April 2011
Spiritual Formation—Is It Biblical?
by LindaRS
If you are a reader of church papers, books, periodicals, or a peruser of internet, then you have almost certainly heard the terms spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines and perhaps even spiritual director. What are they; where do they come from; and are the biblical? The following definitions are taken from various sources but give the best overall definition of these terms.
"Spiritual Formation" is a popular concept that stems from ancient roots. The term describes the dynamic process of growth and change in one's spiritual development. A variety of subjects, methodologies, disciplines and theologies coexist within this framework. (1)
The spiritual disciplines are an important aspect of discipleship. These are the skills and methodologies that bring about faith and behavioral maturity, and which, in combination with God's Spirit provide the experiential basis of wisdom. (2)
Spiritual direction is essentially companionship in the spiritual life. Other ways of describing spiritual direction include holy listening, spiritual friendship, or sacred journeying. Spiritual direction invites a deeper relationship with the spiritual aspect of being human, offering a place to explore prayer practices, meditation, spiritual experiences, and our growing desire for significance. (3)Does the Bible give us a list of practices and methodologies that we are to follow in order to be a disciple of Christ's? Is there any mandate stating that if we develop a certain list of skills that we will become mature Christians? There is no such list per se; though the Bible gives us the tools that will enable us to develop a Christ-like character. The most comprehensive method of character development, also known as sanctification, we find in God's Word is one we call Peter's Ladder.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 2 Peter 1:5-8This list is concise, with each rung building upon the previous rung. Ellen G. White says of Peter’s Ladder:
We have men claiming sanctification. Their works will show if they are transformed into the image of Christ. Sanctification is not brought about instantaneously, but it is accomplished by climbing the rounds of Peter's ladder of eight rounds. We must step on the first in order to reach the highest. This ladder reaches from earth to heaven, and every soul that enters the city of God will have to climb this ladder of self-denial, and this can be accomplished by laying hold of the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Without this strength, temptation will sweep us down the current to final destruction. 3MR 84.2This is the ladder that reaches to heaven, the ladder that all who enter the New Jerusalem will have climbed. How does Peter's Ladder compare with the spiritual disciplines that are promoted through spiritual formation? Lets compare the ladder rungs to the core list of spiritual disciplines that are being promoted within Protestant churches today. The most common list is one endorsed by Richard Foster
(4)who writes and teaches extensively about spiritual formation and the disciplines. On his list are the following practices: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, celebration. How does this list compare with Peter's list?
Peter's Ladder | Richard Foster's Disciplines |
Faith virtue knowledge temperance patience godliness brotherly kindness charity (godly love) | meditation prayer fasting study simplicity solitude submission service confession worship guidance celebration |
As you can see, the differences in the two lists is like comparing grapes to grapefruit. Why are there such discrepancies in these two lists? We know that the first list is definitely biblical. What about Foster's list? He claims it is biblical. What about other lists of disciplines that have even more methods and practices? They may contain one or more of the following different disciplines such as frugality, chastity, secrecy, sacrifice, worship, fellowship, confession, submission, journaling, evangelism, stewardship, learning, accountability, spiritual direction, affirmation, watching. Whose list is correct? Which have a true biblical foundation and which are questionably biblical?
Let's return for a moment to Peter's Ladder. Notice what Peter says about the list he has given.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8-11)These things will make sure that you are not barren or unfruitful in your character building. Those who lack these things, Peter says, are blind and forgetful. He then admonishes us to do these things and if we do, we shall not fail or fall. This is the ladder of sanctification.
Let's turn our attention to the other list, a list of practices that are professed to be "the skills and methodologies that bring about faith and behavioral maturity." We can see that perhaps a few of the disciplines on the list have a slight equivalence to some of the rungs of Peter's Ladder. We gain knowledge through study. Brotherly kindness will lead us to serve others. In order to climb the ladder, we must submit ourselves to God. We are told elsewhere in the Bible to confess our sins to God
(5), to worship God in the beauty of holiness
(6), to prayer without ceasing
(7), to meditate day and night in the book of the law
(
. Therefore we see that some of the disciplines have biblical validity.
