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It also happens with Christian-minded people. Sometimes we want to be understood (or believed) but I want GOD gives you HIS shield to protect you.
Welcome back AAA.
Wow!
I congrat MODERATORS ans censorship.
That was too much for a girl (Now I realized this was a week ago)
I congrat MODERATORS ans censorship.
That was too much for a girl (Now I realized this was a week ago)
With respect to the OP, Maxwel, and others viewing this thread...
Maxwel, please forgive the liberty I took in rewriting some of your post as I believe it 'could have' been written to reflect certain truths.
I have noticed a recurrent pattern of attacks, divisions, and strife...not by atheists, but by our own 'blinded/self righteous/know-it-all brothers & sisters'.
Recently, in response to a sister's comment, "I'm not going to lie about it," as she tried to justify her verbal abuse of another brother's personality in chat, I replied..."There's a difference between lying and being outright obnoxious and rude to people. If you don't have anything nice to say..."
I wasn't able to finish off with a certain expletive due to chat room sentence length limitations (perhaps a good thing?) at the end of my statement, but I'm sure you can use your imagination to figure out what I was thinking and feeling toward this sister.
(For the imagination challenged among us...Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform)
For me to get this 'worked up' over another person being slandered and hurt in a public chat room or forum...well, it shouldn't be happening, and I am not without guilt concerning the slander either. Certain individuals have a way of pushing my buttons, especially when they behave rudely and hurtfully while wearing sheep's clothing.
I think it's about time that every person starts to examine how rude or hurtful their comments can be before they type or speak them...yes, me too.
The ceaseless hurtful, negative, un-Godly comments and opinions in the chatrooms/forums do nothing to glorify the Father. They only serve to divide and bring shame to the Christian faith as a whole.
Personally, I think most here could do with a good whiff of what they've been shoveling.
Talk is cheap...and hurtful. I've known quite a few truly beautiful Christians who chose to leave this network because they were tired of being abused or ridiculed by their own brothers/sisters. I miss them. The world is a nasty place, perhaps we could try a little harder to make this network a little nicer? A shelter from the storm? Please?
The Kingdom is at Hand (in doing/action?).
The hypocrisy in OUR actions is the major reason the world turns away from, and HATES Christianity. If you want to spread the Gospel, start here...IN LOVE.
Learn to crawl before you try to walk, walk before you run, run before you jump? If we can't even be loving toward our own brothers & sisters, how can we ever hope to show that love (existent or non-existent?) to unbelievers?
Most here have read these passages many times before, but perhaps it's time for a refresher?
James 3 NASB - The Tongue Is a Fire
[SUP]15 [/SUP]“If your brother sins[SUP][k][/SUP], go and [SUP][l][/SUP]show him his fault [SUP][m][/SUP]in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. [SUP]16 [/SUP]But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every [SUP][n][/SUP]fact may be confirmed. [SUP]17 [/SUP]If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as [SUP][o][/SUP]a Gentile and [SUP][p][/SUP]a tax collector. [SUP]18 [/SUP]Truly I say to you, whatever you [SUP][q][/SUP]bind on earth [SUP][r][/SUP]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you [SUP][s][/SUP]loose on earth [SUP][t][/SUP]shall have been loosed in heaven.
Does any one of you, when he has a [SUP][a][/SUP]case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the [SUP][b][/SUP]saints? [SUP]2 [/SUP]Or do you not know that the [SUP][c][/SUP]saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to [SUP][d][/SUP]constitute the smallest law courts? [SUP]3 [/SUP]Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? [SUP]4 [/SUP]So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, [SUP][e][/SUP]do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? [SUP]5 [/SUP]I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, [SUP]6 [/SUP]but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? [SUP]8 [/SUP]On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not [SUP][d][/SUP]agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, [SUP]4 [/SUP]he is conceited and understands nothing; but he [SUP][e][/SUP]has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, [SUP]5 [/SUP]and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that [SUP][f][/SUP]godliness is a means of gain.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, [SUP]13 [/SUP]so that my [SUP][i][/SUP]imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole [SUP][j][/SUP]praetorian guard and to everyone else, [SUP]14 [/SUP]and that most of the [SUP][k][/SUP]brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my [SUP][l][/SUP]imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. [SUP]15 [/SUP]Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even [SUP][m][/SUP]from envy and strife, but some also [SUP][n][/SUP]from good will; [SUP]16 [/SUP]the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; [SUP]17 [/SUP]the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition [SUP][o][/SUP]rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my [SUP][p][/SUP]imprisonment. [SUP]18 [/SUP]What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who lacks [SUP][h][/SUP]understanding.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
In closing, I don't believe that it's the atheists who pose the greatest danger to this network, but rather, our own brothers & sisters. I think ALL of us need to encourage each other in love to a higher standard for the glory of our Father.
I'll leave you with this...
[video=youtube;2XK1xpKRWyQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XK1xpKRWyQ[/video]
Maxwel, please forgive the liberty I took in rewriting some of your post as I believe it 'could have' been written to reflect certain truths.
