Thank you. I hear you.
I guess it’s the conundrum - we’re all sinners in need of love, acceptance, forgiveness, hope, etc, yet we join a body that often restrains access to those basic needs. My simple mind just can’t understand it.
EDIT: I sometimes wonder if we’re prone to teaching only those things we know and are comfortable with.
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I think your categories are broadly correct, but as someone who felt compelled to leave because of intellectual integrity (and who is in their 30s with few social connections) some of us may span multiple categories. 
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Unfortunately, if it takes that long I do not think there will still be a church left.
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I believe there will be a church, but it will look drastically different. At some point, maybe in 150 years or 200 years, the church will have to drop the notion that the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the 1833 meteor shower were fulfillments of prophecy. Perhaps by 2200 the idea of an “investigative judgement” having started in 1844 and continuing for 350+ years will look ridiculous enough to drop it for good - who knows? God only knows what else will change.
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Last week our local SDA pastor spent 45 minutes on the “7 last plagues,” attempting to show the love of God in the process. He stumbled through it. Most Christians see very little connection to the death of large portions of the earth’s population and the love of God. Why the pastor sought to feed the church with this topic, I don’t know. I left church not feeling blessed, except by the music.
This is similar to presenting a sermon on 1844, 1260 days of Papal supremacy. Although many will differ with their forms to worship, I am glad they have a public voice in a world that is unfriendly to Christianity.
Frank,
I am sorry to inform you that you got what you asked for… 
You had to leave your home, go to that church, and got that? Congratulations! 
Why don’t you try something else this weekend? Among many others, these are two great options that I am accessing and having a much richer experience than at any time before. There are several Spectrumites attending those meetings, you will feel “at home.”
-
Silgo - “Faith and Reason SS” at 10:00 ET; social starts at 9:30
https://adra.zoom.us/j/826609270?pwd=eENoK05MWUdaVVN0aWNDZUYzVThEQT09 -
Loma Linda - “Roy Branson Legacy SS” at 10:30 PT; social starts around 10:10
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/993599623
I am sending you the passwords for those meeting in a PM.
(The one at LL includes full psychiatric and psychological support; and even “Christian hypnosis” if needed… 
- @elmer_cupino @cincerity. For the latter you need to ask Kim if a pendulum is needed though she can use her own… 
)
\
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Nope…no pendulum needed. Though it works for some people (including children) I much prefer other “hypnotic” methods.
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Kim, maybe you can do telehealth hypnosis (even if it were possible) with the Spectrum @webEd to get him to publish an article regarding the SECC and Mt Robideaux matter. AToday has it posted in their FB page.
After all, we want a relevant responsive church.
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“Since members cannot be vulnerable, conversations become superficial and meaningful connection is stifled.”
I once asked a church member on a Sabbath morning how her week had been. She said “It was wonderful” … and after a split second pause added… “in the Lord.” I don’t think I have heard such a response so devoid of any personal, genuinely heartfelt meaning in my life before that Sabbath or since. But it typifies the superficial conversations that I have witnessed and that the writer so aptly describes.
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Like Lucifer, who wouldn’t admit he is wrong!
These are the two distructive elements to Adventism as you have rightly pointed out.
Thank you George. My experience was the same and Des Ford’s expositions really showed the way forward…
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Interesting perspectives shared. However, it is not prudent to judge the success of a church by watching the numbers. Rather, examining the church’s doctrines by comparing them with biblical teachings is a better yardstick. I respect the truth that some of the SDA doctrines deserve biblical reviews, and I think that our focus should be in that direction. Numbers have never been an accurate assessment tool in spiritual matters - otherwise the patriarch Noah would have been termed the worst failure in the history of evangelism! (just to mention one example out of many). Even Jesus suffered loss and disfavor with many of His former followers (Joh 6:66 After Jesus said these things, MANY of his followers left and stopped following him). I strongly recommend a BIBLICAL review of adventist doctrines rather than membership statistics, because the spiritual journey of true believers in known to be a narrow way (Luk_13:24 "The door to heaven is NARROW. Try hard to enter it. MANY people will want to enter there, but they will not be able to go in.)
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I think that you sent the “message” yourself.
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We missed you at Sligo… Just ended. Marathon day for George @GeorgeTichy and Terrance @ForgeAhead
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Those types of responses are “Church PC”…after all, we wouldn’t want people to think that any of us have actual problems! Besides, it can be downright dangerous to share REAL problems with the Sisters and the Brothers. 
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I don’t think I have ever attended the Sligo online…just the RBLSS. Maybe I will sometime but it is a lot of sitting for me in one day!
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This coming Sabbath make sure to attend. Ron Numbers will be the presenter. Super!
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Yes…that would be a treat! Thanks for the heads-up…will need to get the Sligo information.