Anyone know where Christians and only Christians..

[carlos123]

I've really appreciated getting the fellowship that I have on this forum. I have learned lots about having fellowship over the Internet by being on this forum both pro and con. And I have ranged far and wide all over the Internet to experience fellowship all over the place and while there's been good in all of it I have seen some major flaws in the way fellowship is allowed to happen on the internet.

I am just sick and tired of Christian fellowship on the Internet keeping itself open to all kinds of people coming in and causing disruptions and am wondering if anyone knows of any place on the Internet where Christians and only Christians can fellowship together?

l am not interested in having this place of fellowship also be a place a mission. Most all Christian fellowship sites have this perspective which in my opinion is at the bottom of why there are so many problems with people coming in and causing disruptions. I know there are some on this forum that would disagree with me strongly but Christ did not set up the Church to be a place of mission. Rather He commanded us to go and be missionaries. To our unsaved neighbors and others.

There are literally millions of places on the Internet where we can reach out to unbelievers. I see so few Christians out there it's ridiculous. We all congregrate in our forums and chat rooms thinking it great to reach out to those who come visit us while the world goes to pot. No differently than we congregrate in our church buildings.

How many Christians participate on non-Christian oriented forums to reach the lost? If we are there we sure don't let on we are Christians.

I have been wanting to create a place for Christians and will do so, God willing, as soon as I find the time to implement it but does anyone know of a place that might approach that somewhere on the Internet? Before I create something myself?

I know there are problems inherent in trying to implement a Christians only forum or some such but I do not believe these problems are insurmountable. I am however, wanting to find a place of fellowship, until I create something myself, that is less open to confrontation, arguing, bickering, and all the other things that are allowed to happen even on this forum in the name of being a mission field as well as a place of fellowship.

Thanks.

Carlos

Edited to clarify something I said and make it clearer.

[WayneB]

Hey brother,

Simply answered, no I do not.

Actually the ONLY place I believe we can expect perfect and complete fellowship will be in the heavenly places with Jesus Christ.

When you find such a place in this existence brother, let me know.

Bless you,

Wayne

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

So carlo,you dont believe in reaching out to those that come here seeking?I'm sorry my friend but we have a job to do.Did you not come to a point in your life where you needed JESUS?Who did you turn to for help in seeking the LORD.Should they have turned you away because you wasnt part of their plan?So many folks have found their way to GOD through this site.If we stay secluded only to our "little group",what purpose have we done for the LORD.I know we arent to be of the world but remember JESUS said that HE came not to condemn the world but that through HIM the world might be save it.

[carlos123]

Actually the ONLY place I believe we can expect perfect and complete fellowship will be in the heavenly places with Jesus Christ.

Hi bro .

I think you are misunderstanding where I am coming from bro. I am not looking for a place of perfect fellowship. Rather I am looking for a place that will stand against sin in it's midst and deal with it according to Biblical principals. Which does not inolve allowing people to just have at it in terms of being free to express ungodly doctrine, atheistic beliefs, argue, bicker, or otherwise in the context of fellowship.

I am looking for a place that will apply verses like these....

1 Corinthians 5:3 and following....(NIV)

Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed

judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast

[Gerioke]

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people

[carlos123]

So carlo,you dont believe in reaching out to those that come here seeking?

Absolutely I believe in that bloodbought. No question. But reaching out to help those in need who come to Christian forums does not, in my understanding of the Scriptures, mean putting up with sin in our midst in so far as any of us argue, bicker, slanderously talk of each other, go around pronouncing false doctrine to be true, sharing agnostic and atheistic beliefs with each other, and so forth.

I think you are making the same mistake that so much of the Christian world seems to be making these days. Namely equating the need to discipline those in our midst who call themselves brethren but who engage in divisiveness and unrepentant sin with being unloving and alternatively equating attempts to bring holiness into our midst through such discipline with being unwilling to help those in need who might be in the throes of some besetting sin. The two are not mutually exclusive.

...we have a job to do.

Is not our highest calling, even more important than helping those in need, to glorify God in the Church? To uphold his holiness in our midst? Without holiness the Bible says no one will see the Lord. And without the Church acting in holiness to expel wickedness from among us in a righteous way, people will not be able to see the beauty and magnificence of the God we worship.

How can we as a Church help those in need to see the true character of Christ if we allow sin in our midst to go unchallengened, unconfronted, and undealt with? All under the mistaken notion that we must do so in order to minster to those in need?

I am not saying that we should go around trying to find sin under every bushel. That is not what I am saying. Only that we need to start dealing with sin in our midst the way the Bible says to deal with it.

Carlos

[Guest angelicvoice]

hey carlos....bible is clear about judging others.....

let others deal with their sin......its between them and God ...unless you are apart of their lives.....

God deals with sin .......dont worry God doesnt let people get away with sin ....

leave it with God and let God deal with it....

just worry about being the christian you should be.....

and if someone if bothering you ...let them know in private.....leave the rest to God...

Edited March 28, 2005 by angelicvoice

[WayneB]

Do these verses (and others like them) apply at all to Internet Christian fellowships?  If not why not? 

Absolutely but we must define fellowship. You and I are long-time friends and brothers in Christ so when we exchange ideas, we are fellowshipping on a spiritual level. I do not "fellowship" with just anyone. When I post on a thread in response to someone else, it is not always fellowship that is taking place but simply communication.

It isn't the forum of communication Carlos but the the heart of the communication that defines "fellowship".

[WayneB]

hey carlos....bible is clear about judging others.....

let others deal with their sin......its between them and God ...unless you are apart of their lives.....

God deals with sin .......dont worry God doesnt let people get away with sin ....

leave it with God and let God deal with it....

just worry about being the christian you should be.....

and if someone if bothering you ...let them know in private.....leave the rest to God...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Trying not to anatogonize but may I ask you one question? IF you saw a speck of dirt in your brother's eye, would you ignore it or attempt to remove it?

[Gerioke]

what would the conversation be like in a totally christian forum?

I would think you would spend the day cutting and pasting scripture from the bible.

No need for an idea or revelation, just copy and paste