My Adventures with God.: Ch.1

Why?

Why am I writing this? (Apart from: “It seemed like a good idea at the time”) .

I found at many stages of my Christian growth that hearing hearing other people’s experiences was a great help. True many of these were famous, but some were ordinary, nevertheless God had done something in their lives and reading or hearing about it helped my own relationship with God. I found the same thing in prayer groups and churches. Where people shared their experiences (well when they were honest about them) it was a stimulus to Christian growth.

I might be ordinary but God has done things in my life that I think are pretty special. I have had some adventures doing things for and with God that I think are tales worth telling and hearing and I've made some mistakes others could profit by hearing and avoiding. So here goes with the story of my adventures with God.

How It all began.

I can't think of any way to avoid starting at the beginning; it sets the scene for things that follow. But I will try to cover the mundane bits briefly.

A resume might include: David Lindsay Greentree born 4^th April 1949 to Isabel Florence Greentree (nee Cornwell) “home duties” and Ashton Edward Greentree “pharmacist” at the Sydney Adventist Hospital Wahroonga. Grew up in the Sydney suburb of Pymble attended Warrawee State Primary school and Asquith Boys High School.

A spiritual resume should add: Ashton and Isabel were second generation Seventh Day Adventists. Devout Christians but of a more ecumenical outlook than many in that denomination. Ashton served in the Air Force, then as a pharmacist at the Sydney Adventist Hospital but left this to return to the Air Force where he served until he retired. Ashton and Isabel were 'dis-fellowshipped' by the Adventists about the time Ashton returned to the Air Force. They then did not attend church but Ashton was very active in the Officers' Christian Union, and they retained a strong private faith.

How I failed baptism class … twice

How can anyone 'fail' baptism class? Well I'll tell you.

I was brought up on the 'King James' version of the Bible. Even for someone raised on it, the thee's, and thou's and generally archaic language makes it heavy reading. I was about twelve when a new translation into modern English appeared – at that stage only the New Testament but I got one and suddenly found that here was something I could read easily and understand. So I read it.

Although my parents had left the church, I got on my push-bike most Saturday mornings and went to church. Adventists are one of those denominations that do not believe in infant baptism so about the age of thirteen children are sent off to baptism classes. As a keen young believer I joined a class at about that age.

Adventists have some practices that they hold dear. Two of these are strict Sabbath observance – on Saturday not Sunday - and health food. The health food practice generally included vegetarian diet. My family and I suspect many others were not vegetarian in private, but most conformed in public. Adventists also took the Old Testament dietary laws seriously so pork was strictly forbidden. They also had strong views on the interpretation of the books of Daniel and The Revelation, but at that age I did not understand those so they do not feature in this story.

I had been reading the New Testament in modern English. I had seen how time and again Jesus was in conflict with the strict Sabbath-keeping of the religious people of his day. I also noticed that he was against their strict dietary laws, indeed in one speech he declared all foods ritually clean. I think these views must have become apparent in class. Perhaps I asked the wrong kind of questions.

The day for the class to be baptised in church I expected to be among them. Somehow I found myself culled from the group and sitting in church watching the baptism instead of being in it.

Not to be deterred I signed up again the next year for baptism classes. During these classes I got invited back to the Youth Pastor's for Sabbath lunch one time, and then to the Senior Pastor's. The big day for the group baptism arrived. Once again I expected to be in the group but instead found myself in the congregation just watching.

Now another strongly held doctrine of the Adventists was that they were one one true church. The Pope featured in far too many sermons for my liking as the Antichrist, but when I had questioned the senior pastor about Roman Catholics who believed in Christ He just answered with a quote from Revelation: “Come out of her my people”. I think from memory that they were not as hard on the protestant denominations – but they were still the “apostate Churches”. So where was there for a young teenager who believed fervently in Jesus but was rejected by the “true” church?

That was a problem! But my father had found fellowship with many sincere and devout Christians in the Air Force, and my brother was about to marry an Anglican girl, who seemed to me to be a Christian. Also about this time I was active in the Inter School Christian Fellowship and there was no doubting the faith of the students and teachers involved in it. So I went church hunting.