Your story: How did you become a SDA ? Or left & came back?

[LifeHiscost]

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Robert said:

You don't have enough room for me to tell my story....won't do it again....

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Jesus provides the Way. All we're asked to do is tell the story of how He provides it.

[:"red"] "As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people. " [/] Genesis 50:20 NLT

[:"red"] "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. " [/] Romans 8:28 NASB

Keep the faith!!

[Gerr]

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Robert said:

You don't have enough room for me to tell my story....But I'll tell you this: Until the local Adventist's churches renounce their legalistic gospel and preach the truth as it is "in Christ" I won't be attending. Been there, done that, won't do it again....

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[:"blue"]"I tell you, my brethren, the Lord has an organized body through whom He will work....When anyone is drawing apart from the organized body of God's commandment-keeping people, when he begins to weigh the church in his human scales and begins to pronounce judgment against them, then you may know that God is not leading him. He is on the wrong track." LDE 51,52. [/]

Gerry

[benherndon]

"The Bible and the Bible alone, is to be the rule of our faith. It is a leaf from the tree of life, and by eating it, by receiving it into our minds, we shall grow strong to do the will of God. By our Christlike characters we shall show that we believe the word, that we cleave to the Bible as the only guide to heaven. So shall we be living epistles, known and read of all men, bearing a living testimony to the power of true religion." RH 1897

"There is no excuse for anyone to take the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation." RH, Dec 20, 1892

"Those who cling to old customs and hoary errors have lost sight of the fact that light is ever increasing upon the path of all who follow Christ; truth is constantly unfolding to the people of God. We must be continually advancing if we are following our Leader. It is when we walk in the light that shines upon us, obeying the truth that is open to our understanding, that we receive greater light. We cannot be excusable in accepting only the light which our fathers had one hundred years ago. If our God-fearing fathers had seen what we see, and heard what we hear, they would have accepted the light, and walked in it. If we desire to imitate their faithfulness, we must receive the truths open to us, as they received those presented to them; we must do as they would have done, had they lived in our day." EGW in Historical Sketches, 196

Now, let me ask each of you---this was written over a hundred years ago!!! Is it any less true today than it was another 100 yrs ago?

Ponder this.

Ben

[Laurie]

Never thought i'd end up in the Adventist church. was raised in Unity -which is rather like Christian Science. my dad had been raised an Adventist-by legalists-and couldn't get out fast enough. all i ever heard growing up was that Adventists were kooks. by age 12, i knew Unity was clap-trap but didn't know what else there might be that wasn't. went to Catholic college & ended up joining-didn't believe in any of it except the Apostle's Creed, which i clung to. i knew in my heart it wasn't the place to be. prayed for several years that the Lord would put me where i needed to be. a friend sent me a copy of Great Controversy.i read it & was struck by the fact that it was presenting exactly the same history (in the same way) that history teachers had at Catholic college-unapolegically, i might add. shortly thereafter saw a poster for a Revelation seminar & was struck by the depiction of the beasts-what could they mean?the same friend who sent me Great Controversy invited me to the seminar! i went & bawled all throught the 1st 2 presentations-i knew i'd found the Truth and the place i was meant to be. was prayed into the church by loving friends & an aunt who was determined to see me in the church before she died. have never looked back. if one left the Adventist church, there'd be nowhere to go.

[Toni]

Gay4Jesus,

I am very touched by your story so far, and I am very interested in what you have to share. I just wanted to let you know, that if I knew your personally, you would be welcomed in my home, and I would pray with you and be there for you. {{{hugs}}}

Toni

[Toni]

My story...

Just after I had graduated High School, I started dating a boy that I had gone all through school with, but had been avoiding. One of the main reasons I had shyed away from him, was that I perceived him to be a non-Christian. Somehow I was drawn to him, and we went on some dates that summer. We ended up going to the same comunity college, and spent some time together studying, etc. Things got more serious, and he started attending church with me (Assemblies of God). It turned out that he had been raised a Jehovah's Witness, but his family were asked to leave the church..I think it was because the kids were getting more involved at school with baseball and his dad was a coach, etc. Spending too much time in secular activities.

Anyway with both of our backgrounds (him, JW, me, AoG) it was raising some serious questions about religion. I, after all, was raised to believe in not dating non-Christians, and it was really bothering me. He started to come around to some of my ideas, and I was questioning my own, specifically Hell. So, I started to research. Meanwhile, he came with me regularly to church and assured me that while he may have some reservations about certain beliefs, he believed in God and believed Jesus died for him and would attend church wherever I wanted to go. We ended up going to university together, and married when he graduated (I finished up the next semester). We attended church regularly, but the question of Hell still niggled at me.

