A Question of Balance

[JoeMo]

Are there any churches out there that preach a "balanced" message?  I go to 2 different churches to get a balance.  One church predominantly preaches nothing but "warm fuzzies" - how much Jesus loves us, the wonders of grace, just love Jesus and you'll go to heaven, faith brings joy, prosperity, peace, etc.  They never preach on prophecy, overcoming, or the coming crisis and subsequent Second Coming.

 

The other church preaches predominantly on eschatology, fear of what's coming, overcoming, the pursuit of character perfection, fear of the world, and what happens if you don't "submit"; but hardly anything about the love, mercy, forgiveness, and grace of God.  I find that if I attend just one of the churches for too many weeks in a row; my mind starts dwelling on just one side of the message and ignoring the other.  IMO it puts me off balance.  Does anyone else struggle with this?

 

We should be confident and encourage one another in our salvation; but we should ever be reminded of things that are to come prior to the second coming, and how we are to respond to events so we are not surprised and swept away by the Time of Trouble.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I don't think I've ever been in an SDA church that has a predominantly fear-based church message...  t'would put me off, and that's for certain!

[8thdaypriest]

Very good point Joe M. 

I come to this forum for some balance.  I'm glad it's here.

[CoAspen]

I would say that our Pastor is very well 'balanced' in his sermons. No fuzzies, no fear, just everyday practical application of the Bible.

[JoeMo]

CoAspen,

Where do you attend? I might just want to go hear your pastor.

[CoAspen]

JoeMo,

 

 

http://www.lafdenver.org/

[psalms37]

"There are in the world today many who close their eyes to the evidences that Christ has given to warn men of His coming. They seek to quiet all apprehension, while at the same time the signs of the end are rapidly fulfilling, and the world is hastening to the time when the Son of man shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven. Paul teaches that it is sinful to be indifferent to the signs which are to precede the second coming of Christ. Those guilty of this neglect he calls children of the night and of darkness. . . .

"The watchful Christian is a working Christian, seeking zealously to do all in his power for the advancement of the gospel. As love for his Redeemer increases, so also does love for his fellow men. He has severe trials, as had his Master; but he does not allow affliction to sour his temper or destroy his peace of mind. He knows that trial, if well borne, will refine and purify him, and bring him into closer fellowship with Christ. Those who are partakers of Christ's sufferings will also be partakers of His consolation and at last sharers of His glory."1

 

Reference(s):

1 The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 260, 261.

[LifeHiscost]

 

We should be confident and encourage one another in our salvation; but we should ever be reminded of things that are to come prior to the second coming, and how we are to respond to events so we are not surprised and swept away by the Time of Trouble.

And if we are going to be preaching to the choir, it seems we would be remiss if we avoided those points only that make us friends.

 

51"Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; 52for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.…Luke 12

 

 

God is Love! Jesus saves!

[CoAspen]

Absolutely! Always make it a point to correct......your self!(although some are more comfortable correcting others)

[JoeMo]

One of the rules in the Bible Study I have at work is that the harshest thing you are allowed to tell someone else is "I don't believe like you do"; never "You're wrong".  It seems to be working well.

[LifeHiscost]

One of the rules in the Bible Study I have at work is that the harshest thing you are allowed to tell someone else is "I don't believe like you do"; never "You're wrong".  It seems to be working well.

One thing that accentuates is acceptance of personal responsibility, always a good attribute.

 

God is Love! Jesus saves!

[AdventistWoman]

I have observed that many times, what the Devil likes to do is take these extremes and then point out that something is missing. Then he will turn around and get that group of people drawn away from the Truth even further.

For instance, back in the days when nearly the whole Adventist Church was involved in the 'Morris Venden' Theology, where he convinced people that their behavior didn't matter, as long as they had a 'relationship with Jesus', the Devil had created that extreme in a sort of 'legalism' to prepare the way for the Venden Theology. People saw there was the 'having a relationship with Jesus' aspect that was missing. So the Devil stepped in and took them to the opposite extreme, where relationship was emphasized, to the neglect of doing good works. 

Today I have noticed that the Conservatives are going off into all sorts of strange ideas. They notice that works is missing and so the Devil draws them further from the truth, and gets them involved in things like the 'Lunar Sabbath' and 'We should not celebrate Christmas', and 'The 2520 prophecy', 'Leave the Church because it's Babylon', and so forth. 

