Seventh Day adventist

Adventists' back-to-basics faith is fastest growing U.S. church
G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Religion News Service

Rest on the Sabbath. Heed Old Testament dietary codes. And be ready for Jesus to return at any moment.

If these practices sound quaint or antiquated, think again. They're hallmarks of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the fastest-growing Christian denomination in North America.

Newly released data show Seventh-day Adventism growing by 2.5% in North America, a rapid clip for this part of the world, where Southern Baptists and mainline denominations, as well as other church groups are declining. Adventists are even growing 75% faster than Mormons (1.4 percent), who prioritize numeric growth.

For observers outside the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the growth rate in North America is perplexing.

"You've got a denomination that is basically going back to basics ... saying, 'What did God mean by all these rules and regulations and how can we fit in to be what God wants us to be?'," said Daniel Shaw, an expert on Christian missionary outreach at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "That's just totally contrary to anything that's happening in American culture. So I'm saying, 'Whoa! That's very interesting.' And I can't answer it."

Seventh-day Adventists are asking a different question: Why isn't the church growing much faster on these shores, which is home to just 1.1 million of the world's 16 million Adventists? Despite its North American roots, the church is growing more than twice as fast overseas.

"We don't feel that we're growing very much, and that is a source of concern, especially for North America," said Ron Clouzet, director of the North American Division Evangelism Institute at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich. Hispanic Adventists are "the one group that is growing very well," he added. "If we didn't have that group, we would look even more dismal."

With Saturday worship services and vegetarian lifestyles, Seventh-day Adventism owns a distinctive niche outside the Christian mainstream. But being different is turning out to be more of an asset than a liability.

Since the mid-19th century when the movement sprang up in New Hampshire, Seventh-day Adventism has had an urgent mission to bring the gospel — with a distinctive emphasis on Christ's imminent second coming — to the ends of the earth. Adventists find the essence of their mission in Revelation 14:12, where the end of the age "calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus."

The church's traditional, global focus is now bearing fruit in new ways. Newly arrived immigrants in the United States often come from parts of Latin America or Africa where Seventh-day Adventism has long-established churches, schools and hospitals.

Those who migrate from Brazil to Massachusetts, or from Mexico to Texas, are apt to find familiarity in a local Adventist church led by a pastor who knows their culture and speaks their native language, said Edwin Hernandez, a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Latino Religion at the University of Notre Dame.

Immigrants aren't the only ones embracing Seventh-day Adventism. Many in the general public have noticed Adventists tend to be superstars of good health and longevity; research shows they tend to live 10 years longer than the average American. With strong track records for success in health and education, Adventists find they get a hearing among skeptics who share those priorities.

Publicized research on Adventists' health "has helped bring some objective evaluation of Adventism... particularly all up and down the West Coast," said G. Alexander Bryant, executive secretary for the denomination's North American division. "So we talk to people about our lifestyle."

Some newcomers to Adventism also appreciate the church's clarity about what's expected of Christ's followers. Diana Syth of Kent, Wash. attended many types of Protestant churches for years. But she said she "never got the information I needed to know about what it meant to be a Christian" until she and her husband learned of Seventh-day Adventism from a sibling six years ago.

"My (adult) son has seen a change in us," Syth said. "He sees a new calmness in us. There's hope where there wasn't hope before."

Adventists are also reaping the rewards of their extra efforts in evangelism. Responding to a national initiative, more than 80% of the 6,000 Adventist churches in North America staged weeks-long outreach events in hotels and other settings in 2009.

Bryant said in an ordinary year, one-third to one-half of Adventist congregations put on such events, and North American church growth rates would hover around 1.7% — still high enough to top the rates of other large denominations in North America.

Creativity seems to be paying dividends, too. The church has seen some of its strongest gains come in non-religious regions such as the Pacific Northwest. In Washington, for instance, the denomination has established "Christian cafes," where people can relax and ask questions without feeling the pressures of church.

"You're not necessarily inviting them to church," Bryant said. "You're just sitting around, talking with people, building relationships — and slowly talking to them about Christ."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-18-Adventists_17_ST_N.htm
 
This gay marriage issue is something else, so question for us as SDAs who truly are believers in religious freedom...

Should we be supporting a legislative ban on gay marriage?

