.
Did you catch that? “Left”—I thought these promises were directed at people who were shunned or chased away! While they are, of course, included, they are not the only ones in view! Before this text was so clear to me, I couldn’t reconcile my need to obey the Lord and my biblical need to honor and care for my family. This text shows us that when honoring our family means disobeying the Lord, we walk with the Lord and He will take care of us—and of them.
While we can’t always anticipate where our obedience and response of faith will lead us, we can know that we do not leave for the sake of leaving, we leave for the sake of Christ and His gospel, and while we walk away from much, we also walk toward Our Lord and His purposes.
You are Mine—Even Now
The next portion that I learned in my own walk is “…now, in this time…houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands…”. There is a lot about our faith that looks ahead to the blessings promised to us in the future. However, notice the timestamp on this portion of the text, “now, in this time”. I remember reading once in Ephesians chapter one that we saints are Christ’s inheritance. As I read those words I realized that I am a co-heir with Christ, and that if the saints belong to Christ even now, then you all belong to me even now, too! “Family in Christ” took on new meaning for me immediately. It’s not a metaphor. If you are in Christ, I am your sister by blood— by the very blood of God the Son. You are my inheritance now (like me or not—ha!).
While I didn’t leave a house or a land I still somehow managed to be given both by my great Father— He gave me Home. Not only has the Father given me home in the body of Christ, He is teaching me how to make a home for my family in spite of the dysfunction and trauma in my own past. By giving me eternal life, our Father has given me “Today”, and I am free to heal and to learn how to be a mom and a wife who honors our Lord and loves for Him. I’m learning how to make a life with the people around me that God has given me.
This is Not A Prosperity Gospel
“…With persecutions…” Yeah, that part wasn’t fun to learn. Don’t we know this one all too well? It doesn’t take long to experience the pushback of Adventists when we seek to share the gospel with them. The persecutions (whatever form they take) may start slowly, but when they fully present themselves, we know that everything has changed, and that we now live firmly on the outside of those we love who are committed to the Adventist message.
Even so, brothers and sisters, we cannot shrink back away from the truth. It’s in these times when the persecutions feel strongest (they seem to emerge around the holiday season, don’t they?) that we have to press more fully into the promises of God and to “wear out our knees” in prayer for our loved ones. These persecutions are an inevitable part of our time here, but we endure them not as orphans; we endure them with our “arms linked” to one another, united in the Spirit, made alive in the Son, and adopted by the Father, and we bring our petitions before the throne in trust that God will work out His good eternal purposes and that He will hold us in Him as we wait.
Thankful For You
Dear Family, I don’t know you all, but I do love you in Jesus, and I rejoice in His indescribable kindness toward us to rescue us all from deception and bring us together through life in Him. Do not grow weary of the truth. Hold fast to the gospel that has saved you! If you are not yet sure that you have believed, there is no better time than now to trust. God will not trick you; He will hold you fast; He will place you in Him and in Family, and you will not walk alone. Do not harden your heart. Open His word, read, and believe “Today”.
This year I am thanking God for you—His kept promise to me. I thank Him for what He has done in each of us, and I entrust you all to Him and thank Him for being faithful to us all. If you’re new on this road, welcome to the Family. God has not left you orphaned, I look forward to meeting you one day (perhaps at the next Former Adventist Fellowship Conference?). Happy Thanksgiving. †
- We Can’t Stay To Make a Difference - March 21, 2024
- Rejoice Together at the Former Adventist Conference - January 25, 2024
- We Give Thanks In All Seasons - November 16, 2023
Thank you for reminding me that, in the Lord, we are brothers and sisters. It was a blessing to read your words of encouragement. While Jan and I are surrounded by wonderful Christian neighbors we seldom venture away from out home to meet others so at times we do get lonely.