Discover Top Posts Tagged with #gcsa2015

During @gcsa2015 we had to have a little fun! We did! Literally spoofing @thehaystacktv #facebook post of a #sloth mimicking #adventist tip toeing out of #starbucks during the #gcsession :D #impactsa2015 #churchhumor #gcsa2015 @joshwood1986 @alveena_pillay #like4like #smile (at Starbucks Philippines)

#sloth #like4like #impactsa2015 #gcsa2015 #facebook #starbucks #smile #gcsession #churchhumor #adventist

Christians vs. Believers

Is it just me or have you also noticed that the title Christian or proffessing Christianity has become watered down? Honestly take a step back and really look at that for a second….it was once in sharp focus but dont you see it beginning to blur? Im not trying to make anyone feel bad nor am I trying to say that I am perfect but seriously we as Christians have got to seriously do something about this. I heard a Tye Tributte song recently and he was referencing Isaiah 59:19 where there Bible speaks about how GOD will raise up a standard against the enemy who is coming in like a raging flood and he continued to ask the audience why havent we as Christians held up a starndard to our society. Now a days it seems like any and everyone living any kind of way can declare that they are a Christian, but thats not how it works. In my oppinion we havd believers and then we have Christians. By definition a Christian (noun) is a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings. What this definition is saying is that a Christian not only believes in Jesus Christ but also his teachings which in turn means that such a person believes in a certain lifestyle. Now based on that definition many of us who call ourselves Christians really need to take a look at our choice of lifestyle and be honest with ourselves on whether or not we are Christians. Its one thing to believe in Jesus Christ but it is another thing to decide to live the lifestyle that he not only taught but lived aswell; no its not easy and none of us can get it exactly right but call oneself a christian means that you have decided to live a disciplined lifestyle according to Christ teachings. Rather than doing what society deems ok and living to only fulfill the desires of the flesh or better put following our naturally sinful hearts christians live by the teachings of Jesus Christ according to the bible. You cant go out clubbing, drinking, smoking, having premarital sex, professing homosexuality, and whatever else and claim to be a follower of Christ. Once again im not saying that christians are perfect nor that they tneed to be because we are all sinners but there is a difference between struggling with sin and just living with it as is. Struggling with sin is anyone who knows whats wrong and right according to the bible and who strives to continuously follow the right path. On the other hand living with sin is someone who knows whats wrong and right according to the bible but just lives how they want because it feels so good or being a christian is just too hard. The main difference between these two is that one although not perfect tries to live according to the bible while the other just wants to be accpteded however they live despite what the bible says and that just doesnt work. For instance due to what is happening right now Homosexuals who claim to be Christians is a disrezpect to the bible and Christianity itself. These individuals willingly and knowingly live in a way that goes against what the bible teaches but profess to be a follower or Christ and accept Christians to be ok with that. The same goes for thieves, promiscuous persons, liers etc. Ill admit that I wasnt always a Christian; when I was younger running the streets, partying, and having premarital sex, I thought so but when I learned what being a Christian really means i had to be honest with myself and realize I wasnt a Christian because I wasnt ready to commit to that lifestyle but I am today and I have been. Maybe for me it was finding my wife that gave me the proper perspective and im blessed because of that, but if your not willing to let go of a lifestyle that goes against what Jesus taught and commit to a real Christian lifestyle than dont call yourself a Christian just yet because your doing yourself and the Christian community a disservice. For those true Christians stop being afraid to stand up what you believe and know is right; base your points on the words of the Bible rather than out of irrational feelings but most of all do everything out of love because no matter what GOD created us all.

#sda #seventh-day adventist #christianity #gcsa2015 #follower of jesus #adventist

Delegates at the General Conference reject an effort to increase the number of women in the clergy.

So for some reason this is really bothering me today. I learned this weekend that the church denomination of my undergrad, Walla Walla, was voting this week on whether to allow some parts of the church to ordain women. They are also supposed to vote, or already have, on amendments to church doctrine clarifying that ‘marriage’ is between one man and one woman, and that the 7 day creation story is certainly literal, no other interpretations are acceptable.

