Pictures of family members in the home?

[Sojourner]

A friend of mine has become aware that I am attending meetings with the SDA and he tells me that SDA people are not permitted to have photos of family members in their homes, is this true? Or is it a rule of the SDA reform movement?

[debbym]

It is not true sda's are forbidden to have photos of family members in their homes.

but nothing in our lives should become the object of our love and devotion greater then our devotion to God.

everyone has different things in their lives that may be good in themselves, but when we place them in importance greater then God, then we need to pay attention and change our way of living.

we can make an idol of almost anything.

it is our choice to make God first, and everything else less important then knowing God, and loving God and serving others as he shows us to.

[Bravus]

I've never heard of this before.

We've got family photos done each 3 years since our kids were born. When we lived in a house with more wall space they were hanging everywhere: not really room in our current townhouse. Here's the most recent set, though: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151379674937887.1073741827.548907886&type=3

[olger]

"This content is currently unavailable"

[phkrause]

family pictures, thanks for sharing

[OzarkWoman]

A friend of mine has become aware that I am attending meetings with the SDA and he tells me that SDA people are not permitted to have photos of family members in their homes, is this true? Or is it a rule of the SDA reform movement?

Oh, how silly! Who told you that? They must be really ignorant of the denomination. But even if the denomination did have that rule, you can best believe that most would disregard it. There are already too many legalisn things within the SDA denomination.

[debbym]

awesome photos!!

[ClubV12]

Legalism is in the eye of the beholder, some have standards than are different than yours. Maybe there not legalists, maybe your a raging liberal?

I don't have a problem with pictures of family around the house, I find it comforting. On the other hand, spending a lot of time and money on photography in general is a waste.

[Naomi]

[aldona]

I wonder what other ill-informed rumors and allegations about what SDA's do (or don't do) are circulating out there.

AJ

[debbym]

i was told we were some sect of the jews.

[Kevin H]

Actually Debbym, our early missionaries started out in Christian countries and did not know how to convert non-Christians to Christians. As they ran into the Jewish Gettos they offered them a Jewish version of Adventism which was continued until around the 1930s early 40s. As of the mid 1980s there were still a few Seventh-day Adventist Jews around, but they were in their 80s and 90s.

[phkrause]

Not sure Kevin where you get that figure from. From what I know there are quite a number of Adventist Jews around that are much younger than that. You'd have to get ahold of Pastor Alex Schusler, I know he's not in his 70s, 80s, etc., he's probably in his 50s.

Here's a link to the Messianic SDA Temple in Hollywood, FL.

http://www.btvfl.org/article/38/mission/from-the-pastor

Pastor Schusler I believe started that Temple a number years ago, he no longer is there. He's at a new one and also works with 3abn.

[Kevin H]

While I don't really understand the dynamics, at least not on a level to describe, the work with the Jews since have been more with in a Christian framework, similar the the Messanic Jews. However the Seventh-day Adventist Jews, while they accepted Jesus as their messiah and as God, did it in a very Jewish way where all but the most extream Jews would consider them Jews and not Christians. And they did not consider themselves Christians. In the numbers sent to the General conference they would give how many Christian members they had and how many Jewish members they had.

I know that there has been a movement since at least the 1980s to try to get the church to again allow Seventh-day Adventist Jews. I know that the Tel Avi church had a fairly good sized turn out Sabbath after Sabbath, but about half of the regular attendies, who were very active in the church, were not members because they did not want to become Christians. And there have been other Jews with the same convictions.

I do believe that there has been more accomadation of these people but not yet a full return to the Seventh-day Adventist Jewish option for Jews.

[cricket]

A friend of mine has become aware that I am attending meetings with the SDA and he tells me that SDA people are not permitted to have photos of family members in their homes, is this true? Or is it a rule of the SDA reform movement?

Perhaps your friend is confusing the Seventh-Day Adventist religion with another religion. Many Muslims, for example, choose not to display pictures of people on their walls.

[OzarkWoman]

Legalism is in the eye of the beholder, some have standards than are different than yours. Maybe there not legalists, maybe your a raging liberal?

I don't have a problem with pictures of family around the house, I find it comforting. On the other hand, spending a lot of time and money on photography in general is a waste.

The one thing I won't tolerate is anyone calling me a liberal. I am way more conservative than you could ever guess, especially when it comes to politics.

And since you are also making judgements....I will tell you this one last time...read your Bible and even Jesus didn't like the ones who followed the LAWS but didn't have their heart like he said.

[OzarkWoman]

I wonder what other ill-informed rumors and allegations about what SDA's do (or don't do) are circulating out there.

