United Church of God

Nadine S. Comments

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Nadine S.

6

Comments

  • Nadiczka
    Hello Tanja, I'm sorry that you are going through a dilemma at the moment in regards to the Sabbath, church, and work. You seem like you really want to obey God, but feel like you have too many obstacles. If you don't mind me suggesting a few things: I'm not sure where you live, but there is a link on the UCG website that can show you various congregations in Canada. There aren't a lot, but there could be one close to you, or maybe it could be a few hours away. If it is a few hours away, and if it is possible, maybe see if you can go one weekend when you are not working with your husband. It could be a nice getaway too! In regards to work, that sounds like a tough situation you are facing. You get some Sabbaths off, but have to work the others and feel guilty about it. There are a few things you could do: -talk to your boss about it. I would recommend if they say yes, stay away from compromise, otherwise they can take advantage of it. -when I have to make some hard choices, I read examples in the Bible where people had to be courageous. My favourite is Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego and the fiery furnace. -start looking for a new job All the best!
  • Nadiczka

    Hello Jim,

    As a UCG member, I am sorry that you have been accused of not believing in the word of God. It seems that you are doing your best to worship God sincerely with what you know. I'm sure for you that Christmas is a very joyous occasion and that you feel like you have a connection with God through your worship on that day. I'm not going to put you down for that, even if I don't agree.

    I'm sure you have read a lot of UCG's material on why we don't keep Christmas, and looked into scripture as well as history and have decided for yourself, as have we. You are absolutely right about a lot of our customs come from pagan origins. I have been caught in them myself without knowing at times.

    It's amazing that you have something in common with us--that you don't believe in the trinity. That understanding must make things complicated for you, as there are very few like-minded people to connect with.

    I'm sorry that you were told by a UCG minister that you wouldn't fit in. He could have at least welcomed you and let you decide for yourself. I hope that as a church we can improve on how we treat people who think differently than us.

  • Nadiczka

    I have mixed feelings about this article. The first example of Michael Rotondo, I feel, is more of an example of enabling than one that captures the current state of masculinity. Enabling others can take many different forms, and yes, it is very unfortunate that parents enabled their son to continue in this state for as long as they did.

    I don't agree that the handshake study is a valid one, as it was only based on 250 participants in total. I don't know what factors they had control of in that study, including work experience and history of participants. The reason I bring this up, is because we in the church need to be careful to know what a valid study is before applying it as truth.

    Some of the Biblical examples mentioned are encouraging, but not all men (or people) have the same personality traits. Recognising that one needs to develop assertiveness (or disagreeableness) may not always be something one can see easily, or know how to develop. Giving ideas of how one can improve, instead of pointing out all the flaws with no answers may be more helpful. Also, how women can encourage men would be helpful too!

  • Nadiczka

    In this issue, it mentioned that the divorce rate is at 50%, and that 60% of marriages are preceded by co-habitation, so I could reasonably guess that maybe less than 50% of your audience is married. So, why not include articles that reach and encourage those people? In an ideal world we'd all have the perfect marriage and family, but realistically this is not the case. It's almost like putting salt on someone's wound. Marriage is not easy at times, and that needs to be treated sensitively.

    Here are different demographics you have the potential to reach:
    -divorced
    -single mothers
    -fathers who do not have primary custody of kids
    -singles
    -victims of adultery
    -victims of abuse (that includes men)
    -cohabiting couples (with women you may have to reach to their heart, not with statistics, to understand the ramifications)
    -couples who cannot have kids (there was 1 paragraph about that)
    -articles for friends, church members, and family in how to show love and compassion in these situations, not using platitudes

    There is a lot more potential for you to reach the hearts of your readers, and to give comfort to the brokenhearted. We live in a hurting world.

  • Nadiczka
    I enjoyed learning about different aspects of preaching the gospel that UCG is currently doing and planning on doing. In regards to Mr Kubik's comment on communities, I would be interested in knowing why UCG doesn't advertise in church columns of community newspapers. I'm not sure why we have to be so hidden, or why people have to seek us out. The reason I say this is because we constantly hear stories of people who have been looking for a church to attend for a long time, not knowing that we were around. The last two people I have known who "came into the church" did not know all the doctrines. One new of the Sabbath, and the other nothing. Letting people know that there is a Sabbath keeping church in the community could be helpful in some instances. I understand that we possibly cannot publish the location of where we are meeting if it is a public place, but then again many events are held in locations that are not owned by the people hosting the event.