I Came Out of Adventism
I would like to tell you my story and hopefully begin to work out my own deprogramming.
As a young child, my father became a born again Christian and we attended Calvary Chapel. When I was 9 years old, my father remarried a woman [who was] a Seventh-day Adventist, and we began attending her church…Dad and his wife would attend “big church”, and my sister and I would go to Sabbath School. Our step-mom had read us The Bible Stories from books published by the Adventist church. These books were recently given to my grand daughter, and after learning more about Adventism, I have warned my daughter to put them away. In my early teens, maybe when I was 12 or 13, after church one day, I decided that I was going to read the Bible myself, since I didn’t really feel like I was getting much of it in Sabbath School. My step-mom came into my room and was visibly upset; she asked “what are you doing?” And I told her I was reading The Bible. She told me not to do it because I would never be able to understand it. This was heartbreaking for me, and to this day is a stumbling block that keeps me from doing just that on my own.
At the age of 16, I got a job and worked weekends. I was given the choice to either continue attending church or not. I had never considered myself an Adventist; even though I always believed in God, I had always considered myself a Christian. However, I can’t say that I specifically remember any lessons in Sabbath School, only that there were a lot of Angels discussions and imagery, and constant videos on missions that were going on around the world. I never attended the Adventist church again.
As an adult I searched for a home church and found myself working for a law firm that represented churches and non-profit organizations. It was through them that I found a church and was saved and baptized. That in itself is an amazing story! Incredibly, when I told my dad and step-mom of this, she attacked me. She was so angry, accused me of saying she wasn’t a Christian, and I just couldn’t understand what was happening. I NOW understand where that came from! I had no idea at that time, that Adventism was considered a cult by most Christians, and she was extremely sensitive to it.
Just to give you a little more background, my step-mom was very abusive to me growing up. She was physically and mentally abusive, and my dad was really good at pretending it didn’t exist. I was really amazed when, in one of your podcasts, you even mentioned that Adventist families tend to have a lot of abusiveness. I think I understand why. One of the things I have the hardest time with understanding, not just biblically, but also in every day life, is forgiveness. That is because there was never any forgiveness shown in our home. There was no forgiveness because there was never any addressing the problems. They were swept under the rug, ignored. At one point when I had had enough of the abuse and was leaving the home, my dad told me I was the most unforgiving person he knows. I told him he never taught me how to forgive. With the help of your podcasts, I now can understand this in the Adventist frame of mind. With Adventist’s believing that you have to keep confessing and asking for forgiveness, but you were never really fully forgiven, never really saved, or that you at least wouldn’t Know that you are saved. It makes sense to me now.
Until I found your podcast, I really thought that the few years of Adventist church hadn’t really had any real affect on my beliefs, that I had all the typical Christian beliefs, and that the Adventist church just did a few things differently, like worshiping on Saturday, not eating eat pork and shellfish, not wearing jewelry, and a few other wonky things. But now!!! Holy cow! I started with the podcasts on Investigating the 28 fundamental beliefs and I am now realizing that my whole belief system is tainted with Adventist beliefs. I have always had trouble understanding The Trinity, forgiveness, and a whole slew of other essential Christian doctrines, and come to find out, it’s because the Adventist church has created this whole convoluted system that doesn’t WORK! I am actually getting pretty angry about all the foundations of belief that I have had that are just wrong! But on the other hand, now it makes sense to me why everything was so hard to understand! Especially when I am in Bible Study classes and trying to learn things on top of the foundations from Adventist they just don’t work together. I have to completely deconstruct my foundations before I can rebuild them.
Now, the reason I even started listening to your podcast was that I saw you on Cultish, and it opened my eyes. Also, one of the things that I didn’t mention was that for 35 years, my dad was never a Seventh-day Adventist. Once I stopped going to church, my dad didn’t make it a priority. He would even eat bacon or have a margarita if he was out with friends if his wife wasn’t there. He was never an Adventist believer. However, three years ago, my dad and his wife moved to Texas where I am now living, and they began going to a new Adventist church. Somehow, my dad has become a fervent Adventist believer and is even beginning to preach to me about what an amazing prophet Ellen White is. He is buying it all, hook line and sinker. Last year at Christmas he was telling me about how I could lose The Holy Spirit (and my salvation) if I don’t confess my sins constantly. I realized that he has spent so much time AWAY from The Word of God, that he is easily being deceived by the change of a word here or there. Such as Jesus being “A” source instead of “THE” Source.
I am hoping to continue to learn more about the differences between Adventist and Christianity so that I will not be easily deceived or allow them to make me doubt my Salvation or my God, and so that I will know the true Word of God and not some twisted version of it.
I get a lot of help from my son in law since my daughter married a Baptist Youth Minister!
Thank you for all your hard work. Keep it up!
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Your story is so sad and so familiar at the same time. Thank you for sharing it. You are so right about Adventism shaping our unconscious understandings. The Bible really is a different book when we realize that the Holy Spirit can teach us what it says, and what any person has taught us is TESTABLE by Scripture. It’s not obscure when we submit to the Author, amazingly! You are absolutely right that we have to deconstruct our old worldview before the reality of truth can be built up. Truth tears down the old one—and we have to be willing to allow Scripture’s truth to expose our false understandings. It’s a long process—but it’s also exciting and freeing.