What is the origin of spiritual disciplines from which these lists are compiled? Why do they differ from Peter's Ladder? What about the practices on the list—are they truly biblical both in practice as well as in concept? The origins of spiritual formation (SF) and the accompanying disciplines go back many centuries and is Catholic (both Roman and Orthodox) in origin. Very often today, the term is used somewhat generically but from it's roots there can be no escape. They began with a group of monks and nuns referred to as the Desert Fathers (and mothers) who are considered the originators of spiritual formation. Who were they?
In the early Middle Ages, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They were known to history as the desert fathers.
They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives completely to god without distraction. The contemplative movement traces its roots back to these monks. They were the ones who first promoted the mantra as a prayer tool. (9)
At the heart of Christianity's monastic, contemplative, and mystical traditions lives the spirit of a fourth-century band of Christian renunciates known today as the Desert Fathers. These spiritual zealots lived outside the boundaries of society, pursuing spiritual purification through the renunciation of all worldly distraction. The legacy of their devotion lives on today in the inspiring lives of the contemporary practitioners who are dedicated to the pursuit of the timeless spirit and true meaning of the sacred Word. (10)It is from these men and women, monks and nuns, that we have gotten these mystical practices. Particular among them was the practice of a form of meditation, contemplative prayer, that is at the heart of spiritual formation. For centuries they were lost sight of until the time of Ignatius Loyola. His spiritual exercises revived the mystical practices of the desert fathers. These practices, including contemplative prayer, lectio divina, the silence, and solitude as well as prayer journaling and spiritual direction are making serious inroads into the protestant, evangelical churches, and yes, into the Seventh-day Adventist church, particularly in our institutions. Yet many are unaware of the inroads of spiritual formation into our church though it has been creeping in for years in books, magazine articles, college courses, audio and video presentations, seminars, and retreats. Several years ago, the Australian
Signs of the Times published an article called "Stillness is Golden", promoting silence and contemplative practices.
In a silent place, uninterrupted, spend 20 minutes contemplating the Divine—goodness, truth, love—being receptive to connect. Contemplation is essentially wordless, but its core cry is "I consent to Your presence and Your action within." (See Psalm 139:1-4; Romans 8:26, 27.) Feel your hunger for connection with the Divine and express your adoration. God is waiting to connect with you (Revelation 3:20), but it may take some time for you to focus. If you are distracted by thoughts, let them float past you without following. One method, called "centering"prayer, encourages you to refocus on God by internally saying one of the names of God that you relate to. This can help you to be present to God again. (11)What is centering prayer? It is contemplative prayer. It is the same methodology that has been used for centuries by the pagan religions, in particular Hinduism, of going into a trance-like or alpha state for the purpose of becoming one with the oversoul (also called universal life force) or in the Christian tradition, of coming into the presence of God. In more recent times in the West the Hindu practice has been called transcendental meditation. Those who promote this practice among Christians claim contemplative prayer is not the same as the pagan practice. However, those who have been involved with New Age (new spirituality) mysticism and have left it to become Christian, are fearless in proclaiming that it is the same as the pagan version. The only difference between the two is that the words, or mantra, used to induce the alpha state are "Christian" words and phrases or scripture rather than the Hindu word "ohm". Christians who promote this pagan practice have used this difference to say that contemplative is not the same thing as TM. This excuse is found in the book,
Hunger: Satisfying the Longing of Your Soul, by Jon Dybdahl, published by Autumn House Publishing, a subsidiary of the Review and Herald Publishing. Jon Dybdahl is a retired college professor and president who still teaches courses in spiritual formation in the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary at Andrews University.
