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All my life I was bought up as a Christadelphian, even as a child through to being a teenager I went to the meetings at least three times a week, plus youth group on Fridays, special meetings once a month or so which would take up the whole weekend (May be 3 free hours on Saturday afternoon to chat with any friends that had turned up).
I went on special weekends every year (at least four times a year) to different places within the UK where marathon lectures would commence starting Friday night and finishing Sunday afternoon so you could get home by Sunday evening to be ready for school or work the next day. We had special reading plans which took you through the old testament once a year and the new testament twice. As I grew I was invited to different classes which prepared me for taking services, giving exhortations (the word), being door greeters, and anything to do with the day to day running and witnessing of the church.
Within this time I came across other Christians who preached in open air services, these occasions usually ended up in there being a shouting match, or a bible knowledge contest which did nothing for the word of God only for those involved, It only gave good street theatre for those watching who witnessed two groups of people "having a go at each other".
I always felt uncomfortable when these confrontations happened, and in the back of my mind would be Paul's words when he was in prison about how although some preached Jesus to get one over on him, at least Christ was preached.
I have also been on the receiving end of a public tirade of abuse calling me the devil incarnate and telling me how wrong I was and how I twisted the bible words to meet my own ends.
Throughout all of this, and through my growing up I was not impressed with the church or with any other church for that matter. Then one day a young man gave me a big hug, and gave me a tract. I never saw him again but that tract and hug started questions with in me that had been just under my skin for most of my life, the quotation "Many are called but few are chosen" took me over. The holy Spirit, who I firmly believed died out with the apostles was suddenly bought into the open.
I knew the scriptures, inside out back to front and upside down but there was something stopping me from seeing. Of course if you don't believe in the Holy Spirit you don't believe in satan.
The reason for this thread is because I see on this site a lot of 'I am right and you are wrong', there are posts about this and that which are purposely put up to challenge the beliefs of other members. There are members who start a thread in this bible discussion forum with the sole intention of changing those who are wrong and to firmly put them right.
Please just think a moment and put yourself in the position of those people, the ones Christ died for, the ones who are stinking (a smouldering flax) and making you turn your nose up at them.
Put yourself in the position of someone completely wrong; it is all they know, all they have been told, they don't know how to look at a bible let alone find out what it says about something and as a Christian, to you, they are useless (a broken reed).
Trying to put them or anyone right is not our job. IT IS NOT OUR JOB! I shall tell you why, it is because we can not give them the Holy Spirit. When we correct them do they not do what we do when someone corrects us? We defend ourselves, It does not matter who what where or why, when we are told we are wrong we defend what we know because it is all we know.
We do know what our Job is though, our Job is to love them, to show through our words and actions that it does not matter where they are, we love them. In loving someone who is stinking or broken we show a better way, we can't do this without the Holy Spirit, and loving them with the help of the Spirit of God we pray for them, lifting them up to God and letting Him do His work (HIS JOB) within them, bringing them to a place where they can be made whole, so a 'smouldering flax' can BURST INTO FLAME! And a broken reed can MEASURE A TRUE SPAN WIDTH.
I do see a lot of enquiry on CC from those who read what is put and it conflicts with what they think they know. We are to answer their concerns prayerfully, which we do for the most part, but there is a tendency to start pulling their own belief system to pieces, which far from bringing them closer to God pushes them away. I have purposely not mentioned any particular thread or individual poster. I want to see heaven full and hell empty as we all do, so lets all do our Job and let Jesus do His.
God bless.
I went on special weekends every year (at least four times a year) to different places within the UK where marathon lectures would commence starting Friday night and finishing Sunday afternoon so you could get home by Sunday evening to be ready for school or work the next day. We had special reading plans which took you through the old testament once a year and the new testament twice. As I grew I was invited to different classes which prepared me for taking services, giving exhortations (the word), being door greeters, and anything to do with the day to day running and witnessing of the church.
Within this time I came across other Christians who preached in open air services, these occasions usually ended up in there being a shouting match, or a bible knowledge contest which did nothing for the word of God only for those involved, It only gave good street theatre for those watching who witnessed two groups of people "having a go at each other".
I always felt uncomfortable when these confrontations happened, and in the back of my mind would be Paul's words when he was in prison about how although some preached Jesus to get one over on him, at least Christ was preached.
I have also been on the receiving end of a public tirade of abuse calling me the devil incarnate and telling me how wrong I was and how I twisted the bible words to meet my own ends.
Throughout all of this, and through my growing up I was not impressed with the church or with any other church for that matter. Then one day a young man gave me a big hug, and gave me a tract. I never saw him again but that tract and hug started questions with in me that had been just under my skin for most of my life, the quotation "Many are called but few are chosen" took me over. The holy Spirit, who I firmly believed died out with the apostles was suddenly bought into the open.
I knew the scriptures, inside out back to front and upside down but there was something stopping me from seeing. Of course if you don't believe in the Holy Spirit you don't believe in satan.
The reason for this thread is because I see on this site a lot of 'I am right and you are wrong', there are posts about this and that which are purposely put up to challenge the beliefs of other members. There are members who start a thread in this bible discussion forum with the sole intention of changing those who are wrong and to firmly put them right.
Please just think a moment and put yourself in the position of those people, the ones Christ died for, the ones who are stinking (a smouldering flax) and making you turn your nose up at them.
Put yourself in the position of someone completely wrong; it is all they know, all they have been told, they don't know how to look at a bible let alone find out what it says about something and as a Christian, to you, they are useless (a broken reed).
Trying to put them or anyone right is not our job. IT IS NOT OUR JOB! I shall tell you why, it is because we can not give them the Holy Spirit. When we correct them do they not do what we do when someone corrects us? We defend ourselves, It does not matter who what where or why, when we are told we are wrong we defend what we know because it is all we know.
We do know what our Job is though, our Job is to love them, to show through our words and actions that it does not matter where they are, we love them. In loving someone who is stinking or broken we show a better way, we can't do this without the Holy Spirit, and loving them with the help of the Spirit of God we pray for them, lifting them up to God and letting Him do His work (HIS JOB) within them, bringing them to a place where they can be made whole, so a 'smouldering flax' can BURST INTO FLAME! And a broken reed can MEASURE A TRUE SPAN WIDTH.
I do see a lot of enquiry on CC from those who read what is put and it conflicts with what they think they know. We are to answer their concerns prayerfully, which we do for the most part, but there is a tendency to start pulling their own belief system to pieces, which far from bringing them closer to God pushes them away. I have purposely not mentioned any particular thread or individual poster. I want to see heaven full and hell empty as we all do, so lets all do our Job and let Jesus do His.
God bless.
And what is a christadelphian? 
