I just read another tirade from an SDA shining light and prominent leadership figure [James] telling me how selfish we are who will not accept the jab (slang for a Covid vaccine). It struck me at how far off the beam our church is becoming.
Hello fellow Adventist mates! It's Graham Hood here...yes Michelle's worst half. If you have heard my testimony you may remember that I came to faith from atheism 15 years ago, when I first attended an SDA church.
I laugh when I think of how weird I thought you guys all were. But that changed because I could smell the sweet fragrance of truth and I was attracted. Then men like your self and a myriad of other pastors started pouring it into me at a dazzling pace.
I was Revelated and dragged kicking and screaming through Daniel. I was bombarded with the health message and treating my body as a temple while being offered cakes and cream at the potluck lunches. I was told how proud I should be that God chose to lead me to the church of truth and the gifts of prophecy from Mrs White.
I remember being chastised for drinking coffee in public and lamenting that I had to give up prawns...a food I was addicted to. I thought about what the Three Angels Messages was and the loud cry and I was bewildered.
But guys such as yourself, pastors and church administrators bashed it into me at every turn. TO ALL OF YOU READING THIS...I THANK YOU WITH ALL MY HEART. I mean I get it now finally and just in time by my reckoning.
But now I am miffed and confused. What am I missing? You see, from what I have been taught by you and others, the aforementioned tirade does not make sense on many fronts. Everything that was hammered into me seems to have been disregarded, and I am left wondering what I am left with.
Would Mrs White encourage me to vaccinate? Would Jesus tell me it might be wise thus mitigating the beautiful design He drew for our immune system?
I can't drink coffee, but go ahead and inject yourself with an untried vaccine!! I mean you may be right but ultimately I'm not talking about COVID, I am talking about the last bastion of the reformation, the SDA church. My confusion is enhanced further when I read the persecuting vitriol coming from my brothers and sisters in Christ because someone may actually have well thought through their concerns about vaccine coercion and voiced them. Where is the love of God, I was taught by the leaders of the church, abounded in the body of Christ?
Will I get the jab? Six months ago I would have said yes, but some of the evidence coming out now is a little alarming. If I don't submit, then we will never see our kids and grandies in WA ever again. I will have to give up my 53 year flying career with QANTAS and I will have to abide by borders that never existed when we were all Aussies.
But there is a silver lining to all this. You taught us about the perils of the end time persecutions and how we won't be able to buy and sell. So I guess those of us who wait for the jab will be getting practice in persecution before the rest of you.
So, James, and all you other pastors out there who give these things the thumbs up, have I misread your sermons and articles? Have I been less attentive than I should have or is there another truth?
Is it that you are all talk, about the Three Angels’ Message and the loud cry, because you thought it probably won't happen in your lifetime? Is it that now when Satan ramps up the action, you all cave in and run with the goats instead of the sheep that you have sworn to lead and protect? Sunday law is about a year or two at best away and when I feel I need to trust God more, I feel that if I follow the shepherds of my church that I may be lost to the objective I value most. Can you see why I am so confused, James?
Guys, you preached it at us for years and now when Satan turns up the heat you turn to the propaganda designed to deceive even the most elect. It's fair to say, James, and you other brothers of the pulpit, that today I am a very SADVENTIST and obviously confused.
Sorry it took so long to express my feelings. Captain Graham Hood.
PS. I hope you have a little more foresight than some of your colleagues who seem to bin this stuff quicker than you can hit the delete button.
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Captain Graham Hood is still employed by Qantas Airways. Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and its largest airline by fleet size, international flights and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded in November 1920; it began international passenger flights in May 1935.
Here are a couple links about Graham’s powerful testimony to help you know a little more about him.