Seventh-Day Adventist – Page 2 – Sam's Online Journal

March 7, 2013

Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: My First Sermon

I will never forget it, the day I preached my first sermon, and everything that led up to it. It all started at a youth usher’s convention the year before. As a youth usher in the SDA church, it was more than just standing at the door and letting people in. It was almost like … Continue reading Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: My First Sermon

February 16, 2013February 23, 2013

Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: On a Mission

You know how it was when you were growing up, and some things you did became so routine that you imagined everyone else in the whole world did the same things and felt the same way about them? And then you got older and you realized it wasn’t like that at all, that you world … Continue reading Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: On a Mission

February 5, 2013February 5, 2013

Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Keeping the Sabbath

I grew up in a world that was black and white. There were certain things I could and couldn’t do, and no amount of cajoling would accomplish the impossible. There was a firm policy in place for us kids. We were seen and not heard most of the time, and when it was time for … Continue reading Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Keeping the Sabbath

January 24, 2013February 5, 2013

Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Getting Healthy

From day one, there was much expected of me, not just as a preacher’s kid, and not just as the son of an ultra-religious family, but as the representation of everything SDA, the same as every other child of the church. This representation included, but was not limited to, how I dressed (in suits), how … Continue reading Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Getting Healthy

January 18, 2013February 5, 2013

Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Academy Life

I guess I did things backwards, going to high school 80 miles from my home, and going to college while living at home. But for me, it wasn’t backwards at all. Everyone from my church who was my age did the exact same thing. You left home after eighth grade and moved into a dorm … Continue reading Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Academy Life

January 9, 2013February 5, 2013

Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Divisions

One of the first things I should have noticed about the church was probably one of the last things I realized, and that was the racial distinctions. That’s not to say that the church is racist at all, but geographically it seemed like certain races dominated church structures. For example, the conference I grew up … Continue reading Growing Up Seventh-Day Adventist: Divisions