After about 40 years in the Seventh-day Adventist Church (in the Southern California area), I left the church to find Jesus.
I had experienced and observed so many absolutely cruel things in my realm of Seventh-day Adventist relationships, that the only sane choice seemed to be to find a church that honored the commandment to “love one another” and I did…within the loving arms of a Sunday-keeping fellowship. The only thing that bothered me was the Sabbath. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” echoed through my mind and possessed my studies.
As a child I felt the greater presence of God in my life. I believe that because I had some godly people praying for me, I survived my childhood of an alcoholic mother with bizarre and frightening behaviors, an absent father and later in my adult life a shattering divorce. These experiences left me feeling unloved and unworthy no matter how hard I tried to be good enough to be loved. I have had Christian counseling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the counselor wept with me during many of the sessions not understanding how I survived. He told me that the severity of my home experiences is something most people would not live through.
I left the church to find Jesus, now, look at what Jesus did… to bring me back to truth: I couldn’t find anywhere in the Bible that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday, so that I could enjoy (with a happy heart and a clear conscience) worshiping with my Sunday-keeping church. So, I began the journey back to the Seventh-day Adventist faith.
I discovered that when I used my reasons to not obey the Ten Commandments, that I was practicing idolatry. I was worshiping my excuses instead of God. Using sad memories and past relationship failures as an excuse to not obey God is wrong. Harboring unforgiveness for wrongs done is an excuse. I learned that when I forgive bad things in my heart, it doesn’t mean that the person was right to do them. It means that I forgive, as Jesus forgives me. I learned that anything that keeps me from obedience pure and simple is sin.
The over-riding theme in my healing process is this: Jesus Christ purchased me with His blood. He wants me? Yes, at last I am loved. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me not because I am good enough to be loved, but for free, like a present, and I want to keep His commandments out of gratitude. Not only the commandment to love one another but all Ten Commandments, too. The compelling story of salvation fills my conscious mind and eclipses human failings and haunting memories. I have chosen to allow Christ to heal my heart and make me sensitive for others who I might be able to help. Scars from my terrifying past are healing as I have resolved to not allow any human failing to keep me from the power of truth.
If you are praying for someone the Lord has brought to your mind, please continue to do it. You never know the long range effect your prayers may have on someone’s life. If you are discouraged or just plain mad write me. I care about you. You are important to the church. I will help you get started in the healing process. My e-mail address is Vivienne@nwi.net
By Vivienne Evans
Vivienne and her husband, Howard, were baptized and united with the Wenatchee WA Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2002.
Read about more changed lives at the NPUC Changed Lives website.
Dear danserns,
Hi!
I just want to point out that the Sabbath has never been changed to Sunday (as some unfortunately think). The Sabbath is still the Sabbath, the Seventh Day of the Week. Sunday or, properly, the Lord’s Day is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and victory over death, the devil, hell, and sin. It was a great victory, a victory that is still being powerfully felt throughout the world today.
The Sabbath is the Day of the OLD Covenant and the Lord’s Day is the Day of the New Covenant. I am a Gentile Christian and a “Sunday” worshiper (as you call it), but we do not worship God only on Sundays! We worship God every day (including Saturday). Worship is a way of life and not an event that happens only once a week (Saturday or Sunday). What is important, the DAY of worship or the OBJECT of worship? Will God reject my worship if I worship Him on Monday? All the days of the week were created by God and all the days of the week therefore are HOLY days.
Christianity started with the Jews (and the Old Testament), but soon Gentiles became part of the Christian Faith. Gentiles did not keep the Old Covenant because they were not part of it. So, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem had to decide what to do with the Gentiles coming in to the Church. In Acts 15 we find their decision: 1. abstain from sexual immorality, 2. food offered to idols, 3. eating blood, and 4. strangled meat. I wonder why there is no mention of the Sabbath. I don’t want to argue (I have heard most of the arguments since 1987 anyway). I am just trying to give another voice to this post to give balance to those who may read it (i.e., if you will post my comments).
We find in the Book of Acts and in the Teachings of the Apostle Paul that the early Christians met on the First Day of the week and on all other days as well.
It is quite interesting to note that the Adventist in this post DID NOT FIND JESUS in the Adventist church but found Him in a Sunday-keeping church. So, Jesus is in the Sunday-Keeping church! So, what’s the point of going back to where he did not find Jesus in the first place?
If Jesus is in the Sunday-Keeping churches, are they also going to be in heaven after the Judgment? If yes, then what’s the big deal with the debate entitled: “Sabbath or Sunday?” It is pointless!
