Re: [TruthTalk] On playing chess & On reading/interpreting the Scriptures for li

[Terry Clifton]

ShieldsFamily wrote: I don't know of any reason to believe that Terry is not a follower of Christ. Some folks claim to follow Christ but their fruit shows otherwise, in which case Jesus said to judge by the fruit, not by the talk. Some folks on TT state they don't know what it means to be born again, some claim to be followers of JSmith, etc. I choose to believe a person's statement about him/herself unless they prove themselves to be speaking falsely- ====================================================================== Looking at that last line makes me think possibly we see things in much the same way, Iz.  We are not likely to be able to examine another's fruit via e-mail, therefore we have no proof that a person is or is not a Christian.  Because of that, we give them the benefit of the doubt, assuming that they are what they say they are, until they say something pointing to the contrary.  I use the same standards when meeting new people.  I treat them with respect until they prove themselves not to be respectable.  Most of the time I am not disappointed. Terry