Although we are not currently publishing a printed version of our magazine Proclamation! magazine, all our back issues are online here: http://www.lifeassuranceministries.org.
We have also added your name to our weekly Proclamation! email updates. You may need to add the email address LifeAssuranceMinistries@gmail.com to your contacts in order for the email not to be directed toward your Spam folder. These emails will arrive every Friday. Archived articles are available at ProclamationMagazine.com.
You might also enjoy our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FormerAdventist/featured All the videos from our Former Adventist Fellowship conferences are online here; I believe you would find many of them very helpful.
You have already found our podcasts here; many say these help them unpack the Adventism hidden in the recesses of their minds: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/former-adventist/id1482887969
Thankful for Galatians and Daniel Podcasts
Nikki and Colleen, your podcast is what I am thankful for this whole year—especially Galatians and Daniel! Please don’t ever stop teaching God’s word. I love how you bring in reflections from other great teachers and solid resources, and your personal experiences make your lessons REAL! ALIVE! Every time I am doing dishes or cooking or cleaning at home, I am learning from your podcast!
I also look forward to opening my email on Fridays—my FAF letter. There is always something there for me to bless me and to encourage me and help me defend and define the gospel.
It’s time to say thank you with my pocket book. I have sent letters before, but this time I just want you to know I appreciate your ministry—and thank you both!
—VIA MAIL
Love Bombed by the Adventists
Hello. I listened to all 4 episodes on Cultish about Seventh-day Adventism being a cult. I was raised Baptist, and for the last four years I went to 12 churches. Most of them were Baptist, and the others were non-denominational. My husband and I are were treated horribly at these churches. Well, not at all of them. But lots of the people, especially the pastors, were very prideful and rude. I get it that no church is perfect, but we also weren’t growing closer to Christ. We would ask questions to the pastors or the deacons about what we were struggling with, and they couldn’t answer our questions or just told us to read the Bible with no specific text.
Then, last year, my cousin invited me to her Seventh-day Adventist church. The moment my husband and I stepped in that church, we felt such warmth and love. We didn’t know how different they are from Baptists so we kept going. I started loving these people so much that my husband and I got baptized two months ago. I had so many doubts when I got baptized, but I didn’t worry about them because I love these people so much.
The pastor does preach the Bible and maybe only mentions Ellen White a handful of times the whole year. Is it so wrong of my husband and me to stay in this church even though we don’t believe in everything they believe in? I love these people more than anything. I’ve spent so much time with them. And it will break my heart if I leave them. Thank you for reading, and God bless!
—VIA EMAIL
Response: hank you so much for writing. I appreciate what you are describing and I am so sorry for the struggle you have had with church. I know that what you describe is often true—and in places such as those, I would not stay either.
Adventists are famous for “love bombing” new converts. They embrace potential members and shower them with attention, love, invitations, and kindness. There is usually a “honeymoon period” after the new converts become members during which the warmth and attention continues. Often, however, the attention begins to wane as time goes on. Of course, you may form some friendships that remain secure, but as life happens, as troubles occur, as you seek to participate in activities and volunteer positions, etc etc., the warmth and attention will almost certainly cool.
The problem is that without the true gospel, the members cannot be true Christians. They cannot be born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13–14). The new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit are conditional upon believing and trusting in Jesus. The Adventist Jesus is not the same Jesus as the One taught in Scripture. Their Jesus is fallible; He could have sinned and failed in His mission. He gave up His attribute of omnipresence. The Adventist Jesus is not eternal, almighty God. Thus, the Adventist Jesus does not offer a completed atonement but offers instead an example for how to achieve God’s pleasure by obeying the law—and the biblical Jesus did not come as our example for law-keeping.
All to say, Adventism does not teach the biblical gospel, and a false gospel cannot save. I suggest that you read 2 Corinthians 11 and see how Paul talks about the false apostles and deceitful workers who masquerade and servants of righteousness as they teach another Jesus, a different Spirit, and a different gospel. Read also 2 Corinthians 3 and see how Paul contrasts the true gospel of the new covenant, the covenant of the Holy Spirit, instead of the covenant of the law. Adventism simply does not teach the true gospel but points people away from Jesus as the only WAY to God and returns its members to the law—which binds people in despair and hopelessness because none of us can ever keep the law perfectly.
Here is my suggestion: ask the Lord to direct you. Ask Him to show you what He wants you to do and to open doors and give you insight so you can walk in His will. Concurrently, I recommend that you get a notebook and begin, literally, copying the book of Galatians word for word into the notebook. Just do a bit at a time, and ask God to teach you what He already knows He wants you to learn from His word. After Galatians, move on to Hebrews, Ephesians, John, and so forth. Ask the Lord to direct you to what He wants you to read and know and study. This is a prayer He will always answer.
I will attach a couple of links that may help you have a better understanding of Adventism:
Article
Videos
- May 4–10, 2024 - May 2, 2024
- We Got Mail - May 2, 2024
- April 27–May 3, 2024 - April 25, 2024