I haven’t been part of the adventist circle for a while, I finally came to terms with being chronically agnostic my senior year of college and have been so much happier, not forcing myself to believe in something that didn’t feel real. I do still have close connections with lots of people in the church though; lots of college friends or families of friends are adventist, and many of my hometown hermiston friends are as well. While it didn’t work for me, I have still always liked seventh-day adventism as a concept in a lot of ways. For one adventists believe that when the world ends and Christ returns, anyone who isn’t safe for heaven will either die on earth or just remain in their graves if they were already dead. Basically, they don’t believe that there is a literal hell where people burn forever. You might not get into paradise, but you at least can just not exist at all. This is instead of being mutilated for ALL OF ETERNITY by... I guess Satan who torments everyone in hell while god listens to singing in heaven? I like that adventist look at the same story as all the other christians and are like, "you know, there really isn’t enough clear evidence in the bible to burden people with this idea of eternal punishment. Let’s not make that hell idea a fundamental part of our religion.” It seems like a more humane interpretation of the gospel story, and I like that.

I also like that adventists have this big focus on health through diet and activity. They believe you should really take a day off once a week (the sabbath), and recommended sabbath activities are things like hiking or bike riding or doing anything outdoors. Lots of adventists are skiers or climbers. Adventists are super hippie about food too - they avoid eating meat, and think you should focus on eating fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods. And they aren’t just like reading out of the bible to come up with this stuff, they have bonafide medical schools, two giant hospital systems, a groundbreaking prostate cancer research center, I mean this denomination has contributed a lot to society in terms of health. I worked for them as an auditor so I saw how much they write off annually for charity care. They’ve also provided abortions throughout their system, which to me shows their respect for peoples’ rights to make their own decisions about themselves and their bodies. But today, the general conference voted that adventist women cannot be ordained as ministers. They spent an entire day debating, with literally thousands of people gathered, and hundreds of (mostly male) delegates giving their opinions in 3 minute increments, all about whether God wants them to let a few women be ordained ministers. I mean face it church, is ANYONE busting down your doors to become minsters? I would think you would take what you could get. But no, now the adventist church is going to emphasize, for the first time, that men and women, boys and girls, are in their view created unequal. It’s not even like there is an option to wait and see what God says on like a case by case basis -- I mean, what do they use to decide whether or not to ordain men? It can’t be totally indiscriminate, I’m sure you can’t become an ordained minister in the adventist church if you’re openly cheating on your spouse or a known criminal or something, so there must be some kind of review and approval. BUT NOT FOR WOMEN. It’s just a known fact, I guess, God just doesn’t call women to be ordained. And to me, that’s not a part of religion I can respect. If you use cryptic religious text to defend your sexist views of women, then your religion isn’t contributing to society. Because unlike diet and exercise and rest, society has already grasped the value of women. Women are learning and doing in every area of society, more and more, overcoming obstacles, stepping across the lines that have slowly been fading over the past 100 years. But the adventists have taken a chisel, and redrawn the gender line. No women will cross.

So even though I’m not even adventist in the first place, I’m really hurting today. I’ve spent so much time in and around this institution, and in many ways I’ve benefited from it. Before today the worst experience I’d had was the college administration being pissy about our student government opening a coffee shop. But that was just a nuisance, now I feel like the church is standing morally opposed to me. I feel like the conference today said “f*** you ladies, f*** you gays, and f*** you science! God doesn’t have a place for any of you, and even though you won’t rot in hell, (because hell really isn’t biblical), you certainly can’t be a part of this club we have going on here on earth.” I guess that’s what really bothers me, it’s the exclusion. It used to be like “yeah- we’re better than you, we don’t eat animals, we exercise, we keep the sabbath, we do mission and charity health care...” And my first response is like oh yeah, religion, whatever, but if you stop and think about it, if a religion tells people to do those things, you can’t really argue... you can’t say “that’s a shit religion” when the core values are like, pretty damn reasonable. But now it’s like the church is focusing on how it is different from everyone in the world rather than what it has in common, and it’s using things like sexism and ignorance to distinguish itself. And I feel ashamed to have ever been associated. I guess I wrote an article about the article I’m posting. Better go to sleep.