Taking a cue from Fishhawk (Jerry Beuterbaugh) by sharing some interesting blogs that I've come across, and hoping we each expand our blogosphere, to touch and learn about others, what we think, what we do, what we'd like to share, hurts, dreams, and maybe a bit of wisdom now and again :)
Disclaimer: just because I visit and read and like the blogs doesn't mean I agree with everything that is written there, just so you know...I never ever (should I be so absolute?) agree with ANYONE 100% of the time, unless we are talking about Jesus...but sadly, in my fleshy moments I disagree with Him, well, not disagree exactly, but I think that I am wrong at times and that WOULD put me at variance with Jesus...hopefully you know what I mean...anyway, maybe you can enjoy a little meandering through the blogosphere with me ;)
Disclaimer: just because I visit and read and like the blogs doesn't mean I agree with everything that is written there, just so you know...I never ever (should I be so absolute?) agree with ANYONE 100% of the time, unless we are talking about Jesus...but sadly, in my fleshy moments I disagree with Him, well, not disagree exactly, but I think that I am wrong at times and that WOULD put me at variance with Jesus...hopefully you know what I mean...anyway, maybe you can enjoy a little meandering through the blogosphere with me ;)
Well, it's getting late, so I've got to go to sleep and leave this little excursion...well, not leave, put it on pause is a better way to put it...to be continued later :) Hope you enjoy these, and get to find some new friends far and near. Maybe you can help to ease some pain, dry a tear, share a laugh or two, a word of encouragement reaped or sown, a hug from one end of the net to the other....yes our words and our arms really can reach that far! :D
What a great idea, I haven't done this in a while myself. I haven't heard of many of these, so I've got some reading to do!
ReplyDeleteHi Ma,
DeleteI decided to do this after 10 last night, and before I realized it it was 1 am (groan), there are many that I didn't include (including yours, but most people that know about mine know about yours because you've always been kind enough to include me <3 )
Anyway, like I said, to be continued :)
Thanks so much for adding me to the list Susan. Now I can write my post the NFL of the 1980's. Actually, I was kidding when I wrote that, but it's really not a bad idea. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading the blogs you mentioned, as well as more of your own.
ReplyDeleteHi Leslie,
DeleteYou are so welcome :) we all have something we can learn from each other, one of the things that Jesus said was the most important was the act of forgiving each other...I still need to improve on that one myself :-O
Me too Susan. And please write a post sometime about Seventh Day Adventism. I have always been curious about it. Are many of them vegetarian? Do many of the women wear head coverings during services? Do they place a great emphasis on the end times? And do they teach that the Catholic Church is the antichrist? Those are the things that I hear most frequently about Seventh Day Adventism, and I don't hear much else. I would be interested to read about your experience in the church, if you don't mind writing about it some day.
DeleteI've been thinking about that ever since you asked me to, and don't know why I find it so hard like I'm being put on the spot (not really, but somehow it kinda feels that way, I couldn't find words!!! very unusual for me, lol) There were some vegetarians at the congregations I attended with my parents, but I was younger then (between 9-17 years of age, after high school I ran away from home) and we were Dutch Indonesian and the congregations we went to were mostly Caucasian...we didn't really bond that tightly with people. Later my mom (had left the SDA church for many years) returned to it because she had some friends who were Dutch Indonesian who were SDA and went to their location.
DeleteWhile I was attending it was because my father "got religious" so he forced my mom and my brothers to go. My mom thought they were all a bunch of hypocrites who acted religious during the service, and then went out to get a burger after church (we weren't supposed to go to a place that would cause other people to work on the Sabbath, even though they were working anyway), and there was so much gossiping in our church while I was there. Our church taught the teachings of Ellen G. White, and the investigative judgment. They did call the Catholic Church "the Whore of Babylon who rides the Beast" (not the antichrist, not sure what they believe about him) and the women didn't wear head coverings at any of the congregations I've been to.
CARM has a great SDA section where people talk about their experiences and there was one guy that was doing alot of research into E.G. White's books and teachings, revealing that fact (that if any of us have any common sense we would know without digging up this stuff) that she was a false prophet (some people called her a "profit" because she and her husband lived well from her status as prophet of this church).
The investigative judgment is especially an damaging heresy. When Jesus didn't return in 1844 like the Millerites believed He would, E.G. White decided that it wasn't their calculations that were wrong, it was correct (according to her) but not for the returning of Jesus. She said it was the year that Jesus went into the Holy of Holies in the heavenly temple to begin judging people by going through their records of how they lived their lives. Hogwash. They were wrong, their calculations were wrong, and they refused to admit it.