Since we believe in the separation of church & state, should we vote to preserve the freedom of choice or to restrict it since it concerns marriage?

I have see us on both sides of issue...

DISCUSS.
 
My grandma's SDA. I've visited her church before. The congregation was very welcoming and very sweet. Btw, are a lot of SDA peeps vegetarians? it seemed a lot of church-goers there were vegetarian.
 
Galadriel said:
My grandma's SDA. I've visited her church before. The congregation was very welcoming and very sweet. Btw, are a lot of SDA peeps vegetarians? it seemed a lot of church-goers there were vegetarian.

Yeah, I'm not though. At church luncheons they usually make a lot of vegetarian food because of trying to send out a strong health message. I however go over to this jamaican ladies house on sat. And eat delicious oxtail, chicken, ackee and salt fish. Alladat lol.
 
My grandma's SDA. I've visited her church before. The congregation was very welcoming and very sweet. Btw, are a lot of SDA peeps vegetarians? it seemed a lot of church-goers there were vegetarian.

Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I believe around 40 percent of us are vegetarian (some estimate a bit more or less). Health is a major part of our beliefs.
 
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I believe around 40 percent of us are vegetarian (some estimate a bit more or less). Health is a major part of our beliefs.

:yep: I wish more religious communities would have that attitude toward health. My grandma really loves her SDA community; I think she's a deaconess there. She's very involved, goes to prayer and Bible study, and I love having discussions with her about these.
 
:yep: I wish more religious communities would have that attitude toward health. My grandma really loves her SDA community; I think she's a deaconess there. She's very involved, goes to prayer and Bible study, and I love having discussions with her about these.

More and more people are becoming health conscious so hopefully it will change over time. Also for SDAs, health is doctrinal though, and that's the major reason for the significant focus.

Awwww@ your grandma. That's very sweet. I love seeing older people happy with their church life. It keeps them in such good spirits as they grow older. God is good.
 
More and more people are becoming health conscious so hopefully it will change over time. Also for SDAs, health is doctrinal though, and that's the major reason for the significant focus.

Awwww@ your grandma. That's very sweet. I love seeing older people happy with their church life. It keeps them in such good spirits as they grow older. God is good.


I wish I had the stamina to abide by the vegetarian lifestyle but my love for deep fried fish, turkey barbecue, fried chicken, and chinese chicken with broccoli has prevented me from going back to the veggie lifestyle.. I feel like a SDA reject :)
 
I wish I had the stamina to abide by the vegetarian lifestyle but my love for deep fried fish, turkey barbecue, fried chicken, and chinese chicken with broccoli has prevented me from going back to the veggie lifestyle.. I feel like a SDA reject :)

Oh girl, no. It's not a requirement to be a vegetarian. It just sounds yummy!
 
Christ and Salvation

QUESTION: Is it possible for people who never hear about Jesus to be saved?

By Angel Manuel Rodríguez

Christians have offered different answers to this question. I will offer some thoughts that have helped me reach my own conclusions, examine some biblical evidence, and make some remarks of a theological nature.

1. Salvation Through Christ and Mission: Some Christians deny that there can be salvation apart from a knowledge of Christ. This could be called the exclusivist answer. Some biblical passages appear to support this view. For instance, Jesus said: “Now this is eternal life: that 
they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3, NIV). Peter reaffirmed this conviction: “Salva-tion is found in no one 
else” (Acts 4:12, NIV). In 
fact, the gospel comm-ission requires that the knowledge of salvation through Christ be pro-claimed to every person (Matt. 28:18-20; cf. Rev. 
14:6-12). Salvation req-uires faith in Jesus (Rom. 1:16; 10:9; Acts 16:30-34). The saving death of Jesus and the exclusive claim that salvation is only through Him is the very foundation of the mission of the church. This is what the Lord commanded us to do, and we, in humble submission to Him, go and fulfill the mission.

2. The Mission Remains God’s Mission: Another aspect of this question is this: Mission did not originate with the church, but with God; and it remains His. He initiated it by sending His Son as our Savior (John 3:16). Every aspect of the earthly ministry of Jesus was a fulfillment of God’s saving mission for the human race. At the close of His ministry, Jesus said to the Father He had completed “the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4, NIV).

