The decision to join your group has been difficult. What I wanted to find was a place where Christians were reading specific books of the Bible and then commenting on them. That's currently my idea of Bible Study, one book at a time. I don't see that here. But then, I can't find anything online like that. In addition, my first impression was quite negative. More about that later...
I read some of the ADMIN statements about Denominations and found them interesting. I like the way the Administrators and Moderators try to keep this site in order. I have had a look at the Blog section. I don't quite understand the "Media" section. I'll look at it again.
Questions about the Blog section: is each article a separate post? Or can I use it like a 'blog site' and make successive posts on different topics?
Question about the forums: Can I ask members to read a section of the Bible and then post their comments? Or has that been tried and it does not work? I ask because the threads I looked at under "Bible Study" could easily fit in other forums. I guess I'm asking what is the criteria for placing a thread in the "Bible Study" section?
I have found some things here that look productive and worthwhile. I hope to learn more about my Savior and, along the way, make a few friends.
Just FYI: I'm retired. I'm working on a novel and two books of short stories. I have not published anything yet. I'm married to a wonderful Christian lady. I go to the best church in the world :). And I am Charismatic, Evangelical and Liturgical.
BTW, I will, on occasion, make some of the worst puns you've ever heard. You've been warned!
And now, about my first impression:
Many of you do not have any idea what some of these threads/posts look like to Pagans that wander into the site. Nor do you realize that some Christians, like me, are stunned by the attitudes displayed. About fifteen years ago I joined a writer's forum and found that they were insincere in their posts. They attacked each other over very silly things. I found it difficult to get serious information. Each author saw the other authors as competitors. They were posting to promote themselves. So, I quit the forums for a while. I did join a different writer's forum a few years ago and it was a productive experience. But it takes up a lot of time. Which is one of my concerns about this forum.
The first thread I looked at was one posted by a person who was introductiing himself as a new member. He made comments that were designed to "punch your buttons" and then he would feed on your responses. Normally, I would not read such stuff, but I wanted to know what this forum was like. I followed that with a couple of other threads that seemed equally poor in Christian attitude. Then I saw the thread about "Christians slandering Christians" and thought there might be some small bit of hope. Searching further, I found the "Scripture with Scripture" thread. And I realized that there are some good Christian attitudes here.
Please understand that the following comments are offered by an outsider, not to attack anyone, but in hopes that they will be productive. What I see in some of the threads/posts on this site is that some of you don't really know what you believe. Some of you know only what others have told you. And you exhibit fear that you may not have it right. So you lash out. I see fear behind the accusations like, "You don't understand the Trinity" or "You're totally wrong about infant baptism" or "Read this scripture and explain (your errors) to me." All of this can be summed up with "I'm right and you're wrong because I was taught this and I'm heavily invested in the concept." All of this is part of that big filing drawer called, "We've Always Done It This Way." Now, it's okay to believe as you do. There's Holy Scripture to back you up. However, outside of the Basic Elements of Christianity (see "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis or the Nicene Creed for examples of that), I would ask you to understand that it is REALLY OKAY to disagree.
Let me put it this way: How vital is it that the communion bread be made with or without leaven? Which is more important, the state of your heart or the contents of the bread?
Now for my confession: I do know what I'm talking about because I used to do exactly what I see you doing. Once I was engaged in e-mail correspondance with a Christian Brother and I treated him badly. I could not respect his difficulties with some of my beliefs. And I refused to let him explain himself in his own terms. Had I let him explain himself in his own terms, I would now have a much better understanding of my own faith. The Lord chastized me for the way I treated this man. And that's just one example of my folly. I really did think I knew something. The Lord has shown me that I don't even know the right questions.
Yet even as I write this, I'm tempted to punch some of your buttons. It's fun to watch you squirm. But it's not nice. It's not Christian. And it saddens my Savior when I do such things. Now, I always thought that these Christian websites were full of 'Super-Christians' who would never do such things. So I avoided them. Yeah, I did not like it when the pagan writers did it to me, but I enjoyed do it to others.
However, I have learned a few things. And I will share what I know when the Lord tells me it's okay to do that. Like this. I believe He gave me the okay to write this, but He censored much of what I wanted to say. He knows me really well!
So, because of my temptation to punch people's buttons and because I did not find what I was hoping to find (a specific type of Bible Study) and because I actually though a Christian Forum would not have members who 'took shots' at each other but this one did, I did not want to join this forum group. Yet, I do think the Lord is directing me here. I'm not sure why.
Rejoice Always!
Uisdean (Oos-jun)