Another group that branched off from the Millerites (beside the SDA church) is the Jehovah's Witnesses. I found that out recently, and then could see many similarities so it makes sense to me. The Jehovah's Witnesses couldn't stop that aspect of date setting the Lord's return. SDA's stopped after that first mess up, but just never owned up to that mistake, and carry it in the form of that ridiculous investigative judgment lie. They both had similar views of how we would be in the new world after Jesus' return. The drawings and paintings in E.G. White's books like "The Desire of Ages" reminds me of the kinds of pictures in the Watchtower booklets. Check out this Wikipedia article about E.G.White. It's pretty accurate, and you can follow the links to find out more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_G._White
I do have some bookmarks of sites that go into more detail of the false teachings of E.G. White, if you so desire I can look those up for you.
Hope you have a lovely weekend. :)
I just reread that long winded (sorry) post and see lots of grammatical errors (again, sorry) but I'm just too tired to try to correct it, guess I shouldn't have tried to type this out so late in the evening. If there is something that doesn't make sense and that you would like information on, let me know and I'll try to clarify. :)
DeleteThanks for the thoughtful reply. A friend of mine in Chicago who is a PCA pastor is writing his MA thesis on the passage in Hebrews that describes Jesus cleansing the heavenly tabernacle. As I understand it, there is a lot of scholarly debate about the meaning of that passage. In particular, the passage seems to imply that heaven itself needed to be purified in some way, but it isn't clear why. I don't really know what I'm talking about here, so I should probably stop. At any rate, it is interesting that the SDA church places so much emphasis on that passage. I should tell my friend about it. I'm sure he would be surprised.
DeleteI remember hearing something about White, and that the SDA'ers recognized her as a prophet. Please don't take up any more time than you already have looking for information on White. I have some free time today, and I'll do a little looking - not too much looking, mind you, but some. I recently heard that the SDA church is one of the fastest growing churches in the world, and I saw a lot of SDA churches in Chicago. I thought that I should learn a little about them. Thanks for the post.
Hi Leslie,
DeleteI don't really know the passage in Hebrews you are referring to ... I'll see if I can find it later today. :) The investigative judgment implies that we are not completely forgiven, and that Jesus has to investigate our lives to make sure we are up to snuff as to whether we deserve that reward, and that He began the investigation at that year they thought He would come to earth in a second coming. It really raises my hackles, sorry, and is the reason why works based religions (almost all are in one way or another) really irritate me to the extreme. To think that Jesus sacrifice meant little to nothing, and that we can earn our salvation somehow is the height of ungratefulness and arrogance (imo).
I fully agree. I know that many people fear the doctrines of grace, and I can sympathize with them for that. However, I think that if we show them at the Bible clearly teaches those doctrines, and also that Arminianism etc. actually lead to even greater problems, then I think that they may relent and consider the issues again. In my experience, Christians who reject the doctrines of grace don't understand the Biblical support for them, don't see the blessings in them, and don't see the problems with their own position. I am hopeful that when they hear Scripture explained to them, the Spirit will melt their hearts and call them to a deeper understanding of the truth.
DeleteThank you so much for linking to my blog. What a blessing. I love the blogging community and meeting new friends. xo
ReplyDeleteHi PW, you are welcome. I look forward to exploring your blog and learning more about your thoughts and views. :)
DeleteHi Susan~ What a great variety of blogs you have included! I visited them all and they are quite unique and well done and written. Thank you for including me in your list. I hope you are well.
ReplyDeleteI kind of chuckled at your comment about "disagreeing with Jesus." I know what you mean. It is so easy to take Him off the throne of our life and put something else there, usually ourselves. That's the whole battle! God bless you good and again, thank you for linking to me.
Hi Mrs. Santos :)
DeleteThank you for coming by! Your blog is beautiful, and you are welcome :D
Every day I find myself either ungrateful (grumbling about something or other) thinking something unkind or warped, laughing at the wrong kind of humor, not giving encouragement when I have the chance (and then the moment passes and I realize I blew it, again) saying things out of turn, and the list can go on and on the ways I put myself at variance with Jesus...so if I don't agree with others POV 100%, it might be because of my being mistaken (imagine that!!! *shudders*) The Lord has alot of work to do here. :-O