During our early, young married years I discovered the internet. AOL specifically. I was a regular in the Christian chat room, and one day I received an instant message asking if I'd like to join a Bible Study. He stated the subject would be Hell. Since I had been researching and questioning, I knew both JW's and SDA's had similar beliefs about Hell. I don't know why, but at that time I had really been searching and asking God for answers, and I just typed back instinctively, "Are you by chance, SDA?" He said he was! So, I told him I'd be interested. For several weeks we regulary studied the Bible together online, by instant message. We started with Hell, but he ended up going through the traditional SDA studies. I ate it up! I was so fascinated and intrigued. It made sense to me. In turn, I would share what I had learned with my husband.

We found an SDA church and started attending. The pastor met with us and gave us more Bible studies, and we were baptized together soon after. That was in October of 1994! We're coming up on 11 years of being members.

I so wish I could thank that person for reaching out and giving Bible Studies to me, sending me books and materials in the mail. I am fully realizing now what a special person that is. All I know is his first name, CJ, along with his wife Karen and their daughter Rebeca. At the time (in 1994) they were in the DC area and their pastor was Jack Sequiera. I hope some day I can thank them in person, and tell them what a blessing they were to me!

There have been times that I haven't felt very close to God, not wanting to attend or wondering if we are wrong, but I always seem to come back. Lately I have been really feel drawn by God, and feeling like a new relationship has begun..I'm feeling like I did in those early days when I was so excited about what I was learning.

Toni

[Sammy Lee]

I came from a Buddhist-Confucian-Taoist family called The Three Truth Religion (Sam Kaw Hwee), and later was the more confused as my father accepted Christianity, changed my name from The Big Dragon, to Samuel. Greater confusion came when he became assistant pastor and later pastor of the Pentecostal Mission Church of Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, while my grandmother decided to join the Baptist Church, coz she could not stand the noise in the Charismatic church and feel to weak to clap and raise her hands during worship. I had to attend the morning service with my father and went with my grandma to her church in the afternoon. My uncles stayed put in their original faith. The one who adopted me, my paternal auntie's husband, was the chairman of the Chinese Indonesian Party in the town.

He was a very generous and kind man, every one who knew him just loved him. So when I heard my father preached that those who do not accept Jesus will be roasted in hell forever, I rebelled, coz Confucians, however confused they were thought to be by Christians do not worship such cruel God.

They do teach about hell punishment for the wicked, but they also teach that there is forgiveness if people repent in the next incarnation, so that finally everybody can go to Nirvana, which means a release from suffering, pain and desire, a total peaceful resting place! I thought that was more logical, merciful and loving in such kind of a faith than Christianity. So I decided to be an agnostic like my uncle, until I can see a more convincing light.

I was educated for ten years in the Catholic School from Primary to High School. At the end of the tenth year, I had a clash with my history teacher, a rough bulky giant of a Eurasian, or Dutch-Indonesian. A distant uncle persuaded me to try the SDA Academy near Bandung, West Java, called

Indonesian Union Seminary, a boarding school for High School as well as Junior College levels.

To my surprise I found out that the Bible according to my Bible teacher at the Seminary, taught quite differently from the rest of the Christian churches.

First I was incredulous, I thought if the Sevies are right, why are thy so small. How could all those highly educated people in the Catholic Church and other churches be so blind. The second thing that held me back from jumping into the new bandwagon was the fact that I had a Roman Catholic girl friend back there in Makassar. And the third one was the warning of my Dad, that I will have to find my own way through school if I ever become so utterly confused that I join those deceived Adventists Cults, or Deceived Modern Jews who do not believe in Jesus. (continued...later, if anybody interested)

[LynnDel]

Definitely! Please continue!

LD

[Laurie]

yes, Sammy, please continue. (Laurie)

[Sammy Lee]

OK, here I come...

The more I read the Bible the more confused I became, until finally I said: "God, if you are somewhere up there at all, please tell me which of these religions are right. I am going to do whatever you want me to do. Just give me clear sign."

The thing that attracted me to enroll at the SDA Academy, was the fact that many of their teachers are American missionaries. Among others, Dr. B.A. Aaen and his wife, Penny Aaen, G.D. Thomposon and his wife, Bryce Newell and so I thought that was the best school for me to learn my English, because I had an ambition to be a journalist for an English speaking newspaper.

One day my Bible teacher who knew that I was particularly interested in English literature, suggested that I read a book called The Desire of Ages, since that book was once named the most beautiful book in English language about the life of Jesus. So he told me that by so doing I can kill two stones with one bird. (I know you think I made a mistake here, but I don't like to kill a bird, but if I have to, than I like to see the stones dead as well.

