From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In a message dated 7/24/2004 11:39:58 AM Pacific Daylight
Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
jt: Is it the content of what I say Bill, or the way I am saying it? Should I pray for more delicate wording?
jt: Is it the content of what I say Bill, or the way I am saying it? Should I pray for more delicate wording?
I hope you know that my regard for you is sincere -- but you can be a little short, as they say (so can Bill, by the way.) Your question above is the solution, I think. In the short time I have been an observer, I can tell each of you (Bill and you, Judy) what is not going to work when you two write each other. I continually refer back to I Co 13:4-7. That chapter is most often used to solve marital disagreements/issues when, in point of fact, it is a passage of instruction designed to give advice regarding how brethren are to relate to one another -- i.e. on this list. If I were sitting next to your computer, reading what you were preparing to send, I would be saying (often, I am sure) "I don't think that is going to go over well." If I know what sets each of you off, well, its not a secret is it?
jt: I do appreciate your
concern John and I don't doubt that you are sincere. However, if I do as
you say then what I write would be controlled by the anger of others. How is it possible
to speak the truth in love in such circumstances. I seem to remember Paul
wrestling with this problem (Galatians 1:10). I don't feel called to
go out and incite a riot amongst unbelievers - however, when I joined TT I
understand that there was freedom here and everyone was welcome along with their
beliefs. I wasn't aware
that anything had changed.
When I am following your (the both of you) thread, I am learning or at reconsidering my own position BUT I AM ALSO WORRYING A LITTLE as to when it is all going to blow up. If we don't like the heat, we should float in the pool and stay out of the kitchen -- and both of you need to get a handle on that.
When I am following your (the both of you) thread, I am learning or at reconsidering my own position BUT I AM ALSO WORRYING A LITTLE as to when it is all going to blow up. If we don't like the heat, we should float in the pool and stay out of the kitchen -- and both of you need to get a handle on that.
jt: Hey!! I'm not angry
John. Nothing Bill has said so far on this list has incited me to
anger. I just can not agree with him and since this is a public list
and Bill posts his beliefs on a public forum, I am free to
counter them publicly. I do not flame or attack the man personally, he's
probably a very nice fellow like DaveH.
When I started with this forum, I was more an infighter than either of you and I can slam with the best of them. But along the way, I have decided to leave that out of my communication ..... way before Jonathan's criticism but the fact that I hurt him in some way was my fault -- whether i meant to or not. The Lord doesn't care if it pays to be nice or gentle -- he just wants us to treat each other that way period -- or did I miss His point?
When I started with this forum, I was more an infighter than either of you and I can slam with the best of them. But along the way, I have decided to leave that out of my communication ..... way before Jonathan's criticism but the fact that I hurt him in some way was my fault -- whether i meant to or not. The Lord doesn't care if it pays to be nice or gentle -- he just wants us to treat each other that way period -- or did I miss His point?
jt: I don't see myself in
a slamming contest, or as an infighter John because strife is as bad as
adultery in God's eyesight. However, we all have a resposibility to speak the
truth in love. If we see a brother/sister err (driving toward a broken
bridge) is it love to leave well enough alone just to keep the peace or are
we responsible to warn him/her? Should I allow someone's anger to
determine whether or not I should obey my conscience in the
Lord?
I do appreciate your concern though John, it's hard to imagine what it must have been like to live in the kind of legalism that you have experienced in your denomination - I do want to respect God's boundaries but the bottom line is "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty"... :)
I do appreciate your concern though John, it's hard to imagine what it must have been like to live in the kind of legalism that you have experienced in your denomination - I do want to respect God's boundaries but the bottom line is "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty"... :)
