In my first post, I spoke about why I decided to be a Christian (or remain a Christian, depending on how you look at it). But, the thing about Christianity is that there are so many different denominations that often times, it seems as though they are religions of their own. Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Anglican - there are so many to choose from.
My choice to remain in the Adventist church was simple enough for me. The reason there are so many different denominations is because there are so many different doctrines, people had disagreements and decided that they needed to worship with people whose doctrines and traditions matched the ones they adhered to. It's pretty natural to want to be around people who see things the same way you do.
For me, I chose to align myself with a church that does its very best to follow the Bible in its entirety - not just bits and pieces. The Seventh-Day Adventist church is a very young church, when compared to other denominations. It's so young, it is actually not a protestant church. It is considered a daughter of the protestants. It is a progressive church, with a deep respect for education and learning. As we, and our scholars, study the Bible, we, Adventist Christians, have the privilege of writing our thoughts down and sharing them with others around us. When we share these views, they are listened to by scholars, who either use the Bible to refute them (which can happen instantly if the ideas are clearly heretical) or justify and accept them (should the Bible affirm such thoughts).
There are many topics (such as the second coming of Jesus, the state of the dead, heaven and hell, faith vs works, the Sabbath, etc) that, when studying with other denominations, are unclear, confusing and biblically unsound, but are clearly explained in Adventist theology. I have realized that many people in many churches have no idea that many of their practices are simply traditions, not supported or encouraged by the Bible, that often go contrary to what God commands us. I have heard pastors of other denominations preach that it doesn't matter what we do after we have "repented"; God's children today are His children tomorrow. But the Bible says that our lives reflect who we serve. This is just one example.
Are there flaws within the community of Seventh-Day Adventist believers. Oh, but of course. The church is made of humans and imperfection is written in our DNA's. However, there is a level of accountability in the Adventist church that I have yet to see in any other denomination. Even the leaders of the world church are held accountable for their actions. Our movement is not driven by money, or fame. Our pastors are usually not the wealthiest, and most don't have any secondary source of income (with the exception of maybe having a super successful wife who brings in a lot of money). The tithes and offerings collected is accounted for: the pastors are paid from it, and the rest is spent in the care of churches and schools and missionary work. We teach that all have sinned, but we are all called to a higher calling. We stand by the Bible as our rule of thumb (at least as far as I have experienced in my 27 years of living and 20 years of memory being an active member of the church).
The truth is, I am writing this post to share why I decided to be an Adventist. If you want to know about the negative experiences that I've had while being a member, I am willing to share those with you (as well as the resolutions). But those issues were not issues that I found with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church as a body; they were problems I had with members (functioning parts of the church). Since I made the decision to remain a Christian, I made the decision to do the best I can do on this journey, which includes following the Bible to the best of my ability and relying on God to fix those things that I can't.
My choice to remain in the Adventist church was simple enough for me. The reason there are so many different denominations is because there are so many different doctrines, people had disagreements and decided that they needed to worship with people whose doctrines and traditions matched the ones they adhered to. It's pretty natural to want to be around people who see things the same way you do.
For me, I chose to align myself with a church that does its very best to follow the Bible in its entirety - not just bits and pieces. The Seventh-Day Adventist church is a very young church, when compared to other denominations. It's so young, it is actually not a protestant church. It is considered a daughter of the protestants. It is a progressive church, with a deep respect for education and learning. As we, and our scholars, study the Bible, we, Adventist Christians, have the privilege of writing our thoughts down and sharing them with others around us. When we share these views, they are listened to by scholars, who either use the Bible to refute them (which can happen instantly if the ideas are clearly heretical) or justify and accept them (should the Bible affirm such thoughts).
There are many topics (such as the second coming of Jesus, the state of the dead, heaven and hell, faith vs works, the Sabbath, etc) that, when studying with other denominations, are unclear, confusing and biblically unsound, but are clearly explained in Adventist theology. I have realized that many people in many churches have no idea that many of their practices are simply traditions, not supported or encouraged by the Bible, that often go contrary to what God commands us. I have heard pastors of other denominations preach that it doesn't matter what we do after we have "repented"; God's children today are His children tomorrow. But the Bible says that our lives reflect who we serve. This is just one example.
Are there flaws within the community of Seventh-Day Adventist believers. Oh, but of course. The church is made of humans and imperfection is written in our DNA's. However, there is a level of accountability in the Adventist church that I have yet to see in any other denomination. Even the leaders of the world church are held accountable for their actions. Our movement is not driven by money, or fame. Our pastors are usually not the wealthiest, and most don't have any secondary source of income (with the exception of maybe having a super successful wife who brings in a lot of money). The tithes and offerings collected is accounted for: the pastors are paid from it, and the rest is spent in the care of churches and schools and missionary work. We teach that all have sinned, but we are all called to a higher calling. We stand by the Bible as our rule of thumb (at least as far as I have experienced in my 27 years of living and 20 years of memory being an active member of the church).
The truth is, I am writing this post to share why I decided to be an Adventist. If you want to know about the negative experiences that I've had while being a member, I am willing to share those with you (as well as the resolutions). But those issues were not issues that I found with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church as a body; they were problems I had with members (functioning parts of the church). Since I made the decision to remain a Christian, I made the decision to do the best I can do on this journey, which includes following the Bible to the best of my ability and relying on God to fix those things that I can't.
I was so blessed by all your post. I was also encouraged. Keep keeping on. You are also a great writer.
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