F.Y.I. on my vanished topic.

[vrjenny]

Okay...to all of those that saw my topic vanish and wonder...what happened to that???...i will make a reply and i hope that any and all that read this will not use this as a attack on one another...or this post of mine will suffer the same fate!!!

My post was moved to the deleted thread section because of the lack of love in the responses...the personal attacks made by one towards another.

This brings me back to how i was expressing to a couple people last night in chat. It seems really sad that instead of people speaking their opinion with Love towards others...things seem to reduce themselves down to personal attacks.

Do you think this might make the devil sit back and smile??? Hear me out please! As brothers and sisters of Christ...we should be able to talk with love and even though we may disagree...we must keep the real enemy as our foe ...not our bro or sis in christ...Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

Hmmm... maybe the arguements..."discussions"... and the "fighting" amonst us...the church...the body...should come to an end....we should take a moment and regain focus on this... we should find a way as a whole to be a functioning vessel ...body...for the Lord...working in one accord....as it looks to me now...we are a body where the left arm is going one way and the right arm is going another...and so forth...bodies don't function well when all the limbs are trying to work alone instead of together...i get a mental image of a real body playing tug-o-war with itself...can a body walk if one leg is trying to go one direction and the other is trying to go another???

Like i said...i think the devil gets a real chuckle out of watching us bicker amongst ourselves....it is like giving him a freebie.... keeps us busy...and gets us off his back ...so to speak. The one thing that the devil likes is Religion...man made religion...He counts on the different doctorines...denominations...being so different in their views that they can't see past them to come together and work as a whole...I see a change in that as of lately...and i praise the Lord! Now...can we not do that here? Can we not stand on the firm ground of our core beliefs being the same...and use that to build bridges amongst each other???...

As it was said last night....can we not just agree to disagree on some things and move forward....actually...can we not take on a mind set of Christ...have a renewing of our minds...Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

and lean not on our own understanding or mans knowledge....Pro 3:5,7 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. at times it seems like we act like a dog chasing his tail and ending up yelping when he manages to bite it.... think about the analogy...what i am saying is...we go around in circles..with what true good outcome??? then most times in the end...we end up hurting ourselves and God.... with the lack of love for each other and ourselves...but most importantly to God...do we not hurt God when we hurt others???...is a lack of love for others....not a lack of love for God???

Let us choose our battles wisely...and may they all be against the true enemy and none against our brother and sister in christ!

P.S. i had to digest this myself and do some repenting...just so you know that i am not trying to speak from a higher position than anyone

Now that you have read this...take a moment...don't attack...speak with love....who gains if we have stife one towards another???

In Christ, Jenny.

[Kabowd]

My post was moved to the deleted thread section because of the lack of love in the responses...the personal attacks made by one towards another.

Your post was not removed because of one person.

I'm assuming you mean because of me (because I was involved, especially in defending myself). But it's incorrect to assume that either myself (or any single person) was soley responsible for the demise of your thread. I apologize if my assumption is incorrect, but that's my gut feeling here.

I appreciate your attempt to encourage others with your post, and I agree that bickering and fighting amongst eachother should stop. But opening your new topic here with misinformation and assigning blame will not lead to peace either. People need to learn that their opinions are going to be disagreed with from time to time, their convictions and points of view will be challenged. When this happens, there is a choice: take it personally and become/pretend to be a victim, go on the attack and become an aggressor, or simply explain and defend your position without becoming emotionally entangled. Most of the time I think people cannot distinguish between having their argument "attacked" and having themselves personally attacked (I use the word attack but that's really too strong of a word because most of the time it's just disagreement). It's normal for people to have personal attachment to their views, so it is sometimes very hard to separate from them when someone brings a challenge against it. But something we all need to learn to do is be open and teachable, willing to be corrected where we may be wrong. There are a few people around here who are humble and honestly seek to grow as much as possible (eric and Silentprayer come to mind), but it's honestly kind of rare to find people who will approach an issue openly and be willing to learn. And alot of times when people are unable to defend their views, or are insecure...they will resort to just attacking another person's character (calling them stupid, arrogant, pushy, etc) and none of these address the topic at all, they only cause the discussion to deteriorate.

So yes, I agree with the jist of your idea here, I just think you/we have to be careful not to place the blame on one person. I also know there was some private messaging going on during that topic in the name of "comfort" and I would hope that it didn't involve gossip. If someone does have an issue with me personally, they are always free to approach me in private. Thanks.

[Emily~Anne]

Jenny, such an excellent post. I am fairly new here, and shocked by what I have seen. And I have been sucked into it myself. This sort of thing has caused some extreme defensiveness. How are we supposed to exhort each other in love this way? We must remember who the true enemy is. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to humble ourselves in order to work effectively as members of the Body Of Christ.