I have noticed a recurrent pattern of attacks, divisions, and strife...not by atheists, but by our own 'blinded/self righteous/know-it-all brothers & sisters'.
Recently, in response to a sister's comment, "I'm not going to lie about it," as she tried to justify her verbal abuse of another brother's personality in chat, I replied..."There's a difference between lying and being outright obnoxious and rude to people. If you don't have anything nice to say..."
I wasn't able to finish off with a certain expletive due to chat room sentence length limitations (perhaps a good thing?) at the end of my statement, but I'm sure you can use your imagination to figure out what I was thinking and feeling toward this sister.
(For the imagination challenged among us...Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform)
For me to get this 'worked up' over another person being slandered and hurt in a public chat room or forum...well, it shouldn't be happening, and I am not without guilt concerning the slander either. Certain individuals have a way of pushing my buttons, especially when they behave rudely and hurtfully while wearing sheep's clothing.
I think it's about time that every person starts to examine how rude or hurtful their comments can be before they type or speak them...yes, me too.
The ceaseless hurtful, negative, un-Godly comments and opinions in the chatrooms/forums do nothing to glorify the Father. They only serve to divide and bring shame to the Christian faith as a whole.
Personally, I think most here could do with a good whiff of what they've been shoveling.
Talk is cheap...and hurtful. I've known quite a few truly beautiful Christians who chose to leave this network because they were tired of being abused or ridiculed by their own brothers/sisters. I miss them. The world is a nasty place, perhaps we could try a little harder to make this network a little nicer? A shelter from the storm? Please?
The Kingdom is at Hand (in doing/action?).
The hypocrisy in OUR actions is the major reason the world turns away from, and HATES Christianity. If you want to spread the Gospel, start here...IN LOVE.
Learn to crawl before you try to walk, walk before you run, run before you jump? If we can't even be loving toward our own brothers & sisters, how can we ever hope to show that love (existent or non-existent?) to unbelievers?
Most here have read these passages many times before, but perhaps it's time for a refresher?
James 3 NASB - The Tongue Is a Fire
[SUP]15 [/SUP]“If your brother sins[SUP][k][/SUP], go and [SUP][l][/SUP]show him his fault [SUP][m][/SUP]in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. [SUP]16 [/SUP]But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every [SUP][n][/SUP]fact may be confirmed. [SUP]17 [/SUP]If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as [SUP][o][/SUP]a Gentile and [SUP][p][/SUP]a tax collector. [SUP]18 [/SUP]Truly I say to you, whatever you [SUP][q][/SUP]bind on earth [SUP][r][/SUP]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you [SUP][s][/SUP]loose on earth [SUP][t][/SUP]shall have been loosed in heaven.
Does any one of you, when he has a [SUP][a][/SUP]case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the [SUP][b][/SUP]saints? [SUP]2 [/SUP]Or do you not know that the [SUP][c][/SUP]saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to [SUP][d][/SUP]constitute the smallest law courts? [SUP]3 [/SUP]Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? [SUP]4 [/SUP]So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, [SUP][e][/SUP]do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? [SUP]5 [/SUP]I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, [SUP]6 [/SUP]but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? [SUP]8 [/SUP]On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not [SUP][d][/SUP]agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, [SUP]4 [/SUP]he is conceited and understands nothing; but he [SUP][e][/SUP]has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, [SUP]5 [/SUP]and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that [SUP][f][/SUP]godliness is a means of gain.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, [SUP]13 [/SUP]so that my [SUP][i][/SUP]imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole [SUP][j][/SUP]praetorian guard and to everyone else, [SUP]14 [/SUP]and that most of the [SUP][k][/SUP]brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my [SUP][l][/SUP]imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. [SUP]15 [/SUP]Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even [SUP][m][/SUP]from envy and strife, but some also [SUP][n][/SUP]from good will; [SUP]16 [/SUP]the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; [SUP]17 [/SUP]the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition [SUP][o][/SUP]rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my [SUP][p][/SUP]imprisonment. [SUP]18 [/SUP]What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who lacks [SUP][h][/SUP]understanding.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
In closing, I don't believe that it's the atheists who pose the greatest danger to this network, but rather, our own brothers & sisters. I think ALL of us need to encourage each other in love to a higher standard for the glory of our Father.
I'll leave you with this...
[video=youtube;2XK1xpKRWyQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XK1xpKRWyQ[/video]
On closer scrutiny, hating all Christians may be putting a too fine a point on it. Generally, people do not take the time to analyse the situation so what they are really talking about is religion as opposed to Christianity in particular.
People accuse religions and religious people of all sorts of crime and misdemeanour's, especially on the internet. When people accuse religion as the cause of the problem I ask them "what religion are you referring to as there are 42,000 of them so unless you specify, your comment is irrelevant."
A lot of the time they don't know what religion they are talking about. They have a vague idea that religion is messing things up so everyone is guilty by association. I have found most of the time the religion that they are referring to is Islam as it is often the case they are the ones causing the mayhem.
If a person or a group do hate christians or christianity, thank God because Jesus said if they hate me they will hate you. What you might call prophetic words. One commentator said that if the world doesn't hate you, then you must be doing something wrong.