AJ

You would be quite surprised!

[Sojourner]

Thank you, I must admit that I did think that seemed a little odd!

[Arwen]

A friend of mine has become aware that I am attending meetings with the SDA and he tells me that SDA people are not permitted to have photos of family members in their homes, is this true? Or is it a rule of the SDA reform movement?

Hi

The SDA church does not prohibit photographs, however Mrs. White did write a lot about photographs in the context of not spending money thoughtlessly.

In the era that Mrs. White wrote, photographs were much more expensive than they are today. People had to spend a lot of time and money to get a photograph.

Some Christians would spend a lot of money getting many photographs made of their family and friends and then display lots of these photos in their homes, on all their tables and walls just to boast and show off their wealth.

Mrs. White was saying that having a home filled with rows and rows of photographs was not good, not because the photographs is themselves were bad or evil, but because the mind-set behind it was full of selfishness.

A few photographs were okay, but spending lots of money on pictures of themselves, when other people in their neighborhood needed help wasn’t a good thing. The extra money could be better used to help to feed, clothe and provide shelter for other people, and spread the gospel.

Mrs. White was giving an example of what Jesus said in one part of His Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 6:19-21 (Worldwide English Version)

19 `Do not keep many things for yourself on earth. Insects and rust will spoil them. People will get in and steal them.

20 But keep things for yourself in heaven. Insects and rust will not spoil them there. People will not get in and steal them.

21 The place where you keep things is where your heart will be also.'

[Arwen]

If you go to the White Estate website , click on the top Search Ellen G. White Writings link and

then do a search for 'photographs', you will be able to access everything Mrs. White she wrote on the subject.

I’ve just done a quick search, so if you click on the next link it will save you a bit of time and go straight to everything Ellen G. White wrote about photographs.

Just remember that she was writing at a time when photographs were a luxury item and were very expensive, then her comments make sense.

[TruthSeeker123]

Hi Sojourner! I asked similar questions last year. I think I know where your friend gets this from. While I reearched what the Spirit of Prophecy says on photography and the use of artistic talent out of curiousity as well as to aid me in defining parameters for the work I do.

In a couple of Testimonies and other books she addresses the issue of people lining the walls and mantles of their homes with family pictures. She discouraged the frequent taking of pictures. During the 1800s the photographs were very expensive and girls liked to have their photographs taken. They would do it to excess and would spare no expense. In one of the places she addresses the issue she pointedly asks the girls to ask themselves how close does the picture-taking bring them to God?

The issue was not that photos are evil or that it's bad to have photos in your home. It was about self-indulgence and idolatry, the lack of moderation. So, she encouraged the girls and their parents to remove the photos from their homes because they were interfering with their relationship with God.

Now, it so happened that a little while after the articles were published and the letters sent out, some people interpreted the messages wrongly. Those people removed all of the photos from their homes and burnt them. They used it to judge people's relationship with God. That's why she issued an apology wherein she clearly stated the issues/principles at play and discouraged the attitude of the overzealous brethren, as it goes contrary to the principles of the kingdom of God.

I don't know what happened after that. I'm sorry that I can't give you the references but you can go on the EG White site and look under "pictures", "photography", "photos", etc. I am sure that you will find the references.

It's unfortunate that people can be so superficial and take things out of context destroying the faith of many.

[james423]

Unfortunate, too, that destroying pictures like that can led to the loss of many memories that might call us back to the worship of God.

I also think that there is a point where a person can spend hundreds of dollars even today purchasing cameras and other photo equipment and leave undone the work that God really wants us to do. I've had to spend quite a bit of money buying equipment to get pictures needed for school public relations efforts, but I think that's a different story.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Actually, I know of one SDA pastor and his wife who don't put photos or pictures on their walls, nor do they have curtains on their windows (they have blinds instead). Sweet, wonderful people, but kinda quirky about "decoration" in their home... I don't think it matters, as it harms nobody...

[LifeHiscost]

A friend of mine has become aware that I am attending meetings with the SDA and he tells me that SDA people are not permitted to have photos of family members in their homes, is this true? Or is it a rule of the SDA reform movement?

[debbym]

Quote:

Characters as Varied as the Flowers—From the endless variety of plants and flowers, we may learn an important lesson. All blossoms are not the same in form or color. Some possess healing virtues. Some are always fragrant. There are professing Christians who think it their duty to make every Christian like themselves. This is man’s plan, not the plan of God. In the church of God there is room for characters as varied as are the flowers in a garden. In His spiritual garden there are many varieties of flowers.—Letter 95, 1902. {Ev 99.1}

I love this.