Another method of simple praying is the use of one's own breathing, a form often called the breath prayer. Since most religious traditions practice it, can we consider it Christian? Yes, if the content and context are Christian. The way I use the prayer for myself is to pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I simply say as I inhale, "Spirit of the living God" and as I exhale, "Fall afresh on me!" I find the combination of the words with my breath very powerful, especially as I remember that "spirit" means "wind" or "breath." We can employ any scriptural words. In fact, we pray a shortened Jesus prayer. Simply inhale to "Lord, Jesus Christ" and exhale to "have mercy on me (a sinner)." (12)Breath prayers and the Jesus prayer, are both forms of contemplative prayer. The Jesus prayer came directly from the Desert Fathers.
The Jesus Prayer or "The Prayer" is a short, formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated within the Eastern Orthodox church: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the eremitic tradition of prayer known as Hesychasm (Greek: hesychazo, "to keep stillness").The prayer is particularly esteemed by the spiritual fathers of this tradition as a method of opening up the heart (kardia) and bringing about the Prayer of the Heart. The Prayer of The Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament. St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus. (13)
The hesychastic practice of the Jesus Prayer is founded on the biblical view by which God’s name is conceived as the place of his presence. The Eastern Orthodox mysticism has no images or representations. The mystical practice (the prayer and the meditation) doesn't lead to perceiving representations of God. Thus, the most important means of a life consecrated to praying is the invoked name of God, as it is emphasized since the fifth century by the baidanchorites, or by the later Athonite hesychasts. For the Eastern Orthodox the power of the Jesus Prayer comes not only from its content, but from the very invocation of Jesus' name.
Based on Christ's injunction in the Gospel of Matthew to "go into your closet to pray", hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God. (14)Yet Dybdhal promotes the use of these unbiblical prayer methodologies as well as lectio divina, or "sacred reading"; another method used to enter a trance or alpha state to "connect" with God.
Multitudes of potential methods for meditation exist, but I want to outline two major possibilities to give an example of what you can do. You can modify both of them to fit your particular need and preference.
The first is a variation of an ancient Christian method called lectio divina, or sacred/divine reading. One reason I use it is that either an individual or a group can employ it. Often I find people are more willing to try meditation personally if they have had a good experience in a group setting. In class I have often done this type as a means of introducing meditation and of helping people see the discipline's value." (15)
A very ancient art, practiced at one time by all Christians, is the technique known as lectio divina- a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God. This ancient practice has been kept alive in the Christian monastic tradition, and is one of the precious treasures of Benedictine monastics and oblates. (16) Dr. Dybdhal here clearly states that he has taught these practices to his students in the college and university classrooms where he has been a professor. Sadly, he is not alone in teaching these practices. Lectio Divina has also been promoted in a pamphlet available on the Calimesa Adventist church website.
(17) Alexander Carpenter wrote on the Spectrum blog about his practice of group lectio divina.
(18)The Adventist News Network (ANN) published a report on February 2, 2004,
ANN Feature: Church, Congregations Increase Focus on "Spiritual Formation".
(19) This rather lengthy article quotes Jon Dybdhal and Martin Feldbush, as well as others, as proponents of spiritual formation in the Seventh-day Adventist church. This was not lost on the discernment ministry, Lighthouse Trails Research (which is not Seventh-day Adventist), who reported on the article on their blog on December 23, 2007.
(20)The General Conference Stewardship Department promotes books by two of the foremost authors and teachers of spiritual formation to contemporary Christians, Richard Foster and Brennan Manning, who, among others, promote spiritual formation and contemplative prayer.
