My Husband Insists On Our Attendance At His Adventist Church
Thank you so much for your ministry and videos.
I have always gone to non-denominational, Baptist, and evangelical churches. I asked for forgiveness for my sins and accepted Jesus into my life when I was 14, and Ephesians 1 was very encouraging to me.
I got baptized in a non-denominational church close to my current home that I believe is a very good church. It has songs that worship God, and I feel close to God when I sing worship songs to Him at the church. They have very good Christian theology about Jesus, and they do a lot with serving the poor
They had a wonderful service on Friday and Sunday celebrating the whole Easter story about Jesus, but I could only watch it on Youtube.
I got married to a man from another country 15 years ago who is a Seventh-day Adventist. He took me to his Adventist ethnic church a few times, and at first it sounded Christian. I kept going to my non-denominational church, though, because I was spiritually fed there.
Once my husband and I had kids a few years back he insisted we go to his church together. He took a trip overseas recently, and I took my children to my church and almost cried during the service because finally I could worship God with other Christians (I don’t know if it’s just me, but the Adventist hymns don’t seem to worship God, and it’s weird that they have hymns about the Sabbath).
When he came back, my husband said that we aren’t “one” if we go to separate churches, and he won’t allow the kids to go to my church anymore. Last Easter weekend when we went to his church, the Sabbath sermon was about their children’s program, and a lot of people were there. There was no talk about Easter or what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
The kids recited and told several stories from the Old Testament. I would say about 95% of what they talked about was Old Testament stuff.
The main focus of what they talked about at the Adventist church services was keeping the Ten Commandments, especially the fourth commandment, and going to their church faithfully on the Sabbath, while being faithful to give a 10% tithe and an offering to the church; otherwise we are “robbing God”.
The main focus of what they talked about at the Adventist church services was keeping the Ten Commandments, especially the fourth commandment, and going to their church faithfully on the Sabbath, while being faithful to give a 10% tithe and an offering to the church; otherwise we are “robbing God”. At the service someone from local conference office went to the front and talked to the teenagers about a summer program where they get paid to go door to door to give out The Great Controversy books (called the Youth Rush).
I had already warned my husband his tithe is going to the General Conference where they are doing a project to hand out one billion Great Controversy books (which will cost one billion dollars). I feel like there should be some tracts warning of the dangers of the Great Controversy to hand out to Adventists.
Furthermore, the title of the newer Sabbath School Quarterly is The Great Controversy. Anyway, I make sure I wear nylons at every service so no one can wash my feet, and my husband won’t allow me to take communion there because I “haven’t been baptized” there.
It’s a smaller church where, near the beginning, everyone shakes hands with everyone and says, “Happy Sabbath”. I feel very uncomfortable with this practice due to a health condition that I have, and I was accused of being prejudiced because I’m a different race from my husband. I told my husband the pastor once said in a sermon that keeping the Sabbath is a salvational matter, and he had trouble believing me, but he won’t let me take my kids to my church which meets on Sunday because we “don’t want to confuse them.”
Anyway, Im a Christian and not an Adventist. What do you think of this project to hand out a billion Great Controversy books, and what do you think of their hymns? Do their hymns focus on worshiping God, or are they focused on our works? Also, is the Sabbath an idol to them? My husband pressures me to give money to their church, but I won’t give a penny. Thanks a million.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Thank you for writing. You are in a hard predicament. Being married to an Adventist when you are not one is extremely difficult. Adventism teaches its members that it is their responsibility to be sure that their children are raised Adventist. Their prophetess Ellen White said that when Jesus comes back, if people’s children are not Adventists, He will look at the parents with sorrowful eyes and ask, “Where is thy flock, thy beautiful flock?” [2 TT 464.1] Parents are held responsible for children’s being Adventist.
It is very common for an Adventist to date a non-Adventist, to be somewhat permissive during the dating phase about the non-Adventist going to their own church, but when the children come, the iron grip of control emerges. This is a very common pattern; the fact that your husband is from a different culture makes this dynamic even more pronounced. Adventism in his country is a more conservative, more “historic” flavor of Adventism than is North American. The Adventism itself is the same—they have the same worldview and the same unbiblical understanding of reality and the nature of man, of sin, of salvation, and of the Trinity, but Adventists in his country are more committed to conservative and historic Adventism. I suspect your husband will not relent regarding your children going to the Adventist Church.