The Spirit is personally involved in the divine mission. Jesus was filled by the Spirit in the fulfillment of His mission (e.g., Isa. 11:1-5; Matt. 3:16, 17). The church itself was empowered by the Spirit to fulfill its mission (Acts 1:8). The deep connection between the church and the Spirit indicates that, although the church was brought into existence for mission, the mission is God’s mission. It is being fulfilled by the Spirit through the church. In the presence of believers the Spirit, in agreement with divine design, uses them to accomplish God’s mission.

3. Mission and the Spirit: But what would God do in the absence of Christian believers? I propose that the Spirit continues to be responsible for the realization of the mission. When the visible expression of the people of God is not accessible in a region of the world, be it for political, religious, or any other reason, God’s saving mission to the world is not deactivated. God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4, NIV). A good example of this is found in the experience of Cornelius, a gentile who feared God but who did not have a Christian to teach him. In that situation the Lord directly spoke to him in a vision and guided him to Peter (Acts 10:1-10). God has not left Himself without witnesses among nations living in spiritual darkness. At times He raised prophets among them and divine light reached them (cf. Num. 24:2). Jesus, through the Spirit, continues to be “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9, NIV). This suggests that non-Christians who live out of contact with the people of God, when touched by the Spirit, sincerely yearn for something better (cf. James 1:17). They then experience the saving power of God on the mind and character. Their knowledge may be extremely limited, but they have been transformed by His grace and unknowingly became children of God through Jesus. The Spirit implanted the grace of Christ in their hearts and without knowing about Jesus they have been blessed by His saving grace.

This work of the Spirit does not legitimize non-Christian religions or allow for religious pluralism. Of course, in His work the Spirit could use fragments of truth that may be present in any religion, but He is not bound by such elements. Grace is directly mediated to people by Christ through the Spirit. Neither does the work of the Spirit make witnessing irrelevant. On the contrary, the work of the Holy Spirit prepares the way for the church to fulfill its mission more effectively.

Angel Manuel Rodríguez is director of the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference.

http://www.adventistworld.org/article/524/resources/english/issue-2009-1004/christ-and-salvation
 
Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the heart reaches out to bless and uplift others, there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit. In the depths of heathenism, men who have had no knowledge of the written law of God, who have never even heard the name of Christ, have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. Their acts show the working of a divine power. The Holy Spirit has implanted the grace of Christ in the heart of the savage, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature, contrary to his education. The “Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God.

http://m.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=COL&lang=en&pagenumber=384
 
The savage? LOL. ^^^ Anyhoo, that's similar to our teachings as welll. Right and wrong written on the heart of all men and those who are good live to the fullness of their knowledge of G-d. We all know when we do wrongly. One who lives to the best of truth he knows can also inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. G-d is Judge.
 
f.jpgFlorida Adventist Congregation’s
Radio Station Yields Baptisms
In Leesburg, population 19,000, local media outreach touches lives (Posted April 18, 2013)

BY MARK A. KELLNER, news editor

The mid-Florida town of Leesburg, some 48 miles northwest of Orlando, was once known for its production of watermelons. Today a new kind of “crop” is growing there: people interested in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, thanks to a local, church-owned FM radio station.

Already two people have been baptized as a result of the outreach, and enough interests are present that the North Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church has hired a Bible worker to assist those wanting to learn more about Adventism.

The venture began as the burden of a group of Christian laymen in the area. Raul Ortiz and his group obtained a license for a radio station from the Federal Communications Commission. They received the call letters and frequency WGTT 91.5 FM, and were assigned a broadcast area. Next they needed to find a location, central to the broadcast area, where they could establish their radio station. As Raul stood at the ideal location on Emeralda Island Road in Leesburg, Florida, his dream was fading fast as he viewed nothing but the countryside and a pecan orchard. There was no building to rent, and he had no money to build.


A RADIO STATION, TOO: North Lake Church in the northern region of Lake County, Florida, is home to WGTT 91.5 FM. [PHOTO: Chester Graham]
After some time elapsed, Raul revisited the area and was surprised to find a church built on the site of the pecan orchard. Amazingly, it was home to an Adventist congregation! He was elated and decided to present the possibility of a radio station to North Lake church members.

Members expressed an interest, but they had no available money for the project and no experience operating a radio station or preparing programming. Shawn Lathrom, pastor at the time, remembered a retired physician he met years before. He contacted Linda De Romanett, owner of the Family First Radio Network in Keene, Texas. She was interested in purchasing the station if the church would provide a place for operation.

