Anyone know where Christians and only Christians..

[carlos123]

How does one keep a non-christian out of a forum?

Good question Gerioke. Actually I think what I previouslly asked may not have correctly described what I am after.

For the record it is decidedly unscriptural and wrong to base membership in a church or a Christian forum, chat room, or otherwise on whether one is a Christian or not. I do not see that in the Scriptures.

What is wrong, is to allow and put up with sinful and unrepentant behaviour, false teachings, and the like without confronting the sin through correction and reproof and without expelling it from our midst if the person practicing it does not repent of it.

So for example if I become slanderous toward Wayne my friend among our fellowship with other Christians he would be absolutely godly to come and correct me on it. If I refused to listen he would then be absolutely correct to confront me again in the presence of one or two others. And if I still refused to repent and hung on to bitterness in my heart he and all those in our fellowship would be pefectly right to exclude me from further fellowship until such a time as I did repent.

I've been in such fellowships before and the difference between that and the more usual accept everyone and love everyone to death and win them to Christ no matter what they say or do approach is like night and day in terms of glorifying Christ (I am exaggerating here I know but am trying to make a point - no one what I know of accepts anything and everything - well on second thought I do know of one Christian forum where that is the case but it's not this one ).

How and when to applly that in internet circles is something I have not yet figured out but therre is no doubt in my mind that the principals involved can lead us to experience an Internet fellowship of a kind that few of us have experienced.

Does that make sense?

Carlos

[Constant]

Carlos,

Yes my question was for you. On some of the threads here I get so frustrated because to me I sometimes feel like people can voice their opinions and once I do mine, poof, I am the bad guy. It gets very discouraging but I try to find the good in it as I do with everything. Carlos, I can only hope that you will find happiness here.

[carlos123]

How does one keep a disagreeable christian out of a forum?

Well...it's really rather easy I think. Mind you I would not boot out a disagreeable Christian per se as I am not sure that being disagreeable is something we should expel someone from fellowship for. At least not scripturally speaking. Some of us just have grating personalities and we must love said person's through God's process of softening them up.

But let's say that we have a Christian who is slandering others. Speaking ill of others and causing division by their slander.

Well it seems like we could warn said person, attempt to correct them alone or in private, correct them in the presence of others and then if they still did not repent simply delete their account or block their IP.

Though I would leave them a way of contacting ONE person on the forum whom they could indicate repentance through and through whom they could be restored to fellowship.

Does that make sense?

Carlos

[Gerioke]

do you like it here?

Hi Constant. Are you talking to me? I'll assume so unless you tell me otherwise .

Well...let me put it this way. I VERY MUCH enjoy fellowship of the kind that I have experienced with Wayne (Saved by Grace) and others over email and discussion centered on God's view of things with those at large that I have had on this forum. I want much more of that. So yes I like it here to the degree that I have experienced such here.

But, I also have experienced a great deal of another aspect of this and many other forums that I do not like so much. There I will be, talking to a brother or sister in Christ, either learning something from God on my part or they of God through me as we interact, and WHAM! Somebody will come in and start acting out in their flesh to introduce Satan into our midst.

And they will continue to do so into other threads and other conversations because they are allowed to remain. That's not good! And certainly not conducive to fellowship. It wouldn't work in a small home group and it certainly doesn't seem to work at large over the Internet in terms of making intimate spiritual fellowship very likely to stay on track to to honor God.

I see these types of disruptive discussions among "Christian" this or that happen all the time. And you know what the end result of al that is? The unbelieving world looks in and says to themselves "How ridiculous can you get? It's just a bunch of fundamental nuts arguing again!".

Almost as bad I, and probably many other Christians, come along and see that and start to wonder if God is alive, if His Church really is His Body, or some other such a thing as we observe the divisiveness in the Church.

It's got to stop!

And I see how it can, or at least I think I see how it can stop. Namely through us becoming more like a Church and less open to what God says a church should not accept in it's midst.

I still have to think about and pray about this some because like Wayne rightly brought up one cannot expect Church principles of discipline to be rightly applied accross the board to all forum members, some of whom may not really be in fellowship with anyone least of all with Christ.

Yet at the same time I am absollutely convinced based on my reading of the Bible that the Lord has very clearly laid out principles of Church fellowship that are meant to protect us from division and strife and that we as a Church (and I am speaking here of the unversal Chruch which is His Body) are not applying.

More specificaly that we are not as Christians applying in Christian forums and elsehwere on the internet. I don't have all the answers mind you but one thing that I am doing and that I would encourage everyone to do is to think outside the box. Think outside of established church or forum traditions if you will. Think even outside of the whole concept of a forum and see if God might not want us as Christians to do something different. For His ultimate glory and honor.