After reading a few chapters, my Bible teacher asked me what I think about the book. I replied that it was really beautiful and extraordinarily dramatic and interesting, more than any other author whose book I had ever read.

When my teacher told me that the author had only three years of primary school education, I thought he was being ridiculous.But later when I found out that it was a fact and not a fiction, and that she wrote many other books as well, some of them on subjects that would have been made educators and medical doctors proud to have written them, I thought these sevvies are not deceived but far stranger than I thought. After reading about two hundred books from the school library, most of it written by EGWhite, I was convinced that God must have interferred in raising up this church.

So I did not care even if hell broke loose, but I decided to join this church and not only that, I thought I owe it to my friends and relatives that I tell them about this truth. So I decided to take the Theological course. I graduated from Indonesian Union College (now called Adventist University of Indonesia) and worked as evangelist in North Sulawesi, ordained in 1967, and served in Sarawak, East Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Macau besides Indonesia, and now serving as retired credentialled minister in Sydney, Australia. God has been so good, I got much much more than I bargained for. I used to be a little down hearted when my Pentecostal minister father used to remark that I was not filled by the Holy Spirit since I was not able to speak in tongues. Now I am able to speak quite fluently in seven languages and understand about seven or eight other, although not confident enough to express myself in them.

But I have been able to use several of those languages in preaching and winning people of different nations or races to accept the invitiation of a merciful and just God, who would rather die than see people roast in hell forever for their sins.

But the best discovery to me is, when I served in Macau, China, and bumped into the books of Dr. Ethel Nelson about ancient Chinese Characters confirming christian concepts of creation by a Triune God, and redemption in Jesus as the Lamb of God. Those books helped me learn Chinese in a unbelievably short time. It further convinced me beyond any doubt that the Bible is true and that we are living at the very last moments of history before the long awaited King of kings and Lord of lords will appear to take us back home to the mansions He is preparing for us. Nova Yerushalom, a twelve starred Celestial Hotel up there, which will be our hotel for a Thousand Year Intergalactic Tour, and then will be transferred to this earth to become the capital of the universe as well as retreat Hotel forever for weekly and monthly gatherings of the blessed saints mentioned in the book of Revelation.

And I am thankful I am not among the majority of the world population, most of them so intelligent and well educated

but spiritually blind. But I do believe, though, that as Seventh-day Adventists we are going to be just the minority among the Permanent Residents or Citizens of that New Earth.

I believe that most of God's true children are in Babel or Confusion of Religions, which one day will come to the light of truth before the end of the earth. I am just one of the lucky ones to come out of confusion before that time.

And I thank God for the privilege of helping a few others during my life time to come out of that confusion.

God bless all of you.

[Robert]

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Gerry Cabalo said:

"I tell you, my brethren, the Lord has an organized body through whom He will work....When anyone is drawing apart from the organized body of God's commandment-keeping people, when he begins to weigh the church in his human scales and begins to pronounce judgment against them, then you may know that God is not leading him. He is on the wrong track." LDE 51,52.

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I'm still looking for a commandment keeping people and not a people who are mechanically keeping the letter of the law. I'm still looking for that "remnant" that is reflecting Christ's love as seen in the early church (see Acts chapter 2 & 4.) That's the proof of a church having the gospel....

The EGW statement you quoted has probably been lifted out of its context, but let's say it hasn't for argument sake. Maybe if she were alive she could show me the chapter and verse of her conclusion. I can't find it....

Maybe you, Gerry, could show me where the Bible says that the 7th-Day Adventist's church is the "organized body of God's commandment-keeping people"? I did find this (see *)

Anyway, this is off the topic....If you wish to answer me maybe you should start another topic....

Then again, not all Adventists churches preach a perverted gospel....So to those who have come back, more power to ya!

*

• What greater deception can come upon human minds than confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct. [3T, 252]

[Taylor]

Robert...I hear you. I would imagine you have been through some painful experiences to see things the way you do. I also have seen legalism and liberalism in every church, including my own. That is why we must be what God calls us to be. I would challenge you to attend a church and even if everyone there is legalistic, then you be the one person who is not! Show them the joy that is found in Jesus. Show them that you don't have to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" show them that it is possible to live a dedicated Christian life and be that sort of cantageous bubbly Christian. We need more of these kinds of people in all of our churches! I don't know exactly where you live, but you will find problems in the church no matter where you live. However, where I live there is a wide variety of churches, and I think you might be surprised to find out how "unlegalistic" many churches today are, and how much "fun" people can have as Christians. Does that mean they have arrived? Far from it, because the church is a hospital for sinners not a country club for saints.