Engineers determined that the new station could be permanently located at the church with a radiated power of l,600 watts. A room was constructed in the church attic with adequate electricity and an air conditioner. The station began broadcasting in May 2011 with a 24/7 schedule covering a radius of 24 miles.

Family First Radio Network provides the programming with time alloted for locally produced programs and advertising. Speakers are largely well-known Adventist evangelists, and a number of time slots feature health presenters.

“We didn’t know it would get good coverage, but the amazing thing is that it [the signal] reached out farther than we thought it would,” said Obed Graham, the station’s general manager and a retired president of the Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He added, “We didn’t know, when we built this church, that there was a radio station already available here. They didn’t know we were going to build a church here, but the Lord works things out in mysterious ways, and it’s just kind of amazing to watch how He works.”

One of the ways God worked was in bringing David and Sandra Yandoh to the North Lake church, where they were baptized in December 2012. After a disappointing experience with a secular holiday music broadcast on another Christian station, Sandra, a former cancer patient at Florida Hospital Waterman, was searching for truth.

“After the holidays I looked for another station and found WGTT 91.5 FM, which I later learned broadcasts from North Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church,” she wrote in Florida Focus, the conference’s quarterly magazine. “This station was different. Rather than music, the format was preaching and teaching, which really appealed to me.”

Sandra contacted Florida Hospital Waterman chaplain Fay Rose, who was happy to help with Bible studies.

“God has orchestrated this whole thing,” Rose recounted in a video report on the radio station. “Having me meet Sandra when I met her, [and] having the church decide to have this wonderful broadcast from their steeple.”

Pastor Ric Pleasants, who has led the North Lake congregation for the past two and a half years, said the station has been part of the church’s growth from 99 members to a current roster of 250.

“This radio station is an impact radio station, from the way I’m viewing it,” Pleasants told Adventist Review in a telephone interview. “It has enhanced not only outreach, but also a sensitivity to new people coming in.” n

—with information from the Florida Conference
 
I had a great time when I visited an two SDA churches a while back the people were very welcoming more so the first church I visited. I was in awe at the differences between the services the first church I went to was mixed with a lot of people from different races and countries I believe the pastor was from India, and the worship style was more singing hymns with every week being a different style of music (Gospel, Instrumental,etc.). The other SDA church was mostly black and reminded me of a Baptist church service. I haven't been in awhile and miss it even but am still on the fence about Sabbath keeping.
 
I'm not an SDA but I am a Messianic and my bestest ffriend is an SDA... we have very similar beliefs regarding the Dietary Laws and the Feast.. I will read through this thread to learn mor..
 
I had a great time when I visited an two SDA churches a while back the people were very welcoming more so the first church I visited. I was in awe at the differences between the services the first church I went to was mixed with a lot of people from different races and countries I believe the pastor was from India, and the worship style was more singing hymns with every week being a different style of music (Gospel, Instrumental,etc.). The other SDA church was mostly black and reminded me of a Baptist church service. I haven't been in awhile and miss it even but am still on the fence about Sabbath keeping.

mz.rae@ So was I for a while, I had to study it out for about a month, it took me a month of studying. I had to have every single question answered. I had to look up the info myself. Now they have a great website with every single question one could have about the Sabbath. answered by the word of God. www.sabbathtruth.com. After a while it started making sense to me and I with my family accepted it. We been keeping the Sabbath for five years now. Its not hard at all. Its not a burden. its not you can't do this or that its all about what you can do and what your willing to do. I love the Sabbath.
 
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mz.rae@ So was I for a while, I had to study it out for about a month, it took me a month of studying. I had to have every single question answered. I had to look up the info myself. Now they have a great website with every single question one could have about the Sabbath. answered by the word of God. www.sabbathtruth.com. After a while it started making sense to me and I with my family accepted it. We been keeping the Sabbath for five years now. Its not hard at all. Its not a burden. its not you can't do this or that its all about what you can do and what your willing to do. I love the Sabbath.

Thanks blazingthru for posting the site I'm going to check it out.
 