(21) The editor of
The Adventist Chaplain wrote concerning an article in the magazine:
While serving as a chaplain near Chicago, I took a class in Spiritual Direction at nearby DeAndreis Theological Seminary. It was my introduction to the classic ministry form refined through the centuries by Catholic religious and clergy and in recent decades discovered by many Protestants as well. It is a ministry that focuses on discerning God's moving and guiding in our daily lives. I have asked two Seventh-day Adventist women trained as spiritual directors to give us an overview of their ministry. First Delcy Kuhlman will provide an overview of the ministry and its process; then Diane Forsythe will focus on the qualifications of spiritual directors. (22)Contemplative prayer has also been promoted in the
Adventist Review. An article by Bonita Joyner Shields appear in the January 29, 2004 issue titled, "The Gentile Whisper." She refers to and quotes from a book by Belden Lane,
The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality. Shields says:
In the fourth century, men and women entered the desert en masse in a movement known as the Monastic movement. These "desert fathers and mothers," as they were called, exited society in order to lead a solitary, contemplative life of prayer. They were seeking a deeper experience with God. While I'm not advocating a reclusive lifestyle (neither did Jesus), I've had a fascination with these men and women of faith, and have learned much from them about the spiritual discipline of silence. She goes on to tell of her experiences of solitude and going to a retreat. The book that inspired her openly promotes contemplative. Lane, a Presbyterian minister teaching at a Catholic college, says of the practice of contemplative:
My own approach to desert experience is formed, in large part, by a fledgling practice of contemplative prayer, rooted in early desert writers such as Evagrius and John Cassian. These desert Christians practiced a particular habitus, a way of ordering one's life around silence which was shaped by the desert-mountain terrain in which they lived. Calling themselves to a poverty of language and self, as well as goods, they plowed ground for later growth of the apophatic tradition....
Finally, the ordinary means by which these two deserts (of God and the self) are joined is a discipline shaped by the community's ascetic and liturgical life, anchored in the imitation of Christ. While teachers in the tradition insist that contemplation (and union with God) is a gift having nothing to do with human accomplishment, they also stress that attentiveness to the Word in lectio divina, the Liturgy of the Hours, the celebration of the Eucharist, and even the discipline of the body are intimately a part of the purgative and illuminative process by which one moves toward oneness with God. Sometimes spiritual methods are reduced to the very simplest performances, as in the silent repetition of a single word for dispelling thoughts and entering stillness. Yet the exercise of the discipline necessarily remains centered in the broader liturgical life of the faith community. (23)Retreats are a popular and common method of teaching contemplative to others and giving spiritual direction. Still Waters Retreat, located in Buchanan, Michigan, is a retreat started by Delcy Kuhlman (who graduated from the seminary at Andrews), along with her husband Tom. Robert and Sarah Fusté (also Andrews graduates) have joined them as the co-directors. Delcy is a spiritual director who took training at the Shalem Institute which states on its home page that it is "dedicated to the support of contemplative living and leadership." The Fusté's spent time at the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, operated by a Franciscan Catholic priest and offers "a practical integration of contemplative spirituality for social activists."
(24) Still Waters attracts a number of students from nearby Andrews University. Just recently, one of those students made the news when he survived a fall through the ice on the lake there. Sarah says of her experience with Still Waters and the contemplative tradition:
Robert and I met while taking a course at Andrews called "Introduction to Discipleship." We were both desiring more in our walk with Christ, and we were drawn by the honest and practical nature of the course. It was the beginning of finding words for our longings.
Eventually we joined a discipleship group with Delcy at Still Waters that lasted for six years. It became a spiritual community for us, a place to know God and ourselves better. It was also a safe place, since Delcy is a Seventh-day Adventist and very sensitive to the fears that many Adventists experience while beginning to learn from people of other denominations and faith traditions. (25)This last statement is particularly egregious. They are openly stating their desire to lead Seventh-day Adventists into areas that we have been no biblical mandate to enter but rather have been warned against. We are not to learn how to worship, pray and serve God from those who are no longer under His direction but are part of Babylon. This is the road the church is now on because of the missteps of the past.
