Okay, thanks for your feedback on that. Feel free to ask any questions you want.
I suppose what I was curious about when reading your testimony and your posts is when exactly you were born again in Jesus Christ. The reason I was confused is because, based on the timeline of events that you gave us, something seems off to me, but I'm not sure I can put my finger on what it is, so maybe you can help me understand this a little better.
I think some other members here were also confused at the terminology you were using, and I appreciate you explaining it more, but the question remains where you learned this terminology from. Perhaps it comes from the Hebrew cults or the SDA cults; I don't know. I've just never heard that terminology before, and it doesn't come from Scripture, so the problem is that when you use terms about Spiritual matters that we cannot determine from our Spiritual source (which is God, in His Word), then it puts us on guard until we can determine what those phrases mean.
My first real interaction with the Bible was when I encounter the Hebrew Isrealites on youtube. I had never seen people use the Bible in that way. Everything they said they backed up with scripture, at least i thought so at the time. I was amazed and captivated. I did follow them for a few months. They had everything going except love for the Gentile. They despised the Gentile. I did not agree so I moved on and started following other youtube channels. During my mid to late 20's I had an interest in diet and nutrition. I saw that the 7th Day Adventist focus heavenly on diet and nutrition. They had a special guest well rounded in nutrition and invited the community to join them. I attended the meeting and it went well. The following weeks I attended their bible study session and attended one of their worship services. Due to a conflict between the bible teacher and the pastor I stopped attending. I tried looking for a local church for some months but no success, than it crossed me. I have spent so much time looking for a physical church, when that could be spend reading my bible and building an intimate relationship with the Lord. In that time my relationship with the Lord grew and is still growing till this day. I am no seeking like minded individual to commune with.
So here is what I am seeing so far, and I am sharing this so you know how this appears to us. You said you were looking up information on 501c3, found the CLE website, and joined this forum, and a contributing factor to your motivation in your search was because you wanted strong Scriptural teaching. You then went into your history, talking about your first interaction with the Bible, and that was for "Hebrew Israelites" on YouTube, which, if I understand this correctly, are those who do NOT believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, unless you are talking about the "Hebrew Roots" cult, and that would be those who teach works-based heresies that are against the doctrine of Christ. (I can't tell which it is because you did not give me enough information.)
I agree with you that Hebrew-roots cults, and Messianic-Jewish people tend to have a greater understanding of Hebrew customs, which also gives them a more in-depth understanding of certain Scriptures. Then you said you stopped listening to them after a few months (and this was presumably in your early 20s) because they hated Gentiles.
Next, some months and/or years later, you joined SDAs for a few weeks. There was a squabble between two of the teachers in the church building you went to, and you didn't like that, so you left.
Then you said you studied the Bible on your own for... the next few years? I don't know, I can't really figure this out. You ended by saying you want "
like minded individuals to commune with," and so I'm trying to figure out where we are like minded, and the main thing I'm looking for is when/how you were saved.
After this, you responded to Ellie, and said:
I don't recall the exact date when i was born again but I do believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah & that he is the Son of God.I think this is one of the reasons why Ellie was sending you the book that she recommended because there are millions upon millions of people who believe on Jesus, but are not born again in Him, and as you pointed out, that is why, in the book, I covered the verses on John 8. So to summarize your timeline, it looks like this:
You got introduced to the Bible, but you didn't like what was being taught in the end, so you left, and found someone else, but you didn't like what they were doing, so you left and... now you're saved?
When exactly did this conversion happen? No one here is saying you need to come up with a date and say it was March 7th at 4:16 PM -- we were just looking for something general, but I haven't seen it yet.
I understand that you professed your beliefs here:
By faith in Jesus the Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit I have been able to repent and crucify the old self. I have been able to put off the old self and put on the new man as Paul states in the New Testament. I thank God the Father for imputing Christ's righteousness on me, amazing grace in deed.
But there was something still off because this was almost... how do I phrase this? I guess, cookie-cutter? It's like we're reading the inside of a Hallmark card. It's robotic in a way, almost as if this is not genuine, and just the words you think we want to hear from you. That's why I'm confused. I can see when we ask you basic questions, you begin to answer them very naturally, but then, when you move on to talking about Biblical and spiritual subjects, it's like switch flicks, and you start repeating phrases. This is where I don't feel like I'm talking with a real person, which is not to pay you any insult, but I'm speaking honestly about what I'm seeing.
When I asked you about your definition of repentance, you said you believed it was "
turning back from my sinful ways," which is not how the Bible defines it, but it is how those various religious cults (the ones you were involved with) define it because they believe you need to repent to be saved, but the difference is that they believe you must "turn from sin" to be saved, which is works-based false doctrine, and not how the Bible defines repentance.
Then, you mentioned that you had offended God, which is what most churchgoers also believe, and this is why, I think, Rowan asked you if you had any grief of your own? Because that is the definition of repentance.
You then said "
Yes, I do have grief of my own" -- but the problem is that it took us weeks to get you to talk about that, and when you did, it was a cookie-cutter, nonchalant response. This is something that should have happened the day you were born again in Jesus Christ, but so far, I'm not seeing any of that, it's like you are repeating the things that you think we want you to say, which is why I've been waiting to give an in-depth response to your posts because I've been waiting to see if I'm misinterpreting this. (I also think that is why not many others have responded to you either.)
You read the book, and I really appreciate your time on that, and you said it was "
really good," but where is your repentance in your testimony? Where was the law and guilt and sin and the blood of Christ and the mercies he showed you... there really wasn't any of that. It was just that you repeated lines I think you have probably said to many other people because it's what you think they want to hear, and I think part of that is the corrupt influence you got from the Hebrew-roots and SDA cults.
I'm not saying you have to be any kind of skilled writer, but we have had people come through here that don't write very well, and were still able to express their testimony of repentance and faith, so something about what you're telling us is a bit strange. I know you're not going to like me saying this, but I am not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you that I see the evidence of repentance and faith in your words, when I don't.
The reason it's important that I tell you that is because you said you came here looking for people of like mind. If we don't first verify that we are all of like mind, then you would end up wasting your time, and I don't want you to have to waste your time because I'm sure you have a lot of important work to do, and your time is valuable.
I'll end this post for now and wait for your response.
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