Comments for I Am Persuaded http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com "Love is the uniting bond of perfection." Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:28:30 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on Time to Remove Racial Divisions by Charlene Berry http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/time-to-remove-racial-divisions/#comment-298 Charlene Berry Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:28:30 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=37#comment-298 I was born in California which is in the Pacific Union. As noted before, there are no regional conferences in that Union. I attended mixed churches most of my life. I guess I took if for granted until I moved to North Carolina. I had to adjust to the regional conferences and the "two" church systems. When I attend State Conference churches I am always treated as a visitor and never as a potential member. Once upon visiting I was even politely directed to the "black" church. I was not offended because it was done sincerely and as a matter of fact..information given that they thought I would find useful. I don't think it even occured to the person that they had done anything offensive. It is a way of life for some. What has to change is "that way of life". I have found that in this area, SDA is more than a religion.. it is a way of life.. a subculture. Once that gets integrated, the rest will follow. To be honest, I am weary of waiting for the change and wish the Seventh Day Adventist Church General Conference will take the lead and just combine everything. I'm tired of explaining to people (of varying races) I am witnessing to and inviting them to church, why we have two churches in town, the black and the white. I usually never see them turn up at church. I was born in California which is in the Pacific Union. As noted before, there are no regional conferences in that Union. I attended mixed churches most of my life. I guess I took if for granted until I moved to North Carolina. I had to adjust to the regional conferences and the “two” church systems. When I attend State Conference churches I am always treated as a visitor and never as a potential member. Once upon visiting I was even politely directed to the “black” church. I was not offended because it was done sincerely and as a matter of fact..information given that they thought I would find useful. I don’t think it even occured to the person that they had done anything offensive. It is a way of life for some. What has to change is “that way of life”. I have found that in this area, SDA is more than a religion.. it is a way of life.. a subculture. Once that gets integrated, the rest will follow. To be honest, I am weary of waiting for the change and wish the Seventh Day Adventist Church General Conference will take the lead and just combine everything. I’m tired of explaining to people (of varying races) I am witnessing to and inviting them to church, why we have two churches in town, the black and the white. I usually never see them turn up at church.

]]> Comment on Book Report: A User-friendly Guide to the 1888 Message, by George R. Knight by Lovemore Sibanda http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/book-report-a-user-friendly-guide-to-the-1888-message-by-george-r-knight/#comment-297 Lovemore Sibanda Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:17:24 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=85#comment-297 A thought provoking and enlightening book. A must read for serious Adventist Christians who want to understand this important subject of justification by faith and the 1888 controversy. A thought provoking and enlightening book. A must read for serious Adventist Christians who want to understand this important subject of justification by faith and the 1888 controversy.

]]> Comment on Book Report: A User-friendly Guide to the 1888 Message, by George R. Knight by Lovemore Sibanda http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/book-report-a-user-friendly-guide-to-the-1888-message-by-george-r-knight/#comment-296 Lovemore Sibanda Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:16:13 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=85#comment-296 A thought proving and enlightening book. A must read for serious adventist christians who want to understand this important subject of justification by faith and the 1888 controversy. A thought proving and enlightening book. A must read for serious adventist christians who want to understand this important subject of justification by faith and the 1888 controversy.

]]> Comment on Frederick Russell to serve Allegheny West Conference by joeland7 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/frederick-russell-to-serve-allegheny-west-conference/#comment-293 joeland7 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:13:27 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/frederick-russell-to-serve-allegheny-west-conference/#comment-293 Praise the Lord for Pastor Russell http://joeland7.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/obama-naacp-speech-video-your-destiny-is-in-your-hands-no-excuses-creation-of-aids/ Praise the Lord for Pastor Russell
http://joeland7.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/obama-naacp-speech-video-your-destiny-is-in-your-hands-no-excuses-creation-of-aids/

]]> Comment on Birth Verses? by larry m. allen http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2007/04/04/hello-world/#comment-268 larry m. allen Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:32:15 +0000 #comment-268 Colossians 4.4 That I may make it manifest as I OUGHT TO SPEAK. Since it is impossible for God to lie, since we are heirs to the crown and living under the grace of Jesus Christ our savior, and the word is alive on the scrolls in the bible. Is it true that I CAN SPEAK AND MANIFEST ANYTHING i DESIRE. Colossians 4.4 That I may make it manifest as I OUGHT TO SPEAK.
Since it is impossible for God to lie, since we are heirs to the crown and living under the grace of Jesus Christ our savior, and the word is alive on the scrolls in the bible. Is it true that I CAN SPEAK AND MANIFEST ANYTHING i DESIRE.