The Bible records many beautiful prayers—Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple, David’s prayer of forgiveness, Nehemiah's many prayers while rebuilding Jerusalem, Jesus’ prayer he taught to the disciples. None of these or any other prayers recorded in Scripture teach us to go into silence, to still our thoughts through repeating a mantra so that we can enter into the presence of God. Nor does it teach us to use any of these methods to pray to a holy God who is our Father in heaven:
Several retreat leaders have led people in topics such as "Refreshing our Prayer Journey: Multiple Intelligences and Prayer," "An Evening of Hand Drumming: Drumming as Prayer,""Developing a Rule of Life," "Painting and Praying," "Telling Your Life Story," "Abba, Look at my Picture - Collage as Prayer," "Pray and Play" and more. (26)Indeed, Jesus warned us not to pray as the heathen do, that is, the pagan method of praying. "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" Matthew 6:7. Jesus specifically mentions the use of vain repetitions. Repeating a word or phrase over and over is a vain repetition. Whether it is the name of Jesus, or a phrase from Scripture, it is vain to repeat it continuously with the desire to empty one's mind of thoughts so you can hear God speaking to you. Nor does the Bible give any examples of using painting or drumming or play as a method of praying to a most holy Creator God who dwells in the heavens.
It is an unfortunate reality that little has been written against the spiritual formation by Seventh-day Adventist pastors and authors or published by Adventists presses, while much more has been published in favor of spiritual formation and the contemplative practices. We are grateful that the GC president, Elder Wilson, spoke out against these practices in his Sabbath sermon at the GC session last July. There are two books that are most helpful for Seventh-day Adventists to understand what spiritual formation and contemplative prayer is. The first is the recently published
The Omega Rebellion by Elder Rick Howard, a Seventh-day Adventist minister. He tells his story of coming out of the occult practices of the mystical New Age and becoming a Christian and Seventh-day Adventist. He proceeds to warn us about the dangers of these practices to our faith.
Henry J. M. Nouwen, one of the fathers of modern spiritual formation and others during the last few centuries, have simply revived an ancient mystical method of altering one's consciousness, through the knowledge and control of certain mental processes. They gave these processes the names centering prayer and contemplative prayer, tucking them nicely within the Roman Catholic discipline called spiritual formation, deceiving Christians into believing this is a blessing, promoting the spiritual growth of the Christian and eventually leading to a new experience with God, the experience of coming into His presence. (27)He goes further by revealing how these mystical practices lead to pantheism, the belief that God is in everything and everything is God. This was the alpha of apostasy, written about by God’s latter day prophet, Ellen G. White. She wrote that we did not need the mysticism found in John Harvey Kellogg’s book,
Living Temple.
Faith Undone by Roger Oakland is a definitive book on spiritual formation and the emerging church written by a Protestant author. It is well researched and informative and has been a defining book for those seeking answers to their questions about the mystical practices coming into their congregations. The emergent (or emerging) church, also referred to as emergent spirituality, has been most instrumental in incorporating the Roman Catholic mystical practices of spiritual formation into Christian religious practices. Purported to be the new face of Christianity, Emergent proclaims itself as the religion for the postmodern world in which we live. It is especially attractive to the youth and young adults. It has few doctrines, denying many of the doctrines that Protestants have held for centuries such as the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for our sins. Referred to as the ancient future faith, it believes in social justice, disdains the belief in the second coming of Jesus, and relishes experience over doctrine, thus setting the stage to incorporate the spiritual disciplines into their rituals and leaning heavily on the mystical experiences they give rise to. Roger Oakland says:
I believe history is repeating itself. As the Word of God becomes less and less important, the rise in mystical experiences escalates, and these experiences are presented to convince the unsuspecting that Christianity is about feeling, touching, smelling and seeing God. The postmodern mindset is the perfect environment for fostering spiritual formation. This term suggests there are various ways and means to get closer to God and to emulate Him. Thus the idea that if you do certain practices, you can be more like Jesus. Proponents of spiritual formation erroneously teach that anyone can practice these mystical rituals and find God within. Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is not a prerequisite. In a DVD called Be Still, which promotes contemplative prayer, Richard Foster says that contemplative prayer is for anyone and that by practicing it, one becomes "a portable sanctuary" for "the presence of God." (28)Many are coming and telling us that these are wonderful methods for growing into spiritually mature Christians. But God’s Word does not support that claim. It gives us, instead, a ladder of eight rungs that is promised to keep us fruitful and productive, profitable Christians.