You are discovering the truth: Adventism does not teach the true gospel. It has a different, fallible Jesus than Scripture reveals, and it teaches an unfinished atonement.
You are discovering the truth: Adventism does not teach the true gospel. It has a different, fallible Jesus than Scripture reveals, and it teaches an unfinished atonement. They do believe Sabbath is a salvational matter. They may say it is not “necessary” for salvation, but they believe they would ultimately lose their salvation if they give it up. They do not know the gospel or the true Jesus. You are right about their worship services; they feel empty and devoid of true worship. Their songs may have “Christian” words, but the people do not know the Jesus the songs are praising.And yes—there are those Sabbath hymns!
Adventism is founded on doctrines of demons; EGW had angel guides that were not from God; she wrote “revelations” that teach a false Jesus. Her doctrines are doctrines of demons.
I suspect that your husband will become increasingly insistent that you worship with him at his church. Do you know Jesus? Have you trusted Him alone? You can ask Him to guide you and to give you discernment, strength, and direction in moving forward, and I would also begin, if I were you, to pray that the Lord will show you how to help your children to know Him and to protect them from Adventism. And of course, pray for your husband also, that he will come to know the true gospel and the real Jesus. Ask Him to show you how to love your husband for Jesus.
Meanwhile, I will give you some resources to help you. You are already subscribed to our weekly Proclamation! Email; it contains a wealth of new articles and links every Friday. Have you listened to the Former Adventist Podcast? I really believe that would be very helpful for you. It would help you understand how Adventists think, and it would help you also know what the Bible really says. I urge you to listen to it if you aren’t already. It is both on our Former Adventist YouTube channel and on any podcast platform. Here is a link to it on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/former-adventist/id1482887969
You may already have found our weekly video podcast covering the Sabbath School lessons; I do believe these would be helpful for you; they will help you understand what’s wrong with the weekly studies that your husband is probably currently going through. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAbCjP2ZecU&list=PLN9GSkxQf71ZbPFg4gYhVC811rx2nHJ69
Adventism is attempting to increase its membership because they are losing so many members, especially in North America and Europe. It is growing in Africa and South America, but they are doing everything they can to proselytize new members. The Great Controversy campaign is a huge attempt to get new converts, and I believe they are doing Great Controversy Sabbath School lessons in order to be sure their members are well-acquainted with the contents of the book and able to talk to any non-Adventists they may encounter who have received the book. They want their members thoroughly knowledgeable and indoctrinated. And YES, the Sabbath is an idol to them. They believe it is eternal and holy, and they fear not being loyal to the Sabbath far more than they fear not being loyal to God.
By the way, here is a link to a collection of articles addressing having relationships with people who are Adventists: https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/category/adventist-relationships/
How Can I Know Where To Base My Faith?
I’m an Adventist. I need much insight over this video you uploaded. Maybe you can help me understand deeper how to know where I should base my faith.
Thank you.
Response: Adventism does not teach the true biblical gospel.Here is my suggestion. Read the book of Galatians every day for a month, from start to finish (it’s short; only six chapters), and ask the Lord to teach you what He knows He want you to understand. Jesus fulfilled the law, and the new covenant in His blood is the means of our salvation when we place our faith and trust in Jesus alone (John 5:24; John 6:29).
Also, here is a video that will help explain how we are saved through believing in the finished work of the Lord Jesus.
Meanwhile, although we are not currently publishing a printed version of Proclamation! magazine, all our back issues are online here: ProclamationMagazine.com.
We have also added your name to our weekly Proclamation! email updates. You may need to add the email address mail@LifeAssuranceMinistries.org 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 https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/magazine-archive/.
You might also enjoy our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FormerAdventist/featured
Also, you might like to subscribe to our Former Adventist Podcast 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
In addition, we have a new podcast called Adventist Fact Check in which we talk through the misinformation contained in the weekly Sabbath School lessons. You can find them here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventist-fact-check-with-colleen-tinker/id1721662293
Both podcasts are also on our YouTube channel above.
Please feel free to email anytime with questions! †
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