]]> Comment on Youth Pastor Requirements by ramesh http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/youth-pastor-requirements/#comment-255 ramesh Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:42:44 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=71#comment-255 I am not a pastor but I would like to serve God as a full time Evangelist I am not a pastor but I would like to serve God as a full time Evangelist

]]> Comment on Stonehenge Technique? by sarsen56 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/stonehenge-technique/#comment-254 sarsen56 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:58:42 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=81#comment-254 They didn't move them on a concrete base back then! Impressive though, it shows you don’t need extraordinary methods to move massive stones. With that problem out of the way we might consider the most remarkable aspect of Stonehenge – the accuracy of its construction and design: http://sarsen56.wordpress.com/ They didn’t move them on a concrete base back then! Impressive though, it shows you don’t need extraordinary methods to move massive stones. With that problem out of the way we might consider the most remarkable aspect of Stonehenge – the accuracy of its construction and design: http://sarsen56.wordpress.com/

]]> Comment on Time to Remove Racial Divisions by Robert Okemwa Onsare http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/time-to-remove-racial-divisions/#comment-248 Robert Okemwa Onsare Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:32:24 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=37#comment-248 It's high time we admitted that, we aren't yet arrived at our ultimate destination as indivituals and as a church: the fortress of our great commision is anchored and build on loving one another - whether black or white,rich or poor, educated or illitarate... yes, by this the world would hear a living and real good news. We might have nurtured several reasons why "racially - segregated conferences" are live and vibrant in the USA, other countries too can "boast" of "tribal ...," but one thing is clear: from here we have been called and adopted to be sons and daughers of the God.From here we must arise and entre the promised land where our light will shine; the entre world to behold; not from Obama's presidency but becouse this is the Lord's command that love must reach beyond worldly boundaries. It’s high time we admitted that, we aren’t yet arrived at our ultimate destination as indivituals and as a church: the fortress of our great commision is anchored and build on loving one another – whether black or white,rich or poor, educated or illitarate… yes, by this the world would hear a living and real good news.

We might have nurtured several reasons why “racially – segregated conferences” are live and vibrant in the USA, other countries too can “boast” of “tribal …,” but one thing is clear: from here we have been called and adopted to be sons and daughers of the God.From here we must arise and entre the promised land where our light will shine; the entre world to behold; not from Obama’s presidency but becouse this is the Lord’s command that love must reach beyond worldly boundaries.

]]> Comment on Time to Remove Racial Divisions by R. Rivero http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/time-to-remove-racial-divisions/#comment-247 R. Rivero Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:32:10 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=37#comment-247 We have the first African-American president in the history of United States. Sadly, this fact shows us that our "religious systems" is not keeping up with the reality of the community that we serve. If there is something that the post Christendom--post-modern culture in which we live does not tolerate, is segregation and perhaps this is the main reason why most of the Caucasian young generation membership in our denomination is declining. We are failing to be inclusive If there is something we can learn from the elections is that many of us are ready to make changes that in this case are Biblical and meet the needs of today's society. We have different races in most of our Divisions and yet the North American Division is the only one who is racially segregated. I know, reconciliation would take hard work, but we need to start somewhere. How can we get to Shalom? I do not have an answer, but I think we can start with a dialogue among our leaders since our church works within a hierarchical frame. We can make the best effort to implement pastoral training to meet our multicultural society. I went to what I believe one of the best undergrad colleges our denomination has(Southern Adventist University). It prepared me well to be a pastor, but not to serve in a multicultural community. We can not afford to keep missing the fact that the majority of the population in our country are in urban areas that are multicultural and yet our training is poor in that area even at Seminary level. If we have pastors who are trained to think more inclusively, they can make a difference in the local church as well. We have the first African-American president in the history of United States. Sadly, this fact shows us that our “religious systems” is not keeping up with the reality of the community that we serve. If there is something that the post Christendom–post-modern culture in which we live does not tolerate, is segregation and perhaps this is the main reason why most of the Caucasian young generation membership in our denomination is declining. We are failing to be inclusive If there is something we can learn from the elections is that many of us are ready to make changes that in this case are Biblical and meet the needs of today’s society. We have different races in most of our Divisions and yet the North American Division is the only one who is racially segregated. I know, reconciliation would take hard work, but we need to start somewhere. How can we get to Shalom? I do not have an answer, but I think we can start with a dialogue among our leaders since our church works within a hierarchical frame. We can make the best effort to implement pastoral training to meet our multicultural society. I went to what I believe one of the best undergrad colleges our denomination has(Southern Adventist University). It prepared me well to be a pastor, but not to serve in a multicultural community. We can not afford to keep missing the fact that the majority of the population in our country are in urban areas that are multicultural and yet our training is poor in that area even at Seminary level. If we have pastors who are trained to think more inclusively, they can make a difference in the local church as well.

]]> Comment on Melashenko to Move from “Voice of Prophecy” to Kettering Health by Yvette http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/melashenko-to-move-from-voice-of-prophecy-to-kettering-health/#comment-244 Yvette Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:37:15 +0000 http://iampersuaded.wordpress.com/?p=50#comment-244 I am also praying for this transition period of Pastor Melashenko in his ministry at Kettering, I know there are lots of people who are not aware of their Health, I know God continues to use his knowledge.... I am also praying for this transition period of Pastor Melashenko in his ministry at Kettering, I know there are lots of people who are not aware of their Health, I know God continues to use his knowledge….

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