One and another come to me, asking me to explain the positions taken in Living Temple. I reply, "They are unexplainable." The sentiments expressed do not give a true knowledge of God. All through the book are passages of Scripture. These scriptures are brought in in such a way that error is made to appear as truth. Erroneous theories are presented in so pleasing a way that unless care is taken, many will be misled.
We need not the mysticism that is in this book. Those who entertain these sophistries will soon find themselves in a position where the enemy can talk with them, and lead them away from God. It is represented to me that the writer of this book is on a false track. He has lost sight of the distinguishing truths for this time. He knows not whither his steps are tending. The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error. (29)
Spiritual darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. There are in many churches skepticism and infidelity in the interpretation of the Scriptures. Many, very many, are questioning the verity and truth of the Scriptures. Human reasoning and the imaginings of the human heart are undermining the inspiration of the Word of God, and that which should be received as granted, is surrounded with a cloud of mysticism. Nothing stands out in clear and distinct lines, upon rock bottom. This is one of the marked signs of the last days. (30)1. Description found in a college syllabus
2. H. Bruce Stokes
3. Newsletter for St. Mary's Road United Church
4. Another well known author, Dallas Willard, has his own list with differs somewhat from Foster's list.
5. 1 John 1:9
6. Psalm 29:2, 96:9
7. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
8. Joshua 1:8
9. Ray Yungen A Time of Departing
10. Enlighten Next online magazine
11. Signs of the Times, March 2004 (Australian edition). Originally accessed online but no longer available.
12. Hunger, page 52. As quoted in "How to Still the Hunger of the Soul: A Critique of the Book, Hunger" by John Witcombe.
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Prayer
14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers
15. Hunger, page 62. As quoted in "How to Still the Hunger of the Soul: A Critique of the Book, Hunger" by John Witcombe.
16. Accepting the Embrace of God: the Ancient Art of Lectio Divina by Fr. Luke Dysinger, O.S.B.
17. http://calimesa.adventistfaith.org/jesus-focused though as of this date (March 22, 2011) I am unable to access from the above link; it is available through a Google search.
18. Spectrum blog, May 4, 2007
19. http://news.adventist.org/2004/02/a-feature-church-cogregatios-icrease-focus-o-spiritual-formatio.html
20. http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=1988
21. http://www.adventiststewardship.com/article.php?id=38) include Lenonard Sweet, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Eugene Peterson (author of The Message paraphrase), George Barna, Jane Rubietta, Sally Morgenthaler.
22. July-September, 2003. The editor at the time was Martin W. Feldbush. The Adventist Chaplain is published by Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries. The two articles he referred to are "The Ministry of Spiritual Direction" by Delcy Kuhlman, who with her husband operates Still Waters Retreats."Qualifications and Training for Spiritual Direction" is by Diane Forsythe, pastor and college Bible teacher.
23. Pages 11-13
24. "A Year at the Center for Action and Contemplation", Spectrum, March 1, 2010. The article is an interview with Joelle Chase, who at that time was an intern at CAC and is now employed there. She is also an Adventist graduate of Andrews.
25. "A Spiritual Retreat Center by Adventists", Spectrum, September 28, 2010.
26. Ibid.
27. The Omega Rebellion, page 15
28. Faith Undone, page 91
29. 1 Selected Messages 202:1, 2
30. 1 Selected Messages 15.2
Topics of Study
&
Continuing Discussions
Japan 9.0 Quake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdownhttp://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=99.0
Testimony and Prayer We are Going Home!