Having said that, I am very sorry for anything that happened or that you have observed where people have not acted as Christians should (forget SDA, not even Christian). That is most unfortunate but is the realities of life. It shouldn't be, but God is working with all of us, and none of us have arrived yet ( or at least I haven't I know that for sure!).

I am glad you are here on club adventist!

[Robert]

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Taylor said:

I would challenge you to attend a church and even if everyone there is legalistic, then you be the one person who is not!

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To me Club Adventist is church. I can do much more here then I could in my old church...much more. Not that I know it all (I know nothing compared to the Apostle Paul), but I do, through the grace of Christ, understand the gospel.

And no I am not against Christian living and even using the law as a standard - but at the same time I am not deceived that I am actually keeping the whole of the law.

When I look to Christ's selfless life I must count all my goodness as mere dung....I must, as Paul did in the continuous present tense, claim to be the chief of sinners. Not that I enjoy sin...no...I hate the principle of sin in my mind/heart (e.g., I-ism...self-love, self-seeking, etc), yet I find myself falling short of God's indescribable love.

[LifeHiscost]

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Laurie said:

i knew i'd found the Truth and the place i was meant to be. was prayed into the church by loving friends & an aunt who was determined to see me in the church before she died. have never looked back. if one left the Adventist church, there'd be nowhere to go.

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Laurie,

Your testimony refreshes my soul. I believe these promises are yours to keep.

[:"red"] "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." [/] Revelation 12:10-12 NASB

[:"red"] "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." [/] John 10:29 NASB

Keep the faith!

[Gerr]

Just tagging along....

Folks, I hope you continue to share your experiences. There is nothing that warms my heart more than a story of the prodigal coming home.

Gerry

[ChristianSon]

Thank you for sharing Gay4Jesus.

I am prompted to say 2 things my friend.

1) God does NOT hate gays! Homosexuality is an abomination to Him, but we all fall short in some way. Sin reveals itself a multitude of ways, and each of us must learn to deal with the shortcomings with which we have been cursed. Some are tempted with things that you might not even see as sinful, and they may be as deeply troubled in their circumstance as you are in yours. Be of good courage - greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!

2) Drawing attention to your gayness is sure to defeat your desire to overcome it. All attention needs to be focused on Jesus! It is good to confess your faults, but be careful that you do not fall into the trap of openly confessing particular sins - Satan will most assuredly find a way to use them against you my friend.

Overcoming is a fruit of a relationship with Christ: it is NOT victory over sin. We do not overcome by exerting effort to overcome - we overcome by knowing the power of God, in Jesus Christ, who has already overcome.

Strive not to be sinless, but rather, strive to know the sinless One!

A friend in Christ

and a Christian Son

[Naomi]

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ChristianSon said:

Thank you for sharing Gay4Jesus.

Strive not to be sinless, but rather, strive to know the sinless One!

A friend in Christ

and a Christian Son

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Christian Son, that is a beautiful quote. Something that we should all strive to achieve.

Thank you,

Naomi

[Neil D]

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My boring conversion?

Conversion stories are always exciting, aren’t they—full of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll?

Hmm . . . Not always! Kristin Dewey explains.

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I am the father to this little lady. And as such, will greedily promote things to advance her cause....Since this is on conversion stories, I thought she might like to have you'all view it....So here is her story that she has published.

[Kountzer]

I grew up in a small SE Texas town called Silsbee. We were the average middle class, or slightly working class black family. My Mom, and I, and later my step dad, lived next door to my grandparents. We had another relative, Uncle Tiny, as we called him, who lived just out of town, out in the woods. Uncle Tiny had a cabin that he built out there, also a well and a outhouse that was further back in the woods. Uncle had come back from the Korean war and decided to semi drop out of society. He worked as a handy man, doing electrical work, carpentry, this and that, a sort of jack of all trades.

Lots of folks in town, including some of the family, thought Uncle was a bit strange, living out in the woods alone. They thought it especially strange that he had this weird thing about stopping everything on Saturdays, and having church. After coming back from the war, Uncle attended the regional VA hospital in Austin, Tx., for various war related problems he had. While there someone, a white man, as uncle likes to tell it, gave him a bible study card for some vop bible lessons. He accepted the things he learned as bible truth and became an adventist.

There were no adventist churches near by, at least none that were predominately black. There was an ostinsibly white adventist church in nearby Beaumont, Tx., but uncle, back then, had seen too much racism, lynchings, etc., to feel comfortable with worshipping with white people. You have to understand, some of the nearby towns were places like Vidor, Tx, and a town many thought as a racially benign called Jasper, Tx.