If we claim to know Jesus, then let us just love one another no matter what day we worship God. Let us stop wasting time in pointless debates that leave us exhausted and exasperated. We must not be sidetracked! WE HAVE A WORLD TO WIN!
God bless you.
Carpe Diem!
By the Grace of God,
X-sinner
By: X-sinner on March 21, 2008
at 9:11 pm
Dear Friend
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You express what many Christians have been taught about Sabbath and Sunday. But the Bible evidence is quite different.
In the Bible, the Sabbath is the Lord’s Day. It is the “Sabbath of the Lord’s your God” (Exodus 20:10). Jesus said He was “Lord of the Sabbath day” (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). It wasn’t until decades after the last apostle died, during a time of great persecution of Christians and comprise by many Christians, that people began to call Sunday the Lord’s Day. (For careful documentation of this see “From Sabbath to Sunday: A Historical Investigation of the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity” at http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/sabbath_to_sunday/)
The Sabbath is not a matter of days, but a matter of Lords. Who should pick which day we keep holy- our Creator, who made the world in six days and rested on, blessed and made holy the seventh, or us, as His creation (Exodus 20:11; Genesis 2:1-3)?
All true worshipers should worship seven days a week in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). This true worship includes working on the six work days specified by our Lord as work days (Exodus 20:9). It also includes doing no work on the seventh day, which is “the Sabbath of the Lord your God,” and allowing all humans and animals in your household the blessing of no work on the Sabbath as well (Exodus 20:10).
The Sabbath is an eternal blessing to those who worship Jesus as Lord. It was
• Given by Jesus in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:1-3; John 1:1-3, 14) to all mankind, not just people of one ethnic group or time in history (Mark 2:27- Greek is “anthropos” the human race).
• Taught graphically through the giving of the manna (Exodus 16)
• Written on two tables of stone by God’s own finger (Exodus 20:3-17; 31:18)
• Kept by all God’s people in the Old Testament (e.g. Psalm 119:97)
• Given as a sign that the Lord is the One who sanctifies us (Ezekiel 20:12)
• Was taught and reinforced by Jesus who kept it as His custom (Matthew 12:1-12; Mark 2:23-28; Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16; etc.)
• Kept by the apostles throughout the Book of Acts with both Jews and Gentiles, both at the synagogue and outdoors when there was no synagogue (Acts 13:14, 27; 42-44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4)
• Stated by Jesus as something important when Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70AD (Matthew 24:20)
• Foretold that it would be kept in the New Earth (Isaiah 66:22-23)
The Sabbath is mentioned in Acts 15. It is assumed that it is a part of the life of the New Testament church in verse 21. The list you mentioned of areas of agreement in the early church found in Acts 15 does not include other commandments as well- Not blaspheming God’s name (3rd commandment), Honoring parents (5th commandment), Not murdering (6th commandment), Not stealing (8th commandment) etc. This does not mean that the church no longer found these commands of God important.
Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could lie, cheat, steal, covet, take His name in vain or forget His Sabbath day. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, not in them (Matthew 1:21) which includes all violations of His holy law (1 John 3:4). When the law of God is appreciated fully we realize where we have sinned and are driven to Jesus as our Savior (Romans 3:20, 31; Galatians 3:24).
There is nothing wrong with the holy law of God (Romans 7:12). The problem is with our sinful hearts (Romans 7:14). The New Covenant doesn’t take away God’s law but writes it in our minds, so we know what is right and wrong, and in our hearts, so we obey Him out of love (Hebrews 8:8-10). When we really love Jesus we keep His commandments and they aren’t a burden to us (1 John 5:3). The saints of the last days are pictured as having the faith of Jesus and keeping the commandments of God (Revelation 14:12).
When self is at the center we can miss Jesus even if He is right beside us. But Jesus can find us anywhere, even when we are living lives in open violation of His law of love. He is a gracious and loving Savior, Lawgiver, Lord, Judge and Soon-coming King.
So now I ask you again what I asked a month ago. If you were convinced from your own study of the Bible that the seventh day was the Sabbath of the Lord, would you begin to keep it holy by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit?