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=95.0
Prayer
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=4.0
Testimonies
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=5.0
Study Bread of Life Separation of Church and State
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7172.0
Romans 7 & 8
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=742.0
Daniel & Revelation
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11721.0
Matthew 24
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7707.0
Latter Rain
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=743.0
Genesis 3:15
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=832.0 Sabbath School Lesson http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=12.0 Lessons from Nature http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=15.0 King of Kings The Gospel According to Christ
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=6611.0
Dying to Self
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10995.0
He Will Purge Thy Dross
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11240.0 End Time Prophecies Book of Revelation
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=70.0
Book of Daniel
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=81.0
Daniel & Revelation Merged
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=97.0
Islam
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=1233.0
Signs and Wonders
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11678.0
Seven Seals
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11635.0
The Green Machine
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11560.0
Dual Application of Prophecy
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11036.0
As it Was at the Time of Noah
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11365.0 Roman Catholicism
Pope's Plea for Religious Sundays
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=6371.0
Confess to your iPhone
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11691.0
Vatican and Wikileaks
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11633.0
Politics, RCC and Child Molestation
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=5650.0
New Hope For Unity: Anglicans and Catholics
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=5122.0
Homosexual Immorality
Unity Launches Online Resources for LGBT Community
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11751.0
"Seventh-Gay Adventists: A film about love, sex, and eternal life"
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=9683.0
DOMA Unconstitutional?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11740.0
Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11738.0
"Light" Presbyterians on Inclusion = Lite Religion
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11732.0
Opinion: Scripture's Mixed Messages on Sexuality
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11687.0
The Seventh-day Adventist Family
The Obstinate Child
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11208.0
Family modesty
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11047.0
Training up a Child
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10.0
What Kind of Books for Our Children?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=12.0
Education
Southern Seventh-day Adventist University
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7431.0
Ending the Teaching of Evolution at LSU
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=9010.0
Walla Walla College
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=933.0
Parental Responsibility
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=862.0
Home School Threats
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11488.0
"Occupy Until I Come" - New College in Fiji
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11679.0
How Much Authority?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11486.0
Christian Science Lauds SDA Education
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11259.0
Healthful Living
Cutting Edge Recipes
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=3401.0
Mad Cows and People
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=3219.0
Maximize longevity - "like a Seventh-Day Adventist"
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11644.0
Salmonella - more recalls
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=8870.0
Taco Bell - "Thank you for suing us"
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11626.0
Help needed: high triglycerides, low HDL
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11585.0
Listeria bacteria - another recall
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=8814.0
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11583.0
Gardening
Tomatoes
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10002.0
Harvesting Seeds
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=9458.0
Starting Seeds
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10372.0
The "Right Arm"
Call for Reform among SDA physicians
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=2865.0
Washington Post Article re. Adventist Abortion Policy
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11613.0
Natural Medicine Under Fire, Again Involving Parental Rights vs Authorities
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11696.0
Fasting...How Long is Too Long?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=6741.0
U.S. Pig Farms May Be 'Flu Factories'
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11438.0
Church and News
Signs of the Times
Middle East Chain Reactions to Revolts
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11746.0
Dr. Walter Strachan Critically Injured in Crash
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11744.0
An Overview of Religious Financial Fraud - The $34 Billion Scandal
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11739.0
SDA Plane Down in Venezuela
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=8758.0
$5-a-Gallon Gas by 2012, Energy Shortages by Decade's End
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11437.0
Super pack of 400 Wolves!
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11681.0
The Adventists Airs on PBS
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10228.0
Elder Coon Has Died
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11673.0
Unchain Yourself! Let Dr. Oz Hypnotize you!
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11653.0
False Prophet, Harold Camping--May 21 Will Come and Go
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11584.0
Economic Times
Warren Buffett - Down with Doom and Gloom!