So Uncle would have church by himself. Sometimes he would invite some of his neighbors, those that would come. Saturday evenings, around dusk, he would come up to the grandparents house, his parents, and we would talk. The family would sort of chide him about his sabbath keeping, and from that a discussion would start. My grandfather, who was a local deacon and who did some speaking in the local baptist and methodist churches, would be the lead person arguing, and disagreeing with my Uncle, his son, about the sabbath issue.

After awhile they would get out the big family bible, and have a bible study/set to. All the family would gather around them. Sometimes other aunts and uncles and cousins from Houston would be there. It would be my grandfather against my uncle, and everyone else watching, and backing my grandfather. My grandfather would make a point, and my uncle would counter that with a verse. The verse would be so clear and so unmistakable that I would here some of the other grown up say, "it sho does say that, um hum".

This went on, off and on, for some time, perhaps years. Then one year the sda churches in Houston were having a big tent effort in the 3rd ward area of Houston, near Tx Southern University and the University of Houston. Uncle persuaded all the family members to come out to the meetings, which were conducted by EE Cleveland. After those six weeks or so of meetings were through, several of my greater family became sda, including my grand parents and my mom. That's when I first became acquainted with the sda church, and all that. Afterwards, I was on quite a few occasions one of those 2 or 3 having church with my uncle in his cabin out in the woods.

DB

[Toni]

Quote:

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Neil D said:

Quote:

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My boring conversion?

Conversion stories are always exciting, aren’t they—full of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll?

Hmm . . . Not always! Kristin Dewey explains.

---

I am the father to this little lady. And as such, will greedily promote things to advance her cause....Since this is on conversion stories, I thought she might like to have you'all view it....So here is her story that she has published.

---

What a good writer she is! You must be so proud :-). Her story sounds very similar to mine growing up.

Toni

[Jeannieb43]

Elder E.E.Cleveland! What a powerful preacher he was! And what a nice person, besides. I had the opportunity of working as a secretary at the General Conference office in Takoma Park during the time Elder Cleveland was there. Everyone always liked him. He was a wonderful Christian, and a great preacher.

God bless you.

God has had His eye on you all your life - and he sent you to Elder Cleveland's meetings (and to your uncle's Bible studies) for a purpose!

Thanks for sharing.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Just a little update: Today is the 5-month anniversary of my baptism. It's not been an easy five months .... I've had my share of questions and criticisms about un-Christian-like attitudes and behaviors amongst church members. But then I was abruptly (but nicely) informed that I was doing the devil's work by *condemning the brethren* ... and if I saw something that needed *cleaning* in the church, well....I have a broom that's not in use anymore!

[Gerr]

Thank you. That made my eyes water a tad.

Gerry

[Laurie]

Hi, guys-it's Laurie. My grandfather (1885-1974) was raised SdA, was educated in church schools in Denmark and the U.S., including Skodesberg and Union College, and was a denominational worker for many years. He left the church for good in the early 1950s, insisting after a year that my grandmother leave too. I'm curious now to reread his "autobiography", written a couple of years before his death, to see what explanation he gives for leaving the church. He was very antagonistic toward the church the rest of his days. That's why I was raised to think that Adventists were all nut cases. He was a Nazarene, a Baptist, and finally a Pentacostal (!) in the last 25 years of his life. How is it possible to go anywhere else when the beautiful Advent truth is so alive in every page of the Bible? This is a puzzle to me. If his autobiography has any explanation(s) for his leaving, I'll pass it along. I rather doubt that reasons for leaving are any different now than they were 50-plus years ago. I suspect the biggest reason is pride (then as now).

[Clio]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />

benherndon said:

"There is no excuse for anyone to take the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation." RH, Dec 20, 1892

"Those who cling to old customs and hoary errors have lost sight of the fact that light is ever increasing upon the path of all who follow Christ; truth is constantly unfolding to the people of God. We must be continually advancing if we are following our Leader. It is when we walk in the light that shines upon us, obeying the truth that is open to our understanding, that we receive greater light. We cannot be excusable in accepting only the light which our fathers had one hundred years ago. If our God-fearing fathers had seen what we see, and heard what we hear, they would have accepted the light, and walked in it. If we desire to imitate their faithfulness, we must receive the truths open to us, as they received those presented to them; we must do as they would have done, had they lived in our day." EGW in Historical Sketches, 196

Now, let me ask each of you---this was written over a hundred years ago!!! Is it any less true today than it was another 100 yrs ago?

Ponder this.

Ben

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Hey, Dr. Ben.

I find that it is very difficult to walk in the light revealed when so few are willing to give up their preconceived notions taught for 100 years. These quotes hit an issue right on the money.

Clio