[Floatingaxe]

Aww gee! I missed it! I don't know what your thread was about, but I agree with you, Jenny, and as I have stated in another post somewhere: We are battling against principalities and powers. They rear their ugly heads at every turn, and at every topic. We must be strong in Christ. Our biggest offensive weapon is the Word of God--a major weapon, sharp and ready to cut the lies!

[Guest lovinghim4ever]

Aww gee! I missed it! I don't know what your thread was about, but I agree with you, Jenny, and as I have stated in another post somewhere: We are battling against principalities and powers. They rear their ugly heads at every turn, and at every topic. We must be strong in Christ. Our biggest offensive weapon is the Word of God--a major weapon, sharp and ready to cut the lies!

Ditto!

[vrjenny]

My post was moved to the deleted thread section because of the lack of love in the responses...the personal attacks made by one towards another.

Your post was not removed because of one person.

I'm assuming you mean because of me (because I was involved, especially in defending myself). But it's incorrect to assume that either myself (or any single person) was soley responsible for the demise of your thread. I apologize if my assumption is incorrect, but that's my gut feeling here.

Kabowd...please do not assume that i am pointing you because I am not doing that,truly. I can not point out one single person...and you are very correct in the fact that it was not one single post that made the closing of my post happen... i myself am most likely partially to blame for the closing of it. Please do not go with gut feelings here... you are a fellow sister in Christ and i love you as such. This post is not to single anyone out. It is just a healthy reminder that we are indeed family and should think, speak and act with love! Like i said...this post was not "for everyone else"...it was for myself included.

P.S. if i have a problem with someone/you...i will come to you politely and with love. *hugs*

*my edit was only to fix a grammatical error*

Edited October 28, 2006 by vrjenny

[Guest lovinghim4ever]

This post is not to single anyone out. It is just a healthy reminder that we are indeed family and should think, speak and act with love! Like i said...this post was not for everyone else...it was for myself included.

Thanks Jenny!

I agree. We need HEALTHY LOVE here.

[Kabowd]

My post was moved to the deleted thread section because of the lack of love in the responses...the personal attacks made by one towards another.

Your post was not removed because of one person.

I'm assuming you mean because of me (because I was involved, especially in defending myself). But it's incorrect to assume that either myself (or any single person) was soley responsible for the demise of your thread. I apologize if my assumption is incorrect, but that's my gut feeling here.

Kabowd...please do not assume that i am pointing you because I am not doing that. I can not point out one single person...and you are very correct in the fact that it was not one single post that made the closing of my post happen... i myself am most likely to blame for the closing of it. Please do not go with gut feelings here... you are a fellow sister in Christ and i love you as such. This post is not to single anyone out. It is just a healthy reminder that we are indeed family and should think, speak and act with love! Like i said...this post was not for everyone else...it was for myself included.

*my edit was only to fix a grammatical error*

Thank you, I appreciate you clarifying that then. I really do. I've honestly felt blamed for alot of things lately and knew that there was some private messaging going on too, so I sort of felt somewhat helpless to defend myself in that case. With regards to my posts, I take responsibility for them. When I go overboard, I recognize it (sometimes with the help of moderators or friends..lol), and I try to correct it. Anyway, as I've said all along, I do respect those who hold to their convictions firmly...even if they differ from my convictions. I think we all could learn to extend grace to one another when it comes to issues like these. The point I was making is that sometimes we can all tend to get so passionate and personal, that we cross a line...and we begin to believe that those who don't hold the same conviction are wrong for doing so. That is the line we need to try to avoid. In that regard, you and I are in total agreement I think. This is why I think (with the Halloween issue specifically) we need to be careful with our wording. When those who are convicted not to "celebrate" Halloween say things like "my family doesn't honor satan" or "my family chooses to walk in truth and light"...it automatically puts others on the defense because it implies their views are the opposite (darkness and lies). See what I mean? That's all I was saying there.

Thanks for your clarification jenny.

[vrjenny]

YAY!!!! Glad we got that cleared up....can we have a group hug? Let's get a huge group hug here and really tick off the devil!!!!!

AMEN!!!

In Christ, Jenny.

P.S. I get so flustered with my grammatical errors...i fix one...think i got em all...hit complete...then reread and find more...grrr... oh well... if i look dumb...then i look dumb... LOL..

[LadyRaven]

When a topic gets too heated the mods will delete it. Sometimes even christians who love to be peacemakers will feel put on and contribute to the drama which eventually closes and or deletes a thread. There is no one person responsible, its usually a combination and often it's due to matters of presentation and misunderstanding. Even the most peaceable amongst us can misinterpret something and feel hurt and lash out. Those who take a strong stand against what they feel is wrong are often misunderstood as being hateful, spiteful, devisive or arguementative. It's all part of being human.

If you get a thread deleted...praise God that it was deleted before more hardship was caused and then go take a shower and have some camomille tea...don't take it personally.