While the ice cream truck is wandering through the neighborhood playing Silent Night (in October!) and a lovely little breeze is wafting in through my window, I have been pondering over a few things and decided to blog about them. Over the last couple of years or so I have been having some trouble "defining" my doctrinal beliefs. I'm still doing some soul searching, Biblical research, and praying, but so far I've realized that I don't fit into a denomination. Obviously, I believe in the common Christian dogma as stated in the Nicene Creed. Aside from that, a lot of my beliefs were shaped from my Adventist up bringing... so basically I have decided that (though I am still having some trouble with the creation debates and am praying and studying on them) I agree with SDA beliefs with some exceptions (which I think might make me non-SDA, but I'm not sure... lol!). Here is how I explained it in an e-mail to an SDA friend of mine:
For starters, I love my Saturday Sabbath, but I'm not willing to argue with another Christian brother or sister because they go to church on Sunday. As much as I personally believe Saturday is the Sabbath, I think the most important thing is that a person is keeping a day set aside to spend with the Lord. I certainly don't believe it is a salvation issue. My non-SDA friends often ask me about why I go on Saturday rather than Sunday and I really don't mind explaining it to them, it's just not something I'm willing to argue about. I'm also not willing to argue about the state of the dead issue. As long as someone doesn't believe a dead person can look down upon us or communicate with us from heaven, I don't really think it's a big deal whether we "sleep" in the ground or go straight to heaven. I believe the traditional SDA way, but either way the first thing a person would see is Christ, so I'm not really worried about that either. The biggest thing God has put on my heart is the division between denominations. It breaks my heart and I think it breaks His as well. I feel it is my personal Christian calling to try to do my part to pull back the scattered Body of Christ into something a little more resembling a whole. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that yet or how big or little a part that will be in my life, but I know that arguing about non-dogma issues is certainly not the way to do it!
The things I think I have the most issues with have to do with the Remnant, Ellen White, and the 2300 day concept from 1844. First the Remnant... I think it is fine to believe that many Christians will go astray towards the end of time. What I have a problem with is the prevalent SDA idea that the Adventist church IS the Remnant. Even though it is not within the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, you won't believe just how many SDAs I've heard refer to the SDA church as the Remnant. I won't even bother to apologize for the fact that I think that is b.s. I don't think SDAs are not part of the Remnant. I just think that Remnant will certainly include other brothers and sisters in Christ as well. Secondly, I think Ellen G. White had many wonderful things to say and I do believe she was inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, I do not agree with the common (though, again, not found within the Fundamental Beliefs) conception that her writings are inerrant. I also hold issue with the over use of her writings. While she was obviously a very important person in the founding of the denomination, I find it upsetting when her words are often used, by lay persons and even some pastors, over biblical texts (or consistently right along side it). I think she would be appalled by how her writings are used by most SDAs. I also think the SDA church should bring in other Christian patriarchs and theologians when preaching and participating in Bible studies for a more rounded view (I mean, it's not like Christianity isn't almost 2000 years old! lol). Finally, I take issue with the concept of the 2300 prophetic days and 1844. This one is part of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. I don't believe that through some amazing math, someone somehow came up with the magical number of 2300 after weeding through the Bible for significant number and that 1844 marked a specific time when Christ moved in to the Holy Sanctuary. The entire idea is pure speculation. I sort of feel how my brother does about the whole thing... Christ didn't come back as they predicted in 1844, so they had to come up with something else!
So that is pretty much it... I recently started calling myself a Saturday Sabbath-Keeping Inter-denominational. I love rock praise music, contemporary style (and I even raise my hands!), along with hymns and liturgy. There isn't a specific style that defines me. Oh, and I'm probably damned to hell because I like half a glass of Sauvignon Blanc with dinner a couple times a year. Hahaha.... See? I'm the anti-Christ and you probably shouldn't associate with me. LOL! ;)