New Movie is about Evangelical Pastor who Adopted Adventist Doctrine on Hell
.
Submitted: Jun 6, 2012
By AT News Team

Hell and Mr. Fudge is a feature drama about a young pastor in a small town in Alabama, the son of an Evangelical publisher, who wrote a book advocating the Seventh-day Adventist position on hell. It kicked up a storm among Evangelicals and got the pastor fired.

It is based on a true story. Edward Fudge is today an attorney in Houston and well-known as a speaker on Bible topics. Robert Brinsmead got him started on research to support the traditional Christian view that hell is a place where the lost burn forever, miraculously kept alive by God so He can torture them endlessly, according to Religion New Service (RNS).

In 1982 Fudge published his 500-page volume The Fire that Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment which presents the results of his in-depth study. He told RNS that when he started the study he expected to find strong support in Scripture and historic Christian documents but was convinced otherwise. The book is now in its third edition.

In many ways Fudge’s story is parallel to that of Rob Bell, the pastor of an Evangelical mega church in Michigan who was on the cover of Time magazine last year because of the reaction to his book Love Wins in which he too adopts the Adventist view on hell. Conservative Evangelical leaders spoke out against Bell and his book.

Fudge and Bell point out that the Bible clearly teaches that the “lake of fire” is an act of annihilation, not a place of endless torment. They both make the point that the traditional view misconstrues God’s character and is a stumbling block to nonbelievers. All of these are points that Adventists have advocated and RNS says “is now fairly widely accepted by leading evangelical preachers and Christian scholars.”

The movie won a Platinum Award at the Houston Film Festival and the production company is looking for a distributor. It was created by LLT Productions of Angwin, California, head by Pat Arrabito, a member of the Adventist Church. The company previously produced a documentary series on the history of the Sabbath with Hal Holbrook as the narrator.

http://www.atoday.org/article/1220/...pastor-who-adopted-adventist-doctrine-on-hell
 
New Movie is about Evangelical Pastor who Adopted Adventist Doctrine on Hell
.
Submitted: Jun 6, 2012
By AT News Team

Hell and Mr. Fudge is a feature drama about a young pastor in a small town in Alabama, the son of an Evangelical publisher, who wrote a book advocating the Seventh-day Adventist position on hell. It kicked up a storm among Evangelicals and got the pastor fired.

It is based on a true story. Edward Fudge is today an attorney in Houston and well-known as a speaker on Bible topics. Robert Brinsmead got him started on research to support the traditional Christian view that hell is a place where the lost burn forever, miraculously kept alive by God so He can torture them endlessly, according to Religion New Service (RNS).

In 1982 Fudge published his 500-page volume The Fire that Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment which presents the results of his in-depth study. He told RNS that when he started the study he expected to find strong support in Scripture and historic Christian documents but was convinced otherwise. The book is now in its third edition.

In many ways Fudge’s story is parallel to that of Rob Bell, the pastor of an Evangelical mega church in Michigan who was on the cover of Time magazine last year because of the reaction to his book Love Wins in which he too adopts the Adventist view on hell. Conservative Evangelical leaders spoke out against Bell and his book.

Fudge and Bell point out that the Bible clearly teaches that the “lake of fire” is an act of annihilation, not a place of endless torment. They both make the point that the traditional view misconstrues God’s character and is a stumbling block to nonbelievers. All of these are points that Adventists have advocated and RNS says “is now fairly widely accepted by leading evangelical preachers and Christian scholars.”

The movie won a Platinum Award at the Houston Film Festival and the production company is looking for a distributor. It was created by LLT Productions of Angwin, California, head by Pat Arrabito, a member of the Adventist Church. The company previously produced a documentary series on the history of the Sabbath with Hal Holbrook as the narrator.

http://www.atoday.org/article/1220/...pastor-who-adopted-adventist-doctrine-on-hell

I will look into the film, but it's a stretch to say that Rob Bell adopted the SDA view on hell, Bell doesn't believe that hell exists SDA's do.
 
No SDA's use the term Hell for the grave, we do not believe that "souls" are in hell burning in torment. its a contradiction of scripture and actually it is plain common sense, if we are sentence before the hearing then that was an unfair trial. We must have a hearing and be told what our chargers are then we are sentence. But this is for the Lost, not the Saints. God is a Fair and Just God. Its really something to consider then to run after what is traditionally known and is false and totally not encouraging at all.


oh and to add, I probably won't see it anyway. I don't believe that it would be accurate, simply from reading about him.
 
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