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11745.0
Crude Oil Prices
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=6947.0
Half the World Soon to Be in Cities
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=6884.0
US national debt at trillions - what really is a trillion?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11222.0
"Natural" Disasters
Australia Floods Followed by Cat 5 Cyclone
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11503.0
Quake Devastates New Zealand
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11722.0
Earthquakes in Diverse Places
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=5280.0
Brazil flood death toll rises over 500
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11559.0
Flooding in Philippines Kills 51
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11566.0
2010--Deadliest Year in a Generation
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11396.0
Heavenly Music
27 Principles of Music
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11090.0
Most Beautiful Hymns
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7449.0
Turns out that music really is intoxicating, after all
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11575.0
Scripture Songs
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10421.0
Music in my life - Elder John Thurber
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=1018.0
General Conference Session - Atlanta
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=82.0
Worship
Unity Amid Diversity
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=4190.0
Righteousness by Faith (Justification by Faith)
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=111.0
Applause
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=1165.0
The Fallen Nature of Man
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=9050.0
Bible Truth Confirmed in Chinese Language
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11384.0
Wedding Bands
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=958.0
Should the church be relevant to the world around it?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11597.0
Teaching Sabbath School
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=9672.0
Abortion - A huge perenial topic, BUT . . .
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=1171.0
The Role of Women in Worship
Rebellion Against World Church
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=90.0
Ordained Deaconessses
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10689.0
Laodicea
A Fresh Look at Labor Unions
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=103.0
A Call for Reform in the Ohio Conference
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10464.0
Is This Too Bold?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11649.0
Inroads to Counter Emergent Church Growth in SDA Churches
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11730.0
Satan's sly attack upon the Bible across centuries
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11702.0
What is Genuine Revival?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=275.0
A Study Guide to Mind, Character, and Personality by EGW
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11648.0
What was nailed to the cross in Col 2:14?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7953.0
"Fashionable Modest Dress"
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11668.0
Modesty of Deportment—Part 2
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=10014.0
Wrong Turns in Seventh-day Adventist History
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=38.0
Spiritualism in the Church
Spiritual Formation - Contemplative Prayer
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7396.0
Derrick Morris invited to be Editor of Ministry Magazine
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11156.0
"Spiritual Formation"-What is it?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=395.0
Spiritual Disciplines
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=7395.0
Mike Tucker, the VOP and Spiritual Formation
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11293.0
Ted Wilson on the Emergent Village - Spiritual Formation
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11752.0
"Spiritual Formation" at Avondale
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11599.0
Max Lucado's Contemplative Books
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11401.0
Conference on Innovation-Kaiser--Open SDA Spiritualism
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=1527.0
Social Hall
Big Prayers
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=8511.0
Adventists - The Documentary
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11749.0
The Loaded Wagons
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11748.0
Ack! and Ack! and Ack!
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11731.0
YOO HOO! Anybody home?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=8009.0
How Will We Deal with Transsexual Individuals?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11736.0
Followup to "Steps to Christ"?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11733.0
Harold Camping and Family Radio
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11720.0
Our Writing Skills
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11672.0
Music in the Church
Youth and Music
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=950.0
Principles of Music - Private Discussion
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=963.0
27 Principles of Music - Elder John Thurber
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=1390.0
The Power of Music
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=5934.0
Little Seventh-day Adventist Boys Dancing and Singing for the World
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11408.0
Religious Liberty
Egyptian Christians asked to bow in submission to Allah
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11737.0
Leslie replaces Standish
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11684.0
Blasphemy Laws & Restrictions on Religion
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11690.0
Step forward for church-state relations in Azerbaijan
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11674.0
Religious Demographics of Congress
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=453.0
Is Islam An Enemy of Christianity?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11506.0
Islamic Countries Dominate Open Doors 2011 World Watch List
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11507.0
Revival and Reformation
Accepting the Call or Rejecting the Call?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11574.0
Revival and Reformation: What Is It and How Do We Get It?
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11518.0
Revival for Mission Video from GC
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?topic=11511.0
General Conference Session Atlanta - Private Discussion
http://remnant-online.com/smf/index.php?board=83.0
continued in next post ...