It is just the same thing all over again but from a different angle. And by doing this, he manages to shake people out of the Church. Or else they stay in and leaven the wheat with their nonsense ideas, which is even worse. 

[Gregory Matthews]

Adventist Woman:  There are those who would say that you have mis-construed the theology of MV.

[CoAspen]

Not my understanding of MV at all. I quite enjoyed his books and sermons.

[AdventistWoman]

Adventist Woman:  There are those who would say that you have mis-construed the theology of MV.

Of course there are those who would say that. 

[AdventistWoman]

Not my understanding of MV at all. I quite enjoyed his books and sermons.

Well I did not.

[AdventistWoman]

You all ought to just take the time to read through this. It is a good example of just how far someone can lead you off the track of truth.

And to think that it all began with the idea that 'Seventh Day Adventists are a bunch of legalists'.

http://www.sdadefend.com/Books-new-order/M%20Venden%201.htm#sin

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

http://www.sdadefend.com/Books-new-order/M%20Venden%201.htm#sin

 

Reading Vance Ferrell's diatribes always give me a headache.... doesn't he ever have anything good to say about anyone?

 

 I found Morris Venden's books to be quite interesting.

 

(I don't have to agree with everything everyone writes...)

[AdventistWoman]

Reading Vance Ferrell's diatribes always give me a headache.... doesn't he ever have anything good to say about anyone?

 

 I found Morris Venden's books to be quite interesting.

 

(I don't have to agree with everything everyone writes...)

Well all I can say is that does not surprise me at all, typical modern 'Adventist' mentality today... sadly. He has done his work well. 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

 

 

Well all I can say is that does not surprise me at all, typical modern 'Adventist' mentality today... sadly. He has done his work well. 

 

lol.... I'm hardly the "typical modern Adventist"...  

[AdventistWoman]

lol.... I'm hardly the "typical modern Adventist"...  

Take a look around. Do you see anyone here disagreeing with you? 

At any rate, Jesus said, 'Let them alone, they be the blind leading the blind'. So... Good bye.

[CoAspen]

Bye-Bye!!!!!!

 

Adios!!!!

[phkrause]

Take a look around. Do you see anyone here disagreeing with you? 

At any rate, Jesus said, 'Let them alone, they be the blind leading the blind'. So... Good bye.

Wow, what does that mean??

I remember back around '73/4 or 5, MV came to the SNEC campmeeting. I usually don't go very often to CM, but I heard MV was going to be there. So I decided to go. Best thing I ever did, other than going when Alex Schuesler came a number of years back. One main reason I stayed as an SDA other than the Bible itself, was because of MV.

[Sojourner]

The question I would raise to you JoeMo, is do you feel that you can give feedback to the pastors of the two churches? 

 

One of the things that I love about my own fellowship is that the Senior Pastor is very approachable and will take on board feedback accordingly. - I raised with him the same question that I raised on here about responding to Athiesm and to my surprise a few weeks ago he preached on that subject - he took Richard Dawkins book and actually read the quote that Dawkins had to say about "the God of the Old Testament" and the various negative criticisms Dawkins makes and answered those in Scripture from the Old Testament and very easily showed that the God of the Old Testament was one and the same as the God of the New Testament and is very much a God of Love. 

 

I am getting off the topic, but my point is that it is a good thing to be able to approach the Pastors / Elders of the church with feedback. I have difficulties remaining in the room when a church sermon gets into the Prosperity Gospel, but some of other stuff you mention I can reconcile okay. 

[JoeMo]

Sojourner,

I have attended some churches where the pastor is very open to constructive feedback.  I have been to other that dictate the content of every message; and you can't present there unless you are on board with the pastor's (or church board's) agenda.  I have been cut off from teaching and preaching because I was teaching the gospel of grace as taught by people like MV.  I have been cut off from teaching the historical messages of Daniel and Revelation in other churches because "they are scary; and we don't want to scare people". I was once banned from doing special music at a certain church because I used a drummer.

 

Admittedly, these are some extreme examples that have taken place over a 20-year period; but in my experience some pastors are open to feedback and dialog; and some aren't.  Kinda like people here - some are open to honest dialog; and for some it's "my way or the highway".