Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach
Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach
Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach
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DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT<br />
remained close, <strong>the</strong> majority basically ignored us after that,<br />
or avoided us because of our position regarding <strong>the</strong> Sabbath<br />
and <strong>the</strong> church. It was as if we had a disease. While SDAs do<br />
not practice open shunning, <strong>the</strong>y do make <strong>the</strong>ir displeasure<br />
crystal clear. It was a painful season. Many terrible rumors<br />
were circulated about us. We got accusatory and unkind mail<br />
telling us we were going to hell and taking our kids with us.<br />
One major name in <strong>the</strong> SDA Church sent a letter out<br />
characterizing me as mentally unstable and twisting my<br />
statements in an effort to discredit me. There was so much<br />
more, but I do not want to dwell on <strong>the</strong> negative. I must point<br />
out, however, that we saw a side of Adventism that made us<br />
realize that <strong>the</strong> SDA Church, as a whole, is still far away<br />
from a truly evangelical stance when it comes to Sabbath<br />
observance, recognizing <strong>the</strong> experience and scriptural<br />
understanding of o<strong>the</strong>r Christians, and moving away from<br />
sectarianism. While we knew that leaving <strong>the</strong> SDA Church<br />
would be painful, we had no idea how much so it would be.<br />
We realized that those in <strong>the</strong> SDA Church have <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />
fears to work through. They don’t intentionally want to hurt<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs, <strong>the</strong>y just fear deception.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> positive side, however, <strong>the</strong> Lord gave us so many<br />
confirmations of His leading that enabled us to endure <strong>the</strong><br />
loneliness and rejection that we felt from so many whom we<br />
had loved and served over <strong>the</strong> years. On <strong>the</strong> day we resigned,<br />
one of <strong>the</strong> associate pastors came to me and told me that he<br />
had been praying for us, and in doing so, a picture came to<br />
his mind of Jesus with His arms around us. He told me that<br />
he was sure that God was leading us and would be taking<br />
care of us.<br />
Later on in <strong>the</strong> week we got a letter from a friend. She<br />
wrote that she had been praying for us and had kept hearing<br />
in her mind that God loved us and was taking us to a richer<br />
place with Him. Then she told me, “Jesus has seen you in <strong>the</strong><br />
‘Upper Room’ and has answered your prayers.” Wow! What<br />
a confirmation! She had no idea about my “Upper Room.”
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