Carlos

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I started coming here a short time agoI first rad a lot of the posts, some I agreed with and some I didn't. But what kept me coming back here is the fact that there are obviously a lot of people here that genuinely love me. They don't know me but they care about my life, my questions and even my sense of humor, which I believe God has as well. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

I have a friend who fancies himself an intellectual and an authority on God. Yet if you have a social gathering he will spend all his time talking to one person about things that could edify some others but they choose to discuss it amongst them selves so the conversation does not become tainted.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no scholar however I do know love is first and formost.

[carlos123]

Yes my question was for you.  On some of the threads here I get so frustrated because to me I sometimes feel like people can voice their opinions and once I do mine, poof, I am the bad guy.  It gets very discouraging but I try to find the good in it as I do with everything. 

Constant I don't know you at all nor have I seen you around much but from what I have seen of your responses I can't imagine you being the bad guy. I mean, I don't know, maybe you have some far out beliefs that might make you feel that way when others pipe up about them but, having different beliefs does not make you the bad guy. At least not in my book!

If you have a wrong heart and an obstinate will to refuse correction from God through others then there might indeed be a problem but like I said I have not seen any of that in you.

Carlos, I can only hope that you will find happiness here.

Thanks Constant. I prefer to look at this as my quest fo be at the center of where God wants me. Not so much a quest to find happiness. Happiness is a very fickle thing. The more you seek it the less you sometimes seem to have.

I prefer to just focus on doing what God wants me to do and believing what He wants me to believe, leaving my happiness in His hands. Enjoying it when present and by faith living without it when it's not.

Carlos

[Constant]

Carlos,

I am new to the ways of the LORD, the Bible and everything so what I respond to some threads people say I am being "Unchristian like". That is what I am mostly referring to as being looked as the bad guy. I have alot of different outlooks on life than alot of people as most do. When I reply to a thread and I get a negative response, I applogize to all for my lack of knowledge but I don't appologize for my voicing my opinion.

I love it here and it makes me a stronger person. I have my husband and he is great but he works alot(Marine) and when I need some advise or need soem uplifting attitudes, I come here. I hope you will too!

Allison

[carlos123]

....I do know love is first and formost.

Amen to that Gerioke. Incidentally there is no question in my heart that God is in this forum as well as others where members of His Body can be found. For sure that is what keeps me active in this and other forums.

I am just saying that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way Christian forums and other Christian entities (i.e churches, etc..) allow some sinful attitudes and ways of being to be persistently present. Under the notion that one must in order to win the lost.

I am looking to find that place where more real, "spiritual fellowship" as Wayne put it, can take place without all the Satanic interruptions if you will. And no I am NOT saying that anyone who comes along and thinks differently from me is a Satanic interruption or that I would not want anyone such a yourself Gerioke to feel included in my conversations with others.

To not make you or anyone else feel welcome by virtue of isolating myself from your involvement would in my mind be quite selfish and unChristlike.

Carlos

[Gerioke]

I would think that the ones who offend you the most are the ones who need to experience the love of God the most

[Gerioke]

You say sinful

There is another poster that says denominations are sinful

Different people have different ideas on what sin is, that is why we discuss such things. At least that is my understanding

I have seen athiests and philosophers and satanists drift through here. Some of them have acted more christlike than many christians I have known. Do you expell them for disagreeing with you?

That's a bit of a GW Bush thing to do isn't it?

[carlos123]

I am new to the ways of the LORD, the Bible and everything so what I respond to some threads people say I am being "Unchristian like".  That is what I am mostly referring to as being looked as the bad guy. 

I understand Allison (boy it's difficult remembering who is who with two names for everyone ). But so you know I don't think most any of the Christians here would say you are a bad guy for saying things in an unChristlike manner (if that is what happens). UnChristlike yes. Bad guy no. Big distinction.

To the degree that we are not perfect and are all still growing to that degree we will be found out to be unChristlike in some of what we do and say. So you are in good company .

The important thing is to stay open to correction, to fix our eyes on Him, and to be ever aware that He loves us just as we are.

When I reply to a thread and I get a negative response, I applogize to all for my lack of knowledge but I don't appologize for my voicing my opinion. 

Amen to that!

I love it here and it makes me a stronger person.  I have my husband and he is great but he works alot(Marine) and when I need some advise or need soem uplifting attitudes, I come here. 

By all means Allison. I hope you continue to do so. If ever you experience something else just remember that the Lord is not always represented correctly among His people buut that does not make Him less loving or kind, just and true to you.

I hope you will too!

Well I am still around though I am looking at starting something new when I iron out all the difficulties of doing so and find the time to do it.

Carlos