Learning to trust Jesus for salvation and asking Him to continue changing my mind and heart to reflect His character (= His law),
Dan Serns
By: danserns on April 11, 2008
at 9:36 pm
I just started a new site that I am posting some of my Bible studies to. I would appreciate any comments you may have.
http://hystar.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/parable-of-the-sower-explains-how-to-study-the-bible/
By: hystar on August 15, 2008
at 3:06 pm
i was born in the church,but that not important to me what is more important to God is that we obey him not just the sabbath but the whole commandments.because for us keeping the sabbath it tells the whole world that we have been marked.God said sabbath is a sign between us and Him.so GOD bless.
By: tamoto leaia on August 22, 2008
at 9:33 pm
I love the way you put this: “Anything that keeps me from obedience, pure and simple, is sin.”
-thank you
By: victorieux on December 5, 2008
at 9:31 pm
Dear Vivienne,
I am so happy to hear that you are back into the Seventh Day Adventist community!
The Seventh Day is the true sabbath, as said in the Bible. But what many people do not realize is that not only is Saturday the sabbath, but its the day that signifies that we are true followers of God. Although worshiping every day is very good, nothing can replace the true sabbath day.
God does not change. He did not change the day of the Sabbath. He wants us to truly understand the significance of the special day for sabbath.
You must be careful to look only at God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. People may fail, people have faults, and people will disappoint. However God is perfect and he will never fail, never disappoint, and will never give you up.
I hope that you can affirm your faith in Christ and continue to grow in harmony with God. I hope that when He comes back to Earth to take us to Heaven that I can meet you.
Love
Your faithful Brother in Christ
By: Jason on January 30, 2009
at 8:15 pm
Dear Vivienne,
Your experience sounds so familiar to mine. In my case, I did not leave the church. The church kicked me out because of my struggles with sin. I was treated with coldness by some in the leadership of the church. When it became apparent I needed help, I was offered criticism and rejection.
Out of pain and rejection I chose to go to a Sunday church when the need for church fellowship and worship practice became too great and I could not bear the thought of facing another Adventist church.
Amazingly, I learned more about the love of God than I had ever seen in the Adventist church. I never rejected or disagreed with the truth of the Bible as taught by the Adventist church I just chose a different fellowship.
In time God healed my pain and I returned a stronger person to a balance of the Law of God and the Love of God in my own heart, if not in the church. After a few years I even forgave the church as God forgives me and was rebaptized.
I understand and empathize with your struggle and I am happy for God’s love finding you and your success in coming back.
By: Frank T. Clark on February 12, 2009
at 11:10 am
i just completed a study based on a Sabbath school lesson in May 2009 centering on the healing Jesus did on the Sabbath. My own study lead to so much more. Jesus appointed the 12 and the 70 on the Sabbath. It also shows how Jesus healed on the Sabbath in an attempt to reach the Pharisees and other legalists. The point is, Jesus showed us how to keep the Sabbath.
http://adventbiblestudy.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/a-study-of-the-sabbath-what-jesus-did/
By: adventbiblestudy on May 25, 2009
at 7:17 pm
Even if all the arguments for ’sabbath-keeping’ would stand up, it wouldn’t send you to the Seventh-day Adventists. (Why not messianic judaism, or one of several other sabbatarian churches?)
You have to buy into several more fallacies, eschatological and otherwise to arrive squarely on the front door of the SDAs.
But we sunday-keepers forgive you! We’ll continue to minister to and strengthen your wayward members so when their egos fully recover they come running home to you with a bolstered messianic complex.
For the most part it makes our lives easier when they go back to you! You must be running some sort of deliquent-training program over there!
Ah, it’s all in good fun. I love you and the Lord loves you.
By: Jim Hopps on July 3, 2009
at 3:26 pm
Hi Jim–
Great to hear from you.
We’re sorry your experience growing up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church didn’t give you a deeper more joyful relationship with the Jesus Christ of the Bible.
All of us who choose to accept Jesus and walk with Him daily will have the temptation to take our eyes off Jesus, whether it is because of the pleasures of the world, life’s cares and sorrows, the faults of others or our own faults.
If you are ever interested in re-examining the Bible doctrines as understood by Seventh-day Adventists I’m sure there will be a pastor, church leader or member near-by who would be happy to study together with you. You can also find lots of great online resources at http://www.Bibleinfo.com, http://www.amazingfacts.org (click on “free stuff”) and http://www.adventist.org (click on “beliefs”).
We hope and pray that each of your days you will sense God’s leading through His written word and the Holy Spirit and experience the fruit of the spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, meekness, etc. (Galatians 5) and be prepared to welcome Him on the day of His glorious return.
Blessings to you,
Dan Serns
By: danserns on July 5, 2009
at 4:50 pm